[transcriber's note: this document contains several illustrations of letters and posters. where possible, the text on these illustrations has been included in the description of the illustration.] [illustration: his majesty, albert, king of the belgians _photograph by boute, brussels_] a journal from our legation in belgium by hugh gibson secretary of the american legation in brussels illustrated from photographs new york grosset & dunlap publishers _copyright, , by_ doubleday, page & company _all rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the scandinavian._ to my mother list of illustrations his majesty, albert, king of the belgians _front_ facing page facsimile of the first page of the german ultimatum to belgium (_in the text_) pass issued by the belgian military authorities to enable mr. gibson to enter the german legation at brussels maître gaston de leval, legal adviser to the american legation in brussels her majesty, elizabeth, queen of the belgians mr. brand whitlock, american minister to belgium german supply train entering brussels german infantry entering brussels german officers and soldiers were always ready to oblige by posing for the camera "mit gott für kaiser und reich" count guy d'oultremont from left to right: colonel ducane, captain ferguson and colonel fairholme pass issued by general von jarotzky (_in text_) letter signed by burgomaster max requesting the belgian authorities to allow mr. gibson to pass (_in text_) boy scouts at belgian headquarters reading from left to right: a belgian staff officer, colonel fairholme, colonel ducane and captain ferguson list of the civilians killed by the germans at tamines on august , entrance to the rue de diest, louvain the dead and the living. a belgian civilian and a german soldier pass issued by field-marshal von der goltz (_in text_) a street in louvain fixing on the white flag for the dash between the lines refugees from the villages near the antwerp forts arrival in antwerp of refugees from malines at malines--a good background for a photograph to send home to germany his eminence, cardinal mercier fire at namur during the bombardment effect of big german shell on fort of waehlem outside view of the fort of waehlem after bombardment view of the meuse at huy refugees fleeing toward dunkirk before the german advance graves of civilians shot by the germans a typical proclamation views of the fort of waehlem after its bombardment herbert c. hoover french howitzer near h---- german camp kitchen von bulow's greeting to the people of liège (_in text_) how the simple pleasures of the german soldiers were restricted (_in text_) aux habitants de la belgique (_in text_) appeal of the queen of the belgians for help from america (_in text_) julius van hee, american vice-counsel at ghent lewis richards a brussels soup-kitchen run by volunteers meals served to the children in the schools german proclamation announcing the execution of miss cavell (_in text_) miss edith cavell fly-leaf of miss cavell's prayer book notes in miss cavell's prayer book , introduction this volume is not a carefully prepared treatise on the war. it does not set out to prove anything. it is merely what its title indicates--a private journal jotted down hastily from day to day in odd moments, when more pressing duties would permit. much material has been eliminated as of little interest. other material of interest has been left out because it cannot be published at this time. it is believed, however, that what is printed here will suffice to give some idea of life in belgium during the first few months of the war. i have eliminated from the journal most of the matter about the early history of the commission for relief in belgium. my day-to-day record did not do any sort of justice to the subject, and since it was not adequate, i have preferred to eliminate all but such casual reference to the relief work as is necessary to maintain the narrative. i am reconciled to this treatment of the subject by the knowledge that the story will be told comprehensively and well by dr. vernon kellogg, who will soon publish an authoritative history of the commission's work. as former director of the commission in belgium, he has the detailed knowledge of its workings and the sympathetic understanding of its purpose, which peculiarly fit him for the task. the work of the commission is of a scope and significance that few of us realise. it is without doubt the greatest humanitarian enterprise in history, conducted under conditions of almost incredible difficulty. to those who had an understanding of the work, it had a compelling appeal, not only as an opportunity for service but also as the greatest conservation project of all time--the conservation of one of the finest races of our civilisation. in its inception and execution, the work of the commission is distinctively american. its inception was in the mind of herbert hoover; in its execution he had the whole-hearted assistance of a little band of quiet american gentlemen who laboured in belgium from the autumn of until we entered the war in april of this year. they came from all parts of our country and from all walks of life. they were simple work-a-day americans, welded together by unwavering devotion to the common task and to herbert hoover, the "chief." it was the splendid human side of the commission that made it succeed in spite of all obstacles, and that part of the story will be hard to tell. the gallant little band is now widely scattered. some are carrying on their old work from holland or england or america in order to ensure a steady flow of food to belgium. others are serving our government in various capacities or fighting in the armies of our allies. some of them we shall not see again and there will never be another reunion, as in the old days, when the "chief" came over from london to brussels with work to be done. but the bright light of kindly human service which brought them all together is still aflame and will always be an inspiration to those who served, however humbly, in the great work. washington, d.c., sept. , . a journal from our legation in belgium _brussels, july , ._--after years of hard work and revolutions and wars and rumours of war, the change to this quiet post has been most welcome and i have wallowed in the luxury of having time to play. for the last year or two i have looked forward to just such a post as this, where nothing ever happens, where there is no earthly chance of being called out of bed in the middle of the night to see the human race brawling over its differences. when pounding along in the small hours of the night, nearly dead with fatigue, i have thought that i should like to have a long assignment to just such a post and become a diplomatic lotos eater. and at first it was great fun. that phase lasted until i had had a thorough rest, and then the longing for something more active began to manifest itself. i sat down and wrote to the department of state that while i greatly appreciated having been sent to this much-coveted post i was ready whenever there might be need of my services to go where there was work to be done. * * * * * _july , ._--well, the roof has fallen in. war was declared this afternoon by austria. the town is seething with excitement and everybody seems to realise how near they are to the big stage. three classes of reserves have already been called to the colours to defend belgian neutrality. a general mobilisation is prepared and may be declared at any time. the bourse has been closed to prevent too much play on the situation, and let things steady themselves. in every other way the hatches have been battened down and preparations made for heavy weather. to-night the streets are crowded and demonstrations for and against war are being held. the socialists have jaurés, their french leader, up from paris, and have him haranguing an anti-war demonstration in the grande place, where a tremendous crowd has collected. nobody on earth can see where it will all lead. england is trying hard to localise the conflict, and has valuable help. if she does not succeed * * * an advance guard of tourists is arriving from france, germany, and switzerland, and a lot of them drop in for advice as to whether it is safe for them to go to various places in europe. and most of them seem to feel that we really have authoritative information as to what the next few days are to bring forth, and resent the fact that we are too disobliging to tell them the inside news. a deluge of this sort would be easier for a full-sized embassy to grapple with, but as belgium is one of those places where nothing ever happens we have the smallest possible organisation, consisting on a peace basis of the minister and myself, with one clerk. we shall have somehow to build up an emergency force to meet the situation. * * * * * _july th._--no line on the future yet. brussels is beginning to look warlike. troops are beginning to appear. the railway stations have been occupied, and the boy scouts are swarming over the town as busy as bird dogs. a week ago there was hardly a tourist in brussels. now the legation hall is filled with them, and they all demand precise information as to what is going to happen next and where they can go with a guarantee from the legation that they will not get into trouble. * * * * * _july st._--no, my recent remarks about nothing ever happening in brussels were not intended as sarcasm. i thought belgium was the one place where i could be sure of a quiet time, and here we are right in the centre of it. even if nothing more happens we have had enough excitement to last me for some time. the doings of the past few days have brought out some idea of what a general european war would mean--and it is altogether too dreadful to think of. * * * * * _saturday, aug. st._--last night when i went home, at about midnight, i found the police going about with the orders for mobilisation, ringing the door bells and summoning the men to the colours. there was no time to tarry, but each man tumbled out of bed into his clothes and hurried away to his regiment. two of my neighbours were routed out a little after midnight, and got away within the hour. there was a good deal of weeping and handshaking and farewelling, and it was not the sort of thing to promote restful sleep. this morning i got down to the chancery at a quarter past eight, and found that omer, our good messenger, had been summoned to the colours. he had gone, of course, and had left a note for me to announce the fact. he had been ill, and could perfectly well have been exempted. the other day, when we had discussed the matter, i had told him that there would be no difficulty in getting him off. he showed no enthusiasm, however, and merely remarked, without heroics, that it was up to him. colonel falls, th regiment, of the national guard of new york, came in, having been sent back from the frontier. he had the pleasure of standing all the way as the trains were packed. millard shaler, the american mining engineer, who had just come back from the congo, came in with his amusing belgian friend who had been telling us for weeks about the wonderful new car in which he was investing. this time he came around to let me have a look at it, he having been advised that the car was requisitioned and due to be taken over to-day. we have done a land-office business in passports, and shall probably continue to turn them out by the dozen. * * * * * _sunday, august d._--another hectic day with promise of more to come. this morning i came down a little earlier than usual and found the minister already hard at it. he had been routed out of bed and had not had time to bathe or shave. there was nothing to show that it was a sunday--nearly twice as many callers as yesterday, and they were more exacting. mrs. a---- b---- c---- came in airily and announced that she had started from paris yesterday on a motor tour through france and belgium. having got this far, some rude person had told her that her motor might be seized by the government for military purposes and that an order had been promulgated forbidding any one to take cars out of the country. she came around confidently to have us assure her that this was a wicked lie--and needless to say was deeply disappointed in us when we failed to back her up. we had refrained from asking the government to release our own servants from their military obligations and have refused to interfere for anybody else, but that was not enough for her. she left, a highly indignant lady. the story is around town this afternoon that the germans have already crossed the frontier without the formality of a declaration of war--but that remains to be seen. brussels was put under martial law last night, and is now patrolled by grenadiers and lancers. the money situation is bad. all small change has disappeared in the general panic, and none of it has dared show its head during the past few days. the next thing done by panicky people was to pass round word that the government bank notes were no good and would not be honoured. lots of shops are refusing to accept bank notes, and few places can make any change. the police are lined up outside the banks keeping people in line. people in general are frantic with fear, and are trampling each other in the rush to get money out of the banks before the crash that probably will not come. travelers who came here with pockets bulging with express checks and bank notes are unable to get a cent of real money, and nobody shows any enthusiasm over american paper. i have a few bank notes left, and this evening when i went into a restaurant i have patronised ever since my arrival the head waiter refused to change a note for me, and i finally had to leave it and take credit against future meals to be eaten there. we may have our troubles when our small store is gone, but probably the situation will improve and i refuse to worry. and some of our compatriots don't understand why the legation does not have a cellar full of hard money to finance them through their stay in europe. communications, with such parts of the world as we still speak to, are getting very difficult on account of mobilisation, the military having right of way. this morning's paris papers have not come in this evening, and there are no promises as to when we shall see them. the news in the local papers is scarce and doubtful, and i hope for a word from paris. word has just come in that the government has seized the supplies of bread, rice, and beans, and will fix prices for the present. that is a sensible and steadying thing, and should have a good effect. nobody seems to remember that a few days ago serbia was playing a star rôle in this affair. she seems to have faded away behind the scenes. a few days ago, mexico loomed large in the papers and now we have forgotten that she ever existed. albania supplied a lot of table talk, and now we think about as much about her and her troubles as we do about thibet. this afternoon i went around to the rue ducale to take a look at the french legation. the tricolor was flying in the fresh breeze, and there was a big crowd outside cheering itself hoarse. it was made up of men who were called to the colors and were waiting to enroll themselves and get instructions as to where they should report for duty. the air was electric, and every now and then the military band struck up the marseillaise and the crowd instantly became happily delirious. some of them had been standing in the sun for hours waiting to get in and get their orders, but they were just as keenly responsive to the music and the mood of the crowd as anybody. all the crowd in the legation had been working day and night for days, and was dead with fatigue; but, some way, they kept going, and managed to be civil and friendly when i had business with them. how they do it i don't know. a frenchman's politeness must be more deeply ingrained than even i had supposed. on the way back from the legation this evening, i saw von below, the german minister, driving home from the foreign office to his legation. he passed close to me, and i saw that the perspiration was standing out on his forehead. he held his hat in his hand and puffed at a cigarette like a mechanical toy, blowing out jerky clouds of smoke. he looked neither to left nor right, and failed to give me his usual ceremonious bow. he is evidently not at ease about the situation, although he continues to figure in the newspapers as stating that all is well, that germany has no intention of setting foot on belgian soil, and that all belgium has to do is to keep calm. in an interview given to _le soir_ he sums up his reassuring remarks by saying: "your neighbour's house may burn but yours will be safe." * * * * * _august , ._--no mail in to-day. all communications seem to be stopped for the time being at least. mobilisation here and in france requires all the efforts of all hands, and little workaday things like mail and newspapers go by the board. according to the news which was given me when i got out of bed this morning, the german minister last night presented to the belgian government an ultimatum demanding the right to send german troops across belgium to attack france. he was evidently returning from this pleasant duty when i saw him last night, for the ultimatum seems to have been presented at seven o'clock. the king presided over a cabinet council which sat all night; and when the twelve hours given by the ultimatum had expired, at seven this morning, a flat refusal was sent to the german legation. arrangements were got under way, as the council sat, to defend the frontiers of the country against aggression. during the night the garrison left and the garde civique came on duty to police the town. the influx of callers was greater to-day than at any time so far, and we were fairly swamped. miss larner came in and worked like a trojan, taking passport applications and reassuring the women who wanted to be told that the germans would not kill them even when they got to brussels. she is a godsend to us. monsieur de leval, the belgian lawyer who for ten years has been the legal counselor of the legation, came in and brought some good clerks with him. he also hung up his hat and went to work, making all sorts of calls at the foreign office, seeing callers, and going about to the different legations. granville fortescue came in from ostend, and i should have put him to work but that he had plans of his own and has decided to blossom forth as a war correspondent. he is all for getting to the "front" if any. just to see what would happen, i went to the telephone after lunch and asked to be put through to the embassy at london. to my surprise, i got the connection in a few minutes and had a talk with bell, the second secretary. the cabinet had been sitting since eleven this morning, but had announced no decision. i telephoned him again this evening and got the same reply. bell said that they had several hundred people in the chancery and were preparing for a heavy blow. as nearly as we can make out the germans have sent patrols into belgian territory, but there have been no actual operations so far. all day long we have been getting stories to the effect that there has been a battle at visé and that fifteen hundred belgians had been killed; later it was stated that they had driven the germans back with heavy losses. the net result is that at the end of the day we know little more than we did this morning. parliament is summoned to meet in special session to-morrow morning to hear what the king has to say about the german ultimatum. it will be an interesting sight. parliament has long been rent with most bitter factional quarrels, but i hear that all these are to be forgotten and that all parties, socialists included, are to rally round the throne in a great demonstration of loyalty. all the regular troops have been withdrawn from this part of the country and dispatched to the front, leaving the protection of the capital to the garde civique, who are patrolling the streets, to examine the papers of everybody who moves about. this is a sort of local guard made up of people who have not been called for active military service, but who have volunteered for local defense. they are from every class--lawyers and butchers and bakers and dentists and university professors. they have, of course, had little training for this sort of work, and have had only elementary orders to guide them. these they carry out to the letter. there are detachments of them at all sorts of strategic points in the city where they hold up passing vehicles to see who is inside. i have been stopped by them goodness knows how many times this day. they hold up the car, look inside, apologise, and explain good-naturedly that they are obliged to bother me, asking who i am, and after i have satisfied them with papers that any well-equipped spy would be ashamed of, they let me go on with more apologies. they rejoice in a traditional uniform topped off by a derby hat with kangaroo feathers on it. this is anything but martial in appearance and seems to affect their funny bone as it does mine. * * * * * _august th._--yesterday morning we got about early and made for the chamber of deputies to hear the king's speech. the minister and i walked over together and met a few straggling colleagues headed in the same direction. most of them had got there ahead of us, and the galleries were all jammed. the rue royale, from the palace around the park to the parliament building, was packed with people, held in check by the garde civique. there was a buzz as of a thousand bees and every face was ablaze--the look of a people who have been trampled on for hundreds of years and have not learned to submit. the garde civique had two bands in front of the senate, and they tried to play the brabançonne in unison. neither of them could play the air in tune, and they were about a bar apart all the time. they played it through and then began to play it over again without a pause between. they blew and pounded steadily for nearly half an hour, and the more they played, the more enthusiastic the crowds became. when i saw how crowded the galleries were i thought i would not push, so resigned myself to missing the speech and went out onto a balcony with webber, of the british legation, to see the arrival of the king and queen. we had the balcony to ourselves, as everybody else was inside fighting for a place in the galleries to hear the speech. when the king and queen finally left the palace we knew it from a roar of cheering that came surging across the park. the little procession came along at a smart trot, and although it was hidden from us by the trees we could follow its progress by the steadily advancing roaring of the mob. when they turned from the rue royale into the rue de la loi, the crowd in front of the parliament buildings took up the cheering in a way to make the windows rattle. first came the staff of the king and members of his household. then the queen, accompanied by the royal children, in an open daumont. the cheering for the queen was full-throated and with no sign of doubt, because of her bavarian birth and upbringing--she is looked on as a belgian queen and nothing else. after the queen came a carriage or two with members of the royal family and the court. finally the king on horseback. he was in the field uniform of a lieutenant-general, with no decorations and none of the ceremonial trappings usual on such occasions as a speech from the throne. he was followed by a few members of his staff who also looked as though they were meant more for business than for dress parade. as the king drew rein and dismounted, the cheering burst forth with twice its former volume; and, in a frantic demonstration of loyalty, hats and sticks were thrown into the air. two bands played on manfully, but we could hear only an occasional discord. just as the king started into the building an usher came out, touched me on the arm and said something, beckoning me to come inside. one of the galleries had been locked by mistake but had now been opened, and webber and i were rewarded for our modesty by being given the whole thing to ourselves. in a few minutes the bolivian chargé came in and joined us. our places were not ten feet from the throne, and we could not have been better placed. the queen came in quietly from one side and took a throne to the left of the tribune, after acknowledging a roaring welcome from the members of the two houses. when the cheering had subsided, the king walked in alone from the right, bowed gravely to the assembly and walked quickly to the dais above and behind the tribune. with a business-like gesture he tossed his cap on to the ledge before him and threw his white cotton gloves into it--then drew out his speech and read it. at first his voice was not very steady but he soon controlled it and read the speech to the end in a voice that was vibrating with emotion but without any oratory or heroics. he went straight to the vital need for union between all factions and all parties, between the french, flemish, and walloon races, between catholics, liberals, and socialists in a determined resistance to the attack upon belgian independence. the house could contain itself for only a few minutes at a time, and as every point was driven home they burst into frantic cheering. when the king, addressing himself directly to the members of parliament, said, "are you determined at any cost to maintain the sacred heritage of our ancestors?" the whole chamber burst into a roar, and from the socialists' side came cries of: "at any cost, by death if need be." it was simple and to the point--a manly speech. and as he delivered it he was a kingly figure, facing for the sake of honour what he knew to be the gravest danger that could ever come to his country and his people. when he had finished he bowed to the queen, then to the parliament, and then walked quickly out of the room, while the assembly roared again. the senators and deputies swarmed about the king on his way out, cheering and trying to shake him by the hand--and none were more at pains to voice their devotion than the socialists. after he had gone the queen rose, bowed shyly to the assembly, and withdrew with the royal children. she was given a rousing ovation as everybody realised the difficulty of her position and was doubly anxious to show her all their confidence and affection. the whole occasion was moving, but when the little queen acknowledged the ovation so shyly and so sadly and withdrew, the tears were pretty near the surface--my surface at any rate. [illustration: facsimile of the first page of the german ultimatum to belgium. kaiserlich brüssel, den . august deutsche gesandtschaft in belgien trés confidentiel. der kaiserlicher regierung liegen zuverlässige nachrichten vor ueber den beabsichtigten aufmarsch französischer streitkräfte an der maas-strecke givet-namur. sie lassen keinen zweifel ueber die absicht frankreichs, durch belgisches gebiet gegen deutschland vorzugehen. die kaiserliche regierung kann sich der besorgniss nicht erwehren, daß belgien, trotz besten willens, nicht im stände sein wird, ohne hilfe einen französischen vormarsch mit so großer aussicht auf erfolg abzuwehren, daß darin eine ausreichende sicherheit gegen die bedrohung deutschlands gefunden werden kann. es ist ein gebot der selbsterhaltung für deutschland, dem feindlichen angriff zuvorzukommen. mit dem größten bedauerns würde es daher die deutsche regierung erfüllen, wenn belgien einen akt der feindseligkeit] [illustration: pass issued by the belgian military authorities to enable mr. gibson to enter the german legation at brussels] [illustration: maître gaston de leval, legal adviser to the american legation in brussels] for several minutes after the queen withdrew the cheering continued. suddenly a tense silence fell upon the room. m. de broqueville, the prime minister, had mounted the tribune and stood waiting for attention. he was clearly under great stress of emotion, and as the house settled itself to hear him he brushed away the tears that had started to his eyes. he began in a very direct way by saying that he would limit himself to reading a few documents and hoped that, after hearing them, the house would consider the government worthy of the confidence that had been reposed in it and that immediate action would be taken upon matters of urgent importance. he first read the german ultimatum,[ ] which was received quietly but with indignation and anger which was with difficulty suppressed. without commenting upon the german note, he then read the reply which had been handed to the german minister.[ ] this was followed by a final note delivered by the german minister this morning stating "that in view of the refusal of the king to accede to the well-intentioned proposals of the emperor, the imperial government, greatly to its regret, was obliged to carry out by force of arms the measures indispensable to its security." after reading these documents he made a short and ringing speech, full of fire, which was repeatedly interrupted by cheers. when he came down from the tribune he was surrounded by cheering senators and deputies struggling to shake his hand and express their approval of his speech. even the socialists who had fought him for years rose to the occasion and vied with their colleagues in their demonstrations of enthusiasm. broqueville rose again and said: "in the present crisis we have received from the opposition a whole-hearted support; they have rallied to our side in the most impressive way in preparing the reply to germany. in order to emphasise this union of all factions, his majesty the king has just signed a decree appointing monsieur vandervelde as a minister of state." this announcement was greeted by roars of applause from all parts of the house, and vandervelde was immediately surrounded by ministers and deputies anxious to congratulate him. his reply to the prime minister's speech was merely a shout above the roar of applause: "i accept." [footnote : the following is the text of the german ultimatum: brussels, august , . very confidential. reliable information has been received by the german government to the effect that french forces intend to march on the line of the meuse by gîvet and namur. this information leaves no doubt as to the intention of france to march through belgian territory against germany. the german government cannot but fear that belgium, in spite of the utmost goodwill, will be unable, without assistance, to repel so considerable a french invasion with sufficient prospect of success to afford an adequate guarantee against danger to germany. it is essential for the self-defence of germany that she should anticipate any such hostile attack. the german government would, however, feel the deepest regret if belgium regarded as an act of hostility against herself the fact that the measures of germany's opponents force germany, for her own protection, to enter belgian territory. in order to exclude any possibility of misunderstanding, the german government make the following declaration: . germany has in view no act of hostility against belgium. in the event of belgium being prepared in the coming war to maintain an attitude of friendly neutrality towards germany, the german government bind themselves, at the conclusion of peace, to guarantee the possessions and independence of the belgian kingdom in full. . germany undertakes, under the above-mentioned condition, to evacuate belgian territory on the conclusion of peace. . if belgium adopts a friendly attitude, germany is prepared, in co-operation with the belgian authorities, to purchase all necessaries for her troops against a cash payment, and to pay an indemnity for any damage that may have been caused by german troops. . should belgium oppose the german troops, and in particular should she throw difficulties in the way of their march by a resistance of the fortresses on the meuse, or by destroying railways, roads, tunnels or other similar works, germany will, to her regret, be compelled to consider belgium as an enemy. in this event, germany can undertake no obligations towards belgium, but the eventual adjustment of the relations between the two states must be left to the decision of arms. the german government, however, entertain the distinct hope that this eventuality will not occur, and that the belgian government will know how to take the necessary measures to prevent the occurrence of incidents such as those mentioned. in this case the friendly ties which bind the two neighbouring states will grow stronger and more enduring.] [footnote : the belgian government replied as follows to the german ultimatum: the german government stated in their note of the nd august, , that according to reliable information french forces intended to march on the meuse via gîvet and namur, and that belgium, in spite of the best intentions, would not be in a position to repulse, without assistance, an advance of french troops. the german government, therefore, considered themselves compelled to anticipate this attack and to violate belgian territory. in these circumstances, germany proposed that the belgian government adopt a friendly attitude towards her, and undertook, on the conclusion of peace, to guarantee the integrity of the kingdom and its possessions to their full extent. the note added that if belgium put difficulties in the way of the advance of german troops, germany would be compelled to consider her as an enemy, and to leave the ultimate adjustment of the relations between the two states to the decision of arms. this note has made a deep and painful impression upon the belgian government. the intentions attributed to france by germany are in contradiction to the formal declarations made to us on august st in the name of the french government. moreover, if contrary to our expectation, belgian neutrality should be violated by france, belgium intends to fulfil her international obligations and the belgian army would offer the most vigorous resistance to the invader. the treaties of , confirmed by the treaties of , vouch for the independence and neutrality of belgium under the guarantee of the powers, and notably of his majesty the king of prussia. belgium has always been faithful to her international obligations; she has carried out her duties in a spirit of loyal impartiality and she has left nothing undone to maintain and enforce respect for her neutrality. the attack upon her independence with which the german government threaten her constitutes a flagrant violation of international law. no strategic interest justifies such a violation of law. the belgian government, if they were able to accept the proposals submitted to them, would sacrifice the honour of the nation and betray their duty towards europe. conscious of the part which belgium has played for more than eighty years in the civilisation of the world, they refuse to believe that the independence of belgium can only be preserved at the price of the violation of her neutrality. if this hope is disappointed the belgian government are firmly resolved to repel, by all the means in their power, every attack upon their rights. brussels, august , ( a.m.).] as we came out, some of the colleagues were gathered about debating whether they should go over to the palace and ask to take leave of the king. they were saved that labour, however, for the king had stepped into a motor at the door and was already speeding to the general headquarters which has been set up nobody knows where. that looks like business. when i got back to the legation i found von stumm, counselor of the german legation, with the news that his chief had received his passports and must leave at once. he had come to ask that the american minister take over the care of the german legation and the protection of the german subjects who had not yet left the country. i said that we could not undertake anything of that sort without authority from washington, and got the minister to telegraph for it when he came in from some hurried visits he had made in search of news. while we were snatching some lunch, von stumm came back with the german minister, von below, and said that some provisional arrangement must be made at once as the staff of the legation would have to leave for the dutch frontier in the course of the afternoon--long before we could hope for an answer from washington. we did not like the idea of doing that sort of thing without the knowledge of washington, but finally agreed to accept the charge provisionally on grounds of humanity, until such time as we should receive specific instructions as to who would be definitely entrusted with the protection of german interests. in case of need, we shall be asked to take over certain other legations and shall have our hands more than full. at five o'clock we went over to the german legation, which we found surrounded by a heavy detachment of garde civique as a measure of protection against violence. we drew up, signed, and sealed a protocol accepting what is known as _la garde des clefs et des sceaux_, until such time as definite arrangements might be made. the minister and von stumm were nearly unstrung. they had been under a great strain for some days and were making no effort to get their belongings together to take them away. they sat on the edge of their chairs, mopped their brows and smoked cigarettes as fast as they could light one from another. i was given a lot of final instructions about things to be done--and all with the statement that they should be done at once, as the german army would doubtless be in brussels in three days. while we were talking, the chancellor of the legation, hofrat grabowsky, a typical white-haired german functionary, was pottering about with sealing wax and strips of paper, sealing the archives and answering questions in a deliberate and perfectly calm way. it was for all the world like a scene in a play. the shaded room, the two nervous diplomats registering anxiety and strain, the old functionary who was to stay behind to guard the archives and refused to be moved from his calm by the approaching cataclysm. it seemed altogether unreal, and i had to keep bringing myself back to a realisation of the fact that it was only too true and too serious. they were very ominous about what an invasion means to this country, and kept referring to the army as a steam roller that will leave nothing standing in its path. stumm kept repeating: "oh, the poor fools! why don't they get out of the way of the steam roller. we don't want to hurt them, but if they stand in our way they will be ground into the dirt. oh, the poor fools!" the government had a special train ready for the german diplomatic and consular officers who were to leave, and they got away about seven. now, thank goodness, they are safely in holland and speeding back to their own country. before leaving, below gave out word that we would look after german interests, and consequently we have been deluged with frightened people ever since. all the germans who have remained here seem to be paralysed with fright, and have for the most part taken refuge in convents, schools, etc. there are several hundreds of them in the german consulate-general which has been provisioned as for a siege. popular feeling is, of course, running high against them, and there may be incidents, but so far nothing has happened to justify the panic. this morning a belgian priest, the abbé upmans, came in to say that he had several hundred germans under his care and wanted some provision made for getting them away before the situation got any worse. after talking the matter over with the minister and getting his instructions, i took the abbé in tow, and with monsieur de leval went to the foreign office to see about getting a special train to take these people across the border into holland and thence to germany. at first, the suggestion was received with some resentment and i was told flatly that there was no good reason for belgium to hand over special trains to benefit germans when every car was needed for military operations. i pleaded that consideration must be shown these helpless people and that this course was just as much in the interest of belgium as of anybody else, as it would remove the danger of violence with possible reprisals and would relieve the overworked police force of onerous duties. after some argument, baron donny went with me to the sûreté publique where we went over the matter again with the chief. he got the point at once, and joined forces with us in a request to the minister of railways for a special train. we soon arranged matters as far as the belgian frontier. i then telephoned through to the hague, got marshal langhorne and asked him to request the dutch government to send another train to the frontier to pick our people up and send them through to germany. he went off with a right good will to arrange that, and i hope to have an answer in the morning. we plan to start the train on friday morning at four o'clock, so as to get our people through the streets when there are few people about. we are making it known that all germans who wish to leave should put in an appearance by that time, and it looks as though we should have from seven hundred to a thousand to provide for. it will be a great relief to get them off, and i hold my breath until the train is safely gone. the belgian government is making no distinction between germans, and is letting those liable for military service get away with the others. wild stories have begun to circulate about what is bound to happen to americans and other foreigners when hostilities get nearer to brussels, and we have had to spend much time that could have been devoted to better things in calming a lot of excitable people of both sexes. i finally dug out the plan of organisation of the foreigners for the siege of peking and suggested to the minister that, in order to give these people something to do and let them feel that something was being done, we should get them together and appoint them all on committees to look after different things. this was done to-day. committees were appointed to look for a house where americans could be assembled in case of hostilities in the immediate vicinity of brussels; to look after the food supply; to attend to catering; to round up americans and see that they get to the place of refuge when the time comes; to look after destitute americans, etc. now they are all happy and working like beavers, although there is little chance that their work will serve any useful purpose aside from keeping them occupied. we got mrs. shaler to open up the students' club, which had been closed for the summer, so that the colony can have a place to meet and work for the red cross and keep its collective mind off the gossip that is flying about. last night our cipher telegrams to washington were sent back from the telegraph office with word that under the latest instructions from the government they could not be forwarded. the minister and i hurried over to the foreign office, where we found several of the colleagues on the same errand. it was all a mistake, due to the fact that the general staff had issued a sweeping order to stop all cipher messages without stopping to consider our special case. it was fixed after some debate, and the minister and i came back to the shop and got off our last telegrams, which were finished at three this morning. i was back at my desk by a little after eight and have not finished this day's work, although it is after midnight. i have averaged from three to five hours sleep since the trouble began and, strange to say, i thrive on it. i have called several times to-day at the french and british legations to get the latest news. they keep as well posted as is possible in the prevailing confusion, and are most generous and kind in giving us everything they properly can. there seems to have been a serious engagement to-day at liège, which the germans are determined to reduce before proceeding toward france. the report is that the attack was well resisted and the germans driven back with heavy loss. a number of prisoners have been taken and were being brought into brussels this evening along with the wounded. in the course of the fighting there was a sort of charge of the light brigade; one squadron of belgian lancers was obliged to attack six times its number of germans and was cut to pieces, only one officer escaping. the morale of the belgians is splendid. this afternoon as the minister and i were going to call on the british minister, we passed the king and his staff headed out the rue de la loi for the front. they looked like business. several times to-day i have talked over the telephone with the embassy in london. they seem to be as strong on rumours as we are here. one rumour i was able to pass on to bell was to the effect that the british flagship had been sunk by german mines with another big warship. another to the effect that five german ships have been destroyed by the french fleet off the coast of algeria, etc., etc. the red cross is hard at work getting ready to handle the wounded, and everybody is doing something. nearly everybody with a big house has fitted it in whole or in part as a hospital. others are rolling bandages and preparing all sorts of supplies. the military attachés are all going about in uniform now. each legation has a flag on its motor and the letters c.d.--which are supposed to stand for corps diplomatique, although nobody knows it. i have seized mrs. boyd's big car for my own use. d.l. blount has put his car at the disposal of the minister and is to drive it himself. there is talk already of moving the court and the government to antwerp, to take refuge behind the fortifications. when the germans advance beyond liège, the government will, of course, have to go, and the diplomatic corps may follow. it would be a nuisance for us, and i hope we may be able to avoid it. germans are having an unhappy time, and i shall be happier when they are across the border. nothing much seems to have happened to them beyond having a few shops wrecked in antwerp and one or two people beaten up here. one case that came to my knowledge was an outraged man who had been roughly handled and could not understand why. all he had done was to stand in front of a café where the little tables are on the sidewalk and remark: "talk all the french you can. you'll soon have to talk german." of course there are a lot of belgians, swiss and dutch who rejoice in good german names and they are not having a pleasant time. one restaurant called chez fritz, i saw when coming along the boulevard this evening, had hung out a blackboard with the proud device: "_fritz est luxembourgeois, mais sa maison est belge._" he was taking no chances on having the place smashed. * * * * * _august th._--this morning when i came into the legation i found the minister of justice in top hat and frock coat waiting to see somebody. he had received a report that a wireless station had been established on top of the german legation and was being run by the people who were left in the building. he came to ask the minister's consent to send a judge to look, see and draw up a _procès verbal_. in our own artless little american way we suggested that it might be simpler to go straight over and find out how much there was to the report. the minister of justice had a couple of telegraph linemen with him, and as soon as mr. whitlock could get his hat, we walked around the corner to the german legation, rang the bell, told the startled occupants that we wanted to go up to the garret and--up we went. when we got there we found that the only way onto the roof was by a long perpendicular ladder leading to a trap door. we all scrambled up this--all but the minister of justice, who remained behind in the garret with his top hat. we looked the place over very carefully, and the workmen--evidently in order to feel that they were doing something--cut a few wires which probably resulted in great inconvenience to perfectly harmless people farther along the street. but there was no evidence of a wireless outfit. one of the men started to explain to me how that proved nothing at all; that an apparatus was now made that could be concealed in a hat and brought out at night to be worked. he stopped in the middle of a word, for suddenly we heard the rasping intermittent hiss of a wireless very near at hand. everybody stiffened up like a lot of pointers, and in a minute had located the plant. it was nothing but a rusty girouette on top of a chimney being turned by the wind and scratching spitefully at every turn. the discovery eased the strain and everybody laughed. then there was another sound, and we all turned around to see a trap door raised and the serene, bemonocled face of my friend cavalcanti looked out on us in bewilderment. in our search we had strayed over onto the roof of the brazilian legation. it seemed to cause him some surprise to see us doing second-story work on their house. it was a funny situation--but ended in another laugh. it is a good thing we can work in a laugh now and then. the day was chiefly occupied with perfecting arrangements for getting off our german refugees. the minister wished the job on me, and i with some elements of executive ability myself gave the worst part of it to nasmith, the vice-consul-general. modifications became necessary every few minutes, and leval and i were running around like stricken deer all day, seeing the disheartening number of government officials who were concerned, having changes made and asking for additional trains. during the afternoon more and more germans came pouring into the consulate for refuge, until there were over two thousand of them there, terribly crowded and unhappy. several convents were also packed, and we calculated that we should have two or three thousand to get out of the country. in the morning the legation was besieged by numbers of poor people who did not know which way to turn and came to us because they had been told that we would take care of them. we were all kept busy; and leval, smothering his natural feelings, came out of his own accord and talked and advised and calmed the frightened people in their own language. none of us would have asked him to do it, but he was fine enough to want to help and to do it without any fuss. a crowd of curious people gathered outside the legation to watch the callers, and now and then they boo-ed a german. i looked out of the window in time to see somebody in the crowd strike at a poor little worm of a man who had just gone out the door. he was excited and foolish enough to reach toward his hip pocket as though for a revolver. in an instant the crowd fell on him; and although gustave, the messenger, and i rushed out we were just in time to pull him inside and slam the door before they had a chance to polish him off. gustave nearly had his clothes torn off in the scrimmage, but stuck to his job. an inspired idiot of an american tourist who was inside tried to get the door open and address the crowd in good american, and i had to handle him most undiplomatically to keep him from getting us all into trouble. the crowd thumped on the door a little in imitation of a mob scene, and the garde civique had to be summoned on the run from the german legation to drive them back and establish some semblance of order. then de leval and i went out and talked to the crowd--that is to say, we went out and he talked to the crowd. he told them very reasonably that they were doing harm to belgium, as actions of this sort might bring reprisals which would cost the country dear, and that they must control their feelings. he sounded the right note so successfully that the crowd broke up with a cheer. orders have been issued to permit us free use of the telephone and telegraph, although they have been cut for everybody else. yesterday afternoon i talked with the consulates at ghent and antwerp. they were both having their troubles with germans who wanted to get out of the country. i told them to send everybody up here and let them report at their own consulate, where they will be looked after. the government is taking no chances of having trouble because of the doings of francs-tireurs. the minister of the interior sent out, on the th, a circular to every one of the , communes in the country to be posted everywhere. the circular points out in simple and emphatic terms the duty of civilians to refrain from hostile acts and makes it clear that civilians might be executed for such acts. aside from this, every newspaper in the country has printed the following notice signed by the minister of the interior: to civilians the minister of the interior advises civilians, in case the enemy should show himself in their district: not to fight; to utter no insulting or threatening words; to remain within their houses and close the windows, so that it will be impossible to allege that there has been any provocation; to evacuate any houses or small village which may be occupied by soldiers in order to defend themselves, so that it cannot be alleged that civilians have fired; an act of violence committed by a single civilian would be a crime for which the law provides arrest and punishment. it is all the more reprehensible in that it might serve as a pretext for measures of repression resulting in bloodshed and pillage or the massacre of the innocent population with women and children. in the course of the afternoon we got our telegrams telling of the appropriation by congress of two and a half millions for the relief of americans in europe, and the despatch of the _tennessee_ with the money on board. now all hands want some of the money and a cabin on the _tennessee_ to go home in. ----, the wheat king, came into the legation this morning and was very grateful because we contrived to cash out of our own pockets a twenty-dollar express check for him. he was flat broke with his pocket bulging with checks and was living in a _pension_ at six francs a day. there is going to be a lot of discomfort and suffering unless some money is made available pretty soon. the worst of it is that this is the height of the tourist season and europe is full of school-teachers and other people who came over for short trips with meager resources carefully calculated to get them through their traveling and home again by a certain date. if they are kept long they are going to be in a bad way. one of our american colony here, heineman, had a goodly store of currency and had placed it at the disposal of the legation, to be used in cashing at face value travelers' checks and other similar paper which bankers will not touch now with a pair of tongs. shaler has taken charge of that end of the business and has all the customers he can handle. heineman will have to bide his time to get any money back on all his collection of paper, and his contribution has meant a lot to people who will never know who helped them. [illustration: her majesty, elisabeth, queen of the belgians _photograph by underwood & underwood_] [illustration: mr. brand whitlock, american minister to belgium] there was a meeting of the diplomatic corps last night to discuss the question of moving with the court to antwerp in certain eventualities. it is not expected that the government will move unless and until the germans get through liège and close enough to threaten louvain, which is only a few miles out of brussels. there was no unanimous decision on the subject, but if the court goes, the minister and i will probably take turns going up, so as to keep in communication with the government. there is not much we can accomplish there, and we have so much to do here that it will be hard for either of us to get away. it appeals to some of the colleagues to take refuge with a court in distress, but i can see little attraction in the idea of settling down inside the line of forts and waiting for them to be pounded with heavy artillery. liège seems to be holding out still. the belgians have astonished everybody, themselves included. it was generally believed even here that the most they could do was to make a futile resistance and get slaughtered in a foolhardy attempt to defend their territory against invasion. they have, however, held off a powerful german attack for three or four days. it is altogether marvelous. all papers have the head lines: "_les forts tiennent toujours._" in the course of the afternoon we arranged definitely that at three o'clock this morning there should be ample train accommodations ready at the gare du nord to get our germans out of the country. nasmith and i are to go down and observe the entire proceedings, so that we can give an authoritative report afterward. there is a german-american girl married to a german who lives across the street from me. i sent her word to-day that she and her husband and little boy had better get away while there was a way open. last evening while we were at dinner at the legation the three of them arrived in a panic. they had heard that there was a mob of ten thousand people about the german consulate about to break in and kill every german in the place. of course they could not be persuaded to go near the consulate or any of the other refuges. they wanted to settle down and stay at the legation. as the minister was on his way out to the meeting of the corps, the woman waylaid him, had got down on her knees and kissed his hand and groveled and had hysterics. he called for me and we got them quieted down. i finally agreed to go down to the consulate and take a look so as to reassure them. when i got there i found that the streets had been barred off by the military for two blocks in every direction, and that there was only a small crowd gathered to see what might happen. about as hostile as a lot of children. i got through the line of troops and in front of the consulate found several hundreds of the refugees who had been brought out to be marched to the cirque royale, where they could be more comfortably lodged until it was time to start for the train. they were surrounded by placid gardes civiques and were all frightened to death. they had had nothing to do for days but talk over the terrible fate that awaited them if the bloodthirsty population of brussels ever got at them; the stories had grown so that the crowd had hypnotised itself and was ready to credit any yarn. the authorities showed the greatest consideration they could under their orders. they got the crowd started and soon had them stowed away inside the cirque royale, an indoor circus near the consulate. once they got inside, a lot of them gave way to their feelings and began to weep and wail in a way that bade fair to set off the entire crowd. one of the officers came out to where i was and begged me to come in and try my hand at quieting them. i climbed up on a trunk and delivered an eloquent address to the effect that nobody had any designs on them; that the whole interest of the belgian government lay in getting them safely across the frontier; called their attention to the way the garde civique was working to make them comfortable, and to reassure them, promised that i would go with them to the station, put them on their trains, and see them safely off for the frontier. that particular crowd cheered up somewhat, but i could not get near enough to be heard by the entire outfit at one time, so one of the officers dragged me around from one part of the building to another until i had harangued the entire crowd on the instalment plan. they all knew that we were charged with their interests, and there was nearly a riot when i wanted to leave. they expected me to stay right there until they were taken away. i came back to the legation and told my people that the way was clear and that they had nothing to worry about. mrs. whitlock and miss larner had taken the family in hand, were petting the baby boy, and had them all cheered up to a sensible state of mind. i got them into the motor and whisked them down to the lines that were drawn about the block. here we were stopped and, sooner than undertake a joint debate with the sentry, i was for descending and going the rest of the way on foot. when a few of the idly curious gathered about the car, the woman nearly had a fit and scrambled back into the car almost in spasms. of course the scene drew some more people and we soon had a considerable crowd. i gathered up the boy--who was a beauty and not at all afraid--and took him out of the car. there was in the front rank an enormous belgian with a fiercely bristling beard. he looked like a sane sort, so i said to him: "_expliquez à ces gens que vous n'êtes pas des ogres pour croquer les enfants._" he growled out affably: "_mais non, on ne mange pas les enfants, ni leurs mères,_" and gathered up the baby and passed him about for the others to look at. my passengers then decided that they were not in such mortal danger and consented to get out. an officer i knew came along and offered to escort them inside. on the way in i ran into madame carton de wiart, wife of the minister of justice, who was there to do what she could to make things run smoothly. she is rabid about the germans, but is not for taking it out on these helpless people. and that seems to be the spirit of everybody, although it would be quite understandable if they showed these people some of their resentment. the gardes were bestirring themselves to look after their charges. some of them had contributed their pocket money and had bought chocolate and milk for the children and mineral waters and other odds and ends for those that needed them. and some of them are not very sure as to how long they will have pocket money for themselves. aside from the fright and the heat and the noise of that crowd in the cirque, it was all pretty depressing. during the night one old man died--probably from fright and shock--and a child was born. it was altogether a night of horror that could perfectly well have been avoided if people had only been able to keep calm and stay at home until time for the train to leave. having settled my charges and taken a look round, i went back to the legation and got off some telegrams and talked with bell over the telephone. he had a lot of news that we had not received and many errands to be done for people who had friends and relatives here. a little after midnight friend nasmith came along and we set out together for our rounds. we first took a look at one or two places and then went to my diggings for a sandwich and such rest as we could get before time to start on our round-up. soon after midnight, fortescue came rolling up in a cab looking for a place to lay his head. he had just come in from liège, where he had had a close view of yesterday morning's heavy fighting. he said the germans were pouring men in between the forts in solid formation, and that these sheep were being mown down by the belgians heavily intrenched between the forts. the germans are apparently determined to get some of their men through between the forts and are willing to pay the price, whatever it may be. to-day we hear that the germans have asked for an armistice of twenty-four hours to bury their dead. after we had hung upon his words as long as he could keep going, nasmith and i got under way to look after our exodus. the garde was keeping order at all places where there were refugees, and i was easy in my mind about that; my only worry was as to what might happen when we got our people out into the streets. promptly at three o'clock we began to march them out of the cirque. the hour was carefully chosen as the one when there were the least possible people in the streets; the evening crowds would have gone home and the early market crowd would hardly have arrived. a heavy guard was thrown around the people as they came out of the building and they were marched quickly and quietly down back streets to the gare du nord. i never saw such a body of people handled so quickly and yet without confusion. in the station four trains were drawn up side by side; as the stream of people began pouring into the station, it was directed to the first platform and the train was filled in a few minutes. at just the right moment the stream was deflected to the next platform, and so on until all four trains were filled. after starting the crowd into the station and seeing that there was going to be no trouble, i set off with an officer of the garde civique to see about other parties coming from some of the convents. they had not waited for us, but were already moving, so that when we got back to the station they tacked onto the end of the first party and kept the stream flowing. as fast as the trains were filled, the signal was given and they pulled out silently. i stood behind some of the garde civique and watched the crowd pour in. the gardes did not know who i was aside from the fact that my presence seemed to be countenanced by their officers, and so i overheard what they had to say. they were a decent lot and kept saying: _mais c'est malheureux tout de même! regardez donc ces pauvres gens. ce n'est pas de leur faute_, and a lot more of that sort of thing. it takes a pretty fine spirit to be able to treat the enemy that way. a lot of people in the passing crowd spotted me and stopped to say good-bye or called out as they went by. it was pathetic to see how grateful they were for the least kind word. i never saw such a pitiful crowd in my life and hope i never may again. they hurried along, looking furtively to right and left with the look of a rat that is in fear of his life. i have seldom pitied people more, for that sort of fear must be the most frightful there is--simple fear of physical violence. it was remarkable to see the different classes of people who were there. the manager of a bank of brussels had abandoned everything he owned and joined the crowd. there were several financiers of standing who felt obliged to flee with their families. and there were lots of servants who had lived here for years and were really belgian in everything but birth. just before the last train left some closed wagons came from the prisons to bring a lot of germans and wish them back on their own country in this way. and there was not an incident. here and there a prowling cab driver hooted, but there was not a stone thrown or any other violence. before the last of the procession got into the station, it was nearly six o'clock and broad daylight. we moved up the platform with major dandoy and watched the last train leave. the abbé upmans was there through it all, working like a trump, bucking the people up; he did not stop until the last train pulled out into the fresh summer morning, and then he stayed aboard after the train was in motion to shake hands with a little handful of downhearted people. he shook himself and heaved a sigh of relief--remarking quietly that his duty had required him to go through all this and look after his charges while they were in trouble--but that now he might have the satisfaction of being a belgian. i too heaved a sigh of relief, but it was because the mob was safely off and i need not worry about street fighting. dandoy had not had any sleep for nearly sixty hours, and though nasmith and i were pretty tired ourselves, we thought the least we could do was to take him home. his family is in liège and he has not been able to get any word from them. i offered to try a telephone message to the consul at liège, but have had no luck with it. none the less, dandoy has been most grateful. before we left the station they began bringing in the wounded and prisoners. most of the wounded i saw were not badly hurt, and were plucky and confident. most of them were supported or led by boy scouts who have taken off the military the full burden of messenger work and a lot of other jobs. they are being of real value, as they can do lots of useful things and thereby release grown men for service at the front. when i got back to the rue st. boniface--after stopping at the legation to see what had come in--had just time to throw myself down for a twenty-minute rest before the slave came in with my coffee. and then with no time for a tub, i had to hurry back and get into the harness. and none too soon, for the work began to pour in and i have been kept on the jump all day. if all goes well i hope to get to bed some time after midnight to-night. that means about three hours sleep and hard going during the past forty-eight hours. this morning the various american committees came to the legation to report on the measures they have taken for the protection of the colony in case of danger. i have been handed the pleasant task of chief of staff, with full authority to settle all matters affecting the protection of americans in case hostilities reach this part of the country, as seems may well be the case before many days. in harmony with my well-known policy of passing the buck--more politely known as executive ability--i impressed major boyer of the army, who is here for the time. he has set up an office at the headquarters of the committee and makes it his business to keep me fully posted as to what is going on there. first i started him out to look at the various houses that have been under discussion by the committee, so that he could decide as to their relative accessibility and general strategic advantages. he did this and made all sorts of arrangements tending to co-ordinate the work of the various sub-committees along the lines of the plan we drew up. it will be a great thing to have somebody who will act as buffer for all the detail and relieve me of just that much. germans who for one reason or another had not got away on our train kept turning up all day, and we kept sending them along to the consulate. late this afternoon the hard-working nasmith came in to say that there were already seven hundred of them gathered there. we shall have to have another special train for day after to-morrow morning, and hope to get most of the remaining germans out of harm's way by that time. the belgians continue to be a surprise. at last accounts they were still holding the forts at liège. the french appear to have established themselves along the meuse and to be ready for the attack when it comes. where the british troops are, nobody here seems to know--and, strange to say, they are not advertising their whereabouts. there are plenty of people who have had confidential tips from their cook's brother, who lives in the country and has seen them with his own eyes. according to such stories they are all landed at ostend and are being hurried across the country through malines. another story is that they have been shipped through to liège in closed freight cars to outwit german spies, and that they are now in the thick of it. according to still another of these confidential fellows, they have been shipped through brussels itself in the night and we were unaware when they passed under our very windows. you can choose any story you like and get an audience with it these days. to-day's mouth-to-mouth news is that the french have fought a big battle near st. hubert and repulsed the germans with heavy losses. this has about as much confirmation as the reports as to the whereabouts of the british army. to-day trains have been coming in all day with wounded from liège, and the lot--belgian and german--are being cared for by the red cross. the palace has been turned into a hospital, and the queen has taken over the supervision of it. nearly every big hotel in town has turned its dining-room into a ward, and guests are required to have their meals in their rooms. some of the big department stores have come up finely in outfitting hospitals and workrooms, clearing out their stocks, and letting profits go hang for the time being. the international harvester company cleared its offices here and installed twenty-five beds--informing the red cross that it would take care of the running expenses as long as the war lasts. the hospital facilities have grown far faster than the wounded have come in, and there is an element of humour in the rush of eager women who go to the station and almost fight for the wounded as they are brought off the trains. i impressed the services of several people to help out to-day, but the most valuable are two crack stenographers who have been turned over to us by business firms here. by dint of labouring with them all morning and afternoon and seeing as few people as possible, i have managed to clean up my desk, so that i can go to bed with a clear conscience to-night when i have got through my call to london. * * * * * _brussels, august , ._--to-day our new organisation is working like clockwork. in cruger's formerly calm chancery there are five typewriters pounding away, and at the committee rooms there are swarms of people working to take care of odds and ends. monsieur de leval has a table at one side of my room, and the committee relieves us of the people who want information and those who want to talk. * * * * * _sunday, august th._--i got this far when the roof fell in last night. during the afternoon yesterday i got out to attend to a few odds and ends of errands--and, as always happens when i go out, things began to happen. i came back to find the minister and de leval wrestling with a big one. a curious telegram had come from the hague, quoting the text of a message which the german government desired us to present to the belgian government. here it is in translation, a truly german message: the fortress of liège has been taken by assault after a brave defense. the german government most deeply regret that bloody encounters should have resulted from the attitude of the belgian government toward germany. germany is not coming as an enemy into belgium; it is only through the force of circumstances that she has had, owing to the military measures of france, to take the grave decision of entering belgium and occupying liège as a base for her further military operations. now that the belgian army has upheld the honour of its arms by its heroic resistance to a very superior force, the german government beg the king of the belgians and the belgian government to spare belgium further horrors of war. the german government are ready for any compact with belgium which can be reconciled with their conflicts with france. germany once more gives her solemn assurance that it is not her intention to appropriate belgian territory to herself and that such an intention is far from her thoughts. germany is still ready to evacuate belgium as soon as the state of war will allow her to do so. of course we were loath to present anything of the sort, but the thing had to be handled carefully. after some pow-wowing i went over to the foreign office with the message and saw baron van der elst. i told him seriously that we had received a very remarkable telegram which purported to contain a message from the german government; that it bore no marks of authenticity, and that we were not sure as to its source; but that we felt that we should be lacking in frankness if we did not show him what we had received. he seized the message and read it through, his amazement and anger growing with each line. when he had finished, he gasped for a minute or two and then led me into the next room to the minister for foreign affairs, m. davignon, to whom he translated the telegram aloud. when they had finished discussing the message and i had a pretty clear idea as to the belgian attitude toward the proposal--not that i had had any real doubt--i asked him: "if the american minister had delivered this message what would have been its reception?" without an instant's hesitation, m. davignon replied: "we should have resented his action and should have declined to receive the communication." that was all i wanted to know and i was ready to go back to the legation. i took baron van der elst home in the car and had the pleasure of seeing him explain who he was to several gardes civiques, who held up the car from time to time. he was very good-natured about it, and only resented the interruptions to what he was trying to say. his son is in the army and he has no news of him. as he got out of the car he remarked that if it were not so horrible, the mere interest of events would be enough to make these days wonderful. when i got back to the legation and reported the result of my visit, we went to work and framed a telegram to washington, giving the text of the german message, explaining that we had nothing to prove its authenticity and adding that we had reason to believe that the belgian government would not accept it. the same message was sent to the hague. this pleasant exercise with the code kept us going until four in the morning. eugène, the wonder chauffeur, had no orders, but curled up on the front seat of his car and waited to take me home. he was also on hand when i got up a couple of hours later, to take me back to the legation. chauffeurs like that are worth having. when i came in this morning the place was packed with germans. some cheerful idiot had inserted a notice in the papers that all germans were to be run out of the country, and that they should immediately apply to the american legation. as the flood poured in, leval got on the telephone to the sûreté publique and found out the true facts. then we posted a notice in the hall. but that was not enough. as is always the case with humans, they all knew better than to pay any attention to what the notice said and each one of the hundred or more callers had some reason to insist on talking it over with somebody. when they once got hold of one of us, it was next to impossible to get away without listening to the whole story of their lives. all they had to do was to go down to the german consulate-general, where we had people waiting to tell them all there was to know. it was hard to make them realise that by taking up all our time in this way, they were preventing us from doing things that were really necessary to serve them in more important matters. i said as much to several of them, who were unusually long-winded, but every last one replied that his case was different and that he must be heard out at length. our refugee train left this morning and took eight hundred more of the poor people. where they all turn up from, i don't know, but each day brings us a fresh and unexpected batch. many of the cases are very sad, but if we stop to give sympathy in every deserving case, we should never get anything practical done for them. to-day's budget of news is that the french have got to mulhouse and have inflicted a decisive defeat upon the germans. according to reports, the alsatians went mad when the french troops crossed the frontier for the first time in forty-four years. they tore up and burned the frontier posts and generally gave way to transports of joy. i would have given a lot to see the crowds in paris. a letter came yesterday from omer, the legation footman, who is at tirlemont with the artillery. he said he had not yet been hit, although he had heard the bullets uncomfortably near. he wound up by saying that he had _beaucoup de courage_--and i believe him. it seems that some of the german troops did not know what they were attacking and thought they were in france. when brought here as prisoners, some of them expressed surprise to find that paris was so small. they seem to have thought that they were in france and the goal not far away. the king to-day received through other channels the message from the emperor of germany in regard to peace, which we declined to transmit. i have not seen its text, but hear it is practically identical with the message sent us, asking the king to name his conditions for the evacuation of liège and the abandonment of his allies, so that germany may be entirely free of belgian opposition in her further operations against france. i have heard among belgians only the most indignant comments on the proposal and look forward with interest to seeing the answer of the king, which should appear to-morrow.[ ] [footnote : the belgian reply, which was sent on august th through the netherlands minister for foreign affairs, is as follows: the proposal made to us by the german government repeats the proposal which was formulated in the ultimatum of august nd. faithful to her international obligations, belgium can only reiterate her reply to that ultimatum, the more so as since august rd, her neutrality has been violated, a distressing war has been waged on her territory, and the guarantors of her neutrality have responded loyally and without delay to her appeal.] the town is most warlike in appearance. there is hardly a house in the town that does not display a large belgian flag. it looks as though it were bedecked for a fiesta. here and there are french and british flags, but practically no others. every motor in town flies a flag or flags at the bow. we fly our own, but none the less, the sentries, who are stationed at all the corners dividing the chief quarters of the town and before all the ministries and other public buildings, stop us and demand the papers of the chauffeur and each passenger in the car. we have passports and all sorts of other papers, but that was not enough, and we finally had to be furnished by the ministry for foreign affairs with a special _laisser-passer_. this afternoon i slipped out for a breath of air and was held up and told that even that was no good until i had had it viséd by the military authorities. it is said that these strict measures are the result of the discovery of a tremendous spy system here. according to the stories which are told, but of which we have little confirmation, spies are being picked up all the time in the strangest disguises. the gossip and "inside news" that is imparted to us is screamingly funny--some of it. yesterday, according to one of these yarns, four nuns arriving at the gare du midi were followed for some time and finally arrested. when searched, they proved to be young german officers who had adopted that dress in order to conceal carrier pigeons which they were about to deliver in brussels. wireless outfits are said to have been discovered in several houses belonging to germans. i cannot remember all the yarns that are going about, but even if a part of them are true, it should make interesting work for those who are looking for the spies. the regular arrests of proven spies have been numerous enough to turn every belgian into an amateur spy-catcher. yesterday afternoon burgomaster max was chased for several blocks because somebody raised a cry of "_espion_" based on nothing more than his blond beard and chubby face. i am just as glad not to be fat and blond these days. yesterday afternoon a garde civique came in with the announcement that the chancellor and clerks of the german legation, who were locked up there, were in dire distress; that a baby had been born the day before to the wife of the concièrge, and that all sorts of troubles had come upon them. leval, who had announced that his heart was infinitely hardened against all germans, was almost overcome by the news of a suffering baby and ran like a lamp-lighter to get around there and help out. when we arrived, however, we found them all beaming and happy. the baby had been born some days before and the mother was up and about before the legation had been closed. their meals are sent in from a neighbouring restaurant, and they are perfectly contented to bide their time as they are. they had orders from berlin not to leave the legation, so it made little difference to them whether they were blockaded by the belgian authorities or not. i shall drop in every day or two and see whether there is anything i can do to lighten their gloom. of course their telephone was cut off and they are not allowed to receive mail or papers, so they are consumed with curiosity about developments. it was, of course, necessary to refuse to answer their questions about what was going on and to make assurance doubly sure, i had the garde civique stand by me while i talked with them. as things shape up now it looks as though we were the only life-sized country that could keep neutral for long, and as a consequence all the representatives of the countries in conflict are keeping us pretty well posted in the belief that they may have to turn their interests over to us. we shall probably soon have to add austrian interests to the german burdens we now have. if there is a german advance, some of the allied ministers will no doubt turn their legations over to us. the consequence is that we may see more of the inside of things than anybody else. now, at least, we are everybody's friends. this is undoubtedly the most interesting post in europe for the time being, and i would not be anywhere else for the wealth of the indies. * * * * * _brussels, aug. , ._--the belgian government has finally got out a proclamation, urging german subjects to leave the country, but stating that in the event of a general order of expulsion, certain classes of people will be allowed to remain, such as, very old persons, the sick, governesses, nurses, etc., and even others for whom belgians of undoubted reputation are willing to vouch. there are quantities of germans who have lived here all their lives, who are really more belgian than german, have no interest in the present conflict and are threatened with financial ruin if they leave their interests here, and it is pretty hard on them if they are to be obliged to get out, but they are only a few of the many, many thousands who are suffering indirectly from the effects of the war. it is not any easier for the manufacturers in the neighbourhood of liège, who will see the work of many years wiped out by the present hostilities. some inspired idiot inserted in the papers yesterday the news that the legation was attending to the repatriation of german subjects and the consequence is that our hallways have been jammed with germans all day, making uncouth noises and trying to argue with us as to whether or not we are in charge of german interests. the mere fact that we deny it is not enough for them! i suppose that the hallways will continue to sound like a celebration of kaisersgeburtstag until we have sent off the last of them. this morning a large, badly frightened darkey came in looking for a passport. he awaited his turn very quietly, and grew visibly more and more apprehensive at the long series of questions asked of the people ahead of him. when he moved up to the desk, the first question was: "where do you want to go?" "jes as fur as the stature of libbuty." "are you an american citizen?" "me? lawd bless yuh! no, i ain't nuthin' but a plain ole baltimoh coon." then they gave him the usual blank to fill out. one of the questions on it was: "why do you desire to return to the united states?" without any hesitation he wrote: "i am very much interested in my home at the present time." everybody here is intensely curious as to what has become of the british army; the most generally accepted story is that troops have been landed at calais, dunkirk and ostend, but although this is generally believed, there seems to be absolutely no official confirmation of it. everyone seems to take it for granted that the british will turn up in good form when the right time comes, and that when they do turn up, it will have a good effect. if they can get to the scene of hostilities without everybody knowing about it, it increases by just so much their chances of success and anyone that knows anything at all is keeping mum and hoping that no british soldier will stumble over a chair and make a noise and give away the line of march. our letters from london indicate intense satisfaction with the appointment of kitchener and confidence that he will get a maximum of service out of the forces at his command. we have been looking from one moment to another for news of a big naval engagement, but suppose the british navy is somewhere waiting for a chance to strike. colonel fairholme, the british military attaché, has made a number of trips to the front and reports that the morale of the belgian troops is excellent, that the organisation is moving like clockwork, and, as he expresses it, that "every man has his tail up." this evening i went over to the british legation to see the colonel, and learn whatever news he had that he could give me. there was a great scurrying of servants and the porter was not to be found in the chancery. the door to grant-watson's room was ajar, so i tapped, and, on being bade in a gruff voice to "come in," walked into the presence of a british officer in field uniform, writing at webber's desk. he was dusty and unshaven, and had evidently come in from a long ride. i promptly backed out with apologies and was hustled out of the place by kidston, who came running out from the minister's office. i asked him if the rest of the army was hidden about the chancery, and his only reply was to tell me to run along and find the navy, which they themselves had not been able to locate. they evidently have all they need to know about the whereabouts of the army, but have succeeded in keeping it dark. c.m. came over to the legation this afternoon to get some books for her mother. we fixed her up and put her in her car, when she announced that on the way over she had been arrested and taken to the police station as a german. people are pointing out spies on the street, and anybody that is blond and rosy-cheeked stands a fine show of being arrested every time he goes out. she had impressed this car with a suspected number and paid for it by being made into a jail bird. my day's work began with a visit to the german legation. the government asked me to secure and return the number for the automobile of von stumm, the german counselor. i had his machine put in the legation the day after he left, although he had offered it to me. i presented myself at the door of the legation with the note from the foreign office, asking for the number, but was refused admittance by the gardes civiques. they were very nice, but stated that they had the strictest orders not to let anybody come in or out, and that they had not discretionary powers. at a visit at the foreign office later in the day, i told of my experience and asked that i be furnished by the military authorities with a _laisser-passer_ which would enable me to enter the legation whenever i so desire. this afternoon i received a formidable document from the military governor which gives me free passage--so far as i can make out--to enter the legation in any way save by telephone or telegraph. i shall go around to-morrow and rub it in on the gardes civiques. the question of passes has been changed and made more strict each day, and has got to be a sort of joke. i first used my card, that was declared insufficient almost from the first. then i tried my _permis de circulation_, which was issued to allow me to get into the railway stations without paying. that was good for a day or so. then i tried my passport (as a bearer of despatches), and that got me through once or twice. then the minister for foreign affairs gave me his personal card with a _laisser-passer_ in his own hand, but that was soon turned down on the ground that the military authorities are in control and the civil authorities cannot grant passes. finally the government has got out a special form of _laisser-passer_ for the diplomats, and it may prove to be good--although it is not signed by the military authorities. i have taken the precaution of keeping all the aforementioned documents and some others on my person, and am curious to see how soon i shall have to have some other. the garde civique is no longer content with holding up the car every few blocks and examining the _pièce d'identité_ of the chauffeur; they must now be satisfied as to the bona fides of each passenger. doing some errands around town this afternoon i was held up and looked over eleven times. i now pull out all the documents i own and hand out the bunch each time i am stopped. the garde then, in most cases, treats the matter rather humorously, and the next time i pass lets me go on without going through the whole performance again. in front of the german legation, however, which we nearly always pass on our way to or from town, we are invariably held up and looked into seriously. i know most of the people on the different shifts by this time and wish them well each time they look at the well-remembered papers. i shall keep the credentials and any others that may eventually be added to them, and perhaps some day i shall be able to paper a room with them. in the course of the morning there were several matters of interest which made it necessary for me to go to the foreign office. all their messengers are now gone, and in their place there is a squad of boy scouts on duty. i had a long conference with van der elst, the director-general of the ministry. in the course of our pow-wow it was necessary to send out communications to various people and despatch instructions in regard to several small matters. each time van der elst would ring, for what he calls a "scoots," and hand him the message with specific instructions as to just how it should be handled. the boys were right on their toes, and take great pride in the responsibility that is given them. some of them have bicycles and do the messenger work through the town. those who have not, run errands in the different buildings and attend to small odd jobs. the red cross is very much in evidence. i went around to the headquarters after my call at the foreign office, to make a little contribution of my own and to leave others for members of our official family. the headquarters is at the house of count jean de mérode, the grand marshal of the court. the entrance hall was filled with little tables where women sat receiving contributions of money and supplies. i had to wait some time before i could get near enough to one of the dozen or more tables, to hand in my contributions. this is the headquarters, but there are any number of branch offices, and they are said to be equally busy. the society has been quite overcome by the way people have come forward with gifts, and they have been almost unable to get enough people together to handle them as they come in. the big cafés down-town nearly all have signs out, announcing that on a certain day or days they will give their entire receipts to the red cross or to one of the several funds gotten up to take care of those suffering directly or indirectly from the war. many of the small shops have signs out of the same sort, announcing that the entire receipts for all articles sold on a certain day will be handed to one of the funds. they must have gathered an enormous amount of money, and i don't doubt they will need it. the wounded are being brought in in great numbers and many buildings are quite filled with them. in nearly every street there is a red cross flag or two, to indicate a temporary hospital in a private house or a hotel or shop, and people are stationed in the street to make motors turn aside or slow down. there are almost no motors on the street except those on official business or red cross work; and, because of the small amount of traffic, these few go like young cyclones, keeping their sirens going all the time. the chauffeurs love it and swell around as much as they are allowed to do. i pray with ours now and then, but even when i go out to the barber, he seems to believe that he is on his way to a fire and cuts loose for all he is worth. quantities of german prisoners continue to be brought here for safe keeping, and many of them are taken on down to bruges. among those removed there for unusually safe keeping yesterday was a nephew of the emperor. judging from the stories printed in the _london times_ which arrived to-night, the german government aroused great enthusiasm by playing up the capture of liège. the germans evidently were led to believe they had gained a great victory; whereas the forts, which are the only object of the campaign, are still intact. the city itself is undefended, and there is no great military reason why the belgians should not allow it to be taken. the german troops that had invested the town have not taken over the administration, but appear to be confining themselves to requisitioning provisions and supplies, of which they are in need. the berlin papers made a great hurrah about the capture of the citadel, which is a purely ornamental old fort without military importance. from what they tell me, i judge that you could back an american army mule up against it and have him kick it down without the expense of bombarding it. it sounds well in the despatches, however. eight french aeroplanes sailed over the city this afternoon, probably coming from namur. one of the machines landed on the aviation field at the edge of the city, and the aviator was nearly torn to shreds by admirers who wanted to shake him by the hand and convince him that he was really welcome to brussels. it is said that some of these fellows are going to lie in wait for the zeppelins which have been sailing over brussels by night to terrify the population. we hear that one of the belgian army aviators did attack a zeppelin and put it out of business, bringing to earth and killing all the crew. he himself went to certain death in the attempt. the afternoon papers say that in paris the name of the rue de berlin has been changed to rue de liège. here the rue d'allemagne has been changed to rue de liège and the rue de prusse to rue du général leman, the defender of liège. the time abounds in _beaux gestes_ and they certainly have their effect on the situation. kitchener says that the war may last for some time. at first it seemed to be taken for granted that it could not last long, as the financial strain would be too great and the damage done so enormous that one side or the other would have to yield to avoid national bankruptcy. * * * * * _brussels, august , ._--our halls have been filled with germans and americans, the latter in smaller numbers and the former in larger crowds than ever. they are gradually being got out of the country, however, and those who are going to remain are being induced to go to the right authorities, so that their troubles will soon be settled to a large extent, and they will not be coming here so much. we are getting off hundreds of telegrams about the whereabouts and welfare of americans and others here and in other parts of europe; this work alone is enough to keep a good-sized staff working, and we have them hard at it. this afternoon i went over to the british legation and saw colonel fairholme, the military attaché, for a few minutes. he was just back from a trip out into the wilds with a party of british officers and was so clearly rushed that i had not the heart to detain him, although i was bursting with curiosity about the news he evidently had concealed about him. he appreciates the lenient way i have treated him, and goes out of his way to let me have anything that he can. while i was out we saw a german monoplane which sailed over the city not very high up. the newspapers have published a clear description of the various aeroplanes that are engaged in the present war, so that nobody will be foolish enough to fire at those of the allies when they come our way. this one was clearly german, and the garde civique and others were firing at it with their rifles, but without any success. our legation guard, which consists of about twenty-five men, banged away in a perfect fusillade, but the airman was far too high for them to have much chance of hitting him. yesterday afternoon when the german biplanes passed over the city, a belgian officer gave chase in a monoplane, but could not catch them. contests of this sort are more exciting to the crowd than any fancy aviation stunts that are done at exhibitions, and the whole town turns out whenever an aeroplane is sighted. this morning i presented myself at the german legation with the imposing _laisser-passer_ furnished me by the military governor of brabant, but the guard on duty at the door had not received orders to let me in and turned me down politely but definitely. i took the matter up with the foreign office and said that i wanted it settled, so that i would not have any more fruitless trips over there. at five an officer from the État-major of the garde civique came for me in a motor and took me over to the legation, to give orders in my presence that whenever i appeared i was to be allowed to pass without argument. as i got into the motor i noticed that the soldier who was driving the car looked at me with a twinkle in his eye, but paid no attention to him. when i took a second look i saw that it was g. b----, with whom i had played golf several times. i am constantly being greeted by people in uniform whom i had known at one time or another. it is hard to recognise them in uniform. so far as operations in belgium are concerned, we may not have anything big for some days to come; but, in the meantime, work of preparation is being pushed rapidly and supplies and reinforcements are being rushed to the front. half the shops in town are closed, and all the people are working either in the field or taking care of the wounded or prisoners. there are said to be some eight thousand german prisoners in belgium, and it is some work to take care of them all. * * * * * _brussels, august , ._--a few minutes' gap, so i seize my pen to scratch off a line. last night when i left here i rode up the rue bélliard on my way home. i was stopped in front of the german legation by the guard which was placed across the street. they examined the chauffeur's papers carefully and then looked over mine. they compared the tintype on my _laisser-passer_ with the classic lineaments of the original, and after looking wise, told me to move on. when we got up to the boulevard there was great cheering, and we came out on a thin file of french cavalry, which was on its way through town from the gare du midi. the crowd was mad with enthusiasm and the soldiers, although plainly very tired, pulled their strength together every now and then to cry, "_vive la belgique!_" there were crowds on the boulevards, waiting for news from _là bas_. a few french officers were going about in cabs, and each time that one appeared the crowd went mad. the officers were smiling and saluting, and every now and then one stood up in his place and cheered for belgium. in twenty minutes or so, i saw that we could get through, so started for home and bed. when we got to the porte de namur, we heard frenzied cheering down by the porte louise. the chauffeur is a regular old war horse who does not want to miss a trick. he cast a questioning glance over his shoulder; and, catching my nod, put on full speed down the boulevard until we came to a solid crowd banked along the line of march of more french cavalry. the people in the crowd had bought out the nearby shops of cigars and cigarettes and chocolate and small flasks of brandy, and as each man rode by, he was loaded up with as much as he could carry. the défilé had been going on for over an hour, but the enthusiasm was still boundless. all the cafés around the porte louise sent out waiters and waitresses with trays of beer to meet the troops as they came into the avenue louise. each man would snatch a glass of beer, swallow it as he rode along and hand it back to others who were waiting with empty trays a hundred yards or so down the line of march. the men were evidently very tired, and it was an effort for them to show any appreciation of their reception, but they made the effort and croaked out, "_vive la belgique!_" the french and british troops can have anything they want in this country. they will be lucky, though, if they escape without acute indigestion. yesterday afternoon, as i was coming out of the chancery of the british legation, a little cockney messenger in uniform came snorting into the court on a motor-cycle. as he got off he began describing his experiences, and wound up his story of triumphant progress--"and when i got to the boulevards i ran down a blighter on a bicycle and the crowd gave me an ovation!" more troubles to-day about the german legation. the État-major gave orders that nobody but i should be allowed to enter. the laymen who have the onerous duty of protecting the legation held a council of war, and decided that this precluded them from allowing food to go in; so when the waitress from the grand veneur with the lunch of the crowd inside came along, she was turned back and told i should have to go with her. i went around to the legation and fixed it up with the guard. a few minutes ago the waitress came back with word that more bread and butter was wanted, but that the guard had changed and that she was again barred out. monsieur de leval and i went around again and fortunately found some one from the État-major who was there for inspection. he promised to get proper orders issued and now we hope that we shall not be obliged to take in every bite under convoy. there are ominous reports to-day of a tremendous german advance in this direction, and it is generally believed that there will be a big engagement soon near haelen, which is on the way from liège to tirlemont. communications are cut, so i don't quite see where all the news comes from. * * * * * _after dinner._--news sounds better to-night. although there is nothing very definite, the impression is that the belgians have come out victorious to-day in an engagement near tirlemont. i hope to get some news later in the evening. during a lull in the proceedings this afternoon, i got in blount's car and went out to brooks, to see his horses and arrange to have him send them in for our use every afternoon. he came over here a few months ago to spend the rest of his life in peace and quiet. it looks as though he wouldn't get much of either. the avenue de tervueren, a broad boulevard with a parkway down the centre, is the most direct way into town from the scene of the fighting, and there has been a general belief that the germans might rush a force into town in motors that way. in order to be ready for anything of the sort, a barricade has been made of heavy tram cars placed at right angles across the road, so that they do not absolutely stop traffic, but compel motors to slow down and pick their way, thus: [illustration ================================================================= +---+ +---+ +---+ / / / / / / / / / / / / +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ / / / / / / / / / / / / +---+ +---+ +---+ =================================================================] it is close work getting through, and can only be done at a snail's pace. the latest news we have is that the nearest large german force is just miles away from brussels. * * * * * _brussels, august , ._--last night, after dining late, i went out to find my friend, colonel fairholme, and see if he had any news. he had just finished his day's work and wanted some air. fortunately i had the car along and so took him out for a spin to the end of the avenue louise. we walked back, followed by the car, and had a nightcap at the porte de namur. the colonel has been going to louvain every day, to visit the general staff and report to the king as the military representative of an ally. the first time he arrived in a motor with gen. de selliers de moranville, the chief of staff. as they drew into the square in front of the headquarters, they saw that everything was in confusion and a crowd was gathered to watch arrivals and departures. when their car stopped, a large thug, mistaking him for a german officer, reached in and dealt him a smashing blow on the mouth with his fist, calling him a "_sal alboche_" by way of good measure. he had to go in and report to the king, streaming with blood--a pleasant beginning. he is just getting back to a point where he can eat with ease and comfort. life will be easier for some of the attachés when people get used to khaki uniforms and learn that some do not cover germans. the day the general staff left for the front, the colonel went to see them off. he was called by one of the high officers who wanted to talk to him, and was persuaded to get on the train and ride as far as the gare du luxembourg, sending his car through town to meet him there. word came that the king wanted to see the chief of staff, so he asked the colonel to take him to the palace. when the crowd saw a british officer in uniform and decorations come out of the station accompanied by the chief of staff and two aides, they decided that it was the commander-in-chief of the british army who was arriving and gave him a wonderful ovation. even the papers published it as authentic. he was tremendously fussed at the idea of sailing under false colors, but the rest of us have got some amusement out of it. stories are coming in here about the doings of the german troops. according to reports they came into hasselt and took the money in the town treasury and the local bank--some two and a half millions altogether. the story, whether true or not, has caused a great deal of ill feeling here. there is another story that the commanding officer of one of the forts around liège was summoned to parley with a white flag. when he climbed on top of his turret, he was shot through both legs and only saved by his men pulling him to cover. of course there are always a great many stories of this sort scattered broadcast at the beginning of every war, but in this instance they seem to be generally believed and are doing the germans no good at all. mlle. d----, one of our stenographers, has a brother in the french army. she has not heard a word from him since the war began, and had no idea where he was. yesterday a small detachment of french cavalry came along the street. she ran out, called to one of them that her brother was in the ----, and asked where it was. they told her it had not yet been in action and she has been walking on air ever since. but she could not telegraph the good news to her family, for fear of betraying military movements. roger de leval, the -year-old son of our friend, practically broke off diplomatic relations with his father and mother because he was not allowed to be a boy scout. his father was at the legation, his mother at the red cross, and he had to stay at home with his governess. he felt so badly about it that we had monsieur de leval register him as a b.s., and have him assigned to special duty at the legation. he attends in full uniform and carries messages and papers from my room to the other offices and vice versa. when we go out he rides on the box with the chauffeur and salutes all the officers we pass. they are used to it now and return the salutes very gravely. the youngster now feels that he is really doing something, but is outraged because we go along. he wants to undertake some of the big missions alone. princesse charles de ligne was in this morning. her son, prince henri, head of that branch of the house, has enlisted as a private in the aviation corps. there seemed to be no way for him to have a commission at once, so he put his star of the legion of honor on his private's uniform and was off to the front yesterday. that's the spirit. comtesse d'a---- was at their home in the grand duchy when war broke out. no news had been received from her, and her husband was worried sick. we got a message through via the hague and got word back this morning that she was safe and well. i went up to tell him the good news. he was presiding over some sort of committee meeting, and the maid said i could not see him. i insisted that she should announce me and after some argument she did. as the door opened, the buzz subsided and she announced: "_monsieur le secrétaire de la légation d'amérique_." there was a terrible cry of fear and the old count came running out white as a sheet. before he had come in sight i called out, "_les nouvelles sont bonnes!_" the old chap collapsed on my shoulder and cried like a baby, saying over and over: "_j'étais si inquiet: j'étais si inquiet!_" he soon pulled himself together and showed me out to the car with the honours of war. we send and receive hundreds of telegrams of inquiry and shoot them through in a perfectly routine way. it is only now and then that we come to a realising sense of the human side of it all. this afternoon i went over and made inquiry as to the well-being of those who are cooped up in the german legation. they are getting along perfectly well, but are consumed with curiosity as to the progress of the war. the government has not allowed them to have any letters or newspapers, and they are completely in the dark as to what is going on. i felt like a brute to refuse them, but could not very well do anything against the wishes of the government. they were decent enough not to embarrass me by insisting, which made it harder to refuse. the son of hofrath grabowsky, the chancellor of the legation, is secretary of the german consulate at antwerp. he came down here to say good-bye to his father the day war was declared, and lingered so long that he was cooped up with the others. he is liable for military service in germany, and having left his post at antwerp at such a time, he must face a court martial whenever he does get home. there are five or six people there, including the wife of the old hofrath, who are firmly convinced that they will all be murdered in their beds. it is my daily job to comfort them and assure them that nobody now here is giving any thought to them. last night i dined with colonel fairholme and kidston, the first secretary of the legation. we went to the usually crowded terrace of the palace hotel, where we had no difficulty in getting a table in the best part of the balcony. the few other diners were nearly all colleagues or officers. military motors and motor-cycles came and went, and orderlies dashed up on horseback and delivered messages; it looked like war. the proprietor of the hotel, who has given one hundred thousand francs to the red cross, rolled up in his motor from a trip to the front and got out with an armful of prussian helmets and caps, which he had collected. a crowd gathered round the motor and displayed as much pleasure as though he had brought in a whole german army corps. the novelty of these souvenirs has not yet worn off. women with big tin boxes came by every few minutes to collect for the red cross or some other fund. finally the colonel protested, and asked if there was no way of buying immunity. that was quickly arranged by giving up five francs, in return for which we were given tags of immunity. dozens of collectors came by during the evening, but our ostentatiously displayed tags saved us. we ate at our leisure--out of doors--the first unhurried and unharried meal i have had for days, and then got back to the legation. this afternoon the minister and i went over to see sir francis villiers, the british minister, and spent half an hour with him. he is evidently all ready to make a quick get-away whenever it looks as though the germans would come to brussels. a number of the other diplomats are also prepared to depart. those who are accredited at the hague will probably go there, and the others will go to antwerp. we are too busy here to enjoy the luxury of spending a month undergoing a siege, so no matter what happens, we shall probably not go along. the minister and i shall take turns from time to time, going up to pay our respects. having some things to talk over, the minister and i went for a drive after our visit, and it was well we did, for when we got back, we found the hall filled with callers. as the tourists and the germans leave, the war correspondents begin to come in, and in a few days we shall probably have the place full of them. i heard to-day that there were of them in london, and that most of them want to come on here. maxwell, the british correspondent, told me this afternoon that he looked for a big engagement at diest to-morrow or the day after. he has been down through the fighting zone ever since the trouble began, and probably knows more about pending operations than any other civilian. while i was writing, z---- came in, suffering from a bad case of panic. he announced as he burst into my office that the germans were within kilometers of brussels and were going to occupy the city this evening. he was fairly trembling, but got indignant because i denied it, having just talked with colonel fairholme and with maxwell, both of whom had no more than come back from the front. the fact that it had been published in the _soir_ was enough for him, and although the news had made him nervous, he hated to have his perfectly good sensation spoiled. the authorities, so as to be prepared for any eventuality, have this evening published a communiqué to impress upon the population the necessity for abstaining from any participation in the hostilities in case of an occupation. it advises everybody to stay indoors and avoid any words or actions that might give an excuse for measures against non-combatants. * * * * * _august th._--last night i dined with the colonel, grant-watson, and kidston at the palace. i was looking forward to a lot of interesting talk, as the colonel had just come from the front. just as we were settling down to our conversational marathon, up walked ----, the ---- chargé and bade himself to dine with us. he is strongly pro-german in his sympathies, and, of course, that put a complete damper on conversation. we talked about everything on earth save the one thing we were interested in, and sat tight in the hope that he would move on. not only did he stay, but after a time the ---- first secretary came and joined us, and we gave up in despair. the only result of the evening was that i gathered the impression that there is a good deal of apprehension on the part of the allies as to the result of the next big battle, which may occur any day now. the germans are undoubtedly pretty near now, perhaps a good deal nearer than we know. just before dinner the war office announced that there would be no further official communiqués as to the operations. that looks as though they were battening down the hatches for the next big engagement. yesterday's papers announced france's declaration of war against austria. this morning comes the news that montenegro has also declared her intention of wiping austria off the map. our daily query now is--"who has declared war to-day?" every minute we are not hammering away at our work, we sit around and talk of the latest developments. these things make such an impression that i can quite understand old veterans boring everybody to death with reminiscences. i see some forty years from now that people will be saying: "i don't want to let old man gibson get hold of me and tell me all about the war of !" this morning i received a telegram from richard harding davis, who wants to join the belgian forces. we are trying to arrange it this morning, and i expect to see him any day now. we are going to have a lot of newspaper men in our midst. i met two more of them last night. none of them who have so far appeared speak any language but english, but they are all quite confident that they can get all the news. i look next for palmer and jimmy hare and the rest of the crowd. maxwell, the _telegraph_ correspondent, yesterday showed me a photograph of a french bulldog that has been doing good service at liège. his master, who is an officer in one of the forts, fastens messages in his collar and shoves him out onto the glacis. the puppy makes a blue streak for home and, as he is always sent at night, has managed so far to avoid the germans. his mistress brings him back to the edge of town and starts him back for the fort. the belgian troops have so far had to dam the flood of germans with little or no help from the allies. the kaiser expected, so far as we can make out, to sweep through belgium with little opposition and be fighting in france in three days! the belgians have knocked his schedule out by twelve days already, and there is no telling how much longer they may hold out. "my military advisers" tell me that in view of the great necessity for a quick campaign in france, so as to get the army back in time to head off the russian flood when it begins to pour over the northern frontier, the loss of this much time is equivalent to the loss of the first great battle. the moral effect is also tremendous. the minister to-day had a card from omer which began: "_j'ai l'honneur de faire savoir a votre excellence que je suis encore toujours vivant!_" _encore toujours_ sounds as though he were pretty emphatically alive. we were all relieved to hear from him. villalobar, the spanish minister, came in after dinner--just to visit. his household is greatly upset. his cook and three footmen have gone to the war. he apologised for not inviting us to dine during these depressing days, but said he could not, as his cook was a lucretia di borgia. he is confident that the war is going to knock brussels life into a cocked hat this winter. so many of the families will be in mourning, and so much poverty will come as a result of the war. life goes on so normally now, save for the little annoyances of living under martial law, that it is hard to realise that such great changes are imminent. * * * * * _brussels, august , ._--this morning i walked out of my office and bumped into frederick palmer. i had no idea he was so near. two weeks ago he was in vera cruz, but made a bee-line for brussels at the first news of impending war. in the breathing spaces during the morning i got in a little visiting with him. he stayed to lunch at the legation and so did i. in the afternoon i took him to the foreign office and the war office and the gendarmerie, and got him outfitted with passes, so that he can make a try to get towards the front. as a measure of precaution i added another _laisser-passer_ to my collection, with a beautiful photograph on it. the collection grows every day. i went to the palace to dine with palmer and blount. we had hardly got seated when in walked richard harding davis and gerald morgan, and joined us. i had not expected davis here so soon, but here he is. he was immaculate in dinner jacket and white linen, for war does not interfere with his dressing. while we were dining, a lot of motors came by filled with british officers. there was a big crowd in the square, and they went crazy with enthusiasm, cheering until the windows rattled. * * * * * _brussels, august , ._--at ten in the morning i started with frederick palmer and blount in the latter's car, to see whether we could get a little way out of town and get a glimpse of what was going on. we were provided with _laisser-passers_ and passports and all sorts of credentials, but as a strict prohibition against sightseers has been enforced for some days, we rather doubted whether we should be able to get farther than the edge of town. before we got back we had gone more than a hundred kilometers through the heart of things and saw a great deal more than anybody should be allowed to see. we got back to town about eight o'clock, thoroughly tired and with eyes filled with dust and cinders. part way out the avenue we were hailed by a soldier, who asked us for a lift as far as tervueren. he climbed into the car beside me and rode out. the forêt de soignes was mournful. quatre bras, where the cafés are usually filled with a good-sized crowd of bourgeois, was deserted and empty. the shutters were up and the proprietors evidently gone. the minister's house, near by, was closed. the gate was locked and the gardener's dog was the only living thing in sight. we passed our golf club a little farther on toward tervueren. the old château is closed, the garden is growing rank, and the rose-bushes that were kept so scrupulously plucked and trim, were heavy with dead roses. the grass was high on the lawns; weeds were springing up on the fine tennis courts. the gardeners and other servants have all been called to the colours. most of the members are also at the front, shoulder to shoulder with the servants. a few caddies were sitting mournfully on the grass and greeted us solemnly and without enthusiasm. these deserted places are in some ways more dreadful than the real horrors at the front. at least there is life and activity at the front. before we got out of town the guards began stopping us, and we were held up every few minutes until we got back to town at night. sometimes the posts were a kilometer or even two kilometers apart. sometimes we were held up every fifty yards. sometimes the posts were regulars, sometimes gardes civiques; often hastily assembled civilians, mostly too old or too young for more active service. they had no uniforms, but only rifles, caps, and brassards to distinguish them as men in authority. in some places the men formed a solid rank across the road. in others they sat by the roadside and came out only when we hove in sight. our _laisser-passers_ were carefully examined each time we were stopped, even by many of the guards who did not understand a word of french, and strangely enough, our papers were made out in only the one language. they could, at least, understand our photographs and took the rest for granted. when we got to the first outpost at tervueren, the guard waved our papers aside and demanded the password. then our soldier passenger leaned across in front of blount and whispered "_belgique_." that got us through everything until midday, when the word changed. from tervueren on we began to realise that there was really a war in progress. all was preparation. we passed long trains of motor trucks carrying provisions to the front. supply depots were planted along the way. officers dashed by in motors. small detachments of cavalry, infantry and artillery pounded along the road toward louvain. a little way out we passed a company of scouts on bicycles. they are doing good work, and have kept wonderfully fresh. in this part of the country everybody looked tense and anxious and hurried. nearer the front they were more calm. most of the groups we passed mistook our flag for a british standard and cheered with a good will. once in a while somebody who recognised the flag would give it a cheer on its own account, and we got a smile everywhere. all the farm houses along the road were either already abandoned or prepared for instant flight. in some places the reaping had already begun, only to be abandoned. in others the crop stood ripe, waiting for the reapers that may never come. the sight of these poor peasants fleeing like hunted beasts and their empty houses or their rotting crops were the worst part of the day. it is a shame that those responsible for all this misery cannot be made to pay the penalty--and they never can, no matter what is done to them. louvain is the headquarters of the king and his État-major. the king is commander-in-chief of the allied forces operating in belgium, and is apparently proving to be very much of a soldier. the town is completely occupied and troops line the streets, stopping all motors and inspecting papers, then telling you which way you can go. we were the only civilians on the road all day, except the red cross people. the big square was completely barred off from general traffic and was surrounded with grenadiers. we got through the town and stopped at the only café we could find open, where we had a bottle of mineral water and talked over what we should do next. in louvain there is an american theological seminary. we had had some correspondence with monseigneur de becker, its rector, as to what he should do to protect the institution. at our suggestion he had established a red cross hospital and had hoisted a big american flag, but still he was not altogether easy in his mind. i called on him and did my level best to reassure him, on the ground that the germans were certainly not making war on seminaries or priests, and that if the germans reached louvain, all he had to do was to stay peacefully at home and wait for quiet to be restored. most of his students were gone and some of the faculty had followed them, so his chief concern was for the library and other treasures. my arguments did not seem to have very much weight, but i left with a promise to look in again at the first opportunity and to respond to any call the rector might make. from the seminary we drove out the tirlemont road, to see if we could get to that little town and see some of the fighting that was known to be going on. at the edge of the town we came to a barricade of carts, road-rollers and cobble stones, where we were courteously but firmly turned back. everybody was anxious to make it as nice as possible for us, and one of the bright boys was brought forward to tell us in english, so as to be more convincing. he smiled deprecatingly, and said: "verreh bad. verreh sorreh. oui mus' mak our office, not?" so we turned and went back to town. they had told us that _nobody_ could go beyond the barricade without an order from the _commandant de place_ at louvain. on the way back we decided that we could at least try, so we hunted through the town until we found the headquarters of the commandant. a fierce-looking sergeant was sitting at a table near the door, hearing requests for visés on _laisser-passers_. everybody was begging for a visé on one pretext or another, and most of them were being turned down. i decided to try a play of confidence, so took our three cards and walked up to his table, as though there could be no possible doubt of his doing what i wanted. i threw our three _laisser-passers_ down in front of him, and said in a business-like tone: "_trois visés pour tirlemont, s.v.p._" my man looked up in mild surprise, viséed the three papers without a word and handed them back in less time than it takes to tell it. we sailed back to the barricade in high feather, astonished the guard with our visé, and plowed along the road, weaving in and out among ammunition wagons, artillery caissons, infantry, cavalry, bicyclists--all in a dense cloud of dust. troops were everywhere in small numbers. machine guns, covered with shrubbery, were thick on the road and in the woods. there was a decidedly hectic movement toward the front, and it was being carried out at high speed without confusion or disorder. it was a sight to remember. all along the road we were cheered both as americans and in the belief that we were british. whenever we were stopped at a barricade to have our papers examined, the soldiers crowded around the car and asked for news from other parts of the field, and everybody was wild for newspapers. unfortunately we had only a couple that had been left in the car by accident in the morning. if we had only thought a little, we could have taken out a cartful of papers and given pleasure to hundreds. the barricades were more numerous as we drew nearer the town. about two miles out we were stopped dead. fighting was going on just ahead, between us and the town, and the order had been given out that _nobody_ should pass. that applied to military and civilians alike, so we could not complain, and came back to louvain, rejoicing that we had been able to get so far. we hunted up our little café and ate our sandwiches at a table on the sidewalk, letting the house profit to the extent of three glasses of beer. we were hardly seated when a hush fell on the people sitting near. the proprietor was summoned and a whispered conversation ensued between him and a bewhiskered old man three tables away. then mr. proprietor sauntered over our way with the exaggerated carelessness of a stage detective. he stood near us for a minute or two, apparently very much interested in nothing at all. then he went back, reported to "whiskers" and the buzz of conversation began again as though nothing had happened. after a bit the proprietor came over again, welcomed us to the city, asked us a lot of questions about ourselves, and finally confided to us that we had been pointed out as germans and that he had listened to us carefully and discovered that we were nothing of the sort. "_j'ai très bonne oreille pour les langues_," he said. of course we were greatly surprised to learn that we had been under observation. think of german spies within yards of the headquarters of the general staff! (and yet they have caught them that near.) every active citizen now considers himself a policeman on special duty to catch spies, and lots of people suffer from it. i was just as glad the proprietor had not denounced us as spies, as the populace has a quite understandable distaste for them. i was glad the bright café proprietor could distinguish our lingo from german. after lunch we went down to the headquarters of the general staff, to see if we needed any more visés. we did not, but we got a sight of the headquarters with officers in all sorts of uniforms coming and going. the square was full of staff autos. the beautiful carved hôtel de ville is the headquarters. as we walked by, a british major-general came down the steps, returned everybody's salutes and rolled away--a fine gaunt old type with white hair and moustache--the sort you read about in story books. after lunch we found that there was no use in trying to get to tirlemont, so gave that up, and inquired about the road to diest. everybody who was in any sort of position to know told us we could not get more than a few kilometers along the road, and that as uhlans were prowling in that neighbourhood, we might be potted at from the woods or even carried off. on the strength of that we decided to try that road, feeling fairly confident that the worst that could happen to us would be to be turned back. as we drew out along the road, the traffic got steadily heavier. motors of all sorts--beautifully finished limousines filled with boxes of ammunition or sacks of food, carriages piled high with raw meat and cases of biscuit. even dog-carts in large numbers, with the good belgian dogs straining away at the traces with a good will, and barking with excitement. they seemed to have the fever and enthusiasm of the men and every one was pulling with all his strength. in some places we saw men pushing heavily-laden wheelbarrows, with one or two dogs pulling in front. from louvain on most of the barricades were mined. we could see clearly as we passed where the mines were planted. the battery jars were under the shelter of the barricade and the wire disappeared into some neighbouring wood or field. earthworks were planted in the fields all along the lines, good, effective, well-concealed intrenchments that would give lots of trouble to an attacking force. there was one place where an important intrenchment was placed in a field of hay. the breastworks were carefully covered with hay and the men had it tied around their hats in such a way as to conceal them almost completely. this war is evidently going to be fought with some attention to detail, and with resourcefulness. diest itself we reached at about half past three, after having been nearly turned back six or seven times. we were the only civilians that had turned up all day, and although our papers seemed to be all right and we could give a good account of ourselves, our mere presence was considered so remarkable that a good many of the outposts were inclined to turn us back. by virtue of our good arguments and our equally good looks, however, we did manage to get through to the town itself. diest is an old town which figures a good deal in the combats of the middle ages. it has a fine old church, quite large, a good hôtel de ville, and clean, dutch-looking streets, with canals here and there. the whole town is surrounded with high earthworks, which constituted the fortifications, which were part of the line of forts erected by the allies after waterloo, as a line of defence against french aggression. these forts were so numerous that belgium in her younger days had not sufficient men to garrison them. a number of them were abandoned, finally leaving antwerp, liège and namur to bear the burden. brialmont, who built the great ring forts at liège, wanted to build modern fortifications at diest, but could not get those holding the purse-strings to see things his way. diest was attacked by germans about three days ago. they wanted to take the old fortifications so as to control the road and use the place as a base of operations. it could hardly be called a big battle, but was more probably in the nature of a reconnaissance in force with four or five regiments of cavalry. this part of belgium is the only place on the whole field of operations where cavalry can be used and they are certainly using it with a liberal hand, probably in attempt to feel out the country and locate the main body of opposing troops. they have got into a lot of trouble so far, and i am sure they have not yet located the main bodies of the allied armies. the shops were all closed and most of the people were sitting on the sidewalk waiting for something to turn up. some of them had evidently been to america, and we had an ovation all the way in. the grande place was filled with motors and motor trucks, this evidently being a supply depôt. we had some of the local mineral water and talked with the people who gathered round for a look at the _angliches_. they were all ready for anything that might come, particularly prussians. in the old days the uhlans spread terror wherever they appeared, to burn and shoot and plunder. now they seem to arouse only rage and a determination to fight to the last breath. there was a little popping to the north and a general scurry to find out what was up. we jumped in the car and made good time through the crowded, crooked little streets to the fortifications. we were too late, however, to see the real row. some uhlans had strayed right up to the edge of town and had been surprised by a few men on the earthworks. there were no fatalities, but two wounded germans were brought into town in a motor. they were picked up without loss of time and transported to the nearest red cross hospital. cursing our luck we started off to haelen for a look at the battlefields. prussian cavalry made an attack there the same day they attacked diest, and their losses were pretty bad. at one of the barricades we found people with prussian lances, caps, haversacks, etc., which they were perfectly willing to sell. palmer was equally keen to buy, and he looked over the junk offered, while some two hundred soldiers gathered around to help and criticise. i urged palmer to refrain, in the hope of finding some things ourselves on the battlefield. he scoffed at the idea, however. he is, of course, an old veteran among the war correspondents, and knew what he was about. he said he had let slip any number of opportunities to get good things, in the hope of finding something himself, but there was nothing doing when he got to the field. we bowed to his superior knowledge and experience, and let him hand over an english sovereign for a long prussian lance. i decided to do my buying on the way home if i could find nothing myself. the forward movement of troops seemed to be headed toward diest, for our road was much more free from traffic. we got into haelen in short order and spent a most interesting half hour, talking to the officer in command of the village. as we came through the village we saw the effect of rifle fire and the work of machine guns on the walls of the houses. some of them had been hit in the upper story with shrapnel and were pretty badly battered up. the village must have been quite unpleasant as a place of residence while the row was on. the commanding officer, a major, seemed glad to find some one to talk to, and we stretched our legs for half an hour or so in front of his headquarters and let him tell us all about what had happened. he was tense with rage against the germans, whom he accused of all sorts of barbarous practices, and whom he announced the allies must sweep from the earth. he told us that only a few hours before a couple of uhlans had appeared in a field a few hundred yards from where we were standing, had fired on two peasant women working there, and then galloped off. everywhere we went we heard stories of peaceful peasants being fired on. it seems hard to believe, but the stories are terribly persistent. there may be some sniping by the non-combatant population, but the authorities are doing everything they can to prevent it, by requiring them to give up their arms and pointing out the danger of reprisals. before we moved on, our officer presented me with a prussian lance he had picked up on the battlefield near haelen. we got careful directions from him for finding the battlefield and set off for loxbergen, where the fight had taken place the day before. the run was about four kilometers through little farms, where the houses had been set on fire by shrapnel and were still burning. the poor peasants were wandering around in the ruins, trying to save odds and ends from the wreck, but there was practically nothing left. of course they had had to flee for their lives when the houses were shelled, and pretty much everything was burned before they could safely venture back to their homes. we had no difficulty in locating the field of battle when we reached it. the ground was strewn with lances and arms of all sorts, haversacks, saddle bags, trumpets, helmets and other things that had been left on the ground after the battle. there were a few villagers prowling around, picking things up, but there were enough for everybody, so we got out and gathered about fifteen prussian lances, some helmets and other odds and ends that would serve as souvenirs for our friends in brussels. as everybody took us for english, they were inclined to be very friendly, and we were given several choice trophies to bring back. while we were on the field, a german aeroplane came soaring down close to us and startled us with the sharp crackling of its motor. it took a good look at us and then went its way. a little farther along, some belgian troops fired at the aeroplane, but evidently went wide of their mark, for it went unconcernedly homeward. we wandered through the ruins of some old farms and sized up pretty well what must have happened. the germans had evidently come up from the south and occupied some of the farmhouses along the road. the belgians had come down from the north and opened fire on the houses with rapid-fire guns, for the walls were riddled with small holes and chipped with rifle fire. then shrapnel had been brought into play, to set the houses on fire and bring the german troops out into the open. then they had charged the belgians across an open field and apparently with disastrous results. part of the ground was in hay which had already been harvested and piled in stacks, the rest was in sugar beets. the prussians had charged across the field and had come upon a sunken road into which they fell helter-skelter without having time to draw rein. we could see where the horses had fallen, how they had scrambled to their feet and tried with might and main to paw their way up on the other side. the whole bank was pawed down, and the marks of hoofs were everywhere. the road was filled with lances and saddles, etc. all through the field were new-made graves. there was, of course, no time for careful burial. a shallow trench was dug every little way--a trench about thirty feet long and ten feet wide. into this were dumped indiscriminately germans and belgians and horses, and the earth hastily thrown over them--just enough to cover them before the summer sun got in its work. there were evidences of haste; in one place we saw the arm of a german sergeant projecting from the ground. it is said that over three thousand men were killed in this engagement, but from the number of graves we saw i am convinced that this was a good deal overstated. at any rate it was terrible enough; and when we think that this was a relatively unimportant engagement, we can form some idea of what is going to happen when the big encounter comes, as it will in the course of a few days more. it is clear that the germans were driven off with considerable losses, and that the belgians still hold undisputed control of the neighbourhood. there were a few scattered uhlans reconnoitering near by, but they were not in sufficient numbers to dare to attack. after gathering our trophies we were ready to start for home; and it was well we should, for it was getting rather late in the afternoon and we had a long trip ahead of us with many delays. soon after leaving haelen, on our way back we met a corps of bicycle carabiniers who were rolling along toward haelen at top speed. the officer in command held us up and asked us for news of the country we had covered. he seemed surprised that we had not seen any german forces, for he said the alarm had been sent in from haelen and that there were strong forces of belgians on the way to occupy the town and be ready for the attack. when he had left us, we ran into one detachment after another of infantry and lancers coming up to occupy the little village. when we got to the barricade at the entrance to diest, the soldiers of the guard poured out and began taking our trophies out of the car. we protested vigorously, but not one of them could talk anything but walloon--and french was of no use. finally, a corporal was resurrected from somewhere and came forth with a few words of french concealed about his person. we used our best arguments with him, and he finally agreed to let a soldier accompany us to the town hall and see what would be done with us there. the little chunky walloon who had held us up at the barrier climbed in with great joy, and away we sped. the little chap was about the size and shape of an egg with whopping boots, and armed to the teeth. he had never been in a car before, and was as delighted as a child. by carefully piecing words together through their resemblance to german, we managed to have quite a conversation; and by the time we got to the grande place we were comrades in arms. i fed him on cigars and chocolate, and he was ready to plead our cause. as we came through the streets of the town, people began to spot what was in the car and cheers were raised all along the line. when we got to the hôtel de ville, the troops had to come out to keep back the curious crowd, while we went in to inquire of the officer in command as to whether we could keep our souvenirs. he was a major, a very courteous and patient man, who explained that he had the strictest orders not to let anything of the sort be carried away to brussels. we bowed gracefully to the inevitable, and placed our relics on a huge pile in front of the hôtel de ville. evidently many others had met the same fate, for the pile contained enough trophies to equip a regiment. the major and an old fighting priest came out and commiserated with us on our hard luck, but their commiseration was not strong enough to cause them to depart from their instructions. the major told us that they had in the hôtel de ville the regimental standard of the death's head hussars. they are keeping it there, although it would probably be a great deal safer in brussels. unfortunately the room was locked, and the officer who had the key had gone, so we could not look upon it with our own eyes. heading out of town, a young infantryman held us up and asked for a lift. he turned out to be the son of the president of the court of appeals at charleroi. he was a delicate looking chap with lots of nerve, but little strength. his heavy infantry boots looked doubly heavy on him, and he was evidently in a bad way from fatigue. he had to rejoin his regiment which was twelve miles along the road from diest, so we were able to give him quite a boost. he asked me to get word to his father that he wanted to be given a place as chauffeur or aviator, and in any other place that would not require so much foot work. there must be a lot of this sort. we finally landed him in the bosom of his company and waved him a good-bye. by this time it was twilight, and the precautions of the guards were redoubled. a short way out from louvain, a little walloon stepped out from behind a tree about a hundred yards in front of us and barred the way excitedly. we were going pretty fast and had to put on emergency brakes, and skid up to him with a great smell of sizzling rubber. he informed us that papers were no good any more; that we must know the password, or go back to louvain for the night. this he communicated to us in his best walloon, which we finally understood. blount started to tell him that we did not know, as the word had been changed since we left; but in one of my rare bursts of resourcefulness i thought to try a ruse, so leaned forward very confidently and gave him the password for the morning--"_belgique_." with a triumphant look, he shook his head and countered: "no, _haelen_!" he had shown the travellers from the outside world that he knew more than they did, and he was without any misgivings as to what he had done, and let us proceed without further loss of time. we got all the way back to tervueren with this password, which was all that saved us from spending the night in louvain and getting back nobody knows when. nearly opposite the golf club we were stopped with the tidings that the word was no longer good, but that if we had satisfactory papers we could get into town. for some reason the password had evidently been changed since we left louvain, so we got through with rare luck all along the line. we rolled up to the legation a few minutes before eight o'clock, and found that there was a great deal of anxiety about us. cheerful people had been spreading the news all day that if we fell into the hands of the germans they would hold us as hostages, as they did the bishop and mayor of liège. they probably would if they had caught us, but they did not catch us. palmer was pleased at the amount we saw. it was by rare good luck that we got through the lines and we were probably the last who will get so far. to-day all _laisser-passers_ have been canceled, and nobody can set foot out of town to the east. it gave us a pretty good idea before we got through as to how the troops must be disposed. i came within an ace of putting off our trip for a day or two. if i had, it would have cut me out of seeing anything. as usual, when i go out, the lid had blown off the legation and the place was in a turmoil. during the afternoon the government had decided to move to antwerp and take refuge in the _enceinte_. the queen, the royal children and some of the members of the government left at eight o'clock, and this morning more of them left. most of the diplomatic corps have gone, and will have so much time to think of their troubles that they will be more uncomfortable than we are. the spanish minister will stay on and give us moral support. * * * * * _brussels, august , ._--yesterday morning began with a visit from our old friend, richard harding davis, who was still quite wroth because i had not waited for him to arrange for his passes and go with me on my trip. if we had, there would have been no trip, as he was not equipped until afternoon. after lunch he started off boldly for namur, but got turned back before he reached wavre, where there had been a skirmish with uhlans. he was sore and disgusted. while he was in my office, another troop arrived composed of irwin cobb, john mccutcheon, the cartoonist, lewis and a few others. later in the day, will irwin came in with news that he was closely followed by others. mccutcheon is a great friend of the minister, and makes this his headquarters. the minister took them out to get _laisser-passers_. while they were away, sir francis villiers came in and showed me a telegram from the foreign office, stating that british newspapers and news associations had been requested to recall their correspondents, as they had already done great harm by the news they had given out. he was also to request the belgian government to refuse permits of any sort to the press, and get all foreign correspondents out of the country. the belgian government realised the importance of this, and has consequently shut down the lid tight. there was supposed to have been a fair-sized cavalry engagement near charleroi, in which six regiments of german cavalry were chewed up. we have no details, but it looked as though they were lured into a trap. practically no news of the operations is leaking out. it looks as though kitchener had remarked, "we will go into that house where william hohenzollern is breaking the furniture, and we will close the door and pull down the blinds, and when we get through, we will come out and tell people about it." yesterday was just a day of work with a great deal of beating people on the back and assuring them that their lives are not in danger just because the court has gone to antwerp. they all seem to be convinced that their throats are going to be cut immediately. this morning we had the usual deluge of newspaper men and correspondents. the minister went off with the spanish minister to call on the military authorities, who are the only ones with whom we now have any relations, and while he was gone, sir francis came in and announced that he had been ordered to leave for antwerp and place his legation and british interests under our charge. the news is that the german cavalry in considerable force is marching toward brussels. the military authorities are getting ready to defend the city, which is quite a futile proceeding, as the available forces are inadequate, so that the only result will be that a lot of innocent people will be killed quite incidentally. the governor expects to resist about as far as the ring of inner boulevards, which are about four blocks farther in than we are. our street is probably one of the principal ones by which the germans would enter. a hundred yards farther out there is a big railroad barricade, where a stand would probably be made, so that our legation would undoubtedly get a fair share of the wild shots from both sides. the cellar is being made ready for occupancy during the shindy, if it comes. the burgomaster came in to say that he had a house prepared for our occupancy in the safe part of town; but we were not prepared to abandon the legation and declined with sincere thanks for his thoughtfulness. i went over and saw sir francis and the legation staff just as they were leaving. they refused to have their plans upset by any little thing like a german advance, so had their lunch peacefully at the usual hour and then left in motors. at seven o'clock cobb, mccutcheon, and the rest of the crowd, were due at my house, so i gathered up the minister, the consul-general, and blount, and repaired thither. davis and morgan turned up a little late, but nothing has been heard of the rest of the crowd so far-- : p.m. they were to have dined here, but have not appeared or sent word. crowds of people are pouring in from the east in all stages of panic, and some small forces of cavalry have also retreated into the city, looking weary and discouraged. there has evidently been a rout. further than that, we know nothing so far. several of the wives of high belgian officials have come in this evening, having received word from their husbands to put themselves under our protection. there is nothing we can do for them, particularly at this time. * * * * * _brussels, august , ._--to-day has been one full of experience and the end is not yet. last night there was a great stir in the streets, and crowds of people and weary-looking soldiers. at the palace hotel i found the usual collection of diplomats and some other people whom i knew, and from the crowd i elicited the fact that there had been some sort of rout of belgian forces near louvain, and the soldiers were falling back. that was about all they knew. i started back to the upper town in the hope of finding some news at the porte de namur. on the way up the hill i was stopped by half a dozen groups of gardes civiques and soldiers, who asked me to take them to ghent. they were so excited and in such a hurry that they could hardly be made to realize that the car was not liable to seizure. i took advantage of the opportunity to get a little first-hand news, and learned that they had been driven back all along the line and were ordered to retreat to ghent by any means they could find. there were no trains available; nobody seemed to know why. the last group that i talked with said that the vanguard of the german cavalry was only about fifteen miles out of town and would be in this morning. they were all tremendously excited and did not dally by the wayside to chat about the situation with me. i can't say that i blame them, particularly in view of what i have seen since. at the porte de namur i found that the garde civique in brussels had been ordered to disband and that the plan for the defense of the city had been completely abandoned. it was the wise thing to do, for there was no hope of defending the town with the small force of gardes at the disposal of the military governor. it would have been quite futile and would have entailed a big loss of innocent civilian life. the governor wanted to do it purely as a matter of honour, but he would have paid for it heavily and could not have accomplished anything beyond delaying the germans for an hour or two. the garde civique was furious, however, at the idea of not being able to make a stand. there was a demonstration, but the cooler heads prevailed, and the men withdrew to their homes. [illustration: german supply train entering brussels] [illustration: german infantry entering brussels] i was out by seven this morning and looked about for news before coming to the legation. i found that the germans were steadily advancing and that the vanguard was about seven kilometers out of the city. they expected to begin the triumphal march about eleven. the garde civique had disappeared from the streets and there were very few police to be found. the shops were closed, shutters down on all houses, and posters everywhere with the proclamation of the burgomaster urging the people to refrain from hostile acts. it was an abandoned and discouraged-looking city. on the boulevards there were long lines of high carts bringing in the peasants from the surrounding country. they are great high-wheeled affairs, each drawn by a big belgian draught horse. each cart was piled high with such belongings as could be brought away in the rush. on top of the belongings were piled children and the old women, all of whom had contrived to save their umbrellas and their gleaming, jet-black bonnets, piled with finery. those who could not find places in the carts walked alongside, some of them carrying other belongings that could not be put on the carts. it was the most depressing sight so far. lots of them were crying; all looked sad and crushed. every one of them was probably without enough money for a week's living. even those who have money in the banks cannot get it out at this time. they have no place to go to here and have a bad prospect even if this part of the campaign is finished quickly and they are soon able to return to their homes. their crops are rotting in the ground and many of their homes are already in ruins. that is the hard side of the war--lots harder than the men who go out and have at least a fighting chance for their lives. when i got down to the legation i found that the telegraph and telephone communication had been cut off. the train service is abandoned and we are completely isolated from the outside world. i did not think it would come so soon and only hope that before we were cut off the news was allowed to get out that there would be no fighting in the city. i had a lot of errands to do during the morning and kept both motors busy. i found time to get up signs on my door and that of m. de leval, warning all comers that both places were inviolate. that was in anticipation of quartering of troops on private citizens, which has not been done. we got word that the spanish minister had some news, so i went over to see him. he had heard from the burgomaster as to the plans for the entry of the troops, and wanted to pass it along to us. the commanding general, von jarotzky, was already at the edge of the city, on the boulevard militaire, and was expecting to start into town at one o'clock. he was to march down the chaussée de louvain, the boulevards, and out the other side of the city, where his men were to be encamped for the present. other forces, comparatively small, were to occupy the railway stations and the grande place. at the hôtel de ville he was to establish the headquarters of the staff and administer the city government through the regularly constituted authorities. it was all worked out to a nicety, even to the exact measures for policing the line of march. as the garde civique was withdrawn, the prisoners in the german legation knew that there was something in the air and ventured forth into the light of day. they were not long in learning just what had taken place, and called upon us to express their thanks for what we had done for them. i suppose they will be trotting away for their own country before there is a chance to lock them up again. it must be pretty dismal for them to be locked up without any news of the outside world when they don't know whether their armies are victorious or badly beaten. as i was about to start to see the triumphal entry, the spanish minister came along with his flag flying from his motor, and bade us to go with him. we made off down the boulevard and drew up at the italian legation--two motors full of us; the whole staff of the spanish legation and ourselves. the italian minister bade us in to watch the show, which we had intended he should do. this did not work out well, so m. de leval and i started off down the street together. the first of the germans appeared as we stepped out the front door, and we saw that they were not coming over the route that had been originally planned. instead, they were heading down the hill into the lower town. they proved to be the troops that were to occupy the grande place and guard the headquarters of the staff at the hôtel de ville. we cut across through side streets and came upon them as they were passing ste. gudule. there was a sullen and depressed crowd lining the streets, and not a sound was to be heard. it would have been better had the crowd been kept off the streets, but they behaved wonderfully well. a large part of the reason for bringing the german troops through here was evidently to impress the populace with their force and discipline. it was a wonderful sight, and one which i never expect to see equaled as long as i live. they poured down the hill in a steady stream without a pause or a break; not an order was shouted nor a word exchanged among the officers or men. all the orders and signals were given by whistles and signs. the silence was a large element of the impressiveness. these troops had evidently been kept fresh for this march, and i should not be at all surprised if it should prove that they had not seen any fighting. if they have suffered any losses, they have closed up their ranks with wonderful precision and show none of the signs of demoralisation. they had clearly been at great pains to brush up and give the appearance of freshness and strength. nearly all the men were freshly shaven, and their uniforms had been brushed and made as natty and presentable as possible. they swaggered along with a palpable effort to show that they were entirely at home, and that they owned the place. the officers looked over the heads of the crowd in their best supercilious manner, and the men did their best to imitate their superiors. first came some lancers--a couple of battalions, i should think; then there was a lot of artillery, rapid-fire guns and field pieces. then more cavalry and a full regiment of infantry. when the last contingent of cavalry came along, they burst into song and kept it up steadily. there was a decidedly triumphant note, and the men looked meaningly at the crowd, as much as to say: "now do you realise what your little army went up against when it tried to block us?" it seemed to me pretty rough to rub it in on them by singing songs of triumph as they rode into an undefended city. if they had been attacked and had succeeded in driving the invader back into his own capital, it would be understandable; but it seemed to me rather unnecessary to humiliate these people after trampling on their poor country and slaughtering half their army. it was more than de leval could stand, so i walked home with him to the legation. when we got back to the legation i decided that i ought to see all i could, so blount and i went back in his car. first we worked our way through to the lower town and got a look at the grande place. there were a little more than two full battalions resting there, with their field pieces parked at the lower end of the square. small squads were being walked around doing the goose step for the delectation of the _bons bruxellois_, who were kept a block away up the side streets leading to the square. the men had their arms stacked in the centre of the square, and were resting hard--all but those who were supplying the spectacle. from there we went down to luna park, an amusement place on the edge of the city. the stream was pouring by there just as steadily as it had earlier in the afternoon. we watched the passing of great quantities of artillery, cavalry and infantry, hussars, lancers, cyclists, ambulance attendants, forage men, and goodness only knows what else. i have never seen so much system and such equipment. the machine is certainly wonderful; and, no matter what is the final issue of the war, nobody can deny that so far as that part of the preparation went, the germans were hard to beat. the most insignificant details were worked out, and all eventualities met with promptness. the horses were shod for a campaign in the country, and naturally there was a lot of slipping on the smooth cobble pavements. the instant a horse went down there was a man ready with a coarse cloth to put under his head, and another to go under his forefeet, so that he would have some grip when he tried to get up and would not hurt himself slipping and pawing at the cobbles. the moment he fell, all hands rushed to the rescue so effectively that he was on his feet again in no time, and the procession was barely arrested. the men's kits were wonderfully complete and contained all sorts of things that i had never seen or heard of, so i turned for explanation to davis, who had come along and was lost in admiration of the equipment and discipline. he said he had been through pretty much every campaign for the last twenty years, and thought he knew the last word in all sorts of equipment, but that this had him staggered. i began asking him what a lot of things were for, and he frankly admitted that he was as much in the dark as i was. a great many of the officers wore, upon their chests, great electric searchlights attached to batteries in their saddle-bags. these are useful when on the march at night, and serve to read sign-posts and study maps, etc. the supply trains were right with the main body of the troops, and were also carefully equipped for purposes of display. the kitchens were on wheels, and each was drawn by four horses. the stoves were lighted and smoke was pouring from the chimneys. the horses were in fine shape and in huge numbers. the troops marched down the right side of the boulevard, leaving the left side free. up and down this side dashed officers on horseback, messengers on motor-cycles and staff officers in military cars. there were no halts and practically no slacking of the pace, as the great army rolled in. here and there came large motor trucks fitted out as cobblers' shops, each with a dozen cobblers pounding industriously away at boots that were passed up to them by the marching soldiers. while waiting for repairs to be made, these soldiers rode on the running board of the motor, which was broad enough to carry them and their kits. after watching them for a while, we moved back to the boulevard, where we found the minister with the ladies of the family who had been brought out to watch the passing show. we had hesitated to bring them out at the beginning for fear that there might be riots, or even worse, precipitated by the foolhardy action of some individual. fortunately, there was nothing of the sort, and while the reception given the troops was deadly sullen, they were offered no affronts that we could see. the entry was effected quietly, and perfect order has prevailed ever since. afterwards we drove out to the country and watched the steady stream nearer its source; still pouring in, company after company, regiment after regiment, with apparently no end in sight. we watched until after seven, and decided that the rest would have to get in without our assistance. on the way back a german monoplane flew over the city, and, turning near the hôtel de ville, dropped something that spit fire and sparks. everybody in the neighbourhood let out a yell and rushed for cover in the firm belief that it was another bomb such as was dropped in namur. it dropped, spitting fire until fairly near the spire of the hôtel de ville, when it burst into ten or a dozen lights like a roman candle--evidently a signal to the troops still outside the city--perhaps to tell them that the occupation had been peacefully accomplished. we learned afterward that the minister and villalobar were riding down the hill and the infernal machine seemed right over their car, giving them a nice start for a moment. when i got back to the legation, i found that the minister had gone with villalobar to call on the burgomaster and the german general. they found the old gentleman in command at the city hall, carrying on the government through the bourgomaster, who has settled down with resignation to his task. he is tremendously down in the mouth at having to give up his beautiful grande place to a foreign conqueror, but he has the good sense to see that he can do more good for his country by staying there and trying to maintain order than by getting out with a _beau geste_. the first thing the general did was to excuse himself and go to take a bath and get a shave, whereupon he reappeared and announced his readiness to proceed to the discussion of business. the general said that he had no intention of occupying the town permanently or of quartering soldiers, or otherwise bothering the inhabitants. he was sent there to keep open a way so that troops could be poured through toward the french frontier. they expect to be several days marching troops through, and during that time they will remain in nominal control of the city. judging from this, there must be a huge army of them coming. we shall perhaps see some of them after the big engagement, which is bound to take place soon, as they get a little nearer the french frontier. brussels has not been occupied by a foreign army since napoleon's time, and that was before it was the capital of a free country. it has been forty-four years since the capital of a european power has had hostile troops marching in triumph through its streets, and the humiliation has been terrible. the belgians have always had a tremendous city patriotism and have taken more pride in their municipal achievements than any people on earth, and it must hurt them more than it could possibly hurt any other people. the burgomaster, when he went out to meet general von jarotzky, declined to take his hand. he courteously explained that there was no personal affront intended, but that under the circumstances he could hardly bring himself to offer even such a purely perfunctory manifestation of friendship. the old general, who must be a good deal of a man, replied quietly that he entirely understood, and that under similar circumstances he would probably do the same. the two men are on exceedingly workable terms, but i don't believe they will exchange photographs after the war is over. poor max was going to spend the night at the hôtel de ville. most of his assistants cleared out for the night, but he could not bring himself to leave the beautiful old building entirely in control of the enemy. he curled up and slept on the couch in his office, just for the feeling it gave him that he was maintaining some sort of hold on the old place. the minister arranged to have his telegrams accepted and transmitted without loss of time, so we shall soon get word home that we are still in the land of the living. we wrote out our message and sent it off right after dinner, but gustave brought it back, saying that the telegraph office was closed and that he could find no one to whom he could hand his bundle of messages. evidently the orders for the re-opening of the place did not get around in time for our purposes. we shall try again the first thing in the morning, and hope that some of the newspaper men will have succeeded in getting their stuff out in some other way. they were around in force just after dinner and wild to get an o.k. on their stuff, so that it could be sent. the general had said that he wanted the minister's o.k. on the men themselves, and that he himself would approve their messages after having them carefully read to him. he gave them an interview on alleged german atrocities and will probably let them send through their stories if they play that up properly. after dinner i started out on my usual expedition in search of news. i found the foreign office closed, and learned upon inquiry that the few remaining men who had not gone to antwerp were at home and would not be around again for the present--thus we have no dealings through the foreign office, but must do the best we can with the military authorities. i went down to the palace hotel on the chance of picking up a little news, but did not have much luck. the restaurant was half filled with german officers, who were dining with great gusto. the belgians in the café were gathered just as far away as possible, and it was noticeable that instead of the usual row of conversation, there was a heavy silence brooding over the whole place. * * * * * _august , ._--so far as we can learn we are still as completely cut off from the outside world as we were yesterday. the general promised the minister that there would be no difficulty in sending his telegrams, either clear or in cipher, but when we came to sending them off, it was quite another story. the first thing this morning i made an attempt to hand them in, but found all the telegraph offices closed. at ten o'clock i went down to the hôtel de ville to see the general, who has taken over the duties of military governor, and see what was the matter. he was away somewhere and so was the burgomaster, so i contented myself with seeing one of the echevins, whom i had met a number of times. he could not do anything about it on his own responsibility, but made a careful memorandum and said that he would take it up with the general, through the mayor, when they both got back. i also asked for _laisser-passers_ for everybody in the shop, and he promised to attend to that. by lunch time we had received no answer from general von jarotzky, so i got in the motor with my pocket full of telegrams and went down to the hôtel de ville once more. it is a depressing sight. the grande place, which is usually filled with flower venders and a mass of people coming and going, is almost empty. at the lower end there are parked a number of small guns; in the centre, some camp kitchens, with smoke rising from the chimneys. the courtyard of the hôtel de ville itself, where so many sovereigns have been received in state, was filled with saddle-horses and snorting motors. the discarded uniforms of the garde civique were piled high along one side, as if for a rummage sale. beer bottles were everywhere. in the beautiful gothic room, hung with the battle flags of several centuries, there are a hundred beds--a dormitory for the officers who are not quartered at the neighbouring hotels. the marvelous order and system which so compelled our admiration yesterday were not in evidence. there were a lot of sentries at the door and they took care to jab a bayonet into you and tell you that you could not enter; but any sort of reply seemed to satisfy them, and you were allowed to go right up to the landing, where the general had established himself in state at a couple of huge tables. here confusion reigned supreme. there were staff officers in abundance, but none of them seemed to have the slightest authority, and the old man had them all so completely cowed that they did not dare express an opinion or ask for a decision. the general himself is a little, tubby man, who looks as though he might be about fifty-five; his face is red as fire when it is not purple, and the way he rages about is enough to make olympus tremble. the crowd of frightened people who came to the hôtel de ville for _laisser-passers_ and other papers, all found their way straight to his office; no one was on hand to sort them out and distribute them among the various bureaus of the civil administration. even the staff officers did very little to spare their chief and head off the crowd. they would come right up to him at his table and shove a _pièce d'identité_ under his nose, with a tremulous request for a visé; he would turn upon them and growl, "_bas bossible; keine zeit; laissez mois dranquille, nom de d----!_" he switched languages with wonderful facility, and his cuss words were equally effective in any language that he tried. just as with us, everyone wanted something quite out of the question and then insisted on arguing about the answer that they got. a man would come up to the general and say that he wanted to get a pass to go to namur. the general would say impatiently that it was quite impossible, that german troops were operating over all that territory and that no one could be allowed to pass for several days. then mr. man would say that that was no doubt true, but that _he_ must go because he had a wife or a family or a business or something else that he wanted to get to. as he talked, the general would be getting redder and redder, and when about to explode, he would spring to his feet and advance upon his tormentor, waving his arms and roaring at him to get the ---- out of there. not satisfied with that, he invariably availed of the opportunity of being on his feet to chase all the assembled crowd down the stairs and to scream at all the officers in attendance for having allowed all this crowd to gather. then he would sit down and go through the same performance from the beginning. i was there off and on for more than two hours, and i know that in that time he did not do four minutes' continuous, uninterrupted work. had it not been for the poor frightened people and the general seriousness of the situation, it would have been screamingly funny and worth staying indefinitely to see. i had my share of the troubles. i explained my errand to an aide-de-camp and asked him to see that proper instructions were given for the sending of the telegrams. he took them and went away. then after a few minutes he came gravely back, clicked his heels, and announced that there was no telegraph communication with the outside world and that he did not know when it would be reëstablished. i asked him to go back to the general, who in the meantime had retreated to the gothic room and had locked himself in with a group of officers. my friend came back again, rather red in the face, and said that he had authority to stamp my telegrams and let them go. he put the rubber stamp on them and said i could take them. i said that was all very well, but where could i take them, since the telegraph offices were closed. he went off again and came back with the word that the office in the central bureau was working for official messages. i got into the motor with the italian secretary, who had a similar task, and together we went to the central bureau. it was nailed up tight, and the german sentries on guard at the door swore to us by their _ehrenwort_ that there was absolutely nothing doing. back we went to the hôtel de ville. our friend, the aide-de-camp, had disappeared, but we got hold of another and asked him to inform himself. he went away and we spent a few minutes watching the general blow up everybody in sight; when the aide-de-camp came back, he smilingly announced that there was no way of getting the messages out on the wire; that the best thing we could do would be to send a courier to holland and telegraph from there. i told him to go back and get another answer. when he came back next time, he had the glad news that the office had really been established in the post office and that orders had been sent over there to have our cables received and sent at once. away we went again, only to find that the latest bulletin was just as good as the others; the post office was closed up just as tight as the other office, and the sentries turned us away with a weary explanation that there was not a living soul inside, as though they had explained it a thousand times since they had been on duty. by this time the wild-goose chasing was getting a little bit monotonous, and when we got back to the headquarters, i announced with some emphasis to the first aide-de-camp that i could reach, that i did not care to do any more of it; that i wanted him to get me the right information, and do it right away, so that i should not have to go back to my chief and report any more futile errands. he went away in some trepidation and was gone some time. presently the general came out himself, seething in his best manner. "_a qui tout ce tas de depeches?_" roars he. "_a moi_," says i. he then announced in a voice of thunder that they were all wrong and that he was having them rewritten. before i could summon enough breath to shout him down and protest, he had gone into another room and slammed the door. i rushed back to my trusty aide-de-camp and told him to get me those telegrams right away; he came back with word that they would be sent after correction. i said that under no circumstances could they send out a word over the signature of the american minister without his having written it himself. he came back and said that he could not get the cables. i started to walk into the office myself to get them, only to bump into the general coming out with the messages in his hand. he threw them down on a table and began telling a young officer what corrections to make on the telegraph form itself. i protested vigorously against any such proceeding, telling him that we should be glad to have his views as to any errors in our message, but that he could not touch a letter in any official message. at this stage of the game he was summoned to the office of the burgomaster and rushed off with a string of oaths that would have made an arizona cow-puncher take off his hat. the young officer started calmly interlining the message, so i reached over and took it away from him, with the statement that i would report to my chief what had happened. he was all aflutter, and asked that i remain, as the general would not be long. i could not see any use in waiting longer, however, and made as dignified a retreat as possible under the circumstances. there were a number of cables in the handful i had carried around that were being sent in the interest of the german government and of german subjects, and i took good care to tell the young man that while we were glad to do anything reasonable for them or for their people, we had stood for a good deal more than they had a right to expect, and that these cables would stay on my desk until such time as they got ready to make a proper arrangement for our communications. now we shall settle down and see what happens next. [illustration: german officers and soldiers were always ready to oblige by posing for the camera] [illustration: "mit gott für kaiser und reich." this trio had a mania for being photographed] [illustration: count guy d'oultremont, adjutant of the belgian court. french howitzer in the background] [illustration: from left to right: colonel ducane, captain ferguson, and colonel fairholme] when i got back to the legation i found the argentine and brazilian ministers and the mexican chargé d'affaires waiting to hear the news of my mission. i was rather hot under the collar, and gave an unexpurgated account of what had happened. by this time i was beginning to see some of the humor in the situation, but they saw nothing but cause for rage, and left in a fine temper. just to see what would happen, we then proceeded to put our cable in its original form into cipher, and send it back to the general with a written request that it be sent immediately to washington. it will be interesting to see what reply he makes. the spanish minister left some telegrams with him last night to be sent, and is quite sure that they were held up, as he has received no answers to any of them. to-morrow he expects to put on his uniform and make a solemn official call on von jarotzky to demand that he be granted free communication with his government. during the afternoon a lot of correspondents came in and gave an amusing account of what the general had done for them. he had received them cordially and had given them a very pleasing interview, making an extended statement about the alleged german atrocities. could they send their messages through to their papers? certainly! of course the general would have to read the stories and approve the subject matter. naturally! the boys sat down in great enthusiasm and wrote out their stories, giving full credit to the german army for the orderly way they got in, the excellence of their appearance and behaviour, and the calm that prevailed in the city. they took these messages back and let the old chap read them. he plowed his way carefully through them and expressed his great satisfaction at the friendly expressions of approval. he put his o.k. on them and handed them back with the remark that they might send them. the boys ventured to inquire how. "oh," said the general, "you can either send a courier with them to holland or to germany and have them telegraphed from there." whereupon he rose and, bowing graciously, left the bunch so flabbergasted that they did not wake up until he was gone. he was most amiable and smiling and got away with it. the general commanding the forces now coming through--von arnim--got out a proclamation to-day which was posted in the streets, warning the inhabitants that they would be called upon for supplies and might have troops quartered upon them, and that if they ventured upon hostile acts they would suffer severely. proclamation. brussels, august , . german troops will pass through brussels to-day and the following days, and will be obliged by circumstances to call upon the city for lodging, food, and supplies. all these requirements will be settled for regularly through the communal authorities. i expect the population to meet these necessities of war without resistance, and especially that there shall be no aggression against our troops, and that the supplies required shall be promptly furnished. in this case i give every guarantee for the preservation of the city and the safety of its inhabitants. if, however, as has unfortunately happened in other places, there are attacks upon our troops, firing upon our soldiers, fires or explosions of any sort, i shall be obliged to take the severest measures. the general commanding the army corps, sixt von arnim. the strongest thing so far was the series of demands made upon the city and province. the city of brussels has been given three days to hand over million francs in coin or bills. the germans also demand a tremendous supply of food to be furnished during the next three days. if the city fails to deliver any part of it, it must pay in coin at a rate equal to twice the market value of the supplies. the province of brabant must hand over, by the first of next month, millions of francs-- million dollars. when you consider that the total war indemnity imposed by germany upon france in was only five milliards, the enormity of this appears. upon one little province of a tiny country they are imposing a tax equal to one-tenth that imposed on the whole of france. how on earth they are ever to arrange to pay it, i cannot possibly see. i do not know what is to happen if they fail to make good, but i have no doubt that it will be something pretty dreadful. this afternoon the germans went into the ministry of war and the foreign office, and searched through the archives. it must have been an entirely futile proceeding, for all papers of any interest were removed to antwerp when the government left. the higher officials who were still here were kept in the buildings to witness the search--a needless humiliation. there is talk now of a search of the british legation, but we have heard nothing of it and expect that will not be done without asking our permission first. * * * * * _brussels, august , ._--another day with much to do and no great results. this morning, at o'clock, general von jarotzky arrived at the legation and was all smiles. it appears that my action, in making known my displeasure at his behaviour and that of his staff, had a good effect. we have heard, from several sources, that he blew up everybody in sight yesterday afternoon when he came out from the burgomaster's office and learned that i had departed in bad temper. he knows that nobody dares to oppose his acts or views, but just the same he gave them fits for not having made me stay and attend to my case. be that as it may, he appeared with his chief of staff, and sent up a message that brought the minister down in his pajamas and dressing gown. he expressed great regret for the "misunderstanding" of yesterday evening, and assured the minister that there would be no further cause for complaint on our part. he had in his hand the telegram which we had sent him the evening before--the very same telegram which we had been trying to get off ever since the german occupation of the city. he had signed each page of the message, and had affixed his stamp with an order that it be immediately transmitted. he explained to the minister that the best thing to do was for him to take it in person to the office of the director of the bureau of telegraphs, who had already received instructions on the subject. [illustration: pass issued by general von jarotzky, the first german commander in brussels, to enable mr. gibson to go through the lines to antwerp.] the servants were thrown into a perfect panic by the arrival of the _généraux_. it took some argument to convince them that the germans would hardly need to send two generals to take them into custody, even if they had any reason to desire them as prisoners. about ten o'clock i was starting to go down to the telegraph office, to send the messages, when the spanish minister drove up in his big green car with the spanish flag flying at the fore. we told him our story, whereupon he announced that he also had telegrams to send and that he would go with us. we drove in state to the telegraph office, and found that the entrance which had been indicated to us was the alley through which the mail wagons drive in the good days when there are any. before an admiring crowd, we descended and made our way among prussian troopers through the noisome alley to a small side door, where we were stopped by a sentry who stuck a bayonet in our general direction and said we could go no further. i was immediately thrust into the foreground as the brilliant german scholar; and, limbering up my heavy german artillery, i attacked him. the sentry blanched, but stood his ground. an officer came up as reinforcements, but was also limited to the german tongue; so i had to keep it up, with two full-grown ministers behind me thinking up impossible things to be translated into the hopeless tongue. the officer, who was a genial soul, announced as though there were no use ever again to appear at that particular place, that the instruments had all been removed, and that there was absolutely no way of sending any messages--no matter from whom they came. we told him that we had come at the special request of the general himself. he replied that that made no difference whatever; that if there were no wires and no instruments, there was no possible way of sending the messages. after three or four repetitions, the minister and i began to understand that there was no use haggling about it; but the spanish minister was not so lightly to be turned aside and took up the cudgels, himself bursting into the german language. he stood his ground valiantly in the face of a volley of long words, but he did not get any forrader. prince ernst de ligne came in with a permit from the general to send his messages, and joined forces with the spanish minister; but the poor officer could only shrug his shoulders and smile and repeat what he had already said a score of times. mr. whitlock and i began to laugh, and had a hard time to control ourselves. finally we prevailed upon them to return to the hôtel de ville. the minister was beginning to get even madder than he was yesterday, when i got back with my story of the way i had spent the afternoon, going from one wild goose chase to another. we got the burgomaster in his private office and placed our troubles before him. he understood the importance of the matter and sent for the general. he appeared in short order, clicked his heels, and inquired whether we had come in regard to the matter of telegrams. the old fox knew perfectly well that we had, and was ready for us. we had come to the conclusion--which i had reached yesterday afternoon and held all by myself--that the old man was jockeying. he listened to what we had to say, and then said that there was no means of communication with the outside world; that he had just learned it a few minutes before. it is hardly necessary to say that he had been fully posted from the minute he set foot in the town. the spanish minister was rather sarcastic about his opinion of a general who would venture to occupy a capital without being in possession of means of telegraphic communication. the old soldier was in no mood for argument on abstract questions, and was playing for too big stakes to stop and dicker, so he passed this over lightly and suggested that we go back and discuss with the director-general of telegraphs the possibilities of reëstablishing communications. then the spanish minister let loose on him, and announced that it was not consistent with the dignity of representatives of world powers to spend their time standing in back alleys disputing with soldiers who barred the way and refused to honour the instructions of their general. he threw in hot shot until the effect told. he said plainly that the general was full of fair words and promises and agreed to anything that was asked of him, but that when we went to do the things he had authorised, we were baffled by subordinates that took it upon themselves to disregard these orders--the intimation being cleverly conveyed that their action might not be unconnected with instructions from above. the old man then dropped his bluff, and asked what we wanted. we asked that he send for the director-general, and give him, in our presence, the instructions and authorisation necessary to enable him to reëstablish communication with the outside world, and instruct him to receive and send all official messages for the legations of neutral powers. there was no way out, short of flatly refusing to give us our right to communicate with our governments, so the director-general was sent for and the burgomaster wrote out, at our dictation, the most general and comprehensive orders to meet our wishes in all matters of official business. the general signed the order and instructed the director-general to go ahead. the director-general was a poor soul who could see nothing but technical difficulties in everything that was proposed. he reluctantly agreed to everything that he was told to do, and there is no telling when our stories will get off. he told us that when the germans had occupied the telegraph bureau, instead of simply disconnecting the instruments and placing a man there to see that communication was not reëstablished, the officer in command had battered down the door leading to the roof and had slashed all the wires with his sabre. as there were three or four hundred wires leading out of the office, it will be a tremendous job to get them all together again. we also took occasion to arrange for the issuance of _sauf conduits_ for all the members of the legations and for such members of the foreign colonies under our protection as we care to vouch for. food is getting very scarce because of the enormous demands of the germans, and we told von jarotzky that we should expect that he make arrangements to see that our colonies should not suffer from the requisitions--that ample food be reserved to keep them all as long as it might be found necessary for them to stay here. he agreed to this, but i don't see just how he is to arrange it in practice. there are about fifty thousand men camping within a few miles of brussels, and another army corps is now marching in. the food for all the people must be supplied by the city--all importations from the outside world have been suspended for days. it is a pretty bad situation, and it will probably get a great deal worse before long. i don't know whether we shall get down to eating horse and dog, but it is not altogether improbable. that is one of these things that it is interesting to read about afterward. we spent nearly two hours at the hôtel de ville, and got in a good deal of talk that will be of service to all sorts of people. when we got back, we found the chancery full of people who were waiting for us to tell them just how they could send telegrams and letters, and get passports and permits to pass through the lines in all possible directions. before leaving i had dictated a bulletin which was posted in the hallway, stating that there were no communications with the outside world by rail, telegraph or post, and that no _laisser-passers_ would be granted by the authorities until conditions had changed, and that the legation could not issue any sort of papers which would enable people to leave in safety. about four o'clock, mccutcheon, irwin and cobb breezed in, looking like a lot of tramps. several days ago they had sailed blissfully away to louvain in a taxi, which they had picked up in front of the hotel. when they got there, they got out and started to walk about to see what was going on, when, before they could realise what was happening, they found themselves in the midst of a belgian retreat, hard-pressed by a german advance. they were caught between the two, and escaped with their lives by flattening themselves up against the side of a house while the firing continued. when the row was over, they were left high and dry with no taxi--of course it had been seized by the retreating troops--and with no papers to justify their presence in louvain at such a time. they decided that the best thing to do was to go straight to the german headquarters and report. they were received well enough, and told to lodge themselves as best they could and stay indoors until it was decided what was to be done with them. they were told that they might be kept prisoners here, or even sent to berlin, but that no harm would come to them if they behaved themselves. the order had gone out that if a single shot was fired at the german troops, from the window of any house, everybody in the house was to be immediately taken out and shot. not wishing to risk any such unpleasant end, they rented all the front rooms of a house and spread themselves through all the rooms, so that they could be sure that nobody did any slaughtering from their house. they were there for three days, and were told to-day that they might take themselves hence. they came back to brussels in the same clothes that they had worn for the past three days, unshaven and dirty. when they drove up to the front door this afternoon, they were nearly refused admittance as being too altogether disreputable. this evening, when i went to see my old friend the general, just before dinner, he told me that he had had news of a great battle near metz, in which the french army had been cut off and practically destroyed, with a loss of , prisoners. it sounds about as probable as some of the other yarns. in view of the fact that my friend had no telegraphic communication, i was curious to know where he got his information, but my gentle queries did not bring forth any news on that point. the germans now expect to establish themselves for some time here in brussels. they are going to occupy the various governmental departments, and it is quite possible that for some time we shall have to deal exclusively with them. the government to which we are accredited has faded away, and we are left here with a condition and not a theory. we shall have to deal with the condition, and i am not at all sure that the condition will not require some pretty active dealing with. functionaries are to be brought from berlin to administer the various departments, so that it is evidently expected that the occupation is not to be of a temporary character. * * * * * _later._--after writing the foregoing, i went upstairs and listened to some of the tales of the four people who were tied up at louvain. now that they are safely out of it, they can see the funny side of it, but it was certainly pretty dangerous while it lasted. monsieur de leval is overcome with admiration for their _sang-froid_, and marvels at the race of men we breed. they seem to have made themselves solid with the germans before they had been there long; it would be hard for anybody to resist that crowd any length of time. of course they never saw their taxi again after getting out to scout for the battle, and whenever the major who had the duty of keeping them under surveillance came to take a look at them, cobb would work up a sob-shaken voice and plead for liberty and permission to return to brussels. he was always at some pains to explain that it was not his life he was worrying about, but the haunting thought of that taxi running up at the rate of fifty centimes every three minutes. after a while he got the major's funny bone located, and then all was well. he so completely got into the officer's good graces that he promised to send us word that they were safe and well,--and then failed to do so. while the germans occupied the city, all inhabitants were required to be indoors by eight o'clock; a light had to be kept in every window, and the blinds left open, so that any one moving could be clearly seen from the street. the windows themselves were to be closed. dosch said he woke up about four o'clock one morning with his head splitting; the lamp was smoking and the air vile with smoke and smell. he decided he would prefer to be shot than die of headache, so deliberately got up and opened his window. the story loses its point by the fact that after violating this strict rule, he was not taken out and shot. they said it was really pretty dreadful. from their window, they saw, every little while, a group of soldiers lead some poor frightened belgian to a little café across the street; several officers were sitting at one of the tables on the sidewalk, holding a sort of drumhead court martial. while they were examining the case, a squad would be marched around behind the railroad station. a few minutes later the prisoner would be marched around by another way, and in a few minutes there would be a volley and the troops would be marched back to their post; then, after a little while, a stretcher would be brought out with a body in civilian clothes, a cloth over the face. some of the prisoners were women, and there were screams before the shots were fired. it must have been a dreadful ordeal to go through. * * * * * _brussels, august , ._--the day after my last entry i started on a trip to antwerp, got through the lines and managed to wriggle back into brussels last night after reëstablishing telegraph communication with the department and having a number of other things happen to and around about me. all i can remember now of the d is that it was a sunday, and that we could hear cannonading all day long from the east. it was hard to tell just where it came from, but it was probably from the direction of wavre and namur. it was drizzly all day. the german troops continued to pour through the city. from time to time, during the last few days, their march has been interrupted for a couple of hours at a time, apparently as a result of a determined attempt on the part of the french and english to stop the steady flow of troops toward the french frontier. each time we could hear the booming of the cannon, the deep voices of the german guns and the sharp, dry bark of the french. at night we have seen the searchlights looking for the enemy or flashing signals. despite the nearness of all this fighting and the sight of the wounded being brought in, the streets barred off to keep the noisy traffic away from the hospitals, and all the other signs of war, it has still been hard to realize that it was so near us. our little german general, von jarotzky, has kept clicking his heels together and promising us anything we chose to ask. we have run around day after day with our telegrams, and not one has got farther than the hôtel de ville. being naturally somewhat touchy, we got tired of this after a few days, and decided that the only way to get any news to washington was for me to go to antwerp and get into direct communication over the cable from there. we got our telegrams ready and made a last try on the general monday morning. he was still effusively agreeable and assured us that he had determined to place a military field wire at our disposal so that we could communicate with washington via berlin. our previous experiences had made us suspicious, so it was decided that while depositing our messages here, i would make a try at getting through the lines and send whatever i thought best from antwerp or any other place i could reach. we told the general frankly what we intended to do, and he was all smiles and anxiety to please. at our request he had an imposing passport made out for me, signed with his hand and authorized with his seal. the burgomaster wrote out an equally good letter for us when we reached the belgian lines. providence was to take care of us while we were between the lines, and, just to make it unanimous, he did. we wanted to get away during the morning, but one thing after another came up and i was kept on the jump. we had to stop and worry about our newspaper correspondents, who have wandered off again. morgan came sauntering in during the morning and announced that he and davis had set out on foot to see whether there was any fighting near hal; they had fallen in with some german forces advancing toward mons. after satisfying themselves that there was nothing going on at hal or enghien, morgan decided that he had had enough walking for one day, and was for coming home. davis felt that they were too near the front to give up, and with a sherlock holmes sagacity announced that if they stuck to these german troops, they would succeed in locating the french and british armies. morgan thought this so probable that he was all for coming back, and left davis tramping along behind an ammunition wagon in search of adventure. he found it. after getting out of their trouble at louvain, mccutcheon, cobb and lewis set forth on another adventure. there are, of course, no motor cars or carriages to be had for love or money, so they invested in a couple of aged bicycles and a donkey cart. cobb, who weighs far above standard, perched gracefully on top of the donkey cart, and the other two pedalled alongside on their wheels. they must have been a funny outfit, and at last accounts were getting along in good style. the air is filled with nervousness, however, and there is a constantly increasing list of people who are being thrown into jail, or shot as spies, and there is little time for careful and painstaking trials for wanderers who are picked up inside the lines of the fighting armies and are unable to render a convincing account of themselves. i shall be rather uncomfortable about them until they reappear. while we were waiting for the final formalities for our trip to be accomplished, i invested in a wrist watch and goggles. we also bought a fuzzy animal like a teddy bear, about three inches high, and tied him on the radiator as a mascot. he made a hit with all hands and got a valuable grin from several forbidding-looking germans. we had signs on the car fore and aft, marking it as the car of the american legation, the signs being in both french and german. as we were the first to try to make the trip, we thought it up to us to neglect nothing that would help to get us through without any unpleasant shooting or bayoneting. [illustration: letter signed by burgomaster max requesting the belgian authorities to allow mr. gibson to pass through the lines on his way to antwerp. this was one of the last documents signed by the burgomaster before he was sent to germany as a prisoner of war. bruxelles, le septembre le bourgmestre de bruxelles, prie les autorités belges de bien vouloir laisser passer monsieur hugh s. gibsen, secrétaire de la légation des etats-unis d'amérique, accompagné de son chauffeur. m.h.s. gibsen est chargé d'une mission officielle. le bourgmestre vu au consulat de belgique à roosendaal (p.b.) le septembre le consul de belgique] after formally filing all our telegrams with the german general, blount and i got under way at half-past two. we pulled out through the northern end of the city, toward vilvorde. there were german troops and supply trains all along the road, but we were not stopped until we got about half way to vilvorde. then we heard a loud roar from a field of cabbages we were passing and, looking around, discovered what looked like a review of the knights of pythias. a magnificent-looking man on horseback, wearing several orders, surrounded by a staff of some ten or twelve others, was riding toward us through the cabbages, waving angrily at us to stop. the whole crowd surrounded the car and demanded hotly how we dared venture out of town by this road. while they were industriously blowing us up, the supreme potentate observed the sign on the front of the car, gesandtschaft der vereinigten staaten, whereupon he came straightway to salute and kept it up. the others all saluted most earnestly and we had to unlimber and take off our hats and bow as gracefully as we could, all hunched up inside a little racing car. then i handed out our pass, which the chief of staff read aloud to the assembled notables. they were all most amiable, warned us to proceed with great caution, driving slowly, stopping every hundred yards, and to tear back toward town if popping began in our immediate neighbourhood. they were so insistent on our not getting in the way of bullets that i had to assure them, in my best rusty german, that we were getting into this ragged edge of their old war simply because it was necessary for business reasons and not because of any ardent desire to have holes shot through us. they all laughed and let us go our way with a final caution. from that time on we were in the midst of german patrols. we religiously observed the officers' advice to drive slowly and keep a lookout. five minutes later we began to meet peasants running away from their homes in the direction of brussels. they reported fighting near malines, and said that we were running straight into it. they were a badly frightened lot. we decided that the only thing to do was to go ahead, feeling our way carefully, and come back or wait if things got too hot for us. we were stopped several times by troops crossing the road to get into trenches that were already prepared, and once had to wait while a big gun was put in place. it was a ticklish business to come around a turn in the road and light on a hundred men sneaking along behind a hedge with their rifles ready for instant action. just beyond eppeghem we met a troop of cavalry convoying a high cart filled with peasants, who had evidently been taken prisoners. the officer in charge was a nervous chap, who came riding at us, brandishing his revolver, which he had tied to the pommel of his saddle with a long cord. he was most indignant that we had been allowed to come this far and reluctantly admitted that our pass was good. all the time he talked with us, and told us of the skirmishing ahead, he kept waving that large blunderbuss in our faces. i tried a little humour on him by saying, as nearly as the unwieldy structure of the german tongue would permit: "please point that thing the other way; you can never tell when it may go off and hurt somebody." he was quite solemn about it, however, and assured us that he had perfect control over it, emphasising his remarks by shaking it under our noses. i was glad to get out of his range, for i verily believe that if somebody had shouted _boo!_ he would have let that gun off with a bang. the german officers we talked with from time to time said that the belgians were advancing, and that several skirmishes had taken place; that a big engagement was expected during the night or in the morning. we passed the last of the german outposts about two miles this side of malines, but for fear we might tell on them, they would not tell us whether we had any more of their kind ahead of us. we shot along through the open country, between the last germans and the edge of malines, at a fairly good rate, and kept a lookout for the english flag, which we had been given to understand was flying from the tower of the cathedral. that is what we had been given to understand in brussels, but along the road they were very noncommittal about the whereabouts of the british troops. when we finally did get a clear view of the cathedral spires, we saw the belgian flag standing straight out in the good breeze that was blowing, and while that showed that the english troops had not taken over the place, it at least convinced us that the germans were behind us; as we drove through the little suburb on this side of the canal which runs through the edge of the town, we found that all the houses were battened up tight. one lone man, who came out from a little café, told us that the germans had been through about fifteen minutes before, and had shot up the town, until they were driven off by a small force of belgian cavalry which had appeared from nowhere and had as quickly gone back to the same place. not knowing what forces were ready to start in again on short notice, all the inhabitants who were fortunate enough to have cellars were hiding in them, and the rest were trying to get into town as best they could, leaving their belongings. when we reached the canal, we found that the drawbridge had been taken up, and that there was no way to get across. there were a few gendarmes on the other side, and a few carts on our side of the canal. all were anxious to get across, but the burgomaster had ordered traffic suspended until things had quieted down. we prevailed upon a genial gendarme to run back and get orders to govern our special case. after waving our credentials and showing how much influence we had with the local administration, we were quite popular with the panic-stricken peasants who wanted to get into town. orders came very soon, and we made straight for the hôtel de ville to thank the burgomaster for letting us in, and also to pick up any news he had as to conditions. we did not get any great amount, however, as he could not get over the fact that we had come straight through from brussels without having been shot by the german or the belgian patrols, who were out with orders to pick up strays like us. we tried several times to get information out of him, but he could do nothing but marvel at our luck, and above all at our _prouesse_, which left him quite bowled over. we gave him up and went our way. he has had other things to marvel about since. not far out of malines, we ran into the first belgian outpost. when we were about fifty yards from them, they surged across the road and began brandishing rifles, swords, lances--a veritable armory of deadly weapons. blount put on the emergency brakes, and we were bracing for quick and voluble explanations when we saw that they were all grinning broadly and that each one was struggling to get our particular attention. we had our _laisser-passers_ in our hands, and waved them in the air. no one would pay the slightest heed to them. from the hubbub that was seething about our ears, we learned that ten minutes or so before they had finished a little brush with the germans, and that the articles they had been waving in our faces were the trophies of the combat. each fellow was anxious to show us what he had taken, and to tell just how he had done it. they seemed to take it for granted that we were friends and would enjoy the sight, and share their delight. one of the boys--a chap about eighteen--held aloft a huge pair of cavalry boots which he had pulled off a german he had killed. it was a curious mixture of childish pride and the savage rejoicing of a fiji islander with a head he has taken. we admired their loot until they were satisfied, and then prevailed upon them to look at our papers, which they did in a perfunctory way. then, after shaking hands all round, they sent us on with a cheer. we were hero-curiosities as the first civilians who had got through from the german lines since the occupation of brussels. and perhaps we were not glad to be safely inside the belgian lines! it was nervous work that far, but once inside we found everybody friendly and got through without any trouble, although we were stopped every kilometer or so. soon after we passed the first outposts, we began passing belgian troops advancing toward malines in large force. they seemed in good spirits and ready for anything. our position here has gone steadily up since the beginning of the hostilities, and everywhere we went, the flag was cheered and we got a warm welcome. this forward movement of the troops was a part of a concerted operation by which the belgians were to attempt to push through to brussels while the main german army was engaged in attacking mons and charleroi. about twelve kilometers out of antwerp, we were stopped at a little house and asked if we would take a wounded man into town to the hospital. he had been shot through the hand and was suffering from shock and loss of blood, but was able to chew on a huge chunk of bread all the way into town. he had no interest in anything else, and, after trying one or two questions on him, i let him alone and watched the troops we were passing--an unbroken line all the way in. the main belgian army and a lot of the garde civique were inside the ring of forts and were all being put on the road with full contingents of supply wagons, ambulances, and even the dog artillery. these little chaps came tugging along the road and turned their heads to bark at us with enthusiasm. for a mile or so outside the _enceinte_, which has been thrown up around the town, the roads are heavily mined, and small red flags planted between the cobbles to warn passers-by to tread gently and gingerly. we did not require the urging of the sentries to make us proceed with caution over these places, which were so delicately mined that heavy carts were not allowed to pass. i breathed more easily when we were once out of this. we found the military hospital and handed over our wounded soldier to the attendants, who bundled him inside and then rushed back to hear what we could tell them. they had not heard a word from the outside world--or rather from our part of the outside world--since the withdrawal of the belgian army to antwerp, and they greeted us as they would greet fellow-beings returning from a journey to mars. they had a few newspapers which were being published in antwerp, and handed them over to us, we being as anxious as they for the news that we had not been able to get. from the hospital we drove to the hôtel st. antoine and asked for rooms. the proprietor was very suspicious of us, and we had a tremendous time convincing him that there was nothing the matter with us. he _knew_ that we could not have come from brussels, as nobody had been able to make the trip. our papers were _en règle_, but that made no difference. german spies and other suspicious characters had managed to get forged papers before that. fortunately, all the other diplomats were living in the hotel, and i asked that he hunt up some of them, and verify what we had to say for ourselves. webber, of the british legation, was brought out and acted as though he had seen a ghost. he calmed down enough to assure the proprietor that we were respectable citizens, and that he could safely give us rooms. all the other people were away from the hotel for the moment, so we deposited our things in our room, and made for the consulate-general. it was then half-past six, and the consul-general had gone for the day. a well-trained porter refused to tell where either he or the vice-consul-general lived, but we managed to find out and got to the vice-consul-general's house after a hunt with a _chasseur_ of the hotel on the box. he was not at home, but his wife was there. we talked with her for a few minutes, and then went back to the hotel to await sherman's (vice-consul-general) coming. he called in the course of a few minutes, and we made arrangements to go to the consulate after dinner and get off our telegrams. by the time we could get washed up and ready for dinner, the crowd had come back, and when we set foot on the stairway, we were literally overwhelmed by our loving friends. first, i met sir francis villiers and accepted his invitation to dine. he and prince koudacheff, the russian minister, a lot of other colleagues, and goodness only knows who else, fell upon us with demands for news. i took refuge in sir francis's office, and saw as many people as i could until dinner time. baron van der elst, the secretary general of the foreign office, and m. carton de wiart, the minister of justice, forgetting all about the requirements of the protocol that i should make the first call upon them, came flying around to see if i had any news of their families. luckily i had, and was able to tell them that all was well. i did not know that i had so much first-hand knowledge of the people in brussels, but was able to give good news to any number of people. it became a regular joyfest, and was more fun for me than for anybody else. by eight o'clock we got out to dinner, but hardly got two consecutive bites without interruptions. in the midst of soup, general yungbluth, chief of staff to the king, came around in full regimentals and wanted to get all sorts of news for the queen. before we got much farther, others began to arrive and drew up chairs to the table, filling up all that part of the room. as we were finishing dinner, several ministers of state came in to say that the prime minister wanted me to come to meet him and the cabinet council which was being held--just to assure them that all was well with their families and to tell them, in the bargain, anything that i felt i properly could. however, i had my real work ahead of me--getting off my telegrams to washington. i tore myself away from the crowd and, joining sherman, who was waiting for me in the hall, i made for the consulate-general. the consul-general was already there, anxious to hear the news. i had to get before the department all the news i could, and as comprehensive a statement as possible of everything that had happened since communications had been cut. i pounded away until after eleven, and got off a fat bundle of cables, which sherman took to the office for me. i then made for the grand hôtel, where the cabinet council was waiting for me. i have never been through a more moving time than the hour and a half i spent with them. it was hard to keep from bursting out and telling them everything that i knew would interest them. i had bound myself with no promises before i left about telling of the situation, but none the less i felt bound not to do it. i was able to tell them a great deal that was of comfort to them, and that could give no ground for objection if the germans were to know of it, and, on these subjects, i gave them all they wanted. after telling them all i could about their families and friends, i let them ask questions and did my best to answer those that i could. the first thing they wanted to know was how the germans had behaved in the town. the answer i gave them was satisfactory. then they wanted to know whether the royal palace had been respected, or whether the german flag was flying over it; also whether the belgian flag still flew on the hôtel de ville. their pride in their old town was touching, and when they heard that no harm had as yet been done it, you would have thought that they were hearing good news of friends they had lost. then they started in and told me all the news they had from outside sources--bits of information which had reached them indirectly via holland, and the reports of their military authorities. we have never had such complete information given us--enough to justify the trip even if i had not restored communication with the department. we stayed on and talked until nearly half-past twelve, when i got up and insisted on leaving; perhaps it is just as well. they did not want to break up the party, but when i insisted, they also made up their minds to call it a day's work and quit. we brought van der elst back to the hotel, and with his influence ran our car into the gendarmerie next door. then to bed. blount and i had a huge room on the third floor front. we had just got into bed and were settling down to a good night's rest when there was an explosion, the like of which i have never heard before, and we sat up and paid strict attention. we were greatly interested, but took it calmly, knowing that the forts were nearly four miles out of town and that they could bang away as long as they liked without doing more than spoil our night's sleep. there were eight of these explosions at short intervals, and then as they stopped there was a sharp _purr_ like the distant rattle of a machine gun. as that died down, the chimes of the cathedral--the sweetest carillon i have ever heard--sounded one o'clock. we thought that the germans must have tried an advance under cover of a bombardment, and retired as soon as they saw that the forts were vigilant and not to be taken by surprise. we did not even get out of bed. about five minutes later we heard footsteps on the roof and the voice of a woman in a window across the street, asking some one on the sidewalk below whether it was safe to go back to bed. i got out and took a look into the street. there were a lot of people there talking and gesticulating, but nothing of enough interest to keep two tired men from their night's sleep, so we climbed back into bed and stayed until morning. blount called me at what seemed an unreasonably early hour and said we should be up and about our day's work. when we were both dressed, we found that we had made a bad guess, when he looked at his watch and discovered that it was only a quarter to seven. being up, however, we decided to go down and get our breakfast. when we got down we found everybody else stirring, and it took us several minutes to get it through our heads that we had been through more excitement than we wotted of. those distant explosions that we had taken so calmly were bombs dropped from a zeppelin which had sailed over the city and dropped death and destruction in its path. the first bomb fell less than two hundred yards from where we slept--no wonder that we were rocked in our beds! after a little breakfast we sallied forth. the first bomb was in a little street around the corner from the hotel, and had fallen into a narrow four-story house, which had been blown into bits. when the bomb burst, it not only tore a fine hole in the immediate vicinity, but hurled its pieces several hundred yards. all the windows for at least two hundred or three hundred feet were smashed into little bits. the fronts of all the surrounding houses were pierced with hundreds of holes, large and small. the street itself was filled with débris and was impassable. from this place we went to the other points where bombs had fallen. as we afterward learned, ten people were killed outright; a number have since died of their injuries and a lot more are injured, and some of these may die. a number of houses were completely wrecked and a great many will have to be torn down. army officers were amazed at the terrific force of the explosions. the last bomb dropped as the zeppelin passed over our heads fell in the centre of a large square--la place du poids publique. it tore a hole in the cobblestone pavement, some twenty feet square and four or five feet deep. every window in the square was smashed to bits. the fronts of the houses were riddled with holes, and everybody had been obliged to move out, as many of the houses were expected to fall at any time. the dutch minister's house was near one of the smaller bombs and was damaged slightly. every window was smashed. all the crockery and china are gone; mirrors in tiny fragments; and the minister somewhat startled. not far away was faura, the first secretary of the spanish legation. his wife had been worried sick for fear of bombardment, and he had succeeded only the day before in prevailing upon her to go to england with their large family of children. another bomb fell not far from the houses of the consul-general and the vice-consul-general, and they were not at all pleased. the windows on one side of our hotel were also smashed. [illustration: boy scouts at belgian headquarters, lierre] [illustration: reading from left to right: a belgian staff officer, colonel fairholme, colonel ducane and captain ferguson. (malines cathedral in the background)] [illustration: "hommage aux glorieux martyrs de tamines, tombés dans la journée du août ". list of the civilians killed by the germans at tamines on august , .] we learned that the zeppelin had sailed over the town not more than five hundred feet above us; the motor was stopped some little distance away and she slid along in perfect silence and with her lights out. it would be a comfort to say just what one thinks about the whole business. the _purr_ of machine guns that we heard after the explosion of the last bomb was the starting of the motor, which carried our visitor out of range of the guns which were trundled out to attack her. preparations were being made to receive such a visit, but they had not been completed; had she come a day or two later, she would have met a warm reception. the line of march was straight across the town, on a line from the general staff, the palace where the queen was staying with the royal children, the military hospital of ste. elisabeth, filled with wounded, the bourse, and some other buildings. it looks very much as though the idea had been to drop one of the bombs on the palace. the palace itself was missed by a narrow margin, but large pieces of the bomb were picked up on the roof and shown me later in the day by inglebleek, the king's secretary. the room at the general staff, where i had been until half an hour before the explosion, was a pretty ruin, and it was just as well for us that we left when we did. it was a fine, big room, with a glass dome skylight over the big round table where we were sitting. this came in with a crash and was in powder all over the place. next time i sit under a glass skylight in antwerp, i shall have a guard outside with an eye out for zeppelins. if the idea of this charming performance was to inspire terror, it was a complete failure. the people of the town, far from yielding to fear, are devoting all their energies to anger. they are furious at the idea of killing their king and queen. there is no telling when the performance will be repeated, but there is a chance that next time the balloon man will get a warmer reception. in the morning i went around and called at the foreign office, which is established in a handsome building that belonged to one of the municipal administrations. the minister for foreign affairs took me into his office and summoned all hands to hear any news i could give them of their families and friends. i also took notes of names and addresses of people in brussels who were to be told that their own people in antwerp were safe and well. i had been doing that steadily from the minute we set foot in the hotel the night before, and when i got back here, i had my pockets bulging with innocent messages. now comes the merry task of getting them around. at the hotel we were besieged with invitations to lunch and dine with all our friends. they were not only glad to see somebody from the outside world, but could not get over the sporting side of our trip, and patted us on the back until they made us uncomfortable. everybody in antwerp looked upon the trip as a great exploit, and exuded admiration. i fully expected to get a carnegie medal before i got away. and it sounded so funny coming from a lot of belgian officers who had for the last few weeks been going through the most harrowing experiences, with their lives in danger every minute, and even now with a perfectly good chance of being killed before the war is over. they seem to take that as a matter of course, but look upon our performance as in some way different and superior. people are funny things. i stopped at the palace to sign the king's book, and ran into general jungbluth, who was just starting off with the queen. she came down the stairs and stopped just long enough to greet me, and then went her way; she is a brave little woman and deserves a better fate than she has had. inglebleek, the king's secretary, heard that i was there signing the book, and came out to see me. he said that the queen was anxious i should see what had been done by the bombs of the night before. he wanted me to go right into the houses and see the horrid details. i did not want to do this, but there was no getting out of it under the circumstances. we drove first to the place du poids publique and went into one of the houses which had been partially wrecked by one of the smaller bombs. everything in the place had been left as it was until the police magistrate could make his examination and report. we climbed to the first floor, and i shall never forget the horrible sight that awaited us. a poor policeman and his wife had been blown to fragments, and the pieces were all over the walls and ceiling. blood was everywhere. other details are too terrible even to think of. i could not stand any more than this one room. there were others which inglebleek wanted to show me, but i could not think of it. and this was only one of a number of houses where peaceful men and women had been so brutally killed while they slept. and where is the military advantage of this? if the bombs were dropped near the fortifications, it would be easy to understand, but in this instance it is hard to explain upon any ground, except the hope of terrifying the population to the point where they will demand that the government surrender the town and the fortifications. judging from the temper they were in yesterday at antwerp, they are more likely to demand that the place be held at all costs rather than risk falling under the rule of a conqueror brutal enough to murder innocent people in their beds. the prime minister told me that he had four sons in the army--all the children he has--and that he was prepared to give every one of them, and his own life and fortune, into the bargain, but that he was _not_ prepared--and here he banged his fist down on the table and his eyes flashed--to admit for a minute the possibility of yielding to germany. everybody else is in the same state of mind. it is not hysterical. the war has been going on long enough, and they have had so many hard blows that the glamour and the fictitious attractiveness of the thing has gone, and they have settled down in deadly earnest to fight to the bitter end. there may not be one stone left upon another in belgium when the germans get through, but if these people keep up to their present level they will come through--what there is left of them--free. later in the afternoon i went to the foreign office and let them read to me the records of the commission which is investigating the alleged german atrocities. they are working in a calm and sane way and seem to be making the most earnest attempt to get at the true facts, no matter whether they prove or disprove the charges that have been made. it is wonderful to see the judicial way they can sit down in the midst of war and carnage and try to make a fair inquiry on a matter of this sort. if one one-thousandth part of the charges are proven to be true.... the rest of the afternoon was spent seeing people who came in for news of brussels, and who had messages to send home. i had had to tell the hotel people that i would be there from four to seven to see people, and that the rest of the time i must have free for my own work. they came in swarms; all the diplomats, the cabinet ministers, and the ministers of state, army officers, and other officials--a perfect mob. i had a package of cards on which i noted names and addresses and the messages which were to be delivered. these messages have been sent out to-day, after being submitted to the military authorities, some of them in writing and some by word of mouth, and if they have afforded one-tenth the comfort that i hope, the sum total of misery in this town has been reduced a good deal this day. colonel fairholme left for the front, with the king, early in the morning, and was with him during the battle at malines. he thought we were going back during the day, as i had told him the evening before. about noon he called up from the telephone and told sir francis that under no circumstances was i to be allowed to start, as the town was being bombarded with heavy siege pieces and all traffic was absolutely stopped; that we could not only not get by, but that any part of the trip by the regular road was extremely dangerous. i was just as glad that we had decided to stay over. the colonel stayed out all that night and had not returned to antwerp when we left yesterday. during the morning he called up again and asked about us, again advising against our starting. pretty decent of a man who has as much to think of as he had to be worrying about us enough to take time to telephone us as to the dangers of the road. during the evening bad news came in from france, and everybody was down in the mouth. the french minister came in and told me what he had received. everybody was plainly worried, and altogether things looked pretty dismal. we sat around a little while and then decided for a good night's sleep. to make sure of offering no unnecessary chances for mr. zeppelin the authorities had ordered all the lights on the streets put out at eight o'clock. it was dark as midnight and there was no use in thinking of venturing out into the town. the cathedral clock was stopped and the carillon turned off for the first time in heaven only knows how many years. it was a city of the dead. guns were posted in the streets ready for instant use in case the airship should put in another appearance. as a result of this and the searchlights that played upon the sky all night, our friend the enemy did not appear. some people know when they have had enough. yesterday morning i looked out of my window at the cathedral clock, and saw that it was twenty-five minutes to ten. i tumbled through my tub, and rushed downstairs to get through my morning's work, only to find that it was half-past six. i had forgotten that the cathedral clock had been stopped. it was just as well that i was up early, however, for there was plenty to be done. i found a lot of telegrams waiting for me at the consulate, and had to get off another string of them. then an orderly held me up on the street to tell me that the king's secretary was hunting for me all over the place, and that i was wanted at the palace. when i got there, he had started off on another hunt for me. he finally got me at the hotel, and kept me for half an hour. by the time that i got through with him, there was word that the minister of foreign affairs wanted to see me, so i made a bee-line over there. then there was another call to the consulate to answer some more telegrams. after attending to various matters at the palace, the ministry for foreign affairs, the consulate general, and seeing a few more people at the hotel, the morning was gone and it was time for lunch and a quick get-away. all hands came out and bade us farewell. you would have thought we were on our way to heaven, except for the fact that they urged us to come back. as we could hear the cannonading, we decided that we would avoid the malines road and would try to skirt around the zone of trouble and work our way into brussels from the west. we got ferried across the scheldt on a terrible tub of a steamer that looked as though she would go down under the weight of the military automobiles that she had to get across in order to take ammunition to the front. we all got away in a bunch from the other side, but we drew ahead of them as we had not such a heavy load; and within three-quarters of an hour we were outside the belgian lines. van der elst had secured for us a most imposing _laisser-passer_, which took us through with practically no trouble except that it was so impressive that we were held at each barricade while all the men on duty took turns reading it. the only ticklish part of the trip to the belgian outposts was working our way through the villages which had been mined in anticipation of a german invasion. it is bad enough working one's way through there in a motor with everybody helping you to keep out of harm's way, but it must be a trifle worse to do it in a mass with a man on a hill a little way off waiting for you to come up to the signal post so that he can touch a button and send you in small pieces into the next world. we struck out through st. nicholas, hamme, termonde and assche, and got into brussels from the west without mishap. we have got quite used to having people poke bayonets in our faces and brandish revolvers at us, so the latter part of the trip with only that to contend with seemed quiet and almost boring. on the road in from assche, we passed near eppeghem and vilvorde, where the fighting had been going on for a couple of days. after news had been received in antwerp of the defeat of the french and english at mons and charleroi, the belgians were ordered to fall back on antwerp and had left these little villages to be occupied by the germans. as they occupied them, they had set them afire and the flames were raging as we came by. they were quaint little towns, and had excited our admiration two days before when we had gone through--despite the fact that we had other things on our minds beside admiring the beauties of architecture. now they are gone. the germans gave us no trouble, and we got back to the legation by a little before five. everyone poured out to meet us, and greeted us as prodigal sons. when we had not come back the day before, they had about made up their minds that something dreadful had happened to us, and the rejoicing over our return was consequently much greater than if we had not whetted their imaginations just a little. i found that the situation in brussels had undergone big changes while i was away. general von jarotzky had been replaced by general von lüttwitz, who is an administrator and has been sent to put things in running order again. there was no inkling of this change when i left, and i was a good deal surprised. guns have been placed at various strategic points commanding the town, and the germans are ready for anything. the telephone wire they had put through the town to connect the two stations and headquarters was cut day before yesterday by some cheerful idiot who probably thought he was doing something good for his country. the military authorities thereupon announced that if anything of the sort was done again they would lay waste the quarter of the town where the act was committed. some of the subordinate officers have since told us that von jarotzky was a fighting general, and had no business staying in a post requiring administrative ability. the new man is cut out particularly for this sort of work, and is going to start a regular german administration. functionaries are being brought from berlin to take things over, and in a short time we shall, to all intents and purposes, be living in a german city. the first trains ran to-day in a halting fashion to liège and the german frontier. perhaps we shall have a newspaper. most distressing news has come through from tamines. i had a long talk to-day with a trustworthy man from there, and his story was enough to make one's blood run cold. he says that on the evening of the twenty-first the germans entered the village after a brush with french troops which were still in the neighbourhood. infuriated by the resistance offered to their advance, they proceeded to vent their rage on the town. they shot down a lot of villagers, and arrested many more. a great many escaped to the country. a lot of houses were first sacked, and then burned. the orgy continued during the night, and through the next day. on the evening of the twenty-second, something over four hundred men were collected near the church and lined up to be shot. the work was done for a time by a firing squad which fired into the crowd with more or less system, but this was too slow, and finally a rapid-fire gun was brought out and turned loose. of course, a great many were not killed outright and lay groaning among the dead. now and then a german would put one out of his misery by a bayonet thrust. others settled their own troubles by rolling themselves into the nearby river. altogether over six hundred people were shot down, but it is hard to get any exact figures yet. after the shooting was over, other civilians were brought out and compelled to bury the dead. my informant says that some of the scenes attending this duty were quite as poignant as the shooting itself, for some buried their own fathers and brothers. one man about to be thrown into the trench was found to be still alive, but the german doctor, after a cursory examination, ordered him buried with the rest. the man had enough life left in him to raise his hand in appeal but the doctor shrugged his shoulder and repeated his order. there were many incidents, most of them horrible. the man who told the story seemed still dazed and spoke quietly, with few adjectives and little emphasis on anything he said. it was a bare recital of facts, and far more moving than if he had striven for effect. davis got back yesterday from his trip to the front, and we learned that he had been through a perfectly good experience that will look well when he comes to writing it up, but one that gave him little satisfaction while it was in progress. he started off to follow the german army in the hope of locating the english. after leaving hal, some bright young german officer decided that he was a suspicious-looking character, and ought to be shot as an english spy. as a preliminary, they arrested him and locked him up. then the war was called off while the jury sat on his case. one of the officers thought it would be a superfluous effort to go through the form of trying him, but that they should shoot him without further to do. they began considering his case at eleven in the morning, and kept it up until midnight. he was given pretty clearly to understand that his chances were slim, and that the usual fate of spies awaited him. he argued at length, and apparently his arguments had some effect, for at three o'clock in the morning he was routed out and told to hit the road toward brussels. he was ordered to keep religiously to the main road all the way back, on pain of being shot on sight, and to report at headquarters here immediately on his arrival. by this time he was perfectly willing to do exactly what was demanded by those in authority, and made a bee-line back here on foot. he turned up at the legation yesterday morning, footsore and weary, and looking like a tramp, and told his story to an admiring audience. i was still away on my little jaunt, and did not get it at first hand. the minister took him down to call on the general, and got them to understand that richard harding davis was not an english spy, but, on the contrary, probably the greatest writer that ever lived, not excepting shakespeare or milton. the general said he had read some of his short stories, and that he would not have him shot. just the same, he was not keen about having him follow the operations. he is now ordered to remain in this immediate neighbourhood until further orders. to-day he had several interviews with the general in an attempt to get permission to leave the country, but had no luck. the last we saw of davis, he came in late this afternoon to tell us that he did not know what to do next. he said that he had been through six wars, but that he had never been so scared as he was at that time. if he is allowed to get out of belgium, i think that he will not darken the door of general von lüttwitz for some time to come. i was surprised to learn that hans von herwarth, who used to be military attaché in washington, and whom i knew very well, is here as adjutant to our new governor. i have not yet had time to get over to see him, but shall try to do so to-morrow. i am glad to have somebody like that here to do business with. he is a real white man, and i anticipate a much better time with him than with any other officer they could send here in that capacity. baron capelle came in late this afternoon to tell me that the germans were bringing in a lot of priests on carts filled with cows and pigs, and were planning to hold them as hostages. one of them had called out and asked him to notify us that monseigneur de becker, rector of the american college at louvain, was among these prisoners. he is the priest i went to see when i was in louvain ten days ago. i had told him he was perfectly safe, and scoffed at his fears. the minister was out when this news came, but i sallied forth and tried to locate the monseigneur. he was not to be found anywhere. when i got back to the legation, both the minister and villalobar were here and i told them all about what had happened. the people of the town were getting excited over the treatment that was being meted out to their priests, and it was in a fair way to result in serious trouble. both ministers made for the ministry for foreign affairs, where the german government is established, and before they left, had secured orders for the release of all the hostages. a lot of these terrible things are done by subordinate officers, and the people at the top seem only too anxious to learn of such affairs and do what they can to remedy them. the day has been dreadful with stories of suffering and murder and pillage. not only are we cut off from communication with the outside world, but a lot of the ordinary conveniences of life have already disappeared. we have no newspapers, no trams, no taxis, no telephones. milk is no longer to be had, and within a day or two we shall have no butter or eggs. then it will begin to look like a real siege. in a day or so i am to have a list of jarotzky's demands for supplies, so that i can cheer myself with thoughts of what our life is to be like. there is bad news from louvain. the reports we have received agree that there was some sort of trouble in the square before the hôtel de ville a day or two ago. beyond that, no two reports are alike. the germans say that the son of the burgomaster shot down some staff officers who were talking together at dusk before the hôtel de ville. the only flaw in that story is that the burgomaster has no son. some belgians say that two bodies of germans who were drunk met in the dusk; that one body mistook the other for french, and opened fire. other reliable people tell with convincing detail that the trouble was planned and started by the germans in cold blood. however that may be, the affair ended in the town being set on fire, and civilians shot down in the streets as they tried to escape. according to the germans themselves, the town is being wiped out of existence. the cathedral, the library, the university, and other public buildings have either been destroyed or have suffered severely. people have been shot by hundreds, and those not killed are being driven from the town. they are coming to brussels by thousands, and the end is not yet. this evening the wife of the minister of fine arts came in with the news that her mother, a woman of eighty-four, had been driven from her home at the point of the bayonet and forced to walk with a stream of refugees all the way to tervueren, a distance of about twelve miles, before she could be put on a tram to her daughter's house. two old priests have staggered into the ---- legation more dead than alive after having been compelled to walk ahead of the german troops for miles as a sort of protecting screen. one of them is ill, and it is said that he may die as a result of what he has gone through. * * * * * _august th._--after lunch blount and i decided to go out to louvain to learn for ourselves just how much truth there is in the stories we have heard, and see whether the american college is safe. we were going alone, but pousette and bulle, the swedish and mexican chargés d'affaires, were anxious to join us, so the four of us got away together and made good time as far as the first outpost this side of louvain. here there was a small camp by a hospital, and the soldiers came out to examine our papers and warn us to go no farther, as there was fighting in the town. the road was black with frightened civilians carrying away small bundles from the ruins of their homes. ahead was a great column of dull gray smoke which completely hid the city. we could hear the muffled sound of firing ahead. down the little street which led to the town, we could see dozens of white flags which had been hung out of the windows in a childish hope of averting trouble. we talked with the soldiers for some time in an effort to get some idea of what had really happened in the town. they seemed convinced that civilians had precipitated the whole business by firing upon the staff of a general who was parleying with the burgomaster in the square before the hôtel de ville. they saw nothing themselves, and believe what they are told. different members of the detachment had different stories to tell, including one that civilians had a machine gun installed on top of the cathedral, and fired into the german troops, inflicting much damage. one of the men told us that his company had lost twenty-five men in the initial flurry. they were a depressed and nervous-looking crew, bitter against the civil population and cursing their ways with great earnestness. they were at some pains to impress upon us that all belgians were _schwein_, and that the people of louvain were the lowest known form of the animal. after talking the situation over with the officer in command, we decided to try getting around the town to the station by way of the ring of outer boulevards. we got through in good shape, being stopped a few times by soldiers and by little groups of frightened civilians who were cowering in the shelter of doorways, listening to the noise of fighting in the town, the steady crackle of machine guns, and the occasional explosions. [illustration: entrance to the rue de diest, louvain] [illustration: the dead and the living. a belgian civilian and a german soldier] they were pathetic in their confidence that the united states was coming to save them. in some way word has traveled all over belgium that we have entered the war on the side of belgium, and they all seem to believe it. nearly every group we talked to asked hopefully when our troops were coming, and when we answered that we were not involved, they asked wistfully if we didn't think we should be forced to come in later. a little boy of about eight, in a group that stopped us, asked me whether we were english, and when i told him what we were, he began jumping up and down, clapping his hands, and shouting: _les américains sont arrivés! les américains sont arrivés!_ his father told him to be quiet, but he was perfectly happy and clung to the side of the car as long as we stayed, his eyes shining with joy, convinced that things were going to be all right somehow. about half way around the ring of boulevards we came to burning houses. the outer side of the boulevard was a hundred feet or so from the houses, so the motor was safe, but it was pretty hot and the cinders were so thick that we had to put on our goggles. a lot of the houses were still burning, but most of them were nothing but blackened walls with smouldering timbers inside. many of the front doors had been battered open in order to start the fires or to rout out the people who were in hiding. we came to a german ammunition wagon, half upset against a tree, where it had been hurled when the horses had turned to run away. the tongue was broken and wrenched out. near by were the two horses, dead and swollen until their legs stood out straight. then we began to see more ghastly sights--poor civilians lying where they had been shot down as they ran--men and women--one old patriarch lying on his back in the sun, his great white beard nearly hiding his swollen face. all sorts of wreckage scattered over the street, hats and wooden shoes, german helmets, swords and saddles, bottles and all sorts of bundles which had been dropped and abandoned when the trouble began. for three-quarters of a mile the boulevard looked as though it had been swept by a cyclone. the porte de tirlemont had evidently been the scene of particularly bloody business. the telegraph and trolley wires were down; dead men and horses all over the square; the houses still burning. the broad road we had traveled when we went to tirlemont was covered with wreckage and dead bodies. some bedraggled german soldiers came out from under the gate and examined our passes. they were nervous and unhappy and shook their heads gloomily over the horrors through which they were passing. they said they had had hardly a minute's sleep for the past three nights. their eyes were bloodshot and they were almost too tired to talk. some of them were drunk--in the sodden stage, when the effect begins to wear off. they told us we could proceed in safety as far as the station, where we would find the headquarters of the commanding officer. here we could leave the motor and learn how far we could safely go. this crowd varied the wording a little by saying that the belgians were all dogs and that these particular dogs were being driven out, as they should be, that all that part of town was being cleared of people, ordered to leave their homes and go to brussels or some other town, so that the destruction of louvain could proceed systematically. we thought at the time that they were exaggerating what was being done, but were enlightened before we had gone much farther. we continued down the boulevard for a quarter of a mile or so till we came to the station. sentries came out and looked through our passes again. we parked the motor with a number of german military cars in the square and set off on foot down the rue de la station, which we had admired so much when we had driven down its length, just ten days before. the houses on both sides were either partially destroyed or smouldering. soldiers were systematically removing what was to be found in the way of valuables, food, and wine, and then setting fire to the furniture and hangings. it was all most businesslike. the houses are substantial stone buildings, and fire will not spread from one to another. therefore the procedure was to batter down the door of each house, clean out what was to be saved, then pile furniture and hangings in the middle of the room, set them afire, and move on to the next house. it was pretty hot, but we made our way down the street, showing our passes every hundred feet or so to soldiers installed in comfortable armchairs, which they had dragged into the gutter from looted houses, till we came to a little crossing about half way to the hôtel de ville. here we were stopped by a small detachment of soldiers, who told us that we could go no farther; that they were clearing civilians out of some houses a little farther down the street, and that there was likely to be firing at any time. the officer in command spoke to us civilly and told us to stick close to him so that we could know just what we ought to do at any time. he was in charge of the destruction of this part of the town and had things moving along smartly. his men were firing some houses near by and he stood outside smoking a rank cigar and looking on gloomily. we exchanged remarks with him in german for a few minutes, i limping along behind the more fluent pousette and bulle. then i said something in an aside to blount, and the officer broke into the conversation in perfectly good english. he turned out to be a volunteer officer from hamburg, who had spent some thirty years in england and was completely at home in the language. we then accomplished the formal introductions which are so necessary to germans even at a time like this, and when we came to bulle the officer burst into a rapid fire of questions, which ended in his proclaiming in rapture: "why, i knew your father in hamburg and went to school with your uncle so-and-so!" reminiscence went on as though we were about a dining table at home; minute inquiry was made into the welfare and activities of the bulle family from the cradle to the grave. on the strength of the respectability of bulle's relatives we were then taken under the officer's wing and piloted by him through the rest of our visit. from where we stood we could see down the street through the smoke, as far as the hôtel de ville. it was still standing, but the cathedral across the street was badly damaged and smoke was rising in clouds from its roof. the business houses beyond were not to be seen; the smoke was too dense to tell how many of them were gone. machine guns were at work near by, and occasionally there was a loud explosion when the destructive work was helped with dynamite. a number of the men about us were drunk and evidently had been in that state for some time. our officer complained that they had had very little to eat for several days, but added glumly that there was plenty to drink. a cart, heaped high with loot, driven by a fat landsturmer and pulled by a tiny donkey, came creaking past us. one of our party pulled his kodak from his pocket and inquired of our guardian in english: "may i take a picture?" his intent evidently escaped the german, who answered cordially: "certainly; go ahead. you will find some beautiful things over there on the corner in the house they are getting ready to burn." we kept our faces under control, and he was too much occupied with his other troubles to notice that we did not avail of his kind permission to join in the pillage. he was rabid against the belgians and had an endless series of stories of atrocities they had committed--though he admitted that he had none of them at first hand. he took it as gospel, however, that they had fired upon the german troops in louvain and laid themselves open to reprisals. to his thinking there is nothing bad enough for them, and his chief satisfaction seemed to consist in repeating to us over and over that he was going the limit. orders had been issued to raze the town--"till not one stone was left on another," as he said. just to see what would happen i inquired about the provision of the hague conventions, prescribing that no collective penalty can be imposed for lawless acts of individuals. he dismissed that to his own satisfaction by remarking that: "all belgians are dogs, and all would do these things unless they are taught what will happen to them." convincing logic! with a hard glint in his eye he told us the purpose of his work; he came back to it over and over, but the burden of what he had to say was something like this: "we shall make this place a desert. we shall wipe it out so that it will be hard to find where louvain used to stand. for generations people will come here to see what we have done, and it will teach them to respect germany and to think twice before they resist her. not one stone on another, i tell you--_kein stein auf einander!_" i agreed with him when he remarked that people would come here for generations to see what germany had done--but he did not seem to follow my line of thought. while we were talking about these things and the business of burning and looting was pursuing its orderly course, a rifle shot rang out near by. instantly every soldier seized his rifle and stood waiting for an indication as to what would happen next. in a few seconds a group of soldiers rushed into a house about a hundred feet away. there was a sound of blows, as though a door was being beaten in; then a few shots, and the soldiers came out wiping the perspiration from their faces. "snipers!" said our guide, shaking his fist at the house. "we have gone through that sort of thing for three days and it is enough to drive us mad; fighting is easy in comparison, for then you know what you are doing." and then almost tearfully: "here we are _so_ helpless!" while he was talking another shot rang out, and then there was a regular fusillade, which lasted for fifteen seconds or so; then an explosion. bulle stood not upon the order of his going, but ran for the station, calling back: "i've had enough of this. let's get out and go home." our friend, the officer, said bulle was right, and that it would be the part of wisdom for us all to fall back to the station, where we would be near the car in case anything happened. he started off at a good pace, and as we were in no mood to argue we went meekly along in his wake. we overtook bulle engaged in an altercation with a very drunken soldier, who wanted to see his papers and was insulting about it. instead of taking the easy course and showing his papers bulle was opening a debate on the subject, when we arrived and took a hand. our officer waded into the soldier in a way that would have caused a mutiny in any other army, and the soldier, very drunk and sullen, retreated, muttering, to his armchair on the curb. we then moved on to the station. outside the station was a crowd of several hundred people, mostly women and children, being herded on to trains by soldiers, to be run out of the town. they seemed to be decently treated but were naturally in a pitiable state of terror. just inside the gates of the freight yard were a couple of women telling their troubles to a group of officers and soldiers. they had both lost their husbands in the street-fighting, and were in a terrible state. the officers and men were gathered about them, evidently distressed by their trouble, and trying to comfort them. they had put the older woman in an armchair and were giving her a little brandy in a tea cup. and the same men may have been the ones who killed the husbands.... we went on into the freight yards and were greeted by a number of officers with hopeful talk about a train coming from brussels with food. we were given chairs and an orderly was despatched for a bottle of wine so that a drink could be given to bulle, who said that after what he had been through he would appreciate a glass of something comforting. we settled down and listened to the stories of the past few days. it was a story of clearing out civilians from a large part of the town; a systematic routing out of men from cellars and garrets, wholesale shootings, the generous use of machine guns, and the free application of the torch--the whole story enough to make one see red. and for our guidance it was impressed on us that this would make people _respect_ germany and think twice about resisting her. suddenly several shots rang out apparently from some ruins across the street and the whole place was instantly in an uproar. the lines of civilians were driven helter-skelter to cover--where, i don't know. the stands of arms in the freight yard were snatched up, and in less time than it takes to tell it, several hundred men were scattered behind any sort of shelter that offered, ready for the fray. i took one quick look about and decided that the substantial freight station was the most attractive thing in sight. in no time i was inside, closely followed by my own crowd and a handful of soldiers. first, we lay down upon the platform, and then, when we got our bearings, rolled over on to the track among a lot of artillery horses that were tethered there. apparently a number of civilians, goaded to desperation by what they had seen, had banded together, knowing that they were as good as dead, and had determined to sell their lives as dearly as they could. they had gathered in the ruins of the houses fronting on the station and had opened up on us. there was a brisk interchange of shots, with an occasional tinkle of broken glass and a good deal of indiscriminate cursing by the soldiers, who had taken refuge with us. the artillery horses did not welcome us very cordially and began to get restive in a way that made us debate whether we preferred staying up on the platform with a chance of being potted or staying under cover and being ingloriously trampled to death. a joint debate on this important question kept us occupied for several minutes. we finally compromised by fishing down a few boxes from the platform and erecting a barricade of sorts to protect us against any stray kicks. as we sat in the undignified position imposed on us by circumstances, we exchanged various frivolous remarks, not because we felt particularly gay, but because we had to do something to keep ourselves interested and to keep our courage up. bulle resented this, and raised his head to look at me reproachfully over the barricade, and say: "don't talk like that; it is nothing short of tempting providence." after a time blount and i decided to make a reconnaissance in force and see how the car was getting on. we crawled along the floor to a place from which we could see out into the square. the soldiers were flat on their stomachs behind a low wall that extended around the small circular park in the centre of the square, and behind any odd shelter they could find. the car lay in the line of fire but had not been struck. we were sufficiently pessimistic to be convinced that it would go up in smoke before the row was over, and took a good look at our shoes to see whether they would last through a walk back to brussels. our officer came out from behind his barricade and showed us where the attacking force was concealed--at least he told us that they were there and we were willing to take his word for it without going across the street to make a first-hand investigation. he tried to impress us with the black sinfulness of people who would fire upon the german troops, and called our particular attention to the proof now offered us that civilians had started the row by firing on german troops. according to the german story, which was the only one we had heard, civilians had been hunted down like rats in garrets and cellars and shot down in cold blood in the streets when they sought safety in flight. to my mind it was not surprising that men driven to desperation by seeing their friends and neighbours murdered in cold blood, should decide to do any harm possible to the enemy. three days of the reign of terror that had been described to us was enough to account for anything, and the fact that civilians were firing now did not in any sense prove that they were guilty of starting the trouble. for all we could tell they may have started it or they may not, but firing by them three days after the row began was no proof to any one with the slightest sense of the value of evidence. on the other hand, the story freely told us by the germans as to their own behaviour, is enough to create the darkest presumptions as to how the trouble started, and would seem to place the burden of proof on them rather than on the belgians. while we were talking about this there came another rattle of fire, and we scuttled back to our shelter, among the horses. every now and then a surly soldier with two huge revolvers came and looked over the ledge at us, and growled out: _was machen sie denn hier?_ followed by some doubting remarks as to our right to be on the premises. as he was evidently very drunk and bad-tempered i was not at all sure that he would not decide on his own responsibility to take no chances and put us out of our misery. after several visits, however, he evidently found something else more interesting, and came back to trouble us no more. when the row began a motor had been despatched toward brussels to recall some troops that had left a few hours before. now and then our officer came in to tell us what he thought of their chances of getting back. on one of these visits, blount remarked by way of airy persiflage, that that drink of wine that had been sent for was a long time coming. anything as subtle as that was lost on our friend, for he walked solemnly away, only to reappear in a few minutes with a bottle and several glasses which he set up on the edge of the platform and filled with excellent burgundy. we stood up among the horses and drained a bumper of the stuff, while the officer wandered back to his work. he had gone calmly out into the thick of things to rescue this bottle, and took it as a matter of course that we should claim the drink that had been promised us. presently, with a good deal of noise, a fairly large force of troops came marching down the boulevard, and took up positions around the station. our officer returned, waving a smoking revolver, and told us to lie down as flat as we could among the horses, and not to move unless they got restive. he said it looked as though an attempt would be made to take the station by storm, and that there might be a brisk fight. however, there were only a few scattering shots, and then our friend came back and told us that we had better get out and start for home before things began again. he added, however, that we must have the permission of the commanding officer who was on the other side of the station, but offered to pilot us to the great man and help us get the permission. the way lay straight out into the square, in full view of the houses across the way, along the front of the station just behind the troops and into the railroad yard on the other side. that station seemed about four miles long, and the officer was possessed of a desire to loiter by the way, recounting anecdotes of his school days. he would walk along for a few steps and then pause to tell bulle some long and rambling yarn about his uncle. bulle would take him by the arm and get him in motion again. then the old chap would transfer his conversational fire to another member of the party, and we were obliged almost to pull him the length of the square. the commanding officer was a pleasant-faced little man who stood in the shelter of a water tank and received us in a puzzled way, as though he wondered what civilians were doing in that neighbourhood anyway. permission was readily granted for us to leave, with the ludicrous proviso that we did so "at our own risk." then bulle put everybody in good humour by inquiring innocently if there was any danger. everybody burst into peals of laughter, and we were escorted to our car by the same slow-moving officer, who insisted on exchanging cards with us and expressing the hope that we should meet again, which we could not honestly reciprocate. then, after an hour and a half in the station, we got away amid a great waving of hands. the boulevards were deserted save for the troops coming back into the town. new houses were burning that had been intact in the afternoon. after passing the porte de tirlemont, we began to see people again--little groups that had come out into the streets through a craving for company, and stood huddled together listening to the fighting in the lower part of the town. in harmony with the policy of terrorising the population, the germans have trained them to throw up their hands as soon as any one comes in sight, in order to prove that they are unarmed and defenseless. and the way they do it, the abject fear that is evident, shows that failure to comply with the rule is not lightly punished. our worst experience of this was when in coming around a corner we came upon a little girl of about seven, carrying a canary in a cage. as soon as she saw us, she threw up her hands and cried out something we did not understand. thinking that she wanted to stop us with a warning of some sort, we put on the brakes and drew up beside her. then she burst out crying with fear, and we saw that she was in terror of her life. we called out to reassure her, but she turned and ran like a hunted animal. it was hard to see the fear of others--townspeople, peasants, priests, and feeble old nuns who dropped their bundles and threw up their hands, their eyes starting with fear. the whole thing was a nightmare. we were dreadfully depressed, and rode along in silence until bulle turned around from the front seat and inquired in a matter-of-fact voice: "what sort of wine was that we drank at the station?" we told him, and then he shook his head and said as though to himself: "i drank a big glass of it, but i was so frightened that i didn't taste it at all." that broke the edge of the strain we were under, and we had a good laugh in which bulle joined. and so back to the legation without further mishap, to find everybody worrying about us, and the minister putting his foot down and announcing that there were to be no more expeditions of the sort, no matter what the reason for them. * * * * * note--the foregoing is an impression of one afternoon at louvain, taken from a journal written at the time. it was intended to pass on the question of responsibility for precipitating the orgy of murder and bestiality indulged in by the german army from the th of august until the th, when orders were received from berlin to stop the destruction and restore public order. many subsequent visits to louvain, and conversations with people who were there when the trouble began, have only served to strengthen the impression that the whole affair was part of a cold-blooded and calculated plan to terrorise the civilian population. while we were there, it was frankly stated that the town was being wiped out; that its destruction was being carried out under definite orders. when the german government realised the horror and loathing with which the civilised world learned of the fate of louvain, the orders were cancelled and the story sent out that the german forces had tried to prevent the destruction, had fought the fire, and by good fortune had been able to save the hôtel de ville. never has a government lied more brazenly. when we arrived, the destruction of the town was being carried on in an orderly and systematic way that showed careful preparation. the only thing that saved the hôtel de ville was the fact that the german troops had not progressed that far with their work when the orders were countermanded from berlin. it was only when he learned how civilisation regarded his crimes, that the emperor's heart began to bleed. the true facts as to the destruction of louvain will startle the world--hardened though it has become to surprise at german crimes. unfortunately, however, it is impossible to publish the details at this time without endangering the lives of people still in belgium under german domination. but these people will speak for themselves when the germans have been driven from belgian soil, and they are once more free to speak the truth. * * * * * during the afternoon count clary had come over and announced that austria-hungary had declared war on belgium, and that he had to leave at once. he has turned his legation over to us. i went around to see him late in the evening, and made the final arrangements. this afternoon the danish minister came in and turned his legation over to us, as he expects to go in a day or two. that will make four legations besides our own under our protection. austrian guns have been in action for some days, and now it has been thought worth while to regularise the situation. the austrian minister has, therefore, under instructions from his government addressed the following note to the belgian government: _august , ._ "whereas belgium, having refused to accept the proposals made to her on several occasions by germany, is affording her military assistance to france and great britain, both of which powers have declared war upon austria-hungary, and whereas, as has just been proved (_no indication as to how or when it has been proved_), austrian and hungarian subjects in belgium have been obliged to submit, under the very eyes of the belgian authorities, to treatment contrary to the most primitive demands of humanity and inadmissible even toward subjects of an enemy state, therefore austria is obliged to break off diplomatic relations and considers herself from this moment in a state of war with belgium. i am leaving the country with the staff of the legation, and am entrusting the protection of austrian interests to the united states minister in belgium. the austro-hungarian government is forwarding his passports to count errembault de dudzeele. clary." this is the first we have heard of any mistreatment of austrians in this country, but then they probably had to advance some sort of reason for going to war.[ ] [footnote : the belgian government sent the following reply to the austrian declaration of war. _antwerp, august , ._ belgium has always entertained friendly relations with all her neighbours without distinction. she has scrupulously fulfilled the duties imposed upon her by her neutrality. if she has not been able to accept germany's proposals, it is because those proposals contemplated the violation of her engagements toward europe, engagements which form the conditions of the creation of the belgian kingdom. she has been unable to admit that a people, however weak they may be, should fail in their duty and sacrifice their honour by yielding to force. the government have waited, not only until the ultimatum had expired, but also until belgian territory had been violated by german troops, before appealing to france and great britain, guarantors of her neutrality, under the same terms as are germany and austria-hungary, to coöperate in the name and in virtue of the treaties in defense of belgian territory. by repelling the invaders by force of arms, she has not even committed a hostile act as laid down by the provisions of article of the hague convention, respecting the rights and duties of neutral powers. germany has herself recognised that her attack constitutes a violation of international law, and being unable to justify it, she has pleaded her strategical interests. belgium formally denies the allegation that austrian and hungarian subjects have suffered treatment in belgium contrary to the most primitive demands of humanity. the belgian government, from the very beginning of hostilities, have issued the strictest orders for the protection of austro-hungarian persons and property. davignon.] the ---- chargé came around this afternoon to ask about getting to antwerp, where he wants to flee for protection. he was very indignant because the military governor had refused to allow him to go. when i asked him on what ground the permission had been refused, he said that it had not exactly been refused, but that he could go only on his own responsibility. he wanted us to protest against this. i meanly suggested to him that he would be in much more serious danger if he had an escort of german troops to take him to the belgian lines, and he left in a terrible state of mind. mr. whitlock and the spanish minister went to call on the military governor this afternoon to get off some telegrams which he had promised to send, and to talk over the general situation. after that they went to call on the burgomaster, and came back with a pretty good idea of what was happening in our fair city. the governor loaded them up with a large budget of official news, showing that germany was victorious all along every line; that she was not only chasing the french and english armies around in circles, but that uhlans were within forty kilometers of paris, and that five russian army corps had been beaten in eastern prussia. it really looks as though things were going pretty badly for the allies, but we have absolutely nothing but german news and cannot form an accurate opinion. the germans are particularly bitter against the belgian clergy and insist that the priests have incited the people to attack the german troops and mistreat the wounded. so far as i can learn, this is utter rubbish. the authorities of the church have publicly exhorted the people to remain calm and to refrain from hostile acts, pointing out that any provocation would bring sure punishment from the german military authorities. the priests i have seen have been at great pains to set an example that the germans should be the first to commend. the clergy has a tremendous influence in belgium, and is sincerely respected. they will be a vital force in holding the people together in their patriotic devotion, and in maintaining public tranquillity. a new governor-general is to be sent us here. the minister could not remember his name. i am curious. von lüttwitz will remain for the present at least. the burgomaster reports that the inhabitants of brussels are calm and that there need be no fear of trouble unless they are allowed to go hungry. a committee has been formed to revictual the town, and is working night and day. monsieur solvay has given a million francs, and other belgians given large sums. soup kitchens are being started for the poor and the question of bringing food supplies from neutral countries is being taken up and pushed with activity. these belgians are admirable in the way they handle things of this sort. they all realise the importance of keeping quiet so as to avoid any possibility of a repetition of the louvain business. it would take very little to start something of the sort here and the result would be the same--the destruction of the city. naturally everybody is turning to and trying to head off any excuse for violence. * * * * * _brussels, sunday, august , ._--our place has got to be the local diplomatic corner grocery, where all the village loafers come to do their heavy loafing. they bring in all the fantastic rumours that are abroad in the land, and discuss them with all solemnity. in the last day or so we have had it "on the best authority" that the queen of holland has had her consort shot because of his pro-german sympathies; that the kaiser has given up all hope and taken refuge in switzerland; that the united states had declared war on germany and austria; that the king and queen of the belgians had fled to holland, and that all was over. these are just a few. troops have been pouring through the town steadily all day on the way to vilvorde, where the belgians are still fighting, and to the south, where there is heavy cannonading going on. the belgians are making a big fight on the antwerp road, evidently to hold the attention of one german army corps and lighten france's load by just that much. it is a hopeless fight so far as they themselves are concerned, but it throws their courage and fighting qualities into higher relief. we are now the pampered pets of both sides. the german troops cheer our flag when the motor noses its way through them. the people of the town are equally enthusiastic, and many of them are wearing small american flags in their buttonholes. how long it will last there is no telling, but while it does, our work is made just that much easier. lunched at the palace hôtel with bulle and blount. riseis, the italian secretary, came in and joined us. bulle told him the story of our trip to louvain with embellishments that made my eyes start from my head. i had not realised what a desperate adventure we had been on until i heard it as it should be told. it made the real thing seem mild. before lunch we drove to blount's to learn whether the cannonading to the south was still going on. it was--heavy booming of german guns; no french guns to be heard. late in the afternoon blount and i drove off into the country to see whether we could locate the fighting to the south. we got as far as nivelles, but all was as peaceful as it should be on a perfect sunday afternoon. the people there were surprised that anyone should have thought there was fighting there. it was still much farther to the south. we drove around in search of evidence of fighting, but could find none. and this after circumstantial accounts of hand-to-hand struggle through all this part of the country! * * * * * _august st._--this morning began with a troop of people in to tell us that the rough work was about to begin, and that brussels was to go up in smoke. there is a good deal of unrest in the lower end of town and trouble may break out at any time. bad feeling has grown a good deal in the past few days and one good row would throw the fat in the fire. i went through the rough part of town late this afternoon and found patrols everywhere, heavily armed and swaggering about in groups of four. for their own sake i hope the people will not do anything foolish. people are making another effort to get away and are not finding it easy. at six this morning a crowd left here for ninove, twenty kilometers to the west. twenty-five hundred of them clung all over the trams that make the trip. at ninove they walked a mile or so, carrying their belongings, and caught a train to alost, where they changed for another train for ghent. goodness knows how many changes they had ahead of them after that. the trip was supposed to end safely in ostend some time this evening. it usually takes two hours. hearing that the train service was open and that boats were running from ostend to folkstone, we decided to verify the tidings and then get off some of our people, who should have gone long ago. to make sure blount and i motored down to ninove after lunch to telephone the consul at ostend and learn the true state of affairs. when we reached ninove we found the station so packed with refugees that there was no getting near the telephone bureau. the chef de gare, who had never in his long and honourable career had such a mob to lord it over, was so puffed up that he could not get down near enough to earth to hear our questions, so we decided to proceed to alost and try our luck there. we motored over in short order and got quick communication with the consul at ostend. he had very little news save that a lot of british marines had been landed there and had to-day been taken away again. he gave us what we wanted in the way of steamer information. i got the consul-general at antwerp on the telephone and learned that all was well there. as i came out of the booth from this second call, i was held up by a garde civique, who inquired if i was the _monsieur de l'automobile_. he would like to see my papers. certainly. then i remembered that i had left all my belgian papers at the legation and had nothing but papers in german from the military authorities. i showed them anyway. before he could examine us any further, three eager amateur sherlocks came bursting into the room and took charge of the proceedings. the leader pointed an accusing finger at blount, and exclaimed, "you have come from ninove!" blount admitted it. "you had a third person in the car when you left there!" "_pas du tout._" "on the contrary, i have three witnesses to prove it." aside from the fact that nobody could have got to alost in the time we had, it made no real difference how many people we had in the car, and blount said as much. then our accuser changed his plan of attack. "i observed you when you arrived, and you were speaking a language which was perhaps not german, but sounded like english." "it was," said blount. "aha," triumphantly, "but you said you were americans!" by this time the chef de gare had come to answer our questions and we waved our persecutors aside while we talked to him. they kept quiet and meekly stood aside, as we bade them. while we talked with our functionary, i looked out on the square and saw that we were a real sensation. the garde civique had been called out and was keeping the place clear. the crowd was banked up solid around the other three sides of the square. they looked hopeful of seeing the german spies brought out and shot. by signing our names on a scrap of paper, which the amateurs compared with the signatures on different papers we had about us, we convinced them that we were harmless citizens, and were allowed to go. the crowd seemed greatly disappointed to see us walk out free. the garde civique let them loose as we got in the car, and they came thronging around for a good close look at us. we honk-honked our way through them, thanking our lucky stars we had not had a worse time of it. at the edge of the town we looked up and saw two german aeroplanes snooping around. a minute later a crowd of people surged across the street to bar our way, shouting that we must go no farther, as the germans were approaching the town and that it was dangerous to proceed. two young officers came across the street to tell us in great glee that they had made a dash in a motor at the first german outpost and had brought in four prisoners. they were bursting with joy in their exploit, but by this time they may themselves be prisoners. in a few minutes we came to the first german outpost, and had our papers carefully examined. from then on we were held up every few yards and nearly had our papers worn out from much handling. at one place a young lieutenant looked over our papers and burst out into roars of laughter at the name of von jarotzky. he called to other officers. they came up, looked at the signature, and also burst out into loud laughter. i asked them what the joke was, but they were not telling. we got in about seven o'clock, without incident. went to see von herwarth after dinner on behalf of a poor belgian woman whose husband, a major in the grenadiers, is dangerously wounded and in the military hospital at antwerp. the germans are going to send her up to-morrow on a motor with some belgian officers, who are being exchanged. i saw the aide-de-camp who is going through with the car and asked him to be nice to her. then to her house, to shut up a lot of old women of both sexes who were trying to dissuade her from going, on the ground that the germans would hold her as a hostage. i suppose she will be off. mrs. bridges,[ ] wife of the former british military attaché, was in this evening for help. a british prisoner told of seeing colonel bridges fall from his horse at mons, mount again, ride a little way and fall. she cannot get to mons, so we are getting her off to france via england, in the hope that she may find him on that side. [footnote : colonel bridges was badly wounded at mons, but escaped, recovered, was wounded again at nieuport, but survived both, and having received the rank of lieutenant-general, was the military member of the balfour mission to the united states in .] it is a pitiful business, and the worst of it is that they all think we have some miraculous power to do anything we like for them. i only wish we could. * * * * * _brussels, september , ._--- the first thing this morning i had a pow-wow with hulse about how to handle the funds that are being gathered to relieve the enormous amount of distress that we shall have to meet here. there is a good deal of it even now. all the big factories are closed. most of the shops have their shutters up, and the streets are filled with idle people. importations of foodstuffs, even from the outlying districts, have stopped dead. conditions are bad enough in all conscience, but they are nothing compared to what we have ahead, when cold weather comes on. a lot of bankers and big business men have got together to wrestle with the financial problem. the burgomaster has his people at work, trying to get their hands on foodstuffs and coördinate their work. i went to the foreign office and talked things over with von herwarth. he straightened out some of the tangles, and we were able to get things moving. i have no trouble with the higher officers at headquarters, but i never go there that i do not want to murder the large brutes of non-commissioned officers who guard the door. they wear large brass plates on their chest and look like bock-beer signs. they have a free and careless way of booting everybody out the door and refusing to listen to anybody. i get fighting mad every time i go there and this morning got sufficiently roused to develop considerable fluency in german. i pictured to the large rough-neck some of the things that were going to happen to him if i was not let in; he was sufficiently impressed to permit me to stand on the sidewalk while my card was sent in. when i got in i made a few well-chosen remarks on the manners, if any, of the watch dogs of the ministry. from the ministry i went to the société générale, where i was asked to attend a conference between the bankers of the city. there were ten of them in the big directors' room, and they worked to some purpose. m. francqui, the director and leading spirit of the société générale, presided over the meeting. he explained the general situation simply and clearly, and stated what they had done and wanted to do. they had three points on which they wanted advice, and they were brought up and disposed of one at a time. by twelve o'clock i got away, and felt that the hour i had put in there had been well spent. when i got back to the legation, i found a nice belgian who had no request to make of us, but wanted to tell his story to somebody, and a terrible story it was, too. he had fitted up his château near mons as a red cross hospital. during the battle there a week ago, british wounded had been brought in. the germans found the château a hindrance in their operations, so got it out of the way by battering down the walls with artillery, and then throwing grenades into the building to set it on fire. there was great difficulty in getting the wounded out and hiding them in such shelter as was to be found. one man, at least, was burned alive in his bed. it seems incredible that red cross hospitals should be attacked, but stories come in from every side, tending to show that they are. beside this man's property there is a railway crossing. when a troop train passed over it day before yesterday, there was an explosion like the report of a rifle. the train was immediately stopped. the officer in command announced that civilians had fired upon his train, and ordered all the men in the vicinity taken prisoners. then, refusing to listen to explanation or discussion, he had them all stood up against a wall and shot. when it was all over, he listened to explanations and learned that the report was that of a cap placed in the switch by the german railway men as a signal to stop the train before reaching the next station. by way of reparation, he then graciously admitted that the civilians were innocent. but, as my caller said: "the civilians were also dead." another pleasant thing the germans seem to be doing is arresting peaceful citizens by hundreds and sending them back to germany to harvest the crops. they will also reap a fine harvest of hatred for generations to come. poor bulle is in considerable doubt as to his status. for many months he has not heard from his government, if any, and has not been able to get a word as to whether he is chargé d'affaires or not. i told him to-day that he had a rather unique situation as the representative of a country without a government to a government without a country. he extracted a chuckle from that. blount made up his mind to leave for america this afternoon, by way of ostend and england. his family was all ready to start, but when he went down to headquarters to get a _laisser-passer_ it was refused. operations are apparently about to be started in _tout le bazar_, and they don't want stray civilians seeing too much. blount will now settle down here for the present. his loss is our gain. the danish minister was in again this afternoon. he is going away, and has finally turned his legation over to us. we now have four legations besides our own--german, british, austro-hungarian, and danish. one little thing the germans have done here that is _echt deutsch_ is to change the clocks on the railway stations and public buildings to german time. every other clock in town continues about its business in the same old way, and the change only serves to arouse resentment. another thing is, that on entering a town, they hold the burgomaster, the procureur du roi and other authorities as hostages, to ensure good behaviour by the population. of course the hoodlum class would like nothing better than to see their natural enemies, the defenders of law and order, ignominiously shot, and they do not restrain themselves a bit on account of the hostages. just lack of imagination. * * * * * _september nd._--a paper, smuggled through the lines from antwerp this morning, gives the news that the queen has left for england, with the royal children; adding, "she is expected back in a few days." this move is evidently in anticipation of the bombarding of antwerp. now and then a belgian has the satisfaction of getting in a gentle dig at the germans; although, if the dig is too gentle, the chances are the digee does not know it. last week countess z----, aged eighty-four, who is living alone in her château, was obliged to put up a german general and his staff. she withdrew to her own rooms, and did not put in an appearance during the two or three days that they were there. when the time came for them to leave, the general sent word that he would like to see her. she sent back a message, asking to be excused. the general was insistent, however, and finally the little old lady came reluctantly down the stairs into the great hall, stopping three or four steps from the bottom and gazing down upon her lodgers with a quizzical smile. they all clicked their heels and bowed, and then the general stepped forward a few paces and, in his best manner, said that they could not go away without thanking her for all that had been done to make them comfortable during the time they had had the honour of being her guests. when he had quite finished, the little old lady replied in her gentle soft voice: "_messieurs, vous n'avez pas à me remercier. je ne vous avais pas invités._" * * * * * _brussels, september , ._--a beautiful aide-de-camp of field-marshal von der goltz turned up this afternoon, and announced that, if agreeable, his excellency the governor-general, would call to-morrow afternoon between four and five. we are looking forward with a good deal of interest to seeing the big man. he arrived yesterday, but has kept so quiet that nobody knew he was here. the aide-de-camp nearly wept on my shoulder; said there was nobody in the general's party who knew brussels, and that they were having a terrible time to find their way around the town. he'll probably have greater worries before he gets through. we have at last heard from mccutcheon, cobb, lewis, bennett, etc. a telegram came to-day from the consul at aix-la-chapelle, asking that we look after their baggage at the palace hotel. from this we judge that they were arrested and sent back to germany on a troop train. they left here for mons, and goodness only knows what adventures they have been through since we last saw them. * * * * * _brussels, september , ._--this afternoon, at four o'clock, von der goltz (field-marshal baron von der goltz pacha, to be exact) arrived with a staff of seven officers to make a formal call. a crowd quickly gathered in the street, as their big gray military cars snorted up to the door. all the neighbourhood was in a great state of excitement. the great man is pretty old and doddery, wears spectacles about an inch thick, and a large collection of decorations. his staff was also brilliant in decorations and silver helmets, etc. i met them at the foot of the stairs, and escorted them up. the marshal is apparently blind as a bat, for he never turned on the landings and would have walked straight into the walls if i had not steered him around the corners. after one good look we decided that he was to be a figure head and leave the real work to the troop of officers and functionaries he had brought with him. it was supposed to be a purely formal call, but the old gentleman seemed to have no thought of leaving, and did not budge for half an hour. the conversation was not thrilling. they finally left after much clicking of heels, and the bemonocled count ortenburg nearly broke his neck by tripping over his sword. however, we got them safely out of the house, while all the servants leaned out of the windows and took in the show. the new governor-general has addressed a proclamation to the belgian people, and has had it posted on the walls: proclamation. his majesty, the emperor of germany, after the occupation of the greater part of belgian territory, has been pleased to appoint me governor-general in belgium. i have established the seat of the general government in brussels. by his majesty's orders, a civil administration has been established with the general government. his excellency herr von sandt has been made chief of this administration. the german armies advance victoriously in france. my task will be to preserve quiet and public order in belgium. every act of the population against the german military forces, every attempt to interfere with their communications with germany, to trouble or cut railway, telegraph or telephone communications, will be punished severely. any resistance or revolt against the german administration will be suppressed without pity. it is inevitable in war that the punishment of hostile acts falls not only upon the guilty but also on the innocent. it is the duty of all reasonable citizens to exercise their influence with the turbulent elements of the population to restrain them from any infraction of public order. belgian citizens desiring to return peaceably to their occupations have nothing to fear from the german authorities or troops. so far as is possible, commerce should be resumed, factories should begin to work, and the crops harvested. belgian citizens i do not ask any one to forego his patriotic sentiments, but i do expect from all of you a sensible submission and absolute obedience to the orders of the general government. i call upon you to show confidence in that government, and accord it your co-operation. i address this summons particularly to the functionaries of the state and of the communes who have remained at their posts. the greater your response to this appeal, the greater the service you will render to your country. the governor-general, baron von der goltz, _field-marshal._ _brussels, september , ._ at about five o'clock, bulle came along, and we went for a long walk together--the first time i have tried anything of the sort since the war began. we tramped out to the bois and made a swing around the circle, not getting back until half-past seven, when we repaired to the palace hotel and had dinner with several of the colleagues. when von der goltz left us, he had started for the spanish legation; but we learned from the spanish secretary that he had never arrived. instead, at the last minute, an aide-de-camp had come clanking in to express his excellency's regrets that he was unable to come, and say that he would have to defer his visit until a later date. something happened to him after he left our legation. x---- had an experience yesterday which made him boiling mad. he left town in the afternoon with his consul, to go to alost for telegrams and letters. he was in a car flying his flag, and had his _laisser-passer_ from the german military authorities. near assche, he was stopped by an outpost, and told he could not go any further. he accepted this in good part, and said he would go back. at this point, an old turkey gobbler of a general arrived and lit into him for being there. he replied that he had done nothing to which exception could be taken; that his papers were in order, and that he was ready to return at the first indication from the military authorities. this seemed to enrage the old soldier who announced that they would do nothing of the sort; that they were prisoners of war and would be sent back under armed guard. x---- protested that this was an outrage against the representative of a friendly country, but in spite of this two armed soldiers were placed in the car with them and another beside the driver, and they were brought back to town as prisoners. by dint of arguments and threats they were taken to headquarters instead of jail, and succeeded in seeing general von lüttwitz who piled on the excuses. it does you no good to have legitimate business and papers in order if it suits some apoplectic officer to clap you into jail. one of the officers i saw to-day told me that the germans were deliberately terrorizing the country through which they passed. it is a perfectly convincing explanation of german doings in this country, but i did not think they were prepared to admit it so frankly. this frank fellow made no claim that civilians had attacked the german troops; his only observation was that they might do so unless they were so completely cowed that they dared not raise their hands. he emphasised the fact that it was not done as a result of bad temper, but as part of the scheme of things in general. for my information, he remarked that in the long run this was the most humane manner of conducting war, as it discouraged people from doing things that would bring terrible punishment upon them. and yet some of these belgians are ungrateful enough to complain at being murdered and robbed. * * * * * _september th._--autumn is coming with little gusts of wind and falling leaves. clouds are thick, and there is a sort of hidden chill in the air. it is depressing in itself, and makes us think with some dismay of what is ahead of the millions of men who are in the field, if the war is to continue into the winter as seems probable. i am sure there is something big in the air to-day. for several days there has been a growing nervousness at headquarters. for four days there has been no official proclamation of german victories. persistent rumours come in of large numbers of british troops between here and the coast, advancing in the general direction of brussels. x----'s arrest, while on a trip to alost, looks as though the germans had some reason for keeping people from getting out that way with knowledge of military conditions here. another thing. we were to have returned the call of von der goltz to-day at noon. between here and the spanish legation yesterday, _something_ happened. he never got to the spanish legation. this morning we got a message from the État-major that von der goltz had "telegraphed" to ask that we should postpone our call. where he is, nobody would say. the officer who brought the message merely stated that he had been called away in great haste, and that it was not known when he would return. troops are marching through the town in every direction, and in large numbers. supply trains and artillery are creaking through the place night and day, and we are awakened nearly every morning either by the crunching of the heavy siege pieces or the singing of large bodies of troops as they march through the streets. every day we realise more and more the enormous scale on which the operations are being conducted. it seems tremendous here, and we are seeing only a small part of one section of the field of operations. privately, the germans continue to assure us that they are winning all along the line. they say that they have taken the whole of the first line of defences in france with the single exception of maubeuge, where there has been long and heavy fighting and where the result still trembles in the balance. in addition to this they claim to have taken a part of the second line of defences. they say that the french government has removed to bordeaux, which seems quite possible, and even sensible. they tell us all these things every time that we go over to the general staff, but they do not publish anything about it. a british red cross doctor was in to-day and told us some items of interest. he said that he had been assigned to care for the wounded prisoners who were being brought back from france on their way to germany, and that he had seen all the british prisoners who had been brought back by way of brussels--about three thousand in all. he said that they were in good spirits and were sure that things would come out right in the end. there were the remnants of the argyle and sutherland highlanders, who went into action something over a thousand strong and came out only a handful. i made two attempts to see herwarth to-day but was kept on the sidewalk and in the courtyard by the big green dragons who guard the entrance to headquarters. after the second attempt i returned to the legation and telephoned him that i should like to see him when he could get it through the heads of these people that we were not tramps. he was very nice and apologetic and had all the officers in the german army out in the street waiting for me when i went back for the third time. all the sentries were blown up and given the strictest sort of instructions that i was to be passed along without question whenever i appeared. i was also given another _passierschein_ to add to my collection, directing everybody to let me pass wherever i wanted to go. in view of the fact that a lot of our work here is in behalf of german subjects, this is about the least they could do. some news has been brought down from antwerp that makes it seem necessary for me to go there and get back again before the siege begins. i had hoped to get away this morning but have not yet been able to get a decision as to exactly what is to be done. i now hope to get away after lunch. i spent all yesterday afternoon enciphering a telegram which i must get off either through holland or antwerp. we are able to send nothing but open messages over the military wire through berlin and i have a strong suspicion that these are being censored. * * * * * _brussels, september , ._--did not get off to antwerp to-day but hope to make it by to-morrow noon. there was too much going on, but arrangements are being made for a _laisser-passer_, etc., and i anticipate no trouble beyond being shot or made prisoner. gherardi[ ] came in this morning for a call and then left for maubeuge, which the germans had arranged to capture during the day. they seemed very sure of it, but i would not be surprised to see him come sailing back without having seen the surrender. [footnote : american naval attaché at berlin.] baron von der lancken, of the foreign office in berlin, called this morning. he is here to handle relations with the foreign ministers remaining in brussels. as we have had the care of german interests they all come here first and our position is better than that of any other legation in the country. we have things on a working basis. * * * * * _september th._--last night, after dinner, i trotted around and called on the wives of some of the belgian officials to see whether there was any news of them that i could give to their husbands in antwerp. i found madame davignon, the wife of the minister for foreign affairs, in her son's home, peacefully working away on clothes for the wounded. she told me all the news of the house so that i could repeat it to her husband. she is as calm as you please and far from despairing. madame de broqueville, the wife of the prime minister, turned her house into a red cross hospital at the outbreak of hostilities; it is a beautiful big place. of course there are practically nothing but german wounded in the house now, but the good lady conquers her natural feelings and has them as well looked after as though they were of her own race. i went in in an apologetic mood for intruding on her at so late an hour, but she had lots to say and i stayed on for a long time. it did her good to talk, and i was so overawed by her courage and poise that i sat and listened in silent admiration. the wives of the cabinet ministers and other officials have shown wonderful nerve and are standing right up to their duty. count and countess de x had an interesting story to tell of their experiences when the first armies went through. when the war broke out they were at their château and were caught by the first onrush of troops. their fine cellars were emptied for the benefit of the invader, but nothing more serious happened to them until the second wave came along. then there was a demand for more wine. as all the wine had been carried away they could not comply. the germans were convinced that they were being fooled, and searched the place very carefully. finally they imprisoned the x's for three days in the cellar and then brought them forth and stood them up before a firing squad and threatened to shoot them unless they told where the wine was hidden. at the critical moment a big gray military car rolled up, and to their considerable relief they saw that one of the occupants was a german princeling, who had formerly been their guest on several occasions. they called out to him, and by his orders were immediately released. after expressing their thanks to him they went into the château to find that soldiers were engaged in packing up their fine collections of enamels and porcelains to ship them to germany. another appeal to the prince, who was most sympathetic. he was a practical and resourceful man, and said: "of course i'll stop this, but you will understand that our men would like to keep some little souvenir of the war in belgium. that would be hard to prevent. but i would suggest that you pick out all the pieces that you value most and pack them away in that large wardrobe. then i'll do the rest." madame de x was, of course, delighted with this, and scurried about gathering together the finest pieces and packing them carefully into the big wardrobe. she kept it up as long as there was a nook or cranny where odd pieces could be put, and then reported progress to the prince. "are you sure that all the best pieces are there?" says he. "all that could be packed there," answers madame de x. "good," says the prince, and then turning to his orderly: "have that wardrobe sent to berlin for me." the way the german army cleaned out the wine of the country was a revelation to everybody. they would not take what they needed for the day's drinking but would clear out whole cellars at a time and load what was not drunk onto carts to be carried away. the result was that people who had a little warning had recourse to all sorts of ingenious tricks to save some of their store. there was one bright man in the province of namur who removed his stock of wine--all except a few thousand bottles of new wine--and deposited them in the ornamental pond near his château. the germans arrived a few hours afterward and raised a great fog because they were not satisfied with the amount of wine they found. the owner of the château had discreetly slipped away to brussels and they could not do anything to him. however, they tapped all the walls for secret hiding places and went over the park to see if anything had been buried--all in vain. the next morning, however, the pond was covered with labels which had soaked off and floated to the surface, and after draining the pond the whole stock was carted away. madame b----, who was there, has an interesting souvenir which she proposes to keep if possible. during the first days of the war her château was occupied by a lot of officers, who got gloriously drunk and smashed up pretty well everything in the drawing-room and dining-room. one of them, with a fine sense of humour, took a piece of hard chalk and wrote on the top of her piano in large letters: _deutschland über alles!_ the crowd left the place in the morning without trying to cover their traces, and madame b---- came in to put things to rights. the first thing she did was to get a large piece of plate glass to cover the top of the piano so that the legend would not be effaced, and over that she placed an ordinary piano cover so that no future visitor would be inclined to erase the inscription. when the war is over this will be an interesting reminder of her visitors. this morning i was ready to start for antwerp. my _laisser-passer_ had been promised for ten o'clock. when it did not come by that hour, i went up to see baron von der lancken who had agreed to attend to the matter. he received me most graciously, told me how delighted he was to see me, how it pleased him to see that we came to him with our little troubles, etc. he kept off the subject of the _laisser-passer_ as long as he could, but when he could stave it off no longer he said that he must ask me to see von herwarth, who had been placed in charge of all matters regarding passports, etc. i made a blue streak over to herwarth's office, and saw him after a little delay. he kept me as long as he could, and told me all that he knew about the war and perhaps a great deal more. when we got down to the subject of my visit he said that von der lancken was mistaken, that passports could be granted only by colonel von claer who had his office about a block away. i began to smell a rat about this time, but kept plugging away. i spent an hour and a quarter in the antechamber of the colonel, being unable to get to him or to any of his officers. it was all part of a game. both von der lancken and herwarth harped upon the danger of the trip to antwerp, advised against it and told how terribly they would feel if anything were to happen to me. i asked each of them point blank if they contemplated an attack while i was there. they both avoided the subject, but said that with the situation as it was now it was impossible to tell from one moment to another what might happen. i saw that they were undecided about what was going to happen next, and that until they did know they did not intend to let me go. they naturally do not wish to have anything happen to me or anyone else connected with the legation, so i feel entirely safe about going. after lunch i went back to the siege and stayed until my friend, the colonel, left by the fire-escape or some equally desperate way so as to avoid seeing me. von der goltz had sent word to the minister that he was coming here for tea this afternoon, and wanted to meet the spanish minister. that was our opportunity, and the minister was all primed with what he was to say to the old chap. they beat us to it, however. the problem had evidently been decided since i saw von der lancken in the morning, for he greeted me with the news that the _laisser-passer_ would be around in the course of the evening. he added that the general was anxious to send one of the belgian ministers of state to antwerp, and would appreciate it if i would take him with me. he is count de woeste, the man who has always fought against having an army, on the ground that belgium was so fully guaranteed by her treaties that it was unnecessary. baron von der lancken says that they will make out a _laisser-passer_ on which he will be included, and that the military authorities will mark out the route by which we had best go, so as to avoid running into trouble. i imagine it will take us by way of termonde and st. nicolas. the crowd that came to tea included von der goltz, pacha, baron von der lancken, herr von sandt, and count ortenburg--a scion of a mediatised bavarian family. they told us of all the glorious triumphs of the german army, and of the terrible drubbing that was in store for their enemies. they stayed on for about an hour. when they left, i escorted the old man to his car. before he climbed in, he looked me over curiously and remarked: "_tiens, c'est fous qui faîtes ce foyage à anfers! four afez peaucoup de gourage. che tacherai d'arranger un petit entr'acte pour fous être agreaple. mais il vaut refenir aussitot gue bossible!_" they evidently intend to hold off for a day to await certain developments, and i am to get the benefit of the delay. the marshal also told us that maubeuge had fallen, and that they had made forty-five thousand prisoners. it seems almost incredible that the french and english would have left that many men at maubeuge when they knew that it was bound to fall. perhaps we shall find that this is not altogether accurate. they say nothing about what is happening in austria. the news from england and antwerp is to the effect that the russians are giving the austrians a hard time of it. this afternoon the german headquarters issued an order prohibiting the bringing of newspapers to brussels from the outside world, and announcing that any one who brings newspapers here or is found with papers in his possession will be severely punished. two german papers will be distributed by the authorities, and everything else is taboo. they evidently intend that their own version of passing events shall be the only one to get out here. * * * * * _brussels, september , ._--ever since the th i have been off on my little jaunt to antwerp, and have not been able to get a line on paper. i was not at all sure that i was going to get away at all, until i got down to the legation on wednesday morning and found my _laisser-passer_, signed by von der goltz, waiting for me--another to add to my already large and interesting collection. with it was a letter from my friend and well-wisher, baron von der lancken, who said that an officer would be assigned to accompany us as far as the german outposts. he suggested that i take along a large white flag to be hoisted over the motor for the run between the lines. the note and _laisser-passer_ had arrived at the legation about one o'clock in the morning, and had looked so important that the slaves waked the minister from a deep sleep to receive them. [illustration: pass issued by field-marshal von der goltz to enable mr. gibson to pass through the german lines to antwerp. passierschein ============= für den ersten sekretär der gesandtschaft der vereinigten staaten von amerika zu brüssel herrn hugh gibson und den königlich belgischen staatsminister herrn woeste, die sich nach antwerpen begeben, von wo sie am . september d. j. nach brüssel zurückzukehren beabsichtigen. bei der rückreise von antwerpen nach brüssel werden die vorbezeichneten herren begleitet sein von dem ersten sekretär der hiesigen spanischen gesandtschaft, marquis de faura und einem oder zwei weiteren belgischen herren, deren namen noch nicht angegeben werden künnen. die herren sind frei und ungehindert passieren und repassieren zu lassen. jeder beistand ist ihnen zu gewahren. brüssel, den . september der generalgouverneur in belgien.] when i got to the office i found that villalobar had not sent over his contribution of letters, so i ran up to the legation and saw him. he bade me farewell as though i were off to certain death, and loaded me with a large bundle of letters and telegrams. when i got back to the shop, i found my fellow-passenger, the count de woeste, waiting for me. he is a leader of the catholic party which has been in power in belgium for the past thirty years, and, although he is seventy-five years old, he is still a big figure in the little country. he behaved very well on the trip, and if i were a belgian citizen i should vote for him on account of his good nerve. we bowled off to headquarters, where i was mightily pleased to find that von herwarth had assigned himself to the duty of taking us up to the outposts--just for a visit. it was the only satisfactory one i have had with him since he came. at headquarters there were always too many interruptions. my old travelling companion had a hard time to keep himself in hand and not enter upon a joint debate upon the war, its causes and justification. he did well, however, and my two passengers parted on good terms, even going to the extraordinary length of shaking hands at the outpost. a big military motor, filled with armed men, was sent ahead to act as guide, and we followed along closely behind in a cloud of dust. from the outskirts of brussels right up to the german outposts at hofstade, the fields were filled with german troops of every sort--infantry, lancers, heavy artillery, and even three or four large detachments of sailors in blue blouses and caps. all the men, except the sailors and a few of the landsturm who wear conspicuous blue uniforms, were in the new greenish grey, which is about the finest color that has yet seen active service. frequently we drove several hundred yards beside a field before noticing that it was filled with soldiers. several of the villages between dieghem and hofstade were partially burned, and there were evidences of shell fire--which to these peasants must be a perfectly convincing substitute for hell-fire--and of fighting at really close quarters. between perck and hofstade, the fields were covered with deep entrenchments, and over some of these were stuck dummy heads to draw hostile fire. some, on the other hand, were fitted with belgian caps picked up on the battle-field, evidently for the purpose of inducing belgian troops to approach for a closer look before firing. most of the big trees along the road had been cut down, and many houses razed to the ground so as to have a cleaner sweep for the artillery. at dieghem, the german pilot-car picked up a naval officer who was to accompany us as far as the outposts and to inspect his men on the way back. on the outskirts of hofstade, under a brick railway bridge, we found the last german troops. they had some hard fighting here at the time of the last belgian sortie, and the bridge and the surrounding houses showed evidences of shell fire. [illustration: a street in louvain] [illustration: fixing on the white flag for the dash between the lines] [illustration: refugees from the villages near the antwerp forts] [illustration: arrival in antwerp of refugees from malines] i was rather against putting up the white flag, but both herwarth and the naval officer were most insistent that i should do so, saying that the country between the lines was filled with patrols, both belgian and german; that they felt that hostilities were to be commenced at any moment, and that any one who ventured into the district between the lines would stand a fine chance of being shot unless he carried a conciliatory emblem. they rigged up a long pole on the side of the car with a white flag about six feet square, and bidding a glad farewell to the representatives of hohenzollern and company, we started out to feel our way into malines. about yards beyond the bridge we sighted two belgian bicycle patrols who, on seeing us, jumped off their machines and ran into an abandoned farmhouse. knowing that they were at high tension, we crept up very slowly so that they might have a good look at us before trying their marksmanship. they were peeking over the window-ledge, with their rifles trained at us; but after a good look at the black clothes and white whiskers of m. de woeste they pulled in their weapons and waved us to go ahead. about a kilometer farther on, we came around a turn in the road and nearly ran into the first belgian outpost--six men and an officer. as we came around upon them they scurried behind stone walls and trees, and gave us the usual pleasant greeting of levelled rifles. as the most prudent things to do under such circumstances, the car was stopped, and i went ahead to parley. the officer proved to be young z----. he turned quite white when he got a good look at me, and remarked that it was fortunate they had not had a sight of us farther down the road, as we would certainly have been filled with lead. he said that the germans had tried three times that morning to get through the lines in cars flying the white flag, in one instance at least, with a machine-gun in the car. as a result of this, the outposts had orders not to take any chance for the rest of the time intervening before the attack which was expected to begin at any minute. far be it from me to suggest that our friends had me put up the white flag, so as to offer proof of the belgian savagery in firing on the white flag. after this little experience, we took in our white flag and made the rest of our trip without trouble. we found outposts about every hundred yards, and were stopped at the point of the rifle each time; but as we got farther away from the outer lines the behaviour of the posts was noticeably less nervous, and when we got into malines the mere sight of our papers was sufficient to let us freely through. since my last trip, the belgians have been working steadily at their preparations for defence, and have accomplished wonders. their large tracts of land, some of them forming natural routes, for entry between the forts, have been inundated with water from the canals so as to be quite impassable. tremendous barbed wire entanglements form a broad barrier all around the outer and inner fortifications; they are so thick and so strongly braced that artillery fire would be practically useless against them, and cutting with wire nippers would be so slow that it could not be accomplished without a horrible loss of men. there are any number of huge searchlights placed on the fortifications to sweep the skies for zeppelins. since my last visit, one zeppelin had succeeded in getting over the town, but was surprised and dropped its whole cargo of bombs in a distance of a few hundred yards, taking no lives and doing little material damage. since then, several big craft have appeared at night, but have always been frightened away by the searchlights and the fire of the small vertical guns which have been ready for them. all the villages which cluster around the fortifications have been razed to the ground, and the avenues of big trees have been cut down; it is a pretty dreadful sight. i left m. de woeste at the grand hôtel, where the cabinet is staying, and then made for the saint antoine. had lunch with sir francis villiers and colonel fairholme, and got my first real news since the prussian headquarters stopped issuing bulletins of german victories. sir francis showed me the telegrams he had received about the german check and retreat in france; and prince koudacheff, the russian minister, who joined us for coffee, vied with him by showing me his telegrams about the russian advance in eastern prussia and in austria. after luncheon, i had some pow-wows on the subject that had brought me, and went to see various people for whom i had messages. they are a lot more cheerful than the last time i was in antwerp, and are ready for anything. from the foreign office, i went to the consulate general, where i found a mountain of letters and telegrams. got off my cables, and answered as much of the other correspondence as was absolutely necessary--no more. on my way back to the hotel, i ran into general jungbluth coming out of the palace, and was promptly hauled inside for gossip. the queen, who has very properly come back from england, walked in on us and stopped to hear the news from brussels. i got back to the hotel, and found all the colleagues waiting for me to hear the latest news from brussels. i played my part, and was nearly torn to pieces in their eagerness for news from the town where there is none. they were all there except the papal nuncio, who is most unhappy in the midst of war's alarms and hardly budges from the episcopal palace. after dinner i was again asked to go to the grand hôtel to see the prime minister. he had nothing startling to say, but was anxious to know what was going on in brussels. he showed me his telegrams from france, england and russia, and his maps with the recent movements worked out with little flags. monsieur de brocqueville told me an interesting incident that had taken place at ghent. it seems that when the germans arrived there, they sent in an officer and several soldiers to arrange for requisitions, etc., a promise having been given that they would not be molested. of course, the whole town was on the _qui vive_ and everybody had been warned to refrain from incurring their displeasure. just as the german motor passed in front of our consulate, a belgian armoured car came charging in from antwerp, knowing nothing of the presence of the germans, and upon seeing the enemy uniform, opened fire, wounding the officer and one of the men. that was enough to start things, and the town would probably be in ruins to-day but for the quick thinking and action of van hee, the american vice-consul. he plunged down the staircase, seized the burgomaster, who happened to be present, pushed him into a motor with the wounded men and went straight to the german headquarters to explain that the attack had been made by two men from antwerp who knew nothing of the agreement reached between the city and the german forces, and to plead that no reprisals should be made upon the city. the general said that he was prepared to accept the statement of the vice-consul on this matter, and that he would not therefore visit retribution on the town if the requisitions which he had demanded were promptly furnished. the requisitions were heavy, and he was apparently afraid that they might not be sent. he said that he would send in troops to occupy the town until the supplies requisitioned were actually in his possession, but finally agreed to refrain from doing so on condition that the vice-consul should give his word of honour that the supplies should be forthcoming. van hee took this responsibility, and the general agreed to keep his troops outside the town. when they got back to ghent, the military governor disavowed the arrangement on the ground that the burgomaster had no right to enter into an agreement with the germans and that he, as military governor, was the only one with any authority to deal with them. he therefore declared that no supplies should be sent. the burgomaster telegraphed the prime minister in antwerp, and placed the entire situation before him, and monsieur de brocqueville promptly telegraphed back that since the american vice-consul had given his word of honour to the german general it was impossible to disavow the agreement, and that the supplies should be sent out immediately. this was a pretty high stand for the belgians to take, but they feel that van hee saved ghent from destruction, and are correspondingly grateful to him. getting around antwerp in the evening is quite an undertaking at this time; no street lamps are lighted, all the window shades lined with black, and heavy black shades are placed over the small electric lights in the courtyards of hotels, etc.--all of this to keep from giving any indication to the zeppelins as to where to drop their visiting cards. a heavy detachment of soldiers guards the approach to the saint antoine, and there are patrols in all the streets. the few motors allowed on the street have no lights, and are stopped by all the patrols, who do not call out but rise up silently in front of you and demand the password. it is a ticklish business finding one's way. the big searchlights on the forts sweep the skies from nightfall until dawn, making a wonderful sort of fireworks. when i got back to the hotel i found prince caraman chimay waiting for me with a message from the queen. also poor prince ernest de ligne, whose son, badouin, was killed in one of the armoured motors several days ago. young de ligne, who was a volunteer, was in one of three armoured cars that went out on a reconnaissance toward the german lines. just before entering a sunken road between two fields they stopped a flemish peasant and asked him whether there were any germans anywhere about. the peasant told them that three uhlans had been seen a short time before but they had gone away. the three motors, de ligne in the first, started down and were attacked by about forty germans under command of a major. de ligne was shot in the head and died shortly afterwards. the man who took his place at the wheel was killed, and several others of the party were also badly wounded and have since died. the third motor came up from some little distance behind and opened on the germans, killing or wounding nearly all of them, including the officer, who was killed. a young chap named strauss, whose mother was an american, had the mitrailleuse in his car, and stood upright, firing upon the germans without being touched by the heavy rifle fire that they directed against him. when the germans had been put to flight he and the other survivors got the three cars into running order, and brought them all back to antwerp, where de ligne and two of the others died. prince ernest had a hard time getting through from brussels, and was fired on several times by the german troops, who were even more nervous than in the morning, when i came through. one of his nephews has also been killed, and another nephew, prince henri de ligne, is in the aviation corps, and has been in the thick of it ever since the beginning of the war. he and his wife are also staying at the saint antoine. on thursday morning i got caught in another avalanche of telegrams and had to spend a couple of hours at the consulate-general polishing off and finishing business. stopped in at the palace on the way back and saw general jungbluth, who showed me the latest telegrams. i gathered up what newspapers i could beg or buy and stuffed them into a military pouch to take back. had an early lunch, gathered up m. de woeste and faura, whom i was to bring back, and started about one. we got through malines, across the only one of the three bridges which is left, and started down the bank of the canal toward hofstade, where herwarth was to meet us at two o'clock. there was heavy firing by small guns ahead and a certain amount of protective firing from the forts behind us, with the shells singing high above our heads, but we thought that it was probably aimed further to the south and that we could get through. just at the edge of malines we were startled by a tremendous report near-by, and on getting out to reconnoitre i discovered a belgian battery, which had been established near the convent of the dames de coloma. the commanding officer of the battery, major nyssens, whom i had known in brussels, advised us to wait a little to see if there was a lull in the fighting, so that we would get through. we went into the convent to wait and were warmly received by a little irish nun, who showed us the park and pictures by way of entertainment, although we felt a much greater interest in the banging of the battery. after a bit major nyssens sent out a messenger to the farthest battery to see whether they were prepared to stop firing for a little while to let us scuttle through to hofstade. presently an answer came back that at : the firing would be stopped for twelve minutes to let us through. we were in the motor ready to start when another messenger came from the outer battery saying that the germans were prepared to move up their battery from the bridge at hofstade--the very spot we were making for, if there were any lull in the firing and that the belgian battery could not stop without endangering its position. we then decided to go back to malines and to try a direct road by way of sempst and villevorde. on parting i gave nyssens all my cigars, knowing i should find plenty when i got back to brussels, and he, in a burst of gratitude, gave me a tiny revolver taken off a dead german officer a few hours before. immediately after getting the revolver nyssens' orderly had handled it rather carelessly, and shot himself in the stomach. to make sure of doing nothing equally foolish, i took out the remaining cartridges and chucked them in the canal as we rode back to malines. about a kilometer out of malines we ran into a considerable detachment of belgian infantry and lancers and a large armoured motor with two mitrailleuses. we were told that the belgians had taken and retaken sempst three times during the day, and while neither side occupied the town at that precise moment they were both advancing on it, and that it might be rather warm for ordinary motors. they finally agreed to let us talk to the commanding officer, who turned out to be none other than colonel cumont, the owner of the building occupied by the legation. he was up on a railway embankment, lying on his stomach between the rails, watching some german patrols through a pair of big field glasses, and when we hailed him, rolled gracefully over the side, and came down to talk to us. he had been out on the track most of the time for three days and was a rather disreputable-looking person, but apparently glad of a chance to talk with someone from the outside world. he said he thought we would have time to get through before the row began, and in any event he would warn his men so that if we came scuttling back we would be given the right of way to safety. we passed several belgian patrols along the way and finally got into the town, which showed clear evidences of fighting; some of the houses were burned to the ground, and all that were standing had their doors and windows smashed, furniture broken, and strewn about the floors with broken bottles and dishes, mattresses and goodness knows what else; and above all arose that terrible smell of burnt flesh. we were nearly through the town when we were hailed by a detachment of about twenty belgians, who had got through and occupied the grounds of a villa on the edge of the village. we stopped the car, and i got out and went ahead, they remaining with leveled rifles, in their usual hospitable manner. when i got to within twenty feet of them we heard the whirr of a machine gun--which the belgian soldiers call a _cinema_--and a german armoured car poked its nose around the corner for a look-see. it was firing high to draw a return fire and locate any belgians there might be in the town, but they all scurried behind cover, closely followed by me. they were taking no chances, however, and called me to stay in the middle of the road. without wasting any time in formality i made clear my identity, and, on being shown through a breach in the wall a disagreeable-looking body of german infantry and lancers about a half a mile away approaching through a field, i decided that we were on the wrong road and made back for the motor. i told my passengers what was up, and that we had to go back to malines. m. de woeste, however, was all for going through on the valid plea that he had no clean linen and did not want to spend another night out of brussels. nevertheless we turned around and started back, only to rush into the big belgian armoured car which colonel cumont, hearing firing, had sent down to rescue us and cover our retreat. this car stayed in the village for a few minutes to meet the german car, fired a few shots at it, and then came back to the outposts. we then tried getting out toward the west from malines, but soon came to a point where the road was inundated, and had to turn back for the third time. it was then getting pretty late in the afternoon, and even m. de woeste had to admit that we had best come back to antwerp rather than try to make a roundabout journey to brussels after dark. all the way back into antwerp we met belgian forces advancing to the attack. they are getting to know the flag better every day and we were greeted with waving hands and cheers everywhere we went. when nearly in town, a young chap ran out of the ranks to where we were waiting for them to get by, grabbed me by the shoulder, and said: "i am born an american." "where were you born?" "aurora, illinois. my father worked in ----'s glycerine works." "who do you know in aurora?" "i know mr. evans and mr. ---- and mr. ---- and mr. _beaupré_."[ ] "what's your name?" just then a non-commissioned officer came along and ordered him back into the ranks; the motor started ahead, and i lost track of the boy in a cloud of dust. [footnote : former american minister at the hague.] at the edge of town we caught up with a british legation motor, which was stopped at a railroad barricade. its occupants roared with laughter when they saw us, and colonel fairholme gloated particularly, as he had prophesied that we would not get through. when we got back to the hotel we were met with more laughter. it was the great joke of the week to see the only people who had previously been successful in running the lines, caught like the rest of them. i was not at all down in the mouth, as antwerp was most interesting, and i had left only because i had felt it my duty to get back to work and to keep the minister from worrying. when i saw that there was no way of getting through i gladly accepted the decree of fate. when we got back to antwerp i soon learned that it would be out of the question to get back to brussels the next day, or perhaps even the day after that. the belgians were advancing to an enveloping movement and all the surrounding country was to be covered with belgian troops in an endeavour to deal a smashing blow to the germans and compel them to bring back more troops from the front in france. colonel fairholme asked me to accompany him to the front next morning, and i accepted with an alacrity which startled him. after dinner i made another excursion into the darkness and told monsieur de woeste that there was no prospect of getting back to brussels the next day. his colleagues, who were there also, impressed upon him the futility of going, and he finally resigned himself to staying, although he kept insisting that he infinitely preferred danger to boredom, which was his lot so long, as he had nothing to do but sit around the hotel. friday morning while i was waiting for the colonel to get ready and was doing my little errands down town, there came a great roaring of a crowd, and the chauffeur, knowing my curiosity, put on steam and spurted down to the boulevards just in time to run into a batch of three hundred german prisoners being brought in. they were a dejected-looking crowd, most of them landsturm, haggard and sullen. the crowd, mindful of the things the germans have been doing to this little country, were in no friendly mood, but did nothing violent. there was only a small guard of belgian garde civique to escort the prisoners, but there were no brickbats or vegetables. the people limited themselves to hoots and catcalls and hisses--which were pretty thick. and even this was frowned upon by the authorities. within a couple of hours the military governor had posted a proclamation begging the people of antwerp to maintain a more dignified attitude and to refrain from any hostile demonstration against other prisoners. this batch was surrounded, and caught at aerschot, where the germans are said to have committed all sorts of atrocities for the past three weeks. among the prisoners was the commanding officer, who was accused of being responsible for a lot of the outrages. he was examined by the military court, which sits for the purpose, and admitted having done most of the things of which he was accused, pleading in his own defence that he had done them only in obedience to superior orders, to which he had protested. the soldiers who made the capture disclaimed a large part of the credit for it on the ground that most of the germans were drunk and that they were too dazed to get to their arms. stories of this sort keep piling in from every side. we got away at eleven to lierre, where the king has established his headquarters for his movement. the road lay to the southeast and was through country i had not traversed before. the aspect was the same, however--long stretches of destroyed houses and felled trees, barbed-wire entanglements and inundated fields. it is a mournful sight. little lierre was unharmed, and i hope it may remain so. the grande place was filled with staff motors, and there was a constant coming and going of motors and motorcycles bearing messengers to and from the field of operations. headquarters was established in the hôtel de ville, which bears on its tower the date --a fine old building, not large, but beautiful. in the morning a message had come ordering colonel ducane back to england. he was out in the field, and we had to wait until he came in to deliver it to him. the king was also away, but we put in our time talking with the officers on duty as to the movement and its progress, and then went out for a stroll around the town. we looked into the old church, and i stopped and bought an officer's forage cap as a souvenir of the place. by the time we had poked around the neighbourhood and inspected the other _sehenswürdigkeiten_ of the town it was lunch time and we joined an officers' mess in the back room of a little café on the square, and then, to kill time, sat in front of another café and had coffee and a cigar. we could not get started until colonel ducane had returned and received his message, so we sat in front of our little café and growled. it was maddening to waste our time there while the guns were thundering all around us and we knew from the signs of activity at headquarters that big things were toward. after a time a little man, the senator for the district, came out and asked us into his house, directly across the street from the hôtel de ville. it was raining hard and we were ready for a change, so we accepted gladly and were entertained with champagne and cigars to the music of falling rain and booming cannon. our senator was very much down in the mouth about the situation in general and wanted to talk about it. the colonel told him of the bulletins that had been published in antwerp as to the progress of the campaign, and as this went on he cheered up visibly minute by minute--whether as a result of the good news or the champagne, i don't know. the colonel was called away after a time to talk to lord kitchener over the telephone. kitchener keeps himself informed directly as to the progress of operations and the knowledge that he may drop in over the telephone at any minute gives his officers a very comforting feeling that they are not forgotten. finally, after dark, colonel ducane and captain ferguson came in, and we got under way. it was too late to go forward with hopes of seeing anything, but it was evident that things would be as hot as ever the next day and that i could not hope to get my charges back to brussels. accordingly the colonel's invitation was extended and accepted, and we turned back toward antwerp considerably disappointed. while we were waiting around trying to make up our minds--if any--i ran into young strauss, the half-american, who was in the armoured car behind young de ligne. he was really the principal hero of the occasion, having stood bolt upright in his car and riddled the german forces with his mitrailleuse until the few survivors turned and fled. he had with him two of the other survivors of his party. all of them had been decorated with the order of leopold for their behaviour. an order like that looks pretty well on a private's uniform, particularly when given with such good reason. we had retreated inside the hôtel de ville during a particularly heavy downpour of rain, when in came the king, who had spent the whole day in the field with the troops. he was drenched to the skin, but came briskly up the steps, talking seriously with his aide-de-camp. he stopped and spoke with us all and took colonel ducane into his study and had a few minutes talk with him by way of farewell. the king shows up finely in the present situation and all the foreign military attachés are enthusiastic about his ability. he is in supreme command of the army and no detail is too insignificant for his attention. [illustration: at malines--a good background for a photograph to send home to germany] [illustration: his eminence, cardinal mercier, archbishop of malines] we got the password and made back for antwerp in the dark, leaving colonel ducane and captain ferguson to spend the night at lierre. we were in bad luck and got stopped at every railroad crossing along the way. troop and supply trains were pouring down toward the front and red cross trains were bringing back the wounded in large numbers. both sides must have suffered heavily during the day, and there may be several days more of this sort of fighting before there is a lull. when we got back to the hotel we found sir francis waiting for us with a glowing telegram and an equally glowing face. it was the most enthusiastic message yet received from the british war office, which has been very restrained in its daily bulletins. for the first time that day it spoke with a little punch, speaking of the "routed enemy" and their being "vigorously pressed." we tumbled through a hasty bath and got down to dinner in short order. after dinner it was the same old performance of going over to the grand hôtel and labouring with monsieur de woeste, who was still bent on getting home to his clean linen without further delay. it took the united arguments of the cabinet, which was in session, to convince him that it would be useless and foolish to try to get away. finally he yielded, with a worse grace than on the previous evening. i had a comfortable visit with several of the ministers, who were glad to hear news of their families in brussels, and asked me to remember all sorts of messages to be given on my return. i only hope that i shall not get the messages mixed and get too affectionate with the wrong people. the cabinet was going through the latest telegrams from the various fields of action. they even had some from servia and were decidedly cheered up, a big change from the dogged determination with which they were facing bad news the last time i was in antwerp. saturday morning the colonel and i were called at six, and at seven we got away in a pouring rain over the same road to lierre that we had travelled the day before. there was a big force of workmen hard at it in the vicinity of the outer forts, burning houses and chopping down trees and building barbed-wire entanglements. it is a scene of desolation, but it is necessary in a fight like this. we found things moving rapidly at headquarters in lierre. messengers were pouring in and orders going out with twice the activity of the day before. the movement had been under way for two hours when we got there and the guns were booming all around. after learning as much as we could of the disposition of the troops we went out and stocked up with bread, cheese, and mineral water, and started forth to see what we could of the operations. we took along a young officer from headquarters to show us the road. we soon saw that he did not know the roads and could not even read a map, and had to take over that work ourselves. colonel fairholme and i went in my motor with the headquarters passenger and colonel ducane and ferguson followed in their own car with an orderly. we got to malines without difficulty and got out for a look at the cathedral. it is a dreadful sight, all the wonderful old fifteenth century glass in powder on the floor. part of the roof is caved in and there are great gaping holes in the lawn, showing where the shells struck that fell short of their mark. a few of the surrounding houses, belonging to entirely peaceful citizens, were completely wiped out while they were getting the range. it is hard to see what useful military purpose is served by smashing churches and peaceful habitations, when there are no troops about the place. malines was bombarded when the troops had withdrawn. it is hard to reconcile with _gott mit uns_. before we left lierre, nine troopers of the landsturm were marched into the hallway of the hôtel de ville, to be examined by the officer who is there for that purpose. they were a depressed lot who had run away and given themselves up, so as to be spared the hardships and dangers of the rest of the war. they answered questions freely, telling all they knew as to the disposition of troops and making their get-away toward the local lockup with great alacrity as soon as the word was given to move. most of them were bavarians. colonel fairholme speaks german like a native. he talked with these chaps, and there was some interesting conversation. they were all without enthusiasm for the war, and all expressed indignation at having been brought out of the country, maintaining that the landsturm cannot be used for anything except the maintenance of order in the empire. i think they are wrong about that, but this was no joint debate on german law, and no attempt was made to sooth their injured feelings. a lot of men were brought in while we were there, some of them prisoners taken during the fighting, but a great many of them fugitives who were sick of the war, and only asked to get off with a whole skin. as they marched out of the hall, the king came in from the field for a look at the morning's telegrams. he had been out since long before daybreak, and was covered with rain and mud. he shook himself vigorously, spraying everybody with raindrops, and then stopped to speak to us before going in for a cup of coffee and a look at the news. from malines we made back along the northern side of the canal, in an endeavour to find the headquarters of the ----th division. we went through a little village where all the inhabitants were standing in the road, listening to the cannonading, and spun out upon an empty and suspiciously silent country road. a little way out we found a couple of dead horses which the thrifty peasants had already got out and skinned. i didn't like the looks of it, and in a minute the colonel agreed that he thought it did not look like a road behind the lines, but our little staff officer was cock-sure that he knew just what he was talking about, and ordered the chauffeur to go ahead. then we heard three sharp toots on the horn of the car behind--the signal to stop and wait. and it came pulling up alongside with an inquiry as to what we meant by "barging" along this sort of a road which likely as not would land us straight inside the enemy's lines. there was a spirited discussion as to whether we should go ahead or go back and strike over through rymenam, when we heard a shell burst over the road about half a mile ahead, and then saw a motor filled with belgian soldiers coming back toward us full tilt. the colonel stopped them and learned that they had been out on a reconnaissance with a motor-cyclist to locate the german lines, which were found to be just beyond where the shell had burst, killing the motor-cyclist. it would have been a little too ignominious for us to have gone bowling straight into the lines and get taken prisoners. we turned around and left that road to return no more that way. we got about half-way up to rymenam when we met some belgian officers in a motor, who told us that a battery of the big french howitzers, which had just gone into action for the first time, were in a wood near h----. we turned around once more, and made for h---- by way of malines. we found the headquarters of the ----th division, and went in and watched the news come in over the field telephone and telegraph, and by messengers on motor-cycles, bicycles and horses straight from the field. the headquarters was established in a little roadside inn about half a mile outside the town, and was as orderly as a bank. officers sat at the various instruments and took notes of the different reports as they came in. reports were discussed quickly but quietly, and orders sent out promptly but without confusion. the maps were kept up to the minute by changing the little flags to show the positions of the different troops right at the minute. there was telephone communication with the forts, and several times they were ordered to pour fire into a certain spot to cover an advance or a retreat of parts of the belgian forces, and, at other times, to cease firing, so as to let belgian troops cross or occupy the exact spot they had been bombarding. it was a wonderful sight to watch, and it was hard to realise that this was merely a highly scientific business of killing human beings on a large scale. it was so business-like and without animus, that to anyone not knowing the language or conditions, it might have passed as a busy day in a war office commissary when ordering supplies and giving orders for shipment. just outside the headquarters was one of the fine german kitchen wagons with two fine norman horses which had pulled it all the way from germany. it had been stationed in the grounds of a château not far away, and three men of its crew were hard at work getting a meal when a little belgian soldier with two weeks' growth of beard waltzed into the garden, shot one of the men dead and captured the other two. he disarmed them, put ropes around their necks and drove the kitchen to headquarters in triumph. he was proud as punch of his exploit, and, for that matter, so was everybody else around the place. in a field of turnips a couple of hundred yards away from the headquarters were the howitzers. there were three of them in a row with three ammunition wagons. they had been sent here only a few days ago, and they were promptly put into action. they were planted here, slightly inside the range of the guns from the outer forts, and were able to drop shells six miles from where we stood, or about five miles outside the range of the fort guns. they toss a shell about two feet long, filled with deadly white powder, six miles in ten seconds, and when the shell strikes anything, "it thoes rocks at yeh!" as the darkey said about our navy guns. the battery was planted down behind a little clump of pines, and was dropping shells into a little village where there was a considerable force of germans about to be attacked. the germans must have been puzzled by this development, for they had counted on being able to advance safely up to the range of the forts, feeling sure that the belgians had no powerful field guns of this sort. we were introduced to the officers commanding the battery, and watched their work for nearly two hours. one of the officers was count guy d'oultremont, adjutant of the court, whom i had known in brussels. he was brown as a berry, had lost a lot of superfluous flesh, and was really a fine-looking man. he had been in namur, and had got away with the belgian troops who went out the back door into france and came home by ship. after we had been watching a little while, an aeroplane came circling around, evidently to spot the place where these deadly cannon were. it cruised around for some time in vain, but finally crossed straight overhead. as soon as we were located, the machine darted away to spread the news, so that the big german guns could be trained on us and silence the battery; but the belgians were johnny-at-the-rat-hole again, and he was winged by rifle fire from a crowd of soldiers who were resting near the headquarters. they killed the observer and wounded the pilot himself, to say nothing of poking a hole in the oil tank. the machine volplaned to earth a few hundred yards from where we were, and the pilot was made prisoner. the machine was hauled back to the village and shipped on the first outgoing train to antwerp as a trophy. we were leaving the battery and were slipping and sliding through the cabbages on our way back to the road, when we met the king on foot, accompanied only by an aide-de-camp, coming in for a look at the big guns. he stopped and spoke to us and finally settled down for a real talk, evidently thinking that this was as good a time as any other he was likely to find in the immediate future. after talking shop with the two colonels, he turned to me for the latest gossip. he asked me about the story that the german officers had drunk his wine at the palace in laeken. i told him that it was generally accepted in brussels, and gave him my authority for the yarn. he chuckled a little and then said, in his quiet way, with a merry twinkle: "you know i never drink anything but water." he cogitated a minute and then, with an increased twinkle, he added: "and it was not very good wine!" he seemed to think that he had quite a joke on the germans. as we talked, the sound of firing came from the german lines not far away, and shrapnel began falling in a field on the other side of the road. the germans were evidently trying to locate the battery in that way. most of the shrapnel burst in the air and did no damage, but some of it fell to the ground before bursting and sent up great fountains of the soft black earth with a cloud of gray smoke with murky yellow splotches in it. it was not a reassuring sight, and i was perfectly willing to go away from there, but being a true diplomat, i remembered that the king ranked me by several degrees in the hierarchy, and that he must give the sign of departure. kings seem powerless to move at such times, however, so we stayed and talked while the nasty things popped. his majesty and i climbed to a dignified position on a pile of rubbish, whence we could get a good view up and down the road, and see the french guns which were in action again. a little later ferguson, who was standing not far away, got hit with a little sliver and had a hole punched in the shoulder of his overcoat. it stopped there, however, and did not hurt him in the least. he looked rather astonished, pulled the little stranger from the hole it had made, looked at it quizzically, and then put it in his pocket and went on watching the french guns. i think he would have been quite justified in stopping the battle and showing his trophy to everybody on both sides. the king was much interested in all the news from brussels, how the people were behaving, what the germans were doing, whether there were crowds on the streets, and how the town felt about the performances of the army. he realised what has happened to his little country, and made me realise it for the first time. he said that france was having a hard time, but added that perhaps a sixth of her territory was invaded and occupied, but that every bit of his country had been ravaged and devastated with the exception of the little bit by the sea coast and antwerp itself, which was getting pretty rough treatment, in order to put it in shape to defend itself. he spoke with a great deal of feeling. and no wonder! then to change the tone of the conversation, he looked down at my pretty patent leather shoes, and asked in a bantering way whether those were a part of my fighting kit, and where i had got them. i answered: "i got them several months ago to make my first bow to your majesty, at laeken!" he looked around for a bit at the soggy fields, the marching troops, and then down at the steaming manure heap, and remarked with a little quirk to his lips: "we did not think then that we should hold our first good conversation in a place like this, did we?" he smiled in a sad way, but there was a lot more sadness than mirth in what he said. guy d'oultremont came up and said something that i did not understand, and we started back toward the headquarters. we stopped opposite the inn, and the two colonels were called up for a little more talk. just then a crowd of priests, with red cross brassards on their arms, came down the road on their way to the battlefield to gather up the wounded. with his usual shyness the king withdrew a few steps to seek shelter behind a motor that was standing near by. as we talked, we edged back a little, forcing him to come forward, so that he was in plain sight of the priests, who promptly broke out in a hearty "_vive le roi!_" he blushed and waved his hand at them, and, after they had passed by, shook hands with us and followed them on foot out onto the field. in modern warfare a king's place is supposed to be in a perfectly safe spot, well back of the firing line, but he does not play the game that way. every day since the war began, he has gone straight out into the thick of it, with the shells bursting all around and even within range of hostile rifle fire. it is a dangerous thing for him to do, but it does the troops good, and puts heart into them for the desperate fighting they are called upon to do. they are all splendidly devoted to him. the rain stopped as we got into the motors and started back toward malines, with the idea of locating the other battery of _obusiers_. there was a sharp volley of three toots on colonel ducane's horn, and we came to a sudden stop, with the emergency brakes on, to receive the information that it was two o'clock and time for lunch. none of us had kept any track of time, and all were ready to go sailing along indefinitely without food. as soon as we had noticed the time, however, we all became instantly hungry, and moved along, looking for a good place for lunch. i had the happy idea of suggesting the convent where we had taken refuge on thursday, and thither we repaired to be most warmly greeted by all the nuns, and most particularly by the little irish sister who was overjoyed to see british uniforms and hear some war news that she could believe. she hailed me with, "oh! and it's the riprisintitive of the prisidint!" the nuns gave us a table in the park and two big benches, and we got out our bread and cheese and chocolate and a few other things that colonel ducane had found somewhere, and had a most comfortable meal with a towering pitcher of beer brought out from the convent, to give us valour for the afternoon's work. after lunch we went back through malines again, through the railroad yards, bumping over the tracks, and away toward muysen and rymenam to see the other batteries. i was struck in going through the railway yards, which i had always seen teeming with activity and movement, to see that all the rails are covered deep with rust--probably for the first time. think of it! after leaving muysen, our road lay for a mile or so along a canal with open fields on either side. uhlan patrols had been reported in this part of the country, which was in a weak spot in the belgian lines, and the colonel told the staff officer to keep a sharp lookout and be ready with his revolver and prepared for a burst of speed. that military genius replied with an air of assurance: "oh, that's all right. they cannot cross the canal." the colonel confined himself to saying mildly: "no, but bullets can!" little napoleon said nothing more, but i noticed that he unstrapped his revolver without loss of time. we were bowling along the road, looking for the battery, when there was the most enormous noise which tore the earth asunder and the universe trembled. i looked around to the left, and there not more than a hundred feet away were those three husky french guns which had just gone off right over our heads! we had found them all right, but i should prefer to find them in some other way next time. we spent a little time looking at them, and ferguson had them get out some of the explosive and show it to me. it comes in long strips that look for all the world like chewing gum--the strips about the same proportions, only longer. i fail to see, however, how they can be made to blow up. after a bit we got back into the cars, and started out to cruise around to the belgian left wing and watch, a little of the infantry fighting at close quarters. we very soon began running into stragglers who informed us that the ----th division was being driven back, and that a retreat was in progress. soon we came upon supply trains and ammunition wagons making for the rear, to be out of the way of the troops when they began to move. we were not anxious to be tangled up in the midst of a retreat, and obliged to spend the night trying to work our way out of it, so we forged ahead and got back to lierre as fast as we could. it was raining hard as we came in, and we took refuge in the hôtel de ville, where the colonels read their telegrams and got off a report to london. one of their telegrams brought the unwelcome news that ferguson was also recalled to england. they are evidently hard put to it to find enough officers to handle the volunteer forces. he will have to stay on for a few days, but colonel ducane came back with us and left the next morning for england by way of ostend. when we got back to the hotel after a fast run, i found that inglebleek, the king's secretary, had been around twice for me, and wanted me to go at once to the palace. i jumped into the car and ran over there, to learn that the queen wanted to see me. she was then at dinner, and he thought it would do the next time i came up--she seems to have wanted more news of brussels--nothing pressing. she had told inglebleek to give me a set of the pictures she had had taken of the damage done to the cathedral at malines. they are interesting as a matter of record. sir francis had another good bulletin from the war office, and was beaming. the colleagues came and gathered round the table, and chortled with satisfaction. heavy cannonading continued well into the night, to cover the advance of the ----th division, which had been reinforced and was moving back into the dark and rain to take up its old position and be ready for the germans in the morning. i was up and about early on sunday morning. had breakfast with count goblet d'alviella, one of the ministers of state. gathered up monsieur de woeste and faura, and made for the scheldt and brussels. instead of going across on the boat as we had to do the last time, we found a broad and comfortable pontoon bridge placed on canal boats and schooners lashed together and moored from one side of the river to the other. any time they like, the belgians can cut the string, and there is no way of getting into the city from that side. there was a tremendous wind blowing and the rain fell in torrents--short showers--from the time we left antwerp until we came sailing into town here. the bridge at termonde had been blown up by the germans on evacuating the place after having destroyed the entire town, so there was no thought of returning that way. i knew there could be nothing doing the direct way through malines, so decided on a long swing around the circle by way of ghent as the only practicable way. we found belgian troops all the way to ghent, and had no trouble beyond giving the password which i had. we drew up at a restaurant in a downpour and had a hasty lunch, getting under way again immediately afterward. about ten kilometers this side of ghent we came to melle, a village which had been destroyed, and another where a number of houses had been burned. a nice-looking young chap told us that there had been a fight there the day before and that the germans had set fire to the place as they retreated--just from cussedness, so far as he could see. there, and at another place along the road, peasants told us that they had been made to march in front of the german troops when they marched against the belgians. i don't like to believe that there is any truth in that story but it comes from every direction and the people tell it in a most convincing way. we found no germans until we were this side of assche and then our adventures were evidently at an end. as we came in we could hear heavy cannonading from the direction of vilvorde and hofstade and knew that the fight was still going on. they had been hearing it in town for a couple of days. the family at the legation had been somewhat anxious, but had learned through the germans that we were all right--evidently from somebody who got through the lines. i had to sit right down and tell the story of my life from one end to the other. i never got over the idea in antwerp of the incongruity of going out onto the field all day and fighting a big battle, or rather, watching it fought, and then sailing comfortably home to a big modern hotel in a motor and dressing for dinner. i don't think there has ever been a war quite like this before. herwarth has gone to the front for some active service. i am sorry to miss him. he went up to hofstade the day i was to have returned, and waited for me about an hour, but the fire got too thick for him and he came back and reported that i would not be able to get through. monsieur de woeste called this afternoon and paid his respects. he gave the minister an account of the attempts we made to get through that made his hair stand on end for an hour afterward. * * * * * _brussels, september , ._--to-day has brought a long string of callers, and between times we took satisfying looks at the passing troops, which have been pouring into town steadily yesterday and to-day. nobody has established to my satisfaction whence they come or whither they are going. there are all sorts of explanations offered, each explanation being quite convincing to the one who offers it. most people say that they are being brought in for the siege of antwerp, which is about to begin. the siege of antwerp has begun so often and never materialized that i decline to get excited about it at this stage of the game. another explanation is that the german retreat in france is so precipitate that some of the troops and supply trains are already pouring through here on their way home. i cannot get up much enthusiasm for that either. some imaginative souls maintain that these are forces being brought back to fight against the russians. none of these stories sound good to me and i have resigned myself to the belief that the only really safe conjecture is that this "is a movement of troops." this morning baron von der lancken came in and asked me to testify as to what we had seen at louvain. of course what we saw had no bearing on the original cause of the trouble and there is no reason for me to push my way into the controversy. besides, i can't do it without orders from washington. we are getting quite accustomed to having no communications with the outside world. railroads, of course, have ceased to work, except for military purposes, and there is no way for the general public to get about. there has been no postal service since the germans marched in on august th, and we don't know when we shall have any. all telephones were cut off within a few hours of the arrival of the german army. there are no newspapers, and all the information we are supposed to have about happenings in the outside world is fed to us in the form of placards on the walls of the city. nobody takes any great amount of stock in what these placards tell us, although they have sometimes told us the truth, and consequently there is a great demand for the few copies of dutch and english newspapers that are smuggled across the border and brought to brussels. the prices vary according to the number of papers to be had, and run from five francs to one hundred francs for a single copy of the _times_. those who do not care to spend so much can rent a paper by the hour--and customers are not wanting on this basis. by way of discouraging this traffic it is said that the germans have shot several men caught smuggling papers. those caught selling them in brussels are arrested and given stiff terms of imprisonment. all taxis disappeared many days ago and altogether the normal life of the town has ceased. it will be a rollicking place from now on. * * * * * _brussels, september , ._--this morning i spent digging my way out from under a landslide of detail work which has been piling up on my desk, until i could hardly see over it. i now have it out of the way, and can breathe again freely for the moment. this afternoon baron de menten de horne, a lieutenant in the second regiment of lancers, was brought in to the legation, a prisoner, still wearing his belgian uniform. he was captured last friday near h---- while i was there. nyssens, the major who was in the convent with us, told me that one of his officers had gone off on a reconnaissance and had not reappeared; he was greatly worried about him, but could not send any one out to look for him. this was the man. he was surrounded, in company with several of his men, and took to cover in a field of beets. night was coming on, and they thought that when the fight was over and the german troops who were all about them had retired, they would be able to work their way out and rejoin their own forces, but twenty-five germans surrounded them, and after killing all the others, took this man prisoner. his only idea is to be exchanged and rejoin his regiment; and, as is the case with pretty much everybody else nowadays, he turned to the american legation. he made such a good plea that the german authorities brought him here yesterday, and left him an hour, on his giving his word of honour not to divulge anything as to the military movements he had seen while a prisoner. of course, we could not arrange to make the exchange, but he stayed on for an hour and told us of his adventures. he was a pathetic figure in his dirty uniform, sitting on a little chair in my office and telling in a simple way of all he had been through--laying more stress on the sufferings and death of his soldiers than on anything that had happened to him. his own brother had been killed in the fighting around liège, and he had heard that his brother-in-law, of whom he was very fond, had also been mortally wounded. while at louvain, he had visited the military hospitals, and had a list of belgian officers who were there. i took a list of them, by permission of the german officer who came after the prisoner, and shall send word to their families. i went around to see the young man's sister, and sent her off to have a look at him at headquarters, where he is being well treated. it is a joy to be able to do some of these little errands. nobody can realize the amount of bitter sorrow there is in this country--we cannot realize it ourselves, but now and then a wave of it rises up to confront and overwhelm us. miss t----, an american owning a school here, was in late this afternoon to complain of the behaviour of a couple of officers and gentlemen who did her the honour of calling upon her. they came swaggering in, asked whether a certain german girl had attended the school and demanded her portrait. on being refused, they became nasty and finally so overawed the two women who were there alone that they found some snap shots and handed over a couple of them. then they demanded a post card with a picture of the school, wrote a message to the girl, and tried to compel the two women to sign it. they flatly refused, and, in a rage, the elder german tore up the card, threw it at miss t----, flung down the photographs and stamped out of the house, slamming the doors. the minister is going over to see the military authorities in the morning and make some remarks that they will not forget in a hurry. the puppies ought to be horsewhipped. * * * * * _september th._--repressive measures are getting stronger and more severe. the germans have now ordered the belgians to take down their flags. lüttwitz, the military governor, has posted an _avis_ on the subject which is worth reproducing in full. the population of brussels, understanding well its own interests, has generally, since the arrival of the german troops, maintained order and quiet. for this reason, i have not yet forbidden the display of belgian flags, which is regarded as a provocation by the german troops living in or passing through brussels. purely in order to avoid having our troops led to acting on their own initiative, i now call upon houseowners to take down their belgian flags. the military government, in putting this measure into effect, has not the slightest intention of wounding the susceptibilities and dignity of the citizens. it is intended solely to protect the citizens against harm. brussels, september , . baron von lÜttwitz. _general and governor_. dined at the palace in a din of german officers. bulle, pousette and riseis kept me in countenance. there were also some twenty or thirty austrian officers--the first we have seen. they were quiet and well behaved, and contrasted sharply with their allies. * * * * * _brussels, september , ._--this morning our vice-consul came in from ghent bringing with him a pouch and a huge bag of letters and telegrams. these had been got through to him from antwerp yesterday, and he made a run through the lines early this morning, having been turned back several times on account of small engagements between belgian and german outposts. this morning a dutchman came in to see me, and after showing me a lot of papers, to establish that he was somebody entirely different, told me that he was a british spy. he then launched into a long yarn about his travels through the country and the things he had seen, unloading on me a lot of military information or misinformation that he seemed anxious to have me understand. after he had run down i asked why he had honoured me with his confidence, and was somewhat startled to have him answer that he had no way of getting it out and thought that inasmuch as we were charged with the protection of british interests i might have an opportunity to pass it on where it would do the most good. he seemed rather pained at my remarks, and was most reproachful when i threw him out on his head. yes, my shrewd friend, it has also occurred to me that he may have been a german spy just trying to find out whether we were indulging in dirty work. it would not be the first time that that sort of thing was tried on us. monseigneur n---- came around this afternoon and asked me to take him to antwerp on my next trip. i told him that i could not, as i had already promised to take some other people, and that my car would be full. he said that he had his own car, and that he would ask me to convoy him; he had heard that i had "_beaucoup de bravourr, tandis que moi je n'ai pas de bravourrrr et j'aimarais me mettre sous votre protection._" i sent him to see von der lancken, and he came back in a little while to say that he was told that the only safe way was to go by namur, liège and holland, entering antwerp from the north. he evidently insisted on a perfectly safe route, that could be guaranteed, and they told him a story that they thought would dissuade him from making the trip. they do not like to have a lot of people coming and going. we have no more news from the outside world; the battle still rages all along the line in france (according to what we hear), but we have no inkling as to whether the german retreat still continues. the only thing we are told at headquarters is that the outcome is as yet undecided, but that the germans are in a favourable position, and that they will be victorious in a few days. i would give a good deal for a little real news as to how things are going. this morning major langhorne, our military attaché from berlin, breezed in upon us. he is travelling around with six other military attachés, seeing as much of the field of operations as the german officer who personally conducts them will permit. they got in this morning, and left about one, so we had only a few minutes' visit, and he carried off all our good wishes and new york papers. the german _affiche_ of yesterday, ordering the belgian flags taken down, has made everybody furious, and for a time we thought there might be trouble. if the flags had been ordered down the day the germans came in there would not have been half as much resentment, but, on the contrary, they began by proclaiming that the patriotic feelings of the people would be scrupulously respected. max, the burgomaster, got out a little proclamation of his own which served to soothe the feelings of the people. after expressing some views as to the german order, he says: i ask the population of the town to give a fresh example of self-restraint and greatness of soul which it has already so often shown during these sad days. let us provisionally accept the sacrifice which is imposed upon us; let us take down our flags in order to avoid conflicts, and patiently await the hour of redress. soon flags were coming down all over the city, and there was not a murmur. an hour after max's proclamation was posted, however, german soldiers were running about covering them with sheets of white paper. the military authorities were furious, because max had intimated in his poster that the present situation would not endure forever, and that the belgian flag would fly again over brussels. in their unimaginative way they sent down a squad of soldiers and arrested him. he was taken to headquarters, and brought before von lüttwitz, who told him that he was to be taken as a prisoner of war to berlin. max replied that he bowed before superior force; that he had done what he knew to be necessary for the preservation of order in his city, and that he was ready to accept the consequences of his act; that at any rate he would have the satisfaction of having maintained order here up to the minute that he was sent to germany, and that he could not be held responsible for what might happen after his departure. general von lüttwitz sat up and took notice of the last part of this and rushed off to see von der goltz. in ten minutes he came back and told max that he was free and that the field marshal desired that he should continue to act as burgomaster as though nothing had happened. why don't people have a little imagination!! the town is still bottled up, and troops are being marched back and forth across it, as, i believe, purely for the purpose of impressing the population with the belief that they are far more numerous than they really are. late this afternoon i took a drive to the edge of town, and we were stopped half a dozen times and had our papers examined. from all i can gather it would seem that the germans are entrenching themselves as solidly as they can so as to be ready to resist another sortie without sustaining the terrible losses they suffered last time. they cannot be very happy over the way things have been going in france, although they have this afternoon announced a great victory on their right wing. one of our friends who has just come back from the coast reports that there were a lot of french troops marching through belgium on their way from dunkerque to lille--evidently an attempt to turn the german right wing. we have heard nothing more about it. * * * * * the food supply of the country is being rapidly exhausted and there is urgent need for importations. the public knows little about the situation, but a serious shortage threatens and we must have a considerable stock from abroad. the brussels committee has raised a goodly sum of money and hopes to get food from holland and england to meet present needs. similar committees are being formed in other cities, and they, too, will require food from abroad. the local committee has asked shaler to go to holland and from there to england to purchase as much food as possible, make arrangements for sending it across the frontier and investigate the chances of getting future supplies. the german authorities have given assurances that they will not requisition any of the supplies imported for the use of the civil population. they are to issue placards signed by the military governor ordering the military authorities to respect our purchases. these placards are to be affixed to the cars and barges bringing in the supplies and we are inclined to believe that they will be effective. after hurried preparation shaler got away this afternoon with young couchman by way of liège. i went out to lunch with him and see him off. it is not an easy task he has ahead, but he went to it with a good heart. yesterday evening the minister had an interview with baron von der lancken about the question of my making a statement as to what i saw at louvain. i naturally am very reluctant to be brought into the affair, but the germans have been very insistent, and finally von der lancken said that he was confident that if he could talk with me for a few minutes he could arrange the matter to the satisfaction of everybody. he asked that i go to see him at the ministry at half past six. i hurried home and dressed for dinner, so as to be able to go straight to mrs. z.'s, and then run over to the ministry on the minute. the office of von der lancken was dark and empty. i waited in the chilly corridors for twenty minutes and then went my way. this morning one of his minions was here on another matter and i took occasion to mention the fact that he had not been there when i called. he came right back with the statement that they had come back from the field particularly early, on my account, and had waited for me in vain for nearly an hour. i assured them that i had been there on the minute and had been in the office, and that there was no one there. mystery! by way of clinching it i said that the office was dark as the tomb. then a ray of light struck the german, and he said: "oh, i see, you came at half past six, belgian time! of course von der lancken expected you at half past six, german time!!!" when he asked me when i would call i felt inclined to set eleven in the morning and then wander over at three in the afternoon, with the statement that, of course, i did everything according to new york time. i had an hour's talk with von der lancken about noon, and finally got off without testifying, which is a great comfort to me. he knew from their own troops that i had been in louvain during the fighting, and had already reported that to berlin. i finally prevailed upon him to let it go at that. after we had settled our business, von der lancken talked to me for half an hour or so about the war in general. he said they had just received a telegram that reims is in flames, cathedral and all. it is a terrible thing to think of, and i suppose may turn out to be another louvain before we get through. von der lancken explained it on the ground that french troops had come up and occupied the town, and that it was necessary to take it by storm--that troops could never operate against a position of that sort until artillery had cleared the way. i don't know just how far that sort of an explanation explains. the germans got out an _affiche_ of news this morning, stating that "_les troupes allemands ont fait des progrès sur certains points_." it does not sound very enthusiastic. people coming in from mons and charleroi yesterday and to-day say that the german rear guard has fallen back on villages near those places and ordered the inhabitants to leave; the idea evidently being that they are preparing to resist any further advance of the allies. after lunch, baron de menten de horne was brought into the legation again. the germans seem anxious to get rid of him, and have finally turned him loose. i cannot very well make out their object in setting him free without getting a german officer in exchange, but they were keen to get him off their hands and wanted us to take cognisance of the fact that they had accorded him his liberty. this we have done. i shall be curious to see whether there is any sequel to this case. late this afternoon we got a telegram from the consul at liège, stating that shaler and couchman had been arrested in that city because they were carrying private letters to be posted when they got to england. they had taken a certain number of letters, all of them open and containing nothing but information as to the welfare of individuals here. they were on a mission of interest to the german authorities--getting foodstuffs to prevent a famine here. the minister got off an urgent telegram to the consul to get to work and have them released, and also saw von der lancken about it, with the result that the wires are hot. i hope to hear to-night that they are free. these are parlous times to be travelling with correspondence. i may have to get away any minute for antwerp, to see if we cannot arrange to get flour down here for the city. there is enough for only a few days now, and there will be trouble when the bread gives out. we have now been charged with japanese interests; that makes six legations we have to look after. * * * * * _wednesday._--late yesterday afternoon i got a note from princess p---- de b----, asking me to go to see her. i got away from my toil and troubles at seven, and went up to find out what was the matter. the old lady was in a terrible state. a member of her immediate family married the duke of ----, a german who has always lived here a great deal. at the beginning of the war, things got so hot for any one with any german taint that they cleared out. for the last few days, german officers have been coming to the house in uniform asking to see the princess. the servants have stood them off with the statement that she was out, but she cannot keep that up indefinitely. they are undoubtedly anxious to see her, in order to give her some messages from the ----'s, some of her other relatives in germany; but if it gets around town that she is receiving officers in uniform the town will be up in arms, and the lady's life would be made miserable whenever the germans do get out. she wanted me to start right away for antwerp and take her along, so that she could send her intendant around afterward to say that she was away on a journey, and could not see the officers who had been sent to see her. i laboured with her, and convinced her that the best thing was to be absolutely frank. she is going to send her intendant around to see von der lancken, and explain to him frankly the embarrassment to which she would be subjected by having to receive officers at her home. i am sure that lancken will realise the difficult situation the old lady is in, and will find some way of calling his people off. went down to the palace and had dinner with pousette and bulle and cavalcanti, who were full of such news as there is floating around the town. there is a growing impression that the germans do intend to invest antwerp, and the belgians are apparently getting ready for that contingency--by inundating a lot more of the country outside the ring of forts. at noon, day before yesterday, i found a man with a copy of the _london times_, and carried it in my overcoat pocket to the palace hotel when i went there to lunch. last night, a lot of german civil officials were sitting at a table near by and holding forth in loud tones on the punishment that should be meted out to people who had forbidden newspapers in their possession. the most vehement one of the lot expressed great indignation that the _amerikanischer legationsrath_ had been seen in that very restaurant the day before with an english newspaper in his overcoat pocket. pretty good spy you have, fritz. a telegram has just been received from liège, saying that shaler and couchman have been released and are on their way to holland. a dutch messenger was in after lunch, and told me that he had seen the two men at headquarters yesterday afternoon, and that they were far from happy. he said he did not blame them, as the germans are dealing out summary justice to anybody who falls into their hands that they do not take a fancy to. a.b. has been after me for a couple of days to take her up to the château near louvain, where countess r. is left alone with twenty-eight german officers quartered on her. a man cousin was sent up to defend her, but was so badly frightened that he spent all his time in the cellar and finally ran away and came back to brussels. now she wants to go up to the rescue, and stay there. i have asked von der lancken for a pass, and shall try to take her up to-morrow. she certainly has good nerve, but i am not sure how much protection she would be able to afford. the supply of flour is getting pretty well used up, and i may have to clear out to-morrow afternoon or the next day to go to antwerp and negotiate to have some supplies sent down for the relief of the civil population. the government has volunteered to do this, if the germans would promise that the food would not be requisitioned for the troops. we have been given these assurances, and it only remains for me to go up and complete the arrangements. when the minister came back from louvain he went over to headquarters and talked about the subject of my trip to antwerp. he has been nervous about each of my trips and has worried a lot more about it than i have, but when he saw von der lancken, that worthy made things worse by saying that there was artillery ready to begin business in every part of the country i was to traverse and that it would be a very dangerous trip. now, the minister is making superhuman efforts to find some other way to get the letters and papers through to antwerp. a note has just come in from princess p. de z----, to say that she followed my advice, and that everything has been settled with the german authorities to her complete satisfaction. she is now easy in her mind. * * * * * _september th._--i spent all day yesterday sitting on the edge of my chair waiting for a decision about my leaving for antwerp, and by dark i was a fit candidate for an asylum. at five o'clock the minister went around to see von der lancken to get the _laisser-passer_. it was then suggested that a letter could be sent around by way of berlin and the hague. it would take a week or ten days to get an answer that way. then we argued the matter out again from the beginning, and after a quarter of an hour of joint debate i went over to see von der lancken and press for the _laisser-passer_. he was in a _conseil de guerre_, but i had him pulled out and put it up to him. he said it was then too late to get anything last night, but that he would attend to it to-day. i am now sitting on the same old edge of my chair waiting for action, so that i can get away. i think that the trip by namur, liège and maestricht, which is the route prescribed, is a lot safer than the other two trips i have made to antwerp, which really were risky performances. most of this trip will be in peaceful holland and i do not contemplate any sort of trouble along the way. by way of being ready i got passes from the dutch legation and the burgomaster yesterday afternoon, and now all i have to do is take the german _passierschein_ in my hand and start. yesterday evening i dined at the m.'s. just the two of them and their daughter, who is married to a french officer. as is the case everywhere else, they talk nothing but war, and are most rabid. they have a daughter in germany, but she does not seem to enter into their calculations, and all their thoughts are for france and belgium. their son, who is in the belgian cavalry, has just got his corporal's stripes for gallantry in action. the old gentleman is bursting with pride. during the evening another old chap came in with a letter from his son, who is in young m.'s regiment; he had some very nice things to say about the young man's behaviour, and there was a great popular rejoicing. the _london times_ came in during the evening, and there was a great revamping of war maps to correspond with the latest movement of troops. the daughter keeps the maps up to date, and does it very well, having picked up some training from her husband. she has different coloured lines for each day's progress and it is easy to see at a glance just how the positions compare for any given times. this morning the germans have big placards up all over town, trying to explain their action in burning reims cathedral. they are doing a lot of explaining these days. * * * * * _brussels, september , ._--my departure for antwerp has been put off again and again, but if the german authorities live up to their promises, i shall be able to start to-morrow morning early. at the last minute the mothers of mr. and mrs. whitlock decided to avail of the opportunity to go home, so i shall take them as far as rotterdam before going to antwerp. i shall attend to my business there and then go back to rotterdam, take the ladies over to england, turn them over to mr. n----, spend a day or two there getting a line on the news, and then rush back to antwerp, and then back to brussels. i suppose i shall be away ten days or so, but there is no way of telling. i should like the little trip to england and a breath of air in a country where there is no actual fighting. it is now half past eight and there is no telling when this family will sit down to dine. the burgomaster has indulged in some more repartee with the german authorities, and they, with their usual _finesse_, have put him in prison. yesterday the germans got out a proclamation announcing that since the city of brussels had not settled "voluntarily," the whole of the forced loan imposed upon her no more requisitions should be paid in cash, as had been promised.[ ] max thereupon sat down and wrote a letter to the banks, saying that they were to pay nothing on the forced loan unless and until the germans conformed to their part of the agreement. he further annoyed the germans by putting up an _affiche_, giving the lie to a proclamation of the governor of liège: the german governor of the town of liège, lieutenant-general von kolewe, caused the following notice to be posted yesterday: "_to the inhabitants of the town of liège._ "the burgomaster of brussels has informed the german commander that the french government has declared to the belgian government the impossibility of giving them any offensive assistance whatever, as they themselves are forced to adopt the defensive." _i absolutely deny this assertion._ adolphe max, _burgomaster._ [footnote : the german point of view was set forth in the following official notice: "the german government had ordered the cash payment of requisition, naturally believing that the city would voluntarily pay the whole of the forced payment (_contribution de guerre_) imposed upon it. "it was only this condition that could justify the favoured treatment enjoyed by brussels, as distinguished from the other cities of belgium which will not have their requisition orders settled until after the conclusion of peace. "inasmuch as the city administration of brussels refuses to settle the remainder of the forced payment, from this day forward no requisition will be settled in cash by the government treasury. "the military governor, baron von lÜttwitz, _major-general_" brussels, september , .] lüttwitz replied to this by having max arrested, and the present prospect is that he is to be sent to germany as a prisoner of war. that is not very comforting for us, as he has been a very calming influence, and has kept the population of brussels well in hand. if they do send him away, the germans will do a very stupid thing from their own point of view, and will make max a popular hero everywhere. early this evening monsieur lemonnier, the senior alderman, came around with several of his colleagues, and laid the matter before mr. whitlock and the spanish minister. they immediately went over to see general von lüttwitz to see whether there was anything to be done for max, but as they have been gone a long time, i fear they are going through one of those long and thoroughly unsatisfactory discussions that get nowhere. monsieur lemonnier is waiting in my office to hear the result of the visit to lüttwitz. he is naturally far from cheerful, and looks forward with a good deal of dread to taking over the reins if max is sent to germany. he, of course, foresees that the chances are in favour of his following max into exile sooner or later, if he tries to do his duty. as to his own future he says only--"i succeed only to the troubles of the office--_max a bien emporté sa gloire avec lui._" the life of a belgian official these days is anything but comfortable. * * * * * _sunday morning._--we were all up working until two o'clock this morning. monsieur max was spirited away to namur, and everybody is standing by for trouble. the people are greatly excited and highly resentful, but it is to be hoped that they will not do anything rash. the cooler spirits are going about urging calm. the excitement is not lessened by the fact that there is heavy cannonading from the direction of antwerp. lüttwitz has announced the arrest of max in the following poster: notice. burgomaster max having failed to fulfil the engagements entered into with the german government, i am forced to suspend him from his position. monsieur max will be held in honourable detention in a fortress. the military governor, baron von lÜttwitz, _general._ brussels, september , . we are evidently not yet through the epoch of destruction, for the governor-general came out to-day with this proclamation, which is posted on the walls of various towns: recently, in regions not occupied by strong forces of german troops, convoys of transport wagons and patrols have been attacked without warning by the inhabitants. i draw the attention of the public to the fact that a list is kept of the towns and communes in the vicinity of which these attacks have been committed, and that they must expect their punishment as soon as german troops pass near them. i have not been able to learn of any places where such attacks have taken place, but suppose this is merely an evidence of the well-known nervousness of the army of occupation, and that they are trying to frighten the people to a point where they will not try to start anything. [illustration: fire at namur during the bombardment] [illustration: effect of big german shell on fort of waehlem] [illustration: outside view of the fort of waehlem after bombardment by big german guns] general von lüttwitz has come out with another proclamation, forbidding the sale of foreign newspapers in belgium: i remind the population of brussels and its suburbs that it is strictly forbidden to sell or distribute newspapers that are not expressly authorised by the german military government. any infraction of this prohibition will entail the immediate arrest of the vendors, as well as long periods of imprisonment. the german military governor, baron von lÜttwitz, _general._. my _laisser-passer_ has not come, and there is no telling when we shall get away. the germans swear it was sent last night. * * * * * _on board s.s. "oranje nassau" off flushing, sept. , ._--we got away on sunday morning about eleven o'clock, after many calls at headquarters and a mild row about the _laisser-passer_ that had not been sent. it was finally discovered that some boneheaded clerk had sent it by mail--a matter of three days! it was fished out of the military post office, and we got away in a few minutes. we were in the big car, heavily laden--two trunks, several valises and a mail pouch on top--my two passengers inside with their small stuff, the chauffeur and i in front. we made quick time out through tervueren and down to namur, hearing the heavy booming of cannon all the time away to the north. ruin was all the way--odd farm-houses burned, towns with half the buildings in them, the grand place destroyed, etc. the great square at namur a heap of brick and mortar. the great bridge across the meuse was dynamited, and the three sections hung in the river. all the way to liège the main bridges had been destroyed, and we had to cross on temporary affairs constructed by the germans. and the germans were thick all the way, holding us up at frequent intervals to look at our papers. they have it in for belgium, and are in bad humour. we had some fine samples of it during the day. we stopped not far from huy for a picnic lunch, and then got under way again, being stopped frequently all the way to liège, where we sought out the consulate. the consul had gone to spa to look after some english people, but i said my few words to his wife and daughter, and then hurried away toward visé and the dutch frontier. _visé n'existe plus!_ goodness knows what was done to the place, but there is nothing left but blackened walls. it took us a long time to find unencumbered roads and get through between the fallen walls. not far from the edge of town we found the last german outpost, and were promptly put under arrest because my _laisser-passer_ did not bear my photograph. the officer in command cursed me roundly for daring to come through liège without reporting, placed two armed soldiers in the car, and ordered us sent back. it was futile to point out to him that passes issued by the military governor general did not need to conform to the local rules; in fact, it only made him peevish. we scorched back over the road to liège, but i succeeded in making the soldiers stop at a small town where there was a local headquarters of some sort with a colonel in command, i got him to look at our pass which had been confiscated by our guard, and, after hearing my case and thinking heavily, he unenthusiastically said we might proceed. we went back through visé even faster, and enjoyed the look of our lieutenant when told he had been overruled. after a minute or so he became very affable and said he had a brother in jefferson city, mo., and a nephew in sacramento, _californien_, who runs an _apoteke_. just to show there was no hard feeling, i gave him a cigar, and a few minutes later we crossed the dutch frontier, where we created a sensation. a big crowd gathered around the car, and, by the time the leisurely custom officers had examined the papers given me by the dutch legation, they were packed so tight that it took the united effort of several officers and citizens to get us extricated. holland is taking no chances, and has quantities of troops massed in that part of the country. there are frequent posts to stop travellers and examine papers, and there is practically no traffic on the road save that of a military character. near maestricht we ran into a large detachment guarding a bridge. our papers did not satisfy the commanding officer, so we were once more placed under arrest and hustled through town to headquarters. the officers there were very courteous, and, after examining my papers, made out a _laisser-passer_ for use in holland and sent me on my way. by this time it was dark, but we determined to push on as far as roermond-- kilometers. here we found a charming little hotel--the lion d'or--and after a good supper, got early to bed. the next day i planned to take the two ladies--who have good nerve, and don't turn a hair at being arrested--to rotterdam and then run down to antwerp, some kilometers, a long run in war time. we were off at : , and bowled along beautifully in a bitter cold wind until we were in sight of tilburg, where the engine broke down. eugène, the chauffeur, tried everything he could think of, and tore his hair in rage and shame. finally we got a soldier on a bicycle to go into tilburg and get a motor to tow us in. then two good hours in a garage before we were in shape to start. we caught the boat at moerdyck and got into rotterdam a little before four. i installed my companions at the maas hotel, overlooking the same old meuse, and then started back through the rain toward antwerp. at willemsdorp we just missed the boat for moerdyck and lost an hour. eugène raged and smoked many cigarettes, to the danger of his health, because his _sacrée_ machine had lost us so much time. at eight we got to rosendaal, near the belgian frontier, and were forbidden to go any farther until morning, as the outposts were taking no chances. had a good supper at the little hotel, had my papers viséed by the belgian consul, and at o'clock yesterday morning was up and away, by way of putte. the belgian outposts received us with levelled rifles, but when we got near, one of the officers recognised me through his glasses, and we got through without any more trouble. arrived at the st. antoine as everybody was coming down to breakfast. the germans were bombarding the outer forts, and they could not believe their eyes when i came in. not a word of news had got through the lines for some days, and i was nearly torn to pieces by the excited friends. i had coffee with colonel fairholme, and got all the news he could tell me. malines has been bombarded again, and antwerp is filled with refugees. before i left, the germans had occupied malines itself and were bombarding the fort at waelhem. after breakfast i started out on my carefully planned campaign. first to the consulate-general to get off some telegrams, etc. then to the foreign office with a lot of things to attend to. i was able to give van der elst word that his son is in magdebourg--a prisoner, but not wounded. the look on his face when he got the news paid for the whole trip. i saw m. davignon, and went with him to see the prime minister, who had heard i was there and had sent for me. on the way we saw hundreds of miserable refugees from malines pouring down from the station. the courage of these belgians is beyond all words. save for the two in the freight station yard at louvain, i have not seen a woman crying! it may be that they are numb, but they have none of the stupidity of numbness. and when you think that these very women will be creeping back to their homes and caring for the german wounded they find there, it gives you a fine lump in the throat. i paid a call at the french legation, went back to the consulate-general to sign my telegrams and mail which had been hammered out, and then to lunch. got away at : to the banging of heavy siege artillery and invitations to come back "if we are still here." as i was getting into the car, prince d---- plucked me by the sleeve and pointed at the cathedral tower high above us. "take a good look," he said. "it may not be here when you come back." we made good time through the rain, but missed the boat at moerdyck, and spent an hour on the dock. got in at ten, ravenously hungry, had a snack, and then to bed. up again at six and took the seven-thirty train for flushing. it loafed along through the country, and we did not sail until eleven. we have to go round to folkstone, but hope to be in by six o'clock. there are not more than twenty people on the ship, and the way they went through our credentials was a caution. i was glad i had taken the precaution to provide myself with american, british, german, dutch and belgian papers for the trip. there is another examination at folkstone. * * * * * _on board the s.s. "brussels," off flushing, october , ._--to resume. we got into folkstone last wednesday evening at sunset, and got through to london by eight-fifteen. all the latter part of the crossing we were spoken from time to time by british destroyers, which bobbed up from nowhere to warn of floating mines or give directions as to our course. the entrance to dover was surrounded by destroyers, and looked grim and warlike, and what's more, businesslike. thursday morning i got up as late as i decently could and went down to the embassy to find shaler and couchman waiting for me. they had been in london since monday, but had not made much progress with their mission of getting food for brussels. this was due to no lack of energy on their part, but to the general difficulty of getting attention for any matter at this time. i went with them to the belgian legation, and after a talk with the belgian minister, we got things started. as the food was intended for the civil population of brussels, it was necessary to get the belgian minister to secure from the foreign office permission to ship it through the blockade. he felt that he must have some instructions from the government at antwerp for his guidance in the matter, so i telegraphed at some length, with the result that he had ample instructions before the sun went down. the next day he made three or four calls at the foreign office and matters were got under way. shaler is buying the food and getting it ready for shipment, and now all that is holding things up is the actual permission to go ahead and ship. shaler has had some talk on the general problems that confront us with herbert hoover, an american mining engineer, who has given some very helpful ideas and may do more still. shaler and couchman had an experience at liège they did not particularly relish. they were pulled up by a landsturm guard somewhere in liège, taken to the kommandantur, where it was discovered that they were carrying a number of messages of the "we-are-well-and-hope-you-are-the-same" variety. without discussion they were pushed into cells and treated to talk that gave them little comfort. they spent the night in jail, but by some means contrived to get word to the consul, who arrived and delivered them before breakfast. it evidently grieved the germans that they could not take these two out and shoot them, but they yielded with a bad grace and turned them loose to hasten to the consul's breakfast table. * * * * * _brussels, october , ._--on saturday afternoon late i went with harold fowler to call on sir claude macdonald, who had been to the embassy twice to see me about the english red cross nurses in brussels. i tried to reassure him as to their safety, but he went to see the ambassador later in the day and asked him to send harold fowler back to brussels with me to bring the nurses out. this suited me perfectly, so we made preparations to get off together. on sunday evening we left fenchurch street at six, with a little group of friends to see us off. about the only other people on the train were a king's messenger, a bankrupt peer and his man friday, and a young staff officer. each set of us had a separate compartment and travelled in lonely state to tilbury, where the boat was waiting. as we got aboard the _brussels_, her sister ship, the _dresden_, just in from antwerp, pulled up alongside, and mrs. sherman, wife of the vice-consul, called me to the rail to give me the latest news. she said that everything was going to pieces, that some of the forts had fallen, and that antwerp might be under bombardment before we got there. then she went ashore in peace, and we went below to seek the seclusion that the cabin grants, and fortify ourselves for the bombardment. [illustration: view of the meuse at huy] [illustration: refugees fleeing toward dunkirk before the german advance, after the fall of antwerp _copyright by the international news service_] we got under way during the night and dropped down to the mouth of the thames, where we lay to until daylight, before starting across. the first sound i heard was a hail from a torpedo-boat destroyer, which sent an officer aboard to lay our course for us through the british mine fields. we made our zigzag course across the north sea and fetched up at flushing, where we picked up a pilot to take us through dutch waters. when darkness overtook us we were just about on the belgian frontier line and had to lie to for the night, getting to antwerp tuesday morning about nine. we found the place in a great hubbub--everybody packed and ready to leave. they had been on the point of departure since friday, and the uncertainty had got on everybody's nerves--and no wonder. several thousand british marines had arrived and were doing good work, holding back the germans, while the exhausted belgians pulled themselves together for the evacuation. the belgian forces had been fighting with little rest and no sleep until they were physically incapable of further resistance. how human strength held out so long is the great marvel. winston churchill was in the legation when i arrived, with general rawlinson and colonel seeley. after a call at the foreign office, most of which had been installed on a boat in the river, i went to the palace to see general jungbluth. he was not there, but countess de caraman-chimay said that the king wanted to see me. i was taken straight up to him in his council chamber, where i found him seated at a great table covered with maps and papers. he pushed them aside wearily as i came in, and rose to greet me. he talked at some length on the war and the ordeal of belgium, but was chiefly interested in how the people were being treated. his interest was not only for his own friends, but he showed particular interest in learning how the poorer people were being treated--whether the poorer quarters of the town were keeping calm and avoiding trouble with the germans. he was most anxious that they should avoid doing anything that would arouse the germans against them. he spoke simply and touchingly of his confidence in the loyalty and patriotism of all his people, and his certainty that they would come through the war with an even greater love of country. the rest of the palace was in confusion, with servants packing and orderlies coming and going. but the king's room was in perfect calm. the king sat quite still in his armchair and talked quietly, without haste. he was very serious, and it was clearly to be seen that he felt his responsibility and the suffering of his army. but his determination was just as evident. he realised that the evacuation was inevitable, and having made up his mind to that, he devoted his whole energies and thoughts to seeing that it was carried out effectively and quickly. he has a very patent faculty of concentration and of eliminating his own personality and feelings. i have seldom felt so sorry for anyone, partly perhaps because all of his sympathy was for others. when the king finally rose to dismiss me, he said: "the queen wants to see you. will you come back at half-past two?" i had planned to leave for brussels immediately after luncheon, but, of course, this was a command to which i gladly yielded. the st. antoine was all hurry and confusion, and the dining room was buzzing with conjecture as to whether the bombardment of the city would begin before the exodus was accomplished. the military governor had posted a proclamation to warn the population that it might begin at any time. there was a certain amount of unconscious humour in his proclamation. he advised people to retire into their cellars with bedding, food, water and other necessaries; to disconnect the water, gas and electricity; to stuff the staircases with mattresses, as a matter of protection; to take with them picks and shovels, so that they could dig themselves out in case their houses fell in; and after a few more hints of this sort, the governor genially remarks: "having taken these precautions, the population can await the bombardment in calm." the german authorities have offered to spare the historic monuments of antwerp in their bombardment, if the belgian general staff will send them maps of the city with such monuments and hospitals clearly; marked. i found that it had been arranged in brussels that i should collect the plans on my way through antwerp and deliver them to the german authorities in brussels, and, of course, agreed to do so. after luncheon i went back to the palace, where i was immediately received by the queen in her sitting room. her majesty seemed quite oblivious of the confusion in the palace, and, like the king, she was chiefly concerned as to the welfare of the people left under german domination. i was able to give her comforting news as to the treatment of the people of brussels. while we were talking, the roar of the german guns seemed to increase and made the windows rattle. there was an outcry in the street, and we went to the window to see a german aeroplane pursued by a british machine. we watched them out of sight, and then went back to our talk. the members of the court had tried to prevail upon the queen to leave antwerp, but when it became evident that the place must be surrendered, she refused to move and told me she would stay until the king left. and she did. when i got back to the hotel, i found eugène with news that the differential of my car had broken, so that we could not start. it was important that we lose no time in getting the plans of the town to the german authorities, so i got baron van der elst to go with me to the general staff and explain the situation. general de guise promptly wrote out an order that i should be given the best car to be found in the city. armed with this, eugène set forth and gathered in a very pretty little limousine to bring us back to brussels. it was evidently a lady's car and almost too pretty, but we were not exacting and took it thankfully. however, it was too late to start out through the lines, so we gave up the idea of leaving before morning. we had thought of taking the route of the army and getting to brussels by way of ghent, but the people at the general staff said the road was so crowded with transport that we would make little progress, and that the better course would be to take exactly the opposite direction and go by way of tournhout. [illustration: graves of civilians shot by the germans] [illustration: a typical proclamation proclamation a l'avenir les localités situees près de l'endroit ou a eu lieu la destruction des chemins de fer et lignes télégraphiques seront punies sans pitié (il n'importe qu'elles soient coupables ou non de ces actes.) dans ce but des otages ont été pris dans toutes les localités situees près des chemins de fer qui sont menacés de pareilles attaques; et au premier attentat à la destruction des lignes de chemins de fer, de lignes télégraphiques ou lignes téléphoniques, ils seront immédiatement fusillés. bruxelles, le octobre _le gouverneur,_ von der goltz translation: in future, villages in the vicinity of places where railway and telegraph lines are destroyed will be punished without pity (whether they are guilty or not of the acts in question). with this in view hostages have been taken in all villages near the railway lines which are threatened by such attacks. upon the first attempt to destroy lines of railway, telegraph, or telephone, they will be immediately shot. the governor, von der goltz] [illustration: two illustrations titled "views of the fort of waehlem after its bombardment by the big german guns"] i took several of the ladies of the corps down to the boat, which was to take them to ostend, which was to be the next stand of the government. they all took it coolly and went to bed, as though there were no bombardment going on. the king and queen, the prime minister, and the representatives of the allies remained in town overnight. on one of my trips out of the hotel i met the queen coming in to say good-bye to princess koudatcheff (wife of the russian minister), who was ill. she stopped to greet us and make inquiries as to each one. after dark the crowd began to melt. winston churchill came down with his party, got into motors, and made off for bruges. the belgian officers staying at the hotel got off with their units, and by ten o'clock the staff of the british legation, fowler and i, were left in almost undisputed possession of the hotel. the water-supply was cut. the lights were out and the place was far from gay, particularly as nearly all the servants had fled, and we could not get anything to eat or drink. most of the town repaired to the cellars for the night, but we decided that if it really came, we saw no choice between going down with the house into the cellar and having the house come down on top of us, so we turned in and got a night's rest, which, i am free to confess, was rather fitful. all night long motors were snorting away, and all night long the guns kept pounding, although they did not seem to get any nearer. with the intelligence that one has when half awake, i carefully arranged a pillow between me and the window, as a protection against shells! we got up early and went out into the streets to watch the movement. the few remaining troops were being poured out on the road to ghent. on foot, in motors, on trains, on bicycles, and on horseback, they streamed. the civil population was also getting away, and all the trams in the direction of the dutch frontier were loaded with people carrying their little bundles--all they could hope to take away with them. the hospitals were being emptied of the wounded and they were getting away as best they could, those whose legs were all right helping those who had trouble in walking. it was a depressing sight, and above all, the sound of the big guns which we had heard steadily since the morning before. we got under way about half-past eight, after a wretched and sketchy breakfast, and after saying good-bye to one of our friends of the british legation. first, we went to the north gate, only to find that it had been closed to vehicles a few minutes before, and that barbed-wire entanglements had been stretched across the road. argument was vain, so we worked our way back through the traffic and reached the porte de tournhout, only to be turned back again. for nearly an hour we wandered about in the stream of refugees, in vehicles and on foot, before we finally succeeded in making our way through a side door of the porte de tournhout, and starting that way. we were not at all sure that we should be able to reach the dutch frontier through tournhout, as the germans were supposed to be that far north, but we did make it after a long series of stops, to be examined by all sorts of belgian outposts who kept cropping up out of fields to stop us and look through our papers. from some little distance out of town, we could see the shells bursting over the southern part of the town, or possibly over the villages to the south of the town proper. we plowed along through holland, being stopped all afternoon by civil guards, and reached maestricht at sunset. we went straight to the german consulate to have our papers put in order and learn whether it could be arranged for us to pass the lines at night. our papers were not in order because they bore no photographs, and the consul could not see that the german interest in our mission made any difference, so that there was nothing to do but wait over until morning, and get some pictures. it took us until ten in the morning to get our photographs and have our papers arranged, and by good driving we reached liège in time to lunch with the consul. then on to brussels by way of namur. on the road we picked up a german officer on his way to namur, which kindly deed saved us much delay in being stopped by posts. we reached brussels at five and hastened to send the precious plans of antwerp to lancken. we had just settled down at the legation to a good talk when word came that lancken was anxious to see me at once. i went over to the political department to find that the gentleman merely wanted a formal statement from me as to when i had received and delivered the plans, so that he could make it a matter of record. i satisfied him on these points and went my way. then we gathered at the legation and talked steadily until after midnight. while i was away the minister had got off a train-load of americans, and with them he had sent the english nurses. that relieved harold fowler of the mission that brought him, but we bore up bravely. the germans have announced the fall of antwerp and have apparently occupied the city. at first everybody was much downcast, but on second thought they have been convinced that the evacuation of the army and the surrender of an empty shell was a pretty clever piece of work. with the big siege guns that were in action, it was only a question of days until the germans would have reduced all the forts. and then if the resistance had been maintained, the greater part of the army would probably have been captured. as it is, the belgians inundated the country to keep the germans from cutting off their retreat, and made off for ostend, leaving only a handful of men with the british marines, to hold the germans in check. so far as we can learn, most of the army has succeeded in getting away and forming a junction with the allies. * * * * * _brussels, october , ._--we are quite up in the air about what we are to do next. monday afternoon i went around to headquarters to get a _laisser-passer_ to take harold fowler back to england. while the matter was being attended to, an officer came in and told me that baron von der lancken wanted very much to see me. when i went into his room, he said that there was nothing in particular that he wanted to see me about, but that he thought i would be interested in hearing the news and in telling him something of my trip. we talked along for some time about things in general, and then he told me that the movement of troops toward the coast was progressing rapidly and that the belgian government would soon be driven from the country. then putting the tips of his fingers together and looking me coyly in the eye, he inquired: "and then my dear colleague, what will be your position?" he elaborated by pointing out that the government, to which we are accredited, having left the country, we would be merely in the position of foreigners of distinction residing here, and that we would have no official rank or standing. the idea evidently is that they do not care to have us around any longer than they can help. i later learned that villalobar had been more ready than i with his retort. in the course of a call later in the afternoon, lancken had talked the same matter over with him, and had wound up with the same genial question: "and then my dear colleague, what will be your position?" without any hesitation, villalobar replied: "my situation will be just the same as yours. we are both representatives of our country in a country not our own. we shall continue to owe each other respect, and to make the best of conditions." the latest news we have this afternoon is to the effect that the government has been driven from ostend, presumably to the isle of guernsey. it would be pleasant, in a way, to retire to a retreat of that sort for a few months' rest, but i fear there is nothing of that sort in store. to-day i ran across an order from the governor-general forbidding civilians to ride bicycles. the order concludes as follows: civilians who, in spite of this, continue to ride bicycles, expose themselves to being shot by german troops. if a cyclist is suspected of planning to damage railroad, telegraph or telephone lines, or of the intention of attacking german troops, he will be shot according to martial law. apparently it is no longer necessary to go through the forms of proving that the cyclist had any evil intention. the mere suspicion is enough to have him shot. in the course of a visit to general von lüttwitz to-day, one of the colleagues remarked that the germans _must_ keep the belgians alive, and could not allow them to starve. lüttwitz was not at all of that mind, for he said with some show of feeling: "the allies are at liberty to feed the belgians. if they don't, they are responsible for anything that may happen. if there are bread riots, the natural thing would be for us to drive the whole civil population into some restricted area, like the province of luxembourg, build a barbed wire fence around them, and leave them to starve in accordance with the policy of their allies." and as the german policy is more or less frankly stated as a determination to wipe out as many of the enemy as possible without regard to what is or has been considered as permissible, it is quite within the realm of possibility that they would be prepared to let the belgian people starve. in any event, you can't gamble with the lives of seven millions of people when all you have to go on is the belief that germany will be guided by the dictates of humanity. fowler was to have left yesterday morning, and had engaged a seat in a new motor that is being run out by way of maestricht. it was to have called at my house at seven o'clock yesterday morning, and we were up and about bright and early. we waited until a little after nine, when eugène turned up to say that the chauffeur had been arrested and put in jail for having carried correspondence and having been caught nosing around one of the forts at liège. the service is now suspended, and we don't see any prospect of his getting off before friday, when we are sending a courier to the legation at the hague. yesterday afternoon we went up to antwerp to see how our old motor-car was getting along. it was out of whack, and we were obliged to get another to come back to brussels. i took the big car and organised an expedition of monsieur de leval, fowler and a german official named conrad, who went along to help us over the rough places. it is the first time for weeks that the direct route has been feasible. i have had enough of ruined towns, and was not able to get the awful sights out of my head all night, but spent my time in bad dreams. from vilvorde right into antwerp there is not a town intact. eppeghem, sempst, malines, waehlem, berchem--all razed to the ground. in malines a good part of the town is standing and i suppose that the cathedral can be restored, but the other towns are done for. there were practically no civilians in any of them--a few poor peasants poking dismally about in the ruins, trying to find some odds and ends that they could save from the general wreck. there were some children sitting on the steps of deserted houses and a few hungry dogs prowling around, but no other signs of life. all the way from the outskirts of brussels straight through to antwerp, the road was lined with empty bottles. they gave a pretty good idea of what had gone on along the line of march. the bombardment of antwerp lasted from the afternoon that we left up to friday noon. the damage is pretty evenly distributed. houses here and there in every street were badly smashed and the whole block across the street from the hôtel st. antoine, where we stayed, was burned to the ground. the cathedral was not damaged. when we were there last week, the streets were thronged with people and with motors. yesterday there was not a soul to be seen for blocks together. the town was practically deserted. the garage where i had left my car had been taken over by the military authorities. the car was put away on the second floor undamaged, but also unrepaired, so we shall have to wait until things settle down a little and we can get some work done. i shall have to go back to antwerp a little later and attend to that. there is some comfort in the fact that the car has not been smashed. this morning the committee for the provisioning of brussels came in, and asked whether i was prepared to go to london for them and endeavour to arrange for some sort of permanent agreement with the british government for the provisioning of the civilian population of belgium. i am willing. in the course of some errands this afternoon, i dropped in on baronne lambert for a cup of tea. the baron came in and then villalobar. about two minutes later, lambert was called out of the room to speak with a german officer, who demanded that he accompany him to headquarters. villalobar went with him to see what was up, and i stayed behind to see if i could be of any use. we stood by for a little over half an hour, and then when mme. lambert could stand it no longer, i jumped in my car and went down to see what was happening. i found villalobar on the sidewalk, getting into his car. he was depressed and said that he had been obliged to leave the baron with the germans; that he was suspected of nobody would say what, and that the germans were going to search the house. i went back and had them all ready for the shock of the invasion. they were standing by for the search party, when in walked the baron, smiling broadly. they had sent him home under guard of two armed men, and were to search the house in the course of a few minutes. while he was telling about it, two officers arrived, profusely apologetic, and asked to be shown over the red cross hospital, which had been installed on the ground floor. they were taken all through the place, and found only a lot of german soldiers carrying off the beds and other belongings. then they searched the baron's private office and that of his son, and withdrew after more excuses. there was nothing to show for the whole performance, and nothing had been accomplished beyond making a lot of people nervous and apprehensive. that is the sort of thing that everybody is subject to these days, without any hope of redress. and, of course, this was the least serious thing that could happen. * * * * * _on board s.s. "princess juliana," off dover, sunday, october , ._--here we are again, coming into england in rain and fog. up to the last minute, i was in great doubt as to whether we should come at all, but everything was finally straightened out and here we are. friday we spent in hard work, aggravated with many conferences. in the morning most of the german civil and military government came to the legation and discussed the food question with the members of the committee, the spanish minister and ourselves. they all united in asking that i go to london and lay the situation before the belgian minister, the spanish and american ambassadors and, under their chaperonage, before the british government. when this had been agreed to, some bright soul suggested that i be accompanied by a commission of fifteen prominent belgians, to add impressiveness to what i had to say. the two ministers rose up and said _no_, adding that as i was to do the work and bear the responsibility in going on this mission of forlorn hope, i should not be hampered by having to carry the weight of fifteen speech makers. that was knocked in the head, and then to show that we were not unreasonable, we asked that two members of the committee go along. the men chosen were baron lambert and monsieur francqui, one of the leading bankers of brussels and a man of poise and judgment. they expressed reluctance but were soon persuaded. this morning, during a call at the political department, the talk turned on mexico. i was asked what the president was driving at, and answered that he was clearly trying to give the mexicans every opportunity to solve their own troubles without interference. i was then asked, rather slyly, whether the president really wanted them to settle their troubles. without waiting to hear my answer, the oracle went on to tell me what our real policy was as he saw it, and he had no doubts. the president wanted to take mexico, but was intelligent enough to realise that if he simply seized it, he would forfeit any claim he might have to disinterestedness, and our anglo-saxon hypocrisy could not swallow that. therefore, he was deliberately allowing the mexicans to drift into a hopeless condition of anarchy, which he knew would get steadily worse, until all the best and most prosperous elements in the country would come to the conclusion that they would be happier and safer under american rule than under the uncertain despotism of changing factions. the president could then yield to their entreaties, and could take over the government of mexico as a humanitarian service to the people. i made a feeble attempt to explain what our real feelings were toward mexico, but it soon became evident that we could not think in the same terms, so i gave up. there was no criticism expressed or implied. on the contrary, there was evidence of real admiration of the president's technique. the rest of the day was spent in getting ready letters and telegrams and other papers necessary in our work. fowler and i dined at the lambert's, finished up our work at the legation, and got to bed at midnight. we got up yesterday morning at half-past three, and at half-past four set sail in three motors--one filled with servants and mountains of small baggage. we sped in the dark through ruined villages to antwerp, and from there to esschen on the dutch frontier, which we reached soon after daylight. we had papers from the dutch legation, calling upon the customs authorities to let us pass, but a chuckle-headed _douanier_ would not even read our papers, and held us up for an hour, while he made out papers of various sorts and collected a deposit on our cars. i expostulated in vain, and shall have to get my comfort from making a row later. as a consequence of his cussedness, we missed the morning boat train to flushing, and had to spend the day in that charming city. we found the place filled with refugees from all parts of belgium, and were greeted on every hand by people we knew. the hotels were filled to overflowing, and people were living in freight cars, sheds and on the sidewalk. we clung to chairs in the reading room at one of the hotels, and walked the streets until nine o'clock, when we got aboard the boat with eight hundred other people. cabins were not to be had for love or money, but francqui, by judicious corruption, got us a place to sleep, and we slept hard, despite the noise, which was tremendous. * * * * * _london, october , ._--here we are, much cheered up by the prospect. we hammered hard yesterday and to-day, and this afternoon it looks as though we had secured the permission of the british government to send food to our people in belgium. we got into folkstone at o'clock on sunday, were passed immediately by the authorities, and then spent an hour and a half waiting for our train to pull out. we got into darkened london about a quarter of eight. we sat around and visited beyond our usual hours, and yesterday morning i was called ahead of anybody else, so as to get down to my day's work. first, i got things started at the embassy, by getting off a lot of telegrams and running away from an office full of people who, in some mysterious way, had heard i was here. i saw several of them, but as my day was going, i up and ran. first, to alfred rothschild's house in park lane, where i found baron lambert waiting for me. he was beaming, as his son (serving in the belgian army) had turned up safe and well before leaving to rejoin his regiment in france. next i went to the spanish embassy, and gave the ambassador details of what we wanted. he caught the idea immediately, and has done everything in his power. when i got back to our chancery, i found that the ambassador had come in, so i went over the whole business again, and made an appointment for a conference with him for the spanish ambassador and my travelling companions. at half-past five we had our conference with the two ambassadors. they made an appointment with sir edward grey for this afternoon, and went over the situation at some length, to make sure of the details. in view of its significance this meeting was most impressive to me. it was made up of the two ambassadors, my two companions, and herbert hoover, the man who is going to tackle one of the biggest jobs of the time. he has been studying the situation, the needs of the civil population and the difficulties to be overcome ever since shaler's arrival several weeks ago. while we could enlighten him in regard to recent developments and matters of detail i was astonished to see how clearly he grasped all the essentials of the situation. he sat still while the rest of us talked but his few remarks were very much to the point, particularly when, in answer to a question, he said very quietly: "yes, i'll take over the work. i have about finished what i have in hand. now we can take up this." * * * * * _october st._--the belgian government has sent over monsieur de berryer, the minister of the interior, to discuss the food question and the equally important money question. i had an early morning note from the spanish ambassador and went around to see him. london is filled with war spirit; not hysterics, but good determined work. the streets are full of singing recruits marching hither and yon--mostly yon. the army must be growing at a tremendous rate; in fact, faster than equipment can be provided, and they are not slow about that. * * * * * _london, october , ._--on wednesday we had things pretty well settled, and had also succeeded in raising from official sources about one hundred and fifty thousand pounds. i took a fair amount of satisfaction in gloating over those who had croaked. then some helpful soul came along and threw a monkey wrench into the machinery, so that a good part of the work has to be done over again. at any rate, we hope to get, some time to-day, permission to export enough food to serve as a stop gap until the general question can be settled. monsieur francqui and baron lambert had to start back this morning to organise the belgian local committees into one central national affair, and i am to stay on until things are settled one way or the other. that may mean not getting back to belgium for a week or two more. for some time i have been threatening to get a dog and yesterday, feeling the need of intelligent canine sympathy, i succumbed. at the army and navy stores, i found a hideous brindle bull that some officer had left on going to the front. he was promptly acquired, and given the name of max in honour of our burgomaster. the stores are to take care of him for me until i return to belgium. when i got back to the embassy, from my visit to the stores, i found shaler waiting for me with the news that i was expected at a meeting at mr. hoover's office in fifteen minutes, to discuss matters with the committee which is being formed to handle the feeding of the belgian civil population. i was surprised to find that i had been made a member of this committee, and was expected to attend. it was a comfort to talk with men who know what they are about and who can make up their minds right the first time. hoover is a wonder and has the faculty of getting big-calibre men about him. we were not in session more than an hour, but in that time we went over the needs of the belgian civil population, the means of meeting immediate needs, the broader question of finding food from other parts of the world to continue the work, the problem of getting money from public and private sources to pay expenses, and finally the organisation to be set up in belgium, england, america and holland, to handle the work. before we left a tentative organisation had been established and people despatched on various duties with orders to get things started without loss of time, so that food could be pushed across the line into belgium at the first possible moment. it is going to be up-hill work for many reasons, but it would be hard to find a group of men who inspire as much confidence as these that everything possible will be done, and occasionally a little that is impossible. [illustration: herbert c. hoover _copyright by underwood & underwood_] [illustration: french howitzer near h----] [illustration: german camp kitchen] * * * * * _october th._--yesterday was another busy day. i did not know that the entire population of belgium could make such a crowd as i have had in the waiting-room of the chancery. in some mysterious way the news of my coming to london has got about, and swarms of people are coming in with little errands they want done and messages to be delivered to their friends and families in brussels. it makes work, but that sort of thing is a comfort to lots of people and is worth undertaking. i have made it clear to all of them that anything to be delivered will be turned over to the german authorities first, and hope they will govern themselves accordingly. the british government has stipulated that the feeding of the civil population shall be carried on by a neutral organisation, under the patronage of the american and spanish ambassadors in london and berlin, and the american and spanish ministers in brussels. the food is to be consigned to the american minister in brussels for distribution by the organisation which is to be known as the american relief committee, with hoover as chairman and motive power. the various local belgian committees are to be grouped together in a national organisation, to assist in the distribution of the foodstuffs once they are delivered inside the belgian frontier. the members of the belgian organisation are, of course, prisoners of the germans and unable to give any effective guarantees as to the disposal of the supplies. the british government has, therefore, stipulated that all authority and responsibility are to be vested in the american committee, and that the belgians are to be regarded simply as a distributing agency. this is, of course, in no sense a reflection of the belgians engaged on the work, but merely a recognition of the difficulties of their position. the neutral composition of the committee assures it a freedom of travel and action, and an independence of political and personal pressure, and a consequent freedom of administration which the belgians could not hope to enjoy. it is only by the assumption of complete authority and responsibility by the committee that the patrons will be able to give the various governments concerned the necessary assurances as to the disposition of foodstuffs and the fulfillment of guarantees. there is something splendid about the way hoover and his associates have abandoned their own affairs and all thought of themselves in order to turn their entire attention to feeding the belgians. they have absolutely cut loose from their business, and are to give their whole time to the work of the committee. this is done without heroics. i should hardly have known it was done, but for the fact that hoover remarked in a matter of fact way: "of course everybody will have to be prepared to let business go and give their whole time." and it was so completely taken for granted that there is nothing but a murmur of assent. another strenuous day on the food question and other things. my plans were to leave for brussels on monday morning, but in the evening the ambassador sent for me and it was decided that i should go to havre and from there to see the king and queen. that will take me to within a couple of hours from brussels, according to old calculations, but under present conditions i shall have to get there by way of france, england and holland. * * * * * _hôtel des régates, havre, october , ._--this is the third town where i have paid my respects to the belgian government. i would gladly have foregone the experience, for it is depressing. i left waterloo station at : last night. instead of the usual two-hour run to southampton, we puttered along and did not arrive until after one. i had a compartment and made myself as comfortable as possible. when we arrived i found poor colonel swalm, the consul, waiting for me. the ambassador had telegraphed him to see me off, and he did so regardless of the hour. i felt horribly guilty to have him waiting about for me, but it certainly did make things a lot easier. i got straight to bed, but had a hard time sleeping, as there was a tremendous racket of loading all night long. nearly all the passengers were british officers on their way to the front. among the others i found de bassompierre of the foreign office, and a mr. and mrs. w----, who were coming over with a rolls-royce, to be presented to the belgian general staff. if i go to the front, he will take me. we sailed at daybreak and were here by two o'clock. our consul, osborne, was waiting for me at the dock with henry needham, the correspondent of _colliers_. i was let straight through the customs, where a _woman_ marked my bag, and then came to this hotel overlooking the sea. this was the first thing we saw as we came into the harbour. it is in a suburb called nice havrais, built by old dufayel of paris. it was a curious and pathetic sensation to see the belgian flags still flying bravely. the different ministries are set up here, and one villa has been set aside for the king and queen, who have not yet left belgian soil. the legations are all established in this hotel and are bored to extinction, as their work has dropped very much. this little suburb enjoys all the privileges of extraterritoriality, and even the french minister to belgium goes through the motions of being accredited to a foreign government in his country. the cars of the various legations go buzzing around among the french and belgian and british cars. the streets are full of troops of the three nations, while some twenty transports ride at anchor in the open roadstead. fresh troops from england are arriving constantly, and march singing through the town to the camps outside, whence they are sent to the front. there are two british hospitals near this hotel--one of them the casino--and wounded are everywhere. the place is astonishingly calm, but everybody knows there is a war. the french have their teeth set and are confident of the final outcome. women are in the custom house, drive the trams, collect the fares and do a hundred other things that are usually out of their line. i found the hall filled with colleagues, and exchanged greetings with the crowd before going over to the foreign office to make my bow. i found colonel fairholme packing, and ready to leave this evening for england. the foreign office has a pretty little villa in a pretty little garden and keeps busy. i saw everybody, from monsieur davignon down to the porters, and spent an hour and a half there. then at their request i went to the "palace" and talked with general jungbluth. he will try to arrange my business for me by telegraph, and will let me know in the morning whether i am to go up to the front to see the king and queen. when i came away from this call, osborne was waiting for me and took me down to the consulate for an hour's talk. then back to the hotel to dine with sir francis. after dinner we all went out and bade the colonel farewell. * * * * * _tuesday._--general jungbluth was waiting for me when i came down this morning, to say that i should go to the front. osborne was waiting with his car, and took me to the ministry of war, to ask for a lift to dunkerque in a military car. as luck would have it, to-day's car had left ten minutes before, so i was put off until to-morrow morning, when i shall go up with the w----s. i have spent a good part of the day getting my papers in order--both french and belgian--and in the tiresome occupation of being photographed. * * * * * _october th, hôtel des arcades, dunkerque._--another one-night stand. we cleared out of havre this morning over muddy and slippery roads. it rained hard all night, and we made good time by way of fécamp, dieppe, eu, abbeville, montreuil, bologne, marquise, and calais, getting to dunkerque a little after four, just in time to smell the smoke of a couple of bombs dropped by an aeroplane across the street from the office of the prime minister, upon whom i called. we began running into big bunches of troops at abbeville--english, french and belgian. i saw some of the indian troops doing sentry duty and looking cold and uncomfortable, and did not blame them, for it was raw and cheerless. the rolls-royce is a beauty and sailed along all day like a gondola. the prime minister had set up his office in the mayor's room at the hôtel de ville, which i found in an uproar because of the bombs. the prime minister was said to be at headquarters, at furnes, across the belgian frontier, and i was urged to go there to see him. we made twenty-one kilometers there, in time to find that little town in a great state of excitement, because three big shells had come from nobody knew where, and burst by the railroad station. but the prime minister was not there, and it was dark, so we gathered up a guide and set off for la panne, where the king and queen are living. neither of them was there; nobody but a gendarme on duty. the king was off with the troops and the queen was looking after the wounded, who have overflowed all the hospitals. in the past week--just this one engagement--the belgians have suffered , casualties. the road from furnes to la panne and back lay close behind the lines, so that we could hear the steady roar of the fighting and see the bursting shells, particularly those from the british ships, which made a tremendous flash and roar. we came on back to town, being stopped every minute by french outposts, and got to this hostelry at seven-thirty. while i was cleaning up, the prime minister came in and claimed me for dinner. he had his secretary, count lichtervelde, a.b., who is here looking after the wounded, and a couple of officers. and _then_ we talked until the hands dropped off the clock and i was nearly dead for sleep. then i took a.b. home to her hospital, through the streets darkened for the benefit of count zeppelin, and _now_ i _am_ ready for my rest. i have plans for to-morrow, but shall see what happens to them when i see the prime minister in the morning. * * * * * _october th._--still at dunkerque. another busy and interesting day, and if all goes well, i shall be back in london to-morrow night. i was up early, did a little writing, and went over to see the prime minister, who was waiting for me. despatched my business with him in short order, to my complete satisfaction. he is a trump, and it is a joy to do business with him, even at a time when he is hounded, as he is now. he said the king was out with the troops, but had sent in to say he wanted to see me and would come in to headquarters at furnes at four-thirty for that purpose. the queen had also sent word in that she wanted to see me. she was busy looking after the wounded, but said she would come to la panne at four. that suited me, although i was in some doubt as to how i would be able to make connections between the two audiences. last night i had talked of going out to look at the fighting, and a.b. had offered to conduct me. i had not taken the offer very seriously, but when i got back to the hotel after seeing the prime minister, she was there in a big racing car, with a crack chauffeur, ready for the jaunt. she was in her campaign kit of knickers, with a long rain-coat and a big knitted cap, and an entrancing boy she made. mr. and mrs. w---- had asked to go along, and were in their car with barbaçon, an aide-de-camp of the prime minister. monsieur de broqueville came out quite seriously and begged a.b. not to lead me into danger, whereat everybody had a good laugh. we made quick time to furnes and drew up before headquarters, where we learned what was known of the lay of the land and the points of the front we could reach without getting in the way. the belgians, who had for ten days held the line of the yser from nieuport to dixmude, waiting for reinforcements to come up, had been obliged to fall back to the line of the railroad, which forms the chord of the arc, and had inundated the intervening territory to impede the german advance. french and english troops were being brought up in large numbers to relieve the belgians, who have lost in killed and wounded nearly a third of the , men engaged. while waiting for some definite news to be brought in for us, we climbed to the top of the high tower of the market next the hôtel de ville, for a look at the battle line. it was pretty misty, but we could see the smoke of shrapnel and of the big shells from the english ships, which were enfilading the german right. the staircase up this tower was a crazy thing, with rotten steps and places where two or three steps were missing altogether. it was bad enough going up where we could take hold and pull ourselves up, but it was far worse going down, because we were ordered down in a hurry and all came piling down in a steady stream. there were squeaks and screams at the bad moments, but we did manage to get down without mishap and take stock of ourselves. we found some german prisoners lying on the straw in the entrance hall, and stopped to speak to them. they said that their troops were very tired from long, hard fighting, but that they had plenty of men. they seemed rather depressed themselves. by the time we got down, our information had come and we set off through a welter of transport trains, artillery, ambulances, marching troops, and goodness knows what else, in the direction of x----. when we got within a couple of kilometers of the place, an officer stopped us and asked if we knew where we were going. he shrugged his shoulders when we said we did, and let us go straight into it. when we were bowling along about one kilometer from the town, three shells burst at once, about two hundred yards to our left, and we stopped to see what was toward. a hundred yards ahead to the right of the road was a battery of five big guns, and the germans were evidently trying to get their range. the shells kept falling to the left, near a group of farm-houses, and as some of the spent balls of shrapnel kept rolling around near us, we decided we might as well go and see the big guns from nearer to. in the shelter of the farm-houses were fifty or sixty men, some of them cooking their lunch, others sleeping, all quite oblivious of the roar of bursting shrapnel and the spattering of the bullets near by. and a few months ago probably any of these men would have been frightened into a fit by a shell bursting in his neighbourhood. it is wonderful how soon people become contemptuous of danger. the horses that were tethered by the roadside seemed to take it all as a matter of course, and munched away at their hay, as though all the world were at peace. a wobbly cart came creaking by with an infantryman, who had had a good part of his face shot away. he had been bandaged after a fashion and sat up blinking at us stupidly as the cart lumbered by, bumping into holes and sliding into ruts. i was not keen on staying longer than was necessary to see what was there, but w.---- was very deliberate and not to be budged for more than half an hour. we finally got him started by calling his attention to the spent balls, which make a tremendous singing noise, but do no harm. the only really safe thing in the neighbourhood was what did the trick. the germans were making a furious attack, evidently determined to break the line before the fresh troops could be brought up, and the cannonading was terrific. the whole front as far as we could see in either direction was a line of puffs of smoke from bursting shrapnel and black spouts of earth from exploding shells. the crackle of the _mitrailleuses_ rippled up and down the whole line. the belgians were pounding back as hard as they could and the noise was deafening. finally, when we decided to leave, the officer in command of the battery loaded all five guns at once and fired a salvo for our benefit. the great shells tore away, roaring like so many express trains, and screaming like beasts in agony--a terrifying combination. my ears ache yet. it was getting hotter every minute and the germans were evidently getting a better idea of the range, for the shells began falling pretty close on the other side, and i was quieter in my mind when we went back to our cars and pulled out of the actual line. we took a road a few hundred yards back, parallel with the lines, and drove along slowly, watching the effect of the shell fire, until we absolutely had to start back for lunch. on the way we stopped at a peasant's hut, and said hello to jack reyntiens. when we got back to the hotel, about half an hour late for lunch, we found the prime minister waiting for us. at the door, in addition to the usual sentry, there were two privates of the _chasseurs à cheval_, one wearing a commander's star of the legion of honor. they saluted and smiled, and i bowed and went on in to my meal. they came in after me, still smiling, and i was taxed with not recognising them. they were the duc d'ursel and --------, the heads of their respective houses, who had enlisted, and are still fighting as privates. they had just been relieved and were on their way to the rear, where the belgian army is being reformed and rested. as soon as we had got through, i had to start back for my audience of the queen. w.---- took me out to la panne, where we found the villa on the sand dunes, a little way back of the lines. there were a couple of gendarmes on duty, the king's secretary, and the countess de caraman-chimay, the one lady-in-waiting. i had just got inside when the door opened and the king came in. he had heard i was coming to see the queen and had motored down from furnes. i was able to satisfy him in a few minutes on the points he had wanted to see me about and then he questioned me about friends in brussels. i suggested to him that it would probably help our committee in raising funds if he would write an appeal for help from america. he fell in with the idea at once, and together we got out an appeal that is to be sent across the water. where we sat we could see the british ships shelling the germans, and the windows of the dining-room were rattling steadily. the king stood beside the table with his finger tips resting on the cloth, watching the stuff ground out word by word. i looked up at him once, but could not bear to do it again--it was the saddest face one can imagine, but not a word of complaint was breathed. just as we were finishing, the queen came and bade us in to tea. she was supposed to wait for her lady-in-waiting to bring me, but didn't. the king stayed only a minute or two and then said he must be getting back to headquarters, where he would see me later. i suggested to the queen that she, too, make an appeal to the women of america, to which she agreed. another appeal was prepared for her, and it, too, will be sent to america by the first post. the queen had wanted to see me about the subject of surgeons for the belgian army. the belgian surgeons in the brussels hospitals have been replaced by germans, and have nothing to do, although they are desperately needed here. the queen was terribly depressed about the condition of the wounded. there are so few surgeons, and such tremendous numbers of wounded, that they cannot by any possibility be properly cared for. legs and arms are being ruthlessly amputated in hundreds of cases where they could be saved by a careful operation. careful operations are, of course, out of the question, with the wounded being dumped in every minute by the score. in these little frontier towns there are no hospital facilities to speak of, and the poor devils are lucky if they get a bed of straw under any sort of roof, and medical attendance, within twenty-four hours. we went to see one hospital in a near-by villa, and i hope i shall never again have to go through such an ordeal. such suffering and such lack of comforts i have never seen, but i take off my hat to the nerve of the wounded, and the nurses, most of them the best class of belgian women, used to every luxury and getting none. the queen gave me tea, and one of her small supply of cigarettes, and we talked until after dark. the monitors off shore had been joined by a battleship, and the row was terrific and rendered conversation difficult. the queen was still full of courage and said that as long as there was one square foot of belgian soil free of germans, she would be on it. she said it simply, in answer to a question from me, but there was a big force of courage and determination behind it. as i was not dismissed, i finally took it on myself to go, and the queen came with me to the door and sent me on my way. she stood in the lighted doorway until i reached the motor, and then turned slowly and went in--a delicate little woman with a lion's heart. inglebleek and the countess de caraman-chimay came out after we had cranked the car, and gave me messages for their families and friends. it is a pretty hard change for these people, who three months ago were leading such a dull, comfortable life, but they have risen to it with fine spirit. the king was with his staff, studying the maps and despatches, when i got to furnes, and i was shown the whole situation--most interesting on the large scale maps that show every farm-house and pathway. i was to go back to dunkerque with monsieur de broqueville, so waited while they discussed the events of the day and plans for to-morrow. while they talked reinforcements were pouring through the town, with great rumbling of artillery and blowing of trumpets. it was a comforting sound, as it presaged some relief for the belgians in their heartbreaking stand. there was comfort in riding back through the night with the prime minister, for there was no long examination of papers, etc. when we came to a post, the aide-de-camp would switch on a strong light in the car, the sentries would salute, and on we would go at a great gait. seemingly i was boarding with monsieur de broqueville, as i was led back to dine with him. to-morrow i am off to london. loewenstein, a young brussels banker, is to take me over in his racing car, which is a useful institution these days. we take along his mother-in-law, madame misonne, and a.b. it means getting up at five to motor to calais to catch the boat. there the car will be slung aboard, so that we can be whisked up to london without waiting for a train. * * * * * _on board s.s. "orange nassau," north sea, november , ._--on friday morning we were called before dawn, and got under way as per schedule--loewenstein, madame misonne, a.b., and i. we made good time, over slippery roads, to calais, despite frequent stops to have our papers examined by posts, and got to the dock some twenty minutes before the steamer sailed. the car was hoisted aboard, and we rode across in it. frederick palmer was on board, returning in disgust after having been just that far toward the front. our suicide wagon was swung off onto the dock without loss of time, and we sped away toward london while our fellow-passengers were doomed to wait for all sorts of formalities. it was a wild ride. at times we were doing as high as one hundred and thirty kilometers an hour over winding english roads, and i was somewhat relieved when i was dropped at the embassy, safe and sound. i got off some telegrams about my trip, and was told the ambassador wanted to see me. hoover was with him, and i turned over to them the appeals from the king and queen. jack scranton decided to come back to brussels with me, to give me a hand in legation work, and spent the morning packing enough plunder to see him through a siege of three or four years. a.b. came on to london to see her brother who is seriously wounded and in hospital. now her family want her to return to brussels and have placed her in my care for the journey. this morning we had a crowd at the station to see us off. countess n.---- has also come along, and was entrusted to our care. a.b.'s family was there in force to say good-bye, so altogether the casual observer might have inferred that we were popular. * * * * * _brussels, november th._--we were met in flushing by our consular agent, who put us through the customs and onto the train. no motor was waiting for us at rosendaal, and we had a hard time getting shelter for the night. finally we succeeded in getting a room for the two women in a little, third-rate hotel, and jack and i slept on the floor of a sitting-room in the little hôtel central. i was so dog-tired that i slept like a log, wrapped up in my fur coat. while we were having coffee, m. de leval came up in my little car. he had been to rotterdam in connection with the first shipment of food, and thought he would find me alone. he had bought a lot of gasoline in breda, to be called for, so we could take no luggage. we found another car leaving for brussels at noon, and loaded it up with countess n., ---- jack and the luggage, while m. de l. and i took a.b. and the mail bags, and started by way of breda. we came through aerschot and stopped for a stretch and to look about. we walked about the streets for a time, and stopped in a shop to ask for a drink of water. after giving it to us, the proprietor asked if we would like to see the state the germans had left things in. he led us back into his living quarters, opened a door bearing an inscription to the effect that it was an officers' mess, and let us in. i never have seen a more complete mess. everything in the place was smashed, and the whole room was filthy. the officers had left only a few days before and had taken pains to break everything before they went. obscene remarks were chalked on the walls, and the pictures were improved with heavy attempts at fun. i always used to think that the term "officer and gentleman" was redundant, but now i begin to understand the need for it. the church was also in a bad state. the doors have nearly all been battered down. the wooden gothic statues in the nave have been smashed or destroyed by fire. the altars and confessionals were wantonly destroyed. the collection boxes had been pried open and emptied. we were told that the holy-water font and the vestments of the priests had been profaned and befouled. it is not a pretty sight. aerschot was partially destroyed on august th and th. the germans claim that their commanding officer was shot by the son of the burgomaster. the belgians claim that he was struck by a stray bullet fired at random by one of his own men in the marketplace. however that may be, the whole place was instantly in an uproar, and quiet was not restored until the town had been sacked and over one hundred and fifty people killed, among them women and children. the burgomaster and his son and a priest were among those shot and buried outside the louvain gate. one of those taken to the place of execution was spared on condition that he should go to louvain to tell of what had happened. louvain has been cleaned up a lot, and we stopped there only long enough to have our passes examined at headquarters, getting back a little before six to a warm welcome. the other motor was due at six, but did not come, and after waiting up till midnight, i turned in. jack bobbed up yesterday at noon. the car had been stopped at the frontier because several of the passengers had not proper papers. jack threw out his chest and insisted on being taken to antwerp to see the military governor. his passport, as bearer of despatches, did the business, and they were allowed to proceed under armed guard. they were kept overnight in the hôtel webber, and then jack and mme. n---- were allowed to come on to brussels in the car, while the others were detained. marshal langhorne came in to-day from the hague to effect formal delivery of the first bargeload of food, and had weird tales to tell of his adventures by the way. thank goodness, the first of the food has arrived in time, and if the flow can be kept up, the worst of our troubles will be averted. with this first consignment of food came the story of how it was got through in such record time. hoover is one of these people who is inclined to get things done and attend later to such details as getting formal permission, etc. with shaler's forty thousand pounds and promises of five hundred thousand dollars more, he went to work and placed orders for twenty thousand tons of food, costing two million dollars a week. this he did on the theory that money would come along later, when the need was realised, but that the belgian stomachs would not wait until collections had been made. he purchased the food, got it transported to the docks, and loaded on vessels that he had contrived to charter, while all the world was fighting for tonnage, got them loaded and the hatches closed. when everything was ready, hoover went to the proper authority and asked for permission to ship the food, announcing that unless he could get four shiploads of food into belgium by the end of the week, the people would begin to starve. the functionary was sympathetic, but regretted that in the circumstances, he could not help. it was out of the question to purchase food. the railways were choked with troops, munitions and supplies. ships were not to be had for love or money. and above all, the channel was closed to commerce. hoover heard him patiently to the end. "i have attended to all this," he said. "the ships are already loaded and ready to sail. all i need from you is clearance papers. you can let me have them, and everything will be all right." the high official could hardly believe his ears: "young man," he gasped, "perhaps you don't realise what you have done. men have been sent to the tower for less. if it were for any other cause, i hesitate to think what would happen to you. but as it is, i can only congratulate you on some very good work." and that's how we got our food in time. fines are being imposed on towns on one pretext or another. the other day two policemen got into a controversy with a german secret-service agent who did not explain who he was, and got a good thumping for doing various things that a civilian had no business to do. this morning von lüttwitz comes out with this proclamation: on the th of october, , a legally constituted court martial pronounced the following sentences: ( ) the policeman de ryckere for having attacked, in the legal exercise of his duties, an authorised agent of the german government, for having deliberately inflicted bodily hurt in two instances with the aid of other persons, for having aided in the escape of a prisoner and for having attacked a german soldier, was condemned to five years' imprisonment. ( ) the policeman seghers for having attacked, in the exercise of his legal duties, an authorised agent of the german government, for having deliberately inflicted bodily hurt on this german agent, and for having aided the escape of a prisoner (all these offences constituting one charge), was condemned to three years' imprisonment. the sentences were confirmed on october st by the governor-general, baron von der goltz. the city of brussels, not including its suburbs, has been punished for the injury by its policeman de ryckere to a german soldier, by an additional fine of five million francs. the governor of brussels, baron von lÜttwitz, _general_. brussels, november , . last night we dined at ctesse. n----'s to celebrate everybody's safe return. * * * * * _brussels, sunday, november , ._--barges of food are beginning to come in, and we have the place filled with people with real business concerning the food and a lot of the usual "halo-grabbers" anxious to give advice or edge into some sort of non-working position where they can reap a little credit. we are put on german time to-day. on november th the governor-general came out with a proclamation ordering that german money be accepted in all business transactions. it is to have forced currency at the rate of one mark to one franc, twenty-five centimes. as a matter of fact, it is really worth about one franc, seven centimes, and can be bought at that rate in holland or switzerland, where people are glad enough to get rid of their german money. any shop refusing to accept german paper money at the stipulated rate is to be immediately closed, according to the governor's threat. * * * * * _brussels, november , ._--late in the afternoon jack and i took max for a run in the bois. while we were going across one of the broad stretches of lawn, an officer on horseback passed us, accompanied by a mounted orderly. to our surprise the orderly drew his revolver and began waving it at us, shouting at the same time that if that ------------ dog came any nearer, he would shoot him down. the officer paid no attention, but rode on ahead. i started after them on foot, but they began to trot and left me in the lurch. i ran back to the motor, overtook them, and placed the car across their path. the officer motioned his orderly to go ahead, and then let me tackle him. he took the high ground that i had no reason to complain since the dog had not actually been shot, not seeming to realize that peaceable civilians might have legitimate objections to the promiscuous waving of revolvers. he declined to give his name or that of the soldier, and i gave up and let him ride on after expressing some unflattering opinions of him and his kind to the delight of the crowd that had gathered. they did not dare say anything direct, but as i got back into the car they set up a loud "_vive l'amérique_." the officer looked peevish and rode away very stiff and haughty. of course, since he refused to give his name, there was no getting at him, and i was free to be as indignant as i liked. the germans are tightening up on the question of travel in the occupied territory, and we are now engaged in a disagreeable row with them over passes for the legation cars. they want to limit us in all sorts of ways that make no difference to them, but cut down our comfort. they will probably end by giving us what they want; but when it is all done we shall have no feeling of obligation, having been forced to fight for it. * * * * * _brussels, november , ._--on the morning of the th, i came down to the legation and found things in an uproar. a telegram had been received saying that two trainloads of food, the first shipment for the province of liège, would cross the frontier in the course of the afternoon, under convoy of captain sunderland, our military attaché at the hague. the minister and i are the only people authorized to receive shipments; and, as no power of attorney had been sent to the consul at liège, things were in a nice mess; and, at the request of the german authorities and the committee, it was decided that i should go down, receive the stuff and make arrangements for its protection and for the reception of future shipments. the german authorities were so excited about my being there to head off any trouble that they hustled me off on an hour's notice without any lunch. i contrived to get jack's name put on the _laisser-passer_, so that he could go along and see a little something of the country. joseph, the legation butler, was wild to go along as far as his native village to see his aged ma, whom he had not seen since the beginning of the war, and he rode on the front seat with max who was much delighted to get under way again. jack was thrilled with the trip, and nearly fell out of the car going through louvain and the other ruined villages along the way. as we were in such a rush, i could not stop to show him very much; but in most of these places no guide is needed. louvain has been cleared up to a remarkable extent, and the streets between the ruined houses are neat and clean. on my other trips i had had to go around by way of namur, but this time we went direct; and i got my first glimpse of tirlemont and st. trond, etc. when we reached liège we went straight to the consulate without pausing to set ourselves up at a hotel, but found that nothing was known of captain sunderland or his food trains. thence to the german headquarters where we inquired at all the offices in turn and found that the gentleman had not been heard from. by the time we got through our inquiries it was dark; and, as we had no _laisser-passer_ to be out after dark, we had to scuttle back to the hotel and stay. in the morning the consul and i started off again to see what had become of our man. we went through all the offices again, and as we were about to give up, i found renner, who used to be military attaché of the german legation here, and is now chief of staff to the military governor. he cleared up the mystery. sunderland had arrived about the same time i did, but had been taken in hand by some staff officers, dined at their mess, and kept busy until time for him to be off for maestricht. he was, however, expected back in time to lunch at the officers' mess. he was also expected to dine with them in the evening. i left word that i wanted to see him and made off to get in touch with the members of the local committee and make arrangements as to what was to be done with the food. we sat and waited until nearly dark, when i decided to go out for a little spin. i gathered jack and the consular family into the car and went for a short spin. after losing our way a couple of times we brought up at the fort of chaudefontaine, which was demolished by the germans. it is on top of a veritable mountain and it took us some time to work our way up on the winding road. when we got there the soldiers on guard made no trouble and told us that we could mouse around for fifteen minutes. we walked out to the earthworks, which had been made by the belgians and strengthened by the germans, and then took a look at the fort itself, which was destroyed, and has since been reconstructed by the germans. they must have had the turrets and cupolas already built and ready to ship to liège, for the forts are stronger than they ever were before and will probably offer a solid resistance when the tide swings back, unless, of course, the allies have by that time some of the big guns that will drop shells vertically and destroy these works the way the german 's destroyed their predecessors. it was very interesting to see and hard to realise that up to three months ago this sort of thing was considered practically impregnable. when we got back we found that our man had come and had left word that he could be found at the café du phare at six o'clock. we made straight for that place, and found him. i made an appointment with him for the first thing next morning, and went my way. i was bid to dine with the german military governor and his staff, but told renner that since we were accredited here to the belgian government, accepting german hospitality would certainly be considered as an affront. he saw the point, and did not take offence, but asked me to come over after dinner for a talk and bring jack along, the which i promised to do. while we were dining, a soldier with a rifle on his shoulder strode into the dining-room and handed me a paper; great excitement, as everybody thought we had been arrested. the paper was a pass for us to circulate on the streets after dark, so that we could go over to the headquarters. it was written on the back of a menu in pencil. although dinner was over the entire mess was still gathered about the table discussing beer and weltpolitik. at the head of the table was excellenz lieutenant-general von somethingorother, who was commanding a german army on the eastern front when they got within fifteen miles of warsaw. after being driven back he had an official "nervous breakdown," and was sent here as governor of the province of liège--quite a descent, and enough to cause a nervous breakdown. there was another old chap who had fought in the franco-prussian war and had not yet quite caught up with this one. i foregathered with renner and got my shop talk done in a very short time. then everybody set to to explain to us about the war and what they fought each other for. it was very interesting to get the point of view, and we stayed on until nearly midnight, tramping home through a tremendous downpour, which soaked us. the next morning at eleven i met sunderland. we saw the governor and the mayor and echevins, and talked things out at length. i had to collect a part of the cost of the food before i could turn it over, and they explained that the chairman of the local committee had gone to brussels to negotiate a loan; he would be back in four or five days and if i would just wait, they would settle everything beautifully. that did not please me, so i suggested in my usual simple and direct way that the governor rob the safe and pay me with provincial funds, trusting to be paid later by the committee. it took some little argument to convince him, but he had good nerve, and by half-past twelve he brought forth , francs in bank-notes and handed them over to me for a receipt. sticking this into my pocket, i made ready to get under way, but there was nothing for it but that i must lunch with them all. finally i accepted, on the understanding that it would be short and that i could get away immediately afterward. that was not definite enough, however, for we sat at table until four o'clock and then listened to some speeches. when we got down the home stretch, the governor arose and made a very neat little speech, thanking us for what we had done to get food to the people of liège, and expressing gratitude to the american government and people, etc. i responded in remarks of almost record shortness, and as soon as possible afterward, we got away through the rain to brussels. after getting through that elaborate luncheon, getting our things ready at the hotel, paying our bill, saying good-bye all around once more, etc., it was nearly five o'clock when we got off and nearly eight when we reached brussels and put our treasure in the safe. the germans have begun arresting british civilians and we have had our hands full dealing with poor people who don't want to be arrested and kept in prison until the end of the war and can't quite understand why _they_ have to put up with it. it is pretty tough, but just another of the hardships of the war, and while we are doing our best to have the treatment of these people made as lenient as possible, we can't save them. * * * * * _brussels, november , ._--some more excitement yesterday morning, when various british subjects were arrested. two german civilians tried to force their way into the british consulate and arrest mr. jeffes, the british consul, and his son, although the american flag was flying over the door and there was a sign posted to the effect that the place was under our protection and all business should be transacted with us. fortunately nasmith was there, and after trying to explain the matter politely, he made for the two men, threw them into the street, and bolted the door. the gum-shoe men were so surprised that they went away and have not been back. last night i was called around to the consulate and found two more men shadowing the place. there seemed to be no danger of arrest, but nasmith spent the night there, and this morning i went around and took the jeffes to our consulate, so that if any attempt was made to take them, we should have an opportunity to protest. the higher authorities had promised not to seize them, but apparently you can never tell. yesterday was the king's saint's day, and word was passed around that there would be a special mass at ste. gudule. just before it was to begin, the military authorities sent around and forbade the service. the grand marshal of the court opened the king's book at his house, so that we could all go around and sign, as in ordinary times, for we are accredited to the king of the belgians, but early in the morning an officer arrived and confiscated the book. the government of occupation seems to be mighty busy doing pin-head things for people who have a war on their hands. countess de buisseret's little boy was playing on the street yesterday when the german troops passed by. being a frightful and dangerous criminal, he imitated their goose-step and was arrested. m. de leval went around to headquarters to see what could be done, supposing, of course, that when it was seen what a child he was, his release would be ordered. instead, he was told seriously that the youngster must be punished and would be left in jail for some days. * * * * * _brussels, november , ._--this is another day of disgust. this morning one of the servants of the golf club came in to say that there were fifty german soldiers looting the place. in the afternoon jack and i went out for a look at the place and to get my clubs. we found a lot of soldiers under command of a corporal. they had cleaned the place out of food, wine, linen, silver, and goodness knows what else. florimont, the steward, had been arrested because he would not tell them which of the english members of the club had gone away and where the others were staying. having spent his time at the club, the fact was that he did not know who was still in town and could not tell, but the germans could not be convinced of this and have made him prisoner. i stopped at headquarters this afternoon to see von der lancken. as i came out a fine rolls-royce limousine drew up on the opposite side of the street--a military car. the chauffeur, in backing out, caught and tore the sleeve of his coat. in a rage, he slammed the door and planted a tremendous kick in the middle of the panel with his heavy boot. i stood agape and watched. he looked up, caught me looking at him, and turned his anger from the motor to me. he put his hands on his hips, shot out his jaw and glared at me. then he began walking toward me across the street in heavy-villain steps, glaring all the time. he stopped just in front of me, his face twitching with rage, evidently ready to do something cataclysmic. then the heavens opened, and a tremendous roar came from across the street. the officer to whom the car belonged had seen the display of temper from his window, and had run out to express his views. the soldier did a genée toe-spin and stood at attention, while his superior cursed him in the most stupendous way. i was glad to be saved and to have such a display of fireworks into the bargain. * * * * * _november th._--one day is like another in its cussedness. the germans have been hounding the british legation and consulate, and we have had to get excited about it. then they announced to the dutch chargé that our courier could no longer go--that everything would have to be sent by german field post. you would think that after the amount of hard work we have done for the protection of german interests and the scrupulous way in which we have used any privileges we have been accorded, they would exert themselves to make our task as easy as possible and show us some confidence. on the contrary, they treat us as we would be ashamed to treat our enemies. this morning it was snowing beautifully when i woke up, a light, dry snow that lay on the ground. it has been coming down gently all day and the town is a lovely sight, but i can't get out of my mind the thought of those poor beggars out in the trenches. it seems wicked to be comfortable before a good fire with those millions of men suffering as they are out at the front. and now grant-watson[ ] has been put in prison. he stayed on here after the minister left, to attend to various matters, and was here when the germans arrived. recently we have been trying to arrange for passports, so that he and felix jeffes, the vice-consul, might return to england. the authorities were seemingly unable to make up their minds as to what should be done, but assured the minister that both men would be allowed to return to england or to remain quietly in brussels. on friday, however, the germans changed their minds and did not let a little thing like their word of honour stand in the way. [footnote : second secretary of the british legation in brussels.] the minister was asked to bring grant-watson to headquarters to talk things over--nothing more. when they got there, it was smilingly announced that grant-watson was to leave for berlin on the seven o'clock train, which put us in the position of having lured him to prison. the minister protested vigorously, and finally grant-watson was put on parole and allowed to return to the legation, to remain there until eleven o'clock yesterday morning. i went over the first thing in the morning to help him get ready for his stay in jail. at eleven conrad arrived in a motor with monsieur de leval. we went out and got in, and drove in state to the École militaire, and, although i was boiling with rage at the entire performance, i could not help seeing some fun in it. grant-watson's butler was ordered to be ready to go at the same time. at the last minute the butler came down and said perfectly seriously that he would not be able to go until afternoon, as he had broken the key to his portmanteau and would have to have another made. the germans did not see anything funny in that, and left him behind. when we got to the École militaire, we were refused admittance, and had to wrangle with the sentries at the door. after arguing with several officers and pleading that we had a man with us who wanted to be put in prison, we were reluctantly admitted to the outer gate of the building, where british subjects are kept. when the keeper of the dungeon came out, i explained to him that the butler had been detained, but would be along in the course of the afternoon, whereupon the solemn jailer earnestly replied, "please tell him that he must be here not later than three o'clock, or he can't get in!" and nobody cracked a smile until i let my feelings get the better of me. i was prepared for an affecting parting with grant-watson in consigning him to the depths of a german jail, but he took it as calmly as though he were going into a country house for a week-end party. i suppose there is some chance that they may exchange him for a few wounded german officers and thus get him back to england. since our snow-storm the other day, the weather has turned terribly cold and we have suffered even with all the comforts that we have. and the cheerful weather prophets are telling us that without doubt this will be one of the coldest winters ever known. a pleasant prospect for the boys at the front! mrs. whitlock and everybody else is busy getting warm clothing for the poor and for the refugees from all parts of belgium who were unable to save anything from their ruined homes. it is bad enough now, but what is coming.... gustave has just come in with the cheering news that ashley, our crack stenographer, has been arrested by the germans. they are making themselves altogether charming and agreeable to us. max is spread out before the fire, snoring like a sawmill--the only englishman in brussels who is easy in his mind and need not worry. * * * * * _tuesday, november th._--another day of rush without getting very far. the germans decided this morning that they would arrest felix jeffes, the british vice-consul, so i had the pleasant task of telling him that he was wanted. i am to go for him to-morrow morning and take him to the École militaire with his compatriots. this job of policeman does not appeal to me, even if it is solely to save our friends the humiliation of being taken through the streets by the germans. * * * * * _november th._--had a _pleasant_ day. had arrangements made with jeffes to go with him to the École militaire at o'clock and turn him over to his jailer. the minister went up with von der lancken to see the englishmen and be there when jeffes arrived, so as to show a friendly interest in his being well treated. i went around to the consulate on time, and found that, through a misunderstanding, jeffes had made no preparations for going, having been assured that another attempt would be made to get him off. i pointed out that the minister had given his word of honour that jeffes should be there, and that he would be left in a very unpleasant and annoying position if we did not turn up as promised. jeffes was perfectly ready, although not willing to go. i went to the École militaire and explained to von der lancken that jeffes' failure to appear was due to a mistake, and asked that he be given time to straighten out his accounts and come later in the day or to-morrow morning. the answer was that he must come some time during the day. the consul-general went straight to von lüttwitz with jeffes, made a great plea on the score of his health or lack of it, and got his time extended until he could be given a medical examination by the military authorities. late in the afternoon he was looked over and told to go home and be quiet, that he would probably not be wanted, but that if anything came up, they would communicate with him further. * * * * * _brussels, november , ._--more busy days. each day we swear that we will stop work early and go out to play. each day we sit at our desks, and darkness comes down upon us, and we do not get away until nearly eight o'clock. "thanksgiving day" was no exception, and to-day we are going through the same old performance. yesterday, by strenuous work, i got down to swept bunkers and had a good prospect of an easy day. instead of that there has been a deluge of consuls, mail, telegrams, and excited callers, and we are snowed under a heap of work it will take several days to get out of the way. we came back to them with a bump, however, when nasmith came to my flat at midnight to say that jeffes had been arrested. and it was done in the usual charming manner. in the course of the afternoon, the consul-general got a note asking him to go to headquarters "to talk over the case of mr. jeffes." it asked also that jeffes accompany the consul-general "to the conference." when they arrived it was announced that jeffes was under arrest and to be sent immediately to the École militaire. the consul-general, like the minister, on the occasion of his visit, was placed in the position of having lured his friend into jail. he protested vigorously, but was not even allowed to accompany jeffes to the École militaire. it was only after some heated argument that jeffes was allowed five minutes at home, under guard, to get a few belongings together to take with him. the consul-general is furious, and so am i when i remember how decently the german vice-consul here was treated when the war broke out. early in the week jack is to be sent down to mons, to bring out some english nurses who have been there nursing the british wounded. two of them, miss hozier and miss angela manners, were in yesterday. they have been working hard during the past three months and are now ready to go back to england if we can arrange for passports. under the date of november th, general von kraewel announces that he has succeeded baron von lüttwitz, who has been transferred to the army at the front. hoover arrived from london this afternoon accompanied by shaler and by dr. rose, henry james, jr., and mr. bicknell of the rockefeller foundation, who have come to look into conditions. there is plenty for them to see, and we shall do our best to help them see it. as we learned from a confidential source, several days ago, there has been a big shake-up in the government here. both von der goltz and von lüttwitz have gone and have been replaced--the first by freiherr von bissing, and the latter by general von kraewel. there are several explanations for the changes, but we don't yet know what they mean. * * * * * _brussels, december , ._--we have had a hectic time. hoover arrived on sunday evening, accompanied by shaler and by three representatives of the rockefeller foundation. we have had a steady rush of meetings, conferences, etc., and hoover and shaler pulled out early this morning. there is not much relief in sight, however, for to-morrow morning at the crack of dawn, i expect to start off on a tour of belgium, to show the rockefeller people what conditions really are. we shall be gone for several days and shall cover pretty well the whole country. yesterday morning i got jack off to mons to bring back the british nurses. everything in the way of passports and arrangements with the military authorities had been made, and he went away in high spirits for a little jaunt by himself. this morning at half-past three o'clock he rang the doorbell and came bristling in, the maddest man i have seen in a long time. he had suffered everything that could be thought of in the way of insult and indignity, and to make it worse, had been obliged to stand by and watch some brutes insult the girls he was sent down to protect. when he arrived at mons he got the nurses together and took them to the headquarters, where he explained that he had been sent down by the minister with the consent of the german authorities, to bring the nurses to brussels. this was stated in writing on the passport given him by the german authorities here. instead of the polite reception he had expected, the german officer, acting for the commandant, turned on him and told him that the nurses were to be arrested, and could not go to brussels. then, by way of afterthought, he decided to arrest jack and had him placed under guard on a long bench in the headquarters, where he was kept for three hours. luckily, an old gentleman of the town who knew the nurses, came in on some errand, and before they could be shut up, they contrived to tell him what the situation was and ask him to get word to the legation. right away after this the three women were taken out and put in the fourth-class cells of the military prison, that is, in the same rooms with common criminals. jack was left in the guard room. the old gentleman, who had come in, rushed off to the burgomaster and got him stirred up about the case, although he was loath to do anything, as he _knew_ that a representative of the american legation could not be arrested. finally he did come around to headquarters, and after a long row with the adjutant, they got jack released and fitted out with a _laisser-passer_ to return to brussels. he was insulted in good shape, and told that if he came back again, sent by the minister or by anybody else, he would be chucked into jail and stay there. before the nurses were taken down to their prison, the adjutant shook his fist in miss hozier's face, and told her that they were going to give her a good lesson, so that the english should have a taste of the sort of treatment they were meting out to german nurses and doctors that fell into their hands. the mayor and aldermen took jack in charge when he was released, and kept him in one of their homes until time for the train to leave for brussels at midnight. they were convinced that he would be arrested again at the station, but he did get off in a car filled with sick soldiers and arrived here without mishap at three o'clock or a little after. i went over to see von der lancken the first thing in the morning, and told him the whole story, in order that he might be thinking over what he was going to do about it before the minister went over to see him at eleven. the minister said his say in plain language, and got a promise that steps would be taken at once to get the girls out of prison and have them brought to brussels. later in the day von der lancken came through with the information that the action of the authorities at mons was "_due to a misunderstanding_," and that everything was lovely now. we suppose that the girls will be here to-morrow; if not, inquiries will be made and the minister will probably go down himself. yesterday morning we spent visiting soup kitchens, milk stations, and the distributing centres for supplying old clothes to the poor. the whole thing is under one organisation and most wonderfully handled. it is probably the biggest thing of the sort that has ever been undertaken and is being done magnificently. it is a curious thing to watch the commission grow. it started as nothing but a group of american mining engineers, with the sympathetic aid of some of our diplomatic representatives and the good-will of the neutral world. it is rapidly growing into a powerful international entity, negotiating agreements with the great powers of europe, enjoying rights that no government enjoys, and as the warring governments come to understand its sincerity and honesty, gaining influence and authority day by day. there is no explanation of the departure of von der goltz. his successor has come out with a proclamation in three lines, as follows: his majesty, the emperor and king, having deigned to appoint me governor-general in belgium, i have to-day assumed the direction of affairs. baron von bissing. brussels, december , . * * * * * _brussels, sunday, december , ._--we got away at eight o'clock on thursday morning, in three cars from the palace hotel. we were four cars when we started, but fifty feet from the door the leading car broke down and could not be started, so we rearranged ourselves and left the wreck behind. the party was composed of the three rockefeller representatives, dr. rose, mr. bicknell, and henry james, jr., monsieur francqui, josse allard, jack and i. it was rainy and cold, but we made good time to louvain and stopped at the hôtel de ville. professor neerincxs, of the university, took up the duties of burgomaster when the germans shipped the real one away. he speaks perfect english, and led the crowd around the town with the rush and energy of a cook's tourist agent. he took us first through the cathedral, and showed us in detail things that we could not have seen if we had gone at it alone. then around to the library and some of the other sights of particular interest, and finally for a spin through the city, to see the damage to the residence district. this was a most interesting beginning, and made a good deal of an impression on our people. they asked questions about the work being done by the people toward cleaning up the ruins of the town and trying to arrange make-shift shelters to live in during the winter. the mayor is a man of real force of character, and has accomplished marvels under the greatest difficulties. from louvain we cut away to the northeast to aerschot, where we took a quick look at the welter of ruin and struck out to the west through diest and haelen, which i saw on my first trip with frederick palmer before there was anything done to them. we got to liège about one o'clock and had lunch in a restaurant downtown, where we were joined by jackson, our delegate sent down there to supervise the distribution of food for the commission. he told us a lot about the difficulties and incidents of his work, and some details of which we had to think. he is the first delegate we have sent to outlying cities, and is up on his toes with interest. a lot more have already sailed from new york, and will soon be here. they are to be spread all over the country in the principal centres, some to stay in the big cities and watch local conditions, and others to travel about their districts and keep track of the needs of the different villages. it is all working out a lot better than we had hoped for, and we have good reason to be pleased. our chief annoyance is that every time things get into a comfortable state, some idiot starts the story either in england or america that the germans have begun to seize foodstuffs consigned to us. then we have to issue statements and get off telegrams, and get renewed assurances from the german authorities and make ourselves a general nuisance to everybody concerned. if we can choke off such idiots, our work will be a lot easier. the burgomaster came into the restaurant to find us, and offered to go on with us to visé, to show us the town, and we were glad to have him, as he knows the place like the palm of his hand. i had been through visé twice, and had marvelled at the completeness of the destruction, but had really had no idea of what it was. it was a town of about forty-five hundred souls, built on the side of a pretty hill overlooking the meuse. there are only two or three houses left. we saw one old man, two children and a cat in the place. where the others are, nobody knows. the old man was well over sixty, and had that afternoon been put off a train from germany, where he had been as a prisoner of war since the middle of august. he had kriegsgefangener munster stencilled on his coat, front and back, so that there could be no doubt as to who he was. he was standing in the street with the tears rolling down his cheeks and did not know where to go; he had spent the day wandering about the neighbouring villages trying to find news of his wife, and had just learned that she had died a month or more ago. it was getting dark, and to see this poor old chap standing in the midst of this welter of ruin without a chick or child or place to lay his head.... it caught our companions hard, and they loaded the old man up with bank-notes, which was about all that anybody could do for him and then we went our way. we wandered through street after street of ruined houses, sometimes whole blocks together where there were not enough walls left to make even temporary shelters. near the station we were shown a shallow grave dug just in front of a house. we were told who filled the grave--an old chap of over sixty. he had been made to dig his own grave, and then was tied to a young tree and shot. the bullets cut the tree in two just a little above the height of his waist, and the low wall behind was full of bullet holes. as nearly as we can learn, the germans appear to have come through the town on their way toward liège. nothing was supposed to have happened then, but on the th, th and th, troops came back from liège and systematically reduced the place to ruins and dispersed the population. it was clear that the fires were all set, and there were no evidence of street fighting. it is said that some two hundred civilians were shot, and seven hundred men bundled aboard trains and sent back to germany as prisoners of war--harmless people like the old chap we saw. [illustration: von bulow's greeting to the people of liège ordre a la population liÈgeoise la population d'andenne, après avoir témoigné des intentions pacifiques à légard de nos troupes, les a attaquées de la façon la plus traîtresse. avec mon autorisation, le général qui commandait ces troupes a mis la ville en cendres et a fait fusiller personnes. je porte ce fait à la connaissance de la villé de liège pour que ses habitants sachent à quel sort ils peuvent s'attandre s'ils prennent une attitude semblable. liège, le août général von bulow. translation: order to the population of liÈge the population of andenne, after manifesting peaceful intentions toward our troops, attacked them in the most treacherous manner. with my authorization the general who commanded these troops has reduced the town to ashes and has shot persons. i bring this fact to the knowledge of the city of liège so that its people may understand the fate which awaits them if they assume a like attitude.] [illustration: how the simple pleasures of the german soldier were restricted. dieses haus ist zu schÜtzen es ist streng verboten, ohne genehmigung der kommandantur, haüser zu betreden oder in brand zu setzen. die etappen-kommandantur. translation: this house is to be protected it is strictly forbidden to enter houses or set them on fire without the permission of the kommandantur] the burgomaster set out on foot to walk back three kilometers and catch a tram to liège, and we went southeast to dalhem, where we spent the night at the château de dalhem, on a hill overlooking the picturesque little village snuggled in the bottom of the valley. it was off the main line of march, and had not suffered. the château belongs to general thyss, who was a great friend of the late king leopold. he was not there, but the place was being protected by a splendid old dragon in the shape of a german governess who had been with the family for over thirty years, and refused to leave when the war broke out. she had been obliged to lodge a crowd of german officers and some of their men, but held them down with an iron hand, kept them from doing any damage and made them pay for every egg and every bottle of wine they had. we arrived after dark and threw the place into a panic of fear, but monsieur francqui soon reassured everybody, and the place was lighted up and placed at our disposal in short order. although it was pitch dark when we arrived, it was only half past four and we set out on foot to stretch a little. the moon came out and lighted our way through the country roads. we tramped for a couple of hours through all sorts of little towns and villages and groups of houses, some of them wiped out and some hardly touched. general thyss's cellars are famous, and with our dinner of soup and bacon and eggs, we had some of the finest burgundy i have ever tasted. early to bed so that we could be up and off at daybreak. friday morning we were away early, and made for herve, where i had never been before. it is a ruin with a few natives and a lot of landsturm left. we talked to some peasants and to an old priest who gave us something to think about in their stories of happenings there during and after the occupation of their homes. from there to liège, by way of a lot of little villages whose names i don't remember, but whose condition was pretty bad, past the fort of fléron and the defensive works that are being put up there. wasted some time trying to get gasoline for the other motors, and then the long stretch to namur, down the valley of the meuse, and stopped long enough for a look at andennes, my second visit to the place. in andenne and seilles (a little village across the meuse) the germans did a thorough job. they killed about three hundred people and burned about the same number of houses. most of the houses had been looted systematically. according to the stories of those inhabitants who remain, there was a reign of terror for about a week, during which the germans rendered themselves guilty of every sort of atrocity and barbarity. they are all most positive that there was no firing upon the german troops by the civil population. it seems to be generally believed that the massacre was due to resistance of retiring belgian troops and the destruction of bridges and tunnels to cover their retreat. whatever the provocation, the behaviour of the germans was that of savages. we were shown photographs showing the corpses of some of those killed. it was to be inferred that they had been wantonly mutilated. had lunch at an hotel across the street from the station. after a hasty lunch we made off to dinant, still following the meuse. the thin line of houses down the course of the river were thinner than they were a few months ago, and there were signs of suffering and distress everywhere. i had never been to dinant before, but had seen pictures of it and thought i had an idea of what we were going to see. but the pictures did not give a hint of the horror of the place. the little town, which must have been a gem, nestled at the foot of a huge gray cliff, crowned with the obsolete fort, which was not used or attacked. the town is _gone_. part of the church is standing, and the walls of a number of buildings, but for the most part, there is nothing but a mess of scattered bricks to show where the houses had stood. and why it was done, we were not able to learn, for everybody there says that there was no fighting in the town itself. we heard stories, too, and such stories that they can hardly be put on paper. our three guests were more and more impressed as we went on. the bridge was blown up and had fallen into the river, and as we had little time to make the rest of our day's journey, we did not wait to cross by the emergency bridge farther up the river. while we were standing talking to a schoolmaster and his father by the destroyed bridge, seven big huskies with rifles and fixed bayonets came through, leading an old man and a woman who had been found with a camera in their possession. at first there was no objection raised to the taking of photographs, but now our friends are getting a little touchy about it, and lock up anybody silly enough to get caught with kodaks or cameras. according to what we were told, the germans entered the town from the direction of ciney, on the evening of august st, and began firing into the windows of the houses. the germans admit this, but say that there were french troops in the town and this was the only way they could get them out. a few people were killed, but there was nothing that evening in the nature of a general massacre. although the next day was comparatively quiet, a good part of the population took refuge in the surrounding hills. on sunday morning, the rd, the german troops set out to pillage and shoot. they drove the people into the street, and set fire to their houses. those who tried to run away were shot down in their tracks. the congregation was taken from the church, and fifty of the men were shot. all the civilians who could be rounded up were driven into the big square and kept there until evening. about six o'clock the women were lined up on one side of the square and kept in line by soldiers. on the other side, the men were lined up along a wall, in two rows, the first kneeling. then, under command of an officer, two volleys were fired into them. the dead and wounded were left together until the germans got round to burying them, when practically all were dead. this was only one of several wholesale executions. the germans do not seem to contradict the essential facts, but merely put forward the plea that most of the damage was incidental to the fighting which took place between the armed forces. altogether more than eight hundred people were killed. six hundred and twelve have been identified and given burial. others were not recognisable. i have one of the lists which are still to be had, although the germans have ordered all copies returned to them. those killed ranged in age from félix fivet, aged three weeks, to an old woman named jadot, who was eighty. but then félix probably fired on the german troops. [illustration: aux habitants de la belgique le maréchal von der goltz fait connaître aux populations de belgique qu'il est informé par les généraux commandants les troupes d'occupation sur le territoire français, que le choléra sévit avec intensité dans les troupes alliées, et qu'il y a le plus grand danger à franchir ces lignes, ou à pénétrer dans le territoire ennemi nous invitons les populations de belgique à ne pas entreìndre cet avis, et ceux qui croiraient ne pas devoir se soumettre à cet avis, seront traduits devant les officiers de la justice impériale, et nous les prévenons que la peine peut-être celle de mort. maréchal von der goltz septembre translation: field-marshal von der goltz announces to the belgian population that he is informed by the generals commanding the troops occupying french territory that cholera is raging fiercely among the allied troops and that there is the greatest danger in crossing the lines or entering enemy territory. we call upon the belgian population not to infringe this notice. those who do not comply with this notice will be brought before the imperial officers of justice and we warn them that the penalty of death may be inflicted upon them.] there is no end to the stories of individual atrocities. one is that monsieur wasseige, director of one of the banks, was seized by the germans, who demanded that he should open the safes. he flatly refused to do this, even under threat of death. finally he was led with his two eldest sons to the place d'armes and placed with more than one hundred others, who were then killed with machine guns. monsieur wasseige's three youngest children were brought to the spot by german soldiers, and compelled to witness the murder of their father and two brothers. from dinant we struck across country through phillipeville and some little by-roads to rance, where we were expected at the house of g. d----. he and his wife and their little girl of five had just returned that morning to receive us, but the place was brightly lighted and as completely prepared as though they had been there all the time. it was a lovely old place, and we were soon made comfortable. german officers have occupied it most of the time, and it required a good deal of cleaning and repairing after they left, but fortunately this work had just been completed, and we had a chance to enjoy the place before any more enforced guests appeared. one of the imperial princelings had been there for one night, and his name was chalked on the door of his room. he had been _très aimable_, and when he left had taken d----'s motor with him. we took a tramp around the town in a biting wind, and looked at some of the houses of our neighbours. some of them were almost wrecked after having served as quarters for troops for varying periods. from others all the furniture had been taken away and shipped back to germany. one man showed us a card which he had found in the frame of one of his best pictures. it was the card of a german officer, and under the name was written an order to send the picture to a certain address in berlin. the picture was gone, but the frame and card were still there and are being kept against the day of reckoning--if any. we were shown several little safes which had been pried open and looted, and were told the usual set of stories of what had happened when the army went through. some of the things would be hard to believe if one did not hear them from the lips of people who are reliable and who live in such widely separated parts of the country at a time when communications are almost impossible. we had a good and ingeniously arranged dinner. all sorts of ordinary foods are not to be had in this part of the country, and our hostess had, by able thinking, arranged a meal which skillfully concealed the things that were lacking. among other things, i observed that we had a series of most delicious wines--for our host of that evening also had a wonderful cellar. they had told us just before dinner that the germans had taken an inventory of their wines and had forbidden them to touch another drop, so i wondered whether they were not incurring some risk in order to give us the wine that they considered indispensable. when i asked our hostess, she told me that it was very simple, that all they needed to do was to drink a part of several bottles, refill them partially with water, seal them, and put them back in the cellars; she said scornfully that "_les boches_ don't know one wine from another," and had not yet been able to detect the fraud. they had a lot of cheap champagne in the cellar and had been filling them up with that, as they prefer any champagne to the best vintage burgundies. once in a while there is a little satisfaction reserved for a belgian. we were called at daybreak and were on the road at eight o'clock, taking in a series of small villages which had been destroyed, and talking with the few people to be found about the place. this part of belgium is far worse than the northern part, where the people can get away with comparative ease to one of the larger towns and come back now and then to look after their crops. here one village after another is wiped out, and the peasants have no place to go unless they travel so far that there is no hope of returning, perhaps for months together. it will be a great problem to provide shelter for these people so that they can return. we cut through beaumont, and then took the main road to mons, where we arrived in the middle of the morning. on the way we had heard that the english nurses had not yet been released, so i made for the military headquarters and saw the commandant. it was evident that they had been hauled over the coals for the way they had behaved when jack was there, for i never saw such politeness in any headquarters. i was preceded by bowing and unctuous soldiers and non-commissioned officers, all the way from the door to the presence, and was received by the old man standing. he was most solicitous for my comfort and offered me everything but the freedom of the city. he said that he had not received a word of instructions until a few minutes before my arrival, but that he was now able to give the young ladies their liberty and turn them over to me. in order to get them, i was prayed to go over to the headquarters of the military governor of the province, and an officer was assigned to accompany me. while we were there, the officer who had been so insulting to jack and to miss hozier came into the room, took one look at us, and scuttled for safety. we heard afterward that he had been ordered to apologise for his behaviour. at the door of the provincial headquarters i found another car flying the legation flag, and monsieur de leval came charging out into my arms. there had been a pretty hot time about the nurses and he had finally been sent down to get them out. in a few minutes we had them sitting on a bench in the governor's office, while kracker, who used to be one of the secretaries of the german legation here, was making out their _laisser-passers_ to come to brussels. they were a happy crowd, but pretty well done up by the treatment they had had. when they were all fixed i went in and asked for the release of miss bradford, another english nurse, who had been in prison in mons and charleroi for the past five weeks. i learned of her imprisonment almost by accident while we were waiting for the passports. after some argument it was granted, and i went with a soldier to the prison to get her out. i had not expected to find anything very luxurious, but i was shocked when i saw the place. it was the most severe, repressive penitentiary in the country--still filled with common criminals--and the english nurse was given the same treatment and rations as the worst murderer of the lot. there was the usual row with the man in charge of the place, and finally a soldier was despatched, to tell the young woman she could get ready to go. while she was getting ready, the director of the prison took me around and showed me with great pride things that made me shiver. he said, however, that it was an outrage to put a woman in such a place. the prisoners who do the work of the prison were going about the corridors under guard, each one wearing a dirty brown mask covering his entire head, and with only the smallest of slits for his eyes. they are never allowed to see each other's faces or to speak to one another. i was taken up to the chapel, where each man is herded into a little box like a confessional and locked in so that he cannot see his neighbour, and can only look up toward the raised altar in the centre, where he can see the priest. the school was arranged in the same way, and was shown with equal pride. i fear the jailer thought me lacking in appreciation. i finally got the young woman out, nearly hysterical, and took her up to the headquarters, and from there to the hotel, where monsieur de leval had gathered his charges for luncheon. they were rapidly recovering their old-time spirits, and were chattering away like a lot of magpies. while i was fussing about with them, i had sent my friends and fellow-travellers ahead, and now left the flock of nurses in the hands of monsieur de leval, to be conveyed by tram back to brussels, while i tried to catch up with my party at the château of monsieur warroqué, at mariemont. i made as much speed as my little car was capable of, but it was nearly two o'clock when i arrived. the old château of mariemont is one of those built by louis xiv, when he set out to have one for each month of the year. this was his place for august. it had been destroyed, and the new one is built near the ruins, but the large park is as it has been for a long time, and a lovely place it is. there were about twenty at table when we arrived, and places were ready for us. more fine wines, and this time to show that we were in the house of a connoisseur, the flunky, in pouring out the precious stuff, would whisper in your ear the name and vintage. warroqué owns a lot of the coal mines and other properties and is apparently greatly loved by the people. when the germans came, they seized him as a hostage, but the people became so threatening that he was released. how many men in his position could have counted on that much devotion? immediately after luncheon we shoved off and made through the rain for charleroi, where we took a look at the damage done to the town. it was already dark and we then turned toward brussels and burned up the road, getting to the legation at half-past six, to find all the nurses sitting up, having tea with mrs. whitlock and the minister. * * * * * _brussels, december , _--yesterday afternoon we received the call of general freiherr von bissing, governor general in belgium, and of general freiherr von kraewel, military governor of brussels. they were accompanied by their suites in full regalia. the military men were most affable, but we did not get any farther than tea and cigarettes. they talked mournfully of the war and said they wished to goodness the whole thing was over. it was a great contrast to the cock-sure talk at the beginning of the war. von bissing said that there were hospitals in every village in germany and that they were all filled with wounded. it is becoming clearer every day that the germans, as well as others, are getting thoroughly sick and tired of the whole business and would give a lot to end it. a little while ago the _london times_ cost as high as two hundred francs. it has been going down steadily, until it can be had now for four francs and sometimes for as little as two. the penalties are very severe, but the supply keeps up, although the blockade runners are being picked up every day. * * * * * _brussels, december , _.--this afternoon late b---- brought an uncle to see me, to talk about conditions in france between the belgian frontier and the german lines. those poor people cannot, of course, get anything from the heart of france, and as the belgian frontier is closed tight by the germans, they are already starving. it looks very much as though we should have to extend the scope of our work, so as to look after them, too. we hear very little news from that part of the country, but from what we do hear, conditions must be frightful. in one little town mr. k---- came through, only twenty out of five hundred houses are said to be standing. he says that the people are not permitted to leave the place and are living in the cellars and ruins in great misery and practically without food. out of a clear sky comes a new trouble for the country. the german government has come down with a demand for money on a scale that leaves them speechless. the belgians are ordered to make a forced payment each month of forty millions of francs, for twelve months. the two first payments are to be made by the th of next month, and the subsequent installments on the th of succeeding months. it is a staggering total, but the german authorities are deaf to appeals, and the provinces will have to get together and raise the money in some way. [publisher's note: an entry from a later part of mr. gibson's journal gives a picture of the belgian spirit under german rule and one of the few methods of retaliation they had against german oppression. the belgians are getting a good deal of quiet pleasure these days from a clandestine newspaper called _la libre belgique_ which is published almost in the shadow of the kommandantur. it is a little four-page paper that is published "every now and then" and says anything it likes about the "occupant." it also publishes news and texts that are barred from the censored press. it is distributed in a mysterious way that still has the germans guessing, although they have detailed their cleverest sleuths to the task of hunting down the paper and those responsible for its publication. every number is delivered to all the more important german officials in brussels and, more remarkable still, it appears without fail upon the desk of the governor-general--in that sanctum guarded like the vaults of the bank of england. sometimes it appears in the letter-box in the guise of a letter from germany; sometimes it is thrown in the window; sometimes it is delivered by an orderly with a bundle of official despatches; sometimes it merely appears from nowhere. but it never fails to reach the governor-general. he never fails to read it and to wax wroth over its contents. large rewards have been offered for information about the people who are writing and printing the paper. the germans rage publicly, which only adds to the pleasure that the belgians get from their little enterprise. my copy reaches me regularly and always in some weird way as in the case of the germans. i don't know who my friend is that sends me the paper. whoever he is i am much obliged.] * * * * * _brussels, december , _--yesterday afternoon late, after a session at c.r.b.[ ] headquarters, i dropped in for a cup of tea with baronne q----. there was a fine circle of gossip and i learned all the spicy stuff. the husband of mme. de f---- had been in prison for a month, having been pulled out of a motor on his way to the frontier, and found with letters on him. he got out on thursday and they are quite proud of themselves. they were having a fine time discussing the predicament of the h---- family. the countess was arrested last week because she, too, was caught carrying letters. she was released from prison and allowed to return home. now the germans have placed sentries before the house and allow no one to enter or leave: the old gentleman is also locked up there. the servants have been driven out, and are not even permitted to bring meals to their _patrons_, who are dependent on what they are given to eat by the german soldiers. there is no charge against them at present, so they have no idea as to how long the present charming situation will last. there was a great amount of gossip and the right amount of tea and cakes, so i had an enjoyable half hour. [footnote : commission for relief in belgium. this name was given the original american relief committee within a few weeks of its foundation.] yesterday morning grant-watson was put aboard a train and taken to berlin, where he is to be guarded as a prisoner of war. it is all most outrageous, as lancken definitely promised that he would not be molested. moral: get just as far away from these people as you can, while you can, in the knowledge that if they "change their mind," promises won't count. jeffes is left here for the present and may be released. we shall try to get him off, but in view of what has already happened, cannot be very confident. jeffes is philosophical and uncomplaining, but naturally is not very happy. * * * * * [illustration: appeal of the queen of the belgians for help from america i have learned with gratification of the noble and effective work being done by american citizens and officials on behalf of my stricken people. i confidently hope that their efforts will receive that ungrudging support which we have learned to expect from the generous womanhood of america. we mothers of belgium no less than the mothers of america have for generations instilled in our children the instincts and the love of peace. we asked no greater boon than to live in peace and friendship with all the world. we have provoked no war, yet in defense of our hearthstones, our country has been laid waste from end to end. the flow of commerce has ceased and my people are faced with famine. the terrors of starvation with its consequences of disease and violence menace the unoffending civilian population--the aged, the infirm, the women and the children. american officials and citizens in belgium and england, alive to their country's traditions, have created an organization under the protection of their government and are already sending food to my people. i hope that they may receive the fullest sympathy and aid from every side. i need not say that i and my people shall always hold in grateful remembrance the proven friendship of america in this hour of need. elisabeth.] _brussels, sunday, december , _--jack got off to london yesterday after a visit of six weeks. had it not been for the nearness of christmas and the knowledge that he was needed at home, he would have been prepared to stay on indefinitely. his grief at leaving was genuine. he invested heavily in flowers and chocolates for the people who had been nice to him, endowed all the servants, and left amid the cheers and sobs of the populace. he is a good sort, and i was sorry to see him go. by this time he is probably sitting up in london, telling them all about it. to-day i went up to antwerp to bring back our old motor. left a little before noon, after tidying up my desk, and took my two spanish colleagues, san esteban and molina, along for company. i had the passes and away we went by way of malines, arriving in time for a late lunch. antwerp is completely germanised already. we heard hardly a word of french anywhere--even the hotel waiters speaking only hotel french. the crowd in the restaurant of the webber was exclusively german, and there was not a word of french on the menu. the germans took over the garage where our car was left the day they came in, and there i discovered what was left of the old machine. the sentries on guard at the door reluctantly let us in, and the poor proprietor of the garage led us to the place where our car has stood since the fall of antwerp. the soldiers have removed two of the tires, the lamps, cushions, extra wheels, speedometer, tail lights, tool box, and had smashed most of the other fixings they could not take off. in view of the fact that my return trip to brussels at the time of the bombardment was for the purpose of bringing the plans of the city to the germans, so that they would have knowledge of the location of the public monuments and could spare them, it seems rather rough that they should repay us by smashing our motor. i think we shall make some remarks to them to this effect to-morrow, and intimate that it is up to them to have the car repaired and returned to us in good shape. the first group of americans to work on the relief came into belgium this month. they are, for the most part, rhodes scholars who were at oxford, and responded instantly to hoover's appeal. they are a picked crew, and have gone into the work with enthusiasm. and it takes a lot of enthusiasm to get through the sort of pioneer work they have to do. they have none of the thrill of the fellows who have gone into the flying corps or the ambulance service. they have ahead of them a long winter of motoring about the country in all sorts of weather, wrangling with millers and stevedores, checking cargoes and costs, keeping the peace between the belgians and the german authorities, observing the rules of the game toward everybody concerned, and above all, keeping neutral. it is no small undertaking for a lot of youngsters hardly out of college, but so far they have done splendidly. the one i see the most of is edward curtis, who sails back and forth to holland as courier of the commission. he was at cambridge when the war broke out, and after working on hoover's london committee to help stranded americans get home, he came on over here and fell to. he exudes silence and discretion, but does not miss any fun or any chance to advance the general cause. of course it is taking the germans some time to learn his system. he is absolutely square with them, and gets a certain amount of fun out of their determined efforts to find some sort of contraband on him. they can hardly conceive of his being honest, and think his seeming frankness is merely an unusually clever dodge to cover up his transgressions. * * * * * [illustration: julius van hee, american vice-consul at ghent] [illustration: lewis richards] [illustration: a brussels soup-kitchen run by volunteers] [illustration: meals served to the children in the schools] _brussels, december , _.--yesterday brussels awoke from the calm in which it had been plunged for some time, when a couple of french aviators came sailing overhead and dropped six bombs on the railroad yards at etterbeck. i was away at antwerp and did not see it, but everybody else of the population of , bruxellois did, and each one of them has given me a detailed account of it. the german forces did their level best to bring the bird men down with shrapnel, but they were flying high enough for safety. they seem to have hit their mark and torn up the switches, etc., in a very satisfactory way. for three or four days we have been hearing the big guns again, each day more distinctly; but we don't know what it means. the germans explain it on the ground that they are testing guns. mr. and mrs. hoover arrived last night, bringing frederick palmer with them. we dined together at the palace. they were full of news, both war and shop, and i sat and talked with them until after eleven, greatly to the prejudice of my work. had to stay up and grind until nearly two. curtis, who came back last night, says that jack was arrested at antwerp on his way out, because he had folkstone labels on his bags. it took him so long to explain away his suspicious belongings that he barely caught the last train from rosendaal to flushing. he seems to be destined to a certain amount of arrest now and then. hoover turned up at the legation this morning at a little after nine, and he and the minister and i talked steadily for three hours and a half. despite the roar of work at the legation, i went off after lunch with mrs. whitlock and did some xmas shopping--ordered some flowers and chocolates. went out and dropped mrs. whitlock at mrs. b----'s, to help decorate the tree she is going to have for the english children here. b---- is a prisoner at ruhleben, and will probably be there indefinitely, but his wife is a trump. she had a cheery letter from him, saying that he and his companions in misery had organised a theatrical troupe, and were going soon to produce _the importance of being earnest_. * * * * * _brussels, christmas, _--- this is the weirdest christmas that ever was--with no one so much as thinking of saying "merry christmas." everything is so completely overshadowed by the war, that had it not been for the children, we should have let it go unnoticed. yesterday evening there was a dinner at the legation--bicknell, rose and james, the hoovers and frederick palmer. although there was a bunch of mistletoe over the table, it did not seem a bit christmasy, but just an ordinary good dinner with much interesting talk. immediately after lunch we climbed into the big car and went out to lewis richards' christmas tree. he has a big house at the edge of town, with grounds which were fairy-like in the heavy white frost. he had undertaken to look after children, and he did it to the queen's taste. they were brought in by their mothers in bunches of one hundred, and marched around the house, collecting things as they went. in one room each youngster was given a complete outfit of warm clothes. in another, some sort of a toy which he was allowed to choose. in another, a big bag of cakes and candies, and, finally, they were herded into the big dining-room, where they were filled with all sorts of xmas food. there was a big tree in the hall, so that the children, in their triumphal progress, merely walked around the tree. stevens had painted all the figures and the background of an exquisite _crèche_, with an electric light behind it, to make the stars shine. the children were speechless with happiness, and many of the mothers were crying as they came by. since the question of food for children became acute here, richards has been supplying rations to the babies in his neighbourhood. the number has been steadily increasing, and for some time he has been feeding over two hundred youngsters a day. he has been very quiet about it, and hardly anyone has known what he was doing. it is cheering to see a man who does so much to comfort others; not so much because he weighs the responsibility of his position and fortune, but because he has a great-hearted sympathy and instinctively reaches out to help those in distress. otherwise the day was pretty black, but it did warm the cockles of my heart to find this simple american putting some real meaning into christmas for these hundreds of wretched people. he also gave it a deeper meaning for the rest of us. * * * * * _brussels, december , _--here is the end of the vile old year. we could see it out with rejoicing, if there were any prospect of bringing us anything better. but it doesn't look very bright for belgium. the case of miss edith cavell _the extracts from this journal have been so voluminous as to preclude bringing the record much farther than the end of . in the main the story of - is in the development of the commission for relief in belgium and the new light shed each day upon german methods and mentality. it is a long story and could not be crowded between the covers of this volume. there is, however, one outstanding event in --the case of miss edith cavell--which is of such interest and so enlightening as to conditions in belgium under german domination as to warrant its inclusion in this book. at the risk, therefore, of appearing disconnected it has been decided to publish as a final chapter an article in regard to the case of miss cavell which has already appeared in the "world's work."_ on august , , miss edith cavell, an englishwoman, directress of a large nursing home at brussels, was quietly arrested by the german authorities and confined in the prison of st. gilles on the charge that she had aided stragglers from the allied armies to escape across the frontier from belgium to holland, furnishing them with money, clothing and information concerning the route to be followed. it was some time before news of miss cavell's arrest was received by the american legation, which was entrusted with the protection of british interests in the occupied portion of belgium. when the minister at brussels received a communication from the ambassador at london transmitting a note from the foreign office stating that miss cavell was reported to have been arrested and asking that steps be taken to render her assistance, mr. whitlock immediately addressed a note to the german authorities asking whether there was any truth in the report of miss cavell's arrest and requesting authorisation for maître gaston de leval, the legal counselor of the legation, to consult with miss cavell and, if desirable, entrust some one with her defense. no reply was received to this communication, and on september th the legation addressed a further note to baron von der lancken, chief of the political department, calling his attention to the matter and asking that he enable the legation to take such steps as might be necessary for miss cavell's defense. on september th a reply was received from baron von der lancken in which it was stated that miss cavell had been arrested on august th and was still in the military prison of st. gilles. the note continued: she has herself admitted that she concealed in her house french and english soldiers, as well as belgians of military age, all desirous of proceeding to the front. she has also admitted having furnished these soldiers with the money necessary for their journey to france, and having facilitated their departure from belgium by providing them with guides, who enabled them to cross the dutch frontier secretly. miss cavell's defense is in the hands of the advocate braun, who, i may add, is already in touch with the competent german authorities. in view of the fact that the department of the governor-general, as a matter of principle, does not allow accused persons to have any interviews whatever, i much regret my inability to procure for m. de leval permission to visit miss cavell as long as she is in solitary confinement. under the provisions of international law the american minister could take no action while the case was before the courts. it is an elementary rule that the forms of a trial must be gone through without interference from any source. if, when the sentence has been rendered, it appears that there has been a denial of justice, the case may be taken up diplomatically, with a view to securing real justice. thus in the early stages of the case the american minister was helpless to interfere. all that he could do while the case was before the courts was to watch the procedure carefully and be prepared with a full knowledge of the facts to see that a fair trial was granted. maître de leval communicated with mr. braun, who said that he had been prevented from pleading before the court on behalf of miss cavell, but had asked his friend and colleague, mr. kirschen, to take up the case. maître de leval then communicated with mr. kirschen, and learned from him that lawyers defending prisoners before german military courts were not allowed to see their clients before the trial and were shown none of the documents of the prosecution. it was thus manifestly impossible to prepare any defense save in the presence of the court and during the progress of the trial. maître de leval, who from the beginning to the end of the case showed a most serious and chivalrous concern for the welfare of the accused, then told mr. kirschen that he would endeavour to be present at the trial in order to watch the case. mr. kirschen dissuaded him from attending the trial on the ground that it would only serve to harm miss cavell rather than help her; that the judges would resent the presence of a representative of the american legation. although it seems unbelievable that any man of judicial mind would resent the presence of another bent solely on watching the course of justice, mr. kirschen's advice was confirmed by other belgian lawyers who had defended prisoners before the german military courts and spoke with the authority of experience. mr. kirschen promised, however, to keep maître de leval fully posted as to all the developments of the case and the facts brought out in the course of the trial. [illustration: german proclamation announcing the execution of miss cavell proclamation le tribunal de conseil de guerre impérial allemand siègent à bruxelles a prononcé les condamnations suivantes: condamné à mort pour trahison en bande organisé: edith cavaell, institutrice à bruxelles. philippe bancq, architecte à bruxelles. jeanne de belleville, de montignies. louise thuiliez, professeur à lille. louis severin, pharmacien à bruxelles. albert libiez, avocat à mons. pour le même motif, ont été condamnés à quince ans de travaux forcés: hermann capiau, ingénieur à wasmes.--ada bodart, à bruxelles--georges derveau, pharmacien à paturages.--mary de croy, à bellignies. dans la même séance, le conseil de guerre a prononcé contre dix-sept autres accusés de trahison envers les armées impériales, des comdamnations de travaux forcés et de prison variant entre deux ans et huit ans. en ce qui concerne bancq et edith cavell, le jugement a déjà reçu pleine exécution. le général gouverneur de bruxelles porte ces faits à la connaissance de public pour qu'ils servent d'avertissement. translation: the imperial german court martial sitting at brussels has pronounced the following sentence: condemned to death for treason committed as an organized band: edith cavell, teacher, of brussels. philippe bancq, architect, of brussels. jeanne de belleville, of montignies. louise thuilier, teacher, of lille. louis severin, druggist, of brussels. albert libiez, lawyer, of mons. for the same offense the following are condemned to fifteen years of hard labor: hermann capiau, engineer, of wasmes--ada bodart, of brussels--georges derveau, druggist, of paturages--mary de croy, of bellignies. at the same session the court martial has pronounced sentences of hard labor and of imprisonment, varying from two to eight years, against seventeen others accused of treason against the imperial armies. as regards bancq and edith cavell, the sentence has already been fully carried out. the governor-general brings these facts to the attention of the public in order that they may serve as a warning.] the trial began on thursday, october th, and ended the following day. on sunday afternoon the legation learned from persons who had been present at the trial some of the facts. it seems that miss cavell was prosecuted for having helped english and french soldiers, as well as belgian young men, to cross the frontier into holland in order that they might get over to england. she had made a signed statement admitting the truth of these charges and had further made public acknowledgment in court. she frankly admitted that not only had she helped the soldiers to cross the frontier but that some of them had written her from england thanking her for her assistance. this last admission made the case more serious for her because if it had been proven only that she had helped men to cross the frontier into holland, she could have been sentenced only for a violation of the passport regulations, and not for the "crime" of assisting soldiers to reach a country at war with germany. miss cavell was tried under paragraph of the german military code, which says: any person who, with the intention of aiding the hostile power or causing harm to german or allied troops, is guilty of one of the crimes of paragraph of the german penal code, will be sentenced to death for treason. the "crime" referred to by paragraph was that of "conducting soldiers to the enemy" (viz.: _dem feinde mannschaften zuführt_). it is manifest that this was a strained reading of the provisions of military law; that a false interpretation was wilfully put upon these provisions in order to secure a conviction. this law was obviously framed to cover the case of those who assist stragglers or lost soldiers to get back to their own lines and join their units. it is doubtful whether the framers of the military law had foreseen anything so indirect and unprecedented as that of helping soldiers cross into a neutral country in the hope that they might find their way back through two other countries to their own army. miss cavell assisted these soldiers to escape into a neutral country which was bound, if possible, to apprehend and intern them. if these soldiers succeeded in outwitting the dutch authorities and making their way to england, their success would not, to any fair-minded person, increase the offense committed by miss cavell. miss cavell's conduct before the court was marked by the greatest frankness and courage. she stated that she had assisted these men to escape into holland because she thought that if she had not done so they would have been seized and shot by the germans; that she felt that she had only done her duty in helping to save their lives. the military prosecutor replied that while this argument might be made concerning english soldiers, it could not apply to belgians, who were free to remain in the country without danger. the subsequent behaviour of the german authorities to the belgian young men who remained in the country does not lend any considerable weight to the remarks of the public prosecutor. in concluding his plea, the public prosecutor asked that the court pass the sentence of death upon miss cavell and eight other prisoners among the thirty-five brought to trial. upon ascertaining these facts maître de leval called at the political department and asked that, the trial having taken place, permission be granted him to see miss cavell in person, as there could be no further objection to consultation. herr conrad, an official of the political department, who received maître de leval, stated that he would make enquiry of the court and communicate with him later. the foregoing are the developments up to sunday night, october th. subsequent developments are shown by the following extracts from a journal made at the time: _brussels, october , _.--when i came in yesterday morning i found information which seemed to confirm previous reports that miss cavell's trial had been concluded on saturday afternoon and that the prosecution had asked that the death sentence be imposed. monsieur de leval promptly called the political department over the telephone and talked to conrad, repeating our previous requests that he be authorised to see miss cavell in prison. he also asked that mr. gahan, the english chaplain, be permitted to visit her. conrad replied that it had been decided that mr. gahan could not see her, but that she could see any of the three protestant clergymen (germans) attached to the prison; that de leval could not see her until the judgment was pronounced and signed. he said that as yet no sentence had been pronounced and that there would probably be a delay of a day or two before a decision was reached. he stated that even if the judgment of the court had been given, it would have no effect until it had been confirmed by the governor, who was absent from brussels and would not return for two or possibly three days. we asked conrad to inform the legation immediately upon the confirmation of the sentence in order that steps might be taken to secure a pardon if the judgment really proved to be one of capital punishment. conrad said he had no information to the effect that the court had acceded to the request for the death sentence, but promised to keep us informed. i stood by the telephone and could overhear both de leval and conrad. despite the promise of the german authorities to keep us fully posted, we were nervous and apprehensive and remained at the legation all day, making repeated enquiry by telephone to learn whether a decision had been reached. on each of these occasions the political department renewed the assurance that we would be informed as soon as there was any news. in order to be prepared for every eventuality, we drew up a petition for clemency addressed to the governor-general, and a covering note addressed to baron von der lancken, in order that they might be presented without loss of time in case of urgent need. a number of people had been arrested and tried for helping men to cross into holland, but, so far as we know, the death sentence had never been inflicted. the usual thing was to give a sentence of imprisonment in germany. the officials at the political department professed to be skeptical as to the reported intention of the court to inflict the death sentence, and led us to think that nothing of the sort need be apprehended. none the less we were haunted by a feeling of impending horror that we could not shake off. i had planned to ride in the afternoon, but when my horse was brought around, i had it sent away and stayed near the telephone. late in the afternoon de leval succeeded in getting into communication with a lawyer interested in one of the accused. he said that the german kommandantur had informed him that judgment would be passed the next morning, tuesday. he was worried as to what was in store for the prisoners and said he feared the court would be very severe. at . i had topping (clerk of the legation) telephone conrad again. once more we had the most definite assurances that nothing had happened and a somewhat weary renewal of the promise that we should have immediate information when sentence was pronounced.[ ] [footnote : this was just one hour and twenty minutes after the sentence had actually been pronounced. there is no need for comment.] at . i had just gone home when de leval came for me in my car, saying that he had come to report that miss cavell was to be shot during the night. we could hardly credit this, but as our informant was so positive and insisted so earnestly, we set off to see what could be done. de leval had seen the minister, who was ill in bed, and brought me his instructions to find von der lancken, present the appeal for clemency, and press for a favourable decision. in order to add weight to our representations, i was to seek out the spanish minister to get him to go with us and join in our appeal. i found him dining at baron lambert's, and on explaining the case to him he willingly agreed to come. when we got to the political department we found that baron von der lancken and all the members of his staff had gone out to spend the evening at one of the disreputable little theatres that have sprung up here for the entertainment of the germans. at first we were unable to find where he had gone, as the orderly on duty evidently had orders not to tell, but by dint of some blustering and impressing on him the fact that lancken would have cause to regret not having seen us, he agreed to have him notified. we put the orderly into the motor and sent him off. the marquis de villalobar, de leval, and i settled down to wait, and we waited long, for lancken, evidently knowing the purpose of our visit, declined to budge until the end of an act that seemed to appeal to him particularly. he came in about . , followed shortly by count harrach and baron von falkenhausen, members of his staff. i briefly explained to him the situation as we understood it and presented the note from the minister, transmitting the appeal for clemency. lancken read the note aloud in our presence, showing no feeling aside from cynical annoyance at something--probably our having discovered the intentions of the german authorities. when he had finished reading the note, lancken said that he knew nothing of the case, but was sure in any event that no sentence would be executed so soon as we had said. he manifested some surprise, not to say annoyance, that we should give credence to any report in regard to the case which did not come from his department, that being the only official channel. leval and i insisted, however, that we had reason to believe our reports were correct and urged him to make inquiries. he then tried to find out the exact source of our information, and became painfully insistent. i did not propose, however, to enlighten him on this point and said that i did not feel at liberty to divulge our source of information. lancken then became persuasive--said that it was most improbable that any sentence had been pronounced; that even if it had, it could not be put into effect within so short a time, and that in any event all government offices were closed and that it was impossible for him to take any action before morning. he suggested that we all go home "reasonably," sleep quietly, and come back in the morning to talk about the case. it was very clear that if the facts were as we believed them to be, the next morning would be too late, and we pressed for immediate enquiry. i had to be rather insistent on this point, and de leval, in his anxiety, became so emphatic that i feared he might bring down the wrath of the germans on his own head, and tried to quiet him. there was something splendid about the way de leval, a belgian with nothing to gain and everything to lose, stood up for what he believed to be right and chivalrous, regardless of consequences to himself. finally, lancken agreed to enquire as to the facts, telephoned from his office to the presiding judge of the court martial, and returned in a short time to say that sentence had indeed been passed and that miss cavell was to be shot during the night. we then presented with all the earnestness at our command, the plea for clemency. we pointed out to lancken that miss cavell's offenses were a matter of the past; that she had been in prison for some weeks, thus effectually ending her power for harm; that there was nothing to be gained by shooting her, and on the contrary this would do germany much more harm than good and england much more good than harm. we pointed out to him that the whole case was a very bad one from germany's point of view; that the sentence of death had heretofore been imposed only for cases of espionage and that miss cavell was not even accused by the german authorities of anything so serious.[ ] we reminded him that miss cavell, as directress of a large nursing home, had, since the beginning of the war, cared for large numbers of german soldiers in a way that should make her life sacred to them. i further called his attention to the manifest failure of the political department to comply with its repeated promises to keep us informed as to the progress of the trial and the passing of the sentence. the deliberate policy of subterfuge and prevarication by which they had sought to deceive us, as to the progress of the case, was so raw as to require little comment. we all pointed out to lancken the horror of shooting a woman, no matter what her offense, and endeavoured to impress upon him the frightful effect that such an execution would have throughout the civilised world. with an ill-concealed sneer he replied that on the contrary he was confident that the effect would be excellent. [footnote : at the time there was no intimation that miss cavell was guilty of espionage. it was only when public opinion had been aroused by her execution that the german government began to refer to her as "the spy cavell." according to the german statement of the case, there is no possible ground for calling her a spy.] [illustration: miss edith cavell] [illustration: fly-leaf of miss cavell's prayer book] when everything else had failed, we asked lancken to look at the case from the point of view solely of german interests, assuring him that the execution of miss cavell would do germany infinite harm. we reminded him of the burning of louvain and the sinking of the _lusitania_, and told him that this murder would rank with those two affairs and would stir all civilised countries with horror and disgust. count harrach broke in at this with the rather irrelevant remark that he would rather see miss cavell shot than have harm come to the humblest german soldier, and his only regret was that they had not "three or four old english women to shoot." the spanish minister and i tried to prevail upon lancken to call great headquarters at charleville on the telephone and have the case laid before the emperor for his decision. lancken stiffened perceptibly at this suggestion and refused, frankly, saying that he could not do anything of the sort. turning to villalobar, he said, "i can't do that sort of thing. i am not a friend of my sovereign as you are of yours," to which a rejoinder was made that in order to be a good friend, one must be loyal and ready to incur displeasure in case of need. however, our arguments along this line came to nothing, but lancken finally came to the point of saying that the military governor of brussels was the supreme authority (_gerichtsherr_) in matters of this sort and that even the governor-general had no power to intervene. after further argument he agreed to get general von sauberschweig, the military governor, out of bed to learn whether he had already ratified the sentence and whether there was any chance for clemency. lancken was gone about half an hour, during which time the three of us laboured with harrach and falkenhausen, without, i am sorry to say, the slightest success. when lancken returned he reported that the military governor said that he had acted in this case only after mature deliberation; that the circumstances of miss cavell's offense were of such character that he considered infliction of the death penalty imperative. lancken further explained that under the provisions of german military law, the _gerichtsherr_ had discretionary power to accept or to refuse to accept an appeal for clemency; that in this case the governor regretted that he must decline to accept the appeal for clemency or any representations in regard to the matter. we then brought up again the question of having the emperor called on the telephone, but lancken replied very definitely that the matter had gone too far; that the sentence had been ratified by the military governor, and that when matters had gone that far, "even the emperor himself could not intervene."[ ] [footnote : although accepted at the time as true, this statement was later found to be entirely false and is understood to have displeased the emperor. the emperor could have stopped the execution at any moment.] he then asked me to take back the note i had presented to him. i at first demurred, pointing out that this was not an appeal for clemency, but merely a note to him, transmitting a note to the governor, which was itself to be considered the appeal for clemency. i pointed out that this was especially stated in the minister's note to him, and tried to prevail upon him to keep it. he was very insistent, however, and inasmuch as he had already read the note aloud to us and we knew that he was aware of its contents, it seemed that there was nothing to be gained by refusing to accept the note, and i accordingly took it back. despite lancken's very positive statements as to the futility of our errand, we continued to appeal to every sentiment to secure delay and time for reconsideration of the case. the spanish minister led lancken aside and said some things to him that he would have hesitated to say in the presence of harrach, falkenhausen, and de leval, a belgian subject. lancken squirmed and blustered by turns, but stuck to his refusal. in the meantime i went after harrach and falkenhausen again. this time, throwing modesty to the winds, i reminded them of some of the things we had done for german interests at the outbreak of the war; how we had repatriated thousands of german subjects and cared for their interests; how during the siege of antwerp i had repeatedly crossed the lines during actual fighting at the request of field marshal von der goltz to look after german interests; how all this service had been rendered gladly and without thought of reward; that since the beginning of the war we had never asked a favour of the german authorities and it seemed incredible that they should now decline to grant us even a day's delay to discuss the case of a poor woman who was, by her imprisonment, prevented from doing further harm, and whose execution in the middle of the night, at the conclusion of a course of trickery and deception, was nothing short of an affront to civilisation. even when i was ready to abandon all hope, de leval was unable to believe that the german authorities would persist in their decision, and appealed most touchingly and feelingly to the sense of pity for which we looked in vain. our efforts were perfectly useless, however, as the three men with whom we had to deal were so completely callous and indifferent that they were in no way moved by anything that we could say. [illustration: two illustrations titled "notes in miss cavell's prayer book"] we did not stop until after midnight, when it was only too clear that there was no hope. it was a bitter business leaving the place feeling that we had failed and that the little woman was to be led out before a firing squad within a few hours. but it was worse to go back to the legation to the little group of english women who were waiting in my office to learn the result of our visit. they had been there for nearly four hours while mrs. whitlock and miss lamer sat with them and tried to sustain them through the hours of waiting. there were mrs. gahan, wife of the english chaplain, miss b., and several nurses from miss cavell's school. one was a little wisp of a thing who had been mothered by miss cavell, and was nearly beside herself with grief. there was no way of breaking the news to them gently, for they could read the answer in our faces when we came in. all we could do was to give them each a stiff drink of sherry and send them home. de leval was white as death, and i took him back to his house. i had a splitting headache myself and could not face the idea of going to bed. i went home and read for awhile, but that was no good, so i went out and walked the streets, much to the annoyance of german patrols. i rang the bells of several houses in a desperate desire to talk to somebody, but could not find a soul--only sleepy and disgruntled servants. it was a night i should not like to go through again, but it wore through somehow and i braced up with a cold bath and went to the legation for the day's work. the day brought forth another loathsome fact in connection with the case. it seems the sentence on miss cavell was not pronounced in open court. her executioners, apparently in the hope of concealing their intentions from us, went into her cell and there, behind locked doors, pronounced sentence upon her. it is all of a piece with the other things they have done. last night mr. gahan got a pass and was admitted to see miss cavell shortly before she was taken out and shot. he said she was calm and prepared and faced the ordeal without a tremor. she was a tiny thing that looked as though she could be blown away with a breath, but she had a great spirit. she told mr. gahan that soldiers had come to her and asked to be helped to the frontier; that knowing the risks they ran and the risks she took, she had helped them. she said she had nothing to regret, no complaint to make, and that if she had it all to do over again, she would change nothing. and most pathetic of all was her statement that she thanked god for the six weeks she had passed in prison--the nearest approach to rest she had known for years. they partook together of the holy communion, and she who had so little need of preparation was prepared for death. she was free from resentment and said: "i realise that patriotism is not enough. i must have no hatred or bitterness toward any one." she was taken out and shot before daybreak. she was denied the support of her own clergyman at the end, but a german military chaplain stayed with her and gave her burial within the precincts of the prison. he did not conceal his admiration and said: "she was courageous to the end. she professed her christian faith and said that she was glad to die for her country. she died like a heroine." transcriber's notes: there are no periods/full stops used for illustration captions, with exceptions: usually the longer ones. following is a list of inconsistently used hyphenated words. they are left as they were in the book. battlefield battle-field businesslike business-like downtown down-town farmhouse farm-house goodwill good-will motorcycle motor-cycle nearby near-by note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h.zip) transcriber's note: inconsistent hyphenation and spelling in the original document have been preserved. obvious typographical errors have been corrected. text that was printed in bold is enclosed by equal signs (=like this=). the page advertising other books in the series has been removed to the end of this e-book. the latin number [i] in the text refers to a transcriber's note at the end of this e-book. belgium from the roman invasion to the present day illustration: albert i. frontispiece. _photo langfier._ belgium from the roman invasion to the present day by emile cammaerts with illustrations and maps t. fisher unwin ltd london: adelphi terrace copyright by t. fisher unwin, (for great britain) copyright by g.p. putnam's sons (for the united states of america), first published second impression (all rights reserved) preface we possess happily, nowadays, a few standard books, of great insight and impartiality, which allow us to form a general idea of the development of the belgian nation without breaking fresh ground. the four volumes of henri pirenne's _histoire de belgique_ carry us as far as the peace of münster, and, among others, such works as vanderlinen's _belgium_, issued recently by the oxford university press, and a treatise on belgian history by f. van kalken ( ) supply a great deal of information on the modern period. to these works the author has been chiefly indebted in writing the present volume. he felt the need for placing the conclusions of modern belgian historians within reach of british readers, and believed that, though he might not claim any very special qualifications to deal with belgian history, his knowledge of england would allow him to present his material in the way most interesting to the english-speaking public. _belgium_ is neither a series of essays nor a systematic text-book. chronological sequence is preserved, and practically all important events are recorded in their appointed time, but special stress has been laid on some characteristic features of belgian civilization and national development which are of general interest and bear on the history of europe as a whole. the author wishes to express his sincere thanks to his friend, professor van der essen, who has been good enough to revise his work. he is also indebted to messrs. van oest & co. for allowing him to reproduce some pictures belonging to _l'album historique de la belgique_, and to the phototypie belge (ph.b.), sté anonyme, etterbeek, bruxelles, and other holders of copyright for providing him with valuable illustrations. contents page preface introduction chapter i the coal wood celts and germans--roman conquest--roads of roman civilization--first christianization--germanic invasion--natural obstacle presented by the "silva carbonaria"--origins of racial and linguistic division. chapter ii from saint amand to charlemagne frankish capital transferred from tournai to paris--second christianization--st. amand--restoration of the old bishoprics-- romanization of the franks and germanization of the walloons-- unification under charlemagne--aix-la-chapelle, centre of the empire--first period of economic and intellectual efflorescence. chapter iii lotharingia and flanders partition after charlemagne--treaty of verdun--the frontier of the scheldt--struggle of feudal lords against the central power--the normans. chapter iv rÉgner long neck policy of the lotharingian princes--influence of the german bishops--alliance with flanders against the emperor--decadence of the central power--religious reform of gérard de brogne--the clunisians and the struggle for the investitures--the first crusade. chapter v baldwin the bearded policy of the counts of flanders--imperial flanders--the english alliance--first prospect of unification--robert the frisian. chapter vi the belfries origin of the communes; trade and industry--resistance of feudal lords; cambrai--protection given by the counts of flanders and the dukes of brabant--social transformation extending to the country-side--the meaning of the belfries. chapter vii the golden spurs attraction of flanders on the rest of the country--attempts at maintaining neutrality between france and england--thierry and philippe d'alsace--baldwin ix--ferrand of portugal--bouvines--increasing french influence--flemish reaction--"matines brugeoises"--consequences of the battle of courtrai--edward iii and van artevelde. chapter viii the cathedral of tournai religious spirit of belgium in the middle ages--the romanesque churches--introduction of gothic; period of transition, early gothic, secondary period, third period--french and flemish languages during the middle ages--picard writers in walloon flanders--first translations and chronicles in french--origin of flemish letters, willem's _reinaert_, van maerlant. chapter ix the great dukes of the west decline of the communes--policy of the burgundian dukes: philip the bold, john the fearless, philip the good--territorial unification and political centralization--philip's external policy--charles the bold--dream of a new central empire. chapter x the town halls the meaning of belgium's gothic town halls--result of a compromise between centralization and local liberties--decline of the cloth industry--economic prosperity under the new régime--transformation of trade--antwerp succeeds bruges. chapter xi the adoration of the lamb civilization under burgundian rule--french and flemish; bilingualism--flemish letters: jean boendaele, ruysbroeck--the brothers of the common life--writers in french: jean le bel, froissart, chastellain--development of music: dufay, ockeghem, etc.--life in fifteenth-century belgium--the early "flemish school of painting"--its place in the history of art--the brothers van eyck--origins of the school; sculpture, illuminating. chapter xii reaction after the death of charles the bold--the "great privilege" of mary of burgundy--her marriage with maximilian; its consequences--conflict between burgundian and hapsburgian policies--philip the handsome--margaret of austria--accession of charles to the empire--projects of founding a separate kingdom--margaret's second governorship. chapter xiii the last stage of centralization mary of hungary--revolt of ghent--complete unification--augsburg transaction--pragmatic sanction--abdication of charles v. chapter xiv antwerp development of modern trade--rural industry--humanism and lutheranism--the placards--anabaptism--calvinism. chapter xv the beggars philip ii--marguerite of parma and the consulta--resistance of the council of state--the "compromise"--the iconoclasts--catholic reaction. chapter xvi separation north and south--the duke of alba and the council of blood--requesens--"spanish fury"--pacification of ghent--don juan--policy of orange--archduke matthias--the duke of anjou--the "malcontents"--confederation of arras--union of utrecht--"french fury"--the fall of antwerp. chapter xvii dream of independence albert and isabella--catholic reaction--siege of ostend--policy of the spanish kings--the walloon league--the states-general. chapter xviii the twelve years' truce period of reconstruction--ruin of antwerp--revival of industry and agriculture--social conditions under albert and isabella--influence of the church. chapter xix rubens contrast between flemish art in the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries--italian influence--intellectual action of the jesuits--neglect of flemish--popular art: breughel, jordaens. chapter xx political decadence under spain situation of the southern netherlands between the united provinces and france--projects of partition--münster treaty--wars of the spanish succession--the anglo-batavian conference--treaty of utrecht--the barrier system. chapter xxi the ostend company economic renaissance under the austrian régime--efforts to liberate belgian trade--war of austrian succession--charles de lorraine--intellectual decadence--popular restlessness. chapter xxii the brabanÇonne revolution joseph ii and philip ii--strength of the burgundian tradition-- suppression of the barrier--the "war of the cauldron"--the emperor's internal reforms--popular resistance: van der noot and vonck--the "etats belgiques unis"--"statists" and "vonckists"--the reichenbach convention--restoration of the austrian régime. chapter xxiii liberty, equality, fraternity jemappes--excesses of the "sans culottes"--neerwinden--treaty of the hague--policy of the convention towards occupied territory--annexation--the "war of the peasants"--napoleonic rule--the vienna treaty. chapter xxiv black, yellow and red the joint kingdom--causes of failure--belgian grievances--policy of william i--reconciliation of catholics and liberals--the september days. chapter xxv the scrap of paper the conference of london--attitude of the belgian delegates--the "bases of separation"--the luxemburg question--the xviii articles--prince leopold--dutch invasion--the xxiv articles--their final acceptance--guaranteed neutrality. chapter xxvi neutral independence the meaning of neutrality--the question of national defence--risquons tout--the policy of napoleon iii--the entrenched camp of antwerp--british action in --leopold ii and emile banning--liége and namur--military reform. chapter xxvii economic renaissance the belgian constitution--influence of neutrality on internal politics--struggle between liberals and catholics--the "school war"--the labour party--the franchise--economic prosperity: agriculture, industry, trade--the opening of the scheldt--the search for colonial outlet--leopold ii and the congo free state--the belgian congo. chapter xxviii intellectual renaissance architecture and sculpture in modern belgium--the modern school of painting--a national school of literature in french and flemish--the flemish movement. chapter xxix conclusion part played by belgium in the great war--german occupation--the "making of a nation"--the "resistance of a nation"--result of the treaty of versailles--future of belgium. index list of illustrations albert i _frontispiece_ facing page cloth hall, ypres castle of the counts, ghent cloth hall and belfry, bruges seal of the town of damme seal of guy de dampierre tournai cathedral bronze font, st. bartholomew, liÉge sainte gudule, brussels philip the good charles the bold town hall, bruges the first antwerp exchange town hall, oudenarde the adoration of the lamb the adoration of the lamb plourant mary of burgundy maximilian i philip the fair juana of castile charles v margaret of austria the infanta isabella archduke albert pulpit of sainte gudule, brussels the massacre of the innocents (breughel) proclamation of the peace of mÜnster joseph ii van der noot scene of the brabanÇonne revolution leopold i leopold ii palace of justice, brussels "the puddler" (meunier) list of maps belgium in roman times division of charlemagne's empire feudal belgium the netherlands under the rule of the dukes of burgundy belgium under the rule of the kings of spain belgium under the rule of the emperors of austria belgium under french rule the united kingdom of the netherlands modern belgium (treaties of - and ) introduction the history of the belgian nation is little known in england. this ignorance, or rather this neglect, may seem strange if we consider the frequent relations which existed between the two countries from the early middle ages. it is, however, easy enough to explain, and even to justify. the general idea has been for a long time that the existence of belgium, as a nation, dated from its independence, and that previous to such a thing as belgian history did not even exist. all through feudal times we are aware of the existence of the county of flanders, of the duchy of brabant, and of many other principalities, but, in no official act, does the term "belgique" occur. even after the unification of the fifteenth century, when the country came under the rule of the dukes of burgundy, the notion of a distinct nationality, such as the french or the british, remains hidden to the superficial student, the netherlands forming merely a part of the rich possessions of the most powerful vassals of france. through modern times the belgian provinces, "les provinces belgiques" as they were called in the eighteenth century, pass under the rule of the kings of spain, of the emperors of austria and of the french republic, to be finally merged, after the fall of napoleon, into the kingdom of the netherlands. the word "belgium," as a noun, is only found in a few books; "belgique" is a mere adjective applied to the southern portion of the netherlands. it must be admitted that the belgian official historians of the old school did very little to dispel this wrong impression. in their patriotic zeal they endeavoured to picture belgium as struggling valiantly all the time against foreign oppression. they laid great stress on cæsar's words: "of all the gauls the belgians are the bravest," and pictured the popular risings of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries in the same light as the revolution. if we are to believe them, the belgian people must have been conscious from their origin of their unity. they considered national princes, such as the burgundian dukes, in the same light as philip ii or the austrian emperors, and, instead of clearing the air, added to the confusion. their interpretation of history according to the principles of national liberty of the romantic period could not be taken seriously, and the idea prevailed that, if the belgian nation was not merely a creation of european diplomacy, its existence could only be confirmed by the future, and rested on but frail foundations in the past. this idea was strengthened by the knowledge that the country possessed neither strong natural frontiers, like great britain, france, italy or spain, nor the bond created by unity of language like germany. other european countries, it is true, like holland or poland, did not constitute strong geographical units and lacked definite boundaries but their people talked at least the same idiom and belonged, as far as the word may be used in a broad sense, to the same race. others, like switzerland, were divided between various languages, but possessed geographical unity. belgium could not claim any of these distinctive features. her boundaries remained widely open in all directions. from the cultivated plains of flanders to the wild hills of the ardennes she offered the greatest variety of physical aspects. what is more, her people were nearly equally divided, by a line running from the south of ypres to the north of liége, between two different languages, two different races. according to recognized standards, the very existence of the belgian nation was a paradox, and though the history of mankind presents many similar contrasts between the hasty conclusions of the untrained mind and the tangible reality of facts, these cannot be recognized at first, and require a deeper knowledge of the past than that which can be provided by the study of warlike conflicts and political changes. it was therefore left to the modern school of belgian historians, and more especially to professor pirenne, of ghent, to place the study of the origin of the belgian nation in its right perspective and to show that, in spite of diversity of race and language, lack of natural boundaries and centuries of foreign domination, belgian unity was based on deep-rooted traditions and possessed strong characteristics in every department of human activity which could be recognized from the early middle ages to the modern period. by a close study of the economic and intellectual life of the people and of their institutions, pirenne and his disciples made evident what every artist, every writer had already realized, that, in spite of all appearances, belgian unity had never been impaired in the past by the language barrier, and that both parts of the country presented common characteristics, common customs, and common institutions which no foreign rule was able to eradicate. they showed furthermore that these characteristics, determined by the common interests and aspirations of the whole people, were so strong that they inspired the policy of many foreign princes who, by their birth, would naturally have been led to disregard them. they may still be found in the country's old charters, in ancient chronicles, in the works of the so-called flemish school of painting, and in every monument of the past which has survived the devastation of war. to these witnesses belgian historians will not appeal in vain, when they endeavour to show that the origins of belgian national unity may be sought as far back as those of any other nation in europe, and that if more exposed than her powerful neighbours to the vicissitudes of war, belgium always succeeded in preserving, throughout her darkest days, some living token of her former prosperity and of her future independence. * * * * * if, as we trust, the reader is convinced after reading this short sketch of belgium's history that belgian nationality is more than a vain word, and that the attitude adopted by the belgian people in august , far from being an impulsive movement, was merely the result of the slow and progressive development of their national feeling throughout the ages, he will also realize that this development has received many checks, and is therefore very different from that which may be traced in the history of england, for instance, or even in that of france. nowhere would the familiar image of the growing tree be more misleading. belgian history possesses some remarkable landmarks, under charlemagne, for instance, at the time of the communes, under the rule of the dukes of burgundy, under charles v, and during the recent period of independence. but, between these periods of prosperity and even splendour, we notice some periods of stagnation due to internal strife or even complete decadence, when the country became a prey to foreign invasion. few peoples have experienced such severe trials, few have shown such extraordinary power of recovery. peace and a wise government coincide invariably with an extraordinary material and intellectual efflorescence, war and oppression with the partial or total loss of the progress realized a few years before, so that the arts and trades of belgian cities which shine at one time in the forefront of european civilization seem totally forgotten at another. in more than one way belgium has lived under a troubled sky, where heavy showers succeed bright sunshine, while the towers of ypres, ghent, bruges, antwerp, louvain and brussels appear and disappear on the horizon. how can we explain the tragedy of these abrupt changes? how can we justify these sudden alternations in the life of a hard-working and peace-loving people who never indulged in any dreams of imperialism and foreign conquest? a look at the map will help us to solve the mystery. the plain of northern europe may be divided into two wide areas, the french plain, whose waters run from east to west into the atlantic, and the german plain, whose waters run from south to north into the north sea and the baltic. these wide expanses are connected by a narrow strip of territory through which all communications skirting the hills and mountains of the south must necessarily be concentrated, and whose waters follow a north-westerly direction towards the straits of dover. this small plain, only miles wide from ostend to namur, constitutes a natural link between germany and france, and plays, from the continental point of view, the same part as the straits, on its northern coast. even to-day, in spite of the progress of railway communications, the main line from paris to berlin passes along the sambre and meuse valleys, through namur, liége and aix-la-chapelle, and the events of august are only the last example of the frequent use made of this road throughout history, by invaders coming from the east or from the south. for peaceful and warlike intercourse, belgium is situated on the natural highway connecting the french and german plains. this geographical feature alone would suffice to influence the historical development of the country. but there is another. it so happens that by an extraordinary arrangement of the map, which one may be tempted to call a coincidence, the sea straits are placed in close proximity to the continental narrows, so that the natural route from great britain to central europe crosses in belgium the natural route from france to germany. this appears all the more clearly if we take into consideration the fact that the seventeen provinces extended in the past from the zuyder zee to the somme, and that bruges, and later on antwerp, benefited largely from the trade of the thames. this then is what is meant when belgium is spoken of as being placed at "the cross-roads of europe." most of the continental communications between great britain and germany or italy, on the one hand, or between france and germany on the other, were bound to pass through her provinces. she was, and is still to a certain extent, the predestined meeting-ground of british, french and german culture, the market-place where merchandise and ideas from the north, the west, the east and the south may be most conveniently exchanged, and she derives her originality from the very variety of the influences which surround her. the division of languages and races helped her in her task, and, instead of proving an obstacle to national development, contributed to it whenever circumstances proved favourable. the original contribution of the people to this development may be somewhat difficult to define, but the result is no less evident. belgian, or as it is sometimes called, flemish culture, though intimately connected with france and germany, is neither french nor german, still less english. its characteristics are derived from the combination of various european influences strongly moulded by long-standing traditions and habits. "the will to live together" which, according to renan, is at the root of every nationality, and proves stronger than unity of race and language, finds nowhere a better illustration than in the strange part played by the belgian nation in the history of europe. common interests, common dangers, common aspirations produced and maintained a distinct civilization which, according to all the laws of materialistic logic, ought to have been wrecked and swamped long ago by the overwhelming influences to which it was subjected. * * * * * as early as the ninth century, under the rule of charlemagne, these characteristics began to show themselves. the emperor chose aix-la-chapelle for his capital, not only because he possessed vast domains in the region, but also because, from this central position, he was better able to keep in contact with the governors of a vast empire which extended from the elbe to spain and italy. aix-la-chapelle, "the northern rome," became the metropolis of commerce as well as the political capital. the various intellectual centres created in the neighbourhood, at the monasteries of liége, tongres, and maesyck attracted english, irish, french and italian poets, musicians, lawyers and theologians. later, in the twelfth century, when the free communes developed all over western europe and succeeded in breaking the power of feudalism, it was left to ghent and bruges to raise the free city to a standard of independence and prosperity which it did not attain in other countries, placed under a stronger central power. in the shadow of their proud belfries over , merchants and artisans pursued their active trade, and bruges, "the venice of the north," became the principal port of europe and the centre of banking activity. the part played by the burgundian dukes in european politics during the hundred years' war is well known in this country, but the importance of their action in unifying the seventeen provinces of the netherlands is not sufficiently realized. in fact, in spite of their foreign origin, their policy was so much inspired by the interest of the country that they may be considered as national princes. the "great dukes of the west" did for belgium, in the fifteenth century, what louis xi did for france, and what henry viii did for england, half a century later. they succeeded in centralizing public institutions and in suppressing, to a great extent, local jealousies and internal strife which weakened the nation and wasted her resources. under their rule the belgian provinces rose to an unequalled intellectual and artistic splendour and gave to the world, by the paintings of the brothers van eyck and their school, one of the most brilliant expressions of the early renaissance. this prominent situation was maintained, in spite of the fall of the burgundian dynasty, when, through the marriage of mary of burgundy with maximilian, belgium passed under the sway of the hapsburg dynasty. under charles v, antwerp inherited the prosperity of bruges, and became the principal centre of european commerce. it was visited every year by , ships, and the amount of commercial transactions made through its exchange was valued at forty million ducats per year. even after the disastrous wars of religion which separated the northern netherlands, or united provinces, from the southern provinces, and ruined for two centuries the port of antwerp, there was a short respite, under the wise rule of the archdukes albert and isabella ( - ), during which the art of rubens, van dyck and jordaens threw a last glamour on belgium's falling greatness. this rapid sketch of the happy periods of belgian history would not be complete if we did not allude to the wonderful recovery made by the country as soon as the powers granted her the right to live as an independent state after the unhappy experiment of the joint kingdom of the netherlands ( - ). her population increased twofold. the scheldt was reopened and antwerp regained most of its previous trade. at the time of the german invasion modern belgium occupied the first rank in europe with regard to the density of her population, the yield of her fields per acre, the development of her railway system and the importance of her special trade per head of inhabitants. in spite of her small area, she occupied the fifth rank among the great trading nations of the world, and the names of maeterlinck, verhaeren, césar franck and meunier show that she had reconquered a great part of her former intellectual prestige. there is one striking resemblance between all periods of belgian development. whether in the ninth, the thirteenth, the fifteenth or the nineteenth century, they express the civilization of the time, and succeed in producing a typical example of essentially european culture, imperial under charlemagne, communal in the middle ages, centralized under national princes during the renaissance, highly industrialized and colonial in modern times. this trait must be considered when belgium is represented as the "kernel of europe," as combining the spirit of the north, east and south. it is not enough to say that the country seems predestined to this task by her geographical position and her duality of race and language bringing together the so-called "germanic" and "latin" tendencies; it must be added that, whenever historical circumstances allowed it, the people made full use of such advantages. whether under local princes, or under foreign princes who understood belgian interests, given peace conditions at home and abroad, the country never failed to rise to the occasion. but these periods of greatness were short-lived compared with the periods of decadence which succeeded them. after the division of the empire of charlemagne the belgian counties and duchies found themselves plunged in the throes of feudal disputes and divided between the kings of france and the emperors of germany. the power of the suzerain was nowhere weaker than in these distant marches, and the belgian princes were left free to pursue their quarrels with complete disregard of the common interest. the prosperity of the communes in the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth centuries, was rapidly undermined by internal strife and by the difficulties the counts of flanders experienced in trying to conciliate their duty to their french suzerain with the interest of the people which prompted an english alliance. the fall of charles the bold provoked a fresh outburst of the spirit of local independence, which greatly endangered the country's peace, and, if the situation was restored, under philip the fair and charles v, during the first part of the sixteenth century, the second part of this century witnessed the gradual exhaustion of the southern netherlands divided against themselves and subjected to the attacks of both spanish and dutch. the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, which are for other countries, like france, a period of exceptional national prestige, mark the deepest stage of belgian decadence and humiliation. the scheldt was closed, trade and industry were practically dead, foreign troops, french, dutch, spanish or austrian, ceaselessly pursued their work of devastation. a foreign possession, open to the incursions of her possessors' enemies, sacrificed by her masters at every stage of the peace negotiations in order to save their native country, belgium lost dutch flanders, northern brabant and part of limburg to holland, french flanders, franche comté and artois to france. the treaty of münster sealed the fate of antwerp, and the treaty of the barriers left the dutch in possession of all the country's most important fortified positions. though it gave back to belgium her natural frontier in the north and reopened the scheldt for a short time, the french régime did not greatly improve the economic situation. after the union with holland ( ), the political struggle which followed prevented the people from enjoying the full benefit of the change, so that we must wait until before being able to notice any considerable improvement. * * * * * this general survey will suffice to show that belgian history may be divided into periods of progress and decadence. the same may be said, it is true, of the history of all nations. but nowhere else is the difference between the higher and lower levels so pronounced and the intervals between the acts so protracted. as we have already said, the country passes suddenly from the brightest limelight of fame to the darkest recess of mediocrity and oblivion. some of these contrasts, such as those existing between charlemagne's united empire and feudal divisions, are shared by the rest of europe. others, at the time of the renaissance and the reformation, and when the country came under spanish, austrian and french rule, are peculiar to belgium. to the slow development of national unity, her history adds the obstacles of foreign domination and foreign invasion. the exceptional situation of the country on the map gives equally great chances of ruin and recovery. the same conditions which bring about belgium's downfall contribute largely to her restoration, the same roads which bring wealth in time of peace, are followed, in time of war, by foreign armies. she is not only the cross-roads of europe, she is the battlefield of europe. from bouvines ( ) to waterloo and ypres, almost all the great battles which decided the fate of europe and determined her balance of power were fought on belgian soil. sometimes the inhabitants took a share in the struggle, oftener they were not even given the chance to interfere, while the powers settled other quarrels at their expense. the belgian people have acquired a remarkable reputation for their sturdiness and their power of recovery. but, while they are entirely irresponsible for their weakness, which can only be attributed to the small size and the defenceless character of their country, they cannot be considered as entirely responsible for their strength. a port like antwerp, if at all accessible, is bound to prosper under any circumstances. a town like brussels cannot fail to benefit by its unique situation, from an international point of view. with her rich coal mines among her fertile fields, belgium, considering her size, is perhaps more richly endowed by nature than any other country in europe. but such exceptional advantages have been more than compensated in the past by the heavy risks which this richness implied. illustration: belgium in roman times. chapter i the coal wood it is usually assumed that, while human conditions alter throughout the ages, natural surroundings remain sensibly the same. this may be true with regard to people whose history is only affected by the streams which cross their land and the hills and mountains which protect them by natural barriers. when dealing with a country like belgium however, widely open on all sides, we cannot be content with such wide generalizations. we must ask ourselves if some important physical features have not been altered by the work of man and if some natural obstacles, which have since disappeared, did not affect the earlier stage of belgian history. the traveller who crosses the country to-day from ostend to arlon will at once recognize its main features: first a low-lying plain, between the sea and brussels, then a district of smooth hills, as far as namur, and finally, beyond the meuse, the deeply cut valleys and high plateaux of the ardennes, reaching an average of , feet above sea-level. in this last region only will the aspect of the country suggest to him the idea of some natural obstacle to free communications, though it could in no way appear forbidding when compared to the mountains of scotland and wales. but at the time of the roman conquest ( _b.c._), belgium, that is to say the country peopled by various tribes designated by julius cæsar under the name of "belgæ," was very different from what it is to-day. the flat coast, unprotected against the incursions of the sea, was bordered by wide marshes, while all the southern part of the country was covered by a thick forest, the "silva carbonaria," which merged in the wild plateaux of the ardennes and formed, at the time, a serious obstacle to any incursion coming from the north or the east. these physical conditions must have favoured the guerrilla warfare waged for four years by the various celtic tribes against the roman invader, and it is no doubt partly to them that the old "belgæ" owed their reputation of courage and fortitude. these tribes, occupying the scheldt and meuse valleys, formed the rearguard of the celtic wave of invasion which, coming from the east, had spread across western europe. at the time of the roman conquest they were already closely pressed by a vanguard of germanic tribes which had settled in zeeland and on the left bank of the rhine, so that even at this early stage of belgium's history we find the dualistic character of belgian civilization marked in the division of the country into two roman provinces, "belgica secunda," in the west, and "germania inferior," in the east. [_roman influences_] the immediate effect of the roman conquest, which was far more rapid than in britain, was to stop for a time the influx of german tribes by the establishment of a solid barrier along the rhine. the colonists of german origin were soon absorbed by the old inhabitants of the country, and were subjected with them to the powerful influence of roman culture. celts and germans alike became belgo-romans, and adopted the trade and the institutions of their conquerors. as far as we can make out from the scanty documents at our disposal, roman civilization moved along the rhine towards cologne, whence a great roman highway was built towards the west, crossing the meuse at maestricht and, following the edge of the coal wood, through tongres and cambrai to boulogne. this road, known through the early middle ages as the "road of brunehaut," was for a long time the main way running from east to west in a country where all the important streams, such as the meuse, the scheldt and their tributaries, ran from south to north. the extent of roman influence may be gauged by the position which the various parts of the country occupied towards this highway. tongres and tournai still possess roman remains. the foundations of roman villas are found in the provinces of namur, hainault and artois, while all traces of roman occupation have disappeared from flanders. the sandy and marshy nature of the soil in northern belgium may to a certain extent account for this fact, and we know that, in some instances, the stones provided by old roman structures were used, in the middle ages, for the construction of new buildings. but it can nevertheless be assumed that, generally speaking, communications remained the principal factor of roman civilization in these far-away marches of the empire, and that roman influence, so strongly felt on the rhine and along the meuse, became gradually less important as the distance increased. the country was almost exclusively agricultural, but it is interesting to note, in view of later developments, that, even at this remote period, the menapii, who dwelt in flanders, had acquired a reputation for cattle breeding and manufactured woollen mantles which, under the name of "birri," were exported beyond the alps. though strongly influenced by rome in their trade and methods of agriculture, the belgo-romans had retained their language and religion. romanization, in the full meaning of the word, only began during the last years of the third century, under the influence of christianity. during the third century, the bishopric of trèves included the whole of "germania inferior." a special bishopric was established subsequently at cologne, and, about the middle of the fourth century, at tongres. others appeared later at tournai, arras and cambrai. this gradual spread of christianity, which moved along the same roads as roman civilization, from cologne towards the west, only reached flanders half a century later. the christianization of the country must have been far from complete when the incursions of the germanic tribes, greatly encouraged by the gradual decline of the roman empire, brought a sudden and dramatic change in the life and development of the two roman provinces. * * * * * [_the franks_] during the third and fourth centuries, the pressure of the germanic tribes, which had been considerably delayed by the roman conquest, reasserted itself. the rhine frontier was subjected to repeated assaults, which the depleted legions were no longer in a position to repulse effectively. the franks attacked from the east and the north through zeeland, while part of the saxons who attacked britain raided at the same time the belgian coast. in spite of the military successes of the emperors constantine and julian, the situation became so threatening that a second line of defences was fortified on the meuse and along the great roman highroad running from tongres to tournai. in , julian authorized the franks to settle in the sandy moors east of the scheldt (toxandria), and when, at the beginning of the fifth century, stilicon recalled the legions in order to defend italy against the goths, the german tribes, finding themselves unopposed, invaded the country of the scheldt and the lys, reducing into serfdom the old inhabitants who had escaped massacre. the rhine ceased henceforth to be the empire's frontier. the latter ran now along the great highway from tongres to arras. before their second line of defences the romans, under Ætius, put up a last fight, but they were defeated by the frankish king clodion, who extended his kingdom along the coast as far as the somme and established himself at tournai ( ), where his grave was discovered twelve centuries later. [_language frontier_] it seemed as if the franks, in their irresistible advance, were going to wipe out from belgium and gaul all trace of roman civilization, and such a catastrophe would no doubt have occurred, if a natural obstacle had not broken their impetus. we mentioned above that, south of a line running from dunkirk to maestricht, the country was covered with a thick forest, the "silva carbonaria." this wall of wood did more to stop the invaders than the heroic efforts of Ætius. it sheltered the celts from the franks in belgium as the mountains of wales and the hills of cornwall sheltered them from the saxons in great britain. conquests were pursued by the frankish kings and their nobles, but the invasion stopped. the movement ceased to be ethnical and became political. the franks reached the clearings of the forest and nominally subjected gaul to their power, but they were now in a minority, and the conquered soon succeeded in absorbing the conquerors. it is significant that the "lex salica," the oldest document in which the name of the coal wood is mentioned, describes it as "the boundary of the territories occupied by the frankish people." to the north of this boundary the country was entirely in the hands of the invaders; to the south, the "wala," as the franks called the belgo-romans, succeeded in maintaining themselves and in preserving to a certain extent the roman language and civilization. the old limit, running in a northerly direction and dividing in the past "germania inferior" from "belgica secunda," had been bent under the pressure of the frankish invasions, and ran now from east to west, but the dualism which we noted above had not disappeared. the franks settled in the north, the romanized celts or "walas" occupied the south. the first are the ancestors of the flemings of to-day, the second of the walloons, and the limit of languages between the two sections of the population has remained the same. it runs to-day where it ran fourteen centuries ago, from the south of ypres to brussels and maestricht, dividing belgium almost evenly into two populations belonging to two separate races and speaking two different languages. the ancient forest has disappeared, but its edge is still marked on the map. we cross it to-day without noticing any alteration in the landscape, but the distant voices of the peasants working in the fields remind us of its ancient shadow and impassable undergrowth. the traveller wonders, one moment, at the change, then takes up the road again, adding one further unanswered question to his load of unsolved problems. the historian evokes the terrible years of the fifth century, when the fate of europe hung in the balance and when the surging waves of pagan germanism spent their last energy along that leafy barrier which saved christianity and roman civilization, and incidentally gave the belgian nation its most prominent and interesting character. the singsong of a walloon sentence may thus suggest the rustling of the leaves and the piping of early birds, while the more guttural accents of a flemish name remind us of the war-cry of wild hordes and the beating of "frameas." the frankish invasions of the fifth century may be considered the most important event of belgium's early history. whether the unity of the belgian nation is questioned or upheld, we must inevitably go back to the cause of its real or apparent division. if such division, from being racial and linguistic, had become political or economic--that is to say, if the language boundary had coincided with some of the boundaries which divided the country at a later stage--the idea that belgium was born in and constituted an "artificial creation of european diplomacy" might not be groundless. here, as in many other countries of europe, nationality would have been determined mostly by race and language. this, however, is not the case. at no period of belgian history did any division follow the linguistic frontier. on the contrary, most of the political and ecclesiastical units created during the middle ages included both elements of the population, and, through frequent intercourse and common interests, these two people, speaking different languages, became gradually welded into one. when in the fifteenth century the various duchies and counties came under the sway of the dukes of burgundy, national unity was realized, as it was realized in england or in france at the same time, through the increasing power and centralizing action of modern princes. a few prejudiced writers have vainly endeavoured to exaggerate the racial or linguistic factor, and contended that, in the eyes of science, belgian nationality could not exist. the duty of a scientist is not to distort the manifestations of natural phenomena in the light of some more or less popular idea. his duty is to explain facts. the development and permanence of belgian nationality, in spite of the most adverse conditions, is one of these facts. the existence of the swiss nation, far more deeply divided than the belgian, shows that it is not unique. but even if it were unique, it ought to be accounted for. it is far easier to indulge in broad generalizations than to devote oneself to a close study of nature or man. it is not the rules, it is the exceptions which ought to retain our attention, for only exceptions will teach us how imperfect are our rules. chapter ii from saint amand to charlemagne pursuing their conquests in gaul, the frankish kings soon abandoned clodion's capital and established themselves in paris. clovis and his successors, surrounded by their warriors, could not resist the gallo-roman influences to which they were subjected. they gave their name to the country they conquered, but adopted its customs and paid but scant attention to their old companions left behind as settlers on the banks of the scheldt. with the belgo-roman population, christianity had been swept from northern belgium, and it took the church two centuries, after the baptism of clovis ( ), to reconquer the ground she had lost. this long delay is easily accounted for. the conversion of clovis and of his followers, which affected so deeply the course of french history, scarcely reacted on the creeds and customs of the pagan frankish tribes established in the northern plain. the organization of the church, which had had no time to consolidate itself, had been utterly shattered by the invasions. between the fourth and the seventh centuries, the shadow of paganism spread again across the land in northern belgium as in britain, and when st. amand arrived in flanders, he found the franks as little prepared to receive him as the saxons had been, a few years before, to receive augustine. in northern belgium, as in britain, the work of rechristianization had to be undertaken from outside. the regular bishops, confined to their towns, could not possibly cope with it. their influence was limited to a small area, and their frequent change of residence suggests that their situation was rather precarious. during the sixth century, the bishops of tongres established themselves at maestricht, those of tournai at noyon, and those of arras at cambrai. later, maestricht was abandoned for liége (early eighth century). the old titles of "episcopi tungrorum" and "episcopi morinorum" had lost all meaning since the disappearance of the old celtic tribes, but the bishops, in preserving them, showed that they still hoped to increase their influence towards the north. this ambition would have remained an empty wish but for the action of a few ardent missionaries who undertook to convert the german conquerors, in the seventh century, as the vanquished celts had been converted in the third. we have already drawn the attention of the reader to the simultaneous events occurring on both sides of the sea, in britain and belgium, during the early stage of their history--roman conquest, german raids, retreat of the celtic population among the forests and the hills--but none of these concomitant events is more striking than the appearance, almost at the same time, of st. augustine in kent and st. amand in flanders. [_st. amand_] the latter's mission, however, was not official. on his way to rome, he saw in a vision st. peter, who ordered him to preach the gospel to the northern pagans, and forthwith he established himself at the confluence of the lys and the scheldt. in this place he founded two monasteries, which were to be the origin of the city of ghent ( ). emboldened by his first successes, he attempted, supported by the king, to render baptism compulsory, which caused the franks to revolt against him. after long wanderings among the danube tribes, he came back to flanders as bishop of tongres in , but soon gave up the cross and the mitre to resume the monk's habit, and sought martyrdom among the basques. the palm being refused him, he again took the road to belgium, where he died at the monastery of elnone, near tournai, towards . for fifty years, with some intervals, he had worked unceasingly, as a monk and as a bishop, for the conversion of northern belgium. his efforts were not nearly so systematic as those of augustine. he did not organize in the same way his spiritual conquests. he contented himself with bringing pagans into the fold of christianity, but did little to retain them there. his burning enthusiasm, however, set an example to many disciples and followers, who wandered after him through the country--st. eloi along the scheldt, st. remacle along the meuse, st. lambert among the barren moors of toxandria and st. hubert through the forests of the ardennes. beside these, english and irish missionaries took a large share in the conversion of northern belgium. the fruit of these individual efforts was reaped by the various bishops who had never ceased to claim the northern plain as an integral part of their dominions, according to roman tradition. all that was necessary, after christianity had been reintroduced, was to render again effective a bond which for four centuries had remained purely nominal. the bishopric of liége extended between the meuse and the dyle, within the limits occupied formerly by that of tongres; that of cambrai, between the dyle and the scheldt (nervii); that of noyon, between the scheldt and the sea (menapii); and that of térouanne, along the yser valley (morini). thus were re-established, through the action of the church, the old frontiers of the celtic tribes, adopted by the roman "civitates," long after the disappearance of the celts and the fall of rome. liége was attached to the archbishopric of cologne, the three others to rheims, reviving, for ecclesiastical purposes, the old division between "belgica secunda" in the west and "germania inferior" in the east. this division never changed until the sixteenth century, when the northern part of the country ceased to be under the religious influence of the episcopal cities of the south. [_bishoprics_] it will be noticed that none of the ecclesiastical boundaries which we have mentioned run in an easterly direction. instead of coinciding with the language frontier, they cross it everywhere, uniting in the same religious community "walas" and "dietschen," celts and germans. for eight centuries the church, which was at the time the supreme moral influence, unconsciously devoted all its energy to bringing together the two groups of population. they met in the same churches, they prayed before the same shrines, they joined in the same pilgrimages, they studied and meditated within the walls of the same monasteries. no wonder if such intercourse succeeded finally in uniting those whom nature had so strongly separated, and in creating in belgium a new type of civilization neither celtic nor frankish, neither romanized nor germanized, but combining some of the strongest qualities of both races and well prepared to act as a kind of intellectual, moral and artistic link between them. this rule suffers only one exception. when the progress of christianity permitted the foundation of a new bishopric at utrecht, this religious metropolis was not subjected to any romanic influence. it remained purely germanic in character, and, already at this early stage of the history of the netherlands, gave a distinct character to their extreme northern districts, which reasserted itself so strongly at the time of the reformation. the merovingian kings gave a kind of sanction to this gradual separation of the salian franks, established in northern belgium, from the bulk of the germanic tribes. it is significant that the limit which for a time separated their kingdom into neustria in the west and austrasia in the east, and which followed, in eastern gaul, the language frontier, assumed another course in belgium, and, instead of running from east to west, as might have been expected, ran north and south along the frontier separating the bishopric of liége from that of cambrai, bringing walas and franks together on both sides of the line. another proof of the romanizing influence of the church may be found in the fact that the franks established in belgium forgot their tribal affinities. while in the seventh century ripuarians, alamans and thuringians constituted themselves into so many distinct duchies, no attempt was ever made to found a salian duchy in northern belgium. the very name of franks ceased to be applied to the walas' neighbours, and it is as "dietschen," or "thiois," that they were known through the middle ages. it ought not to be assumed, however, that the movement was one-sided and that the ancient franks adopted the religion and, to a certain extent, the language of the southern people without influencing them in their turn. the romanization of the franks was accompanied by the germanization of the walloons, who adopted the laws and customs of their conquerors. the latter became, in many instances, the great landowners of this part of the country, while the frankish settlers, in the north, preserved the economic tradition of their native country and remained small farmers. even this last contrast gradually disappeared under the influence of powerful landlords and through the foundation of rich monasteries, which gradually drew towards them, as tenants or clients, the bulk of the population in both parts of the country. so that, when the carolingian dynasty superseded the merovingian, and when charlemagne received the imperial crown from the hands of the pope ( ), the work of unification was very nearly accomplished. through reciprocal influences, dietschen and walas lived under the same economic, political, religious and judicial régime. the linguistic distinction, on both sides of the tournai-maestricht line, was the only notable difference, and even this distinction tended to disappear through the common use of the roman dialect. [_charlemagne_] one thing only remained to be done in order to crown the work accomplished during the two last centuries: the creation of a strong centralizing political power. the country was prepared to play the part which she was predestined to play through natural and racial conditions in the history of europe, but she was still without guidance, a mere borderland, forgotten and neglected, on the fringe of the frankish kingdom. the instrument was ready, but no artisan could yet use it. as long as the centre of political activity remained on the seine, the characteristics of belgian civilization could not be revealed. as long as the balance between germanic and romanized culture inclined steadily towards the west, the european qualities of this germanic, semi-romanized people could not be tested. it would be perhaps too much to say that charlemagne founded belgian nationality, in the same way that clovis established french nationality in unifying gaul, or that alfred revealed the english to themselves in his triumphant struggle against the danes. but, by carrying the frontiers of his empire as far as the elbe and establishing his headquarters in the centre of his old domain, at aix-la-chapelle, in a central position midway between france and germany, charlemagne gave at least an opportunity to almost every trait of belgian social life to assert itself. during the first part of the ninth century the region of the scheldt and the meuse became a beehive of activity. from every part of the world, merchants, theologians, artists and musicians crowded towards the new economic and intellectual centre of europe. arnon, a pupil of alcuin, came to elnone, the irish sedulius to liége, the italian georgius to valenciennes, while the schools of st. amand, under hucbald, acquired a world-wide reputation. everywhere new monasteries were established, new churches and palaces built. the arts of illuminating, embroidery, carving and stained glass were brought to an unparalleled degree of perfection and refinement. bishops and abbots competed in attracting to their courts and monasteries the best-known doctors and poets of the time. we have lost most of the artistic treasures and manuscripts of the period through the subsequent norman invasions. every vestige of carolingian sculpture and architecture in belgium has been destroyed. but, through the works accomplished in other countries and with the help of a few documents such as the inventory preserved in the _chronicle of st. trond_, we are able at least to appreciate not only their intrinsic value, but also the interest they awoke among clerics and laymen. that the great emperor encouraged this movement and took a direct part in it in attracting to the various centres of learning the best masters in europe is sufficiently shown by his letter to gerbald of liége. under his direction, european civilization was definitely established in the northern plain of europe and aix-la-chapelle became indeed the "northern rome." the capital, with tongres, liége, st. trond and other neighbouring cities, formed a centre from which civilization spread east and west towards germany and france, just as it had spread, a few centuries before, from central italy towards the eastern and western mediterranean. [_frisian cloth_] the old roman road, along which the monasteries founded many hostelries, was followed by streams of travellers of every description. the meuse, scheldt and rhine were dotted with the sails of many ships bringing foreign wares and taking away the products of home industry. the most important of these was a special kind of cloth, "the frisian cloth," for which the northern plain, covered with rich pastures and producing great quantities of wool, was already renowned. it was a specialized industry, the natural development of the ancient clothmaking of the menapii mentioned above, and the predecessor of the cloth-weaving for which flanders acquired a world-wide reputation during the subsequent centuries. the "frisian cloth" was already exported, by the rhine, as far as central europe and, by sea, towards great britain and scandinavia. pieces of money from the ports of sluis and duurstede have been found in both countries, and the frequency of intercourse with the north was such that a monastery was established at thourout, near duurstede, for the special purpose of training missionaries for the conversion of the danish traders. it is true that the prosperity realized under charlemagne was short-lived, and that, a few years later, northern europe, and more especially belgium, became the prey of the normans, who destroyed most of the literary and artistic treasures accumulated with such enthusiasm during his reign. it is true also that belgian unity was destined to break up, and that the country was to be divided between germany and france and their respective vassals. but if charlemagne came too soon, at a time when ethnographic conditions had not yet been sufficiently stabilized, and if his empire did not survive him, his influence has nevertheless been felt through many centuries. if his dream of a european empire could not be realized, the mission assigned to belgium, as a natural link between east and west, remains even to-day one of the main features of european politics. history has shown that no annexation, no territorial division, of the dualistic country could ever guarantee peace between france and germany. such a peace is only possible, if the intervening nation is allowed to play its part in the concert of nations, and it has only been realized, when this part has been played. belgium will never be what charlemagne made it, the nucleus of a great empire; but, unless it remains a free factor in the history of europe, as it was for the first time under the great emperor, conflicts between the two rivals, abruptly brought together along the same frontier, become inevitable. there is a big jump from the ninth century to the congress of vienna, between the glory of aix-la-chapelle and the establishment of belgian neutrality; there has been a great deal of ground covered since, but there is a kind of permanency in human affairs which cannot vainly be disregarded, and the policy of charlemagne teaches us lessons which no modern statesman ought to ignore. illustration: division of charlemagne's empire. chapter iii lotharingia and flanders the central position occupied by ancient belgium, which had been the cause of its efflorescence in the first years of the ninth century, was also the cause of its decadence after the death of charlemagne ( ). from the competition which arose at the time date the age-long rivalries between france and germany and the tribulations of the territories lying between them, which, though claimed in turn by both powers, and including a half romanized and half germanic population, were neither french nor german, but possessed an individuality of their own. if these territories had been widespread and strongly defended by nature, like ancient italy in the mediterranean world, they might have become the seat of a new european empire, or at least played the part of a strong third partner with which both french and german rivals would have had to reckon. this would have entirely changed the course of european politics and perhaps greatly increased the chances of a peaceful and stable régime. as it was, the intermediate country, widely open in the east and in the west, too weak to resist foreign aggression, became, at best, a weak buffer state, and, at worst, a bone of contention between two powerful hereditary enemies. [_feudal princes_] the wars and treaties which brought about the division of charlemagne's empire show plainly that the creation of a central power was doomed to failure, this third power being too vulnerable to resist combined attacks from east and west and being far too heterogeneous to maintain its unity. the treaty of verdun, in , divided the empire between charlemagne's three grandsons. charles received france, louis germany, and lotharius, the youngest, the rich region lying between both countries and extending from holland to italy, including the largest portion of belgium, with the title of emperor. after the death of lotharius i, his son, lotharius ii, inherited the northern part of his father's domains, which, for want of a better name, was called "regnum lotharii"--lotharingia. but both charles and louis were already endeavouring to conquer their nephew's possessions. soon after his death, they met at meersen, near maestricht ( ), where the partition of his lands was decided, charles obtaining the whole of present belgium, as far as the meuse. the death of louis was the signal for a new conflict. charles was defeated at andernach by louis iii ( ), and the frontier between france and germany was fixed on the scheldt, charles retaining flanders, louis obtaining lotharingia ( ). after the short reign of charles the fat, who restored for a few years the unity of the empire, these two parts of belgium remained thus separated for three centuries. it is important to notice that both included flemings and walloons, and that, on either side of the frontier, there was a strong tendency not to let lotharingia or flanders be drawn into the circle of german or french policy. the spirit of independence remained alive, and when, in the eleventh century, political conditions became more favourable, an entente between the belgian princes on both sides of the scheldt was the natural result of the weakening of the central power. such an entente brought about finally, in the early days of the fifteenth century, the complete reunion of both parts of the country. so that the history of belgium, from the tenth century to the early renaissance, may be considered as the history of a small part of france and a small part of germany, which, after struggling for independence against their respective masters, gradually joined hands in order to submit themselves to the rule of common national princes. it would be an error to attribute the separatist leanings of the nobles in flanders and lotharingia to national feeling, at a time when this feeling scarcely existed in western europe. no doubt, the resistance offered by the belgian nobles to their foreign sovereigns might be simply represented as the direct effect of the feudal system and of the jealous pride which every vassal entertained towards his suzerain. but, if local ambitions became supreme in europe in the tenth century, we may at least point out that, owing to the mixed characters of language and race prevailing in belgium, and to the peculiar position occupied by flanders and lotharingia, nowhere were those tendencies more evident than in these distant marches of france and germany. just as, at a later stage, bruges and ghent became the most accomplished types of the independent mediæval communes, the counts of flanders and the princes of lotharingia offered the most perfect examples of the restless feudal princes. the origin of feudalism is well known and is common to all european countries. it springs from the weakening of central authority, after the death of charlemagne, the increasing influence of the big property-owners and the gradual subordination of the small owners to the nobles who gave them the benefit of their protection. its development was greatly hastened, in belgium, by the invasions of the normans. these were particularly severe in a land which had become, under charlemagne, the richest in europe, and which was easily reached from the sea, owing to the navigable character of its rivers. they coincided with the danish invasions in england and with the scandinavian raids on the coasts of germany and france. it seemed, at one time, as if the invaders were going to settle in holland, as they settled later in normandy. in they established themselves at the mouths of the meuse, the rhine and the scheldt, and, from this centre, pursued their systematic expeditions almost unhindered. great camps were organized by them at louvain and maestricht, at the farthest navigable limit of the dyle and meuse, where all the treasures of the surrounding monasteries, churches and palaces were accumulated. lotharius ii allowed ruric to establish himself on the lower meuse, and godfried, another norman chieftain, received friesland from charles the fat. when the victory of arnulf of carinthia at louvain ( ) put a stop to their activity and compelled them to retreat, the normans left behind them only barren deserts dotted with ruins, separated by a series of entrenched camps where tenants dwelt under the protection of their masters' strongholds. [_the normans_] the normans not only hastened the advent of feudalism, they wrecked carolingian civilization as effectually as the franks had wrecked belgo-roman culture. once more the threads had to be picked up one by one, and the fabric of european civilization patiently rebuilt, and once more the church became the most important factor in this work of reconstruction and succeeded in preserving the spiritual heritage of st. amand. for the third time, she endeavoured to bring charity, art and culture into a world of violence and barbarism. after civilizing the pagan celts in the third century and the pagan franks in the seventh, she had now to civilize the christians of the tenth century, and this was not destined to be an easier task. chapter iv rÉgner long neck let us now deal briefly with the general course of events in eastern belgium, or lotharingia, attached to the germanic empire since . it is merely, as we said, the story of the efforts made by the nobles, who appear, for the first time, as a power in the state, to free themselves from the control of their imperial suzerain. the aristocracy was divided between the partisans of the german emperors and those of the local chiefs, and between these parties no compromise was possible. it would be without interest for the british reader to follow every episode of this quarrel, but some of its aspects cannot be ignored in the study of the formation of belgian nationality. illustration: feudal belgium. [_lotharingian nobles_] two features characterize the policy of the native aristocracy: their attachment to the carolingian dynasty and the way in which they endeavoured to preserve their freedom of action by concluding a series of alliances either with france against germany or with germany against france. it is easy to understand that, in these districts, which owed so much to the carolingian régime, the carolingian tradition had retained its prestige. the way the descendants of lotharius had been despoiled of their heritage by charles and louis became the pretext for a series of insurrections against the new masters imposed on the country by the second treaty of verdun. the first of these movements was led by hugh, a natural son of lotharius; it failed through the capture of its leader. the second, which was far more important, was led by a native lord, régner long neck, son of one of lotharius's daughters, who possessed vast domains in hainault, the ardennes, the liége country and on the lower meuse--that is to say, on both sides of the language frontier. régner may be considered as a typical representative of this lotharingian nobility, which, though defeated at first, succeeded in the end in freeing itself from imperial control. speaking both languages, he was attached neither to the french nor to the german party, but was ready to pass from one to the other according to the interest of his policy, which was merely to preserve his own independence. régner differed entirely from the other nobles of the empire, such as the dukes of saxony, bavaria, etc., inasmuch as he did not represent any ethnographic group. he was the ideal type of the feudal lord for whom no interest prevails against his own. thanks to his alliance with the french king, he succeeded in defeating zwentibold, the son of the emperor, and established his rule over lotharingia. his capital was at meersen, near maestricht, on the language frontier, midway between his walloon and flemish possessions. from the point of view of international politics, his son gislebert is a still more striking personality. threatened by charles the simple, he concluded an alliance with the emperor henry, and succeeded thus in shifting his position from france to germany and from germany to france no less than four times. he was finally obliged to submit to the emperor, whose power was steadily growing, and married his daughter ( ). having risen against otto, henry's successor, he was defeated at andernach and drowned in the rhine. otto experienced further difficulties in controlling his belgian possessions, and only succeeded by delegating his power to his brother bruno, archbishop of cologne, and germanizing the lotharingian bishoprics of liége and cambrai. for over a century, the german or germanized high clergy became the strongest supporters of the emperor's influence in the country. their loyalty never failed, and was emphatically expressed by wazo, bishop of liége, who declared that "even if the emperor had his right eye put out, he would not fail to use the left for his master's honour and service." bruno and notger of liége ( - ) undertook to reform their clergy and to encourage intellectual culture. under their guidance, liége became once more a great centre of learning. besides theology, grammar, rhetoric and poetry, music and mathematics were taught in the city, which could boast of being a "northern athens." the movement reached cambrai and utrecht, and one of the most important chronicles of the time, sigebert's _de scriptoribus ecclesiasticis_--a first attempt towards a universal history of europe--was written in the monastery of gembloux. the prestige derived from this intellectual movement helped considerably to increase german influence and brought to liége a number of foreign students from germany, france, england, and even from the slav countries. [_baldwin v_] for a time, the resistance of the local aristocracy was overcome. régner of hainault, nephew of gislebert, had been exiled by bruno, the carolingian dynasty was supplanted in france by the capetian, and its last representatives, duke charles and his son, lay buried side by side in maestricht. the descendants of régner long neck nevertheless remained powerful, owing, partly, to the marriage of régner v of hainault with a daughter of hugh capet, and to the marriage of lambert of louvain to the daughter of duke charles. from the first years of the eleventh century, feudalism prevailed not only in hainault and brabant, but also in namur, holland and luxemburg, so that the only means the emperor and his loyal bishops had to maintain their power was by provoking rivalries among the nobles. the title of duke of lotharingia was therefore not given to one of régner's descendants, but to godfrey of verdun, who succeeded in defeating his adversaries at florennes ( ), where he was killed. his successors did not show the same loyalty to germany, and when the emperor henry iii attempted to divide the duchy in order to diminish the duke's power, he found himself faced by a powerful confederacy, including not only godfrey the bearded, the counts of louvain, hainault, namur and holland, but also baldwin v of flanders ( ). the date is important, for it marks a turning-point in the mediæval history of belgium. for two centuries flanders and lotharingia had remained separated, dependent respectively on france and germany for their political life. by crossing the boundary established by the verdun treaty and interfering directly in the internal affairs of lotharingia, baldwin inaugurated a new policy and rendered possible a system of alliances between the belgian nobles which brought about the reunion of both parts of the country under the same sovereign and, ultimately, the foundation of belgian nationality. the emperors might have resisted more successfully if they had preserved to the last the support of the bishops, who had been for so long their trustworthy agents. in order to understand how they lost this support, we must describe briefly the conditions of religious life during the tenth and eleventh centuries. * * * * * when the normans left the country, it was again plunged in barbarism. the monasteries were in every way similar to any other feudal residence, and the ascetic rule of st. benedict was entirely forgotten. the abbots rather distinguished themselves from the other nobles by their greed and violence. they married and indulged in drinking bouts and predatory expeditions. a reform was urgently needed. once more it was not accomplished by the high clergy, but quite spontaneously by the people themselves, whose faith had survived the ordeal of invasions. [_revival_] gérard de brogne, an obscure nobleman, possessor of the small domain of brogne, near namur, after a visit to the abbey of st. denys, decided to restore the benedictine tradition. on his return, he founded an abbey on his own land, gave up the world, and retired with a few disciples to the solitude of the woods. the nobles soon heard of his exemplary life and endeavoured to secure his services. almost against his will, he was made to go from one monastery to another under the patronage of duke gislebert and of arnulf of flanders. st. ghislain, st. pierre, st. bavon (ghent), st. amand and st. omer received his visit in turn, and, by the middle of the tenth century, the old rule was re-established from the meuse to the sea. the bishops of liége, cambrai and utrecht joined in the movement and, with their help and that of the nobility, a number of new monasteries sprang to life in a very short time on both sides of the linguistic frontier. an extraordinary religious revival took place, which was not limited to an intellectual aristocracy, like the reform brought about almost at the same time by bruno and notgen in the schools of cologne and liége. it was not concerned with science or politics, and was essentially religious and popular in character. the chronicles of the time tell us of many examples of religious fervour. at st. trond, the people volunteered to bring from the rhine the stones and pillars for the erection of a new church. near tournai, a colony of monks established in the ruins of an old abbey were fed, year after year, by the citizens. at the end of the eleventh century a great procession was instituted in that town, in which the whole population of the neighbouring districts took part, without any distinction of rank or class, the people walking barefoot behind a miraculous image of the virgin. in order to put a stop to local conflicts, so frequent at the time, it was enough to send a few monks carrying some sacred shrine. at the sight of the relics, the contending warriors laid down their weapons, forgot their quarrels and became reconciled. gérard de brogne prepared the way for the clunisian reformers, who, coming from lorraine, spread rapidly during the first part of the eleventh century through belgium towards germany. this new movement, however, which became extremely popular not only among the people and the nobility but also among the high clergy, was bound to react on the political situation of lotharingia at a time when the question of the supremacy of the spiritual over the temporal power was brought to the fore. the clunisians, like most mystics at the time, were bound to reject any interference of the emperors in the affairs of the church. they only recognized one power, the spiritual power of the pope. in the struggle for the investitures, all their influence was thrown against henry iv and his german bishops. the latter, after a long resistance, were obliged to give way before the popular outcry and the relentless opposition of the feudal lords, who found in the new movement a powerful and unexpected ally. french influence had come once more to their help in their efforts to shake off german hegemony. * * * * * [_godfrey of bouillon_] against the combined action of the clunisians, the lotharingian nobles and their new allies, the counts of flanders, the emperors were still powerless. after the death of henry iii, count baldwin v obtained some territories between the scheldt and the dendre (imperial flanders) and the supremacy over hainault, through the marriage of his son to countess richilda ( ). the duke of lotharingia, godfrey the hunchback, the last belgian supporter of imperial rule, after checking the progress of the coalition, died, murdered in zeeland ( ). his son, godfrey of bouillon, sold his land to the bishop of liége and left the country as the leader of the first crusade. the belgian princes, talking both languages, in close relations with france and germany, were bound to take an important part in the great european adventure. they were, as far as the word may be used at this period of history, more european than national lords. and it is no doubt owing to this essentially belgian character, as well as to his personal qualities, that godfrey was chosen by the crusaders as their chief rather than other princes who, in spite of their greater riches and power, were not so well placed to understand and conciliate rival claims. the same reasons which made aix-la-chapelle the capital of charlemagne's empire gave the leadership of the mightiest european expedition of the middle ages to a humble and ruined belgian prince. the first years of the twelfth century mark the triumph of local feudalism over imperial rule. while henry iv, under the ban of excommunication, found a last refuge in liége, his son gave the ducal dignity to godfrey of louvain. thus the house of régner long neck, after two centuries of ostracism, came into its own once more. chapter v baldwin the bearded while, during the tenth and eleventh centuries, the lotharingian lords were striving to retain their independence under german rule, the counts of flanders acquired very rapidly a considerable influence in france, and were practically left free to administer their domains without any interference from outside. no duke, no bishops stood in their way. they were directly dependent on the french kings, and the latter were so weak, at the time, that they could not use the power they possessed. from this point of view the story of the two parts of mediæval belgium presents a striking contrast. on one side of the scheldt, an enfeebled and divided nobility struggled against a powerful suzerain; on the other, a powerless suzerain was vainly attempting to assert his authority over one of his most overbearing vassals. [_counts of flanders_] there is, however, one characteristic which the house of régner and that of the flemish counts had in common. both owed their initial power to their alliance with the carolingian dynasty. just as régner's father had abducted one of lotharius's daughters, baldwin iron arm succeeded in abducting judith, daughter of charles the bald, and widow of the english king ethelwulf ( ). this gave him a pretext to intervene in french affairs, of which his son baldwin ii ( - ) made full use. after extending his domains as far as the somme and annexing walloon flanders and artois, this prince consolidated his power by marrying a daughter of alfred the great. flanders was definitely established as one of the richest fiefs of the french crown, in close contact with england. like lotharingia, it possessed two essentially belgian characteristics. it had neither racial nor linguistic unity, the north being germanic and the south romanized, and it was placed between two rival powers, france and england. the counts, or "marchios" as they preferred to call themselves, sought alliance at one time with their suzerain, at another with their neighbour, according to circumstances. when the power of the french kings increased, they leant more and more towards england, as the lotharingian nobles had towards france when threatened by the german emperors. arnulf i, having secured douai and arras, turned his attention towards normandy, but his progress was soon checked in that direction. his seal, which has been preserved, is the oldest feudal seal known, and the story of his life, the _sancta prosapia domini arnulfi comitis gloriosissimi_, was the origin of the collection of annals and chronicles in latin, french and flemish which formed, in the sixteenth century, the well-known _excellente cronijke van vlaenderen_. his son and grandson gave up all attacks against normandy and endeavoured to extend their possessions towards the east and south. baldwin iv seized valenciennes, in hainault, and held it, for some time, against a coalition including the emperor, the king of france and the duke of normandy. he was finally obliged to restore the town in , but, a few years later, succeeded in obtaining a portion of zeeland and zeeland flanders ("four métiers"). in spite of the efforts made by the emperors to fortify the line of the scheldt at antwerp and valenciennes, his successor, baldwin v, the bearded, crossed the river, and, after pushing as far as the dendre, obtained from henry ii the investiture of the country of alost and zeeland. this was called "imperial flanders," as opposed to french flanders, and the count, though nominally subjected to the rule of king and emperor, acquired from his intermediate position a new prestige. like the dukes of burgundy, four centuries later, he only lacked the title of a sovereign. "the kings," according to william of poitiers, "feared and respected him; dukes, marquises, bishops trembled before him." when henry i of france died, baldwin was unanimously chosen to act as regent until young philip came of age. the latter called him "his patron, the protector of his childhood"; he called himself "_regni procurator et bajulus_." the regency ended in , at a time when william of normandy, who had married one of baldwin's daughters, was preparing to invade england. the mere threat of a diversion on the somme would have prevented this expedition, whose consequences were to prove later on so dangerous to france. but baldwin acted as a belgian, not as a french prince. it suited his policy to create a rival to his suzerain. far from hampering william, he allowed a number of his subjects to take an active part in the enterprise. [_bruges as capital_] the marriage of baldwin's eldest son with richilda of hainault and of his second son robert with gertrude of holland suggested the possibility of an early unification of belgium under the counts of flanders. according to gilbert of bruges, the two sons of baldwin were "like powerful wings sustaining him in his flight." the reunion of hainault and flanders was, however, destined to be short-lived. baldwin vi died in , leaving his widow richilda with two young children; robert, her brother-in-law, rebelled against her. after his victory at mont cassel, where he defeated a french army sent by the king to richilda's help, he left hainault to his nephew and took possession of flanders. up to then, the counts had resided most of the time in the southern part of their possessions, where they had their richest domains. robert the frisian established his capital at bruges, whose trade was beginning to develop rapidly, and which had opened relations with england and the baltic countries. the fact that robert's first possessions were in holland might have influenced his choice, but the change marks, nevertheless, an important stage in the evolution of flanders from a purely agricultural country into an industrial and commercial one. it looked at one time as if war was going to break out between england and flanders, as the conqueror, owing to his marriage, had some claims on the country. robert, who had given his daughter in marriage to king canute of denmark, concluded an alliance with him, and even projected a combined attack on the english coast, which, however, never materialized. he proved an irreconcilable enemy to the german emperors, and entered into close relations with the pope. his pilgrimage to jerusalem, in , added to his prestige, and the emperor alexis, who had received him with great pomp in constantinople, asked his support against the turks. the letter which the emperor addressed to him at the time, as to the "staunchest supporter of christianity," and which was given wide circulation, had a considerable influence in preparing the first crusade, in which his son robert ii ( - ) took a prominent part under godfrey of bouillon. the rich and powerful count of flanders did not remain in the holy land, like the ruined duke of lotharingia. his home interests were far too important. he gave up the danish policy of his father and allied himself to the king of france against the english kings, whose power was rapidly increasing. the french alliance stood him in good stead when, making a pretext of the struggle of the investitures and of his relationship with the pope, he renewed his ancestor's claim upon the emperor's possessions. more successful than baldwin iv, he succeeded in detaching the bishopric of arras from cambrai, and in spite of the obstinate resistance of henry iv and henry v, in obtaining the suzerainty over cambraisis. [_policy of flanders_] on the other hand, by encouraging and protecting the first capetians, robert of jerusalem and his son baldwin vii made a very grave political mistake. too preoccupied by the imminent danger from england, they did not realize that, owing to its geographical position, this country could never threaten flanders's independence in the same way as france, which had, besides, the right to interfere in its internal affairs. it is, however, characteristic of the count's policy that, on several occasions, in and , they signed separate agreements with henry i, in which they promised him to use all their influence in his favour in case the french king contemplated an expedition against england, and, if their efforts failed, not to give their suzerain more help than they were strictly bound to. even at the time when the alliance with france was most cordial, the door was never closed on possible negotiations with england. to call such a policy sheer duplicity would be to misunderstand the spirit of the period and the special position in which the belgian princes, whether of lotharingia or of flanders, were placed. their diplomacy was the necessary result of the central situation occupied by their possessions. unless they endeavoured to maintain a certain balance of power between their neighbours, they were in direct danger of losing their independence. periods of hesitation coincided with a divided menace. as soon as the danger became evident on one side, the belgian princes invariably turned towards the other. the same reasons which bound the descendants of régner long neck to france soon brought about a closer entente between the counts and communes of flanders and the english kings. chapter vi the belfries on several occasions in the course of the eleventh century, the constitution of belgian unity seemed to come within sight. the scheldt no longer divided the country into two distinct political units. the powerful counts of flanders were still practically independent of their french suzerain, while the struggle for the investitures had ruined the emperors' authority in the meuse region, where the native nobility was again exerting its supremacy. both parts of the country were brought more and more into contact by military alliances and dynastic intermarriages. in spite of these tendencies, three centuries were still to elapse before the reunion of the various counties and duchies under the same house and the foundation of what may be considered as the belgian nation, in the modern sense of the word. while in france and england the central power was making great progress against the separatist tendencies of the feudal barons, in belgium the work of political centralization was delayed by the considerable influence exerted on social conditions by the towns, or communes. illustration: cloth hall and belfry, ypres (destroyed ). (thirteenth century.) _ph. b._ [_first communes_] the development of urban institutions in the twelfth century was not peculiar to belgium. almost in every european country the progress of trade and industry had the same result, but, just as feudalism had been more feudal in the region of the meuse and the scheldt than in any other part of northern europe, communalism became more communal. the same reasons which favoured separatism from the point of view of the feudal lords allowed the spirit of the guilds to assert itself more energetically than in the neighbouring countries. the very remoteness of any strong centralizing influence, the linguistic and racial differences, favoured the new régime, while the resources of the country and its geographical position on the map of europe gave to its trade and industry an extraordinary efflorescence. the communes found in belgium a well prepared ground. politically, they met with a minimum of resistance; economically, they benefited from a maximum of advantages. illustration: the castle of the counts, ghent (twelfth century). _ph. b._ up to the twelfth century, it must be remembered, only the lay and ecclesiastical aristocracy had been allowed to play a part in belgian, and, for the matter of that, in european history. the feudal system had reduced the ancient free peasants to bondage; most of them were tied to the soil and deprived, of course, of all political rights. the foundation of large towns of , to , inhabitants, whose citizens possessed their own militia, their own tribunals and their own privileges, was nothing short of a social revolution. the merchants and artisans made their influence strongly felt in the state; they had money and military power, and the impoverished nobility became more and more dependent on them. the spirit of separatism and local individualism passed thus from the castle to the town, and it was only when some balance was re-established between the different classes of society, and when altered economic conditions necessitated a closer co-operation of the whole nation, that unification became possible in the early days of the fifteenth century. the story of the formation of the first communes is well known. it is the same in all parts of western europe, though the essential characteristics are nowhere more evident than in belgium. trade gave the first impulse. it had been practically annihilated by the norman invasions and the wars of the ninth century. using the natural waterways of the country and the sea routes, it revived slowly, and we know, through the discovery of flemish coins in denmark, prussia and russia, that the belgian coast was already in frequent communication with northern europe at the end of the tenth century. the norman conquest was the main cause of the rapid progress of trade in the eleventh century. many flemings accompanied william in his expedition, many more followed as colonists, and a constant intercourse was established between the thames and the scheldt. the development of the trade of bruges was the natural consequence of the increasing importance of london. singing the _kyrie eleison_, flemish sailors came up the thames, bringing to england wine from france and germany, spices from the east and cloth from flanders. [_merchants_] meanwhile, great fairs had been established in southern flanders at lille, ypres and douai, where french and italian merchants met the flemish traders; so that flanders was kept in close contact with the romanized countries by the continental routes, while the sea brought her into touch with the germanic world. wharves and storehouses were built on the main streams where the merchants made their winter quarters, usually in the vicinity and under the protection of some monastery or some feudal castle. though the commercial settlements were more dependent than the latter on the geographical features of the country, most of the best situated spots, at the crossing of two main roads (maestricht), at the confluence of navigable streams (liége, ghent), at the highest navigable point of a river (cambrai), etc., had attracted the monks and the barons before the merchants. the new settlements were, however, quite distinct from the old, and their population lived under an entirely different régime. the name given to them at the time is characteristic: they were called either "porters" or "emporia" (storehouses); even after the industrial population had joined the merchants, the inhabitants remained for a long time "mercatores." the nobles--especially the lay nobles--protected the traders. at a time when landed property diminished considerably in value, they were a source of revenue. they paid tolls on the rivers, on the roads, at the fairs. they provided all lingeries, silks, spices, furs, jewels, etc.; their ships could be equipped for war. these were sufficient reasons for the princes to grant the wandering traders a certain freedom and a privileged position in the state, and even to fight any noble who persecuted them and robbed them of their wares. at the beginning of the twelfth century, trade not only moved from south to north, on belgium's many navigable streams; it ran also from east to west along a new road connecting bruges with cologne, through maestricht, st. trond, léau, louvain, brussels, alost and ghent, all these places occupying some favourable geographical position. the origin of the prosperity of antwerp dates from this period, a certain part of the wares being transported to this spot by the scheldt from ghent. the bruges-cologne road eventually ruined the trade of the latter place, to the great advantage of agricultural brabant, which was, by this means, drawn into the economic movement then revolutionizing social conditions on the meuse and the scheldt. [_artisans_] had this movement continued to be purely commercial, social conditions would not have undergone such a rapid change, for the number of settlers would have remained relatively small. but, already in the eleventh century, the "porters" and "emporia" proved a centre of attraction, not only to discontented serfs and would-be merchants, but to skilled artisans, mostly clothmakers in flanders and metal-workers on the meuse. from the early days of the menapii the inhabitants of northern belgium had a reputation for working the wool of their sheep. under charlemagne, it had already become their principal industry. in the eleventh century, with the conquest of new "polders" upon the sea and the extension of the area of rich low meadows, the quantity of wool increased considerably, and, more raw material becoming available, the cloth industry developed accordingly. from the building of a protective dyke to the weaver bending over his loom and to the ship carrying valuable flemish cloth from bruges to london or any other part of the european coast, there is a natural chain of thought. but the progress accomplished along the coast may also be connected with the foundation and development of the first towns and the chimes of the belfries. in the hills of the south, industry was very likely determined by the presence of copper and tin mines. the latter, however, were rapidly exhausted, and, as early as the tenth century, the artisans of the meuse were obliged to fetch their raw material from germany, especially from the mines of the geslar. the industry, however, remained in dinant and huy, and coppersmiths and merchants met in these places, as clothmakers and merchants met in the flemish towns. so that, in the early middle ages, the contrast between agricultural and industrial belgium was already apparent. the migration of artisans towards trade centres in the eleventh century is as easy to understand as the attraction exerted in the present day by commerce on industry. but, in the middle ages, the union was bound to become closer still, owing to the resistance offered by the old régime to the social transformation and to the necessity felt by the "guilds" (either of merchants or of artisans) to unite against a common enemy. though, in some instances, the new towns received their privileges from the princes, who rather encouraged than opposed their development, the burgesses were frequently obliged to fight in order to obtain their liberty. the case of cambrai is typical. a settlement of traders and artisans had been established close to the walls of the episcopal castle at the beginning of the eleventh century. in it was surrounded with walls and became a "bourg" (borough). the "bourg" was placed under the jurisdiction of the bishop's officers, who administered it without making any allowance for new conditions, the laws applied to peasants and serfs being vigorously applied to traders and craftsmen. meetings took place in the "halle" (guildhall), and the members of the guilds swore to shake off the bishop's yoke as soon as an opportunity arose. when, in , bishop gérard left cambrai to receive his investiture from henry iv, the burgesses overwhelmed the soldiery, seized the gates and proclaimed the commune. it was not a rising of the poor against the rich, for the leaders were the richest merchants in the town, neither was it a rising of guelphs against ghibelines, though the bishop had lost much of his prestige owing to his loyalty to the emperor. it was essentially a fight of the new "bourgeoisie" against feudalism, of a commercial and industrial culture against a purely agricultural civilization. the rising was soon crushed, but, a few years later, bishop walcher was obliged to grant to the citizens the charters which bishop gérard had refused them, and even when, in , the emperor henry v tore up cambrai's charter, the town preserved its sheriffs and magistrates. the burgesses kept up the struggle for two centuries, until they succeeded in taking from the bishops every shred of temporal power and in obtaining the entire control of the city. [_nobles and communes_] cambrai was, with huy, one of the first communes in belgium, and the rising had a great influence in northern france. it is an extreme example of the resistance of the feudal lords to the rise of the bourgeoisie. generally speaking, this resistance was greater among ecclesiastical than among lay nobles, and in small fiefs, where the prince was in direct opposition to the people, than in larger ones, where the communes frequently supported him against his vassals or even against his suzerain. while the imperial bishops opposed the movement, for instance, the counts of flanders encouraged it. during the eleventh century, the merchants had already enjoyed the protection of the counts, and, in the beginning of the twelfth century, the erection of a wall surrounding the "porters" was accompanied by the grant of special privileges. when charles the good was killed in , the people rose to avenge his death and besieged his murderers in the castle of bruges. the count having left no heir, louis vi of france upheld the claim of william of normandy, but the burgesses, fearing that the duke would not maintain their privileges, opposed his candidature and selected thierry of alsace. a war ensued, during which most of the nobles sided with the first, whilst the towns and free peasants took the part of the second. after his victory, thierry showed his gratitude by extending to all towns in the country, whether walloon or flemish, the same freedom. strangely enough, it was not the charter of bruges which was chosen, but that of arras. the towns enjoyed a kind of self-government. the citizens were judged by their own sheriffs ("échevins"), the prince being represented on their council by a "bailli." they had their own seal, their own hall and archives. they owed allegiance to their prince, and, in case of war, had to give him military help. their rights were shown by the gallows erected at the gates of the town and by the belfry, whose bell called the burgesses to arms when the city was threatened by the enemy. illustration: the cloth hall and belfry, bruges (thirteenth-fourteenth century). _ph. b._ in brabant also the communes enjoyed the protection of the duke, but they developed later, owing to the agricultural character of the region. the importance of louvain and brussels dates from the twelfth century, when the cologne-bruges road brought commercial activity into the country and when the weaving industry began to spread in the duchy. as for liége, which was a purely ecclesiastical town, where, for a long time, the number of priests and monks exceeded that of the ordinary citizens, it enjoyed a smaller share of local liberties than the other centres of the meuse valley where industry was more developed, and the citizens never succeeded in freeing themselves completely from the bishop's authority. [_peasants_] if the imperial bishops opposed the new movement, it was mainly owing to the influence of the monks, and especially the cistercian monks, that it spread to agricultural districts and that the rise of the communes coincided with the abolition of serfdom. the direct consequence of the development of trade and industry was the depreciation of the land, and it became necessary to open new districts to agriculture. the cistercians were pioneers in this direction. they established their houses in barren heaths and marshy districts, and applied their skill and patience to converting them into fertile fields. unable to carry on the work unaided, they appealed to lay brethren, who established farms in the neighbourhood of the monasteries. these peasants were no longer serfs but free peasants, as had been their forefathers after the frankish invasion. under the supervision of the monks and of the stewards of dukes and counts, who soon realized the advantages of the cistercian method, they created new "polders" along the flemish coast, cleared the forests of hainault and namur, and reclaimed the heaths and marshes of flanders and brabant. the reclaimed ground was divided among the workers, so that, at the beginning of the thirteenth century, a new class of free peasants replaced the old class of feudal serfs. the farm produce was no longer for local consumption alone; it was taken to the market-place, where the farmers met the merchants and artisans. the social transformation begun in the town halls spread thence to the country-side, and the whole country began to share the same economic and political interests. the belfry remains the living symbol of this rapid and widespread transformation, and the few mediæval belfries which remain standing in belgium date from that period. those of ghent and tournai, built at the end of the twelfth century, stand alone, in the centre of the town, while in ypres and bruges (thirteenth century) the tower was erected above the centre of the "halles." in both cases, however, the meaning of these old monuments is the same. they are far more typical of belgian mediæval civilization than the gothic churches of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, such as st. bavon (ghent), ste. gudule (brussels) and notre dame (bruges), and even than the great cathedrals built later in antwerp and malines. belgium's ecclesiastical architecture, though distinct from the french, is strongly influenced by the french gothic style, while her civic monuments can only be compared to the palazzi publici of florence and sienna. they stand as living witnesses of the heroic times when the alliance of the guilds was sought by the princes and when common artisans did not hesitate to challenge the power of the french kings. the spirit which raised them has left its mark on the people, who still cherish to an extraordinary degree their local institutions, and for whom communal privileges constitute the very basis of social liberty. this "love of the clock-tower" is not only belgian, or italian, or english; it is essentially a european trait, as opposed to asiatic imperialism, and may even be found in republican rome and in ancient greece. [_town citizenship_] it is not without interest to notice that this european conception of town-citizenship coincided with an exceptional artistic and economic development strongly subjected both to latin and germanic influences. while in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries ghent became the centre of flemish-german trade, owing to its privileged position on the cologne road, bruges was the most cosmopolitan centre in europe. it communicated with the sea by a canal, whose great dykes are mentioned by dante (_inferno_, xv, , ), and its market-place, deserted to-day, was then crowded with traders from england, france, spain and germany and brokers from lombardy and tuscany. seventeen states were represented in the city, where the hanseatic towns had their main warehouses. ships, laden with stores from all parts of the world, took with them flemish textiles, which were celebrated for their suppleness and beauty of colour, and which were exported, not only to all parts of europe, but even to the bazaars of the east. when local raw material became insufficient, wool was imported from england, and the hansa of london centralized the trade between the two countries. england and flanders were thus brought close together, and their commercial relations reacted on the policy of both countries. in the shadow of the bruges belfry, amid english, french, german and italian traders, a new civilization was born, which, combining the latin and germanic influences to which it was subjected, was soon to assert its own originality. belgium had definitely broken down the barriers of feudalism. the same causes which had liberated her people had brought them into contact with the outside world. chapter vii the golden spurs the political history of the last centuries of the middle ages is entirely dominated by the development of the communes. their influence is twofold. on one hand, they prevented the absorption of the country by the french kings; on the other, they delayed its unification under national princes. by safeguarding local liberties, they checked foreign ambitions, but, through their efforts to maintain their privileges and through their petty rivalries, they impeded, for a long time, the establishment of central institutions. during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries they fostered trade and industry by affording due protection to the burgesses and forcing the princes to follow a policy in accordance with the interests of the country. during the fourteenth century they were weakened by internal struggles between classes and cities, and, through their trade restrictions, became an obstacle to the free development of the economic life of the nation. [_flanders' influence_] the cardinal event of the period is the battle of courtrai ( ), also called the battle of the golden spurs, owing to the great number of these spurs collected on the battlefield after the defeat of the french knights by the flemish militia. it was hailed at the time as a miraculous triumph for the commoners, the disproportion between the opposing forces being somewhat exaggerated by enthusiastic contemporary chroniclers. but its influence was not only social, it was national, for it definitely secured the independence of flanders and of the other belgian principalities against the increasing power of the french kings, and this rendered possible the unification of the country, which was accomplished, a century later, under the dukes of burgundy. illustration: seal of the town of damme. ( ). illustration: seal of guy de dampierre, count of flanders ( - ). at the beginning of the twelfth century the old distinction between lotharingia and flanders had practically ceased to exist. the emperor's prestige, greatly diminished by the struggle of the investitures, was no longer strong enough to keep the belgian princes east of the scheldt within the bounds of their allegiance. the most loyal of them, the count of hainault, would not even depart from neutrality during the war waged between frederick barbarossa and the french king. "he was not obliged," he declared, "to put his fortunes in the hands of the imperial troops and to grant them passage across his territory, as that would bring devastation to his country." the development of trade and industry had shifted the centre of interest from germany, which remained purely feudal and agricultural, to flanders, which represented a far more advanced civilization, based on the free development of the cities. when the princes of brabant, hainault and the other principal cities looked for an example or for some political support, they no longer had to seek it outside the country. even liége was gradually drawn within the circle of flanders's influence. this lead, given by one belgian principality to the others, over the scheldt boundary, marks the break-up of the division of the country between france and germany inaugurated at the treaty of verdun, and prepares the work of centralization which brought about the creation of belgian nationality. the policy of flanders was determined by the desire to preserve peace with england and with france, germany playing only a very secondary part in european affairs at the time. good relations with england were essential to the flemish cloth industry, since most of the wool was imported from this country through bruges. as the power of the french kings increased, the flemish counts endeavoured also to avoid any conflict with their suzerains, since their northern allies could not bring them sufficient military help to prevent the country's invasion. counts and communes tried in vain to remain neutral. neutrality was impossible, and, whenever it was infringed, flanders had invariably to suffer from the consequences, either through the ruin of her trade or through the loss of her liberties. [_bouvines_] the house of alsace came into power at the death of charles the good. its representative, thierry, had been opposed by the french king, who wanted to give the county to the duke of normandy. the communes, fearing that the duke's attitude would bring difficulties with england, upheld the claim of thierry, who prevailed after the death of his rival. his son, philip, acquired further territories in france (amiénois, valois and vermandois). his influence and his prestige were so considerable that the french king, philippe-auguste, is supposed to have said: "france will absorb flanders or be destroyed by it." to his suzerain's policy of "absorption," the count of flanders opposed the british alliance, which he, however, broke in , when he thought himself threatened by his ally. philip of alsace died in the crusade, during the siege of st. john of acre ( ). philippe-auguste at once attempted to seize his possessions, but his attempt was frustrated by count baldwin v of hainault, who invaded the country and, having been recognized by the communes, succeeded in uniting both counties. baldwin v of hainault and ix of flanders preserved a friendly neutrality towards england during the struggle between coe de lion and philippe-auguste. when the count of flanders, who had become emperor of constantinople, died before adrianople ( ), the french king hoped at last to annex definitely the rich county. he had given baldwin's daughter in marriage to one of his creatures, ferrand of portugal, who thus became the legitimate successor. as soon, however, as he arrived in flanders, ferrand recognized that he could only maintain himself in power by pursuing an independent policy friendly to england. though a foreigner, with little knowledge of the country, he observed the same attitude towards france as his predecessors, concluding an alliance against his liege with the duke of brabant, king john of england and the emperor otto. the confederates were severely defeated at bouvines ( ), and, for nearly a century, the hegemony of france became paramount in the low countries. not only did the kings henceforth rule in their own estates of flanders, but they were able to extend their influence over the whole country as far as liége. the wishes of their representatives were considered as orders, and the complete absorption of belgium by france seemed the foregone conclusion of their tireless activity. two obstacles, however, stood in the way--the fact that flanders drew from england most of her raw material and the independent policy of the dukes of brabant. henry iii took the hansa of london under his special protection and promised the flemish traders that they should not be molested even if war broke out between england and france, unless flanders took an active part in the conflict. the flemish trade constituted a large source of revenue for the english kings, and it was still as essential, at the time, to the prosperity of england as to that of flanders. since the increased power of the french crown had rendered direct opposition impossible, the british kings did their best to favour flemish neutrality and to enter into close friendship with the only belgian princes who had preserved their full independence, the dukes of brabant. the latter belonged to the last national dynasty ruling in the country and were therefore particularly popular. the battle of woeringen ( ), in which duke john i succeeded in defeating the powerful archbishop of cologne and his allies, established his supremacy between the meuse and the rhine and gave him the full control of the road from cologne to ghent, through louvain and brussels, which brought brabant into line with flanders's trade and industry. brabant became thus the national bulwark against foreign influence and the political stronghold of belgium, a position which it never completely relinquished, even through the cruel vicissitudes of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. [_brabant_] if the prosperity of brabant did not yet equal that of flanders, the dukes possessed greater authority over their subjects and enjoyed far more independence. edward i, when preparing for war against france, fully appreciated these advantages, and gave his daughter margaret in marriage to the son of john i. antwerp benefited largely from the anglo-brabançonne alliance, since, when the english kings forbade the importation of wool into flanders, following some conflict with france, the english merchants found a suitable market in the scheldt port in close communication with the centres of brabant's cloth industry, louvain, brussels and malines. the cities of flanders, however, were not prepared to see their trade ruined to suit the plans of the french. the economic reasons which forbade a hostile attitude towards england would have afforded sufficient ground for an anti-french reaction. the crisis was hastened by internal trouble. the merchants and the craftsmen of the communes had not remained united. the rich and influential merchants had gradually monopolized public offices and formed a strong aristocracy opposed by the craftsmen. count guy de dampierre declared himself for the artisans, philip the fair of france, seizing the opportunity of interfering in the affairs of flanders, declared himself in favour of the aristocracy. at the same time, he opposed the projected marriage of the count's daughter with king edward's eldest son. the popular party, or "clauwaerts" (the claw of the flemish lion), was not sufficiently organized to resist the "leliaerts" (partisans of the lily), helped by philip's forces, and for five years the land remained under french occupation, count guy being imprisoned in france. in july a terrible rising, known as "matines brugeoises" and led by the weaver pieter de coninck, broke out in bruges, when all the french in the town were murdered in the early hours of the morning. philip immediately sent a powerful army to punish the rebels, which was defeated under the walls of courtrai by the flemish militia, which some nobles, partisans of the count, had hastily joined. the consequences of the battle of the golden spurs were considerable. it reversed the situation created, a century before, by bouvines. from the social point of view, it gave a tremendous impulse to democratic liberty throughout belgium. as a result, the people of liége obtained, in , their first liberties, symbolized by the erection of the "perron." the "joyeuse entrée" of brabant was published in and became the fixed constitution of the central principality. charters were enlarged and confirmed even in the least industrial districts of hainault and namur, luxemburg remaining practically the only purely feudal state in the country. duke john of luxemburg, who became king of bohemia and who fought at crécy, was considered at the time as one of the last representatives of mediæval chivalry. the prince of wales's motto "i serve" was supposed to have been borrowed by the black prince from this noble enemy. [flanders and england] from the national point of view, the battle of courtrai is no less important. had the flemings again failed in their bold bid for liberty, the principle of belgian nationality might have been irretrievably jeopardized on the eve of the period when it was to assert itself, and the efforts of centuries towards the reconstitution of political unity might have become useless. it is, of course, entirely wrong to attribute the rising of to purely patriotic motives, as some romantic belgian historians have endeavoured to do; but one may legitimately believe that part at least of the blind and obstinate heroism displayed during the struggle may have been inspired by an obscure instinct that flanders was, at the moment, waging the battle of belgium--that is to say, of all the lands lying between france and germany, and which, if permanently annexed by one or other of the powers, must necessarily upset the balance of europe and wreck all hope of european peace based on national freedom. flanders did not, however, reap the full benefits of her victory. the peace concluded in , after further military operations, took away from the county all the walloon district, considerably reducing the cattle grazing area and making flemish industry more dependent than ever on england for its raw material. from the beginning of the fourteenth century, the counts, who had, up to then, sided with the people, went over to the french party, so that, when the hundred years' war broke out, flanders found herself again faced by the cruel alternative of breaking her allegiance and being exposed to the disasters of an armed invasion from the south, or keeping it and seeing her industry ruined owing to the stoppage of her trade with england. as early as , count louis de nevers having ordered the arrest of english merchants, edward iii, as a reprisal, interrupted all intercourse between the two countries. this measure was all the more disastrous for flanders because, helped by the immigration of some flemish weavers and fullers to england, an english cloth industry had been started across the channel. the english were therefore far less dependent on the flemings than the flemings on the english, and it was to be feared that the new industry would greatly benefit from the monopoly created by the stoppage of trade. the prosperity of bruges was further threatened, since the prohibition did not include brabant, and antwerp remained open to british trade. [van artevelde] in the people rose against their count, and jacques van artevelde of ghent became the acknowledged leader of the movement. these risings differed from the "matines brugeoises" in that the aristocracy took part in them as well as the craftsmen. van artevelde was not a workman like de coninck. he was a rich landowner and had great interests in the cloth trade. his aim was not only to preserve the country's independence, but to safeguard its prosperity. approached by edward iii's delegates, he tried at first to maintain a purely neutral attitude, but, when the english king landed in antwerp with supplies of wool, he was obliged to side with england. the "wise man of ghent" suggested, however, that in order to relieve the communes of their oath of allegiance to philip of valois, who had succeeded the capetians, edward should declare himself the true king of france. the struggle which followed the destruction of the french fleet at sluis ( ) was protracted, no decision being reached at the siege of tournai. edward was called back to england by the restlessness of his own subjects, while the flemish artisans were unwilling indefinitely to hold the field against the french armies. the departure of the english forces caused great bitterness among the people, who accused van artevelde of having betrayed them, and in the course of a riot the once popular tribune was killed by the mob ( ). froissart, his enemy, pays him a generous tribute: "the poor exalted him, the wicked killed him." his son philip, queen philippa's godson, vainly endeavoured to succeed where his father had failed. after leading a revolt against the pro-french count louis de mâle, he was defeated by the french in and died on the battlefield. all these struggles had weakened flanders considerably. by chasing german merchants from bruges ( ), louis de mâle had brought about the decadence of this port in favour of antwerp, where the english were soon to transfer the wool market. political persecutions had driven a great many of the artisans to england, to the great advantage of english industry. hundreds of houses in bruges remained empty, ypres was half destroyed, and ghent had lost a considerable part of its population. civil war had exhausted the country's resources during the last years of the fourteenth century. in the country-side the dykes were neglected, great stretches of "polders" were again flooded by the sea, and wolves and bears infested the woods. the restoration of flanders to its previous prosperity did not take place before the middle of the fifteenth century, as a result of the wise rule of the dukes of burgundy. chapter viii the cathedral of tournai literature is perhaps nowadays the most characteristic expression of civilization, just as painting was the most striking mode of expression in the renaissance and architecture in the middle ages. we have seen that, in the netherlands, civic monuments constitute a typical feature in mediæval architecture, but, though it is important to insist on the conditions which favoured and inspired the building of belfries and cloth-halls, the important part played by churches in the netherlands, as in france and england, must nevertheless be acknowledged. it is true that, considering the intense religious life of the low countries from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries, the number of well preserved old churches still existing is rather disappointing, but this impression would be greatly altered if it were possible to revive the buildings which have fallen victim to destruction or to a worse fate still, wholesale restoration. [_second crusade_] all through the middle ages, belgium was an extraordinarily active centre of religious teaching and mysticism, and nowhere else perhaps in europe did the christian faith penetrate so deeply among the common people. quite apart from the intellectual and aristocratic movements favoured in the tenth and eleventh centuries by the imperial bishops of liége and their celebrated schools, from the deeper influence exerted in other parts by the clunisian monks (eleventh century) and by the cistercians and prémontrés (twelfth century), the enthusiasm aroused by the crusades is a sufficient proof of the country's religious fervour. not only did the nobles play a predominant part, godfrey of bouillon, duke of lower lotharingia, being the leader of the first crusade and the counts of flanders, robert ii, thierry of alsace, philip of alsace and baldwin ix, taking a large share in the same and in subsequent expeditions, but the lower classes enlisted with the same enthusiasm and flocked around the cross raised by peter the hermit and his followers. it is reported that, during the second crusade, certain localities lost more than half their male population. later, with the development of the communes, the bourgeois and the townspeople endeavoured to nominate their own priests and chaplains, civil hospitals were founded, and, in the thirteenth century, the mendicant orders enjoyed an enormous popularity, owing to the familiarity with which they mixed with the people. they followed the armies in the field, and it was among them that the citizens found their favourite preachers in times of peace. the great concourse of merchants and artisans in the towns favoured the spreading of heresies, and, for a time, the manicheans, under their leader tanchelm, made many converts among the antwerp weavers; but the church was strong enough, at the time, not to appeal hastily to forcible repression. the heretic preachers were fought, on their own ground, by franciscans, dominicans and other ecclesiastics, who succeeded in defeating them by their personal prestige. one of these preachers who was honoured as a saint, lambert le bègue (the stammerer), greatly influenced spiritual life in liége and the surrounding districts. the foundation of the characteristically belgian institution of the "béguines," or "beggards," can, at least partly, be traced to his religious activity. this institution, which spread all over the country during the thirteenth century, shows once more the success of all attempts in the netherlands to bring the inspiration of religion into the practice of everyday life and into close contact with the humble and the poor. it was specially successful among the women, and absorbed a great many of the surplus female population. the "béguines" did not pronounce eternal vows and could, if they liked, return to the world. they led a very active life, settled in small houses, forming a large square planted with trees, around a chapel where they held their services. all the time not devoted to prayer was given to some manual work, teaching or visiting the poor. from nivelles, the movement spread to ghent, bruges, lille, ypres, oudenarde, damme, courtrai, alost, dixmude, etc., and even to northern france and western germany. the accomplished type of the "béguine" is marie d'oignies, who, after a few months of married life, separated from her husband, spent many years among the lepers, and finally settled, with a few companions, in the little convent of oignies, near namur. [_romanesque architecture_] such was the spirit which inspired the builders of the belgian churches. certainly the most typical and perhaps the most beautiful is notre dame of tournai, with its romanesque nave, built in the eleventh century, its early gothic choir (thirteenth century) and its later gothic porch (fourteenth century). it illustrates admirably the succession of styles used in the country during the middle ages and the series of influences to which these styles were subjected from the east and from the south. most of the romanesque churches of the tenth and eleventh centuries were built either by german architects or by their belgian pupils. though the best examples of the period are now found either at tournai (cathedral and st. quentin), at soignies (st. vincent) and at nivelles (ste. gertrude), the centre of the school was at liége, where st. denis, st. jacques, st. barthélémy and especially ste. croix still show some traces of this early work. the main features of these buildings, in their original state, are, beside the use of the rounded arch, round or octagonal turrets, with pointed roofs, over the façade and sometimes over the transept. illustration: the cathedral, tournai (twelfth-fourteenth century). _ph. b._ with the decline of german political and intellectual influence, gothic was introduced into the country by french architects. in the last years of the twelfth century, tournai thus became the meeting-place of the two currents, and, owing to its favourable position on the scheldt and to the material available in the district, dominated the whole religious architecture of flanders. the period of transition lasted over a century and produced some of the most characteristic religious buildings of the country, in which both the rounded and pointed arches are happily combined. to this period belong st. jacques and ste. madeleine of tournai, st. nicolas and st. jacques of ghent and the pretty little church of pamele, built by arnold of binche (near tournai) between and , where beside the romanesque turrets of the façade may be found a short central octagonal gothic tower. the well-known church of st. sauveur at bruges, begun in , belongs to the same period, but brick instead of tournai stone has been used for its erection. the same feature is found in a good many gothic churches in maritime flanders and holland, which were too distant from the hainault quarries. tournai again, in the choir of its cathedral, furnishes a good example of belgian early gothic (thirteenth century), of which the destroyed cathedral of ypres, st. martin, was considered the masterpiece. all trace of the round arch has now disappeared and the columns are formed by massive pillars. as the gothic style develops in its secondary period (late thirteenth and beginning of fourteenth century) the windows increase in size, the pillars are fluted and the tracery of the windows becomes more and more complicated. the best examples of this particular gothic still in existence are the choir of st. paul at liége and notre dame of huy (begun in ). illustration: bronze font in the church of st. bartholomew, liÉge ( - ). the baptism of christ. st. peter baptising cornelius. [_gothic cathedrals_] the most important and the best preserved belgian churches belong, however, to the third period of gothic, when clustered columns replace pillars, tracery becomes flamboyant and spires soar higher and higher above the naves. brabant is especially rich in fourteenth and fifteenth century churches. possessing its own quarries, it was independent of tournai, and can claim an original style altogether free from hainault or french influence. in this group must be mentioned notre dame of hal; the cathedral of st. rombaut, in malines, begun in and whose flat-roofed tower was only finished in ; ste. gudule, in brussels, the oldest of them all, with some parts dating as far back as the thirteenth century, a flamboyant porch and two flat-roofed towers similar to those of st. rombaut; and, finally, the great cathedral of antwerp, begun in , with one of the highest towers in europe and certainly the slenderest, whose various stories mark the transformation of style as they rise to end in a purely renaissance spire. illustration: collegiate church of sainte gudule, brussels (thirteenth-fourteenth century). _ph. b._ most of these romanesque and gothic churches have no unity of style, owing to the long period covered during their building. from a purely architectural point of view, they lack perhaps the purity of some of their french and german rivals, but they are all the more interesting to the historian and bring him into close contact with the transformation of mind and manners from the middle ages to the renaissance. in order not to split up our subject we have wandered from the civilization of the middle ages into the early renaissance. let us now go back to notre dame of tournai, with her five pointed towers, and see what we may learn from her with regard to the intellectual and literary developments of the period. in the same way as the building of its choir, in the early thirteenth century, shows evident traces of french influence, so the use of french, among the upper classes and in the literature of the period, becomes more and more predominant. during the first centuries of the middle ages, french influence in flanders was particularly noticeable in the monasteries. almost in every monastery walloon and flemish monks lived side by side, and it became necessary that their abbots should be able to make themselves understood by both sections of the community. thierry of st. trond was chosen by the monks of st. peter at ghent "quoniam theutonica et gaulonica lingua expeditus." examples abound of bishops, teachers and preachers able to express themselves in flemish and french. the "cantilène of ste. eulalie," the oldest poem written in the french language, was discovered in the monastery of st. amand together with one of the oldest german writings, the "ludwigslied." the clunisian influence tended also to spread the use of french in the northern districts. [_bi-lingualism_] the same bilingual characteristic may be found among the nobles, who met frequently in the course of their military expeditions or peaceful tournaments. intermarriages between families belonging to both parts of lotharingia and flanders were frequent. besides, most of the large domains lay across the language frontier. the knowledge of french soon became an essential condition of a good education, and the children of flemish lords were sent to french abbeys in order to perfect their knowledge of the language. it may be assumed that, at the end of the eleventh century, the majority of the aristocracy was bilingual. it was one of the reasons which gave the belgian nobles such a prominent position in the crusades. a contemporary writer, otto of friesingen, explains that godfrey of bouillon was placed at the head of the crusaders because, "brought up on the frontier between romanized and teutonic people, he knew both languages equally well." this penetration of french, not only in flanders, which was nominally attached to the kingdom of france, but also in lotharingia and even in liége, the centre of german influence, is all the more remarkable as it implied no political hegemony, the counts of flanders being practically independent, at the time, and the other nobles attached to the empire. it was not introduced by conquest, as in england in the eleventh century, or through immigration, like german into bohemia or into the baltic states. the race of the northern provinces remained relatively pure, and the adoption of a second language by the aristocracy can only be explained by the intimate relations created between thiois (flemings) and walloons owing to political conditions, to diocesan boundaries and social intercourse. the influence of french was still further increased during the twelfth century, which is the classical epoch of french literature in the middle ages, and during which trade became so much more active owing to the formation of the communes. it was not only spoken by nearly all the counts of flanders and used in their private correspondence, but it became, to a certain extent, the official language when latin was dispossessed of its monopoly. its use ceased to be confined to the aristocracy and spread to the bourgeoisie, owing to the frequent intercourse between flemish and french merchants at the fairs of champagne. all bills of exchange were written in french, and even the lombards and the florentine bankers used it in their transactions. its knowledge was as necessary, at the time, as a knowledge of english may be to-day to all exporters. as late as , it was the only popular language in which public documents were written. it is true that, in northern flanders, many germanic terms are mixed with it, but it exerts practically no influence on the early development of the flemish language. the linguistic situation in flanders, during the thirteenth century, is interesting to compare with that existing in england, at the same time, where the imported tongue was progressively absorbed by the native, just as the normans were absorbed by the saxons. again, it is typical of the pacific character of french penetration that when, in the middle of the thirteenth century, flemish prose, having sufficiently developed, was adopted for public acts, no restriction whatever was placed on this custom. french, however, remained the language used by the counts and by their officers. the documents of the period present an extraordinary medley of latin, french and flemish texts. brabant was not so strongly influenced, partly because the dukes belonged to the old native dynasty and partly because the dukedom entered later into the current of trade intercourse. french was used at court, and a knowledge of it was considered as a necessary accomplishment for a nobleman. but the dukes used flemish in their relations with their flemish subjects, and when latin gradually disappeared, the popular language took its place in public acts. [_picard writers_] this efflorescence of the french language must be connected with the great prosperity of walloon flanders and the development, in arras, douai, lille, tournai and valenciennes, of an intense literary movement, including poets, chroniclers and translators endowed with a distinct originality. as late as the thirteenth century these writers, who had adopted the picard dialect, proclaimed their independence from purely french literature, so that, in their own domain, they play a similar part to that played by the tournai master-builders in theirs. the counts of flanders and hainault, among them philip of alsace, baldwin v and baldwin vi, patronized native literature and even attracted to their courts some of the greatest french poets of the period, such as chrétien de troyes and gautier d'epinal. the dukes of brabant imitated this example and patronized adenet le roi, who was considered the most eminent belgian trouvère. we still possess a few songs composed by duke henry iii. nothing can give us a better insight into the intellectual life of some of the nobles of the time than the following lines in which lambert d'ardres describes the manifold activities of baldwin ii, count of guines ( - ). this prince "surrounded himself with clerks and masters, asked them questions unceasingly and listened to them attentively. but, as he would have liked to know everything and could not remember everything by heart, he ordered master landri de waben to translate for him from the latin into romance the song of solomon, together with its mystic interpretation, and often had it read aloud to him. he learned, in the same way, the gospels, accompanied by appropriate sermons, which had been translated, as well as the life of st. anthony abbot, by a certain alfred. he also received from master godfrey a great portion of the physic translated from latin into romance. everyone knows that the venerable father simon of bologna translated for him from the latin into romance the book of solinus on natural history and, in order to obtain a reward for his labour, offered the book to him publicly and read it to him aloud." translations play a most important part in the literature of the time, and it is significant that belgium, from this point of view, owing no doubt to her duality of language, acted as a pioneer for france. just as the walloon provinces were first to discard latin in public acts and replace it by french, it is among their writers that the first and most notable translators may be found. the tastes of translators and their patrons were very catholic; science, theology, history and poetry proving equally attractive. another characteristic of french letters in belgium is the importance given to history. the first historical work written in french is a translation by nicolas de senlis of the _chronicle of turpin_, made for yolande, sister of baldwin v of hainault. in a clerk compiled for roger, castellan of lille, a series of historical stories, the _livre des histoires_, taken from the most various sources, from the creation of the world down to his own time. soon original works, dealing with local and contemporary events, replaced translations and compilations. such are the _story of hainault_, written for baldwin of avesnes, and the rhymed _chronicle of tournai_ by philippe mousket. [_romances_] the bourgeoisie soon became interested in the movement. but the citizens of the towns enjoyed neither courtiers' poetry nor epics and warlike histories. satire and didactic works were far more to their taste. as early as the first part of the twelfth century a priest, nivardus, collected the numerous animal stories which were told in his time and in which renard the fox, isengrain the wolf, noble the lion and many more animal heroes play a very lively part. these tales, in spite of their oriental or greek origin, had found a new meaning among the townsfolk of the twelfth century, who delighted in the tricks of renard, whose cunning outwitted the strength of the great barons and the pride of their suzerain. translations from nivardus were the origin of the french versions of the _roman du renard_ and of the flemish poem of _reinaert_, written by willem in the thirteenth century, and which surpasses all other variations of the theme. the _reinaert_ is the first notable work of mediæval flemish literature. willem's predecessor, hendrick van veldeke, is merely a translator. one of his most popular poems at the time, the _eneÿde_, is a flemish version of the french _roman d'enéas_. the number and the success of these flemish translations of french romances of chivalry, in the thirteenth century, is however, remarkable, especially as it was the means of introducing these stories into germany, where they received new and sometimes original treatment. from its very origin flemish literature acted thus as an intermediary between france and germany. veldeke was a noble, and his works were only appreciated in the castles. jacob van maerlant, who was hailed, in his time, as the "father of flemish poets," was a bourgeois scribe. though obliged at first to write some translations from the french romances, he could not but feel that this kind of literature suited neither the aspirations nor the temperament of the people among whom he lived. turning from these frivolous stories, he sought in the works of vincent de beauvais and pierre comestor a wiser and more serious inspiration. his ambition was to place within reach of laymen the scientific, philosophic and religious thought of his time, so that they might obtain the same chances of acquiring knowledge as the learned clerics. this is the spirit which pervades his principal and most popular works, _der naturen blume_, the _rymbybel_ and the _spiegel historiael_, in which the author deals with natural lore and sacred and profane history. in his impatience against "the beautiful, false french poets who rhyme more than they know," van maerlant declared that all french things were false: "wat waelsch is valsch is," but one would seek vainly any systematic hostility towards france in the poet's encyclopædic work. on the contrary, on several occasions, he pays a glowing tribute to the intellectual splendour of france, specially as represented by the university of paris, and it is not without astonishment that we discover from his pen, on the eve of the battle of the golden spurs, a eulogy of the french régime. [_van maerlant_] the reason why van maerlant attacked the french romances of chivalry was not that they were french, but that they were romances. the characteristic of the early flemish writers, apart from the satiric poetry of willem, is the seriousness of their thought and purpose. they feel strongly their responsibility in influencing their contemporaries and seldom abandon the tone of the preacher or teacher. the most eloquent verses of van maerlant may be found in _van den lande van oversee_, in which he preaches a new crusade after the fall of st. john of acre. from the very beginning belgian flemish literature is distinct from the french, but has many points of contact with the intellectual movement of the walloon provinces. there can be no question, at this early stage, of disagreement or rivalry, for french was only, at the time, the second language of the aristocracy in flanders, and, as flemish letters developed, they naturally penetrated into the upper classes. there are few examples in history of a civilization combining with such harmony the genius of two races and two languages. chapter ix the great dukes of the west there are certain periods in the life of nations and individuals when, owing to a combination of happy circumstances, all their best faculties work in perfect harmony. they give us a complete and almost perfect image of the man or the land. it is towards such periods of efflorescence that we turn when we want to judge a great reformer, a great writer or a great artist, and it is only fair that we should turn to them also when we want to appreciate the part played in the history of civilization by all nations who have left their mark in the world. illustration: the netherlands under the rule of the dukes of burgundy. such a period of economic, political and artistic splendour may be found in belgium when the whole country became united under the dukes of burgundy. the fifteenth century is for belgium what the elizabethan period is for england and the seventeenth century for france. not only did the territorial importance of the unified provinces reach its culminating point and the national princes play a prominent part in european politics, but, from the point of view of economic prosperity and intellectual efflorescence, bruges, brussels and antwerp rivalled, at the time, the great italian republics of the renaissance. [_decline of the communes_] considering the common interests linking the various states, and their remoteness from the political centres of france and germany, the unification of the country under one crown seemed a foregone conclusion. in fact, we have seen that, already at the beginning of the twelfth century, the division of the country between the two great powers had become purely nominal. lotharingia ceased to exist owing to the decreasing influence of the empire following the struggle of the investitures, and the counts of flanders were so powerful that they were practically independent of their french suzerains. they began to take an important share in political life east of the scheldt, and would no doubt have succeeded in uniting the whole country under their sway but for the rising power of the communes and for the political recovery of france. the communes substituted economic divisions for the political divisions created by feudalism. the efforts of the french kings, while unable to crush flemish independence, succeeded, nevertheless, in checking the power of the counts, while other states, such as brabant, were allowed to develop more freely beyond the scheldt. at the close of the fourteenth century, the communes, which had proved such a powerful means of liberating trade and industry from feudal restrictions, had, to a great extent, ceased to fulfil their part in the development of the nation. instead of using their privileges to further economic relations, the large towns oppressed the smaller ones and the country-side was entirely sacrificed. internal strife, war with france and the decadence of the cloth industry had brought about a state of economic depression and social unrest out of which the country could only emerge through the support of a strong and centralized administration. on the other hand, the french kings were, for the time, reconciled to the idea of an independent flanders and too exhausted by their struggle against england to make further warlike attempts in this direction. so that when philip the bold, duke of burgundy, became count of flanders, in , the country, exhausted by civil war and independent of foreign hegemony, was at last prepared to submit to parting with some of its local privileges in order to obtain peace and prosperity under a wise central administration. philip was the brother of charles v, king of france, and succeeded louis de mâle after marrying the count's daughter. he was supposed to bring back flanders under french influence, but, as a matter of fact, pursued a policy distinct from that of the french. once more, as in the case of guy de dampierre and of ferrand, the french king was deceived in his plans, and the interests of the country proved stronger than the personal relations of its ruler. one of the first acts of the new count was to secure artois, thus reconstituting the bilingual flanders of the previous century. he then proceeded to extend the power of his house by obtaining, for his second son antoine, the succession of brabant in exchange for military help given to the duchess jeanne. such a scheme was opposed to the emperor's projects, but his influence could not outweigh the advantages which the brabançons expected from the house of burgundy. it thus happened that, when philip the bold died, in , his eldest son john inherited flanders and artois, and antoine acquired brabant and limburg. the latter's possessions were further increased by his marriage with elisabeth gorlitz, heiress of luxemburg. the two brothers supported each other, and when antoine died at agincourt ( ), john the fearless obtained the lease of luxemburg. he had previously intervened in the affairs of liége and received the title of protector of the bishopric. only hainault, holland, zeeland and namur remained independent of the burgundian house when john died, in , assassinated on the bridge of montereau. like his father, his policy had been inspired far more by the interests of the low countries than by those of france. he resided in ghent during the greater part of his reign. illustration: philip the good. from a portrait by roger van der weyden (madrid). [_philip the good_] philip the good, his son, reaped all the benefits of his father's efforts. he completed the work of unification by extending his protectorate over tournai, cambrai and utrecht and buying namur. john iv of brabant, son of antoine and elisabeth, had married jacqueline of bavaria, countess of hainault, holland and zeeland. when he and his brother had died without heir, brabant and limburg reverted to the elder branch of the house of burgundy. so that, after having dispossessed his cousin jacqueline of her inheritance, philip became practically the sole master of all the principalities founded on belgian soil since the middle ages. no doubt the dukes of burgundy were helped in their work of unification by a series of most favourable circumstances. within a remarkably short time, many marriages and deaths occurred which favoured their plans to a very considerable extent. but it would be a great mistake to attribute their success to fate alone. their power was so great that, through political pressure and offers of money, they might, in any case, have induced the less favoured princes of the country to part with their domains. and, what is far more important, economic and political circumstances were such as to render the old system of local divisions obsolete and to necessitate the formation of a central administration pooling the resources and directing the common policy of all parts of the country. it was not through the process of burgundian unification that belgium became a nation. it was because belgium had already practically become a nation, through the gradual intercourse of the various principalities, that one prince, more favoured than his neighbours at the time, was able to concentrate in his hands the power of all the belgian princes. it is not without reason, nevertheless, that justus lipsius, the belgian humanist of the seventeenth century, calls philip the good "conditor belgii," the founder of belgium. if this prince benefited from the efforts of his predecessors, if he enjoyed tremendous opportunities, he was wise enough to make full use of them. while enlarging his possessions and even contemplating, no doubt, the foundation of a great european empire, he proceeded step by step and did not launch into any wild enterprise which might have jeopardized the future. while building up a centralized state such as the legists of the renaissance conceived it, a state independent of local institutions and possessing a distinct life apart from the people and above them, he endeavoured, as much as possible, to respect local privileges, superimposing modern institutions on mediæval ones and preserving, if not wholly, at least formally, the rights of each province and town. [_the great duke of the west_] the "great duke of the west," as he was called, "could," according to his own words, "have been king if he had only willed it"--that is to say, if he had been prepared to pay homage to the emperor. after some protracted negotiations, he preferred to remain a duke and to preserve his complete independence. he was duke of burgundy, count of flanders, duke of brabant, count of hainault, "mambourg" of liége, etc.; he was, in short, the head of a monarchic confederation in which he succeeded in establishing a few central institutions common to all the principalities, a private council, the "council of the duke," a government council, "the grand council," and the "states general," on which sat delegates of the various provincial states and which the duke called together when he deemed it opportune. the states general's approval was necessary whenever fresh taxes were to be levied or when the sovereign intended to declare war. following the example of the french kings, the duke was nearly always able to conciliate the states general by giving the majority of the seats to members of the clergy or to the nobility. the latter he succeeded in converting into a body of courtiers by grants of money, land or well-paid offices, also by founding, in , the privileged order of the golden fleece. philip's external policy was judged severely by his english contemporaries, whose views are no doubt reflected in the first part of shakespeare's _henry vi_, where we see burgundy abandoning his allies at the instigation of the maid of orleans. his "betrayal" was followed by riots in london, during which some flemish and walloon merchants lost their lives. considered, however, from the point of view of the period, when diplomacy and politics were not inspired by a particularly keen sense of justice and morality, the duke's decision is easy to explain. drawn into the english alliance by the traditional policy of flanders, which always sought support in this country against france, and by the murder of his father, for which he sought revenge, he never lost sight of the possible threat to his power and independence which an overwhelming english victory might constitute some day. english ambitions in the low countries had been made evident by the expedition of the duke of gloucester, henry v's brother, who had championed jacqueline of bavaria's cause against the duke. a permanent union of hainault, brabant and holland, under english protection, had even been contemplated. it would, therefore, have been contrary to burgundian and to belgian interests, if the power of france had been absolutely and irremediably crushed, since such a victory would have upset the balance of western power, on which the very existence of the new confederation depended. philip's quarrel with henry vi was, however, short-lived, and, during the last part of his reign, he succeeded in re-establishing the anglo-burgundian alliance on a sounder basis. his wife, isabella of portugal, a granddaughter of john of gaunt, used her influence to bring about a reconciliation and the resumption of trade relations. the marriage of charles, son of philip, with margaret of york, sister of edward iv, which was celebrated in bruges in amidst an amazing display of luxury, definitely sealed the bond of union. illustration: charles the bold. from a portrait by roger van der weyden (berlin museum). [_charles the bold_] for france had recovered from her trials; and when he succeeded his father, charles, surnamed the bold, was confronted by an adversary all the more formidable that, through his impulsive temperament, he literally played into the hands of the cunning french king. faced, as philip had been, by the opposition of the communes and by the separatist tendencies of certain towns, the new duke, scorning diplomacy, tried to impose his will through sheer force and terrorism. the sack of dinant in was destined to serve as an example to liége, where the agents of king louis maintained a constant agitation. two years later, the duke obliged his rival to witness the burning and pillage of the latter city, which had revolted for a second time, following the instigations of the french. charles might have resisted his enemy's intrigues, if he had limited his ambitions to the low countries. like his father, he entered into negotiations with the emperor with the hope of acquiring the title of king. his burgundian domains were separated from the low countries by alsace and lorraine. had he been able to join low and high burgundy through these lands, he would have very nearly reconstituted the old kingdom of lotharingia, by unifying all the borderlands lying between france and germany, from the north sea to the mediterranean. the success of such an enterprise might have had incalculable consequences. but charles was the last man to succeed in an endeavour requiring at least as much skill and diplomacy as material resources. he obtained rights upon alsace and conquered lorraine, but fell an easy prey to louis xi's artifices by launching an expedition against the swiss. defeated at granson and morat, he was killed before nancy, leaving the whole responsibility of his heavy succession to his young daughter mary. according to philip de commines: "he tried so many things that he could not live long enough to carry them through, and they were indeed almost impossible enterprises." but his external policy remained all through perfectly consistent. he was a faithful friend to the house of york and gave his support to edward iv, with whom he intended to divide france, had he succeeded in conquering louis. [_position of belgium_] philip the good, by his work of territorial consolidation, had succeeded in obliterating from the map of europe the frontier of the scheldt, which, since the treaty of verdun, had divided the country between france and germany. charles the bold failed in reconstituting the short-lived kingdom of lotharius, which had stood, for a few years, as a barrier between the two rival powers. such a dream was indeed outside the scope of practical politics, though, considered from the point of view of language and race, it was not entirely unjustifiable, the population of the rhine sharing with that of the low countries both their romanic and germanic characteristics, and asserting from time to time their desire to lead a free and independent life. this desire was never fulfilled, owing partly to the main direction of the line of race-demarcation running from north to south, parallel to the political frontier, and partly to the narrowness of the strip of territory involved. had such a boundary extended through belgium along the scheldt, for instance, instead of being deflected from cologne to boulogne, the same result would have occurred. belgium owes her independent state to the presence of the coal wood which, in the fourth century, broke the invaders' efforts along a line running from east to west across political frontiers, not parallel to them. thanks to the exceptional richness of her widespread plain, easily accessible from the sea, she remains, in modern times, as the last fragment of the great empire of lotharius, which, for a few years, gathered under one rule all the borderlands of western europe. chapter x the town halls the most characteristic monument of the fifteenth century in belgium is the town hall, just as the most characteristic monument of the two preceding centuries is the belfry, with, or without, its cloth hall. illustration: the town hall, bruges (fourteenth-fifteenth century). _ph. b._ [_gothic town halls_] it may seem strange that it should be left to great municipal palaces to express the spirit of a period of centralization, when local privileges were progressively sacrificed to the general interest of the state, and when the prince gathered under one sway the various states among which the netherlands had been divided. when looking at the gothic town halls of brussels, louvain and bruges, with their flowered traceries and luxury of ornament, one might be misled into taking them for the palaces of the prince rather than for the expression of municipal freedom. there is nothing about them of the strength and defiance expressed in the great "halles" and belfries of ypres, bruges and ghent. the latter were, as we have seen, erected for two purposes. they were, so to speak, a central citadel raised in the middle of the town, from the towers of which the sentinel sounded the alarm and called the citizens to arms to defend their privileges and protect their homes against the attacks of any enemy from outside, not excluding the prince himself. behind their thick walls and battlements, the archives and charters of the towns were jealously preserved. on the other hand, the "halles" afforded a meeting-place for foreign and local merchants and a warehouse where their goods were stored. they constituted fortified covered markets, and the combination of these military and economic characteristics is visible in every outline of the building and reveals the dominant aspirations of an age which succeeded in emancipating the city from the autocratic rule of the suzerain and in safeguarding the trade and industry of its inhabitants. none of these features is apparent in the "hôtels de ville" of the burgundian period. their slender outline and small proportions exclude any idea of defence. compare, for instance, the graceful spire of brussels with the proud and massive belfry of bruges, and the almost feminine aspect of the louvain town hall with the forbidding masculinity of the destroyed ypres cloth hall. again, the profusion of ornament and statuettes, the delicate flanking towers, especially in bruges and louvain, contrast with the austerity of the old "halles." these luxurious mansions were built neither for military nor for economic purposes. they are far too small to be of any use as covered markets. in fact, the new municipal buildings of the fifteenth century only preserved one characteristic of their predecessors. they were still the seat of the "échevinage," and it was within their walls that the magistrates of the town met the duke's representative, the "bailli." economic activity had left the central hall and migrated to the exchange. the achievement of the hôtels de ville of brussels ( ) and louvain ( ) coincides with the foundation of the first european exchange in antwerp ( ). in this transformation of the municipal buildings from the middle ages to the early renaissance, we may read a parallel transformation in political and social institutions. the municipal spirit was still predominant, and the resistance made by bruges in , and still more energetically by ghent from to , to the increasing influence of philip the good, shows clearly that the communal spirit was still prevalent, especially in the old towns. but the relatively more modern towns, such as brussels and antwerp, were ready to accept the beneficial protection of the princes. the villages and the country, which had suffered for a long time from the tyranny of the large towns, were all on his side. the transformation of industry and trade contributed to break down local mediæval customs and privileges, to the greater benefit of the state. the result was a compromise, and it is that compromise which is revealed by burgundian municipal architecture. the town was still exalted, but it was no longer the free defiant town which wrested its charters from a reluctant suzerain; it was, if one may so express it, a tamed town, developing its resources under the protection and the control of its master, while still keeping alive its pride by a great display of luxury. the failure of the ghent revolt marked the decline of the communal militias, which were no longer able to resist the well disciplined ducal mercenary army. the defeat of gavere ( ) sealed the fate of citizen armies, just as the battle of the golden spurs ( ) had revealed their strength. [_policy of the dukes_] it must, however, be remarked that this success was only obtained by a complete change of policy on the part of the dukes. they no longer, like their mediæval predecessors, opposed the development of the towns by oppressive measures. on the contrary, they did all in their power to protect and expand this prosperity, not only by securing peace and commercial liberty, but also by taking special measures in case of emergency. philip the good, on several occasions, attempted to arrest the decadence of ypres caused by the development of the english cloth industry. in spite of the opposition of ghent and ypres, charles the bold undertook important works in order to dredge the estuary of the zwyn, which was rapidly silting up, and thus to keep open, if possible, the port of bruges. at the same time, the dukes encouraged the trade of antwerp and gave the first impulse to the maritime activity of the ports of holland. the burgundian princes did not live isolated in their feudal castles; they made it a rule to reside in their large towns, either ghent, bruges or brussels, where they held their courts and where they contributed, by their display of luxury, to the general prosperity. this solicitude for the welfare of the large towns was not altogether disinterested. the dukes realized that their power rested not so much on their military forces as on their wealth, and that their wealth depended on the riches of their towns. they understood, according to a contemporary historian (chastellain), that "in the fullness of substance and money, not in dignities and highness of their rank, lay the glory and the power of princes." the substitution of the renaissance hôtel de ville for the old cloth hall is also the symbol of the decline of the cloth industry. the wool industry in flanders had passed through three consecutive stages which directly affected the relationships between belgium and england. we have seen how, during the early middle ages, flemish wool being sufficient for flemish looms, the cloth industry was almost entirely independent, and how, as the industry increased, flemish weavers depended more and more on the imports of english wool during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. during the fourteenth century, however, owing partly to the immigration of flemish weavers encouraged by edward iii and partly to the natural course of events, which must induce a country to work up its own raw material, the english cloth industry had become very active, and the quantity of wool available for flanders consequently decreased, while its price increased, and the flemish industry was faced by the double difficulty of preserving its market from the import of english cloth, through hanseatic ships, and of obtaining the necessary raw material. the restrictive measures taken against the import of english cloth proved ineffectual, and spanish wool, which was tried as a substitute for english, was of inferior quality. ypres was the first to suffer, in spite of the solicitude of the dukes, who reduced commercial taxes in its favour. its population fell from , in to , in , and in one-third of its inhabitants were reduced to begging. bruges succeeded in maintaining herself for a time through her banking establishments, while ghent benefited from the staple of grain, brussels from the presence of the dukes, malines from its parliament, louvain from its newly created university and antwerp from its rising trade. [_linen and tapestry_] besides, when the resistance to english rivalry proved fruitless, in spite of the repeated prohibitions decreed by philip the good, the country turned, with extraordinary adaptability, to the linen industry as a substitute for the woollen. linen replaced cloth, and the same processes and looms which had been applied to the old industry were successfully applied to the new. clothmaking took refuge either in the flemish country districts, where the wages were lower, or in some remote parts of the walloon country. the existence of verviers as a clothmaking town dates from . the decline of the cloth industry was also to a certain extent compensated for by the introduction in northern flanders and in brabant of tapestry, whose centres, until then, had been in arras and tournai. * * * * * i have already alluded to the ornamental character of burgundian gothic contrasting with the severity of the communal period. luxury rather than strength is aimed at by the architects of the hôtels de ville and other well-known monuments of the period, such as the hôtel gruuthuse and the chapelle du saint sang in bruges. this richness is real, and not artificially confined to the prince and the upper classes of society. at the beginning of the burgundian régime, under philip the bold, flanders was partially ruined by internal and external wars. its towns were depleted of their craftsmen, its polders converted into marshes by the incursions of the sea, and wolves and wild boars again wandered through the country as in the early middle ages. brabant, holland, zeeland and liége, though less severely affected, passed through a time of strife and civil war. fifty years later (about ), the low countries were again the most prosperous states of europe, and the historian philip de commines was able to call them "a land of promise," while gachard contrasts them with the southern domains of the duke, "burgundy, which lacks money and smells of france." chastellain eloquently vaunts their banquets and gorgeous festivities. the dukes themselves took every opportunity to display their wealth, especially in the presence of foreign princes. it seems as if they wanted to make up for the title of king which they vainly coveted by an ostentatious luxury which no king of the time could have afforded. when, in , the dauphin louis visited bruges with the duke, the decoration of the town amazed the french, "who had never witnessed such riches" (chastellain), and when margaret of york entered the town, on the occasion of her marriage with charles the bold, in , the streets were covered with cloth of gold, silks and tapestries, and the procession had to stop ten times before reaching the market-place to admire tableaux vivants illustrating the periods of sacred and profane history: "by my troth," wrote john paston, one of the english gentlemen who attended margaret's wedding, "i heard never of so great plenty as there is, and, as for the duke's court, as for lords, ladies and gentlewomen, knights, squires and gentlemen, i heard never of none like to it save king arthur's court." [_manners of the times_] this astounding economic recovery must not, it is true, be attributed only to the beneficial action of the dukes' administration, but it seems evident that a long period of peace, guaranteeing order, security and free communication with other countries, combined with wise administrative and financial measures, contributed greatly to hasten it. measures were taken to lighten the restrictions and monopolies of towns and corporations and to regulate and control the minting of money. as early as , philip the good was able to boast that his money was better than that of any of his neighbours. the right of coining money was no longer farmed out, but entrusted "to notables well known for their wealth, who could provide the country with gold and silver money and exchange any money which might be brought to them by the merchants." in edward iv of england and charles the bold agreed to call a conference in bruges to determine a common currency for both countries and to suppress the exchange. [_antwerp and bruges_] these financial regulations are intimately connected with the transformation which trade underwent at the time, and which was one of the main causes of the transfer of the economic centre of the country from bruges to antwerp. the reason generally given for this change is a geographical one. it is pointed out that while, at the beginning of the fifteenth century, the widening of the western branch of the scheldt through inundations in zeeland afforded a direct road from antwerp to the high-seas (formerly ships had to go round the island of walcheren), all the efforts made to prevent the silting up of the zwyn from to were fruitless. in , it was possible for carts to drive safely at low tide across the end of the harbour. the progress of navigation, increasing the tonnage of ships, and the spanish and portuguese discoveries acted also in favour of the deeper and safer harbour, but there are other reasons which might have ruined bruges in favour of antwerp, even if the geographical advantages of both ports had remained equal. from the beginning of the fifteenth century the conditions of trade underwent complete transformation. powerful companies, disposing of large capital and wide credit, took the place of the old local merchant companies. transactions became so considerable and involved that mediæval regulations, instead of controlling commerce, only hampered it. any protective measure detrimental to foreigners became fatal to home trade. antwerp, which then appeared as a new metropolis, had no difficulty in adapting itself to modern capitalist conditions. at the end of the fourteenth century the town had already lost its brabançon character and had become almost cosmopolitan. it had adopted economic liberty. foreign merchants meeting at its fairs were protected by safe conducts. the positions of brokers and money-changers were open to all, and citizenship easily accessible. bruges, on the other hand, hampered by old regulations and closely attached to its privileges, was not able to adapt itself to the new situation. as late as measures were taken to prevent foreigners from introducing on the market wares purchased elsewhere, and their position was no longer in accordance with the principle of free trade. it thus happened that, while the population of antwerp increased by leaps and bounds, from , families in to , in , the trade of bruges decreased steadily, owing to the emigration of foreign merchants. protective measures against the import of english cloth estranged the hanseatic merchants, and, in , the "merchant adventurers" established themselves definitely in antwerp, where they were soon followed by the italians, spanish and portuguese. it is true that bruges remained, for a time, the centre of banking activity, which accounts for the fact that it preserved its architectural and artistic splendour at the very time when its trade was failing. but in the natural course of events the financiers had to follow the merchants, and at the end of the century the decadence of bruges as a great seaport was almost as complete as that of ypres as an industrial centre. it was characteristic of the new trade conditions that no "halles" were built in antwerp, the mediæval emporium being replaced by a modern exchange. antwerp, however, possessed with bruges one common feature. it was, like its predecessor, the great clearing-house of western europe, and derived its prosperity not from the goods either consumed or manufactured in its own country, but from its position as an open market where all merchants could conveniently sell their own wares and buy those of distant lands. illustration: the first antwerp exchange. from an old print ( ). it must also be noticed that, while bruges resisted as far as lay in its power the centralizing influence of the dukes and of the princes who succeeded them, antwerp remained loyal to the new political régime which brought it so many advantages. the troubles which arose in bruges under maximilian may be considered as the death-blow to the prosperity of the old town. illustration: the town hall, oudenarde (fifteenth century). _ph. b._ the rule of the dukes was equally beneficial to the smaller towns and villages of the country-side. it put an end to the mediæval régime and to feudal and ecclesiastical dues. the nobility had no longer the monopoly of landownership, and many bourgeois enriched by trade bought large estates. this change contributed, to a certain extent, to decrease the number of small landowners and to create a larger class of farmers and agricultural labourers. this was, however, partially compensated for by the reclamation of land from the sea (polders) through the building of dykes and by the impulse given to cattle breeding, which rendered more intensive cultivation possible. it was at that time that the old system of leaving a third of the land fallow was to a great extent abolished through a larger use of manure. with the exception of the famine of , due to bad crops, the burgundian régime was free from the terrible calamities which had never ceased to devastate the country during the previous centuries. [_population_] through the census made for brabant in and for flanders in , it is possible to estimate the total population of the burgundian states in the netherlands at two millions, to which , ought to be added if we include liége. this, considering the size of these states and the economic conditions of the period, is a very high figure, and implies an economic activity at least equal to that of modern belgium. how far such a rise in the population was due to the wise administration of philip the good is shown by a closer inspection of the facts. the years from to are marked by a steady increase, while the period from to , when charles the bold imperilled the prosperity of the country by his foreign wars, shows a slow decrease, which becomes far more accentuated after the death of the duke and during the troubled period which succeeded the burgundian rule. chapter xi the adoration of the lamb the hôtels de ville built during the burgundian period afford an excellent example of the new economic tendencies prevailing at the time, but they are by no means the greatest works of art illustrating this period of belgian efflorescence. neither in the town hall of bruges, begun in by jean de valenciennes, nor in those of brussels ( to ), built by jacques van thienen and jean de ruysbroeck, or of louvain, completed in by matthieu de layens, still less in the pretty municipal buildings of oudenarde or destroyed arras, can we find any adequate representation of the wonderful intellectual and artistic movement which placed the netherlands, during the fifteenth century, at the head of northern european civilization. this can only be realized by a careful study of the pictures of the period, generally known as the works of the early flemish school. [_intellectual movement_] before trying to determine the position of this school in the history of art, it may be well to give a rapid survey of the intellectual movement under the burgundian régime, and to show that in every department, literature, architecture and music, the civilization of the period produced some remarkable works. in this way, the netherlands of the fifteenth century are comparable with the italian republics and principalities which flourished at the same time. in belgium, as in tuscany and umbria, all arts were cultivated at the same time and sometimes by the same man, and people and princes took an equal interest in all the manifestations of human genius. one would have to go back as far as ancient greece to find such a harmonious development, and the world has never produced it since. literary activity was perhaps the least brilliant, owing mostly to the division of languages. though the intercourse between the flemish and the walloon parts of the country was intimate and never constituted an obstacle in the work of unification, belgium can scarcely boast of one common literature at the time when its nationality was founded. as far as political and administrative activity was concerned, an almost exact balance was struck between the languages of the north and the south. in flanders, from the beginning of the fourteenth century, french influence had considerably decreased, owing partly to the loss of artois and walloon flanders and to the blow inflicted on french prestige by the reverses of the hundred years' war. the use of french was only maintained among the nobility and the rich bourgeoisie, and in all intercourse with other countries; flemish made considerable progress and took the place of latin in all acts of common administration. its prestige as a literary language had been enhanced by the reputation of van maerlant, and it served also in all relations with lower germany. by the end of the century, bilingualism was a consecrated institution both in flanders and brabant, the judges rendering their sentences in the tongue spoken by the parties and some officials using, according to circumstances, either french, latin or flemish. under john the fearless and philip the good, this situation, which favoured the centralizing influence of the dukes, remained unchanged. in holland and zeeland, where french was practically unknown, state officials only used flemish. the dukes themselves knew both languages, included flemish books in their libraries, and encouraged flemish letters. owing to the economic attraction of antwerp, a great number of walloon traders used both languages, and the number of those who understood flemish and french was considerable enough to allow the production of flemish plays to the south and of french plays to the north of the dividing language line. it is true that charles the bold attempted vainly to enforce french for administrative purposes in flemish districts, but, owing to subsidiary evidence, this must be considered much more as an act of political absolutism than as a sign of hostility towards flemish. as a matter of fact, we should seek vainly for proof of any attempt to frenchify the country at the time. in holding their courts in the netherlands, the dukes of burgundy had renounced their french origin. bilingualism must thus be considered as a solution of the language question in belgium in the fifteenth century. but though the people remained united, the literatures of the two parts of the country followed different lines. on the flemish side, poetry had never ceased to decline since the death of van maerlant, in spite of the numerous works produced by the disciples of this master, especially in brabant. jean boendaele ( - ) described in his remarkable _brabantsche yeesten_ the struggle of the duke against his enemies. his attitude of mind is thoroughly typical of the time. boendaele is a bourgeois poet, and distrusts equally the democracy of the towns and the nobility. he places his faith in the prince, the merchants and the peasants. [_jan ruysbroeck_] the mystic treatises of jan ruysbroeck ( - ), who may be considered as the founder of flemish prose, just as van maerlant is the founder of flemish poetry, are far more important than the rhymed chronicles of boendaele. not only do they rank among the most inspired religious writings of the middle ages, but they are the expression of a deep-rooted religious movement which animated the flemish bourgeoisie at the time, and which had its origin in the foundation of the institution of the béguines and the beggards, so active and so influential during the twelfth century. this movement aimed at bringing religion closer to the common people through the work of laymen who, though deeply attached to the church, were conscious of its limitations and of the barrier which aristocracy and privilege had built around it. one of ruysbroeck's disciples, gérard de groote ( - ), founded the order of the "frères de la vie commune" (brothers of the common life), and the "sustershuysen," which contributed so much to the revival of religious studies and general education in the early days of the fifteenth century. like the beggards, the brothers did not strictly constitute a religious order, they did not pronounce any binding vow and retained their lay character. refusing any gift or endowment from outside, they had to provide for their own needs, but, while the beggards devoted most of their time to the weaving industry, the brothers gave themselves up to copying manuscripts, learning and teaching. under florent radewyn, one of de groote's early disciples, they acquired a very complete organization and founded numerous schools, specially in brussels ( ) and in ghent ( ), their influence spreading as far as germany. thierry maertens, the first well-known belgian printer, was one of their pupils. this educational and religious revival is closely connected with the foundation of the university of louvain in . de groote and his disciples were frequently attacked, chiefly by the monks, who became jealous of their success, but their strict orthodoxy and the unimpeachable character of their life made their position unassailable. de groote was equally well known for his criticism of the abuses among the clergy, his denunciation of the luxury displayed by the rich and the mystic character of his preaching. he was equally severe against heretics, and was called by his contemporaries "malleus hereticorum." another of his followers founded the celebrated monastery of windesheim, where, half a century later, the _imitation of christ_ was written. while the flemish writers of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries wrote mostly for the bourgeoisie and the people and kept in close contact with the religious aspirations of the time, the authors belonging to the walloon part of the country were nearly all attached to some court and confined themselves to the production of chronicles and mémoires destined for the aristocracy. though extremely limited, this genre was cultivated with great success by the walloon writers and is typical of the belgian branch of the french letters of the period. as early as the fourteenth century, jean le bel of liége had related with extraordinary vividness his adventures at the court of hainault and the part played by his master, jean de beaumont, in the expedition led by edward iii against the scots. le bel writes in french, but as far as his political views are concerned remains impervious to french influence and chooses an english king, "le noble roi edowart," for his hero, while he has nothing but harsh words for philip de valois. [_jean froissart_] jean froissart, of valenciennes, who continued the work of le bel and served as a link between him and the burgundian school of chroniclers, had a much wider field of vision. attached successively to albert of bavaria, queen philippa of england and wenceslas of luxemburg, he had many opportunities to study european affairs, and, as a belgian, was able to consider them from an independent and even a sceptical point of view. though generally considered as a french writer, he remains independent of french influence. with monstrelet, chastellain, jean molinet and jean lemaire de belges, who wrote for the dukes of burgundy, this independent attitude is still further strengthened. all these writers extolled the burgundian régime and supported the duke's policy, whether friendly or antagonistic to france. from a literary point of view, they are greatly inferior to their predecessors and often lapse into rhetorical eloquence. their style, which appears to be overloaded with flowery images, excited great admiration at the time, especially in the case of chastellain, who was hailed by his contemporaries as a "supreme rhetorician." * * * * * music was not hampered, like literature, by the division of languages, and might, under different circumstances, have given a more accurate expression to the belgian national spirit. its style was, unhappily, still so formal that national characteristics cannot immediately be recognized in the works of guillaume dufay, of chimay ( - ) and giles de binche, chapelmasters to philip the good, and those of the fleming jean ockeghem (dec. - ) and of josquin des prés, of hainault (_c._ - ). these musicians, who enjoyed european celebrity and exerted a widespread influence on the musical movement in france and italy, are well known to musical historians as having largely contributed to the development of polyphonic music as opposed to the monody of the gregorian chant. they were thus pioneers in the art of musical ornamentation, and their method may be associated with the flowery images of chastellain's style, the architectural luxury of burgundian gothic and the display of colouring of the early flemish painters. in all branches of intellectual activity, belgium enters decidedly, from the beginning of the fifteenth century, into the renaissance period. but, unlike the italian, the belgian renaissance was at first only very slightly affected by the study of the classics. it was more realistic in its aims than the mediæval period. it revelled in the display of harmony, whether in sound, colour or form, and abundance of tracery, but as far as the subject was concerned it remained essentially and profoundly christian. [_social life_] though the works of belgian writers and artists of the period are very remarkable, they are somewhat misleading if we want to form an accurate idea of social life in the fifteenth century. neither the _libri teutonici_, published by ruysbroeck's followers, nor the great paintings of the brothers van eyck, van der weyden and memling, suggest for one moment the laxity of morals prevalent at the time and revealed by the writers of the chronicles. the number of illegitimate births was extraordinarily high, the example being set by the dukes themselves, philip the good alone being responsible for eighteen bastards and jean de heinsberg, bishop of liége, for nearly as many. it must be pointed out, however, that the illegitimate character of their birth did not stand in the way of many prominent men of the time, such as the chancellor rolin, the dean of st. donatian of bruges, the great financier pierre bladelin, the bishop of tournai and many high officials. all these had, of course, received their letters of legitimation. numerous edicts made by the dukes were unable to check gambling, prostitution and prodigality. the scant effect of the regulations relating to the latter may be easily understood when we read that, on the occasion of the marriage of margaret of york to charles the bold, belgian artists and artisans were ordered to prepare and to decorate a large wooden house which was subsequently transported by water from brussels to bruges. in a tower feet high attached to this house, the noble company invited to the ceremony witnessed the movements and heard the cries of a number of mechanical animals, monkeys, wolves and boars, while a whale feet long moved around the hall together with elephants, amid thirty large trees, a fountain of crystal and a pelican "spouting hippocras from his beak." the fact is that the situation in the netherlands, in the second half of the fifteenth century, was very much the same as that in florence at the same time, the people being swayed between an exuberant enjoyment of life and a severe asceticism. there are many points of contact between charles the bold and lorenzo the magnificent, and no figure comes closer to savonarola than that of the carthusian, thomas conecte, who stirred public feeling to such a pitch that the people crowding to listen to his fiery speeches, in market-places, threw into the braziers burning before his platform all the instruments of their worldly life--chessboards, cards, dice, skittles, silks and jewels. strangely enough, no religious order benefited more from the sympathy and generosity of the people than the ascetic carthusians. philip the bold erected in dijon the famous chartreuse of champmol; philip the good and margaret of york corresponded with the celebrated carthusian denys de ryckel, the "doctor extaticus," and the chartreuse of louvain was endowed by rich bourgeois of the duke's entourage. unless this apparent contradiction is fully realized, it is impossible to understand the spirit of an epoch which, though deeply absorbed by its worldly life, produced works almost entirely devoted to faith, and in which luxurious garments and colours are only employed to enhance the glory of god. * * * * * [_the brothers van eyck_] painting stands foremost among the achievements of the burgundian period. here again the difference of language does not hamper the genius of the nation. while in music the walloon element dominates, the flemish dominates in art; but it must be clearly stated that, in this branch, as in all other branches of burgundian civilization, the two parts of the country are strongly represented, and that the title of "flemish school of painting" is therefore misleading when referring to belgian painting of the fifteenth century. the greatest name associated with the period is that of the brothers jan and hubert van eyck, and the work which naturally comes to the mind, when thinking of them, is the monumental altarpiece which they painted for jos. vyt, lord of pamele, to be placed in his chapel in the cathedral of st. john in ghent. this work, generally known as the "mystic lamb," is composed of ten smaller pictures, but the partitions separating the various divisions of the wings and the wings from the central piece scarcely detract from the majesty of the ensemble. the composition is well known: above, god the father, as christ, enthroned, his hand raised in benediction, between st. john baptist and the virgin, with angels on both sides singing and playing on various instruments. on the extreme right and left of the upper panels, excluded, so to speak, from the company of heaven, stand adam and eve, in all the realistic weakness of their nakedness. below, in the midst of a flowery meadow, behind the fountain of life, surrounded by groups of holy virgins, martyrs and saints, in the new paradise, under the walls of the new jerusalem, stands the lamb, directly under the figure of christ and the symbol of the holy ghost, the centre towards which every line, every attitude in the picture converges. towards the holy spot walk, on the right, the pilgrims and the hermits, on the left, the good judges and the soldiers of christ. the symbolism of the picture which enfolds the majestic plan of the redemption of man through christ's sacrifice, of the second creation through the spirit, as contrasted with the first creation through the flesh, is directly inspired by the mystic writings of the time, while the harmony and depth of colours, the gorgeous robes and jewels adorning the figures of god, the virgin and the angels, the pompous cavalcade of knights and judges and the systematic grouping of the central scene, are an adequate expression of the love of ceremony and solemn luxury which characterized the burgundian age. the whole picture appears as a sacred pageant in which the saints, the angels and the blessed take the place of nobles, ladies and clerics, as they were seen during the festivities and processions arranged at the ducal court. illustration: the adoration of the lamb (saint bavon, ghent). angels singing and playing. [_the mystic lamb_] considered as a purely religious picture, this work, like almost all the works of the school, stands in striking contrast to italian fourteenth-century painting, especially as illustrated by the frescoes of giotto. the latter are characterized by an extreme simplicity of outline and by vivid narrative power. in padua, for instance, giotto tells us the story of christ as he saw it in his mystical vision, without any concern for accessories or detail. he clings to essentials, to the figures of christ and his apostles, while scorning any subordinate object, such as trees, architecture, costumes, etc., which are only represented in a rude fashion when necessary to the story. it is characteristic of hubert van eyck's work (since, according to all evidence, hubert must be considered as the author of the general outlines of the picture, which was finished by his brother jan after his death) that perhaps the least satisfactory figure of the adoration of the lamb is the deity, while our attention is immediately captured by the group of angels surrounding him, and still more by the procession of worshippers at the bottom of the picture. to put it briefly, whereas giotto's art is at its best when dealing with the _divine_ side of the christian drama, van eyck's genius stands foremost in the _human_ interpretation of the subject. his greatest creations are not the figures of the worshipped but of the worshippers, and we must seek for religious inspiration not so much in the direct vision of the divinity as in the expression of devotion reflected on the faces of the adoring crowds. illustration: the adoration of the lamb (saint bavon, ghent). the annunciation (exterior of the shutters). _hubert and jan van eyck._ it is true that we may find the same insistence on landscape, costume and the portraits of donors in the works of the italian artists of the early renaissance, who painted at the same time as van eyck, and that the spirit of the period may, to a certain extent, account for it. but it would be difficult to discover in the pictures of masaccio, fra filippo lippi, ghirlandajo, botticelli and the other masters of the italian fifteenth century, with the sole exception of fra angelico, the same depth of religious inspiration which pervades the works of the van eycks and of their disciples. if the gospel story still provides most of the subjects of the italian school, it is treated in a lighter vein, and pagan inspiration, prompted by the study of classics, is more and more conspicuous. earthly loveliness is of greater importance than christian teaching. the virgins of van eyck, the pietà of van der weyden and the saints of memling occupy the intermediate position between the purely mediæval attitude of giotto and of the sculptors of the french cathedrals and the worldly atmosphere of the early italian renaissance. they preserve, to a great extent, the religious atmosphere of the former, and devote the same attention to technical skill and realistic representation as the second. the combination of these two elements is the chief source of originality of the burgundian school of painters, and it is truly characteristic of the period, which, though strongly attached to the world and its pleasures, founded its greatest productions on the stern lessons of deep devotion and of a society in which the beggards and the brothers of the common life strove incessantly to bring religion closer to the heart of the people. the adoration of the lamb is not only the most complete expression of the spirit of belgium in the fifteenth century, it is also the first great work produced by belgian painters. art critics have been at great pains to explain the sudden appearance in history of such a highly skilled and complete production. but a closer study of belgian civilization in the fourteenth century would show that it is merely the outcome of previous efforts and the blossoming of a great individual genius in an art which had already found, in other departments, very remarkable means of expression. [_sculpture_] from the end of the twelfth century, belgian art, as shown by the works of the goldsmiths, decorators, sculptors and miniaturists, had become independent of german and french influence. a highly trained class of artisans was formed, and, in the middle of the fourteenth century, was organized into regular corporations. goldsmiths and decorators devoted their talent to the embellishment of churches and ecclesiastical treasures, as well as to decoration of secular buildings such as cloth halls or town halls and to the designing of banners for the guilds. we still possess a great number of engraved tombstones which reveal an extraordinary development of technique. soon the figure of the deceased was raised in high relief, and even, as in the tomb of the count of artois in the cathedral of st. denys, the work of pepin of huy, raised on the shoulders of standing figures. from the second half of the fourteenth century the most prominent sculptors ceased to be considered as mere artisans. hennequin of liége was attached to the court of the french king charles v, while andré beauneveu ( - ) remained in flanders as the sculptor of louis de mâle. the striking sculptures of the pit of moses, at dijon, were executed by claus sluter of zeeland. these statues, which bear comparison with those of ghiberti and donatello, sluter's contemporaries, suffice to explain the sense of form and of line in the draperies revealed by the early flemish masters. in the north, as in the south, sculpture developed earlier than painting, and, just as pisano precedes giotto, sluter precedes, and to a certain extent explains, the brothers van eyck. the influence of sculpture on painting is made evident from the fact that many statues of the time were gilded and coloured, painters being frequently called in to perform this part of the work. besides, many sculptors such as beauneveu and hennequin were equally skilled in the art of painting. the result of these influences is shown in the _book of hours_ of the duke of berry, the work of pol de limburg, and in the pictures painted in dijon for philip the bold by melchior broederlam. the latter's annunciation, presentation in the temple and flight into egypt prepare the way for the adoration of the lamb, though far from being equal to it. these pictures serve as a link between the belgian art of the fifteenth and the fourteenth centuries. the difference to be accounted for is certainly not larger than that separating, a century before, the frescoes of giotto from the works of cimabue and his school. illustration: "plourant." detail of the tomb of john the fearless (dijon museum). netherlandish school of the fifteenth century. [_flemish school_] it would be impossible here to characterize the works of the various masters who followed in the wake of the brothers van eyck. of the two brothers, hailing from maeseyck, we know that hubert settled in ghent (_c._ ) and jan in bruges in . roger de la pasture, usually known as van der weyden, the foremost representative of the walloon branch of the school, came from tournai to brussels in . there were other walloons, such as robert campin and jacques daret of tournai, but the flemish element, represented beside the brothers van eyck by the brabançon pieter christus, justus van ghent, hughes van der goes (of ghent) and thierry bouts of harlem, not to mention memling (of mayence), was manifestly prevalent. the renown enjoyed by these artists extended far beyond the limits of belgium and france, and the influence exerted by their works in italy can easily be traced. strangely enough, while during the next century the belgian painters were subjected so strongly to italian influence, they were hailed, at this period, as pioneers by the italians themselves. at home, the consideration which the great painters enjoyed is shown by the interest displayed in their work not only by the prince but also by his courtiers, among them chancellor rolin, and by rich foreigners, such as the portinari and the arnolfini established in flanders. philip the good visited jan van eyck frequently, was godfather to his daughter, and employed him on several occasions for secret missions. his position at the court of burgundy was equal to that occupied later by rubens at the court of albert and isabella. chapter xii hapsburg and burgundy the disaster of nancy naturally provoked a strong reaction in the belgian provinces. we have seen that the large towns bore only with great reluctance the centralized rule of philip the good, in spite of the moderation and the diplomatic talents of this prince. in the latter part of his reign, charles the bold had completely disregarded local privileges and relentlessly crushed every attempt at rebellion. he raised taxes for his foreign expeditions which weighed heavily on the people. more and more absorbed by his struggle against louis xi, he neglected internal affairs, and the belgians were loath to support an expensive policy of foreign adventures which could only be detrimental to their own interests. mary of burgundy was thus left alone, in , to confront, on one side the exigencies of the towns and states, and on the other the intrigues of louis xi. the latter had not only confiscated the duke's french dominions, as soon as the news of his death reached him, but he proposed, with the support of the disaffected towns, to appropriate as well his northern provinces. fearing english interference, he thought of striking a bargain with the king of england and offered to conquer brabant for him. very wisely, edward iv retorted that the province would be too difficult to hold and that "a war with the netherlands would not be popular in england owing to the active trade between the two countries." left to his own devices, louis succeeded in persuading the flemings that a marriage between mary and the dauphin would be the most profitable solution of the crisis. on the refusal of the princess, who was already affianced to the archduke maximilian of austria, the french king dropped the mask of friendship and invaded hainault and artois. [_the "great privilege"_] by that time, mary had given full satisfaction to the particularist demands by granting the "great privilege," which practically restored all provincial and urban liberties and brought to nought the patient work of centralization accomplished by the dukes. under the threat of foreign invasion, the people rallied around her to the cry of "vive bourgogne!" and identified the cause of their national dynasty with that of their own independence. arras was obliged to open its gates to the french armies, but valenciennes and st. omer made a desperate resistance. it was, however, evident that, under the circumstances, the low countries could not oppose the french advance without foreign help. the states therefore agreed to the marriage of mary with maximilian of austria, who entered the country at the head of a small army. this marriage proved fatal to the independence of the low countries, by bringing them more and more under the sway of the hapsburg dynasty. in spite of their french possessions, the burgundian princes had maintained a national policy, or, to speak more accurately, had, with the exception of charles's last adventures, furthered their own interests to the greater benefit of the belgian provinces. as far as foreign politics were concerned, they succeeded in remaining neutral between the three powers surrounding them and in interfering in european affairs only when their possessions were directly threatened. there was no conflict between the economic and political interests of belgium and those of the burgundian dynasty. the dukes remained in the country and the welfare of the country was the essential condition of their own prosperity. owing to the union of maximilian with mary of burgundy, this situation was entirely altered. from the end of the fifteenth century to the time of the french revolution, the netherlands were more and more sacrificed to the interests of their masters, whether belonging to the austrian or the spanish branch of the hapsburgs. they lost the benefit of the presence of their national and "natural" princes, who were absorbed in far more important affairs and spent most of their life out of the country. they were administered by regents or governors, who generally did not enjoy sufficient independence and authority to pursue a netherlandish policy. they constituted a sort of outpost of the power to which they were attached, and were, in consequence, first exposed to the attacks of the enemies of this power. this is one of the main causes of the sixteenth-century revolution and the subsequent partition of the country, and of the decadence of the southern provinces which became so evident during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. for some time, however, the hapsburg policy did not prevail, and it even appeared, at certain moments, as if a national dynasty might be restored. the belgian states, and more especially the belgian aristocracy, succeeded in influencing the princes and their governors, who, from time to time, reverted to a national policy. the story of the fifteenth and the sixteenth centuries in belgium is composed of the struggle of the two opposing principles: the national burgundian policy, based on peace and neutrality in european conflicts, and the hapsburg policy, drawing the provinces in the wake of hapsburg ambitions and rivalries. illustration: mary of burgundy. from the mausoleum in the church of notre dame, bruges. [_death of mary_] if maximilian, after his victory at guinegate, had limited his aims to the defence of the country and managed to conclude an early peace with louis, the attitude of the people would no doubt have remained friendly. but, before being mary's husband and the successor of the burgundian dukes, he was an austrian archduke, bound to pursue the policy of his house against france, whether it was to the interest of the netherlands or not, and to oppose any local liberties which hampered his action. it is in this light that the intricate conflicts which arose between the archduke and the towns, more especially ghent, must be viewed. the latter town rose against him, and even went as far as to re-enter into negotiations with france, far more to guard municipal liberties than from any friendly feeling towards that country. mary died in , leaving two children, philip and margaret, who had been entrusted to the care of ghent. on the archduke's refusal to conclude peace, the ghent deputies, reverting to the project of the french marriage, negotiated at arras a treaty with louis xi, according to which the young princess margaret was to marry the dauphin. maximilian succeeded in defeating the ghent militias, and transferred philip from ghent to malines. but the communes were not yet daunted. a rising occurred in bruges and the citizens took maximilian prisoner, obliging him, before restoring him to liberty, to abolish all the monarchical reforms which he had introduced since the granting of the great privilege. bruges, however, was finally defeated, in , and ghent, which had allied itself with charles viii of france, in . the next year peace was concluded at senlis between maximilian and charles, who was compelled to restore artois and franche comté. this date marks, for the time, the end of the stubborn fight waged by the towns against the central authority of the monarch and the triumph of the modern principle of the state against the mediæval principle of local privilege. illustration: maximilian i. from a portrait by ambrozio de predis (imperial museum, vienna). [_the "joyous entry"_] with the accession of maximilian to the empire ( ) and of his son philip the handsome, then sixteen years old, to the governance of belgium, we witness a return to the traditional burgundian policy on strictly national lines. the enthusiasm provoked by the change and the professions of loyalty made to belgium's "natural prince" show how deep was the attachment for the burgundian policy and how much maximilian's foreign origin had counted against him. the new prince, who had never left his belgian provinces and whose education had been entrusted to belgian tutors, became the symbol of national independence, and all the restrictions which had been exacted from mary of burgundy and from maximilian were allowed to lapse in his favour. he was not asked to ratify the great privilege nor the various promises made by maximilian. his "joyous entry of brabant" was very much on the same lines as those sworn previously by philip the good and charles the bold. the prince's commissaries were restored to their offices and had again the power to choose communal magistrates, thus removing them from the direct influence of the corporations. the ducal council was reappointed, and a special ordinance of provided for the reconstitution of the prince's estates. the parliament of malines was re-established under the name of "grand council." in fact, all the ground lost by centralization since the death of charles the bold was rapidly reconquered without any opposition, and the states general made no difficulty in granting the taxes. such an extraordinary transformation can only be explained if we remember that almost all foreigners had been excluded from the council of the prince. out of fourteen councillors, two only were germans and three of burgundian origin. philip himself did not even know german and had become estranged from his father. the readiness with which he accepted the counsels of his belgian advisers, the princes of croy and the counts of berg and lalaing, had gained for him the nickname of "take-advice" (croit-conseil). needless to say his foreign policy was entirely directed towards peace. in vain did maximilian endeavour to lure him into his intrigues against france. philip established the most cordial relations with charles viii. henry vii of england, who had alienated maximilian's sympathies since his reconciliation with france (the archduke having even encouraged the pretender perkin warbeck against him), and who had retaliated by transferring the staple of english cloth from antwerp to calais and by forbidding all trade with the low countries, was also pacified by philip after some negotiations. in , the two sovereigns signed the "intercursus magnus," which re-established commercial relations between the two countries. it is characteristic of the intimate economic connection between england and belgium that they were the first to sign the most liberal treaty of commerce of the time. in , after a new attempt by maximilian to enlist his support against louis xii, philip appealed to the states general, which strongly supported his pacific attitude. by the treaty of paris, concluded in the same year, the belgian prince went as far as renouncing his rights on burgundy in order to maintain friendly relations and to keep the advantages granted by the treaty of senlis. philip the handsome, in so doing, went farther than the dukes themselves: he deliberately sacrificed his dynastic interests to the welfare of the northern provinces. illustration: philip the fair. juana of castile. portraits by an unknown flemish painter of the sixteenth century. [_philip the handsome_] this uncompromising attitude with regard to belgian interests was unhappily not destined to be adhered to much longer by philip. in he had been married to juana of castille, daughter of his father's allies, ferdinand and isabella. through a series of deaths in the family, juana became, in , heiress to the throne of spain. from this moment philip's line of conduct changed, and the interests of the low countries were sacrificed to his dynastic ambitions. this brought about a reconciliation with maximilian, who had at last succeeded in enlisting his son's support. on the death of isabella, in , philip took the title of king of castille in order to forestall the intrigues of his father-in-law, ferdinand. with a view of securing the support of england, which had been somewhat estranged owing to the new policy followed by philip, the latter concluded in a new treaty of commerce, very unsatisfactory from the belgian point of view, and which was therefore called by the people the "intercursus malus." the new king of spain died the same year, in burgos, having lost a great deal of the popularity which he had so largely enjoyed during the first part of his reign. the crisis which followed was not so severe as that of , but was very similar to it. while protesting his friendship for the young prince charles of luxemburg, then only six years old, louis xii won the support of erard de la marck, bishop of liége, and endeavoured to influence the towns in order to exclude maximilian from the regency. under the threat of french ambition, the states general, however, took the same line as after the death of charles the bold and sent a deputation to germany. the emperor chose his daughter, margaret of austria, aunt of charles, to govern the low countries. this princess had not forgotten the affront she had suffered during her youth: when first affianced to charles viii she had been abducted by the french and subsequently restored to her father. her hostility was, however, directed far more against the valois than against france. widow of philibert of savoy, she was the type of the great princess of the renaissance, and combined an intense interest in art and letters with great diplomatic acumen. during the twenty-three years that she governed belgium, she remained a foreigner to the people. she did not know either flemish or german, and her culture as well as her surroundings remained entirely french. devoted to her nephew, her first aim was to further his dynastic interests, but, being very independent of her father, whose austrian policy she succeeded in checking several times, she was intelligent enough to realize that charles's interests were also, at the time, those of the netherlands. her rule therefore struck a balance between the hapsburg and the dynastic tendencies. living a secluded life in her palace of malines, and taking no part in the festivities so dear to the heart of the people, she governed the netherlands without sympathy, but with enough wisdom for her ability to be recognized, on several occasions, both by the people and the nobility. this was soon made apparent during the first year of her governance. she had to contend with the suspicions of the belgian nobles, headed by guillaume de croy, lord of chièvres, whom philip had appointed governor on leaving the country. the people of ghent again became restive, while, owing to the intrigues of louis xii, robert de la marck and the duke of gelder caused serious trouble in luxemburg and in the north. the states general, on their side, clamoured for peace. while ordering the tax to be levied for war, in spite of the opposition of the states, margaret managed to conclude with france the treaty of cambrai. this caused great satisfaction all over the country. chièvres was recalled to the court, where he acted as tutor to the prince. again, in , margaret, who had been one of the principal agents in the league against france, which, besides the emperor, included the pope, the king of aragon and the king of england, succeeded in maintaining the neutrality of the low countries, which, though benefiting from the allies' victory at guinegate and from the taking of tournai, had not to suffer from the military operations. the opposition between chièvres and the gouvernante was nevertheless constant. it had been embittered by a project of marriage between charles and princess mary of england, which margaret furthered for dynastic reasons, and which chièvres opposed for fear of alienating france. the reconciliation which took place in between louis xii and henry viii, and the marriage which followed between the french king and the english king's sister, mary, were therefore a great disappointment to margaret. chièvres followed his advantage by estranging maximilian from his daughter and by urging the states general to demand the emancipation of charles, which was finally granted by the emperor for a money consideration. margaret, who had been kept in ignorance of these intrigues, though deeply hurt in her pride, could do nothing but accept the accomplished fact. [_of charles v_] the accession of charles, which took place on january , , was a triumph for chièvres. the situation was exactly similar to that which prevailed when philip the handsome came into power. the youth of the prince, who, like his father, had received a belgian education and was ignorant of german and spanish, his veneration for chièvres and his friendship for his belgian counsellors, brought about a return to a purely national policy, to the exclusion of any dynastic tendencies. all foreigners were excluded from the council, the confidants of margaret and maximilian became suspect, and a rapprochement was brought about with francis i of france. a new commercial treaty was signed with henry viii, favouring, at the same time, relations with england. this policy was not altered when, in , through the death of ferdinand and owing to the disability of juana to succeed him, charles took the title of king of spain. instead of countering francis i's intrigues and his claims to the kingdom of naples by military measures, charles, still bent on maintaining peace with france, negotiated the treaty of noyon, and succeeded in persuading maximilian to agree to this treaty, in spite of the opposition of england. a few months later, the young king and his belgian courtiers left for spain ( ), charles having meanwhile consented to become a candidate for the empire. illustration: charles v. from a contemporary engraving. illustration: margaret of austria. from a picture by van orley ( - ). these events were bound to cause the same reaction towards a dynastic policy which had been provoked by the accession of philip the handsome to the throne of spain. once more belgium lost her national prince and her interests were sacrificed to foreign ambitions. but charles was so thoroughly belgian in his sympathies and tastes that he succeeded, nevertheless, in retaining the friendship of the belgian nobles. spanish honours and titles were showered on chièvres, lalaing, croy, nassau and others, to the great annoyance of the spanish, who had nothing but scorn for the boisterous manners of the belgian nobility. a reconciliation was brought about between chièvres and margaret, who, after the death of maximilian ( ), worked hard for the nomination of charles as emperor. his election was loudly celebrated in brussels and all over the country, for the people, delighted at the honour conferred on their prince, did not realize that henceforth their country was bound to be lost and neglected among charles's huge possessions. it is true that the suzerainty of the empire was purely nominal, but the bonds linking belgium's destiny to spain were far stronger, and the country acquired gradually the situation described above: she became an advance post, in the north, of the spanish power, which was about the worst position she could occupy on the map of europe, being cut off from spain and isolated among her adversaries. [_treaty of madrid_] this, however, was not yet apparent, and the protestations of friendship of the young emperor, who declared, in , to the states general, that his heart had always been "par deça" (in the netherlands), together with his military successes, which resulted in the signature of the treaty of madrid ( ), were considered as a happy omen for the future. by this treaty, francis i renounced all sovereignty over artois and flanders and all rights over tournai. it seemed as if, in his sympathy for his belgian provinces, the emperor had been more clear-sighted than his subjects, for we know that he entertained, in , the idea of forming the low countries into a separate kingdom. if this project had been realized, belgian independence might have been maintained. but the very prosperity of the low countries made such realization impossible. in urgent need of money for his military expeditions, the emperor could not deliberately sacrifice his principal source of revenue--the taxes provided by the states general and the loans raised in antwerp. since , margaret had again taken up the governorship, this time in full accord with the belgian nobility. from that date till the end of the eighteenth century, with the sole exception of the short reign of albert and isabella, belgium was administered, not by its natural princes, but by governors, most of them without power or initiative and obeying orders received from headquarters. charles spent only ten years in the country until his abdication in . philip ii made only a short appearance, and until joseph ii none of the rulers who had the responsibility of the government took enough interest in the welfare of their belgian subjects to visit the provinces. margaret, however, preserved a great deal of independence, and succeeded in curbing the will of her nephew in the greater interests of the netherlands, as she had curbed the will of her father. when, in , war broke out again between the emperor and an anglo-french coalition, she succeeded in maintaining the trade with england. in the same way she constantly opposed charles's project to help his relative, christian ii of denmark, to reconquer his throne, since such a policy would have ruined belgian trade with denmark and the hanseatic towns. finally, in , she succeeded in negotiating the peace of cambrai, whose clauses bear the mark of a truly national policy. charles renounced all pretensions to burgundy, while francis gave up all claims on the netherlands and recognized charles's sovereignty over artois, flanders, cambrai and tournaisis. by inducing the two rivals to recognize the established position and to renounce ancient dynastic claims on each other's domains, margaret hoped to ensure a long peace for the greater benefit of the netherlands. the final renunciation of france of her rights over her old fiefs was bound also to consolidate belgian unity, the link binding the provinces to the empire being purely nominal. thus, after a struggle of seven hundred years, the western netherlands were finally detached from france. in order to celebrate the event, lancelot blondeel designed the monumental mantelpiece in carved wood which may still be admired, in the palace of justice of bruges, and where the victorious emperor is represented having, on one side, ferdinand and isabella, and on the other, maximilian and mary of burgundy, his maternal and paternal ancestors. [_death of margaret of austria_] margaret of austria died in , at her palace of malines, "without any regret save for the privation of her nephew's presence." in her last letter to charles, she claims that under her rule the low countries were considerably enlarged, and she expresses a wish to obtain for her work divine reward, the commendation of her sovereign and the good will of his subjects. she utters a last recommendation which shows how far the burgundian tradition had been preserved by the belgian people. she urges charles not to abolish the name of burgundy, and to leave the title to his successor in the low countries. chapter xiii the last stage of centralization from the death of margaret, the emperor's policy became entirely independent. though absorbed by the affairs of the empire, distant military expeditions and a recurrent war with france, he managed to devote a great deal of attention to the netherlands, and during the last years of his reign, from to , scarcely left the country. the netherlands were far more important to the ruler of germany, spain and half of the new world than their actual size might suggest. not only did they provide one of the main sources of his revenue, but their central position allowed him to reach comparatively easily the various parts of his empire where his presence might become necessary. the scattered possessions of charles v cannot very well be compared with the homogeneous domains of charlemagne, which stretched all across western europe, but we may nevertheless notice that, in both empires, the netherlands were allowed to play a part disproportionate to their size and population. though france remained in the hands of his rival, the great emperor of the renaissance, just as the great emperor of the middle ages, was obliged to divide his attention between east and west, and brussels was allowed to play a part similar to that of aix-la-chapelle. it is significant that, at the time of charles v's abdication, this town was selected, in preference to madrid or vienna, as the stage for the ceremony. the second part of the reign of charles v is characterized by the completion of the work of the burgundian dukes, the seventeen provinces being finally brought under one rule. at the same time, the last local resistance was mercilessly crushed and political centralization completely established. [_margaret of hungary_] mary of hungary, charles v's sister, who was chosen by him to succeed margaret of austria, did not enjoy the independence of her predecessor. she confined herself to executing faithfully the instructions she received, even at the cost of her popularity. the emperor installed her at brussels in . he had been previously absolved by the pope from his oath at the time of the joyous entry of brabant, and proceeded to strengthen the central government by the creation of three collateral councils and the proclamation of a perpetual edict giving a common constitution to all the provinces of the netherlands. after his departure, mary was at once confronted with military difficulties. christian ii, no longer restrained by margaret, had concentrated troops in holland in order to attack frederick of holstein. his violation of the neutrality of the netherlands caused reprisals against the dutch merchant fleet, but antwerp and brussels refused to wage war in its defence. thanks to the death of holstein, mary succeeded in negotiating a satisfactory treaty with denmark at ghent ( ). the resistance of the states general and the towns to the warlike policy of charles caused further trouble when, in , hostilities between the two rivals were resumed. in vain did mary endeavour to obtain the neutralization of the low countries, in vain did she offer her resignation. in spite of serious reverses, the emperor maintained his attitude, while the states general declared "that they were not rich enough to help him to conquer france and italy." their resistance was only overborne when, in , the french armies invaded the low countries. under this threat, they voted the taxes and organized resistance. the french king, disappointed in his hopes, signed the truce of nice, . the revolt of ghent, which broke out the next year, must be considered as the last attempt made by the towns to save their old privileges. for the last time, a commune raised its head to challenge central power. in spite of the peace of cadzand, ghent had succeeded in preserving a privileged situation in the state, and many popular leaders had witnessed with dismay the progress made in by centralizing tendencies. beside the defence of local liberties, the aim of the revolutionaries was to restore the situation of the old corporations, which was directly threatened by the economic transformation of the modern régime. under the new conditions, the "masters" had succeeded in enriching themselves, but the "companions" and prentices had lost all the advantages of the old corporation system. riots caused by unstable labour conditions had already taken place in bois-le-duc ( ) and brussels ( ). in ghent, however, the movement acquired more threatening proportions, the magistrates being overwhelmed by the crowd and the workmen seizing the direction of affairs. charles, who had obtained from francis i permission to cross france with an army, condemned to torture most of the leaders of the movement, suppressed all the town's privileges by the "caroline concession" ( ), and even ordered that the well-known bell "roland" should be unhung. this last punishment remained in the memory of the people as a symbol of the deepest humiliation which might be inflicted on any town. [_treaty of venloo_] as soon as charles departed for his expedition to algiers, the netherlands were again exposed to the attacks of his enemies, including francis i, the king of denmark and the duke of cleves, who had inherited the county of gelder. this time mary was strongly supported by the states general, and succeeded in facing the attacks on both sides pending the return of the emperor ( ). the latter took the opportunity given him by a prompt victory to settle once for all the gelder question by the treaty of venloo. the duke of cleves was obliged to renounce all rights over gelder and zutphen, which became integral parts of the netherlands. this was the last act of the work of territorial unification pursued by the dukes of burgundy. at the same time, in order to protect the low countries from french attacks, charles v fortified the three towns of marienbourg, charlemont and philippeville, called after mary of hungary, charles himself and his son philip. thus, at last, the low countries reaped some advantage from the constant expenses which they had to sustain owing to incessant european wars. they were no longer able to pursue an independent policy, and, if the states preserved a certain liberty, it was mainly because they could be induced to vote war-taxes, these being, so to speak, the ransom which the so-called "free" netherlands paid to their ruler. during charles's youth, almost all the revenues of the state had been drawn from the prince's domain, but towards the end of his reign the levies extorted from the people became more and more heavy and frequent. the annual budget rose from one million pounds in to two and a half millions in and six and a half millions in . to these annual contributions we must add the numerous loans raised by the government on the security of the provinces. the interest on these loans weighed heavily on the budget. it was £ , in , £ , in , and rose to £ , , in . as a matter of fact, the states general could grant taxes but not control expenditure, so that most of the money raised in the netherlands was spent on foreign expeditions from which the country could reap no benefit. up to , when gold from mexico and peru arrived in spain, the low countries remained the main source of the income of the emperor. with the annexation of tournaisis, friesland, utrecht, gelder and zutphen and the protectorate over the prince-bishopric of liége, which, under erard de la marck ( - ), had finally accepted hapsburgian control, the unification of the low countries was completed. it still remained to give the country its definite status. thanks to the treaties of madrid and cambrai, all connection with france had been severed, but the reichstag endeavoured, on several occasions, to revive the nominal rights of the empire on the low countries and to compel the provinces to pay the imperial tax. the emperor, foreseeing that his son might not succeed him in germany, was not at all keen to encourage such claims. on the contrary, he exempted, by his own free will, the low countries from the imperial tax, and he endeavoured to make it a sovereign country attached to spain, which should remain, with it, the heritage of the hapsburg family. we are far from the time when he entertained the suggestion of creating a separate kingdom in the low countries, under the inspiration of his burgundian advisers, and though this suggestion recurred in and , connected with the project of the marriage of the emperor's daughter with the french prince, the sincerity of the emperor's proposals, at that time, may certainly be questioned. [_transaction of augsburg_] the victory of muhlberg ( ) provided charles with an excellent opportunity to settle definitely the situation of the netherlands towards the empire. cowed into submission, the reichstag readily admitted the transaction of augsburg ( ), by which the netherlands became the "circle of burgundy," under the protection of the empire, and whose sovereign was represented on the reichstag. the circle undertook to pay a small subsidy, but was entirely independent of imperial jurisdiction and imperial laws. in fact, it constituted an independent sovereign state, which benefited from the empire's military protection without any obligation on its side, since the emperor had no means to enforce the payment of the tax in case it should be refused. the augsburg transaction was completed in by the pragmatic sanction, which unified the successorial rights of all the provinces. this new edict marked a new stage in the work of centralization by securing the inheritance of all the provinces to the same prince. thus, of the two essential characteristics of modern states, unity and independence, the first was practically achieved; the second, however, was not yet within sight. it is characteristic of the status of belgium, as established by charles v, that this period of consolidation marks the final break up of the burgundian tradition. the principle of nationality, which had asserted itself so clearly under philip the handsome and at the beginning of the reign of charles v, was finally defeated, and, for two centuries and a half, the dynastic principle of the hapsburgs was destined to dominate the fate of the country. in the same year that the pragmatic sanction was signed, prince philip visited the netherlands. the appearance of the young prince and his education were in complete contrast to those of his father and grandfather. his name only was burgundian. he did not know a word of flemish and only spoke french with great difficulty. all his manners, all his views, were those of a spanish aristocrat, and it did not take long for the belgian nobles and notables who were brought into contact with him to realize that their future ruler would always remain a foreigner in the country. the failure of philip to secure the title of king of the romans strengthened still more the links which bound belgium to spain. his marriage with queen mary of england might have re-established a healthier balance between south and north, to the greater benefit of the low countries, but this union was only an episode in philip's life, and he was perhaps more foreign to england than he was to belgium, since he did not benefit in the former country from any sentimental attachment to his family. [_abdication of charles v_] on october , , the emperor, who suffered from ill-health and desired to spend his last years in retreat, called together the states general in brussels and solemnly abdicated his power in favour of his son. he recalled in his speech the ceremony of his accession, which had taken place forty years before in the same hall, and, after surveying rapidly the wars and struggles of his reign and the perils to which he had been exposed, he recommended his son to the affection of his subjects, exhorting them to remain united, to uphold justice and to fight heresy. at the end of his speech, he asked forgiveness for the wrongs he had committed and was unable to control his feelings. "if i weep, gentlemen," he concluded, "do not think that it is because i regret the sovereign power which i abandon; it is because i am compelled to leave the country of my birth and to part from such vassals as i had here." his emotion was shared by the belgian representatives, who realized that, whatever harm the great emperor had inflicted upon his favourite provinces, belgium had nevertheless found in him, on several occasions, some sympathy and understanding. parting from him, they may have foreseen that they were parting from their last natural and national prince. this feeling was only increased when charles, turning towards his son, addressed him in spanish, and when the latter, in his answer to the address of the states general, excused himself for not being able to speak to them in french. the burgundian dukes had endeavoured to convert belgium into a modern centralized state, with common institutions, a permanent army, a loyal nobility and docile states general. this part of their work was crowned with success, and it is significant that the word "patrie" comes to be used by belgian writers towards the middle of the sixteenth century. but the dukes had also pursued an independent policy, free from any foreign influence and inspired by the country's interests, since the country's prosperity was a condition of their own welfare and of the stability of their dynasty. this part of their work had been progressively destroyed. belgium was hereafter ruled neither from bruges nor from brussels, but from distant capitals and by ministers and councillors entirely unacquainted with and indifferent to its economic interests and social aspirations. chapter xiv antwerp the economic and social development, accompanying the political transformation which we have just witnessed, was entirely dominated by the amazing prosperity of the city of antwerp. the latter became, during the first part of the sixteenth century, the first market and the first banking centre in the world. for trade, limited during the two former centuries to europe, now extended to the new world, and the atlantic route hereafter played a more and more important part. the same causes which brought about the decadence of venice were the direct causes of the growth of antwerp. it is true that bruges occupied a similar position on the map, and from being a purely european market might have become a world-metropolis. we have seen that the silting up of the zwyn did not account alone for the rapid decadence of the flemish city, and that the conservatism of the guilds and corporations, their attachment to their old privileges and their disregard of modern tendencies, were the main reasons of its downfall. in , damme and sluis were partly in ruins, and in the middle of the century, whole quarters of bruges were emptied of their inhabitants, while over seven thousand destitute depended on charity. unhampered by mediæval traditions and enjoying the advantages of a deeper and more accessible harbour, antwerp was bound to secure the heritage of its former rival and to add to it the prosperity derived from the opening of new markets and the rapid widening of the circle of trade activity during the renaissance. as opposed to bruges, antwerp characterizes modern capitalist tendencies resting on the freedom of trade and on individual initiative. the advantages enjoyed by foreigners in the new metropolis drew gradually towards it the powerful companies of spanish, english and german merchants, whose presence was so essential in a market where most of the imported goods were re-exported to distant countries. the florentine guicciardini, who resided in the low countries from to , describes antwerp as "an excellent and famous city," where , , florins' worth of merchandise arrives every year, and in whose exchange transactions of , , ducats take place. out of its , inhabitants, , to , were foreigners. there were , "beautiful, agreeable and spacious" houses, and the rents varied from to écus yearly. the inhabitants "are well and gaily clothed; their houses are well kept, well ordered and furnished with all sorts of household objects. the air of the country is thick and damp, but it is healthy and encourages the appetite and the fecundity of the people." he insists, in his description, on the abundant life led by the rich bourgeois of the great city. the decadence of the cloth industry, caused by the development of english weaving, did not greatly affect the prosperity of antwerp, since it benefited from the import of english cloth, which arrived at its docks in a rough state and was dyed and prepared by local artisans. besides, urban industry in flanders and brabant had to a great extent been replaced by rural industry. employers found in the country districts the cheap labour that was needed, owing to foreign competition, and, for a hundred workers who lost their employment in the towns, thousands of weavers were only too ready to work up the raw material provided for them by the merchants. the linen industry, which more and more took the lead, recruited its labour in the same way, not only in flanders but also in brabant, holland and hainault. the flax of the country provided excellent raw material, notably in the region of the lys, whose water was specially suitable for retting. in , england bought from flanders , marks' worth of linen in the course of the year. it was soon found necessary to import flax from russia. [_industrial prosperity_] the development of tapestry contributed also to fill up the gap caused by the decadence of clothmaking. from arras, where it had flourished since the eleventh century, it extended, in the fifteenth century, to the regions of alost, oudenarde, enghien, tournai and brussels, and, in the sixteenth, to those of binche, ath, lille, louvain and ghent. the low countries were especially suited to this branch of industry, owing to the perfection of dyeing methods and to the great number of painters and draughtsmen able to provide the workers with beautiful designs. here, again, most of the artisans were villagers, in spite of the resistance of the old corporations. around oudenarde, in , about fourteen thousand men, women and children were engaged in this work. even the region of the meuse was affected. it possessed mineral resources besides great hydraulic power in its rapid streams. at the beginning of the reign of charles v, a great number of forges and blast furnaces heated with wood were installed in namurois. according to guicciardini "there was a constant hammering, forging, smelting and tempering in so many furnaces, among so many flames, sparks and so much smoke, that it seemed as if one were in the glowing forges of vulcan." such a description must not be taken too literally, and the beginnings of the metal industry in the southern provinces were very modest indeed, compared with present conditions. but, even then, a sharp distinction was drawn between the employers, usually some rich bourgeois of the town, who had the means to set up these embryo factories, and the rural population employed to work them. while these new conditions were developing, the corporations of dinant, which had for a long time monopolized the copper industry, were fast disappearing, partly owing to the difficulty of obtaining the raw material from the mines of moresnet, but chiefly owing to the protectionist spirit of the guilds, which would not adapt themselves to modern needs. at the same period, the coal industry was growing in importance in the liége district, the use of coal being extended from domestic consumption to the metal industry. by the end of the sixteenth century, all the superficial seams which could be worked by means of inclined planes were practically exhausted, and it was found necessary to resort to blasting and to sink pits, in order to reach the lower strata. the bourgeois of liége furnished the necessary funds for this innovation, which they were the first in europe to undertake, so that the new industry soon acquired the same capitalistic character which we have noticed in the metal industry, tapestry and textiles. [_rural conditions_] though the condition of the peasantry was very prosperous and agricultural methods had improved, the increase of large properties, due to the investment in land of the money acquired by trade and industry, favoured the development of a large class of agricultural labourers, whose situation contrasted unfavourably with that of the large tenant and the smaller farmer. in every branch of economic activity, modern methods rapidly supplanted mediæval conditions. from the general point of view of the country's prosperity, the change was beneficial and the princes showed wisdom in supporting it. a return to the narrow regulations and guild monopolies of the fourteenth century would have proved as fatal, in the fifteenth, as a return to the feudal system in the thirteenth. the princes supported the rich merchants and employers in the renaissance, as they supported the communes in the twelfth century. the corporation system, which had proved a boon at that time, had become an obstacle to free activity and initiative and had therefore to be sacrificed. but, at the same time, the formation of a large class of unorganized rural workers, who had no means of defending themselves against the ruthless exploitation of their employers, was bound to prove a cause of social unrest. it was among these uneducated masses that the anabaptists recruited most of their followers, and the industrial population around hondschoote and armentières provided the first bands of iconoclasts whose excesses contributed so much to confuse the issue of the revolution against spain. modern monarchy, which had upheld the new order of things, became the scapegoat of the discontented, and the suffering and exasperated people were no longer able to distinguish between the evil brought about by unrestrained capitalism and the good resulting from the organization of a strongly centralized state. * * * * * [_humanism_] antwerp was not only the centre of economic activity for the low countries, it became, as early as , the cradle of lutheranism. it is needless to recall here how the doctrines of martin luther, born in the german empire, had gradually spread through northern europe, and how his criticism of the morals of the clergy had originated a criticism of the dogmas of the roman catholic religion. hitherto similar movements, such as those started in the low countries by gérard de brogne and the beggards during the middle ages, and, during the last century, by gérard de groote, the founder of the brothers of the common life, had confined themselves to fighting the excesses of the church, remaining throughout orthodox, as far as the dogmas were concerned. now the principle of free individualism was transplanted from the economic to the religious domain, and capitalistic initiative and freedom of trade found corresponding expression in free interpretation of the bible. the movement had been prepared and, to a certain extent, favoured by the educative action of the brothers of the common life, who, though remaining strictly faithful to the church, had nevertheless substituted, in their schools, lay for clerical teaching. it is interesting to remark that both humanism, as represented by its greatest master, erasmus, and the art of printing, represented by thierry maertens and jean veldener, who were its originators at alost and louvain, were closely connected with the educational movement promoted by the brothers. erasmus had first studied at deventer. the extraordinary success of his _adagia_, published in , and of his early works, influenced by thomas more (with whom he had been brought into contact during his stay in england as a protégé of lord mountjoy), seems certainly strange in view of the unbending attitude taken by charles v towards lutheranism. but humanism had become the fashion in high aristocratic and ecclesiastical circles, and neither the young emperor nor his gouvernante, mary of hungary, disguised their interest in the movement. it is true that erasmus endeavoured to reconcile christian dogmas with the new philosophy inspired by the classics, but his attacks against asceticism, the celibacy of the priests and the superstition and ignorance of the monks would certainly not have been tolerated if they had influenced social life at large. the situation, at the beginning of the fifteenth century, among intellectuals and aristocrats was very much the same as that which prevailed at the courts of france, prussia and russia at the end of the eighteenth century. princes and nobles extended to voltaire similar favours, and for the same reasons. as long as their situation in the state was not threatened, they encouraged doctrines and intellectual pursuits which, besides providing them with fresh interests and distractions, justified to a certain extent the laxity of their morals. but, whatever their personal convictions might have been, their attitude had to change entirely as soon as the doctrine was adopted by the common people and when the privileges of church and state, so closely bound together, began to be questioned by the masses. that charles v's policy was not prompted only by his affection for the church is shown by the fact that, a few years before, he had subjected the pope's bull to his "placet," taken measures to restrict mortmain (which exempted church property from taxation), and had obtained the right to designate bishops. [_anabaptists_] it must be acknowledged that, as the new doctrines spread from the aristocracy to the people, they assumed a more extreme character. the first step in this direction was taken by lutheranism, whose attacks against dogmas were far more precise and categoric than those of the humanists. in the low countries, however, lutheranism, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, was still tolerant. it mainly affected a few nobles and a number of rich bourgeois. church and state, according to them, were separate entities, and one could remain perfectly loyal to the prince while denying the authority of the pope. they professed, in other words, the principle of liberty of conscience, and, while preserving the right to separate themselves from the dominant church, they did not make any attempt to enforce their theories on any unwilling converts. the first "placard" issued against them by the emperor was extremely severe in terms, since it condemned all heretics to death, but was very lightly applied. the men were to perish by the sword, the women to be buried alive and recanters to be burnt. but the belgian bishops were unwilling to denounce the lutherans and to deliver them to the secular arm. influenced by his spanish advisers, some of whom had initiated the spanish inquisition, charles, in , transferred the right of prosecution from the bishops to three special inquisitors enjoying full powers. the first executions were too rare to impress the public mind in an age when such spectacles were so frequent for other reasons, and the "placards," which had received the sanction of the states general, did not provoke much opposition. a new stage was reached in by the appearance of anabaptism, which had spread from münster into holland and gelder. melchior hoffmann, the leader of this movement, claimed to found the kingdom of heaven by the sword. he incensed the poor people by inflammatory speeches in which he invited them to install the new régime of brotherhood on the ruins of the old world. their triumph would be the "day of vengeance." his success among the sailors and the agricultural labourers of the north, who endured great sufferings under the new economic conditions and owing to the war with denmark, was very rapid, and ought to have been a warning to the governing classes. the anabaptists did not make any distinction between church and state, like the lutherans, neither did they entertain the idea of freedom of conscience. they were as extremist in their views as the spanish inquisitors. they intended to enforce their social and mystic doctrines on a reluctant population and appealed to open revolution. in fighting them, the government was backed by the immense majority of the population, and, after the fall of münster, this danger was for the time averted. [_calvinists_] a few years later, however, calvinism, spread by swiss and french disguised predicants, began to make considerable progress among the rural population of the western and northern provinces. the calvinists, like the anabaptists, did not believe in freedom of conscience. they opposed the fanaticism of the spanish inquisition with the fanaticism of the reformers and opened the fight without any idea of conciliation. they distributed satiric pamphlets, secretly printed, in which the church and the court were grossly caricatured, and their loathing for the worship of the virgin and the saints degenerated into blasphemy and sacrilege. they found very little favour among the educated classes, but made a number of converts among the discontented proletarians, who led a very miserable life in the neighbourhood of the most important industrial centres. to counteract this propaganda, charles issued a new "placard," in , which forbade the printing, selling or buying of reformist pamphlets, together with any public or private discussion on religious matters. even to ask forgiveness for a heretic or to abstain from denouncing him was considered as a crime punishable by death and confiscation of property. half of the fortune of the condemned went to the denunciator, the other half to the state. only in one quarter, in the nominally independent bishopric of liége, where erard de la marck issued similar decrees, was the repression successful. everywhere else, the number of new proselytes increased with that of the executions, and when the emperor abdicated, it seemed evident that a war of religion could not be averted. this war was destined to break up belgian unity, which had only just been entirely achieved. this might have been averted if belgium had been allowed to cope with the reformation crisis in all independence, according to the social conditions of the time, like other european states. a truly national prince and government would, no doubt, have succeeded in keeping the country together, but belgium no longer enjoyed the advantage of being ruled by national princes. hapsburgian dynastic principles had conquered burgundian traditions. orders no longer emanated from brussels but from madrid, so that to the obstacles created by religious differences and class hatred was added the bitter conflict between patriots and foreign rulers. chapter xv the beggars through a most unhappy coincidence, the prince on whose shoulders the fate of the country was to rest during the critical times to come was the first, since the beginning of unification, to be entirely unpopular in the low countries. even maximilian, who could not adapt himself to belgian manners, found some moral support in the presence of his wife, and, later on, of his son and heir. but no link of sympathy and understanding could exist between the haughty and taciturn spaniard and his genial subjects, between the bigoted incarnation of autocracy and the liberty-loving population of the netherlands, so that even the personal element contributed to render the task of government more difficult. philip's first visit, in , had hardly been a success. his second stay in the country did not improve the impression he had produced on those who had approached him. in henry ii of france had resumed hostilities. the campaign which followed was signalled by the brilliant operations of the count of egmont, who, first before st. quentin and the next year at gravelines, inflicted severe reverses on the enemy. but, in spite of the satisfactory treaties of cateau-cambraisis and the marriage of philip with the french princess elisabeth, which was a good omen for peace, the people of the netherlands remained discontented. they had again been called upon to pay the cost of a war which did not concern them directly, and they were deeply incensed by the continued presence of spanish troops, who, irregularly paid, committed incessant excesses. several belgian deputies vented their grievances rather freely, urging the king to deliver them from these "destructive brigands." philip, hurt in his pride, left the low countries for spain, on august , , without any intention of ever returning. [_marguerite of parma_] he had left behind him as gouvernante marguerite of parma, a natural daughter of charles, who lacked neither education nor intelligence, but whose initiative was paralysed by the detailed secret instructions she had received. she had been told not to make any important decision without the advice of a secret council called the "consulta," formed by three courtiers who were merely creatures of the king: granvelle, bishop of arras, the jurist viglius d'ayetta and charles de berlaymont. it was, however, impossible to keep such an institution secret, and the council of state, whose functions were unconstitutionally superseded by the action of the consulta, naturally resented such interference. among the most prominent members of the opposition were william of nassau, prince of orange, governor of holland, zeeland and utrecht; lamoral, count of egmont, governor of flanders and artois; and philippe de montmorency, count of horn, grand admiral of the flemish seas. these three nobles were moderate catholics, the two first being strongly influenced by the tolerant spirit of humanism, especially orange, who, though brought up as a catholic, had had a lutheran father. the clergy had been also aggravated by philip owing to the creation, in , of fourteen new dioceses, added to the four ancient bishoprics of arras, cambrai, tournai and utrecht. such a reform had already been contemplated by philip the good, and it would have caused no opposition if the bishops had been nominated by the pope, as in mediæval times. but, owing to charles v's religious policy, they were now selected by the king, and his choice, which included several inquisitors, was much criticized by the belgian clergy and the abbots. the promotion of the parvenu granvelle to the supreme dignity of archbishop of malines, in , added still more to the discontent. the same year, ceding to the entreaties of marguerite, philip consented to withdraw the spanish troops. this measure gave satisfaction to the people, but did not placate the grievances of the nobles and of the clergy. at the instigation of william of orange, the states of brabant openly supported the council of state in its opposition to granvelle and the consulta. this was brought to a climax by the refusal of orange, egmont and horn to sit on the council as long as granvelle remained in the country. again, marguerite supported the attitude of her council and, reluctantly, philip resigned himself to recall his minister ( ). [_the placards_] these first incidents were insignificant compared with the crisis confronting the government owing to the rigorous application of charles v's "placards." philip had issued no new edicts, deeming, no doubt, that his father's were sufficiently comprehensive, but these were to be rigorously enforced. in his farewell message to the states general, he had declared that "a change of religion cannot occur without at the same time changing the republic," and it was a subject on which he was not prepared to compromise. the increasing number of protestants, owing to the continued calvinistic propaganda, rendered the placards more and more odious and their application almost impossible. marguerite herself declared that "continual executions strained public opinion more than the country could stand." in the council of state deputed egmont to go to spain in order to entreat philip to moderate his instructions, but, in spite of the courteous reception given to him, the journey of the count remained without result. the horror inspired by the inquisition to catholics and protestants alike increased every day, and the constant emigration of intellectuals and skilled workers to england caused considerable uneasiness. queen elizabeth was ready to welcome belgian calvinists. she assigned the town of norwich as the principal centre for their settlement. quite apart from her sympathy for the followers of the reform, she realized that the introduction of the refugees' various industries into england--including tapestry--was likely to prove invaluable to this country. she resented the economic rivalry of the low countries, and, on several occasions, disregarded commercial treaties, levying taxes on imports, from the netherlands and ignoring the raids of english privateers in the north sea. it was high time to find means of checking emigration. [_the beggars_] a few calvinist notables, jean de marnix and louis of nassau, william's brother, among them, conceived the plan of linking together all the nobles opposed to philip's policy. they drew up a compromise acceptable to both parties in which the signatories swore to "defend the privileges of the country and prevent the maintenance of the inquisition," without undertaking anything "which would be to the dishonour of god and the king." over two thousand adherents, nobles, bourgeois and ecclesiastics, signed this document, and on april , , three hundred nobles presented a petition to marguerite. the regent having assured them that she would apply the placards with moderation while awaiting the king's orders, they promised, on their side, to do their utmost to maintain public order. two days later, the delegates were invited to a banquet by the calvinist count of keulenburg. they appeared at this function dressed as beggars in rough gowns, carrying wallets and bowls, and when bréderode, emptying his bowl, toasted them, the cry of "long live the beggars!" was repeated with enthusiasm by the whole assembly. tradition has it that the reason for this disguise was a disparaging reflection made by count berlaymont when the nobles appeared before the regent in simple dress as a sign of protest against the reckless expenditure which was ruining the provinces. but the medals struck at the time and worn by nobles and bourgeois suffice to explain the incident. these medals bore, on one side, the effigy of the king, and on the other, two hands joined over a wallet, with the inscription: "faithful to the king even to beggary." the "compromise" implied liberty of conscience, but this remained open to interpretation. most of the signatories considered that the followers of the reform would merely be tolerated, catholicism remaining the only state and public worship. these were the "beggars of state." the calvinists, on the other hand, the "beggars of religion," claimed full liberty to proclaim their faith, to "fight roman idolatry" through their propaganda and to transform the institutions of the country. in order to keep the two parties together, in their struggle against foreign interference, it would have been necessary to persuade both sides to adopt a more moderate attitude and entirely to dissociate the affairs of state from religious convictions. orange tried to obtain this result. at the time, he drew his main support from the german lutherans, who had accepted the "religions friede." but the lutherans were only a small minority in the low countries compared to the calvinists, who were in close touch with the french huguenots. in order to conciliate catholics and protestants, the prince endeavoured to bring the lutherans and calvinists together, and even entered into negotiations with the calvinist leader, gui de bray. his efforts failed completely, the calvinists declaring that "they would rather die than become lutherans." from that time, owing partly to philip's policy in exasperating the people by the application of the placards and partly also to the fanatic attitude adopted by the new sect, the reform entered on a new phase in the low countries. no concessions on the part of the government would satisfy the extremists, bent on complete victory or separation. these tendencies were soon made apparent by the return of many emigrants and the number of open air "predicants" who held meetings where the people flocked, armed with sticks and weapons. the moderation shown by marguerite came too late. it was merely considered as a proof of weakness and emboldened the reformers to redouble their attacks. their task was considerably facilitated by the misery prevalent in the country, due to the bad harvest of the year and to the increased cost of living brought about by the paralysis of many branches of trade. a great many merchants had left antwerp, and in the region of oudenarde alone eight thousand weavers were unemployed. the church was held responsible for the misery endured by the people; class hatred and fanaticism combined to make it the scapegoat for all grievances. in flanders, some agitators produced letters, supposed to have been sealed by the king, by which the pillage of the churches was ordered. suddenly, on august th, armed bands invaded the churches, convents and monasteries of the region of hondschoote and armentières, breaking all statues, tearing pictures and manuscripts, and destroying church treasures and ornaments. the movement spread to ypres and ghent, ravaged the cathedral of antwerp and passed like a hurricane over holland and zeeland only to stop in friesland, on september th. during nearly a month the authorities of the western and northern provinces allowed the destruction to continue without daring or trying to stop it. under the impression caused by the rising of the "iconoclasts," the council of state obtained from marguerite the abolition of the inquisition and the authorization for the protestants to hold their meetings publicly, but unarmed and only in such places where similar meetings had already been organized. in return for these last concessions, the nobles dissolved their confederation and applied themselves to the re-establishment of order. [_the inquisition_] just as the inquisition had deepened the gulf between the two parties and stiffened the resistance of the followers of the reform, the excesses of the iconoclasts exasperated the moderate catholics and rendered union more and more difficult. the count of mansfeld, a belgian catholic, was made governor of brussels by marguerite, who placed herself under his protection. a great many moderate nobles, who had taken part in the compromise, rallied round the government, and it was suggested that, in order to counteract the revolutionary movement, it would be wise to obtain from all the nobles of the kingdom a new oath of fealty to the king. this measure was bound to cause a split. the small group of calvinist nobles, headed by the brothers marnix, louis of nassau and bréderode, abstained from taking the oath. orange himself was led by his followers into adopting an intransigent attitude, though he had not yet given up the hope of realizing union. chapter xvi separation the year marks the beginning of civil war in the low countries. up till then, the nobility and the states general had worked more or less together, acting as intermediaries between the government and the people. the sovereign rights of the king had never been questioned. henceforth, the low countries were to be divided into two parties, having their headquarters in the south and in the north. both aimed at preserving their national liberties and equally resented foreign oppression, but, while the people of the northern provinces decided to sever all connection with spain, the people of the south were loath to part from their national dynasty and were easily conciliated as soon as the government adopted a moderate attitude; while the people of the north adopted calvinism as their only public religion, the people of the south remained attached to the roman church. [_north and south_] the story of the sixteenth-century revolution in the low countries is so well known that it is scarcely necessary to recall again here the details of events. from the point of view of the formation of belgian nationality, the revolution has an extraordinary importance, since it engendered the separation of the low countries into two distinct nationalities, which were later to be known as belgian and dutch. most english readers who remember their motley, or any of the less valuable writings he inspired, are under the impression that if the belgians did not adopt the same attitude as the dutch all through the struggle against spain, it was either because they were blinded by their religious prejudices or because their patriotism did not rise to the same exalted height. such an opinion is perfectly plausible, but it does not sufficiently take into account the intransigent and selfish attitude adopted by the northern provinces, the political mistakes committed by their leader, and the difference between the strategical position and the economic interests of the revolutionaries in the north and in the south of the country. it may therefore be useful to examine the efforts made towards unity during the struggle and the causes of their failure. the steps taken by the calvinist nobles which resulted in the failure of de marnix to seize antwerp (march th) and the taking of valenciennes by government troops (march th) were followed by a strong reaction. the placards were again enforced, and a rumour began to spread that the duke of alba was being sent by philip to the netherlands at the head of a strong army. at this news over a hundred thousand protestants emigrated to england or to the north. many people in southern belgium were, however, unable to believe in the possibility of ruthless repression, and even some of those who had taken an active part in recent events remained in the country. they did not know the intentions of the duke of alba and the instructions he had received from his master. "i will try to arrange the affairs of religion in the low countries," wrote philip at the time, "if possible without having recourse to force, because this means would imply the total destruction of the country, but i am determined to use it nevertheless, if i cannot otherwise arrange everything as i wish." when, after a fortnight of festivities, the duke suddenly ordered the arrest of the counts of egmont and horn (september th), the people were taken entirely by surprise. in spite of the protests of marguerite and the counsels of moderation of the pope and the emperor maximilian, repression was systematically organized by the council of troubles, soon called the "council of blood." egmont and horn were executed on june th, and all those who had participated in the agitation of the compromise and the iconoclast movement were arrested. during the three years which followed, from six to eight thousand people perished. all resistance was impossible. only a few bands of beggars kept to the woods ("boschgeuzen") and a few privateers operated in the north sea ("zeegeuzen"). alba repulsed with equal success the attacks of louis of nassau and of the prince of orange. "the people are very pleased," he declared; "there is no people in the world more easy to govern when one knows how to manage them." the new taxes he raised in to pay for the cost of the war rendered his régime still more odious. these taxes of per cent. on all property, per cent. on the sale of real estate and per cent. on the sale of all goods, were of course unconstitutional, and for a long time brussels and louvain refused to pay them. when at last they came into force, in , all trade stopped and the people opposed passive resistance amid great privations and sufferings. the situation was at last relieved by the bold coup de main of the sea beggars on the port of la brielle, in zeeland. up till then, they had sought refuge in the english ports, but in queen elizabeth closed her ports to them, and the seizure of a naval base in the low countries became imperative. the taking of la brielle, coming as it did in the worst time of spanish oppression, provoked unbounded enthusiasm. successively flushing, rotterdam, schiedam, and soon all zeeland and holland, with the exception of a few towns, revolted against the duke. the huguenots were no less active in the south, where la noue seized valenciennes and louis of nassau mons (may th). orange himself advanced victoriously through gelder towards brabant. these successes roused great hopes in the southern provinces, but were unhappily marred by the massacre of the monks at gorcum and other excesses. they were abruptly stopped by the news of the massacre of st. bartholomew, orange's french allies being obliged to leave his army. [_protestant successes_] holland and zeeland became henceforth the centre of resistance. these provinces had not taken an important share in the life of the low countries during the middle ages. their prosperity was of comparatively recent date and mainly due to their merchant fleet, which brought to antwerp wood and corn from the baltic and wine from bordeaux. their sailors had ventured as far as madeira and the azores, and, on being stopped by charles v from reaching america by the southern route, had endeavoured to find a route to india by the north. from the beginning of the sixteenth century, amsterdam had become the great corn market, middleburg the centre of the french wine trade, and the shipyards of vere, goes and arnemuyden were among the most active in northern europe. the influx of capital resulting from trade and shipping was used to reclaim marshes, to build fresh dikes and to increase considerably the cultivated area. nowhere else, according to guicciardini, was prosperity so general or did the traveller meet such "clean and agreeable houses and such smiling and well cared for country." economically speaking, the northern provinces were only beginning to feel the benefit of the advantages of their position, already so manifest in antwerp. they were, so to speak, in a stage of formation, and far more ready to cut loose the links of tradition with an obscure past and to throw themselves into some great adventure in which they might try their strength. they occupied, besides, a safer situation than the south, controlling the outlets of three great streams and the adjoining seas, among low-lying lands which, as a last resort, could be flooded in order to stop the advance of an enemy or cut off his retreat. this situation adapted itself remarkably well to a defensive strategy by land and an aggressive strategy by sea. the small number of inhabitants and the small forces available rendered any offensive by land against the spanish armies extremely dangerous, so that the southern provinces, exposed on all sides to invasion, were left to shift for themselves. it so happened that the prince of orange, the principal leader of the opposition, had, as governor of holland and zeeland, acquired a great popularity in the country, which was considerably increased by his conversion to calvinism. he had been made "stadhouder" of his provinces and had found great resources in the confiscation of ecclesiastical property. the next campaign ( - ) affords an excellent example of the strength of orange's position. he was finally able to compel the duke to raise the siege of alkmaar, in spite of his overwhelming superiority in numbers and of the striking successes which had marked his progress from malines to zutphen, to naarden and to harlem. the spanish retreat, in october , coincided with a naval defeat off enkhuizen. alba, discouraged, left the low countries in december and was replaced by a spanish aristocrat, louis de zuniga y requesens. [_requesens_] philip was at last resigned to make some concessions, but remained adamant with regard to religion. thanks to the victory won by the spaniards at mook, where louis of nassau lost his life, requesens was able to grant some of the claims of the states general without losing prestige. he proclaimed a general amnesty, suppressed the taxes of per cent. and per cent., and induced the council of troubles not to pronounce any more death sentences. he would not, however, dismiss the spanish troops, and the north having refused to negotiate, the spaniards laid siege to leyden. in maximilian offered his mediation, and a congress was held at breda between the representatives of philip and of the prince of orange. the religious question, however, proved a stumbling-block, philip maintaining catholicism as the only state religion and the prince asking for a guarantee with regard to the preservation of liberty of conscience. after the death of requesens, on march , , the administration was taken over by the council of state, including the moderate catholics, mansfeld, berlaymont and viglius. they hastened to suppress the council of troubles, but were unable to disband the spanish army, in spite of the insistence of the provincial states, owing to the lack of funds for their arrears of pay. at the beginning of july some spanish units took alost, which became the centre of pillaging expeditions. these excesses and the increasing danger of the situation brought about a reconciliation between orange and the belgian nobles, and once more the dream of a common country came within reach of realization. the states of brabant proscribed the spanish soldiers and called the citizens to arms. the members of the council of state were arrested and the states general assembled. in spite of the irregularity of such procedure, all the provinces sent their representatives with the sole exception of luxemburg. philip was still proclaimed "sovereign lord and natural prince," but the command of the national troops was given to the belgian nobles, and orange was asked to help in reducing the rebellious soldiery and in besieging the citadels of ghent and antwerp. while the delegates of the stadhouder and of the states conferred in ghent, news reached them of the terrible excesses committed, on november th, by the spanish soldiers in antwerp, during the course of which seven thousand people lost their lives. these riots are remembered as the "spanish fury." [_pacification of ghent_] deplorable though they were, they would not have been too heavy a price to pay if national unity could have been maintained. never did it seem nearer at hand. with fresh memories of alba's régime and the wholesale executions of the council of blood, under the direct influence of the terrible news from antwerp, the belgian catholics were never more ready to wipe off old grievances, to forget the sacrileges of the iconoclasts, the massacre of gorcum and the persecution of those of their faith in the north. the pacification of ghent was signed on november th. the seventeen provinces allied themselves into a confederation, promised to render each other mutual help, to expel the spanish armies, to suppress the placards and the ordinances of the duke of alba and to proclaim a general amnesty. liberty of conscience, however, was only proclaimed in fifteen provinces. calvinism remained the only religion permitted in holland and zeeland. it is true that the pre-eminent situation of catholicism was recognized and that the protestants were not allowed any public manifestations outside holland and zeeland, but if we take into account the fact that, all over the country, the catholics were far more numerous than their rivals, this last clause of the pacification of ghent shows that the calvinists were bent on exacting all the advantages of the situation they had so heroically conquered and that the moderates of the southern provinces still found themselves placed between the hammer of spanish domination and the anvil of calvinist sectarianism. the prince of orange cannot be held entirely responsible for missing this unique opportunity of concluding with his compatriots a fair and liberal compact. his correspondence shows that he had hard work to reconcile his partisans even to such one-sided religious conclusions as those expressed in the pacification of ghent, and that in many instances he had to resign himself to being led in order to be allowed to lead. [_don juan_] this mistake was bound to bear fruit, when the new governor, don juan of austria, a natural son of charles v who had covered himself with glory at the battle of lepanto, reached the country, in november . philip, aware that the netherlands would escape him if he did not make some sacrifices, had given don juan still freer instructions than those given to requesens. the religious question only was excluded from concessions. besides, the king hoped that the belgians would be flattered by the choice of a prince of the blood and would be captivated by the romantic reputation of this striking representative of renaissance nobility. negotiations between don juan and the states general were rendered difficult by the opposition of the partisans of orange and by the want of good faith on the part of the new governor, who, while promising to recall the spanish troops, was discovered secretly negotiating with them. the first union of brussels was, however, concluded on january , . the states promised to obey the king and to maintain the catholic religion as the only state religion all through the country. on the other hand, don juan, by the edict of marche, known as "edit perpétuel," undertook to convoke the states general, to recall the spanish troops and not to persecute the partisans of the reform. orange and his partisans in holland and zeeland naturally refused to ratify such an arrangement, which violated the articles of the pacification of ghent. don juan entered brussels in may, after dismissing the spanish troops, but, in spite of all his efforts, was unable to ingratiate himself in the eyes of the population. most of the people had resented the signature of the union of brussels, and when the negotiations with the northerners broke off and don juan asked for troops to fight them, he met with a curt refusal. alarmed by this veiled hostility and exasperated by his protracted negotiations with orange, don juan shut himself up in the fortress of namur and recalled the spanish troops. nothing better could have happened from the point of view of the patriots, and the differences which had begun to undermine the work of the pacification of ghent, during the last months, were promptly forgotten. william of orange made a triumphal entry into brussels on september rd. he was greeted as the liberator of his country, amid scenes of unbounded enthusiasm. he was proclaimed "ruwaert" of brabant and his authority did not meet with any further open opposition. faithful to his principles, orange endeavoured to establish liberty of conscience in the low countries. his ideas, however, were only shared by a few friends whose rather elastic religious principles allowed them to sacrifice sectarianism to the higher interests of the state. they did not suit the catholic aristocracy, who, though strongly opposed to spain, remained attached to legitimist principles. they did not suit calvinist democrats, who, though in a minority, intended to overwhelm all opposition. the intellectuals among them propounded the idea of the "monarchomaques" that "the prince existed for the people, not the people for the prince," while the uneducated classes already proclaimed the principle of modern democracy and universal suffrage and questioned the right of the states to represent the people. since august brussels had been practically in the hands of the commune, represented by a council of eighteen. similar councils had seized power in some provincial towns, and at ghent, where the calvinists dominated the commune, the articles of the pacification were entirely disregarded, the churches being plundered and the priests persecuted. holland and zeeland maintained an expectant and somewhat moody attitude. they resented their leader's concessions to the catholics and were not over-enthusiastic towards unification. they felt themselves stronger than the rest of the country and had largely benefited from the closing of the scheldt and the momentary stoppage of antwerp's trade. they were loath to sacrifice such advantages for the sake of joining hands with "papists and monarchists." [_policy of orange_] as the democratic tendencies and calvinist excesses were more and more apparent, following the return of orange to brussels, the catholic aristocracy of the southern provinces became alarmed. the nobles were afraid of the attitude adopted by the people concerning their privileges and of the personal prestige of orange. they endeavoured to check his power by inviting foreign princes to take the leadership of the country. the duke of aerschot induced archduke matthias, brother of the emperor, to come to the low countries, but orange easily countered this manoeuvre by arresting the duke and opening negotiations with matthias, who signed the second union of brussels, on december , , and guaranteed liberty of conscience. the young archduke was henceforth a mere figurehead and orange remained the real ruler of the country. to add to the confusion, don juan opened an offensive, a few days later, and easily defeated the national troops which opposed his progress in luxemburg, namur and hainault, forcing the government to take refuge in antwerp. it became more and more apparent that the provinces could not rid themselves of the spaniards without appealing to foreign help. the emperor rudolph being unwilling to support matthias, the latter had become practically useless. in spite of repeated entreaties, queen elizabeth would not consent to give military help. she encouraged the revolution, since it proved a drain on philip's resources and an efficient protection from spanish enterprise against england, but she would not openly break with spain. only france remained. as early as july , count de lalaing endeavoured to repeat with the duke of anjou, henry iii's brother, the manoeuvre of aerschot. he sought, at the same time, to deliver the country from spain with foreign help and to check the increasing power of orange and all he stood for in his eyes. anjou had no respect for the liberties and aspirations of the provinces, neither did his rather tepid religious convictions, as a catholic prince, stand in his way. he hoped to obtain the title of sovereign of the netherlands and thus to increase his chances of succeeding in his suit for the hand of queen elizabeth. once more orange took for himself the plans propounded by his enemies. he negotiated with anjou, who received the title of "defender of the liberties of the low countries" in exchange for some military help. don juan was obliged to retreat on namur, where he died, completely disheartened, on october , , leaving his lieutenant, alexander farnese, duke of parma, to continue the struggle. [_the malcontents_] the situation, during the last months of , had become extremely intricate. the spanish troops, commanded by farnese, held the southern provinces as far as the sambre and the meuse. holland and zeeland maintained their powerful position in the north, but, between spanish and dutch headquarters, the country was thrown into a state of complete anarchy, and the power of the stadhouder, who, from antwerp, tried vainly to maintain unity, was more and more disregarded. the act of religious peace, which he had issued in june and which placed the two confessions on a footing of equality, though endeavouring to conciliate everybody, only increased the discontent. its clauses were entirely ignored by the calvinist republic of ghent, which pursued its own ruthless policy under the leadership of ryhove and terrorized the catholics. on the other hand, the catholic nobles, who commanded some units of the national army, formed themselves into a new party, the "malcontents," and occupied menin on october st. civil war became more and more inevitable. ryhove called the prince palatine, john casimir, a protégé of queen elizabeth, to his help, while anjou, alarmed by the apparition of this unexpected rival, helped the malcontents to reduce the calvinist communes in arras, lille and valenciennes. william of orange, who had displayed such extraordinary political aptitudes during the first years of the revolution, seemed, since his entry into brussels, to have disregarded some essential conditions of success. though imbued by the principle of national unity, he never threw himself wholeheartedly into the struggle and never gave the country the leadership it so badly needed. he first seemed to ignore the difficulties ahead, owing to the rivalry of religious factions, and, when these were made clear to him, he did not take any strong measure to enforce on the people the principle of liberty of conscience which he so loudly proclaimed. the recurrence of excesses and cruelties committed by the fanatic leaders of the communes contributed to create a widespread impression, among the catholics, that he was merely paying lip-service to them, while determined to tolerate any disobedience among his own followers. his retirement to antwerp, in close contact with holland and zeeland, but far removed from the southern provinces, was also unfavourable to the maintenance of the union under his leadership. finally, the interference in national affairs of such disreputable adventurers as john casimir and anjou diminished, to a certain degree, the reluctance with which the catholics envisaged the possibility of treating with spain. [_union of arras_] on january , , artois, hainault and walloon flanders formed the "confederation of arras," which sanctioned the first union of brussels--that is to say, the maintenance of catholicism all over the country; and from that time negotiations began between the catholic bourgeoisie and nobility and farnese. had orange proved more active or farnese less diplomatic, the union might still have been maintained even at the eleventh hour. for nothing but religious passion, and perhaps, to a certain extent, the fear of mob rule, prompted the southern provinces to accept the spanish offers. the states of hainault had declared that they would not undertake anything contrary to the common cause, but wanted only to preserve their existence, to "maintain the pacification of ghent against an insolent and barbarian tyranny worse than the spanish" and "to prevent the extinction of their holy faith and religion, of the nobility and of all order and state." they did not abandon any of their old claims against spain, but they refused to acknowledge the social and religious transformation which had taken place in the country since the signature of the pacification. the defenders of the new confederation expressed the hope that in all towns the oppressed catholics would join hands with them. the union of arras ought to be considered therefore, not as a walloon, but as a purely catholic league. it confirms the first union of brussels, including all its anti-spanish stipulations concerning the restoration of the old privileges, the voting of taxes by the states, the defence of the country by native troops, the maintenance of the catholic religion in all the provinces being the only common ground on which spaniards and belgians could meet. it was, nevertheless, a breach of the pacification of ghent, and was destined to link belgium with spain for many years to come. it was also a definite and irretrievable step towards separation. it has been suggested that the difference of race and languages might have influenced the fateful decision of the walloon provinces. such an interpretation does not take into account the language situation in the low countries at the time. one seeks vainly for any grievance which the southern provinces might have entertained on that ground. french was used in all the acts of the central government and in the deliberations of the states general. even the prince of orange had kept the burgundian tradition and considered french as his mother-tongue. he was surrounded and supported by a great number of french huguenots and walloon calvinists. owing to their smaller population the southern provinces were rather over-represented in the states general, where the vote went by province and not by numbers. besides, we must not overlook the fact that the confederates represented themselves not as dissenters, but as the true supporters of the act of union, which had been violated by the calvinists. they did not show any separatist tendencies like holland and zeeland, but opposed their policy of union to the policy of the prince of orange. one of their most urgent demands was that the prince of the netherlands should henceforth be of royal and legitimate blood, in order to restore a national policy, similar to that followed during the early years of the reigns of philip the handsome and charles v. all through the troubled period of the last twenty years, walloons and flemings never ceased to emphasize their will to live together. their mottoes are, "viribus unitis"; "belgium foederatum"; "concordia res parvæ crescunt"; and almost every speech and public manifestation insists on the necessity of protecting a common "patrie" against a common enemy through a common defence. as a matter of fact, the principle of unity was so popular at the time in the southern provinces that the confederates would have made themselves thoroughly unpopular if they had dared to preach separation, and, on both sides, it was only by pretending to defend the union that the extremists, moved by class hatred and religious passion, succeeded in destroying it. the centre of catholic reaction might have been formed in any other part of the southern provinces under similar circumstances. the region of armentières and valenciennes had been the cradle of the iconoclast rebellion, but repression in that quarter was far more effective than in any other. a great proportion of the walloon workers who did not perish under alba's rule emigrated to england. the southern cities were thus considerably depleted of their calvinist element, and the peasants and the bourgeois outnumbered them far more than in any other part of the country. even under ordinary circumstances the workers of the towns exercised very little influence on the states of hainault and artois. in hainault (valenciennes and tournai forming special circumscriptions), mons remained alone to represent their interests. in artois, arras, st. omer and béthune were the only important centres whose representatives could oppose those of the far more important agricultural districts. the question of race and language had no more influence on the attitude of the walloon provinces than on that of holland, zeeland and utrecht. both were determined by economic, social and religious conditions as well as by their strategic situation. [_union of utrecht_] the confederation of arras was proclaimed on january , . on the rd the union of utrecht was constituted, under the same claim of defending the pacification of ghent. it grouped around holland and zeeland the provinces of utrecht, gelder, friesland, over-yssel and groningen, together with the most important towns of flanders and brabant: ghent, ypres, bruges, antwerp, brussels, etc. they undertook to act jointly in reference to peace, war, alliances and all external matters, while retaining their local autonomy. the exercise of religion remained free, with the exception of holland and zeeland, from which catholicism was excluded. the union of utrecht was the origin of the republic of the seven united provinces. it was entirely dominated by the particularist policy of holland and zeeland, which, as events developed more and more in favour of farnese in the south, took less and less interest in their southern confederates. the small forces at their disposal rendered any offensive towards flanders and brabant, which would have provided the beleaguered cities with food and arms, very difficult, and the reopening of the scheldt, which must have taken place in the event of the integral preservation of the union of utrecht, would have reacted unfavourably on the trade of the northern ports. [_alexander farnese_] owing to the defensive attitude of the north, events moved rather slowly during the following years. after the fall of maestricht, which was marked by further massacres of the people by the spanish soldiery, farnese, who had staked all on a policy of conciliation, gradually dismissed the spanish troops and organized native units with the help of the malcontents. now that all bonds were severed between the union of utrecht and the crown of spain, philip ii endeavoured to revenge himself on his opponent by putting a price on his head ( ). the apology written by the prince of orange in answer to philip's accusations, in the shape of a letter addressed to the states general, is one of the most dignified pleas of such a kind in history. orange had no difficulty in showing the sincerity of his motives and his devotion to the common weal. the reader of this eloquent document will, however, realize that its author lacked the energy and self-reliance necessary to deal with the desperate situation in which the country was placed. in his eagerness to save the belgian towns and to safeguard unity, in spite of the unwillingness of holland and zeeland to depart from their expectant attitude, he concluded with the duke of anjou, on september th, the treaty of plessis-lez-tours, by which, in exchange for military help, the duke was to receive the title of hereditary sovereign of the united provinces, undertook to respect the rights of the states general and maintain the representatives of the house of orange-nassau as hereditary stadhouders of holland, zeeland and utrecht. this last clause was introduced far more to pacify the northerners, who strongly objected to these negotiations, than to further orange's personal ambition. it shows once more the privileged situation occupied by the three provinces and their strong particularist tendencies. the treaty of plessis-lez-tours, which was supposed to save the union, was destined to give it its death-blow and to strengthen the alliance between the southern provinces and farnese. by that time, the central government in antwerp had become purely nominal. the northern provinces had ceased to send their representatives and the delegates from the south could not claim to represent the people, who were more and more unfavourable to their attitude. the states general was only used to register and sanction orange's decisions. in spite of some opposition, it finally proclaimed, on july , , the deposition of the king. hostilities were at once resumed, farnese besieging cambrai and tournai, which had not yet joined the confederation. the first town was saved by the intervention of the french troops of anjou, but the second capitulated on november rd. from that time, farnese endeavoured to treat his enemies with the greatest clemency. he suppressed severely all acts of terrorism or pillage and offered honourable conditions to any city willing to surrender, the protestants being free to leave the town after settling their affairs and the local liberties remaining intact. by these moderate conditions and by the loyalty with which he kept to them, he gradually earned the respect, if not the sympathy, of a great number of his former opponents, and his attitude contrasted favourably with the vagaries of anjou, whose rule was, after all, the only alternative offered to the southern provinces at the time. after a journey to england, where he received a rebuff from queen elizabeth, anjou was greeted with great honours at antwerp (february , ). during the year which followed, he grew more and more impatient of the obstacles placed in his way and the restrictions imposed on his authority. he finally decided to make a bid for power, and, on the night of january - , , his soldiers endeavoured to seize the gates of antwerp and occupy the public buildings. they were, however, defeated by the armed citizens, and the duke, entirely discredited, was obliged to leave the country. this episode is remembered as the "french fury." the last hopes of reconstituting the unity of the netherlands were ruined by the murder, on july , , at delft, of the prince of orange, the only statesman who had pursued this aim with some consistency, in spite of all his mistakes. this action was as criminal as it was senseless. the prince had failed in his great enterprise of uniting the netherlands against spain, and no efforts on his part could have restored the situation. thanks to the spanish reinforcements the confederation had allowed him to receive, farnese was systematically blockading and besieging every important flemish town. already dunkirk, ypres and bruges had opened their gates to him and obtained very favourable conditions. ghent itself, the stronghold of calvinism in flanders, whose population had distinguished itself by so many cruelties and excesses and which was considered as the arch-enemy of the malcontents, benefited from the same policy when obliged to surrender, on september th. all the old customs were restored, the town was obliged to pay , golden écus, its hostages were pardoned, and, though the protestants were not allowed to celebrate their worship in public, they obtained a delay of two years before leaving the city. [_fall of antwerp_] at the beginning of almost every town had been reduced as far as malines. brussels, which had vainly expected some help from the north, opened its gates to farnese on march th, and the taking of antwerp, on august th, closed the series of operations which definitely separated belgium from holland and again placed the southern provinces under the subjection of spain. antwerp had been defended obstinately by its burgomaster, the calvinist pamphleteer, marnix de st. aldegonde, who confidently hoped that his northern allies would create a diversion and at least prevent the spanish from cutting off the great port from the sea. in the case of antwerp, holland and zeeland might have interfered without so much danger, but orange was no longer there to plead for unity and the great port of the southern provinces was abandoned to its fate. chapter xvii dream of independence the fall of antwerp had doomed all projects of anti-spanish unity. it had settled for centuries to come the fate of the southern provinces, which were henceforth attached to a foreign dynasty and administered as foreign possessions. this ultimate result was not, however, apparent at once, and for some years the people entertained a hope of a return to the burgundian tradition and to a national policy. this period of transition is covered by the reign of albert and isabella, who were, nominally at least, the sovereigns of the low countries. illustration: belgium under the rule of the kings of spain. before giving the low countries as a dowry to his daughter isabella, philip ii made several attempts to break the resistance of holland and zeeland. had farnese been left to deal with the situation after the fall of antwerp, he might have succeeded in this difficult enterprise. but all the successes he had obtained against maurice of nassau in zeeland flanders, brabant and gelder were jeopardized by the european policy of the spanish king. from august , , queen elizabeth had at last openly allied herself with the united provinces, and the whole attention of philip was now centred upon england and upon the bold project of forcing the entry of the thames with a powerful fleet. farnese was therefore obliged to concentrate most of his troops near dunkirk, in view of the projected landing. the complete failure of the expedition released these forces, but their absence from the northern provinces had already given maurice of nassau the opportunity of restoring the situation ( ). the next year, instead of resuming the campaign against the united provinces, farnese was obliged to fight in france to support the catholic league. it was in the course of one of these expeditions that he died in arras, on december , . [_albert and isabella_] illustration: the infanta isabella. from a picture by rubens (brussels museum). illustration: archduke albert. from a picture by rubens (brussels museum). philip was bound by his promises to send to belgium a prince of the blood. his choice of archduke ernest, son of maximilian ii, was, however, an unhappy one, as the weak prince was entirely dominated by his spanish general, fuentès, brother-in-law of the duke of alba. the country suffered, at the time, from the combined attacks of maurice of nassau and of henry iv of france. after the death of archduke ernest, philip chose as governor-general the former's younger brother, archduke albert, who had distinguished himself as viceroy of portugal. he arrived just in time, in , to relieve the situation by the taking of calais. this success was short-lived, and by the treaty of vervins (may , ) philip was obliged to restore calais to france, together with the vermandois and part of picardy. the next year the king negotiated the marriage of his daughter isabella with archduke albert. he died on september , , before the marriage could be celebrated. had philip ii come to this last determination willingly, the future of the low countries, at least of the southern provinces, might still have been saved. but this last act of the sovereign whose rule had been so fatal to the netherlands proved as disappointing as the others. while he wrote in the act of cession that "the greatest happiness which might occur to a country is to be governed under the eyes and in the presence of its natural prince and lord," he almost annihilated this very wise concession to belgian aspirations by adding stringent restrictions. the inhabitants of the low countries were not allowed to trade with the indies; in the eventuality of the infanta isabella having no children, the provinces would return to the crown. besides, the act contained some secret clauses according to which the new sovereigns undertook to obey all orders received from madrid and to maintain spanish garrisons in the principal towns. the spanish king reserved to himself the right to re-annex the low countries in any case, under certain circumstances. this half-hearted arrangement, besides placing the archduke in a false position in his relations with his subjects, deprived him of all initiative in foreign matters. in fact, in spite of his sincere attempts to shake off spanish influence, he enjoyed less independence than some former governors, like margaret of austria. these secret clauses were not known to the belgian people, and they greeted their new sovereigns with unbounded enthusiasm. their journey from luxemburg to brussels, where they made their entry on september , , was a triumphal progress. after so many years of war and foreign subjection, the belgians believed that albert and isabella would bring them a much needed peace and an independence similar to that which they enjoyed under charles v and philip the handsome. they considered their accession to the throne as a return to the burgundian policy to which they had been so consistently loyal all through their struggle against spain, and whose remembrance had done so much to separate them from the northern provinces. on several occasions, and more especially at the time of the peace of arras, they had expressed a wish to be governed by a prince of the blood who would be allowed to act as their independent sovereign, and they confidently imagined that this wish was going to be realized and that, under her new rulers, the country would be at last able to repair the damage caused by the war and to restore her economic prosperity. [_catholic reaction_] they knew that the new régime implied the exclusion of the protestants from the southern provinces, but this did not cause much discontent at the time. all through the struggle the catholics had been in great majority not only in the country but also in the principal towns, with the sole exception of antwerp, which was the meeting-place of many refugees. though at the time of the pacification of ghent a great number of citizens had adopted the new faith in order to avoid calvinistic persecutions, they had given it up as soon as the armies of farnese entered their towns. the sincere protestants had been obliged to emigrate to the northern provinces. though the number of these emigrants has been somewhat exaggerated, they included a great many intellectuals, big traders and skilful artisans, whose loss was bound to affect the southern provinces, as their presence was destined to benefit holland, where the names of the bruxellois hans van aerssen, the gantois heinsius and the tournaisiens jacques and issac lemaire are still remembered. at the time of the arrival of albert and isabella in belgium, protestantism had practically disappeared from the towns and maintained itself only in a few remote villages, such as dour (hainault), hoorebeke, estaires (flanders) and hodimont (limburg), where protestant communities still exist to-day. though the placards had not been abolished, they were no longer applied, and all executions had ceased. except in case of a public manifestation causing scandal, the judges did not interfere, and even then, penalties were limited to castigation or fine. contrary to some popular conceptions, protestantism was not uprooted by the violence and cruelties of the inquisition in the southern provinces. on the contrary, these violences, under the duke of alba, only contributed to extend its influence. the calvinist excesses of - and the leniency of farnese did more to counteract calvinist propaganda than the wholesale massacres organized by the council of blood. it was against these persecutions, not against the catholic religion, that the southern provinces fought throughout the period of revolution, and the breaking off of all relations with the north automatically brought to an end the influence of calvinism. the rapid success obtained by farnese's policy, and the fact that his successors had no need to have recourse to violent measures, shows that protestantism was not deeply rooted in the south and that the people would have been only too pleased to agree to its exclusion if they had obtained in exchange peace and independence. but the war went on and the archduke was compelled to remain governor for philip iii. [_siege of ostend_] this became apparent immediately when, in , the states general claimed a voice in the administration of the country and in the control of expenditure. they met with a curt refusal and were obliged to agree to pay a regular subsidy in place of the old "special grants." the same year, maurice of nassau invaded northern flanders in the hope of provoking a rising, but the people did not answer to his call. the spanish, however, were defeated at the battle of nieuport, where the archduke was severely wounded. the next year began the siege of ostend, which had remained faithful to the united provinces and which was easily able to receive provisions by sea. after three years of struggle, the town was obliged to surrender, thanks to the skilful operations of ambrose spinola, who was placed at the head of the spanish army. after further indecisive operations, a twelve years' truce was finally declared, on april , , between the united provinces and spain. philip iii virtually recognized the independence of the republic and even allowed the dutch merchants to trade with the west indies, a privilege which he had refused to his own subjects in belgium. the southern provinces were further sacrificed by the recognition of the blockade of the scheldt, which remained closed to all ships wishing to enter antwerp, to the greater benefit of dutch ports. as soon as hostilities were resumed, in , it became apparent that philip iv would not support belgium any more energetically than his father had done. spinola, who had the whole responsibility of the defence of the country after the death of archduke albert ( ), succeeded in taking breda ( ). with the spanish general's disgrace, owing to a court intrigue, the armies of the united provinces were once more successful in consolidating their situation in northern brabant and limburg, which they considered as the bulwarks of their independence. frederick henry of nassau, who had succeeded his brother in the command of the republic's armies, took bois-le-duc in , and venloo, ruremonde and maestricht in . he was supported, in these last operations, by louis xiii, who, prompted by richelieu, took this opportunity of humiliating the hapsburg dynasty. the spanish commander, the marquis of santa cruz, proved so inefficient that some belgian patriots tried to take matters into their own hands and to deliver their country from a foreign domination which was so fatal to its interests. it soon became clear, however, that any step taken against spain would deliver belgium into the hands of either the french or the dutch. a first ill-considered and hasty attempt was made by henry, count of bergh, and rené de renesse, who opened secret negotiations at the hague with some dutch statesmen and the french ambassador. on june th they attempted a rising at liége, but were obliged to take refuge in the united provinces. a more serious conspiracy was entered into, almost at the same time, by count egmont and prince d'epinoy, who, with some followers, formed a walloon league. their aim was to drive the spaniards out of the country with the help of the french and to found a "belgian federative and independent state." on being denounced to the government, the conspirators were obliged to take flight before their plans had matured. [_the states general_] the fall of maestricht had induced isabella to assemble once more the states general. after thirty-two years' silence, the latter put forward the same grievances concerning the restoration of old privileges and the defence of the country by native troops, together with new complaints referring to the recent spanish administration. the people had become so restless that the marquis of santa cruz and cardinal de la cueva, the representative of philip iv in the low countries, were obliged to fly from brussels. under pressure of public opinion, isabella allowed the states general to send a deputation to the hague to negotiate peace (september , ). the deputies left the town amid great rejoicings. with undaunted optimism, the belgians hoped that where the spanish armies had failed their representatives would be successful, and that the new negotiations would bring them at last peace and independence, for they realized that they could not obtain one without the other. according to a contemporary, they believed that they saw "the dawn of the day of peace and tranquillity after such a long and black night of evil war." but they had reckoned without the exigencies of the dutch, whose policy was even then to secure their own safety, independence and prosperity by drastically sacrificing the interests of the southern provinces. the delegates were met with the proposal of establishing in belgium a catholic federative republic at the price of heavy territorial concessions both to holland and to the french. they could obtain independence, but on such conditions that they would never have been able to defend it. the following year ( ), after the death of isabella, philip iv recalled the belgian delegates. he dissolved the states general a few months later ( ). from this time to the end of the eighteenth century, during the brabançonne revolution, the representatives of the belgian people were no longer consulted and had no share in the central government of belgium. chapter xviii the twelve years' truce the truce of - was used by the government and the people to restore as far as possible the economic prosperity of the catholic netherlands. the relative success with which these efforts were crowned shows that some energy was left in the country, in spite of the blockade imposed on her trade and of the emigration of some of her most prominent sons to the united provinces. it is a common mistake to presume that, from the beginning of the seventeenth century, all economic and intellectual life left the southern provinces and was absorbed by the northern. the contrast was indeed striking between the young republic which was becoming the first maritime power in europe and the mother-country from which it had been torn, and which had ceased to occupy a prominent rank in european affairs. a medal was struck, in , showing, on one side, symbols of want and misery, applied to the catholic netherlands, and, on the other, symbols of riches and prosperity, applied to the northern netherlands, whilst the inscriptions made it clear that these were the punishment of the impious and the reward of the faithful. but a careful study of the period would show that her most valuable treasure, the stubborn energy of her people, did not desert belgium during this critical period, and that in a remarkably short time she succeeded in rebuilding her home, or at least those parts of it which she was allowed to repair. at the end of the sixteenth century the situation, especially in flanders and brabant, was pitiful. the dikes were pierced, the polders were flooded and by far the greater part of the cultivated area left fallow. the amount of unclaimed land was so large in flanders that the first new-comer was allowed to till it. wild beasts had invaded the country, and only a mile from ghent travellers were attacked by wolves. bands of robbers infested the land, and in an order was issued to fell all the woods along roads and canals, in order to render travelling more secure. in brabant, many villages had lost more than half their houses, the mills were destroyed and the flocks scattered. the conditions in several of the towns were still worse. at ghent the famine was so acute among the poor that they even ate the garbage thrown in the streets. the population of antwerp, from , in the fifteenth century, had fallen to , in . lille, on account of its industry, and brussels, owing to the presence of the court, were the only centres which succeeded in maintaining their prosperity. the excesses of the foreign garrisons, often ill-paid and living on the population, added still further to the misery. the english traveller overbury, who visited the seventeen provinces at the beginning of the truce, declared that, as soon as he had passed the frontier, he found "a province distressed with warre; the people heartlesse, and rather repining against their governours, then revengefull against the enemies, the bravery of that gentrie which was left, and the industry of the merchant quite decayed; the husbandman labouring only to live, without desire to be rich to another's use; the townes (whatsoever concerned not the strength of them) ruinous; and to conclude, the people here growing poore with lesse taxes, then they flourish with on the states side." [_blockade_] the truce had declared the re-establishment of commercial liberty, but the blockade of the coast remained as stringent as ever. flushing, middleburg and amsterdam had inherited the transit trade of antwerp, now completely abandoned by foreign merchants. in only two genoese and one merchant from lucca remained in the place, while the last portuguese and english were taking their departure. the exchange was now so completely deserted that, in , it was used as a library. the docks were only frequented by a few dutch boats which brought their cargo of corn and took away manufactured articles. any foreign boat laden for antwerp was obliged to discharge its cargo in zeeland, the dutch merchant fleet monopolizing the trade of the scheldt. the belgians could not alter this situation themselves. they could only appeal to spanish help, and spain was neither in a situation nor in a mood to help them. most of its naval forces had been destroyed during the armada adventure, and neither the few galleys brought by spinola to sluis, before the taking of this town by maurice of nassau ( ), nor the privateers from dunkirk were able to do more than harass dutch trade. with the defeat of the reorganized spanish fleet at the battle of the downs, the last hope of seeing the dutch blockade raised vanished. not only was the lower scheldt firmly held, but enemy ships cruised permanently outside ostend, nieuport and dunkirk. the attempts made by the government to counter these measures by the closing of the land frontier were equally doomed to failure, since the dutch did not depend in any way on their belgian market, while the belgians needed the corn imported from the northern provinces. the extraordinary indifference of the spanish kings to the trade of their northern possessions is made evident by the fact that, while the treaty of allowed the dutch to trade with the indies, it was only thirty-one years later that the belgians received the same permission. thwarted in this direction, the activity of the people and of the government concentrated on industry and agriculture. dikes were rebuilt, marshes drained and cattle brought into the country. though trade had been ruined, the raw material remained. the region of valenciennes, tournai and lille was the first to recover. the wool which could no longer come through antwerp was imported from rouen, a staple being fixed at st. omer. in an enthusiastic contemporary compared lille to a small antwerp. the walloon provinces had been less severely tried, and the coal industry, as well as the foundries, in the meuse valley soon recovered their former activity. tapestry-making was also resumed in oudenarde and brussels, copper-working in malines, dyeing in antwerp and linen-weaving in the flemish country districts. but the economic upheaval caused by the civil wars had given the death-blow to the decaying town industries, paralysed by the régime of the corporations. the coppersmiths of dinant and namur were now completely ruined, and the cloth industry in ghent had become so insignificant that, in , the cloth hall of the town was ceded to the society of the "fencers of st. michael." rural industry and capitalist organization, which had made such strides at the beginning of the sixteenth century, had now definitely superseded mediæval institutions. it was on the same lines that the new industries which developed in the country at the time were organized by their promoters. the manufacture of silk stuffs started in antwerp, while the state attempted the cultivation of mulberry-trees to provide raw material. similar attention was devoted by albert and isabella to lace-making, which produced one of the most important articles of export. glass furnaces were established in ghent, liége and hainault, paper-works in huy, the manufacture of iron cauldrons began in liége, and soap factories and distilleries were set up in other places. [_new canals_] the solicitude of the central government was not limited to industry. roads and canals were repaired all over the country and new important public works were undertaken. though the project of a rhine-scheldt canal, favoured by isabella, had to be given up owing to dutch opposition, the canals from bruges to ghent ( ), from bruges to ostend ( - ) and from bruges to ypres ( - ) were completed at this time. navigation on the dendre was also improved, and it was in that the project was made to connect brussels with the province of hainault by a waterway. this plan was only realized a century later. the conditions prevailing in the catholic low countries during the first part of the seventeenth century were, therefore, on the whole, favourable. with regard to world trade and foreign politics the country was entirely paralysed, but the activity of the people and the solicitude of the sovereigns succeeded in realizing the economic restoration of the country as far as this restoration depended upon them. the real economic decadence of belgium did not occur on the date of the separation, but fifty years later, during the second half of the seventeenth century, when its exports were reduced by the protective tariffs of france, when the thirty years' war ruined the german market and when spain remained the only country open for its produce. [_social life_] this relative prosperity extended beyond the twelve years of the truce. for, even when hostilities were resumed, they did not deeply affect the life of the nation, most of the operations being limited to the frontier. some belgian historians have drawn a very flattering picture of this period and extolled the personal qualities of albert and isabella. we must, however, realize that, in spite of the archduke's good intentions, the promises made at the peace of arras were not kept, that the states general were only twice assembled and that all the political guarantees obtained by the patriots from farnese were disregarded. spanish garrisons remained in the country and the representatives of the people had no control over the expenditure. in fact, belgium was nearer to having an absolutist monarchical régime than it had ever been before. the council of state was only assembled to conciliate the nobility, whose loyalty was still further encouraged by the granting of honours, such as that of the order of the golden fleece, and entrusting to them missions to foreign countries. the upper bourgeoisie, on the other hand, were largely permitted to enter the ranks of the nobility by receiving titles. from to no less than forty-one estates were raised to the rank of counties, marquisates and principalities, and a contemporary writer complains that "as many nobles are made now in one year as formerly in a hundred." it was among these new nobles, or would-be nobles, who constituted a class very similar to that of the english gentry of the same period, that the state recruited the officers of its army and many officials, whose loyalty was, of course, ensured. no opposition was likely from the ranks of the clergy. the new bishoprics founded by philip ii had been reconstituted and the bishops selected by the king exercised strict discipline in their dioceses. besides, all religious orders were now united by the necessity of opposing a common front to the attacks of the protestants, and they felt that the fate of the religion was intimately bound up with that of the dynasty. the principle of the divine right of kings was opposed to the doctrine of the right of the people to choose their monarch propounded by the monarchomaques, and roman catholics were, by then, attached to the monarchy just as calvinists were attached to the republic. the experiences of the last century prevented any return to the situation existing under charles v, when, on certain questions, the clergy were inclined to side with the people against the prince. the close alliance of church and state had now become an accomplished fact, and was destined to influence belgian politics right up to modern times. the loyalty of the people was even stimulated by this alliance, the work of public charity being more and more taken from the communal authorities to be monopolized by the clergy. attendance at church and, for children, at catechism and sunday school was encouraged by benevolence, the distribution of prizes and small favours, while religious slackness or any revolutionary tendency implied a loss of all similar advantages. here, again, the skilful propaganda against heresy constituted a powerful weapon in the hands of the state. it must, in all fairness, be added that charity contributed greatly to relieve the misery so widespread during the first years of the century, and that the people were genuinely grateful to such orders as the récollets and the capuchins, who resumed the work undertaken with such enthusiasm by the minor orders in the previous centuries. they visited the prisoners and the sick, sheltered the insane and the destitute, and even undertook such public duties as those of firemen. these efforts soon succeeded in obliterating the last traces of calvinist and republican tendencies, which had never succeeded in affecting the bulk of the population. as a modern sovereign, bent on increasing the power of the state, archduke albert resented the encroachments of the clergy, as charles v had done before him. but he was as powerless to extricate himself from the circumstances which identified the interests of his internal policy with those of the church, as to liberate himself from the severe restrictions with which the spanish régime paralysed his initiative in foreign matters. chapter xix rubens if it be true that the spirit of a period can best be judged by its intellectual and artistic achievements, we ought certainly to find in the pictures of rubens ( - ) an adequate expression of the tendencies and aspirations of the counter reformation in belgium. compared with the religious pictures of the van eycks and of van der weyden, such works as the "spear thrust" (antwerp museum), "the erection of the cross" and the "descent from the cross" (antwerp cathedral) form a complete contrast. there is no trace left in them of the mystic atmosphere, the sense of repose and of the intense inner tragedy which pervade the works of the primitives. within a century, flemish art is completely transformed. it appeals to the senses more than to the soul, and finds greatness in the display of physical effort and majestic lines more than in any spiritual fervour. two predominant influences contributed to bring about this extraordinary transformation--the influence of italy and that of the catholic restoration, specially as expressed by the jesuits. while, in the fifteenth century, art, in the low countries, had remained purely flemish, or, to speak more accurately, faithful to native tendencies, all through the sixteenth century the attraction of the italian renaissance became more and more apparent. we know that van der weyden, in , and josse van ghent, in , visited italy, but they went there more as teachers than as students. their works were appreciated by the italian patrons for their intense originality and for their technical perfection. jean gossaert, better known as mabuse on account of his being born in maubeuge (_c._ ), was the first of a numerous series of artists who, all through the sixteenth century, considered the imitation of the italian art of the period as an essential condition of success. just as the primitive national school had been patronized by the dukes of burgundy, the italianizants were patronized by charles v, margaret of austria and mary of hungary. the worship of raphael and michael angelo, so apparent in the paintings of van orley, peter pourbus, j. massys and many others, marks the transition between the primitive tendencies of van eyck and the modern tendencies of rubens. both tendencies are sometimes aptly combined in their works, and their portraits, especially those of antoine moro, still place the antwerp school of the sixteenth century in the forefront of european art, but the general decadence of native inspiration is nevertheless plainly apparent. the favour shown to these painters by the governors under charles v and philip ii is significant. whatever their personal opinions may have been, the italianizants adapted themselves to the pomp displayed by the monarchists and to the modern spirit of catholicism, as opposed to the reformation, whose critical and satiric tendencies were expressed, to a certain extent, by realists like jérôme bosch ( - ) and peter breughel (_c._ - ) who painted, at the same time, genre pictures of a popular character and who remained absolutely free from italian influence. the same opposition which divided society and religion reflected itself in art. [_rubens_] though he succeeded in transforming their methods, rubens is nevertheless the spiritual descendant of the italianizants. it is from them and from his direct contact with the works of michael angelo and titian that he inherits his association of spiritual sublimity with physical strength. adopting without reserve michael angelo's pagan vision of christianity, he transformed his saints and apostles into powerful heroes and endeavoured to convey the awe and majesty inspired by the christian drama through an imposing combination of forceful lines and striking colouring. rubens was chosen by the jesuits to decorate the great church they had erected in antwerp in . such a choice at first appears strange, considering that, on several occasions, rubens does not seem to conform to the strict rule which the powerful brotherhood succeeded in imposing on other intellectual activities. translated into poetry, such works as the "rape of the daughters of lucippus," "the judgment of paris," "the progress of silenus," would suggest a style very much akin to that of shakespeare's _venus and adonis_, and, needless to say, would never have passed the church's censor. for the reaction against the moral license and the intellectual liberty of the previous century was by now completed. higher education was monopolized by the reformed university of louvain and the new university of douai, and no belgian was allowed to study abroad. all traces of humanism had disappeared from louvain, where justus lipsius remained as the last representative of renaissance tendencies strongly tempered by orthodoxy. scientific novelties were so much distrusted that when, in , van helmont dared to make public his observations on animal magnetism, he was denounced as a heretic and obliged to recant. for fear of exposing themselves to similar persecutions, the historians of the time confined themselves to the study of national antiquities. the theatre was confined to the representation of conventional passions and mysteries and to the plays produced every year by the jesuits in their schools. illustration: pulpit of sainte gudule, brussels (eighteenth century). _ph. b._ as a matter of fact, the tolerance and even the encouragement granted, at the time, to an exuberant display of forms and colours and to an overloaded ornamental architecture, were not opposed to the jesuit methods. they were determined, by all means at their disposal, to transform the low countries into an advance citadel of roman catholicism. their policy was far more positive than negative. they were far more bent on bringing to the church new converts and stimulating the zeal of their flock than on eradicating protestantism. they thought that the only means to obtain such a result was to attract the people by pleasant surroundings and not to rebuke them by morose asceticism. they were the first to introduce dancing, music and games into their colleges. they organized processions and sacred pageants. they surrounded the first solemn communion with a new ceremonial. they stimulated emulation and showered prizes on all those who distinguished themselves. [_the jesuits_] society was merely for them a larger school in which they used the same means in order to consolidate their position. during the first years of the seventeenth century, an enormous number of new churches were built. never had architects been so busy since the time of philip the good. the church of douai, erected in , was a replica of the gésù in rome, and the general adoption of the italian "barocco" by the jesuits has encouraged the idea, in modern times, that there really existed a jesuit type of architecture. the flowery ornaments on the façades of these churches, their columns, gilded torches, elaborate and heavy designs, cannot be compared to rubens's masterpieces, but, from the point of view of propaganda, which was the only point of view that mattered, the glorious paintings of the antwerp master fulfilled the same purpose. they rendered religion attractive to the masses, they combined with music and incense to fill the congregation with a sacred awe conducive to faith. it ought not to be assumed, however, that the painters of the period enjoyed complete liberty of expression. if the church showed great tolerance with regard to the choice of certain profane subjects, christian art was directly influenced by the reforms promulgated by the council of trent. in a pamphlet published in by jean molanus, _de picturis et imaginibus sacris_, the new rules are strictly set forth. all subjects inspired by the apocryphal books and popular legends are proscribed, and even such details of treatment as the representation of st. joseph as an old man and the removal of the lily from the hand of the angel of the annunciation to a vase are severely criticized. the censors of the period would have given short shrift to memling's interpretation of st. ursula's story and all similar legends which could not be upheld by the authority of the _acta sanctorum_. this remarkable historical work, initiated by bollandus at the time, endeavoured to weed out from the lives of the saints most of the popular anecdotes which had inspired mediæval artists. all episodes connected with the birth and marriage of the virgin disappeared, at the same time, from the churches. the jesuits were stern rationalists, and, considering themselves as the defenders of a besieged fortress, were determined not to lay the church open to attack and to remove any cause for criticism. their point of view was entirely contrary to that of the mediæval artists. for the latter, art sprang naturally from a fervent mysticism, just as flowers spring from the soil. its intimate faith does not need any effort, any artifices, to make itself apparent; even secondary works retain a religious value. the sacred pictures of the seventeenth century appear, in contrast, as a gigantic and wonderful piece of religious advertisement. based on purely pagan motives, they succeed in capturing the wandering attention on some sacred subject, by overloading it with a luxury of ornament and an exuberance of gesture unknown to the primitives. the treatment may be free, it is even necessary that it should be so in order to flatter the taste of the period, but the repertory of subjects becomes more and more limited. brilliant colours, floating draperies, powerful draughtsmanship, become the obedient servants of a stern and dogmatic mind. the pagans exalted sensuousness, the mediæval artists magnified faith, the artists of the counter-reformation used all the means of the former to reach the aim of the latter "ad majorem dei gloriam." [_intellectual life_] the result of this intellectual and artistic movement was stupendous. while the récollets and capuchins, carmelites, brigittines, ursulines and clarisses worked among the poor, the jesuits succeeded in capturing the upper classes. all the children of the rich bourgeoisie and the nobility attended their schools and colleges, and, in , the number of pupils with their parents who had entered the congregation of the virgin reached , . one might say that the jesuits had taken intellectual power from the hands of the laity in order to wield it for the benefit of the church. from their ranks rose all the most prominent men of the period, philosophers like lessius, economists like scribani, historians like the bollandists, physicians, mathematicians, architects and painters. the direct result of this clericalization of art and letters was to thwart the progress realized during the last century by the vulgar tongue. latin replaced french in philosophy, history and science, and even in literature the elite preferred to express themselves in the classic tongue. flemish was completely disdained. according to geulinx, "it ought not to have been heard outside the kitchen or the inn." this period, which from the artistic point of view was marked by such bold innovations, favoured a reaction towards the mediæval use of latin in preference to the vulgar tongue. but latin was not read by the people. rubens was not only the most successful religious painter of his time, he was also the favourite and ambassador of albert and isabella, the great courtier and portrait painter and the decorator of the luxemburg palace in paris. he not only paid court to the church, he also placed his talent at the service of the sovereigns and nobles of his day, and certainly the encouragement given by the latter to pagan subjects may account for the leniency of the church towards them. in the king of spain ordered from the antwerp master fifty-six pictures illustrating the _metamorphoses_ of ovid, destined for his hunting lodge near madrid. rubens's pupil, van dyck, was the accomplished type of the court painter of the period. his portraits of charles i and of his children and of lord john and lord bernard stewart are among the best-known examples of the work he accomplished in england. [_breughel and jordaens_] there is a third aspect of rubens which cannot be ignored and through which he may be associated with the realist artists of the seventeenth century, who succeeded in preserving a purely flemish and popular tradition in spite of italian and monarchist influences. the "kermesse" of the louvre and the wonderful landscapes disseminated in so many european museums are the best proofs that the master did not lose touch with his native land and with the people who tilled it. this special aspect of his art is even more prominent in the works of his follower, jacques jordaens ( - ). it is significant that the latter became a calvinist in . while rubens and van dyck represent mostly the aristocratic and clerical side of the flemish art of the period, jordaens appears as the direct descendant of jérôme bosch and peter breughel. breughel's satires, such as the "fight between the lean and the fat" and the "triumph of death," show plainly that his sympathies were certainly not on the side of spanish oppression. his interpretation of the "massacre of the innocents" (imperial museum, vienna) is nothing but a tragic description of a raid of spanish soldiery on a flemish village. quite apart from their extraordinary suggestiveness, these works, like most of breughel's drawings and paintings, constitute admirable illustrations of the popular life of the low countries during the religious wars. it must never be forgotten that all through the sixteenth century, starting from quentin matsys, the founder of the antwerp school, the popular and flemish tradition remains distinct from the flowery style of the italianizants. though it is impossible to divide the two groups of artists among the two political and religious tendencies in conflict, the works of breughel and jordaens may be considered as a necessary counterpart to those of frans floris and rubens if we wish to form a complete idea of the civilization of the period. illustration: the massacre of the innocents (sixteenth century). (imperial museum, vienna.) _p. breugghel._[i] chapter xx political decadence under spain though the seven northern provinces could be considered as definitely lost after the failure of farnese's last attempt to reconquer them, the spanish netherlands still included, at the beginning of the seventeenth century, the three duchies of brabant, limburg (with its dependencies beyond the meuse, daelhem, fauquemont and rolduc), luxemburg and a small part of gelder with ruremonde; four counties, flanders, artois, hainault and namur, and the two seigneuries of malines and tournai. when, in , the southern netherlands passed under austrian sovereignty, they had lost maestricht and part of northern limburg, northern brabant, zeeland flanders, walloon flanders and artois, and various small enclaves, most of their fortified towns being further obliged to receive foreign garrisons, maintained at the expense of the state. antwerp remained closed, and the efforts made during the first years of the seventeenth century to restore the economic situation through industrial and agricultural activity were practically annihilated by incessant wars. this situation was evidently caused by the weakness of spain, which, though clinging to its northern possessions, did not possess the means to defend them against the ambition of european powers, more especially france. it was due also to the policy of the united provinces, who considered belgium as a mere buffer state which they could use for their own protection and whose ruin, through the closing of antwerp, was one of the conditions of their own prosperity. up to the war of the spanish succession, england played a less prominent part in the various conflicts affecting the southern netherlands, but she succeeded, on several occasions, in checking the annexationist projects of france, whose presence along the belgian coast was a far greater danger than that of a weak and impoverished spain. [_weakness of belgium_] there is no better illustration of the paramount importance of a strong and independent belgium to the peace of europe than the series of wars which followed each other in such rapid succession during the seventeenth century. it is true that, in nearly every instance, the new situation created in the netherlands cannot be given as the direct cause of these various conflicts, resulting from territorial ambitions, dynastic susceptibilities and even, as in the case of the thirty years' war, from circumstances quite independent of those prevalent on the meuse and the scheldt. but, whatever the nominal cause of these wars may have been, they certainly acquired a more widespread character from the fact that the spanish netherlands lay as an easy prey at the mercy of the invader and constituted a kind of open arena where european armies could meet and carry on their contests on enemy ground. it is not a mere chance that the separation of the southern and northern provinces coincided with a remarkable recrudescence of the warlike spirit all over europe. the contrast between the fifteenth century, when the seventeen provinces constituted a powerful state under the dukes of burgundy, and the seventeenth, when the greater part of it was ruined and undefended, at the mercy of foreign invasion, is particularly enlightening. all through the middle ages first flanders, later the burgundian netherlands, had exerted their sobering and regulating influence between france, on one side, and england or germany on the other. the belgian princes were directly interested in maintaining peace, and, in most cases, only went to war when their independence, and incidentally the peace of europe, was threatened by the increasing ambition of one of their neighbours. the system of alliances concluded with this object could not possibly prevent conflicts, but it certainly limited their scope and preserved europe from general conflagration, the combination of the netherlands with one power being usually enough to keep a third power in order. the weakening of the southern provinces under spanish rule thus caused an irreparable gap in the most sensitive and dangerous spot on the political map of europe. triple and quadruple alliances were entered into and inaugurated the system of grand alliances which was henceforth to characterize almost every european conflict and increase on such a large scale the numbers of opposed forces and the devastations accompanying their warlike operations. [_dutch policy_] it may be said that the united provinces might have played the part formerly filled by the burgundian netherlands and the county of flanders, but, in spite of their amazing maritime expansion and of the prosperity of their trade, they did not enjoy the same military prestige on land. besides, they did not care to undertake such a heavy responsibility, and pursued most of the time a narrowly self-centred policy. though they had some excellent opportunities of reconstituting the unity of the low countries, and though some of their statesmen contemplated such a step, the united provinces never embarked upon a definite policy of reconstitution. they played for safety first and were far too wary to sacrifice solid material advantages for a problematic european prestige. unification would have meant the reopening of the scheldt and the resurrection of antwerp, whose rivalry was always dreaded by the northern ports. it would have meant the admission of a far more numerous population on an equal footing, with religious freedom, to the privileges of the republic. it would have implied the sacrifice of an extraordinarily strong strategic situation and the risks involved by the defence of weak and extended frontiers. the maintenance of a weak buffer state, as a glacis against any attacks from the south, seemed far more advantageous, especially if its fortified positions were garrisoned with dutch forces. it gave all the same strategic advantages which unification might have given, without any of its risks and inconveniences. "it is far better," wrote a dutch grand pensioner, at the time, "to defend oneself in brussels or antwerp than in breda or dordrecht." such an attitude was perfectly justified as long as holland did not claim the advantages attached to the position of a moderating central power and ask for the reward without having taken the risks. we have seen how, in , the delegates of the states general were met at the hague with the proposal of the creation of a federative catholic republic under the tutelage of france and holland. this project, already entertained in by the grand pensioner oldenbarneveldt, was very much favoured by cardinal richelieu, who, in , signed a secret convention with the united provinces, according to which such a proposal would be made to the people of the southern netherlands. in the event of their refusing this arrangement, the country would be divided among the two allies, following a line running from blankenberghe to luxemburg. if we remember the attitude of the belgians at the time of the conspiracy of the nobles, led by the count of bergh ( ), such a refusal must have been anticipated, so that the proposal amounted really to a project of partition. this project would anyhow have been opposed by england, since, according to the dutch diplomat grotius, charles i "would not admit" the presence of france on the flemish coast. in a formal and public alliance was declared between the united provinces and france, and war broke out once more between spain and the confederates. the operations which followed form part of the fourth phase of the thirty years' war, but we are only concerned here with their result with regard to the netherlands. while the dutch took breda and concentrated near maestricht, the french advanced through the southern provinces towards limburg, where they made their junction with their allies to proceed against brussels. the belgians had not answered the franco-batavian manifesto, inviting them to rebel, and gave whatever help they could to their spanish governor, the cardinal infant ferdinand. students co-operated in the defence of louvain, and the people showed the greatest loyalty during the campaign. they knew by now that they had very little good to expect from a franco-dutch protectorate and that even the shadow of independence they were allowed to preserve under the spanish régime would be taken from them. powerless to reconquer full independence, they preferred a weak rule which secured for them at least religious liberty to the strong rule of those whom they considered as foreigners and as enemies to their country. [_richelieu and mazarin_] operations were pursued with alternating success until , when mazarin succeeded richelieu as french prime minister. mazarin favoured a more radical solution of the netherlands difficulty. he persuaded louis xiv that the possession of the left bank of the rhine was essential to the safety of the kingdom, and aimed at the total annexation of the belgian provinces. the negotiations begun in that direction met with dutch and english opposition and the curt refusal of spain to renounce her rights on her northern possessions. this new attitude of france brought about a rapprochement between spain and the united provinces, who began to fear louis xiv's ambitious schemes. the two countries settled their difficulties by the treaty of münster ( ), while, after a new series of defeats, culminating, in , in the battle of the dunes, won by turenne against don juan, philip iv was finally obliged to submit to the treaty of the pyrenees ( ). the dutch plenipotentiaries had practically a free hand in the settling of the münster treaty. they acquired all the territories they claimed, and they only claimed the territories they wanted and which they already held. their choice was dictated neither by territorial ambition nor by the desire to realize the unity of the netherlands. they obtained, of course, the official recognition of their full independence and the maintenance of the closing of the scheldt and of its dependencies. the annexation of zeeland flanders, henceforth known as flanders of the states, ensured their position on the left bank of the stream, that of north brabant with bergen-op-zoom, breda and bois-le-duc, ensured the protection of their central provinces, while maestricht, together with fauquemont, daelhem and rolduc, secured their position on the meuse. these were purely strategic annexations, prompted by strategic motives and by the desire to keep a firm hold on some key positions from which the united provinces could check any attack, either from spain or from france, with the least effort. by the treaty of the pyrenees philip iv abandoned to france the whole of artois and a series of fortified positions in southern flanders, hainault, namur and luxemburg. these latter demands were prompted by an evident desire to extend french territory towards the netherlands and to obtain a position which should afford a good starting-point for such extension. the treaties of münster and of the pyrenees had, broadly speaking, determined the new status of the southern provinces, considerably diminished to comply with the wishes and the interests of the united provinces and of france. this status was not considerably altered by the succession of wars which took place during the second half of the seventeenth century and the early years of the eighteenth, and which ended by the substitution of austrian for spanish rule. it was, however, considered as provisional by louis xiv, whose territorial ambitions extended far beyond walloon flanders, and, before obtaining the right to live within her new frontiers, belgium had still to undergo the ordeal of five devastating wars. illustration: proclamation of the peace of mÜnster in front of the antwerp town hall. from an old print ( ). [_projects of partition_] at the time of the death of philip iv ( ), the southern provinces, impoverished and inadequately defended, were an easy prey to foreign territorial greed. the dutch grand pensioner de witt returned to the old plan of , whereby holland and france should agree to the constitution of a protected buffer state, and, in case this proposal should not meet with the support of the states, to a partition along a line extending from ostend to maestricht. holland and england, however, were soon to realize that no compromise was possible with france and that their safety required prompt joint action. the roi-soleil would not agree to recognize the right of the new king of spain, charles ii, to the southern netherlands. a few years before, king louis had married maria theresa, the eldest daughter of philip iv, and his legal advisers made a pretext of the non-payment of her dowry and of a custom prevalent in some parts of brabant, according to which the children of a first marriage were favoured ("dévolution"), to claim this part of the spanish succession. the king's troops entered the netherlands in , without meeting with any serious opposition, and hostilities only came to an end when, after concluding a hasty peace and enlisting the support of sweden, the united provinces and england concluded the triple alliance ( ). by the treaty of aix-la-chapelle, france nevertheless obtained the fortified towns of bergues, furnes, armentières, courtrai, lille, oudenarde, tournai, ath, douai, binche and charleroi, strengthening her position still further on the borders of walloon flanders and in hainault. the allies understood by then that louis's ambitions threatened their very existence. when the french resumed hostilities, four years later, a revolution took place in holland which overthrew de witt in favour of william iii of orange, who was hereafter the strongest opponent of french policy. charles ii of england took an equally strong attitude, following the traditional english policy of not allowing the french to obtain a hold on the flemish coast. addressing parliament, a few years later, he declared that england could not admit "that even one town like ostend should fall into french hands, and could not tolerate that even only forty french soldiers should occupy such a position, just opposite the mouth of the thames." william had therefore no difficulty in constituting a powerful alliance, including, besides the united provinces and england, spain, germany and denmark. in face of such opposition, louis was finally compelled to sign the treaty of nymegen, which restored to spain some of the advanced positions obtained by the treaty of aix-la-chapelle, but confirmed the loss of walloon flanders and southern hainault. after a few years, however, seeing the alliance broken off and his enemies otherwise engaged, the king of france assumed a more and more aggressive attitude and encroached so much on the rights of spain that charles ii was finally compelled to resist his pretensions. luxemburg was the only town which offered any serious resistance; everywhere else french armies pursued their methods of terrorism, bombarded the towns and ravaged the country. the truce of ratisbon, concluded in for twenty years, added chimay, beaumont and luxemburg to the french spoils. [_the augsburg league_] william iii, alarmed by this progress, succeeded in enlisting the support of the emperor leopold i, the king of spain, the king of sweden and the duke of savoy. a new league against france was founded in augsburg ( ). when, two years later, william succeeded in supplanting james ii on the throne of england, this country entered the league and a new conflict became inevitable. belgium was not directly interested in it, and, as on former occasions, served as the battleground of foreign armies. in spite of the series of victories won by the french general, the marshal of luxemburg, at fleurus ( ), steenkerque ( ) and neerwinden ( ), william iii always succeeded in reconstituting his army. two years later, he retook namur, in spite of marshal de villeroi's attack on brussels, during which the capital was bombarded for two days (august th to th) with red-hot bullets, over four thousand houses, including those of the grand' place, being destroyed by fire. the peace of ryswyck, september , , gave back to spain the advanced fortresses annexed by the two previous treaties, william being definitely recognized as king of england. the personal union between the two countries reacted somewhat on british policy in the netherlands, this country taking a far more important share in the last period of the struggle against louis xiv. up till then, england had been content with checking france's encroachments in flanders and maintaining the balance of power in europe. the closer relationships with the united provinces, during the reigns of william and mary and of queen anne, involved england in further responsibilities and even induced her to impose, for a short time, an anglo-dutch protectorate on the belgian provinces. this attitude was made more apparent by marlborough's personal ambitions concerning the governorship of the southern provinces, but the failure of these projects and the prompt return to traditional policy, after the treaty of utrecht, only makes more apparent the general territorial disinterestedness of this country concerning the netherlands. [_marlborough's campaigns_] charles ii of spain had died in , leaving all his possessions and the crown of spain to philip, duke of anjou, the second grandson of louis xiv, thus depriving of his hopes of the succession archduke charles, son of the emperor leopold i, who stood in exactly the same relation to the deceased monarch. the emperor at once sought the support of the united provinces, which, however, hesitated to reopen hostilities. the spanish governor in belgium was then maximilian emmanuel of bavaria, who harboured the project of restoring the southern provinces to their former prosperity and of becoming the sovereign of the new state, with or without a spanish protectorate. french agents at his court encouraged his plan and so lured him by false promises that, in , he allowed french troops to enter belgium unopposed and to establish themselves in the principal towns. the grand alliance, including the same partners as the augsburg league, was at once re-formed, in spite of the death, in , of william, and the duke of marlborough was placed at the head of the allied troops. during the first years of the war of the spanish succession, operations were purely defensive in the netherlands, owing specially to the anxiety of the dutch not to risk any offensive which might have left a gap for the enemy's attacks. it was not until that marlborough was able to break through the enemy's defences at ramillies, near tirlemont. this victory was followed by a french retreat, and the belgians expected to be placed at once under the rule of charles iii, the other claimant of the spanish crown, instead of which the council of state, summoned in brussels, was subjected to the orders of an anglo-batavian conference, which had no legitimate right to rule the country. the council protested, upon several occasions, and the exactions of the allies, who had been first hailed as deliverers, caused such indignation in the provinces that some towns, such as ghent, opened their gates to the french. the defeat of louis xiv was, however, consummated at oudenarde ( ) and malplaquet ( ). the french forces had been so considerably reduced that, had louis's openings for peace been met at the time, the integrity of the southern provinces might have been restored. the allies were, however, rather indifferent to such advantages, since it became more and more evident that, owing to anglo-dutch rivalries, they could not reap any direct benefit from them, and the netherlands would finally have to be restored to charles iii, who, at the death of the emperor, in , succeeded his brother under the name of charles vi. the whig party had fallen from power in england in the previous year, and marlborough, no longer supported at home, could not undertake any further operations. under these conditions negotiations became possible, and the result was not so damaging to the prestige of france as might have been expected. by the treaty of utrecht ( ) the southern netherlands were transferred to the austrian branch of the hapsburgs as a compensation for its loss of the spanish crown. louis restored tournai, and a portion of west flanders beyond the yser including furnes and ypres, but artois, walloon flanders, the south of hainault and of luxemburg remained french. [_treaty of utrecht_] from the point of view of the netherlands, the treaties of rastadt and of baden ( ) were merely the ratification, by the emperor and by the holy roman empire, of the clauses of the treaty of utrecht. but the treaty of antwerp, or of the barriers, concluded the next year, between austria and the united provinces, included new stipulations practically placing the new austrian netherlands under the tutelage of holland and still increasing her territorial encroachments. this was the outcome of previous conventions concluded between england and the united provinces and according to which the latter were promised, beside some territorial advantages, the possession of a certain number of fortified towns "in order that they should serve as a barrier of safety to the states general" ( ). if, at utrecht, the british had obtained new possessions in canada, at antwerp the dutch claimed their share of advantages and exacted from charles vi the price of their services. namur, tournai, menin, ypres, warneton, furnes, knocke and termonde were to be the fixed points of the barrier where the united provinces might keep their troops at the expense of the belgian provinces. further advantages were obtained in zeeland flanders and on the meuse by the annexation of venloo, stevensweert and montfort. the fortifications of liége, huy and ghent were to be razed and the dutch had further the right to flood certain parts of the country if they considered it necessary for defence. the scheldt, of course, remained closed, since, according to article xxvi, "the trade of the austrian netherlands and everything depending on it would be on the same footing as that established by the treaty of münster, which was confirmed." the treaty of the barriers marked the lowest ebb of belgian nationality. during the protracted war which preceded it, complete anarchy reigned, imperialists, the allied conference, maximilian emmanuel and the french administering various parts of the country. the great nation raised in the heart of europe by the dukes of burgundy seemed practically annihilated, but the people had retained, in spite of all reverses and tribulations, the memory of their past, and, from the very depth of their misery, evolved a new strength and reasserted their right to live, in spite of the attitude of all european powers, which seemed, at the time, to consider their nationality as non-existent. "we are reduced to the last extremity," wrote the states of brabant to charles ii in , "we are exhausted to the last substance by long and costly wars, and we can only present your majesty with our infirmities, our wounds and our cries of sorrow." illustration: belgium under the rule of the emperors of austria. chapter xxi the ostend company the austrian régime is characterized by a return to more peaceful conditions, since, with the exception of the period of to , the country was not directly affected by european conflicts. under any rule, this period of peace must have been marked by an economic renaissance in a country disposing of such natural riches as the southern provinces. the austrian governors encouraged this movement, as the archdukes had encouraged it before, but, like them, they were unable to deliver the country from its economic bondage, as far as foreign trade was concerned. the maritime countries had made stringent conditions on the cession of the southern netherlands to the austrian dynasty. the treaties stipulated that "the loyal subjects of his imperial majesty could neither buy nor sell without the consent of their neighbours." during the last years of the spanish régime, a small group of ostend merchants had chartered a ship, the _prince eugène_, and founded factories near canton. this was the origin of the "general company of the indies to trade in bengal and the extreme east," usually known as the "ostend company," founded in . within seven hours' time, the capital of , , florins was subscribed, and soon eleven ships plied between ostend and a series of factories established on the coast of bengal and southern china. this success was looked at askance by the maritime powers, which, basing their claim on a clause in the treaty of münster forbidding the spanish to trade in the east indies, made the suppression of the new company a condition to the acceptance of the pragmatic sanction. by this act, charles vi endeavoured to ensure the succession of maria theresa to the austrian throne. once more, belgium was sacrificed to dynastic interests, and on may , , the concession of the company of ostend was suspended, to be finally suppressed in . a similar attempt was made, later in the century, by the company of asia and africa, whose seat was at trieste, with a branch at ostend. this company chose for its ventures the deserted group of islands surrounding tristan d'acunha, with the idea that such a modest enterprise could not possibly awake the jealousy of the powers. but, in the same way, in , holland, england and france brought about the failure of the new company. ostend had to be satisfied with the transit of spanish wool towards the empire and with the temporary activity brought to her port by the american war of independence. [_industrial progress_] in spite of their apparent insignificance and of their total failure, these attempts to reopen communication with the outer world, notwithstanding the closing of the scheldt, are symptomatic of a remarkable economic revival. the population had risen from two to three millions, during the first half of the eighteenth century, and brussels, with , inhabitants, ghent and antwerp, with , each, had regained a certain part of their former prosperity. native industry, strongly encouraged by protective measures, made a wonderful recovery. in the small towns and the country-side, the linen industry benefited largely from the invention of the fly shuttle, over two hundred thousand weavers and spinners being employed in . lace-making had made further progress, specially in brussels, where fifteen thousand women followed this trade. in tournai became an important centre for the china industry, its wares acquiring great renown. the extraction of coal in the deeper seams had been facilitated by the use of recently invented steam-pumps, and the woollen industry around verviers was producing, in , , pieces of material a year. such progress largely compensated for the decadence of tapestry, which had been ruined by the rivalry of printed stuffs. the government intervened also actively in agricultural matters by encouraging small ownership, at the expense of great estates, and the breaking up of new ground. the land tax was more evenly distributed and the great work of draining the moeres (flooded land between furnes and dunkirk), which had been begun by the archdukes, was successfully completed ( ). the peasants also benefited from the cultivation of potatoes, which were becoming more and more popular. the only severe check to economic activity was caused by the war of the austrian succession, which opened at the accession of maria theresa ( ), and which opposed the forces of austria, england and holland against the coalition of prussia, france, spain and poland. a british landing in ostend prevented an early invasion of the southern netherlands by france during the first year of the struggle, but in french troops appeared in west flanders, and belgium became once more the "cockpit of europe." the victory of maurice de saxe at fontenoy against the allied armies commanded by the duke of cumberland placed the southern netherlands under french occupation. after a month's siege, brussels was obliged to capitulate, and was soon followed by antwerp and the principal towns of the country. the marshal de saxe treated the belgian provinces as conquered territory, and the exactions of his intendant, moreau de seychelles, provoked some protests, which were abruptly silenced. after two years' operations, during which the allies sustained some reverses on land but obtained some victories at sea, peace was finally signed at aix-la-chapelle ( ). the belgian provinces came again under austrian rule, and maestricht and bergen-op-zoom, which had been conquered by the french, were given back to holland, together with the fortresses of the barrier, which were again occupied by dutch troops. dutch occupation had, from the beginning, been strongly resented by the belgian people, who felt the humiliation of entertaining foreign garrisons in their own towns. now that the dutch had proved unable to defend the barrier, its re-establishment was still less justified and was considered as a gratuitous insult. nothing did more to deepen the gulf between the southern and northern netherlands than the maintenance of the barrier system, combined with the repeated actions taken by the dutch to ruin the trade of ostend and to enforce the free import of certain goods. the popularity enjoyed by charles de lorraine, the brother in-law of maria theresa, who governed the belgian provinces from to , was partly due to the resentment provoked by dutch supremacy. [_austrian succession_] on the whole, the austrian régime was not very different from the spanish. the provinces were governed from vienna, where the council of the low countries invariably adopted the government's decision. the states general were never summoned and no affair of importance was submitted to the council of state in brussels. charles de lorraine, however, showed a greater respect for local privileges than his predecessors and gained the sympathy of the nobles by his genial manners. he held court either in brussels or in his castles of mariemont and tervueren, where french fashions were introduced and which recalled, on a modest scale, the glories of versailles. some members of the aristocracy, like charles joseph de ligne, who was, besides, a remarkable writer, were in close relations with the french philosophers, but they were only a small minority and most of the belgian nobles were decidedly hostile to the new ideas. voltaire, who visited brussels in , did not appreciate this provincial atmosphere: "the arts do not dwell in brussels, neither do the pleasures; a retired and quiet life is here the lot of nearly all, but this quiet life is so much like tedium that one may easily be mistaken for the other." as a matter of fact, though the eighteenth century contrasted favourably with the seventeenth, in the southern provinces, from the economic point of view, its intellectual life was extraordinarily poor. there is no name to mention among the flemish writers. indeed, one might even say that flemish had practically ceased to be written and had become a mere dialect. the prince de ligne remained isolated in his castle of beloeil, designed by lenôtre, and was merely a french intellectual in exile. a royal academy of drawing had been founded, but the period hardly produced any painter worthy of note. an imperial and royal academy of science and letters had been inaugurated in , but the only members were scholars and antiquaries without any originality. maria theresa tried to react against this intellectual apathy. she substituted civil for ecclesiastical censorship, she commissioned count de nény, the famous jurist, to reform the university of louvain. when the order of the jesuits was suppressed by the pope in , she founded fifteen new lay colleges, known as collèges thérésiens, and took a personal interest in the framing of the programme of studies and in the least detail of organization. she favoured the teaching of flemish as well as french in the secondary schools and the two languages were placed on exactly the same footing. in the judicial domain she succeeded in abolishing torture as a means of inquiry. she also attempted to relieve pauperism by the foundation of orphanages and almshouses. [_maria theresa_] in spite of the fact that neither charles vi nor maria theresa ever visited belgium, the people felt a genuine attachment to the monarchy. they lived with the memory of such severe trials that they were grateful for the scant attention they received. besides, the hapsburg dynasty remained one of their links with the past, and it is significant that, at a time when all eyes were turned towards the future, the belgians, and especially the popular classes, were more and more thrown back on their own traditions. no doubt the economic restrictions to which they were subjected and the fact that they were practically isolated must have conduced to this state of mind, but the lack of political independence is mainly responsible for it. unable to take their fate in their own hands, obliged to submit to the greatest calamities without being allowed to avoid or to prevent them, the belgians clung to the last vestige of their past privileges as if their salvation could only be found among the ruins of their bygone glory. [_popular restlessness_] the only serious civil trouble which occurred under spanish and austrian rule was caused by trivial infringements by the government of some of the old privileges of the corporations. for such reasons, riots broke out in brussels ( ), antwerp ( ) and louvain ( ). the people did not rise against foreign domination or in order to obtain their share in the administration of the country, but because they thought, rightly or wrongly, that some mediæval custom, which they considered as their sacred privilege, had not been observed. during the last years of the spanish régime, frequent riots broke out in brussels because, after the accidental collapse of a tower containing old documents, the people had been able to read again the grand privilege of mary of burgundy, granted two centuries before. they had reprints made of it under the name _luyster van brabant_ (ornament of brabant) and wanted to persuade maximilian emmanuel to apply the old charter. after long delays, the governor had finally to enforce severe regulations, known as "réglements additionnels." this incident was the origin of further trouble at the beginning of the austrian régime, when prince eugène, being engaged in the war against the turks, delegated the marquis de prié to represent him in the low countries. unwilling to comply with the new regulations, the brussels artisans refused to pay the taxes. they were led by a chair-maker, françois anneessens. riots broke out in in brussels and malines, and prié was obliged to let the local militia restore order. he had meanwhile sent for troops, and in october brussels was militarily occupied. anneessens was executed, and the bitterness provoked by this tyrannical measure obliged the government to recall prié a few years later ( ). these popular movements were only the first signs of the increasing restlessness of the people which caused the brabançonne revolution of . while the conservative and even reactionary character of these civil troubles must be made clear, in order to avoid any confusion between the belgian and the french revolutions, it must at the same time be admitted that both movements started from the same desire for change and from the same confused feeling that, under a new régime, life would become more tolerable. the social conditions caused by the "ancien régime" were not nearly so oppressive in the belgian provinces as in france, and, under the enlightened rule of maria theresa and joseph ii, some amelioration was certainly to be expected. but the people suffered from the artificial conditions under which they lived economically, and though they did not see clearly the cause of their trouble, they were inclined to seize upon any pretext to manifest their discontent. in spite of all appearances, one could suggest that the closing of the scheldt may have had something to do with the overthrow of the austrian régime. chapter xxii the brabanÇonne revolution philip ii's policy ruined the southern netherlands at the end of the sixteenth century. two hundred years later, joseph ii's methods of government provoked a popular reaction which practically brought to an end the hapsburg régime. the contrast between the two sovereigns is striking. philip ii is the type of the monarchic tyrant basing his claim to sovereignty on the divine right of kings and pursuing these principles to their extreme conclusions. not only did he consider his mission to govern his people's bodies, but he also felt bound to govern their souls, and sincerely believed that, by persecuting heresy by the most cruel means, he was in reality working for their good. opposed to this clerical fanatic, issuing decrees from a monastery cell, joseph ii stands as the type of the modern monarch, brought up on eighteenth-century enlightened philosophy, for whom the state was not to serve the church but to be served by it. for this young philosopher, who affected the greatest simplicity in manners and habits, the sovereign himself was the first servant of the state, and his autocratic rule was only justified by his belief that a reasonable and wise government could not be subjected to the peoples' control. [_joseph ii_] but, in spite of this contrast in education, external appearance and outlook, philip ii and joseph ii had certain points in common. they were both conscientious workers, over-anxious to control every act of their representatives, and they had both the greatest contempt for the feelings of the people they governed. having come to certain conclusions, they applied them mechanically, scornful of all resistance. they held the secret of their people's happiness or salvation in their hands and they were resolved to enforce this happiness and this salvation on them whether they agreed or not. they both possessed the hard, intolerant and virtuous mind which makes the worst autocrats. the only striking difference between the wishes of the two monarchs was that the fanatic of eighteenth-century philosophy was determined that his people should find happiness in this life, while the fanatic of the catholic renaissance was determined that they should find this happiness in the next. illustration: joseph ii. from a contemporary engraving. [_joseph's visit to belgium_] such appreciation may seem strange if one considers that one of joseph ii's cardinal principles of government was precisely religious and philosophic tolerance and the complete dissociation of state politics from personal belief. but we are not concerned at present with the personal philosophy of the two kings, but with the way it affected their people. this people, as far as the netherlands were concerned, were the last in europe to tolerate such hard and abstract methods of government, and nothing perhaps is more enlightening, if we try to form an adequate opinion of belgian temperament, than the upheaval caused by the reforms proclaimed by the "benighted" and by the "enlightened" monarch. it was not so much that the belgians rebelled against inquisition, in one case, and against secularization in the other. we have seen that, in the sixteenth century, the great majority had remained catholic, in spite of calvinistic propaganda, and, though the church had obtained still greater authority during the seventeenth century, the minority influenced by the ideas of the french revolution was by no means to be disregarded. the principle to which the belgians most objected was state worship, because it broke up all the traditions of the burgundian and post-burgundian periods. as long as these traditions and local privileges, giving them still a shadow of provincial independence, were respected, they submitted without too much difficulty to the imposition of centralized institutions and to foreign rule. they were even ready, when this rule proved at all congenial, to give solid proofs of their loyalty. they were very sensible of any mark of sympathy and showed an almost exaggerated gratitude to any prince who condescended to preside over their festivals and share in their pleasures. this had been the secret of charles v's popularity, and the successful governorship of charles de lorraine had no other cause. but charles de lorraine was just the type of man whom a puritan dogmatist like joseph ii could not stand. though he had visited most of his estates, as heir apparent, he had always refrained from going to belgium, owing to his antipathy for his uncle, whose popularity he envied. when charles died, he changed the name of the regiment which had been called after him. his visit to belgium, in , was a great disappointment to the people--as great a disappointment as the first appearance of philip ii in brussels. he started with the intention of "undertaking a serious and thorough study" of the southern netherlands. when asked to preside over a festivity, in luxemburg, he answered that he had not come "to eat, drink and dance, but on serious business." when shown, at ghent, the glorious masterpiece of flemish art, the crowning glory of the burgundian time, van eyck's adoration of the lamb, he objected to the nude figures of adam and eve and had them removed. he appeared in simple uniform, accompanied by one servant, stayed at the public inn and travelled in public coaches. he spent most of his time in government offices, taking no opportunity to mix with the people and visiting in a hurried way schools, barracks and workshops. such were his serious studies. how could the people understand a prince who understood them so little? perceiving this lack of sympathy, he had already judged them; they were, for him, "frenchified heads who cared for nothing but beer." maria theresa, though her policy had remained strictly dynastic, involving even the possible exchange of her belgian provinces against other states, had acquired a certain knowledge of the people and realized that their prejudices, though absurd according to her own lights, had to be indulged. she had urged her son to be patient with regard to such prejudices, "of which too many had already been scraped away." she realized that the acceptance by the government of local customs and privileges was an essential condition to the continuance of austrian rule, that the people, unable to defend themselves, centred all their affection and their pride on these last remnants of their former glory, and that religious ceremonies and popular feasts were a healthy overflow for popular energy which might otherwise become dangerous. choosing her opportunities, she had gradually worked towards the secularization of education and the limitation of the privileges of the clergy, but she had not attempted wholesale reforms. joseph ii, on the contrary, worked according to plan, and was bent on destroying whatever seemed to him absurd in the customs and institutions of the country. practically everything seemed so to him: the anachronism of the joyous entry, the mediævalism of the grand privilege of mary of burgundy, the regionalism of provincial states, the prestige of the church, the pilgrimages, the intolerance, down to the popular festivities, the drinking bouts of the "kermesses" and the mad craving of the people for good cheer. this last trait was as characteristic of the belgian people in those days as in mediæval and modern times. all the realist painters, from breughel to jordaens and from jordaens to teniers, had exalted the joys of popular holidays, and it is remarkable that, during a century when there was so little to eat in the country and so little cause for merrymaking, the works of art which are the truest expression of the people's aspirations dwell on no other subject with so much relish and insistence. the tragic side of life was not represented, and one might venture to say that the admirers of such merry kermesses must often have taken their wish for the reality. like breughel's "pays de cocagne," they described an earthly paradise far more distant than the heavenly one. [_war of the cauldron_] in one way only the emperor understood the aspirations of his people and supported them up to a certain point. before organizing his possessions according to the ideal project he had already sketched, he intended to consolidate their political situation. the barrier system was as distasteful to him as to the population of flanders and hainault, and he shared the grievances of the merchants of antwerp with regard to the closing of the scheldt. as early as maria theresa had refused to pay the annual tribute for the upkeep of the dutch garrisons, which had done so little to defend belgium during the previous war, but she had been unable to prevent the prince of brunswick from rebuilding the destroyed fortresses and from reinstating the garrisons. after the break up of the dutch-british alliance, owing to the american war, joseph ii did not hesitate to demolish the fortresses, and the dutch garrisons were obliged to depart ( ). encouraged by this first success and finding england eager to reopen the scheldt, owing to the blockade of the dutch coast, the emperor announced the liberty of the river, and followed this announcement by sending, rather rashly, a small brig, the _louis_, flying his flag, from antwerp down to the sea. a shot, fired from a dutch cutter, hit a cauldron which happened to be on deck and europe was faced with the prospect of a new war. the "war of the cauldron" was, however, prevented by the mediation of louis xvi, and the treaty of fontainebleau ( ), while recognizing the suppression of the barrier, maintained the closing of the scheldt. this check in his foreign policy further increased the unpopularity of joseph ii in belgium. jealous of the authority of duke albert casimir of saxe-teschen and of his sister, marie christine, his representatives in the country, the emperor deprived them of all initiative and acted directly through his minister plenipotentiary, the count of belgiojioso. in order to restrict the influence of the clergy and to bring belgian institutions into complete harmony with the organization of his other states, joseph ii issued, from to , a series of edicts which could not fail to cause great indignation among the catholics: all public functions were rendered accessible to catholics and non-catholics alike, complete liberty of worship was proclaimed, mixed marriages (between catholics and protestants) were authorized, the keeping of the parish registers was taken from the ecclesiastical authorities, all "useless" convents and monasteries were suppressed, all episcopal charges were subjected to imperial sanction, all episcopal seminaries were suppressed, to be replaced by controlled seminaries at louvain and luxemburg. the parish limits were altered and strong regulations were made with regard to processions, pilgrimages and even sacerdotal costume, while burying in consecrated ground was forbidden, in order that all dead, whatever their creed, should be equally honoured. [_internal reforms_] some of these measures might have been quite justified, and the example of maria theresa shows that they might have been taken progressively, under favourable circumstances, without causing trouble. what hurt the people most was their sweeping character, their frequency and the petty tyranny with which they were applied. it was not without reason that frederick ii of prussia nicknamed joseph "my brother the sacristan." the emperor had gone as far as replacing the catholic brotherhoods by the "brotherhood of the active love of my neighbour." all protests remained without the least result. they were merely, according to joseph ii, "the effect of delirium." within five years, this too sensible sovereign, by calling all those who did not agree with him "madmen," had succeeded in undoing all the good work undertaken by charles de lorraine and in ruining austrian authority in the netherlands. in joseph ii undertook to regulate the people's pleasures. in order to prevent the inhabitants of neighbouring villages and towns from taking part in each other's kermesses, he fixed one day in the year for the celebration of all these festivities. no wonder that his good intentions were not appreciated and that this constant interference of the state in the people's most intimate and cherished traditions was met with growing dislike. the emperor, nevertheless, did not slacken his activity, and the next year issued a decree which completely upset the administrative and judicial organization of the provinces. a "general council of the low countries" replaced the three collateral councils. the country was divided into nine circles, under the authority of intendants, each of which was subdivided into districts under the authority of commissaries. all supreme courts, provincial, municipal, ecclesiastical, university and corporation courts were replaced, from one day to another, by sixty-four ordinary tribunals, two courts of appeal and one court of revision. this last measure, which really meant the final break up of all the privileges and institutions so anxiously defended and preserved through centuries of foreign oppression, provoked a unanimous protest. the catholics, headed by the popular tribune van der noot, were joined by the minority of nobles and bourgeois influenced by the ideas of the french revolution, whose principal representative was françois vonck. the states of brabant refused to pay the taxes, as long as the decrees were not repealed, and the few partisans of belgiojioso, or "figs," were persecuted by the populace. on may , , duke albert casimir wrote to joseph ii: "convinced that it is attacked in its most sacred rights and its very liberty, the whole nation, from the first to the last citizen, is permeated with a patriotic enthusiasm which would cause them to shed the last drop of their blood rather than obey laws which the authorities would endeavour to impose and which appear contrary to the constitution." illustration: van der noot. from a contemporary engraving. meanwhile van der noot and vonck had founded a patriotic committee, heavily subsidized by the clergy, which enlisted volunteers and circulated anti-imperial pamphlets. in august joseph ii was at last persuaded to suspend his last decrees, on the condition that the committee should be dissolved and the volunteers disbanded. he sent to brussels, as plenipotentiary, count trautmansdorff, with dictatorial powers, and general d'alton as commander of the imperial forces. under the threat of the military, the council of brabant was obliged to submit. [_religious reforms_] the religious reforms, however, were still provoking strong opposition. the seminary general remained without pupils. the university of louvain, having rebelled against the new regulations, was closed. riots broke out in louvain, malines and antwerp which were sternly repressed. the states of hainault, having refused subsidies, were dissolved. when the states of brabant adopted a similar attitude, the emperor had guns trained on the grand' place of brussels and threatened "to turn the capital into a desert where grass would grow in the streets." the autocrat was now showing under the dogmatist. exasperated by resistance, joseph ii asked from the states of brabant a perpetual subsidy, declared his intention of revising the joyous entry, which he had sworn to maintain, and of taking up his plans of judiciary reorganization. the states, having refused their support, were dissolved and the joyous entry annulled. it so happened that public opinion was stirred most acutely in the provinces at the time of the taking of the bastille by the people of paris (july ). this great symbolic event was bound to react on the belgian crisis. the vonckist minority was strongly encouraged and the rest of the people saw in the event merely a victory of liberty against autocracy. van der noot had taken refuge in breda, whence he had undertaken several journeys to secure the support of the triple alliance. pitt had refused to grant him an audience, but the dutch and prussian governments, without making any definite engagements, had at least lent an ear to his proposals. the popular leader, rushing to hasty conclusions, announced that the powers were favourable to the revolution. vonck, on the other hand, had established his headquarters in the principality of liége, where he had many friends and where he succeeded in enlisting a certain number of volunteers. when the austrians entered the principality, he was obliged to leave for breda, where he joined forces with van der noot. a retired colonel of the prussian army, van der meersch, was chosen as the commander of the three thousand badly equipped volunteers massed along the dutch frontier. on october rd he occupied hoogstraeten, in the campine, and issued a manifesto in which joseph ii was declared to have forfeited his rights. a slight success at turnhout, a few days later, followed by the retreat of the austrian forces, sufficed to provoke risings all over the country. deserted by his walloon troops, general d'alton was obliged to leave brussels for luxemburg, the only town remaining loyal. on december th van der noot and vonck made their solemn entry into brussels, followed by a thanksgiving service at ste. gudule. amazed by these events, joseph ii wrote to count de ségur: "a general madness seems to seize all peoples; those of brabant, for instance, have revolted because i wanted to give them what your own nation clamours for." he was certainly nearer the truth than camille desmoulins, who, in his well-known paper, assimilated the two revolutions because they started almost on the same day. as a matter of fact, the brabançonne revolution was far more conservative than progressive. the intellectual vonckists, who had always been in a minority, were practically ignored on the morrow of the victory, and van der noot assumed power. illustration: scene of the brabanÇonne revolution. (from an old print) a delegation from mons arriving at the town hall of brussels. ["_belgian united states_"] the new constitution, accepted, on january , , by delegates of the provincial states, with the exception of luxemburg, declared the "etats belgiques unis" to form a confederation under the leadership of a supreme congress. the states general dealt only with questions of general administration and differences between the provinces. the congress was responsible for foreign affairs, all local matters being referred to the provincial states. though, at first sight, this constitution seems to be strongly influenced by the american example, it marked merely the triumph of the particularist tendencies of the middle ages and a reaction against the dogmatic and centralized rule of joseph ii. it secured the predominance of the nobility and the clergy and the maintenance of the old states, while preserving the church against any attempt at secularization. any effort made by the vonckists to infuse the new constitution with the principles of the rights of man and popular sovereignty was not only resisted, but strongly resented, and soon a regular persecution of the progressive bourgeois and nobles was organized by the "statistes" led by van der noot. vonck and his followers were obliged to fly to france, and van der meersch, who sided with them, was arrested by baron de schoenfeldt, placed by the congress at the head of the national troops. [_return of the austrians_] the new emperor, leopold ii, who had succeeded his brother on the throne of austria (february ), took the opportunity offered by these internal troubles to reopen negotiations. he promised a complete amnesty, the suppression of the reforms and the nomination of belgians to all posts, even those of plenipotentiary and of commander of the national forces. van der noot had refused these offers on the ground that the triple alliance would support the confederacy. on july th, however, england, the united provinces and prussia signed the convention of reichenbach, reinstating leopold ii in his dominion over the netherlands. this contributed to ruin the prestige of the congress. the belgian national troops could not offer much resistance to the invading austrian armies. on november th, marshal bender reached namur, and on december nd, nearly a year after their departure from brussels, the austrians re-entered the capital. the reichenbach convention had guaranteed complete amnesty. leopold ii kept his promise and, by the treaty of the hague, restored all institutions as they had been in the reign of maria theresa. thus failed miserably a revolution begun amid fervent enthusiasm. the patriotism of the people cannot be questioned. they had only been reconciled to foreign rule in the sixteenth century because it had been the means of preserving their faith and their ancient traditions. as soon as this tacit contract was broken, they decided to shake off foreign tutelage and to make a bid for independence. but, if the people did not lack public spirit, they had lost contact with the times and were unable to use their liberty when they had conquered it. public opinion was uneducated and regionalism had blinded the people to the advantages which they might have derived from a more centralized régime. they were not prepared to make any concessions to their political adversaries for the sake of unity; they had still to learn the motto of : "union is strength." in this way, the terrible ordeal which they had to undergo under french occupation did not remain entirely fruitless. neither the spaniards nor the austrians had succeeded in uprooting particularist tendencies. the french imposed a centralized régime and impressed the people with its social value. when, in , the belgians again rebelled against foreign oppression, they had learnt their lesson and did not again allow internal differences to deprive them of the fruit of their labours. chapter xxiii liberty, equality, fraternity one of the reasons of joseph ii's failure to reform belgian institutions was that his monarchical power rested mainly on the nobility, the clergy and the peasants, who were bound to resent the sacrifice of their privileges and traditions. the french republic and its outcome, the napoleonic régime, were more successful, not because they displayed more diplomacy and moderation, but because, in spite of their excesses and autocratic procedure, they really brought a new idea into the country and based their power on a new conception of society. the bourgeois elements of the vonckist school and the population of the great towns had by now been permeated with the spirit of the revolution. they had adopted the principle of the rights of man and of equal citizenship, and, for the sake of such ideals, they were prepared to make some allowances. the first years of the french régime were nevertheless a bitter disappointment. [_jemappes_] by the declaration of pillnitz ( ), leopold ii, brother of the french queen, had laid the basis of the first coalition and manifested his intention of intervening in favour of louis xvi. after his death ( ) francis ii pursued a still more aggressive policy towards the revolution, and the girondins, who had just come into power, obliged the king of france to declare war against austria. the first attacks against belgium were easily repulsed by the imperial troops, commanded by national leaders, but the victory of jemappes (november th), won by dumouriez with the help of a belgian legion, opened the belgian provinces to the revolutionary troops. general dumouriez was a moderate and intended to remain faithful to the principles of liberty. he issued a proclamation, approved by the convention, declaring that his soldiers were coming as allies and as brothers. when, on november th, he was offered the keys of brussels by the magistrates, he refused them, saying: "keep the keys yourselves and keep them carefully; let no foreigner rule you any more, for you are not made for such a fate." greatly impressed by the warm reception given him in mons and brussels by the vonckists, he did not realize that the country was far from being unanimous. the french general declared the scheldt open, in accordance with a decree of the republic which had proclaimed the freedom of the river. illustration: belgium under french rule. while the belgians hesitated to declare a convention and to organize themselves according to the republican régime, they began to feel the first effects of the occupation. the french army, in the region of liége, lived only on requisitions. cambon had presented to the convention (december ) a decree suppressing all distinctions and privileges in the conquered territories, these being replaced by the sovereignty of the people. this sovereignty being without expression in belgium, the provinces were practically administered by a number of jacobin commissaries, whose most important task was to confiscate the goods of the nobles and of the clergy and to enforce the circulation of the revolutionary paper money (assignats). these measures provoked a reaction in favour of statism, and the conservatives obtained an overwhelming majority in the elections held in december. meanwhile, england and the united provinces, alarmed by the progress of the french in the netherlands, had joined the first coalition (january ), and the jacobins, dominating the convention, had entered upon an annexationist policy, nothing short of the left bank of the rhine being able, according to them, to secure france against the attacks of the reaction. in order to appease the scruples of the french moderates, the jacobins endeavoured to provoke manifestations in favour of annexation in the belgian provinces. a regular propaganda was organized by the clubs. orators, wearing the scarlet hood and armed with pikes, addressed the crowds in the market-places. the deputy chepy, who had taken the leadership of the movement, declared that he was determined to obtain reunion by "the power of reason, the touching insinuations of philanthropy and by all means of revolutionary tactics." on many occasions crowds driven into a church were surrounded by armed "sans culottes" and obliged to manifest their attachment to the republic by loud acclamations. in march a rising was imminent, ten thousand armed peasants being already concentrated near grammont. it was prevented, at the last moment, by the return of dumouriez, who ordered chepy to be arrested, liberated hostages and enforced the restitution of the spoils taken from churches and castles. in a letter to the convention, he protested against the mad policy pursued by the jacobin commissaries, and adjured them to read through the story of the netherlands, where they would find that the good will of the belgian people could never be obtained by force. [_neerwinden_] defeated at neerwinden (march ), dumouriez was obliged to retreat, and on april th the austrians re-entered brussels. the restoration was favourably greeted by the people, especially as francis ii adhered faithfully to the old privileges, abstaining from levying recruits, after the refusal of the states of brabant, and personally taking the oath of the joyous entry (april ). this was the last time that this ancient ceremony was performed. a few days later, pichegru started a great offensive movement in flanders, and on june th, the victory of fleurus again placed the belgian provinces in french hands. while jourdan pursued the imperialists towards the rhine, taking maestricht on his way, pichegru continued the campaign in holland. zeeland flanders had already been conquered by moreau, and the treaty of the hague (may ) restored to the belgian provinces most of the districts lost by the treaty of münster, nearly a century and a half before. france obtained zeeland flanders with the left bank of the scheldt, and, in limburg, the key positions of maestricht and venloo. she obtained, besides, the right to place garrisons, in war-time, in bois-le-duc and other towns of north brabant. holland was promised compensation in gelder. [_republican rule_] while the internal policy of the republic was veiled in so much ideology and marred by tyrannous cupidity, its foreign policy was based on sound realism. the french plenipotentiaries, like joseph ii, but far more clearly, perceived that the possession of the key positions on the scheldt and on the meuse was essential to the security of the country and to its commercial prosperity. a comparison between the clauses of the treaty of the hague and of the treaty of münster is particularly enlightening. apparently, the demands of the french were moderate; in fact, they entirely reversed the situation created in the seventeenth century. no wholesale annexations would have given the french equivalent advantages. the choice of the republic was dictated by sound strategic principles and determined by the same motives as had guided the dutch in . but the belgian people, suffering from all the evils of foreign occupation, could derive but scant satisfaction from the restoration of the lost districts. the convention was waging war on the world and bleeding belgium white in order to find the necessary resources. the provinces were obliged to pay a contribution of , , francs, amounting to six times the previous yearly budget. hostages were taken from the towns which could not contribute their share. requisitions of all raw material were systematically organized. cambon boasted to the convention that the netherlands not only provided for the upkeep of the republican armies, but also enriched the national treasury. under the management of the "agence de commerce et d'extraction de la belgique," the treasuries of churches, convents, corporations and municipalities were carted away, together with pictures, works of art and industrial machines. the republican agents, nicknamed the "french sponges," even went as far as plundering private property. at the same time, the value of the assignats had fallen to a ridiculously low level, and in order to check the corresponding rise in prices the authorities had fixed a "maximum" and obliged the traders to keep their shops open. all dumouriez's promises had been long forgotten and no account whatever was taken now of the wishes of the population. old charters were destroyed and people were obliged to plant "trees of liberty" in the market-places. the names of the streets were altered, the use of the republican calendar enforced and the "decadi" (observance of the tenth day) substituted for sunday. religious festivals were replaced by feasts in honour of "nature" or "mankind," and most of the churches were closed or transformed into barracks, storehouses or temples devoted to the worship of the "supreme being." finally, in , a proposal was made to the committee of public safety to annex the territory of the austrian netherlands. in spite of a few protests, the proposal was adopted, on october , , and the country divided into nine departments--lys, escaut, deux nèthes, meuse inférieure, dyle, ourthe, jemappes, sambre et meuse and forêts. the régime of the directoire was equally hateful to the belgians, who derived scant benefit from their annexation. the flemish language was proscribed from official documents, all public manifestations of catholic worship were forbidden, and the estates of religious communities confiscated. after the coup d'état of the eighteenth fructidor, the directoire exacted from every priest an oath of hatred against monarchy. most of the belgian priests having refused to take this oath, deportations and persecutions followed. many churches were destroyed, among them st. lambert, the cathedral of liége. by the treaty of campo formio ( ), francis ii submitted to the annexation of the austrian netherlands, but great britain refused to give up the fight, faithful to her traditional policy, which could not admit the presence of the french on the belgian coast, which was all the more threatening now that they held the left bank of the scheldt. the next year the second coalition was formed, and the directoire applied to the belgian departments the new law of conscription. up to that moment, with the exception of the rising avoided by dumouriez, the belgians had not attempted to rebel. exhausted by the brabançonne revolution, divided among themselves, they had merely shown a passive resistance to republican propaganda and to the efforts made by their masters to induce them to take part in rationalistic worship. this last measure, however, provoked a rising among the peasantry. many young men, liable to conscription, preferred to die fighting for their liberty than for the french. the movement was quite desperate. it could expect no help from outside, neither could it be supported by the nobles, who had fled the country, or by the high clergy, who were now powerless. the peasants were assembled in the villages, at the sound of the tocsin, wearing their working clothes and often armed only with clubs or forks. they raided small towns and villages, cut down the trees of liberty, destroyed the registers on which the conscription lists were based and molested those who were suspected of french sympathies. the rising, begun in the pays de waes, spread to brabant, and especially to the campine. the repression, entrusted to general jardon, was merciless. most of the leaders were shot and their followers dispersed after heavy losses. [_napoleon_] the rule of napoleon restored peace to the low countries. the emperor carried the war far from the belgian frontiers. the united provinces had become a vassal kingdom, under the sceptre of napoleon's brother louis ( ), and, with the exception of a british landing on the island of walcheren which miscarried ( ), the belgian provinces were spared military operations up to the eve of the fall of the imperial régime. in spite of the aversion caused by incessant conscription levies and by the strict censorship which stifled intellectual life, the belgians benefited largely from the stern rule of the emperor, who re-established discipline and succeeded in substituting many belgian notables for the french officials who had, up to then, governed the country. prefects were placed at the head of the departments, which were divided into arrondissements and municipalities, each of these divisions possessing its own councils and its own courts: justices of the peace, courts of the first instance, courts of assize with a jury, above which were installed courts of appeal and a court of cassation. a "general code of simple laws," still known as the code napoleon, was substituted, in , for the confused and intricate customs and laws preserved from the middle ages, and the fiscal methods were similarly transformed, inaugurating a system of direct and indirect taxes. the concordat, signed in , re-established religious peace, catholicism being recognized as the state religion. churches were reopened and the observance of sunday re-established. already, as first consul, napoleon devoted great attention to external trade. ostend, which had been bombarded by the british in , was restored, and after the peace of amiens antwerp enjoyed a few years of remarkable prosperity. in , ships entered the port; in the customs receipts rose to over , , francs, in to over , , , and in to over , , . but the emperor's decree of november , , establishing the continental blockade, after the battle of trafalgar, converted antwerp into a powerful naval base and a great centre of naval dockyards, without any benefit to the rest of the country. the activity of the nation was again confined to agriculture and industry. in this latter domain the period is marked by the introduction of spinning machinery by the gantois liévin bauwens, who succeeded in obtaining models of the new british jennies. this was the origin of the prosperity of ghent. while, in , only persons were employed in this industry, there were over , in . another innovation was brought about by a british engineer, william cockerill, who, in , initiated the use of new carding and spinning machines in verviers. many french cloth manufacturers were sent to the walloon town by the french government in order to study the new process. [_waterloo_] there are no periods of belgian history where intellectual and artistic production reached such a low level as under the napoleonic régime. how could it be otherwise at a time when official patronage directed every activity towards imperial worship? in france, such worship, stimulated by brilliant victories, might have inspired some sincere manifestations, but in belgium, where the people submitted to the french régime only as to a necessary evil, military glory could not provoke any genuine enthusiasm. it was more than compensated for by conscription and arbitrary imprisonments. according to la tour du pain, prefect of the dyle, the belgians were "neither english, nor austrian, nor anti-french--they were belgian." in the way of administration and judicial organization, they learnt their lesson, but it was a distasteful lesson. they were too wise to disregard the benefit which they might derive from the simplification of procedure brought about by the reforms, and they remembered them at the right time, but they remained stubbornly hostile to a foreign domination which could not be supported by any dynastic loyalism, and most of them greeted with enthusiasm the arrival of the allied armies which penetrated into the country in january , after the battle of leipzig. this enthusiasm was considerably cooled by the time of waterloo, when it was known that, in order to constitute a powerful state on the northern frontiers of france and to reward william of orange for his services to the allied cause, belgium's destinies would henceforth be linked with those of the northern provinces. this decision, already declared in the secret protocol of london, was confirmed by the congress of vienna. from august , , the prince of orange administered the southern provinces on behalf of the powers. illustration: united kingdom of the netherlands. chapter xxiv black, yellow and red the vienna settlement, creating the joint kingdom of the netherlands, suited the powers which made it. it suited england, since it placed the belgian provinces, and especially antwerp, out of the reach of france. it suited prussia, which acquired a strong foothold on the plateaux commanding the meuse and the right to interfere in the affairs of luxemburg. it suited holland, whose position was considerably strengthened by the addition of rich and populous provinces. it suited austria and russia, since it created a strong buffer state acting as a bulwark against french annexionism in the north. it suited everybody but the belgians themselves, who had never been consulted, in spite of their desire to be independent, made evident by the brabançonne revolution and their attitude under the french régime. they had been disposed of as being without legitimate owner, and if the idea of granting them the right to rule themselves ever occurred to european diplomacy at the time, it was promptly dismissed, under the assumption that belgian independence meant, sooner or later, reabsorption by france. the project of reuniting belgium and holland affords an excellent example of a scheme plausible enough on paper, but which could not resist the test of reality. it not only seemed sound from the powers' selfish point of view, it ought to have worked for the common benefit of belgians and dutch alike. an end was made to the bitter struggle waged by holland against the southern provinces. the commerce of antwerp ceased to threaten the dutch ports, the scheldt was open, the commercial blockade lifted at last, and belgian trade able to regain its former importance after two centuries of stagnation. belgium must benefit from the association with a strong maritime power, possessing rich colonies and a limitless capacity for expansion. holland's prosperity, on the other hand, must be largely increased through the agricultural and industrial resources of the southern provinces. even from a purely historical point of view the idea of reconstituting the burgundian netherlands must have appealed to those who had preserved the memory of their former grandeur. this was not a mere inert buffer state: it might become the strong central nation which european balance of power so urgently required, since the renaissance, to relieve the tension of franco-british or franco-prussian relations. thus could be bridged the gap created, during two centuries, by the religious wars. the old tradition of philip the good and charles v was to be renewed, and the netherlands to take once more their rank at the outposts of european civilization. [_the joint kingdom_] and, indeed, under exceptionally favourable conditions, sound union, if not "complete and intimate fusion," could have been the outcome of this bold experiment. had the powers formally recognized belgian nationality and provided for the respect of the country's institutions under the new régime, the belgians might have reconciled themselves to the idea of wiping away past grievances. the dutch might have justified their attitude under the plea that they had not been fighting belgium, but spain or france, and that their policy had been dictated by the necessity in which they had been placed of defending themselves against foreign invasion. william i might have conciliated public opinion in belgium by respecting scrupulously the country's customs, which had survived spanish and austrian domination, by avoiding all undue interference in religious affairs, by protecting the rights of the french-speaking minority and by placing the belgians exactly on the same footing as the dutch. in fact, his policy aimed at achieving the complete and intimate assimilation advised at vienna from the dutch point of view and without any consideration for the natural feeling of a people whose traditions and religion were different from his own. the new constitution was the dutch constitution adopted in , revised by a commission including an equal number of belgian and dutch delegates. it provided for equal toleration for all creeds and a two chamber parliament where an equal number of deputies from both countries would sit. (this in spite of the fact that belgium had per cent. more inhabitants than holland.) this constitution or "fundamental law," as it was called, was adopted by the dutch, but rejected by the belgian states general. instead of amending the law, the king considered abstentions as favourable votes and ignored all opposition, so that the new constitution was passed, in spite of a strong adverse majority. this singular procedure was called, at the time, "dutch arithmetic." in several aspects, the policy of william i resembled that pursued thirty years before by joseph ii. it had the same qualities and the same defects. though taking into consideration the material interests of the people, he ignored their character and traditions and the psychological problems with which he was confronted. faced with opposition, he attempted to override all resistance by asserting his sovereign will, with little consideration for the democratic spirit which pervaded western europe at the time. [_policy of william i_] like joseph ii, william i, very wisely, attached great importance to the economic revival of the country. the embargo once removed, antwerp made surprising progress, its tonnage being increased twofold between and . new canals were built between maestricht and bois-le-duc, pommeroeul and antoing, while through the creation of powerful banks, such as the "société générale pour favoriser l'industrie nationale," belgian manufacturers received adequate credits. the king supported, also, the creation of several factories, such as the "phoenix" at ghent and "cockerill" at seraing. it was during his reign that belgian collieries began considerably to increase their production and that the first blast furnaces were erected near liége and charleroi. the dutch king attempted also to develop national education. he placed the three universities (ghent, louvain and liége) under state control. many secondary and primary schools were founded all over the country and public instruction made considerable progress. such measures would have been beneficial to belgium, but they needed a deep knowledge of and sympathy for local conditions to be carried out successfully. neither the king nor his dutch ministers (the belgians remained always in a minority in the cabinet) were able to realize the difficulties which stood in the way and the legitimate grievances which might easily be created by hasty action. when holland entered the union, she had a debt of nearly , , , florins, while belgium's debt was much smaller ( , , ). the latter was, nevertheless, obliged to bear half of the total liabilities and the heavy taxes rendered necessary by the king's enterprising policy. besides, in the distribution of such taxes the interests of belgium, still almost entirely agricultural, were sacrificed to those of commercial holland. the latter stood for free trade, the former for protection. it is characteristic of the situation that the first sharp conflict between belgian and dutch deputies took place in over a bill imposing taxes on the grinding of corn and the slaughter of cattle. these immediate grievances overshadowed, in the minds of the belgians, the encouragement given by the government to belgian trade and industry. a similar disregard for existing conditions and long-established traditions brought about the failure of the measures taken by william i to promote education. not content with creating new schools, he endeavoured to give the monopoly of public education to the state and to subject the existing private establishments (almost all led by priests) to official control. he further increased catholic opposition by establishing a philosophical college at louvain, where all those intending to enter a seminary were obliged to study. these examples show how premature was the idea of a "complete union" between the two countries--an idea put forward, no doubt, owing to the necessity of creating a strong centralized state on the northern boundary of france. had the dutch government possessed as much political wisdom as the austrian minister at the court of the hague, they would have realized that the "kingdom of the netherlands would never be consolidated as long as the constitutional and administrative union was not replaced by a federal system." the same solution might have avoided a great deal of discontent with regard to the language question. the difference of language between northern and southern belgium had created no difficulty in the last centuries, owing to the fact that the country was nearly equally divided, and also that the northern provinces were bilingual, french being used by the bourgeoisie and flemish by the people. the union with holland placed the french-speaking population in a minority. on the other hand, twenty years of french occupation had left their mark on the country, and the prestige of french letters had never been so brilliant. it seemed, therefore, urgent to display a great deal of tact in any reform dealing with the language question, in order not to encourage pro-french tendencies at the expense of dutch sympathy. the idea of introducing dutch as the official language in flemish-speaking belgium seemed wise enough, since it was the language understood by the great majority of the people, but there was no urgent demand for it, and it could have been realized progressively with the development of flemish education. king william, nevertheless, decreed that no officials or civil servants should remain in office in northern belgium unless they spoke and wrote dutch correctly. since a great many of these officials belonged to the flemish bourgeoisie and had only a very incomplete knowledge of the popular language, they were obliged to resign their posts and were supplanted by dutchmen. so that a measure which might have been popular in flanders, at another time and under different circumstances, was considered as a mere pretext for turning belgian subjects out of office. it must be made clear that this language question played a secondary part among the causes of discontent. it alienated the flemish bourgeoisie without conciliating the working classes, whose influence in politics, at the time, was very small. it scarcely affected the french-speaking population, since only few walloon officials were concerned in the matter. [_belgian grievances_] scorning all opposition, william i had not even attempted to conciliate one of the two great parties which divided the belgian population: the conservative catholics and the liberals, advocates of the "rights of man" and opposed to the influence of the church. he had alienated the first by his attempt to monopolize education and the second by the autocratic manner in which he suppressed all opposition. the prosecution against a liberal journalist, de potter, who attacked the government's policy in _le courier des pays-bas_, brought about the reconciliation of the two parties against the common enemy, in , just as the harsh attitude of joseph ii had caused the alliance of van der noot and vonck on the eve of the brabançonne revolution. from anti-government, the movement became gradually anti-dutch, and party grievances were henceforth merged into a revival of patriotic feeling, aiming first at administrative separation and later at complete independence. the final outburst was no doubt hastened by the revolution in france, when the legitimist dynasty was overthrown in favour of louis philippe d'orléans, just as the taking of the bastille determined a corresponding movement in belgium against austrian rule. but nothing could be more misleading than to attribute to french influence the popular demonstration which took place in brussels, on august th, following a performance of auber's _muette de portici_ at the monnaie theatre. the song which stirred such wild enthusiasm in the breasts of the brussels people was purely patriotic, and it was to defend the rights of their country that they sacked the house of van maenen, king william's unpopular minister, and the offices of _le national_, whose director, a french pamphleteer named libri, was looked upon as a dutch agent. it is true that the french flag was for a short time hoisted at the hôtel de ville, but it was soon replaced by the three colours of brabant. french influences had been at work, but the french party remained a small minority. every act of the leaders of the revolution shows that they were bent on obtaining first administrative separation, and later, after such a proposal had been made impossible through the king's stubborn attitude, complete independence. never did the idea of a union with france commend itself to the people. from brussels, standing on the language frontier, the revolution spread to walloon liége and flemish louvain. most of the important towns, with the exception of ghent and antwerp, joined in the movement in both parts of the country. the prince of orange, whose popularity was used in order to calm the multitude, came to visit brussels, but, unable to make any definite promise, he was obliged to fly from the city. [_the september days_] even at that last hour, the joint kingdom of the netherlands might have been saved, since the most enthusiastic leaders, like gendebien, only urged autonomy; but king william remained deaf to all advice of moderation and sent a dutch army of , men against brussels under prince frederick. the revolutionary leaders had preserved but small hope, owing to the unpreparedness of the defence. the belgian success in the street-fighting which took place near the rue royale and the adjoining streets was nothing short of a miracle. after three days, prince frederick was obliged to leave the town, leaving , dead behind him; but the losses on the belgian side had also been heavy, and all reconciliation had become impossible. a provisional government was formed, a national congress summoned, the complete independence of the country proclaimed and a new constitution prepared, a special commission adopting the principle of constitutional monarchy (october th). meanwhile, the few towns, including ghent and antwerp, which had not already done so expelled their garrisons, the citadel of antwerp alone remaining in dutch hands. the fascinating scheme endorsed by the vienna congress had completely miscarried. though only a ruler of great political talent could have realized it, the story of the fifteen years of union between the two countries shows that the king and his dutch ministers were unable to master the very elements of the difficult proposition they had to solve. up to the last months several opportunities offered themselves to them of retracing their steps and retrieving the situation. they failed to seize them. a careful survey of events will show that the action brought against de potter and the choice of the hague as the seat of the supreme court did more to estrange the belgian bourgeoisie from dutch rule than the activity of french propagandists. the initial blunder of william i was to ignore the fact that belgium was not merely a group of ownerless provinces, but a nation as strong in her soul, if not as happy in her fate, as the dutch nation, deserving the same care and the same consideration. had he acted as a national prince he would have succeeded, in spite of the sad memories of past oppression, as many princes had succeeded before. but he remained essentially dutch in his manners and his political outlook, and as such he was bound to fail, as joseph ii, maximilian and philip ii had failed before him. illustration: modern belgium (treaties of - and ). chapter xxv the scrap of paper having failed to repress the revolution, king william appealed to the powers signatories of the eight articles creating the joint kingdom. lord aberdeen answered that the independence of the belgians was an accomplished fact, but a conference was, nevertheless, called in london, in order to mediate between the two parties, to which france was invited to send a representative. on november , , the conditions of an armistice were settled, according to which both belligerents were to withdraw their forces behind the frontier which divided the two countries before their reunion in . this arrangement would have restored to belgium the left bank of the scheldt, which she had lost since the münster treaty. the dutch king protested, and the line was altered from the frontier of to that of --that is to say, five years before the annexation by the french of the contested territory. throughout the negotiations the autocratic powers--prussia, austria and russia--were opposed to the belgians. they treated them as rebels who ought to be only too happy to buy their independence at any price. as a matter of fact, if the same wave of nationalism which had stirred belgium had not, at the same time, caused serious trouble in poland and italy, it is doubtful whether england and france could have induced the conference to accept even the principle of belgian independence. but, owing to their internal troubles, both russia and austria were disinclined to take action, and prussia would have found herself isolated if she had maintained an uncompromising attitude. the belgians, on the other hand, from the very beginning of the negotiations, placed themselves on an equal footing with holland, and considered the conference as a mediator, not as an arbiter. they gratefully accepted its intervention as "prompted by feelings of sympathy for the sufferings of belgium and by humanitarian motives," but refused energetically to bind themselves by any engagement. when, on december th, belgian independence was finally recognized, the provisory government remarked that "the balance of power in europe can still be ensured, and a general peace maintained, by making belgium independent, strong and happy. if belgium were to be left without strength and happiness, the new arrangement would be threatened with the same fate as that of the political combination of . independent belgium has her share of european duties to fulfil, but it would be difficult to conceive what obligations could be imposed upon her by treaties in the conclusion of which she had no voice." such a complete consciousness of their national rights on the part of the belgian plenipotentiaries can only be explained by the fact that such consciousness had never ceased to exist. this was no new nation struggling for its birth, but an old nation, as old as any of those who had assumed the responsibility of planning her future. the belgian statesmen of had nothing to improvise. they had merely to pick up the threads broken through the vicissitudes of european struggle. their new constitution was based on the old joyous entry of brabant, which joseph ii had vainly attempted to abolish, and whose memory forty years of french and dutch centralization had not succeeded in obliterating. their foreign policy was, in the same way, inspired by a firm attachment to their past and a firmer belief in their future. the london conference was not long in realizing, when faced by such men as lebeau, van de weyer and de mérode, that they had not merely to deal with vague idealists or eloquent demagogues. it is not enough to say that belgium was well represented. it would be more accurate to say that her delegates had a good case to defend. [_the london conference_] three treaties were prepared by the london conference in the course of the negotiations. the first included a series of conditions formulated in january and known as "bases of separation." the second was the outcome of new negotiations which took place during the following months, and is known as "the treaty of xviii articles" (july ). the third, framed after the defeat of the belgian troops by the dutch and the military and naval intervention of the powers, is known as "the treaty of xxiv articles" (november ). accepted by the belgians, it was first rejected by william i, and finally sanctioned by him in . this is the final settlement which popular history will remember as the "scrap of paper." according to the bases of separation, belgium lost the left bank of the scheldt, but this stream was to remain entirely free. she also lost luxemburg, which "would continue to belong to the german confederation." it will be remembered that, under the treaty of vienna, this belgian province had been converted into a grand duchy and given to king william, in exchange for his possessions in germany, but the king had declared, at the time, that the "grand duchy would be considered as an integral part of the state." accordingly, luxemburg shared the political life of the rest of the kingdom, sending deputies to the chambers and being, from every point of view, considered as a belgian province. luxemburgers had even taken a prominent part in the revolutionary movement. one of them remarked in congress, during the debate which followed the conference resolutions, that "national sovereignty was transferred from brussels to the foreign office," and by an overwhelming majority ( against ) the congress protested against any delimitation of belgian territory made without the consent of the representatives of the nation. [_bases of separation_] a period of acute tension followed this refusal. king william had not raised the blockade of the scheldt, in spite of the conditions of the armistice, and the belgians consequently continued their military operations in front of maestricht, which had not yet been evacuated. the conference urged cessation of hostilities and prompt acceptance. the government remaining obdurate, an ultimatum was sent fixing june st as the last date on which the belgians had to submit and threatening military intervention. on june th, lord ponsonby, british representative at brussels, and general belliard, the french representative, were formally recalled by their respective governments, but the action of the powers was delayed owing to differences of opinion concerning the method of intervention. this allowed belgium some time to reopen negotiations, and her delegates in london finally obtained the revision of the "bases of separation." a new agreement was drafted, on june th, known as "the treaty of xviii articles," according to which belgium became permanently neutral, while the questions of luxemburg and maestricht remained in abeyance, further negotiations concerning the contested territories having to be pursued direct between belgium and holland. illustration: leopold i. (reigned - ). from a portrait by liévin de winne. _ph. b._ this diplomatic success was not only due to the perseverance of the belgian delegates but also to prince leopold's wise decision not to accept the crown unless a satisfactory solution was reached. it must be recalled that, as soon as the belgian congress had decided on constitutional monarchy, the names of several candidates had been discussed. the conservative powers favoured the candidature of the prince of orange, hoping thus to restore in the future the union of the two countries. but this proposal had met with an overwhelming opposition in belgium. the candidature of the duke of nemours, son of louis philippe, had then been considered, and by a narrow majority of two votes the belgian congress decided in his favour. such a choice could not be approved in england, since it would have meant, sooner or later, french hegemony over the belgian coast and antwerp. louis philippe, therefore, refused the belgian offer. prince leopold of saxe-coburg-gotha, widower of princess charlotte, was practically an english prince, having spent most of his life in england; he was of german extraction, and a marriage was contemplated between him and princess marie louise, louis philippe's daughter. he had already acquired a great reputation for wisdom, which gained him later the title of the "nestor of europe." it was felt that no better man could be found to fill such a delicate post, and both english and french diplomats were inclined to remove all obstacles which might prevent him from accepting the belgian offer. the prince's influence and the belgian diplomats' firm attitude succeeded in altering the conference's views. the belgians were no longer treated as rebels and ordered to submit, but as free people whose claims must be considered. "everybody says," wrote lord palmerston to lord granville, "that the belgians are mad and that it is useless to discuss with them. i have noticed that there is a good deal of method in their madness." talleyrand, who was not too well disposed towards the belgian emissaries and "their reticences," wrote on june th: "we have been in conference for forty hours, but the belgian delegates are so little accustomed to this kind of negotiations, they create so many difficulties, that we cannot get on and i am tired out. a conference took place to-day at prince leopold's; it lasted until eight. it will continue at my house and last probably till late in the night." the next day, the xviii articles were signed. prince leopold having accepted the crown, the new treaty was sanctioned by the belgian congress on july th. less than a month later, on august nd, the dutch armies, breaking the armistice, invaded belgian territory and defeated the belgian forces at louvain. owing to the armed intervention both of england and france, the dutch were forced to retreat, but these military operations had set the seal on belgian hopes. [_the xxiv articles_] the powers were now "firmly determined to stop, by all available means, the resumption of hostilities which would threaten europe with a general war," and, on november th, king leopold was obliged to accept, under strong protest, a new agreement, known as "the treaty of xxiv articles," which, though preserving the country's independence and neutrality, deprived her of her natural frontiers and tore from her territories whose inhabitants had shared her life since the early middle ages. the scheldt was given the status of an international river, according to the general act of vienna, the supervision of pilotage, buoying and dredging operations being entrusted to a dutch-belgian commission. belgium retained half of luxemburg (the area known to-day as the province of luxemburg), while the other half, with the town of luxemburg, remained in the hands of the dutch king, and constituted a grand duchy attached to the german confederation. "in exchange" for their portion of luxemburg, the belgians were obliged to relinquish their rights over eastern limburg and maestricht, which became the dutch provinces of the same name. such were the "final and irrevocable" decisions of the powers. though the compromise was entirely in his favour, king william refused to sanction it. from the beginning of the negotiations the dutch had contended that, by the separation of belgium and holland, article xiv of the treaty of münster (that is to say, the right of holland to close the scheldt in time of peace or war) came into force again. disregarding the liberal principles laid down at vienna, they wanted to go back to the old régime of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries which subjected belgium to their control. holding maestricht, the key of the meuse, and the lower scheldt, the key of antwerp, they intended to treat independent belgium as they had treated the spanish and austrian provinces. laborious negotiations proceeded during the following years, and, in , king william declared himself at last prepared to sign the treaty on the consideration of the payment of a toll of one florin and a half per ton on every ship entering and leaving the stream on its way to antwerp. meanwhile, limburg and luxemburg had remained belgian, and the bonds attaching the sacrificed provinces to the country had become so strong that the forthcoming settlement provoked emphatic protests. petitions were sent to the king, and delegations came to brussels urging resistance. once more, belgian negotiators multiplied their efforts in london and paris. but, this time, the friendly powers remained adamant and the government was made to understand that, if the belgians created difficulties, nothing would prevent the german confederation and the king of holland from annexing luxemburg and limburg by force. in the spring of the belgian chamber was at last compelled to give its final decision. three ministers had resigned from the government. the austrian and prussian "chargés d'affaires" had left the capital. it was common knowledge that several prussian army corps were massed on the eastern frontier. under such a threat, and this time without the support of england and france, the chamber was faced with the cruel alternative of sanctioning partial annexation or seeing the very life of the nation jeopardized by foreign invasion. the deputies of limburg and luxemburg were the most emphatic in their opposition: "suicide will follow fratricide," exclaimed a deputy of maestricht, while a representative of ruremonde urged armed resistance. "i would rather give my life a thousand times," protested a luxemburger, "than a vote which would oppress my conscience until my last day." on march th, mr. metz, who was unable to walk through illness, was carried to his seat and declared that "neither the king, nor the conference, nor the government, nor the chambers had the right to dispose of his life" by "a sacrilegious treaty which takes away four hundred thousand belgians from the country of their choice and covers belgium with eternal shame." [_submission_] the government's action was defended by mr. nothomb, who, though a luxemburger and an ardent patriot, realized too well the danger of the situation not to urge submission: "we have not yet had the opportunity of rendering any service to europe. she has no reason to be grateful to us. if it were not for our pressing need of independence, nothing up to now justifies our existence. what matter to her our national soul tempered by age-long traditions! if we resist, she will put an end to our existence as a free state with a stroke of the pen. in bending before the inevitable, belgium will save her nationality, spare the disputed districts the horrors of war, and make a sacrifice which europe will be obliged to take into account on the day when, bearing no responsibility in the outbreak of war, the country will be able to claim her revenge!" another argument urged by some supporters of the government was based on the fact that, though not legally bound by her former acceptance of the xxiv articles, which had remained in abeyance for seven years, belgium's faith had been pledged to it: "i believe," said one of them, "that international treaties have a real value, that they are not merely scraps of paper. i believe that right more than force governs the affairs of this world, and that, in the end, it pays to fulfil one's obligations, however painful these may be." a tragic incident occurred on march th. mr. bekaert-baekelandt, deputy of courtrai, had first been opposed to the government's policy. he had, however, been gradually convinced that all resistance had become useless. this conversion to the inevitable had broken his heart. he ended his speech by alluding to the return at a future date of the deputies of the sacrificed provinces to the belgian chamber. "meanwhile," he said, "they will remain belgians like ourselves, and they will be generous enough to consider that our votes are extorted by force, that they are a painful sacrifice imposed upon us by foreign nations. they will no doubt appreciate how powerless we are to avoid this sad obligation...." he did not proceed further, and fell dead. [_neutrality_] these manifestations have been compared with the heartrending scenes which took place at the time of the annexation of alsace-lorraine by germany, but it would be wrong to draw too hasty conclusions from such a comparison. on the one hand, the annexation of alsace-lorraine is far more recent. on the other, dutch administration and the grand-ducal régime did not provoke the same opposition among the people. if belgian irredentism proved very strong at the beginning, it gradually diminished, owing mainly to the fact that the patriots, on both sides of the frontier, were unable to entertain any hope of reunion during the long period of neutrality which paralysed belgian foreign policy. recent manifestations which took place on the occasion of the revision of the treaties towards the reunion of zeeland flanders, luxemburg and limburg to belgium must, however, not be misjudged. they must not be considered as the outcome of a crude instinct towards aggrandisement, following the military success of the belgian army at the end of the great war, or of a wild thirst for revenge, but merely as the outburst of irredentist feelings, nursed in silence during eighty years of neutrality, and revived, among a certain group of intellectuals, by the fierce struggle waged by the nation for the safeguard of its liberties. as for the demand of military guarantees made by the government during these negotiations, a demand which must be clearly distinguished from the irredentist agitation just mentioned, it was merely prompted by the circumstances in which belgium is placed at the present time. the territorial losses inflicted upon the country in were largely compensated for by the pact of neutrality entered into by the great powers, which provided belgium with the strongest and most unequivocal guarantees respecting her territorial integrity. provided these guarantees were observed faithfully, the closing of the scheldt by holland in time of war, the critical situation on the eastern frontier created by the indefensible cul-de-sac of dutch limburg, and the supremacy in luxemburg of a foreign power, did not seriously jeopardize the country's security. the treaties of were considered as forming a whole, the moral safeguard of guaranteed neutrality counterbalancing, to a certain extent, the new territorial encroachments. with the disappearance of neutrality, the substitution of new guarantees of security for the old ones seemed obvious. the demands formulated at the paris conference by the belgian people and government--free access from the sea towards belgian ports in order to ensure communication between the country and her allies in time of war, a military entente with holland towards the defence of dutch limburg, and a rapprochement with luxemburg--were therefore the natural outcome of the revision of the settlement. chapter xxvi neutral independence from till , belgium lived under the régime of independent neutrality. her territory had been gradually reduced during modern times. she stood stripped of all her marches. in the course of the seventeenth century she had lost walloon flanders and artois to france and northern brabant to holland, while the conquest by the latter power of zeeland flanders and some districts in eastern limburg had been confirmed and enlarged by the settlements. in prussia had seized the districts of eupen, malmédy, st. vith and bitsburg, and the xxiv articles had given half of luxemburg to the german confederation. the same treaty granted belgium independence. within these narrow limits, she remained at least mistress of her destinies. she had her own king, her own government, her own constitution. as far as internal affairs were concerned, she enjoyed full sovereignty. she was diminished, but not deeply altered. she maintained, in the nineteenth century, all the main characteristics which had distinguished her history and civilization during the middle ages and the renaissance. two races, two languages, were still associated on her soil. walloons and flemings took an equal share in the framing of her future. the sea remained free for commercial purposes, and the great european roads, which had so largely contributed in the past to placing her in the forefront of european nations, still found in the country their natural and necessary meeting-place. this main fact must be made evident if one attempts to explain the causes of the belgian renaissance during the nineteenth century. it is not enough to say that the belgium of leopold i and leopold ii followed the tradition of the belgium of charles v and philip the good. it must be added that modern belgium, in spite of gradual encroachments, had remained whole. such encroachments having taken place on all sides, the nucleus was untouched. belgium preserved her great towns and her main streams. no essential organ of the national body had been impaired. as far as internal affairs were concerned, belgium then emerged free and sound from the turmoil of three centuries of european warfare. for external affairs, she was still subjected to the restriction of guaranteed neutrality. it is scarcely necessary to dwell on the distinction between self-imposed neutrality, such as that existing in switzerland, and the régime of guaranteed neutrality imposed by the powers on belgium. the first is no restriction of the sovereign rights of the state upon its foreign policy, the second takes away from it practically all initiative in foreign matters. if the powers bound themselves, in the treaty, not to violate the integrity of belgian territory and to defend the country in case of attack, belgium, on her side, undertook to observe strictly the rules of neutrality and to take necessary measures towards the defence of her frontiers. it might be argued, and it has been argued frequently in belgium, that such neutrality could not prevent a nation from possessing colonies and concluding a defensive alliance for the sole purpose of safeguarding herself. but, as a matter of fact, rival powers could not give such a liberal interpretation to the text of the treaties. first from the french side, later from the german side, belgium was constantly held under suspicion. any manifestation of public opinion concerning foreign affairs was deeply resented, her military policy was narrowly watched, she could not take a step towards self-defence or economic expansion without provoking some discontent among the powers. thanks to the firmness of her statesmen and, more than once, to the friendly support of great britain, she was able to resist urgent demands. but it goes without saying that the belgian government, anxious to preserve their dignity, avoided all possible cause of friction, so that belgium scarcely ever made use of her legitimate right to determine, within some limits, her foreign policy. neutrality, to all intents and purposes, meant paralysis. for many, it meant worse than that--carelessness and apathy. [_false security_] after the eight years of uncertainty which followed the first signature of the xxiv articles--eight years during which all parties joined under the permanent dutch menace--two currents of thought divided belgian opinion. the first attempted to minimize the military responsibility of the country, and, trusting blindly to the promise of the powers, to reduce to a strict minimum belgium's military charges in men and money. the second saw clearly that, without an adequate army and the necessary defences, belgium would be unable to fulfil her obligations in case her integrity should be violated, and would suffer in consequence; it realized that any weakness in the country's defences increased the temptation of some powers to break their pledge. it is easy to understand that the first school was generally more popular than the other, and rallied not only the sincere idealists who thought such a contingency as the tearing up of solemn treaties absolutely impossible, but many unscrupulous politicians only too anxious to use the popular catchword "not a penny, not a soldier," or "niemand gedwongen soldaat," for electoral purposes. the belgians had always been stubbornly opposed to conscription; it will be remembered that they resisted all attempts at enforcing it in the past and that it was the main cause of the war of peasants ( ) against the "sans culottes." to a people which, by tradition, was strongly adverse to militarism and centralization, it was only too easy to misrepresent measures of self-defence, urgently required by the european situation, as the first step towards autocracy and oppression. the partisans of military safeguards found themselves, therefore, in a minority, and their only support was the personal influence of the belgian kings, who, from the first days of the new régime till the eve of the war, never ceased to emphasize the evident danger of disregarding the country's international responsibilities. it is true that, with the lapse of time, the danger became more and more threatening, but, on the other hand, the "anti-militarists" found a fresh argument in the fact that, during so many years, the country had been able to weather the storm. [_military problems_] the first trouble arose in connection with the socialist revolution which broke out in france in . in the previous year, marx and engels had established their headquarters in brussels, where they drafted the "manifesto of the communist party." the belgians, however, were not prepared to adopt it, and the revolutionaries decided to invade the country from the south. bands organized in france and secretly encouraged by some french leaders attempted to cross the frontier near mouscron, at risquons tout, but their advance was easily checked by the belgian forces. the only consequence of these disturbances was the vote by the chamber of a new grant towards the reinforcement of the army: "no doubt," said the minister rogier on that occasion, "it will cost something to equip a greater number of men. but has one ever estimated the cost of an invasion, even if it only lasted a week?" in , leopold ii wrote to one of his ministers: "without means of defence you will be the plaything of everyone." a greater danger loomed ahead. louis napoleon had, by the coup d'état of december , , imposed his dictatorship on france. many prominent exiles and refugees came to belgium, and the brussels papers openly expressed their opinion of the new dictator. so that belgium, which three years before had been branded as ultramontane, was now denounced as a nest of communists and rebels. pressure was even brought to bear on the government to introduce press censorship. it was duly ignored, and the relations between the two countries became strained. one year later, napoleon became emperor of the french, and all clear-sighted belgians realized that he was only awaiting an opportunity to extend his power and authority towards the north. this was shown plainly by the french policy with regard to luxemburg. [_franco-prussian war_] the emperor having approached the king of holland in view of obtaining from him the cession of the grand duchy, a conference was called in london (may ) at which the independence, neutrality and inviolability of the duchy were placed under the collective guarantee of the powers. thwarted in this direction by european diplomacy, napoleon iii attempted to obtain a footing in luxemburg by controlling the railways. in january the compagnie de l'est, under guarantee of the french government, took over from the compagnie guillaume luxembourg its railway lines both in luxemburg and belgian territory. further negotiations began with the belgian companies grand luxemburg and chemins de fer liégeois-limbourgeois, which would have placed all the main railways of luxemburg and south-eastern belgium in french hands. warned in time, the premier, frère-orban, instructed the belgian representative in paris to declare that belgium would never consent to such an arrangement. napoleon's threats remained without result, the belgian policy being strongly upheld by lord clarendon, and, in july , a protocol was signed annulling the contracts of the compagnie de l'est as far as the belgian railways were concerned. at the same time, napoleon iii, anxious to find at any cost "compensations" for the increased prestige which prussia obtained from her danish and austrian victories, had sounded that power regarding a project of partition of the netherlands. his proposal, first kept secret and subsequently revealed by bismarck on the morrow of the declaration of war in , was to annex belgium to france, while prussia would be left a free hand in holland. the publication of this revelation by _the times_ did more than anything else to alienate british public opinion, if not from france at least from the french emperor, during the franco-prussian war. baron chazal, who had joined the belgian ministry in , succeeded in convincing the cabinet of the necessity of reinforcing belgian defences. in view of the superiority of the french army--for the threat came evidently from that quarter at the time--it was decided to give up the idea of defending the country by a cordon of inefficient fortresses, and to build round antwerp a powerful "entrenched camp," where the belgian army could retreat and maintain itself until reinforcements came from abroad. it goes without saying that the only country which would be in a position to send such reinforcements to antwerp, in case of an invasion, was great britain, and antwerp was purposely chosen as the only position where considerable forces could conveniently be disembarked from the sea. in view of the present interpretation placed on the treaties by holland, which gives to the latter country the right to close the scheldt in time of war, this scheme seems, to say the least, hastily conceived. but the dutch exclusive sovereignty over the scheldt did not appear nearly so definite at the time as it appears now. no mention being made of the matter in the settlement, many belgian authorities considered that the stream was placed under a régime of co-sovereignty, and it seemed then incredible that the dutch should stop the passage of relief ships. in the face of strong popular opposition, the chamber voted a credit of , , francs for the antwerp fortifications, and general brialmont, one of the foremost military engineers in europe, was entrusted with the work. after its completion, antwerp was considered one of the strongest fortified towns in the world. as soon as a conflict became imminent between france and prussia, great britain, in accordance with her traditional policy as far as belgium was concerned, demanded from the two powers a declaration confirming belgian neutrality. the situation in corresponds exactly to that in , and the language used by mr. asquith during the first days of august of the latter year seems to echo the words uttered forty years before by his great chief. "it would be impossible for us not to interfere," firmly declared mr. gladstone, "should we witness the destruction of belgium's liberty and independence." in both cases, british policy was inspired by the guarantee mentioned in the treaties, a guarantee which not only implied safety for belgium, but also absolute opposition to any power attempting to seize the belgian coast. the motives were the same, the steps taken were the same, the outcome only was different. both the french emperor and bismarck confirmed, in , the inviolability of belgian territory, the latter stating that such a declaration was not required, the treaties being sufficiently explicit on the subject. [_european policy in _] why did germany respect in a treaty which she ignored in ? even without taking into account the change in german mentality since her victory, military conditions were totally different. the strong chain of fortifications on the french eastern frontier had not yet been erected, and the strength of the belgian army appeared by no means negligible. before the enormous increase of modern armies which took place during the twenty years of "armed peace," , men might have made all the difference one way or the other. it was approximately the strength of the french army which surrendered at sedan. after this great defeat, german headquarters declared their intention to pursue the fugitives into belgian territory if the french forces attempted to escape being encircled by crossing the frontier. such steps, however, were not rendered necessary. while showing their intense sympathy for the vanquished, the belgians fulfilled most scrupulously all their obligations, and the european diplomats who had conceived the idea of neutralizing "the cockpit of europe" could congratulate themselves. their arrangements had worked perfectly, and for once belgium had not been drawn into the conflict. in the light of recent events, it is almost to be regretted that the test had been so successful. more than anything else, the experience allayed suspicion in and out of belgium. the powers refrained from pressing on the country the necessity for further armaments, and the hands of the anti-militarists in belgium, instead of being weakened (as they ought to have been if events had been placed in their proper light), were considerably strengthened. illustration: leopold ii. (reigned - ). _ph. b._ [_antwerp, liÉge, namur_] during the long period of armed peace which followed, while the powers formed, on one side the "triplice" ( ), on the other the "duplice" ( ) and the entente cordiale ( ), while armies and fleets were increased tenfold and german aggressive policy asserted itself more and more acutely, belgium's defences were only slowly reinforced, in spite of the desperate efforts of disinterested patriots and of the stern warnings of the kings. the name of leopold ii must be associated here with that of albert i. both were prompted in their action by the same motives that inspired leopold i's policy. they placed security on a level with, and even above, prosperity. standing aloof from party intrigues, they were in a position to appeal to all patriots without distinction, and to make use of the services of a little band of clear-sighted citizens who saw the centre of danger transferred from france to germany, and watched the young empire's military and economic development with growing anxiety. foremost among them stood emile banning, author of a prophetic report on the meuse defences ( - ). nothing illustrated more clearly the crippling influence of neutrality on belgian international thought than the way this man of genius was ignored by his fellow-citizens. in any other country, he would have exercised a considerable influence on public opinion. in belgium, he was only heard by a few statesmen and, happily, by leopold ii, who no doubt had his report in mind when, in , he warned one of his ministers of the necessity of belgium not only safeguarding her independence, but "preventing the passage" of foreign troops through her territory. germany had now become the main source of danger, but in order to avoid all criticism it was decided to build two bridgeheads, one at namur and the other at liége. the first commanded the upper valley of the meuse, the second the middle course of the stream; one was facing france, the other germany. the plan of defence was consequently developed, the forts enabling the army to make a short stand before retiring into the entrenched camp of antwerp. it is largely to banning's clearsightedness and to leopold ii's firm attitude that western europe owes the respite given by the resistance of liége in august . had not general brialmont's original plans of the forts been unduly curtailed, this resistance would have proved still more effective. [_military reform_] credits for the defences of liége and namur, like those of antwerp a few years before, were voted grudgingly by a chamber lulled into a false state of security by the experience of . but, if public opinion was little inclined to devote money to improve the country's defences, it became obdurate when experts advised a reform of the belgian military system. not only were the effectives ridiculously small, compared with the size of the german and french armies, but recruiting was managed through a system of drawing lots, to which was added the evil of "substitution"--that is to say, the sons of the bourgeois class who drew a "bad number" were entitled to buy a substitute, who took their place in the ranks. a campaign for personal and general service was launched, but in spite of the king's support it met with little success. a certain number of volunteers were added to the normal effectives in , and in , after the sensational journey of william ii to tangiers, new credits were voted for the development of the antwerp defences. to those who objected that fortifications would be useless if belgium did not possess a sufficient army to man them, the king answered: "let us have the stones first. the men will come later." when the seventy-fifth anniversary of belgian independence gave him at last the opportunity of breaking the silence imposed upon him by the congo campaign, he uttered a supreme warning to the nation: "let us not be overconfident in our present prosperity; let us stand closer and closer together around our flag. nations, like human beings, have to pass through a critical age which brings about old age or premature death. its date, for young nations, falls _during the last quarter of the first century of their existence_." once more, on february , , he imparted to a friend--for his lack of popularity had made public declarations useless at that time--his anxieties regarding the future: "it is indispensable that we should possess a good army, that we should be able to defend ourselves, and thus, in conformity with our international obligations, prevent the crossing of our territory by a foreign army, and _make such crossing as costly as possible, in order to remove the temptation from those who would be inclined to attempt it.... on my return from my recent journey to germany, i warned all concerned that germany is building more ships and increasing her military expenses. we must efficiently complete our fortifications and our equipment. you know that neither one nor the other can be improvised...._" leopold ii attached such importance to the adoption of personal service, proposed in , that he deliberately postponed an operation which might have saved his life, in order to be able to sign the decree which placed the bill on the statute book. he died three days later.[ ] footnote : see e. vandersmissen, _leopold ii and beernaert_, and g. harry, _leopold ii_ ( ). this supreme satisfaction was not unmixed. important concessions had had to be made. the voluntary system was maintained to a certain extent, only one son per family being called up for a short time (fifteen months). the passing of the bill was a victory in principle, but it only increased very slightly the strength of the belgian army. the pan-german campaign was in full swing by then. maps were published, beyond the rhine, showing large portions of belgium painted in imperial red, like the rest of the reich. pamphlets and books appeared claiming antwerp as a german port and connecting east africa with the german cameroons through the belgian congo. still the majority of the belgians would not believe that such views were shared by the german emperor and his government. it was only after the agadir coup ( ) and algeciras ( ) that m. de broqueville, minister of war, strongly supported by king albert, was able to carry through a bill introducing general and compulsory service, which would have placed the army on a proper footing if its provisions had been rendered immediately effective. unhappily, the bill only provided for a gradual increase, the army reaching its full strength of , men in . this last reservation proved nearly fatal to the country, for, when mobilization was ordered, in july , the total forces available only amounted to , men, of which the combatant portion was reduced to , bayonets--an increase of only , over the effectives of . there are few subjects so depressing as the slow development of belgian defences under the threat of invasion. each time the situation became serious, as in , , and , public opinion allowed some progress to be made. but it came always too late. the people were ready to face their responsibilities, but they could not be made to realize them. blindly relying on the treaties, absorbed in their economic and intellectual development, they showed little interest in international affairs. those who did, found themselves in the dilemma either of taking refuge in a fools' paradise or of powerlessly facing an ever-growing menace. neutrality may have saved belgium in , full independence might have saved her in . chapter xxvii economic renaissance one month after the first outbreak of the belgian revolution, elections were already taking place. an almost equal number of liberals (the successors of the vonckists) and of catholics (statists) were returned to the congress whose duty was to frame the new constitution. it is typical of the spirit of patriotic union between both parties and of the adaptability of the belgians to their new independent life that these deputies, most of whom had no experience of political life, succeeded, within two months, in drafting a constitution which has since served as a model for several european nations. it was the result of various influences: the groundwork--based on individual liberty, equality before the law, freedom of the press, of worship, of public meeting, of association and of teaching--was no doubt inspired by the french. on the other hand, the preponderance of legislative power, represented by the chamber and the senate, over the executive, the principle of ministerial responsibility, placing the king outside and above parties, was the result of english influence: but perhaps the most interesting characteristic of the new constitution was the way in which provincial and communal rights were safeguarded, the communes, in particular, preserving practical autonomy for local affairs, with the only restriction that the burgomaster was to be nominated by the king. the belgian constitution struck the balance between centralization, inherited from the period of french rule, and particularism, which had, from the burgundian period, been the most striking feature in belgian politics. if we associate, in our minds, particularism with the traditional conservatism of the catholic peasantry and centralization with modern industrial developments and the intellectual culture of the large towns, we shall obtain a fairly good idea of the two general tendencies which divided public opinion in belgium during the nineteenth century and whose main features may be recognized not only in politics, but also in the economic, intellectual and artistic development of the country. [_liberals and catholics_] the status of neutrality not only affected foreign politics, it reacted very strongly on belgium's internal life. if it crippled her activity with regard to home defence, it developed to an abnormal degree party warfare. it shut the door on international problems and all questions which may be considered as national issues and before which party strife ought to cease in consideration for the common weal. social, philosophic or religious differences were not balanced, in modern belgium, as in other countries, by international consciousness. in the close atmosphere of the tutelage of the powers, party politics absorbed the whole public life of the nation and external problems were practically ignored. it thus happened that the people who stood in the forefront of europe, and who were more directly interested than any other in the fluctuations of european politics, were about the worst informed on foreign affairs. from to , the electorate being limited by a property qualification (only , electors out of , , inhabitants taking part in the first election), the struggle was confined to the two middle-class parties, catholics and liberals. roughly speaking, the catholics stood for the defence of religious interests, more especially in the domain of education and relief, the liberals for the supremacy of a nominally neutral state in all public matters. it is easy to realize how this purely political quarrel could degenerate into a conflict of ideals, some ultramontanes distrusting the motives of "atheists" and ignoring the public spirit of men who did not share their creed, while some agnostics, steeped in the narrow doctrines of voltaire and diderot, made the church the scapegoat of all social evils and even denied the wholesome influence of religion on social education. during the first part of the century the conflict was not so acute, both parties possessing their moderate and extremist leaders and the so-called "liberal catholics" acting as a link between the two factions. from to the liberals, representing the bourgeoisie of the large towns, were most of the time in power, while from to the catholics, upheld by the farmers and the middle classes of the small towns, took the direction of affairs. the property qualification was progressively reduced, first for the parliamentary, later for the provincial and communal elections, and a larger share was given to the lower middle classes in the administration of the country. meanwhile, party differences had developed through the gradual disappearance of the moderating elements on both sides, and the vexed question of education was coming to the fore. the constitution was not very explicit concerning this matter, and both parties interpreted it according to their own interests. many communes having neglected to keep up the official schools, religious orders had taken a more and more important part in primary education. when the liberals came into power, in , they passed a law compelling every commune to maintain its own schools, where religious instruction should only be given out of school hours. they also founded a great many secondary schools and training colleges, with the object of transferring education from religious to secular teachers. these sweeping reforms entailed heavy expenditure and unpopular taxation, and finally brought about the downfall of the liberal régime in . the catholics proceeded to abrogate the law on primary education by giving state grants to the free catholic schools, and suppressed a number of the secondary schools and training colleges established by the previous régime. feeling ran so high that king leopold, who realized the harm which this "school war" was doing to the national spirit, warned monsieur malou (the catholic premier) against the attitude he had adopted, as he had previously warned the liberal premier, frère-orban: "the liberals have acted as if there were no longer any catholics in belgium. are you going also to act as if there were no liberals left in the country, without any consideration for the disastrous consequences of such an attitude for the nation and for yourself?" from to educational matters, though by no means forgotten, were entirely overshadowed by social problems and by the efforts made by the opposition to obtain the revision of the constitution and the adoption of universal suffrage. this change was brought about by the foundation, in , by the flemish printer, césar de paepe, of the belgian labour party. its action was from the first political as well as economic. while consumers' co-operatives, such as the "vooruit" of ghent, were founded in several large towns, socialist clubs entertained a continuous agitation for electoral franchise, their aim being to use parliament to obtain the sweeping social reforms inscribed on their programme. here, again, we find french insistence on politics checked by the old spirit of association which had been so prominent in the netherlands during the middle ages. [_labour party_] after the miners' strike of , both catholics and liberals revised their programmes and paid more attention to social reforms. but the workmen, who were now powerfully organized, especially in the industrial centres of the south, wanted to take a direct share in political life. under pressure of public opinion, the demand for a revision of the constitution was at last taken into consideration in , and in a new law granted universal suffrage tempered by plural voting. in a new campaign was launched by the allied liberal-socialist opposition in favour of universal suffrage pure and simple, without obtaining any result, but when, in , a general strike supported the demand, the catholic government promised that the question should be examined by a parliamentary commission. * * * * * before the war, belgium was the most productive agricultural district of europe. the secret of her prosperity is generally attributed to the small number of large estates and to the great area cultivated by small owners, per cent. of the cultivated area being covered by farms of ½ to ½ acres. it must be added that, during the last twenty years, powerful producers' co-operatives, or "boerenbonden," have grouped agriculturists and given them important advantages with regard to credit and insurance. the inbred qualities which have rendered this development possible are, however, to be found in the race itself. again and again, in the course of centuries, the belgian peasant has come to the fore under every political régime and every system of landholding. he has had to conquer the country from the sea, protect it against its incursions and to repair periodically the havoc caused by war. the memory of physical and social calamities has been handed down the ages, and the present system of small-ownership and co-operative societies is only the result of centuries of incessant toil. the conservative spirit of the peasants and farmers is illustrated by the opposition made to the project of the liberal minister rogier, in , to build the first railway in belgium. it was argued that this would be a considerable waste of fertile soil and would frighten the cattle. the first railway line, between brussels and malines, was nevertheless inaugurated on may , , and since then, such enormous progress has been realized that, before the war, belgium occupied the first place in europe with regard to the development of its railway lines. all other means of communication have been similarly developed. in the country possessed , kilometres of roads, , kilometres of railway line, , kilometres of light railways, and , kilometres of inland waterways. * * * * * [_the industrial revolution_] the first consequence of the revolution was to disorganize belgian industry, which had lost the dutch market, the powerful works of cockerill, at seraing, being among the few which did not suffer from the change. the introduction of machinery in a country so rich in coal-fields not only restored the situation but enormously increased industrial production in the southern districts. in only machines were used, with a total of , horse-power; in these figures had risen to , machines with , horse-power, without taking into account railway engines ( , horse-power). the distribution of the various industries in the different parts of the country did not vary very much from that existing under previous régimes. broadly speaking, no new development took place, every centre remaining in the situation determined by coal or the presence of raw material. the principal centre of the textile industry remained at ghent, near the hemp-fields of the lys; metal-works, glass-works, etc., were still grouped close to the four main coal-fields in the region of mons, la louvière (centre), charleroi and liége; the number of men engaged on industrial production before the war had reached , , , among whom were , miners, over , metal workers, and over , textile workers. but it is not so much to the number as to the quality of her workmen that belgium owes her great industrial prosperity. this may be accounted for by the fact that a great number of industrial workers never lost touch with the land. belonging, most of them, to agricultural districts, they do not settle permanently around their factories, and between the country and the great centres there is a continuous exchange of population. the hard-working qualities of mechanics and artisans are inherited from the peasants, and there is a considerable reluctance, on their part, to crowd into big cities, cheap railway fares allowing them to live around the towns where they work during the day. [_trade of antwerp_] the condition of this wonderful economic development was the opening of the scheldt. for nearly two centuries and a half the country had been cut off from the outside world and obliged to live on her own resources. we have seen how, during the fifteen years of union with holland, the trade of antwerp had made considerable progress, and how, in spite of dutch resistance, the freedom of international rivers proclaimed by the vienna congress was applied to the lower scheldt. the settlement placed the river, below antwerp, under the joint control of a belgo-dutch commission. the only obstacle still in the way was a toll of one florin and a half which king william had persisted in levying on all ships going and coming from the port. in , after laborious negotiations undertaken by baron lambermont, belgium was able to buy off these tolls from holland for the sum of , , francs. the stream was at last definitely free, at least in time of peace. placed under normal conditions, with the help of numerous waterways spreading over the interior of an exceptionally rich country, antwerp was bound to reconquer rapidly the situation it had occupied under charles v. in about , ships, with a tonnage of , , entered the port. in the annual tonnage had reached , , , and in over , , . though such figures were undreamt of in the sixteenth century, the nature of the antwerp trade remained very similar. the antwerp merchants were really brokers or warehousers, and most of the merchandise brought to the port from all parts of the world was re-exported to other countries. so that in trade, as in industry and agriculture, the permanence of certain characteristics, determined by the land and the race, are preserved to this day. the absence of a national merchant fleet, which was equally apparent in the sixteenth century, did not affect imports and exports, which increased respectively from , , francs and , , francs in to , , , francs and , , , francs in . the government undertook various great public works in order to allow the country to benefit fully from this extraordinary activity. in a law was passed voting large credits for the extension of antwerp's maritime installations. when these works are completed they will give to the port kilometres of quays instead of . in the enlargement of the terneuzen canal permitted large ships to reach ghent; the new port of bruges and the zeebrugge canal were inaugurated in , and an important scheme, whose result will be to connect brussels with the sea, begun in , is still in progress. economic renaissance was accompanied by a corresponding increase in the population. from , , in it rose to , , in , and to , , in . with a density of persons per square mile, belgium became the most thickly populated country in the world and only consumed a fourteenth part of her industrial production. the necessity of finding new markets abroad and of discovering some substitute for the loss of the dutch colonies, which had proved so helpful during the period of union with holland, might have been felt by any far-sighted statesman. leopold i had already devoted some attention to the problem. he encouraged several belgian settlements in rio nuñez, where a regular protectorate was established for a short time, in guatemala and in various parts of brazil. none of these enterprises, however, bore fruit, and the problem was still unsolved when leopold ii ascended the throne in . [_foreign enterprises_] the search for a colonial outlet for the activity of the nation dominated the reign of the new king and absorbed all the energy he was able to spare from military problems. as duke of brabant, leopold ii had already drawn the attention of the country to the future development of china. he had formed several projects with regard to the establishment of a belgian settlement at the mouth of the yangtse-kiang and on the island of formosa. their failure did not prevent him from taking, later on, an active part in chinese affairs. the imperial government did not entertain towards belgium the same distrust as it did towards the european great powers, and king leopold several times had the opportunity of acting as intermediary between these powers and the chinese government, in order to obtain concessions. he became thus, in later years, the initiator of the peking-hankow railway. the difficulty of finding a field of economic activity in foreign countries became, nevertheless, more and more apparent, and, without giving up his chinese policy, the belgian king endeavoured to ensure to his country some part of the vacant territories which had not yet been seized by other european nations. when his congo enterprise was in full swing, he proposed to buy the canary islands from spain ( ), and, after the spanish-american war, opened negotiations with america with regard to the future development of the newly acquired philippines. he was also concerned, for a time, with korean, manchurian and mongolian enterprises, and nothing but the progress of the congo scheme put a stop to his incessant search for new opportunities. in , when the congo basin was still practically _terra incognita_, stanley having just left europe in order to determine the course of the stream, leopold ii founded the "association internationale africaine." it was a purely private association, composed of geographers and travellers, its aim being to suppress the slave trade in central africa and to open this part of the continent to modern civilization. two years later, on stanley's return, the "comité d'etudes du haut congo" secured his services in order to undertake, with the help of a little band of belgian explorers, a complete survey of the congo basin and to conclude treaties with the native chiefs. within five years a region as large as a fifth of europe, and eighty times larger than belgium, had been brought under the influence of the committee, and in the king founded the "association internationale du congo." if, instead of ruling over a small neutral state, leopold ii had ruled over one of the large nations of europe, he would have reaped forthwith the fruit of his labour and the gratitude of his people. the congo would have become a state colony, been subsidized by state funds, and the sovereign would have incurred no further responsibilities in the matter. but belgium was not a great power like germany, which acquired its african colonies at the same time, in a similar manner. neither could she rest her colonial claims on historical grounds, like holland or portugal. she was not even fully independent, as far as foreign policy was concerned, and her right to break fresh ground might have been questioned at the time. besides, popular opinion in belgium, dominated by the fear of international complications, was not prepared to claim this right, even the capitalists considering the king's projects far too hazardous to give him the necessary support. leopold ii was, therefore, left to his own resources to accomplish an almost superhuman task: to obtain the necessary recognition from the powers, and to sufficiently develop the resources of the congo to persuade the belgian people to accept his gift. it was, therefore, not as a king, but as a private individual, that the president of the "association internationale du congo" was obliged first to remove the obstacles created by french and portuguese opposition, and, later, to persuade the other powers to entrust him with the administration of the new territory. this first success must not be attributed to his diplomatic skill alone, but also to the enormous expenses implied by the bold enterprise, to the reluctance of the rich colonial powers to incur further liabilities and to their anxiety to avoid international difficulties. germany's attitude, in view of further events, may be described as expectant. bismarck had only just been converted to colonial expansion, and found, no doubt, what he must have considered as the "interregnum" of king leopold an excellent solution of his difficulties. [_congo free state_] in the work of the "association" was recognized by the congress of berlin, the sovereign of belgium becoming the sovereign of the congo free state. the treaty of berlin stipulated that trade should remain free in the new state, that the natives should be protected and that slavery should be suppressed. four years later, the king, in his will, left the congo to belgium, "desiring to ensure to his beloved country the fruit of a work pursued during long years with the generous and devoted collaboration of many belgians, and confident of thus securing for belgium, if she was willing to use it, an indispensable outlet for her trade and industry and a new field for her children's activity." the work was pushed with indomitable energy. in a vigorous campaign against the arab slave-traders was brought to a successful conclusion. in the first railway connecting matadi, on the lower congo, with leopoldville, on the stanley pool, opened the great waterway as far as the stanley falls. a flotilla was launched on the upper stream and its main affluents, while roads and telegraph lines spread all over the country. the financial situation, however, remained critical. the enterprise had absorbed the greater part of the king's personal fortune. the credits voted by the belgian chambers were inadequate, and, though a few financiers began by now to realize the enormous value of the enterprise, their number was not sufficient to ensure the immediate future. faced with considerable difficulties, which compelled him to severely curtail his personal expenses, leopold ii had formally offered the colony to the country in . this offer had been rejected. under the stress of circumstances, the sovereign of the congo free state decided to exploit directly the natural resources of the land, mainly rubber and ivory. the natives were compelled to pay a tax in kind and vast concessions were granted to commercial companies whose actions could not be properly controlled. this semi-commercial, semi-political system was bound to lead to abuses, even a few state agents betraying the confidence which their chief had placed in them and oppressing the natives in order to exact a heavier tax. when the first protests were heard in this country, king leopold committed the grave mistake of not starting an immediate inquiry and punishing the culprits. distrusting the motives of the leaders of the campaign, and stiffened in his resistance by the tone they chose to adopt towards him, he allowed the opposition to grow to such proportions that the general public, whose indignation was skilfully nurtured by the most exaggerated reports, lost all sense of proportion. they ignored the fact that the king had given sufficient proof of disinterestedness and of devotion to his country not to deserve the abominable accusations launched against him. they forgot the invaluable work accomplished, under the most difficult circumstances, during twenty years of ceaseless labour, the suppression of slavery, of cannibalism, human sacrifices and tribal wars, and remembered only the gross indictments of mr. morel and the biased reports of mr. roger casement ( ). [_the belgian congo_] when, the next year, three impartial magistrates sent to the congo by king leopold reported that the excesses had been repressed and advised a complete reform of the administration, their testimony was disregarded. when concessions were abolished and drastic measures taken against the criminal agents, the fact remained unnoticed. even after the congo had become a belgian colony ( ), under the control of the belgian parliament, when every scrap of authority had been taken away from the old king with the "domaine de la couronne" (whose revenue was to be devoted by its founder to public works in belgium), when the colony had been entirely reorganized, the campaign of the congo reform association went on relentlessly. far from silencing his accusers, the king's death, a year later, was made the occasion of a fresh outburst of abuse. the good faith of the public throughout the congo campaign is unquestionable. that of its main engineers is at least open to doubt. they organized their efforts at the time when the greatest difficulties of colonization had been overcome. they pursued them after all cause for abuse had been removed. in one of his first books, _british case in french congo_, mr. morel suggests the partition of the free state between this country and germany. in his last books, written during the war, he warmly champions the internationalization of central africa in order to save the german colonies. neither can it be urged that those two men who roused the conscience of this country against the congo atrocities were deeply shocked by more recent and far better authenticated atrocities committed in belgium. if they were, the only remark an impartial observer might venture to make is that their actions, during the war, scarcely reflected such righteous indignation. it may be too hasty to conclude from this, and from the close association of erzberger, morel and casement in the congo campaign, that this campaign was engineered by germany. we do not yet possess all the documents necessary to establish this fact. we know enough, however, to deplore that a movement which might have been so beneficial to all concerned was allowed to fall into the hands of unscrupulous agitators, who succeeded in estranging for a time belgium from great britain, and incidentally in marring the last years of the life of one of the greatest belgian patriots. chapter xxviii intellectual renaissance the remarkable revival of belgian arts and letters which followed shortly after the revolution is one of the most striking examples of the influence exercised by political events on intellectual activity. for over a century the nation had been devoid of self-expression, and during the fifteen years of union with holland scarcely any notable works were produced. no doubt this time, being one of economic recovery, was not favourable to the efflorescence of art and letters, but the intense activity of the period of independence appears nevertheless as an outburst of national pride and energy. it seems as if all the strength, subdued during the periods of foreign domination, had at last found an outlet, as if the belgians had waited all these years to assert again their intellectual power, which could not or would not flourish for the benefit of foreigners. illustration: palace of justice, brussels. _ph. b._ architecture no longer represents, in modern times, what it represented in the past, and it would be vain to search in modern belgium, and, for the matter of that, in any modern country, for the manifestation of an original style expressing the spirit of the age. there are, however, symptoms of vitality which must not be entirely disregarded. the considerable number of public buildings erected and the more or less successful efforts of their builders are by themselves a remarkable testimony. it is characteristic of belgian civilization and of its irradicable traditional spirit of regionalism that the hôtels de ville built in imitation of the flemish renaissance are particularly numerous, and even in some cases, such as the maison communale of schaarbeek, particularly impressive. some reconstitutions were also attempted, as, for instance, the antwerp exchange and the palace of margaret of austria in malines. the only strikingly original monument is the palace of justice in brussels, built by poelaert ( - ). it is the result of an extraordinary medley of styles, from the assyrian onwards, and presents one of the most pathetic and gigantic efforts to create a beautiful monument under modern conditions. this huge building was intended by the belgian people to be the apotheosis of right. not only of the justice of everyday courts, but also of international justice and of the right, so long violated on belgian soil, of the people to dispose of themselves. [_historical sculpture_] wandering through the most important squares and gardens of belgian towns, the stranger will be astonished at the number of monuments raised to the great belgians of the past and to the heroes of belgian history. in brussels, antwerp, ghent, bruges, and even the small provincial towns, he will find statues dedicated not only to the modern kings and statesmen, but to the leaders of the various revolts against foreign oppression, to the great artists and communal tribunes. almost every person mentioned in this book possesses his effigy, and the town of tongres has gone as far as immortalizing the features of the celtic chief ambiorix in token of his resistance to the roman legions. all these statues are not necessarily great works of art, nor is the historical conception which their ensemble represents quite above criticism, but, if one remembers that they were almost all raised within fifty years of the declaration of belgian independence, one may at least understand the reason of their sudden appearance. in spite of those who insist, in flattering terms, on belgium's youth, she strongly maintains her right to old traditions and wants to keep her ancient heroes before her eyes. more or less consciously, the sculptors of these statues realized that their fathers of the renaissance and the middle ages had as great a share in the making of the nation as present kings and ministers. their sudden appearance in the midst of belgian towns was not the result of official zeal, but the living symbol of the gratitude of new to old belgium. jacques van artevelde in ghent, breydel and de coninck in bruges, egmont and horn in brussels came into their own at last. beside these historical statues, the traveller will find some remarkable works of a more recent date which will recommend themselves for their purely artistic value and which are generally noticeable for their feeling for movement and muscular effort. in many ways, the qualities of rubens were revived in the modern school of belgian sculpture, and the brabo fountain in antwerp, the death of ompdrailles and the riders' fight in brussels suffice to show the influence exercised by the seventeenth century school of painting on jef. lambeaux, van der stappen and j. de lalaing. the most original of belgian sculptors, constantin meunier ( - ), while possessing similar plastic qualities, opened a new field by his idealization of agricultural and industrial work. his miners, dockers, puddlers, and field labourers are known to all students of art and will stand in the future as the symbol of the economic renaissance of a people who could, even under modern conditions, find a kind of grim attachment to their labour. illustration: "the puddler." by constantin meunier ( - ). cold academic compositions, painted under the influence of the chief of the imperial french school of painting, louis david, were the only productions of belgian art at the beginning of the nineteenth century. in no domain did the fashion change more abruptly, on the morrow of the revolution, than in belgian historical paintings. as early as , g. wappers of antwerp exhibited a large canvas recording an episode of the recent revolution. his example was followed by many artists at the time, and belgian history became the subject of a great number of paintings, whose rather theatrical and pompous style does not entirely succeed in hiding their sincere and serious qualities. the french style of david was soon abandoned. movement and colour, so inherent in the belgian temperament, came again to the fore, and, though the influence of rubens was overmastering, it was at least a national influence, and soon led, under the inspiration of henri leys ( - ), to the production of historical works of great interest. the latter's frescoes of the hôtel de ville in antwerp, illustrating the old franchises and privileges of the town, may still be considered as a striking expression of municipal freedom. [_modern painters_] at the same time, a great number of painters, reacting against the rather artificial style of historical paintings, went back to genre pictures, in which teniers and his followers had excelled in the past. henri de braekeleer ( - ) translated the simple, intimate poetry of modest interiors, while joseph stevens ( - ) devoted his genius to scenes of dog life. later, when social questions came to the fore and when the attention of the public was centred on the sufferings of the poor and destitute, de groux, léon frédéric and, even more, eugène laermans (_b._ ) conveyed in their works a burning sympathy for the wretches and vagabonds straying through the towns and the flemish country-side. the latter's work is strongly influenced by breughel. through an extraordinary paradox, belgian art, which only represented scenes of merriment during the darkest days of the spanish occupation, gave far more importance to scenes of misery during the modern time of great public prosperity, so revolting did it seem that such prosperity should not be shared by all. another artist in whose works breughel's inspiration is apparent is jacob smits (_b._ ). he is almost the only one who may be considered as a representative of religious painting in belgium. like breughel, he succeeded in bringing the christian story close to the people's hearts amidst flemish contemporary surroundings. a school of art in which colour and light play such a predominant part is bound to produce valuable landscapes. in this new form, the love of country expressed itself far more sincerely than in the earlier historical compositions. under the influence of henri boulanger, belgium produced, in later years, a number of first-rate landscape painters such as verwée, courtens, gilsoul, baertsoen and emile claus. flemish landscapes exert a far greater attraction than the walloon hills, and, generally speaking, the flemish element dominates in the modern school as it did in the old. for the golden light lies on the damp fields of flanders, and flemish artists have not yet given up the hope of capturing it. [_national literature_] the artistic renaissance of modern belgium might have been expected. the worship of colour and form had always been a strong characteristic of the race, and even in the drab years of the austrian régime belgian painters had never ceased to work. a far more startling development was the appearance, towards the middle of the nineteenth century, of a national belgian school of literature. in the middle ages, flemish and french letters in belgium had produced some remarkable works. owing to the scholastic character of these writings and to the predominant influence of french culture, they could not, however, be considered as a direct expression of the people's spirit. in many ways, the modern school of belgian letters was a new departure: french and flemish influences were more evenly balanced, and, though they worked separately, flemish and french writers, coming into close contact with the people's soul, expressed the same feelings and the same aspirations. for, if we make due allowance for the part played by purely walloon writers, specially novelists and story-tellers, the main feature of the belgian school of literature in the nineteenth century is the break up of the language barrier. strange as it may seem, a comparison between writers in french and flemish reveals a series of similarities so striking that, supposing an adequate translation were possible, there would be no difficulty whatever in including them in the same group. the main reason for this is, no doubt, that almost all the leaders of the movement in french, starting with de coster and lemonnier, up to the contemporary period of verhaeren and maeterlinck, are of flemish extraction, and that their best works are imbued with flemish traditions and flemish temperament. broadly speaking, one might say that most of the belgian french writers are flemings writing in french and are far closer to their northern brethren than to the french whose language they use. charles de coster, who may be considered as the father of this particular branch of the school, published in the _legend of ulenspiegel_, which is nothing but a prose epic in which the legendary character of owliglass is identified with one of the heroes of the sixteenth century revolution against spain. camille lemonnier ( - ), in his best novels, deals with the manners and customs of the flemish peasantry. the very soul of flanders shines through the whole work of belgium's great national poet, emile verhaeren, from his early _les flamandes_ ( ) to the six volumes of _toute la flandre_ ( - ), and in all his earlier writings ( - ), maurice maeterlinck remains under the influence of flemish mysticism and miracle plays. this may seem a one-sided conclusion, and the names of many belgian writers of great distinction may be quoted against it, but if we were to examine the question more closely, this conclusion would be rather verified than disproved. from a purely historical point of view, the general trend of inspiration is certainly towards the north rather than towards the south. the main features which characterize the belgian writers in french and confer on them a truly national originality are, on one side, a tendency to emphasize the intimate joys of life, and on the other, an intense feeling for mysticism, sometimes quite dissociated from any dogmatic faith. just as flemish art is remarkable for the religious work of the fifteenth century and the sensuous productions of the seventeenth, so belgian writing in the nineteenth oscillates between the spirit of jordaens and that of memling. in spite of some modernist tendencies and a great technical boldness, belgian literature remains deeply influenced by mediævalism. it belongs to the twentieth century, even when written in the nineteenth, or to the fifteenth. the classical atmosphere of the french seventeenth and eighteenth centuries is totally absent. those who care for the delicately poised balance of classical taste, for wit and brilliance of dialogue, will be disconcerted by childishness or fierce passion. it is an abrupt literature, but spontaneous and sincere, which has not been spoilt by formalism and scepticism, but which has not acquired, from a purely technical point of view, the perfection of the french. having remained inarticulate during the two centuries of classical education, it has lost nothing and gained nothing through them. [_the flemish movement_] it is significant that the movement started in flanders before influencing the french-speaking part of the country. the flemish novelist, henri conscience ( - ) had devoted a series of books to the history of his country long before de coster wrote his _ulenspiegel_. the flemish language was, at the time, struggling against great difficulties. it had been entirely neglected, from the literary point of view, during the eighteenth century, and suffered now from the natural reaction which followed the revolution. it had reaped little benefit from the fifteen years of union with holland, and there was a general belief, among the flemings themselves, that it would never recover its ancient position. the flemish literary renaissance was initiated by a small group of intellectuals, headed by jan frans willems ( - ), who exerted all their energy to revive flemish customs, collect folk songs and traditions, and obtain a liberal interpretation of the constitution which proclaimed liberty of language. the flemish movement received a new impulse when the young poet albrecht rodenbach ( - ) spread its influence to all flemish intellectual circles. the flemings began to realize that they possessed in guido gezelle ( - ) a religious poet whose work could bear comparison with the best french writings in the country. they saw, growing up around them, a new school of writers of great promise, and they insisted on their language being recognized, not only in principle, but in fact, as the second official language of the country. in a law was passed removing some of the causes of grievances, such as the inability of judges and officials to understand the language of the people with whom they dealt. progressively the flemish language came into its own in matters of education and administration, and, before the war, the only large question still under discussion was the creation of a flemish university. the principle of such an institution had been admitted, but the relationship between this new university and the old french university of ghent had not yet been established. [_common temperament_] it must be understood that the language question remained throughout a local quarrel between two sets of flemish intellectuals. it was not a quarrel between walloons and flemings, and administrative separation was scarcely ever mentioned. it was not even, before the war, a quarrel between the flemish people, who knew only flemish, and the flemish bourgeoisie, who preferred to talk french. it was a dispute between a few intellectual flemings, who wished to restore the language to the position it occupied before the spanish and austrian régimes silenced it, and the flemings who wanted to restrict it to the common people and treat it as a patois. it was, to put it bluntly, a discussion between those who ignored history and those who realized that the independence of the belgian provinces was bound to bring about a revival of flemish letters, as it was causing a revival of french letters. for two centuries the country had remained silent; she was now able to speak again and to use all the riches and the resources of her two languages. instead of threatening national unity, bilingualism was its necessary condition. for real differences do not lie in modes of expression, but in the feeling and the soul of the people, and it matters little if an image or a thought is expressed in one language or another, as long as they reflect a common temperament and common aspirations. chapter xxix conclusion the part played by belgium during the war is well known. those who knew the country and its history were not astonished at the attitude observed by king albert and his people on august , . quite apart from any foreign sympathies, no other answer could be given to an ultimatum which directly challenged belgium's rights. a modern nation might have been intimidated, but an old nation like belgium, which had struggled towards independence through long and weary periods of warfare and foreign domination, was bound to resist. in challenging king albert and his ministers, the german government challenged at the same time all the leaders of the belgian people, from de coninck to vonck and de mérode, and the reply of the belgian government was stiffened by an age-long tradition of stubborn resistance and by the ingrained instinct of the people that this had to be done because there was nothing else to do. [_german invasion_] history also accounts for the desperate fight waged by the small and ill-equipped army against the first military power in europe. liége, haelen, the three sorties from antwerp, the ten terrible days on the yser, are not due merely to the personal valour of the leaders and of their troops, but to the fact that they were belgian leaders and belgian troops, that they belonged to a nation conscious of her destiny and who had never despaired in the past, in spite of the ordeals to which she was subjected and of the scorn of those who questioned her very existence. the same thing might be said of all allied nations. even so fought the british, even so fought the french; the only difference lies in the fact that their heroism was expected as a matter of course, while that of the belgians came to many as a surprise. for british traditions and french traditions were well known, while the past of belgium was blurred amidst the confusion of feudalism and foreign rule. on the yser, in october , the belgian forces had been reduced from , to , bayonets. these last defences, preserving about twenty square miles of independent territory, were maintained during four years while the army was refilling its ranks and reorganizing its supplies. it took its share in all the concerted actions of the allies in flanders, and when, at last, the final offensive was launched, on september , , king albert was placed at the head of the anglo-franco-belgian forces. meanwhile the civil population, under german occupation, was undergoing one of the severest trials that the nation had ever experienced, not excepting revolutionary oppression and the spanish fury. the germans used every means in their power to disintegrate the people's unity, break its resistance and enlist its services. terrorism was used, from the first, at aerschot, louvain, tamines, andenne and dinant, whilst the invasion progressed towards the heart of the country. then, under the governorship of von bissing, the method was altered, and attempts were made to induce the chiefs of industry and their workmen to resume work for the greater benefit of the enemy. this policy culminated in the sinister deportations, pursued during the winter of - , which enslaved about , men and compelled them to work either behind the german front or in german kommandos. enormous fines and contributions were levied on towns and provinces, the country was emptied of all raw material, private property and the produce of the soil were systematically requisitioned, and the population would have been decimated by famine but for the help of the commission for relief in belgium. when it became evident, in , that the passive resistance of the workers could not be broken, all the industries which had not been commandeered were entirely or partially destroyed and the machinery transported to germany. [_von bissing's intrigues_] the most insidious attack of governor von bissing's policy on the belgian nation was his attempt to use the flemish movement as a means to divide the belgians against themselves. the governor, who explained his intentions in a remarkable document known as his "political testament," undertook this campaign under the assumption that belgium was an artificial creation of the vienna congress and that such a thing as belgian nationality did not really exist. german university professors had been at great pains to explain to the german and neutral public that nationality could only be created by unity of race or language, and that belgium, possessing neither of these attributes, could consequently claim no right to independence. following this trend of thought, the governor and his advisers considered the flemish movement as the outcome of internal dissensions between walloons and flemings, and hoped that, by encouraging the flemings, they would succeed in dividing the country and in securing the protectorate of flanders. first the creation of a flemish university in ghent, replacing the french university, absorbed the attention of the german administration. having secured the support of a few extreme "flamingants" known as "activists" and completed the professorial board with foreigners, they hastily inaugurated the new institution ( ). to their great surprise, all flemish organizations protested indignantly against this action, contending that the occupying power had no right to interfere in internal policy. the next step was a series of decrees establishing administrative separation, with two capitals at namur and brussels and a complete division of government offices between the flemish and walloon districts of the country. this measure failed like the first, owing to the patriotic resistance of the belgian officials and the inability of the germans to replace them, and long before they were obliged to evacuate the country the germans had given up the hope of mastering the absurd and unscientific decision of walloons and flemings alike to remain one people, as history had made them. professor van der linden has given to his valuable work on belgian history the sub-title of _the making of a nation_, and shown conclusively how the present institutions of belgium are the result of various contributions from the middle ages to the present time. but a book on belgian history might just as aptly be called _the resistance of a nation_, since history tells us not only how the monument was built, but also how it was not destroyed in spite of the most adverse circumstances. from that point of view, belgium may indeed be considered as the embodiment of steadfastness, rather than that of sheer heroism. she has succeeded in preserving, far more than in acquiring. from her fifteenth century frontiers she has been reduced to her present limited boundaries, which, nevertheless, contain all the elements of her past and present genius. she sacrificed territory, centuries of independence, long periods of prosperity, but she remained essentially one people and one land, a small people on a small land, combining the genius of two races and two languages and acting as a natural intermediary between the great nations of europe. her history, up to her last fight, is nothing but the struggle of a nation to assert her right to live, in spite of her weakness, in the midst of great military powers. unity, first constituted in the fifteenth century, is at once endangered by the rule of a foreign dynasty. during the first part of the sixteenth century the two influences, national and foreign, contend in the counsels of the nation. the latter tendency prevails, and, though remaining nominally independent in regional matters, the country passes under foreign rule. when, in the beginning of the nineteenth century, after the failure of several insurrections under the austrian and french régimes, independence is finally granted, and when a new dynasty is at last inaugurated as a symbol of national unity, belgium remains nevertheless under foreign tutelage. her independence is bought at the price of neutrality; and it is only after the violation of this guaranteed neutrality by two of the foremost powers which established it that the cycle of belgium's trials comes to an end and that she is allowed to exert her sovereign rights in external as well as internal affairs. [_treaty of versailles_] some may consider that belgium has not reaped important advantages from the treaty of versailles, and may be inclined to compare the small territories of the walloon districts of eupen and malmédy with the efforts made during the last few years. but, quite apart from economic indemnities, which may prove a great asset if they materialize, belgium has conquered a far more valuable possession than any territory could give. for the first time in modern history she has received full recognition. she is at last allowed to make friends with her friends and to beware of her enemies, if she has any reason to fear them. through the bitter struggle of the last few years belgium has conquered what other nations might consider as their birthright--the right to be herself, the master of her fate, the captain of her soul. it becomes more and more apparent to foreign consciousness that her future is bound up with that of europe. her welfare will be europe's welfare, her ruin, the ruin of western civilization and christianity. unless through the league of nations, or through any other means, justice prevails in international relations, the history of her tribulations is not yet closed, for only under a régime of justice may the weak hope to live in freedom and in peace. among the pantheon of monuments erected by modern belgium to the heroes of her past history, the stranger will find, with some surprise, in the midst of the place royale in brussels, an equestrian statue of godfrey of bouillon, who, nine centuries ago, sold his land to join the first crusade, and who refused to wear a crown of gold where his saviour had worn a crown of thorns. quite close stands the palace where another belgian prince returned lately, after four years' incessant labour at the side of his soldiers amid the sodden fields of flanders. there is a great contrast between the civilization of the eleventh and that of the twentieth century, between the great adventure sought by the old crusaders and the great war forced on western europe, between the mystic idealism of the middle ages and the practical idealism of modern times. on both occasions, however, belgium was placed in the van, and found in godfrey iv and albert i two leaders whose courage and dignity will stand as the purest symbol of chivalry and national honour. index administration, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , aerschot, duke of, agadir, , agriculture, , , , , , , , , , , aix-la-chapelle, , , treaty of, , alba, duke of, , , , albert, archduke, , , , , , , , , , , , albert i, , , , algeciras, alost, , , , alsace-- house of, philip of, , , , thierry of, , , amiens, peace of, anabaptism, , , anjou, duke of, , , , , , anneessens, françois, antoine of burgundy, , antwerp, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , camp of, , , , , cathedral, , , fall of, lutheranism, monuments, , , school of, , , treaty of, _see_ barriers architecture, , , , , , , , , , , , ardennes, , armada, armentières, , , army defences, , , , arnolfini, arras, , , , , , , , bishopric, , , , , confederation of, , , peace of, , union of, , art, , , , , , , , , , , , - , , - augsburg league, , austrasia, baden, treaty of, baertsoen, baldwin i, iron arm, baldwin ii, baldwin iv, the bearded, baldwin v, , , baldwin vi of flanders and i of hainault, , baldwin vii of flanders and of hainault, baldwin viii of flanders and v of hainault, , baldwin ii, count of guines, banning, emile, , barriers, , , treaty of the, bases of separation, , , bastille, taking of the, , beauneveu, andré, , beggards, béguines, , , , , beggars, , , of religion, of state, sea, belfries, , , , , belgæ, belgica secunda, , , belgiojioso, count of, , belgo-romans, , , bergh, henry, count of, , berlaymont, charles de, , , berlin, congress of, bilingualism, , , , , , , , , , , bishoprics and bishops, , , , , bismarck, , , blondeel, lancelot, boendaele, jean, bois-le-duc, , , , bollandists, bollandus, boulanger, henri, bouts, thierry, bouvines, brabançonne revolution, _see_ revolution breda, , , , congress of, bréderode, , breughel, peter, , , , , brialmont, general, , broederlam, melchior, brotherhood of the active love of my neighbour, brothers of the common life, , , , , bruges, , , , , , , , - , , , , , , , , belfry, , , chapelle du saint sang, churches, , palais de justice, statues, , town hall, , bruno, , brussels, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , industry, , , palais de justice, st. gudule, statues, , , town hall, , , union of, , , burgundy, house of, , , calais, calvinism, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , cambrai, , bishopric, , , , , , , peace of, treaty of, , cambraisis, campin, robert, campo formio, treaty of, capuchins, , caroline concession, carolingian dynasty, , , , carthusians, casement, roger, , casimir, john, casimir, duke albert, , cateau-cambraisis, treaty of, catholics, catholicism, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , cauldron, war of the, celtic, , centralization, , , , , , , , charlemagne, , , , , , , charleroi, , , charles, archduke, charles de lorraine, , , charles, duke, charles the bald, charles the bold, , , , , , , , charles the fat, , charles the good, charles v, , - , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , charles ii of spain, , , charles iii of spain and vi of austria, , , , chastellain, , chazal, baron, chepy, chièvres, , , , christianity, christianization, , , , , , cistercians, , clodion, cloth hall, _see_ halles clovis, clunisians, , coal wood, , , , , , , cockerill, john, , cockerill, william, cologne, bishopric, , , communes, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , compromise of the nobles, , , concordat, conecte, thomas, confederation of arras, _see_ arras conference, the london, , , congo, , - campaign, conscience, henri, consulta, , council of blood, , , council of brabant, council of state, , , , , , , council of trent, council of troubles, , , courtens, courtrai, , battle of, , crusade, , , d'alton, general, , damme, , daret, jacques, de braekeleer, henri, de broqueville, de coninck, , , de coster, , de groux, de lalaing, _see_ lalaing de la marck, erard, , de la marck, robert, de la pasture, roger, _see_ van der weyden de ligne, charles joseph, , de mérode, , de paepe, césar, de potter, de witt, , dietschen, _see_ thiois dijon, , , dinant, , , sack of, dixmude, don juan, , , , , douai, , , , university, downs, battle of the, dufay, guillaume, dumouriez, , , , dunes, battle of the, dunkirk, , , , , duplice, edict of marche, edit perpétuel, education, , , , , , , , , , egmont, count of, , , , , , egmont count, entente cordiale, erasmus, ernest, archduke, eupen and malmédy, , exchange, , , , , , farnese, alex., duke of parma, , , , , , , , , , ferdinand, cardinal infant, ferrand of portugal, feudalism, , , , , , finance, , , , , , , , , , flemings, , , flemish movement, , fleurus, , fontainebleau, treaty of, fontenoy, francis i of france, , , , francis ii, , , franco-prussian war, , , franks, , invasion, , , salian, frédéric, léon, french fury, revolution, _see_ revolution frère-orban, froissart, jean, furnes, , , gavere, gelder, , duke of, gérard de brogne, , , gérard de groote, , , general council of the low countries, germania, inferior, , , , germanic, , , germanization, gertrude, of holland, gezelle, guido, ghent, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , belfry, , churches, , , halle, industry, , , , , , pacification of, - , , , revolt, statues, , treaty, university, , , giles de binche, gilsoul, gislebert, gladstone, godfrey, of bouillon, , , , , godfrey of verdun, godfrey the bearded, godfrey the hunchback, golden fleece, order of, , golden spurs, battle of, _see_ courtrai gorcum, , grand alliance, granvelle, bishop of arras, , gravelines, great privilege, , , , guilds, , , , - , guinegate, , hague, the, treaty of the, , , halles, , , , , , hansa, hanseatic, , , , hapsburg, , , , , , , , , , , hennequin of liége, , henry iii, duke of brabant, hoffmann, melchior, horn, count of, , , , hôtel de ville, _see_ town halls huguenot, , humanism, , , , hundred years' war, huy, , , iconclasts, , , , , , industry, , , , , , , , , , , , , china, cloth, , , , , , , , , coal, , , , copper-working, distilling, dyeing, glass, , lacemaking, , linen, , , , metal and mining, , , , , , , , papermaking, spinning, , silk, tapestry, , , , , wool, , , , , , , , , , , inquisition, , , , , , , , invasion-- frankish, , , german, norman, investitures, struggle of, , , isabella, archduchess, , , , , , , , , , italianizants, , , jemappes, jesuits, , , , , , , john the fearless, , , john i of brabant, john iv of brabant, jordaens, jacques, , , , joseph ii, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , josquin des prés, joyous entry of brabant, , , , , , , justice, , , , , , , kermesses, , la brielle, laermans, eugène, lalaing, count of, lalaing, j. de, lambeaux, lambermont, baron, lambert d'ardres, lambert le bègue, lambert of louvain, language limit, , , , , , (_see_ bilingualism) league of nations, lebeau, le bel, jean, leipzig, battle of, lemaire, jean, lemonnier, camille, leopold ii of austria, , leopold i of belgium, , , , , , leopold ii of belgium, , , , , , , - leys, henri, liége, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , bishopric, , , , , , university, lille, , , , , , , limburg, , , , , lipsius, justus, literature, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , lotharingia, , , , , , lotharius i, lotharius ii, , louis, buonaparte, louis the germanic, louis de mâle, , , louis philippe d'orléans, , , louis xiii, louis xiv, , - louis xvi, , louvain, , , , , , , , , , town hall, , , university, , , , , luther, lutheranism, , , , , luxemburg, , , , , , , , , mabuse (jean gossaert), madrid, treaty of, , maeseyck, maestricht, , , , , , , , , , bishopric, fall of, maeterlinck, maurice, malcontents, , , , malines, , , , , , , , , , , , , malplaquet, manicheans, mansfeld, count of, , margaret of austria, , , , , , , , , , , , , marguerite of parma, , , , , , , maria theresa, , , , , , , , , , marie d'oignies, marlborough, duke of, , , marnix, de, , , , mary of burgundy, , , , , , , , mary of hungary, , , , , massys, j., matsys, quentin, matthias, archduke, maximilian, , , , , , , , , , , , , , maximilian ii, maximilian emmanuel of bavaria, , , , mazarin, memling, , , , menapii, , , mendicant orders-- franciscans, dominicans, merchant adventurers, merovingian dynasty, , meunier, constantin, molinet, jean, monarchomaques, , monasteries, , , , , , , , , , mons, , , monstrelet, morel, , moresnet, morini, mousket, philippe, muhlberg, münster, , treaty of, , , , , , , , , music, , , namur, , , , , nancy, napoleon i, , , napoleon iii, , , , nassau, nassau, frederick henry of, nassau, louis of, , , , , nassau, maurice of, , , , nassau, william of, _see_ orange national congress, navigation and harbours, , , , , , , , neerwinden, , nény, count de, nervii, neustria, neutrality, , - , nieuport, , nivardus, nivelles, , normans, , notger, nothomb, noyon-- bishopric, , treaty of, nymegen, treaty of, ockeghem, jean, orange, house of, orange, william of (the silent), , , , - , - , , - orange, william iii of england, , , orange, william i of the netherlands, , , , , , , , , , ostend, , , , , company, , siege of, otto, oudenarde, , , , , , battle of, party-- catholic, , , , , , labour, liberal, , , , , liberal catholic, peter the hermit, philip the bold, , , , philip the good, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , philip i (the handsome), , , , , , , , , philip ii, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , philip iii, philip iv, , , , pichegru, pieter christus, pillnitz, declaration of, placards, , , , , , plessiz-lez-tours, treaty of, , poelaert, pol de limburg, population, , , , , , , pragmatic sanction, , , prié, marquis de, printing, , protestantism, , , , , , , , , , pyrenees, treaty of the, , races, radewyn, florent, ramillies, rastadt, treaty of, ratisbon, truce of, récollets, , reformation, , , , , counter, , régner of hainault, régner, long neck, , reichenbach, convention of, renaissance, , , , , , , , , renesse, rené de, requesens, louis de zuniga y, , , revolution-- brabançonne, , , , , french, , - , , , richelieu, , , richilda of hainault, risquons tout, robert the frisian, robert ii, , rogier, , rolin, chancellor, , roman conquest, roman culture, , romanization, roman road, , rubens, , , , , , , , ruremonde, ruysbroeck, jean de, ruysbroeck, jan, ryswyck, peace of, st. amand, , , schools of, monastery of, st. bartholomew, massacre of, st. eloi, st. hubert, st. lambert, st. omer, , st. quentin, st. remacle, st. ursula, saxons, scrap of paper, _see_ treaty of xxiv articles sedan, senlis, nicolas de, peace of, , silva carbonaria, _see_ coal wood sluis, , sluter, claus, , smits, jacob, spanish fury, spanish succession, war of the, spinola, ambrose, , , states general, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , sustershuysen, stevens, joseph, talleyrand, teniers, , térouanne, bishopric, thierry, bouts, _see_ bouts thierry maertens, , thierry of alsace, _see_ alsace thierry of st. trond, thiois, , , , thirty years' war, , , tongres, bishopric, , , , tournai, , , , , , , , , , , , , bishopric, , , frankish capital, belfry, siege of, taking of, tournaisis, town halls, , , , , , , toxandria, trade, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , trafalgar, battle of, transaction of augsburg, transport, , , treaty of xviii articles, , of xxiv articles, , , , , , , trèves, bishopric, triple alliance, , , triplice, turenne, unity, national, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , - universities, , , , utrecht, bishopric, , , treaty of, , , union of, , valenciennes, , , , , , , , jean de, van artevelde, jacques, , , van der goes, hughes, van der linden, van der noot, - , van der stappen, van der weyden, , , van de weyer, van dyck, , van eyck, , , , , , , , , van ghent, justus, van helmont, van josse, van maerlant, , , , , , van thienen, veldener, jean, venloo, , , treaty of, verdun-- treaty, second treaty, , verhaeren, emile, versailles, treaty of, verwée, vienna-- congress of, , , , , treaty of, , , viglius d'ayetta, , voltaire, , von bissing, , , vonck, vonckists, , , , , , , , , wala, , , walloon league, walloons, , , , wappers, g., war of the peasants, , , waterloo, battle of, willem, , willems, jan frans, william ii of germany, , woeringen, battle of, ypres, , , , , , , , , , , yser, battle of the, , zeebrugge canal, zutphen, , , zwyn, , , _printed in great britain by_ unwin brothers, limited london and woking the story of the nations . =rome.= by arthur gilman, m.a. . =the jews.= by prof. j.k. hosmer. . =germany.= by rev. s. baring-gould, m.a. . =carthage.= by prof. alfred j. church. . =alexander's empire.= by prof. j.p. mahaffy. . =the moors in spain.= by stanley lane-poole. . =ancient egypt.= by prof. george rawlinson. . =hungary.= by prof. arminius vambery . =the saracens.= by arthur gilman, m.a. . =ireland.= by the hon. emily lawless. . =chaldea.= by zÉnaÏde a. ragozin. . =the goths.= by henry bradley. . =assyria.= by zÉnaÏde a. ragozin. . =turkey.= by stanley lane-poole. . =holland.= by prof. j.e. thorold rogers. . =mediæval france.= by gustave masson. . =persia.= by s.g.w. benjamin. . =phoenicia.= by prof. g. rawlinson. . =media.= by zÉnaÏde a. ragozin. . =the hansa towns.= by helen zimmern. . =early britain.= by prof. alfred j. church. . =the barbary corsairs.= by stanley lane-poole. . =russia.= by w.r. morfill, m.a. . =the jews under the romans.= by w.d. morrison. . =scotland.= by john mackintosh, ll.d. . =switzerland.= by mrs. lina hug and r. stead. . =mexico.= by susan hale. . =portugal.= by h. morse stephens. . =the normans.= by sarah orme jewett. . =the byzantine empire.= by c.w.c. oman. . =sicily: phoenician, greek and roman.= by the prof. e.a. freeman. . =the tuscan republics.= by bella duffy. . =poland.= by w.r. morfill, m.a. . =parthia.= by prof. george rawlinson. . =the australian commonwealth.= by greville tregarthen. . =spain.= by h.e. watts. . =japan.= by david murray, ph.d. . =south africa.= by george m. theal. . =venice.= by alethea wiel. . =the crusades.= by t.a. archer and c.l. kingsford. . =vedic india.= by z.a. ragozin. . =the west indies and the spanish main.= by james rodway. . =bohemia.= by c. edmund maurice. . =the balkans.= by w. miller, m.a. . =canada.= by sir j.g. bourinot, ll.d. . =british india.= by r.w. frazer, ll.b. . =modern france.= by andrÉ le bon. . =the franks.= by lewis sergeant. . =austria.= by sidney whitman. . =modern england.= before the reform bill. by justin mccarthy. . =china.= by prof. r.k. douglas. . =modern england.= from the reform bill to the present time. by justin mccarthy. . =modern spain.= by martin a.s. hume. . =modern italy.= by pietro orsi. . =norway.= by h.h. boyesen. . =wales.= by o.m. edwards. . =mediæval rome.= by w. miller, m.a. . =the papal monarchy.= by william barry, d.d. . =mediæval india under mohammedan rule.= by stanley lane-poole. . =buddhist india.= by prof. t.w. rhys-davids. . =parliamentary england.= by edward jenks, m.a. . =mediæval england.= by mary bateson. . =the coming of parliament.= by l. cecil jane. . =the story of greece.= from the earliest times to a.d. . by e.s. shuckburgh. . =the story of the roman empire.= (b.c. to a.d. .) by h. stuart jones. . =denmark and sweden=, with iceland and finland. by jon stefansson, ph.d. . =belgium.= from the roman invasion to the present day. by emile cammaerts. london: t. fisher unwin, ltd., adelphi terrace * * * * * transcriber's note i. in the caption of the illustration in the original text the name is spelt "breugghel". note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustration. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/dirs/ / / / / / -h.zip) young hilda at the wars by arthur h. gleason author of "the spirit of christmas" "love, home and the inner life," etc. [illustration: hilda in her motor-ambulance uniform wearing the "order of leopold ii," conferred on her by king albert in person.] new york frederick a. stokes company publishers copyright, , by frederick a. stokes company all rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages september, to chevalier helen of pervyse contents chapter page experience (by way of preface) i. young hilda at the wars _good will_ ii. the ribbons that stuck in his coat _the belgian refugee_ iii. rollo, the apollo _the brotherhood of man_ iv. the piano of pervyse _lost_ v. war _in ramskappele barnyard_ vi. the chevalier _with the ambulance_ vii. the american _the bonfire_ viii. the war baby _experience_ (_by way of preface_) of these sketches that tell of ruined belgium, i must say that i saw what i have told of. they are not meditations in a library. because of the great courtesy of the prime minister of belgium, who is the war minister, and through the daily companionship of his son, our little group of helpers were permitted to go where no one else could go, to pass in under shell fire, to see action, to lift the wounded out of the muddy siding where they had fallen. ten weeks of red cross work showed me those faces and torn bodies which i have described. the only details that have been altered for the purpose of story-telling are these: the doctor who rescued the thirty aged at dixmude is still alive; smith did not receive the decoration, but hilda did; it was a candlestick on the piano of pervyse that vibrated to shell fire; the spy continues to signal without being caught; "pervyse," the war-baby, was not adopted by an american financier; motor ambulances were given to the corps, not to an individual. with these exceptions, the incidents are lifted over from the experience of two english women and my wife in pervyse, and my own weeks as stretcher-bearer on an ambulance. in that deadlock of slaughter where i worked, i saw no pageantry of war, no glitter and pomp, at all. nothing remains to me of war pictures except the bleakness. when i think suddenly of belgium, i see a town heavy with the coming horror:--almost all the houses sealed, the curtains drawn, the friendly door barred. and then i see a town after the invaders have shelled it and burned it, with the homeless dogs howling in the streets, and the pigeons circling in search of their cote, but not finding it. or i look down a long, lonely road, gutted with shell holes, with dead cattle in the fields, and farm-houses in a heap of broken bricks and dust. and when i do not see a landscape, dreary with its creeping ruin, i see men in pain. sometimes i see the faces of dead boys--one boy outstretched at length on a doorstep with the smoke of his burning body rising through the mesh of his blue army clothing; and then a half mile beyond, in the yard of a farm-house, a young peasant spread out as he had fallen when the chance bullet found him. that alone which seemed good in the horror was the courage of the modern man. he dies as simply and as bravely as the young of thermopylæ. these men of the factory and office are crowding more meaning into their brief weeks by the yser and under the shattering of ypres than is contained in all the last half century of clerk routine. i young hilda at the wars she was an american girl from that very energetic and prosperous state of iowa, which if not as yet the mother of presidents, is at least the parent of many exuberant and useful persons. will power is grown out yonder as one of the crops. she had a will of her own and her eye showed a blue cerulean. her hair was a bright yellow, lighting up a gloomy room. it had three shades in it, and you never knew ahead of time which shade was going to enrich the day, so that an encounter with her always carried a surprise. for when she arranged that abundance in soft nun-like drooping folds along the side of the head, the quieter tones were in command. and when it was piled coil on coil on the crown, it added inches to the prairie stature, and it was mellow like ripe corn in the sun. but the prettiest of all was at the seashore or on the hills, when she unbuckled it from its moorings and let it fall in its plenty to the waist. then its changing lights came out in a rippling play of color, and the winds had their way with it. it was then youth's battleflag unfurled, and strong men were ready to follow. it was such a vivid possession that strangers were always suspicious of it, till they knew the girl, or saw it in its unshackled freedom. she had that wayward quality of charm, which visits at random a frail creature like maude adams, and a burly personality, such as that of mr. roosevelt. it is a pleasant endowment, for it leaves nothing for the possessor to do in life except to bring it along, in order to obtain what he is asking for. when it is harnessed to will power, the pair of them enjoy a career. so when hilda arrived in large london in september of the great war, there was nothing for it but that somehow she must go to war. she did not wish to shoot anybody, neither a german grocer nor a flemish peasant, for she liked people. she had always found them willing to make a place for her in whatever was going her way. but she did want to see what war was like. her experience had always been of the gentler order. canoeing and country walks, and a flexible wrist in playing had given her only a meagre training for the stresses of the modern battlefield. once she had fainted when a favorite aunt had fallen from a trolley car. and she had left the room when a valued friend had attacked a stiff loaf of bread with a crust that turned the edge of the knife into his hand. she had not then made her peace with bloodshed and suffering. on the strand, london, there was a group of alert professional women, housed in a theatre building, and known as the women's crisis league. to their office she took her way, determined to enlist for belgium. mrs. bracher was in charge of the office--a woman with a stern chin, and an explosive energy, that welcomed initiative in newcomers. "it's a poor time to get pupils," said the fair-haired hilda, "i don't want to go back to the studio club in new york, as long as there's more doing over here. i'm out of funds, but i want to work." "are you a trained nurse?" asked mrs. bracher, who was that, as well as a motor cyclist and a woman of property, a certificated midwife, and a veterinarian. "not even a little bit," replied hilda, "but i'm ready to do dirty work. there must be lots to do for an untrained person, who is strong and used to roughing it. i'll catch hold all right, if you'll give me the chance." "right, oh," answered mrs. bracher. "dr. neil mcdonnell is shortly leaving for belgium with a motor-ambulance corps," she said, "but he has hundreds of applications, and his list is probably completed." "thank you," said hilda, "that will do nicely." "i don't mind telling you," continued mrs. bracher, "that i shall probably go with him to the front. i hope he will accept you, but there are many ahead of you in applying, and he has already promised more than he can take." hilda took a taxi from st. mary le strand to harley street. dr. neil mcdonnell was a dapper mystical little specialist, who was renowned for his applications of psychotherapy to raging militants and weary society leaders. he was a scottish highlander, with a rare gift of intuitive insight. he, too, had the agreeable quality of personal charm. like all to whom the gods have been good, he looked with a favoring eye on the spectacle of youth. "you come from a country which will one day produce the choicest race in history," he began, "you have a blend of nationalities. we have a little corner in scotland where several strains were merged, and the men were finer and the women fairer than the average. but as for going to belgium, i must tell you that we have many more desiring to go than we can possibly find room for." "that is why i came to you," responded hilda. "that means competition, and then you will have to choose the youngest and strongest." "i can promise you nothing," went on the doctor; "i am afraid it is quite impossible. but if you care to do it, keep in touch with me for the next fortnight. send me an occasional letter. call me up, if you will." she did. she sent him telegrams, letters by the "boots" in her lodging-house. she called upon him. she took mrs. bracher with her. * * * * * and that was how hilda came to go to flanders. when the corps crossed from happy unawakened london to forlorn belgium, they felt lost. how to take hold, they did not know. there were the cars, and here were the workers, but just what do you do? their first weeks were at ghent, rather wild, disheveled weeks of clutching at work. they had one objective: the battlefield; one purpose: to make a series of rescues under fire. cramped in a placid land, smothered by peace-loving folk, they had been set quivering by the war. the time had come to throw themselves at the continent, and do or die where action was thick. nothing was quainter, even in a land of astounding spectacles, than the sight of the rescuing ambulances rolling out to the wounded of a morning, loaded to the gunwale with charming women and several men. "where will they put the wounded?" was the query that sprang to every lip that gaped at their passing. there was room for everybody but wounded. fortunately there were few wounded in those early days when rescuers tingled for the chance to serve and see. so the ghent experience was a probation rather than a fulfilled success. then the enemy descended from fallen antwerp, and the corps sped away, ahead of the vast gray prussian machine, through bruges and ostend, to furnes. here, too, in furnes, the corps was still trying to find its place in the immense and intricate scheme of war. the man that saved them from their fogged incertitude was a belgian doctor, a military red cross worker. the first flash of him was of a small silent man, not significant. but when you had been with him, you felt reserves of force. that small person had a will of his own. he was thirty-one years of age, with a thoughtful but kindly face. his eye had pleasant lights in it, and a twinkle of humor. his voice was low and even-toned. he lifted the wounded in from the trenches, dressed their wounds, and sent them back to the base hospitals. he was regimental dentist as well as doctor, and accompanied his men from point to point, along the battlefront from the sea to the frontier. van der helde was his name. he called on the corps soon after their arrival in furnes, one of the last bits of belgian soil unoccupied by the invaders. "you are wandering about like lost souls," he said to them; "let me tell you how to get to work." he did so. as the results of his suggestions, the six motor ambulances and four touring cars ran out each morning to the long thin line of troops that lay burrowed in the wet earth, all the way from the baths of nieuport-on-the-sea down through the shelled villages of the ramskappele-dixmude frontier to the beautiful ancient city of ypres. the cars returned with their patient freight of wounded through the afternoon and evening. what had begun as an adventure deepened to a grim fight against blood-poisoning and long-continuing exposure and hunger. hilda learned to drop the antiseptic into open wounds, to apply the pad, and roll the cotton. she learned to cut away the heavy army blue cloth to reach the spurting artery. she built the fire that heated the soup. she distributed the clean warm socks. doubtless someone else could have done the work more skilfully, but the someone else was across the water in a comfortable country house, or watching the russian dancers at the coliseum. the leader of the corps, dr. mcdonnell, was an absurdly brave little man. his heart may not have been in the highlands, but his mind certainly was, for he led his staff into shell fire, week-days and sundays, and all with a fine unconsciousness that anything unusual was singing and breaking around the path of their performance. he carried a pocket edition of the oxford book of verse, and in the lulls of slaughter turned to the wordsworth sonnets with a fine relish. "something is going to happen. i can feel it coming," said mrs. bracher after one of these excursions into the troubled regions. "yes," agreed hilda, "they are long chances we are taking, but we are fools for luck." a famous war correspondent paid them a fleeting visit, before he was ordered twenty miles back to dunkirk by kitchener. "by the law of probabilities," he observed to dr. mcdonnell, as he was saying good-bye, "you and your staff are going to be wiped out, if you keep on running your motors into excitement." the doctor smiled. it was doubtful if he heard the man. one day, the doctor got hold of smith, a london boy driver, and hilda, and said: "i think we would better visit dixmude, this morning. it sounds like guns in that direction. that means work for us. get your hat, my dear." "but i never wear a hat," she said with a touch of irritation. "ah, i hadn't noticed," returned the doctor, and he hadn't. hilda went free and fair those days, with uncovered head. where the men went, there went she. for the modern woman has put aside fear along with the other impediments. the doctor and hilda, and, lastly, smith, climbed aboard and started at fair speed. smith's motor-ambulance was a swift machine, canopied by a brown hood, the color of a mediterranean sail, with red crosses on the sides to ward off shells, and a huge red cross on the top to claim immunity from aeroplanes with bombs and plumbed arrows. "make haste, make haste," urged dr. mcdonnell, who felt all time was wasted that was not spent where the air was thick. they had ridden for a half hour. "there are limits, sir," replied smith. "if you will look at that piece of road ahead, sir, you will see that it's been chewed up with jack johnsons. it's hard on the machine." but the doctor's attention was already far away, for he had been seized with the beauty of the fresh spring morning. there was a tang in the air, and sense of awakening life in the ground, which not all the bleakness of the wasted farms and the dead bodies of cattle could obscure for him. "isn't that pretty," he observed, as a shrapnel exploded overhead in the blue with that ping with which it breaks its casing and releases the pattering bullets. it unfolded itself in a little white cloud, which hung motionless for an instant before the winds of the morning shredded it. to hilda the sensation of being under fire was always exhilarating. the thought of personal peril never entered her head. the verse of a favorite gypsy song often came into her memory these days:-- "i am breath, dew, all resources. laughing in your face, i cry would ye kill me, save your forces. why kill me, who cannot die." they swept on to oudekappele and its stout stone church, where lonely in the tower, the watcher, leaning earthward, told off his observations of the enemy to a soldier in the rafters, who passed them to another on the ladder, who dropped them to another on the stone floor, who hurried them to an officer at the telephone in the west front, who spoke them to a battery one mile away. they took the poplar-lined drive-way that leads to the crossroads. they turned east, and made for caeskerke. and now smith let out his engine, for it is not wise to delay along a road that is in clear sight and range of active guns. at caeskerke station, they halted for reports on the situation in dixmude. there, they saw their good friend, dr. van der helde, in the little group behind the wooden building of the station. "i have just come from dixmude," he said; "it is under a fairly heavy fire. the hospital of st. jean is up by the trenches. i have thirty poor old people there, who were left in the town when the bombardment started. they have been under shell fire for four days, and their nerves are gone. they are paralyzed with fright, and cannot walk. i brought them to the hospital from the cellars where they were hiding. i have come back here to try to get cars to take them to furnes. will you help me get them?" "that's what we're here for," said dr. mcdonnell. "thank you," said the belgian quietly. "shall we not leave the lady?" he suggested, turning to hilda. "try it," she replied with a smile. dr. van der helde jumped aboard. "and you mean to tell me you couldn't get hold of an army car to help you out, all this time?" asked dr. mcdonnell, in amazement. "orders were strict," replied the belgian; "the military considered it too dangerous to risk an ambulance." they had entered the town of dixmude. hilda had never seen so thorough a piece of ruin. walls of houses had crumbled out upon the street into heaps of brick and red dust. stumps of building still stood, blackened down their surface, as if lightning had visited them. wire that had once been telegraph and telephone crawled over the piles of wreckage, like a thin blue snake. the car grazed a large pig, that had lost its pen and trough and was scampering wildly at each fresh detonation from the never-ceasing guns. "it's a bit warm," said smith, as a piece of twisted metal, the size of a man's fist, dropped by the front wheel. "that is nothing," returned dr. van der helde. they had to slow up three times for heaps of ruin that had spread across the road. they reached the hospital. it still stood unbroken. it had been a convent, till dr. van der helde commandeered it to the reception of his cases. he led them to the hall. there down the long corridor were seated the aged poor of dixmude. not one of the patient creatures was younger than seventy. some looked to be over eighty. white-haired men and women, bent over, shaking from head to foot, muttering. most of them looked down at the floor. it seemed as if they would continue there rooted, like some ancient lichen growth in a forest. a few of them looked up at the visitors, with eyes in which there was little light. no glimmer of recognition altered the expression of dim horror. "come," said dr. van der helde, firmly but kindly, "come, old man. we are going to take you to a quiet place." the one whom he touched and addressed shook his head and settled to the same apathy which held the group. "oh, yes," said dr. van der helde, "you'll be all right." he and smith and dr. mcdonnell caught hold of the inert body and lifted it to the car. two old women and one more aged man they carried from that hall-way of despair to the motor which had been left throbbing under power. "will you come back?" asked dr. van der helde. "as soon as we have found a place for them," replied dr. mcdonnell. the car pulled out of the hospital yard and ran uninjured through the town. the firing was intermittent, now. two miles back at the cross-roads, four army ambulances were drawn up waiting for orders. "come on in. the water's fine," cried hilda to the drivers. "_comment?_" asked one of them. "why don't you go into dixmude?" she explained. "there are twenty-six old people in st. jean there. we've got four of them here." the drivers received an order of release from their commanding officer, and streamed into the doomed town and on to the yard of the hospital. in two hours they had emptied it of its misery. at oudekappele hilda found a room in the little inn, and made the old people comfortable. at noon, dr. van der helde joined her there, and they had luncheon together out of the ample stores under the seat of the ambulance. up to this day, doctor van der helde had always been reserved. but the brisk affair had unlocked something in his hushed preserves. "it is a sight for tired eyes," said the gallant doctor, "to see such hair in these parts. you bring me a pleasure." "i am glad you like it," returned hilda. "oh, it is better than that," retorted the doctor, "i love it. it brings good luck, you know. beautiful hair brings good luck." "i never heard that," said hilda. that night, for the first time since the hidden guns had marked dixmude for their own, the doctor slept in security ten kilometers back of the trenches. that night a shell struck the empty hospital of st. jean and wrecked it. * * * * * "well, have you worked out a plan to cure this idleness," said mrs. bracher, thundering into the room, like a charge of cavalry. "i've done nothing but cut buttons off army coats, all day." "such a day," said hilda, "yes, we've got a plan. we met dr. van der helde again to-day. he is a brave man, and he is very pleasant, too. he has been working in dixmude, but no one is there any more, and he wants to start a new post. he wants to go to pervyse, and he wishes you and scotch and me to go with him and run a dressing-station for the soldiers." "pervyse!" cried mrs. bracher. "why, my dear girl, pervyse is nothing but a rubbish heap. they've shot it to pieces. there's no one at pervyse." "the soldiers are there," replied hilda; "they come in from the trenches with a finger off or a flesh wound. they are full of colds from all the wet weather we had last month. they haven't half enough to eat. they need warm soup and coffee after a night out on duty. oh, there's lots to do. will you do it?" "certainly," said mrs. bracher. "how about you, scotch?" scotch was a charming maiden of the same land as dr. mcdonnell. she was the silent member of a noisy group, but there was none of the active work that she missed. "wake up, scotch," said hilda, "and tell us. will you go to pervyse and stay? mrs. bracher and i are going." "me, too," said scotch. the next day, dr. van der helde called for them, and they motored the seven miles to pervyse. what dixmude was on a large scale, that was pervyse in small. a once lovely village had been made into a black waste. on the main streets, not one house had been left unwrecked. they found a roomy cellar, under a house that had two walls standing. here they installed themselves with sleeping bags, a soup kitchen, and a kit of first-aid-to-the-injured apparatus. then began for hilda the most spirited days of her life. they had callers from all the world at seasons when there was quiet in the district. maxine elliot, prince alexander of teck, generals, the queen of the belgians, labor leaders--so ran the visiting list. the sorrow that was belgium had become famous, and this cellar of loyal women in pervyse was one of the few spots left on belgium soil where work was being done for the little hunted field army. the days were filled with care of the hurt, and food for the hungry, and clothing for the dilapidated. and the nights--she knew she would not forget those nights, when the three of them took turns in nursing the wounded men resting on stretchers. the straw would crackle as the sleepers turned. the faint yellow light from the lantern threw shadows on the unconscious faces. and she was glad of the smile of the men in pain, as they received a little comfort. she had never known there was such goodness in human nature. who was she ever to be impatient again, when these men in extremity could remember to thank her. here in this worst of the evils, this horror of war, men were manifesting a humanity, a consideration, at a higher level than she felt she had ever shown it in happy surroundings in a peaceful land. hilda won the sense, which was to be of abiding good to her, that at last she had justified her existence. she, too, was now helping to continue that great tradition of human kindness which had made this world a more decent place to live in. no one could any longer say she was only a poor artist in an age of big things. had not the poor artist, in her own way, served the general welfare, quite as effectively, as if she had projected a new breakfast food, or made a successful marriage. her fingers, which had not gathered much gold, had at least been found fit to lessen some human misery. in that strength she grew confident. as the fair spring days came back and green began to put out from the fields, the soldiers returned to their duty. now the killing became brisk again. the cellar ran full with its tally of scotched and crippled men. dr. van der helde was in command of the work. he was here and there and everywhere--in the trenches at daybreak, and gathering the harvest of wounded in the fields after nightfall. sometimes he would be away for three days on end. he would run up and down the lines for seven miles, watching the work. the belgian nation was a race of individualists, each man merrily minding his own business in his own way. the belgian army was a volunteer informal group of separate individuals. the doctor was an individualist. so the days went by at a tense swift stride, stranger than anything in the story-books. one morning the doctor entered the cellar, with a troubled look on his face. "i am forced to ask you to do something," began he, "and yet i hardly have the heart to tell you." "what can the man be after," queried hilda, "will you be wanting to borrow my hair brush to curry the cavalry with?" "worse than that," responded he; "i must ask you to cut off your beautiful hair." "my hair," gasped hilda, darting her hand to her head, and giving the locks an unconscious pat. "your hair," replied the doctor. "it breaks my heart to make you do it, but there's so much disease floating around in the air these days, that it is too great a risk for you to live with sick men day and night and carry all that to gather germs." "i see," said hilda in a subdued tone. "one thing i will ask, that you give me a lock of it," he added quietly. she thought he was jesting with his request. that afternoon she went to her cellar, and took the faithful shears which had severed so many bandages, and put them pitilessly at work on her crown of beauty. the hair fell to the ground in rich strands, darker by a little, and softer far, than the straw on which it rested. then she gathered it up into one of the aged illustrated papers that had drifted out to the post from kind friends in furnes. she wrapped it tightly inside the double page picture of laughing soldiers, celebrating christmas in the trenches. and she carried it outside behind the black stump of a house which they called their home, and threw it on the cans that had once contained bully-beef. she was a little heart-sick at her loss, but she had no vanity. as she was stepping inside, the doctor came down the road. he stopped at sight of her. "oh, i am sorry," he said. "i don't care," she answered, and braved it off by a little flaunt of her head, though there was a film over her eyes. "and did you keep a lock for me?" he asked. "you are joking," she replied. "i was never more serious," he returned. she shook her head, and went down into the cellar. the doctor walked around to the rear of the house. a few minutes later, he entered the cellar. "good-bye," he said, holding out his hand, "i'm going up the line to nieuport. i'll be back in the morning." he turned to climb the steps, and then paused a moment. "beautiful hair brings good luck," he said. "then my luck's gone," returned hilda. "but mine hasn't," he answered. * * * * * "let us go up the road this morning," suggested mrs. bracher, next day, "and see how the new men are getting on." there was a line of trenches to the north, where reinforcements had just come in, all their old friends having been ordered back to furnes for a rest. "how loud the shells are, this morning," said hilda. there were whole days when she did not notice them, so accustomed the senses grow to a repetition. "yes, they're giving us special treatment just now," replied mrs. bracher; "it's that six-inch gun over behind the farm-house, trying out these new men. they're gradually getting ready to come across. it will only be a few days now." they walked up the road a hundred yards, and came on a knot of soldiers stooping low behind the roadside bank. "what are those men looking at?" exclaimed mrs. bracher sharply. "some poor fellow. probably work for us," returned hilda. mrs. bracher went nearer, peered at the outstretched form on the grass bank, then turned her head away suddenly. "no work for us," she said. "don't go near, child. it's too horrible. his face is gone. a shell must have taken it away. oh, i'm sick of this war. i am sick of these sights." one of the little group of men about the body had drawn near to her. "what do you want?" she asked crossly, as a woman will who is interrupted when she is close to tears. "will i identify him?" she repeated after him. "i tell you i never saw the man." a little gasp of amazement came from the soldiers about the body. "see what we have found," called one of the men--"in his pocket." it was a lock of the very lightest and gayest of hair. "ah, my doctor," hilda cried. she spread the lock across the breast of the dead man. it was so vivid in the morning sun as to seem almost a living thing. "and he said it would bring him luck," she murmured. good will i looked into the face of my brother. there was no face there, only a red interior. this thing had been done to my brother, the belgian, by my brother, the german. he had sent a splinter of shell through five miles of sunlight, hoping it would do some such thing as this. ii the ribbons that stuck in his coat the little group was gathered in the cellar of pervyse. an occasional shell was heard in the middle distance, as artillery beyond the yser threw a lazy feeler over to the railway station. the three women were entertaining a distinguished guest at the evening meal of tinned rabbit and dates. their visitor was none other than f. ainslie-barkleigh, the famous english war-correspondent. he was dressed for the part. he wore high top-boots, whose red leather shone richly even in the dim yellow of the lantern that lit them to their feast. about his neck was swung a heavy black strap from which hung a pair of very elegant field-glasses, ready for service at a moment's call. he could sweep a battle-field with them, or expose a hidden battery, or rake a road. from the belt that made his jacket shapely about his person, there depended a map of the district, with heavy inked red lines for the position of friend or foe. he was a tall man, with an immense head, on which were stuck, like afterthoughts, very tiny features--a nose easily overlooked, a thin slit of a mouth, and small inset eyes. all the upper part of him was overhanging and alarming, till you chanced on those diminutive features. it was as if his growth had been terminated before it reached the expressive parts. he had an elaborate manner--a reticence, a drawl, and a chronic irony. across half of his chest there streaked a rainbow of color; gay little ribbons of decoration, orange and crimson and purple and white. mrs. bracher, sturdy, iron-jawed, and scotch, her pretty young assistant, sat opposite him at table. hilda did the honors by sitting next him, and passing him tins of provender, as required. "what pretty ribbons you wear," said hilda. "where did you get them?" "oh, different wars," returned barkleigh carelessly. "that's modest, but it's vague," urged hilda. "if i had such pretty ribbons, i should have the case letter and the exhibit number printed on each. now this one, for instance. what happened to set this fluttering?" "oh, that one," he said, nearly twisting his eyes out of their sockets to see which one her fingers had lighted on. "that's one the japs gave me." "thank you for not calling them the little brown people," returned hilda; "that alone would merit decoration at their hands. and this gay thing, what principality gave you this?" "that came from somewhere in the balkans. i always did get those states muddled up." "incredible haziness," responded hilda. "you probably know the exact hour when the king and his chief of staff called you out on the town-hall steps. you must either be a very brave man or else write very nice articles about the ruling powers." "the latter, of course," returned he, a little nettled. "vain as a peacock," whispered scotch to the ever-watchful mrs. bracher. "i don't understand you women," said ainslie-barkleigh, clearing his throat for action. but hilda was too quick for him. "i know you don't," she cut in, "and that is no fault in you. but what you really mean is that you don't like us, and that, i submit, is your own fault." "but let me explain," urged he. "go ahead," said hilda. "well, what i mean is this," he explained. "here i find you three women out at the very edge of the battle-front. here you are in a cellar, sleeping in bags on the straw, living on bully-beef and canned stuff. now, you could just as well be twenty miles back, nursing in a hospital." "is there any shortage of nurses for the hospitals?" interposed hilda. "when i went to the red cross at pall mall in london, they had over three thousand nurses on the waiting list." "that's true enough," assented barkleigh. "but what i mean is, this is reckless; you are in danger, without really knowing it." "so are the men in danger," returned hilda. "the soldiers come in here, hungry, and we have hot soup for them. they come from the trenches, with a gunshot wound in the hand, or a piece of shell in a leg, and we fix them up. that's better than travelling seven or eight miles before getting attention. why it was only a week ago that mrs. bracher here--" "now none of that," broke in the nurse sternly. "hush," said hilda, "it isn't polite to interrupt when a gentleman is asking for information." she turned back to the correspondent. "last week," she took up her story, "a young belgian private came in here with his lower lip swollen out to twice its proper size. it had got gangrene in it. a silly old military doctor had clapped a treatment over it, when the wound was fresh and dirty, without first cleaning it out. mrs. bracher treated it every two hours for six days. the boy used to come right in here from the trenches. and would you believe it, that lip is looking almost right. if it hadn't been for her, he would have been disfigured for life." "very good," admitted the correspondent, "but it doesn't quite satisfy me. wait till you get some real hot shell fire out here, then you'll make for your happy home." "why," began scotch, rising slowly but powerfully to utterance. "it's all right, scotch," interposed hilda, at a gallop, "save the surprise. it will keep." scotch subsided into a rich silence. she somehow never quite got into the conversation, though she was always in the action. she was one of those silent, comfortable persons, without whom no group is complete. into her ample placidity fell the high-pitched clamor of noisier people, like pebbles into a mountain lake. "now, what do you women think you are doing?" persisted the correspondent. "why are you here?" "you really want to know?" queried hilda. "i really want to know," he repeated. "i'll answer you to-morrow," said hilda. "come out here to-morrow afternoon and we'll go to nieuport. we promised to go over and visit the dressing-station there, and on the way i'll tell you why we are here." * * * * * next day was grey and chilly. a low rumble came out of the north. the women had a busy morning, for the night had been full of snipers perched on trees. the faithful three spread aseptics and bandaged and sewed, and generally cheered the stream of callers from the ninth and twelfth regiments, army of the king of the belgians. in the early afternoon, the buzz of motors penetrated to the stuffy cellar, and it needed no yelping horn, squeezed by the firm hand of smith, to bring hilda to the surface, alert for the expedition. two motor ambulances were puffing their lungs out, in the roadway. pale-faced smith sat in one at the steering-gear--smith, the slight london boy who would drive a car anywhere. beside him sat f. ainslie-barkleigh, bent over upon his war map, studying the afternoon's campaign. in the second ambulance were tom, the cockney driver, and the leader of the ambulance corps, dr. neil mcdonnell. "jump in," called he, "we're off for nieuport." she jumped into the first ambulance, and they turned to the north and took the straight road that leads all the way from dixmude to the sea. barkleigh was much too busy with his glasses and his map to give her any of his attention for the first quarter hour. they speeded by sentinel after sentinel, who smiled and murmured, "les anglais." corporals, captains, commandants, gazed in amazement and awe at the massive figure of the war-correspondent, as he challenged the horizon with his binoculars and then dipped to his map for consultation. only once did the party have to yield up the pass-word, which for that afternoon was "charleroi." finally barkleigh turned to the girl. "we had a discussion last evening," he began, "and you promised to answer my question. why are you out here? why isn't a hospital good enough for you, back in furnes or dunkirk?" "i remember," returned hilda. "i'll tell you. i could answer you by saying that we're out to help, and that would be true, too. but it wouldn't be quite the whole truth, for there's a tang of adventure in pervyse, where we can see the outposts of the other fellows, that there isn't in the carnegie library in pittsburg, let us say. yes, we're out to help. but we're out for another reason, too. for generations now, you men have had a monopoly of physical courage. you have faced storms at sea, and charged up hills, and pulled out drowning children, and footed it up fire-ladders, till you think that bravery is a male characteristic. you've always handed out the passive suffering act to us. we had any amount of compliments as long as we stuck to silent suffering. but now we want to see what shells look like. as long as sons and brothers have to stand up to them, why, we're going to be there, too." "but you haven't been in the thick of it," objected barkleigh. "when the danger is so close you can see it, a woman's nerve isn't as good as a man's. it can't be. she isn't built that way." "that's the very point," retorted hilda, "we're going to show you." "damn quick," muttered smith. in the pleasant heat of their discussion, they hadn't been noticing the roadway. it was full of soldiers, trudging south. the rumble had become a series of reports. the look of the peaceful day was changing. barkleigh turned from his concentration on the girl, and glanced up the road. "these troops are all turning," he said. "you are right," hilda admitted. "can't you see," he urged, "they're all marching back. that means they've given the place up." "oh, hardly that," corrected hilda; "it simply means that nieuport is hot for the present moment." "you're not going in?" continued barkleigh. "it is foolish to go into the town, when the troops are coming out of it." "true enough," assented hilda, "but it's a curious fact that the wounded can't retreat as fast as the other men, so i'm afraid we shall have to look them up. of course, it would be a lot pleasanter if they could come to meet us half-way." smith let out his motor, and turned up his coat collar, a habit of his when he anticipated a breezy time. they pounded down the road, and into the choice old town. they had chanced on the afternoon when the enemy's guns were reducing it from an inhabited place into a rubbish heap. they could not well have chosen a brisker hour for the promised visit. the shells were coming in three and four to the minute. there was a sound of falling masonry. the blur of red brick-dust in the air, and the fires from a half dozen blazing houses, filled the eyes with hot prickles. the street was a mess over which the motor veered and tossed like a careening boat in a heavy seawash. in the other car, their leader, brave, perky little dr. mcdonnell, sat with his blue eyes dreaming away at the ruin in front of him. the man was a mystic and burrowed down into his sub-consciousness when under fire. this made him calm, slow, and very absent-minded, during the moments when he passed in under the guns. they steamed up to the big yellow hôtel de ville. this was the target of the concentrated artillery fire, for here troops had been sheltering. here, too, in the cellar, was the dressing-station for the wounded. a small, spent, but accurately directed obus, came in a parabola from over behind the roofs, and floated by the ambulance and thudded against the yellow brick of the stately hall. "ah, it's got whiskers on it," shouted hilda in glee. "i didn't know they got tired like that, and came so slow you could see them, did you, mr. barkleigh?" "no, no, of course not," he muttered, "they don't. what's that?" the clear, cold tinkle of breaking and spilling glass had seized his attention. the sound came out from the hôtel de ville. "the window had a pane," said hilda. "the town is doomed," said barkleigh. "can't we get out of this?" he insisted. "this is no place to be." "no place for a woman, is it?" laughed hilda. "don't let me keep you," she added politely, "if you feel you must go." "listen," said the war-correspondent. about a stone's throw to their left, a wall was crumpling up. dr. mcdonnell had slowly crawled down from his perch on the ambulance. his legs were stiff from the long ride, so he carefully shook them one after the other, and spoke pleasantly to a dog that was wandering about the grand place in a forlorn panic. then he remembered why he had come to the place. there were wounded downstairs in the town-hall. "come on, boys," he said to tom and smith, "bring one stretcher, and we'll clear the place out. hilda, you stay by the cars. we shan't be but a minute." they disappeared inside the battered building. barkleigh walked up and down the grand place, felt of the machinery of each of the two ambulances, lit a cigarette, threw it away and chewed at an unlighted cigar. "it's hot," he said; "this is hot." "and yet you are shaking as if you were chilly," observed hilda. "we should never have come," went on barkleigh. "i said so, away back there on the road. you remember i said so." "yes, the first experience under fire is trying," assented hilda. "i think the shells are the most annoying, don't you, mr. barkleigh? now shrapnel seems more friendly--quite like a hail-storm in iowa. i come from iowa, you know. i don't believe you do know that i come from iowa." "they're slow," said barkleigh, looking toward the town-hall. "why can't they hurry them out?" "you see," explained hilda, "there are only three of them actively at work, and it's quite a handful for them." in a few moments smith and tom appeared, carrying a man with a bandaged leg on their stretcher. dr. mcdonnell was leading two others, who were able to walk with a little direction. one more trip in and out and the ambulances were loaded. "back to pervyse," ordered dr. mcdonnell. at pervyse, scotch and mrs. bracher were ready for them. so was an english tommy, who singled out ainslie-barkleigh. "orders from kitchener, sir," said the orderly. "you must return to dunkirk at once. no correspondent is allowed at the front." barkleigh listened attentively, and assented with a nod of his head. he walked up to the three ladies. "very sorry," explained he. "i had hoped to stay with you, and go out again. very interesting and all that. but k. is strict, you know, so i must leave you." he bowed himself away. "oh, welcome intervention," breathed mrs. bracher. * * * * * a few weeks had passed with their angry weather, and now all was green again and sunny. seldom had the central square of poperinghe looked gayer than on this afternoon, when soldiers were lined up in the middle, and on all the sides the people were standing by the tens and hundreds. high overhead from every window and on every pole, flags were streaming in the spring wind. why shouldn't the populace rejoice, for had not this town of theirs held out through all the cruel winter: refuge and rest for their weary troops, and citadel of their king? and was not that their king, standing over yonder on the pavement, higher than the generals and statesmen on the steps of the town-hall back of him? tall and slender, crowned with youth and beauty, did he not hold in his hand the hearts of all his people? and to-day he was passing on merit to two english dames, and the people were glad of this, for the two english dames had been kind to their soldiers in sickness, and had undergone no little peril to carry them comfort and healing. yes, they were glad to shout and clap hands, when, as chevaliers of the order of leopold, the ribbon and star pendant were pinned on the breast of the sturdy mrs. bracher, and the silent, charming scotch. the band bashed the cymbals and beat the drum, and the wind instruments roared approval. and the modest young king saluted the two brave ladies. in a shop door, a couple of hundred yards from the ceremony, hilda was standing quietly watching the joyous crowds and their king. pushing through the throng that hemmed her in, a massive man came and stood by her. "ah, mr. barkleigh," said hilda, "this is a surprise." "it's a shame," he began. "what's a shame?" asked hilda. "why aren't they decorating you? you're the bravest of the lot." "by no means," said hilda; "those two women deserve all that is coming to them. i am glad they are getting their pretty ribbon." with a sudden nervous gesture, barkleigh unfastened the bright decorations on his chest, and placed them in hilda's hand. "take them and wear them," he said, "i have no heart for them any more. they are yours." "i didn't win them, so i can't wear them," she answered, and started to hand them back. "no, i won't take them back," he said harshly, brushing her hand from him, "if you won't wear them, keep them. hide them, throw them away. i'm done with them. i can't wear them any more since that afternoon in nieuport." hilda pinned the ribbons upon his coat. "i decorate you," she said, "for, verily, you are now worthy." the belgian refugee by acts not his own, his consciousness is crowded with horror. names of his ancient cities which should ring pleasantly in his ear--louvain, dinant, malines: there is an echo of the sound of bells in the very names--recall him to his suffering. no indemnity will cleanse his mind of the vileness committed on what he loved. by every aspect of a once-prized beauty, the face of his torment is made more clear. of all that fills the life of memory--the secure home, the fruitful village and the well-loved land--there is no acre remaining where his thought can rest. each remembered place brings a sharper stroke of poignancy to the mind that is dispossessed. his is a mental life uprooted and flung out into a vast loneliness. where can his thought turn when it would heal itself? to the disconsolate there has always been comfort in recalling the early home where childhood was nourished, the orchard and the meadow where first love came to the meeting, the eager city where ambition, full-panoplied, sprang from the brain. the mind is hung with pictures of what once was. but there must always be a local habitation for these rekindled heats. somewhere, in scene and setting, the boy played, the youth loved, the man struggled. that richness of feeling is interwoven with a place. no passion or gladness comes out of the buried years without some bit of the soil clinging to it. now, in a passing autumn, for a nation of people, all places are alike to them bitter in the recollection. the belgian, disinherited, can never summon a presence out of the past which will not, in its coming, bring burning and slaughter. all that was fair in his consciousness has been seared with horror. where can he go to be at home? to england? to a new continent? what stranger-city will give him back his memories? he is condemned forever to live in the moment, never to let his mind stray over the past. for, in the past, in gracious prospect, lie village and city of flanders, and the name of the ravaged place will suddenly release a cloud of darkness with voices of pain. iii rollo, the apollo mrs. bracher was just starting on one of her excursions from pervyse into furnes. her tiny first-aid hospital, hidden in the battered house, needed food, clothing, and dressings for the wounded. one morning when the three nurses were up in the trenches, a shell had dug down into their cellar and spilled ruin. now, it is not well to live in a place which a gun has located, because modern artillery is fine in its workings to a hair's-breadth, and can repeat its performance to a fractional inch. so the little household had removed themselves from the famous cellar to a half-shattered house, which had one whole living-room on the ground floor, good for wounded and for the serving of meals; and one unbroken bedroom on the first floor, large enough for three tired women. "any errands, girls?" she called to her two assistants as she mounted to her seat on the motor ambulance. "bring me a man," begged hilda. "bring back some one to stir things up." indeed, it had been slow for the nurses during the last fortnight. they were "at the front," but the front was peaceful. after the hot toil of the autumn attack and counter-attack, there had come a deadlock to the wearied troops. they were eaten up with the chill of the moist earth, and the perpetual drizzle. so they laid by their machine guns, and silently wore through the grey days. victor, the orderly, cranked the engine for mrs. bracher, and she hummed merrily away. she drove the car. she was not going to have any fumbling male hand spoil that sweetly running motor. she had chosen the battle-front in flanders as the perfect place for vindicating woman's courage, coolness, and capacity for roughing it. she was determined to leave not one quality of initiative and daring to man's monopoly. if he had worn a decoration for some "nervy" hazardous trait, she came prepared to pluck it from his swelling pride, cut it in two pieces and wear her half of it. her only delay was a mile in from pervyse. the engine choked, and the car grunted to a standstill. she was in front of a deserted farm-house. she had a half hope that there might be soldiers billeted there. in that case, she could ask one of them to step out and start up the engine for her. cranking a motor is severe on even a sturdy woman. she climbed out over the dashboard from the wheel side, and entered the door-yard. the barn had been demolished by shells. the ground around the house was pitted with shell-holes, a foot deep, three feet deep, one hole six feet deep. the chimney of the house had collapsed from a well-aimed obus. mrs. bracher knocked at the door, and shook it. but there was no answer. the house carried that silent horror of a deserted and dangerous place. it seemed good to her to come away from it, and return to the motor. she bent her back to the crank, and set the engine chugging. it was good to travel along to the sight of a human face. "no one stationed there?" she asked of the next sentinel. "it is impossible, madame," he replied; "the enemy have located it exactly with a couple of their guns. not one day passes but they throw their shells around it." as mrs. bracher completed the seven-mile run, and tore into the grand place of furnes, she was greeted by cheers from the populace. and, indeed, she was a striking figure in her yellow leather jerkin, her knee-breeches and puttees, and her shining yellow "doggy" boots. she carried all the air of an officer planning a desperate coup. as she cut her famous half-moon curve from the north-east corner of the place by the gendarmerie over to the hotel at the south-west, she saluted general de wette standing on the steps of the municipal building. he, of course, knew her. who of the belgian army did not know those three unquenchable women living up by the trenches on the yser? he gravely saluted the streak of yellow as it flashed by. just when she was due to bend the curb or telescope her front wheel, she threw in the clutch, and, with a shriek of metal and a shiver of parts, the car came to a stop. she jumped out from it and strode away from it, as if it were a cast-off ware which she was never to see again. she entered the restaurant. at three of the tables sat officers of the belgian regiments--lieutenants, two commandants, one captain. at the fourth table, in the window, was dear little doctor neil mcdonnell, beaming at the velocity and sensation of her advent. "you come like a yellow peril," said he. "if you are not careful, you will make more wounded than you heal." "never," returned mrs. bracher, firmly; "it is always in control." the doctor, who was a considerate as well as a brave leader, well knew how restricted was the diet under which those loyal women lived in the chilly house, caring for "les blessés" among the entrenched soldiers. so he extended himself in ordering an ample and various meal, which would enable mrs. bracher to return to her bombarded dug-out with renewed vigor. "what's the news?" she asked, after she had broken the back of her hunger. "we are expecting a new member for our corps," replied the doctor, "a young cyclist of the belgian army. he fought bravely at liège and namur, and later at alost. but since antwerp, his division has been disbanded, and he has been wandering about. we met him at dunkirk. we saw at once how valuable he would be to us, with his knowledge of french and flemish, and his bravery." "which ambulance will he go out with?" asked mrs. bracher. "he will have a touring-car of his own," replied dr. mcdonnell. "i thought you said he was a cyclist," objected mrs. bracher. "i gave him an order on calais," explained the doctor. "he went down there and selected a speed-car. i'm expecting him any minute," he added. the short afternoon had waned away into brief twilight, and then, with a suddenness, into the blackness of the winter night. as they two faced out into the grand place, there was depth on depth of black space, from which came the throb of a motor, the whistle of a soldier, the clatter of hooves on cobbles. only out from their window there fell a short-reaching radiance that spread over the sidewalk and conquered a few feet of the darkness beyond. into this thin patch of brightness, there rode a grey car, two-seated, long, slim, pointed for speed. the same rays of the window lamp sufficed to light up the features of the sole occupant of the car:--high cheek-bones, thin cheeks, and pale face, tall form. "there he is," said dr. mcdonnell, enthusiastically; "there's our new member." with a stride of power, the green-clad warrior entered the café, and saluted dr. mcdonnell. "ready for work," he said. "i see you are," answered dr. mcdonnell. "will you sit down and join us?" "gladly--in a moment. but i must first go across the square and see a gendarme." "your car is built for speed," put in mrs. bracher. "one hundred and twenty kilometres, the hour," answered the new-comer. "let me see, in your language that will be seventy miles an hour. swift, is it not?" "why the double tires?" she asked. "you have a quick eye," he answered. "i like always the extra tires, you never know in war where the break-down will come. it is well to be ready." he flashed a smile at her, saluted the doctor and left the café. "what a man!" exclaimed dr. mcdonnell. "that's what i say," agreed mrs. bracher. "what a man!" "look at him," continued the doctor. "i did, hard," answered mrs. bracher. * * * * * mrs. bracher, hilda, and scotch, were the extreme advance guard of doctor mcdonnell's motor ambulance corps. the rest of the corps lived in the convent hospital in furnes. it was here that the newcomer and his speed-car were made welcome. he was a success from the moment of his arrival. he was easily the leading member of the corps. he had a careless way with him. being tall and handsome, he could be indifferent and yet hold the interest. to women that arrogance even added to his interest. his costume was very splendid--a dark green cloth which set off his straight form; the leather jacket, which made him look like some craftsman; the jaunty cap, which emphasized the high cheek-bones in the lean face. both his face and his figure being spare, he promised energy. he had the knack of making a sensation whenever he appeared. only a few among mortals are gifted that way. most of us have to get our own slippers and light our own cigars. but he was able to convey the idea that it was a privilege to serve him. the busy superintendent of the hospital, a charming italian woman, cooked special meals for him, and served them in his room, so that he would not be contaminated by contact with the ambulance corps, a noisy, breezy group. a boy scout pulled his boots off and on for him, oiled his machine, and cranked his motor. the lean cheeks filled out, the restless, audacious, roving eyes tamed down. a sleekness settled over his whole person. it was like discovering a hungry, prowling night cat, homeless and winning its meat by combat, and bringing that cat to the fireside and supplying it with copious cream, and watching it fill out and stretch itself in comfort. there was a song just then that had a lilting chorus. it told of 'rollo, the apollo, the king of the swells.' so the corps named their new member rollo. how wonderful he was with his pride of bearing, and the insolent way of him. he moved like an olympian through the herd of shabby little scrambling folk. "is it ever hot out your way?" queried rollo during one of mrs. bracher's flying visits to furnes. "i could hardly call it hot," replied the nurse. "the walls of our house, that is, the fragments of them left standing, are full of shrapnel. the road outside our door is dented with shell holes. every house in the village is shot full of metal. there's a battery of seven belgian guns spitting away in our back-yard. but we don't call it hot, because we hate to exaggerate." "i'll have to come out and see you," he said, with a smile. he became a frequent visitor at pervyse. "rollo is wonderful," exclaimed hilda. "how wonderful?" asked mrs. bracher. "only to-day," explained hilda, "he showed me his field-glasses, which he had taken from the body of a german officer whom he killed at alost." "that's true," corroborated scotch, "and once in his room at the hospital he showed me a sable helmet. scarlet cloth and gold braid, and the hussar fur all over it. it's a beauty. i wish he'd give it to me." "how did he get it?" asked mrs. bracher. "he shot an officer in the skirmish at zele." "he must have been a busy man with his rifle," commented mrs. bracher. "he was. he was," said hilda. "why, he's shot fifty-one men, since the war began." "does he keep notches on his rifle?" queried mrs. bracher. "i think it's a privilege to have a man as brave as he is going out with us," replied hilda. "we must bore him frightfully." "he's peaceful enough now, isn't he," observed mrs. bracher, "trotting around with a red cross ambulance corps. i should think he'd miss the old days." * * * * * hilda and mrs. bracher were having an early morning stroll. "it's a little too hot up by the trenches," said the nurse; "we'll take the furnes road." "it was a wet night, last night," commented she, after they had trudged along for a few minutes. "are you going to walk me to furnes?" asked hilda. "you're losing your prairie zip," retorted mrs. bracher. "you ought to be glad of the air, after that smelly straw." "the air is better than the mud," returned hilda, holding up a boot, which had gathered part of the roadway to itself. "we'll be there in a minute," said the nurse. "where's there?" asked hilda. "right here," answered mrs. bracher. they had come to the deserted farm-house where she had once met with her delay and where she had knocked in vain. "see here," she exclaimed. "wheel marks," said hilda. "motor-car tracks," corrected mrs. bracher. the soggy turf that led from the road into the door-yard of the farm-house was deeply and freshly indented. "perhaps some one's here now," suggested hilda. "never fear," answered the nurse. "it's night work." "up to two weeks ago," she went on, "this farm was shot at, every day, from over the yser. since then, it hasn't been shelled at all." "what of it?" asked hilda. "we'll see," said mrs. bracher. "it always pays to get up early, doesn't it, my dear?" "i don't know," returned the girl, dubiously. she was footsore with mrs. bracher's speed. "well, that's enough for one morning," concluded the nurse, with one last look about the farm. "i should think it was," agreed hilda. they returned to their dressing-station. * * * * * it was early evening, and the nurses had finished their frugal supper. with the dishes cleared away, they were sitting for a cosy chat about the table. overhead hung a lamp, with a base so broad that it cast a heavy shadow on the table under it. there was a fire of coals in the little corner stove, and through the open door of the stove a friendly glow spread out into the room. as they sat there resting and talking, a tap-tap came at the window. "ah, the commandant is back," said hilda. the women brightened up. the door opened and their good friend, commandant jost, entered. he was a man tall and slender and closely-knit, with a rich vein of sentiment, like all good soldiers. he was perhaps fifty-two or three years of age. his eyebrows slanted down and his moustache slanted up. his eyes were level and keen in their beam of light, and they puckered into genial lines when he smiled. his nose was bent in just at the bridge, where a bullet once ploughed past. this mishap had turned up the end of a large and formerly straight feature. it was good to have him back again after his fortnight away. the evening broke pleasantly with talk of common friends in the trenches. there came a ring at the door. a knob at the outer door pulled a string that ran to their room and released a tiny tinkle. victor, the orderly, answered the ring. he had a message for the commandant. jost held it high up to read it by the lamp. hilda brought a lighted candle, and placed it on the table. he sat down, wrote his answer, and gave it to the waiting soldier. he returned, closed the door, and looked straight into the face of each of his friends. "you have to go?" asked hilda. "we expect an attack," he answered. it was then : . "what time?" asked hilda. "the dixmude and ramskappele attacks were just before dawn. when the mists begin to rise, and the enemy can see even dimly, then they attack. i think they will attack to-night, just so." "how does that concern you?" asked hilda. "what do you have to do?" "i have just asked my colonel that i take thirty of my men and guard the section in front of the railroad tracks. that is where they will come through." "what is the situation in the trenches, to-night?" asked hilda. "we have only a handful. not more than fifty men." "not more than fifty!" cried mrs. bracher. "how many mitrailleuse have you at the railroad?" "six, two in the second story of the house, and four in the station opposite." "six ought to be enough to rake the road." "yes, but they won't come down the road," explained jost; "they will come across the flooded field on rafts, with machine guns on the rafts. they can come down on both sides of the trench, and rake the trench. what can fifty men do against four or five machine guns? they will have to run like hares, or else be shot down to a man. they can rake the trenches for two miles on each side." "what will happen if the germans get on top of the trenches?" asked mrs. bracher. "the very first thing they will do--they will place a gun on top of the trench, and rake this whole town. they can rake the road that leads to furnes. it would cut off your retreat to furnes." that meant the only escape for the women would be through the back-yard, and over fields knee-deep in mud, where dead horses lie loosely buried in hummock graves. "what do you think we had better do?" asked hilda. "to leave now seems like shirking our job." "there'll be no job for you, if the enemy come through to-night," returned the commandant; "they'll do the job. but listen, you'll have a little time. if you hear rifle fire or mitrailleuse fire on the trenches, then go, as fast as you can run. if you hear as few as only four soldiers running down this road, take to your heels after them. that will be your last chance." the bell tinkled again. the orderly called the commandant into the hall. jost returned with a message. he read it, and pulled out a note-book from his pocket. he consulted it with care. he sat down at the table, wrote his reply, and gave it to the messenger. he returned, shrugged his shoulders, and went silent. all waited for him to speak. finally he roused himself. "the mitrailleuse have only rounds left to each gun," he said, "and there are no cartridges in the trenches." "that means," prompted hilda. "four hundred cartridges a minute, those guns fire," he said, "that means eight or nine minutes, and then the germans." a pounding came at the front door. a captain entered, throwing his long cape over his shoulder. "we have no ammunition," he said--"the men have nothing. i've just come from the colonel." the captain was excited, the commandant silent. "shall we evacuate?" hilda pressed her question with him. "i cannot answer for you," the captain said. "if the enemy attack, there's nothing to hold them. they'll come through. if they come, they'll take you women prisoners or kill you. you'll have to make your choice now. there will be no choice then." "furnes isn't so prosperous, you know," said hilda, "even if we did run back there." only the day before, furnes had received a long-distance bombardment that had killed thirty persons and wounded one hundred. at a word from the commandant, the orderly left the room. the women heard him drive their ambulance out from shelter, crank up the engine, and run it for five minutes to get it thoroughly heated. then he turned the engine off, and put a blanket over the radiator, tucking it well in to preserve the heat. "let's put what we need into the car," suggested mrs. bracher. they picked up their bags, and went toward the ambulance. it was pleasant to do something active under that tension. they stepped out into a night of chill and blackness. they could not see ten feet in front of them. it was moon-time but no moon. heavy clouds were in possession of the sky, weaving a thick texture of darkness. "there they start," said the commandant. shell fire was beginning from the north, from the direction of the sea. "they are covering their advance," he went on. "those are or point shells. they are falling short about yards, but they are coming straight in our direction." they walked past their car and down the road. they looked across the fields into the black night. straight down the road a lamp suddenly shone in the gloom. it moved to and fro, and up and down. there was regularity in its motion. a great shaft of answering white light shot up into the night from the north. "they are signalling from inside our line here," said the commandant, "over there to the enemy guns beyond ramskappele. some spy down here with a flash-lamp is telling them that we're out of ammunition." "but can't we catch the spy?" urged hilda. "that light doesn't look to be more than a few hundred yards away." "that is further away than it looks," answered jost; "that's all of a mile away. he's hidden somewhere in a field." mrs. bracher seized victor by the arm, and faced the commandant. "i know where he's hidden," she cried. "let me show you." the commandant nodded assent. "messieurs, les belges," she commanded in a sharp, high voice, "come with me and move quickly!" she brought them back to the car. "send for four of your men," she said to jost. they came. "wait in the house," she said to hilda. "now we start," mrs. bracher ordered. "victor, you take the wheel. drive down the furnes road." they drove in silence for five minutes, till her quick eye picked a landmark out of the dimness. "drive the car slowly past, and on down the road," she ordered, "don't stop it. we six must dismount while it is moving. surround the house quietly. the commandant and i will enter by the front door." they had come to the deserted farm-house. it loomed dimly out of the vacant fields and against the background of travelling clouds. victor stayed at the wheel. mrs. bracher, the commandant, and the four soldiers, jumped off into the road. the six silently filed into the door-yard. the four soldiers melted into the night. mrs. bracher caught the handle of the door firmly and shoved. the door gave way. she and jost stepped inside. the commandant drew his pistol. he flashed his pocket light down the hall and up the stairs. there was nothing but vacancy. they passed into the room at their right hand. jost's light searched its way around the room. in the corner, stood a tall soldier, dressed in green. "let me introduce monsieur rollo, the spy," said mrs. bracher. there was triumph in her voice. the commandant put a whistle to his lips and blew. his four men came stamping in, pistols in hand. "clever device, this," said mrs. bracher. she had stooped and lifted out a large electric flash lamp from under a sweater. "clever woman, this," said the commandant, saluting mrs. bracher. "how did you come to know the place?" "monsieur rollo uses double tires on a wet soil," she explained. "monsieur rollo will now bring his signal lamp outside the house," the commandant said curtly. "he will signal the enemy that our reinforcements and ammunition have arrived, and that an attack to-night will be hopeless. he may choose to signal wrongly. in that case, you men will shoot him on the instant that firing begins at pervyse." the soldiers nodded. they marched rollo to the field, and thrust his signal lamp into his hands. "one moment," he said. he turned to mrs. bracher. "where is the american girl to-night?" he asked. "at pervyse, of course," replied the nurse, "where she always is. the very place where you wanted to bring your men through and kill us all." "i had forgotten," he said. "if mademoiselle hilda is at pervyse, then i signal, as you suggest"--he turned to the commandant--"but not because you order it--you and your little pop-guns." mrs. bracher sniffed scornfully. "one last bluff of a bluffer, as hilda would say," she muttered. the soldiers stood in circle in the mud of the field, the tall green-clad figure in their midst. rollo turned on the blinding flash that stabbed through the night. he held it high above his head, and at that level moved it three times from left to right. then he swung the light in full circles, till it became a pinwheel of flame. four miles away by the sea to the north, a white light shot up into the sky, rose twice like a fountain, and was followed by a starlight that fed out a green radiance. "the attack is postponed," he said. the brotherhood of man the german lay on a stretcher in the straw of the first dressing-station. his legs had been torn by shot. he was in pain. he looked into the faces of the men about him, the french doctors and dressers, the belgian infantry. the lantern light was white and yellow on their faces. he drew out from the inner pocket of his mouse-colored coat a packet of letters, and from the packet the picture of a stout woman, who, like himself, was of middle-age. he handed it to the french doctor. "meine frau," he said. at the outer rim of the group, a belgian drew a knife, ran it lightly across his own throat, and pointed mockingly to the german on the stretcher. iv the piano of pervyse the commandant stepped down from his watch tower by the railway tracks. this watch tower was a house that had been struck but not tumbled by the bombardment. it was black and gashed, and looked deserted. that was the merit of it, for every minute of the day and night, some watcher of the belgians sat in the window, one flight up, by the two machine guns, gazing out over the flooded fields, and the thin white strip of road that led eastward to the enemy trenches. once, fifteen mouse-colored uniforms had made a sortie down the road and toward the house, but the eye at the window had sighted them, and let them draw close till the aim was very sure. since then, there had been no one coming down the road. but a watcher, turn by turn, was always waiting. the commandant liked the post, for it was the key to the safety of pervyse. he felt he was guarding the three women, when he sat there on the rear supports of a battered chair, and smoked and peered out into the east. he came slowly down the road,--old wounds were throbbing in his members--and, as always, turned into the half-shattered dwelling where the nurses were making their home and tending their wounded. "how is the sentry-box to-night?" asked hilda. "draughty," said the commandant, with a shiver; "it rocks in the wind." "you must have some rag-time," prescribed hilda, and seated herself at the piano. it was pervyse's only piano, untouched by shell and shrapnel, and nightly it sounded the praise of things. the little group drew close about the american girl, as she led them in a "coon song." "i say," said hilda, looking up from the keys, "would any one believe it?" "believe what?" asked mrs. bracher. "the lot of us here, exchanging favorites, with war just outside our window. i tell you," repeated hilda, "no one would believe it." "they don't have to," retorted mrs. bracher, sharply. she had grown weary of telling folks at home how matters stood, and then having them say, "fancy now, really?" the methodical guns had pounded the humanity out of pervyse, and, with the living, had gone music and art. there was nowhere in the wasted area for the tired soldiers to find relief from their monotony. war is a dreary thing. with one fixed idea in the mind--to wait, to watch for some careless head over the mounded earth, and then to kill--war is drearier than slave labor, more nagging than an imperfect marriage, more dispiriting than unsuccessful sin. the pretty brass utensils of the dwellings had been pillaged. canvas, which had once contained bright faces, was in shreds. the figures of christ and his friends that had stood high in the niches of the church, had fallen forward on their faces. all the little devices of beauty, cherished by the villagers, had been shattered. one perfect piano had been left unmarred by all the destruction that had robbed the place of its instruments of pleasure. with elation and laughter the soldiers had discovered it, when the early fierceness of the attack had ebbed. straightway they carried it to the home of the women. when the commandant first saw it, soon after its arrival in their living-room, he beamed all over. "the broadwood," he said. "how that brings back the memories! when i was a young man once in ostend, i was one of eight to play with paderewski, that great musician. yes, together we played through an afternoon. and the instrument on which i played was a broadwood. i cannot now ever see it, without remembering that day in the kursaal, and how he led us with that fingering, that vigor. do you know how he lifts his hand high over the keys and then drops suddenly upon them?" "yes, i have seen it," said hilda; "like the swoop of an eagle." "i do not know that bird," returned the commandant, "but that is it. it is swift and strong. he comes out of a stricken country, too; that is why he can play." "i wonder, feeling that way, that you ever gave up your music," said hilda. "why didn't you go on with it?" "i had thought of it. but there was always something in me that called, and i went into the army. for years we have known this thing was coming. a man could not do otherwise than hold himself ready for that. and now it is left to you young people to go on--always the new harmony, that sings in the ears, and never comes into the notes." the commandant, commandant jost, was perhaps the best of all their soldier friends. he was straight and sturdy, a pine-tree of a man in his early fifties. he was famous in flanders for his picked command of , all of them brave as he was brave, ready to be wiped out because of their heart of courage. often the strength of his fighting group was sapped, till one could count his men on the fingers of the hands. but always there were fresh fellows ready to go the road with him. he never ordered them into danger. he merely called for volunteers. when he went up against absurd odds, and was left for dead, his men returned for him, and brought him away for another day. his time hadn't come, he said. it was no use shooting him down, and clipping the bridge from his nose,--when his day came, he would be done for, but not ahead of that. this valiant belgian soldier was a mystic of war. in the trenches and at the hospitals, hilda had met a race of prophets, men who carry about foreknowledge and premonitions. sturdy bearded fellows who salute you as men about to die. they are perfectly cheery, as brave as the unthinking at their side, but they tramp firmly to a certain end. war lets loose the rich life of subconsciousness which most mortals keep bottled up in the sleepy secular days of humdrum. peril and sudden death uncork those heady vapors, and sharpen the super-senses. this race of men with their presciences have no quarrel with death. they have made their peace with it. it is merely that they carry a foreknowledge of it--they are sure they will know when it is on the way. no man of the troops was more smitten with second-sight, than this friend of the pervyse women, this courageous commandant. his eyes were level to command, but they grew distant and luminous when his mood was on him. this gift in him called out the like in other men, and his pockets were heavy with the keepsakes of young soldiers, a photograph of the beloved, a treasured coin, a good-bye letter, which he was commissioned to carry to the dear one, when the giver should fall. with little faith that he himself would execute the commissions, he had carefully labelled each memento with the name and address of its destination. for he knew that whatever was found on his body, the body of the fighting commandant, the king's friend, would receive speedy forwarding to its appointed place. it was an evening of spring, but spring had come with little promise that way. ashes of homes and the sour dead lay too thickly over those fields, for nature to make her great recovery in one season. the task was too heavy for even her vast renewals. patience, she seemed to say, i come again. the commandant was sitting at ease enjoying his pipe. "mademoiselle hilda," said he. hilda was sitting at the piano, but no tunes were flowing. she was behaving badly that evening and she knew it. she fumbled with the sheaves of music, and chucked scotch under the chin, and doctored the candles. she was manifesting all the younger elements in her twenty-two years. "mademoiselle hilda," insisted the commandant. he was sentimental, and full of old-world courtesies, but he was used to being obeyed. hilda became rapt in contemplating a candlestick. "mademoiselle hilda, a little music, if you please," he said with a finality. "you play," said hilda to scotch, sliding off the soap-box which served to uphold the artist to her instrument. "hilda, you make me tired," chided scotch. "the commandant has given you his orders." "oh, all right," said hilda. she played pleasantly with feeling and technique. more of her hidden life came to an utterance with her music than at other times. she led her notes gently to a close. "mademoiselle hilda," said the commandant from his seat in the shadows on the sofa, "parlez-vous français?" this was his regular procedure. why did he say it? they never could guess. he knew that the women, all three, understood french--mrs. bracher and scotch speaking it fluently, hilda, as became an american, haltingly. did he not carry on most of his converse with them in french--always, when eloquent or sentimental? but unfailingly he used his formula, when he was highly pleased. they decided he must once have known some fair foreigner who could only faintly stammer in his native tongue, and that the habit of address had then become fixed upon him for moments of emotion. he repeated his question. "oui," responded the girl. he kissed his fingers lightly to her, and waved the tribute in her direction, as if it could be wafted across the room. "chère artiste," said he, with a voice of conviction. "and now the bacarolle," he pleaded. "there are many bacarolles," she objected. "i know, i know," he said, "and yet, after all, there is only one bacarolle." "all right," she answered, obediently, and played on. the music died away, and the girl in her fought against the response that she knew was coming. she began turning over sheets of music on the rack. but the commandant was not to be balked. "parlez-vous français?" he inquired, "vous, mademoiselle hilda." "oui, mon commandant," she answered. "chère artiste," he said; "chère artiste." "ah, those two voices," he went on with a sigh; "they go with you, wherever you are. it is music, that night of love and joy. and here we sit--" "yes, yes," interrupted mrs. bracher, who did not care to have an evening of gaiety sag to melancholy; "how about a little césar franck?" "yes, surely," agreed the commandant, cheerily; "our own composer, you know, though we never gave him his due." hilda ran through the opening of the d minor. "now it is your turn," said she. "my fingers are something stiff, with these cold nights by the window," replied the commandant, "but certainly i will endeavor to play." he seated himself at the instrument. "chère artiste," he murmured to the girl, who was retreating to the lounge. the commandant played well. he needed no notes, for he was stored with remembered bits. he often played to them of an evening, before he took his turn on watch. he played quietly along for a little. out of the dark at their north window, there came the piping of a night bird. birds were the only creatures seemingly untouched by the war. the fields were crowded thick with the bodies of faithful cavalry and artillery horses. dogs and cats had wasted away in the seared area. cattle had been mowed down by machine guns. heavy sows and their tiny yelping litter, were shot as they trundled about, or, surviving the far-cast invisible death, were spitted for soldiers' rations. and with men, the church-yard and the fields, and even the running streams, were choked. only birds of the air, of all the living, had remained free of their element, floating over the battling below them, as blithe as if men had not sown the lower spaces with slaughter. and now in this night of spring, one was calling to its mate. the commandant heard it, and struck its note on the upper keyboard. "every sound in nature has its key," he said; "the cry of the little bird has it, and the surf at nieuport." "and the shells?" asked hilda. "yes, the shells, they have it," he answered gravely; "each one of them, as it whistles in the air, is giving its note. you have heard it?" "yes," answered hilda. "why, this," he said. he held his hands widely apart to indicate the keyboard--"this is only a little human dipping, like a bucket, into the ocean waves of sound. it can't give us back one little part of what is. only a poor, stray sound out of the many can get itself registered. the rest drift away, lost birds on the wing. the notes in between, the splintered notes, they cannot sound on our little instruments." a silence had fallen on the group. out of the hushed night that covered them, a moaning grew, that they knew well. one second, two seconds of it, and then the thud fell somewhere up the line. as the shell was wailing in the air, a hidden string, inside the frame, quivered through its length, and gave out an under-hum. it was as if a far away call had rung it up. one gun alone, out of all the masked artillery, had found the key, and, from seven miles away, played the taut string. "there is one that registers," said the commandant; "the rest go past and no echo here." firmly he struck the note that had vibrated. "that gun is calling for me," said he; "the others are lost in the night. but that gun will find me." "you talk like a soothsayer," said mrs. bracher, with a sudden gesture of her hand and arm, as if she were brushing away a mist. "it's all folly," she went on, "i don't believe it. good heavens, what is that?" she added, as a footstep crunched in the hall-way. "you've got me all unstrung, you and your croaking." an orderly entered and saluted the commandant. "they've got the range of the station, mon commandant," he reported; "they have just sent a shell into the tracks. it is dangerous in the look-out of the house. do you wish victor to remain?" "i will relieve him," said the commandant, and he left swiftly and silently, as was his wont. hilda returned to the piano, and began softly playing, with the hush-pedal on. the two women drew close around her. suddenly she released the pedal, and lifted her hands from the keys, as if they burned her. one string was still faintly singing which she had not touched, the string of the key that the commandant had struck. "mercy, child, what ails you?" exclaimed mrs. bracher. "you've all got the fidgets to-night." "that string again," said the girl. she rose from the piano, and went out into the night. they heard her footsteps on the road. "hilda, hilda," called scotch, loudly. "leave her alone, she is fey," said mrs. bracher. "i know her in these moods. you can't interfere. you must let her go." "we can at least see where she goes," urged scotch. they followed her at a distance. she went swiftly up the road, and straight to the railway tracks. she entered the house, the dark, wrecked house, where from the second story window, a perpetual look-out was kept, like the watch of the vestal virgins. they came to the open door, and heard her ascend to the room of the vigil. "you must come," they heard her say, "come at once." "no, no," answered the voice of the commandant, "i am on duty here. but you--what brings you here? you cannot stay. go at once. i order you." "i shall not go till you go," the girl replied in expressionless tones. "i tell you to go," repeated the commandant in angry but suppressed voice. "you can shoot me," said the girl, "but i will not go without you. come--" her voice turned to pleading--"come, while there is time." "my time has come," said the commandant. "it is here--my end." "then for me, too," she said, "but i have come to take you from it." there was a silence of a few seconds, then the sound of a chair scraping the floor, heavy boots on the boarding, and the two, commandant and girl, descending the stairs. unastonished, they stepped out and found the two women waiting. "we must save the girl," said the commandant. "come, run for it, all of you, run!" he pushed them forward with his hands, and back down the road they had come. he ran and they ran till they reached their dwelling, and entered, and stood at the north window, looking over toward the dim house from which they had escaped. out from the still night of darkness, came a low thunder from beyond the yser. in the tick of a pulse-beat, the moaning of a shell throbbed on the air and, with instant vibrancy, the singing string of the piano at their back answered the flight of the shell. and in the same breath, they heard a roar at the railroad, and the crash of timbers. soft licking flames broke out in the house of the belgian watchers. slowly but powerfully, the flames gathered volume, and swept up their separate tongues into one bright blaze, till the house was a bonfire against the heavy sky. lost there were cities in belgium of medieval loveliness, where the evening light lay in deep purple on canals seeping at foundations of castle and church, with the sacred towers tall in the sky, and a moon just over them, and a star or two beside. that beauty has been torn out of a man's consciousness and spoiled to his love for ever, by moving up a howitzer and priming it with destruction. first, the rumble of the gun from far away, then the whistle of flying metal, sharpening its anger as it nears, then the thud and roar of explosion as it clutches and dissolves its mark. now its seven-mile journey is ended. it has found its home and its home is a ruin. over the peaceful earth and under a silent sky, bits of destruction are travelling, projections of the human will. where lately there was a soft outline, rising from the soil as if the stones of the field had been called together by the same breath that spread the forest, now there is a heap of rock-dust. man, infinite in faculty, has narrowed his devising to the uses of havoc. he has lifted his hand against the immortal part of himself. he has said--"the works i have wrought i will turn back to the dust out of which they came." all the good labor of minds and hands which we cannot bring back is undone in an instant of time by a few pounds of chemical. that can be burned and broken in the passage of one cloud over the moon which not all the years of a century will restore. seasons return, but not to us returns the light in the windows of rheims. v war there fell a day when the call came from ypres to aid the english. a bitter hot engagement had been fought for seven days, with a hundred and twenty thousand men in action, and the woods and fields on the hoogar road were strewn with the wounded. dr. mcdonnell, the head of the ambulance corps, rode over from furnes to the shell-blackened house of the nurses in pervyse. with him he brought woffington, a young englishman, to drive the ambulance. he asked hilda to go with them to ypres. "scotch, english and american, all on one seat," said hilda with a smile. they covered the thirty miles in one hour, and went racing through the city of ypres, eastward toward the action. half way out to the noise of artillery, their car was stopped by an english officer, handsome, courteous, but very firm. "you cannot go out on this road," he said. "we will be back before you know it," pleaded hilda. "we will bring back your wounded. let me show you." "report to me on your way back," he ordered. "my name is fitzgerald, captain fitzgerald." they rode on. all down the road, straggled wounded men, three miles of them limped, they held up a red hand, they carried a shattered arm in a sling. there was blood on their faces. they walked with bowed head, tired. "these are the lucky ones," said woffington, "they only got scotched." that was the famous battle of ypres. of the dead there were more than the mothers of a countryside could replace in two generations. but death is war's best gift. war's other gifts are malicious--fever and plague, and the maiming of strength, and the fouling of beauty--shapely bodies tortured to strange forms, eager young faces torn away. death is choicer than that, a release from the horror of life trampled like a filthy weed. "mons was a birthday party to this," said a tommy to hilda. "they're expecting too much of us. the whole thing is put on us to do, and it takes a lot of doing." dr. mcdonnell and woffington loaded the car with the severest of the cases, and returned to the white house of the officer. he was waiting for them, grim, attentive. hilda flung up the hood:--two tommies at length on the stretchers on one side of the car; opposite them, seven tommies in a row with hand, arm, foot, leg, shoulder, neck and breast wounds. it was too good a piece of rescue work to be strangled with red tape. the officer could not refrain from a smile of approval. "you may work along this road," he said, "but look out for the other officers. they will probably stop you. but, remember, my permission holds good only for to-day. then you must go back. this isn't according to regulations. now, go on to the hospital." ten minutes more, and they swung inside the great iron gates of the sisters of mercy. never had hilda felt the war so keenly as now. she had been dealing with it bit by bit. but here it was spread out beyond all dealing with. she had to face it without solutions. there, in the convent, known now as military hospital number one, was row after row of khaki men in bed. they had overflowed to the stone floor down the long corridors, hundreds of yards of length, and every foot close packed, like fish in a tin, with helpless outstretched men. the grey stones and the drab suits on the bundles of straw,--what a backwash from the tides of slaughter. if a man stood on his feet, he had to reach for a cane. there were no whole men there, except the busy stretcher-bearers bringing in new tenants for the crowded smelly place. as quickly as they could unload their men, and stuff them into the corridor, hilda and the doctor and woffington sped back down the line, and up to the thronged dressing-stations. wounded men were not their only charge, nor their gravest. they took in a soldier sobbing from the shock of the ceaseless shell fire. the moaning and wasp-like buzz of the flying metal, then the earth-shaking thud of its impact, and the roar of its high explosive, had played upon nerves not elastic enough to absorb the strain, till the man became a whimpering child. and they carried in a man shaking from ague, a big, fine fellow, trembling in every part, who could not lift a limb to walk. that which had been rugged enough for a lifetime of work became palsied after a few weeks of this king's sport. this undramatic slaughter was slower than the work of the guns, but it was as thorough. a man with colic was put into the car. "i'm bad," he said. the pain kept griping him, so that he rode leaning down with his face pointed at the footboard. working as hilda worked, with her two efficient friends and a well-equipped dressing-station, their own hospital only seven miles to the rear of them, she had been able to measure up to any situation that had been thrust at her. it was buckle to it, and work furiously, and clean up the mess, and then on to the next. but here was a wide-spread misery that overwhelmed her. dr. mcdonnell was as silent as the girl. he had a sensitiveness to suffering which twenty years of london practice had not dulled. the day wore along, with spurt after spurt to the front, and then the slower drive back, when woffington guided the car patiently and skilfully, so that the wounded men inside should not be shaken by the motion. they had a snack of luncheon with them, and ate it while they rode. their little barrel of water, swinging between the wheels, had long ago gone to fevered men. "first ambulance i've seen in twenty-four hours," said captain davies, as he came on them out of the dusk of hoogar wood. the stern and unbending organization of the military had found it necessary to hold a hundred or more ambulances of the royal army medical corps in readiness all day in the market place of ypres against a sudden evacuation. so there were simply no cars, but their one car, to speed out to the front and gather the wounded. it was strange, in the evening light, to work out along the road between lines of poplar trees. dim forms kept passing them--two by two, each couple with a stretcher and its burden. an old farm cart came jogging by, wrenching its body from side to side as it struck invisible hummocks and dipped into shell holes. it was loaded with outstretched forms of men, whose wounds were torn at by the jerking of the cart. in companies, fresh men, talking in whispers, were softly padding along the road on their way to the trenches, to relieve the staled fighters. the wide silence was only broken by the occasional sharp clatter and ping of some lonely sniper's rifle. it was ten o'clock of the evening, and the ambulance had gone out one mile beyond the hamlet of hoogar. the doctor and hilda alighted at the thick wood, which had been hotly contended for, through the seven days. it had been covered with shell fire as thoroughly as a fishing-net rakes a stream. they waited for woffington to turn the car around. it is wise to leave a car headed in the direction of safety, when one is treading on disputed ground. a man stepped out of the wood. "are you red cross?" he asked. "yes," said dr. mcdonnell, "and we have our motor ambulance here." "good!" answered the stranger. "we have some wounded men in the château at the other side of the wood. come with me." "how far?" asked hilda. "oh, not more than half a mile." they seeped along over the wet wood road, speaking not at all, as snipers were scattered by night here and there in the trees. they came to the old white building, a country house of size and beauty. in the cellar, three soldiers were lying on straw. two of them told hilda they had been lying wounded and uncared for in the trenches since evening of the night before. they had just been brought to the house. she went over to the third, a boy of about eighteen years. he was shot through the biceps muscle of his left arm. he was pale and weak. "how long have you been like this?" asked the girl. "since four o'clock, yesterday," he whispered. "thirty hours," said hilda. dr. mcdonnell made a request to the officer for help. he gave four men and two stretchers. they put the boy and one of the men on the stretchers, and hoisted them through the cellar window. woffington and mcdonnell took the lantern and searched till they found a wheelbarrow. the third man, wounded in the shoulder, threw an arm over dr. mcdonnell, and woffington steadied him at the waist. he stumbled up the steps, and collapsed into the barrow. woffington and the doctor took turns in wheeling him through the mud. hilda walked at their side. the wheel bit deeply into the road under the weight. they had to spell each other, frequently. after a few hundred yards, they met a small detachment of cavalry, advancing toward the house. the horses seemed to feel the tension, and shared in the silence of their drivers, stepping noiselessly through the murk. woffington was forced to turn the barrow into the ditch. it required the strength of the two men, one at each handle, to shove it out on the road again. the stretchers had reached the ambulance ahead of the wheelbarrow. they loaded the car hastily--there was no time to swing stretchers. they put the three wounded in on the long wooden seat. the boy with the torn biceps fainted on hilda's shoulder. she rode in with him. at hoogar dressing-station, she asked the military doctor for water for the boy. he had come to, and kept whispering--"water, water." "i have no water for you," said the doctor. a soldier followed her back to the car and gave the lad to drink from his bottle. there was only a swallow in it. when they reached the convent, the officer in charge came running out. "i'll take this load, but that's all," he said. "can't take any more, full up. next trip, go on into the town, to military hospital number three." they started back toward the wood. "i've only got petrol enough for one trip, and then home again," said woffington. "all the way, then," said the doctor, "out to the farthest trenches. we'll make a clean sweep." they shot past hoogar, and out through the wood, and on to the trenches of the cheshires. just back of the mounded earth, the reserves were sleeping in the mud of the road, and on the wet bank of the ditch. the night was dark and silent. a few rods to the right, a shelled barn was blazing. "have you any wounded?" asked dr. mcdonnell. "so many we haven't gathered them in," answered the officer. "what is the use? no one to carry them away." "i'll carry as many as i can," said the doctor. "i'll send for them," replied the captain. he spread his men out in the search. three wounded were placed in the car, all of them stretcher cases. "room for one more stretcher case," said dr. mcdonnell; "the car only holds four." "bring the woman," ordered the officer. his men came carrying an aged peasant woman, grey-haired, heavy, her black dress soggy with dew and blood. "here's a poor old woman," explained the captain; "seems to be a belgian peasant. she was working out in the fields here, while the firing was going on. she was shot in the leg and fell down in the field. she's been lying on her face there all day. can't you take her out of the way?" "surely," said hilda. the old woman was heavier than a soldier, heavier and more helpless. "the car is full," said hilda; "you have more wounded?" the officer smiled. "of course," he answered; "here come a few of them, now." the girl counted them. she had to leave twelve men at that farthest trench, because the car was full. on the trip back, she jumped down at the hoogar dressing-station, and there she found sixteen more men strewed around in the straw, waiting to be removed. twenty-eight men she had to ride away from. for the first time in that long day, they went past the convent-hospital, and on into the city of ypres itself, down through the grand place, and then abruptly through a narrow street to the south. here they found military hospital number three. the wounded men were lifted down and into the courtyard. lastly, the woman. "yes, we'll take her," said the good-hearted tommies, who lent a hand in unloading the car. but their officer was firm. "we have no room," he said; "we must keep this hospital for the soldiers. i wish i could help you." "but what am i to do with her?" asked hilda in dismay. "i am sorry," said the officer. he walked away. "the same old story," said hilda; "no place for the old in war-time. they'll turn us away from all the hospitals. anyone who isn't a soldier might as well be dead as in trouble." the old woman lay on the stretcher in the street. her mouth had fallen open, as if she had weakened her hold on things. there was something beyond repair about her appearance, and something unrebuking, too. "do with me what you please," she seemed to say, "i shall make no complaint. i am too old and feeble to make you any trouble. leave me here in the gutter if you like. no one will ever blame you for it, surely not i." "lift her back," ordered the doctor; "we'll go hunting." he had seen a convent near the market square when they had gone through in the morning. they rode to the door, and pulled the hanging wire. the bell resounded down long corridors. five minutes passed. then the bolt was shot, and a sleepy-eyed sister opened the door, candle in hand. "sister, i beg you to take this poor old peasant woman in my car," pleaded hilda, "she is wounded in the leg." the sister made no reply but threw the door wide open, then turned and shuffled off down the stone corridor. "come," said hilda; "we have found a home." the men lifted the stretcher out, and followed the dim twinkling light down the passage. it turned into a great room. they followed in. every bed was occupied--perhaps fifty old women sleeping there, grey hair and white hair on the pillows, red coverlets over the beds. to the end of the room they went, where one wee little girl was sleeping. the sister spread bedding on the floor, and lifted the child from the cot. she stretched herself a moment in the chilly sheets, then settled into sleep, with her face, shut-eyed, upturned toward the light. hilda sighed with relief. their work was ended. "now for home," she said. "fifteen and a half hours of work." it was half an hour after midnight, when they drew up in ypres market square and glanced down the beautiful length of the cloth hall, that building of massive and light-winged proportion. it was the last time they were ever to see it. it has fallen under the shelling, and cannot be rebuilt. they paused to pick their road back to furnes, for in the darkness it was hard to find the street that led out of the town. they thought they had found it, and went swiftly down to the railway station before they knew their mistake. as they started to turn back and try again, a great shell fell into the little artificial lake just beyond them. it roared under the surface, and then shot up a fountain of water twenty feet high, with edges of white foam. "it is time to go," said hilda; "they will send another shell. they always do. they are going to bombard the town." they spurted back to the square, and as they circled it, still puzzled for the way of escape, two shells went sailing high over them and fell into the town beyond. "jack johnsons," said woffington. this time, he made the right turn, back of the cloth hall into the safe country. never had it felt so good to hilda to leave a place. "i am afraid," she said to herself. now she knew why brave men sometimes ran like rabbits. * * * * * "go back to london, and report what we have seen," urged dr. mcdonnell. "we can set england aflame with it. the english people will rise to it, if they know their wounded are being neglected." "it takes a lot to rouse the english," said hilda; "that is their greatest quality, their steadiness. in our country we'd have a crusade over the situation, and then we'd forget all about it. but you people won't believe it for another year or so. when you do believe it, you'll cure it." "you will see," replied the doctor. "i'll try," said hilda. * * * * * it was one of those delightful mixed grills in dover street, london, where men and women are equally welcome. dover street is lined with them, pleasant refuges for the wives of army officers, literary women of distinction, and the host of well-to-do uncelebrated persons, who make the rich background of modern life. dr. mcdonnell's warm friend, the earl of tottenham, and his wife, were entertaining hilda at dinner, and, knowing she had something to tell of conditions at ypres, they had made colonel albert bevan one of the party. hilda thought colonel bevan one of the cleverest men she had ever met. he had a quick nervous habit of speech, a clean-shaven alert face, with a smile that threw her off guard and opened the way for the colonel to make his will prevail. he was enjoying a brilliant parliamentary career. he had early thrown his lot with the liberals, and had never found cause to regret it. he had been an under-secretary, and, when the war broke out, kitchener had chosen him for his private emissary to the fighting line to report back to the chief the exact situation. he was under no one else than k.; came directly to him with his findings, went from him to the front. "my dear young lady," the colonel was saying, "you've forgotten that ypres was the biggest fight of the war, one of the severest in all history. in a day or two, we got things in hand. you came down on a day when the result was just balanced. it was a toss-up whether the other fellows would come through or not. you see, you took us at a bad time." "how about the ambulances that weren't working?" asked hilda. "the square was lined with them." "i know," responded the colonel, "but the city was likely to be evacuated at any hour. as a matter of fact, those ambulances were used all night long after the bombardment began, emptying the three military hospitals, and taking the men to the train. we sent them down to calais. you were most fortunate in getting through the lines at all. i shouldn't have blamed captain fitzgerald if he had ordered you back to furnes." "captain fitzgerald!" exclaimed hilda. "how did you know i was talking with him?" "i was there that day in ypres," said the colonel. "you were in ypres," repeated hilda, in astonishment. "i was there," he said; "i saw the whole thing. you came down upon our lines as if you had fallen out of a blue moon. what were we to do? a very charming young american lady, with a very good motor ambulance. it was a visitation, wasn't it? if we allowed it regularly, what would become of the fighting? why, there are fifty volunteer organizations, with cars and nurses, cooling their heels in boulogne. if we let one in, we should have to let them all come. there wouldn't be any room for troops." "but how about the wounded?" queried hilda. "where do they come in?" "in many cases, it doesn't hurt them to lie out in the open air," responded the colonel; "that was proved in the south african war. the wounds often heal if you leave them alone in the open air. but you people come along and stir up and joggle them. in army slang, we call you the body snatchers." "what you say about the wounded is absurd," replied hilda. "tut, tut," chided the colonel. "i mean just that," returned the girl, with heat. "it is terrible to leave men lying out who have got wounded. it is all rot to say the open air does them good. if the wound was clean from a bullet, and the air pure, and the soil fresh as in a new country, that would be true in some of the cases. the wound would heal itself. but a lot of the wounds are from jagged bits of shell, driving pieces of clothing and mud from the trenches into the flesh. the air is septic, full of disease from the dead men. they lie so close to the surface that a shell, anywhere near, brings them up. three quarters of your casualties are from disease. the wound doesn't heal; it gets gangrene and tetanus from the stale old soil. and instead of having a good fighting man back in trim in a fortnight, you have a sick man in a london hospital for a couple of months, and a cripple for a lifetime." "you would make a good special pleader," responded the colonel with a bow. "i applaud your spirit, but the wounded are not so important, you know. there are other considerations that come ahead of the wounded." "but don't the wounded come first?" asked hilda, in a hurt tone. "certainly not," answered the colonel. "we have to keep the roads clear for military necessity. this is the order in which we have to regard the use of roads in war-time." he checked off his list on his fingers-- "first comes ammunition, then food, then reinforcements, and fourth, the wounded." in ramskappele barnyard thirteen dead men were scattered about in the straw and dung. some of them were sitting in absurd postures, as if they were actors in a pantomime. others of them, though burned and shattered, lay peacefully at full length. no impress of torture could any longer rob them of the rest on which they had entered so suddenly. i saw that each one of them had come to the end of his quest and had found the thing for which he had been searching. the frenchman had his equality now. the german had doubtless by this time, found his god "a mighty fortress." the belgian had won a neutrality which nothing would ever invade. as i looked on that barnyard of dead, i was glad for them that they were dead, and not as the men i had seen in the hospital wards--the german with his leg being sawn off, and the strange bloated face of the belgian: all those maimed and broken men condemned to live and carry on the living flesh the pranks of shell fire. for it was surely better to be torn to pieces and to die than to be sent forth a jest. vi the chevalier hilda's friends in england had prepared a "surprise" for her. it was engineered by a wise and energetic old lady in london, who had been charmed with the daring of the american girl at the front. so, without hilda's knowledge, she published the following advertisement:-- "'hilda'--will every hilda, big and little, in great britain and ireland, send contributions for a 'hilda' motor ambulance, costing £ , to be sent for service in pervyse, to save wounded belgian soldiers from suffering? it will be run by a nurse named hilda. 'lady hildas' subscribe a guinea, 'hildas' over sixteen, half-guinea, 'little hildas', and 'hildas' in straightened circumstances, two-shillings-and-sixpence." that was the "personal" on the front page of the london _times_, which had gone out over the land. hilda's life at the front had appealed to the imagination of some thousands of the belgian soldiers, and to many officers. the fame of her and of her two companions had grown with each week of the wearing, perilous service, hard by the belgian trenches. gradually there had drifted out of the marsh-land hints and broken bits of the life-saving work of these pervyse girls, all the way back to england. the hildas of the realm had rallied, and funds flowed into the london office, till a swift commodious car was purchased, and shipped out to the young nurse. and now hilda's car had actually come to her, there at the dressing-station in pervyse. the brand new motor ambulance was standing in the roadway, waiting her need. its brown canopy was shiny in the sun. a huge red cross adorned either side with a crimson splash that ought to be visible on a dark night. the thirty horse-power engine purred and obeyed with the sympathy of a high-strung horse. seats and stretchers inside were clean and fresh for stricken men. from hilda's own home town of cedar rapids, iowa, had come a friendship's garland of one hundred dollars. she liked to fancy that this particular sum of money had passed into the front wheels, where the speed was generated. "my car, my very own," she murmured. she dreamed about it, and carried it in her thoughts by day. she had fine rushes of feeling about it, too. it must do worthy work, she said to herself. there could be no retreating from bad pockets with that car. there must be no leaving the wounded, when the firing cuts close, no joy-riding. she could not help feeling proud of her position. there was no other woman out of all america who had won through to the front. and on all the western battle-line of four hundred miles, there were no other women, save her and her two friends, who were doing just this sort of dangerous touch-and-go work. with her own eyes she had read the letters of more than two hundred persons, begging permission to join the corps. there were women of title, professional men of standing. what had she done to deserve such lucky eminence? why was she chosen to serve at the furthest outpost where risk and opportunity went hand in hand? dr. neil mcdonnell, leader of the ambulance corps, had brought a party of her friends from furnes, to celebrate the coming of the car. dr. mcdonnell was delighted with every success achieved by his "children." when the three women went to pervyse, and the fame of them spread through the belgian army, the doctor was as happy as if a grandchild had won the derby. he was glad when mrs. bracher and "scotch" received the purple ribbon and the starry silver medal for faithful service in a parlous place. he was now very happy that hilda's fame had sprung to england, taken root, and bloomed in so choice a way. he had a curiously sweet nature, the doctor, a nature without animosities, absent-minded, filmed with dreams, and those dreams large, bold and kindly. "your car is better than a medal," he said; "a medal can't save life, but this car will. this is as good as an endowed hospital bed. it's like the king's touch; it heals everyone who comes near. may its shadow never grow less." "i hope they won't shoot away its bonnet," said hilda; "there's nothing so dead-looking as a wrecked ambulance. i saw one the other day on the oestkirke road. it looked like a summer-resort place in winter." "no danger," replied the doctor, who was of a buoyant cast; "you are born lucky. you're one of the fortunate seven. you know there are seven fortunate born in each generation. all the good things come to them without striving. you are one of the fortunate seven." "we shall see," responded hilda. the doctor was just starting back to furnes, when he remembered what he had come for. "by the way," he called to hilda, "what driver do you want?" "smith, of course," she answered. "whom could i want but smith? he is quite the bravest man i have met in the twenty weeks out here." "he's only a chauffeur," remarked one of the corps. "only a chauffeur," echoed hilda; "only the man who runs the car and picks up the wounded, and straps in the stretchers. give me smith, every time--" she ended. "he looks like a hero, doesn't he?" said the same member of the corps. "no, he doesn't," laughed hilda, "and that's the joke." * * * * * smith reported for duty early next morning. "we must christen the car in some real way," she said. "how shall it be, smith?" "dixmude," he answered. he generally dealt in replies of one word. he was a city lad, slight in frame, of pale, tired face. "yes, there is always work at dixmude," hilda agreed. they started on the six-mile run. "what do you think of using black troops against white, miss?" asked smith, after they had bowled along for a few minutes. "i'm not a warlike person," replied hilda, "so i don't know what's the proper thing. but, just the same, i don't like to see them using black men. they don't know what they're fighting about. anyway, i'd rather help them, than shoot them." "it isn't their fault, is it, miss?" said smith. "by no means," returned hilda; "they deserve all the more help because they are ignorant." "that's right enough, too," agreed smith and relapsed into his constitutional silence. he had a quiet way with him, which was particularly agreeable when the outer air was tense. they rode on into dixmude. the little city had been torn into shreds, as a sail is torn by a hurricane. but the ruined place was still treated from time to time with shell fire, lest any troops should make the charred wreckage a cover for advancing toward the enemy trenches. they rode on to where they caught a flash of soldiers' uniform. in a blackened butt of an inn, a group of senegalese were hiding. they were great six-foot fellows, with straight bodies, and shoulders for carrying weights--the face a black mask, expressionless, save for the rolling whites of the eyes, and the sudden startling grin of perfect white teeth, when trouble fell out of the sky. they had been left there to hold the furthest outpost. a dozen of them were hale and cheery. two of them sat patiently in the straw, nursing each a damaged arm. out in the gutter, fifty feet away, one sat picking at his left leg. smith turned the car, half around, then backed it toward the ditch, then forward again, and so around, till at last he had it headed back along the road they had come. then he brought it to a standstill, leaving the power on, so that the frame of the car shook, as the body of a hunting dog shakes before it is let loose from the leash. there was a wail in the air overhead, a wail and then a roar, as a shell cut close over the hood of the ambulance and exploded in the low wall of the house opposite. three more came more quickly than one could count aloud. "four; a battery of four," said hilda. the enemy artillery had sighted their ambulance, and believing it to contain reinforcements or ammunition, were leveling their destruction at it. the high car with its brown canvas covering was a fair mark in the clear morning light. hilda motioned the two wounded men in the inn to come to the car. they slowly rose to their feet, and patiently trudged out into the road. smith gave them a hand, and they climbed upon the footboard of the ambulance, and over into the interior. one of the black men called harshly to the man in the ditch down the road. he turned from his sitting posture, fell over on his face, and then came crawling on his hands and knees. "why doesn't he walk?" asked hilda. "foot shot away," replied smith. she saw the raw, red flesh of the lower leg, as if the work of his maker had been left incompleted. again in the air there was the moan of travelling metal, then the heavy thud of its impact, the roar as it released its explosive, and the shower of brick dust, iron and pebbles. again, the following three, sharp and close, one on the track of the other. "they've got our range all right," said smith. the black man, trailing his left leg, seemed slow in coming, as he scratched along over the ground. this is surely death, hilda said to herself, and she felt it would be good to die just so. she had not been a very sinful person, but she well knew there had been much in her way of doing things to be sorry for. she had spoken harshly, and acted cruelly. she had brought suffering to other lives with her charm. and, suddenly in this flash of clear seeing, she knew that by this single act of standing there, waiting, she had wiped out the wrong-doing, and found forgiveness. she knew she could face the dark as blithely as if she were going to her bridal. strange how the images of an old-fashioned and outgrown religion came back upon her in this instant. strange that she should feel this act was bringing her an atonement and that she could meet death without a tremor. the gods beyond this gloom were going to be good to her, she knew it. they would salute smith and herself, as comrades unafraid. she was glad, too, that her last sight of things would be the look at the homely face of smith, as he stood there at his full height, which was always a little bent, very much untroubled by the passing menace. she did not know that there was anyone with whom she would rather go down than with the ignorant boy, who was holding his life cheap for a crippled black man. somehow, being with him in this hour, connected her with the past of her own life, for, after her fashion, she had tried to be true to her idea of equality. she had always felt that such as he were worthy of the highest things in life. and there he stood, proving it. that there was nobody beside herself to see him, struck her as just a part of the general injustice. if he had been a great captain, doing this thing, he would go down a memory to many. being an unknown lad of the lower class, he would be as little recognized in his death as in life. it was strange what racing and comprehensive work her brain compassed in a little moment. it painted by flashes and crowded its canvas with the figures of a life-time. only those who have not lived such a moment, doubt this. then came two more shells, this time just in front of the car and low. and now the negro, creeping along, had reached the car. smith and hilda lifted him in, and waved good-bye to the black men flattened against the wall of the inn. smith put on power, and they raced to the turn of the road. there at the cross-roads, on horseback, was hilda's faithful and gallant friend, commandant jost, friend of the king's. he was using his field-glasses on the road down which they had sped. "_c'est chaud_," called hilda to her old friend, "it was lively." "yes," he answered soberly. "i just came up in time to see you. i didn't know it was you. i have been watching your car with my glasses. they nearly hit you. i counted ten reports into the street where you were." "yes," returned hilda, "but all's well that ends well." "how many men did you rescue?" asked the commandant. "three," answered the girl; "the last fellow came slowly. his foot was bad." the commandant dismounted and came round to the back of the car. he threw up the hood. "you did this for black men?" he said slowly. "why not?" asked hilda in surprise. "if they're good enough to fight for us, they're good enough to save." "the king shall know of this," he said; "it means a decoration. i will see to it." hilda's face lighted up for an instant. then the glow died down; she became grave. "if anything comes of this," she said simply, "it goes to smith. i must insist on that." "there is just one thing about it," replied the commandant. "we cannot give our decorations around wholesale. the king wishes to keep them choice by keeping them rare. now it really will not do to add two more decorations to your little group. two of your women have already received them. this was a brave piece of work--one of the bravest i ever saw. it deserves a ribbon. it shall have a ribbon, if i can reach the king. but two ribbons, no. it cannot be." "ah, you don't need to tell me that," returned hilda. "i know that. one decoration is quite enough. but that decoration, if granted, must go to smith." * * * * * the highest honor in the gift of the king of the belgians was being conferred: a red cross worker was about to be made chevalier of the order of leopold. doubtless one would rather be decorated by albert than by any other person in the world. it was plain already that he was going down into history as one of the fabulous good rulers, with alfred and saint louis, who had been as noble in their secret heart as in their pride of place. it was fitting that the brief ceremony should be held in albert's wrecked village of pervyse, with shell pits in the road, and black stumps of ruin for every glance of the eye. for he was no king of prosperity, fat with the pomp of power. he was a man of sorrows, the brother of his crucified people. but the man who was about to be honored kept getting lost. the distinguished statesmen, officers, and visiting english, formed their group and chatted. but the object of their coming together was seldom in sight. he disappeared indoors to feed the wasted cat that had lived through three bombardments and sought her meat in wrecked homes. he was blotted out by the "hilda" car, as he tinkered with its intimacies. no man ever looked less like a chevalier, than smith, when discovered and conducted to the king. any of the little naval boy officers standing around with their gold braid on the purple cloth, looked gaudier than smith. he looked more like a background, with his weather-worn khaki, and narrow, high-hitched shoulders, than like the center-piece in a public performance. there came a brief and painful moment, when the king's favor was pinned upon him. "the show is over, isn't it?" he asked. hilda smiled. "i suppose you'll go and bury the medal in an old trunk in the attic," she said. smith walked across to the car, and opened the bonnet. the group of distinguished people had lost interest in him. hilda followed him over. "you're most as proud of that car as i am," she said; "it's sort of your car, too, isn't it?" smith was burrowing into the interior of things, and had already succeeded in smearing his fingers with grease within three minutes of becoming a chevalier. "fact is, ma'am," he answered, "it is my car, in a way. you see, my mother's name is hilda, same as yours. my mother, she gave half-a-crown for it." with the ambulance we were carrying a dead man among the living. "take him out and leave him," ordered our officer; "it is bad for the wounded men riding next to him and under him." we lifted him down from his swinging perch in the car. he was heavy at the shoulders to shift. the dead seem heavier than the quick. we stretched him at full length in the sticky mud of the gutter at the side of the road. he lay there, white face and wide eyes in the night, as if frozen in his pain. soldiers, stumbling to their supper, brushed against his stiff body and then swerved when they saw the thing which they had touched. a group of doctors and officers moved away. mud from the sloughing tires of the transports spattered him, but not enough to cover him. no one had time to give him his resting-place. we were too busy with the fresher shambles, and their incompleted products, to pause for a piece of work so finished as that cold corpse. but no indignity of the roadway can long withhold him from his portion of peace, and the land that awakened his courage will receive him at last. there is more companionship under the ground than above it for one who has been gallant against odds. vii the american "atrocities, rubbish!" said the man. "a few drunken soldiers, yes. every war has had them. but that's nothing. they're all a bunch of crazy children, both sides, and pretty soon they'll quiet down. in the meantime," he added with a smile, "we take the profits--some of us, that is." "is that all the war means to you?" asked hilda. "yes, and to any sensible person," replied he. "why do you want to go and get yourself mixed up in it? an american belongs out of it. go and work in a settlement at home and let the foreign countries stew in their own juice." "belgium doesn't seem like a foreign country to me," returned the girl. "you see, i know the people. i know young lieutenant robert de broqueville and commandant gilson, with the wound on his face, and the boys that come into the flandria hospital with their fingers shot away. they are like members of my family. they did something for me." "how do you make that out?" the girl was silent for a moment, then she answered: "they stood up for what was a matter of honor. they made a fight against odds. they could have sold out easy enough." "well, i don't know," said the man, stretching his arms and yawning. "no, that's just the trouble with men like you. you don't know, and you don't care to know. you're all alike; you stand aloof or amused. a great human wrong has taken place, and you say, 'well, i don't know!'" "just a moment," interrupted the man. "but i haven't finished," went on the girl; "there's another thing i want to say. when belgium made her fight, she suffered horrible things. her women and children were mutilated on system, as part of a cold policy. cruelty to the unoffending, that is what i mean by atrocities." "i don't believe you," retorted the man. "come and see." hilda, who had run across from ghent to london to stock up on supplies for the corps, was talking with john hinchcliffe, american banker, broker, financier. he was an old-time friend of hilda's family--a young widower, in that successful period of early middle-age when the hard work and the dirty work have availed and the momentum of the career maintains itself. in the prematurely gray hair, the good-looking face, the abrupt speech, he was very much american. he was neat--neat in his way of dressing, and in his compact phrases, as hard and well-rounded as a pebble. the world to him was a place full of slackers, of lazy good-nature, of inefficiency. into that softness he had come with a high explosive and an aim. he moved through life as a hunter among a covey of tame partridges--a brief flutter and a tumble of soft flesh. he had the cunning lines about the mouth, the glint in the eye, of the successful man. he had the easy generosities, too, of the man who, possessing much, can express power by endowing helpless things which he happens to like. there was an abundant sentiment in him, sentiment about his daughter and his flag, and the economic glory of his times. he was rather proud of that soft spot in his make-up. when men spoke of him as hard, he smiled to himself, for there in his consciousness was that streak of emotional richness. if he were attacked for raiding a trolley system, he felt that his intimates would declare, "you don't know him. why john is a king." and, best of all, he had a kind of dim vision of how his little daughter would come forward at the day of judgment, if there was anything of the sort, and say, "he was the best father in the world." hilda and the banker sat quietly, each busy in thought with what had been said. then the girl returned to her plea. "come now, mr. hinchcliffe," she said, "you've challenged every statement i've made, and yet you've never once been on the ground. i am living there, working each day, where things are happening. now, why don't you come and see for yourself? it would do you a lot of good." "i'm over here on business," objected the banker. "perfect reply of a true american," retorted hilda, hotly. "here are three or four nations fighting for your future, saving values for your own sons and grandsons. and you're too busy to inform yourself as to the rights of it. you prefer to sit on the fence and pluck the profits. you would just as lief sell to the germans as to the allies, if the money lay that way and no risk." "sure. i did, in september," said the banker, with a grin; "shipped 'em in by way of holland." "yes," said hilda, angrily, "and it was dirty money you made." "what would you have us do?" asked he. "we're not in business for our health." "i tell you what i'd have you do," returned hilda. "i'd have you find out which side was in the right in the biggest struggle of the ages. if necessary, i'd have you take as much time to informing yourself as you'd give to learning about a railroad stock which you were going to buy. here's the biggest thing that ever was, right in front of you, and you don't even know which side is right. you can't spare three days to find out whether a nation of people is being done to death." "what next?" asked the banker with a smile. "when i have informed myself, what then? go and sell all that i have and give to the poor?" "no, i don't ask you to come up to the level of the belgians," answered hilda, "or of the london street boys. but what can be asked even of a new york banker is that he shall sell to the side that is in the right. and when he does it, that he shall not make excessive profits." "run business by the golden rule?" "no, not that, but just catch a little of the same spirit that is being shown by millions of the common people over there. human nature isn't half as selfish and cowardly as men like you make out. you'll burn your fingers if you try to put a tag on these peasants and shop-assistants and clerks, over here. they're not afraid to die. the modern man is all right, but you fellows at the top don't give him half a chance. a whole race of peasants can be burned out and mutilated, and it doesn't cause a flutter in the pulse-beat of one of you american traders." "you're a damn poor american," said the banker bluntly. "you're the poor american," replied hilda. "an uncle of mine, with a few 'greats' in front of him, was one of the three to sign the declaration of independence for connecticut. another of us was in lincoln's cabinet. my people have helped to make our country. we were the ones that welcomed louis kossuth, and garibaldi. we are americans. it's men like you that have weakened the strain--you and your clever tricks and your unbelief. you believe in nothing but success. 'money is power,' say you. it is you that don't believe in america, not i." "what does it all come to?" he broke in harshly. "what is it all about? you talk heatedly but what are you saying? i have given money to the relief work. i've done something, i've got results. where would you have been without money?" "money!" said hilda. "a thousandth part of your makings. and these people are giving their life! why, once or twice a day, they are putting themselves between wounded men and shell fire. you talk about results. there are more results in pulling one belgian out of the bloody dust than in your lifetime of shaving the market." the color came into his face with a rush. he was so used to expressing power, sitting silent and a little grim, and moving weaker men to his will, that it was a new experience to be talked to by a person who quite visibly had vital force. "i used to be afraid of people like you," she went on. "but you don't look half as big to me now as one of these young chauffeurs who take in the wounded under shrapnel. you've come to regard your directive ability as something sacred. you think you can sit in moral judgment on these people over here--these boys that are flinging away their lives for the future. come with me to belgium, and find out what they're really fighting about." hinchcliffe was used to swift decisions. "i'll do it," he said. * * * * * hilda took him straight to ghent. then she pushed her inquiries out among her belgian friends. the day before, there had been a savage fight at alost. "you will find what you want in wetteren hospital," suggested monsieur caron, secretary of the ghent red cross, to hilda. "to-morrow, we will go there," she said. that first evening, she led hinchcliffe through ghent. in her weeks of work there, she had come to love the beautiful old town. it was strangely unlike her home cities--the brisk prairie "parlor city," where she had grown up inch by inch, as it extended itself acre by acre, and the mad modern city where she had struggled for her bread. the tide of slaughter was still to the east: a low rumble, like surf on a far-away beach. sometimes it came whinnying and licking at the very doorstep, and then ebbed back, but never rolled up on the ancient city. it was only an under-hum to merriment. it sharpened the nerve of response to whatever passing excellence there was in the old streets and vivid gardens. modern cities are portions of a world in the making. but ghent was a completed and placid thing, as fair as men could fashion it. as evening fell, they two leaned on st. michel's bridge of the river lys. just under the loiterers, canals that wound their way from inland cities to the sea were dark and noiseless, as if sleep held them. the blunt-nosed boats of wide girth that trafficked down those calm reaches were as motionless as the waters that floated them. out of the upper air, bells from high towers dropped their carillon on a population making its peace with the ended day. cathedral and churches and belfry were massed against the night, cutting it with their pinnacles till they entered the region of the early stars and the climbing moon. then, when that trance of peace had given them the light sadness which fulfilled beauty brings, they found it good to hasten down the deserted street to the cafés and thronging friendly people. they knew how to live and take their pleasure, those people of ghent. no sullen silence and hasty gorging for them. they practised a leisurely dining and an eager talk, a zest in the flying moment. their streets were blocked to the curb with little round occupied tables. inner rooms were bright with lights and friendly with voices. from the silver strainer of the "filtered coffee" the hot drops fell through to the glass, one by one, black and potent. good coffee, and a gay race. but those lively people knew in their hearts that a doom was on its way, so their evenings had the merit of a vanishing pleasure, a benefit not to be renewed with the seasons. time for the people of ghent carried the grace of last days, when everything that is pleasant and care-free is almost over, and every greeting of a comrade is touched with vale. it is the little things that are to be lost, so to the little things the time remaining is given. it is then one learns that little things are the dearest, the light-hearted supper in the pleasant café with the friend whose talk satisfies, the walk down street past familiar windows, the look of roofs and steeples dim in the evening light. "it's different, isn't it?" said the banker thoughtfully. "yes," agreed hilda; "it isn't much like chicago." "think of destroying places like this!" went on hinchcliffe. "why, they can't rebuild them." "no," laughed hilda; "this sort of ancestral thing isn't quite in our line." "how foolish of them to go to war!" continued the banker. when his mind once gripped an idea, it carried it through to the terminal station. hilda turned on him vigorously. "you realize, don't you," she said, "that belgium didn't bring on this war? you remember that it was some one else that came pouncing down upon her. it seems almost a pity, doesn't it, to smash this beauty and hunt these nice people?" "it's all wrong," he said; "it's all wrong." * * * * * wetteren hospital--brick walls and stone floors, the clatter of wooden shoes in the outer corridor, where peasants shuffled. in two inner rooms, where eleven cots stood, there was a hush, for there lay the grievously wounded. eleven peasants they were, men, women, and a child. a priest was ministering cheer to them, bed by bed. four sisters were busy and noiseless in service. the priest led hilda and hinchcliffe to the cot of one of the men. the peasant's face was pallid, and the cheeks sunken from loss of blood. the priest addressed him in flemish, telling him these two were friendly visitors, and wished to know what had been done to him. quietly and sadly the man in the bed spoke. sentence by sentence the priest translated it for hilda and the banker. on sunday morning, the peasant, leopold de man, of number hovenier straat, alost, was hiding in the house of his sister, in the cellar. the germans made a fire of the table and chairs in the upper room. then catching sight of leopold, they struck him with the butt of their guns, and forced him to pass through the fire. then, taking him outside, they struck him to the ground, and gave him a blow over the head with a gun stock, and a cut of the bayonet which pierced his thigh, all the way through. slowly, carefully, he went on with his statement: "in spite of my wound they make me pass between their lines, giving me still more blows of the gun-butt in the back, in order to make me march. there are seventeen or eighteen persons with me. they place us in front of their lines and menace us with their revolvers, crying out that they will make us pay for the losses they have suffered at alost. so, we march in front of the troops. "when the battle begins, we throw ourselves on our faces to the ground, but they force us to rise again. at a certain moment, when the germans are obliged to retire, we succeed in escaping down side streets." hilda was watching hinchcliffe while the peasant and the priest were speaking. curiously and sympathetically she watched him. a change had come over the man: something arrogant had left him. even his voice had changed, as he leaned forward and asked, "what does he say?" the banker had pulled out a black leather note-book, and was taking down the translation as the priest gave it. something kindly welled up inside hilda toward him. something spoke to her heart that it was the crust of him that had fallen away. she had misjudged him. in her swift way she had been unjust. her countryman was not hard, only unseeing. things hadn't been brought to his attention. she was humbly glad that she had cared to show him where the right of things lay. her fault was greater than his. he had only been blind. distance had hidden the truth from him. but she had been severe with him to his face. she had committed the sin of pride, the sin of feeling a spiritual superiority. "if you please, come to the other side of the room," said the priest, leading the way to the cot of a peasant, whose cheeks had the angry red spot of fever. he was frans meulebroeck, of number drie sleutelstraat, alost. sometimes in loud bursts of terror and suffering, and then falling back into a hopeless pain-laden monotone, he told his story. "they broke open the door of my home," he said; "they seized me, and knocked me down. in front of my door, the corpse of a german lay stretched out. the germans said to me, 'you are going to pay for that to us.' a few moments later, they gave me a bayonet cut in my leg. they sprinkled naphtha in my house, and set it afire. my son was struck down in the street, and i was marched in front of the german troops. i do not know even yet the fate of my son." gradually as the peasant talked, the time of his suffering came upon him. his eyes began to see it again in front of him. they became fixed and wild, the white of them visible. his voice was shrill and broken with sobs. there was a helpless unresisting agony in his tone and the look on his face. "my boy!" he said. "i haven't seen him." his body shook with sobbing. "enough," said the priest. "_bonne chance_, comrade; courage." in the presence of the priest and of the sister, the two peasants signed each man his statement, leopold firmly, the fevered frans making his mark with a trembling hand. hinchcliffe shut his note-book and put it back into his pocket. the little group passed into the next room, where the wounded women were gathered. a sister led hilda to the bedside of a very old woman, perhaps eighty years old. the eyes were closed, the thin white hair straggled across the pillow. there was no motion to the worn-out body, except for faint breathing. "cut through the thigh with a bayonet," said the sister. hilda stepped away on tiptoe, and looked across the ward. there, rising out of the bedclothes, was a little head, a child's head, crowned with the lightest of hair. gay and vivid it gleamed in that room of pain. it was hair of the very color of hilda's own. the child was propped up in bed, and half bent over, as if she had been broken at the breast-bone. it was the attitude of a bent old body, weary with age. and yet, the tiny oval face of soft coloring, and the bright hair, seemed made for happiness. clear across the room, otherwise so silent in its patient misery, there came a little whistling from the body of the child. with each give of the breath, the sound was forced out. the wheezing, as if the falling breath caught on some jagged bit of bone, and struggled for a moment to tear itself free, hurt hilda. the face of the little girl was heavy with stupor, the eyes half closed. pain had done its utmost, and a partial unconsciousness was spreading over troubled mind and tortured body. the final release was close at hand. hinchcliffe had stepped up. there was an intent look in his face as he watched the child. then the man's expression softened. the cunning lines about the mouth took on something of tenderness. the shrewd, appraising eyes lost their glint under a film of tears. he went over to the little one, and touched her very lightly on the hair. it was bright and gay, and incongruous on a body that was so visibly dying. it gave a pleasure of sunlight on what was doomed. still she went on whistling through her broken body, and with each breath she gave a low murmur of pain. "sister," said hilda, to one of the women, "what is it with the child? she is very ill?" "she is dying," said the nurse. "her back is slashed open to the bone with bayonets. she was placed in front of the troops, and they cut her, when she fell in fright." "and her breathing?" asked hilda. "i can hear her with each breath." "yes, it is hard with her. her body is torn, and the breath is loud as it comes. it will soon be over. she will not suffer long." hilda and her companion stepped out into the open air, and climbed into the waiting motor. the banker was crying and swearing softly to himself. "the little children who have died, what becomes of them?" said hilda. "will they have a chance to play somewhere? and the children still in pain, here and everywhere in belgium--will it be made up to them? will a million of indemnity give them back their playtime? that little girl whom you touched--" "the hair," he said, "did you see her hair? the same color as yours." "i know," said hilda, "i saw myself in her place. i feel that i could go out and kill." "it was the hair," repeated the banker. "my little daughter's hair is the color of yours. that was why i let you say those things to me that evening in london. i could not sleep that night for thinking of all you said. and when i looked across the room just now, i thought it was my daughter lying there. for a moment, i thought i saw my daughter." the bonfire we were prisoners, together--twenty-seven peasants and three of us that had been too curious of the enemy's camp. we were huddled in the dirt of a field, with four sentries over us, and three thousand soldiers round about us. just across the country road, twenty-six little yellow-brick houses were blazing, the homes of the peasants of melle. each house was a separate torch, for they had been carefully primed with oil. the light of them, and almost the heat, was on our faces. it was a clear, warm evening. the fires of the cottages burned high. a full moon rose blood-red on the horizon, climbed to the dome and went across the sky to the south-west. two dogs, chained in the yard of a burning house, howled all night. the peasant lying next us watched his home burn to pieces. it was straight across from us. a soldier came to tell him that his wife was wounded but not dead. he lay through the night, motionless, and not once did he turn his eyes away from the blaze of his home. petrol burns slowly and thoroughly. in the early morning, soldiers with stretchers came marching down the road. they turned in at the smouldering cottages. from the ruins of the little house which the peasant had watched so intently, three bodies were carried. he broke into a long, slow sobbing. viii the war baby "a baby?" cried hilda in amazement. "a baby, my dear," repeated mrs. bracher with emphasis. "come, hurry up! we're wanted _tout de suite_." the women had been sitting quite peacefully after supper. a jerk at the bell cord, a tiny tinkle, and mrs. bracher had answered the door. a big breathless civilian stood there. he said-- "please, the madame doctor, quick. the baby is coming." these astonishing peasants! hilda could never get over her wonder at their stolidity, their endless patience, their matter-of-fact way of carrying on life under a cataclysm. they went on with their spading in the fields, while shrapnel was pinging. they trotted up and down a road that was pock-marked with shell-holes. they hung out their washings where machine-gun bullets could aerate them. the fierce, early weeks of shattering bombardment had sent the villagers scurrying for shelter to places farther to the west. and for a time, pervyse had been occupied only by soldiers and the three nurses. but soon the civilians came trickling back. they were tired of strange quarters, and homesick for their own. there were now more than two hundred peasants in pervyse--men, women and children. the children, regardless of shell fire, scoured the fields for shrapnel bullets and bits of shells. they brought their findings to the nurses, and received pieces of chocolate in return. there was a family of five children, in steps, who wore bright red hoods. they liked to come and be nursed. the women had from six to a dozen peasants a day, tinkling the bell for treatment. some came out of curiosity. to these was fed castor-oil. one dose cured them. they came with every sort of ailment. a store-keeper, who kept on selling rock candy, had a heel that was "bad" from shrapnel. one mite of a boy had his right hand burned, and the wound continued to suppurate. he dabbled in ditch-water, and always returned to hilda with the bandage very wet and dirty. here was their home--belgium, flowering and happy, or belgium, black and perishing. still it is belgium, the homeland. why take on the ugly hazards of exile? if your husband is ill and broken, you stay by him. he is your man. so with the land of your birth, the village where you are one with the soil. you stay and suffer, and meantime you live. still you plant and plough, though the guns are loud in the night, and les bosches just over the meadow. and here was one of these women in the wrecked, charred village of pervyse carrying on the great, natural process of life as unperturbed as if her home was in a valley of peace. the three women ran over to a little house two hundred yards down the road. one wall of it was bullet-chipped, one room of it a wreck from a spent obus. but, for the rest, it was a livable little place, and here was gathered a flemish family. the event was half over, as mrs. bracher, closely followed by scotch and hilda, rushed in. the mother, fully dressed, was lying on a wooden bed that fitted into an alcove. she was typically flemish, of high cheek-bones and very red cheeks. the entire family was grouped about the bed--a boy of twelve years, a girl of nineteen, and a girl of three. attending the case, was a little old woman, the grandmother, wearing a knitted knobby bonnet, sitting high on the top of her head and tied under her chin--a conical frame for her pert, dark eyes and firm mouth. she was a tiny woman, every detail of her in miniature, clearly defined, except the heavy, noisy wooden shoes. she carried in her personality an air of important indignation. with the confidence of a lifetime of obstetrical experience, she drew from her pocket a brown string, coarse and dirty, and tied up the newcomer's navel. it was little the nurses were allowed to help. though a trained and certificated midwife, mrs. bracher was edged out of the ministration by the small, determined grandmother, who looked anger and scorn out of her little black eyes upon the three. she resented their coming. antiseptic gauze and hot-water bottles were as alien as the germans to her. so "pervyse" entered this world. nothing could hold him back, neither shell nor bayonets. he had slipped through the net of death which men were so busily weaving. there he was, a matter of fact--a vital, lusty, shapeless fact. to that little creature was given the future, and he was stronger than the artillery. by all the laws, vibrations of fear ought to have passed into the tiny body. his consciousness, it would seem, must be a nest of horrors. instead of that, his cry had the insistence of health. his solemnity was as abysmal as that of a child of peace. when the girls visited "pervyse" next morning, the grandmother was nursing him with sugar and water from a quart bottle. she had him dressed in dark blue calico. thereafter twice a day they called upon him, and each time hilda carried snowy linen, hoping to win the grandmother. but the old lady was firm, and "pervyse" was to thrive, looking all the redder, inside blue calico. the mother was a good mother, sweet and constant. very slowly, the nurses won her confidence and the grandmother's respect. "do come away," urged hilda. "let me take you all back to la panne, where it is safer. give 'pervyse' his chance. it is senseless to live here in this shed under shell fire. some day, the guns will get you, and then it will be too late." but always they refused, mother, and brother, and big and little sister, and grandmother. the village was their place. the shed was their home. hilda brought her beautiful big ambulance to their door. there was room enough inside for them all to go together, with their bundles of household goods. and the mother smiled, saying: "the shells will spare me. they will not hurt me." "you refuse me to-day," replied hilda, "but to-morrow i shall come again to take you away. i will take you to a new, safe home." * * * * * very early the next morning, hilda heard the sick crumble that meant the crunching of one more dwelling. she hurried to the door, and looked down the road. the place of the new birth had tumbled, and a thick smoke was rising from the wreck. she ran faster than she had ever run for her own safety. she came to the little home in a ruin of plaster and glass and brick-dust. destruction, long overdue, had fallen out of the sunny blue sky on the group of reckless survivors in that doomed village. the soldiers were searching in the smoking litter for bodies. big sister and little sister and brother were dead, and the little old grandmother. the mother, with shell wounds at her nursing breasts, was dying. only "pervyse" was living and to live. by a miracle of selection, he lay in the wreck of his house and the grave of his people--one foot half off, but otherwise a survivor of the shell that had fallen and burst inside his home. swiftly hilda in her car, carried mother and child to la panne to the great military hospital. the mother died in two hours on the operating table, and "pervyse" was alone in a world at war. the story and fame of him spread through the last city left to the belgians. all the rest of their good land was trampled by the alien and marred by shell-fire and petrol. here, alone in flanders, there was still music in the streets, even if it was often a dead march. and here life was still normal and orderly. "pervyse" found shelter in the military hospital where his mother had come only to die. he was the youngest wounded belgian in all the wards. they put him in a private room with a famous english colonel, and they called the two "big tom" and "little tom." the blue calico was changed for white things and "pervyse" had a deep, soft cradle and more visitors than he cared to see. * * * * * the days of his danger and flight were evil days in pervyse, for the guns grew busier and more deadly. there came a last day for the famous little dressing-station of the women. it began with trouble at the trenches. two boys of nineteen years were brought in to the nurses. one of them was carrying the brains of a dead comrade on his pocket. a shell had burst in their trench, giving them head wounds. they died in the hall. they had served two days at the front. the women placed them on stretchers in the kitchen, and covered their faces, and left them in peace. a brief peace, for a shell found the kitchen, and the blue fumes of it puffed into the room where the women were sitting. the orderly and four soldier friends came running in, holding their eyes. when hilda entered the kitchen, she saw that the shell had hit just above those quiet bodies, bringing the rafters and glass and brick upon them. a beam, from the rafter, had been driven into the breast of one of the boys--transfixing him as if by a lance. shells were breaking in the road, the garden, the field and the near-by houses, every five seconds. in her own house, bricks were strewn about, and the windows smashed in. a large hole, in a shed back of the house, marked the flight of a shell, and behind it lay a dead man who had taken refuge there. a belgian had driven up their car a moment before and it was standing at the door. one soldier started to the car--a shell drove him back--a second dash and he made it, turned the car, and the women darted in. they sped down the road to the edge of the village, and here the nurses found shelter. later that day the colonel handed them a written order to evacuate pervyse, lent them men to help, and gave them twenty minutes in which to pack and depart. they returned to their smashed house, and piled out their household goods. they left in the ambulance with all the soldiers cheering them. they were a sad little lot. so the loyal four months of service were ended under a few hours of gun-fire, and hilda and her friends had to follow "pervyse" to his new home. as she went down the road, she took one last look at the shattered place. no house in her earthly history had concentrated so many memories. there she had put off the care-free girl, and achieved her womanhood, as if at a stroke. there she and her friends had healed a thousand soldiers. they had welcomed the queen, princes, generals, brave officers soon to die, famous artists under arms, laughing peasant soldiers, the great and the obscure, such a society gathered under the vast pressure of a world-war as had seldom graced the "at-homes" of an iowa girl. there she had won fame, and a dearer thing yet, honor, which needs not to be known in order to shed its lonely comfort. she was leaving it all, forever, in that heap of plaster and crumbling brick. * * * * * she had rarely had him out of mind since that experience in wetteren convent, when they two had visited the little girl who lay dying of her bayonet wounds. but it was a full five months since she had seen him. "i had to come back," said hinchcliffe; "new york seemed out of it. i know there is work for me here--some little thing i can do to help you all. "what luck?" he added. "a shell has been following me around," replied hilda. "so far, it has aways called too late, or missed me by a few feet of masonry. but it's on my trail. it took the windows out of my room at a doctor's house in furnes. later on, it went clean through my little room up over a tailor's shop. in pervyse we had our poste de secours in the burgomaster's house. one morning we had stepped out for a little air--we were a couple of hundred yards down the road--when a big shell broke in the house. and now our last home in pervyse is blown to pieces. luck is good to me." hinchcliffe took his place, and a strong place it was, in the strange life of la panne. a word from him smoothed out tangles. the État major approved of him. he was twice arrested as a spy, and enjoyed the experience hugely. at one time, there was a deficiency of tires of the right make, and he put a rush order clear across the atlantic and had the consignment over in record time. he cut through the red tape of the transport service, red tape that had been annoying even the established hospitals. he imported comforts for the helpers. there was a special brand of tea which the english nurses were missing. so there was nothing for it, but his london agent must accompany the lot in person to la panne. there was something restless, consuming, in his activity. "your maternity hospital is a great idea," said hinchcliffe to hilda, during one of their talks. "i've cabled for five thousand pounds. that will start things." the maternity hospital had been suggested to hilda by the plight of little "pervyse," and the hundreds of other babies of the war whom she had seen, and the hapless peasant mothers. military hospitals are for soldiers, not for expectant mothers or orphaned children, and "pervyse's" days of glory were ending. reluctantly colonel depage, head surgeon of the hospital, had told hilda that "pervyse" must seek another home. his room was needed for fighting men. "let me have him christened first?" asked hilda, and the great belgian physician had consented. it took her a week to make ready the ritual, but the morning came at last. "to-day we christen 'pervyse,'" said hilda to the banker. "will you come?" "it isn't just my sort of speciality," replied hinchcliffe, "but of course i'll come, if you'll show me the moves." hilda had chosen for the ceremony a village church on the dixmude road. they put all the little necessary bundles of baby life into hilda's ambulance--a packet of little shawls, and intimate clothing, a basket of things to eat, a great christening cake, frosted by dunkirk's leading confectioner, a can of chocolate and of cream, candy baskets of sweets. it was sunday--a cloudless, innocent day. they dodged through furnes, the ruined, and came at length to the village of their quest. they entered the convent, and found a neat, clean room of eight beds. two babies had arrived. six mothers were expectant. in charge of the room was a red-cheeked, black-eyed nurse, a flemish girl, motherly with the babies. hilda dressed "pervyse" in a long, white, immaculate dress, and a gossamer shawl, and pinned upon him a gold pin. she set the table in the convent--the cake in the center of the table, with one candle, and snowy blossoms from a plum tree. then the party started for the church: fifteen-year-old rené, the belgian boy scout who was to serve as godfather, giggling; the apple-cheeked flemish girl carrying "pervyse"; hilda and hinchcliffe closely following. they walked through the village street past laughing soldiers who called out, "_les anglais!_" they entered the church through the left door. a puff of damp air blew into their faces. in the chancel stood a stack of soldiers' bicycles. they kneeled and waited for the curé. in the nave, old peasant women were nodding and dipping, and telling their beads. the nurse handed the baby to hilda. rené giggled. three small children wandered near and stared. on the right side of the church was heaped a bundle of straw, and three rosy soldiers emerged who had been sleeping there. they winked at the pretty flemish nurse. the church for them was a resting-place, between trench service. the old curé entered with his young assistant. the youth was dudish, with a business suit, and a very high, straight collar that struck his chin. the curé was in long, black robes, with skirts--a yellow man, gray-haired, his mouth a thin, straight slit, almost toothless. his eyebrows turned up, as if the face were being pulled. his heavy ears lay back against his head, large wads of cotton-wool in them. he talked with the nurse, inquiring for the baby's name. there were a half-dozen names for the mite--family names of father and mother, so that there might be a survival of lines once so numerous. rené's name, too, was affixed. the curé wrote the names down on a slip of paper, and inserted it in his prayer-book. the service proceeded in latin and flemish. then "pervyse" was carried, behind the bicycles, to a small room, with the font. holy water was poured into a bowl. the old priest, muttering, put his thumb into the water, and then behind each ear of the baby, and at the nape of the neck. at the touch on the neck "pervyse" howled. the priest's hand shook, so that he jabbed the wrong place, and repeated the stroke. then the thumb was dipped again, and crossed on the forehead, then touched on the nose and eyes and chin. between the dippings, the aged man read from his book, and the assistant responded. to hinchcliffe, standing at a little distance, the group made a strange picture--"pervyse" wriggling and sometimes weeping; hilda "shsh, shysh, shshing"; rené nudging the flemish girl, and giggling; the soldiers peeping from the straw; the children, attracted by the outcries of "pervyse," drawing closer; aged worshippers continuing their droning. "pervyse" was held directly over the bowl and the slightly warmed water descended on him in volume. at this he shouted with anger. his head was dried and his white hood clapped on. he was borne to another room where from a cupboard the curé took down the sacred pictures, and put them over the child's neck. rené sat on the small stove in the corner of the room, and it caved in with a clatter of iron. but no side-issue could mar the ceremony which was now complete. "pervyse" had a name and a religion. then it was back again to the convent for the cake, inviting the good old curé to be one of the christening party. "pervyse," his hand guided, cut the christening cake. the candle was lighted. as the christening party sped homeward to la panne, hilda looked back. high overhead on the tower of the church, two soldiers and two officers with field glasses were stationed, signalling to their field battery. * * * * * without a mishap, they had returned to the military hospital, and "pervyse," thoroughly awakened by the ceremony, had been restored to his white crib. to soften his mood, his bottle of supper had been handed to him a little ahead of time. but, unwilling to lay aside the prominence which had been his, all day, he brandished the bottle as if it were a weapon instead of a soporific. "a pretty little service," said hilda, "but there was something pathetic to it. the little kid looked so lonely in the damp old church. and no one there that really belonged to him. and to-morrow or the next day or some day, they'll get the range of this place, and then little 'pervyse' will join his mother and his brother and sisters. with us older ones, it doesn't so much matter. we've had our bit of walk and talk and so good-by. but with a child it's different. all that love and pain for nothing. one more false start." "by god, no!" said hinchcliffe. "'pervyse' shall have his chance, the best chance a kid ever had. i've got to get back to america. there'll be a smash if i don't. i'm a month late on the job, as it is. but 'pervyse' goes with me. little belgium is going to get his chance." "you mean--" said hilda. "certainly, i do," replied the banker. "i mean that we're going to bring that kid up as good as if war was a dream. we're going to make him glad he's alive. he's going back to america with me. will you come?" "why," said hilda, her eyes filling, "what do you mean?" "i mean that i need you. show me how to put this thing, that we've been doing here, into new york. it's a different world after the war. you have often said it. america mustn't be behind. i want to catch up with these red cross chauffeurs. i want our crowd in wall street to be in on the fun. come on and help." "i don't know what to say," began hilda. "i shall miss you so. the boys in the ward will miss you, the babies will miss you." she laughed. "i can't come just now. there is so much work, and worse ahead." "later, you will come?" he pleaded. he turned to the child who was wielding his bottle as a hammer on the foot of the bed, and lifted him shoulder high. "remember," he said, as the bottle was thumped on his head, "'pervyse' and i will be waiting." the bottle fell on the floor, and the outraged glass splintered, and "pervyse's" supper went trickling down the cracks. "you see," said the banker, "we are helpless without you." * * * * * transcriber's note: every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings and inconsistent hyphenation. obvious typographical errors in punctuation (misplaced quotes and the like) have been corrected. corrections [in brackets] in the text are noted below: page : added quote of it," objected barkleigh. ["]when the danger is so close you can see it, page : typo corrected inch. so the little houshold[household] had removed themselves from the famous cellar page : typo corrected but no indignity of the roadway can long withold[withhold] him from his portion of peace, and page : typo corrected its utmost, and a partial unconsciousnes[unconsciousness] was spreading over troubled little travels and roadside sketches by william makepeace thackeray (aka titmarsh) i. from richmond in surrey to brussels in belgium ii. ghent--bruges:-- ghent ( ) bruges iii. waterloo little travels and roadside sketches i.--from richmond in surrey to brussels in belgium . . . i quitted the "rose cottage hotel" at richmond, one of the comfortablest, quietest, cheapest, neatest little inns in england, and a thousand times preferable, in my opinion, to the "star and garter," whither, if you go alone, a sneering waiter, with his hair curled, frightens you off the premises; and where, if you are bold enough to brave the sneering waiter, you have to pay ten shillings for a bottle of claret; and whence, if you look out of the window, you gaze on a view which is so rich that it seems to knock you down with its splendor--a view that has its hair curled like the swaggering waiter: i say, i quitted the "rose cottage hotel" with deep regret, believing that i should see nothing so pleasant as its gardens, and its veal cutlets, and its dear little bowling-green, elsewhere. but the time comes when people must go out of town, and so i got on the top of the omnibus, and the carpet-bag was put inside. if i were a great prince and rode outside of coaches (as i should if i were a great prince), i would, whether i smoked or not, have a case of the best havanas in my pocket--not for my own smoking, but to give them to the snobs on the coach, who smoke the vilest cheroots. they poison the air with the odor of their filthy weeds. a man at all easy in his circumstances would spare himself much annoyance by taking the above simple precaution. a gentleman sitting behind me tapped me on the back and asked for a light. he was a footman, or rather valet. he had no livery, but the three friends who accompanied him were tall men in pepper-and-salt undress jackets with a duke's coronet on their buttons. after tapping me on the back, and when he had finished his cheroot, the gentleman produced another wind-instrument, which he called a "kinopium," a sort of trumpet, on which he showed a great inclination to play. he began puffing out of the "kinopium" a most abominable air, which he said was the "duke's march." it was played by particular request of one of the pepper-and-salt gentry. the noise was so abominable that even the coachman objected (although my friend's brother footmen were ravished with it), and said that it was not allowed to play toons on his 'bus. "very well," said the valet, "we're only of the duke of b----'s establishment, that's all." the coachman could not resist that appeal to his fashionable feelings. the valet was allowed to play his infernal kinopium, and the poor fellow (the coachman), who had lived in some private families, was quite anxious to conciliate the footmen "of the duke of b.'s establishment, that's all," and told several stories of his having been groom in captain hoskins's family, nephew of governor hoskins; which stories the footmen received with great contempt. the footmen were like the rest of the fashionable world in this respect. i felt for my part that i respected them. they were in daily communication with a duke! they were not the rose, but they had lived beside it. there is an odor in the english aristocracy which intoxicates plebeians. i am sure that any commoner in england, though he would die rather than confess it, would have a respect for those great big hulking duke's footmen. the day before, her grace the duchess had passed us alone in a chariot-and-four with two outriders. what better mark of innate superiority could man want? here was a slim lady who required four--six horses to herself, and four servants (kinopium was, no doubt, one of the number) to guard her. we were sixteen inside and out, and had consequently an eighth of a horse apiece. a duchess = , a commoner = / ; that is to say, duchess = commoners. if i were a duchess of the present day, i would say to the duke my noble husband, "my dearest grace, i think, when i travel alone in my chariot from hammersmith to london, i will not care for the outriders. in these days, when there is so much poverty and so much disaffection in the country, we should not eclabousser the canaille with the sight of our preposterous prosperity." but this is very likely only plebeian envy, and i dare say, if i were a lovely duchess of the realm, i would ride in a coach-and-six, with a coronet on the top of my bonnet and a robe of velvet and ermine even in the dog-days. alas! these are the dog-days. many dogs are abroad--snarling dogs, biting dogs, envious dogs, mad dogs; beware of exciting the fury of such with your flaming red velvet and dazzling ermine. it makes ragged lazarus doubly hungry to see dives feasting in cloth-of-gold; and so if i were a beauteous duchess . . . silence, vain man! can the queen herself make you a duchess? be content, then, nor gibe at thy betters of "the duke of b----'s establishment-- that's all." on board the "antwerpen," off everywhere. we have bidden adieu to billingsgate, we have passed the thames tunnel; it is one o'clock, and of course people are thinking of being hungry. what a merry place a steamer is on a calm sunny summer forenoon, and what an appetite every one seems to have! we are, i assure you, no less than noblemen and gentlemen together, pacing up and down under the awning, or lolling on the sofas in the cabin, and hardly have we passed greenwich when the feeding begins. the company was at the brandy and soda-water in an instant (there is a sort of legend that the beverage is a preservative against sea-sickness), and i admired the penetration of gentlemen who partook of the drink. in the first place, the steward will put so much brandy into the tumbler that it is fit to choke you; and, secondly, the soda-water, being kept as near as possible to the boiler of the engine, is of a fine wholesome heat when presented to the hot and thirsty traveller. thus he is prevented from catching any sudden cold which might be dangerous to him. the forepart of the vessel is crowded to the full as much as the genteeler quarter. there are four carriages, each with piles of imperials and aristocratic gimcracks of travel, under the wheels of which those personages have to clamber who have a mind to look at the bowsprit, and perhaps to smoke a cigar at ease. the carriages overcome, you find yourself confronted by a huge penful of durham oxen, lying on hay and surrounded by a barricade of oars. fifteen of these horned monsters maintain an incessant mooing and bellowing. beyond the cows come a heap of cotton-bags, beyond the cotton-bags more carriages, more pyramids of travelling trunks, and valets and couriers bustling and swearing round about them. and already, and in various corners and niches, lying on coils of rope, black tar-cloths, ragged cloaks, or hay, you see a score of those dubious fore-cabin passengers, who are never shaved, who always look unhappy, and appear getting ready to be sick. at one, dinner begins in the after-cabin--boiled salmon, boiled beef, boiled mutton, boiled cabbage, boiled potatoes, and parboiled wine for any gentlemen who like it, and two roast-ducks between seventy. after this, knobs of cheese are handed round on a plate, and there is a talk of a tart somewhere at some end of the table. all this i saw peeping through a sort of meat-safe which ventilates the top of the cabin, and very happy and hot did the people seem below. "how the deuce can people dine at such an hour?" say several genteel fellows who are watching the manoeuvres. "i can't touch a morsel before seven." but somehow at half-past three o'clock we had dropped a long way down the river. the air was delightfully fresh, the sky of a faultless cobalt, the river shining and flashing like quicksilver, and at this period steward runs against me bearing two great smoking dishes covered by two great glistening hemispheres of tin. "fellow," says i, "what's that?" he lifted up the cover: it was ducks and green pease, by jingo! "what! haven't they done yet, the greedy creatures?" i asked. "have the people been feeding for three hours?" "law bless you, sir, it's the second dinner. make haste, or you won't get a place." at which words a genteel party, with whom i had been conversing, instantly tumbled down the hatchway, and i find myself one of the second relay of seventy who are attacking the boiled salmon, boiled beef, boiled cabbage, &c. as for the ducks, i certainly had some pease, very fine yellow stiff pease, that ought to have been split before they were boiled; but, with regard to the ducks, i saw the animals gobbled up before my eyes by an old widow lady and her party just as i was shrieking to the steward to bring a knife and fork to carve them. the fellow! (i mean the widow lady's whiskered companion)--i saw him eat pease with the very knife with which he had dissected the duck! after dinner (as i need not tell the keen observer of human nature who peruses this) the human mind, if the body be in a decent state, expands into gayety and benevolence, and the intellect longs to measure itself in friendly converse with the divers intelligences around it. we ascend upon deck, and after eying each other for a brief space and with a friendly modest hesitation, we begin anon to converse about the weather and other profound and delightful themes of english discourse. we confide to each other our respective opinions of the ladies round about us. look at that charming creature in a pink bonnet and a dress of the pattern of a kilmarnock snuff-box: a stalwart irish gentleman in a green coat and bushy red whiskers is whispering something very agreeable into her ear, as is the wont of gentlemen of his nation; for her dark eyes kindle, her red lips open and give an opportunity to a dozen beautiful pearly teeth to display themselves, and glance brightly in the sun; while round the teeth and the lips a number of lovely dimples make their appearance, and her whole countenance assumes a look of perfect health and happiness. see her companion in shot silk and a dove-colored parasol; in what a graceful watteau-like attitude she reclines. the tall courier who has been bouncing about the deck in attendance upon these ladies (it is his first day of service, and he is eager to make a favorable impression on them and the lady's-maids too) has just brought them from the carriage a small paper of sweet cakes (nothing is prettier than to see a pretty woman eating sweet biscuits) and a bottle that evidently contains malmsey madeira. how daintily they sip it; how happy they seem; how that lucky rogue of an irishman prattles away! yonder is a noble group indeed: an english gentleman and his family. children, mother, grandmother, grown-up daughters, father, and domestics, twenty-two in all. they have a table to themselves on the deck, and the consumption of eatables among them is really endless. the nurses have been bustling to and fro, and bringing, first, slices of cake; then dinner; then tea with huge family jugs of milk; and the little people have been playing hide-and-seek round the deck, coquetting with the other children, and making friends of every soul on board. i love to see the kind eyes of women fondly watching them as they gambol about; a female face, be it ever so plain, when occupied in regarding children, becomes celestial almost, and a man can hardly fail to be good and happy while he is looking on at such sights. "ah, sir!" says a great big man, whom you would not accuse of sentiment, "i have a couple of those little things at home;" and he stops and heaves a great big sigh and swallows down a half-tumbler of cold something and water. we know what the honest fellow means well enough. he is saying to himself, "god bless my girls and their mother!" but, being a briton, is too manly to speak out in a more intelligible way. perhaps it is as well for him to be quiet, and not chatter and gesticulate like those frenchmen a few yards from him, who are chirping over a bottle of champagne. there is, as you may fancy, a number of such groups on the deck, and a pleasant occupation it is for a lonely man to watch them and build theories upon them, and examine those two personages seated cheek by jowl. one is an english youth, travelling for the first time, who has been hard at his guidebook during the whole journey. he has a "manuel du voyageur" in his pocket: a very pretty, amusing little oblong work it is too, and might be very useful, if the foreign people in three languages, among whom you travel, would but give the answers set down in the book, or understand the questions you put to them out of it. the other honest gentleman in the fur cap, what can his occupation be? we know him at once for what he is. "sir," says he, in a fine german accent, "i am a brofessor of languages, and will gif you lessons in danish, swedish, english, bortuguese, spanish and bersian." thus occupied in meditations, the rapid hours and the rapid steamer pass quickly on. the sun is sinking, and, as he drops, the ingenious luminary sets the thames on fire: several worthy gentlemen, watch in hand, are eagerly examining the phenomena attending his disappearance,--rich clouds of purple and gold, that form the curtains of his bed,--little barks that pass black across his disc, his disc every instant dropping nearer and nearer into the water. "there he goes!" says one sagacious observer. "no, he doesn't," cries another. now he is gone, and the steward is already threading the deck, asking the passengers, right and left, if they will take a little supper. what a grand object is a sunset, and what a wonder is an appetite at sea! lo! the horned moon shines pale over margate, and the red beacon is gleaming from distant ramsgate pier. ***** a great rush is speedily made for the mattresses that lie in the boat at the ship's side; and as the night is delightfully calm, many fair ladies and worthy men determine to couch on deck for the night. the proceedings of the former, especially if they be young and pretty, the philosopher watches with indescribable emotion and interest. what a number of pretty coquetries do the ladies perform, and into what pretty attitudes do they take care to fall! all the little children have been gathered up by the nursery-maids, and are taken down to roost below. balmy sleep seals the eyes of many tired wayfarers, as you see in the case of the russian nobleman asleep among the portmanteaus; and titmarsh, who has been walking the deck for some time with a great mattress on his shoulders, knowing full well that were he to relinquish it for an instant, some other person would seize on it, now stretches his bed upon the deck, wraps his cloak about his knees, draws his white cotton nightcap tight over his head and ears; and, as the smoke of his cigar rises calmly upwards to the deep sky and the cheerful twinkling stars, he feels himself exquisitely happy, and thinks of thee, my juliana! ***** why people, because they are in a steamboat, should get up so deucedly early i cannot understand. gentlemen have been walking over my legs ever since three o'clock this morning, and, no doubt, have been indulging in personalities (which i hate) regarding my appearance and manner of sleeping, lying, snoring. let the wags laugh on; but a far pleasanter occupation is to sleep until breakfast-time, or near it. the tea, and ham and eggs, which, with a beefsteak or two, and three or four rounds of toast, form the component parts of the above-named elegant meal, are taken in the river scheldt. little neat, plump-looking churches and villages are rising here and there among tufts of trees and pastures that are wonderfully green. to the right, as the "guide-book" says, is walcheren; and on the left cadsand, memorable for the english expedition of , when lord chatham, sir walter manny, and henry earl of derby, at the head of the english, gained a great victory over the flemish mercenaries in the pay of philippe of valois. the cloth-yard shafts of the english archers did great execution. flushing was taken, and lord chatham returned to england, where he distinguished himself greatly in the debates on the american war, which he called the brightest jewel of the british crown. you see, my love, that, though an artist by profession, my education has by no means been neglected; and what, indeed, would be the pleasure of travel, unless these charming historical recollections were brought to bear upon it? antwerp. as many hundreds of thousands of english visit this city (i have met at least a hundred of them in this half-hour walking the streets, "guide-book" in hand), and as the ubiquitous murray has already depicted the place, there is no need to enter into a long description of it, its neatness, its beauty, and its stiff antique splendor. the tall pale houses have many of them crimped gables, that look like queen elizabeth's ruffs. there are as many people in the streets as in london at three o'clock in the morning; the market-women wear bonnets of a flower-pot shape, and have shining brazen milk-pots, which are delightful to the eyes of a painter. along the quays of the lazy scheldt are innumerable good-natured groups of beer-drinkers (small-beer is the most good-natured drink in the world); along the barriers outside of the town, and by the glistening canals, are more beer-shops and more beer-drinkers. the city is defended by the queerest fat military. the chief traffic is between the hotels and the railroad. the hotels give wonderful good dinners, and especially at the "grand laboureur" may be mentioned a peculiar tart, which is the best of all tarts that ever a man ate since he was ten years old. a moonlight walk is delightful. at ten o'clock the whole city is quiet; and so little changed does it seem to be, that you may walk back three hundred years into time, and fancy yourself a majestical spaniard, or an oppressed and patriotic dutchman at your leisure. you enter the inn, and the old quentin durward court-yard, on which the old towers look down. there is a sound of singing--singing at midnight. is it don sombrero, who is singing an andalusian seguidilla under the window of the flemish burgomaster's daughter? ah, no! it is a fat englishman in a zephyr coat: he is drinking cold gin-and-water in the moonlight, and warbling softly-- "nix my dolly, pals, fake away, n-ix my dolly, pals, fake a--a--way."* * in . i wish the good people would knock off the top part of antwerp cathedral spire. nothing can be more gracious and elegant than the lines of the first two compartments; but near the top there bulges out a little round, ugly, vulgar dutch monstrosity (for which the architects have, no doubt, a name) which offends the eye cruelly. take the apollo, and set upon him a bob-wig and a little cocked hat; imagine "god save the king" ending with a jig; fancy a polonaise, or procession of slim, stately, elegant court beauties, headed by a buffoon dancing a hornpipe. marshal gerard should have discharged a bombshell at that abomination, and have given the noble steeple a chance to be finished in the grand style of the early fifteenth century, in which it was begun. this style of criticism is base and mean, and quite contrary to the orders of the immortal goethe, who was only for allowing the eye to recognize the beauties of a great work, but would have its defects passed over. it is an unhappy, luckless organization which will be perpetually fault-finding, and in the midst of a grand concert of music will persist only in hearing that unfortunate fiddle out of tune. within--except where the rococo architects have introduced their ornaments (here is the fiddle out of tune again)--the cathedral is noble. a rich, tender sunshine is streaming in through the windows, and gilding the stately edifice with the purest light. the admirable stained-glass windows are not too brilliant in their colors. the organ is playing a rich, solemn music; some two hundred of people are listening to the service; and there is scarce one of the women kneeling on her chair, enveloped in her full majestic black drapery, that is not a fine study for a painter. these large black mantles of heavy silk brought over the heads of the women, and covering their persons, fall into such fine folds of drapery, that they cannot help being picturesque and noble. see, kneeling by the side of two of those fine devout-looking figures, is a lady in a little twiddling parisian hat and feather, in a little lace mantelet, in a tight gown and a bustle. she is almost as monstrous as yonder figure of the virgin, in a hoop, and with a huge crown and a ball and a sceptre; and a bambino dressed in a little hoop, and in a little crown, round which are clustered flowers and pots of orange-trees, and before which many of the faithful are at prayer. gentle clouds of incense come wafting through the vast edifice; and in the lulls of the music you hear the faint chant of the priest, and the silver tinkle of the bell. six englishmen, with the commissionaires, and the "murray's guide-books" in their hands, are looking at the "descent from the cross." of this picture the "guide-book" gives you orders how to judge. if it is the end of religious painting to express the religious sentiment, a hundred of inferior pictures must rank before rubens. who was ever piously affected by any picture of the master? he can depict a livid thief writhing upon the cross, sometimes a blond magdalen weeping below it; but it is a magdalen a very short time indeed after her repentance: her yellow brocades and flaring satins are still those which she wore when she was of the world; her body has not yet lost the marks of the feasting and voluptuousness in which she used to indulge, according to the legend. not one of the rubens's pictures among all the scores that decorate chapels and churches here, has the least tendency to purify, to touch the affections, or to awaken the feelings of religious respect and wonder. the "descent from the cross" is vast, gloomy, and awful; but the awe inspired by it is, as i take it, altogether material. he might have painted a picture of any criminal broken on the wheel, and the sensation inspired by it would have been precisely similar. nor in a religious picture do you want the savoir-faire of the master to be always protruding itself; it detracts from the feeling of reverence, just as the thumping of cushion and the spouting of tawdry oratory does from a sermon: meek religion disappears, shouldered out of the desk by the pompous, stalwart, big-chested, fresh-colored, bushy-whiskered pulpiteer. rubens's piety has always struck us as of this sort. if he takes a pious subject, it is to show you in what a fine way he, peter paul rubens, can treat it. he never seems to doubt but that he is doing it a great honor. his "descent from the cross," and its accompanying wings and cover, are a set of puns upon the word christopher, of which the taste is more odious than that of the hooped-petticoated virgin yonder, with her artificial flowers, and her rings and brooches. the people who made an offering of that hooped petticoat did their best, at any rate; they knew no better. there is humility in that simple, quaint present; trustfulness and kind intention. looking about at other altars, you see (much to the horror of pious protestants) all sorts of queer little emblems hanging up under little pyramids of penny candles that are sputtering and flaring there. here you have a silver arm, or a little gold toe, or a wax leg, or a gilt eye, signifying and commemorating cures that have been performed by the supposed intercession of the saint over whose chapel they hang. well, although they are abominable superstitions, yet these queer little offerings seem to me to be a great deal more pious than rubens's big pictures; just as is the widow with her poor little mite compared to the swelling pharisee who flings his purse of gold into the plate. a couple of days of rubens and his church pictures makes one thoroughly and entirely sick of him. his very genius and splendor pails upon one, even taking the pictures as worldly pictures. one grows weary of being perpetually feasted with this rich, coarse, steaming food. considering them as church pictures, i don't want to go to church to hear, however splendid, an organ play the "british grenadiers." the antwerpians have set up a clumsy bronze statue of their divinity in a square of the town; and those who have not enough of rubens in the churches may study him, and indeed to much greater advantage, in a good, well-lighted museum. here, there is one picture, a dying saint taking the communion, a large piece ten or eleven feet high, and painted in an incredibly short space of time, which is extremely curious indeed for the painter's study. the picture is scarcely more than an immense magnificent sketch; but it tells the secret of the artist's manner, which, in the midst of its dash and splendor, is curiously methodical. where the shadows are warm the lights are cold, and vice versa; and the picture has been so rapidly painted, that the tints lie raw by the side of one another, the artist not having taken the trouble to blend them. there are two exquisite vandykes (whatever sir joshua may say of them), and in which the very management of the gray tones which the president abuses forms the principal excellence and charm. why, after all, are we not to have our opinion? sir joshua is not the pope. the color of one of those vandykes is as fine as fine paul veronese, and the sentiment beautifully tender and graceful. i saw, too, an exhibition of the modern belgian artists ( ), the remembrance of whose pictures after a month's absence has almost entirely vanished. wappers's hand, as i thought, seemed to have grown old and feeble, verboeckhoven's cattle-pieces are almost as good as paul potter's, and keyser has dwindled down into namby-pamby prettiness, pitiful to see in the gallant young painter who astonished the louvre artists ten years ago by a hand almost as dashing and ready as that of rubens himself. there were besides many caricatures of the new german school, which are in themselves caricatures of the masters before raphael. an instance of honesty may be mentioned here with applause. the writer lost a pocket-book containing a passport and a couple of modest ten-pound notes. the person who found the portfolio ingeniously put it into the box of the post-office, and it was faithfully restored to the owner; but somehow the two ten-pound notes were absent. it was, however, a great comfort to get the passport, and the pocket-book, which must be worth about ninepence. brussels. it was night when we arrived by the railroad from antwerp at brussels; the route is very pretty and interesting, and the flat countries through which the road passes in the highest state of peaceful, smiling cultivation. the fields by the roadside are enclosed by hedges as in england, the harvest was in part down, and an english country gentleman who was of our party pronounced the crops to be as fine as any he had ever seen. of this matter a cockney cannot judge accurately, but any man can see with what extraordinary neatness and care all these little plots of ground are tilled, and admire the richness and brilliancy of the vegetation. outside of the moat of antwerp, and at every village by which we passed, it was pleasant to see the happy congregations of well-clad people that basked in the evening sunshine, and soberly smoked their pipes and drank their flemish beer. men who love this drink must, as i fancy, have something essentially peaceful in their composition, and must be more easily satisfied than folks on our side of the water. the excitement of flemish beer is, indeed, not great. i have tried both the white beer and the brown; they are both of the kind which schoolboys denominate "swipes," very sour and thin to the taste, but served, to be sure, in quaint flemish jugs that do not seem to have changed their form since the days of rubens, and must please the lovers of antiquarian knick-knacks. numbers of comfortable-looking women and children sat beside the head of the family upon the tavern-benches, and it was amusing to see one little fellow of eight years old smoking, with much gravity, his father's cigar. how the worship of the sacred plant of tobacco has spread through all europe! i am sure that the persons who cry out against the use of it are guilty of superstition and unreason, and that it would be a proper and easy task for scientific persons to write an encomium upon the weed. in solitude it is the pleasantest companion possible, and in company never de trop. to a student it suggests all sorts of agreeable thoughts, it refreshes the brain when weary, and every sedentary cigar-smoker will tell you how much good he has had from it, and how he has been able to return to his labor, after a quarter of an hour's mild interval of the delightful leaf of havana. drinking has gone from among us since smoking came in. it is a wicked error to say that smokers are drunkards; drink they do, but of gentle diluents mostly, for fierce stimulants of wine or strong liquors are abhorrent to the real lover of the indian weed. ah! my juliana, join not in the vulgar cry that is raised against us. cigars and cool drinks beget quiet conversations, good-humor, meditation; not hot blood such as mounts into the head of drinkers of apoplectic port or dangerous claret. are we not more moral and reasonable than our forefathers? indeed i think so somewhat; and many improvements of social life and converse must date with the introduction of the pipe. we were a dozen tobacco-consumers in the wagon of the train that brought us from antwerp; nor did the women of the party (sensible women!) make a single objection to the fumigation. but enough of this; only let me add, in conclusion, that an excellent israelitish gentleman, mr. hartog of antwerp, supplies cigars for a penny apiece, such as are not to be procured in london for four times the sum. through smiling corn-fields, then, and by little woods from which rose here and there the quaint peaked towers of some old-fashioned chateaux, our train went smoking along at thirty miles an hour. we caught a glimpse of mechlin steeple, at first dark against the sunset, and afterwards bright as we came to the other side of it, and admired long glistening canals or moats that surrounded the queer old town, and were lighted up in that wonderful way which the sun only understands, and not even mr. turner, with all his vermilion and gamboge, can put down on canvas. the verdure was everywhere astonishing, and we fancied we saw many golden cuyps as we passed by these quiet pastures. steam-engines and their accompaniments, blazing forges, gaunt manufactories, with numberless windows and long black chimneys, of course take away from the romance of the place but, as we whirled into brussels, even these engines had a fine appearance. three or four of the snorting, galloping monsters had just finished their journey, and there was a quantity of flaming ashes lying under the brazen bellies of each that looked properly lurid and demoniacal. the men at the station came out with flaming torches--awful-looking fellows indeed! presently the different baggage was handed out, and in the very worst vehicle i ever entered, and at the very slowest pace, we were borne to the "hotel de suede," from which house of entertainment this letter is written. we strolled into the town, but, though the night was excessively fine and it was not yet eleven o'clock, the streets of the little capital were deserted, and the handsome blazing cafes round about the theatres contained no inmates. ah, what a pretty sight is the parisian boulevard on a night like this! how many pleasant hours has one passed in watching the lights, and the hum, and the stir, and the laughter of those happy, idle people! there was none of this gayety here; nor was there a person to be found, except a skulking commissioner or two (whose real name in french is that of a fish that is eaten with fennel-sauce), and who offered to conduct us to certain curiosities in the town. what must we english not have done, that in every town in europe we are to be fixed upon by scoundrels of this sort; and what a pretty reflection it is on our country that such rascals find the means of living on us! early the next morning we walked through a number of streets in the place, and saw certain sights. the park is very pretty, and all the buildings round about it have an air of neatness--almost of stateliness. the houses are tall, the streets spacious, and the roads extremely clean. in the park is a little theatre, a cafe somewhat ruinous, a little palace for the king of this little kingdom, some smart public buildings (with s. p. q. b. emblazoned on them, at which pompous inscription one cannot help laughing), and other rows of houses somewhat resembling a little rue de rivoli. whether from my own natural greatness and magnanimity, or from that handsome share of national conceit that every englishman possesses, my impressions of this city are certainly anything but respectful. it has an absurd kind of lilliput look with it. there are soldiers, just as in paris, better dressed, and doing a vast deal of drumming and bustle; and yet, somehow, far from being frightened at them, i feel inclined to laugh in their faces. there are little ministers, who work at their little bureaux; and to read the journals, how fierce they are! a great thundering times could hardly talk more big. one reads about the rascally ministers, the miserable opposition, the designs of tyrants, the eyes of europe, &c., just as one would in real journals. the moniteur of ghent belabors the independent of brussels; the independent falls foul of the lynx; and really it is difficult not to suppose sometimes that these worthy people are in earnest. and yet how happy were they sua si bona norint! think what a comfort it would be to belong to a little state like this; not to abuse their privilege, but philosophically to use it. if i were a belgian, i would not care one single fig about politics. i would not read thundering leading-articles. i would not have an opinion. what's the use of an opinion here? happy fellows! do not the french, the english, and the prussians, spare them the trouble of thinking, and make all their opinions for them? think of living in a country free, easy, respectable, wealthy, and with the nuisance of talking politics removed from out of it. all this might the belgians have, and a part do they enjoy, but not the best part; no, these people will be brawling and by the ears, and parties run as high here as at stoke pogis or little pedlington. these sentiments were elicited by the reading of a paper at the cafe in the park, where we sat under the trees for a while and sipped our cool lemonade. numbers of statues decorate the place, the very worst i ever saw. these cupids must have been erected in the time of the dutch dynasty, as i judge from the immense posterior developments. indeed the arts of the country are very low. the statues here, and the lions before the prince of orange's palace, would disgrace almost the figurehead of a ship. of course we paid our visit to this little lion of brussels (the prince's palace, i mean). the architecture of the building is admirably simple and firm; and you remark about it, and all other works here, a high finish in doors, wood-works, paintings, &c., that one does not see in france, where the buildings are often rather sketched than completed, and the artist seems to neglect the limbs, as it were, and extremities of his figures. the finish of this little place is exquisite. we went through some dozen of state-rooms, paddling along over the slippery floors of inlaid woods in great slippers, without which we must have come to the ground. how did his royal highness the prince of orange manage when he lived here, and her imperial highness the princess, and their excellencies the chamberlains and the footmen? they must have been on their tails many times a day, that's certain, and must have cut queer figures. the ball-room is beautiful--all marble, and yet with a comfortable, cheerful look; the other apartments are not less agreeable, and the people looked with intense satisfaction at some great lapis-lazuli tables, which the guide informed us were worth four millions, more or less; adding with a very knowing look, that they were un peu plus cher que l'or. this speech has a tremendous effect on visitors, and when we met some of our steamboat companions in the park or elsewhere--in so small a place as this one falls in with them a dozen times a day--"have you seen the tables?" was the general question. prodigious tables are they, indeed! fancy a table, my dear--a table four feet wide--a table with legs. ye heavens! the mind can hardly picture to itself anything so beautiful and so tremendous! there are some good pictures in the palace, too, but not so extraordinarily good as the guide-books and the guide would have us to think. the latter, like most men of his class, is an ignoramus, who showed us an andrea del sarto (copy or original), and called it a correggio, and made other blunders of a like nature. as is the case in england, you are hurried through the rooms without being allowed time to look at the pictures, and, consequently, to pronounce a satisfactory judgment on them. in the museum more time was granted me, and i spent some hours with pleasure there. it is an absurd little gallery, absurdly imitating the louvre, with just such compartments and pillars as you see in the noble paris gallery; only here the pillars and capitals are stucco and white in place of marble and gold, and plaster-of-paris busts of great belgians are placed between the pillars. an artist of the country has made a picture containing them, and you will be ashamed of your ignorance when you hear many of their names. old tilly of magdeburg figures in one corner; rubens, the endless rubens, stands in the midst. what a noble countenance it is, and what a manly, swaggering consciousness of power! the picture to see here is a portrait, by the great peter paul, of one of the governesses of the netherlands. it is just the finest portrait that ever was seen. only a half-length, but such a majesty, such a force, such a splendor, such a simplicity about it! the woman is in a stiff black dress, with a ruff and a few pearls; a yellow curtain is behind her--the simplest arrangement that can be conceived; but this great man knew how to rise to his occasion; and no better proof can be shown of what a fine gentleman he was than this his homage to the vice-queen. a common bungler would have painted her in her best clothes, with crown and sceptre, just as our queen has been painted by--but comparisons are odious. here stands this majestic woman in her every-day working-dress of black satin, looking your hat off, as it were. another portrait of the same personage hangs elsewhere in the gallery, and it is curious to observe the difference between the two, and see how a man of genius paints a portrait, and how a common limner executes it. many more pictures are there here by rubens, or rather from rubens's manufactory,--odious and vulgar most of them are; fat magdalens, coarse saints, vulgar virgins, with the scene-painter's tricks far too evident upon the canvas. by the side of one of the most astonishing color-pieces in the world, the "worshipping of the magi," is a famous picture of paul veronese that cannot be too much admired. as rubens sought in the first picture to dazzle and astonish by gorgeous variety, paul in his seems to wish to get his effect by simplicity, and has produced the most noble harmony that can be conceived. many more works are there that merit notice,--a singularly clever, brilliant, and odious jordaens, for example; some curious costume-pieces; one or two works by the belgian raphael, who was a very belgian raphael, indeed; and a long gallery of pictures of the very oldest school, that, doubtless, afford much pleasure to the amateurs of ancient art. i confess that i am inclined to believe in very little that existed before the time of raphael. there is, for instance, the prince of orange's picture by perugino, very pretty indeed, up to a certain point, but all the heads are repeated, all the drawing is bad and affected; and this very badness and affectation, is what the so-called catholic school is always anxious to imitate. nothing can be more juvenile or paltry than the works of the native belgians here exhibited. tin crowns are suspended over many of them, showing that the pictures are prize compositions: and pretty things, indeed, they are! have you ever read an oxford prize-poem! well, these pictures are worse even than the oxford poems--an awful assertion to make. in the matter of eating, dear sir, which is the next subject of the fine arts, a subject that, after many hours' walking, attracts a gentleman very much, let me attempt to recall the transactions of this very day at the table-d'-hote. , green pea-soup; , boiled salmon; , mussels; , crimped skate; , roast-meat; , patties; , melons; , carp, stewed with mushrooms and onions; , roast-turkey; , cauliflower and butter; , fillets of venison piques, with asafoetida sauce; , stewed calf's-ear; , roast-veal; , roast-lamb; , stewed cherries; , rice-pudding; , gruyere cheese, and about twenty-four cakes of different kinds. except , , and , i give you my word i ate of all written down here, with three rolls of bread and a score of potatoes. what is the meaning of it? how is the stomach of man to be brought to desire and to receive all this quantity? do not gastronomists complain of heaviness in london after eating a couple of mutton-chops? do not respectable gentlemen fall asleep in their arm-chairs? are they fit for mental labor? far from it. but look at the difference here: after dinner here one is as light as a gossamer. one walks with pleasure, reads with pleasure, writes with pleasure--nay, there is the supper-bell going at ten o'clock, and plenty of eaters, too. let lord mayors and aldermen look to it, this fact of the extraordinary increase of appetite in belgium, and, instead of steaming to blackwall, come a little further to antwerp. of ancient architectures in the place, there is a fine old port de halle, which has a tall, gloomy, bastille look; a most magnificent town-hall, that has been sketched a thousand of times, and opposite it, a building that i think would be the very model for a conservative club-house in london. oh! how charming it would be to be a great painter, and give the character of the building, and the numberless groups round about it. the booths lighted up by the sun, the market-women in their gowns of brilliant hue, each group having a character and telling its little story, the troops of men lolling in all sorts of admirable attitudes of ease round the great lamp. half a dozen light-blue dragoons are lounging about, and peeping over the artist as the drawing is made, and the sky is more bright and blue than one sees it in a hundred years in london. the priests of the country are a remarkably well-fed and respectable race, without that scowling, hang-dog look which one has remarked among reverend gentlemen in the neighboring country of france. their reverences wear buckles to their shoes, light-blue neck-cloths, and huge three-cornered hats in good condition. to-day, strolling by the cathedral, i heard the tinkling of a bell in the street, and beheld certain persons, male and female, suddenly plump down on their knees before a little procession that was passing. two men in black held a tawdry red canopy, a priest walked beneath it holding the sacrament covered with a cloth, and before him marched a couple of little altar-boys in short white surplices, such as you see in rubens, and holding lacquered lamps. a small train of street-boys followed the procession, cap in hand, and the clergyman finally entered a hospital for old women, near the church, the canopy and the lamp-bearers remaining without. it was a touching scene, and as i stayed to watch it, i could not but think of the poor old soul who was dying within, listening to the last words of prayer, led by the hand of the priest to the brink of the black fathomless grave. how bright the sun was shining without all the time, and how happy and careless every thing around us looked! the duke d'arenberg has a picture-gallery worthy of his princely house. it does not contain great pieces, but tit-bits of pictures, such as suit an aristocratic epicure. for such persons a great huge canvas is too much, it is like sitting down alone to a roasted ox; and they do wisely, i think, to patronize small, high-flavored, delicate morceaux, such as the duke has here. among them may be mentioned, with special praise, a magnificent small rembrandt, a paul potter of exceeding minuteness and beauty, an ostade, which reminds one of wilkie's early performances, and a dusart quite as good as ostade. there is a berghem, much more unaffected than that artist's works generally are; and, what is more, precious in the eyes of many ladies as an object of art, there is, in one of the grand saloons, some needlework done by the duke's own grandmother, which is looked at with awe by those admitted to see the palace. the chief curiosity, if not the chief ornament of a very elegant library, filled with vases and bronzes, is a marble head, supposed to be the original head of the laocoon. it is, unquestionably a finer head than that which at present figures upon the shoulders of the famous statue. the expression of woe is more manly and intense; in the group as we know it, the head of the principal figure has always seemed to me to be a grimace of grief, as are the two accompanying young gentlemen with their pretty attitudes, and their little silly, open-mouthed despondency. it has always had upon me the effect of a trick, that statue, and not of a piece of true art. it would look well in the vista of a garden; it is not august enough for a temple, with all its jerks and twirls, and polite convulsions. but who knows what susceptibilities such a confession may offend? let us say no more about the laocoon, nor its head, nor its tail. the duke was offered its weight in gold, they say, for this head, and refused. it would be a shame to speak ill of such a treasure, but i have my opinion of the man who made the offer. in the matter of sculpture almost all the brussels churches are decorated with the most laborious wooden pulpits, which may be worth their weight in gold, too, for what i know, including his reverence preaching inside. at st. gudule the preacher mounts into no less a place than the garden of eden, being supported by adam and eve, by sin and death, and numberless other animals; he walks up to his desk by a rustic railing of flowers, fruits, and vegetables, with wooden peacocks, paroquets, monkeys biting apples, and many more of the birds and beasts of the field. in another church the clergyman speaks from out a hermitage; in a third from a carved palm-tree, which supports a set of oak clouds that form the canopy of the pulpit, and are, indeed, not much heavier in appearance than so many huge sponges. a priest, however tall or stout, must be lost in the midst of all these queer gimcracks; in order to be consistent, they ought to dress him up, too, in some odd fantastical suit. i can fancy the cure of meudon preaching out of such a place, or the rev. sydney smith, or that famous clergyman of the time of the league, who brought all paris to laugh and listen to him. but let us not be too supercilious and ready to sneer. it is only bad taste. it may have been very true devotion which erected these strange edifices. ii.--ghent--bruges. ghent. ( .) the beguine college or village is one of the most extraordinary sights that all europe can show. on the confines of the town of ghent you come upon an old-fashioned brick gate, that seems as if it were one of the city barriers; but, on passing it, one of the prettiest sights possible meets the eye: at the porter's lodge you see an old lady, in black and a white hood, occupied over her book; before you is a red church with a tall roof and fantastical dutch pinnacles, and all around it rows upon rows of small houses, the queerest, neatest, nicest that ever were seen (a doll's house is hardly smaller or prettier). right and left, on each side of little alleys, these little mansions rise; they have a courtlet before them, in which some green plants or hollyhocks are growing; and to each house is a gate, that has mostly a picture or queer-carved ornament upon or about it, and bears the name, not of the beguine who inhabits it, but of the saint to whom she may have devoted it--the house of st. stephen, the house of st. donatus, the english or angel convent, and so on. old ladies in black are pacing in the quiet alleys here and there, and drop the stranger a curtsy as he passes them and takes off his hat. never were such patterns of neatness seen as these old ladies and their houses. i peeped into one or two of the chambers, of which the windows were open to the pleasant evening sun, and saw beds scrupulously plain, a quaint old chair or two, and little pictures of favorite saints decorating the spotless white walls. the old ladies kept up a quick, cheerful clatter, as they paused to gossip at the gates of their little domiciles; and with a great deal of artifice, and lurking behind walls, and looking at the church as if i intended to design that, i managed to get a sketch of a couple of them. but what white paper can render the whiteness of their linen; what black ink can do justice to the lustre of their gowns and shoes? both of the ladies had a neat ankle and a tight stocking; and i fancy that heaven is quite as well served in this costume as in the dress of a scowling, stockingless friar, whom i had seen passing just before. the look and dress of the man made me shudder. his great red feet were bound up in a shoe open at the toes, a kind of compromise for a sandal. i had just seen him and his brethren at the dominican church, where a mass of music was sung, and orange-trees, flags, and banners decked the aisle of the church. one begins to grow sick of these churches, and the hideous exhibitions of bodily agonies that are depicted on the sides of all the chapels. into one wherein we went this morning was what they called a calvary: a horrible, ghastly image of a christ in a tomb, the figure of the natural size, and of the livid color of death; gaping red wounds on the body and round the brows: the whole piece enough to turn one sick, and fit only to brutalize the beholder of it. the virgin is commonly represented with a dozen swords stuck in her heart; bleeding throats of headless john baptists are perpetually thrust before your eyes. at the cathedral gate was a papier-mache church-ornament shop--most of the carvings and reliefs of the same dismal character: one, for instance, represented a heart with a great gash in it, and a double row of large blood-drops dribbling from it; nails and a knife were thrust into the heart; round the whole was a crown of thorns. such things are dreadful to think of. the same gloomy spirit which made a religion of them, and worked upon the people by the grossest of all means, terror, distracted the natural feelings of man to maintain its power--shut gentle women into lonely, pitiless convents--frightened poor peasants with tales of torment--taught that the end and labor of life was silence, wretchedness, and the scourge--murdered those by fagot and prison who thought otherwise. how has the blind and furious bigotry of man perverted that which god gave us as our greatest boon, and bid us hate where god bade us love! thank heaven that monk has gone out of sight! it is pleasant to look at the smiling, cheerful old beguine, and think no more of yonder livid face. one of the many convents in this little religious city seems to be the specimen-house, which is shown to strangers, for all the guides conduct you thither, and i saw in a book kept for the purpose the names of innumerable smiths and joneses registered. a very kind, sweet-voiced, smiling nun (i wonder, do they always choose the most agreeable and best-humored sister of the house to show it to strangers?) came tripping down the steps and across the flags of the little garden-court, and welcomed us with much courtesy into the neat little old-fashioned, red-bricked, gable-ended, shining-windowed convent of the angels. first she showed us a whitewashed parlor, decorated with a grim picture or two and some crucifixes and other religious emblems, where, upon stiff old chairs, the sisters sit and work. three or four of them were still there, pattering over their laces and bobbins; but the chief part of the sisterhood were engaged in an apartment hard by, from which issued a certain odor which i must say resembled onions: it was in fact the kitchen of the establishment. every beguine cooks her own little dinner in her own little pipkin; and there was half a score of them, sure enough, busy over their pots and crockery, cooking a repast which, when ready, was carried off to a neighboring room, the refectory, where, at a ledge-table which is drawn out from under her own particular cupboard, each nun sits down and eats her meal in silence. more religious emblems ornamented the carved cupboard-doors, and within, everything was as neat as neat could be: shining pewter-ewers and glasses, snug baskets of eggs and pats of butter, and little bowls with about a farthing's-worth of green tea in them--for some great day of fete, doubtless. the old ladies sat round as we examined these things, each eating soberly at her ledge and never looking round. there was a bell ringing in the chapel hard by. "hark!" said our guide, "that is one of the sisters dying. will you come up and see the cells?" the cells, it need not be said, are the snuggest little nests in the world, with serge-curtained beds and snowy linen, and saints and martyrs pinned against the wall. "we may sit up till twelve o'clock, if we like," said the nun; "but we have no fire and candle, and so what's the use of sitting up? when we have said our prayers we are glad enough to go to sleep." i forget, although the good soul told us, how many times in the day, in public and in private, these devotions are made, but fancy that the morning service in the chapel takes place at too early an hour for most easy travellers. we did not fail to attend in the evening, when likewise is a general muster of the seven hundred, minus the absent and sick, and the sight is not a little curious and striking to a stranger. the chapel is a very big whitewashed place of worship, supported by half a dozen columns on either side, over each of which stands the statue of an apostle, with his emblem of martyrdom. nobody was as yet at the distant altar, which was too far off to see very distinctly; but i could perceive two statues over it, one of which (st. laurence, no doubt) was leaning upon a huge gilt gridiron that the sun lighted up in a blaze--a painful but not a romantic instrument of death. a couple of old ladies in white hoods were tugging and swaying about at two bell-ropes that came down into the middle of the church, and at least five hundred others in white veils were seated all round about us in mute contemplation until the service began, looking very solemn, and white, and ghastly, like an army of tombstones by moonlight. the service commenced as the clock finished striking seven: the organ pealed out, a very cracked and old one, and presently some weak old voice from the choir overhead quavered out a canticle; which done, a thin old voice of a priest at the altar far off (and which had now become quite gloomy in the sunset) chanted feebly another part of the service; then the nuns warbled once more overhead; and it was curious to hear, in the intervals of the most lugubrious chants, how the organ went off with some extremely cheerful military or profane air. at one time was a march, at another a quick tune; which ceasing, the old nuns began again, and so sung until the service was ended. in the midst of it one of the white-veiled sisters approached us with a very mysterious air, and put down her white veil close to our ears and whispered. were we doing anything wrong, i wondered? were they come to that part of the service where heretics and infidels ought to quit the church? what have you to ask, o sacred, white-veiled maid? all she said was, "deux centiemes pour les suisses," which sum was paid; and presently the old ladies, rising from their chairs one by one, came in face of the altar, where they knelt down and said a short prayer; then, rising, unpinned their veils, and folded them up all exactly in the same folds and fashion, and laid them square like napkins on their heads, and tucked up their long black outer dresses, and trudged off to their convents. the novices wear black veils, under one of which i saw a young, sad, handsome face; it was the only thing in the establishment that was the least romantic or gloomy: and, for the sake of any reader of a sentimental turn, let us hope that the poor soul has been crossed in love, and that over some soul-stirring tragedy that black curtain has fallen. ghent has, i believe, been called a vulgar venice. it contains dirty canals and old houses that must satisfy the most eager antiquary, though the buildings are not quite in so good preservation as others that may be seen in the netherlands. the commercial bustle of the place seems considerable, and it contains more beer-shops than any city i ever saw. these beer-shops seem the only amusement of the inhabitants, until, at least, the theatre shall be built, of which the elevation is now complete, a very handsome and extensive pile. there are beer-shops in the cellars of the houses, which are frequented, it is to be presumed, by the lower sort; there are beer-shops at the barriers, where the citizens and their families repair; and beer-shops in the town, glaring with gas, with long gauze blinds, however, to hide what i hear is a rather questionable reputation. our inn, the "hotel of the post," a spacious and comfortable residence, is on a little place planted round with trees, and that seems to be the palais royal of the town. three clubs, which look from without to be very comfortable, ornament this square with their gas-lamps. here stands, too, the theatre that is to be; there is a cafe, and on evenings a military band plays the very worst music i ever remember to have heard. i went out to-night to take a quiet walk upon this place, and the horrid brazen discord of these trumpeters set me half mad. i went to the cafe for refuge, passing on the way a subterraneous beer-shop, where men and women were drinking to the sweet music of a cracked barrel-organ. they take in a couple of french papers at this cafe, and the same number of belgian journals. you may imagine how well the latter are informed, when you hear that the battle of boulogne, fought by the immortal louis napoleon, was not known here until some gentlemen out of norfolk brought the news from london, and until it had travelled to paris, and from paris to brussels. for a whole hour i could not get a newspaper at the cafe. the horrible brass band in the meantime had quitted the place, and now, to amuse the ghent citizens, a couple of little boys came to the cafe and set up a small concert: one played ill on the guitar, but sang, very sweetly, plaintive french ballads; the other was the comic singer; he carried about with him a queer, long, damp-looking, mouldy white hat, with no brim. "ecoutez," said the waiter to me, "il va faire l'anglais; c'est tres drole!" the little rogue mounted his immense brimless hat, and, thrusting his thumbs into the armholes of his waistcoat, began to faire l'anglais, with a song in which swearing was the principal joke. we all laughed at this, and indeed the little rascal seemed to have a good deal of humor. how they hate us, these foreigners, in belgium as much as in france! what lies they tell of us; how gladly they would see us humiliated! honest folks at home over their port-wine say, "ay, ay, and very good reason they have too. national vanity, sir, wounded--we have beaten them so often." my dear sir, there is not a greater error in the world than this. they hate you because you are stupid, hard to please, and intolerably insolent and air-giving. i walked with an englishman yesterday, who asked the way to a street of which he pronounced the name very badly to a little flemish boy: the flemish boy did not answer; and there was my englishman quite in a rage, shrieking in the child's ear as if he must answer. he seemed to think that it was the duty of "the snob," as he called him, to obey the gentleman. this is why we are hated--for pride. in our free country a tradesman, a lackey, or a waiter will submit to almost any given insult from a gentleman: in these benighted lands one man is as good as another; and pray god it may soon be so with us! of all european people, which is the nation that has the most haughtiness, the strongest prejudices, the greatest reserve, the greatest dulness? i say an englishman of the genteel classes. an honest groom jokes and hobs-and-nobs and makes his way with the kitchen-maids, for there is good social nature in the man; his master dare not unbend. look at him, how he scowls at you on your entering an inn-room; think how you scowl yourself to meet his scowl. to-day, as we were walking and staring about the place, a worthy old gentleman in a carriage, seeing a pair of strangers, took off his hat and bowed very gravely with his old powdered head out of the window: i am sorry to say that our first impulse was to burst out laughing--it seemed so supremely ridiculous that a stranger should notice and welcome another. as for the notion that foreigners hate us because we have beaten them so often, my dear sir, this is the greatest error in the world: well-educated frenchmen do not believe that we have beaten them. a man was once ready to call me out in paris because i said that we had beaten the french in spain; and here before me is a french paper, with a london correspondent discoursing about louis buonaparte and his jackass expedition to boulogne. "he was received at eglintoun, it is true," says the correspondent, "but what do you think was the reason? because the english nobility were anxious to revenge upon his person (with some coups de lance) the checks which the 'grand homme' his uncle had inflicted on us in spain." this opinion is so general among the french, that they would laugh at you with scornful incredulity if you ventured to assert any other. foy's history of the spanish war does not, unluckily, go far enough. i have read a french history which hardly mentions the war in spain, and calls the battle of salamanca a french victory. you know how the other day, and in the teeth of all evidence, the french swore to their victory of toulouse: and so it is with the rest; and you may set it down as pretty certain, st, that only a few people know the real state of things in france, as to the matter in dispute between us; nd, that those who do, keep the truth to themselves, and so it is as if it had never been. these belgians have caught up, and quite naturally, the french tone. we are perfide albion with them still. here is the ghent paper, which declares that it is beyond a doubt that louis napoleon was sent by the english and lord palmerston; and though it states in another part of the journal (from english authority) that the prince had never seen lord palmerston, yet the lie will remain uppermost--the people and the editor will believe it to the end of time. . . . see to what a digression yonder little fellow in the tall hat has given rise! let us make his picture, and have done with him. i could not understand, in my walks about this place, which is certainly picturesque enough, and contains extraordinary charms in the shape of old gables, quaint spires, and broad shining canals--i could not at first comprehend why, for all this, the town was especially disagreeable to me, and have only just hit on the reason why. sweetest juliana, you will never guess it: it is simply this, that i have not seen a single decent-looking woman in the whole place; they look all ugly, with coarse mouths, vulgar figures, mean mercantile faces; and so the traveller walking among them finds the pleasure of his walk excessively damped, and the impressions made upon him disagreeable. in the academy there are no pictures of merit; but sometimes a second-rate picture is as pleasing as the best, and one may pass an hour here very pleasantly. there is a room appropriated to belgian artists, of which i never saw the like: they are, like all the rest of the things in this country, miserable imitations of the french school--great nude venuses, and junos a la david, with the drawing left out. bruges. the change from vulgar ghent, with its ugly women and coarse bustle, to this quiet, old, half-deserted, cleanly bruges, was very pleasant. i have seen old men at versailles, with shabby coats and pigtails, sunning themselves on the benches in the walls; they had seen better days, to be sure, but they were gentlemen still: and so we found, this morning, old dowager bruges basking in the pleasant august sun, and looking if not prosperous, at least cheerful and well-bred. it is the quaintest and prettiest of all the quaint and pretty towns i have seen. a painter might spend months here, and wander from church to church, and admire old towers and pinnacles, tall gables, bright canals, and pretty little patches of green garden and moss-grown wall, that reflect in the clear quiet water. before the inn-window is a garden, from which in the early morning issues a most wonderful odor of stocks and wallflowers; next comes a road with trees of admirable green; numbers of little children are playing in this road (the place is so clean that they may roll in it all day without soiling their pinafores), and on the other side of the trees are little old-fashioned, dumpy, whitewashed, red-tiled houses. a poorer landscape to draw never was known, nor a pleasanter to see--the children especially, who are inordinately fat and rosy. let it be remembered, too, that here we are out of the country of ugly women: the expression of the face is almost uniformly gentle and pleasing, and the figures of the women, wrapped in long black monk-like cloaks and hoods, very picturesque. no wonder there are so many children: the "guide-book" (omniscient mr. murray!) says there are fifteen thousand paupers in the town, and we know how such multiply. how the deuce do their children look so fat and rosy? by eating dirt-pies, i suppose. i saw a couple making a very nice savory one, and another employed in gravely sticking strips of stick betwixt the pebbles at the house-door, and so making for herself a stately garden. the men and women don't seem to have much more to do. there are a couple of tall chimneys at either suburb of the town, where no doubt manufactories are at work, but within the walls everybody seems decently idle. we have been, of course, abroad to visit the lions. the tower in the grand place is very fine, and the bricks of which it is built do not yield a whit in color to the best stone. the great building round this tower is very like the pictures of the ducal palace at venice; and there is a long market area, with columns down the middle, from which hung shreds of rather lean-looking meat, that would do wonders under the hands of cattermole or haghe. in the tower there is a chime of bells that keep ringing perpetually. they not only play tunes of themselves, and every quarter of an hour, but an individual performs selections from popular operas on them at certain periods of the morning, afternoon, and evening. i have heard to-day "suoni la tromba," "son vergin vezzosa," from the "puritani," and other airs, and very badly they were played too; for such a great monster as a tower-bell cannot be expected to imitate madame grisi or even signor lablache. other churches indulge in the same amusement, so that one may come here and live in melody all day or night, like the young woman in moore's "lalla rookh." in the matter of art, the chief attractions of bruges are the pictures of hemling, that are to be seen in the churches, the hospital, and the picture-gallery of the place. there are no more pictures of rubens to be seen, and, indeed, in the course of a fortnight, one has had quite enough of the great man and his magnificent, swaggering canvases. what a difference is here with simple hemling and the extraordinary creations of his pencil! the hospital is particularly rich in them; and the legend there is that the painter, who had served charles the bold in his war against the swiss, and his last battle and defeat, wandered back wounded and penniless to bruges, and here found cure and shelter. this hospital is a noble and curious sight. the great hall is almost as it was in the twelfth century; it is spanned by saxon arches, and lighted by a multiplicity of gothic windows of all sizes; it is very lofty, clean, and perfectly well ventilated; a screen runs across the middle of the room, to divide the male from the female patients, and we were taken to examine each ward, where the poor people seemed happier than possibly they would have been in health and starvation without it. great yellow blankets were on the iron beds, the linen was scrupulously clean, glittering pewter-jugs and goblets stood by the side of each patient, and they were provided with godly books (to judge from the binding), in which several were reading at leisure. honest old comfortable nuns, in queer dresses of blue, black, white, and flannel, were bustling through the room, attending to the wants of the sick. i saw about a dozen of these kind women's faces: one was young--all were healthy and cheerful. one came with bare blue arms and a great pile of linen from an outhouse--such a grange as cedric the saxon might have given to a guest for the night. a couple were in a laboratory, a tall, bright, clean room, years old at least. "we saw you were not very religious," said one of the old ladies, with a red, wrinkled, good-humored face, "by your behavior yesterday in chapel." and yet we did not laugh and talk as we used at college, but were profoundly affected by the scene that we saw there. it was a fete-day: a mass of mozart was sung in the evening--not well sung, and yet so exquisitely tender and melodious, that it brought tears into our eyes. there were not above twenty people in the church: all, save three or four, were women in long black cloaks. i took them for nuns at first. they were, however, the common people of the town, very poor indeed, doubtless, for the priest's box that was brought round was not added to by most of them, and their contributions were but two-cent pieces,--five of these go to a penny; but we know the value of such, and can tell the exact worth of a poor woman's mite! the box-bearer did not seem at first willing to accept our donation--we were strangers and heretics; however, i held out my hand, and he came perforce as it were. indeed it had only a franc in it: but que voulez-vous? i had been drinking a bottle of rhine wine that day, and how was i to afford more? the rhine wine is dear in this country, and costs four francs a bottle. well, the service proceeded. twenty poor women, two englishmen, four ragged beggars, cowering on the steps; and there was the priest at the altar, in a great robe of gold and damask, two little boys in white surplices serving him, holding his robe as he rose and bowed, and the money-gatherer swinging his censer, and filling the little chapel with smoke. the music pealed with wonderful sweetness; you could see the prim white heads of the nuns in their gallery. the evening light streamed down upon old statues of saints and carved brown stalls, and lighted up the head of the golden-haired magdalen in a picture of the entombment of christ. over the gallery, and, as it were, a kind protectress to the poor below, stood the statue of the virgin. iii.--waterloo. it is, my dear, the happy privilege of your sex in england to quit the dinner-table after the wine-bottles have once or twice gone round it, and you are thereby saved (though, to be sure, i can't tell what the ladies do up stairs)--you are saved two or three hours' excessive dulness, which the men are obliged to go through. i ask any gentleman who reads this--the letters to my juliana being written with an eye to publication--to remember especially how many times, how many hundred times, how many thousand times, in his hearing, the battle of waterloo has been discussed after dinner, and to call to mind how cruelly he has been bored by the discussion. "ah, it was lucky for us that the prussians came up!" says one little gentleman, looking particularly wise and ominous. "hang the prussians!" (or, perhaps, something stronger "the prussians!") says a stout old major on half-pay. "we beat the french without them, sir, as beaten them we always have! we were thundering down the hill of belle alliance, sir, at the backs of them, and the french were crying 'sauve qui peut' long before the prussians ever touched them!" and so the battle opens, and for many mortal hours, amid rounds of claret, rages over and over again. i thought to myself considering the above things, what a fine thing it will be in after-days to say that i have been to brussels and never seen the field of waterloo; indeed, that i am such a philosopher as not to care a fig about the battle--nay, to regret, rather, that when napoleon came back, the british government had not spared their men and left him alone. but this pitch of philosophy was unattainable. this morning, after having seen the park, the fashionable boulevard, the pictures, the cafes--having sipped, i say, the sweets of every flower that grows in this paradise of brussels, quite weary of the place, we mounted on a namur diligence, and jingled off at four miles an hour for waterloo. the road is very neat and agreeable: the forest of soignies here and there interposes pleasantly, to give your vehicle a shade; the country, as usual, is vastly fertile and well cultivated. a farmer and the conducteur were my companions in the imperial, and could i have understood their conversation, my dear, you should have had certainly a report of it. the jargon which they talked was, indeed, most queer and puzzling--french, i believe, strangely hashed up and pronounced, for here and there one could catch a few words of it. now and anon, however, they condescended to speak in the purest french they could muster; and, indeed, nothing is more curious than to hear the french of the country. you can't understand why all the people insist upon speaking it so badly. i asked the conductor if he had been at the battle; he burst out laughing like a philosopher, as he was, and said "pas si bete." i asked the farmer whether his contributions were lighter now than in king william's time, and lighter than those in the time of the emperor? he vowed that in war-time he had not more to pay than in time of peace (and this strange fact is vouched for by every person of every nation), and being asked wherefore the king of holland had been ousted from his throne, replied at once, "parceque c'etoit un voleur:" for which accusation i believe there is some show of reason, his majesty having laid hands on much belgian property before the lamented outbreak which cost him his crown. a vast deal of laughing and roaring passed between these two worldly people and the postilion, whom they called "baron," and i thought no doubt that this talk was one of the many jokes that my companions were in the habit of making. but not so: the postilion was an actual baron, the bearer of an ancient name, the descendant of gallant gentlemen. good heavens! what would mrs. trollope say to see his lordship here? his father the old baron had dissipated the family fortune, and here was this young nobleman, at about five-and-forty, compelled to bestride a clattering flemish stallion, and bump over dusty pavements at the rate of five miles an hour. but see the beauty of high blood: with what a calm grace the man of family accommodates himself to fortune. far from being cast down, his lordship met his fate like a man: he swore and laughed the whole of the journey, and as we changed horses, condescended to partake of half a pint of louvain beer, to which the farmer treated him--indeed the worthy rustic treated me to a glass too. much delight and instruction have i had in the course of the journey from my guide, philosopher, and friend, the author of "murray's handbook." he has gathered together, indeed, a store of information, and must, to make his single volume, have gutted many hundreds of guide-books. how the continental ciceroni must hate him, whoever he is! every english party i saw had this infallible red book in their hands, and gained a vast deal of historical and general information from it. thus i heard, in confidence, many remarkable anecdotes of charles v., the duke of alva, count egmont, all of which i had before perceived, with much satisfaction, not only in the "handbook," but even in other works. the laureate is among the english poets evidently the great favorite of our guide: the choice does honor to his head and heart. a man must have a very strong bent for poetry, indeed, who carries southey's works in his portmanteau, and quotes them in proper time and occasion. of course at waterloo a spirit like our guide's cannot fail to be deeply moved, and to turn to his favorite poet for sympathy. hark how the laureated bard sings about the tombstones at waterloo:-- "that temple to our hearts was hallow'd now, for many a wounded briton there was laid, with such for help as time might then allow, from the fresh carnage of the field conveyed. and they whom human succor could not save, here, in its precincts, found a hasty grave. and here, on marble tablets, set on high, in english lines by foreign workmen traced, the names familiar to an english eye, their brethren here the fit memorial placed; whose unadorned inscriptions briefly tell their gallant comrades' rank, and where they fell. the stateliest monument of human pride, enriched with all magnificence of art, to honor chieftains who in victory died, would wake no stronger feeling in the heart than these plain tablets by the soldier's hand raised to his comrades in a foreign land." there are lines for you! wonderful for justice, rich in thought and novel ideas. the passage concerning their gallant comrades' rank should be specially remarked. there indeed they lie, sure enough: the honorable colonel this of the guards, captain that of the hussars, major so-and-so of the dragoons, brave men and good, who did their duty by their country on that day, and died in the performance of it. amen. but i confess fairly, that in looking at these tablets, i felt very much disappointed at not seeing the names of the men as well as the officers. are they to be counted for nought? a few more inches of marble to each monument would have given space for all the names of the men; and the men of that day were the winners of the battle. we have a right to be as grateful individually to any given private as to any given officer; their duties were very much the same. why should the country reserve its gratitude for the genteel occupiers of the army-list, and forget the gallant fellows whose humble names were written in the regimental books? in reading of the wellington wars, and the conduct of the men engaged in them, i don't know whether to respect them or to wonder at them most. they have death, wounds, and poverty in contemplation; in possession, poverty, hard labor, hard fare, and small thanks. if they do wrong, they are handed over to the inevitable provost-marshal; if they are heroes, heroes they may be, but they remain privates still, handling the old brown-bess, starving on the old twopence a day. they grow gray in battle and victory, and after thirty years of bloody service, a young gentleman of fifteen, fresh from a preparatory school, who can scarcely read, and came but yesterday with a pinafore in to papa's dessert--such a young gentleman, i say, arrives in a spick-and-span red coat, and calmly takes the command over our veteran, who obeys him as if god and nature had ordained that so throughout time it should be. that privates should obey, and that they should be smartly punished if they disobey, this one can understand very well. but to say obey for ever and ever--to say that private john styles is, by some physical disproportion, hopelessly inferior to cornet snooks--to say that snooks shall have honors, epaulets, and a marble tablet if he dies, and that styles shall fight his fight, and have his twopence a day, and when shot down shall be shovelled into a hole with other styleses, and so forgotten; and to think that we had in the course of the last war some , of these styleses, and some , , say, of the snooks sort--styles being by nature exactly as honest, clever, and brave as snooks--and to think that the , should bear this, is the wonder! suppose snooks makes a speech. "look at these frenchmen, british soldiers," says he, "and remember who they are. two-and-twenty years since they hurled their king from his throne and murdered him" (groans). "they flung out of their country their ancient and famous nobility--they published the audacious doctrine of equality--they made a cadet of artillery, a beggarly lawyer's son, into an emperor, and took ignoramuses from the ranks--drummers and privates, by jove!--of whom they made kings, generals, and marshals! is this to be borne?" (cries of "no! no!") "upon them, my boys! down with these godless revolutionists, and rally round the british lion!" so saying, ensign snooks (whose flag, which he can't carry, is held by a huge grizzly color-sergeant,) draws a little sword, and pipes out a feeble huzza. the men of his company, roaring curses at the frenchmen, prepare to receive and repel a thundering charge of french cuirassiers. the men fight, and snooks is knighted because the men fought so well. but live or die, win or lose, what do they get? english glory is too genteel to meddle with those humble fellows. she does not condescend to ask the names of the poor devils whom she kills in her service. why was not every private man's name written upon the stones in waterloo church as well as every officer's? five hundred pounds to the stone-cutters would have served to carve the whole catalogue, and paid the poor compliment of recognition to men who died in doing their duty. if the officers deserved a stone, the men did. but come, let us away and drop a tear over the marquis of anglesea's leg! as for waterloo, has it not been talked of enough after dinner? here are some oats that were plucked before hougoumont, where grow not only oats, but flourishing crops of grape-shot, bayonets, and legion-of-honor crosses, in amazing profusion. well, though i made a vow not to talk about waterloo either here or after dinner, there is one little secret admission that one must make after seeing it. let an englishman go and see that field, and he never forgets it. the sight is an event in his life; and, though it has been seen by millions of peaceable gents--grocers from bond street, meek attorneys from chancery lane, and timid tailors from piccadilly--i will wager that there is not one of them but feels a glow as he looks at the place, and remembers that he, too, is an englishman. it is a wrong, egotistical, savage, unchristian feeling, and that's the truth of it. a man of peace has no right to be dazzled by that red-coated glory, and to intoxicate his vanity with those remembrances of carnage and triumph. the same sentence which tells us that on earth there ought to be peace and good-will amongst men, tells us to whom glory belongs. version by al haines. the belgian twins by lucy fitch perkins geographical series the dutch twins primer. grade i. the dutch twins. grade iii. the eskimo twins. grade ii. the filipino twins. grade iv. the japanese twins. grade iv. the swiss twins. grade iv. the irish twins. grade v. the italian twins. grades v and vi. the scotch twins. grades v and vi. the mexican twins. grade vi. the belgian twins. grade vi. the french twins. grade vii. historical series the cave twins. grade iv. the spartan twins. grades v-vi. the puritan twins. grades vi-vii. to the friends of belgian children-- preface in this sad hour of the world's history, when so many homes have been broken up, and so many hearts burdened with heavy sorrows, it is comforting to think of the many heroic souls who, throughout the struggle, have gone about their daily tasks with unfailing courage and cheerfulness, and by so doing have helped to carry the burdens of the world, and to sustain other hearts as heavy as their own. it is comforting, also, to know that there are many instances of happy reunions after long and unspeakable anxieties, adventures, and trials. this story of two little belgian refugees is based upon the actual experience of two belgian children, and the incident of the locket is quite true. the characters of the eel-woman and the mother of the twins have also their living originals, from whose courage and devotion the author has received much inspiration. contents i. the harvest-field ii. the rumors iii. the alarm iv. "for king, for law and liberty" v. doing a man's work vi. at the church vii. the tidal wave of germans viii. granny and the eels ix. off for antwerp x. on the tow-path xi. the attack xii. the zeppelin raid xiii. refugees xiv. the most wonderful part the belgian twins i the harvest-field it was late in the afternoon of a long summer's day in belgium. father van hove was still at work in the harvest-field, though the sun hung so low in the west that his shadow, stretching far across the level, green plain, reached almost to the little red-roofed house on the edge of the village which was its home. another shadow, not so long, and quite a little broader, stretched itself beside his, for mother van hove was also in the field, helping her husband to load the golden sheaves upon an old blue farm-cart which stood near by. them were also two short, fat shadows which bobbed briskly about over the green meadow as their owners danced among the wheat-sheaves or carried handfuls of fresh grass to pier, the patient white farm-horse, hitched to the cart. these gay shadows belonged to jan and marie, sometimes called by their parents janke and mie, for short. jan and marie were the twin son and daughter of father and mother van hove, and though they were but eight years old, they were already quite used to helping their father and mother with the work of their little farm. they knew how to feed the chickens and hunt the eggs and lead pier to water and pull weeds in the garden. in the spring they had even helped sow the wheat and barley, and now in the late summer they were helping to harvest the grain. the children had been in the field since sunrise, but not all of the long bright day had been given to labor. early in the morning their father's pitchfork had uncovered a nest of field mice, and the twins had made another nest, as much like the first as possible, to put the homeless field babies in, hoping that their mother would find them again and resume her interrupted housekeeping. then they had played for a long time in the tiny canal which separated the wheat-field from the meadow, where bel, their black and white cow, was pastured. there was also fidel, the dog, their faithful companion and friend. the children had followed him on many an excursion among the willows along the river-bank, for fidel might at any moment come upon the rabbit or water rat which he was always seeking, and what a pity it would be for jan and marie to miss a sight like that! when the sun was high overhead, the whole family, and fidel also, had rested under a tree by the little river, and jan and marie had shared with their father and mother the bread and cheese which had been brought from home for their noon meal. then they had taken a nap in the shade, for it is a long day that begins and ends with the midsummer sun. the bees hummed so drowsily in the clover that mother van hove also took forty winks, while father van hove led pier to the river for a drink; and tied him where he could enjoy the rich meadow grass for a while. and now the long day was nearly over. the last level rays of the disappearing sun glistened on the red roofs of the village, and the windows of the little houses gave back an answering flash of light. on the steeple of the tiny church the gilded cross shone like fire against the gray of the eastern sky. the village clock struck seven and was answered faintly by the sound of distant chimes from the cathedral of malines, miles away across the plain. for some time father van hove had been standing on top of the load, catching the sheaves which mother van hove tossed up to him, and stowing them away in the farm-wagon, which was already heaped high with the golden grain. as the clock struck, he paused in his labor, took off his hat, and wiped his brow. he listened for a moment to the music of the bells, glanced at the western sky, already rosy with promise of the sunset, and at the weather-cock above the cross on the church-steeple. then he looked down at the sheaves of wheat, still standing like tiny tents across the field. "it's no use, mother," he said at last; "we cannot put it all in to-night, but the sky gives promise of a fair day to-morrow, and the weather-cock, also, points east. we can finish in one more load; let us go home now." "the clock struck seven," cried jan. "i counted the strokes." "what a scholar is our janke!" laughed his mother, as she lifted the last sheaf of wheat on her fork and tossed it at father van hove's feet. "he can count seven when it is supper-time! as for me, i do not need a clock; i can tell the time of day by the ache in my bones; and, besides that, there is bel at the pasture bars waiting to be milked and bellowing to call me." "i don't need a clock either," chimed in marie, patting her apron tenderly; "i can tell time by my stomach. it's a hundred years since we ate our lunch; i know it is." "come, then, my starvelings," said mother van hove, pinching marie's fat cheek, "and you shall save your strength by riding home on the load! here, ma mie, up you go!" she swung marie into the air as she spoke. father van hove reached down from his perch on top of the load, caught her in his arms, and enthroned her upon the fragrant grain. "and now it is your turn, my janke!" cried mother van hove, "and you shall ride on the back of old pier like a soldier going to the wars!" she lifted jan to the horse's back, while father van hove climbed down to earth once more and took up the reins. fidel came back dripping wet from the river, shook himself, and fell in behind the wagon. "u--u!" cried father van hove to old pier, and the little procession moved slowly up the cart-path toward the shining windows of their red-roofed house. the home of the van hoves lay on the very outskirts of the little hamlet of meer. beside it ran a yellow ribbon of road which stretched across the green plain clear to the city of malines. as they turned from the cart-path into the road, the old blue cart became part of a little profession of similar wagons, for the other men of meer were also late in coming home to the village from their outlying farms. "good-evening, neighbor," cried father van hove to father maes, whose home lay beyond his in the village. "how are your crops coming on?" "never better," answered father maes; "i have more wheat to the acre than ever before." "so have i, thanks be to the good god;" answered father van hove. "the winter will find our barns full this year." "yes," replied father maes a little sadly; "that is, if we have no bad luck, but jules verhulst was in the city yesterday and heard rumors of a german army on our borders. it is very likely only an idle tale to frighten the women and children, but jules says there are men also who believe it." "i shall believe nothing of the sort," said father van hove stoutly. "are we not safe under the protection of our treaty? no, no, neighbor, there's nothing to fear! belgium is neutral ground." "i hope you may be right," answered father maes, cracking his whip, and the cart moved on. mother van hove, meanwhile, had hastened ahead of the cart to stir up the kitchen fire and put the kettle on before the others should reach home, and when father van hove at last drove into the farmyard, she was already on the way to the pasture bars with her milk-pail on her arm. "set the table for supper, ma mie," she called back, "and do not let the pot boil over! jan, you may shut up the fowls; they have already gone to roost." "and what shall i do, mother?" laughed father van hove. "you," she called back, "you may unharness pier and turn him out in the pasture for the night! and i'll wager i shall be back with a full milk-pail before you've even so much as fed the pig, let alone the other chores--men are so slow!" she waved her hand gayly and disappeared behind the pasture bars, as she spoke. "hurry, now, my man," said father van hove to jan. "we must not let mother beat us! we will let the cart stand right there near the barn, and to-morrow we can store the grain away to make room for a new load. i will let you lead pier to the pasture, while i feed the pig myself; by her squeals she is hungry enough to eat you up in one mouthful." ii the rumors when mother van hove returned from the pasture, fifteen minutes later, her orders had all been carried out. pier was in the pasture, the hens were shut up for the night, and the pig, which had been squealing with hunger, was row grunting with satisfaction over her evening meal; fidel was gnawing a bone, and father van hove was already washing his hands at the pump, beside the kitchen door. "you are all good children," said the mother as she set down her brimming pail and took her turn at the wash-basin and the soap. "jan and marie, have you washed your hands?" "i have," called marie from the kitchen, "and supper is ready and the table set." "i washed my hands in the canal this morning," pleaded jan. "won't that do?" "you ate your lunch this noon, too," answered his mother promptly. "won't that do? why do you need to eat again when you have already eaten twice today?" "because i am hungry again," answered jan. "well, you are also dirty again," said his mother, as she put the soap in his hands and wiped her own on the clean towel which marie handed her from the door. she cleaned her wooden shoes on the bundle of straw which lay for the purpose beside the kitchen door; then she went inside and took her place opposite father van hove at the little round oaken table by the window. marie was already in her chair, and in a moment jan joined them with a beaming smile and a face which, though clean in the middle, showed a gray border from ear to ear. "if you don't believe i'm clean, look at the towel!" he said, holding it up. "oh, my heart!" cried his mother, throwing up her hands. "i declare there's but one creature in all god's world that cares nothing for cleanliness! even a pig has some manners if given half a chance, but boys!" she seized the grimy towel and held it up despairingly for father van hove to see. "he's just wet his face and wiped all the dirt off on the towel. the devil himself is not more afraid of holy water than jan van hove is of water of any kind!" she cried. "go and wash yourself properly, janke," said his father sternly, and jan disappeared through the kitchen door. sounds of vigorous pumping and splashing without were heard in the kitchen, and when jan appeared once more, he was allowed to take his place at the supper-table with the family. father van hove bowed his head, and the twins and their mother made the sign of the cross with him, as he began their grace before meat. "in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost, amen," prayed father van hove. "hail, mary, full of grace." then, as the prayer continued, the mother and children with folded hands and bowed heads joined in the petition: "holy mary, mother of god, pray for us sinners now and in the hour of our death, amen." a clatter of spoons followed the grace, and mother van hove's good buttermilk pap was not long in disappearing down their four hungry throats. the long day in the open air had made the children so sleepy they could scarcely keep their eyes open through the meal. "come, my children," said their mother briskly, as she rose from the table, "pop into bed, both of you, as fast as you can go. you are already half asleep! father, you help them with their buttons, and hear them say their prayers, while i wash up these dishes and take care of the milk." she took a candle from the chimney-piece as she spoke, and started down cellar with the skimmer. when she came back into the kitchen once more, the children were safely tucked in bed, and her husband was seated by the kitchen door with his chair tipped back against the wall, smoking his evening pipe. mother van hove cleared the table, washed the dishes, and brushed the crumbs from the tiled floor. then she spread the white sand once more under the table and in a wide border around the edge of the room, and hung the brush outside the kitchen door. father van hove smoked in silence as she moved about the room. at last he said to her, "leonie, did you hear what our neighbor maes said to-night as we were talking in the road?" "no," said his wife, "i was hurrying home to get supper." "maes said there are rumors of a german army on our frontier," said father van hove. his wife paused in front of him with her hands on her hips. "who brought that story to town?" she demanded. "jules verhulst," answered her husband. "jules verhulst!" sniffed mother van hove with disdain. "he knows more things that aren't so than any man in this village. i wouldn't believe anything on his say-so! besides, the whole world knows that all the powers have agreed that belgium shall be neutral ground, and have bound themselves solemnly to protect that neutrality. i learned that in school, and so did you." "yes," sighed father van hove. "i learned it too, and surely no nation can have anything against us! we have given no one cause for complaint that i know of." "it's nonsense," said his wife with decision. "belgium is safe enough so far as that goes, but one certainly has to work hard here just to make ends meet and get food for all the hungry mouths! they say it is different in america; there you work less and get more, and are farther away from meddlesome neighboring countries besides. i sometimes wish we had gone there with my sister. she and her husband started with no more than we have, and now they are rich--at least they were when i last heard from them; but that was a long time ago," she finished. "well," said father van hove, as he stood up and knocked the ashes from his pipe, "it may be that they have more money and less work, but i've lived here in this spot ever since i was born, and my father before me. somehow i feel i could never take root in any other soil. i'm content with things as they are." "so am i, for the matter of that," said mother van hove cheerfully, as she put fidel outside and shut the door for the night. then, taking the candle from the chimney-piece once more, she led the way to the inner room, where the twins were already soundly sleeping. iii the alarm for some time the little village of meer slept quietly in the moonlight. there was not a sound to break the stillness, except once when mother van hove's old rooster caught a glimpse of the waning moon through the window of the chicken-house, and crowed lustily, thinking it was the sun. the other roosters of the village, wiser than he, made no response to his call, and in a moment he, too, returned to his interrupted slumbers. but though there was as yet no sound to tell of their approach, the moon looked down upon three horsemen galloping over the yellow ribbon of road from malines toward the little village. soon the sound of the horses' hoofs beating upon the hardened earth throbbed through the village itself, and fidel sat up on the kitchen doorstep, pricked up his ears, and listened. he heard the hoof-beats and awakened the echoes with a sharp bark. mother van hove sat up in bed and listened; another dog barked, and another, and now she, too, heard the hoof-beats. nearer they came, and nearer, and now she could hear a voice shouting. she shook her husband. "wake up!" she whispered in his ear, "something is wrong! fidel barks, and i hear strange noises about. wake up!" "fidel is crazy," said father van hove sleepily. "he thinks some weasel is after the chickens very likely. fidel will attend to it. go to sleep." he sank back again upon his pillows, but his wife seized his arm and pulled him up. "listen!" she said. "oh, listen! weasels do not ride on horseback! there are hoof-beats on the road!" "some neighbor returning late from malines," said father van hove, yawning. "it does not concern us." but his wife was already out of bed, and at the window. the horsemen were now plainly visible, riding like the wind, and as they whirled by the houses their shout thrilled through the quiet streets of the village: "burghers, awake! awake! awake!" wide awake at last, father van hove sprang out of bed and hastily began putting down his clothes. his wife was already nearly dressed, and had lighted a candle. other lights sparkled from the windows of other houses. suddenly the bell in the church-steeple began to ring wildly, as though it, too, were shaken with a sudden terror. "it must be a fire," said father van hove. still fastening her clothing, his wife ran out of the door and looked about in every direction. "i see no fire," she said, "but the village street is full of people running to the square! hurry! hurry! we must take the children with us; they must not be left here alone." she ran to wake the children, as she spoke, and, helped by her trembling fingers, they, too, were soon dressed, and the four ran together up the road toward the village church. the bell still clanged madly from the steeple, and the vibrations seemed to shake the very flesh of the trembling children as they clung to their mother's hands and tried to keep up with their father's rapid strides. they found all the village gathered in front of the little town-hall. on its steps stood the burgomeister and the village priest, and near them, still sitting astride his foam-flecked steed, was one of the soldiers who had brought the alarm. his two companions were already far beyond meer, flying over the road to arouse the villages which lay farther to the east. the church-bell suddenly ceased its metallic clatter, and while its deep tones still throbbed through the night air, the wondering and frightened people crowded about the steps in breathless suspense. the burgomeister raised his hand. even in the moonlight it could be seen that he was pale. he spoke quickly. "neighbors," he said, "there is bad news! the german army is on our borders! it is necessary for every man of military age and training to join the colors at once in case the army is needed for defense. there is not a moment to lose. this messenger is from headquarters. he will tell you what you are to do." the soldier now spoke for the first time. "men of belgium," he cried, "your services are needed for your country and your king! the men of meer are to report at once to the army headquarters at malines. do not stop even to change your clothing! we are not yet at war, and our good king albert still hopes to avert it by an armed peace, but the neutrality of belgium is at stake, and we must be ready to protect it at any cost, and at an instant's notice. go at once to the brussels gate of malines. an officer will meet you there and tell you what to do. i must ride on to carry the alarm to putte." he wheeled his horse as he spoke, and, turning in his saddle, lifted his sword and cried, "vive le roi!" "vive le roi! vive la belgique!" came in an answering shout from the people of meer, and he was gone. there was a moment of stunned silence as he rode away; then a sound of women weeping. the burgomeister came down from the steps of the town-hall, said farewell to his wife and children, and took his place at the head of the little group of men which was already beginning form in marching order. the priest moved about among his people with words of comfort. father van hove turned to his wife, and to jan and marie, who were clinging to her skirts. "it is only a bad dream, my little ones," he said, patting their heads tenderly; "we shall wake up some day. and you, my wife, do not despair! i shall soon return, no doubt! our good king will yet save us from war. you must finish the harvest alone--but--" "fall in!" cried the voice of the burgomeister, and father van hove kissed his wife and children and stepped forward. mother van hove bravely checked her rising sobs. "we shall go with you to malines, at any rate," she said firmly. and as the little group of men started forward along the yellow road, she and many more women and children of the village marched, away with them in the gray twilight which precedes the coming of the dawn. the priest went with his people, praying for them as he walked, in a voice that shook with feeling. the sky was red in the east and the larks were already singing over the quiet fields when the men of meer, followed by their wives and children, presented themselves at the brussels gate of the city. iv "for king, for law and liberty" at the gate they were met by an officer, who at once took command of the company. there was only a moment for hasty good-byes before the order to march was given, and the women and children watched the little column stride bravely away up the street toward the armory, where the uniforms and arms were kept. they followed at a little distance and took up their station across the street from the great doors through which the men had disappeared. there was little talking among them. only the voice of the priest could be heard now and then, as he said a few words to one and another of the waiting women. it was still so early in the morning that the streets of the city were not yet filled with people going to work. only those, like themselves, concerned with the sad business of war were abroad. to jan and marie the long wait seemed endless, but at last the doors of the armory sprang open; there was a burst of martial music, and a band playing the national hymn appeared. "for king, for law and liberty!" thrilled the bugles, and amidst the waving of flags, and the cheers of the people, who had now begun to fill the streets, a regiment of soldiers marched away toward the north. jan and marie stood with their mother on the edge of the sidewalk, eagerly scanning every face as the soldiers passed, and at last jan shouted, "i see father! i see father!" mother van hove lifted her two children high in her arms for him to see, but father van hove could only smile a brave good-bye as he marched swiftly past. "no tears, my children!" cried the priest; "let them see no tears! send them away with a smile!" and, standing on the edge of the sidewalk, he made the sign of the cross and raised his hand in blessing, as the troops went by. for a time mother van hove and the children ran along the sidewalk, trying to keep pace with the soldiers, but their quick strides were too much for the twins, and it was not long before marie said, breathlessly, "my legs are too short! i can't run so fast!" "i can't too!" gasped jan. mother van hove stopped short at once, and the three stood still, hand in hand, and watched the soldiers until they turned a corner and disappeared from sight through the antwerp gate of the city. they were quite alone, for the other women and children had gone no farther than the armory, and were already on their homeward way to meer. now for the first time mother van hove gave way to grief, and jan and marie wept with her; but it was only for a moment. then she wiped her eyes, and the twins' too, on her apron, and said firmly: "come, my lambs! tears will not bring him back! we must go home now as fast as we can. there is need there for all that we can do! you must be the man of the house now, my janke, and help me take your father's place on the farm; and marie must be our little house-mother. we must be as brave as soldiers, even though we cannot fight." "i think i could be braver if i had some breakfast," sobbed janke. mother van hove struck her hands together in dismay. "i never once thought of food!" she cried, "and i haven't a red cent with me! we cannot buy a breakfast! we must just go hungry until we get home! but soldiers must often go hungry, my little ones. we must be as brave as they. come, now. i will be the captain! forward march!" jan and marie stiffened their little backs, as she gave the word of command, and, shoulder to shoulder, they marched down the street toward the city gate to the martial refrain, "le roi, la loi, la liberte," which mother van hove hummed for them under her breath. it was a long way back to the little farm-house, and when at last the three weary pilgrims reached it, they were met by an indignant chorus of protests from all the creatures which had been left behind. bel was lowing at the pasture bars, the pig was squealing angrily in her pen, the rooster had crowed himself hoarse, and fidel, patient fidel, was sitting on guard at the back door. mother van hove flew into the kitchen the moment she reached the house, and in two minutes jan and marie were seated before a breakfast of bread and milk. then she fed the pig, let out the hens, and gave fidel a bone which she had saved for him from the soup. last of all, she milked the cow, and when this was done, and she had had a cup of coffee herself, the clock in the steeple struck twelve. even mother van hove's strength was not equal to work in the harvest-field that day, but she stowed the load of wheat which had been brought home the night before in the barn, and, after the chores were done at night, she and the twins went straight to bed and slept as only the very weary can, until the sun streamed into their windows in the morning. v doing a man's work when jan and marie awoke, their mother's bed was empty. "she's gone to milk the cow," cried marie. "come, jan, we will surprise her! when she comes back from the pasture, we will have breakfast all ready." "you can," said jan, as he struggled into his clothes, and twisted himself nearly in two trying to do up the buttons in the back; "you can, but i must do a man's work! i will go out and feed the pig and catch old pier and hitch him to the cart," he said importantly. "i must finish the wheat harvest to-day." "ho!" said marie. "you will spill the pig-feed all over yourself! you are such a messy boy!" "i guess i can do it just as well as you can make coffee," said jan with spirit. "you've never made coffee in your life!" "i've watched mother do it lots of times," said marie. "i'm sure i can do it just the same way." "all right, let's see you do it, then," said jan. and he strode out of the room with his hands in his pockets, taking as long steps as his short legs would permit. when she was dressed and washed, marie ran to the pump and filled the kettle. then she stirred the embers of the fire in the kitchen and put on fresh coal. she set the kettle on to boil and only slopped a little water on her apron in doing so. then she put the dishes on the table. meanwhile she heard no sound from jan. she went to the kitchen door and looked out. jan had already let out the fowls, and was just in the act of feeding the pig. he had climbed up on the fence around the pig-pen, and by dint of great effort had succeeded in lifting the heavy pail of feed to the top of it. he was now trying to let it down on the other side and pour the contents into the trough, but the pig was greedy, and the moment the pail came within reach, she stuck her nose and her fore feet into it. this added weight was too much for poor jan; down went the pail with a crash into the trough, and jan himself tumbled suddenly forward, his feet flew out behind, and he was left hanging head down, like a jack knife, over the fence! it was just at this moment that marie came to the door, and when she saw jan balancing on the fence and kicking out wildly with his feet, she screamed with laughter. jan was screaming, too, but with pain and indignation. "come here and pick me off this fence!" he roared. "it's cutting me in two! oh, mother! mother!" marie ran to the pigpen as fast as, she could go. she snatched an old box by the stable as she ran, and, placing it against the fence, seized one of jan's feet, which were still waving wildly in the air, and planted it firmly on the box. "oh! oh!" laughed marie, as jan reached the ground once more. "if you could only have seen yourself, jan! you would have laughed, too! instead of pouring the pig-feed on to yourself, you poured yourself on to the pig-feed!" "i don't see anything to laugh at," said jan with dignity; "it might have happened to any man." "anyway, you'll have to get the pail again," said marie, wiping her eyes. "that greedy pig will bang it all to pieces, if you leave it in the pen." "i can't reach it," said jan. "yes, you can," said marie. "i'll hold your legs so you won't fall in, and you can fish for it with a stick." she ran for a stick to poke with, while jan bravely mounted the box again, and, firmly anchored by marie's grasp upon his legs, he soon succeeded in rescuing the pail. "anyway, i guess i've fed the pig just as well as you have made the coffee," he said, as he handed it over to marie. "oh, my sakes!" cried marie; "i forgot all about the coffee!" and she ran back to the kitchen, to find that the kettle had boiled over and put the fire out. jan stuck hid head in the door, just as she got the bellows to start the fire again. "what did i tell you!" he shouted, running out his tongue derisively. "scat!" said marie, shaking the bellows at him, and jan sauntered away toward the pasture with pier's halter over his arm. pier had been eating grass for two nights and a day without doing any work, and it took jan some time to catch him and put the halter over his head. when at last he returned from the pasture, red and tired, but triumphant, leading pier, marie and her mother had already finished their breakfast. "look what a man we have!" cried mother van hove as jan appeared. "he has caught pier all by himself." "he lifted me clear off my feet when i put his halter on," said jan proudly, "but i hung on and he had to come!" "marie," cried her mother, "our jan has earned a good breakfast! cook an egg for him, while i hitch pier to the cart. then, while he and i work in the field, you can put the house in order. there is only one more load to bring in, and we can do that by ourselves." by noon the last of the wheat had been garnered, and this time jan drove pier home, while his mother sat on the load. in the afternoon the three unloaded the wagon and stowed the grain away in the barn to be threshed; and when the long day's work was over, and they had eaten their simple supper of bread and milk, mother van hove and the children went together down the village street to see their neighbors and hear the news, if there should be any. there were no daily papers in meer, and now there were no young men to go to the city and bring back the gossip of the day, as there had used to be. the women, with their babies on their arms, stood about in the street, talking quietly and sadly among themselves. on the doorsteps a few old men lingered together over their pipes. already the bigger boys were playing soldier, with paper caps on their heads, and sticks for guns. the smaller children were shouting and chasing each other through the little street of the village. jan and marie joined in a game of blindman's buff, while mother van hove stopped with the group of women. "if we only knew what to expect!" sighed the burgomeister's wife, as she shifted her baby from one arm to the other. "it seems as if we should know better what to do. in a day or two i shall send my big boy leon to the city for a paper. it is hard to wait quietly and know nothing." "our good king and queen doubtless know everything," said the wife of boer maes. "they will do better for us than we could do for ourselves, even if we knew all that they do." "and there are our own brave men, besides," added mother van hove. "we must not forget them! we are not yet at war. i pray god we may not be, and that we shall soon see them come marching home again to tell us that the trouble, whatever it is, is over, and that we may go on living in peace as we did before." "it seems a year since yesterday," said the burgomeister's wife. "work makes the time pass quickly," said mother van hove cheerfully. "jan and i got in the last of our wheat to-day. he helped me like a man." "who will thresh it for you?" asked the wife of boer maes. "i will thresh it myself, if need be," said mother van hove with spirit. "my good man shall not come home and find the farm-work behind if i can help it." and with these brave words she said good-night to the other women, called jan and marie, and turned once more down the street toward the little house on the edge of the village. far across the peaceful twilight fields came the sound of distant bells. "hark!" said mother van hove to the twins--"the cathedral bells of malines! and they are playing 'the lion of flanders!'" (three lines of music) sang the bells, and, standing upon the threshold of her little home, with head held proudly erect, mother van hove lifted her voice and joined the words to the melody. "they will never conquer him, the old lion of flanders, so long as he has claws!" she sang, and the twins, looking up into her brave and inspired face, sang too. vi at the church several days passed quietly by in the little village of meer. the sun shone, and the wind blew, and the rains fell upon the peaceful fields, just as if nothing whatever had happened. each day was filled to the brim with hard work. with the help of the twins, mother van hove kept the garden free of weeds and took care of the stock. she even threshed the wheat herself with her husband's flail, and stored the grain away in sacks ready for the mill. each evening, when the work was done, the three went down the village street together. one evening, just at dusk, they found nearly the whole village gathered in front of the priest's house next to the church. leon, the burgomeister's oldest boy, had been to malines that day and had brought back a paper. the priest was reading from it to the anxious group gathered about him. "oh, my children," he was saying, as mother van hove and the twins joined the group, "there is, no doubt, need for courage, but where is there a belgian lacking in that? even julius caesar, two thousand years ago, found that out! the bravest of all are the belgians, he said then, and it is none the less true to-day! the germans have crossed our eastern frontier. it is reported that they are already burning towns and killing the inhabitants if they resist. god knows what may be before us. our good king albert has asked parliament to refuse the demands of the germans. in spite of their solemn treaty with us, they demand that we permit them to cross belgium to attack france. to this our brave king and parliament will never consent; no true belgian would wish them to. there is, then, this choice either to submit absolutely to the invasion of our country, or to defend it! the army is already in the field." there was a moment of heavy silence as he finished speaking. then the voice of the burgomeister's wife was heard in the stillness. "oh, mynheer pastoor," she said to the priest, "what shall we do? there is no place to go to we have no refuge!" "god is our refuge and strength, my children," said the priest, lifting his eyes to heaven. "we have no other! you must stay here, and if the terrible germans come, hide yourselves away as best you can, until they have passed by. do not anger them by resisting. bow your heads to the storm and have faith in god that it may soon pass over." he turned and led the way toward the little church as he spoke. "come," he said, "let us pray before god's holy altar, and if the enemy comes, seek refuge in the church itself. surely even the germans will respect the sanctuary." solemnly the people filed into the little church, lighted only by the candles on the altar, and knelt upon the hard floor. the priest left them there, praying silently, while he went to put on the robes of his offices. then once more he appeared before the altar, and led the kneeling congregation in the litany. "from war and pestilence and sudden death, good lord, deliver us," he prayed at last, and all the people responded with a fervent "amen." that night, when she put her children to bed, mother van hove fastened a chain with a locket upon it about marie's neck. "listen, ma mie," she said, "and you, too, my little jan. god only knows what may be before us. this locket contains my picture. you must wear it always about your neck, and remember that your mother's name is leonie van hove, and your father's name is georges van hove. if by any chance--which god forbid--we should become separated from one another, keep the locket on your neck, and our names in your memory until we meet again; for if such a thing should happen, do not doubt that i should find you, though i had to swim the sea to do it! for you, my jan, i have no locket, but you are a man, a brave man, now! you must take care of yourself and your sister, too, if need should arise, and above all, remember this--only the brave are safe. whatever happens, you must remember that you are belgians, and be brave!" the children clung to her, weeping, as she finished. "there, there," she said soothingly: "i had to tell you this so you would be ready to do your best and not despair, whatever might happen, but be sure, my lambs, nothing shall harm you if i can help it, and nothing shall separate us from one another if god so wills. now, go to sleep!" she kissed them tenderly, and, quite comforted, they nestled down in their beds and soon were asleep. she herself slept but little that night. long after the children were quiet, she sat alone on the kitchen step in the darkness with fidel by her side, and listened to the faint sounds of distant guns, and watched the red light in the sky, which told her of the burning of louvain. vii the tidal wave of germans the next morning dawned bright and clear, and mother van hove and the twins went about their work as usual. the sunshine was so bright, and the whole countryside looked so peaceful and fair, it was impossible to believe that the terrors of the night could be true. "to-day we must begin to gather the potatoes," said mother van hove after breakfast. "jan, you get the fork and hoe and put them in the wagon, while i milk the cow and marie puts up some bread and cheese for us to take to the field." she started across the road to the pasture, with fidel at her heels, as she spoke. in an instant she was back again, her eyes wide with horror. "look! look!" she cried. the dazed children looked toward the east as she pointed. there in the distance, advancing like a great tidal wave, was a long gray line of soldiers on horseback. already they could hear the sound of music and the throb of drums; already the sun glistened upon the shining helmets and the cruel points of bayonets. the host stretched away across the plain as far as the eye could reach, and behind them the sky was thick with the smoke of fires. "the church! the church!" cried mother van hove. "no, there is not time. hide in here, my darlings. quickly! quickly!" she tore open the door of the earth-covered vegetable cellar as she spoke, and thrust jan and marie inside. fidel bolted in after them. "do not move or make a sound until all is quiet again," she cried as she closed the door. there was not room for her too, in the cellar, and if there had been, mother van hove would not have taken it, for it was necessary to close the door from the outside. this she did, hastily, throwing some straw before it. then she rushed into the house and, snatching up her shining milk-pans, flung them upon the straw, as if they were placed there to be sweetened by the sun. no one would think to look under a pile of pans for hidden belgians, she felt sure. nearer and nearer came the hosts, and now she could hear the sound of singing as from ten thousand brazen throats, "deutschland, deutschland uber alles," roared the mighty chorus, and in another moment the little village of meer was submerged in the terrible gray flood. at last, after what seemed to the imprisoned children like a year of darkness and dread, and of strange, terrifying noises of all kinds, the sound of horses' hoofs and marching feet died away in the distance, and jan ventured to push open the door of the cavern a crack, just intending to peep out. immediately there was a crash of falling tinware. jan quickly drew back again into the safe darkness and waited. as nothing further happened, he peeped out again. this time fidel, springing forward, flung the doors wide open, and dashed out into the sunshine with a joyous bark. in a moment more jan and marie also crawled out of their hiding-place after him. for an instant, as they came out into the daylight, it seemed to the children as if they had awakened from a dreadful dream. there stood the farmhouse just as before, with the kitchen door wide open and the sun streaming in upon the sanded floor. there were only the marks of many feet in the soft earth of the farmyard, an empty pigpen, and a few chicken feathers blowing about the hen house, to show where the invaders had been and what they had carried away with them. jan and marie, followed by fidel, ran through the house. from the front door, which opened on the road; they could see the long gray line sweeping across the fields toward malines. "the storm has passed," cried marie, sobbing with grief, "just as mynheer pastoor said it would! mother! mother, where are you?" they ran from kitchen to bedroom and back again, their terror increasing at every step, as no voice answered their call. they searched the cellar and the loft; they looked in the stable and barn, and even in the dog-house. their mother was nowhere to be found! "i know where she must be," cried jan, at last. "you know mynheer pastoor said, if anything happened, we should hide in the church." led by this hope, the two children sped, hand in hand, toward the village. "bel is gone!" gasped jan, as they passed the pasture bars. "pier, too," sobbed marie. down the whole length of the deserted village street they flew, with fidel following close at their heels. when they came to the little church, they burst open the door and looked in. the cheerful sun streamed through the windows, falling in brilliant patches of light upon the floor, but the church was silent and empty. it was some time before they could realize that there was not a human being but themselves in the entire village; all the others had been driven away like sheep, before the invading army. when at last the terrible truth dawned upon them, the two frightened children sat down upon the church steps in the silence, and clung, weeping, to each other. fidel whined and licked their hands, as though he, too, understood and felt their loneliness. "what shall we do? what shall we do?" moaned marie. "there's nobody to tell us what to do," sobbed jan. "we must just do the best we can by ourselves." "we can't stay here alone!" said marie. "but where can we go?" cried jan. "there's no place for us to go to!" for a few minutes the two children wept their hearts out in utter despair, but hope always comes when it is most needed, and soon marie raised her head and wiped her eyes. "don't you remember what mother said when she put the locket on my neck, jan?" she asked. "she said that she would find us, even if she had to swim the sea! she said no matter what happened we should never despair, and here we are despairing as hard as ever we can." jan threw up his chin, and straightened his back. "yes," he said, swallowing his sobs, "and she said i was now a man and must take care of myself and you." "what shall we do, then?" asked marie. jan thought hard for a moment. then he said: "eat! it must be late, and we have not had a mouthful to-day." marie stood up. "yes," said she; "we must eat. let us go back home." the clock in the steeple struck eleven as the two children ran once more through the deserted street and began a search for food in their empty house. they found that the invaders had been as thorough within the house as without. not only had they carried away the grain which their mother had worked so hard to thresh, but they had cleaned the cupboard as well. the hungry children found nothing but a few crusts of bread, a bit of cheese, and some milk in the cellar, but with these and two eggs, which jan knew where to look for in the straw in the barn, they made an excellent breakfast. they gave fidel the last of the milk, and then, much refreshed, made ready to start upon a strange and lonely journey the end of which they did not know. they tied their best clothes in a bundle, which jan hung upon a stick over his shoulder, and were just about to leave the house, when marie cried out, "suppose mother should come back and find us gone!" "we must leave word where we have gone, so she will know where to look for us, of course," jan answered capably. "yes, but how?" persisted marie. "there's no one to leave word with!" this was a hard puzzle, but jan soon found a way out. "we must write a note and pin it up where she would be sure to find it," he said. "the very thing," said marie. they found a bit of charcoal and a piece of wrapping-paper, and jan was all ready to write when a new difficulty presented itself. "what shall i say?" he said to marie. "we don't know where we are going!" "we don't know the way to any place but malines," said marie; "so we'll have to go there, i suppose." "how do you spell malines?" asked jan, charcoal in hand. "oh, you stupid boy!" cried marie. "m-a-l-i-n-e-s, of course!" jan put the paper down on the kitchen floor and got down before it on his hands and knees. he had not yet learned to write, but he managed to print upon it in great staggering letters:-- "dear mother we have gone to malines to find you. jan and marie." this note they pinned upon the inside of the kitchen door. "now we are ready to start," said jan; and, calling fidel, the two children set forth. they took a short cut from the house across the pasture to the potato-field. here they dug a few potatoes, which they put in their bundle, and then, avoiding the road, slipped down to the river, and, following the stream, made their way toward malines. it was fortunate for them that, screened by the bushes and trees which fringed the bank of the river, they saw but little of the ruin and devastation left in the wake of the german hosts. there were farmers who had tried to defend their families and homes from the invaders. burning houses and barns marked the places where they had lived and died. but the children, thinking only of their lost mother, and of keeping themselves as much out of sight as possible in their search for her, were spared most of these horrors. their progress was slow, for the bundle was heavy, and the river path less direct than the road, and it was nightfall before the two little waifs, with fidel at their heels, reached the well-remembered brussels gate. their hearts almost stopped beating when they found it guarded by a german soldier. "who goes there?" demanded the guard gruffly, as he caught sight of the little figures. "if you please, sir, it's jan and marie," said jan, shaking in his boots. "and fidel, too," said marie. the soldier bent down and looked closely at the two tear-stained little faces. it may be that some remembrance of other little faces stirred within him, for he only said stiffly, "pass, jan and marie, and you, too, fidel." and the two children and the dog hurried through the gate and up the first street they came to, their bundle bumping along behind them as they ran. the city seemed strangely silent and deserted, except for the gray-clad soldiers, and armed guards blocked the way at intervals. taught by fear, jan and marie soon learned to slip quietly along under cover of the gathering darkness, and to dodge into a doorway or round a corner, when they came too near one of the stiff, helmeted figures. at last, after an hour of aimless wandering, they found themselves in a large, open square, looking up at the tall cathedral spires. a german soldier came suddenly out of the shadows, and the frightened children, scarcely knowing what they did, ran up the cathedral steps and flung themselves against the door. when the soldier had passed by, they reached cautiously up, and by dint of pulling with their united strength succeeded at last in getting the door open. they thrust their bundle inside, pushed fidel in after it, and then slipped through themselves. the great door closed behind them on silent hinges and they were alone in the vast stillness of the cathedral. timidly they crept toward the lights of the altar, and, utterly exhausted, slept that night on the floor near the statue of the madonna, with their heads pillowed on fidel's shaggy side. viii granny and the eels when the cathedral bells rang the next morning for early mass, the children were still sleeping the sleep of utter exhaustion. it was not until the bells had ceased to ring, and the door, opening from the sacristy near their resting place, creaked upon its hinges, that even fidel was aroused. true to his watchdog instincts, he started to his feet with a low growl, letting the heads of jan and marie down upon the floor with a sudden bump. for an instant the awakened children could not remember where they were or what had happened to them. they sat up and rubbed their heads, but the habit of fear was already so strong upon them that they made no sound and instantly quieted fidel. again the door creaked, and through it there appeared a tall figure dressed in priestly robes. the children were so near that had they thrust their hands through the railing of the communion bank behind which they were concealed, they might have touched him as he passed before the altar of the virgin and presented himself in front of the high altar to conduct the mass. his head, as he passed them, was bowed. his face was pale and thin, and marked with lines of deep sorrow. "oh," whispered marie to jan, "it must be the cardinal himself. mother told me about him." the whisper made such a loud sound in the silence of the great cathedral aisles that jan was afraid to reply. for answer he only laid his finger upon his lips and crept still farther back into the shadow. fidel seemed to know that dogs were not allowed in church and that it was necessary for him to be quiet, too, for he crawled back with the children into the sheltering darkness. there were only a few persons in the cathedral, and those few were near the door; so no one saw the children as they knelt with folded hands and bowed heads in their corner, reverently following the service as the cardinal ate the sacred wafer and drank the communion wine before the altar. later they were to know his face as the bravest and best beloved in all belgium next to those of the king and queen themselves. when again he passed the kneeling little figures on his return to the sacristy, their lonely hearts so ached for care and protection, and his face looked so kind and pitiful, that they almost dared to make their presence known and to ask for the help they sorely needed. marie, bolder than jan, half rose as he passed, but jan pulled her back, and in another instant the door had closed behind him and he was gone. "oh," sobbed marie under her breath, "he looked so kind! he might have helped us. why did you pull me back?" "how could we let him see fidel, and tell him that our dog had slept all night before the altar?" answered jan. "i shouldn't dare! he is a great prince of the church!" the sound of scraping chairs told them that the little congregation had risen from its knees and was passing out of the church. they waited until every one had disappeared through the great door, and then made a swift flight down the echoing aisle and out into the sunlight. for a moment they stood hand in hand upon the cathedral steps, clasping their bundle and waiting for the next turn of fortune's wheel. the bright sunlight of the summer day, shining on the open square, almost blinded them, and what they saw in the square, when their eyes had become used to it, did not comfort them. everywhere there were german soldiers with their terrible bayonets and pointed helmets and their terrible songs. everywhere there were pale and desperate belgians fleeing before the arrogant german invader. "oh, jan," whispered marie clinging to him, "there are so many people! how shall we ever find mother? i didn't know there were so many people in the whole world." "it isn't likely that we'll find her by just standing here, anyway," answered jan. "we've got to keep going till we get somewhere." he slung the bundle on his shoulder and whistled to fidel, who had gone down the steps to bark at a homeless cat. "come along," he said to marie. and once more the little pilgrims took up their journey. at the first corner they paused, not knowing whether to go to the right or to the left. "which way?" said marie. jan stood still and looked first in one direction and then in the other. "here, gutter-snipes, what are you standing here for? make way for your betters!" said a gruff voice behind them, and, turning, the children found themselves face to face with a german officer dressed in a resplendent uniform and accompanied by a group of swaggering young soldiers. too frightened to move, the children only looked up at him and did not stir. "get out of the way, i tell you!" roared the officer, turning purple with rage; "orderly!" one of the young men sprang forward. he seized jan by the arm and deftly kicked him into the gutter. another at the same moment laid his hands on marie. but he reckoned without fidel, faithful fidel, who knew no difference between german and belgian, but knew only that no cruel hand should touch his beloved marie, while he was there to defend her. with a fierce growl he sprang at the young orderly and buried his teeth in his leg. howling with pain, the orderly dropped marie, while another soldier drew his sword with an oath and made a thrust at fidel. fortunately fidel was too quick for him. he let go his hold upon the leg of the orderly, tearing a large hole in his uniform as he did so, and flung himself directly between the legs of the other soldier who was lunging at him with the sword. the next instant the surprised german found himself sprawling upon the sidewalk, and saw fidel, who had escaped without a scratch, dashing wildly up the street after jan and marie. beside himself with rage, the soldier drew a revolver and fired a shot, which barely missed fidel, and buried itself in the doorstep of the house past which he was running. if jan and marie had not turned a corner just at that moment, and if fidel had not followed them, there is no telling what might have happened next, for the young soldier was very angry indeed. perhaps he considered it beneath his dignity to run after them, and perhaps he saw that jan and marie could both run like the wind and he would not be likely to catch them if he did. at any rate, he did not follow. he picked himself up and dusted his clothes, using very bad language as he did so, and followed the officer and his companions up the street. meanwhile the tired children ran on and on, fear lending speed to their weary legs. round behind the great cathedral they sped, hoping to find some way of escape from the terrors of the town, but their way was blocked by the smoking ruins of a section of the city which the germans had burned in the night, and there was no way to get out in that direction. terrified and faint with hunger, they turned once more, and, not knowing where they were going, stumbled at last upon the street which led to the antwerp gate. "i remember this place;" cried jan, with something like joy in his voice. "don't you remember, marie? it's where we stood to watch the soldiers, and mother sang for us to march, because we were so tired and hungry." "i'm tired and hungry now, too," said poor marie. "let's march again," said jan. "where to?" said marie. "that's the way father went when he marched away with the soldiers," said jan, pointing to the antwerp gate. "anything is better than staying here. let's go that way." he started bravely forward once more, marie and fidel following. they found themselves only two wretched atoms in one of the saddest processions in history, for there were many other people, as unhappy as themselves, who were also trying to escape from the city. some had lived in the section which was now burning; others had been turned out of their homes by the germans; and all were hastening along, carrying babies and bundles, and followed by groups of older children. jan and marie were swept along with the hurrying crowd, through the city gate and beyond, along the river road which led to antwerp. no one spoke to them. doubtless they were supposed to belong to some one of the fleeing families, and it was at least comforting to the children to be near people of whom they were not afraid. but jan and marie could not keep pace with the swift-moving crowd of refugees. they trudged along the highway at their best speed, only to find themselves straggling farther and farther behind. they were half a mile or more beyond the city gate when they overtook a queer little old woman who was plodding steadily along wheeling a wheelbarrow, in front of her. she evidently did not belong among the refugees, for she was making no effort to keep up with them. she had bright, twinkling black eyes, and snow-white hair tucked under a snow-white cap. her face was as brown as a nut and full of wrinkles, but it shone with such kindness and good-will that, when jan and marie had taken one look at her, they could not help walking along by her side. "maybe she has seen mother," whispered marie to jan. "let's ask her!" the little old woman smiled down at them as they joined her. "you'll have to hurry, my dears, or you won't keep up with your folks," she said kindly. "they aren't our folks," said jan. "they aren't?" said the little old woman, stopping short. "then where are your folks?" "we haven't any, not just now," said jan. "you see our father is a soldier, and our mother, oh, have you seen our mother? she's lost!" the little old woman gave them a quick, pitying glance. "lost, is she?" she said. "well, now, i can't just be sure whether i've seen her or not, not knowing what she looks like, but i wouldn't say i haven't. lots of folks have passed this way. how did she get lost?" she sat down on the edge of the barrow and drew the children to her side. "come, now," she said, "tell granny all about it! i've seen more trouble than any one you ever saw in all your life before, and i'm not a mite afraid of it either." comforted already, the children poured forth their story. "you poor little lambs!" she cried, when they had finished, "and you haven't had a bite to eat since yesterday! mercy on us! you can never find your mother on an empty stomach!" she rose from the wheelbarrow, as she spoke, and trundled it swiftly from the road to the bank of the river, a short distance away. here, in a sheltered nook, hidden from the highway by a group of willows, she stopped. "we'll camp right here, and i'll get you a dinner fit for a king or a duke, at the very least," she said cheerily. "look what i have in my wheelbarrow!" she took a basket from the top of it as she spoke. fidel was already looking in, with his tail standing straight out behind, his ears pointed forward, and the hairs bristling on the back of his neck. there, on some clean white sand in the bottom of the wheelbarrow, wriggled a fine fat eel! "now i know why i didn't sell that eel," cried granny. "there's always a reason for everything, you see, my darlings." she seized the eel with a firm, well-sanded hand as she spoke, and before could spell your name backwards, she had skinned and dressed it, and had given the remnants to poor hungry fidel. "now, my boy," she said gayly to jan as she worked, "you get together some twigs and dead leaves, and you, big eyes," she added to marie, "find some stones by the river, and we'll soon have such a stove as you never saw before, and a fire in it, and a bit of fried eel, to fill your hungry stomachs." immensely cheered, the children flew on these errands. then marie had a bright thought. "we have some potatoes in our bundle," she said. "well, now," cried the little old woman, "wouldn't you think they had just followed up that eel on purpose? we'll put them to roast in the ashes. i always carry a pan and a bit of fat and some matches about with me when i take my eels to market," she explained as she whisked these things out of the basket, "and it often happens that i cook myself a bite to eat on my way home, especially if i'm late. you see, i live a long way from here, just across the river from boom, and i'm getting lazy in my old age. early every morning i walk to malines with my barrow full of fine eels, and sell them to the people of the town. that's how i happen to be so rich!" "are you rich?" asked marie wonderingly. she had brought the stones from the river, and now she untied her bundle and took out the potatoes. jan had already heaped a little mound of sticks and twigs near by, and soon the potatoes were cooking in the ashes, and a most appetizing smell of frying eel filled the air. "am i rich?" repeated the old woman. she looked surprised that any one could ask such a question. "of course i'm rich. haven't i got two eyes in my head, and a tongue, too, and it's lucky, indeed, that it's that way about, for if i had but one eye and two tongues, you see for yourself how much less handy that would be! and i've two legs as good as any one's, and two hands to help myself with! the kaiser himself has no more legs and arms than i, and i doubt if he can use them half as well. neither has he a stomach the more! and as for his heart" she looked cautiously around as she spoke "his heart, i'll be bound, is not half so good as mine! if it were, he could not find it in it to do all the cruel things he's doing here. i'm sure of that." for a moment the cheerfulness of her face clouded over; but she saw the shadow reflected in the faces of jan and marie, and at once spoke more gayly. "bless you, yes, i'm rich," she went on; "and so are you! you've got all the things that i have and more, too, for you legs and arms are young, and you have a mother to look for. not every one has that, you may depend! and one of these days you'll find her. make no doubt of that." "if we don't, she'll surely find us, anyway," said jan. "she said she would!" "indeed and she will," said the old woman. "even the germans couldn't stop her; so what matter is it, if you both have to look a bit first? it will only make it the better when you find each other again." when the potatoes were done, the little old woman raked them out of the ashes with a stick, broke them open, sprinkled a bit of salt on them from the wonderful basket, and then handed one to each of the children, wrapped in a plantain leaf, so they should not burn their fingers. a piece of the eel was served to them in the same way, and granny beamed with satisfaction as she watched her famished guests. "aren't you going to eat, too?" asked marie with her mouth full. "bless you, yes," said granny. "every chance i get. you just watch me!" she made a great show of taking a piece of the eel as she spoke, but if any one had been watching carefully, they would have her slyly put it back again into the pan, and the children never knew that they ate her share and their own, too. when they had eaten every scrap of the eel, and fidel had finished the bones, the little old woman rose briskly from the bank, washed her pan in the river, packed it in her basket again, and led the way up the path to the highway once more. although they found the road still filled with the flying refugees, the world had grown suddenly brighter to jan and marie. they had found a friend and they were fed. "now, you come along home with your granny," said the little old woman as they reached the antwerp road and turned northward, "for i live in a little house by the river right on the way to wherever you want to go!" ix off for antwerp for several days the children stayed with the little old woman in her tiny cottage on the edge of the river. each morning they crossed the bridge and stationed themselves by the antwerp road to watch the swarm of sad-faced belgians as they hurried through boom on their way to the frontier and to safety in holland. each day they hoped that before the sun went down they should see their mother among the hurrying multitudes, but each day brought a fresh disappointment, and each night the little old woman comforted them with fresh hope for the morrow. "you see, my darlings," said she, "it may take a long time and you may have to go a long way first, but i feel in my bones that you will find her at last. and of course, if you do, every step you take is a step toward her, no matter how far round you go." jan and marie believed every word that granny said. how could they help it when she had been so good to them! her courage and faith seemed to make an isle of safety about her where the children rested in perfect trust. they saw that neither guns nor germans nor any other terror could frighten granny. in the midst of a thousand alarms she calmly went her accustomed way, and every one who met her was the better for a glimpse of the brave little brown face under its snowy cap. early each morning she rose with the larks, covered the bottom of her barrow with clean white sand, and placed in it the live eels which had been caught for her and brought to the door by small boys who lived in the neighborhood. then, when she had wakened the twins, and the three had had their breakfast together, away she would trudge over the long, dusty road to malines, wheeling the barrow with its squirming freight in front of her. jan and marie helped her all they could. they washed the dishes and swept the floor of the tiny cottage and made everything tidy and clean before they went to take up their stand beside the antwerp road. when the shadows grew long in the afternoon, how glad they were to see the sturdy little figure come trudging home again! then they would run to meet her, and jan would take the wheelbarrow from her tired hands and wheel it for her over the bridge to the little cottage under the willow trees on the other side of the river. then marie's work was to clean the barrow, while jan pulled weeds in the tiny garden back of the house, and granny got supper ready. supper-time was the best of all, for every pleasant evening they ate at a little table out of doors under the willow trees. one evening, when supper had been cleared away, they sat there together, with fidel beside them, while granny told a wonderful tale about the king of the eels who lived in a crystal palace at the bottom of the river. "you can't quite see the palace," she said, "because, when you look right down into it, the water seems muddy. but sometimes, when it is still, you can see the upside-down country where the king of the eels lives. there the trees all grow with their heads down and the sky is 'way, 'way below the trees. you see the sky might as well be down as up for the eels. they aren't like us, just obliged to crawl around on the ground without ever being able to go up or down at all. the up-above sky belongs to the birds and the down-below sky belongs to the fishes and eels. and i am not sure but one is just as nice as the other." marie and jan went to the river, and, getting down on their hands and knees, looked into the water. "we can't see a thing!" they cried to granny. "you aren't looking the right way," she answered. "look across it toward the sunset." "oh! oh!" cried marie, clasping her hands; "i see it! i see the down-below sky, and it is all red and gold!" "i told you so," replied granny triumphantly. "lots of folks can't see a thing in the river but the mud, when, if you look at it the right way, there is a whole lovely world in it. now, the palace of the king of the eels is right over in that direction where the color is the reddest. he is very fond of red, is the king of the eels. his throne is all made of rubies, and he makes the queen tie red bows on the tails of all the little eels." jan and marie were still looking with all their eyes across the still water toward the sunset and trying to see the crystal palace of the eels, when suddenly from behind them there came a loud "hee-haw, hee-haw." they jumped, and granny jumped, too, and they all looked around to see where the sound came from. there, coming slowly toward them along the tow-path on the river-bank, was an old brown mule. she was pulling a low, green river-boat by a towline, and a small boy, not much bigger than jan, was driving her. on the deck of the boat there was a little cabin with white curtains in the tiny windows and two red geraniums in pots standing on the sills. from a clothesline hitched to the rigging there fluttered a row of little shirts, and seated on a box near by there was a fat, friendly looking woman with two small children playing by her side. the father of the family was busy with the tiller. "there come the de smets, as sure as you live!" cried granny, rising from the wheelbarrow, where she had been sitting. "i certainly am glad to see them." and she started at once down the river to meet the boat, with jan and marie and fidel all following. "ship ahoy!" she cried gayly as the boat drew near. the boy who was driving the mule grinned shyly. the woman on deck lifted her eyes from her sewing, smiled, and waved her hand at granny, while the two little children ran to the edge of the boat; and held out their arms to her. "here we are again, war or no war!" cried mother de smet, as the boat came alongside. father de smet left the tiller and threw a rope ashore. "whoa!" cried the boy driving the mule. the mule stopped with the greatest willingness, the boy caught the rope and lifted the great loop over a strong post on the river-bank, and the "old woman" for that was the name of the boat was in port. soon a gangplank was slipped from the boat to the little wooden steps on the bank, and mother de smet, with a squirming baby under each arm, came ashore. "i do like to get out on dry land and shake my legs a bit now and then," she said cheerfully as she greeted granny. "on the boat i just sit still and grow fat!" "i shake my legs for a matter of ten miles every day," laughed granny. "that's how i keep my figure!" mother de smet set the babies down on the grass, where they immediately began to tumble about like a pair of puppies, and she and granny talked together, while the twins went to watch the work of father de smet and the boy, whose name was joseph. "i don't know whatever the country is coming to," said mother de smet to granny. "the germans are everywhere, and they are taking everything that they can lay their hands on. i doubt if we ever get our cargo safe to antwerp this time. we've come for a load of potatoes, but i am very much afraid it is going to be our last trip for some time. the country looks quiet enough as you see it from the boat, but the things that are happening in it would chill your blood." "yes," sighed granny; "if i would let it, my old heart would break over the sights that i see every day on my way to malines. but a broken heart won't get you anywhere. maybe a stout heart will." "who are the children you have with you?" asked mother de smet. then granny told her how she had found jan and marie, and all the rest of the sad story. mother de smet wiped her eyes and blew her nose very hard as she listened. "i wouldn't let them wait any longer by the antwerp road, anyway," she said when granny had finished. "there is no use in the world in looking for their mother to come that way. she was probably driven over the border long ago. you just leave them with me to-morrow while you go to town. 'twill cheer them up a bit to play with joseph and the babies." "well, now," said granny, "if that isn't just like your good heart!" and that is how it happened that, when she trudged off with her barrow the next morning, the twins ran down to the boat and spent the day rolling on the grass with the babies, and helping father de smet and joseph to load the boat with bags of potatoes which had been brought to the dock in the night by neighboring farmers. when granny came trundling her barrow home in the late afternoon, she found the children and their new friends already on the best of terms; and that night, after the twins were in bed, she went aboard the "old woman" and talked for a long time with father and mother de smet. no one will ever know just what they said to each other, but it must be that they talked about the twins, for when the children awoke the next morning, they found granny standing beside their bed with their clothes all nicely washed and ironed in her hands. "i'm not going to town this morning with my eels," she said as she popped them out of bed. "i'm going to stay at home and see you off on your journey!" she did not tell them that things had grown so terrible in malines that even she felt it wise to stay away. "our journey!" cried the twins in astonishment. "what journey?" "to antwerp," cried granny. "now, you never thought a chance like that would come to you, i'm sure, but some people are born lucky! you see the de smets start back today, and they are willing to take you along with them!" "but we don't want to leave you, dear, dear granny!" cried the twins, throwing their arms about her neck. "and i don't want you to go, either, my lambs," said granny; "but, you see, there are lots of things to think of. in the first place, of course you want to go on hunting for your mother. it may be she has gone over the border; for the germans are already in trenches near antwerp, and our army is nearer still to antwerp and in trenches, too. there they stay, father de smet says, for all the world, like two tigers, lying ready to spring at each other's throats. he says antwerp is so strongly fortified that the germans can never take it, and so it is a better place to be in than here. the de smets will see that you are left in safe hands, and i'm sure your mother would want you to go." the children considered this for a moment in silence. at last jan said, "do you think father de smet would let me help drive the mule?" "i haven't a doubt of it," said granny. "but what about fidel, our dear fidel?" cried marie. "i tell you what i'll do;" said granny. "i'll take care of fidel for you! you shall leave him here with me until you come back again! you see, i really need good company, and since i can't have you, i know you would be glad to have fidel stay here to protect me. then you'll always know just where he is." she hurried the children into their clothes as she talked, gave them a good breakfast, and before they had time to think much about what was happening to them, they had said good-bye to fidel, who had to be shut in the cottage to keep him from following the boat, and were safely aboard the "old woman" and slowly moving away down the river. they stood in the stern of the boat, listening to fidel's wild barks, and waving their hands, until granny's kind face was a mere round speck in the distance. x on the tow-path when they could no longer see granny, nor hear fidel, the children sat down on a coil of rope behind the cabin and felt very miserable indeed. marie was just turning up the corner of her apron to wipe her eyes, and jan was looking at nothing at all and winking very hard, when good mother de smet, came by with a baby waddling along on each side of her. she gave the two dismal little faces a quick glance and then said kindly: "jan, you run and see if you can't help father with the tiller, and, marie, would you mind playing with the babies while i put on the soup-kettle and fix the greens for dinner? they are beginning to climb everywhere now, and i am afraid they will fall overboard if somebody doesn't watch them every minute!" jan clattered at once across the deck to father de smet, and marie gladly followed his wife to the open space in front of the cabin where the babies had room to roll about. half an hour later, when mother de smet went back to get some potatoes for the soup, she found jan proudly steering the boat by himself. "oh, my soul!" she cried in astonishment. "what a clever boy you must be to learn so quickly to handle the tiller. where is father de smet?" "here!" boomed a loud voice behind her, and father de smet's head appeared above a barrel on the other side of the deck. "i'm trying to make the 'old woman' look as if she had no cargo aboard. if the germans see these potatoes, they'll never let us get them to antwerp," he shouted. "sh-h-h! you mustn't talk so loud," whispered mother de smet. "you roar like a foghorn on a dark night. the germans won't have any trouble in finding out about the potatoes if you shout the news all over the landscape." father de smet looked out over the quiet belgian fields. "there's nobody about that i can see," he said, "but i'll roar more gently next time." there was a bend in the river just at this point, and jan, looking fearfully about to see if he could see any germans, for an instant forgot all about the tiller. there was a jerk on the tow-rope and a bump as the nose of the "old woman" ran into the river-bank. netteke, the mule, came to a sudden stop, and mother de smet sat down equally suddenly on a coil of rope. her potatoes spilled over the deck, while a wail from the front of the boat announced that one of the babies had bumped, too. mother de smet picked herself up and ran to see what was the matter with the baby, while father de smet seized a long pole and hurried forward. joseph left the mule to browse upon the grass beside the tow-path and ran back to the boat. his father threw him a pole which was kept for such emergencies, and they both pushed. joseph pushed on the boat and his father pushed against the river-bank. meanwhile poor jan stood wretchedly by the tiller knowing that his carelessness had caused the trouble, yet not knowing what to do to help. "never mind, son," said mother de smet kindly, when she came back for her potatoes and saw his downcast face. "it isn't the first time the 'old woman' has stuck her nose in the mud, and with older people than you at the tiller, too! we'll soon have her off again and no harm done." the boat gave a little lurch toward the middle of the stream. "look alive there, mate!" sang out father de smet. "hard aport with the tiller! head her out into the stream!" joseph flung his pole to his father and rushed back to netteke, pulled her patient nose out of a delicious bunch of thistles and started her up the tow-path. jan sprang to the tiller, and soon the "old woman" was once more gliding smoothly over the quiet water toward antwerp. when father de smet came back to the stern of the boat, jan expected a scolding, but perhaps it seemed to the good-natured skipper that jan had troubles enough already, for he only said mildly, "stick to your job, son, whatever it is," and went on covering his potatoes with empty boxes and pieces of sailcloth. jan paid such strict attention to the tiller after that that he did not even forget when father de smet pointed out a burning farmhouse a mile or so from the river and said grimly, "the germans are amusing themselves again." for the most part, however, the countryside seemed so quiet and peaceful that it was hard to believe that such dreadful things were going on all about them. while father de smet's eyes, under their bushy brows, kept close watch in every direction, he said little about his fears and went on his way exactly as he had done before the invasion. it was quite early in the morning when they left boom, and by ten o'clock joseph was tired of trudging along beside netteke. he hailed his father. "may i come aboard now?" he shouted. father de smet looked at jan. "would you like to drive the mule awhile?" he asked. "oh, wouldn't i!" cried jan. "have you ever driven a mule before?" father de smet asked again. "not a mule, exactly," jail replied, "but i drove old pier up from the field with a load of wheat all by myself. mother sat on the load." "come along!" shouted father de smet to joseph, and in a moment the gangplank was out and jan and joseph had changed places. "may i go, too?" asked marie timidly of father de smet as he was about to draw in the plank. "the babies are both asleep and i have nothing to do." father de smet took a careful look in every direction. it was level, open country all about them, dotted here and there with farmhouses, and in the distance the spire of a village church rose above the clustering houses and pointed to the sky. "yes, yes, child. go ahead," said father de smet. "only don't get too near netteke's hind legs. she doesn't know you very well and sometimes she forgets her manners." marie skipped over the gangplank and ran along the tow-path to jan, who already had taken up netteke's reins and was waiting for the signal to start. joseph took his place at the tiller, and again the "old woman" moved slowly down the stream. for some time jan and marie plodded along with netteke. at first they thought it good fun, but by and by, as the sun grew hot, driving a mule on a tow-path did not seem quite so pleasant a task as they had thought it would be. "i'm tired of this," said jan at last to marie. "that mule is so slow that i have to sight her by something to be sure that she is moving at all! i've been measuring by that farmhouse across the river for a long time, and she hasn't crawled up to it yet! i shouldn't wonder if she'd go to sleep some day and fall into the river and never wake up! why, i am almost asleep myself." "she'll wake up fast enough when it's time to eat, and so will you," said marie, with profound wisdom. "let 's see if we can't make her go a little faster, anyway," said jan, ignoring marie's remark. "i know what i'll do," he went on, chuckling; "i'll get some burrs and stick them in her tail, and then every time she slaps the flies off she'll make herself go faster." marie seized jan's arm. "you'll do nothing of the kind!" she cried. "father de smet told me especially to keep away from netteke's hind legs." "pooh!" said jan; "he didn't tell me that. i'm not afraid of any mule alive. i guess if i can harness a horse and drive home a load of grain from the field, there isn't much i can't do with a mule!" to prove his words he shouted "u--u" at netteke and slapped her flank with a long branch of willow. now, netteke was a proud mule and she wasn't used to being slapped. father de smet knew her ways, and knew also that her steady, even, slow pace was better in the long run than to attempt to force a livelier gait, and netteke was well aware of what was expected of her. she resented being interfered with. instead of going forward at greater speed, she put her four feet together, laid back her ears, gave a loud "hee-haw!" and stopped stock-still. "u--u!" shouted jan. in vain! netteke would not move. marie held a handful of fresh grass just out of reach of her mouth. but netteke was really offended. she made no effort to get it. she simply stayed where she was. father de smet stuck his head over the side of the boat. "what is the matter?" he shouted. "oh, dear!" said jan to marie. "i hoped he wouldn't notice that the boat wasn't moving." "netteke has stopped. she won't go at all. i think she's run down!" marie called back. "try coaxing her," cried the skipper. "give her something to eat. hold it in front of her nose." "i have," answered marie, "but she won't even look at it." "then it's no use," said father de smet mournfully. "she's balked and that is all there is to it. we'll just have to wait until she is ready to go again. when she has made up her mind she is as difficult to persuade as a setting hen." mother de smet's head appeared beside her husband's over the boat-rail. "oh, dear!" said she; "i hoped we should get to the other side of the line before dark, but if netteke's set, she's set, and we must just make the best of it. it's lucky it's dinner-time. we'll eat, and maybe by the time we are through she'll be willing to start." father de smet tossed a bucket on to the grass. "give her a good drink," he said, "and come aboard yourselves." jan filled the bucket from the river and set it down before netteke, but she was in no mood for blandishments. she kept her ears back and would not touch the water. "all right, then, crosspatch," said jan. leaving the pail in front of her, he went back to the boat. the gangplank was put out, and he and marie went on board. they found dinner ready in the tiny cabin, and because it was so small and stuffy, and there were too many of them, anyway, to get into it comfortably, they each took a bowl of soup as mother de smet handed it to them and sat down on the deck in front of the cabin to eat it. it was not until the middle of the afternoon that netteke forgot her injuries, consented to eat and drink, and indicated her willingness to move on toward antwerp. xi the attack joseph and his father were both on the tow-path when at last netteke decided to move. as she set her ears forward and took the first step, father de smet heaved a sigh of relief. "now, why couldn't you have done that long ago, you addlepated old fool," he said mildly to netteke. "you have made no end of trouble for us, and gained nothing for yourself! now i am afraid we shan't get beyond the german lines before dark. we may even have to spend the night in dangerous territory, and all because you're just as mulish as, as a mule," he finished helplessly. joseph laughed. "can't you think of anything mulisher than a mule?" he said. "there isn't a thing," answered his father. "well," answered joseph, "there are a whole lot of other things beside balky mules in this world that i wish had never been made. there are spiders, and rats, and germans. they are all pests. i don't see why they were ever born." father de smet became serious at once. "son," he said sternly, "don't ever let me hear you say such a thing again. there are spiders, and rats, and balky mules, and germans, and it doesn't do a bit of good to waste words fussing because they are here. the thing to do is to deal with them!" father de smet was so much in earnest that he boomed these words out in quite a loud voice. joseph seized his hand. "hush!" he whispered. father de smet looked up. there, standing right in front of them in the tow-path, was a german soldier! "halt!" shouted the soldier. but netteke was now just as much bent upon going as she had been before upon standing still. she paid no attention whatever to the command, but walked stolidly along the tow-path directly toward the soldier. "halt!" cried the soldier again. but netteke had had no military training, and she simply kept on. in one more step she would have come down upon the soldier's toes, if he had not moved aside just in time. he was very angry. "why didn't you stop your miserable old mule when i told you to?" he said to father de smet. "it's a balky mule," replied father de smet mildly, "and very obstinate." "indeed!" sneered the soldier; "then, i suppose you have named him albert after your pig-headed king!" "no," answered father de smet, "i think too much of my king to name my mule after him." "oh, ho!" said the german; "then perhaps you have named him for the kaiser!" netteke had marched steadily along during this conversation, and they were now past the soldier. "no," father de smet called back, "i didn't name her after the kaiser. i think too much of my mule!" the soldier shook his fist after them. "i'll make you pay well for your impudence!" he shouted. "you and i will meet again!" "very likely," muttered father de smet under his breath. he was now more than ever anxious to get beyond the german lines before dark, but as the afternoon passed it became certain that they would not be able to do it. the shadows grew longer and longer as netteke plodded slowly along, and at last mother de smet called to her husband over the boatside. "i think we shall have to stop soon and feed the mule or she will be too tired to get us across the line at all. i believe we should save time by stopping for supper. besides, i want to send over there," she pointed to a farmhouse not a great distance from the river, "and get some milk and eggs." "very well," said her husband; "we'll stop under that bunch of willows." the bunch of willows beside the river which he pointed out proved to be a pleasant, sheltered spot, with grassy banks sloping down to the water. a turn in the river enabled them to draw the "old woman" up into their shadows, and because the trees were green and the boat was green, the reflections in the water were also green, and for this reason the boat seemed very well hidden from view. "i don't believe we shall be noticed here," said father de smet. "it's hot on the boat. it would be nice to take the babies ashore while we eat," said mother de smet, running out the gangplank. "i believe we'll have supper on the grass. you hurry along and get the milk and eggs, and i'll cook some onions while you are gone." jan and marie ran over the plank at once, and mother de smet soon followed with the babies. then, while marie watched them, she and jan brought out the onions and a pan, and soon the air was heavy with the smell of frying onions. joseph and jan slipped the bridle over netteke's collar and allowed her to eat the rich green grass at the river's edge. when father de smet returned, supper was nearly ready. he sniffed appreciatively as he appeared under the trees. "smells good," he said as he held out the milk and eggs toward his wife. "sie haben recht!" (you are right!), said a loud voice right behind him! father de smet was so startled that he dropped the eggs. he whirled about, and there stood the german soldier who had told netteke to halt. with him were six other men. "ha! i told you we should meet again!" shouted the soldier to father de smet. "and it was certainly thoughtful of you to provide for our entertainment. comrades, fall to!" the onions were still cooking over a little blaze of twigs aid dry leaves, but mother de smet was no longer tending them. the instant she heard the gruff voice she had dropped her spoon, and, seizing a baby under each arm, had fled up the gangplank on to the boat. marie followed at top speed. father de smet faced the intruders. "what do you want here?" he said. "some supper first," said the soldier gayly, helping himself to some onions and passing the pan to his friends. "then, perhaps, a few supplies for our brave army. there is no hurry. after supper will do; but first we'll drink a health to the kaiser, and since you are host here, you shall propose it!" he pointed to the pail of milk which father de smet still held. "now," he shouted, "lift your stein and say, 'hoch der kaiser.'" father de smet looked them in the face and said not a word. meanwhile jan and joseph, to mother de smet's great alarm, had not followed her, on to the boat. instead they had flown to netteke, who was partly hidden from the group by a bunch of young willows near the water's edge, and with great speed and presence of mind had slipped her bridle over her head and gently started her up the tow-path. "oh," murmured joseph, "suppose she should balk!" but netteke had done her balking for the day, and, having been refreshed by her luncheon of green grass, she was ready to move on. the river had now quite a current, which helped them, and while the soldiers were still having their joke with father de smet the boat moved quietly out of sight. as she felt it move, mother de smet lifted her head over the boat's rail behind which she and the children were hiding, and raised the end of the gangplank so that it would make no noise by scraping along the ground. she was beside herself with anxiety. if she screamed or said anything to the boys, the attention of the soldiers would immediately be directed toward them. yet if they should by any miracle succeed in getting away, there was her husband left alone to face seven enemies. she wrung her hands. "maybe they will stop to eat the onions," she groaned to herself. she held to the gangplank and murmured prayers to all the saints she knew, while jan and joseph trotted briskly along the tow-path, and netteke, assisted by the current, made better speed than she had at any time during the day. meanwhile his captors were busy with father de smet. "come! drink to the kaiser!" shouted the first soldier, "or we'll feed you to the fishes! we want our supper, and you delay us." still father de smet said nothing. "we'll give you just until i count ten," said the soldier, pointing his gun at him, "and if by that time you have not found your tongue--" but he did not finish the sentence. from an unexpected quarter a shot rang out. it struck the pail of milk and dashed it over the german and over father de smet too. another shot followed, and the right arm of the soldier fell helpless to his side. one of his companions gave a howl and fell to the ground. still no one appeared at whom the germans could direct their fire. "snipers!" shouted the soldiers, instantly lowering their guns, but before they could even fire in the direction of the unseen enemy, there was such a patter of bullets about them that they turned and fled. father de smet fled, too. he leaped over the frying-pan and tore down the river-bank after the boat. as he overtook it, mother de smet ran out the gang plank. "boys!" shouted father de smet. "get aboard! get aboard!" joseph and jan instantly stopped the mule and, dropping the reins, raced up the gangplank, almost before the end of it rested safely on the ground. father de smet snatched up the reins. on went the boat at netteke's best speed, which seemed no better than a snail's pace to the fleeing family. sounds of the skirmish continued to reach their ears, even when they had gone some distance down the river, and it was not until twilight had deepened into dusk, and they were hidden in its shadows, that they dared hope the danger was passed. it was after ten o'clock at night when the "old woman" at last approached the twinkling lights of antwerp, and they knew that, for the time being at least, they were safe. they wore now beyond the german lines in country still held by the belgians. here, in a suburb of the city, father de smet decided to dock for the night. a distant clock struck eleven as the hungry but thankful family gathered upon the deck of the "old woman" to eat a meager supper of bread and cheese with only the moon to light their repast. not until they had finished did father de smet tell them all that had happened to him during the few terrible moments when he was in the hands of the enemy. "they overreached themselves," he said. "they meant to amuse themselves by prolonging my misery, and they lingered just a bit too long." he turned to jan and joseph. "you were brave boys! if you had not started the boat when you did, it is quite likely they might have got me, after all, and the potatoes too. i am proud of you." "but, father," cried joseph, "who could have fired those shots? we didn't see a soul." "neither did i," answered his father; "and neither did the germans for that matter. there was no one in sight." "oh," cried mother de smet, "it was as if the good god himself intervened to save you!" "as i figure it out," said father de smet, "we must have stopped very near the trenches, and our own men must have seen the germans attack us. my german friend had evidently been following us up, meaning to get everything we had and me too. but the smell of the onions was too much for him! if he hadn't been greedy, he might have carried out his plan, but he wanted our potatoes and our supper too; and so he got neither!" he chuckled. "and neither did the kaiser get a toast from me! instead, he got a salute from the belgians." he crossed himself reverently. "thank god for our soldiers," he said, and mother de smet, weeping softly, murmured a devout "amen." little did jan and marie dream as they listened, that this blessing rested upon their own father, and that he had been one of the belgian soldiers, who, firing from the trenches, had delivered them from the hands of their enemies. their father, hidden away, in the earth like a fox, as little dreamed that he had helped to save his own children from a terrible fate. xii the zeppelin raid when the twins awoke, early the next morning, they found that father and mother de smet had been stirring much earlier still, and that the "old woman" was already slipping quietly along among the docks of antwerp. to their immense surprise they were being towed, not by netteke, but by a very small and puffy steam tug. they were further astonished to find that netteke herself was on board the "old woman." "how in the world did you get the mule on to the boat!" gasped jan, when he saw her. "led her right up the gangplank just like folks," answered father de smet. "i couldn't leave her behind and i wanted to get to the antwerp docks as soon as possible. this was the quickest way. you see," he went on, "i don't know where i shall be going next, but i know it won't be up the dyle, so i am going to keep netteke right where i can use her any minute." there was no time for further questions, for father de smet had to devote his attention to the tiller. soon they were safely in dock and father de smet was unloading his potatoes and selling them to the market-men, who swarmed about the boats to buy the produce which had been brought in from the country. "there!" he said with a sigh of relief as he delivered the last of his cargo to a purchaser late in the afternoon; "that load is safe from the germans, anyway." "how did you find things up the dyle?" asked the merchant who had bought the potatoes. father de smet shook his head. "couldn't well be worse," he said. "i'm not going to risk another trip. the germans are taking everything they can lay their hands on, and are destroying what they can't seize. i nearly lost this load, and my life into the bargain. if it hadn't been that, without knowing it, we stopped so near the belgian line of trenches that they could fire on the german foragers who tried to take our cargo, i shouldn't have been here to tell this tale." "god only knows what will become of belgium if this state of things continues," groaned the merchant. "food must come from somewhere or the people will starve." "true enough," answered father de smet. "i believe i'll try a trip north through the back channels of the scheldt and see what i can pick up." "don't give up, anyway," urged the merchant. "if you fellows go back on us, i don't know what we shall do. we depend on you to bring supplies from somewhere, and if you can't get them in belgium, you'll have to go up into holland." mother de smet leaned over the boatrail and spoke to the two men who were standing on the dock. "you'd better believe we'll not give up," she said. "we don't know the meaning of the word." "well," said the merchant sadly, "maybe you don't, but there are others who do. it takes a stout heart to have faith that god hasn't forgotten belgium these days." "it's easy enough to have faith when things are going right," said mother de smet, "but to have faith when things are going wrong isn't so easy." then she remembered granny. "but a sick heart won't get you anywhere, and maybe a stout one will," she finished. "that's a good word," said the merchant. "it was said by as good a woman as treads shoe-leather," answered mother de smet. "you are safe while you stay in antwerp, anyway," said the merchant as he turned to say good-bye. "our forts are the strongest in the world and the germans will never be able to take them. there's comfort in that for us." then he spoke to his horses and turned away with his load. "let us stay right here to-night," said mother de smet to her husband as he came on board the boat. "we are all in need of rest after yesterday, and in antwerp we can get a good night's sleep. besides, it is so late in the day that we couldn't get out of town before dark if we tried." following this plan, the whole family went to bed at dusk, but they were not destined to enjoy the quiet sleep they longed for. the night was warm, and the cabin small, so father de smet and joseph, as well as the twins, spread bedding on the deck and went to sleep looking up at the stars. they had slept for some hours when they were suddenly aroused by the sound of a terrific explosion. instantly they sprang to their feet, wide awake, and mother de smet came rushing from the cabin with the babies screaming in her arms. "what is it now? what is it?" she cried. "look! look!" cried jan. he pointed to the sky. there, blazing with light, like a great misshapen moon, was a giant airship moving swiftly over the city. as it sailed along, streams of fire fell from it, and immediately there followed the terrible thunder of bursting bombs. when it passed out of sight, it seemed as if the voice of the city itself must rise in anguish at the terrible destruction left in its wake. just what that destruction was, father de smet did not wish to see. "this is a good place to get away from," he said to the frightened group cowering on the deck of the "old woman" after the bright terror had disappeared. when morning came he lost no time in making the best speed he could away from the doomed city of antwerp which they had thought so safe. when they had left the city behind them and the boat was slowly making its way through the quiet back channels of the scheldt the world once more seemed really peaceful to the wandering children. their way lay over still waters and beside green pastures, and as they had no communication with the stricken regions of belgium, they had no news of the progress of the war, until, some days later, the boat docked at rotterdam, and it became necessary to decide what should be done next. there they learned that they had barely escaped the siege of antwerp, which had begun with the zeppelin raid. father de smet was now obliged to confront the problem of what to do with his own family, for, since antwerp was now in the hands of the enemy, he could no longer earn his living in the old way. under these changed conditions he could not take care of jan and marie, so one sad day they said good-bye to good mother de smet, to joseph and the babies, and went with father de smet into the city of rotterdam. they found that these streets were also full of belgian refugees, and here, too, they watched for their mother. in order to keep up her courage, marie had often to feel of the locket and to say to herself: "she will find us. she will find us." and jan, jan had many times to say to himself, "i am now a man and must be brave," or he would have cried in despair. but help was nearer than they supposed. already england had begun to organize for the relief of the belgian refugees, and it was in the office of the british consul at rotterdam that father de smet finally took leave of jan and marie. the consul took them that night to his own home, and, after a careful record had been made of their names and their parents' names and all the facts about them, they were next day placed upon a ship, in company with many other homeless belgians, and sent across the north sea to england. xiii refugees if i were to tell you all the strange new sights that jan and marie saw, and all the things they did in england, it would make this book so big you could not hold it up to read it, so i must skip all about the great house in the southern part of england where they next found themselves. this house was the great country place of a very rich man, and when the war broke out he had given it to be used as a shelter for homeless belgians. there were the most wonderful woods and parks on the estate, and miles of beautiful drives. there were great gardens and stables and hothouses; and the house was much bigger and finer than any jan and marie had ever seen in all their lives. it seemed to them as if they had suddenly been changed into a prince and princess by some fairy wand. they were not alone in all this splendor; other lost little belgian children were there, and there were lost parents, too, and it seemed such a pity that the lost parents and the lost children should not be the very ones that belonged together, so that every one could be happy once more. however, bad as it was, it was so much better than anything they had known since the dreadful first night of the alarm that jan and marie became almost happy again. at night they and the other homeless children slept in little white cots set all in a row in a great picture gallery. they were given new clothes, for by this time even their best ones were quite worn out, and every day they had plenty of good plain food to eat. every day more belgians came, and still more, until not only the big house, but the stable and outbuildings were all running-over full of homeless people. one day, after they had been in this place for two or three weeks, jan and marie were called into the room where sat the sweet-faced lady whose home they were in. it was like an office, and there were several other persons there with her. the sweet-faced lady spoke to them. "jan and marie," she said, "how would you like to go to live with a dear lady in america who would love you, and take care of you, so you need never be lonely and sad again?" "but our mother!" gasped marie, bursting into tears. "we have not found her!" "you will not lose her any more by going to america," said the lady, "for, you see, we shall know all about you here, and if your mother comes, we shall be able to tell her just where to find you. meanwhile you will be safe and well cared for, far away from all the dreadful things that are happening here." "it is so far away!" sobbed marie. jan said nothing; he was busy swallowing lumps in his own throat. "you see, dears," the lady said gently, "you can be together there, for this woman has no children of her own, and is willing to take both of you. that does not often happen, and, besides, she is a belgian; i know you will find a good home with her." "you're sure we could be together?" asked jan. "yes," said the lady. "because," said jan, "mother said i must take care of marie." "and she said she'd find us again if she had to swim the sea," said marie, feeling of her locket and smiling through her tears. "she won't have to swim," said the lady. "we will see to that! if she comes here, she shall go for you in a fine big ship, and so that's all settled." she kissed their woebegone little faces. "you are going to start to-morrow," she said. "the good captain of the ship has promised to take care of you, so you will not be afraid, and i know you will be good children." it seemed like a month to jan and marie, but it was really only seven days later that they stood on the deck of the good ship caspian, as it steamed proudly into the wonderful harbor of new york. it was dusk, and already the lights of the city sparkled like a sky full of stars dropped down to earth. high above the other stars shone the great torch of "liberty enlightening the world." "oh," gasped marie, as she gazed, "new york must be as big as heaven. do you suppose that is an angel holding a candle to light us in?" just then the captain came to find them, and a few minutes later they walked with him down the gangplank, right into a pair of outstretched arms. the arms belonged to madame dujardin, their new mother. "i should have known them the moment i looked at them, even if they hadn't been with the captain," she cried to her husband, who stood smiling by her side. "poor darlings, your troubles are all over now! just as soon as captain nichols says you may, you shall come with us, and oh, i have so many things to show you in your new home!" she drew them with her to a quieter part of the dock, while her husband talked with the captain, and then, when they had bidden him good-bye, they were bundled into a waiting motor car and whirled away through miles of brilliantly lighted streets and over a wonderful bridge, and on and on, until they came to green lawns, and houses set among trees and shrubs, and it seemed to the children as if they must have reached the very end of the world. at last the car stopped before a house standing some distance back from the street in a large yard, and the children followed their new friends through the bright doorway of their house. madame dujardin helped them take off their things in the pleasant hallway, where an open fire was burning, and later, when they were washed and ready, she led the way to a cheerful dining room, where there was a pretty table set for four. there were flowers on the table, and they had chicken for supper, and, after that, ice cream! jan and marie had never tasted ice cream before in their whole lives! they thought they should like america very much. after supper their new mother took them upstairs and showed them two little rooms with a bathroom between. one room was all pink and white with a dear little white bed in it, and she said to marie, "this is your room, my dear." the other room was all in blue and white with another dear little white bed in it, and she said to jan, "this is your room, my dear." and there were clean white night-gowns on the beds, and little wrappers with gay flowered slippers, just waiting for jan and marie to put them on. "oh, i believe it is heaven!" cried marie, as she looked about the pretty room. then she touched madame dujardin's sleeve timidly. "is it all true?" she said. "shan't we wake up and have to go somewhere else pretty soon?" "no, dear," said madame dujardin gently. "you are going to stay right here now and be happy." "it will be a very nice place for mother to find us in," said jan. "she will come pretty soon now, i should think." "i hope she may," said madame dujardin, tears twinkling in her eyes. "i'm sure she will," said marie. "you see everybody is looking for her. there's granny, and mother and father de smet, and joseph, and the people in rotterdam, and the people in england, too; and then, besides, mother is looking for herself, of course!" "she said she would surely find us even if she had to swim the sea," added jan. xiv the most wonderful part and now comes the most wonderful part of the story! madame dujardin prepared a bath and said to marie: "you may have the first turn in the tub because you're a girl. in america the girls have the best of everything", she laughed at jan, as she spoke. "i will help you undress. jan, you may get ready and wait for your turn in your own room." she unbuttoned marie's dress, slipped off her clothes, and held up the gay little wrapper for her to put her arms into, and just then she noticed the locket on her neck. "we'll take this off, too," she said, beginning to unclasp it. but marie clung to it with both hands. "no, no," she cried. "mother said i was never, never to take it off. it has her picture in it." "may i see it, dear?" asked madame dujardin. "i should like to know what your mother looks like." marie nestled close to her, and madame dujardin opened the locket. for a moment she gazed at the picture in complete silence, her eyes staring at it like two blue lights. then she burst into a wild fit of weeping, and cried out, "leonie! leonie! it is not possible! my own sister's children!" she clasped the bewildered marie in her arms and kissed her over and over again. she ran to the door and brought in jan and kissed him; and then she called her husband. when he came in and saw her with her arms around both children at once, holding the locket in her hands, and laughing and crying both together, he, too, was bewildered. "what in the world is the matter, julie?" he cried. for answer, she pointed to the face in the locket. "leonie! leonie!" she cried. "they are my own sister's children! surely the hand of god is in this!" her husband looked at the locket. "so it is! so it is!" he said in astonishment. "i thought at first you had gone crazy." "see!" cried his wife. "it's her wedding-gown, and afterward she gave me those very beads she has around her neck! i have them yet!" she rushed from the room and returned in a moment with the beads in her hand. meanwhile jan and marie had stood still, too astonished to do more than stare from one amazed and excited face to the other, as their new father and mother gazed, first at them, and then at the locket, and last at the beads, scarcely daring to believe the testimony of their own eyes. "to think," cried madame dujardin at last, "that i should not have known! but there are many van hoves in belgium, and it never occurred to me that they could be my own flesh and blood. it is years since i have heard from leonie. in fact, i hardly knew she had any children, our lives have been so different. oh, it is all my fault," she cried, weeping again. "but if i have neglected her, i will make it up to her children! it may be, oh, it is just possible that she is still alive, and that she may yet write to me after all these years! sorrow sometimes bridges wide streams!" then she turned more quietly to the children. "you see, dears," she said, "i left belgium many years ago, and came with your uncle to this country. we were poor when we came, but your uncle has prospered as one can in america. at first leonie and i wrote regularly to each other. then she grew more and more busy, and we seemed to have no ties in common, so that at last we lost sight of each other altogether." she opened her arms to marie and jan as she spoke, and held them for some time in a close embrace. finally she lifted her head and laughed. "this will never do!" she exclaimed. "you must have your baths, even if you are my own dear niece and nephew. the water must be perfectly cold by this time!" she went into the bathroom, turned on more hot water, and popped marie into the tub. in half an hour both children had said their prayers and were tucked away for the night in their clean white beds. wonderful days followed for jan and marie. they began to go to school; they had pretty clothes and many toys, and began to make friends among the little american children of the neighborhood. but in the midst of these new joys they did not forget their mother, still looking for them, or their father, now fighting, as they supposed, in the cruel trenches of belgium. but at last there came a day when aunt julie received a letter with a foreign postmark. she opened it, with trembling fingers, and when she saw that it began, "my dear sister julie," she wept so for joy that she could not see to read it, and her husband had to read it for her. this was the letter: you will perhaps wonder at hearing from me after the long years of silence that have passed, but i have never doubted the goodness of your heart, my julie, nor your love for your poor leonie, even though our paths in life have led such different ways. and now i must tell you of the sorrows which have broken my heart. georges was obliged to go into the army at a moment's notice when the war broke out. a few days later the germans swept through meer, driving the people before them like chaff before the wind. as our house was on the edge of the village, i was the first to see them coming. i hid the children in the vegetable cellar, but before i could get to a hiding-place for myself, they swept over the town, driving every man, woman, and child before them. to turn back then was impossible, and it was only after weeks of hardship and danger that i at last succeeded in struggling through the territory occupied by germans to the empty city of malines, and the deserted village where we had been so happy! on the kitchen door of our home i found a paper pinned. on it was printed, "dear mother--we have gone to malines to find you--jan and marie." since then i have searched every place where there seemed any possibility of my finding my dear children, but no trace of them can i find. then, through friends in antwerp, i learned that georges had been wounded and was in a hospital there and i went at once to find him. he had lost an arm in the fighting before antwerp and was removed to holland after the siege began. here we have remained since, still hoping god would hear our prayers and give us news of our dear children. it would even be a comfort to know surely of their death, and if i could know that they were alive and well, i think i should die of joy. georges can fight no more; our home is lost; we are beggars until this war is over and our country once more restored to us. i am now at work in a factory, earning what keeps body and soul together. georges must soon leave the hospital, then, god knows what may befall us. how i wish we had been wise like you, my julie, and your paul, and that we had gone, with you to america years ago! i might then have my children with me in comfort. if you get this letter, write to your heart-broken leonie. it was not a letter that went back that very day; it was a cablegram, and it said: jan and marie are safe with me. am sending money with this to the bank of holland, for your passage to america. come at once. julie. people do not die of joy, or i am sure that father and mother van hove would never have survived the reading of that message. instead it put such new strength and energy into their weary souls and bodies that two days later they were on their way to england, and a week later still they stood on the deck of the arabia as it steamed into new york harbor. jan and marie with uncle paul and aunt julie met them at the dock, and there are very few meetings, this side of heaven, like the reunion of those six persons on that day. the story of that first evening together can hardly be told. first. father and mother van hove listened to jan and marie as they told of their wanderings with fidel, of the little old eel woman, of father and mother de smet, of the attack by germans and of the friends they found in holland and in england; and when everybody had cried a good deal about that, father van hove told what had happened to him; then mother van hove told of her long and perilous search for her children; and there were more tears of thankfulness and joy, until it seemed as if their hearts were filled to the brim and running over. but when, last of all, uncle paul told of the plans which he and aunt julie had made for the family, they found there was room in their hearts for still more joy. "i have a farm in the country," said uncle paul. "it is not very far from new york. there is a good house on it; it is already stocked. i need a farmer to take care of the place for me, and trustworthy help is hard to get here. if you will manage it for me, brother georges, i shall have no further anxiety about it, and shall expect to enjoy the fruits of it as i have never yet been able to do. leonie shall make some of her good butter for our city table, and the children" here he pinched marie's cheek, now round and rosy once more "the children shall pick berries and help on the farm all summer. in winter they can come back to uncle paul and aunt julie and go to school here, for they are our children now, as well as yours." father van hove rose, stretched out his one hand, and, grasping uncle paul's, tried to thank him, but his voice failed. "don't say a word, old man," said uncle paul, clasping father van hove's hand with both of his. "all the world owes a debt to belgium which it can never pay. her courage and devotion have saved the rest of us from the miseries she has borne so bravely. if you got your just deserts, you'd get much more than i can ever give you." in the end it all came about just as uncle paul had said, and the van hoves are living in comfort and happiness on that farm this very day. the end suggestions to teachers american children who have been giving their pennies to help take care of little belgian children will find this new "twins" book one of the most appealing that mrs. perkins has ever written. the author's preface states the sources of her inspiration. as usual, her story will be found sympathetic in spirit and accurate as to facts. at the present day books are constantly issuing from the press which will assist teachers in planning their own preparation for the class reading of this book; for example, griffis's: "belgium: the land of art" and gibson's: "a journal from our legation in belgium". books issued in past years which tell other stories of exile or emigration, or which deal with european countries neighboring belgium, also have their place in the teacher's reading. we may suggest griffis's: "the pilgrims in their three homes" and "brave little holland", and davis's "history of medieval and modern europe" (sections , , and the account of the present war). a file of the national geographic magazine, accessible in most public libraries, will be found to contain many articles and illustrations which will be invaluable in this connection. picture postcards, also, will supply a wealth of appropriate subjects. children should be encouraged to bring material of this sort to school. once the historical and geographical background has been sketched, the teacher may safely trust the children to get the most out of the story. fifth grade pupils can read it without preparation. pupils in the fourth grade should first read it in a study period in order to work out the pronunciation of the more difficult words. the possibilities for dramatization will be immediately apparent. in this, the author's illustrations will, as in all the "twins" books, furnish hints as to scenes and action. they may likewise be used as the subjects of both oral and written compositions--each pupil selecting the picture most interesting to him, and retelling its story in his own words. the illustrations may be used, also, as models for the pupils' sketching; their simple style renders them especially suitable for this use. flemish legends by charles de coster with eight woodcuts by albert delstanche translated from the french by harold taylor london: chatto & windus mcmxx contents page i. the brotherhood of the cheerful countenance ii. the three sisters iii. sir halewyn iv. smetse smee illustrations the church of haeckendover frontispiece the little stone boy facing page the man in white sir halewyn in the wood the song of the head smetse caught by the two branches in smetse's garden the devil-king and the sack translator's note there never was a book which needed less of an introduction than this one, unless it is that it should have an apology from the translator for his handling of so beautiful an original. but since so little is generally known of these legends and their author a word of information may be demanded. charles de coster flourished in the middle part of the last century. he was brought up in the court of a great dignitary of the roman church, and intended for the aristocratic university of louvain, but showed early his independent and democratic turn of mind by preferring the more popular university of brussels, to which he made his own way. here he fell in with a group of fellow-students and artistic enthusiasts which included félicien rops, with whom he was associated in a society called les joyeux, and afterwards in a short-lived review, to which they gave the name of that traditional belgian figure of joyousness and high spirits, uylenspiegel. it was in this that these legends first appeared, written in the years and , and soon afterwards published in book form. belgian literature was not at that time in a very flourishing condition, and little general appreciation was shown of de coster's work, but it was hailed with enthusiasm by a few of the more discerning critics, and won him a place on a royal commission which was investigating mediæval state papers. after publishing another book, contes brabançons, likewise based on the folk-lore of his country, he seems to have withdrawn into himself and led the life of a dreamer, wandering about among the peasants and burying himself in the wide countryside of flanders, until he had completed his epic of the spanish tyranny, ulenspiegel, which has already been translated into english. none of these publications brought him any material recompense for his work, and he remained a poor man to the end of his life, in constant revolt against what he called the horrible power of money. [ ] the primitive stuff of these legends is to be found scattered up and down, a piece here and a piece there, in the folk-lore of brabant and flanders. de coster, who had an intense love of this folk-lore and at the same time, as he said, "that particular kind of madness which is needed for such writing," set himself to give it a literary form. he has chosen to make that form so elaborate, and has worked his material to so fine a composition, that he must be considered to have produced an entirely original book. but he has not been unfaithful to his masters the people. sir halewyn, for instance, follows an old song. and the faust-story of smetse smee, the jovial and ingenious smith, who gets the better of his bargain with the devil in so wholly satisfactory a fashion, crops up in one form or another again and again. the legends were written in the idiom of the sixteenth century, the period to which the latest and longest of them roughly belongs. i believe that no more perfect example of pastiche exists in the language. but that is not of much interest to english readers, and i have made no attempt to reproduce the achievement. de coster found modern french, with its rigidity of form, unsuitable to his subject and inapt to his genius. he seems to have had a mind so perfectly in tune with the middle ages that one may well believe that he found it actually more natural to write in the still fluid language of rabelais than in that of his own day. the prose of the original is of arresting beauty, especially in sir halewyn; which, with its peculiarly flemish tale of faery and enchantment, still beauty and glowing hearths, and the sombreness of northern forests brooding over them, i feel to be the high-water mark of his achievement. at times it becomes so rhythmic that one can hardly decide whether it is prose or poetry. it is not difficult to believe potvin's report that de coster spent an immense amount of pains on his work, sometimes doing a page twenty times over before he was content to let it go. de coster has been spoken of as a mouthpiece of protestantism. protestant, of course, is the last word in the world to describe him. no one can have regretted much more than he the passing of that warm-hearted time before the reformation. one has but to read the story of the building of the church at haeckendover in the three sisters, or the prayer of the girl wantje to the virgin in the tale of the hilarious brotherhood to see how far this is true. it is only in smetse smee, when he comes to the time of the inquisition, that he bursts out with that stream of invective and monstrous mockery which made the polish refugee karski say of him, "well roared, fleming!" and even then it is spain rather than catholicism which is the centre of his attack, and philip ii who is his aiming-point. above all and before all de coster loved the simple peasant-people of his own land, with their frank interest in good things to eat and good beer to drink, their aptitude for quarrelling and their great hearts. all his chief portraits are painted from them. the old homely nobility of flanders, such as were the people of heurne in the tale of halewyn, he liked well enough, but he could not bear a rich man or a distant-mannered master of the spanish type. a tale is told of him and his painter friend dillens which may well stand as the key to his work. one day at carnival-time they were in ghent, and when the evening came dillens asked what they should do. "voir le peuple!" cried de coster, "le peuple surtout! la bourgeoisie est la même partout! va voir le peuple!" h. t. the brotherhood of the cheerful countenance i. of the sorrowful voice which pieter gans heard in his garden, and of the flame running over the grass. in the days when the good duke ruled over brabant, there was to be found at uccle, with its headquarters in the tavern of the horn, a certain brotherhood of the cheerful countenance, aptly enough so named, for every one of the brothers had a wonderfully jolly face, finished off, as a sign of good living, with two chins at the least. that was the young ones; but the older ones had more. you shall hear, first of all, how this brotherhood was founded: pieter gans, host of this same horn, putting off his clothes one night to get into bed, heard in his garden a sorrowful voice, wailing: "my tongue is scorching me. drink! drink! i shall die of thirst." thinking at first that it was some drunkard below, he continued to get into bed quietly, notwithstanding the voice, which kept crying out in the garden: "drink! drink! i shall die of thirst." but this persisted so long and in so melancholy a manner that at last pieter gans must needs get up and go to the window to see who it might be making so much noise. thence he saw a long flame, of great brightness and strange upstanding shape, running over the grass; and, thinking that it must be some poor soul from purgatory in need of prayers, he set about repeating litanies, and went through above a hundred, but all in vain, for the voice never ceased crying out as before: "drink! drink! i shall die of thirst." after cock-crow he heard no more, and looking out again he saw with great satisfaction that the flame had disappeared. when morning came he went straightway to the church. there he told the story of these strange happenings to the priest, and caused a fair mass to be said for the repose of the poor soul; gave a golden peter to the clerk so that others might be said later, and returned home reassured. but on the following night the voice began its wailing anew, as lamentably as if it were that of a dying man hindered from dying. and so it went on night after night. whence it came about that pieter gans grew moody and morose. those who had known him in former days, rubicund, carrying a good paunch and a joyous face, wont to tell his matins with bottles and his vespers with flagons, would certainly never have recognized him. for he grew so wizened, dried up, thin, and of such piteous appearance that dogs used to start barking at the sight of him, as they do at beggars with their bundles. ii. how jan blaeskaek gave good counsel to pieter gans, and wherein covetousness is sadly punished. it so happened that while he was moping after this fashion, passing his days in misery and without any joy of them, alone in a corner like a leper, there came to the inn a certain master jan blaeskaek, brewer of good beer, a hearty fellow, and of a jovial turn of mind. this visitor, seeing pieter gans looking at him nervously and shamefacedly, wagging his head like an old man, went up to him and shook him: "come," said he, "wake up, my friend, it gives me no pleasure to see thee sitting there like a corpse!" "alas," answered pieter gans, "i am not worth much more now, my master." "and whence," said blaeskaek, "hast thou gotten all this black melancholy?" to which pieter gans made answer: "come away to some place where none will hear us. there i will tell thee the whole tale." this he did. when blaeskaek had heard to the end he said: "'tis no christian soul that cries in this manner, but the voice of a devil. it must be appeased. therefore go thou and fetch from thy cellar a good cask of ale, and roll it out into the garden, to the place where thou didst see the flame shining." "that i will," said pieter gans. but at vespers, thinking to himself that ale was precious stuff to set before devils, he put instead in that place a great bowl of clear water. towards midnight he heard a voice more sorrowful than ever, calling out: "drink! drink! i shall die of thirst." and he saw the bright flame dancing furiously over the bowl, which was suddenly broken with a loud report, and this in so violent a manner that the pieces flew up against the windows of the house. then he began to sweat with terror and weep aloud, saying: "now 'tis all over, dear god, all over with me. oh, that i had followed the advice of the wise blaeskaek, for he is a man of good counsel, of excellent counsel! master devil, who are so thirsty, do not kill me to-night; to-morrow you shall drink good ale, master devil. ah, 'tis ale of fair repute throughout the land, this ale, fit for kings or for good devils like yourself!" nevertheless the voice continued to wail: "drink! drink!" "there, there! have a little patience, master devil; to-morrow you shall drink my best ale. it cost me many a golden peter, my master, and i will give you a whole barrelful. do you not see that you must not strangle me to-night, but rather to-morrow if i do not keep my word." and after this fashion he wept and cried out until cock-crow. then, finding that he was not dead, he said his matins with a better heart. at sun-up he went down himself to fetch the cask of ale from his cellar, and placed it in the middle of the grass, saying: "here is the freshest and the best drink i have; i am no niggard. so have pity on me, master devil." iii. of the songs, voices, mewlings, and sounds of kisses which pieter gans and blaeskaek heard in the garden, and of the brave mien wherewith master merry-face sat on the cask of stone. at the third hour blaeskaek came down and asked for news. pieter gans told his tale, and as he was about to go away again drew him aside and said: "i have kept this secret from my servants, lest they should go and blab about it to the priests, and so i am as good as alone in the house. do not therefore leave me, for it may happen that some evil will come of the business, and 'twould be well to have a good stomach in case of such event. alone i should certainly have none, but together we shall have enough for both. it would be as well, then, to fortify ourselves against this assault on our courage. instead of sleeping we will eat and drink heartily." "for that," said blaeskaek, "i am as ready as thou." towards midnight the two comrades, tippling in a low room, fortified with good eating, but not without some apprehension nevertheless, heard the same voice outside, no longer sorrowful, but joyous, singing songs in a strange tongue; and there followed divers sweet chants, such as angels might sing (speaking with proper respect to them all), who in paradise had drunken too much ambrosia, voices of women celestially soft, mewlings of tigers, sighs, noise of embraces and lovers' kisses. "ho, ho!" cried pieter gans, "what is this, dear jesus? they are devils for a certainty. they will empty my cask altogether. and when they find my ale so good they will want more of it, and come crying every night and shouting louder than ever: 'drink! drink!' and i shall be ruined, alas, alas! come, friend blaeskaek"--and so saying he pulled out his kuyf, which is, as you may know, a strong knife well sharpened--"come, we must drive them off by force! but alone i have not the courage." "i will come with you," said blaeskaek, "but not until a little later, at cock-crow. they say that after that hour devils cannot bite." before the sun rose the cock crew. and he had, that morning, so martial a tone that you would have thought it a trumpet sounding. and hearing this trumpet all the devils suddenly put a stop to their drinking and singing. pieter gans and blaeskaek were overjoyed at that, and ran out into the garden in haste. pieter gans, hurrying to look for his cask of ale, found it changed into stone, and on top of it, sitting horseback fashion, what seemed to be a young boy, quite naked, a fair, sweet little boy, gaily crowned with vine-leaves, with a bunch of grapes hanging over one ear, and in his right hand a staff with a fir-cone at the tip, and grapes and vine-branches twined round it. and although this little boy was made of stone, he had all the appearance of being alive, so merry a countenance had he. greatly alarmed were gans and blaeskaek at the sight of this personage. and fearing both the wrath of the devil and the punishment of the church, and swearing together to say no word about it to any one, they put the figure (which was but a few thumbs high) in a dark cellar where there was no drink kept. iv. wherein the two worthy men set out for brussels, capital city of brabant, and of the manners and condition of josse cartuyvels the apothecary. having done so much they set out together for brussels, there to consult an old man, apothecary by trade, something of a glutton, but liked well enough by the common folk on account of a certain hotch-potch he made, well seasoned with rare herbs, for which he asked a not unreasonable price. he was reputed by the devout to have commerce with the devil, on account of the miraculous cures which he effected in both man and beast by means of his herbs. furthermore, he sold beer, which he bought from blaeskaek. and he was hideous to look at, gouty, wizened, yellow as a guinea, wrinkled as an old apple, and with carbuncles on his neck. he lived in a house of mean appearance, in that part where you may now see the brewery of claes van volxem. gans and blaeskaek, coming thither, found him in his kitchen, making up his stews. the apothecary, seeing gans in such a piteous melancholy state, asked him if he had some ill whereof he wished to be cured. "he has nothing to be cured of," said blaeskaek, "save an evil fear which has been tormenting him for a week past." thereupon they told him the whole story of the chubby-faced image. "dear god!" said josse cartuyvels, for such was the name of this doctor of stews, "i know this devil well enough, and will show you his likeness." and taking them up to the top of his house, into a small room which he had there, he showed them a gallant image of that same devil, making merry with pretty maids and gay goat-foot companions. "and what is the name," said blaeskaek, "of this merry boy?" "i have no doubt it is bacchus," said josse cartuyvels. "in olden times he was a god, but at the gracious coming of our lord jesus christ"--here all three crossed themselves--"he lost at once his power and his divinity. he was, in his time, good company, and more particularly notable as the inventor of wine, beer, and ale. it may be, on that account, that instead of hell he is only in purgatory, where no doubt he has become thirsty, and by god's permission was allowed to return to earth, once only, no more, and there sing this lamentable song which you heard in your garden. but i suppose that he was not allowed to cry his thirst in countries where wine is chiefly drunk, and that he came accordingly to master gans, knowing well enough that with him he would find the best ale in all brabant." "true," said gans, "true, friend cartuyvels, the best in the duchy; and he drank up, if you please, a whole barrelful, without paying me so much as the smallest gold piece, nor silver, nor even copper. that is not the conduct of an honest devil." "ah!" said cartuyvels, "there you are in error, and do not perceive what is for your good and what for evil. but if you will take the advice i am about to give you, you may find a way whereby you can make clear profit from this bacchus, for he is, you must know, the god of jolly drinkers and good innkeepers, and i am disposed to think that he will do you a good turn." "well, then," asked blaeskaek, "what must we do now?" "i have heard that this devil loves warmth and sunlight. so take him out, first of all, from this dark cellar. then put him in some place whither the sun reaches, such as on top of the tall press which stands in the room where your customers sit and drink." "sweet jesus!" exclaimed pieter gans, "this is idolatry." "in no wise," said the apothecary. "i mean only this; that, put up where i tell you, sniffing the good smell of stoups and flagons, and hearing jolly talk, he will grow altogether frolicsome and happy. so may you bring christian comfort to poor dead souls." "but if," said pieter gans, "the priests should get wind of this statue, so shamelessly set up for all to see?" "they cannot find you guilty of sin, for innocence keeps nothing secret. you will show this bacchus openly to all your friends and relatives, and say that you found him buried under the earth in a corner of your garden. thus you will make him seem an ancient relic, as indeed he is. only take care to forget his name when you speak of him to any one, and, entitling him, as in jest, master merry-face, use this name for him always, and institute in his honour a jolly brotherhood." "so we will," answered pieter gans and blaeskaek together, and they then departed, not without having given the apothecary two large coins for his trouble. he did his best, however, to keep them back, so that they might partake of some of his heavenly hotch-potch, but pieter gans turned him a deaf ear, saying to himself that it was devil's cooking, unwholesome for a good christian stomach. so they left him and set out again for uccle. v. of the long conversation and great perplexity of pieter gans and blaeskaek in the matter of the deviling; and how they returned to uccle with a resolution taken. while they were on their way: "well, comrade," said gans to blaeskaek, "what is thy opinion of this apothecary?" "a dog of a heretic!" said blaeskaek, "a heathen, a despiser of all good and all virtue. for 'twas treasonable and wicked counsel he gave us." "true, my good friend, true. and is it not besides a great heresy to dare tell us that this deviling on his cask is he who invented beer, wine, and ale, when we have heard it preached every sunday in our church that st. noah, under the instruction of our lord jesus christ"--here both crossed themselves--"invented these things." "for my part," said blaeskaek, "i know i have heard that preached above a hundred times." here, seating themselves on the grass, they began to refresh themselves with a fine ghent sausage, brought by pieter gans against such time as they should feel hungry. "there, there," said he, "let us not forget the benedicite, my friend. so, perhaps, we may escape burning. for 'tis to god we owe this meat: may he deign to keep us always in his holy faith." "amen," said blaeskaek; "but, my master, between us we must certainly break up this wicked statue." "he who has no sheep fears no wolves. 'tis easy enough for thee to talk comfortably of breaking up this deviling." "'twould be a deed much to our credit." "but if he come back again to wail each night so piteously: 'drink! drink!' and if he turn angry with me and cast spells on my beer and my wine, and make me as poor as job! nay, better follow the advice of the apothecary." "aye, and if the priests learn of the statue, and call us both before the tribunal, and have us burnt as heretics and idolaters, what then?" "ah," said gans, "here are the good god on the one hand and the wicked devil on the other, fighting over our poor bodies, and we shall be pounded to nothing between them, alas, alas!" "well," said blaeskaek, "let us go to the good fathers openly, and tell them the whole affair." "alas, alas! we shall be burnt, my good master, burnt without mercy." "i believe there must be some way whereby to escape this danger." "there is none, my friend, there is none, and we shall be burnt. i feel myself already half roast." "i have thought of a way," said blaeskaek. "there is none, my friend, there is no way whatever, unless it be the clemency of the worthy fathers. canst see no pilgrim or wandering friar on the road?" "none." "if we see such a one we must give him all our sausage--have we said our grace for it?--and all the bread in our wallet, and humbly invite him into our house, to eat a quarter of roast lamb, well washed down with old wine. i have not much of that kind, but i will gladly give him all there is of it. canst not see such a one coming?" "no one," said blaeskaek. "but open those rabbit's ears of thine and hark to me: i will give thee good counsel, for i wish thee well, blubberer. we must follow the apothecary's advice in half-and-half fashion, so much only, you understand. 'twould be idolatry of the most shameless kind to put up this statue in the public hall." "alas, alas, by all the devils! yes, you are right." "very well, then we will put him in a cupboard, which shall be well fastened, but with an opening on the top to let in the air. therein we will also put a small keg of good beer, and ask him not to use it up too fast. in this way he will be, in fact, within the hall of the inn, and he will keep himself well hid for certain, for in his cupboard he will be able to take what pleasure he may from the songs of the drinkers, rattling of mugs, and clinking of bottles." "no," said gans to that, "no, we must follow wholly the apothecary's advice, for he knows more about devils than we. as for this deviling, we will do our best to satisfy him, according to our means. but in spite of it all, i fear we shall one day be burnt, alas, alas!" vi. wherein it is seen that the devil is not a good one; and of the evil trick which he played on the good wives of the drinkers. as soon as they reached the horn, the two worthies took out from the cellar the statue of the deviling and put it with great respect on top of a press which stood in the hall. on the morrow there came to this inn nearly all the men of uccle, brought together in this wise because on that day had been sold publicly in their stables two horses well bred by the late sheriff, jacob naeltjens. his son was in no mind to keep them, saying that a man's best steeds were his slipper-shoes. the men of uccle were surprised and delighted when they saw the statue of the youngster on the press, especially when blaeskaek told them that his name was master merry-face, and that it was proposed, by way of jest, to establish forthwith in his honour a jolly brotherhood. they were all willing to do this, and thereupon decided between them that no one should be of their brotherhood until he had drunk, as his baptism, four-and-twenty monstrous great cups of wine, while another brother beat twelve strokes on the plumpest belly of the company there present. each night thereafter they gathered together at the horn, and drank deep enough, as you may well guess. the most wonderful thing about the business was that in spite of this they worked all day like stout fellows, some at their crafts, some at their trades, others in the fields, contented one and all. but their good wives were not by any means contented, for as soon as vespers sounded all their husbands and sweethearts went off to the horn, without giving them so much as a single thought, and there stayed until curfew. and when these worthies went home they did not beat their wives, as some drinkers do, but lay down quietly beside them in bed, and immediately, without saying a word, fell fast asleep and began to sound such fanfares with their noses as master porker makes with his snout. then the poor women might thump them, cuff them, call their names as they would, to get them to sing their bedfellows a different sort of song, but all quite in vain: as well beat water to get fire out of it. they awoke only with cock-crow, but their temper in the morning was so rough and stormy that none of their womenfolk (that is to say, of such as were not asleep from weariness) dared say a word, either then or at the dinner-hour. all this was brought about by the evil power and influence of the deviling. on that account there was much sadness among the women, who said, all of them, that if such a state of things went on for long the race of the people of uccle must needs become extinct, which would be a great pity. vii. of the great parliament of the women of uccle. so it came about that the women decided between themselves to save the village from this fate, and to this end, while their menfolk were at drink with pieter gans, they met together at the house of a certain dame syske, who was big, fat, loud-speaking, had hair upon her chin, and had buried five husbands, or else seven, i dare not particularize the number for fear of untruth. there, as a rebuke to their drunken husbands, they quenched their thirst with clear water. when all were present, the younger ones assembled on this side and the older on that, the ugly ones among the older, dame syske opened the talk by saying that they must all go forthwith to the horn, and there give these drinkers such a drubbing that they would be stiff and sore for a week because of it. the old and ugly ones applauded this proposal with their hands, their feet, their mouths, and their noses. there was a fine noise, you may well believe. but the young and pretty ones kept silent as fishes, all save one, very pretty, very fresh and very neat, bearing the name of wantje, who said very modestly, and blushing somewhat, that it was of no use to belabour their worthy men in this fashion, but rather they must bring them back to good ways by gentleness and laughter. to this the dame syske replied: "little one, thou canst understand nothing of men, for thou art but a maid, or so i believe. for my part i know well enough how i managed my several husbands, and that was neither by gentleness nor by laughter, i promise thee. they are all dead, the worthy men (may god rest their souls!), but i remember them clearly, and know very well that at the least wrongdoing i made them dance the stick-dance on the field of obedience. none dared eat or drink, sneeze or yawn, unless i had first given him leave. little job syske, my last, did my cooking for me in my own house. he made a good cook, poor little man. but i had to give him many good beatings to bring him to that, and so it was with the others as well. therefore, little one, give up all these laughters and gentlenesses of thine, they are not worth much, i can tell thee. let us rather go forthwith and cut ourselves good staves of greenwood, easy enough to find now that it is spring-time, and going off to the horn let us make fall a good shower of blows on these unfaithful husbands." at this the old and ugly ones broke out afresh into monstrous howls and tumult, crying, "out upon them! out on the drunkards! they want a good drubbing, they want a good hanging!" viii. of the great wit which every woman has, and of the modest conversation which the maid wantje held with the worthies at the inn. on the morrow all these good women met together once again, and drank as before a great quantity of clear water; and afterwards went off, armed with sticks, to the place where they knew their men were to be found. before the door of the horn they stopped, and there a great council took place. the old ones wanted to go in with their sticks. "no," said wantje, with the young and pretty ones, "we would rather be beaten ourselves." "hark to these sillies!" cried the old ones, "these poor silly things. they have not an ounce of pride in their bodies, between the lot of them. be guided by us, gentle ewekins: we will avenge the dignity of women for you upon these wretched drunkards." "that you shall not," said the young ones, "as long as we are there." "that we shall," howled the old ones. but here a certain young and merry wife burst out laughing. "see ye not," said she, "whence comes to these grannies so great a rage and such a thirst for vengeance? 'tis simple bragging, to make us believe that their old croakers of husbands still care to sing them songs." at these words the old hags were thrown into such a state of fury that one or two died of rage there and then. others, having quite lost their heads, wanted to kill the maids and young wives who were laughing at them (and 'twas pretty music, all those fresh and merry voices), but the dame syske stopped them from that, saying that for the present they must take counsel together and not kill one another. continuing their discussion, they quarrelled, argued, chattered, jabbered in this and like fashion until curfew-time, when they separated without having made up their minds to anything, by reason of not having had time enough to talk it over. and there were spoken in this assembly of women more than , , words, each one as full of good sense as a cellarful of old wine. pieter gans, who, as they said, had rabbit's ears, hearing in the street a certain hum of chattering voices, cried out: "alas, alas! what is this now? devils for a certainty, dear jesus!" "i will go and see, little coward," answered blaeskaek. but on opening the door he burst out laughing all at once, saying: "brothers, 'tis our wives." thereupon all the drinkers rose and went to the door; some with bottles in their hands, others brandishing flagons, others again clinking their mugs together like church bells. blaeskaek went out of the room, crossed the threshold of the outer door, and stepped into the street. "well, wives," said he, "what brings you here with all this greenwood?" at these words the young ones let fall their sticks to the ground, for they were ashamed to be caught with such weapons. but one old woman, brandishing hers in the air, answered for the others: "we come, drunkards, to tell you the tale of the stick, and give you a good thrashing." "woe, woe!" wept pieter gans, "that, i know, is my grandmother's voice." "so it is, scoundrel," said the old woman. meanwhile the brothers of the cheerful countenance, hearing all this, shook their sides merrily with laughing, and blaeskaek said: "then come in, come in, good wives, and let us see how you do your drubbing. are those good greenwood staves you have brought?" "yes," said they. "i am glad of that. for our part we have ready for you some good rods, well pickled in vinegar, which we use for whipping disobedient boys. 'twill doubtless give you all sweet pleasure to feel their caresses, and so recall the days of your youth. will you be pleased to try them? we will give you plenty." but at these scoffing words the old women took fright and ran off as fast as their legs would carry them, more particularly mother syske, making such terrible threats and noises as they went that they sounded to those jolly brothers like a flight of screeching crows passing down the deserted streets. the young ones stayed before the door of the inn, and 'twas affecting to see them so humbly standing, gentle and submissive, waiting for some kindly word from their husbands or sweethearts. "well," said blaeskaek, "do you please to come in?" "yes," said they all. "keep them out," said pieter gans into blaeskaek's ear, "keep them out, or they will go chattering to the priests about the deviling, and we shall be burnt, my good friend." "i am deaf," said blaeskaek; "come in, my dears." thereupon entered all these good women, and took up their places, some by their husbands, others by their sweethearts, and the maids in a line on a bench modestly. "women," said the drinkers, "you wish to join us?" "yes," said they. "and to drink also?" "yes," said they. "and have not come here to tell us temperance stories?" "nay," said they, "we have come without any other wish than to join our good husbands and sweethearts, and laugh with them, if that may be, with god's good will." "those are certainly fair words," said one old man, "but i suspect beneath them some woman's artifice or other." but no one paid him any heed, for by this time the women were seated all about the table, and you might hear this: "drink this, pretty sweet, 'tis a draught from heaven." "pour, neighbour, pour, pour out some more of this sweet drink." "who is a better man than i? i am the duke; i have good wine and good wife!" "ho, there! broach a fresh cask of wine; we must have the best there is to-day to pleasure these good dames." "courage! i have drunk too much; i am going to conquer the moon. but wait a little first. for the present i stay by this good wife of mine. kiss me, sweet." "this is not the place, before all these people," the women would answer. and with many caresses and pretty ways each said to her man: "come away home." they would indeed have been glad enough to go, all those good drinkers, but did not dare do it, being shamefaced in this matter in one another's presence. guessing as much, the women talked of going back. "there, there!" said the old man, "is not that what i said. they want to have us outside." "nay, my masters," said wantje very sweetly, "but i pray you remember that we are not accustomed to such strong drinks, nor even to their smell. therefore, master, if we feel the need to go out into the fresh air 'tis assuredly without wanting to anger or sadden you in any way whatsoever. may god keep you merry, brothers." and thereupon the good women went off, though the men tried to keep them back by force. ix. wherein it is seen that the learned thomas a klapperibus knew what makes a drinker fidget on his stool. left thus to their pots and tankards they turned to one another in wonder, saying: "ah, look ye at these dames! does it not always fall out in this wise; that they would have us do whatever they bid, and that with humility! submissive they seem, tyrants they are. but look ye, is it to male or female that belongs properly the right of command in all matters? to the male. we are the males. very well, then, let us drink! and we will at all times carry out our own wishes, which will presently be to sleep here in this inn, if we please." after this fashion they talked together for some time, feigning great anger, but being, in fact, eager enough to go and join their wives. by and by they fell silent, and so remained for a while, some yawning, others drumming tunes on the floor with their boots, others again, and these many, fidgeting on their seats, as if they were on sharp thorns. suddenly a young townsman, but lately married, got up and left the hall, saying that by the advice of a leech he was forbidden to drink more than six-and-twenty mugs of ale, which number he had already taken. after he had gone they all began to excuse themselves, one with a pain in his stomach, another with a headache, others with a melancholy feeling or with the phlegm, and made off to their homes, excepting only one or two among the older men. and when they were once outside they hurried with all speed to join their wives. thus was borne out what was written by the learned thomas a klapperibus in his great work de amore, c. vi, wherein it is said, that woman has more power than the devil. x. of the brigand called irontooth. but this thing never happened but once; for on the morrow when the drinkers were carousing at the horn the good women who came thither to entice them away a second time were driven off in a shameful manner. and as for the men, they continued to drink and to shout hilarious carols. several times the night-watchman of the town came in to warn them against making so much noise after the sun was set. ha, they listened to him with all respect, and seemed quite abashed and repentant at their fault; each one said his mea culpa; and in the meantime they gave the poor watchman so abundantly to drink that when he got outside he went off straight away to do his round leaning against some wall, and there snoring like a bass-viol. the others continued their drinking bouts and heavy slumbering, whereof the unhappy wives never ceased to complain. and so on, in this fashion, for a month and four days. now by great misfortune the good duke had lately been at war with my lord of flanders, and although peace had been made between them there remained afoot a band of lewd and ribald scoundrels, who went about ravishing all the countryside and robbing the townsfolk. this same band was commanded by a savage captain, to whom was given the name of irontooth, because on the top of his casque he wore a single spike, sharp and cruel, like the tooth of some devil or of one of the unicorns of hell, cut out into fantastic shape. in battle he would sometimes put down his head and use this tooth as a wild boar uses his tusks. in this manner were slain many brave soldiers of the duchy of brabant. on this same casque he carried also an evil bird whose wings beat against the steel, whereof it was said that it screeched in battle in a terrible fashion. it was irontooth's custom to come at night to the villages on which he was minded to carry out his forays, butchering without mercy the poor townsfolk in their sleep, and carrying off jewels, plate, women, and maids, but of these last only the young ones. as for the old women, he left them their lives, saying that it was not worth the while of killing them, for they would certainly die of fright by themselves. xi. in which it is seen how bravely the good wives of uccle did the duty of men. it came about that one night when only a few stars were showing, and the moon shining a little, there came to uccle a certain master andré bredael, running as hard as he could and quite out of breath. he brought this news: that being by chance behind a bush on the road to paris, he had seen a troop of men go past, whom he thought to be the irontooth's, for he had seen among them a spiked casque like that which the great brigand was wont to wear. while these men were halted by the roadside, and munching some food, he overheard them say that they were bound that night for uccle, where they hoped to get good sport and fair plunder, but they said also that they must leave the high road and travel by small lanes, so that their passage should not be discovered. master bredael thought it most likely that they would debouch behind the church. having learned so much he had hurried to uccle by the paris road, outdistancing the brigands by a good half-league, so that he might warn the townsmen to arms, and prepare a strong reception for these unwelcome travellers. and arriving there he hastened to the door of the prefecture and knocked loudly, so that the warning bell might be set ringing at once; but none came to open to him, for the good reason that the custodian, being one of the brothers of the cheerful countenance, was fast asleep, like all the other drinkers. andré bredael then sought other means of alarum, and shouted out so loudly: "fire! fire! brand! brand!" that all the women and old men, and children who were too young to drink, leapt out of bed and ran to their windows to see what was going forward. andré bredael made himself known to them and begged them to come down into the square, which they did with all dispatch. when they were all gathered round him he told them of the coming of irontooth, and bade them go and wake their husbands. at these words the older women began to shout as if mad: "welcome to irontooth, god's tooth in good deed, come to rip them all open! ha, drinkers! now we shall see you, as a punishment from heaven, either hanged short or burnt alive or drowned without respite; and 'tis no more than your sins deserve!" then, as if they had wings to their feet, they flew into their houses, and there master bredael, who stayed with the younger women in the square, heard the enraged old hags shouting, whining, weeping, vociferating, thumping on chests and frying-pans, in an attempt to awaken their good men. at the same time they cried in their ears: "scoundrels, wake up! sweet friends, come and protect us! drunkards, do your duty for once in your accursed lives! dear fellows, do you wish to find us dead by morning? bear us no malice for our talk of thrashing you. we were foolish just then, and too hasty; ye were wise. but save us in this pass!" and so on, mixing together smooth and bitter words, like milk and vinegar. but none of the men stirred. "what is this?" said master bredael. "alas, master," said the young women, "'tis as you see; they are as good as dead the night through, and so has it been a while past. if the angel of god himself were to come he would scarce be able to rouse them. ah, must it be that after having left us lonely so long these wicked husbands will now leave us to die!" "do not weep," said andré bredael, "this is no time for that. do you love these husbands of yours?" "yes," said they. "and your sons?" "yes," said they. "and your little daughters, so sweet and winsome?" "yes," said they. "and you are ready to defend them as best you can?" "yes," said they. "well, then," said bredael, "go and fetch your men's bows and come back here with them as quickly as you can. we will think of some way to defend ourselves." soon enough the women were back again, armed with bows which they had taken from their husbands, brothers, or sweethearts. these bows of uccle were of great renown throughout the land, for they were as strong as steel, and winged their arrows with very great speed. with them came certain boys of twelve years old, or not much more, and one or two brave old men, but the women sent them back again indoors, saying that they must stay behind and look to the village. the good womenfolk then collected in a bunch in the square, talking with great ardour and courage, but not too much bragging withal. every one was clad in a white gown, jacket, or shift, as is the customary night apparel of women. but on this occasion it was by the special favour of god that they were so clad, as you shall see by and by. wantje, who was one of their number, standing very bold and calm, said suddenly that they must pray. thereupon they all knelt devoutly, and the maid spoke thus: "madam mary the virgin, who art queen of heaven as madam the duchess is queen of this country, give an ear to these poor wives and maids, humbly kneeling before you, who by reason of the drunkenness of their husbands and brothers must needs take on themselves men's duty and arm themselves to fight. if you will but make a small prayer to my lord jesus to give us his aid we shall be sure enough of victory. and we will give you as thanksgiving a fair crown of gold, with rubies, turquoises and diamonds in its rim, a fair golden chain, a fair robe of brocade spangled over with silver, and the same to my lord your son. therefore pray for us, madam mary." and all the other good maids and wives said after wantje: "pray for us, madam mary." suddenly, as they were rising from their knees, they saw a beautiful bright star shoot from heaven to earth, not far from where they were. this was, no doubt, an angel from the good god, who came down from paradise in this guise, to stand beside them and help them the more surely. seeing the sign the good women took heart of grace, and wantje spoke further, saying: "madam the virgin hearkens to us, 'tis certain. let us now proceed to the gate of the village, beside the church of our lord, who dwells therein"--here all crossed themselves--"to await with confidence the coming of the irontooth and his men. and when we see them near at hand let every woman draw her bow, without speaking, nor moving in any way. madam the virgin will guide the arrows." "well spoken, brave maid," said master bredael. "come, i see in those eyes of thine, so bright in the darkness, the breath of god, which is a flame, alight in thy maid's heart. we must do as she says, good wives." "yes, yes," said they. this woman's army took up its place in line in the alley behind the church. after a while of waiting, wherein was much perplexity and anxiety, they heard the sound of footfalls and voices, growing louder as they listened, as of men on the march. and wantje said: "madam mary, they are coming; have pity on us!" then a large body of men appeared before them, carrying lanterns. and they heard a monstrous, husky, devil's voice crying: "out, friends, out upon them! loot for the irontooth!" but here suddenly all these good women let fly their arrows with great precision, for though they themselves remained in darkness they could see the brigands, all lit up by their lanterns, as clearly as in daylight. two hundred of the men fell at the first volley, some with arrows in their skulls, others in their necks, and several with them in their bellies. the irontooth himself was among the first that the good women heard fall with a great thud, from an arrow let fly by wantje, which pierced him through the eyeball neatly. some were not wounded at all, but, having troubled conscience, thought when they saw all these white figures that 'twas the souls of those whom they had made pass from life into death, come back by god's grace to avenge themselves upon them. so they fell on their faces in the dust, as if dead from fear, crying out in a most piteous manner: "mercy, lord god! send back to hell all these ghosts, we pray you." but when they saw the good wives bearing down on them fear put strength into their legs, and they made off as fast as they would carry them. xii. wherein pieter gans is nearer the stake than the wine-barrel. when the enemy had been so far discomfited the women came back into the square and stood before the prefecture, not feeling any glory, but rather sadness at having had to shed christian blood in this manner. ah, they returned thanks with a full heart to our lady the virgin and our lord jesus, who had given them the victory. nor did they forget in their thanksgiving the good angel who had come to their assistance in the form of a bright star. and they sang fair hymns and litanies very sweetly. meanwhile all the cocks in the countryside awoke one by one and heralded with their clarions the new day about to dawn. and at that call, all the drinkers were roused from sleep, and ran to their doors to find out whence came this sweet music. and my lord the sun laughed in the sky. and the worthy men came out into the square, and some of them, when they saw their wives in the assembly, were all for beating them because they had left their beds; but andré bredael interposed and told them the whole story. thereupon they were all amazed, ashamed, and repentant, seeing how well these brave petticoats had striven on their behalf. pieter gans, blaeskaek, and father claessens, dean of uccle, a most saintly man, also came out into the square. thereupon, seeing all this crowd assembled, master bredael spoke thus: "friends," said he, "you hear how that 'tis through the valour of your wives and daughters alone that you are not by this time sniffing the air of heaven. therefore 'tis seemly that here and now you should promise, and take oath to it, not to drink any more except by their wish." "that is all very well, master bredael," said one of the townsmen, "but 'tis not plain drinking that puts us all into so deep a sleep. i speak of these things with knowledge, i who have drunk wine freely all my life, and hope still so to do with relish to the end of my days. there is something else to it, devilry and evil spells, or so i think. come hither, pieter gans, come hither and talk to us somewhat, and if thou know anything, bring light to this dark matter." "alas, alas!" said pieter gans, his head wagging and his teeth chattering (for he was afraid, poor fellow), "alas, alas! i know nothing, my good friends." "nay," said the man, "but thou dost know something of it, for i see thy head shaking and thy teeth chattering." but at this point the dean confronted gans: "wicked christian," said he, "i can see well enough thou hast had commerce with the devil, to the great despite of all these good men. confess thy sin with all humility, and we will accord thee such grace as may be, but if thou deny it, thou shalt be punished with hot oil." "ah," said pieter gans in tears, "'tis as i said; i shall be burnt, dear god! blaeskaek, where art thou, my good friend? give me thy help. alas, alas!" but blaeskaek had gone off in a hurry from fear of the holy fathers. "ah," said pieter gans, "see how the traitor deserts me when danger threatens!" "speak," said the very reverend father. "yes, master dean," said pieter gans, weeping and wailing, "i will tell you the whole story, without keeping back anything.... master!" he cried when he had come to the end of his recital, "if you will not punish me too heavily, master, i will give all my poor savings as a perpetual gift to the church. i am a true christian, that i vow, and no heretic. moreover, i wish not to die until i have had sufficient time to do long and full penance. but have me not boiled in oil before i have had that time, i beg of you." "as to that," answered the dean, "we shall see. now take us to the place where this devil is to be seen." by that time they were close to the church, and the priest went in to get therefrom some holy water before they started. then all the men, women, and children of the village took their way to the horn. there the dean demanded to see what had been the cause of those wicked spells which had been cast over so many worthy men, and pieter gans, with all humility, showed him the deviling, still smiling and holding his staff of vine-branches in his hand. and all the women, after looking at him for some time, said that he was very comely for a devil. the priest first crossed himself, then, dipping his fingers in the holy water, anointed therewith the brow, breast, and belly of the statue, which thereupon, by the grace of god, crumbled into dust, and a sorrowful voice was heard saying: "oi moi, ô phôs, tethnêka!" and these words of the devil were explained by the priest to signify, in the greek tongue: "woe is me! light! i die!" xiii. of the great wonder and astonishment of my lord the duke when he heard of the valour of the women of uccle. in the meantime the village sent to the duke two trusty men, with a message to that high prince informing him in due order all that had occurred. these men met him already on his way to uccle, for he had learnt by his runners the irontooth's design, and knowing full well where he would find him was coming against him at all speed with a strong force of horsemen. as soon as the messengers saw who it was coming along the road they went down on their knees, but the good duke would have none of this, and made them rise and walk at his stirrup. before they had gone far they reached the scene of the brigands' discomfiture. at the sight of all those heaped-up bodies the duke halted, greatly astonished and no less pleased. "and who," quoth he, "has slain all these scoundrels in this wise?" "our womenfolk," said one of the messengers. "what is this thou'rt telling me?" said the duke with a frown. "before god, my lord," said the man, "i will tell you the whole story." and so he did. "well," said the duke when he had done, "who would have thought it of these good wives? i will reward them well for it." so saying he caused the casque of the irontooth to be taken up and carried away. this casque was to be seen for many years in the armoury of my lord charles, who had it guarded with the utmost care. xiv. in what manner was instituted the order of the women-archers of uccle and of the fine reward which my lord gave to the brave maid wantje. on entering uccle the good duke saw coming towards him a large body of people, and in their midst a man crying out in a most piteous voice: "master! master priest! let me not be boiled!" to which the answer was: "we shall see." "whence comes all this noise?" said the duke. but as soon as pieter gans saw who it was he ran towards him and threw his arms round his horse's legs. "my lord," he cried, "my lord duke, let me not be boiled!" "and why," said the duke, "should they boil one of my good men of uccle?" but the very reverend father claessens, stepping forward, told him the whole story with great indignation, while pieter gans continued to blubber alongside in a most melancholy fashion. and thereon followed such confusion, with the one weeping and groaning, the other denouncing and syllogizing, and each so vehemently, that the good duke could not tell which to listen to. suddenly wantje came forward out of the press, and, like pieter gans, cried: "mercy and pity!" "my lord," said the maid, "this man has sinned greatly against god, but only from simpleness of mind and a natural cowardice. the devil frightened him; he submitted to the devil. pardon him, my lord, for our sakes." "maid," said the duke, "that was well spoken, and 'tis to thee i will hearken." but the very reverend father: "my lord," said he, "forgets to think of god." "father," said the duke, "i am not forgetful of that duty. nevertheless i think he takes little pleasure in watching christian fat smoke or a good man's flesh boil, but likes rather to see men gentle and kind, and not giving their fellows penance to do. and on this day when our lady the virgin has deigned to perform a miracle for our sakes i will not sadden her mother's heart by the death of a christian. therefore none of the accused, neither this pieter gans nor any other there may be, shall this time go to the stake." on hearing this pieter gans burst out laughing like a madman, and began to dance and sing, crying out the while: "praise to my lord! i am not to be boiled. brabant to the good duke!" and all the townsfolk called out after him: "praise to my lord!" then the duke bade them be silent, and smiling: "well, dames," said he, "who have this night done man's work so valiantly, come hither that i may give you a man's reward. first of all, to the bravest one among you i give this great chain of gold. which is she?" the good women pushed wantje forward before the duke. "ah," said he, "'tis thee, sweet pleader. wilt kiss me, though i be old?" "yes, my lord," said the maid. and so she did, notwithstanding that she was a little shamefaced over it. and the good duke, having hung the chain round her neck, spoke further in this wise: "as for you all, good dames, who have this night so gallantly carried arms, i institute among you a most honourable order, under the protection of madam mary the virgin, and i direct that there shall be set up in this place a staff of a good length, and that each sunday you shall come together here and draw the bow in archery, in memory of the time when with those bows you saved the lives of your husbands and children. and there shall be a fair crown of laurel and a fair purseful of golden peters, bright and new, to be awarded annually to the best archer of the year, and brought to her on a cushion by all the others together. and this purse will dower her if she be a maid, or, if she be a wife, will stand her in good stead against a time of famine." in this manner was instituted the order of women-archers of uccle, who still draw the bow like men every sunday, under the protection of our lady the virgin. the three sisters i. of the three noble ladies and their great beauty. in the year of our lord jesus christ , lived three maidens, descended, by male issue, from the noble line of the great emperor octavian. their names were blanche, claire, and candide. though they had dedicated the flower of their maidenhead to god, it is not to be supposed that this was for lack of lovers. for, on every day that passed, a crowd of people used to collect for nothing else than to see them go by on their way to church, and onlookers would say of them: "see what gentle eyes, see what white hands!" more than one, besides, with his mouth watering to look at them, would say sorrowfully: "must it be that such sweet maids as these should dedicate themselves to god, who has eleven thousand or more in his paradise already." "but none so fair," answered an old wheezing merchant behind them, who was drinking in the fragrance of their dresses. and going off on his way, if the old man saw any young fellow loafing by the roadside, or lying on his belly in the grass to warm his back in the sun, he would give him a kick in the ribs, saying: "well now, dost thou care nothing to see the finest flowers of beauty that were ever blowing?" ii. how a prince of araby was taken with love for the youngest sister, and what came of it. not a few young men tried to win them in marriage, but failing in this endeavour, turned moody and pined visibly away. among them was a certain prince of araby, who had himself baptized with great ceremony. and this for the sake of the youngest sister solely. but, failing to attain his end, either by pleading or by force, set himself one morning before her door, and there let himself fall on his sword. the maid, hearing this fair lord cry out, came down in haste and had him carried in and laid on her own bed; whereat (for he was not quite dead) he found great solace. and when she bent over him to bathe and dress his wound, he roused what force he had left in him, kissed her on her red mouth, sighed like a man delivered from torment, and so gave up his soul happily. but the maid was not at all pleased at this kiss, for she considered it a dishonour to her divine husband jesus. nevertheless she wept for the fair lord, a little. iii. wherein it is seen how satan persecutes those ladies who seek to escape from the world. there were oftentimes a great crowd of suitors before the dwelling of the three ladies, some of them sighing laments, others prancing up and down on fine horses, others without uttering a word, but only looking up at the windows all the day long. and oftentimes these men would fight together and kill one another, from jealousy. at this the ladies were saddened exceedingly. "ah," said the two elder to their sister, "pray for us, white blanche, white of soul and white of body, pray for us, little one. jesus listens readily to the prayers of such maids as thou art." "my sisters," answered she, "i am less worthy than you, but i will pray, if you so wish it." "yes," said they. then the three sisters knelt down, and the youngest prayed in this manner: "kind jesus, we have sinned against you assuredly, else you would not have let our beauty so touch these wicked men. yes, we have indeed sinned, but, weaklings that we are, despite ourselves, lord. ah, grant us pardon for our great sorrow. you would have us for your own, and so indeed we have kept ourselves: our youth and beauty, mirth and sadness, vows and prayers, souls and bodies, thoughts and deeds, everything. in the morning, at noon, and at vesper-time, at all hours and all moments, do we not have you in our minds? when your bright sun rises, o beloved, and no less when your bright stars shine in your heaven, they can see us at prayer, and offering to you, not gold, frankincense, or myrrh, but our humble loves and our poor hearts. that is not enough, we know well. dear one, teach us to do more." pausing here they sighed sorrowfully, all three. "kind jesus," went on the youngest sister, "we know well enough the desire of these men. they think themselves brave and handsome, and hope on this account to capture our love, but they are neither handsome, nor brave, nor good, as you are, jesus. and yours we are and shall be always, and theirs never. will you please to love us also a little, for you alone are our comfort and joy in this sad world, jesus? we will not be unfaithful to you in anything. ah, let us rather die quickly, for we hunger and thirst for you. if you will, let these evil men continue to pursue us with their loves, 'twill be but delight to suffer it for your sake. nevertheless, the mortal husband leaves not his wife in danger, nor the betrothed his bride. are you not better than they, and will you not keep us also from the snares of the enemy? if it be not pleasing to you, do nothing, but then it may be that one day some one will steal from us our virginity, which is yours only. ah, dear beloved, rather let us pass our lives old, ugly, leprous, and then descend into purgatory, among devils, flame, and brimstone, there to wait until you deem us pure enough at length to take us into your paradise, where we shall be allowed to see you and love you for ever. have pity upon us. amen." and having spoken thus, the poor child wept, and her sisters with her, saying: "pity, jesus, pity." iv. of the voice of the divine bridegroom, and of the horseman in silvern armour. suddenly they heard a low voice saying: "take heart." "hark," they said, "the husband deigns to speak to his brides." and presently the room was filled with a perfume more delicate than that of a censer burning finest frankincense. then the voice spake further: "to-morrow," it said, "when dawn breaks, go out from the town. mount your palfreys, and, riding without halt, follow the road without heeding whither it leads. i will guide you." "we will obey you," they said, "for you have made us the happiest of the daughters of men." and rising from their knees, they kissed one another joyfully. while the voice was speaking to them, there had come into the square a beautiful horseman in silvern armour, with a golden helm on his head, and, flying above that like a bird, a crest more brilliant than a flame. the horse whereon he rode was of pure white. none of those there had seen him coming, and he was as if risen from the ground among the crowd of lovers, who, seized with fear, dared not look him in the face. "rascals," quoth he, "take these horses away out of the square. do you not know that the noise of their hooves troubles these three ladies in their prayers?" and therewith he rode away towards the east. "ah," said the lovers to one another, "saw you that silvern armour and that flaming crest? 'twas an angel of god assuredly, come from paradise for the sake of these three ladies." the more insistent among them muttered: "he did not forbid us to stand on foot before the door, and in that wise we may yet remain with impunity." v. how, by the command of god, the three ladies rode to adventure. on the morrow, therefore, before daylight, the suitors returned once again in great numbers, but first left their horses behind them in their stables. soon after daybreak they saw the three ladies ride out from their courtyard, in obedience to the command which god had given them, each one mounted upon her palfrey. supposing that they were but going out into the neighbouring meadows to take the clean air, they followed behind, one and all, singing merry carols in their honour. for so long as they were in the streets of the town the palfreys moved slowly, but once out in the open country they began galloping. the lovers tried still to follow them, but at last were forced to drop off, and fell one by one along the wayside. when they had covered some miles the palfreys stood still; and the three ladies, seeing that they had come free of their pursuers, resolved to give honour to god for his aid, and to this end to build him a fair church. where? they did not know. but the thing was already decided in paradise, as you shall see. for as soon as they were once again on their horses, the animals, guided by god's holy spirit, set off at a high trot. and leapt rivers, threaded forests, passed through towns, whereof the gates opened of themselves to let them by, and closed again after, bounded over walls and like obstacles. and startled every one they met, all amazed to see go by, quick as the wind, these three white horses and these three fair ladies. and travelled in this way for a thousand leagues, or rather more. vi. of the diamond hammers, and foundations torn up from the ground. at haeckendover, in the duchy of brabant, the palfreys stood still once again, and neighed. and would not go one step forward, nor back. for this was where god had chosen to have his church. but the ladies, supposing that they had stopped there because they were tired, went on as far as hoy-bout on foot, and there determined to start building. therefore they sent for the most skilful workers in stone, and master-builders also, in so great number that at the end of one day the foundations were two hands' breadth high in the lowest part. and seeing this good beginning the ladies rejoiced greatly, and supposed their work agreeable to god. but on the morrow, alas, found all the stones torn up out of the ground. thinking that by chance some traitor heretic had been buried in that place, who at night shook down the stones of their church with the trembling of his accursed bones, they removed to steenen-berg with their workmen, and there started afresh in the same manner as at hoy-bout. but on the morrow morning found the walls once again out of the ground. for the lord jesus was minded to be worshipped more particularly at haeckendover. and sent, therefore, his angels by night, with hammers of diamond from the workshops of paradise. and bade them tear down the work of the three ladies. therefore the sisters, greatly perplexed and wondering, went down on their knees, praying god that he would tell them where he wished to have his church. vii. of the youngest sister and the beautiful angel. and suddenly they saw a young man, of a beauty more than earthly, clad in a robe of the colour of the setting sun. kindly he looked at them. knowing him for god's angel, the three ladies fell on their faces before him. but the youngest, bolder than the others, as is the way with children, dared to steal a look at the fair ambassador, and, seeing him so comely, took heart and smiled. the angel took her by the hand, saying to her and to her sisters: "come and follow me." this they did. and thence they came to the spot where the church now stands, and the angel said to them: "this is the place." "thank you, my lord," said the youngest joyously. viii. how the three ladies saw a green island, with sweet flowers and birds thereon. at that time it was thirteen days past the feast of the kings; snow had fallen heavily and set hard in frost after, by reason of a north wind which was blowing. and the three ladies saw before them, among the snow, as it were a green island. and this island was girt about with a cord of purple silk. and upon the island the air was fresh as in spring, and roses were blowing, with violets and jessamine, whose smell is like balm. but outside was naught but storm, north wind, and terrible cold. towards the middle, where now stands the grand altar, was a holm-oak, covered with blossom as if it had been a persian jessamine. in the branches, warblers, finches and nightingales sang to their hearts' content the sweetest songs of paradise. for these were angels, who had put on feathered guise, carolling in this fashion in god's honour. one fair nightingale, the sweetest singer of them all, held in his right claw a roll of parchment, whereon was written in letters of gold: "this is the place chosen by god and shown by him to the three maidens for the building of a church to the glory of our lord and saviour jesus christ." great was the joy of the ladies at that sight, and the youngest said to the angel: "we see certainly that god loves us somewhat; what must we do now, my lord angel?" "thou must build the church here, little one," answered the messenger, "and choose for this work twelve of the most skilled workmen, neither more nor less; god himself will be the thirteenth." and having said so much he returned to high heaven. ix. of the church of our lord at haeckendover, and of the strange mason who worked there. then all three went off in haste to choose from among the others the twelve good workmen who should set up the foundations of the church where they had seen the cord of purple silk. the work went on so well that it was a pleasure to see the stones mounting up, straight and quickly. but the miracle was this, that during the hours of labour the masons were always thirteen in number, but at dinner and at paytime twelve only. for the lord jesus was pleased to work with the others, but neither ate nor drank with them; he who in paradise had such fine broth and such sweet fruits, and wine from the fountain of saphir, which is a fountain giving forth without intermission wine of a richer yellow than liquid gold itself. nor did he suffer for want of money; for that is an evil reserved to us needy, piteous, and ill-faring mortals. the building advanced so well that soon the bell was hung in the tower as a sign that the church was finished. then the three maids entered in together; and, falling on her knees, the youngest said: "by whom, divine husband and beloved jesus, shall we dedicate this church built for your service?" to which the lord jesus replied: "it is i myself who will consecrate and dedicate this church; let none come after me to consecrate it anew." x. of the two bishops, and the withered hands. by and by two venerable bishops passed through haeckendover, and seeing the new church were minded to give it their blessing. they knew nothing of the words of jesus to the three ladies, or they would not have thought of such temerity. but they were punished terribly none the less. for as one of them was about to bless the water for this purpose he became suddenly blind. and the other, who was holding the holy water brush, when he lifted his arms for the blessing, found them suddenly withered and stiffened, so that he could no longer move them. and perceiving that they had sinned in some way the two bishops were filled with repentance and prayed to the lord jesus to pardon them. and they were straightway pardoned, seeing that they had sinned in ignorance. and thereafter they came oftentimes most devoutly to haeckendover. sir halewyn i. of the two castles. sir halewyn lifted up his voice in a song. and whatever maid heard that song must needs go to him straight away. and now to all good flemings will i tell the tale of this halewyn and his song, and of the brave maid magtelt. there were two proud castles in the province of flanders. in one dwelt sir roel de heurne, with the lady gonde, his good wife; toon the silent, his son; magtelt, his fair daughter, and a host of pages, grooms, varlets, men-at-arms, and all the other members of the household, among whom an especial favourite was anne-mie, a girl of gentle blood, maid to the lady magtelt. of everything that was made by his peasants, sir roel took naught but what was the best. and the peasants said of him that it was a good master who took only as much as he needed, when he might have left them with nothing. in the other castle lived sir halewyn the miserable, with his father, brother, mother, and sister, and a large following of rascals and brigands. and these were an ill-favoured crew, i can tell you, past masters of robbery, pillage, and murder, such as it is not good to meet at too close quarters. ii. of dirk, called the crow. this family were issue by direct line of dirk, the first of the halewyns, to whom was given the name of the crow, because he was as greedy of booty as a crow is of carrion. and also because he was clad all in black, and his men with him. this dirk, who lived in the time of the great wars, was like a thunderbolt in battle, where, with his only weapon, a heavy club, furnished with a beak at one side, he broke javelins, splintered lances, and tore away mail as if it had been cloth; and no one could well resist his onslaught. and in this manner he so frightened his enemies that when they saw dirk and his black soldiers bearing down upon them, shouting, yelling, without fear of any one, and in great number, they gave themselves up for dead before ever battle was joined. when victory was won and the more important booty divided (whereof dirk always secured the lion's share and never came off badly), the other barons and their knights would leave the rest of the field to him and his followers, and would go off, saying: "the pieces are for the crow." no other man-at-arms would dare to stay behind then, or he would have been quickly taken and slain without waiting. and thereafter dirk's men would begin to play the crow in earnest; cutting off fingers to get the rings on them, even of those not yet dead, who cried out to them for succour; chopping off heads and arms so that they might pull away clothes the more easily. and they even fought amongst themselves, and sometimes killed one another, over the bodies of the dead, for the sake of neck-pieces, straps of hide, or more paltry stuff still. and stayed sometimes on the battlefield over this business three days and three nights. when all the dead were stark naked they piled up their gains into carts which they brought for this purpose. and with these they returned to dirk's castle, there to hold high revel and have good cheer. on the way they fought the peasants, taking whatever women and girls were at all comely, and did with them what they pleased. in this way they passed their lives fighting, pillaging, robbing the helpless, and caring nothing at all for either god or devil. dirk the crow became exceedingly powerful and got very much worship, both by reason of his prowess in battle and from the fact that my lord the count gave him after his victories the demesne of halewyn, with powers of seigneury, both of the higher and the lower order. and he had a fine escutcheon made for himself, wherein was a crow sable on a field or, with this device: the pieces are for the crow. iii. of sir halewyn and how he carried himself in his youth. but to this strong crow were born children of a quite other kind. for they were all, strangely enough, men of the quill and writing-desk, caring nothing for the fine arts of war, and despising all arms. these great clerks lost a good half of their heritage. for each year some stronger neighbour would rob them of a piece of it. and they begot puny and miserable children, with pale faces, who passed their time, as clerks are wont, lurking in corners, sitting huddled on stools, and whining chants and litanies in a melancholy fashion. thus came to an end the good men of the line. siewert halewyn, who was the wretch of whom i am to tell you this tale, was as ugly, puny, woebegone, and sour-faced as the others, or even worse than they. and like them he was always lurking and hiding in corners, and shirking company, hated the sound of laughter, sweated ill-humour, and, moreover, was never seen to lift his head skywards like an honest man, but was all the while looking down at his boots, wept without reason, grumbled without cause, and never had any satisfaction in anything. for the rest he was a coward and cruel, delighting during his childhood in teasing, frightening and hurting puppies and kittens, sparrows, thrushes, finches, nightingales, and all small beasts. and even when he was older, he hardly dared to attack so large a thing as a wolf, though he were armed with his great sword. but as soon as the beast was brought down he would rain blows on it with high valour. so he went on until he was old enough to marry. iv. how sir halewyn wished to take himself a wife, and what the ladies and gentlewomen said to it. then, since he was the oldest of the family, he was sent off to the court of the count, there to find himself a wife. but every one laughed at him, on account of his marvellous ugliness, more particularly the ladies and gentlewomen, who made fun of him among themselves, saying: "look at this fine knight! what is he doing here? he has come to marry us, i suppose.--who would have him, for four castles, as many manors, ten thousand peasants and half the gold in the province? none.--and that is a pity, for between them they would get fine children, if they were to be like their father!--ho, what fine hair he has, the devil must have limned it with an old nail; what a fine nose, 'tis like a withered plum, and what fair blue eyes, so marvellously ringed round with red.--see, he is going to cry! that will be pretty music." and sir halewyn, hearing the ladies talk after this fashion, could not find a word to answer them with, for between anger, shame, and sorrow his tongue was fast stuck to the roof of his mouth. nevertheless he would take a lance at every tournament, and every time would be shamefully overcome, and the ladies, seeing him fall, would applaud loudly, crying out: "worship to the ill-favoured one! the old crow has lost his beak." thus they compared him, for his shame, with dirk, the old stock of the halewyns, who had been so mighty in his day. and, acclaimed in this fashion every time he jousted, sir halewyn would go back from the field in sorrow to his pavilion. v. how it came about that sir halewyn, after a certain tournament, called upon the devil for aid. at the third tournament wherein he was beaten there were on the field his father, mother, brother, and sister. and his father said: "well, look at my fine son, siewert the soft, siewert the overthrown, siewert the faint-heart, coming back from jousting with his tail between his legs, like a dog thrashed with a great stick." and his mother said: "i suppose for certain that my lord the count has put a gold chain round thy neck, and acclaimed thee publicly, for having so valiantly in this jousting jousted on thy back, as in the old days my lord of beaufort was wont to make thee do. holy god! that was a fine tumble." and his sister said: "welcome, my fair brother, what news do you bring? thou wert the victor for certain, as i see from thy triumphant mien. but where is the wreath of the ladies?" and his brother said: "where is your lordly bearing, my lord siewert halewyn the elder, descendant of the crow with the great beak? for such a crow vanquishes without much trouble eagles, goshawks, shrikes, gerfalcons, sparrow-hawks. are you not thirsty, my brother, with the thirst of a baron, of a victor, i will not say of a villein? we have here some fine frog's wine, which will cool the fires of victory in your belly." "ha," answered the sire, grinding his teeth, "if god gave me strength, i would make thee sing a different song sir brother." and saying this, he pulled out his sword to do so, but the younger, parrying his thrust, cried out: "bravo, uncrowlike crow! bravo, capon! raise up our house, i beg of thee, siewert the victorious!" "ha," said the sire, "and why does this chatterer not go and joust as well as i? but he would not dare, being that kind of coward who looks on at others, folding his arms and making fun of those who strive." then he dismounted from his horse, went off and hid himself in his chamber, cried out to the four walls in a rage, prayed to the devil to give him strength and beauty, and promised him, on the oath of a knight, that he would give him his soul in exchange. so he called on him all through the night, crying out, weeping, bewailing his lot, minded at times even to kill himself. but the devil did not come, being busy elsewhere. vi. of the rovings and wanderings of sir halewyn. every day after this, whether it were fair or foul, light sky or dark, storm or gentle breeze, rain, snow, or hail, sir halewyn wandered alone through the fields and woods. and children, seeing him, ran away in fear. "ah," said he, "i must be very ugly!" and he went on with his wandering. but if on his way he met some common man who had strength and beauty, he would bear down on him and oftentimes kill him with his sword. and every one grew to shun him, and to pray to god that he would soon remove their lord from this world. and every night, sir halewyn called on the devil. but the devil would not come. "ah," said the sire sorrowfully, "if thou wilt only give me strength and beauty in this life, i will give thee my soul in the other. 'tis a good bargain." but the devil never came. and he, restless, always in anguish and melancholy, was soon like an old man to look at, and was given the name throughout the country of the ill-favoured lord. and his heart was swollen with hatred and anger. and he cursed god. vii. of the prince of the stones and of the song. one day in the season of plum-picking, having roved over the whole countryside, and even as far as lille, on the way back to his castle he passed through a wood. ambling along he saw among the undergrowth, alongside an oak, a stone which was of great length and broad in proportion. and he said: "that will make me a good seat, comfortable enough to rest on for a little while." and sitting down on the stone he once again prayed to the devil to let him have health and beauty. by and by, although it was still daylight, and the small birds, warblers and finches, sang in the woods joyously, and there was a bright sun and a soft wind, sir halewyn went off to sleep, for he was very tired. having slept until it was night, he was suddenly awakened by a strange sound. and he saw, by the light of the high moon and the clear stars, as it were a little animal, with a coat like a mossy stone, who was scratching up the earth beneath the rock, now and again thrusting his head into the hole he had made, as a dog does hunting moles. sir halewyn, thinking it was some wild thing, hit at it with his sword. but the sword was broken at its touch, and a little mannikin of stone leapt up on to his shoulders, and smote his cheeks sharply with his hard hands, and said, wheezing and laughing: "seek, siewert halewyn; seek song and sickle, sickle and song; seek, seek, ill-favoured one!" and so saying he hopped about like a flea on the back of the miserable, who bent forward as he was bid, and with a piece of his sword dug in the hole. and the stony cheek of the little mannikin was alongside his own, and his two eyes lit up the hole better than lanterns would have done. and biting halewyn's flesh with his sharp teeth, striking him with his little fists, and with his nails pinching and pulling him, and laughing harshly, the little mannikin said: "i am the prince of the stones, i have fine treasures; seek, seek, miserable!" and saying this, he pommelled him beyond endurance. "he wants," he screamed, mocking him, "siewert halewyn wants strength and beauty, beauty and strength; seek then, miserable." and he pulled out his hair in handfuls, and tore his dress with his nails until he was all in rags, and kept saying, with great bursts of laughter: "strength and beauty, beauty and strength; seek, seek, miserable!" and he hung from his ears with his two hands, and kicked his stone feet in his face, notwithstanding that the sire cried out with pain. and the little mannikin said: "to get strength and beauty, seek, halewyn, a song and a sickle, seek, sir miserable!" and the miserable went on scratching out the earth with his piece of sword. suddenly the earth fell away under the stone, leaving a great hole open, and halewyn, by the light of the mannikin's eyes, saw a sepulchre, and within the sepulchre a man lying, who was of marvellous beauty and had none of the appearance of death. this man was clad all in white, and in his hands held a sickle, whereof both handle and blade were of gold. "take the sickle," quoth the little mannikin, thumping his head with his fists. sir halewyn did as he was bid, and straightway the man in the tomb became dust, and from the dust came a white flame, tall and spreading, and from the white flame a wonderfully sweet song. and suddenly all about the wood was spread a perfume of cinnamon, frankincense, and sweet marjoram. "sing," said the mannikin, and the miserable repeated the song. while he was singing his harsh voice was changed to a voice sweeter than an angel's, and he saw coming out of the depths of the wood a virgin of heavenly beauty and wholly naked; and she came and stood before him. "ah," she said, weeping, "master of the golden sickle. i come, for i must obey; do not make me suffer too much in the taking of my heart, master of the golden sickle." then the virgin went away into the depths of the wood; and the mannikin, bursting out into laughter, threw sir halewyn down on to the ground, and said: "hast song and sickle; so shalt thou have strength and beauty; i am the prince of the stones; farewell, cousin." and halewyn, picking himself up, saw no more of either the mannikin or the naked maid; and studying well the golden sickle, and pondering in his mind what could be the meaning of the man in the tomb and the naked virgin, and inquiring within himself in perplexity what use he could make of the sickle and the sweet song, he saw suddenly on the blade a fair inscription, written in letters of fire. but he could not read the writing, for he was ignorant of all the arts; and, weeping with rage, he threw himself into the bushes, crying out: "help me, prince of the stones. leave me not to die of despair." thereupon the mannikin reappeared, leapt upon his shoulder, and, giving him a stout rap on the nose, read on one side of the blade of the sickle this inscription which follows: song calls, sickle reaps. in the heart of a maid shalt thou find: strength, beauty, honour, riches, from the hands of a dead virgin. and upon the other side of the blade the mannikin read further: whoso thou art shalt do this thing, writing read and song sing: seek well, hark and go; no man shall lay thee low. song calls, sickle reaps. and having read this the mannikin went away once more. suddenly the miserable heard a sad voice saying: "wilt thou seek strength and beauty in death, blood, and tears?" "yes," said he. "ambitious heart, heart of stone," answered the voice. then he heard nothing more. and he gazed at the sickle with its flaming letters until such time as my lord chanticleer called his hens awake. viii. what halewyn did to the little girl cutting faggots. the miserable was overjoyed at what had come about, and inquired within himself whether it would be in the heart of a virgin child or of a marriageable virgin that he would find what was promised him, and so satisfy his great desire for worship and power. pondering this he went a little way through the wood and stationed himself near to some cottages where he knew there were maids of divers ages, and there waited until morning. soon after the sun was up, a little girl came out, nine years old, or rather less, and began collecting and cutting up faggots. going up to her, he sang the song and showed her the sickle. whereupon she cried out in fear, and ran away as fast as she could. but halewyn, having quickly overtaken her, dragged her off by force to his castle. going in, he met on the bridge his lady mother, who said to him: "where goest thou, miserable, with this child?" he answered: "to bring honour to our house." and his lady mother let him pass, thinking him mad. he went into his room, opened the side of the girl beneath a breast just budding, cut out the heart with the sickle, and drank the blood. but he got no more strength from it than he had before. and weeping bitter tears, he cried: "the sickle has played me false." and he threw down into the moat both the heart and the body. and the lady halewyn seeing this poor heart and body dropping into the water, ordered that they should be taken out and brought to her. seeing the body rent open under the breast, and the heart taken out, she became afraid lest siewert her first-born was following dark practices. and she put the girl's heart back in her breast, and gave her a very fine and christian burial, and had a fair great cross made on her winding-sheet, and afterwards she was put in the ground and a fair mass said for the quiet of her soul. ix. of the heart of a maid and of the great strength which came to sir halewyn. sorely troubled, and falling on his knees, halewyn said: "alas, is the spell then impotent? i sang, and she would not come to my singing! what would you have me do now, lord prince of the stones? if it is that i must wait until nightfall, that i will do. then, without doubt, having no sun to hinder your powers, you will give me strength and beauty, and all prowess, and you will send me the virgin i need." and he went at night to wander in the woods round about the cottages, and there, singing his song, and looking out to see if any were coming. he saw by the light of the bright moon the daughter of claes, a poor mad man, nicknamed the dog-beater, because he used to thump and pommel grievously whomever he met, saying that these accursed dogs had robbed him of his coat, and must give it him back again. this girl took care of claes very well, and would not marry, though she was a beautiful maid, saying: "since he is simple, i cannot leave him to look to himself." and every one, seeing her so stout-hearted, gave her, one some of his cheese, another some beans, another some flour, and so they lived together without wanting for food. the miserable stood still at the edge of the wood and sang. and the maid walked straight towards the singing and fell on her knees before him. he went home to his castle, and she followed him, and entered in with him, saying no word. on the stair he met his brother, just returned from boar-hunting, who said, in mocking wise: "ah, is the miserable about to get us a bastard?" and to the girl: "well, mistress, thy heart must be fast set on my ugly brother that thou must needs follow him in this wise, without a word spoken." but halewyn, in a rage, hit out at his brother's face with his sword. then, passing him by, went up into his own room. and there, having shut fast the door, from fear of his brother, he stripped the girl quite naked, as he had seen the virgin in his vision. and the girl said that she was cold. quickly he opened her breast with the golden blade, under the left pap. and as the maid gave the death-cry, the heart came out of itself on the blade. and the miserable saw before his eyes the little mannikin coming out of the stones of the wall, who said to him, grinning: "heart on heart gives strength and beauty. halewyn shall hang the maid in the gallows-field. and the body shall hang until the hour of god." then he went back into the wall. halewyn put the heart on his breast, and felt it beating firmly and taking root in his skin. and suddenly his bent back was straightened; and his arm found such strength that he broke easily in two a heavy oaken bench; and looking at himself in a mirror-glass he saw an image so beautiful that he could scarce tell it for his own. and he felt in his veins the fire of youth burning. going down into the great hall he found there at supper his father, mother, brother, and sister. none of them would have known him but for his voice, which was unchanged. and his mother rose and peered into his face to see him better. and he said to her: "woman, i am thine own son, siewert halewyn, the invincible." but his brother, whom he had but lately smitten in the face, ran towards him hotly, saying: "cursed be the invincible!" and struck him with his knife. but the blade snapped off like glass against the body of the miserable; whereupon the younger brother seized him in his arms, but the miserable tore him off and threw him to one side as if he had been a caterpillar. then he rushed at him with his head down, like a battering-ram, but as soon as his head touched the miserable it was cut open, and the blood ran down over his face. and his father and mother, his sister and the wounded brother, threw themselves on their knees and asked his forgiveness, begging him, since he had become so powerful, to bring them riches and honour. "that i will," said he. x. how the miserable robbed a lombard goldsmith, and of the pleasant speech of the ladies and gentlewomen. on the morrow, armed only with the sickle, for he despised other arms on account of the strength which the spell gave him, halewyn took the body of the maid to the gallows-field and there hanged it on the tree. then he rode off to the city of ghent. and the ladies, gentlewomen and maidens of the town, seeing him pass by on his black horse, said among themselves: "who is this fair horseman?" "'tis," he cried right proudly, "siewert halewyn, who was called the ill-favoured one." "nay, nay," said the bolder among them, "you are making fun of us, my lord, or else you have been changed by a fairy." "yes," said he, "and, moreover, i had fleshly knowledge of her; and so shall have of you, if i please." at these words the ladies and gentlewomen were not at all put out. and he went to the shop of a lombard goldsmith in that town, who had at one time and another lent him six-and-twenty florins. but the goldsmith did not know him for himself. he told him that he was sir halewyn. "ah," said the goldsmith, "then i pray, my lord, that you will repay me my six-and-twenty florins." but halewyn, laughing: "take me," he said, "to the room where thou keepest thy gold." "my lord," said the goldsmith, "that i will not, for all that i hold you in high esteem." "dog," said he, "if thou dost not obey me i will strike thee dead instantly." "ha!" said the goldsmith, "do not come blustering here, my lord, for i am neither serf nor peasant, but a free burgess of this town. and if you are so minded as to lay your hands on me, i shall know how to get redress, i promise you." then halewyn struck him, and the burgess called for help. hearing this cry, apprentices to the number of six came down into the shop, and, seeing halewyn, ran to seize him. but he beat them off likewise and bade them show him where the gold was kept. which they did, saying one to another: "this is the devil." and the goldsmith, weeping: "my lord," said he, "do not take it all." "i shall take what i will," said halewyn; and he filled his money-bag. and in this way he took from the goldsmith more than seven hundred golden bezants. then, seeing the poor man lamenting his lot, he struck him two or three hard blows, telling him not to whine so loud, and that before the month was out he would take from him double the amount. xi. of the arrogant arms of sir halewyn. and the miserable became the richest, most powerful, and most feared baron in the whole province. and blasphemously he compared himself to god. and considering that the old arms of dirk, and his device, were too mean for his new magnificence: he sent to bruges for painters in heraldry to fashion them afresh. these painters put the old crow away in one quarter, and on a field argent and sable blazoned a heart gules and a sickle or, with this device: none can stand against me. moreover, he had this same blazon fashioned into a great standard which was flown from his castle keep. and also had it cut in stone over the gate. and on his shield, which he caused to be made larger so that the arrogant device might be seen to better advantage. and on his arms, his clothes, and wherever it could be put, there he had it as well. xii. how sir halewyn jousted with a knight of england. it so happened that at about this time my lord of flanders let call a tournament. and sent out to all his lords and barons to come to ghent for that purpose. halewyn went thither and set up his shield among the others. but the barons and lords, seeing the arrogant device and the great size of the shield, were greatly put to offence thereat. and all of them jousted with him, but each was overthrown in turn. among them was present an english knight of much prowess, who rode out to the middle of the tourney-field and stood straight and proud before sir halewyn. "well," quoth he, "my lord the invincible, it displeases me to see thee planted there so arrogantly and unhorsing us all in this fashion. wilt thou fight with me?" "yes," said sir halewyn. "if i overcome thee, thou shalt be my servant and i shall take thee with me into cornwall." "yes," said sir halewyn. "and cause thee to grease my horses' hooves, and empty the dung from the stable; and find out whether thou art invincible at such work also." "yes," said sir halewyn. "and if thou art not invincible, the invincible stick shall thrash thee invincibly." "yes," said sir halewyn. "but if thou overcome me, this shall be thy guerdon: "five-and-twenty bezants which are in the house of thy lord, the noble count of flanders; all the accoutrement of my horse, which is of fine mail; his fair saddle of pear-wood, covered with leather, and saddle-bows richly figured with ten horsemen lustily fighting and with our lord driving out the devil from one possessed; furthermore my helm of fine wrought steel, and on it a crest of silver, gilt over, with spread wings, which may very well, notwithstanding thy device, stand against thy bleeding heart, thy gaping sickle, and thy miserable crow. well, my lord the invincible, dost think thou shalt win invincibly the five-and-twenty bezants, the helm of my head, and the trappings of my horse?" "yes," said sir halewyn. then, after my lord himself had given the signal, they ran together with a great clatter. and the english knight was overthrown like the rest. then all the ladies acclaimed and applauded the miserable, crying out: "worship to siewert halewyn the noble, siewert halewyn the fleming, siewert halewyn the invincible." and on his way back to the house of my lord, there to feast with him, he was by these ladies kissed, fondled, and made much of without stint. and, putting on the gear of the english knight, he went off to the towns of bruges, lille, and ghent, thieving and ravishing everywhere. and came back from each expedition with much booty. and felt the heart all the while pouring live strength into his breast and beating against his skin. then he went back to his own castle with the five-and-twenty bezants and the arms of the knight of england. when he sounded the horn there came to him his mother, who, seeing him so gilt over, was overcome with joy, and cried: "he brings us riches, as he promised." "yes," said sir halewyn. and she fell at his feet and kissed them. as also did the younger brother, saying: "sir brother thou hast lifted us up from poverty, i will willingly serve thee." "so shouldst thou, indeed," said halewyn. then, going into the hall: "i would sup," he said, "thou, woman, fetch me meat, and thou, fellow, drink." and on the morrow, and every day thereafter, he made to serve him at table, as if they had been his private servants, his father, mother, brother, and sister, turn by turn. xiii. of the heart dried up and of the dame halewyn. but one morning while he was at meat in his castle, when his father and sister were gone to bruges to buy corn-coloured cloth-of-scarlet for their clothes, and he was being served, with all humility, by his mother and brother, he became suddenly quite cold, for the heart had ceased to beat. putting his hand to his breast, he touched dried-up skin. then he felt his face go back as it was before, his shoulders shrink down, his back hump up, and all his body lessen in stature. looking at his mother and brother in turn, he saw them laughing and saying to each other: "see, here is our master back in his old ugly skin, and with his old ugly face." "ha, my lord," said his brother, coming boldly up to him and speaking insolently, "will you not take some of this clauwaert to hearten yourself? you have no longer, it seems, your former strength." "wilt try it?" said the miserable, and struck him with his fist, but did him no more hurt than if he had been a fly. seeing this the younger brother grew bolder, and seating himself close to halewyn on the seat: "my lord," said he, "you have had pudding enough, i think, 'tis my turn to eat." and he took the pudding from off his platter. "my lord son," said his mother, "now you shall give to me, who am old, some of this old wine you have kept for yourself." and she took the cup out of his hand. "my lord brother," said the younger son, "methinks you have too much of this roast of lamb with sweet chestnuts; i will take it, if you please." and he put the roast of lamb before his own place. "my lord son," said his mother, "you do not much like, it seems, this fair cheese and barley tart, give it to me, i pray you." and the miserable, dumbfounded, gave it to her. "my lord brother," said the younger son, "you have been sitting there long enough like an emperor, will you be pleased to stir your limbs now and serve us?" and the miserable, getting up, served them as he was bidden. "my lord son," said his mother, "i see you now submissive to our orders, will you be pleased to ask my pardon for having so long kept me standing like a private servant, fetching you food and drink, though i am your mother?" and the miserable fell at her feet. "my lord brother," said the younger son, "wilt thou be pleased to fall at my feet likewise, and kiss them, for that thou hast made me do the work of a serf?" "that i will not," said the miserable. "thou wilt not?" "i will not," said the miserable, and stepped back a pace. "come hither," said his brother. "i will not," said the miserable. then the younger ran at him, and, bearing him to the ground without difficulty, began thumping and pommelling him, and striking him in the face with his golden spurs, saying: "avenge thyself, siewert halewyn the invincible. none can stand against thee, save i. thou hast long treated us as serfs in thy house, now i will treat thee as a cheese and crush thee underfoot. why dost thou not now caper as a kid, or fly away as a bird, siewert the enchanted?" and, going into a frenzy of rage, he drew his knife, saying: "i will cut thee off thy head unless thou cry mercy." "i will not," said the miserable. but his mother, hearing these words, took quickly from the fire a handful of embers, and notwithstanding their heat, threw them into the eyes and mouth of the younger brother, saying: "thou shalt not kill my first-born, wicked son." and while the younger brother was howling by reason of the pain from the embers, which blinded him, his mother took the knife from him, and while he was twisting this way and that, swinging up his arms to strike whomever he could, she threw him down, shut him up in the room, and went out dragging her first-born after her. then, although she was feeble with age, she carried halewyn up into the tower on her back, as a shepherd carries a lamb (for he had quite lost his senses), and there tended him and bathed his face and breast, which were torn and bleeding, and there at nightfall left him and went away. xiv. of the great weakness of sir halewyn and of the days and nights which he spent in the forest. the miserable, alone and somewhat comforted, rose to his feet, and was right glad to feel the sickle still at his belt; opened the door, listened to make sure that he could hear nothing, and that his brother was not there. and when the night was fully dark, went down the stair slowly, sitting-wise. for he was so weakened by the blows and wounds he had received that he could not hold himself upright by any means; and in this fashion he went on until he reached the bridge, and, finding that still down, crossed over it. and very wearily he made his way to the forest. but he could not, on account of his weakness, go so far as the cottages, which were a good two leagues distant to the northward. so, lying down among the leaves, he sang. but no maid came, for the song could not be heard from so far away. and so passed the first day. when night came again, cold rain began to fall, which sent him into a fever. but notwithstanding this he would not go back to his castle, for fear of his brother. shivering, and with his teeth a-chatter, he dragged himself northward through the brake, and saw in a clearing a fair pretty maid, rosy-cheeked, fresh, slender, and neat, and he sang his song. but the girl did not come to him. and so passed the second day. that night the rain fell anew, and he could not move, so stiff was he from the cold, and he sang, but no maid came. at dawn the rain continued, and while he was lying there among the leaves a wolf came and sniffed at him, thinking him dead, but on seeing it draw near he cried out in a terrible fashion, and the wolf took fright and went off. then he grew hungry, but could find himself nothing to eat. at vespers he sang anew, but no maid came. and so passed the third day. towards midnight the sky cleared, and the wind grew warmer. but the miserable, though he was suffering greatly from hunger, thirst, and weariness, dared not sleep. on the morning of the fourth day he saw a girl coming towards him who seemed to be a burgess's daughter. the girl would have run away on seeing him, but he cried out loudly: "help me! i am worn out with hunger and sickness." then she drew near to him and said: "i also am hungry." "art thou," he said, "a maid? " "ah," said she, "i have had to flee from bruges, because the priests would have burnt me alive, on account of a brown mole which i have on my neck, of the size of a pea, coming, they say, from my having had fleshly commerce with the devil. but i have never seen the devil, and do not know what he is like." he, without listening to her, asked again if she were a virgin, and, as the girl said nothing, he sang his song. but she did not move from where she stood, only saying: "you have a very sweet and strong voice for one so wasted with sickness and hunger." then he said to her: "i am the lord siewert halewyn. go to my castle and ask to be taken to my lady mother, and without speaking to any one else, whosoever he be, tell her that her son is hard put to it in the forest with hunger, fever, and weariness, and will die before long if none bring him help." the girl went off as he bid her, but coming out of the wood she saw in the gallows-field the body of the maid hanging, and ran away in a fright. passing into the territory of sir roel de heurne she craved food and drink at the cottage of one of his peasants. and there she told how she had found sir halewyn dying of hunger. but she was told in reply that the said lord was crueller and more wicked than the devil himself, and should be left to be eaten by the wolves and other beasts of the forest. and the miserable waited, lying in the leaves in great anguish. and so passed the fourth day. and at dawn of the fifth, having seen no more of the girl, he supposed that she had been caught by the priests and taken back to bruges to be burnt. quite disheartened, and chilled with the cold, and saying that he would soon die, he cursed the prince of the stones. nevertheless, at vespers he sang once more. and he was then by the side of a forest way. and he saw coming through the trees a fair maid, who fell on her knees before him. and he did to her as he had done to the others. then rose full of fresh strength, vigour, and beauty, and with the heart resting against his own went off to the gallows-field, carrying the body, and there hanged it by that of the first virgin. xv. how the miserable, having hanged fifteen virgins in the gallows-field, held wicked revels and cruel orgies. sir halewyn became most powerful and greatly feared, and killed up to fifteen virgins, whom he hanged in the gallows-field. and he led a riotous life, eating, drinking, and carousing continually. all those ladies who had made fun of him in the days of his impotence and ugliness were brought to his castle. and having had his will of them he turned them out of doors like bitches, so wreaking upon them his evil vengeance. and from lille, ghent, and bruges came the most beautiful courtesans, with their badge on their arms, and they ministered to his pleasure and to that of his friends, among whom the more evil were diederich pater-noster, so called because he was a great frequenter of churches; nellin the wolf, who in battle attacked only the fallen, as wolves do; and baudouin sans ears, who in his court of justice always cried: "death, death," without waiting to hear any defence whatever. in company with the fair courtesans these same lords held revels and orgies without end, and took from their poor peasants all they had, corn, cheese, jewels, cocks, oxen, calves, and swine. then, having stuffed themselves as full as they could hold, threw to their dogs choice viands and rich cakes. gave to be broken and pounded up for their hawks and falcons, the meat of fowls, cockerels, and doves; had the hooves of their horses bathed in wine. oftentimes until midnight, or even until cock-crow, there would be beating of drums, trilling of pipes, squeaking of viols, skirling of bagpipes, and winding of horns, for their entertainment. xvi. how the burgesses of the good town of ghent gave protection to the virgins of the domain of halewyn. meanwhile in the cottages of the peasant folk were tears, hunger, and great misery. and when the fifteenth maid had been taken in the domain of halewyn, the mothers prayed to god that he would make them barren, or else that they might bear men-children only. and the fathers complained and said to one another sadly: "is it not a pitiful thing to see these sweet and gentle flowers of youth so brought to death and dishonour!" and some among them said: "let us go by night to the good town of ghent, taking with us all our virgin daughters, and tell the whole tale to the burgesses, begging their blessed protection for them, and leaving them there in the town if we are so permitted. so they will escape death at the hands of our master." every one who heard this plan thought it a good one; and all the peasants with daughters who were virgins took them off to ghent, and there told the story to the commune, and the good men gave them protection. then with lighter hearts the peasants returned to the domain of halewyn. xvii. of what sir halewyn did on the borders of his domain. not long afterwards a hard winter set in, with bitter cold and furious storm. and the heart of the fifteenth virgin no longer beat strong against sir halewyn's breast. and he sang, but none came. wherefore he was disappointed and angry. but calling to mind that there were, in the castle of sir roel de heurne, two girls supposed by common report to be virgins, and that this castle was no more than the fifth part of a league from the borders of his land, and that therefore the two maids would be able to hear and come to the call of his song, he went each night and stationed himself on the farthest border of his demesne, and there sang towards the said castle, notwithstanding the bitter cold, and the snow beginning to fall abundantly. xviii. of the damosels magtelt and anne-mie, and of schimmel the dapple-gray. while the miserable was roaming the woods, sir roel de heurne and the lady gonde, his wife, richly clad, and wrapt round with deer-skins, which give particular warmth to the body, were sitting snugly on their coffers before their good fire of oaken logs, chatting together as old folk will. but it was the lady gonde who spoke most, being the woman. and she said: "my good man, do you hear the storm raging furiously in the forest?" "yes," answered sir roel. and his lady said further: "god has been kind to give us, against this great cold, such a fine castle so strongly built, such good clothes, and such a bright fire." "yes," answered the sire. "but above all," said she, "he has shown us his divine grace by giving us such good and brave children." "true," answered the sire. "for," said she, "nowhere could you find a young man more valiant, courteous, gentle, and fitter to uphold our name than toon, our son." "yes," said the sire, "he has saved my life in battle." "but," said his lady, "he has this fault, that he is so scant of words that we scarce know the tone of his voice. he is well called the silent." "there is better worth to a man," said the sire, "in a good sword than in a long tongue." "here i see you, my lord," said the lady, "pent up with your reflections, for sadness and gravity are the lot of old age, but i know well a certain maid who would smooth out your forehead and set you laughing." "'tis possible," said the sire. "yes," said she, "it is certainly possible, for when magtelt our daughter comes into this room, i shall see my lord and husband turn happy at once." at these words sir roel nodded his head and smiled a little. "yes, yes," said his lady, "for when magtelt laughs, then laughs my old roel; when she sings, then my old roel grows thoughtful and nods his head happily, and if she passes by, he follows with smiling eyes each step of his little daughter." "true, gonde," said the sire. "yes, yes," said she, "for who is the well-being and joy of this house? 'tis not i, who am old, and losing my teeth one by one; nor you either, my fellow in antiquity; nor the silent either; nor anne-mie the private servant, who, though she is very sweet and healthy in her person, is something too quiet in her ways, and laughs only when she is set laughing. but she who makes our old age happy, she who is the nightingale in the house, she who is always coming and going, passing and repassing, flying hither and thither, singing and singing again, as happy as a peal of bells at christmastide: 'tis our good daughter." "so it is," said the sire. "ah," said his lady further, "it is a happy thing for us to have such a child, since both of us have already cold in our feet at all seasons. for without her we should pass our time in sadness, and from our old feet the cold would creep up to our hearts, and so we should be taken to our graves more quickly." "yes, wife," said the sire. "ah," said she, "another damosel would have wished for love-suitors, and to go to the court of my lord to get a husband. but our little maid gives no thought to that, for hereabout she loves no one but ourselves, and her who goes everywhere with her, and is as a sister to her, anne-mie the private servant; but not without teasing her a little in order to make her laugh." "true," said the sire. "yes, yes," said his lady, "and every one loves her, admires her, and respects her, pages, grooms, varlets, men-at-arms, private servants, serfs, and peasants, so joyous and merry is she, so brave and gentle is her bearing. there is no one, even down to schimmel, the great war-horse, who does not follow her like a dog. ah! when he sees her coming he whinnies joyously; and she alone must bring him his oats and corn; from none other will he take a grain. she treats him like a man, and often gives him a great draught of clauwaert, which he drinks up with relish. she makes herself understood to him by words, but she must never be cross with him, or he makes as if to weep, and looks at her with so sad a manner that she cannot withstand it and then calls him to her, saying: 'beautiful schimmel, brave schimmel,' and other soft words; hearing which the good dapple-gray gets up and comes close to her to have more compliments. he suffers no one on his back but she, and when he is carrying her he is as proud as my lord of flanders at the head of his good barons and knights. so she has her sovereignty over every one, by joyousness, goodness, and fair speaking." "yes," said the sire. "ah," said his lady, "may the very good god watch over our little one, and may our old ears hear this fledgeling nightingale singing always." "amen," said the sire. xix. how magtelt sang to sir roel the lied of the lion, and the song of the four witches. while sir roel and the lady gonde were talking together, the snow had fallen in great quantity, and had quite covered magtelt and anne-mie, who were coming back from having taken an eagle-stone to the wife of josse, for her to bind to her left thigh and so get ease in her lying-in. and the girls came into the great hall, where sir roel was sitting with his good wife. magtelt, drawing close to her father, knelt to him in salutation. and sir roel, having raised her up, kissed her on the brow. but anne-mie stayed quietly in a corner, as became a private servant. and it was a good sight to see these two maids wholly covered with snow. "jesus-maria," said the lady gonde, "see these two sillies, what have they been doing to get themselves clothed in snow in this fashion? to the fire quickly, children; draw to the fire and dry yourselves." "silence, wife," said sir roel, "you make youth faint-heart. in my young days i went through cold, snow, hail, thunder, and tempest without a thought. and so do i still, when there is need to, and i will have magtelt do the same. thanks be to god! 'tis not from a fire of logs that a daughter of ours must get warmth, but from the natural fire which burns in the bodies of the children of old roel." but magtelt, seeing him about to grow angry, went and knelt at his feet. "lord father," said she, "we are not cold at all, for we have been leaping, dancing and frolicking so heartily, thumping and drubbing each other, that we turned winter into spring; furthermore we sang some fine songs, which i beg you will give me leave to sing over again to you." "so i will, little one," said sir roel. so magtelt sang him the lied, of roeland de heurne the lion, who came back from the holy land, and brought thence a great sword; and also the song of the four witches, wherein you may hear mewling of cats, bleating of goats, and the noise which they make with their tails in rainy weather. and sir roel forgot his anger. when magtelt had done singing he caused supper to be served and the cross lit up, which threw over them a bright light from the four lamps burning at the end of each arm. and he made his daughter sit at his side. anne-mie came likewise to sit at table, beside the lady gonde, who said: "young company warms old folk." and there were served to them that evening fine white bread, beef salted and smoked in the chimney among the sweet smoke of fir-cones, ghent sausage, which was invented, they say, by boudwin the glutton, bastard of flanders, and old clauwaert. supper finished, and a prayer spoken, magtelt and anne-mie went off to bed, in the same room, for magtelt loved anne-mie like a sister and would have her by her side at all times. xx. of the sixteenth virgin hanged. magtelt, with laughter, singing, and frolic, soon fell asleep. but anne-mie, being somewhat cold, could not close her eyes. and the miserable came and stationed himself on the border of his land. thence his voice rang out clear, soft, and melodious. and anne-mie heard it, and, forgetting that she was but lightly clad, rose up and went out of the castle by the postern. when she came into the open the snow smote harshly on her face, her breast, and her shoulders. and she tried to shield herself against this bitter cold and evil snow, but could not, for she had lain down to sleep nearly naked. going towards the song she passed barefoot across the moat, whereof the water was hard frozen. and trying to mount the farther bank, which was high and slippery, she fell; and cut a great wound in her knee. having picked herself up she entered the forest, wounding her bare feet on the stones, and her numbed body on the branches of trees. but she went her way without heeding. when she drew near to the miserable she fell on her knees before him. and he did to her as he had done to the others. and anne-mie was the sixteenth virgin hanged in the gallows-field. xxi. how magtelt sought anne-mie. on the morrow magtelt, being, as was customary, the first awake, said her prayers to my lord jesus and to madam saint magtelt, her blessed patron. having besought them earnestly for sir roel, the lady gonde, the silent, and all the household, most particularly for anne-mie, she looked at the maid's bed, and seeing its curtains half drawn she supposed that her companion was still asleep; and so, putting on her fine clothes, she kept saying as she moved up and down the room, or looked at herself in the mirror-glass: "ho, anne-mie, wake up, wake up, anne-mie! who sleeps late comes last to grass. the sparrows are awake and the hens also, and already their eggs are laid. wake up, anne-mie, schimmel is neighing in the stable, and the sun is shining bright on the snow; my lord father is scolding the servants, and my lady mother is interceding for them. canst not smell the savoury odour of beans and good beef broiled with spices? i can smell it well enough, and it makes me hungry; wake up, anne-mie." but the girl could not possess herself in patience any longer, and threw the curtains wide open. finding no anne-mie: "there!" she said, "the rogue, she has gone down without me; and without me, no doubt, is at this same moment eating those good beans and beef." and going down the stairs at a run magtelt entered the great hall, where, seeing sir roel her father, she knelt to him and asked his blessing, and then likewise to the lady gonde. but her mother said to her: "where is anne-mie?" "i cannot tell," said magtelt, "she is having some fun with us, i suppose, hidden in some corner." "that," said sir roel, "is not her way, for if any one here makes fun of others 'tis not she, but thou, little one." "my lord father," said magtelt, "you make me anxious by talking so." "well," said sir roel, "go and seek anne-mie; as for us, mother, let us eat; our old stomachs cannot wait for food as well as these young ones." "ah," said the lady gonde, "i have no mind to eat; go, magtelt, and find me anne-mie." but sir roel helped himself to a great platterful of beans and good beef, and, falling to it, said that nothing was so easily put out, troubled, made anxious, as a woman, and this for nothing at all. nevertheless he was himself a little uneasy, and from time to time looked up at the door, saying that the rascal of a girl would show herself suddenly from somewhere. but magtelt, after searching the whole castle over, came back and said: "i can find anne-mie nowhere." xxii. how magtelt wept bitterly, and of the fine dress which she had. and magtelt had great sorrow in her heart, and wept, and made lament, crying: "anne-mie, where art thou? would i could see thee again!" and falling on her knees before sir roel, she said: "my lord father, i pray you to send our men-at-arms in goodly number in search for anne-mie." "so i will," said he. the men-at-arms went out, but dared not pass on to the lands of halewyn from fear of the spell. and on their return they said: "we can hear nothing of anne-mie." and magtelt went up and stretched herself on her bed, and prayed to the good god to send her back her sweet comrade. on the second day she went and sat before the glazed window, and without intermission looked out all day at the countryside and the falling snow, and watched to see if anne-mie were coming. but anne-mie could not come. and on the third day the lids of her eyes bled for weeping. and on that day the snow ceased falling, the sky became clear, the sun shone therein, and the earth was hard frozen. and every day in the same place went and sat the sorrowing magtelt, watching the countryside, thinking of anne-mie and saying nothing. sir roel, seeing her so low-hearted, sent to bruges for some blue cloth-of-scarlet, for her to make herself a dress, and fine cyprian gold for the border, and fine gold buttons of rich workmanship. magtelt worked away at making this dress, but took no pleasure at all at the thought of all this fine apparel. and so passed away the week, and each day magtelt worked at her dress, saying nothing and singing never, but weeping oftentimes. on the fifth day, when the dress was finished, well trimmed with the cyprian gold and embellished with the rich buttons, the lady gonde bade magtelt don it, and then showed her her magnificence in a great mirror-glass; but magtelt had no heart to be glad at seeing herself so beautiful, for she was thinking of anne-mie. and the lady gonde, seeing how sad she was and silent, wept also, saying: "since our magtelt stopped singing i have felt more bitterly the chill of winter and old age." and sir roel made no murmur, but became sullen and pensive, and drank clauwaert all day. and at times, turning angry, he bade magtelt sing and be cheerful. and the maid sang merry lieds to the old man, who then turned joyous again, and gonde as well. and they spent all their time before the fire, nodding their heads. and they said: "the nightingale is come back again to the house, and her music makes the fires of spring sunshine stir in our bones." and magtelt, having done singing, would go off to hide herself in a corner and weep for anne-mie. xxiii. of toon the silent. on the eighth day, the silent went wolf-hunting. following a certain beast he rode into the domain of halewyn. and at vespers the lady gonde, leaving the great hall to go to the kitchen for the ordering of supper, on opening the door saw toon before her. he seemed loth to come in, and hung his head as if with shame. the lady gonde, going to him, said: "my son, why do you not come into the hall to bid good evening to the lord your father?" the silent, without answering, went into the hall, and muttering short and sullen words by way of salutation, went to sit in the darkest corner. and the lady gonde said to sir roel: "our son is angry at something, i think, since he goes off into a dark corner far away from us, against his habit." sir roel said to the silent: "son, come hither to the light that we may see thy face." he obeyed, and sir roel, the lady gonde, and the sorrowing magtelt saw that he was bleeding from the head and from the neck, and cast down his eyes, not daring to look them in the face. the lady gonde cried out with fright on seeing the blood, and magtelt came to him, and sir roel said: "who has given my son this shamed countenance, this downcast heart, and these wounds in his body?" the silent answered: "siewert halewyn." "why," said sir roel, "was my son so presumptuous as to attack the invincible?" the silent answered: "anne-mie hanged in the gallows-field of siewert halewyn." "woe!" cried sir roel, "our poor maid hanged! shame and sorrow upon us!" "lord god," said gonde, "you smite us hard indeed." and she wept. but magtelt could neither weep nor speak from the bitterness of the grief which laid hold upon her. and she looked at her brother fixedly, and his sunken face blenched, and from the wounds against his eyes dropped tears of blood, and his body was shaken with spasms. and the silent sank into a seat, weeping dully like a wounded lion. "ha," quoth sir roel, hiding his face, "this is the first man of the house of heurne that has found need to sit weeping. shame upon us, and without redress, for there is a spell woven." and the silent stuffed his fingers into the wound in his neck, pressing out the blood; but he felt nothing of the pain. "toon," said the lady gonde, "do not dirty your wound with your fingers in this wise; you will poison it, my son." but the silent did not seem to hear. "toon," said the lady gonde, "do not do it; i, your mother, order you. let me wash away this blood and dress with ointment these ugly sores." while she hurried to prepare the ointment and to warm the water in a washing-basin, toon did not cease his groaning and weeping. and he tore out the hair from his beard in a rage. and sir roel, watching him, said: "when a man weeps 'tis blood and shame, shame without redress. halewyn has a spell. ah, presumptuous one, must thou then go to his castle to brave the invincible?" "woe, my lord," said the lady gonde, "be not so bitter angry with the silent, for he showed fine courage in wishing to avenge anne-mie on the miserable." "yes," said sir roel, "fine courage that brings shame to our house." "tell," said she, "tell, toon, the tale to thy father, to show him that thou art a worthy son to him none the less." "i wish it," said sir roel. "my lord father," said the silent, groaning, and speaking in short breaths, "anne-mie hanging, siewert halewyn near to the gallows. he was laughing. i ran at him, cutting at his belly with my sword in the fashion of a cross to break the spell. invincible! he laughed, saying: 'i will take magtelt.' i struck him with a knife; the blade turned. he laughed. he said: 'i do not care for punishment, be off.' i did not go. i struck him with sword and knife together; in vain. he laughed. he said again: 'be off.' i could not. then he struck me with the flat of his sword in the neck and breast, and with the hilt in the back, like a serf. he laughed. i lost sense from the blows. beaten like a serf, my lord father, i could do naught against him." sir roel, having heard toon speak, was less angered, understanding that he had not been presumptuous, thinking also of his great pain and of his bitter groaning and his grievous shame. with the ointment ready and the water warm, the lady gonde set to work to dress the wounds of her son, particularly that on his neck, which was a deep one. but magtelt wept never a tear, and soon went off to her bed, not without a blessing from sir roel her father, and her lady mother. the three stayed a long while together before the fire, father, mother, and son, without a word spoken, for the silent, moaning all the while, could not bear his defeat, and the lady gonde wept and prayed; and sir roel, sad and ashamed, hid his face. xxiv. how the damosel magtelt made a good resolution. magtelt, before she lay down on her bed, prayed, but not aloud. and her face was hard set with anger. and having undressed she lay down in her bed, tugging at her breast with her finger-nails from time to time, as if she were fighting for breath. and her breathing was as if she were in agony. for she was bitter sad and out of heart. but she did not weep. and she heard the high wind, forerunner of snow, lifting over the forest, and roaring like a stream in spate after heavy rain. and it tossed against the window glass dried leaves and branches, which beat on the pane like dead men's finger-nails. and it howled and whistled sadly in the chimney. and the sorrowing maid saw in her mind's eye anne-mie hanging in the gallows-field and her poor body pecked by the crows, and she thought of the stain on her brave brother's honour, and of the fifteen poor virgins outraged by the miserable. but she did not weep. for in her breast was a dumb pain, harsh anguish, and a bitter thirst for vengeance. and she asked very humbly of our lady if it were a good thing to let the miserable any longer go killing the maidens of the land of flanders. and at cock-crow she rose from her bed, and her eyes were bright, and proud was her countenance, and her head held high, and she said: "i will go to halewyn." and throwing herself on her knees she prayed to the very strong god to give her courage and strength for the revenge of anne-mie, toon the silent, and the fifteen virgins. xxv. of the sword of the lion. at sun-up she went to sir roel, who was still in bed, on account of the cold. seeing her come in and fall on her knees before him, he said: "what wilt thou, little one?" "my lord father," she said, "may i go to halewyn?" at this he became afraid, and saw well enough that magtelt, unable to rid her heart of the thought of anne-mie, was minded to avenge her. and he said with love and anger: "no, my daughter, no, not thou; who goes there will not come again!" but seeing her go out of the room he never supposed that she would fail in her obedience. and magtelt went thence to the lady gonde, who was praying in the chapel for the repose of anne-mie's soul; and she pulled at her mother's dress, to show that she was there. when the lady gonde turned her head, magtelt fell on her knees before her: "mother," said she, "may i go to halewyn?" but her lady mother: "oh no, child, no, not thou; who goes there will not come again!" and so saying, she opened her arms and let fall the golden ball wherewith she warmed her hands, so that the embers spread this way and that on the floor. then she fell to moaning, weeping, trembling, and chattering with her teeth, and embraced the girl tightly as if she would never let her go. but she never supposed that she could fail in her obedience. and magtelt went thence to toon, who, despite his wounds, was already out of bed, and seated on his coffer, warming himself before a new-lit fire. "brother," she said, "may i go to halewyn?" saying this she held herself straight before him. the silent lifted his head and looked at her severely, waiting for her to speak further. "brother," she said, "siewert halewyn has killed this sweet maid whom i loved; and has done the same to fifteen other pitiful virgins, who are hanging in the gallows-field shamefully; he is for this country a greater evil than war, death, and pestilence; brother, i would kill him." but toon looked at magtelt and answered nothing. "brother," said she, "thou must not refuse me, for my heart bids me go. canst thou not see how sad and downcast i am in this house, and how i shall die of sorrow if i do not that which i should. but having been to him i shall come back joyous and singing as before." but the silent said not a word. "ah," she said, "dost fear for me, seeing how many good knights have assailed him and been by him shamefully overthrown, even thyself, my brave brother, who carriest even now his marks? i am not ignorant that on his shield is written: 'none can stand against me.' but what others could not, one may do. he goes glorying in his strength, more terrible than an oliphant, prouder than a lion, thinking himself invincible, but when the beast goes with assurance the hunter follows the more easily. brother, may i go to halewyn?" when magtelt had reached so far in her speech, suddenly there fell from the wall whereon it was fastened a fair sword well set and sharpened, and with the blade stout to the hilt. the handpiece was of cedar of lebanon, set out with golden cresslets, and in the castle this sword was held to be of marvellous virtue and holiness, because it had been brought from the crusade by roeland de heurne, the lion. and none dared use it. the sword, falling, lay at the feet of magtelt. "brother," said magtelt, crossing herself, "the good sword of the lion has fallen at my feet; 'tis the very strong god showing thus his will. he must be obeyed, brother; let me go to halewyn." and toon the silent, crossing himself as magtelt had done, answered: "'tis all one to me where thou go, if thou cherish thine honour and carry thy crown straight." "brother," she said, "i thank you." and the noble maid began to tremble mightily from head to foot; and she who had not shed a tear on hearing of anne-mie's death and her brother's dishonour, fell to weeping abundantly, whereby her bitter anger was melted, and bursting into tears by reason of her great joy she said again: "brother, brother, 'tis the hour of god! i go to the reckoning!" and she took the good sword. the silent, seeing her so brave, lifted himself straight before her and put his hand on her shoulder. "go," said he. and she went out. xxvi. of the noble apparel of the maid magtelt. in her own room she dressed herself in her most beautiful clothes as quickly as she could. what did the fair maid put on her white body? a bodice finer than silk. and over the fine bodice? a robe of cloth-of-scarlet of flemish blue, whereon were the arms of de heurne marvellously worked, and the edges next to the feet and the neck embroidered with fine cyprian gold. wherewith did the fair maid bind in her slender waist? with a girdle of the hide of a lion, studded with gold. what had the fair maid on her beautiful shoulders? her great keirle, which was of cramoisy stitched with cyprian gold, and covered her from head to foot, for it was an ample cloak. what had the fair maid on her proud head? a fine crown of beaten gold, whence fell tresses of pale hair as long as herself. what held she in her little hand? the blessed sword brought from the crusade. so apparelled she went out to the stable, and harnessed schimmel, the great war-horse, with his saddle of state, a fine leathern seat, painted in divers colours, and richly worked with gold. and they set out together, through the snow falling thickly. xxvii. how sir roel and the lady gonde questioned toon the silent, and of what he answered. while magtelt was on her way to halewyn, and when the first hour of her journey had already gone by, the lady gonde questioned sir roel: "sir," she said, "do you know where our daughter may be?" sir roel said that he knew nothing of it; and speaking to the silent: "son," said he, "dost thou know where thy sister has gone?" the silent answered quietly: "magtelt is a brave maid; whom god leads he leads well." "sir," said the lady gonde, "do not put yourself to the trouble of questioning him further, for saying so much he has used up his words." but sir roel to toon: "son, dost thou not know where she is?" "magtelt," answered he, "is a fair maid, and carries her crown straight." "ah," exclaimed the lady gonde, "i am growing anxious; where is she then?" and she went off to search the castle thoroughly. but coming back she said to sir roel: "she is nowhere in the house; she has defied our orders and gone to halewyn." "wife," said roel, "that cannot be. children, in this country, were always obedient to their parents." "toon," said she, "where is she? toon, do you not know?" "the miserable," he answered, "fears the beautiful maid; whom god leads he leads well." "roel," cried out the lady gonde, "he knows where our magtelt has gone!" "son, answer," said sir roel. the silent answered: "the sword of the crusade fell from the wall at the maid's feet. whom god guides succeeds in everything." "toon," cried the lady gonde, "where is magtelt?" "the virgin," he said, "rides without fear, she goes faster than the armed man: whom god leads he leads well." the lady gonde groaned: "ah," she said, "our magtelt will be killed, even now she is stiff frozen, sweet jesus! the sword of the crusade is of no avail against siewert halewyn." the silent answered: "he glories in his strength, thinking himself invincible, but when the beast goes with assurance the hunter follows more easily." "wicked son, how couldst thou think to send the little bird to the hawk, the virgin to the enemy of virgins?" the silent answered: "she will come whither none looks to see her: whom god leads he leads well." "sir," said the lady gonde to roel, "you hear what he says; she has gone to halewyn, and 'tis this wicked son that gave her leave." sir roel going to toon: "son," said he, "we had here but one joy, that was our magtelt. thou hast abused thy privilege in giving her leave to go thither. if she comes not back to us by nightfall i will curse thee and banish thee from my house. may god hear me, and take from thee, in this world bread and salt, and in the other thy portion in paradise." "god," said the silent, "will guide the sword. whosoever has done wrong, on him let fall the punishment." gonde began crying out, weeping and making dole. roel bade her be silent, and sent a goodly troop of men-at-arms in the direction she had taken. but they came back without having seen anything of magtelt, for they had not dared to go into the territory of halewyn by reason of the spell. xxviii. the riding of the maid magtelt. singing and winding her horn, rides the noble damosel. and she is beautiful with a beauty from heaven; fresh and rosy are her cheeks. and straight she carries her crown. and her little hand holds fast beneath her keirle the good sword of roel the lion. and wide open are her fearless eyes, searching the forest for sir halewyn. and she listens for the sound of his horse. but she hears nothing, except, in the heavy silence, the still sound of snowflakes falling quietly like feathers. and she sees nothing, except the air whitened with snow, and white also the long road, and white also the leafless trees. what is it makes the flame glow in her clear brown eyes? it is her high courage. why does she carry so straight her head and her crown? because of the great strength in her heart. what is it so swells her breast? the cruel thought of anne-mie, and her brother's shame and the great crimes of sir halewyn. and ceaselessly she looks to see if he be not coming, and if she can hear nothing of the sound of his horse. but she sees nothing, except the air whitened with snow, and white also the long road, and white also the leafless trees. and she hears nothing, except, in the heavy silence, the still sound of snowflakes falling quietly like feathers. and she sings. then, speaking to schimmel, she said: "together, good schimmel, we are going to a lion. canst not see him in his cavern, awaiting passers-by, and devouring poor maids?" and schimmel, hearing her, whinnied joyously. "schimmel," said magtelt, "thou art glad, i see, to be going to the revenge of anne-mie with the good sword." and schimmel whinnied a second time. and magtelt sought sir halewyn everywhere as she went through the forest. and she listened well for the sound of his horse, and looked to see if he were nowhere coming. and she saw nothing, except the air whitened with snow, and white also the long road, and white also the leafless trees. and she heard nothing, except, in the heavy silence, the still sound of snowflakes falling quietly like feathers. and she wound her horn. xxix. of the crow and the sparrow, of the hound, the horse and the seven echoes. when she reached the middle part of the forest, she saw through the thick snowflakes sir halewyn coming towards her. the miserable had that day on his body a fine dress of blue cloth, on which was broidered in two colours his ugly arms. round his waist he had a fair belt studded with lumps of gold, and at his belt the golden sickle, and over his dress a fair opperst-kleed of corn-coloured cloth-of-scarlet. riding on his roan horse he came up to magtelt, and she saw that he was handsome. before his horse, barking and making a great noise, ran a hound like a wolf, which, on seeing schimmel, leapt at him and bit him. but schimmel, with a great kick which he let fly, set him dancing a sorry dance, and singing a pitiful song over his broken paw. "ah," thought the maid, "god grant, brave schimmel, that i may do better for the master than thou hast done for the dog." and the miserable came to her: "salutation," he said, "fair maid with clear brown eyes." "salutation," she said, "siewert halewyn the invincible." but the miserable: "what brings thee," he said, "into my lands?" "my heart," said magtelt, "bade me come, i wished greatly to see thee, and am content now that i can look at thee face to face." "so," said he, "have done and shall do all virgins, even more beautiful than thou art." while they were talking together the wounded hound made a rush at the horse and hung on to halewyn's opperst-kleed as if he would drag him down to the ground. having done this, he went off and sat down in the snow beside the road, and there lifting up his muzzle howled most lamentably. "see," said he, "my hound crying out to death. hast no fear, maid?" "i go," she said, "in god's keeping." having moved forward a little way, talking and riding together, they saw in the air above their heads, a crow of great size, on whose neck was perched an angry little sparrow, pecking him, clutching him, pulling out his feathers and piping furiously. wounded, torn open, flying this way and that, right, left, upward, downward, banging against the trees blindly, and croaking with pain, this crow at length fell dead, with his eyes pecked out, across halewyn's saddle. having looked at it a moment, he tossed it aside into the road; while the sparrow flew off to a bough, and there, shaking out his feathers merrily, fell a-piping at the top of his voice in celebration of his victory. "ah," said magtelt, laughing to the sparrow, "thou art of noble blood, little bird; come hither, i will find thee a fair cage and give thee thy fill of wheat, millet, hemp, and linseed." but halewyn became mightily angry: "common little insolent!" he cried, "would that i had thee in a snare! shouldst not then sing for long thy victory over this noble crow." none the less the sparrow went on singing without a break, and in this wise seemed to mock at halewyn, who said to magtelt: "dost dare to applaud and give heart to this little animal, knowing that my shield bears on it the crow of my glorious ancestor dirk! knowest thou not that like him thou hast but little longer to sing?" "i," she said, "shall sing as long as it pleases god, my master." "there is for thee," said he, "no other master than i, for here i rule alone." suddenly he turned very cold, for the heart of anne-mie, though it still beat, was become like ice in his breast. so, thinking that this heart was about to dry up, he said to magtelt: "thou comest in good season, fair virgin." "whom god leads," said she, "comes always in good season." "but," he said, "who art thou, riding in my land, singing and winding the horn, who bringest hither such insolent talk?" "i," said she, "am the lady magtelt, daughter of roel le preux, lord of heurne." "and," said he, "art thou not chilled, riding thus in the snow?" "none," she said, "feels the cold in the race of the lords of heurne." "and," said he, "hast thou no fear, here at my side and on my own land, where no one dares to set foot?" "none," she said, "knows of fear in the race of the lords of heurne." "thou art," said he, "a brave maid." "i," she said, "am daughter of roel le preux, lord of heurne." he answered nothing to that, and they went on a while without speaking. suddenly he said, lifting his head arrogantly: "am i not truly the invincible, the beautiful, the strong? shall i not be so always? yes, for all things come to my aid in the hour of victory. in former times i must needs sing, in cold, snow, wind, and darkness, to call virgins to me, but now the most proud, noble, and beautiful of maids comes hither in broad day without song to call her: sure sign of growing power. who is my equal? none, save god. he has the heavens and i the earth, and over all living things triumph and mastery. let come what may, armies, lightning, thunder, tempest; who can stand but i?" "i!" answered to his hideous blasphemy seven voices speaking together. those voices were the echo of the seven giants, which sent back every sound seven times over with great force and volume. but the miserable: "hark!" said he, "my lord echo dares to mock the invincible." and he burst out laughing. but the echo burst out laughing likewise, and laughed loud, long, and terribly. and halewyn appeared well pleased at the noise, and went on laughing, with the seven echoes after him. and it seemed to magtelt as it were a thousand men hidden in the forest. and meanwhile the hound had taken fright and howled so desperately that it seemed to magtelt as it were a thousand hounds in the forest crying out to death. the miserable's horse had taken fright also, and was so terrified at his master's laughter, the dog's howls, and his own neighing, all ringing out together, that he plunged, reared, stood up on his hind legs like a man, laid back his ears with fear, and would, without doubt, have thrown halewyn from his back, if, driving him onward with his spurs, he had not made him pass by force the place of the seven echoes. but schimmel had not moved at all, and this strangely enough, for he was a young horse, apt to be alarmed. when the noise was over they rode on their way, speaking few words together as they rode. and together they came to the gallows-field. xxx. how magtelt came to the gallows-field. there magtelt saw the sixteen virgins hanging, and amongst them anne-mie, and all were covered over with snow. halewyn's horse began again to rear, plunge, and lay back his ears as a sign of fear; but schimmel neighed, and pawed the ground proudly with his hoof. and halewyn said to magtelt: "thou hast there an unfaithful friend, who can neigh happily at the hour of thy death." but magtelt answered nothing, and looking steadfastly at those poor virgins prayed to the very strong god to help her in their revenge. meanwhile the miserable alighted from his horse, and taking the golden sickle in his hand came towards magtelt. "it is," he said, "the hour of thy death. get down, therefore, as i have done." and in his impatience he would have lifted her from schimmel's back. but magtelt: "leave me," she said, "to get down by myself; if i must die 'twill be without weeping." "thou art a fine girl," said he. and she, having dismounted from her horse, said: "my lord, before thou strikest, doff thine opperst-kleed of the colour of corn, for the blood of virgins gushes fiercely, and if mine should stain thee i should be grieved." but before the opperst-kleed was off his shoulders, his head fell to the ground at his feet. and magtelt, looking at the body, said: "he strode confidently, thinking himself invincible; but when the beast goes with assurance the hunter follows more easily." and she crossed herself. xxxi. of the sixteen deaths and of the prince of the stones. suddenly the head spoke, saying: "go thou to the end of the road, and sound my horn aloud, so that my friends may hear." but magtelt: "to the end of the road will i not go; thine horn will i not sound; murderer's counsel will i not follow." "ah," said the head, "if thou art not the virgin without pity, join me to my body, and with the heart that is in my breast anoint my red wound." but magtelt: "i am the virgin without pity; to thy body will i not join thee, and with the heart that is in thy breast will i not anoint thy red wound." "maid," said the head, weeping and speaking with great terror, "maid, quickly, quickly, make on my body the sign of the cross, and carry me into my castle, for he is coming." while the head was speaking, suddenly came out of the wood the prince of the stones, and he came and seated himself on the body of the miserable, and taking in his hands the head: "salutation," he said, "to the ill-favoured one; art thou now content? what of thy triumphant bearing, my lord the invincible? she whom thou calledst not came without a song: the virgin without fear, in whose hands is death. but thou must sing once again thy sweet song, the song to call virgins." "ah," said the head, "make me not sing, lord prince of the stones, for i know well enough that at the end there is great suffering." "sing," said the prince of the stones, "sing, coward that hast never wept to do evil, and now weepest at the time of punishment: sing, miserable." "ah," said the head, "have pity, lord." "sing," said the prince of the stones, "sing, 'tis the hour of god." "my lord prince," said the head, "be not so hard in my evil hour." "sing, miserable," said the prince of the stones, "sing, 'tis the hour of the reckoning." "ah," said the head, weeping, "i will sing, since you are my master." and the head sang the faery song. and suddenly there spread abroad in the air a smell of cinnamon, frankincense, and sweet marjoram. and the sixteen virgins, hearing the song, came down from the gallows and drew near to the body of halewyn. and magtelt, crossing herself, watched them pass, but felt no fear. and the first virgin, who was the daughter of the poor simpleton, claes the dog-beater, took the golden sickle, and cutting into the breast of the miserable below the left nipple drew out a great ruby, and put this on her wound, where it melted into rich red blood in her breast. and the head let a great pitiful cry of pain. "so," said the prince of the stones, "did the poor virgins cry out when thou madest them pass from life unto death; sixteen times hast thou brought death about, sixteen times shalt thou die, besides the death thou hast suffered already. the cry is the cry of the body when the soul leaves it; sixteen times hast thou drawn this cry from other bodies, sixteen times shall cry out thine own; sing, miserable, to call the virgins to the reckoning." and the head sang again the faery song, while the first virgin walked away silently towards the wood like a living person. and the second virgin came to the body of the miserable and did to it as the first had done. and she also walked away into the wood like a living person. so did each of the sixteen virgins, and for each of them a ruby was changed into good red blood. and sixteen times the head sang the faery song, and sixteen times gave the death-cry. and one by one all the virgins went away into the depth of the wood. and the last of all, who was anne-mie, came to magtelt, and kissing her right hand wherein she had held the sword: "blessed be thou," she said, "who camest without fear, and, delivering us from the spell, leadest us into paradise." "ah," said magtelt, "must thou go so far away, anne-mie?" but anne-mie, without hearing her, passed like the others into the depth of the wood, walking silently over the snow like a living person. while the head was weeping and uttering bitter plaints, came out from the forest the child of nine years old, whom the miserable had killed first of all. still wearing her shroud she approached and fell at the feet of the mannikin prince of the stones. "ah," she said, kissing the head tenderly, stroking it, caressing it, and wiping away its tears, "poor miserable, i will pray for thee to the very good god, who readily hears the prayers of children." and the girl prayed in this wise: "dear lord, see how much he is suffering! is it not payment enough that he should die sixteen times? ah, lord, sweet lord, and you, madam mary, who are so kind, deign to hear me and grant him forgiveness." but the mannikin, starting up, pushed the child away and said harshly: "this head is mine, thy prayers avail nothing; be off, little ragamuffin, go back whence thou came." and the child went away like the other maids into the depth of the wood. then he thrust his hand into the breast of the miserable and pulled out a heart of stone: then, in his rasping voice, which hissed like a viper and scraped like a thousand pebbles under the iron sole of an armed man, he said: "ambitious heart, heart of stone, thou wast in thy lifetime cruel and a coward; thou couldst not be content with such ample gifts as god in his bounty had given thee, thou hadst no desire towards goodness, courage, or just dealing, but towards gold, power, and vain honours; thou hadst no love for anything, neither father, mother, brother, nor sister; and so, to get more power and higher jurisdiction, thou killedst the people of the land of flanders, without shame: and so also thou didst set thyself to hurt the weak, sucking thy life from their life, and thy blood from their blood. so have done and so shall always do this reptile order of ambitious ugly men. blessed be god, who, by the hands of this frail and winsome maid, has cut off thine head from thy neck and taken thee from the world." as he spoke he had thrown the heart down into the snow, and trampling over it with great despite, kicking it with his toe like a vile thing, and laughing bitterly, he spoke again in his rasping voice: "stone thou art, stone shalt thou be a thousand years, but a live stone, a suffering stone. and when men come and carve thee, cleave thee, grind thee to powder, thou shalt endure it all without being able to cry out. ambitious heart, heart of stone, suffer and bleed, my cousin. "thou hast starved poor folk, so shalt thou starve a thousand years; thou hast brought cold into their homes, thou shalt freeze in like manner. ambitious heart, heart of stone, suffer and bleed, my cousin. "thou shalt be a hearth-stone and burn with the heat; paving-stone, and let men walk over thee; stone of a church, and bear upon thee all the weight of the building; and thou shalt suffer every evil, pain, and anguish. ambitious heart, heart of stone, suffer and endure, my cousin." having said this the prince of the stones, driving before him with his foot the miserable's heart, disappeared among the trees of the forest. then magtelt looked at the head, and saw that its eyes were open wide. she took it up and washed it with snow, then, carrying it with her, rode away on schimmel, leaving near the body halewyn's horse and hound, the one moaning softly, the other watching it with sorrowful wonderment. as she took up the head, the hound growled, but did not dare touch her. and while she rode away, horse and hound stayed by the body, downcast and sad, and covered with the snow which fell without ceasing. and they seemed to be guarding their master. xxxii. how father, mother, and sister sought everywhere their son and brother, and could not find him. singing and winding her horn rides the noble maid magtelt. and in her heart is joy, at the thought that anne-mie, the fifteen virgins, and toon the silent are avenged. and her hand holds fast beneath her keirle the good sword and the head of halewyn. and schimmel trots quickly, eager to be back in his stable. while she was riding she saw, through the thick snow falling, an old man coming towards her on a black horse. and the old man said: "beautiful maid, riding so fast, hast seen my son halewyn?" and magtelt: "i left thy son halewyn well placed, taking his diversion in the snow with sixteen maidens." and the old man rode on. when she had gone farther she saw, through the thick snow falling, a young and rosy-cheeked damosel coming towards her on a white palfrey. and the damosel said: "beautiful maid, riding so fast, hast seen my brother halewyn?" but magtelt: "go farther, to the gallows-field, where thou shalt see thy brother in like guise to the sixteen maidens." and the damosel rode on. farther still on her way, magtelt saw, through the thick snow falling, a young man of haughty and stiff-necked countenance coming towards her on a roan charger. and the young man said: "beautiful maid, riding so fast, hast seen my brother halewyn?" but magtelt: "thy brother is a fair lord, so fair that round him sixteen maidens stand sentinel, unwilling to let him go." and the young man rode on. after travelling on her way still farther, she saw, through the thick snow falling, an old woman, high-coloured and of robust seeming, despite her great age, coming towards her. and the old woman said: "beautiful maid, riding so fast, hast seen my son halewyn?" but magtelt: "thy son siewert halewyn is dead; see, here is his head beneath my keirle, and his blood running thick on my dress." and the old woman cried out: "if thou had spoken these words earlier thou shouldst not have ridden so far." but magtelt: "thou art fortunate, old woman, in that i have left thee thine own body and not slain thee as i have thy son." and the old dame took fright and made off. and night fell. xxxiii. of the feast in the castle of heurne, and of the head upon the table. schimmel trotted quickly, and soon magtelt reached her father's castle and there sounded the horn. josse van ryhove, who was gate-keeper that night, was filled with amazement at the sight of her. then he cried out: "thanks be to god, 'tis our damosel come home again." and all the household ran to the gate crying out likewise with great noise and much shouting: "our damosel is come home." magtelt, going into the great hall, went to sir roel and knelt before him: "my lord father," she said, "here is the head of siewert halewyn." sir roel, taking the head in his hands and looking at it well, was so overcome with joy that he wept for the first time since the eyes were in his head. and the silent, rising up, came to magtelt, kissed her right hand wherewith she had held the sword, and wept likewise, saying: "thanks be to thee who hast brought about the reckoning." the lady gonde was like a woman drunk with joy, and could not find her tongue. at last, bursting into sobs, melting into tears, and embracing magtelt eagerly: "ah, ah," she cried out, "kiss me, kiss me, kiss me, little one! she has slain the miserable, the sweet maid; the nightingale has vanquished the falcon! my child is come home again, home again my child. noël! thanks be to god who loves aged mothers and will not have them robbed of their children. noël! see, magtelt the beautiful, magtelt the singing-bird, magtelt the joyous, magtelt the bright of heart, magtelt the glorious, magtelt the victorious, magtelt my daughter, my child, my all, noël!" and magtelt smiled at her, caressing her and stroking her hands gently. and the lady gonde, weeping freely, let her do, without speaking. "ah," said sir roel, "i never saw my wife before in such festival mood." then suddenly he cried out: "festival," quoth he, "this should be a day of festival, the great feast of the house of heurne!" and he threw open the door to call his pages, grooms, men-at-arms, and all the household. but they all held back, not daring to enter. "ho!" cried he, in his great joyous voice, "where are cooks and kitchen-maids? where are cauldrons, pots, and frying-pans? where are barrels, kegs, flagons and bottles, tankards, mugs, and goblets? where is clauwaert simple and double? where is old wine and new wine? where are hams and sausages, whales' tongues, and loins of beef, meat of the air, meat of the waters, and meat of the fields? bring in everything there is and set it on the table, for this must be a feast-day in this house, feast for an emperor, a king, a prince; for"--and so saying he held up the miserable's head by the hair--"our beloved maid has slain with her own hand the lord siewert halewyn." hearing this they all cried out with a roar like thunder: "praise be to god! noël to our damosel!" "go then," said sir roel, "and do as i have bid." and when the great feast was served the head was put in the middle of the table. on the morrow there was let cry war in the seigneury of heurne. and sir roel went with a goodly force of men to attack by arms the castle of the miserable, whereof all the relatives, friends, and followers were either hanged or slain. and my lord the count gave to the family of heurne, the goods, titles and territories of halewyn, excepting only the ugly shield, and theirs they remain to this day. smetse smee i. of smetse, his belly, and his forge. smetse smee lived in the good town of ghent, on the quai aux oignons, beside the fair river lys. he was well skilled in his trade, rich in bodily fat, and with so jolly a countenance that the most melancholy of men were cheered and took heart for no more than the sight of him in his smithy, trotting about on his short legs, head up and belly forward, seeing to everything. when work was in full swing in his shop, smetse, listening to the busy sounds round the fire, would say, with his hands clasped across his stomach, quietly and happily: "by artevelde! what are drums, cymbals, fifes, viols, and bagpipes worth? for heavenly music give me my sledges beating, my anvils ringing, my bellows roaring, my good workmen singing and hammering." then, speaking to them all: "courage," he would say, "my children! who works well from daybreak drinks the better for it at vespers. whose is that feeble arm down there, tapping with his hammer so gently? does he think he is cracking eggs, the faint-heart? to those bars, dolf, and plunge them in the water. to that breastplate, pier, beat it out for us fine and true: iron well beaten is proof against bullets. to that plough-share, flipke, and good work to it, too: from the plough comes the world's bread. to the door, toon, here comes the raw-boned nag of don sancio d'avila, the knight with the sour countenance, brought hither by his raw-boned groom, who is for having him shod, no doubt: let him pay double for his spanish haughtiness and his harshness to poor folk!" so went smetse about his smithy, singing mostly, and whistling when he was not singing. and for the rest getting much honest gain, profiting in health, and, at vespers, drinking bruinbier with a will in the inn of pensaert. ii. how slimbroek the red put out the fire in smetse's forge. by and by there came to the quai aux oignons a certain adriaen slimbroek, who set up, with the licence of the guild, another smithy. this slimbroek was an ugly, wizened, lean and puny personage, white-faced, underhung in the jaw like a fox, and nicknamed the red on account of the colour of his hair. skilled in intrigue, expert in sharp-practice, master of arts in cant and hypocrisy, and making himself out to be the finest of smiths, he had interested in his business all the rich and gentle folk of the town, who from fear or otherwise held to the spaniards and wished ill to those of the reformed faith. they were before, for the most part, customers of smetse, but slimbroek had put them against him, saying: "this smetse is a knave to the bottom of his heart, he was a marauder in his young days, sailing the seas with the men of zeeland in despite of spain, on the side of this religion which they call reformed. he still has many friends and relatives in walcheren, more particularly at middelburg, arnemuiden, camp-veere, and flushing, all obstinate protestants, and speaking of the pope of rome and my lords the archdukes without veneration. "and for the rest," added he, "this fellow smetse is altogether an atheist, reading the bible of antwerp in despite of the decrees, and going to church only because he is afraid, and not at all because he will." by such slanders as these slimbroek robbed smetse of all his customers. and soon the fire was out in the forge of the good smith, and soon, too, the savings were eaten up, and dame misery came to the dwelling. iii. wherein slimbroek is seen in the river prettily tricked out. brought to this pass smetse, nevertheless, would not let himself take to despair; but he was always sad and heavy of heart when, sitting in his cold smithy and looking at all his good tools lying idle on the ground, he heard the fair sound of hammers and anvils coming from slimbroek's shop. but what angered him most was that whenever he passed before slimbroek's dwelling the traitor carrot-head would appear suddenly on the threshold, and, saluting him graciously and giving him fair compliments, would make a hundred flattering speeches, accompanied by as many hypocritical salutations, and all for the sake of poking fun at him and to laugh unkindly at his misery. these ugly encounters and grimaces went on a long while, and smetse came to the end of his patience: "ah," said he, "it angers me to be in such poor case; although i must submit, for such is the holy will of god. but it irks me too bitterly to see this wicked knave, who by his trickeries has taken away all my customers, so amusing himself with my misery." meanwhile slimbroek spared him not at all, and each day became sharper in speech, for the more wrong he did to the good smith the more hate he bore him. and smetse swore to have his revenge on him, in such a way as to spoil thenceforward his taste for mockery. it so happened that one sunday when he was standing on the quai des bateliers, looking at the river with a crowd of watermen, townsfolk, boys, and scholars who were idle for the holy day, suddenly there came out of a pothouse, wherein he had been swallowing many pints of ale, slimbroek, bolder than usual on account of the drink. seeing smetse he came and placed himself close to him, and with much gesticulation, loud bursts of talk and laughter, said to him in an insolent tone: "good day, smetse, good day, my worthy friend. how is thy fine face? it seems to lose its fat, which was of good quality, smetse. 'tis a great pity. what is the reason for it? art thou angry at the loss of thy customers, smetse? thou must drink well to bring back the joy to thy stomach, smetse. we never see thee now at vespers in the inn of pensaert; why, smetse? hast no pennies to get drink? i have plenty for thee, if thou wilt, smetse." and he shook his money-bag to make it ring. "thank thee kindly," said smetse, "thou art too generous, master slimbroek, 'tis my turn to stand thee drink now." "ah," cried slimbroek, feigning pity and compassion, "why wilt thou stand drink to me? the world knows thou art not rich, smetse." "rich enough," answered the smith, "to stand thee the best draught thou ever had." "hark to him," said slimbroek to the crowd of watermen and townsfolk, "hark to him. smetse will stand us drink! the world is coming to an end. 'tis the year of golden rags. smetse will stand us drink! ah! i shall taste with great pleasure the bruinbier that smetse will stand us. i am thirsty as an african desert, thirsty as sunday, thirsty as a devil half-boiled in the cauldrons of lucifer." "drink then, slimbroek," said smetse, and threw him into the river. seeing this the people who were on the quay applauded heartily, and all ran to the edge to have a good look at slimbroek, who, falling into the water head first, had struck and broken through the belly of a dog a long while dead, which was floating down on the stream as such carrion will. and he was tricked out round the neck with this dog in a most marvellous manner, nor could he get rid of it, being busy with his arms at keeping himself afloat, and his face was smeared all over with offensive matter. notwithstanding that he was half-blinded, he dared not come out on to the quay where smetse was, but swam off towards the other bank, decked with his carrion and blowing like a hundred devils. "well," said smetse, "dost find the bruinbier to thy liking; is it not the best in all the land of flanders? but my good sir, take off thy bonnet to drink; such headgear is not worn for river parties." when slimbroek was in midstream, over against the bridge, smetse went up on to this bridge with the other onlookers, and slimbroek, in the midst of his puffing and snorting, cried out to smetse: "i'll have thee hanged, accursed reformer!" "ah," said the good smith, "you are mistaken, my friend; 'tis not i who am the reformer, but you, who devise these new bonnets. where got you this one? i have never seen such a one, neither so beautiful, nor so richly ornamented with tufts and hangings. is the fashion coming to ghent by and by?" slimbroek answered nothing, and struggled to get rid of the dead dog, but in vain, and having paused in his swimming for this purpose, went down to the bottom, and came up again more furious than ever, blowing harder, and trying all the while to tear off the body." "leave your hat on, my master," said smetse, "do not so put yourself out in order to salute me, i am not worth the trouble. leave it on." at last slimbroek climbed out of the water. on the quay he shook off the dog hastily and made away as fast as he could to his dwelling. but he was followed by a crowd of young watermen and boys, who ran after him hooting, whistling, covering him with mud and other filth. and they continued to do the same to his house-front after he had gone in. iv. of the two branches. in this wise smetse had his revenge on slimbroek, who thereafter dared not look him in the face, and hid when he passed. but the good smith, nevertheless, had no more pleasure in anything than before, for with every passing day he became more and more needy, having already, with his wife, used up what help came to them from the guild, and also a small sum of silver from middelburg in walcheren. ashamed to get his living by begging and knavery, and knowing how to bear with his lot no longer, he resolved to kill himself. so one night he left his house, and went out to the moats of the town, which are bordered by fine trees, forked and spreading down to the ground. there he fastened a stone to his neck, commended his soul to god, and, stepping back three paces to get a better start, ran and jumped. but while he was in the very act he was caught suddenly by two branches, which, falling upon his shoulders, gripped him like man's hands and held him fast where he was. these branches were neither cold nor hard, as wood naturally is, but supple and warm. and he heard at the same instant a strange and scoffing voice saying: "where goest thou, smetse?" but he could not answer by reason of his great astonishment. and although there was no wind the trunks and branches of the tree moved and swung about like serpents uncoiling, while all around there crackled above ten hundred thousand sparks. and smetse grew more afraid, and a hot breath passed across his face, and the voice, speaking again, but nearer, or so it seemed, repeated: "where goest thou, smetse?" but he could not speak for fear, and because his throttle was dry and his teeth chattering. "why," said the voice, "dost not dare answer him who wishes thee naught but well? where goest thou, smetse?" hearing so pleasant and friendly a speech, the good smith took heart and answered with great humility: "lord whom i cannot see, i was going to kill myself, for life is no longer bearable." "smetse is mad," said the voice. "so i am, if you will, lord," answered the smith; "nevertheless when my smithy is lost to me by the cunning of a wicked neighbour, and i have no way to live but by begging and knavery, 'twould be greater madness in me to live than to die." "smetse," said the voice, "is mad to wish himself dead, for he shall have again, if he will, his fair smithy, his good red fire, his good workmen, and as many golden royals in his coffers as he sees sparks in this tree." "i," exclaimed the smith in great delight, "shall never have such fine things as that! they are not for such miserables as i." "smetse," said the voice, "all things are possible to my master." "ah," said the smith, "you come from the devil, lord?" "yes," answered the voice, "and i come to thee on his account to propose a bargain: for seven years thou shalt be rich, thou shalt have thy smithy the finest in the town of ghent; thou shalt win gold enough to pave the quai aux oignons; thou shalt have in thy cellars enough beer and wine to wet all the dry throttles in flanders; thou shalt eat the finest meats and the most delicate game; thou shalt have hams in plenty, sausages in abundance, mince-pies in heaps; every one shall respect thee, admire thee, sing thy praises; slimbroek at the sight of it shall be filled with rage; and for all these great benefits thou hast only to give us thy soul at the end of seven years." "my soul?" said smetse, "'tis the only thing i have; would you not, my lord devil, make me rich at a less price?" "wilt thou or wilt thou not, smith?" said the voice. "ah," answered smetse, "you offer me things that are very desirable, even, my lord devil (if i may say it without offence), more than i wish; for if i might have only my forge and enough customers to keep the fire alight i should be happier than my lord albert or madam isabella." "take or leave it, smith," said the voice. "lord devil," answered smetse, "i beg you not to become angry with me, but to deign to consider that if you give me but my forge, and not all this gold, wine, and meats, you might perhaps be content to let my soul burn for a thousand years, which time is not at all to be compared with the great length of all eternity, but would seem long enough to whomever must pass it in the fire." "thy forge for thee, thy soul for us; take or leave it, smith," said the voice. "ah," lamented smetse, "'tis dear bought, and no offence to you, lord devil." "well then, smith," said the voice, "to riches thou preferest beggary? do as thou wilt. ah, thou wilt have great joy when, walking with thy melancholy countenance about the streets of ghent, thou art fled by every one and dogs snap at thy heels; when thy wife dies of hunger, and thou chantest mea culpa in vain; then when, alone in the world, thou beatest on thy shrunken belly the drum for a feast, and the little girls dancing to such music give thee a slap in the face for payment; then, at last, when thou dost hide thyself in thy house so that thy rags shall not be seen in the town, and there, scabby, chatter-tooth, vermin-fodder, thou diest alone on thy dung-hill like a leper, and art put into the earth, and slimbroek comes to make merry at thy downfall." "ah," said smetse, "he would do it, the knave." "do not await this vile end," said the voice, "it were better to die now: leap into the water, smetse; leap, smee." "alas," lamented he, "if i give myself to you, i shall burn for all eternity." "thou wilt not burn," said the voice, "but serve us for food, good smith." "i?" cried smetse, much frightened at these words, "do you think to eat me down there? i am not good for eating, i must tell you. there is no meat more sour, tough, common, and vulgar than mine is. it has been at one time and another diseased with plague, itch, and other vile maladies. ah, i should make you a shabby feast, you and the others, my lord devil, who have in hell so many souls which are noble, succulent, tasty, and well-fed. but mine is not at all good, i declare." "thou art wrong, smith," said the voice. "souls of wicked emperors, kings, princes, popes, famous captains of arms, conquerors, slayers of men, and other brigands, are always as hard as an eagle's beak; for so their omnipotence fashions them; we break our teeth off bit by bit in eating them. others, having been eaten up beforehand by ambition and cruelty, which are like ravenous worms, give us hardly a crumb to pick. souls of girls who, without want or hunger, sell for money what nature bids them give for nothing, are so rotten, putrid, and evil-smelling that the hungriest of devils will not touch them. souls of vain men are bladders, and within there is nothing but wind; 'tis poor food. souls of hypocrites, canters, liars, are like beautiful apples without, but beneath the skin are full of bile, gall, sour wine, and frightful poison; none of us will have any ado with them. souls of envious men are as toads, who from spleen at being so ugly, run yellow spittle on whatever is clean and shining, from mouth, feet, and all their bodies. souls of gluttons are naught but cow-dung. souls of good drinkers are always tasty, and above all when they have about them the heavenly smell of good wine and good bruinbier. but there is no soul so tasty, delectable, succulent, or of such fine flavour as that of a good woman, a good workman, or a good smith such as thou. for, working without intermission, they have no time for sin to touch and stain them, unless it be once or twice only, and for this reason we catch them whenever we can; but 'tis a rare dish, kept for the royal table of my lord lucifer." "ah," said smetse, "you have made up your mind to eat me, i see well enough; nevertheless 'twould not cost you much to give me back my forge for nothing." "'tis no great discomfort," said the voice, "to be so eaten, for my lord and king has a mouth larger than had the fish whereby jonah the jew was swallowed in olden time; thou wilt go down like an oyster into his stomach, without having been wounded by his teeth in any wise; there, if it displease thee to stay, thou must dance with feet and hands as hard as thou canst, and my lord will at once spit thee out, for he will not find it possible to stand for long such a drubbing. falling at his feet thou wilt show him a joyous face, a steady look in his eyes, and a good countenance, and the same to madam astarte, who, without a doubt, will take thee for her pet, as she has done already to several; thereafter thou wilt have a joyous time, serving my lady merrily and brushing his hair for my lord; as for the rest of us, we shall be right glad to have you with us, for, among all these familiar vile and ugly faces of conquerors, plunderers, thieves, and assassins, 'twill do us good to see the honest countenance of a merry smith, as thou art." "my lord devil," said smetse, "i do not merit such honour. i can well believe, from what you tell me, that 'tis pleasant enough down there with you. but i should be ill at ease, i must tell you, being naturally uncouth in the company of strangers; and so i should bring no joy with me, and should not be able to sing; and therefore you would get but poor amusement from me, i know in advance. ah, give me back rather my good forge and my old customers, and hold me quit; this would be the act of a royal devil and would sit well upon you." suddenly the voice spoke with anger: "smith, wilt thou pay us in such ape's coin? life is no longer of benefit to thee, death is abhorrent, and thou wouldst have from us without payment the seven full, rich and joyous years which i offer thee. accept or refuse, thy forge for thee, thy soul for us, under the conditions i have told thee." "alas," said smetse, "then i will have it so, since it must be, lord devil!" "well then," said the voice, "set thy mark in blood to this deed." and a black parchment, with a crow's quill, fell from the tree at the smith's feet. he read on the parchment, in letters of fire, the pact of seven years, opened his arm with his knife, and signed with the crow's quill. and while he was still holding the parchment and the quill, he felt them suddenly snatched from his hands with violence, but he saw nothing, and only heard a noise as of a man running in slipper-shoes, and the voice saying as it went into the distance: "thou hast the seven years, smetse." and the tree ceased its swaying, and the sparks in the branches went out. v. of the flaming ball, of the forge relit, and of the terrible great buffet which the man with the lantern gave to smetse's wife. smetse, greatly amazed, rubbed his eyes, thinking he was dreaming. suddenly shaking himself: "this devil," said he, "was he not making fun of me after all? have i verily gotten my good forge back again? i will go and see." having said this he started running in haste, and from far away saw a great light reddening the sky above the houses, and it seemed to him that the fire sending up this light was on the quai aux oignons; and he said to himself: "could that be my forge?" and he ran the faster. coming to the quay he found it lit up as if by a sun, from the paving-stones up to the tops of the trees which stood alongside, and he said to himself: "it is my forge." then he was seized and shaken with joy, his legs failed him, and his breath grew short; but he kept running as hard as he could, and coming at last to his house he saw his smithy wide open as in the daytime, and at the back of it a great bright fire. unable to contain himself at this sight he fell to dancing, leaping, and bursting out into laughter, crying: "i have my forge, my own forge! ghent is mine!" then he went in. inspecting, examining, touching everything, he saw at the sides, laid out in good order, iron of all kinds: armour-iron, iron bars, plough-iron. "by artevelde!" he said, "the devil was not lying!" and he took up a bar, and having made it red with the fire, which was done quickly, started beating it, making the hammer ring on the anvil like thunder, and crying: "ha, so i have my good tools back again, and hear once more this good music which has so long been silent!" and while he was wiping away a tear of joy, which gave an unaccustomed wetness to his eye, he saw on a chest near by a good pewter pot standing, and beside it a fine mug, and he filled up the mug several times and drank it down with relish: "ah," he said, "the good bruinbier, the drink which makes men! i had lost the taste for it! how good it is!" then he went back to hammering the iron bar. while he was making all this noise, he heard himself called by name, and looking to see whence the voice came he perceived his wife in the half-open door which led from the kitchen, thrusting through her head and looking at him with a startled face. "smetse," she said, "is it thou, my man?" "yes, wife," said he. "smetse," she said, "come close to me, i dare not set foot in this forge." "and why not, wife?" said he. "alas," she said, clinging to him and gazing into the forge, "wert thou alone there, my man?" "yes," said he. "ah," she said, "smetse, while you were away there were strange happenings!" "what happenings, wife?" "as i was lying in bed," she said, "suddenly the house trembled, and a flaming ball passed across our room, went out through the door, without hurting anything, down the stairs, and into the forge, where, bursting, as i suppose, it made a noise like a hundred thunder-claps. suddenly all the windows and doors were thrown open with a great clatter getting out of bed, i saw the quay all lit up, as it is now. then, thinking that our house was on fire, i came down in haste, went into the forge, saw the fire lit, and heard the bellows working noisily. in each corner the iron of different kinds arranged itself in place according to the work for which it was used; but i could see no hands moving it, though there must have been some for sure. i began to cry out in a fright, when suddenly i felt, as it were, a glove of hot leather pressed against my mouth and holding it shut, while a voice said: 'do not cry out, make no sound, if thou wilt not have thy husband burnt alive for the crime of sorcery.' nevertheless he who thus ordered me to keep silent made himself more noise than i should ever have dared, but by a miracle none of our neighbours heard it. as for me, my man, i had no more heart to make a sound, and i fled back hither into the kitchen, where i was praying to god when i heard thy voice, and dared to open the door a crack. oh, my man, since thou art here, explain, if thou can, all this tumult." "wife," answered smetse, "we must leave that to those more learned than ourselves. think only to obey the order of the voice: keep thy mouth shut, speak to no one of what thou hast seen to-night, and go back to thy bed, for it is still pitch-dark." "i go," she said, "but wilt thou not come also, my man?" "i cannot leave the forge," said he. while he was speaking thus there came towards them, one after another, a baker carrying new-baked bread, a grocer carrying cheeses, and a butcher carrying hams. smetse knew well enough that they were devils, from their white faces, hollow eyes, scorched hair, twisted fingers, and also from the fact that they walked with so little sound. his wife, amazed to see them coming into her house with all this food, would have stopped them, but they slipped between her hands like eels, and went into the kitchen, walking straight and silently. there, without a word spoken, the baker arranged his loaves in the pan, while the butcher and grocer put their cheeses and hams in the cool-of the cellar. and they finished their work, taking no notice of the smith's wife, who kept crying: "'tis not here you must bring these things; you have made a mistake, i tell you, my good men. go elsewhither." but they, notwithstanding her voice, arranged the loaves, meat, and cheeses quietly. this made the good woman more than ever put out, and she grew angry: "i tell you," she exclaimed, "you have made a mistake; do you not hear me? you have made a mistake, 'tis not here you should be; i say here, with us, in this place, in the house of smetse the beggar, who has not a farthing to his name, who will never pay you. alas, they will not listen to me!" and crying out at the top of her voice: "masters, you are at smetse's, do you not understand? smetse the beggar! do i not say it loud enough? jesus, lord, god! smetse the needy! smetse the ragged! smetse the starved! smetse who is rich in nothing but lice! who will pay you nothing: do you hear me? who will pay you nothing, nothing, nothing!" "wife," said the smith, "you are losing your head, my dear. 'tis i who sent for these good men." "thou!" said his wife, "thou! but thou art mad, my man; yes, he is mad, my masters, altogether mad. ah, 'tis thou who sent for them! 'tis thou who sendest for loaves, hams, and cheeses in this profusion, like a rich man, when thou knowest well enough we cannot pay for them, and so showest thy bad faith!" "wife," answered smetse quietly, "we are rich, and will pay for everything." "we rich?" she said, "ah, poor beggar-man. do i not know what is in our chest? hast ever put thy nose in to see, any more than in the bread-pan? art thou become the housewife? alas, my man is mad, god help us!" meanwhile the three men came back into the smithy. seeing them again, the wife ran to them: "master trades-men," said she, "you heard me well enough, for you are not deaf, i believe; we have nothing, we can pay you nothing; take back your provisions." but without looking at her, nor seeming to hear her, the three went off, walking stiff and silently. no sooner had they gone out than a brewer's cart drew up at the door, and the brewer's men came into the smithy carrying between them a great barrel full of bruinbier. "smetse," said his wife, "this is too much! master brewers, this is not for us; we do not like beer at all, we drink water. take this barrel to one of our neighbours, it is no concern of ours, i tell you." none the less the brewer's men took down the barrel of bruinbier into the cellar, came up again, and went out to fetch others, and placed them alongside the first to the number of twenty. the good wife, trying to stop them, was pushed aside, while smetse could not speak for laughing, and could only draw her to his side, and so prevent her from hurting herself on the barrels, which the men were carrying from street to cellar with marvellous speed and dispatch. "oh," she wailed, "let me be! this is too much, smetse! alas! now we are worse than beggars, we are debtors, smetse: i shall go and throw myself into the river, my man. to run up debts to fill a famished stomach, that is shame enough; but to do so from simple gluttony, that is unbearable deceit. canst thou not be content with bread and water got honestly with thy two hands? art thou then become such a delicate feeder that thou must have cakes, fine cheeses, and full barrels? smetse, smetse, that is not like a good man of ghent, but rather like a spanish rogue. oh, i shall go and drown myself, my man!" "wife," said smetse, troubled at seeing her in such distress, "do not weep. 'tis all ours, my dear, duly, and by right." "ah," she said moaning, "'tis an ill thing to lose in this wise in your old age that honesty which was your only crown." while the smith was endeavouring, but in vain, to console her, there entered a vintner followed by three-and-thirty porters, each carrying a basket full of bottles containing precious wines of great rarity, as was shown by the shape of those said bottles. when the good wife saw them she was overcome with despair, and her courage failed her: "come in," she said in a piteous voice, "come in, master vintners; the cellar is below. you have there a goodly number of bottles, six score for certain. that is none too much for us who are wealthy, wealthy of misery, vermin, and lice; come in, my masters, that is the door of the cellar. put them all there, and more besides if you will." and giving smetse a push: "thou art happy, no doubt," said she, "for 'tis a fine sight for a drunkard, such as thou art, to see all this good wine coming into the house without payment. ah, he laughs!" "yes, wife," said smetse, "i laugh with content, for the wines are ours, ours the meats, ours the loaves and cheeses. let us make merry over it together." and he tried to embrace her: but she, shaking herself free: "oh, oh," she said, "he runs up debts, he tells lies, he laughs at his shame: he has all the vices, none is wanting." "wife," said smetse, "all this is ours, i tell thee again. to this amount am i paid in advance for certain large orders which have been graciously given me." "art thou not lying?" said she, growing a little calmer. "no," said he. "all this is ours?" "yes," he said, "by the word of honour of a citizen of ghent." "ah, my man, then we are henceforward out of our trouble." "yes, wife," said he. "'tis a miracle from god." "alas," said he. "but these men come hither by night, against the usual custom, tell me the reason of that." "he who knows the reason for everything," said smetse, "is an evil prier. such a one am not i." "but," said she, "they speak never a word." "they do not like to talk," said smetse, "that is clear. or it may be that their master chose them dumb, so that they should not waste time chattering with housewives." "yes, that may be," she said, while the thirty-first porter was going past, "but 'tis very strange, i cannot hear their footfalls, my man?" "they have for certain," said smetse, "soles to suit their work." "but," she said, "their faces are so pale, sad, and motionless, that they seem like faces of the dead." "night-birds have never a good complexion," said smetse. "but," said his wife, "i have never seen these men among the guilds of ghent." "thou dost not know them all," said smetse. "that may be, my man." in this manner the smith and his wife held converse together, the one very curious and disturbed, the other confused and ashamed at his lies. suddenly, as the three-and-thirtieth porter of the master-vintner was going out of the door, there rushed in in great haste a man of middling height, dressed in a short black smock, pale-haired, large-headed, wan-faced, stepping delicately, quick as the wind, stiff as a poker; for the rest, smiling continually, and carrying a lantern. the man came up to smetse hurriedly, without speaking bade him follow, and seized him by the arm. when smetse hung back he made him a quick sign to have no fear, and led him into the garden, whither they were followed by the good wife. there he took a spade, gave his lantern to smetse to hold, dug in the earth rapidly and opened a great hole, pulled out of the hole a leathern bag, opened it quickly, and with a smile showed smetse and his wife that it was full of gold coin. the good wife cried out at the sight of the gold, whereupon he gave her a terrible great buffet in the face, smiled again, saluted, turned on his heel and went off with his lantern. the good wife, knocked down by the force of the blow, and quite dazed, dared not cry out again, and only moaned softly: "smetse, smetse," said she, "where art thou, my man? my cheek hurts me sorely." smetse went to her and picked her up, saying: "wife, let this buffet be a lesson to thee henceforward to control thy tongue better; thou hast disturbed with thy crying all the good men who have come here this night for my good; this last was less patient than the rest and punished thee, not without good reason." "ah," she said, "i did ill not to obey thee; what must i do now, my man?" "help me," said smetse, "to carry the bag into the house." "that i will," she said. having taken in the bag, not without some trouble, they emptied it into a coffer. "ah," she said, seeing the gold run out of the bag and spread itself this way and that, "'tis a fine sight. but who was this man who showed thee this sack with such kindness, and who gave me this terrible great blow?" "a friend of mine," said smetse, "a great discoverer of hidden treasure." "what is his name?" said she. "that," said smetse, "i am not allowed to tell thee." "but, my man..." "ah, wife, wife," said smetse, "thou wilt know too much. thy questioning will be thy death, my dear." "alas," said she. vi. wherein the wife of smetse shows the great length of her tongue. when the day was up, smetse and his wife sat down together to the good loaves, the fat ham, the fine cheese, the double bruinbier, and the good wines, and so eased their stomachs, hurt a little by being such a long while hungry. suddenly there came in all the old workmen, and they said: "baes smetse, thou didst send for us; here we are, right glad to see thy fire lit up again, and to work for thee who wast always so good a master." "by artevelde!" said smetse, "here they all are: pier, dolf, flipke, toon, hendrik, and the rest. good day, my lads!" and he gripped them by the hand, "we must drink." while they were drinking, his wife said suddenly with a toss of the head: "but no one sent for you all! is that not so, smetse?" "wife, wife," said the smith, "wilt thou never learn to hold thy tongue?" "but," said she, "i am speaking the truth, my man." "thou art speaking foolishly," said he, "of things whereof thou knowest nothing. stay in thy kitchen and do not come meddling in my forge." "baesine," said flipke, "without wishing to belie you, i must tell you that a message was sent to us in the name of the baes. for a man came in the middle of the night knocking on the doors of our houses, shouting out that we should all of us come hither without fail this morning for work of great urgency, and that for this we should each be given a royal as forfeit to our several masters. and we came, all of us, not wishing to leave our baes in the lurch." "'tis good of you," said smetse, "ye shall have the promised royal. but come with me, i will apportion to each of you the usual task." this he did, and once again the good music of sledges beating, anvils ringing, bellows blowing, and workmen singing was heard in the forge of the good smith. meanwhile smetse went to his wife and said to her with great heat: "dost think it a fine thing to gainsay me before these good men! chattering magpie, wilt never learn to hold thy tongue? hast not already to-night been admonished sharply enough? must thou have more telling?" "but, smetse," said his wife, "i did not know that you had sent for them." "that is no reason," he said, "why thou shouldst give me the lie before all my workmen; canst thou not leave thy speaking until i have done, or else hold thy tongue altogether, which would be better still." "smetse," said his wife, "i never saw you so angry before. do not beat me, my man, i will be henceforward as dumb as this cheese." "so you should," said smetse. "but, my man," said she, "canst not explain to me somewhat of all these happenings?" "sometime," he said, and went back into his smithy. vii. of smetse the rich. that day there came to smetse many persons, both notable and common, nobles, priests, burgesses, and peasants, to give him orders for much work, and so it went on again on other days, and all through the year. soon the smithy became too small, and smetse had to enlarge it by reason of the ever-growing numbers of his workmen. and the work which they did was so beautiful and so marvellously well done that the fame of it spread abroad to foreign and distant countries, and people came to see and admire it from holland, zeeland, spain, germany, england, and even from the land of the turk. but smetse, thinking of the seven years, was not happy at all. soon his coffers were full of fine crusats, angelots, rose nobles, and golden jewels. but he found no pleasure in looking at all this wealth, for he thought them poor payment for giving his soul to the devil for all the length of eternity. red slimbroek lost all his customers, who came back one by one to smetse. ragged and miserable he used to come every day and lounge on the quay, watching from there the bright fire glowing in the forge of the good smith, and, so standing, he seemed dazed and stupid, like an owl watching a doit. smetse, knowing that he was needy, sent him several customers to bring him some means of sustenance, and also more than once a gift of money. but although he thus repaid evil with good he was no longer happy, thinking of the seven years. smetse's wife, finding him so wealthy, bought for dinner each sunday legs of fat mutton, geese, capons, turkeys, and other good meats; invited to her table his relatives, friends, and workmen; and then there would be a great feast, well washed down with double bruinbier. but smetse, though he ate and drank like an emperor, was not at all happy, thinking of the seven years. and the steam from the roast meats spread abroad on the quai aux oignons, so fragrant and succulent, and so sweetening the air, that all the dogs wandering in the streets of the town would stop before the house and sniff at the smell, and there on their haunches, nose in air, would wait for crumbs: and the beggars, of whom there were great numbers, came thither likewise and tried to drive away the dogs. thereupon ensued furious battles, in which many were badly bitten. seeing this, smetse's wife and other women would come every sunday to the door with baskets of alms, and there, before the meal began, would give the beggars good bread, slices of meat, and two farthings to get themselves drink, and all this with soft words and fair speaking; then they charged them to go away from the quay, which they did in an orderly manner. but the dogs stayed behind, and at the end of the feast there was given to them likewise food of some sort. and then they would go off also, taking each his bone or other booty. smetse and his wife together took both dogs and men into their affection; to the beggars he gave food and shelter; and so also to all the dogs of ghent that were lame, infirm, or sickly, until at length his house came to be called the dogs' hospital and the home of the poor. nevertheless he was not at all happy, thinking of the seven years. worn and troubled with these thoughts, smetse stopped singing and lost his fat, shrivelled visibly, became melancholy and moody, and in his smithy said never a word, except to give a necessary order. and he was no longer called smetse the merry, but smetse the rich. and he counted the days. viii. how there came a ragged, wayfarer to smetse's door, and with him, on an ass, a sweet wife and a little child. on the two hundred and forty-fifth day of the seventh year, when the plum-trees were in bloom, smetse, dumb as a stone, was taking a little noonday rest. he sat on a wooden bench opposite his door, and with melancholy mien looked at the trees planted all along the quay, and the small birds playing among the branches or squabbling and pecking one another over some morsel of food, and blinked in the bright sun which made these birds so merry, and heard at his back the goodly sounds of his forge, his wife preparing dinner, and his workmen hurrying at their work so that they might be off to their meal, for it was nearing the time; and he said to himself that in hell he would see neither the sun, nor the birds, nor the trees with their load of green leaves, nor hear any more the sounds of his forge, nor the smiths hurrying, nor his good wife preparing dinner. by and by the workmen came out, and smetse was left sitting alone on his bench, pondering in his mind whether there were not some way whereby he might outwit the devil. suddenly there drew up at his door a man of piteous appearance, with brown hair and beard, dressed like a ragged townsman, and carrying a great staff in his hand. he was walking beside an ass, and leading it along by a rein. on the ass rode a sweet and beautiful young woman with a noble mien, suckling a little child, who was quite naked, and of such gentle and winsome countenance that the sight of it warmed smetse's heart. the ass stopped at the door of the smithy and began to bray loudly. "master smith," said the man, "our ass has cast one of his shoes on his way hither, wilt thou be pleased to give orders that another should be given him?" "i will do it myself," said smetse, "for i am alone here." "i should tell thee," said the man, "that we are beggars, without money." "have no care for that," said smetse, "i am rich enough to be able to shoe in silver without payment all the asses in flanders." hearing this the woman alighted from the ass and asked smetse if she might sit down on the bench. "yes," said he. and while he was fastening up the beast, paring his hoof and fitting the shoe, he said to the man: "whence come you, with this woman and this ass?" "we come," said the man, "from a distant country, and have still far to go." "and this child whom i see naked," said smetse, "does he not oftentimes suffer from the cold?" "nay," said the man, "for he is all warmth and all life." "well, well," said smetse, "you do not cry down your own children, master. but what is your meat and drink while you are travelling in this manner?" "water from streams," said the man, "and such bread as is given us." "ah," said smetse, "that is not much, i see, for the ass's panniers are light. you must often go hungry." "yes," said the man. "this," said smetse, "is displeasing to me, and it is most unwholesome for a nursing mother to suffer hunger, for so the milk turns sour, and the child grows in sickly wise." and he called out to his wife: "mother, bring hither as many loaves and hams as will fill the panniers of this beast. and do not forget some double bruinbier, 'tis heavenly comfort for poor travellers. and a good peck of oats for the ass." when the panniers were filled and the beast shod, the man said to smetse: "smith, it is in my mind to give thee some recompense for thy great goodness, for such as thou seest me i have great power." "yes," said smetse, with a smile, "i can see that well enough." "i am," said the man, "joseph, nominal husband of the very blessed virgin mary, who is sitting on this bench, and this child that she has in her arms is jesus, thy saviour." smetse, dumbfounded at these words, looked at the wayfarers with great astonishment, and saw about the man's head a nimbus of fire, a crown of stars about the woman's, and, about the child's, beautiful rays more brilliant than the sun, springing from his head and girdling him round with light. thereupon he fell at their feet and said: "my lord jesus, madam the virgin, and my master st. joseph, grant me pardon for my lack of understanding." to this st. joseph replied: "thou art an honest man, smetse, and righteous as well. for this reason i give thee leave to make three requests, the greatest thou canst think of, and my lord jesus will listen to them favourably." at these words smetse was filled with joy, for it seemed to him that in this way he might perhaps escape the devil; but at the same time he did not dare to avow that he had traded his soul away. so he remained in silence for a few moments, thinking of what things he could ask, then suddenly said, with great respect: "my lord jesus, madam st. mary, and you, master st. joseph, will you please to enter my dwelling? there i can tell you what boons i ask." "we will," said st. joseph. "mother," said smetse to his wife, "come hither and look to the ass of these noble lords." and smetse went in before them, sweeping the threshold so that there should be no dust to touch the soles of their feet. and he took them into his garden, where there was a fine plum-tree in full blossom. "my lord, madam, and sir," said smetse, "will it please you to order that whosoever shall climb up into this plum-tree shall not be able to come down again unless i so desire?" "it will," said st. joseph. thence he led the way into the kitchen, where there stood a great and precious arm-chair, well padded in the seat, and of enormous weight. "my lord, madam, and sir," said smetse, "will it please you that whosoever shall sit in this chair shall not be able to rise unless i so desire?" "it will," said st. joseph. then smetse fetched a sack, and, showing it to them, said: "my lord, madam, and sir, will it please you that, whatsoever his stature, man or devil shall be able to get into this sack, but not out again, unless i so desire?" "it will," said st. joseph. "my lord, madam, and sir," said smetse, "thanks be unto you. now that i have made my three requests i have naught else to ask of your goodness, save only your blessing." "we will give it," said st. joseph. and he blessed smetse, and thereafter the holy family went upon their way. ix. what smetse did in order to keep his secret. the good wife had heard nothing of what was said to her man by the celestial wayfarers, and she was amazed to see the behaviour and hear the speech of the good smith. but she was more so than ever when, on the departure of the all-powerful visitors, smetse began to give forth bursts of laughter, to rub his hands, take hold of her, thump her on the chest, twist her this way and that, and say in a triumphant tone: "it may be, after all, that i shall not burn, that i shall not roast, that i shall not be eaten! art not glad of it?" "alas," she said, "i cannot understand what you are talking about, my man; have you gone mad?" "wife," said smetse, "do not show me the whites of thine eyes in this pitiful manner, 'tis no time for that. canst not see how light my heart has grown? 'tis because i have got rid of a burden on my shoulders heavier than the belfry itself; i say this belfry, our own, with the dragon taken from that of bruges. and i am not to be eaten. by artevelde! my legs bestir themselves of their own accord at the thought of it. i dance! wilt not do likewise? fie, moody one, brewing melancholy when her man is so happy! kiss me, wife, kiss me, mother, for my proficiat; and so thou shouldst, for instead of despair i have found a good and steadfast hope. they think to roast me with sauces and feast off my flesh to their fill. i will have the laugh of them. dance, wife, dance!" "ah, smetse," said she, "you should take a purge, my man; they say 'tis good for madness." "thou," he said, tapping her on the shoulder with great affection and tenderness, "talkest boldly." "hark," said she, "to the good doctor preaching reason to me! but wert thou mad or not, smetse, doffing thy bonnet as thou did to those beggars who came hither sowing their lice; giving to me, thy wife, their ass to hold; filling their hampers with our best bread, bruinbier, and ham; falling on thy knees before them to have their blessing, and treating them like archdukes, with a torrent of my lords, sirs, and madams." at these words smetse saw well enough that the lordly wayfarers had not wished to discover themselves to any but he. "wife," he said, "thou must not question me further, for i can tell thee nothing of this mystic happening, which it is not given thee to understand." "alas," said she, "then 'tis worse than madness, 'tis mystery. thou dost ill to hide thyself from me in this wise, smetse, for i have always lived in thy house, faithful to thee only, cherishing thine honour, husbanding thy wealth, neither lending nor borrowing, holding my tongue in the company of other wives, considering thy secrets as mine own and never breathing a word of them to any one." "i know it," said smetse, "thou hast been a good and true wife." "then why," said she, "knowing this, hast thou not more faith in me? ah, my man, it hurts me; tell me the secret, i shall know how to keep it, i promise thee." "wife," said he, "knowing nothing thou wilt be able to hold thy tongue the more easily." "smetse," said she, "wilt thou verily tell me nothing?" "i cannot," said he. "alas," said she. by and by the workmen came back, and smetse gave each of them a good royal to get themselves drink. whereat they were all so merry, and felt themselves so rich, that for three days none of them put his nose into the smithy, save one old man who was too withered, stiff, short of breath, and unsteady on his legs to go swimming with the others in the lys, and afterwards drying in the sun among the tall grasses, dancing in the meadows to the music of rebecks, bagpipes, and cymbals, and at night in the tavern emptying pots and draining glasses. x. of the bloody councillor. at length the day came on which the good smith was due to hand over his soul to the devil, for the seventh year had run out, and plums were once again ripe. at nightfall, when certain workmen were busy on a grating for the franciscan brothers which was to be done that night, and had stayed behind with smetse for that purpose, there came into the forge an evil-looking fellow, with greasy white hair, a rope round his neck, his jaw dropped, his tongue hanging out, and dressed in an ill-found habit like a nobleman's servant fallen on evil days. this fellow, without being heard by any one there as he walked across the floor, came quickly up to smetse and put his hand on his shoulder. "smetse," he said, "hast packed thy bundle?" hearing this the smith swung round. "packed," he said, "and how does my packing concern thee, master bald-pate?" "smetse," replied the fellow in a harsh voice, "hast forgotten thy restored fortunes, and the good times thou hast enjoyed, and the black paper?" "no, no," said smetse, doffing his bonnet with great humility, "i have not forgotten; pardon me, my lord, i could not call to mind your gracious countenance. will you be pleased to come into my kitchen, and try a slice of fat ham, taste a pot of good bruinbier, and sip a bottle of wine? we have time enough for that, for the seven years are not yet struck, but want, if i am not mistaken, still two hours." "that is true," said the devil; "then let us go into thy kitchen." so they entered in and sat down to the table. the good wife was greatly astonished to see them come in. smetse said to her: "bring us wine, bruinbier, ham, sausages, bread, cakes, and cheeses, and the best of each that we have in the house." "but, smetse," said she, "you waste the good things which god has given you. 'tis well to come to the help of poor folk, but not to do more for one than another. beggar-men are beggar-men, all are equal!" "beggar-men!" exclaimed the devil, "that i am not and never was. death to the beggar-men! to the gallows with the beggar-men!" "my lord," said smetse, "i beg you not to be angry with my good wife, who knows you not at all. wife, consider and look at our guest with great attention, but greater respect, and afterwards thou mayest tell thy gossips that thou hast seen my lord jacob hessels, the greatest reaper of heretics that ever was. "ah, wife, he mowed them down grandly, and had so many of them hanged, burnt, and tortured in divers ways, that he could drown himself a hundred times in the blood of his dead. go, wife, go and fetch him meat and drink." while he was munching, smetse said: "ah, my lord, i soon recognized you by your particular way of saying: 'to the gallows!' and also by this rope which finished off your life in so evil a manner. for our lord said: 'whoso liveth by the rope shall perish by the rope.' my lord ryhove was harsh and treacherous toward you, for besides taking your life he took also your beard, which was a fine one. "ah, that was an evil trick to play on so good a councillor as you were in those days when you slept so quietly and peaceably in the bloody council--i should say the council of civil disorders, speaking respectfully--and woke up only to say: 'to the gallows!' and then went to sleep again." "yes," said the devil, "those were good times." "so they were," said smetse, "times of riches and power for you, my lord. ah, we owe you a great deal: the tithe tax, dropped by you into the ear of the emperor charles; the arrest of my lords of egmont and hoorn, whereof the warrant was written in your own fair hand, and of more than two thousand persons who perished at your command by fire, steel, and rope!" "i do not know the number," said the devil, "but it is large. give me, smetse, some more of this sausage, which is excellent." "ah," said the smith, "'tis not good enough for your lordship. but you are drinking nothing. empty this tankard, 'tis double bruinbier." "smith," said the devil, "it is good also, but i tasted better at pierkyn's tavern one day when five girls of the reformed faith were burnt together in the market-place. that frothed better. while we were drinking we heard these five maids singing psalms in the fire. ah, we drank well that day! but think, smetse, of the great perversity of those maids, all young and strong, and so fast set in their crimes that they sang their psalms without complaint, smiling at the fire and invoking god in a heretical fashion. give me more to drink, smetse." "but," said smetse, "king philip asked for your canonization at rome, for having served spain and the pope so well; why then are you not in paradise, my lord?" "alas," wept the devil, "i had no recognition of my former services. those traitors of reformers are with god, while i burn in the bottom of the pit. and there, without rest or respite, i have to sing heretical psalms; cruel punishment, unspeakable torment! these chants stick in my throat, scrape up and down in my breast, tearing my inner flesh like a bristling porcupine with iron spines. at every note a new wound, a bleeding sore: and always, always i have to keep singing, and so it will go on through all the length of eternity." at these words smetse was very much frightened, thinking how heavily god had punished jacob hessels. "drink, my lord," he said to him; "this bruinbier is balm to sore throttles." suddenly the clock struck. "come, smetse," said the devil, "'tis the hour." but the good smith, without answering, heaved a great sigh. "what ails thee?" said the devil. "ah," said smetse, "i am grieved at your incontinence. have i welcomed you so ill that you will not let me go, before i leave here, to embrace my wife a last time and bid farewell to my good workmen, and to take one more look at my good plum-tree whose fruits are so rich and juicy? ah, i would gladly refresh myself with one or two before i go off to that land where there is always thirst." "do not think to escape me," said the devil. "that i would not, my lord," said smetse. "come with me, i pray you most humbly." "very well," said the devil, "but not for long." in the garden smetse began to sigh afresh. "ah," he said, "look at my plums, my lord; will you be pleased to let me go up and eat my fill?" "go up then," said the devil. up in the tree smetse began to eat in a most greedy manner, and suck in the juice of the plums with a great noise. "ah," cried he, "plums of paradise, christian plums, how fat you are! princely plums, you would solace a hundred devils burning in the lowest parts of hell. by you, sweet plums, blessed plums, is thirst driven out of my throat; by you, adorable plums, gentle plums, is purged from my stomach all evil melancholy; by you, fresh plums, sugary plums, is diffused in my blood an infinite sweetness. ah, juicy plums, joyous plums, faery plums, would that i could go on sucking you for ever!" and while he was saying all this, smetse went on picking them, eating them and sipping the juice, without ever stopping. "pox!" said the devil, "it makes my mouth water; why dost not throw me down some of these marvellous plums?" "alas, my lord," said smetse, "that i cannot do; they would melt into water on their fall, so delicate are they. but if you will be pleased to climb up into the tree you will find much pleasure in store for you." "then i will," said the devil. when he was well settled on a stout branch and there regaling himself with plums, smetse slipped down, picked up a stick lying on the grass and fell to belabouring him with great vigour. feeling the stick on his back the devil would have leapt down on the smith, but could not move, for the skin of his seat held fast to the branch. and he snorted, ground his teeth, and foamed at the mouth with great rage, and also by reason of the pain which his tender skin caused him. meanwhile smetse gave him a good drubbing, caressed with his stick every quarter of his body in turn, bruised him to the bone, tore his habit, and gave him as strong and straight a beating as was ever given in the land of flanders. and he kept saying: "you say not a word about my plums, my lord; they are good, none the less." "ah," cried hessels, "why am i not free!" "alas, yes! why are you not free!" answered smetse, "you would give me to some little butcher among your friends who would cut me up freely into slices like a ham, under your learned instruction, for you are, as i know well, a doctor of torment. but are you not being well tormented in turn by my stick? alas, yes! why are you not free! you would hoist me up on some blessed gallows, and every one would see me hanging in the air, and freely would master hessels laugh. and so he would have his revenge on me for this excellent drubbing which i am giving him with such freedom. for nothing in this world is so free as a free stick falling freely on an unfree councillor. alas, yes! why are you not free! you would free my head from my body, as you did with such satisfaction to my masters of egmont and hoorn. alas, yes! why are you not free! then we should see smetse in some good little fire, which would roast him freely, as was done to the poor maids of the reformed faith; and smetse, like them, would be heard singing with a free soul to the god of free believers, and with a free conscience stronger than the flame, while master hessels drank bruinbier and said that it frothed nicely." "oh," said the devil, "why beat me so cruelly, without pity for my white hairs?" "as for thy white hair," said smetse, "'tis the hair of an old tiger who ate up our country. for this reason it gives me sweet pleasure to beat thee with this oaken stick; and also in order that thou mayst give me permission to stay another seven years on this earth, where i find myself so well content, if it so please thee." "seven years!" said the devil, "do not count on that; i would rather bleed under thy stick." "ah," said smetse, "i see that your skin is fond of good blows. these are tasty ones, it is true. but the best of cheer is unwholesome if taken in excess. so when you have had enough of them, be so good as to tell me. i will put a stop to this feast, but for that i must have the seven years." "never," said hessels; and lifting his snout into the air like a baying dog, he cried out: "devils to the rescue!" but this he did so loudly, and in such screeching wise, that at the sound of his cracked voice blaring out like a trumpet, all the workmen came to see what it was about. "you do not shout loud enough," said smetse, "i will help you." and he beat him the harder, so that the devil cried the louder. "see," said smetse, "how well this stick makes the little nightingale sing in my plum-tree. he is saying over his lied of love to call hither his fair mate. she will come by and by, my lord; but come down, i pray you, and await her below, for they say that the night dew is deadly at a height from the ground." "baes," said certain workmen, "is it not my lord jacob hessels, the bloody councillor, who is perched up there in thy plum-tree?" "yes, lads," answered smetse, "'tis indeed that worthy man. he seeks high places now as he did all his life, and so also at the end of it, when he swung in the air, putting out his tongue at the passers-by. for that which is of the gallows returns to the gallows, and the rope will take back its own. 'tis written." "baes," said they, "can we not help to bring him down?" "yes," said he. and the workmen went off to the smithy. meanwhile the devil said nothing, trying all the time to get his seat away from the branch. and he struggled, wriggled about, twisted himself a hundred different ways, and used as levers, to lift himself up, feet, hands, and head, but all in vain. and smetse, belabouring him well, said to him: "my lord councillor, you are fast stuck, it seems, to the saddle; but i will have you out of it, have you out as fast as i can, for if i do not so, beating you with all my strength, you will tear up out of the ground the tree and its roots, and the good folk will see you walking along, dragging a plum-tree from your seat like a tail, which would be a piteous and laughable spectacle for such a noble devil as yourself to make. give me rather the seven years." "baes," said the workmen, who had returned from the smithy with hammers and iron bars, "here we are at your orders; what shall we do?" "well," said smetse, "since i have combed him down with oaken staves we will now louse him with hammers and bars." "mercy, smetse, mercy!" cried the devil; hammers and bars, this is too much; thou hast the seven years, smith." "make haste," said smetse, "and write me the quittance." "here it is," said he. the smith took it, saw that it was in good order, and said: "i desire that thou come down." but the devil was so weak and enfeebled by the blows he had had that when he tried to leap he fell on his back. and he went off limping, shaking his fist at smetse, and saying: "i await thee, in seven years, in hell, smith." "so you may," said smetse. xi. wherein the workmen hold fair speech with smetse. while the devil was making off, smetse, watching his workmen, saw that they were looking at one another strangely, spoke together in low voices, and seemed awkward in their manner, like people who would speak out, but dare not. and he said to himself: "are they going to denounce me to the priests?" suddenly flipke the bear came up to him. "baes," said he, "we know well enough that this ghost of hessels was sent to thee by him who is lord below; thou hast made a pact with the devil and art rich only by his money. we have guessed as much for some time. but so that thou should not be vexed, none of us have spoken of it in the town, and none will so speak. we would tell thee this to put thy mind at rest. and so now, baes, good night and quiet sleep to thee." "thank you, lads," said smetse, greatly softened. and they went their several ways. xii. how that smetse would not give his secret into his wife's tongue's keeping. in the kitchen smetse found his wife on her knees beating her breast, weeping, sighing, sobbing, and saying: "jesus lord god, he has made a pact with the devil; but 'tis not with my consent, i swear. and you also, madam the virgin, you know it, and you also, all my masters the saints. ah, i am indeed wretched, not on my own account, but for my poor man, who for the sake of some miserable gold sold his soul to the devil! alas, yes, sell it he did! ah, my saintly masters, who are yourselves so happy and in such glory, pray the very good god for him, and deign to consider that if, as i dare hope, i die a christian death and go to paradise, i shall be all alone there, eating my rice pudding with silver spoons, while my poor man is burning in hell, crying out in thirst and hunger, and i not able to give him either meat or drink.... alas, that will make me so unhappy! ah, my good masters the saints, madam the virgin, my lord jesus, he sinned but this once, and was all the rest of his life a good man, a good christian, kind to the poor and soft of heart. save him from the fires which burn for ever, and do not separate above those who were so long united below. pray for him, pray for me, alas!" "wife," said smetse, "thou art very wretched, it seems." "ah, wicked man," said she, "now i know all. 'twas hell fire which came bursting into the house and lit up the forge; those master-bakers, brewers, and vintners were devils, all of them, and devil also that ugly man who showed thee the treasure and gave me so grievous a buffet. who will dare to live peaceably in this house from now on? alas, our food is the devil's, our drink also; devil's meat, loaves, and cheeses, devil's money, house, and all. whoever should dig under this dwelling would see the fires of hell gush out incontinent. there are all the devils, i see them above, below, on the right hand, on the left, awaiting their prey with dropped jaws, like tigers. ah, what a fine sight 'twill be to see my poor man torn into a hundred pieces by all these devils, and that in seven years, for he said, as i heard well enough, that he would come back in seven years." "weep not, wife," said smetse, "in seven years i may again be master as i was to-day." "but," said she, "if he had not gone up into the plum-tree, what wouldst thou have done, poor beggar-man? and what if he will not let himself fall a second time into thy snare as he did to-day?" "wife," said smetse, "he will so fall, for my snares are from heaven, and the things which are from god can always get the better of devils." "art not lying again?" she said. "and wilt tell me what they are?" "that i cannot," said he, "for devils have sharp ears and would hear me telling thee, no matter how low i spoke; and then i should be taken off to hell without mercy." "ah," said she, "then i will not ask, though 'tis not pleasant for me to live here in ignorance of everything, like a stranger. nevertheless i would rather have thee silent and saved than talking and damned." "wife," he said, "thou art wise when thou speakest so." "i will pray," she said, "every day for thy deliverance, and have a good mass said for thee at st. bavon." "but," said he, "is it with devil's money thou wilt pay for this mass?" "have no care for that," said she, "when this money enters the church coffers 'twill become suddenly holy." "do as thou wilt, wife," said smetse. "ah," said she, "my lord jesus shall have a stout candle each day, and madam the virgin likewise." "do not forget my master st. joseph," said smetse, "for we owe him much." xiii. of the bloody duke. the end of the seventh year came again in its turn, and on the last evening there crossed the threshold of smetse smee's dwelling a man with a sharp and haughty spanish face, a nose like a hawk's beak, hard and staring eyes, and a white beard, long and pointed. for the rest he was dressed in armour finely worked and most richly gilt; decorated with the illustrious order of the fleece; wore a fine red sash; rested his left hand on the hilt of his sword, and held in his right the seven years' pact and a marshal's wand. coming into the forge he walked straight towards smetse, holding his head loftily and without deigning to notice any of the workmen. the smith was standing in a corner, wondering how he could make the devil who was sent for him sit down in the arm-chair, when flipke ran quickly up to him and said in his ear: "baes, the bloody duke is coming, take care!" "woe!" said smetse, speaking to himself, "'tis all up with me, if d'alva has come to fetch me." meanwhile the devil approached the smith, showed him the pact, and took him by the arm without a word to lead him off. "my lord," said smetse in a most sorrowful manner, "whither would you take me? to hell. i follow you. 'tis too great honour for one so mean as i to be ordered by so noble a devil as yourself. but is it yet the appointed time? i think it is not, and your highness has too upright a soul to take me off before the time written in the deed. in the meantime i beg your highness to be seated: flipke, a chair for my lord; the best in my poor dwelling, the large, well-padded arm-chair which stands in my kitchen, beside the press, near the chimney, beneath the picture of my master st. joseph. wipe it well, lad, so that no dust may be left on it; and quick, for the noble duke is standing." flipke ran into the kitchen and came back, saying: "baes, i cannot lift that arm-chair alone, 'tis so heavy." then smetse feigned great anger and said to his workmen: "do ye not hear? he cannot lift it alone. go and help him, and if it takes ten of you let ten go. and quick now. fie! the blockheads, can ye 'not see that the noble duke is standing?" nine workmen ran to obey him and brought the chair into the forge, though not without difficulty. smetse said: "put it there, behind my lord. is there any dust on it? by artevelde! they have not touched this corner. i will do it myself. now 'tis as clean as new-washed glass. will your highness deign to be seated?" this the devil did, and then looked round him with great haughtiness and disdain. but of a sudden the smith fell at his feet, and said with mocking laughter: "sir duke, you see before you the most humble of your servants, a poor man living like a christian, serving god, honouring princes, and anxious, if such is your lordly pleasure, to continue in this way of life seven years more." "thou shalt not have one minute," said the devil, "come, fleming, come with me." and he tried to rise from the chair, but could not. and while he was struggling with might and main, making a thousand vain efforts, the good smith cried joyously: "would your highness get up? ah, 'tis too soon! let your highness wait, he is not yet rested after his long journey; long, i make bold to say, for it must be a good hundred leagues from hell to my smithy, and that is a long way for such noble feet, by dusty roads. ah, my lord, let yourself rest a little in this good chair. nevertheless, if you are in great haste to be off, grant me the seven years and i will give you in return your noble leave and a full flask of spanish wine." "i care nothing for thy wine," answered the devil. "baes," said flipke, "offer him blood, he will drink then." "my lad," said smetse, "thou knowest well enough we have no such thing as blood in our cellars hereabouts, for that is no flemish drink, but one that we leave to spain. therefore his highness must be so good as to excuse me. nevertheless, i think he is thirsty, not for blood, but for blows, and of those i will give him his illustrious fill, since he will not grant me the seven years." "smith," said the devil, looking at smetse with great contempt, "thou wouldst not dare beat me, i think?" "yes, my lord," said the good man. "you would have me dead. for my part i hold to my skin, and this not without good reason, for it has always been faithful to me and well fastened. would it not be a criminal act to break off in this sudden fashion so close a partnership? and besides, you would take me off with you to hell, where the air is filled with the stench of the divers cookeries for damned souls which are set up there. ah, rather than go thither i would beat your highness for seven years." "fleming," said the devil, "thou speakest without respect." "yes, my lord," said smetse, "but i will hit you with veneration." and so saying he gave him with his clenched fist a terrible great blow on the nose, whereat the devil seemed astonished, dazed, and angry, like a powerful king struck by a low-born servant. and he tried to leap upon the smith, clenched his fists, ground his teeth, and shot out blood from his nose, his mouth, his eyes, and his ears, so angry was he. "ah," said smetse, "you seem angry, my lord. but deign to consider that since you will not listen to my words, i must speak to you by blows. by this argument am i not doing my best to soften your heart to my piteous case? alas, deign to consider that my humble fist is making its supplication as best it can to your illustrious eyes, begs seven years from your noble nose, implores them from your ducal jaw. do not these respectful taps tell your lordly cheeks how happy, joyous, and well-liking i should be during those seven years? ah, let yourself be convinced. but, i see, i must speak to you in another fashion, with the words of iron bars, the prayers of tongs, and the supplications of sledge-hammers. lads," said the smith to his workmen, "will you be pleased to hold converse with my lord?" "yes, baes," said they. and together with smetse they chose their tools. but it was the oldest who picked the heaviest ones, and were the hottest with rage, because it was they who in former days had lost, through the duke's doing, many friends and relatives by steel, by stake, and by live burial, and they cried: "god is on our side, he has delivered the enemy into our hands. out upon the bloody duke, the master-butcher, the lord of the axe!" and all of them, young and old, cursed the devil with a thunder of cries; and they came up to him menacingly, surrounding the chair and raising their tools to strike. but smetse stopped them and spoke again to the devil. "if your highness," he said, "is minded to hold to his noble bones, let him deign to grant me the seven years, for the time for laughter is past, let me tell you." "baes," said the workmen, "whence comes to thee this kindness beyond measure? why hold so long and fair parley with this fellow? let us first break him up, and then he will offer thee the seven years of his own accord." "seven years!" said the devil, "seven years! he shall not have so much as the shadow of a minute. strike, men of ghent, the lion is in the net; ye who could not find a hole deep enough to hide yourselves in when he was free and showed his fangs. flemish cowards, see what i think of you and your threats." and he spat on them. at this spittle the bars, hammers, and other tools fell on him thick as hail, breaking his bones and the plates of his armour, and smetse and his workmen said as they beat to their hearts' content: "cowards were we, who wished to worship god in the sincerity of our hearts; valiant was he who prevented us with steel, stake, and live burial. "cowards were we for having always laughed readily and drunk joyously, like men who, having done what they had to do, make light of the rest: valiant was this dark personage when he had poor men of the people arrested in the midst of their merrymaking at kermis-time and put death where had been laughter. "cowards were the eighteen thousand eight hundred persons who died for the glory of god; cowards those numberless others who by the rapine, brutality and insolence of the fighting men, lost their lives in these lands and others. valiant was he who ordained their sufferings, and more valiant still when he celebrated his own evil deeds by a banquet. "cowards were we always, we who, after a battle, treated our prisoners like brothers; valiant was he who, after the defeat in friesland, had his own men slaughtered. "cowards were we, who laboured without ceasing, spreading abroad over the whole world the work of our hands; valiant was he when, under the cloak of religion, he slew the richer among us without distinction between romans and reformers, and robbed us by pillage and extortion of thirty-six million florins. for the world is turned upside down; cowardly is the busy bee who makes the honey, and valiant the idle drone who steals it away. spit, noble duke, on these flemish cowards." but the duke could neither spit nor cough, for from the roughness of the blows they had given him he had altogether lost the shape of a man, so mingled and beaten together were bones, flesh, and steel. but there was no blood to be seen, which was a marvellous thing. suddenly, while the workmen, wearied with beating, were taking breath, a weak voice came out from this hotch-potch of bones, flesh, and steel, saying: "thou hast the seven years, smetse." "very well then, my lord," said he, "sign the quittance." this the devil did. "and now," said smetse, "will your highness please to get up." at these words, by great marvel, the devil regained his shape. but while he was walking away, holding up his head with great haughtiness and not deigning to look at his feet, he tripped over a sledge lying on the ground, and fell on his nose with great indignity, thereby giving much occasion for laughter to the workmen, who did not fail to make use of it. picking himself up he threatened them with his fist, but they burst out laughing more loudly than ever. he came at them, grinding his teeth; they hooted him. he tried to strike with his sword a short and sturdy little workman; but the man seized the sword from his hands and broke it in three pieces. he struck another in the face with his fist, but the man gave him so good and valiant a kick as to send him sprawling on the quay with his legs in the air. there, flushing with shame, he melted into red smoke, like a vapour of blood, and the workmen heard a thousand joyous and merry voices, saying: "beaten is the bloody duke, shamed is the lord of the axe, inglorious the prince of butchers! vlaenderland tot eeuwigheid! flanders for ever!" and a thousand pairs of hands beat applause all together. and the dawn broke. xiv. of the great fears and pains of smetse's wife. smetse, going to look for his wife, found her in the kitchen on her knees before the picture of st. joseph. "well, mother," said he, "what didst think of our dance? was it not a merry one? ah, henceforth they will call our house the house of beaten devils." "yes," said his wife, wagging her head, "yes, and also the house of smetse who was carried away to hell. for that is where thou wilt go; i know it, i feel it, i foretell it. this devil's coming all accoutred for war presages evil. he will come back, no longer alone, but with a hundred thousand devils armed like himself. ah, my poor man! they will carry lances, swords, pikes, hooked axes, and arquebuses. they will drag behind them canon which they will fire at us; and everything will be ground to pieces, thou, i, the smithy, and the workmen. alas, everything will be levelled to the ground! and where our smithy now stands will be nothing but a sorry heap of dust. and the folk walking past along the quay will say when they see this dust: 'there lies the house of smetse, the fool who sold his soul to the devil.' and i, after dying in this fashion, shall go to paradise, as i dare to hope. but thee, my man, oh, woe unspeakable! they will take away with them and drag through fire, smoke, brimstone, pitch, boiling oil, to that terrible place where those are punished who, wishing to break a pact made with the devil, have no special help from god or his holy saints. poor little man, my good comrade, dost know what there is in store for thee? ho, a gulf as deep as the heavens are high, and studded all down its terrible sides with jutting points of rock, iron spikes, horrid spears, and a thousand dreadful pikes. and dost know what manner of gulf this is, my man? 'tis a gulf wherein a man may keep falling always--dost understand me, always, always--gashed by the rocks, cut about by the spears, torn open by the pikes, always, always, down all the long length of eternity." "but, wife," said smetse, "hast ever seen this gulf whereof thou speakest?" "nay," said she, "but i know what manner of place it is, for i have often heard tell of it in the church of st. bavon. and the good canon predicant would not lie." "ah, no," said smetse. xv. of the bloody king. when the last night of the seventh year was come smetse was in his smithy, looking at the enchanted sack, and asking himself with much anxiety how he could make the devil get into it. while he was wondering, the smithy suddenly became filled with an evil stench of the most putrid, offensive and filthy kind. innumerable lice swarmed over the threshold, ceiling, anvils, sledges, bars and bellows, smetse and his men, who were all as if blinded, for these lice were as thick in the smithy as smoke, cloud, or fog. and a melancholy but imperative voice spoke, saying: "smetse, come with me; the seven years have struck." and smetse and his workmen, looking as well as they could in the direction whence the voice came, saw a man coming towards them with a royal crown on his head, and on his back a cloak of cloth-of-gold. but beneath the cloak the man was naked, and on his breast were four great abscesses, which formed together a single wide sore, and from this came the stench which filled the smithy, and the clouds of lice which swarmed round about. and he had on his right leg another abscess, more filthy, rank, and offensive than the rest. the man himself was white-faced, auburn-haired, red-bearded, with lips a little drawn, and mouth open somewhat. in his grey eyes were melancholy, envy, dissimulation, hypocrisy, harshness, and evil rancour. when the older workmen saw him they cried out in a voice like thunder: "smetse, the bloody king is here, take care!" "silence," cried the smith, "peace there, silence and veneration! let every man doff his bonnet to the greatest king that ever lived, philip ii by name, king of castile, leon, and aragon, count of flanders, duke of burgundy and brabant, palatine of holland and zeeland, most illustrious of all illustrious princes, great among the great, victorious among victors. sire," said he to the devil, "you do me unparalleled honour to come hither in person to lead me to hell, but my humble ghentish lowness makes bold to suggest to your royal and palatine highness that the appointed hour has not yet struck. therefore if it pleases your majesty i will pass on earth the brief time which is still left to me to live." "i allow it," said the devil. meanwhile smetse seemed unable to take his eyes off the devil, and showed himself very sorrowful and heavy, nodding his head, and saying several times: "alas, alas! cruel torment! evil hour!" "what ails thee?" said the devil. "sire," said smetse, "nothing ails me but the great sorrow which i have at seeing how harsh god has been towards you, leaving you to bear in hell the malady whereof you died. ah, 'tis a most pitiful sight to see so great a king as you consumed by these lice and eaten up with these abscesses." "i care nothing for thy pity," answered the king. "sire," said smetse further, "deign to think no evil of my words. i have never been taught fine ways of speech; but notwithstanding this i make bold to sympathize with your illustrious sufferings, and this the more in that i myself have known and suffered your ill, and you can still see, sire, the terrible marks on my skin." and smetse, uncovering his breast, showed the marks of the wounds which he had received from the traitor spanish when he sailed the seas with the men of zeeland. "but," said the devil-king, "thou seemest well enough cured, smith! wast thou verily as sick as i?" "like you, sire," said smetse, "i was nothing but a heap of living filth; like you i was fetid, rank, and offensive, and every one fled from me as they fled from you; like you i was eaten up with lice; but what could not be done for you by the most illustrious doctor olias of madrid, a humble carpenter did for me." at these words the devil-king cocked his ear. "in what place," said he, "does this carpenter dwell, and what is his name?" "he dwells," said smetse, "in the heavens, and his name is master st. joseph." "and did this great saint appear to thee by especial miracle?" "yes, sire." "and by virtue of what didst thou merit this rare and blessed favour?" "sire," answered smetse, "i have never by my own virtue merited so much as the shadow of a single grain of particular grace, but in my sufferings i prayed humbly and with faith to my blessed patron, master st. joseph, and he deigned to come to my succour." "tell me of this happening, smith." "sire," said smetse, holding up the sack, "this was my remedy." "this sack?" asked the devil. "yes, sire; but will your majesty deign to look closely at the hemp whereof it is woven. do you not think its quality altogether strange! alas," said smetse, running on with his talk, and appearing to go into an ecstasy, "'tis not given to us poor men to see every day such hemp as this. for this is not earthly hemp, but hemp of heaven, hemp from the good paradise, sown by my master st. joseph round about the tree of life, harvested and woven under his especial orders to make sacks wherein the beans are stored which my masters the angels eat on fast-days." "but," asked the devil, "how did this sack come into thy hands?" "ah, sire, by great marvel. one night i was in my bed, suffering twenty deaths from my ulcers, and almost at the point of giving up my soul. i saw my good wife weeping; i heard my neighbours and workmen, of whom there were many, saying round about my bed the prayers for the dying; my body was overcome with pain and my soul with despair. nevertheless i kept praying to my blessed patron and swore that if he brought me out of that pass, i would burn to his honour in the church of st. bavon such a candle as the fat of twenty sheep would not suffice to make. and my prayers were not in vain, sire, for suddenly a hole opened in the ceiling above my head, a living flame and a celestial perfume filled the room, a sack came down through the hole, a man clothed in white followed the sack, walked in the air to my bed, pulled down the sheets which covered me, and in the twinkling of an eye put me in the sack and drew the strings tight round my neck. and then, behold the miracle! no sooner was i wrapped about with this good hemp than a genial warmth passed through me, my ulcers dried up, and the lice all perished suddenly with a terrible noise. after that the man told me with a smile about the hemp of heaven and the angelic beans, and finished his discourse by saying: 'keep safe this remedy, 'tis sent thee by my master st. joseph. whosoever shall use it shall be cured of all ills and saved for all eternity, if in the meantime he do not sell his soul to the devil!' then the man went away. and what the good messenger told me was true, for by means of this sack from heaven, i cured toon, my workman, of the king's evil; pier of fever, dolf of scurvy, hendrik of the phlegm, and a score of others who owe it to me that they are still alive." when smetse had finished his speech the devil-king seemed lost in deep reflection, then suddenly lifted his eyes to heaven, joined his hands, crossed himself again and again, and, falling to his knees, beat upon his breast, and with most lamentable cries prayed as here follows: "ah, my master st. joseph, sweet lord, blessed saint, immaculate husband of the virgin without stain, you have deigned to make whole this smith, and he would have been saved by you for all eternity had he not sold his soul to the devil. but i, master, i, a poor king, who pray to you, do you disdain to make me whole also, and to save me as you would have saved him? you know well, sweet lord, how i devoted my life, my person, my goods and those of my subjects to the defence of our blessed religion; how i hated, as is right, the freedom to believe other things than those which are ordained for us; how i combated it by steel, stake, and live burial; how i saved in this wise from the venom of reform brabant, flanders, artois, hainault, valenciennes, lille, douai, orchies, namur, tournai, tournaisie, malines, and my other lands. nevertheless i have been thrown into the fires of hell, and there suffer without respite the unutterable torment of my consuming ulcers and my devouring vermin. ah, will you not make me whole, will you not save me? you are able, my master. yes, you will perform again for the sorrowing king the miracle which saved the smith. then shall i be able to pass into paradise, blessing and glorifying your name through centuries and centuries. save me, master st. joseph, save me. amen." and the devil-king, crossing himself, beating his breast, and babbling paternosters turn by turn, rose to his feet and said to smetse: "put me in the sack, smith." this smetse did gladly, rolled him into the sack, leaving only his head thrust out, drew tight round his neck the stout cords, and placed the devil on an anvil. at this spectacle the workmen burst out laughing, clapping their hands together, and saying a hundred merry things to one another. "smith," asked the devil, "are these flemings laughing at me?" "yes, sire." "what are they saying, smith?" "oh, sire, they are saying that horses are caught by means of corn; dogs by liver; asses by thistles; hogs by swill; trout by curdled blood; carp by cheese; pike by gudgeon; and a humbug of your kidney by tales of false miracles." "ho, the traitor smith," howled the devil, grinding his teeth, "he has taken in vain the name of my master st. joseph, he has lied without shame." "yes, sire." "and thou wilt dare to beat me as thou didst jacob hessels and my faithful duke?" "even more heartily, sire. nevertheless 'tis only if you so wish it. you shall be set free if you please. free if you give me back the deed; beaten if you are fixed in your idea of carrying me off to hell." "give thee back the deed! "roared the devil, "i would rather suffer a thousand deaths in a single moment." "sire king," said smetse, "i pray you to think of your bones, which seem to me none too sound as it is. consider also that the opportunity is a good one for us to avenge on your person our poor flanders, so drenched in blood at your hands. but it displeases me to pass a second time where has passed already the wrath of the very just god. so give me back the deed; grace, sire king, or 'twill begin raining presently." "grace!" said the devil, "grace to a fleming! perish flanders rather! ah, why have i not again, one single day, as much power, armies, and riches as i will; flanders would give up her soul quickly. then famine should reign in the land, parching the soil, drying up the water-springs and the life of plants; the last ghostly inhabitants of the empty towns would wander like phantoms in the streets, killing one another in heaps to find a little rotten food; bands of famished dogs would snatch newborn children from their mothers' withered breasts and devour them; famine should lie where had been plenty, dust where had been towns, crows where had been men; and on this earth stripped naked, stony, and desolate, on this burial-ground, i would set up a black cross with this inscription: here lies flanders the heretic, philip of spain passed over her breast!" so saying the devil foamed at the mouth with wrath, but scarce were his last words cold from his lips when all the hammers and bars in the smithy fell on him at once. and smetse and his workmen, striking in turn, said: "this is for our broken charters and our privileges violated despite thine oath, for thou wast perjurer. "this is for that when we called thee thou didst not dare come into our land, where thy presence would have cooled the hottest heads, for thou wast coward. "this is for the innocent marquess of berg-op-zoom, whom thou poisoned in prison, so that his inheritance might be thine; and for the prince of ascoly, whom thou madest to marry dona eufrasia, in child by thy seed, so that his wealth might enrich the bastard that was coming. the prince died also, like so many others, for thou wert poisoner of bodies. "this is for the false witnesses paid by thee, and thy promise to ennoble whomever would kill prince william for money, for thou wast poisoner of souls." and the blows fell heavy, and the king's crown was knocked off, and his body, like the duke's, was no more than a hotch-potch of bones and flesh, without any blood. but the workmen went on with their hammering, saying: "this is for thine invention of the tourniquet, wherewith thou didst strangle montigny, friend of thy son, for thou wast seeker of new tortures. "this is for the duke of alva, for the counts of egmont and hoorn, for all our poor dead, for our merchants who went off to enrich england and germany, for thou wast death and ruin to our land. "this is for thy wife, who died by thy deed, for thou wast husband without love. "this is for thy poor son charles, who died without any sickness, for thou wast father without bowels. "this is for the hatred, cruelty, and slaughter with which thou didst make return for the gentleness, confidence, and goodwill of our land, for thou wast king without justice. "and this is for the emperor, thy father, who, with his execrable proclamations and edicts, first sounded for our land the stroke of the evil hour. give him a good drubbing on our account, and tell us thou wilt give back the deed to the baes." "yes," wept a melancholy voice, coming from the heap of bones and flesh, "thou hast everything, smetse, thou art free." "give me back the parchment," said smetse. "open the sack," answered the voice. "ho," cried smetse, "yes, yes, indeed, i will open the sack wide, and master philip will leap out and take me off to hell with all speed. oh, the good little devil! but 'tis not now the time for such high pranks. therefore i make bold to beg your majesty to give me first the parchment, which he may without difficulty pass up through this gap which is between his neck and the edge of the sacking." "i will not do it," said the devil. "that," said smetse, "is as it pleases your subtle majesty. in the sack he is, in the sack he may remain; i make no objection. every man his own humour. but mine will be to leave him in his sack, and in this wise carry him off to middelburg in walcheren, and there ask the prefect that leave be given me to build a good little stone box in the market-place and therein to place your majesty, leaving outside his melancholy countenance. so placed he will be able to see at a close view the happiness, joy, and prosperity of the men of the reformed faith: that will be a fine treat for him, which might be added to, on feast-days and market-days, by an unkind blow or two which people would give him in the face, or some wicked strokes with a stick, or some spittle dropped on him without respect. you will have besides, sire, the unutterable satisfaction of seeing many good pilgrims from flanders, brabant, and your other blood-soaked countries come to middelburg to pay back with good coin of their staves their old debt to your most merciful majesty." "ah," said the devil, "i will not have this shame put upon me. take, smith, take the parchment." smetse obeyed, and saw that it was indeed his own, then went and dipped it in holy water, where it turned into dust. at this he was filled with joy and opened the sack for the devil, whose bones moved and became joined again to one another. and he took on again his withered shape, his hungry vermin, and his devouring sores. then, covering himself with his cloak of cloth-of-gold, he went out of the smithy, while smetse cried after him: "good journey to you, and a following wind, master philip!" and on the quay the devil kicked against a stone, which opened of itself and showed a great hole, wherein he was swallowed suddenly up like an oyster. xvi. wherein smetse beholds on the river lys a most marvellous sight. when the devil had gone smetse was almost off his head with joy, and ran to his wife, who had come to the door of the kitchen, and thumped her for joy, seized her, kissed her, hugged the good woman, shook her, pressed her to him, ran back to his men, shook them all by the hand, crying: "by artevelde! i am quits, smetse is quits!" and he seemed to have a tongue for nothing else but that he was quits! and he blew in his wife's ear, into his workmen's faces, and under the nose of a bald and wheezing old cat who sat up in one corner and got quit with him by a scratch in the face. "the rascal," said smetse, "does not seem glad enough at my deliverance. is he another devil, think you? they say they disguise themselves in every kind of shape. ho," said he to the cat, who was arching her back in annoyance, "hast heard, listened, and understood, devil cat? i am quit and free, quit and franked, quit and happy, quit and rich! and i have made fools of all the devils. and from now on i will live gaily as becomes a quit smith. wife, i will send this very day a hundred philipdalers to slimbroek, so that that poor sinner may also rejoice at smetse's quittance." but his wife said nothing, and when smetse went to look for her he found her on the stair with a great bowl of holy water in her hands, in which she was dipping a fair sprig of palm branch. coming into the smithy she began to sprinkle with the palm her man and the workmen, and also the hammers, anvils, bellows, and other tools. "wife," said smetse, trying to escape the wetting, "what art thou at?" "i am saving thee," said she, "presumptuous smith. dost verily think that, being freed of devils, thou hast for thine own the chattels that come from them? dost think that though they have lost the soul which was to be their payment they will leave thee thy riches. ho, the good fool! they will come back again, yes; and if i do not sprinkle thee with this holy water, and myself likewise, and all these good men, who knows with what evils they may not torment us, alas!" and the good wife was working away with her palm-branch when suddenly a great thunder rumbled under the earth, shaking the quay, and the stones cracked, the panes shivered in the windows, all the doors and casements in the smithy opened of themselves, and a hot wind blew. "ah," said she, "they are coming; pray, my man!" and suddenly there appeared in the sky the figure of a man, naked and of marvellous beauty. he was standing in a chariot of diamond, drawn by four flaming horses. and he held in his right hand a banner, whereon was written: "more beautiful than god." and from the body of this man, whereof the flesh shone brightly, came golden rays which lit up the lys, the quay and the trees like sunlight. and the trees began to sway and swing their stems and branches, and all the quay seemed to roll like a ship upon the sea, and thousands of voices called out together: "lord, we cry hunger and thirst; lord, feed us; lord, give us to drink." "ah," said the good wife, "here is my lord lucifer and all his devils!" and when the voices had ceased the man made a sign with his hand, and of a sudden the waters of the lys rose as if god had lifted up the river-bed. and the river became like a rough sea; but the waves did not roll on the quay, but each lifted separately, bearing on its crest a foam of fire. then each of these flames rose into the air, drawing up the water like a pillar, and there seemed to poor smetse and his wife and the men to be hundreds of thousands of these pillars of water, swaying and foaming. then each pillar took on the form of a fearful animal, and suddenly there appeared, mingled together, striking and wounding one another, all the devils whose work was to torment poor damned souls. there were to be seen, crawling over crooked and shivering men's legs, monstrous crabs, devouring those who were servile in their lives. near these crabs were ostriches bigger than horses, who ran along flapping their wings. under their tails they had laurel-wreaths, sceptres, and crowns, and behind their tails were made to run those men who in our world spent all their time running after vain honours, without a care for doing good. and the ostriches went quicker than the wind, while the men ran without respite behind them in the effort to get the wreaths, crowns, and sceptres; but they could never reach them. in this way they were led to a treacherous pond full of loathsome mud, wherein they fell shamefully and stayed stuck for all eternity, whilst the mocking ostriches walked up and down on the bank dangling their bawbles. among the ostriches were squadrons of many-coloured apes, diapered like butterflies, whose concern was with miserly jewish and lombard usurers. these men, when they entered hell, looked round them carefully, screwing up their eyes under their spectacles, collected from the ground divers rusty nails, old breeches, filthy rags, buttons showing the wood, and other old stuff, then dug a hole hastily, hid their treasures in it and went off to sit down some way away. the apes, seeing this, would leap on the hole, empty out its content, and throw it into the fire. then the misers would weep, make lamentations, and be beaten by the apes, and at last go off to find some more secret place, hide there once again their new depredations, and see once again the hole emptied and the apes coming once again to beat them, and so on for all eternity. in the air, above the apes, soared eagles, who had, instead of a beak, four-and-twenty matchlock barrels firing together. these eagles were called royal, because their concern was with conqueror princes, who were too fond in their lifetime of the sounds of war and cannon. and for their punishment these matchlocks were fired off in their faces again and again throughout eternity. besides the ostriches, apes, and eagles, reared up a great serpent with a bear's coat, who writhed and twisted this way and that. he was of great length and breadth, beyond all measure, and had a hundred thousand hairy arms, in each of which he held an iron pike as sharp as a razor. he was called the spaniards' serpent, because in hell it was his task to gash about with his pikes without mercy all the bands of traitor pillagers who had despoiled our good country. keeping clear of this serpent with great prudence, darted about mischievous little winged pigs whose tails were eels. these tails were designed for the perpetual teazing of such gluttons as came to hell. for the pig would come up to such a one, hold the eel close to his mouth, and, when he tried to bite it, suddenly fly away from him, and so on throughout eternity. there were to be seen also, marching up and down in their gorgeous feathers, monstrous peacocks. whenever some vain dandy came their way, giving himself airs in his fine clothes, one of these peacocks would go to him and spread its tail, as if inviting him to pluck out a fine feather for his bonnet. but as soon as the dandy approached to take his feather, master peacock would let fly in his face with filthy and evil-smelling water, which spoilt all his fine clothes. and throughout eternity the dandy would try to get the feather, and throughout eternity be so swilled down. among these fearful animals, wandered two by two male and female grasshoppers as big as a man, the one playing on a pipe, and the other brandishing a great knotted stick. whenever they saw a man who, in his lifetime, leapt, by cowardice, from good to evil, from black to white, from fire to water, always on the side of the strongest, these grasshoppers would go to him, and one would play the pipe, while the other, leaning on his stick with great dignity, would say: "leap for god," and the man would leap; "leap for the devil," and the man would leap again; "leap for calvin, leap for the mass, leap for the goat, leap for the cabbage," and the man would keep leaping. but he never leapt high enough for the liking of the grasshopper with the stick, and so he was each time belaboured in a most pitiless manner. and he leapt without ceasing and was belaboured without respite, while the pipe made continual pleasant music, and so on throughout eternity. farther on, naked and lying on cloths of gold, silk, and velvet, covered with pearls and a thousand resplendent gems, more beautiful than the most beautiful ladies of ghent, brussels, or bruges, lascivious and smiling, singing, and playing on sweet instruments, were the wives of the devils. these dealt out punishment to old rakes, corrupters of youth and beauty. to them these she-devils would call out amorously, but they could never get near them. throughout eternity these poor rakes had to look at them without being able to touch them even with the tip of the nail of their little finger. and they wept and made lamentation, but all in vain, and so on through centuries and centuries. there were also mischievous little devils with drums, made of the skins of hypocrites, whose masks hung down over the drum case as ornament. and the hypocrites to whom they belonged, without their skins, without their masks, in all their ugliness, ashamed, hooted, hissed, spat at, eaten up by horrible flies, and followed by the little devils beating their drums, had to wander up and down hell throughout eternity. it was good to see also the devils of conceited men. these were fine great leathern bottles full of wind, finished off with a beak, at the end of which was a reed. these bottles had eagle's feet and two good little arms, with fingers long enough to go round the widest part of the bottle. when the conceited man came into hell, saying: "i am great, i am grand, strong, beautiful, victorious, i will overcome lucifer and marry his dam astarte," the leathern bottles would come up to him and say, with a deep reverence: "my lord, will you be pleased to let us speak a word to you in secret, touching your high designs?" "yes," he would say. then two bottles would stuff their reeds into his ears in such a manner that he could not get them out again, and begin to press in their bellies with their long fingers, so as to force wind into his head, which thereupon swelled up, large and always larger, and master self-conceit rose into the air and went off to wander throughout eternity, with his head bumping the ceiling of hell, and his legs waving in the air in the efforts to get down again; but all in vain. marvellous devils were certain apes of quicksilver, always running, tumbling, leaping, coming, and going. these devils bore down on the lazy fellows who were thrown to them, gave them a spade to dig earth with, a sword to polish, a tree to trim, or a book to con. the lazybones would look at the task set him, saying: "to-morrow," and would stretch his arms, scratching and yawning. but as soon as he had his mouth wide open the ape would stuff into it a sponge soaked in quintessence of rhubarb. "this," he would say mockingly, "is for to-day; work, slug, work." then, while the lazybones was retching, the devil would thump him, shake him a hundred different ways, giving him no more peace than a gadfly gives a horse, and so on throughout eternity. pleasing devils were pretty little children very wide-awake and mischievous, whose concern was to teach learned orators to think, speak, weep, and laugh according to common nature. and when they did otherwise the little devils would rap them sharply on the knuckles. but the poor pedants could no longer learn, being too heavy, old, and stupid; so they had a rap on the knuckles every day and a whipping on sundays. and all these devils cried out together: "master, we are hungry; master, give us to eat, pay somewhat for the good services we render thee." and suddenly the man in the chariot made a sign, and the good river lys threw all these devils on the quay, as the sea splashes on the shore, and they hissed loud and terribly at landing. and smetse, his wife, and the workmen heard the doors of the cellars open with a loud noise, and all the casks of bruinbier came hissing up the stairs, and hissing across the floor of the forge, and still hissing described a curve in the air and fell among the crowd of all the devils. and so also did the bottles of wine, so also the hams, loaves, and cheeses, and so also the good crusats, angelots, philipdalers, and other moneys, which were all changed into meat and drink. and the devils fell over one another, fought, scrambled, wounded themselves, forming only one great mass of battling monsters, howling and hissing, and each trying to get more than the others. when there was left neither drop nor crumb, the man in the chariot made another sign, and all the devils melted into black water and flowed into the river, where they disappeared. and the man vanished from the sky. and smetse smee was as poor as before, save for one little bag of golden royals, which his wife had by chance sprinkled with holy water, and which he kept, although it came from the devil. but this, as you shall see, did not profit him at all. and he lived with great content until he died suddenly one day in his smithy, at the great and blessed age of ninety-three years. xvii. of hell, of purgatory, of the long ladder, and finally of paradise. when he was dead his soul had to pass through hell in the guise of a smith. coming thither he saw, through the open windows, the devils which had so frightened him in the vision on the lys, and who were now busy torturing and tormenting the poor damned souls as terribly as they could. and smetse went to the doorkeeper; but the doorkeeper, on seeing him, howled out in a most awful fashion: "smetse is here, smetse smee the traitor smith!" and he would not let him in. hearing the hubbub, my lord lucifer, madam astarte, and all their court came to the windows, and all the other devils after them. and they all cried out in fear: "shut the doors, 'tis the enchanted smetse, smetse the traitor smith, smetse the beater of poor devils. if he comes in here he will overset, spoil, break up everything. begone, smetse!" "my masters," said smetse, "if i do indeed come hither to look at your snouts, which are not beautiful i promise ye, 'tis not at all for my pleasure; and besides, i am not by any means anxious to come in. so do not make such a noise, master devils." "yes, indeed, my fine smith," answered madam astarte, "thou showest a velvet pad now, but when thou art within thou wilt show thy claws and thine evil intention, and will slay us all, me, my good husband, and all our friends. be off, smetse; be off, smee." "madam," said smetse, "you are indeed the most beautiful she-devil i ever saw, but that is, nevertheless, no reason why you should think so ill of a fellow-creature's intentions." "hark to the fellow!" said madam astarte, "how he hides his wickedness under sugared words! drive him away, devils, but do him no great harm." "madam," said smetse, "i beg you to listen." "be off, smith!" cried out all the devils; and they threw burning coals at him, and whatever else they could find. and smetse ran off as fast as his legs would take him. when he had travelled some way he came before purgatory. on the other side was a ladder, with this inscription at its foot: "this is the road to the good paradise." and smetse, filled with joy, began to climb the ladder, which was made of golden thread, with here and there a sharp point sticking out, in virtue of that saying of god which tells us: "broad is the way which leadeth to hell, strait and rough the way to heaven." and, indeed, smetse soon had his feet sore. nevertheless, he made his way upward without halting, and only stopped when he had counted ten hundred thousand rungs and could see no more of either earth or hell. and he became thirsty. finding nothing to drink he became a little sullen, when suddenly he saw a little cloud coming past, and drank it up joyfully. it did not indeed seem to him as good drink as bruinbier, but he took consolation from the thought that it is not possible to have comforts everywhere alike. a little higher up the ladder he suddenly had hard work to keep his bonnet on his head, by reason of a treacherous autumn wind which was going down to earth to pull off the last leaves. and by this wind he was sorely shaken, and nearly lost his hold. after he was out of this pass he became hungry, and regretted the good earthly beef, smoked over pine-cones, which is so good a food for poor wayfarers. but he took heart, thinking that it is not given to man to understand everything. suddenly he saw an eagle of terrible aspect coming upon him from the earth. thinking for certain that he was some fat sheep, the eagle rose above him and would have dropped on him like a cannon-ball; but the good smith had no fear, bent to one side and caught the bird by the neck, which he wrung subtly. then, still going up, he hastened to pluck it, ate morsels of it raw, and found them stringy. nevertheless, he took this meat with patience, because he had no other. then, patiently and bravely, he climbed for several days and several nights, seeing nothing but the blue of the sky and innumerable suns, moons, and stars above his head, under his feet, to right, to left, and everywhere. and he seemed to be in the midst of a fair great globe, whereof the inner walls had been painted this fair blue, strewn with all these suns, moons, and stars. and he was frightened by the great silence and by the immensity. suddenly he felt a genial warmth, heard sweet voices singing, distant music, and the sound of a city toiling. and he saw a town of infinite size girt about with walls, over which he could see housetops, trees, and towers. and he felt that he was moving more quickly despite his own legs, and by and by, leaving the last rung behind, he set foot before the gate of the town. "by artevelde!" said he, "here is the good paradise." and he knocked on the gate; st. peter came to open to him. smetse was somewhat frightened at the gigantic appearance of the good saint, his great head of hair, his red beard, his large face, his high forehead, and his piercing eyes, with which he looked at him fixedly. "who art thou?" quoth he. "master st. peter," said the smith, "i am smetse smee, who in his lifetime lived at ghent on the quai aux oignons, and now prays you to let him enter your good paradise." "no," said st. peter. "ah, my master!" said smetse most piteously, "if 'tis because in my lifetime i sold my soul to the devil, i make bold to tell you that i repented most heartily, and was redeemed from his power and kept nothing that was his." "excepting a sackful of royals," said the saint, "and on that account thou shalt not come in." "master," said the smith, "i am not so guilty as you suppose; the sack stayed in my house because it had been blessed, and for that reason i thought i might well keep it. but take pity on me, for i knew not what i was doing. i pray you also to deign to consider that i come from a far country, that i am greatly tired, and would gladly rest in this good paradise." "be off, smith," said the saint, who was holding the door a crack open. meanwhile smetse had slipped through the opening, and taking off his leathern apron sat down, saying: "master, i am here rightfully, you cannot turn me out." but st. peter bade a troop of halberdier angels who were near at hand drive him away: and this the halberdier angels did with great dispatch. thereafter, smetse did not cease to beat on the door with his fists, and lamented, wept, and cried out: "master, have pity on me, let me in, my master; i repent of all the sins i have committed, and even the others as well. master, grant me permission to enter the blessed paradise. master...." but master st. peter, hearing this, put his head over the wall: "smith," said he, "if thou wilt persist in this uproar, i shall have thee sent to purgatory." and poor smetse held his peace, and sat down on his seat, and so passed sad days, watching others enter. in this wise a week went by, during which he lived on a few scraps of bread which were thrown to him over the wall, and on grapes gathered from a sour vine which grew on the outer face of the wall of paradise in this part. and smetse was most unhappy, leading this idle existence. and he sought in his head for some work or other which would gladden him somewhat. having found it, he shouted as loud as he could, and st. peter put his head over the wall. "what wilt thou, smetse?" said he. "master," answered the smith, "will you be pleased to let me go down to earth for one night, so that i may see my good wife and look to my affairs?" "thou mayst, smetse," answered st. peter. xviii. wherein it is seen why smetse was whipped. it was then all saints' eve; bitter was the cold, and smetse's good wife was in her kitchen, brewing some good mixture of sugar, yolk of egg, and bruinbier, to cure her of an evil catarrh, which had lain upon her ever since her man died. smetse came and knocked at the window of the kitchen, whereat his wife was greatly frightened. and she cried out sadly: "do not come and torment me, my man, if 'tis prayers thou wilt have. i say as many as i can, but i will say more if need be. wilt thou have masses said? thou shalt have them, and prayers and indulgences likewise. i will buy them, my man, i promise thee; but go back quickly whence thou camest." nevertheless smetse went on knocking. "'tis not masses or prayers," said he, "that i want, but shelter, food, and drink, for bitter is the cold, rude the wind, sharp the frost. open, wife." but she, on hearing him speak thus, prayed the more and cried out the louder, and beat her breast and crossed herself, but made no move to open the door, saying only: "go back, go back, my man; thou shalt have prayers and masses." suddenly the smith discerned an open window in the attic. he climbed up and entered the house by that means, went down the stair, and, opening the door, appeared before his wife; but as she kept drawing back before him as he advanced, crying out and calling the neighbours at the top of her voice, smetse stood still so as not to frighten her further, sat down on a stool, and said: "dost not see, mother, that i am indeed smetse, and wish thee no harm?" but his wife would listen to nothing and crept back into a corner. thence with her teeth a-chatter, and her eyes open wide, she made a sign to him to leave her, for she could no longer find her tongue, by reason of her great fear. "wife," said the smith in friendly tones, "is it thus that thou givest greeting and welcome to thy poor husband, after the long time he has been away? alas, hast forgot our old comradeship and union?" hearing this soft and joyous voice she answered in a low tone and with great timidity: "no, dead master." "well then," said he, "why art thou so afraid? dost not know thy man's fat face, his round paunch, and the voice which in former days sang so readily hereabout?" "yes," she said, "i know thee well enough." and why," said he, "if thou knowest me, wilt not come to me and touch me?" "ah," said she, "i dare not, master, for 'tis said that whatever member touches a dead man is itself dead." "come, wife," said the smith, "and do not believe all these lying tales." "smetse," said she, "will you in good truth do me no hurt?" "none," said he, and took her by the hand. "ah," she said suddenly, "my poor man, thou art cold and hungry and thirsty indeed!" "yes," said he. "well then," said she, "eat, drink, and warm thyself." while smetse was eating and drinking he told his wife how he had been forbidden the door to paradise, and how he designed to take from the cellar a full cask of bruinbier and bottles of french wine, to sell to those who went into the holy city, so that he might be well paid, and with the money he received buy himself better food. "this, my man," she said, "is all very well, but will master st. peter give thee permission to set up at the gates of paradise such a tavern?" "of that," he said, "i have hope." and smetse, laden with his cask and bottles, went his way back, up towards the good paradise. having reached the foot of the wall he set up his tavern in the open air, for the weather is mild in this heavenly land, and on the first day all who went in drank at smetse's stall, and paid him well out of compassion. but one or two became drunk, and entering paradise in this state, set master peter inquiring into the cause of it; and having found it out he enjoined smetse to stop his selling, and had him whipped grievously. xix. of the fair judgment of my lord jesus. not long afterwards the good wife died also, by reason of the terror that had seized hold of her at the sight of her man's ghost. and her soul went straight towards paradise, and there she saw, sitting with his seat against the wall, the poor smetse in a fit of melancholy brooding. when he saw her he jumped up with great joy, and said: "wife, i will go in with thee." "dost thou dare?" said she. "i will hide myself," said he, "under thy skirt, which is wide enough for us both, and so i shall pass without being seen." when he had done this she knocked on the door, and master st. peter came to open it. "come in," he said, "good wife." but seeing smetse's feet below the hem of the skirt: "this wicked smith," he cried, "will he always be making fun of me? be off, devil-baggage!" "ah, my master," said she, "have pity on him, or else let me stay out, too, to keep him company." "no," said master st. peter, "thy place is here, his is outside. come in then, and let him be off at once." and the good wife went in while smetse stayed outside. but as soon as the noonday hour came, and the angel cooks had brought the good wife her beautiful rice pudding, she went to the wall and put her head over it. "art thou there," she said, "my man?" "yes," said he. "art thou hungry?" she said. "yes," said he. "well then," she said, "spread thy leathern apron; i will throw thee the pudding which has just been given me." "but thou," said he, "wilt thou eat nothing?" "no," said she, "for i have heard it said that there is supper by and by." smetse ate the rice pudding, and was suddenly filled with comfort, for the pudding was more succulent and delicious than the finest meats of the earth. meanwhile his wife went off to walk about in the good paradise, and afterwards came back to smetse to tell him what she had seen. "ah," she said, "my man, 'tis a most beautiful place. would that i could see thee within! round about my lord jesus are the pure intelligences who discuss with him whatever is goodness, love, justice, knowledge, and beauty, and also the best means of governing men and making them happy. their speech is like music. and all the while they keep throwing down to earth the seeds of beautiful, good, just and true thoughts. but men are so wicked and stupid that they tread underfoot these fair seeds or let them wither away. farther on, established in their several places, are potters and goldsmiths, masons, painters, tanners and fullers, carpenters and shipbuilders, and thou shouldst see what fine work they do, each in his own trade. and when they have made some progress they cast down the seed of that also towards the earth, but 'tis lost oftentimes." "wife," said smetse, "didst see no smiths?" "yes," said she. "alas," said he, "i would gladly be working alongside them, for i am ashamed to be sitting here like a leper, doing nothing and begging my bread. but listen, wife; since master st. peter will not let me in, go thou and ask grace for me from my lord jesus, who is kind and will let me in for certain." "i go, my man," said she. my lord jesus, who was in council with his doctors, saw her coming towards him. "i know thee, good wife," said he; "thou wast in thy lifetime wedded to smetse the smith, who entreated me so well when, in the guise of a little child, i came down to earth with master joseph and madam mary. is he not in paradise, thy good man?" "alas, no, my lord!" answered she, "my man is at the door, most sad and out of heart, because master st. peter will not let him in." "why is that?" said my lord jesus. "ah, i cannot tell," said she. but the angel who writes down the faults of men in a record of brass, speaking suddenly, said: "smetse cannot enter paradise, for smetse, delivered from the devil, kept devil's money." "ah," said my lord jesus, "that is a great sin; but has he not repented of it?" "yes," said the good wife, "he has repented, and, moreover, he has been all his life good, charitable, and compassionate." "go and find him," said my lord jesus, "i will question him myself." two or three halberdier angels ran to obey him, and brought smetse before the son of god, who spoke in this wise: "smetse, is it true that thou didst keep devil's money?" "yes, my lord," answered the smith, whose knees were knocking together with fear. "smetse, this is not good, for a man should rather suffer every ill, pain, and anguish, than keep the money of one who is wicked, ugly, unjust, and a liar, as is the devil. but hast thou no meritorious deed to tell me, to mitigate this great sin?" "my lord," answered smetse, "i fought a long while beside the men of zeeland for freedom of conscience, and, doing this, suffered with them hunger and thirst." "this is good, smetse, but didst thou persist in this fair conduct?" "alas, no, my lord!" said the smith, "for, to tell truth, my courage lacked constancy, and i went back to ghent, where, like so many another, i came under the spanish yoke." "this is bad, smetse," answered my lord jesus. "my lord," wept the good wife, "none was more generous than he to the poor, kind to every one, charitable to his enemies, even to the wicked slimbroek." "this is good, smetse," said my lord jesus; "but hast thou no other merit in thy favour?" "my lord," said the smith, "i have always laboured with a good heart, hated idleness and melancholy, loved joy and merriment, sung gladly, and drunk with thankfulness the bruinbier which came to me from you." "this is good, smetse, but it is not enough." "my lord," answered the smith, "i thrashed as soundly as i could the wicked ghosts of jacob hessels, the duke of alva, and philip ii, king of spain." "smetse," said my lord jesus, "this is very good. i grant thee leave to enter my paradise." uniform with "flemish legends" the legend of tyl ulenspiegel by charles de coster translated by geoffrey whitworth. with woodcuts by albert delstanche. s. d. net some press opinions "tyl ulenspiegel is not yet, in most english households, an old friend. yet we believe that the fellow will soon make his brave and humorous way into the friendship of old and young. and the twenty full-page woodcuts with which m. albert delstanche has illustrated this edition will help the friendship on. all the heartiness, the ruggedness, the fun, and the gloom of one tragic period in the history of a homely and much-enduring people are expressed through the eye to the mind by m. delstanche's knowledge and skill."--the times. "an excellent translation has brought a notable example of modern belgian literature within the reach of readers in this country. taking as his central figure the scampish tyl ulenspiegel, already in the sixteenth century a traditional personage, de coster produced a remarkable reconstruction of flemish life in the days of spanish oppression and of the famous 'beggars'."--scotsman. "on the large scale, the obvious work of a master, a man who knew sorrow but who loved to share the mirth and good living of his fellows, mocked impostors wherever he found them, and had a hatred of cruelty and injustice that is like lightning. it is one of the rare books, full of sad laughter and warm understanding, of the order of 'don quixote'."--the nation. "it is a happy thought which has brought out mr. geoffrey whitworth's version of 'the legend of tyl ulenspiegel' now ... for the description of it as the 'national epic of flanders' has much more meaning than such phrases usually have.... and all the adventures of tyl and his friends have this quality of reality in fairy-land, whether they are grotesque or tragic. the book has tragedy in it to balance its boisterous comedy, but the two are combined in a style whose generosity and exuberance make their union complete and satisfactory. it is a great book indeed. mr. whitworth is to be congratulated on his excellently easy and vivid translation; and the woodcuts of m. albert delstanche are all exceedingly impressive and many exceedingly beautiful."--land and water. "it is hardly too much to say that de coster's book is a work of pure genius.... at such a moment as the present no publication could be more timely than this english version of what will inevitably rank as a great epic of belgian nationality.... for the rest, we have only to compliment the publishers, the translator, and the illustrator upon their joint efforts to present a fine work in a worthy and acceptable form."--the guardian. "the illustrator's bold and luminous drawings certainly catch the bluff spirit of charles de coster's quaint masterpiece, in which the transition-age between mediævalism and modernity lives again so grimly, so shrewdly, so humorously. here there is a suitable gift-book for all who love to travel in the highways of world-literature."--morning post. "it is, of course, for adults and not for children, with its grim horrors and its full-blooded jollity. what we have learnt to call the soul of a people is in it--the spirit of flanders. the force of de coster's style loses nothing in mr. geoffrey whitworth's translation, and there are admirable illustrations cut on the wood by m. albert delstanche."--daily telegraph. "a most remarkable volume."--glasgow herald. "reading it for the first time in mr. whitworth's admirable english version, one is amazed at first that it has not been rendered previously. de coster will never require another english version, and this one book of 'glorious adventures' is aureole enough to ensure his place on the great hierarchy of literature."--the bookman. note [ ] his biography has been written by charles potvin. charles de coster; sa biographie. weissenbruch; brussels. generously made available by the internet archive.) the king's pilgrimage profits from the sale of this book will, by his majesty's desire, be distributed among the philanthropic organizations which for some time have been assisting relatives to visit the cemeteries abroad "their name liveth for evermore" [illustration: terlincthun "_standing beneath this cross of sacrifice and facing the great stone of remembrance_"] the king's pilgrimage london: hodder and stoughton, limited _the imperial war graves commission has to acknowledge the permission of the following for the publication of the photographs which are contained in this book: central news agency, graphic photo union, "daily mail," press photographic agency, "the times," topical press agency, lt.-col. h. ellissen, mr. f. c. see, mr. a. h. w. brown_ printed in photogravure by the sun engraving co., ltd. london and watford buckingham palace may . i am interested to hear of the proposed publication of the record of my pilgrimage to the war graves. it grieves me to think how many relatives are prevented from visiting the graves of their dear ones through lack of means. during my recent visit to the cemeteries in france and belgium, i was glad to learn that various organisations are endeavouring to meet this difficulty by raising funds which i trust will be substantially assisted by the sale of the book. george r. i. the king's pilgrimage our king went forth on pilgrimage his prayer and vows to pay to them that saved our heritage and cast their own away. and there was little show of pride, or prows of belted steel, for the clean-swept oceans every side lay free to every keel. and the first land he found, it was shoal and banky ground where the broader seas begin, and a pale tide grieving at the broken harbour mouth where they worked the death ships in: and there was neither gull on the wing, nor wave that could not tell of the bodies that were buckled in the lifebuoy's ring that slid from swell to swell. (_all that they had they gave--they gave; and they shall not return, for these are those that have no grave where any heart may mourn._) and the next land he found, it was low and hollow ground where once the cities stood, but the man-high thistle had been master of it all, or the bulrush by the flood; and there was neither blade of grass or lone star in the sky, but shook to see some spirit pass and took its agony. and the next land he found, it was bare and hilly ground where once the bread-corn grew, but the fields were cankered and the water was defiled, and the trees were riven through; and there was neither paved highway, nor secret path in the wood, but had borne its weight of the broken clay, and darkened 'neath the blood. (_father and mother they put aside, and the nearer love also-- an hundred thousand men who died, whose grave shall no man know._) and the last land he found, it was fair and level ground above a carven stone, and a stark sword brooding on the bosom of the cross where high and low are one; and there was grass and the living trees, and the flowers of the spring, and there lay gentlemen from out of all the seas that ever called him king. (_'twixt nieuport sands and the eastward lands where the four red rivers spring five hundred thousand gentlemen of those that served the king._) all that they had they gave--they gave-- in sure and single faith. there can no knowledge reach the grave to make them grudge their death save only if they understood that, after all was done we they redeemed denied their blood, and mocked the gains it won. rudyard kipling. i: "_our king went forth on pilgrimage._" it was our king's wish that he should go as a private pilgrim, with no trappings of state nor pomp of ceremony, and with only a small suite, to visit the tombs in belgium and france of his comrades who gave up their lives in the great war. in the uniform which they wore on service, he passed from one to another of the cemeteries which, in their noble simplicity, express perfectly the proud grief of the british race in their dead; and, at the end, within sight of the white cliffs of england, spoke his thoughts in a message of eloquence which moved all his empire to sympathy. the governments of france and of belgium, our allies in the war for the freedom of the world, respected the king's wish. nowhere did official ceremony intrude on an office of private devotion. but nothing could prevent the people of the country-side gathering around the places which the king visited, bringing with them flowers, and joining their tribute to his. they acclaimed him not so much as king, but rather as the head of those khaki columns which crossed the channel to help to guard their homes; in their minds the memory of the glad relief of august, , when they learnt that the british were with them in the war and felt that the ultimate end was secure. many of them were of the peasants who, before the scattered graves of our dead had been gathered into enduring cemeteries, had graced them with flowers, making vases of shell-cases gathered from the battle-fields. the king was deeply moved by their presence, at seeing them leave for an hour the task of building up their ruined homes and shattered farms, and coming with pious gratitude to share his homage to the men who had been faithful to their trust unto death. to those around him he spoke more than once in thankful appreciation of this good feeling of the people of france and belgium. especially was he pleased to see the children of the country-side crowd around him, and when little choirs of them sang "god save the king" in quaintly accented words his feeling was manifest. there came thus to the pilgrimage from the first an atmosphere of affectionate intimacy between these people who were not his subjects and the british king. they gathered around him as around a friend, the old women leaning forward to catch his words, the children trying to come close enough to touch him, seeing in his uniform again the "tommy" who had proved such a gentle soul when he came for a brief rest from the horrors of the battle-field to the villages behind the line and helped "mother" with the housework and nursed the baby. at one village a gendarme, feeling in his official soul that this was really no way to treat a king, tried to arrange some more formal atmosphere. but in vain. the villagers saw the old friendly good-humoured british army back in france, and could not be official. now and then at a cemetery the king met relatives, in some cases from far-off pacific dominions, visiting their dead, and he stopped to speak with them because they were on the same mission as he was, of gratitude and reverence. one mother, moved by the kindness of the king's greeting, opened her heart to him and told, with the simple eloquence of real feeling, how she had just come from her son's grave and was proud that he had died for his king and country; that every care had been taken to find and identify it, and "more could not have been done if it had been the prince of wales himself." at several points the workers of the imperial war graves commission--practically all of whom had gone through the campaign, and now are reverently and carefully tending the last resting-places of their fallen comrades--assembled to greet the king. he spoke with them also, giving them thanks for their work and noting their war medals and asking them about their life in the camps, or with the mobile caravans which, in the districts where housing cannot yet be found, move from cemetery to cemetery, keeping fresh the tribute of grass and flowers and trees--caravans which bring back vividly one's memory of the old british supply columns, for they are almost invariably led by a small self-important and well-fed dog. when at vlamertinghe--where are the graves of the first dominion soldiers who fell in the war--the high commissioner for canada, the hon. p. c. larkin, was met visiting the canadian graves there; the king gave him a very warm greeting. he showed that there is never absent from his mind the thought that in the greatest ordeal of battle which the british race has had to pass through, the children nations of his empire came to the side of the mother country, with the instinctive spontaneity of the blood in a limb responding to a message from the heart; and that the crimson tie of kinship never broke nor slackened through all the perilous anxious years. across the sea, held for them as a safe path by the navy, the men of the empire--and the women, too--kept passing at the king's word to whatsoever point at which the peril was greatest, the work most exacting. the graves of the flanders battle-fields told triumphantly of this august imperial assembly--the dead of the mother country having around them those of india, canada, australia, new zealand, south africa, newfoundland, the west indies, the pacific islands.[ ] at every point the voices of the dead bespoke, in the king's words, "the single-hearted assembly of nations and races which form our empire." * * * * * it was at the close of a state visit to the king of the belgians that the king left brussels on a special train early on the morning of may . the king lived on the train (in his own carriage which had been in france throughout the war) during the tour, motor-cars meeting it at fixed halting-places for the visits to the cemeteries. he was accompanied by field-marshal earl haig, whom his majesty specially wished to be at his side on this pilgrimage. the royal party was a small one; in addition to lord haig, it consisted of major-general sir fabian ware (who, as vice-chairman of the imperial war graves commission, was in charge of all the arrangements) and of three members of the suite, the rt. hon. sir frederick ponsonby, colonel clive wigram, and major r. seymour. the first visit paid was to zeebrugge churchyard, where rest some of those who fell in the zeebrugge battle which marked st. george's day, . many of the graves are still unidentified, but, with the aid of enemy burial lists recently secured, it is hoped that the identity of some, at any rate, will be established. there was, by the king's express wish, no formal ceremony at this nor any other cemetery before terlincthun, but the school children of zeebrugge assembled and sang the british national anthem and brought flowers for the graves. the king went on to examine the scene of the exploit of _vindictive_ and her supporting ships. the day was bright and breezy, and, by a happy chance, a belgian fishing fleet was making for harbour with the night's harvest of the sea. to the eye of the sailor this gave clear indication of the lay of the harbour approaches and of its entrance, and helped materially to illustrate the way in which the mole was approached and the task with which the british naval forces were faced. the king took the keenest interest in every detail of the exploit and of the tactics employed. he stayed for some time at the point where the submarine, loaded with high explosives, rammed the mole to breach it, with the double object of cutting off the enemy garrison on the mole from reinforcements and of helping the obstacles which were to be sunk in the fairway to silt up the harbour by letting in the drifting sands. the positions where the ships were sunk in the fairway were examined, and the king, with his professional knowledge of the service in which he spent his young manhood, could reconstruct the whole battle. he made particular inspection of the spot where the landing party from _vindictive_ scaled the mole--perhaps the most astonishing "boarding" feat of naval history. with some reluctance the king turned his back to the sea, and the royal party went on by train to zonnebeke. here the party left the train and proceeded by car to visit tyne cot cemetery, which is in the midst of what was the most desolate and terrible of all battle-fields--the passchendaele marshes. tyne cot (or cottage) was on the north side of the ypres-roulers railway, near the village of passchendaele. it was here that the enemy first built their "pill boxes" or concrete forts. the water-logged ground would not allow of the construction of dug-outs nor of effective shelter trenches, and the enemy sought to hold their line with these strong points of reinforced concrete, heavily armed with machine guns, to attack which the british storming infantry often had to wade waist-deep in mire up to the very muzzles of the guns. no part of the long trench line which stretched from the sea to switzerland has such shuddering memories for the british army as passchendaele. there it had the problem of storming a whole series of miniature zeebrugge moles standing in seas of slimy mud, to sink into which from the narrow built paths of trench-boards was to perish. of the nine thousand british soldiers buried in tyne cot cemetery, over six thousand are "unknown." the hateful mud swallowed up their identity with their lives. many places on the long trench line which stretched like a dreadful scar across belgium and france the king knew during the days of the war. very jealously the secrets of his visits to the front had to be guarded then, especially when both the king and the heir apparent were at the same time in the battle-line; and no public record exists of them. but it is safe to say that tyne cot he saw for the first time this may afternoon. he understood how appalling was the task which his soldiers faced there, and, turning to the great "pill box" which still stands in the middle of the cemetery, he said that it should never be moved, should remain always as a monument to the heroes whose graves stood thickly around. from its roof he gazed sadly over the sea of wooden crosses, a "massed multitude of silent witnesses to the desolation of war." it is indeed fitting that this should form, as it will, the foundation for the great cross of sacrifice shortly to be built up as a central memorial in this cemetery. [illustration: zeebrugge arrival at the mole] [illustration: zeebrugge inspecting the mole] [illustration: zeebrugge at the breach in the mole] [illustration: zeebrugge churchyard inspecting british graves] [illustration: at brandhoek military cemetery.] [illustration: tyne cot cemetery the king and the gardeners] [illustration: tyne cot cemetery] [illustration: tyne cot cemetery the king reading inscriptions on wooden crosses] [illustration] [illustration: tyne cot cemetery inspecting the german blockhouse which will form the base of the central memorial] [illustration: ypres town cemetery the grave of h.h. prince maurice of battenberg] [illustration: ypres town cemetery] [illustration: menin gate, ypres examining the plans for the memorial to those who have no known grave] [illustration: vlamertinghe military cemetery] [illustration: vlamertinghe military cemetery the burgomaster's daughter presenting a wreath] [illustration: _our king went forth on pilgrimage his prayer and vows to pay to them that saved our heritage and cast their own away._] [illustration: "_i have been on a solemn pilgrimage in honour of a people who died for all free men_"] ii: "_it was low and hollow ground where once the cities stood_" the king's route after leaving tyne cot cemetery brought him to the salient where the british army held ypres as the gate guarding the channel ports. the enemy rush to paris had failed, and he was seeking a way to victory by a rush to seize the french side of the english channel as a prelude to the invasion of england. in the first battle of ypres the enemy sought with enormous superiority of numbers to overwhelm the british force which barred the calais road. to hold ypres was vital, and yet ypres was, humanly speaking, indefensible, within a saucer-shaped salient dominated on three sides by the german artillery. the attack was pushed on with fierce energy from october st, , onwards, and was met with heroic stubbornness by a woefully thin khaki line. at one stage there was no question of reliefs. every man practically in the british force, including cooks and batmen, was in the front line, and these men held to the trenches day after day, night after night, without sleep, with little food, with no intermission from rifle and shell fire. during the second battle of ypres, in the spring of , the war took on a new phase with the enemy use of asphyxiating gas as a weapon. of this odious and unexpected form of warfare the canadians were the first victims, but withstood the surprise with a cool heroism which saved the day. there were other battles of ypres, and all the land around was saturated with the blood of heroes. so this "low and hollow ground," stiffened with our dead, is holy soil to the british race. the king chose fitly to render there his homage to the dead of the belgian army who on the yser held the left flank of the line through all the years of bitter fighting for ypres. on his way to the menin gate of ypres city, the king directed the cars to turn aside to the town cemetery, that he might stand silent for a few moments by the graves of prince maurice of battenberg, lord charles mercer-nairne, major the hon. w. cadogan, and other officers, some of those of his own personal friends whom the war claimed, and whose graves lie among those of their men, marked by the same simple memorials. * * * * * ypres to-day is no longer a mass of shell-shattered ruins. the work of reconstruction has been carried on earnestly, and thousands of new houses have been built. but nothing can ever restore the mediæval beauty of the city which grew like a noble wood in carved stone on the flanders plain. the ruins of the cloth hall will remain as the monument of the old city which was once a world's capital for those who wove wool into fine cloth. the old ramparts at the menin gate--stout walls which provided security for the british signallers even in the most furious bombardments--will remain as another monument, an effective symbol of the british army at ypres, very sorely battered, but still holding secure. it is proposed by the imperial war graves commission that at the menin gate there should be a memorial to those of the empire's armies who fell in this area but have no known graves. it will crown these ramparts with a great double arch, enclosing a vaulted hall, in which will be recorded the names of all those lost in the neighbouring battle-fields whose bodies have not been recovered and identified. the design provides that the arch facing menin, where once the foe was drawn up, will be surmounted by the great figure of a lion alert in defence, the arch facing ypres by some other symbolical sculpture. * * * * * the king was met at the menin gate by representatives of the belgian government and army, by major michelet and m. lorel of the belgian graves services, and by the burgomaster of ypres. the industrious re-builders of ypres paused from their work for an hour and assembled to give him a hearty greeting. the king entrusted a chaplet of palms and bay leaves with a spray of red roses in memory of the belgian dead to major michelet. he then congratulated the burgomaster on the progress his citizens were making with the work of reconstruction. sir reginald blomfield, architect of the memorial at the menin gate, submitted to the king the designs and plans of the monument. his majesty emphasised the need that the names inscribed should be clear to all to read. * * * * * leaving the menin gate, the king passed by the ruins of the cloth hall and of the cathedral, noting the irreparable loss to the world through the destruction of these magnificent examples of flemish architecture. it was observed that the drivers found it somewhat difficult to find a way through the new ypres which is growing up under the industrious hands of the belgian population. ypres, the "museum city" of , is known to many. the "wipers" of , a tumble of desolation through which the soldiers passed under constant shell fire by burrowed paths, became familiar to almost every british regiment. but this new, re-building ypres is a stranger. the route of the pilgrimage went from ypres to vlamertinghe, passing on the way the british cemetery behind ypres reservoir, the asylum british cemetery, the cemetery on the dickebusch road, and the railway château cemetery. at vlamertinghe military cemetery the king stopped and, as has already been noted, visited the canadian graves with the high commissioner for canada, as well as paying his tribute to the many british buried there. this cemetery, between poperinghe and ypres, was begun by the french troops, then holding part of the line here. it contains , graves of british soldiers, of canadian, of australian, of south african, of soldiers of the royal newfoundland regiment, one of an indian soldier, and one of an unknown soldier. very many of the british graves are of territorial dead. there are, for example, nearly lancashire territorials buried there: those splendid men who proved, both in gallipoli and france, that the town-bred population of the mother country was fit, in courage and endurance, to rank with the historic regiments of the line and with the young giants from the oversea dominions. * * * * * from vlamertinghe, along the granite-set roads which were for years pounded by our ammunition wagons and supply trains, but the dust arising from which now proclaims the works of peace as the country-folk drive their carts loaded with bricks and timber for re-building, the king went on to the hop store cemetery, greeted everywhere with cordial sympathy. hop store village was used from time to time as headquarters both by our heavy artillery and by our field ambulances. the site of the cemetery is on a marshy patch of ground, but it was drained by the royal engineers early in , and recently a moat has been constructed on three sides. it holds of our dead. from hop store the king went on to brandhoek, which was a comparatively safe area during the war, and therefore a post for field ambulances. the old military cemetery, which the king visited, was opened in may, , in a field adjoining the dressing station, and was closed in july, . it shelters the bodies of soldiers from the home country, from canada, from australia, and of the bermuda volunteer rifle corps. in july, , the military cemetery was opened yards away, and in august, , a third cemetery was opened. poperinghe was next visited. this agricultural town on the road between ypres and hazebrouck, situated among hopfields and dairy farms, was a haven of rest in the early days of the war. although occasionally bombarded at long range, it was the nearest town to ypres which was reasonably safe. it was at first a casualty clearing station centre. later, in , when shell fire increased, it was decided to move back the casualty clearing station to a safer zone, and poperinghe became a field ambulance station. the earliest british graves at poperinghe are in the communal cemetery, a walled graveyard at the entrance to the town. the old military cemetery was made in the course of the first battle of ypres, and was closed (so far as british burials were concerned) in may, . the new military cemetery was made in june, . it contains the graves of soldiers from the home country, from canada, from australia, from new zealand, and of the british west indies regiment. lijssenthoek was the last of the cemeteries on belgian soil visited. this cemetery is at remy siding, on the south side of the hazebrouck-ypres railway line, between poperinghe and abeele. the site was first used for burials by a french military hospital, and there is a group of french graves on what is now the eastern boundary of the cemetery. the earliest british burial dates from june, . this cemetery had to be repeatedly enlarged as the campaign levied its toll on our forces. it now contains , british and dominion graves, french, belgian, american, and chinese. the majority of burials took place from the canadian casualty clearing stations at remy. of the french graves, are those of unknown soldiers and will remain in the cemetery. * * * * * going out of belgium to france the sun was shining and the graciousness of nature, covering with herb and blossom the ulcers of the old battle-fields, made this corner of flanders seem a fair and human country. for those who now saw the district for the first time, the concrete forts lying like the bleached skeletons of strange monsters in the fields, and the serried ranks of the graves, coming up in line after line to give their mute witness, told something of what it cost to hold the ypres salient. but the king knew all that it had been in the long dark winters of the war, when the very abomination of desolation brooded over it, and in its pools of slime his soldiers struggled and choked that the fields of england might be kept free of the foe. he did not hide from those with him that the memory of it weighed heavy on him and that in his mind, with pride in the thought of such superhuman devotion, there was a passionate hope that never again in the world's history would men be called upon to suffer as these men had suffered. speaking, too, of the cemeteries, where general and private rest side by side beneath the same simple stones, equal in the honour of their death for duty's sake, he agreed that this was the only possible way. [illustration: notre dame de lorette the king meeting marshal foch] [illustration: notre dame de lorette saluting the french colour party] [illustration: notre dame de lorette saluting the french colour party] [illustration: notre dame de lorette the french guard of honour] [illustration: notre dame de lorette the king and marshal foch] [illustration: notre dame de lorette "_i have come to lay a wreath in homage on the tombs of french heroes who have fallen for their country_"] [illustration: notre dame de lorette the silence and the salute to the dead] [illustration: notre dame de lorette the brow of the hill overlooking the ridge the king with marshal foch, general weygand and field-marshal earl haig] [illustration: inspection of gardeners] [illustration: forceville cemetery] [illustration: forceville] [illustration: forceville the king speaking to the mayor] [illustration: louvencourt] [illustration] [illustration: louvencourt a travelling gardening party] [illustration: picquigny where a number of australians lie] [illustration: crouy british cemetery the king talking to two bereaved australian relatives] iii: "_it was bare and hilly ground where once the bread-corn grew._" in the evening of may the king passed from belgium into france on his way to vimy, which had been chosen as the resting-place for the night. as the train arrived at hazebrouck, the first stop after crossing the frontier, the prefect of the nord, together with the maire of hazebrouck, received his majesty. the maire (m. l'abbé lemire) is a figure known to every soldier who passed through hazebrouck during the war; not only had he been a constant friend to all ranks of the british army, but his courageous and imperturbable control of his townspeople during the early days of will always be remembered in the history of the war. the journey through the stricken area of french flanders was full of memories of heroic resolution and accomplishment. those fields yonder were tilled during the war by the french--the old men, women, and children--under the guns of the enemy, the plough-share's orderly cutting of the soil now and again interrupted as exploding shells dug their pits, but the stubborn peasants going on with their toil. those same fields, later, knew at its best the practical heroism of the british soldier (is not that the dominant characteristic of the british race, its power to bring the highest courage to the common labour of life?). the german onrush had brought areas (which the french had cultivated under shell fire) within the zone of the front line and the civilians had to be sent back. since every ear of wheat was precious at that time, the british army organized to save this part of the french harvest, and actually reaped the product of eighteen thousand acres. it was gallant work, chiefly done by fighting men between their turns in the trenches. when an area was under the direct fire and close observation of the enemy the crop was cut at night. when the enemy used gas shells to prevent the work, the soldier reapers went on with their task in gas masks. one area of six acres of corn was so close to the enemy trenches that the idea of saving it seemed desperate. but one night seventeen volunteers with hand scythes cleared the whole of it in the three hours of darkness that were available. this, more perhaps than any deeds done in the heat and ardour of battle, impressed the french farmers and set in their minds an imperishable memory of the gallant friendliness of the british. * * * * * coming to vimy and looking out on its ridge, the king bethought of the great battle in which his canadian troops had won this key-position, and telegraphed to lord byng, the present governor-general of canada, and before in command of the canadian corps, the following message of thankfulness and congratulation:-- "i have just spent the night at vimy. my thoughts are with you." it was a right royal remembrance which delighted canada. * * * * * the first act of the king on may was to pay his homage to the dead of the armies of france, and he passed through the torn and shattered country at its base to notre dame de lorette, the great bastion hill which was the centre of the allies' resistance in the north. noticing that his train would pass by it, he had written personally to marshal foch asking him to meet him there, so that the great commander might be at his side when he paid his homage. to the french people notre dame de lorette is _la colline sacrée_ of the great war. it was the key for the defence of flanders and artois, the most bitterly contested strong point on french soil, not excepting verdun. for twelve continuous months, without a day's interruption, one battle raged round the hill. every yard of its soil bears shell scars and has been dyed with noble blood. altogether, over , men gave up their lives around this hallowed hill, and it was the most fitting place for the king to pay his homage to the noble dead of the french army. nor is notre dame de lorette without its proud memories for the british army, which held for long the artois line of defences. hardly one of the many thousands of british officers who served in the royal regiment of artillery during the great war but who has at one time "observed" for his guns from lorette. all the batteries, field and heavy, for miles around were directed from the observation posts on the hill, which gave a great range of view, north and south, so far behind the enemy lines that the housing of his balloons and the movements of his railways could be followed. as it stands to-day, lorette has been cleared of much of its timber and is thicketed with the clustering crosses of the french cemeteries. it is intended to erect upon it a memorial to the dead of the artois and flanders fronts. the design by m. louis cordonnier, an architect of lille (which was shown by him to the king), provides for a basilica on the spot where once was built the chapel of notre dame de lorette. one hundred metres from the basilica will be built a beacon tower which will show a perpetual light visible for fifty miles around, reminding the miner and agriculturist and trader of future generations with what great sacrifice their country was held free. * * * * * the king, reaching notre dame de lorette, walked up the steep slope of the hill to a little plateau, in the centre of the thickly clustered french graves, where he was met by marshal foch, general weygand (the marshal's chief of staff), general lacapelle, commanding the first army corps, and m. cauzel, prefect of the pas-de-calais. "i have come," said the king as he took marshal foch by the hand, "to lay a wreath in homage on the tombs of french heroes who have fallen for their country." the trumpets sounded a salute as the king arrived and inspected the french guard of honour, and then with marshal foch he walked along the lines of white wooden crosses of the cemetery. the king came back to the centre of the hill, where will be erected the memorial to the dead, and, addressing marshal foch, said: "i am happy, m. le maréchal, that you are by my side at this moment, when i come to place this wreath in deserved homage to the heroic soldiers of france." on a mound over which flew the french flag he placed his chaplet of red roses, palm and bay, bearing the simple inscription, "from king george v,-- th may, ," then stood for two minutes silent at the salute, marshal foch and field-marshal earl haig on either side. deeply moved was the king and those around him. all the tragedy and all the heroism which notre dame de lorette symbolizes rose up before the mind. at the king's feet stretched, in row after row, the tombs of the french, who lost almost a complete generation of their glorious youth in defence of their country. beyond the line of tombs showed for miles and miles devastated france--the ruins which had been great manufacturing towns, the wastes which had been fertile fields, the dusty stains on the landscape which had been smiling villages, the tangles of splintered stumps which had been fruitful trees. here was the record of the scientifically considered, the systematically prepared, the meticulously executed ruin of france; and these graves were of those who stemmed the wave of that hideous desolation. leaving the cemetery and walking on a little distance, the king, marshal foch, and earl haig took their stand on a commanding point of the hill and discussed the strategy of the campaign. marshal foch and earl haig talked over some of the great actions of the war, pointing out to the king various points the names of which are household words to-day--souchez, vimy, the labyrinth, loos, lens, and those betraying dumps of the coal pits which caused the loss of so many a soldier. the king listened with keen interest and was clearly delighted at the cordial comradeship of the two great soldiers. he turned to them at one point with the confident query: "_toujours bons amis, n'est ce pas?_" marshal foch replied with fervour: "_toujours, toujours, pour les mêmes causes et les mêmes raisons_," and grasped earl haig's hand. as the two marshals clasped hands in the grip of comradeship the king placed his hand over theirs. a scene to be remembered for all time, the making of that pledge and its sealing with the king's hand on the sacred hill of notre dame de lorette. leaving the hill, the king and his party proceeded by car in the direction of albert, going through the mining villages, still mostly ruins, but busy now again with useful industry. the route followed passed such well-known places as souchez and mont st. eloy. the day being a crowded one, there was no time to stop in the ruined town of arras, but with the thought which characterized all the arrangements which the french had made, the prefect had detailed a guard of cyclists to meet the cars at the entrance to the town. they conducted the king's car through arras, passing all the chief points in the town which had suffered from the enemy's fire. from thence the king went on to bapaume, warlencourt, and le sars, seeing again the somme battle-field, the scene of the first great british offensive attack in the summer of . it was there the new armies were put to the crucial test and proved that they were worthy to take up and guard the tradition of the old regular army. in many hundreds of thousands of british homes to-day the battle of the somme is the greatest memory of the campaign, for it marked the end of the wearisome trench war, the first move to drive the enemy from out of the land he had invaded, though he had made of it, as he thought, an invincible fortress. they can remember the joy they had in the heartening roar of our guns as they prepared the attack, the multitudinous clamour of the field guns, the sharp scream of the -inch guns which reared their monstrous throats by street corners of albert, the deep note, as of a giant's cough, of the -inch howitzers, pushing out shells as big almost as mines. bitter was the fighting on the somme, most bitter when in moving to the attack the infantry encountered rain and the chalky downs became as grease under their feet. but there was the exultant feeling of advancing, of winning back day by day a little bit of france. the somme heartened the british soldier with the knowledge that impregnableness had lost its meaning, heartened them, too, with the knowledge that our air force had won supremacy in the air, and now could blind the enemy at will by driving his aeroplanes and observation balloons out of the sky. passing by several cemeteries and battle exploit memorials erected by both home and dominion units, the party reached albert, from the ruined cathedral tower of which a great statue of the virgin and child hung perilously through years of the war. it was said that, when it fell, the war would end; and in truth it did not fall until the end was near. a halt at albert had not been arranged, but the king, noting a party of workers of the war graves commission in a camp there, stopped and talked with the men. the afternoon was occupied in visiting cemeteries in the surrounding districts. * * * * * for the somme victories we paid heavy price, as the crowding somme cemeteries show. the king visited of these:-- warlencourt.--this cemetery is yards north of the butte de warlencourt, across the albert-bapaume road. it is entirely a concentration cemetery, begun towards the end of . it includes the graves brought from the original cemeteries at hexham road, le sars, and seven elms, flers, as well as over , british graves due to the fighting which took place around the butte de warlencourt from the autumn of to the spring of , and again in the german advance and retreat of . warloy-baillon.--there are two cemeteries at the village of that name. the communal cemetery is on the east of the village and the extension is in an apple orchard on the eastern side of the cemetery. the apple trees around the graves, in blossom on this spring day, made the burial ground very beautiful. all the cemeteries of france and belgium have in common a noble simplicity of design, but each one has some particular feature. one is beautiful with orchard trees; another is graced with rose trees; of another sentinel poplars are a feature; of another the shroud-like cypresses. in every case the planning of a cemetery, its alignment, the site of the cross of sacrifice, and the stone of remembrance, its plantations and walls, are designed by the architects to harmonize with the natural features of the country. not often on the french and belgian sites has it been possible to attain the supreme loveliness of some of the italian cemeteries, but all are beautiful. the first british burial took place in the warloy-baillon communal cemetery in october, , and the last on july st, . by that date field ambulances had come to the village in readiness for the attack on the german line, five miles away, and the extension was begun. there are buried in the extension soldiers from the home country, from australia, from canada, and unknown. the communal cemetery records british burials. forceville.--this cemetery is to the west of the village of forceville, about twelve miles from doullens and six miles from albert. in british troops of the third army took over the area from the french. in february, , a field ambulance was established in the village, and it was followed by others until the end of july, . early in august, , additional land to the south of the communal cemetery was enclosed to provide space for military graves. this land is enclosed by a low wall and a hedge. some of the old poplar trees have been preserved and fragrant lime trees planted (the lime-tree avenues of amiens will be recalled by the troops on whom they showered their perfume as they went forward for the first battle of the somme). louvencourt.--the military cemetery here is south-east of the village, which is midway between albert and doullens. the french soldiers' graves dated june and july, , mark the end of the french occupation of the allied front on the somme. the british graves cover the period from july, , to july, . louvencourt military cemetery is enclosed by a great stone wall and the paths are stone paved. the cross of sacrifice is placed at the entrance. the stone of remembrance is at the east side of the cemetery, and the steps of it command a wide view over the north country. the cemetery holds british dead. picquigny.--there are here a communal cemetery and a british military cemetery. the historic town (where a treaty of peace between france and england was signed in ) lies in the valley of the somme river, on the main road between abbeville and amiens. during the first four years of the war picquigny was on lines of communication, and the ten british soldiers who died in or near the town were buried in the communal cemetery. at the end of march, , casualty clearing stations were brought to picquigny, and the british cemetery was opened a little west of the town. it shelters soldiers from the home country, from australia, one from canada and one unknown, and one french soldier. crouy.--the british cemetery here is about half a mile south of the village, near the amiens-abbeville main road. it was opened in april, , when the enemy advance sent two casualty clearing stations to the village. in october, , the graves from the british cemetery at riviere, a few miles nearer abbeville, were brought to crouy. there are now buried in crouy soldiers from the home country, from australia, from canada and one of the british west indies regiment, labourers of the indian labour corps, and french soldiers. longprÃ�-les-corps saints.--the village owes its name to relics sent from the holy land by the founder of the church in the twelfth century. in april, , there was opened a british cemetery. it was closed before the end of the month, and the present cemetery opened about half a mile south of the village. in may, , the graves from the first cemetery were moved to it. the cemetery now contains british graves, australians, and one french. * * * * * on this day, during the morning and afternoon, the only bad weather occurred, but the rainstorms did not in any way deter the king from carrying out the programme which he had determined on. at all the cemeteries visited in the afternoon there were striking demonstrations of affection by the country people. the smaller cemeteries were surrounded by the villagers, five or six deep, the children standing on the low walls, the king as he inspected the graves passing close to them. all maintained an attitude of sympathetic reverence. the king, who was evidently moved, showed on many occasions how he felt himself among friends and was visibly interested in the little children who stared round-eyed at "the king of the british soldiers." as the train steamed into picquigny station, the bishop of amiens was seen standing with his clergy on the platform, having come out from amiens, specially and without interfering with the privacy of the pilgrimage, sympathetically to greet our king. the bishop reminded his majesty that the last time a king of england had come to picquigny was in , when edward iv agreed there on a treaty of peace with the french king. king george v must have been interested to remember the piquant contrast between then and now, for when in edward met louis at picquigny a close fence was built across a bridge "with no longer intervals than would allow the arm to pass," and the two kings came from opposite sides to meet and confer under those precautions of mistrust. now a british king moved among the people of france with no guard but their respect and love for him and his army. [illustration: etaples inspecting south african graves] [illustration: etaples inspecting newfoundland graves] [illustration: etaples the king reading the letter from a bereaved mother asking the queen to place a bunch of forget-me-nots on her son's grave] [illustration: etaples the king placing the forget-me-nots on the grave] [illustration: etaples at the stone of remembrance] [illustration: general view of etaples the king and dominion representatives] [illustration: etaples examining plans of constructional work] [illustration] [illustration: meerut indian cemetery inspecting indian graves] [illustration: terlincthun the last post "_they lie in the keeping of a tried and generous friend, a resolute and chivalrous comrade-in-arms, who, with ready and quick sympathy has set aside for ever the soil in which they sleep, so that we ourselves and our descendants may for all time reverently tend and preserve their resting-places._"] [illustration: terlincthun the french guard of honour at the cross of sacrifice] [illustration: terlincthun the king placing a wreath on the cross of sacrifice] [illustration: terlincthun the silence and the salute at the cross] [illustration: terlincthun the king's address "_and the last land he found it was fair and level ground about a carven stone, and a stark sword brooding on the bosom of the cross where high and low are one._"] [illustration: terlincthun general de castelnau's reply] [illustration: terlincthun procession to the stone of remembrance] [illustration: terlincthun procession to the stone of remembrance "_all that they had they gave--they gave_"] [illustration: terlincthun the queen laying a wreath on the stone of remembrance] [illustration: terlincthun the salute at the stone of remembrance] [illustration: terlincthun the queen at the graves] [illustration: terlincthun the queen at the graves] [illustration: terlincthun the stone of remembrance with the queen's wreath "_their name liveth for evermore_"] [illustration: terlincthun napoleon's column in the background "_and here ... the shadow of his monument falling almost across their graves, the greatest of french soldiers--of all soldiers--stands guard over them_"] [illustration: leaving etaples] [illustration: "_in the course of my pilgrimage i have many times asked myself whether there can be more potent advocates of peace upon earth through the years to come than this massed multitude of silent witnesses to the desolation of war_"] iv: "_and there lay gentlemen from out of all the seas._" on the evening of may the king's train left longpré and went down to the coast. the night was spent at etaples, a fishing port at the mouth of the river canche, which has figured since many centuries back in the history of the british empire, and now is the site of what has come to be known as our "empire cemetery" in france. when the romans were bringing in the path of their legions order and civilization into europe--misfortunately thwarted by forest or bog or sea from reaching some countries, which have suffered from the fact since--they had their chief naval station for northern gaul at the mouth of the canche. this station, no doubt, julius cæsar used in his expedition against britain. later, when carausius, a roman briton, revolted against the roman empire, he won the command of the english channel with his fleet and maintained for some time an independent britain, assuming the state of cæsar and founding a roman-british empire. the _classis britannica_ of the roman empire had had its chief station on the canche. with the revolt of carausius there was no longer a "british fleet" of the roman empire, and the _classis samarica_ (the fleet of the somme) took its place and had as its task to hold the coasts of gaul for the roman power against the british carausius. this fleet of the somme also had its base on the canche. doubtless in the very early years of the christian era there was many a naval action between the british sea forces and those of the romans stationed on the canche. etaples is thus linked with the memory of carausius, the man who first taught england that her fate depended on the holding of the narrow seas. etaples during the great war was for long our chief hospital centre. in the middle of the coast base line, having good railway communications with most points, within sight and smell of the sea, the sand dunes around etaples were ideal for hospital hutments. to the etaples hospitals there came wounded from every battle-field. to them there came also in the attacking air squadrons of the enemy, which accounts in part for the number of nurses and other medical personnel buried in etaples cemetery. one hospital at etaples was set on fire and destroyed by the enemy. these aircraft attacks on the etaples hospitals came in june, , when the enemy concentrated his strategy on trying to cripple our means of supply. they inflicted grave embarrassment on our high command, for, at a time when material was very scanty and lines of transport very congested, we had to construct new hospitals elsewhere and move patients and staff. that was probably the effect aimed at. the difference, from an enemy point of view, in bombing a camp and a hospital is this: if you bomb a camp, you kill a few men, but the camp does not move; if you bomb a hospital, you kill a few patients, nurses, and doctors, and you force the hospital to move (if it can move) to a safer place. but to the end of the war some hospitals remained because it was impossible to move them. in the hospitals at etaples (which included eleven general, one stationary, and four red cross hospitals and a convalescent depot) could deal with , wounded or sick. the earliest burial in the cemetery dates from may, . the graves to-day number more than , . of these, , were from the overseas dominions, divided as follows: canada, , ; australia, ; new zealand, ; south africa, ; west indies, ; india, ; and newfoundland, . the site of etaples cemetery is very beautiful. it rises from the margin of the sea in three great terraces, in the middle one of which is the stone of remembrance and on the highest the cross of sacrifice, standing up stark against a grove of pine trees. from the cemetery the valley of the canche flows up to the walls of montreuil-sur-mer, which was the general headquarters of the british army from until the close of the war. it was early when the king arrived at etaples cemetery. the sea was a soft flood of silver grey in the morning light, and its salt breath, which is the very vigour of our british blood, came up sharp and strong to meet the smell of the pines, which is the smell of a ship's cordage. a seemly place for the graves of a sailor race. outside the gates of etaples cemetery, the mayor of etaples and the sub-prefect of montreuil greeted the king, and there were presented to him french veterans of the great war and of the war of . the king remained a few moments talking with them and with two anzac motor drivers, who are of the very small band of the australian army corps still remaining in france. the king had expressed the wish that at this cemetery he should meet representatives of the dominions and visit with them the graves of their fellow-countrymen. accordingly, on entering the cemetery, the king was met by the hon. p. c. larkin, high commissioner for canada; sir james allen, high commissioner for new zealand; sir edgar bowring, high commissioner for newfoundland; lieutenant-colonel g. j. hogben and colonel f. r. collins, representing australia and south africa respectively in the absence of their high commissioners at the genoa conference. with each of these in turn the king visited the graves of their dominions, and spoke to them in proud appreciation of the gallant aid that the children nations of the empire had given to the mother country. that this imperial cemetery should stand by the side of the sea, the communicating bond of the world-girdling british race, was referred to as the fitting thing. before leaving, the king showed, by an act of simple homage at the grave of a soldier, his feeling of kinship with those comrades of his who had fallen in the war. a woman in the west of england had written to the queen, as one mother to another, begging that she might lay on the tomb of her dead son, sergeant matthew, r.a.s.c., in etaples cemetery, a spray of forget-me-nots which she enclosed. the queen was unable to be present (she arrived later from belgium), but confided the mission to the king. he had brought with him the letter, and carried out reverently, dutifully the pious task, taking care, accompanied by mr. harry gosling and the gardener, to find the grave and, bending down in homage, to place upon it the mother's flowers. standing by his side was sir james allen, the high commissioner for new zealand, who had lost a son in gallipoli. going up, then, to the cross of sacrifice, the king looked long out over the marshalled graves to the sea, and turned back towards the pine wood which encloses the cemetery on the east. from etaples cemetery the king and his party returned to the train, and then proceeded along the coastline to wimereux station, where they again took car and visited meerut cemetery, which commemorates the devotion of india to the king emperor. here rest men of every rank and every caste and every race of india who crossed the black water to fight for their emperor. this cemetery, austere, remote, dark cypresses breaking the line of its turf, with no flower nor western symbol of remembrance and hope, records the british respect for whatever form the aspiration towards god takes in the human heart. the king was met by general sir alexander cobbe, v.c., representing the secretary of state for india, and the mayor of the commune of st. martin, in which commune the cemetery is situated. it was pointed out to the king that some native soldiers and followers were commemorated after the disposition of their bodies according to their creeds. the headstones had been erected by the indian soldiers' fund, the walls around the cemetery by the war office. the king inquired as to a central memorial in the cemetery, and was told that probably a great war stone would be erected in the centre, and that in erecting headstones where required the war graves commission would follow the same pattern as already existed in the cemetery. he suggested that the crematorium might be now removed, and showed in other ways his deep interest that all the sentiments should be respected of the kinfolk of these men, of race and religion apart from our own but united to us in the bond of a common sacrifice. * * * * * now had come the last stage of the king's pilgrimage. already outside the port of boulogne there was assembled a squadron of french destroyers to escort him out of french waters, and further at sea a british squadron waited to take over the guard. for all that their task to-day was to be one of honour and ceremony, they could abate nothing of that eager, crouching-forward attitude, and they seemed to sniff at every wave for a submarine. they waited, hunters become courtiers, but the king for a time turned his back to them, his duty not yet accomplished. he had seen the graves of his sailors, soldiers, and airmen who had held to their trust by sea and land and air, from the gates of ypres to the banks of the somme; had mourned at their loss and had thrilled with the pride of their courage. now he went his way to the high terlincthun cemetery, by napoleon's column on the boulogne cliffs, to say to his people what was in his mind. of all the war cemeteries in france there is none more nobly planned than this of terlincthun. it is set at the foot of napoleon's column, where rested the right wing of the grand army when its face was turned towards england. but the guardian sea lay between. it is on record that there was offered to france a plan of conquering the channel passage by the use of submarine boats; and refused on the ground that the sentiment of humanity would not tolerate the use of such a weapon even against warships. "it seems impossible," wrote the french minister for marine, admiral pleville de pelley in , "to serve a commission as belligerents to men who employ such a method of destroying the fleets of the enemy." the british dead can rest content and comradely beneath the monument of so gallant a foe. from its high wind-swept cliff, terlincthun cemetery looks over the english channel, and on a clear day the white cliffs of our coast shine out in the distance. the stone of remembrance faces towards home, the cross of sacrifice, bearing its great bronze sword, looks towards the old enemy lines. between, like guardian walls, are ranked the lines of grave-stones, and around them flower-beds carpeted in this season with the foliage of wallflowers. happy was the choice of this flower for a soldiers' grave-yard, since it loves to spread its tapestry of gold and red over ramparts. the cemetery shelters , dead. they are in almost all cases men who died at the base hospitals at boulogne and wimereux. but some are the bodies of british seamen washed up on the coast and buried here. many graves are of royal air force members. the graves of the empire dead number , of the home country, canadian, australian, new zealand, newfoundland, one south african, one guernsey, south african native, and west indian native. in addition, there are american graves, italian, russian, polish, serbian, and of unknown nationality. for this, the crowning act of homage, the king was joined by the queen, who had travelled that morning from brussels. with the royal party were admiral the earl beatty and field-marshal the earl haig (who jointly represented the navy, the army, and the air force). at the gate of the cemetery the king and queen were received by general de castelnau, representing the french army; m. cauzel, prefect of the département of pas-de-calais; admiral barthes, naval prefect of cherbourg; general lacapelle, commanding the first army corps; general philippeau, commanding the second army corps; mgr. julien, bishop of arras; m. de lavergne, k.b.e.; m. lahan, sub-prefect of boulogne; the mayor of boulogne, and other french officials, and the members of the imperial war graves commission, whom it was his majesty's expressed desire to meet at the close of his pilgrimage. mr. herbert baker, the architect who designed the cemetery, and captain a. w. hill, d.sc., were also present. among the french officials was m. le sous-intendant bezombes, c.b.e., who is the administrative head of the french government services dealing with their own war graves. all who realize the extent of the french losses can understand what a tremendous task falls to him; but he has never been too busy to help our commission in overcoming any of their difficulties. one of the first acts of the king, after his arrival, was to express to m. bezombes and his staff the deep and sincere gratitude of the british empire for their ungrudging support and sympathy in this work. the citizens of boulogne had assembled around the cemetery and gave the king and queen a cordial greeting. within the open space before the cross of sacrifice were gathered many relatives of the dead, members of the british colony and of the staff of the imperial war graves commission, and a number of french sympathisers. king george and queen mary, passing through an aisle between the serried ranks of graves, advanced to the cross of sacrifice, and the king placed at its foot his chaplet of red roses, palms, and bay, and stood at the salute. the french guard of honour, clean, clear-cut figures in their helmets of classic line, recalling the roman legionaries, came to the salute, and for two hushed minutes, even as our whole realm stands for two minutes on each th of november, all thoughts were given up to the memory of the dead. still standing at the cross of sacrifice, the king turned his face then towards the stone of remembrance, both in direct alignment with napoleon's column, which closed the perspective, and, his voice vibrant with emotion, but under rigid control, delivered his message to his people over all the seas, in the name of the queen and of himself:-- for the past few days i have been on a solemn pilgrimage in honour of a people who died for all free men. at the close of that pilgrimage, on which i followed ways already marked by many footsteps of love and pride and grief, i should like to send a message to all who have lost those dear to them in the great war, and in this the queen joins me to-day, amidst these surroundings so wonderfully typical of that single-hearted assembly of nations and of races which form our empire. for here, in their last quarters, lie sons of every portion of that empire, across, as it were, the threshold of the mother island which they guarded that freedom might be saved in the uttermost ends of the earth. for this, a generation of our manhood offered itself without question, and almost without the need of a summons. those proofs of virtue, which we honour here to-day, are to be found throughout the world and its waters--since we can truly say that the whole circuit of the earth is girdled with the graves of our dead. beyond the stately cemeteries of france, across italy, through eastern europe in wellnigh unbroken chain they stretch, passing over the holy mount of olives itself to the farthest shores of the indian and pacific oceans--from zeebrugge to coronel, from dunkirk to the hidden wildernesses of east africa. but in this fair land of france, which sustained the utmost fury of the long strife, our brothers are numbered, alas! by hundreds of thousands. they lie in the keeping of a tried and generous friend, a resolute and chivalrous comrade-in-arms, who with ready and quick sympathy has set aside for ever the soil in which they sleep, so that we ourselves and our descendants may for all time reverently tend and preserve their resting-places. and here, at terlincthun, the shadow of his monument falling almost across their graves, the greatest of french soldiers--of all soldiers--stands guard over them. and this is just, for, side by side with the descendants of his incomparable armies, they defended his land in defending their own. never before in history have a people thus dedicated and maintained individual memorials to their fallen, and, in the course of my pilgrimage, i have many times asked myself whether there can be more potent advocates of peace upon earth through the years to come, than this massed multitude of silent witnesses to the desolation of war. and i feel that, so long as we have faith in god's purposes, we cannot but believe that the existence of these visible memorials will, eventually, serve to draw all peoples together in sanity and self-control, even as it has already set the relations between our empire and our allies on the deep-rooted bases of a common heroism and a common agony. standing beneath this cross of sacrifice, facing the great stone of remembrance, and compassed by these sternly simple headstones, we remember, and must charge our children to remember, that, as our dead were equal in sacrifice, so are they equal in honour, for the greatest and the least of them have proved that sacrifice and honour are no vain things, but truths by which the world lives. many of the cemeteries i have visited in the remoter and still desolate districts of this sorely stricken land, where it has not yet been possible to replace the wooden crosses by headstones, have been made into beautiful gardens which are lovingly cared for by comrades of the war. i rejoice i was fortunate enough to see these in the spring, when the returning pulse of the year tells of unbroken life that goes forward in the face of apparent loss and wreckage; and i fervently pray that, both as nations and individuals, we may so order our lives after the ideals for which our brethren died, that we may be able to meet their gallant souls once more, humbly but unashamed. general de castelnau responded with like eloquence and feeling. two sentences of his reply voiced a sacred pledge:-- nous garderons religieusement le dépôt sacré confié à notre dévotion, ici, à terlincthun, comme dans toutes les nécropoles du front qui, de boulogne à belfort, jalonnent dans un funèbre alignement la voie sacrée, le calvaire des souffrances, des agonies et des deuils gravi la main dans la main par les valeureux combattants de nos deux nations. et lorsque chargé des parfums de la patrie toute proche, le vent du large apportera à ces tombes la douce caresse du foyer natal, il se confondra avec le souffle de piété tendre et fidèle dont sont pénétrés toutes les âmes et tous les coeurs français pour les héros de l'angleterre et de la france qui, tombés côte à côte au champ d'honneur, dorment côte à côte à l'ombre d'austères forêts de croix de bois élevant vers le ciel leurs bras de miséricorde et d'espérance. general de castelnau then laid at the foot of the cross of sacrifice a wreath in the name of the anglo-french committee of our war graves commission, and general lacapelle another in the name of the french army. one more act of homage was to be made. the king and queen, passing slowly through the cemetery, ascended the steps to the stone of remembrance and then, bending lowly, the queen placed before the stone, over which was draped the union jack--the merited pall of a soldier's tomb--a wreath of rosemary for remembrance, and carnations, these last of the colour which takes its name from the stricken battle-field of magenta. the french guard of honour saluted, lowering their standard. its colours, mingled with the colours of our flag and with the deep purple of the queen's tribute, suffused the white stone as with heroes' blood. the king and those around him saluted, while from the bugles of the coldstream and grenadier guards, posted near the great napoleon's column, there came the sound, as of a long-drawn-out sigh, of "the last post." there is no music, of all the music of the world, that so brings home to the soldier's heart, proud sorrow, healing consolation. in the daily round of his dutiful work "the last post" comes to tell him of the end of a day of this troublous life, that the shades have lengthened, the evening come, the busy world hushed, his work done, and he may rest. and, when he goes to the graveside to say the last farewell to a comrade who has found for ever peace, he hears again "the last post," to say to him that his mate is not dead, but sleepeth, and will rise again. the common and everyday use of the music takes nothing from its nobility, but constantly communicates its message of immortality so as to make of it a habit of mind. the call of "the last post" ended; and to the closing moment of the king's pilgrimage came a sense of over-powering emotion, which made men look resolutely forward, not wishing to catch their neighbour's glance. the spirits of the mighty army of the dead seemed to marshall in that god's acre, set high on the cliff looking over the sea; come to receive the homage of the king, for whom they died, and to hear that in the land which they saved their names will live for evermore. frank fox. the king's thanks on the point of leaving france, the king sent the following telegram to the president of the french republic:-- i have to-day brought to an end a visit to the graves of my countrymen who gave their lives on the battle-fields of france, and now lie covered by the same blood-stained soil as, alas! so many of their heroic french brothers-in-arms. before leaving boulogne, i desire, monsieur le president, to send to you from a full heart, and speaking in the name of all the people of my empire, a message of profound gratitude for the generous gift of the ground for ever hallowed by the memories of common sorrows and glories. these memories must recall for all time the sentiment of faithful comradeship which inspired those who fell side by side in the great war, and which was bequeathed by them as a sacred legacy to our two nations. i would add an expression of my personal thanks to you, monsieur le president, and to the french people, among whom i have spent these three days, for the touching sympathy with my desire to make this pilgrimage in such privacy as was in harmony with my feeling of reverent affection for the dead and respect for those to whom they are dear. the following message was sent to the king of the belgians: ... may i add how touched i was by the sympathetic attitude of all classes whom i met last thursday, when visiting the graves of our dead resting for ever on belgian soil. the king later caused the following letter to be sent to the vice-chairman of the imperial war graves commission:-- buckingham palace, _may , _. dear sir fabian ware, the king desires me to thank you again for all the admirable arrangements made by you in connection with the visit to the cemeteries in belgium and france, and to congratulate your staff on their excellent work. his majesty was interested to learn the details of the organization of the commission, and is satisfied that, so long as it is superintended by you and those who so loyally assist you, the public here and overseas can rest assured that the graves, wherever they may be, will be properly cared for. the king hopes you will take an opportunity of telling the members of the imperial war graves commission how much he appreciated their presence at the ceremony at terlincthun.[ ] his majesty also wishes you to say that he trusts the high commissioner and other representatives of the dominions will convey to their governments and people the great satisfaction he expressed to them personally at etaples at the care bestowed by the commission on the graves of those who lie so far from their homes. in all the cemeteries visited by his majesty, dominion and british graves lay side by side, and the king assures the people overseas that these graves will be reverently and lovingly guarded. it is a satisfaction to his majesty that the imperial war graves commission has been so constituted that these graves may be honoured for all time. the king was impressed by the ability and efficiency of the gardeners in the service of the commission, and desires that his appreciation may be expressed to them of the manner in which they carry out their precious charge. although the completion of these cemeteries must necessarily take some time, especially in the still-devastated areas, they may continue their work with the full conviction that they are earning the deep gratitude of the relatives and friends of those whose graves they tend. yours sincerely, f. e. g. ponsonby. the high commissioners cabled to the governments and peoples of the dominions the terms of the king's assurance that the graves of their dead will be honoured for all time. footnotes: [ ] the total number of the dead of the british empire in the great war was recently officially stated in the house of commons to be , , distributed as follows:--great britain and ireland, , ; canada, australia, new zealand, south africa, newfoundland, colonies, , ; india, , . [ ] the following are the members of the imperial war graves commission, those marked with a [+] being unavoidably prevented, owing to the genoa conference and other reasons, from personally attending: [+] secretary of state for war (chairman), [+] secretary of state for the colonies, [+] secretary of state for india, [+] first commissioner of works, the hon. peter c. larkin (high commissioner for canada), [+] the right hon. sir joseph cook, g.c.m.g. (high commissioner for australia), the hon. sir james allen, k.c.b. (high commissioner for new zealand), [+] the hon. sir edgar walton, k.c.m.g. (high commissioner for the union of south africa), the hon. sir edgar bowring (high commissioner for newfoundland), sir william garstin, g.c.m.g., g.b.e., harry gosling, esq., c.h., j.p., rudyard kipling, esq., lieutenant-general sir george macdonogh, k.c.b., k.c.m.g., sir robert hudson, g.b.e., vice-admiral sir morgan singer, k.c.v.o., c.b., [+] h. maddocks, esq., k.c., m.f., major-general sir fabian ware, k.c.v.o., k.b.e., c.b., c.m.g. (vice-chairman). transcriber's notes: passages in italics are indicated by _italics_. footnote contains a dagger symbol which is represented in this text version as [+]. produced from images generously made available by cornell university digital collections) transcriber's note: every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible. on page , in "the th reserve division to be taken from the sixth army," "from" is a correction of "fron". italic text has been marked with _underscores_. bold text has been marked with =equals signs=. oe ligatures have been expanded. ypres, mons, and the retreat by captain g. s. gordon with an introduction by field-marshal lord french / _net_. =the evening news.=--'... the true history of those amazing and heroic days, briefly and clearly told by a soldier and an expert.' the marne campaign by lieut. col. f. e. whitton, c.m.g. / _net_. =saturday review.=--'... clear and concise ... gives a much better general impression of the battle of the marne than any other we know.' by field-marshal viscount french of ypres, k.p., o.m., etc. with a preface by marÉchal foch /- _net_. constable and co. ltd., london. ypres, an official account published by order of the german general staff translation by g. c. w. with introduction and notes by the historical section (military branch) committee of imperial defence london constable and company ltd _printed in great britain_ contents page introduction ix german preface xxiii preliminary remarks the theatre of operations the advance of the fourth army the operations of the fourth army, th- st october the attempt to break through south of ypres the operations of the fourth army from the end of october to the th november the last phase conclusion appendix order of battle of the fourth army order of battle of the army group fabeck order of battle of the group gerok order of battle of the army group linsingen index illustrations sketch maps in text page dispositions on th october the attack of the army group fabeck on th october the attack of the army group fabeck on st october the capture of messines on st october the capture of dixmude on th november the attack of the sixth army on th november the attack of the nd guard division on th november introduction the german book of which a translation is here given was written in the autumn of by captain otto schwink, a general staff officer, by order of the chief of the general staff of the field army, and is stated to be founded on official documents. it forms one of a series of monographs, partly projected, partly published, on the various phases of the war, but is the only one that is available dealing with operations in which the british army was engaged. several concerned with the eastern theatre of war have already appeared, and one other entitled 'liÈge-namur,' relating to the western. field-marshal viscount french, in his book ' ,' has said that the period th to st october during the first battle of ypres was 'more momentous and fateful than any other which i directed during my period of service as commander-in-chief in the field. st october and st november will remain for ever memorable in the history of our country, for during those two days no more than a thin and straggling line of tired-out british soldiers stood between the empire and its practical ruin as an independent first-class power.' the german account accentuates the truth of lord french's appreciation of the great peril in which the army and the nation stood. it tells us of the enemy's plans, and of the large forces that he brought up with great skill and secrecy to carry them out, and, generally, to use marshal foch's expression, lets us 'know what was going on in the other fellow's house.' but it does more than that: unconsciously perhaps, it bears convincing testimony to the fighting powers of the british army, the determination of its leaders, the extraordinary effectiveness of the fire of its artillery and of its cavalry and infantry, and the skill of its engineers; for it repeatedly credits field-marshal sir john french with 'reinforcements in abundance,' insists that our troops 'fought desperately for every heap of stones and every pile of bricks before abandoning them,' and definitely records that 'the fact that neither the enemy's commanders nor their troops gave way under the strong pressure we put on them ... gives us the opportunity to acknowledge that there were men of real worth opposed to us who did their duty thoroughly.' we are further told that the effect of our artillery was such that 'it was not possible to push up reserves owing to heavy artillery fire'; that 'all roads leading to the rear were continuously shelled for a long way back'; that the german 'advancing columns were under accurate artillery fire at long range'; that our shells 'blocked streets and bridges and devastated villages so far back that any regular transport of supplies became impossible.' as regards rifle and machine-gun fire, we are credited with 'quantities of machine-guns,' 'large numbers of machine-guns,' etc.; with the result that 'the roads were swept by machine-guns'; and that 'over every bush, hedge and fragment of wall floated a thin film of smoke betraying a machine-gun rattling out bullets.' at that date we had no machine-gun units, and there were only two machine-guns on the establishment of a battalion, and of these many had been damaged, and had not yet been replaced; actually machine-guns were few and far between. the only inference to be drawn is that the rapid fire of the british rifleman, were he infantryman, cavalryman or sapper, was mistaken for machine-gun fire both as regards volume and effect. our simple defences, to complete which both time and labour had been lacking, became in german eyes 'a well-planned maze of trenches,' 'a maze of obstacles and entrenchments'; and we had 'turned every house, every wood and every wall into a strong point'; 'the villages of wytschaete and messines ... had been converted into fortresses' (_festungen_); as also the edge of a wood near gheluvelt and langemarck. as at the last-named place there was only a small redoubt with a garrison of two platoons, and the 'broad wire entanglements' described by the german general staff were in reality but trifling obstacles of the kind that the germans 'took in their stride,'[ ] the lavish praise, were it not for the result of the battle, might be deemed exaggerated. part of it undoubtedly is. it is fair, however, to deduce that the german nation had to be given some explanation why the 'contemptible little army' had not been pushed straightway into the sea. the monograph is frankly intended to present the views that the german general staff wish should be held as regards the battles, and prevent, as their preface says, the currency of 'the legends and rumours which take such an easy hold on the popular imagination and are so difficult, if not impossible, to correct afterwards.' one cannot naturally expect the whole truth to be revealed yet; that it is not will be seen from the notes. the elder von moltke said, when pressed by his nephews to write a true account of - --to their future financial advantage--'it can't be done yet. too many highly placed personages (_hohe herrschaften_) would suffer in their reputations.' it was not until twenty-five years after the franco-prussian war that fritz hönig, kunz and other german military historians who had been given access to the records, were allowed to draw back the veil a little. the publication of the french general staff account began even later. what is now given to us is, however, amply sufficient to follow the main german plans and movements; but the difficulties that prevented the enemy from making successful use of the enormous number of troops at his disposal and his superior equipment in heavy artillery, machine-guns, aeroplanes, hand-grenades and other trench warfare material, are untold. until we learn more we may fairly attribute our victory to the military qualities of the british, french and belgian troops, and the obstinate refusal of all ranks to admit defeat. the german general staff specially claim that the first battle of ypres was a german victory, 'for it marked the failure of the enemy's intention to fall on the rear of our western armies, to free the rich districts of northern france and the whole of belgium,' etc. etc. granted that we did so fail, the battle can, on that general staff's own evidence, be regarded as a drawn one. for it is definitely stated in the monograph that the object of the operations was 'successfully closing with the enemy ... and gaining calais, the aim and object of the campaign'--this the german army notoriously did not do. the intention to break through is repeatedly stated: 'although fresh reinforcements had been sent up by the german general staff ... a break-through had not been possible.' 'another effort to break through should be made as soon as possible.' we are told that fabeck's army group (eventually nine infantry and five cavalry divisions) was formed 'as a strong new army of attack ... for breaking through on the front werwicq-warneton.' linsingen's army group (five divisions) after the failure of von fabeck was formed 'to drive back and crush the enemy lying north of the (comines-ypres) canal ... and to break through there.' finally, however, it is admitted that 'no break-through of the enemy's lines had been accomplished.... we had not succeeded in making the decisive break-through, and the dream of ending the campaign in the west in our favour had to be consigned to its grave.' in fact, the book is largely an apologia and a confession of failure which mere protestations of victory cannot alter. the effects of a german victory on the course of the war, with the channel ports in german hands, as compared with those of an allied victory in flanders, which at that period of the war and at that season of the year could have resulted in little more than pushing the enemy back into belgium a few miles, may be easily imagined. if the battle was a tactical draw, at least we had a strategic balance in our favour. the principal reasons advanced for the german ill-success are 'the enemy's numerical superiority, and the strength of his positions,' and of course the drastic course taken by the belgians of 'calling in the sea to their aid.' there is constant repetition of these pleas throughout the book. to those who were there and saw our 'thin and straggling line' and the hastily constructed and lightly wired defences: mere isolated posts and broken lengths of shallow holes with occasional thin belts of wire, and none of the communication trenches of a later date, they provoke only amazement. even german myopia cannot be the cause of such statements. as regards the superiority of numbers, the following appears to be the approximate state of the case as regards the infantry on the battle front from armentiÈres (inclusive) to the sea dealt with in the monograph. it is necessary to count in battalions, as the germans had two or three with each cavalry division, and the british commander-in-chief enumerates the reinforcements sent up to ypres from the ii and indian corps by battalions, and two territorial battalions, london scottish and hertfordshires, also took part. the total figures are:-- british, french, belgian battalions. german battalions. that is roughly a proportion of allies to germans of to . viscount french in his ' ' says to corps, which is much the same: to as against to , and very different from the german claim of ' divisions to .' actually in infantry divisions the allies had only , even counting as complete the belgian six, which had only the strength of german brigades. any future correction of the figures, when actual bayonets present can be counted, will probably emphasise the german superiority in numbers still more, and the enemy indisputably had the advantage of united command, homogeneous formations and uniform material which were lacking in the allied force. as regards the cavalry the western allies had six divisions, including one of three brigades. the enemy had at least nine, possibly more (one, the guard cavalry division, of three brigades), as it is not clear from the german account how much cavalry was transferred from the sixth army to the fourth army.[ ] it may be noted that a german cavalry division included, with its two or three cavalry brigades, horse artillery batteries and the two or three _jäger_ battalions, three or more machine-gun batteries and two or more companies of cyclists; and was thus, unlike ours, a force of all arms. the german general staff reveal nothing about the exact strength of the artillery. in a footnote it is mentioned that in addition to infantry divisions the iii reserve corps contained siege artillery, _pionier_ formations and other technical troops; and in the text that 'all the available heavy artillery of the sixth army to be brought up (to assist the fourth army) for the break-through.' the germans had trench-mortars (_minenwerfer_) which are several times mentioned, whilst our first ones were still in the process of improvisation by the engineers of the indian corps at bethune. the statement that 'the enemy's' (_i.e._ british, french and belgian) 'superiority in material, in guns, trench-mortars, machine-guns and aeroplanes, etc., was two, three, even fourfold' is palpably nonsense when said of , though true perhaps in when the monograph was written. the fact seems to be that the germans cannot understand defeat in war except on the premise that the victor had superiority of numbers. to show to what extent this creed obtains: in the late dr. wylie's _henry v._, vol. ii. page , will be found an account of a german theory, accepted by the well-known historian delbrück, that the english won at agincourt on account of superior numbers, although contemporary history is practically unanimous that the french were ten to one. dr. wylie sums it up thus: 'starting with the belief that the defeat of the french is inexplicable on the assumption that they greatly outnumbered the english, and finding that all contemporary authorities, both french and english, are agreed that they did, the writer builds up a theory that all the known facts can be explained on the supposition that the french were really much inferior to us in numbers ... and concludes that he cannot be far wrong if he puts the total number of french (the english being ) at something between and .' it may not be out of place to add that a german staff officer captured during the ypres fighting said to his escort as he was being taken away: 'now i am out of it, do tell me where your reserves are concealed; in what woods are they?' and he refused to believe that we had none. apparently it was inconceivable to the german general staff that we should stand to fight unless we had superior numbers; and these not being visible in the field, they must be hidden away somewhere. further light on what the germans imagined is thrown by prisoners, who definitely stated that their main attack was made south of ypres, because it was thought that our main reserves were near st. jean, north-east of that town. from others it was gathered that what could be seen of our army in that quarter was in such small and scattered parties that it was taken to be an outpost line covering important concentrations, and the germans did not press on, fearing a trap. it is, however, possible that the german miscalculation of the number of formations engaged may not be altogether due to imaginary reserves, as regards the british army. before the war the great general staff knew very little about us. the collection of 'intelligence' with regard to the british empire was dealt with by a section known in the moltkestrasse as the 'demi-monde section,' because it was responsible for so many countries; and this section admittedly had little time to devote to us. our organisation was different from that of any of the great european armies. their field artillery brigades contained seventy-two guns, whereas ours had only eighteen guns or howitzers; their infantry brigades consisted of two regiments, each of three battalions, that is six battalions, not four as in the original british expeditionary force. to a german, therefore, an infantry brigade meant six battalions, not four, and if a prisoner said that he belonged to the blankshire regiment, the german might possibly believe he had identified three battalions, whereas only one would be present. this is actually brought out on page , when the author speaks of the st battalion of the king's (liverpool) regiment as the _königsregiment liverpool_, and indicates his ignorance of the british army, when this single battalion engages the german _garde regiment zu fuss_, by describing the fight not only as one of regiment against regiment, but as _garde gegen garde_ (guard against guards).[ ] such is the fighting value of an english line battalion. a victory over it is certainly claimed, but the significant sentence immediately follows: 'any further advance on the th november by our guard troops north of the road was now out of the question.' it may be as well to point out that the 'volunteers' who it is said flocked to the barracks to form the reserve corps xxii to xxvii were not all volunteers in our sense of the word. the general staff only claims that per cent. were untrained, a very different state of affairs from our new armies, which had not per cent. of trained soldiers. many of the 'volunteers' were fully trained men liable to service, who merely anticipated their recall to the colours. it was well known before the war that in each army corps area germany intended to form one 'active' corps and one or more 'reserve' corps. the original armies of invasion all contained reserve corps notably the iv reserve of von kluck's army, which marched and fought just as the active ones did. these first formed reserve corps were, it is believed, entirely made up of trained men, but those with the higher numbers xxii, xxiii, xxvi and xxvii, which appear in the fourth army, probably did contain a good percentage of men untrained before the war. _ersatz_ divisions were formed of the balance of reservists after the reserve divisions had been organised, and of untrained men liable for service. after a time the words 'active,' 'reserve,' and '_ersatz_' applied to formations lost their significance, as the same classes of men were to be found in all of them. no attempt has been made to tone down the author's patriotic sentiments and occasional lapses from good taste; the general nature of the narrative is too satisfactory to the british army to make any omissions necessary when presenting it to the british public. the footnotes deal with a number of the more important points raised, but are not exhaustive. * * * * * _note._--the german time, at the period of the year in question one hour earlier than ours, has been adhered to. the notes of the historical section are distinguished from those of the author by being printed in italics. in preparing the translation for issue it has not been thought necessary to supply all the maps provided in the original, as the general lie of the country must be fairly well known to british readers. (_translation of title page_) monographs on the great war the battle on the yser and of ypres in the autumn (die schlacht an der yser und bei ypern im herbst ) from official sources published by order of the german general staff oldenburg, , gerhard stalling preface by german great headquarters the gigantic scale of the present war defies comparison with those of the past, and battles which formerly held the world in suspense are now almost forgotten. the german people have been kept informed of the progress of events on all fronts since the th august , by the daily official reports of the german general staff, but the general public will have been unable to gather from these a coherent and continuous story of the operations. for this reason the general staff of the german field army has decided to permit the publication of a series of monographs which will give the german people a general knowledge of the course of the most important operations in this colossal struggle of nations. these monographs cannot be called histories of the war; years, even decades, must pass before all the true inwardness and connection of events will be completely revealed. this can only be done when the archives of our opponents have been opened to the world as well as our own and those of the general staffs of our allies. in the meantime the german people will be given descriptions of the most important of the battles, written by men who took part in them, and have had the official records at their disposal. it is possible that later research may make alterations here and there necessary, but this appears no reason for delaying publications based on official documents, indeed to do so would only serve to foster the legends and rumours which so easily take hold of the popular imagination and are so difficult, if not impossible, to correct afterwards. this series of monographs is not therefore intended as an addition to military science, but has been written for all classes of the german public who have borne the burden of the war, and especially for those who have fought in the operations, in order to increase their knowledge of the great events for the success of which they have so gladly offered their lives. general staff of the field army. german great headquarters, _autumn, _. preliminary remarks there is no more brilliant campaign in history than the advance of our armies against the western powers in august and early september . the weak french attacks into alsace, the short-lived effort to beat back the centre and right wing of our striking-force, the active defence of the allied hostile armies and the passive resistance of the great belgian and french fortresses, all failed to stop our triumphal march. the patriotic devotion and unexampled courage of each individual german soldier, combined with the able leading of his commanders, overcame all opposition and sent home the news of countless german victories. it was not long before the walls and hearts of paris were trembling, and it seemed as if the conspiracy which half the world had been weaving against us for so many years was to be brought to a rapid conclusion. then came the battle of the marne, in the course of which the centre and right wings of the german western army were, it is true, withdrawn, but only to fight again as soon as possible, under more favourable strategic conditions. the enemy, not expecting our withdrawal, only followed slowly, and on th september[ ] our troops brought him to a standstill along a line extending from the swiss frontier to the aisne, north-east of compiègne. in the trench warfare which now began our pursuers soon discovered that our strength had been by no means broken, or even materially weakened, by the hard fighting. as early as th september, before the battle of the marne, the chief of the german general staff had ordered the right wing should be reinforced by the newly-formed seventh army.[ ] it soon became clear to the opposing commanders that any attempt to break through the new german front was doomed to failure, and that a decisive success could only be obtained by making an outflanking movement on a large scale against the german right wing. thus began what our opponents have called the 'race to the sea,' in which each party tried to gain a decision by outflanking the other's western wing. the good communications of france, especially in the north, enabled the allied troops to be moved far more rapidly than our own, for the german general staff had at their disposal only the few franco-belgian railways which had been repaired, and these were already overburdened with transport of material of every description. in spite of this, however, the french and british attacks failed to drive back the german right wing at any point. not only did they find german troops ready to meet them in every case, but we were also generally able to keep the initiative in our hands. in this manner by the end of september the opposing flanks had been extended to the district north of the somme, about péronne-albert. a few days later began the interminable fighting round arras and lens, and by the middle of october our advanced troops were near lille, marching through the richest industrial country of france. the army cavalry was placed so as to threaten the hostile left flank, and to bring pressure against the communications with england. our cavalry patrols pushed forward as far as cassel and hazebrouck, the pivots of the enemy's movements, but they had to retire eastwards again when superior hostile forces moved up to the north-east. the reports which they brought back with them all pointed to preparations by the enemy for an attack on a large scale, and for another effort to turn the fortunes of the campaign to his favour. with this in view all available troops, including newly-arrived detachments from england, were to be used to break through the gap between lille and antwerp against our right wing, roll it up and begin the advance against the northern rhine. it must be remembered that at the time this plan was conceived the fortresses of lille and antwerp were still in french and belgian possession. it was hoped that lille, with its well-built fortifications, even though they were not quite up-to-date, would at least hold up the german right wing for a time. antwerp was defended by the whole belgian army of from five to six divisions which were to be reinforced by british troops, and it was confidently expected that this garrison would be sufficiently strong to hold the most modern fortress in western europe against any attack, especially if, as was generally believed, this could only be carried out by comparatively weak forces. thus it seemed that the area of concentration for the franco-belgian masses was secure until all preparations were ready for the blow to be delivered through weakly-held belgium against the rear of the german armies in the west. the plan was a bold one, but it was countered by a big attack of considerable german forces in the same neighbourhood and at the same time. the two opponents met and held each other up on the yser and at ypres, and here the last hope of our enemy to seize belgium and gain possession of the rich provinces of northern france before the end of the year was frustrated. the question arises how the germans were able to find the men to do this, since it had been necessary to send considerable forces to the eastern front to stop the russian advance. whoever has lived through those great days of august , and witnessed the wonderful enthusiasm of the german nation, will never forget that within a few days more than a million volunteers entered german barracks to prepare to fight the enemies who were hemming in germany. workmen, students, peasants, townspeople, teachers, traders, officials, high and low, all hastened to join the colours. there was such a constant stream of men that finally they had to be sent away, and put off till a later date, for there was neither equipment nor clothing left for them. by th august, before the advance in the west had begun, the prussian war minister in berlin had ordered the formation of five new reserve corps to be numbered from xxii to xxvi, whilst bavaria formed the th bavarian reserve division, and saxony and würtemburg together brought the xxvii reserve corps into being. old and young had taken up arms in august , in their enthusiasm to defend their country, and per cent. of the new corps consisted of these volunteers, the remainder being trained men of both categories of the _landwehr_ and the _landsturm_, as well as some reservists from the depôts, who joined up in september. all these men, ranging from sixteen to fifty years of age, realised the seriousness of the moment, and the need of their country: they were anxious to become useful soldiers as quickly as possible to help in overthrowing our malicious enemies. some regiments consisted entirely of students; whole classes of the higher educational schools came with their teachers and joined the same company or battery. countless retired officers placed themselves at the disposal of the government, and the country will never forget these patriots who took over commands in the new units, the formation of which was mainly due to their willing and unselfish work. the transport of the xxii, xxiii, xxiv, xxvi and xxvii reserve corps to the western front began on th october, and the th bavarian reserve division followed shortly after. only comparatively few experienced commanders were available for the units, and it was left to their keen and patriotic spirit to compensate as far as possible for what the men still lacked to play their part in the great struggle. the situation of the armies on the western front at this time was as follows. in the neighbourhood of lille the northern wing of the sixth army was fighting against an ever-increasing enemy. on th october, antwerp, in spite of its strong fortifications and garrison, was taken after a twelve days' siege directed by general von beseler, commanding the iii reserve corps, and well known in peace time as chief of the engineer corps and inspector-general of fortifications. the victorious besiegers had carried all before them. as they were numerically insufficient to invest antwerp on the west, south and east, a break-through was attempted on a comparatively narrow front. it was completely successful, and antwerp was occupied; but the main body of the belgian army, in good fighting order, was able to escape westwards along the coast, to await the arrival of british and french reinforcements behind the yser. only about belgians were taken prisoner, but some , belgian and british troops[ ] were forced into holland. in consequence of this new situation, and of the reports of hostile concentrations in the area calais-dunkirk-lille, the german general staff decided to form a new fourth army under duke albert of würtemburg. it was to be composed of the xxii, xxiii, xxvi, and xxvii reserve corps,[ ] and was joined later on by the iii reserve corps with the th _ersatz_ division. by th october the detainment of this new army was in full progress west and south-west of brussels. on the evening of th october the four reserve corps began their march to the line eecloo (fifteen miles east of bruges)--deynze--point four miles west of audenarde. in the meantime we had occupied the fortified town of lille. it had been entered on th october by part of the xix saxon corps and some _landwehr_ troops, after the town had suffered considerably owing to the useless efforts of french territorial troops to defend it. the order to the garrison was: 'the town is to be held till the tenth french army arrives'; it resulted in the capture of french prisoners, who were sent to germany. on the th the right wing of the sixth army, consisting of the xiii würtemburg and xix saxon corps, pushed forward to the lys, behind a screen of three cavalry corps.[ ] they took up a position covering lille, from menin through comines to warneton and thence east of armentières, where they came into touch with the th infantry division which was further south near the western forts of lille. to the north of the sixth army, the iii reserve corps, with its three divisions from antwerp, was advancing westwards on a broad front. by the th it had driven back the hostile rearguards and reached a line from bruges to near ghent. airmen and reconnaissance detachments had recognised movements of large bodies of troops about hazebrouck, lillers and st. omer and reported disembarkations on a big scale at dunkirk and calais. in addition to this, considerable hostile forces had reached ypres, and appeared to be facing more or less southwards opposite the northern wing of the sixth army.[ ] an order issued on th october, by the chief of the german general staff, gave the following instructions for the german forces between lille and the sea. the sixth army was at first to remain entirely on the defensive along the line menin-armentières-la bassée and to await the attack of our new fourth army against the left flank of the enemy. the offensive action of the fourth army after its deployment was to be so directed that the iii reserve corps, which now belonged to it, should move as its right wing in echelon along the coast, whilst its left was to advance through menin. in accordance with these orders the iii reserve corps occupied ostend on the th, its left wing reaching the line of the thourout-roulers road. the corps was then ordered not to advance further for a few days, so as to avoid the attention of the british and french, who were advancing against the north wing of the sixth army, being drawn prematurely to movements in this neighbourhood. only patrols therefore were sent out to reconnoitre across the yser and the canal south of it. on the th the xxii, xxiii, xxvi and xxvii reserve corps reached the line oostcamp (south of bruges)-thielt--point six miles east of courtrai. on the advance of these four new corps, the iii reserve corps was to draw away to the right wing, and during the th and the following morning it moved up to the sector of attack allotted to it immediately south of the coast, and cleared the front of the fourth army. the reconnaissance activity of the previous days had in places led to severe fighting, especially on the southern wing in front of the th reserve division. it was found that the belgian rearguards still held part of the ground east of the yser and of the canal to ypres. any attempt to advance beyond this water-barrier was out of the question, as the bridges had been blown up and the whole line put in a state of defence. the screening of the advancing fourth army by the iii reserve corps was a brilliant success. at midday on the th, field-marshal french, who was to direct the enemy's attack from the line of the yser, was still in ignorance of our new army. he believed he had time to prepare for his attack, and his only immediate care was to secure the line from armentières to the sea for the deployment. after the events on the marne, field-marshal french had particularly requested general joffre, the allied commander,[ ] that he might be placed on the northern flank of the line. he would then be close to calais, which had already become an english town,[ ] he would be able to protect the communications to his country; and, further, the fame to be gained by a decisive and final victory attracted this ambitious commander to the north. as a result the ii british corps under general smith-dorrien was now in action against the strong german positions between vermelles (four miles south-west of la bassée) and laventie (west of lille).[ ] further to the north the iii british corps was fighting against the saxons advancing from lille and our i, ii and iv cavalry corps.[ ] the i british cavalry corps was covering the hostile advance on the line messines-gheluvelt, south-east of ypres.[ ] immediately to the north again, the newly formed iv british corps, consisting of the th infantry division and rd cavalry division, had arrived in the area gheluvelt-zonnebeke, pursued in its retreat by von beseler's columns (iii reserve corps). on its left the i british corps had marched up to bixschoote,[ ] and the gap between this place and dixmude had been closed by a french cavalry division which connected up with the belgian army. the last, reinforced by two french territorial divisions, was engaged in preparing the line of the yser up to the sea for the most stubborn defence. these strong forces were to cover the arrival of the viii and x french corps[ ] and were to deliver the first blow against our supposed right wing. on the th one of our cyclist patrols which had gone out far in advance of its corps was surrounded near roulers, and it was only by its capture that the enemy definitely discovered the arrival of the new german corps, whose formation, however, had not been unknown to him, thanks to his good secret service system. field-marshal french was now confronted with a new situation. the preparations for his big attack were not yet completed. the superiority of the masses already concentrated did not yet appear to him to be sufficient to guarantee success against the enemy's advance. the british commander therefore decided to remain on the defensive[ ] against our new fourth army, until the completion of the french concentration. his line was already closed up to the sea, it was naturally strong, and fresh troops were arriving daily. the danger threatening dunkirk and calais had the effect of making england put forth her full energy; the british troops fought desperately to defend every inch of ground, using every possible means to keep up the sinking spirits of the belgians. they demanded and received rapid assistance from the french, and were backed up by fresh reinforcements from england. from the german point of view the patriotic enthusiasm and unconditional determination to win the war which pervaded the new fourth army gave every prospect of successfully closing with the enemy, who was apparently still engaged in concentrating and reorganising his forces, and gaining calais, the aim and object of the campaign. our offensive, however, struck against a powerful army, fully deployed and ready to meet us. the british boast that they held up our attack with a great inferiority of numbers, but this was only true in the case of the th division during the first two days in the small sector zonnebeke-gheluvelt. on nd october between armentiÈres and the sea there were eight corps opposed to the seven attacking german corps; and, besides, the enemy had prepared a series of lines of strong trenches covered by an extensive system of artificial obstacles. in the course of the operations that developed, the relative strength of the opposing forces never appreciably altered in our favour.[ ] the moral strength of our troops made up for the numerical superiority of the enemy. our attack drove the hostile lines well back and destroyed, it is hoped for ever, the ambition of our opponent to regain belgium by force of arms. the great desire of the germans to defeat the hostile northern wing, and to hit hardest the most hated of all our enemies, and, on the other side, the obstinate determination of the british to hold on to the passages to their country, and to carry out the offensive to the rhine with all their resources, resulted in this battle being one of the most severe of the whole war. the deeds of our troops, old and young, in the battle on the yser and of ypres can never be sufficiently praised, and in spite of great losses their enthusiasm remained unchecked and their offensive spirit unbroken. the theatre of operations the country in which it was hoped to bring about the final decision of the campaign of was not favourable to an attack from east to west. western flanders, the most western part of belgium, is almost completely flat, and lies only slightly above sea-level, and in some parts is even below it. mount kemmel, in the south, is the only exception; rising to a height of over feet, it is the watch-tower of western flanders. before the war it was a well-wooded ridge with pretty enclosures and villages. from its slopes and summits could be seen the whole countryside from lille to menin and dixmude. the possession of this hill was of great importance. our cavalry actually occupied it during the early days of october, but when the enemy advanced he immediately attacked it. the xix saxon corps was still too far away to help, and so mount kemmel fell into the enemy's hands. during the battle of ypres it was his best observation post, and of the utmost assistance to his artillery. we repeatedly succeeded in gaining a footing on the eastern crest of the ridge in front of ypres, but in the autumn of , as also later in the war, this was always the signal for the most desperate fighting. it was thus that the heights of st. eloi,[ ] the high-lying buildings of hooge and the village of wytschaete won their sanguinary fame. lying in the midst of luxuriant meadows, with its high ramparts and fine buildings, ypres was formerly one of the most picturesque towns in flanders. in the fourteenth century it had a considerable importance, and became the centre of the cloth-weaving trade on its introduction from italy. bruges, lying close to the coast, became the market for its wares. the clothweavers' guild, which accumulated great wealth, erected in ypres a fine gothic hall, whose towers with those of st. martin's church were landmarks for miles round. in modern times, however, the importance of the town greatly diminished. the cloth-weaving industry drifted away to the factories of menin and courtrai; and ypres, like its dead neighbour bruges, remained only a half-forgotten memory of its former brilliance. the war has brought fresh importance to the town, but of a mournful kind. on the impact of the german and anglo-french masses in flanders in the autumn of , it became the central pivot of the operations. the enemy dug his heels into the high ground in front of it; for, as an englishman has written, it had become a point of honour to hold the town. ypres lay so close to the front that our advance could be seen from its towers, and the enemy was able to use it for concealing his batteries and sheltering his reserves. for the sake of our troops we had to bring it under fire; for german life is more precious than the finest gothic architecture. thus the mythical death of ypres became a reality: no tower now sends forth its light across the countryside, and a wilderness of wrecked and burnt-out houses replaces the pretty town so full of legend and tradition in the history of flanders. the streams which run northwards from the hills about ypres unite for the most part near the town and flow into the yser canal, which connects the lys at comines with the sea at nieuport. this canal passes through the ypres ridge near hollebeke and, following northwards the course of a small canalised tributary of the yser, meets the yser itself south of dixmude. the dunes at nieuport have been cut through by engineers for its exit to the sea. it is only from dixmude northwards that the canal becomes an obstacle which requires proper bridging equipment for its passage. its high embankments to the south of dixmude, however, give excellent cover in the otherwise flat country and greatly simplify the task of the defender. the canal acquired a decisive importance when the hard-pressed belgians, during the battle on the night of th- th october, let in the sea at flood-tide through the sluices into the canal, and then by blowing up the sluice-gates at nieuport, allowed it to flood the battlefield along the lower yser. by this means they succeeded in placing broad stretches of country under water, so much so that any extensive military operations in that district became out of the question. the high water-level greatly influenced all movements over a very large area. by his order the king of the belgians destroyed for years the natural wealth of a considerable part of his fertile country, for the sea-water must have ruined all vegetation down to its very roots. the country on both sides of the canal is flat, and difficult for observation purposes. the high level of the water necessitates drainage of the meadows, which for this purpose are intersected by deep dykes which have muddy bottoms. the banks of the dykes are bordered with willows, and thick-set hedges form the boundaries of the cultivated areas. generally speaking, the villages do not consist of groups of houses: the farms are dispersed either singly, or in rows forming a single street. the country is densely populated and is consequently well provided with roads. but these are only good where they have been made on embankments and are paved. the frequent rains, which begin towards the end of october, rapidly turn the other roads into mere mud tracks and in many cases make them quite useless for long columns of traffic. the digging of trenches was greatly complicated by rain and surface-water. the loam soil was on the whole easy to work in; but it was only on the high ground that trenches could be dug deep enough to give sufficient cover against the enemy's artillery fire; on the flat, low-lying ground they could not in many cases be made more than two feet deep. a few miles south of the coast the country assumes quite another character: there are no more hedges and canals: instead gently rolling sand-hills separate the land from the sea, and this deposited sand is not fertile like the plains south of them. a belt of dunes prevents the sea encroaching on the land. the greatest trouble of the attacker in all parts of flanders is the difficulty of observation. the enemy, fighting in his own country,[ ] had every advantage, while our artillery observation posts were only found with the utmost trouble. our fire had to be directed from the front line, and it frequently happened that our brave artillerymen had to bring up their guns into the front infantry lines in order to use them effectively. although the enemy was able to range extremely accurately on our guns which were thus quickly disclosed, nothing could prevent the german gunners from following the attacking infantry. observation from aeroplanes was made very difficult by the many hedges and villages, so that it took a long time to discover the enemy's dispositions and give our artillery good targets. finally, the flat nature of the country and the consequent limitations of view were all to the advantage of the defenders, who were everywhere able to surprise the attackers. our troops were always finding fresh defensive lines in front of them without knowing whether they were occupied or not. the british, many of whom had fought in a colonial war against the most cunning of enemies in equally difficult country, allowed the attacker to come to close quarters and then opened a devastating fire at point-blank range from rifles and machine-guns concealed in houses and trees. in many cases the hedges and dykes split up the german attacks so that even the biggest operations degenerated into disconnected actions which made the greatest demands on the powers of endurance and individual skill of our volunteers. in spite of all these difficulties our men, both old and young, even when left to act on their own initiative, showed a spirit of heroism and self-sacrifice which makes the battle on the yser a sacred memory both for the army and the nation, and every one who took part in it may say with pride, 'i was there.' the advance of the fourth army an army order of th october gave the following instructions for the th:-- the iii reserve corps to march to the line coxyde-furnes-oeren, west of the yser. the xxii reserve corps to the line aertrycke-thourout. the xxiii reserve corps to the line lichtervelde-ardoye. the xxvi reserve corps to the area emelghem-iseghem, and, on the left wing, the xxvii reserve corps to the line lendelede-courtrai. the xxii, xxiii, xxvi and xxvii reserve corps all reached their appointed destinations on the evening of the th without meeting any strong resistance. along almost the whole front our advanced guards and patrols came into touch with weak hostile detachments who were awaiting our advance well entrenched, and surprised us with infantry and artillery fire. at roulers a hot skirmish took place. aeroplanes circling round, motor-lorries bustling about, and cavalry patrols pushing well forward showed that the british now realised the strength of the new german forces. [illustration: dispositions on october th. . _on th october none of the i british corps were on the right of the iv corps; the map should read british cavalry corps. it is also inaccurate to represent the whole iii british corps as north of armentières--only one of its divisions was--while the ii corps was certainly too closely pressed to detach any troops to the north as depicted in the diagram._] in the meantime, on the extreme right wing of the army, the troops of general von beseler had opened the battle on the yser. during its advance northwards to cross the yser at the appointed places the iii reserve corps had encountered strong opposition east of the river-barrier. the men knew they were on the decisive wing of the attack, and they pushed ahead everywhere regardless of loss. in a rapid assault the th _ersatz_ division captured westende from the belgians, although a gallant defence was put up, and in spite of the fact that british torpedo-boats and cruisers took part in the action from the sea with their heavy artillery[ ] both during the advance and the fight for the town. further south the th reserve division deployed to attack a strongly entrenched hostile position. the rd reserve _jäger_ battalion captured the obstinately defended village of st. pierre cappelle after severe hand-to-hand fighting, whilst the main body of the division succeeded in pushing forward to the neighbourhood of schoore. the th reserve division, commanded by general von neudorff, also closed with the enemy. it captured leke, and keyem, defended by the th belgian division; but even this brandenburg division, for all its war experience, found the task of forcing the crossings over the yser too much for it. the fighting on th october resulted in bringing us a thousand or two thousand yards nearer the yser, but it had shown that the fight for the river line was to be a severe one. the belgians seemed determined to sell the last acres of their kingdom only at the highest possible price. four lines of trenches had been dug, and it could be seen that every modern scientific resource had been employed in putting the villages on the eastern bank of the river into a state of defence. a great number of guns, very skilfully placed and concealed, shelled the ground for a considerable distance east of the river, and in addition to this our right flank was enfiladed by the heavy naval guns from the sea. battleships, cruisers and torpedo-boats worried the rear and flank of the th _ersatz_ division with their fire, and the british had even brought heavy artillery on flat-bottomed boats close inshore.[ ] they used a great quantity of ammunition, but the effect of it all was only slight, for the fire of the naval guns was much dispersed and indicated bad observation. it became still more erratic when our long-range guns were brought into action against the british fleet. detachments of the th _ersatz_ division had to be echeloned back as far as ostend, in order to defend the coast against hostile landings. during the day the general commanding the iii reserve corps decided not to allow the th _ersatz_ division to cross the yser at nieuport, on account of the heavy fire from the british naval guns, but to make it pass with the main body of the corps behind the th reserve division in whose area the fight appeared to be progressing favourably. the _ersatz_ division was informed accordingly. on the th another effort would have to be made to force the crossings of the river by frontal attack, for everywhere to the south strong opposition had been encountered. from near dixmude french troops carried on the line of the compact belgian army. it was against these that the new reserve corps were now advancing. on the night of the th and morning of the th october a strong attack was delivered from the west by the th belgian division, and from the south-west by a brigade of the th belgian division and a brigade of french marine fusiliers under admiral ronarch, against keyem, held by part of the th reserve division. they were driven back after heavy fighting. during the th the southern wing of the brandenburg (iii) reserve corps succeeded in advancing nearer the river and, on its left, part of the artillery of the xxii reserve corps came into action in support of it, thereby partly relieving the iii reserve corps, which until that day had been fighting unassisted. on the th more or less heavy fighting developed on the whole front of the fourth army. the xxii reserve corps advanced on beerst and dixmude and fought its way up into line with the iii reserve corps. in front of it lay the strong bridge-head of dixmude, well provided with heavy guns. the whole xxiii reserve corps had to be deployed into battle-formation, as every locality was obstinately defended by the enemy. in the advance of the th reserve division the th reserve regiment late in the evening took handzaeme after severe street fighting, and the th reserve regiment took the village of gits, whilst cortemarck was evacuated by the enemy during the attack. the th reserve division in a running fight crossed the main road to thourout, north of roulers, and by the evening had arrived close to staden. heavy street fighting in the latter place continued during the night: the enemy, supported by the population, offered strong resistance in every house, so that isolated actions continued behind our front lines, endangering the cohesion of the attacking troops, but never to a serious extent. the xxvi reserve corps encountered strong opposition at rumbeke, south-east of roulers; but all the enemy's efforts were in vain, and the rd reserve infantry regiment, under the eyes of its corps commander, general von hügel, forced its way through the rows of houses, many of which were defended with light artillery and machine-guns. a very heavy fight took place for the possession of roulers, which was stubbornly defended by the french; barricades were put up across the streets, machine-guns fired from holes in the roofs and windows, and concealed mines exploded among the advancing troops. in spite of all this, by p.m. roulers was taken by the rd, th and th reserve infantry regiments, attacking from north, east and south respectively. further to the south, after a small skirmish with british cavalry, the nd reserve division reached morslede, its objective for the day. on its left again, the xxvii reserve corps had come into contact with the rd british cavalry division which tried to hold up the corps in an advanced position at rolleghem-cappelle. after a lively encounter the british cavalry was thrown back on to the th british division, which held a strong position about dadizeele.[ ] thus by the evening of th october the situation had been considerably cleared up, in so far as we now knew that the belgians, french and british not only held the yser and the ypres canal, but also the high ground east and north-east of ypres. everything pointed to the fact that an unexpectedly strong opponent was awaiting us in this difficult country, and that a very arduous task confronted the comparatively untrained troops of duke albert of würtemburg's army. in the meantime the commander of the sixth army, crown prince rupert of bavaria, after a discussion at army headquarters with general von falkenhayn, chief of the general staff, decided to renew the attack, as the left wing of the fourth army had now come up on his immediate right. in consequence of this decision, the xiii corps was moved from its position on the line menin-warneton and replaced by three cavalry divisions of the iv cavalry corps. there can be no doubt that the attacks of the sixth army, which began on the th and were continued with frequent reinforcements of fresh troops, had the effect of holding the enemy and drawing a strong force to meet them. they were not, however, destined to have any decisive success, for the offensive strength of the sixth army had been reduced by previous fighting, and it was not sufficient to break through the enemy's strongly entrenched positions.[ ] all the more therefore were the hopes of germany centred in the fourth army, which was fighting further northwards, for in its hands lay the fate of the campaign in western europe at this period. the operations of the fourth army from th october to st october on th october the battle broke out along the whole line, on a front of about sixty miles. the enemy had got into position, and was prepared to meet the attack of duke albert of würtemburg's army. on the very day that the british, french and belgians intended to begin their advance they found themselves compelled to exert all their strength to maintain their positions against our offensive. the british and french had to bring up constant reinforcements, and a hard and bitter struggle began for every yard of ground. the spirit in which our opponents were fighting is reflected in an order of the th belgian division, picked up in pervyse on th october. this ran: 'the fate of the whole campaign probably depends on our resistance. i (general michel) implore officers and men, notwithstanding what efforts they may be called upon to make, to do even more than their mere duty. the salvation of the country and therefore of each individual among us depends on it. let us then resist to our utmost.' we shall see how far the soldiers of the fourth army, opposed to such a determined and numerically superior enemy, were able to justify the confidence which had been placed in them, a confidence expressed in the following proclamations by their highest commanders on their arrival in belgium: great headquarters, _ th october _. to the fourth army,--i offer my welcome to the fourth army, and especially to its newly-formed reserve corps, and i am confident that these troops will act with the same devotion and bravery as the rest of the german army. advance, with the help of god--my watchword. (signed) william, i. r. _army order._ i am pleased to take over the command of the army entrusted to me by the emperor. i am fully confident that the corps which have been called upon to bring about the final decision in this theatre of war will do their duty to their last breath with the old german spirit of courage and trust, and that every officer and every man is ready to give his last drop of blood for the just and sacred cause of our fatherland. with god's assistance victory will then crown our efforts. up and at the enemy. hurrah for the emperor. (signed) duke albert of wÜrtemburg, _general and army commander_. army headquarters, brussels, _ th october _. who can deny that the task set to the fourth army was not an infinitely difficult one. it would have probably been achieved nevertheless if the belgians at the moment of their greatest peril had not called the sea to their aid to bring the german attack to a halt. let us, however, now get down to the facts. on th october the iii reserve corps, the battering ram of the fourth army, began an attack with its th reserve division, supported by almost the whole of the corps artillery, against the sector of the yser west of the line mannekensvere-schoorbakke. the th _ersatz_ division to the north and the th reserve division to the south co-operated. by the early hours of the nd, the th and th reserve divisions had driven the enemy back across the river in spite of the support given him by british and french heavy batteries.[ ] in front of the th _ersatz_ division the enemy still held a bridge-head at lombartzyde. at . a.m. on the nd the glad tidings reached the staff of the th reserve division, that part of the th reserve infantry regiment had crossed the yser. under cover of darkness the st and nd battalions of this regiment had worked their way up to the north-eastern part of the bend of the yser, south of schoore, and had got into the enemy's outposts on the eastern bank with the bayonet. not a shot had been fired, and not an unnecessary noise had disturbed the quiet of the dawning day. volunteers from the engineers silently and rapidly laid bridging material over the canal. in addition an old footbridge west of keyem, which had been blown up and lay in the water, was very quickly made serviceable again with some planks and baulks. the belgians had considered their position sufficiently protected by the river, and by the outposts along the eastern bank. by a.m. german patrols were on the far side of the yser, and the enemy's infantry and machine-gun fire began only when they started to make a further advance. three companies of the st and two companies of the nd battalion, however, as well as part of the th reserve infantry regiment, had already crossed the temporary bridges at the double and taken up a position on the western bank: so that, in all, ½ battalions and a machine-gun company were now on the western bank. the enemy realised the seriousness of the situation, and prepared a thoroughly unpleasant day for those who had crossed. heavy and light guns of the british and french artillery[ ] hammered incessantly against the narrow german bridge-head and the bridges to it. lying without cover in the swampy meadows the infantry was exposed beyond all help to the enemy's rifle and machine-gun fire from west and south-west. the small force repulsed counter-attacks again and again, but to attempt sending reinforcements across to it was hopeless. some gallant gunners, however, who had brought their guns close up to the eastern bank, were able to give great help to their friends in their critical situation. thus assisted the infantry succeeded in holding the position, and during the following night was able to make it sufficiently strong to afford very small prospect of success to any further hostile efforts. during the night several belgian attacks with strong forces were repulsed with heavy loss, and the th reserve division was able to put a further ½ battalions across to the western bank of the yser bend. on the rd we gained possession of tervaete, and the dangerous enfilade fire on our new positions was thereby considerably diminished. dawn on th october saw all the infantry of the th reserve division west of the river. a pontoon bridge was thrown across the north-eastern part of the yser bend, but it was still impossible to bring guns forward on account of the enemy's heavy artillery fire. the th reserve division still lay in its battle positions along the river bank north of schoorbakke, but every time attempts were made to cross the french and belgian artillery smashed the bridges to pieces. the th _ersatz_ division suffered heavily, as it was subjected to constant artillery fire from three sides, and to entrench was hopeless on account of the shifting sands and the high level of the ground water. whenever fire ceased during the night strong hostile attacks soon followed; but they were all repulsed. the withdrawal of the main body of the _ersatz_ division behind the th reserve division to cross the yser, as general von beseler had once planned, had become impracticable for the moment, for it had been discovered through the statements of prisoners that the nd french division had arrived in nieuport to assist the belgians. the th _ersatz_ division, which had been weakened on the th by the transfer of one of its three brigades to the th reserve division, could not be expected to bring the new enemy to his knees by the running fight that it had been hitherto conducting. the canal alone was sufficient obstacle to make this impracticable; in addition, the fire of the enemy's naval guns from the sea prevented any large offensive operations in the area in question. thus the _ersatz_ troops were compelled to resign themselves to the weary task of maintaining their positions under the cross-fire of guns of every calibre, to driving back the hostile attacks, and to holding the belgian and french forces off in front of them by continually threatening to take the offensive. it was not until some long-range batteries were placed at the disposal of the division that its position improved. a couple of direct hits on the enemy's ships soon taught them that they could no longer carry on their good work undisturbed. their activity at once noticeably decreased, and the more the german coast-guns gave tongue seawards from the dunes, the further the ships moved away from the coast and the less were they seen. general von beseler never for a moment doubted that the decision lay with the th and th reserve divisions, especially as the four corps of the fourth army, fighting further south, had not yet been able to reach the canal-barrier with any considerable forces. the xxii reserve corps, commanded by general of cavalry von falkenhayn, had in the meantime come into line south of general von beseler's troops, and had already fought some successful actions. it had arrived on the th in the district east of beerst and about vladsloo, just in time to help in driving back the franco-belgian attack against the southern flank of the th reserve division.[ ] that same evening it was ordered to attack from north and south against the dixmude bridge-head, an exceptionally difficult task. in addition to the fact that the swampy meadows of the yser canal limited freedom of movement to an enormous extent, the handzaeme canal, running at right angles to it from east to west, formed a most difficult obstacle. dixmude lay at the junction of these two waterways, and behind its bridge-head lines were the belgian 'iron' brigade under colonel meiser, the french marine fusilier brigade under admiral ronarch, and part of the th belgian division, determined to defend the place at all costs. about eighty guns of every calibre commanded with frontal and enfilade fire the ground over which falkenhayn's corps would have to attack. on the th, in spite of all these difficulties, the th reserve division, on the northern wing of the corps, captured beerst and reached the canal bank west of kasteelhoek in touch with von beseler's corps. the rd reserve division, advancing on the left wing, took vladsloo and several villages south-east of it on the northern bank of the handzaeme canal. by the light of the conflagration of those villages the reach of the canal between eessen and zarren was crossed on hastily constructed footbridges, and a further advance made in a south-westerly direction. eessen itself was occupied, and the attack brought us to within a hundred yards of the enemy. he realised his extremely critical situation,[ ] and his cyclists and all possible reserves at hand were put in to the fight. owing to the severe hostile artillery fire the german losses were by no means slight. on one occasion when our advancing infantry units were losing touch with one another in this difficult country, a big hostile counter-attack was delivered from dixmude. after a heavy struggle the onrush of the enemy was held up, mainly owing to our artillery, which heroically brought its guns up into position immediately behind the infantry front line. during the night the rd reserve division reorganised in order to recommence its attack on the bridge-head from east and south-east on the following morning. days of terrific fighting ensued. the garrison of the bridge-head had received orders to hold out to the last man, and had been informed that any one who attempted to desert would be shot without mercy by men placed for this purpose to guard all the exits from the town. the belgians were indeed fighting for their very existence as a nation. nevertheless by the st october the rd reserve division, which consisted of volunteers from the guard corps reservists, had taken the château south of dixmude, and woumen. the opposing sides lay within a hundred yards of each other. artillery preparation, attack and counter-attack went on incessantly. our artillery did fearful havoc and dixmude was in flames. the franco-belgian garrison was, however, constantly reinforced, and conducted itself most gallantly. from the north the battalions of the th reserve division were able to advance slightly and drive the enemy back on to the town, and german batteries were brought up into, and at times even in front of, the infantry front line. although we were unable to force our way into dixmude, on the evening of the rd our troops were in position all round it. on the left of the xxii reserve corps, the xxiii reserve corps, under general of cavalry von kleist, had advanced at a.m. on th october on the front handzaeme-staden in order to reach the canal on the line noordschoote-bixschoote. the th reserve division was on the right and the th reserve division on the left. after some hours of street fighting staden was finally surrounded and taken by the th reserve division. by nightfall a line from clercken to the eastern edge of houthulst forest was reached. on the st the corps had to cross a stretch of country which put these partially trained troops and their inexperienced officers to a very severe test. the great forest of houthulst with its dense undergrowth made it exceedingly difficult to keep direction in the attack and to maintain communication between units fighting an invisible opponent. small swampy streams such as the steenebeck offered favourable opportunities to the enemy to put up a strong defence behind a succession of depressions. thus our gallant troops after every successful assault found themselves confronted by another strong position: but unwavering and regardless of loss, they continued their advance. by the evening of the st the th reserve division had completely driven the enemy out of houthulst forest,[ ] whilst its sister-division had advanced north of the steenebeck, and with its northern wing supporting the corps fighting immediately north of it, had pushed forward to beyond woumen. on the morning of the nd the heavy artillery opened fire against the french positions on the yser canal to prepare the break-through. unfortunately however only the northern division was able to reach the sector allotted to the corps, and an army order directed the th reserve division to the south-west against the line bixschoote-langemarck, in order to help carry forward the attack of the xxvi reserve corps, which was completely held up in front of the latter place. as a result of this the advance of von kleist's corps also came to a standstill, although it had achieved considerable fame during the day. in spite of a desperate resistance the th reserve regiment stormed the strongly entrenched village of merckem and the village of luyghem lying north of it; a daring attack by the th and th reserve regiments broke through the enemy's positions on the murtje vaart, whilst the th reserve division attempted to overrun the kortebeck sector, supported by the concentrated fire of its artillery in position along the south-western edge of houthulst forest. the th reserve regiment took mangelaere by storm, in doing which its gallant commander, colonel von grothe, was killed at the head of his troops. the st british division held a strong position along the kortebeck, in touch with the french, and artillery of every calibre near noordschoote enfiladed the german attack.[ ] the british themselves speak of our attack as a magnificent feat of arms carried out with infinite courage and brilliant discipline. the men sang songs as they charged through a hail of bullets in closed ranks up to the enemy's defences. the th reserve regiment under colonel basedow, reinforced and carried forward by fresh detachments of the th reserve regiment, pushed its way into the strongly fortified village of bixschoote. the enemy on our side of the canal, on the line bixschoote-langemarck-zonnebeke, was threatened with annihilation. bixschoote commanded the main road and the canal-crossing to poperinghe, where the enemy was detraining his reinforcements.[ ] the british therefore fought with the courage of desperation: for not only was the fate of the high ground east and north-east of ypres now in the balance, but also the chance of being able to carry out the great anglo-french offensive which had been planned. ypres and the high ground east of the canal were on no account to be lost, and furious counter-attacks were therefore delivered against the intermingled german units. nevertheless our gallant volunteers pressed on, using their bayonets and the butts of their rifles, until the furious hand-to-hand fighting was finally decided in our favour. at . that evening bixschoote was ours. unfortunately, however, owing to an order being misunderstood, it was lost again during the night: the exhausted attacking troops were to be relieved under cover of darkness, but they assembled and marched back before the relieving force had arrived. the enemy, ever watchful, immediately advanced into the evacuated village and took position among the ruins. simultaneously a big hostile counter-attack drove the th reserve division from the high ground south of kortebeck, which it had captured, and pressed it back beyond the stream again. the spirit and strength of the young and inexperienced troops seemed to be broken, and only a few of the subordinate commanders had yet learnt how to deal with critical situations. officers of the general staff and divisional staffs had to help to reorganise the men; they immediately turned and followed their new leaders, and were taken forward again to the attack. thus on the rd the high ground south of the kortebeck was won back by the th reserve division, but bixschoote remained lost to us, and langemarck could not be captured.[ ] on nd october, for the first time, our attack was directed from the north against ypres. if the british and french did not intend to give up their offensive plans, and thereby their last hope of retaking belgium and the wealthy provinces of northern france from the hated german, they would have to maintain their positions along the ypres bridge-head east of the canal between comines and the coast. for this reason the country round ypres was the central area of the anglo-french defence from the beginning to the end of the battle. our opponents defended this position on a wide semicircle by successive lines of trenches and with their best troops. every wood, every village, every farm and even every large copse has won for itself a fame of blood. the reinforcements which field-marshal french received in abundance he placed round ypres, but not only for defensive purposes; they were more often used to deliver attack after attack against our young troops who had been weakened by the hard fighting; and on rd october they were already being employed in this manner against the th reserve division.[ ] he hoped to use the opportunity of our retirement behind the kortebeck to break through our line and to roll up the part of the front lying to the north of it as far as the sea, and thus to regain the initiative and freedom of manoeuvre on this extreme wing.[ ] however, the blow was parried by the th reserve division. in ragged, badly placed lines the german units, which had scarcely had time to reorganise, brought the hostile masses to a standstill and won back in a counter-attack the ground which they had lost during the night. on this occasion, also, the gunners shared with the infantry the honours of the day. the fire of the guns, brought up into the foremost lines, made wide gaps in the attacking columns and the enemy's losses must have been terrible. our own troops had also suffered severely in the constant fighting and under the everlasting hostile artillery fire. some of our regiments had been reduced to half their strength. but in spite of it the british did not succeed in breaking through between the xxiii and xxvi reserve corps. the xxvi and xxvii reserve corps were by this time completely held up in front of strongly entrenched positions on the line langemarck-zonnebeke-gheluvelt and opposed to an enemy who was becoming stronger every day and making the most desperate efforts to regain his freedom of action and begin a big offensive himself. the xxvi reserve corps, which advanced on the morning of the th, the st reserve division from the area west of roulers, and the other division from morslede, encountered a stubborn resistance along the ridge westroosebeke-passchendaele-keiberg. fighting under the eyes of their general, who was himself in the thick of the struggle, the st reserve division stormed the slope on to the ridge and entered westroosebeke. the french division defending it was driven out at four in the afternoon and, attacking incessantly, the gallant st, supported by the rd reserve _jäger_ battalion, reached a line from the railway-station north-west of poelcappelle to poelcappelle itself during the evening. the attack was all the more daring through the fact that houthulst forest was still in the enemy's hands, and the flank of the division therefore appeared to be threatened. meanwhile the nd reserve division had taken passchendaele, keiberg and the high ground between them from the british; the artillery again deserving the highest praise for its co-operation.[ ] the attack, however, was brought to a standstill in front of the enemy's main position at the cross-roads east of zonnebeke. the xxvii reserve corps commanded by general von carlowitz, formerly saxon war minister, lay in close touch with the nd reserve division on the evening of the th. advancing in four columns and by constant fighting it had forced its way westwards. the würtemburg division had succeeded in driving the th british division out of becelaere after heavy street fighting, and the left wing was bent back on terhand. communication was there obtained with the rd cavalry division, fighting on the right wing of the sixth army, which had captured a hostile position north-east of kruiseik. on the morning of the nd a strong position lay to our immediate front. it followed a line bixschoote-langemarck-zonnebeke-reutel-gheluvelt; and the i and iv british, as well as the ix french corps,[ ] all picked troops, had already been located there. they had dug a well-planned maze of trenches behind broad wire entanglements before a single german shell arrived to disturb their work.[ ] the few stretches of rising ground in the district had been included in the skilfully selected positions as observation posts, and the defenders were thus able to bring our advancing columns under accurate artillery fire at long range. this was especially the case from the high ground near zonnebeke, whence the whole ground in front of the position as far as langemarck could be enfiladed. all these difficulties, however, were not sufficient to deter the offensive spirit of the german troops, and '_vorwärts_' was still their watchword: forwards and back with the enemy, so that the rigid western front might once more be mobile. the main body of the xxvi reserve corps attacked the fortress of langemarck[ ] from north and east, whilst the xxvii reserve corps fought for the upper hand in the woods between zonnebeke and becelaere. the great efforts made by the artillery to follow up the infantrymen with its guns and support them with their fire were in vain, owing to the difficult country, and the well-aimed fire from the enemy's prepared positions reaped a big harvest. leaders of all grades were killed, and officers of high rank took their places and reorganised the intermingled units. with the failure of the th reserve division to gain a decisive victory between bixschoote and langemarck on nd and rd october the fate of the xxvi and xxvii reserve corps was also settled. for the time being any further thought of a break-through was out of the question. the troops up till now had met the enemy full of a keen fighting spirit, and had stormed his positions singing '_deutschland, deutschland über alles'_ regardless of casualties, and had been one and all ready to die for their country; but they had suffered heavily in the contest against a war-experienced and numerically superior opponent entrenched in strongly fortified positions. even when the last reserves of the army, the th _landwehr_ brigade and the nd _ersatz_ brigade, had been placed at the disposal of the xxvi reserve corps, they could only be used to stiffen the defence. during the night of rd- th october the expected anglo-french counter-attacks began, and continued throughout the th, against the front of the xxvi and the right wing of the xxvii reserve corps. by utilising temporary local successes and putting in fresh forces the enemy vainly hoped to prepare the way for a break-through; but the german troops though weakened held up all these furious onslaughts from positions which had never been selected for defence, but were merely those reached at the close of the attack.[ ] the commander of the fourth army was forced to continue ordering all his corps to attack, in order to co-operate with the sixth army which was attacking and, besides this, to pin the enemy's forces opposed to him to their ground: for in the north a decision appeared to be imminent on the front of general von beseler's iii reserve corps: in addition to the entire infantry of the th reserve division, which had crossed the canal by the morning of th october, the infantry of the th reserve division and five battalions of the th reserve division succeeded in crossing the yser during that day. the enemy was compelled to evacuate the western bank of the canal from st. george to south-east of stuyvekenskerke, in spite of the fact that there had been one french and four belgian divisions[ ] opposing the iii reserve corps, and that the ten howitzer batteries had proved insufficient to engage the belgian, french and british artillery successfully. in consequence of this inferiority the old and new canal crossings lay under constant concentrated fire, and all our efforts to transport guns over the waterway failed. many a fine piece of engineering carried out by our indefatigable sappers was destroyed by the enemy's shells. the supply of ammunition and field-dressings became a matter of the greatest difficulty, as all the roads leading to the rear across the swampy meadows were continuously shelled for a long way back. nevertheless our front troops held on firmly to their new positions. the next operation was to break through the enemy's position here once and for all, though it was clear from the beginning that the attack would be a very severe one. belgian and french working parties had dug a series of positions between the yser and the nieuport-bixschoote railway, from which the ground in front could be commanded with frontal and enfilade fire from skilfully placed machine-guns and well-concealed batteries. on both wings, according to the latest information at hand, strong hostile attacks were threatening us, that is to say, near nieuport as well as near and to the south of dixmude. to meet these the army commander had replaced the th _ersatz_ division, which had been echeloned back along the coast as a precaution against hostile landings, by detachments of the marine division, and a few troops placed at his disposition by the governor of belgium, and had ordered it to march to thourout. at the same time, by order of general von beseler, long-range guns were placed to prevent the enemy from concentrating for an attack in the nieuport district. however, the expected attack took place in the neighbourhood of dixmude, and was directed against those battalions of the th reserve division which had crossed to the west of the yser. the enemy realised the great danger that threatened his bridge-head from the north-west, and put all available belgian and french reserves into the attack. thus between five and six battalions from three belgian regiments and the marine fusiliers under admiral ronarch, with a strong force of artillery, advanced to the attack of our southern flank. the belgians themselves describe this attack in the following words: 'one saw the companies doubling forward in small groups, lying down on the officers' signal, and then getting up to go forward again until they finally deployed into their attacking lines. but unfortunately they were asked to accomplish a superhuman task, and whole rows of the men were mown down by the machine-guns. company after company was decimated, and in spite of the energy of their leaders they had to give way, death having taken too heavy a toll of their ranks. the marine fusiliers, who attacked with uncommon gallantry, soon shared the same fate. but all this sacrifice was not in vain--it stopped the enemy's advance.'[ ] it will be understood then that the first thing for the weak and widely separated battalions of the th reserve division to do on the th was to get breathing space and reorganise, even though they were exposed all the time to the heaviest fire from west, south and south-east. further to the north, however, on the morning of the th, the th and th reserve divisions had succeeded in bringing their field-batteries across the river, and as soon as the whole artillery of these two divisions had been concentrated under the expert leadership of general von ziethen, it began to prepare the way for the infantry attack. by midday both the divisions were advancing steadily towards the railway embankment on the line ramscappelle-pervyse. the belgians had to evacuate position after position. then suddenly heavy enfilade fire was poured in by the enemy's artillery about nieuport; and simultaneously a brigade of the th reserve division south-east of pervyse had to be directed southwards in order not to lose touch with the right wing of the th reserve division. there were no reinforcements to fill up the gaps, and thus the attack came shortly afterwards to a standstill. a very heavy thunder of guns rumbled incessantly from the south: the german artillery, including -centimetre guns, had bombarded dixmude throughout the th october and morning of the th, and now the rd reserve division had begun its assault on the town. it resulted in the most violent street fighting; fast and furious came the bullets from the machine-guns posted in the houses along the edge of the town, and from the shells from the batteries massed west of the yser, but nothing could hold up our attack. the belgians have given the following description of the power of the german assault: 'what plunder must not they have been promised, to allow themselves to be killed in such a way? what drink must they not have taken to give themselves such animal courage? like devils, thirsting for blood, they storm forward with the howls of wild beasts; lusting to massacre, they tread the wounded under foot and stumble over the dead: and, though shot down in hundreds, they keep coming on. then follow isolated fights with bayonets and the butts of rifles: some are impaled, others strangled or have their skulls bashed in.' the fight swayed backwards and forwards till well into the night: guns brought up into the front line fired at point-blank range: both sides put in their last reserves. during the night, rifles were unloaded, bayonets fixed, and we attacked again. a small german detachment of about fifty men advanced across the yser bridge, but in endeavouring to assault the enemy's batteries, it succumbed to greatly superior numbers. thus the morning of th october found the attackers back in their assault-positions: their courage, spirit and indifference to death having added another leaf of fame to the chaplet of the guards. it was clear, however, that another artillery bombardment was indispensable to success, and it was carried out on the th and th. that heavy losses were suffered by the belgians and the french marine fusiliers in the fighting just described is shown by the fact that on the morning of the th senegalese troops who had been hurriedly brought up took over the defence of the bridge-head. a german attack on the th was able to make some progress on the southern flank against these fresh troops, but a decision could not be obtained. no further effort was made on the th, for there was a shortage of artillery ammunition. the eastern edge of the town was, however, bombarded by trench-mortars, which had just arrived, with good effect. army orders for the th prescribed that the xxii reserve corps should only leave a weak force of from three to four battalions on the eastern bank of the yser opposite dixmude; that dixmude should be kept under heavy artillery fire; and that the remainder of the rd reserve division should cross the yser, north of dixmude, in order to attack the town from the rear. north-west of dixmude, by the evening of the th, the troops of general von beseler and the th reserve division had worked their way forward some yards towards the railway embankment. only one brigade of the th _ersatz_ division was still north-east of nieuport: all the rest were taking part in the struggle further south, and west of the yser. nieuport was shut in on the south: the left wing of the th reserve division lay west of beerst, as protection against the strong hostile forces near the river about dixmude: the belgians and recently-arrived french forces held the railway embankment between nieuport and dixmude. broad stretches of wire entanglements lay in front of this strong position, and the efforts of our troops had been almost superhuman in their advance over this ground: it was intersected with patches of marsh, dykes often fifteen yards broad, and thick, wired hedges. so strong, however, was the pressure against the enemy that the french were compelled to reduce their forces about nieuport and north of it to weak detachments, and send constant reinforcements to the area pervyse-ramscappelle. a german airman, who was killed on the morning of the th, had shortly before his death reported that the enemy were beginning to withdraw. our assault began at . a.m., though the ground in the area of the th and th reserve divisions had become extraordinarily swampy. it seemed impossible that the recent rains could have raised the level of the ground-water to such an extent. nevertheless the attack made considerable progress. the th brigade of the th reserve division succeeded in forcing its way into the eastern part of the strongly-fortified village of pervyse, whilst of the th reserve division, the th and nd reserve regiments reached the railway embankment, and the th pushed on beyond it towards ramscappelle. although every house had to be attacked, it succeeded in reaching the western end of the village. the th reserve regiment also made considerable advance. the resistance of the enemy was broken, and when the rd _ersatz_ brigade on the northern wing advanced from the north-east against nieuport, the enemy retired. airmen reported enemy's columns retreating towards furnes. nothing could stop the victorious advance of general von beseler's troops, not even the heaviest guns of the british battleships, cruisers and torpedo-boats, which, from far out at sea, enfiladed the german attack at a range of , yards, nor the incessant counter-attacks of the franco-belgian divisions. on the evening of the th ramscappelle was completely in german possession, the railway embankment south of it had been reached and even crossed in places; in pervyse the fight was progressing favourably, and south of it the th reserve brigade, delayed by the numerous broad dykes, was working forward to the railway. still further south the th reserve division was in full advance towards the railway embankment east of oostkerke, whilst the main body of the rd reserve division had crossed the yser, without casualties, and had been sent forward in the direction of caeskerke. the attack was to have been continued on the following morning, and general von beseler intended to withdraw the last part of the th _ersatz_ division, the rd _ersatz_ brigade, from the area north-east of nieuport, for the fire of the enemy's naval guns from the sea[ ] and the difficulties of the country appeared to militate against any prospects of a rapid success there. at . p.m., however, a general staff officer of the th reserve division reported that the attack could be continued no further owing to the constant rising of the water. what had happened? on the morning of the th the advancing troops had been up to their ankles in water; then it had gradually risen until they were now wading up to their knees, and they could scarcely drag their feet out of the clayey soil. if any one lay down for a moment under the heavy artillery, machine-gun and rifle fire, he was lost. the rise of the waters was attributed to the torrential rain of the previous few days, and it was hoped that on the approach of dry weather the excellent system of canals would soon drain it off. but the rising flood soon prevented the movement of wagons with ammunition and supplies, and when the attackers looked back from the railway embankment, it seemed to them as if the whole country had sunk behind them: the green meadows were covered with dirty, yellow water, and the general line of the roads was only indicated by the houses and the rows of partly covered trees. it soon became evident that the enemy must have blown up the canal-sluices, and called in the sea to his aid. the advance of general von beseler's iii reserve corps had been the culmination of the crisis for our opponent; all his reserves had been put in to stop it, but in vain. if the germans could only succeed in pushing the exhausted belgians and french out of their way, the road to dunkirk and calais was open. warnings, friendly and otherwise, had been given by the allies to the belgians that they must 'hold out'; but they were no more able to resist the attacks of the victors of antwerp now than when behind fortress ramparts. their fighting spirit was broken; so, influenced by the wishes of the british and the french, king albert finally decided to employ this last desperate means of defence, and place a wide expanse of his fair country under water. the water-level rose slowly and insidiously until, on the evening of the th, the yser north of dixmude had almost everywhere overflowed its banks. the inundation destroyed buildings as well as soil, but it enabled the worn-out defenders to recover their sore-threatened security. general von beseler quickly realised the danger which now awaited his attacking troops on the far side of the canal, behind whom a sheet of water, to yards broad, was constantly deepening. the decision was an exceedingly hard one for him to make, yet it had to be done. the attack would have to be given up and the greater part of the western bank of the river evacuated. the order was issued and carried out during the night of the th- st october. in spite of the dangers due to the altered appearance of the country and the consequent difficulty in finding the way, and although the franco-belgian artillery kept the yser crossings under constant heavy fire, the withdrawal was a brilliant success. not a wounded man nor rifle fell into the enemy's hands, and the movement was so well covered that the enemy did not notice we had disengaged until it was too late. a small detachment of gallant brandenburgers under lieutenant buchholz remained behind for a long time in pervyse. in front of them the enemy was sweeping the village with artillery and infantry fire and behind them was the edge of an apparently boundless sea. a french colonel offered lieutenant buchholz honourable conditions if he would surrender; but he indignantly rejected the offer: his only answer to the colonel was to slip off with his little band of followers. they rejoined their unit successfully. the enemy only followed up slowly along the roads, with weak detachments of infantry. our rear-guards remained west of the canal on the line st. george-stuyvekenskerke, whilst the main body on the st took up its new position east of the yser as follows: the th reserve division north of the main road st. pierre cappelle-mannekensvere; the th _ersatz_ division in the area mannekensvere-schoore; and the th reserve division to the south of it. one battalion and one battery of the th _ersatz_ division remained facing nieuport, extending northwards to the coast. a new defensive position was selected along the line westende-mannekensvere-schoore-kasteelhoek: a continuation of the attack was now out of the question, as the water was still rising west of the yser. on st october and st november, however, the xxii reserve corps again tried to press its attack southwards on the east bank of the river, in order to isolate the dixmude bridge-head, but here also the ever-rising flood soon prevented movement, and on the evening of the st these brave troops also had to yield to the forces of nature and withdraw behind the yser. this operation was carried out in bright moonlight on the night of the st- nd, and was unmolested by the enemy, for he lay in his position exhausted and heedless. thus for the time being dixmude remained in possession of the french. the army commander had issued definite instructions on the evening of the th october to the xxiii, xxvi and xxvii reserve corps to the effect that they were to maintain and strengthen their positions, and take every opportunity of seizing important points on their immediate front. in the execution of this order the german troops experienced a good deal of heavy fighting during the subsequent days. the xxvii reserve corps succeeded in capturing reutel and holding it;[ ] but in the meantime heavy hostile attacks were begun against the xxiii, xxvi and the extreme right wing of the xxvii reserve corps. the british, continually reinforced by the arrival of french units, endeavoured to break through, and used all their strength. indeed, in many places the situation of these german volunteer corps became critical. thanks to his good observation posts the enemy was able to keep our roads of advance and communications under artillery fire. as the roads were already broken up by the constant rain, the ammunition supply of our artillery, inferior in any case to our opponents', failed. nevertheless, in spite of all difficulties our counter-attacks continued. the fighting was especially severe on the front of the xxvi and xxvii reserve corps on th, th and th october. in this sector the british and french made a succession of attacks in the direction poelkappelle, passchendaele and east of zonnebeke. the th _landwehr_ brigade and the nd _ersatz_ brigade, under the command of general von meyer, had to be sent up into the fighting line, in addition to detachments of the marine division and of the th _landwehr_ brigade. these _landwehr_ men, far from being weighed down by their years, gave effective support to the terribly thinned ranks of their younger friends, and the line was restored. in the heat of the fighting on the evening of the th general von meyer was mortally wounded: may his memory be duly honoured. an exceptionally heavy british and french attack was delivered on the th and th near zonnebeke, against the inner flanks of the xxvi and xxvii reserve corps. the points of junction of formations are always the weakest parts of the defence, and when the general staff officer of the xxvii reserve corps asked for the support of the corps on his right, he received the reply that no infantry could be spared 'for the enemy....' and at that moment the telephone circuit failed. there was nothing to do but close the gap between the two corps by an artillery barrage, and to trust to the skill of the troops and their leaders. the saxon gunners of the rd reserve division shelled the advancing enemy as fast as they were able, and by this aid the infantry was finally enabled to come up and close the gap again. at the same time the enemy made a strong attack further to the south. the report came in that he had surrounded becelaere; but before his supports could assist him, the bayonets of the th reserve division had driven back his assaulting troops.[ ] the corps was able to hold its old line from the cross-roads east of zonnebeke through reutel to poezelhoek. comparative quiet followed on the th and morning of the th, for both sides were very exhausted. on the th the th bavarian reserve division arrived at dadizeele as army reserve. the army cavalry of the sixth army, consisting of eight cavalry divisions and several _jäger_ battalions under general von der marwitz, was in action on the left of the fourth army. it closed the gap between the latter and the infantry of the sixth army, which lay half-way between warneton and armentiÈres. the enemy could not be attacked here by any form of mounted action; so far from this being possible, ground could be gained only by wearisome fighting on foot, to which the cavalrymen were unaccustomed. nevertheless they carried out this task in brilliant fashion, and whilst the southern wing, in a bad position and scarcely entrenched at all, stubbornly held up the british who were streaming down from the high ground about wytschaete and messines,[ ] the rd, th and bavarian cavalry divisions, with the th, th and th _jäger_ battalions and five battalions of the th _landwehr_ brigade brought forward from lille, advanced under general von stetten to the assault of the line kruiseik-zandvoorde and west of it. this direction was taken in order to be able to attack from the south against the rear of the enemy holding up the xxvii reserve corps. the th to th october were memorable and glorious days for this cavalry corps. among other achievements, the rd cavalry division was able to capture kruiseik on the th after heavy street fighting.[ ] in co-operation with the left wing of the xxvii reserve corps, next to which the th bavarian reserve infantry regiment of the th bavarian reserve division had been placed, taking a prominent part in the fighting under colonel list, general von stetten, on the th, carried forward the attack against gheluvelt, the key of the enemy's position. more than british prisoners and machine-guns were taken by our victorious cavalry.[ ] simultaneously on this day, the troops of general von stetten filled another rôle. they were covering the concentration of new german forces which was in the course of completion behind their battle-front. the attempt to break through south of ypres throughout the fighting of the fourth army during october, the sixth army under crown prince rupert of bavaria had remained on the offensive on the line arras-la bassÉe--east of armentiÈres;[ ] but although fresh reinforcements had been sent up to that part of the front by the german general staff, a break-through had not been possible. both sides had gradually changed their objectives and now merely sought to prevent any movement of the opposing forces from that front to the decisive zone of operations between nieuport and ypres. any weakness in the enemy's line, however, was utilised to gain new and improved positions from which another effort to break through might be made as soon as possible. owing to the failure of the offensive south of nieuport, a decision under the conditions existing there could not be hoped for; the german general staff therefore began considering a plan for concentrating a strong new army of attack between the fourth and the sixth armies behind the position occupied by the army cavalry, and for breaking through with it on the front werwicq-warneton, south of ypres. on th october lieut.-general von falkenhayn arrived at the headquarters of the sixth army to discuss this operation. the plan was arranged and orders were issued accordingly. a new 'army group' was to be affiliated to the sixth army, under the command of general von fabeck, commander of the xiii würtemburg corps.[ ] it would consist of the ii bavarian and the xv corps (now on its way up from the south to join the sixth army), the th bavarian reserve division (still in reserve to the fourth army), and the th würtemburg division (of the sixth army, which was about to be relieved by the th reserve division recently arrived from the fifth army). in addition to these formations all the available heavy artillery of the sixth army would be brought up to assist, and if necessary the attacks further south would be partially discontinued. the offensive was to take place on the th october from the general line werwicq-deulemont in a north-easterly direction. in the meantime the rd division of the ii corps was also to be brought up by rail to lille. the orders of the german general staff pointed out that the united co-operation of the fourth and sixth armies was an essential condition for the success of the operation. crown prince rupert of bavaria therefore ordered the entire right wing and centre of the sixth army to continue their holding attacks, and duke albert of würtemburg ordered a general attack of his army for the th october. how the flooding of the yser on the front of the right wing of the fourth army brought the offensive of the iii and xxii reserve corps to a standstill has already been described. from the st november the th _ersatz_ division took over the protection of the line of the flooded area from the coast to tervaete, whilst the iii reserve corps was moved southwards to the district zarren-staden in order to reinforce the xxiii or xxvi reserve corps, as the situation might require.[ ] to the xxii reserve corps was allotted the task of holding the two french divisions stationed in the dixmude bridge-head, which formed a constant threat to the german front. the corps carried out this task admirably. on the morning of the th october the xxiii, xxvi and xxvii reserve corps advanced to the attack as ordered. the first-named under general von kleist succeeded in storming and holding the ruins of bixschoote. after five hours' desperate fighting, the th and th reserve infantry regiments entered the devastated village which had been occupied by two french infantry regiments. its low-lying situation, and the hopelessness of finding cover among the battered houses, resulted in the victorious german regiments being exposed to a very heavy artillery fire to such an extent, that the casualties in the village were greater than during the assault. in consequence the commander decided to withdraw and take up a line along the northern edge of bixschoote, leaving in the village itself only sufficient outposts to repulse hostile counter-attacks. the division on the left wing of the corps also made progress and reached the main road bixschoote-langemarck in places. the xxvi reserve corps attacked langemarck with its right wing, but was unable to take it. in spite of gallant efforts only a few hundred yards of ground were gained by the evening of the st, when these useless attacks were stopped by order. the centre and left wing of this corps as well as the right wing of the xxvii reserve corps were held to their positions by superior hostile artillery fire, and also by mass attacks of the british and french during the th and st. the ii and ix french corps had just arrived, and in the presence of general joffre an attempt to break through our line was to be made on this sector of the front.[ ] the german defenders, however, held stoutly to their positions, and thus enabled the offensive of the army group of general von fabeck to take place. in conjunction with this the centre and left wing of the xxvii reserve corps, under its new commander, general von schubert, simultaneously advanced in the direction of gheluvelt. during the night of the th- th october the th infantry division was relieved in its battle-position west of lille by the th reserve division, and by the evening of the th the assembly of the army group fabeck was completed without disturbance. the heavy artillery placed at the disposal of the army group consisted of batteries of mortars, battalions of heavy field-howitzers, each of batteries, and a · cm. coast defence mortar.[ ] in addition to the troops already mentioned, the st cavalry corps, the four _jäger_ battalions of the army cavalry and the th _landwehr_ brigade were put under the command of general von fabeck. on the night of the th october this new army of attack relieved the two northern cavalry corps, and took over their outpost lines. on the following morning the offensive began.[ ] the xv corps under general von deimling attacked south of the menin-ypres road, with its left wing on zandvoorde, the ii bavarian corps was on its left, with its left wing on wambeke; further south again was the th infantry division with its left wing on messines. in co-operation with these the st cavalry corps with the th and guard cavalry divisions, strengthened by two battalions of the xix saxon corps, which was attacking to the left of it, was ordered to advance on st. yves and ploegsteert wood. the th bavarian reserve division moved to the line menin-werwicq. the army cavalry which had been relieved was withdrawn to act as reserve to the sixth army, one cavalry corps being placed behind the right wing of the army to be at hand to fill up a slight gap which existed between the fourth army and the army group fabeck should it be necessary. the enemy had intercalated part of the xvi french corps between the th division of the iv british corps and the british cavalry corps, before the advance of von fabeck's army; the ii and ix french corps had also recently arrived[ ] on the northern side of the ypres salient.[ ] again, therefore, the enemy had a numerical superiority[ ] in what was the second and severest part of the battle on the yser. the british in their reports have added together all the german corps which were brought up piecemeal for the fighting on the yser and at ypres, both at this period and later on; and they describe the situation so as to give the impression that they had held up with inferior numbers the simultaneous attacks of all these corps from the outset. they go further and use the figures obtained in this way to turn their defeat into a victory. they boast of having held out against great odds, gladly forgetting that their original intention both before and during the battle had been to overrun our positions and drive us back to the rhine. the character of the fighting which began with the appearance of the new german army group on the scene had almost the savagery of the middle ages in it. the enemy turned every house, every wood and every wall into a strong point, and each of them had to be stormed by our men with heavy loss. even when the first line of these fortifications had been taken they were confronted by a second one immediately behind it; for the enemy showed great skill in taking every advantage of the ground, unfavourable in any case to the attacker. to the east and south-east of ypres, even more developed than in the north, there were thick hedges, wire fences and broad dykes. numerous woods also of all sizes with dense undergrowth made the country almost impassable and most difficult for observation purposes. our movements were constantly being limited to the roads which were swept by the enemy's machine-guns. owing to the preparatory artillery bombardments the villages were mostly in ruins by the time the infantry reached them, but the enemy fought desperately for every heap of stones and every pile of bricks before abandoning them. in the few village streets that remained worthy of the name the fighting generally developed into isolated individual combats, and no description can do adequate justice to the bravery of the german troops on such occasions. our men advanced to the attack as if they were back on the barrack square, and an englishman writes: 'they advanced towards us singing patriotic songs and with their bands playing.' there was such enthusiasm that even the weakest were carried along by it, and made regardless of losses. the battle of ypres in the autumn of will be a memorial to german heroism and self-sacrifice for all time, and will long remain a source of inspiration for the historian and the poet. by the th field-marshal french had realised the importance of the attacks developing from the south-east against ypres. they threatened his position along the high ground on the line gheluvelt-passchendaele and aimed directly at, and by the shortest way to, the town, the pivot on which all the franco-british offensive plans rested. on this day, therefore, the british commander sent up the th division into the line again, although it had only just been relieved owing to its heavy losses.[ ] [illustration: the attack of the army group fabeck. on october th. .] daybreak on the th october was dull and misty. our heavy guns began the bombardment of the enemy's well-constructed lines at about . a.m., but observation was made very difficult by the weather conditions, and could only be carried out from the foremost infantry lines. the telephonic communication rendered necessary was frequently cut by the enemy's shells; but, in spite of this, our heavy batteries were able to make such excellent practice that at the most vital points of the enemy's position the spirit of the defenders appeared to be completely broken. the high ground about zandvoorde offers a typical case. although only feet high, it was a corner-stone of the british defence and one of the main observation posts for the artillery. at a.m. our troops charged the hostile position there, and by a.m. zandvoorde itself was in the possession of the th infantry division; the th, th and st bavarian _jäger_ battalions of the army cavalry took a great share in the success. soon afterwards the high ground north-east and immediately west of the village fell into german hands. two whole british squadrons with their machine-guns lay, dead and wounded, completely annihilated in one meadow on the battlefield.[ ] further south the ii bavarian corps had driven back british cavalry supported by part of the iii british corps. after a severe hand-to-hand encounter it took possession of the château, and finally also of the village of hollebeke. the left wing of the corps pushed forward as far as the wambeke stream, north of the village of the same name, but had here to put in all its reserves to hold its ground against strong hostile counter-attacks.[ ] on the left of the bavarians the th infantry division was engaged in heavy fighting, the position confronting it being a particularly strong one. it lay along a prominent ridge from to feet high,[ ] running north and south, eastwards of mount kemmel, and gave the enemy an extensive view eastwards over our lines. the defence of this ridge was greatly facilitated by the villages of wytschaete and messines on it. these had been turned into fortresses, and were connected by deep trenches protected by broad wire entanglements.[ ] owing to observation difficulties, and to the misty weather preventing the airmen from giving assistance, our artillery was unable from its positions in the valley to bring a sufficiently heavy bombardment on the enemy's lines; and, though the würtemburg troops attacked with great gallantry, the enemy was too well prepared for the assault. on the right wing the nd fusilier regiment (emperor franz joseph of austria) took the fortified village of wambeke, and on the left wing the st infantry brigade worked forward slowly towards messines. the ridge north-east of the last-named village was stormed, but the assault on the locality itself, which was to have been delivered at . in the evening, could not get on owing to heavy enfilade fire from the south which held back the attackers some hundred yards away from its edge.[ ] the cavalry corps[ ] had gained ground at first, but, in consequence of their weakness in artillery, they had been unable to take st. yves or to make progress against the strongly fortified wood south-west of it. the same story describes the day's work of the xix corps[ ] fighting to the south of the cavalry. on the extreme right wing of the army group also the attack on the th october had not had the success expected. the combined efforts of the th reserve division and the right wing of the th division had not been able to carry us into gheluvelt.[ ] general von deimling and major-general wild von hohenborn went forward themselves into the front line to encourage the men, but the enemy defended his positions desperately, and held on firmly to the main points of his line. another artillery bombardment was therefore considered necessary. from the enemy's point of view, however, the situation was anything but rosy on the evening of the th october. the entry of general von deimling's troops into zandvoorde endangered the southern side of the ypres salient, and the capture of hollebeke brought the germans within three miles of ypres itself. ypres was indeed in danger. field-marshal french had put indian troops into the fighting line on the th, and he now brought all the available british and french reserves towards the line zandvoorde-hollebeke in order to support the th british division, which had been fought to a standstill.[ ] during the night, therefore, the fighting never ceased: attacks and counter-attacks continued along the whole front, and under cover of darkness the indefatigable würtemburg troops again tried to storm messines. on the st october the germans had at first but few fresh troops to meet the enemy's reinforcements;[ ] so the th bavarian reserve division was brought up in readiness north of the lys behind the ii bavarian corps. general von fabeck had from the outset realised that the wytschaete-messines ridge was of decisive importance, and that every effort must be made to take it; on the st, therefore, the main pressure was to be exerted along the southern sector of attack of the ii bavarian corps. according to the enemy's accounts the st october was one of the most critical days at his headquarters. for us it was a day of great glory, and the british state unreservedly in their reports of the fighting, that the bravery of our men was beyond all praise. it is true that this last october day of the first war-year did not give us ypres, but our semicircle around the town became so reduced that it was brought within range of our artillery from three sides, and there could be no more threats of a big hostile offensive based on the ypres district. the fact that neither the enemy's commanders nor their troops gave way under the strong pressure we put on them, but continued to fight the battle round ypres, though their situation was most perilous, gives us an opportunity to acknowledge that there were men of real worth opposed to us who did their duty thoroughly. at dawn on sunday the st october, in fine weather, a heavy artillery bombardment of the new hostile positions was begun on a front of ten and a half miles. the enemy's batteries were not long in replying; being so difficult to locate they had not suffered much in the previous fighting. terrific artillery fire lasted throughout the morning, the british and french shells fell long distances behind our lines, blocking streets and bridges, and devastating the villages as far back as the lys, so that any regular transport of supplies became impossible. at gheluvelt, however, the important northern corner of the army group fabeck, the enemy's hail of shells had but little result, because our capture of the high ground at zandvoorde had made the work of observation very difficult. [illustration: the attack of the army group fabeck. on october st. .] after sufficient artillery preparation the british stronghold of gheluvelt was to be attacked from south and east simultaneously. colonel von aldershausen, commanding the th infantry regiment, was to direct the attack from the east. besides two battalions of his own regiment, there were placed under his command the st battalion of the rd infantry regiment and a strong mixed detachment from the th reserve division, mainly belonging to the th reserve regiment and the th reserve _jäger_ battalion. the th infantry regiment was to make the attack from the south.[ ] during the morning, in spite of the heaviest fighting, no success was achieved, and isolated attacks were repulsed by british counter-movements. at about a.m. our converging attack was begun. the commanders of the th reserve and th infantry divisions with their artillery leaders, as well as the general commanding the xv corps, were again in the foremost lines, though the last, general von deimling, was wounded almost at once by a shell-splinter. towards midday the attack began to gain ground. his majesty the kaiser, who had arrived at the battle headquarters of the sixth army, watched the infantry working its way through the maze of the enemy's obstacles and entrenchments. it was well supported by artillery, some of the guns being moved forward with the front line. the british and french artillery fired as rapidly as they knew how,[ ] and over every bush, hedge and fragment of wall floated a thin film of smoke, betraying a machine-gun rattling out bullets. but it was all of no avail: the attackers kept on advancing. more hostile strongholds were constantly being discovered; even all the points known to be of importance could not be given sufficient bombardments by our artillery, so that many attacks had to be delivered against fresh troops in good sheltered entrenchments untouched by our guns.[ ] many of our gallant men were killed, and the officers, who were the first to rise in the assault, were the special target of the enemy's sharpshooters, well trained in long colonial wars.[ ] once our troops entered an enemy's position, the resistance was only slight, and the german showed his superiority in single combat. it was only the enemy's counter-attacks, delivered with remarkable accuracy and rapidity, that regained some of his lost ground, but they did not, however, compromise the general success of the day. the xxvii reserve corps pressed forward into the dense woods near reutel,[ ] which were defended by a strong system of obstacles and by a quantity of machine-guns, hidden in some cases up in trees.[ ] while this was in progress the last assault on gheluvelt was taking place. the attacks from east and south both broke into the village, and by p.m. the whole place with its château and park was in german possession.[ ] colonel von hügel took his storming parties of the th reserve division northwards through and beyond the village, while captain reiner galloped his batteries close up to it. it was then, however, that fresh hostile reserves were launched against gheluvelt. the th reserve regiment of the th bavarian reserve division was hurried up to meet them, its gallant commander, colonel list, dying a hero's death during the movement. for a short time our own artillery fired into the backs of the bavarian ranks: for the men were wearing caps and were thus mistaken for british troops. nevertheless the enemy's counter-attack failed and gheluvelt became and remained ours, and we captured besides officers and men, and guns.[ ] the enemy prevented our further advance beyond gheluvelt by a heavy fire from a new and strong position along the edge of the woods west of gheluvelt. here a new fortress had been made, which would have to be broken down by our artillery before it could be attacked. on the left wing of the xv corps the german assaults also failed in front of some small woods which had been turned into strong points; the th infantry division was able to advance only some yards, though it took a number of prisoners.[ ] the artillery of the xv corps had an accidental success on this day which must have interfered with the enemy's staff work for some time. during the bombardment of hooge, a direct hit was made on a house in which the staff of the st british division were working: one general and several staff officers were killed.[ ] after heavy fighting at close quarters the ii bavarian corps gained ground along the whole of its wide sector of attack on the st october. the right wing took possession of the edges of the woods west of hollebeke, whilst the left of the corps advanced as far as oosttaverne. the th bavarian reserve division had been brought into line immediately south of it, in order to make the attack on wytschaete. we now come to the most vital point of the battle: who was to be the victor in the fight for the wytschaete-messines ridge? the th bavarian reserve division had worked forward by daylight towards wytschaete, regardless of the heavy artillery fire directed from the high ground on our troops moving up from the valley.[ ] at nightfall the left wing of the ii bavarian corps was still hanging back, unable to break the strong resistance opposed to it, but in spite of this the bavarian reserve division dared to make its attack. the th reserve infantry regiment was to enter wytschaete from the east and the st from the south. all the preparations had been carefully made. the men wore white arm-bands as a distinguishing mark when at close quarters with the enemy in the darkness. water bottles were packed away in the haversacks; rifles were unloaded and bayonets fixed. it was hoped to take the enemy by surprise, and not a light betrayed our arrival in the assembly positions. the hostile artillery fire slackened during the night, but frequent star-shells lighted up the darkness and showed that our opponents were keeping a careful watch. the clear moon must have helped them to see our movements. at a.m. ( st nov.) the bavarians advanced from their assembly positions, taking little notice of the enemy's artillery which began to open on them. the general direction of the attack was given by the windmill of wytschaete, which was clearly outlined in the moonlight against the sky. the th reserve infantry regiment under colonel hofmann rapidly reached the edge of the village and pushed through to the western exit. the surprise had succeeded, and numbers of the enemy who still held out in isolated ruins were either killed in a hand-to-hand fight, or taken prisoner.[ ] unfortunately, however, our own guns continued to bombard the village, as the news of the victory of the th regiment was not communicated to them sufficiently quickly. at about a.m. colonel hofmann therefore decided to withdraw his victorious troops temporarily to the eastern edge of wytschaete, and to reorganise there. it so happened that the st reserve regiment arrived on the southern side of the village at this moment, its advance having been delayed by a heavy enfilade fire from the south-west. when the men of the st regiment in the first dim light of dawn saw the figures of men wearing caps running eastwards among the ruins, they immediately opened fire on them. nevertheless, in spite of the losses incurred through this mistake, the th regiment held its ground at the eastern edge of the village. the error was quickly remedied by singing patriotic songs and by flag-signals, and communication was regained with the neighbouring infantry and with the artillery. a strong counter-attack, however, was now made by six regiments of the xvi french corps, which had arrived during the night, and the gallant th had slowly to withdraw again from the high ground. the fighting around messines on the st had been equally severe. on the th the th infantry division under duke william of urach had already got its patrols up to the edge of the village, but before any assault could be made an artillery preparation was required, especially against the northern sector. on the morning of the st october our howitzers and trench-mortars bombarded the enemy in his trenches, and by . a.m. the moment had arrived for the würtemburg troops to advance. the nd fusilier regiment was to attack the ridge north of messines, along which runs the road to wytschaete, whilst the th infantry regiment was to advance against messines itself, and the th grenadier regiment against the enemy's trenches immediately south of it. the hostile position was so strong that a force greatly inferior in strength would be able to hold it against an attack coming up from the valley. bare sloping ground lay in front of it, and only a few hedges limited the field of view, so that every advance and assembly position for miles round could be seen. a strong british garrison held messines: the trenches had been well made, and were covered by a continuous and broad system of obstacles.[ ] [illustration: the capture of messines. on october st. by the th. infantry division.] the way in which the swabian troops[ ] broke down the enemy's resistance was indeed a masterpiece. neither the enemy's artillery fire, which imperilled the advance of the reserves, nor the british machine-guns, a large number of which enfiladed the attack from the south, could restrain the dash of the würtemburg troops. at a.m. the th stuttgart infantry regiment had got possession of the north-east corner of messines. the road entering the village from gapaard was blocked by a barricade; and after storming it, another one, a hundred yards further inside the village, closed the way. the streets could not be used for our advance, being choked with debris, and under heavy rifle and machine-gun fire, so the attackers had to make their way through or over the walls. there are a number of large, well-built houses in messines, which the enemy had turned into a succession of strongholds, but they were rapidly blown up by our sappers. the convent looked especially impregnable with its walls a yard thick, and strong towers from which machine-guns and rifles fired frantically. captain heinrich's würtemburg battery of the th field artillery regiment was therefore brought up, the men dragging the guns through the streets, as horses could not move along them, and the infantry carrying up the ammunition. the convent was soon in flames, burying its stubborn defenders under its ruins. lieutenant mösner of the th infantry regiment, following a narrow footpath through gardens and backyards, was the first to make an entry into the market-square. with a few stout-hearted followers he occupied a large building there which he defended without any support till the evening against great odds. not until nightfall were others of his regiment able to reach him, and secure the position he had held so courageously. this day of street fighting had cost very dear, and our casualty list was a large one. a part of the nd fusilier regiment fighting north of messines had also had to be directed on to the village, and by the evening a continuous line had been successfully formed through the centre of it. isolated fighting continued throughout the night, and in order to keep up communication amidst the ruins and recognise one another in the dark, the würtemburg troops sang folk-songs. the chorus of voices mixed with the rattle of machine-guns, the roar of artillery in the streets, and the crackle of the burning and falling houses, all combined to make a magnificent and unsurpassed piece of battle-music. north of the village the left wing of the nd infantry regiment established itself on the messines-wytschaete road: but its right wing was unable to capture the high ground, as wytschaete itself was still in british hands. the th grenadiers suffered severely: the progress of the other regiment of their brigade, the th infantry regiment, had roused their ambition, but a heavy enfilade fire swept their ranks from the south where the cavalry corps were still unable to advance. they were compelled by heavy losses to be content with the task of securing the left flank of their division. on the evening of the st the gallant attackers were rewarded for their deeds of immortal fame by a message of warm praise from the emperor. the final objective, however, had not yet been attained, although in the south the high ground had been reached and artillery observers sent forward there, so that the enemy's positions could be accurately ranged on right up to mount kemmel. the main pressure of the attack would therefore have to be continued here, on the left wing of the army group fabeck. during the st november the rd infantry division arrived in the area comines-warneton, north of the lys, as reserve to the army group. on the morning of the st november a thick mist lay over the country, so that the infantry got a few hours' rest before the continuous shelling of the enemy's artillery began. as soon as the mist cleared, the battle broke out anew, on a twelve-mile front. in the north the saxon and würtemburg divisions of the xxvii reserve corps further extended their successes of the previous days. the line was advanced up to the château of poezelhoek, which was taken from the st british division after a heavy fight.[ ] the divisions of deimling's xv corps attacked with the right wing on the gheluvelt-ypres main road and the left on klein zillebeke. they advanced but slowly, fighting hard the whole day. the small, dense woods, defended with the utmost tenacity, again made progress very difficult. the th division managed to reach the eastern edge of the herenthage wood, where the rd british cavalry division, supported by infantry, was in position. the wood north of zandvoorde gave exceptional trouble, but it was finally outflanked on both sides, and its defenders taken prisoner.[ ] the ii bavarian corps advanced to the attack on both sides of the comines-ypres canal, and drove the enemy back as far as the sharp bend in it. the left wing captured the small wood west of oosttaverne which was defended by indian and british troops. the treacherous methods of the indians greatly exasperated our men: crouching in the hedges, and with machine-guns concealed up trees, the defeated asiatics allowed our troops to pass them, and then got up and stabbed them in the back with their knives.[ ] the th bavarian reserve division had withdrawn, on the morning of the st november, to its positions of the previous evening, and at midday began its attack once more. confidence and enthusiasm served to obliterate the bad memories of the past night, and the dense lines now rose simultaneously from their positions as if on parade. very many of their dead or wounded still lay at the foot of the heights, but the gallant division stormed the slopes again, and by p.m. had reached the eastern edge of wytschaete. it was not possible to push up reserves owing to heavy artillery fire, and at this moment the enemy counter-attacked with two fresh divisions.[ ] the bavarians, who had become disorganised during the assault, were forced to evacuate the village again under cover of darkness, after having actually entered it at about p.m. they had suffered very heavily during the attack, being fired at from flank and rear, for the right wing of the th infantry division was unable to take all the high ground north-west of messines until the evening of the st november. fierce street fighting had gone on in messines throughout the day, till finally the würtemburg troops gained the upper hand and cleared the enemy out of the village to its western edge. the british were driven back down the western slope of the ridge, and had to entrench themselves in the valley, losing heavily in the operation. as soon as its right wing reached the messines-wytschaete road that evening the th infantry division held almost the whole of the famous ridge, and the preliminary condition for the capture of wytschaete was obtained. the th bavarian reserve division, however, was not able to carry out a third assault without assistance, and general von fabeck during the night of the st- nd therefore advanced the rd prussian division from its assembly area wambeke-garde dieu into the fighting line, in order to carry forward the attack through and beyond wytschaete towards kemmel. after a comparatively quiet night the battle opened again on the morning of the nd november along the whole front of the army group fabeck. his indefatigable troops, some of whom had already endured twelve days of the heaviest fighting that had taken place in the campaign, attacked their strongly entrenched opponent once more. the enemy was at least as strong as they were in fighting units on the battle-front, and besides was able to bring up reinforcements of newly arrived british and french troops.[ ] on the eastern side of the _ypres_ salient general von deimling attacked on a front of nearly four miles. his corps, which had won its laurels in alsace, in lorraine and in northern france, again, in spite of heavy casualties, continued its advance of the previous days. the th division entered veldhoek and established itself firmly in the north-eastern corner of the herenthage wood.[ ] the attack had been facilitated by a simultaneous advance of the xxvii reserve corps, which had pressed forward some hundred yards north of veldhoek. von deimling's left wing had advanced in the direction of klein zillebeke, but was held up by the difficult wooded country east of zwarteleen. it had to wait here for assistance from the neighbouring troops on its left. the ii bavarian corps had been held up early on the morning of the nd november by strong hostile counter-attacks in the sector west of hollebeke. they were all, however, repulsed and the corps was even able to make a slight advance on the right wing during the day. wytschaete was again the centre of the heaviest fighting on this day.[ ] the bavarian reserve division was, at its own request, to attack the village; the enemy's position immediately south of it was allotted as objective to the rd division. the nd infantry regiment and an _abtheilung_ ( batteries) of the th field artillery regiment remained in army reserve. at a.m. a fierce artillery duel began, and the enemy, quickly realising the danger threatening him, hurried up strong reserves to wytschaete. kiefhaber's brigade of the th bavarian reserve division rose to the assault. under a hail of shrapnel the youngsters stormed the eastern and southern slopes of the wytschaete ridge for the third time, though with considerable loss, the enemy's machine-guns causing great havoc in their ranks. as soon as the foremost of them had reached the windmill the enemy launched a counter-attack; but this time the bavarians were not content with simply holding their ground; their supports were brought up at the critical moment and pressed forward into the village. furious street fighting now ensued, and the bavarians having to deal with every house became greatly disorganised. taking advantage of this the british and french commanders sent forward fresh masses into the line, trying to turn the balance in their favour at this important point by employing every available man. it was . p.m. when a cry for help reached the pomeranian ( rd) division from their bavarian neighbours, and it was not uttered in vain. shortly before, the stettin grenadier regiment had captured the long-coveted high ground south-west of wytschaete, the struggle for a large farmhouse on it having been especially severe. without possession of this the south flank of the village could not be held. count gneisenau's colberg grenadiers were then sent forward to support the bavarians, and the enemy was unable to hold out in wytschaete against the rifle-butts and bayonets of the united pomeranians and bavarians. soon after p.m. the village, as far as its western edge, was in german hands, although the fighting continued till well into the night among the ruins with detachments of the enemy who would not surrender. by the capture of wytschaete a fine commanding position had been obtained, but the village itself, once so pleasant to the view, was now terrible to look upon. the church was in flames, and the windmill flared like a beacon in the darkness. friend and foe lay wounded side by side among the smouldering ruins. the enemy was fully aware of the importance of wytschaete, but he had been so weakened that he was unable to recover for another big counter-attack. he therefore contented himself with small and fruitless efforts, only one of which succeeded in temporarily entering the village during the rd. nevertheless for the next few days it lay under the constant fire of heavy artillery, though our heroic observers did not allow this to interfere with their work. many of the inhabitants still remained in wytschaete, as in messines, and it was pathetic to see how they clung to their devastated patches of ground, regardless of danger. in spite of many offers from the germans, these belgian inhabitants remained with their last scrap of property, preferring to die by the shell that destroyed their homes. a small wood north-west of wytschaete, called the park, was still a dangerous point. this dense copse was surrounded by a system of trenches and several rows of obstacles. with the help of skilfully sited flanking arrangements and shell-proof shelters, it had been turned into an almost impregnable stronghold, and cost us many days of heavy fighting before it was finally taken. the th infantry division, after its capture of messines, immediately put the high ground into a state of defence. its left brigade, the st, which was in position there, was relieved on the nd november by the th _landwehr_ brigade, and sent back to the army reserve. the nd brigade, on the right wing of the division, in co-operation with the rd infantry division, advanced across the steenbeek stream. however, no progress of importance could be made there, as every movement could be immediately brought under most effective artillery fire from the commanding positions on mount kemmel.[ ] on the rd november the formation of a 'group urach' was ordered, consisting of the rd and th infantry divisions, to continue the attack against the high ground east of kemmel; but in the following days it was unable to make any essential alteration in the general situation in this sector. a part of the army cavalry was still in action south of, and co-operating with, the th infantry division, in spite of the small force of artillery and engineers included in it. on the nd november it made a surprise attack on foot against the farm klein douve with complete success.[ ] on the th november the i cavalry corps was relieved by the ii, consisting of the rd and th cavalry divisions. in the early days of november the conduct of the enemy's operations against the army group fabeck underwent a very noticeable change. the german attacks had destroyed any prospect of success for the big offensive movement which had been planned. the british troops, especially the i and iv corps,[ ] were so played out that they had to be relieved by parts of the french army. the enemy's commanders, however, realised that even these fresh troops would be unable to make much headway against our men, and they therefore decided to remain on the defensive and to create a deep zone of trench-systems. the heavy fighting had made havoc of their front trenches, or at least had badly damaged them. the civil population and all other available labour, therefore, were now called upon to dig successive lines of rearward positions for a long way westwards.[ ] these preparations were soon discovered by our airmen. during the early days of november the commander of the sixth army came to the conclusion that the offensive of the army group fabeck could lead to no decisive results. the forces available were still too weak to break through the enemy's strongly entrenched positions, particularly as he was continually bringing up fresh reinforcements to the battle-front. if the attempt to break through south of ypres was not to be entirely abandoned, and a purely defensive war on the western front thereby avoided, more troops would have to be brought up for the ypres battle from other sectors of the front. as a beginning the nd and the bavarian cavalry divisions were affiliated to the army group fabeck, the bavarian cavalry division being allotted to the xv corps and the nd cavalry division to the ii bavarian corps. the german general staff also placed the ii corps and the th infantry division at the disposal of general von fabeck, and they began to detrain at lille on the th november. on the rd crown prince rupert of bavaria ordered the xxiv reserve corps and the th reserve division to be taken from the sixth army, west of lille; and this was followed by an order on the th to withdraw all the troops of the guard corps available from their positions, and for their sector of the front to be taken over by the iv corps at arras. accordingly a composite division of the guard corps, consisting of the st and th guard infantry brigades, under lieutenant-general von winckler, marched for roubaix, which was reached on the th. more heavy artillery was also handed over to the army group fabeck, and, in addition, all the artillery ammunition allotted to the sixth army. the intention of the german general staff, communicated to the commander of the sixth army on the th november, was: to push the attack to the immediate north (of the elbow) of the comines-ypres canal, and to put in all available forces to break through there. in the meantime, however, general von fabeck, in accordance with instructions previously issued by the commander of the sixth army, had placed the xxiv reserve corps and the th reserve division on the left wing of the ii bavarian corps, and had there formed a group gerok, to which the th bavarian reserve division was added. thus for the offensive north of the comines-ypres canal there were left the ii corps and guard corps (the th division and the mixed division of von winckler), besides the xv corps which was already in position there. the fighting continued along the front of the army group until the th, when these troops were ready to attack. no time was to be given the enemy to recover, or to strengthen his positions. the xv corps, which in the meantime had extended its left wing to the comines-ypres canal, won ground daily, especially on the th november, when the th division delivered a heavy attack near klein zillebeke and drove the recently arrived french troops from their position, capturing four hundred prisoners in the farm buildings. the troops, advancing with their bands playing, also stormed parts of zwarteleen, a village widely scattered among the woods and meadows. the artillery fired at point-blank range, as the november mist made observation impossible at any distance. french counter-attacks and an attack by british cavalry, which attempted to make good the retirement of the french, were repulsed. their casualties were heavy, the st and nd british life guards being decimated. the enemy's counter-attacks on the th and th november, in which the much weakened th british division, as well as the zouaves, took part, had also no success. on the th november the th infantry regiment captured the fortified position along the western edge of veldhoek; with a strong counter-attack the french made a bid to recover the lost ground. lieutenant-colonel linker, the gallant regimental commander, hastily gathered together all the supports within reach, including _landwehr_ men of the th reserve division, and led them forward to meet the advancing enemy; he himself was mortally wounded at the head of his victorious followers. the french hurriedly retired, suffering considerable loss.[ ] the ii bavarian corps was kept busily employed by the hostile counter-attacks near the canal; the enemy offered very stubborn resistance in order to keep possession of the high ground from which ypres can be seen. the bavarians, however, not only maintained their positions, but, by an irresistible attack on the th and th november, took the high ground on which st. eloi is situated.[ ] to the th bavarian infantry brigade is due all the credit for this fine feat. the enemy remained for a long time in the houses of st. eloi, but the high ground was of primary, perhaps even decisive, importance; for it gave us a bird's-eye view of the country east of ypres, where the mass of the british field artillery was in position. the fighting further south which the troops of the group gerok had in and north of wytschaete was equally heavy. the northern edge formed the dividing line between the groups gerok and urach. the enemy kept the village under heavy fire in order to hinder the work of our observers, the mere sight of a man anywhere being sufficient to draw his artillery fire. our stereo-telescopes were therefore used through loopholes in the ruins or at the chimney openings, and the observers were often far safer on such lofty perches than our reserves in the cellars of the battered village. only slow progress could be made in the woods lying to the north-west. the group urach also was unable to make much headway. on its right wing, the rd infantry division struggled hard to get possession of the park north-west of wytschaete. after a whole day's fighting the th fusilier regiment forced its way into the hospice, a fine old convent at the northern entrance to the village; from its roof the enemy had been able to get a splendid view of our positions in the valley south of wytschaete. in spite of a most thorough bombardment our attack was very costly, and although the park was enveloped on two sides, it was found impossible to enter it. from this patch of wood heavy enfilade fire swept the positions of the th bavarian division to the north, and the trenches of the rd prussian division to the south. it was surrounded by a wall and moat as well as by wire entanglements, the impenetrable undergrowth being entangled with a maze of wire. frenchmen with machine-guns were roped to the trunks of some of the trees, and they were found dead hanging from the shell-torn stumps when the park of wytschaete was finally stormed on the th november by the st reserve infantry regiment of the th bavarian division, with the nd grenadiers and th fusiliers of the rd prussian division. there is a legend connected with wytschaete park, and the scene was worthy of it.[ ] the th infantry division during these days had advanced its lines to the western slopes of the wytschaete-messines ridge, and in places across the valley, by sapping. this operation cost many casualties, as the british on mount kemmel were able to watch every movement in our trenches, and could immediately bring them under the fire of field or heavy artillery, or even of long-range naval guns, and they were by no means sparing with their ammunition. fortunately our losses were for the most part only in the front lines, but our shortage of ammunition compelled us to husband it.[ ] owing to the conformation of the ground and to the weather preventing any air-reconnaissances, we were unable to range accurately on the enemy's artillery, and the most we could do was to disturb their means of fire-direction. their observation posts on mount kemmel were soon discovered, and the fight now began against the observers there as well as against those posted in the towers of ypres. so the blame must not be laid on us for the gradual destruction of those magnificent buildings of ypres, which gave such a fine view of the whole countryside. further to the south no noteworthy progress was made either by the cavalry corps, or on the front of the sixth army. such then was the general situation when, on the th november, the new forces lay ready to take the offensive in their positions north of the comines-ypres canal. before going further, however, the operations of the fourth army from the last days of october must for a moment be touched on. the operations of the fourth army from the end of october to the th november whilst the northern wing of the sixth army under general von fabeck was engaged in the heavy fighting just described, the fourth army of duke albert of würtemburg had been doing its utmost, by means of constant attacks, to prevent the enemy from withdrawing any troops from his front to support his endangered positions near ypres. by a.m. on the rd november the reorganisation of the german forces rendered necessary by the inundation of the front between the coast and dixmude had been sufficiently completed to enable an offensive to be delivered on this day, on the line dixmude-gheluvelt. the right flank, from dixmude to the coast, was secured by the th _landwehr_ brigade, th _ersatz_ division, and part of the rd reserve division, all under the orders of the general officer commanding the xxii reserve corps. the dispositions of the attacking troops were as follows: the xxiii reserve corps in the sector noordschoote-bixschoote; the iii reserve corps, including the th reserve division, on both sides of langemarck, facing the front het sas-st. julien (this was the most important group in the offensive); the xxvi and xxvii reserve corps were to the south again, with the left flank resting on the gheluvelt-ypres main road.[ ] by the evening of the th the xxiii reserve corps had been able to gain ground at and north of bixschoote, while the th reserve division advancing from the north had forced its way close up to the western edge of langemarck. but all our efforts to capture this place by attacks from north and east, in spite of reinforcements being brought up, failed. it became evident that the enemy's skilfully placed and more numerous artillery, combined with his well-wired infantry positions in a country so favourable for defence, were more than a match for our guns, especially at a time when ammunition was scarce, and the misty weather prevented observation from aeroplanes. a continuation of the offensive here would only have meant a useless sacrifice of life. it was therefore decided with deep regret to resort to the long and wearisome task of sapping in order to hold the enemy. the situation of the fourth army indeed was no enviable one. here in the plains of flanders, operations were effected by the november weather and heavy rains, far more than in the country east and south of ypres. the troops had to endure great hardships; their trenches rapidly filled with water, and were necessarily so shallow as to give insufficient protection against artillery fire. in several places they had to be evacuated altogether, and the men lay out in the open with only a hastily constructed wire entanglement in front to secure them against surprise attacks. sapping too proved most difficult in this water-logged district. frequently it could only be carried on by piling up sand-bag parapets, and these being easily seen by the enemy were promptly shelled. thus the attack made slow progress. regular reliefs for the troops in the front line were out of the question, for the units available at that time were too weak; and in any case, the men found relief time a very dangerous moment, as the enemy was able to observe every movement, especially where he still held good observation points, as at bixschoote and langemarck. a very extensive system of espionage served to complete his knowledge of our intentions. individual soldiers were left behind in civilian clothing, with concealed telephonic communication; they kept hidden during the daytime in attics and cellars, and reported our movements and dispositions quickly and accurately to their headquarters.[ ] a great deal of information was also given away by the belgian population, who crossed the german lines by secret bypaths, or sent news across by carrier-pigeons, or by lights and signals. although the punishment meted out to espionage was severe, the belgians always kept up this form of patriotic work. it was extremely harmful to us, and its effect could be diminished only by maintaining thorough surveillance of the country in rear of our lines. our reserves, about which the enemy was always well informed, had for the above reasons to be kept close up behind the front lines in order to be near at hand at the critical moment. their movements, as well as the sending up of all the necessary supplies, were often matters of extreme difficulty. generally the reserves had to bivouac on sodden meadows, the farms in the neighbourhood being insufficient to provide shelter for them all. the troops who were withdrawn from the front line and put in reserve had therefore small opportunity for either rest or recreation. the insecurity of our communications back into the interior of belgium must be passed over almost without mention, except to say that here too a colossal task had been set; for the weak force allotted to the general-governor had not only to garrison belgium, but to provide observation posts along the dutch frontier. in carrying out these duties, the old _landsturm_ troops showed a spirit of endurance which said much for the military training they had received many years before. the work of keeping watch over the excited population was not without its dangers, and all praise is due to these garrison troops and to the auxiliary troops sent from germany to their assistance. thanks to them, the long lines of communication through conquered belgium were not disturbed, and the supply of the northern wing of our army suffered no interruption from the enemy. for the honour of all concerned this must be put on record. on the th and th november the enemy made attacks on a larger scale along the coast. on the th, believing that we had left only weak outposts behind, even opposite nieuport, when we retired to the eastern bank of the canal, two to three belgian regiments advanced through lombartzyde. at first they gained a slight success, but were shortly afterwards attacked by part of the th _landwehr_ brigade from the east, and by the rd _ersatz_ brigade from the south, and driven back. detachments of the marine division pursued the fleeing belgians. the second attack made by about five thousand french troops, which took place on the th, fared far worse; the whole of lombartzyde was taken by our counter-attack, and the enemy losses were very heavy.[ ] on the th november the th _landwehr_ brigade was relieved by parts of the marine division, for the th november was the day on which the new offensive was to be made with fresh troops against ypres from the south-east. the last phase when the th division and von winckler's guard division were sent forward on the th november into the northern part of the fighting line, formerly occupied by the xv corps, the ii bavarian corps, from the heights of st. eloi it had just stormed, was able to look right down on ypres. the orders of the sixth army commander, dated the th and th november, had given all the necessary instructions for the employment of the new units. the th infantry division and von winckler's guard division were placed under the commander of the guard corps, general baron von plettenberg, and were to be called plettenberg's corps. the xv corps and plettenberg's corps formed the army group linsingen.[ ] the task set the troops of general von linsingen was 'to drive back and crush the enemy lying north of the canal (comines-ypres); the main weight of the attack is to be delivered by the left wing. the army group fabeck is to maintain its positions west of the canal, its task being to continue pressing forward and at the same time to support the attack of the left wing of the army group linsingen, by as powerful enfilade fire as possible from its right flank batteries.' the decisive attack was to begin on the th november, when another strong reinforcement of engineers would have arrived. all the other units of the sixth army and the whole of the fourth army were also, according to arrangement, to attack on this day with increased energy, so that the enemy should be allowed no rest, and held to his positions along the whole front. on the stroke of a.m. the fourth army advanced to the attack. this tenth day of november was to be a famous one in its history. the sectors of attack for each of the corps remained, generally speaking, the same, except that the left wing of the xxvii reserve corps had been closed in slightly to the north. strengthened by the guard _jäger_ battalion, a guard machine-gun detachment[ ] and the th machine-gun detachment, this corps was to advance towards the polygon wood. the orders for the xxii reserve corps ran as follows: 'the xxii reserve corps[ ] in co-operation with the marine division will secure the yser canal front, and will take dixmude.' immediately north of dixmude the th _ersatz_ division was in position, with the rd reserve division to the east and south, the two divisions together making a semicircle of steel round the objective. this time our troops were determined to take the town so stubbornly defended by the french infantry. the enemy fully realised the importance of this bridge-head. besides holding a strong german force always in the vicinity, it covered the canal-crossing nearest to calais. on the th its garrison was further reinforced by the arrival of fresh french troops. the rain of the previous days had made the ground over which the attack on dixmude was to be carried out very heavy going. the handzaeme canal, running east and west, divides it into two parts, the northerly one being particularly swampy and difficult to cross. the main attack had therefore to be made from the east and south-east on a comparatively narrow front. the town itself comprised both modern and obsolete fortifications, but the first strongholds of the defenders were the railway buildings and cemetery situated to the east of it. the railway embankment had been transformed into a very strong defensive position, and a heavy fire was expected from it when we advanced from the high embankments of the yser. under the cover of darkness the division was able to push its front line to an assault position within two hundred yards of the enemy, and at dawn on the th the artillery bombardment began. our heaviest guns took part and countless shells from our _minenwerfer_ did their utmost to break down the enemy's resistance. by . a.m. our first attempt to take the enemy's advanced positions had failed, and another artillery bombardment against his obstacles and flanking posts was ordered. at . a.m. the advanced stronghold at the cemetery was stormed. our infantry had scarcely got into position there before the artillery observers arrived to direct the fire of their batteries from the front line on to the next strong point. the artillery bombardment lasted throughout the morning until p.m. when the general assault was ordered. the infantry, with detachments of sappers carrying hand-grenades and various material useful in an assault, had worked its way forward close up to the line of obstacles. the st reserve infantry regiment advanced rapidly at first by frontal attack. north of it, the th reserve _jäger_ battalion under captain hameln worked forward across the deep marshes between the canal and the railway. the nd reserve infantry regiment came under a heavy enfilade fire from the yser embankment, and at . p.m. orders were issued for the corps reserve under colonel teetzmann, consisting of a few battalions of the rd reserve division and of the th _ersatz_ division, to be brought up into the line. its task was to help carry forward the attack of the nd regiment against the railway embankment, and to secure the left flank of the advance. the nearer the attack approached to the town, the more desperate became the resistance of its defenders. the gallant commander of the st reserve regiment, general von seydewitz, always in the front line encouraging his men, was killed leading the attack just as his regiment and the _jäger_ entered the devastated town at about . p.m. our well-directed artillery fire had cleared the front at the critical moment, and the enemy withdrew to the flanks of and behind dixmude, but did not cease to offer resistance. he held the railway embankment south of the town with particular tenacity. even when this had been finally stormed, the nd regiment had to continue the fight, with heavy loss, among the burning houses in the southern part of the town, until the st regiment by a wheel southwards were able to give assistance. teetzmann's brigade in its attack on the yser embankment, to protect the flank of the division, had meanwhile reached the river. thence it pressed on towards the bridges west of the town, so that the enemy's retreat was threatened. in spite of this, however, he gave nothing up without a struggle, and every block of houses had to be captured: in fact the street fighting that ensued was hardly less bitter and terrible than at wytschaete and messines. during the struggle in dixmude, the french artillery fired into the place regardless of friend or foe, and both suffered alike. the fight was still raging among the houses at the northern exit, where von beerst was only making slow progress with the advanced detachments of the th _ersatz_ division, when our reserves were assembled in the market-square to deliver the final blow. the french infantry and marine fusiliers put up a desperate defence, but finally had to give way, for though not numerically superior, the offensive spirit of the german troops overcame all resistance. it was not until the west bank of the canal had been reached, that the mass of the enemy put up another defence. dixmude was captured, and the french had been driven back across the canal. a combined counter-attack by belgians, zouaves and french, which began during the evening and continued into the night, was unable to alter the situation, and though dixmude in consequence was under the heaviest fire, our troops held their ground. weak detachments of the th _ersatz_ division were even able to cross the river north of the town under cover of darkness, though the extreme swampiness of the ground prevented them carrying their success any further. the enemy had prepared the bridges, west of dixmude, for demolition some time before and had constructed strong positions along the west bank of the yser. these were especially good, as the ground there is higher and overlooks that on the east bank. our artillery had therefore to make another preparatory bombardment. the spoils taken at dixmude were considerable, and in spite of the fact that the british assert that the allies only lost a few hundred men, we took in prisoners alone officers and men.[ ] [illustration: the capture of dixmude. on november th. .] our allied enemies had also been driven back over the canal, south of dixmude, on the th november. the xxiii reserve corps had made a successful attack on noordschoote and through bixschoote against het sas. a long and bitter struggle took place for the high ground south-west of bixschoote; but by evening the canal had been reached along almost its whole length between noordschoote and bixschoote, whilst about a brigade of the th reserve division and weak detachments of the th had crossed it. the inundation had however gradually extended southwards as far as this district, and put any far-reaching extension of this success out of the question. the xxiii reserve corps took prisoner about men and captured a considerable number of machine-guns in this operation. the reinforced iii reserve corps had had a particularly hard fight on both sides of langemarck. throughout the th november and during the following night the french delivered heavy attacks there and had been everywhere repulsed. rows of corpses lay in front of the iii reserve corps, on the left wing of which the th reserve division, now affiliated to the fourth army, had been brought up into the line. making every use of the element of surprise, general von beseler had ordered the assault to begin at . a.m. punctually at this moment, as dawn was breaking, the bugles sounded the attack. on the right wing the th reserve division pushed forward till close up to het sas, taking prisoner officers and men. the official despatch, in reporting this advance, says: 'west of langemarck our young regiments advanced against the enemy's front line singing "_deutschland, deutschland über alles_," and captured it.' the left wing of the division hung a good way back, as the th reserve division on its left was unable to push on so rapidly. it had broken into the enemy's first position, but its eastern wing was completely held up in front of langemarck. the th reserve division had attacked the place from north and east, without being able to take it. documents discovered afterwards prove that the enemy had concentrated strong forces here for a big attack that he himself intended to make on the th, and these were now defending every yard of ground with the utmost determination. the th reserve division had at first made good progress in the direction of st. julien, but it came under a heavy cross-fire, and was thereby compelled to give up a large part of the ground gained. general von beseler therefore decided to pull out the main body of the th reserve division, and move it to his right wing, where the th and th reserve divisions had had a decided success in the direction of het sas. after the first line of trenches had been taken, the attack of the xxvi and xxvii reserve corps was very soon held up by wire entanglements which had not been destroyed by our guns, and by a second line of trenches provided with every modern device. the xxvii reserve corps spent most of the day in making such disposition of its forces as would enable it to give the utmost support to the army group linsingen, which was getting ready to attack further south on the morrow. in the army group linsingen, however, the preparations of plettenberg's corps for an offensive on the morning of the th were not sufficiently advanced to allow it to take place on that day. further, the dense autumn mists prevented the necessary reconnaissances. with the concurrence of general von linsingen, and after arrangement with the neighbouring troops, general baron von plettenberg therefore decided to attack on the th november. on the front of deimling's (xv) corps the th november, up to four in the afternoon, was spent in a preparatory artillery bombardment; especially good work was done by means of heavy enfilade fire from the south, carried out by a massed group of artillery consisting of three batteries of heavy howitzers, three batteries of mortars, a battery of -cm. guns and a battery of long -cm. guns, all under the orders of colonel gartmayr, commanding the st bavarian field artillery regiment. after the bombardment both divisions of the corps advanced to the attack and, in co-operation with the ii bavarian corps fighting on the high ground of st. eloi, were able to gain some hundreds of yards. [illustration: the attack of the sixth army. on november th. .] on the th november the combined offensive of the fourth army and the army groups linsingen and fabeck took place. the remainder of the fourth and sixth armies continued their attacks. the great efforts made by the fourth army on the th had considerably weakened it, and further handicapped by a heavy rain-storm which beat in the faces of the attacking troops, no special success was gained by it on the th; nevertheless the enemy was everywhere held to his ground and prevented from transferring any troops to other parts of the front. on the extreme right wing the marine division made a successful attack on nieuport, capturing several hundred prisoners. at the same time the guard cavalry division, affiliated to the fourth army, was sent up to the yser, in order to relieve part of the th _ersatz_ division, which went into army reserve. on the left wing of the army, the xxvi and xxvii reserve corps worked their way towards the hostile positions by sapping, whilst the units on the extreme south flank of the xxvii reserve corps attacked in close co-operation with plettenberg's corps. on the th, in pouring rain, the army groups linsingen and fabeck began the last phase of this severe and terrible struggle for ypres; and it was destined to fix the general line on which the opposing armies were to remain rooted till the spring of . von winckler's guard division fought on the right wing of the army group linsingen, and for us the day was to be a historic, though costly one. in former wars the guard had always been in the heat of the fray at its most critical stages, and the sons were to show themselves worthy of their fathers. the spirit of frederick the great and the glory of st. privat shone again on the battlefield of ypres. the british speak of the attack of the guard as a most brilliant feat of arms. before the infantry of the division could come into immediate contact with the enemy, a broad zone had to be crossed under his artillery fire: through the hail of shell the pride and iron discipline of the guard brought its regiments unshaken. at . a.m. the german batteries opened, and a furious bombardment continued for two and a half hours, and then the infantry attack began. it struck against two divisions of the i british corps, a war experienced foe, whose fighting methods were well adapted to the country.[ ] the artillery preparation however had been a thorough one, and in spite of the enemy's superiority in numbers the advance made good progress, so that shortly after a.m. the strong position along the southern edge of the polygon wood was in the possession of the rd guard regiment.[ ] at the same time the butt ends and bayonets of h.m. the emperor's st guard regiment had forced a way through the wire entanglements and trenches in front of verbeck farm, and it was taken in the first assault. the regiment had thereby captured an excellent position from which to support the right wing of the attack.[ ] led by its fearless commander, prince eitel friedrich of prussia, it then pressed on without a moment's delay into the wood north-west of the farm. meanwhile the rd guard regiment was still engaged along the southern edges of the woods west of reutel, with its front facing north, and it put in its last reserves to help forward the left wing of the th reserve division. [illustration: the attack of the nd. guard division. on november th. .] at a.m., on the last artillery salvo, the battalions of the th guard brigade advanced to the assault on both sides of the ypres-gheluvelt main road, and they took the front british trenches in their stride. the emperor francis' nd guard grenadier regiment attacked from veldhoek against the corner of the herenthage wood, north of the ypres-gheluvelt road, and took its edge. the wood itself gave the infantry endless trouble, for it was impossible to see a yard ahead in its thick undergrowth, which was over six feet high.[ ] suddenly at a few paces' distance, machine-guns would open on our troops from behind a bush or a tree-trunk. thus the task set the grenadiers proved to be an extremely difficult one, the more so as they had lost many of their officers and n.c.o.'s in the first rush across the open. nevertheless, the defence-works inside the wood were quickly taken one after another, but more strong points protected by wire entanglements untouched by our artillery fire were encountered. the fusilier battalion forced its way through to the château of veldhoek, which was surrounded by a marsh and an impenetrable hedge. the men were trying to work their way one by one through the latter by cutting gaps in it, when suddenly a deafening roar of rifle and machine-gun burst upon them. it came from the château on their right, from some flanking trenches on their left, and from trees behind the line. a number of the few remaining officers fell, and finally the battalion had to retire a short distance in order to reorganise. but it soon came forward once more, and the companies pressed on till they were close up to the château itself, when another annihilating fusillade was opened on them from all sides. simultaneously the british made a flank attack along the hedge in order to cut off the men who had got through. machine-guns firing from trees and from the château windows completely stopped any communication with them. very few only of these foremost troops, who were commanded by captain von rieben, succeeded in getting away. those who did were assembled by captain baron von sell at the eastern edge of the wood and were, with part of the st battalion, led forward again to the relief of the fusiliers who were surrounded. the attack of captain von sell developed however into small isolated combats, and though the boldest followed their leader nearly up to the château again, they were received there with such heavy fire from right and left that it appeared that they would have to retire again and reorganise. before this could be carried out, a british counter-attack was launched; but our men, disorganised and mixed up as they were, held fast to their ground and stopped the attack, although at first both their flanks were in the air.[ ] queen augusta's th guard grenadier regiment, advancing south of the main road, at once suffered such heavy losses that the first two attacks made no headway. when however part of the regiment near the main road pushed forward along it, echeloned behind its sister-regiment on the right, and then turned southwards, the advance made good progress, and a firm footing was gained in herenthage wood south of the road. the reverses met with by the emperor francis' nd grenadiers unfortunately enabled the british to bring such a heavy enfilade fire to bear on queen augusta's th grenadiers, that their advance had to be stopped.[ ] at p.m. german guard troops had a tussle with the british guards. the king's liverpool regiment made a counter-attack from the nun's wood (nonne bosch) against the extreme left of the st guard foot regiment and the northern wing of the nd guard grenadiers. the point of attack was well chosen, and took both the regiments in flank, for the st guard infantry brigade was at this time heavily engaged, and held up in the woods (polygon wood and the eastern part of the nonne bosch), with its front facing north, and the nd guard grenadier regiment, having spent all its energies against the château of veldhoek, lay with its front facing west.[ ] however, the british troops ran into their own artillery fire near the nonne bosch, and the attack broke up and came to a standstill in front of our thin and scattered lines. any further advance on the th november by our guard troops north of the road was now out of the question. in the southern part of the herenthage wood the th infantry division pushed on, though here too great difficulties were encountered. deep trenches, broad obstacles, and enfilade machine-gun fire combined to make our progress slow, especially on the right wing. the xv corps in close co-operation with the left wing of the pomeranians gained ground in the woods near and around zwarteleen; the capture of hill near zwarteleen was of exceptional importance. from this elevation another direct view over the country round ypres was obtained. south of the canal the ii bavarian corps with much thinned ranks stormed forward again. the bit of wood north-east of wytschaete, which had already changed hands several times, was now taken by it. the heavy artillery again rendered invaluable services. several strong hostile counter-attacks were held up chiefly owing to the way in which at the critical moment our guns always protected the infantry lines by a barrage. in the area near wytschaete, the th november was the day of the heaviest fighting. in the woods north of it, bavarians and hessians pressed forward together, slowly but surely. a french battery and four machine-guns were taken by the th infantry regiment at a farm about yards north of wytschaete, but the guns were so firmly embedded in the sodden ground, that they could not be got away by the infantry. when the buildings were evacuated again, owing to the heavy fire of the french on them, the guns, made unserviceable by us, remained as a neutral battery between the lines. it must be recorded here that in the fight for one single farm the hessians took prisoners belonging to three different regiments, a fact that proves what masses the enemy had put in to the fight on the ypres front, and to what an extent he had to concentrate his units to ward off our attacks. on and to the west of the messines ridge the line remained almost unaltered during the th november. the very severe effect of the enemy's artillery fire from mount kemmel on this front and the enfilade fire of artillery and machine-guns from ploegsteert wood compelled our men to remain in their trenches. taken as a whole the operations on the th november were a great success. a series of brilliant feats, many of which it has been impossible even to mention in this short account, far less adequately describe, gave us unchallenged possession of positions from which any concentration of the enemy near ypres could be seen, and immediately opened on by artillery. it is true, however, that no break through of the enemy's lines had been accomplished: his numerical superiority and, more especially, the strength of his positions held up our offensive. the weather conditions, storm and rain, had also contributed towards the result.[ ] the furious character of the fighting on the th november did not abate on the following day, but on the whole the situation remained unaltered. the general character of the operations on the entire front of the fourth and sixth armies was now changed, and sapping was eventually resorted to, though here and there successes in open warfare were gained. for instance the xxii reserve corps managed to strengthen its detachments across the yser at dixmude, and on the th the st reserve infantry regiment, under major baron von wedekind, stormed the enemy's defences opposite it on the western bank of the yser, and held them under great difficulties. constant rain had filled the badly constructed trenches with mud so that our troops had to support the enemy's bombardment and resist his counter-attacks lying in the open. at bixschoote the enemy again attempted strong counter-attacks, but they were stopped largely by the muddy state of the country. on the th november there was a recrudescence of severe fighting. owing to the misty weather our relieving troops occupied a reserve position instead of the original front line; by the time the error was discovered, our watchful opponents were already in the front german position. our men, however, gave them no rest there, for their honour would not suffer the surrender in this manner of their success of the th november. without waiting for any orders from higher authority or for reinforcements they attacked and retook the strong position on the rising ground south-west of bixschoote. on the front of the sixth army herenthage wood was completely taken by the guard on the th november after severe hand-to-hand fighting.[ ] after the artillery had prepared the way as far as was possible in that difficult and wooded neighbourhood, the infantry, whose fighting spirit was by no means damped by the events of the th november, advanced to the assault. in the château of herenthage a large number of british snipers surrendered. the xv corps had another success in the wooded district of zwarteleen after being reinforced by hofmann's composite division. a strong system of trenches and dug-outs were taken, as well as a large number of prisoners. on the th november the park of wytschaete was captured from the french by the pomeranians and bavarians. a counter-attack, in which the french advanced against our positions shouting, 'don't shoot,' in german, cost them heavy losses; and the bavarians, whose tempers were roused by this treachery, drove them back to their original positions. on the th november the farm yards north of wytschaete, for which such a severe fight had been made on the th, was finally captured by us. we thereby obtained a position in the wytschaete salient which, although overlooked from mount kemmel, gave us such a commanding view of all the ground between mount kemmel and the wytschaete-messines ridge that surprise attacks by the enemy in this district were now out of the question.[ ] on the rest of the flanders front only small fights took place, and on the th november the commander of the fourth army decided to give up any idea of continuing the offensive; a decision to which he was compelled by the low fighting strength of his troops and the bad autumn weather, which was affecting their health.[ ] the frequent downpours of rain during november had caused a constant rising of the water-level, and it became urgently necessary to provide regular reliefs for the troops, for they were worn out by the constant fighting under such bad weather conditions. clear signs of exhaustion in the enemy's ranks on the front opposite the fourth and sixth armies were also noticed. this permitted our gallant fourth army gradually to construct a good line of trenches and erect wire entanglements. as soon as these were completed rest-billets were allotted further to the rear and the men found quiet and pleasant quarters in the villages of flanders untouched by war, with a not unfriendly population. the german general staff fully concurred in the decision of the commander of the fourth army made on the th november. they at the same time expressed the hope that the army would be prepared to hold its positions even against superior hostile forces. this expectation was completely fulfilled by the fourth army, and although at that time there were four and one-half french corps, as well as the , belgian troops, opposed to the forces of duke albert of würtemburg, they never obtained a success of any consequence. the threat against our right flank ceased soon afterwards. british monitors appeared a few times towards the end of november off the roadstead of ostend. they bombarded the canal exit and our positions near by: but their fire was as ineffective as before. the 'glorious' activities of the british grand fleet along the flanders coast came to a speedy end as soon as our ill-famed sea-rats, the u-boats, began to put in an appearance there.[ ] the developments on the front of the sixth army during the second half of november were similar to those of the fourth army. for some time the sapping was continued, but from the th onwards strong detachments were taken from it and entrained for the eastern front, where general von hindenburg was able, in the fighting round lodz, to bring the russian steam-roller to a standstill, and finally make it roll back again. from this time onwards the line of demarcation between the fourth and sixth armies was the comines-ypres canal. conclusion as the november storms passed and frost and icy winds heralded to the mild climate of flanders the approach of winter, the unbroken defensive lines of both sides were being slowly strengthened. the effect of artillery fire compelled them to make cover in good trenches and behind thick breast-works. as the armament in use became more and more powerful, artificial shelter, where the surface water allowed it, had to be made deeper and deeper in the earth. at first passive defence was little understood by the german troops, as instruction in the offensive had dominated all other in their peace-training, and in the short period available after they were called up the volunteers had only been trained in the principles of attack. their sense of superiority over their opponents did not let them rest content with merely holding positions. the high sense of duty in each individual was of assistance, and the methods of defensive warfare were quickly learnt. the continuous bad weather in the autumn and winter in this water-logged country caused great suffering; and the troops sent off to russia to fight under the great victor of tannenburg were much envied. the despatch of men eastward showed those left behind that any hope of a final decision at ypres had disappeared. the first battle of ypres was a german victory,[ ] for it marked the failure of the enemy's intention to fall on the rear of our western armies, to free the rich districts of northern france and the whole of belgium (thus preventing us from making use of their valuable resources), and to use the ypres area as a base for the belgian, french and british advance on the rhine. the belgian coast was now firmly in our possession, and offered a good starting-place for naval operations against england. but we had not succeeded in making the decisive break-through, and the dream of ending the campaign in the west in our favour during had to be consigned to its grave. it is only natural that the german general staff found it difficult thoroughly to realise this unpleasant fact, and only did so with reluctance; but endeavour has been made in this account to bring out the main reasons which led to this result of the battle. nevertheless, great things had been accomplished. the army of duke albert of würtemburg, by its advance and determined attack, had prevented the big offensive planned by the enemy; the fourth and sixth armies together had forced a superior opponent into the defensive, and, in spite of his having called in the sea to his assistance, had driven him back continually, until positions had been reached which enabled german troops to be spared to carry out an offensive on the eastern front. as during the battle of the marne, so now the spectre of a russian invasion appeared threateningly before the german nation, and the whole country knew what it would mean if it should materialise. our forces on the eastern front were far too weak, and even the genius of a hindenburg could not decisively defeat the masses of the grand duke nicolas without reinforcements. thus it came about that we had to lie and wait in front of the gates of ypres, while all the available men from flanders were hurried across to poland, to help hindenburg pave the way to victory. there was never peace on the ypres front. the belt of steel with which we had invested the town by our operations in october and november , was a source of constant annoyance to the british, whilst our position on the belgian coast seemed to our cousins across the channel like an apparition whose shadow lay over the british isles and especially menaced the traffic-routes between england and france. the british therefore continually tried their utmost to free themselves of this menace and their pressure produced counter measures. thus in december heavy fighting again occurred, especially near the sea at nieuport, and also at bixschoote and zwarteleen. on christmas eve the french vainly attacked bixschoote: their hope of catching the germans dreaming heavily on that evening was of no avail. when spring lifted the mist that hung over flanders, a german offensive took place during april and may that forced the northern part of the ypres salient back to within three miles of the town.[ ] after this the positions only altered very slightly. in march the british blew up our front trench positions at st. eloi by five colossal mines, but were unable to hold on to the ground thus destroyed. in the death-agony of ypres was renewed, and for months war raged over the plains of flanders; the fighting was as furious as in october and november . the young soldiers of those days have now become veterans, who know war and do not fear it even in its most terrible forms. the enemy are those same british against whom crown prince rupert of bavaria, in exhorting the troops to battle in , once said: 'therefore when you are fighting this particular enemy retaliate for his deceit and for having occasioned all this great sacrifice; show him that the germans are not so easy to wipe out of the world's history as he imagines, show it by redoubling the strength behind your blows. in front of you is the opponent who is the greatest obstacle to peace. on! at him!' he spoke as a prophet. hate of the british who were so jealous of us, who brought on the war for the sake of their money-bags and spread the conflagration all over the world, who at first hoped that it would be but necessary to pour out their silver bullets to annihilate germany: all this steeled the hearts of our warriors in flanders, whose creed was the justice of the german cause. and the british efforts to wrest flanders away from us again were stifled in mud and in blood. the fighting in was perhaps more severe than that of those stormy autumn days of , but the objective for us was ever the same: to keep the enemy far, far from our homes. in this we succeeded in as in . flanders! the word is heard by every one in the german fatherland with a silent shudder, but also with just and intense pride. it was there that the british were made to realise that german heroism was not to be vanquished, not even by the use of the war material which the whole world had been manufacturing for years. when we read that up to the th november , divisions had been put into the battle round ypres by the western allies, whilst only german divisions were opposed to them,[ ] and that in the course of the flanders battle of , british and french divisions struggled in vain against a greatly inferior german force, it says much for our troops. but far from all. for the enemy's superiority in material, in guns, trench-mortars, machine-guns, aeroplanes, etc., was two, three, and even fourfold. who can doubt but that a nation whose sons know how to fight like this, must win? let us only hold the hope that the seeds of blood sown in flanders will bring forth rich and splendid fruit for the german fatherland. this indeed would be the highest reward that could be bestowed on those of us who fought there. appendix order of battle of the fourth army from th oct. to th nov. . _commander_ general duke albert of würtemburg. _chief of staff_ major-general ilse. iii reserve corps (general of infantry von beseler). th reserve division. th reserve division. th _ersatz_ division. xxii reserve corps (general of cavalry von falkenhayn). rd reserve division. th reserve division. xxiii reserve corps (general of cavalry von kleist). th reserve division. th reserve division. xxvi reserve corps (general of infantry von hügel). st reserve division. nd reserve division. xxvii reserve corps. (lieut.-general von carlowitz, relieved on th oct. by general of artillery von schubert). rd (saxon) reserve division. th (würtemburg) reserve division. the following units were also attached at various times:-- th reserve division. th bavarian reserve division. marine division. th _landwehr_ brigade. th _landwehr_ brigade. nd _ersatz_ brigade. guard cavalry division. order of battle of the army group fabeck from th oct. to th nov. . _commander_ general of infantry von fabeck, commanding xiii (würtemburg) corps. _chief of staff_ lieut.-colonel von lossberg. xv corps (general von deimling). th infantry division. th infantry division. (this corps left the army group fabeck on the th nov. .) ii bavarian corps (general of infantry von martini, relieved on the th nov. by general of cavalry von stetten). rd bavarian infantry division. th bavarian infantry division. th (würtemburg) (lieut.-general william, duke of urach). infantry division group gerok was also temporarily in the army group fabeck. order of battle of the group gerok _commander_ general of infantry von gerok, commanding reserve corps. st cavalry corps (lieut.-general von richthofen). cavalry divisions.[ ] nd cavalry corps (general of cavalry von der marwitz). cavalry divisions.[ ] th bavarian reserve division. rd infantry division. th reserve division. th _landwehr_ brigade. nd cavalry division. bavarian cavalry division. order of battle of the army group linsingen from th nov. to th nov. . _commander_ general of infantry von linsingen, commanding ii corps. _chief of staff_ colonel von hammerstein-gesmold. xv corps (general of infantry von deimling). th infantry division. th infantry division. also from th nov., hofmann's composite division. plettenberg's corps (general of infantry von plettenberg, commanding guard corps). th infantry division. winckler's composite guard division. footnotes: [ ] _see p. ._ [ ] _fourth army cavalry._ _i._ _cavalry corps_ _guard and th cavalry divisions, p. ._ _ii._ " _ rd and th cavalry divisions, p. ._ _iv._ " _ cavalry divisions, p. ._ _ nd cavalry division, p. ._ _bavarian cavalry division, p. ._ _total, cavalry divisions._ _the army cavalry of the sixth army is stated on p. to have been eight divisions, among which, according to p. , were the rd, th and bavarian cavalry divisions, included above in the army cavalry of the fourth army._ _it may be noted that in 'liège-namur' in the same series of general staff monographs the composition of the ii cavalry corps is given as the nd, th and th cavalry divisions._ [ ] _there is a further mistake (see footnote ): the king's were not present at the place referred to, but in another part of the field. the honour of fighting the german guards at one to eight, for the battalion was under four hundred strong, appears to belong to the nd oxfordshire and buckinghamshire light infantry._ [ ] _the british advance was checked on the aisne on th not th september._ [ ] the seventh army was not put in on the extreme right wing but between the first and third armies after the heavy french attacks south of laon in the middle of september. [ ] _' british' belonged to the newly raised royal naval division which had been thrown into antwerp in the endeavour to prolong the resistance of that fortress._ [ ] the xxiv reserve corps was sent to the neighbourhood of metz. [ ] _only the british iii corps and cavalry corps of two divisions were available to oppose them._ [ ] _these 'considerable hostile forces' consisted of the th division and byng's cavalry division, which reached ypres on th october, after having moved up to ghent to help cover the retreat of the belgian army from antwerp._ [ ] _needless to point out that general joffre was never 'allied commander.'_ [ ] _at this date calais had not yet become a base for the british army, and there were no british establishments of any kind there._ [ ] _the ii corps completed its detrainment at abbeville on th october, and moved forward, covered by the cavalry, on the th; by the th it had reached the line givenchy-villaines-lorgies-herlies after considerable fighting._ [ ] _on th october the iii corps had its left division, the th, astride the lys from ploegsteert wood to frelinghien, while the th division on the right had reached the line premesques-ennettières-radinghem (s.e. of armentières). general conneau's french cavalry corps filled the gap between its right and the left of the ii corps._ [ ] _the british cavalry corps (there was only one, the number is superfluous and suggests there were more) did not extend as far as gheluvelt: its left was on the ypres-comines canal near houthem._ [ ] _the i corps did not reach bixschoote on th october: its leading division, the nd, did not reach the area poperinghe-boeschepe till th october: the st division was still detraining in the hazebrouck area on th october._ [ ] _'armée' in the original, but this is no doubt a misprint._ [ ] _this statement as to sir j. french's intentions is inaccurate. the ii and iii corps were ordered to stand on the defensive, but the orders issued to the i corps on th october were for an attack._ [ ] _between armentières and the sea the british had only the i corps, less than half the iii corps, the cavalry corps, the iv corps (composed of one division only), the french had a weak cavalry corps and two territorial divisions, the six belgian divisions were reduced to about one half of their establishment, so that the claim that the allied forces outnumbered the germans is hardly tenable. the value of the statement that 'the relative strength of the opposing forces never appreciably altered in our favour' will become apparent as the book is read, and as it is shown that the same british units, reinforced only by a weak composite division drawn from the ii corps, were attacked by a succession of fresh german corps, that the same units who repulsed the attacks at langemarck on rd october, were in line at gheluvelt on st october when the prussian guard attacked on th november. see also introduction._ [ ] _'the heights of st. eloi' is a phrase which suggests that the author cannot have visited the ground nor studied a contoured map of the area round ypres._ [ ] _the british and french in belgium were hardly in their own country._ [ ] _british torpedo boats do not carry 'heavy artillery.'_ [ ] _the vessels described as flat-bottomed boats were presumably the monitors 'severn,' 'humber,' and 'mersey.'_ [ ] _this narrative omits the advance of the th division on menin, th october, which was going well when it had to be suspended on account of the threatening advance of strong german columns from the eastward. the division was skilfully extricated and fell back to the line kruseik-noordwesthoek-broodseinde-zonnebeke, the germans failing to press their pursuit._ [ ] _the constant exaggeration by this narrative of the strength of very hastily constructed british trenches is a noteworthy feature._ [ ] _there were no british heavy batteries in this quarter, unless it is to the guns of rear-admiral hood's squadron that reference is made._ [ ] _there was no british artillery present in this quarter._ [ ] see pages - . [ ] see _les pages de gloire de l'armée belge: à dixmuide_. [ ] _the narrative omits to state precisely the nature of the opposition which was encountered in the houthulst area. actually the allied force in this quarter merely consisted of general de mitry's french cavalry corps and a few battalions of french cyclists and territorials. these were driven back without being able to offer much resistance, and in consequence uncovered the flank of the i british corps just as it began its advance north-east of ypres on poelcapelle and passchendaele ( st october). this forced sir douglas haig to divert his reserves to protect his left flank, and therefore to suspend his attack which had been making good progress on a line south-east from langemarck to zonnebeke, where he linked up with the left of the th division._ [ ] _by no means the whole of the st british division was holding the line of the kortebeck. from steenstraate, which was held by the st scots guards, who were never seriously pressed on nd october, the st cameron highlanders were extended over a wide front nearly to langemarck, where the st coldstream guards connected them up with the rd infantry brigade ( st queen's, st s.w.b., st gloucesters, and nd welsh) which was holding a position north and north-east of langemarck. the rest of the infantry of the st division was in reserve, and only one -pounder battery ( th batty. r.f.a.) was available to support the camerons. on the rigid of the rd infantry brigade the nd division carried on the line south-east to zonnebeke with the th infantry brigade on its left and the th (guards) brigade on its right. this division was about on the line of the zonnebeke-langemarck road: it repulsed several counter-attacks on the afternoon of st october and night st- nd._ [ ] _the british troops had not detrained at poperinghe, but in the hazebrouck area._ [ ] _this account is altogether at variance with the facts. on the afternoon of nd october the germans at length succeeded in breaking through the thin and widely extended line of the st cameron highlanders, and pushed them back south of the langemarck-bixschoote road, capturing the kortekeer cabaret. they failed to press forward; however reinforcements, the st northamptonshires and st black watch, arrived, and counter-attacks were made which checked all further german advance. next morning ( rd october) further reinforcements came up, the st loyal north lancashires and nd k.r.r.c. of the nd infantry brigade, part of the nd south staffordshires from the th infantry brigade. finally, on the arrival of st queen's of the rd infantry brigade, a most successful counter-attack was launched, the queen's retook the kortekeer cabaret, and the germans were driven right back, nearly being taken and very heavy losses inflicted on them. the old trenches yards north of the road were actually recovered, but late in the evening a fresh german attack recovered the advanced position reached by our counter-attack, and a new line was taken up about the line of the langemarck-bixschoote road. meanwhile during this action, in which less than two british infantry brigades had defeated the th reserve division, the rest of the st division at langemarck had been heavily attacked, apparently (cf. p. ) by the st reserve division, which had been completely worsted. in this part of the action very notable service was done by two platoons of the gloucesters just north of langemarck, who expended an average of rounds a man, and though attacked in front and flank by very superior numbers, maintained their position intact. the british accounts testify to the gallantry with which the german attacks were pressed, officers carrying regimental colours ran on ahead of the men and planted the colours in the ground to give their men a point to make for, a mounted officer rode forward, exposing himself recklessly, to encourage his soldiers, but the musketry of the british infantry was too much for the germans, and the attack was completely repulsed._ [ ] _throughout this narrative it is astonishing to read of the repeated reinforcements which sir john french received. actually, except for a few drafts, no reinforcements joined the british in the ypres salient before the end of october: subsequently two territorial battalions, the hertfordshires and the london scottish, two yeomanry regiments, the north somersets and the leicestershires, and the rd dragoon guards, the belated last unit of the rd cavalry division, were added to the force, while the exhausted infantry of the th division were replaced by three composite brigades from the ii corps, set free after three weeks of strenuous fighting near la bassée by the arrival of the meerut division, and greatly below strength._ [ ] _the british counter-attack at the kortekeer cabaret did not aim at doing more than recover the ground lost on nd october: it was not an attempt at break-through, and was quite successful in its immediate object._ [ ] _on th october the th division held the line from zandvoorde to kruiseik, thence to broodseinde cross-roads east of zonnebeke, the line being continued by the rd cavalry division to passchendaele. the german nd reserve division and the xxvii reserve corps were thus faced by less than half their numbers. nevertheless the only effect of their attack was that after the st reserve division had driven the french out of westroosebeke, the british cavalry found its flank exposed and had to retire on st. julien, the th division throwing back its left flank to conform. there was no fighting for keiberg, and the expulsion of the th division from becelaere (mentioned nine lines below) after heavy street fighting, seems to be based on the slender foundation that a british reconnaissance was made in the direction of gheluwe covered by two battalions nearer terhand, which fell back without being seriously pressed. the germans advancing in the evening from becelaere were sharply repulsed by the centre infantry brigade of the th division east of polygon wood. the events of st- nd october on the front from langemarck to kruiseik are somewhat slurred over in this narrative. briefly, on st october the germans pressed all along the line of the th division without success except on the left, where by enfilade fire from passchendaele they forced the left of the nd infantry brigade to fall back to the south-west of zonnebeke. meanwhile the advance of the i corps relieved the pressure, and though, as already explained (see footnote ), the uncovering of the left of the i corps prevented the advance being pressed beyond the line zonnebeke-langemarck, this line was made good and the german efforts to advance successfully repulsed. on nd october the germans attacked the line of the nd division north-west of zonnebeke, but were easily repulsed, while further to their left they renewed their attacks on the st infantry brigade east of polygon wood with equal ill-success._ [ ] _the ix french corps was not yet up at the front. it did not begin relieving the nd division till the afternoon of rd october._ [ ] _the 'well-planned maze of trenches behind broad wire entanglements' would have been most welcome to the british. unfortunately there had been no time or opportunity to do more than dig in hastily where the advance of the i corps had been checked, while such trenches as the th division had dug at zonnebeke were hastily prepared in such loose and sandy soil that they collapsed when bombarded; wire was conspicuous by its absence._ [ ] _the only thing in the nature of a 'fortress' at langemarck was a small redoubt, built by the th field company r.e. on the night of nd- rd october, and held by two platoons of the gloucesters._ [ ] _this is hardly a recognisable account of what took place. the relief of the st division by a french territorial division did not take place till the night th- th, but the nd division was relieved by a division of the french ix corps, and by the morning of th october it was concentrated at st. jean in reserve. in the course of the morning of th october the reserve division attacked the line of the st infantry brigade in overwhelming strength, and broke through north of reutel, penetrating into polygon wood. it was cleared out by a counter-attack by the th infantry brigade, nd division, and the nd r. warwicks of the th division, and in the afternoon an advance was made north of polygon wood by the th infantry brigade in co-operation with the french ix corps on the left. fair progress was made, the th infantry brigade crossing to the east of the werwicq-staden road. further south the th division held its own successfully and all attacks were repulsed._ [ ] _it has already been pointed out that the belgian divisions were much below establishment._ [ ] see _les pages de gloire de l'armée belge: à dixmuide_. [ ] _this testimony to the effective character of the help given by admiral hood's squadron is noteworthy, and contradicts what was said in the narrative on page ._ [ ] _the hamlet of reutel had fallen into german hands on th october (footnote ), but the counter-attacks of the nd division had re-established the line on the eastern border of polygon wood, and between th october and the morning of th october what changes there were on the eastern face of the ypres salient had been in favour of the british. the th infantry brigade made considerable progress east of the werwicq-staden road in co-operation with the french ix corps which pushed east and north-east from zonnebeke. by the showing of this narrative the german forces in this area were decidedly superior in numbers to those engaged in the attacks._ [ ] _the above account presumably refers to the attack of the th french division and nd british division on th october, when a german battery was captured by the st royal berkshires and the french unit with which they were co-operating. further to the british right, however, less progress was made, but the implication that the british reached becelaere and were then thrust back by the th reserve division at the point of the bayonet is unfounded; the force engaged on this quarter only consisted of two battalions and the artillery support available was insufficient to allow the advance to be pressed home; it was therefore abandoned after a small gain of ground had been made._ [ ] _the british who were streaming down from the high ground about wytschaete and messines consisted of five brigades of cavalry (perhaps ) and one brigade of the newly arrived lahore division._ [ ] _there was very severe fighting south of the menin road during the period th- th october, particularly at kruiseik, which formed the south-eastern angle of the east face of the salient. this position was obstinately defended by the th infantry brigade, th division, which held on under heavy bombardments and repulsed many attacks, notably on the night of the th- th october when over of the nd reserve infantry regiment (xxvii reserve corps) who had penetrated into kruiseik were captured by a counter-attack of one company nd scots guards. the germans renewed their attack in great force next day, and succeeded in dislodging the th infantry brigade from kruiseik, but a new line was formed in rear, blunting the salient, and with the aid of the st division (in reserve since th october) the position was successfully maintained. elsewhere the th division, which was holding a line reaching back to zandvoorde where the rd cavalry division connected it up with the left of general allenby's cavalry corps on the ypres-comines canal, held its ground._ [ ] _this account does not tell the story of th october very intelligibly. the british front had been readjusted, and was now held by the nd division on the left, from the junction with the french to west of reutel, thence to the th kilometre on the ypres-menin road by the st division, thence to zandvoorde by the th division with the rd cavalry division on their right. under cover of a mist the germans (apparently the th bavarian reserve division) attacked in force against the junction of the st and th divisions, broke through at the th kilo cross-roads, and rolled up the battalions to right and left after very severe fighting, in which the st grenadier guards and nd gordon highlanders of the th division distinguished themselves greatly by repeated counter-attacks. the resistance of the troops in the front line delayed the germans long enough to allow the reserves of the st division to be put in, and their counter-attacks recovered all but the most advanced trenches. the germans did not ever penetrate as far as gheluvelt, and their final gain of ground was inconsiderable._ [ ] _it is interesting to notice that this account treats the fighting on the la bassée-armentières front as quite distinct from the main battle for ypres. during the period th- th october the ii and iii corps had a hard defensive battle to fight, the only assistance they received being on the arrival on rd october of the jullundur brigade and the divisional troops of the lahore division, which replaced general conneau's french cavalry at the junction between the two corps. as the net result of this fighting the ii and iii corps were forced back to a line running north by east from givenchy, west of neuve chapelle, past bois grenier, south-east of armentières to the lys at houplines, part of the th division continuing the line on the left bank of the lys to the junction with the cavalry corps just south of messines. the german attacks on this front were strongly pressed, and the strain on the ii and iii corps was very severe._ [ ] _in view of the reiterated statements about the superior numbers of the allies, it is worth pointing out that this new army group by itself amounted to about two-thirds of the original strength of the british forces engaged between la bassée and zonnebeke. for its order of battle see at end of book._ [ ] _if the flooding of the country by the belgians had barred the further advance of the germans along the coast, it had equally covered the german extreme right against any chance of a counter-attack, and enabled them to divert the iii reserve corps to the south; the belgians, however, were in no position to deflect any forces to the assistance of their allies._ [ ] _no mass attacks were made by the british on th and st october. it will be noticed that the french ix corps is spoken of here as though it had been an additional reinforcement; it had been in action on the zonnebeke area since th october._ [ ] _the heavy artillery at the disposal of the british commander-in-chief amounted at this time to two batteries of -inch howitzers, six of -pounders, and three of · -inch guns, a total of forty-four guns and howitzers in all (each battery having four guns)._ [ ] _at this time the allied line from the menin road south was held by the th division, supported by about two infantry brigades of the i corps, the line being carried on thence to messines by part of the xvi french corps and british cavalry divisions, and two battalions of the lahore division. nearly all these units had been heavily engaged for a week or more, and were much under strength, but even at full war establishment would have been outnumbered by nearly two to one._ [ ] _see footnote . the ix french corps is mentioned for the third time as a new arrival._ [ ] see page . [ ] _it is difficult to see how this assertion can be supported on the statements previously given, even apart from the fact that the german units were fresh and the british troops facing them reduced by previous heavy losses. the british claim to have held out against great odds is no more than the bare truth. the battalions of the st division who had held up the attack of the th reserve division north-west of langemarck on rd october were still in the line when the prussian guard attacked on th november--or rather a scanty remnant of them was: in the interval they had fought and held up a succession of attacks._ [ ] _the th division had never left the line; a few battalions only had been given a day's rest, but the division as a whole had not been relieved._ [ ] _these squadrons belonged to the st and nd life guards, each of which regiments had a squadron cut off when zandvoorde was stormed. none of the iii british corps were in this area, the extreme left of the corps being about the river douve, south of messines._ [ ] _there was no strong counter-attack in the wambeke area: the very thin line of the nd cavalry division (perhaps rifles on a front of two miles) was forced back to a position much nearer wytschaete and st. eloi, where it received reinforcements amounting to about a brigade of french infantry._ [ ] messines ridge. [ ] _the amount of work it had been possible to do there in preparing the position for defence had been very much restricted by lack of time and want of labour. 'deep trenches protected by broad wire entanglements' is a much exaggerated statement._ [ ] _an attack was made by the germans on messines about this time, but was decisively repulsed._ [ ] _i and ii cavalry corps. see order of battle._ [ ] _the germans at one time broke the line of the th infantry brigade on the right of the iii corps near bois grenier, but were dislodged by a counter-attack by the nd argyll and sutherland highlanders and st middlesex. in ploegsteert wood there was also heavy fighting, the st hampshires distinguishing themselves in particular by a very stubborn resistance._ [ ] _except at zandvoorde the german attacks north of the ypres-comines canal were not successful, and their success at zandvoorde was brought to a standstill by the arrival of two battalions of the st division under brigadier-general bulfin, and three of the nd division under brigadier-general lord cavan, whose intervention enabled a new line to be formed north-west of zandvoorde. to the east of zandvoorde the th division was forced to fall back nearer to gheluvelt, but east of gheluvelt itself the germans made no progress._ [ ] _the arrival of the meerut division on th october allowed some of the most exhausted units of the ii corps to be relieved on the front east of festubert, south-east of richebourg st. vaast, west of neuve chapelle, but these battalions were not destined to enjoy a very long spell of rest._ [ ] _the 'reinforcements' which the allies had received on th- th october were not even sufficient to redress the balance against them. (see footnote .)_ [ ] _the troops holding gheluvelt consisted of two battalions of the rd infantry brigade, with portions of two of the nd infantry brigade, at most men. against these the germans by their own account put in about eight battalions._ [ ] _it would not be gathered from this account that the british artillery had, as was the case, already been severely restricted as to ammunition expenditure._ [ ] _the statement that 'many attacks had to be delivered against fresh troops in good sheltered entrenchments' is almost ludicrous in its travesty of the facts._ [ ] _it was not in 'long colonial wars' but in careful training on the ranges that the majority of the defenders of ypres had learnt that mastery of the rifle which was the mainstay of the success of the defence. between the close of the south african war ( ) and the outbreak of war in , scarcely any british troops had been on active service._ [ ] _the position west of reutel was maintained intact on st october, the right of the nd division and left of the st division holding on successfully even after the centre of the st division had been pierced at gheluvelt._ [ ] _the picture of the great profusion of machine-guns in the british possession is a little dimmed by the recollection that the war establishments allowed two machine-guns per infantry battalion, that by st october there had been no time to produce enough machine-guns to increase the establishment; indeed, most battalions had already one or both their guns put out of action. the germans clearly took for machine-gun fire the rapid fire which the infantry of the original expeditionary force could maintain._ [ ] _the capture of gheluvelt was earlier than p.m. by at least an hour, or . p.m. seems more like the correct time. the 'château and park,' north of gheluvelt, were held by the st south wales borderers, who maintained their ground, although their right was left in the air by the loss of the village, until the nd worcesters came up and delivered their celebrated counter-attack past the right of the s.w.b. this apparently occurred about p.m. the german account is, however, accurate in saying that gheluvelt was not retaken; what the worcesters did was that they completely checked the german efforts to push forward; the position their counter-attack reached enabled them to flank any advance west of gheluvelt._ [ ] _the german claim to have captured three guns does not seem founded on fact: one gun of the th field battery was lost, but was subsequently retaken._ [ ] _the left of the xv corps, which was in action against the detachments under brigadier-generals bulfin and lord cavan, and the right of the th division, in the woods later known as shrewsbury forest, was successfully held in check: it gained but a little ground, and at one point a most successful counter-attack drove the germans back a long way, many casualties being inflicted and prisoners taken._ [ ] _the staffs of both st and nd divisions were there. major-general lomax, commanding the st division, and major-general munro, commanding the nd division, were wounded. neither was killed, but the former died many months after of his wounds._ [ ] _during the course of st october french reinforcements of the xvi corps had arrived and were taking over the left of the line held by the cavalry corps, relieving the rd and th cavalry brigades north-west of hollebeke and south-east of st. eloi. the french were, however, unable to make much ground by their counter-attacks, and further to the british right the th cavalry brigade was heavily pressed. it was here that the london scottish were put in to recover trenches which had been lost east of the messines-wytschaete road._ [ ] _accurate details of the fighting which went on through the night of st october- st november round wytschaete are extremely difficult to disentangle. it seems that the th cavalry brigade was forced out of the village somewhere between and a.m., that the advance of the germans was then held up west of the village, counter-attacks by two battalions of the rd division, which had just arrived from la bassée-neuve chapelle area, assisting to check them. subsequently these battalions ( st northumberland fusiliers and st lincolnshires) were also forced back, but by this time more french reinforcements were coming up with some of the th cavalry brigade, and their counter-attacks, though not wholly successful, prevented further german progress. but the admission of this account that two whole german regiments (six battalions) were engaged in the attack is a fine testimony to the resistance made by the nd cavalry division and attached infantry at wytschaete with odds of more than two to one against them._ [ ] _the forces available for the defence of messines were the st cavalry division, much reduced by the previous fighting, assisted by portions of the th rifles (lahore division) and two battalions of the th division (the nd king's own scottish borderers, nd king's own yorkshire l.i., both recently relieved from the trenches near neuve chapelle and much below strength). the twelve battalions of the th (würtemburg) division were thus in overwhelming superiority. the only artillery available to assist the defence were the -pounders of the r.h.a. batteries attached to the cavalry corps._ [ ] _i.e. würtemburg._ [ ] _this is not accurate. poezelhoek château had to be evacuated during the night of st october- st november, owing to the withdrawal of the line made necessary by the loss of gheluvelt; but the germans did not molest the retirement to the new position, and such attempts as they made in the course of st november to press on westward beyond gheluvelt were unsuccessful. the british accounts do not give the impression that the german attacks on this day were very heavily pressed in this quarter; at any rate they failed to make any ground._ [ ] _the hardest fighting of st november in the ypres salient was in the area north-west of zandvoorde where the detachments under brigadier-generals bulfin and lord cavan were sharply engaged, as were also the remnants of the th division, now holding a position south-east and south of the herenthage wood. a feature of this day's fighting was a counter-attack by the th field company r.e., acting as infantry in default of any infantry reserves, which checked the efforts of the germans to advance north of groenenburg farm (north-west of zandvoorde)._ [ ] _the indian units hitherto employed under the cavalry corps ( th rifles and th baluchis) had already been withdrawn to kemmel, and were not in action near oosttaverne on st november. this account of the 'treacherous methods of the indians' smacks of the conventional; it is what was attributed to the ghurkhas in some sections of the german press, and seems inserted rather to excite odium against the british for calling in asiatics to oppose the disciples of 'kultur.'_ [ ] _french divisions. by the afternoon of st november the french had taken over the defence of wytschaete. the nd cavalry division assembled on a line east of kemmel and wulverghem._ [ ] _these 'reinforcements of newly arrived british troops' are imaginary._ [ ] _the germans, attacking along the menin road, succeeded in breaking our line at this point and captured two guns which had been pushed up into the front trenches. however, the st scots guards, though taken in flank, held on north of the road till a counter-attack by the st black watch re-established the line, while south of the road a counter-attack by the remnants of the nd and rd brigade cleared the herenthage wood completely, but did not regain the front trenches a little eastward. further to the right lord cavern's detachment (brigadier-general bulfin had been wounded on st november, and his battalions had come under lord cavan's orders) and the remnants of the st grenadiers and nd border regiment ( th division) held their own successfully and inflicted very heavy losses on the germans, i.e. deimling's left wing._ [ ] _the credit for the gallant defence of wytschaete on this day belongs solely to the french; no british troops were in action there._ [ ] _after the capture of messines and wytschaete the severity of the fighting in this quarter died down rapidly. the french made some attempts to recover wytschaete, while the germans managed to capture hill (spanbroekmolen), but could advance no further, and the british cavalry corps established itself firmly in trenches north-east of wulverghem. supported by the artillery of the th division, it maintained itself on this line till relieved by the infantry of the th division about the middle of november._ [ ] _the chaplain of the guard cavalry division, 'hofprediger' dr. vogel, in his book ' kilometer mit der garde-kavallerie' (p. ), says the attack was made and failed, but 'next day the english abandoned the farm: this may have been due either to the power of our -inch howitzers, or to the moral effect of the attack of the guard dragoons.'_ [ ] _what other british troops were present in the ypres salient except the i and iv corps this narrative does not pause to state, for the simple reason that there were none. the i corps was not relieved, though some french battalions were put into the line near veldhoek; but in the course of th november the remnant of the infantry of the th division was relieved by the two composite brigades from the ii corps composed of battalions which had had three weeks' fighting near la bassée and had then to be thrust in after only two or three days' rest to hold some of the most difficult parts of the line south-east of ypres. the th infantry division when relieved amounted to less than a third of their original strength, without taking into account the drafts that had joined since they landed, which amounted to or more. most of the battalions of the st division were in scarcely better case._ [ ] _these 'successive lines of rearward positions' did not exist except on paper during the period to be included in the 'battle of ypres,' i.e. to th november._ [ ] _during the period nd- th november the most serious fighting on the british front was between th and th november. on the th the germans attacked near zwarteleen and gained ground, some of which was recovered by a fine counter-attack delivered by the th cavalry brigade (cf. page , line ), while further counter-attacks by the nd infantry brigade, brought back just as it had been drawn out for a rest, and by portions of the st division further improved the line next day. on that day ( th november) a sharp attack on the rd division, which had now taken over the line south of the menin road, gained a little ground east of the herenthage wood. this part of the line was again attacked in force on th november, and the line was broken near veldhoek, but was restored after some sharp fighting and several counter-attacks. further north again, in polygon wood and to the east of it, the nd division, though repeatedly attacked, more than held its own. in the fighting near veldhoek a prominent part was taken by two battalions of zouaves who had filled a gap in the line of the st division._ [ ] _st. eloi is hardly situated 'on high ground,' as it is on the down slope where the warneton-ypres road descends into the low ground after crossing the north-easterly continuation of the messines-wytschaete ridge._ [ ] _the allusion is not understood._ [ ] _the heavy artillery at sir john french's disposal at this period was still extremely limited, and its effectiveness was greatly hampered by the lack of ammunition, stringent restrictions having to be placed on the ammunition expenditure of guns of all calibres. fortunately for the allies a similar handicap was beginning to make itself felt among the germans; even their preparations had been hardly equal to the vast ammunition expenditure which had been incurred._ [ ] _the portion of the ypres salient attacked by the xxiii corps was defended by french troops alone; there were no british north of the broodseinde cross-roads._ [ ] _the enemy is giving the allies credit for his own tricks._ [ ] _however, when british troops took over the coastal sector in lombartzyde was in allied possession._ [ ] for order of battle, see appendix. [ ] _a machine-gun detachment (abtheilung) is a mounted battery with six guns._ [ ] consisting of the th _ersatz_ division and the rd reserve division. [ ] _it is not clear why a british assertion about the defence of dixmude should be quoted, nor indeed is it clear what shape this assertion can have taken, as no british troops were concerned in the dixmude fighting, nor could there have been any occasion for any official british announcement about dixmude._ _in the diagram above, for st, nd, and rd res. jäger regt. read res. infantry regt._ [ ] _the frontage attacked by the twelve battalions of general von winckler's guard division, far from being held by two british divisions was held from north to south by the st infantry brigade, now reduced to some bayonets, a battalion of zouaves and the left brigade of the rd division, little over strong. even if the whole of the rd guard regiment may have been absorbed in the task of covering the main attack from the british troops lining the southern edge of the polygon wood, the superiority of the attacking force was sufficiently pronounced._ [ ] _the germans do not appear to have penetrated into the polygon wood at any point. the northern end of the breach in the british line was marked by a 'strong point' which had been erected near the south-west corner of the wood, known later as 'black watch corner': this was successfully defended all day by a very weak company of the black watch. attacks were made on the st king's lining the southern edge of the wood, apparently by the rd guard regiment, and also further eastward and to the left of the king's, on the nd coldstream guards. the germans in this quarter would seem to have belonged to the th reserve division: at neither of these points did the attackers meet with any success._ [ ] _a thick mist which prevented the troops holding the front line trenches from seeing far to their front undoubtedly played an important part in concealing the advance of the german guard, and contributed appreciably to its success._ [ ] _this is the eastern part of the wood known later as 'inverness copse.'_ [ ] _this counter-attack may be identified with one delivered by the st scots fusiliers and one company nd duke of wellington's._ [ ] _the th (queen augusta's) guard grenadiers seem to have attacked the right of the line held by the th infantry brigade and to have been repulsed by the st lincolnshires and st northumberland fusiliers. further to the british right the th and th infantry brigades were also attacked, but by the th division, not by the guards. here the germans made no progress._ [ ] _this part of the german account is not borne out by the british versions. the main body of the st guard regiment, which broke through the thinly held line of the st infantry brigade, pressed on north-west into the nonne bosch wood, pushing right through it, and coming out into the open on the western edge. here their progress was arrested mainly by the gunners of xli brigade, r.f.a., who held them up with rifle fire at short range. various details of royal engineers, orderlies from headquarters, transport men, rallied stragglers of the st brigade, assisted to stop the germans, but the situation was critical until about noon or a little later the nd oxford and bucks l.i. arrived on the scene. this battalion had been engaged for several days near zwarteleen, and had just been brought up to westhoek to act as divisional reserve. though under strong the battalion promptly counter-attacked the nonne bosch wood and drove the germans out headlong. many of them were caught as they escaped on the eastern and southern sides by the fire of the nd highland l.i., now on the western edge of polygon wood, and of the st northamptonshires, who had come up to glencorse wood, south-west of the nonne bosch, and with other units of the nd and rd infantry brigades had filled the gap which extended thence to the menin road. thus those of the st guard regiment who had pushed straight on westward were prevented from penetrating any further. the king's, to whom this account gives the credit for the oxfordshire's counter-attack, had been engaged with the rd guard regiment further to the north, completely defeating their attacks on the polygon, but not making any counter-attack. it is worth recalling that at the critical moment of the battle of waterloo it was the nd oxford and bucks l.i., then nd light infantry, who played the chief part in the defeat of napoleon's guard._ _the defeat of the nd guard grenadiers does not appear to have been the work of the nd oxford and bucks l.i., but of the other battalions, chiefly from the nd and rd infantry brigades, who were pushed forward rather earlier between glencorse wood and inverness copse._ [ ] _the author must be thankful for minor mercies if he can reckon th november as a day of great success. the gain of ground at veldhoek was trifling in extent and value, and though 'hill ' and the wood north of wytschaete were more important points, there is no doubt that the throwing of the german guard into the struggle had been expected to produce a break-through. the 'numerical superiority' once again attributed to the allies was about as unreal as the alleged strength of the positions, hastily dug, imperfectly wired and almost wholly lacking supporting points and communications, which had such a much more formidable character in the eyes of the germans than they ever possessed in reality. the gallantry and vigour with which the german guard pushed its attack will be readily admitted, but the honours of th november go to the weary men who after three weeks of incessant fighting met and drove back these fresh and famous troops._ [ ] _this statement is not true. after an attack on th november in which prisoners were taken from the th (german) division, the th and th infantry brigades drew back from the eastern edge of the herenthage wood to a line about yards in rear (night th- th november). this line was strongly attacked next day, and the herenthage château fell for the time into german hands, only to be recovered by the nd king's own yorkshire l.i., while a further counter-attack by a company of the northumberland fusiliers, assisted by a gun of the th battery r.f.a., ousted the germans also from the stables of the château. further to the british right the th and th infantry brigades successfully repulsed vigorous attacks._ [ ] _the surprise came in in spite of this._ [ ] _one reason why the g.o.c. fourth army came to this decision on th november is omitted. an attack in force had been attempted on this day by his th division, but the th and th infantry brigades, holding the line attacked, had proved equal to the occasion, had driven the germans back, recovering some advanced trenches carried by the first rush and inflicting heavy losses. this discouraging reception undoubtedly assisted duke albert in making his decision._ [ ] _it was the u-boats that came to a speedy end._ [ ] _see remarks in introduction._ [ ] _the first use of gas by the germans on this occasion might have been mentioned._ [ ] _it is not to be read in this monograph. see introduction._ [ ] _ th and guard cavalry divisions (see page )._ [ ] _ rd and th cavalry divisions (see page )._ index albert of wÜrtemburg, duke, ; _see also_ army, fourth. antwerp: value of, to entente, ; capture of, ; retreat from, (_note_). army, fourth (german): formation of, ; advance of, through belgium, ; dispositions on th oct., ; task of, , ; attack on rd nov., ; attack on th nov., ; order of battle of, . ---- sixth (german): position of right wing of, ; failure of attacks of, ; attack on th nov., . army group fabeck: constitution of, ; plan for, ; assembly of, ; artillery of, ; attack on th oct., ; attack on st oct., ; alteration of plan, ; reinforcement of, ; offensive on th nov. of, ; order of battle of, . ---- ---- _linsingen_: composition of, ; task of, ; offensive of, ; order of battle of, . army headquarters (german), meetings at, , . becelaere: anglo-french counter-attacks at, ; xxvii res. corps takes, . belgian population, patriotism of, . ---- force, strength of, (_note_). beseler, general von, ; _see also_ corps, iii reserve. british fleet, co-operation of, _and note_, _and note_, (_note_), . british force, strength of, (_note_). _calais_: concentration about, ; german objective, . cavalry, army (german): objective of, ; relief of, near lille, . cavalry, fourth (german) army, composition of, xvii (_note_). ---- sixth (german) army: composition of, , ; capture kruiseik, . corps (german), iii reserve: captures antwerp, ; screens fourth army, ; crosses the yser, . ---- ---- xv: attack on zandvoorde, ; attack and capture of gheluvelt, ; captures hill , . ---- ---- xix, captures lille, . ---- ---- xxii res.-xxvii res.: formation of, ; transport of, . ---- ---- xxii res., attacks on dixmude, , . ---- ---- xxiii res.: attack on houthulst forest, ; attack on langemarck, . ---- ---- xxvi res., takes passchendaele, . ---- ---- xxvii res., takes becelaere, . ---- ---- ii bavarian, dispositions of, . ---- (french) ii, arrival of, , . ---- ---- ix, arrival of, , , . deimling, general von, wounded, ; _see_ corps (german), xv. dixmude: topographical, ; attack by french marine division on, ; capture of, . eastern front, german units leave for, . emperor, german: proclamation to fourth army, ; watches attack on gheluvelt, . fabeck, general von, _see_ army group fabeck. french force, strength of, (_note_). gerok, general von, _see_ group gerok. gheluvelt: attack on, ; capture of, ; british force holding, (_note_). gloucestershire regiment at langemarck, (_note_). group gerok: formation of, ; order of battle of, . ---- urach: formation of, ; attack on wytschaete park, . guard (german) division (von winckler): marches to roubaix, ; attack of, . guards, british life, cut up, _and note_. kemmel, mount, topography and importance of, , , , . king's liverpool regiment, counter-attack by, _and note_ . lille: value to entente, ; capture of, . linsingen, general baron von, _see_ army group linsingen. messines: importance of, ; attack on, ; british force holding, (_note_). nieuport: topographical, ; attack on th nov., . oxfordshire and buckinghamshire l.i., counter-attack german guard, (_note_ ). plettenberg's corps, attack on th nov., . urach, general von, _see_ group urach. worcestershire regiment, counter-attack at gheluvelt, _and note_ . wytschaete: importance of, ; german attack on, ; anglo-french counter-attack on, ; second german attack, ; third attack and capture of, ; capture of park of, ; gallant defence by french troops, (_note_). yorkshire l.i. retake herenthage château, (_note_). ypres: topographical, ; historical, ; attack from the north against, ; attempt to break through south of, ; battle of, begins, . yser, canal: topographical, ; flooding the, ; crossed by iii res. corps, . zandvoorde: importance of, ; capture of, . printed by t. and a. constable, printers to his majesty at the edinburgh university press dixmude before, during, and after from the swedish of anton nystrom and with an introduction by edmund gosse, c.b., ll.d. s net. europe's debt to russia by dr. charles sarolea. cr. vo, s d net. among the ruins a volume of personal experiences. by gomez carrillo. cr. vo, s d net. vive la france by e. alexander powell, author of "fighting in flanders." cr. vo, illustrated, s d net. germany's violations of the laws of war published under the auspices of the french government. translated by j. o. p. bland. with many documents in facsimile. demy vo, s net. the soul of the war by philip gibbs. demy vo, s d net. the poison war by a. a. roberts. demy vo, s net. illustrated. the drama of days scenes in the great war. by hall caine. with a photogravure portrait of h.r.h. the prince of wales. s net. * * * * * soldiers' tales of the great war each volume cr. vo, cloth, s d net. i. with my regiment. by "platoon commander." [_ready_ ii. dixmude. the epic of the french marines. oct.-nov. . by charles le goffic. _illustrated_ to be followed by iii. in the field ( - ). the impressions of an officer of light cavalry. iv. in the dardanelles and serbia. notes of a french army doctor. _illustrated_ william heinemann bedford street, london, w.c. _the most successful war book. forty editions have been sold in france._ [illustration: phot. _excelsior_ french marines marching out of their dÉpÔt at the grand palais, paris] dixmude the epic of the french marines (october --november , ) by charles le goffic translated by florence simmonds _with maps and illustrations_ london [illustration] william heinemann _london: william heinemann, ._ introduction praise, they say, is stricken dumb by the greatest names, and also, we may add, by the greatest deeds. it is only by the bare simplicity of faithful narrative that we can hope not to belittle these. but yesterday the public had no knowledge of the great, heroic things accomplished by the brigade of marines (_fusiliers marins_). they were hidden under a confused mass of notes, _communiqués_, instructions and plans of operations, private letters, and newspaper articles. it has been no easy task to bring them to light--the discreet light permitted by the censorship. everything seems simple and obvious to those who can look at facts in their logical order and regular sequence. the historian who has to handle new matter knows what a labour it is to introduce, or rather to re-establish, such order and sequence. history has to be written before the philosophy of history can be evolved.[ ] our readers must not be surprised, therefore, to find here only such considerations as are in direct relation to events. we have been concerned with facts rather than with ideas. and in the result nothing will be lost hereby, for we provide materials ready for use in the establishment of that war mysticism which the sombre genius of joseph de maistre presaged, which vigny showed at work in certain souls, and which is marked out as our national religion of to-morrow. it is obvious that such an immense effort, such prolonged tension, such whole-hearted sacrifice, as were demanded from the handful of men with whom we are concerned, could not have been obtained by ordinary methods. a special compact was required, a peculiar state of grace; the miracle was only possible as the outcome of a close communion, and, to use the proper word, of a true spiritual fraternity between men and officers. true, this fraternity has been manifested in every branch of the service and on every battlefield during the course of the present struggle; but nowhere perhaps has it been so absolute as among the marines. they had, no doubt, been well prepared. the sea is a perpetual battlefield, and a trench is hardly more of a prison than a ship. community of danger soon creates community of hearts; how otherwise can we account for the fact that the most turbulent and individualist of men become the most perfectly disciplined on board ship? this is the case with the bretons. at dixmude under the command of their own officers, retaining not only the costume, but the soul and the language of their profession, they were still sailors. grouped with them were seamen from all our naval stations, bayonne, toulon, dunkirk, etc., and the battalion of commander de sainte-marie, formed at cherbourg, even contained a fair sprinkling of natives of les batignolles. i had opportunities of talking to several of these "parigots," and i should not advise anyone to speak slightingly of their officers before them, though, indeed, so few of these have survived that nine times out of ten the quip could be aimed only at a ghost. the deepest and tenderest words i heard uttered concerning naval lieutenant martin des pallières were spoken by a marine of the rue des martyrs, georges delaballe, who was one of his gunners in front of the cemetery the night when his machine-guns were jammed, and five hundred germans, led by a major wearing the red cross armlet, threw themselves suddenly into our trenches. "but why did you love him so?" i asked. "i don't know.... we loved him because he was brave, and was always saying things that made us laugh, ... but above all because he loved us." here we have the secret of this extraordinary empire of the officers over their men, the explanation of that miracle of a four weeks' resistance, one against six, under the most formidable tempest of shells of every calibre that ever fell upon a position, in a shattered town where all the buildings were ablaze, and where, to quote the words of a _daily telegraph_ correspondent, it was no longer light or dark, "but only red." when the boches murdered commander jeanniot, his men were half crazy. they would not have felt the death of a father more deeply. i have recently had a letter sent me written by a breton lad, jules cavan, who was wounded at dixmude. while he was in hospital at bordeaux he was visited by relatives of second-lieutenant gautier, who was killed on october in the cemetery trenches. "dear sir," he wrote to m. dalché de desplanels the following day, "you cannot imagine how your visit went to my heart.... on october , when my battalion took the offensive at lannes, three kilometres from dixmude, i was wounded by a bullet in the thigh. i dragged myself along as best i could on the battlefield, bullets falling thickly all around me. i got over about five hundred metres on the battlefield and reached the road. just at that moment lieutenant gautier, who was coming towards me with a section, seeing me in the ditch, asked: 'well, my lad, what is the matter with you?' 'oh, lieutenant, i am wounded in the leg, and i cannot drag myself further.' 'here then, get on my back.' and he carried me to a house at lannes, and said these words, which i shall never forget: 'stay there, my lad, till they come and fetch you. i will let the motor ambulance men know.' then he went off under the fire. oh, the splendid fellow!" "the splendid fellow!" jules cavan echoes georges delaballe, the breton, the "parigot." there is the same heartfelt ring in the words of each. and sometimes, as i muse over these heroic shades, i ask myself which were the more admirable, officers or men. when second-lieutenant gautier received orders to take the place of lieutenant de pallières, buried by a shell in the trench of the cemetery where lieutenant eno had already fallen, he read his fate plainly; he said: "it's my turn." and he smiled at death, who beckoned him. but i know of one case when, as death seemed about to pass them by, the marines provoked it; when, after they had used up all their cartridges and were surrounded in a barn, twelve survivors only remaining with their captain, the latter, filled with pity for them, and recognising the futility of further resistance, said to his men: "my poor fellows, you have done your duty. there is nothing for it but to surrender." then, disobedient to their captain for the first time, they answered: "no!" to my mind nothing could show more clearly the degree of sublime exaltation and complete self-forgetfulness to which our officers had raised the _moral_ of their men. such were the pupils these masters in heroism had formed, that often their own pupils surpassed them. there was at the trouville hospital a young breton sailor called michel folgoas. his wound was one of the most frightful imaginable: the whole of his side was shaved off by a shell which killed one of his comrades in the trenches, who was standing next to him, on november . "i," he remarks in a letter, "was completely stunned at first. when i came to myself i walked three hundred metres before i noticed that i was wounded, and this was only when my comrades called out: 'mon dieu, they have carried away half your side.'" it was true. but does he groan and lament over it? he makes a joke of it: "the boches were so hungry that they took a beef-steak out of my side, but this won't matter, as they have left me a little." multiply this michel folgoas by , , and you will have the brigade. this inferno of dixmude was an inferno where everyone made the best of things. and the _battues_ of rabbits, the coursing of the red german hares which were running in front of the army of invasion, the bull-fights in which our mokos impaled some pacific flemish bull abandoned by its owners; more dubious escapades, sternly repressed, in the underground premises of the dixmude drink-shops; a story of two bretons who went off on a foraging expedition and were seen coming back along the canal in broad daylight towing a great cask of strong beer which they had unearthed heaven knows where at a time when the whole brigade, officers as well as men, had nothing to drink but the brackish water of the yser--these, and a hundred other tales of the same kind, which will some day delight village audiences gathered round festal evening fires, bear witness that jean gouin (or le gwenn, john the white, as the sailors call themselves familiarly[ ]), did not lose his bearings even in his worst vicissitudes. dixmude was an epic then, or, as m. victor giraud proposes, a french _geste_, but a _geste_ in which the heroism is entirely without solemnity or deliberation, where the nature of the seaman asserts itself at every turn, where there are thunder, lightning, rain, mud, cold, bullets, shrapnel, high explosive shells, and all the youthful gaiety of the french race. and this epic did not come to an end at dixmude. the brigade did not ground arms after november . the gaps in its ranks being filled from the dépôts, it was kept up to the strength of two regiments, and reaped fresh laurels. at ypres and saint georges it charged the troops of prince ruprecht of bavaria and the duke of würtemberg in succession. dixmude was but one panel of the triptych: on the broken apex of the black capital of the communiers, on the livid backgrounds of the flat country about nieuport, twice again did the brigade inscribe its stormy silhouette. but at ypres and saint georges the sailors had the bulk of the anglo-french forces behind them; at dixmude up to november they knew that their enterprise was a forlorn hope. and in their hands they held the fate of the two flanders. one of the heroes of dixmude, naval lieutenant georges hébert, said that the fusiliers had gained more than a naval battle there. my only objection to this statement is its modesty. dixmude was our thermopylæ in the north, as the grand-couronné, near nancy, was our thermopylæ in the east; the fusiliers were the first and the most solid element of the long triumphant defensive which will one day be known as the victory of the yser, a victory less decisive and perhaps less brilliant than that of the marne, but not less momentous in its consequences. the generalissimo is credited with a dictum which he may himself have uttered with a certain astonishment: "you are my best infantrymen," said he to the fusiliers. we will close with these simple, soldierly words, more eloquent than the most brilliant harangues. the brigade will reckon them among their proudest trophies to all time. footnotes: [ ] we may perhaps be allowed to note that _dixmude_ appeared in the _revue des deux mondes_, march and , before any other study on the subject. [ ] "when we passed through the streets of ghent they were full of people shouting, 'long live the french!' i heard one person in the crowd call out, 'long live jean gouin!' he must have known them well." (letter of fusilier f., of the island of sein.) le gwenn, which has been corrupted into gouin, is a very common name in brittany. [compare the current english nickname "jack tar."--tr.] note the sources drawn upon in the following narrative are of various kinds: official _communiqués_, french and foreign reports, etc. but the majority of our information was derived from private letters, collected by m. de thézac, the modest and zealous founder of the _abris du marin_ (seamen's shelters), from note-books kindly lent by their owners, and from oral inquiries addressed to the survivors of melle and dixmude. whenever possible, we have let our correspondents speak for themselves. we regret that the strictest orders have compelled us to preserve their anonymity, which, however, we hope may be merely temporary. contents page introduction i--xv i. towards ghent ii. the battle of melle iii. retreat iv. on the yser v. dixmude vi. the capture of beerst vii. the first effects of the bombardment viii. the inundation ix. the murder of commander jeanniot x. in the trenches xi. the attack on the chÂteau de woumen xii. the death of dixmude list of illustrations facing page french marines marching out of their dÉpÔt _frontispiece_ the flag of the brigade la grand' place, dixmude the papegaei inn the bÉguinage at dixmude the bridge and flour factory belgian armoured car reconnoitring the parish church after the first days of the bombardment the town-hall and belfry after the first days of the bombardment the "kiekenstraat" (chicken street) after the first days of the bombardment old houses on the handzaeme canal the inundation. old mill and farms on the yser plan of attack on dixmude on november , _page_ map of operations round dixmude _at end of volume_ i. towards ghent on the morning of october two troop trains passed each other in the station of thourout. one contained belgian carabiniers; the other, french marines. they exchanged greetings from their respective lines. the carabiniers waved their little yellow-bound caps and cried: "long live france!" the sailors replied by hurrahs in honour of belgium. "where are you going?" asked a belgian officer. "to antwerp. and you?" "to france." he explained that the carabiniers were recruits from la campine, who were being sent to our lines to finish their training. "you'll soon get them into shape, won't you?" said a sailor to the officer. and shaking his fist at the horizon, he added: "don't you worry, lieutenant! we shall get at the scum some day, never fear." the belgian officer who describes the scene, m. edouard de kayser,[ ] had left antwerp during the night. he did not know that the defence was at its last gasp, and that the evacuation had begun. our sailors were no better informed. rear-admiral ronarc'h, who was in command, thought that he was taking his brigade to dunkirk; he had been given a week to form it and organise it on the footing of two regiments (six battalions and a machine-gun company). everything had to be evolved: the complement of officers, the men, the auxiliary services. this arduous task was complicated by the lack of cohesion among the elements of the brigade and perpetual changes of quarters (creil, stains, pierrefitte, etc.). but the idea of forming infantry brigades with sailors was an after-thought. article of the law of august , , certainly permitted any surplus men in the navy to be used for service in the field, but the manner in which these contingents were to be employed had never been clearly defined. would they be linked to existing bodies, or would they be formed into separate units? the latter alternative, by far the most reasonable, which effected a gradual transition, and, while connecting the naval combatant with the land forces, preserved his somewhat jealous but very stimulating _esprit de corps_, was by no means unanimously approved. the minister overruled objections, and he was well advised. the glorious lessons of , of le bourget and le mans, had taught him what to expect from the co-operation of navy and army. some preparation was of course necessary. strictly speaking, a navy is made to navigate, and this explains a certain neglect of drill; these men in new clothes, "_capelés_" (cloaked), as they say, in the new fashion, their caps bereft of pompons,[ ] their collarless tunics buttoned up to the throat, had be transformed into soldiers. handy as sailors proverbially are, a certain stiffness of movement in the early days betrayed the inexperience of these sea-birds, whose wings had been clipped; they were further hampered by heavy infantry overcoats. the brigade was sent almost immediately to the entrenched camp of paris.[ ] scarcely had it settled into its quarters when its commander received orders to be ready to start for dunkirk, where a new army was being formed. dunkirk was not yet threatened; the brigade would be able to complete its organisation there. the order was dated october . on the morning of the th the brigade entrained at saint denis and at villetaneuse with its convoys. [illustration: phot. _excelsior_ the flag of the brigade] "we are comfortably installed in cattle-trucks," notes fusilier r. in his pocket-book. "at creil we see houses that were burnt by the germans. night comes; we try to sleep, but in vain. it is very cold. we shiver in our trucks." but over the dunes, along which the train had been running since it left boulogne, a patch of purple light appeared; then other fires twinkled, green and red, and the keen breath of the open sea made itself felt--dunkirk. here a surprise awaited the brigade: a change in the orders; it was not to turn out, but the trains were to go on "towards belgium, towards the enemy," to antwerp, in short. the men stamped with joy. they hung over the doors of the trucks, waving their caps in greeting to belgian territory.[ ] the admiral went off in the first train with his staff. on the afternoon of the th he found general pau on the platform at ghent. the great organiser of the connections between the allied armies had just left antwerp, where he had been to plan out the retreat of the belgian army with king albert. he informed the admiral that the railway had been cut above the town, and that the six divisions which were defending antwerp had begun to fall back upon bruges; two divisions were echeloned to the west of the terneusen canal, and three to the east. only one division was still in antwerp, with , english troops.[ ] the belgian cavalry was covering the retreat on the scheldt, to the south of lokeren. there was no longer any question of entering antwerp; the contingent was to co-operate in the retreating movement with the english reinforcements which were expected, and with the troops of the garrison at ghent; everything seemed to indicate that the enemy would try to gain ground in the west, and to invest the belgian army, exhausted by two months of incessant fighting, and the forces from antwerp that were supporting it at intervals along the dutch frontier. but, to ensure the success of this enveloping manoeuvre, the germans would first be obliged to take ghent and bruges, which they might so easily have done a month earlier; they had deliberately neglected this precaution, feeling confident that they would be able to occupy them at their own time without firing a shot. by the end of august, indeed, general von boehn's army corps had advanced to melle, within a few miles of ghent. although no resistance had been offered, melle had been partially burnt and pillaged; the germans had spared only the distillery where their troops were quartered, which belonged to a naturalised bavarian. to save the town from effective occupation by the enemy, the burgomaster, m. braun, had agreed with general von boehn to undertake the victualling of the german troops stationed at beleghem. the requisition was not a very harsh one for war time. but the foes were to meet again; on august , the morrow of charleroi, the kaiser would have cashiered a general as duly convicted of imbecility who had ventured to suggest that in october france, supposing her to be still alive, would have had strength enough in her death-throes to detach units and send them to the help of belgium. be this as it may, it is certain that the belgian army owed its salvation to this erroneous calculation, or foolish presumption. the effort the enemy had scorned to make in august against ghent and west flanders was now determined upon in october, after the fall of antwerp. the conditions seemed to have changed but little. ghent, an open town, spread over an alluvial plain at the confluence of the scheldt and the lys, which branch off here into innumerable canals, is open on every side to sudden assault. it has neither forts nor ramparts. we could only rely upon improvised defences to check the advance of the enemy. the garrison, under the command of general clothen, was reduced to eight squadrons of cavalry, a mixed brigade, a volunteer brigade, and two line regiments, none of them up to full strength. however, with our , rifles, they would suffice to deploy in the loop of the scheldt, and on the space between the scheldt and the lys to the south of the town, which seemed to be specially threatened. if the english th division arrived in time on the following day, it would reinforce the front, which it would be unnecessary to extend further for the purposes of a purely temporary defence, designed to give the army in antwerp an additional day or two. the fighting would probably be very severe; neither general pau, who was responsible for the plan, nor admiral ronarc'h, who was to direct the principal effort, had any illusions on this score. "salute these gentlemen," said the general to his staff, pointing to the naval officers; "you will not see them again."[ ] the rest of the brigade followed hard upon the admiral. the last trains arrived at ghent during the night. the whole population was astir, cheering the sailors as they marched through the town to their respective barracks: the léopold barracks, the circus, and the théâtre flamand. the officers and the admiral were lodged at the hôtel des postes.[ ] the reveillé was sounded at . a.m. the men drank their coffee and set off for melle, where the belgians had prepared trenches for them. footnotes: [ ] _revue hebdomadaire_ of january , . these were the same recruits which the last trains of marines passed in dunkirk station. "october , p.m. arrived at dunkirk. passed the belgian class . many cries of 'long live france!'" (second-lieutenant gautier's pocket-book. see also p. , n.). [ ] the pompons were restored after a time; at first they were considered too conspicuous; but regrettable mistakes had been made, and in the distance the headgear of our men was too much like the german caps. [ ] a certain number of the men were there already. "for weeks we bivouacked in the entrenched camp [of paris], marching and countermarching to accustom the men to the novel weight of the knapsack. we spent the glorious days of the marne as second line reserves and saw nothing." (interview with naval lieutenant g. hébert, by r. kimley, _opinion_, december , .) [ ] "at every station the inhabitants were massed on the platforms. loud cheers were raised, and our compartments were literally filled with fruit, sandwiches, cigars, cigarettes, etc. beer, tea, and coffee flowed freely. you can picture the delight of our marines, who imagined themselves in the land of promise." (note-book of dr. l. f.) [ ] a royal naval brigade and , volunteers from the naval reserve. these forces had only been in antwerp, where they were preceded by mr. winston churchill, since october . they fought very gallantly during the last days of the siege and gave most valuable support to the belgian troops. in the course of the retreat which they helped to secure, a portion of them only was pressed back into dutch territory and there interned. [ ] cf. jean claudius, "_la brigade navale_." (_petite gironae_ of february , .) [ ] "i shared a room with the naval lieutenant martin des pallières, and before going to bed we refreshed ourselves by a general toilet, our last ablutions during our stay in belgium, and the last of all for my poor companion, who was killed at dixmude." (note-book of dr. l. f.) ii. the battle of melle the little lace-making town, the younger sister of mechlin and bruges, had not suffered as much as we had feared. the rattle of the bobbins was no longer to be heard on the doorsteps; certain houses showed the stigmata of preliminary martyrdom in their empty window-frames and blackened façades. but her heart beat still, and around her, in the great open conservatory which forms the outskirts of ghent, autumn had gathered all her floral splendours. "we marched through fields of magnificent begonias, among which we are perhaps about to die," wrote fusilier r. to die among flowers like a young girl seems a strange destiny for the conventional sailor--the typical sea-dog with a face tanned by sun and spray. but the majority of the recruits of the brigade bore little resemblance to the type. their clear eyes looked out of faces but slightly sunburnt; the famous "marie-louises" were hardly younger.[ ] their swaying walk and a touch of femininity and coquetry in the precocious development of their muscular vigour explain the nickname given them by the heavy teutons, to whom they were as disconcerting as an apparition of boyish walkyries: _the young ladies with the red pompons_! the admiral, who had just reconnoitred the position, was conferring with his lieutenants on the spot; a fraction of the nd regiment, under commander varney, was to take up a position between gontrode and quatrecht, leaving a battalion in reserve to the north of melle; a fraction of the st regiment, under commander delage, was to advance between heusden and goudenhaut, and to leave a battalion in reserve at destelbergen. he himself would keep with him as general reserve, at the cross-roads of schelde, which was to be his post of command, the rest of the brigade, that is to say, two battalions and the machine-gun company. the convoys, with the exception of the ambulances commanded by staff-surgeon seguin, were to stay in the rear, at the gates of ghent. this was an indispensable precaution in view of a rapid retreat, which, however, the admiral had no intention of carrying out until he had sufficiently broken the shock of the enemy's onslaught. thanks to our reinforcements, the belgian troops were able to extend their front as much as was necessary by occupying lemberge and schellerode. the artillery of the th mixed brigade, emplaced near lendenhock, commanded the approaches of the plain. no trace of the enemy was to be seen. but the belgian cyclist scouts had brought in word that the german vanguard had crossed the dendre. we had only just time to occupy our trenches; in the last resort, if it should be necessary to fall back on melle, we should find a ready-made epaulement in the railway embankment near the station bridge. antwerp was burning, and the civic authorities were parleying over its surrender; the english forces and the last belgian division had fortunately been able to leave the town during the night; they blew up the bridges behind them, and made for saint nicolas by forced marches, arriving there at dawn. they hoped to reach eeclo by evening. but the enemy was hard in pursuit; a party of german cavalry was sighted at zele and near wetteren, where they crossed the scheldt on a bridge of boats. at the village of basteloere they fell in with the belgian outposts, whose artillery stopped them for the time; other forces, further to the north, advanced in the district of waïs as far as loochristi, kilometres from ghent. part of these came from alost, the rest from antwerp itself; but the bulk of the german troops remained at antwerp, to our great satisfaction. an enemy less arrogant or less bent on theatrical effect would undoubtedly have thrown his whole available forces on the rear of the retreat; the germans preferred to make a sensational entry into antwerp, with fifes sounding and ensigns spread.[ ] simultaneously, the troops they had detached at alost had their first encounter with the nd regiment of the brigade. they were expected, and a few well-directed volleys sufficed to check their ardour. to quote one of our fusiliers, "they fell like ninepins" at each discharge. "there was plenty of whistling round our heads, too," writes another of the combatants, who expresses his regret at having been unable "to grease his bayonet in the bellies of the germans." he had his chance later. the enemy returned in force, and commander varney thought it advisable to call up his reserve, which was at once replaced at melle by a battalion of the general reserve. "there was," says dr. caradec, "a certain gun which was run up by the germans about metres from the trenches; it had only just fired its fourth shot when we blew up its team and its gunners. they were not able to get it away till nightfall." indeed, generally speaking, the enemy's fire, which was too long in range, did very little damage to us in the course of this battle; the town did not suffer appreciably, and only three shells struck the church. towards six o'clock the attack ceased. night was falling; a slight mist floated over the fields, and the enemy took advantage of it to solidify his position. pretending to retire, he remained close at hand, occupying the woods, the houses, the hedges, the farmyards, and every obstacle on the ground. these were unequivocal signs of a speedy resumption of the offensive. commander varney, whose contingents bore the brunt of the pressure, was not deceived and kept a sharp look-out. the men were forbidden to stir; they were told that they must eat when they could. besides, they had nothing for a meal. "it was not until midnight," says fusilier r., "that i was able to get a little bread; i offered some of it to my commander, who accepted it thankfully." the mist lifted, but it was still very dark. black night on every hand, save down by quatrecht, where two torches were blazing, two farms that had been fired. the men listened, straining their ears. it was just a watch, on land instead of at sea. but nothing stirred till o'clock. then suddenly the veil was rent: shells with luminous fuses burst a few yards from the trenches; the enemy had received artillery reinforcements; our position was soon to become untenable. "we saw the boches by the light of the shells, creeping along the hedges and houses like rats. we fired into the mass, and brought them down in heaps, but they kept on advancing. the commander was unwilling for us to expose ourselves further; he gave orders to abandon gontrode and fall back a little further upon melle, behind the railway bank."[ ] we lost a few men in the retreat. but our position was excellent. about metres from the trenches our machine-guns poured out hell-fire on the enemy, whom we had allowed to approach. a splendid charge by the fusiliers completed his discomfiture. it was four in the morning. at a.m. our patrols brought us word that gontrode and quatrecht were evacuated; the germans had not even stopped to pick up their wounded. the fusiliers did this good office for them when they went to reoccupy gontrode, taking the opportunity to collect a good number of german helmets.[ ] meanwhile the brigade had passed under the command of general capper, of the th english division, who had just arrived at ghent, where his men received an ovation like that bestowed on our own sailors. indeed, there is a strong likeness between them. the englishmen in their dark dun-coloured uniform, with their clear eyes and rhythmic gait, are also of an ocean race, and do not forget it. they swung along, their rifles under their arms, or held by the barrel against their shoulders like oars, singing the popular air adopted by the whole british army: _it's a long, long way to tipperary._ apparently ghent lies on the road to this goal, for the _tommies_ can never have been gayer. these fine troops, which advanced to the firing line as if they had been going to a thames regatta, were the admiration not only of the citizens of ghent, but of our own sailors, who felt an unexpected tenderness for them. had not the hereditary foe become our staunchest ally? "we look upon them as brothers," wrote a sailor of the passage lauriec to his family next day. reinforced by two of their battalions and the belgian troops of the sector, we were ordered to hold our former positions in the loop of the scheldt. but towards noon, after a visit from a taube, the enemy developed such a fierce attack upon gontrode and quatrecht that at the end of the day we had to repeat the manoeuvre of the preceding day and fall back upon the railway bank. here at least the german offensive spent itself in vain upon the glacis of this natural redoubt, defended with conspicuous gallantry by commander varney's three battalions. the rest of the night was quiet; the reliefs came into the trenches normally at dawn, and those who wished were free to go to church. it was a sunday. "i have been to mass in a very pretty little church," wrote seaman f., of the isle of sein. the day passed very well. in the evening after supper we went to bed. scarcely had we lain down upon the straw when the order was given to turn out again. we were to beat a retreat, and it was time. the apparent inactivity of the enemy during this day of the th of october was explained by his desire to turn our position and surround us with all his forces in the loop of the scheldt. on both banks of the river, down-stream and to the south, long grey lines were writhing. it was a question whether it would be wise to expose ourselves further, and to give the enemy a pretext for bombarding ghent, an open town, which we had decided not to defend. had we not achieved our main object, since our resistance of the previous days had given the belgian army forty-eight hours' start? headquarters acknowledged that we had carried out our mission unfalteringly. from the moment when they first came into touch with the enemy the naval fusiliers had behaved with the firmness and endurance of tried troops, like "old growlers," as fusilier r. said. twice the german infantry had given way to their irresistible charge. this gave good hope for the future. our own casualties had been inconsiderable. ten of our men had been killed, among them naval lieutenant le douget, who had been in the trenches, with his company, and who had been mortally wounded by a bullet as he was falling back on the railway embankment; we had wounded and one missing, whereas, according to the official _communiqué_, the enemy's losses were killed and prisoners.[ ] melle was not a great battle, but it was a victory, "our first victory," said the men proudly, the first canto of their iliad. and the troops which gained this victory were under fire for the first time. they came from the five ports, mainly from brittany, which provides four-fifths of the combatants for naval warfare. and the majority of them, setting aside a few warrant-officers, were young apprentices taken from the dépôts before they had finished their training, but well stiffened by non-commissioned officers of the active list and the reserve. the officers themselves, with the exception of the commanders of the two regiments (captains delage and varney), who ranked as colonels, and the battalion commanders (captains rabot, marcotte de sainte-marie, and de kerros, st regiment; jeanniot, pugliesi-conti, and mauros, nd regiment), belonged for the most part to the naval reserve. it was, in fact, a singular army, composed almost entirely of recruits and veterans, callow youths and greybeards. there were even some novices of the society of jesus, father de blic and father poisson,[ ] serving as sub-lieutenants, and a former radical deputy, dr. plouzané,[ ] who acted as surgeon. the percentage of casualties was very high among the older men at the beginning of the campaign, and this has been made a reproach to them. if a great many officers fell, it was not due to bravado, still less to ignorance of the profession of arms, as has been suggested[ ]; but leaders must preach by example, and there is only one way of teaching others to die bravely. we must not forget that their men were recruits, without homogeneity, without experience, almost without training. the _moral_ of troops depends on that of their chiefs. "if you go about speaking to no one, sad and pensive," said monluc, "even if all your men had the hearts of lions, you would turn them into sheep." this was certainly the opinion of the officers of the brigade, and notably of him who commanded the nd regiment, captain varney, "always in the breach," according to an eye-witness, "going on foot to the first lines and the outposts and even beyond them, as at melle. here," adds the narrator, "he was on an armoured car, but ... on the step, entirely without cover, to give confidence to his men." one of the officers of his regiment, lieutenant gouin,[ ] wounded in the foot in the same encounter, refused to go to the ambulance until the enemy began to retreat; second-lieutenant gautier,[ ] commanding a machine-gun section, allowed a german attack to advance to within metres, "to teach the gunners not to squander their ammunition," and when wounded in the head, said: "what does it matter, since every one of my bullets found its billet?" moreover, the chief of these gallant fellows, rear-admiral ronarc'h, had proved himself a strategist on other battle-fields; the minister's choice was due neither to complaisance nor to chance. admiral ronarc'h is a breton; his guttural, sonorous name is almost a birth-certificate. and physically the man answers exactly to the image evoked by his name and race. his short, sturdy, broad-shouldered figure is crowned by a rugged, resolute head, the planes strongly marked, but refined, and even slightly ironical; he has the true celtic eyes, slightly veiled, which seem always to be looking at things afar off or within; morally he is, as one of his officers says: "a furze-bush of the cliffs, one of those plants that flourish in rough winds and poor soil, that strike root among the crevices of granite rocks and can never be detached from them: breton obstinacy in all its strength, but a calm, reflective obstinacy, very sober in its outward manifestations, and concentrating all the resources of a mind very apt in turning the most unpromising elements to account upon its object."[ ] it is rather remarkable that all the great leaders in this war are taciturn and thoughtful men; never has the antithesis of deeds and words been more strongly marked. it has been noted elsewhere that admiral ronarc'h, though a very distinguished sailor,[ ] seems destined to fight mainly as a soldier in war; as a naval lieutenant and adjutant-major to commander de marolles, he accompanied the seymour column sent to the relief of the european legations when the boxers besieged them in pekin. the column, which was too weak, though it was composed of sailors of the four european naval divisions stationed in chinese waters, was obliged to fall back hurriedly towards the coast. it was almost a defeat, in the course of which the detachments of the allied divisions lost a great many men and all the artillery they had landed. the french detachment was the only one which brought off its guns. the author of this fine strategic manoeuvre was rewarded by promotion to the command of a frigate; he was then years old. at the date of his promotion (march , ) he was the youngest officer of his rank. at , in spite of his grizzled moustache and "imperial," he is the youngest of our admirals. he attained his present rank in june, , and was almost immediately called upon to form the marine brigade. footnotes: [ ] napoleon's young recruits of , who called themselves after the empress. [ ] as a matter of fact, this triumphal entry, followed by a review of the investing army with massed bands, did not take place till the afternoon of the following sunday. but the criticism holds good: only a portion of the german forces went in pursuit of the belgian army after repairing the bridge across the scheldt; , men remained in antwerp. [ ] fusilier y. m. j., _correspondence_. see also the letter of the sailor p. l. y., of audierne; "then, seeing that they were advancing against us in mass (they were a regiment against our single company), we were obliged to fall back metres, for we could no longer hold them. i saw the master-at-arms fall mortally wounded, and four men wounded when we got back to the railway line. there we stayed for a day and a night to keep the boches employed, sending volleys into them when they came too near and charging them with the bayonet. it was fine to see them falling on the plain at every volley. we ceased firing on the th, about a.m." [ ] "this morning we made a fine collection of dead germans from to metres from our trenches. we have a few prisoners." (letter from second-lieutenant gautier.) [ ] according to _le temps_ of october , the german losses were very much greater: " germans killed." the hesitation and want of vigour shown in the attack seem surprising. they are perhaps to be explained by the following passage, written by second-lieutenant de blois: "the germans had not expected such a resistance, and even less had they thought to find us in front of them. they suspected a trap, and this paralysed their offensive, though our line was so thin that a vigorous onslaught could not have failed to break it. this they did not dare to make; several times they advanced to within a few metres of our trenches and then stopped short. we shot them down at our ease. yet our positions were far from solid; we were on the railway embankment, and the trenches consisted of a few holes dug between the rails; the bridge had not even been barricaded by the belgian engineers, and nothing would have been simpler than to have passed under it. when night came, commander conti ordered me to see to it. i turned on a little electric pocket light; the bullets at once began to whistle about my ears; the germans were only about metres from the bridge, but they made no attempt to pass!" [ ] the first killed and the second wounded at dixmude. both received the legion of honour. [ ] he also received the legion of honour. [ ] cf. dr. caradec, "_la brigade des fusiliers marins de l'yser_" (_dépêche de brest_ for january , ). [ ] killed at dixmude. [ ] killed at dixmude. [ ] dr. l. g., private correspondence. [ ] he won his stars as commander of the mediterranean fleet, and has invented a mine-sweeper adopted by the british navy. iii. retreat how was the retirement to be carried out? the operation seemed to be a very delicate one. the enemy was watching us on every side. general capper's orders were to disengage ourselves by a night march to aeltre, where the roads to bruges and thielt intersect. the retreat began very accurately and methodically, facilitated by the precautionary arrangements the admiral had made: first, our convoys; then, half an hour later, our troops, which were replaced temporarily in their positions by the english units. "as we passed through ghent," writes fusilier b., "we were heartily cheered again, the more so as some of us had taken prussian helmets, which they showed to the crowd. the enthusiasm was indescribable. the ladies especially welcomed us warmly." fair belgium had given us her heart; she did not withdraw it, even when we seemed to be forsaking her. covered by the english division which followed us after the space of two hours, we passed through tronchiennes, luchteren, meerendré, hansbeke, and bellem, a long stretch of eight leagues, by icy moonlight, with halts of ten minutes at each stage. the motor-cars of the brigade rolled along empty, all the officers, even the oldest of them, electing to march with their men. aeltre was not reached till dawn. the brigade had not been molested in its retreat; we lost nothing on the way, neither a straggler nor a cartridge. and all our dead, piously buried the night before by the chaplain of the nd regiment, the abbé le helloco, with the help of the curé and the burgomaster, were sleeping in the little churchyard of melle. after snatching a hasty meal and resting their legs for a while, the men started for thielt. "twenty-five kilometres on top of the forty we had done in the night," says a fusilier, somewhat hyperbolically. "and they say sailors are not good walkers!"[ ] to avoid corns, they marched bare-footed, their boots slung over their shoulders. and they had to drag the machine-guns, for which there were no teams. but aeltre, the kindness of its inhabitants, the good coffee served out, and laced by a generous municipal ration of rum, had revived them. "what good creatures they are!" said a fusilier. "they receive us as if we were their own children!" the brigade reached thielt between four and five in the afternoon; the english division arrived at six, and we at once went into our temporary quarters; the roads were barricaded, and strong guards were placed at every issue. fifty thousand germans were galloping in pursuit of us. if they did not catch us at thielt, we perhaps owed this to the burgomaster of one of the places we had passed through, who sent them on a wrong track. his heroic falsehood cost him his life, and secured a good night's rest for our men. for the first time for three days they were able to sleep their fill on the straw of hospitable belgian farms and make up for the fatigues of their previous vigils. a taube paid an unwelcome visit in the morning, but was received with a vigorous fusillade, and the "beastly bird" was brought down almost immediately, falling in the english lines, to the great delight of our men. shortly afterwards we broke up our camp and set out for thourout, which we reached at p.m. here the english division had to leave us, to march upon roulers, and the brigade came under the command of king albert, whose outposts we had now reached. the belgian army, after its admirable retreat from antwerp, had merely touched at bruges, and deciding not to defend ostend, had fallen back by short marches towards the yser. all its convoys had not yet arrived. to ensure their safety, it had decided, in spite of its exhausted state, to deploy in an undulating line extending from menin to the marshes of ghistelles; the portion of this front assigned to the fusiliers ran from the wood of vijnendaele to the railway station of cortemarck. on the th, in a downpour of rain, the brigade marched to the west of pereboom, and took up a position facing east. it was the best position open to them, though, indeed, it was poor enough, by reason of its excentricity. the enemy, who had finally got on our track, was reported to be advancing in dense masses upon cortemarck. the , men of the brigade, however heroic they might prove themselves, could not hope to offer a very long resistance to such overwhelming forces on a position so difficult to maintain, a position without natural defences, without cover on any side, even towards the west, where the french troops had not yet completed their extension. it was the admiral's duty to report to the belgian headquarters staff on these tactical defects; the reply was an order to make a stand "at all costs," a term fully applicable to the situation; but this was rescinded, and at midnight on october the retreat was resumed. it ceased only on the banks of the yser. footnote: [ ] this was one of the first questions general pau put to the admiral: "are your men good walkers?" he foresaw that they might have to execute a very rapid retreat. our officers felt some anxiety on this score. "when not in danger," says dr. l. f. in his note-book, "the sailor gets rusty. at the beginning of october all of us, officers and men alike, had received the blue infantry overcoat, which was obligatory. the men shouldered knapsacks (not without grumbling), and we were transformed into troopers, nothing left of naval uniform but our caps.... this part of the foot-soldier assigned to them seems an inferior one to our men, and they accept it unwillingly, especially when it entails military marches with great-coats and haversacks. we had innumerable limpers and laggards on our marches in the environs of paris. the contrast was very striking to those who saw our men afterwards in belgium. it was a proof of the marvellous resilience of our race, and more particularly of our bretons, who are always in the majority in the brigade." iv. on the yser our columns started at a.m., while it was still quite dark, but the roads were good in spite of the rain which had been falling incessantly all night. the route was through warken, zarren, and eessen, with dixmude as its final point. the first battalion of the nd regiment and the three belgian batteries of the pontus group brought up the rear. the advance was hampered by the usual congestion of the roads, refugees fleeing before the invaders, dragging bundles containing all their worldly goods. these miserable beings seemed to be moving along mechanically, their legs the only part of them that showed any vitality. they halted by the roadside, making way for us, staring at us dully, as if they had left their souls behind them with all the dear familiar things of their past lives. our men called out to them as they passed: "keep your hearts up. we'll come back." they made no answer. it was still raining, and the water was streaming off the great-coats. near eessen we left commander de kerros with the second battalion of the st regiment, to hold the roads of vladsloo, clercken, and roulers; the third battalion of the nd regiment, under commander mauros, pushed on in the direction of woumen, to bar the way to ypres. we had a fine front, though the admiral thought it rather too wide for our strength. the four other battalions and the machine-gun company entered dixmude about noon, and at once took up a position behind the yser after detaching a strong outpost guard on the north, near the village of beerst, on the ostend road, by the side of which runs a little light railway for local transport. the admiral, who had been anxiously looking out for some undulation in this desperately flat landscape where he could place his artillery, found a suitable spot at last to the south of the chapel of notre dame de bon secours, half-way to eessen. he chose the chapel itself for his own headquarters. all these arrangements were made immediately, and the men had scarcely got into their quarters, when they were sent out with spades and picks, together with a company of the belgian engineers, to put the outskirts of the town into a state of defence. they had to be content with measures of the greatest urgency alone, for the enemy was pressing in upon us and creeping up to dixmude. a few shrapnel shells had already fallen upon the town, the inhabitants of which began to decamp hastily. however, the railway was still intact, and we were expecting the last trains of material from antwerp. "at all costs"--this is a phrase that recurs very often in orders from the staff, and one which the brigade accepted unmurmuringly--the line was to be protected and the enemy held. two, three, trains passed, and strange ones they were. they continued to run in until night; the fires were covered up; the engine-drivers never whistled; all that was heard was the muffled pant of the engine, like a great sigh rising from the devastated plains. [illustration: la grand' place, dixmude (from a picture by m. léon cassel)] that same evening our outposts on the eessen road were attacked by an armoured car and german cyclists; they repulsed the attack; but we were really too much exposed in our position. the admiral decided that it was imprudent to maintain such a wide front with troops numerically so weak, but which it would take a long time to move off. at dixmude, on the other hand, where the yser begins to curve towards the coast, and forms a re-entrant confronting the enemy, there was a position which would permit of a concentric fire from our artillery, particularly favourable to the defensive attitude we were to assume. the considerations which had forced us to extend our front had no longer any weight; all the transports from antwerp had got in in time. the safety of the belgian army was assured; its material had reached it, and, with the exception of certain units which had been made prisoners in the evacuation of antwerp or had been driven into holland, and the divisions which continued our line to the north sea, it was in shelter behind the yser, in touch with the english corps and the army of general d'urbal. the brigade might therefore very properly concentrate its defensive round dixmude. the belgian command, which had passed into the hands of general michel, readily accepted these arguments, and the operation was agreed upon for the next day. "the boches were there twenty-four hours after us," says a sailor's letter. "we hoped they were eight kilometres from the town. we were all dead tired, but standing firm." the evacuation of these dangerous outposts on flat, open ground, where scattered farms, occasional stacks of straw, and the poplars along the roadside were the only available cover, was carried out with very trifling loss, and we at once organised our defences round dixmude. "the admiral has cast anchor here," wrote a warrant officer of servel on october . "i don't expect we shall weigh it again just yet." the image was very appropriate. dixmude, especially when its eastern outskirts were under water, was not unlike a ship anchored fore and aft at the entrance of an inland sea. but this ship had neither armour plates, quarter-netting, nor portholes. the trenches that had been hastily dug round the town could not have been held against a strong infantry attack; the first rush would have carried them. a whole system of defence had to be organised, and all had to be done in a few hours, actually under the enemy's fire. all honour to the admiral for having attempted it, and for holding on to dixmude as he would have done to his own ship! no sooner had he recognised the importance of the position than he set to work to increase its defensive value; he was not to be seduced by the feints of the enemy and the temptations offered to beguile him into deploying. crouching upon the yser, his head towards the enemy, he only left his lines three times: to support a french cavalry attack upon thourout, to draw back the enemy, who was concentrating in another direction, and was diverted by fears for woumen, and finally to co-operate in the recapture of pervyse and ramscappelle. but meanwhile, even when he thus detached units and sent them some distance from their base, he kept the whole or a part of his reserves at dixmude; he clung to his re-entrant--he kept his watch on the yser. v. dixmude on october , , dixmude (in flemish diksmuiden) numbered about , inhabitants. the _guides_ call it "a pretty little town," but it was scarcely more than a large village. "it is a kind of pont-labbé," wrote one of our sailors, but a flemish pont-labbé, all bricks and tiles, dotted with cafés and nunneries, clean, mystical, sensuous, and charming, especially when the rain ceased for a while, and the old houses, coloured bright green or yellow, smiled at the waters of the canal behind their screen of ancient limes, under a clear sky. from the four points of the horizon long lines of poplars advanced in procession to the fine church of saint nicolas, the pride of the place. the graceful fifteenth-century apse was justly praised; but after having admired this, there were further beauties to enjoy in the interior, which contained a good jouvenet, jordaens' _adoration of the magi_, a well-proportioned font, and one of the most magnificent rood-screens of west flanders, the contemporary and rival of those of folgoët and saint-etienne-du-mont. [illustration: the papegaei inn (from a picture by m. léon cassel)] this stately church, the exquisite grand' place of the hôtel de ville, the "roman" bridge of the canal of handzaeme, the slender silhouette of the residencia (the house of the spanish governors), and five or six other old-time dwellings, with crow-stepped or flexured gables, like the hostelry of _den papegaei_ (the parrot), which bore the date of its foundations in huge figures upon its bulging front, hardly sufficed to draw the cosmopolitan tourist tide towards dixmude. travellers neglected it; historians ignored it. the capital of an essentially agricultural district, at the confluence of two industries, and astride, so to speak, upon the infinity of beetroot-fields and the infinity of meadows to which the yser serves as the line of demarcation, dixmude showed a certain animation only on market-days; then it appeared as the metropolis of the vast flat district, streaked with canals and more aquatic than terrestrial, where innumerable flocks and herds pastured under the care of classic shepherds in loose grey coats. the salt marsh-mutton of dixmude and its butter, which was exported even to england, were famous. a peaceful population, somewhat slow and stolid, ruddy of complexion, husky and deliberate of speech, led lives made up of hard work, religious observance, and sturdy drinking bouts in the scattered farms about the town. the flemish plains do not breed dreamers. when, like those of dixmude, such plains are amphibious, half land, half water, they do not, as a rule, stimulate the fighting instinct; their inhabitants are absorbed in domestic cares, battling unceasingly for a livelihood with two rival elements. such were the only battles that they knew; no invader had ever ventured among them. invasion, indeed, seemed physically impossible. the whole country between the hills of cassel, dixmude, and the line of sand-hills along the coast is but a vast _schoore_, a huge polder snatched from the sea, and almost entirely below the sea-level, owing to the deposits of mud left high and dry on the shore. down to the eleventh century it was still a bay into which the _drakkars_ of the norse pirates might venture. if dixmude, like penmarc'h and pont-labbé, had retained its maritime character, we might have found on the fronts of its riverside houses the rusty iron rings to which barques were once moored. to safeguard the tenure of this uncertain soil, slowly annexed by centuries of effort, conquered, but not subdued, and always ready to revert to its former state, it was not enough to thrust back the sea, which would have overflowed it twice a day at high tide; it was further necessary to drain off the fresh water, which streams down into it from the west and the south, mainly from the stiff clay of the dutch hills, floods the meadows, cuts through the roads, and invades the villages. the struggle is unintermittent. such country, threatened on every side, is only habitable by virtue of incessant precautions and watchfulness. the sea is kept under control by nieuport, with its formidable array of sluices, locks, chambers, water-gates, and cranks; the fresh water, which oozes out on every hand, spangling the rough homespun of the glebe with diamond pools from the beginning of autumn to long after the end of winter, is dealt with by a methodical and untiring system of drainage directed, under state control, by associations of farmers and landowners (_gardes wateringues_). hence the innumerable cuttings (_watergands_) along the hedges, the thousands of drains that chequer the soil, the dykes, several metres high, which overhang the rivers--the yser, the yperlee, the kemmelbeck, the berteartaart, the vliet, and twenty other unnamed streams of inoffensive aspect--which, when swelled by the autumn rains, become foaming torrents rushing out upon the ancient _schoore_ of dixmude. the roads have to be raised very high in this boundless marsh land, the depressed surface of which is broken only by sparse groups of trees and the roofs of low-lying farms. they are few in number, only just sufficient to ensure communication, and they require constant repair. torn up by shells and mined by the huge german explosives, the "saucepans" (_marmites_) and "big niggers" (_gros noirs_), as the sailors call them, our company of french and belgian road-menders had to work day and night throughout the operations to keep them open. other roads that meander across the plain are negligible. they are mere tracks, most of which are obliterated when the subterranean waters rise in the autumn. for in these regions the water is everywhere: in the air, on the earth, and under the earth, where it appears barely a metre beneath the surface as soon as the crust of soft clay that it raises in blisters is lifted. it rains three days out of four here. even the north winds, which behead the meagre trees and lay them over in panic-stricken attitudes, bring with them heavy clouds of cold rain gathered in hyborean zones. and when the rain ceases, the mists rise from the ground, white mists, almost solid, in which men and things take on a ghostly aspect. sometimes indeed the _schoore_ lights up between two showers, like a tearful face trying to smile, but such good moments are rare. this is the country of moisture, the kingdom of the waters, of fresh water, that bugbear of sailors. and it was here that fate called upon them to fight, to make their tremendous effort. for nearly four weeks, from october to november (the date of the taking of dixmude), they, with their admiral, clung desperately to their raft of suffering at the entrance to the delta of marshes, watched over by ancient windmills with shattered wings. one against six, without socks and drawers, under incessant rain, and in mud more cruel than the enemy's shells, they accomplished their task, barring the road to dunkirk, first ensuring the safety of the belgian army and then enabling our own armies of the north to concentrate behind the yser and dissipate the shock of the enemy's attack. "at the beginning of october," says the _bulletin des armées_ of november , , which sums up the situation very exactly, "the belgian army quitted antwerp too much exhausted to take part in any movement.[ ] the english were leaving the aisne for the north; general castelnau's army had not advanced beyond the south of arras, and that of general maudhuy was defending itself from the south of arras to the south of lille. further off we had cavalry, territorials, and naval fusiliers." for the moment at dixmude, the most exposed point of all, we had only the fusiliers and a few belgian detachments, who were putting forth their remaining strength in a supreme effort to co-operate in the defence. [illustration: the bÉguinage at dixmude (from a picture by m. léon cassel)] the admiral had said to them: "the task given to you is a solemn and a dangerous one. all your courage is needed. sacrifice yourselves to save our left wing until reinforcements can come up. try to hold out for at least _four days_."[ ] at the end of a fortnight the reinforcements had not yet arrived, and the fusiliers were still "holding out." these men had no illusions as to the fate awaiting them. they knew they were doomed, but they understood the grandeur of their sacrifice. "the post of honour was given to us sailors," wrote fusilier p., of audierne, on november ; "we were to hold that corner at all costs and to die rather than surrender. and indeed we did stand firm, although we were only a handful of men against a force six times as large as ours, with artillery." they numbered exactly , sailors and , belgians, under the command of colonel (acting general) meiser, against three german army corps. their artillery was very insufficient, at least at the beginning. they had no heavy guns and no air-planes,[ ] nothing to give them information but the reports of the belgian cyclists and the approximate estimates of the men in the trenches. "how many of you were there?" asked a prussian major who had been taken prisoner, speaking the day after the fall of dixmude. "forty thousand, at least!" and when he heard that there had been only , sailors, he wept with rage, muttering: "ah! if we had only known!" footnotes: [ ] in spite of this, four belgian divisions held the road from ypres to ostend, between dixmude and middelkerke, unaided, till october , and then the line of the yser from dixmude to nieuport. [ ] pierre loti, _illustration_ for december , . [ ] but this was not due to defective organisation. it must be remembered that the brigade was destined for antwerp, and that unforeseen circumstances had caused it to become a detached corps, operating far from our bases. vi. the capture of beerst save for an unimportant suburb beyond the handzaeme canal, dixmude lies entirely on the right bank of the yser. nevertheless, our general line of defence on october , both up and down stream, went beyond the line traced by the course of the river. from saint-jacques-cappelle to the north sea, by way of beerst, keyem, leke, saint-pierre, etc., little rural settlements but yesterday unknown, drowsing in the gentle flemish calm, the arc of the circle it described followed, almost throughout its course as far as slype, the roadside light railway from ypres to ostend. the fusiliers flanked this front from saint-jacques to the confluence of the vliet. the st, nd, th, and th belgian divisions occupied the rest of the horse-shoe, but the effectives of these reduced divisions had not been made up; some of the regiments had been reduced from , to , men; whole companies had melted away. the remnants continued to stand their ground with fine courage. until when? they had been asked, like our fusiliers, to hold out for four days, and it was not until october , at the end of nine days, that general grossetti and his reinforcements arrived.[ ] the admiral had divided the defence of dixmude into two sectors, cut by the road of caeskerke; the north sector was entrusted to the st regiment, under commander delage, the south to the nd regiment, under commander varney. his command post he established at caeskerke station, at the junction of the lines of furnes and nieuport, keeping only a battalion of the nd regiment at his own disposal. of the two batteries of the belgian group, one was sent to the south of the second level crossing of the furnes railway, the other to the north of caeskerke. a telephone line connected them with the great flour factory of dixmude, at the head of the high bridge. a platform of reinforced cement belonging to this factory provided us with an excellent observatory. the thickness of this mass of concrete, as costly as it was incongruous with the importance of the establishment, but very well adapted for heavy guns, which would command the whole valley of the yser, did not fail to suggest certain reflections. this was perhaps one of the few instances in which ante-bellum preparations had turned against their authors. the machine-gun company was stationed at the intersection of the roads to pervyse and oudecappelle; in the trenches of the yser we had mainly belgian troops; finally, to the south, debouching from the forest of houthulst with four divisions of cavalry, general de mitry threw out a bold advance post towards clercken, and relieved us a little on that side, although he was unable to control the german offensive, which began in force at p.m.[ ] [illustration: the bridge and flour factory (from a picture by m. léon cassel)] the enemy had begun in his customary manner by preparing the ground with his artillery, which from the hollow where it was posted, near eessen, to the east of dixmude, rained projectiles upon us from and -centimetre guns. scarcely had the last smoke clouds of the german batteries lifted, when the infantry advanced to the attack. the action was very hot, and was prolonged throughout the night and the morning of the th, with violent alternations of advance and retreat. the enemy, anxious to deal a decisive blow, came on in compact masses, in which our machine-guns and rifle fire tore bloody breaches. these mobile bastions wavered for a few seconds, filled up the breaches, and then returned to the charge in the same close formation as before. no network of barbed wire protected the approach to our trenches; most of them had neither roofs nor parapets. in these haphazard defences, successful resistance depended solely on the intrepidity of the men and the skill of the commander. certain "elements" were taken, retaken, lost, and retaken again. but as a whole our line held; the enemy failed to break through it. at dawn, discouraged, he suspended his attack, but, like a dog who makes off growling, he never ceased shelling us till a.m. "after this," notes fusilier b., "all noise ceased. dixmude has not suffered much. the damage caused by the shells is insignificant." true, the enemy had not yet received his heavy artillery. we profited by the respite granted us to repair the trenches of the outskirts, which were somewhat damaged, and begin the organisation of the others. this work, indeed, was resumed whenever there was a lull, but it was carried on chiefly at night, and in the morning, from to o'clock, until the mists lifted. at this hour and the coming of light the german batteries generally awoke. we had not enough guns to reply efficaciously to the enemy. the brigade was therefore greatly rejoiced by the reinforcements it received during the day of the th: five batteries of the rd regiment of belgian artillery (colonel de weeschouwer), which, added to the pontus group, gave the defenders of dixmude the respectable total of guns. unhappily their range was not very great, and the metal of which they were made was not strong enough to bear the strain of our . shells. such as they were, however, our front was in much better case when they had been distributed from caeskerke to saint-jacques-cappelle. the admiral, who wished to direct their operations himself, had these batteries connected by telephone with his quarters; a battle is directed from a study-table nowadays. nevertheless, he gave a standing order that the batteries were to open fire instantly, whether by day or night, on the approaches to dixmude, whenever rifle fire or the sound of machine-guns indicated that an infantry attack threatened our trenches. the check received on october had perhaps made the enemy more cautious. he had allowed us breathing time in the afternoon of the th, and he gave us a quiet day on sunday, the th. only two or three cavalry patrols were reported near dixmude, and these were rapidly dispersed by a few salvoes. that day, too, our fusiliers had a pleasant surprise. a tall, silent officer, with serious eyes, in a closely buttoned black dolman, came to visit the trenches of the yser with the admiral. his inspection seemed satisfactory to him. he pressed the admiral's hand, and when he had regained the river bank, he paused a moment, gazing at the triangle of marshes, all that remained to him of his kingdom. it was albert i.[ ] other news from the front arrived, and gave us confidence. in spite of the fall of lille, our armies of the north had taken the offensive with marked success from roye to the lys. orders had come from the english headquarters to the st corps to concentrate at ypres, whence it was to attempt to advance towards bruges.[ ] this strategic movement had even been initiated, and the french cavalry which had just seized clercken might be considered the advance guard of sir douglas haig's corps. it asked the admiral to support it in flank, to enable it to push on to zarren and thourout. he at once sent forward commander de kerros with a battalion of the st regiment and two belgian armoured cars towards eessen.[ ] the road was free; it was strewn with the carcases of dead horses, and even with dead soldiers, as if there had been a precipitate retreat. the enemy seemed to have evaporated. but the church of eessen, which he had turned into a stable, just as afterwards he turned the church of vladsloo into a cesspool, with the immemorial teuton taste for sacrilege, showed evidences of his recent passage. these tracks of the beast did not, however, tell us which way he had gone. several roads lay open to him. it seemed most probable that, hearing of the movement of the french cavalry, he was retiring upon bruges by way of wercken or vladsloo. taking his chance, commander de kerros had installed himself to await the morning, while two turco regiments,[ ] which had been placed at the admiral's disposal and ensured his _liaison_ with the main body operating on thourout, set out as foragers towards bovekerke and the woods of couckelaere. morning dawned, and the execution of the french plan seemed about to be realised normally, when a terrible thrust by the enemy at a wholly unexpected point suddenly upset all calculations. [illustration: cl. meurisse belgian armoured car reconnoitring in the plain of dixmude] in reality the germans had not retreated at all, or rather they had only retired to come into touch again under more favourable conditions. knowing the sort of reception that awaited them at dixmude, they had decided to try another point on the front, in the hope that "the little belgians" would be easier to deal with than the "young ladies with red pompons." about o'clock on the morning of the th they threw themselves in three simultaneous leaps, at leke, keyem, and beerst, upon the thin belgian line, which staggered under the shock. the question was whether we should be able to reinforce it in time. if it were broken, the road would lie open to the yser, the yser would perhaps be seized, and dixmude taken in the rear. the admiral did not hesitate; the whole brigade should go if necessary. he sent forward two of his reserve battalions by forced marches on the road to ostend, another, under commander mauros, towards vladsloo and hoograde in flank. the artillery supported the movement, which began at o'clock. but we did not know whether keyem and beerst were in the hands of the belgians or of the germans, and in this uncertainty we dared not open fire upon them. the two villages were wrapped in ominous silence. commander jeanniot and commander pugliesi-conti, who were marching upon keyem with the first and second battalions of the nd regiment, made their arrangements accordingly. while the sixth company of the second battalion advanced towards keyem, with lieutenant pertus, the fifth company, under lieutenant de maussion de candé, received orders to make for beerst. de maussion put his company into line of sections in fours. on approaching the village he was received by a salvo of machine-guns. the germans were entrenched in the houses and the church, whence they poured a withering fire upon our troops. the attack was made peculiarly difficult by the nature of the ground, which was completely flat, and afforded no cover save the irrigation ditches and a few leafless hedges; the only possible method of advance was crawling. we lost a good many men in this deploying manoeuvre, so ill adapted to the impulsive nature of sailors; every head that was raised became a target. de maussion, who had stood up to inspect the enemy's position, was struck down. every moment one of our men rolled over among the beetroots. would the charge never sound? it would, but not yet. pertus fell first, his leg shattered at the moment when he was carrying a group of farms close to keyem; lieutenant hébert was sent with the eighth company to support him. but the ditches on the road were already occupied by the men of the first battalion, and hébert had to cut across fields to avoid this encumbered road. the fire directed against us had become very hot. it took us in flank, and we ran the risk of being wiped out before we had reached our objective. the hébert company accordingly swerved to the right, and marched to the edge of the woods and the houses situated between beerst and keyem, where the enemy's artillery and infantry seemed to be posted.[ ] hébert took up a position in a farm with the third section; second-lieutenant de blois and boatswain fossey with the first and second sections deployed to act as marksmen, facing the wood. creeping from hedge to hedge and from _watergand_ to _watergand_, supported by lieutenant de roncy's machine-guns, they arrived to within metres of the enemy's position in connection with commander jeanniot, who had arrived at the same point on the left by a similar manoeuvre. "i think this is our moment," said the commander. "forward!" cried de blois to his men. fossey gave the same order; the two sections sprang out of their temporary trenches under a hail of bullets. fossey was killed, de blois severely wounded in the head and leg.[ ] the rest of the sections found their way to the farm where hébert was making an attempt to check the enemy's counter-attack by fire from the loopholes that had been stopped up by the former occupants of the upper storeys, but which he had succeeded in opening. his exertions were cut short by an invisible battery, which broke down the walls, wounded his two lieutenants, and obliged him to fall back. he himself was wounded twice as he crept through the ditches.[ ] second-lieutenant de réau, who came out of cover to advance, had his shoulder shattered. the casualties in the jeanniot battalion, whose sections continued the attack, leaving of their number on the field, soon became so serious that they had to be brought back to the rear. it was then that the "colonel" of the nd regiment, rallying the remnants of the companies engaged, and continuing to cover them towards keyem, massed his forces, put himself at their head, and, after crawling up to within two hundred yards of the position, hurled himself upon beerst. his example electrified his men. this time they would have allowed themselves to be cut to pieces sooner than give way. some of them had thrown off their great-coats that they might move more freely. the old corsair blood was boiling in their veins. it was no longer a charge, but a boarding of the enemy's ships, and, as in the heroic days, the first who sprang upon the deck, pistols in hand and sword between teeth, was the chief. the whole crew rushed after the "colonel" of the nd regiment, who had become commander varney again. but as soon as one house was captured the next had to be taken by assault. nevertheless, the attack progressed. to keep it in heart, the admiral sent forward the second battalion of the st regiment, under commander kerros, to support it, and withdrew the sorely tried jeanniot battalion to dixmude. the mauros battalion debouched simultaneously from vladsloo, whence it had dislodged the enemy, with the help of the belgian brigade and their armoured cars; the th allied division prolonged the fighting line to the right and in the rear. the effects of this successful tactical arrangement were at once felt: the enemy, who had brought his artillery into action, was groping about in search of the guns we had brought along to the north of dixmude; at o'clock in the afternoon we were in possession of beerst. the bayonets were able to take a rest; they had done yeoman's service; in the streets and in the farmyards, the ground was paved with corpses. but night was falling. the admiral, who had come up to the firing line, ordered commander varney to put the approaches to the village into a state of defence at once in view of a possible offensive return of the enemy. the men obeyed gaily; they were still in the full flush of their costly victory.[ ] they had scarcely begun to wield their picks, when a counter-order came from belgian headquarters: we were to fall back upon our former positions! at o'clock that night the brigade returned to its quarters at caeskerke and saint-jacques-cappelle. the horizon was aflame behind it: hoograde, beerst, and vladsloo had been re-occupied by the enemy, who were "setting the red cock up" on the roofs (_i.e._, firing them). footnotes: [ ] the belgian detachments which co-operated with us in the defence of dixmude showed themselves no whit inferior to those of the lower and the middle yser, and if we were writing a general account of the operations, and not a chapter in the history of the naval brigade, the most elementary justice would require us to give these troops their due for the part they took in the defence. this was so admirable, that the generalissimo commissioned general foch to present general meiser, whose brigade had specially distinguished itself at dixmude, with the cravat of commander of the legion of honour, while two of the colours of this brigade, the th and the th, were decorated by the king and authorised to inscribe the glorious name of the town on their folds. the few hundred senegalese who reinforced the fusiliers towards the end also gave us very active and brilliant support, on which, for similar reasons, we have not insisted in our narrative. [ ] it was general de mitry's corps which guarded the yser towards loo. with magnificent audacity, general d'urbal had thrown it upon the forest of houthulst before he had all his forces in hand. here it was to dislodge the germans, and then march upon thourout and roulers while sir henry rawlinson marched upon menin. [ ] "he's a model king: i saw him visiting the trenches; he's a man, if you like." (letter of a sailor, a. c., october .) [ ] cf. sir john french's report. as is well known, this movement, which began on october , was stopped on the line zonnebeke-saint-julien-langermack-bixschoote. [ ] commander de kerros had made an offensive reconnaissance in this direction the day before. [ ] under colonel du jonchay. abd-el-kader's grandson was with them. [ ] the woods in question were the praetbosch. [ ] under the pseudonym of d'avesnes, the comte de blois has published some notes of travel, various stories, and a naval novel, _la vocation_, remarkable for their delicate sentiment and subtlety of analysis. it is bare justice to record here the gallantry of quartermaster echivant, who carried his wounded officer off to the rear under a heavy fire. [ ] "we were able to get away by creeping through the ditches, but picked marksmen concealed in the trees decimated us. suddenly my left arm began to hurt me horribly. a bullet had torn the muscles from elbow to wrist. a second bullet, aimed at my heart, went through a note-block and a war manual, and was stopped by my pocket-book. i fell. my men carried me off under fire. the last thing i remember seeing was a captive balloon which was hovering over the woods directing the fire of the enemy's battery." (r. kimley, _op. cit._) m. hébert is the famous inventor of the system of naval athletics which bears his name. [ ] "monday, october , bayonet attack on beerst. several officers killed and wounded." (note-book of second-lieutenant x.) "we have been fighting for five days," wrote second-lieutenant gautier on october . "the day before yesterday we resumed the offensive. it was a bit stiff. don't be too much upset by the casualty lists. i should not have said anything about them, but as you will see them in the papers, i would rather tell you of them myself. le douget, who was in the training companies at lorient, was killed at ghent; de maussion was killed the day before yesterday; hébert, pertus, and de mons are wounded." in his note-book, under date of the th, gautier adds the names of second-lieutenants de blois and de roussille as among the wounded. he gives some interesting details of the affair itself. a little incident reported by the abbé le h. bears witness to the heroism and self-sacrifice of the men. "it was at beerst. a quartermaster had his leg broken by a bullet in the temporary trench he was occupying with his company. he went on fighting. his comrades were obliged to fall back under a tremendous fire. he refused to be carried away, and crawled into a ditch, where he killed three germans who came creeping up to take him prisoner. fortunately, a young marine, who had been trained by him at lorient, could not make up his mind to abandon the quartermaster. by dint of extraordinary efforts, he managed to reach him and succeeded in dragging him some three hundred yards to a house, where he left him under shelter. as he left this house he himself was wounded in the arm by a bullet. night was falling. he came to the dressing-station to have his wound attended to. i was there. he told me his story with such infectious emotion that i proposed he should act as guide to two stretcher-bearers and myself for the purpose of bringing in the quartermaster. without a moment's hesitation, he set out in front of us, heedless of the very real danger. after a difficult pilgrimage over open ground swept by the german machine-guns, we were lucky enough to find the quartermaster and to bring him back into our lines. i notified the conduct of these two brave fellows to the commanding officer that same evening, and i hope they received the reward they deserved." vii. the first effects of the bombardment the belgian headquarters staff had probably decided that its front on the ostend road was too excentric, and that the line of the yser would form a more solid epaulement. and in this case our diversion on beerst was not quite useless, since it had secured the orderly retreat of the belgian troops; but, on the other hand, as a result of this diversion and of the reinforcement of the german troops, de mitry had been unable to maintain himself at thourout; the turcos had returned to loo, and the rest of the french cavalry was obliged to follow the movement. the whole of the ground in front of dixmude lay open to the enemy, who, reinforced by fresh contingents and the heavy artillery from antwerp, released by the capitulation of the city, prepared in all security to renew the attack upon our positions in combination with a parallel action on the lines of the lower and middle yser. in order to understand clearly what follows, it will be necessary to remember that the defence of dixmude and of the yser, and, in the event of the forcing of the yser, the defence of the railway from caeskerke to nieuport were closely connected, and that pervyse and ramscappelle lead to furnes as well as dixmude, pollinchove, or loo. a new disposition of the allied forces was required under the new conditions. during the night of october the belgian meiser brigade passed under the admiral's orders; on the th at o'clock the first "saucepan" fell upon dixmude. "up to this date," writes captain x., " shrapnel, with their queer caterwaulings, were the only presents the enemy had sent us. but during the course of the th the big shells began to rain upon us, and their first objective was, of course, the church. at the fifth or sixth the beautiful building was on fire."[ ] and we had no observer there. in preparation for the bombardment, we had worked all night at the trenches. those nearest to the enemy had been provided with parapets and barbed wire entanglements, dug down to a depth of i metre cm., and strongly roofed. but all the internal defences remained to be organised, notably the railway embankment, where the "big niggers" were falling in showers. one evening when his company was in reserve, after forty-eight hours in the trenches, lieutenant a. was ordered to take up a position there. he had been on guard there three nights before; he knew by experience how dangerous this spot was, and, less for his own sake than for the men under his charge, he thought it his duty to speak out. "'there are no trenches on the railway slope, commander,' he remarked to captain v. "'i know that.' "'oh, very well, sir.' "and smiling to encourage his men," added the eye-witness who reported this dialogue, "he went off to a post as exposed as a glacis." with such officers, dixmude was better defended than if it had had a triple line of blockhouses. the men, who were worthy of their leaders, had soon grown used to the racket of the shells. the damage they do is not in proportion to the noise they make, "for one can see them coming, and they are heralded by a creaking sound, as of ungreased pulleys,"[ ] wrote a marine to his family, adding ingenuously: "all the same, anyone who wants to hear guns has only to come here." indeed, the noise was stupendous: , , and were thundering in unison. as we had no heavy artillery to reply, we had to wait patiently for the inevitable attack which follows after the ground is cleared. then the -m. guns of our six groups would be able to have their say. unfortunately on our right the ravages caused in the belgian trenches by the storm of german artillery had made it impossible for our allies to hold their position; this being duly notified in time, the admiral sent four of our companies to replace them. scarcely were they installed, when the german attack began. sure of themselves and of victory, they had adopted the close formation of their first onslaught, with machine-guns in the rear, the veterans on the two wings, the conscripts in the centre and in front, the latter with rapt, ecstatic faces, the former swelling with the pride of former victories, all united by the same patriotic ideal, marching rhythmically, and singing hymns to the national god. the majority were young men, hardly more than boys. later, in the trenches, when the marines fell upon them, they knelt down, clasping their hands, weeping, and begging for quarter. but here, in the excitement of the _mêlée_, elbow to elbow and sixteen ranks deep, they had but one colossal and ferocious soul. they were swinging along with a slightly undulating movement when the fire of our machine-guns struck them, true sons of those other barbarians who linked themselves together with chains, that they might form a solid block in death or in victory. an aroma of alcohol, ether, and murder preceded them, as it had been the breath of the blood-stained machine. our men allowed them to approach within a hundred yards. to the shouts of _vorwärts!_ ("forward!") from the enemy's ranks we answered abruptly by the orders "independent fire! continuous fire!" given by officers and petty officers. behind their parapets, amidst the buzz of bullets and the bursting of shrapnel, the marines did not miss a single shot. "we'll do for you!" yelled the gunners, catching the contagious fever of battle. the germans came on steadily, but the mass was no longer solid. the dislocated machine was working with difficulty. it uttered its death-rattle at the foot of the trenches in the network of barbed wire where the survivors had rolled over. at o'clock in the evening three blasts on a whistle, strident as a factory hooter, put an end to the work of the monstrous organism. the battle had been raging for six hours in the night. once more we were the victors, but at what a price! dixmude, which the enemy's heavy artillery had battered incessantly during the attack, was not yet the "heap of pebbles and ashes," the line of blackened stones, it was presently to become, but its death agony had begun. innumerable houses had been gutted. the entire quarter round the church was on fire. the rain, heavy as it was, could not extinguish the flames kindled by incendiary bombs. a projectile struck the belfry of saint nicolas at the hour of the angelus; the great bell, mortally wounded, uttered a kind of dying groan, the vibrations of which quivered long in space. "poor dixmude!" cried a sailor; "your passing bell is tolling." happily, the population was no longer on the spot. the burgomaster had given the signal of exodus, and all had obeyed it, stricken to the heart, with the exception of the carmelites and some dozen laggards and stubborn spirits, such as the old beadle described by m. t'serstevens, who lived in a little gabled house with barred windows on the grand' place, and who, pipe in mouth, used to bring the keys of the church to visitors. he mumbled the rude flemish dialect of the coast, and was tanned by the sea-wind. "the church, the house, the place, the old man, were all in harmony: all embodied the unique soul of mother flanders," and all were destroyed at the same time; the old man was unable to disengage himself from his house, of which he seemed but a more animated stone than the rest. [illustration: (newspaper illustrations) the parish church after the first days of the bombardment] in spite of the retreat of the enemy, the four companies of marines had been left at their posts as a precautionary measure. an intermittent fusillade to the north of the yser during the night suggested a renewed offensive. the only attack of any moment took place at o'clock in the morning, "but we repulsed it easily," notes the marine r., "for in our covered trenches we are invulnerable." disappointed, the enemy turned again towards the town, which he began to bombard once more at dawn. it chanced that the weather had cleared. the _schoore_ smiled; the larks were singing; weary of lowing for their sheds, or already resigned to their forsaken condition, the cattle were ruminating in the sun[ ]: and the interminable line of canals, the silvery surfaces of the _watergands_, shone softly on the brown velvet of the marsh. the sky, however, as says the psalmist, armed itself with thunders and lightnings. the bombardment became particularly violent in the afternoon. "at given moments the whole town seemed about to crumble," writes an officer. "the germans had first attacked it with -centimetre guns, then with , and then with -centimetre; but as this was no good, they determined to finish off these infernal sailors in grand style with their and -mm."[ ] our reserves in dixmude were of course sorely tried by this terrible fire, which it was difficult to locate and still more difficult to silence with defective guns. to add to the complexities of the situation, we learned suddenly that at o'clock the enemy had taken one of the trenches on the outskirts to the south of the town. surprised by an attack in force, the belgian section which occupied it gave way after a spirited resistance, involving the supporting section of marines in their rear in their retreat. only lieutenant cayrol remained at his post, revolver in hand, to enable his men to carry off the machine-guns.[ ] three companies at once crept along towards the captured trenches after our guns had cleared the approaches a little. "we tried our hands as marksmen," writes one of the actors in this scene, "and while the boches were trying to re-form, before they had recovered from their surprise, we fired into them at metres, and then charged them with the bayonet. you should have seen them run like hares, throwing away their arms and all their equipment. what a raid it was, five to six hundred dead and wounded and forty prisoners, among them three officers! we reoccupied the trenches, and i spent the night in the company of a dead belgian and a wounded german, who, when he woke up, exclaimed: 'long live france!' lest we should run him through. when day came, and we could behold our work ... (here an interval. a shell burst just over my head, smashed a rifle, and threw a handful of earth in my face. it was slightly unpleasant. i continue.) it was a pretty sight. all day long stretcher-bearers were picking up the dead and wounded, while we continued to fire from time to time. all the wounded we have picked up are young men, sixteen to twenty years old, of the last levy. "the next night there was a repetition of these experiences, only this time it was the northern trenches that failed. as always, it was the sailors who had to recapture them. for lack of available forces, we were obliged to send two companies of the nd regiment, which had been set aside to act as reliefs; they put matters right by a little bayonet play." "you might have supposed that after this dance we had claims to a turn at the buffet," writes a second quartermaster. "not a bit of it! my company had been set aside for relief, and it carried out the relief. it would be untrue to say that we are not all a bit blown; but we are holding out all the same. we called the roll; there were some who did not answer to their names, and who will not see their mammies again.... if only we could move about a bit to stretch our legs! but we are packed together in the mud like sardines in their oil. in the morning the hurly-burly began again, first a few shrapnel, then from to a perfect whirlwind of shells of every imaginable calibre. how they lavish their munitions, the brutes!" this defence of the yser was, to quote the words of dr. l., "an eternal penelope's web." scarcely had it been mended, when the fabric gave way at another point. thanks to the reinforcements the enemy had received, his pressure became more violent every day. reduced to impotence on the flank of the defence, where the vigorous attitude of our sailors deluded him into the belief that he had to deal with superior numbers, the foe pushed forward his centre. he succeeded in driving in a wedge on october ,[ ] occupying tervaete and gaining a footing "for the first time on the left bank of the yser."[ ] the st belgian division, thrown back, but not broken, sent us word that it would attack next day, supported by our artillery. we were further to send them one or two of our reserve battalions. but the next day dixmude and our outer trenches were so furiously bombarded that we required our total strength to resist. the germans were evidently using their biggest calibres, and perhaps -cm. in spite of all this, their infantry could not get into our trenches. we had a few casualties, both killed and wounded, among the latter commander delage, "colonel" of the nd regiment, who, when his wound was dressed, would not stay in the ambulance, but resumed his command before he was cured. but things had not been going so well with our allies at tervaete. checked in a first attempt, a second and more vigorous counter-attack succeeded in driving the germans into the river or upon the other bank; but this, as the _courrier de l'armée belge_ admitted, "was a transitory success, for the same evening german reinforcements renewed the attack, and carried tervaete." our artillery had done its best under the circumstances; but, shouted down by the clamour of the big german guns, it was not able to keep up the conversation. "we still have nothing but the little belgian guns," wrote second-lieutenant m. on the morning of the nd. "however, we are promised two batteries of short -mm. and two of long -mm. they arrived in the course of the evening. that's all right! now perhaps we shall be able to have a little talk with the boches!" but was it not already too late? dixmude was impregnable only so long as it was not taken in the rear; and the enemy, having finally occupied the whole of the tervaete loop, was gradually penetrating into the valley of the yser. the last news was that he had arrived at stuyvekenskerke. the nd french infantry division, under general grossetti, which was to replace the nd belgian division, now reduced to a fourth of its original strength, on the yser, had not yet had time to come up into line. at dixmude itself the pressure was formidable; shells were falling on us from every side, from vladsloo, from eessen, and from clercken, whither the germans had removed their heavy artillery. and at the same time the enemy's infantry attacked our trenches regularly at intervals of an hour, with the stubbornness of a ram butting at an obstacle, preceding every attack by a few big shells. it looked as if they were trying to divert our attention, to prevent us from noticing what was going on down below in the hollow of the yser, where a grey surge seemed to be seething, and where the _schoore_ appeared to be moving towards oud stuyvekenskerke. but the movement had not escaped the admiral, who was watching it from caeskerke. whence had these troops come--from tervaete, from stuyvekenskerke, or elsewhere? we could not say, and it mattered little. at whatever point a breach had been made in the defences of the middle yser, the german tide had crept up to us: dixmude was turned. in this, the most critical situation in which the brigade had yet been placed, the admiral had only his reserves and a few belgian contingents at his disposal. to bar the way to the bridges of dixmude, commander rabot, with a battalion, hurried to the support of the left wing of the front. commander jeanniot, with another battalion, crept up towards oud stuyvekenskerke, to support the belgians, having received orders to occupy the outskirts at least. the manoeuvre was a peculiarly difficult one to carry out, under a raking fire, and with men already dropping with fatigue and perishing with cold and drowsiness. but these men were sailors. "on october ," writes the marine f., of the island of sein, "we had spent a day and a night in the first line. that night we had two men killed in our trench and four wounded by a shell, and we were going to the rear for a little well-earned rest. scarcely had we swallowed our coffee, when the order came to clear the decks, as we say on board ship, and shoulder our knapsacks. when we got nearer, the bullets began to whistle. we crawled on all fours over the exposed ground, without a shred of cover. those who ventured to raise their heads were at once wounded, though we could see nothing of the germans. we got so accustomed to the bullets whizzing past our ears that we lost all fear and advanced steadily." that day, however, our worthy marine got no further. in the thick of the firing, a bullet broke his leg, and sent him rolling over into a pool. but as he was a breton, with a great respect for madame saint anne of le porzic, he made a vow that if he got off without further damage, he would give her on the day of her "pardon" a fine white marble ex-voto, with "thanks to saint anne for having preserved me" engraved upon it. all his comrades were not so fortunate, and at the close of the day the majority of the officers engaged, notably those of the second and third battalions of the st regiment, were _hors de combat_. but we held the outskirts of oud stuyvekenskerke; commander jeanniot and the belgian troops, with commander rabot, had succeeded, according to the admiral's instructions, in forming a line of defence facing north, which bid defiance to the enemy's attacks. moreover, heavy as our losses were, they were nothing as compared with those of the germans. the following dispirited comments were found in the note-book of a german officer of the nd regiment of infantry killed at oud stuyvekenskerke the following day:-- "we are losing men on every hand, and our losses are out of all proportion to the results obtained. our guns do not succeed in silencing the enemy's batteries; our infantry attacks are ineffectual: they only lead to useless butchery. our losses must be enormous. my colonel, my major, and many other officers are dead or wounded. all our regiments are mixed up together; the enemy's merciless fire enfilades us. they have a great many _francs-tireurs_ with them." _francs-tireurs!_ we know what the germans understand by this term, which merely means skilled marksmen.[ ] if our sailors had not been so hitherto, the night attack which crowned this tragic day showed that they had become so. the attack was unprecedented and of unparalleled fury. between p.m. and midnight we and the belgians had to repulse no less than fifteen attacks on the south sector of the defence, and eleven on the north and east sectors. the enemy charged with the cries of wild beasts, and for the first time our men saw the brutish face of war. the next day, as soon as the mists lifted, the battle began again along the whole line. the town was bombarded, the outer trenches, the trenches of the yser, and, above all, the railway station at caeskerke, where the admiral was. he had to resign himself to a change of quarters without gaining much in the way of safety. the enemy had spies in dixmude itself. "the houses of the staff were spotted one after the other as soon as any change was made," writes an officer; "and every day at noon, when we were at our midday meal, we were greeted by four big shells. scarcely had a heavy battery been in position for five minutes, when the position became untenable: a man in a tree a hundred yards off was quietly making signals." in the north alone a certain relaxation of the enemy's pressure was noted. abandoning the attempt to turn dixmude by way of oud stuyvekenskerke, the germans seemed anxious to push on to pervyse and ramscappelle, from which they were only separated by the embankment of the nieuport railway. the grossetti division endeavoured to stop the way with the remnant of the belgian divisions, and sent a battalion of the th chasseurs to relieve us at oud stuyvekenskerke. commander jeanniot at once went into the reserve trenches of the sector. his men were utterly worn out. the companies which had occupied the outer trenches of the defence, and which had not been relieved for four days, were not less exhausted. the enemy's fire on the dixmude front never ceased, the town heaved and shuddered at every blast, the paving stones were dislodged, every window was shattered, houses were perpetually crumbling into heaps of rubble, and after each explosion immense spirals of black smoke rose as high as metres above the craters made by the shells. "during the night of sunday, the th," notes the marine r., on duty with commander mauros, of the third battalion, "we were thrice obliged to evacuate the houses in which we were, as they fell in upon us." "dixmude is gradually crumbling away," wrote lieutenant s. on the following day. the carmelites had left on october ; their monastery, where the chaplains of the brigade[ ] continued to officiate imperturbably, had received three big shells during the day. the belfry still held, but it had lost three of its turrets, and the charming gothic façade of the town-hall had a great hole in the first storey. it looked like a piece of lace through which a clumsy fist had been thrust. the enemy did not even spare our ambulances. "a chapel in the middle of the town, protected by the red cross (hospital of st. john), was shelled from end to end," says marine f. a., of audierne; "not a single one of the surrounding churches and belfries has been left standing."[ ] the worst of it was that our forces, greatly tried in the last encounters, no longer sufficed for the exigencies of the defence. we had to be making constant appeals to the dépôts. the winter rains had begun, flooding the trenches. if it had not been for the heavy cloth overcoats insisted on by a far-seeing administration, the men would have died of cold. many who through carelessness, or in the hurry of departure, had left their bags at saint-denis, went shivering on guard in cotton vests, their bare feet in ragged slippers. all their letters are full of imprecations against the horrible water that was benumbing them, diluting the clay, and encasing them in a shell of mud. [illustration: (newspaper illustrations) the town-hall and belfry after the first days of the bombardment] but their salvation was to come from this hated water. footnotes: [ ] cf. dr. caradec, _op. cit._, also the note-book and letters of second-lieutenant gautier: " o'clock, the church on fire.... sailors are queer creatures. yesterday, while the church was being bombarded they exclaimed: 'oh, the brutes! i wish i could get hold of one of them and break his jaw!' this morning we took a wounded prisoner. there was not a word of hatred, not an insult, as he passed. two sailors were helping him along. he said: 'good-day. war is a terrible thing.' and our men answered. they are more french than they think." [ ] "at first the big shells give one a very unpleasant sensation, but one gets used to them, and learns to guess from the whistling noise they make where they are likely to fall." (second-lieutenant gautier's note-book.) [ ] "the cattle are running about on all the roads and in all the fields. no one attends to them." (letter of the marine e. t.) see also below, de nanteuil. [ ] cf. dr. caradec, _op. cit._ [ ] the note which furnishes this information as to the heroic conduct of lieutenant cayrol adds: "received a bullet in the middle of his forehead. brought into the dressing-station by his men, where he gave an account of the incident and of the bravery of his men. he would not consent to be removed until he had been assured that his machine-guns were saved. has come back to the front." [ ] second-lieutenant gautier's note-book has the following under date of october : "cannonade still lively. one of our convoys blown to pieces." the incident took place the day before, and is evidently identical with that mentioned by second-lieutenant x. under date of october : "intensive shelling, a good deal of damage. de mons and demarquay, naval lieutenants, wounded. the church on fire. in the afternoon a german airship spotted an important convoy (provisions, ambulances, munitions, etc.) on the road from caeskerke to oudecappelle. the convoy was shelled." [ ] _courrier de l'armée belge._ the pressure, says this official _communiqué_, was very strong, had been very strong ever since the th. on that day "a furious bombardment by guns of every calibre had been kept up upon the belgian lines. a farm situated in the front of the nd division was taken by the germans, retaken by the belgians, and again lost." on the st a german attack upon schoorbakke, combined with an attack upon dixmude, failed signally. but the belgians were becoming worn out. [ ] r. kimley (_op. cit._), quoting lieutenant hébert, offers another and perhaps a more acceptable explanation. in their dark blue overcoats and their caps with red pompons, the sailors looked strange to the germans, who took them for _francs-tireurs_. the terror they inspired was aggravated by this idea. [ ] the abbés le helloco and pouchard. we have spoken more than once of the former, a man of great intelligence and of a self-abnegation carried, in the words of saint augustine, _usque ad contemptum sui_. his _confrère_ was equally devoted. [ ] "there is not a single uninjured church in the deanery," declared the abbé vanryckeghem, vicaire of dixmude. "nearly forty churches between nieuport and ypres have been destroyed." viii. the inundation a new actor was about to appear on the scene, a new ally, slower, but infinitely more effectual, than the best reinforcements. last november the _moniteur belge_ published a royal decree conferring the order of leopold upon m. charles louis kogge, _garde wateringue_ of the north of furnes, for his courageous and devoted services in the work of inundation in the yser region. it was, we have been told, this m. kogge who first conceived the idea of calling the waters to our aid. a more romantic version has it that the notion was suggested to the headquarters staff by the singularly opportune discovery of a bundle of old revolutionary documents bearing upon the action brought in by a flemish farmer against his landlord "to recover damages for the loss he had suffered through the inundation of his land during the defence of nieuport." be this as it may, on the evening of october the belgian general headquarters staff informed the admiral that it had just taken measures to inundate the left bank of the yser between that river and the railway line from dixmude to nieuport. the effects of this inundation could not, however, be felt for the first day or two, or even for those immediately following. the word inundation generally suggests to the mind the image of a torrential rush of water, a great charge of marine or fluvial cavalry which sweeps all before it. there was nothing of the sort in this case. we were in western belgium, in an invertebrate country, without relief of any sort, where everything proceeds slowly and phlegmatically, even cataclysms. it is, perhaps, a pity that there is not another word in the language to describe the hydrographic operation we were about to witness; but in default of a substantive there is a verb, which surprised most readers of the _communiqués_ as a neologism, but which, as a fact, has been used in flanders from time immemorial, and has the advantage of expressing the nature of the operation most admirably. it is the verb _tendre_ (to spread or stretch). they _spread_ an inundation there as fishermen spread a net. no image could be more exact. the _spreader_, in this case, was at the locks of nieuport. he is a head _wateringue_, commanding a dozen men armed with levers to manipulate the lifting-jacks. at high tide he had the flood-gates raised; the sea entered, forcing back the fresh water of the canal and its tributaries; and the sea did not run out again, for the flood-gates had been lowered. henceforth the fresh water which flowed on every side into the basin of the yser will find no outlet; "without haste and without rest" it will add its contribution to that of the tide; it will gradually overflow the dykes of the collecting canals, will reach the _watergands_, and cover the whole _schoore_ with its meshes. slily, noiselessly, unceasingly, it will rise on a soil already saturated like a sponge and incapable of absorbing another drop of water. all that falls there, whether it come from the sky in the form of rain, or from the hills of cassel in the form of torrents, will remain on the surface. there is no way of checking the inundation as long as the flood-gates are not raised. he who holds nieuport holds the entire district by means of its locks. this explains the persistence of the germans in their attempts to capture it. fortunately, these attempts were somewhat belated; they tried a surprise by the dunes of lombaertzide and middelkerke, which might perhaps have succeeded but for the timely co-operation of the anglo-french fleet with the belgian troops: the german attack was driven back by the fire of the monitors, and failed to carry the locks of nieuport. the inundation continued. when its last meshes were woven and all its web complete, it was to spread in a semicircle on a zone of kilometres, and this immense artificial lagoon, from four to five kilometres wide and from three to four feet deep, in which light squadrons and batteries might have engaged if hard pressed, but for the abrupt depressions of the _watergands_ and collecting canals, forming invisible traps at every step, was to constitute the most impregnable defensive front, a liquid barrier defying all attacks. dixmude, at the extremity of this lagoon, in the blind alley here formed by the yser, the handzaeme canal, and the railway embankment, might aptly be compared to quiberon; like quiberon, it would be, were its bridges destroyed, a sort of thin, low peninsula; but it is a flemish quiberon anchored upon a motionless sea, without waves and without tides, studded with tree-tops and telegraph poles, and bearing on its dead waters the drifting corpses of soldiers and animals, pointed helmets, empty cartridge-cases and food-tins. ix. the murder of commander jeanniot on october we had not yet received any help from the inundation. our troops were in dire need of rest, and the enemy was tightening his grip along the entire front. new reinforcements were coming up to fill the gaps in his ranks; our scouts warned us that fresh troops were marching upon dixmude by the three roads of eessen, beerst, and woumen.[ ] we had to expect a big affair the next day, if not that very night. it came off that night. about o'clock the gamas company went to relieve the men in the southern trenches. on their way, immediately outside the town, they fell in with a german force of about the same strength as themselves, which had crept up no one knew how. there was a fusillade and a general _mêlée_, in which our sailors opened a passage through the troop with bayonets and butt-ends, disposing of some forty germans and putting the rest to flight.[ ] then there was a lull. the splash of rain was the only sound heard till a.m., when suddenly a fresh outbreak of rifle-fire was heard near the caeskerke station, right inside the defences. it was suggested that our men or our allies, exasperated by their life of continual alarms, had been carried away by some reckless impulse. the bravest soldiers admit that hallucinations are not uncommon at night in the trenches. all the pitfalls of darkness rise before the mind; the circulation of the blood makes a noise like the tramp of marching troops; if by chance a nervous sentry should fire his rifle, the whole section will follow suit. convinced that some misunderstanding of this kind had taken place, the staff, still quartered at the caeskerke railway station, shouted to the sections to cease firing. as, however, the fusillade continued in the direction of the town, the admiral sent one of his officers, lieutenant durand-gasselin, to reconnoitre. he got as far as the yser without finding the enemy; the fusillade had ceased; the roads were clear. he set out on his way back to caeskerke. on the road he passed an ambulance belonging to the brigade going up towards dixmude, which, on being challenged, replied: "rouge croix."[ ] rather surprised at this inversion, he stopped the ambulance; it was full of germans, who, however, surrendered without offering any resistance. but this capture suggested a new train of thought to the staff: they were now certain that there had been an infantry raid upon the town; the germans in the ambulance probably belonged to a troop of mysterious assailants who had made their way into dixmude in the night and had vanished no less mysteriously after this extraordinary deed of daring. one of our covering trenches must have given way, but which? our allies held the railway line by which the enemy had penetrated into the defences, sounding the charge.... the riddle was very disturbing, but under the veil of a thick damp night, which favoured the enemy, it was useless to seek a solution. it was found next morning at dawn, when one of our detachments on guard by the yser suddenly noticed in a meadow a curious medley of belgians, french marines, and germans. had our men been made prisoners? this uncertainty was of brief duration. there was a sharp volley; the sailors fell; the germans made off. this was what had happened: various versions have been given of this incident, one of the most dramatic of the defence, in the course of which the heroic commander jeanniot and dr. duguet, chief officer of the medical staff, fell mortally wounded, with several others. the general opinion, however, seems to be that the german attack, which was delivered at . a.m., was closely connected with the surprise movement attempted at o'clock in the evening on the eessen road and so happily frustrated by the intervention of the gamas company. it is not impossible that it was carried out by the fragments of the force we had scattered, reinforced by new elements and charging to the sound of the bugle. this would explain the interval of several hours between the two attacks, which were no doubt the outcome of a single inspiration. "the night," says an eye-witness, "was pursuing its normal course, and as there were no indications of disturbance, dr. duguet took the opportunity to go and get a little rest in the house where he was living, which was just across the street opposite his ambulance. the abbé le helloco, chaplain of the nd regiment, had joined him at about . a.m. the latter admits that he was rather uneasy because of the earlier skirmish, in which as was his habit, he had been unremitting in his ministrations to the wounded. after a few minutes' talk the two men separated to seek their straw pallets. the abbé had been asleep for an hour or two, when he was awakened by shots close at hand. he roused himself and went to dr. duguet, who was already up. the two did not exchange a word. simultaneously, without taking the precaution of extinguishing the lights behind them, they hurried to the street. enframed by the lighted doorway, they at once became a target; a volley brought them down in a moment. dr. duguet had been struck by a bullet in the abdomen; the abbé was hit in the head, the arm, and the right thigh. the two bodies were touching each other. 'abbé,' said dr. duguet, 'we are done for. give me absolution. i regret ...' the abbé found strength to lift his heavy arm and to make the sign of the cross upon his dying comrade. then he fainted, and this saved him. neither he nor dr. duguet had understood for the moment what was happening. whence had the band of marauders who had struck them down come, and how had they managed to steal into our lines without being seen? it was a mystery. this fusillade breaking out behind them had caused a certain disorder in the sections nearest to it, who thought they were being taken in the rear, and who would have been, indeed, had the attack been maintained. the band arrived in front of the ambulance station at the moment when the staff (three belgian doctors, a few naval hospital orderlies, and quartermaster bonnet) were attending to dr. duguet, who was still breathing. they made the whole lot prisoners and carried them along in their idiotic rush through the streets. both officers and soldiers must have been drunk. this is the only reasonable explanation of their mad venture. we held all the approaches to dixmude; the brief panic that took place in certain sections had been at once controlled. the improbability of a night attack inside the defences was so great that commander jeanniot, who had been in reserve that night, and who, roused by the firing like dr. duguet and abbé le helloco, had gone into the street to call his sector to arms, had not even taken his revolver in his hand. mistaking the identity and the intentions of the groups he saw advancing, he ran towards them to reassure them and bring them back to the trenches. this little stout, grizzled officer, rough and simple in manner, was adored by the sailors. he was known to be the bravest of the brave, and he himself was conscious of his power over his men. when he recognised his mistake it was too late. the germans seized him, disarmed him, and carried him off with loud '_hochs!_' of satisfaction. the band continued to push on towards the yser, driving a few fugitives before them, and a part of them succeeded in crossing the river under cover of the general confusion. happily this did not last long. captain marcotte de sainte-marie, who was in command of the guard on the bridge, identified the assailants with the help of a searchlight, and at once opened fire upon them.[ ] the majority of the germans within range of our machine-guns were mown down; the rest scattered along the streets and ran to cellars and ruins to hide themselves. but the head of the column had got across with its prisoners, whom they drove before them with the butt-ends of their rifles.[ ] for four hours they wandered about, seeking an issue which would enable them to rejoin their lines. it was raining the whole time. weary of wading through the mud, the officers stopped behind a hedge to hold a council. a pale light began to pierce the mist; day was dawning, and they could no longer hope to regain the german lines in a body. prudence dictated that they should disperse until nightfall. but what was to be done with the prisoners? the majority voted that they should be put to death. the belgian doctors protested. commander jeanniot, who took no part in the debate, was talking calmly to quartermaster bonnet. at a sign from their leader the boches knelt and opened fire upon the prisoners. the commander fell, and as he was still breathing, they finished him off with their bayonets. the only survivors were the belgian doctors, who had been spared, and quartermaster bonnet, who had only been hit in the shoulder. it was at this moment that the marauders were discovered. one section charged them forthwith; another fell back to cut off their retreat. what happened afterwards? some accounts declare that the german officers learned what it costs to murder prisoners, and that our men despatched the dogs there and then; but the truth is, that, in spite of the general desire to avenge commander jeanniot, the whole band was taken prisoner and brought before the admiral, who had only the three most prominent rascals of the gang executed." another very interesting account of this episode has been communicated to us by m. charles thomas couture, chauffeur to commander varney. an unpublished account of the murder of commander jeanniot. dixmude, _monday, october , _. yesterday we were informed that a certain number of germans, slipping between the trenches, had managed to get into dixmude. search was made in the houses and cellars, and we collected a few prisoners. this incident caused us some uneasiness, and as the bombardment, which generally ceased at night, continued persistently, i hesitated to go to bed. shells were bursting quite close to our inn, the front of which was peppered with bullets. fortunately, the shells were shrapnel, annoying rather than deadly, and as i was very tired, i made up my mind to get a sleep about o'clock. but i lay down fully dressed and armed; i did not even lay aside my revolver. one after the other the inhabitants of the inn followed my example. there were four of us: commander varney, captain monnot, lieutenant bonneau, and myself. dr. duguet and abbé le helloco, who generally shared our straw, were detained at the ambulance by some severe cases, and were not expected to come in before o'clock in the morning. by this time all was quiet, and the bombardment had ceased. at a.m. a cyclist rushed in, crying: "get up! the boches are coming!" i did not for a moment imagine that the enemy had crossed the bridge over the yser, which was some or metres in front of us. i thought that the germans had forced the sailors' trenches in front of dixmude, that they had entered the town in force, and that the line of defence was to be brought back to the canal. if such were the case, it was necessary to get my car ready to start immediately. as soon as i was awake i accordingly went out by the front door of the inn, and going to my car, i began to pump up the petrol. commander varney had come out at the same time. our common living-room was feebly lighted by a lantern, but this sufficed to throw the figures of those who passed into the embrasure of the door into strong relief. this was the case a few minutes later when dr. duguet and abbé le helloco emerged. i was bending down over my car, quite in the dark. at this moment a body of brawlers passed along the road, coming from the bridge and going towards the level crossing. they were preceded by a bugler, very much out of tune. in spite of the lights and the reports of firearms among the band, i only realised after they had passed that they were the enemy. but as soon as i grasped the fact i recognised that there was no question of getting out the car just then, so i followed commander varney, who was near me. "what shall i do, commander?" "above all things, don't let them take you prisoner." subsequent events made me appreciate the wisdom of this order. the commander disappeared in the night, going towards the yser to see what was happening. i went back into the inn by the back door, and there, stretched on the ground side by side, i found the doctor and the abbé, on whom the germans had fired at very short range. both were wounded in the abdomen. probably the same bullets went through them both. the doctor murmured: "i am hit in the loins; i can't move my legs." the abbé seemed to have but one thought: "i won't fall into the hands of the germans alive." but he managed to give absolution to our poor doctor. i went out of the inn again, and back to the motors, to see what was happening. i found the cook and the orderlies there; they had taken their rifles and were awaiting events. i joined them, holding my revolver in my hand. what gave me most anxiety was that not a sound came from the line of the trenches. the rifles were all silent; no night had been so calm. i began to wonder if by some extraordinary surprise all the sailors had been taken prisoners. as we knew that the enemy troop had passed us and gone towards the level crossing, we took our stand, in view of their possible return, at the corner of a neighbouring house, where the belgian soldiers were quartered. captain ferry, who had been wounded a few days before and had his left arm in a sling, joined us. a suspicious rumbling was heard on the road. captain ferry advanced completely out of cover to reconnoitre. he found himself face to face with a band of germans who barred the road level with the other corner of the belgians' house. "halt!" cried the captain; "you are my prisoners." "not at all," replied a voice in guttural french. "it's you who are our prisoners." this somewhat comic dialogue was not continued, for the sailors mazet and pinardeau fired. the germans never even attempted to retort; they allowed captain ferry to rejoin us quietly, and disappeared into the ditch by the road. it was now half-past three. the alarm was over, and had lasted barely half an hour. our little party took refuge in the cowshed, for the german guns had begun to send us shrapnel shells, which exploded high in the air, but nevertheless covered us with fragments. all we could do was to wait for the day, which at this date broke about half-past four. lieutenant bonneau had brought a half-section of sailors to our inn, and these began to explore the neighbourhood. some belgian soldiers joined the sailors, and a _battue_ of boches began in the marshy meadows. we heard cries of "there they are! there they are!" and shots were fired; then "don't fire, they are sailors." presently it was all over, and prisoners passed on their way to the admiral, who was installed at the level crossing. we then heard that nothing at all had happened in the trenches. the troop that had attacked us was composed of boches who had managed to creep into the town secretly. led by one or two officers, they had crossed the bridge over the canal, killing the sentries, seriously wounding lieutenant de lambertye, and then pushing forward. as they passed they went into the houses that showed lights, notably that occupied by the staff of the st regiment, where they killed two cooks and wounded a chauffeur. as we have seen, they then shot our doctor and our chaplain, and their military operations ended herewith, for their subsequent deeds were murder pure and simple. i was told the story at dawn, when i found myself face to face with quartermaster bonnet, chauffeur to the adjutant-major, who, to my great surprise, had his right arm in a sling. "well, m. couture," he said, "i shan't be able to drive captain monnot any more." i questioned him, and he then told me that he, assisted by some belgian orderlies and doctors, had gone out to take dr. duguet to the ambulance. suddenly the party found themselves face to face with the german troop, which was returning. the boches seized the stretcher-bearers, and the doctor was left by the side of the ditch. perhaps he was finished off there. the germans had several other prisoners, notably commander jeanniot. this remarkable man, who was no less beloved than esteemed, was with the first battalion, which he commanded, in reserve some distance to the rear. the noise and the shots awoke him, and he came out alone upon the road to see what was happening. the germans crouching in the ditches had no difficulty in seizing him, and his five stripes made them realise the importance of their capture. in all there were some dozen prisoners, whom the germans carried along with them across the fields, and whom they did not scruple to put in front of them during the firing. this explains the hesitation shown during the chase. seeing that they were caught, the german officers were not long in making up their minds. "shoot the prisoners!" it must be noted that there was a certain reluctance in the german ranks, perhaps even a certain opposition to this barbarous order. we learned later that the recalcitrants were berlin students who had volunteered for service. was this a movement of humanity or merely a measure of precaution taken with a view to their own fate? however, there are always some ready to carry out brutal orders. the mausers were fired at the heads of the prisoners. commander jeanniot was struck by several bullets, the whole of the front of his skull being blown off. several of the belgians fell. my comrade bonnet, if i understood him aright, made the movement of a child who dodges a box on the ear. that saved him; the bullet aimed at his head went into his right shoulder. at this moment he saw our sailors and the belgians coming up, and running as fast as he could lay legs to the ground, he called to them: "go at them; there are only about forty of them left." the rest had made off across the fields. at a.m. they were all prisoners. the admiral at once decided that the murderers should be shot there and then. but as frenchmen are not given to wholesale executions, the prisoners who had been rescued were called upon to point out the ringleaders. a few seconds later four volleys told me that military justice had taken its rapid course. almost at the same moment the body of commander jeanniot was carried in. his cyclists and his chauffeur would not allow anyone but themselves to render him this last service. they carried their chief on a stretcher borne on their shoulders, and all had tears in their eyes. the rest of the morning was quiet. a german effort was being made further to the north, where we heard furious fighting. as we were drinking our coffee the senegalese riflemen arrived to support the sailors. they were received with joy, for the brigade was much exhausted. footnotes: [ ] "germans of the regular army coming from the direction of reims. the boches we had had to deal with so far had been volunteers or reservists." (second-lieutenant x.'s note-book.) [ ] not without losses on our side. "saw gamas, who has had fourteen of his men killed to-night, among them his boatswain dodu." (second-lieutenant gautier's note-book.) [ ] _i.e._, instead of "croix rouge," the usual french locution. [ ] we should add, by order of commander varney, who, warned by dr. de groote, had at once taken the necessary measures. second-lieutenant x.'s note-book gives more precise details: "we had succeeded in placing machine-guns on each side of the bridge, which was a revolving bridge, and had just been opened by commander varney." [ ] here there seems to have been some confusion in the eye-witness's account. he leads us to suppose that dr. duguet's ambulance was in the town, and that the germans who killed him and wounded the abbé le helloco went on afterwards to the bridge with their prisoners. "as a fact," we are now told, "the affair took place between the bridge--which the head of a column had crossed by surprise, driving before them a number of belgians, sailors, and perhaps some marauders--and the level crossing near the station of caeskerke where the column was finally stopped. it was in this part of the street that dr. duguet had his dressing-station; and it was there, too, that commander jeanniot, whose reserve post was at caeskerke, came out to meet the assailants. and it was the fields near the south bank of the yser to which the column betook itself, dragging its prisoners with it, when it found the road barred." (see m. thomas couture's narrative at the end of this chapter.) x. in the trenches thus ended this dramatic episode, of which neither the genesis nor the results have been fully elucidated so far. did the german troop which overran the town during the night, and of which only a portion got away to the meadows with the prisoners, consist of a battalion or a half-battalion? the fire of captain marcotte de sainte-marie's guns had laid a good many of the enemy low. "we were walking over their corpses in the street," wrote marine h. g.[ ] the next day we turned a fair number of the assailants out of the cellars where they had hidden. but the majority, aided by mysterious accomplices, certainly managed to escape. in any case, the surprise had been a sharp lesson, showing us how necessary it was that our positions should be immediately reinforced. the admiral represented this to headquarters, and two battalions of senegalese were despatched from loo. meanwhile the bombardment had been resumed. it became very intense between eleven and three o'clock, and was directed mainly to the bridges of dixmude and the trenches in the cemetery. we had some heavy casualties there, notably lieutenant eno[ ] and part of the seventh company of the second battalion. but the _moral_ of the men was perfectly maintained. we may cite the case of quartermaster leborgne, wounded in the head and taken to the dressing-station during a lull in the fighting, who escaped when he heard the cannonade resumed and came back to die at his post, or the bugler chaupin, who, seeing the recruits arching their backs under the hail of bullets, cried, "look at me, little ones," and drawing himself up to his full height with magnificent bravery, crossed the danger zone, carrying his comrades along in the wake of his heroism.[ ] thanks to the reconnaissances of his airmen and the spies he had in the town, the enemy's fire was surprisingly accurate. "in the space of two hours, from half-past ten to half-past twelve in the morning," wrote one of the officers who commanded a much-exposed section, second-lieutenant t. s., "some fifty shrapnel shells fell round us. at one o'clock a quarter of my men were out of action. i asked for reinforcements and provisions; we had been in the firing line for sixty hours. the commander gave me a verbal order to fall back. i consulted my petty officers and my men. 'shall we fall back without being relieved?' 'we can't do it, lieutenant.' an hour later i received a written order to abandon the trench. i had to obey, after we had buried our dead and carried off our wounded. you see, dear parents, what our sailors will do: they will hold out to the last gasp. that same evening the trench was occupied by another section of the brigade." and that same evening of october this trench--or another--was again attacked, and was only saved for us by a prodigy of heroism. the enemy had advanced to within a few yards, and charged, shouting "hurrah!" our machine-guns were very dirty and would not work.[ ] but lieutenant martin des pallières was in command of the section. it was holding the road to woumen, between the wall of the cemetery and a trench dug on the other side in a beetroot field. des pallières sprang upon the parapet. "boys," he cried, "we must receive these gentry with cold steel. fix bayonets!" and when one of the marines, a parisian, who had charged too vigorously, lamented the loss of his "hat-pin" (his bayonet), which he had left in a german hide, des pallières replied: "do as i do; charge with your head."[ ] the next day he was killed by a shell. meanwhile the brigade had passed under the command of general grossetti, who had undertaken the defence of the line of the yser as far as, and inclusive of, dixmude (detachment of the army of belgium under general d'urbal). the day of the th passed without an attack in force; the enemy merely bombarded us. he gave us time to breathe the following night and morning till a.m. then the hurly-burly began again. an officer of the naval reserve who received his baptism of fire that day, lieutenant alfred de la barre de nanteuil, grandson of general le flô, wrote to his family that he had been specially favoured. "it was a fine christening, plenty of sweetmeats, the whole show, bullets, shrapnel, and, above all, the famous 'saucepans' (_marmites_). chance treated me well." in his section alone there were four killed, twelve wounded, and eleven missing. this was the prelude to a sudden attack, directed against the trenches in the cemetery, to which the enemy paid particular attention. but we knew this, and had put our steadiest troops there. the attack was again repulsed, thanks mainly to the firmness of the first musketry instructor, le breton, who had already been wounded on the th, and who took command of the company when all the officers had been put out of action.[ ] our allies were less fortunate on the line from dixmude to nieuport, where the th belgian division, overwhelmed by superior numbers, had to fall back beyond ramscappelle and pervyse. the strategic importance of these two villages made it imperative to retake them immediately. every available man was sent from the brigade on the evening of the th. this did not prevent the enemy from continuing his bombardment of dixmude, to which this time we were able to reply very efficaciously with our heavy artillery. this secured us a fairly quiet night. such nights were few and far between in the brigade. "we don't know what it is to sleep," wrote a sailor. "we haven't closed our eyes for ten days." perhaps the enemy was as weary as our men. his sole manifestation that night was to send a few shrapnel shells upon caeskerke and the cross-roads where the admiral had taken up his position. perhaps, too, he was less interested in dixmude than in ramscappelle and pervyse at this stage of the operations. at dawn he rushed ramscappelle, but he was repulsed at pervyse, which the two companies of rabot's battalion defended with their accustomed vigour. the night before, however, the railway bridge of dixmude had been demolished by a big shell. in the brief intervals of this exhausting struggle, the eyes of the defenders were turned inquiringly on the _schoore_ of the yser. how slowly the inundation announced by the belgian headquarters staff on the th seemed to be spreading! the progress it had made in five days was almost imperceptible. and yet surely it was advancing now on the great level plain; the _watergands_ were overflowing; the meshes of the watery net were drawing together and encircling villages and farms. near ramscappelle and pervyse it had already formed a large continuous expanse. that day the first tactical effects of the inundation made themselves felt on our north. ramscappelle had been retaken by the nd division in a brilliant bayonet charge; the enemy had been driven back behind the embankment of the dixmude-nieuport railway, whence he had almost immediately retired upon the yser: he was falling back not only before our troops, but before the insidious rising of the waters. the plan of the german general staff was foiled. in their attempt upon dunkirk they had not reckoned upon the intervention of the anglo-french fleet, which prevented them from making their way along the dunes of the seashore, nor upon the advantages offered to the defence by the inundation of the basin of the yser. the key of the position was neither at dixmude, pervyse, ramscappelle, nor ypres, as they had supposed, but in the pocket of the head _wateringue_ in charge of the locks at nieuport. at this moment of the crisis a certain vacillation seemed to prevail in the councils of the enemy. the german staff, though they had not forgotten dixmude, were apparently casting their eyes in other directions. on the th and st they barely sent their daily ration of shrapnel and big shells to our trenches in the cemetery and the houses near the bridge. it had been raining incessantly for three days; our men were standing half-way up their legs in water in the trenches. what had become of the spruce "young ladies with the red pompons" of the early days? "you should see us walk," wrote a sailor, one l., of audierne. "we are like old fellows of seventy. i have no feeling in my poor knees and elbows." but the most severe suffering was caused by want of socks; the men could hardly stand on their naked feet, purple with cold, in their hard boots. "this is the campaign of frozen toes," says one of the sufferers. inured to discipline and naturally fatalistic, they did not complain, and looked to their families to help them in their trouble. "do send me some socks. i have to go barefoot, and it is very cold," wrote one sailor, j. f., of le passage lauriec; and in his next letter he repeats: "i can tell you, my dear parents, that the weather is very bad here, rain and wind every day, and the cold! sleeping in the trenches is not very easy. i have not closed my eyes for a fortnight, what with the cold and the shells and bullets. still i keep a good heart. my feet are bare in my shoes, and they are always icy cold. if you send me some socks, will you put some tobacco in with them?" another letter is in the same strain: "dear mother, you say my brother is still drinking, and this is very wrong of him, but that he took the socks off his own feet to send them to me. i thank him very much, for i did want them badly." the breton drunkard can be generous! there were lucky ones here as elsewhere. such was h. l., who made himself some mittens with a pair of old socks found in a german trench. men are not very squeamish in war-time, when they have been wearing the same ragged filthy garments for a month. "you could not touch my vest with a pair of tongs, it is so dirty," wrote the same h. l. to his sister. the officers were no better off, except that they had socks. "we never change; we never wash; we never brush our hair," wrote alfred de nanteuil. "i have been living in the same grime ever since i left brest. the only things i have changed are my socks. all my ideas of hygiene are upset, for, on the whole, i have never felt so well." some few complain of the food. "i have been three days in the trenches without enough to eat," grumbles one sailor j. l. r. but the majority declare that the tinned meat was not bad, especially when it was warmed, and that, on the whole, they got enough.[ ] as for drink, with the exception of the coffee, pronounced "famous," the unanimous verdict was that it was execrable, neither wine nor beer, only stagnant water; "and they say, besides, that the boches have poisoned it." the men were recommended only to drink it in their coffee, well boiled. "i lived for days on bread and sugar, with a cup of coffee for an occasional treat," wrote alfred de nanteuil. "all the water in the district is polluted. so i go very well for a week without drinking anything but coffee." françois alain, for one, was four days without food or drink, lying among the straw in a barn where twenty-seven of his comrades had been bayoneted. how did this nineteen-year-old conscript escape the boches who had remained in the neighbourhood? through a little hole he had made with his knife in one of the tiles of the roof he observed all their movements, and took note of their trenches and the emplacements of their cannon and their machine-guns; and one fine night, when there was not too much moonlight, he crawled out, killing a german officer who was reconnoitring the french positions, and got back into our lines with a cargo of precious information, a thick coating of mud, and teeth sharpened by a fast of ninety-six hours.[ ] and these men, dripping with wet, with empty stomachs and burning heads, never lost heart for a moment. the same note recurs in all their letters: "in spite of this, all goes well, and we are not downhearted, especially when we can have a go at the boches." the one thing consoles them for the other. they know the perils of the trenches, and they prefer them to the inactivity of being kept in reserve. "we have had twelve days of fighting now," wrote the marine c., of audierne, "and this evening, i am glad to say, we are to be in the first line, for it is better to be under fire than resting." was this paradox or braggadocio? not at all. they spoke as they thought. they courted danger as other men shun it. footnotes: [ ] "blood ran in the streets like water," said jean claudius still more emphatically, according to a witness. this was probably the origin of the fantastic accounts which appeared in the press at this period, most of them purely imaginary. [ ] we must quote this short passage from the eloquent speech made at the funeral of this brave officer at lannion by second-lieutenant de cuverville, representing admiral berryer: "the order to mobilise found ernest eno at brest, engaged in training those very battalions he was later to lead against the enemy; and no one could have been better qualified than he to give our young recruits not only professional instruction, but those lessons of manliness and patriotism which go to the heart, and make men strong and courageous. for he was himself a hero. a self-made man, he had raised himself step by step on the steep ladder of his calling. he was a true sailor. he went off with the st regiment of marines on august .... he fell at the head of his men under intense fire round the cemetery of dixmude, his thigh fractured by a fragment of shell. he was not fated to recover from his terrible wound. he died, uniting in his last prayers to god his dear ones and his beloved brittany, which he was to see no more." an operation had been performed on eno on the battlefield by his fellow-citizen and friend dr. taburet, one of the doctors of the brigade, who showed the most supreme contempt of danger under fire in attendance on our wounded. [ ] dr. caradec, _op. cit._ [ ] in less critical circumstances the same accident had happened to second-lieutenant gautier, and was the occasion of an amusing little scene, which might have been taken from léonec and gervèze's sketches of marines: "yesterday i was going at the germans with machine-guns at , metres on a road from which i finally cut them off. all of a sudden the guns jammed. i yelled from my blockhouse: 'what's the matter?' 'guns jammed.' 'tell the gunner from me that he's an ass.' the communicator, a worthy breton fisherman, repeated gravely: 'the lieutenant says that the gunner is an ass.' the gunner was one primat. a few days later, on november , in submerged dixmude, this same primat (the orderly of the second-lieutenant), who had survived his officer, used his machine-guns with such skill and coolness against a german column that he stopped it dead, mowing down three sections." [ ] this story is told by the marine georges delaballe. such was the ardour communicated by des pallières to his men, that the next day a marine and a boche were found "lying dead one upon the other, the marine's fingers thrust through the german's cheek, and still clutching it." a stray bullet had killed them both. what had exasperated the marines was that the major who led the attack wore a large red cross armlet. their native honesty was revolted by this constant recourse to ignoble ruses, by which our enemies have dishonoured even their own heroism. martin des pallières was the nephew of the admiral who commanded the marines in . "he was a brave man, whose courage was combined with great simplicity and gaiety. he was killed by a big shell in the middle of the group of machine-guns he was working under a furious fire," writes a correspondent. dr. caradec points out that this night of october was particularly tragic; and in support of this statement he quotes an incident horrible enough, indeed, from the narrative of the naval mechanician le l.:-- "the germans had taken some french trenches, and shells were raining thickly upon us. all of a sudden some of our men were engulfed in a mass of _débris_. as one of my friends was half buried in the earth, i and another went to help him; but a shell fell right upon him, and i in my turn was buried up to the neck. night was coming on fast. i spent fourteen hours of anguish in this position. furious fighting was going on. two friends were moaning near me. the one nearest begged me to help him, but i was held fast as in a vice, and had to look on helpless as he died. my own strength began to fail. i became unconscious a few hours after i had been buried. what made me suffer most was to see the germans a few yards from me. i could see all they were doing, all their death-dealing preparations. during the night the senegalese riflemen retook our lost trenches; they set to work to clear away the rubbish and found my two dead friends near me. one of the senegalese stepped on my head. feeling something under his feet, he bent down and saw me. they got me out and took me to the first ambulance. in a few hours i was fully conscious again. you can imagine how i rejoiced to find myself among friends. i felt like one risen from the dead." [ ] among them was second-lieutenant gautier. the following order, communicated to us by his family, was found with his papers: "monsieur gautier,--by superior orders, i am sending a section to relieve you, and to instruct you to go with your section near the cemetery, behind the wall or on the railway embankment, as may seem best to you and to the officer in the adjoining trenches. des pallières' section, which was in the cemetery, has been annihilated, des pallières himself killed and buried in the _débris_ of the trench." second-lieutenant gautier was killed at o'clock in the evening. "we were having our dinner in the trench," wrote lieutenant gamas a few days later, "when the order came for him to go to a dangerous position to replace des pallières, who had just been killed there. the last words your son-in-law said to me were: 'captain, it's my turn.' we shook hands warmly, looking affectionately at each other. the next day i heard that my poor friend was dead. he had been hit in the forehead by a german bullet at the moment when, attacked by very superior numbers with three machine-gun sections, he had put his head out in order to regulate his fire and do his duty thoroughly. he fell nobly, leaving a glorious and honoured name to his wife and children." [ ] all the officers we have seen or who have written to us declare that the transport service was excellent throughout the defence, in spite of the greatest difficulties, and that the naval commissariat was irreproachable. [ ] he was decorated with the military medal by general foch in person. xi. the attack on the chÂteau de woumen all saints' day was nearly as quiet as the preceding forty-eight hours. we re-established our trenches, and the admiral reorganised his regiments and transferred his headquarters to oudecappelle. in his journal alfred de nanteuil, who had been with our second line from the day before, notices the truce from _marmites_, if not from shrapnel and bullets, "singing past a little like summer flies." but farms were blazing all round the vast horizon, lighting up the november night and accentuating the fact that, although the enemy's attentions had changed in form, they had put on no amenity. "one of my men," says de nanteuil, "found the severed hand of a small child in a german's knapsack...." and at eessen, where the _vicaire_ was a young priest of twenty-eight, the abbé deman, his murderers amused themselves by forcing him to dig his own grave before they shot him in the graveyard of his own church.[ ] a day later the temporary inertia of the enemy was explained. a few _marmites_ on our trenches and on the farms occupied by our supply services were not enough to deceive us. we had been aware for several days of a continuous growling in the south-west, on the ypres road. the enemy had transferred a part of his forces towards mercken, where he was seeking contact with our territorials and with the british troops. it seemed a good opportunity to break the iron girdle which held us and to afford some relief to our positions. the _moral_ of our men had never been better. rumours of a general offensive were current in the brigade, and nothing stimulates the french soldier more than the hope of an advance. on november french aeroplanes passed over dixmude, towards the german lines, and a balloon was hanging in the sky towards the west. "happy omen!" wrote de nanteuil. "we have been without such encouragements all through the long defence.... now my spirits rise. everything points to an advance. the _marmites_ have disappeared, for which no one is sorry. i have been in the first line since last night. the sun is shining; the lark is singing; the mud is drying. we are fearful to behold. relieved by the belgians in the night, i have to find and guide those who have to take the place of my company. on my way back, worn out, i stop a barrel of belgian soup and have a delicious pull at it. my battalion is in reserve since last night. passed the night in a barn, men in the trench. to-day it has been a case of 'packs on' ever since the morning." "where are we off to?" said this intrepid officer to himself. "perhaps," he thought, "nowhere! anyway, the guns are raging, and this time it is our own beloved guns, which we have awaited so impatiently. i cannot hear the others; i think it is all right." alfred de nanteuil was not mistaken. this time it was our 's which led the dance. the general had decided that an attack should debouch from the town "supported by a powerful mass of artillery and having for main objective the château on the road to woumen, about a kilometre from dixmude." the attack was to be made by four battalions of infantry of the nd division, a marine battalion under commandant de jonquières acting as support, and the rest of the brigade as reserve. the whole was under the command of general grossetti--grossetti the invulnerable, as he had been called ever since his splendid defence of pervyse, where he faced the shells sitting on a camp-stool. the attack began about eight o'clock by an energetic clearing of the whole position. there was, perhaps, some little hesitation in the movements which followed. the fact is that by not moving off until half-past eleven in the morning our infantry lost much of the advantage given by the artillery preparation. the enemy had had time to pull himself together. the eighth battalion of chasseurs could not debouch from the cemetery by the woumen road until supported by the de jonquières battalion. then it was checked at the end of metres. at the same time the st infantry had made good a similar advance on the eessen road. that was the total gain of the day. we renewed the offensive at next morning, but with no more success than the day before. the attack always lacked "go." we scarcely advanced at all, well supported as we were by our 's, which once more showed their superiority over the german artillery. the general now determined to reinforce the attack with the whole nd division and two fresh battalions of marines. a day was taken up by preparations for the passage of the yser, a kilometre below dixmude. for this purpose two flying bridges were brought down from the town. there was a thick fog, the best sort of weather for such an operation. one of the marine battalions was directed to attack on a line parallel to the yser. the remaining two, crossing higher up, were to make straight for the château, while the th chasseurs were to prolong the attack to the north. fifty guns concentrated their fire on the buildings and the ground immediately about them. but this enchanted castle, with its fougasses, its deep trenches, its lines of barbed wire, its loopholed walls, its machine-guns on every storey, and its flanking fire, gave out a sort of repelling electricity which had the effect, if not of destroying the _élan_ of our troops, at least of curiously blunting it. the ground, seamed with watercourses, was unfavourable, and trouble brooded in the fog. in short, when night fell we were still a quarter of a mile from the château; we had not even reached the park. on the eessen side we had made no progress. finally, the belgians near beerst, who were defending the north front of dixmude, sent word that they were no longer enough to man the trenches, and the admiral had to send to their help two companies of the de kerros battalion from the first reserve. this unwelcome necessity was made up for by the arrival of two long -mm. pieces, which were at once put in battery south of the level crossing at caeskerke. however, the night of november was quiet all round dixmude; but at dawn the attack was renewed. this time we had good reason to hope for success. rising from the provisional trenches, our battalions moved simultaneously in echelon across the plain. the charge sounded, shouts of "vive la france!" broke out, and, in spite of terrible machine-gun and rifle fire, the farm and the park were carried with a rush. our men were at the foot of the château. but there the rush was stopped. contrary to report, the château was not taken. the internal defences had been organised in the most formidable way, perhaps even before the war began. the enemy left in our hands some hundred prisoners, who had been barricaded in the pavilion at the main gate.[ ] at nightfall the order was given to retire. the de jonquières battalion returned to its billets. the nd division went off in another direction,[ ] and the brigade was again left alone at dixmude with a handful of senegalese and the belgians.[ ] [illustration: (newspaper illustrations) the "kiekenstraat" (chicken street) after the first days of the bombardment] "we don't budge," writes de nanteuil on november . "our reinforcements are being sent back. visited the church and hôtel de ville of dixmude. frightful! they are nothing but shapeless ruins. there is not a whole house left. certain quarters are destroyed down to their very foundations; they are nothing but heaps of stone and bricks.... messina is in better case than this unhappy town." footnotes: [ ] declaration of the abbé vanryckeghem, who affirms that the _curés_ of saint georges, of mannekensverke, and of vladsloo were also executed. [ ] this, however, is not certainly established. for this account of the closing scenes of the attack we have followed the narrative of the correspondent of _la liberté_, which appeared to us trustworthy. this correspondent says, "they [the prisoners] had no time to retreat, so sudden and furious was the attack. carried away by their excitement, the marines never saw that the pavilion was full of germans. it was not until three hours later that a prussian non-commissioned officer walked unarmed out of the building and surrendered with his party to the first french officer he met." we have been authoritatively told that nothing of the kind took place. "the attack reached the château, but failed to carry it." [ ] at dixmude the th and th had passed in comparative tranquillity. "it rains," writes alfred de nanteuil on the th, "five hours drawn up on the road, fully accoutred. mud frightful. walked through dixmude--a vision of horror, lights of pillagers, carcases, indescribable ruins.... passed the night at a deserted farm, full of corpses, utterly sacked and ruined. plenty of evidence that the owners were well-behaved, pious, and honest belgian cultivators. the night fairly calm, so we had six hours of sleep in our wet clothes. impossible to change." the th: "to-day the weather beautiful, the sun shining. everything calm. in the watercourses we see reflected the vaporous landscapes of the great flemish masters. the cattle which have escaped the bombardment stand about on the dykes. at last one is able to breathe, ... to be glad one lives. i begin to think we shall be here for a long time." [ ] it came at this juncture under the command of general bidon. shortly before it had received an interesting visit. on november a naval lieutenant, de perrinelle, writes in his diary that colonel seely, sometime minister of war in england, had visited this front and had told them that they had saved the situation by their vigorous resistance. xii. the death of dixmude she is not quite dead yet, however. scalped, shattered, and burnt as she is, she still holds a spark of life as long as we are there. this charnel-house in which we are encamped, with its streets, which are nothing but malodorous paths winding among corpses, heaps of broken stone and brick, and craters opened by the boche _marmites_, still beats with life in its depths. existence has become subterranean. dixmude has catacombs into which our men pour when they leave the trenches. and they are not all soldiers who explore the recesses of these vaults and cellars. the suspicious lights alluded to by alfred de nanteuil are not, perhaps, always carried by pillagers. mysteriously enough, one house in the town has escaped the bombardment. it is the flour factory near the bridge, and its cement platform still dominates the valley of the yser. the nd division left us two of its batteries of 's when it moved off. that was something, of course, though not enough to make up for the disablement of out of the guns we originally had for the defence of our front. the only formidable guns we have are the heavy ones, but they are without the mobility of the 's. and now apparently our attack on the château of woumen has disquieted the germans, who are again in force before dixmude. the bombardment of the town and of the trenches has recommenced, and last night we had to repulse a pretty lively attack on our trenches at the cemetery. there is also pressure along the eessen road, with considerable losses at both points. a renewal of the attack to-night seems probable. and our ranks are already thin![ ] "mother," writes a marine from dixmude on november , "it is with my cartridge belt on my back and sheltered from the german machine-guns that i send you these few lines to say that my news is good, and that i hope it is the same with you and the family. but, mother, i don't expect that either you or the family will ever see me again. none of us will come back. but i shall have given my life in doing my duty as a french soldier-sailor. i have already had two bullets, one in the sleeve of my great-coat, the other in my right cartridge case. the third will do better." on the same day another marine writes home: "out of our squad of , we still have three left." however, the night of the th and the day which followed were quiet enough. the disappointment caused by the failure of our attack on the château was already almost forgotten, and our hopes were again rising. "i think," wrote alfred de nanteuil, "that my company will not stir from this for some time. i have to furnish reinforcing parties as they are wanted, the rest of my men and myself staying in the trench, which we are always improving. we have a farmhouse near by which allows us to eat in comfort. and we have plenty of straw." the general impression is that we are held from one end of the front to the other. "bombardment always and musketry, a siege war, in short. it will come to an end some day. meanwhile," says de nanteuil, gaily, "our spirits and health are good." but this very afternoon certain suspicious movements were descried on the further bank of the yser. as it was easy to bombard this part of the hostile front, a gun was promptly trained in that direction. was it a decoy, or was some spy from behind sending signals? the gun no sooner came into action than a german battery was unmasked upon it, killing captain marcotte de sainte-marie, who was controlling the fire.[ ] thenceforward attacks never ceased. the night between the th and th was nothing but a long series of attempts on our front, which were all repulsed. they began again at daylight against the trenches at the cemetery. there the enclosing wall had been battered down for some time past by the german artillery. through the loopholes in our parapets one could see the wide stretch of beetroots on the edge of which we were fighting, our backs to dixmude. away on the horizon the château of woumen, on its solitary height, rose from the surrounding woods and dominated the position. little clouds of white smoke hung from the trees, which seemed to be shedding down. in his invariable fashion, the enemy was preparing his attacks by a systematic clearing of the ground; shrapnel and _marmites_ were smashing the tombstones, decapitating the crosses, breaking up the iron grilles, the crowns of _immortelles_, and the coffins themselves. the flemish subsoil is so permeable that coffins are not sunk more than a couple of feet below the surface, so that their occupants were strewn about in a frightful way. several marines were wounded by splinters of bone from these mobilised corpses.... in the fogs of flanders, when the mystery of night and the great disc of the moon added their phantasmagoria to the scene, all this surpassed in _macabre_ horror the most ghastly inventions of romantic fiction and legend. familiar as our bretons were with supernatural ideas, they shivered at it all, and welcomed an attack as a relief from continual nightmare.[ ] "although we did not give way at all," writes a marine, "we understood that everyone was not made like ourselves and the senegalese. we took pity on the poor worn-out belgians, who had come to the end of their tether, especially their foot chasseurs,[ ] and we took their places in the trenches. we had three _aviatiks_ continually hanging over us,[ ] at which we fired in vain. they returned every day at the same hour, as surely as poverty to the world. as soon as they had gone back we knew what to expect. down came the _marmites_ on our devoted heads!" and their music, compared to the gentle coughing of our little belgian guns! at last a dozen new 's appeared on the scene and relieved these poor asthmatics. they were distributed between caeskerke and the yser. our grim point was the cemetery. there one of our trenches had been taken by the germans, but a vigorous counter-attack, led by second-lieutenant melchior, soon turned them out. "exasperated by so many sterile efforts," writes lieutenant a., "the enemy decided, on november , to make a decisive stroke. towards ten in the morning began the most terrible bombardment the brigade had yet had to suffer. the fire was very accurate, destroying the trenches and causing great losses."[ ] at o'clock , germans, mausers at the charge, advanced against dixmude.[ ] this attack repeated the tactics of the early days of the siege. the germans came on in heavy masses, reinforced by fresh troops. they had also learnt the weak points of their opponents. and yet it is not certain that the attack would have succeeded had it not been for the unexpected giving way of our positions on the eessen road.[ ] this was the only part of the southern sector not defended by marines. it must have been entirely smashed up, with the senegalese who flanked it on both wings. as a fact, the enemy's fire was so intense along the whole line and our reply so feeble, that alfred de nanteuil, who occupied a trench in rear of the northern sector, had to withdraw his men behind a haystack. "impossible to lift one's nose above the ground," writes an officer, "so thick and fast came the shells." the attacking column was thus enabled to pass the canal at handzaeme and to fall upon the flank of the trenches occupied by the eleventh company. this company had been engaging the batteries at korteckeer and kasterthoeck, on their left, and a violent rifle and machine-gun fire from a group of farms higher up the canal. what was left of it had barely time to fall back upon its neighbours, the ninth and tenth companies. a hostile detachment, creeping along the canal, had contrived to push as far as the command post of the third battalion, taking possession on the way of dr. guillet's ambulance, which had been established at the end of the roman bridge. our trenches were not connected by telephone, and communications had broken down. four marines only, out of the in the reserve of commander rabot, succeeded in escaping. the sentry on the roof of the farm in which they were waiting saw the enemy coming and gave the alarm: "the boches--quarter of a mile away!" "to arms!" shouted de nanteuil. "into the trenches!" [illustration: old houses on the handzaeme canal] he himself went to an exposed point to observe the enemy. there a bullet hit him in the neck, striking the spinal marrow. how his men contrived to bring him off it is difficult to say. he remained conscious and had no illusions as to his state. all his energy seemed concentrated on the desire to die in france. he had his wish.[ ] then came the final defeat. the lines on the eessen road driven in, the dyke pierced at the centre, the northern sector cut off from the south, the german wave flowed over us. the enemy had penetrated to the heart of our defence, and, being continuously reinforced, swept round our flanks and took us in reverse. one after another our positions gave way. already the first fugitives were arriving before dixmude. "where are you off to?" cries an officer as he bars the way to a sailor. "captain, a shell has smashed my rifle. give me another, and i'll go back." they give him one, and he returns to the inferno. another, wandering on the field like a soul in torture, replies to the inquiry of an officer that he is "looking for his company. there cannot be much of it left, but," straightening himself, "that does not matter: _they_ shall not get through!"[ ] and they do not get through. but it was too late to stop them from entering dixmude. their musketry was all round us, a rifle behind every heap of rubble, a machine-gun at every point of vantage. the sharp note of the german trumpet sounded from every side. it is possible that a certain number of the enemy who had lain hidden in the cellars of dixmude ever since the fighting on the th now came out of their earth to add to the confusion. the truth of this will be known some day. we were under fire in the town, outside the town, on the canal, on the yser. it was street fighting, with all its ambuscades and surprises. what had become of the covering troops in the cemetery and on the beerst road? of the reserve under commander rabot, driven from ditch to ditch, its commander killed or missing,[ ] only fifteen men were left. these were rallied by lieutenant sérieyx in a muddy ditch, where they fought to the last man. surrounded and disarmed, sérieyx and some others were forced to act as a shield to the germans who were advancing against the junction of the canal and the yser. "abominable sight," says lieutenant a., "french prisoners compelled to march in front of boches, who knelt behind them and fired between their legs!" our men beyond the yser could not reply. "call to them to surrender," ordered the german major to sérieyx. "why should you think they will surrender? there are ten thousand of them!"[ ] there were really two hundred! at this moment a sudden burst of fire on the right distracted the enemy's attention. with a sign to the others, sérieyx, whose arm had already been broken by a bullet, threw himself into the yser, succeeded in swimming across, and at once made his way to the admiral to report what was happening. a counter-attack ordered by the officer in command of the defence and led by lieutenant d'albia had covered his escape. the eighth company, in reserve, reinforced by a section of the fifth company of the nd regiment, under commander mauros and lieutenant daniel, entrenched itself behind the barricade at the level crossing on the eessen road.[ ] on all the roads leading to the yser, and especially at the three bridges, sections strongly established themselves or helped to consolidate sections already there. would these dispositions, hastily taken by commandant delage, be enough to save dixmude? at most they could only prolong the agony. her hours were numbered. after having driven its way through the hostile column which had reached the yser, lieutenant d'albia's section encountered more germans debouching from the grand' place and neighbouring streets. germans and frenchmen now formed nothing but a mass of shouting men. they shot each other at close quarters; they fought with their bayonets, their knives, their clubbed rifles, and when these were broken, with their fists, with their feet, even with their teeth. by three in the afternoon we had lost one half of our men, killed, wounded, or prisoners. the german columns were still pouring into dixmude through the breaches in the defence. they pushed us back to the bridges, which we still held, which we were indeed to hold to the end. they were going to take dixmude, but the little sailor was right: they were not going to pass the yser. one more attack was organised to bring off the mauros company, which was retiring under a terrible fire. the remains of several sections were brought together, and, led by their officers, they charged into the _mêlée_ in the streets. one purple-faced, sweating marine, who had seen his brother fall, swore he would have the blood of twenty boches. he went for them with the bayonet, counting "one! two! three!" etc., till he had reached twenty-two. after that he returned to his company, a madman. but what could the finest heroism do against the swarms of men who rose, as it were, from the earth as fast as they were crushed? "they are like bugs," sighed a quartermaster, and night was coming on. dixmude had ceased to give signs of life. for six hours fighting had gone on over a dismembered corpse. not a gable, not a wall, was left standing, except those of the flour factory. to hold these heaps of rubbish, which might turn into a focus of infection, was not worth the little finger of one of our men. at o'clock in the evening, after blowing up the bridges and the flour factory, the admiral retired behind the yser.[ ] "dear mother," wrote a marine a few days later from audierne, "i have to tell you that on the th of this month i was not cheering much at dixmude, for out of the whole of my company only returned. i never expected to come out, but with a stout heart i managed to get away. i had a very bad time. many of us had to swim to save ourselves." these, no doubt, were the prisoners who had thrown themselves into the canal with the heroic sérieyx. all this time lieutenant cantener, who had taken command on the death of his senior officer, had been maintaining himself on the beerst road, with three companies of marines. at nightfall he had the satisfaction--and the credit--of bringing nearly the whole of his command safely into our lines. they had made their way by ditches full of water and mud up to their waists. they were in all-- blocks of mud--and they were not, as has been said, worn out and without arms and equipment, but steadily marching in fours, bayonets fixed, and as calm as on parade. they had their wounded in front, and each company had its rear-guard.[ ] too many of our men were left beneath the ruins of the town or in the hands of the enemy, but they had not been vainly sacrificed.[ ] after losing some , men,[ ] the germans found themselves in possession of a town reduced to mere heaps of rubbish with an impregnable line beyond. our reserve lines had become our front, well furnished with heavy guns, and punctually supported by the inundation which stretched its impassable defence both to north and south. the whole valley of the lower yser had become a tideless sea, out into which stood dixmude, like a crumbling headland. in taking it the germans had simply made themselves masters of two _têtes de pont_. even that is saying too much, for we still commanded the place from the northern bank of the yser, and our artillery, under general coffec, frustrated all attempts to organise their capture. meanwhile thousands of germans, between the yser and the embankment of the nieuport railway, watched with apprehension the water rising about the mounds up which they had hauled their mortars and machine-guns. in the immediate neighbourhood of dixmude, where the admiral had caused the sluice at the sixteenth milestone to be blown up,[ ] a hostile column of some fifteen hundred men was overwhelmed by the water together with the patch of raised ground on which it had taken refuge.[ ] a fresh inundation added greatly to the extent of the floods, and practically reconstituted the old _schoore_ of dixmude. all danger of the enemy's making good the passage of the river had finally passed away. [illustration: the inundation. old mill and farms on the yser] footnotes: [ ] for the period between october and november the names of the following officers who fell must be added to those already given: killed or dead of their wounds, lieutenants cherdel and richard, second-lieutenants rousset and le coq; among those wounded, but not mortally, lieutenants antoine, "son of admiral antoine and the model of a perfect officer" (private correspondence), and revel, who, when severely wounded in the thigh, ordered his decimated company to retire, "leaving him in the trench where he had fallen." [ ] marcotte de sainte-marie was provisionally succeeded at the head of his battalion by lieutenant dordet, who acquitted himself admirably. [ ] and yet these cemetery trenches afforded comparative security. before reaching them it was necessary to cross a perfectly flat zone of metres, continually swept by rifle fire and shrapnel. "this we passed at the double, in indian file, our knapsacks on our heads, and popped, those who had not been left on the way, into the cellars under the caretaker's house with an 'ouf!' of relief." (georges delaballe.) [ ] it must be remembered that the belgians had been fighting for three solid months, and that until the rd october they had faced the germans alone, if not at dixmude at least as far north as nieuport. [ ] to say nothing of a captive balloon. "violent bombardment of our trenches, directed by 'sausage' balloons; feeble reply of french and belgian artillery," is the entry, under date of the th, in an officer's note-book, where also we find under date of the th: "bombardment continued. night attack on the outposts, which were driven in." [ ] dr. caradec says the german artillery, consisting of batteries of 's and 's, was posted , metres away, behind the château of woumen, and near vladsloo, korteckeer, and kasterthoeck. [ ] before that, however, at half-past nine, a lively attack had been directed against the front of the ninth and tenth companies of the st regiment, which occupied towards beerst one end of the arc described round dixmude by our trenches; the extremities of this arc rested on the yser. the germans tried to push between the yser and the flank of the ninth company. this attack was repulsed by the two companies, assisted by fire from the remaining trenches and a battery of 's. [ ] rather above dixmude station, between the railway embankment and the eessen road. [ ] we find in the _bulletin de la société archéologique du finisterre_ that "m. de nanteuil, a retired naval officer, returned to the service in the first days of the war and was attached to the defence of brest and its neighbourhood. but this occupation seemed to him too quiet, and, in spite of a precarious state of health, he left no stone unturned to get to the front. fifteen days after arriving there he was killed, one hero more in a family of heroes. he was an efficient archæologist, especially in all that had to do with military architecture. he had published some excellent papers on our old feudal castles in the _bulletins_ of the _association bretonne_, historical notes and descriptions relating to the château of brest, the remains at morlaix and saint pol de léon, the churches of guimilian, lampaul, saint thégonnec, and pleyben...." he went off full of pluck and go, we hear from another source, his heart full of eagerness to meet the enemy. those friends who saw him off all noticed his radiant looks.... when mortally wounded, for paralysis supervened almost at once, and carried to the ambulance, his head was still clear, he was anxious as to the phases of the battle, and asked whether the enemy had been repulsed. he supported his sufferings without complaint, and in the evening, although he was very weak, they moved him on to malo-les-bains, for he "wished to die on french ground." [ ] dr. caradec, _op. cit._ [ ] he was killed. he had been hit by a bullet above the ear as he raised himself to glance round over the high bank of a watercourse lined by his men. [ ] to this major sérieyx had only surrendered after all his ammunition was exhausted, and he and his men saw that no further resistance was possible. the major had then asked sérieyx whether there was no means of crossing the yser. sérieyx answered, "i only know of one, the haut pont." now, at some fifty yards from where they stood, there was a footbridge which our sailors were at that moment crossing. sérieyx held the major's attention by taking a pencil and tracing a complicated plan of the position. from time to time firing took place, and the frenchmen planted themselves stoically in front of the boches, sérieyx working away at his plan. but the major grew impatient at its complication, and thought it better to make use of his prisoner to procure the surrender of the trenches. [ ] "the troops in the southern sector moved back towards the town, defending themselves by a series of barricades, under the orders of commander mauros and lieutenant daniel." (note-book of second-lieutenant x.) [ ] it has been said that an old woman caused the fall of dixmude on november . "the allied forces occupying dixmude," said the _daily mail_, "consisted of a squadron of cavalry encamped on the right bank of the yser, two batteries of 's, a regiment of infantry, and a battalion of zouaves (!). the battle began with a violent cannonade, which had the great distillery in the centre of the town as its principal objective. two of our 's were on the first floor of a tannery, the others below, on a little mound where skins were cleaned. our artillery was able to hold the enemy in check, opening great breaches through the hostile ranks with its shells. one german gun lost all its team, and the uhlans were mown down by our sailors. our men, cavalry and infantry, were awaiting the word to attack. just at this moment appeared an old woman to whom our zouaves had been kind, as she seemed so miserable. she had marched with them, leaning on the arm of one and another and sharing their soup. she mounted to the first floor of the tannery, and then disappeared. a moment later a light appeared on the roof of the distillery. it was seen to swing three times from right to left. five minutes later the german shells began to rain upon the point indicated by the light. in a very short time the building was greatly damaged, fires broke out, and the burning alcohol lighted up the whole neighbourhood. unable to stem either the deluge of shells or this conflagration, the french general decided to evacuate the town and entrench himself on the canal banks. with great difficulty the 's were withdrawn from their positions. before quitting the city the french soldiers saw, and were able to identify, the 'old woman,' stretched on the ground, with the uniform of an uhlan peeping from beneath 'her' skirts." this is all pure imagination. spies certainly played a part in the fall of dixmude. too many people were accepted as refugees and distressed inhabitants who were in reality the guides and accomplices of the enemy. but, in the first place, we had no zouaves at dixmude; secondly, our observation post was not in a tannery; finally, we had no cavalry. the only body which barred the way to the germans was the marines, omitted in this account. [ ] the following details of this fine operation have reached me, but before giving them i must remind the reader that the germans who fell upon the reserve under commander rabot did not destroy company . this company, after a lively exchange of fire, retired upon companies and , which were almost intact. dixmude had already fallen, when the captains of the three companies met, and after thinking over the situation, determined to hold on at all costs. consequently "company proceeded to place a small advanced post on the beerst road, with two double sentries, and a rear-guard at the old mill. the company itself was drawn up with one rank facing to the front, the other to the rear, and the trenches so arranged that a front could be shown in any direction. the machine-guns abandoned by the belgians were overhauled and placed so as to sweep the beerst road. at . the little northern post was attacked. pursuant to orders, it retired after a volley or two. then fire opened along the whole line, the machine-guns of company joining in. the germans, who expected no such stubborn resistance, had severe losses. for an hour the fight lasted without change, the men still at their post and the trench still intact. all the killed, captain baudry among them, were shot through the head, the wounded, in the head or the arm, in the act of firing. at this moment the beginning of an attack from the rear made itself felt. the time for retreat had come, as the detachment had lost connection with the staff of the battalion. the companies moved off successively, each leaving a section to protect its retreat. this retreat was admirable, but quite indescribable on account of the ground. _arroyos_ (mud-holes) everywhere. the men got through, although sinking to their armpits and handing on their wounded before them. after two hours of this painful but orderly progression, they arrived before the footbridge over the yser. a farm granary arose near by, where the germans had mounted machine-guns to sweep the bridge. lieutenant cantener, who was now in command, decided to carry the farm. the operation was a complete success. the germans were driven out, the farm burnt, and the yser crossed. the column, with its wounded in front, then made its way safely to the cross-roads at caeskerke, and thence into the shelter trenches at oudecappelle." the third battalion of the st regiment, which held the northern sector, had the following officers: company , berat, poisson, le gall; company , baudry, mazen, devisse; company , cantener, hillairet, le provost; company , de nanteuil, vielhomme, charrier. [ ] according to m. pierre loti, the marines at dixmude lost "half their effective and from to of their officers." this estimate is none too large if we include the wounded and missing. [ ] according to the _nieuws van den dag_, , wounded were sent to liège the next day. another dutch journal, the _telegraaf_, says that out of , men engaged in the attack on the southern sector of the defence "only a hundred men were left after the fall of the town." all estimates are clearly uncertain in such confused affairs, and so we have taken our figures preferably from the neutral press, in which we may look for a certain amount of impartiality. [ ] the operation was carried out by quartermaster le bellé to whom the military medal was awarded. "a night or two ago," writes commander geynet, "i was ordered to blow up the sluice in front of me.... a little quartermaster crossed the stream on a plank nailed across two barrels. we pushed the prussians out of the way by rifle fire. my little man, with his charge of dynamite, chose his moment well, then, leaving his raft to draw the fire of the prussians, regained our bank by swimming." [ ] paul chautard in the _liberté_ of november . commander geynet says nothing of this episode, however. [illustration: plan of attack on dixmude on november th .] [illustration: map of operations round dixmude drawn by ch. le goffic.] * * * * * transcriber's notes obvious punctuation errors repaired. page : "be" changed to "been" (had been transformed into sailors). list of illustrations and page : "papagaei" changed to "papegaei". the photo preceding page shows this spelling on the building. page : "langermack" changed to "langemarck" in the second footnote. page : "oudescappelle" changed to "oudecappelle" in the footnote. pages , : "wouwen" changed to "woumen". page : "liége" changed to "liège". transcriber's note: minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. irregularities and inconsistencies in the text have been retained as printed. words printed in italics are marked with underlines: _italics_. words printed in bold are marked with tildes: ~bold~. the daily telegraph war books the battles in flanders the daily telegraph war books cloth /-net each post free / each ~how the war began~ by w. l. courtney, ll.d., and j. m. kennedy ~the fleets at war~ by archibald hurd ~the campaign of sedan~ by george hooper ~the campaign round liege~ by j. m. kennedy ~in the firing line~ by a. st. john adcock ~great battles of the world~ by stephen crane ~british regiments at the front~ ~the red cross in war~ by miss mary frances billington ~forty years after~ the story of the franco-german war by h. c. bailey with an introduction by w. l. courtney, ll.d. ~a scrap of paper~ by e. j. dillon ~how the nations waged war~ by j. m. kennedy ~air-craft in war~ by s. eric bruce ~famous fights of indian native regiments~ by reginald hodder ~the fighting retreat to paris~ by roger ingpen ~the first campaign in russian poland~ by p. c. standen ~the battles of the rivers~ by edmund dane ~from heligoland to keeling island~ by archibald hurd ~the slav nations~ by srgjan pl. tucic ~submarines, mines and torpedoes~ by a. s. domville-fife ~with the r.a.m.c. at the front~ by e. c. vivian ~motor transports in war~ by horace wyatt ~hacking through belgium~ by edmund dane ~with the french eastern army~ ~the german navy~ by archibald hurd _other volumes in preparation_ published for the daily telegraph by hodder & stoughton, warwick square, london, e.c. the battles in flanders from ypres to neuve chapelle by edmund dane hodder and stoughton london new york toronto mcmxv prefatory note ever since the middle of november last there has been on the west front in the present war what many have called and considered a "deadlock." in the account which follows of that part of the campaign represented by the battles in flanders the true character of the great and brilliant military scheme by means of which, and against apparently impossible odds, the allied commanders succeeded in reducing the main fighting forces of germany to impotence, and in defeating the purposes of the invasion, will, i hope, become clear. the success or failure of that scheme depended upon the issue of the battle of ypres. not only was that great battle the most prolonged, furious, and destructive clash of arms yet known, but upon it also, for reasons which in fact disclose the real history of this struggle, hung the issue of the war as a whole. no accident merely of a despot's desires caused the fury and the terror of ypres. it was the big bid of prussian militarism for supremacy. equally in the terrible and ghastly defeat it there sustained prussian militarism faced its doom. contents chapter page i. the crisis of october ii. how the crisis was met iii. the eve of ypres iv. the battle of ypres--first phase v. the battle of ypres--second phase vi. the battle of ypres--the crisis vii. the battle of ypres--final phase viii. the battle on the yser ix. the winter campaign x. neuve chapelle chapter i the crisis of october at the beginning of october there had arisen in the western campaign a crisis with which it needed the utmost skill and resource of the allied generals to grapple. both the nature of this crisis, and the necessity of reticence concerning it at the time, ought to be made clear if we are to appreciate either the momentous character of the battle of ypres, or the profound effect which that glorious feat of the allied arms has had upon the fortunes of this war. into france at the beginning of the war the germans threw their mighty expeditionary force of twenty-eight army corps, disposed into eight armies acting in co-operation. with the circumstances under which that line of armies, in part held on the french fortified frontier, was compelled to turn from paris to the valley of the marne and was there defeated, i have dealt in "the battle of the rivers." for the reasons there set out the original objective, the seizure of paris, was seen by the germans when the army of general von kluck reached creil, to have become impossible until the french fortified frontier was in their hands. their armies were directed upon the marne with that aim. in the manoeuvre they exposed the vulnerable point of their line, its right flank, to the powerful onset, which general joffre, who had foreseen the situation, at once launched against it. defeated on the marne, the germans lost the military initiative--the power to decide upon their movements and to compel the enemy to conform to them. to the soldier the initiative is the practical embodiment of military superiority. it is the first great step to victory. in every war the struggle has been to seize and to hold it. more than in any war has that been the motive in this. campaigning with armies, not only vast in point of numbers, but dependent upon a huge, varied, and costly machinery of destruction, transport, and supply, has made victory more than ever hang upon this power to direct their complex organisation to the desired end. all that the initiative implies. it can therefore be no matter of surprise that germany's long preparations were without exception designed to seize the initiative at the outset, and to hold it if possible. in that event the whole force of the german empire would with the least wastage and in the shortest possible time be applied to the accomplishment of its government's political aims. from the great main headquarters staff down to the strategical railways, the depots, the arsenals, and the military workshops, the german military system was planned to combine swiftness with complete co-operation, and provided the german commanders discovered the ability properly to control and direct the machine, not merely the seizure of the initiative, but the retention of it seemed assured. in that case, however long and bitter the conflict, the outcome could never have been in doubt. applied, in accordance with the plans of the german staff, first on the west, and then on the east, the initiative, seized at the beginning and held to the end, must have given the armies of germany the victory. the battle of the marne was of vital importance in two respects. in depriving the germans of the initiative, it snatched from them the chief advantage of their preparations. from that time their organisation had to be adapted not to fulfil their own designs but to meet the designs of their opponents. the difficulties in detail consequent upon this change need not be exaggerated. they were great. from the german point of view the whole problem of carrying on the war was altered, and for the worse. again, the defeat on the marne brought the germans face to face with a contingency which most of all they had hoped to avoid. their plans had been drawn on the assumption of being able to employ practically their total active force, first on the west front and then on the east. they had never calculated on the necessity of having to divide that force, and to employ one half of it on the west, and the other half of it on the east _at the same time_. with the defeat of the marne, however, that necessity came into view. it meant, unless by some means the necessity could while time yet allowed be overcome, elimination of the condition mainly essential to success in the war--unity of the active force of the empire. these two changes, loss of the initiative, and necessity for a division of forces, were changes which the germans had, if they could, at all costs to wipe out, and it is but stating truly and without exaggeration the problem which during the later weeks of september confronted the german staff, to say that it was the problem of bringing the last man and the last gun then available to bear on the west for the purpose of regaining the lost power of the offensive. if such a strength could be brought to bear in time, then the initiative might be restored, division of force avoided, and the probable course of the war shifted once more on to its original lines. it was because considerations such as these lay at the back of it, that the germans, quite contrary to their traditions and training, went to the almost incredible labour of constructing across france from the aisne ridge to lorraine, that phenomenal line of more than miles of deliberate fortifications and entrenchments. the risk involved in the marne operations had, we now know, not been unforeseen. nor were the consequences of failure, if it proved a grave failure, miscalculated. indeed, the very precautions taken to prepare this line from the aisne to lorraine prove that they were not. that line, and that line alone, offered the probability of restoring the lost advantages, and of parrying the effects of the disaster. enabling the germans to hold their front and to bar the advance of the allies with the minimum of force, that line at the same time was to have aided them--and this was its chief design--to throw the largest possible masses westward from their flank, pivoting on noyon. by that movement they might cut the main allied armies off from paris. the scheme had the merit at once of boldness and of simplicity. for success it depended on bringing their fresh masses forward with the utmost rapidity. to that end the german military machine was worked to its fullest capacity. thus began the new and enormous movement of landwehr army corps into france. in part the german scheme was frustrated by the attack carried out by the british army in the battle of the aisne, and in part by the delays due to the very magnitude of the preparations. unless attempted on a great scale a scheme of this character had better not be attempted at all. since the success or failure of germany in the war plainly hung upon it, the effort _had_ to be on a great scale. of germany's corps of landwehr, by far the greater number were embodied during these weeks of september. it may seem to the uninitiated a simple matter to call up, embody, and make ready for the field a million and a half of men, or thereabouts. but even with a military mechanism like that of the german empire, it is a complicated business. that all this was done in fact in rather less than three weeks is nothing short of marvellous. because it was done, however, was the reason of the crisis at the beginning of october. within the same later weeks of september general joffre had been able to throw against the german flank from noyon to the somme the powerful french army commanded by general castleneau. he was thus in a position to forestall the german design. on the other side german army corps had by extraordinary forced marches arrived from belgium just in time to ward off the thrust of this french army against laon, a thrust which would have crippled the whole german defence and a thrust which the battle of the aisne was fought to assist. the fighting from noyon to the somme was deadly. on the german side losses were not regarded. the purpose of these troops was, cost what it might, to hold the ground until the main reinforcements came up. they suffered appalling losses. nevertheless, though at a heavy sacrifice of life, the immediate objective, that of preventing a french advance along the valley of the oise, was accomplished. the german resistance was undoubtedly very brave. to begin with, thanks alike to the superiority of their artillery, and to the _élan_ of their recent victory, the french advanced with some rapidity. the germans were driven out of compiègne. their hastily thrown-up trenches were found filled with dead, many slain by the terrible concussion of the french high explosive shells. as the french advanced these trenches were filled in. meanwhile, packed into every available train and by every available railway, the masses of the new german formations were being rushed westward. immediately they detrained they were hurried into the fighting line. in the face of these increasing numbers the french advance along the valley of the oise was held. from the defensive the germans passed at once to the counter-offensive. in great strength they launched an attack from noyon and towards roye. the front swayed. in the end, however, the french line from the oise to the somme remained firm. it must then have been seen that the german outflanking scheme, thus anticipated, had become, on the lines first laid down, impracticable. the result was the great attack on rheims. it is clear now that when the attack was decided upon, the germans believed the army of general castleneau to consist not of fresh troops, but of the reserve of the main french army. acting upon that belief they concluded that a vigorous assault upon rheims ought to be successful. if successful the assault would accomplish all that the outflanking scheme promised. in any event it would prevent the french from massing further forces to the north of the somme. with the german reinforcements still coming forward, the outflanking scheme could be tried again at the point where the french line at that time ended. the attack upon rheims failed because the german hypothesis upon which the attack had been founded was in fact false. the army of general castleneau _did_ consist of fresh troops, and _not_ of the reserves of the main french army. after the attack upon rheims came the attempted german turning movement north of the somme through albert. here, however, the germans found themselves unexpectedly confronted by yet two other french armies under the command of generals d'armade and maudhuy. their great plan for re-seizing the initiative consequently still hung fire. general joffre had been at work to good purpose. the result was to extend the fighting front from the oise to the great northern coalfield. all this while the russian pressure on the east front had been growing and that prospective but fatal division of german forces was threatening to become more inevitable. all this while, too, in order eventually to avoid that division more german reinforcements were pouring west. as it stood at the beginning of october the position was thus: at antwerp there was the belgian army; at ghent, under the command of sir henry rawlinson there was the th british division of infantry, and the rd brigade of cavalry; there were some, though not many, british troops at dunkerque; there were a few french troops at bethune. practically, however, between ghent and the terminus of the french front west of lens there were no allied forces. here was a gap of nearly miles. if through that gap the germans could push their way in strength, they could ( ) separate the belgian army and the british troops in belgium from the rest of the allied armies; ( ) reach the coast and cut the most direct communications with england; ( ) pursue their outflanking scheme by turning the right of the french line. for the germans the necessity for carrying out that scheme had day by day become more urgent. the opportunity at last seemed to lie to their hand. they proceeded to seize it. now let us turn to the other side. if general joffre could close this gap and extend his line directly northwards to the coast, he would ( ) save a considerable slice of territory and coast from german occupation; ( ) keep open the most direct communication with england; ( ) both defeat the german outflanking scheme, and himself outflank the enemy; ( ) impose on the germans the necessity, arising from such a position, of constant counter attacks, and so waste their strength; ( ) hold them ineffective on the west whatever might happen on the east; ( ) compel them to meet russian pressure on the east out of their further reserves, and thus ensure at once the division of their forces, their more rapid exhaustion, and the victory of the allies in the war. such were broadly the issues which at the beginning of october last hung in the balance. every appearance seemed to favour the german chances. general joffre was then raising yet another (the tenth) french army. even, however, at the utmost speed it could not be organised and equipped under a further fortnight. the germans, however, had on their side begun their movement. through the wide gap between ghent and bethune they were already pouring a great mass of cavalry, screening the oncoming of their main masses. they had launched their final assault upon antwerp. it looked as if for them the moment had arrived. chapter ii how the crisis was met general joffre is a great man. so much is known now to all the world. but this war was not a month old before every military man was aware that the head of the french staff, a galaxy of brilliant men, was a star of the first magnitude. the greatness of joffre as a general lies not so much in his simplicity, about which many stories are told, nor yet in his strength of character, his incorruptible honesty, or his unshakable fortitude. it lies in the force of his intellect which, joined to his character, makes his judgment unerring. he is marked off because he foresees, and foresees truly. it has been stated that his plans for the battle of the marne were drawn up and completed on august . quite possibly they were. the movement which then substituted the sixth french army, that of general d'armade, for the british on the extreme left of the allied line, argues a clearly settled purpose and plan. all the movements just stated in the briefest outline were parts of a settled purpose and plan. is it likely that, the situation being what it was at the beginning of october, general joffre was at a loss to meet it? he was not at a loss. at least he was not at a loss for ideas. the difficulty was the means. three french armies were already fastened on the flank of the german position. to fill the gap between bethune and the coast it was essential to find three others, and at once. he had only one. time here was everything. ever since the germans had grasped the necessity of re-seizing the initiative at all costs, it had been a race against time. their military railways and their organisation, carefully elaborated through years to meet just such a contingency as this, was pitted against the resources of a great military genius. it was the brain of one man against a system. and the man won and the system lost. to any ordinary mind it might have appeared that the situation of the allies in that first week of october was well-nigh hopeless. to a great mind, however, difficulty is the measure of opportunity. general joffre visited sir john french at the british head-quarters. the result of that interview is stated by sir john french in his dispatch of november : early in october a study of the general situation strongly impressed me with the necessity of bringing the greatest possible force to bear in support of the northern flank of the allies, in order effectively to outflank the enemy and compel him to evacuate his positions. at the same time the position on the aisne, as described in the concluding paragraphs of my last despatch, appeared to me to warrant a withdrawal of the british forces from the positions they then held. the enemy had been weakened by continual abortive and futile attacks, while the fortification of the position had been much improved. i represented these views to general joffre, who fully agreed. arrangements for withdrawal and relief having been made by the french general staff, the operation commenced on october , and the nd cavalry division, under general gough, marched for compiègne en route for the new theatre. the army corps followed in succession at intervals of a few days, and the move was completed on october , when the first corps, under sir douglas haig, completed its detrainment at st. omer. that this delicate operation was carried out so successfully is in great measure due to the excellent feeling which exists between the french and british armies; and i am deeply indebted to the commander-in-chief and the french general staff for their cordial and most effective co-operation. in a word, the british commander-in-chief, seizing the nature of the difficulty, knowing its causes, and realising how much turned upon it, stepped forthwith into the breach. with sir john french, as with general joffre, to decide was to act. "early in october" the decision was taken. on october began the carrying of it out. what difference in time is there between "early in october" and october ? no difference. thus while the germans still imagined themselves opposed on the aisne ridge to those british troops who, dug into their almost invisible entrenchments, had for nearly a month successfully withstood the repeated and furious attacks of the flower of the prussian army twice or more than twice as numerous as themselves, the british had silently ebbed away. their places were taken by french troops of the reserve, and the germans remained no wiser for the change. and the british travelled through paris, and by roundabout routes, as it seemed to them, through north-west france, and very few remained wiser for their journey. nor after long successive hours in crowded railway carriages followed by detrainment at a place altogether strange did any but a very few of the british even know where they were going to or for what purpose. all they knew was that they were going somewhere to meet the germans. no move in the campaign was more unexpected or more daring than this. it affords but one more proof of how false is the assumption that the element of surprise has been banished from modern war. the secrecy of it was only less remarkable than its boldness. with an intelligence service supposed to be second to none, the german staff were left without even a suspicion of it until it had been accomplished. the importance of the move was that it made general joffre's scheme for the military envelopment of the germans immediately feasible. there was now but one more thing to do, and that was to withdraw the belgian army from antwerp in order that they should complete the allied line. that it is true involved the evacuation of antwerp. quite apart from the fact that the belgian army, reduced by the casualties and the hardships of their heroic campaign, were no longer sufficient in numbers properly to garrison that great fortress, their withdrawal served a purpose more valuable even than its defence. many no doubt are much more readily impressed by the evacuation for the time of a great fortified city than by what they consider a mere military scheme, the value of which is a matter of opinion. in this instance, however, the carrying out of the scheme meant the assurance of victory in the war. the evacuation of antwerp was advisable on the principle that the greater comprehends the less. after the transfer of the british forces from the aisne, and the removal on october and of the belgian troops from antwerp to the yser, there were on the german flank from noyon to the sea six allied armies. taking them in the order of position from south to north they were: the army of general castleneau; the army of general d'armade; the army of general d'urbal; the army of sir j. french; the army of general maudhuy; and the army of king albert. let it be remembered that in addition to the twenty-eight army corps of the german expeditionary force as at first constituted, there were at this time either in or on their way to france twenty-one reserve and volunteer corps, making the enormous total of forty-nine. that, independently of casualties and wastage, gives, on the german war footing, an aggregate of , , of all arms. undoubtedly the casualties and wastage had even up to this time been very heavy. it is reasonable and moderate to put it roundly at nearly , men, two-thirds of those losses being casualties in battle. even that, however, left approximately , , combatants. besides, the casualties and wastages had been largely made good by fresh drafts. when we bear in mind the vital consequence to germany of the plan for re-seizing the initiative which the german staff were endeavouring to carry out, there is nothing in the least surprising in their hurrying into france reinforcements and drafts of such magnitude. the position in brief was that the total german force in france had been brought up to at least a million men above the immense, and as it was supposed crushing, strength of the initial expeditionary force, and that, too, despite the losses incurred. many of the facts relating to this war are so wholly without parallel that not a few people, unaware of the true vastness and menace of the military system of modern germany, find it hard to give them credence. as nearly as possible, however, the figures of the forces sent from germany into belgium and france will be found to be these: original expeditionary force ( active and reserve corps) , , fresh drafts to supply losses (approximately) , additional reserve corps , , --------- total , , the problem of dealing with such a force, and of dealing with it when the total strength that could on the side of the allies then be put into the field against it was in round figures a million less, is a problem quite unlike anything in war since in napoleon fought the memorable campaign which preceded his abdication and exile to elba.[ ] [ ] this statement is based on the following facts which at this date (the beginning of october) summarises the then immediately prospective situation as regards numbers:-- total german forces sent into or about to be sent into france and belgium , , less casualties and wastage approximately , --------- net german forces , , allies:-- nine french armies, reinforced to full strength , , th french army (in formation) , british (including forces at ghent) , belgians , --------- , , --------- , , the disparity of course was afterwards redressed. it took, as it proved, some twenty days before all the additional german forces could be sent west, and on the other hand the embodiment of french reservists was proceeding at the same time, but the possibility, not to say the probability, that the germans would get in first, constituted the crisis. nobody will venture to say that, having such a superiority in numbers at their command, and occupying besides a strongly fortified line of front, enabling them further to economise their strength in one direction while they threw it with greater weight in another, the germans were not fully warranted in thinking that the success of their scheme was assured, and that if it was assured, the french having shot their bolt in the battle of the marne, and shot it in vain, there was an end to all intents of the struggle on the west. how was general joffre to grapple with this vast enigma? by meeting the germans on traditional lines of tactics? it was impossible. besides, in the face of modern arms traditional tactics are out of date. they survive only in popular tradition, and in the criticism based upon it. the only way on the allied side at once to secure and eventually and fully to reap the advantages won at the battle of the marne was to complete and to solidify the military envelopment which would render the whole of this gigantic force of invaders for all the purposes of the invasion impotent. it was plain, too, that the immediate purpose of the germans was now to straighten out their front across france. if the reader looks at a map he will see that the fortified line held by the enemy from the argonne to the aisne, would, if continued to the north-west, touch the french coast near to havre. with such a straightened front not only would the germans have the channel ports in their possession, but they would be free either to advance, if they had the power, or to retreat if they chose. what is more, they would then be able to advance or to retreat as a whole. in such a position it is clear their advance would have enormously greater momentum, and their retreat be an operation of far greater safety. moreover, their front would be shorter, and in consequence stronger. when, therefore, i speak of general joffre's scheme of military envelopment, i mean by it the difference, and it is a vast difference, between the position of the germans were their front straightened out and their position in an angle. placed in an angle their armies were for all the purposes of their campaign paralysed, and except to counter-attack, which after all is no more than a defensive tactic, they could do nothing. besides, in such a situation counter-attack is a necessity. it is an axiom confirmed by all experience that troops in such a situation cannot maintain their position merely by a passive defence. if from this situation there was for the germans but one outlet, that of wheeling round their flank until it came into line with the rest of their front, it followed that their pressure would inevitably be greatest on the extremity of the radius, that is on the part of it nearest the coast, and it was manifest that no effort possible would be spared by them to apply that pressure before the line of the allies here could be formed, or at all events before it could be made firm. to the british army therefore in this scheme was assigned a post which was at once a post of honour and of danger. strangely enough some of the greatest and most striking facts in this war appear to have been overlooked. among them is the fact that this military envelopment, or outflankment, meant to the germans, if they could not prevent it, both the ruin of their hopes of victory in france, and the certain loss of the war. clearly then it was to be expected that every ounce of strength and of energy they could command would be put into the struggle. we can well understand, though the public, perhaps happily, remained in ignorance for the time, the anxiety that prevailed, except it would seem at the head-quarters of the french staff. there the characteristic calm does not appear to have been disturbed. following his custom, the french commander-in-chief went usually to bed at nine o'clock, and rose at . , save when duty took him, as it did take him at times, to places in the fighting line. he gave his instructions, knowing that if carried out, as they would be if possible, the result would be right. a mighty worker and the very personification of the commanding quality of decision, he never swerved by a hair's breath from his plan, foreseeing all its consequences and judging justly of its effects. he judged justly of its effects because he relied upon essentials. on the one hand the germans had a huge superiority in numbers. they had also at this time a superiority in heavy guns. on the other hand the allies held the superior position. further, they had a decisive superiority in field guns; not a numerical superiority, but one based on the greater power and accuracy of the " " gun as compared with the german converted " " gun. in just after the german government had completed rearmament of its artillery with the " ," the french brought out the " ," the first really practicable quick-firing field gun until then known. this invention revolutionised modern gunnery. to meet it the germans were forced to "convert" their " " into a quick-firer. their gun, however, remained distinctly inferior and out-classed. neither in muzzle energy, muzzle velocity, nor consequently in range was it any match for the french weapon. leading the way as they always have done in artillery improvements, the french had evolved, besides, a novel system of "fire discipline," for using this gun scientifically and with the maximum of effect. that system had already justified itself by striking results. in no small degree it was the " " gun which had crushed the german resistance on the marne. in no small degree, too, it was the " " which had ruined the german attack upon rheims. the " " had withered the attempted turning movements from noyon, and north of the somme with the breath of death. clearly, apart altogether from its strategical conception, sound and great at once as that conception was, general joffre's plan of military envelopment was inspired by the aim of giving the widest effect to this superiority in gun-power. here again is one of the facts of the war which has not been estimated at its right value, and has misled many critics of the western "deadlock." now the german higher command well knew that in field artillery they were out-classed. the " " has a muzzle energy of foot-tons as compared with the · foot-tons of the german " ." the french artillerists also had solved the problem of the "universal shell," that is of a projectile combining the effects of a high explosive shell with those of a shrapnel shell. with the germans this problem was still in the stage of experiment. in order to off-set such marked disadvantages the german government had gone in largely for heavy howitzers. when the war broke out they had undoubtedly a superiority in that class of weapon. the french scheme of rearmament with howitzers had only begun. this was perhaps one reason for the german precipitancy. upon their superiority in heavy howitzers they now largely relied for their second contemplated "drive." artillery, however, is not the final word. nor was this placing of the british force on the northern wing of the german armies in any sense an accidental choice of location. it was certain that the german attack, initiated with their heavy cannon, would be driven home, if it could be driven home, by assaults in mass formation from their infantry. the necessity then was for a force which could be relied upon in any event to stop such rushes. that force was pre-eminently the british army. the british army were a body of expert riflemen. they were more. they, and they alone, were armed with a rifle capable of firing rounds "rapid." delivered by troops who can keep cool under the experience, rounds "rapid" will stop the densest rush ever organised. the british army had shown themselves able to do it. they formed the element of the allied forces which in a case like this could, if it were humanly possible, save the situation. it will be seen, therefore, that the scheme of the allied generals though it seemed to lack spectacular magnificence, was business, and was in every sense and emphatically _war_. chapter iii the eve of ypres the plan of the allied commanders, at once original and bold, was decided upon at that conference at the british head-quarters on the aisne. from the first in this war the french intelligence service has shown itself excellent. the french head-quarters staff has not only been well and reliably informed of the enemy's preparations and movements, but promptly informed. in this instance the prospective movements were a matter of almost certain inference. given the motives of the german government, and the military principles favoured by the german staff, both quite well known, and what they would do and how they would try to do it, was a conclusion that a general much less sagacious than joffre might safely draw. the exact extent and character, however, of the german preparations, and the degree to which those preparations had been advanced was definite information of a valuable kind. it is apposite here to note its effect. on september the belgians made a sortie in force from antwerp, and on the following day recaptured malines and termonde. in consequence of this part of the german reinforcements, three army corps, which were on the march from liège and had already reached the french frontier, had to be recalled. that army became engaged in the first attack upon antwerp. the object, their diversion, had been gained. when, after discovering that an attack upon antwerp was hopeless without heavy siege guns, they finally reached the front in france, the purpose for which they had been dispatched, that of attempting to outflank the allies to the west of noyon, had become impracticable. we know now that the german government had determined to avenge this disappointment by the capture of antwerp. that, however, for the reasons already stated was fully expected. the siege employed another german army from september to october . true, the germans had the satisfaction of occupying the city, and of such political effects and impressions as that occupation produced. on the other hand there can be no sort of doubt that had those troops, thrown through the gap which then existed between ghent and bethune, seized calais, and been able hold to the line from the coast to bethune, the military effect would have been twenty times more serious. instead of doing that the german government swallowed the bait of antwerp, only to discover when too late, and when they had let the critical days pass, that the hook was the british army at ypres, which during a month's furious fighting in the effort to retrieve their error cost the germans over , casualties, and what was worse, the wreckage of their western campaign. before entering on a description of the operations which, in fact, during the later weeks of october and the first two weeks of november decided the future course of the war, it is advisable to have in mind a clear picture of the terrain of this mighty and memorable conflict. if the reader looks at a map of france he will see that from the outlet of the somme, the coast of the english channel takes a sudden bend to the north, and that not far from calais it swerves sharply round again to the east. if from near the mouth of the somme we draw a line running north-east, that line, roughly parallel to the line of the coast from the point at which the shore bends round near calais, will mark approximately the boundary of a difference in the height of the country above sea level. south-east of this line the country is considerably higher. north-west of it the country is as a whole low-lying and flat. in fact the line may be called an inland coast divided from the sea by a stretch of flats having an average breadth of some twenty-five miles. the eastern area of these flats is the pas de calais; the western area flanders. this inland coast line, geographically the northern edge of the plateau whose central and highest part is the chalk downs of champagne, presents numerous sinuosities. its course, that is to say, is a succession of capes and bays. in far-off times when in fact it was the sea coast, it must have presented a contour not unlike that of the present coast of devonshire. formed of alluvial deposits and reclaimed little by little, the flats lying between this inland coastline and the sea are a very fertile tract. they gradually became the seat of a numerous population; and then, owing alike to proximity to the sea and to the number of the navigable waterways, the earliest and most important seat of industry and commerce on the continent of europe. the ancient capital of this country, the centre of its trade and the seat of its government when it formed an independent dukedom, was ypres. in the eighteenth century was made the discovery that underlying or contiguous to this area was one of the largest of the european coalfields. that discovery changed large parts of the flats by degrees into modern industrial districts. the point to be kept in mind for present purposes is that geographically flanders is one area, though now situated politically partly in france and partly in belgium. its two chief centres of population and industry are ghent and lille, both seats of the cotton trade, for like lancashire in england, this lancashire of the continent is engaged mainly in the textile industry and in coal-mining. lille is close to and in fact situated in one of the larger bays of the inland coastline already spoken of. nearly midway between lille and the coast at dunkirk there is a feature it is important to notice. the otherwise uniform flatness of the country is here broken by a range of low hills shaped like a crescent moon. this range of hills lies to the south of ypres. from kleine zillebeke on the east to the mont de cats on the west the ridge is not more than ten miles in length. ypres is situated within the crescent. the feature is important to notice because of the streams which here take their rise. from the higher level of inland country there flow north-east the scheldt, and north-west the somme, and the lower courses of those rivers mark what may be called the natural outer boundaries of this flat area. from the hills south of ypres again rise the aa, the yser, and the lys. the first two flow outward towards the coast; the lys bending first round to the south and then to the east, falls into the scheldt at ghent. from dunkirk eastward the country is protected against inroads of the sea by dykes. this part of it is below sea level. at nieuport, the outlet of the yser, there are locks which permit the outflow of the river at low tide, but bar the inflow of the sea at high tide. for a thousand years flanders, owing to its natural fertility, has been the scene of a developed agriculture. characteristic of it are the great substantial old farmhouses usually built round a square courtyard, places marked by the proverbial flemish cleanliness and by the equally proverbial flemish plenty. practically every acre of the country was under cultivation. the only exceptions were the woods situated round the old châteaux and country houses, evidences of the general wealth. in addition to these there existed one or two not very extensive tracts of ancient forest. round ypres, more especially to the east and north, these woods and pleasaunces formed an almost continuous ring. in the fourteenth century ypres was a great industrial city with something like , inhabitants. during the struggles against first spanish and then austrian domination, and in the destructive wars of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it steadily lost its importance. the population dwindled. at the outbreak of the present war the number of inhabitants was not more than , . the old city offered nevertheless many evidences of its former consequence and wealth. there was the monumental and famous cloth hall, one of the finest gothic buildings in europe. erected by baldwin, count of flanders, and adorned with statues of the forty-four counts, it had a façade feet in length, noble alike in design and in proportions. a conspicuous feature of the building was its central and massive square tower. in the middle ages ypres was a fortress. from the top of the tower the view extended on every side over a wide extent of country. the sea and the coastline to the north, and the higher land across the lys to the south came equally within the prospect. conversely from outside ypres the tower formed a notable landmark, seen rising above the horizon many miles away. in old days the cloth hall was a great mart where, to merchants from every part of europe, flemish manufacturers displayed their fabrics, the then unrivalled wonders of the loom. in modern times, trade having departed save for an almost local industry in lace and linen, the cloth hall had become a museum and gallery of art. under the public-spirited and careful government of the present royal family of belgium, the building, one of the cherished monuments of the country, was in lovingly restored.[ ] [ ] mr. n. e. monckton jones, formerly tutor in modern history in the university of liverpool, in a letter to the _observer_, thus describes the impression made by the first sight of the building: "turning perforce with the street at right angles, we passed into a narrower, more winding, one with more old gabled houses, and here and there a fine sculptured moulding or portal. then of a sudden we were at the place, and the cloth hall in all its full glory before us. it was not the size of the building nor its richness that halted us so abruptly and made us all eyes for the moment. it was, i think, the arresting dignity of it, a dignity built up of fine and simple lines and the mellow contentment of age. many buildings in other towns were statelier, more ornate, more imposing, but from the pointed arcade below to the long line of the great roof the hall told of a fine sense of proportion, of reserve. its builders did not aim at outdoing other men, but they knew what they needed, and would have it seemly, and by sheer reiteration of a simple plan well conceived they made homely simplicity glorious. the cloth hall expressed the self-respect of burghers who had won their rights two centuries before magna carta." besides the cloth hall, however, and the fine cathedral dedicated to st. martin, the former importance of ypres was shown in its wide and elegant streets, bordered by antique flemish mansions, abodes of an old world tranquillity, and with interiors like pictures. the most pleasantly situated perhaps of all the flemish cities, ypres was a favourite place of residence, an urban cameo set amid woods and hills of broad and sweeping yet softened outline, round about it a ring of peaceful villages, and the private seats of old-time and settled wealth. if this was the ancient capital of flanders, the scene on the farther side of the crescent of hills across the valley of the lys presented the most striking of contrasts. in that direction the background of the picture was a forest of tall chimneys--the great city of lille overhung by its cloud of smoke. the foreground was an apparent tangle of railways, roads, canals, brickworks, industrial villages, mills, dyeworks, machine shops, the multitudinous aspects in short of industry as it exists to-day, superposed upon the ancient flemish features of the countryside--its spacious farms, its sluggish rivers, and its everlasting flatness. for with the growth of commerce the rivers had been linked up with a network of canals, and over these, with joints represented by scores of bridges, had been spun a webwork of railways branching in all directions into sidings. lille itself is but the centre of half a hundred industrial villages and smaller towns, the heart of a huge ganglion of commerce and manufacture. farther south we come to the coalfield. of the discovery of the coalfield all this modern activity is the outcome. there the industry changes in character. cotton mills give place to ironworks and blast furnaces. the face of the country is dotted with great mounds of "spoil." its general aspect is grimier. in all directions it is cut up by narrow, badly-paved and rutty lanes, tracks leading mostly from the pits and works to the villages of the pitmen and ironworkers. to the tangle of canals and railways and railway sidings there is added this third tangle of foot and cart tracks, made for the most part as haphazard and as convenience directed. through this maze of ways and byways the only guiding lines are the usually straight and excellent french main roads which sweep across the country from town to town with an imperial disregard of local obstacles. the plan and purpose of the main roads is largely military, and has come down from the days of the roman occupation. such in brief are the main features of the country. as will be seen in the following pages, their bearing upon the operations of the war is of the first importance. chapter iv the battle of ypres--first phase the main body of the british forces arrived in french flanders on october . it will be recalled that in his dispatch sir john french states that the movement from the aisne began on october . why, it may be asked, were eight days taken to complete this transfer if it was so urgent?[ ] [ ] in the french official review of the first six months of the war it is stated that: "field-marshal sir john french had, as early as the end of september, expressed the wish to see his army resume its initial place on the left of the allied armies. he explained this wish on the ground of the greater facility of which his communications would have the advantage in this new position, and also of the impending arrival of reinforcements from great britain and from india, which would be able to deploy more easily on that terrain. "in spite of the difficulties which such a removal involved owing to the intensive use of the railways by our own units, general joffre decided, at the beginning of october, to meet the marshal's wishes, and to have the british army removed from the aisne." well, in the first place the withdrawal of the british forces from the aisne had to be carried out in detail. to have effected the withdrawal in mass would at once have aroused the observation and suspicion of the enemy. next the forces thus withdrawn in detail, and in detail replaced by french troops, had to be massed at a convenient place secure from hostile intelligence hunters. finally this main body of the british army had to be sent forward to the new line of front as a whole. thus it was that the nd army corps, under the command of general sir h. smith-dorrien, detrained at bethune on the same day, october , that the rd army corps under the command of general pulteney detrained at st. omer. these towns are some twenty miles apart. coincidently with the detrainment of the infantry and the guns, the nd and rd divisions of the british cavalry advanced under the command of general allenby and occupied the little town of aire, which lies nearly half-way between them. by this move a front was formed from near lens, where the french line ended across the country north-westward to the coast. the gap, so far as outflanking the allied forces was concerned, was closed. in the latter part of september, as a prelude to their scheme, the germans had occupied lille. an occupying force which they had left there on their advance towards paris had been driven out by the british. they now detached for the seizure of the city the th active corps and the th reserve corps. in the face of this overwhelming strength the british troops in lille, part only of a division from dunkirk, had no alternative but to retire. it was a bitter day for the inhabitants of lille which witnessed the departure of these defenders, welcomed only a little while before with every demonstration of public joy. besides these two german army corps who, based on lille, began at once to drive westward towards boulogne, a powerful mobile column, consisting of four divisions of cavalry, supported by horse artillery and three brigades of jaegers, crossed the lys, and passing to the south of ypres, made a dash through bailleul for hazebrouck, covering at once the flank of the main advance from a possible attack from dunkirk, and carrying out a turning movement against such french forces as were then supposed to be holding bethune. these german troops, the two army corps and the flying column, though mustering in all more than , men, were only the vanguard of the mass intended to be thrown forward. it is clear that their expectation was that of attack from dunkirk on the one side and from bethune on the other. the flying column advanced to hazebrouck, and the cavalry occupied the forest of nieppe to the south of that town without opposition. meanwhile the belgian army, which had evacuated antwerp two days before on october , was on its way westward along the coast covered by the british troops under the command of general sir henry rawlinson. all the probabilities appeared to be that both the belgian army and these british troops would be cut off. we may judge then of the surprise of these german forces when, along the line of the aa, they came suddenly up against this massive wall of the british army supposed to be on the aisne. sir john french, however, had not transferred his army to northern france in order to stand on the defensive. the wall of british troops was in rapid movement. on this same day, october , the british cavalry dashed across the aa, swept the german horse through and out of the forest of nieppe, and drove them as far as the mont des cats. there the germans attempted, at the end of a flight of some fourteen miles, to make a stand. in the attack upon the forest of nieppe the british cavalry of the th division had carried out to the north a movement which threatened the german force from the rear. when this was discovered the german retreat became a flight. reaching the mont des cats their horses were blown, but they were compelled to defend that position if possible because the jaegers, evacuating hazebrouck under cover of their cavalry, had thrown themselves into meteren and bailleul. this cavalry fight, in which on both sides more than , men took part, though relatively, perhaps, but one of the minor episodes of the war, was, in fact, of its kind colossal. it was a clash of sabre against sabre, man to man. in numbers the germans had an advantage of about three to two, and that advantage ought to have been decisive, but apart from the fact that their mounts hard ridden across country, were winded, the superiority of the british was so marked that they had not hesitated earlier in the campaign, and with success, to attack the german horse when the enemy had a proportion of two to one. in cavalry fighting skill, spirit and cohesion count for more than numbers. the defeat of the german cavalry in this action was decisive. it was not that they did not fight with bravery. they did. broken in one charge they were rallied by their officers for another. some four times in succession in the battle among the hills they attempted to recover. while the british cavalry were carrying out their brilliant drive, the rd army corps advanced east from st. omer to hazebrouck. in the meantime also the nd corps had taken up a line of positions along the canal from bethune to aire. next day (october ) the nd corps moved forward to merville, a little town south-east of the forest of nieppe. the plan of the british operations may be briefly stated. taking givenchy, a village two miles west of la bassee, as the pivoting point, it was intended to swing the line round until it reached the lys. in this movement the british front would swing through a quarter circle, that is, from north-west to north-east. the british cavalry would be on the outer, or left wing; the inner, or right wing, at givenchy would be hinged on to the french positions. in this way the country between the lys and the sea would be cleared of the enemy, and the allies envelopment carried from givenchy past lille, so that that important place could no longer be used by the germans as a base for overrunning the country to the coast. there was a further aim. this was to seize, if possible, the railway junction at menin, ten miles north of lille. the move would both embarrass the german occupation of lille, and hamper the enemy in any attempt to throw troops in force over the lys. on the other hand, the immediate purpose of the germans is equally clear. not strong enough, as they judged, to risk a pitched battle; their right wing exposed by the defeat of their cavalry; and the probability owing to this unexpected appearance of the british army now being that the belgians from antwerp and the british troops from ghent would get through, they determined to obstruct the british movement by guerrilla tactics, and until their main forces came up to defend in detachments the numerous and almost contiguous villages of the country, taking advantage of its network of canals and railways, and of its tangle of roads and cross roads. it is difficult to imagine what is in military language called a "close" country more difficult to operate in than this, one of the most densely populated areas of the world. the german scheme was to treat the civilian inhabitants with ruthlessness, wasting and plundering as they retired. manifestly, the success of the british movement would depend upon its energy. the germans were fighting to gain time. not stopping, therefore, at merville, the nd corps fought forward directly towards lille by way of laventie, in the valley of the lys. laventie, about ten miles west of lille, is the centre of a dense semi-urban industrial district. concurrently the rd corps advanced eastward from hazebrouck towards bailleul. seven miles to the south-west of ypres, that place lies on the southern slope of the crescent of hills already referred to. some scattered advance posts of the enemy were met with in intermediate villages, and were driven in. the germans had taken up a position along the ridge from berthen, between the mont des cats and mont noir on the north through st. jans cappel and bailleul, and on the main road to armentières. about two miles in advance of this line they held in force the villages of fletre and meteren, which they had fortified and barricaded. the british attack began at daybreak on october . it was a day of rain and fog, one of those fogs which, in autumn, cover these flats with an almost impenetrable mist. such conditions rendered movement over the low-lying sodden country slow. on the other hand, as against the british troops moving to the attack the conditions put the german guns out of action, and, what was not less material, they concealed the movements of the allied cavalry. for by this time the french horse, under the command of general conneau had arrived, and the plan of battle was that the french cavalry should assault and turn the left of the german position at nieppe, on the main road from bailleul to armentières, thus cutting off the enemy from lille, while the british cavalry attacked berthen. in the meantime, the main assault would be delivered by the infantry against bailleul, the centre of the hostile position. throughout the th the fighting raged round fletre and meteren. both places were taken. meteren was stormed in an onset which at nightfall drove the germans who were holding it in a ragged rout to bailleul. general pulteney decided at once to follow up this advantage. an advance on bailleul was immediately begun. all this while the cavalry on both wings had been active. at daybreak on october the british horse broke into berthen, and despite a bitter resistance drove the germans out, and began to roll up their flank on that side. the french cavalry had got astride of the armentières road. realising that their whole force was in danger of being rounded up, the germans took the chance offered by darkness, intensified by heavy rain, to beat a precipitate retreat. when the british infantry reached bailleul, they found the town evacuated. these operations opened up the way to lys, and the rd corps advanced on october to the line of that river extending from armentières to near laventie. they thus came into line with the nd corps, which, driving the germans off the main road from la bassee to estaires, an important road junction on the lys two miles above sailly, had pushed on to fournes. at that place, four miles east of neuve chapelle, and not more than seven from the centre of lille, they cut the german communications between lille and la bassee. thus, at the end of four days, the british were both at armentières and at fournes, within seven miles of lille, and formed with laventie as the base of it, a front of almost a right angle, the apex pointing westward. at the same time the cavalry had received orders to continue their drive from berthen across the country and down the valley of the lys towards menin.[ ] in those four days the germans had been driven back some twenty miles. decidedly the surprise provided for them by the british army had been anything but agreeable. [ ] on reaching warneton, on the lys, ten miles above menin, the cavalry found the place strongly held by the germans, who at the entrance to the town had constructed a high barricade loopholed at the bottom so that men could fire through it from a lying position. this formidable obstacle was encountered by a squadron of our cavalry. nothing daunted, they obtained help from the artillery, who man-handled a gun into position and blew the barricade to pieces, scattering the defenders. they then advanced some three-quarters of a mile into the centre of the town, where they found themselves in a large "place." they had hardly reached the farther end when one of the buildings suddenly appeared to leap skywards in a sheet of flame, a shower of star shells at the same time making the place as light as day and enabling the enemy--who were ensconced in the surrounding houses--to pour in a devastating fire from rifles and machine guns. our cavalry managed to extricate themselves from this trap with a loss of only one officer--the squadron leader--wounded and nine men killed and wounded; but, determining that none of their number should fall into the enemy's hands, a party of volunteers went back and, taking off their boots in order to make no noise on the pavement, re-entered the inferno they had just left, and succeeded in carrying off their wounded comrades. in these four days the british line had been pivoted round from st. omer to armentières. however looked at, the feat alike in its swiftness and its energy is remarkable. the numbers engaged on each side, roundly some , men, had been about equal. reinforced on the way from the aisne by fresh drafts from england, the british army had the support of that french cavalry which in combination with our own had rendered such brilliant service at the battle of the marne. the german troops were among the best of the enemy's forces, and the operations had shown that, even with the defensive advantages offered by this exceptionally "close" country, they were, on a footing of equality in numbers, no match for the allies.[ ] [ ] "on the th the rd division fought splendidly, crossing the dykes with which this country is intersected with planks, and driving the enemy from one entrenched position to another in loopholed villages, till at night they pushed the germans off the estaires-la bassee road, and establishing themselves on the line pont de ham-croix barbée."--_dispatch of sir john french of november , ._ an episode of the fighting is thus described in an officer's letter published in the _daily telegraph_: "the enemy are no match for us in this kind of fighting, and we enjoyed thoroughly the work of hunting up the germans, whom we shot down like rabbits. when we reached the outskirts of the wood we came under a terrible artillery fire from the enemy's guns, which were only yards away. i withdrew my men under the cover of a ditch. "i took eight men and again moved to the outskirts of the wood, where i found a perfectly flat turnip field stretching away towards the enemy. about yards out i saw a line of our infantry lying flat on the ground, and made my way towards them. no sooner did we leave the cover of the wood when the enemy's guns opened up on us. "it seemed impossible that my little party could escape. three were almost immediately hit, but we others kept on and reached the line lying in the open. half a platoon were extended at five paces. to my horror i found all were dead or wounded except about three, who were keeping perfectly still. i found the subaltern lieutenant b---- on one knee, with one hand resting on the ground just in the attitude of a runner who is waiting the signal for the start of a race. he was stone dead. a shrapnel bullet had pierced his head. "the man next him, who was badly wounded in the thigh, told me they were ordered to support the firing line, which was yards ahead, and had only advanced yards from the wood when the entire line was struck down as if by lightning." as the belgians had during the opening weeks of the campaign followed out a system of tactics admirably and skilfully adapted to the populous and settled character of the terrain over which the fighting then took place, so the germans now attempted to resort to similar tactics. they tried to contest the ground foot by foot. they endeavoured to turn every farmhouse into a stronghold; to barricade with the debris of buildings every road; they threw garrisons into every works; they loopholed the houses of and placed hidden machine guns in every village; they gathered for a rally behind every canal. the country was swept by fire and devastation. none of these efforts availed. nor are the reasons why they did not avail far to seek. such tactics were wholly at variance with modern german military training. the training aimed at a crushing movement in masses; the tactics to be successful, demanded alertness and initiative. so sudden a change in method and so complete a break with tradition meant, at any rate, that the mass of these german forces were but indifferent practitioners; they might know much of the abstract science but they knew little of the practical art of war. in one thing only were they thorough. they made up for their defects in practical military skill by their energy in plunder and destruction.[ ] [ ] dr. ludwig tasker, of the r.a.m.c., from the rear of the british line at this date wrote: "some of the villages are nothing but masses of ruins. we are covering ground passed over by the germans. they have not left a cupboard or a drawer alone. we respect all property, and when we go where the germans have been we tidy the things up so that the place looks very much better by the time the people return. day after day the same thing goes on here--fighting, fighting, fighting, collecting the wounded, and burying the dead." they were opposed besides in the british army to troops with whom alertness and initiative were valued as among the highest of military qualities. those troops also were expert riflemen. though standing on the defence under such conditions the germans ought, like the belgians at the outset of the war, to have inflicted far heavier losses than they themselves sustained, in fact, owing to the sweeping energy of the attack, their losses were out of all proportion the heavier. through the defeat at meteren and the drive of the allied cavalry towards the lys, their right flank had been turned, and the result was that they had been "bunched up" by the british in the tangled industrial district to the west of lille. bodies of them still held out at aubers and at herlies, two contiguous villages to the south-east of laventie, but both those places were on october attacked by the troops of the british nd army corps. this fighting went on amid streets obstructed by barricades, followed by hand to hand combats in the houses. the germans had now brought up a mass of fresh forces, including their th army corps, additional battalions of jägers, and four divisions of cavalry. notwithstanding these reinforcements both aubers and herlies were on october carried by storm. in the assault upon herlies the lincolns and the royal fusiliers, under the command of brigadier-general shaw, displayed an undaunted gallantry. on october the belgian army from antwerp reached the yser, and the british troops covering their retreat had arrived to the east of ypres. next day four divisions of the french cavalry drove out of the forest of hoethuist, north of ypres, a german force which attempted to cut in between the belgians and the british. concurrently, the british line west of lille was extended down the valley of the lys as far as frelingheinthree miles of suburbs from laventie to bois grenier and radinghem, the latter place not more than five miles from the centre of the city. such broadly was the situation. the german attempt to overrun western flanders had not failed merely; it had collapsed. chapter v the battle of ypres--second phase it is true that no line of demarcation divides the operations which resulted in the advance of the british army from st. omer to lille, and the operations which followed. technically they are all one, for the fighting was continuous. at the same time it is advisable for the sake of clearness to consider those operations rather in the nature of a prelude, and the main battle of ypres as extending from october to november , when the defeat of the germans was complete. on october the allied forces were: the belgians, who occupied the line of the yser from nieuport to dixmude; two divisions of french territorials, the th and the th, who had also arrived on october and were at vlamertynghe and poperinghe; the french cavalry, who held the ten miles of country between dixmude and ypres; the british troops under the command of general rawlinson, who held a line to the east of ypres extending from poelcappel through gheluvelt to zandvoorde; the british cavalry under the command of general allenby, who had pushed down to the valley of the lys towards werwick, three miles above menin; and finally, the main body of the british force, the rd and the nd army corps, holding a line to the west of lille from le ghier to herlies, and from there south-west, through the village of violaines, just outside la bassee, to givenchy. we may anticipate here by saying that on october the detrainment of the st british army corps, under the command of general sir douglas haig was completed at st. omer; that on the same date the th french army, under the command of general maudhuy, reached the line between ypres and dixmude; and that on october the first of the indian troops, the lahore division, also arrived at the front. there were now three armies, the belgians, the french, and the british, the latter consisting, with the indians, of four corps. the th french army included a division of marines from brest, and a corps of moroccans and senegalese. this was the force, equivalent, with the two bodies of british and french cavalry, to some , men, on which fell during the ensuing four weeks, the weight of an attack by eighteen german army corps mustering in the aggregate nearly , , of all arms. these german forces included: the troops of general von deimling liberated by the evacuation of antwerp, among them a division of marines; the army of the duke of wurtemberg, comprising the nd, the rd, part of the th, the th, and the th reserve (landwehr) corps; the army of general von fabeck, consisting of four corps and one division; the army of the crown prince of bavaria, comprising the prussian guards, the th, th, th, th and th corps; the th reserve corps; and the st bavarian reserve corps.[ ] [ ] some of these german army corps were not complete. a french army bulletin issued in november last stated that north of the lys, on october , the germans had fourteen army corps and four corps of cavalry. the gathering together of this vast mass of combatants does not appear to have been completed until october or . such delay as occurred, though in fact the massing was carried out at remarkable speed, sprang not from the embodiment of fresh formations, nor from any difficulty in sending them westward from germany. in order to make up this force which was intended to be another spear head, the germans had creamed the whole of their fighting front in the west. having before them the example of the transfer of the british army from the aisne, they had taken a leaf out of the book of the allies. all save the best of their reserve corps had been distributed along their front. these new levies released the more reliable and seasoned men alike of the active army and of the landwehr, and the importance of the battle of ypres is, apart from other consequences, that it broke or destroyed the best of the remaining troops of germany. to begin with, the weight of the german counter-offensive was thrown, not against ypres, but against the british positions to the west of lille. their objective was to secure la bassee, the little mining town on the northern edge of the coalfield, some eight miles to the south-west of lille. this point it is now clear they intended to make the immediate pivot on which to swing round their northern front. as the british positions at this time stood, communication between lille and la bassee by the main road was cut. there is another point it is insistent to notice. la bassee lies at the end of one of the promontories of the inland "coastline." it was already held by the germans and the spur had been strongly entrenched. yet another reason dictated the plan. one of the evident objects of the british operations was to push down the lys and seize the crossing and railway junction at menin. that would not only have gravely embarrassed the german occupation of lille, but would equally have embarrassed a development of their attack between the lys and the coast. menin, of course, could only be seized and held before the main mass of the german forces came up. accordingly, sir john french on october directed sir henry rawlinson to move from his position east of ypres and attack the place. the distance from the british line then at gheluvelt to menin was not more than five miles. no doubt the move would have left the country to the east of ypres for the time being open. the importance, however, of occupying menin appeared fully to justify the taking of such a risk. sir henry rawlinson moved forward to the attack, but it was not pressed. concerning this matter sir john french says in his dispatch: instructions for a vigorous attempt to establish the british forces east of the lys were given on the night of the th to the second, third, and cavalry corps. i considered, however, that the possession of menin constituted a very important point of passage, and would much facilitate the advance of the rest of the army. so i directed the general officer commanding the fourth corps to advance the th division upon menin, and endeavour to seize that crossing on the morning of the th. the left of the th division was to be supported by the rd cavalry brigade, and further north by the french cavalry in the neighbourhood of roulers. sir henry rawlinson represented to me that large hostile forces were advancing upon him from the east and north-east, and that his left flank was severely threatened. i was aware of the threats from that direction, but hoped that at this particular time there was no greater force coming from the north-east than could be held off by the combined efforts of the french and british cavalry and the territorial troops supporting them until the passage at menin could be seized and the first corps brought up in support. sir henry rawlinson probably exercised a wise judgment in not committing his troops to this attack in their somewhat weakened condition; but the result was that the enemy's continued possession of the passage at menin certainly facilitated his rapid reinforcement of his troops and thus rendered any further advance impracticable. on the morning of october the th division and rd cavalry division had retired to their old position extending from zandvoorde through kruiseik and gheluvelt to zonnebeke. proving abortive, this effort must have served to some extent at all events to disclose to the enemy the british general's intentions, and must in consequence have been of material assistance in deciding upon his dispositions. in justice to sir henry rawlinson it is necessary to point out that his position was by no means an easy one to maintain. as sir john french states: a very difficult task was allotted to sir henry rawlinson and his command. owing to the importance of keeping possession of all the ground towards the north which we already held, it was necessary for him to operate on a very wide front, and, until the arrival of the first corps in the northern theatre--which i expected about the th--i had no troops available with which to support or reinforce him. although on this extended front he had eventually to encounter very superior forces, his troops, both cavalry and infantry, fought with the utmost gallantry, and rendered very signal service. the army of the crown prince of bavaria was at this time opposed to the british between the line of the lys and lille, and it was along the ten miles between la bassee and frelinghein, amid a mass of almost continuous industrial villages, that the clash of the great battle began. outnumbered by nearly three to one, the british troops were subjected to an incessant series of desperate assaults. it was clear that the rapid success of the british operations during the preceding week, as well as the collapse of the german projects, had stung the enemy to fury. the attacks began against herlies and aubers, villages north of the la bassee spur, and themselves built along the tops or straggling down the slopes of two minor promontories. beaten off with heavy loss to the enemy, these attacks were, regardless of the punishment received, renewed both by day and by night. the villages were reduced by the german artillery to ruins. amid these ruins, however, and in the trenches cut for the defence, the british troops held out. in repulsing one of these attacks the royal irish, with magnificent dash, and burning to give the enemy a real taste of their quality, fought across the spur to le pilly, driving the germans before them like as though their advance was that of a column of irresistible demons. in le pilly they entrenched themselves. they had gone so far forward, however, in the impetus of the pursuit that they were cut off from communication with the rest of the british force. they fought until their last cartridge was used up. for more than thirty hours they held out, surrounded by masses of germans on all sides. sheer famine at the finish compelled them, and their gallant commander, major daniell, to surrender. instead of diminishing, the german attacks increased in violence. every successive repulse seemed only to add to the rage of their commanders. for four days and nights these onsets followed one upon another. to describe these but a little while before peaceful suburbs of lille, now cut and blown into wreckage and swept by the fire and hurricane of war, as a hell is to put it mildly. the days and nights were days and nights of dismal darkness and rain. foiled in the effort by a frontal attack to drive the british once more across the lys, the germans, now supported by the arrival of additional masses, developed their assault to the east and north of ypres. on october they captured le gheir, but were on the same day driven out of the place again with heavy loss. this important crossing of the lys is the most direct route from lille to ypres. in view of the heavy attack which by this time had been launched towards the flank position of the rd army corps at le gheir, the british cavalry were dismounted and put into the fighting line to fill the gap of some four miles still existing between le gheir and zandvoorde to the south of ypres. throwing aside the sabre for the rifle and bayonet and the spade, the cavalry promptly dug themselves in, and proved as valiant in the trenches as they had time and again shown themselves in the saddle. they were a thin line of less than one man to the yard. thin as it was, however, it turned out to be a line of steel. on october the st british army corps reached ypres from st. omer. they had covered the intervening twenty-five miles in one long day's tramp. it had been intended to send them in co-operation with the french cavalry forward to thourout, and possibly on to bruges. this scheme had to be abandoned. on october the battle became general from la bassee to dixmude. following upon a terrific bombardment, a powerful column of the enemy, debouching from la bassee, attempted in mass formation to rush the trenches held by the wiltshires and the manchester regiment at violaines. the attack never got home. the mass of the enemy, something like , strong, thrown into confusion by the deadly fire from the trenches, broke and fled. they were rallied and reformed from supports. a second time the assault was launched. it met with no better fortune. in the meantime an attack in enormous force had been hurled against the positions held by the rd british army corps. this attack, one of the bloodiest episodes of the battle, also failed. the germans, nevertheless, had got across the lys at warneton and at comines, two miles farther down stream, and, forming behind the railway, which here runs on an embankment along the valley to the north of the river, advanced in overwhelming force upon messines and houthem. though offering a desperate resistance, the british cavalry were forced to retire as far as hollebeke and wytscheate. part of the indian troops, the th division, sent to their support, delivered a brilliant flank attack on the germans from wulverghem. the germans held the ground they had gained, but their onset was paralysed. the british front had now been dented in. in consequence it became necessary to reform it. the line was withdrawn. from givenchy the positions extended to the high road running from violaines through neuve chapelle to armentières, and then through armentières across the lys to wytscheate. this is, in fact, the main road from la bassee to ypres. disposed along a line from bixschoote through langemarck on the north of ypres, the troops of the british st army corps were attacked by the whole strength of the army of general von fabeck. the resistance opposed to these enormous odds was heroic. time and again the attacks made in mass formation were beaten back. upon the prussian commanders the frightful losses suffered by their troops, who fell not man by man, but by ranks and companies, appeared to make no impression. a combined infantry and artillery attack drove the french cavalry across the ypres and nieuport canal. the british line had then to be retired. under heavy fire the cameron highlanders dug themselves in at pilkem on the canal two miles to the north of ypres. at the end of a day of awful carnage the germans at this point made a last desperate effort. they got at length up to the line of the trenches, hastily made to meet the exigencies of the moment. it came to the bayonet, with this comparative handful of british heroes against a mass of foes maddened by their losses. the highlanders fought like lions. at the cold steel the germans were no match for them. nothing but their dauntless courage and their military superiority saved them from being totally wiped out. out of that terrible fray the remnant of them retired, bloodstained and with bloodstained arms, but fierce and unconquerable, opposing a sullen front still to the enemy who, having at a fearful price won the position, had been too punished to follow up the advantage. these trenches at pilkem, it is interesting to note, were the nearest point at which during any part of the battle the germans approached to ypres. the enemy, however, did not enjoy his dearly-bought advantage long. at daybreak an attack upon the germans was made by the queens, the northamptons, and the king's own rifles. the enemy had occupied the night clearing the trenches of the dead, mostly their own dead, with which they were choked. for so prompt a counter-attack they were evidently not prepared. in the cold grey of this october dawn they suddenly saw these lines of khaki detach themselves from the mist. it was like a bad dream, but it turned in a flash into a fiery reality. the british infantry were into them with the bayonet. led by general bulfin, who had proved on the aisne that he was the man for a tight corner, the british brigade were out to retake those trenches. of british bayonet work these german troops had already seen enough. there was a scene, as they endeavoured to rally, of mad rage and confusion; the shouts and curses of their officers mingling with the roar of conflict, and the clash of steel on steel in the savage work of thrust and parry. german reinforcements were hurried up. the line of fighting men, their own troops in retreat, the british pressing on the rear, met the reinforcements as they advanced. with this fresh mass to deal with, the british troops in turn were forced backwards. they fought with a bulldog tenacity, and once more the germans gave way. by the end of the day, despite repeated attacks upon them, the british were masters of the position. even now the weight of such a battle as this was severe, and yet it was to go on for another twenty-six days. on october general joffre visited the british head-quarters. the result was the arrival on this, the rd of october, of the th french army corps. this reinforcement was sorely needed. on the east of ypres the line was drawn perilously thin. from zandvoorde round to peolcappel it was held only by the th division of infantry under major-general capper, and by the rd cavalry division, commanded by major-general byng. the cavalry, like the rest of the british mounted force, had gone into the trenches, or, rather, into hastily-made lines of fire-cover. somewhat remarkably, the germans had not been quick to discover the relative weakness of this part of the front. so far they had thrown the weight and fury of their attack against the north and south. their mistake undoubtedly arose from the bold tactics adopted by the british commander-in-chief. on the east of ypres he had kept up a show of counter-attack. the th division had, on the st, made a bound forward to passchendeale, on the way to roulers. this, following upon the movement towards menin, had evidently led the enemy to suppose that here was the strongest part of the british line. in plain language, the enemy had been most successfully "bluffed." as a consequence, the germans opposite the th division remained on the defensive, and there was gained a respite, if a bitter and incessant bombardment can so be called, of nearly two days. the interval was beyond estimate valuable. it enabled the th french army corps to take up part of the vastly too extended position held by these british forces, who had been spaced out over some six miles of country at the rate of considerably less than one man to the yard--a single line without reserves of any kind. following upon their arduous march from ghent, during which, covering the retreat of the belgian army, they had fought a rearguard action for the greater part of the way, the th division had, since october , been almost incessantly engaged. even the toughest of british troops--and these were among the toughest toughs in the army--would feel the worse for wear after such an experience. it had indeed approached "the limit"--as the limit was understood before the battle of ypres. picture the situation. these british and french troops in their hastily made trenches had not only masses of the enemy in front of them--masses thrown forward in dense columns of attack, which at all hazards they had to break--but the roar of battle in their rear, and from minute to minute they could not tell how the fortune of battle in their rear was going. they could only hope that their comrades, too, were "sticking it." overhead was the almost incessant flight and ear-splitting explosions of shells, an indescribable din. to right and left flared the burning ruins of houses and villages. an acrid smoke rolled over the awful scene, darkening the grey sky with its lowering pall. in this pallid light and amid the contending thunders of the cannon, a monstrous chorus from hundreds of iron throats, the grey-green ranks of the enemy would suddenly swarm out of their trenches, and their savage yells mingling with their volleys, would try to dash across the intervening space, , sometimes not more than yards. to reach the british trenches was a matter not of minutes; it was a matter of seconds. how were such rushes to be stopped? the only way was for these british infantrymen to sit tight and give them fifteen rounds "rapid"--fifteen rounds in less than as many seconds, rounds in which every bullet found its billet. the hostile mass came on trampling over its dying and its dead, but it was ragged and it grew more ragged with every one of those successive blasts of death. then it became a mere torn remnant, then it wavered. its fury was gone; its courage was gone; the driving power of its ruthless officers was gone; the fear of disciplinary punishment was gone; all were swallowed up in the instinctive love of life. a lightning rush back to cover to avoid that devastating hail of lead swept every protester off his feet. from first to last such an episode would be measured in time by minutes. into those minutes, however, seemed crowded an eternity of experience. in circumstances like these the sole thought of the soldier is his individual duty. he feels with an absorbing intensity that the issue depends upon him doing it even to the death. in that feeling lies the glorious "joy of battle." all round ypres was ringed with these contending fires. the heaviest pressure of the german attack, however, was still on the sector of the front between armentières and la bassee. it was plainly hoped that if success attended this onset, the retirement of the whole of the british, french and belgian forces to the north of it must follow, and strategically that must have been the result, for if the nd british army corps had given way, neither ypres nor the line of the yser could have been held. in the accounts which have been given hitherto of the battle, attention has mostly been directed to its later stages when the attack developed against ypres from the east, but the vital combat which went far to secure the eventual victory was the death grapple between the nd army corps and the masses of prince ruprecht's army thrown against them west of lille. these troops of the nd british army corps had been fighting almost day and night since october , that is up to this time for twelve days, and it had been impossible to afford them any relief. along this sector of the front the nd and rd corps of the british army were opposed to eight corps of germans. that immense superiority in numbers enabled the enemy to keep up an unbroken succession of assaults by a system of reliefs. costly in life to the enemy though such tactics were, he was evidently convinced that under this strain the british must inevitably break. the fighting raged through this now desolated area of ruined houses and wrecked roads. roofless, with great gaps torn in their walls by shells, the smashed remains of furniture mixed up with fallen and broken beams, splintered doors, and battered stairways, often the scenes of bitter hand-to-hand duels, the houses bordering the streets littered and obstructed by window-shutters shot-riddled and blown off their hinges, piles and fragments of bricks, slates and glass, the shapeless remains of chimneys and other flotsam of ruin. in face of the hostile pressure the british line had had to be drawn back on to the lower ground of the valley. this withdrawal, however, had tightened up and strengthened it, and the whole position was without question saved through general smith-dorrien making that necessary and prudent move in the right time.[ ] [ ] the german attack against the lincolns in the village of herlies and the retirement of that corps is described in a letter from corporal e. clark to major haggard, chairman of the veterans' club. corporal clark says: "... we found ourselves surrounded in the shape of a horseshoe, the enemy firing at us from all angles. we just got the order to retire when a shell struck the trench in front, a piece catching me on the nose and burying me, but i managed to crawl out nearly blind, and started to retire under a murderous rifle fire. no one could realise what it was like unless actually there. men were crawling about like ants trying to reach safety, but it was only luck for those that did. i managed to get to a wood, where i found a number of wounded, and waited until the firing cooled down, when we chanced it over the river, getting there as best we could, the germans shelling the bridge the whole time, also a railway cutting, in which we got for shelter." how the devons at a decisive point of the line covered this retirement and beat off a furious german attack is told by one of the officers of the corps. he says: on the night of october , we advanced a bit and dug ourselves more or less in by dawn, and soon after light we saw great masses of german infantry emerge from woods and hedges some , yards to our front, and advance to attack us. we opened fire on them, and killed dozens. this was answered by the germans with a tremendous shell fire from their heavy guns. the devons were perfectly wonderful; not a man left his trench. all day long the battle raged, and you never saw such an inferno. by night the place was a mass of fire, smoke, dead, and dying. all night they attacked us. sometimes they got right up to our trenches, only to be hurled back by the devons' bayonets. dawn broke on the th with the same struggle still going on, and it continued all day and night, and all through the th. we never slept a wink, and by night we were absolutely done. no humans could have done more. the men were perfectly splendid, and repulsed every attack, with great loss to the enemy. we were relieved at a.m. on october , and as we marched back a mile into billets all the troops cheered us frantically. general smith-dorrien sent a wire congratulating us on our splendid fight. we heard officially from divisional head-quarters that there were , dead germans in front of our trenches. the whole place was littered with their dead. on october the indian troops under the command of general watkis were sent to lacon, three miles in the rear of the front, as a reserve. in the evening of that day, a day like those preceding it of dismal rain, the germans made an exceptional effort. with the advantage of the bad and failing light, which it was probably hoped would confuse the british rifle fire, a thing they had now learned to dread, they delivered a massed assault in enormous force. the attack was made simultaneously by three columns directed one against the trenches held by the wiltshires above givenchy; the second against the trenches held by the royal west kents; and the third against the position of the gordons at the farther end of the line near fauquissart. the first two attacks failed completely. the third had a temporary success. the gordons, with odds which no skill with the rifle could overcome, were driven from their trenches. this was undoubtedly the chief point of the german onset. while the struggle was going on the middlesex regiment had been ordered up to support. they arrived nearly as soon as the germans had seized the position. darkness had now come on. shaken by their heavy losses, the germans were not prepared for this practically instantaneous counter-attack. they did not know what was behind it. the middlesex regiment appeared to spring at them out of the ground. though elated at their victory they were exhausted. for aught they could tell other forces were at the back of these. the fight was fierce but brief. the end of it saw the enemy flying back into the night to escape the deadly bayonets wielded with what seemed almost superhuman energy. the attack added another blank to prince ruprecht's record. in the meantime persistent attacks had been kept up on the position of the rd corps along the railway from laventie to armentières, as well as on the line held by the cavalry corps along the hills from wytscheate to zandvoorde. it was the evident intention of the germans to seize this ridge as dominating the british position in ypres. along this sector they were massed in great strength. shortened, however, as it now was the front held. the struggle round the village of hollebeke was to the last degree desperate. the line, however, of the indian troops along the high road from armentières to wytscheate still menaced this german attack in flank, and materially helped the cavalry corps to hold its ground. in view of this failure of the onslaught from the south, the enemy on october renewed his attack in strength against the line of the st british army corps to the north of ypres, and combined it with yet another onset south of ypres against the trenches held by the cavalry corps. it was deemed prudent to reinforce part of the line here from the reserve of french territorials. those of the cavalry whom they replaced were withdrawn and concentrated at zillebeke to the north of the zandvoorde ridge. apparently the losses and the confusion arising from the defeat of the great assault of the evening before (october ) made it impossible for the germans to renew their efforts on this day (october ) against the front from armentières to la bassee. their only success in the fighting of the th was the capture of the trenches held by the leicestershire regiment whom they had managed to overwhelm. we now come to a lull in the battle. it had gone on along the southern sector of the front since october , and along the whole front since october . during the last three days more especially the germans had exerted their total strength. they had incurred a terrible sacrifice of life, and so far the only result, a miserable result for such a price, had been the slight retirement of the british line to the west of lille, and a foothold across the lys to the south of ypres. it is not surprising therefore that for the time being they ceased their attacks while they moved up additional forces. these were not merely to repair losses but to add to the mass and momentum of the onset. none of the objects sought by this battle had been gained, nor did any one of them appear to any nearer of attainment. the position from the german side is reflected in the army order which on october prince ruprecht issued to his troops. copies of it were afterwards found on dead german officers of his army. "you have been fighting," he told them, "under very difficult conditions. it is our business now not to let the struggle with our most detested enemy drag on longer. the decisive blow has still to be struck." the kaiser at this time came to courtrai and thielt to supervise the massing of his legions, and went round their billets and cantonments making a succession of speeches. everything was done to fortify their determination, and heighten their ardour. a general army order was issued reminding them that "the thrust against ypres" was of decisive importance. on october the mighty mass of a front extending from lille to the coast was judged to have been refitted and in every respect ready for the final and irresistible blow. on his side sir john french had made use of the interval to reform and tighten his line. the comparatively weak spot to the east of ypres was stiffened, and if this lull was necessary to the enemy it proved of equal advantage to the allies, and opposed to the enemy's intended final blow a new set of difficulties. chapter vi the battle of ypres--the crisis the critical phase of the great battle began on october . its feature is that not only was the mass of the german force now at its maximum, but that the weight of the attack shifted from the part of the british front between la bassee and armentières to the centre of the british line to the south and east of ypres. it is this phase which has been commonly called the battle of ypres. except, however, as a phase, it is in no sense distinguished from the earlier fighting. on the third day (october ) the struggle to the east and south of ypres reached its crisis. from that date, notwithstanding that efforts and desperate efforts continued to be made by the enemy, his defeat was in truth assured. he had shot his bolt, and shot it in vain. to the strategical reasons which induced the germans to throw the chief force of their attack in the first place against the right of the british line to the west of lille, reference has already been made, and those reasons are sufficiently clear. the reasons which induced the germans to shift it to the south and south-east of ypres are not so obvious. indeed, the only acceptable explanation is that their severe defeat on october caused such discouragement that the plan of forcing the right of the british position was given up as impracticable. in order to reach ypres from the south it was necessary to win the ridge, while to reach ypres from the east it was necessary to penetrate the almost continuous belt of woods. these woods presented an obstacle which made the organisation of the huge mass attacks, in favour with the reigning school of german tacticians, almost out of the question. sir john french as we have seen took advantage of these features of the country skilfully to economise his force, and at the same time to conceal that fact and mislead the enemy. the germans it is evident had by october found out their mistake. they discovered that west of lille they had been running their heads against a stone wall, and deceived by the aspects and features of the country, had been neglecting what they now considered had been a comparatively easy entrance. when they changed their plans, however, they made yet another mistake--that of thinking or rather of presuming that the british dispositions would remain unaltered. through the woods to the east of ypres there is one great main road. beginning at menin--that town is just on the belgian side of the french frontier--this broad, well-paved highway runs nearly straight as an avenue into ypres.[ ] the distance is ten miles. from ypres the great road is continued towards the coast until at furnes it joins on to the great road which runs along the coast from ostend through nieuport, dunkirk, and gravelines to calais. [ ] there is only one slight bend in this road, that at the hamlet of hooge, a mile and a half out of ypres, but this bend proved, as will be seen, of considerable tactical importance. the importance of menin lay in the fact that not only do several lines of railway branch out from that place southwards into france, including the railways to lille, which is not more than ten miles away, but that it was the starting-point of this great road. ypres again is the starting-point of a converging great road to dunkirk. it may be remarked generally that the great main roads of flanders run across the country from inland to the sea, and not along the country parallel with the sea. there are certain nodal points in this road system. in west flanders, ypres is the chief of those points. if we study the disposition of the allied forces at this time with reference to the lines of communication, it will be seen both that they barred access to ypres, and that west of lille they were astride of, and therefore rendered useless to the enemy, the main line of railway from lille to calais. on that line bailleul, hazebrouck, and st. omer are alike situated. the german advance, checked and thrown back by the unexpected appearance of the british from the aisne, was an advance intended both to master the main line of railway, and the road system. for a distance of some three miles the avenue from menin to ypres runs through the belt of woods. six miles from menin and four from ypres it passes through the village of gheluvelt, cresting there the ridge of hills. a mile to the east of gheluvelt, and five miles from menin, a road branches off the main avenue to werwick on the lys, and, on the opposite side of the avenue here there is a cross-road of no great consequence, save that it serpentines northward through the belt of woodland until it joins the main road from ypres to bruges. trivial, therefore, as a public way, this cross-road was of considerable military value, since it gave access to some five miles or more of the woods. it may be added that just by these cross-roads, east of gheluvelt, there is a small outer ridge or rise called the hill of kruyseik, after the village of that name lying in the hollow, and that over the main crest at gheluvelt, and between that point and ypres there is another rise or ridge. behind this, on the side towards ypres, lies the village of zillebeke. across the hills, again, to the south of ypres and between that city and the lys, there are two somewhat zigzag minor roads. the first of these passes through the village of zandvoorde, and the second through the village of hollebeke. then further west we come to the main road running due south from ypres to armentières. along this road, some two and a half miles out of ypres, is st. eloi, and two miles farther on wytscheate. these topographical details may appear minute, but they have to be understood because they show that, to get into ypres from the south and south-east, the germans had as lines of attack these four routes: the main avenue from menin; the road through zandvoorde; the road through hollebeke; and the road through wytscheate and st. eloi; and it will be found that in fact their attacks were made along those lines. shrewdly foreseeing such a development of the battle, sir john french, on october , unified the immediate command of the troops on his eastern front by adding them to the st army corps. they were redistributed in order to meet the probable weight of the coming assault which was almost certainly to be looked for along the main avenue from menin. the line, in fact, was tightened up. the th division was disposed along a line some two miles in length from zandvoorde to the menin avenue, and held the hill of kruyseik. the st division continued the line from this point northwards and along the outer or eastern fringe of the belt of woods to near the village of reytel. the nd division continued the line, also along the outer fringe of the woods, to zonnebeke. altogether these troops, some , strong, occupied a front of about six miles. it was an exceptionally strong position, affording among other things first-rate shelter for the guns. bearing in mind, however, that they were preparing to meet an assault from nearly ten times their own number, supported by an enormously superior strength in artillery, no precaution could be neglected. the dispositions just outlined were made only just in time. at daybreak, on october , the attack began. the three divisions, all of them seasoned veterans, had hardly dug themselves in when a terrific bombardment opened. since their trenches were practically invisible, this bombardment proved more noisy than harmful. it was the prelude to the advance along the menin road of an enormous german column. flank and supporting columns advanced at the same time along the road to zandvoorde, and the minor roads north of the main avenue to reytel and zonnebeke. the attack was pressed along almost the whole front with the greatest determination. its principal object was to secure the kruyseik hill, and with it the road junction east of gheluvelt. by weight of numbers, and despite heavy losses--the terms used with regard to german losses in this battle may appear to be exaggeration, but in fact they are not--the enemy succeeded in capturing the kruyseik hill. that was about two in the afternoon, after a struggle lasting nearly eight hours. with the capture of the hill, they were able to assault the british line north of the menin road in flank, and at this point they broke it. elsewhere, however, along the front their onset had been disastrous. when close to the british lines they wavered under the almost unbroken fire from the trenches, general sir douglas haig gave the order for a general counter-attack. looking only for a "passive resistance," the germans were taken wholly by surprise. they tried to rally, but in vain. the shock threw their columns into confusion, and their whole front gave way. in the impetus the british troops rushed and retook the kruyseik hill by storm. in the captured trenches across the main road to the north of it a body of the enemy, though raked by fire in front and in flank, held out until nightfall, when nearly the whole of them had been killed or wounded. the trenches were recovered, and the survivors taken prisoners. beaten in the attempt to advance from menin, the enemy the same night renewed the battle in an endeavour to retake le gheir on the lys and to break the front at that point. the attack proved a total failure, though the british position was here astride of the river, and consequently from the tactical standpoint weak. at midnight a huge column of , men was hurled against the trenches held at croix marechal by the middlesex regiment. they came on with the greatest determination. part of the trenches fell into their hands. the middlesex, however, with the argyll and sutherland highlanders who had been hurried forward to their support, began a counter-attack. this fight, one of the bitterest episodes of the battle, went on through the night. the scene lighted up luridly and fitfully by star shell and flares, by the flashing volleys of the rifles, and by the explosions from minute to minute of shrapnel, was at once weird and awful. the germans were raked by a destructive fire from both flanks. as fast, however, as they fell others rushed into the trench line from their rear. so for nearly four hours the slaughter and the combat went on. at any price the enemy appeared resolved to hold this advantage. but towards daybreak the british infantry, having steadily closed in, rushed forward. the line of trenches, now choked with german dying and dead, was recaptured at the point of the bayonet. fighting to the last gasp, not more than forty uninjured germans were taken prisoners. the rout of the great column was driven back upon the hostile lines beyond the railway. while this struggle to the death was taking place at croix marechal, the enemy was gathering his forces for another onslaught of unparalleled magnitude. it began at dawn on october , and was an effort to fight across the hills by way of zandvoorde and hollebeke. in this there were employed five german army corps, aggregating nearly , men. opposed to them along this line were the british troops of the th division and the cavalry division, less than a tenth of their number. the advance along the menin road and through the woods having turned out to be too difficult, the germans were now at last trying this way. once more the onset was supported by a mighty bombardment, and once more the bombardment did comparatively little damage. what told was the weight of numbers. the attack came forward in two enormous masses. that thrown against zandvoorde comprised three army corps, the th and th prussians, and the nd bavarians. that thrown against hollebeke comprised two corps. a special army order had been issued telling the troops that the kaiser considered the success of this attack to be of vital importance to the issue of the war, and, indeed, for the reasons already shown, it was. of course and conversely its failure affected the issue of the war not less vitally. forward and up the southern slopes of the ridge these masses, fortified by the imperial order, swarmed in numbers that appeared to be countless, for to the eye even , men looks a multitude innumerable. the british gunners, pushing their guns forward daringly for greater effect, lashed them with a storm of shrapnel; the thin line in the british trenches shot them until the rifles were red hot. they went down not in hundreds, but in thousands. still they came on, crushing under their boots dead and dying indifferently. it was the supreme manifestation of the will to power; the climax of the war-lord's method of making war. such numbers could not be finished in the time. when those in front wavered under the swishing lash of leaden death, those behind pushed them on. they surged onwards like the waves of a rising tide. doubtless this sounds mere imagination. it is, however, but the feeblest reflection of the truth. there was nothing for it except, while time yet allowed, for the rd cavalry division, who were holding the trenches on the ridge east of zandvoorde, to decamp, and to decamp in a hurry. likely enough, the germans were astonished to discover the comparatively contemptible handful who had offered such a daring defence. the woods just to the rear of the british trenches aided the escape of these heroes. relatively their casualties had been few. with the nimbleness of redskins they disappeared among the tree trunks as the grey-green flood of the enemy, seeing their retreat, surged forward in a last rush and with a roar of triumph, sending after them a hail of in the main futile bullets. through the woods of the mile of intervening valley to the kleine zillebeke ridge, the british raced from one cover to another, keeping up a lively fire from every point from which the enemy on the main ridge were in view. this seems to have given the impression that the little valley was crowded with skirmishers, a gentry for whom the germans had by now imbibed a wholesome respect. they halted accordingly on the zandvoorde ridge to reform. this pause was fatal, and it is not too much to say that at that moment the issue of the battle lay upon the knees of the gods. the pause enabled sir douglas haig to re-establish his line. the fateful moment had passed, and the grey-faced emperor waiting anxiously in courtrai for the news that was to make him master of europe was little conscious that the scale of fate had gone down against him. yet it had. the british line was re-formed from gheluvelt along the kleine zillebeke ridge to the ypres and lille canal at the point where alongside the ypres and lille railway it enters the deep cutting in which both canal and railway are carried across the main ridge of hills. the strength of this position lay in the fact that behind it was an area of woodland nearly two miles in depth. along the bottom of the valley or depression separating these woods from those on the opposite slope lay a space of cleared land. this afforded a good field of fire. on the other hand, the woods on the opposite slope made it impossible to organise an attack in the immense mass in which the germans had swarmed over the cleared top of the ridge they now held. the position now taken up by the british troops was, therefore, strong, and had been chosen with a good judgment and a practical eye. besides that, the line was stiffened. it was intended to hold this position "at all costs." in the front trenches were the troops of the st division and the th brigade. the nd brigade formed an immediately supporting line. a battalion was placed in the woods as a reserve. the germans, however, did not forthwith press their advance, but contented themselves, for the time being, with making good their position on the main ridge. this, as already pointed out, was a fatal mistake. to render the british line more secure, and to strengthen its weak point--that nearest the canal--three infantry battalions and a cavalry brigade were transferred from the th french army corps. we now come to the concurrent german attack against hollebeke. the british trenches at hollebeke were held by the nd cavalry division; those on the right to the south-west and towards messines by the st cavalry division. this comparative handful of men had had to be spaced out over four miles of country. they were but a single line, less than a man, on the average, to every two yards, and yet they had to face the onset of two army corps of the best troops of germany! since the front towards hollebeke was too narrow for the employment of such a mass of the enemy with effect, and since, too, this attack was in fact a turning movement destined to assist the chief thrust through zandvoorde, the onset here forked, one tremendous column pressing north towards hollebeke and the other west towards wytscheate. it might well be supposed that with their weight of numbers the germans would have walked, or rather have romped, over the barrier. instead of that the cavalry of the nd division held on to their trenches, defeating assault after assault from daybreak until afternoon. they were at last, spent with the conflict, forced to give way. meanwhile sir john french had reached the front. at a glance he took in the crisis of the position. two regiments of the rd cavalry division were rushed along the line to the nd division's support. two battalions of the th indian division were also held to meet the emergency. at the same time the london scottish territorials and four battalions of the nd british army corps were ordered forward to neuve eglise for the like purpose. during the lull in the battle already referred to, from october to october , sir john french had placed the indian army corps in the positions on the right of his line to the west of lille, then occupied by his nd army corps. the latter were exhausted by fourteen days of continuous hard fighting. they were now available as a general reserve. the value and the necessity of this precaution is too manifest to need emphasis. re-formed as the line now was a little beyond hollebeke, it continued the front across the ridge from the ypres and lille canal to near messines. this section of the front was important for two reasons. in the first place it barred the germans off the main road from lille to ypres. in the second place it prevented the enemy from turning the position of the troops commanded by sir douglas haig by cutting their communications with ypres. that, of course, formed one of the objectives of this attack. another was to obtain the command both of the main road and of the ypres and lille railway. at hollebeke and even now just beyond it the british were astride the railway line. with objects like these in view it is easy to infer that the onset was pressed with all the vigour at the enemy's command. he had on this section alone nearly guns. these, both supporting and in the intervals between his massed infantry attacks, poured upon the trenches and behind them in order to keep reinforcements at bay, constant squalls of shrapnel. because less than , men were here resisting more than , , and continued to resist them all that day and all through the succeeding night, and all through the next day and all through the following night also, and because at the end of that, in truth, indescribable time, though the storm of the hostile guns never ceased, and infantry attack after infantry attack drove forward, only to melt into bloody confusion and wreck before the terrible power of the magazine rifle handled by resolute and veteran soldiers, it must not be supposed that the energy and the ferocity of the enemy were less than both had often before proved to be. the germans had never fought with greater determination. their defeat arose from the attempt to ride rough-shod over this apparently feeble line of defence by sheer weight of numbers. the british fought not merely with skill, but with the skill of masters. the germans, confident in their seemingly crushing strength, fought without patience, and with the clumsiness of amateurs. they aimed at a speedy and a showy triumph. in spite of all their military apparatus and machinery, and of their precision in drill, they fought, in fact, like a mob, and like a mob in such circumstances their losses were frightful. not only the defects of their military system--its exaltation of the machine, and its depression of the man--were here exposed, but the still worse and superimposed defects of their latest ideas of tactics. ignoring the realities as distinguished from the mere appearances of modern war, these ideas were the ideas of fantasy. to train men as an army, to employ them in battle as a mob, and, as a result, to look for victory, is of all notions the nearest akin to dementia. a conflict with these odds, and with this outcome has never before occurred in modern war. nothing like it, indeed, has occurred in war since leonidas and his spartans defended the pass of thermopylæ. this fight was the thermopylæ of modern times. it is no fanciful comparison. there was the same heroic devotion and military brilliance on the one side; there was the same use of a vast army as a mob on the other. in spirit and in method the military systems of ancient persia and of modern prussia are by no means as far apart as the distance in time might lead us to suppose. the story of these heroes of the british cavalry ought to be remembered as long as in any part of the world there is a man of british stock who cherishes a love for the islands of his origin, and can thrill to the splendours of their story. of the onset made by the bavarian army corps against wytscheate a correspondent of the _daily telegraph_ contributed an admirable record. this witness states: the perilous stroke smote the british line just south of ypres, and, as luck would have it, was adequately lit up by a silver moonlight. the dense masses of bavarian infantry sprang up with one accord. their pale uniforms and bayonets were lit up by the ghostly light, and formed a strange and terrifying picture, for the attacking line stretched far, and was supported by numerous small columns in reserve. the sight of this concerted advance in the night was highly picturesque and impressive, but it failed to shake the nerves of our stalwart cavalry. exposing their flank to sheets of fire from the neighbourhood of ypres, the bavarians pressed bravely forward, but all the while the steady rattle of the defenders' rifles from the trenches swept one rank away after the other. as fast as the german soldiers fell fresh groups pressed into the gap, and forced the line onward, but the toll of death shattered the constancy and corporate existence of an army corps. at one point or more our line was pierced by the surging mass of the assailants, and a partial retirement took place for a mile or more in the dark. but the enemy's strength was sapped, and a comparatively weak counter-attack made in the grey of the morning by fragments of regiments and fragments of squadrons, collected hastily by the firmness of surviving officers, and backed by some infantry supports hastily thrust forward, was successful in recovering the greater part of the lost ground. as reinforcements arrived on the scene next day, and as our artillery concentrated its bombardment on the spot, the whole position was restored, and the attack of an army corps was definitely foiled by about one-fifth of its numbers. october was the crisis of the battle. during the night of october the german flood, lashing in vain against the trenches held by the cavalry across the ridge, swirled in ponderous weight against those held by the th division infantry at st. yves, near the point where the british front crossed the lys. the front here broke under the pressure. the breach, however, was only momentary. with a heroism beyond praise, major prowse instantly led the somersets in a counter-attack. that intrepid corps, despite the enemy's ferociously tenacious resistance, drove him out. it was a bayonet fight, and a bayonet fight at its worst. the sturdy west countrymen, however, proved more than a match for any prussians. they swept into the combat with the smash of a sledge-hammer added to the keenness of a high-speed tool, and wrought havoc. against such a spirit and prowess numbers were unavailing. all through that night, while the thunder of the conflict was heard and its flare seen fifty miles away, the enemy smashed at this section of the front. but it was a front of iron. weighing his words, sir john french says in his dispatch: i am anxious to bring to special notice the excellent work done throughout this battle by the third corps under general pulteney's command. their position in the right central part of my line was of the utmost importance to the general success of the operations. besides the very undue length of front which the corps was called upon to cover (some twelve or thirteen miles), the position presented many weak spots, and was also astride of the river lys, the right bank of which from frelinghein downwards was strongly held by the enemy. it was impossible to provide adequate reserves, and the constant work in the trenches tried the endurance of officers and men to the utmost. that the corps was invariably successful in repulsing the constant attacks, sometimes in great strength, made against them by day and by night is due entirely to the skilful manner in which the corps was disposed by its commander, who has told me of the able assistance he has received throughout from his staff, and the ability and resource displayed by divisional, brigade, and regimental leaders in using the ground and the means of defence at their disposal to the very best advantage. the courage, tenacity, endurance, and cheerfulness of the men in such unparalleled circumstances are beyond all praise. so far, then, we have this result: that neither the attack through zandvoorde, the turning movement against hollebeke and wytscheate, nor the supporting attack against st. yves had achieved its object. stopped in their advance through zandvoorde, alike by the strength of the allied position on the kleine zillebeke ridge, and by the reinforcement of the line, which, after this experience made them judge a frontal assault totally impracticable, the germans determined to turn this barrier by reverting, on october , to their first scheme of an advance along the main avenue from menin. this, indeed, was in this direction the only practicable way through the woodland belt. when, at daybreak, their intention became evident, general moussy, in command of the reinforcement sent the previous day from the th french army corps, tried to anticipate it by a counter-attack. he pushed forward to the south-east of gheluvelt. there, however, in face of the great strength of the enemy he was brought to a standstill. along the great road from menin the germans advanced in a mass of enormous depth, which was in truth a human battering ram. by this means they meant to smash through into ypres despite any resistance that could be offered, and despite any losses. the battle developed at this point as a struggle at very short range. it swayed now this way and now that, as attack was followed by counter-attack. at length the pent-up mass of the enemy broke through, and swept along the road. the line of the st division of infantry at gheluvelt was broken. gheluvelt was taken by the germans; the flank of the th division along the kleine zillebeke range was exposed; the royal scots fusiliers, remaining in their trenches, were surrounded. the way open through gheluvelt and the main road, the enemy rushed up a great force of guns and began shelling the british positions in enfilade right and left. concurrently an attack was begun from zandvoorde along the main road leading across the intervening valley, and through the woods past kleine zillebeke. the th division were driven back through the woods towards ypres. it looked this time as though the german thrust had gone home. the situation was assuredly critical. sir john french earlier in the day had come to hooge, on the menin road. there, when the troops fell back, he found himself in the thick of the fighting. but he had taken his measures. advancing along the menin road the germans exposed the flank of their huge column. this was their vulnerable point. the british general at once threw upon it all the force he had within striking distance to the north of the avenue. the st and part of the nd division of the st army corps, some , men, were swung against the german flank in a mighty counter-attack. the manoeuvre turned the tide of battle. it was one of those bold flashes of resource which mark off great commanders from mediocre commanders. the enemy's advance was immediately arrested. thereupon the retiring british troops rallied. thus held in front and attacked in flank, the german masses, crowded together in a space too small for their numbers, were destroyed wholesale. their resistance, though fierce, was brief. the onset broke them. into and through the woods south of the menin road they fell back, confused and routed, upon zandvoorde. gheluvelt was retaken. here, to cover the retreat, a large body of the enemy attempted, behind hastily thrown up barricades, to hold out. the gunners of the nd brigade r.f.a. blew the barricades to pieces. then the worcestershires rushed the village with the bayonet. the result of this signal success was that the front was restored nearly to the line it had occupied at the beginning of the day. many of the enemy still remained in the woods. the th cavalry brigade was given the work of hunting them out. "they advanced," says sir john french, "with much dash, partly mounted and partly dismounted; and surprising the enemy, succeeded in killing large numbers and materially helped to restore the line." if the chance of victory passed from the german arms with their fatal hesitancy on the preceding day, this crushing defeat of their main attack made efforts to retrieve their fortunes hopeless. the attacks against hollebeke and round messines continued all through this day, and as already said, through the following night. they were wasted. the hammering went on too against the front down to givenchy. though by one of their battering-ram assaults the enemy had driven the indian troops out of and to the west of neuve chapelle, the hope of piercing the front was not realised. the indians, probably thought an easy proposition by comparison, turned out also to be stuff too tough to be broken. the gurkhas and the famous corps of sappers and miners were brilliant, and justly won the honourable mention given them in the commander-in-chief's dispatches. chapter vii the battle of ypres--final phase in its final phase the great battle lasted for another eleven days. holding now the main ridge of hills from zandvoorde to near wytscheate on the ypres-lille road, a distance of five miles, and in possession of the village of hollebeke, or rather of its site, the germans appear to have decided that the effective direction for their attack was through wytscheate and the sector of the allied front following the lille road from near wytscheate through the village of messines to armentières. and this decision on their part was without question strategically sound. could they have carried it out, they would not only have compelled the british forces to fall back from the west of lille, but to evacuate ypres. they would have won the battle. moreover the victory must have been decisive, for on the north it would have cut off an important part of the british and french forces, together with the belgians, from the remainder of the allied line, and on the south it would have turned the flank of that line. the mistake, a fatal mistake, lay in not having made this the real objective from the first, and in wasting force and incurring defeat, with its inevitable demoralisation, in attempts to break through into ypres across the belt of woods on the east and the south-east. there the only lines along which attacks in great strength could be thrown were roads running into ypres like spokes into the hub of a wheel, but the farther in any one of these attacking columns moved, the more were its flanks exposed. the precaution against flank attack, advance in echelon, was made by the character of this woodland belt out of the question. we have seen that, appreciating these capabilities of defence, the british commander-in-chief had crushed a gigantic onset. it is manifest now that the germans had believed that by weight of numbers they could prevail over the difficulties, and the chances those difficulties gave of holding this sector with a comparatively small force, but that had merely involved them in enormous losses, a risk inseparable from their tactics. having now realised their mistake, they attempted to throw an immense wedge of troops against the two miles of british line between wytscheate and messines. here again, however, they found themselves anticipated. the front was no longer held merely by a single rank of cavalry. the bemudded, dirty, unshaven ragged, and almost unrecognisable yet victorious survivors of that band of heroes had been relieved. part of the th french army corps, general conneau's cavalry, a division of the indian army corps, and a part of the british nd army corps were on or behind it. sir john french was taking no unnecessary risks. to these troops, some , in all, therefore, he added as a reserve units of the territorials recently arrived from england. it was certain that they would have to meet german forces four if not five times as numerous, and it was certain that those german troops would fight to the last gasp. the germans lost no time. their attack against wytscheate and messines was made concurrently before daybreak. they had taken advantage of the darkness to carry out mass movements which could not be sighted from aeroplanes. the onset was both heavy and sudden, and it formed probably the greatest night operation on record. darkness, it was now held, afforded the best protection against british rifle power. as this was an attack which had to succeed at all costs, the enemy took the heavy punishment inflicted by a furious resistance. a proportion of these german troops were lads of and even younger. they had been used to fill up the gaps left by casualties, and mingled with the older men drove forward on the order of their officers and faced death at the muzzles of british rifles and the massed guns of the british horse artillery by hundreds. both wytscheate and messines fell into the enemy's hands. at the same time with the evident object of arresting the movement of reserves assaults were made along the british line to the south of messines past armentières and along the valley of the lys. this part of the attack was, of course, no more than strategical. for the purpose it was useless. round both wytscheate and messines the enemy found himself confronted by quite unexpected forces. he could make no further advance from either. so costly indeed had been his attack upon wytscheate, that the french infantry, launched upon a counter-attack with the aid of a british cavalry force, cleared him out of the place at the point of the bayonet. it was during the fighting on this day, a sunday, that there occurred the episode which earned for the london scottish territorials the special acknowledgment of the commander-in-chief. transported in motor omnibuses from the base at boulogne to ypres, where, on arrival, they were quartered for the night in the hôtel de ville, they had been sent forward in the first instance to neuve eglise, and then to messines to support the front line. this was during the crisis of the german attack on october . the battalion fought its way forward from messines to a position east of the ypres-lille main road. there, under heavy fire, it dug itself in, and for five hours repulsed a series of determined assaults. resolved at any price to be rid of these fellows in kilts who had thrown themselves right athwart the line of advance upon messines, the germans, at two o'clock in the morning of november , renewed the onset with a crushing superiority of numbers. while the battalion was resisting the attack in front, another force of the enemy developed an attack in flank. others, getting between the first and second british lines of trenches opened an assault from the rear. these set on fire an adjacent house. the flare from this building lit up the combat and the bayonet charges in which the companies of the reserve dashed into and defeated the germans who had got round the position. by their gallantry the reserve prevented the battalion from being surrounded. unable to carry the position by assault, the germans now tried to wipe out the battalion by an enfilade fire from machine guns. this had now at length made retirement imperative. the corps had to cut its way out with the bayonet. inevitably the losses were heavy. the striking fact, however, is that the first unit of the territorial force which had taken part in battle had saved itself in a situation and in a manner which would have done honour to the most famous and veteran regiment in the service. indeed there are few episodes in british military annals more dramatic or more brilliant. naturally this episode, apart from its immediate military effect, attracted great attention because it afforded a proof of the quality of the territorial force, a proof which that force has since amply upheld. the effect of the delay opposed to the german advance by this unlooked for and obstinate resistance was serious. without question it upset their plans and prevented the attacks upon wytscheate and messines from being, as they had been designed to be, simultaneous. the result was both that the attack upon wytscheate failed to stay, and that the attack upon messines effected nothing more than the occupation of the ruins of that village. that trifling outcome needless to say was not the german aim. the upshot of the german operations for this day proved for all practical purposes negative. on november the effort to break through was renewed. wytscheate was once more attacked and carried. this time the place was set on fire, and as night fell at the end of the short dim november day the burning ruins cast round a mighty glare, lighting up the fierce and repeated bayonet charges with which time and again the french infantry threw back the efforts of the enemy to make headway. meanwhile, finding that strong forces of the allies had been ranged against them, the germans to the south of messines tried to open up a road for their columns with an artillery fire of great intensity. on the other side the british and french ranged a powerful force of guns in a wide arc, and concentrating the fire of these towards one comparatively limited fire-zone on the german front, moved that fire-swept area up and down the hostile line. the effect may be compared to playing the point of a ray of sunlight focussed through a burning glass. in face of such a fire no advance could be along this section attempted. the germans had to retire their troops out of range to save them from annihilation. and this in effect was the defeat of their scheme. next day (november ) the attack was towards hollebeke, in combination with another attempt to debouch from wytscheate. the diversion was tantamount to a confession of failure. in face of it sir john french knew that he had definitely won the battle. his first step was to issue an army order thanking the troops. every word of this historic document is justified. it ran: i have made many calls upon you, and the answers you have made to them have covered you, your regiments, and the army to which you belong with honour and glory. your fighting qualities, courage, and endurance have been subjected to the most trying and severe tests, and you have proved yourselves worthy descendants of the british soldiers of the past who have built up the magnificent traditions of the regiments to which you belong. you have not only maintained those traditions but you have materially added to their lustre. it is impossible for me to find words in which to express my appreciation of the splendid services you have performed.[ ] [ ] to the nd british army corps sir john french issued on the same date a special army order in these terms: "the field officer commanding-in-chief has watched with the deepest admiration and solicitude the splendid stand made by the soldiers of the king in their successful effort to maintain the forward position which they have won by their gallantry and steadfastness. "he believes that no other army in the world would show such tenacity, especially under the tremendous artillery fire directed against it. "its courage and endurance are beyond all praise. it is an honour to belong to such an army." but though in truth decided, the battle was not yet over. the germans refused to accept defeat. they now adopted different tactics. these were a tremendous bombardment of the british lines alternating with repeated attacks. the latter were not as before directed against one or two decisive points of the front, but distributed all round and included the part of the front to the north of ypres. there four hostile army corps were employed. the attacks were not only made with smaller masses and more numerous, but they were delivered both by day and by night and almost without cessation. it was, in fact, a tactic of wearing down. this went on for six days and nights without cessation. the struggle was marked by many remarkable episodes due to the fact that the germans, conscious of defeat, now fought with redoubled bitterness and with much of the spirit of bravado and revenge. one instance of this was the extraordinary attempt to carry a french trench by a charge of cavalry. this, of course, was no better than suicide. "every horse," says "eye witness," in recording the affair, "was killed, but those riders who were not hit continued the charge on foot. the last survivors were slain on the very parapet of the trench." at another point, where the bodies of a company of germans enfiladed by machine-gun fire lay as they had fallen in a regular row, a second body of the enemy advanced at nightfall, and along the line of corpses dug themselves in. by dint of these attacks, and while the british troops were strengthening their line, turning their hasty pre-cover into trenches of systematic make, with zigzag communication ways, and supports trenches and "dugouts" in the rear, the germans in many places advanced their positions so close that the occupants of the trench on one side were within earshot of those on the other. it became the enemy's practice to bring up heavy artillery in the night, to shell a british position, and while the troops were sitting tight under the bombardment to "dig in" close by. this closeness of the opposing entrenched positions in many places led to repeated night raids; a form of activity in which more especially the indian troops proved adepts. an indian night raid, which recovered a line of trenches the enemy had taken, is thus described by those who witnessed it: in the afternoon it began to rain heavily, and the rain continued to fall as the night darkened. british troops in the trenches, knowing of the massing of the enemy, were keenly on the alert amidst the most depressing circumstances, and none were allowed the comfort of a sleep. but, all unknown to them, behind a thin line of trees some short distance to the rear, there silently gathered together many hundreds of figures, which, by reason of their lithe, gliding movements and their practical invisibility might have passed for a mysterious aggregation of spirits from some other sphere. not a word was uttered, and such orders as were issued seemed to pass down the long lines as the wind whispers through the grass. shortly afterwards a score of these grey figures detached themselves from the larger body and stealthily, like red indians on the trail in an enemy's country, moved up to and beyond the advanced line of the british trenches. down these, under the breath, was passed the word, "the indians are going out," and the already alert tommies craned their heads forward into the misty night to watch events. the score of ghostly figures suddenly disappeared from their view, and, python-like, crawled noiselessly to the first german trench. here were the german look-out men. what happened there exactly is not known. there was no shout or sudden cry, but in a few minutes the british soldiers saw one of the score reappear like an apparition and go back to his comrades in the rear. then the hundreds waiting there filed past the trenches just as silently as had the advanced party before them, and also disappeared in the direction of the german lines. for five minutes there was perfect quiet. then came a few shots, followed by a wild splutter of musketry, intermingled with cries and groans. three or four light-balls were thrown in the air, and by their means the british troops could see, some yards to their front, a mass of wild and struggling men, the gleam of steel, and the whirling rush of the rifle-butt. it was the pathans at their deadly work. for ten minutes they hacked and slew amongst the half-awake and wholly-bewildered germans, who had laid down in serried ranks to await the order for the night assault on the british trenches. the score of pathans who had gone out in advance had silently slain the german pickets, and the main body had thus been enabled to get right amidst the sleeping foe unchallenged. the slaughter was terrible, and only ended when the germans, thoroughly aroused to their peril, bolted and ran. then their swarthy assailants, glutted with their night's work, came back briskly, but just as silently, to their original post. the threatened german attack had been turned into a bloody defeat. for hours afterwards the furious germans poured a hail of shrapnel and shell into our trenches, in the hope of obtaining some revenge for their terrible punishment.[ ] [ ] account sent by mr. hodson, correspondent of the central news, and published in the _daily telegraph_. the trenches taken were filled in. besides this a variety of ruses were resorted to. men dressed in french or british uniforms stole singly through the british lines to cut field telephone wires. others employed themselves as eavesdroppers. germans dressed in imitation uniforms of the british staff more than once appeared and tried to give false orders.[ ] [ ] "eye witness," writing under date november , , says: "one remarkable and absolutely authentic case occurred. a man dressed in a uniform which resembled that of a british staff officer suddenly appeared near our trenches and walked along the line, asking if many casualties had been suffered, and stating that the situation was serious and that a general retirement had been ordered. a similar visit was reported by several men in different trenches, and orders were issued that this strange officer was to be detained if again seen. unluckily he did not make another appearance." on the main ridge to the south-east of ypres, the germans massed a number of batteries with which they tried to rake the british lines. the ridge, however, was an exposed position, and both the french and british guns were concentrated upon it with marked effect. describing this "eye witness" states: the south two villages (kortewilde and kostzelhoe) which the enemy had captured and their line on the ridge close by were heavily bombarded by the british and french artillery. from the high ground to the west the effect of this cannonade could be seen to some extent, though the villages under fire were partially obscured from view by the smoke of the bursting shells, and resembled the craters of volcanoes belching fire and fumes. at one place the gaunt wreck of the old church tower and the blackened remains of a few houses round it would emerge for a moment only to be again blotted out in the pall of smoke. the long straggling villages, when they became temporarily visible, seemed to melt away and assume odd and fantastic shapes as the houses crumbled and the blocks of masonry were thrown hither and thither by the blasting effect of lyddite and melinite. there can be no doubt the change in tactics was due in part to the fact that owing to the shock of defeat a continuance of the mass attacks had become for the time impracticable. of the feeling, at any rate, on the part of some of the enemy the following extract from a german soldier's diary picked up on the battlefield throws a certain light: nd november.--before noon sent out in a regular storm of bullets by order of the major. these gentlemen, the officers, send their men forward in the most ridiculous way. they themselves remain far behind safely under cover. our leadership is really scandalous. enormous losses on our side, partly from the fire of our own people, for our leaders neither know where the enemy lies nor where our own troops are, so that we are often fired on by our own men. it is a marvel to me that we have got on as far as we have done. our captain fell, also all our section leaders and a large number of our men. moreover, no purpose was served by this advance, for we remained the rest of the day under cover and could go neither forward nor back, nor even shoot. it is simply ridiculous, this leadership. if only i had known it before! my opinion of the german officers has changed. an adjutant shouted to us from a trench far to the rear to cut down a hedge which was in front of us. bullets were whistling round from in front and from behind. the gentleman himself, of course, remained behind. still in the trenches. shells and shrapnel burst without ceasing. in the evening a cup of rice and one-third of an apple per man. let us hope peace will soon come. such a war is really too awful. the english shoot like mad. if no reinforcements come up, especially heavy artillery, we shall have a poor look-out. the first day i went quietly into the fight with an indifference which astonished me. to-day, for the first time in advancing, when my comrades right and left fell, felt rather nervous, but lost that feeling again soon. one becomes horribly indifferent. picked up a piece of bread by chance. thank god! at least something to eat. there are about , english who must be attacked from all four sides and destroyed. they defend themselves, however, obstinately.[ ] [ ] given in the british official narrative. as the effect of this week of day and night wearing down work, it was apparently on november , judged that the british were ripe for the enemy's last effort--the attack of the prussian guard. this, preceded by the most intensive artillery fire the germans had yet achieved, began on november soon after daybreak. they had clearly, in regard to the massing of their guns, taken a leaf out of the book of the french and british artillerists, and they tried against the entrenched positions north and south of the menin-road, the effect which had been successfully used against them at messines. the way having thus been, as it was supposed, opened up, st and th brigades of the prussian guard rolled forward. the line of attack lay diagonally across part of the british front, and on it was turned the united fury of field guns, machine guns and rifles. it has been affirmed by all who saw the onset that the guard stood against this terrible hail like rock. the grey-green mass, at the outset some , strong, moved forward in close formation, and almost as though on parade. as one man fell another stepped into his place. their losses were enormous, but the mass kept its formation and its momentum. at three places despite the desperate resistance of the british they broke the line, and penetrated into the woods. there, however, the british reserves, brought up for the counter-attack, fell upon them. in a bayonet fight with a brigade of irishmen, the guards met not only their equals, but their superiors. those who held together were driven back, enfiladed by the fire of machine guns. the rest broke into scattered bodies; these when rounded up fought to the last where they stood. only a miserable remnant of this mass of brave men reached the lines of the enemy. that was the supreme effort and the end. on the farther side of belgium beyond the sight of the beaten army flared the monstrous pyres of paraffin-soaked timber in which, tied together, four by four, and standing upright, the bodies of the unfortunate german slain were burned by tens of thousands. such was the aftermath of this mighty tragedy. chapter viii the battle on the yser as we have seen, the gigantic battle of ypres presented four phases. during the first phase, from october to october , the british army, pivoting upon givenchy, drove the germans from hazebrouck to lille. during the second phase, from october to october , the germans, resuming the offensive, hurled the weight of their attack against the sector of the british front to the west of lille. the british positions had meanwhile been extended round ypres to the south and east, and the line of the allies formed as far as the coast. the third phase was marked by the effort of the enemy, now enormously reinforced, to break through into ypres from the south-east, aided by a turning movement from the south. the fighting during the three days, october to october , formed the crisis of the battle. it has been stated in the french army bulletin summarising the operations from october to november , that the emperor of germany, who had at this time taken up his head-quarters at courtrai, "announced that he wanted to be in ypres by november , and every preparation had been made for the proclamation on that day of the annexation of belgium." in the fourth and final phase of the battle the germans tried to pierce the allied line between ypres and the lys through wytscheate and messines. that defeated, the great mass assault was made against ypres from the east by the prussian guard on november . while german infantry attacks continued to be made until november , they were no more than the sullen efforts of a baffled but still bitter foe. the stress of the fighting lasted from october to november , that is exactly one month. for a second time in this western campaign there had been in a great pitched battle, a trial of strength, and for a second time the forces of germany had, as on the marne, gone down. it is important to keep these phases of the battle of ypres in mind. they throw light on the battle which was concurrently, from october to october , being fought on the yser. from its source in the hills west of ypres to the sea the whole course of the yser does not exceed miles. it is a stream, however, of a quite exceptional character. running through a tract of country for the most part below sea level, it is more like two streams flowing in the same direction, and connected by winding cross channels. on a smaller scale the like effect may be seen in the channels on stretches of flat shore at ebb tide. the yser was of course nothing more originally than a network of such channels running through the mud flats, and though all this part of the lowlands was more than a thousand years ago finally reclaimed from the sea, the waters continued to flow along the ancient beds. they have been connected besides by canals. in the middle ages when ypres was a great centre of trade, and one of the most populous cities of europe, these canals were busy arteries of commerce. the country between ypres and the coast, one of the most fertile tracts in the world, was at the outbreak of this war full of quaint and picturesque memorials of its former importance. in modern days, and more especially under the wise and beneficial rule of the present royal house of belgium, it was a picture of peaceful and settled wealth. on the yser half-way between ypres and the sea was the old town of dixmude, with a church and a hôtel de ville which were masterpieces of gothic architecture. towards the coast, where the line of sand dunes has in part covered the ancient dykes, the river takes a sharp bend to west. a tract about two miles wide and three miles long is thus enclosed on the east between the river channels on the one side and the sea on the other. this was occupied by the little sea-side residential places, lombartzyde and westende. nieuport lay on the west bank of the river a mile or more inland. the yser here becomes one channel, deep enough to be navigated by shipping of moderate draught. it was crossed at nieuport by five bridges, between them lay the series of locks dividing the tidal part of the yser from the inland reaches. the locks were those used to regulate the river overflow at low tide while keeping out the sea when the tide was at flood. there are two points of some importance on the west bank of the yser between dixmude and nieuport--the villages of pervyse and ramscappel. both are on the main road connecting the two towns. five miles farther to the west lies the town of furnes, already mentioned as the meeting place of the great road from ypres with that running along the coast from ostend through nieuport and on to dunkirk and calais. the great roads, and indeed most of the main roads and canals in this part of flanders are carried along embankments. before the war these were mostly bordered with trees, affording in winter shelter from the cold winds which sweep over the country from the north sea, and welcome shade in summer. it was a land of deep repose, and for nearly years and until the coming of the goth, nothing save the mellow chime floating distantly from some tall and noble spire reared in far off days by pious hands, had broken in upon its dreaming. general joffre issued the first orders directed towards his great scheme of military envelopment on september . this promptitude was essential. when in the first phase of the battle of ypres the british drove the germans back upon lille, the strategical effect was to tear in the german front a gap from lille to beyond thourout, a distance of nearly thirty miles. the germans had to mass their forces at lille in order to keep their hold on that place. through the gap thus made the french pushed forward four divisions of cavalry, two divisions of their territorial troops, and a division of marines, , strong. already, however, on october , the germans had, north of the gap towards the coast, two army corps, and these were in the course of the next two or three days reinforced by two others. the objective of these troops was to seize nieuport and the crossing of the yser. the belgian army reached nieuport from antwerp on october . that army was, however, not immediately fit for further service. in these circumstances the line of the yser from nieuport to dixmude was held by the french cavalry and marines, while the st division of british infantry was thrown forward to bixschoote, with the nd division in support. later along the yser and round ypres, where after november they relieved the british, the french forces on this part of the front were brought up to five army corps. at this date in mid october, however, all that could be opposed to the german mass aggregating , men detailed to seize the crossings of the yser, were these french cavalry, one division of marines, and two divisions of british infantry, not , in all. the first german thrust against nieuport was made on october , and it must inevitably have succeeded had it not been that the enemy came within range of and were enfiladed by the fire of a british flotilla. this equivalent to a destructive attack in flank wrecked the attempt. the shells of the warships raked the german lines as far inland as dixmude. the germans realised that at nieuport, in face of the guns of the british ships, they could not succeed. they made ready, in consequence, to throw their attack against dixmude. for that purpose they waited until their whole force could come up. their first attempt had been made with two army corps only. the respite enabled the belgian army to be refitted. both sides meanwhile proceeded to dig themselves in. in this region the water level is not more than two feet below the surface. no sooner were the trenches cut than the water oozed in. these conditions were aggravated by days and nights of heavy and almost incessant rain. a dense mist overhung the country. the nights, too, were now becoming bitterly cold. on the side of the germans the numbers were large enough to afford reliefs. they were not large enough on the side of the allies. the belgians passed days and nights in the trenches under these conditions without respite. it was an effort of endurance that has never been paralleled. but for their unconquerable spirit these heroic men could not have come through such an ordeal. they were defending, however, the last few square miles of their country and they were defending that last bit of territory from foes whose pitiless cruelty they had seen in butchery and outrage. behind them they had the memory of a happy freedom. before them lay only the prospect of submitting for ever to the odious tyranny which had laid some of the fairest towns and districts of belgium in ruins. in that mudded and warworn army there was a fire no hardship could subdue. on october opened the great german drive. it was directed alike and at once to the seizure of ramscappel so as to compel the belgians to evacuate nieuport; against dixmude; and farther south against the british positions at bixschoote. the latter point was as far as natural conditions were concerned the easiest crossing of the three. there is here only one channel of the yser with a line of canal on either side of it. the three attacks were made simultaneously because they brought into play the vast german superiority in numbers. the enemy had massed along this front a great weight of guns, including the heavy pieces used in the attack on antwerp, and his plan was to draw west of the yser an impenetrable curtain of fire while he constructed pontoon bridges. there were difficulties. first the river channels were in flood. secondly they were commanded by the french and belgian guns. thirdly and along their length they were under the cross fire from the warships. this acute spasm of the battle, lasting without a moment's respite for three days and two nights, was therefore in one of its main features a gigantic artillery duel. pontoon bridges constructed by the germans were destroyed by the french gunners or by the shells from the warships time and again. more than once the bridges were struck and wrecked when they were crowded with troops and these miserable men, thrown in a struggling mass into the water, were drowned by hundreds. time after time the germans endeavoured to bridge the river, or rather the network of rivers before the effort at length succeeded. then from ramscappel the belgians were forced to retire. once across the river with a considerable force of infantry, cavalry, and guns, the germans seized pervyse, and pushed forward to furnes with such speed that the small belgian reserve force there, surprised by them, had to quit hastily. a surprise, however, was also in store for the germans. a division of french algerian troops, who had been sent forward by forced marches to reinforce the belgian resistance, were already close at hand. they reached furnes shortly after the german advance force had established themselves there. the attack was as impetuous as it was unexpected. the turcos cleared the germans out of the place at the point of the bayonet. enemy reinforcements, however, hurried up. in turn the germans tried to carry the town by storm. the struggle went on from street to street and from house to house. again and again the germans were driven out. again and again they rallied and renewed the fight. as night came on the french commander called upon his men for a supreme effort. it was victorious. broken by this onslaught, the germans were not only chased out of furnes but pursued to ramscappel and driven out of that village as well. behind them their bridges over the yser had in the meantime again been destroyed. mr. a. beaumont, special correspondent of the _daily telegraph_, who reached furnes the following day, has recorded that: the roads from ramscappel to pervyse, and from pervyse to dixmude were lined with the enemy's dead. many of the fugitives tried to escape by the fields and canals, and their bodies are still found in great numbers. as in many other places in the north, quite a number of these germans are very young, apparently under eighteen, or else more than fifty years of age. king albert of belgium desired in person to honour the french troops who had helped to reconquer the village (ramscappel), and an impressive ceremony was held a few days later. the king passed in review the survivors of the gallant companies of turcos and chasseurs in the little square. they were assembled at eight o'clock in the morning, and drawn up in a square in the presence of a french general. the king arrived in a motor-car and alighted at once. three buglers, who had gone through it all, sounded the call, and the commander of the troops moved forward to salute them. the king likewise raised his hand in a long and silent salute. then, accompanied by the general in command he passed down the lines, after which the troops in turn defiled in his presence. the buglers did their best, but their shrill notes were not in accord; yet tears came to the eyes of many spectators of this scene, and not the least moved among them was the king himself. the general then rode forward, and in a loud voice said: "the king desires me to transmit to you his hearty congratulations for your splendid conduct at ramscappel; this is an honour of which your commander is justly proud." of the attack on dixmude an account was sent by a german who took part in it to _vorwärts_. he relates: we lay for four whole days without anything to eat or drink. day and night the earth trembled with the reports of the guns. no sleep was possible. behind us lay a field of roots. creeping down the bank in order not to be seen by the enemy, we managed to get some of them. we sucked up the night dew on the grass in order to slake our thirst. after four days we had to give up the position in order to attack the enemy from another side. next day it began to rain, and we stood up to the knees in water, and replied to the fire of the enemy until the evening came. all was quiet for a time. but the cannons continued their work. we watched by turns while the others sat in the water, and, leaning against the trenches, tried to sleep. a terrible picture faced us. dixmude was in flames, and the whole sky was blood-red. the enemy's shells exploded with such a report that we thought our ears would burst, and the light was so strong that you could read a paper by it. dealing death and destruction, the shower of lead sped through the night air over our heads. in the morning the sun rose a fiery red. it was the death signal for many of us, for dixmude had to be stormed. at two o'clock we received an order for the attack. we left our firing places, and at once came under fire. by short rushes we approached the strongly held trenches of the enemy. air and earth shook with the reports of the guns, for the enemy were firing from at least twenty batteries. many of us were torn in pieces. amidst it all, the rifles and the machine guns made their peculiar noise. it was a veritable field of death. right and left of me comrades fell. we reached a small ditch and blazed away, and there a bullet hit my rifle, glanced off, and went through the head of the man next to me. at last we came within metrès of the enemy's position. their fire grew fiercer, but our rage was the greater. then the enemy received reinforcements, and brought up three machine guns, which they trained on us. the top of my helmet was shot away, and the bullets pierced my spade. next came shells such as we had never seen before. the sand spurted up as high as a house. one shell made a hole at least two yards deep in the ground. the black smoke rendered it almost impossible to see anything. these were the shells of the british fleet which had taken part in the battle. in the middle of a field near us eight horses were suddenly torn into shreds by one. what was that? it was a bugle signal, "fix bayonets." in a minute we rushed forward another yards. then we took a breathing-space. what was that? i could neither see nor hear, for i was hurled back three yards with my head against a tree. for a moment i lost consciousness, and when i came to i knew that i had not been hit. i rushed forward to join my comrades. i will not tell you anything about the bayonet charge, for it was a slaughter. twice we were driven back, but at the third attack we won. when you heard about the victory did you not cry "hurrah"? but we thought upon the terrible sacrifices that had been made, for many lay dead. i was hit in the pursuit of the enemy, but i need not describe what it looked like in the enemy's trenches. the men lay one over another. at bixschoote the germans succeeded in capturing part of the british trenches held by the st division. these, however, were wrested from the enemy in a brilliantly executed counterattack. to the troops for this service the brigadier-general in command issued a special order of congratulation. this document gives a clear summary of the operation: the nd infantry brigade (less nd battalion sussex regiment left at beesinghe) was allotted the task of reinforcing the st infantry brigade, and re-taking the trenches along the bixsencote-langemarck road, which had been occupied by the enemy. in spite of the stubborn resistance offered by the german troops, the object of the engagement was accomplished, but not without many casualties in the brigade. by nightfall the trenches previously captured by the germans had been re-occupied, about prisoners captured, and fully , german dead were lying out in front of our trenches. the brigadier-general congratulates the st l.n. lancashire regiment, northamptonshire regiment, and the nd king's royal rifle corps, but desires specially to commend the fine soldierlike spirit of the st l.n. lancashire regiment, which, advancing steadily under heavy shell and rifle fire, aided by its machine guns, was enabled to form up within a comparatively short distance of the enemy's trenches. fixing bayonets, the battalion then charged, carried the trenches and occupied them, and to them must be allotted the majority of the prisoners captured. the brigadier-general congratulates himself on having in his brigade a battalion, which, after marching the whole of the previous night without rest or food, was able to maintain its splendid record in the past, by the determination and self-sacrifice displayed in the action. the brigadier-general has received special telegrams of congratulations from both the general officer commanding-in-chief st corps, and from the general officer commanding st division, and he hopes that in the next engagement in which the brigade takes part the high reputation which the brigade already holds, may be further added to. in truth the immediate impetus of the german onset had exhausted itself in the violent and costly efforts put forth. after an interval of not more than six hours dixmude was retaken, and the belgians, advancing from nieuport, took and entrenched themselves in lombartzyde. despite its frightful cost in life, the second attempt to get across the yser had tragically failed. after reorganising the germans began the third great attempt on october . this was even more determined and more wasteful of life than the second. again it was persisted in for three days. the scenes were a repetition of those of the week before, if anything, they were still more terrible, for the resistance was as unflinching as the attack was bitter. on the evidence of men who had taken part in the battle, mr. frederick de bathe, special correspondent of the _daily telegraph_, wrote: the germans tried nineteen times to cross the yser at one point; on each occasion they were repulsed by the belgian and french troops, which were massed upon the opposite bank. it is said that the enemy lost whole regiments. a wounded german officer who was taken prisoner affirms that of his regiment, which went into action , strong, only eighty were left unscathed. while claiming that the belgian and french had suffered big losses, he admitted that these were nothing in comparison to those sustained by the germans. he added that it was not a battle, it was butchery! a peasant, who came through the german lines, reports that the enemy have no time to bury their dead singly, but are obliged to have them carried away in three-wheeled farm carts by the country people in loads of twenty to twenty-five, and removed to the rear of their positions for burial. the cross-fire from the british fleet prevented the germans from advancing along the coast, obliging them to throw pontoon bridges over the yser. the pontoons sank time after time with their human burden, shattered by the shells of the allies. it is no exaggeration to state that the germans on the yser alone up to date have lost , men killed and wounded, and this does not include the prisoners, who have been numerous. over , of the enemy's wounded who were being brought to bruges and courtrai, via thourout, were abandoned on sunday last, and were obliged to make the ten-hour journey on foot. the churches of thourout and in the neighbourhood, as well as all the farms which are still standing, are crammed with wounded. hundreds of german wounded are streaming in day and night throughout the region behind the enemy's lines. in certain places close to the yser between nieuport and dixmude the ground is literally covered with corpses of men and horses. the shrapnel from the british fleet has caused more than three-parts of the slaughter in this particular direction. the scene is indescribable. three times the germans fought their way over through the cross fire of the allied guns, ashore and afloat, and three times they were thrown back. the enemy's expenditure of ammunition was as prodigal as his expenditure of men. then began a systematic destruction which has had no parallel in modern war. the germans set themselves to batter the country into ruins, they bombarded and wrecked not only nieuport, dixmude, and ypres, but every village and hamlet within range of their guns. of this, after having seen its effect, mr. e. ashmead-bartlett said: this part of belgium, perfectly flat, is studded with picturesque old flemish homes. almost every village of any size possesses buildings of historic or architectural interest. the old church of dixmude was one of the finest buildings of its kind in the countryside, and so also was the hôtel de ville. what remains of these buildings would not be worth the while to cart away as old bricks. as a machine of pure destruction the kaiser's army is unique. i doubt whether any other army in the history of the world has had the knack of laying waste a whole country so completely. they wipe out everything. these towns and villages play no part in the defence of the yser. they are merely shell-traps, where no general would think of placing his men. as a revenge on an innocent civil population, who thus lose their hearths and homes, and are now refugees all over france, holland, and england, the plan succeeds admirably. on the other hand, the defence is materially aided, because the fire is taken off the troops in the trenches and on the long trains making their way to the front with food, ammunition, and supplies of all kinds. i do not believe the line of the yser could have been held had the germans scientifically supported their infantry attacks with this tremendous volume of shell fire, with which they have laid low dixmude, pervyse, nieuport, and fifty other smaller towns and villages. the crowning act, however, of this "revenge," deliberately indulged in that the attention of the world might be drawn off the crushing disasters suffered by german arms, was the ruin of ypres. that act of vandalism was not, it is necessary to remember, done during the battle or for any military purpose. it was begun after the battle, and when the issue, and with it the future history of europe, had been for ever changed. of what that ruin was there has been drawn by mr. luigi barzini a picture of enduring reality. he was one of three civilians who visited ypres while this bombardment was going on. his description appeared in the _daily telegraph_ of december , . at a turn of the road, the town appeared in the distance--two mutilated campaniles, a ruin of massive towers, and the ancient belfry, with its vague bluish carvings. in the dull, declining day, the trees at the edge of the plain seemed like a dark mist. they formed, as it were, a sombre border of cloud on the horizon, and above the network of branches rose the remains of the bombarded town, pale and sinister, with something unreal and death-like in their mutilated aspect--phantasms of a massacred glory. at short intervals the air was shaken by the bombardment, and, urged by the wind, two clouds of white smoke fled between the trees and vanished amidst their branches. two flashes of livid light burst on high, and for an instant the top of the towers disappeared in a cloud. the destructive fury of the german guns still continued to strike the heart of ypres. the road had been converted into a desert. we had left behind us towns and villages crowded with troops, immense parks of carts and motor-lorries scattered over the meadows, extensive encampments at the edges of the road, in which the innumerable piles of arms seemed like black sheaves crowned with points, the general quarters of divisions and brigades denoted by standards. then, having passed vlamertynghe, about three miles from ypres, we came upon the sinister solitude of a modern battle. there was no other voice, no other sound, than the boom of cannon and the crash of shell. but the flashes of the explosions seemed to render all the more evident, more profound, and more significant the terrible silence of the town and the fields. it was the silence of resignation, fear, and agony. the sound of our footsteps upon the muddy pavement of the suburb echoed amidst the little houses--the first houses of ypres. not one building remained intact. the hurricanes of steel had battered and penetrated them all. * * * * * at one side of the street three wounded men were waiting for succour, having remained where they had fallen a few minutes before. they were poor inhabitants who had possibly been compelled by the need of obtaining food to come forth from some cellar. they did not call for assistance; they did not say a word, they did not even complain. pale, stunned, suffering, and mute, they merely looked. the danger seemed to impose silence; there is an unconscious desire not to be heard, not to be discovered by the invisible and monstrous will to massacre which is in the air. under the bombardment one had the vague impression of being searched for by death. there were three of us, and we walked in indian file along the wall towards the famous grande place, which only a few days ago afforded one of the most precious and complete visions of the arts of the world. the route was not always easy. we had to avoid the holes which had been dug by the projectiles, to clamber over heaps of ruins, extricate ourselves from the labyrinths of innumerable fallen telephone wires, and every time we heard the voice of a shell we stopped immediately and irresistibly. we ceased to move with a strange and involuntary suddenness, like the automatic figures of the three kings in a flemish clock when the last stroke of the hour sounds. then, when an explosion had taken place, our mechanism was again set in motion, and we proceeded. a little forest of red crosses arose on the edge of the road in a glade; they marked a group of fresh graves in which lay inhabitants who had come out of their places of refuge only to meet with death. in the tragic silence any noise seemed to be enormously exaggerated. * * * * * long vistas of ruins were open at every side street--demolished walls, beams fallen from roofs or stretching across between one house and another, and broken doors. the stricken houses had launched their walls against the opposite buildings, and remained open, empty, unrecognisable. having thus traversed the rue d'elverdinghe, which seemed as if it would never end, we entered the famous square, and for an indefinable time remained there at the corner, nailed as it were to the ground, stupefied and moved, full of admiration and grief and reverence, incapable of expressing our feelings, overcome by the grandeur and the sadness of that which we saw, intimidated by something that was both prodigious and sacred. we seemed to be disturbing the solemn mystery of an august end. the life of seven centuries, which was still palpitating yesterday, was being extinguished in a solitude of horror in the pallid twilight of a winter day. gigantic and solemn above the mournful crowd of crumbling houses towered the monumental piles--torn, battered, devastated, but erect and still proud. undermined by the blows of the shells, showing long cracks, breached and broken, the noble stone walls of the halles, the hôtel de ville, and the cathedral of st. martin remained standing, indescribable in death, still stretching towards the sky their proud towers without bells and without pinnacles, hollowed at their bases as though by blows of a monstrous axe. * * * * * we pointed to things with vague gestures, without being able to find words, and forgetting even to bend our backs when we heard the lamenting voice of the shells. none of us had ever seen ypres, and together with the discouragement, caused by the vision of irreparable ruin, there was created in us the marvel of a revelation. for the love and devotion of innumerable generations there had kept intact on the earth a wonderful corner of the twelfth century, and we, arriving in front of this marvel, whilst it was dissolving, surprised the dream at a moment when it was vanishing for ever. all the rest of the world was plunged in the barbarism of the middle ages when the flemish peace had ypres for its centre. it was the wealthy and serious merchants of ypres who created the halles, the market of the world, the capital of business, the incomparable seat of commerce, the parliament of rulers and of people. dante had not then been born, and already the halles of ypres were a century old. the love of ypres gave to the halles and to the old grande place a perennial youth. ypres adored these eloquent and austere witnesses to her past, which told the story of her ancient power. she protected, defended them, never permitted the weight of centuries to do them any injury. oppressed by famine and pestilence, the people of ypres rebelled, sacked, and burned; but the halles remained. the people of ghent arrived in arms, their allies the english arrived; they besieged ypres, entered and laid waste; but the halles remained. the iconoclasts sacked the town, but the halles remained. the duke of alba's troops arrived and persecuted ypres--then fallen into decay--but the halles remained. alexander farnese conquered the town and abandoned it to the excesses of his soldiery; but the halles remained. four times in one century the french took ypres, but the halles remained. they remained because the most brutal troops were conquered by their age and their potent grace. there was no passion, no ferocity that could resist such imposing severity and harmony. a respectful circle was formed, and the torch and the sword were lowered before that splendour of the past. but the butcher of ancient glories has come; the blind teutonic cataclysm has fallen upon unarmed and tranquil ypres, and the portentous life is now extinct. there remains nothing but the gigantic ruins, isolated walls, the corpses of monuments which preserve a sublime expression of disdainful power. * * * * * the bells have fallen. the last hour they chimed was seven in the morning of sunday, november . at a quarter past seven the belfry received its first mortal wound. but the first night, according to ancient usage, from the tumult of the august tower there descended upon ypres--not yet completely deserted--the notes of the horn of the night watchman, who hour by hour sent to the four cardinal points the announcement that all was well! all around the gabled houses are abandoned in their last agony. they are those pointed houses, dwellings of a distant epoch, which give an ineffable impression of familiar calm and patriarchal life, buildings with faces inexpressibly benevolent, paternal, sweet and grave. through the broken windows our gaze penetrates into corners which recall certain interiors of flemish art. in these interiors, until yesterday, close to the windows, with their little leaded panes, the placid ladies of ypres wove in traditional calm their arabesques of lace. their agile and sapient fingers produced white, flowery patterns that were as light as foam. for ghent had taken from ypres the industry of its linens, england that of its cloths, paris that of its damasks, but no country had had the power, the placidity, the patience, and the taste to imitate its lace. here the old industry lived, modest and silent. the mediæval city slept its great sleep amidst the tumult of the outside world as if the kasteelgracht and the majoorgracht, the wide canals which encircle it and were its gates, were enchanted and had isolated it from swift innovations. * * * * * in the war between germany and the halles of ypres, in the war between germany and the library of louvain, between germany and the cathedral of rheims, it is not possible to remain neutral. chapter ix the winter campaign the first purpose of the allies' scheme of military envelopment was to arrest and eventually to break the german offensive. even after their losses in the battle of ypres and the concurrent battle on the yser, the germans still had on the west a superiority in numbers. the shock of those defeats was bitter. that is sufficiently proved by the proclamation which soon afterwards the emperor of germany issued to his troops. a cruel hour, he told them, had struck for them and for the fatherland. he exhorted them to meet it with a greater determination. for a time germany became a land of mourning. the german newspapers of this date, the later part of november, appeared day by day with pages of private obituary advertisements. the dream of conquest, except as regarded belgium, was shattered, and it was realised that even to keep that country as a reward of what were called the sacrifices made, germany would have to face a struggle to the death with powers whose united superiority was now only too manifest. that mood, however, soon passed, and feeling, directed at the outset of the war against russia, was with a redoubled intensity excited against england. the reasons are not far to seek. extraordinary efforts had become necessary, not only on the east to repair the disaster of the battle of the vistula, and to furnish general von hindenburg with the forces for his great "drive" towards warsaw, but to make good the wastage on the west. it is a recognised axiom among military men that for such a scheme as the germans had in view in france, the lowest superiority in numbers necessary is a proportion of four to three. even that assumes equal training and equipment, and equal skill in leadership. the last factor, skill in leadership, which is in war the most difficult to estimate beforehand, is, at the same time, as this struggle has proved, tremendously important. in regard to it the odds were heavily against the germans. the battle of ypres, it has become evident, was on their part a series of bad mistakes--mistakes which were not seen until too late. after the defeat at reims count von moltke was removed from his place as chief of the staff and baron von falkenheyn appointed. the strategical scheme of baron von falkenheyn was sound and bold enough if antwerp had not got into the way of it, and if, too, the tactical blunders of ypres had not ruined its execution. besides defects in leadership, the germans had to face the striking comparative deficiency of their field artillery, and the fact that their gunnery had not turned out so practically sound as that of the french. it followed that to resume the offensive they must have a superiority of even more than four to three. they had begun with a superiority of two to one. yet through the unexpected skill in their opponents' leadership they had been foiled and had had their initiative wrested from them. in view, however, of the demands of the campaign on the east, this necessary weight of numbers they could not on the west supply. one resource was to make it up by an appeal to the spirit of the army. that took the form of an unusually liberal distribution of rewards for individual valour. the battle of ypres had at one and the same time brought the second german plan of a western offensive to the ground, and ensured the accomplishment of general joffre's envelopment scheme. there was nothing now before the german staff, therefore, but to attack that envelopment scheme while it remained, as they thought, still in its inceptive stages. if we turn to the day-to-day record of the operations as disclosed in the official reports we shall at once see that there was on the part of the enemy a series of attempted wedging movements. they tried by wedging to break the allied front simultaneously at roye and at arras. this, had it been successful, would have forced out the section of the allied front lying between those points, and have broken up the allied position. the movement was not successful. another movement of this kind was tried between la bassee on the one side and the yser on the other. this time the germans did get a foothold on the west side of the yser. they were driven out of it, however, by the belgians cutting the dykes and flooding the country all along the lower course of the river. when the flood burst upon them large numbers of the enemy caught in their entrenchment diggings were drowned.[ ] many of their guns could not be recovered. a third of these wedging attempts was made between la bassee and arras. though they led to desperate fighting, these efforts proved barren of result. [ ] a correspondent of the paris _gaulois_, describing the annihilation of a brigade (nearly , ) wurtembergers by the floods on november , wrote: "at midday, the wurtembergers, in formidable numbers, had succeeded, under the protection of their artillery, in crossing the yser on planks. "after a week's fighting the river was choked with sunken boats, trunks of trees, bodies of men, and carcasses of horses. it was over a veritable bridge of corpses that the enemy passed. "meanwhile the allied troops had taken up a position a little in the rear, some regiments remaining in position to cover this movement. massed on the left bank of the yser, the enemy's infantry prepared to attack. some caps skilfully arranged over empty trenches drew the german artillery, which wasted its shells on the decoy. then the wurtembergers advanced, and were astonished to find, instead of bodies of the enemy, nothing but a few caps. just then a loud rumbling noise was heard in a westerly direction. the noise gradually became clearer, resembling the rush of the tide. suddenly a flood of seething water burst upon the astonished germans. trees and corpses were carried on the current, which swept everything before it. cries of rage and terror came from the german lines. it was too late. down came the torrent, and in a few moments the enemy's trenches were filled. the terrified herd of wurtembergers fled to the high ground, to get clear of the inundation, but from the heights the allied artillery poured volleys of shrapnel into them. the enemy was taken between water and fire. those who escaped drowning succumbed to our bullets or shells. a few came to our lines, thus evading death by captivity. this was the end of the wurtemberg brigade." let us turn to the side of the allies. for them the first necessity was to solidify their front. if they could do that they would: ( ) hold these german armies so that they would be able neither to advance nor to retreat whatever might be the developments of the war on the east front. that meant that the germans must fight with divided forces, and feed the struggle on the east out of their last reserves. ( ) bring into fullest play the allies' superiority in field guns, and by imposing on the enemy the necessity of constant counterattacks, eliminate in the end his advantage in numbers. the effects of this elimination would be that his power in any event of resuming the offensive would progressively disappear, and that, as the process proceeded, the advantage in numbers would pass to the allied side, and eventually make an allied offensive both practicable and successful. now it is quite certain on the events which have since taken place that the german headquarters staff clearly recognised these possibilities. not only is that shown by the heavy losses they incurred in the wedging battles, which lasted from the middle of november to early part of february, but in the adoption of tactics, designed, as their relative strength in numbers fell, to economise their force. in short, not being able to change the features of the situation, they made a virtue of necessity by trying as far as they could to convert their front into an impregnable barrier of defence, and concurrently doing their utmost to increase the allies' losses. evidently both these means were calculated to delay the accomplishment of the allied scheme. if at the same time there could be set on foot in the allied countries the legend, not that the germans had failed in their great invasion project, as they had, but that they were successfully withstanding an attempt of the allied forces to push them back, then public opinion in the allied countries might grow tired of the struggle, and at the finish withdraw from it, leaving belgium in german hands. the government of germany well knew that in england more especially, where the misconception of military operations was profound, operations would be estimated on the, for the immediate purposes of this campaign, entirely false basis of a movement of the front from place to place. the object of the allied commanders, and the conditions of a successful allied advance would, in all probability, be alike misunderstood. experience has shown that these calculations were only too well founded. the nearer the allied scheme approached to accomplishment, the more energetic became the efforts to propagate the notion that it was a failure. the german plan of defence, which may be dealt with first, had then, apart from political calculations, two main features. the first was the fortification along their front of advantageous points in such a manner that they could be permanently held. the second was an elaboration of the tactics of trench warfare. from ypres southwards to the spur of notre dame de lorette near arras the german front followed approximately the "inland coastline" already spoken of, and the only break in it geographically of any consequence was the valley of the lys, the flat stretch lying between the hills south of ypres and the spur at aubers south-west of lille. on the promontories of this "coastline" the enemy proceeded to fortify themselves. they did the same at other points along their front and notably on the ridge across champagne, and on the hills to the south-east of verdun, as well as on the eastern spurs of the vosges. simultaneously in the trench warfare they revived grenade throwing, and the use of the trench mortar, expedients which had disappeared from military operations for years. these devices were accompanied by systematic sniping. as skill with the rifle is not a strong point with the german army, a prismatic telescopic sight was invented. this reduced sniping practically to a mechanical trick. if the object fired at was centred on the prism a hit became a certainty--wind permitting. sapping and mining were also persistently carried on, and the front became for mile after mile a monstrous network of pits, barbed-wire entanglements, electric alarm traps, and obstacles of every sort. in short, what the germans lacked in comprehensive military skill they made up in laborious detail. if now we glance at the activity of the allies, we find that the hardest part of their work was that of solidifying their line in order in the first place to make it invulnerable against german counter-attacks. those counter-attacks were, as we have seen, to begin with heavy. in support of them the advantage which the enemy then had in howitzers was utilised to the full. during the first weeks of the winter campaign the allied troops had to hold trenches for the most part hastily made in the stress of battle, and hold them both against this prodigal bombardment with heavy german shells, and through bitter conditions of wet and cold. to reach their trenches along the flooded area in flanders men had in some places to cross stretches of country on planks, the targets in coming and going for the enemy's shrapnel. the weather, too, was sometimes so severe that the water in the men's drinking bottles turned to ice. the trenches were frozen puddles. writing at this time the french "eye witness" said: from the sea to the lys the operations to the north of the lys have become terribly difficult. the liquid and cold mud from which the men suffered invaded the breeches of the guns, so that they could no longer fire, and they had to fight with the butt-end of their rifles and with their fists. our soldiers, according to the expression of one of their leaders, have become blocks of mud. the attempt has been successful to provide for them when they leave the trenches a proper bath and a complete change of linen, which they appreciate very much. their unalterable good humour enables them to endure with the best possible grace the rough life which is imposed upon them. a vivid impression of flanders at this time (the end of november) has been recorded by alice and claude askew, who as members of dr. hector munro's red cross ambulance corps went to the front to distribute woollen comforters, cigarettes, coffee and chocolates: up at furnes the cold was terrible. the picturesque old town has been shelled twice, but as yet no great damage has been done, and the doctors and nurses working up at the field hospital--once a college--are hoping that their hospital may be spared, for this hospital, with its hundred beds and capable band of workers, is doing splendid service. the patients are so cheerful. those who are well enough smoke--how the soldier loves his "fag" and how lightly they take their injuries. * * * * * mr. seeker was operating in the theatre--a patient had just been brought in from the trenches and immediate operation was necessary. a few oil lamps supplied the only illumination; the room was in complete shadow save round the operating table. outside the wind howled and moaned, and firing could be heard in the distance. we felt very close to the naked heart of war. the drive back to dunkirk a few hours later was a strange drive. the road has been broken and battered by the passing of countless military wagons, trodden down by marching feet, it has become a furrow, the plough of war has been over it. on either side gaunt trees lift up gaunt boughs; their branches look like skeleton fingers pointing to the sky, and they look like grim sentinels; the water is half frozen in the dykes. the whole thing seems unreal--the torn road--those blurred lines of men--the distant gun fire. the effect is that of a dream. we have seen the grim and terrible side of war--the bleeding side. the moon--a pale sickle moon--shines out of the dun sky--the cold becomes more intense every moment--more freezing. by continuous labour, however, the entrenchment system developed bit by bit into a vast underground military town. the fire trenches were connected by zigzag communication ways with supports trenches in the rear. from the latter opened the "dug-outs" which were the dwelling places of the men on trench duty. made and furnished out of the wreckage of towns and villages, some of the "dug-outs" had doors and windows. here and there the appointments of these underground quarters included desks and long-case clocks. trench pumps were installed, and the troops provided with sheepskin coats. entrenchment kitchens, too, were fitted up. the work of improvement went on in fact without a pause. by day, where fighting was not in progress, these mazes of trenches seemed unutterable desolations of deserted silence. no sign of movement betrayed the thousands who were in them. at night, however, they were scenes of incessant activity. it was by night that entanglements were laid and defences strengthened. at night took place the changes and reliefs. from their billets in the cellars or lower stories of a ruined farm, the smashed windows barricaded with planks and sandbags, or from quarters in some deserted village or abandoned works, the reliefs moved across a country totally without lights, felt their way along lanes and roads pitted into craters by shells; navigated on planks and temporary bridges, ditches, streams, and canals; or crept under the shelter of partly demolished walls, until the rear communication ways into the trenches were reached. in this manner nearly all movements close to the firing line was made. acknowledgment too high can never be paid to the devotion and valour of the men who, through the weeks of an unusually dreary and bitter winter, both withstood the fury of the german attacks, and patiently day by day and night by night, solidified the barrier which was to consummate the enemy's ruin. dangerous though it was the work may well have appeared unheroic. to some interpreters of public opinion at home it did appear unheroic. the soldiers' devotion, however, is a devotion to duty. this was, in his dispatch of november , well expressed by the british "eye witness." it is difficult to do justice amid comfortable surroundings to the fortitude of those who day and night support the rigour of life in the trenches. it is true that everything is done for them which foresight and experience can suggest. it is true that by universal admission the rations are unlimited in amount and excellent in quality. but no attention and care can make trench life in winter anything but an extreme test of soldierly fortitude. it is a small thing that it is dangerous, for danger is the condition of a soldier's life; but it is monotonous, it is damp, it is insanitary, it is intolerably cold, and it is a strain upon the nerves. this war, more than any other, is one of unrecorded heroisms. not only the british army, however, but the french and the belgian armies had unshaken confidence in their leaders, and with good reason. in time the entrenched front became completely organised, a system of settled communications linked up by telephone wires in every direction. the french trenches formed a seemingly endless labyrinth. in flanders along the yser rats, driven out of their usual haunts and starving in the desolated country, took up their abode with the men in the dug-outs, and became domesticated and friendly. to many whose ideas of war remained based on the marches and counter-marches of earlier campaigns it was puzzling to see armies of hitherto unheard of magnitude thus fortifying themselves against each other. taken together the combatants numbered millions. their diggings stretched over more than miles of country. a vast amount of labour is needed to complete a modern entrenched post, yet such posts were to be counted along these lines not by thousands but by tens of thousands. it has been stated that in face of the hugely multiplied power of modern firearms, and of the destructiveness of modern high explosives as used now in war, there is no alternative save for the fighting hosts of the present day to dig themselves in, and thus to remain locked in a deadly embrace. the explanation is crude. like the astonishment called forth by this spectacle because it was unprecedented, the idea that all this represented merely a "deadlock" sprang from failure to grasp the realities of this gigantic struggle. at the back of every operation of war there is a strategic purpose. in this instance, so far from there being no strategy in the so-called impasse, it was wholly dictated by strategy. so far from there being no manoeuvres in it, it was nothing else, from the beginning, but a mighty series of manoeuvres. they were modern manoeuvres, not ancient, but that is all. to every student of this campaign with a knowledge of military affairs, the strategy on both sides which brought about this situation has been clear. let it be remembered that entrenchment economises force. the proposition presented to general joffre was that of arresting and breaking the offensive of an enemy not only superior in numbers, but with traditions which led him to cling to and cherish the offensive as his chief instrument of victory. general joffre therefore knew that the germans would struggle to regain the offensive until their power to do so became too exhausted to keep up the effort. he knew further that in the position in which he had succeeded in placing them they must make that effort at a disadvantage, and that that advantage must grow rather than diminish. for these reasons it was that the labour of entrenching was undertaken by the allied troops. no part of that labour was thrown away. in enclosing the germans in an entrenched front he so economised his force that it became, though less in number, equal to that of the enemy in power. the simple proof of that is that the germans were unable to break the barrier. they did their utmost to break it. their success or their failure in the war depended upon being able to break it. they sacrificed at ypres, on the yser, and in later battles more than half a million of men in the endeavour to break it. it remained firm against every assault. nor was the loss of life the only loss. these battles has led to a vast, and as it proved, wasteful expenditure of ammunition. since the barrier could not be broken, the question now was how to render the envelopment scheme abortive by inflicting on the allies losses which would delay or make impossible the offensive on the part of the allies to which the scheme was designed to lead. expedients to that end had to be devised more effective than the fire of heavy howitzers. they must also be less costly expedients. thus hand grenades and trench mortars reappeared, and mechanical sniping. the reserve of shells with which germany had begun the war was used up. such munitions had to be employed more sparingly. besides, owing to the scarcity of copper resulting from the british naval blockade, both the cost and the difficulty of manufacturing shells had immensely increased. the german ordinary grenade was nothing more than the small iron bomb which had been used during the campaigns in flanders in the seventeenth century. it was now filled with a charge of guncotton, and hurled into the hostile trenches by hand. another variety had attached to the globe a short iron stump. this enabled the grenade to be stuck on to the muzzle of a rifle, and fired into the opposing trenches when the distance was too great to allow of the use of hand bombs. the trench mortar fired in the same way an iron globular bomb about a foot in diameter. the bomb was stuck on to the muzzle of the mortar by a short iron stump projecting from it, and filled with a heavy charge of nitro-glycerine, was fired at a high angle, so that it might fall right into a hostile trench and by the tremendous force of the explosion wreck it. these projectiles, grenades and mortar bombs, were now turned out of the german arsenals in huge quantities. they were both much cheaper than shells, always a primary consideration in german warfare, and the mortar bombs required no copper driving bands. in addition to these expedients mines were resorted to. several blind saps--tunnels slightly below the surface--driven towards a hostile line of trench would be connected by a cross tunnel, and in this just in front of the trench the mines would be laid. at the moment chosen for attack they would be exploded from the german position by electricity, and a rush made to occupy the craters so formed. yet another ruse was to drive an open sap--a narrow zigzag cutting--to a point commanding a hostile trench, and there instal a machine gun. for daring in these operations military distinctions were freely bestowed, and it is not surprising that in carrying them out many of the enemy displayed an audacious cunning. when, however, we consider that the british and belgians alike were much more expert riflemen, and that all three allies as time went on steadily emphasised their ascendancy in artillery, the failure of these efforts of german perseverance to make up for the german want of military genius, was, it is not difficult to see, inevitable. the british troops improvised hand grenades out of army jam or beef tins. in grenade throwing they speedily became expert. every german device was countered and improved upon. parties engaged in mining met each other underground, and fought it out hand to hand. to diminish the losses arising from rifle and artillery fire, the larger german operations in this stage of the campaign were their night attacks. in these night battles the country before plunged in total darkness would suddenly present the spectacle of flights of star shells and flares, mingled with the play of searchlights, and the lurid flash of guns and rifles. attack and counter-attack, varied in every interval of clearer weather by artillery duels, went on during week after week. the lines round ypres and to the west of lille, more especially about la bassee, remained among the main scenes of german activity. round ypres the shot-torn and shell-ploughed woods became those melancholy and unapproachable "zones of the dead" where the german slain lay unburied, and many of the wounded had been left miserably to perish. frequent allusion has been made (the british "eye witness" wrote on november ) to the losses of the enemy. round ypres we are continually finding fresh evidence of the slaughter inflicted. on november one of our battalions, upon advancing discovered a german trench manned by seventeen corpses, while there were forty-nine more in a house close by. next day a patrol discovered sixty dead in front of one trench, and fifty opposite another. in fact, all the farms and cottages to our front are charnel houses. the significance of such small numbers lies only in the fact that they represent the killed in a very small area. according to prisoners the german attempts to take ypres have proved costly. one man stated that there were only fifteen survivors out of his platoon which went into action fifty strong; another reported that of men who advanced with him only nineteen returned. it is believed that one bavarian regiment, , strong, which left bavaria for the front on october , had only , men left before the attack made along the menin-ypres road on november , when it again suffered severely. the plight of some of the units of the new formations is even worse. one regiment of reserve corps having but men out of , . if the period since the beginning of the war is considered the numbers are greater. for instance of the th corps one regiment has lost sixty officers and , men, and another has lost , men. these figures include casualties of every kind--killed, wounded, and missing. by dint of persistence the germans succeeded in establishing on the west bank of the yser a bridgehead at a point known as the ferryman's hut. they lost it, however, on november . the action (says the french official account) was particularly brilliant. several german trenches were carried in succession. the operation was one of the most arduous and difficult tasks which our troops have accomplished. the object was to drive from the left bank of the yser the germans who had succeeded in establishing themselves there for a length of over a mile. the difficulty in the attack lay in the fact that the canal was bordered by marshes which could not be crossed, and the only way of approach was along the bank and on a very narrow front. moreover, the right bank, where the enemy had taken up his position, dominated the left bank, which was exposed to a machine-gun fire. the assault on the ferryman's hut was delivered by a detachment of volunteers from the african battalions. our men fought knee deep in the water in a downpour of rain. the germans displayed the greatest courage, and our men had to kill one officer and fifteen men who refused to surrender. in the ferryman's hut itself, which had been turned into a little fort, there were fifty-three lying dead, two of whom were officers. they had been killed by our · shells. close by was the wreckage of their searchlight and their machine guns. across the yser the germans had tried to push their outposts westward as far as possible. mr. a. beaumont, special correspondent of the _daily telegraph_, gathered the story of one of these expeditions which reached a ruined village: amid the ruins the church alone was standing, though the belfry was demolished. a score of germans on outpost duty had taken shelter in the church for the night. they found the sexton, an old man of more than seventy, and mercilessly flogged him because he would not or could not tell them where the enemy was. he crept out into the fields, found a french company concealed in some trenches, and told them his story. there was an instant rush of picked men into the village, the church was surrounded. the germans taken by surprise hid in the choir, but to light up the place the old sexton found a bundle of straw, to which he set fire. as he held it up the germans were slain on the spot. the efforts of the germans were directed not only towards gaining a crossing over the yser, but to driving the british out of the valley of the lys. this it has already been noted was geographically a weak point in their front. down the valley of the lys, besides, lay the railway junctions of menin and courtrai, vital to the maintenance of their positions alike between the lys and the sea, and from lille to arras. south of ypres they had at length succeeded by sapping and mining in getting possession of the kleine zillebeke ridge, though they had been unable to capture it in the battle. at the same time they tried to push the british line westward from lille. repeated and desperate attacks were made on the british posts at cuinchy and givenchy. cuinchy they captured. later, however, the place was retaken, and with it a large depôt of german bombs and hand grenades. on january the enemy, advancing from la bassee in two powerful columns, made a furious effort to take givenchy. five assaults were delivered against that place. the first attack was in the nature of a surprise. unexpectedly in the cold and misty dawn the mass, brought up with secrecy during the night, surged from the german trenches. the british trenches were not more than yards away. across this space, ankle deep in mud, the attackers ploughed their way despite severe losses. the british trenches were taken, though not without a stiff fight. the resistance enabled the british supports to be called out. charging into givenchy village the germans found themselves confronted at the end of the main street by these additional troops. the fire lasted only seconds. without further ado the british dashed in with the bayonet. the clash was desperate. it was a melee of man to man. not only bayonets were used. many germans were knocked out by british soldiers' fists. the remnant who could not get out of the village in time sought refuge in the houses. they were hunted out. one man broke into a house where eight germans had sheltered themselves, bayonetted four, and made prisoners of the others. with the defeat of this attack the british regained the trenches lost. the later attacks of the enemy never got home. a determined struggle was all this while being waged to the south of la bassee in the area of the brickfields. at one point the germans broke through the british line. early in the afternoon, however, a combined french and british counter-attack drove them back. here, too, there was hand to hand fighting. from october onwards la bassee remained one of the hottest corners in the war. perched on an inland promontory which had been elaborately fortified, the german front here formed a salient. it was an important part of their plan to pierce the allied front at this point. to carry out that plan they made repeated attacks in great force. that these attacks failed was due to the remarkable fighting qualities of the troops opposed to them. about this struggle, of vital importance in its bearing on the campaign, many stories have been told. the two following, both authentic, illustrate the spirit which inspired our men, british and indians alike: in one trench which had become in the course of the fighting more or less isolated, forty of our men continued to hold firm until every one of them was either killed or wounded. eventually there were only three left capable of firing, and these three continued to hold the enemy at bay. in the meantime word had been brought to those in rear that their ammunition was nearly exhausted, and seven men, the strongest available, were selected to bring up as much ammunition as they could carry. these latter found the three wounded survivors still standing amid the bodies of their dead and disabled comrades and still firing steadily. the support, slender as it was, came in the nick of time, for at that moment the germans launched another assault, which, like the previous ones, was beaten off, and the position saved. a very striking instance of resource and presence of mind was shown by a private (indian) since been promoted from the ranks in recognition of his services. he and another were instructed to creep out of the trench they were defending in order to make observations of a german trench yards away. they advanced, creeping in the dark, with about forty yards laterally between them. when they had covered half the distance a brilliant german searchlight was suddenly flung over the space which divided the two trenches. the flood of light left one of the two fully exposed, while just avoiding with its outer rim his companion. concealment was useless for the man so exposed, and he was quick-witted enough to realise that no ordinary resource would save his life. he at once rose to his feet, and, in view of the british trench, advanced, salaaming to the german trench. its occupants, taken aback by so unusual an advance, ceased fire. he still advanced, and, approaching quite close to the trench, was allowed after some dumb show to enter. a dialogue followed. the germans, anxious to define his status, mentioned several indian nationalities. he shook his head until the word mussulman was mentioned. then he nodded vigorously. a moment later his questioners mentioned the british. he drew his hand across his throat with a lively gesture of disgust. the germans, encouraged by this indication, gave him some rations and a blanket. he spent the night with them. next morning, by the use of his fingers, he indicated to a superior officer who had been sent for to deal with so novel a case, that there were twenty-five other mussulman in his trench, whom, if released, he could certainly bring in. the germans, completely deceived, gave him a final cup of coffee, and set him on this promising errand. he rejoined his friends, who had long since given him up, with a report of far more than local interest. these acts of valour are but typical of a thousand like them. by such devotion to the soldier's ideal--his duty--by a courage, a morale, and a disciplined fortitude which have never been surpassed in any armies at any time, the first and essential part, the foundation, of the allied generals' scheme, the most brilliant and daring stroke of strategy till then attempted in war, was accomplished. the germans were held as in a vice. chapter x neuve chapelle all through the winter campaign the enemy had been incessantly trying to sap and mine forward, and not only at la bassee but right across the valley of the lys to the hills south of ypres. he was anxious to make this gap secure. it was the key of his position along the line from noyon to the sea. the construction of the allies' entrenchment barrier was but the first stage of their great plan. at once after that barrier had been made the second stage was entered upon. the second stage was that of drawing one by one the enemy's teeth in the shape of the carefully fortified promontories and ridges, selected by him with an eye to their defensive possibilities. as in the entrenchment stage this was gone about methodically. neither time was lost, ammunition wasted, nor lives thrown away. guns were massed against the position picked out for assault. they were massed without being seen. the present day gunner does not trust to the eye. he uses his gun with mathematical precision. this system the french artillerists had reduced to an exact science. at a given time these guns opened at the same instant, and on a preconcerted plan swept the position with a squall of fire. in this tornado everything, entanglements and obstructions, were cut to pieces; trenches crumbled; concrete redoubts were split into ruins. amid the hurricane of lead nothing could live. having swept the position the guns drew a curtain of fire behind it while the infantry advanced to the attack. more than once it happened that the french infantry charged up to and captured trenches after this treatment without losing a man. none were left to oppose them. in fact, however, no assaults were made until the "lie" of the enemy's trenches and defences was thoroughly known. the first german "tooth" drawn under this system was their fortification on the spur at vermelles, four miles to the south of la bassee. that was on december . after that fangs were one by one extracted all round the hostile front.[ ] [ ] other examples are the spur at notre dame de lorette near arras; the ridge north of beausejour in champagne; the crete de combres at les eparges on the meuse; the bois de pietre on the moselle; and hartmannsweilerkopf in alsace. one of these fangs was the german position on the spur at la bassee. along the south side of this spur early in february the irish guards and the coldstreams turned the enemy out of his defences among the brick stacks there, and made the position useless to him save for purposes of defence. affairs having reached this stage the plan of assault was decided upon by sir john french on february . it was to be carried out by the british first army, under the command of gen. sir douglas haig, with the support of a large force of heavy artillery, a division of cavalry and some infantry of the general reserve. the attack was to be directed against neuve chapelle. holding attacks, that is practically feints, were to be made at the same time by the second army against la bassee from the south and by the th army corps and the indian army corps to the north. the german position at la bassee formed a buttress of the line which they had been striving to draw across the valley of the lys. their line from la bassee across the flats of the valley as far as the hills south of ypres had become a maze of diggings and entanglements, and was deemed to be impregnable. it was important to break this barrier. for five months at enormous cost the enemy had fought to build it up and to maintain it. the village of neuve chapelle lay about half way between the spur of la bassee on the south and the lys on the north. the distance between the promontory on the one side and the river on the other is some eight miles. neuve chapelle was on the flat. from la bassee round behind neuve chapelle the "inland coastline" curves, forming a bay completed near the villages of fournes and aubers by another promontory known as the haut pommeau. the distance from la bassee to fournes as the crow flies is five miles. beyond fournes again the "inland coastline" bends round sharply, and describes a much greater bay in which is situated the city of lille. eastward of neuve chapelle on the slope of the higher land is the bois de biez, and this with the hamlet of pietre it was one of the british objectives to seize. with these places in british hands the german hold on both lille and la bassee would be rendered precarious. now let us look, in its general aspects, at the british tactical plan. a massed force of guns, including batteries of heavy howitzers, was at a given time ( . a.m. on the morning of march ) to open on the german line of trenches, extending across the flat country and half-a-mile or so to the west and in front of neuve chapelle. behind these trenches ran the main road from la bassee to armentières. for thirty-five minutes the guns were to keep up their squall of fire. by that time it was calculated the german trenches would be knocked to pieces; the entanglements and obstacles cut through; and the defending troops either killed, wounded, or demoralised. at the end of the thirty-five minutes the infantry of the first army were to rush the position. meanwhile, the artillery was to alter the range and sweep with a like squall of fire neuve chapelle and the german second line of defences to the north and south of the village. then the infantry were to advance to this second line. in turn the artillery were now to sweep the area beyond the village, and to throw a curtain of fire along the slopes of the higher land. while this was being done the infantry were again to advance from neuve chapelle on to the slopes more particularly towards the bois de biez and pietre, while the guns further extended their range. it will be seen that the infantry rushes had to take place between the artillery squalls. the latter had of necessity to be regulated by a time table. it was an application on a large scale of the tactics carried out in champagne and round arras, roye, and at les esparges. both the massing of the guns and that of the troops intended for this operation was carried out alike with secrecy and success. the batteries during several days preceding the battle had taken up their allotted positions without the germans becoming aware of it. from the german lines the guns of course were out of sight. the troops had been massed in the first instance at points in the rear. from these they marched during the night before the battle to the british line of trenches. it is remarkable that the movement of these hosts remained undetected. amid the unrelieved darkness of the ruined country they set out along the shell-pitted roads, regiment after regiment, brigade following brigade. they moved as silently as possible, as silently as only british troops can when silence is called for. at ten o'clock on the evening of march this march began. through devastated and deserted villages passed the subdued tramp of these legions, men from every part of the british isles, regiments famous for valour on many a field. behind the british lines the corps halted along the roadsides. after their march they were served with hot coffee. they extended for mile after mile--highlanders and riflemen; territorials and indians; a magnificent army, and in immediate command of it one of the ablest and most resolute of british generals. still, apparently, the germans suspected nothing. no outward sign of alertness was to be observed along their line. the soughing of the bleak night wind of march alone broke the silence. then one by one the regiments moved by single files through the communication ways down into the trenches till these were filled with men. from the enemy's front there was yet no alarm, though their trenches were at many points less than yards away. towards morning there comes out of the darkness a dull boom. a pause and then another. after a further pause a third. the guns are registering the range. and now the faint light of dawn begins to break and the white wall of sandbags which marks the german front can be dimly made out, with here and there dark patches where the bags used are blue. thousands of eyes watch it for evidence of movement. there is none. from a prisoner afterwards taken it was learned that a german captain, hearing what he thought were unusual sounds, and seeing the british trenches opposite crowded, telephoned the alarm to the artillery. according to this story he was told there were no orders to open fire, and advised to mind his own business. so at last day broke, and the hands of watches approached . . with the inevitableness of fate the minutes sped. the signal time was reached. the guns--hundreds of guns--spoke at the same instant in an overpowering crash of intensified thunder. the earth shook as though smitten. the german line appeared as if swept by an earthquake. it became a line of ceaseless explosions. shells crashed upon it from minute to minute in thousands; the guns went at it at top speed. the wall of sandbags was tumbled and breached in all directions. amid the spurting fires and the acrid smoke the bodies, or fragments of the bodies of men were hurled into the air. some of these ghastly fragments were even blown into the british trenches. back to the british trenches also wafted the sickly fumes of lyddite and cresolite. shells whistled past only a few feet above the heads of the british infantry. the storm of shrapnel chopped the enemy's entanglements to pieces. the high explosives left his trenches shapeless. his laboriously made fortifications had been literally blasted out of being. from behind a ragged wrack in the sky where aeroplanes were sailing, the sun came out, making still darker the cloud of smoke and dust hanging like a black pall over the german entrenchments. where the sunlight touched them the british trenches flashed into rows of gleaming bayonets. for the allotted thirty-five minutes the rain of fire went on. it paused as it had begun, on the instant. the momentary silence was as stunning as the uproar. it was the signal. the whistles blew for the charge. the british infantry told off for the attack swarmed out of their trenches. there were five brigades of them: in the first line on the right to the south of neuve chapelle, the garhwalis of the meerut division of the indian army corps; in the centre opposite neuve chapelle, the th; on the left to the north of neuve chapelle, the rd; in the second line the nd and the st. the leading regiments of the th, the lincolns and the berkshires, cleared the space to the enemy's trenches with a rush. the german entanglements here had been chopped by the shells into mere litter. to reach the wreckage of the wall of sandbags was a matter of seconds. the enemy's trenches proved to be full of dead and dying. such survivors as there were, paralysed with fright, surrendered. then the two battalions swung one to the right, the other to the left and swept in both directions along the line. against the lincolns a remnant of the germans still showed fight. the lincolns went into them with the bayonet. though desperate while it lasted, the struggle was brief. the men left alive surrendered. against the berkshires two german officers fought a machine gun, and continued to fight it until bayoneted. in the track of the lincolns and berkshires came the royal irish rifles and the rifle brigade. while the berkshires and lincolns were rounding up the prisoners, the royal irish and the rifle brigade moved forward towards neuve chapelle. on the right the garhwalis had equally rushed the german front. there, too, it had been a hand to hand finish, but soon over. on the left, however, it was not the same story--not by any means the same story. the rd brigade was made up of the scottish rifles, the nd middlesex, the devons and the west yorkshires. against the part of the german line they were told off to attack the guns had not done the work thoroughly. the enemy's mass of entanglements here followed a dip in the ground; and the shells had mostly missed. let it here be said that an accident of this kind is always liable to happen. it does not of necessity imply remissness on the part of the gunners, and involve blame. difficulties like this will crop up in carrying out the best scheme of tactics. indeed no great battle has ever yet been fought in which the unexpected has not been encountered, and had on the instant to be provided for. at the same time, in a scheme of attack of this kind it is, apart from accidents, the underlying assumption on which the whole is reared that every part of the area under fire shall in the first instance be equally and fully swept. if that be not done then the infantry have imposed upon them a task which no men ought to be asked to face, and which deliberately they would never be asked to face. that was the position in which the scottish rifles and the nd middlesex, two battalions who are among the flower of the army, found themselves. rushing forward, they in a flash saw before them in this hollow the german entanglements standing almost intact. the work in front of them was the impossible. imagine the tragedy of it. they were swept by the fire of machine guns, by rifle volleys discharged from second to second, and showers of shrapnel. to go back would have thrown the whole plan of assault into confusion. it might mean the loss of the battle. on the other hand, it was impossible to re-range the british batteries. the guns were now thundering out their rafale upon neuve chapelle and the german second line. in neuve chapelle and along that line were the enemy's local reserves. these or part of these, if there were any break in the rain of fire, would charge forward to reinforce their first line. they were there for the purpose. part of the scottish rifles got through. the entanglements in front of them had been wrecked. they reached the section of the german trenches which was their objective and overpowered the defenders. the other part was held up by the barbed wire. then began a frantic struggle to smash through the webwork with the butts of rifles, to stamp it down, or to crawl through it. the effort was in vain. the bomb-throwers of the company dashed round in the track of their comrades who had already reached and captured the adjacent german trench. through this trench they reached that still held and daringly bombed the germans out of it. meanwhile the others, forced to lie down, were sprayed both by the machine guns and by the enemy's shrapnel. a subaltern and men were all who later answered to the roll-call. the nd middlesex fared no better. the instant they surged into the open two machine guns, one at each end of the section of the german trench they were to take opened upon them. under this fire they had to clear a space of more than yards. it was strewn as they raced forward with their dead and wounded. to them also the startling truth was revealed that the enemy's entanglements were still almost undamaged. like the scottish they tried to stamp and tear their way through. the effort was speedily seen to be a waste of life. they lay down amid the hail of bullets. a second time, and then a third they tried to break through. a message, however, had been got through to the guns. relaid on to the german trench the artillery this time cut the entanglements through and the position, aided by a bombing party, was carried. such was the attack upon the german first line. but for this disaster to part of the rd brigade, the casualties in this phase of the battle would have been comparatively slight. the th and the garhwalis completed their work before the time allotted for the fire squall against the village and the enemy's second line had expired. when this tornado began neuve chapelle was, although damaged, still standing. when the shell storm ceased, it had, save for the broken walls of the church, totally disappeared. this fair-sized place, which formerly had had some , inhabitants, was now pounded into shapeless ruins. the shells had fallen as elsewhere upon the cemetery. tombstones had been blown about in all directions; graves torn open; coffins ploughed up and scattered in splinters together with the bones they had enclosed. in the churchyard had been posted a german detachment intended to defend that approach to the village by rifle and machine-gun fire from behind the gravestones. most of these men lay among their gruesome surroundings dead or wounded. the whole village and its immediate neighbourhood was wrapped in smoke and dust. into this the moment that the guns had ceased the rifle brigade dashed. the german defence had been smashed. some of the enemy continued to snipe from behind bits of wall, broken tombstones, or the wrecks of carts. among the ruins of a few outlying houses which had escaped complete destruction others put up a fight with machine guns and potted at the british from window spaces. they were speedily disposed of. the rest, bewildered by the blast, were collected from the cellars and dug-outs in which they had sought refuge, coming up with their hands above their heads.[ ] from the opposite direction the village had been stormed by the rd gurkhas of the indian brigade. on the way they had got in with their kukris among a german detachment who attempted with machine guns to defend a group of houses by the cross roads at the south end of the place. the two corps, riflemen and gurkhas, old comrades in former fights, and each now equally dirty and blood-bespattered, cheered each other with enthusiasm. [ ] the correspondent who sent to the london news agency a picturesque story of the battle (published in the _daily telegraph_ of april , ), says: "many strange incidents were observed. in one cellar a portly german was found dancing about in an agony of fear, screaming in a high-pitched voice in english: 'mercy! mercy! i am married' 'your missus won't thank us for sending you home!' retorted one of the men who took him prisoner, and his life was spared. a rifle brigade subaltern, falling over a sandbag into a german trench, came upon two officers, hardly more than boys, their hands above their heads. their faces were ashen grey; they were trembling. one said gravely in good english: 'don't shoot! i am from london also!' they, too, were mercifully used." the artillery tornado against neuve chapelle and its environs had been timed to last for half an hour. it began at . a.m.; it ended at . a.m. at the same instant the infantry advance against this second german line had swung out with a sledge-hammer energy. within twenty-five minutes the village of neuve chapelle was in the british hands. thus in the centre this second wave of the onset had been crushingly successful. it was not immediately successful on the flanks. on the left flank, since the rd brigade had been held up on the german first line, the troops of the th, who had captured the village, had to face north in order to enfilade the enemy still holding out against the rd. it was through this pressure as well as through the redirection of the guns, that these germans still on that part of the first line were about eleven o'clock in the morning dislodged. meanwhile, through the gap in the enemy's first line which had been cleared by the th brigade, the devons, part of the rd, had come on, and attacked on the german second line of defence, an orchard, triangular in shape and bounded along each face by a road, which the germans had fortified. this, one of the strong points of the german second line, the devons carried by storm. later, when the middlesex got through, they occupied the position. both the village of neuve chapelle and its environs over a considerable area north and south presented a network of german diggings, and before any further advance could be made it was essential that the whole of these should be in our hands. it was supposed that this area had been completely and thoroughly searched by the shell fire. unfortunately, as in the instance of the fire directed against the german first line, that proved not to be the case. just to the south of neuve chapelle there is a junction of roads. the main road which runs almost straight as a ruler from la bassee to estaires, meets at this point the main road to armentières. the two highways join at a rather acute angle, and in that angle there was a group of houses. this position the germans had elaborately strengthened. among the british troops it had earned the name of "port arthur." remarkably enough some yards of the german trenches at this place had been missed or practically missed by the fire storm. the attack here was assigned to the nd brigade (british) and the st brigade (indian). the corps who faced the almost untouched length of german trench were the th garhwalis, one of the finest battalions of the indian army. they met with the same experience as the scottish rifles, a frightful fire of machine guns, added to repeated rifle volleys. some of these dauntless and wiry warriors managed to tear or wriggle through the entanglements and went into the germans with the bayonet. they were overborne by numbers, but fought to the last man. while this was going on the leicesters, the entanglements in front of them having been cut, had on the right of the indian troops carried the opposing german position, though under a cross fire from the enemy still holding out against the garhwalis. they wheeled round to left and bombed the germans out. meanwhile the seaforth highlanders had been brought up for an attack upon the enemy from the opposite flank, and this was supported by a frontal attack from the rd (territorial) battalion of the london regiment. the charge of the "terriers" formed one of the brilliant episodes of the battle. "port arthur" was at last finished, and the whole mass of german reserves who had for months inhabited this maze of diggings and fortifications, supposed to be impregnable, were either killed, wounded, prisoners, or on the run. so much were the survivors on the run in fact, that the british troops were able to form up for the third swing in the advance without any opposition worth speaking about. indeed, sir john french states in his dispatch that the st brigade formed up in the open without a shot being fired at them. it was now about . in the afternoon. the part of the british line which needed to be strengthened for the further work in hand was the right wing. the rd brigade needed to be reinforced, and in view of the more extended front which had to be covered as the advance proceeded, more troops were necessary. not only was the front to be covered wider, but the further work on hand would probably turn out the stiffest. this work was an advance towards the slopes on the east and the seizure of decisive positions there. concurrently with the british infantry attack on the german second line the artillery had been searching this ground and the slopes, and although the germans had been rushing up reinforcements and these were beginning to appear in the woods the curtain of fire made it out of the question for them to move farther forward. obviously it was all-important that the british line should be reformed and reinforced for the further advance before enemy reinforcements could be massed. the th army corps and the indian army corps had therefore been ordered up in the forenoon. there was a delay in their arrival. apparently it arose from bad roads. whatever the exact cause the delay meant that recovering from their initial demoralisation, the germans had organised several strong points of opposition. one of these points was a bridge on the little river les layes, which runs across the flats from just outside neuve chapelle to armentières, where it falls into the lys. at this bridge the th brigade found themselves held up. the approaches were a nest of machine guns. the third stage of the british advance did not begin until . in the afternoon. two good hours had been lost. not merely were the th brigade held up, but the indian troops of the reserve, advancing towards the bois de biez, found themselves enfiladed by the fire of this german position. the gurkhas indeed reached the wood, and entered it. they were under a cross fire, however, from front and flank, and in the end had to retreat. in the direction also of the pietre road the st brigade met with greatly superior opposition, and like the th could got get forward. this was the situation at nightfall. the british troops dug themselves in along this new line. at daybreak on march the battle was renewed with an attempt by the germans to shell the british from their new positions. during the night the enemy had brought up strong reinforcements and posted them in the woods and on the plateau. their positions were energetically bombarded. two german regiments in the bois de biez suffered heavily. the enemy launched a counter-attack. their columns were broken by the british fire. in pursuit of these beaten forces the british attack was renewed by the th army corps and the indian corps. the germans, however, had also on their side established a new line. it was found necessary to deal with this as with the others, by a squall of artillery fire. but meantime the weather had changed. rain and mist made accurate observation and reliable ranging out of the question. that night further german reinforcements arrived. they were saxons and bavarians, mainly from tourcoing. before dawn on march the german artillery opened upon neuve chapelle. then in the dim light of breaking day two immense grey columns of german infantry were seen coming out of the woods towards neuve chapelle, one on the north-east, the other on the south-east. what is more they came on in mass formation. the british trenches, needless to say, had as usual been made as nearly as possible invisible. in that uncertain light the line even at quite a short distance away could not be made out. the bavarians attacking from the south-east were still in column of route. an officer rode in their midst on horseback. finding that they were close to the british line the charge was sounded. the mass came on in the closest formation. one minute they had uttered a cheer, the next a score or more of machine guns opened upon them. as though struck by lightning, the mass went down as it seemed, together. it changed into a writhing rampart of dead and wounded. along it men still unhit, could be seen digging themselves in for sheer life, and even using corpses as a shelter. it was a terrible and ghastly spectacle, the result of a terrible and ghastly blunder. hardened as they were, even the british troops were sickened by it. from out of the heap wounded germans crawled towards the british lines. some of the british went out and helped them in. the attack from the north-east was also a failure. whether it was the fate of the bavarians or not, the heart went out of it. at the beginning it was violent, but it utterly petered out. these crushing repulses were again followed by a renewal of the british onset. it was directed against the village or rather the group of houses on the ridge known as the moulin de pietre. through a sweeping "curtain" of german fire the british infantry stormed the enemy's trenches with grenade and bayonet. nothing could stand against their tenacity. they held on to their new positions until nightfall. it was found, however, that to keep these positions in face of the enemy's strength was a game not worth the candle. the line was therefore withdrawn and consolidated. this work occupied the night, so that when the morning of march dawned the germans found the british firmly entrenched east of neuve chapelle. the bombardment which the enemy at once opened from the aubers ridge did very little damage. this, the fourth day following upon three days of hard and continuous fighting, was the most trying of all. the men were by this time in the last stage of fatigue. the devotion of the british soldier, however, is not readily fathomed. such was the battle of neuve chapelle. it cost the lives of nearly , british heroes, and casualties to nearly , others, while , were listed as missing. the losses of the enemy were some , . in his dispatch sir john french says: "the results attained were, in my opinion, wide and far-reaching." not only did the british attack breach a part of the german front which had been elaborately fortified, and prove the power to breach it, and at a cost to the attacking force actually less than the force defending, but it set back in a decisive manner a scheme which the germans had for six months been striving regardless of cost to carry through--the barring of access to the valley of the lys. that valley is the military main road into belgium, and as already pointed out, it is along it that there lie the railway junctions vital to the german position between the coast and the aisne, and vital consequently to their whole position on the west. from their point of view, too, this much more than the crossing of the yser is the way to the coast. the struggle, therefore, for mastery of the valley of the lys represents a most important phase of the war. as to the losses in the battle of neuve chapelle it is now clear that they were due mainly to two things--the parts in the german first and in the german second line of defences which escaped the effect of the artillery "rafales"; and the late arrival of the reserve on the first day. if the artillery sweep in each instance was not perfect, it is at once just and necessary to point out that the flatness of the country rendered ranging far from easy, and that in each instance the section missed was comparatively but a very small bit of the line under fire. we are now in a position to sum up the military results gained in the operations briefly told in this story. they were, as will be seen, of the utmost importance. had the british troops not been transferred when they were from the aisne, the whole course of the western campaign, and with it the whole course of the war, must have been changed. with the vast superiority in numbers which, as events proved, the germans were able to put into the field even before the end of october, a superiority aggregating nearly a million men, they would have been able, round the incompleted left flank of the allies, not only to place themselves between the french and british forces and the coast, but, it is practically certain, to place themselves between the allied armies and paris. they would have gained an unspeakable strategical advantage, and possibly also, as a consequence, a succession of decisive victories. as it was, by the employment of the british troops to extend the left wing of the allied line, this strategical scheme of the enemy was nipped in its first stages. not only that, but it enabled the allied generals completely to turn the tables. in place of enveloping the allied armies as they had proposed, the germans found themselves enveloped. to escape from this situation, which they well knew meant carrying on the war east and west with inevitably divided forces, a condition which eliminated their main chance of victory, they were forced to fight the first battle of ypres. despite their immensely greater numerical strength, they lost it through a succession of tactical blunders. to that has to be added the brilliant resource shown by sir john french, and never more brilliantly than in the crisis of the battle on october . enabling the allies to maintain their envelopment, the first battle of ypres, both definitely checked the german offensive on the west, defeated their attempt to re-seize the strategical initiative, pinned down and by degrees wasted their main forces, and what perhaps is most important of all, ensured the necessity on their part of a division of forces between the two fronts. it is absolutely true to say that the later weeks of october were the chief crisis of the war. only it may be when the events of this war fall in the course of time into a more just perspective shall we appreciate all we owe to the men who fought through that campaign. to deal with the later and second battle of ypres is beyond present scope. this little book will have served its purpose if, bringing into light the strictly historic truth of momentous and arresting events which may determine the destiny of europe for ages, it has revealed at the same time the noble courage and the grand endurance of the british soldier, and has shown the majesty with which, like his fathers, he can do battle for his country. _printed in great britain by wyman & sons ltd., london and reading._ michelin illustrated guides to the battlefields ( -- ) ypres and the battles of ypres. michelin & cie., clermont-ferrand michelin tyre co. ltd., fulham road, london, s. w. michelin tire co., milltown, n. j., u. s. a. _the best & cheapest detachable wheel is the michelin wheel_ [illustration: _the ideal of the tourist_] _the michelin wheel is_ _elegant_ _simple_ _strong_ _practical_ _may we send you our illustrated descriptive brochure?_ michelin tyre co., ltd. _ , fulham road, london,_ s.w. . in memory of the michelin workmen and employees who died gloriously for their country. ypres and the battles of ypres _itinerary:_ lille--armentiÈres--messines--poelcappelle --ypres--poperinghe-- les monts--bailleul--bÉthune--lille. published by michelin & cie. clermont-ferrand, france. copyright by michelin & cie. _all rights of translation, adaptation, or reproduction (in part or whole) reserved in all countries._ [illustration] ypres and the battles for its possession foreword the town of ypres lies in a sort of natural basin formed by a maritime plain intersected by canals, and dominated on the north, north-east and south by low wooded hills. these canals, of which the yser canal is the most important, follow a general direction south-east--north-west. a number of streams flowing in the same direction also water the plain. in addition, there are the dickebusch, zillebeke and bellewaarde ponds. the hills forming the sides of this basin are very low and partly wooded. the line of their crests runs approximately from north to south, through houthulst forest (road from poelcappelle to clercken), poelcappelle, passchendaele, broodseinde, becelaere, gheluvelt, the strategic hill (south of zillebeke) and st. eloi. further south is the messines-wytschaete ridge, and to the south-west the hills of flanders. houthulst forest is the largest of the woods. next come the islets of westroosebeke and passchendaele, then, south of zonnebeke, polygone wood, nonne-bosschen (or nonnes) wood, and the woods of glencorse, inverness and herenthage. in this region, with its essentially maritime climate, the war assumed a character entirely different from that of the rest of the front. the marshy ground, almost at sea-level, is further sodden by constant rain and mists, and forms a spongy mass, in which it was impossible to dig trenches or underground shelters. water is found immediately below the surface, so that the only possible defence-works were parapets. the bursting shells made huge craters which, promptly filling with water, became so many death-traps for wounded and unwounded alike. the defence on both sides consequently centred around the woods, villages, and numerous farms, which were converted into redoubts with concrete blockhouses and deep wire entanglements. the slightest bits of rising ground here played an important part, and were fiercely disputed. the crests which dominate the basin of ypres were used as observation-posts--the lowering sky being usually unfavourable for aerial observation--while their counter-slopes masked the concentrations of troops for the attacks. it was therefore along the line of crests and around the fortified farms that the fighting reached its maximum of intensity. the principal military operations which took place in the vicinity of the town between october, , and november, , may be divided as follows:--first, a powerful german offensive--a counter-stroke to the battles of the yser--then a very definite effort to take the town. the rôle of the allied armies was at that time purely defensive. the second stage was marked by a british and franco-british offensive, begun in the second half of and considerably developed during the summer and autumn of the following year. the object of these operations, which ended in november, , was the clearing of ypres. all the objectives were attained and the plains of flanders were opened to the allies. a final effort by the germans in great strength to the south of the town was checked by the resistance of the allies in april, . in september and october, , the enemy troops finally evacuated the country under pressure of the victorious allied offensive. [illustration: british sentinel on night-duty in front of the ruined cloth hall] =the german offensive of = (october --november , .) =preliminary operations= after the victory of the marne, which drove the germans north of the aisne, began the operations known as "the race to the sea." each side endeavoured to outpace the other, with the object of surrounding the enemy's marching wing. this remarkable "race to the sea"--a widely extended movement splendidly carried out by general foch, and in which the allied forces in their march towards the north constantly outstripped the enemy--might have been used as the starting-point for a grand allied offensive against the german right, but the exhaustion of the belgian army, after the terrible trials which it had just gone through in its retreat on the yser--following on the fall of antwerp--and the delays in the transport of the british troops from the aisne front to the north, prevented the development of this offensive. it was therefore only possible for the allied armies to fix their front and make it impregnable. the stages of this race to the sea and the fixation of the front took place between september and october , . =the forces engaged= (oct. ) when the first battle of ypres opened, the front described a wide semi-circle passing through zonnebeke, gheluvelt and zandvoorde, running thence south of messines, and finally linking up with the line to the east of armentières. [illustration] at the beginning of the battle all this part of the front was held by the british army, as follows: from zonnebeke to zandvoorde, the st corps (haig) and th corps (rawlinson); from zandvoorde to messines, the calvary corps (allenby), two infantry divisions, and the lahore division, which had just landed at marseilles; lastly, from messines to armentières, the rd corps (pulteney). facing these forces were the german ivth army, consisting of the xiiith, xvth and xvith active corps, and the iind bavarian corps, reinforced during the battle by a division of the guards. the british cavalry corps had to face four german cavalry corps. [illustration: the german thrust of oct. -- , ( -- / )] to make up for their setback in the race to the sea, the german high command decided on a strenuous effort to break through the allies' front at ypres. the "battle for calais" was about to begin. the enemy confidently expected to reach the coast, from which they hoped to expose england to such peril as would break down the pride of that troublesome enemy. the german attack began on october under the eye of the kaiser, who, for the following five days, took up his quarters at thielt, whence he arranged to make a triumphal entry into ypres. for seventeen days (october --november ) the german regiments, elated by the presence of their emperor, fought with unheard-of frenzy and an utter disregard of losses in their frantic attacks against the ypres salient. [illustration: on oct. , the germans made progress, south of ypres, but were driven back, eastwards, to gheluvelt] to the east of ypres the action fought between poelcappelle and gheluvelt failed. the fierce german attacks, in spite of the masses of men engaged, broke down before the stubborn resistance of the allies. in a counter-offensive the british, supported on their left by french divisions, reached the village of becelaere, between zonnebeke and gheluvelt, but were unable to hold it. further south, the british were forced to abandon zandvoorde and hollebeke. gheluvelt, first lost on october , was recaptured on the st in a counter-attack by the st corps. supported by three french battalions, the british subsequently repulsed all attacks and successfully barred the road from menin to ypres. on the evening of the st, the line in the eastern sector ran as follows: east of frezenberg, gheluvelt, east of klein zillebeke and the bend in the canal to the north-east of hollebeke. [illustration: on nov. , the situation was critical in the extreme. the germans captured the messines-wytschaete ridge, and the british fell back on wulverghem] the germans were more successful to the south-east. after an intense bombardment they attacked, on october , from saint-yves to wytschaete, capturing saint-yves and obtaining a footing in messines, from which, however, they were immediately driven by a counter-attack. on october , the germans, after concentrating enormous masses of troops between oosttaverne and roozebeek canal, made a fresh attack. in the morning they gained a footing in the eastern outskirts of messines, but could get no further, thanks to a counter-attack by three french battalions with twelve guns from st. eloi. the germans, however, redoubled their efforts, and towards noon, after a fierce struggle in the streets of messines, the british cavalry were gradually forced back, but clung desperately to the western outskirts of the village. at about p.m. a fierce struggle began for the recapture of the convent to the south of messines, then in the enemy's hands. by night the british were in possession of the last houses west of messines, the germans holding the eastern crest. [illustration: on nov. , the french counter-attacked and retook the messines-wytschaete ridge. the germans launched a mass attack against gheluvelt] during the night of october , the messines-wytschaete crest was again fiercely attacked. the germans gained a footing in wytschaete and broke the british line to the north of messines. a withdrawal became necessary, and at dawn the line was set back as far as the western outskirts of wulverghem. during the day of november , wytschaete was retaken and lost again. french zouaves, acting as reinforcements, held their ground doggedly in front of st. eloi. the enemy offensive redoubled in intensity, and the situation became desperate. as a result of the flooding of the yser, the german iiird corps in the northern sector became available and joined in the assault. the french th corps, hurriedly called up, counter-attacked furiously and succeeded in driving back the germans and gaining a fresh footing in the western outskirts of wytschaete. on november , the french were once more in possession of the western crest of messines-wytschaete. this check did not daunt the germans, who, having just been reinforced from their belgian garrisons, directed their efforts further to the north. the attack was made by compact masses of troops on the st. eloi-zwarteleen front, the movement coinciding with a thrust against gheluvelt on the menin-ypres road. at the latter point the front was momentarily broken, but furious counter-attacks re-established the original positions. the french troops which held the bend of the canal north-east of hollebeke were overpowered and thrown back on verbranden-molen. a counter-attack by the st british corps checked the enemy onrush, and after a magnificent defence the original line was almost entirely maintained. [illustration: the germans continued their furious attacks until nov. , but failed to reach their objective: ypres] the battle continued to rage with increasing violence, the culminating point being reached on november . at dawn the germans, after a terrific artillery preparation lasting several hours, attacked with the infantry of the ist and ivth brigades of the prussian guards. they succeeded in piercing the line in three places, and forced their way into the woods behind the trenches to a depth of rather more than two miles through the principal breach. they did not, however, reach their objective. enfiladed by machine-gun fire, they were partly driven back into their trenches, after a bloody hand-to-hand struggle amid great confusion. the losses on both sides were very heavy, without any decisive result being attained. the weather, previously bad, now became a violent storm. during the night, under cover of the hurricane, the prussian guard broke through the allies' front. ypres--the prize on which the kaiser had set his heart--seemed at last within the enemy's grasp. but the british, momentarily demoralized, quickly rallied and drove back the prussians in a heroic charge. the struggle continued fiercely during the following days, the germans launching numerous attacks with compact masses of troops. the deep lines of infantry, led by young officers, whose undeniable courage did not compensate for their lack of experience, were mown down. exasperated by this check, the enemy set about to destroy the town which they were unable to take. on november , german aeroplanes dropped incendiary bombs, and thenceforth the bombardment was conducted methodically both by aeroplanes and by guns firing from ten to twenty shells per minute. up to the th, the town had suffered comparatively little. the cloth hall had only been hit by two shells (on the th) and by a few bombs. but in the disastrous days of october , and afterwards, the bombardment became more intense and better regulated. the germans brought up an armoured train to houthem, which, directed by observation balloons, rained incendiary and explosive shells on the town. on the evening of the rd, all that remained of the place des halles was a heap of ruins. [illustration: the cloth hall in flames (nov. , ) _the germans, unable to capture ypres, destroyed it methodically by shell-fire (photo, antony, ypres)_.] [illustration: during the winter months log-roads were necessary for the lorries and artillery, and even these sank in the bottomless mud] =period of comparative calm= (december, --april, .) having failed to pierce the front in the neighbourhood of ypres, the germans abandoned their attacks in close formation, and operations in this sector were soon limited to incessant artillery actions, occasionally followed by fierce surprise attacks at isolated points. some of the attacks during this period of comparative calm are worthy of note. on december , the germans launched three attacks against the british troops in front of st. eloi, only one of which gave any result. the enemy captured the first trenches of the allies' line, but were driven out on the following night by a counter-attack. other attempts were made during the following week, with the same negative result. on december , the germans attacked in force to the north-west of ypres. zonnebeke, langemarck and bixschoote were bitterly disputed, and the two last-named villages remained in the hands of the enemy. these battles were fought in a sea of mud formed by the rain and the flooding of the land by the belgians. one colonel wrote: "the ground on which we are fighting is awful. there is a crust about a foot thick which is comparatively good, but underneath there is bottomless mud. men standing in trenches four or five feet deep are almost unable to get out, and gradually sink until it takes several men to extricate them." the first fortnight of january was comparatively quiet. during the second fortnight a strong german attack broke down before the front-line trenches near bixschoote. the continual rains in this previously flooded district rendered all activity impossible, save that of the artillery, which continued to bombard unceasingly during february. [illustration: the front-line during the winter campaign of -- ] it was only in the first half of march that the opposing armies became really active. from the th to th, powerful german attacks were repulsed between dixmude and the lys. the british, on their part, were not inactive during this period. they fought a vigorous action between the lys and la bassée, captured neuve-chapelle after prolonged strenuous fighting, and took a thousand prisoners, including several officers. as the weather conditions improved, the number of local engagements increased. in an enemy attack on st. eloi, between march and , the british first lost and then recaptured that village. further south, during the first half of april, fierce engagements were fought without decisive result in front of the villages of kemmel and wulverghem. the germans continued to bombard ypres with large calibre shells, heaping ruins upon ruins. =the second battle of ypres= (april--may--june, .) the long period of enforced inaction during the winter months, and the depressing waiting in the icy mud, were now succeeded first by local enemy attacks, then by a fresh powerfully organised attempt by the germans to capture ypres. the battle began on april with a strong unsuccessful thrust to the north of ypres. the british replied by attacking hill . on april , after the firing of a powerful mine, the hill was brilliantly captured, and in spite of bitter counter-attacks on the th by the germans, who fully realised the importance of this _point d'appui_, the position remained in the hands of the british. meanwhile, a new german offensive was being prepared, which their high command believed would prove irresistible, thanks to the use of a new weapon, as murderous as it was unexpected. although germany had signed the clause of the hague convention (july , ), which prohibits the use of =asphyxiating gas=, the unscrupulous leaders now made use for the first time of this treacherous weapon. in accordance with their usual practice, they claimed that the british used the gas first, and that they used it only in reprisal. needless to say, this assertion was pure fiction. on april the front ran as follows: belgian troops held the canal; the french th colonial infantry division, resting on the canal, and passing through bixschoote, linked up with the troops of the canadian rd brigade. throughout the morning of april , the germans bombarded the first lines, while the roads behind were swept by the fire of the heavy artillery, including ½-in. guns. the bombardment continued into the afternoon. suddenly, at about p.m., there rose from the german trenches, opposite the lines occupied by the french colonial troops, a strange opaque cloud of greenish-yellow fumes. a light breeze from the north-east wafted this cloud towards the french, who, a few moments later, fell gasping for breath in terrible agony. terror spread through the ranks, especially among the african troops. a panic inevitably followed, which quickly spread from the front to the rear lines. behind that cloud of gas the german troops advanced, protected by a heavy barrage and intense machine-gun fire. the french colonial troops fell back several miles towards ypres, and the germans took steenstraat, het sas and pilkem, together with many prisoners. the withdrawal of the french uncovered the left flank of the canadians, who were on their right, and they in turn were obliged to fall back, leaving four guns in the hands of the germans. in the afternoon the canadians, rallying, took the offensive, recovered part of the lost ground between steenstraat and langemarck, together with their guns, and inflicted a sanguinary defeat on the germans. [illustration: the first german poison-gas attack _(april , .)_] further north, on the yser canal, the enemy took advantage of the disorder caused by the gas to cross at steenstraat bridge, and reached the village of lizerne near zuydschoote, where they strongly entrenched themselves. but zouaves, aided by belgians, counter-attacked in force, retook lizerne, and advanced along the canal. the greatest german effort was made on april against the british lines. the attacking troops had been grouped on both sides of the railway from ypres to roulers, near broodseinde, but in spite of fierce attacks they could not break the british lines, and once more their dastardly methods failed them. at the end of april the front was fixed as follows: from steenstraat the line followed the canal as far as het sas bridgehead and then passed along the right bank to pilkem (on the opposite bank). here it turned at right-angles eastwards, as far as soetart farm (on the ypres-langemarck road), turned south-east through wieltje, then west of hooge, finally linking up with hill and st. eloi. the germans revenged themselves for their failure by again bombarding ypres. the shelling, which had ceased for a time prior to the offensive, began again with renewed intensity. an enormous quantity of heavy artillery had been brought up, and large calibre shells were continuously rained on the unhappy city, causing a panic. the few remaining inhabitants fled terror-stricken along the poperinghe road. during the last week of april the battle continued with great bitterness, but in spite of the enemy's use of gas, the allies gradually retook the lost ground. then followed a fresh period of calm, broken from time to time by fierce attacks, of which that of may on hill was the most important. on may the battle broke out afresh in the region lying between poelcappelle and the ypres-menin road. the germans pierced the british line at several points, notably between st. julien and frezenberg, and reached wieltje, but after bitter hand-to-hand fighting, they were driven back to their trenches at the point of the bayonet. the next day the attack was renewed in close formation, under the protection of an intense bombardment of gas shells, but the british, now provided with masks, stood firm. the german columns, mown down by shrapnel and machine-gun fire, were unable to reach the british trenches. the fighting died down during the next few days, on account of rain and wind storms, which made all movement impossible, but began again on the th without, however, any appreciable advantage for the germans, who once more took the offensive. another period of calm set in, and this second battle of ypres--the second serious check of the germans before the town--ended in a successful operation by the british, who, on june , captured the château of hooge on the menin road, two miles from ypres. =long period of comparative calm. isolated actions. artillery activity on both sides= (june, --june, .) these weeks of fierce, bloody fighting were followed by a long period of comparative calm, the operations having been transferred to other parts of the front (argonne, artois, champagne). nevertheless, local actions took place from time to time without any appreciable result. from july to the british, after successful mining operations, advanced their line along the ypres-menin road, in the neighbourhood of hooge château. after being driven from the outskirts of the château by a gas attack on august , they retook the lost ground on the th and advanced beyond it. towards the middle of september there was a rather severe bombardment near steenstraat and ramscappelle, while ypres received more shells. during the latter half of august an order of the day to the german armies in flanders stated: "_our work is practically finished in the east, and we are on the point of beginning in the west; peace in october is certain._" [illustration: the front line from june to june ] in december, a new offensive by the germans failed, despite the use of gas. there was unusual artillery activity, all the heavy guns, both german and british, being brought into action. on december , field-marshal french received the title of "viscount of ypres," in commemoration of the vigorous british defence of that city. on february , , the germans launched fresh attacks in the west, near steenstraat and het sas, and attempted to cross the yser. after being smartly checked, they furiously attacked the british trenches between the ypres-comines canal and the railway, and succeeded in capturing one of them for a length of yards. this trench, on account of its frequently changing hands, came to be known as the "international trench." a few days later (march ) the british retook it. the struggle now became limited to a continuous artillery duel, with occasional surprise infantry attacks. the hamlet of st. eloi to the south was the scene of constant fighting for the possession of the shell-craters. on april , the fighting assumed a more serious character. an unimportant german attack near st. eloi and along the ypres-langemarck road was the prelude to operations by considerable enemy forces, having for their objective the great undulating slopes between hill and armentières. [illustration: british defence works in front of ypres] the first of these attacks took place on april , , but failed. two days later a night attack with gas was repulsed with hand grenades. a third attempt was made in may, , more to the south towards armentières, on the sides of the road connecting that town with ypres. the british, entrenched in a wood near ploegsteert village, were assailed by three german columns, and were only able to repulse two of them. the third took the position, but scottish troops counter-attacked and drove the germans back. the most important of the enemy attacks during this period took place on june . the preparations included a concentration of troops between tournai and baisieux, from may to , supported by guns of all calibres. the attack was carried out in considerable strength between hooge and the ypres-comines railway. the artillery preparation began at . a.m. on june , and at noon the first assaulting wave entered the front-line trenches. the battle died down for a few minutes in the evening, only to break out again during the night. the germans succeeded in crushing in the front to a depth of some yards in the direction of zillebeke, but the next day a portion of the lost ground was retaken by the canadians. [illustration: the flanders battlefield in winter] on june , a fresh assault began, preceded by the usual bombardment, and further assisted by mine explosions. the front line trenches to the north of hooge were lost; but on the th the valiant canadians, who had previously recaptured the original positions abandoned on june , resumed the offensive, and re-established the lines from the southern part of sanctuary wood to a point , yards north of hill . throughout the days of june and there was an extremely violent bombardment, to which the british guns replied effectively. the germans, whose losses from the attacks and this artillery fire were very heavy, declared: "_belgium will be our grave._" these were the last operations in which the enemy took the offensive. all their efforts had failed, whether their object had been to turn the left flank of the allies, to break the lines around ypres, or merely to take the town. =the allied offensive of = _series of powerful attacks with limited objectives. from june to october, the stages of the offensive were punctuated by breathing spaces, during which the conquered ground was consolidated, in view of counter-attacks, and the artillery brought up, to prepare the following attack._ =preliminary operations= =the capture of messines ridge by the british= (june , .) from july, , to may, , the ypres sector remained comparatively quiet. there were few attacks on either side, but the guns thundered day and night. it may be said that the british were "trying their hand." in june, , certain at last of their strength, they made their first big effort, and step by step, in accordance with a carefully worked-out plan, they completely liberated ypres by a series of offensives lasting four months, and broke the iron circle which, for two years, had been strangling the town. for several months before the battle, the attack on messines ridge had been carefully planned by means of a model in relief, situated in the open air and covering an area about equal to that of a tennis court. here were reproduced in relief all the contours and peculiarities of the ground. everything, down to an isolated tree trunk, was reproduced. british effort took definite shape for the first time on june . the attack, planned by sir douglas haig, had for its objective the capture of the crests between wytschaete and messines, which the germans had seized on november , . for seven days an artillery preparation of incredible intensity hammered the villages of messines and wytschaete, until they had completely disappeared. on june , about an hour before dawn, at . a.m., the sky was lit up by an intense light, while a series of terrific explosions were heard; nineteen mines, some of whose galleries had taken more than a year to bore, exploded along the enemy positions. the germans were taken completely by surprise, and gave way before the impetuous onrush. in a few minutes their first line was carried along the whole of the attacked front. then, almost without a pause, the british troops attacked the western slopes of the messines-wytschaete ridge, and by about . a.m. held the crests along the whole line. the village of messines offered resistance, but was captured by the new zealanders in a vigorous attack, as was also the village of wytschaete. by noon the second stage of the offensive was about to begin. descending the eastern slopes of the ridge the british carried a second strong position, then attacked a fresh line--chiefly in rayon wood--in which were large shelters of reinforced concrete, each capable of holding a company. at about p.m. oosttaverne village, lying west of the centre of the position, fell. at sun-down the day's objectives had been completely attained, and the advance at certain points exceeded two miles in depth. this fine success was due to the carefully detailed preparation carried out under the orders of general herbert plumer, to the destructive effect of the mines, to the violence and precision of the bombardment, to the excellent co-operation of the air forces, and to the harmonious working together of all arms. the tanks rendered excellent service. [illustration: the british offensive of june , , against messines ridge, preceded by the firing of nineteen enormous mines] the germans made an effort to rally, but their first counter-attacks, near oosttaverne and to the east of messines, failed. at about p.m., on june , a fresh german counter-attack was launched along the whole of the new front between st. yvon and the ypres-comines canal. other engagements were fought to the east of messines and near klein zillebeke. although reinforced by fresh divisions, the german attack was broken by midnight. resuming their offensive, the british, on the morning of june , captured the whole system of german trenches, nearly a mile in length, situated near poterie farm, to the south-east of messines. the next day fresh progress was made along nearly two miles of the front to the north-east of messines, and the hamlet of gapaard occupied. [illustration: the front line before the allies' offensive of july , ] after the offensive--limited in scope--of june , which reduced the salient, south of ypres, the british continued to press the enemy. frequent raids kept the germans on the alert and secured important _points d'appui_. on june , the germans were forced to abandon an important part of their first-line trenches between the lys and st. yvon. on the same day a considerable advance was made east of ploegsteert wood, and in the immediate neighbourhood of gapaard village. during the night of the th a double attack was made: one to the east of messines; the other along both banks of the ypres-comines canal, to the north-west of hollebeke. these attacks gave the british a large number of trenches, which they held in spite of fierce counter-attacks. to sum up, during the latter half of june an advance of to , yards in depth was made along the whole front line between klein zillebeke and the lys. the month of july passed in raids, patrols, and reconnoitring, preparatory to the new offensive of july . this far-reaching offensive, which lasted from july to the end of october, may be divided into six successive phases, and ended with the liberation of ypres. =first phase= (july --august .) =capture of the first and second german lines= when the battle began, the firing line extended from dixmude, along the yser canal, then followed the yperlée river, on the left bank of the yser canal. it next passed through lizerne to het sas, whence it followed the canal to boesinghe. opposite this village the line crossed the canal and the ypres-bruges railway, then passed the quatre-chemins cross-roads, descending thence to essenfarm and kruppfarm, which lie on either side of the pilkem road. continuing west of wieltje village, it passed south of verlorenhoek château, skirted verlorenhoek village, and descended west of hooge, after crossing the ypres-roulers railway. it next skirted the northern part of sanctuaire wood, then entered the latter, coming out to the south of zwateleen. from there, the line extended southwards, passing west of hollebeke, east of gapaard, and skirting the eastern fringe of ploegsteert wood. during the fortnight preceding the offensive, changes were made in the order of the forces holding the line. british troops relieved the belgians and french who had been operating near the coast, in the direction of lombaertzyde. moreover, the french forces, placed at the disposal of general anthoine, had taken up positions between the belgians and the british from reninghe to elverdinghe. [illustration: first stage of the allies' advance from july to august , ( / -- / )] at a.m. on july , in spite of unfavourable weather, the british troops, under the command of generals plumer and gough, co-operating with the franco-belgian troops led by general anthoine, attacked in force along a front of fourteen miles from dixmude to the lys. in the french sector, the greater part of the troops had crossed the yser during the night. the artillery then pounded the first and second german lines, and as soon as the range had been lengthened, the infantry dashed forward. at the scheduled hour the first and second enemy lines from dixmude to bixschoote, to a depth in places of almost two miles, were occupied, while bixschoote, steenstraat, and kortekeer inn fell. the british were on the right of the french. the ypres-roulers road formed the axis on which their attack turned. on the left of this road they pierced the german lines to a depth of nearly two miles, and occupied the bridges over the steenbeek canal. several villages were captured: verlorenhoek, frezenberg, st. julien, pilkem, in addition to a large number of fortified farms and woods. on the right of the ypres-roulers road, the british encountered a very strong resistance. the ground, more broken than that on the other part of the battle-front, and also intersected with woods, enabled the germans to keep several _points d'appui_. despite the fiercest fighting, it was impossible to drive them out of part of the second position on the right wing. nevertheless, an advance of about a mile in depth was made in this sector, and the village of hooge and sanctuary wood were captured. on their extreme right the british had captured hollebeke village early that morning. the next day (august ), the germans replied but feebly in the french sector, while in the british sector, in spite of the rain, they counter-attacked with the greatest fury. near st. julien the line fell back slightly, but along the rest of the front the positions were fully maintained. the first phase in the liberation of ypres was over. in forty-eight hours, the offensive, methodically prepared and carried out, had attained the objectives, given the allies more than , prisoners and an immense quantity of stores. during the following days, in spite of torrential rain, the germans attempted unsuccessfully to retake the lost ground, some of the attacks being particularly fierce. in the sector held by the french troops there was little more than a heavy bombardment on either side. french raids on fortified farms held by the germans resulted in slight progress being made to the north of bixschoote and kortekeer inn. the british, on the other hand, had to face strong counter-attacks. on august , the germans succeeded in regaining a footing in their old advanced positions along the ypres-roulers road. on the nd, the british lines between st. julien and the ypres-bruges railway were attacked in force. the village of st. julien was lost, but was finally retaken on the rd. on the th, the british line was advanced beyond st. julien. on august , during a fresh attack on both banks of the ypres-comines canal, the germans retook hollebeke, but were driven out almost immediately. on the night of the th they again attacked hollebeke, but without success. on the th, an interesting operation was carried out by the british. the front attacked was shorter than in the offensive of july , and extended about a mile and a half to the south of the ypres-roulers road. early in the morning the british were in complete possession of westhoek village, after which a violent struggle took place for the high ground round the village. by evening all the objectives had been attained, including the capture of westhoek crest and glencorse wood. august was marked by six enemy counter-attacks, which caused a slight withdrawal of the line to the south of glencorse wood. everywhere else the allies' positions were fully maintained. =second phase= (_august --september , ._) the allies resumed their offensive on august along a front of some nine miles, from the yser canal to the ypres-menin road. the attack began at . a.m. the french attacked on both sides of the steenstraat-dixmude road, crossing the steenbeek stream in the morning. driegrachten bridgehead was taken after hand-to-hand fighting, while in the evening the whole of the strip of ground between the yser and the martjet-vaart canal was in the hands of the french. the british operating on the right of the french rapidly attained their first objectives, then vigorously following up this first success, they took by assault the village of langemarck and its strong defences, advanced yards beyond the village and captured the whole system of trenches. to the south, along the ypres-menin road, the struggle was more stubborn, the germans resisting desperately. a series of furious counter-attacks enabled them finally to preserve their line practically intact in this district. the day's captures included more than , prisoners, of whom thirty were officers, and twenty-four guns, including several of large calibre. desperate fighting continued until september without, however, altering the positions established on august . on august , the british, by small local attacks, advanced about yards on the ypres-poelcappelle road and captured several fortified farms. the germans made desperate efforts to hold the high wooded ground comprising polygone and inverness woods, near the ypres-roulers road. on the nd the fighting increased in fierceness. the british advanced only with great difficulty, and the eastern edges of inverness wood were hotly contested. in these combats, from which neither side gained any decisive advantage, the germans made use for the first time of liquid fire, thanks to which innovation they succeeded temporarily in retaking the north-western corner of inverness wood, but were soon driven out. [illustration: second stage: the attack of august ( / )] further north, the british, on august and , advanced their lines to the north of st. julien and langemarck. during the following days, persistent rains prevented any further operations. infantry actions were now succeeded by continuous bombardments on both sides, and by isolated raids. =third phase= (_september --october , ._) on september a fresh offensive was begun along the whole front from langemarck to the ypres-menin road, a distance of eight miles. the part assigned for the french troops under general anthoine was merely to protect the left wing of the british army which, pivoting on hollebeke, was to wheel and advance its marching wing in a direction at right-angles to the zonnebeke-gheluvelt line. all the objectives were attained at an early hour. inverness wood, which had been hotly disputed for the six previous weeks, was taken by the london troops. the australians retook by assault glencorse wood--lost a few days before--and nonnes wood. the scottish and south african brigades captured the fortified farms of vampire and borry, and the potsdam and anzac redoubts. lancashire territorials carried iberian farm and next day (the st) gallipoli farm. the british then attacked the second german lines. on the right the territorials[ ] fought violent engagements to the north of the bend in the ypres-comines canal, near klein zillebeke, and in the vicinity of the position known as tower hamlet. in the centre, progress was more important. the ground hereabouts rises in a small plateau about feet in height, which dominates the whole battlefield and extends in two long spurs: one running north-east towards zonnebeke, the other southwards towards menin. the germans had fortified these positions very strongly and withdrawn their main line of defence to the eastern edge of the plateau, _i.e._ opposite the side by which the enemy must attack. this line protected the village of zevenkote and the western edge of polygone wood, leaving in front the woods of nonnes, glencorse and inverness, and herenthage park, the eastern edge of which latter it followed. the woods were strongly fortified, and the british had twice previously (july and august ) vainly endeavoured to capture them. it was the northern troops and the australians who carried these positions, advancing to a depth of , yards and taking veldhoek and the western part of polygone wood--the principal centre of the german resistance. further north, zevenkote was captured and the london territorials, supported by the highlanders, seized a second line of farms. in the evening of september , the front ran approximately as follows: from rose farm ( yards west of poelcappelle) to fokker farm (on the eastern edges of zevenkote); across the western part of polygone wood--including veldhoek--then to the east of herenthage château, and ending at hollebeke. the germans, in their costly and unsuccessful efforts to retake the lost positions, suffered exceedingly heavy losses, without gaining any advantage. on the morning of the th the british continued their attack along a five-mile front, from the east of st. julien to tower hamlet near the ypres-menin road. the rest of tower hamlet spur was captured, in addition to the whole of polygone wood. further north, a fresh advance of , yards was made, and the strongly fortified village of zonnebeke remained in the hands of the british. besides the gain in ground, more than , prisoners were taken. the germans, by a series of powerful counter-attacks, sought to win back the lost positions. on the evening of the th, four attacks were made in the neighbourhood of tower hamlet. [illustration: third stage: british advance from sept. to sept. ( / -- / )] on the th they attacked the village of zonnebeke, while on the morning of the th three attacks were made, without result, on both sides of the ypres-menin road. on october the germans attacked three times on a front of , yards to the south of the ypres-menin road, while the same night two fresh assaults gave no appreciable result. [illustration: battery of british heavy howitzers in action] =fourth phase= (_october -- , ._) the increasing activity of the germans did not in any way prevent the british from preparing a fresh offensive. on the morning of october , english divisions, supported by welsh, scottish and irish battalions, attacked along a front of ten miles, between tower hamlet and the north of langemarck. the germans, disconcerted and surprised by this unexpected attack--they were themselves preparing to attack with five divisions--fell back from the beginning of the action. [illustration: part of the ground covered by the offensive, seen from an aeroplane] a rapid advance of one-half to nearly two miles was made. south of the menin road the objectives were attained almost at the outset. to the north of the same road the enemy resistance was more stubborn. nevertheless, the villages of reutel and polderhoek, together with the château of that name, were captured, freeing at the same time the top of the crest, whose eastern slopes run down to the village of bacelaere. further north, the australians captured noordhemhoek and molenaarelsthoek, reached broodseinde crest, and thus advanced beyond the bacelaere-broodseinde road. on the other side of the ypres-roulers railway, the british drew appreciably nearer passchendaele, captured gravenstafel and a certain number of fortified farms, and approached the western outskirts of poelcappelle. [illustration: fourth stage: the th october, ( / )] in spite of the violent storm which was then raging, all the objectives were attained and the line of crests conquered. owing to the very large numbers of troops massed on the front at the time of the attack, the german losses, which included , prisoners, were particularly heavy. [illustration: a difficult crossing. british and belgian soldiers] =fifth phase= (_october -- , ._) to completely clear ypres, a few strongly fortified villages beyond the line of crests captured on october had still to be taken. these formed the objective of the attacks of october and . on october , in spite of the appalling weather, the british attacked again on a front stretching from st. janshoek (a mile north of bixschoote) to the south-east of broodseinde. the french were holding a front rather less than two miles in length to the north of bixschoote, and had for objective the southern edge of houthulst forest. the signal to attack was given at . a.m. despite the rain, which had been falling incessantly for several days, the infantry crossed first the canal in flood, then a veritable sea of mud, and captured mangelaere and veldhoek. they advanced rather more than a mile and reached the south-western edge of houthulst forest, after having captured numerous strongly fortified farms and blockhouses. the british sector extended from the north-west of poelcappelle to broodseinde, and formed a front of some seven miles. on the right, the manchester regiment and the lancashire fusiliers advanced from , to , yards in the direction of passchendaele, and carried the line beyond the crests occupied on october . in the centre, many farms, redoubts and blockhouses were captured. [illustration: fifth stage: the british attack houthulst forest and approach passchendaele] to the north, the capture of poelcappelle was completed, the british joining hands with the french on the outskirts of houthulst forest. more than , prisoners were taken. [illustration: sixth stage: by nov. , ypres was completely cleared] =sixth phase= (_october --november , ._) after a short rest, during which the new positions were consolidated--in view of enemy counter-attacks--the battle broke out afresh on october . the attack of the nd was, in reality, only of secondary importance, but thanks to the progress made, it was possible to carry out the operations of the th on a larger scale than originally intended. in order definitely to consolidate the captured positions, it was still necessary to take the village of passchendaele, which stands on the high ground dominating the plain of flanders to the east of ypres and from which roulers is visible. a fresh offensive was accordingly begun at dawn on october . in the french sector, the troops, after wading through the st. janshoek and the corverbeek streams with the water up to their shoulders, stormed the village of draeibank, papegoed wood, and many fortified farms. the next day fresh progress, to a depth of more than a mile, was made on both sides of the ypres-dixmude road, along a front of two and a half miles. the villages of hoekske, aschhoop, merckem, and kippe were captured, and the western edges of houthulst forest reached. on the th, the advance continued on the left, in co-operation with the belgians. the french took the village of luyghem, and the belgians vyfhuyzen. the british, on their part, advanced in the direction of passchendaele, as far as the southern slopes of the village, capturing a whole series of positions east of poelcappelle. on october , british and canadians continued their attacks, and in spite of the enemy's desperate resistance, reached the first houses of passchendaele. [illustration: french troops passing in front of the ruins of ypres cloth hall] on the following days they improved their positions. the struggle at this juncture was very bitter, hindenburg having shortly before issued an order stating: "_passchendaele must be held at all costs, and retaken if lost._" on the morning of november , the british resumed the offensive. the canadians, after bloody engagements to the north and north-west of passchendaele, captured the hamlets of mosselmarkt and goudberg, and finally carried passchendaele. on the evening of november , ypres was completely cleared; and from the top of the passchendaele hills the valiant british troops could see, stretching away to the horizon, the plain of flanders, which had been hidden from the allies since october, . [illustration: preparation of the german offensive of april , . the objective] [illustration: scherpenberg hill] =the german offensive of = the front was quiet during the winter of -- , but opened darkly for the allies. the treaty of brest-litowsk had sealed the defection of russia, while roumania, reduced to her own resources, was forced to sign the treaty of bukarest. lastly, invaded italy was only just recovering from the disaster at caporetto. already, in spite of the terms of the brest-litowsk treaty, huge masses of troops, guns and stores were being despatched to the western front. the blow fell on march , . the objectives, three in number, were the smashing of the british right wing at its junction with the french; the separation of the two allied army groups; the driving back to the channel coast of the two british armies, after they had been surrounded on the south. the long-coveted road "_nach paris_" would then at last be open. but in spite of their colossal efforts the germans were held. by march , the german imperial forces were exhausted, and general foch was able to say: "_the wave has spent itself on the beach._" the peril seemed to be averted. but the respite was only a short one. the german attack before amiens was scarcely stayed (april ) when the battle suddenly broke out again. from the arras sector to la bassée the whole line was ablaze as far as the lys. while, in the first german offensive the british right had suffered severely, it was against the left wing of the same army that the new blow was struck. the new offensive, although quickly prepared, was even more violent than the first. on april , when the attack began, the german battle-front between the lys and la bassée was held by twenty-one divisions in line and six in reserve, under the command of von quast (vith army). of these twenty-seven divisions only seven were in line on march . ten divisions were hurriedly brought up from the belgian front (ivth army--von arnim), which was holding the sector from the lys to the channel. five others were despatched from the artois front, and, lastly, five divisions were taken from general ludendorff's general reserve. footnote: [footnote : french: troupes des comtés = county regiments.] [illustration: on april -- , , the germans broke through the allies' front, south of ypres, and advanced to nieppe forest and the chain of the flanders hills] =the battle of the flanders hills= =the break-through= (_april , ._) the germans began the attack on the morning of april , after an intense bombardment with gas shells, and under cover of a dense fog reached the first machine-guns. the sector was held by portuguese troops, wedged in between the british, from bois-grenier to neuve-chapelle. on the whole length of front attacked, between la bassée and armentières, in the plain of flanders, the only natural obstacles are the rivers and canals. from the beginning of the battle the portuguese were thrown into disorder by the extreme violence of the attack. the twenty-one german shock divisions attacked in five columns: to the south, the first column in the direction of givenchy; the second (general kraevel), in front of festubert; the third (von bernhardi) marched against la couture and richebourg-st.-waast; the carlowitz corps, forming the fourth column, advanced against estaires in the direction of laventie; further north, the fifth column attacked in the direction of fleurbaix, outflanking bois grenier and armentières on the west. under the pressure of the attack, a depression was formed in the line. fleurbaix, laventie, richebourg-st.-waast and neuve-chapelle were lost, and the germans reached the lys between estaires and the st. maur ferry. to the north of the pocket the allies resisted successfully at fleurbaix; to the south, givenchy, after a desperate struggle, remained in the hands of the british. on the following day the german troops, continuing the push towards the centre, succeeded in crossing the lys between estaires and the st. maur ferry. the battle extended northwards and the ivth army (von arnim) attacked between armentières and ploegsteert with the eberhardt, marschall and sieger corps. the push continued on the th, and armentières, outflanked on the north and south, smashed by the shells and drenched with gas, had to be evacuated. on their left, the germans, after crossing the lawe, north of locon, two miles from béthune, captured neuf-berquin and merville. givenchy, held by the british th division, resisted all attacks and remained in their hands. on the right, nieppe and steenwerk had to be evacuated. the german advance to the south of armentières becoming more pronounced, the british straightened their front, to avoid too sharp a salient, and fell back to the messines-wytschaete crest. on the th the fighting continued furiously. advancing along the lille-hazebrouck railway, the germans reached the outskirts of nieppe forest. south-west of merville they captured calonne, and, further north, approached bailleul. north of the lys, under pressure of von arnim's army, the messines-wytschaete crest, with the wood and village of ploegsteert, had to be abandoned. the british line was withdrawn to neuve-eglise and wulverghem. in these few days the gains of the allied offensive of the last five months of were lost. the th marked the culminating point of the battle in the central sector. foch made his dispositions promptly, and french reinforcements were despatched to the critical points. von bernhardi crossed the clarence at robecq on the th. on the same day von gallwitz made a strong push northwards between hazebrouck and bailleul, with the object of outflanking the line of the flanders hills, already attacked on the east and north-east by the ivth army (von arnim). battles were fought south of meteren, at merris, vieux-berquin and on the eastern outskirts of nieppe forest. to the east of bailleul, neuve-eglise (an important cross-road) was fiercely disputed. after changing hands many times on the th, it was finally abandoned the same night. the loss of neuve-eglise led to that of wulverghem, and the british were forced to fall back to the eastern slopes of kemmel hill, the first high point in the chain of hills called the heights or hills of flanders. from east to west this chain consists of rouge hill (flanked on the north-east by scherpenberg), vidaigne hill, noir hill, cats hill, and lastly by the western bastion of cassel. after taking neuve-eglise on the night of the th, the germans decided on a fresh and still more powerful effort. three picked divisions were hurled against the hills of lille and ravetsberg, to the east of bailleul, which fell. the germans entered bailleul, pushing on thence to meteren, which they also captured. the next day they tried to develop this success, but instead of the exhausted british, the germans now found themselves faced by fresh french troops. in three days (april -- ) pétain had brought up without a hitch five french divisions and one cavalry corps, which stayed the german rush at the foot of the hills. [illustration: rouge hill, seen from scherpenberg hill] on april the germans made their first attempt to turn the flanders hills from the south-west in the direction of hazebrouck. the french rd infantry division (valentin), supported by the british th division, vigorously repulsed the attack. on the th a fresh and more powerful attack was made simultaneously from the north-east, towards poperinghe, and from the south, on the bailleul-neuve-eglise front. at the same time an independent operation--which failed completely--was undertaken to the north of ypres on the belgian front. the belgians repulsed the germans and took prisoners. to the south three british divisions ( th, th, th) stayed the german advance. a last effort, starting from wytschaete, also broke down before the french th infantry division (madelin). [illustration: the germans attack the chain of hills which protect ypres] =the capture of kemmel hill= (_april -- , ._) a period of comparative calm followed, during which the germans prepared a fresh mass attack, in view of the capture of the hills. for this new offensive five fresh divisions from alsace-lorraine were brought up, of which two--the ivth bavarians and the alpine corps--were picked troops. these troops joined the four divisions already in the sector. the artillery was also considerably reinforced. during this concentration small local attacks occurred on both sides. on april and the germans endeavoured to improve their positions north of bailleul, but without appreciable result. the french, on their part, sought by attacks and raids to impede the preparations for the coming assault. at that time the firing line, from west to east, ran as follows: from meteren (held by the germans) it passed north of bailleul, then crossed the crest of lindenhoek at dranoutre, east of kemmel, and skirted groote vierstraat and st. eloi on the east. the five french divisions which defended the hills occupied the following positions: the rd before cats hill; the th infantry (sabatier) before locre; the th infantry (breton) from dranoutre to the petit-kemmel; the th infantry (madelin) before kemmel hill, its left linking up at lindenhoek with the british th infantry division. the cavalry corps was held in reserve on the hills. at . a.m. on april the attack began with a heavy bombardment, in which the proportion of gas shells was far greater than previously. at about a.m. the infantry assault began in a dense fog north and south of kemmel hill. north of the hills the "sieger" divisions, marching west to east, had orders to capture kemmel village, and then, _via_ the valley of the kemmelbeek, join up at locre with the eberhardt divisions, which were attacking from north to south in the direction of dranoutre. on the left of the attacking front, the village of kemmel was taken by the germans, in spite of a heroic defence. step by step the british th division was driven back into kemmelbeek valley and on dickebusch pond. in the centre the enemy storm-troop waves, after several repulses, finally reached the summit of kemmel hill, where a fierce hand-to-hand encounter took place. in spite of their great heroism, the th infantry regiment, outnumbered and almost surrounded, was forced to abandon the position, but only after a dashing counter-attack by a battalion of the th infantry had failed to extricate them. on the right, the german alpine corps, by a daring manoeuvre, made possible by the fog and the broken nature of the ground, succeeded in reaching the artillery positions, which were at once attacked by machine-gun fire. the french and british batteries, under a storm of bullets, were obliged to retreat, saving what material they could and blowing up the rest. the germans thus reached the village of locre, which changed hands several times during the day. finally, after a counter-attack, the th infantry division remained masters of the village, although the germans succeeded in holding the "hospice" at the southern end. the situation was now critical and the enemy advance had to be checked at all costs. on the night of the th the allies were reinforced by the th infantry division (massenet) at the very moment a fresh german offensive was being launched. the timely arrival of these troops effectually stayed the german thrust. on the evening of the th, after much sanguinary fighting, the enemy paused, exhausted. the french took advantage of the respite to consolidate new positions. the th was marked only by a violent attack on the extreme left at voormezele, where the germans succeeded in obtaining a footing, only to be driven out by a vigorous british counter-attack. as a result of these various battles the new line was as follows: from locre château it ran south of locre village, followed kemmelbeek valley, passed in front of la clytte village, then south of dickebusch pond and voormezele village, joining up with zillebeke on the south-east. it was against this new front that the germans were now preparing a new offensive. [illustration: on april , the germans launched a last furious attack against the hills, and failed. exhausted, they then abandoned their plans for taking ypres] =the last german attack= (_april , ._) after an artillery preparation lasting all night, the attack began at a.m. on april , along a front about eight and a half miles in length, extending from the château and park of locre to dickebusch pond. this attack, by no less than , enemy troops, resulted in a crushing defeat for the germans. both ends of the front stood firm: the british on the left, between la clytte and zillebeke, and the french on the right, in the château and park of locre. all attacks were vigorously repulsed, and the germans did not even reach the allied lines. more fortunate in the centre, they succeeded in taking the village of locre, and advanced beyond it as far as the cross-ways on the westoutre road, half-a-mile north of locre. their success was but short-lived, however, as a vigorous counter-attack by french dragoons drove them back, and at the end of the day all that remained of their gains was a slight salient near brulooze inn. exhausted, they did not renew their attack. the hill offensive was over. the germans had destroyed ypres, but could not enter the ruined city. [illustration] =the allies' victory offensive of august--october, = after the german setback of april , the initiative passed into the hands of the allies. on april , the french th infantry division reduced the brulooze inn salient. during the following week numerous local engagements enabled the allies to recapture several fortified farms and _points d'appui_, and generally to consolidate their positions. an attack by the british, on july , to the north of the lys, advanced their lines two and a half miles, and gave them the village of meteren. then followed a lull, which lasted until the speeding-up of foch's offensive rendered the german positions untenable and forced the conquered enemy back towards the rhine. after the allies' victorious counter-thrust had flattened out the "pocket" made by the german spring offensive near amiens, the battle quickly spread over the whole front, including flanders. east of nieppe forest and hazebrouck, the british, pressing forward towards armentières, advanced beyond vieux-berquin in the direction of merville. on august , they joined battle between vieux-berquin and bailleul, on a front of four miles, and captured the village of outtersteene. the next day they entered merville. [illustration: german position north of ypres, captured by belgian troops on sept. -- , ] on september , the british had reached the line: la bassée, laventie, steenwerke, neuve-eglise and wulverghem, on both sides of the lys. on the following day, estaires was outflanked south of lens, and the famous hindenburg line passed. noreuil, villers-au-flos (south of quéant), le transloy, sailly-saillisel and allaines (south of the bapaume-cambrai road) were next captured. further south the storming of quéant by the canadians, who then advanced beyond, and approached marquion, opened the road to cambrai. on september , the british reached the canal du nord, and crossed it at several points. on the following day, they regained possession of their old lines on both sides of the lys, from neuve-chapelle to givenchy, and captured ploegsteert village. on september , south-west of cambrai, gouzeaucourt wood and the old line of trenches dominating gouzeaucourt village, as well as the outskirts of havrincourt wood were occupied. the general offensive was to be launched a few days later, in co-operation with the belgian army and some french units. on september , the belgian army and the british second army (general plumer), commanded by king albert, marched against the army of von arnim. the british, covered on the north by the belgians, began a turning movement in the region of lille, roubaix and tourcoing. houthulst forest, the crests of passchendaele and gheluvelt, and dixmude were carried with fine dash. crossing the lys on the following days between wervicq and comines, the british now drew near to menin. on october , the germans were in full retreat on a wide front north and south of the bassée canal, all their positions between armentières and the south of lens being now abandoned. [illustration: destroyed british tank sunk in the mud at the entrance to poelcappelle] on october , the canadians of the first army occupied cambrai. on the th, the british reached the gates of douai and occupied the banks of the haute-deule canal from douai to vendin-le-vieil. elsewhere, the british second army, after capturing menin and wervicq, obtained a footing on the right bank of the lys, then crossed the river between menin and armentières, thus forcing the germans to abandon the line of the haute-deule, and taking the lille-tourcoing in the rear. the british army and some french units occupied lille--capital of the north--on october , and the same days the germans evacuated douai. roubaix and tourcoing were liberated the next day, and denain, marchiennes and orchies on the st and nd. the western suburbs of valenciennes were fiercely disputed, being finally retaken on november by the canadian troops under general currie. a few days later the armistice was signed, and the victory of the allied armies sealed. [illustration: first itinerary for visiting the battlefield] [illustration: german occupation of lille. troops parading in the great square _from the michelin guide: "lille, before and during the war."_] visit to the battlefield a visit to ypres town and salient requires two days, and may be made most conveniently by taking lille as the starting-point. _first day_: visit messines, wytschaete, houthem, zondvoorde, gheluvelt, becelaere, zonnebeke, passchendaele, langemarck, ypres, zollebeke and hooge, spending the night at poperinghe. _second day_: visit the hills: scherpenberg, vidaigne, rouge and kemmel; then, after re-crossing the french frontier, those of cats and noir, returning to lille for the night, via armentières, estaires, béthune and la bassée. =first day: lille--ypres= (_see itinerary, p. ._) starting-point: the grande place, lille. _take rue nationale to the end, go round place tourcoing, take rue de la bassée on the left, then the first turning on the right (rue de turenne), canteleu gate, and rue lequeux. cross the bridge over the haute-deule canal, and turn to the left into n. ._ _at canteleu follow the tram-lines leading to lomme. at the end of the village, cross the railway (l. c.). go through lomme by rue thiers, leaving the church on the right_ (transept greatly damaged). on the left are the burnt ruins of a large spinning mill. in the fields: numerous small forts of reinforced concrete, which commanded all the roads into lille. the road passes through a small wood, in the right-hand part of which are the ruins of premesques château, of which only the façade remains. further on, to the left, is wez macquart, whose church was badly damaged. trenches lead to the road, while in the fields, traces of the violent shelling are still visible. _pass through chapelle d'armentières (completely destroyed). after crossing the railway (l. c.), a british cemetery is seen on the right._ =armentières= _lies on the other side of the next level crossing._ _after entering_ =armentières=, _and immediately beyond the railway, take rue du faubourg de lille, leaving the church of st. roch on the right. after passing a public washing-place, turn to the right into the rue de lille, then cross the grande place._ here will be seen the hôtel-de-ville, completely ruined. _take a few steps along rue de dunkerque, then turn into the first street on the right, which leads to the place de l'eglise st. waast._ =armentières= armentières suffered in many wars, being taken by the english in , by the french in , by the calvinists in , by marshals de gassion and de rantzau in , and by the archduke leopold in . [illustration: armentiÈres (_ancient engraving_)] occupied by the germans in august, , it was retaken in september. nearly four years later (april, ) it again fell into the hands of the enemy. on october , it was finally liberated by general plumer's army. until the later war, armentières had preserved its th century belfry of chimes, its church of nôtre-dame, and another church dedicated to st. waast--patron saint of the town. this personage, to whom many of the churches in this district have been dedicated, was bishop of arras in the th century. while still a priest, he is said to have cured a blind beggar in the presence of clovis. this miracle was one of the causes which led to the conversion of the king, to whom st. waast acted instructor in the faith. the town also possessed a national technical school, dating from the previous century. [illustration: view of armentiÈres (_before the war_) the river lys and st. waast church (_cliché ll._)] belfry, churches, schools and houses are all in ruins. in everything connected with the spinning and weaving of linen armentières, like lille, roubaix, tourcoing, and the whole of northern france in general, was considerably in advance of germany. consequently, the germans destroyed all the mills, factories and metallurgical works, and what machinery could not be taken to pieces and sent to germany they ruthlessly smashed. [illustration: armentiÈres. st. waast church as the germans left it (_compare with photo, p. ._)] [illustration: armentiÈres and the river lys] [illustration: armentiÈres. the hÔtel-de-ville after the first bombardment] [illustration: armentiÈres. before retreating, the germans mined the town] [illustration: armentiÈres. nÔtre dame church was not greatly damaged by the bombardments (_see below_)] _visit the ruins of_ =st. waast church=, _then return to rue de dunkerque. there take the first street on the right and cross the lys._ from the bridge there is a general view of the church. [illustration: armentiÈres. nÔtre-dame church, which the germans blew up before being driven out of the town (_see above_)] [illustration: armentiÈres. rue nationale, as the shells left it] [illustration: armentiÈres. rue de lille in ruins] [illustration: bizet. post on the frontier _on the left of motor-car_: temporary custom house] _cross the cloth market, then follow the tram-lines along rue de flandre and rue bizet. follow the lys canal, then cross the new bridge. go through bizet village_ (badly damaged houses). _leaving the ruins of the church on the right, turn first to the right, then to the left_ (the photograph shows an army hut on the left, now temporarily used as the office of the receiver of french customs). _cross the frontier a few yards further on, then at the fork just outside the village, take the road on the right opposite the villa des roses (photo below). leaving on the right the road to the gasworks_ (of which nothing is left but a wrecked gasometer) _the first houses of_ =ploegsteert= _are reached._ this village lay west of the first lines in may, , and was captured by the germans on april (see p. ). [illustration: bizet. end of village, going towards ploegsteert _take the right-hand road._] [illustration: british cemetery at the entrance to ploegsteert] [illustration: messines road (_seen from the château de la hutte_) _in the background_: messines ridge] [illustration: british cemetery on the ploegsteert road at messines] british cemetery no. (photo, p. ) lies at the entrance to the village. _go straight through the village_ (in ruins). _on leaving it_, cemetery no. is seen on the right, then beyond a large concrete shelter, cemetery no. . cemetery no. is on the left, beyond the level-crossing. [illustration: cross-roads at nÔtre-dame-de-grÂce _the messines road (bordered with tree stumps) was not practicable for motors in june, . take the neuve-eglise road on the left (see itinerary, p. )._] _cross ploegsteert wood, leaving the road to petit-pont farm on the left. here the road rises._ to the left, on the slopes of hill , are seen the ruins of la hutte château. on the crest opposite stand the ruins of messines (photo above). in june, , it was not possible to go direct to messines, the road being cut at the petite douve stream. [illustration: among the ruins of messines _the motor takes the left-hand road to wytschaete (see p. )._] _follow the road as far as the fork to the place called nôtre-dame-de-grâce_ (the ruins of the chapel are barely distinguishable), _then take the neuve-eglise road on the left._ stop the car at rossignol terre-plein and walk a few yards into the little wood on the right; numerous concrete shelters, from the top of which there is a very fine view over the hills kemmel, rouge, noir and cats. the last-named can be recognised by its abbey, which stands out against the sky. _return to the car. the road now descends. passing by a few ruined houses--all that remain of the hamlet of haubourdin--a fork is reached, where take the neuve-eglise-messines road on the right._ british cemetery on the right. _cross the douve river, then the railway (l. c.). turn to the right at the first ruins of wulverghem, then go through the village, passing in front of the cemetery. next cross the steenbeck, by the st. quentin bridge. the road now rises sharply to the crest on which messines used to stand._ numerous small forts are seen to the right and left. these machine-gun nests are all that now mark the site of the village. at the entrance to the village leave the car at the junction of the ypres-armentières and neuve-eglise-warneton roads, and visit these pathetic ruins on foot. =messines= maybe regarded as one of the hinges of the "ypres salient." an important strategic point, it was hotly disputed throughout the war. [illustration: entrance to wytschaete _the motor takes the right-hand road to oosttaverne (see p. )._] on november , , during the first battle of ypres, it fell into the hands of the enemy. at four o'clock on the following day, the ground between this village and hollebeke (some four miles to the north) was the scene of several furious attacks (see p. ). messines was destroyed by the british bombardment during the offensive of june, . the new zealanders captured it on june , in spite of a stubborn defence. they also took the neighbouring village of wytschaete (see p. ). messines again fell into german hands in april, (see p. ), and was finally retaken on september during the last battle (see p. ). _return to the car and take the ypres road on the left_ (photo, p. ). along this road are numerous little bridges thrown across the shell-holes. =wytschaete=, which is soon reached, was captured, like messines, in the first battle of , and retaken by the new zealanders on june , . after being entirely destroyed by bombardment (see p. ), it was lost again on april , , then retaken on september , . _at the fork, just before entering the village_--protected by a series of powerful blockhouses--_take the road on the right leading to oosttaverne_ (now totally destroyed). _follow the main road_ (ypres-warneton) _on the right as far as the place called gapaard_ (photo below), _then turn to the left along the road to houthem._ a series of little bridges over shell-craters full of water--once the river wanbecke--are crossed. [illustration: gapaard. end of village, going towards houthem] [illustration: hollebeke chÂteau, before the war. it has been razed to the ground (_photo, antony, ypres_)] _go through houthem_, which was razed to the ground. beyond an armoured shelter built against the brick wall of a house, _the road turns to the left. cross the canal by the temporary bridge._ the old bed of the canal is marked by some crumbling blocks of concrete. _a few yards further on, take the level-crossing over the ypres-lille railway._ it was on this line that on october and , , the germans brought up an armoured train which bombarded ypres with incendiary shells, causing the first serious damage to the town. _a few hundred yards beyond the railway turn to the right at the village of kortewilde_, where a few wooden houses are being erected among the ruins. _after crossing a number of little bridges over the gaverbeck canal, the road, rising slightly, turns to the right._ at this turning the château (photo above) and village of =hollebeke= ought to be visible on the left, but this part of the battlefield is in so chaotic a condition that neither road, canal, nor village can be distinguished. [illustration: where gheluvelt used to stand, on the road to menin] during the first battle (november, ) the germans launched attacks in great force between hollebeke and messines, and captured both these places. hollebeke was retaken on july , , during the first phase of the great british offensive for the clearing of the town. after being lost again in april, , hollebeke was finally recaptured by the allies in october. _the road first rises, then descends._ on the hillside are the ruins of zandvoorde. _at the entrance to the village take the zillebeke-wervicq road on the left, then first to the right, then to the left, between two wooden houses. the road descends, then, undulating slightly, joins the main road from ypres to menin, opposite gheluvelt,_ the site of which is marked by a sign-post. this was one of the important strategic points in the first german offensive of (see p. ), when the village was captured by the enemy. during the battle for the clearing of ypres, fierce fighting took place to the west of =gheluvelt=, especially at tower hamlet. from november, , to april, , the firing-line ran through the village. gheluvelt was retaken by the british in october, . _take the main road from ypres to menin on the right. only at gheluvelt will a passable road to becelaere be found_. in gheluvelt, where there are still a few broken walls standing, turn to the left at the fork in the road, leaving the ruined church on the right. at the next fork take the right-hand road to the ruined hamlet of terhand. fifty yards before the crossing with the dadizelle road, there is a german cemetery on the right, containing a remarkable concrete monument, thirty feet in height, which dominates the whole plain. this monument (photo, p. ) was in reality a german observation post. inside there were two floors. an outside staircase led to a platform. traces of the balustrade are visible in the photo. [illustration: road from gheluvelt to becelaere (_impracticable for motors in june_, .)] [illustration: german cemetery at terhand. dummy funeral monument which was really a german observation-post] _leave the dadizelle road on the right._ the road hereabouts is camouflaged. numerous small forts may be seen on both sides of the plateau, especially on the right. the largest of them was used as a telephone exchange. after passing the place called molenhoek the tourist comes to the passchendaele-wervicq road, now impassable. _leave the car at the fork, and go on foot through the ruins of becelaere, as far as the church on the right._ [illustration: ruined village of becelaere] _return to the fork and take the right-hand uphill road._ on the plateau there are many shelters. to the west of the road from becelaere to zonnebeke lay polygone wood, which was entirely destroyed. the british made two unsuccessful attempts (july and august , ) to take this strongly fortified wood, succeeding eventually on september (see p. ). evacuated by the british in april, , the wood was finally recaptured by the allies in october, . beyond the place called noordenhoek there is a bend in the road. on the left, zonnebeke pond, the ruined château, and the remains of a gasometer come into sight (photo below). _at the place called broodseinde take the ypres-roulers road on the left, to visit the ruins of zonnebeke._ =zonnebeke= was taken in by the germans, who made an outpost of it in front of their lines. the village was recaptured on september , then lost in april, , and finally retaken in the following october. _return to the fork_ (which was commanded by numerous small forts), _and turn to the left:_ military cemetery at the side of the road. in the fields on the right, yards beyond the level crossing, there is a monument to the memory of officers and men of the canadian th battalion (photo, p. ). passing through shell-torn country, =passchendaele=--now razed to the ground--is reached. all that remains of the church is the mound seen in the background of the photograph (p. ). [illustration: ruins of zonnebeke village] passchendaele was captured by the germans in november, , and later by the british (october , ). the village had already been wiped out by the bombardment, but the position, which dominated ypres and roulers, was an important one. the fighting there was of the fiercest, hindenburg having ordered it to be held at all costs. however, the british broke down the enemy's stubborn resistance. [illustration: between broodseinde and passchendaele. monument to fallen officers and soldiers of the th canadian battalion] [illustration: what was once passchendaele. the church was on the hillock in the background] [illustration: westroosebeke, seen from the ruined church] =from passchendaele to ypres= _beyond the church turn to the left._ the undulating road goes straight to =westroosebeke=. westroosebeke was taken at the same time as passchendaele, during the british offensive of october , . these two positions, lost in april, , were retaken on september by the belgian army under king albert. [illustration: poelcappelle. the road from langemarck to dixmude] the village was completely destroyed. _on entering, turn to the right and pass the church._ a few broken tombstones mark the site of the churchyard. _retracing his steps, the tourist turns to the right into the ypres-roulers road_, which describes a bend to reach =poelcappelle=. this village was the scene of fierce fighting in december, , and may, , and is now in ruins. there are numerous redoubts to right and left. _just beyond the village, leave the dixmude road on the right, and take the one leading to langemarck._ beyond the cross-roads there is a confused heap of rails and broken trucks in the middle of a piece of shell-torn ground. _at the fork, take the road to the right and enter the ruined village of_ =langemarck=. the photograph below shows: in the background, a mound formed by the ruins of the church; in the foreground, a tank. langemarck, defended by the french in , was evacuated on december of that year. recaptured, the town was lost again on april , , during the german gas attack. _keep along the road, leaving on the left the ruins of the church, and a little further on the remains of the château_ (_photo, p. _). _cross the railway (l. c.) and then go on to_ =houthulst forest=, captured by the germans in , and retaken in (see p. ). in june, , the roads through the forest were impracticable for motor-cars. _return to the fork at the entrance to langemarck, turn to the right, and take the road to boesinghe, crossing the hanebeek. the road follows the ypres-thourout railway_, on both sides of which are numerous redoubts. _cross the ruins of pilkem_, yards beyond, which is a rather large british cemetery. _at the next fork in the road turn to the right and cross the railway (l. c.)._ on the left is another cemetery. _turn again to the left_. notice in passing a third cemetery, then a few yards further on the ruins of a mill. _cross the canal at the pont de boesinghe_. _on reaching the crossing of the main road from dixmude to ypres, turn to the right._ on the left, the remains of boesinghe château stand in the middle of a park, the trees of which are cut to pieces. [illustration: langemarck, with destroyed tank. the mound in the middle distance is all that remains of the church] [illustration: langemarck chÂteau before the war _now razed to the ground_ (_photo, antony, ypres_).] _follow the road running along the canal._ the latter, owing to the upheaval of the ground by shell-fire, is often lost to view. , yards from boesinghe, the site of het sas village, where the lock used to stand, may still be located. the fighting was very severe there, especially in . [illustration: boesinghe. ruined chÂteau and devastated park] [illustration: entrance to ypres. ypres canal at boesinghe, seen from rue de dixmude, ypres (_compare with view below, taken before the war_.)] _return to boesinghe, leave the road just taken on the left, and cross the railway (l. c.)._ the road runs alongside the yperlée river and canal for some distance. numerous traces of footbridges are to be seen over both river and canal, the course of which can no longer be distinguished with certainty. _the road next turns sharply to the left, crosses the lys-yperlée canal, then passes the dock of the yser-ypres canal_ (photo above), _and enters_ =ypres= _by the dixmude gate_. [illustration: entrance to ypres before the war (_see above--photo, antony, ypres_.)] [illustration: general view of ypres, before the war (_photo, antony, ypres_)] =ypres= few names awaken more memories than that of ypres--a city of incomparable splendour in the middle ages, and of which nothing now remains but a heap of ruins. of the last precious traces of this ancient prosperity, the rich and splendid buildings which filled the mind with wonder--the immense cloth hall, the beautiful cathedral, the churches, the sumptuous mansions, the sculptured houses--the german guns have spared nothing. history furnishes few examples of such grandeur followed by destruction so swift and so complete. ypres is now but a memory. =chief historical events= the town of ypres (latin ypra, flemish ieperen) grew up in the th century around a fortified castle, rebuilt about by baudoin, count of flanders. this castle had been in existence since the th century, but only the ruins had survived norman invasions. the town, favourably situated in the centre of the maritime plain with its rich grassy meadows intersected by canals, prospered exceedingly. a numerous population sprang up of merchants and artisans, whose chief sources of wealth were the manufacture and sale of cloth. as early as the th, but especially in the th and th centuries, ypres, thanks to important privileges granted by the counts of flanders, became a considerable town, and possessed , looms. flanders, the meeting-point of the three great european states--england, france and germany--was then the industrial centre _par excellence_ of the west and the rendezvous of all the merchants of the old world. this explains the splendour of the towns of flanders in the middle ages, not only ypres, but bruges, ghent, etc. this prosperity was often a temptation to the kings of france, who led many an expedition into flanders. ypres was taken by louis vi. in , by philippe-auguste in , by philippe-le-bel in , but the town was little damaged in these wars. it suffered more in the th century. riots, and the siege and destruction of the town by the people of ghent in , caused many of the weavers to emigrate, and left as its only industry the manufacture of valenciennes lace. at that time the counts of flanders were french princes. robert de béthune was succeeded in by the count of nevers, whose family reigned until . this dynasty ended with louis-le-mâle, and philippe-le-hardi, duke of burgundy, became count of flanders. under the rule of these dukes, who were fairly wise and moderate statesmen--flanders being a source of considerable revenue, and the flemish people quick to revolt against any violation of their privileges--ypres prospered greatly. [illustration: ypres in the th century] in flanders passed under the rule of austria (marie, heiress of burgundy, had married the archduke maximilian), then in under that of spain. in it replaced thérouanne as the centre of the diocese. at that time it had lost much of its splendour. towards the end of the th century it was depopulated by a dreadful pestilence, and about the middle of the following century, a second outbreak completed the ruin of the town. it was just beginning to recover when it was captured by the _gueux_ and the troops of the duc d'albe and alexandre farnèse, who massacred most of the inhabitants. in the th century ypres was taken by the french on four occasions-- , , and --finally reverting to france under the treaty of nimègue at about the latter date. vauban fortified it. retaken by the imperial troops in , ypres was restored to france in , and under the empire became the capital of the département of lys. the treaties of gave it back to the netherlands, and since it has formed part of the kingdom of belgium. [illustration: german bombardment of the asylum] in the population numbered , . its principal industries were the manufacture of woollen goods, printed cottons, linens, ribbons, and valenciennes lace. its tanneries and dye works were also of considerable importance. it was a clean, well-built town, watered by the river yperlée. the many arms of the latter ran through the streets of the town, enabling the boats loaded with merchandise to come right up to the warehouses. these waterways are now covered in. formerly there was a path on each side of them, which explains the exceptional width of the streets and squares of ypres. [illustration] =ypres= =a visit to the ruins= _the tourist enters ypres by the dixmude gate._ at no. rue de dixmude is the façade of the maison biebuygk, on the right. built in , this house was one of the most remarkable in ypres. immediately below the gable were two carved medallions representing the sun and the moon. the great pointed arch which framed the gable windows gave exceptional grace to the façade (photos, p. ). at no. of the same street, on the left, the th century façade shown in the photographs (p. ), was still standing in july, . it was decorated with statues of the virgin mary and st. françois, under fluted niches with carved borders. [illustration: biebuygk house (_no_. , _rue de dixmude_), before the war. it was one of the handsomest houses in ypres (_photo, antony, ypres_)] [illustration: biebuygk house, as the war left it] [illustration: st. franÇois school, rue de dixmude, before the war (_photo, antony, ypres_.)] [illustration: st. franÇois school, after the german bombardments] [illustration: ypres. the grande place on market-day, before the war (_see below. photo, antony, ypres_.)] arriving at the grande place, the imposing ruins of the =nieuwerk= and the =cloth hall= are seen on the right. [illustration: what the german shells left of it (_see above_)] [illustration: ypres. ruins of the cloth hall, seen from st. martin's cathedral. fragments of the latter are visible in the foreground] =the cloth hall and the nieuwerk= the cloth hall, containing extensive warehouses, in which the sale of cloth was carried on, was built in the th and th centuries. it consisted of a series of buildings grouped around a rectangular court. the hall proper was distinguished from a building called the nieuwerk, added in the th century. the southern building of the hall had a magnificent façade, flanked on the east by the gable of the nieuwerk and surmounted by a large belfry in the centre. bold turrets stood at both ends of this façade. rather spare in ornament, the long succession of glazed and blind windows constituted the grandeur of the façade. on the ground-floor, which was lighted by a row of quatrefoil windows in pointed arches, there were forty-eight rectangular doors. above these doors were the high windows of the upper storey, the hall having two floors. these windows were alternately glazed and blind--a method frequently adopted in the middle ages, to avoid weakness in the walls, without detracting from the symmetry of the exterior. this storey was reached by staircases, access to which was gained through doors at each end of the façade. the glazed windows were decorated with three trefoils supported on two arches. the blind windows were similar to the windows of the ground-floor, except that the latter were less lofty. the two arches formed niches, each of which contained a statue: that of a count of flanders (the counts and countesses from baudoin bras-de-fer to charles quint were represented) or of a notable citizen of ypres, such as melchior broederlam, the painter. these statues, some of which were restored in the th century, rested on a corbel apparently supported by a small figure bearing the coat-of-arms of the sovereign represented. [illustration: ypres. the cloth hall, nieuwerk and cathedral (in the background) _the th-- th hall had a magnificent façade, surmounted by a high bell-tower_ (_photo, antony, ypres_).] the upper portion of the walls was decorated with an ornamental frieze and a battlement bordered with fine moulding. the frieze was composed of a tricusped arcade with small columns carried on corbels with carved heads. behind the battlements ran a sentry-way, while at the ends of the façade turrets decorated with arcades and surmounted by octagonal spires, served as watch-towers. [illustration: the windows of the first story of the cloth hall _every alternate window was blind, and was ornamented with statues of the counts of flanders or other notable persons of the city_ (_photo, antony, ypres_).] the belfry rose from the centre of the buildings, of which it was the oldest part, the foundation-stone having been laid by baudoin =ix=., count of flanders, in . square in plan, it consisted of three stories. its exterior, like that of the façade, was decorated with arches, and was lighted with windows ornamented with trefoils. it had two rows of battlements, four corner-turrets, and a timber-work roof surmounted by a campanile, above which rose a small spire. at the base of this campanile there were four copper eagles, dating from . at the foot of the belfry a door, flanked by two pilasters, led to the inner court of the hall. over this door was a modern statue of nôtre-dame-de-tuine, with the lion of flanders above. the belfry served all the purposes of a hôtel-de-ville (previous to the th century there were no hôtels-de-ville properly so-called). it was there that the representatives of the guilds held their meetings, and that the charters of the guilds were kept in great coffers with manifold locks. there, also, the archives of the town were stored. the bottom storey was used as a prison. from the summit, unceasing watch was kept, to warn the citizens of danger, especially that of fire. [illustration: ypres. all that remains of the faÇade of the cloth hall] the roof of the hall was pitched very high, in order the more easily to get rid of snow and rain water. it was gilded and emblazoned with the arms of the city and those of the county of flanders. this roof, with its dormer windows, did not cover a stone vaulting, but a panelled ceiling. inside the upper storey were large wainscotted galleries, which, in the th century, were divided by partitions and adorned with mural decorations. [illustration: portal of the bell-tower _the collapse of the façade which framed the tower (photo below) left the latter standing alone. the lower portion still exists, thanks to its massive construction (photo, antony, ypres)._] [illustration: the portal before the war] [illustration: the pauwels room before the war (_photo, antony, ypres_)] =the pauwels room= during the last century, the hall was frequently restored and embellished. in the walls of the eastern half of the southern building were decorated with twelve mural paintings by ferdinand pauwels, representing the principal events in the history of ypres, in the days of its prosperity ( to the siege by the people of ghent in ). the artist displayed exquisite taste, especially in the fresco depicting the "wedding of mahaut de béthune with mathias de lorraine." the western half of the gallery was decorated by the artist delbecke, with paintings depicting the life of a cloth merchant. owing to the death of the artist, the last picture was never finished. this gallery was used as a banqueting hall. a number of statues by puyenbroeck of brussels, along the southern façade, had replaced the originals, badly damaged during the revolution ( ). the river yperlée formerly flowed past the western façade and, until , there was a flight of steps with a double balustrade ( th century) to facilitate the transfer of merchandise from the boats to the warehouses. [illustration: the pauwels room in dec., (_photo, antony, ypres_)] [illustration: the junction of the cloth hall with the nieuwerk (_photo, antony, ypres_)] =the nieuwerk= the nieuwerk did not detract from the imposing appearance of the southern façade, of which it formed the continuation. renaissance in style, the plans are said to have been the work of j. sporeman (about ). building was begun early in the th century and finished in . the ground-floor formed an open hall, feet in width, the vaulting of which was carried on slender cylindrical columns, joined by irregular arcades. the building comprises two stories, the first of which communicated with that of the cloth hall. the large high windows of the façades were very close together. the roof was pierced with high and very ornamental dormer-windows. the nieuwerk was restored about . in the chapelle echevinale, frescoes by guffens and j. swerts, and stained-glass was renovated, and at the same time a fine fireplace was built by malfait of brussels. old mural paintings, representing st. mark and st. john, and a frieze, depicting the counts of flanders from to , were discovered and restored. in the middle of the hall stood a small equestrian statue of john of brabant ( -- ) by a. fiers. this slightly-built nieuwerk could not long withstand the bombardment. the south gable, struck on november , , collapsed, while on the following day the cloth hall burst into flames. a few weeks' later the nieuwerk was completely destroyed. [illustration: the sheriff's room in the nieuwerk, december, _the collapse of the first floor left visible the remains of the decoration seen in the photo below (photo, antony, ypres)._] [illustration: the sheriff's room in the nieuwerk, before the war (_photo, antony, ypres_)] [illustration: old houses which, before the war, were the pride of the vandenpeereboom square (_photo, antony, ypres_)] _turn to the right in the place vandenpeereboom_, formerly an ornamental pond, now filled in. here used to stand a row of old houses with double façade, now completely destroyed. here also, to the north of the cloth hall, stood the cathedral of st. martin. [illustration: st. martin's cathedral] [illustration: st. martin's cathedral as it was _in the background: the cloth hall. compare with photo below (photo, antony, ypres)._] =the cathedral of st. martin= the church of st. martin (which became a cathedral in ) replaced an older church of the th century. built in the th century, its choir dated from , and its nave from the second half of that century. the foundation-stone was laid by marguerite of constantinople. the western tower dated only from the th century, and replaced a tower which had collapsed in . the new tower was feet in height, and was to have been twice as high. built from the plans of martin untenhove of malines, it was severe in style. the plan of the cathedral was a latin cross, and terminated in a semicircular choir. it underwent important restorations during the last century. the façade of the south arm of the transept was of unusually great width. [illustration: st. martin's cathedral, as the german shells left it _in the background: the cloth hall._] [illustration: south transept of the cathedral, before the war (_photo, antony, ypres_)] the central portal was surrounded by a polygonal rose-window and crowned with a high gable flanked by turrets. above the side portals, the surface of which was decorated with arcading, were gables lighted by rose-windows. this part of the building was probably not earlier than the th century. there were no radial chapels in this great church. a circulating gallery running through the buttresses formed an uninterrupted passage around the building. at the base of the roof ran an open balustrade, broken at intervals by the pinnacles which crowned the buttresses. above the centre of the transept rose a campanile, surmounted by a very pointed timber-work spire. the nave, and more especially the choir, were remarkable. high pillars with crocketed and foliate capitals supported the springing of the large irregular arches. above ran a circulating gallery or triforium. the pointed arches of the latter were carried by small columns which originally rested on the wide _abaci_ of the capitals, but several of them had been cut away and replaced by statues of apostles, evangelists, or persons of note. [illustration: the cathedral door _seen from the interior_ (_photo, andré schelker_).] [illustration: the nave of the cathedral (_photo, antony, ypres._) _compare with photo below._] this arrangement is common in burgundy and, like others to be found in the cathedral--the exterior circulating gallery, the interior gallery, the form of the latter, and various decorative features--show how strongly french, and especially burgundian influence preponderated in flanders during the th century. the choir was disfigured by an ungraceful th century altar. the stalls, carved about by c. van hoveke and urbain taillebert, were noteworthy, as was also the pulpit--a richly decorated monumental work, at the base of which stood a life-size statue of st. dominic. [illustration: nave of the cathedral ruined by german shells _seen from the choir, near the porch._] urbain taillebert was also the sculptor of the magnificent "christ triumphant," suspended between the columns of the main entrance; and of the tomb of antoine de hennin, bishop of ypres, who died in . the centre of the tomb represented the bishop in his pontifical robes; _on the left_, he was seen kneeling in prayer, with his mitre close by; _on the right_, his patron, st. anthony, was represented in a hermit's gown, accompanied by his traditional pig. [illustration: choir of the cathedral (_photo, antony, ypres._) _compare with photo below._] [illustration: choir of the cathedral after the german bombardment _seen from the porch. compare with photo above._] [illustration: the choir stalls of the cathedral, before the war (_photo, antony, ypres._) _see below._] [illustration: the choir stalls of the cathedral in january, (_photo, antony, ypres._) _see above._] a "virgin and child" was fortunately rescued from the ruins of the cathedral. it is a flemish work of the th century. a surrounding fence (_hortus conclusus_ of the litanies) is represented on the pedestal (photo opposite). beside the tomb described above was that of jean visscherius, bishop of ypres, who died in . the bishop, clothed in his pontifical robes and wearing his mitre, was represented in a recumbent position, his head raised on a cushion and supported by his hand (photo below). there were other tombs in the church, notably that of louise delage, lady of saillort, widow of the chancellor of burgundy, hugonnet (beheaded in ). [illustration: the virgin of st. martin (_photo, antony, ypres._)] in the pavement before the altar was the third tombstone of the famous _cornelius jansenius_. it was a simple slab of stone, on which was carved a cross, and in the four corners the figures , , , . jansenius, bishop of ypres, who died of plague on may , , was the founder of the sect of the jansenists, which still exists in holland, and whose headquarters are at utrecht. when and how this tombstone was placed there is not known. it replaced two others removed by ecclesiastical authority in and respectively. [illustration: mausoleum of jean visscherius (_photo, antony, ypres._)] round the chapel, known as the dean's chapel, there was a fine copper railing decorated with small alabaster figures. the inner doors of the church were magnificently carved; those of the south portal, with superimposed figures of saints, were considered to be marvels of belgian art. in the place vandenpeerboom, take the rue de boesinghe. leaving the rue d'elverdinighe (see plan, p. ) _on the left_, the cattle market is next reached, formerly a pond, since filled in. here were three guild-houses, nos. , and . no. was the maison des bateliers, on whose façade two symbolic boats were depicted. the canal which passed before the house has disappeared. the date of construction was shown by anchors fixed in the wall of the second storey: - - - . at the top of the gable there was an involuted niche which probably sheltered the statue of the patron-saint of sailors (photo opposite). the next house, part of which may be seen on the right of the photo, was th century. [illustration: the maison des bateliers ( ) _completely destroyed. note the two emblematical ships on the façade._ (_photo, antony, ypres._)] _take the road on the left which rejoins the promenade, and turning again to the left, skirt "la plaine d'amour"_ (photos below and p. ). behind the prison walls there is a british cemetery in the gardens (photo, p. ). [illustration: the "plaine d'amour," with ypres in the distance, devastated by the war _compare with photo opposite._] [illustration: british cemetery, behind the prison] _turn to the left into the chaussée de furnes_, leaving on the left the reservoir of the ruined waterworks. _take boulevard malou and return to the grande place_, via _the rue de stuers and the rue au beurre_ (photos, p. ). [illustration: the "plaine d'amour," before the war _see photo opposite._ (_photo, antony, ypres._)] [illustration: rue au beurre, before the war (_photo, antony, ypres_)] _pass the ruins of st. nicolas church._ before reaching the grande place the site of the meat market (photo, p. ) is passed. [illustration: rue au beurre, destroyed by german shells] [illustration: the meat market, before the war (_photo, antony, ypres._)] [illustration: the meat market, ruined by enemy bombardments] this was an important, two-gabled building of symmetrical proportions. the lower part of the façade resembled that of the cloth hall, but the upper story and roof of the building were of a later date. the gables, with stair-like copings, were decorated with blind windows. the lower storey was of stone, while the gables and the upper part of the façade were brick. [illustration: the "hospice belle" (women's asylum), rue de lille] the first storey was formerly occupied by the brotherhood of st. michael. the museum, which was housed there, contained a number of pictures, interesting drawings of the old wooden fronts of the houses of ypres (by l. boehm), old chests containing the charters of the drapers, pieces of sculpture and wrought ironwork. almost directly opposite the cloth hall is the rue de lille, in which, on the right, is the =hospice belle= (photos, p. ). [illustration: hospice belle, before the war (_photo, antony, ypres._)] this asylum for aged women was founded about by christine de guines, widow of solomon belle, lord of boesinghe, and rebuilt in the th century. the façade of the chapel, which faced the rue de lille, contained twin doors, surmounted by a large stained-glass window set in a radiating flamboyant framework. in addition to the statue of st. nicholas (against the central mullion of the stained-glass window), the lower part of this façade was embellished with statues, in renaissance niches, of the foundress and her husband. above the window was an _oculus_, the decoration of which was mingled with that of an escutcheon immediately beneath it, on which the date " " could still be deciphered. [illustration: vaulting of the old french barracks] inside the chapel were a th century portable confessional (a very curious specimen of carved woodwork), th century copper candelabra, and a line picture attributed to melchior broederlam. this artist, whose works are very rare, was a native of ypres. he preceded j. van eyek as official painter to the dukes of burgundy. this picture was saved. on the right of the street, in the midst of the ruins, can be seen the broken-in vaulting of the old french barrack (photo above), and on the left, the =hôtel merghelynck=. [illustration: hÔtel merghelynck, before the war (_photo, antony, ypres._)] the latter charming th century house stood at the corner of the rue des fripiers. it was built ( -- ) from the plans of thomas gombert of lille, and its last proprietors had converted it into an interesting museum. it was decorated with woodwork, panelling, and louis xvi. medallions by ant. jos. de la dicque. [illustration: the templars' house in the rue de lille] the stucco ornamentation was the work of grégoire joseph adam of valenciennes. the staircase balustrading was by jacques beernaert. [illustration: wooden houses in the rue de lille (_photo, antony, ypres._)] [illustration: st. peter's church (_photo, antony, ypres_)] a white stone vase, carved from designs by rubens, stood in the fine court of the house. almost opposite, at no. , was the old th century =templars' house=, since turned into a post-office (photo, p. ). the church of st. pierre is next reached. [illustration: ruins of st. peter's church (_see above_)] [illustration: st. peter's church. the choir (_see below._)] [illustration: st. peter's church, the choir before the war (_photo, antony, ypres_)] [illustration: the ramparts, lille gate and st. peter's church (_photo, antony, ypres._) _see below._] this th century church had been largely rebuilt. the façade was surmounted by a substantial square tower, flanked by four corner turrets and crowned by an octagonal spire rebuilt in . [illustration: after four years' bombardments (_see above_).] inside, lofty columns supported the springing of the large irregular arches. there was no vaulting, the church having a timber-work roof in shape of an inverted keel. in it were a th century altar, large carved pulpit and a fine choir-screen. [illustration: panoramic view of the ruin of ypres taken from the lille gate (_the point from where this photograph was taken is shown on the plan on p. _ (_at the bottom, on the right_).) st. nicolas old french barracks school belltower st. peters church st. james' church] [illustration: ruins of the hÔtel de gand, rue des chiens] rue de lille ends at lille gate. before passing through, climb up the ramparts, from which there is a magnificent panorama. pass through the gate, the towers of which date from . there is an interesting view over the wide moats, and of the ancient ramparts (rebuilt by vauban), which were ruined by shells. _turn back and re-enter the town by the same way. beyond the church of st. pierre, take the first street on the right as far as the rue des chiens, where, on turning to the left_, the ruins of the church st. jacques, and the shattered façade of the hôtel de gand will be seen. [illustration: the hÔtel de gand (_photo, antony, ypres._)] the latter fine house, with double gables dated from the th century. the transition from th to th century style is very marked: on the ground-floor is the irregular arch of the th century, while on the first floor the arches are full semi-circles, framing the rectangular bays, whose tympana are decorated with flamboyant figures. these tympana were added some years later, thus giving the wide th century windows, of which the (french) architect of the hôtel merghelynck made such happy use (photo, p. ). [illustration: british cemetery at the hospice nÔtre-dame] _having reached the grande-place, take the rue de menin on the right_, leaving on the left the ruins of the hospice nôtre-dame. _next take the menin road, to visit the château de hooge and_ =zillebeke=. [illustration: menin gate _on leaving ypres in the direction of hooge and zillebeke._] [illustration: british cemetery just outside ypres, on the road to menin] =visit to zillebeke and hooge= (_see itinerary, p. ._) _at the menin gate leave the westroosebeke road on the left, and take the main road to menin on the right._ [illustration: british cemetery at zillebeke] on the right, near the last houses, a british cemetery (photo above). _before the level-crossing over the ypres-routers railway, take the road to the right. after passing two further level-crossings, the road descends slightly._ on the left is a large british cemetery: on the high ground to the right are the remains of the château, whilst in the distance lies =zillebeke pond=. on the left is another cemetery. _pass, on the left, the beginning of an impassable road, which formerly led to the main road from menin. go past the ruins of zillebeke church_, shown in the photographs, p. (before and after the war). [illustration: zillebeke in _the mound is all that remains of the church tower seen in the photo below_] [illustration: zillebeke, before the war (_photo, antony, ypres_)] [illustration: british cemetery at hooge] _return by the same road as far as the railway, and turn to the right._ a large british cemetery, containing , to , graves, will be seen on the western slopes of the hooge crest. the site of the village of =hooge=--marked only by a notice board--is next reached. there is no trace whatever left of the château or of bellewaarde lake. it was here that the battles of july , , were fought. on june , , the first objectives of the british, in their offensive for the clearing of ypres, were the wood and village of hooge. they were only taken on july , although the château itself was captured in june. [illustration: all that is left of hooge--the signboard!] [illustration: hooge chÂteau (_photo, antony, ypres_) _to-day the site of the castle is barely discernable._] again lost by the british in april, , these positions were evacuated by the germans in october. _follow the road to the top of the crest_, where the "tank cemetery," containing fourteen broke-down tanks, lies (photo below). _now skirt on the right the beginning of_ =sanctuary wood=, beyond which is the strategic hill . hill was captured by the germans in , and retaken by the british in . it was the object of frequent attacks, chiefly the german attack of april -- , . _at the place called veldhoek, opposite herenthage wood_ (full of concrete shelters and tanks), _return to ypres, entering the town by the menin gate_. [illustration: tank cemetery _to the right and left of the road from ypres to menin, beyond hooge, fourteen tanks lie sunk in the mud._] =from ypres to poperinghe= _cross the town by the grande place, rue du beurre, rue des stuers, boulevard malou, on the right, and rue capron, on the left, coming out at the chaussée de poperinghe. on leaving the town pass over the level-crossing._ from ypres to vlamertinghe, the road runs through devastated country; here numerous trenches and machine-gun shelters can still be seen. _take the level-crossing over the hazebrouck-ypres railway, then cross the kemmelbeek by a bridge, still in good condition, and go through_ =vlamertinghe=. this village suffered greatly from bombardments. in front of the partly demolished church the road turns to the left. from vlamertinghe to poperinghe the aspect of the country changes completely. the road is shaded by large trees, and there are hop-fields on both sides. _enter_ =poperinghe= _by the chaussée d'ypres, continue by the rue d'ypres. passing the hôtel-des-postes and the hôtel-de-ville, the tourist comes to the grande place_. [illustration: poperinghe: bertin place and church of st. bertin] =poperinghe= poperinghe, a small town of , inhabitants, is the centre of an agricultural district, where hop-growing is the chief industry. of its three churches, two only are interesting from an artistic point of view. the church of st. jean is romanesque in style, whilst that of st. bertin contains some remarkable woodwork: the vérité pulpit, the dean's confessional, and the roof-loft are masterpieces of the renaissance period. in the court of the hôtel skindles there is a tombstone dating from . old houses are rare in poperinghe, the town having several times been destroyed during its history. [illustration] =second day: poperinghe--lille= =via the hills of flanders, armentières, nieppe forest, merville and béthune= _visit to the hills_: scherpenberg, vidaigne, rouge and kemmel in belgium; and the mont des cats and mont noir in france. _at the grande place of poperinghe take rue flamande, then chaussée de reninghelst, turn to the left along the rue des prêtres, and then turn to the right into the rue boescheppe, opposite the church of st. bertin._ _pass in front of the_ =diocesan college=, the roof of which was badly damaged by shell-fire. _in the place bertel turn to the right._ _cross the river by a recently restored bridge, then skirt, on the left, the communal cemetery_, where the graves have been destroyed by the shells, and _cross the hazebrouck-ypres railway_ (_l. c._). [illustration: la clytte road and the mont rouge] on the left is an allied cemetery containing to graves. on the right against the sky is =cats hill=. numerous machine-guns shelters can still be seen along the road. _cross a narrow-gauge railway_, which serves a military station on the right. _the road is first undulating, then descends to_ =reninghelst=. _here leave on the left the church_, which has not greatly suffered. in the churchyard near by, there are a few french soldiers' graves. _at the cross-roads, turn to the left, then yards further on, at_ =zevecoten=, take the road on the right to =la clytte=. the further we advance the greater the devastation of the ground becomes. _at the first houses of clytte hamlet, turn to the right._ the german rush of was broken before this village. after the capture of kemmel hill, a violent enemy attack on april broke down before the desperate resistance of the french th infantry division (madelin) and the british th infantry division. =kemmel= is seen on the left, and =scherpenberg= in front. _pass the church_ (photo, p. ). _the road turns to the right beyond the last houses, and gradually climbs the slopes of_ =scherpenberg= (altitude, feet). the side of this hill is almost perpendicular, and in it are numerous remains of shelters. [illustration] the narrow road which led to the top was completely destroyed. the ascent can, however, be made on foot. in spite of all their efforts, the germans failed to reach scherpenberg in their offensive of . their efforts to outflank the flanders hills on the north broke down before the resistance of the french th infantry division (massenet) on april , and , . _at the next fork turn to the right into the village of_ =westoutre=. here the road winds through the valley. the river on the left has, owing to shell-fire, become a small lake. westoutre suffered greatly in the bombardments. _pass the town hall, then turn to the left in front of the church. the road rises sharply, and winds round_ =vidaigne hill=. the many shelters in the sides of the hill can plainly be seen. _behind the hill, leave the road leading to the french frontier, and take on the left the road which first descends and then climbs the slopes of_ =rouge hill=. from the plateau there is a splendid view across the plains. _leave on the left the ruins of the chapel of nôtre-dame-de-lourdes._ _the road, rising rather stiffly, runs into the bailleul road. on turning to the right, the first houses of_ =locre= _village are reached_. [illustration: ruins of la clytte church] [illustration: the slopes of scherpenberg hill] [illustration: vidaigne hill] [illustration: ruins of locre and rouge hill] locre was the scene of terrific fighting during the german offensive against the flanders hills in . on april , , it was taken by the enemy after a daring advance by their alpine corps, which had succeeded in reaching kemmelbeek valley. on the same day, the soldiers of this picked corps continued their advance as far as the crossing with the westoutre road, kilomètre to the north of locre; but here the french dragoons, in an irresistible counter-attack, drove the germans back and recaptured locre, leaving only the _hospice_, to the south-east of the village, in enemy hands. [illustration: locre road at kemmel and kemmel hill] [illustration: kemmel church and village in ruins _photographed from the eastern slopes of kemmel hill_] [illustration: ruins of kemmel chÂteau and hill] [illustration: kemmel hill _photographed from the road to kemmel at la clytte, yards from the latter._] _beyond the ruins of the church, in the middle of a devastated cemetery, turn to the left; then at the next fork, leaving some french graves on the left, take the road on the right leading to_ =kemmel hill=. this hill, the first of the hills of flanders, is famous for the battles fought there in . on april , , the germans had reached the foot. on the th, they rushed to the attack, encircling and capturing the hill, which was held by the french th infantry regiment. during the next and following days french counter-attacks failed to dislodge the enemy. it was only on august that the germans evacuated the hill; on the st it was occupied by the british. _pass burgrave farm. at the foot of the hill (inaccessible to vehicles) the road turns to the left._ here the ground is completely churned up, the bits of road being connected up by little bridges thrown across the shell-holes. in the distance is seen the ruined church of kemmel (photo, p. ). _on reaching the village, turn to the right, to visit the ruins of the château_ (photo, p. ), _then return to the fork and take the road on the right_. the road is hilly, as the photograph, taken yards this side of the crossing with the la clytte road, shows. _keeping straight along the road by which he came, as far as zevecoten, the tourist then returns first to the left and then to the right._ _in the centre of_ =reninghelst= _village, take the neuve-eglise road on the left. at the fork in the road at_ =heksken=, _turn to the right towards_ =poperinghe=. _cross the river. at the crossing of the road from poperinghe to boeschèpe, turn to the left to visit the largest cemetery in this region_ (shown on the itinerary, p. ), which contains , to , graves the photograph gives but a slight idea of the size of it. [illustration: fragment of cemetery containing , graves at boeschÈpe, on the road to poperinghe] [illustration: general view of cats hill] _retracing his steps the tourist takes the road which first skirts the railway, and then crosses it (l. c.) to rejoin the poperinghe-steenwoorde road. take the latter on the left._ (see itinerary, p. .) at the hamlet of abeele there is a belgian custom-house (visa of "triptyque" or motor-car permit). the french custom-house is at =steenwoorde= (the third house to the right on entering). usual formalities. _opposite the custom office take i.c. on the left, which, after several turnings, leads to_ =godewaerstelde=. _leave the village on the left._ [illustration: the crucifix and abbey of cats hill] [illustration: cats hill abbey] [illustration: destruction of the chapel choir] [illustration: the courtyard of cats hill abbey after the bombardments] _on the far side of the level-crossing the road rises, and the abbey on the top of_ =cats hill= _soon comes into view_. there is a magnificent view from the wayside-cross on the plateau. visit the monastery, whose buildings suffered greatly from the bombardments. _pass in front of the cross and take the second road on the right, which slopes down fairly quickly to the village of_ =berthem=, _through which the tourist passes_. [illustration: vidaigne hill and noir hill] _in the hamlet of_ =schaexnen=, _opposite the inn with the sign "au vieux schaexnen," turn to the left, passing in front of a small château in the middle of a wood on the right. a plateau_--=noir hill=--_ploughed up by countless shells, is reached shortly afterwards_. _at the fork in the road turn to the right_ (the road on the left leads back into belgium). _go through the hamlet of_ =la croix-de-poperinghe=, _then at the next fork take the road to_ =bailleul= _on the right_. _at bailleul leave the lunatic asylum on the left._ the french custom-house is in the rue d'ypres. (in june, , there was as yet no corresponding office at locre in belgium.) bailleul suffered terribly from the bombardments, most of the houses being destroyed. bailleul was taken by three german divisions on april , , as well as little hill and the ravelsberg, to the west of the town. but the next day the german forces, who had orders to consolidate their success and turn the chain of hills from the south, were rudely checked by french divisions, rushed up to relieve their british comrades, and in three days, thanks to the prompt and vigorous action of general pétain, they were driven back. _have a look round the grande place before taking the rue de lille_ (n. ) _on the left_. _at the noveau-monde cross-roads_, where there is an important munitions depôt with railway-station, _turn sharply to the left, leaving lille hill on the left_. _after twice crossing the railway_ (_l. c._) the customs barracks are passed. the road passes over three more level-crossings, skirts the frontier, crosses the railway, and then the stilbecque stream. _next pass through_ =nieppe= village--almost entirely demolished; _then over the railway_ (_l. c._). _cross the lys by the nieppe bridge and enter_ =armentières=, _via the rue de nieppe_. _at the cross-roads take rue nationale on the right, and follow the tram-lines as far as the crossing of rue de lille with rue de marle. take the latter to the right, and cross the railway_ (_l. c._). for particulars concerning armentières, see pp. -- , first itinerary. _keep straight to_ =bois-grenier=, _turning to the right in front of the ruined church_. _outside the village take the second road on the right to_ =fleurbaix=. _pass the church, of which a few walls are still standing_ (photo below), _then turn to the left beyond the square into rue de quesnes_. numerous concrete shelters were built inside the houses. _near the british cemetery the road turns to the right, then to the left, and enters_ =laventie=. _turn to the right in the place de l'eglise, then to the left over a level-crossing near the station_. [illustration: destroyed church of fleurbaix] [illustration: laventie church, ruined by the bombardments] _after several turnings the road runs past a small ruined chapel, crosses a river, then turns to the right, and crosses the lys. at the first houses of_ =estaires=, _ yards beyond the bridge, turn to the left, amid the ruins._ _pass the ruined gasworks and follow the main street shown in the photo below._ in the middle ground of this photograph are seen the walls of the church, the steeple of which has fallen in. [illustration: all that remains of the main street of estaires] [illustration: merville (_from old engraving_)] _leave on the left the square, in which formerly stood the hôtel-de-ville_; its ruined belfry is now a mere heap of bricks and stones. _beyond a german cemetery on the right, pass through_ =neuf-berquin=, _after which, on turning to the left_, =merville= comes into view. [illustration: merville church, as the german shells left it _seen from the rue des trois prêtres._] [illustration: ruins of lestrem church] at the entrance is the cemetery, the area of which has been doubled by serried rows of little wooden crosses, each marking a british grave. if time can be spared (two or three hours) proceed as far as =nieppe forest=, keeping straight on, and leaving merville on the left. [illustration: lestrem chÂteau (_destroyed by the german bombardments._)] [illustration: remains of locon village] contrarily to other forests in the battle area, nieppe forest did not suffer greatly, although, like the others, it concealed munitions and stores. (note the numerous narrow-gauge rails lying along the roadside.) the roads themselves bear traces of hastily constructed defence-works. on the left, near the outskirts of the forest, a pathway leads to a cemetery containing british soldiers' graves. la motte-au-bois, lying in a clearing, suffered little. its th century château, which escaped destruction, can be reached by crossing the canal over a temporary bridge, leaving on the right a small octagonal chapel of no special interest. _return by the same road to_ =merville=, _and pass through it_, taking a glance at the ruins of the church on the right. _cross the canal, the lys, and the railway near the station, and turn to the left immediately afterwards._ _follow the railway, then re-cross it. the road here runs parallel to the canal. at the next fork leave on the left the road to the gorgue; turn to the right, cross the railway, and enter_ =lestrem=. _beyond the bridge over the lawe, pass the church, then turn to the right, and skirt the grounds of an old ruined château._ this château--completely restored in --was used by the germans as an observation-post, and subsequently blown up by them on april , (photo, p. ). on leaving lestrem the road winds. on the left, broken fragments of ironwork mark the site of the distillery, which provided a livelihood for part of the working population of =la fosse= village. the ruined church is seen to the left, on the far side of the canal. [illustration: bÉthune. the canal and siding (_cliché ll._)] _go through the hamlet of_ =zelobes=, which, like that of =lobes=, was razed to the ground. _pass through what was_ =locon= village (photo, p. ). lawe canal, after running parallel to the road, turns and cuts it. _cross the canal by the temporary bridge._ a little further on, the road again follows the canal as far as the entrance to =béthune=. _cross the aires canal, pass the railway station on the left, then through the horse-market to the place de la république. cross the latter and take the rue de rivage to the grande place._ for four years the whole district just passed through, since leaving armentières, was the scene of incessant fighting. in october, , it saw the close of the fighting which concluded the "race to the sea," and the stabilising of the front here resulted in more than six months' continuous fighting. a little later, the artois offensive of found an echo in local operations for the possession of key positions like festubert and neuve-chapelle, giving rise to sanguinary struggles without decisive result for either side. finally, in , it was the scene of the third great german offensive for the conquest of the hills (see pp. -- .) =béthune= the foundation in of the collegiate church of st. bartholomew, by robert i., ancestor of sully, is the first mention of béthune in history. the town, owned in turn by the counts of flanders, the dukes of burgundy, and the house of austria, annexed to france at the peace of nimègue in , taken in by the triple alliance, was finally restored to france in by the treaty of utrecht. a fraternity, called the "confrérie des charitables," still survives. founded after the plague of by two blacksmiths, to whom st. eloi appeared in a vision, asking them to assist their fellow-countrymen who were dying unsuccoured, it performed the burial rites of the dead. during the great war the town was intermittently bombarded for three and a half years, but from the end of february, , to april the violence of the shelling increased tenfold, and on the latter date the civil population had to be evacuated, the battle having carried the german lines within two miles of béthune. [illustration: bÉthune, _from an old engraving_] on april -- the bombardment became so intense that the town was almost razed to the ground. the officials and the miners of the district were mentioned in orders of the day for their courage and endurance. at first sight, the town does not seem to have suffered so much, but this impression soon passes. the grande place (photo, p. ) where the chief beauties of this small town were concentrated, is now a heap of bricks and stones. the old houses have fallen in; only the façade of one of them (no. ), dating from the th century, remains, and even this one was severely damaged and is now supported by wooden props. of the modern hôtel-de-ville there remains only a small portion of the façade (photo, p. ), whilst the savings bank on the left is a shapeless ruin. the belfry, built in and restored forty years later, is still standing, but the upper portion of it has disappeared, and the houses which surrounded it have fallen in. [illustration: bÉthune. the grande place. _before the war._ (_cliché ll._)] its tower is standing, as far as the upper part of the sun-dial, whilst the four admirable gargoyles which project at the corners, and the graceful curve of the pointed windows of its first storey, escaped injury. [illustration: bÉthune. the grande place. _after the bombardments_] the remains of the spiral staircase leading to the top may still be seen, but the th century wooden spire has gone. [illustration: bÉthune. ruins of the hÔtel-de-ville] this spire contained a peal of bells, one of which, dated , was called "la joyeuse." "la joyeuse" is silenced for ever. this peal gave its name to the street behind the belfry, which leads to the church of st. waast ( -- ), whose massive tower was more than half-a-century later than the rest of the building. _to leave the town, return from the grande place to the place de la république_ (in june, , it was impossible to take the rue d'arras, which is the direct road, all this part of the town being obstructed by ruins). [illustration: ruins of st. waast church] _in the place de la république take the boulevard victor-hugo on the right, and then rue marcelin-berthelot, also on the right. at the cross-roads take the rue de lille to the left._ the faubourg de lille suffered severely from the bombardment. _take n. alongside the aire canal._ [illustration: bÉthune. rue d'arras, before kultur's blight fell on it. (_cliché ll._) (_see below_)] [illustration: bÉthune. rue d'arras--what the german shells left of it (_see above_)] [illustration: destroyed bridge across the bassÉe] for four years the fighting never ceased in this region. _leave the festubert sector on the right._ throughout the struggle, the canadians fought so bravely that one of their recruiting posters was dedicated to the heroes of festubert, with this inscription: "oui, vous avez raison, c'est hideux le carnage, oui, le progrès blessé recule et se débat, notre siècle en fureur retourne au moyen âge, mais sachons donc nous battre, au moins, puisqu'on se bat." _at the crossing of n. and leave the latter on the right._ _cross the grande rue d'annequin._ from here, on the right, coalpit no. can be seen, with its wrecked machinery in the air--a mass of twisted ironwork. _the ruined village of_ =cambrin= _is next passed through. on the other side of the level-crossing, leave on the right the badly damaged village of_ =auchy-lez-la-bassée=. _the road now follows the canal._ after crossing the railway (l. c.) vast heaps of broken railway trucks smashed by the shells can be seen in the fields on the right. further on are eight or nine blockhouses which were formerly brick-kilns. _turn to the left, cross the railway, then the aire canal by the new suspension bridge_ (beside the old one shown in the photograph) _and enter_ =la bassée=, _now a heap of ruins_. la bassée, an important centre standing at the junction of several roads and railways, in the heart of the plain of flanders, south-west of lille, was the objective of many desperate struggles during the war. in october, , the district of la bassée was the scene of endless conflicts between the allied and enemy cavalry forces, the little town finally remaining in the hands of the germans. a year later, the british offensive in artois drove back the germans south of la bassée, whilst to the north the positions of neuve-chapelle and aubers were bitterly disputed. however, the lines shifted but little, and la bassée still remained in the centre of the line of fire. [illustration: la bassÉe, _from an old engraving_] during the german offensive of , the town again came inside the german lines, but the enemy were driven out shortly afterwards, during the allied offensive that led to the armistice and to the consummation of victory. _go through the rue d'estaires_, in which there is a large and very high armoured shelter that served as an observation-post. _pass the ruined church_ (photo, p. ), _then turn to the right into the grande place_. inside a three-storied house, which later collapsed under the shell-fire (photo, p. ), there was a german observation-post of concrete, armed with machine-guns. _on leaving la bassée continue along n. _, with its fine trees cut down and left along the sides of the road. _pass the first houses of_ =illies= _village, on the left, and yards further on, cross a large avenue_ (_leading to the château de varneton_). [illustration: la bassÉe. street camouflaged by the germans (_note the high poles on the left._)] [illustration: la bassÉe. rue d'estaires before the war (_compare with photo below._)] on the right, and connected with _n. _ by a small bridge, there is a large german cemetery with a monument to the memory of the soldiers of the xvth regiment (prinz friedrich) (photo, p. ). _the road leads to_ =fournes=, _the outskirts of which are crossed by rue pasteur_. pass an avenue of fine trees leading to the château of comte d'hespel, accidentally burned down. at the cross-roads there is a bandstand erected by the germans. a crude painting on the back of the stand represents a tug-of-war between a german and british, french and american soldiers, in which the german wins apparently with ease. italy, depicted as a monkey, is seen clinging to the rope. after turning to the right the road passes the large gambert boarding school, which was severely damaged. behind it is a large cemetery. _follow the road to the badly damaged village of_ =beaucamps=, where there are numerous concrete shelters in the houses. _at the cross-roads turn to the left._ a wayside-cross, ten yards further on, indicate the road. a short distance further on are the ruins of the château de flandre, the basement of which, in reinforced concrete, was used as a machine-gun emplacement. [illustration: la bassÉe. rue d'estaires in (_compare with photo above._)] [illustration: la bassÉe. all that remains of the church] the tourist next comes to what was =radinghem=. _beyond the ruined church_ (photo, p. ), _turn to the right past an armoured shelter, which defended the road, pass under the railway, and at the hamlet of_ =la vallée=, _beyond a chapel, turn to the right into_ =ennetières=. _the road continues through the ruins of_ =englos= _and_ =haubourdin=. [illustration: la bassÉe. concrete observation-post built by the germans inside a house which, later, collapsed] [illustration: german cemetery on the right of the road from la bassÉe to tournes, yds. from illies. (_see itinerary, p. ._)] [illustration: german funereal monument] haubourdin suffered comparatively little from the shells, but like all the other occupied towns of france, it was subjected to exactions, war-levies, deportations and pillage. the german soldiers, when relieved from the hindenburg line, had their rest-billets there. the church (of no especial interest), the hospital ( th century), and a chapel built in , are still preserved. _after passing through_ =loos=, _return to_ =lille=, _entering by the béthune gate_. [illustration: radinghem in ruins] [illustration: lille. the ex-kaiser in the place cormontaigne] _for visiting lille, see the michelin illustrated guide: "lille before and during the war."_ [illustration: lille. the courtyard of the bourse, with bronze statue of napoleon i. cast from cannons captured at austerlitz] [illustration: lille, after the bombardment of ] [illustration: the collapse of a house on the rue de paris] [illustration: lille. entry of the british th army on oct. , ] [illustration: kemmel hill seen from the road to warneton, at neuve eglise._] the british forces engaged in the ypres sector [illustration: _photo, f. a. swaine, london._ viscount french of ypres, k.p., g.c.b., o.m., g.c.v.o., k.c.m.g.] _the orders of battle have been compiled from information supplied by the historical section (military branch) committee of imperial defence, with permission of the army council, war office._ the british expeditionary force, . [illustration: _commander-in-chief_ field-marshal sir john french. _photo, f. a. swaine, london._ field-marshal viscount allenby, g.c.b., c.m.g.] _cavalry division._ major-gen. sir e. h. h. allenby. _ st cav. bde._: brig.-gen. c. j. briggs. _ nd cav. bde._: brig.-gen. h. de b. de lisle. _ rd cav. bde._: brig.-gen. h. de la p. gough. _ th cav. bde._: brig.-gen. the hon. c. e. bingham. _ th cav. bde._: brig.-gen. sir p. w. chetwode. _r.h.a._: brig.-gen. b. f. drake. [illustration: field-marshal earl haig, k.t., g.c.b., o.m., g.c.v.o., k.c.i.e.] [illustration: _photo, f. a. swaine, london_. general sir h. l. smith-dorrien, g.c.b, g.c.m.g., d.s.o.] _first army corps_ lieut.-gen. sir douglas haig. _brig.-gen. r.a._: brig.-gen. h. s. horne. _ st division_, major-gen. s. h. lomax. _ st guards bde._: brig.-gen. f. i. maxse. _ nd inf. bde._: brig.-gen. e. s. bulfin. _ rd inf. bde._: brig.-gen. h. s. landon. _artillery_: brig.-gen. n. d. findlay. _brig.-gen. r.e._: brig.-gen. s. b. rice. _ nd division_, major-gen. c. c. munro. _ th guards bde._: brig.-gen. r. scott-kerr. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. r. c. b. haking. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. r. h. davies. _artillery_: brig.-gen. e. m. perceval. _second army corps_ general sir h. l. smith-dorrien _brig.-gen. r.a._: brig.-gen. a. h. short. _ rd division_, major-gen. h. i. w. hamilton. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. f. w. n. mccracken _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. b. j. c. doran. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. f. c. shaw. _artillery_: brig.-gen. f. d. v. wing. _brig.-gen. r.e._: brig.-gen. a. e. sandbach. _ th division_, major-gen. sir c. fergusson. bt. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. c. j. cuthbert. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. s. p. rolt. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. a. e. w. count gleichen. _artillery_: brig.-gen. j. e. w. headlam. _ th inf. bde._: major-gen. l. drummond. _third army corps_ major-gen. w. p. pulteney. (_formed in france, august , ._) _brig.-gen. r.a._: brig.-gen. e. j. phillips-hornby, v.c. _brig.-gen. r.e._: brig.-gen. f. m. glubb. _ th division_, major-gen. t. d'o. snow. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. j. a. l. haldane. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. a. g. hunter-weston. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. h. f. m. wilson. _artillery_: brig.-gen. g. f. milne. _ th division_, major-gen.: j. l. keir. (_embarked for s. nazaire, sept. -- , ._) _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. e. c. ingouville-williams. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. w. r. b. doran. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. w. n. congreve v.c. _artillery_: brig.-gen. w. l. h. paget. =first battle of ypres.= (october --november , .) _general officer commanding-in-chief_ field-marshal sir john french. _cavalry corps._ gen. sir e. h. h. allenby. _ st cav. division_: major-gen. h. de b. de lisle. _ st cav. bde._: brig.-gen. c. j. briggs. _ nd cav. bde._: brig.-gen. r. l mullens. _ nd cav. division_: major-gen. h. p. gough. _ rd cav. bde._: brig.-gen. j. a. bell smythe. _ th cav. bde._: brig.-gen. c. e. bingham. _ th cav. bde._: brig.-gen. p. chepwode. _ rd cav. division_: major-gen. j. w. byng. _ th cav. bde._: brig.-gen. e. makins. _ th cav. bde._: brig.-gen. c. m. kavanagh. _ th cav. bde._: brig.-gen. c. b. bulkeley-johnson. [illustration: _photo, russell, london._ lord rawlinson, g.c.b., g.c.v.o., k.c.m.g., a.d.c.] [illustration: _photo, "daily mirror" studios._ lieut.-gen. sir h. de la p. gough, g.c.m.g., k.c.b., k.c.v.o.] _first army corps_ gen. sir d. haig. _ st division_: major-gen. s. h. lomax. _ st guards bde._: brig.-gen. c. fitzclarence. _ nd inf. bde._: brig.-gen. e. s. bulfin. _ rd inf. bde._: brig. gen. h. j. s landon. v c. _artillery_: brig.-gen. e. a. fanshawe. _ nd division_: major-gen. c. c. monro. _ th guards bde._: brig.-gen. lord cavan. _ th inf. bde._: col. c. b. westmacott. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. r. fanshawe. _artillery_: brig.-gen. e. m. perceval. _second army corps_ gen. sir h. l. smith-dorrien. _ rd division_: major-gen. c. j. mackenzie. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. f. w. mccraken. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. b. j. c. doran, _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. f. c. shaw. _artillery_: brig.-gen. a. h. short. _ th division_: major-gen. t. n. morland. _ th inf. bde_: col. a. w. martyn. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen, e. s. maude. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. a. e. w. count gleichen. _artillery_: brig.-gen j. e. w. headlam. _third army corps_ gen. sir w. p. pulteney. _ th division_: major-gen. h. f. m. wilson. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. c. p. a. hull. _ th inf. bde_: brig.-gen a. hunter weston. _ th inf. bde._: brig-gen. f. g. anley. _artillery_: brig.-gen. g. f. milne. _ th division_: major-gen. t. l. keir. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. e. c. ingouville-williams. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. w. r. b. doran. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. w. n. congreve. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. hon. f. gordon. _artillery_: brig.-gen w. h. l. paget. _fourth army corps_ lieut.-gen. sir h. s. rawlinson. _ th division_: major-gen. t. capper. _ th inf. bde._: brig.-gen. h. ruggles-brise. _ st inf. bde._: brig.-gen. h. e. watts. _ nd inf. bde._: brig.-gen. s. t. b. lawford. _artillery_: brig.-gen. h. k. jackson. _indian army corps_ lieut.-gen. sir j. willcocks. _ rd_ (_lahore_) _div._: lieut.-gen. h. a. watkins. _ th ind. bde._: brig.-gen. r. g. egerton. _ th ind. bde._: major-gen. p. m. carmedy. _artillery_: brig.-gen. f. e. johnson. _ th (meerut) div._: lieut.-gen. c. a. anderson. _ th ind. bde._: brig.-gen. c. e. johnson. _ th ind. bde._: major-gen. h. du keary. _ st ind. bde._: brig.-gen. f. macbean. _artillery_: brig.-gen. a. p. scott. =second battle of ypres.= (april --may , .) _general officer commanding-in-chief_ field-marshal sir john french. _cavalry corps._ gen. sir e. h. h. allenby. _ st cav. div._: major-gen. h. de b. de lisle. _ nd cav. div._: major-gen. c. t. kavanagh. _ rd cav. div._: major-gen. j. w. byng. _second army_gen. sir h. smith-dorrien. _second army corps_ lieut.-gen. sir c. ferguson. _ th div._: major-gen. t. n. morland. _ th div._: major-gen. e. j. montague-stuart-wortley. _fifth army corps_lieut.-gen. sir h. plumer. [illustration:_photo, russell, london._ field-marshal lord plumer, g.c.b., g.c.m.g., g.c.v.o.] [illustration:_photo, russell, london._ lieut.-general sir e. a. h. alderson, k.c.b.] _ th div._: major-gen. t. d'o. snow. _ th div._: major-gen. e. s. bulfin. _third army corps_ gen. sir w. p. pulteney. _ th div._: major-gen. h. f. m. wilson. _ th div._: major-gen. t. l. keir. _ th div._ (_general reserve_): major-gen. sir w. f. lindsay. =third battle of ypres.= (july --november , .) _general officer commanding-in-chief_ field-marshal sir douglas haig. _first army._ lieut.-gen. sir h. s. horne. _ st army corps_: lieut.-gen. a. e. a. holland. _ th army corps_: lieut.-gen. sir e. c. r. haking. _ th army corps_: major-gen. f. w. n. mccracken. _second army_ general sir h. c. o. plumer. _ nd army corps_ (_with th army during aug._): lieut.-gen. sir c. w. jacob. _ th army corps_ (_with th army during aug. & sept._): major-gen. sir a. g. hunter-weston. _ th army corps_: lieut.-gen. a. hamilton gordon. _ th army corps_: major-gen. sir t. l. n. morland. _ st anzac corps_: lieut.-gen. sir w. r. birdwood. nd anzac corps: major-gen. sir a. j. godley. _third army._ lieut.-gen. the hon. sir j. h. g. byng. _ rd army corps_: lieut.-gen. sir w. p. pulteney. _ th army corps_: lieut.-gen. sir c. l. woollcombe. _ th army corps_: major-gen. j. a. l. haldane. _ th army corps_: lieut.-gen. sir c. ferguson. _fourth army_ general sir h. s. rawlinson, bart. _ th army corps_: major-gen. sir j. p. du cane. _fifth army_ lieut.-gen. sir h. de la p. gough. _ nd army corps (see nd army)_: lieut.-gen. sir c. w. jacob. _ th army corps_: lieut.-gen. e. a. fanshaw. _ th army corps (see nd army)_: major-gen. sir a. g. hunter-weston. _ th army corps_: lieut.-gen. lord cavan. _ th army corps_: major-gen. sir f. l. maxse. _ th army corps_: major-gen. h. e. watts. _new zealand division (unattached)_: major-gen. sir a. h. russell. _canadian army corps_: lieut.-gen. sir e. a. h. alderson. [illustration: _photo, russell, london._ lord byng, g.c.b., k.c.m.g., m.v.o.] [illustration: _photo, chandler, exeter._ the earl of cavan, k.p., g.c.m.g., k.c.b.] index to names of places mentioned in this volume _the figures in heavy type indicate the pages on which there are illustrations._ abeele, aire canal, , allaines, =amiens=, , anzac redoubt, =armentières=, , , , , , , = =, = =, = =, = =, = =, = =, , , , =arras=, artois, aschhoop, aubers, auchy-la-bassée, =bailleul=, , , , , baisieux, beaucamps, becelaere, , , , , , = =, bellewarde lake, berthem, =béthune=, , , , = =, = =, = =, = =, = = bixschoote, , , , bizet, = = boeschèpe, = = boesinghe, , , = =, bois grenier, , , borry farm, broodseinde, , , , , =bruges=, brulooze inn, calonne, =cambrai=, , cambrin, canal du nord, canteleu, =cassel=, cats hill, , , , , , , = =, = =, = = chapelle d'armentières, clarence river, clercken, comines, corverbeek stream, denain, dickebusch pond, , =dixmude=, , , , , =douai=, douve river, draeibank, dranoutre, , driegrachten, elverdinghe, englos, ennetières, essenfarm, estaires, , , , = = =festubert=, , fleurbaix, , = = fokker farm, fourues, frezenburg, , , gallipoli farm, gapaard, , , = = gaverbeck canal, =gheluvelt=, , , , , , , = =, =ghent=, =givenchy=, , glencorse wood, , , godewaerstelde, goudberg, gouzeaucourt, gravenstafel, hanebeke stream, haubourdin, , haute-deule canal, , havrincourt wood, =hazebrouck=, , , heksken, herenthage wood, , , het sas, , , , , =hill =, , , , , hill , =hindenburg line=, hockske, hollebeke, , , , , , , , = = =hooge=, , , , , , = =, = = houthem, , , , houthulst forest, , , , , iberian farm, illies, "international trench", inverness wood, , , =kemmel=, , , , , = =, = =, kemmel hill, , , , , , , = =, , kemmelbeek, , , kippe, klein zillebeke, , , , kortekeer inn, kortewilde, kruppfarm, =la bassée=, , , , , , , = =, = =, = = la bassée canal, la clytte, , , , = =, la couture, la croix de poperinghe, la fosse, la motte du bois, =langemarck=, , , , , , , , , , = =, = = la vallée, laventie, , , , = = lawe river, , , =lens=, , lestrem, = =, le transloy, lille, , , = =, , , , = =, = = lille-hazebrouck rly., lindenhoek, , little hill, lizerne, , lobes, locon, , = =, =locre=, , , = =, lombaertzyde, lomme, =loos=, luyghem, =lys river=, , , , , , , = =, = =, , , , , mangelhaere, marchiennes, marquion, martjet-vaart canal, =menin=, , , , , , , , menin road, merckem, merris, merville, , , , = =, , =messines=, , , , , , , , = =, = =, , messines-wytschaete crest, meteren, , , , molenaarelsthoek, molenhoek, mosselmarkt, neuf-berquin, , =neuve-chapelle=, , , , , , neuve-eglise, , , , nieppe, , nieppe forest, , , , , , noir hill, , , , , = = nonnes wood, , noordhemhoek, , noreuil, nôtre-dame-de-grâce, oosttraverne, orchies, outtersteene, papegoed wood, =passchendaele=, , , , , , , , , = =, petite doure stream, petit-kemmel, pilkem, , , , , =ploegsteert=, , , , , , = =, = = poelcapelle, , , , , , , , = =, = =, polderhoek, polygon wood, , , , =poperinghe=, , , , = =, , poterie farm, potsdam redoubt, premesques château, quatre chemins, quéant, radinghem, , = = ramscapelle, ravelsberg, ravetsberg, rayon wood, reninghe, =reninghelst=, , reutel, richebourg-st.-waast, robecq, rose farm, rossignol, rouge hill, = =, , , , = =, , = = =roubaix=, , =roulers=, , , sailly-saillisel, =st. eloi=, , , , , , , , st. janshoek, , st. julien, , , , st. maur ferry, st. yves, , , sanctuary wood, , , , schaexnen, scherpenberg hill, = =, , , , , = = soetart farm, steenbeck canal, , , steenstraat, , , , , , steenwerck, , steenwoorde, stilebecque stream, terhand, , = = thérouanne, thielt, =tourcoing=, , =tournai=, tower hamlet, , , , =valenciennes=, vampire farm, veldhoek, , , vendin-le-vieil, verbranden-molen, verlorenhoek, , vidaigne hill, , , , , = =, = = vieux-berquin, , villers-au-flos, =vlamertinghe=, voormezelo, wanbecke river, warneton, wervicq, westhoek, =westoutre=, , westroosebeke, = = wez macquart, wieltje, , wulverghem, , , , , =wytschaete=, , , , , , = = wytschaete-messines crest, yperlée river, , , , =ypres=, = =, = =, = =, = =, = =, = =, = -- = ypres-bruges rly., , ypres-comines canal, , , , , " " rly., " lille rly., " roulers rly., , , =yser canal=, , , , , , , zandvoorde, , , , , zelobes, zevecoten, , zevencote, =zillebeke=, , , , , , = =, = =, zollebeke, zonnebeke, , , , , , , , , = = zuydschoote, zwarteleen, , contents pages foreword the german offensive, ( st battle of ypres) -- second battle of ypres -- the allies offensive, ( rd battle of ypres) -- st phase -- nd phase -- rd phase -- th phase -- th phase -- th phase -- german offensive, battle of the flanders hills -- capture of kemmel hill -- last german attack, the allies' victory offensive, -- visit to the battlefields -- first day -- second day -- chief historical events -- british forces engaged -- british expeditionary force, -- st battle of ypres, nd battle of ypres, rd battle of ypres, index to names of places mentioned in this volume -- printed in great britain by william clowes and sons, limited, london. michelin during the war the michelin hospital when the great war broke out, michelin at once converted an immense new four-storied warehouse into an up-to-date hospital, with operating theatre, x-ray, bacteriological laboratory, etc. seven weeks later (september , ) doctors, dispensers, nurses, sisters of mercy, and auxiliaries were all at their posts. the first wounded arrived the same night. in all, , wounded were received. all expenses were paid by michelin. the story of how michelin did "his bit" during the war is told briefly and simply in the illustrated booklet, "the michelin hospital," sent post free on application. [illustration: a view of one of the wards.] michelin & cie., clermont-ferrand, france. michelin tyre co., ltd., , fulham road, london, s.w. . the _michelin_ touring office [illustration: a view of the michelin touring office] =open to all motorists seeking information and advice regarding tours= the michelin touring office saves the intending tourist time and trouble, and generally assists him in mapping out his tour _free of charge, and irrespective of the make of tyres he uses_. send us a rough draft of your next proposed tour and we will prepare a complete and detailed itinerary and forward it on to you, within three or four days. michelin touring office , fulham road, london, s.w. . telephone: kensington . telegrams: "pneumiclin, london." michelin road maps _scale . , or . miles to the inch._ [illustration: north michelin map of the british isles scale. . miles to the inch. or / , london-bath no. engraved and edited by the michelin tyre co., ltd, , fulham road, london. south ] british isles published in sheets. on canvas _s._ net: post free _s._ _d._ on paper _s._ net: post free _s._ ½_d._ france published in sheets. on canvas _s._ net. post free _s._ _d._ on paper _s._ net. post free _s._ ½_d._ _the michelin maps may be obtained at all booksellers, at the royal automobile club, london, the automobile association, london, at all michelin stockists, at michelin & cie., paris, and at_ michelin tyre co., ltd. , fulham road, london, s.w. . * * * * * transcriber's notes obvious punctuation errors repaired. hyphen removed: "iron[-]work" (page ). pages , : "kortekeert" changed to "kortekeer". page : "ypers" changed to "ypres" (on the right of the ypres-roulers road). page : "asault" changed to "assault" (they took by assault the village). page : "houlthulst" changed to "houthulst" (the south-western edge of houthulst forest). page : "of" changed to "to" (the driving back to the channel coast). page : "coverd" changed to "covered" (waterways are now covered). page : "tmypana" changed to "tympana" (whose tympana are decorated). page : "itinerery" changed to "itinerary" (see itinerary p. ). https://archive.org/details/belgium omoniala belgium * * * * * * this book is also published in three separate parts +-----------------------------------------------+ | bruges | | and west flanders | | | |containing full-page illustrations in colour| | | | price /- net | +-----------------------------------------------+ | brabant | | and east flanders | | | |containing full-page illustrations in colour| | | | price / net | +-----------------------------------------------+ | liÉge | | and the ardennes | | | |containing full-page illustrations in colour| | | | price / net | +-----------------------------------------------+ a. and c. black, soho square, london, w. * * * * * * belgium * * * * * * agents america the macmillan company & fifth avenue, new york canada the macmillan company of canada, ltd. richmond street west, toronto india macmillan & company, ltd. macmillan building, bombay bow bazaar street, calcutta australasia oxford university press, melbourne * * * * * * [illustration: brussels the hôtel de ville, a corner of the grande place, showing la maison des brasseurs, la maison du cygne, and la maison de l'Étoile.] belgium painted by amÉdÉe forestier text by george w. t. omond published by a. & c. black · soho square london · w · mcmviii [illustration] contents chapter page i. the market-place and belfry of bruges--early history ii. baldwin bras-de-fer--the place du bourg--murder of charles the good iii. the bÉguinage--churches--the relic of the holy blood iv. the bruges matins--battle of the golden spurs v. damme--the sea-fight at sluis--splendour of bruges in the middle ages--the fall and loss of trade vi. 'bruges la morte' vii. the plain of west flanders--ypres viii. furnes--the procession of penitents ix. nieuport--the battle of the dunes x. the coast of flanders xi. coxyde--the scenery of the dunes xii. ghent xiii. the dukes of brabant--the joyeuse entrÉe--end of the sixteenth century xiv. the bombardment of --the grande place--church of ste. gudule --charles of lorraine xv. joseph ii and the revolution of brabant xvi. the jacobins of brussels--visit of napoleon--the hundred days xvii. the dutch government--the revolution of xviii. the vicissitudes of antwerp xix. the principality of liÉge xx. early history of liÉge--bishop notger--the court of peace xxi. the dukes of burgundy--destruction of liÉge by charles the bold xxii. the wild boar of ardennes xxiii. Érard de la marck--the principality in the sixteenth century xxiv. the chiroux and the grignoux--the tragic banquet of warfusÉe xxv. the gaming-tables at spa--the french revolution-- annexation of the principality xxvi. liÉge and the valley of the meuse in modern times--bouillon index list of illustrations . hôtel de ville, brussels (showing la maison des brasseurs, la maison du cygne, and la maison de l'Étoile) _frontispiece_ facing page . a corner of the market on the grande place, bruges . bell-ringer playing a chime . porte d'ostende, bruges . rue de l'Âne aveugle (showing end of town hall and bridge connecting it with palais de justice), bruges . quai du rosaire, bruges . the béguinage, bruges . quai des marbriers, bruges . a flemish young woman . a flemish burgher . quai du miroir, bruges . view of the palais du franc, bruges . maison du pélican (almshouse), bruges . vegetable market, bruges . the flemish plain . a flemish country girl . interior of a farmhouse, duinhoek . at the kermesse, adinkerque . a farmsteading . place du musée (showing the top part of the belfry), ypres . arcade under the nieuwerk, ypres . grande place and belfry, furnes . peristyle of town hall and palais de justice, furnes . interior of church, nieuport . tower of st. nicholas, furnes . in ste. walburge's church, furnes . a fair parishioner, nieuport . hall and vicarage, nieuport . the quay, with eel-boats and landing-stages, nieuport . the town hall, nieuport . church porch (evensong), nieuport . a stormy evening: the dunes . an old farmer . interior of a flemish inn, la panne . a flemish inn--playing skittles, la panne . a shrimper on horseback, coxyde . a shrimper, coxyde . village and canal, adinkerque . an old lace-maker, ghent . the banquet hall, château des comtes, ghent . béguinage de mont st. amand, ghent . the arrière faucille (achter sikkel), ghent . the ruins of the cloisters of the abbey of st. bavon, ghent . place de brouckére, brussels . entrance to the old church of the carmelites, brussels . the cathedral of ste. gudule, brussels . old house in the grande place, brussels . rue de namur, brussels . the farm of la belle alliance, and the mound surmounted by the belgian lion, waterloo . the cathedral chapel of st. joseph, antwerp . the vieille boucherie, antwerp . old houses in the rue de l'empereur, antwerp . archway under the vieille boucherie, antwerp . the concierge of the musée plantin-moretus, antwerp . the place verte, antwerp . the musée plantin-moretus (the arrière boutique), antwe . the roadstead from the tête de flandre, antwerp . the château de waulsort on the meuse . château de walzin, in the lesse valley . the episcopal palace--outer court, liége . pont des arches, liége . escalier de la fontaine, liége . the hospital, dinant . la maison curtius, liége . le rocher bayard, dinant . old house of the quai de la goffe, liége . a peasant woman of the ardennes . the river sambre seen from the pont de sambre, namur . la gleize, a village in the ardennes . general view of dinant . the romanesque church, hastière . le perron liégeois, liége . la vieille boucherie, liége . the episcopal palace--inner court, liége . pont du prophète, promenade meyerbeer, spa woods . pont de jambes et citadelle, namur . château de bouillon, in the semois valley _sketch-map at the end of volume._ bruges and west flanders bruges and west flanders chapter i the market-place and belfry--early history of bruges every visitor to 'the quaint old flemish city' goes first to the market-place. on saturday mornings the wide space beneath the mighty belfry is full of stalls, with white canvas awnings, and heaped up with a curious assortment of goods. clothing of every description, sabots and leathern shoes and boots, huge earthenware jars, pots and pans, kettles, cups and saucers, baskets, tawdry-coloured prints--chiefly of a religious character--lamps and candlesticks, the cheaper kinds of flemish pottery, knives and forks, carpenters' tools, and such small articles as reels of thread, hatpins, tape, and even bottles of coarse scent, are piled on the stalls or spread out on the rough stones wherever there is a vacant space. round the stalls, in the narrow spaces between them, the people move about, talking, laughing, and bargaining. their native flemish is the tongue they use amongst themselves; but many of them speak what passes for french at bruges, or even a few words of broken english, if some unwary stranger from across the channel is rash enough to venture on doing business with these sharp-witted, plausible folk. at first sight this market-place, so famed in song, is a disappointment. the north side is occupied by a row of seventeenth-century houses turned into shops and third-rate cafés. on the east is a modern post-office, dirty and badly ventilated, and some half-finished government buildings. on the west are two houses which were once of some note--the cranenburg, from the windows of which, in olden times, the counts of flanders, with the lords and ladies of their court, used to watch the tournaments and pageants for which bruges was celebrated, and in which maximilian was imprisoned by the burghers in ; and the hôtel de bouchoute, a narrow, square building of dark red brick, with a gilded lion over the doorway. but the cranenburg, once the 'most magnificent private residence in the market-place,' many years ago lost every trace of its original splendour, and is now an unattractive hostelry, the headquarters of a smoking club; while the hôtel de bouchoute, turned into a clothier's shop, has little to distinguish it from its commonplace neighbours. nevertheless, 'in the market-place of bruges stands the belfry old and brown; thrice consumed and thrice rebuilded, still it watches o'er the town.' it redeems the market-place from mediocrity. how long ago the first belfry tower of bruges was built is unknown, but this at least is certain, that in the year a fire, in which the ancient archives of the town perished, destroyed the greater part of an old belfry, which some suppose may have been erected in the ninth century. on two subsequent occasions, in the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries, the present belfry, erected on the ruins of the former structure, was damaged by fire: and now it stands on the south side of the market-place, rising feet above the halles, a massive building of the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, solemn, weather-beaten, and majestic. 'for six hundred years,' it has been said, 'this belfry has watched over the city of bruges. it has beheld her triumphs and her failures, her glory and her shame, her prosperity and her gradual decay, and, in spite of so many vicissitudes, it is still standing to bear witness to the genius of our forefathers, to awaken memories of old times and admiration for one of the most splendid monuments of civic architecture which the middle ages has produced.'[ ] in olden times watchmen were always on duty on the belfry to give warning if enemies approached or fire broke out in any part of the town, a constant source of danger when most of the houses were built of wood. even in these more prosaic days the custom of keeping watch and ward unceasingly is still maintained, and if there is a fire, the alarum-bell clangs over the city. all day, from year's end to year's end, the chimes ring every quarter of an hour; and all night, too, during the wildest storms of winter, when the wind shrieks round the tower; and in summer, when the old town lies slumbering in the moonlight. [illustration: bruges a corner of the market on the grand' place.] from the top of the belfry one looks down onwhat is practically a medieval city. the market-place seems to lose its modern aspect when seen from above; and all round there is nothing visible but houses with high-pointed gables and red roofs, intersected by canals, and streets so narrow that they appear to be mere lanes. above these rise, sometimes from trees and gardens, churches, convents, venerable buildings, the lofty spire of notre dame, the tower of st. sauveur, the turrets of the gruthuise, the hospital of st. john, famous for its paintings by memlinc, the church of ste. elizabeth in the grove of the béguinage, the pinnacles of the palais du franc, the steep roof of the hôtel de ville, the dome of the convent des dames anglaises, and beyond that to the east the slender tower which rises above the guildhouse of the archers of st. sebastian. the walls which guarded bruges in troublous times have disappeared, though five of the old gateways remain; but the town is still contained within the limits which it had reached at the close of the thirteenth century. behind the large square of the halles, from which the belfry rises, is the rue du vieux bourg, the street of the ouden burg, or old fort; and to this street the student of history must first go if he wishes to understand what tradition, more or less authentic, has to say about the earliest phases in the strange, eventful past of bruges. the wide plain of flanders, the northern portion of the country which we now call belgium, was in ancient times a dreary fenland, the haunt of wild beasts and savage men; thick, impenetrable forests, tracts of barren sand, sodden marshes, covered it; and sluggish streams, some whose waters never found their way to the sea, ran through it. one of these rivulets, called the roya, was crossed by a bridge, to defend which, according to early tradition, a fort, or 'burg,' was erected in the fourth century. this fort stood on an islet formed by the meeting of the roya with another stream, called the boterbeke, and a moat which joined the two. we may suppose that near the fort, which was probably a small building of rough stones, or perhaps merely a wooden stockade, a few huts were put up by people who came there for protection, and as time went on the settlement increased. 'john of ypres, abbot of st. bertin,' says mr. robinson, 'who wrote in the fourteenth century, describes how bruges was born and christened: "very soon pedlars began to settle down under the walls of the fort to supply the wants of its inmates. next came merchants, with their valuable wares. innkeepers followed, who began to build houses, where those who could not find lodging in the fort found food and shelter. those who thus turned away from the fort would say, 'let us go to the bridge.' and when the houses near the bridge became so numerous as to form a town, it kept as its proper name the flemish word _brugge_." [illustration: bell-ringer playing a chime] the small island on which this primitive township stood was bounded on the south and east by the roya, on the north by the boterbeke, and on the west by the moat joining these two streams. the roya still flows along between the site of the old burg and an avenue of lime-trees called the dyver till it reaches the end of the quai du rosaire, when it turns to the north. a short distance beyond this point it is vaulted over, and runs on beneath the streets and houses of the town. the rue du vieux bourg is built over the course of the boterbeke, which now runs under it and under the belfry (erected on foundations sunk deep into the bed of the stream), until it joins the subterranean channel of the roya at the south-east corner of the market-place. the moat which joined these two streams and guarded the west side of the island was filled up long ago, and its bed is now covered by the rue neuve, which connects the rue du vieux bourg with the dyver. thus the boundaries of early bruges can easily be traced; but nothing remains of the ancient buildings, though we read of a warehouse, booths, and a prison besides the dwelling-houses of the townsfolk. the elements, at least, of civic life were there; and tradition says that in or near the village, for it was nothing more, some altars of the christian faith were set up during the seventh and eighth centuries. trade, too, soon began to flourish, and grew rapidly as the population of the place increased. the roya, flowing eastwards, fell into the zwijn, an arm of the sea, which then ran up close to the town, and on which stood damme, now a small inland village, but once a busy port crowded with shipping. the commercial life of bruges depended on the zwijn; and that much business was done before the close of the ninth century is shown by the fact that bruges had then a coinage of its own.[ ] it was from such small beginnings that this famous 'venice of the north' arose. [illustration: bruges porte d'ostende.] footnotes. [footnote : gilliat-smith, _the story of bruges_, p. (dent and co., london, ). mr. gilliat-smith's book is a picturesque account of bruges in the middle ages. of the english works relating to bruges, there is nothing better than mr. wilfrid robinson's _bruges, an historical sketch_, a short and clear history, coming down to modern times (louis de plancke, bruges, ).] [footnote : gilliodts van severen, _bruges ancienne et moderne_, pp. , , .] chapter ii baldwin bras-de-fer--the place du bourg--murder of charles the good towards the end of the ninth and at the beginning of the tenth century great changes took place on the banks of the roya, and the foundations of bruges as we know it now were laid. just as in the memorable years and the empire of napoleon fell into fragments, and princes and statesmen hastened to readjust the map of europe in their own interests, so in the ninth century the empire of charlemagne was crumbling away; and in the scramble for the spoils, the normans carried fire and sword into flanders. charles the bald, king of the franks, at this crisis called to his aid the strong arm of baldwin, a flemish chief of whose ancestry we know little, but who soon became famous as baldwin bras-de-fer--baldwin of the iron arm, so called because, in peace or war, he was never seen without his coat of mail. this grim warrior had fallen in love with the daughter of charles the bald, judith, who had been already twice married, first to the saxon king ethelwulf (after the death of his first wife osberga, mother of alfred the great) and secondly to ethelbald, on whose death she left england and went to live at senlis. baldwin persuaded the princess to run away with him; and they were married without the knowledge of her father, to escape whose vengeance the culprits fled to rome. pope nicholas i. brought about a reconciliation; and charles not only pardoned his son-in-law, but appointed him ruler of flanders under the title of marquis, which was afterwards changed into that of count. it is to the steel-clad baldwin bras-de-fer that the counts of flanders trace the origin of their title; and he was, moreover, the real founder of that bruges which rose to such glory in the middle ages, and is still, though fallen from its high estate, the picturesque capital of west flanders, whither artists flock to wander about amidst the canals and bridges, the dismantled ramparts, the narrow streets with their curious houses, and the old buildings which bear such eloquent testimony to the ruin which long ago overtook what was once an opulent and powerful city. when the wrath of his father-in-law had been appeased, baldwin, now responsible for the defence of flanders, came to bruges with his wife, and there established his court. but the old burg, it seems, was not thought capable of holding out against the normans, who could easily land on the banks of the zwijn; and baldwin, therefore, set about building a new stronghold on the east side of the old burg, and close to it. it was surrounded partly by the main stream of the roya, and partly by backwaters flowing from it. here he built a fortress for himself and his household, a church dedicated to st. donatian, a prison, and a 'ghiselhuis,' or house for the safe keeping of hostages. the whole was enclosed by walls, built close to the edge of the surrounding waters. the roya is now vaulted over where it ran along the west side of baldwin's stronghold, separating it from the original burg, and the watercourses which defended it on the north and east are filled up; but the stream on the south still remains in the shape of the canal which skirts the quai des marbriers, from which a bridge leads by a narrow lane, called the rue de l'Âne aveugle, under an arch of gilded stonework, into the open space now known as the place du bourg. here we are at the very heart of bruges, on the ground where baldwin's stronghold stood, with its four gates and drawbridges, and the high walls frowning above the homes of the townsmen clustering round them. the aspect of the place is completely changed since those early days. a grove of chestnut-trees covers the site of the church of st. donatian; not a stone remains of bras-de-fer's rude palace; and instead of the prison and the hostage-house, there are the hôtel de ville, now more than five hundred years old, from whose windows the counts of flanders swore obedience to the statutes and privileges of the town, the palais de justice, and the dark crypt beneath the chapel which shelters the mysterious relic of the holy blood. [illustration: bruges rue de l'Âne aveugle (showing end of town hall and bridge connecting it with palais de justice).] in summer it is a warm, quiet, pleasant spot. under the shade of the trees, near the statue of van eyck, women selling flowers sit beside rows of geraniums, roses, lilies, pansies, which give a touch of bright colour to the scene. artists from all parts of europe set up their easels and paint. young girls are gravely busy with their water-colours. black-robed nuns and bare-footed carmelites pass silently along. perhaps some traveller from america opens his guide-book to study the map of a city which had risen to greatness long before columbus crossed the seas. a few english people hurry across, and pass under the archway of the rue de l'Âne aveugle on the way to their tennis-ground beyond the porte de gand. the sunshine glitters on the gilded façade of the palais de justice, and lights up the statues in their niches on the front of the hôtel de ville. there is no traffic, no noise. everything is still and peaceful. the chimes, ever and anon ringing out from the huge belfry, which rises high above the housetops to the west, alone break the silence. this is bruges sleeping peacefully in old age, lulled to rest by the sound of its own carillon. but it is easy, standing there, to recall the past, and to fancy the scenes which took place from time to time throughout the long period of foreign danger and internal strife. we can imagine the bourg, now so peaceful, full of armed men, rushing to the church of st. donatian on the morning when charles the good was slain; how, in later times, the turbulent burghers, fiery partisans of rival factions, clauwerts shouting for the flemish lion, and leliarts marshalled under the lily of france, raged and threatened; how the stones were splashed with blood on the day of the bruges matins, when so many frenchmen perished; or what shouts were raised when the flemish host came back victorious from the battle of the golden spurs. though every part of bruges--not only the bourg, but the great market-place, and the whole maze of streets and lanes and canals of which it consists--has a story of its own, some of these stories stand out by themselves; and amongst these one of the most dramatic is the story of the death of charles the good. more than two hundred and fifty years had passed away since the coming of baldwin bras-de-fer; bruges had spread far beyond the walls of the bourg; and charles, who had succeeded his cousin baldwin vii., was count of flanders. he was called 'the good' because of his just rule and simple life, and still more, perhaps, because he clothed and fed the poor--not only in bruges, but throughout all flanders. the common people loved him, but his charities gave offence to the rich. he had, moreover, incurred the special enmity of the erembalds, a powerful family, who, though not of noble origin themselves, were connected by marriage with many noble houses. they had supported his claim to the throne of flanders, which had been disputed, and he had rewarded their services by heaping favours on them. but, after a time, they began to oppose the methods of government which charles applied to flanders. they resented most of all one of his decrees which made it unlawful for persons not in his service to carry arms in time of peace. this decree, which was pronounced in order to prevent the daily scenes of violence which charles abhorred, was declared by the erembalds to be an interference with flemish liberty. it did not affect them personally, for they held office under the count; but they none the less opposed it vehemently. while charles was thus on bad terms with the erembalds, a deadly feud existed between them and the straetens, another notable family, which grew to such a height that the rival clans made open war upon each other, pillaging, burning, and slaying after the manner of these times. charles called the leaders of both sides before him, and made them swear to keep the peace; but when he was at ypres in the autumn of , a complaint was laid before him that bertulf, head of the erembalds, who was also provost of st. donatian's, had sent one of his nephews, burchard by name, on a raid into the lands of the straetens, whose cattle he had carried off. on hearing of this outrage, charles gave orders that burchard's house should be pulled down, and that he should compensate the straetens for their losses. the erembalds were powerless to resist this order, and burchard's house was razed to the ground. it has been said that this was only the beginning of strong measures which charles was about to take against the erembalds; but there is no certainty as to what his intentions really were. he then lived in the loove, a mansion which he had built in the bourg at bruges, on the site now occupied by the palais de justice; and there, on his return from ypres, he had a meeting with some of the erembalds, who had been sent to plead on behalf of burchard. as to what took place at this interview there is some doubt. according to one account, charles drank wine with the delegates, and granted a free pardon to burchard, on condition that he kept the peace. according to another account, his demeanour was so unbending that the erembalds left his presence full of angry suspicions, which they communicated to their friends. whatever may have happened, they were bent on mischief. burchard was sent for, and a secret consultation was held, after which burchard and a chosen few assembled in a house on the bourg and arranged their plans. this was on the night of march , . [illustration: bruges quai du rosaire.] at break of day next morning a cold, heavy mist hung low over bruges, and in the bourg everything was shrouded in darkness. but already some poor men were waiting in the courtyard of the loove, to whom charles gave alms on his way to early mass in the church of st. donatian. then he went along a private passage which led into the church, and knelt in prayer before the lady altar. it was his custom to give help to the needy when in church, and he had just put some money into the hands of a poor woman, when suddenly she called out: 'beware, sir count!' he turned quickly round, and there, sword in hand, was burchard, who had stolen up the dim aisle to where charles was kneeling. the next moment burchard struck, and charles fell dead upon the steps of the altar. then followed a scene of wild confusion. the woman ran out into the bourg, calling loudly that the count was slain. in the midst of the uproar some of the royal household fled in terror, while others who entered the church were butchered by the erembalds, who next attacked the loove, and, having pillaged it, rushed over bruges, slaughtering without mercy all who dared to oppose them. after some time one of the count's servants ventured to cover the dead body with a winding-sheet, and to surround it with lighted tapers; and there it remained lying on the pavement, until at last the erembalds, who were afraid to bury it in bruges lest the sight of the tomb of charles the good should one day rouse the townsmen to avenge his death, sent a message to ghent, begging the abbot of st. peter's to take it away and bury it in his own church. the abbot came to bruges, and before dawn the body of the murdered count was being stealthily carried along the aisles of st. donatian's, when a great crowd rushed in, declaring that the bones of charles must be allowed to rest in peace at bruges. the arches rang with cries, chairs were overturned, stools and candlesticks were thrown about, as the people, pressing and struggling round the abbot and his servants, told bertulf, with many an oath, that he must yield to their wishes. at last the provost submitted, and on the morrow, just two days after the murder, the body of charles was buried before the lady altar, on the very spot, it is said, where the statue of van eyck now stands under the trees in the bourg. the triumph of the erembalds was short, for the death of charles the good was terribly avenged by his friends, who came to bruges at the head of a large force. a fierce struggle took place at the rue de l'Âne aveugle, where many were slain. the erembalds were driven into the bourg, the gates of which they shut; but an entrance was forced, and, after desperate fighting, some thirty of them, all who remained alive, were compelled to take refuge, first in the nave and then in the tower of the church of st. donatian, where, defending themselves with the courage of despair, they made a last stand, until, worn out by fatigue and hunger, they surrendered and came down. bertulf the provost, burchard, and a few of the other ringleaders had fled some days before, and so escaped, for a time at least, the fate of their companions, who, having been imprisoned in a dungeon, were taken to the top of the church tower and flung down one by one on to the stones of the bourg. 'their bodies,' says mr. gilliat-smith, 'were thrown into a marsh beyond the village of st. andré, and for years afterwards no man after nightfall would willingly pass that way.' in the church of st. sauveur there is a costly shrine containing what are said to be the bones of charles the good, taken from their first resting-place, at which twice every year a festival is held in commemoration of his virtues. chapter iii the bÉguinage--churches--the relic of the holy blood bruges is one of the most catholic towns in catholic flanders. convents and religious houses of all sorts have always flourished there, and at present there are no less than forty-five of these establishments. probably one of the most interesting to english people is the couvent des dames anglaises, which was founded in by the english augustinian nuns of ste. monica's convent at louvain. its chapel, with a fine dome of the eighteenth century, contains a beautiful altar built of marbles brought from egypt, greece, and persia; and amongst its possessions is the rosary of catherine of braganza (queen of charles ii. of england), who died at bruges. and then there is the béguinage. there are béguinages at amsterdam and breda, but with this exception of holland, belgium is now the only country in europe where these societies, the origin of whose name is uncertain, are to be found. they consist of spinsters or widows, who, though bound by a few conventual oaths during their connection with the society, may return to the world. on entering each sister pays a sum of money to the general funds, and at first lives for a time along with other novices. at the end of this term of probation they are at liberty to occupy one of the small dwellings within the precincts of the béguinage, and keep house for themselves. they spend their time in sewing, making lace, educating poor children, visiting the sick, or any form of good works for which they may have a taste. they are under a mother superior, the 'grande dame,' appointed by the bishop of the diocese, and must attend the services in the church of their béguinage. thus the béguine, living generally in a house of her own, and free to reenter the world, occupies a different position from the nuns of the better-known orders, though so long as she remains a member of her society she is bound by the vows of chastity and obedience to her ecclesiastical superiors. [illustration: bruges the béguinage.] the béguinage at bruges, founded in the thirteenth century, is situated near the minnewater, or lac d'amour, which every visitor is taken to see. this sheet of placid water, bordered by trees, which was a harbour in the busy times, is one of the prettiest bits of bruges; and they say that if you go there at midnight, and stand upon the bridge which crosses it on the south, any wish which you may form will certainly come to pass. it is better to go alone, for strict silence is necessary to insure the working of this charm. a bridge over the water which runs from the lac d'amour leads through a gateway into the béguinage, where a circle of small houses--whitewashed, with stepped gables, and green woodwork on the windows--surrounds a lawn planted with tall trees. there is a view of the spire of notre dame beyond the roofs, a favourite subject for the painters who come here in numbers on summer afternoons. the church of ste. elizabeth, an unpretentious building, stands on one side of the lawn; and within it, many times a day, the sisters may be seen on their knees repeating the offices of the church. when the service is finished they rise, remove their white head-coverings, and return demurely to their quaint little homes. bruges has, needless to say, many churches, but nothing which can be compared to the magnificent cathedral of antwerp, to the imposing front of ste. gudule at brussels, or to the huge mass which forms such a conspicuous landmark for several leagues round malines. still, some of the churches are not without interest: the cathedral of st. sauveur, where the stalls of the knights of the order of the golden fleece, which was founded at bruges, are to be seen in the choir, and over one of them the arms of edward iv. of england; the curious little church of jerusalem, with its 'holy sepulchre,' an exact copy of the traditionary grave in palestine--a dark vault, entered by a passage so low that one must crawl through it, and where a light burns before a figure which lies there wrapped in a linen cloth; and the church of notre dame, which contains some treasures, such as a lovely white marble statue of the virgin and child, from the chisel of michael angelo; the tombs of charles the bold of burgundy and his daughter--the 'gentle mary,' whose untimely death at bruges in , after a short married life, saved her from witnessing the misfortunes which clouded the last years of her husband, the archduke maximilian; and a portion of the holy cross, which came to bruges in the fifteenth century. the story goes that a rich merchant, a dutchman from dordrecht, schoutteeten by name, who lived at bruges, was travelling through syria in the year . one day, when journeying with a caravan, he saw a man hiding something in a wood, and, following him, discovered that it was a box, which he suspected might contain something valuable. mijnheer schoutteeten appropriated the box, and carried it home from syria to dordrecht, where a series of miracles began to occur of such a nature as to make it practically certain that the box (or some wood which it contained, for on this point the legend is vague) was a part of the true cross! in course of time schoutteeten died in the odour of sanctity, having on his death-bed expressed a wish that the wood which he had brought from the east should be given to the church of notre dame at bruges. his widow consoled herself by taking a second husband, who, uutenhove by name, fulfilled the pious request of his predecessor, and thus another relic was added to the large collection which is preserved in the various churches and religious houses of bruges. it was brought to flanders in the year , and must have been a source of considerable revenue to the church since then. the buildings of notre dame, with the well-known gruthuise mansion which adjoins them, and the singularly graceful spire, higher than the belfry tower, rising from the exquisite portico called 'het paradijs,' form a very beautiful group; but, with this exception, there is nothing remarkable about the churches of bruges. one of them, however, has a peculiar interest--the chapelle du saint-sang, which stands in the place du bourg in the corner next to the hôtel de ville. it is built in two stories. the lower, a dark, solemn chapel, like a crypt, was dedicated to st. basil at an early period, and is one of the oldest buildings in bruges. the greater part of the upper story does not date further back than the fifteenth century. but it is not the fabric itself, venerable though that is, but what it contains, that makes this place the holy of holies in the religious life of bruges; for here, in a costly shrine of gold and silver adorned with precious stones, they guard the wonderful relic which was brought from palestine in the time of the crusaders by thierry d'alsace, count of flanders, and which is still worshipped by thousands of devout believers every year. thierry d'alsace, the old chroniclers tell us, visited the holy land four times, and was the leader of the flemish warriors who, roused by the eloquence of st. bernard of clairvaux, joined the second crusade in the summer of . he had married sybilla, sister of baldwin, king of jerusalem; and when the time came for his return to europe, his brother-in-law and the patriarch of jerusalem resolved to reward his services by giving him a part of the most valuable relic which the church in palestine possessed, which was a small quantity of a red liquid, said to be blood and water, which, according to immemorial tradition, joseph of arimathæa had preserved after he had washed the dead body of jesus. the earlier history of this relic is unknown, and is as obscure as that of the other 'relics of the holy blood' which are to be found in various places. but there can be no doubt whatever that in the twelfth century the christians at jerusalem believed that it had been in existence since the day of the crucifixion. it was, therefore, presented to thierry with great solemnity in the church of the holy sepulchre during the christmas festivals of . the patriarch, having displayed the vessel which contained it to the people, divided the contents into two portions, one of which he poured into a small vial, the mouth of which was carefully sealed up and secured with gold wire. this vessel was next enclosed in a crystal tube, shut at the ends with golden stoppers, to which a chain of silver was attached. then the patriarch gave the tube to baldwin, from whose hands thierry, kneeling on the steps of the altar, received it with profound emotion.[ ] the count, however, did not think his hands, which had shed so much human blood, worthy to convey the relic home; and he entrusted it to leonius, chaplain of the flemish army, who hung it round his neck, and so carried it to bruges, where he arrived in may, , along with thierry, who, mounted on a white horse led by two bare-footed monks, and holding the relic in his hand, was conducted in state to the bourg, where he deposited the precious object in the chapel of st. basil, which is commonly known as the chapel of the holy blood. after some time the relic was found to be dry, but, strange to say, it became liquid, we are told upon the authority of pope clement v., every friday, 'usually at six o'clock.' this weekly miracle continued till about the year . since then it has never taken place except once, in , when the vial containing the relic was being transferred to a new crystal tube; and on this occasion william, bishop of ancona, was astonished to see the relic turning redder than usual, and some drops, as of newly-shed blood, flowing within the vial, which he was holding in his hand. many notable persons who were present, one of them the bishop of lincoln, testified to this event! other miracles wrought through the agency of this relic are recorded. a child which had been born dead was taken to the shrine, and came to life after three days. a young girl who had suffered for twenty months from an issue of blood, and for whom the doctors could do nothing, was cured by the application of a piece of cloth which had been used to cover the relic. another girl who had been paralyzed for a long time, being carried into the chapel of st. basil, was restored to complete strength the moment she kissed the crystal tube. in december, , a fire broke out in the bourg, and threatened to destroy the hôtel de ville; but a priest brought forth the tube containing the relic, and held it up before the flames, which were instantly extinguished. these and many other similar miracles, confirmed by the oath of witnesses and received by the church at the present day as authentic, make the relic an object of profound devotion to the people of bruges and the peasants of the surrounding country, who go in crowds to bow before it twice every friday, when it is exhibited for public worship. it was nearly lost on several occasions in the days of almost constant war, and during the french revolution it was concealed for some years in the house of a private citizen. the chapel of st. basil suffered from the disturbed condition of the country, and when napoleon came to bruges in it was such a complete wreck that the magistrates were on the point of sweeping it away altogether. but napoleon saved it, declaring that when he looked on the ruins he fancied himself once more amongst the antiquities of egypt, and that to destroy them would be a crime. four years after the battle of waterloo the relic was brought out from its hiding-place, and in the chapel was restored from the designs of two english architects, william brangwyn and thomas harper king.[ ] on the first monday after the nd of may every year the town of bruges is full of strangers, who have come to witness the celebrated 'procession of the holy blood,' which there is good reason to believe has taken place annually (except during the french revolution) for the last years. very early in the day a mass is celebrated in the upper chapel of the holy blood, which is crowded to the doors. in the crypt, or lower chapel, where many people are kneeling before the sacred images, the gloom, the silence, the bent figures dimly seen in the faint yellow light of a few tapers, make up a weird scene all the morning till about nine o'clock, when the relic, in its 'châsse,' or tabernacle, is carried to the cathedral of st. sauveur, and placed on the high altar, while a pontifical mass is celebrated by one of the bishops. when that is done, the procession starts on its march along the chief thoroughfares of the town. the houses are decorated with flags, and candles burn in almost every window. through the narrow streets, between crowds of people standing on the pavements or looking down from the windows, while the church bells ring and wreaths of incense fill the air, bands of music, squadrons of cavalry, crucifixes, shrines, images, the banners of the parishes and the guilds, heralds in their varied dresses, bareheaded pilgrims from england, france, and other countries, pages, maidens in white, bearing palms, or crowns of thorn, or garlands, priests with relics, acolytes and chanting choristers, pass slowly along. the buffoonery of the middle ages, when giants, ballet-dancers, and mythological characters figured in the scene, has been abandoned; but abraham and isaac, king david and king solomon, joseph and the virgin mary, the magi, and many saints and martyrs, walk in the long procession, which is closed by the bishops and clergy accompanying the gorgeous shrine containing the small tube of something red like blood, before which all the people sink to the ground, and remain kneeling till it has passed. the proceedings of the day end with a benediction at an altar erected in front of the hôtel de ville. the bourg is filled from side to side with those who have taken part in the procession, and by thousands of spectators who have followed them from all parts of the town to witness the closing scene. the crowd gathers under the trees and along the sides of the square, the centre of which, occupied by the processionists, is a mass of colour, above which the standards and images which have been carried through the streets rise against the dark background of the hôtel de ville and the chapel of the holy blood. the relic is taken out of the châsse, and a priest, standing on the steps of the altar high above the crowd, holds it up to be worshipped. everyone bows low, and then, in dead silence, the mysterious object is carried into the chapel, and with this the chief religious ceremony of the year at bruges is brought to a close. there are sights in bruges that night, within a stone's-throw of the chapel of the holy blood, which are worth seeing, they contrast so strangely with all this fervour of religion. the curtain has fallen upon the drama of the day. the flags are furled and put aside. the vestments are in the sacristy. shrines, canopies, censers, all the objects carried in the procession, have disappeared into the churches. the church doors are locked, and the images are left to stand all night without so much as one solitary worshipper kneeling before them. the bourg is empty and dark, steeped in black shadows at the door of the chapel where the relic has been laid to rest. it is all quiet there, but a stroll through the rue de l'Âne aveugle and across the canal by the bridge which leads to the purlieus of the fish-markets brings one upon another scene. every second house, if not every house, is a café, 'herberg,' or 'estaminet,' with a bar and sanded floor and some rough chairs and tables; and on the night of the procession of the holy blood they are crowded to the doors. peasants from the country are there in great force. for some days before and after the sacred festival the villagers are in the habit of coming into bruges--whole families of them, father and mother, sons and daughters, all in their best finery. they walk through the streets, following the route by which the holy blood is carried, telling their beads and saying their prayers, crossing themselves, and kneeling at any image of christ, or madonna, or saint, which they may notice at the street corners. it is curious to watch their sunburnt faces and uncouth ways as they slouch along, their hands busy with their beads, and their lips never ceasing for a moment to mutter prayer after prayer. they follow in the wake of the procession of the holy blood, or wait to fall upon their knees when it passes and receive the blessing of the bishop, who walks with fingers raised, scattering benedictions from side to side. in the evening, before starting for home, they go to the cafés. as evening passes into night the sounds of music and dancing are heard. at the doors people sit drinking round tables placed on the pavement or in the rank, poisonous gutter. the hot air is heavy with the smell of decayed fish. inside the cafés men and women, old and young, are dancing in the fetid atmosphere to jingling pianos or accordions. the heat, the close, sour fumes of musty clothing, tobacco, beer, gin, fried fish, and unwashed humanity, are overpowering. there are disgusting sights in all directions. fat women, with red, perspiring faces and dirty fingers, still clutching their rosaries; tawdry girls, field-workers, with flushed faces, dancing with country lads, most of whom are more than half tipsy; ribald jokes and laughter and leering eyes; reeling, drunken men; maudlin affection in one corner, and jealous disputing in another; crying babies; beer and gin spilt on the tables; and all sorts of indecency and hideous details which swift might have gloated over or hogarth painted. this is how the day of the holy blood procession is finished by many of the countryfolk. the brutal cabaret comes after the prayers and adoration of the morning! it is a world of contrasts. but soon the lights are out, the shutters are put up, the last customer goes staggering homewards, and the belfry speaks again, as it spoke when the sweet singer lay dreaming at the fleur-de-blé: 'in the ancient town of bruges, in the quaint old flemish city, as the evening shades descended, low and loud and sweetly blended, low at times and loud at times, and changing like a poet's rhymes, rang the beautiful wild chimes from the belfry in the market of the ancient town of bruges. then, with deep sonorous clangour, calmly answering their sweet anger, when the wrangling bells had ended, slowly struck the clock eleven, and, from out the silent heaven, silence on the town descended. silence, silence everywhere, on the earth and in the air, save that footsteps here and there of some burgher home returning, by the street lamps faintly burning, for a moment woke the echoes of the ancient town of bruges.' [illustration: bruges quai des marbriers.] footnotes [footnote : canon van haecke, _le précieux sang à bruges_ (fourth edition), pp. , .] [footnote : gilliat-smith, _the story of bruges_, p. .] chapter iv the bruges matins--battle of the golden spurs the visitor to bruges is reminded, wherever he goes, of the stirring events which fill the chronicles of the town for several centuries. opposite the belfry, in the middle of the market-place, is the monument to peter de coninck and john breidel, on which garlands of flowers are laid every summer, in memory of what they did when the burghers rose against the french in may, ; and amongst the modern frescoes which cover the walls of the grande salle des Échevins in the hôtel de ville, with its roof of fourteenth-century woodwork, is one which represents the return from the battle of the golden spurs, that famous fight in which the hardy peasantry of flanders overthrew the knights of france whom philip the fair had sent to avenge the blood of the frenchmen who had died on the terrible morning of the 'bruges matins.' the fourteenth century had opened. the town had now reached the limits which have contained it ever since--an irregular oval with a circumference of between four and five miles, surrounded by double ditches, and a strong wall pierced by nine fortified gateways; and as the town had grown, the privileges and liberties of the townsmen had grown likewise. sturdy, independent, and resolved to keep the management of their own affairs in their own hands, the burghers of bruges, like those of the other flemish towns, had succeeded in establishing a system of self-government so complete that it roused the opposition of guy de dampierre, count of flanders, whose efforts to diminish the power of these communities at length brought about a crisis which gave philip the fair of france an excuse for interfering. the count, having to contend both against his own subjects and against the ambitions of the king of france, fell from power, and in the end flanders was annexed to france. soon after this rich province had been added to his domains, philip came with his wife, joanna of navarre, on a visit to bruges. already there were two factions in the town--the leliarts, or french party, consisting chiefly of the upper classes, and the clauwerts, or flemish party, to which the mass of the people belonged. by the former philip was received in royal fashion, and so magnificent were the dresses and jewels worn by the wives and daughters of the nobles and rich burgesses, who sat in the windows and balconies as the royal procession passed along, that the queen was moved to jealousy. 'i thought,' she said, 'that i alone was queen; but here in this place i have six hundred rivals.' but in the streets below there were sullen looks and murmurs of discontent, which grew louder and louder every day, when, after the departure of the court, the magistrates, who belonged to the french party, proposed that the merchant guilds should find money to defray some of the expenses which had been incurred on this occasion. at this time peter de coninck was dean of the guild of weavers, a man of substance, popular and eloquent. there was a tumultuous gathering in the market-place, when, standing in front of the belfry, with the leaders of five-and-twenty guilds around him, he declaimed on liberty, and attacked the magistrates, calling on his fellow-townsmen to resist the taxes. the city officers, on the order of the magistrates, arrested de coninck and his chief supporters, and hurried them to the prison in the bourg. but in a few hours the mob forced an entrance and released them. the signal for revolt had been given, and for some months bruges, like the rest of flanders, was in disorder. de coninck, who had been joined by john breidel, dean of the guild of butchers, was busy rousing the people in all parts of the country. he visited ghent, amongst other places, and tried to persuade the magistrates that if ghent and bruges united their forces the whole flemish people would rise, crush the leliarts, and expel the french. but the men of ghent would not listen to him, and he returned to bruges. here, too, he met with a rebuff, for the magistrates, having heard that jacques de châtillon, whom philip had made governor of flanders, was marching on the town, would not allow him to remain amongst them. he went to damme, and with him went, not only breidel, but , burghers of the national party, stout clauwerts, who had devoted themselves to regaining the liberty of their country. [illustration: a flemish young woman] when châtillon rode up to the walls of bruges and demanded entrance the magistrates agreed to open the gates, on condition that he brought with him only men-at-arms. but he broke his word, and the town was entered by , knights, whose haughty looks and threatening language convinced the people that treachery was intended. it was whispered in the market-place that the waggons which rumbled over the drawbridges carried ropes with which the clauwerts who had remained in the town were to be hanged; that there was to be a general massacre, in which not even the women and children would be spared; and that the frenchmen never unbuckled their swords or took off their armour, but were ready to begin the slaughter at any moment. it was a day of terror in bruges, and when evening came some of the burghers slipped out, made their way to damme, and told de coninck what was passing in the town. that night châtillon gave a feast to his chief officers, and amongst his guests was pierre flotte, chancellor of france, perhaps the ablest of those jurists by whose evil councils philip the fair was encouraged in the ideas of autocracy which led him to make the setting up of a despotism the policy of his whole life. with flotte--'that belial,' as pope boniface viii. once called him--and the rest, châtillon sat revelling till a late hour. the night wore on; de châtillon's party broke up, and went to rest; the weary sentinels were half asleep at their posts; and soon all bruges was buried in silence. here and there lights twinkled in some of the guild-houses, where a few of the burghers sat anxiously waiting for what the morrow might bring forth, while others went to the ramparts on the north, and strained their eyes to see if help was coming from damme. at early dawn--it was friday, may , --the watchers on the ramparts saw a host of armed men rapidly approaching the town. they were divided into two parties, one of which, led by de coninck, made for the porte ste. croix, while the other, under breidel, marched to the porte de damme, a gateway which no longer exists, but which was then one of the most important entrances, being that by which travellers came from damme and sluis. messengers from the ramparts ran swiftly through the streets, in which daylight was now beginning to appear, and spread the news from house to house. silently the burghers took their swords and pikes, left their homes, and gathered in the market-place and near the houses in which the french were sleeping. the french slept on till, all of a sudden, they were wakened by the tramp of feet, the clash of arms, and shouts of 'flanders for the lion!' breidel had led his men into the town, and they were rushing through the streets to where châtillon had taken up his quarters, while de coninck, having passed through the porte ste. croix, was marching to the bourg. the frenchmen, bewildered, surprised, and only half awake, ran out into the streets. the flemings were shouting 'schilt ende vriendt! schilt ende vriendt!'[ ] and every man who could not pronounce these words was known to be a frenchman, and slain upon the spot. some fled to the gates; but at every gate they found a band of guards, who called out 'schilt ende vriendt!' and put them to the sword. all that summer's morning, and on throughout the day, the massacre continued. old men, women, and children hurled stones from the roofs and windows down upon the enemy. breidel, a man of great strength, killed many with his own hand, and those whom he wounded were beaten to death where they fell by the apprentices with their iron clubs. in the market-place, close to where the monument to de coninck and breidel stands, a party of soldiers, under a gallant french knight, gauthier de sapignies, made a stand; but they were overpowered and slaughtered to the last man. châtillon tried to rally his forces, but the surprise had been too complete, and, disguising himself in the cassock of a priest, he hid, in company with chancellor flotte, till it was dark, when they managed to escape from the town. by this time the carnage had ceased; the walls of the houses and the gutters ran with blood; and the burghers of bruges had done their work so thoroughly that , frenchmen lay dead upon the streets. but the final reckoning with france was yet to come. when châtillon reached paris and told his master the direful story of the bruges matins, philip swore revenge; and a few weeks later an army , strong invaded flanders, under the comte d'artois, with whom rode also châtillon, flotte, and many nobles of france. the flemings went to meet them--not only the burghers of bruges, led by de coninck and breidel, marching under the banners of their guilds, but men from every part of flanders--and on july , near courtrai, the battle of the golden spurs was fought. [illustration: a flemish burgher] the ground was marshy, with a stream and pools of water between the two armies; and just as the scots at bannockburn, twelve years afterwards, prepared pitfalls for the heavy cavalry of england, so the flemings laid a trap for the french knights by cutting down brushwood and covering the water. the horsemen, clad in cumbrous armour, charged, the brushwood gave way, and most of them sank into the water. the comte d'artois got clear, but was beaten to the ground and killed. the chancellor flotte, who had boasted that he would bring the people of bruges to their knees, was trampled to death. châtillon died too; and when, at last, a long day's fighting came to an end, the flemings had gained a complete victory. by this battle, which took its name from the thousands of golden spurs which were torn from the french knights who fell, the victors secured--for a time, at least--the liberty of their country, and the memory of it was for many a day to flanders what the memory of bannockburn was to scotland or of morgarten to switzerland. footnotes. [footnote : 'shield and friend!'] chapter v damme--the sea-fight at sluis--splendour of bruges in the middle ages--the fall and loss of trade damme, where the patriots mustered on the eve of the bruges matins, is within a short hour's stroll from the east end of the town. the roya, which disappears from view, as we have already seen, opposite the quai du rosaire, emerges from its hidden course at the west end of the quai du miroir, where the statue of jan van eyck stands near the door of the building now used as a public library. this building was once the customs house of bruges, conveniently situated in the neighbourhood of the market-place, and on the side of the roya, which thence stretches eastwards between the quai du miroir and the quai spinola for a few hundred yards, and then turns sharply to the north, and continues between the quai long and the quai de la potterie, which are built in rambling fashion on either side of the water. some of the houses are old, others of no earlier date, apparently, than the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries; some large and well preserved, and some mere cottages, half ruinous, with low gables and faded yellow fronts, huddled together on the rough causeway, alongside of which are moored canal-boats with brown hulls and deck-houses gay with white and green paint. at the end of the quai de la potterie is the modern bassin de commerce, in which the roya loses itself, the harbour for the barges and small steamers which come by the canal connecting ostend with bruges and ghent; and near this was, in ancient days, the porte de damme, through which breidel and his followers burst on that fateful morning in may years ago. to the right of the bassin a broad canal, constructed by napoleon in , extends in a straight line eastwards, contained within dykes which raise it above a wide expanse of level meadow-lands intersected by ditches, and dotted here and there by the white-walled cottages with red roofs and green outside shutters which are so typical of flemish scenery. about two miles out of bruges one comes in sight of a windmill perched on a slope at the side of the canal, a square church-tower, a few houses, and some grassy mounds, which were once strong fortifications. even the historical imagination, which everyone who walks round bruges must carry with him, is hardly equal to realizing that this was once a bustling seaport, with a harbour in which more than a hundred merchant ships, laden with produce from all parts of the world, were sometimes lying at the same time. in those busy times damme, they say, contained , inhabitants; now there are only about , . beyond damme the canal winds on through the same flat landscape, low-lying, water-logged, with small farm-houses and scanty trees, and in the distance, on the few patches of higher ground, the churches of oostkerke and westcapelle. at last, soon after passing the dutch frontier, the canal ends in a little dock with gray, lichen-covered sides; and this is sluis, a dull place, with a few narrow streets, a market-place, two churches, and a belfry of the fourteenth century. it is quite inland now, miles from the salt water; and from the high ramparts which still surround it the view extends to the north across broad green fields, covering what was once the bed of the sea, in the days when the tide ebbed and flowed in the channel of the zwijn, over which ships passed sailing on their way to bruges. but any english traveller who, having gone a little way out of the beaten track of summer tourists, may chance to mount the ramparts, and look down upon the fields which stretch away to the shores of the north sea and the estuary of the scheldt, and inland beyond damme to the belfry and the spires of bruges, is gazing on the scene of a great event in the naval history of england. here, on what is now dry land, on the morning of june , , ships of war, full of armed men-- , of them--were drawn up in line of battle; and further out to sea, beyond the entrance of the zwijn, the newly-risen sun was shining on the sails of another fleet which was manoeuvring in the offing. [illustration: bruges quai du miroir.] 'in the cities of flanders,' says dr. gardiner, 'had arisen manufacturing populations which supplied the countries round with the products of the loom. to the ghent and bruges of the middle ages england stood in the same relation as that which the australian colonies hold to the leeds and bradford of our own day. the sheep which grazed over the wide, unenclosed pasture-lands of our island formed a great part of the wealth of england, and that wealth depended entirely on the flourishing trade with the flemish towns in which english wool was converted into cloth.' when, therefore, edward iii. claimed the throne of france, and the hundred years' war began, it was of vital importance to the trade of flanders and england that the merchants of the two countries should maintain friendly relations with each other. but philip of valois had persuaded the count of flanders, louis de nevers, to order the arrest of all the english in flanders, and edward had retaliated by arresting all the flemings who were in england, and forbidding the export of english wool to flanders. the result was that the weavers of bruges and the other manufacturing towns of flanders found themselves on the road to ruin; and, having no interest in the question at issue between the kings of france and england, apart from its effect on their commercial prosperity, the burghers of bruges, ghent, and ypres, under the leadership of the famous jacob van artevelde (anticipating, as one of the modern historians of bruges has noticed, what the great powers did for belgium in [ ]), succeeded in securing, with the assent of philip, the neutrality of flanders. the french king, however, did not keep faith with the flemings, but proceeded to acts of aggression against them, and a league against france was formed between england and flanders. in june, , edward, who was then in england, hearing that an immense number of french ships of war were at anchor in the zwijn, set sail to give them battle with a squadron of vessels. the english fleet anchored off the coast between blankenberghe and heyst on the evening of june , and from the top of the dunes the english scouts saw in the distance the masts of the french ships in the zwijn. as soon as there was light next morning, the english weighed anchor and sailed along the coast to the east; past lonely yellow sands, which have swarmed during recent years with workmen toiling at the construction of the immense harbour of see-brugge, which is to be the future port of bruges; past what was then the small fishing hamlet of heyst; past a range of barren dunes, amongst which to-day duinbergen, the latest of the flemish watering-places, with its spacious hotel and trim villas, is being laid out; past a waste of storm-swept sand and rushes, on which are now the digue of knocke, a cluster of hotels and crowded lodging-houses, and a golf-course; and so onwards till they opened the mouth of the zwijn, and saw the french ships crowding the entrance, 'their masts appearing to be like a great wood,' and beyond them the walls of sluis rising from the wet sands left by the receding tide. it was low-water, and while waiting for the turn of the tide the english fleet stood out to sea for some time, so that nicholas béhuchet, the french admiral, began to flatter himself that king edward, finding himself so completely outnumbered, would not dare to risk fighting against such odds. the odds, indeed, were nearly three to one against the english seamen; but as soon as the tide began to flow they steered straight into the channel, and, edward leading the van, came to close quarters, ship to ship. the famous archers of england, who six years later were to do such execution at crécy, lined the bulwarks, and poured in a tempest of arrows so thick that men fell from the tops of the french ships like leaves before a storm. the first of the four lines in which béhuchet had drawn up his fleet was speedily broken, and the english, brandishing their swords and pikes, boarded the french ships, drove their crews overboard, and hoisted the flag of england. king edward was wounded, and the issue may have been doubtful, when suddenly more ships, coming from the north of england, appeared in sight, and hordes of flemings from all parts of flanders, from the coast, and even from inland towns so far away as ypres,[ ] came swarming in boats to join in the attack. this decided the fate of the great battle, which continued till sunset. when it ended, the french fleet had ceased to exist, with the exception of a few ships which escaped when it was dark. the flemings captured béhuchet, and hung him then and there. nearly , of his men perished, many of whom were drowned while attempting to swim ashore, or were clubbed to death by the flemings who lined the beach, waiting to take vengeance on the invaders for having burned their homesteads and carried off their flocks. the english lost two ships and , men; but the victory was so complete that no courtier was bold enough to carry the news to king philip, who did not know what had befallen his great fleet till the court jester went to him, and said, 'oh! the english cowards! the english cowards! they had not the courage to jump into the sea as our noble frenchmen did at sluis.' it is strange to think that flemish peasants work, and cattle feed, and holiday visitors from knocke, or sluis, or kadzand ramble about dry-shod where the waves were rolling in on that midsummer's morning, and that far beneath the grass the timbers of so many stout ships and the bones of so many valiant seamen have long since mouldered away. and it is also strange to think, when wandering along the canals of bruges, where now the swans glide silently about in the almost stagnant water which laps the basements of the old houses, how in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries ships of every nation carried in great bales of merchandise, and that rich traders stored them in warehouses and strong vaults, which are now mere coal-cellars, or the dark and empty haunts of the rats which swarm in the canals. 'there is,' says mr. robinson, 'in the national library at paris a list of the kingdoms and cities which sent their produce to bruges at that time. england sent wool, lead, tin, coal, and cheese; ireland and scotland, chiefly hides and wool; denmark, pigs; russia, hungary, and bohemia, large quantities of wax; poland, gold and silver; germany, wine; liége, copper kettles; and bulgaria, furs.' after naming many parts of europe, asia, and africa, that sent goods, the manuscript adds: 'and all the aforesaid realms and regions send their merchants with wares to flanders, besides those who come from france, poitou, and gascony, and from the three islands of which we know not the names of their kingdoms.' the trade of bruges was enormous. people flocked there from all quarters. 'lombard and venetian merchants with deep-laden argosies; ministers from twenty nations; more than royal pomp and ease.' we read of ships entering in one day, and of german merchants buying , pieces of cloth, made by flemish weavers, in a morning's marketing. a citizen of bruges was always at the head of the hanseatic league, and maintained the rights of that vast commercial society under the title of 'comte de la hanse.' merchant princes, members of the hanse, lived here in palaces. money-changers grew rich. edward iii. borrowed from the bardi at bruges on the security of the crown jewels of england. contracts of insurance against maritime risks were entered into from an early period, and the merchant shipping code which regulated traffic by sea was known as the 'röles de damme.'[ ] there were twenty consulates at one time in bruges, and the population of the town is said, though it is difficult to believe that this is not an exaggeration, to have been more than , before the middle of the fourteenth century. six years after the battle of sluis, louis of nevers was killed at crecy, and his son, louis of maele, reigned in his stead as count of flanders. he was a leliart to the core, and his reign of nearly forty years, one long struggle against the liberties of his people, witnessed the capture of bruges by philip van artevelde, the invasion of flanders by the french, the defeat of the nationalists, and the death of van artevelde on the field of roosebeke. nevertheless, during this period and after it bruges grew in beauty and in wealth. the hôtel de ville, without the grandeur of the hôtel de ville at brussels, but still a gem of mediæval architecture, was built on the site of the old 'ghiselhuis' of baldwin bras-de-fer. other noble buildings, rich in design and beautiful in all their outlines, and great mansions, with marble halls and ceilings of exquisitely carved woodwork, rose on every side; towers and pinnacles, shapely windows and graceful arches, overhung the waterways; luxury increased; in the homes of the nobles and wealthy merchants were stores of precious stones, tapestries, silk, fine linen, cloth of gold; the churches and many buildings gleamed with gilded stone and tinted glass and brilliant frescoes. art flourished as the town grew richer. the elder and the younger van eyck, gerard david, and memlinc, with many others before and after them, were attracted by its splendour, as modern painters have been attracted by its decay; and though the 'adoration of the immaculate lamb' hangs in the choir of st. bavon at ghent, the genius which coloured that matchless altar-piece found its inspiration within the walls of bruges. the history of bruges for many long years, especially under the rule of the house of burgundy, was, in the midst of war, turmoil, and rebellion, the history of continuous progress. but all this prosperity depended on the sea. so long as the zwijn remained open, neither war nor faction, not even the last great rising against the archduke maximilian, which drove away the foreign merchants, most of whom went to antwerp, and so impoverished the town that no less than , houses were standing empty in the year ,[ ] could have entirely ruined bruges. these disasters might have been retrieved if the channel of communication with damme and sluis had not been lost; but for a long time the condition of this important waterway had been the cause of grave anxiety to the people of bruges. the heavy volume of water which poured with every ebbing tide down the scheldt between flushing and breskens swept past the island of walcheren, and spread out into the north sea and down the english channel, leaving the mud it carried with it on the sands round the mouth of the zwijn, which itself did not discharge a current strong enough to prevent the slow but sure formation of a bank across its entrance. charters, moreover, had been granted to various persons, under which they drained the adjoining lands, and gradually reclaimed large portions from the sea. the channel, at no time very deep, became shallower, narrower, and more difficult of access, until at last, during the second half of the fifteenth century, the passage between sluis and damme was navigable only by small ships. soon the harbour at damme was nearly choked up with sand. many schemes were tried in the hope of preserving the zwijn, but the sea-trade of bruges dwindled away to a mere nothing, and finally disappeared before the middle of the sixteenth century. and so bruges fell from greatness. there are still some traces of the ancient bed of the zwijn amongst the fields near coolkerke, a village a short distance to the north of bruges--a broad ditch with broken banks, and large pools of slimy water lying desolate and forlorn in a wilderness of tangled bushes. these are now the only remains of the highway by which the 'deep-laden argosies' used to enter in the days of old. footnotes. [footnote : robinson, _bruges, an historical sketch_, p. .] [footnote : vereecke, _histoire militaire de la ville d'ypres_, p. .] [footnote : gilliodts van severen, _bruges ancienne et moderne_, p. .] [footnote : gilliodts van severen, p. .] chapter vi 'bruges la morte' they call it 'bruges la morte,' and at every turn there is something to remind us of the deadly blight which fell upon the city when its trade was lost. the faded colours, the timeworn brickwork, the indescribable look of decay which, even on the brightest morning, throws a shade of melancholy over the whole place, lead one to think of some aged dame, who has 'come down in the world,' wearing out the finery of better days. it is all very sad and pathetic, but strangely beautiful, and the painter never lived who could put on canvas the mellow tints with which time has clothed these old walls, and thus veiled with tender hand the havoc it has made. to stand on the bridge which crosses the canal at the corner of the quai des marbriers and the quai vert, where the pinnacles of the palais du franc and the roof of the hôtel de ville, with the belfry just showing above them, and dull red walls rising from the water, make up a unique picture of still-life, is to read a sermon in stones, an impressive lesson in history. the loss of trade brought bruges face to face with the 'question of the unemployed' in a very aggravated form. how to provide for the poor became a most serious problem, and so many of the people were reduced to living on charity that almshouses sprang up all over the town. god's houses ('godshuisen') they called them, and call them still. they are to be found in all directions--quaint little places, planted down here and there, each with a small chapel of its own, with moss-grown roofs and dingy walls, and doors that open on to the uneven cobbles. every stone of them spells pauperism. the church does much towards maintaining these shelters for the poor--perhaps too much, if it is true that there are , paupers in bruges out of a population of about , . there is a great deal of begging in the streets, and a sad lack of sturdy self-respect amongst the lower class, which many think is caused by the system of doles, for which the church is chiefly responsible. bruges might not have been so picturesque to-day if her commerce had survived; but the beauty of a town is dearly purchased at the cost of such degradation and loss of personal independence. [illustration: bruges view of the palais du franc.] it was not only the working class which suffered. many rich families sank into poverty, and their homes, some of which were more like palaces than private houses, had to be dismantled. the fate of one of these lordly mansions is connected with an episode which carries us back into the social life of bruges in the middle of the seventeenth century. on the right side of the rue haute, as one goes from the place du bourg, there is a high block containing two large houses, nos. and , of that street. it is now a big, plain building without a trace of architectural distinction; but in the seventeenth century it was a single mansion, built about the year , and was one of the many houses with towers which gave the bruges of that time almost the appearance of an oriental city. it was called the house of the seven towers, from the seven pinnacles which surmounted it; and at the back there was a large garden, which extended to the canal and quai des marbriers. in april, , the 'tall man above two yards high, with dark brown hair, scarcely to be distinguished from black,' for whom the roundheads had searched all england after the battle of worcester, found his way to bruges, with his brother henry, duke of gloucester, and the train of royalists who formed their court. for nearly three years after worcester, charles ii. had lived in france; but in july, , the alliance between cromwell and mazarin drove him to germany, where he remained till don john of austria became governor of the spanish netherlands. thereupon the prospect of recovering the english throne by the assistance of spain led him to remove his court, which had been established for some time at cologne, to flanders. he arrived at bruges on april , . his brother james, duke of york, and afterwards king of england, held a commission in the french army, and mazarin offered him a command in italy. charles, however, requested him to leave the french army, and enter the service of spain. at first james refused; but by the mediation of their sister, the princess of orange, he was persuaded to do as his brother wished, and join the court at bruges. the irish viscount tarah received charles, when he first arrived, in his house in the rue du vieux bourg, and there gave him, we read in local history, 'une brillante hospitalité.' but in the beginning of june the court took up its quarters in the house of the seven towers. during his sojourn in flanders, charles was carefully watched by the secret service officers of the commonwealth government, who sent home reports of all he did. these reports, many of which are in the thurloe state papers and other collections, contain some curious details about the exiled court. there never was a more interesting 'english colony' at bruges than at that time. hyde, who received the great seal at bruges, was there with ormonde and the earls of bristol, norwich, and rochester. sir edward nicholas was secretary of state; and we read of colonel sydenham, sir robert murray, and 'mr. cairless', who sat on the tree with charles stewart after worcester fight. another of the exiles at bruges was sir james turner, the soldier of fortune, who served under gustavus adolphus, persecuted the covenanters in scotland, and is usually supposed to have been the original of dugald dalgetty in sir walter scott's _legend of montrose_. a list of the royal household is still preserved at bruges. it was prepared in order that the town council might fix the daily allowance of wine and beer which was to be given to the court, and contains the names of about sixty persons, with a note of the supply granted to each family. a 'letter of intelligence' (the report of a spy), dated from bruges on september , , mentions that lilly, the astrologer of london, had written to say that the king would be restored to the throne next year, and that all the english at bruges were delighted. but in the meantime they were very hard up for ready money. ever since leaving england charles and his followers had suffered from the most direful impecuniosity. we find hyde declaring that he has 'neither shoes nor shirt.' the king himself was constantly running into debt for his meals, and his friends spent many a hungry day at bruges. if by good luck they chanced to be in funds, one meal a day sufficed for a party of half a dozen courtiers. if it was cold they could not afford to purchase firewood. the earl of norwich writes, saying that he has to move about so as to get lodgings on credit, and avoid people to whom he owes money. colonel borthwick, who claims to have served the king most faithfully, complains that he is in prison at bruges on suspicion of disloyalty, has not changed his clothes for three years, and is compelled by lack of cash to go without a fire in winter. sir james hamilton, a gentleman-in-waiting, gets drunk one day, and threatens to kill the lord chancellor. he is starving, and declares it is hyde's fault that the king gives him no money. he will put on a clean shirt to be hanged in, and not run away, being without so much as a penny. then we have the petition of a poor fencing-master. 'heaven,' he writes piteously, 'hears the groans of the lowest creatures, and therefore i trust that you, being a terrestrial deity, will not disdain my supplication.' he had come from cologne to bruges to teach the royal household, and wanted his wages, for he and his family were starving. [illustration: bruges maison du pélican (almshouse).] don john of austria visited charles at bruges, and an allowance from the king of spain was promised, so that men might be levied for the operations against cromwell; but the payments were few and irregular. 'the english court,' says a letter of february, , 'remains still at bridges [bruges], never in greater want, nor greater expectations of money, without which all their levies are like to be at a stand; for englishmen cannot live on bread alone.' a 'letter of intelligence' sent from sluis says that charles is 'much loocked upon, but littell respeckted.' and this is not wonderful if the reports sent home by the commonwealth agents are to be trusted. one of the spies who haunted the neighbourhood of bruges was a mr. butler, who writes in the winter of - : 'this last week one of the richest churches in bruges was plundered in the night. the people of bruges are fully persuaded that charles stewart's followers have done it. they spare no pains to find out the guilty, and if it happen to light upon any of charles stewart's train, it will mightily incense that people against them.... there is now a company of french comedians at bruges, who are very punctually attended by charles stewart and his court, and all the ladies there. their most solemn day of acting is the lord's day. i think i may truly say that greater abominations were never practised among people than at this day at charles stewart's court. fornication, drunkenness, and adultery are esteemed no sins amongst them; so i persuade myself god will never prosper any of their attempts.'[ ] in another letter we read that once, after a hunting expedition, charles and a gentleman of the bedchamber were the only two who came back sober. sir james turner was mad when drunk, 'and that was pretty often,' says bishop burnet. but, of course, it was the business of the spies to blacken the character of charles; and there can be little doubt that, in spite of his poverty and loose morals, he was well liked by the citizens of bruges, who, notwithstanding a great deal of outward decorum, have at no time been very strait-laced. 'charles,' we learn from a local history, 'sut se rendre populaire en prenant part aux amusements de la population et en se pliant, sans effort comme sans affectation, aux usages du pays.' during his whole period of exile he contrived to amuse himself. affairs of gallantry, dancing, tennis, billiards, and other frivolous pursuits, occupied as much of his attention as the grave affairs of state over which hyde and ormonde spent so many anxious hours. when on a visit to brussels in the spring of , he employed, we are told, most of his time with don john dancing, or at 'long paume, a spanish play with balls filled with wire.' and, again: 'he passes his time with shooting at bruges, and such other obscure pastimes.' this 'shooting' was the favourite flemish sport of shooting with bow and arrows at an artificial bird fixed on a high pole, the prize being, on great occasions, a golden bird, which was hung by a chain of gold round the winner's neck. in the records of the guilds of st. george and st. sebastian at bruges there are notices relating to charles. the former was a society of cross-bowmen, the latter of archers. on june , , charles and the duke of gloucester were at the festival of the society of st. george. charles was the first to try his skill, and managed to hit the mark. after the duke and many others had shot, peter pruyssenaere, a wine merchant in the rue du vieux bourg, brought down the bird, and charles hung the golden 'bird of honour' round his neck. on june charles visited the society of st. sebastian, when michael noé, a gardener, was the winner. the king and gloucester both became members of the st. sebastian, which is still a flourishing society. going along the rue des carmes, the traveller passes the english convent on the left, and on the right, at the end of the street, comes to the guildhouse of st. sebastian, with its slender tower and quiet garden, one of the pleasantest spots in bruges. there the names of charles and his brother are to be seen inscribed in a small volume bound in red morocco, the 'bird of honour' with its chain of gold, a silver arrow presented by the duke of gloucester, and some other interesting relics. on september , , queen victoria, prince albert, king leopold i., and the queen of the belgians, went to the rue des carmes and signed their names as members of this society, which now possesses two silver cups, presented by the queen of england in and . the duke of york seems to have been successful as an archer, for in the hôtel de ville at bruges there is a picture by john van meuninxhove, in which charles is seen hanging the 'bird of honour' round his brother's neck. in april, , the english government was informed that the court of charles was preparing to leave bruges. 'yesterday' (april ) 'some of his servants went before to brussels to make ready lodgings for charles stewart, the duke of york, and the duke of gloucester. all that have or can compass so much money go along with charles stewart on monday morning. i do admire how people live here for want of money. our number is not increased since my last. the most of them are begging again for want of money; and when any straggling persons come, we have not so much money as will take a single man to the quarters; yet we promise ourselves great matters.' they were hampered in all their movements by this want of hard cash, for charles was in debt at bruges, and could not remove his goods until he paid his creditors. it was sadly humiliating. 'the king,' we read, 'will hardly live at bruges any more, but he cannot remove his family and goods till we get money.' the dilemma seems to have been settled by charles, his brothers, and most of the court going off to brussels, leaving their possessions behind them. the final move did not take place till february, , and clarendon says that charles never lived at bruges after that date. he may, however, have returned on a short visit, for jesse, in his _memoirs of the court of england under the stuarts_, states that the king was playing tennis at bruges when sir stephen fox came to him with the great news, 'the devil is dead!' this would be in september, , cromwell having died on the third of that month. after the restoration charles sent to the citizens of bruges a letter of thanks for the way in which they had received him. nor did he forget, amidst the pleasures of the court at whitehall, the simple pastimes of the honest burghers, but presented to the archers of the society of st. sebastian the sum of , florins, which were expended on their hall of meeting. more than a hundred years later, when the stuart dynasty was a thing of the past and george iii. was seated on the throne of england, the rue haute saw the arrival of some travellers who were very different from the roystering cavaliers and frail beauties who had made it gay in the days of the merry monarch. the english jesuits of st. omer, when expelled from their college, came to bruges in august, , and took up their abode in the house of the seven towers, where they found 'nothing but naked walls and empty chambers.' a miserable place it must have been. 'in one room a rough table of planks had been set up, and the famished travellers were rejoiced at the sight of three roast legs of mutton set on the primitive table. knives, forks, and plates there were none. a flemish servant divided the food with his pocket-knife. a farthing candle gave a rembrandt-like effect to the scene. the boys slept that night on mattresses laid on the floor of one of the big empty rooms of the house. the first days at bruges were cheerless enough.'[ ] the religious houses, however, came to the rescue. flemish monks and the nuns of the english convent helped the pilgrims, and the jesuits soon established themselves at bruges, where they remained in peace for a few years, till the austrian government drove them out. the same fate overtook the inmates of many monasteries and convents at bruges in the reign of joseph ii., whose reforming zeal led to that revolt of the austrian netherlands which was the prelude to the invasion of flanders by the army of the french revolution. after the conquest of belgium by the french it looked as if all the churches in bruges were doomed. the chapel of st. basil was laid in ruins. the church of st. donatian, which had stood since the days of baldwin bras-de-fer, was pulled down and disappeared entirely. notre dame, st. sauveur, and other places of worship, narrowly escaped destruction; and it was not till the middle of the nineteenth century that the town recovered, in some measure, from these disasters. bruges has doubtless shared in the general prosperity which has spread over the country since belgium became an independent kingdom after the revolution of , but its progress has been slow. it has never lost its old-world associations; and the names of the streets and squares, and the traditions connected with numberless houses which a stranger might pass without notice, are all so many links with the past. there is the rue espagnole, for example, where a vegetable market is held every wednesday. this was the quarter where the spanish merchants lived and did their business. there used to be a tall, dark, and, in fact, very dirty-looking old house in this street known by the spanish name of the 'casa negra.' it was pulled down a few years ago; but lower down, at the foot of the street, the great cellars in which the spaniards stored their goods remain; and on the quai espagnol was the spanish consulate, now a large dwelling-house. a few steps from the quai espagnol is the place des orientaux (oosterlingen plaats), where a minaret of tawny brick rises above the gables of what was once the consulate of smyrna, and on the north side of which, in the brave days of old, stood the splendid maison des orientaux, the headquarters of the hanseatic league in bruges, the finest house in flanders, with turrets and soaring spire, and marvellous façade, and rooms inside all ablaze with gilding. the glory has departed; two modern dwelling-houses have taken the place of this commercial palace; but it must surely be a very dull imagination on which the sight of this spot, now so tranquil and commonplace, but once the centre of such important transactions, makes no impression. from the place des orientaux it is only a few minutes stroll to the rue cour de gand and the dark brown wooden front of the small house, now a lace shop, which tradition says was one of memlinc's homes in bruges, where we can fancy him, laboriously and with loving care, putting the last minute touches to some immortal painting. then there is the rue anglaise, off the quai spinola, where the english merchant adventurers met to discuss their affairs in houses with such names as 'old england' or 'the tower of london.' the head of the colony, 'governor of the english nation beyond the seas' they called him, was a very busy man years ago.[ ] the scottish merchants were settled in the same district, close to the church of ste. walburge. they called their house 'scotland,' and doubtless made as good bargains as the 'auld enemy' in the next street. there is a building called the parijssche halle, or halle de paris, hidden away among the houses to the west of the market-place, with a cafe and a theatre where flemish plays are acted now, which was formerly the consulate of france; and subscription balls and amateur theatricals are given by the english residents of to-day in the fourteenth-century house of the genoese merchants in the rue flamande. the list of streets and houses with old-time associations like these might be extended indefinitely, for in bruges the past is ever present. [illustration: bruges vegetable market.] even the flat-fronted, plain houses with which poverty or the bad taste of the last century replaced many of the older buildings do not spoil the picturesque appearance of the town as a whole, because it is no larger now than it was years ago, and these modern structures are quite lost amongst their venerable neighbours. thus bruges retains its mediæval character. in the midst, however, of all this wealth of architectural beauty and historical interest, the atmosphere of common everyday life seems to be so very dull and depressing that people living there are apt to be driven, by sheer boredom, into spending their lives in a round of small excitements and incessant, wearisome gossip, and into taking far more interest in the paltry squabbles of their neighbours over some storm in a teacup than in the more important topics which invigorate the minds of men and women in healthier and broader societies. long before rodenbach's romance was written this peculiarity of bruges was proverbial throughout belgium. but it is possible that a change is at hand, and that bruges may once again become, not the venice of the north--the time for that is past--but an important town, for the spirit of commercial enterprise which has done so much for other parts of belgium during the last seventy-five years is now invading even this quiet place, whose citizens have begun to dream of recovering some portion of their former prosperity. in the belgian parliament passed a law providing for the construction, between blankenberghe and heyst, of a harbour connected with bruges by a canal of large dimensions, and of an inner port at the town. the works at see-brugge, as the outer port is called, are nearly completed, and will allow vessels drawing - / feet of water to float at any state of the tide. the jetty describes a large curve, and the bend is such that its extremity is parallel to the coast, and yards distant from the low-water mark. the sheltered roadstead is about acres in extent, and communication is made with the canal by a lock feet wide and yards in length. from this point the canal, which has a depth of - / feet and is fed by seawater, runs in a straight line to bruges, and ends at the inner port, which is within a few hundred yards of where the roya used to meet the zwijn. it is capable of affording a minimum capacity of , , tons per annum, and the whole equipment has been fitted up necessary for dealing with this amount of traffic. the first ship, an english steamer, entered the new port at bruges on the morning of may in the present year ( ). the carillon rung from the belfry, guns were fired, and a ceremony in honour of the event took place in the hôtel de ville. it now remains to be seen whether any part of the trade which was lost years ago can be recovered by the skill of modern engineers and the resources of modern capital. footnotes. [footnote : letter from mr. j. butler, flushing, december , , thurloe state papers, v., .] [footnote : robinson, _bruges, an historical sketch_, p. .] [footnote : in the _flandria illustrata_ of sanderus, vol. i., p. , there is a picture of the 'domus anglorum.'] chapter vii the plain of west flanders--ypres to the west of bruges the wide plain of flanders extends to the french frontier. church spires and windmills are the most prominent objects in the landscape; but though the flatness of the scenery is monotonous, there is something pleasing to the eye in the endless succession of well-cultivated fields, interrupted at intervals by patches of rough bushland, canals, or slow-moving streams winding between rows of pollards, country houses embowered in woods and pleasure-grounds, cottages with fruitful gardens, orchards, small villages, and compact little towns, in most of which the diligent antiquary will find something of interest--a modest belfry, perhaps, with a romance of its own; a parish church, whose foundations were laid long ago in ground dedicated, in the distant past, to the worship of thor or woden; or the remains, it may be, of a medieval castle, from which some worthy knight, whose name is forgotten except in local traditions, rode away to the crusades. this part of west flanders, which lies wedged in between the coast, with its populous bathing stations, and the better-known district immediately to the south of it, where ghent, tournai, courtrai, and other important centres draw many travellers every year, is seldom visited by strangers, who are almost as much stared at in some of the villages as they would be in the streets of pekin. it is, however, very accessible. the roads are certainly far from good, and anything in the shape of a walking tour is out of the question, for the strongest pedestrian would have all his pleasure spoilt by the hard-going of the long, straight causeway. the ideal way to see the netherlands and study the life of the people is to travel on the canals; but these are not so numerous here as in other parts of the country, and, besides, it is not very easy to arrange for a passage on the barges. but, in addition to the main lines of the state railway, there are the 'chemins-de-fer vicinaux,' or light district railways, which run through all parts of belgium. the fares on these are very low, and there are so many stoppages that the traveller can see a great many places in the course of a single day. there are cycle tracks, too, alongside most of the roads, the cost of keeping them in order being paid out of the yearly tax paid by the owners of bicycles.[ ] [illustration: the flemish plain] this is the most purely flemish part of flanders. one very seldom notices that spanish type of face which is so common elsewhere--at antwerp, for instance. here the race is almost unmixed, and the peasants speak nothing but flemish to each other. many of them do not understand a word of french, though in belgium french is, as everyone knows, the language of public life and of literature. the newspapers published in flemish are small, and do not contain much beyond local news. the result is that the country people in west flanders know very little of what is going on in the world beyond their own parishes. the standard of education is low, being to a great extent in the hands of the clergy, who have hitherto succeeded in defeating all proposals for making it universal and compulsory. but, steeped as most of them are in ignorance and superstition, the agricultural labourers of west flanders are, to all appearance, quite contented with their lot. living is cheap, and their wants are few. coffee, black bread, potatoes, and salted pork, are the chief articles of diet, and in some households even the pork is a treat for special occasions. they seldom taste butter, using lard instead; and the 'margarine' which is sold in the towns does not find its way into the cottages of the outlying country districts. sugar has for many years been much dearer than in england, and the price is steadily rising, but with this exception the food of the people is cheap. tea enters belgium duty free, but the peasants never use it. many villagers smoke coarse tobacco grown in their own gardens, and a -centimes cigar is the height of luxury. tobacco being a state monopoly in france, the high price in that country makes smuggling common, and there is a good deal of contraband trading carried on in a quiet way on the frontiers of west flanders. the average wage paid for field labour is from franc centimes to francs a day for married men--that is to say, from about s. d. to s. d. of english money. bachelors generally receive franc ( d.) a day and their food. the working hours are long, often from five in the morning till eight in the evening in summer, and in winter from sunrise till sunset, with one break at twelve o'clock for dinner, consisting of bread with pork and black coffee, and another about four in the afternoon, when what remains of the mid-day meal is consumed. [illustration: a flemish country girl] the flemish farmhouse is generally a substantial building, with two large living-rooms, in which valuable old pieces of furniture are still occasionally to be found, though the curiosity dealers have, during the last quarter of a century, carried most of them away, polished them up, and sold them at a high profit. carved chests, bearing the arms of ancient families, have been discovered lying full of rubbish in barns or stables, and handsome cabinets, with fine mouldings and brass fittings, have frequently been picked up for a few francs. the heavy beams of the ceilings, black with age, the long flemish stoves, and the quaint window-seats deeply sunk in the thick walls, still remain, and make the interiors of many of these houses very picturesque; but the 'finds' of old furniture, curious brass or pewter dishes, and even stray bits of valuable tapestry, which used to rouse the cupidity of strangers, are now very rare. almost all the brass work which is so eagerly bought by credulous tourists at bruges in summer is bran-new stuff cleverly manufactured for sale--and sold it is at five or six times its real market value! there are no bargains to be picked up on the dyver or in the shops of bruges. [illustration: duinhoek interior of a farmhouse.] the country life is simple. a good deal of hard drinking goes on in most villages. more beer, probably, is consumed in belgium per head of the population than in any other european country, germany not excepted, and the system of swallowing 'little glasses' of fiery spirit on the top of beer brings forth its natural fruits. the drunken ways of the people are encouraged by the excessive number of public-houses. practically anyone who can pay the government fee and obtain a barrel of beer and a few tumblers may open a drinking-shop. it is not uncommon in a small country village with about inhabitants to see the words 'herberg' or 'estaminet' over the doors of a dozen houses, in which beer is sold at a penny (or less) for a large glass, and where various throat-burning liquors of the _petit verre_ species can be had at the same price; and the result is that very often a great portion of the scanty wage paid on saturday evening is melted into beer or gin on sunday and monday. as a rule, the flemish labourer, being a merry, light-hearted soul, is merely noisy and jovial in a brutal sort of way in his cups; but let a quarrel arise, out come the knives, and before the rural policeman saunters along there are nasty rows, ending in wounds and sometimes in murder. when the lots are drawn for military service, and crowds of country lads with their friends flock into the towns, the public-houses do good business. those who have drawn lucky numbers, and so escaped the conscription, get drunk out of joy; while those who find they must serve in the army drown their sorrow, or celebrate the occasion if they are of a martial turn, by reeling about the streets arm in arm with their companions, shouting and singing. whole families, old and young alike, often join in these performances, and they must be very drunk and very disorderly before the police think of making even the mildest remonstrance. the gay character of the flemings is best seen at the 'kermesse,' or fair, which is held in almost every village during summer. at bruges, ypres, and furnes, and still more in such large cities as brussels or antwerp, the kermesse has ceased to be typical of the country, and is supplanted by fairs such as may be seen in england or in almost any other country. 'merry-go-rounds' driven by steam, elaborate circuses, menageries, waxwork exhibitions, movable theatres, and modern 'shows' of every kind travel about, and settle for a few days, perhaps even for a few weeks, in various towns. the countryfolk of the surrounding district are delighted, and the showmen reap a goodly harvest of francs and centimes; but these fairs are tiresome and commonplace, much less amusing and lively than, for example, st. giles's fair at oxford, though very nearly as noisy. but the kermesse proper, which still survives in some places, shows the flemings amusing themselves in something more like the old fashion than anything which can be seen in the market-place of bruges or on the boulevards of brussels or antwerp. indeed, some of the village scenes, when the young people are dancing or shooting with bows and arrows at the mark, while the elders sit, with their mugs of beer and long pipes, watching and gossiping, are very like what took place in the times of the old painters who were so fond of producing pictures of the kermesses. the dress of the people, of course, is different, but the spirit of the scene, with its homely festivities, is wonderfully little changed. about twenty miles from the french frontier is the town of ypres, once the capital of flanders, and which in the time of louis of nevers was one of the three 'bonnes villes,' bruges and ghent being the others, which appointed deputies to defend the rights and privileges of the whole flemish people. as bruges grew out of the rude fortress on the banks of the roya, so ypres developed from a stronghold built, probably about the year , on a small island in the river yperlee. it was triangular in shape, with a tower at each corner, and was at first known by the inhabitants of the surrounding plain as the 'castle of the three towers.' in course of time houses began to appear on the banks of the river near the island. a rampart of earth with a ditch defended these, and as the place grew, the outworks became more extensive. owing to its strategic position, near france and in a part of flanders which was constantly the scene of war, it was of great importance; and probably no other flemish town has seen its defences so frequently altered and enlarged as ypres has between the primitive days when the crusading thierry d'alsace planted hedges of live thorns to strengthen the towers, and the reign of louis xiv., when a vast and elaborate system of fortifications was constructed on scientific principles, under the direction of vauban. the citizens of ypres took a prominent part in most of the great events which distinguished the heroic period of flemish history. in july, , a contingent of , chosen men, ' of them clothed in scarlet and the rest in black,' were set to watch the town and castle of courtrai during the battle of the golden spurs, and in the following year the victory was celebrated by the institution of the confraternity of the archers of st. sebastian, which still exists at ypres, the last survivor of the armed societies which flourished there during the middle ages. seven hundred burghers of ypres marched to sluis, embarked in the flemish boats which harassed the french fleet during the naval fight of june, , and at the close of the campaign formed themselves into the confraternity of st. michael, which lasted till the french invasion of . forty years later we find no fewer than , of the men of ypres, who had now changed their politics, on the french side at the battle of roosebeke, fighting in the thick mist upon the plain between ypres and roulers on that fatal day which saw the death of philip van artevelde and the triumph of the leliarts. [illustration: adinkerque at the kermesse.] next year, so unceasingly did the tide of war flow over the plain of flanders, an english army, commanded by henry spencer, bishop of norwich, landed at calais under the pretext of supporting the partisans of pope urban vi., who then occupied the holy see, against the adherents of pope clement vii., who had established himself at avignon. the burghers of ghent flocked to the english standard, and the allies laid siege to ypres, which was defended by the french and the leliarts, who followed louis of maele, count of flanders, and maintained the cause of clement. at that time the gateways were the only part of the fortifications made of stone. the ramparts were of earth, planted on the exterior slope with a thick mass of thorn-bushes, interlaced and strengthened by posts. outside there were more defences of wooden stockades, and beyond them two ditches, divided by a dyke, on which was a palisade of pointed stakes. the town, thus fortified, was defended by about , men, and on june , , the siege was begun by a force consisting of , english and , flemings of the national party, most of whom came from bruges and ghent. the english had been told that the town would not offer a strong resistance, and on the first day of the siege , of them tried to carry it at once by assault. they were repulsed; and after that assaults by the besiegers and sorties by the garrison continued day after day, the loss of life on both sides being very great. at last the besiegers, finding that they could not, in the face of the shower of arrows, javelins, and stones which met them, break through the palisades and the sharp thorn fences (those predecessors of the barbed-wire entanglements of to-day), force the gates, or carry the ramparts, built three wooden towers mounted on wheels, and pushed them full of soldiers up to the gates. but the garrison made a sortie, seized the towers, destroyed them, and killed or captured the soldiers who manned them. spencer on several occasions demanded the surrender of the town, but all his proposals were rejected. the english pressed closer and closer, but were repulsed with heavy losses whenever they delivered an assault. the hopes of the garrison rose high on august , the sixty-first day of the siege, when news arrived that a french army, , strong, accompanied by the forces of the count of flanders, was marching to the relief of ypres. early next morning the english made a fresh attempt to force their way into the town, but they were once more driven back. a little later in the day they twice advanced with the utmost bravery. again they were beaten back. so were the burghers of ghent, whom the english reproached for having deceived them by saying that ypres would fall in three days, and whose answer to this accusation was a furious attack on one of the gates, in which many of them fell. in the afternoon the english again advanced, and succeeded in forcing their way through part of the formidable thorn hedge; but it was of no avail, and once more they had to retire, leaving heaps of dead behind them. after a rest of some hours, another attack was made on seven different parts of the town at the same time. this assault was the most furious and bloody of the siege, but it was the last. spencer saw that, in spite of the splendid courage of his soldiers and of the flemish burghers, it would be impossible to take the town before the french army arrived, and during the night the english, with their allies from ghent and bruges, retired from before ypres. the failure of this campaign left flanders at the mercy of france; but the death of count louis of maele, which took place in january, , brought in the house of burgundy, under whose rule the flemings enjoyed a long period of prosperity and almost complete independence. it was believed in ypres that the town had been saved by the intercession of the virgin mary, its patron saint. in the cathedral church of st. martin the citizens set up an image of notre dame-de-thuine, that is, our lady of the enclosures, an allusion to the strong barrier of thorns which had kept the enemy at bay; and a kermesse, appointed to be held on the first sunday of august every year in commemoration of the siege, received the name of the 'thuindag,' or day of the enclosures.[ ] the people of ypres, though they fought on the french side, had good reason to be proud of the way in which they defended their homes; but the consequences of the siege were disastrous, for the commerce of the town never recovered the loss of the large working-class population which left it at that time. [illustration: a farmsteading] the religious troubles of the sixteenth century left their mark on ypres as well as on the rest of flanders. everyone has read the glowing sentences in which the historian of the dutch republic describes the cathedral of antwerp, and tells how it was wrecked by the reformers during the image-breaking in the summer of . what happened on the banks of the scheldt appeals most to the imagination; but all over flanders the statues and the shrines, the pictures and the stores of ecclesiastical wealth, with which piety, or superstition, or penitence had enriched so many churches and religious houses, became the objects of popular fury. there had been field-preaching near ypres as early as .[ ] other parts of west flanders had been visited by the apostles of the new learning, and on august , , the reformers swept down upon ypres and sacked the churches. in the awful tragedy which soon followed, when parma came upon the scene, that 'spectacle of human energy, human suffering, and human strength to suffer, such as has not often been displayed upon the stage of the world's events', the town had its share of the persecutions and exactions which followed the march of the spanish soldiery; but for more than ten years a majority of the burghers adhered to the cause of philip. in july, , however, ypres fell into the hands of the protestants, and became their headquarters in west flanders. five years later alexander of parma besieged it. the siege lasted until april of the following year, when the protestants, worn out by famine, capitulated, and the town was occupied by the spaniards, who 'resorted to instant measures for cleansing a place which had been so long in the hands of the infidels, and, as the first step towards this purification, the bodies of many heretics who had been buried for years were taken from their graves and publicly hanged in their coffins. all living adherents to the reformed religion were instantly expelled from the place.'[ ] by this time the population was reduced to , souls, and the fortifications were a heap of ruins. a grim memorial of those troublous times is still preserved at ypres. the place du musée is a quiet corner of the town, where a gothic house with double gables contains a collection of old paintings, medals, instruments of torture, and some other curiosities. it was the bishop of ypres who, at midnight on june , , announced to count egmont, in his prison at brussels, that his hour had come; and the cross-hilted sword, with its long straight blade, which hangs on the wall of the museum is the sword with which the executioner 'severed his head from his shoulders at a single blow' on the following morning. the same weapon, a few minutes later, was used for the despatch of egmont's friend, count horn. [illustration: ypres place du musée (showing top part of the belfry).] before the end of that dismal sixteenth century flanders regained some of the liberties for which so much blood had been shed; but while the protestant dutch republic rose in the north, the 'catholic' or 'spanish' netherlands in the south remained in the possession of spain until the marriage of philip's daughter isabella to the archduke albert, when these provinces were given as a marriage portion to the bride. this was in . though happier times followed under the moderate rule of albert and isabella, war continued to be the incessant scourge of flanders, and during the marching and countermarching of armies across this battlefield of europe, ypres scarcely ever knew what peace meant. four times besieged and four times taken by the french in the wars of louis xiv., the town had no rest; and for miles all round it the fields were scarred by the new system of attacking strong places which vauban had introduced into the art of war. louis, accompanied by schomberg and luxembourg, was himself present at the siege of ; and ypres, having been ceded to france by the treaty of nimeguen in that year, was afterwards strengthened by fortifications constructed from plans furnished by the great french engineer.[ ] in the year vauban speaks of ypres as a place 'formerly great, populous, and busy, but much reduced by the frequent sedition and revolts of its inhabitants, and by the great wars which it has endured.' and in this condition it has remained ever since. though the period which followed the treaty of rastadt in , when flanders passed into the possession of the emperor charles vi., and became a part of the 'austrian netherlands,' was a period of considerable improvement, ypres never recovered its position, not even during the peaceful reign of the empress maria theresa. the revolution against joseph ii. disturbed everything, and in june, , the town yielded, after a short siege, to the army of the french republic. the name of flanders disappeared from the map of europe. the whole of belgium was divided, like france, with which it was now incorporated, into _départements_, ypres being in the department of the lys. for twenty years, during the wars of the republic, the consulate, and the empire, though the conscription was a constant drain upon the youth of flanders, who went away to leave their bones on foreign soil, nothing happened to disturb the quiet of the town, and the fortifications were falling into decay when the return of napoleon from elba set europe in a blaze. during the hundred days guns and war material were hurried over from england, the old defences were restored, and new works constructed by the english engineers; but the battle of waterloo rendered these preparations unnecessary, and the military history of ypres came to an end when the short-lived kingdom of the netherlands was established by the congress of vienna, though it was nominally a place of arms till , when the fortifications were destroyed. nowadays everything is very quiet and unwarlike. the bastions and lunettes, the casemates and moats, which spread in every direction round the town, have almost entirely disappeared, and those parts of the fortifications which remain have been turned into ornamental walks.[ ] but while so little remains of the works which were constructed, at such a cost and with so much labour, for the purposes of war, the arts of peace, which once flourished at ypres, have left a more enduring monument. there is nothing in bruges or any other flemish town which can compare for massive grandeur with the pile of buildings at the west end of the grand' place of ypres. during two centuries the merchants of flanders, whose towns were the chief centres of western commerce and civilization, grew to be the richest in europe, and a great portion of the wealth which industry and public spirit had accumulated was spent in erecting those noble civic and commercial buildings which are still the glory of flanders. the foundation-stone of the halle des drapiers, or cloth hall, of ypres was laid by baldwin of constantinople, then count of flanders, at the beginning of the thirteenth century, but more than years had passed away before it was completed. though the name of the architect who began it is unknown, the unity of design which characterizes the work makes it probable that the original plans were adhered to till the whole was finished. nothing could be simpler than the general idea; but the effect is very fine. the ground-floor of the façade, about yards long, is pierced by a number of rectangular doors, over which are two rows of pointed windows, each exactly above the other, and all of the same style. in the upper row every second window is filled up, and contains the statue of some historical character. at each end there is a turret; and the belfry, a square with towers at the corners, rises from the centre of the building. various additions have been made from time to time to the original halle des drapiers since it was finished in the year , and of these the 'nieuwerck' is the most interesting. the east end of the halle was for a long time hidden by a number of wooden erections, which, having been put up for various purposes after the main building was finished, were known as the 'nieuwe wercken,' or new works. they were pulled down in the beginning of the seventeenth century, and replaced by the stone edifice, in the style of the spanish renaissance, which now goes by the name of the nieuwerck, with its ten shapely arches supported by slender pillars, above whose sculptured capitals rise tiers of narrow windows and the steeply-pitched roof with gables of curiously carved stone. ypres had ceased to be a great commercial city long before the nieuwerck was built; but the cloth hall was a busy place during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, when ypres shared with bruges the responsibility of managing the flemish branch of the hanseatic league. the extensive system of monopolies which the league maintained was, as a matter of course, the cause of much jealousy and bad feeling. in flanders, ghent, bruges, and ypres defended their own privileges against other towns, and quarrelled amongst themselves. the merchants of ypres had a monopoly which forbade all weaving for three leagues round the town, under a penalty of fifty livres and confiscation of the looms and linen woven; but the weavers in the neighbouring communes infringed this monopoly, and sold imitations of ypres linen cloth on all hands. there was constant trouble between the people of ypres and their neighbours at poperinghe. sometimes the weavers of ypres, to enforce their exclusive privileges, marched in arms against poperinghe, and sometimes the men of poperinghe retaliated by attacking their powerful rivals. houses were burnt, looms were broken up, and lives were lost in these struggles, which were so frequent that for a long time something like a chronic state of war existed between the two places. [illustration: ypres arcade under the nieuwerck.] besides the troubles caused by the jealousy of other towns, intestine disputes arising out of the perpetual contest between labour and capital went on from year to year within the walls of ypres. there, as in the other flemish towns, a sharp line was drawn between the working man, by whose hands the linen was actually woven, and the merchants, members of the guilds, by whom it was sold. in these towns, which maintained armies and made treaties of peace, and whose friendship was sought by princes and statesmen, the artisans, whose industry contributed so much to the importance of the community, resented any infringement of their legal rights. by law the magistrates of ypres were elected annually, and because this had not been done in the people rose in revolt against the authorities. the mob invaded the hôtel de ville, where the magistrates were assembled. the baillie, jean deprysenaere, trusting to his influence as the local representative of the count of flanders, left the council chamber, and tried to appease the rioters. he was set upon and killed. then the crowd rushed into the council chamber, seized the other magistrates, and locked them up in the belfry, where they remained prisoners for some days. the leaders of the revolt met, and resolved to kill their prisoners, and this sentence was executed on the burgomaster and two of the sheriffs, who were beheaded in front of the halle in the presence of their colleagues.[ ] it was by such stern deeds that the fierce democracy of the flemish communes preserved their rights. each town, however, stood for itself alone. the idea of government by the populace on the market-place was common to them all, but they were kept apart by the exclusive spirit of commercial jealousy. the thirst for material prosperity consumed them; but they had no bond of union, and each was ready to advance its own interests at the expense of its rivals. therefore, either in the face of foreign invasion, or when the policy of some count led to revolt and civil war, it was seldom that the people of flanders were united. 'l'union fait la force' is the motto of modern belgium, but in the middle ages there was no powerful central authority round which the communes rallied. hence the spectacle of ghent helping an english army to storm the ramparts of ypres, or of the guildsmen of bruges girding on their swords to strike a blow for count louis of maele against the white hoods who marched from ghent. hence the permanent unrest of these flemish towns, the bickerings and the sheddings of blood, the jealousy of trade pitted against trade or of harbour against harbour, the insolence in the hour of triumph and the abject submission in the hour of defeat, and all the evils which discord brought upon the country. no town suffered more than ypres from the distracted state of flanders, which, combined with the ravages of war and the religious dissensions of the sixteenth century, reduced it from the first rank amongst the cities of the netherlands to something very like the condition of a quiet country town in an out-of-the-way corner of england. that is what the ypres of to-day is like--a sleepy country town, with clean, well-kept streets, dull and uninteresting save for the stately cloth hall, which stands there a silent memorial of the past. footnotes. [footnote : bicycles entering belgium pay an _ad valorem_ duty of per cent.] [footnote : thuin,' or 'tuin,' in flemish means an enclosed space, such as a garden plot.] [footnote : motley, _rise of the dutch republic_, part ii., chapter vi.] [footnote : motley, _rise of the dutch republic_, part ii., chapter vi.] [footnote : letter from vauban to louvois on the fortifications of ypres, ; vereecke, pp. - .] [footnote : the evolution of ypres from a feudal tower on an island until it became a great fortress can be traced in a very interesting volume of maps and plans published by m. vereecke in , as a supplement to his _histoire militaire d'ypres_. it shows the first defensive works, those erected by vauban, the state of the fortifications between and , and what the english engineers did in .] [footnote : vereecke, p. .] chapter viii furnes--the procession of penitents the traveller wandering amongst the towns and villages in this corner of west flanders is apt to feel that he is on a kind of sentimental journey as he moves from place to place, and finds himself everywhere surrounded by things which belong to the past rather than to the present. the very guidebooks are eloquent if we read between the lines. this place 'was formerly of much greater importance.' that 'was formerly celebrated for its tapestries.' from this hôtel de ville 'the numerous statuettes with which the building was once embellished have all disappeared.' the tower of that church has been left unfinished for the last years. 'fuimus' might be written on them all. and so, some twenty miles north of ypres, on a plain which in the seventeenth century was so studded with earthen redoubts and serrated by long lines of field-works and ditches that the whole countryside between ypres and dunkirk was virtually one vast entrenched camp, we come to the town of furnes, another of the places on which time has laid its heavy hand. the early history of furnes is obscure, though it is generally supposed to have grown up round a fortress erected by baldwin bras-de-fer to check the inroads of the normans. it suffered much, like its neighbours, from wars and revolutions,[ ] and is now one of the quietest of the flemish towns. the market-place is a small square, quaintly picturesque, surrounded by clusters of little brick houses with red and blue tiled roofs, low-stepped gables, and deep mouldings round the windows. behind these dwelling-places the bold flying buttresses of the church of ste. walburge, whose relics were brought to furnes by judith, wife of baldwin bras-de-fer, and the tower of st. nicholas, lift themselves on the north and east; and close together in a corner to the west are the dark gray hôtel de ville and palais de justice, in a room of which the judges of the inquisition used to sit. [illustration: furnes grande place and belfry.] though some features are common to nearly all the flemish towns--the market-place, the belfry, the hôtel de ville, the old gateways, and the churches, with their cherished paintings--yet each of them has generally some association of its own. in bruges we think of how the merchants bought and sold, how the gorgeous city rose, clothed itself in all the colours of the rainbow, glittered for a time, and sank in darkness. in the crowded streets of modern ghent, the busy capital of east flanders, we seem to catch a glimpse of bold jacques van artevelde shouldering his way up to the friday market, or of turbulent burghers gathering there to set pope, or count of flanders, or king of spain at defiance. ypres and its flat meadows suggest one of the innumerable paintings of the flemish wars, the 'battle-pieces' in which the court artists took such pride: the town walls with ditch and glacis before them, and within them the narrow-fronted houses, and the flag flying from steeple or belfry; the clumsy cannon puffing out clouds of smoke; the king of france capering on a fat horse and holding up his baton in an attitude of command in the foreground; and in the distance the tents of the camp, where the travelling theatre was set up, and the musicians fiddled, and an army of servingmen waited on the rouged and powdered ladies who had followed the army into flanders. furnes, somehow, always recalls the spanish period. the hôtel de ville, a very beautiful example of the renaissance style, with its rare hangings of cordovan leather and its portraits of the archduke albert and his bride, the infanta isabella, is scarcely changed since it was built soon after the death of philip ii. the corps de garde espagnol and the pavilion des officiers espagnols in the market-place, once the headquarters of the whiskered bravos who wrought such ills to flanders, are now used by the municipal council of the town as a museum and a public library; but the stones of this little square were often trodden by the persecutors, with their guards and satellites, in the years when peter titelmann the inquisitor stalked through the fields of flanders, torturing and burning in the name of the catholic church and by authority of the holy office. the spacious room in which the tribunal of the inquisition sat is nowadays remarkable only for its fine proportions and venerable appearance; but, though it was not erected until after the spanish fury had spent its force, and at a time when wiser methods of government had been introduced, it reminds us of the days when the maxims of torquemada were put in force amongst the flemings by priests more wicked and merciless than any who could be found in spain. and in the market-place the people must often have seen the dreadful procession by means of which the church sought to strike terror into the souls of men. those public orgies of clerical intolerance were the suitable consummation of the crimes which had been previously committed in the private conclave of the inquisitors. the burning or strangling of a heretic was not accompanied by so much pomp and circumstance in small towns like furnes as in the great centres, where multitudes, led by the highest in the land, were present to enjoy the spectacle; but the inquisition of the netherlands, under which flanders groaned for so many years, was, as philip himself once boasted, 'much more pitiless than that of spain.' [illustration: furnes peristyle of town hall and palais de justice.] the groans of the victims will never more be heard in the torture-chamber, nor will crowds assemble in the market-place to watch the cortège of the _auto-da-fé_; but every year the famous procession of penitents, which takes place on the last sunday of july, draws many strangers to furnes. it is said in bruges that the ghost of a spanish soldier, condemned to expiate eternally a foul crime done at the bidding of the holy office, walks at midnight on the quai vert, like hamlet's father on the terrace at elsinore; and superstitious people might well fancy that a spectre appears in the market-place of furnes on the summer's night when the town is preparing for the annual ceremony. the origin of the procession was this: in the year a soldier named mannaert, only twenty-two years old, being in garrison at furnes, went to confession and communion in the chapel of the capucins. after he had received the consecrated wafer, he was persuaded by one of his comrades, mathurin lejeusne, to take it out of his mouth, wrap it in a cloth, and, on returning to his lodging, fry it over a fire, under the delusion that by reducing it to powder he would make himself invulnerable. the young man was arrested, confessed his guilt, and himself asked for punishment. condemned to be strangled, he heard the sentence without a murmur, and went to his death singing the penitential psalms. soon afterwards mathurin lejeusne, the instigator of the sacrilege, was shot for some breach of military duty. this was regarded as a proof of divine justice, and the citizens resolved that something must be done to appease the wrath of god, which they feared would fall upon their town because of the outrage done, as they believed, to the body of his son. a society calling itself the 'confrèrie de la sodalité du sauveur crucifié et de la sainte mère marie, se trouvant en douleur dessous la croix, sur mont calvaire,' had been formed a few years before at furnes, and the members now decided that a procession of penitents should walk through the streets every summer and represent to the people the story of the passion. [illustration: nieuport interior of church.] though the procession at furnes is a thing of yesterday compared to the procession of the holy blood at bruges, it is far more suggestive of mediævalism. the hooded faces of the penitents, the quaint wooden figures representing biblical characters, the coarse dresses, the tawdry colours, the strangely weird arrangement of the whole business, take us back into the monkish superstitions of the dark ages, with their mystery plays. it is best seen from one of the windows of the spanish house, or from the balcony of the hôtel de ville, on a sultry day, when the sky is heavy with black clouds, and thunder growls over the plain of flanders, and hot raindrops fall now and then into the muddy streets. the first figure which appears is a veiled penitent bearing the standard of the sodality. then come, one after another, groups of persons representing various scenes in the bible story, each group preceded by a penitent carrying an inscription to explain what follows. abraham with his sword conducts isaac to the sacrifice on mount moriah. a penitent holding the serpent and the cross walks before moses. two penitents wearily drag a ear on which joseph and mary are seen seated in the stable at bethlehem. the four shepherds and the three magi follow. then comes the flight into egypt, with mary on an ass led by joseph, the infant christ in her arms. later we see the doctors of the temple walking in two rows, disputing with the young jesus in their midst. the triumphal entry into jerusalem is represented by a crowd of schoolchildren waving palm-branches and singing hosannahs round jesus mounted on an ass. the agony in the garden, peter denying his lord and weeping bitterly, jesus crowned with thorns, pilate in his judgment-hall, the saviour staggering beneath the cross, the crucifixion itself, the resurrection and the ascension, are all shown with the crude realism of the middle ages. there are penitents bearing ponderous crosses on their shoulders, or carrying in their hands the whips, the nails, the thorns, the veil of the temple rent in twain, a picture of the darkened sun, and other symbols of the passion. at the end, amidst torches and incense and solemn chanting, the host is exhibited for the adoration of the crowd. [illustration: furnes tower of st. nicholas.] much of this spectacle is grotesque, and even ludicrous; but there is also a great deal that is terribly real, for the penitents are not actors playing a part, but are all persons who have come to furnes for the purpose of doing penance. they are disguised by the dark brown robes which cover them from head to foot, so that they can see their way only through the eyeholes in the hoods which hide their faces; but as they pass silently along, bending under the heavy crosses, or holding out before them scrolls bearing such words as, 'all they that see me laugh me to scorn,' 'they pierced my hands and my feet,' or, 'see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow,' there are glimpses of delicate white hands grasping the hard wood of the crosses, and of small, shapely feet bare in the mud. what sighs, what tears and vain regrets, what secret tragedies of passion, guilt, remorse, may not be concealed amongst the doleful company who tread their own via dolorosa on that pilgrimage of sorrow through the streets of furnes! [illustration: furnes in st. walburge's church.] footnotes. [footnote : 'furnes était devenue un _oppidium_, aux termes d'une charte de , qui avait à se défendre à la fois contre les incursions des étrangers et les attaques d'une population "indocile et cruelle," comme l'appelle l'abbé de saint riquier hariulf, toujours déchirée par les factions et toujours prête à la révolte.'--gilliodts van severen: _recueil des anciennes coutumes de la belgique_; _quartier de furnes_, vol. i., p. .] chapter ix nieuport--the battle of the dunes on the morning of july , in the year , two armies--spaniards, under the archduke albert, and dutchmen, under prince maurice of nassau--stood face to face amongst the dunes near nieuport, where the river yser falls into the sea about ten miles west from ostend. in a field to the east of nieuport there is a high, square tower, part of a monastery and church erected by the templars in the middle of the twelfth century, which, though it escaped complete destruction, was set on fire and nearly consumed when the town was attacked and laid in ruins by the english and the burghers of ghent in , the year of their famous siege of ypres. it is now in a half-ruinous condition, but in july, , it was an important part of the fortifications, and from the top the watchmen of the spanish garrison could see the country all round to a great distance beyond the broad moat which then surrounded the strong walls of nieuport. a few miles inland, to the south-west, in the middle of the plain of flanders, were the houses of furnes, grouped round the church tower of st. nicholas. to the north a wide belt of sandhills (the 'dunes'), with the sea beyond them, extended far past ostend on the east, and to the harbour of dunkirk on the west. nearer, on the landward side of the dunes to the east, and within less than a mile of each other, were the villages of westende and lombaerdzyde. close at hand, all round nieuport, there were numerous small lakes and watercourses connected with the channel of the yser, which, flowing past the town, widened out until it joined the sea, and became a harbour, which on that morning was full of shipping. a new chapter had just begun in the history of west flanders when the dutchmen and the spaniards thus met to slaughter each other amongst the sand and rushes of the dunes. philip ii. had offered to cede the spanish netherlands to his daughter, the infanta isabella, on condition that a marriage was arranged between her and the archduke albert of austria. after the death of philip ii. this offer was confirmed by his successor, philip iii., and the wedding took place in april, . [illustration: nieuport a fair parishioner.] albert and isabella were both entering on the prime of life, the archduke being forty and the infanta thirty-two at the time of their marriage, and were both of a character admirably fitted for the lofty station to which they had been called. in their portraits, which hang, very often frayed and tarnished, on the walls of the hôtel de ville of many a flemish town, there is nothing very royal or very attractive; but, even after making every allowance for the flattery of contemporary historians, there can be little doubt that their popularity was well deserved--well deserved if even a part of what has been said about them is true. the archduke is always said to have taken philip ii. as a model of demeanour, but he had none of the worst faults of the sullen, powerful despot, with that small mind, that 'incredibly small' mind of his, and cold heart, cold alike to human suffering and human love, who had held the flemings, whom he hated, for so many years in the hollow of his hand. his grave mien and reserved habits, probably acquired during his sojourn at the court of spain, were distasteful to the gay and pleasure-loving people of flanders, who would have preferred a prince more like charles v., whose versatility enabled him to adapt himself to the customs of each amongst the various races over whom he ruled. nevertheless, if they did not love him they respected him, and were grateful for the moderation and good feeling which distinguished his reign, and gave their distracted country, after thirty years of civil war, a period of comparative tranquillity. the infanta isabella, _débonnaire_, affable, tolerant, and noble-hearted, as she is described, gained the hearts of the flemings as her husband never did. 'one could not find any court more truly royal or more brilliant in its public fêtes, which sometimes recall the splendid epoch of the house of burgundy. isabella loves a country life. she is often to be seen on horseback, attending the tournaments, leading the chase, flying the hawk, taking part in the sports of the bourgeoise, shooting with the crossbow, and carrying off the prize.' above all things, her works of charity endeared her to the people. in time of war she established hospitals for the wounded, for friends and enemies alike, where she visited them, nursed them, and dressed their wounds with her own hands, with heroic courage and tenderness.[ ] even on their first coming into flanders, before their characters were known except by hearsay, they were received with extraordinary enthusiasm. travelling by way of luxembourg, they came to namur, where their first visit was made the occasion of a military fête, conducted under the personal supervision of comte florent de berlaimont. at nivelles the duc d'arschot paid out of his own purse the cost of the brilliant festivities to which the people of brabant flocked in order to bid their new rulers welcome, and himself led the procession, accompanied by the archbishop of malines and the bishop of antwerp. so they journeyed on amidst scenes of public rejoicing until they came to brussels, where they established their court in accordance with the customs and ceremonies which had been usual under the dukes of burgundy and the kings of spain. [illustration: nieuport hall and vicarage.] but when the archdukes, as they were called, passed from town to town on this royal progress, the phantoms of war, pestilence, and famine hung over the land. the great cities of flanders had been deserted by thousands of their inhabitants. the sea trade of the country had been destroyed by the vigorous blockade which the dutch ships of war maintained along the coast. religious intolerance had driven the most industrious of the working classes to find a refuge in holland or england. villages lay in ruins, surrounded by untilled fields and gardens run to seed. silent looms and empty warehouses were seen on every side. to such a pass had the disastrous policy of the escurial brought this fair province of the spanish empire! from all parts of flanders the cry for peace went up, but the time for peace was not yet come.[ ] the new reign had just begun when maurice of nassau suddenly invaded flanders with a great force, and laid siege to nieuport, the garrison of which, reinforced by an army, at the head of which the archduke albert had hurried across flanders, was under the command of the archduke himself, and many spanish generals of great experience in the wars. though the court at brussels had been taken by surprise, the dutch army was in a position of great danger. part of it lay on the west side of the yser, and part to the east, amongst the dunes near lombaerdzyde and westende, with a bridge of boats thrown across the river as their only connection. their ships were at anchor close to the shore; but prince maurice frankly told his men that it was useless to think of embarking in case of defeat, and that, therefore, they must either win the day or perish there, for the spaniards were before them under the protection of nieuport, the river divided them, the sea was behind them, and it would be impossible for a beaten army to escape by retreating through the dunes in the direction of ostend. [illustration: nieuport the quay, with eel-boats and landing-stages.] such was the position of affairs beneath the walls of nieuport at sunrise on july , . the morning was spent by the dutch in preparing for battle. towards noon the spanish leaders held a council of war, at which it was decided to attack the enemy as soon as possible, and about three o'clock the battle began. a stiff breeze from the west, blowing up the english channel, drove clouds of sand into the eyes of the spaniards, and the bright rays of the afternoon sun, shining in their faces as they advanced to the attack, dazzled and confused them. but, in spite of these disadvantages, it seemed at first as if the fortunes of the day were to go in their favour. the bridge of boats across the yser was broken, and some of the dutch regiments, seized by a sudden panic, began to retreat towards the sea; but, finding it impossible to reach the ships, they rallied, and began once more to fight with all the dogged courage of their race. for some hours the battle was continued with equal bravery on both sides, the spaniards storming a battery which the dutch had entrenched amongst the dunes, and the dutch defending it so desperately that the dead and wounded lay piled in heaps around it. but at last the spanish infantry were thrown into confusion by a charge of horsemen; the archduke albert was wounded, and had to retire from the front to have his injuries attended to. prince maurice ordered a general advance of all his army, and in a few minutes the enemy were fleeing from the battlefield, leaving behind them , dead, prisoners, and more than standards. the loss on the dutch side was about , . the archduke albert, who had narrowly escaped being himself taken prisoner, succeeded in entering nieuport safely with what remained of his army. the town remained in the hands of the spaniards, for prince maurice, after spending some days in vain attempts to capture it, marched with his whole force to ostend, where soon afterwards began the celebrated siege, which was to last for three long years, and about which all europe never tired of talking.[ ] [illustration: nieuport the town hall.] the history of nieuport since those days has been the history of a gradual fall. its sea trade disappeared slowly but surely; the fishing industry languished; the population decreased year by year; and it has not shared to any appreciable extent in the prosperity which has enriched other parts of flanders since the revolution of . it is now a quiet, sleepy spot, with humble streets, which remind one of some fishing village on the east coast of scotland. men and women sit at the doors mending nets or preparing bait. the boats, with their black hulls and dark brown sails, move lazily up to the landing-stages, where a few small craft, trading along the coast, lie moored. barges heavily laden with wood are pulled laboriously through the locks of the canals which connect the yser with ostend and furnes. the ancient fortifications have long since disappeared, with the exception of a few grass-grown mounds; and only the grim tower of the templars, standing by itself in a field on the outskirts of the town, remains to show that this insignificant place was once a mighty stronghold. in those old flemish towns, however, it is always possible to find something picturesque; and here we have the cloth hall, with its low arches opening on the market-place, and the gothic church, one of the largest in flanders, with its porch and tower, where the bell-ringers play the chimes and the people pass devoutly to the services of the church. but that is all. nieuport has few attractions nowadays, and is chiefly memorable in flemish history because under its walls they fought that bloody 'battle of the dunes,' in which the stubborn strength and obstinacy of the dutch overcame the fiery valour of the spaniards. they are all well-nigh forgotten now, obstinate dutchman and valiant spaniard alike. amongst the dunes not a vestige remains of the field-works for which they fought. bones, broken weapons and shattered breastplates, and all the débris of the fight, were long ago buried fathoms deep beneath mounds of drifting sand. old nieuport--nieuport ville, as they call it now--for which so much blood was shed, is desolate and dreary with its small industries and meagre commerce; but a short walk to the north brings us to nieuport-bains, and to the gay summer life which pulsates all along the flemish coast, from la panne on the west to the frontiers of holland. [illustration: nieuport church porch (evensong).] footnotes. [footnote : de gerlache, i. .] [footnote : _l'abbé nameche_, xxi. - .] [footnote : 'le siège d'ostende fut, pendant ces trois ans, la fable et la nouvelle de l'europe; on ne se lassait pas d'en parler. des princes, des étrangers de toutes les nations venaient y assister.'--_l'abbé nameche_, xxi. .] chapter x the coast of flanders to walk from nieuport ville to the digue de mer at nieuport-bains is to pass in a few minutes from the old flanders, the home of so much romance, the scene of so many stirring deeds, from the market-places with the narrow gables heaped up in piles around them, from the belfries soaring to the sky, from the winding streets and the narrow lanes, in which the houses almost touch each other, from the tumble-down old hostelries, from the solemn aisles where the candles glimmer and the dim red light glows before the altar, from the land of bras-de-fer, and thierry d'alsace, and memlinc, and van eyck, and rubens, the land which was at once the temple and the golgotha of europe, into the clear, broad light of modern days. the flemish coast, from the frontiers of france to the frontiers of holland, is throughout the same in appearance. the sea rolls in and breaks upon the yellow beach, which extends from east to west for some seventy kilometres in an irregular line, unbroken by rocks or cliffs. above the beach are the dunes, a long range of sandhills, tossed into all sorts of queer shapes by the wind, on which nothing grows but rushes or stunted lombardy poplars, and which reach their highest point, the hoogen-blekker, about feet above the sea, near coxyde, a fishing village four or five miles from nieuport. behind the dunes a strip of undulating ground ('ter streep'), seldom more than a bare mile in width, covered with scanty vegetation, moss, and bushes, connects the barren sandhills with the cultivated farms, green fields, and woodlands of the flemish plain. on the other side of the channel the chalk cliffs and rocky coast of england have kept the waves in check; but the dunes were, for many long years, the only barrier against the encroachments of the sea on flanders. they are, however, a very weak defence against the storms of autumn and winter. the sand drifts like snow before the wind, and the outlines of these miniature mountain ranges change often in a single night. at one time, centuries ago, this part of flanders, which is now so bare, was, it is pretty clear, covered by forests, the remains of which are still sometimes found beneath the subsoil inland and under the sea. when the great change came is unknown, but the process was probably gradual. at an early period, here, as in holland, the fight against the invasions of the sea began, and the first dykes are said to have been constructed in the tenth century. the first was known as the evendyck, and ran from heyst to wenduyne. others followed, but they were swept away, and now only a few traces of them are to be found, buried beneath the sand and moss.[ ] [illustration: the dunes a stormy evening.] the wild storms of the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth centuries changed the aspect of the coast of flanders. nieuport rose in consequence of one of these convulsions of nature, when the inhabitants of lombaerdzyde, which was then a seaport, were driven by the tempests to the inland village of santhoven, the name of which they changed to 'neoportus'--the new harbour. this was in the beginning of the twelfth century, and thenceforth the struggle against the waves went on incessantly. lands were granted by thierry d'alsace on condition that the owner should construct dykes, and baldwin of constantinople appointed guardians of the shore, charged with the duty of watching the sea and constructing defensive works. but the struggle was carried on under the utmost difficulties. in the twelfth century the sea burst in with resistless force upon the low-lying ground, washing away the dunes and swallowing up whole towns. the inroads of the waves, the heavy rains, and the earthquakes, made life so unendurable that there were thousands who left their homes and emigrated to germany. later, in the thirteenth century, there was a catastrophe of appalling dimensions, long known as the 'great storm,' when , flemish men and women perished. this was the same tempest which overran the dutch coast, and formed the zuyder zee, those , square miles of water which the dutch are about to reclaim and form again into dry land. in the following century the town of scarphout, in west flanders, was overwhelmed, and the inhabitants built a new town for themselves on higher ground, and called it blankenberghe, which is now one of the most important watering-places on the coast. ever since those days this constant warfare against the storms has continued, and the sea appears to be bridled; but anyone who has watched the north sea at high tide on a stormy day beating on the shores of flanders, and observed how the dunes yield to the pressure of the wind and waves, and crumble away before his eyes, must come to the conclusion that the peril of the ocean is not yet averted, and can understand the meaning of the great modern works, the _digues de mer_, or sea-fronts, as they would be called in england, which are being gradually constructed at such immense cost all along the coast. a most interesting and, indeed, wonderful thing in the recent history of the netherlands is the rapid development of the flemish littoral from a waste of sand, with here and there a paltry fishing hamlet and two or three small towns, into a great cosmopolitan pleasure resort. seventy-five years ago, when belgium became an independent country, and king leopold i. ascended the throne, ostend and nieuport were the only towns upon the coast which were of any size; but ostend was then a small fortified place, with a harbour wholly unsuited for modern commerce, and nieuport, in a state of decadence, though it possessed a harbour, was a place of no importance. to-day the whole coast is studded with busy watering-places, about twenty of them, most of which have come into existence within the last fifteen years, with a resident population of about , , which is raised by visitors in summer to, it is said, nearly , . the dunes, which the old counts of flanders fought so hard to preserve from the waves, and which were at the beginning of the present century mere wastes of sand, a sort of 'no man's land', of little or no use except for rabbit-shooting, are now valuable properties, the price of which is rising every year. the work of turning the sand into gold, for that is what the development of the flemish coast comes to, has been carried out partly by the state and partly by private persons. in early times this belt of land upon the margin of the sea was held by the counts of flanders, who treated the ridge of sandhills above high-water mark as a natural rampart against the waves, and granted large tracts of the flat ground which lay behind to various religious houses. at the french revolution these lands were sold as church property at a very low figure, and were afterwards allowed, in many cases, to fall out of cultivation by the purchasers. so great a portion of the district was sold that at the present time only a small portion of the dune land is the property of the state--the narrow strip between mariakerke and middelkerke on the west of ostend, and that which lies between ostend and blankenberghe on the east. the larger portions, which are possessed by private owners, are partly the property of the descendants of those who bought them at the revolution, and partly of building societies, incorporated for the purpose of developing what mr. hall caine once termed the 'visiting industry'--that is to say, the trade in tourists and seaside visitors.[ ] [illustration: an old farmer] plage de westende, le coq, and duinbergen--three charming summer resorts--have been created by building societies. nieuport-bains and la panne have been developed by the owners of the adjoining lands, the families of crombez and calmeyn. wenduyne, on the other hand, which lies between le coq and blankenberghe, has been made by the state, while the management of blankenberghe, heyst, and middelkerke, as bathing stations, is in the hands of their communal councils. on the coast of flanders, ostend--'la reine des plages'--is, it need hardly be said, the most important place, and its rise has been very remarkable. less than fifty years ago the population was in all about , . during the last fifteen years it has increased by nearly , , and now amounts to about , in round numbers. the increase in the number of summer visitors has been equally remarkable. in the year the list of strangers contained , names; three years ago it contained no less than , . this floating population of foreign visitors who come to ostend is cosmopolitan to an extent unknown at any watering-place in england. in , english, , french, , germans, and , americans helped to swell the crowds who walked on the sea-front, frequented the luxurious and expensive hotels, or left their money on the gaming-tables at the kursaal. on one day--august , -- , persons bathed.[ ] blankenberghe, with its , summer visitors, comes next in importance to ostend, while both heyst and middelkerke are crowded during the season. but the life at these towns is not so agreeable as at the smaller watering-places. the hotels are too full, and have, as a rule, very little except their cheapness to recommend them. there is usually a body calling itself the _comité des fêtes_, the members of which devote themselves for two months every summer to devising amusements, sports, and competitions of various kinds, instead of leaving people to amuse themselves in their own way, so that hardly a day passes on which the strains of a second-rate band are not heard in the local kursaal, or a night which is not made hideous by a barrel-organ, to which the crowd is dancing on the _digue_. at the smaller places, however, though these also have their _comités des fêtes_, one escapes to a great extent from these disagreeable surroundings. may, june, and september are the pleasantest months upon the coast of flanders, for the visitors are not so numerous, and even in mid-winter the dunes are worth a visit. then the hotels and villas fronting the sea are closed, and their windows boarded up. the bathing-machines are removed from the beach, and stand in rows in some sheltered spot. the _digue_, a broad extent of level brickwork, is deserted, and the wind sweeps along it, scattering foam and covering it with sand and sprays of tangled seaweed. the mossy surface of the dunes is frozen hard as iron, and often the hailstones rush in furious blasts before the wind. for league after league there is not a sign of life, except the seabirds flying low near the shore, or the ships rising and falling in the waves far out to sea. in the winter months the coast of flanders is bleak and stormy, but the air in these solitudes is as health-giving as in any other part of europe. of late years the government, represented by comte de smet de naeyer, has bestowed much attention on the development of the littoral, and king leopold ii. has applied his great business talents to the subject. large sums of money have been voted by the belgian parliament for the construction of public works and the extension of the means of communication from place to place. there is a light railway, the 'vicinal,' which runs along the whole coast, at a short distance from the shore, from knocke, on the east, to la panne in the extreme west, and which is connected with the system of state railways at various points. from ostend, through middelkerke, to plage de westende, an electric railway has been constructed, close to the beach and parallel to the vicinal (which is about a mile inland), on which trains run every ten minutes during the summer season. as an instance of the speed and energy with which these works for the convenience of the public are carried out, when once they have been decided upon, it may be mentioned that the contract for the portion of the electric line between middelkerke and plage de westende, a distance of about a mile and a half, was signed on may , that five days later workmen began to cut through the dunes, embank and lay the permanent way, and that on june , in spite of several interruptions owing to drifting sand and heavy rains, the first train of the regular service arrived at plage de westende. [illustration: la panne interior of a flemish inn.] a large sum, amounting to several millions of francs, is voted every year for the protection of the shores of flanders against the encroachments of the sea, by the construction of these solid embankments of brickwork and masonry, which will, in the course of a few years, extend in an unbroken line along the whole coast from end to end. the building of these massive sea-walls is a work of great labour and expense, for what seems to be an impregnable embankment, perhaps feet high and feet broad, solid and strong enough to resist the most violent breakers, will be undermined and fall to pieces in a few hours, if not made in the proper way. a _digue_, no matter how thick, which rests on the sand alone will not last. a thick bed of green branches bound together must first be laid down as a foundation: this is strengthened by posts driven through it into the sand. heavy timbers, resting on bundles of branches lashed together, are wedged into the foundations, and slope inwards and upwards to within a few feet of the height to which it is intended to carry the _digue_. on the top another solid bed of branches is laid down, and the whole is first covered with concrete, and then with bricks or tiles, while the edge of the _digue_, at the top of the seaward slope, is composed of heavy blocks of stone cemented together and bound by iron rivets. _digues_ made in this solid fashion, all of them higher above the shore than the thames embankment is above the river, and some of them broader than the embankment, will, before very many years have passed, stretch along the whole coast of flanders without a break, and will form not only a defence against the tides, but a huge level promenade, with the dunes on one side and the sea on the other. this is a gigantic undertaking, but it will be completed during the lifetime of the present generation. [illustration: la panne a flemish inn--playing skittles.] another grandiose idea, which is actually being carried into effect, is to connect all the seaside resorts on the coast of flanders by a great boulevard, yards wide, with a road for carriages and pedestrians, a track for motor-cars and bicycles, and an electric railway, all side by side. large portions of this magnificent roadway, which is to be known as the 'route royale,' have already been completed between blankenberghe and ostend, and from ostend to plage de westende. from westende it will be continued to nieuport-bains, crossing the yser by movable bridges, and thence to la panne, and so onwards, winding through the dunes, over the french borders, and perhaps as far as paris! a single day's journey through the district which this 'route royale' is to traverse will lead the traveller through the most interesting part of the dunes, and introduce him to most of the favourite _plages_ on the coast of flanders, and thus give him an insight into many characteristic flemish scenes. la panne, for instance, and adinkerque, in the west and on the confines of france, are villages inhabited by fishermen who have built their dwellings in sheltered places amongst the dunes. the low white cottages of la panne, with the strings of dried fish hanging on the walls, nestle in the little valley from which the place takes its name (for _panne_ in flemish means 'a hollow'), surrounded by trees and hedges, gay with wild roses in the summer-time. each cottage stands in its small plot of garden ground, and most of the families own fishing-boats of their own, and farm a holding which supplies them with potatoes and other vegetables. for a long time these cottages were the only houses at la panne, which was seldom visited, except by a few artists; but about fifteen years ago the surveyors and the architects made their appearance, paths and roads were laid out, and, as if by magic, cottages and villas and the inevitable _digue de mer_ have sprung up on the dunes near the sea, and not very far from the original village. the chief feature of the new la panne is that the houses are, except those on the sea-front, built on the natural levels of the ground, some perched on the tops of the dunes, and others in the hollows which separate them. the effect is extremely picturesque, and the example of the builders of la panne is being followed at other places, notably at duinbergen, one of the very latest bathing stations, which has risen during the last three years about a mile to the east of heyst. another very interesting place is the plage de westende, the present terminus of the electric railway from ostend. the old village of westende lies a mile inland on the highway between nieuport and ostend, close to the scene of the battle of the dunes. this plage is, indeed, a model seaside resort, with a _digue_ which looks down upon a shore of the finest sand, and from which, of an evening, one sees the lights of ostend in the east, and the revolving beacon at dunkirk shining far away to the west. the houses which front the sea, all different from each other, are in singularly good taste; and behind them are a number of detached cottages and villas, large and small, in every variety of design. ten years ago the site of this little town was a rabbit warren; now everything is up to date: electric light in every house, perfect drainage, a good water-supply, tennis courts, and an admirable hotel, where even the passing stranger feels at home. though only three-quarters of an hour from noisy, crowded, bustling ostend by the railway, it is one of the quietest and most comfortable places on the coast of flanders, and can be reached by travellers from england in a few hours. some years hence the lovely, peaceful plage de westende may have grown too big, but when the sand has all been turned into gold, and when the contractors and builders have grown rich, those who have known westende in its earlier days will think of it as the quiet spot about which at one time only a few people used to stroll; where perhaps the poet verhaeren found something to inspire him; where many a long summer's evening was spent in pleasant talk on history, and painting, and music by a little society of men and women who spoke french, or german, or english, as the fancy took them, and laughed, and quoted, and exchanged ideas on every subject under the sun; where the professor of music once argued, and sprang up to prove his point by playing--but that is an allusion, or, as mr. kipling would say, 'another story.' the district in which westende lies, with lombaerdzyde, nieuport, furnes, and coxyde close together, is the most interesting on the coast of flanders. le coq, on the other hand, is in that part of the dune country which has least historical interest, and is chiefly known as the place where the royal golf club de belgique has its course. it is only twenty minutes from ostend on the vicinal railway, which has a special station for golfers near the club house. there is no _digue_, and the houses are dotted about in a valley behind the dunes. this place has a curious resemblance to a swiss village. a few years ago the owners of lands upon the flemish littoral began to grasp the fact that there was a sport called golf, on which englishmen were in the habit of spending money, and that it would be an addition to the attractions of ostend if, beside the racecourse, there was a golf-course. king leopold, who is said to contemplate using all the land between the outskirts of ostend and le coq for sporting purposes, paid a large sum, very many thousands of francs, out of his own pocket, and the golf-links at le coq were laid out. the club house is handsome and commodious, but, unfortunately, the course itself, which is the main thing, is not very satisfactory, being far too artificial. the natural 'bunkers' were filled up, and replaced by ramparts and ditches like those on some inland courses in england. on the putting greens the natural undulations of the ground have been levelled, and the greens are all as flat and smooth as billiard-tables. there are clumps of ornamental wood, flower-beds, and artificial ponds with goldfish swimming in them. it is all very pretty, but it is hardly golf. what with the 'grand prix d'ostende,' the 'prix des roses,' the 'prix des ombrelles, handicap libre, réservé aux dames,' the 'grand prix des dames,' and a number of other _objets d'art_, which are offered for competition on almost every day from the beginning of june to the end of september, this is a perfect paradise for the pot-hunter and his familiar friend colonel bogey. real golf, the strenuous game, which demands patience and steady nerves, perhaps, more than any other outdoor game, is not yet quite understood by many belgians; but the bag of clubs is every year becoming more common on the dover mail-boats. most of these golf-bags find their way to knocke, where many of the english colony at bruges spend the summer, and which, as the coast of flanders becomes better known, is visited every year by increasing numbers of travellers from the other side of the channel. knocke is in itself one of the least attractive places on the flemish littoral. the old village, a nondescript collection of houses, lies on the vicinal railway about a mile from the sea, which is reached by a straight roadway, and where there is a _digue_, numerous hotels, pensions, and villas, all of which are filled to overflowing in the season. the air, indeed, is perfect, and there are fine views from the _digue_ and the dunes of the island of walcheren, flushing, and the estuary of the scheldt; but the place was evidently begun with no definite plan: the dunes were ruthlessly levelled, and the result is a few unlovely streets, and a number of detached houses standing in disorder amidst surroundings from which everything that was picturesque has long since departed. but the dunes to the east are wide, and enclose a large space of undulating ground; and here the bruges golf and sports club has its links, which present a very complete contrast to the belgian course at le coq. the links at knocke, if somewhat rough and ready, are certainly sporting in the highest degree. some of the holes, those in what is known as the green valley, are rather featureless; but in the other parts of the course there are numerous natural hazards, bunkers, and hillocks thick with sand and rushes. it has no pretentions to be a 'first-class' course (for one thing, it is too short), but in laying out the eighteen holes the ground has been utilized to the best advantage, and the royal and ancient game flourishes more at knocke than at any other place in belgium. the owners of the soil and the hotel-keepers, with a keen eye to business, and knowing that the golfing alone brings the english, from whom they reap a golden harvest, to knocke, do all in their power to encourage the game, and it is quite possible that before long other links may be established along the coast. the soil of the strip behind the dunes is not so suitable for golf as the close turf of st. andrews, north berwick, or prestwick, for in many places it consists of sand with a slight covering of moss; but with proper treatment it could probably be improved and hardened. it is merely a question of money, and money will certainly be forthcoming if the government, the communes, and the private owners once see that this form of amusement will add to the popularity of the littoral. a short mile's walk to the west of knocke brings us to duinbergen, one of the newest of the flemish _plages_, founded in the year by the société anonyme de duinbergen, a company in which some members of the royal family are said to hold shares. at knocke and others of the older watering-places everything was sacrificed to the purpose of making money speedily out of every available square inch of sand, and the first thing done was to destroy the dunes. but at duinbergen the good example set by the founders of la panne has been followed and improved upon, and nothing could be more _chic_ than this charming little place, which was planned by herr stübben, of cologne, an architect often employed by the king of the belgians, whose idea was to create a small garden city among the dunes. the dunes have been carefully preserved; the roads and pathways wind round them; most of the villas and cottages have been erected in places from which a view of the sea can be obtained; and even the _digue_ has been built in a curve in order to avoid the straight line, which is apt to give an air of monotony to the rows of villas, however picturesque they may be in themselves, which face the sea at other places. so artistic is the appearance of the houses that the term 'style duinbergen' is used by architects to describe it. electric lighting, a copious supply of water rising by gravitation to the highest houses, and a complete system of drainage, add to the luxuries and comforts of this _plage_, which is one of the best illustrations of the wonders which have been wrought among the dunes by that spirit of enterprise which has done so much for modern flanders during the last few years. footnotes. [footnote : bortier, _le littoral de la flandre au ix^e et au xix^e siècles_.] [footnote : letter to the manx reform league, november, .] [footnote : i give these figures on the authority of m. paul otlet, advocate, of brussels, to whom i am indebted for much information regarding the development of the coast of flanders. see also an article by m. otlet in _le cottage_, may to june , .] chapter xi coxyde--the scenery of the dunes the whole of the coast-line is within the province of west flanders, and its development in recent years is the most striking fact in the modern history of the part of belgium with which this volume deals. the change which has taken place on the littoral during the last fifteen or twenty years is extraordinary, and the contrast between the old flanders and the new, between the flanders which lingers in the past and the flanders which marches with the times, is brought vividly before us by the difference between such mediæval towns as bruges, furnes, or nieuport, and the bright new places which glitter on the sandy shores of the flemish coast. but in almost every corner of the dunes, close to these signs of modern progress, there is something to remind us of that past history which is, after all, the great charm of flanders. one of the most characteristic spots in the land of the dunes is the village of coxyde, which lies low amongst the sandhills, about five miles west from nieuport, out of sight of the sea, but inhabited by a race of fisherfolk who, curiously enough, pursue their calling on horseback. mounted on their little horses, and carrying baskets and nets fastened to long poles, they go into the sea to catch small fish and shrimps. it is strange to see them riding about in the water, sometimes in bands, but more frequently alone or in pairs; and this curious custom, which has been handed down from father to son for generations, is peculiar to the part of the coast which lies between la panne and the borders of france. near coxyde, and at the corner where the road from furnes turns in the direction of la panne, is a piece of waste ground which travellers on the vicinal railway pass without notice. but here once stood the famous abbey of the dunes. [illustration: coxyde a shrimper on horseback.] in the first years of the twelfth century a pious hermit named lyger took up his abode in these solitary regions, built a dwelling for himself, and settled down to spend his life in doing good works and in the practice of religion. soon, as others gathered round him, his dwelling grew into a monastery, and at last, in the year , the abbey of the dunes was founded. it was nearly half a century before the great building, which is said to have been the first structure of such a size built of brick in flanders, was completed; but when at last the work was done the abbey was, by all accounts, one of the most magnificent religious houses in flanders, consisting of a group of buildings with no less than windows, a rich and splendid church, so famous for its ornamental woodwork that the carvings of the stalls were reproduced in the distant abbey of melrose in scotland, and a library which, as time went on, became a storehouse of precious manuscripts and hundreds of those wonderfully illustrated missals on which the monks of the middle ages spent so many laborious hours. we can imagine them in the cells of coxyde copying and copying for hours together, or bending over the exquisitely coloured drawings which are still preserved in the museums of flanders. but their most useful work was done on the lands which lay round the abbey. there were at coxyde in the thirteenth century no fewer than monks and converts engaged at one time in cultivating the soil.[ ] they drained the marshes, and planted seeds where seeds would grow, until, after years of hard labour on the barren ground, the abbey of the dunes was surrounded by wide fields which had been reclaimed and turned into a fertile oasis in the midst of that savage and inhospitable desert. when st. bernard was preaching the crusade in flanders he came to coxyde. on his advice the monks adopted the order of the cistercians, and their first abbot under the new rule afterwards sat in the chair of st. bernard himself as abbot of clairvaux. thereafter the cistercian abbey of the dunes grew in fame, especially under the rule of st. idesbaldus, who had come there from furnes, where he had been a canon of the church of ste. walburge. 'it has also a special interest for english folk. it long held lands in the isle of sheppey, as well as the advowson of the church of eastchurch, in the same island. these were bestowed on it by richard the lion-hearted. the legend says that these gifts were made to reward its sixth abbot, elias, for the help he gave in releasing richard from captivity. anyhow, royal charters, and dues from the archbishop of canterbury, and a bull of pope celestine iii., confirmed the abbey in its english possessions and privileges. the abbey seems to have derived little benefit from these, and finally, by decision of a general congregation of the cistercian order, handed them over to the abbot and chapter of bexley, to recoup the latter for the cost of entertaining monks of the order going abroad, or returning from the continent, on business of the order.'[ ] [illustration: coxyde a shrimper.] the english invasion of the fifteenth century destroyed the work of the monks in their fields and gardens, but the abbey itself was spared; and the great disaster did not come until a century later, when the image-breakers, who had begun their work amongst the gothic arches of antwerp, spread over west flanders, and descended upon coxyde. the abbey was attacked, and the monks fled to bruges, carrying with them many of their treasures, which are still to be seen in the collection on the quai de la poterie, beyond the bridge which is called the pont des dunes. the noble building, so long the home of so much piety and learning, and from which so many generations of apostles had gone forth to toil in the fields and minister to the poor, was abandoned, and allowed to fall into ruins, until at last it gradually sunk into complete decay, and was buried beneath the sands. not a trace of it now remains. history has few more piteous sermons to preach on the vanity of all the works of men. the fishermen on the coast of flanders have, from remote times, paid their vows in the hour of danger to notre dame de lombaerdzyde. if they escape from some wild storm they go on a pilgrimage of thanksgiving. they walk in perfect silence along the road to the shrine, for not a word must be spoken till they reach it; and these hardy seafaring men may be seen kneeling at the altar of the old, weather-beaten church which stands on the south side of the highway through the village, and in which are wooden models of ships hung up as votive offerings before an image of the virgin, which is the object of peculiar veneration. the madonna of lombaerdzyde did not prevail to keep the sea from invading the village at the time when the inhabitants were driven to nieuport, but the belief in her miraculous power is as strong to-day as it was in the dark ages. [illustration: adinkerque village and canal.] there is a view of lombaerdzyde which no one strolling on the dunes near nieuport should fail to see--a perfect picture, as typical of the scenery in these parts as any landscape chosen by hobbema or ruysdael. a causeway running straight between two lofty dunes of bare sand, and bordered by stunted trees, forms a long vista at the end of which lombaerdzyde appears--a group of red-roofed houses, with narrow gables and white walls, and in the middle the pointed spire of the church, beyond which the level plain of flanders, dotted with other villages and churches and trees in formal rows, stretches away into the distance until it merges in the horizon. adinkerque, a picturesque village beyond furnes, is another place which calls to mind many a picture of the flemish artists in the musée of antwerp and the mauritshuis at the hague; and the recesses of the dune country in which these places are hidden has a wonderful fascination about it--the irregular outlines of the dunes, some high and some low, sinking here into deep hollows of firm sand, and rising there into strange fantastic shapes, sometimes with sides like small precipices on which nothing can grow, and sometimes sloping gently downwards and covered with trembling poplars, spread in confusion on every side. often near the shore the sandy barrier has been broken down by the wind or by the waves, and a long gulley formed, which cuts deep into the dunes, and through which the sand drifts inland till it reaches a steep bank clothed with rushes, against which it heaps itself, and so, rising higher with the storms of each winter, forms another dune. this process has been going on for ages. the sands are for ever shifting, but moss begins to grow in sheltered spots; such wild flowers as can flourish there bloom and decay; the poplars shed their leaves, and nourish by imperceptible degrees the fibres of the moss; some hardy grasses take root; and at length a scanty greensward appears. by such means slowly, in the microcosm of the dunes, have been evolved out of the changing sands places fit for men to live in, until now along the strip which guards the coast of flanders there are green glades gay with flowers, and shady dells, and gardens sheltered from the wind, plots of pasture-land, cottages and churches which seem to grow out of the landscape, their colouring so harmonizes with the colouring which surrounds them. and ever, close at hand, the sea is rolling in and falling on the shore. 'come unto these yellow sands,' and when the sun is going down, casting a long bar of burnished gold across the water, against which, perhaps, the sail of some boat looms dark for a moment and then passes on, the sky glows in such a lovely, tender light that those who watch it must needs linger till the twilight is fading away before they turn their faces inland. there are few evenings for beauty like a summer evening on the shores of flanders. footnotes. [footnote : derode, _histoire religieuse de la flandre maritime_, p. .] [footnote : robinson, _bruges, an historical sketch_, p. .] east flanders and brabant east flanders and brabant chapter xii ghent from bruges, the capital of west flanders, to ghent, the capital of east flanders, it is only half an hour's journey by rail; but the contrast between them is remarkable. bruges is a city of the dead, of still life, of stagnant waters, of mouldering walls and melancholy streets, long since fallen from its high estate into utter decay. ghent, on the other hand, is active, bustling, prosperous. the narrow lanes and gloomy courts of mediæval times have, in many parts, been swept away to make room for broad, well-lighted streets and squares, through which electric trams, crowded with busy people, run incessantly all day long. bruges is known as 'la morte.' ghent is often called 'la ville de flore,' from the numerous gardens and hot-houses which supply plants to the markets of france, germany, america, and other countries. other branches of industry thrive. the trade in flax, linen, leather goods, engines, and lace, is large and flourishing. there are warehouses packed full of articles of commerce waiting to be sent off by canal or railway, and yards piled high with wood from north america, or bags of portland cement from england. two great canals, one connecting the town with the estuary of the scheldt near the sea, and the other leading, through bruges, to ostend, admit merchant vessels and huge barges to a commodious harbour, where steam cranes and all the appliances of a busy seaport are in full swing. there never is a crowd in bruges, except during the yearly procession of the holy blood; but every day in ghent, if by chance a drawbridge over one of the canals is raised, a crowd of working people gathers to wait impatiently while some deeply-laden barge passes slowly through, and, the moment the passage is free, rushes over in haste. these are flemings in a hurry. one never sees them in bruges. ghent, then, is a modern commercial town; but, in spite of all the changes which time and progress have brought about, it is, like most of the other flemish towns, full of sights which carry us back in a moment to the distant past. [illustration: ghent an old lace-maker.] the lys and the scheldt, winding through belgium from west to east, meet almost in the centre of the province of east flanders; and at the point where they join a number of islands have been formed by numerous channels, pools, and backwaters which are connected with the two rivers. in early times, no doubt, the spot was nothing but a morass, and on one of the pieces of drier ground the first wooden houses of ghent were erected. after that, during the course of centuries, the town spread from island to island, and as each island was occupied a bridge was built, so that by degrees between twenty and thirty islands, joined by a number of bridges, were covered with dwelling-houses and public buildings, and the whole surrounded by a wall and moat. but long before buildings of brick or stone replaced the dark wooden houses, of which only one now remains, the people of ghent had acquired the character of being the most intractable of all the flemings; and when philip of alsace, count of flanders, came back from the holy land, towards the end of the twelfth century, he erected, on the site of an old fortress which baldwin bras-de-fer had built years before, a strong castle for the purpose of overawing the townsmen. on the left bank of the lys, which, passing through the middle of the town, threads its way close under the basements of the houses, is the place ste. pharailde, with its picturesque buildings of the middle ages; and on the north side of this place stand the massive remains of the old stronghold. it is a grim, forbidding place, now known as the château des comtes. on three sides high black walls rise straight out of the water, and on the fourth side a deep archway leads into a large courtyard, in the middle of which is the donjon, said to date from the ninth century. there is a vast, dim banquet-hall, with an immense chimney-piece, and small windows with stone seats sunk deep in the walls, where king edward iii. of england and queen philippa feasted with jacques van artevelde in the year , during the war with france. dark, narrow staircases lead from story to story within the thickness of the walls, or wind up through turrets pierced with small windows a few inches square. far down in the foundations are dismal oubliettes and torture-chambers; and in one corner of what is supposed to have been a prison is an iron-bound chest full of the skeletons of persons who suffered in the religious troubles of the sixteenth century. this gloomy place, once the abode of so much cruelty, is one of the most interesting sights in ghent. [illustration: ghent the banquet hall, château des comtes.] charles v. was born at ghent in the cour des princes, a magnificent palace, of which nothing but a single gateway now remains. john of gaunt (or ghent) was born here, too. here took place the marriage of the archduke maximilian to mary of burgundy, which gave the netherlands to the house of austria. and here, in the carthusian monastery in the rue des chartreux, in a room which is now one of the refectories, lord gambier, as ambassador for george iii., signed, on christmas eve, , the articles of peace which put an end to the war between great britain and the united states of america. everywhere, however, in flanders the chief connecting-link between the past and the present is to be found at the hôtel de ville, the centre of the civic life; and it would be hard to find in all the netherlands, except at brussels, a more splendid example of gothic architecture than the north side of the hôtel de ville at ghent. within, on the walls of a great hall, the salle des États, is a tablet in memory of the famous 'pacification of ghent,' signed there in , when the leaders of the dutch and catholic netherlands united for the purpose of securing civil and religious liberty and the downfall of the spanish oppression. opposite this tablet is a window, through which one steps on to a small balcony where proclamations were made of war, or peace, or royal marriages, and laws were promulgated, in olden times. in another part of the building the twelve catholics, thirteen liberals, and fourteen socialists, who ( ) make up the council of to-day, meet and debate, in a gothic hall of the fifteenth century, with the burgomaster in the chair. the civil marriages, which by the belgian constitution of must always precede the religious ceremony in church, take place in an old chapel of , where there is a large picture by wauters of mary of burgundy asking the burghers of ghent to pardon one of her ministers. just outside the door of this salle des mariages a painting of the last moments of count egmont and count horn hangs in a passage, with a roof years old, leading to the offices of the tramway company. thus the everyday business of the town is conducted in the midst of the memorials of the past. [illustration: ghent bÉguinage de mont st. amand.] in front of the balcony of the hôtel de ville there used to be a wide, open space, in which the burghers assembled; but now the ground is occupied by a row of houses (the rue haut-port), intersected by narrow streets, one of which leads to the marché de vendredi, the scene of the greatest events in the history of ghent. this is a large square, surrounded by a double row of trees, in the middle of which is a statue of jacques van artevelde, the 'brewer of ghent,' who stands with arm up-raised, pointing to the west, as if to show his fellow-citizens that help was coming from england, or that the enemy was on the march from france. not far from the hôtel de ville the compact tower of st. nicholas rises above the housetops; and the churches of st. pierre, st. michael, and st. jacques are worth a visit. there is also the béguinage de ste. Élisabeth, a group of houses of dark red brick with tiled roofs, trim grass paddocks, and winding streets, clustering round a church--the quietest spot in ghent, where five or six hundred beguines, in their blue robes and white head-dresses, spend their days in making lace or attending the services of the catholic church. but the antiquary and student of history will find more to interest him if he makes his way to the abbey of st. bavon (birthplace of john of gaunt), the ruins of which lie on the east side of the town, near the porte d'anvers. the tradition is that this abbey was founded, early in the seventh century, by st. amandus, the 'apostle of flanders,' and enlarged, some twenty years later, by st. bavon. in the middle of the ninth century it was almost entirely destroyed by the normans, but rose once more at a later period, only to be demolished by charles v., who erected a castle there about the year . a quarter of a century later, on september , , egmont and horn were brought here by the orders of alva, and kept in prison until they were carried, 'guarded by two companies of infantry and one of cavalry,' to brussels, where the execution took place, in the grande place, on june , . [illustration: ghent the arrière faucille (achter sikkel).] when the congress of ghent assembled in , the castle was occupied by a spanish garrison, who refused to capitulate. it was accordingly besieged by william of orange, and 'the deliberations of the congress were opened under the incessant roar of cannon.' the siege ended, by the surrender of the spaniards, on the very day on which the sittings of the congress were finished by the conclusion of the treaty known as the 'pacification,' which was signed at ghent on november , . 'the pacification, as soon as published, was received with a shout of joy. proclaimed in the market-place of every city and village, it was ratified, not by votes, but by hymns of thanksgiving, by triumphal music, by thundering of cannon, and by the blaze of beacons throughout the netherlands.'[ ] the castle, a monument of the spanish tyranny, was pulled down; but many fragments still remain of the ancient abbey of st. bavon. [illustration: ghent the ruins of the cloisters of the abbey of st. bavon.] in the first quarter of the fifteenth century hubert van eyck and his brother jan were living at ghent. here hubert began to paint the celebrated altar-piece, 'the adoration of the immaculate lamb,' which his brother finished after his death. this great painting, having survived the greed of philip ii., the fanaticism of the puritan iconoclasts, and the rapacity of the french revolutionary army, now hangs in the cathedral of st. bavon; and every year hundreds of travellers visit ghent in order to see what is, beyond doubt, the finest production of the early flemish school. in the choir, too, of the cathedral are four huge candlesticks of copper, which were originally made as ornaments for the grave of henry viii. at windsor, but were sold during the commonwealth. in the infant who afterwards became the emperor charles v. was carried from the cour des princes to the cathedral. 'his baptism,' we read in local history, 'was celebrated with right royal pomp in the church of st. bavon. great rejoicings signalized the event. the fountains lavishly sent up streams of purple wine from their fantastic jets, "mysteries" and mummeries, masks and merry-makings, usurped for a time the place of commerce and earnest speculation. the brave and steady citizens of ghent ran riot from the house, and never was venice herself more wild in the days of her maddest carnival. we are told that a magic gallery, feet long, which was maintained during this temporary jubilee in a state of sufficient security to insure the safety of the thousands who thronged it, was erected at a giddy height across the streets, connecting the tower of the great belfry with that of the church of st. nicholas. this was, for three consecutive nights, profusely illuminated, and threw a brilliant glow over the gay scene, in which all ghent was revelling below.' in the time of charles v., ghent was not only the most powerful city in the rich netherlands, but one of the most opulent in all europe. and what the belfry, whose chimes ring out with such sweet melody by night and day, was to bruges, that was to the more warlike men of ghent the 'iron tongue' of roland, the mighty bell which hung in the lofty watch-tower. it called them to arms. it sent them forth to battle. it welcomed them home victorious, or bade them meet and defend their privileges in the market-place. 'it seemed, as it were, a living historical personage, endowed with the human powers and passions which it had so long directed and inflamed.' the belfry of ghent, black with age, still towers above the cloth hall. but when, in , the emperor went there for the purpose of humbling the town, and punishing the burghers for their disobedience, he made a decree that roland, whose voice had so often given the signal for revolt, should be taken down. no greater insult could have been offered to the proud city. bruges fell into the decay from which she has never yet recovered chiefly because, at a time when the whole commerce of flanders and brabant was beginning to languish, she lost her communications with the sea; and ypres was ruined by years of internal discord and constant war. but ghent, the third of the three 'bonnes villes' of flanders, though the industrial depression which spread over the netherlands and the long struggle against spain combined to ruin her, has come triumphant through all vicissitudes. in the old days the men of ghent were famous for their turbulent spirit and love of independence. it was no easy task to rule them, as counts of flanders, or dukes of burgundy, or kings of spain often found to their cost. and now it seems as if the robust character of the burghers who fought so hard, in mediæval times, to maintain their liberties, had been merely turned into another channel, and transmitted to their descendants in the shape of that keen activity in commerce which makes this town so prosperous at the present day. footnotes. [footnote : motley's _rise of the dutch republic_, part iv., chap. v.] chapter xiii the dukes of brabant--the joyeuse entrÉe--end of the sixteenth century a few miles to the south-west of alost, on the borders of east flanders, the river dendre, on its way to join the scheldt, forms the boundary of brabant. from denderleeuw, the frontier station, to brussels is about fifteen miles by train, through a district which gradually loses the bare flatness of the plains of flanders, and becomes wooded, undulating, and hilly as we approach the city. and brussels is quite different from the fallen towns of flanders. there are no mouldering ramparts here, and very few uneven causeways, but broad boulevards, shaded by trees; handsome modern houses; wooden pavements in some parts; a bourse; arcades and bazaars; tempting shops, their windows decked with parisian art; theatres and music-halls; glittering restaurants and expensive hotels. it is all modern, spacious, full of movement. while bruges and ypres live chiefly in the past, brussels lives chiefly in the present and the future. but in the middle of the city is the famous grande place; and the tall houses, so gloriously picturesque with pointed gables and gilded cornices; and the exquisite hôtel de ville with its curiously carved façade and steep roof pierced by innumerable little windows, above which the graceful spire, that 'miracle of needlework in stone,' has towered for years. here, as everywhere in the netherlands, the traditions of the past are imperishable; and we may look back and see how this bright, gay, pleasant city--the 'petit paris,' as its people love to call it--rose and grew. old brabant extended from beyond tournai on the west to what is now the dutch frontier beyond turnhout on the east, and from the neighbourhood of ghent nearly to liége. just north of the forest of soignies a ridge of undulating hills overlooked the little river senne, which wound along eastwards through sandbanks and brushwood. on an island in this stream, according to tradition, a chapel was built by st. gery, bishop of cambrai; a watch-tower, afterwards named the tower of st. nicholas, was erected on a hillock near the island; wooden houses, with thatched roofs, began to appear on the banks and here and there on the steep hillside up which pathways, afterwards to become streets, clambered towards a promontory called the coudenberg, or cold mountain; a market was established; and the village became known as bruxelles, or (at least so it is said) 'the house in the swamp,' from _bruc_, swamp, and _celle_, house. [illustration: brussels place de brouckére.] from a long time, in the early tales about brabant, there are the usual legends of warriors and saints; but when we reach the period of authentic history there are four chief towns, louvain, brussels, antwerp, and bois-le-duc. of these the most important was louvain. in the counts of louvain became dukes of brabant. they built a castle on the coudenberg, and for the next years the court of brabant was celebrated for its power and splendour. lying in the midst of a fertile district, and on the trade-route from flanders to germany, brussels was a convenient stopping-place for travellers. but in the middle ages, when bruges, ghent, ypres, and other places were so prosperous, the history of brussels is less eventful; and it was only when the famous flemish cities were about to fall that the town on the senne became an important centre of industry. its population, too, increased rapidly, owing to the numbers of workmen who came from louvain in consequence of commercial troubles there. so trade flourished, and brussels grew rich; but the continual wars which desolated france, the chief market for the manufactures of the netherlands, did harm to the linen trade, which suffered also from the keen competition of english merchants. the raw material came from england, and by prohibiting the exportation of wool england was able to well-nigh ruin this branch of the trade of flanders and brabant. fortunately, however, for brussels, the introduction of new industries at this critical time made the damage to the linen trade less fatal, and with the growth of flax-weaving, the art of tapestry-making, dye-works, and the production of valuable armour, the town more than held its own. luxury and display followed, as usual, in the train of wealth, and brussels became a city of pleasure, of fêtes, and gorgeous festivals. the court of brabant was one of the most luxurious and dissolute in europe. the dukes set an example of extravagance which was followed by the barons who surrounded them, and also by the rich bourgeois. 'the people alone,' we are told, 'that is to say, the men without leisure, the artisans, remained apart from excesses.' there was luxury in dress, in armour, in furniture. the rich went about clad in gold brocades and other costly stuffs, attended by servants in fine liveries. their horses were richly caparisoned, and their wives and daughters spent large sums on magnificent robes, and decked themselves with jewels, and garlands from the rose-gardens for which brussels was already famous. every occasion for a fête was eagerly welcomed. not only was there the yearly 'ommegang,' that time-honoured procession through the streets of triumphal cars, bands of music, and giants, which delighted the people of brabant and flanders, but each separate guild and confraternity had its own festival. in private life every event--a birth, a baptism, a marriage, or a death--was an excuse for spending money on display. to such an extent, indeed, was this carried, that rules were made forbidding invitations being sent except to near relatives, to prevent people going to fêtes without being asked, and at length even to put some limit on the value of the presents which it was customary to give to guests. the licentious and wasteful habits of the _jeunesse dorée_ became so notorious, that there was a lock-up at each of the city gates for the benefit of young men who were living too fast. in such a state of society the money-lender saw his chance; but a law was passed making it illegal for anyone to sign a promissory note, or anticipate his inheritance, before reaching the age of twenty-eight. brussels was full of taverns, and there were parts of the town where every house was occupied by women of easy virtue. fortunes were recklessly squandered, and most of the nobles are said to have been insolvent, and to have left heavy debts behind them. not a vestige remains of the wall which surrounded this mediæval brussels except the porte de hal, at the corner where the modern boulevard de waterloo meets the boulevard du midi; and the hôtel de ville and the guild-houses in the grande place have undergone many changes since the fourteenth century. a great part of the church of ste. gudule, however--the choir and transept, part of the nave, and the south aisle--was built in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries; and during that period notre dame de la chapelle and notre dame du sablon rose on the foundations of more ancient churches. the houses, even of the rich, were still of wood, with sometimes a tower of stone, built irregularly on the hillside which rose from the valley of the senne, each house standing by itself, with its thatched roof, from which in winter the rain or melted snow poured (there were, of course, no gutters then), and found its way down to the lower ground, which was thus little better than a swamp, even long after brussels had become an important city. it was in the midst of this mixture of discomfort and luxury, so characteristic of the middle ages, that the people of brussels, and of brabant generally, passed their lives--gay, joyous, dissolute, but always with an eye to the main chance, and growing richer and richer. and in one thing brabant differed greatly from flanders. while in flanders the towns were generally at deadly feud with each other--bruges fighting with ghent, and ghent at enmity with ypres, with each town divided into hostile factions, such as the leliarts and clauwerts, within its own walls, the people of brabant seem to have lived at peace with each other, and, as a rule, to have made it their first business always to combine for the defence of their common interests. and in the middle of the fourteenth century came a time which called for mutual reliance. the last duke of brabant in the male line of the house of louvain was jean iii. he died in , leaving no heir male; and thus the succession fell to his daughter jeanne,[ ] who had married wencelas, brother of charles iv. of luxembourg. from time immemorial the rulers of brabant, on succeeding to the throne, had taken an oath to maintain the liberty of their subjects; and many charters confirming ancient rights and privileges had been drawn up for the towns and communes. before recognising the duchess jeanne and her husband, the towns of brabant addressed to them a series of demands, which they requested the new rulers to accept. these took the form of a charter enumerating and confirming all the points which constituted public liberty in brabant; and this charter received the name of the joyeuse entrée (or blyde incompste), because it was hailed with such applause by the representatives of the people. the inauguration of the duchess jeanne and wencelas took place at louvain on january , , when they swore to maintain all the ancient privileges of the country. thereafter the act of inauguration of each ruler of brabant was known as his joyeuse entrée, and each joyeuse entrée was a development of acts declaring public rights which had previously existed, just as magna charta was founded on the older liberties of england. each duke had his joyeuse entrée, which he accepted sometimes with as little goodwill as king john felt at runnymede. thus, this famous constitution, the best known and the most liberal of all the free charters in the netherlands, was not a parchment drawn up at one time, but a declaration of public rights which gradually developed.[ ] 'the inauguration of a duke of brabant was a splendid and imposing ceremony. the prince, who was lord of the noble duchy, went to make himself known to his subjects, and to confirm the relations which secured both his and their happiness. he arrived, with his courtiers, at the ancient capital of brabant, louvain. as he descended the brussels road he saw from afar the cradle of his ancestors, with its steeples, towers, and majestic walls, in the rich valley of the dyle. before entering, the heir of the old counts of louvain stopped for a little at the gates of the city, in the monastery of terbanck, where, in the midst of an immense crowd, the clergy, the officers of the university, and the magistrates, came to greet him. the brilliant assemblage then went into the chapel, where the abbess of terbanck, at the altar, took the crucifix and gave it to the highest dignitary of the church who was present, and he, approaching the duke, gave it him to kiss. the rector of the university made an oration in the name of the university and the clergy. the mayor placed in the duke's hands the red staff of justice, emblem of his office. the burgomaster gave him the keys of the city; and the pensionary of louvain welcomed him on behalf of all the local magistrates. then the procession, to the sound of trumpets, went forth on horseback through the gates, the duke and his councillors, the states of brabant, and the magistrates of louvain, to the church of st. pierre, where they all dismounted and entered the choir; and there, after prayers had been said, the prince swore to maintain the liberties and privileges of the church in brabant. thence they went to the market-place, which was between the church and the hôtel de ville. the duke took his stand on a platform with the representatives of the people of brabant, and the chancellor announced that he was about to swear his joyeuse entrée. the act of inauguration was read, first in flemish and then in french, and the duke repeated it word for word, and took an oath to the barons, nobles, towns, and franchises of the duchy, that he would be their good and loyal seigneur, and that he would not treat them otherwise than justly, and in accordance with all their rights. they clothed the duke in a robe of crimson trimmed with ermine, and put the ducal coronet of brabant upon his head. the states swore fidelity to him. the trumpets sounded. the air was filled with acclamations; and the heralds' voices crying, "long live the duke of brabant!" told the duchy that another ruler had taken possession of his heritage in accordance with ancient custom.'[ ] the 'states' of brabant grew out of the primitive method of government by an assembly of the people in the market-place, where each vassal voted in person. later, chosen representatives alone voted; and at the end of the fourteenth century the clergy began to attend as a separate order in the assembly. the name of 'États' was not used in brabant till , when the nobles, clergy, and commons called themselves the states of brabant.[ ] side by side with the states grew up the council of brabant, which was originally a consulting body, a judicial council to assist the duke in administering the law, but which gradually came to concern itself with the management of local affairs, while the states conducted the public business of the duchy. soon after the inauguration of jeanne and wencelas, the jealous and ambitious louis of maele, count of flanders, who had married jeanne's sister marguerite, made war upon brabant, and the struggle continued for years. wencelas, whom froissart describes as a wise and gallant man, was at last quite worn out by the troubles which beset him. he spent the winter and summer of - at brussels with his wife, and tried to forget his sorrows in hunting, and in a round of balls and tournaments. but his health was ruined, and, having gone to breathe his native air in luxembourg, he died there on december , . the duchess jeanne, who survived her husband for thirteen years, years of constant trouble, died on december , , at the age of eighty, after a reign of fifty years, and was buried in the old church of the carmelites at brussels. on her death the duchy of brabant passed, by a family arrangement, to the house of burgundy.[ ] under the house of burgundy, during the fifteenth century brussels became more than ever a city of pomp, gaiety, and pleasure. for nearly half a century of this period the history of brabant is full of the names of philip the good and charles the bold. philip lived generally at brussels, and this brought to the town so many frenchmen that french became the language of the court and the fashionable tongue amongst the noblesse. the old castle or palace of the dukes of brabant on the coudenberg was enlarged, and beautified by the addition of the great hall, where the knights of the golden fleece, whose order philip founded, used to hold their chapters, and which in later days was to witness the imposing spectacle of the abdication of charles v. the boundaries of the park were extended, walls were built round it, and it was stocked with game. bishops and nobles built themselves great mansions. the first stone of the magnificent hôtel de ville had been carved at the beginning of the century, and in charles the bold, then only ten years old, laid the foundations of the lofty spire, on the summit of which ten years later was placed that gilded statue of st. michael which is there to this day. the burgundian library still remains, with its wealth of illuminated manuscripts and rare books; and the paintings of roger van der weyden and his cotemporaries show how art flourished at brussels in the fifteenth century. unlike philip, charles the bold detested the people of brussels. his father, he said, had increased their riches and their pride beyond measure. he attacked the states of brabant, and threatened to pull down the walls and gates of brussels. and when, after sweeping like a tempest over europe, he died before the walls of nancy in , and the male line of the house of burgundy came to an end, it was seen that the wide domain over which his family had reigned so proudly, and which he left to his daughter marie, was torn by internal dissensions, and that the people of brabant and flanders were smarting under the inroads which had been made upon their ancient privileges. [illustration: brussels entrance to the old church of the carmelites.] the duchess marie succeeded to a splendid inheritance, but her position was full of difficulty. her treasury was empty. she had no army at her command. popular discontent was growing. her father had made the haughty burghers of ghent bow before him, but as soon as he was dead they rose again. ghent, bruges, brussels, all brabant, were seething with disaffection. payment of the taxes was refused and the officers of the government were ill-treated. and, moreover, hannibal was at the gates, in the person of louis xi., who had rejoiced on hearing of the fate of charles the bold. the inauguration of marie took place at the end of may, , five months after her father's death; and her joyeuse entrée not only renewed the public rights which philip and charles had infringed, but placed fresh restrictions on the power of the future rulers of brabant. the marriage of the young duchess to some husband who could defend her rights was seen to be the only means of preserving the peace of the country. her distrust of louis xi. led her to refuse an alliance with a french prince. she chose the archduke maximilian of austria, and thus the fortunes of brabant and flanders were united with the fortunes of the house of hapsburg, and the opportunity of peacefully absorbing belgium was lost to france. the marriage was celebrated in august, . five years later marie died, leaving a son--the boy, then four years of age, who was afterwards known as philip the fair. he in turn married joanna, daughter of ferdinand and isabella of spain; and the offspring of this marriage was the great emperor charles v., during whose reign the capital of brabant was more brilliant than ever. no story is better known than the story of how in the evil days, when philip ii. ruled the 'spanish netherlands' in the interests of the church, bréderode and his friends, hearing of berlaimont's scornful words, assumed the name of 'beggars,' by which their party was afterwards known. but how typical it is! how full their doings are of the gay spirit of brabant! it is springtime, fresh and bright, when the confederate nobles leave the mansion of count kuilemburg,[ ] a brilliant company of handsome, hot-blooded men of fashion and high birth, bearded all, and dressed in the elaborate finery of that time, and walk to the palace, where margaret of parma awaits them. they pass along the roadway which crowns the ridge, overlooking the multitude of pointed roofs below them to the left, with the spire of the hôtel de ville rising from where an opening among the housetops marks the situation of the grande place, where so many of them are afterwards to lay down their lives. the majestic towers of ste. gudule stand out above the houses which cluster round them on the plateau of st. michael. in front of them is the palace, and beyond it the green glades and pleasure-grounds of the park. a crowd of people, who have climbed up from the lower town by the long steep way known as la chausée and the montagne de la cour, greet them with cheers at the entrance of the palace. the doors of that magnificent dwelling receive the glittering band, who go with gay insouciance to their momentous interview, and come out from it in the same spirit. they walk about the streets, and pass berlaimont, who is talking to arenberg. 'look at our fine beggars!' says berlaimont. 'how they ruffle it before us!' they sup at kuilemburg's. bréderode repeats berlaimont's jest against them. they take it up. they toast 'the beggars.' they dress themselves up as beggars, with leathern wallets and wooden bowls. they laugh, and spill their wine about, drain more bumpers to the beggars' health, dance on the tables, and shout 'vivent les gueux!'[ ] not even the grave face of orange, who comes in, can stop the revel. and next day they lay aside their fine clothes, dress themselves, their families, and their servants as beggars, shave off their beards, and go about with wallets and bowls. this was the spirit of the masquerade, of the carnival, the kermesse; and thirty years later, when for a whole generation the country had suffered unexampled miseries, and most of the beggars of had perished by a violent death, the arrival of the archduke ernest as governor of brabant was made the occasion for a grotesque display--'a stately procession of knights and burghers in historical and mythological costumes, followed by ships, dromedaries, elephants, whales, giants, dragons.' a strange people. the dutch had fought with all the courage of the nervii, and gained their freedom. the belgians, descendants of the nervii, had been slaughtered, defeated, tortured, and made slaves, had seen their country laid waste, and their cherished liberties taken from them wholesale; and yet, when all was lost and the heel of the oppressor was planted firmly on their necks, they were made happy by a circus procession. footnotes. [footnote : born at brussels, june , .] [footnote : the text of the joyeuse entrée of jeanne and wencelas is given by abbé nameche, vol. iv., pp. - , and the latest form which it took will be found in poullet's _histoire de la joyeuse entrée de brabant_, pp. - .] [footnote : poullet, p. .] [footnote : 'mais bientôt les intérêts communs formèrent des associations particulières dans le seins même de l'assemblée. les nobles étaient unis par le droit de la féodalité; au treizième et au quatorzième siècle, les villes brabançonnes conclurent entre elles des traités d'alliance, et de là l'origine des ordres. on sentit alors l'inconvénient du vote individuel, et l'on admit que les individualités particulières seraient liées par la majorité des suffrages dans le même ordre': (poullet, p. ).] [footnote : wencelas and jeanne had no children. jeanne made a will leaving the duchy of brabant to her niece marguerite (daughter of louis of maele and her sister), who had married philip the bold, duke of burgundy. philip the bold and marguerite of maele had two sons--jean, who became duke of burgundy and count of flanders on the death of his father; and antoine, who became duke of brabant on the death of his mother.] [footnote : in what is now the rue des petits carmes.] [footnote : 'then for the first time, from the lips of those reckless nobles, rose the famous cry, which was so often to ring over land and sea, amid blazing cities, on blood-stained decks, through the smoke and carnage of many a stricken field.'--motley: _rise of the dutch republic_.] chapter xiv the bombardment of --the grande place--church of ste. gudule--charles of lorraine the sixteenth century closes with the cession by philip ii. of the spanish netherlands to his daughter isabella, as a dowry on her marriage to the archduke albert of austria. the king died on september , , and a year later the infanta and her husband entered brabant. when they rode through brussels in the state procession, the infanta's saddle was studded with diamonds and rubies to the value of , florins. the magistrates presented them with a magnificent service of silver plate. there were fêtes, fireworks, and illuminations, which lasted for three days. on a medal struck to commemorate this occasion, we see them seated in a triumphal chair, surrounded by sunbeams, and with olive branches in their hands. the condition of the country was deplorable, but the evils of the time seemed all forgotten in the midst of a round of festivities. the private virtues of isabella and her husband made them popular, but, needless to say, belgium was the battlefield of europe during most of the seventeenth century. these almost incessant wars culminated, so far as brussels was concerned, in the bombardment of august, . for twenty years the city had been menaced with destruction. it is said that antoinette bourignon, a noted adventuress and soothsayer, who died in , had foretold that the capital of brabant would perish by fire, and this was remembered when, in the summer of , villeroi, failing to relieve namur, which william iii. was then besieging, marched on brussels with an army , strong. in the first week of august it became known that an immense store of bombs had been prepared at mons, and that villeroi was at enghien. the french left that place on the th, and next day encamped at anderlecht, close to brussels. preparations were made for defence. the guilds furnished men; the avenues between the porte de namur and the porte de hal were fortified; and the low-lying grounds were inundated. but the french came nearer; and on the th villeroi sent in a message saying that the most christian king had ordered him to bombard the town in retaliation for the way in which the english and dutch fleets had treated the seaports of france; that, as vengeance was repugnant to the goodness of his master, he had been commanded to say that if the allies would in future refrain from such modes of warfare, he would do the same by them, and retire from before the city if, within six hours, he received a definite answer of such a nature that he could accept it. on receiving this ultimatum, the magistrates asked for time to communicate with the elector and the king of england. an hour and a half was granted, but as no answer had been sent when that time expired, some bombs were thrown, and one man was killed on the montagne de la cour. presently a message arrived from the elector asking for a delay of twenty-four hours, so that he might send for the opinion of king william. villeroi's reply was to commence the bombardment at once, and forthwith bomb-shells and red-hot shot came pouring on the town. the cannonade began at seven in the evening, and continued all night and during part of next morning. the whole city was in wild confusion, the people flying for refuge, as their dwellings took fire. there was a strong wind blowing from the west, and the flames spread from one house to another along the narrow streets, especially in the centre of the town, which was soon blazing like a vast furnace. it is said that nearly , houses were burned to the ground, and many damaged beyond repair. in the grande place, the hôtel de ville, the brodhuis, and other old buildings were almost totally destroyed. the church of st. nicholas, the tower of which was the belfry of brussels, sank in ruins. many sick persons perished in burning hospitals. convents and churches were shattered, and their ornaments, paintings, and archives disappeared. the old church of the carmelites was entirely destroyed, and of the tomb of jeanne, the last duchess of brabant, who was buried in the choir, not a trace remained. when the work of destruction was finished, and the french retired, it was seen that a great part of the city was lying in ruins. before the bombardment, the hôtel de ville was nearly in its original condition; but now the west side was demolished by the bomb-shells, the roof had been consumed by the flames, and the whole building, with the exception of the spire and the west front, was almost entirely destroyed. so that the hôtel de ville of brussels, as we see it now, is, except the spire and the façade towards the grande place, much changed from what it was previously to .[ ] so are the guild-houses--l'Étoile, the first house next to the hôtel de ville, looking from the grande place, in the fourteenth century the headquarters of the amman, or head of the trades, and once a tavern surrounded by a garden; le cygne, next to l'Étoile, which had been rebuilt in with a façade of wood; the maison des brasseurs, in the seventeenth century the guild-house of the brewers, and now a café, surmounted by a modern statue of charles of lorraine. these houses, and many more, suffered from the french shot, and had to be practically rebuilt. the most interesting building in the grande place, with the exception of the hôtel de ville, is that in the north-east corner, opposite the hôtel de ville. it is now called the 'maison du roi,' but is known to history as the 'brodhuis,' because a list of the current prices for bread used to be put up there, when it was a _dépendance_ of the hôtel de ville. it was so much damaged by the bombardment that it had to be entirely pulled down, but was rebuilt exactly on the original place in every detail. it was in the original brodhuis that egmont and horn were imprisoned, and led forth to execution in the grande place on june , . the large chamber on the third story, now the communal museum, is on the site of the room in which egmont passed his last night, and is exactly the same, except that the present roof is higher. so well was the restoration of this beautiful building done, that no great effort of imagination is needed to picture the last scenes of that dismal tragedy. [illustration: brussels the cathedral of ste. gudule.] nothing remains of the first church of ste. gudule, which is said to have stood on the spot now occupied by the nave, and to have been erected there early in the eleventh century, on the site of a still older church. the present building dates from the thirteenth century. it suffered at the hands of the reformers during the religious troubles of the sixteenth century, having been sacked and pillaged on june , . the clergy had the foresight to carry away most of their treasures before the storm burst; but many tombs and monuments were ruthlessly destroyed. the vault of the dukes of brabant was violated; but in , after the return of the spaniards, the remains which had been torn from their coffins and scattered about were collected and placed in a large wooden chest. in may, , when the vault was opened for the burial of the prince royal, son of leopold i., and brother of the present king of the belgians, a number of bones were found lying on the ground--the bones of the dukes and princes of the lordly house of brabant, the chest which contained them having mouldered away. during the french occupation, ste. gudule, which had passed uninjured through villeroi's bombardment, was closed for two years, from to , and there was a proposal to pull it down to make way for a theatre. by that time, however, brussels had several theatres; and of these the best known was the théâtre de la monnaie. until the works of the great french dramatists were introduced, the only spectacles of the nature of stage-plays known in brussels were long, dull pieces in the form generally of mystery plays. for instance, in the sixteenth century they acted, at the convent of the carmelites, the 'tragedy of the passion.' in this piece, which was in three acts, there was a chorus of children dressed as angels. news was brought to the wife of malchus that st. peter had cut off her husband's ear, on which the angels sang: 'quand pierrot coupit À malchus l'oreille le seigneur lui dit, turelututu renguaine, renguaine, turelututu renguaine, renguaine ton coutiau, dans son fouriau.' it was a great change from monkish doggerel like this to the french dramas, which, after being first played privately at the houses of some of the nobility, soon reached the general public, and created the demand for a theatre. in the old mint house, which stood in the place de la monnaie, at that time a narrow thoroughfare blocked up by wooden buildings, was bought by an architect, jean paul bombarda. he obtained leave to erect a 'hôtel des spectacles,' and was granted a monopoly of playing operas and comedies, and giving balls, for thirty years from january, . but one manager after another failed, and it seemed as if the theatre must close its doors, when the actors themselves formed in a company on the model of the comédie française, which afterwards received a subsidy from the city. from that time the fortunes of the théâtre de la monnaie, now so well known, began to mend. the present building dates from . it was during the peaceable reign of maria theresa--peaceable, at least, so far as the soil of belgium was concerned--that the theatre became so popular in brussels. brabant was then free from the troubles which had so often interfered with progress in more important things than the stage; and the people of the capital were kept in good-humour by the popularity of duke charles of lorraine, who became governor of the austrian netherlands in . in march, , he came to live permanently in brussels, accompanied by his wife, the archduchess marie, sister of maria theresa. they entered by the allée verte, then and for a long time after the fashionable promenade of brussels. a battalion of the english horse guards was drawn up on the meadows at the side of the avenue. the duke reviewed these troops; and then the cavalcade started along that green way from the palace of laeken, which so many joyful bands have trodden. the horse guards led the procession. then came charles of lorraine in a carriage, followed by ministers of state, and the lords and gentlemen of the court, attended by some squadrons of english cavalry. at the porte de laeken, the burgomaster, kneeling reverently, presented the keys of the city in a silver basin. thence they went through the streets to the hôtel de ville, and up the rue de la montagne to the church of ste. gudule, where they were received by the cardinal archbishop of malines and his clergy, who said mass. in the evening every street and square in brussels blazed with illuminations. that day was the beginning of a long period of gaiety for the pleasure-loving city. no ruler could have suited the people of brussels better than charles of lorraine. the annals of his time are full of merrymaking, the accounts of which enable us, perhaps better than graver histories do, to understand the court of the austrian netherlands in the long reign of maria theresa. in february, , we find the duke giving a 'venetian fête' in the palace of the duc d'arenberg, at which all the gay people in brussels were present. there were four quadrilles, the first consisting of eight ladies and gentlemen dressed as gardeners, the second of pilgrims, the third and fourth of peasants and sailors. a masked supper followed the dancing, and at midnight all the company, still in their masks, drove in open carriages through the streets. the coachmen were masked, as were the grooms who rode beside each carriage with torches, and so were the musicians who played before and after them on their way to the théâtre de la monnaie, where they danced and feasted and gambled till morning. charles of lorraine lived generally at the château of tervueren, where he spent large sums on stocking the woods and lakes with game and fish. 'what i must put in my park at tervueren,' he notes in his private diary--' roe bucks, hares, pheasants, wood cocks, grey hens, guinea fowls, partridges, red partridges, wild ducks. of fish-- tortoises, crabs, trout, sturgeons.' every day he jotted down in his diary all his doings, all his petty cash payments, what the members of his court did, and even the names of their mistresses. the duc d'arenberg gives jewels to la nogentelle, a danseuse at the monnaie. the dutch minister is ruining himself for la cintray, another dancer; and the english minister has lost his head over mademoiselle durancy. the prince de ligne and m. androuins spent much time and money in company with the sisters eugénie and angélique d'hannetaire. m. d'hannetaire, the father of these young women, had begun life as a comedian in brussels, and was now manager of the monnaie. he had three daughters, who went in the _demi-monde_ by the name of the three graces, and used their father's house as a place of assignation for gentlemen of quality. d'hannetaire is said to have been luckier than most managers, and to have made a large fortune, much of it by the faro-table in the foyer of his theatre, where at that time heavy gambling went on every night. duke charles was a great gourmet, and gave famous dinners, and, of course, makes a note of the wines. burgundy was evidently his own favourite tipple. he drank at least a bottle at every meal; but there was rhine wine, champagne, bordeaux, and tokay for his guests, not to speak of cognac, maraschino, and other liqueurs, all of the very best. he had red partridges sent from the tyrol; and his cash-book records ' livres paid to an express from venice with a barrel of tunny-fish in oil, and for another express from hamburg with a barrel of english oysters and black mussels.' in the official calendar of this jovial prince the names of all who worked in his kitchen are given, from the head chef down to the turnspits. the name of the chef rôtisseur, curiously enough, was rognon. the comte de sart held the important office of grand maître des cuisines. he was the darling of brussels, and so much loved that in the year , when he was very ill, the churches were never empty all day long, so many pious people went to pray for his recovery. when his health was restored there were all sorts of festivities: the fountains spouted wine; half the town got drunk; the prince de ligne had an ox roasted whole on the street in front of his mansion and given to the poor; and the first time the duke appeared at the theatre there was so much applause that the performance was stopped, and his doctor, who was seen in a box, was cheered again and again for having cured his patient. three years later, on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his coming to brabant, there were fêtes which continued for days. the hôtel de ville, the brodhuis, and all the grande place glittered with coloured lights. the comte de sart illuminated his house with , red and yellow lanterns. there was a great banquet in the hôtel de ville, where , guests, the ladies seated and the gentlemen standing, were waited on by grenadiers, and a free performance at the theatre, where two glasses of punch were given to each spectator. medals were struck to commemorate the event. the town of brussels presented the duke with , florins, and the states of brabant voted him a statue and , florins. there never was a prince so popular or so respected in brussels before or after him, and he had thirty-six long years of it. but the revels came to an end in july, , when he died at his château at tervueren, and was buried in the church of ste. gudule, in the vault of albert and isabella. five months later the news reached brussels that the empress maria theresa had died at vienna; and on the evening of december a funeral service was held in ste. gudule. mass being ended, the heralds, standing at the high altar, proclaimed the titles of the late empress. then one of them said in solemn tones: 'she is dead; may god have mercy on her soul.' and as the clergy intoned the _de profundis_, sobs were heard in every corner of the dark, vast building, amidst which toison d'or, king-at-arms, took up the sword of state, and, holding it high above his head, cried with a loud voice: 'long live joseph the second, our sovereign!' footnotes. [footnote : there is an engraving showing the ruins of the grande place in in wauters' _histoire de la ville de bruxelles_, vol. ii., p. .] chapter xv joseph ii. and the revolution of brabant it was difficult to follow an empress like maria theresa, or to find a successor to charles of lorraine in the government of the austrian netherlands. but if ever a sovereign came to a throne full of good intentions it was joseph ii.; and yet, while the easy-going charles had pleased the people of brussels for thirty-six years, the reforming joseph had in less than ten caused the revolution of brabant. it was evident that many reforms were urgent. for a long time the spirit at least of the constitution of brabant had suffered from the encroachment of the imperial government, and the country was losing its moral fibre. nor had the peaceful and happy times of the empress maria theresa rescued the people from the utter demoralization which long wars and their own submission to spain had brought about. every sphere of social life and every department of the government required to be overhauled and invigorated. moreover, the austrian netherlands were as catholic as ever. the new light of the eighteenth century had not reached the clergy, who were still groping about in mediæval darkness; and some fresh system of educating the priesthood was clearly needed. joseph ii. might thus have found his task comparatively easy if he had gone about it in the right way, and taken counsel with the representatives of the people before introducing the reforms on which he was bent. unfortunately he took a different line, asserted his personal authority, and tried to play the double rôle of an autocrat and a reformer, with disastrous results. the church was speedily offended, for in november, , the emperor issued an edict granting civil liberty to the protestants, and allowing them to build churches, to enjoy the privileges of citizenship, to take university degrees, and hold public offices. the bishops protested against all this, but they were not listened to; and another edict allowed protestants to open schools in any place where there were a hundred families of their religion, and to bury their dead according to their own rites. these measures of toleration were followed by a decree compelling the religious associations to register all their property in a new office, called the caisse de religion. the appeal to the pope was abolished; and the settlement of disputes connected with marriages was taken from the bishops, who saw their judgments submitted to the approval or disapproval of the civil powers. convents were suppressed and turned into barracks or hospitals. the emperor did his best to alter the catholic liturgy. he drew up a philosophical catechism of his own invention. he ordered the use of new vestments. marriage was to be regarded as a civil contract, and divorce was to be allowed. the most fervent adherents of the church acknowledged that new schools for the training of young priests were needed; but the emperor tried to set up a system of his own in defiance of the views of the clergy. the chief bone of contention on this point was the establishment of the séminaire générale for the education of youths who were intended for the priesthood. the university of louvain, the old capital of brabant, had been one of the most celebrated seats of learning in europe; and there the new seminary was planted by an edict of october, , which declared that the existing episcopal schools were to be abolished, and the clergy of the future to be educated at the seminary of louvain. the purpose of the emperor, it was announced in an official proclamation, was to bring back the clergy of the netherlands to 'primitive christianity,' and to substitute for the monkish system of education 'enthusiasm for their native land and attachment to the austrian monarchy,' to destroy the 'ultramontane hydra,' to teach them science and philosophy, art and letters, and reveal to them the lessons and the benefits of modern thought and progress; in a word, to make them useful citizens and give them a liberal education. but the church would have none of these things, and in the catholic netherlands the influence of the church was overwhelming. at brussels, certainly, the people were not greatly moved by these attacks on the privileges of the clergy, nor disturbed at the prospect of having a cultured priesthood, and only began to grumble when an attempt was made to interfere with the kermesses and national fêtes, in which they so much delighted; but the emperor went on to irritate the states and council of brabant, which the citizens revered as the guardians of their liberty, and from that moment his enterprise was doomed to failure. the states declared that the church reforms were illegal; but the emperor ignored their opinion. the council declared that its privileges were invaded by the establishment of a new court of appeal at brussels. and both the states and the council protested against other changes in the system of government on which the emperor had set his heart. the council continued to sit in defiance of his wishes; and the states met, and refused to vote supplies until their grievances were redressed. the joyeuse entrée had been infringed, they said; and soon, not only in brabant, but in every part of belgium, people were talking about their rights.[ ] brabant would not have been brabant if some comedy had not been acted on the political stage at such a time. 'it was at this juncture,' we read, 'that there appeared upon the scene a woman who played a great rôle in the revolution. the dame de bellem, called la pinaud, after having been a lady of fashion at brussels, began to mix herself up in political discussions with all the impetuosity of an ardent and passionate heart. her intimate relations with the advocate van der noot much contributed, no doubt, to lead her into this path, where she was followed by her daughter marianne, the muse of this period with little poetry. both of them helped the enemies of austria with their pens and their influence over the numerous young men who attended their soirées; and the smiles of these two ladies, who are said to have been very pretty, doubtless gained more partisans to the revolutionary cause than the pamphlets of the mother or the verses of the daughter.'[ ] henri nicolas van der noot, advocate and standing counsel for the trades before the council of brabant, and lover of the dame de bellem, was made president of a revolutionary committee at brussels, and put his eloquence, which was that of a mob orator, at the service of the bishops, who came forward as the defenders of the constitution. in vain joseph ii. protested that he had no wish to infringe the joyeuse entrée. van der noot thundered, la pinaud wrote, her daughter canvassed, the bishops preached against him. a service was held in ste. gudule to invoke the aid of heaven against the séminaire générale and all the new ways, and on behalf of the joyeuse entrée. on leaving the church, some young people put on tricolor cockades, and this badge was soon common in the streets. things went from bad to worse, and on may , , brussels was on the brink of revolution. an immense crowd filled the grande place, where the states were sitting in the hôtel de ville to consider an ultimatum which had come from vienna, demanding supplies and the suppression of the council of brabant. the states refused the supplies, and directed the council to sit _en permanence_. the emperor's minister, count trauttmansdorff, by turns implored and threatened. 'your resistance,' he told them, 'will ruin you.' 'the emperor,' they replied, 'may destroy us, but he cannot coerce our consciences or our honour.' troops were then marched into the grande place. a squadron of dragoons were drawn up between the brodhuis and the hôtel de ville, and the states were informed that the joyeuse entrée of brabant was suppressed. on this the marquis de prud'homme d'aillay rose, and said to the minister: 'since there is nothing more for us to do here, i am, sir, your very humble servant,' and left the hôtel de ville, followed by all the members of the states. the news from paris, where the clouds were gathering dark round the head of his sister marie antoinette, might have made joseph ii. pause; but, far away in vienna, he made up his mind to go on as he had begun. so the revolution of brabant gained force, and van der noot was the popular idol, with all brussels at his feet. on his return from a tour of agitation in the provinces he was received with royal honours: the hôtel de ville flung out its red hangings; and at the doors of ste. gudule he was met by the canons, who waved incense before him, and placed him on the emperor's _prie-dieu_. he went to the monnaie, where 'la mort de césar' was performed, and the actor who played brutus declaimed-- 'sur les débris du trône et de la tyranie, du belge indépendant s'élève le génie,' on which all the spectators rose, waving their hats and shouting 'vive la liberté! vive van der noot!' and the players crowned the demagogue with laurels, and hailed him as 'the lafayette of belgium.' [illustration: brussels old houses in the grande place.] the revolution seemed complete when the provincial states throughout the austrian netherlands proclaimed their independence, and summoned a congress of the united states of belgium. but they needed men of sterner stuff than any who could be found in the flanders and brabant of that time; and the end was not long in coming. the extreme clericals, led by van der noot, were opposed by the followers of the advocate vonck. van der noot had always relied on the hope of foreign intervention. vonck wished the belgians to work out their own salvation. van der noot and the church party were obstinately conservative. vonck and his party wished to see the expulsion of the hapsburgs followed by measures of reform. the vonckists had the worst of the quarrel, for the masses were against them, and showed their sentiments in a way which those who know brussels will understand.[ ] but the leaders of the other party lacked the ability to make head against the austrian troops which marched into brabant. the volunteer army of the catholic netherlands, deserted by its prussian commander, general schönfeldt, was disbanded; and so the brabant revolution came to naught. joseph ii. died before the end, and in the midst of all his troubles. he had yielded much. the seminary at louvain was closed, and the joyeuse entrée was restored. but these concessions came too late, and, on february , , this sovereign of good intentions passed away, while whispering in the ear of the prince de ligne, 'your country has been my death.' his brother leopold reigned in his stead. the austrians entered brussels on december , ; and a week later the ministers of austria, great britain, russia, and holland signed the convention of the hague, which confirmed to the people of the catholic netherlands all the rights and privileges which they had enjoyed under the empress maria theresa. but now the curtain was about to rise on a new scene in the history of brabant and flanders. footnotes. [footnote : 'on se mit à exhumer et à méditer les textes de nos anciens priviléges. nobles, clergé, savants, femmes, gens du peuple, tout le monde parla _joyeuse-entrée_' (de gerlache, i. ).] [footnote : wauters, ii. .] [footnote : 'on donnait au manneken'--the curious little statue in the rue du chêne--'un uniforme de volontaire, et chaque quartier de la ville avait son arbre de la liberté chargé d'allégories patriotiques ou anti-vonckistes' (wauters, ii. ).] chapter xvi the jacobins of brussels--visit of napoleon--the hundred days 'c'est la belgique,' said danton, 'qui comblera le déficit de la révolution.' the convention at paris saw in the riches of the austrian netherlands a means of filling its treasury, and supporting the failing credit of france; and its emissaries knew how to work upon the people of brabant and flanders. 'nous avons évangélisé partout,' was the report sent to paris by one of them, 'in the streets, in the clubs, in the drinking-shops, in the theatres.... we have covered the walls with placards, and made the highways resound with our hymns of liberty. we have dallied with their fanaticism, and tried to stir up the lower ranks of the clergy against the higher, and so kill priestcraft by priestcraft.' meantime the army of the republic had been at work, and on the field of fleurus jourdan completed the conquest which dumouriez had begun at jemappes. dumouriez, who understood the character of the people he was dealing with, was all for conciliation. he did not wish to bring the jacobins of paris to brussels, and raise up men like chabot and marat. he proclaimed that the french came as friends and brothers, and promised to secure the independence of the country. above all things, he wanted to conciliate the church. but most of the revolutionists sneered at the catholicism of the austrian netherlands. 'what a pity,' said camille desmoulins, 'that the priests spoil the belgians so much. one cannot but wonder at the way in which these people, while wishing to preserve their liberty, try also to preserve the cowls of their monks;' and marat, who had no patience with the moderation of dumouriez, declared that nothing would come of the war 'till a true _sans-culotte_ commands our army.' so after fleurus the austrian netherlands were made part of france. the moderate democrats of brabant had been swamped in the early days of the french revolution by the extreme men who corresponded with the jacobins at paris; and some strange scenes had taken place in the venerable grande place of brussels. a tree of liberty was set up there, round which men, women, and children danced the carmagnole; and a mob went up to the place royale chanting the '_Ça ira_' and roaring out the 'marseillaise,' fastened ropes to the statue of charles of lorraine and pulled it down. and it must have been a curious sight when dumouriez gave receptions of an evening, and artisans rubbed shoulders with men like the duc d'ursel and the duc d'arenberg, who at first, like others of the noblesse, mingled with the red-caps and joined the jacobin clubs, which seem to have been quite the fashion. ridiculous things were done at the meetings of the jacobin clubs. the advocate charles burns his diploma, and says he wants no title but _sans-culotte_, and then goes on to propose that the names of all the squares and streets of brussels be changed. there should, he told his friends, be places d'athènes, de rome, de france, and rues de jean-jacques rousseau, de brutus, de voltaire, de l'opinion, de la philosophie, du divorce. one wiseacre demands that the ancient constitution of brabant be burned on the following sunday during the ceremony of 'the benediction of the flag of the _sans-culottes_.' 'let the bust of van der noot be also burned,' he added; on which another statesman rises, and exclaims: 'je demande, moi, qu'on promène le manneken de van der noot avec celui de la pinaud, sa bonne amie.' clearly the _sans-culotte_ of brussels was a mere tinsel imitation of the genuine article at paris. at paris all was tragedy; brussels amused itself with a burlesque. but as time went on, and it dawned upon these would-be jacobins and _sans-culottes_ that the revolution meant fighting in the armies of france, and that everything in church and state was to be turned upside-down, they began to lose their tempers, and long before october, , when the formal incorporation with france took place, they were quite tired of masquerading as jacobins. five years later they were as weary of the directory as they had been of the convention; but when, in , napoleon came to brussels, he was well received. there was, however, a good deal of sham enthusiasm on that occasion, and his most successful visit was in , when he brought the empress marie louise with him. brussels then showed that, in spite of the brabant revolution, the house of austria had a strong hold on the affections of the citizens. 'voilà marie louise d'autriche!' was heard in the streets. the town gave fêtes in her honour; and one evening, when the empress was at the monnaie, and had brought with her a bouquet of tulips from harlem, which fell over the edge of her box, gentlemen ran from all parts of the theatre and picked up the fragments, which they made into button-holes. 'l'impératrice parut charmée de cette galanterie bruxelloise,' says the local account of this incident. napoleon was at laeken with marie louise when the campaign in russia was resolved on. the story goes that on receiving the news that the tsar refused to carry out the continental system, he began at once to whistle the air of 'marlborough s'en va-t-en guerre,' and ran out into the grounds of the palace in such a rage that he nearly knocked the empress down. it was at laeken that the fatal declaration of war was signed. as soon as the allies entered the netherlands after the french reverses of and , they were made welcome. between four and five o'clock on the evening of february , , the french rearguard left brussels; and about an hour later the first cossacks, a party of half a dozen, rode in by the porte de louvain, passed quickly through the city, and went on after the french army. these scouts were followed by a large force of cavalry and infantry. the prussian infantry found billets, and the cossacks lay down and slept beside their horses on the snow in the rue des fripiers,[ ] the townsfolk standing near, and wondering at their strange dress and language. soon the town was full of soldiers, some of whom remained there, while others pressed on to france. the news that paris had capitulated reached brussels on march . the bells were rung, cannon were fired, and the houses were illuminated. then, one after another, the towns which still held out surrendered. carnot alone, who was in command of antwerp, gave no sign of yielding; but in the middle of april, while the last arrangements were being made for the departure of napoleon to elba, he pulled down the tricolor, and the great stronghold on the scheldt fell, with the rest of belgium, into the hands of the allies. it was almost a fixed rule of international politics in europe, when some great war was finished and some treaty of peace was on the boards, that people should ask each other what was to be done next with the catholic netherlands. the rich inheritance of the house of burgundy was passed from hand to hand by austrians, spaniards, and frenchmen, without any statesman ever considering what might be the wishes of the inhabitants; and now, in , the great powers, at first in secret, resolved to set up a new state, consisting of holland and belgium united, and call it the kingdom of the netherlands, with william of orange-nassau on the throne. he came to brussels in july, , not yet as king, for the congress of vienna was to settle the map of europe and parcel out the spoils, but as governor on behalf of the allies; and at the end of the year his son, the prince royal, took command of the allied army in belgium. they had a gay time in brussels during that winter of - , as everyone knows. but on march the great man landed in france; and a fortnight later the orange flag was hoisted in brussels, and the new king announced that he had not intended to assume the royal authority till the work of the congress at vienna was finished, and all their decisions could be executed together, but that the recent event in france had made him resolve to wait no longer. on april the duke of wellington came post-haste from vienna, and went to live in a house next door to the hôtel de france, at the corner of the rue de la montagne du pare and the rue royale. and now during these wonderful hundred days, about which so much has been written, the eyes of all europe were fixed on paris and brussels. but there were some good folk living at ghent, who considered themselves as the most important people in the world, as well they might, considering what pains were being taken, and what oceans of blood were to be shed, in order to make it safe for them to depart from east flanders and go back again to france, whence they had lately fled in a great hurry. louis xviii. was lying on a sofa at the tuileries, suffering excruciating agonies from the gout, when a despatch was brought to him with the news that napoleon had been in france for the last five days, and was at that moment on the road to paris. instantly preparations were made for flight, with as much secrecy as they had been made for that terrible trip in the _berline_ on which another bourbon had set out so many years before. everything was kept quiet, and no one whom it was possible to hoodwink was trusted. on the night fixed for the departure one of the ministers was at the palace. the king gave him no hint; but as he was leaving the captain of the guard whispered: 'we're off in an hour; the relays are ordered; meet us at lille.' they started, and had a most uncomfortable journey. it was pouring rain. the roads were deep in mud. the royal portmanteau was stolen with all the royal wardrobe. the royal gout was most painful; and at lille the garrison was sullen. there were tricolor badges on all sides. eagles were pulled out of knapsacks, and the fleur-de-lis was nowhere to be seen. this was evidently no place to stay at long; and so the king crossed the frontier and made for ghent, where he had been offered a home in the splendid mansion of the comte d'hane-steenhuyse.[ ] he remained there comfortably until after the battle of waterloo. people who came to brussels in the first week of june were surprised to find how peaceful the town was, and how gay. everyone has read the narratives of what went on, and the story has been told over and over again, and nowhere better than in _vanity fair_, which is history in disguise in the chapters where amelia invades the low countries. on june napoleon, having crossed the frontier, was at charleroi, on the road to brussels, and all brussels was talking about the dance which the duke and duchess of richmond were giving next day at their house in the rue de la blanchisserie, in the ballroom with the paper of 'a trellis pattern with roses.'[ ] it was a strange night in brussels, that night of june , . by eight o'clock the duke has given orders for the troops to march at daybreak, for he knows that napoleon has crossed the frontier. then he goes to the ball to wait for another despatch. at eleven o'clock, when the dancing is in full swing, the message reaches him. he hastens the march by two hours, and the bugles begin to sound all over the town. 'one could hear,' says general brialmont, 'in the ballroom the rolling of cannon and the steady tramp of the regiments marching towards the forest of soignies.' the duke is in bed and asleep by two o'clock; but many of his officers dance on till it is time to rush off to their regiments. it would be useless to repeat the story of the next three days. it has been told a hundred times. the clear, refreshing dawn; the soldiers gathering from their billets; the partings; the regiments marching off, the black watch and the nd highlanders with the bagpipes playing before them, through the park and the place royale, and passing away up the rue de namur and along the road beyond, to where the soft light of early morning is beginning to shine among the glades of soignies; the sound of heavy firing on the th; the silence on the th, with the news that blucher has lost the day at ligny, and that wellington is falling back from quatre bras; the carts and material of the army moving slowly up the rue de namur all day long; the awful suspense of the th, when no one can rest. 'we walked about nearly all the morning,' says lady de ros, 'being unable to sit still, hearing the firing, and not knowing what was happening.' about three o'clock the observant mr. creevy went for a stroll beyond the ramparts. 'i walked about two miles out of the town,' he writes, 'towards the army, and a most curious, busy scene it was, with every kind of thing upon the road, the sunday population of brussels being all out in the suburbs of the porte namur, sitting about tables drinking beer and making merry, as if races or other sports were going on, instead of the great pitched battle which was then fighting.' it was an hour or so after this that the cumberland hussars came galloping through the porte de namur, down the street and across the place royale, shouting that the french were coming, and raised such a panic. it was not till late at night that the truth was known. and at ghent? they had got on there very well on the whole. the gout was troublesome, but louis xviii. had the enormous appetite of the bourbons, and ate a great deal. the comte d'hane gave a big dinner one day, at which the king managed to consume a hundred oysters for dessert. some of the courtiers used to go to a tavern in the suburbs and eat a small white fish, a dainty much esteemed at ghent, which was caught in the river there. chateaubriand, who was one of this court in exile, was at a dinner where they sat at table from one o'clock till eight. 'they began,' he says, 'with sweets and finished with cutlets. the french alone know how to dine with method.' they played whist, and went to the theatre. catalani sang for them at concerts, and also in private to please the king. when the royal gout allowed it, the king went to mass at the church of st. bavon. but during the last three days his majesty was very nervous, and kept his carriage secretly ready for another flight. [illustration: brussels rue de namur.] on the th, chateaubriand was taking a walk outside the town near the brussels gate, when a courier from alost rode up with a despatch from the duc de berri. 'bonaparte,' it said, 'entered brussels yesterday, june, after a bloody battle. the battle was to begin again to-day. the allies are said to have been completely defeated, and the order for retreat given.' all ghent was in dismay. the comte d'artois arrived and confirmed the bad news. many belgians who had been in the french army immediately started to take service once more under napoleon. preparations were made for starting at once; but at one o'clock next morning a despatch came with the news of the victory. on june the king left ghent, to mount once more the throne which had been retained for him at such a cost. the scene of the great battle is wonderfully little changed since then. the level of the ground at the centre of the ridge occupied by the allies has been lowered by the removal of earth to make the mound of the belgian lion; the tree under which the duke of wellington and his staff stood at intervals during the day is gone long since; a tramway runs past the farm of la haye sainte towards quatre bras and charleroi; and a number of houses have been built on the road between waterloo and mont st. jean. but the general aspect of the fields on which the fight took place remains the same. down to the right, looking from mont st. jean, the château of hougoumont, half destroyed by shot and fire, still remains as it was left after the battle, with its orchard walls and tall, dark trees. the farmhouse of la haye sainte, that scene of carnage, is still where it was, at the side of the road which leads down the incline, and then up from the narrow valley to la belle alliance, near which is now the monument of the wounded eagle, a memorial to the last combatants of the army which fought and lost with such matchless valour. every yard of the ground is sacred. there is, in all the world, no spot where a briton and a frenchman can meet with more profound emotions of mutual respect than on the slopes near mont st. jean. [illustration: waterloo the farm of la belle alliance and the mound surmounted by the belgian lion.] footnotes. [footnote : the street which leads from the place de la monnaie towards the bourse.] [footnote : this fine house is now no. , rue des champs, the residence of the comte de bouisies, who married the daughter of madame borluut, a direct descendant of the comte d'hane of .] [footnote : _reminiscences of lady de ros_ (lady georgina lennox).] chapter xvii the dutch government--the revolution of one day, soon after the battle of waterloo, the tsar alexander was at la belle alliance with william, king of the netherlands, and his son the prince of orange. he asked for a glass of wine, and drank to '_la belle alliance_, not only of nations, but of families.' the marriage of the grand duchess anna paulowna to the prince of orange had just been settled; and all the courts of europe believed that the troublesome question of the low countries was at last finally solved by the union of holland and belgium under the dynasty of nassau, now to be allied by marriage with one of the great powers which had placed it on the throne of the new kingdom. the english government had arranged that the prince of orange, heir to the kingdom of the netherlands, should marry the princess charlotte, heiress to the throne of england; and their engagement had been announced to the states-general at the hague in march, . but this plan had fallen through from the causes with which everyone is familiar--the objections of the princess charlotte, who did not wish to leave england, and liked the prince less the more she saw of him; her fancy for the impecunious prince leopold of saxe-coburg, whom she afterwards married; and the intrigues of the grand duchess of oldenburgh to break off the match, in order to bring about a marriage between her sister, the grand duchess anna paulowna and the prince of orange. the prince was accordingly married to the grand duchess. his character--careless, pleasure-loving, and extravagant--made him very popular in brussels, and he spent as much as possible of his time in his palace there, or at the château of tervueren. he preferred the belgians to his countrymen the dutch, whose grave ways did not suit him. soon after his marriage he sent a secret message to the duke of wellington, under whom he had served in the peninsular war and during the hundred days, asking for the duke's influence to obtain leave to fix his court at brussels. wellington refused to interfere in a domestic question, and, in reply to the prince's suggestion that his presence in brussels might help to check discontent amongst the belgians, said that he doubted the statements as to belgian disaffection, _as many persons, and even nations, were interested in breaking the union of holland and belgium_. the king and queen of the netherlands had the greatest difficulty in persuading the prince to visit them in holland. the communal council of brussels waited on them at the hague with an address of congratulation on their accession. 'i don't know,' said the queen, 'what you do to keep my son at brussels; but he is so fond of you that we hardly ever see him here.' it would have been better for the stability of his throne if the king had spent more of his own time in brussels, for signs of that discontent about which the prince had written to wellington soon began to appear, and he might, perhaps, have taken warning before it was too late, if he had known the truth. like joseph ii., william came to the throne full of good intentions; like him, he alienated the clergy at the outset; and, like him, he tried to give the catholic netherlands a liberal constitution on his own terms. his aim was to make them free and happy, but 'alone i did it' must be written over all. his character was a combination of sage ideas and dutch obstinacy; and one great root of bitterness between him and the clergy was that never-ending question of education, over which parties are fighting in belgium at the present day. it was not that he wished to make the southern provinces protestant. but he was bent on raising the intellectual standard of the country; and for this purpose he founded, amongst other institutions, the collège philosophique at louvain, where the young priests were to receive a thorough education in accordance with the spirit of the time--a scheme which the church resisted as it had resisted the séminaire générale of joseph ii., and with equal success. in a variety of ways the king alienated the people as well as the priests. though the states-general met alternately at the hague and at brussels, all the great departments of the executive were in holland. they would, indeed, have been safest there in the event of a war; but it was made a grievance that some of them were not at brussels, antwerp, or ghent. most of the officials were dutch, which was said to prove a wish for hollander supremacy, though the dutch were a minority of the population of the united kingdom. the press attacked the government, and was severely punished under a system of decrees emanating from the personal authority of the king. the use of dutch as the official language was enforced against the wishes of the majority. dutch methods of taxation were extended to belgium, and trouble was caused by the fact that holland was for free trade and belgium for protection. and of course the southern provinces were catholic and the northern protestant, which more than anything else kept them on bad terms. at last the impression became universal that the king's policy was to sacrifice the interests of the belgian provinces to those of holland; and the result was that the two great parties, or schools of thought, which had always bitterly opposed each other, the catholics and the liberals, united to oppose the government.[ ] this was in . next year the paris revolt of july, which drove out charles x., and put louis philippe on the throne of france, taught the belgians how easy it might be to get rid of a ruler with whom they were discontented; and when the news from paris came to brussels, the streets and cafés were full of men reading the papers, and saying to each other, 'that's the way to revolt! long live the barricades! long live the people!' the days passed on in brussels, with the restlessness of the population increasing. the king's birthday was august , and preparations had been made for celebrating it with unusual brilliancy. the park was to be illuminated, and there were to be fireworks at the porte de namur. but the people of brussels, in that summer of , were not to be pacified by fêtes. placards were found posted on the walls with the ominous words: 'le , feu d'artifice; le , illuminations; le , révolution.' warnings, too, reached the procureur du roi that mischief was brewing; and the festivities were abandoned, the reason being given that bad weather was expected! on the evening of the th auber's 'muette de portici' was to be played at the monnaie. this opera had been more than once forbidden lest it should cause disturbances; but now permission had been granted to perform it, and the theatre was full. every song of revolt was cheered, and the climax came with the words of the duet in act : 'amour sacré de la patrié, rends-nous l'audace et la fierté?' the audience rose and rushed out into the place de la monnaie, inflamed by the songs they had just heard, and shouting, 'liberty! liberty!' then the mob gathered and rioting began. the old flag of brabant was hoisted on the hôtel de ville, and the town was in an uproar for the next two days. orders were sent from the hague to put down the 'rising' by force, and dutch troops under the command of prince frederick, the king's second son, marched on brussels. for nearly a month threats, promises, negotiations were tried. but the insurgents refused to yield. paid agitators went about among the people; men of high standing took the lead in organizing the revolt; barricades were erected; volunteers came in from all parts; the bishops pulled the strings behind the scenes, and the country clergymen instigated their parishioners to rebellion; the whole of flanders and brabant was soon up in arms, and on september the dutch advanced to attack brussels. three days of desperate fighting in the streets followed. the dutch held the park in force, but could not penetrate into the place royale, which was defended by a strong barricade. every house in the rue royale was full of insurgents, who fired from the windows on the dutch. in other parts of the city there was the same stubborn resistance. for three days the struggle continued. at sunset the firing ceased, and the working men in their blouses sat drinking and boasting of their exploits in the cafés, while their leaders met at the hôtel de ville and took counsel for the morrow, and the dutch bivouacked in the park and on the boulevards. each morning at dawn the tocsin sounded from ste. gudule, and the people rushed to the barricades. at daybreak on september all was quiet when a small party of the insurgents stole into the park, and went forward under cover of the trees. they found it empty. the night had been very dark, and in the small hours the dutch had left in silence, and were now marching away from brussels. it was a day of brilliant sunshine, and while the bourdon was sounding from the towers of ste. gudule, and horsemen were riding out into the country with the news, the populace flocked to the palace. the men of the blouse, their hands and faces black with gunpowder, merchants, priests, lawyers, well-dressed ladies and ragged harridans, boys and girls, young and old, went in, pushing, laughing, singing. they did little damage, but hacked and cut the portraits of the king--the poor king who had meant so well by his kingdom. the queen's private rooms were examined, and her wardrobes opened. one lad found a rich dress, 'a magnificent robe of ceremony--white velvet embroidered with gold.' he pulled it out, put it on, and over it a mantle of orange colour. with a hat '_a là_ marie stuart' on his head, he sallied out. the mob, crying, 'the queen is prisoner!' surrounded him with shouts of laughter, and then tore off the finery and trailed it in the dust. a marble bust of the king was brought out. they put a crown of dutch cheese upon it, and carried it about with cries of 'down with the first and last king of the netherlands!' many lives had been lost during the fighting; but this was brussels. it was all very different from paris and the downfall of louis and marie antoinette. the chief work of the congress of vienna was undone; and king william instructed baron falck, his ambassador at the court of st. james's, to ask for intervention on his behalf. the british government replied that troops could not be sent; that the five great powers were to meet in london; and that the policy of great britain would be to prevent the troubles in the netherlands leading to a breach of the peace in europe. how the plenipotentiaries of great britain, france, russia, austria, and prussia met in conclave on the weary question of the low countries; how this conference of london recognized the independence of the catholic netherlands, defined their boundaries, and made them neutral; how at the same time a national congress at brussels declared that the house of nassau had forfeited the throne, chose as the first king of independent belgium prince leopold of saxe-coburg, and framed, under the influence of lamennais and his disciples, a constitution whose democratic principles breathe the spirit of the joyeuse entrée of brabant, are events which form a part of the general history of modern europe. footnotes. [footnote : the question of tariffs was one bond of union. at a political dinner on july , , when the toast of the union of catholics and liberals was given, one of several maxims on the walls was: 'notre industrie, agricole et manufacturière, a besoin d'un système de protection sagement pondéré; sans cette protection, le travail étranger viendrait prendre bientôt sur notre marchéla place du travail national' (c. rodenbach: _Épisodes de la révolution dans les flandres_, p. ).] chapter xviii the vicissitudes of antwerp when napoleon was at antwerp in , he spoke to the communal council about the miserable condition of the place. 'it is little better,' he said, 'than a heap of ruins. it is scarcely like a european city. i could almost have believed myself this morning in some african township. everything needs to be made--harbours, quays, docks; and everything shall be made, for antwerp must avail itself of the immense advantages of its central position between the north and the south, and of its magnificent and deep river.' antwerp was indeed a pitiable sight. its trade had sunk to nothing. rows of squalid houses, with wooden gables years old, looked down upon canals choked up with slime and filth. the wharves on the banks of the noble river scheldt were mere heaps of rotten timber. half the churches, from which the stained glass and rich ornaments of former days had long since departed, were closed. grass was growing in the deserted streets; and the walls of this desolate city contained a population which numbered only some , souls. such in the beginning of the nineteenth century was the state of antwerp, which had once been the centre of european commerce and the greatest seaport in the world. [illustration: antwerp the cathedral--chapel of st. joseph.] the position of antwerp, close to the estuary of the mighty stream which brought it within reach of the markets, not only of flanders, but of every part of the world which could be reached by water, had made it from an early period one of the chief cities of brabant. but for a long time bruges and ghent, after their formidable rival ypres had sunk into insignificance, absorbed most of the commerce of the netherlands. these splendid cities fell; the commerce which had made them great found its way to antwerp; and by the middle of the sixteenth century, when the waters of zwijn, which had carried so many costly bales to bruges, were drying up, the broad expanse of the scheldt was covered by innumerable ships threading their way up to where the merchant princes of italy, germany, and england had established themselves, in a city which was now greater than even venice or genoa. every week , waggons heavily laden entered antwerp. silk, satin, velvet, and tapestry; gold, silver, and precious stones; spices and sugar from portugal and spain, now enriched by their conquest of the indies; wines from france and germany--all found their way to antwerp. the manufactures of the flemish towns were sent down the highway of the scheldt to the most distant parts of the world; but england, spain, and portugal were the countries to which most of the cargoes were exported, and these were so rich that on one occasion the contents of thirteen ships taken by pirates were valued at , _écus d'or_.[ ] already, under the dukes of brabant and burgundy, the city had grown far beyond its original limits; but the wealth, the magnificence, and the vastly increased population which the remarkable prosperity of the sixteenth century brought with it, led charles v. to issue a decree that the walls must be extended, and the boundaries now became those which enclosed it until recent times. the cathedral church of notre dame, still the glory of antwerp, was the largest and the richest ecclesiastical building in the netherlands. not far from the cathedral was the vleechhuis, now known as the vieille boucherie, a solid building of red brick relieved by courses of white stone, with five hexagonal turrets, erected by the guild of butchers, the interior of which was in those days ornamented with elaborate carvings, paintings, and marble statues. it is now surrounded by mean houses in the most squalid part of the town; but its massive appearance, even in decay, gives an idea of the power and wealth of what was not the most powerful nor the wealthiest of the guilds. in the grande place, as in the grande place of brussels, were other guild houses, distinguished by their quaint gables and towering façades, each the home of some great corporation. there, too, was the hôtel de ville, built of marble, and called 'the wonder of the world,' lately erected to take the place of an earlier structure which was no longer considered worthy of the antwerp which, having dethroned her rival bruges, was now called by her proud inhabitants the 'queen of the north.' in all parts of this opulent city bankers and merchants--fuggers, greshams, stettens, spinolas, and many more--had built for themselves luxurious houses, and met daily at the bourse, where more business was done than anywhere else in europe. [illustration: antwerp the vieille boucherie.] but within a period of ten years two events took place, the first of which destroyed the internal beauty of the cathedral, and the second of which began the downfall of the commercial prosperity of the city. in the yearly ommegang was fixed for sunday, august . those who have seen the crowds which, in our own time, gather in the towns of belgium when the streets are perambulated by the processions which still are so attractive to the people of the catholic netherlands, may form some conception of the intense hostility which was excited in the hearts of the reformers by the superstitious reverence paid to the jewelled image of the virgin, which was that day carried through the streets of antwerp. for the inquisition had already been at work for fifteen years, and thousands had already gone to the scaffold or perished at the stake, and no man's life was safe who did not bow the knee at the bidding of the gloomy despot who was persecuting the country in the name of the catholic church. the image of the virgin, the gorgeous vestments of the priests, the ornaments of the churches, the banners of the religious societies, the incense which filled the air, nay, the very host itself, were all so many symbols of oppression. no wonder, then, that after the procession had returned to the cathedral the battle-cry of 'long live the beggars!' was like a match applied to gunpowder, and that the fury of the common people broke out. seventy marble altars, among them an altar of the holy sacrament which had been forty years in building, were destroyed. three organs, the finest in christendom, were shattered into splinters. the woodwork of the church, stalls, confessionals, pulpits, carved chairs, were broken up. the statues of the saints were cast down. the magnificent vessels of gold and silver, the richly embroidered robes and banners, were trampled under foot. the beautifully tinted windows were demolished. the image of the virgin was torn to pieces. when the work of vandalism came to an end, it was wonderful that the building itself had escaped destruction. no blood was shed by the protestants when they wrecked the cathedral of antwerp, not even that of a single priest; no woman was insulted, nor was any plunder carried away by the rioters.[ ] but in ten years came the orgy of robbery, murder, and rape known as 'the spanish fury.' [illustration: antwerp old houses in the rue de l'empereur.] the citadel, built by alva to overawe the town, was occupied in by a garrison of spaniards whose pay was in arrears, and who cast longing eyes on the el dorado lying ready to their hands. the defenders were a body of germans and walloons who had just come from brussels. these were mercenaries and not to be depended on, and the burghers themselves were not so hardy as of old. on the morning of november the spaniards, reinforced by a troop of mutineers from alost, rushed through a thick mist which hung over the marshes of the scheldt, and burst into the city. for three long days the streets ran blood. men, women, and children were put to the sword without mercy. public buildings and private dwellings were plundered. the whole town was set on fire. women were violated; there were cruel torturings; and every possible crime was committed. many were drowned in the river while trying to escape. piles of dead lay in the grande place. of the hôtel de ville, where the burgomaster and most of the magistrates met their death, nothing remained but the bare walls. the archives of the city perished in the flames. eight thousand corpses lay among the smouldering ruins--for this massacre was more deadly than the massacre of st. bartholomew's day. 'the city, which had been a world of wealth and splendour, was changed into a charnel-house, and from that time its commercial supremacy was blasted.'[ ] within four years of the spanish fury almost the whole trade of antwerp had been transferred to amsterdam, and the time of the final catastrophe was at hand. the pacification of ghent, which bound all the provinces of the netherlands in a league against spain, followed hard on the spanish fury of antwerp; but the northern and the southern provinces quickly drifted apart, and in three years were rent in twain. the diplomacy of the prince of parma was as fatal to the cause of freedom as the fires of alva. holland stood firm and was saved in the long, weary struggle. belgium halted between two opinions, and was lost. brussels, the political capital, held out until it was starved into surrender; bruges capitulated; and most towns of note sooner or later were taken, or made their peace humbly with spain. but to obtain possession of antwerp was a matter of far greater importance than the fate of any other town, and the siege, which parma conducted with so much energy and skill, was the most serious military operation during the contest in the netherlands. for antwerp, though doomed to destruction by the spanish fury and sinking rapidly, was still the commercial capital of the netherlands. 'antwerp was the hinge on which the fate of the whole country, perhaps of all christendom, was to turn. "if we get antwerp," said the spanish soldiers--so frequently that the expression passed into a proverb--"you shall go to mass with us; if you save antwerp, we will all go to conventicle with you."'[ ] the population was large, about one hundred thousand. the hôtel de ville, the centre of the civic life, had already been rebuilt; the city, in spite of its frightful loss of trade, had not yet abandoned all hope of recovering its position; and william the silent, before his death in , had pointed out the means of defence--to destroy the dykes which kept the scheldt within its bed, and flood all the meadows round the city, so as to prevent the spaniards blockading the river by erecting a bridge, which would bar the passage of the ships on which the city would--in the event of a siege--depend for supplies of food. this advice was not taken. the guild of butchers, whose flocks fed on the meadows which it was proposed to flood, objected, met in the vleechhuis, and sent a deputation to the magistrates, who quailed before them. other guilds, together with most of the citizens, refused to believe that the scheldt could be bridged, and the magistrates decided not to follow the plan of the prince of orange. parma, therefore, was able to occupy the banks of the river, and to build forts which threatened the town and protected the army of workmen who were soon busily engaged in constructing the bridge which was to close the channel. at the same time, while his own position remained dry, the dykes at some distance had been opened, and the plains for miles around were turned into a waste of shallow water. [illustration: antwerp archway under the vieille boucherie.] the siege lasted for seven months. for some time food reached the city in ships which succeeded in forcing their way up from flushing and past the spaniards; but blockade-runners expect a big return for their risks, and when the magistrates were so foolish as to put a limit on the price of wheat, the supplies from outside came to an end. the building of the bridge went on, slowly but surely. the weather was cold and stormy. the river, in winter flood, made the task almost impossible; but the spaniards toiled on with wonderful patience and courage, and at last, on february , , their work was finished, and the scheldt was closed. the garrison made desperate efforts by sallies, fire-ships--everything they could think of--to destroy parma's work, but all in vain. the citizens trembled at the prospect of a famine. england and holland were sending help; but stout hearts like those which, a century later, maintained the defence of londonderry till the boom was broken, were not to be found in antwerp. negotiations were opened, and, after a long time spent in discussing terms, the capitulation was signed on august , . the terms of the surrender were not hard. an amnesty was granted, and the garrison received the honours of war; but on one point philip was inexorable--there must be no liberty of conscience, no religion but that of rome. what this meant to antwerp was soon apparent. the reformation had many disciples there.[ ] they were called upon to choose between giving up their religion or leaving the country. a period of two years was fixed, during which the protestant merchants and the protestant workmen of antwerp, on whose business capacity and labour the prosperity of the city depended, might leave their places of business and abandon their homes; and in order that the rising generation should breathe, from their earliest days, a purely orthodox atmosphere, parma was instructed to see that the selection of teachers was left in the hands of the jesuits, so that no protestants should have a voice in the education of the young. antwerp suffered from this policy of intolerance in the same way as, exactly one hundred years afterwards, france suffered from the revocation of the edict of nantes. the flower of the population left, carrying with them what remained of their wealth and, a greater loss, their skill and habits of industry. 'the poor city is most forlorn and poverty-stricken, the heretics having all left it,' were parma's own words.[ ] [illustration: antwerp the concierge of the musée plantin-moretus.] the people of antwerp might well have applied to themselves the words used by gerard truchses of cologne, when lamenting the supineness of the german princes during the death struggle against rome and the escurial: 'we shall find our destruction in our immoderate desire for peace.' peace they had obtained, but a peace which brought them no relief, and left them face to face with starvation; for sidney--that sidney of whom tradition tells the well-known story of his cup of water given to the wounded soldier--saw to it that not one bushel of wheat was carried up the scheldt past flushing, which he held as governor for the queen of england, to what was now a spanish town.[ ] for twenty-four years the scheldt was rigorously blocked by the fleets of holland; and the commerce of antwerp, which parma would fain have restored, disappeared altogether. a gleam of hope came when, in , the twelve years' truce was signed at antwerp by the representatives of the archdukes albert and isabella and the states-general of holland. but the city had fallen so low that many years would scarcely have sufficed to raise it; and whatever progress followed the truce came to an end with the treaty of münster. the closing of the scheldt had become a political dogma with the dutch; and the fourteenth article of the treaty kept it closed against the trade of brabant and flanders, to the great benefit of the seaports of holland.[ ] about the year , amongst the pupils at one of the schools established by the jesuits at antwerp after the great siege, was a boy whose parents had given him the apostolic name of peter paul. his father was joannes rubens, a distinguished lawyer, who had been a magistrate of antwerp at the time of the image-breaking in the cathedral, and whose name was in the list of persons suspected of calvinism. the burgomaster and magistrates solemnly assured the government that he was above suspicion; but rubens, who undoubtedly was a calvinist, fearing the inquisition, left the city and went to germany with his wife. there he was involved in an intrigue with anna, daughter of the elector maurice, and second wife of william the silent. rubens was sent to prison, and thereafter banished to siegen, where his wife joined him. the princess, after being kept in close confinement for some years, died in . in that year, the year before the spanish fury, and on june , being the eve of the festival of st. peter and st. paul, was born the boy who afterwards became the famous painter. ten years after the birth of his son joannes rubens died at cologne, and his widow, returning to antwerp, took up her abode in the house where she had formerly lived with her husband, in the place de meir. there young rubens passed his schooldays. if the cupboards were bare at antwerp at that time, the confessionals were full, and the widow, having abjured the errors of calvinism, sent her son to the schools which, ever since the surrender to parma, had been in the hands of the catholic clergy. when his education was finished he went to learn painting from venius, whose studio was then in a street called the rue sale,[ ] because, it is said, of its extreme dirtiness, and also from van noort, who taught in the rue du jardin. thereafter he travelled for eight years in italy and spain, gaining friends and painting, always painting, and studying art. news reached him that his mother was ill, and he hurried back to antwerp, but found on his arrival that she was already dead. having no longer any home ties, he was on the point of returning to italy, and antwerp nearly lost him, when the archdukes albert and isabella persuaded him to remain. this was in . next year he married isabelle, daughter of jean brant, town clerk of antwerp, and set up house in the rue du couvent, where many of his best-known works were painted. he soon, however, built the mansion in which he lived for the rest of his life, in what is now called the rue rubens,[ ] to the south of the place de meir. he drew the plans himself on the model of some palace he had known in italy, painted frescoes on the walls, and filled it with curios he had collected during his travels. in his large garden he put up a domed 'pantheon,' where he arranged the paintings, antique statues and busts, cameos, medals, vases of porphyry, and other treasures which his friends in italy sent him. his studio was a vast room, from which the largest canvases were easily brought down by a staircase which one of his biographers describes as like that of a royal palace. we know a great deal about his mode of life at antwerp, and how he was sent journeying on diplomatic errands by the court of albert and isabella to france, spain, holland, england, and everywhere received with honour. at home, early in the morning (he rose at four in summer), having already been to mass, he is at work in his studio, and loves to listen as he paints to some friend who will read to him from cicero or plutarch, or, brush in hand, talks with endless vivacity to the guests who have come to call on him. after a walk in his garden he dines frugally and very soberly, for he dreads, we are told by van hasselt, the effect of wine on his imagination; and then he works on in his studio till late in the afternoon, when he mounts one of his fine horses and rides till after sunset. in the evening he sups as frugally as he dined, and finishes the day at home in a circle of his most intimate friends, the only society for which he cared. this busy, happy life of antwerp's greatest citizen closed on may , . the statue in the place verte[ ] was erected to commemorate the two-hundredth anniversary of his death; but the fruit of his laborious days is the best monument of his fame. close to the place verte is the marché du vendredi, where, in , christopher plantin, 'the rubens of the printing-press,' set up his works. the story of plantin's life is a romance of labour. he was born at tours in , of a wealthy family called tercelain; but, his father having lost his fortune, he changed his name to plantin, and found employment at caen as a bookbinder. having married there, he went to antwerp, and opened a small shop, in which he worked at his own trade while his wife sold cloth. the story goes that one night during the carnival he was wounded by some masqueraders, who mistook him for another person. to hush up the affair they paid him a sum of money, with which he bought a press and types, began to print almanacs and books for children, and did this so well that he soon had a flourishing business. [illustration: antwerp the place verte.] the first important work produced at the plantin press was 'l'instruction d'une fille de noble maison,' a translation from the italian, which appeared in . his reputation grew, and in thirteen years he was able to purchase the site at the marché du vendredi. his name, like that of joannes rubens, was on the list of suspected calvinists after the image-breaking, and his printing-house was searched. but nothing was found to support the charge of heresy, and his orthodoxy must have been established beyond doubt, for philip not only employed him to produce the famous polyglot bible, but gave him the monopoly of printing missals and breviaries for the whole of the spanish empire. after his death in , the business, which now had branches in paris, leyden, and frankfort, was carried on by his son-in-law, jean mourentorff, whose family afterwards changed their name, in accordance with the pedantic fashion of the day, to moretus. the musée plantin-moretus, with the dwelling-rooms and their renaissance furniture; the type and presses of the sixteenth century; the old proof-sheets, looking as if the printer's reader had just left them; the tapestry and paintings; and the quaint courtyard with the aged vine-tree, which traditions say was put there by plantin himself--is the place of all others where some idea may be formed of the family life and surroundings of a wealthy business man in the netherlands years ago. [illustration: antwerp the musée plantin-moretus (the arrière boutique).] but though rubens had painted and the firm of plantin had printed and grown rich, the scheldt was all the time rolling down to the sea with scarcely one sail upon it; and the shipping trade of antwerp was still at the mercy of the dutch when the eighteenth century came in. the treaty of utrecht gave the catholic netherlands to austria, but did not free the scheldt. on the contrary, the stipulations of the treaty of münster were confirmed; and when in , a century since parma took antwerp, joseph ii. demanded the opening of the great river, this same treaty of münster was unrolled as a reply. thus, when the french revolution came, and the army of the republic took possession of the austrian netherlands, the scheldt had been blocked and the shipping trade of antwerp ruined for more than years. in november, , the convention declared the scheldt a free river, and ordered its generals to carry out this declaration by force of arms against the dutch. mr. pitt was ready to remain neutral in the war between france and austria; but to this infringement of the treaties of münster and utrecht, which had given the exclusive navigation of the scheldt to the dutch, he would not agree. apart from the question of treaty rights, that the coast-line from the scheldt westwards, with antwerp at one end and dunkirk at the other, and from the scheldt northwards to the texel, should be in the hands of france suggested a constant danger of invasion; to say nothing of possible injury to the commerce of england from the restrictions which an unfriendly power might place on english trade with antwerp, if antwerp, as was certain, became once more a great seaport when the scheldt was free. england was about to recognize the republic when this question of holland and the scheldt made war inevitable. thus once more antwerp was the hinge on which the peace of europe turned. though the scheldt became a french river in , after the treaty of campo formio, and though the convention of the hague had already abolished the shipping dues, antwerp had made no progress towards recovery when napoleon went there in . he deepened the harbour, strengthened the fortifications, expended immense sums on improving the communications with amsterdam and other places in the netherlands, and purposed making the great seaport opposite the mouth of the thames his chief naval station. he even planned the building of a new city. england was equally aware of the value of antwerp. the walcheren expedition, that costly failure,[ ] was undertaken to strike a blow at this vital spot; and the conference of chatillon, in , broke down because napoleon would not relinquish antwerp. he could not make up his mind to let it go. long afterwards he said: 'antwerp was to me a province in itself. it was the principal cause of my exile to st. helena; for it was the required cession of that fortress which made me refuse the terms offered at chatillon. if they would have left it to me, peace would have been concluded.' and it was still in his possession when the end came. carnot was there--'iron carnot, far-planning, imperturbable'--and held the fortress till the emperor abdicated. trade revived with the creation of the kingdom of the netherlands. by the population had increased to between , and , . there was a strong orange party in the city during the belgian revolution, for the scheldt is to antwerp what the nile is to egypt--its life; and the union with holland insured the freedom of the river. antwerp, however, suffered more at that time from the dutch than brussels. general chassé, an old soldier of the empire, who had lived there for some years, was in command of the troops in the citadel.[ ] he had under him between , and , men. the forts and ramparts were armed with nearly heavy guns, and in the scheldt, close to the town, were nine ships of war. an exchange of shots between some of the belgian insurgents and the dutch was followed by a furious bombardment. for seven hours the citadel, the forts on the other side of the river, and the ships continued their fire. the houses shook with the noise of the big guns and the rattle of musketry. the terror and confusion were indescribable in the streets, which were lighted up, after darkness fell, by the flames roaring from the church of st. michael, which was burned to the ground. a great deal of damage was done, but fortunately the ships were so close to the shore that their shot passed over the housetops, otherwise the whole of antwerp might have been destroyed. the spire of the cathedral was a conspicuous object, rising high above the place verte in the most crowded part of the town. the shells flew past it and over it, but only three did any harm, one bringing down a turret, and two crashing through the roof and bursting in the nave. the wind carried the sound of the cannonade to brussels, where, after sunset, the people saw the sky glowing red in the east; and some members of the revolutionary government were sent to antwerp, who arranged an armistice. the dutch remained in possession of the citadel; but this bombardment, which took place on october , , put an end to the last lingering hopes of a reconciliation between the belgian provinces and the house of orange-nassau. [illustration: antwerp the roadstead from the tête de flandre.] since the trade of antwerp has increased enormously, and not very long ago the scheldt was so congested with shipping that no vessels were allowed up unless they were regular liners, as there were no free berths in the docks. this fact speaks for itself. antwerp is now the greatest port on the continent of europe. in the world london stands first, with new york second, but antwerp comes third; and to meet this huge trade three miles of additional quays are to be constructed within the next few years. last year the burgomaster of the city said that the mercantile marine of great britain was so pre-eminent there that antwerp was, 'from a commercial point of view, one of the most important british ports in the world.' germany and england, however, are engaged in a struggle for supremacy. they are ahead of all rivals; but the shipping companies of hamburg and bremen are the most powerful in the city, and, although during the last twenty years british trade has steadily increased at antwerp, german trade has increased still more, and seems to be rapidly overtaking that of england. the presence in force of the german element on the banks of the scheldt is the most striking feature of modern antwerp. an extraordinary hold on its commerce and industries has been secured, as well as on the social life of the city. the chamber of commerce is full of german members. there is a german colony many thousands strong. there are german clubs and schools, and numberless clerks from all parts of germany are to be found in business houses. these facts give some colour to the prediction, so often heard, that the time is approaching when antwerp will be under the german zollverein, and that this will be the first step towards the realization of those ambitions which, beginning with a commercial alliance with holland and belgium, are to find their victory in the absorption of those countries, or, at least, of holland and antwerp, in the german empire. it is well known that the netherlands believe their independence to be in danger. the belgian government purposes spending millions in extending the fortifications of antwerp. on all hands the durability of the settlement made by the conference of london in - is called in question. great interests are involved; and it is within the possibilities of the future that antwerp may be, yet once again, the hinge on which the peace of europe turns. the mouth of the scheldt is still where it was in the days of napoleon--opposite the mouth of the thames. footnotes. [footnote : moke, p. ( rd edition).] [footnote : see motley, _rise of the dutch republic_, part ii., chap. ii., for the evidence as to this.] [footnote : motley, _rise of the dutch republic_, part iv., chap. vi.] [footnote : motley, _history of the united netherlands_, chap. v.] [footnote : 'nulle part en belgique les nouvelles croyances n'avaient jeté des racines aussi profondes' (moke, ). the rue de tournai was the quarter where most calvinists were to be found. from the list of suspected persons, drawn up in , it would appear that barely half a dozen families living there were free from the charge of heresy.--thys: _historique des rues et places publiques de la ville d'anvers_, p. .] [footnote : 'in a very few years after the subjugation of antwerp, it appeared by statistical documents that nearly all the manufactures of linen, coarse and fine cloths, serges, fustians, tapestry, gold embroidery, arras-work, silks and velvets, had been transplanted to the towns of holland and zeeland, which were flourishing and thriving, while the flemish and brabantine cities were mere dens of thieves and beggars.'--motley: _history of the united netherlands_, appendix to chap. v.] [footnote : the battle of zutphen, at which sir philip sidney received the wound from which he died, was fought on october , , thirteen months after the surrender of antwerp.] [footnote : the proper reading of article xiv. of the treaty of münster was disputed. see de gerlache, i. . however, 'quoi qu'il en soit,' says baron de gerlache, 'l'escant demeura fermé; les hollandais en tenaient les deux rives; le commerce d'anvers et de la belgique fut ruiné par la faiblesse et la lâcheté de l'espagne, et par la connivence égoïste des autres puissances.'] [footnote : now the rue otto-venius.] [footnote : then the rue de la bascule, or 'wapper,' a broad street with a canal in the middle, filling up, apparently, the space between the east side of the modern rue rubens and the west side of the modern rue wappers. in , when rubens built his house, the canal which used to run down the middle of the place de meir had been vaulted over for some time.] [footnote : the churchyard of the cathedral till .] [footnote : napoleon thought that the expedition was wisely conceived, and that, if it had not been so foolishly executed, antwerp might have been taken by a _coup de main_. as to the tactics of the english generals, 'c'était le comble de la bêtise et de l'inhumanité,' he said (o'meara, _napoleon at st. helena_, i., ).] [footnote : 'il commandait depuis quelques anneés à anvers, où ses aventures amoureuses lui avaient donné une terrible réputation. c'était une sorte de lovelace en cheveux blancs, forte redouté des mères de famille.'--de leutre, ii. .] liÉge and the ardennes liÉge and the ardennes chapter xix the principality of liÉge the map of belgium during the middle ages, and down to the period of the french revolution, shows the outlines of a large territory lying to the south of brabant. on the west it extends to the french dominions; on the east are germany and the duchy of limbourg; the duchy of luxembourg bounds it on the south. this territory was known as the principality of liége. the aspect of this part of belgium is entirely different from that of the other provinces. the river semois, rising near arlon, the capital of belgian luxembourg, flows through quiet meadows, a slow and placid streamlet, bordered by rushes and willow-trees, till it reaches the western extremity of the mountainous forests of ardennes. there it enters a narrow winding valley, thickly wooded, with rocky dells, and banks so precipitous that in some places there is not even a footpath, and travellers must pass from side to side in boats when making their way along the margin of the stream. emerging from this defile, it crosses the french frontier, and joins the meuse near monthermé. from thence the meuse flows to the north till it enters belgium a short distance beyond the town of givet. the romantic valley of the meuse stretches on for miles, past hastière, with its abbey of the eleventh century, peaceful waulsort, in former times a benedictine settlement, but now a favourite summer resort, and the picturesque château of freyr, with its well-ordered gardens. on either side are steep slopes clothed with trees, and broken here and there by bold, outstanding pinnacles of rock. the sweet village of anseremme straggles along the road beside the river; and near it the lesse rushes down, between overhanging trees and towering cliffs, to meet the meuse. then comes dinant, nestling on the right bank of the river, below the fortress which rises on the steep hillside. from dinant the meuse winds on to where the sambre joins it at namur, and so onwards to liége and maestricht. [illustration: the chÂteau de waulsort on the meuse] to the south of this valley of the meuse, for mile after mile, a broad, undulating tableland is covered by thick forests, where deer and wild boars abound, or opens out into a wide rolling country, dotted with villages, farm-houses, church spires, modern châteaux, and the ruins of feudal strongholds perched on inaccessible rocks. the appearance of this region has thus nothing in common with any other part of belgium, with the flat, densely populated plain which extends southwards from the coast of flanders. the people, too, are different--of quite another type, and speaking, most of them, another tongue. for this is the country of the walloons, that hard-working race whose aptitude for strenuous labour distinguishes them from the light-hearted, easy-going people of flanders and brabant, and whose language is a form of old french mingled with words derived from german roots. while, moreover, the old-time history of northern belgium is the history of great commercial cities, rolling in wealth and trading to all parts of the world, with the merchant princes and the members of the guilds for their great men, the history of these southern provinces is the long story of how the principality of liége was evolved out of the chaos of small lordships which existed in the sixth century, and was governed, not by laymen, but by a dynasty of priests, who made war and concluded alliances on equal terms with the surrounding princes. it is a story of feudal barons, of the romance of chivalry, of terrible deeds, of ferocious bandits, of bishops who led armies into the field and shed blood like water, often for very trifling causes. when, at the end of the fifteenth century, belgium was the most opulent country in europe, the valley of the meuse and the wide forest of ardennes remained a waste. when, under the house of burgundy, flanders and brabant flourished and grew rich, the principality of liége was impoverished and steeped in misery. it remained separate and independent, and has, therefore, a history of its own--the history of a state governed by the clergy, the nobles, and the people; where taxes could not be levied without the assent of these three estates; where no man could be condemned except by the judges, and in accordance with the laws; where such a thing as arbitrary arrest was unknown, at least in theory; where the home of the poorest subject was inviolable; but where, in spite of all these privileges, year after year saw one revolution follow another, all the horrors of foreign and domestic war, and innumerable acts of cruelty, oppression, and treachery. [illustration: chÂteau de walzin, in the lesse valley] this state of things continued, with scarcely a pause, till the close of the seventeenth century, after which the country, though exhausted, prolonged its independence for another hundred years, till, with the rest of belgium, it was annexed to france, and broken up into several departments. in later days, from the fall of napoleon and the congress of vienna down to the present time, it has shared the fortunes of the modern kingdom of belgium. the whole story cannot be told within the compass of a few pages; but enough may be set down to excite, perhaps, the interest of those who may chance to travel in this part of europe. chapter xx early history of liÉge--bishop notger--the court of peace as to the town of liége in early times, the story goes that one day st. monulphe, bishop of tongres, being on a journey from maestricht to dinant, came to a rising ground, from which he saw a few wooden houses nestling beneath a mountain which overlooked the meuse. descending, he came to a streamlet which flowed into the river. he asked its name, and was told that it was called the legia. then the bishop said to his companions that a great city, famous in the annals of the christian church, would arise on that spot. he built a small chapel there, which was replaced, in later years, by a splendid cathedral dedicated to st. lambert, and laid the foundations of the temporal power of the bishops of liége by endowing the church in the valley of the meuse with lands which he possessed in the neighbourhood of dinant. but at that time, and for many years to come, liége was an unimportant village inhabited by a few people; and it was not till the close of the seventh century that it became the seat of a bishopric, which was established there by st. hubert about the year . st. hubert was a son of the duke of aquitaine. leaving his native country for political reasons, he took refuge at the court of pepin d'herstal, father of charles martel, and grandfather of charlemagne. pepin's palace was then at jupille, now a little town on the right bank of the meuse, some three miles from modern liége, but in those days the seat of a court, and the favourite home of pepin, who held royal sway over all the surrounding country. [illustration: the episcopal palace--outer court, liÉge] the legend is well known of how hubert was so devoted to the chase that he used to hunt even on the festivals of the church, and how his conversion was brought about by seeing a stag one good friday with a shining cross between its horns. more sober history attributes the change of life which turned the mighty hunter into a priest to the pious counsels of st. lambert, bishop of maestricht, who persuaded him to go on a pilgrimage to rome, where he finally resolved to devote himself to the cause of religion. he was at rome when the news came that lambert had been murdered in revenge for having publicly censured the evil life of pepin's mistress alpaïde. on hearing of this tragedy the pope made hubert bishop of maestricht, and he removed the bishopric to liége, which grew, under his rule, from a mere village into a large town surrounded by walls built on land given by charles martel, afterwards famous as the great champion of christendom at the battle of tours, and son of that alpaïde who was responsible for the death of lambert. municipal laws and courts for the administration of justice were established, and a regular system of government soon followed. bishop hubert spent much of his time among the woods and mountains, no longer as a hunter, but as a missionary; and the relics of the patron saint of huntsmen, who died in may, , are still preserved in a chapel at the town of st. hubert, which lies in the midst of a wide forest on the southern tableland of the ardennes. liége prospered under the emperor charlemagne, who conferred important privileges on the town, and enriched the bishops, who gradually acquired that temporal power which they wielded for so long a time, after the vast empire of charlemagne had fallen to pieces during the ninth century. the real founder of the temporal power of the bishop princes of the principality of liége seems to have been notger, who was made bishop by otho the great in the year . he strengthened the walls of the town, and made it known that law and order must be maintained within the diocese. but the great nobles had their feudal castles, from which they sallied forth to plunder and oppress their weaker neighbours, and close to liége was the castle of chèvremont. this stronghold stood on a hill near the site of the modern watering-place of chaudfontaine, and was surrounded by the cottages of the baron's vassals, and by several chapels and religious houses founded by fugitives who had taken refuge there during the years of the norman invasion, when liége, maestricht, tongres, and the rich abbeys of malmedy and stavelot, had been laid waste. when notger came to the see of liége, immon, the châtelain of chèvremont, was the terror of the whole country for miles around. he raided the villages, carried away the crops from the few cultivated fields, and sometimes rode into the suburbs of liége, made prisoners of the inhabitants, and held them to ransom. the people implored notger to protect them, but for a long time he could find no means of subduing, or making terms with, his formidable neighbour. at last, however, he saw an opportunity. the lady of chèvremont having given birth to a son, her husband, being resolved that only some high dignitary of the church should have the honour of baptizing his heir, requested the bishop of liége to perform the ceremony. notger hesitated, but in the end sent a message that he would do what was required of him. on the appointed day the seigneur of chèvremont from his watch-tower saw the bishop approaching the castle at the head of a long procession of priests clothed in gorgeous vestments, and chanting psalms. praising the zeal of the prelate who had come to baptize his son with such unusual pomp, he ordered the drawbridge to be lowered and the gates of the castle to be opened. the procession entered, and, when all were assembled in the courtyard, bishop notger addressed immon. 'seigneur,' he said, 'this castle is no longer yours, but mine.' 'what do you mean?' asked immon. 'i say,' replied the bishop, 'that this place belongs to me, the only lord of the country. immon, yield to necessity, and depart. i promise to give you full compensation.' 'it is fortunate for you,' exclaimed the châtelain, in a fury, 'that you entered my castle under a promise of safety, for otherwise you leave it torn in pieces! scoundrel! miserable priest! fly, lest some evil befall you!' instantly notger gave a signal to his followers, who, throwing off the surplices, albs, and other ecclesiastical vestments which had covered their armour, and drawing the swords which had been concealed about them, rushed upon the inhabitants of the castle, and slaughtered them without mercy. it is said that immon threw himself in despair over the walls, and that his wife perished miserably with her infant son. the castle was razed to the ground; the religious houses which clustered round it were destroyed; and the revenue of the chapels, which were also laid in ruins, served to enrich the churches of liége and aix-la-chapelle. [illustration: pont des arches, liÉge] whatever may now be thought of this episode in church history, it made bishop notger more popular than ever. otho the great and his successors added to the gifts by which charlemagne had enriched the bishopric; and in , two years before the death of notger, the emperor henry ii. confirmed all these donations by a charter, in which namur, dinant, tongres, maestricht, malines, gembloux, st. hubert, and other important places are named as pertaining to the diocese of liége. thus, at the beginning of the eleventh century, the bishop of the principality was already possessed of extraordinary power. a few years later the countess of hainaut, being then at war with flanders, sought an alliance with the bishop of liége, and, in return for his help, accepted him as her feudal superior; and the counts of hainaut, themselves amongst the proudest nobles of that day, were vassals of liége until the times of charles the bold. the frightful anarchy of the feudal period was nowhere worse than in this part of europe. murders, acts of revenge, robberies, took place without end. a state of war was the normal condition of society in the valley of the meuse and throughout the ardennes. noble fought against noble, and vassal against vassal. by the law or custom of these days, the feudal barons had the right of settling their disputes by force of arms; and their prince could not forbid them. but, though he could not interfere in his secular character, he could do so as bishop; and the influence of the church, though the bishops themselves were often arrogant and ambitious, had been used to promote the cause of peace by proclaiming a truce of forty days, during which prayers were offered up for the souls of those who had fallen in battle. a 'quarantaine,' as it was called, being appointed for the death of each knight, there was sometimes a whole year of peace, during which enemies met on outwardly friendly terms, visited each other's châteaux, and went together to tournaments or village fêtes. sometimes, during these periods of repose, families which had been at deadly feud intermarried, and ladies who had been made widows, or daughters who had become orphans, married the very warriors who had slain their husbands or fathers. but more frequently, as soon as the 'quarantaine' was over, every one set to work again, burning houses and killing each other as before. at last henri de verdun, who became bishop of liége in , resolved to stop, if possible, the private wars which were the scourge of society. he assembled the nobles of the principality and the surrounding districts, and urged upon them the necessity of at least making an effort to put an end to the ceaseless strife in which they lived. 'the only means i can think of,' he said, 'is to choose a supreme judge, with power to punish those who are guilty of excesses.' the nobles consented to this proposal. he himself was appointed to the new office, and his successors in the bishopric of liége were declared, for all time coming, judges of the 'court of peace.' [illustration: escalier de la fontaine, liÉge] the rules of the 'tribunal de paix de liége' decreed that on certain days it was unlawful to carry arms, and that any freeman who committed murder or acts of violence should be deprived of his estate and expelled from the principality, while a slave was to be punished by the loss of whatever he might possess, and have his right hand cut off. from wednesday to monday, during the festivals of the church, the _trève de dieu_ was to be strictly observed. the peace tribunal was to decide cases of assassination, rape, incendiarism, robbery, and other offences which might lead to a breach of the public peace. anyone who did not appear before the court, after being duly cited, was to be declared infamous, and was liable to a sentence of excommunication. but the accused could--such was the warlike spirit of the times--always claim to have his case decided by judicial combat. the dukes of bouillon and limbourg, together with the counts of luxembourg, louvain, namur, hainaut, montaigu, clermont, and la roche, signed the act which established the 'tribunal de paix '; and they all swore to obey its decisions, except the count of la roche, who refused to take any oath whatever. on this the other barons made war upon him, and defeated him in a pitched battle. he fled to his castle and stood a siege of seven months, till, his provisions being exhausted, he saw nothing before him but surrender or starvation. suddenly he thought of a stratagem. he fed a sow, the only animal which remained alive in the castle, with his last measure of wheat, and let it escape. the besiegers killed it, and, finding that it had just had a full meal, came to the conclusion that it was useless to continue the siege, as the garrison seemed well supplied with food. they therefore made peace with the count of la roche, who thus remained free from the jurisdiction of the tribunal de paix. the other barons also excused themselves; so did the clergy; and, in the end, the burghers of liége refused to accept the decisions of the court, when, at the beginning of the thirteenth century, they obtained a great extension of their privileges under a charter granted by albert de cuyck, who had come to the episcopal throne in . whenever there was a vacancy in the see of liége, all the princes of belgium, and often those of other countries, tried to obtain the nomination for one of their relatives. in the year albert de louvain, who had been chosen against the wish of the emperor henry iv., was murdered at rheims by a band of german knights, probably under secret orders from the emperor, who forthwith put forward simon de limbourg, then only sixteen years of age, as bishop of the principality. simon de limbourg was supported by the duke of brabant; but the counts of flanders, of namur, and of hainaut, refused to accept him. the pope suspended his election, and albert de cuyck, backed up by the count of hainaut, took possession of the bishopric, and went to rome to prosecute his claim against that of simon de limbourg, which was still maintained before the holy see. simon de limbourg died, or was made away with, at rome, and de cuyck became bishop. he was now deeply in debt, having borrowed a large sum from the count of flanders, and spent it at rome in bribery to secure his election as bishop. this debt he got rid of by the sale of civil offices and ecclesiastical benefices; but more money was needed at liége in order to repair the walls of the town. for this purpose a tax was laid, by decree of the bishop and the civil magistrates, on the people and the clergy. the latter refused to pay, on the ground that they had not been consulted. the magistrates and the laity insisted that the clergy must bear their share of the common burden. the bishop took the side of the people against the clergy, and in order to make himself popular granted a charter, which was confirmed by the emperor philip ii. in . this charter of albert de cuyck is an important landmark in the constitutional history of the principality of liége. it declared that the people might not be taxed without their own consent. it relieved them from the burden of lodging and feeding armed men, a constant source of discontent at that time; and it freed them from being compelled to follow the bishop into battle, unless he was making war in defence of the principality, and even then not till fifteen days after he had assembled his own immediate vassals. it provided that no officer of the law might enter a house to search for a thief or for stolen property without leave from the owner of the house. no freeman could be arrested or imprisoned except under a legal warrant. the justices of the town were to be the only judges in a trial for any crime committed within the walls. no stranger might challenge a burgher of liége to trial by combat, but must prosecute him before the judges. during eight days before christmas and easter no arrest for debt was allowed, though at other times a debtor, against whom judgment had been given, must either pay at once, find security before sunset, or go to prison. these, and other provisions of a similar nature, were the regulations set forth in the charter of albert de cuyck, the principles of which were afterwards embodied, from time to time, in other public acts. it was, like the joyeuse entrée of brabant, merely a declaration of rights, many of which had previously existed; but it gave these rights the sanction and authority of written law. thenceforth the people began to assert themselves, and for many long years to come the history of liége is a record of revolutions and intestine wars, the populace rebelling either against the bishops or the barons, and of feuds between the bishops and the barons, in which the populace took part, sometimes on one side and sometimes on the other. the people of the principality, as soon as they had obtained the charter, refused to accept the jurisdiction of the peace tribunal. disputes were not settled, and one private war followed another. the most trifling incident was often the cause of a sanguinary struggle; but perhaps the most foolish of all was that known as the _guerre de la vache de ciney_. [illustration: the hospital, dinant] a peasant of the province of namur, named jallet, went to a fair at ciney, the chief town in the district of condroz, in the forest of ardennes, and there stole a cow belonging to one of the townsmen. he took the animal to andenne, on the meuse between liége and huy, where the duke of brabant and the counts of namur and luxembourg, with many knights and ladies, had met for a tournament. one of the company was jean de halloy, the baillie of condroz, and to him the owner of the cow, who had followed the thief, complained. the baillie promised pardon to jallet on condition that he would take the cow back to ciney. jallet started, driving the wretched beast before him, but as soon as he entered the district of condroz, the baillie had him arrested and hanged. on this jean de beaufort, feudal lord of goesnes, the village in which jallet had lived, assembled his friends, and proceeded to attack condroz. then the people of huy flew to arms, and burned the château of goesnes. forthwith the duke of brabant, with the counts of flanders, namur, and luxembourg, joined in the fray, burned the town of ciney, and threatened to devastate all the country round liége. next the people of dinant came on the scene, invaded namur and luxembourg, burned many villages in the ardennes, and slaughtered the villagers. for three years the war continued, until at last, when, it is said, no fewer than , people had been killed, and the whole country of the ardennes, from luxembourg to the meuse, had been laid waste, the combatants came to their senses. it was resolved to end the struggle by arbitration. philip the hardy, king of france, agreed to act as peacemaker, and, being of opinion that both parties were equally to blame, decided that each must bear its own losses! history says nothing about what became of the cow. chapter xxi the dukes of burgundy--destruction of liÉge by charles the bold the whole story of liége and the ardennes is full of episodes, like the war of the cow of ciney. it would be easy to fill volumes with tales of adventures in the valley of the meuse, and under the walls of liége--how castles were taken by strategy or by open assault; how ladies were carried off, and rescued by some daring feat of arms; how desperate encounters were fought out in the depths of the forest; how bandits roamed about, killing and robbing as they pleased; how almost the only place where a woman felt safe was a convent; how the peasants were oppressed; and how the common people of the towns lived in a state of chronic mutiny. all these things make up the story of how men and women lived in what is now one of the most peaceful regions in europe. the glamour of chivalry does not conceal the fierce and revengeful spirit of every class. a history of this part of belgium, written as sir walter scott wrote the history of scotland, would be as entertaining as the 'tales of a grandfather.' nowhere could a richer field be found for the plots of historical fiction; and it is not strange that the author of 'ivanhoe' should have chosen it as the scene of a romance. in 'quentin durward' history is, of course, subordinate to fiction. the murder of the bishop of liége is represented as taking place fifteen years before its real date. the description of the tragedy has no resemblance to what actually happened. the people of the principality are made to speak flemish instead of french or their native walloon. but such dry-as-dust criticisms would be absurd, and the 'true king of the romantics' has reproduced, with inimitable skill, the spirit of the long, bloody drama in which louis of france and charles of burgundy were the chief actors. [illustration: la maison curtius, liÉge] about the middle of the fifteenth century the house of burgundy was at the summit of its power, and held sway over flanders and brabant, hainaut, namur, and luxembourg. but the ecclesiastical principality of liége, though wedged in between brabant, luxembourg, and namur, remained a separate state. ever since the charter of albert de cuyck the power of the commons had grown, and with it their determination to maintain their liberty and independence. nor were the nobles more inclined to exchange the bishops for other rulers, especially if these were to be the dukes of burgundy. for the house of burgundy had been detested in liége since the winter of , when bishop john of bavaria--_jean sans pitie_, as he was called by his subjects--had crushed a revolution, which his tyranny had produced, by calling to his aid the duke of burgundy and the counts of hainaut and namur. on november , , in a battle at othée, near tongres, the revolutionary army of liége, , strong, had been defeated, and a massacre followed, the horrors of which had never been forgotten. the triumph of john of bavaria and his merciless oppressions were due to the support which he received from the arms of burgundy, and the result was that afterwards, during the struggle between philip the good, duke of burgundy, and france, the sympathies of liége were always on the side of france. in , when jean de heinsberg was bishop of liége, the burgundian governor of namur forbade the town of dinant to repair its walls. the men of liége marched towards dinant, burning castles and villages on their way. another war seemed inevitable; but the bishop, who had accompanied the army, apparently against his will, prevented this calamity by going on his knees to philip and humbly asking pardon for the excesses which his vassals had committed. the people of liége, however, indignant at this humiliation, became so turbulent that the bishop was several times on the point of resigning. it appears, nevertheless, that his resignation was forced upon him by the duke of burgundy. heinsberg had promised a certain benefice to louis de bourbon, the duke's nephew, but gave it to another claimant. philip having sent an envoy to demand an explanation, the bishop said: 'let his highness have patience. i intend him for a better benefice than that.' 'which?' he was asked. 'the one i hold myself,' he replied. he soon repented of this rash promise, and was about to journey into france and ask protection from the king, when philip invited him to the hague. there he was treated with all honour till the day of his departure, when the duke suddenly asked him if he intended to fulfil his promise about the bishopric. heinsberg declared that he would certainly keep his word, but was, in spite of what he had said, taken into a dark room, where he found a franciscan and an executioner, clothed in black and armed with a naked sword, awaiting him. 'most reverend seigneur,' said the franciscan, 'you have twice broken faith with the duke. resign at once, or prepare to die.' at these words, so the story goes, bishop heinsberg was so terrified that he signed his resignation on the spot in favour of louis de bourbon, who was not yet in holy orders, and was, indeed, a mere youth of eighteen, a student at the university of louvain, whither his uncle had sent him to be educated. the chapter of st. lambert, by whom the bishops had always been chosen, complained; but the appointment was confirmed by the holy see, and the whole spiritual and secular administration of the principality passed into the hands of the young prelate. this was a triumph for the house of burgundy, which had long aimed at extending its influence to the principality of liége; but in it few years the clergy, the nobility, and the people united against the duke's nephew, and combined to drive him from the management of their affairs. in order to protect themselves against philip, who might interfere on behalf of his nephew, they appointed as regent mark of baden, brother-in-law of the emperor frederick iii., who came to liége attended by a body of german troops. the prospect of a war in the belgian provinces, which would compel the duke of burgundy to withdraw a part of his army from france, was hailed with joy by louis xi. he promised help, both in men and money, to the people of liége, who forthwith assembled in arms. charles the bold, philip's son, at that time known as the comte de charolais, was then fighting in france; but a force of burgundians, sent by his father, had no difficulty in defeating the raw army of liége, which, left to its own resources by the germans, was cut to pieces on the field of montenac in the autumn of . louis xi., instead of coming to the assistance of the liégeois, sent a letter advising them to make peace with philip before the redoubtable comte de charolais made his appearance in their territory; and a convention was signed which laid the liégeois at the feet of the duke of burgundy, who became regent of the principality. peace was duly proclaimed at the perron in the market-place of liége. but the ruling party at dinant were so foolhardy as to declare war against namur. on this charles the bold besieged dinant. messengers sent from the burgundian camp with a summons to surrender were murdered by the townsmen, who in a short time saw their walls breached by heavy guns brought from the arsenals of brabant. then they offered to negotiate for a capitulation, but the offer was refused. dinant was taken, sacked, and burned. the hôtel de ville was blown up by an explosion of gunpowder. the cathedral was almost entirely destroyed. a number of wealthy citizens who had been made prisoners and confined in a building adjoining the cathedral were burned alive. eight hundred persons, tied together in pairs, were thrown into the meuse and drowned. the work of vengeance was not finished until every house had been demolished; for charles of burgundy had declared that a day would come when travellers, passing up the valley of the meuse, would ask where it was that dinant had once stood. philip the good died at bruges in june, , and charles the bold became duke of burgundy. the new reign began with troubles in flanders and brabant, and these had scarcely been overcome when there was a fresh rising at liége, so dissatisfied were the people with the terms of peace, which, arranged after the terrible battle of montenac, left them subject to the house of burgundy. frenchmen, sent by the king on the pretext of mediating between louis de bourbon and his vassals, encouraged the popular discontent, which rose to such a height that the town of huy, where the bishop lived, was attacked and plundered. the bishop fled to namur, but some of his servants and some partisans of burgundy were slain. charles, exasperated beyond all bounds, marched against liége. on his arrival, of the burghers came forth, imploring mercy and offering him the keys of the town. he spared their lives, but only on the condition that he was to enter the town and there dictate his own terms. this condition was accepted, and charles rode in. the bishop of liége and cardinal la balue, the ambassador of louis xi., were with him. on one side of the street stood the burghers, and on the other the priests, all as penitents, with heads uncovered and torches in their hands. charles dismounted at the bishop's palace, where, a few days later, in the presence of a vast assemblage of people, he pronounced sentence on the town and principality of liége. most of the privileges which had been granted from time to time since the charter of albert de cuyck were abolished. an appeal from the civil judges to the bishop and his council was established. the seat of the bishopric was removed from liége, and it was ordained that the spiritual court was to sit at maestricht, louvain, or namur. the bishop was forbidden to levy taxes on produce carried up or down the meuse without leave from the duke of brabant, and the counts of hainaut and namur. it was decreed that the people of the principality must never take arms against burgundy, go to war, or make alliances without the duke's permission. the walls and gates of liége, and of all other towns in the principality, were to be destroyed; the manufacture of arms was forbidden; the perron was to be removed, and the duke was to do with it as he pleased. [illustration: le rocher bayard, dinant] these articles, and many more, all of them framed for the purpose of curbing the spirit of the liégeois, were embodied in the deed which was read aloud in the bishop's palace on november , . the bishop and all the notables having sworn to obey it, charles told them that if they kept true to their oath he, in return, would protect them. the sentence which was thus pronounced was rigorously executed. many of the popular faction fled to france; others took refuge among the ardennes; some were executed. the perron was carried away to bruges, and there engraved with an inscription full of insults to the people of liége; the walls of the town were thrown down; spies went about the country districts watching the villagers and gathering information. so universal was the feeling of suspicion and fear, and so heavy were the taxes levied on the wealthy, that many families abandoned all their possessions and went into exile. these doings had been watched at rome; and presently a papal legate, the bishop of tricaria, came to liége, and advised louis de bourbon to resist the violence of the duke's agents, and recall by degrees those who had fled or been banished from the country. but the youthful bishop preferred to live at brussels, where the brilliant and luxurious life of the burgundian court was in full swing. he took such delight in the fêtes for which the gay capital of brabant was famous that he actually attempted to reproduce them in his own desolate principality, and on one occasion came sailing up the meuse from maestricht in a barge painted with all the colours of the rainbow, and made his appearance before the ruined walls of liége surrounded by musicians and buffoons. meanwhile, in the dark recesses of the ardennes a band of the exiles had been wandering about, sleeping on the bare ground in the open air, clothed in rags, starving, and ready for mischief. these men, under the leadership of jean de ville, hearing that liége was unguarded, and that war was likely to break out once more between burgundy and france, marched from the forest to liége, and complained to the pope's legate. he went to the bishop, who was then at maestricht, and laid before him the miserable condition of the country. the bishop promised that he would return to liége; but charles the bold, from whom nothing was hid, wrote and told him that, as soon as he had settled his affairs with the king of france, he was coming to the principality to punish these new rebels against his authority. on this the bishop, instead of going to liége, went with the legate to tongres. this desertion drove jean de ville and his followers to despair. they made a night march to tongres, surprised the bishop's guards, some of whom they killed, and persuaded, or, rather, compelled, louis and the pope's legate to come with them to liége. the war on which the insurgents counted when they thus captured the bishop did not break out. on the contrary, negotiations had commenced, and ambassadors from france were discussing terms of peace with charles at the very time of the raid on tongres. the summer of was a time of splendour at the court of burgundy. on june margaret of york, attended by a brilliant company of english lords and ladies, sailed into the harbour of sluis, where she was met by charles the bold. a week later they journeyed by the canal to the ancient town of damme, where their marriage was celebrated at five o'clock on the morning of july . on that same day they entered bruges in state, followed by a train of sixty ladies of the greatest families of england and burgundy, and surrounded by nobles and princes who wore the order of the golden fleece. the famous tournament of the tree of gold was held, after the marriage feast, in the market-place, and the revels continued for eight days longer. all was bright and gay in flanders; but far away among the ardennes dark clouds were gathering over the valley of the meuse. in the beginning of october the headquarters of the burgundian army were at peronne on the somme. louis xi. went thither with only a small escort, and sought an interview with charles. whatever his motive may have been for putting himself in the power of his rival, he had soon good reason to repent of his rashness. a party of burgundians from liége arrived at peronne, accused the rebels of gross cruelty to the bishop and to the duke's friends, and asserted that some frenchmen had taken part in the affair at tongres. charles, on hearing their statements, burst into one of his fits of uncontrollable anger. 'i know,' he cried, 'who is at the bottom of all this,' and forthwith locked up the king of france in the citadel of peronne. after three days, during which louis went in fear of his life, and charles meditated all sorts of vengeance, the king was set free, and swore a solemn oath that he would assist charles to punish the liégeois. then the allied forces of france and burgundy marched into the principality. when they approached liége the bishop and the papal legate met them, and endeavoured to make terms for the people, throwing themselves on their knees before charles, and beseeching him not to punish the innocent and the guilty alike. the bishop, it was pointed out, had pardoned the affront which he had received; but the duke forbade them to speak of pardon. he was master, he said, of the lives and property of these incorrigible rebels, and he would do with them as he pleased. after this there was nothing more to be said. the doom of liége had been spoken. a sally, made during the night by jean de ville and his men, though it threw the burgundian outposts into confusion, had no effect but to increase the duke's anger; and on sunday, october , he entered the town at the head of his army, passing over the ruins of the old walls. there was no resistance. the streets were empty. the wealthier inhabitants, and all who had made themselves prominent in the recent disturbances, had fled to the ardennes with their families, taking away as many of their possessions as they could carry. a great multitude of poor people, women, children, and old men, had concealed themselves in the cellars of their houses. charles and the king rode through a deserted town till they came to the hôtel de ville. here the duke waved his sword on high, and shouted, 'vive bourgoyne!' the king of france drew his, and shouted likewise, 'vive bourgoyne!' and at this signal , soldiers were let loose. [illustration: old house of the quai de la goffe, liÉge] the people were dragged from their places of concealment and slain. many who escaped immediate death ran to the churches for shelter. the priests, with crucifixes in their hands, came to the doors and implored the soldiers not to enter. they were cut down, and those whom they had tried to protect were killed, even on the steps of the altars. old men and children were trampled underfoot. young girls were outraged before their mothers' eyes, or put to death, shrieking and imploring mercy. churches, convents, private houses were alike pillaged. tombs were broken open in the search for plunder, and the bones of the dead were thrown out. those who were suspected of possessing valuables were tortured to make them confess where their treasures were hidden. as the day went on every street in liége ran with blood like a slaughter-house, till at last the soldiers grew tired of killing their victims one by one, and, tying them together in bundles of a dozen or more persons, threw them into the meuse, where men and women, old and young, perished in one struggling mass. it is said that nearly , died, most of them in the town or by drowning in the river, but many from cold and famine among the ardennes. the horrors of the sacking of dinant had been surpassed. charles, however, was not yet satisfied. his real wish was to wipe liége from the face of the earth--to destroy it utterly; but before doing so, he made a pretence of consulting louis of france. the king, who understood him thoroughly, replied: 'opposite my father's bedroom there was a tree, in which some troublesome birds had built their nest, and made such a noise that he could not sleep. he destroyed the nest three times, but they always returned. at last, on the advice of a friend, he cut down the tree, and after that he was able to repose in peace.' charles took this hint as it was meant, and gave orders that liége was to be set on fire, and every building of stone, except the churches and the houses of the clergy, pulled down. these orders were carried out to the letter. the flames consumed row after row of houses, and any edifice not made of wood was undermined by the pickaxes of an army of workmen who laboured for seven weeks, till at last nothing remained of liége but churches and the dwellings of the priests standing forlorn amidst a heap of smoking ruins. while the work of destruction was in progress charles embarked for maestricht, sent the pope's legate back to rome with the news of what had befallen the bishopric of liége, and, having ravaged all the country for miles around, departed for his own dominions. the years passed on, and at last there came a time when the voice which shouted 'vive bourgoyne!' in liége was silent, the sword fallen from the hand which had waved it as a signal for the massacre, and the proud head of the conqueror brought very low. on tuesday, january , , two days after the fight at nancy, in which duke rené of lorraine had defeated the burgundian army, a young page, jean baptiste colonna, son of a noble roman house, was guiding a party who were searching for the body of charles the bold to where he thought he had seen his master fall during the battle. not far from the town, near the chapel of st. jean de l'atre, they found a heap of dead men lying naked among snow and ice and frozen blood in the bed of a small stream. one of the searchers, a poor washerwoman who had served in the duke's household, saw a ring which she recognized on a finger of one of the corpses, and exclaimed: 'ah! mon prince!' when they raised the head from the ice to which it was frozen the skin of one cheek peeled off. wolves or dogs had been gnawing the other. a stroke from some battle-axe had split the head down to the chin. but when the blood had been washed from the disfigured face it was known, beyond all doubt, for that of charles the bold. they buried him before the altar of st. sebastian in the church of st. george at nancy, where the body of the great warrior remained till . when, in the reign of charles v., it was carried into flanders, and laid beside that of his daughter marie in the choir of notre dame at bruges. chapter xxii the wild boar of ardennes though the churches and the houses of the clergy had been left standing, in accordance with the orders given by charles the bold in , the town of liége was ruined. after a time, however, those who had escaped with their lives began to return, and by degrees a new liége arose. the principality also recovered to some extent; but its prestige was so much diminished in the eyes of europe that an alliance with the bishops was no longer, as of old, an object of ambition to other states. on the death of charles the bold louis de bourbon, who was still bishop, made up his mind to devote himself in future to the government of his principality. as uncle of the young duchess marie, who was the only daughter of charles by his second wife, isabelle de bourbon, he had sufficient influence at the court of burgundy to obtain important concessions in favour of liége. a yearly tribute of , florins, which the late duke had exacted, was remitted, and the liégeois were promised the restoration of their ancient charters and privileges. the perron, to the possession of which the people attached great importance, was sent back from bruges, and the townsmen showed their gratitude to the bishop by voting him a substantial sum of money. when he came to liége, among the first to greet him was william de la marck, head of the ancient house of arenberg. two of his ancestors had been bishops of liége, and the family was one of the greatest in the principality. this william de la marck had been a warrior from his youth. he was one of the handsomest men of his time, but to make himself an object of fear to his enemies he wore a long shaggy beard, and imitated the ferocious manners of the brigands who had from time immemorial haunted the most inaccessible part of the ardennes. on his coat of arms there was the head of a wild boar, and, either for that reason or because of his fierce character, he was nicknamed the wild boar of ardennes. [illustration: a peasant woman of the ardennes] after the destruction of liége louis xi., anxious to raise fresh troubles in the principality in order to embarrass charles of burgundy and the bishop, had employed as his agent de la marck, who, for the purpose of picking a quarrel with the bishop, caused one of the vicars, against whom he had no cause of complaint, to be murdered in cold blood. his favourite haunt was the castle of aigremont, a fortalice perched on a hill above the left bank of the meuse, to the west of liége. this place the bishop destroyed. thereupon de la marck, who let it be understood that he was acting in concert with the king of france, and by this means obtained a numerous following among the outlaws whom charles of burgundy had banished, declared open war against both louis de bourbon and the duke. but when the bishop returned to liége, on the death of charles and the accession of the duchess marie, de la marck hastened to make peace. the bishop granted him a pardon, made him captain of the guard and governor of franchimont, rebuilt the castle of aigremont, and loaded him with favours. but it was soon apparent that the wild boar was untamed. he set the rules of the church at defiance, refused to go to mass or confession, insisted on eating what he pleased in lent, ruled all who were under his authority with a rod of iron, made himself universally hated by the nobles, and at last, taking offence at the remonstrances of the bishop, resigned his appointments, and left the court. it having been discovered that he was in correspondence with louis xi., who was plotting the annexation of the principality, a sentence of banishment was pronounced against him as a traitor. he retired into the ardennes, where, assisted by gifts of arms and gold from france, he gathered a strong band of french, german, and swiss adventurers. suddenly, in august, , news came to liége that the wild boar was on the march at the head of , horse and foot. the bishop went forth to give him battle on the slopes of the chartreuse, on the right bank of the river opposite the town. de la marck, hearing from his spies that the bishop was coming on in front of his main body, and attended only by a feeble escort, lay in wait for him at a difficult part of the ascent. the surprise was complete, and the escort was cut to pieces. the bishop, alone in the hands of his enemy, cried out: 'grâce! grâce! seigneur d'arenberg, je suis votre prisonnier!' but one of de la marck's followers struck him on the face. de la marck himself drew his sword, and wounded him in the neck, and, turning to his men, told them to make an end of it. in an instant the bishop fell from his horse a dead man. they stripped his body, and left it lying in the mud for hours; and it was with difficulty that the clergy obtained permission to bury him with the honours due to his station.[ ] de la marck, now master of the situation, called together the clergy of the diocese, and pressed them to choose a new bishop, suggesting his own son, jean d'arenberg, a young man who was not yet a priest, as the most suitable person. some of the canons, with whom the election lay, left liége to escape voting. those who remained were terrified into obedience, and the wild boar's son was declared bishop. de la marck, at the same time, appointed himself governor of the principality. the murder of the bishop, and the election of the murderer's son to succeed him, led to new commotions. a meeting of the canons who had fled from liége, and their brethren who had been coerced into voting, was held at namur. in that town, out of the wild boar's 'sphere of influence,' having declared the election of jean d'arenberg null and void, they proceeded to vote again. on this occasion they were divided into two parties. some supported jacques de le roy, the count of chimay's brother, while others were in favour of jean de home, a great noble who had been made prisoner at the chartreuse, but had afterwards escaped. there were thus three bishops-elect, and another civil war broke out. the archduke maximilian[ ] sent an army from brabant into the principality, under philip of clèves, to avenge the death of louis de bourbon. de la marck laid waste the lands of jean de horne, seized tongres and other towns, and marched, at the head of , liégeois and a number of mercenaries, against philip of clèves. but his troops were no match for the trained veterans of brabant. the mercenaries were driven back upon the liégeois, who broke and ran. this defeat did not quell the spirit of de la marck; but louis xi., on whom he relied, died next year, and the pope declared in favour of jean de horne. de la marck then saw that his wisest course was to make peace, and in june, , a convention was signed at st. trond, the terms of which show that the boar of the ardennes was no mere bandit chief, but an astute diplomatist, and a man of great influence in the principality. an indemnity of , livres was to be paid him by the town of liége, in security for which an assignment was made in his favour of the lands of franchimont and the duchy of bouillon. if he should be attacked by any who felt aggrieved by his recent proceedings, the bishop was to help him at all costs. excesses committed by either side were to be pardoned, and those whose property had been damaged were to have no claim for compensation. [illustration: the river sambre seen from the pont de sambre, namur] when jean de horne, now duly accepted as bishop, made his state entry into liége de la marck rode beside him, and the two soon became inseparable. they usually dined together at the bishop's table. they gave each other presents. if there was a fête, they attended it in company. they are said to have even slept in the same bed, at that time a favourite sign of friendship among the great. but, though it seemed as if they were bent on setting the people an example of mutual forgiveness and brotherly love, there were some who shook their heads, and hinted that the friendships of great men who have been estranged are seldom sincere. next year there was a fête at st. trond in honour of the bishop of liége, at which all the nobles of the principality, with their wives and daughters, had assembled. de la marck, of course, was there. feasting and dancing went on till late in the afternoon, when the bishop's brothers, jacques de horne and fréderic de montigny, called for their horses, saying they must start for louvain. the bishop proposed to de la marck that they should ride part of the way in company, and to this he agreed. so the bishop, his two brothers, and de la marck rode together till they reached a level plain, where de montigny challenged de la marck to race him to a wood which was some distance before them. they started, and left the others behind. de la marck, who was mounted on a very swift horse, was soon in front, and galloped on till he reached the wood. the moment he drew rein a band of soldiers, who had been lying in ambush, rushed out and surrounded him. then de montigny rode up and said: 'you are my prisoner.' de la marck, who was not armed, asked what he meant, on which de montigny produced an order for his arrest signed by the archduke maximilian, and told him they must now go to maestricht. 'then,' said de la marck at once, 'it is to my death.' they reached maestricht in the evening, and soon de la marck was told that he had only a few hours to live. during the night he was visited by the prior of the dominicans, from whom, having made confession, he received absolution. early next morning they brought him to the scaffold in the market-place. a prodigious crowd had gathered round it, and in a window close at hand, openly rejoicing at the scene, was the bishop of liége. de la marck called to him in a loud voice, reproaching him for his treachery, and uttered a solemn warning that the wild boar's head, then about to fall, would 'bleed for many a day.' he asked the nearest of the spectators to carry his last farewells to his wife and children. to his brothers and friends he left the work of avenging his death. he took off his cloak himself, and threw it to the crowd. then, lifting his long beard so that it covered his face, he bent down, and the executioner struck off his head with one blow. the archduke maximilian had ordered the arrest of de la marck on the ground that he was engaged in some fresh plot with france; but the conduct of the bishop and his brothers was loudly condemned even in that age of perfidy. the family of de la marck swore vengeance, and the principality of liége was once more bathed in blood. calling to his aid the common people, who had always loved the wild boar, and assisted behind the scenes by the king of france, who wished to excite the liégeois against the archduke maximilian, everard de la marck, william's brother, made war against jean de horne. a sanguinary struggle, in which no mercy was shown on either side, went on for seven years, but at last the bishop and his friends made up their minds to sue for pardon. a conference was agreed to, which took place on a meadow near haccourt, on the meuse between liége and maestricht. on the appointed day the bishop-prince, attended by his nobles, but himself unarmed, met the brother of the man whom he had so treacherously ensnared. dismounting from his horse, he approached everard de la marck, and said: 'i ask you to pardon me for the death of your brother william.' everard looked on him coldly, and said nothing, whereupon the bishop burst into tears, and sobbed: 'seigneur everard, pardon me. pardon me, i implore you by the death and passion of our lord jesus christ!' then everard, weeping also, answered: 'you ask pardon for the death of my brother in the name of god, who died for us all? well, i pardon you.' so saying, he gave his hand to the bishop, and they swore to live at peace with each other. [illustration: la gleize, a village in the ardennes] this strange reconciliation, which took place in , was soon confirmed by the marriage of the bishop's niece to everard de la marck's son, and thereafter there were no more feuds between the families of de horne and arenberg. three years later, in , the diet of worms established the imperial chamber, and put an end to the system of private wars. footnotes. [footnote : bishop louis de bourbon was only forty-five at the date of the murder.] [footnote : the duchess marie of burgundy, who married the archduke maximilian of austria, afterwards emperor, had died at bruges in march, ; and maximilian then became regent of the austrian netherlands during the minority of his children.] chapter xxiii Érard de la marck--the principality in the sixteenth century jean de horne was bishop of liége for twenty-three years, during which the diocese was seldom free from party warfare. at the time of his death, in , the family of arenberg was so strong and popular that the chapter of st. lambert chose Érard de la marck, the wild boar's nephew, as bishop.[ ] he came to the episcopal throne resolved to end the strife of factions and the family feuds which had been the sources of such misery. he forbade his subjects, under pain of banishment, to rake up the old causes of dispute. he declined to hear those who came to him bearing tales against their neighbours. he chose the officers of his court without enquiring into their political opinions, and let it be seen that, so long as the law was obeyed and public order maintained, no one was to be called in question for anything which might have happened in the past. his foreign policy was equally wise. the principality of liége lay between two mighty neighbours, and at first the bishop's aim was to remain neutral in any disputes which might arise between the emperor and the king of france. but when, on the death of maximilian, charles v. and francis i. were rivals for the imperial crown, he went to the diet at frankfort, and supported the claims of charles. from that time the principality, though independent of the rest of belgium, which formed part of the dominions of charles v., was in as close relations with the german empire as the electorate of cologne and other ecclesiastical fiefs.[ ] the bishops, chosen by the chapter of liége, and confirmed by the pope, were invested by the emperor with the secular power, and belonged to the westphalian circle of the german confederation. in the strong hands of bishop Érard the principality had one of its rare intervals of peace. he found the city of liége in debt, and the public service disordered by want of money. many plans for raising funds were laid before him. he examined them all, and then said to his council: 'if you will leave everything to me for four years, i promise to meet all your debts, and put your finances in order without oppressing anyone, and without imposing new taxes.' this offer was accepted, and, so great was his talent for business, in two years liége was free from all liabilities. during his reign almost every trace of the destruction wrought by charles the bold disappeared. the citadel of dinant was restored. huy and other places rose from their ashes, and the bishops' palace, which stands in the place st. lambert at liége (the _palais de justice_ of to-day), was built. he died in , having kept the turbulent community of liége quiet for thirty years. when the religious troubles of the sixteenth century first began the reformed doctrines made rapid progress, and the persecutors were busy in hainaut, artois, and other walloon districts in the south-west of belgium and along the french border. almost the whole population of tournai in hainaut was calvinist. but the principality of liége, governed by the bishop-princes, and independent of spain, did not suffer like the rest of the netherlands during the struggle. nevertheless, before the death of Érard de la marck the spirit of revolt against the church of rome had touched the valley of the meuse; and, in , jean camolet, a carmelite father, came to liége empowered by the pope to conduct an inquisition. the claim of the holy see to interfere with civil government was known to the people; and the magistrates published a declaration that the judges of the land were the only persons who had the right to deal with offences of any kind committed by the citizens. the bishop told them that the inquisitor was sent by the pope only to make enquiry into the beliefs of those who were suspected of heresy, not to interfere with the ordinary courts of law, and that there was no intention of setting up the spanish inquisition in the diocese. but the magistrates replied: 'we have our own laws. our own judges can deal with civil and criminal cases. in matters of religion our own ecclesiastical courts are the only competent tribunals, and we will not permit any infringement of our ancient privileges.' Érard de la marck, who was far too wise a man to risk the dangers of a revolution, took upon himself the responsibility of enquiry into cases of heresy, and thus saved the principality from civil war. [illustration: general view of dinant] but, at a later period, when the netherlands were in revolt from end to end, and william of orange was engaged in his stupendous contest with philip ii., gérard de groisbeck, who was bishop from to , found himself in a position of peculiar difficulty. the principality was at the mercy of both parties. the reformers pillaged the abbeys of hastière and st. hubert, and held a great meeting at st. trond, where the famous battle-cry of 'vivent les gueux!' was shouted, and defiance hurled at philip and at rome by a tumultuous assemblage under the leadership of brederode. the prince of orange himself, driven out of brabant, demanded a free passage for his army, and endeavoured to obtain possession of liége. in this he failed, but a garrison of spanish troops was sent to occupy the town, and the bishop had to risk the enmity of alva by refusing to admit them. at the pacification of ghent, in , the principality of liége was invited to join the united provinces of the netherlands; but the people were, like the walloons in the other parts of belgium, intensely catholic, and the invitation was refused. bishop de groisbeck was resolved to maintain the neutrality of his domains. liége, he announced with consent of the three estates, was to remain a neutral state, and take no part in the quarrels of its neighbours. by this means he hoped to protect it from the ravages of war, and, on the whole, he succeeded, though there was fighting from time to time in the valley of the meuse, and the siege of maestricht, with all the horrors which followed the capture of that town, took place almost at his own door. his ideas of neutrality, however, may be gathered from the fact that he sent , miners from his coal-mines to help the besiegers of maestricht. but the walloons were, at that time, catholic beyond any other of the belgian races, and if the 'cry of agony which was distinctly heard at the distance of a league,' which arose from the heroic defenders as the spaniards rushed in, could have reached liége, it probably would not have touched the hearts of many among the liégeois. at all events, the bishop's policy was rewarded by a comparatively tranquil reign, disturbed only by a series of petty squabbles with the magistrates of liége, who claimed the right of holding the keys of the town, a right which the bishop maintained belonged to him. gérard de groisbeck died in . there had often been a question whether it would not be better for the people of liége if the bishops were chosen without regard to their family connections. men of high position, it was said, born in palaces, and accustomed from their birth to flattery and the deference paid to social rank, were more likely to be overbearing and ambitious than persons of humbler station. on the other hand, it was argued that a small, turbulent state, surrounded by powerful neighbours, required a ruler who could both secure useful alliances against foreign aggressors, and command the respect and obedience of his own subjects. de groisbeck had always thought that the bishop of liége should be chosen from some royal family; and on his death-bed he recommended as his successor prince ernest of bavaria, grandson of the emperor ferdinand. when the time came for the election of a new bishop the states-general of the united netherlands, and the courts of spain and france, each brought forward a candidate, but the chapter of liége, wishing to remain neutral between these rival interests, decided in favour of prince ernest of bavaria. a description of his coming to liége may give some idea of the ceremonies which attended the installation of the bishop-princes. on june , the day of his arrival, the magistrates went to meet him on the outskirts of the town, and placed in his hands a copy of the oath which his predecessors had always sworn: that he would maintain all the privileges of the townsmen and their municipal laws, and would never encroach on their liberties, nor allow them to be encroached on by others. the prince having taken this oath, the keys of the town were presented to him. he returned them to the burgomasters with the words: 'hitherto you have guarded them faithfully, and i leave them in your hands.' then the bishop's horse was led forward to the gate, but as he drew near one of the company of crossbow-men stepped forward and closed it. the attendants shouted, 'open for the prince!' but the gate remained closed till a town servant had three times demanded in name of the burgomasters that it should be opened, when this quaint formality came to an end, and the prince rode under the archway. within the walls he was met by the guild of crossbow-men, to whom he promised the preservation of all their rights, privileges, and liberties, after which the procession marched on, led by a member of the equestrian order bearing the sword of state. next came a band of mounted halberdiers, riding before the governors of the chief towns, who were clothed in mantles of embroidered silk. these were followed by the lords and gentry of the principality. philip de croy, prince of chimay, was there at the head of horsemen, together with the prince of arenberg, the duke of juliers, the duke of bavaria, and a long calvacade of nobles from other parts of belgium, and from foreign lands, each with a numerous retinue of cavaliers. the bishop-prince himself came last, riding between the burgomasters of liége, and attended by gentlemen-at-arms. a triumphal arch had been erected in the street, on which stood a number of gaily dressed maidens. when the prince reached it the procession stopped, and from the top of the arch a large wooden pineapple, representing the arms of the town, was lowered into the roadway to the sound of music. it opened, and a beautiful young girl came out, who recited some verses in honour of the day, and presented the prince with a gilded basket full of jewelled ornaments and silver cups. in the market-place there were three stages. on the first were four boys, representing the ecclesiastical estate, who presented a golden statue as a symbol of the christian faith. at the second a sword of honour, decorated with gold and precious stones, was given by the estate of nobles. a golden heart was the offering of the third estate. close at hand there was a platform, on which a man of the common people knelt before a judge, holding in his hands a scroll, on which were the words, 'let both sides be heard.' at the door of the cathedral of st. lambert the leader of the choir laid his hand on the prince's saddle to signify that, by ancient custom, he claimed the horse and its trappings as the perquisites of his office. when the procession had entered the building the canons welcomed the bishop in the name of the chapter, clothed him in a rich cassock, and conducted him to the high altar, where, the bishop kneeling and the whole assemblage of nobles and churchmen standing round, the oath sworn by every bishop of liége was read aloud. by this oath he bound himself to maintain unaltered all the rights of the diocese. if he became a cardinal, he must defend these rights before the holy see at rome, and, above all, the right of the chapter to elect the bishops of liége. he must not alienate any portion of the principality without the consent of the chapter, nor suffer the country to become tributary to any foreign state. his usual place of residence must be within the principality, and if he had to leave it for a time he must return when his presence was deemed necessary in the interests of the people. he must impose no taxes without the consent of the three estates. he must not abandon any of the national strongholds, and the commanders at such places as the castles of bouillon, huy, and dinant must be natives of the country. no foreigner might hold any office of state; and the privy council must be composed of canons and other persons who had taken the oath of fidelity to the chapter. no alliances must be made, no war declared, and no engagements of any kind entered into with foreign princes without leave from the chapter. these are only a few of the many obligations which were imposed upon the princes of liége. ernest of bavaria swore to them all, but it was soon apparent that it was impossible for the principality to hold aloof from all connection with external politics. by this time the reformation had triumphed in the greater part of germany; but the house of bavaria remained firmly attached to the catholic church, and when gérard truchses, archbishop of cologne, and william de meurs, bishop of münster, abandoned the old faith, the vacant sees were conferred on prince ernest, who thus not only held three bishoprics at the same time, but had to defend his position by force of arms against the protestant princes. he spent most of his time in germany, while the principality of liége was entered by spanish and dutch troops, who behaved with equal harshness to the inhabitants. a small party of dutchmen surprised the castle of huy and took it, though without any lives being lost on either side. prince ernest complained on the ground that the principality was neutral, but the dutch replied, and with perfect truth, that the neutrality of liége was a mere pretence, as the bishop was an active partisan on the side of their enemies. he, therefore, asked help from the spaniards, by whom huy was stormed and recaptured after a stout resistance. but, on the whole, it appears that, in spite of the strict orthodoxy of the liégeois, the catholics were even more unpopular than the protestants, for the archduke albert having complained that the countryfolk showed more animosity against his soldiers than against the dutch, he was told that people generally hated those most who did them most harm. prince ernest himself spoke bitterly of the way in which money was extorted for the support of the spanish garrisons in the ardennes. [illustration: the romanesque church, hastiÈre] it was not till the twelve years' truce was concluded between the 'archdukes' albert and isabella and the states-general that the principality was freed from the incursions of foreign troops. this was in . three years later ernest of bavaria died, and was succeeded in the episcopal thrones of liége and cologne by his nephew ferdinand. footnotes. [footnote : Érard's father was robert, prince of sedan, count of arenberg, la marck, and cleves, and brother of william de la marck, the boar of ardennes.] [footnote : it may be convenient to remind some readers that charles v.'s father was philip, son of maximilian and the duchess marie, daughter of charles the bold, and that his mother was joanna, daughter of ferdinand of spain. on the death of philip he succeeded to the netherlands, on the death of ferdinand to spain, and on the death of maximilian the electors of germany made him emperor.] chapter xxiv the chiroux and the grignoux--the tragic banquet of warfusÉe ferdinand of bavaria's reign was one long quarrel with the magistrates of liége. he soon found that during his uncle's frequent absences in germany the burgomasters had usurped many powers which had hitherto belonged to the bishop. they issued their own decrees without his authority, and sometimes cancelled his orders without consulting him. they took upon themselves to appoint officers, to call the citizens to arms, and to send representatives to foreign courts. their pretensions, in short, had risen so high as to make it evident that they aimed at nothing less than supreme power. at last a time came when matters were brought to a crisis by the election as burgomasters of two popular candidates, william beeckmann and sébastien la ruelle, whom the people insisted on choosing against the wishes of ferdinand, who had irritated the liégeois by bringing german and spanish troops into the principality to support his rights. beeckmann died suddenly. a rumour that he had been poisoned by the bishop's friends inflamed the passions of the mob, who listened eagerly to la ruelle when he told them that the intimate relations of their prince with austria and spain were dangerous to the independence of the country. there were at this time two factions in liége--the 'chiroux' and the 'grignoux.' it appears that some young men of rank had returned from a visit to paris dressed in the latest fashion, with white stockings and boots falling over their calves, which made the wits of the town say that they were like a breed of swallows known as 'chiroux.' one day, at the church of st. lambert, some of the populace, seeing a party of these dandies, called out, 'chiroux! chiroux!' the others answered back with cries of 'grignoux'--that is, _grognards_, or malcontents. hence the nicknames. the chiroux supported the bishop, while the grignoux opposed him. the former were, like ferdinand, for maintaining close relations with germany, while the latter were supposed to court a friendship with the king of france. at this juncture we come across one of the most curious episodes in the story of liége. [illustration: le perron liÉgeois, liÉge] a baron de pesche, who lived in the district between the sambre and the meuse, having a lawsuit before the judges at liége, requested one of his kinsmen, the abbé de mouzon, a frenchman, to manage the case. de mouzon, an acute man with a talent for political intrigue, made full use of his opportunities, and soon knew all about the feud between the chiroux and the grignoux, the existence of german and french factions, and everything that was going on in liége. he informed the ministers of louis xiii. that the people of liége were at heart favourable to france, and that the ties which bound them to germany could easily be broken, as the bishop was very seldom in the principality, and had no real influence with his subjects. he had, he told the french government, made friends with the most important men in the city, and was in a position to render great services to france, provided he was furnished with proper credentials. the result was that he received a commission as french resident, or envoy, at liége. he then paid attentions to la ruelle and his party, for the purpose of persuading them to further the interests of france and break with germany, and played his part so well that the chiroux leaders, becoming alarmed, sent a message to the bishop, advising him to be on his guard against the intrigues of the french envoy and the grignoux. ferdinand, on receiving this warning, despatched count louis of nassau to liége with a letter to the magistrates, in which he reprimanded them severely, and accused them of a treasonable correspondence with france. la ruelle answered in acrimonious terms, declaring that the country was being ruined by german soldiers sent there by the bishop. to this ferdinand replied that, as the liégeois would not do their duty as loyal subjects willingly, he would find means to compel them; and presently an army of imperial troops marched into the principality, and encamped near liége. and now a new actor comes upon the scene. the count of warfusée, who had been employed in turn by spain and holland, and betrayed them both, was at this time living in banishment at liége. posing as an adherent of the french side, he secured the confidence of la ruelle and the abbé de mouzon, for both of whom he professed a warm friendship; but, in reality, he was in correspondence with the court at brussels, and had promised that, if a few soldiers were placed at his disposal, he would crush the french party in liége. on april , , he gave a dinner-party, to which la ruelle, abbé de mouzon, and other guests were invited. when la ruelle arrived, accompanied by a young manservant named jaspar, warfusée gave him a jovial greeting. then, noticing jaspar, he exclaimed, 'ah! there's my good friend; i know him well,' and showed the way to the kitchen, saying: 'you must enjoy yourself to-day, and drink to the health of burgomaster la ruelle.' the company sat down to dinner in a room on the ground floor, the windows of which had iron bars across them, and opened on a courtyard in the middle of the building. count warfusée sat next the door, with m. marchand, an advocate, beside him. la ruelle and the abbé were on the other side of the table. baron de saizan, a frenchman, and several other gentlemen were present, and also some ladies, among whom were the baroness de saizan and count warfusée's four daughters. every one was in the highest spirits. the count declared he felt so happy that he intended to get drunk, and invited all the rest to follow his example. calling for big glasses, he challenged de mouzon to a revel. the abbé proposed the health of the most christian king; and this toast was duly drunk, the gentlemen rising, and uncovering their heads. during the first course the merriment of the party increased; but suddenly the count's manner changed, and one of the company was bantering him about his gravity, when, as the servants were bringing in the second course, his _valet de chambre_ came and whispered in his ear. warfusée nodded, and immediately twenty soldiers, each holding a drawn sword in one hand and a firelock in the other, entered the room, bowed, and surrounded the table. the guests supposed that this was some pleasantry devised for their amusement; and la ruelle asked his host what it meant. 'nothing,' answered warfusée--'do not move;' but as he spoke a band of spaniards appeared at the windows, and levelled their muskets through the bars. warfusée, pointing to jaspar, who was waiting on his master, ordered the soldiers to remove him. he was seized and turned out of the room. the count then shouted, 'arrest the burgomaster!' 'what? arrest me?' exclaimed la ruelle, rising and throwing his napkin on the table. 'yes, you,' replied warfusée, 'and abbé de mouzon, and baron de saizan also.' the soldiers took la ruelle, and dragged him out; and warfusée, shouting at the top of his voice, declared that he was acting under the orders of the emperor, and of his royal highness the bishop. they had, he said, borne long enough with the intrigues of the french, and the authority of the prince must be re-established. a scene of the wildest confusion followed. warfusée rushed into the courtyard, and loaded la ruelle with insults. 'ropes, ropes for the burgomaster!' he shouted. 'ah! you traitor! your heart is in my hands to-day. see, here are the orders of the prince'; and he pulled some papers out of his pocket. 'make your peace with god, for you must die.' jaspar, the servant, who was standing near, already bound, is said to have exclaimed, when he heard these words, 'oh, master, have i not always said what would happen?' all in vain la ruelle begged for mercy. two dominicans, sent for to shrive the victim, implored the count to pause; but 'kill him, kill him! make haste. lose no more time,' was his answer to their entreaties, and to those of his own daughters, who besought him, with tears, to spare the unfortunate man's life. some of the soldiers refused to touch the burgomaster, and told warfusée to his face that they were not assassins. but at last three spaniards drew their daggers, and stabbed la ruelle repeatedly till he was dead. his cries were heard in the room where de mouzon, fearing that his own last hour had come, was waiting with the other guests under guard of the soldiers. the dominicans entered; and all were crowding round them, pouring out confessions and clamouring for absolution, when warfusée came to the door, and told them that the burgomaster was dead, and that he had died repenting of his misdeeds, and seeking forgiveness from god, the emperor, and the bishop. having said this, he went away again. in the meantime a report had spread through the town that something unusual was happening. it was said that a band of spanish soldiers had been seen to cross the meuse, and go to the count of warfusée's house, where the burgomaster was known to be dining that day; and every one suspected that they had been sent to arrest la ruelle, de mouzon, warfusée, and their friends. so a cousin of the burgomaster's went to find out if this was the case. when he reached the door of the house he found a crowd of people, who told him they had heard cries from within and the clash of arms, and that there was a rumour that the burgo master had been murdered. on hearing this, he knocked at the door, which was opened by the count, who let him enter with a few of his friends. [illustration: la vieille boucherie, liÉge] 'tell me, gentlemen,' said warfusée, 'do you wish to be spanish, or french, or dutch?' 'no,' they replied, 'we wish to remain what we are--neutrals and true liégeois.' 'what would you think,' the count asked them, 'if you heard that la ruelle has sold your country to france?' 'we would not believe it,' they all replied. 'do you know his signature?' warfusée inquired, showing them some documents. 'these are forgeries,' they told him. 'no matter!' exclaimed the count; 'i had orders to kill la ruelle. he is already dead, and i hold abbé de mouzon and baron de saizan prisoners. would you like to see la ruelle's body?' to this they replied 'no,' and asked permission to leave the house. by this time the news of the burgomaster's death was known in the town, and a vast crowd had gathered in front of the house, shouting 'to arms!' and demanding admission. the count ventured to open the door, and allow the burgomaster's cousin and his friends to escape. the noise increased, as the people knocked loudly at the door, and uttered threats of vengeance upon the count. warfusée, now trembling in every limb, pale and terror-stricken, ran hither and thither between the courtyard and the garden, and at last hid himself in a room on the upper story, just as an armed crowd of townsmen burst in, and forced their way to where the soldiers were guarding abbé de mouzon and the other prisoners. baron de saizan at once called on the spaniards to give up their weapons, and promised them quarter. they allowed themselves to be disarmed; but the townsmen instantly attacked them. there was a short, but desperate, struggle, during which the ladies, cowering on the floor, protected themselves as best they could from the musket-balls which flew about, and the sword-cuts which the infuriated townsmen dealt in all directions. in a few minutes the spaniards were slain to the last man; and then some of the burghers, moved by pity, led the daughters of warfusée from the blood-stained house to the hôtel de ville, where they obtained shelter. their father at this time was lying on a bed upstairs, where he was soon discovered by la ruelle's cousin, who had returned, and some of the burghers, who dragged him down to the door of the house and threw him out into the street. the mob rushed upon him, stabbed him, and beat him to death with bludgeons, tore off his clothes, pulled him by the feet to the market-place, hung him head downwards on the gallows, and finally tore the dead body to pieces. a fire was lighted, his remains were burned, and the ashes thrown into the meuse. even this revenge did not quench the thirst for blood which consumed the people of liége. the advocate marchand, who had been one of warfusée's guests, and another eminent citizen, théodore fléron, fell under suspicion, and were slaughtered. it is said that one of those who slew fléron was so mad with rage that he flung himself on the dead man's corpse, tore it with his teeth like a wild beast, and sucked the blood. the church of the carmelites, who were also suspected of some guilty knowledge of warfusée's plot, was sacked. the rector of the jesuits was murdered, and the members of that society were driven from the town. the mob went through the streets shouting, 'death to the chiroux! death to the priests!' a list was drawn up of suspected persons, who were condemned, without trial, on a charge of having conspired against the state; and many of the chiroux faction were hung on the gallows. such is the horrible story of the 'tragic banquet of warfusée,' as it is called in local history. the motive for the crime, as foolish as it was brutal, was obviously the wish of warfusée to gain, at any cost, some credit with the emperor, though there seems to be no proof that either the emperor or ferdinand had really authorized the murder of the burgomaster. nor is there evidence to show that la ruelle had plotted to hand over the principality to france. the only explanation of warfusée's extraordinary folly seems to be that he had entirely misunderstood the sentiments of the liégeois, and had under-estimated the popularity of la ruelle and the strength of the grignoux faction. otherwise, desperate villain though he was, he would scarcely have ventured to commit such a crime with no support save that of a few soldiers. [illustration: the episcopal palace--inner court, liÉge] a semblance of peace followed; but soon the feud between the chiroux and the grignoux broke out again. once more the grignoux obtained the upper hand. the episcopal palace was taken by the mob. two hundred citizens of the upper class were ordered into banishment; and when the bishop was on his way to liége, hoping to restore order by peaceful means, he was met by the news that the gates were closed against him. he therefore sent his nephew, prince henry maximilian of bavaria, with an army to reduce the town. in a skirmish near jupille one of the burgomasters was killed. the grignoux lost heart, and opened the gates. then came a wholesale arrest of the popular leaders, four of whom were executed. the mode of electing magistrates was altered, the bishop reserving to himself the right of nominating half of them. the loyalists who had been banished were recalled. to overawe the people, a citadel was built upon the high ridge above the town; and when ferdinand died, in , the principality was more at rest than it had been for many years. chapter xxv the gaming-tables at spa--the french revolution--annexation of the principality already two princes of bavaria had been bishops of liége, and now a third succeeded, prince maximilian henry, who filled this uneasy throne from to . during most of that time the armies of almost every nation in europe swept like a flood over the principality; but the most important transaction of maximilian's reign was the establishment of a new system for the election of magistrates. this system, which came into force in november, , and was known as the 'réglement de maximilien de bavière,' deprived the lower classes of that direct power of election which they had so long abused, and divided it between the bishops and the middle class. the result of this measure was that there was quiet, if not harmony, within the walls of liége for the next hundred years. during that period, from to , the valley of the meuse was frequently the seat of war in the various campaigns of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. more tranquil times came with the peace of aix-la-chapelle, in , when the austrian netherlands were restored to the empress maria theresa. it was, indeed, only a calm between two storms. but for some years the arts of peace flourished in the valley of the meuse; and side by side with a remarkable progress of industry and commerce the intellectual activity of the people increased. an association, called the 'société d'emulation,' was formed, chiefly for the study of french literature; and soon the works of voltaire, of diderot, and of d'alembert were read by all classes. the clergy tried to forbid the purchase of such books, but in vain. amongst the working class the favourite authors were those who attacked the clergy; and the writings of voltaire became so popular that secret meetings were held in many of the country villages for the purpose of hearing them read aloud. thus, beneath the surface, the spirit of inquiry and free thought was fostered. already in france the first murmurs of the coming storm were heard; and in liége people began to speak about the 'rights of man,' to question the dogmas of the church, and to ridicule the priests at whose feet their forefathers had knelt for so many hundred years. while these new forces were gathering strength, césar de hoensbroeck, one of the canons of st. lambert, became bishop, on july , . a trifling dispute with which his reign began was the prelude to very serious events. for many years a company called the 'société deleau' had enjoyed a monopoly of the gaming-tables at spa, under a grant from the bishops of liége, to whom a third of the profits were paid. in one levoz, a citizen of liége, opened a new gambling-house, which he called the 'club.' the société deleau protested against this infringement of its monopoly. levoz and his friends replied that by law the bishops had no right to grant a monopoly without the sanction of the estates; and at last the case was laid before the imperial chamber of the german empire. this petty quarrel, so trivial in its origin, had run its course for more than two years, when suddenly it was raised into a grave controversy by one of the partisans of levoz, nicolas bassenge, who published a series of letters in which he declared that the liberties of the country were at stake. 'it is not,' he said, 'a mere question about a game of hazard.' which is to be supreme, he asked, the prince or the people? who has the right to make laws or grant monopolies? the chief of the state is not its master, but merely the instrument of the national will. others followed bassenge in the same strain; and more letters, fresh recriminations, hot words and angry answers, added fuel to the fire. levoz, tired of waiting for a decision from the imperial chamber, leased his club to a manager, paul redouté, who opened it with dancing added to the attractions of dice and cards. the bishop sent soldiers to spa, who closed the club tables, and forbade all gaming except in the rooms to which he had granted the monopoly. a warrant was issued for the arrest of redouté and m. ransonnet, who had fought in the american war of independence, and was now a leader among the disaffected party in liége. the latter fled to brussels, where the brabant revolution against joseph ii. was approaching its climax, and sent letters to liége, in which he said that a plan was on foot to establish a republic consisting of brabant and the principality of liége. would it not, he asked, be a glorious work to confine the bishops to their apostolic mission, as in the days of st. hubert? words like these made a deep impression at a time when the old influences of tradition and custom were beginning to lose their force. [illustration: pont du prophÈte, promenade meyerbeer, spa woods] in the spring and summer of there was much suffering among the poor, owing to a bad season; and the bishop arranged to celebrate july , the anniversary of his election, by a distribution of bread among the destitute. but before july came, horsemen had galloped up the valley of the meuse with tidings of the wonderful things which had been done in france. 'workers of iniquity,' bassenge wrote, 'behold paris, and tremble!' the bastille had fallen on july , and a month later almost to a day, on august , the revolution in liége began. for two days the people did nothing but march about the streets; but very early on the morning of tuesday the th the tocsin was sounding over the town, and soon the market-place was filled by an immense crowd, all wearing cockades of red and yellow, the national colours. baron de chestret marched at the head of armed men into the hôtel de ville, and expelled the burgomasters. this was followed by the election, at the famous perron, of new burgomasters, one of them being baron de chestret, who, later in the day, went with a number of the insurgents to the bishop's palace at seraing, and demanded his presence in the city, and his written approval of what had been done. the bishop, adorned with a red and yellow cockade, was hurried to liége by the mob, who crowded round his carriage, shouting, blowing trumpets, and beating drums. the horses were taken out, and the rioters drew him to the hôtel de ville, and brought him into a room where the light of a single candle showed a number of men waiting for him sword in hand. a threatening voice came from the darkness, saying, 'the nation demands your signature. make haste!' and the bishop forthwith signed a number of documents which were placed before him, without waiting to read the contents. on the morrow he returned to seraing; but a few days later he departed secretly for tréves. for nearly two years the imperial chamber was occupied with the question of liége; but at last, when the revolution in brabant had been suppressed, an austrian army entered the principality. everything which the revolutionary party had done since august , , was declared null and void. the burgomasters who had been expelled were restored to office. those canons of st. lambert who had fled were brought back, and the bishop himself returned. the société d'emulation, which had done so much to encourage the study of voltaire, was suppressed. sentences of banishment, and even of death, were pronounced against some of those who had led the revolt; and there can be little doubt that bishop hoensbroeck earned the title of 'prêtre sanguinaire,' which was given him at the courts of berlin and vienna. he died in june, ; and in august of that year his nephew, the comte de méan, was elected by the chapter. but before the new bishop's inauguration the army of the french republic, fresh from its victory at jemappes, having driven the austrians beyond the meuse, took possession of liége. this was on november , . * * * * * dumouriez, who had entered brussels without opposition, received a hearty welcome at liége, where the popular sentiment was in favour of an union with france; and in every part of the principality resolutions were passed for incorporating the country with the republic. it is said that, shortly before august , , mirabeau dined at liége with bassenge and some of the revolutionary leaders, when the conversation turned on the affair of spa. the constitution of liége was explained to him. 'and you are not contented with that?' he said. 'gentlemen, let me tell you that if in france we had enjoyed half your privileges, we would have thought ourselves happy.' but there had always been a charm in the word 'republic' for the people of liége. 'men of liége,' said nicolas bassenge, when the national convention at paris decreed the annexation of the netherlands, 'our lot is fixed: we are french. to live or die frenchmen is the wish of our hearts, and no wish was ever so pure, so earnest, or so unanimous.' thomas bassenge, brother of nicolas, was at this time a member of the municipal council of liége; and in february, , he persuaded the magistrates to celebrate the revolution by destroying the cathedral of st. lambert, which stood near the episcopal palace of Érard de la marck. the front of this church, the finest ecclesiastical building in the principality, was a mass of elaborate carving. statues of angels and archangels, of patriarchs and prophets, of martyrs and of saints, rose one above the other, and over them innumerable pinnacles were interlaced by a maze of slender arches, crossing each other with tracery so delicate as almost to resemble lace. beneath this profusion of stonework the great doorway was adorned with marble statues of the benefactors of the church from the chisel of lambert zoutman, a sculptor of liége; and in the interior of the building, with its marble columns and windows of old stained glass, were many paintings, the tombs of the bishops, rich tapestries, a jewelled bust of lambert, and many objects of value, amongst which were two golden statues sent by charles the bold to the shrine of the patron saint, as an act of expiation after he had destroyed the town. this building, which had survived the great disaster of the fifteenth century, was now completely wrecked. the statues and the monuments were cast down. the mausoleum of Érard de la marck was sold and broken up. the graves were opened, the bones thrown out, and the lead of the coffins used for bullets. the clocks were sent up the meuse in barges to france, and there turned into copper money. everything valuable was removed, and soon nothing remained but the bare walls, which in a few years crumbled into ruins. thus the long line of the bishop-princes of liége, and the place in which for centuries they had been inaugurated, fell together. chapter xxvi liÉge and the valley of the meuse in modern times--bouillon the territory which the bishops had governed was now merged in four of the nine departments into which the national convention divided the annexed austrian netherlands. the department of 'forêts,' with luxembourg for its capital, included the ardennes. the western portion of the old diocese was sunk in 'sambre et meuse,' of which namur was the chief town. 'ourthe' was the name given to the district in which liége was situated. to the east lay the department of 'meuse inférieure,' with maestricht for its capital. thus the old boundaries of the principality were entirely obliterated. the convention conferred the rights of french citizens on the people of these districts, and commissioners were sent from paris to divide the country into cantons, and establish a new system of local administration on the french model. the departments of forêts, sambre et meuse, ourthe, and meuse inférieure were in the same condition as the rest of belgium during the closing years of the eighteenth century and down to the fall of napoleon. after that they formed part of the 'kingdom of the netherlands,' under the house of orange-nassau, and were called the provinces of luxembourg, namur, liége, and limbourg. when the kingdom of the netherlands, the chief constructive work accomplished by the congress of vienna, fell to pieces in , the liégeois went with the rest of belgium in the revolution against william i. as soon as they heard of the insurrection at brussels, the townsmen of liége met, as of old, in the market-place, put on the national colours, and helped themselves to weapons from the armourers' shops. a company of volunteers, with two pieces of cannon, marched across brabant into brussels, and took a prominent part in the street fighting, which ended in the retreat of the dutch troops, and the triumph of the revolution which led to the separation of the catholic netherlands from holland, and the election of leopold i. as king of belgium. [illustration: pont de jambes et citadelle, namur] long ago, in the days of prince maximilian of bavaria, a fortress was built on the only bridge which at that time crossed the meuse at liége. this fortress, armed with cannon which could sweep both sides of the river, left only one narrow waterway, nicknamed 'the dardanelles,' by which boats could pass up and down the stream. it has long since disappeared, and the present pont des arches now occupies the sight of the old bridge. the irregular outline of the houses on the bank of the meuse, with their fronts of grey, white, and red, the church towers appearing over the roofs of the town behind, and the ridge of the citadel rising high in the background, are best seen from the pont des arches, from which the modern rue leopold leads straight into the very heart of liége, to the place on which the cathedral of st. lambert stood. it is just a century since the last stones of the old church were carted away; and now the place st. lambert, like the place verte, which opens on it from the west, and the market-place, which is a few yards to the east, has a bright look of business and prosperity, with its shops and cafés. the episcopal palace, now the palais de justice, the erection of which took thirty years during the commencement of the sixteenth century, has undergone many alterations since the days of Érard de la marck. two hundred years after it was finished a fire destroyed the original front, which had to be rebuilt, and the rest of the vast structure was restored in the nineteenth century. the primitive façade has been replaced by one moulded on severely classic lines; but the inner squares, with their picturesque cloisters, are strangely rich in types of every style, a medley of gothic, renaissance, moorish, as if symbolic of the vicissitudes undergone by the bishop-princes who inhabited this immense building. most of the grotesque carvings, the demons in stone, and the fantastic figures which surround these courts, were conceived by the luxuriant imagination of francis borset, a sculptor of liége. close to the episcopal palace is the market-place, where so many of the scenes described in these pages took place, and where now stands the modern perron, designed by delcour at the end of the seventeenth century to replace the old column, at the foot of which the laws of the principality, peace, or war used to be proclaimed. there is nothing about it to recall the history of the stormy times when charles the bold carried it off into flanders; but the tradition of the ancient perron still survives. at brussels, ghent, bruges, louvain, the hôtels de ville retain their aspect of the middle ages, when they were the centres of that passionate civic life which throbs through all the history of the netherlands. but the hôtel de ville of liége is modern, of the eighteenth century. it would make a commodious private mansion, but has nothing in common with the architectural gems which adorn the great cities of flanders and brabant. this lack of architectural distinction is characteristic of modern liége. the hammers of the french revolution, in destroying the cathedral of st. lambert, completed what the fires of charles the bold began, and of the really old liége almost nothing remains. but the fiery spirit which once led to so many wars and revolutions now finds an outlet in useful work. the industrious character of the walloons is perhaps most highly developed in other walloon parts of belgium--among the carpet factories of tournai, the iron-works of charleroi, the flax-works of courtrai, and in the coal-mines of the borinage, which blacken the landscape for miles round mons. but the people of liége have always been famous for their skill in working steel and iron. in the old days they forged the weapons of war which they used so often; and at the present time there are in the town many flourishing companies who turn out large quantities of guns, engines, and machinery, while up the meuse there are coal-mines, furnaces, and factories, where the walloons toil as laboriously as in hainaut. in the year after waterloo william i. and john cockerill, an englishman, established iron-works at seraing, within a few miles of liége. in , when the kingdom of the netherlands was broken up, cockerill became owner of the business, which has grown since then, until it is now one of the largest iron manufactories in europe, with some twelve thousand workmen constantly employed in its coal-mines and engine-works. the palace at seraing, from which bishop hoensbroeck was carried by the revolutionary mob to the hôtel de ville at liége in the summer of , is now the office of the well-known firm of john cockerill and company. [illustration: chÂteau de bouillon, in the semois valley] beyond seraing the valley of the meuse winds up through the centre of what was once the principality of liége, and at every turn there is something which recalls the olden time. the white château of aigremont, where the wild boar of ardennes used to live, stands boldly on its hilltop on the left bank of the river. a little farther, and we come to the condroz country, with its capital ciney, notorious for the insane 'war of the cow,' and huy, with the grave of peter the hermit, and its long history of suffering. the whole valley is so peaceful now, full of quiet villages, gardens, hay-fields, and well-cultivated land, that it is difficult to realize that for centuries it was nothing but a battlefield, and that in these regions the people suffered almost as much from the depredations of their friends as from the enemy, even long after the barbarism of the burgundian period was a thing of the past. 'we have,' says field-marshal de merode, during the campaigns of louis xiv., 'eighteen miserable regiments of infantry, and fourteen of cavalry and dragoons, who are just six thousand beggars or thieves, for they have neither money nor clothing, and live by plunder on the highways, stopping public and private coaches, robbing travellers, or, pistol in hand, demanding at least a _pour boire_. nobody can go from one place to another without meeting them, which ruins business and the whole country.' the situation of namur, at the junction of the sambre and the meuse, made it a place of great importance in every war, not only in the middle ages, but also in later times. when the grand alliance was formed against france, it was in brabant that the main body of the allies gathered; but before long the tide of war rolled into the valley of the meuse. liége was bombarded for five days by marshal boufflers, and the bishop, from his place of refuge in the citadel, saw the hôtel de ville and half the town set on fire by the shells which flew over the river from the french batteries on the chartreuse. as the struggle went on, huy was destroyed by marshal villeroi, namur fell into the hands of louis xiv., and farther afield it seemed as if no city, however strong, could stand a siege against the genius of vauban, while the victories at steinkirk and landen made the arms of france appear invincible. but at last, in , came the siege and capture of namur by william iii. the taking of namur was the turning-point of that war, and led to the treaty of ryswick, by which spain recovered luxembourg, and all the conquests which the king of france had made in the netherlands. again, when the war of the spanish succession began, the english army, on its way to germany, marched into the principality of liége, took the town and citadel of liége, drove the french over the meuse, and carried the war to blenheim on the danube. but though the first of marlborough's chief victories was thus gained in bavaria, the second of his four great battles was fought to obtain command of the way to namur. marshal villeroi's object in giving battle at ramillies was to protect that town, which he regarded as the key to the valley of the meuse; but fortune had deserted france, and the combat of may , , decided the fate not only of the principality of liége, but of all belgium, though the war continued through the carnage of oudenarde and malplaquet, till the peace of utrecht. even now the shadow of a possible war overhangs this part of europe; and if those who think that, sooner or later, the neutrality of belgium will be violated are right, it is very likely that the line of the meuse, with its navigable stream, its railway, and its roads, so well adapted for military purposes, will be used. it is in view of this danger that the fortifications along the valley are maintained. within a radius of six miles round liége there are twelve forts. the citadel of huy, planned by william i. soon after the campaign of waterloo, was enlarged and made stronger so lately as . namur is surrounded by nine forts at a distance of about six miles from the town; and the citadel of dinant forms an outpost to the south-west. the last occasion on which any part of belgium, so long the 'cockpit of europe,' had a glimpse of war was in the autumn of . the battle of sedan had been fought within a few miles from the southern slopes of the ardennes, and during september thousands of wounded men and prisoners from the beaten army were crowded in bouillon, a little town which lies in the gorge of the semois, just over the belgian frontier. this place was once the capital of a duchy. on a lofty rock, almost surrounded by the dark, brown waters of the many-winding semois, stands the ruined castle of the dukes of bouillon, a large pile of grey walls and towers, which gives some idea of the immense strength of the fortresses which, even in the remote forest-land of ardennes, the feudal lords built for themselves. the age of this stronghold is unknown, but there seems reason to believe that a fort was erected on this rock by the princes of ardennes so early as the seventh century. in the eleventh century it was ceded to the principality of liége by the famous crusader godfrey of bouillon; but this part of the ardennes, on the borders of france and luxembourg, was a kind of 'debatable land,' and there were frequent struggles for the duchy between the bishops of liége and the family of de la marck. the wild boar of ardennes obtained possession of it, and his son usurped the title of duke of bouillon; but one of his descendants having incurred the wrath of charles v., the castle was taken, the town sacked, and the duchy restored to the bishops of liége. they retained it till it fell into the hands of louis xiv., by whom it was given to the family of la tour d'auvergne, the representatives of the de la marcks. it became a small republic after the french revolution, but was included in the kingdom of the netherlands from to . since then it has formed part of belgian luxembourg. bouillon, with its mountains and woods, and its romantic ruin, being one of the loveliest spots in the ardennes, soon became a favourite place for holiday-makers, and had for many years a peaceful existence before the storm burst so near it in that eventful year . 'i was there,' m. camille lemonnier says, 'in the midst of the _débâcle_, and, sick at heart, and in the horror of those days, wrote these words: "a furious coming and going filled the streets. we found the _place_ crowded with townspeople, peasants, lancers, prisoners, and wounded men struggling among the horses' hoofs, the wheels of wagons, and the feet of the stretcher-bearers. a horrible noise rose in the darkness of the evening from this tumultuous crowd, who moved aimlessly about, with staring eyes, lost in agony, and scarcely knowing what they did. a stupor seemed to weigh on every brain; and all round, looking down on the seething mass, lights twinkled in the windows of the houses. behind the white blinds of one house, the hôtel de la poste, at the corner to the left of the bridge, a restless shadow moved about all night long. it was the shadow of the last bonaparte, watching, and a prisoner, while near him the frantic cries wrung by defeat from the wreckage of the french army died away in sobs and spasms."' next morning napoleon iii., who had spent the night in the hôtel de la poste, left with a guard of prussian officers, climbed up the road, through the woods which lie between the valleys of the semois and the lesse, to libramont, whence he journeyed by train to wilhelmshoe. since then bouillon has returned to the quiet times which preceded the franco-german war; but that student of history must have a very dull imagination who does not find much to think of in this narrow valley, on the frontiers of belgium and france, where the past and the present meet, the day when duke godfrey rode off to plant his standard on the walls of jerusalem, and the day when his castle looked down on the humiliation of the ruler who began his reign by making war about the holy places of palestine. index abbé de mouzon, , , , abbey of the dunes, - ; of melrose, abbey of st. bavon, , adinkerque, , 'adoration of the immaculate lamb,' , aigremont, castle of, , aix-la-chapelle, churches of, enriched, ; peace of, albert, archduke, , albert, archduke, portrait at furnes, ; at the battle of the dunes, , , ; marries the infanta isabella, ; character of, , ; wounded, albert de cuyck made bishop of liége, ; grants a charter to liége, , , , albert de louvain, albert, prince, at bruges, alexander, emperor of russia, allée verte, alost, alpaïde, alva, , , amandus, st., amsterdam, anoona, bishop of, anderlecht, andré, st., village of, androuins, m., ane aveugle. rue de l', , , angelo, michael, anglaises, couvent des dames, anna paulowna, grand duchess, , anna, wife of william the silent, anseremme, antoine, duke of brabant, antwerp: in the sixteenth century, , ; cathedral sacked, , ; the spanish fury, , ; besieged in , _et seq._; reformers at, ; trade goes to amsterdam, ; fall of, ; napoleon at, in , ; orange party in , ; bombarded in , , ; state of, in , ; surrendered by carnot, ; proposal to strengthen fortifications of, ; cathedral, , ; church of st. michael, ; grande place, , ; hôtel de ville, , ; marché du vendredi, , ; rue de la bascule, ; rue du couvent, ; place verte, , ; place de meir, , ; rue rubens, ; rue sale, ; rue de tournai, ; statue of rubens, ; vleechhuis, or vieille boucherie, ; walls of, ; wappers, ; cathedral of, , , aquitaine, duke of, archduke maximilian, archdukes albert and isabella, , , ardennes, state of, in the feudal period, , arenberg, duc d', , arenberg, family of, , arlon, arschot, duc d', artevelde, jacques van, , , , artevelde, philip van, , artois, comte d', , , auber, augustinian nuns, austrian netherlands restored to the empress maria theresa, ; annexed to france, baldwin, bras-de-fer, real founder of bruges, ; defends flanders, ; marries judith, ; builds church of st. donatian, , baldwin, king of jerusalem, baldwin of constantinople, baldwin vii., bannockburn, bardi, money-changers at bruges, bassenge, nicolas, , , , bassenge, thomas, bassin de commerce at bruges, bastille, fall of, in , battle of the dunes, _et seq._ battle of the golden spurs, _et seq._, beaufort, jean de, beeckmann, william, , beggars, the, , béguinage at bruges, ; grove of, béguinage at ghent, béhuchet, nicholas, , , belfry of bruges, , , , , ; of ghent, ; of brussels, belgian parliament passes law for harbour near heyst, berlaimont, , berlaimont, comte florent de, bernard, st., of clairvaux, berri, duc de, bertulf, provost of st. donatian, bexley, bicycles, import duty on, 'bird of honour,' , black watch, blankenberghe, new harbour near, ; english fleet at, in , , , blenheim, blyde incompste, bois-le-duc, bombarda, jean paul, boniface viii., 'bonnes villes' of flanders, borluut, madame, borset, francis, borthwick, colonel, boterbeke, , bouchoute, hôtel de, bouillon, , , , , bouisies, comte de, bourg, place du, at bruges, , , bourignon, antoinette, brabant, duke of, supports simon de limbourg, ; joins in the war of the cow, , ; joyeuse entrée of, ; revolution of, , brabant: present boundary, ; frontiers in ancient times, ; four chief towns of, ; spirit of union, ; joyeuse entrée, _et seq._; states of, ; council of, ; dukes of, their tomb violated, , ; revolution of, _et seq._ brangwyn, william, brant, jean, ; isabelle, bréderode, , , breidel, john, , , , breskens, brialmont, general, bristol, earl of, at bruges, brodhuis, the, , , bruges, , , , , , , bruges, described by john of ypres, , ; origin of name, ; primitive township of, ; boundaries in early times, ; market-place, , , ; halles, ; early trade, ; the loove at, ; growth of, ; capital of west flanders, ; baldwin bras-de-fer its real founder, ; place du bourg, ; murder of charles the good, ; joanna of navarre at, ; death of marie, wife of maximilian, ; hôtel de ville, ; customs house, ; oriental appearance in middle ages, ; produce sent to, in middle ages, ; hanseatic league at, ; consulates at, ; splendour of, in middle ages, , ; under the house of burgundy, ; loss of trade, , ; pauperism, ; charles ii. at, _et seq._; list of charles ii.'s household at, ; death of catherine of braganza at, ; fate of church at french revolution, ; napoleon at, ; state of, since revolution of , ; english jesuits at, ; queen victoria at, ; relic of holy blood at, _et seq._; procession of the holy blood, _et seq._; relic of the holy cross, ; tournament at, ; charles the bold buried at, bruges matins, , brussels, contrast to flemish towns, ; in the middle ages, , ; increase of wealth and luxury, ; wencelas at, ; under the house of burgundy, ; during the reign of charles v., ; executions of egmont and horn, , ; entry of the infanta isabella and archduke albert, ; bombardment of , _et seq._; charles of lorraine at, _et seq._; scene in the grande place in , ; entered by the austrians in , , by the allies in , ; jacobin clubs, ; napoleon at, , ; during the winter of - , ; in june , _et seq._; revolution of , _et seq._; allée verte, ; boulevard du midi, , de waterloo, ; brodhuis, , , ; burgundian library, ; coudenberg, ; church of the carmelites, , ; communal museum, ; grande place, , ; hôtel de france, ; hôtel de ville, , , , , ; la chaussée, ; l'etoile, ; le cygne, ; manneken, , ; maison des brasseurs, ; mint house, ; montagne de la cour, , ; notre dame de la chapelle, ; notre dame du sablon, ; place de la monnaie, , , ; porte de louvain, ; porte de hal, , ; porte de laeken, ; porto de namur, , ; rue de la blanchisserie, ; rue des fripiers, ; rue de la montagne du parc, ; rue de namur, ; rue des petits cannes, ; rue royale, , ; ste. gudule, , , ; st. nicholas, , ; théatre de la monnaie, , , , ; charles ii. at, ; church of ste. gudule, burchard, , , burgundian library, burgundy, charles, duke of, burgundy, house of, , , ; in the fifteenth century, ; hated by the liégeois, burnet, bishop, butler, mr. j., , caen, caine, mr. hall, 'cairless,' mr., caisse de religion, cambrai, camolet, jean, campo formio, capucins, chapel of, at furnes, carmelites, church of, at liége, sacked, carnot, , carthusian monastery at ghent, casa negra, catalani, cathedral of antwerp, cathedral of st. martin at ypres, cathedral of st. sauveur at bruges, , , catherine of braganza, catholics unpopular at liége, celestine iii., chabot, chapel of the capucins at furnes, chapelle du saint-sang (st. basil's) at bruges, , , , charlemagne, , charleroi, , charles ii. of england at bruges, _et seq._ charles the bald, charles the bold, , , , ; destroys dinant, ; becomes duke of burgundy, ; enters liége and issues a decree, , ; marries margaret of york, ; imprisons louis xi. at peronne, ; marches with louis xi. to liége and destroys the town, , , ; his death, ; burial at nancy, ; final burial at bruges, charles the good, - charles iv. of luxembourg, charles v., , , , , ; is chosen emperor, ; takes bouillon, charles vi., charles of lorraine, , _et seq._, charles x., charles, m., advocate, charlotte, princess, charter of albert de cuyck, , chartreuse, at liége, chassé, general, chateaubriand, , château des comtes at ghent, chatillon, conference of, , châtillon, jacques de, , , - chaudfontaine, chemins-de-fer vicinaux, chester, baron de, chèvremont, chiroux and grignoux factions, church of jerusalem at bruges, church of notre dame at bruges, church of st. donatian at bruges, church of ste. walburge, , ciney, , , , cistercians, , citadel of liége built, ; taken by the english, clairvaux, clauwerts, , , clement v., clement vii., clermont, count of, cloth hall of ghent, cockerill and co., collège philosophique, cologne, , , colonna, jean baptiste, comte de charolais (charles the bold), comte de la hanse, condroz, , conference of chatillon, , ; of london, , congress of ghent, congress of vienna, , , , coninck, peter de, , , , , constitution of belgium, , consulate of france, ; of spain, ; of smyrna, convention (french), , , ; of the hague, coolkerke, cossacks in brussels, coudenburg, , cour des princes at ghent, court of peace, , _et seq._ courtrai, , couvent des dames anglaises, , , coxyde, - cranenberg, crecy, battle of, creevy, mr., at brussels in , cromwell, , , cumberland hussars, customs house at bruges, cuyck, albert de, , , , , dalgetty, dugald, dame de bellem, damme, , , , , _et seq._, ; population of, ; röles de, ; harbour blocked up, dampierre, guy de, danton, dardanelles (at liége), david, gerard, denderleeuw, dendre, the river, deprysenaere, jean, of ypres, desmoulins, camille, diderot, diet of frankfort ( ), diet of worms ( ), _digues de mer_, construction of, , dinant, situation of, ; people of, invade namur and luxembourg, ; declares war against namur, ; destroyed by charles the bold, ; citadel rebuilt, ; now part of fortifications on the meuse, donatian, church of st., built by baldwin bras-de-fer, ; bertulf, provost of, ; site of, ; murder of charles the good in, ; destroyed, don john of austria, , dordrecht, , duinbergen, , , dumouriez, ; welcomed at liége, dunes, battle of the, ; scenery of, _et seq._ durancy, mademoiselle, dyle, the river, dyver, the, at bruges, , edward iii., - , ; at ghent, edward iv., egmont, count, , , , elba, elias, sixth abbot of coxyde, enghien, english competition with flemish trade, ; with german, english merchant adventurers, erard de la marck, _et seq._ erembalds, _et seq._; feud with straetens, ; destruction of, ernest, archduke, ernest of bavaria, _et seq._ ethelbald, ethelwulf, husband of judith, daughter of charles the bald, evendyck, everard de la mark, , eyck, van, elder and younger, , , , , , ferdinand of bavaria, , ferdinand of spain, flanders, count of, opposes simon de limbourg, ; joins in the war of the cow, flanders, state of, in early times, , ; invaded by normans, , ; origin of title 'count of,' ; defended by baldwin bras-de-fer, ; allied to england, ; neutrality of, in and , ; invaded by french, ; plain of, _et seq._; ignorance of country people in, ; smuggling between france and, ; annexed to france, , ; invaded by english, ; causes of disunion in, , ; ceded to the infanta isabella, ; contrast between different parts of, , ; coast of, _et seq._ fléron, théodore, fleurus, battle of, , flotte, pierre, chancellor of france, , flushing, , , foréts, department of, fox, sir stephen, france, flanders annexed to, , france, palais du, , franchimont, frankfort, diet of ( ), frederic de montigny, frederick iii., frederick, prince, attacks brussels, _et seq._ french consulate at bruges, french literature studied at liége, french revolution, freyr, furnes, - ; procession of penitents at, ; church of ste. walburge, ; hôtel de ville and palais de justice, ; church of st. nicholas, ; corps de garde espagnol and pavillon des officiers espagnols, gambia, lord, at ghent, gand, porte de, gardiner, dr., quoted, gauthier de sapignies, gembloux, genoese merchants, house of, at bruges, george iii., germans at antwerp, , germany, emigrations from flanders to, ghent, , , ; trade of, , ; early history, ; edward iii. and queen philippa at, ; birth of john of gaunt, ; of charles v., ; fêtes at, ; disaffection during reign of charles the bold, ; congress of, and pacification, , , , ; marriage of mary of burgundy, ; catalini, ; louis xviii. in, , , , , ; hôtel de ville, , , ; roland, the bell of ghent, ; rue des champs, ; rue haut-port, ; abbey of st. bavon, , ; béguinage, ; cathedral of st. bavon, , ; church of st. jacques, , of st. michael, , of st. nicholas, , of st. pierre, ; marché du vendredi, ; carthusian monastery, ; cloth hall, ; picture of mary of burgundy, ; place ste. pharailde, ghiselhuis, gilliat-smith, author of _the story of bruges_, gloucester, henry, duke of, _et seq._ godfrey of bouillon, , godshuisen, golden fleece, order of the, golden spurs, battle of the, , golf in belgium, - 'governor of the english colony beyond the seas,' grand alliance, grande dame of béguinage, grande salle des Échevins at bruges, great storm of thirteenth century, grignoux and chiroux factions, groisbeck, gérard de, , gruthuise, , guerre de la vache de ciney, , guildhouse of st. sebastian at bruges, , gustavus adolphus, guy de dampierre, haccourt, haecke, canon van, hague, the, convention of, , hainaut, counts of, vassals of liége, ; count of, opposes simon de limbourg, halle de drapiers at ypres, halle de paris at bruges, halles at bruges, halloy, jean de, hamilton, sir james, hane-steenhuyse, comte d', , hannetaire, monsieur d', hanseatic league, hapsburg, house of, hastière, , heinsberg, jean de, henry ii., emperor, grants a charter to liége, , henry iv., henry viii., het paradijs, heyst, , , , hobbema, hoensbroeck, césar de, hogarth, holland, béguinages in, holy blood, relic and chapel of, at bruges, , ; procession of the, holy cross, relic of, holy sepulchre, church of, at jerusalem, hoogenblekker, horn, count, , , , hôtel de bouchoute at bruges, hôtel de ville at bruges, , , , , ; at furnes, hougoumont, house of the seven towers, , , hundred days, - huy, tournament at, ; rebuilt, ; taken by the dutch, ; destroyed by villeroi, ; citadel of, enlarged in , hyde (lord clarendon), , , idesbaldus, st., immon of chévremont, _et seq._ imperial chamber, , , , inquisition in flanders, inquisition at liége, installation of the bishops of liége, isabella, daughter of philip ii., isabella, wife of ferdinand of spain, isabella, the infanta, , , isabelle de bourbon, _ivanhoe_, jacobins at brussels, _et seq._ jacques de horne, jacques de le roy, jallet, jasper, la ruelle's servant, , , jean iii., count of louvain and duke of brabant, jean d'arenberg, jean de beaufort, jean de horne, , jean de ville, , , jean sans pitie, jean, son of philip the bold, jeanne, duchess of brabant, , , jemappes, , jerusalem, baldwin, king of, jerusalem, church of, at bruges, jesse, _memoirs of the court of england_, jesuits at bruges, jesuits, rector of, at liége, murdered, joanna of navarre, joanna, wife of philip the fair, john, king of england, john of bavaria, john of gaunt, john of ypres, , joseph ii., , , ; succeeds maria theresa, ; his policy in the austrian netherlands, _et seq._; demands opening of scheldt, ; his death, joseph of arimathæa, jourdan, joyeuse entrée of brabant: origin, ; variations of, ; mary of burgundy's joyeuse entrée, ; alleged infringement by joseph ii., ; restored, judith, wife of baldwin bras-de-fer, , juliers, duke of, jupille, , justice, palais du, at bruges, ; at furnes, , kadzand, kermesse, , king, thomas harper, kingdom of the netherlands, , _et seq._, knights of the golden fleece, knocke, , , , , kuilemburg, count, , la baule, cardinal, la belle alliance, , la cintray, lac d'amour, , laeken, lamden, lamennais, la nogentelle, la panne, , , , la pinaud, , la roche, count of, la ruelle, burgomaster of liége, ; is murdered, , la tour d'auvergne, la haye sainte, le coq, , - _legend of montrose_, legia, the, lejeusne, mathurin, leliarts, , , lemonnier, m. camille, leonius, leopold i., , , leopold ii., leopold of saxe-coburg, , leroz, , lesse, the, libramont, liége, ; boundaries of the principality, ; early history, ; churches of, enriched by plunder of chèvremone, ; court of peace, ; charter of albert de cuyck, _et seq._; sympathy with france in the fifteenth century; army of, defeated at montenac, ; rules imposed by charles the bold, ; his oppressions, , ; destroyed, , , ; recovery of, ; concessions granted by mary of burgundy, , ; relations with germany, ; episcopal palace built, ; objections to a papal inquisition, ; spanish garrison at, ; magistrates claim right to hold the keys, ; they usurp the powers of the bishop, ; chiroux and grignoux factions, ; mob take the episcopal palace, ; a citadel built, ; state of, from to , , ; study of french literature, ; revolution of , ; taken by the french in , ; welcome to dumouriez, ; in favour of union with french republic, ; mirabeau's visit, ; cathedral of st. lambert destroyed, , ; revolution of , ; place verte, ; place st. lambert, ; rue leopold, ; pont des arches, ; episcopal palace (palais de justice), , ; hôtel de ville, ; steel and iron works, , ; bombarded by marshal boufflers, ; taken by the english, ; modern fortifications, lille, lilly the astrologer, limbourg, simon de, lincoln, bishop of, lombaerdzyde, , , , londonderry, longfellow, quoted, , , loove, the, at bruges, louis de bourbon becomes bishop of liége, , ; lives at brussels, ; is surprised at tongres by the liégeois, ; obtains concessions in favour of the town, ; is murdered, louis of maele, count of flanders, , , , , louis of nassau, louis of nevers, , louis xi., ; encourages the liégeois to revolt, ; instigates charles the bold against liége, ; marches with him to liége, ; employs william de la marck, louis xiii., louis xiv., , ; takes bouillon, louis xviii., , , , louvain, ; albert de, ; capital of old brabant, ; inauguration of dukes of brabant, _et seq._; university, ; séminaire générale, ; collège philosophique, luxembourg, luxembourg, count of, joins in the war of the cow, , lyger, lys, the river, , maele, louis of, , , maestricht, abbey of, laid waste, ; siege of, magna charta, maison des orientaux, malines, malmedy, malplaquet, mannaert, manneken of brussels, , marat, marbriers, quai des, marchand, m., , marché du vendredi at ghent, margaret of parma, margaret of york, marguerite of maele, , mariakerke, marianne, daughter of dame de bellem, maria theresa, , , , , , marie antoinette, marie of burgundy, , marie louise, empress, , marie, wife of charles of lorraine, mark of baden, market-place of bruges, , , , , , marlborough, martel, charles, , mary of burgundy, daughter of charles the bold, , , , mary, 'the gentle,' matins of bruges, , maurice, elector, maurice of nassau, , , mauritshuis at the hague, maximilian, archduke, , maximilian, archduke (afterwards emperor), , , , maximilian, henry, bishop of liége, _et seq._ maximilian, husband of mary of burgundy, , mazarin, méan, comte de, melrose abbey, memlinc, , , merode, field-marshal de, meuninxhove, john van, meurs, william de, meuse inférieure, michael angelo, middelkerke, , minnewater, , mirabeau at liége, , miracles wrought by the holy blood at bruges, mons, monthermé, mont st. jean, morgarten, mother superior of béguinage, mourentorff, jean, muette de portici, performance of, münster, treaty of, , , murray, sir robert, musée plantin-moretus, namur, ; situation of, ; taken by louis xiv., ; by william iii., ; strategic importance of, , , ; fortifications round, nancy, ; battle of, napoleon: at antwerp, , ; on the importance of antwerp, , ; at brussels, , ; departure to elba, ; lands in france, ; at charleroi, ; reported victory of, on june , , ; at bruges, ; return from elba, ; canal to sluis constructed by, napoleon iii. at bouillon in , navarre, joanna of, neutrality of flanders in and , nevers, louis of, , nicholas i., pope, nicholas, sir edward, nieuport, - ; origin of, ; besieged by prince maurice, ; fallen state of, nieuport-bains, , , , 'nieuwerck,' at ypres, nimeguen, treaty of, nivelles, noé, michael, normans in flanders, norwich, earl of, , notger, bishop, _et seq._ notre dame, choir of, at bruges, notre dame, church of, at bruges, , , notre dame de lombaerdzyde, notre dame de thuine, oldenburgh, grand duchess of, 'old england,' at bruges, oosterlingen plaats, oostkerke, orange, william of, king of the netherlands, , , _et seq._ orange, william of (the silent), orange, prince of, , , , orientaux, maison des, ; place des, ormonde, , osburga, ostend, canal from ghent to, ostend, growth of, , , , othée, battle of, otho the great, , otlet, m. paul, _note_ oudenarde, ouden burg, ourthe, pacification of ghent, , , , palais de justice, at bruges, , , ; at furnes, palais de justice at liége, , , palais du franc, paradijs, het, parijssche halle, paris, paris, capitulation of, , ; revolution of july, , parma, duke of, in flanders, parma, prince of, , , , pauperism of bruges, peace of aix-la-chapelle, peace of utrecht, pepin d'herstal, , peronne, louis xi. at, , perron of liége, , , , , pesche, baron de, peter the hermit, philip de croy, prince of chimay, philip of alsace, philip ii., , , , , ; cedes spanish netherlands to his daughter, philip iii., philip of valois, , philip the bold, philip the fair, , , , , , philip the good, , , , philip the hardy, philippa, queen, at ghent, pitt, william, policy in the netherlands, place des orientaux, place du bourg, , , plantin, christopher, _et seq._ polyglot bible, pont des arches, pont des dunes, pope clement v., ; vii., ; boniface viii., ; celestine iii., ; urban vi., poperinghe, porte de damme, , porte de gand, porte ste. croix, , principality of liége, boundaries, ; state of, under burgundy, ; relations with germany, ; during the sixteenth century, ; refuses to join the united netherlands, ; neutrality proclaimed, ; proposal for union with brabant, ; austrian army enters, ; annexed to the french republic, , ; boundaries obliterated, ; included in the kingdom of the netherlands, procession of the holy blood at bruges, _et seq._; of penitents, at furnes, prud'homme d'aillay, marquis, pruyssenaere, peter, quai espagnol, ; long, ; des marbriers, , , ; du miroir, ; de la potterie, , , ; du rosaire, , ; spinola, , ; vert, , 'quarantaines,' quatre bras, , _quentin durward_, ramillies, ramsonnet, m., rastadt, treaty of, redouté, paul, réglement de maximilien de bavière, rené, duke of lorraine, rheims, richard i., richmond, duke and duchess of, robinson, mr. wilfrid, author of _bruges, an historical sketch_, rochester, earl of, rodenbach, rognon, m., roland, the bell of ghent, röles de damme, rome, flight of baldwin and judith to, roosebeke, battle of, , rosaire, quai du, roulers, route royale, roya, , , , , , rubens, joannes, , , rubens, peter paul, _et seq._ rue anglaise, in bruges, ; de l'ane aveugle, , , ; des carmes, ; cour de gand, ; espagnole, ; flamande, ; haute, ; neuve, ; du vieux bourg, , , , runnymede, ruysdael, ryswick, treaty of, saizan, baron de, , , sambre et meuse, santhoven, sart, comte de, scarphout, scheldt, the river, , , , , , , , , , , , , 'schielt ende vriendt,' schomberg, schönfeldt, general, schoutteeten, , 'scotland,' at bruges, scottish merchants at bruges, scott, sir walter, , sedan, see-brugge, semois, , , senlis, senne, the river, , seraing, , sheppey, isle of, sidney, sir philip, simon de limbourg, sluis, , , , , , smet de naeyer, comte, smith, gilliat-, , , , smyrna, consulate of, at bruges, société deleau, société d'emulation, , soignies, forest of, , spa, gaming tables at, , spaniards, at bruges, ; at furnes, , spanish fury of antwerp, , , spanish inquisition, spencer, henry, bishop of norwich, st. andré, village of, stavelot, st. bartholomew's day, st. basil, church of, , st. bavon, st. bernard of clairvaux, , st. donatian, church of, ste. elizabeth, church of, , ste. gudule, church of, steinkirk, ste. monica, church of, ste. walburge, church of, at bruges, ; at furnes, , st. george, society of, , st. hubert, , ; town and abbey of, , , st. idesbaldus, st. jean de l'atre, st. john, hospital of, st. lambert, ; cathedral of, , , , st. martin, church of, at furnes, st. monulphe, st. nicholas, church of, at furnes, st. omer, jesuits of, st. peter's, at ghent, straetens, , st. sauveur, church of, , , , , st. sebastian, altar of, at nancy, st. sebastian, society of, at bruges, , , ; at ypres, st. trond, stübben, herr, swift, dean, sybilla, wife of thierry d'alsace, sydenham, colonel, syria, _tales of a grandfather_, tarah, viscount, tariff question in belgium, , terbanck, monastery of, tercelain, family name of plantin, 'ter streep,' tervueren, , , théâtre de la monnaie, , , thierry d'alsace, _et seq._, 'thuindag,' thurloe state papers, titelman the inquisitor, tongres, torquemada, tournai, , , , , tours, battle of, 'tower of london,' at bruges, tragedy of the passion, trauttmansdorff, treaty of campo formio, ; of münster of utrecht, , treaty of ryswick, trève de dieu, trèves, tribunal de paix, , , tricaria, bishop of, truchses, gérard, , turner, sir james, , turnhout, twelve years' truce, , urban vi., ursol, duc d', utrecht, peace of, ; treaty of, , valois, philip of, van der noot, _et seq._, van eyck, , , , , vanity fair, vauban, ; fortifies ypres, , , verdun, henri de, verhaeren, m., belgian poet, victoria, queen, at bruges, vienna, congress of, , vieux bourg, rue du, , , villeroi, attacks brussels, _et seq._ virgin and child, statue of, at bruges, voltaire, vonck, , walburge, ste., church of, at bruges, ; at furnes, , walcheren, walcheren expedition, walloons, industrious character of, , warfusée, count of, , _et seq._ war of the cow, , , , war of the spanish succession, waterloo, , ; battle of, , waulsort, weavers, guild of, wellington, duke of, , , , wencelas, , wenduyne, , westcapelle, westende, village, , ; plage, , , , - weyden, roger van der, wild boar of ardennes, - , wilhelmshöhe, william, bishop of ancona, william iii., , william of orange, worms, diet of ( ), wounded eagle monument at waterloo, york, duke of, at bruges, _et seq._ ypres, - ; field preaching near, ; churches sacked, ; taken by parma, ; by the protestants, ; place du musée, ; besieged by louis xiv., ; fortified by vauban, , - ; ceded to france, ; described by vauban in , ; taken by the french in , ; during the hundred days, ; end of military history, ; grand place and cloth hall, ; monopoly of weaving linen, ; manages with bruges the hanseatic league in flanders, ; the nieuwerck, ; riots at, , ; siege of, by english, _et seq._; john of ypres describes early bruges, , ypres, , , , yser, , zoutman, lambert, zutphen, battle of, zuyder zee, zwijn, , , , , billing and sons, ltd., printers, guildford [illustration: _sketch map of belgium and part of holland_ accompanying 'belgium,' by a. forestier and g. w. t. omond. 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/ × ins. by mortimer and dorothy menpes sir henry irving containing portraits of irving in colour price s. net post free, s. d. books for boys and girls all with full-page illustrations in colour price s. each size - / × ins. by s. r. crockett red cap tales stolen from the treasure-chest of the wizard of the north full-page illustrations in colour by simon harmon vedder edited by g. e. mitton swiss family robinson full-page illustrations in colour by harry rountree by ascott r. hope adventures of punch full-page illustrations in colour by stephen baghot de la bere _animal autobiographies_ the black bear. by h. perry robinson the cat. by violet hunt the dog. by g. e. mitton the fox. by j. c. tregarthen the rat. by g. m. a. hewett the squirrel. by t. c. bridges each containing full-page illustrations in colour _others in preparation._ translated and abridged by dominick daly the adventures of don quixote full-page illustrations in colour by stephen baghot de la bere gulliver's travels full-page illustrations in colour by stephen baghot de la bere by john bunyan the pilgrim's progress full-page illustrations in colour by gertrude demain hammond, r.i. by p. g. wodehouse william tell told again full-page illustrations in colour by philip dadd by g. e. mitton children's book of london full-page illustrations in colour by john williamson by g. e. mitton children's book of stars with a preface by sir david gill, k.c.b. full-page illustrations ( in colour) and diagrams in the text by elizabeth w. grierson children's book of edinburgh full-page illustrations in colour by allan stewart by elizabeth w. grierson children's tales from scottish ballads full-page illustrations in colour by allan stewart by the rev. r. c. gillie the kinsfolk and friends of jesus full-page illustrations in colour and sepia by harriet beecher stowe uncle tom's cabin full-page illustrations in colour and many others in the text peeps at many lands each containing full-page illustrations in colour. square crown octavo, cloth _price s. d. net each; post free, s. d._ --------+---------+-------+-------+-------+--------- france | holland | india | italy | japan | scotland --------+---------+-------+-------+-------+--------- _kindly apply to the publishers_, adam and charles black, _soho square, london, w., for a detailed prospectus of any volume in this list. the books themselves may be obtained through any bookseller at home or abroad._ published by a. and c. black · soho square · london · w. * * * * * * transcriber's note: every effort has been made to produce this ebook as close to the original as possible. the positions of the illustrations have been adjusted slightly so that they do not appear in the middle of lines of text. footnotes have been given numbers and appear at the end of each chapter. https://archive.org/details/ belgiansunderge massuoft transcriber's note: text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). a carat character is used to denote superscription. a single character following the carat is superscripted (example: xx^e). multiple superscripted characters are enclosed by curly brackets (example: r^{do}). belgians under the german eagle by jean massart vice-director of the class of sciences in the royal academy of belgium translated by bernard miall london t. fisher unwin ltd. adelphi terrace first published june (all rights reserved) preface these pages were written in belgium between the th august, , and the th august, . i employed in this work only those books and periodicals which entered the country, whether secretly or openly, and which every one, therefore, can procure. but to drive conviction into the reader's mind i have observed a rule of selection in using these documents: i have used those exclusively which are of german origin, or which are censored by the germans. they are-- (a) german posters exposed in belgium. (b) books and newspapers coming from germany. (c) newspapers published in belgium under the german censorship. (d) the _nieuwe rotterdamsche courant_, the only foreign newspaper which has been authorized in belgium since the beginning of the occupation. as for the belgian _grey books_, the reports of the commission of inquiry, and books published in belgium, of these i used only those which were known to us in belgium before the th august, . in short, since i crossed the frontier i have not inserted a single idea into this book: it therefore precisely reflects the state of mind of a belgian who has lived a year under the german domination. i have forced myself to remain as far as possible objective, in order to give my work the scientific rigour which characterizes the reports of the belgian commission of inquiry. i have simply transferred, to a domain which is new to me, the methods of my customary occupations. * * * * * here is a list of my principal sources, with the abbreviations which denote them in the text:-- _n.r.c._ _nieuwe rotterdamsche courant._ from this journal (with two exceptions) i have taken only those articles which were not stopped by the german censorship. _k.z._ _kölnische zeitung._ _k.vz._ _kölnische volkszeitung._ _d.g.a._ _düsseldorfer general-anzeiger._ _f.z._ _frankfurter zeitung._ _n.a.z._ _norddeutsche allgemeine zeitung._ st to th report. _reports of the belgian commission of inquiry._ st and nd belgian. _grey books_. _belg. all._ davignon, _la belgigue et l'allemagne_. the english edition is not a complete translation of the french text. to save space, many facts, and above all, many quotations, have been suppressed. j. m. antibes, villa thuret, _october, _. contents page =preface= =introduction= intellectual life in belgium prohibition of newspapers and verbal communication--the german censorship--authorized german newspapers--authorized dutch newspapers--newspapers introduced surreptitiously--secret propagation of news--secret newspapers--german placards--regulations as to correspondence--railway journeys. chapter i =the violation of neutrality= a. the preliminaries the belgians' distrust of germany lulled--german duplicity on the st, nd, and rd of august, --the ultimatum--the speech of the chancellor in the reichstag. b. justification of the entry into belgium c. german accusations against belgium necessity of influencing neutrals--absurdity of the first accusations--a change of tactics--the revelations of the _n.a.z._-- . the report of m. le baron griendl, some time belgian minister in berlin-- . the reports of generals ducarne and jungbluth--the attitude of the belgians toward the german falsifications--neutral opinion--the falsification of m. de l'escaille's letter. d. the declaration of war and the first hostilities the three successive proposals of wilhelm ii to belgium--hostilities preceding the declaration of war--the pacific character of belgium--german espionage in belgium--the mentality of the german soldiers at the beginning of the campaign--letters from german prisoners of war--german lies respecting the occupation of liége--the sudden attack upon france is checked--the disinterested behaviour of belgium. chapter ii =violations of the hague convention= a. the "reprisals against francs-tireurs" murders committed by the germans from the outset--were there any "francs-tireurs?"--the obsession of the "francs-tireurs" in the german army--the obsession of the "francs-tireurs" in the literature of the war--the obsession of the "francs-tireurs" in literature and art--responsibility of the leaders--animosity toward the clergy--animosity toward churches--intentional insufficiency of preliminary inquiries--a "show" inquiry--mentality of an officer charged with the repression of "francs-tireurs"--drunkenness in the german army--cruelties necessary according to german theories--terrorization: "reprisals" as a "preventive" incendiary material--the two great periods of massacre--protective inscriptions--accusations against the belgian government--treatment of civil prisoners--the return of civil prisoners--german admission of the innocence of the civil prisoners. b. the "belgian atrocities" the pretended cruelty of belgian civilians toward the german army--some accusations--the pretended massacres of german civilians--preventive and repressive measures taken by the belgian authorities. c. violations of the hague convention military employment of belgians by the germans--measures of coercion taken by the germans--living shields--a german admission--belgians placed before the troops at charleroi--belgians placed before the troops at lebbeke, tirlemont, mons--belgian women placed before the troops at anseremme--belgians forcibly detained at ostend and middelkerke--bombardment of the cathedral at malines--the pretended observation-post on notre-dame of antwerp--german observation-posts admitted by the germans--pillage--thefts of stamps--illegal taxation--fines for telegraphic interruptions--fines for attacks by "francs-tireurs"--hostages--contributions and requisitions--contributions demanded from the cities--exactions of a non-commissioned officer--requisitions of raw materials and machinery--conclusions--the famine in belgium--the flight of the belgians--the causes of the famine--creation of temporary shelters--the national relief committee--belgium's gratitude to america. chapter iii =the german mind, self-depicted= a. pride some manifestations of pride and the spirit of boasting-- . militarism--might comes before right-- . disdain of others--some inept proclamations, etc.--lies concerning the situation in belgium--lies concerning "francs-tireurs"-- . cynicism--photographs and picture-postcards--alfred heymel on the battle of charleroi--surrender of the critical spirit. refusal to examine the accusations of cruelty--the abolition of free discussion in germany--german credulity--voluntary blindness of the "intellectuals"--the manifesto of the "ninety-three"--the manifesto of the , professors--the protestant pastors--the catholic priests and rabbis. b. untruthfulness . a few lies--written lies--a french dirigible captured by the germans--the transportation of the german dead--some lying placards--m. max's denial--how the officers lie to their men-- . perseverance in falsehood--the german treatment of mgr. merrier-- . the organization of propaganda--(_a_) propagandist bureaux operating in germany--(_b_) propagandist matter issued by the publishing houses--(_c_) propagandist bureaux operating abroad--sincerity of the censored newspapers--persecution of uncensored newspapers--(_d_) various propaganda-- . the violation of engagements--the independence of belgium--the promise to respect the patriotism of the belgians--the forced striking of the flag--the belgian colours forbidden in the provinces--prohibition of the belgian colours in brussels--the "te deum" on the patron saints' day of the king--the portraits of the royal family--obligation to employ the german language--the belgian army is our enemy!--the "brabançonne" prohibited--the national anniversary of july st--the anniversary of the th august--school inspection by the germans. c. incitements to disunion incitements to disloyalty--the walloons incited against the flemings--inciting the people against the belgian government--inciting the belgians against the english. d. a few details of the administration of belgium (_a_) present prosperity in belgium--assertions of the german authorities--the parasitical exploitation of belgium admitted by germany--the tenfold tax on absentees--railway traffic in belgium--trouble with the artisans of luttre--traffic suppressed at malines--(_b_) the germans' talent for organization--conflict between authorities--supression of the bureau of free assessment--the belgian red cross committee suppressed--(_c_) the belgian attitude toward the germans--(_d_) behaviour of the german administration--the appeal to informers--german espionage--agents-provocateurs or "traps." e. ferocity . aggravations--treatment inflicted upon belgian ladies--filthy amusements-- . physical tortures--the fate of the valkenaers family-- . moral tortures--moral torture before execution. =index= introduction bismarck was given to quoting, with approval, a saying which has often been attributed to him, but which was, in reality, first made in his presence by a hero of the american civil war--general sheridan. it was, that the people of a country occupied by a conquering army should be left nothing--save eyes to weep with! and we belgians, truly, are weeping: weeping for our native country, invaded, in contempt of the most solemn conventions, by one of the signatories of those treaties; weeping for our villages, which are levelled to the ground, and our cities, which are burned; our monuments, which are broken by shell-fire, and our treasures of art and science, which are for ever destroyed. we mourn to think of those hundreds of thousands of our countrymen who have wandered without shelter along the highways of europe; of belgium, lately so proud of her prosperity, but now taxed and crushed and exhausted by war requisitions and contributions, and reduced to holding out her hand for public charity. who could help but weep when, in flanders, our soldiers are defending the very last corner of our territory; when, in our villages, men, old folks, women, and children have been, and are yet, shot down without pity in reprisal for imaginary crimes; when thousands of civilians are imprisoned in germany as hostages; when the burgomaster of the capital, for daring to defend the rights of his constituents, is confined in a silesian prison;[ ] when our rural clergy is decimated, to such a point that divine service has necessarily been suspended in entire cantons; when a scholar like van gehuchten dies in exile, after seeing his manuscripts and his drawings, the fruit of ten years' labours, disappear in the flames of louvain? * * * * * our sobs are mingled with tears of gratitude for the compassionate intervention of holland, america, spain, the scandinavian countries, switzerland, and italy ... not forgetting our allies. it is this generosity that has prevented us from dying of hunger and want; a million of our refugees have found in holland a fraternal succour which has never for a moment been relaxed; the united states, thanks to the influence and the incomparable activity of their minister in brussels, mr. brand whitlock, supply us with our daily bread. belgium will never forget the exactions of those who have reduced to famine one of the richest and most fertile countries in the world, nor the unequalled charity of the nations which have enabled us to live to this day, and have saved us from death by starvation. * * * * * we are weeping! but we do not surrender ourselves to despair, for we have kept intact our faith in the future, and the firm resolve to leave no stone unturned that we may for ever be spared such another trial. above all, we refuse to bow our heads beneath the yoke. in vain have the germans afflicted us with increasingly unjust and unjustifiable and vexatious demands; they will never daunt us. let them proscribe the belgian flag as a seditious emblem; we have no need to unfurl it to remain faithful to it; they are welcome to forbid the _te deum_ on the day of the king's patron saint; since the king and the queen are valiantly sharing, on the yser, in the efforts and the sufferings of our brothers and our sons, royalty has no firmer supporters among us than the leaders of socialism. no, we assuredly are not ready to abandon ourselves to despair. and nothing can sustain us more than the international sympathies by which we feel ourselves surrounded in this our unmerited misfortune. * * * * * the time has not yet come to judge the events which have delivered europe to fire and blood. yet we hold that it is the duty of all those who believe themselves in a position usefully to intervene to make themselves heard. for germany possesses so perfect an organization for the diffusion of her propaganda in foreign countries, that the public opinion of neutral states, hearing but one side of the question, would finally come to believe our enemies. it would be useless and ineffectual to accumulate, as did the ninety-three german "intellectuals," among others, a number of denials and affirmations, without supporting them by a single definite fact. we do not wish to put forward anything which we cannot immediately support by easily verified proofs. this rule which we have compelled ourselves to observe, has forced us narrowly to limit our field of investigation. we shall speak only of actions and intellectual manifestations which are immediately connected with the present war; and as the field would be too vast even when so circumscribed, we shall say nothing of military operations properly so-called, nor of all that has happened beyond the belgian frontiers. we do not propose to write a history. we leave to those more competent the task of extricating the truth as to present events; we shall content ourselves with taking indisputable documents, which are nearly always cuttings from german books, or german newspapers, or german posters, and with analysing their mental significance; and, further, with showing how the belgians react against the actions recorded. in the following pages we shall first of all examine the _violation of belgian neutrality by germany_, then the _infractions of the hague convention of th october, _. we shall be careful to invoke only _precise and unquestionable facts_; but for that matter the number of german infractions of the law of nations in belgium is so enormous that we have been able provisionally to exclude all those which are not established in the most positive manner. at the same time we shall endeavour to derive from these facts a few indications as to our enemies' manner of thinking. this last will be studied in further detail in a third chapter: _german mentality self-depicted_. intellectual life in belgium. a few words as to the documents utilized. as the germans occupied our country they took pains to isolate us from the rest of the world. they immediately suppressed all our journals, as these naturally refused to submit to their censorship. at the same time the germans forced certain journals to reappear; notably _l'ami de l'ordre_, at namur, and _le bien public_, at gand. the first of these journals took care frankly to inform its readers that the military authorities were forcing it to continue publication. as for foreign newspapers, their introduction was forbidden under heavy penalties. _prohibition of newspapers and verbal communications._[ ] official notice. although the district commandant[ ] is continually causing authentic news of the military operations to be published, the foreign newspapers are intentionally publishing false news. it is brought to the knowledge of the public that it is therefore strictly forbidden to any one whomsoever to introduce into spa and the surrounding district newspapers other than german, without the previous authorization of the district commandant. offenders will be punished according to the laws of war. the same penalties will be applied to those who have verbally spread false news. the district commandant, aske, _colonel_. spa, _ nd september, _. (_placard posted at spa._) notice. i call the attention of the population of belgium to the fact that the sale and distribution of newspapers and of all news reproduced by letterpress or in any other manner which is not expressly authorized by the german censorship is strictly prohibited. every offender will be immediately arrested and punished by a long term of imprisonment. the governor-general in belgium, baron von der goltz, _field-marshal_. brussels, _ th november, _. (_posted in brussels._) military court. in pursuance of , of the imperial decree of th december , the following persons have been punished:-- (_a_) the coal-merchant jules pousseur, of jambes, with months' imprisonment and a fine of marks, or days' additional imprisonment. (_b_) his daughter, camille pousseur, with months' imprisonment, because they frequently bought foreign newspapers and articles from newspapers whose sale is prohibited; and further because the daughter copied and collected, with the knowledge and permission of her father, poems and articles hostile to germany, containing, for the most part, vulgar and obscene insults in respect of the emperor, the confederate princes, and the german army; and because she further, as one may fully realize from the careful manner in which the numerous copies were made, communicated the originals to others, and finally because jules pousseur admits that he has for some time been engaged in forwarding letters, which is forbidden. the terms of imprisonment will run from the first day of detention. the copies and other writings will be retained. _l'ami de l'ordre_, _ th april, _. _the german censorship._ after the th august the eastern half of belgium was thus deprived of all intellectual communication with the outside world. for a fortnight we were left absolutely without news. then, from the th september, the german government permitted the publication of journals which were carefully expurgated, and falsified by a rigorous censorship:[ ] _le quotidien_, _le bruxellois_, _l'Écho de bruxelles_, _les dernières nouvelles_; and later _le belge_, _la belgique_, _la patrie_, etc., in brussels, _l'avenir_ in antwerp, and many more. although submitted to the censorship, the appearance of these newspapers was only provisional and uncertain. _le bien public_ reminds its readers of the fact in its issue for the th december, . all these journals were on occasion suspended; for example, _le quotidien_, from the th to the th december, , without any reason being given; _l'ami de l'ordre_, from the nd to the th september, , for having printed an acrostic regarded as insulting; and _le bien public_, during the whole of may, . the illustrated journals were as much subject to the censorship as the ordinary newspapers. numbers to of _ illustré_, published before the arrival of the germans, could no longer be exposed for sale: no. containing portraits of king albert, nicholas ii, m. poincaré, and king george v; no. the portrait of general leman, and no. that of m. max. from november onwards the issues were severely edited, so that they contained, for example, scarcely any more photographs of towns burned by the german army. the other illustrated papers--_actualité illustré_, _le temps présent_, etc., also had none but anodyne photographs, such as portraits of the new masters, military and civil. in some degree to replace the newspapers, the printers conceived the idea of publishing little booklets relating to the war, but giving no direct news of the military operations. these publications were naturally subjected to the censorship, and many of those which were published before the decree of the th october, , were prohibited; it was thus with the very interesting brochure, _m. adolphe max, bourgmestre de bruxelles, son administration du th août au th septembre, _, and the nos. to of the booklets issued by mr. brian hill. illustrated postcards also were censored; the series in course of publication, representing the ruins of louvain, dinant, charleroi, liége, etc., had to be interrupted. music even had to receive the official approbation (_see_ the placard of th march, , p. ). in short, it will be seen that our public life already very closely approached the german ideal: _alles ist verboten_. to think that belgium, so justly proud of her constitutional liberties, is now crushed, breathless, under the heavy prussian jack-boot! _authorized german newspapers._ as a compensation for those which the german administration felt obliged to suppress, it allowed us, about the th september, to receive some german newspapers--the _kölnische zeitung_, _kölnische volkszeitung_, _düsseldorfer tageblatt_, _düsseldorfer general-anzieger_, and also a few illustrated papers, notably the _berliner illustrierte zeitung_, _die wochenschau_, _du kriegs-echo_. at a later date other newspapers were tolerated: _vossissche zeitung_, _berliner tageblatt_, _frankfurter zeitung_, _berliner zeitung am mittag_, _l'ami du peuple_ (a special edition, for belgium, in french and german, of _der volksfreund_, of aix-la-chapelle), and also some new illustrated papers, for example, _kriegsbilder_, _zeit im bild_, and above all the _illustrierte kriegs-kurier_, published in german, flemish, french, and english,[ ] whose sixteen pages, all covered with illustrations, cost only centimes: evidently an instrument of propaganda, subsidized by the central administration. we shall have occasion later on to insist on its veracity, if one may call it that. for a long time none of these journals reached us regularly. we had also access to two journals published by the government itself: ( ) the _deutsche soldatenpost_ (_herausgegeben von der zivil-vorwaltung des general-gouverneurs in belgiën_), originally reserved for soldiers, but which was also sold to civilians--in a very intermittent fashion, it is true--from september to the beginning of december ; ( ) _le réveil_ (_Écho de la presse, journal officiel du bureau allemand à düsseldorf pour la publication de nouvelles authentiques à l'étranger_), the latter being published simultaneously in french and german. forty-nine numbers were published. it felt such an insurmountable disgust for untruth that having announced in the introductory article of its first number that belgium was entirely in the hands of the germans, it spoke, in a neighbouring column, of battles in western flanders between the germans and the allies. let us say at once that from the point of view of sincerity and liberty of opinion all the newspapers of the trans-rhenian world are of equal worth: official or otherwise, they only publish that which is allowed, or rather, inspired, by the government. _authorized dutch newspapers._ one newspaper not subject to the imperial censorship, one only, has found grace with the authorities--the _nieuwe rotterdamsche courant_. its tendencies, clearly favourable to germany, enable it to penetrate into belgium; but not equally all over the country. at gand one may subscribe to it; but its sale in single numbers is prohibited. in antwerp it was proscribed for several months from the th december. at louvain and brussels it may be sold in the street, and also supplied to subscribers. but it must not be supposed that the paper is anywhere regularly distributed; the edition of the morning of the th november, , was forwarded on the th november to a few subscribers who were particularly persistent in their demands; it is true that this number contains the article on the letters of prisoners of war made by the belgians (pp. - ), and that these letters annihilate not a few accusations made by the germans, while they throw a singular light on their lies and acts of pillage. as for the issues for the th, th, and th december, , they were never distributed; an official announcement, which appeared in _l'ami de l'ordre_ of the th and th december states that these numbers contain "inadmissible communications as to the dislocation of troops." the issues of the th, th, and th december were also withheld. since january some ten numbers have been prohibited each month. from the _nieuwe rotterdamsche courant_ we have copied only the articles by contributors and correspondents of the journal itself; it has seemed to us that to reproduce articles extracted from belgian newspapers was a proceeding which, while quite usual among the germans, is not entirely honest. another dutch journal, the _algemeen handelsblad_ of amsterdam, arrived in brussels at the beginning of november; but its licence was withdrawn at the end of a week. from february its sale was again authorized in belgium. at the same time the introduction of a few other dutch journals was permitted, their pro-german character being indubitable: such were _het vaterland_, _de maasbode_, _de nieuwe courant_. _newspapers introduced surreptitiously._ let us say at once that despite all prohibitions and all the sentences pronounced, prohibited newspapers continue to trickle into the occupied portion of the country. these newspapers were at first those which were normally appearing in the towns not yet subject to german authority. thus _la métropole_ and _le matin_ of antwerp, _le bien public_ and _la flandre libérale_ of gand were very soon carried as contraband and secretly sold in brussels. again, in the regions not yet invaded, some of the newspapers of the towns already occupied were printed: thus _l'indépendance belge_ of brussels appeared at ostend until the arrival of the germans in that town. the agents who sold these newspapers had also foreign papers, especially french and english. later, when all belgium, save a corner of flanders, was subjected to the germans, a number of belgian papers were printed abroad: _la métropole_ and _l'indépendance belge_ in london and _le xx^e siècle_ at havre. we also used to receive from time to time occasional newspapers published by belgian refugees abroad. of these we may cite: _l'Écho belge_, of amsterdam, _la belgique_, of rotterdam, _les nouvelles_, and _le courrier de la meuse_, of maastricht. it will be understood that prohibited journals are rare. on certain days, when the hunt for the vendors is particularly fruitful, people will offer fifty francs, or even two hundred, for a copy of the _times_. as it is chiefly across the dutch frontier that the smuggling of the english "dailies" is carried on, the authorities have enacted measures which grow more and more draconian relating to the traffic across this frontier. by the end of it had become practically impossible to enter belgium from holland by the ordinary route (_see_ the _düsseldorfer general-anzeiger_ of the th december, ). the smugglers of journals are therefore obliged to insinuate themselves in secret, and their trade is not without danger; only in the suburbs of putte (province of antwerp) the german sentinels killed two of them in december . since the spring of the frontier has been guarded with barbed wire and wires traversed by high-tension electric currents; the crossing has naturally become more difficult. but "difficult" is not "impossible." _secret propagation of news._ so that a greater number of readers may profit by the newspapers smuggled into the country, the important passages, especially those relating to military operations, are copied by means of the typewriter. these extracts are searched after as much as the originals, but none the less there are those who continue to prepare and to distribute them in secret. in brussels alone there are fifteen of these secret sheets, each of which has its public of subscribers; many of them are gratuitous. from time to time our oppressors scent out one of these typewriting establishments, but some other devoted person immediately continues the business. in certain well-known establishments one could, for a time, obtain the use of a newspaper for ten minutes for one or two francs; but the secret was finally betrayed, thanks to one or other of the innumerable spies supported by the government. _secret newspapers._ finally, not a few persons, possessing a typewriting machine or other means of reproducing writing, copy and sell clandestinely, for the profit of some charitable undertaking, articles from foreign newspapers or reviews, which bear upon the current political situation. many documents have reached us in this form. lastly, courageous belgians have undertaken to print, in the midst of the occupied territory, and in spite of all the german prohibitions, newspapers which reach a circulation of many thousands. the two most important are _la libre belgique_ and _la vérité_. in vain have our persecutors promised the most enticing rewards to those who should denounce the authors of these sheets; they continue imperturbably to appear. which proves, be it said in passing, that the germans lie most horribly when they state that numbers of belgians send them anonymous information. _german placards._ our intellectual pasture also includes placards. in the first place, the _notices_, _orders_, and _proclamations_ of all kinds. then the _news published by the german government_, placards usually written in three languages, in the principal towns. in brussels, where they are known as _lustige blätter_, they are particularly numerous. at louvain, vilverde, and mons they are in manuscript, and usually written in german only. two important sources of documentation are completely closed: photography and correspondence by post. the taking and reproduction of photographs is strictly prohibited, above all in the towns ruined by the germans. notice. whosoever produces, without authorization, representations of destruction caused by the war, or who displays, offers for sale, sells, or otherwise distributes, by means of postcards, illustrated reviews, daily newspapers, or other periodicals containing such representations, above all of buildings or localities burned or devastated by the war, will be punished by a fine not exceeding , marks or a term of imprisonment not exceeding one year. the seizure of formes and plates which shall have served for the reproduction of these representations, as well as their destruction, may also be ordered. the imperial governor, freiherr von huene, _general of infantry_. antwerp, _ st december, _. (_posted at antwerp._) _regulations as to correspondence._ the sending of letters by carrier is prohibited. until about the middle of december correspondence was carried from town to town by the carriers who undertake the goods traffic since the suspension of the railways; one could still, therefore, easily enough obtain news. but, as a souvenir of his joyous entry, the herr baron von bissing, who succeeded the herr baron von der goltz as governor-general in belgium, suppressed this little supplementary vocation of the carriers. thus senator speyer was condemned to pay a fine of , marks and to undergo days' imprisonment for the conveyance of letters. we have no longer the resource of sending letters by carrier pigeons, as these are closely scrutinized by the germans. finally, two remaining methods of transmitting letters were taken from us: the use of a bow and arrow (_n.r.c._, st january, ), and enclosure in a loaf baked in holland and sold in belgium. so it is needless to say that we have neither telegraph nor telephone. there is nothing to be done but to go in search of information oneself, after finding out the hours (highly variable) during which one is allowed to "circulate" in the localities through which one has to pass. since then it has become very difficult to obtain precise information as to an event which has occurred in another locality, for obviously one cannot trust a missive of this kind to the german post, which accepts only open letters, and passes them through a _cabinet noir_; moreover, it does not guarantee communication with all points. by order of the german authority. after p.m. ( p.m. belgian) there must be no lights in the windows of the houses of the town of herve. the patrol has orders to fire into every window lit up, giving upon the street. ad. cajot, _sheriff_. f. de francquex, _judge_. (_posted at herve._) it must also be explained what administrative formalities one had to fulfil in order to obtain a lodging. thus, from january no one could obtain a lodging in gand, whether in an hotel, or a boarding-house, or apartments, without first obtaining the authorization of the _kommandantur_. _railway journeys._ once furnished with a proper passport, one has only to set out. by suitably arranging one's route, one can often take advantage of the local tramways. all other means of communication are extremely precarious. the automobile is forbidden. horses have been requisitioned by the military authorities. _november ._ official railway time-table _of railways at present operating in belgium under the administration of the german government_. with details of journeys. price, _fr._ . general arrangements. a certain number of trains have during the last few days been run over the belgian railways by the german government. these are:-- . brussels--aix-la-chapelle. . brussels--lille. . brussels--namur. . brussels--charleroi. . louvain--charleroi. . brussels--antwerp. . brussels--courtrai. owing to the defective state of the lines and the telegraphic and signalling apparatus, these trains can as yet travel only at a moderate pace, and the duration of the journey is not guaranteed. for this reason it is prudent to provide oneself on departure with the necessary provisions for the journey. * * * * * the time-table of the railways is often made up in such a way that the belgian cannot make use of the trains. thus the only train leaving brussels for mons in november reached mons at p.m. but after p.m. it is forbidden to walk through the streets of mons. the only train leaving mons for brussels leaves at . a.m., but one may not "circulate" in the streets of mons earlier than a.m. we see to what extremities the belgian population is reduced. well, well!--despite all these difficulties, we have procured documents of great importance. we cannot, unfortunately, publish them all at this juncture; for they would result in the identification of those who conveyed them to us, and expose them to reprisals; and we have learned, to our cost, all that this term signifies according to the ideas of our present rulers. * * * * * this work, then, will necessarily be incomplete. we publish it only because we think it useful to demonstrate that in spite of all the annoyances which they receive at the hands of the germans, the belgians do not allow themselves to be intimidated. moreover, whatever may be the provisional lacunæ (mostly intentional) of our documentation, we cannot in any case be reproached with falsification. this, whatever our enemies may think, is a point of capital importance. footnotes: [ ] since this was written, m. max is reported to have been released, and to be living in switzerland. [ ] these documents are as far as possible translated literally, any inelegancies of diction may probably be attributed to the german authors, whose syntax is often peculiar.--(trans.) [ ] _commandant de place._--(trans.) [ ] we give examples of this censorship later (pp. - ). [ ] the english text was soon discontinued. belgians under the german eagle chapter i the violation of neutrality a.--the preliminaries. we were too confiding. with the exception of the military and a few statesmen, the belgians were convinced that nations, just as individuals, were bound by their engagements, and that as long as we remained faithful to our international obligations, the signatories of the treaty of london ( th april, ), which set forth the conditions of the neutrality, or rather of the neutralization, of belgium (_belg. all._, p. ), would equally observe their obligations towards us. however, in , during the "agadir crisis," our calm was a little shaken by a series of articles in _le soir_. according to this journal, all the german military writers held the invasion of belgium to be inevitable in the event of a war between france and germany. _the belgians' distrust of germany lulled._ but our faith in international conventions--just a trifle ingenuous, it may be--very soon regained its comforting influence. had not wilhelm ii, "the emperor of peace," assured the belgian mission, which was sent to greet him at aix-la-chapelle, that belgium had nothing to fear on the part of germany (see _l'Étoile belge_, th october, ). in september the emperor made a fresh reassuring statement. being present at the swiss manoeuvres, he congratulated m. forster, president of the swiss confederation, and told him how glad he was to find that the swiss army would effectually defend the integrity of her frontier against a french attack. "what a pity," he added, "that the belgian army is not as well prepared, and is incapable of resisting french aggression." this evidently meant that belgium ran no risk from the side of prussia. it was not only the emperor who assured us of his profound respect for international statutes. the german ministers made similar declarations in the reichstag (_belg. all._, p. ). in belgium itself the germans profited by every occasion to celebrate their friendship for us and their respect for treaties. in , at the time of the seventy-fifth anniversary of belgian independence, herr graf von wallwitz stated at an official reception: "and as for us germans, the maintenance of the treaty of warranty concluded at the birth of modern belgium is a sort of political axiom which, to our thinking, no one could violate without committing the gravest of faults" (_see_ p. of the _annales parlementaires belges, senate, _). in , at the time of the joyous entry of the king and queen into liége, general von emmich, the same who was entrusted with the bombardment of the city in august , came to salute our sovereigns in the name of the emperor. he spoke incessantly of the german sympathies for the belgians and their country. in august herr erzberger gave his word of honour, as catholic deputy to the reichstag, that there had never been any question of invading belgium, and that belgium might always count on the party of the centre to cause international engagements to be respected. this is the very party that is now heaping up manifest falsehoods in order to justify the aggression of germany. _german duplicity on the st, nd, and rd of august, ._ let us consider the days immediately preceding the war. the german newspapers were announcing that the troops occupying, at normal times, the camps near the belgian frontiers had been directed upon alsace and lorraine; and these articles, reproduced in belgium, had succeeded in finally lulling our suspicions. in the currents of thought which were then clashing in belgium, it was confidence that carried the day. many of us who were present on the st of august at a session of the royal academy of belgium, were speaking, before the session was opened, of the serious events which were approaching, the war already declared between austria and serbia, and the conflict which appeared imminent between germany, france, russia, and england. yet no one imagined that belgium could be drawn into the conflagration. that very morning, it was related, france had officially renewed, through her minister in brussels, the assurance that she would faithfully abstain from violating the neutrality of belgium ( st _grey book_, no. ); and there was no reason to doubt his words. a few days earlier the german minister in brussels had affirmed that his country had too much respect for international conventions to permit herself to transgress them; and we believed him too! oh, simplicity! we still believed him, on the following day, when he repeated the same declaration ( st _grey book_, no. ; _belg. all._, p. ). and on the evening of that sunday, the nd of august, he presented to our government the ultimatum of germany ( st _grey book_, no. ). _the ultimatum._ the telegram of the nd of august, by which herr von jagow sent the ultimatum to the german minister in brussels, declared: "please forward this note to the belgian government, in a strictly official communication, at eight o'clock this evening, and demand therefrom a definite reply in the course of twelve hours, that is, at eight o'clock to-morrow morning" (_lüttich_, p. ). never, since belgium's birth, had a problem so breathless been placed before her government. and germany left her twelve hours to solve it: twelve hours of the night! she was not willing that our government should have time to reflect at leisure; she hoped that in a crisis of distraction belgium, taken at a disadvantage and forgetful of her dignity, would accept the inacceptable. * * * * * however, the german minister in brussels continued to offer us explanations which were as perfidious as they were confused and obscure, and to assure us up to the last of the friendly intentions of his government. the germany fashioned by bismarck has assuredly nothing about it to remind us of the germany of goethe and fichte. we might have guessed as much, for that matter, when we saw the germans glorifying the man who _boasted_ of having falsified the famous ems telegram in order to make the war of inevitable, and who succeeded in making his countrymen accept, as a guiding principle, that "might comes before right." _the speech of the chancellor in the reichstag._ however, we may suppose that some slight scruples lingered in the recesses of the german conscience, since on the very day when the chancellor of the empire told the british ambassador in berlin that an international convention is merely "a scrap of paper,"[ ] and that neutrality is only a word, he recognized, in his speech to the reichstag, that the invasion of belgium constituted an injustice; but he immediately excused this violation of the law of nations by strategic necessities. b.--justification of the entry into belgium. "strategic necessities!" said the german chancellor. these necessities are expounded in the ultimatum, and may be summed up thus: "germany knows that france is preparing to attack her through belgium." the first question which occurs to us is: was france really preparing to cross our territory, and had she massed troops near our frontier? there is assuredly no one outside germany who would admit this. indeed, if important bodies of troops had been massed in the north of france they could effectually have opposed the advance of the germans through belgium. now in all the battles which the french fought in our country their numbers were much too small to resist the germans. let us also remark that these attempts on the part of the french were made on the th august at dinant, the th august at perwez, and the rd august at semois. how then can any one believe that the french were massed close to our frontier as early as rd august? moreover, the map published in the _n.r.c._ of the th december, , confirms the untruthfulness of the german allegations. this "strategic reason" was again invoked by the chancellor of the empire on the th august. but owing to the irrefutable manner in which the tardiness of the french movements disproved this assertion the latter is no longer uttered, save in an evasive manner. the german no longer says: "france was ready to cross into belgium," but "france would not have failed to enter belgium, and we simply outstripped her." it is thus that count bernstoff, the german ambassador to washington, expressed himself in the interview published by _l'indépendant_ in september , while the same assertion is found in the manifesto of the ninety-three german "intellectuals" and the letter addressed by herr max bewer to m. maeterlinck (in the _d.g.a._ of october and the _soldatenpost_ of the th october, ). let us now ask if germany had such suspicions of france as amounted to a semi-certitude? in other words, was she sincere in declaring that she knew that france was on the point of invading belgium? we do not hesitate to assert that she was lying: for if she had really believed that france was ready to violate our neutrality it would have been enormously to her advantage to wait until the violation was committed. for belgium has always asserted that in case of war between france and germany she would resist by arms the first invader and immediately join herself to the other power. now germany, however profound her political perversity may be, had no reason to suspect the sincerity of belgium; she knew then--and this time she _did_ know--that by allowing the french to enter our country she would assure herself of the assistance of our army against her enemy. and scanty as was her esteem for the belgian soldiers--perhaps she has since had occasion to change her mind!--it was none the less obviously to her interest to avoid having them as her adversaries. for the rest, we may boldly assert that the very terms of the german ultimatum prove, without possible doubt, that she did not believe in the danger of a french irruption into belgium. for if she had entertained this conviction she would have said to belgium: "i warn you that if you do not take the necessary measures to resist the entrance of the french i shall be fully authorized to invade your territory in my turn, in order to defend myself." in acting thus she would have had the right on her side ... and the german diplomatists of the day are certainly capable of distinguishing justice from injustice in cases where the distinction is so easy. we say, therefore, that the imminence of a french attack upon belgium was only a pretext and a bugbear; a pretext to justify the violation of belgium in the eyes of other nations; a bugbear to catch votes of credit in the reichstag without previous discussion. "we were not able to wait for this session before commencing hostilities and invading luxemburg, perhaps even belgium," declared the chancellor. observe how clumsy is this "perhaps"; the german troops entered belgium on the night of the rd of august ( st _grey book_, no. ), and on the afternoon of the th, at the session of the reichstag, the chancellor had no knowledge of it! we thought the official telegraph service worked better than that in germany! * * * * * what, then, were the real reasons for invading our country? they were strategic reasons, it is true, but not those which the chancellor indicated in his speech! they had been known for a long time; the german staff had always regarded a sudden attack upon france as an unavoidable necessity, and for that it was necessary at all costs to cross belgium. moreover, on the very day when the chancellor was still invoking the french preparations in the reichstag, the secretary of state, von jagow, openly avowed the true motive for violating belgium. the pamphlet of propaganda, _die wahrheit über den krieg_, after invoking, without insisting on, the danger of a french attack, described at length the german plan of campaign; a sudden attack upon france, delivered by passing through belgium; then, immediately after victory, a change of front, and the crushing of the russian army. the same idea is expounded in an infinity of articles and pamphlets. there can, therefore, be no remaining doubt as to the determining motives of germany: she wished to pass through belgium in order to fall upon france before the latter was ready. germany had been preparing for war for several days, for she knew that she had made the war inevitable, while france, deceived by her adversary's peaceful professions of faith, and, moreover, anxious to preserve the peace, which she still believed to be possible, had hardly commenced her mobilization. let us recall the comparison drawn by mr. lloyd george in his speech at the city temple on the th november, . "imagine," he said, "that your right-hand neighbour came and made you the following proposal: 'see, my friend, i've got to cut the throat of your left-hand neighbour. only as his door is barred i can't catch him unawares, and so i shall lose my advantage over him. so you will do me a little service; nothing that isn't entirely reasonable, as you will see. you will just let me come through your garden; if i trample down your borders a little i'll have them raked and put in good order again; and if by ill-luck i damage or kill one of your children i promise you a nice little indemnity.'" and it is because we would not help germany in this task that she has spattered us with insults. the germans cannot understand how we could have rejected her "well-intentioned" proposal, as the emperor calls it in his declaration of war. evidently they have ideas of honour which differ from ours. we can regard this proposal only as an insult to the belgian people. c.--german accusations against belgium. there is one circumstance which aggravates the evil deed which has soiled the german name. it is the insistence with which the press and the politicians of germany seek to cast the blame on belgium herself. for if we are to believe them it was belgium who began. _necessity of influencing neutrals._ when the german rulers discovered, to their utter stupefaction, real or feigned, that america and the other neutral states did not benevolently accept the strategical excuse for the violation of belgian neutrality, their attitude underwent a sudden modification. since the whole world, in a spontaneous impulse of indignation, branded the conduct of germany, the traitor and perjurer, in assailing a nation which she was actually under an obligation to protect, the german government adopted the classic procedure of evildoers, which consists in reversing the rôles, and posing as an innocent victim, driven into a corner by an adversary who does not abide by legitimate methods of defence. what was to be done in such a case? the german government must seem to believe, and then claim to have proved, that belgium had already violated her own neutrality before the german invasion; for then germany could no longer be blamed for her attitude. _absurdity of the first accusations._ immediately the german newspapers invented stories of french troops disentraining in belgium from the th july, , and of french officers teaching us how to handle krupp guns!--of french airmen flying over belgium, of french and belgian soldiers attacking the landwehr at aix-la-chapelle on the nd august, . these pitiful accusations were demolished by m. waxweiler in _la belge neutre et loyale_. we will content ourselves with remarking that all these infractions of neutrality are anterior to the th of august. if they had really been committed the innumerable spies scattered about belgium would have warned the german minister in brussels, who would have telegraphed to the chancellor, and the latter would have taken good care to make them the basis of a serious complaint against belgium in his speech to the reichstag. what weight would not these revelations have lent to his arguments? if he did not do thus it was because he was not informed, and if he was not informed it was because the facts were non-existent. they were invented--very clumsily, moreover--after the event. if now we cast a glance at the tales which the germans have imagined to extenuate their crime against justice, we shall say, with a certain professor of utrecht (_k.z._, th november, first morning edition), that one might with difficulty have pardoned the german rulers for violating belgian neutrality if it had been proved that imperious strategic necessities compelled them to it, but that they should have stuck to their original declarations, "for," he adds, "we have been painfully impressed by all the offences which have been alleged after the event to demonstrate that germany had the right to act as she did." to insult and calumniate an innocent person in order to excuse oneself is an attitude little worthy of a self-respecting nation. _a change of tactics. the revelations of the_ n.a.z. week by week the german journals add an item to the indictment of belgium. one would say that their method of reasoning must be as follows: "since we cannot bring forward a single convincing proof, let us accumulate as many as possible of any degree of value; we shall end by crushing belgium with the weight of evidence." in order that we might judge of the efficacy of this procedure, germany ought, of course, to tell us how many bad arguments are to her thinking worth one good one. yet it was extremely important that germany should be able to bring forward proof of the crime of belgium; for directly the neutrals, and in particular america, began to doubt our political honesty they would withdraw their sympathies and leave our executioners full liberty of action. at the same time germany would be able to pretend that she knew of belgium's intrigues, and that by invading our territory in spite of treaties she was not, properly speaking, committing a treacherous act. there are reasons for supposing that germany herself was conscious of the insufficiency of these accusations. hence the change of tactics which we observe after the month of october . the government itself entered into the lists. in its official organ, the _norddeutsche allgemeine zeitung_, it commented upon the documents discovered in the ministries of brussels. to judge of the relevance of this collection of documents we must keep in mind the two following points: ( ) that england played the part of protector of belgian neutrality; ( ) the probability of a german invasion in case of war between france and germany. let us rapidly examine these. . _england as the guarantor of belgian neutrality._--every one knows that for centuries england has been interested, more than any other nation, in ensuring that belgium should not be annexed either to france or to prussia. as far back as , says sorel (_l'europe et la révolution française_, vol. i. p. ), a french agent in london wrote to louvois: "it has been voted unanimously by the lower chamber that the english will sell their very shirts (this is the phrase they use) to make war on france for the preservation of the low countries." during the french revolution, and later, under the empire, the struggle between england and france was largely provoked by the desire to turn france out of belgium. the treaty of london ( ) makes no distinction between the five guarantors of our neutrality: austria, france, great britain, prussia, and russia; but it is none the less unanimously admitted that england has the most immediate interest in the preservation of our independence, as it matters greatly to england that antwerp--that loaded pistol aimed at the heart of england, as napoleon used to say--should become neither french nor german. therefore, as soon as belgium was threatened by an armed invasion, the traditional policy of england was at once invoked. it was in virtue of this policy that great britain, in , demanded of france and germany whether they engaged themselves to maintain the neutrality of belgium. the two belligerents gave and kept their promise. france, driven up against the belgium frontier at sedan, did not even then consider that she had the right to break her word; she preferred to allow herself to be crushed. if ever there were "strategic reasons" which would excuse the breaking of a promise, it was then! all this being so, no one was surprised when in august the newspapers announced that england had put the usual question to france and germany. this time again france made the reply inspired by her sense of honour; germany refused to commit herself. the historical facts which we have recalled suffice to show that the protective rôle of england was not invented for the needs of the moment, as germany would have the world believe. the chancellor cannot be ignorant of these facts; they are known to all. why then does he persist in asserting that england would not have intervened had france been the country to violate our neutrality? . _the danger of a german invasion._--for several years german generals have been agreed in admitting the necessity of marching the german army across belgium in case of war with france.[ ] in military circles this was a _secret de polichinelle_, as the _n.r.c._ remarked on the nd december, (evening edition). moreover, the germans themselves held that the belgians could not have been ignorant of the threat of a german invasion; this idea is expounded, notably, in a booklet of official aspect, entitled _la_ _part de la culpabilité de l'angleterre dans la guerre mondiale_. belgium therefore had serious reasons for expecting a german attack. there was evidently only one thing for her to do: to demand assistance of the country which had constituted itself the protector of her neutrality, and on which she had always been accustomed to rely with unshakable confidence. . the report of m. le baron greindl, sometime belgian minister in berlin. _falsification of the greindl report._ on the th october, , the german government posted on the walls of brussels a placard entitled: _england and belgium_ (_documents found at the headquarters of the belgian staff_). a reproduction of this placard was distributed gratuitously, thousands of copies being issued the same day. this document contains, first, a rapid summary of a report on the relations which existed in between the belgian chief of staff and the british military attaché. then the placard reproduces, "word for word," a portion of a report made by m. greindl, dated the rd december, . in this report m. greindl warns the belgian government of the possibility of a french attack. whosoever will attentively read the exhibited portion of this report will at once remark that its phrases lack connection and logical sequence. thus, there is certainly a hiatus between the opening phrases and those that begin with: "when it became evident that we should not allow ourselves to be alarmed by the pretended danger of closing the scheldt, the plan was not abandoned, but modified, in the sense that the english army of assistance would not be disembarked on the belgian coast, but in the nearer french ports." now what is meant by this "pretended danger"? pretended by whom? and then "we should not allow ourselves to be alarmed." who is "we?" remark that a few lines farther on the report speaks of the eventuality of a battle between the belgian army and the british army; belgium, which was just now the ally of the british, is now their adversary, although nothing indicates how she passed from the first attitude to the second. in the same sentence the closing of the scheldt is spoken of with an english landing on the _belgian coast_; yet we cannot imagine m. greindl placing antwerp on the belgian coast. can we doubt after this that phrases have been suppressed in this portion of the document? evidently not; for it is radically impossible to realize the bearing and the meaning of the report by reading the portion published. what, then, is the conclusion forced upon us? it is that the german government has "cooked" the text; omitting to copy certain passages which would not tally with the deductions which it wished to draw from it, and that it has perhaps even twisted the meaning of certain phrases. the publication of the complete report was demanded by the belgian government (see _k.z._, th october, first morning edition). but germany refused; the report was too long, it replied, by the medium of the _n.a.z._ ( th november, ). all that could be obtained was the publication in facsimile, in the same issue of the _n.a.z._, of the heading and the two first lines. since the german government did not publish the rest, we have the right to conclude that this was because it had subjected the document to falsifications such as were introduced in that we are now about to consider. in any case, the report as it was published means nothing. one feels that it was intentionally made confusing. by whom? . the reports of generals ducarne and jungbluth. the falsifications inserted in these documents by the german diplomatists have already been lucidly exposed (for example, by e. brunets, _calomnies allemandes_); so there would be no need to return to the subject, had not the german government thought fit to attempt to use these documents in order to demoralize the belgians. at the end of december , and in january , germany distributed hundreds of thousands of copies of a pamphlet containing several documents, among which were translations (into flemish and french) and facsimiles of the ducarne and jungbluth reports. the famous words of the "reference" are replaced in their natural position in the middle of the fourth paragraph,[ ] but--and this was a wholly unexpected discovery--they were also found in the commentary. according to the copy in the text, one reads: "the document bears on the margin: 'the entrance of the english into belgium would take place only after the violation of our neutrality by germany.'" disconcerting fecundity of kultur! the germans have reason to be proud of their chemical industry. thanks to a special fertilizer prepared in the offices of wilhelmstrasse, the famous phrase, which occurs only once in the original document, is promptly multiplied and is able to appear twice over. _the attitude of the belgians toward the german falsifications._ note that to give more weight to their explanations the germans were careful to have them printed in flemish and in french, on the paper and with the type habitually employed by the _moniteur belge_. it is then, in the last resort, the belgian public which has paid the cost of printing this falsification of a public document. well, well! they have mistaken our psychology, for despite these "revelations" our conviction is unshaken. not a belgian has criticized the actions of his government in respect of the defensive agreement with england. it would be like blaming a man whose house was destroyed by fire for having insured it with a reliable insurance company. confronted by the failure of their endeavours to discourage the belgians and to embroil them with their legitimate government, germany returned to the charge. a placard dated th march, , posted in brussels, stated that the belgian statesmen replied to the publication of the ducarne and jungbluth reports only after the lapse of three months. the placard evidently alludes to the belgian note of the th january, (_see_ the nd _grey book_, no. ). now the first sentence of this note states that the belgians had already replied on the th december, . germany could not have been unaware of this reply; let us add that we ourselves knew of it on the th december, thanks to the issue for the th of _l'indépendance belge_ (appearing in london), which was smuggled into brussels. the third document contained in the pamphlet of the german government related to the _military geographical manuals_.[ ] it shows that a final collaboration (after the violation of her engagements by germany) was carefully devised by the british and belgian staffs. truly it ill becomes the germans, so proud of the introduction of their scientific method into the art of war, which leaves nothing unthought of, to reproach others for acting in the same way, and for making meticulous preparations at an opportune time! in two places the article insists on the fact that the preparations of these manuals was effected in "time of peace." but come! should the belgians and the british have waited until the germans were in belgium before thinking of measures of defence? finally, the pamphlet contains _fresh and serious proofs demonstrating the complicity of belgium and england_. documents were found on the escritoire of the british legation in brussels relating to the belgian mobilization, the defence of antwerp, and the french mobilization. the accusation is this: these documents were found in the british legation, a proof that the belgian government had no military secrets from the british government, and that they had a close military understanding. once again: was belgium, aware of the germanic peril, to deliver herself bound hand and foot to the invader, who, not content with forgetting his international obligations, was about to run precisely counter to them? it would evidently have been more agreeable to germany to have found in belgium a lamb all ready to allow itself to be sacrificed on the altar of _kultur_. unhappily for _kultur_, belgium behaved like an enraged ram, determined to sell its life dearly. * * * * * whatever aspect of the question of belgian neutrality we may consider, we always come back to this fact: germany violated this neutrality on the th august, although belgium had given her no plausible excuse for doing so. since then the germans have undertaken a campaign for the purpose of justifying their "injustice," as their chancellor termed it. but none of the accusations invented after the event can in the slightest degree extenuate this injustice; their only effect has been to render still more execrable the treachery of the perjured protector. _neutral opinion._ it is pleasant, in this connection, to cite here the opinion of four writers belonging to countries which have not taken part in the war. a dutch writer published in _de amsterdammer_ an interesting article which was translated into french, but of which the sale in belgium was immediately prohibited by the germans. in a lecture which has achieved a very great celebrity, herr karl spitteler, a well-known literary man of german-speaking switzerland, also took the part of belgium. we know of this lecture only by the slashing which it received in the _k.z._ on the th december, in the first morning edition. here is a passage which particularly infuriated the german paper:-- "i consider that to take the documents from the pockets of the gasping victim (belgium) is, as to the spirit which inspired the act, a gross fault of taste. it would have been quite enough to throttle the victim; to blacken him afterwards is too much. as for switzerland, if it associated itself with these calumnies against belgium, it would commit not merely an infamy, but a mistake; for on the day when another power grudges us our national existence, the same accusations might be employed against us: do not let us forget that malice is now counted among the munitions of war." another swiss writer, m. philippe godet, expresses his opinions with no less energy in the _journal de genève_ ( th september, ). _the falsification of m. de l'escaille's letter._ in the preceding pages we have dealt only with matters relating to belgium. do not let our attitude be misunderstood. we have not the presumption to suppose that belgium has ever occupied the foreground in the negotiations described; on the contrary, we are perfectly well aware of the diplomatic insignificance of our country in the discordant "concert of europe" which has ended in the present war. our sole object is to show that belgium has not played the unavowable rôle which the germans attributed to her. as to the origin of this war, and the responsibility which the german rulers seek to foist upon great britain, in order that their own country, and, above all, their ally, austria, may evade it, this is a discussion into which we do not wish to enter, for it lies outside the programme which we have set ourselves. we ought, however, to speak a word as to the placards which the german authorities had posted up in belgium during the month of september . the first is dated the th september; it gives the résumé of a letter written by m. b. de l'escaille to the belgian minister of foreign affairs. ten days later a new placard appeared: this time the complete text of the letter was given, and it was explained how it came to fall into the hands of the germans. let us leave this last point: it concerns the criminal law, not diplomacy. let us examine only the summary which was published and the conclusions which the germans drew from it. was the summary honest? to discover this let us take the essential sentence, printed in heavier type: "they possess even the definite assurance that england will come to the assistance of france"; and let us compare this with the corresponding passage of the text: "to-day they are strongly convinced in st. petersburg, they even have the assurance, that england will support france." the term "assistance" (_secouer_) in the summary can apply only to military assistance, while the text speaks only of "support" (_soutien_), which means diplomatic action. so the second conclusion also is false--"that england did not intervene in the war on account of belgium, but because she had promised france to give her assistance." let us now look at the first conclusion. it is "that germany was actuated by pacific intentions, and sought by all means to avoid war." in reality the text, like the summary, states only that germany sought to avoid a general conflict, which means that she wished to localize the war between austria and serbia; in other words, germany wished europe to give austria a free hand to crush serbia. nowhere does the text say that germany did anything to avoid "the war": the only war which was declared on the th july, that of austria against serbia. in short, this conclusion is falsified. there remains the phrase which introduces the two conclusions: "by this report of the diplomatic representative of belgium at the court of st. petersburg it is proved".... was m. de l'escaille really the diplomatic representative of belgium in st. petersburg? open an administrative almanack, and you will see that _the_ representative was m. le comte conrad de buisseret-steenbecque de blarenghien. as for m. de l'escaille, he was secretary of legation. the conclusions concluding here, there is no room for further falsifications. * * * * * it is not our intention to make an exhaustive examination of the diplomatic documents relating to the war; the more so as this examination has been conducted in masterly fashion by mm. dürckheim and denis, by m. waxweiler, and by the author of _j'accuse_. it is enough for us to prove that germany has intentionally falsified documents, since this simple proof disposes of all her attempts to befoul belgium; for he who has a good argument at his disposal is not so foolish as to spoil it and deprive it of all real value by means of falsifications. d.--the declaration of war and the first hostilities. _the three successive proposals of wilhelm ii to belgium._ under its dry, cold, diplomatic phrasing the reply to the ultimatum ( st _grey book_, no. ) scarcely conceals the indignation which thrilled the heart of belgium when wilhelm ii offered her the chance of associating herself with his crime against loyalty. but the german government did not understand this indignation, neither was it conscious of its own infamy. otherwise how could it have repeated the same offer a few days later--an offer at once contemptible and full of contempt, as was so well said by m. jules destrée before the meeting of the federation of advocates, on the rd august, . two remarks on the subject of this fresh proposal ( st _grey book_, no. ). in the first place the united states minister in belgium, who was entrusted with the german interests, refused to transmit it; as for the dutch minister of foreign affairs, he accepted the mission "without enthusiasm." in the second place, when the emperor affirmed, on the th august, that the fortress of liége had been taken by assault, he must have known that the fortress was still resisting; for although the _city_ of liége was occupied by the germans from the th, the _forts_ were intact. let us remember that the first fort which fell was that of barchon, on the th august, ; that of Évegnée fell on the th, that of fléron on the th, that of loncin, commanded by general leman, fell only at p.m. on the th: and several forts were at that time still holding out. german diplomacy naturally received a fresh indignant refusal ( st _grey book_, no. ). even then official germany, dazzled by the brilliance of its _kultur_, had not yet grasped the full baseness of its crime, since on the th september it posted up in brussels its new proposal and belgium's reply. could candour in perfidy go any farther? yes! for the german government, during the siege of antwerp, made proposals of peace for the third time. this offer was secret. the terms have not been published; even the germanic press sought to deny that it had been made; but the avowal appeared in a viennese newspaper, the _neue freie presse_, and was reproduced by order of the german authorities in _la belgique_ (brussels, th january, ). _hostilities preceding the declaration of war._ so the emperor wilhelm ii did not succeed in making us his accomplices. needless to say, we did not tremble before the two bogies which are given so large a place in his harangues: his store of dry powder and his newly-whetted sabre. and so the sovereign of the formidable german empire declared war upon tiny belgium. "he would find himself, to his keenest regret, obliged to execute, if need be by force of arms, the measures of security set forth as indispensable," as the declaration of war expressed it ( st _grey book_, no. ). this declaration reached brussels at a.m. on the th of august. but, apparently unknown to the emperor, the german troops, before the telegram had reached belgium, had crossed the frontier during the night of the rd. we have just seen that the declaration of war reached brussels on the th august, at seven o'clock in the morning. this, at least, is what we learn from the official documents published by belgium. what does official germany say upon this point? nothing. nowhere is any mention made of the declaration of war, and it is this intentional vagueness which allows the germans to declare, without blushing, that the german troops entered belgium on the night of the rd august. they let it be supposed that the state of war existed from the moment when belgium, on the rd, refused the german ultimatum. thus the _chronik des deutschen krieges_ (p. ) gives the text of the ultimatum; then, in two lines, a summary of the reply. the first document which follows relating to belgium is the proclamation of the commander-in-chief of the army of the meuse (_ th report_, i). this is very vague as to the political relations between the two countries: are they at war, or are they not? no one could say. of the declaration of war, which should have found a place here, not a word; there is no further question of belgium before the telegrams of the th august (p. ). when we say that the declaration of war is not mentioned in any german publication, we are going too far. _die wahrheit über den krieg_ ("die wahrheit!") speaks of the declaration of war; but only to say that belgium declared war (p. ): _belgiën antwortete darauf mit der kriegserklärung_.[ ] the same publication appends some documents; no. (p. ) is a reproduction of the ultimatum. one would naturally expect that no. would be either belgium's reply or the declaration of war. by no means; these two documents are not given. any one who reads the text and hopes thereby to learn "die wahrheit" concerning the war will be no better informed by the documents. let us in passing remark that the german government, in the _white book_ published for the session of the reichstag of the th august, had also, by its own admission, made a selection among the documents which it submitted to the members of parliament. this procedure is no doubt a logical consequence of _kultur_. _the pacific character of belgium._ nearly all the nations of europe cherish national animosities, racial hatreds handed down from century to century, the heritage of conflicts never pacified, which a mere nothing suffices to renew; or the survival of oppressions and spoliations suffered of old by men's forbears, whose abhorred memory is transmitted like a sacred trust from generation to generation. and in all these countries, moreover, there is a chauvinist, a jingo party, which urges a "war of revenge against the hereditary enemy." in belgium, as mr. asquith stated in his speech in dublin, there was nothing of the kind. we had no spite against any one, and our people, laborious and peaceful, only asked to be allowed to live in friendship with its neighbours. never had there been in belgium any manifestation against a foreign country; never had a political party inscribed in its programme any sort of hostility towards another people. who, then, will be persuaded that "the belgian government had for a long time been carefully preparing for this war,"[ ] as the emperor wilhelm ii asserted in his telegram to the president of the united states (in which he also stated that his heart was bleeding!)? no, there is no possible doubt on this point: belgium brought into the conflict no racial enmity,[ ] and if she has found herself thrown into the furnace, despite her constant love of peace, it is solely because her haughty neighbour confronted her with this dilemma: either peace with dishonour, or honour with war. the choice was not in doubt. _german espionage in belgium._ it is idle to insist on the accusation of premeditation, for it is unhappily too certain that belgium was is no way ready for war. but it is also incontestable that germany had "for a long time carefully prepared for" the invasion of belgium. we cannot as yet reveal in detail the facts as to german espionage, with its often odious methods, for in most cases these revelations would expose those who have informed us to reprisals. we must for the present be intentionally vague, reserving preciser details for a later date. when the occupation comes to an end we shall report in detail the case of a german engineer, who, in returning to us with the rank of officer, presided over the systematic destruction by fire of the workshop which he had managed; and the case of another engineer, who commanded the gang ordered to set fire to the quarter adjoining the factory in which he had been employed. thanks to his knowledge of the locality, he was able in a few seconds to set fire to the richest streets of the neighbourhood. we shall be able to mark on a map the foundations of reinforced concrete for the great german guns, constructed long in advance, in the localities most favourable to bombardment; we shall also point to the store of timber intended to serve for the construction of a bridge over the scheldt, which was found in a factory established by germans on the banks of the river. as for the store of mauser rifles discovered at liége, our newspapers spoke of that at the time. here is a fact which can be related without danger. a german officer dropped from his pocket--we shall state later on in what locality--a detailed plan of the town of soignies, in which his troops had lodged a few days earlier. this plan gives, besides the details of streets, and even houses, information concerning the occupants of certain buildings: pharmacies, breweries, tanneries, the communal treasury, the bank, and other establishments where the army might need to make requisitions. the large buildings are coloured blue. it was there that the troops were lodged. this plan, drawn in chinese ink and coloured, dates from fifteen years back according to the indications which it contains. but it has quite recently been revised and completed, for the latest alterations in the town have been added in pencil; improvement of the senne, creation of a public square, etc. the case related by the _n.r.c._ of th august (evening) is particularly instructive. when the germans occupied liége and seraing the cockerill workshops naturally refused to work for them, since the germans wished them to make munitions for them. the german colonel keppel then assumed the direction of the works, promising the workers an increased salary of per cent. and this officer did not blush to sign his proclamation: "attaché of the german government at the liége exposition." he had consequently profited by his privileged situation in belgium in order to make himself familiar with the organization of the cockerill works. but it must be supposed that matters were too difficult for him, for herren koester and noske (_kriegsfahrten_, p. ) assert that he had to abandon the position. _the mentality of the german soldiers at the beginning of the campaign._ until the very last moment our enemies deluded themselves as to the loyalty of the belgians: they still hoped that the latter would only resist as a matter of form. this idea is openly expressed in the chancellor's speech of the nd december; it is also implicitly contained in the proclamation of general von emmich (see _ th report_, i). the officers and soldiers who crossed the frontier at the beginning of the war were quite bewildered by the unforeseen resistance of the belgian army; this is what the german prisoners interned at bruges tell their relatives; they even go so far as to deplore having to fight a neutral country. letters from german prisoners of war. we hear from belgium:-- the correspondence of the german prisoners of war (to the number of about two thousand) who, at the beginning of the war, were interned in the barracks of the bruges lancers, has passed almost entirely through our hands. all say they are well treated. some even hope that the belgian prisoners in germany will be as well treated as they. one wounded soldier in a bruges hospital relates that the belgians treat the german wounded like brothers; another speaks only of his "belgian comrades"! the good food served to them seems to make a great impression. most of them say, "we have enough to eat"; or even, "we have food in abundance." only one complains of "beer without flavour and bad wine"; but another says with much simplicity: "the people here are very kind to us, for we have enough to eat and drink." the word _for_ is amusing.... the letters of the officers are quite different. no more joy because their lives are safe. the war absorbs them entirely. they are warriors at heart and the struggle interests them passionately. they know nothing of what is happening, or rather they are not told what is happening, and they want to know ... to know, and it is painful to hear in each letter the same question: what news? the forced inactivity becomes a torture. boredom presses on them: they are discouraged and greatly disillusioned; they had hoped to pass very rapidly across belgium (it must be remembered that at this time the war was only beginning, that brussels was not yet occupied, and that the letters date from this period). the attack upon belgium does not seem to please a great many of them. "we have attacked a neutral country," says a medical officer, "and we shall now have to suffer the eventual consequences." "when we got out of the train," says another, "we received the order to fight against belgium, a thing which is to me and to all highly antipathetic. but what is commanded has to be executed." "the attack on belgium was from the first a shameful thing." "we violated belgium before any declaration of war had been made"! all the letters show how little the resistance of liége was expected. many say: "of all our company, of our battalion, of our regiment, there are left only so many or so many men." one relates how in a few minutes his colonel, his major, the captains, and nearly all the lieutenants were mown down by the balls. "we are all mightily deluded," admits another; "we were too confident; we thought the belgians were disheartened"! "the belgians fight like lions," says another. _german lies respecting the occupation of liége._ it is the truth, although the news is partly from a german source, that the germans entered belgium on the night of the rd of august; they crossed the frontier near gemmenich at two o'clock in the morning, and the following night (of the th of august) they were already attempting an attack upon liége. but the official telegrams from berlin have never mentioned this date. to make it believed that the capture of liége was extremely rapid and that the german army had met with no serious resistance, the staff pruned the siege of liége at both ends; it made the operation commence on the th august instead of the th, and declared that it was already completed by the th august. we could not give a more precise idea of the manner in which the government and its "reptile press" deceives public opinion than by reproducing two telegrams relating to the fall of liége. on the th of august, having reported the entrance of the troops into belgium on the previous day, the telegrams announced the capture of the fortress of liége.[ ] note this: the capture of the _fortress_ (festung). now the germans had merely occupied the town of liége, a town absolutely open, without ramparts or defences of any kind. they themselves were forced to own, on the th, that the forts had not been captured; but they added that the guns were no longer firing, which was false (p. ). berlin, _ th august_.--our advance guard entered belgium the day before yesterday, along the whole frontier. a small division attempted, with great valour, a surprise attack upon liége. a few cavalrymen pushed on into the city, and attempted to seize the commandant, who was only able to escape by flight. the surprise attack against the fortress, constructed according to modern principles, did not succeed. our troops are before the fortress, in contact with the enemy. naturally the whole enemy press will describe this enterprise as a defeat; but it has no influence on the great operations; for us it is only an isolated fact in the history of the war, and a proof of the aggressive courage of our troops. (_kr. d. des k. z._, p. .) berlin, _ th august_. official. (_wolff agency._)--the fortress of liége is taken. after the divisions, which had attempted a surprise attack upon liége, had been reinforced, the attack was pushed to a successful termination. this morning at o'clock the fortress was in the power of germany. (_kr. d. des k. z._, p. .) however, it was necessary to prevent the bad effect which would be produced on the population by foreign communiqués announcing that the german army was continuing to besiege liége after taking it. after the complete success announced on the th the task was, in fact, rather difficult. how was it to be effected? (_a_) discredit might be thrown on news coming from abroad, for example, by "demonstrating" its untruthfulness. _der lügenfeldzug_ gives on p. the announcement of the taking of liége, and on the _following_ page the havas telegram stating that liége is not taken. what will the superficial reader conclude if he does not take the trouble to dissect the telegrams? that the allies are shameless liars, going to the length of denying the obvious. but examine the dates: liége was taken, according to the germans, on the th august, at a.m., while the allies declare that liége is not taken--on the th! and to think that the book which perpetrates this trickery is entitled _der lügenfeldzug unserer feinde_ ("our enemies' campaign of lies")! and that it undertakes the mission of calling attention to the lies and calumnies of the enemy in order to correct them! (_b_) to establish confusion between the city and the fortress. as early as the th august the false newsmongers were rejoicing over the taking of the fortress, intentionally confusing the city and the fortified place, so that the reader of these communiqués no longer knows what to think, and naturally accepts the official news of his own country. _the sudden attack upon france is checked._ to understand how completely it was in germany's interest to create the belief that liége was taken in two days by a small body of troops, we must remember that the object of the germans was to traverse belgium as rapidly as possible, in order to crush the french and capture paris. the author of _j'accuse_ reports the remark of old marshal von haeseler, who proposed to celebrate in paris the anniversary of sedan--on the nd september, . we ourselves copied a charcoal inscription written on the front of a house burned down at battice, making an appointment in paris for the nd september with a certain regiment of artillery. now this sudden march was completely spoiled and the german plan of campaign undone by the unexpected resistance of the belgians, first at liége, then at hesbays. this loss of a few days was fatal to germany, and germany bears us malice on that account. _the disinterested behaviour of belgium._ one last point as to the violation of our neutrality. the germans now pretend to pity the poor belgians, who allowed themselves to be fooled by england as much as by their king and government, and who, by their credulity, brought the war upon themselves. but what am i saying?--the german government assures the world that we ourselves desired the war. official germany has become incapable of conceiving that a people should remain faithful to its international obligations, and if need be sacrifice itself for them. "why," our adversaries ask us, "did you not accept the proposals of germany? you would have profited by them." and indeed our eastern neighbours offered us £ , as the price of our complicity (f. bettix, _der krieg_). it would be very interesting to know on what data germany calculates the value of a nation's honour; in any case, we may assure her that no one in the world would be so simple as to offer so great a sum for hers. * * * * * for the rest, as far as we belgians are concerned our interest has never entered into our calculations. it was not in order to profit by it that we resisted germany; it was because we judged that such was our obligation as an honest nation. and yet, as the minister, m. carton de wiart, remarked, at the hotel de ville in paris, on the th december, , we had, even then, the vision of our country ravaged by the prussian hordes; but even to-day, after suffering such terrible atrocities, there is not a belgian "who would change his poverty for the profits of a bandit." footnotes: [ ] the germans do not like one to quote these words of herr bethmann-hollweg. a series of pamphlets, _histoire de la guerre de _, which has appeared in brussels during the occupation, reports the last conversation of the chancellor with the british ambassador on the th of august, (p. ), but the "scrap of paper" does not figure therein: the censorship suppressed this too compromising passage. [ ] see, for example, bernhardi's _how germany makes war_, pp. , , . on the th of march, , the _nord. allg. zeit._ declared: "germany has no political motive for violating belgian neutrality, but the military advantage which might result forces her thereto." emile bauning, _la belgique au point de vue militaire et international_, brussels, , p. . [ ] apparently such unusual honesty cannot long survive in the mind of a german diplomatist. the phrase is in its proper place in the french text, but it is lacking in the flemish text, which is printed facing it. [ ] _k.z._, nd december, st edition, morning, published the same revelations. this article is more complete than that printed in brussels. we hasten to correct a numerical error which renders the opening of the second paragraph incomprehensible: it states that five years had elapsed between and . according to the _k.z._ one should read instead of . [ ] the same lie figures in _lüttich_, p. . [ ] the french text here quoted is that which was posted up. the german text, also posted, states that belgium had long ago carefully armed the civil population (see p. ). [ ] an article on "flemings and walloons" in _k.z._ for th march (noon edition), declares that belgium knew nothing of chauvinism, nor even, adds the writer, of nationalism. [ ] these lies die hard. herren koester and noske, in the introduction of their book, _kreigsfahrten durch belgiën und nordfrankreich_, literally state: "the german troops entered belgium on the th of august; on the following day the fortress of liége had been taken by assault." chapter ii violations of the hague convention a.--the "reprisals against francs-tireurs." under the pretext that france was making ready to attack her, germany hastened to invade belgium and luxemburg. but france was not preparing to invade the rhine provinces of prussia, and this pretended threat of aggression was merely a trick, intended to frighten parliament, and to obtain a vote approving the actions of the ministry and giving it _carte blanche_. the manoeuvre completely succeeded; the government received a unanimous vote, in spite of the chancellor's admission: "we are committing an injustice, and we are violating the law of nations; but when one is driven into a corner as we are, all means are good." we discovered immediately, alas! what these words meant. hardly had the german soldiers crossed the frontier, when they began to burn and massacre. _murders committed by the germans from the outset._ on the very day of the invasion--the th august--a motor-car carrying four german officers arrived at herve, and then pulled up. one of the officers demanded information of a youth of sixteen, one dechêne; the latter did not understand, or perhaps refused to reply (which was his right, and even his duty towards his country); we do not know, but in any case the officer shot him with his revolver. on the th of august, too, the germans shot peaceful citizens at visé, when the nd battalion of the th regiment of the line, under major collyns, had the audacity to resist them. of course they pretended that the civilians took part in the fighting. a few days later they burned the church and the greater part of the town. one sees plainly from these, and too many other examples, what was the object of our enemies: (_a_) they wished to terrorize the population, in order to make them more amenable to requisitions and demands of all kinds; (_b_) they wished to make their own troops believe that in fighting the belgians--which they at first did with great unwillingness--they were merely defending themselves against treacherous attacks; (_c_) they wished to multiply opportunities of pillage; (_d_) finally, perhaps, they reckoned that by displaying to the belgian government the horrors to which its first refusal had exposed the country, they would induce it to reconsider its position and could obtain from it a free passage. _were there any "francs-tireurs"?_ it would be impossible at this moment to state that the belgians never, at any point of the frontier, fired upon the invaders. let us remark, moreover, that if they did they would have been, from the purely human point of view, perfectly excusable.[ ] what! here is germany, who, pretending to be in a state of legitimate defence, falls unawares upon an inoffensive third party! and this third party had no right to oppose force to violence! in all logic, was it not belgium that was in a state of legitimate defence; was it not for belgium that all means were good? and notice, please, that it was not against an imagined and imaginary menace that we were defending ourselves: the germans had most undeniably invaded belgium. would it have been astonishing if the belgians, exasperated by this unspeakable aggression, had seized their rifles? in sane justice, one could not regard such action as a grievance; on the contrary. does this mean that we believe in the story of civilians attacking the german army? most certainly not; because we know from reliable sources that in _every_ case where it has been possible to hold an inquiry, this inquiry has shown that the "francs-tireurs" were merely the pretext; the real motive for all the devastation and massacre was the desire to terrorize the population. it is, therefore, in a fashion entirely theoretical, and with the most express reserves, that we admit, in default of opportunity to investigate, in each case, the affirmations of our enemies, that in some cases, certainly extremely rare, isolated civilians, or small groups of civilians, may have been taken with arms in their hands. but our enemies will please admit also that the attitude of these civilians would have been amply excused by the more than brutal fashion in which the germans behaved from the very first moments of the war. let us add that when one erects terror into a system, as the germans do, one should understand the defensive reflexes of the victims. what were the rights of our enemies in these exceptional cases? they could, as they themselves proclaim, have shot the individual offenders, and, for once in a way, have burned their houses. but nothing in the world could justify the executions _en masse_ and the wholesale burnings to which the germans surrendered themselves. _the obsession of the "franc-tireur" in the german army._ one point at first remained obscure to us in the german "reprisals": how did the german officers induce their men to commit this horrible carnage? very simply: their minds were worked upon beforehand; they were crammed with legends of francs-tireurs dating from the war of - , and were made to believe that the belgian population was revoltingly brutal. so as soon as they set foot on our territory they expected to be attacked by civilians, and, very naturally, prepared to sell their lives dearly. nothing is more typical in this respect than the collection of soldiers' letters published for the edification of the german nation in _der deutsche krieg in feldpostbriefen_.--_i. lüttich, namur, antwerpen._ in more than half is there mention of "francs-tireurs"; but scarcely ever does the writer speak of having himself seen them. read, for example, the first letter (that is no. in the volume, for letter no. is not a soldier's letter). the writer, an officer, asserts that during the attack on the forts of liége, on the night of the th of august, the night was so dark that it was impossible to distinguish friends from enemies, and that the germans were firing on one another. nevertheless, as they were fired on, and as they saw three men running, they immediately shot them as "francs-tireurs." during this same night their baggage-column having been surprised (he does not say by whom), a village was burned and the inhabitants were shot. the whole mentality of the german soldier in respect of civilians is reflected in this letter; it is so dark that the germans fire on one another, but that does not prevent them from recognizing that those attacking them are "francs-tireurs," even though their men are "falling _en masse_," which excludes all idea of francs-tireurs. francs-tireurs! from the very first days of the war it is a fixed idea, an obsession, engendered by previous reading and conversation, and carefully nourished by the leaders. _the obsession of the "franc-tireur" in the literature of the war._ francs-tireurs! this idea invades the whole of their contemporary literature. all the books on the campaign in belgium and france swarm with tales of this kind. let us add that the authors do not assert that they themselves have seen the attacks of the "francs-tireurs." but they have been told of them, and they hasten to repeat the story without the slightest means of verification. thus, in _kriegsfahrten_, by herren koester and noske, there is mention of "francs-tireurs" on pages , , , , and ; and they return to the subject in the last chapter (p. ). herr fedor von zobeltitz, in _kriegsfahrten eines johanniters_, also constantly heard mention of attacks by belgian civilians: at tirlemont (p. ), at louvain (pp. , , , ), at malines (p. ), at eppeghem (p. ), and in antwerp (p. ). the volume entitled _die eroberung belgiëns_ is full of stories of the same sort. thus, of thirty-eight illustrations, which are neither maps nor portraits, ten are devoted to the attacks of belgian civilians. it is interesting to compare the tales of people who have not been present in the battles fought in belgium, and who speak only from hearsay, with the narrative of herr otto von gottberg, _als adjutant durch frankreich und belgiën_. he took part in september in the battles which accompanied the siege of antwerp. nowhere did he see francs-tireurs. yet he by no means loves the belgian civilians, and he certainly would have been tremendously pleased to shoot down a few. read, for example, what he says of the provocative attitude of the people of brussels, and above all of the women of brussels (p. ), and of passing through the streets of lebbeke (near termonde), where his soldiers proposed to fall upon the inhabitants who scowled at them (p. ). however, he says, he did not burn a single house (p. ). we may remark that herr gottberg's companions showed themselves less amiable, or at least equitable, than he, for the "reprisals" against lebbeke were particularly atrocious (see _ th report_). it is, however, highly improbable that the inhabitants would have deprived themselves of the pleasure of firing on the little patrol led by herr gottberg, afterwards to take up arms against troops which were much more numerous. however it may be, the legend of the "francs-tireurs" of lebbeke was willingly accepted by herren koester and noske (_kriegsfahrten_). _the obsession of the "franc-tireur" in literature and art._ the obsession of the "franc-tireur" is also found outside the limits of military literature properly so-called. herr bredt has just published a book on _le caractère du peuple belge révélé par l'art belge_. the illegal attacks of the belgian population upon the regular german troops, he says, were not in the least surprising to those who were acquainted with the productions of belgian art. it would be difficult to surpass, in this respect, an article which appeared in the january number of _kunst und künstler_. it gives the reproduction of an engraving by callot: a camp in which musketeers are putting to death condemned men bound to stakes. "execution of francs-tireurs," says the legend in german. that there should be a question of "francs-tireurs" in the time of callot, who died in , may in itself seem somewhat strange. but the engraver has taken care to inscribe, under his work, some lines describing the scene which it represents, which may be translated as follows:-- "those who to give their evil nature sway, failing in duty, take the tyrant's way, infringing right, delighting but in ill, whose acts are full of treason and self-will, cause in the camp full many a bloody brawl, so die this death, the end of traitors all." it is enough to read this legend to realize that they are traitors who are being punished; but the german mind of to-day is so steeped in the idea of "francs-tireurs" that the artists no longer understand what their predecessors wrote, and, like the soldiers, they see francs-tireurs everywhere. _responsibility of the leaders._ but it is above all the great massacres of andenne, tamines, dinant, termonde, aerschot, louvain, and luxemburg, which are for ever inexcusable, and will remain, an eternal disgrace, as a stain upon the german flag. their appetite whetted by the atrocities committed during the first days of the invasion, the soldiers themselves invented or simulated attacks of "francs-tireurs," in order to have the pleasure of afterwards repressing them, killing, pillaging, and burning entire cities. let us say, to be just, that not the soldiers but their leaders will bear, before the bar of history, the responsibility of this revival of the monstrosities of barbarism. is it not obvious that in an army as highly disciplined as the german, an army in which the officers drive their men into battle under the threat of their revolvers, and in which the soldiers obey such injunctions, such deliberately prepared tragedies as that of louvain are possible only with the complicity of the officers, or rather by their orders? how else can we conceive that soldiers would post themselves in a garden and thence fire their rifles into the streets? (_n.r.c._, th september, , evening edition). and it is not the subaltern officers that we have to call to account for these butcheries, but the generals, such as baron von bissing, since become governor-general of belgium, who counsels the soldiery to show themselves pitiless, and not to allow themselves to be swayed by any humanitarian consideration, for compassion would be an act of treason (_compare_ p. ). the soldiers are advised that it is permissible for them "to make the innocent suffer with the guilty" (p. ); that they may hang, without further ceremony, those who have committed the crime of being found present, for whatever reason, in a house where munitions or arms have been found (p. ); and also those who have attempted to escape while they were being held as hostages (p. ). the previous governor-general of belgium announced that soldiers need not be sure whether suspects are accessories or not, but that "if any hostility is displayed towards them they may raze a city to the ground." such is the fate that general von bülow promised the city of brussels. the same general thought it incumbent upon him officially to inform the people of brussels, liége, and namur that it was with his consent that the town of andenne was burned, and about one hundred persons shot (_ th report_, iv). by these proclamations and others equally sanguinary the military authorities wished to influence both the germans and the belgians. the former were absolved beforehand of the horrors they committed, and were assured of impunity for all the "reprisals" they might be pleased to undertake. moreover, they were kept in perpetual horror of "francs-tireurs." are they assailed unexpectedly by soldiers of the enemy's army? they fall back without assuring themselves of what has really happened, and return with the main body of the army to expend their rage against the "francs-tireurs." this is what took place at tamines where more than four hundred citizens were shot down by rifle or machine-gun fire, and also in a dozen villages of bas-luxembourg, which were razed to the ground, and in which a thousand inhabitants were shot. _animosity toward the clergy._ the military chiefs bear an especial grudge against the clergy. in the manifestoes against "francs-tireurs" the priests are specially mentioned, which amounts to recommending them quite specially to the savagery of the troops. the latter are convinced that the priests incite their flocks from the pulpit, and that they place machine-guns in the belfries. so, in the sack of a village, the worst treatment is always reserved for the priests and the churches. the pastoral letter of his excellency cardinal mercier gives a list of forty-three priests shot or executed.[ ] there is no ignominy the troops have not inflicted on the priests. a few examples among hundreds will suffice. they forced members of the louvain clergy to lie naked in the dung of a pig-sty. the curé of pont-brûlé was beaten, by order of the german soldiery, by his own parishioners. the january number of _kunst und künstler_ gives a drawing representing a curé hanging from a tree. at cortemarck it was the priests who were punished because an inhabitant was in communication with the enemy (read, "the belgians"). on the th august, , the germans arrested the dean and vicar of a village in brabant, under the pretext that they had made luminous signals from the church tower. now the priests had been prisoners since . o'clock of the afternoon; how then could they have ascended the tower at . p.m.? despite their protestations they were taken to louvain, whence a so-called council of war sent them to germany. arriving in a prisoners' camp, they were accommodated in the latrines, which consisted of a trench and a plank perforated with holes. each time a german soldier had to satisfy his need, he took the opportunity of insulting the priests in the most filthy manner. a german major sent for them and informed them that they were about to be shot. the vicar asked that he might confess. "no," he was told, "hell is good enough for you." they were led away to die ... but were sent to a seminary, where they remained prisoners until january . _animosity toward churches._ against the churches their rage was unloosed with even greater fury. in the part of brabant that lies north of vilvorde there is hardly a belfry left erect: beyghem, capelle-au-bois, haecht, humbeek, pont-brûlé, sempst, eppeghem, houtem, weerde, hofstade, elewijt, werchter, boortmeerbeek, etc., are all burned. at termonde all the churches have been either burned or profaned. but in the midst of this city, where twelve hundred houses were burned out of fourteen hundred, the béguinage remained intact, an oasis of calm isolated amid the calcined ruins. on the grassy plain that surrounds the bright little houses of the béguines stood the chapel. this did not find favour with the germans, and its blackened walls attest that kultur has passed that way. were the béguines perhaps "francs-tireurs"? we have already stated that the peculiar irritation of the germans against the clergy and their sanctuaries was due to the fact that they regarded the curés as the leaders of the "francs-tireurs." the falsity of this allegation was recognized by dr. julius bachem, the editor of the _kölnische volkszeitung_, one of the most prominent catholic newspapers in germany. dr. bachem published, in the issue for april of the _süddeutsche monatshefte_, which was principally devoted to belgium, an article on the religious problem in belgium. he based his proofs on the authority of baron von bissing, commandant of the th army corps, at present governor-general in belgium, and also on the special inquiry undertaken by the union of the catholic priests of the rhine, _pax_. this inquiry, mostly conducted with the aid of the present military authorities in belgium, proved that the clergy was absolutely innocent, and that all the accusations brought against it were purely imaginary.[ ] the emperor did not wait for the confirmation of the crimes attributed to the priests before making violent accusations against them in his telegram to the president of the united states. he has not retracted these. _intentional insufficiency of preliminary inquiries._ never was there the least justification for reprisals. read the reports of the commission of inquiry, and the narratives of ocular witnesses, and you will find that the most horrible things are continually done without any pains being taken to verify the facts. soldiers greedy for pillage say, without justification, _die civilisten haben geschossen_; and that is enough. the order is given to kill the men and reduce the neighbourhood to ashes. or shots have really been fired on the germans; the civilians are suddenly accused, and without listening to the unhappy prisoners, who offer to prove that the shots were fired by belgian or allied soldiers, the germans proceed to execution. a very typical case is that of charleroi. we knew that french troops were still occupying the town when the germans entered. but these last immediately accused the civilians, since, they said, shots were fired from the interior of the houses, as though their adversaries had not the right, quite as much as they, to take cover in the buildings. moreover, when they later were confronted with the proof that the french were there, they merely remarked that the latter's mission was to organize and to discipline the civic guards and "francs-tireurs"[ ] (_see_ heymel's article, p. ). could one imagine a finer example of preconceived opinion? m. waxwieler insists emphatically on the unspeakable frivolity with which the germans carry out "reprisals." he cites notably the case of linsmeau (p. ) and that of francorchamps (p. ). as this is an essential point, i may perhaps be permitted to relate a few more cases. on entering wépion on the rd august the germans pretended that the citizens had fired on them, and they shot, then and there, six of them, among whom were the two younger bouchats. now those who had fired were belgian soldiers armed with machine-guns, who were covering the retreat of the belgian troops. a moment's reflection would have enabled the germans to realize their error, since civilians obviously had no machine-guns at their disposal. while they were being led to their death, one of the bouchats begged a glass of water of their mother. but the germans refused to allow it to be given him: "it's not worth the trouble now," they said. in august a french patrol and a german patrol came into collision at sibret (belgian luxembourg) and exchanged shots; they then retired, leaving a wounded german on the ground. two inhabitants of sibret carried the wounded man toward an ambulance; the clerk to the _justice de paix_ of bouillon, m. rozier, accompanied them. he was carrying the rifle slung over his shoulder and the soldier's knapsack in his hand. a german patrol came up and questioned m. rozier, telling him, no doubt, to raise his hands or throw down his rifle. as neither m. rozier nor any of his companions understood german, and were unable to comply with the order, the germans fired on m. rozier, killing him. every time it has been possible to obtain any kind of inquiry from the germans it has resulted in their confusion; at huy the bullets found in the bodies of germans were german bullets; the general was forced to stop the burning of the village; he even admitted that a mistake had been made. an example of another kind, also taken from the _n.r.c._, is equally characteristic. during the night a german soldier fired a rifle-shot, no one knew why, in a village of western flanders. great alarm immediately. "the village is going to be burned!" but before they had time to get to work an important piece of evidence, the empty cartridge-case, proved that it was really a german soldier who fired. however, if by chance this blessed cartridge-case had not come to hand the village would have burned. too often, alas! the german army does not trouble to postpone the reprisals awhile ... and the houses are in ashes before the falsity of the accusations has been proved. it is to be remarked, indeed, that it is never the germans who prove the truth of their allegations, but the belgians who have to prove the germans in error. it is justice reversed. it is easy to understand that a _non-lieu_ does not please the german authorities. in fact, their object is not to render justice but to terrorize the population; and if it were necessary to examine the _bona-fides_ of their accusations they would not be able to exercise "reprisals," which would not suit them at all! if the accusations had really been justified by the attacks of "francs-tireurs" the germans would have taken care to establish their existence irrefutably. for we must not forget that according to article of the hague convention they ought to indemnify us for all the burnings and massacres commanded by them. _a "show" inquiry._ they know, however, how contrary these summary executions are to the spirit of justice, and they sometimes attempt to lay a false trail. read, for example, the chapter devoted by dr. sven hedin to the "francs-tireurs." the great swedish geographer, of whose wonderful asiatic journeys every one has heard, made a tour along the western front. he therefore visited the occupied portion of france and belgium, and wrote an enthusiastic book on the german army, _ein volk in waffen_. in the course of this work, he describes the manner in which an inquiry is held into the circumstances of an attack by "francs-tireurs." everything is done as regularly as possible, and the affair ends in an acquittal. was the tribunal authentic, or was it merely a parody?[ ] it matters little; the essential thing for us is that it was desired to prove to dr. hedin that the germans are not barbarians, and that they observe the forms of justice even while on campaign. _mentality of an officer charged with the repression of "francs-tireurs."_ let us now compare with the account of dr. hedin that of a german officer entrusted with the repression of "francs-tireurs." captain paul oskar höcker gives a few curious details in his interesting book, _an der spitze meiner kompagnie_. he had to clear of "francs-tireurs" a portion of the territory comprised between the german frontier and the meuse. his mission consisted in this: to present himself at houses, to ask if there were arms, and in case of a reply in the negative, to search the house; if arms were discovered the householder was shot on the spot; in case of resistance the house was burned (p. ). the first farm he visits is jungbush, near moresnet; the inhabitants assure him they have no arms. they are told that if they are hiding one rifle they will be punished with death; they repeat that they have none. and now the soldiers bring up a boy of fifteen who was hiding under the straw with a belgian rifle and five cartridges. he is shot without further inquiry (p. ). it is permissible to ask whether it would not have been juster and more humane to have looked into the matter a little more closely. the remainder of the book instructs us as to the psychology of captain höcker. at the house of the vicar of thimister, where he passed the first night in belgium, his bedroom door did not lock, and this was enough to make him shake with fear (p. ). on the following morning he had a pigeon shot, which he suspected of being a carrier of despatches to "francs-tireurs"; "and in truth," he says, "the pigeon bore a stamp on the left wing" (p. ). this proof is perhaps somewhat slender in a country where all pigeons which take part in matches have a mark of this kind. he confiscates all the small-arms and parts of arms in the establishments of the innumerable armourers of the district, and smashes everything in their workshops. on one such occasion he burns a house whose owner does not consent with good grace to the destruction of his plant (p. ). on the same day he finds that all the houses from which shots were fired have been burned; in his satisfaction he does not even ask himself whether those who fired were soldiers or civilians (p. ). neither has he a word of reprobation for the fury which the germans display against belgium: belgium, forced to take the side of the allies when her territory was violated by germany. he reaches visé at the moment of its burning; he accepts immediately the legend according to which the bridge has been destroyed by "francs-tireurs" (p. ). according to him, the belgians of good society do not become soldiers; he is convinced that substitution is still in force with us, and that for , francs (£ ) one can escape from one's military obligations (p. ). to him, therefore, all civilians appear cowards, and he is not surprised to see them become "sneaking francs-tireurs." when he passes through the streets of louvain he listens to the story that germans have that very day been fired upon (p. ). further on he admits without hesitation that the german soldiers taken prisoners before liége must have expected to be shot by the belgians (p. ). we do not question the sincerity of captain höcker. but why was so credulous and so suggestible a person selected to search out and punish "francs-tireurs"? assuredly because it was desired that "reprisals" should be carried out without previous discussion, and by some one whose conscience should, nevertheless, be at rest. _drunkenness in the german army._ we have just seen that massacres very frequently took place without any pretext having been brought forward to excuse them. in nearly all cases alcoholism was the cause of these, for the german soldiers, and above all the officers, are scandalously addicted to drink. the first thing requisitioned by the officers is always wine, by hundreds of bottles at a time. turn over a collection of german illustrated papers: every time a meeting of officers is photographed there are bottles and glasses on the table. at the ambulance installed in the palais de justice of brussels the military surgeons have not been ashamed to steal the wine of the wounded men, wine offered by the citizens of brussels. the general and his staff who installed themselves on the st august, , in the palais royal of laeken levied such vast contributions on the cellars of the palais that on the following morning an officer was found, in the costume of adam, dead-drunk in front of a bath which he had not had the strength to enter. when they left the palais they took with them many hampers of wine, and a few days later they had a search made for further hampers of the vintages which were their preference. the cellars were soon empty. they were drunken soldiers who provoked the burning of huy, the assassinations at canne (_n.r.c._, rd august, , morning edition), and in part at least the massacres of louvain. when they occupied gand the police had to collect them, dead-drunk, on the very first morning; they had already begun to fire revolver-shots. it was after a tavern brawl between drunken soldiers that the burning of a portion of tongres was decreed (_n.r.c._, nd august, , morning edition). in brussels, on the th september, , some drunken soldiers in a german cabaret situated in the rue de la grande ile, were firing rifle-shots to amuse themselves; bullets lodged in the house-fronts opposite. the officer whom some one went to fetch that he might witness this misbehaviour believed that an attack was being delivered by "francs-tireurs," and, trembling like a leaf, refused to go thither. the _n.r.c._, th january, (morning edition) states that a young girl of eelen was arrested as a "franc-tireur" because rifle-shots had been fired by drunken soldiers. let us add that drunkenness might have had harmless consequences if the authorities had not exerted themselves to make the troops believe that every unexpected shot is necessarily fired by a "franc-tireur," and that so black a crime can only be paid for by a general massacre accompanied by the burning of the village concerned. * * * * * there is only one fashion of explaining the horrors committed by the germans: it is to admit that they are modelled beforehand according to a carefully devised system of intimidation: the systematic inhumanity of their treatment of the enemy population being intended to facilitate other military operations. _cruelties necessary according to german theories._ compare, for example, the laws of war according to the german great general staff[ ] with the stipulations of the hague convention. as the last is based on humanitarian considerations and seeks to lighten the scourge of war for non-combatants, so the germans systematically refuse to make war less cruel; on the contrary, they start with the principle that the more terrible the war the more swiftly and surely will its object be attained. read the chapter, "the object of war," and you will be edified. even jurists like baer, blinded by warlike passions, dare to maintain that all must yield to military necessities, including--what blasphemy!--the law of nations. the characteristic theory that war should be "absolute" and barbarous is the idea underlying the manifesto of von bissing which has already been cited (p. ). in fewer words hindenburg says the same thing[ ] (p. ). so that belgium might realize the fate that awaited her the german authorities made haste to advertise their opinion. it is true that they have since then posted up reassuring phrases as to the humanitarian sentiments of the german army for the moment. had our butchers renounced their attempts at terrorization? _terrorization: "reprisals" as a "preventive."_ according to this hypothesis, that the great "reprisals" undertaken at the outset of the war would serve as examples, the germans wished to instil terror into the very marrow of our bones, so that they might then be able to rule us with a small garrison of landsturm. reflect, for example, that brussels, an agglomeration of , souls, has never had a garrison of more than , men, and has often had only , . such a calculation is so abominable, so fundamentally inhuman, that we shrank from the harshness of this supposition, and accepted it with all manner of reservations.[ ] well, our hesitation was futile. in an article whose frankness is calculated to make one's hair stand on end, captain walter blöm, adjutant to the governor-general, published in the officially-inspired _kölnische zeitung_ of the th february, , the confirmation of that which we hardly dared to imagine. here are his exact words:-- "the principle according to which the whole community must be punished for the fault of a single individual is justified by the _theory of terrorization_. the innocent must suffer with the guilty; if the latter are unknown the innocent must even be punished in their place; and note that the punishment is applied not _because_ a misdeed has been committed, but _in order that_ no more shall be committed. to burn a neighbourhood, shoot hostages, decimate a population which has taken up arms against the army--all this is far less a reprisal than the sounding of a _note of warning_ for the territory not yet occupied. do not doubt it: it was as a note of warning that battice, herve, louvain, and dinant were burned. the burnings and bloodshed of the opening of the war showed the great cities of belgium how perilous it was for them to attack the small garrisons which we were able to leave there. no one will believe that brussels, where we are to-day as though in our own home, would have allowed us to do as we liked if the inhabitants had not trembled before our vengeance, and if they did not continue to tremble. war is not a social diversion." any commentary would weaken the force of these declarations. _incendiary material._ we are not in the confidence of the german staff, and we can only form hypotheses as to its mentality. but here are two facts, easy to verify and interpret, which show that the atrocities were committed with premeditation. firstly, the existence of various incendiary materials. when a town is condemned to be burned the execution of the command is confided to a special company of the engineers. (the _carnet_ of an officer of an "incendiary company" was picked up in a commune of hainaut.) generally a first squad breaks the windows and shutters; a second pours naphtha into the houses by means of special pumps, "incendiary pumps"; then comes the third squad, which throws the "incendiary bombs." these last are of many different kinds. those most commonly employed in brabant and hainaut include discs of gelatinous nitro-cellulose, which jump in all directions. thanks to the inflammable vapours which fill the houses, the latter catch fire on all their floors simultaneously. it took only half an hour to set fire to the boulevard audent at charleroi. no one can suppose that so perfect an organization was improvised during the campaign. moreover, where and how could the discs of fulminating cotton have been procured? at termonde the germans probably employed cylinders of naphtha. at all events one can still see, in houses which did not catch fire, holes made in the ceilings and floors, into which holes long strips of linen are introduced to serve as wicks. the germans sprinkled them with naphtha, and it was enough to put a match to such a wick in order to set fire to the joists of the floor overhead. at termonde , houses were burned in a single day. _the two great periods of massacre._ we discover, then, that the great destructive operations were conducted according to a general plan. let us place in chronological order the most important of the massacres and the conflagrations, that is, those which could not have been carried out except by order of the officers, omitting, therefore, the killings in detail and the burning of farms and isolated houses, attributable, no doubt, to soldiers acting on their own initiative, or to small bands greedy for pillage. what do we see? that apart from the atrocities which marked the outset of the campaign, the majority of the great killings and burnings, in france as well as in belgium, were ordered during two periods: one from the th to the th august, and one from the nd to the th september, . now it is quite certain that in a country already occupied, and deprived of means of communication, the "francs-tireurs" could not possibly have agreed among themselves as to the moment of their attacks. the only people who could transmit an order were the germans; and the legitimate conclusion which one forms from this lamentable list is that the pretended attacks of francs-tireurs were elaborated in berlin, whence they were ordered by telegraph to break out on a given date. another interesting fact revealed by a chronological list is that the so-called attacks of "francs-tireurs" very often do not coincide with the entrance of the germans into a given locality, but break out a few days later. one might at a pinch understand that poachers, or impulsive individuals, might fire a rifle at a patrol; but it is wholly improbable that they would make their attempt at a moment when they were already impressed by the formidable warlike equipment of our enemies. this is so contrary to common sense that the germans try to get out of it by lying. let us cite a case. they assert that on tuesday the th august, , there was in louvain only a weak garrison of landsturm, and that the civil population profited by this circumstance to attempt an attack, which could only be repressed by incendiarism and massacre. now the people of louvain had been warned that very morning that , men were to arrive during the day, and that many houses which had not yet billeted soldiers would do so the following night. and, indeed, that afternoon several fresh regiments were seen to enter, notably the rd, nd, and th hussars. when, by exception, the germans assert that the "francs-tireurs" have attacked a column on the march, one almost always remarks the three following points: ( ) the attack takes place while a village is being traversed; ( ) it happens when a great part of the column has already passed, so that the "francs-tireurs" are caught between two fires; ( ) the "francs-tireurs" are concealed in the houses. a moment's reflection suffices to show that these are precisely the most unfavourable circumstances which civilians could choose for their attack. _protective inscriptions._ all this shows that we have not to deal with acts of indiscipline, which are, god knows, the inevitable accompaniment of any war, yet which are almost excusable. we have here a maturely considered system, prepared at the great general headquarters, and then frigidly applied. in other words, the "reprisals against francs-tireurs" form part of the plan of campaign of the german army. if additional proof were needed that they are disciplined cruelties, as the minister of state, m. emile vandervelde, remarks, it would be found in the inscriptions and placards placed upon property which is to be respected. besides the inscription which says simply that the house must not be burned save with the authorization of the _kommandantur_ (at louvain, after the great fires of the th and th august, nearly all the houses which were spared received one of these placards), there are others giving the reasons for the protection accorded to the building. here are some of these reasons: the inhabitants are respectable (_gute_) people; they have german sympathies; they have already given the troops all they possessed; they are protected by the legation; an officer knows them personally. the fact that with very few exceptions these houses escaped disaster well demonstrates the strength of german discipline. it is by no means astonishing, therefore, that in the localities which are still intact the inhabitants should have taken precautions; thus, there have been houses in brussels which were provided with a protective inscription. other buildings have been marked on a plan (_n.r.c._, th september, , evening edition). this reminds one of the tenth plague of egypt and the sign which the jews had to place upon the lintel of their dwelling, that the lord might recognize it. when the lord passed, he spared the marked houses (exodus xii. , ). in the german plague which has settled upon our poor country, the destroying angel has the aspect of an officer with a single eye-glass. _accusations against the belgian government._ what makes the german accusations against the "francs-tireurs" particularly serious is, firstly, the terrifying, infernal nature of the punishments which follow these accusations; and secondly, the fact that they involve our constituted authorities.[ ] "the belgian government has openly[ ] encouraged the civil population to take part in this war," says one whose word has weight in germany, for he is none other than the emperor in person. and he did not content himself with telegraphing this to america; he spread this impudent assertion over the walls of our cities (p. ). had he at least the excuse of believing what he said? most certainly not; for years he had been informed by his spies of the details of our military organization; he knew, then, perfectly, what belgium was or was not doing. at the time the first accusations of this kind were made the belgian authorities had informed germany that, conformably with the laws of war, they were fighting only with their regular troops ( nd _grey book_, nos. , , ). and they posted everywhere proclamations recommending the people to keep calm, forbidding civilians to take part in the fighting, and counselling the citizens to deliver their arms to the communal administrations ( nd _grey book_, no. ). at the same time the principal daily papers repeated, day by day, on the first page and in large type, the text of these placards. these appeals were heard, and our compatriots, if they owned rifles, immediately took their arms to the _maisons communales_. would you believe it, this measure of precaution was exploited against us! for later, when the germans occupied our _hôtels de ville_, and discovered the presence of rifles, each ticketed with its owner's name, they pretended to have brought to light a proof of premeditation (_n.r.c._, th september, , evening edition): "look!--say the officers--with what care the belgian authorities have prepared for the guerilla war! each citizen has his rifle ready to hand at the _hôtel de ville_!" the soldiers must indeed have been ridden by the "fixed idea" of the "franc-tireur," or they must have realized the poltroonery of such suggestions! but the germans made assertions much more extravagant than this. in belgium repairs to buildings are effected with the assistance of scaffoldings suspended against the outer walls; and at the time of building the house openings are left immediately under the cornice, in which the cross-beams supporting the scaffolding are fixed when required. these openings are closed outwardly by some sort of decorative motive. now, a german captain gives a detailed description of these arrangements, and arrives at the conclusion that these are _loopholes for francs-tireurs_! what a mentality for an officer! so fantastic an explanation evidently will not bear a moment's reflection; but that matters nothing; it is none the less reprinted by the work _die wahrheit über den krieg_, to be served to the germans remaining in the country. the authors of the statement know that their compatriots have lost the critical sense and that they are ready to accept, their eyes closed, and their minds also, anything that is told them. this example shows that while inciting the soldiers in order to bring them to the required pitch of irritation, the rulers of germany are equally concerned to create a violent current of hatred in their own country. it was necessary, in fact, since there was nothing with which the belgian nation could be reproached, and since nevertheless they were making war upon it, to invent a few serious motives of animosity. in a preceding chapter we examined the wretched diplomatic accusations which the germans have forged in an attempt to compromise our political circles. we shall presently deal with the abominable accusations of cruelty brought against the belgians. here we will content ourselves with citing yet one more fact relating to the "francs-tireurs." when the civil population of a locality was accused--or convicted, as the butchers said--of having borne arms against the german troops, the procedure was generally as follows: the houses were fired, and the inhabitants driven towards a public square, or into the church. they were divided into two groups: one of men, the others of women, children, and old folk. then a certain number of men were shot; often, too, a few of the women, children, and old people. after the execution, which took place in the presence of the whole village, the women, children, and old people were set free to wander amid the smoking ruins. the officers used to make it their duty to be present at these operations, as much to encourage and, at need, to assist the executioners, as to enjoy the spectacle. at tamines they sat at table in the open, drinking champagne, while the victims were being buried. the germans themselves realized what disgust such behaviour excited; they tried to deny the facts, but these were proved. _treatment of civil prisoners._ what was done with the men not killed? they were sent into germany in order to show the "francs-tireurs" to the people. one can easily imagine what the journey was like: in cattle-trucks, where they remained packed together for several days, without even having room to sit down; tortured by hunger and thirst to the point of losing their reason--which meant being shot there and then. the stoppages in the railway stations, when the population came to insult them, making gestures of cutting their throats ... one can picture it all. then the life in camp, where they are even less well treated than the soldiers, for at least these latter are regarded as prisoners of war, and, in that quality, as being protected, up to a certain point, by the hague convention; while the "francs-tireurs" are criminals in common law, who are given, for food, scarcely anything but soup made of beet, fish-heads, and slaughter-house offal. it is extremely difficult to obtain information as to their sojourn in germany from those who have returned. before leaving, it seems, they were forced to make a promise to reveal nothing, under penalty of being sent back to germany. we know, however, that certain of these prisoners, coming from an agricultural district, were forced to go down the coal-pits of essen (_n.r.c._, th october, , evening edition), while others were made to gather in the harvest in westphalia. when they refused to go to work they were beaten with sticks; a young man on the outskirts of brussels still bears the marks of such treatment. this is a revival of the deeds of antiquity. the ancients also reduced the able-bodied inhabitants to slavery, employing them in agriculture or the mines. it only remains for the germans to sell us at auction, as julius cæsar did in the case of the , belgians captured at atuatuca (_de bello gallico_, ii. ). they sent not only "francs-tireurs" into germany. they made prisoners also in localities where nothing had happened. thus they took all the inhabitants of the non-active civic guard of tervueren. the list bore names; as many of the men had left the commune, the germans completed the number by taking the first civilians who came to hand; for they had to have prisoners from tervueren to exhibit in germany. on several occasions it happened, during the period of the great massacres, from the th to the th august, that bands of prisoners taken into germany were not accepted and were sent back to belgium. such was the case with numerous prisoners from louvain, who were taken back to brussels, then taken to near malines, and there left in the open country; the same was done with several hundreds of men, women, children, and old folk from rotselaer, wesemael, and gelrode. here, in a few words, is their odyssey. to begin with, they were expelled from their houses, that these might be burned, on the th and th august. then they were driven by the troops as far as louvain, and there crammed by force into cattle-trucks, which in two days conveyed them to germany. there they were witnesses of a violent dispute of which they were the object, and finally, after they had been given a little food in the railway station, they were put back into their trucks. they reached brussels on the st august, where they were restored to liberty; that is, they were told: "get out of here, and be off with you." and there were these unhappy folk, turned out of the railway station, dejected, bewildered, their glances vacant, almost dead with drowsiness and fatigue, the men supporting the old people, the women carrying the children. the people of brussels who saw this lamentable procession go by will never as long as they live forget the impression of misery which they received. assistance was organized immediately, and our poor compatriots were given shelter in the various public establishments of saint-josse-ten-noode. they remained there several weeks before daring to return "home." how many civil prisoners were there in the various camps of germany: celle, gutersloh, magdeburg, münster, salzwedel, cassel, senne, soltau, etc.? the lists which have been published in _le bruxellois_ are very incomplete. on the other hand, persons who were believed to be prisoners in germany have in reality been shot. thus, in the little garden facing the railway station of louvain a trench was opened on the th and th january, , in which were found a belgian soldier of the th line regiment and twenty-six civilians of louvain, who were believed for the most part to be in germany; among them were two women and the curé of herent. many of the people of tintigny, rossignol, and other localities, who had been taken away as civil prisoners, were shot by the roadside. those of musson escaped only because the order had come from germany not to kill any more prisoners: by july they were not as yet repatriated. _the return of civil prisoners._ in november and december there returned to their "homes" (we mean to their native towns, not to their houses, which were burned) about inhabitants of dinant, more than of aerschot, and several hundred people of louvain, of the , which had been taken away. many of them bore, painted in white oil paint on the back of their waistcoats the words: _kriegsgefangene-münsterlager_. until march those living at dinant had to present themselves regularly before the military authorities. on the occasion of their return the communal administration of dinant was compelled publicly to thank the germans. city of dinant. on the occasion of the return of a portion of our civil prisoners, i believe it my duty to invite the whole population to observe the most absolute calm. any demonstration might be severely repressed. the return of a portion of our fellow-citizens, held in captivity for nearly three months, constitutes an act of benevolence, an act of generous humanity on the part of the military authorities, to whom we offer the thanks of the administration and those of the people of dinant. by its tranquillity the latter will endeavour to manifest its gratitude. i also beg the returning prisoners immediately to resume their labours. this measure is necessary, as much in the interest of their families as in the interest of society. for the burgomaster, absent, e. taziaux, _communal councillor_. dinant, _the th november, _. at the end of january about , inhabitants of brabant were sent back in a body. they had left the camps on sunday, the th january, and they reached louvain on friday the th, and brussels and vilvorde on saturday the th. during this five days' journey they had not been allowed to leave the trucks into which they were crammed; for all nourishment they received some black bread and water, and on occasion a turnip or a beet. the louvain prisoners had the greatest trouble in the world to walk as far as the ruins of their houses. those from beyond assche were set down at the gare du nord in brussels; they had to be carried as far as the tram for berchem; their swollen feet refused all service. these unhappy people were still wearing the light clothes which they were wearing in august, when they were dragged from their villages, and since then they had never had a fire. those from tervueren were taken from the trucks at schaerbeek; they were driven home in carts. _german admission of the innocence of the civil prisoners._ what crime had these unhappy folk committed to be treated in so terrible a fashion? none. the germans themselves admit it; none ( nd _grey book_, no. ). the german authorities communicated the following note to the belgian newspapers--we copy it from the _Écho de la presse internationale_ of the th january, :-- the commander-in-chief of the german army has authorized the return to belgium of the belgian civilian prisoners: ( ) against whom no inquiry of any military tribunal is in progress; ( ) who have not to undergo any penalty of any kind. consequently all the women ( ) and , men will be able to re-enter the country. the commander-in-chief of the german army is the emperor. it was he, then, who recognized the innocence of the civil prisoners. no charge, therefore, could be brought against them; these prisoners were recognized as being completely innocent; the authorities admitted that it was without any motive that they were kept five months in germany, without care, without fire, almost without food, herded together like beasts, in perpetual fear of being shot, knowing nothing of their families--for they were unable for many weeks either to write or receive news. some of them succumbed under their privations; others were shot; many have become insane; all were so aged and enfeebled by ill-treatment, methodically applied, that their neighbours hesitated to recognize them. will they ever recover from such an experience? no doubt the german authorities knew long ago that the deportation of these civilians was a judicial error; or rather that they were sent into germany to give the people there the occasion to torment and insult the "francs-tireurs captured alive." and yet they were not repatriated until the moment when the fear of famine forced germany to organize the seizure of foodstuffs and to ration her population. it was not at all because of a spirit of justice that the civil prisoners from belgium were sent home (and also part of those from france); it was only a measure of economy; the authorities merely wished to prevent their eating german bread, which had become too precious; they preferred to place them in the care of the american charities. and when they were at last sent home, how were they treated? did the germans at least show the consideration which the slave-dealers used to show for their black cargo? no; for the slave-dealers had a pecuniary interest in preserving the market value of their flock, while for german militarism the belgian civilians do not count: _es ist krieg_. b.--the "belgian atrocities." _the pretended cruelty of belgian civilians toward the german army._ in order to organize the massacres by means of which it expected to terrorize our country, the great general staff had to have at its disposal troops on which it could count without reserve, which would not shrink before the bloodiest task, and to which no repressive measures would seem excessive. the staff had to be certain it would be obeyed without hesitation when it ordered, as at dinant, the death of seven hundred men, women, and children. to obtain soldiers who would undertake such barbarous operations, and operations so contrary to the military spirit, the obsession of the "franc-tireur" would perhaps be insufficient; for there are soldiers even among such troops who are brave and who do not tremble at bogy-stories; there might be honest men among them to whom theft would be repugnant by whatever name one adorned it, and who would not be tempted by the bait of pillage; all were not so imbued with kultur as that officer who proposed not to kill the "francs-tireurs" outright, but to wound them mortally, afterwards to leave them to die slowly, in agony, untended (p. ). but these soldiers, even the more gentle, would regard it as a sacred duty to avenge crimes committed against innocent persons. let them be led to believe that the belgians have tortured peaceable tradesmen, or have mutilated wounded soldiers incapable of defending themselves, or that they employ dum-dum bullets, producing frightful wounds from which recovery is almost impossible ... and immediately these soldiers will have only one thought: to make the first belgian encountered expiate the crime of which his fellow-countrymen have been guilty. before their thirst for vengeance all distinctions disappear: children, old people, men and women, all equally deserve to be punished. from that moment it will be needless to order reprisals, for the army will be only too ready to show itself pitiless, and to call for an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, in order to make all the belgians indifferently pay for the offences committed upon inoffensive germans. _some accusations._ it is precisely this psychology which the rulers of germany have exploited. immediately after the opening of the campaign their newspapers began to publish articles describing the horrors committed by the belgians; articles which make one's flesh creep. belgian women pour petrol over the wounded and set fire to it; they throw out of the windows the wounded confided to their care in the hospitals; they pour boiling oil over the troops, and thereby put two thousand out of action; they handle the rifle and revolver as well as the men; they cut the throats of soldiers and stone them; they cut off their ears and gouge out their eyes; they offer them cigarettes containing powder, whose explosion blinds them. even the little girls ten years of age indulge in these horrors. the men are no better; to begin with, they are all "francs-tireurs," even when they assume the appearance of respectable schoolmasters; besides which they crawl under motor-cars to kill the chauffeurs; they kill peaceable drinkers with a stab in the belly; they foully shoot an officer who is reading them a proclamation; they saw off the legs of soldiers; they finish off the wounded on the field of battle; they cut off their fingers to steal their rings; they fill letters with narcotics in order to poison those who open them; they set traps for soldiers in order to torture them at leisure; even the humanitarian symbol of the red cross does not stay their homicidal hands; they fire on doctors, on ambulance men, on motor-cars removing the wounded. that the soldiers leaving for belgium were made to believe that their adversaries were horrible barbarians, and that the troops were inspired with an ardent desire to avenge the innocent victims of the belgians, is amply proved by all the tales dating from the beginning of the war. see, for instance, in the story of _la journée de charleroi_ (p. ) the impatience with which the author awaits the moment of entering belgium to take part in the reprisals, and his delight when he at last sees houses burned to ashes and a curé hung from a tree. let us note in passing that the austrians also, desirous of declaring war upon us, resorted to the invention of "belgian atrocities." in its reply to the austro-hungarian declaration of war, our government protested against this defamation ( st _grey book_, nos. , ). * * * * * all these stories appeared, in the first place, in the newspapers. we must not be surprised if in time of war, when men's minds are over-excited, the journalists willingly publish articles containing statements of the kind we have cited, without troubling to verify their authenticity. but it is unpardonable that they should have been reprinted in cold blood, when their falsity had become so obvious that it must have struck even the most prejudiced. we know of two pamphlets devoted entirely to atrocities committed by the belgians: _die belgischen greueltaten_ and _belgische kriegsgreuel_. the work already cited, _die wahrheit über den krieg_, also deals at length with these atrocities. finally, there is no lack of information concerning them in the pamphlets _lüttich_ and _die eroberung belgiëns_. one remark occurs to us immediately. the narratives are based on details given by witnesses "worthy of credence." now all verification is impossible, for we are never given a hint as to the date; moreover, the locality is very rarely mentioned; in _die wahrheit_ there are only three place-names: gemmenich, tavigny, and demenis. demenis does not exist, and we have in vain sought to discover what locality is meant. and what did really happen in the other two communes mentioned? at tavigny the germans never had occasion to commit any reprisals; not a man was killed, not a house burned; the troops merely proceeded systematically to loot the place. nor did anything more happen in any neighbouring commune which the narrator might have confused with tavigny. nor was there any confusion of names with tintigny; in the latter village the germans behaved in the most atrocious fashion, but the mode of operation was quite different. as for gemmenich, we have no information as to what passed there, but we can assert that not a single house was burned there. now it is very certain that if the belgians had committed the atrocities of which the germans tell, the latter would have set fire to the village; it is therefore highly probable that nothing happened there. in short, of the only three place-names given all three are incorrect. we cannot be expected to refute all these allegations. many are utterly ridiculous: for example, the story of the narcotics at the liége post office; that of the fingers cut off the dead and wounded and then carefully preserved in a bag (one may well ask why); that of the boiling oil is no better: try to imagine the incredible store of oil that must have been possessed by the women who killed and wounded therewith , germans; moreover, either the german army does not march down the middle of the street, or else the women had special apparatus to throw jets of boiling liquid to a distance without danger to themselves. let us confine ourselves to examining the legend of the gouged-out eyes. it is that which crops up most frequently under the pens of the german publicists, so well calculated is it to arouse horror and indignation in the readers. well! its falsity appears from an inquiry made by the germans themselves. not only have their newspapers--notably the _kölnische volkszeitung_ and _vorwärts_--on several occasions done justice upon this lie, but an official commission, instituted by the german government, has also admitted that there is not _a single case_ in which a wounded german soldier has been intentionally blinded (see _belgian grey books_, nos. , ). the germans themselves admit that the accusation is unfounded. has their press for that reason ceased to make use of it? we little know the germans if we imagine that it has. the entire press continues imperturbably to spread these abominable calumnies. the _kölnische zeitung_ of the th february (four o'clock edition), referring to an article by Étienne girau, pastor of the walloon community of amsterdam, once more declares that the belgians have ill-treated the german wounded. it is enough to make one ask whether the belgians have not _morally_ blinded all the "intellectuals" of germany. another example. in february --that is, when no honest german could any longer believe in the legend of the gouged-out eyes--_vorwärts_ protested against a little work by a pastor conrad, of which , examples were printed and sold at pfennigs per copy to school-children, in which the belgians were still accused of having blinded their prisoners (_n.r.c._, th february, morning edition). the berlin government also acts as though it was ignorant of the conclusions of its own commissions of inquiry. wishing to refuse general leman, a prisoner in germany, the privilege of receiving a visit from his daughter, it based its refusal on the atrocities of which german soldiers have been the victims in belgium, and on the inhuman fashion in which the belgians have treated the wounded and prisoners in their hands. the second accusation is as ill-founded as the first. the german soldiers taken prisoner by the belgians were interned in bruges; they made no complaints, far from it (pp. - ); as for the wounded in our hospitals, here are precise facts. let us quote, first of all, from the correspondence published in the _nieuwe rotterdamsche courant_, giving a few details from letters written by the german wounded under treatment in antwerp. _how the belgians treat their german prisoners._ a private correspondent writes to us from antwerp:-- the fact of knowing that the prisoners of war of the belligerent states are treated as well as possible should also touch the hearts of the dutch.... i give you here some extracts from the letters of wounded germans under treatment in the hospitals of antwerp. i am in a very good belgian hospital and they treat me very well. karl hintzman, military hospital, antwerp. i am very well looked after and have very good food. georg storck. they treat us very well in belgium. what the german papers said in the summer about the belgians is utterly untrue. the germans could not look after us better. moreover, the nation is highly developed. franz crauwerski. a number of comrades are here. we are extraordinarily well looked after. everybody is very kind to us. richard kustermann. several comrades of my company are here. i am very well looked after. one could not look after us better in germany. peters. we could not hope for better care. walter schumann. the medical treatment is very good. we are sounded every day, and our wounds are dressed daily. the doctors are very capable here. we have food in abundance; all is excellent. hossbach, sÖlliger (braunschweig). it must not be forgotten that the majority of these prisoners fell into the hands of the belgians at aerschot, where the germans had imprisoned several hundreds of civilians in the church, at the time of the investment of the town. i can speak from experience. the german prisoners are treated with fully as much kindness in other parts of the country. at the house of the commandant of the _service de garde_ in bruges i saw an assortment of german books and card games which had been sent by mme. e. vandervelde, who had visited the prisoners a few days earlier in the company of her husband, minister of state and the socialist leader of belgium. the latter wished to make sure that the prisoners lacked for nothing. we can say that belgium does not seek to avenge her unheard-of sufferings by maltreating the german victims of the war. suffering evokes pity in a sane mind. i can only express the hope that these proofs may fall into the hands of german readers. (_n.r.c._, th october, , morning edition.) but we have something better than these documents of a private nature. the german authorities exhibited, at spa, a statement that the german wounded there were perfectly well cared for. at the moment when the germans dispensed with the collaboration of the clinical staff of the red cross in brussels, they did homage to its devotion and competence. spa, _ th august, _. _to the burgomaster of spa._ the commander-general of the th army corps thanks the burgomaster of spa for the good reception accorded to his troops by the city of spa on the th and th august, . thanks to his care and efforts, he recognizes that the wounded in the hospitals of spa are particularly well cared for. hoffmann, _lieutenant-general_. frederic-august, _grand duke of oldenburg_. (_les nouvelles_, published under control of the german military authority, nd september, .) german government, _headquarters, medical service_. brussels, _ st august, _. _to mm. the president and members of the red cross of belgium, rue de l'association, ._ gentlemen, the german government assures you of the expression of its grateful sentiments for the devoted care which you have given to all the wounded collected in the capital. ambulances have been organized in great numbers, and the necessity of a concentration henceforth indispensable compels us immediately to take the following measures.... in bringing these measures to your knowledge and in begging you to assist us to realize them promptly, we again express to you the thanks which we address to all the members of your association and especially to the ladies of the red cross, whose complete devotion we have appreciated. i beg you to accept, gentlemen, the assurance of my high consideration. prof. dr. stuertz, _oberstabarzt_. it is useful to observe that these declarations have been made spontaneously, since it is obvious that we were powerless to exert any pressure on the germans. they have, therefore, nothing in common with those which the germans have forced the belgian wounded or prisoners to sign. _the pretended massacres of german civilians._ there remain the famous massacres of germans in brussels, antwerp, liége, etc. according to witnesses "worthy of credence," inoffensive germans, even women and children, were killed and martyred in various belgian cities. at liége alone more than persons, of whom three-fourths were women and children, were said to have lost their lives. as to liége, we have inquired of inhabitants of the city, several of whom are closely connected with the administration of justice; no one had any knowledge of any such occurrences. they have therefore been invented, lock, stock, and barrel, by the "witnesses worthy of credence," and we defy the germans to mention the name of a single one of these "victims." at antwerp we can oppose, to the testimony of those who were "present" on the occasion of murders and serious assaults upon german women, the official report, which admits that shops were broken into by the populace, but which at the same time attests that no german was wounded. let us add that the german weber was _not_ assassinated, but is quietly living in antwerp. let us proceed to the doings in brussels; and let us quote, from _greueltaten_, the most serious occurrences there mentioned. we have a story, based on hearsay, which tells, of course, of gouged-out eyes, as well as three reports of ocular witnesses. the first is that of a witness "worthy of credence" who saw a child thrown from a window and a woman dragged by the hair until she was insensible; he also witnessed the murder of a german druggist, one frankenberg, who was betrayed by his own wife, a belgian. the second witness is the correspondent of the wolff agency. he saw only what the people of brussels themselves witnessed: that is, that the populace pillaged the german shops and cafés on the th and th august. but he had not been able to discover any acts of violence against the person; those he mentions, in a couple of words, without insisting on them, had been related to him; but he does not even add that the witnesses were "worthy of credence." finally we have a priest, who complains that he was arrested as a spy and beaten by the gendarmes. perhaps he was a spy; in any case, not a few german spies disguised as priests have been discovered in belgium. if we confine ourselves to the really serious occurrences, to the cases in which germans have been killed by the populace, we find that as against some anonymous cases, which cannot be verified, there are only two in which names are mentioned. these names are weber and frankenberg. now these two cases are apocryphal. herr weber has quietly reopened his hotel in antwerp; herr frankenberg continues to breathe the air at anderlecht, a suburb of brussels. compare with these two cases the three names of places mentioned in _die wahrheit_ (p. ). * * * * * _preventive and repressive measures taken by the belgian authorities._ the truth is that in the various cities of belgium there was, quite at the beginning of hostilities, an intense popular effervescence, by which evildoers profited to pillage the german shops. these disturbances were so unexpected and assumed, with such rapidity, such large proportions, that the police were at first powerless to restrain them. moreover, it must be remembered that the police had just been reduced, a large proportion of the police agents and gendarmes having left for the front. but measures were promptly taken, and by the th august there was no longer anywhere the least disorder of this kind. as for the "spy mania," it raged in belgium as in all countries affected by the war.[ ] but the newspapers, and the official measures taken, got the better of this fresh cause of disturbance. the newspapers of the neutral countries, for example the _nieuwe rotterdamsche courant_, also reported material damage, but they do not relate more serious occurrences in any part of belgium. we can consequently assert, in the most categorical fashion, basing our statement on the official data furnished by the courts, that no serious offence against the person has been proved either in brussels or elsewhere. does this mean that we excuse the fishers in troubled waters who sacked the german shops? obviously not; but it must be owned that there are bad elements in all agglomerations, and that the populace of berlin behaved no better than that of brussels: witness the remarks of the british ambassador in berlin, and the excuses put forward by the german authorities when his windows were broken as the result of an article in the _berliner tageblatt_. here we immediately perceive a contrast of mentalities: the german newspapers incite their readers against foreigners, while ours, on the contrary, do their utmost to calm popular manifestations. a detail which we regard as symptomatic, and particularly revolting, in the german publications, is the fact that in these cases, as in the matter of the "francs-tireurs," our enemies seek to involve the legal administration of our country. now, not only did our authorities immediately intervene to repress the disturbances and to provide a military guard for the _deutsche bank_ and the _deutscher verein_ in brussels, but they did more than their strict duty in protecting german families, and enabling them to return to their own country. nothing is more characteristic in this respect than that which happened in brussels on the nights of the th, th and th of august, at the time of the germans' departure from the city. the latter assembled at night in a building belonging to the city; in the trams which took them thither every one hastened to render them every imaginable service; at the place of assembly the civic guards prepared hot drinks for them; then, during the short journey to the gare du nord, the same civic guards helped them to carry their children and their luggage. mr. brand whitlock, united states minister in brussels, who was looking after the interests of germany, was present in that quality at the departure of the german families, and he expressed his gratitude to the belgians in a letter made public at the time. the united states minister does honour to the heroism and the kindness of the belgians. the german minister, before leaving brussels, requested the united states minister, mr. brand whitlock, kindly to take over the interests of germany in belgium. the united states minister consented to protect the archives of the german legation. it was in this capacity that mr. brand whitlock was the witness, two days ago, of the goodness of the people of brussels, who, with mme. carton de wiart, the wife of the minister of justice, and our brave chasseurs of the mounted civic guard at their head, provided hot drinks and refreshments for the four thousand germans leaving belgium who were assembled at the royal circus. the spectacle profoundly affected the eminent diplomatist. thanking the belgian government, his excellency, mr. brand whitlock, writes to the minister of justice:-- "the belgians display a heroism in dying on the field of battle which is equalled by their humanity to non-combatants." (_le soir_, th august, .) in germany the united states ambassador, mr. gerard, had also occasion to intervene; but there it was to protect the british ambassador from the fury of the populace. these examples will suffice, we think, to show that the belgians were as thoughtful in their behaviour towards their non-combatant adversaries as the germans were violent and brutal. and what was the result of our courtesy? our enemies picked a groundless quarrel with us in order to inflame the minds of their soldiers against us. c.--violations of the hague convention. nothing would be easier than to show that our enemies have not respected a single one of the articles of the hague convention. but it is not our intention to draw up this inventory. we prefer to confine ourselves to a few facts which no one can dream of contesting, so patent are they and so well known to every one in belgium. and we shall refer only to those which will enable us to compare the two mentalities: that of the german, crafty and tyrannical, and that of the belgian population, refusing to bow the head to military despotism. we exclude from our list those data which have already been recorded in other publications: belgian _grey books_, _reports of the commission of inquiry_, _la belgique et l'allemagne_, etc. lastly, we shall deal only with what has happened in belgium itself, so that we shall speak neither of prisoners of war nor of the wounded. these eliminations lead us to omit the whole of section i: _the belligerents_. the three first articles apply to "francs-tireurs," articles to relate to prisoners, the wounded, etc. article . _belligerents have not an unlimited choice of means of injuring the enemy._ article . _besides the prohibitions established by special conventions, it is notably forbidden_:-- (_a_) _to employ poison or poisoned weapons;_ (_b_) _to kill or wound by treachery individuals belonging to the hostile nation or army;_ (_c_) _to kill or wound an enemy who, having laid down his arms, or no longer having means of defence, has surrendered at discretion;_ (_d_) _to declare that no quarter will be given;_ (_e_) _to employ arms, projectiles, or material calculated to cause unnecessary suffering;_ (_f_) _to make improper use of a flag of truce, of the national flag, or of the military insignia or uniform of the enemy, as well as of the distinctive signs of the geneva convention;_ (_g_) _to destroy or seize enemy property, unless such destruction or seizure be imperatively demanded by the necessities of war;_ (_h_) _to declare abolished, suspended, or inadmissible the right of the subjects of the hostile party to institute legal proceedings._ _a belligerent is likewise forbidden to compel the subjects of the hostile party to take part in the operations of war directed against their own country, even if they were in the service of the belligerent before the commencement of the war._ the violations of this article are numerous. the germans themselves cannot deny that the employment of toxic gases, such as those which were used in the attack upon ypres on the nd april, falls under the condemnation of paragraph (_a_). we shall recur to this matter further on. let us remark for the moment that we are not speaking of gas released by the bursting of shells, but of clouds of gas intentionally produced. as to paragraph (_e_), the _ th report_ speaks in a precise manner of the employment of dum-dum bullets. after the german occupation we shall be able to mention other irrefutable cases, of which it would now be too dangerous to speak. the prescriptions of paragraph (_f_) have often been violated. at the fort of boncelles, on the th august, and at landelies, near charleroi, on the nd, our enemies abused the white flag. at ougrée and at grez-doiceau they wore belgian uniforms to deceive their enemies. this action was repeated during the siege of antwerp; but this time the belgians were warned of the german mimicry, so that the "asses clad in lions' skins" were nearly all left on the battle-field. we shall deal later on, when speaking of pillage, with the infractions of paragraph (_g_). _military employment of belgians by the germans._ the last paragraph of article forbids belligerents to compel their adversaries to take part in operations of war directed against their own country. let us see how the germans respect this principle where civilians are concerned. at liége (_n.r.c._, rd august, evening), at vilvorde (_n.r.c._, th august, morning), at anderlecht (_n.r.c._, th august, evening), at dilbeek (n.r.c., st august, evening), at eppeghem (_see_ photograph in _ illustré_, no. ), at soignies, and at neder-over-heembeek, the inhabitants were compelled to dig trenches for the germans. a dutchman (an extreme germanophile, however), saw peasants from the outskirts of spa compelled to perform the same task. spa, _ th august, _. ... the man, who had to return home (it was about noon), accompanied us, and, while conversing, he pointed to the road to creppe, parallel to that which we were following, and at some ten minutes' distance from the latter. they were working hard at entrenchments there, about a quarter of an hour from the city. there were some belgian workmen there, excavating the soil under the threat of the rifles of german soldiers placed behind them. (_n.r.c._, nd august, , evening edition.) at bagimont, on the th august, , the inhabitants were forced to prepare the ground for the landing of german aeroplanes. the same villagers were forced to build huts for their enemies. we have the names (at the disposal of a commission of inquiry) of twenty-nine inhabitants of a village of brabant, who were forced, with horses and carts, to follow the german troops for several weeks, transporting munitions and baggage. the germans had the right to requisition horses and vehicles, but not to compel our countrymen to accompany their teams. let us remark, while dealing with these violations of article of the hague convention, that germany signed this convention. but on her part this was merely a comedy, for it is a rule with her rulers that they cease to follow its prescriptions as soon as they are in opposition to the _usages of war_, according to the great general staff. now among the duties which the occupier may impose on the inhabitants--according to germany--is the supply of transport and the digging of trenches. in other words, germany, though she readily approved of the hague conference, makes war according to her own principles, which are far less humane; but she none the less demands that her adversaries should observe the rules of the convention. * * * * * _measures of coercion taken by the germans._ on several occasions our enemies have sought to force the belgian population to manufacture explosives and munitions for them. but the belgians have always refused, even when their resistance inevitably condemned them to starvation. the workers of the explosives factory of caulille, in the north of limburg, resumed their tasks only under the most terrible threats (_k.z._, st december, morning edition). the case of caulille, announced to its readers by a german newspaper, shows the cynicism with which our enemies violate the hague convention, which is in part their own work. the same effrontery appears in the placard of the th november, ; this threatens severe penalties against belgians who dissuade their compatriots from working for germany. one could understand that the germans might punish those who used force or threats to prevent any one from working for them; but to punish those who "attempt" to act by simple persuasion! this was a mere timid beginning. on the th june, , our enemies posted about gand a placard stating that severe measures were about to be applied to factories which, "relying on the hague convention, had refused to work for the german army." the communal administration of gand has supplied us with the following notice:-- notice. by order of his excellency the inspector de l'Étape,[ ] i call the attention of the commune to the following:-- "the attitude of certain factories which, under pretext of patriotism and relying on the hague convention, have refused to work for the german army, proves that there are, in the midst of the population, tendencies whose object is to place difficulties in the way of the administration of the german army. "in this connection i make it known that i shall repress, by all the means at my disposal, such behaviour, which can only disturb the good understanding hitherto existing between the administration of the german army and the population. "in the first place i hold the communal authorities responsible for the spread of such tendencies, and i call attention to the fact that the population will itself be responsible if the liberties hitherto accorded in the most ample measure are withdrawn and replaced by the restrictive measures necessitated by its own fault." lieutenant-general graf von westarp, _commandant de l'Étape_. gand, _ th june, _. here, then, they declare that they are on the point of intentionally violating the hague convention. certain articles which appeared in _het volk_, a christian-democratic journal of gand, on the th, th, th, and nd june, , tell us what these measures are. the workers of the bekaert factory at sweveghem having refused to make barbed wire for the germans, the latter began by arresting three notables, of whom two were promptly released. then, to force the men to resume work, they decided that the commune should be placed under a ban; it was forbidden to ride a bicycle or to use a wheeled vehicle, and the introduction of foodstuffs was prohibited. the men still persisted in refusing to make the barbed wire on which their sons and brothers were to be caught in the battles of the yser. sixty-one men were sent to prison. the rest hastened to leave the village. what did the germans do then? they seized the wives of the fugitives, shut them up in two great waggons, and took them to courtrai; at the same time they posted up the names of those who had fled, and enjoined them to return. before the threat of seeing their wives remain in prison until their children perished in their empty homes, the workers, with death in their hearts, had to resume their fratricidal task. truly _kultur_ is a fine thing! in brabant they went a different way to work. they had requested m. cousin to make barbed wire for them in his factory at ruysbroeck (in the south of brussels). he refused. they offered to buy his factory. he refused. they requisitioned his works. he was forced to submit. they installed themselves in the factory and tried to begin making barbed wire. but the machinery was worked by electricity, and the electricity was provided by a central station situated in oisquercq. naturally the oisquercq works refused to supply current. the germans arrested m. lucien beckers, the managing director of the company, and kept him several weeks in prison. * * * * * _living shields._ it remains to examine a final violation of article ; a violation so revolting that neither those present at the hague conference nor the germans themselves in their _kriegsbrauch_ had been willing to consider it. we are referring to the use of "living shields" (_ th report_). * * * * * _a german admission._ _belgians placed before the troops at charleroi._ our enemies are aware of the abomination of which they are guilty in placing, in front of their troops, belgians intended to serve as a shield. they are eager to deny such acts. unfortunately for them one of their own officers has described a case of the kind (p. ). his first care on reaching the suburbs of charleroi was to capture civilians in order to force them to walk in front of and among the cavalry. he waxes indignant over the lamentations uttered by the wives of these unfortunates. "if nothing happens to us," he told them, "nothing will happen to the civilians either." could one more cynically express the idea that the germans made use of these hostages in order to prevent their adversaries from firing on their troops? at the first volley fired by the french, who were posted behind a barricade, some of the hostages were killed. the germans promptly replaced them by others, notably by priests. at nimy and mons, the same method was employed. the burgomaster of mons, m. lescart, was himself placed before the german troops. at tirlemont, on the th august, , during their march on louvain, they seized upon certain "notables," including the burgomaster, m. donny, and pushed them before them in order to obtain shelter from the belgian bullets. they did not release them until the following day, at cumptich. * * * * * _belgians placed before the troops at lebbeke, tirlemont, mons._ more significant still was their conduct at lebbeke, near termonde, on the th september, . scarcely had they entered the village, in the early morning, when they seized as many civilians as possible--about --and forced them to march before them. on passing through st. gilles-lez-termonde they requisitioned more men to serve as "living shields." when the belgians attacked the german troops ten civilians were killed; many were wounded (_ th_ and _ th reports_). the same evening the survivors were sent into germany as "francs-tireurs." _belgian women placed before the troops at anseremme._ at anseremme it was behind women that the germans took refuge. they had committed the blunder of sending all the men to germany, as civil prisoners, on the rd and th august, so that only the women were left. they placed these in a line along the river-wall on the bank of the meuse, and prudently hidden behind their skirts they rested their rifles on the women's shoulders in order to fire at the french on the opposite bank. the french ceased fire as soon as they saw that they were firing on women. at night the germans herded the unhappy women, with their children, in a field; but on the following morning they brought them out again to serve as a protective screen along the river. such is german heroism! as we at present understand the real sense of the words _den heldentod gestorben_ (died a hero's death), which the germans inscribe on the tombs of their soldiers, they mean that these soldiers were unable to avoid the bullets, although they heroically hid themselves behind belgian women. as far as we know one must go back to cambyses, in the sixth century b.c., to find another example of the "living shield." at the time of his expedition into egypt this prince, who was, the historians tell us, famed for his cruelty, conceived the idea of placing cats, which animals were worshipped by the egyptians, in front of his troops. thanks to his stratagem he prevented the egyptians from attacking his soldiers. neither attila, nor ghenghis khan, nor tamerlane made use of this method; it was left for the germans of the twentieth century once more to put it into practice, with the increased ferocity suggested by _kultur_. _belgians forcibly detained at ostend and middelkerke._ there are other circumstances also under which the germans have made a rampart of the belgians. from the middle of october they occupied that portion of the belgian coast comprised between lombartzyde and the zeeland frontier. from time to time the british ships and aeroplanes bombarded the coast; they would undoubtedly have continued to do so if the germans had not taken pains forcibly to retain numbers of belgians in these localities. according to the _nieuwe rotterdamsche courant_ of the st november they forbade the people of middelkerke and ostend to leave those towns. obviously the british were as far as possible sparing ostend and middelkerke, and directing their fire by preference on the road joining these two places, and on that running from middelkerke to westende. the germans were perfectly aware of this, and had precisely for this reason forbidden any belgian to leave ostend or middelkerke. an officer at the _kommandantur_, from whom our informant tried to obtain some favour for a couple of belgians, replied as follows: "if we allowed the population to leave these places the english would hasten to bombard the two towns, and we should be the sufferers" (_n.r.c._, st november, ). however, at the end of december they expelled all the men from middelkerke, with the exception of four. but the means of transport placed at the disposal of the expelled inhabitants were insufficient to enable them to take their families with them, so that they had to leave many of their wives and children behind. every time the british drop shells on the coast the germans hasten to post up the news in brussels, adding that the bombardment has resulted in fatalities among the belgians. news published by the general german government. bombardment of coast. berlin, th _november_ (official, noon to-day).--british vessels arrived yesterday off the french coast and bombarded lombartzyde and zeebrugge. among our troops they caused only very slight damage. a certain number of belgian citizens, on the other hand, were killed and wounded. the german military government. berlin, th _december_ (official telegram, noon to-day).--near nieuport the enemy renewed his attempted attacks without success. in these he was supported by firing from the sea, which however did us no harm, but killed or wounded some inhabitants. the german military government. berlin, th _january_ (official telegram, noon to-day).--the enemy yesterday fired as usual on middelkerke and westende. a considerable number of inhabitants were killed or wounded by this fire, among them the burgomaster of middelkerke. our losses yesterday were very insignificant. the german military government. berlin, th _february_ (official telegram).--along the coast enemy aviators yesterday again dropped bombs, which did very considerable damage among the civil population, while we suffered no appreciable damage from a military point of view. the general government in belgium. berlin, th _march_ (official telegram, noon to-day).--enemy aviators dropped bombs on ostend, which killed three belgians. the general government in belgium. they therefore fully appreciate the advantage to be derived from retaining on the coast a population which serves as a living buckler. _belgians imprisoned in the lofts of the ministries._ at brussels they behaved in a similar fashion in order to prevent the allied aviators from bombarding the premises which they occupy in the ministries. inhabitants of brussels are sent to the _kommandantur_ on the most impossible pretexts. they first remain for several days shut up in the lofts of the ministries. then, after trial--and, obviously, sentence--they are again confined in the lofts until there is room for them in the ordinary prisons. every one in brussels knows this, and of course the allied aviators are aware of it. article . _the attack or bombardment, by any means whatever, of undefended towns, villages, dwellings, or buildings is forbidden._ _bombardment of open towns._ many violations of this article have been discovered by the commission of inquiry (_ th report_). here again clearly appears the contradiction between the fashion in which the germans make war and that which they require of their enemies. when their dirigibles drop bombs on open, undefended districts--as they did on the night of the th september, at deynze, when they wounded an old man in the hospital of the sisters of st. vincent de paule--their newspapers related this prowess exultingly (_düsseldorfer tageblatt_, th september; _düsseldorfer zeitung_, th september, ). they may do such things, but no one else. when the allied aviators bombarded freibourg in brisgau on the th december, , the germans denounced them amid universal indignation. one can only agree with the writer in the _times_ who said: "if we want to know what conduct we should observe in this war it is useless to consult the laws; we must simply ask the germans if our conduct is agreeable to them or not." article . _the officer in command of an attacking force must do all in his power to warn the authorities before commencing a bombardment, except in case of assault._ general von beseler followed the prescription of this article during the siege of antwerp; he announced on the th october that the bombardment of the city would commence at midnight (_k.z._, th october, first morning edition). everywhere else the germans have thrown their shells without previous warning. this was notably so in the attack upon antwerp by a dirigible on the night of th august; the bombs found twenty victims. it is true that herr bernstorff has declared that previous advice is not necessary. in this he is in agreement with the laws of warfare according to the germans. article . _in sieges and bombardments all necessary steps must be taken to spare, as far as possible, buildings dedicated to public worship, art, science, or charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals, and places where the sick and wounded are collected, provided they are not being used at the time for military purposes._ not content with setting fire to our monuments, as they did at louvain, dinant, termonde, and a host of villages, the germans never hesitate to bombard those they cannot otherwise reach. the most characteristic example is that of the cathedral of reims.[ ] on tuesday, the nd september, we learned of the bombardment from a placard. the telegram, dated monday, the st, asserted that the monument would as far as possible be spared. that was enough; we knew then that it was destroyed. and sure enough, the french newspapers smuggled through to us on the following day--wednesday--stated that the cathedral had been burning since saturday, the th. little by little the information received grew more precise. the french certified that they had not placed any military post of observation on the towers; neither were there batteries near the cathedral. moreover, they declared that the cathedral should have been doubly respected, since an ambulance had found asylum there--which, be it said in passing, is denounced as an infamy by the german newspapers (_k.z._, th january, morning edition; _niederrheinische volkszeitung_, th january). the wolff agency reported the bombardment of reims cathedral as quite a natural thing, a commonplace operation. but before the indignation of the entire civilized world (_n.r.c._, nd september, , evening edition) the germans were forced to display a hypocritical regret and to justify their aggression. then official telegrams were posted up the same day; two reflected german opinion, the third professed to express the opinion of a frenchman who had favoured the _times_ with his confidences (placard dated rd september, ).[ ] the conclusion, naturally, was that the germans had nothing to reproach themselves with: their conscience was clear as on the first day; they bombarded the cathedral of reims because they were forced to do so, despite their admiration for this marvel of gothic architecture ... but the presence of a military observation-post on the towers had left them no alternative. three weeks later, a fresh bombardment (placard dated th october). then, after two weeks' quiet, they once more began to throw shells on what still remained standing (placard of th october). on the following day they announced that they had protested to the roman curia. a few days later they applied themselves to the destruction of the cathedral of soissons, but once again because the french forced them to do so. what respect for the hague convention! how touching the solicitude displayed toward monuments of art and religion! only in the very last extremity do the germans resolve to smash them to bits; still protesting, of course, against the violence done to their æsthetic feelings! still more touching is their sincerity. on the th november they announce that the vicar-general of reims has admitted that the towers have been used for military operations, and that the chancellor has communicated this avowal to the vatican (_le réveil_, th november, ); on the th they are forced to note the vicar-general's denial, but they maintain their accusations. to estimate at their true value the german declarations concerning reims cathedral, it is enough to compare one of the three placards of the rd september with the "official communiqué" which they forced upon _l'ami de l'ordre_. here are these two documents: news published by the german general government. berlin, _ rd september_ (official telegram, yesterday evening).--in spite of these facts we have been able to verify the presence on the tower of a post of observation, which explains the excellent effect of the fire of the enemy's infantry opposing our infantry.... the german military government. military operations in france. (_official communiqué._) antwerp, _ th september_ (communicated by the french legation).--the french minister has received from m. delcassé the following telegrams.... ii. the german government having officially declared to various governments that the bombardment of the cathedral of reims was undertaken only because of the establishment of a post of observation on the basilica, general joffre asserts, in a telegram communicated by the ministry of war, that no french observation-post was placed on this building. p.s.--the german government did not invoke the presence of an observation-post on the cathedral, but the presence of pieces of artillery behind this church, so that it was impossible to reach these guns without firing in the direction of the cathedral and hitting the latter. this was necessary to dislodge the french artillery. (_l'ami de l'ordre_, th september, .) on the rd september they pretended that there was an observation-post on the tower. on the th they declared that they had never made any such statement. german sincerity! on the th july they placarded brussels with a document in which they made a display of their artistic feeling. we asked ourselves what fresh crime they were about to commit. next day our curiosity was satisfied; the newspapers informed us that the german army had set fire to the cathedral at arras. * * * * * _bombardment of the cathedral at malines._ let us now consider how they behaved in belgium. the commander of the army besieging antwerp three times bombarded malines without any strategical excuse, for the town was absolutely empty of belgian troops. he had informed the belgian authorities that his troops would not fire upon monuments so long as these latter were not serving any military purpose (_n.r.c._ th september, , evening edition). better still, he published, in the german newspapers, a statement that he could not bombard malines for fear of touching the cathedral of saint-rombaut, but that the belgians had not the same scruples. what truth was there in the last assertion? none, of course; if the belgians dropped shells on the outskirts of the town it was while the german troops were there, a fact which our enemies themselves recognized. for the rest, it is easy to discover whether the damage done to the cathedral was the work of germans or belgians. the belgians were to the north and west of the town; the germans to the south and east. now all the damage done to the cathedral is without exception on the south and east faces. the reader may draw his own conclusion. here we have a reappearance of the usual german system, which consists in blaming others for their own misdeeds. at dinant, too, they pretended that the collegiate church was destroyed not by them but by the french. _the pretended observation-post on notre-dame of antwerp._ of course they accused the belgians of using their belfries as observation-posts. the accusation is false. we may cite malines as an example (_n.r.c._, th november, evening edition), and courcelles (_die wochenschau_, no. , ); but the most typical case is that of antwerp. they reproduced in their illustrated journals (_die wochenschau_, no. , ; _kriegs-kurier_, no. ) a photograph--or properly speaking, a drawing--published by an american newspaper (new york _tribune_, nd october, ) representing a military observation-post on the tower of notre-dame. even if we grant the picture a documentary value which it does not possess, it proves nothing, for according to the american journalist (_n.r.c._, th november, evening edition), the military post existed on the tower at a period when antwerp was not besieged, nor even in danger of being so; the city had then to defend itself only against dirigibles, which on two occasions paid it nocturnal visits, with the accompaniment of bombs. it will be understood that the _wochenschau_ does not inform us of this; it pretends that the soldiers were on the tower to observe the german troops and their heavy artillery during the siege. _german observation-posts admitted by the germans._ let us now see whether our enemies have abstained from employing monuments for military operations. the _algemeen handelsblad_ (amsterdam) of the rd january states that machine-guns are placed on the belfry of bruges and on other towers of the city. this fact is confirmed by m. domela nieuwenhuys nyegaard, a pastor of gand, a convinced germanophile, who witnessed an attack by british aviators, upon whom the machine-guns installed on the tower of the halles opened a violent but ineffectual fire (_uit mijn oorlogsdagboek_, p. , in _de tijdspiegel_, st april, ). perhaps the germans will contest this statement. here is another. those who require of their adversaries so scrupulous a respect for article of the hague convention placed an observation-post on the tower of st. rombaut, during the siege of antwerp, in order to control their fire upon the waelhem fort. and this at least is indisputable, for in their cynicism or lack of conscience (let them choose whichever they please) they published a photograph of this infraction of the hague convention in the _berliner illustrierte zeitung_ (no. , , p. ). this is not the only case admitted by them. _zeit im bild_ (no. , ) reproduces on its cover a photograph of a "military post on the tower of an hôtel de ville." in this we see german soldiers armed with rifles, watching an imaginary enemy. this photograph was taken at the palais de justice in brussels, as is proved, without possibility of error, by the church of la chapelle, whose very characteristic tower rises in the distance. the germans were so delighted with this violation of the hague convention that they reproduced the photograph in the illustrated supplement of the _hamburger fremdensblatt_. and what is most curious in this affair is that they boasted of an offence which they knew they had not committed. for, firstly, the soldiers were not posted "on an hôtel de ville"; secondly, they were not even posted _on_ the palais de justice, but to one side of it, as may easily be determined on the spot; thirdly, german soldiers have never been placed there to overlook an enemy! since mid-october of it is in western flanders that the fighting has taken place. did the germans eventually, before the universal reprobation which greeted their exploits at louvain, reims, and so forth, determine to respect the international agreement to which they are parties? by no means. they are far too contemptuous of conventions, as is proved by the photographs of monuments bombarded in the region of the yser, which are published in the illustrated newspapers, notably in _panorama_, a dutch illustrated paper which surreptitiously enters belgium. ypres: _panorama_, _b_, _a_. dixmude: _panorama_, _a_, _b_; _berl. ill. zeit._, nos. and , ; _kriegs-echo_, nos. , ; _zeit. im bild_, no. , . pervyse: _panorama_, _a_, _b_, _a_. nieuport: _panorama_, _a_. ramscapelle: _panorama_, _b_. among the monuments destroyed artists especially deplore the marvellous halles of ypres, and the churches of nieuport, ypres, and dixmude. this last contained a very remarkable gothic rood-screen, of which herr stübben, one of the most eminent architects of modern germany, stated that its loss would be irreparable. it escaped the shells, but not the german soldiery, who destroyed it with the butts of their rifles, after the capture of the town. always _kultur_! _pillage._ article . _the giving over to pillage of a town or place, even when taken by assault, is forbidden._ article . _family honour and rights, individual life, and private property as well as religious convictions and worship, must be respected._ article _pillage is expressly forbidden._ "family honour and rights!" the cases of rape prove the respect of the german army for these prescriptions! "individual life!" by the end of september the germans had killed more civilians than soldiers. this simple statement says more than could a long exposition. "private property!" theft and pillage are phenomena so commonplace that the inhabitants no longer insist upon them; if they mention the subject it is to say: "the germans behaved well here; they only took all we had." we shall therefore confine ourselves to citing a few cases particularly typical of the german mentality. it is indisputable that the conflagrations started under the pretext of chastising "francs-tireurs" were in reality designed to conceal the pillage committed by the german army. this was certainly the case at aerschot (_ th report_) and at louvain. the officers who gave orders to start these fires were therefore accomplices of the pillaging soldiery. for that matter, how could they have disavowed the thefts of their men, seeing that they themselves largely took part in the scramble? whole trains left brussels, louvain, malines, and verviers for germany, loaded with "war booty for officers." during their journey to belgium, herren koester and noske, on the rd september, at hubesthal, saw numerous trains passing which were laden with war booty (_kriegsfahrten_, p. ); there were at that time no serious battles either in france or in belgium, so that there was no capture of war booty in the western sense of the term.[ ] the trains observed by the socialist authors could only have been carrying the fruits of pillage; they came probably from malines, which the germans at this time were scrupulously emptying, as well as the numerous châteaux of the neighbourhood. not a district has been visited by the germans that has not been totally despoiled. of course, the silver was taken first. one officer, after plundering the entire store of silver of a villa at francorchamps, confided to a neighbour that he was going to have it melted down in germany, with the exception of one spoon, which he would keep as a "souvenir." is it not typical and delightful, this german cult of the "souvenir" as a veneer of sentimentality on a basis of rapacity? according to the definition given by the kaiser, this officer displayed his civilization but not his _kultur_. another "requisition" of plate. in the railway station of mons, towards the middle of february , a merchant unloading a truck-load of merchandise had his attention attracted by a coffin which was being removed from a neighbouring van; suddenly he heard a metallic clink: the bottom of the coffin had given way, and an avalanche of spoons, forks, napkin-rings, and other articles of silver tumbled out! nothing is sacred to the huns. they smash the tabernacles, treasuries, and poor-boxes of the churches as readily as the coffers of the people's banks (_maisons du peuple_). at auvelois they seized upon , frs. in the maison du peuple, this being the entire capital of the socialist young guard, the freethinkers, the newspaper _en avant_, the miners' union (_syndicat_), and other mutual aid societies. at beyghem, near grimberghen, before setting fire to the church, they broke open the safe in the sacristy. being unable to perforate it, they demolished the wall dividing the church from the sacristy, in which it was imbedded, so that they were able to attack it from behind. in most of the churches which were burned in the north of brabant (p. ) the strong-box and the tabernacle were broken open. it was the same in the province of namur. as soon as the approach of the germans was signalled, many people hastened to pack up their furniture and valuables, in order more readily to transport them in case of evacuation. this foresight almost always failed in its object, owing to the impossibility of finding a horse and cart at the moment of departure. these packing-cases and hampers, all ready corded, presented an insurmountable temptation; the officers were never able to resist it, and the goods were sent straight to the railway station. we are informed that at the beginning of the german occupation officers were frequently mistaken as to the actual value of the articles which they removed; so that they sent their families worthless rubbish "made in germany." to avoid these unpleasant misconceptions, they made their inspections in the company of experts who directed their choice. need we add that the wine-cellars were always methodically exploited? the bottles which could not be drunk on the spot were packed for later consumption, or to be sent to germany. in a château near charleroi the officers had the doors--which were beautiful examples of joinery--taken off their hinges, and used to make packing-cases for the bottles. we must not forget that drunkenness has played an important part in the atrocities committed by the german army. the germans were not content with making a clean sweep of the private houses and châteaux; they also stripped the governmental offices which they occupied in brussels of their furniture. in the ministry of public works a portion of the maps of bridges, buildings, etc., was burned, and a portion sent to germany. _thefts of stamps._ as to those who despoiled the ministries, we will give them the credit of supposing that they acted by order and in the interest of their government; but we cannot thus excuse the conduct of one officer who, having possessed himself, goodness knows how, of a number of belgian stamps, attempted, in a stationer's shop, to pay for frs.' worth of goods by means of these stamps. meeting with a refusal from the shopkeeper, he had to content himself with paying for only a portion of his purchases in this manner. in a neighbouring watchmaker's he did better, for he was able to get rid of frs. in stamps; at a discount, of course.[ ] he informed the watchmaker that he possessed , frs.' worth of belgian stamps. the latter was not so indiscreet as to ask how he obtained them. better still: the germans do not conceal the fact that they are thieves. the _matin_ (paris, th june, ) reproduced the photograph of an announcement published by a swiss newspaper. "it informs us that a thief of the german army, desiring to realize the 'war booty' which he collected in antwerp, offers for sale unused stamps of values between centimes and frs. in his 'stock' of booty are different stamps of a total value of frs. (oh, that centimes of pillage!) which he offers for frs. .--all germany--philosophical, political, military, and commercial--is contained in this little advertisement." at tamines, having burned about houses, on the st and nd august, , and having forced the living to bury the unhappy people shot on the evening of the nd, they sent all the survivors to velaines-sur-sambre. there they were given their liberty, and told that they might go to namur or to düsseldorf, but not to tamines. why not to tamines? they understood a few days later, when they were bold enough to return despite the prohibition. the germans had completely emptied all the shops and all the private houses in the place. it is evident that this operation can be effected in a more methodical and comfortable manner when there are no children running between your legs, or women begging you to leave them some souvenir for which they have a particular affection. at louvain they acted in the same manner; they proceeded to wholesale pillage only after the th, when they had sent all the inhabitants away. sometimes the love of pillage got the better of discipline. at jumet, on the road from brussels to charleroi, on the nd august, , the troops were ordered to burn all the houses, because the french of the th infantry had dared to attack them with machine-guns. but some soldiers who had entered a tobacconist's amused themselves by stealing cigars and cigarettes, and were so absorbed that they forgot to set fire to the shop, so that it has remained intact in the midst of a long row of burned-out buildings. what disgusts us most in all this pillage is not that the german troops should have marked our unhappy country for pillage; it is the indisputable complicity of the leaders of the army. nothing more clearly proves the benevolent intervention of the military and civil authorities in the operations of brigandage than the regular transport of "war booty" into germany. the officers make no secret of sending to their homes such things as pianos, pictures, jewels, furniture, glass, etc. they do it openly, with the obvious complicity of the railway officials. the latter are entrusted with the organization of the rapid transportation to the fatherland of mountains of cases, containing the results of the methodical exploration of our houses and châteaux and shops and warehouses. it is a vast organization of brigandage, hierarchically regulated, in which every one steals without hiding the fact from his fellows. who knows whether the coffin full of silver-plate which burst in the mons railway station did not belong to some officer who had swindled his accomplices? we in belgium have witnessed the regular working of a system of "co-operative brigandage under the august protection of the authorities." let us note, finally, that theft and pillage are expressly forbidden by the german _usages of war_. articles , , , , and prohibit all destruction of private property. but we must suppose that their _usages of war_ are applicable only in times of peace, since from the very first days of the war the german army began to pillage the regions which it occupied. this spoliation has been pursued with the systematic spirit which characterizes _kultur_. _illegal taxation._ article . _the authority of the power of the state having passed de facto into the hands of the occupant, the latter shall do all in his power to restore, and shall ensure, as far as possible, public order and safety, respecting at the same time, unless absolutely prevented, the laws in force in the country._ article . _if, in the territory occupied, the occupant collects the taxes, dues, and tolls payable to the state, he shall do so, as far as is possible, in accordance with the legal basis and assessment in force at the time and shall in consequence be bound to defray the expenses of the administration of the occupied territory to the same extent as the national government had been so bound._ article . _if, in addition to the taxes mentioned in the above article, the occupant levies other money contributions in the occupied territory, they shall only be applied to the needs of the army or of the administration of the territory in question._ two placards exhibited in brussels on the evening of the th december (saturday) attracted general attention. they first convoked the provincial councils for the th december, and imposed upon them, not simply a general "order of the day," but an imperative mandate to vote a war-tax. the second gave details of this tax: , , frs. was to be paid in monthly instalments of , , (£ , , in twelve payments of £ , , ) (see _belg. allem._, p. ). baron von bissing thus advertised, seven days in advance, the decisions to be taken by the provincial councils. doubtless he was made to understand that the proceeding was a little extreme, and contrary both to the law and to common sense; for on the following morning the second placard was covered with a blank sheet of paper. better still, the "official bulletin of laws and decrees for the occupied belgian territory" gave in its issue of the th the text of the two decrees; but this number was suppressed, and in its place another placard, numbered , was distributed, which included only the first decree. on the th december our nine provincial councils assembled. they could not do otherwise than vote the crushing tax of millions; but several of them protested eloquently against the illegality of this proceeding. _speech delivered by m. françois andré at the meeting of the provincial council of hainaut, on the th december, , in the presence of the german governor and dr. daniest, president._ ... we have met by order of the german authorities to vote a war-tax; to make one word of many, we have met to furnish arms to the formidable invader of our country, to be used against our heroic little belgian army.... we are thus assembled to vote, _by order_, a war-tax. i wish to protest--against both the form and the substance of this tax. as to the form, i regard this extraordinary session as absolutely illegal; the provincial councillors are not qualified to vote war-taxes affecting the whole country; moreover, the councillors of the various provinces, in concerting as to the measures to be taken in common, so to speak, which are matters beyond the scope of their jurisdiction, are committing an offence in belgian law, which law no german decree has abrogated. as to the substance: admitting that the german authorities have the right to levy taxes on the whole country, while our , soldiers are still in occupation of our territory, it is very certain that according to the terms of the hague convention no tax may be levied except for the needs of the army of occupation. what is an army of occupation? it is that which, finding itself in a conquered territory, undertakes the policing and safeguards the security of that territory. this is why it may appear legitimate for the army to force the occupied territory to support it. but our country--as field-marshal von der goltz has declared, and as is perfectly obvious--our country has become the basis of military operations against the allies. according to the spirit of the hague convention, there is no army of occupation, properly speaking, in our country, and in any case the , men concentrated in namur and the artillery assembled at liége cannot in any respects be regarded as making part of an army of occupation. it is, therefore, contrary to law and contrary to reason that these , , frs. are demanded from the country. are we then going to vote this formidable war-tax? assuredly if we listened only to our hearts we should reply: no, no; , , times no. for our hearts would tell us: we were a small nation, happy to live by its labour; we were an honest little nation, having faith in treaties and believing in honour; we were a confident little nation, and unarmed, when suddenly, violently, germany hurled two million men upon our frontier, the greatest army that the world has ever seen, and she told us: "betray your given word; let our armies pass that i may crush france, and i will give you gold." but belgium replied: "keep your gold; i would rather die than live without honour." history will one day reveal the greatness of the action which forever magnifies us in the eyes of the future. for nothing in the annals of the past equals the sacrifice of this people, which, having nothing to gain and all to lose, preferred to lose all in order that honour should be saved, and deliberately cast herself into an abyss of distress, but also of glory. the german army thus invaded the country in violation of solemn treaties. "it is an injustice," said the chancellor of the empire; "the destinies of the empire forced us to commit it; but we shall repair the wrong done to belgium by the passage of our armies...." this, then, is how they mean to repair that wrong: germany will pay---- but no! belgium will pay germany , , frs.! vote this money! as a matter of penal legislation, the germans have systematically ignored article , as is proved by the eloquent protest of the president of the bar of brussels. yet another typical instance of the manner in which germany disregards our laws. at aerschot the germans provisionally invested a german, herr ronnewinkel, who had inhabited the district for several years, with the functions of burgomaster. on the th november, , they proclaimed him permanently burgomaster. here was a german appointed burgomaster by the will of the district commander, although by the terms of the law only a belgian appointed by the government could be burgomaster. moreover, they did the same at andenne. the communal autonomy of which belgium was so proud was thus trampled underfoot. we see, then, that in despite of articles and of the hague convention and article of their own _usages of war_ the germans have shown no respect whatever for the legislation in force. we cite here only the most flagrant of these illegalities, those which any person of common sense can understand and judge. article . _a belligerent is forbidden to compel the inhabitants of territory occupied by it to furnish information about the army of the other belligerent, or about its means of defence._ this article was not accepted by germany; she remains faithful to her _usages of war_: article , nd, rd, and th paragraphs, and applies their principles with extreme severity. nothing better illustrates the severity with which the germans act than the little manual of conversation which terminates the _tornisterwörterbuch_, published by the mentor publishing house in schöneberg, berlin. it is a small dictionary, costing pfennigs, and intended, as the title indicates, to be carried in the soldier's knapsack. the french dictionary and the english are conceived according to the same method; after information concerning the country in question they give a summary of the rules of grammar; then comes the dictionary properly so-called, with phonetic pronunciation; finally, a few common phrases, which to us are the most interesting part of the book, since their choice naturally reflects the requirements of those expected to employ them. here are a few passages from paragraph : _service of outposts and patrols_. in each passage we copy all the phrases without exception, so as to avoid misrepresenting the spirit of the work; and this spirit, as will be seen, is ferocious. the volume is not dated; but the nd edition, from which we quote, describes (p. ) the french campaigning uniform of . these phrases were therefore printed at least five years after the second hague conference ( th october, ). they show clearly that the acts of cruelty committed by the patrols against those who refused to betray their country were not improvised by the cavalry taking part in these reconnaissances, but were systematically premeditated. p. -- silence! speak only when i question you! you seem to me a suspicious person. where is your pocket-book? i must search it. remain here for the moment. at the first attempt at flight you will be shot. sir, where does this road lead? p. -- is this village occupied by the french? when did the troops arrive there? what is roughly their composition? roughly? two or three companies? how many officers, roughly speaking? have they any artillery? how many guns? have you seen cavalry too? tell us the truth. the least lie might cost you your life! p. -- has the village been placed in a state of defence? are there no cross-roads leading to the windmill? remain by my horse. on the first attempt at flight, or if you try to mislead me, i shall send a bullet after you. stop here! i will call the miller myself. hey! miller! have any french troops passed this way? you lie! here are visible traces, and quite fresh ones. a little manual of conversation costing pfennigs--_deutsch-französischer-soldaten-sprachführer_, by captain s. th. hoasmann, is conceived on the same lines. here are a few examples. the soldier, making a reconnaissance, declares: "speak the truth or you will be killed!" in the chapter on "posts and telegraphs" we find the phrase: "it is forbidden (on pain of death) to send telegrams." and the sentinel should be able to say: "if you lie you will be shot," etc. article . _no collective penalty, pecuniary or otherwise, shall be inflicted upon the population on account of the acts of individuals for which it cannot be regarded as collectively responsible._ this article proclaims the principle that in no case must the innocent suffer with the guilty, nor in their place. we have already seen that our enemies oppose this idea; they maintain that the innocent should suffer with the guilty, and even that if one cannot lay hands on the guilty one may punish the innocent in their place (p. ). it was by the application of this german principle of collective punishment that louvain, dinant, termonde, and other towns were burned. the placard of st october, , clearly displays the german mentality; it states that villages will be punished without mercy, whether guilty or not. notice. on the evening of the th september the railway and telegraph lines were destroyed between lovenjoul and vestryck. in consequence of which the two localities mentioned were, on the morning of the th september, called to account and forced to supply hostages. in future the localities nearest the spot at which such acts have been committed--no matter whether they are guilty of complicity or not--will be punished without pity. to this end hostages have been taken from all localities adjacent to railway lines threatened by such attacks, and at the first attempt to destroy the railway lines, or telegraph or telephone wires, they will immediately be shot. moreover, all troops charged with the protection of railways have received orders to shoot any person approaching railway lines or telephone or telegraph wires in a suspicious manner. the governor-general in belgium, baron von der goltz, _general field-marshal_. brussels, _ st october, _. fully to appreciate the horrible nature of this placard we must recall the fact that during the siege of antwerp (which terminated only on the th) belgium patrols were penetrating into the midst of the german troops, venturing thirty-five miles and more from antwerp, their mission being to harass the enemy's communications and to destroy the railways and the telegraph and telephone line. it was one of these bodies of belgian cyclists which cut the railway and telegraph line between louvain and tirlemont on th september, . von der goltz was evidently aware that this destruction was a perfectly legitimate military operation, so that his placard was intended simply to embarrass our military authorities by showing them that in defiance of all justice germany intended to hold the belgian civilians responsible for the activity of our army. in short, instead of saying "no matter whether these localities are guilty of complicity or not," von der goltz would have given a greater proof of sincerity had he said, "although i know that these localities are in no way guilty of complicity." here are two other placards, printed in germany, which show plainly that it is according to a system that our oppressors hold the entire community responsible for the act committed by a single person; or rather, as we shall see, for the acts of the belgian army. placard printed in german, french, russian, and polish, surrounded by a border of the german colours. notice. any person who shall have damaged a military telephone or telegraph will be shot. any person removing this notice will also receive the severest punishment. if the guilty person is not found, the severest measures will be taken against the commune in which the damage has been caused or the present notice removed. the general commanding the army corps. (_posted at bieghem, copy made nd october, ._) notice. all damage done to the telegraph, telephone, or railway lines will be punished by the military court. according to the circumstances, the guilty person will be condemned to death. if the guilty person is not seized the severest measures will be taken against the commune in which the damage has been done, the general government. printed by h. a. heymann, berlin, s.w. (_posted at tervueren, copy made th april, ._) very frequently the penalties with which the community is threatened are not specified in these placards. one may suppose that it would consist of a fine; this is indeed the punishment most frequently applied, doubtless because it is the most productive. here are some examples, for cutting the telegraph wires, various localities in flanders were forced to pay fines in december . the military chest does not lack for money; for in a garrison command a fine may be inflicted more readily than elsewhere. here is an example. an officer was choosing some music in a shop; and found, amidst a heap of pieces of music, a copy of the _marseillaise_. now it has never been stated that one must not possess the _marseillaise_. result: the shopkeeper was condemned to pay a fine of marks or to twenty days' imprisonment. "i prefer the imprisonment," said the unfortunate man. "but, my good fellow, you can avoid going to prison! pay the fine!" "i know, but i have not got marks. i could only scrape together frs. at most." "all right, give them to me!" * * * * * _fines for telegraphic interruptions._ the military chest is also replenished by the fines paid because the telegraph and telephone do not work properly. now it has often happened during the last six weeks that communication has been obstructed in flanders. the smallest communes have been forced to pay fines. here is a brief list of such fines: gand , marks ledebourg , " destelbergen , " schellebelle , " sweveghem , " winckel sainte-croix , " wachtebeke , " _(n.r.c._, th january, , evening edition.) _fines for "attacks by francs-tireurs."_ we may observe, in passing, that in september the accusation--the accusation, we say, not the offence--of having allowed a telegraph wire to deteriorate was punished, in brussels, by a stoppage of the telephone service; but in december the germans preferred to fill their treasury. the same observation is true of mons and bilsen; the accusation of "francs-tireurs," which in september would have ended in a massacre of the inhabitants and the burning of the town, was in october the motive for a tax of , frs. at that time it no longer seemed essential to terrorize; the germans no longer required blood, but money. on behalf of the german military authorities. warning. the city of mons has been forced to pay a tax of , frs. because a private person fired upon a german soldier. (_posted at louvain._) and indeed it is money that is demanded everywhere-- , frs. from the commune of grenbergen, near termonde, because an inhabitant allowed his pigeons to fly. , , frs. was required of brussels because a police agent maltreated a german spy (p. ). it was with a money fine that mons was threatened should an englishman be discovered on its soil (placard posted at mons, th november, ), and the city of mons and the province of hainaut if any inhabitant retained for his own use any benzine or a motor-bicycle (placard posted at mons, th october, ). at seraing, in february , it was again money that was demanded, because a bomb had burst within the limits of the commune. the more surely to obtain the sum, a few hostages were imprisoned, with the promise that they would be sent to a fortress in germany if the communal treasury did not pay their ransom; but the hostages themselves advised the commune to refuse. the germans, fearing to be left in the lurch, reduced their demands by half; finally, having obtained nothing, they released the hostages. singular justice, to regulate its penalties not by the gravity of the offence, but according to the temper of the victims! we are waiting for the german newspapers to publish a schedule of penalties as affected by the docility of the victims and the season. here is an amusing instance of a penalty which was inflicted upon antwerp. when the germans posted up a statement that they had captured , russians and guns in eastern prussia, a playful citizen replaced the first letter of _russians_ in the flemish text by an m and concealed the two first letters of _canonen_. the new version announced that the germans had captured , sparrows and nuns. the germans were annoyed and imposed a fine of , frs. on the city. at tirlemont, where the same pleasantry was perpetrated, the germans contented themselves with making vague threats. the adventure of eppeghem also deserves to be told in a few words. in november a german soldier walking in the country fired at a hare or a pigeon. an officer turned up and questioned the soldier. as all sport is reserved for officers, the soldier, to avoid punishment, threw the blame on to the peasants. the matter was referred to brussels, and on the following day officers arrived with forty uhlans. a fine of , frs. was inflicted on the commune. some women living in a house which had by chance remained standing, near the field in which the soldier had fired, asserted that no inhabitant had fired a shot, but that they had seen the soldier fire. no one listened to them. "we must have , frs., and at once." but in this village, ruined from end to end, where scarcely a house was habitable, from which all the men had been deported into germany, there was no means of collecting such a sum of money. "since that is so, hostages will be taken," said the officers. the uhlans organized a hunt, and seized the curé and three laymen, the only ones they could find; and even of these one was an inhabitant of vilverde, who had obligingly been acting as a citizen policeman at eppeghem. they were taken to brussels, but on passing through vilverde the inhabitant of that place was released, owing to the protests of his fellow-citizens. after ten days' imprisonment baron von der goltz, finding that there was nothing to be extracted from the communal treasury of eppeghem, and that the curé and his two parishioners were being kept and fed at a loss, set them at liberty. _hostages_ the taking of hostages is also in flagrant opposition to the provisions of article , but in conformity with the german _usages of war_. the hostage guarantees with his own life that his fellow-citizens, with whom he has no influence, shall faithfully execute the orders of the german authorities. the first care of enemy troops arriving in any locality is always to demand the provision of hostages; these are usually the curé, the burgomaster, the notary, the schoolmaster, and a few other notables. we may recall liége, where the bishop, mgr. rutten, was taken hostage; spa, louvain, charleroi, gand, and mons. in brussels they demanded the delivery of hostages, but afterwards withdrew the demand. as to the fate which awaits the hostages if the german army is attacked, it is plainly stipulated in the proclamations: they will be shot, "without previous judicial formalities." thus, it would have been enough for a belgian patrol to renew its usual activities near forest, and two hostages would have immediately been shot "without previous judicial formalities." general government in belgium. to the people of forest. despite my repeated warnings attacks have again been made during the last few days by the civil population of the neighbourhood against german troops, and also upon the railway between brussels and mons. by the order of the military governor-general of brussels each locality must consequently provide hostages. thus at forest the following are arrested: ( ) m. vanderkindere, communal councillor. ( ) m. le curé françois. i proclaim that these hostages will immediately be shot without previous judicial formalities if any attack occurs on the part of the population upon our troops or the railway lines occupied by us, and that moreover the most severe reprisals will be carried out against the commune of forest. i request the population to keep calm and to refrain from all violence; in this case it will not suffer the slightest harm. the commandant of the landsturm, halberstadt battalion, von lessel. forest, _ th september, _. if hostages try to escape they will be hanged and their village burned. warning. as fresh attempts at assassination have been made upon persons forming part of the german army i have had persons from many localities arrested as hostages. these will guarantee with their lives that no inhabitant will again dare to commit a malevolent action against german soldiers or attempt to damage the railway, telegraph or telephone line, or other objects useful to the operations of our army. persons not belonging to the army surprised in committing such actions will be shot or hanged. the hostages of the surrounding localities will suffer the same fate. i shall then have the neighbourhood burned to the last house, even if important towns are in question. if the hostages attempt to escape the locality to which they belong will be burned, and if captured the hostages will be hanged. all inhabitants who give proof of their goodwill toward our troops are assured of the safety of their lives and property. the commandant entrusted with the protection of the railways, freiherr von malzahn. (_posted at spa, aywaille, châtelineau.... th august, ._) we do not know if hostages were shot or hanged in belgium. but in the north of france, according to a military correspondent of the _k.z._, at least one hostage was killed; this assassination was the more criminal in that it punished not a hostile act of the inhabitants, but a perfectly normal and regular operation of war: a bombardment. a war picture. ... a château stands beside the highway, at the back of a courtyard protected by a french spear-headed railing. it is intact, and shelters the staff of an infantry regiment. facing it is the ruined façade of an incredibly pretentious building on whose pediment sprawls in letters of gold the one word, "bank." beside it is a wholesale corn-chandler's and a wholesale wine-merchant's. all this belonged to a single man. it was necessary to shoot him as hostage, because the french were persisting, despite all warnings, in throwing shells into the neighbourhood. in the wine-cellars stores of unexpected importance were found; according to the estimates there are more than half a million litres of red and white wine of very good quality. a great part of the wine was pumped out of the tanks and received, like an old acquaintance, by the comrades far and near. the rich man of this quarter of the town had a companion who was more lucky, who in due time sought safety in flight. (_k.z._, st february, .) a very curious case of the punishment of innocent people in the case of "guilty" ones is the following: on the th october, , the germans posted statements that the militia-men of the occupied regions could not rejoin the belgian army, and that in case of disobedience the young men would expose themselves to the risk of being sent into germany as prisoners of war. so far, nothing illegal. but the placard then declared that in case of the departure of any militia-man his family would be held responsible. now, how are the parents guilty, if their son intends at all costs to fulfil his obligations to his native country? on the th december, , there was an aggravation of this measure: the burgomasters also were to be punished. on the th january, , a new notice appeared: all belgians between the ages of sixteen and forty years were to be regarded as capable of military service. so when a man of forty goes to join the belgian army the members of his family will be punished! truly the notice might have stated whether children would be punished for not preventing their father's departure! have there been cases of repression? the _n.r.c._ states that at hasselt the germans actually arrested the fathers and mothers of the young men who escaped. the _tijd_ learns from ruremonde: at hasselt and in the neighbourhood the germans have hunted down the fathers of those young men who, liable to be called to the colours, have been able, in spite of strict prohibition and active supervision, to enter holland, there to pass through england and france with the intention of eventually joining the army. but as soon as they heard that the fathers were being arrested, these latter also crossed the frontier, and the germans found that a great many birds had flown. they did not stop then: the mothers were arrested in their place. at the same time the germans made it known that all these people would be transferred to the well-known camp at münster, and warned the women to provide themselves with as much body-linen as possible. the whole of the little town was in consternation. later arrived a telegram from general von bissing, announcing that the departure for münster was postponed for a week, and the prisoners were taken to tongres. (_n.r.c._, rd february, .) a last example of punishment inflicted upon the innocent, when the "guilty" person had already suffered punishment. a belgian, having made signals to the enemy (that is, to the belgian army), was killed while being arrested. immediately the curé and the vicar were sent to germany as being responsible for the members of their parish. important notice. alidor vandamme, inhabitant of cortemarck, committed espionage by making signals to the enemy. resisting arrest, he was killed by a rifle-bullet. the german authority has taken the following measures of coercion in consequence of the crime committed by vandamme: . the curé blancke and the vicar barra, responsible for the members of their parish, will be deported as prisoners of war to germany. . the commune of cortemarck must pay a fine of five thousand marks ( , m.). (_posted at thielt_, _termonde_, _etc._) this iniquity was not enough for the german authorities: they advertised it all through flanders (we copied it at thielt and termonde), and forced _le bien public_ to give it publicity. through lack of conscience or insolence? _contributions and requisitions._ article . _no contribution shall be collected except under a written order, and on the responsibility of a general in command._ _the collection of the said contribution shall only be effected in accordance, as far as is possible, with the legal basis and assessment of taxes in force at the time._ _for every contribution a receipt shall be given to the contributories._ article . _requisitions in kind and services shall not be demanded from local authorities or inhabitants except for the needs of the army of occupation. they shall be in proportion to the resources of the country, and of such a nature as not to involve the inhabitants in the obligation of taking part in military operations against their own country. such requisitions and services shall only be demanded on the authority of the commander in the locality occupied._ _contributions in kind shall as far as possible be paid for in ready money: if not, a receipt shall be given and the payment of the amount due shall be made as soon as possible._ the last paragraph of article , already cited, in reality presupposes that passage in article which forbids the occupant to force the inhabitants to do work which would assist operations directed against their country (p. ). among the forms of contribution included in article we must give first place to that which fixes the value of the mark. the _düsseldorfer zeitung_ of the th september announces that the military commander of the occupied portion of belgium and france fixed the value of marks at frs. and indeed placards posted at charleroi, saint-trond, namur, and liége required the belgians to accept german marks at this exaggerated tariff, which has caused certain of our merchants to lose considerable sums. proclamation. the circulation of german money having given rise to perplexities, _the value of the german mark has been fixed at centimes_. the attention of the public is called to the fact that all german paper money must be accepted in financial transactions at the same rate as german coin. the governor. _the th august, ._ (_posted at liége._) the fraudulent intention in this measure was only too evident. a month later baron von der goltz made it known that until further notice the mark was to be valued at the lowest at fr. (placard of the rd october, ). in reality the mark was worth only fr. to fr. , so that the belgians naturally endeavoured to refuse german notes; whereupon fresh placards were exhibited, compelling their acceptance (placards of the th and th november, ). we must mention an unhappy phrase in a placard posted at mons; it states that the mark must be accepted _at the actual value of the coin_, and further on fixes this value at fr. , which is obviously incorrect. _contributions demanded from the cities._ let us now consider the pecuniary contributions demanded from the cities. the most important were: liége, million frs.; namur, millions; antwerp, millions; brussels, millions. the discussions excited by this last contribution are extremely instructive; they have been reported by the _n.r.c._ we learn how the germans violated, successively, all the different agreements which they concluded with the city; finally they imposed a fine of millions, which enabled them, in spite of everything, to complete the sum of millions which they had promised themselves they would extort from the capital. contribution imposed upon brussels. from one of our war correspondents ... in the course of this journey i once more heard people speaking of the reasons which resulted in the city of brussels being fined the sum of fifty millions of francs, as every one knows. what i relate here i had from one of the most eminent members of the magistracy:-- at the time of their entry here, the germans demanded fifty millions from the city, and--don't cry out at this-- millions from the province of brabant. the communal council of brussels tried to demonstrate that the city could not pay this tax, and that the tax imposed on the province was utterly exorbitant, seeing that brabant, which draws on the budget for an annual sum of five to six millions, employed this money before it was paid, and could not, therefore, pay a fine, since the province had first to provide for its expenditure.... having discussed the matter at great length, the germans finally released brabant from this war-tax, and at the same time gave the communal council a week to find the fifty millions, during which period they would suspend all other requisitions. burgomaster max then had posted the well-known placard announcing that for the coming week no requisitions whatever would be made by the german authorities. but on the following day the burgomaster was called upon to justify his action, and although he produced the written convention before the new governor of the city, the latter gave him to understand that his predecessor might possibly have granted such a delay, but that he, being of superior rank, did not recognize the clause at issue. fresh negotiations were commenced, and it was at last arranged that twenty millions should be paid in five instalments of four millions each. four of these instalments were punctually paid, and the fifth was about to be paid, when max was summoned by the governor, who asked him what his arrangements were concerning the remaining thirty millions. max did not conceal his extreme surprise, stating that he fully understood that the remainder of the tax had been remitted, and that the twenty millions constituted the whole amount. the german governor was by no means of this opinion, and demanded the remaining thirty millions. thereupon max immediately sent an order to the bank to suspend payment of the last four millions, which were ready for payment, until he was certain that the germans would accept them as the final instalment. there was then on either side an equal degree of obstinacy. the governor maintained that max was breaking his engagements; max, on the other hand, maintained that the germans had failed to keep their word. the result was that the burgomaster was arrested, and he is at the present moment imprisoned in a fortress at glatz in silesia. the communal council was then warned that it would be deprived of its functions, and that the germans would take over the administration of the city if the war-tax was not paid. there were again interminable negotiations, and it was arranged that in all forty-five millions should be paid. the sum was paid. still the germans wanted to get hold of the five remaining millions, so a police agent who had shown lack of respect for an officer was condemned to five years' imprisonment, while brussels was fined five million francs. one might ask whether, if the germans continue to act in this fashion, the city of brussels will be forced to pay a fine each time one of its functionaries is guilty of offence: for it is impossible that the city can control all its employés. in this case the german officer who was insulted was in civilian clothes. now to a complaint of the communal council the governor had replied, some time previously, that there were no secret agents at work in civilian clothing; so that the police agent could not have known that he was dealing with an officer, since the latter was not in uniform. it may be imagined that lively protests were made, but once more the germans threatened to assume the direction of the commune if the sum was not paid by the th november at latest; so, although the council presented a memorandum on the affair, it was nevertheless forced to pay in order to pursue its mission in peace. (_n.r.c._, th november, .) _exactions of a non-commissioned officer._ fines without rhyme and reason, and exorbitant war contributions have become so normal and so customary that the germans have finally learned to exploit the situation. the _n.r.c._ for the st may, , reported that the council of war in coblenz had condemned to eighteen months' imprisonment the non-commissioned officer garternich, who had demanded from several occupied belgian communes a war contribution of frs. per head, and had thus acquired, for his own personal profit, a sum of , frs. does not this simple fact reveal the habitual squeezing to which our poor country is subjected? eighteen months' imprisonment for having emptied the communal treasuries already officially despoiled by the authorities--that truly is not much; especially when we compare this sentence with those pronounced upon the communes when a telegraph wire breaks down: the threat of burning a whole neighbourhood or a formidable fine. _requisitions of raw materials and machinery._ _requisitions may only be demanded_, says article , _for the needs of the army of occupation_. now our enemies have removed from belgium enormous quantities of raw material, and machinery which evidently cannot be of use to the army of occupation (see _belg. allem._, pp. , , ). what can the army do with raw cotton, wools, spun cotton, nickel, jute, etc.? it can be of use only to the industries of germany, paralysed by the suppression of the mercantile marine. among these requisitions are included machine-tools for the manufacture of shells (notably those removed from the national arsenal at herstal and the royal cannon foundry at liége), and metals, such as copper, which are indispensable to the manufacture of munitions; so that the articles which have been taken from us, contrary to article of the hague convention, subscribed to by germany, are thus directly employed in fighting against us. the germans cannot pretend that these requisitions of machinery were made by over-zealous officers ignorant of the laws, for baron von bissing himself, in his quality of governor-general, signed the proclamation of the th february ordering the despatch of our machine-tools to germany. moreover, in berlin even people are perfectly aware of these requisitions, and of their destination (_n.r.c._, nd february, , morning edition). we must insist on the fact that all these raw materials of industry, all this machinery, etc., is not bought, but requisitioned. there is here no case of a commercial transaction, nor even an expropriation; for we have no redress against the decision arrived at in berlin as to the prices which will be paid after the war. it is a theft, to express the matter in a word. _requisitions in kind and in services ... shall be in proportion to the resources of the country_, says article ; which evidently means that requisitions must not exhaust the country to the point of jeopardizing the lives of the inhabitants. if this stipulation had been respected we should not have to deplore the famine which is ravaging our country, and to which we shall return later on. we shall confine ourselves--in order to give some idea of the excessive and inhuman manner in which requisitions have been made--to referring the reader to certain articles written by eye-witnesses, particularly those who have seen what has happened near the frontier, and at gand. it will at once be recognized that the requisitions made exceed that which the inhabitants can reasonably provide (see _n.r.c._, th january, , morning; rd january, , morning; th january, , evening; th january, , evening; th january, , morning; nd december, , evening). the germans have always taken good care to demand wine. they demanded enormous quantities in the little villages of the campine of limburg (_n.r.c._, th january, ). elsewhere they took for their own use all the cellars of the wine-merchants and the inhabitants, without allowing the latter to make use of them (see _belg. allem._, p. ). a last point as to requisitions. they shall _as far as possible be paid for in ready money; if not, a receipt shall be given_. very often no receipt has been given to the owners of property taken. elsewhere the receipts are fantastical and valueless. it is the truth that those who do receive vouchers are requested to satisfy themselves of their accuracy, but this prescription is obviously a dead letter. imagine, on the one hand, a peasant, fleming or walloon, terrorized into a condition of helplessness, and incapable of reading a voucher scrawled in german; and on the other, soldiers whose customary arguments are shooting and burning. article . _an army of occupation shall only take possession of cash, funds, and realizable securities which are strictly the property of the state, depôts of arms, means of transport, stores and supplies, and, generally, all movable property belonging to the state which may be used for military operations...._ from the very first days of the occupation the germans, in defiance of law and justice, seized upon the communal treasuries and the funds deposited in the branch establishments of the national bank, the post offices, etc. they were obliged to recognize the justice of the protests made by the belgian government; but their love of pillage is incorrigible; on entering gand, on monday, the th october, their first care was to lay hands on the , , (£ , ) contained in the communal treasury. according to article the germans had no right to remove the furniture of the ministries of brussels (p. ), since this property was not of a kind to be useful in military operations. article . _the occupying state shall be regarded only as administrator and usufructuary of public buildings, landed property, forests, and agricultural undertakings belonging to the hostile state, and situated in the occupied country. it must safeguard the capital of such properties and administer them in accordance with the rules of usufruct._ the german respect for legality did not restrain them from violating this article. from the very first days of the war they employed the churches which they consented to leave standing as stables; on reaching liége they took possession of the palais de justice and made a barracks of it. why did they expel justice? herren koester and noske tell us (p. ), it was simply because the position is central and easy to defend (see a photograph facing p. ). they did not take account of the fact that such employment of the building is doubly contrary to the hague convention, since they did not respect the nature of the monument, and exposed it to bombardment by allied aviators on the look-out for the german garrison. it was the same with the palais de justice of brussels, which also serves as a german barracks. to adapt it to its novel use, the soldiers have destroyed a great part of the magnificent furnishings which adorned the halls; the immediate surroundings have been fortified, and the cupola serves by night as a station for signalling to dirigibles. in short, all preparations have been made with a view to the bombardment of poelaert's masterpiece by the allies. it is obviously with the idea of preventing their adversaries from attacking them that they take up their quarters in our monuments; these are to serve them as artistic bucklers, just as our compatriots are employed as living bucklers. the violations of article are past counting. we will confine ourselves to mentioning a few in brussels; they will give us some idea of the diversity of the transformations which our property has suffered at german hands. the offices of the ministries are transformed into bedrooms for officers. the palais des académies has become a military hospital; god knows in what condition we shall find its libraries. in the parc royal of brussels, in the centre of the city, they have installed an automobile depôt, a riding-track, and a rifle range; on the th october a shot fired from this range wounded a lady through the windows of the schlobach _magasin_ in the rue royale. article . _the property of local authorities, as well as that of institutions dedicated to public worship, charity, education, and to science and art, even when state property, shall be treated as private property._ _any seizure or destruction of, or wilful damage to, institutions of this character, historic monuments and works of science and art, is forbidden, and should be made the subject of legal proceedings._ the first paragraph of this article has been scrupulously observed; the property of the communes, etc., has indeed been treated as private property has been treated: the latter has everywhere been sacked and looted, and the germans have done the same to collective property. as to the intentional character of these acts of vandalism, it is indubitable. how otherwise explain the fact that in numerous villages the church has been the prey of the flames, in many cases even when the surrounding houses have remained intact? a few examples will suffice. the village of haecht was occupied on the th and th august. on the th the belgians in antwerp made a sortie which was repulsed. the germans, infuriated, shot civilians and pillaged all the houses, particularly remembering the wine in the cellars. then the inhabitants were expelled. a fresh sortie of the belgians took place from the th to the th september; at noon on the last day our troops fell back; in the afternoon the germans set fire to the church and houses. the strong-box of the church was broken open after the fire. the destruction of the monument did not strike them as sufficient, and they dynamited the whole on the th (or th) september. in the neighbouring village of werchter, after the battle of the th and th august, they shot civilians and burned houses out of the which formed the village. after the second fight, on the th september, they burned the church. in both villages most of the houses round the churches were spared; it will therefore be difficult for the germans to pretend, as at louvain, that the burning of these churches was an accident (_brandunglück_) due to burning fragments carried by the wind (p. ). we have already (p. ) noted another more significant case, that of the chapel of the béguinage of termonde, which was alone burned, in the centre of the béguinage, not a dwelling of which was touched. _conclusions--the famine in belgium._ germany had need, in the conflict with france, of all the men who passed through belgium; also she could leave in belgium only weak garrisons of the landsturm. to safeguard them against possible attack on the part of the belgian population, it was necessary to terrorize the latter to such a point that it no longer dared to stir. such was the object of the carnage and incendiarism which marked the beginning of the campaign, as was frankly admitted by herr walter blöm, adjutant to the governor-general in belgium (p. ). no doubt the massacres of louvain, andenne, tamines, and dinant, committed to order between the th and the th august, appeared insufficient, for a new series was organized between the th and th september. at the news of this butchery a resounding cry of horror and indignation went up from all the nations of the earth. that the belgian army, on the field of battle, should have paid large tribute to the war unloosed upon us by germany--that was to be expected, but no one would have dared to suppose that germany, after participating in the second hague conference, would display towards our civil population such an implacable cruelty, such exterminating fury, as history has never recorded since the thirty years' war. but facts are facts; one must needs submit to the evidence; the german army has destroyed our treasures of art and science, has shot down in cold blood, often by machine-gun fire, hosts of men, women, even old people and children; it has ordered the burning of thousands of houses; it has turned whole districts into deserts. still, some semblance of motive was necessary; with a mathematical regularity the pretext of "francs-tireurs" was alleged. "_man hat geschossen_"--that was enough; immediately the neighbourhood was given over to massacre, pillage, and fire. never was any inquiry made, no matter how summary. yet when it was desired to show a foreigner of note--for example, dr. sven hedin--how they proceeded in the matter of punishing "francs-tireurs," a regular council of war was constituted ... which brought in a verdict of _non-lieu_ (p. ). we defy the germans to cite a single case in which a tribunal of this kind has sat _before_ reprisals. in the few rare cases when witnesses, etc., have been questioned the examination has taken place _after_ the firing of houses and the shooting of inhabitants. this is why we declare without the slightest reservation that _not one single attack by civilians_ has been established by any kind of proof. _the flight of the belgians._ the inhabitants of our towns and our countryside soon realized to what they were exposing themselves if they awaited the arrival of the germans in their own homes. so, as the germans advanced, a void appeared before them. after the taking of antwerp, the majority of the peasants of the "campine" of antwerp fled in all haste toward holland. if to them we add the people of antwerp, who had been driven out by the bombardment, and above all the innumerable villages of brabant, limburg, and the provinces of liége and antwerp, whose homes had been pillaged and reduced to ashes, we shall not be astonished to find that in october there were more than a million belgian refugees in holland.[ ] to our northern neighbours we owe our profoundest gratitude for the fraternal manner in which they welcomed our unfortunate compatriots. _the causes of the famine._ the horror provoked by the butchery at dinant, aerschot, etc., relegated to the background the purely material crimes. but these--the pillage, methodically conducted, of our towns, villages, farms, and châteaux--the outrageous requisitions of provisions and of the raw material of industries--the formidable taxes which drain us of coin--the fines which rain upon the communal administrations and on private persons--and many other infractions of the hague convention--have exercised on our economical life an extremely depressing effect, but have produced no echo abroad: doubtless because only those can understand the whole extent of our misery who daily rub shoulders with the thousands of starving and unemployed people who drag themselves from one end of the town to the other in quest of work that is not to be found, or who mingle with the interminable files of women who go in search of rations of bread and soup for their families. let us briefly consider the principal causes of famine which prevails in belgium. . exaggerated requisitions, out of all proportion to the resources of the country. they are of two kinds:-- firstly, those which have emptied the country of grain, cattle, forage, and other foodstuffs. then the requisitions of the raw materials intended for the factories, which have completely paralysed industry, especially in the flanders. one example will suffice. all the workshops of termonde were burned save one--the escaut-dendre establishment, which makes boots and shoes. but the germans sent into germany both the leather and the shoes which were in the warehouse. the factory is thus condemned to stand idle for lack of raw material, and also for lack of funds. those industries of which the machinery has been removed are also, of course, doomed to paralysis. the german authorities threaten to despoil our factories of all the copper forming part of the machinery, which would reduce them one and all to impotence. it is an ironical fact that this measure was announced by a propagandist leaflet addressed to the belgians. . having made a clean sweep of the greater portion of all that was indispensable to us, the germans have been careful to take our money from us. under every imaginable pretext, and often without any pretext at all, they have imposed crushing taxes upon us. the regular payment of these taxes showing that the public coffers were not yet quite empty, the germans hastened to impose fines upon us, which vary from frs. to millions. the private banks, too, are threatened every moment with the removal of a portion of their funds. . it is needless to insist on a third cause, which reduces our working-class families to idleness and poverty: the destruction of an enormous number of factories--some bombarded, but most of them burned of set purpose. . we have already seen that many factories which remained intact are condemned to inactivity by the lack of raw material, or because they have been deprived of their machinery. the others are equally paralysed. the stoppage of traffic on the railway lines, the impediments of all kinds placed in the way of inland navigation, the absence of maritime navigation, are causes more than sufficient to prevent the importation of raw materials and the exportation of manufactured products. of all these obstacles the most important is assuredly the suppression of goods traffic on the railways. "why," say the germans, "do not belgian employés return to their work, since our military trains would in any case be run by our own men?" hypocrites! the slowness and irregularity of the trains is highly inconvenient to the german army, and it would much like to see them resume their normal speed; but for this it requires the assistance of the belgian staff. is it not obvious that if our railway-men resumed their labours they would at the same time facilitate the transport of german troops and munitions? let us again cite the prohibition of "circulation" between or o'clock and o'clock, which is an obstacle to night work, which is quite indispensable to the large industries; and the suppression of the special trains by which the workers travelled. . commerce has suffered no less than industry. there is no telegraph, no telephone, no posting of closed letters; that is, no means of sending or receiving orders. no railway, no horses, no motor-cars to deliver goods or to supply customers. and, to cap all, the slightest journey necessitates all sorts of exaggerated expenses: there is the acquisition of a passport, the train journey at the rate of cm. per kilometre, hotel expenses, etc. the expenditure might be a minor matter, but what of the waste of time? before st july, , any one going from liége to brussels for business purposes had first of all to waste one or two days in procuring his passport; the journey occupied at least half a day; and after interviewing his client he would find that there was no train back to liége on the same day. in short, he would have to allow four days for a journey which in normal times took half a day. * * * * * other causes of famine are: the scarcity and high cost of provisions. the financial difficulties in which the public powers are involved. the paralysis of industry and commerce, resulting in unemployment--that is, in suppression of wages. in short, a diminution of resources, accompanied by an increase of expenditure; so that the public coffers are almost powerless to come to the aid of private distress. that is how we stand in belgium. it is not our intention to depict the poignant distress which has overwhelmed our country. we shall merely explain briefly how we try to cope with it; this will suffice to give some idea of it. _creation of temporary shelters._ let us first of all consider the country districts. even when a few houses only of a village have escaped incendiarism the inhabitants have returned thither and have resumed their customary labours. must they not plough and sow, under penalty of preparing for themselves another year of wretchedness? where houses exist no longer they live in a cellar, or an outhouse to which some kind of roof has been improvised; families passed the winter of - in a potato-silo,[ ] under the shelter of a few mats of straw. in the ruined villages the first anxiety of the public powers and the relief committees was therefore to provide provisional shelter. in the towns and industrial districts the most urgent necessities are of another kind. what is lacking most particularly is employment. the administrations have therefore set themselves to provide the unemployed with paid occupations which do not demand apprenticeship--the clearing of ruins, the levelling of soil, the digging of reservoirs, etc. the communal coffers being empty, communal vouchers are issued. _l'Événement illustré_, in its fourth issue, gives reproductions of some of these vouchers, of which, it states, there are more than . in the communes near louvain, where the poverty is particularly poignant, it has been necessary to create vouchers for centimes (at wilsele) and centimes (at herent). from the outset stringent measures were taken to make up for the insufficiency of provisions and to prevent speculators from obtaining possession of existing stocks. the most important of these regulations are the following:-- (_a_) fixing of maximum prices. (_b_) prohibition of the exportation of provisions from the commune. (_c_) it is forbidden to give animals provisions intended for human beings. (_d_) collective exploitation. many communes have set up in business as bakers, butchers, restaurant-keepers, coal merchants, dealers in colonial produce, etc. they prepare bread and soup daily, and these are provided gratuitously to the poorest, or sold at a low price to those who still have a few savings. in the brussels district there had been distributed by the st january, , to adults, , , rations, comprising soup and bread, and to the children , rations, consisting chiefly of milk, phosphatine, and powdered milk. certain communes also sell meat; others have installed communal stores for the sale of all kinds of provisions, especially preserved foods, dried vegetables, salt, potatoes, etc.; almost everywhere coal is sold retail; petroleum was sold as long as it could be obtained. moreover, the collectivities are distributing enormous quantities of clothes; in the brussels district alone by the end of january , frs. worth of clothing and footwear had been given to the necessitous. abuses have as far as possible been guarded against, ( ) by the "household card," the _carte de ménage_, which indicates the number of persons composing each family; and ( ) by the limitation of the quantity of each kind of goods which the household can obtain during the week. the basis of alimentation is bread. therefore particularly draconian rules have been elaborated for the bakeries. _the national relief committee._ many problems presented themselves simultaneously, and with an extreme urgency. in all communes local committees have been set up, entrusted with the equitable distribution of provisions among all the inhabitants. we say "all the inhabitants," for the reader must not form any illusions as to our condition: there is not a single belgian family which, if left to itself, could obtain its daily bread; the general rationing to which the whole population is subjected makes rich and poor equally dependent on the national committee of relief and alimentation. to organize the feeding of the public would have been a task above our strength if belgium, in her present distress, had been abandoned to her own resources. but the misfortunes which have come upon us because we could not consent to comply with the orders of a tyrannical and perjured neighbour--the poverty which cripples us more completely day by day, as requisitions, pillage, taxes, and fines deprive us of our last resources--the massacres and the incendiarism which have turned into deserts the most fertile and most densely peopled provinces of europe--the molestations and annoyances which have reduced to unemployment a working population whose activity is proverbial--in short, the unmerited misfortune which _kultur_ has inflicted upon us--all this has awakened, in all the civilized nations, a current of sympathy and solidarity with poor belgium. by germany our country was condemned to perish of starvation. the miracle which alone could save us has been effected by the charity of spain, scandinavia, holland, italy, switzerland, new zealand, australia, canada, the argentine republic, brazil, and, above all, the united states. since the month of november vessels laden with provisions have been regularly leaving the american ports for rotterdam, whence the food is despatched, principally by means of barges, into belgium, and distributed, in the smallest villages even, by the care of the national committee of relief and alimentation. this committee is an extension throughout the whole country of a commission which was formed early in september to succour the brussels district; it is under the patronage of their excellencies the marquis of villalobar, the spanish minister, and mr. brand whitlock, the united states minister. in january and february the committee was induced to concern itself also with the country round maubeuge, and the givet--furnay--sedan district. the mission of the national committee is equitably to distribute relief and provisions. but it does not itself collect these resources; as they derive more particularly from the united states it is an american committee, the "commission for relief in belgium," which undertakes to collect and administer funds. it is the american committee which despatches to rotterdam, from american ports, the steamers carrying food and clothing. in each province the american commission has a delegate who supervises the distribution of provisions and relief; he assures himself that nothing is diverted to the use of the german army. the commission for relief in belgium sits in london, its chairman being mr. herbert hoover. * * * * * a serious difficulty cropped up immediately. foreign beneficence was eager to aid the belgians, but not, obviously, the butchers who occupy our country. it was therefore necessary at all costs to prevent the german army from seizing the provisions and subsidies despatched by america. on the th october, , the german authorities undertook to exempt from all requisitions the provisions imported by the national committee. but this promise was promptly violated. the germans, it is true, did not requisition the wheat, but they did requisition the bread made from that wheat. moreover, they pretended that their engagement of the th october, , general as it was, did not affect flanders, a _territoire d'étape_ not subject to the governor-general. this is the effect of their letter of the st november, . up to the present it has been impossible to get them to keep the engagements to which they subscribed on the th october; for although they have extended to cattle-foods the promise that nothing should be requisitioned by the troops placed under the orders of the governor-general--the _territoire d'étape_ being thus excluded--they have, on the other hand, forced the communes of flanders to open grain markets, in which they make purchases, thus continuing to impoverish the food-stores of the country. while they exclude flanders from the region exempted from requisitions, they take care not to breathe a word of this exemption in their own newspapers. the _k.z._, on the th january, and _der volksfreund_ on the th declared that requisitions of foodstuffs were suspended throughout belgium. despite the difficulties raised by the germans, the national committee of relief and alimentation has rendered our country inestimable services, which only those who have visited our towns and rural districts and have seen the work of the local committees can form any conception. we borrow from the report of the executive committee for the month of january (published in brussels th february, ) a few figures (_see_ table, p. ) as to the distribution of relief during the month of january. but the national committee extends its beneficent action over many departments which are not mentioned in this table. here, according to the same report, is the list of these departments:-- i. department of alimentation (foodstuffs). ii. agricultural section of the national committee. iii. relief department: . subsidies to provincial committees. . construction of refuges ( , frs. for luxemburg) . organizations patronized: a. central refugee committee. b. assistance and support of families of officers and under-officers deprived of their means of sustenance by the war (first subvention , frs.). c. assistance and support of belgian physicians and druggists ruined by the war (first subsidy of , frs.). d. assistance and support of artists (first subsidy , frs.). e. assistance and support of infantile charities. f. assistance and support of destitute persons. g. assistance and support of the homeless (accommodation section). h. assistance and support of destitute churches (two subsidies of , frs. each). i. assistance and protection of the unemployed. j. assistance and protection of lace-makers (subsidy of , frs.). k. union of belgian towns and communes. l. belgian intelligence agency for prisoners of war and persons interned (monthly subvention of , frs.). . co-operative society for loans and advances. . advances to provinces and communes. . clothing. distribution of foodstuffs, clothing, and subsidies in money, in the provinces nature of merchandise. _quantities in tons._ ----------+------+------+----+-----+-----+----+---+-----+----+-------+--------- despatched|wheat | flour|rice|peas | salt|po- |ba-|maize|sun-|cloth- |subsi- or | | | |and | |ta- |con| |dry | ing | dies to remitted | | | |beans| |toes| | | | (value|provin to-- | | | | | | | | | | in | cial | | | | | | | | | |francs)|commit- | | | | | | | | | | | tees (in | | | | | | | | | | | france) ----------+------+------+----+-----+-----+----+---+-----+----+-------+--------- province | | | | | | | | | | | of | | | | | | | | | | | antwerp | , | , | --| | --| | --| | --| , | , brussels | | | | | | | | | | | and | | | | | | | | | | | district | , | , | | | | --| --| | | , | , brabant | , | , | --| | | | | | | , | -- western | | | | | | | | | | | flanders | | | | | | --| --| --| | , | , eastern | | | | | | | | | | | flanders | , | , | | | | --| | , | | --| , hainaut | , | , | | | --| | --| | | , | , liége | , | , | --| | --| --| --| | | , | , limburg | , | , | | --| --| | --| | | , | , luxemburg | | | | | --| --| --| --| --| , | , namur | , | | --| | --| --| --| | | , | , general | | | | | | | | | | | stock, | | | | | | | | | | | brussels | | | --| | , | | --| --| | --| -- various | | | | | | | | | | | charities| --| --| --| --| --| --| --| --| --| , | -- ----------+------+------+----+-----+-----+----+---+-----+----+-------+--------- totals | , | , | | | , | | | , | | , | , , ----------+------+------+----+-----+-----+----+---+-----+----+-------+--------- since the month of january the national committee has not ceased to extend its activities. but it is impossible to give more precise data. the german authorities no longer permit the committee to publish its reports. in their dry, official manner they show us only too clearly what we are to think of the present "prosperity" of belgium and the "normal state of the situation." * * * * * it will be seen that the activities of the national committee are fruitful and extensive. but more and more money is required, as savings are exhausted and as the public coffers are emptied by the germans. in january the sovereign pontiff surrendered the belgian contribution to peter's pence. as million frs. per month (£ , , ) is being paid to the germans, poverty is rapidly increasing. the number of belgians deprived of all resources and obliged to live entirely on charity had risen by february to , , . it was estimated that by june it would be , , , or more than one-third of the total population. in february the nourishment of this famishing host already demanded million frs. (£ , ) per month; soon it will demand to millions. in this conjuncture mr. hoover, the president of the american commission, went begging to the british government, which promised £ , per month provided germany would cease to make requisitions in flanders and levy the tax of millions. germany refused. how will it end? _belgium's gratitude to america._ belgium knows that she owes her relief to the united states. without american charity our country would perish in the distress into which the german exactions have plunged her. no one in belgium will ever forget this, and it is in the name of the whole nation that king albert has publicly thanked america. it was in sign of homage, and also of gratitude, that on the nd february, , on the anniversary of american independence, the belgians wore in their buttonholes a medallion of the stars and stripes, while thousands of the citizens of brussels left their cards at the hotel of his excellency mr. brand h. whitlock. baron von bissing spoke of this as childishness; at liége german officers even snatched the american colours from women and young girls. massacre and arson are more familiar to _kultur_ than gratitude. footnotes: [ ] and also justified by the laws of warfare as affecting invasion. moreover: "the rules which affect a _levée en masse_ (a general rising of the people to repel invaders, without organization) should be generously interpreted. the first duty of a citizen is to defend his country, and provided he does so loyally he should not be treated as a marauder or criminal." the germans could not at the outset know that there was no _levée en masse_.--(trans.) [ ] the germans have tried to persuade rome that these priests were not assassinated but killed in battle. [ ] to give an idea of these accusations, it was said that in the cellars of a louvain convent the corpses of fifty german soldiers were discovered, murdered by the monks. [ ] if organized and disciplined, the civic guards and francs-tireurs would have formed part of the belgian forces, provided they wore a recognizable sign and bore arms openly.--(trans.) [ ] we shall see later (p. ) that at louvain dr. hedin was shamefully deceived by the military authorities who were guiding him through the city. it is this which makes us fear that there may also have been deceit in the case of the villagers tried as "francs-tireurs." [ ] _kriegsbrauch im landkriege._ professor j. h. morgan has published a translation, with an introduction (john murray). for a comparison between german, french, and english usages see _frightfulness in theory and practice_, by charles andler, ed. bernard miall (t. fisher unwin). [ ] they are all, with a truly german lack of originality, with the genuine intellectual slavishness of the "blonde beast," simply repeating the words of clausewitz, as all german military philosophers have done for the best part of a century.--(trans.) [ ] a perusal of clausewitz, von hartmann, and the _kriegsbrauch_ would have dispelled all doubt. none of these theories is new: how often does a german develop a _new_ theory? this peculiarly bloodless, mechanically ferocious barbarism is nearly a century old. the french had seen it in action before.--(trans.) [ ] the germans even accuse the belgian government of paying its "francs-tireurs" "by the piece"; that is, so much per german killed. [ ] if it had _openly_ encouraged the civil population it would merely have ordered the _levée en masse_, which it had a perfect right to do: as germany did in . but it is interesting to note that in the german francs-tireurs were required _not_ to wear distinctive uniforms or badges, and were allowed to use any weapons and any means of injuring the enemy. germany invented the franc-tireur, and now expects belgium to do what she would do in a like case. _the bogy so feared by the german soldier is, indeed, his own shadow._ actually, of course, the belgian government called upon civilians to keep quiet and to surrender arms.--(trans.) [ ] thus _der grosse krieg_, pp. and , published a wolff telegram on the rd august, , saying that many spies had already been shot in germany, but that the public should none the less be careful to report suspects, particularly those who spoke a foreign language. [ ] _Étape_ (_etappen_, germ.), stores, rations, or a halting-place.--(trans.) [ ] if we mention reims it is because the germans have on eight occasions posted placards in belgium bearing declarations relating to this crime against civilization. [ ] we have not been able to verify the authenticity of the quotation from the _times_. [ ] in germany the phrase has a meaning _sui generis_. [ ] names will be published later. [ ] see photographs in _panorama_, b ( th august, ), a ( th october, ), a ( th october, ). [ ] a pit for storing potatoes in good condition. chapter iii the german mind, self-depicted in those chapters in which we have dealt with the violations of international treaties, and of the hague convention, we have often been led to comment on the mode of thought displayed by those who committed these crimes. but hitherto we have touched upon the subject of german mentality only in an incidental fashion; it will doubtless be interesting to consider it more closely. we shall utilize, by preference, documents of german origin. in cases where these are lacking, for example, in the case of the cruelties committed, we shall have recourse to observations which we ourselves have collected, and whose authenticity is indisputable. in place of passing in review all the peculiarities of the modern german mind, which would occupy too much space, we shall confine ourselves to those from which belgium has suffered most cruelly; but we shall not speak--it would be superfluous--of the obscene spirit of rape, and rapacity, and drunkenness. the three psychological elements which we shall consider are pride, duplicity, and spitefulness. a.--pride. _some manifestations of pride and the spirit of boasting._ "the german nation is the chosen people, and god is with us." that is the prevailing idea of the speeches and proclamations of the kaiser. in his speech from the throne on the th august, , he declared: "it is not the spirit of conquest which urges us forward; but we are animated by the inflexible determination to retain the position in which god has set us, for ourselves and for all the generations to come." in her pride germany is unanimous. no german is permitted to doubt the indisputable superiority of his nation over all other nations. as soon as he learns to lisp his first words, his brain is steeped in the conviction that no people is comparable to his own, even remotely. this longing to exalt his own country is accompanied by a corresponding desire to abase all others. hardly is a discovery of any kind made in a neighbouring country than a german appropriates it in order to give it a new trade-mark. one example will suffice. all the world knows that louis pasteur was the founder of the science of bacteriology, a science whose consequences, in the spheres of hygiene and medicine, are incalculable. germany ignores pasteur and has heard only of koch. a belgian, who attended the berlin celebrations in honour of koch, returned disgusted with the fact that the name of pasteur was systematically suppressed throughout the ceremonies. in an obituary notice devoted to koch a belgian bacteriologist, m. jules bordet, remarked with great justice, in speaking of the german biographies of the scientist who had just died:-- "they made koch the absolute creator of modern medicine: all other glory pales before his; he is the founder of bacteriology. their obituary articles, emanating, for the most part, from disciples of the master, and which are, one feels, steeped in pious gratitude, and also, perhaps, to a certain extent, in a somewhat exclusive patriotism, attribute to him the honour of having shown the organic origin of contagious diseases." "it would be," said herr pfeiffer, the distinguished breslau bacteriologist, "a real act of justice were posterity to divide the history of medicine into two periods, one before koch and the other after him." reading such notices it would almost seem as though pasteur had never lived! we think m. bordet shows himself far too indulgent toward the german biographers when he says, in conclusion: "and one could not take it amiss of these disciples if, in their filial solicitude, they left on the tomb of their master a few leaves from the laurels of pasteur." here is another example of boasting, interesting principally by reason of the _charlatanesque_ manner in which it was published. every one has heard of the cooper-hewitt mercury-vapour lamp, with its strange blue-violet light, so rich in ultra-violet rays. the most summary treatises on physics explain that quartz will allow the ultra-violet rays to pass, and that the cooper-hewitt quartz lamp is in constant employment in the laboratories. but if you read the communication which the germans imposed upon _l'ami de l'ordre_ on the th december, , you will see that the germans invented the whole affair. if you want to be initiated into the perfections of the german, herr momme nissen, in _der krieg und die deutsche kunst_, will enumerate them for you. "the qualities of the german," he says, "integrity and courage, profundity of mind and fidelity, insight and the sense of inwardness, modesty and piety, are also the ornaments of our art." _the germans compare themselves with their allies._ here is a last point to be considered. the germans do not merely consider themselves to be superior to their adversaries; they are equally modest on behalf of their allies. to their minds, and in their writings, the present war is "the german war." the most complete chronological compilation which has appeared hitherto is entitled _chronik des deutschen krieges_. the official publications deliberately ignore the austrians, hungarians, czechs, croats, turks, etc. the first of the pamphlets of propaganda distributed by the germans (_journal de la guerre_) begins thus: "the name this war will one day bear in history is already determined; it can only be the _german war_, for it is a war destined to establish the position of the german nation in the world." by what name shall we call the german's sense of superiority over all other nations: is it pride, presumption, or impudence? herr paul rohrbach, who is generally more moderate in his expressions, has written a pamphlet entitled _warum es der deutsche krieg ist_ ("why this is the german war"). it would be useless to insist on the general aspects of the question. let us consider only a few of the immediate consequences of this frame of mind: militarism, disdain for others, cynicism, and absence of the critical spirit. . militarism. _might comes before right._ bismarck has given us a precise formula of the cult of brute force, "might comes before right!" nietzsche has gone further, "might creates right." "you say that a good cause sanctifies even war? i tell you that a good war sanctifies any cause!" (_thus spake zarathustra_). herr maximilian harden, the well-known polemical writer, expressed the same idea in a lecture delivered at duisbourg and reproduced in _k.z._ ( th december, ). it is expressed with equal lucidity in an article published in _zeit im bild_ ( th november, ), and signed _vitus bug_; the author, after inquiring into the reasons which make germany hated, adds: "let us be victorious, and people will immediately discover that we were in the right!" it is, consequently, towards the army that the essential aspirations of the german nation converge; everything must give way to the military interest; the moment this is in question there is no longer any room for morality, says professor rein, of the university of jena (_n.r.c._, nd january, , morning), nor for humanity, says herr erzberger (_n.r.c._, th february, , evening), nor even for the law of nations, declares professor beer, of the university of leipzig (_völkerrecht und krieg_). in other countries people have remained simple enough to believe that it is precisely in time of war that the prescriptions of international law should be most strictly respected. nothing of the sort, say the germans; the moment war breaks out everyday justice can only efface itself. on the slightest accusation, the least pretext, or even without any, they begin to shoot and to burn. if by accident those put to death are innocent, or if there was in truth no complaint to be made against the inhabitants of the houses burned to ashes, it is obviously regrettable; but such commonplace considerations will not prevent the german army from inflicting on the nearest village a punishment any less exemplary. _es ist krieg_: in this phrase is contained the whole psychology of the german soldier in war-time. "do you suppose," said a german at louvain, "that we've got time to make inquiries?" (_n.r.c._, th september, , morning). "you understand clearly," said an officer at francorchamps, "that we cannot stop the german army to inquire if this man has really fired on us; he was accused of doing so; isn't that sufficient reason for shooting him?" * * * * * before leaving the subject of militarism, we will cite one insignificant fact which, however trifling, clearly reveals the importance which the military idea has assumed in the conceptions of the german people. according to the _n.r.c._ of the th february, (evening), _vorwärts_ has protested against the following measure: the german wife whose husband is under arms cannot be expelled from her dwelling for non-payment of rent; but if her husband should be killed in the war the landlord immediately recovers the right to turn her out. . disdain of others. we have seen that the germans are seeking by all possible means to accentuate their superiority over their neighbours. an elementary procedure for increasing the vertical distance between them and their rivals consists in depreciating the latter. germany has so often, in every tone of voice, proclaimed the irremediable inferiority of all the other peoples inhabiting our planet, that she has at last come to believe it herself, and has begun to act in conformity with her belief. _some inept proclamations, etc._ thus, to speak only of our own experience, they assuredly under-estimated our national integrity when they believed us capable of becoming accomplices in the violation of an international treaty. they also greatly under-estimated our army's powers of resistance, or they would have taken good care not to lose a fortnight in belgium, a delay which spoiled their sudden attack upon france. finally, they show us every day, by their placards, that they do not think much of our intelligence. some of those entitled "news published by the german general government" are really inimitable. imagine our laughter when the authorities to whom we are forced to submit officially announced that a german squadron had captured fifteen fishing-boats; or that the serbians had taken semlin in order to obtain food; or that the star of paschitsch was growing pale; or that the austrians had evacuated lemberg for strategic and humanitarian reasons; or that the british army is so ill-equipped that the soldiers are without writing-paper and shoelaces; or that the river of the "gifts of love" continues to flow; or that general joffre (in a french that could only have come from a german pen) informs his troops that "the moment is come to profit by the weakness which offers itself to us, after we have reinforced ourselves in men and material." in the last days of september , when a citizen of brussels met a fair-haired comrade, he hastened to measure him, to make sure that he was not charles-alice yate, "being about ft. in. in height." here are some of these placards:-- news published by the german government. berlin, _ th september, _.--the austria-hungarian ambassador publishes the following dispatch which has been forwarded to him by the minister of foreign affairs in vienna:-- "the russian news on the subject of the battle of lemberg and the triumphant capture of the city is a lie. the open town of lemberg was evacuated by us without a battle for strategical and humanitarian reasons." the general german government. london, _ th september, _ (reuter's agency).--a german squadron, composed of two cruisers and four torpedo-boats, has captured fifteen english fishing-boats in the north sea, and has brought numerous prisoners to wilhelmshaven. the german general government. berlin, _ nd september, _.--on the night of the th september major charles-alice yate, of the regiment of the yorkshire light infantry, escaped from torgau, where he was prisoner of war. yate is that english officer of superior rank concerning whom it was announced the other day that he did not deny, upon inquiry, that the english troops have been supplied with dum-dum bullets; in the course of this interrogatory he declared that the soldier must obviously use the ammunition which is furnished to him by the government. the fugitive is about ft. in. in height; he is slender, fair-haired, and speaks german well. the german general government. vienna, _ th september, _.--the _reichspost_ announces from sofia: the correspondent of the _volja_, the organ of ghenadjev, writes from nish: the austrian offensive has serious consequences for serbia; rebellion is muttering in the country and the army, and every day may see the outbreak of the revolution. during the last few days several regiments of artillery have revolted. a certain number of guns have been demolished.... king peter has returned; he is completely apathetic, and the crown prince alexander does not know what to do. the star of paschitsch is paling, and it is feared there may soon be victims in his entourage. the german general government. l ondon, _ th october, _.--the _daily chronicle_ announces that at aldershot, in round figures, , militia belonging to all arms should be prepared to depart for the army as soon as they are ready. however, the training, despite the most brilliant efforts, could not give satisfactory results, the troops being insufficiently equipped. the newspaper appeals for the assistance of the public, and remarks that, for example, no officer of lord kitchener's first army possesses field-glasses. they also lack socks, handkerchiefs, shoelaces, writing-paper and materials, and drums and fifes for the scottish regiments. the german general government. what is even more strange than their insistence in offering us their sophisticated views, is their virtuous indignation when they discover that we are not receptive of this kind of truth. thus the people of liége, who would not believe the german placards and preferred their secret newspapers, were warned by lieut.-general von kolewe that they were in danger of appearing ridiculous in the eyes of intelligent people. to the population of liÉge and neighbourhood. considering the continual successes of the german troops, it is impossible to understand why the people of liége are still so credulous as to believe the absurd and frivolous news spread by the manufactories of falsehoods installed in liége. those who busy themselves in propagating such news are risking severe punishment. they are playing a dangerous game in abusing the credulity of their fellow-citizens and in inciting them to reckless actions. the reasonable population of liége will resist all temptations of the kind. otherwise it is exposing itself not merely to the gravest disappointment, but also to appearing ridiculous in the eyes of intelligent people. kolewe, _lieut.-general and german governor of the fortress of liége_. _it is forbidden to tear down this placard or to paste another over it._ _lies concerning the situation in belgium._ before other placards the shrugging of shoulders gave way to disgust. baron von der goltz, at sofia, boasted of having rendered "the situation in belgium entirely normal." what of it? we were so glad to be rid of him that we were ready to overlook any ineptitudes. but when his successor, baron von bissing, after levying a contribution of million frs. (£ , , ), had the audacity to declare that he hoped "to do much for the economic situation," and would especially apply himself "to doing everything to assist the weak in belgium, and to encourage them," he passed the bounds of cynicism and presumption. however, two months later, on the th february, , after having despoiled us of million francs, he found occasion to go still farther, affirming his "solicitude for the welfare and prosperity of the population." _lies concerning "francs-tireurs."_ what shall we say of the accusations made against belgian civilians? from august, at the time of the first sortie of our troops from antwerp, the germans posted up statements in brussels that the belgian population was again taking part in the conflict. official statement by the commandant of the german army. brussels, _ th august, _.--on the th and th august several belgian divisions made a sortie from antwerp in order to attack our lines of communication, but they were repulsed by those of our troops left behind to invest the city. five belgian guns fell into our hands.... the belgian population almost everywhere took part in the fighting. it became necessary to take the most drastic measures to repress the bands of francs-tireurs.... now certain of these battles took place at a distance of only six miles from brussels; peasants were shot at houtem (a hamlet of vilvorde) and at eppeghem: that is, in villages whence people went into the city every morning with vegetables, milk, etc., so that the inhabitants of the capital were perfectly informed as to the behaviour of the german troops toward the belgian civilians. they knew, too, that these pretended attacks of "francs-tireurs" had been delivered by detachments of the belgian army (_see_ e. waxweiler in _la belgique neutre et loyale_, p. ). the keen indignation against the german liars was still further aggravated when, three weeks later, the kaiser repeated these calumnies. the fact of their having placarded the walls of brussels with these obviously false accusations shows once more in what low esteem the germans hold the mental faculties of their victims. news published by the german government. brussels, _ th october_.--from the leader of a troop of cyclists near hennuyères written instructions were taken, intended for the leaders of the so-called "destructive detachment," in which they are told, among other things: "spread false news: landing of the english at antwerp, russians at calais." that the germans should seek to deceive their own compatriots as to the situation is natural enough--they are quite content with official news. but in belgium we still, in spite of all obstacles, continue to receive foreign newspapers, which keep us informed of the military operations. why, then, did the germans try to impose on us over the battle of the marne, when nothing was easier than to learn the truth from the _times_ and the french press? a still more curious case was that of the battle of ypres. during a whole fortnight the official placards daily informed the belgians of the latest german success ... and at the end of three weeks the army was still as far from ypres. the whole of this yser campaign is interesting as throwing a light upon the german mentality. from the outset the germans tried to establish a confusion between the "canalized" yser and the "canalized" yperlée, that is, the canal running from ypres to the yser. what they call "the canal of the yser" in their placard of the nd october is the canalized yser between dixmude and nieuport. in the placard of the nd november they spoke of the "canal from the yser to ypres, near nieuport," an absolutely fantastic description. finally, on the th april, when they claimed to have crossed "the yser canal" to occupy driegrachten, it was really the yperlée that was in question, and not the yser at all. this is, as will be seen, on a par with the intentional confusion which they sought to create between the city of liége and its forts (pp. , ). such confusions may deceive the germans, but the belgians, familiar with the geography of their country, naturally laugh at them. another point relating to this astonishing campaign on the yser: on the nd november the germans announced that operations were rendered difficult by the inundation. on the following day, having expressed their pity for the belgians "whose fields were devastated for a long time to come," they added that the water was in parts deeper than a man's height, but that they had lost neither man, nor horse, nor gun. how can they impose such idle stuff on people who know the _polders_ of the coast region, with their innumerable canals and ditches, and who know, moreover, than an inundation there renders all retreat impossible? . cynicism. they must require a good stock of effrontery to put before us such assertions as that of the kaiser, whose falsity is obvious at sight. they cannot be ignorant of the fact that these impostures are instantly exposed. but this consideration does not give them pause; german superiority appears to them so indisputable that they have no need to trouble about the opinion of other people; if they occasionally indicate the reasons for their actions, it is to reassure their own conscience, not to justify themselves to their victims. they are, in short, in the situation of the sportsman who brings down the game passing within gunshot, but is not required to render an account of it to the rabbits and partridges. to the sportsman's way of thinking there is no cynicism in so acting: between the hunter and the game there is too great a difference to make such a justification necessary. similarly, the germans occupy, in the scale of _kultur_, so exalted a position as compared with the belgians, that they believe in good faith that all is permitted to them in dealing with this horde, and that they need not justify their actions. they behave toward us as the conquistadores toward the aztecs. more, they actually advertise their contempt for the rules of justice. we have already mentioned the placard posted at gand, according to which they openly placed themselves in conflict with the hague convention. they have gone yet farther in this direction. what are we to say, for example, of the placard posted at menin, in july , by order of commandant schmidt, in which it is ordained that the families of those "who do not work regularly on the military works" shall be allowed to die of starvation? order. from to-day the town can no longer grant relief--of whatever kind, even for families, women and children--save only to those workmen who are working regularly on the military works and on other works prescribed. all other workmen and their families cannot henceforth be assisted in any way whatever. and this is not the gem of the collection. at roubaix and the vicinity (in french flanders, close against the belgian frontier) they advertised their decision to prevent all sales of comestibles if work were not resumed by the th july, and they even threatened completely to suppress "circulation," which would have resulted in the lingering death of the whole population. and this is not the worst. in a neighbouring town, halluin, commandant schranck caused a declaration to be read to the assembled notables which stated that he denied their right to invoke the hague convention, since the german military authorities had determined to enforce the fulfilment of all their demands, "even if a city of , inhabitants had to perish." (_read at halluin, on the th june, at . p.m., to the municipal council and notables of the town of halluin._) gentlemen, what is happening is known to all these gentlemen. it is the conception and interpretation of article of the hague convention which has created difficulties between you and the german military authority. on which side is the right? it is not for us to discuss that, for we are not competent, and we shall never arrive at an understanding on this point. it will be the business of the diplomatists and the representatives of the various states after the war. to-day it is exclusively the interpretation of german military authority which is valid, and for that reason we intend that all that we shall need for the maintenance of our troops shall be made by the workers of the territory occupied. i can assure you that the german authority will not under any circumstances desist from demanding its rights, even if a town of , inhabitants should have to perish. the measures introduced up to the present are only a beginning, and every day severe measures will be taken until our object is obtained. this is the last word, and it is good advice i give you to-night. return to reason, and arrange for the workers to resume work without delay; otherwise you will expose your town, your families, and your persons to the greatest misfortunes. to-day, and perhaps for a long time yet, there is for halluin neither a prefecture nor a french government. there is only one will, and that is the will of german authority. the commandant of the town, schranck. do you not agree that a cynicism so shameless is a sign of perplexity and an admission of impotence? the germans realize that they are driven to the worst expedients! a host of similar facts might be cited, but it would mean useless repetition. let us rather examine some examples of graphic cynicisms. _photographs and picture postcards._ the germans have published, in their newspapers, photographs representing the population of a village, consisting principally of women, being driven away as prisoners (_berl. ill. zeit._, no. , th september, ); a military observation-post installed by them on the tower of malines cathedral during the siege of antwerp (_berl. ill. zeit_., no. , st november, ); doctors detained as prisoners in germany, contrary to the geneva convention (_berl. ill. zeit._, no. , th april, ); soldiers taken prisoners, whom they are forcing, despite article of the hague convention, to do work directed against their country (_die wochenschau_, no. , ). we find the same effrontery in respect of the conflagrations started by their troops: scharr and dathe, of trèves, have edited and placed on sale, in belgium itself, a series of fifty picture postcards, representing localities which the german army has destroyed by fire. we may mention dinant, namur, louvain, aerschot, termonde; and in belgium, luxemburg, barranzy, etalles, Èthe, izel, jamoigne, musson, eossignol, tintigny. let us add that these photographs commonly show german soldiers and officers striking triumphant attitudes amid the ruins. the most instructive card of this kind which we have seen is one representing general beeger amid the ruins of dinant. to understand the full significance of this card, one must remember that it was this officer who ordered , of the houses of dinant to be burned and of the inhabitants to be massacred. it is surprising that he did not have a few corpses of "francs-tireurs" arranged about him when the photograph was taken--preferably selected from the old men, women, and children at the breast. after the torpedoing of the _lusitania_ they sold in belgium a series of cards entitled _kriegs-errinerungs-karte_, edited by dr. trenkler & co., of leipzig, which pictured the operations of submarines. card no. , of series xxxiii, represents--very inaccurately, by the way--a german submarine stopping the _lusitania_. it is as well to recall the fact that in this disaster more than , non-combatants perished, among them mme. antoine depage, the wife of the well-known belgian surgeon. nothing ought to surprise us on the part of those who prove that every means is good provided it is efficacious. here is what a newspaper, much respected in germany, the _hamburger fremdenblatt_, has to say in its weekly illustrated supplement for the th may, :-- "in the situation in which germany now finds herself, attacked on three sides at once with all the means that cruelty and perfidy can invent, we must not ask ourselves whether a means of defence is permitted or prohibited; but whether it is effectual. all that facilitates the defence must be employed; this is especially true of the submarine war, and consequently of the destruction of the _lusitania_." _alfred heymel on the battle of charleroi._ we have already spoken of the articles of alfred heymel and walter blöm. here are some extracts from an article by the former:-- the battle of charleroi. one regiment of cavalry was detrained near the enemy frontier. for a little while it halted on a manoeuvring ground where the division to which we were to be attached as scouts was to assemble. already many of us were impatient at having to wait longer before marching to the front; we heard the growling thunder of the howitzers of the great fortress near the frontier, around which there had been violent fighting these last few days; we were told of cruelties that made our hair stand on end, committed, in its fury, by a people which had for years been excited against us deeds of cruelty committed against our compatriots, soldiers, civilians, women and children, because of our violation of a neutrality which it had itself violated a thousand times over in advance. on our side we were boiling inwardly to avenge these infamies.... we breathed more freely only when, in our march beyond the frontier, we saw the first houses burned in reprisal; a curé, who had revolted, was hanging from a tree in a neighbouring thicket, swinging at the will of the wind, when at last the noise of battle grew plainer.... (they arrive near charleroi.) the head of one regiment, led by my friend lieutenant s----, trotted forward again, and seized as hostages what civilians it could catch; some to persons, old and young, fat and thin, had to march before or between the lancers; more, this portion of the regiment had received the order from its comrades not to ride too far ahead. something that alarmed me quite particularly, giving me a presentiment of misfortune, was the fact that the wives of these civilians burst into weeping: one red-headed woman, frantic, threw herself down in the road and gave vent to wild screams; others, behind us, their emaciated arms stretched in the air, threatened us, although they were several times assured that so long as nothing was done to us nothing would happen to their husbands, sons, friends, and lovers. all these significant scenes took place in the side streets.... (a volley is fired from a barricade--or a railway crossing the street; it is not clear which.) i saw two or three cavalrymen fall back in front, and with them the hostages fell to the ground; my friend was standing, near his horse. a violent and rapid fire alternated with volleys; we could not escape on either side; naturally we immediately faced about and returned in the direction whence we had come; there was a furious pursuit along the uneven road, with the balls whistling at our backs. the horses fell, one after another.... thus from the advance-guard we had become the rear-guard. we had to consider how we could regain the main body of the troop. in the first place hostages were taken, some curés among them; the cavalry and artillery were no longer marching alone and unprotected, but flanked by the infantry and pioneers; one soon learns when once one has been caught. with great difficulty we again penetrated the streets in the smoke and heat, in the midst of the flames we ourselves had lit; now we continually heard the popping of cartridges, bursting harmlessly, piled up in the houses, and betraying the friendly intention of the ex-inmates![ ]... we learned later, when we had found the uniforms, that two battalions of crack french infantry were distributed everywhere, in order to organize and discipline the fire of the belgian civic guard and the francs-tireurs. the rumour (of marksmen on the neighbouring heights) spread.... i thought i perceived--this chilled my heart, and i still hope i was mistaken--that my cavalrymen, otherwise so brave, did not really feel inclined to go forward; their gait became slower and slower; they continually observed more minutiæ and took a longer time in seizing civilians; in short, i saw the necessity of intervening, at need, against my own troops, the most heart-breaking thing that can happen to you in war. in any case i prepared myself, with a heart full of pain, to face even the abyss of this prospect.... _kunst und künstler_, january (amm. xiii, part ). we must not overlook an article by captain walter blöm, adjutant to general von bissing. herr blöm, who is greatly admired in germany, and whose novels may be seen at this moment on the shelves of the travellers' libraries installed in our railway stations, does not hesitate to declare that the conflagrations at battice and dinant were not intended to punish the population, but to terrorize them (p. ). the article already mentioned, which incidentally describes the shooting of a french hostage, is highly typical. one sees that the death of this man--shot because the french army does not consent to cease its bombardment--does not in the least affect the writer, who finds the conduct of his countrymen quite natural. referring to the systematic pillage effected by the german army, we have already mentioned (p. ) the fact that "war booty" was despatched openly. in this respect, effrontery and impudence have surely nowhere been carried to greater lengths than in the valley of the meuse. all the villas were as a matter of course emptied by the officers; when they were situated close to the banks of the river the furniture, etc., was transported on a little steamer, one of those tourist boats which in summer run between namur and dinant. the boat would stop before each villa, and--without the least attempt to conceal the nature of the proceedings--the pianos, beautiful pieces of furniture, clocks, pictures, etc., were piled on the deck. to cite one case among hundreds, it was thus that the villa of mme. wodon, at davos, was emptied. cynicism and impudence often lend one another mutual support. let us recall, for example, the question of asphyxiating gases. article of the hague convention forbids the employment of poisons. even in the siege of liége our enemies were making use of shells which discharged poisonous gases at the moment of explosion; it was one of them that all but poisoned general leman. it might, however, be supposed that these toxic vapours were the inevitable result of the detonation of the explosives with which the shells were loaded. but in april the germans suddenly began to accuse their adversaries of the use of asphyxiating shells (see the german official communiqués of the th, th, th, and st april). at the same time they made it known that their chemists, far abler than those of france or england, were about to combine substances whose detonation would liberate products far more toxic than those of the enemy's shells. and on the nd april they preceded their attack on the trenches to the north of ypres by a cloud of smoke of a yellowish-green colour, which asphyxiated the french and canadians (see _n.r.c._, th april, , morning). now the falsity of their bragging allegations is obvious. they will not persuade any one to believe that between the th of april and the nd may they had had time to invent the combination of substances capable of giving off toxic vapours, to manufacture them in sufficient quantities, and finally to forward the cylinders to the field of battle. let us add, moreover, that we knew before the end of march--that is, before the accusations made against the french--that the germans were making experiments on a large scale in the aviation camp at kiewit, near hasselt. they were asphyxiating dogs. it may be supposed that they presently realized that they had gone a little too far in their cynicism, for in its issue of the rd may, , _die wochenschau_, commenting on the affair of the nd april, stated that the attack had been "ably seconded by technical means." still, the palm for cynicism goes to the high authorities. what are we to think of baron von der goltz, whose proclamations state that the innocent and guilty will be punished without distinction? (p. ). here we begin to see into the mentality of the germans; swollen with pride, they consider that all things are permitted to them as against a people so uncivilized as the belgians. well, incredible as it may seem, the germans have surpassed themselves in this department. the same action, accordingly as it is performed by them or against them, is denounced as a crime or highly approved. we have already seen this in connection with the bombardment of towns by aeroplanes and dirigibles. what shall we say of the action of the german cavalryman, who, surprised by superior forces, surrendered; but, as he was giving up his arms thought better of it, broke the head of one of his adversaries, and fled. if a belgian or a frenchman had been guilty of such treachery the germans could not have found sufficient terms of abuse to heap upon his head; but as he was a german his action became _ein kühnes reiterstückchen_ (a "bold exploit of a cavalryman"). more--this incident is reported in the first number of the pamphlets of propaganda distributed by order of the german authorities--the _journal de la guerre_. not only do they find no cause for blame in a soldier who has committed so vile an action; they are proud of him, and take pains to celebrate his glory in neutral countries. here are two other examples, bearing on matters of much greater importance. on the th august, , the very day on which they were violating the neutrality of belgium, and were commencing to punish us, at visé, for having dared to resist them, they expressed their satisfaction in the fact that switzerland was scrupulously remaining neutral. m. waxweiler (p. ) calls our attention to this contradiction in their attitude toward the two neutral countries--belgium and switzerland. moreover, they had the impudence to placard their satisfaction in the neutrality of switzerland about the streets of brussels. news published by the german general government. berne, _ th february_.--the representative of the bund has been received in berlin by herr von jagow, secretary of state for foreign affairs, who spoke of switzerland in the most friendly manner. herr von jagow says: the strictly neutral attitude of switzerland has produced the most favourable impression in germany. we take a very keen interest in a neutral, independent, and powerful switzerland. the general government in belgium. while in belgium they burn houses and torture civilians, on the pretext that the latter have fired on them, they congratulate the hungarian peasants who took up arms to defend their country against the russian invader. the contrast here is so obvious that it even struck one german--herr maximilian harden. in an article in _jingoism, a disease of the mind_, he reproaches his compatriots with having two weights and two measures (published in _vorwärts_, august ). they push their effrontery to the point of photographing their own francs-tireurs, so that no doubt may be left in our minds. the _berl. ill. zeit._ of the th march, (p. ), gives a photograph "from the theatre of the war in the carpathians"--"ruthenian peasant employed in the austro-hungarian army to guard roads and telegraph-lines." the peasant, without uniform, carries a rifle. lastly, let us cite a case in which cynicism is allied to pedantry. on the calcined walls of the hôtel de ville of dinant (burned on the rd and th august, ) is a chronogram. the letters are cut in a slab of marble let into the wall facing the meuse. the fire had rendered the inscription illegible, but the commandant of the town, in march , had the slab re-painted black and the letters re-gilt. this is the inscription:-- pax et salvs nevtra litatem servant ibvs detvr. ("may peace and security be granted to those who preserve neutrality.") ( .) herr otto eduard schmidt, returning from the french front by way of dinant, was struck by this inscription. "i could not learn for certain," he says, "by questioning passing soldiers of the landsturm, whether the inscription had lately been placed there or had merely been re-gilt. but in any case, i should regard it an insult to german authority, and i am astonished that this insult should be tolerated" (o. e. schmidt, _eine fahrt zu den sachsen an die front_, p. ). what would herr schmidt say if he knew that it was his own countrymen who, in a fit of shameless cynicism, caused this inscription to be renovated? _surrender of the critical spirit. refusal to examine the accusations of cruelty._ painfully moved by the horrors committed in belgium, m. charles magnet, the national grand master of belgian freemasonry, wrote on the th september to nine german lodges, requesting them to institute, by common consent, an inquiry into the facts. since the germans denied the atrocities of which their troops were accused, and, on the other hand, were accusing the belgians of maltreating the wounded, such an inquiry could only have a happy result. two lodges only replied. "the request is superfluous; this inquiry would be an insult to our army," replied the darmstadt lodge. "our troops are not ill-conducted; it would even be dangerous to recommend them to display sensibility and kindness," replied the bayreuth lodge. the argument may be summarized thus: "we know, as germans, that we possess the truth; it is useless, therefore, to go in search of it with the help of an impartial commission." in a second letter m. magnet commented on these evasions, as contrary to the spirit of brotherhood as to the scientific spirit. let it not be supposed that the refusal to examine, objectively and impartially, the german and the belgian accusations, is peculiar to freemasonry. on the th january, , cardinal mercier requested the german authorities in belgium to set up a commission comprising both germans and belgians, under the presidency of a representative of a neutral country. his request was accorded no reply. thus the germans refuse to allow any light to be thrown on their actions and those of the belgians. why this opposition to a faithful search for the truth? they fear, perhaps, that the truth will be unfavourable to them. that is undoubtedly one of their reasons; but we do not think it can be the only reason; and the principal reason for their refusal is without doubt the voluntary blindness to which they have one and all subjected themselves since the outbreak of the war. they have decided, one would imagine, to accept, without any discussion, whatever is decreed by authority, which they invest with the absolute truth; every german calmly receives that portion of the truth which the government thinks fit to dispense to its faithful, and no german permits himself to ask for more. _magister dixit_: the staff has spoken! since the month of august a strict censorship has been exercised over the press. _vorwärts_ and other socialist sheets have several times been suspended. the _kölnischer volkszeitung_ was suspended on the th september, , for having published articles disposing of at least a part of the so-called belgian atrocities.... and then, apparently, it proceeded to take them for granted; for afterwards it even aggravated the accusations brought against the belgians. the _vossische zeitung_ itself, official as it is, had its issue of the st december, , seized on account of an article on a commission of the reichstag (_n.r.c._, rd december, , evening). at the same time the government was careful to stop all foreign books and newspapers. this prohibition is so strict that dutch working-men going to work in germany are not allowed to wrap their sandwiches in newspaper (_n.r.c._, th december, , evening). in germany even people are beginning to find the censorship a little too strict. before the budget commission of the reichstag herr scheidemann, the socialist deputy, complained that in the district of rüstringen certain of the german official communiqués even were prohibited. the newspapers may not leave blank the spaces caused by the censorship, as the latter must not appear. at strasburg the censorship prohibited the publication of articles dealing with the increased price of milk. at dortmund the socialist newspapers were subjected to a preventive censorship for having inserted an article by the sociologist lujo brentano, one of the "ninety-three," professor at the university of münich (_n.r.c._, th may, , morning). does the german public, knowing that the newspapers publish none but articles inspired by authority, or at least controlled thereby, accept this sophisticated mental pabulum in good part? or does it make an effort to procure foreign publications? one must believe that it does not, for in that case the "intellectuals," better informed, would cease to blindly accept the official declarations. "but," it will perhaps be said, "since the government forbids the introduction of foreign newspapers, it is radically impossible to obtain them." we do not know just how the germans could obtain pamphlets and newspapers, but we do know that in belgium we read prohibited literature every day--french, dutch, and english. any one who does not intend to resign himself to living in an oubliette will succeed, in spite of everything, in opening some chink that the light may shine through; and this light, when we have received it, we hasten to share. it is forbidden, under the severest penalties, including the capital, to introduce newspapers into belgium; it is forbidden, under the same penalties, to publish and distribute "false news," as our masters call it. it makes little difference to us; not an article or book of importance appears abroad but it reaches us, and two days later it is secretly distributed in thousands of copies. there will be a curious book for some one to write when the war is over, on the subject of the strange and ingenious means employed by the belgians, prisoners in their own country since august , to obtain and distribute prohibited letterpress. there is accordingly no doubt that if the germans really wished it they could without great difficulty obtain reliable "documentation." but they do not wish it. they, of late so proud of their critical spirit, who made it their rule, so they professed--and their glory, as was thought--to accept only that which their reason commanded them to believe! they have abdicated their critical faculty; they have sacrificed it to the militarist moloch. and to-day, with eyes closed, they swallow all that the government and its reptile press presents to them. _the abolition of free discussion in germany._ what am i saying? not only are they ready to swallow all the lies offered to them; they have even abolished liberty of speech among themselves. a striking example of this fact was given by the _n.r.c._ (of the th november, , morning edition). dr. wekberg, one of the three editors of a german periodical, the _revue des volksrechts_, retired from his editorship because his colleagues refused to insert an article in which he declared that germany's attitude towards belgium was perhaps disputable. it would be difficult to push intolerance of criticism much farther. in the same connection we may recall the sessions of the reichstag of the th august, , the nd december, , and the th march, . at the first session not a voice protested against the war. at the second, the socialist deputy, dr. karl liebknecht, asked leave to present some objections, which indeed were timid enough; he was at once disowned by his party. on the th march the deputy ledebour permitted himself to criticize the proclamation of marshal von hindenburg, prescribing the burning of three russian villages for any german village burned by the russians. both these deputies expressed the opinion that it is iniquitous to punish the innocent in the place of the guilty. immediately the whole assembly, socialists included, copiously abused and insulted the two speakers. we may remark that herr ledebour was discussing not a strategical measure, but a prescription that was merely inhuman (see _k.z._, th march, , evening). these few examples are enough to show that the socialists lend themselves to militarist domestication with the same docility as the "bourgeois" parties. as for the catholic remnant in the reichstag, its docility surpasses even that of the socialists. in short, all the political parties, without exception, have abdicated their liberty of thought, to accept, obsequiously and without the slightest attempt at discussion, the ready-made opinions provided by authority. such, in germany, is the power of discipline, that all have submitted without protest--one might almost say wantonly--to the voluntary extirpation of the critical spirit. but the inevitable results of this servility were not long in showing themselves; having renounced the employment of reason, the germans now accept the most extravagant lies. _german credulity._ we have remarked that one day a curious book may be written as to the expedients invented by the belgians to obtain news from abroad and to distribute it throughout the country. equally interesting--but how discouraging, from the standpoint of the progressive evolution of the human mind--will be the book containing the amazing examples of credulity afforded by the germans during this war. when speaking of the german accusations against the belgians we cited the case of the rifles collected in the hôtel de ville, which were exhibited to the german soldiers as the irrefutable proof of the official premeditation of the "franc-tireur" campaign (p. ). not only were the soldiers thus deluded. a well-known novelist, herr fedor von zobeltitz, visiting in antwerp a museum of arms, which contained war weapons of the middle ages, cried: "see how belgium made ready for the war!" was he sincere? it is difficult to say, for artists often allow their sensibility to run away with them. one may say the same of the kaiser, who also declared that belgium had long been preparing for the "war of francs-tireurs"; and even, perhaps, of herr bethmann-hollweg, who spoke, in his manifesto to the american newspapers, of gouged-out eyes and other atrocities whose falsity he could very easily have ascertained. news published by the german government. berlin, _ th september_.--the _norddeutsche allgemeine zeitung_ publishes the following telegram addressed by the emperor to president wilson of the united states:-- "i consider it my duty, mr. president, to inform you, in your quality of a most distinguished representative of humanitarian principles, of the fact that my troops discovered, after the capture of the french fortress of longwy, in that fortress, thousands of dum-dum bullets made in special workshops by the government. bullets of the same kind have been found on dead soldiers, or wounded or prisoners, of english nationality. you know what horrible wounds and sufferings are caused by these balls, and that their employment is forbidden by the recognized principles of international law. i therefore raise a solemn protest against such a mode of making war, which has become, thanks to the methods of our adversaries, one of the most barbarous of history. "not only have they themselves employed this cruel weapon, but the belgian government has openly encouraged the civil population to take part in this war, which it had carefully for a long time prepared. the cruelties inflicted, in the course of this guerilla war, by women and even by priests, upon wounded soldiers, doctors, and hospital nurses (doctors have been killed and hospitals fired on) have been such that my generals have finally found themselves obliged to resort to the most rigorous means to chastise the guilty and to prevent the bloodthirsty population from continuing these abominable, criminal, and hateful acts. many villages, and even the city of louvain, have had to be demolished (except the very beautiful hôtel de ville) in the interest of our defence and the protection of our troops. my heart bleeds when i see that such measures have been rendered inevitable, and when i think of the innumerable innocent persons who have lost their homes and their belongings as a result of the deeds of the criminals in question. "wilhelm i.r." the german military government. declaration of the chancellor of the empire to the associated and united press, new york. ... in this way england will tell your compatriots that the german troops have burned and sacked belgian towns and villages, but she will carefully conceal the fact that young belgian girls have gouged out the eyes of wounded men stretched defenceless on the field of battle, that the functionaries of belgian towns have invited german officers to dinner and have treacherously shot them dead at table. contrary to international law, the whole civil population of belgium has been called to arms[ ] and has treacherously risen against our troops with concealed arms and a perfidy incredible after having first of all feigned a friendly welcome. belgian women have cut the throats of german soldiers quartered on them while they slept.... _journal de la guerre_ (an organ of german propaganda). we will suppose, for the time being--to be extremely generous to the kaiser and his chancellor--that they accepted, in good faith, the accusations of cruelty brought against the belgians, and that they carefully refrained from investigating them, so that they should not be forced to recognize their imbecility. _voluntary blindness of the "intellectual._" perhaps it will be objected that the examples hitherto cited emanate chiefly from politicians and literary men, who are not accustomed to exercise their judgment. but there are also the manifestoes of the professorial body, that is, those whose essential mission consists in passing facts and ideas through the sieve of criticism, to isolate the true from the false, and to extract from error the fragment of truth which may have fallen into it. for what is the effect of teaching, of whatever degree, if it is not the constant alertness of the critical spirit, which seeks, in all things and at every moment, to separate that which is true and which should therefore be communicated to the disciple from the medley of false and useless things which may with impunity be abandoned to oblivion? and when the teacher is also a seeker, has he not once more unceasingly to exercise his critical spirit, that he may recognize in the host of ideas which present themselves to him those which may lead him to the desired end--and, once this is attained, those which he may use as a touchstone to test experimentally the validity of these deductions? in short, for the professor and the scientific worker there is no intellectual faculty more indispensable than the critical spirit. now among those who have dashed into the lists to champion, with their pens, the rights of germany, and to crush her adversaries, we must make a quite special mention of the professors and schoolmasters. let us begin with the latter. their principal argument in denial of the barbarous conduct of which the german troops have been accused, is that it would be incompatible with the flourishing condition of the educational institutions of germany. as though elementary education was capable of eliminating from humanity the profound imprints of its intimate mentality! instruction may hide them, as under a veneer, but it can never cause their disappearance. the germans, after sadowa and the war of - , declared that the whole honour of their victories was due to their primary education. "the french campaign is the triumph of the german schoolmaster." those who in belgium have seen the villages devastated by fire and the graves of the civilians shot, and above all the pillaged homes, with furniture and crockery broken into small fragments, and the filthy beds, will carry away the impression that "the belgian campaign is the bankruptcy of the german schoolmaster." _the manifesto of the "ninety-three."_ the famous manifesto of the "ninety-three intellectuals" to the civilized world is only too well known, and has already been so universally execrated, that there is no need to discuss it at length. the reading of this document, which ought to be carefully preserved for the edification of future generations, might almost make us doubt the sanity of the signatories. how could they have imagined that "the civilized world" would accept their affirmations and their denials? both are equally devoid of proof. to cite only one proposition--what are we to think of the amazing declaration that not a single belgian citizen has lost his life or his property--except in the case of the bitterest necessity? have they never seen the train-loads of "war-booty" entering germany? it would certainly be interesting to hear them explain what is the "bitter necessity," under whose empire pianos and pictures have to be carried off from belgium, or that which compels the germans to force the collecting-boxes in the churches, or that which made them shoot father dupierreux for writing in his diary impressions unfavourable to the germans! it would be cruel to insist. the "ninety-three" have already earned, as the first penalty of their evil action, the disgust of the whole world. further dissection of their libel inevitably leads us to the conclusion that the signatories display therein either their lack of intelligence or their servility; and that their only plausible excuse is that they allowed themselves to be carried away by their german pride, the most incommensurable, intolerant, and insupportable which the world has ever known. we will confine ourselves to referring the reader to the principal replies which were made to the manifesto of the "ninety-three." they are those of m. seippel, mr. church, the portuguese academy of sciences, the french academy of inscriptions and belles lettres, the french academy of medicine, the french universities, the zoological society of france, the english "intellectuals," m. ruyssen, m. vandervelde, and _simplicissimus_. there is yet one point to be mentioned. the declaration of the german "intellectuals" was first made known to us by an article in the _kriegs echo_ of the th october, , entitled _es ist nicht wahr_, and giving the whole manifesto, excepting the signatures and the paragraph referring to louvain. well! when we had read this tissue of flagrant lies we attributed it to some journalist who dared not even sign his name to his lucubrations. and when, later, we were told that the authors--or more exactly the signatories--comprised some of the most celebrated writers in germany, we believed the whole thing must be a hoax. but we had to admit the evidence. it was for many of us a very painful moment when our illusions as to the stability of science in germany were thus dispelled. _the manifesto of the , professors._ did the government consider that the representatives of science and art were not yet sufficiently compromised, and that they had not yet sufficiently involved the fate of the universities with that of militarism? in any case, only a few days after the publication of the manifesto of the "ninety-three" a fresh declaration appeared, devoted entirely to the promotion of the solidarity of superior education with the army, and signed by , names, or those of almost all the professors of germany. the mentality of the masters pales before that of the disciples. the brussels correspondent of the _n.r.c._ relates (_n.r.c._, th november, , morning), that of the innumerable soldiers whom he has seen passing, the only ones whose attitude was insolent were young university students of berlin. moreover, the german socialists who visited our _maison du peuple_ avowed that the troops who burned louvain were principally composed of "intellectuals"! besides the intellectuals of the teaching profession and the arts, those "barbarian scholars," as m. emile boutroux calls them, there is another category, which has likewise been mobilized to defend the militarist spirit and the hohenzollern dynasty. this is the clergy: protestant pastors, catholic priests, israelitish rabbis; all without distinction have been touched by the militarist grace and have entered the campaign for the good cause. _the protestant pastors._ honour where honour is due! herr o. dryander, first preacher to the court of berlin, published a collective letter, drafted by himself, herr lahusen, and herr axenfeld, in reply to m. babut's appeal for a declaration from the christians of the belligerent countries, demanding that the war should be conducted conformably with christian principles and the laws of humanity.[ ] herr dryander and his acolytes refuse to entertain the idea that "a step of this nature could be necessary in germany in order that the war shall be conducted conformably with christian ideas and the claims of the most elementary humanity." without cross-examination, without any sort of discussion, they adopt the accusations made against the armies of the allies, and they deny the actions of which the germans are accused. this is, as will be seen, the same method as that of the german freemasons in an analogous case. then they naturally sing the old refrain: "the war has been forced upon germany" (they do not say "by belgium"). in short, there is no need to throw any light on the subject, as there is already light within their minds, and the german mind is of course the only mind one must take into account. the same theologian has published several pamphlets of sermons; _evangelische reden in schwerer zeit_. the general theme remains the same. "we have been compelled to accept war" ( , p. ); "we are fighting for our _kultur_ against the absence of _kultur_--for german morality against barbarism--for the free german personality, attached to god, against the instincts of the disorderly masses" ( , p. ). "if god be for us, who can be against us?"[ ] "now if ever there was a just cause assuredly it is ours" ( , p. ). "war is a duty only when it is undertaken for legitimate defence.... let us thank god that in the present war our state of legitimate defence is so secure and so evident, and that it is almost every day stayed up by fresh proofs; also we have unshakable confidence in our right and in the purity of our conscience" ( , pp. - ). here is a sermon of a somewhat peculiar kind. herr busch, having explained that germany is like a peaceful stroller who suddenly finds himself attacked by two assassins, and then by a third (p. ), declares that "in spite of all the german soldiers love their enemies." "god be thanked," he says, "we have already read of most touching examples in the newspapers. a german sergeant-major, who had been obliged to have a man and woman shot, in belgium, after a council of war, adopted their only child, a little girl of two or three years; for he was himself without children; as his regiment soon afterwards left for eastern prussia, and was passing through his own town, he took the child to give it to his wife" (p. ). pray god--we might add, whose civilization is only belgian--that there are not too many married men without children among the soldiers of the kaiser, for they have a way of making orphans in order to adopt them which would cost our country dear. herr correvon, pastor of the reformed church (french-speaking) in frankfort-on-main, preached a sermon on the th august, , on the text: "if god be for us, who can be against us?" his arguments amount to this: germany, having the right on her side, will have god on her side also. he naturally speaks of "the firm and admirable speech of the chancellor, a man whom i can only compare with a duplessis-mornay, the minister of henri iv" (p. ). then, having summarized the emperor's speech, he cried: "to solve the alarming problem of these social questions ... it needed only the potent gesture with which the god who is always the strong city, the '_feste burg_' of germany, the god of luther, the god of paul gerhard and sebastian bach, has pronounced the terrible and perhaps the liberating word: 'you wish for war, you shall have it'!" we see that from the very first days of the war, before any one could have verified the statements of the chancellor, the protestant pastors of germany, even those of foreign origin, unhesitatingly accepted the official assertions. is it as pastors that they stand forth as the stern defenders of the rights of truth? are they not rather spiritless courtiers, we might almost say like the sheep of panurge? _the catholic priests and rabbis._ the catholic priests have given proofs of equal docility. mgr. the cardinal felix von hartmann, archbishop of cologne, says in _the divine providence_, a pastoral letter read on the th of january, :-- "our warriors have gone forth to the bloody conflict, with god, for king and country! with god, in the conflict which has been forced upon us, the fight for the salvation and the liberty of our dear german land; with god, in the war for the sacred possessions of christianity and its beneficent civilization. and what exploits have not our warriors accomplished, under the protection of god, under the leadership of their wonderful chiefs, the emperor and the german princes, exploits whose glory shall shine in times to come! and more, what precious treasures of devotion, of love for one's neighbour, and of nobility, has not this war revealed, in our country as on the field of battle!" the curate august ritzl, however, falls into the sin of pride. "kultur has received an unheard-of impulse in germany; the human spirit has subjected the most diverse forces of nature.... a glance at the map shows us the german empire as the centre of europe. on all sides, near and far, enemies are intent on the ruin of our country. to the east the giant empire of russia threatens us--to the west, violent france, still strong despite her moral decay--allied with english perfidy and belgian cruelty; japan, serbia, and egypt have also declared war upon us" (pp. - ). well, reverend sir, before proclaiming the cruelty of the belgians, before asserting, from the vantage of the pulpit of truth, that serbia and egypt have declared war on germany, a little circumspection and critical sense would not have been out of place! let us also cite the sermon preached on the th august, in the synagogue of schwerin, by dr. s. silberstein, rabbi of the grand duchy of mecklenburg-schwerin. "they have forced us to put our hand to the sword; we execrate the perfidy with which our enemies are fighting us; we wish to ward off the danger that threatens us in honourable combat." so the jewish rabbis knew as early as the th august that it was germany that had been attacked, and that the other nations were forgers! useless to prolong the series.... we should be only repeating ourselves; for all the preachers, of whatever confession, repeat the same lesson, almost in the same words: "the war which has been forced upon us ... our treacherous enemies ... our loyal allies ... the cruel belgians ... our excellent soldiers, allying goodness to bravery ... our heroic leaders...." b.--untruthfulness. to describe frankly and completely the attitude of the germans in belgium during the present war, without speaking of their duplicity, would be an impossible task; so that the reader must not be surprised that on every page of our record we have pinned down at least one lie. we must not forget that modern germany follows the examples of bismarck, and that bismarck himself proclaimed that he had caused the outbreak of the war of by a skilful falsification of a government despatch. at the time of the centenary of the iron chancellor's birth--the st april, --the german newspapers gave their lyric enthusiasm a loose rein; but none of the endless dithyrambics consecrated to the glorification of the great man contained a single word of blame for the forgery itself--abominable as it was--nor for the ostentatious impudence with which its author confessed it. what honesty can we expect in a people which praises to the skies a forger because he was a forger, and a forger proud of his skill! . a few lies. number of _die wochenschau_ ( , p. ) contains a photograph in which we see sailors loading a gun installed among sand-hills. the inscription underneath (translated from the german) reads: "belgian gun, captured and served by german sailors on the coast of the channel." the channel! the germans have never been there: they did set out, full of enthusiasm, for calais, and then the shore of the channel, and then london. but in that direction they never got farther than lombartzyde, on the right bank of the yser. but they prefer to let it be believed that they command the channel, so they have chosen the channel coast for the site of their gun--on paper. then this "belgian gun" is of a curious type for a piece of belgian artillery; our guns have a rectangular shield, while the shield of the german guns is round--just like that in the photograph! finally, one may ask what the gunners are aiming at on this seashore, with their small gun? certainly not one of the english vessels bombarding the belgian coast, for these lie much too far out to sea; perhaps the germans are amusing themselves by firing shells at the shrimpers, to repeat their memorable exploit of the th september, ? well, that makes three flagrant lies to one single photograph! number of _die wochenschau_ ( ) gives on page a view of the interior of the palais de justice in brussels. here is the description--a french translation is given: "german soldiers in the hall of the assize court in the palais de justice of brussels. brussels having become the seat of the german general government for belgium, has naturally a strong garrison and a very animated military life. the famous palais de justice on the place poelaert also houses a great number of soldiers. nothing is more singular than the picture presented by this imposing and luxurious building with the new inmates in 'campaigning grey' who are installed there. a thousand precautions are taken so that nothing shall be spoiled; and while wherever the enemy has trodden on german soil it will be necessary to work for a long time rebuilding the buildings he has destroyed, no one will perceive, who sees the superb halls of the palais de justice in brussels, that the german soldiers are billeted there." to understand the full beauty of this pleasantry one has only to look at the picture. one sees there the linen which these soldiers are drying on clotheslines stretched across the "luxurious hall"; this, apparently, is one of the "thousand precautions" taken in order that nothing may be spoiled. it was desired to prove that england had already been forced to send marines into france. no. of the _illustrierte kriegs-kurier_, a semi-official, subsidized organ, represents "president poincaré visiting the british forces in france. one sees him reviewing the artillery of the royal marines." and we do see president poincaré passing in front of two ranks of british soldiers armed with rifles. but was it in france that this review took place, during the present war? consult the july number of the french illustrated periodical, _lectures pour tous_, for . on page you will find a photograph entitled "the consecration of the entente cordiale. m. poincaré, accompanied by the prince of wales, reviewing his guard of honour on his arrival at portsmouth ( th june, )." now the same personages and the same soldiers figure in the two photographs; and the surroundings are the same. the only difference is that one photograph was taken a moment later than the other. it seems that trickery of this kind is believed not to be a german speciality. our neighbours accuse the russians and the english of the same fault. but a kind of lie of which germany may boldly claim the paternity and the exclusive monopoly is that which consists in denying, or at least in considerably diminishing, the extent of their acts of vandalism. on the other hand, they try to deceive their readers as to the causes of the destruction of belgian towns. thus they are now trying to make people believe that louvain was not intentionally burned, but that the town suffered a bombardment. this is the legend which they related to dr. sven hedin, while calling his attention to the accuracy of their fire:-- "eleven miles to louvain. once in the town one goes a good way before coming to the first ruins. by no means all louvain has been destroyed by the bombardment, as is imagined. hardly a fifth of the town is destroyed. it is true that this fifth included many precious buildings, which cannot be replaced; particularly regrettable is the loss of the library. in the midst of this destruction, however, like a rock in the midst of the sea, rises the hôtel de ville, the proud jewel of the period of , with its six slender open towers. i went right round the hôtel de ville, and i could not with the best will in the world discover a scratch on these walls, with their prodigal richness of ornamentation. perhaps there may somewhere be a scratch from a shell-splinter which escaped my eyes. thanks to the excellence of the german fire not a single moulding of the six towers has been damaged. the reason for the bombardment of louvain is known. the civil population fired from the windows on the german troops at the time of their entering the town, and as this crime could not be punished otherwise, the houses were burned by bombardment. when the german soldiers sought to extinguish the flames in the houses adjacent to the hôtel de ville the francs-tireurs again fired on them with their carbines. _any other army in the world would have done the same_, and the germans have themselves profoundly regretted that they were forced against their will to resort to such means." (sven hedin, _ein volk in waffen_, p. .) they told the same story at termonde to herren koester and noske: "it is certain," say these gentlemen, "that termonde was not intentionally burned." on the other hand, the germans try to dissemble the extent of the damage inflicted. in the october issue of the official and propagandist _journal de la guerre_ they give a plan of louvain on which the parts destroyed are shown by shading. now this plan is falsified in two ways. in the first place, no distinction is made between the portion built on and that occupied by market gardeners, which is considerable; so that the ratio of the part destroyed to the part left intact is distorted. secondly, this portion is absolutely diminished; many quarters burned are shown as intact; to mention only one example, the old market, where only the college of the josephites and a few adjacent houses have been left standing, is marked as untouched by fire. there is yet another kind of graphic lie which is peculiar to the germans. they are experts at displaying sentimentality to order; a sentimentality, by the way, which goes ill with their incontestable cruelty. thus they have several times published photographs representing german soldiers sharing their bread or soup with french and belgian women or children. one is particularly inclined to let oneself be touched by the kindliness of these german warriors, who, after having been so treacherously attacked by the terrible "francs-tireurs," now take the bread from their own mouths to feed the starving population.... what these public demonstrations of german generosity and magnanimity are worth one may judge from the photograph published in no. of the _illustrierte kriegs-kurier_. (it is interesting to note that it is always the _kurier_, semi-official and subsidized, which bears the palm for sincerity.) the illustration shows that "the soldiers of the german landsturm share their bread with french children." now, this little scene, otherwise very convincing, is not laid in france but in belgium, in the railway station at buysinghen, near hal. it is wholly "faked." this is not the only instance in which the germans have built up scenes to be photographed or cinematographed. here is another. on the th october, , a military band had been playing on the terrace of the botanical gardens of brussels, and some german officers were strolling round the musicians. at the same time a cinematographic camera was set up in the rue royale. it was naturally hoped that large numbers of the public would gather near the band, so that a nice film could be obtained, showing a crowd of belgian citizens present at a military concert, and fraternizing with the german officers. alas, the germans had counted without the hatred which the people of brussels entertain for anything which concerns our oppressors! at the first thumps of the big drum the promenaders rapidly melted away, and the disappointed officers were left alone. the scheme had failed! a fresh attempt was made on the th, on the boulevard anspach, near the bourse; that is, at the busiest spot in brussels. the number of passers-by there is always so great that it is easy to give the impression of a crowd. yet those who had occasion to preside over the unwinding of the film discovered that not a few people were ostentatiously turning their backs upon the musicians. this, by the way, is the favourite attitude of the people of brussels when, at about eleven o'clock each morning, the military band--a true barbarian orchestra--passes down the rue royale and along the park. no. of this semi-official journal shows "the band of the german marines which plays every sunday at zeebrugge." now a street like that represented, with tall contiguous houses and large shops, does not exist in zeebrugge. no. of the same paper (it must certainly justify the government subsidy) shows us, in these photographs, the entry of the german marines into antwerp. only the photographs were taken in brussels, at the corner of the rue de la loi and the rue ducale. the same number contains two photographs of the hôtel de ville, louvain: "before and after the bombardment"(!) naturally our washingtonian enemies do not miss their opportunities of falsifying picture postcards. in january they were selling in belgium a card entitled _kriegsoperationskarte als feld-postbrief_ (published by forkel, stuttgart), according to which they were occupying, in flanders, a region considerably to the west of the yser; their front reaching to oost-dunkerke and poperinghe. another card, showing the country round verdun, is even more flagrantly untruthful. _written lies._ let us pass on to the written lies. the reader will remember the innumerable lies told by the german press respecting the attitude of the belgian population toward the german residents in our towns (p. ), the german wounded (p. ), and the german troops passing through or billeted in them. we shall not return to these again, save to refer to other inventions which the germans employed to excite their troops against ours. not content with accusing us of the most unspeakable crimes against their army, the germans have even accused us of odious crimes against our own countrymen. in this way they seek to prove the bestially ferocious character of the belgians. in the booklet entitled _sturmnacht in loewen_ (a night of alarm in louvain) herr robert heymann, after reminding his readers of the cruelties of which the belgians were guilty in antwerp, brussels, etc., adds that these savage deeds were by no means surprising on the part of a people which does not even respect its own fellow-citizens. then (p. ) he relates the "brutalities committed against a convent." this is too interesting an effort to suffer a word of suppression. brutal attack on a convent. let us hear one of those concerned relate his tribulations. the story constitutes an important document, testifying to the high level of germany as regards morality and _kultur_: germany, who has something better to do in this war than to commit any bloodthirsty action. a great mission has fallen to germany, and the day is no longer distant when all the neutral nations will realize this. this is the "story of the brothers of silence." the convent of the jesuits is situated quite close to liége, on a hill about yards from the southern fort (_a_). i had been a brother of the convent for two years. we brothers do not read the newspapers, and by reason of our vow of silence (_b_) we do not speak either, so that we knew nothing about the war. on tuesday, the th august, i, simultaneously with seven other brothers, took the watch from noon to midnight. in the night, at . , i suddenly heard a sound completely unknown to me. i went out into the courtyard, whence, to one side, i could see liége and its forts. i saw, at some distance, in the sky, a little light; this told me that the thing was in the air. i intended to pursue my rounds, but the snoring sound which was approaching, although the life of the world has no interest for me, made me halt. the light came nearer and nearer; the noise had ceased. the idea occurred to me that this might be a dirigible; but no, all of a sudden a blinding light illumined the earth. it is the star of the magi, announcing something, i thought; i will follow it with my eyes. in the radiance down below i saw everything plainly--portions of the fortress and other things. then, lit up by reflection from the illuminated earth, i saw that there really was a powerful dirigible there (_c_). i felt inclined to shout for joy; i had never yet seen a dirigible. the light lasted only a few seconds, but to me it seemed a long time. my eyes were not yet accustomed to the darkness of the night, when i heard a crash. i looked up to the sky; i saw nothing; the little light was quietly moving away; but down below there was plenty to see--fire, and smoke! in the light i could easily see everything. i also heard the echo. i had not had time to recover from my great alarm when a second light appeared on the earth, rather close to me. this time i could see still more clearly that it was a dirigible. it seemed to me that at the end of a long cable was suspended, very low down, a metal car, in which stood a man. i saw him distinctly with his two hands throwing an object into the illumined part. immediately afterwards the light on the ground disappeared. i continued, however, to gaze at the same spot. a mighty sheaf of fire gushed up, while great blocks were thrown into the air on every side. what a terrible crash! my ear-drums seemed broken; i was as though deaf. the earth trembled so violently underfoot that i staggered. greatly alarmed, i still watched the same place. the blinding sheaf of fire had turned into a dense mass of smoke, which was rising slowly into the air. little by little it grew lighter, like a white vapour. finally the vicinity lit up as though on fire. i tried to note whether the fire was spreading, when i was shaken by a fresh crash. this terrible spectacle repeated itself continually, but was gradually moving away. from . to midnight bombs were thrown on the forts. in the interval of the explosions one heard the snoring of the motors. after the last explosion the dirigible rose, moved off, and disappeared. i remained with my eyes fixed in the same direction; the clock of the convent struck midnight. the seven brothers who had been keeping the watch and i myself remained in the courtyard with those who came to relieve us. no one could think of sleep. the other brothers and the fathers (we were ) remained indoors, watching the burning fortress from the windows. as i was no longer on guard i went to seek a ladder, and in order to see better i climbed a wall situated a little farther down, and some feet high. i remained there until four o'clock. about two o'clock there began, down below in the city, a sound of isolated rifle-shots, and shouts which soon grew louder and louder. at last an infernal uproar reached my ears, and numerous fires broke out in that part of the city neighbouring on the convent. at four o'clock the bell called us to the church. it was an extraordinary thing: despite our alarm we all remained obedient to our vow of silence. we must not speak! but it became a real torment, for our devotions lasted for two long hours. by the shock of the explosions the beautiful stained-glass windows were bent inwards like sails swollen by the wind. the walls of stone, nearly feet in thickness, which surrounded the courtyard, showed long, deep fissures. when at a.m. we left the church the shots and the shouting were still more terrible, and the fires more numerous and farther towards the interior of the town. as usual, the porter opened the gate at six. how alarming! hundreds of belgians from the neighbourhood rushed into the courtyard. as we feared the convent might be sacked (_f_), the porter attempted at first to drive them back. a brother said: "go! you shall have all you want!" the misguided populace immediately seized knives and killed of our brothers and one father. i myself rushed to the bell in the courtyard and rang the alarm. armed with pitchforks and manure-forks and spades (_g_), the brothers rushed into the courtyard and drove out the mob. two brothers, who during the fight were carried away in the crowd, were discovered hacked to pieces, mangled as though by wild beasts. their bodies were a dreadful sight. a belgian brother, hearing the alarm, seized a fork, and so armed he rushed towards the gate, thinking to fight german soldiers. when he saw that his assailants were his compatriots he turned his arms against us, his brothers, shouting like a madman: "you are mad, you are mad!" after a brief struggle the fork was torn away from him. he was seized and thrown over the wall. he had turned his arms against his brothers; but above all he had broken his vow of silence. the fight had lasted barely a quarter of an hour. after the gate was closed--at . , our usual breakfast hour--we assembled in the refectory for our meal. despite these extraordinary events i was extremely hungry. we now felt safe. but when, after the twenty minutes which our meal lasted, we returned to the courtyard, we saw that the belgian brutes had in two places set fire to the convent. they had dragged our corn and hay under the wood-shed which stood not far from the convent; they had also pushed carts loaded with corn in the shock against the buildings and outhouses (_g_), and had set fire to the whole. the flames were already reaching the gable. it was no use dreaming of saving anything, for all the buildings were connected with one another. this was a sore trial. but it could not break our vow of silence, and, doubly mute, we watched the flames. our sorrow found vent in tears when we saw our superior burst into sobs. he came into our midst; as all the fathers may speak, he said aloud: "go and save what you can!" and we carried out his orders. rapidly we telephoned to the belgian authorities at liége to obtain help and protection. but to our great alarm _german soldiers_ appeared at this moment. as germany does not allow us jesuits within her frontiers, we were extremely anxious. on account of the presence of the german troops we wanted to carry back into the convent the precious treasures already brought into the court; but the leader of the german troops explained to our superior that this portion of liége was already in the hands of the germans. we therefore placed ourselves under their protection. we had no reason to regret it. the german escort came with eight automobiles, which bore our inestimable treasures into germany; paintings, which in our haste we cut from their frames and rolled like paper; our sacred golden vessels, and our fathers (_h_). in great haste we had dug a huge ditch, in which, without religious ceremony and without words, we buried our assassinated brothers and the father who was killed. while the fire continued to burn the hundreds of brothers remaining ran hither and thither in unspeakable disorder, seeking their clothes and shoes. i had wooden shoes on and could not find shoes to fit me; but i saw, to my great amazement, four pairs of shoes in my box. everything was stuffed into the boxes and forced down with the feet, in all haste. so, on saturday (_i_), at dawn, brothers left the still smoking convent to cross the german frontier. for three hours each painfully dragged along what modest belongings he had saved. one old brother of eighty years remained behind; he declared, when abandoned: "i wish to die here." although the german soldiers protected us as we proceeded, the belgian people still attacked us frequently. i received violent kicks, blows on the legs, and all over my body. for two nights none of us slept, and in addition we were greatly perturbed and in terrible trouble. when, after unheard-of exertions, we dragged ourselves across the frontier, we let ourselves fall exhausted in a meadow, where we slept, a leaden slumber, protected and watched by the germans, from morning to sunset. (robert heymann, _sturmnacht in loewen_, pp. - .) as will be seen, this is a story to make the flesh creep. still, it seems to us to present certain difficulties. (_a_) there is no convent of jesuits near liége about yards from one of the southern forts (boncelles, embourg, and chaudfontaine). (_b_) the jesuit brothers are _not_ compelled to keep silence. no doubt the author chose the jesuits because the order is excluded from germany, so that he would expect his compatriots to know nothing of the rule of the jesuit communities. (_c_) how did these brothers, who read no newspapers and never spoke, know of the existence of dirigibles? but apart from all this, the facts are incorrect. at no time did a dirigible fly over liége during the siege. the people of liége saw a german dirigible for the first time on the st september, , at p.m. on the following day, at p.m., they saw another. (_d_) therefore fires could not have been lit by the bombs from these dirigibles. (_e_) where have stained-glass windows ever been seen to bulge like sails under the shock of an explosion capable of cracking walls over inches in thickness? (_f_) nothing had happened so far to give any one the idea that the convent was about to be pillaged. (_g_) since when have the jesuit convents owned farms, etc., or been equipped with hay-forks, manure-forks, spades, hay-carts, etc.? (_h_) it is delightful to note that in enumerating the precious possessions of the convent the jesuit fathers occupy the very last place, after the pictures and the gold plate! but this impertinence is more apparent than real; for the narrator has just stated that the jesuit fathers were packed, together with the pictures and the sacred vessels, in _eight_ motor-cars! evidently they were very tiny jesuits. it must have been their minuteness that saved them; for the author has reminded us that jesuits (of ordinary size) are not admitted into germany; but these, happily, passed unperceived. (_i_) it was not saturday, but friday. it is by such inventions--presented as the narratives of eye-witnesses, and not as romances--that the germans excite against us both their troops and their home population. the method has given excellent results; nothing gives better proof of its efficiency than the first paragraph of the story of _the battle of charleroi_, in which we read that at the beginning of august many trucks passed through belgium which bore the inscription:-- _gegen frankreich mit mut, gegen belgiën mit wut._ (against france with courage; against belgium with rage.) which shows to what a pitch the minds of the german troops had been excited against us. _a "french dirigible" captured by the germans._ other inscriptions on the railway carriages and vans are not uninteresting to the student of _kultur_. on the th march, , we learned from ocular witnesses that a german dirigible was lost, on the th, at overhespen, near tirlemont. _la belgique_ of the th march contained a few details. brussels, _ th march_ (official).--the zeppelin dirigible l , returning yesterday from a fruitful voyage of exploration, came to earth in the darkness near tirlemont, and, during the process of landing, struck against some trees. it was rather seriously damaged, so that it seemed preferable to dismantle it. the operation was completed very rapidly by the soldiers of the aviation department of brussels, who were despatched to the spot. the dismantled parts will be transported to germany, there to be rebuilt. in reality the "rather serious damage" meant that the balloon was completely destroyed, and that twenty of the twenty-eight occupants of the cars were killed. so far we would not describe the report as a lie, as it does not exceed the habitual limits of our enemies' official telegrams. but this goes a little too far: at tirlemont the report was spread that the dirigible in question was french, and that it was skilfully captured by german troops; and on the trucks which bore the metallic remains of the zeppelin to germany was written, in large letters: _erobertes französisches luftschiff_ (captured french airship). this is no longer a manipulated truth, but a downright lie. _the transportation of the german dead._ here is another fraud of the same kind. when the number of the german dead is too great for burial on the field of battle they evacuate the surplus into other districts. the bodies are usually transported in closed vans. but sometimes these are lacking, and the bodies have to be packed into goods wagons. nothing outside indicates the contents of these wagons; it may be supposed that the authorities have no desire to publish the extent of their losses. for this reason the corpses are always hidden under something else; one sees passing, for example, what appears to be a trainload of sugar-beet, but in reality the bodies of soldiers are being transported. a biologist might call this an interesting case of protective mimicry. _some lying placards._ the german authorities have no scruples about posting up false news. for several weeks one might read, on the walls of the hôtel de ville at vilvorde, the following placard:-- notice. antwerp surrendered to-day with its army. the district commandant. (signature illegible.) vilvorde, _ th october, _. with its army! when the germans were all crestfallen at having laid hands on an empty nest! this is merely grotesque; but here are three placards which belong to the system of intimidation _à outrance_. we have already stated (p. ) that placards exhibited in louvain stated that the town of mons was forced to pay a fine because a civilian had fired on the german army. now the fact was wholly imaginary; never did any civilian of mons fire on the germans; never did they accuse one of having done so; so that they never had occasion to fine the town on that account. all is false here, from the first word to the last. while at louvain they were posting up the placard relating to mons, they were exhibiting at mons a notice according to which certain inhabitants of soignies had fired on the german troops. this also was a sheer falsehood. no such action was imputed to any inhabitant of soignies. at charleroi they advertised the statement that they had inflicted a penalty on anderlues for a similar offence. here, once more, both accusation and penalty were pure inventions. here is an equally untruthful placard. it was posted up at cugnon (luxemburg) early in october, , between the fall of the first forts at antwerp and the taking of the city. it announces the destruction of the line of forts between verdun and toul, and the march on paris (a month after the battle of the marne!). its principal interest lies in the signature: the burgomaster did not know of the placard until it was posted; the military authorities had simply forged his name. this did not prevent them from forcing the commune of cugnon to pay for the printing of these lies. _m. max's denial._ the most interesting example of lying by placard is undoubtedly that which was revealed by the burgomaster of brussels. on the th august one might read, on the walls of the capital, a notice in which m. max gave the lie to a placard posted at liége. this is it:-- city of brussels. the german governor of the city of liége, lieutenant-general von kolewe, yesterday had the following notice exposed:-- _to the inhabitants of the city of liége._ "the burgomaster of brussels has informed the german commandant that the french government has declared to the belgian government the impossibility of assisting it offensively in any way, as it is itself forced to assume the defensive." _to this assertion i oppose the most positive denial._ the burgomaster, adolphe max. brussels, _ th august, _. since their burgomaster declared the assertion to be false, no doubt could remain in the minds of the people of brussels. but, curiously enough, beside m. max's placard there remained a german placard, which had been posted two days earlier, and in which it was stated:-- on the th inst. the official french newspapers published a communication from the french government stating that the french armies being forced to assume the defensive would no longer be in a position to assist belgium in the matter of a military offensive. brussels, _ rd august, _. the only serious difference between the two texts was that at liége the burgomaster of brussels guaranteed the truth of the _communiqué_. so the impression was given that it was herr von kolewe who had the idea of bringing m. max's name into this ridiculous statement, in the hope of giving it some weight. but no! von kolewe was innocent of the forgery; it was the work of the german general staff, and was distributed by the wolff agency, as we learned a little later. the liége _communiqué_ is precisely the official german telegram as published everywhere--for example, in _les nouvelles_, "published by the authorization of the german military authority," at spa, on the th august, ; by the _n.r.c._, on the th august; by the _k.z._ (see _kriegs-depeschen_, p. ); and by the _frankfurter zeitung_ (see _der grosse krieg_, p. ). what, then, is the meaning of the first telegram posted in brussels--that of the th august, in which no mention of the burgomaster occurs? simply this: the german government was announcing to the whole world an item of "news" whose improbability required to be supported by the word of an honest man, such as the burgomaster of brussels. a lie so gross and flagrant might be published at liége, but not in brussels itself. unfortunately the germans had not succeeded in cutting off communication between liége and brussels; on the day after its appearance the liége placard had reached m. max, and he was able to issue his famous denial. the effect was tremendous. from that moment the people of brussels no longer believed any "official news."[ ] did the germans make any attempt to reply to the denial? none: why attempt the impossible? but they prohibited, with their usual heaviness, the publication of any placards, even by the municipality. important notice. the publication of placards, unless they have received my special permission, is strictly prohibited, those of the municipality of the city being included. (_signed_) von lÜttwitz, _general_. translated into the vulgar tongue this means: "when we germans lie we do not wish attention called to the fact." _how the officers lie to their men._ hitherto we have considered only those german lies which were addressed to the belgians. but there are better lies than these: they lie to their own troops. at the outset of the invasion of belgium the german soldiers were led to believe that they were already in france, quite close to paris, even in october and november . germans in cantonments near roulers, in flanders, believed that they were only eight miles from paris, and they used to ask the correspondent of the _nieuwe rotterdamsche courant_ to show them "a place they could see the eiffel tower from." this, it may be said, proves that in all armies there are soldiers of small intelligence, even in the german army. no: it proves that in this latter army the officers lie with method. you may judge. the soldiers tended in the hospital of the palais de justice in brussels used to date their letters "paris"; and it was by order of their superior officers that they deceived their families. the official journal, _deutsche soldatenpost_, in its issue for the th october, , contains a little poem entitled "hindenburg," whose third stanza commences: _vor paris aber steht das deutsche heer..._ (but the german host stands before paris.) this, be it noted, on the th october, more than a month after the battle of the marne. about the same time a soldier in antwerp learned from his officers that if the german army had not yet entered paris it was merely to avoid the plague, which was raging there (_n.r.c._, th october, , morning). after that, who can doubt that systematic lying forms part of the duties of an officer towards his men? . perseverance in falsehood. nothing is left to chance in the campaign of lies any more than in the military campaign proper. the great general staff organizes everything with the same care--the attacks of "francs-tireurs," the benzine syringes, the pastilles of fulminating cotton employed in the rapid starting of conflagrations--just as it organizes the manoeuvres of the press intended to direct the mentality of the troops towards a policy of pitiless repression. they even try to educate (which means, to pervert the minds of) the prisoners of war in their concentration camps. thus in no. of _la guerre_, a journal especially intended for prisoners of war (published the th march, ), a passage is reproduced from the "records of the war," by houston stewart chamberlain. here is an extract: "finally, one should read the notices on the detestable attitude of the civil population of belgium, of both sexes, in the present war: notices officially confirmed and attested in writing by several priests: according to which the populace, behaving a hundred times worse than ferocious beasts, have horribly mutilated and gouged out the eyes of poor wounded german soldiers, afterwards slowly stifling them by pouring sawdust into their nose and mouth." it will perhaps be objected that those who write of such things are blinded by the militarist spirit; that they have, like everybody in germany, abolished in themselves the critical faculty; and that they do not even dream of disputing the statements of the official journals; in short, that they do not, properly speaking, lie, because they are sincere. but can they really be sincere? could they, on the th march, pretend that they still believed that the belgians gouge out the eyes of wounded men and choke them to death with sawdust when _vorwärts_ had succeeded in getting at the truth, and had been protesting against these lies since the month of january? besides, the germans know their own "reptile" press, and they ought to realize that their newspapers do not merit credence, least of all in time of war. but even if we absolve these writers of the crime of lying, to accuse them of nothing worse than inconceivable credulity, we cannot on any pretext extend the same indulgence to those who are incontestably in a position to know the truth. to cite only one example--is it not shameful that baron von bissing the younger should publish _in april _, in the _süddeutsche monatshefte_, an article on belgium in which he repeats the accusations against the "francs-tireurs," and the tales of belgians mutilating the german wounded? and what are we to say of the reply made by the german minister of war to mlle. leman according to which the german troops have never ill-treated priests (p. ), nor touched the property of the church? a visit to bueken (near louvain) gives the reply to this twofold assertion. in may one could still see, in the sacristy, the muniment chest which had contained the sacred vessels; it had been broken open by the germans with the aid of a bell-clapper. as for the curé, m. de clerck, we know what he suffered; he was shot after his ears and nose were cut off. with the curé his assistant was killed: father vincentius sombroek, a conventual, born at zaandam, in holland.[ ] the picture-postcard has, of course, not been forgotten. the germans had on sale in brussels, for their soldiers, a coloured card of _the uhlans_ _before paris_. it shows groups of german cavalrymen contemplating paris and the eiffel tower. this card is published by r. and k., and bears the number . this same firm fabricated some remarkable cards relating to the military operations in belgium. no. represents the bombardment of antwerp. it shows the city in flames, seen from the tête de flandre, and it also shows guns installed in the same locality. now the germans never had guns on the left bank of the scheldt. no. shows the bombardment of namur by means of guns firing from jambes, which again is incorrect. these cards, it should be noted, were still being sold in june ; that is, when every one knew that these pictures were "faked." _the germans' treatment of mgr. mercier._ there are other examples of continuity of falsehood than those relating to violations of the hague convention and the treaty of london ( ). for example, a long series of lies was directed against one single individual--mgr. mercier, cardinal-archbishop of malines, primate of belgium. the facts are so well known that there is no need of lengthy comment. . mgr. mercier went to rome for the conclave. we learned in belgium, by a placard dated the th september, that the cardinal was returning to his country "with a safe-conduct, passing through the german lines." _a lie._--the cardinal never had any german safe-conduct. he returned to belgium by way of lyons, paris, havre (where he delivered a speech), london, and holland. . during his stay in rome the cardinal made declarations very unfavourable to the germans. a placard of the th september, , assured us that he protested against the interview in the _corriere della sera_. _a lie._--the _corriere della sera_ is a neutral journal (in the sense that the belgian _le soir_ is neutral), and the germans wished to produce the impression that the cardinal had been interviewed by a correspondent of this newspaper. now he was interviewed by the editor of the catholic journal, the _corriere d'italia_. this is merely one of the "errors" of cardinal von hartmann's rectification. the whole is in keeping with this; but it is too long to consider in detail. . baron von der goltz, at the moment of leaving belgium, of which he had been governor-general, thought fit to assert that he had come to an agreement with mgr. mercier as to the reopening of the courses in the university of louvain (_le réveil_, st december, ). _a lie._--there was never any question of resuming these courses. . the cardinal published his famous pastoral letter, which was sent to all the churches of his diocese, to be read from the pulpit. it recalled the present sufferings of the country, and adjured belgians to "remain faithful to their king and their laws." directly the germans, informed by their spies, knew of the existence of this pastoral letter they withdrew cardinal mercier's authorization to visit the other bishops in his motor-car. at the same time they forbade the curés to make the letter known to their parishioners; they even proceeded to seize the pamphlet in the presbyteries. naturally the priests refused to obey the german injunctions, and the beginning of the _mandamus_ was read from the pulpit on sunday, the rd january, . the germans were furious, and forbade the curés to continue the reading of the letter; and, the more readily to obtain their submission, showed them a german declaration, signed by von bissing, of which this is the translation:-- brussels, _ th january, _. to the clergy of the diocese of malines. as a result of my remarks, cardinal mercier of malines has declared to me verbally and in writing that he had no intention of exciting or alarming the population by his pastoral letter, and he had not expected any such effect. that he had particularly insisted on the necessity of obedience on the part of the population towards the occupier, even if a patriot should inwardly feel in a state of opposition. in case i should nevertheless fear an exciting effect, the cardinal did not insist on requiring of his clergy the repeated reading of the pastoral letter on the succeeding sundays, provided for in the conclusion of the letter, nor the distribution of the letter. my hypothesis has proved correct. i therefore repeat my prohibition of the nd january of this year, concerning the reading and the diffusion of the pastoral letter. i draw the attention of the clergy to this point--that they will be acting in contradiction to the written declaration of their cardinal in disobeying his prohibition. baron von bissing, _colonel-general_. _governor-general in belgium._ _a lie._--this declaration is false. mgr. evrard, dean of st. gudule in brussels, went to see mgr. mercier at malines, and obtained proof of the falsehood. he at once warned all the curés of brussels and the district of the manoeuvre, and on sunday, the th january, the reading of the letter was resumed. brussels, _ th january, _. monsieur le curÉ,-- i have returned from malines. despite the written prohibition received yesterday, his eminence the cardinal wishes his letter to be read. this written prohibition is cunning and spurious. "neither verbally, nor in writing, have i withdrawn anything, nor do i now withdraw anything of my previous instructions, and i protest against the violence done against the liberty of my pastoral ministry." that is what the cardinal dictated to me. he added: "they have done everything to make me sign mitigations of my letter; i have not signed them. now they seek to separate my clergy from me, by forbidding them to read it. "i have done my duty; my clergy know if they will do theirs." accept, m. le curé, the homage of all my respect. (_signed_) e. evrard, _dean_. . baron von bissing published in the newspapers a _communiqué_ stating "that no hindrance of any kind had been put in the way of the exercise of the pastoral duties of the cardinal-archbishop." _a lie._--the cardinal contradicted this assertion in a latin letter addressed to his clergy. mechliniae, _dominica infra octavam epiphaniae_. reverendi admodum domini et cooperatores dilectissimi,-- habuistis, ut puto, prae oculis nuntium a gubernio generali bruxellensi publicis ephemeridibus propalatum, quo declarabatur "cardinalem archiepiscopum mechliniensem a munere suo ecclesiastico libere adimplendo nullatenus fuisse impeditum." quod quam a veritate alienum sit, e factis elucet. milites enim, vespere diei primae januarii necnon per totam noctem insequentem, domus presbyterales invaserunt, litteras pastorales e manibus parochorum vel arripuerunt vel arripere conati sunt frustra, easque ne populo fideli praelegeratis, etiam sub poenis gravissimis, vobis metipsis aut parochiae vestrae infligendis, auctoritate episcopali despecta, prohibuerunt. nec dignitati nostrae pepercere, die namque secunda januarii orto nondum sole, hora scilicet sexta, jusserunt me, die eadem matutina, coram gubernatore generali, epistolae meae ad clerum et populum rationem reddere; die autem postero, laudibus vespertinis in ecclesia cathedrali antverpiensi praeesse me vetuerunt; tandem, ne alios belgii episcopos libere adeam, prohibent. jura vestra, cooperatores dilectissimi, et mea, violata fuisse, civis, animarum pastor et sacri cardinalium collegii sodalis, protestor. quidquid praedixerint alii, experientia nunc compertum est nullum ex epistola illa pastorali enatum esse seditionis periculum, sed eam potius animarum paci et publicae tranquillitati haud parum adjumento fuisse. vobis de officio fortiter et suaviter impleto gratulor, cui animo virili et pacifico, fideles estote memores verborum illorum quibus mentem meam plane et integre jam expressi: "soyes à la fois et les meilleurs gardiens du patriotisme, et les soutiens de l'ordre public." caeterum, "spiritu sitis ferventes, domino servientes, spe gaudentes, in tribulatione patientes, orationi instantes, necessitatibus sanctorum communicantes."[ ] ne mei, quaeso, obliviscamini in observationibus vestris, nec vestrum obliviscar; arcto fraternitatis vinculo conjuncti, unanimes antistitem, clerum et populum fidelem commendemus domino, "ut et quae agenda sunt, videant, et ad implenda quae viderint, convalescant."[ ] vobis in christo addictissimus, d. j. card. mercier, _archiepisc. mechl._ expostulatur à r^{do} admodum d^o decano relatio de iis quae in parochiis decanatus evenerunt. n.b.--non desunt in dioecesi clerici qui vestibus laïcis ad tempus usi sunt. jam nunc habitum clericalem resumant omnes. (_s._) d. j. [_translation._] malines, _the sunday of the octave of the epiphany_. very reverend gentlemen and well-beloved colleagues,-- you have, i think, had sight of the message from the general government of brussels, published in the newspapers, in which it is declared that "the cardinal archbishop of malines has in no manner been prevented in the free performance of his ecclesiastical office." the facts will show that this assertion is contrary to the truth. as a matter of fact, on the evening of the st january, and during the whole of the night, soldiers entered the presbyteries and took from the priests, or vainly endeavoured to take, the pastoral letter, and, in contempt of episcopal authority, forbade you to read it to the assembled faithful, under the threat of extremely severe punishment which would be inflicted on yourselves or on your parish. even our dignity was not respected. for on the nd of january, before sunrise even, that is, at six o'clock, i was ordered to present myself on the morning of that same day before the governor-general, to justify my letter to the clergy and the people; on the following day i was forbidden to preside at benediction in the cathedral of antwerp; lastly, i was forbidden to visit the other belgian bishops. as a citizen, a pastor of souls, and a member of the sacred college of cardinals i protest that your rights, well-beloved brothers, and my own, have been infringed. whatever has been pretended, experience has proved that no danger of sedition has resulted from this pastoral letter, but rather that it contributed greatly to the peace and tranquillity of the public. i congratulate you with having accomplished your duty firmly and harmoniously. remain devoted to it with a manly and peaceable heart, recalling those words in which i have already fully and entirely expressed my thought: "be at once the best guardians of patriotism and the supporters of public order." moreover: "be fervent in spirit; serving the lord; rejoicing in hope; patient in tribulation; continuing instant in prayer; distributing to the necessities of the saints."[ ] do not forget me, i beg you, in your supplications; neither will i forget you. all together, closely united by the bond of brotherhood, let us recommend the bishop, the clergy, and the faithful "that they may behold their duty and be strong to fulfil it."[ ] yours very faithfully in christ, d. j. cardinal mercier, _archbishop of malines_. the very rev. the deans are begged to report what has happened in the parishes of their deanery. n.b.--members of the clergy have for a time worn civil clothing. let all now resume their ecclesiastical clothing. . on sunday, the rd january, , the cardinal did not go to antwerp, as he had intended. the germans announced in the newspapers--in _l'avenir_ (antwerp), for example--that the cardinal's absence was voluntary. _a lie._--they had forbidden mgr. mercier to leave malines. * * * * * we have mentioned that while these things were happening the clergy continued to make the pastoral letter known in all the churches, except in those cases where the germans had succeeded in subtracting the copies of the letter. but even there the reading of the letter was resumed after a brief interval, when fresh impressions of the letter had been printed and distributed all over the country. this propaganda was, of course, secret; an official _communiqué_ published at namur, on the th january, , leaves no doubt as to that. it threatens the infliction of severe punishment on those who should distribute this document. to give some idea of the activity with which the pastoral letter was distributed throughout belgium, we may mention that we know of twelve different editions in french and two in flemish; there are, moreover, at least two typewritten editions. each impression numbered thousands of copies; of one single edition the germans seized , copies! we may add that a german translation also has appeared, but this is _ad usum germanorum_. the interesting passages are suppressed. the pastoral letter was not without results in rome. the belgian colony there organized a mass for the priests put to death in belgium, a list of whom was given by the cardinal. the organ of the vatican, the _osservatore romano_, translated "put to death" by _caduti_, "fallen." this vague term might allow it to be supposed that the priests had fallen on the field of battle, not that they were assassinated by the german troops. the german newspapers were jubilant. the _kölnische volkszeitung_, one of the leading catholic organs in germany, edited by herr julius bachem, published an article to show that the holy see had not been duped by the tricks of the belgians, and refused to credit the tale of priests put to death by the germans (see _het vaderland_, st march, , nd sheet, evening). the _düsseldorfer anzeiger_ also contained a long and far-fetched article in its issue of the th january. . the organization of propaganda. with the methodical spirit which they boast of possessing, the germans have from the outset of the war created bureaux for the propagation of the "german idea" throughout the world. some of these organizations of propaganda have for their province the neutral countries, among which, in the first rank, are the united states, the scandinavian countries, italy, holland, and switzerland. others deal with the occupied countries, or enemy countries, through the intermediary of prisoners of war and civil prisoners. finally, there are those that deal with germany and her allies. if we add to the bureaux of propaganda situated in germany, and operating thence, those established and operating in foreign countries, we shall begin to understand the power of expansion and penetration possessed by such instruments in the hands of unscrupulous people. again, we must reckon not only with the official or semi-official propaganda, devoid of the mercenary spirit, whose only object is the triumph of germany. there are a number of publishing concerns which pursue the same objects. besides her printed propaganda, germany makes use of other means, apparently accessory and occasional, but whose effects may become very appreciable; visits of german scholars and german politicians, especially socialist politicians; letters written by germans to friends or relations abroad; inquiries addressed to the scholars of neutral countries; promises made to notable persons, in the hope of obtaining their co-operation. one word before examining the working of these organizations. should we really classify them under the heading of "falsehoods"? after what we have said of the methods of the german press, and the mentality of the german rulers, no one will hesitate, we fancy, as to the place which falsehood must be accorded in this propaganda. but so that no doubt shall remain in the reader's mind, we will give a few quotations from the propagandist literature relating to belgium. (_a_) _propagandist bureaux operating in germany._ the most important of the propagandist pamphlets appearing in germany is a monthly publication. it is known, in french, as the _journal de la guerre_. we know it also in german and in dutch; probably it is translated into yet other languages. each number consists of to pages, and contains general information, a chronicle of the war, photographs and drawings, tales of the battles, etc. ... in short, everything that can influence the public opinion of neutral countries. in almost every number is an article tending to prove that germany was forced, for reasons of self-defence, to invade belgium; that belgium, moreover, had violated her own neutrality in advance; that the belgians amply deserve their fate, on account of their wicked treatment of wounded men (gouging out their eyes, etc.). we have already mentioned the _journal de la guerre_ with reference to a "faked" map of louvain. * * * * * the _journal de la guerre_ published an article by herr helfferich on a journey through belgium, undertaken in september . it is teeming with inaccuracies, but it would be waste of time to refute them all. we will confine ourselves to the first sentence, which states that the burgomaster of battice has been shot. now, this is untrue: the burgomaster of battice, m. rosette, who has filled his office for many years, is in excellent health, and is still living in battice. another publication--_la guerre--journal périodique paraissant durant la guerre de - _--is intended for prisoners of war. the best method of impressing the prisoners is assuredly to show them that in their own country people are already beginning to realize the indisputable superiority of germany. so _la guerre_ frequently publishes articles reprinted from _la gazette des ardennes_; only it forgets to mention that _la gazette des ardennes_ is a newspaper established, edited, and printed exclusively by germans, since the occupation. shall we take another example of duplicity? for the belgians, naturally, what their priests tell them has great weight with them. no. of _la guerre_ reproduces a passage from an article (which is mentioned on p. ) originally published by "the priest domela nieuwenhuis, of gand." here is a falsehood: m. domela nieuwenhuis is not a priest; he is a protestant pastor in gand. in the quotation m. nieuwenhuis says: "if we flemings had been properly informed...." (_la guerre_, no. , p. ). "we flemings," m. nieuwenhuis is supposed to have said ... and he is a dutchman. this is curious. let us compare this with the original text in _de tijdspiegel_, p. , st april, . there we find: "_indien wij hier in vlaanderen ... zouden zign voorgelicht...._" ("if we, here in flanders, had been informed....") the german forgers have been at work, and by a little tinkering at the text, they have made a dutch pastor pass for a flemish priest! to what are they not reduced! * * * * * the pamphlet _die wahrheit über den krieg_ speaks on p. of an international propagandist organisation established in berlin: the _commission for the publication of impartial news abroad_ (we translate from the dutch version). this commission publishes _correspondence for neutrals_, which aims solely at "distributing positive news concerning the working of social, juridicial, economic, and moral institutions and general culture in germany." its articles are especially intended for use by the press. it appears two or three times a week, in ten different languages, and will continue to do so during the war. it asserts that its expenses are covered entirely by private subscriptions. at the superior technical college of stuttgart is established the _süddeutsche nachrichtenstelle für die neutralen_ (south german news bureau for the neutrals). it publishes propagandist leaflets at irregular intervals and of various dimensions, which are intended to furnish "the verifiable truth as to the origin, course, and results of the war." the professors of the university of leipzig sent abroad a special number of the _leipziger neueste nachrichte_ of the th august, , which gave, in chronological order, "the truth about the causes of the war and the german successes." the truth! its capital falsehoods are too numerous for examination here. at düsseldorf is the _büro zur verbreitung deutscher nachrichten im auslande_ (the german bureau for distributing german news abroad). the french version of this title is _bureau allemand pour la publication de nouvelles authentiques à l'etranger_. observe, in passing, that _deutsche nachrichten_ is translated as "authentic news," which will not fail to surprise the reader. this bureau used to publish _le réveil_, a remarkable journal sold in belgium and the occupied parts of france. the _deutscher Überseedienst_ (german overseas service) busies itself particularly with the falsification of public opinion abroad. its publications are usually distributed gratis. for americans living in europe, germany provides _the continental times, special war edition and journal for americans in europe_, edited at the hôtel adon in berlin. to judge of the veracity of this journal, it is enough to read, in the issue for the th february, the article by herr j. e. noegerath, devoted to his journey through belgium. in this we learn that "malines was bombarded simultaneously by the belgians and the germans; the cathedral, somewhat seriously damaged, is about to be repaired by the germans." st. rombaut repaired by the germans! this exceeds even the german limits! well, the americans in europe have a chance of obtaining positive information. _the league of german scientists and artists for the defence of civilization_ (in french they make it _la ligue pour la défense de la civilisation_--for the _prevention_--which is just what it is!) is installed in the palace of the academy of science in berlin, unter den linden, . it publishes pamphlets; for example, that of herr riesser, on _the success of the german war loan_. as far as we know it has published nothing about belgium. * * * * * a very interesting method of propaganda is that which consists in attaching to business letters leaflets printed on very thin paper, giving "authentic" news in the language of the recipient. _the hamburger fremdenblatt_ has published many of these, at pfennigs for copies. they include, notably, _appeals to christians_; _an appeal to the catholic missions_, in german, english, spanish, portuguese, french, and italian; _an appeal to the protestant missions_, in german, english, and portuguese. another series of leaflets to be inserted in letters is published by the _bureau des deutschen handelstages, berlin_ (bureau of the german commercial conference of berlin). nine different leaflets appeared. no. and the succeeding leaflets are of different origin; these leaflets are now published by the _kriegs-auschuss der deutschen industrie, berlin_ (military commission of german industry). no. reproduces a proclamation by dr. schroedter, threatening to strip the belgians of all their copper, "down to the last door-handle." in germany also are published leaflets bearing no indication of their origin. one of these, entitled _what is the cause of the severity of the war?_ is curious for more reasons than one. (_b_) _propagandist matter issued by the publishing houses._ there are, to begin with, the numerous low-priced pamphlets which carry the gospel to the soldiers in the trenches, and enlighten the home population. the most voluminous and the most perfidious of these books is that of major viktor von strantz: _die eroberung belgiëns_. several publishing houses issue series of booklets, under some general title. we may mention:-- _krieg und sieg, , nach berichten der zeitgenossen_ (war and victory, , according to the accounts of eye-witnesses). _der deutschen volkes kriegstagebuch_ (the german people's diary of the war). _der weltkrieg, _ (the world-war of ), at pfennigs. besides these works, which are intended rather for the masses, we must mention others, intended for a more intellectual public. such are:-- _reden aus der kriegzeit_; _deutsche vortrage hamburgischer professoren_; _zwischen krieg und frieden_; _der deutsche krieg_; _kriegsberichte aus den grossen hauptquartier._ to these we may add works appearing in small isolated volumes at a low price, containing more especially diplomatic documents:-- _deutschland in der notwehr_ (carl schüsemann, bremen); _das volkerringen, _, f. m. kireheisen (universal bibliothek, leipzig). _urkunden, depeschen und berichte der frankfurter zeitung. der grosse krieg. eine chronich von tag zu tag_ (frankfurt, - ). we must not overlook the numerous illustrated publications, among which we may mention the _album de la grande guerre_, published by the _deutscher Überseedienst_, with explanations in german, english, spanish, french, italian, and portuguese. this collection contains a number of illustrations relating to belgium: for example, in no. we have "a zeppelin bombarding liége," which never happened (p. ): and no. gives us a view of the place des bailles at malines, "a quarter where the houses were destroyed by belgian artillery" (whereas the belgian artillery destroyed nothing in malines, and the place des bailles was not bombarded but burned). (_c_) _propangandist bureaux operating abroad._ not content with flooding neutrals with literature fabricated in germany itself, to such an extent that the former complained of the german importunity, the germans have also set up bureaux of propaganda in foreign countries. the most important of these, without doubt, is that which has been operating in the united states, under the direction of herr bernhard dernburg, ex-minister of the empire. herr dernburg has neglected no means of action, and has not feared to mount into the breach himself in his efforts to ensure the triumph of his cause. in belgium the propaganda was of a multiple nature. in the first place, the germans were careful to inform us, daily, by means of placards, as to the "actual" results of the military operations, and they distributed tens of thousands of copies of circulars relating to the "anglo-belgian conventions" (p. ), the griendl report (p. ), the retirement of italy from the triple alliance, etc. as these might not have enlightened us sufficiently, the german authorities took the press in hand, the result being such journals as _le réveil_ and the _deutsche soldatenpost_. they then censored the belgian papers in various manners. ( ) the germans wished to compel various papers to appear under their control. all those in the capital refused; but in the provinces certain newspapers, such as _l'ami de l'ordre_ (at namur) and _le bien public_ (at gand), accepted the german conditions. _l'ami de l'ordre_ was really and truly forced to appear; as it admitted, in a covert fashion, in its issues of the th and th august, and explicitly in those of the th october and the th november. ( ) the german authorities forced these journals, and others which have since been established, to publish propagandist articles, imposing penalties in case of failure. thus _l'ami de l'ordre_ (it was suggested that it might be called _l'ami de par ordre!_) was obliged to publish stories of "francs-tireurs" which it knew were inventions; and after the burning of the grand' place at namur (concerning which it knew very well what to think) it published, in large letters, on the th august, , a protest against francs-tireurs. on the st september followed an article describing the punishment of louvain after an attack by civilians. on the following day was further mention of the "leaders" who brought such terrible reprisals on their fellow-citizens. in order to make these flagrant lies "go down," the journal is compelled from time to time to repeat that it prints nothing but the truth (for example, on the th september). incontestably imposed, also, are the articles which basely flatter the germans; notably its excuses after its suspension ( th and th december) and its thanks to the military government of namur when the latter ceased to take hostages (on the th september). in this last issue is an equally characteristic article on the subject of the cathedral of reims; in this the german government pretends that it did not allege the presence of an observation-post on the cathedral. but one has only to read the official communiqués of the rd september in order to prove that _l'ami de l'ordre_ has been forced to lie to its readers. of course the germans deny that they demand the insertion of these articles (see _le bien public_, st november, ); otherwise their readers would cease to give any credence to these "belgian" papers. ( ) the principal mission of the censorship consists in suppressing all that displeases it and all that it regards as compromising. thus, for two months _l'ami de l'ordre_ did not publish a single communiqué from the armies of the allies, although it pretended the contrary in its issue of the th october. it was only on the th that it began to publish them; but it then borrowed them from the german papers, which was not perhaps a guarantee of exactitude. at the same time _le bruxellois_ stated that there were scarcely any french communiqués. as for _le bien public_, it was suspended during the whole of may , because the censorship would no longer allow it to publish the communiqués of the allies. the censorship had promised the journals whose publication it permitted (or demanded) that it would not mutilate articles, but would suppress them entirely (_le bien public_, st november, ). of course, it did not keep its engagements; for what engagement did our enemies ever keep? to realize how the censorship mutilates, curtails, and falsifies one has only to compare the official telegrams contained in the french newspapers with those which are vouchsafed us by the expurgated journals. here are a few examples; it will be seen that the censorship suppresses not only sentences and parts of sentences, but single words, and even parts of words. we will confess that this last procedure was totally unexpected, even on the part of germany, although her scholars have certainly acquired a habit of splitting hairs. the words in italics are those suppressed by the censorship:-- _la belgique_, tuesday, th january, ,--petrograd, _ rd january_. (official telegram from the great general staff).... german attempts to pass to the offensive in various places have been _easily_ defeated _by our artillery_.... on the st january enemy troops, in strength about a division of infantry, and supported by artillery, attacked our front in the kirlibaba region, _but they were repulsed_. up to the morning of the st january our troops had maintained themselves in their positions. _we have made prisoners._ _la belgique_, monday, st february, .--paris, _ th january_. (official, p.m.)--in belgium, in the nieuport sector, our infantry has gained a footing on the great dune which was mentioned on the th. _a german aeroplane was brought down by our guns._ in the sectors of ypres and lens, as in the sector of arras, there have been, intermittently, artillery duels of some violence, and some attacks of infantry were attempted but immediately _thrown back by our fire_. nothing fresh to report in the soissons, craonne, or reims districts. _it is confirmed that the attack repulsed by us at fontaine-madame on the night of the th cost the germans dearly...._ paris, _the th january_ (_official, p.m._).... _this morning, the th, a german aeroplane was forced to the ground east of gerbeviller. its passengers, an officer and an under-officer, are prisoners._ _la belgique_, thursday, th february, .--paris, _ st february_. (official telegram, p.m.).... to the south-east of ypres the germans have attempted an attack upon our trenches to the north of the canal, an attack which was _immediately_ checked by our artillery fire.... in the argonne, _where the germans appear to have suffered greatly in the recent fighting_, the day has been comparatively quiet.... paris, _ st february_. (official telegram, p.m.).... on the morning of the st february the enemy violently attacked our trenches to the north, béthune--la bassée. he was thrown back _and left numerous dead on the ground_. at beaumont-hamel, to the north of arras, the german infantry attempted to carry one of our trenches by surprise, but was forced to retreat, _abandoning on the spot the explosives with which it was provided_.... _la belgique_, friday, th february, .--paris, _ th february_. (official telegram, p.m.).... along the road from béthune to la bassée we have reoccupied a windmill in which the enemy had succeeded in establishing himself. soissons was bombarded _with incendiary shells_. _la belgique_, saturday, th february, .--paris, _ th february_. (official, p.m.).... in lorraine our outposts _easily_ repulsed a german attack on the eastern edge and to the north of the forest of purvy. _la patrie_ (brussels).--copenhagen, _ nd march_.--according to a communication from london in the _berlingske tidende_ the swedish painter, johnson, who was arrested as a spy, because he was making pretended luminous signals to german ships of war, is _said to have been_ acquitted for lack of evidence. to appreciate at its full value the mutilation of the official communiqués by the german censorship, it must be recalled ( ) that it had undertaken to leave the official communiqués untouched, and ( ) that the subservient portion of the press continued to call them "official telegrams." _sincerity of the censored newspapers._ at the outset the censorship used to allow newspapers to leave a blank space in the place of an article, phrase, or words deleted. but this procedure was too frank for the germans, and the readers were aware of it; so the german authorities forced the newspapers to fill up the blanks; and in order to facilitate their task they published a special typewritten journal, appearing in french and in flemish, _le courrier belge_, in which "all the articles had passed the censorship." editors, therefore, had only to select an article of the desired length in order to fill the gaps left by the official scissors. we may add that by the terms of a decision given in the court of first instance in brussels, the journals at present appearing in germany under the german censorship may not claim the title of belgian newspapers. it may readily be imagined what the censored journals have become under this delightful system. but a story which is told in belgium will perhaps give the reader a better idea of their vicissitudes. the soul of a soldier presents itself at the gate of paradise. "who are you?" says st. peter. after a long hesitating pause (for no one cares to make such a painful confession) the soul replies: "i am the soul of a german soldier." "you are an impudent liar!" cries st. peter. "i read the belgian newspapers with the greatest care, and they have not yet announced the death of a single german soldier!" on the th june, , the germans had a unique opportunity of proving that the german journals in belgian clothes, such as _l'ami de l'ordre_, _la belgique_, _le bien public_, etc., were still capable on occasion of speaking the truth. but they allowed the opportunity to slip. however, here are the facts:-- on the night of sunday, the th june, , towards . a.m., we were awakened by a furious cannonade and the explosion of bombs: allied aviators were bombarding the shed of the dirigible at evere, to which they set fire, destroying both shed and balloon. on the same day we learned that a second german dirigible had just been destroyed at mont st.-amand, near gand, by a british aviator. we awaited the next day's papers with curiosity. would they report the two incidents, making as little of them as possible, or would they keep silence? they merely stated that the german air-fleet had raided the english coast on the night of the th. of what happened on its return, not a word. in the _kölnische zeitung_, again, there was nothing said as to the disasters at evere and mont st.-amand. so the muzzled press of belgium and germany may speak of german successes (we are supposing, of course, that the bombardment of open towns _is_ a success), but as to the failures they are dumb. these are two facts which are known to hundreds of thousands of persons, and are therefore impossible of concealment. to keep silence, therefore, could have only one result, namely, to prove that the german communiqués are "faked," and that the belgian journals are muzzled: in short, that all news which comes from germany is adulterated. if our oppressors had published a short paragraph dealing with these two "accidents," then a few belgians, more credulous than their fellows, might have continued to believe that the word "german" can still on occasion be spoken in the same breath as the word "sincerity." but in their incomparable stupidity the censors (who are doubtless diplomatists out of a job) failed to realize that by preserving silence as to the raids of the british aviators they were for ever destroying the value of their newspapers. they rendered us a similar service, on this occasion, to that which they rendered when they forbade m. max to publish the statement that they were liars (p. ). we were well aware that the german was a shocking psychologist, but we hardly realized how shocking!... the incident is, as will be seen, the pendant of the story of the liége zeppelin. this dirigible raided liége on the night of the th august, and the raid was described in the german newspapers and even illustrated. unfortunately the raid never took place! a few days later the germans plunged even deeper into the mire. on the night of the th june the people of brussels once again heard the sound of guns, this time from berchem; but no one saw an aeroplane. next day the papers contained a paragraph stating that an attack by enemy aviators had been repulsed. did the raid really take place? it is doubtful; and in any case it does not matter. the essential point is that on this occasion the newspapers were allowed to speak. the governor-general, who has a keen sense of the fitting opportunity, chose this moment to inform us that a mischievous press was circulating in belgium (see _la belgique_, th january, ). nothing could be truer, as the reader has just seen. _persecution of uncensored newspapers._ naturally, the desire to obtain foreign newspapers became keener than ever in belgium as the untruthfulness of the censored journals became more apparent. to the notices published by the germans forbidding the distribution of "false news" (p. ) we may add an official communiqué which was reproduced in _l'ami de l'ordre_ on the th october:-- "any person who shall spread similar false reports, or cause them to be distributed, will be shot without mercy." (_d_) _various propaganda._ lastly, let us mention--without insistence, as they are already sufficiently familiar--various methods of propaganda which are individual, and apparently spontaneous, but from which the germans expect very happy results. all those belgians who have friends or relations in germany, and all those who are themselves of german origin, have incessantly been receiving, since correspondence between the two countries has been permitted, letters in which they are told that germany is sure of victory, that the belgians have been deceived by england and by their king, that the germans do no harm to any one, etc. these assertions are repeated with such regularity and monotony that they produce the impression of a lesson that has been learned; so, to avoid this unfortunate impression, the correspondents are careful to declare that they are only expressing their personal opinion. next, we may mention the foreign visits of german scholars; for example, that of herr ostwald (one of the ninety-three) to sweden, and that of herr lamprecht (another of the ninety-three) to belgium. herr ostwald's lectures have evoked a great sensation, but it was perhaps hardly the sensation germany had hoped for; moreover, the university of leipzig declared that it did not subscribe to the ideas of its sometime professor. the effort of herr lamprecht was more discreet; it was preceded by a written effort, but letter and visit had the same negative result. more insidious are the visits made to belgium by prominent german socialists: wendel, liebknecht, noske, koester, etc. they, too, hoped easily to convince us of the rights and, above all, of the superiority of germany. they went back with an empty bag; one may even venture to assert that they were rather shaken, since herr liebknecht complains, in a conversation with an editor of the _social-demokraten_, a norwegian organ, of the part which the socialist missionaries were made to play (_n.r.c._, th december, , evening). the _vossische zeitung_ has discovered another means of propaganda. this journal sent a paper of questions to dutch and scandinavian scholars, asking them what their science owes to germany. a shallow trick, this; every nation has naturally produced men of mark, to whom science has cause for gratitude. . the violation of engagements. the war began by the violation of a solemn treaty, to which germany subscribed in . the entire conduct of the war has been, as far as germany is concerned, a long series of violations of the hague convention of . germany alleges, in her own defence, that circumstances have altered since the period when these pacts were signed; that she was obliged to forestall france; that in case of absolute necessity, such as that in which she stood, she has the right to use all means of injuring the enemy, permitted or not (p. ); and moreover, that the torpedoing of the _lusitania_ (p. ), the employment of living shields (p. ), the use of toxic gases (p. ), and terrorization by fire and assassination (p. ), having proved efficacious, it is in her interests not to neglect them out of mere humanity, or a simple and childish respect for her own signature. it is hopeless to discuss the matter; it would be wasted pains, germany having decided to let her conduct be shaped by the impulse of the moment, without hampering herself with any anterior promises. she is fighting for her life, her publicists and statesmen never cease repeating, and she is free to throw all her engagements to the wind. "_not kennt kein gebot_," declared the chancellor, on the th august, and this convenient maxim has lost nothing of its popularity. but there are other engagements, engagements which germany has entered into with belgium since the beginning of the war, and which she has broken with the same ease: a promise to restore belgium's independence; a promise to respect our patriotism, a promise to pay cash for all requisitions once the tribute of millions frs. was paid, etc. our enemies can invoke no extenuating circumstances to mitigate these breaches of faith, for no change had occurred between the dates of making these engagements and their violation. _the independence of belgium._ on the th august, , the very day on which our country was invaded, the imperial government made one last effort to extort from england a promise of neutrality. it gave an assurance that even in the case of an armed conflict with belgium, germany would not on any pretext annex her territory (_livre bleu_, no. ). on that very day the kaiser and the chancellor made similar declarations: "we shall repair the injustice which we are committing towards belgium," said the chancellor. directly they had a newspaper at their disposal in belgium our invaders published an article assuring the belgians of their respect for whatever engagements they had entered into (see _l'ami de l'ordre_, th and th august, ). words, idle words! hardly were the germans, in boasting mood, able to style themselves conquerors, than they hastened to trample their promises underfoot. are the engagements of the berlin government anything more than so many scraps of paper, which may with impunity be declared null and void? such men as erzberger, losch, dernburg, maximilian harden, etc., all partaking in the public life of their country, found nothing was more urgent than to disregard whatever the emperor and the chancellor might have said, no matter how solemn the circumstances, and to make plans for the future in which belgium would remain wholly or in part annexed. _the promise to respect the patriotism of the belgians._ "i ask no one to renounce his patriotic sentiments," said baron von der goltz in the first of the somewhat extraordinary declarations with which he gratified us during his stay in our midst in his quality of governor-general (placard of nd september, ). _the forced striking of the flag._ every one was anxiously asking himself what was really the thought at the back of the baron's head; for we already knew the germans sufficiently to realize that so honeyed a phrase concealed some peril. but what? two weeks later the riddle was solved; it meant that the belgian national flag was "regarded as a provocation by the german troops" (placard of th september, ). a provocation of what or whom? of their national sentiment? well, and what of ours, which the governor-general was not asking us to renounce? it is true that after the appearance of this placard the military governor announced that he had "by no means the intention of wounding the dignity or the feelings of the inhabitants by this measure; its sole purpose is to preserve the citizens from any annoyance." in short, it was for our good that we were forced to haul down our flag. what was to be done? to resist would be to give the scoundrels who were oppressing us an occasion for exercising their murderous and incendiary talents on brussels. by a very dignified and very moderate notice, m. max, the burgomaster, counselled his fellow-citizens to yield. this placard, which was not subjected to the censorship, despite the order given by the germans, displeased them to the point of having it immediately covered with blank sheets of paper. but these were torn away by the people of brussels, or else they were rendered transparent by means of petroleum: in a word, every one could read the burgomaster's protest. but as it was expected, with a good show of reason, that the germans would soon cause it to disappear completely, many persons copied the placard, or even photographed it; and for a long time numbers of the inhabitants of brussels carried upon their persons, like a precious relic, a copy or a photograph of m. max's famous placard. _the belgian colours forbidden in the provinces._ while the withdrawal of the belgian flag was demanded, in the provinces a hunt was conducted for the belgian colours used in the decoration of shop-windows. the german police would enter the shops and demand the immediate removal of all tricolour ribbons decorating the windows. military court. henry dargette, of namur, place arthur borlée, , was punished with a fine of marks, or days' subsidiary detention, in accordance with § of the imperial decree of the th december, , for having disregarded the communiqué of the imperial government of namur of the nd april, . he had exposed in his shop-window boxes of tin-plate with the french, british, russian, and belgian colours. (_l'ami de l'ordre_, - july, .) in brussels it was a long time before they decided to take measures against the wearing of the tricolour rosettes which so many people carried in their buttonholes; in the streets, at least two persons in three displayed our colours. this persistence on the part of the belgians in publicly displaying their patriotic sentiments is extremely annoying to the germans. for proof we need only turn to the letter from brussels published in the weekly illustrated supplement of the _hamburger fremdenblatt_ for the th april, : "one does not see a schoolboy, not a schoolgirl, not a lady, not a gentleman, who does not wear, in an obvious fashion, the belgian cockade." in certain towns--for example lessines, gand, and dinant--this kind of manifestation is prohibited. at namur the fine may amount to frs.; the placard which threatens this penalty is conceived in the involved and nauseating style which we encounter every time the germans inflict on us a particularly disgusting piece of hypocrisy. in particular it is stated that it is forbidden "_publicly_ to display the belgian colours." no doubt it is permissible to have them floating about in one's pocket, or to decorate the interior of one's chest of drawers with them. this is how the teuton tartuffe "asks no one to renounce his patriotic sentiments":-- government communiquÉs. one may observe, of late, in a great proportion of the inhabitants of the town, as well as in the young school-children, a tendency to manifest their patriotic feelings by wearing, in an open manner, the belgian colours, under different forms. i am far from wishing to offend their feelings; on the contrary, i esteem and respect them. but, on the other hand, i cannot but perceive, in this form [of display], that it is desired thereby publicly to express a demonstration against the present state of affairs and against the german authority, which i expressly forbid. i consequently direct: it is strictly forbidden to place in view, publicly, the belgian colours, either on oneself, or on any objects whatever, in no matter what circumstances. contraventions will be punished by a fine which may amount to frs., unless, according to the gravity of the case, the contravention is punished by imprisonment. this regulation does not at any time prevent the wearing of official decorations by those who have the right to do so. lieutenant-general baron von hirschberg, _military governor of the fortified position of namur_. (_l'ami de l'ordre_, th november, .) _prohibition of the belgian colours in brussels._ suddenly, without any pretext, the sight of the little tricolour decorations worn by the people of brussels began to offend the germans, and the national emblem was prohibited from the st july, . the prohibition was posted only on the th of june. it made a distinction between the belgian colours, the wearing of which was tolerated if it was not provocative, and the colours of our allies, the display of which, even if not provocative, was absolutely prohibited. how were our german bumpkins going to make this much too subtle distinction between provocative and non-provocative display? this evidently left the door open to all sorts of arbitrary actions. so the people of brussels judged it prudent to renounce their badges entirely. a few, however, replaced the rosette by an ivy-leaf, the emblem of fidelity in the language of flowers. what were the germans to do now? prohibit the wearing of the ivy-leaf, perhaps, for by the th july they had forbidden the manufacture and sale of artificial ivy-leaves, whether of cloth or paper. but they did not persist in this course. for the first time since we had been subject to them they conceived a witty idea. they themselves began to display the ivy-leaf; from that moment this emblem could not decently be worn by any of us. it would be interesting to know who inspired them with this ingenious idea. _the "te deum" on the patron saint's day of the king._ let us note the date of _l'ami de l'ordre_ which contained baron von hirschberg's announcement: the th november, the patron saint's day of the king. the same copy of the paper reproduced an article from _düsseldorfer general anzeiger_, which doubtless had escaped the censor, doing homage to the valour of the king and queen. on the following day _l'ami de l'ordre_ had to announce that the usual _te deum_ would not be performed. why was the ceremony suppressed? the paper did not say; but we can easily guess; the superior german authorities had decided otherwise. in brussels also the _te deum_ of the th november was prohibited. it was decided to replace it by a mass which would be sung at o'clock in the church of st. gudule. by . the church was overflowing with people; but towards . a priest passed quietly through the ranks of the faithful, announcing that the singing of the mass had been prohibited by the germans, and that it would be replaced by a low mass. after this some hundreds of persons repaired to the palais royal, to the gate in the rue bréderode; they expected that a book would be there, as usual, to receive their signatures. the register had been there, but the german authorities had removed it. the callers then decided merely to leave their cards; but a palace servant came to inform them that the germans, after removing the register, had also forbidden the formation of assemblies near the palace, and had even made some arrests; he therefore begged the public to disperse. more respect for patriotic sentiments! _the portraits of the royal family._ since then it has been forbidden to sell portraits of the royal family published since the outbreak of the war. in particular those picture-postcards are prohibited which represent the king as a soldier, the king with his staff, the king in the trenches, the king on the dunes, the king with general joffre, the king at furnes, the queen as a nurse, prince leopold as a trooper, etc. the prohibition is applied with an incoherence which accords ill with the wonderful spirit of organization with which our persecutors are credited. in certain parts of brussels the vendors have never been disturbed; in others, they may sell the cards in the shops, but may not expose them in the windows; elsewhere it is a crime even to have the cards in stock. in short, all is left to the caprice of the police. these make the round of the stationers' shops, seizing all prohibited cards, and very often, too, seizing other cards on their own initiative and for their own use. to a stationer who was privily selling us some prohibited cards, we put the question, whether the police did not often enter his shop, in order to seize whatever displeased them. "what displeases them?" he replied. "no, no; they seize more particularly whatever pleases them!" another merchant, who was summoned to attend at the german police bureau in the rue de l'hôtel des monnaies, was assured by the commissioner that the police had the right to take "everything that might excite the patriotism of the belgians." this official put his own interpretation on baron von der goltz's regulations with regard to patriotism. not far away, at st. gilles, on sunday the th february, an under-officer brutally snatched away the national flag which covered the coffin of a belgian soldier. here is another example of individual ideas as to the respect to be paid to patriotism and piety. while in brussels the germans prohibited only the more recent royal portraits, at gand, in february , the commandant of the magazine,[ ] in order to show his zeal, forbade the sale of any portraits of the royal family, of whatever date or nature. the burgomaster of gand has received the following letter, the communal administration sending us a translation of the same:-- . mob. etappen kommandantur. reference no. . gand, _ th february, _. to the burgomaster of the city,-- i beg you again to draw the attention of all the booksellers, stationers' shops, etc., by hand-bill or by means of the newspapers, that they are forbidden under any circumstances to display the portraits of the royal family of belgium, either in the windows or in the interior of the shops. those who act otherwise will be severely punished. the commandant of the magazine, p.o. (_signed_) henz. (_le bien public_, th february, .) the german persecutions were resumed with renewed vigour on the approach of the th april, the king's birthday. at antwerp the germans took care to forbid, in advance, anything that might have passed for a royalist manifestation; but the inhabitants succeeded, none the less, under their enemies' noses, in celebrating their sovereign's anniversary. elsewhere the germans, in their incorrigible meanness, had a different inspiration. they suddenly had an intuition that the communal administrations of brabant were going to dismiss the schools in honour of the king. immediately circulars were distributed, forbidding the closing of the schools on that day. but these ineffable blunderers had forgotten one thing: namely, that the th of april fell in the middle of the easter holidays! certain communes permitted themselves the malicious delight of inquiring of the germans whether they must recall the pupils for the th of april? the germans, of course, missed the irony of the situation, and replied that it would not be necessary to resume the classes. their second letter contains a particularly delightful sentence: "my will is merely that instruction shall not be specially interrupted in honour of the anniversary of h.m. the king of the belgians." another example of the unshakable determination to respect the belgians' patriotism! _obligation to employ the german language._ these letters are written in german. for that matter, it has become a rule with our enemies to write only in their own tongue, and often even in german characters. better still: at liége and namur (_l'ami de l'ordre_, st august, ) they required the belgians also to write in german. yet another way of respecting our patriotism! _the belgian army is our enemy!_ far from making an effort to respect our feelings, one would even imagine that they must make it a point of honour (german honour) to wound our loyalty. thus, when they punish any one for rendering service to the belgians, instead of expressing the matter simply, as we have done, they announce that the belgian is convicted of relations with the enemy. they are speaking of their enemies. but "the enemy" implies that the belgian government or the belgian army is the enemy of the belgian people. better still: they inform us, by means of placards, that to aid the belgian army is "treason." the belgian becomes a traitor by rendering a service to his country! what a singular conception of honour! warning. the military tribunals have lately been compelled to condemn to hard labour for attempted treason a large number of belgians, who had assisted their compatriots subject to military service in their attempt to join the enemy army. i again warn [the public] against committing such crimes against the german troops, in view of the severe penalties which they will incur. the governor-general in belgium, general von bissing, _colonel-general_. brussels, _ rd march, _. _the "brabançonne" prohibited._ at namur the _brabançonne_ was declared seditious on the rd march, . but a month later the execution of the _first four verses_ was declared to be permissible. what did the germans mean by that? let us remember that none of the known versions of our national song (the two versions of jenneval and that of rogier) consists of more than four verses. which, then, are those that our persecutors forbid? in their rage for prohibition they have prohibited something that does not exist!--unless they were speaking of the verse invented by _la libre belgique_, and published in its tenth issue. it would be amusing if the german authorities had fallen into a snare set by a prohibited newspaper! in brussels the germans had not dared openly to interdict the _brabançonne_, as they did another national anthem which had, so to speak, the freedom of the city of brussels: we mean the _marseillaise_ (placard of the th march, ). never did one hear the _marseillaise_ so often as after the germans forbade us to sing or play it; only it was now whistled. so, as might have been expected, whistling the _marseillaise_ was made a crime. as for the _brabançonne_, it was prohibited in an underhand sort of way. it used to be sung every day in a school in brussels; but two german soldiers of the landsturm, who were guarding a neighbouring railway, heard it, and felt offended. hence a letter to the communal authorities, demanding that the national anthem should be sung or played with more discretion. it is now seldom played save in the churches: at high mass on sunday and the funeral services for soldiers. _the national anniversary of july st._ in july the people of brussels hit on a new method of celebrating the national anniversary of the st july. since our tyrants would obviously forbid us to fly our flag at half-mast, in token of our being for the time in mourning for our country, a number of shopkeepers announced, by means of a small printed notice, that "the shop would be closed on wednesday, the st july." the germans were displeased; moreover, they issued a decree forbidding all demonstrations. st july. _order of the governor of brussels dated th july, ._ i warn the public that on the st july, , demonstrations of all kinds are expressly and severely prohibited. meetings, processions, and the decoration of public and private buildings also come under the application of the above prohibition. offenders will be punished by a term of imprisonment not exceeding three months and a fine which may amount to as much as , marks, or by one of these penalties to the exclusion of the other. they also announced, by means of the newspapers in their pay, _le bruxellois_ and _la belgique_, that the closing of the shops might be regarded as a demonstration. their pains were wasted. on the morning of the st the shops and cafés remained closed; in private houses the shutters were not opened. in all brussels only a few taverns were open--taverns frequented by the germans, which a belgian would never compromise himself by entering. all that day it was a comforting and impressive spectacle to see the crowd, in its sunday clothes, grave and deeply affected, with never one uplifted voice, passing along the streets of closed houses. never had the like been seen in brussels. no one would have dared to hope for such unanimity of feeling after eleven months of occupation. the germans were raging. they brought out troops, who, with bayonet and cannon, occupied the principal public squares; they ran an armoured motor-car up and down the most frequented streets; they dragged artillery along the avenues surrounding the city. but they did not succeed in fomenting the slightest disturbance; the brussels public was too firmly determined to preserve its dignity and its tranquillity. in all the churches the _te deum_ was replaced by a high mass, followed by the playing of the _brabançonne_; the latter was sung in chorus by the congregation, who were moved to tears. the comic note was struck by the germans. suddenly, in the afternoon, motor-cars began to hustle the crowds that had gathered; they bore red placards, which were immediately pasted up, announcing that the cafés, cinema-halls, etc., were to be closed at p.m. now all these establishments had been closed since the morning. the germans must have lost their heads to make so grotesque an exhibition of themselves. as a sort of reprisal, the authorities suspended the two newspapers which had not appeared on the st july: _le quotidien_ and _l'Écho de la presse_. immediately _la belgique_, which had appeared, suspended itself, in order to produce a belief that it was not german! as for the _bruxellois_, it said not a word of the striking demonstration of the st. in other belgian towns the shops were closed. in antwerp more than the shops were closed; the bureau of german passports, in the place verte, announced, by means of two written notices, in german and flemish, that it was closed for the st july. the germans were trying to repeat the trick of the ivy-leaf. in vain, however, since the st was to occur only once! at gand the germans forbade the closing of the shops. and the latter were all open. but in many windows one saw, instead of the usual display of goods, a group of articles which comprised a bucket of water, a scrubbing-brush, and a chamois leather, with an inscription: "cleaning to-day." _the anniversary of the th august._ we must suppose that the unanimity with which the houses of brussels were kept shut up touched the germans in a sore place, for they prohibited the repetition of their manifestation on the th august, the anniversary of their entrance into belgium. notice. i warn the population of the brussels district that on the th august any demonstration, including the decoration of houses by means of flags and the wearing of emblems as a demonstration is strictly prohibited. all gatherings will be dispersed regardless by the armed forces. also i order that on the th august all the shops, as well as cafés, restaurants, taverns, theatres, cinemas, and other establishments of the same kind shall be closed after o'clock in the evening (german time). after o'clock in the evening (german time) only persons having a special written authorization emanating from a german authority may remain in or enter the streets. persons contravening these orders will be punished by a maximum imprisonment of five years and a fine which may amount to , marks, or one of these penalties to the exclusion of the other. the shops and establishments beforementioned which, as a demonstration, shall close during the day of the th august will remain closed for a considerable period of time. the military government, von kraewel. _ st august, ._ the placard announcing these prohibitions forbade us to deck our houses with flags! flags, good god! who then would have dreamed of flying flags in commemoration of the rupture of an international pact! at the most the people of brussels had intended to wear in the buttonhole a little "scrap of paper." but the wearing of emblems was forbidden. what the germans did not think of forbidding was the little demonstration of sympathy which they received on the evening of the th. in conformity with the order, all doors were closed at hours ( o'clock german time). but in several of the popular quarters of brussels the inhabitants were no sooner indoors than the upper windows were thrown open, and a deafening concert issued forth, in which phonographs, alarm clocks, and saucepan-lids were predominant. the patrols demanded the closing of the windows; but the people climbed on the roofs to continue their _charivari_ there. the military commandant was not pleased. it took him only five days to think of an appropriate punishment. official communication. m. maurice lemonnier, acting burgomaster of the city of brussels, has just had posted the following communication:-- "_to the inhabitants of the rue de l'escalier and the rue du dam_: "i place before you the translation of an extract from a letter which i have just received from the german authorities. "i call your attention to the penalties announced against those who shall contravene the measures ordained by the german military government." brussels, _ th august, _. _at the sheriff's college, brussels._ ... even if i am willing to recognize that the administration of the city endeavoured, by means of its organs, to obtain the application of the prescribed measures on the th of this month, there yet remains the fact that in two streets isolated individuals were guilty, in a demonstrative manner, of gross misconduct toward the german patrols. it is to be regretted that it has not been possible to discover the persons individually guilty; consequently nothing is left me to do but to take measures against the streets in which the offences were committed. consequently i order the following as regards the two streets, rue de l'escalier and rue du dam: from monday, the th of this month, and for the space of fourteen days, that is to say, until the rd of this month inclusively: a. all business houses and cafés will be closed after o'clock in the evening (german time). b. after o'clock in the evening (german time) no one must be found out of doors, in the street. after that time all windows giving on the street must be closed. it is incumbent on the city to communicate the foregoing to the inhabitants of these streets, to apply the aforementioned measures, and to exercise a strict supervision in order that they may be observed. also i beg you to see that these streets are sufficiently lighted, until o'clock at night (german time). moreover, i shall have these streets inspected by german patrols. if on this occasion fresh offences are committed against the german patrols, these latter will make use of their weapons. with my utmost consideration (avec haute considération distingué), (_signed_) von kraewel, _governor of brussels_. our tyrants appeared greatly to fear popular demonstrations. the people of liége had planned to honour, on the th august, in the cemetery, the soldiers who died for their country during the defence of the city in august . immediately the germans made public their restrictive measures. city of liÉge. _to the population._ colonel von soden, commandant of the fortress of liége, has just addressed to me the following letter (in translation):-- "in the course of the morning of friday, the th august, commemorative ceremonies will take place at the tombs of the soldiers killed in combat. "i beg you to bring the foregoing to the notice of the population. "i particularly insist that, during the visit to the tombs, or in case of participation in the military ceremonies, no demonstrative manifestation of any kind must occur." liÉge, _the nd august, _. the burgomaster, g. kleyer. (_posted at liége._) the people of liége retorted by putting their shops in mourning, and on the th august it was an impressive spectacle to see the shop-windows throughout the centre of liége hung with deep violet. _school inspection by the germans._ in the schools the children were for a long time able to sing _la brabançonne_ on the sly; but this was not to last. the german authorities passed a decree against germanophobe demonstrations in the schools. order. _article first._ the members of the teaching staff, school managers and inspectors, who, during the occupation, tolerate, favour, provoke, or organize germanophobe manifestations or secret practices will be punished by imprisonment for a maximum term of one year. _article second._ the german authorities have the right to enter all classes and rooms of all schools existing in belgium, and to supervise the teaching and all the manifestations of school life with a view to preventing secret practices and intrigues directed against germany. _article third._ whosoever shall seek to oppose or prevent verifications and inquiries relating to infractions mentioned in article , or the measures of supervision ordained by article , is liable to a fine of to , marks or to a maximum imprisonment of six months. _article fourth._ the infractions provided against in articles and shall be tried by the military courts. brussels, _ th june, _. der general gouverneur in belgiËn, freiherr von bissing, _generaloberst_. our children will have to unlearn the national anthem, which, in the present circumstances, is evidently germanophobe; and the teachers of history, too, must keep a watch upon their words. during the french lesson there must be no more recitations of andrieux' _le meunier de sans-souci_. it may even be necessary to make deletions in the latin classics; for one can see the military tribunals inflicting severe penalties on tacitus, for even in his days _gallos certare pro libertate, batavos, pro gloria, germanos ad prædam_ (the gauls fight for liberty, the batavians for glory, the germans for pillage). another latin author who would certainly be proscribed is velleius paterculus; he states in his roman history: _at illi_ (_germani_), _quod nisi expertus vix credat, in summa feritate versutissimi natumque mendacio genus_ (the germans ally an extreme ferocity to the greatest knavery; they are a race born to lie; and one must have mingled with them to believe this). velleius paterculus was a good observer. * * * * * the morality--or immorality--of this long series of broken engagements, which might be indefinitely prolonged, has had the result that no one can any longer put his trust in germany. none the less does germany continue to make promises, and is even annoyed and irritated when one doubts her word. thus the chancellor said, in a speech delivered to the reichstag on the rd may, , at the time of the negotiations with italy:-- "germany had given her word that the concessions offered [by germany] should be actually accorded [by austria][ ]; consequently there could no longer be any reason for distrust." italy, strong in the experience acquired by belgium, decided, on the other hand, that there was reason for distrust from the moment germany pledged her word; and accordingly she broke off negotiations in order to declare war. c.--incitements to disunion. _divide et impera_ ("divide in order to rule") is a maxim which has largely inspired the germans in their relations with the belgians. they therefore do their utmost to divide the nation from its king, to excite the belgians one against another, and finally to kindle discord between our allies and ourselves. we have just seen by what unjustifiable methods, after promising to respect our patriotism, they proceeded systematically (as they do all things) to thwart our sentiments of fidelity to our king and our nationality. not content with opposing--sometimes openly, sometimes with hypocrisy--all our loyalist manifestations, they endeavour to embroil us with our sovereigns. _incitements to disloyalty._ while they accuse the belgian nation of having sold itself to the triple entente, they hold the king personally responsible for this "conspiracy." having become the "valet" or the "slave" of england, the sovereign could not accept the friendly hand which the kaiser tendered him on two occasions--the nd and the th of august, . at antwerp the germans alone appear to have heard the absurd declaration, that he vowed to "die in the city with his last soldiers." then he betrays his army and "takes to flight, amid the maledictions of his subjects," deserting them for those that seduced him. then we have him on the yser, the melancholy king "abandoned by god." he would ask nothing better than to conclude peace. but england holds him still in her toils, and prevents him from accomplishing this wise project. it is _le réveil_, that peculiarly truthful newspaper of düsseldorf, which reveals this sinister exploit of albion. the _hamburger nachrichten_ receives the same report from brussels. king albert wishes to make peace. hamburg, _ th november, _. from brussels the _hamburger nachrichten_ hears from a very reliable source that the report is confirmed which states that serious differences exist between belgium and england--that is, that all personal relations are interrupted between king albert and the british staff. the king desires an understanding with germany, which great britain is endeavouring by all means to prevent. (_vossische zeitung_, th november, .) the propagandist pamphlet _lüttich_ is less severe to our sovereign, since it invokes, as an extenuating circumstance, his "blindness, which verges on stupidity." incommensurable pride or imbecility--such are the characteristics of king albert! do these paladins of tact and delicacy show any greater respect for our queen? be sure they do not! an article on king albert and the triple entente, in the _deutsche soldatenpost_ of the th october, , a newspaper intended both for the troops and the belgian public, states: "from the outset the queen was initiated into the king's plans. she has not uttered a single word of reproach for the horrible brutalities of which the principal victims were innocent young german girls in brussels and antwerp." well, we know that none of these "proofs" have shaken our fidelity. despite all prohibitions, despite all the fines imposed, thousands of copies of the portraits of the king in the midst of his troops, and of the queen, our dear little queen, tending the wounded, are sold every day of the year. the patriotism of the belgians is certainly incurable! _the walloons incited against the flemings._ so the germans sought a new device. as they could not cause disunion between the people and the sovereign, they tried to sow dissension between the citizens themselves, by envenoming the problem of language and reviving political rancour. at first they exploited, in the most virulent manner, the flemish-walloon conflict. as in all countries in which several tongues are spoken, there is naturally in belgium a struggle between the flemings, who speak a germanic language, and occupy the northern portion of the country, and the walloons, who speak a latin tongue, and occupy the southern provinces. but this conflict, however lively it may have been, has never touched the foundations of our national conscience, and we have always felt ourselves belgians before everything. at the outset, confesses herr kurd von strantz, the germans did not realize what profit they might derive from the antagonism of races in belgium: an antagonism which they believed to be profound, but which was only skin-deep. since the month of august, however, they have been trying to make up for lost time; they no longer lose a single occasion to excite the flemings against the walloons, and in particular they seek to make the latter believe that the flemings already entertain feelings of sympathy towards their executioners. only two months after the occupation of the capital the germans, organizing their conquest, attempted to win over the flemings by feigning to espouse their grievances and by exploiting their racial relationship, in order to divide them from their walloon fellow-citizens. suddenly, in the official communiqués, flemish took the place until then occupied by french, and the german newspapers began to display a touching sympathy for their "flemish brothers," and for their country and their art. we did not even need to read the article published by the _nieuwe rotterdamsche courant_ on the th december (which was seen by m. paul hymans), in order to divine, at the root of these sudden and simultaneous manifestations, the orders issued by the german official circles. for it was not thus during the first weeks of the occupation. then correspondence was permissible only in french and german: flemish was not tolerated. the official notices were printed in french and german only. then, on the th august, the government placards appeared in german, french, and flemish. finally, on the st october, flemish had the advantage of french. although from the standpoint of belgian law the latter measure was legal in the brussels district, the by-law ordering the cinema-houses to publish their programmes in flemish as well as french was not so; very often the manager is innocent of flemish, and the flemish programme is spelt in the most fantastic manner. absolutely illegal, too, is the by-law compelling shopkeepers in bruges and ostend to replace their french shop-signs by signs written in flemish. still more galling was the outcome of a certain trial at tongres. some young men, flemings and walloons, were accused of the same offence. they were inscribed on separate lists, according to their origin. the walloons were condemned to severer penalties than those inflicted on the flemings. one sees the double object here: to mollify the flemings and to make the walloons suspicious of them. we may compare this with the fact that the majority of the flemish civil prisoners have been repatriated, while the walloons are still in germany. however, the daily task of insinuation and persuasion is undertaken by the german press. in the first place it lays stress on the great affinity of character, historical past, origin, and language between the germans and the flemings (_düss. gen. anz._, th december, ). the germans must humour the flemings and make friends with them. one reason why it would not do to treat belgium more harshly (as had been demanded) is that there is a racial relationship between a portion of the population and that of germany. there is no belgian people (_voss. zeit._, st march, ). much is made of the distant echoes of the linguistic quarrel (_voss. zeit._, st march, ; _k.z._, th march, ; _frankf. zeit._, th march, ; osswald, _zur belgischen frage_).--the ill-feeling of the flemings toward the "purely walloon" belgian government must be fomented (_frankf. zeit._, th march, ), and also their dislike of the belgian press printed in the french tongue, both government and press having been long ago won over to france and the hatred of germany (_k.z._, th november, ). _la croix rouge_ is published in three languages, flemish preceding even german, and the french occupying only the extreme right of the sheet; each number contains only one _feuilleton_, and that is a novel in flemish. a little flemish conversation manual--_vlamischer sprachführer_--is published in düsseldorf for the use of germans, and of soldiers in particular. in order to compromise the flemish, the germans pretend that well-known flemings are already working hand-in-hand with the german administration. it is even stated that a pro-german group of young flemings exists (_k.z._, th march, ). in verse translations, the _dietsch_ or _duitsch_ of the flemish poets is rendered by "german," whereas these words signify simply the flemish or dutch language (_lüttich_, p. ; _köln. volksz._, th january, ). herr karl lamprecht, the well-known historian, who knew that his translation was dishonest, was one of those who translated _dietsch_ by "german" (_die woche_, no. , ). better still, in the same article herr lamprecht feigns to believe that by the expression _noord en zuid_ emmanuel hiel intended to denote the germans and the flemings; whereas he is speaking--and no confusion is possible--of the dutch (noord-nederlanders), and the flemings (zuid-nederlanders). a short story by m. maurice sabbe was published in the _berliner tageblatt_ on the th december, , with an introduction which was peculiarly compromising to the author's patriotic sentiments. his extremely plain reply was as follows:-- how frÄulein dÄmchen was buried. (_reproduction prohibited._) by maurice sabbe, professor of germanic languages at the malines athenæum. (the sketch was preceded by a brief introduction, which we quote.) the sketch we publish here deserves particular attention. maurice sabbe is a scholar and a flemish writer of repute, who, during the bombardment of malines, fled into holland. sabbe knows germany, thanks to a long residence at weimar, and the military situation has not succeeded in destroying his feeling, which is exempt from prejudice, for germany and germanism. he expresses his opinion with sympathy in the lectures which he is delivering in holland, and, in the same spirit, he has addressed, through his translator, to a german journal, the _berliner tageblatt_, this short story of life in malines, which describes an episode of the war: the first contribution which, coming from belgium and written by a belgian during the war, has been destined to find publication in germany. the editor. (_berliner tageblatt_, th december, .) bussum, _ th december, _. sir, i beg your hospitality for the following lines:-- in the november number ( ) of the review _onze eeuw_ i published a literary version of an episode of the bombardment of malines. a dutch writer, m. e. meier, requested my permission for the publication of a translation of this sketch in a german newspaper. i granted it him without hesitation and even with a certain pleasure. my narrative emphasized the kindness and magnanimity of my countrymen towards their enemies, and, at a moment when the german press was accusing every belgian of being a franc-tireur, i thought myself fortunate to be able to place a contrary example beneath the eyes of the german public. i left the choice of newspaper to my translator, and the translation appeared in the christmas number of the _berliner tageblatt_. but here the plot thickens. unknown to me, the editors of the _berliner tageblatt_ prefaced my story with a notice highly compromising to me. it asserts, in short, that i have german sympathies which the war has not succeeded in shaking, that i am giving lectures in holland in order to express these feelings, and that i wrote my short story especially to be published in germany! the last assertion is already contradicted by the fact that the sketch in question is a translation of the text which appeared in a french review two months ago. as for my sentiments, they are what they have always been, those of a belgian unshakably attached to his unhappy country and his noble king. these, and no others, are the feelings i have expressed in my lectures in holland. my numerous auditors can testify to this. you will give me a sensible pleasure, sir, by inserting this letter, thus assisting me to avoid any misunderstanding. accept, etc., maurice sabbe. this is only a detail in the conflict we are sustaining against invading germany, but it is a very instructive detail, because it shows that before accepting any assertion on the part of our oppressors we must always ask ourselves how much of it is a lie. the same question arises _à propos_ of a letter written by a fleming living at liége and speaking "in the name of the flemish population of liége," which aspires to live under the german domination. by the singularities of his syntax and his orthography this fleming from liége can only be of german origin (_düss. gen. anz._, th february, ). once there was even a kind word spoken for the walloons, vindicating the dignity of their dialects, which are by no means dependent on the french. (it is true this bold assertion comes from herr kurd von strantz.) _inciting the people against the belgian government._ on the other hand, they hope to detach the belgian people from its government. especially during the siege of antwerp did they heap effort on effort of this kind. it was then greatly to their interest to send as many troops as possible to the western front (so says lieutenant-general imhoff, in his introduction to delbrück's _der deutsche krieg in feldpostbriefen_, pp. to ). now hundreds of thousands of their men were delayed in belgium by the siege of antwerp. at all costs these had to be liberated in order to lengthen the battle-front towards the north-west and the sea. towards the middle of september they did not hesitate for the third time to make peace proposals to the government--proposals which were rejected with disdain, as were the previous ones (pp. - ). after this repeated diplomatic failure they attempted trickery, a speciality in which they shine to more advantage. as they could not succeed in directly influencing the leaders of belgian politics, they endeavoured to act on them indirectly through the people. a newspaper was established, _l'Écho de bruxelles_, "for the general welfare," to which a certain "aristide" contributed. he professed to be an occasional correspondent, although his articles were really the pretext for issuing the paper. in the first number he published a detestable letter in which he called upon the belgian government at all costs to make peace with germany. this proceeding was so improper that the _n.r.c._ even, while reprinting the letter, could not refrain from criticizing it harshly. in no. , which appeared on the th october, , and which was entirely devoted to an attempt to cause mental anxiety in the people of brussels, he condemned as unpatriotic "the man who does not rise up to cry to the people of antwerp that they must cease from this sanguinary, disastrous, and useless struggle for a cause which is not ours." the same accusation was made against "those divisional generals whom the laurels of general leman will not allow to sleep." "the laurels of general leman, great god!" he adds, and thereupon he moves heaven and earth to prove the notorious insufficiency of the valiant defender of liége. no, he says, "the true and only heroes of this melancholy war in belgium are those who ... have proposed to treat with germany. these, ministers and generals, have given proof of courage and wisdom, exposing themselves to the vengeance of a mob over-excited by a system of lies and delusions.... and the public will kick out these french journalists and these hawkers of french journals who for years have whispered hatred of neighbour against neighbour, the latter being the best customer belgium possessed." we have cited only the more scandalous portions of this article, ignoring the merely ignoble passages. while "aristide" was endeavouring to influence the civil population, aeroplanes were distributing to the belgian troops in antwerp circulars, printed in french, and in another language which had a certain resemblance to flemish; and these strange handbills informed the belgian soldiers that they had been deceived by their officers and by the authorities; that the belgian army was fighting for the british and the russians, etc. declaration. brussels, _ st october, _. belgian soldiers, your blood and your whole salvation, you are not giving them at all to your beloved country; you are only serving the interest of russia, a country which desires only to increase its already enormous power, and, above all, the interest of england, whose perfidious avarice has given birth to this cruel and unheard-of war. from the commencement your newspapers, paid from french and english sources, have never ceased to deceive you, telling you nothing but lies as to the causes of the war and the battles which have followed, and this is still done every day. consider one of your army orders which affords fresh proof of this. this is what it contains: "you have been told that your comrades who are prisoners in germany have been forced to march against russia beside our soldiers." yet your common sense must tell you that this would be a measure quite impossible to execute. when the day comes when your comrades who are prisoners return from our country and tell you with how much benevolence they have been treated, their words will make you blush for what your newspapers, and your officers, have dared to tell you, in order to deceive you in so incredible a manner. every day of resistance makes you sustain irreparable losses, while with the capitulation of antwerp you will be free from all anxiety. belgian soldiers, you have fought enough for the interests of the princes of russia, for those of the capitalists of perfidious albion. your situation is one to despair of. germany, who is fighting only for her life, has destroyed two russian armies. to-day no russian is to be found in our country. in france our troops are about to overcome the last resistance. if you wish to rejoin your wives and children, if you wish to return to your work, in a word, if you wish for peace, put an end to this useless struggle, which is ending only in your ruin. then you will quickly enjoy all the benefits of a favourable and perfect peace. von beseler, _commander-in-chief of the besieging army_. when examples of this circular were brought to us in brabant, we at first thought it was a hoax. but we had to submit to the evidence; the idea of this proclamation had really been conceived and executed by the germans. after the fall of antwerp the campaign continued. was it not necessary to prevent the belgians from going to join the allies in the direction of flanders? with this end in view, the germans attempted to throw suspicion on the conduct of the belgian military authorities at the time of the taking of antwerp. it was again the _Écho de bruxelles_ which was entrusted with the publication of the first false news. shortly after the accomplishment of this pleasant task, the _Écho de bruxelles_ disappeared for ever: doubtless it was no longer required. as for the defamatory libels which were uttered in november and december, in order to incriminate the conduct of the civil authorities of antwerp, it is not yet known by whom they were instigated, worded, and distributed; but we have a reasonable conviction that the germans were not unaware of them. in any case they did what they could to profit by this disagreement, and they also did their best--in vain--to revive the question when the belgians, by common accord, had settled their differences. but the germans had not yet given up the idea of fomenting conflicts among us. in an article entitled _belgische umstimmigkeiten_ (change of temper in belgium) the _kölnische zeitung_ of the nd november, ( nd morning edition) referred to a telegram from berlin which stated that news received from breda (according to the _berliner lokal-anzeiger_) asserted that seven belgian officers had deserted and had there been interned. to verify this was very difficult, the more so as in november no postal or telegraphic communication was permitted between belgium and holland. the rest of the article informed us that on the th november--a fortnight before their desertion--these officers had received from king albert the cross of the order of leopold: they had thus waited to desert until they had been made the object of special distinction, which is at least peculiar. and then, setting out from the yser, they crossed the german lines to be interned at breda, in northern brabant. strange! strange! and all this in order to inform us that these officers, disheartened by the servile and treacherous attitude of the king, refused again to send their men into battle, for the sake of the english. _inciting the belgians against the english._ it will be remarked that the english always receive a good share of the venomous slime which the germans, as m. spitteler says, spit upon the king, the government, and the belgian authorities. "england--there is the enemy!" says the _hassgesang gegen england_--i.e. _song of hatred of england_, the work of herr ernst lissauer. _we love but with a single love, we hate but with a single hate; we have one foe, and one alone-- england!_ it would be tedious to mention all the innumerable articles intended to arouse in us a hatred of england. we may mention the opinion of dr. hedin, reproduced on the placard of the th november, ; the proclamation of prince rupprecht of bavaria, inserted, for our edification, in _le réveil_ ( th october), as well as the declaration imputed to the flemish "poet" cyrid buysse (placard of th december, ). but these lovers of truth forgot to announce, a few days later, that m. buysse denied the truth of the german declaration. a mere instance of forgetfulness, no doubt, unless the amsterdam-copenhagen-berlin-brussels route, which was covered by the so-called declaration, had suddenly grown too long for truth to travel by. d.--a few details of the administration of belgium. the preceding chapter has informed us how the germans bore themselves towards the inhabitants of the territory occupied in conformity with--or rather in contravention of--articles - of the hague convention. treachery and untruthfulness are the chief weapons employed by our enemies. we need not return to the subject. we desire now merely to refer to some details relating to the administration. details, we said; and in truth we shall consider neither the financial administration of the country, nor its judicial administration, nor its political administration, nor any of the other great cog-wheels essential to the life of a nation. we shall confine ourselves to very simple facts which any one can remark and understand. (_a_) _present prosperity in belgium._ there is nothing of which the germans are more proud than their talent--real or illusory--for organization. accordingly they professed their intention of re-establishing the normal state of affairs in belgium, in spite of the war, and they are always informing the whole world that everything has resumed its regular course in our country. _assertions of the german authorities._ even in his inaugural proclamation ( nd september, ), von der goltz took the trouble of informing us that work was to be resumed. but the germans had placed such impediments in the way of inter-urban relations that all activities were necessarily suspended. in october he accorded "facilities of communication," as we were informed by the announcement of the th, which meant that "circulation" was no longer absolutely prohibited, and that he who had the means to obtain a passport, and could spend a day or two in procuring it, would thereafter be authorized to travel from louvain to malines, or from namur to liége. as these measures, though so full of solicitude for the general welfare, did not produce all the results that were expected of them, the communal authorities were advised to refuse relief to the unemployed ( th november, ). nothing came of that advice! to the numerous obstacles already mentioned we must add one other: the railway-workers and the artisans employed in many of the foundries and workshops of belgium were perfectly well aware that their labours would principally benefit the germans, so that by returning to their workshops they would be committing an unpatriotic action. to overcome this passive resistance the germans multiplied their proclamations in the industrial centres. it was wasted effort. in the meantime the governor-general, in the vain hope of galvanizing the labour organizations, sent to germany for well-known socialists, who, under the pretext of having a chat with the leaders of the trades unions, were really to inculcate the idea that it was their duty to urge a resumption of work. the visits of the german socialists have been described by m. dewinne, of brussels, a militant worker, in the parisian journal _l'humanité_. infatuated as the germans might be, they could hardly delude themselves as to the failure of their attempts at subornation. this did not prevent baron von bissing from issuing declarations dealing with the situation which were truly touching in their sincerity. news published by the german general government. normal situation in belgium. vienna, _ th december_.--the sofia correspondent of the _neue freie presse_ has had an interview with field-marshal von der goltz, who declared: "the situation in belgium is entirely normal. the belgian population is acquiring the conviction that the germans are anything but cruel." the general government in belgium. berlin, _ th december_.--to the correspondent of the _hamburger korrespondent_, the new governor-general in belgium, general baron von bissing, has made the following declarations: i wish to maintain order and tranquillity in this country, which has become the base of operations for our troops. our army must know that order prevails behind it, so that it may always give its attention freely only to what lies before it. i hope also that i shall succeed, hand in hand with the civil administration, in doing a great deal for the economic situation. when the emperor appointed me governor-general he charged me, with particular insistence, to do everything to assist the weak in belgium, and to encourage them. the general government in belgium. _the parasitical exploitation of belgium admitted by germany._ but, you may ask, had not germany other than military reasons for wishing to revive the economic life of belgium? a semi-official article in the _norddeutsche allgemeine zeitung_, which was brought to our cognizance by the _düsseldorfer general-anzeiger_ of the th december, , informs us upon this point. the article emanates from governmental circles in brussels, probably from the immediate _entourage_ of the governor-general. its object is to reply to the complaints formulated in germany, according to which the authorities deal too gently with the belgians. instead of trying to revive belgian industry, it would be better, say the critics, to crush it completely, in order to suppress future competition: on the other hand, it is claimed that the contribution of million frs. is insufficient to reduce us to impotence, and that we ought to have been more severely "squeezed." the german government in belgium defends itself briskly against the reproach of sentimentality; it asserts that it has never allowed itself to be guided by an exaggerated mildness (and we are ready to declare that on this point at least its assertions maybe credited!). it would surely not be very intelligent, it protests, to strangle outright a country so ill-directed. would it not be preferable to exploit belgium scientifically, so as to make her yield as much as possible? the argument amounts to this: do not let us kill the goose that lays the golden eggs; but of course it is understood, although one need not express it explicitly, that when it is no longer in condition to lay, we shall not hesitate to cut its throat. _the tenfold tax on absentees._ many belgians have left the country. that is easily understood. those who were present at the massacres of visé, louvain, dinant, termonde ... hastened, in their terror, to abandon those haunts of horror. those who lived in the towns left intact, such as brussels and gand, but who heard people talk of the massacres and the burnings, had also only one idea: to fly before the arrival of the germans. even those belgians who did not leave at the outset eventually grew weary of the insupportable vexations inflicted on us by the authorities. others took flight because they knew themselves to be threatened with imprisonment. moreover, many of those who had means had prudently retired to foreign countries, to the great fury of the germans; there was no way of getting at these "bad patriots," as it seems a german-swiss journal called them (_k.z._, th february, ); no way of forcing them to pay war-taxes. moreover, it was these _émigrés_ who should have kept alive the industries _de luxe_; finally, they were conspiring together abroad, and rendering services to the belgian government at havre. if only they could be forced to return! our enemies accepted with enthusiasm an unlucky proposal--made by certain communal administrations and immediately withdrawn by them--that the absent persons should be subjected to a special tax, equal to ten times the personal tax. the communal councils which conceived the idea of this tax immediately realized its illegality, but baron von bissing seized the occasion which this afforded him of persecuting the _émigrés_. he published, on the th january, a special decree on the subject of the "additional extraordinary tax upon absentees" (_belg. all._). it may be remarked that the tax touches only those who possess a certain competence. here are two facts which show how far life was normal in belgium in the spring of , and how far the belgian workers were delighted to place themselves at the service of germany. _railway traffic in belgium._ (_a_) an article in the _düsseldorfer general-anzeiger_ of the th april, (morning), asserts that the traffic on the belgian railways is beginning to revive; indeed, says the writer, there are thirty-eight trains daily leaving the gare du nord in brussels. he exaggerates slightly. six weeks later, when traffic had become more active, a table, dated the th may, , which appeared in the "belgian" newspaper _l'information_, gave the movements of trains in the gare du nord and gare du midi of brussels for the month of june. we find that only thirty-four departures are given for the two stations. thirty-four trains in june --and in june there were . compare the figures. _trouble with the artisans of luttre._ (_b_) the insufficiency of the number of trains is in reality one of the things that most embarrasses the german authorities (see _frank. zeit._, th january, , first morning edition). in and about the railway workshops, for example, on the sidings at luttre, there are hundreds of locomotives out of repair and waiting for attention. but the workers employed in these shops do not intend to work for the germans. in vain do the latter protest that engines repaired by the belgians shall be employed only for belgian traffic. what guarantee have they that the locomotives will not serve to transport german troops, or munitions intended to kill our brothers? is it not a matter of public notoriety that a contract is merely a scrap of paper? to enable the workers to resist the solicitations of the germans the necessary relief has been distributed for the maintenance of their families. the germans know very well that it is this money which prevents them from subduing the workers to their will. they therefore proceed with the utmost severity against the persons whose duty it is to distribute the relief. early in april they imprisoned thirty of the notables of luttre, nivelles, and the neighbourhood, whom they accused of assisting the working staff of the luttre workshops. a german official declared that the prisoners had been arrested neither by the civil authority nor the military, and that they would not proceed to trial. at the same time the administrations of the communes neighbouring upon luttre were forced to display a proclamation requiring the men to resume work. among the promises made to those who should resume work was one that the prisoners should be liberated. so thirty notables were thrown into prison, and kept there, in order to force belgian artisans to work for the germans! when it was found that in spite of everything the men would not return to the shops, the prisoners were sentenced to undergo various punishments, the maximum term of imprisonment being three months. as for the recalcitrant workers, many were sent to germany, where they were treated in the most inhuman fashion. _traffic suppressed at malines._ at the construction shops of malines the germans went a different way to work. there again workers were needed to repair railway material. three hundred were called for. as they did not present themselves their addresses were obtained, and one fine morning soldiers called at their houses and _manu militari_ led them to the shops. but there the men folded their arms and persisted in doing nothing. the germans had to let them go. how to obtain their submission? the germans threatened to suppress all traffic in malines. a singular fashion of punishing workless men who refuse to betray their country, especially after declaring that the only "guilty" persons were those who had organized the collective refusal to work! (_la belgique_, th june, ). but, in accordance with the juridical principle that "the innocent must suffer with the guilty," our enemies punished the market-gardeners of the malines district and prevented them from sending their cabbages and rhubarb and peas and asparagus to market. after the lapse of some days the governor-general removed the prohibition. but he did not wish it to seem that he had repented of his decision, however unreasonable the latter might be, so to keep himself in countenance he posted up a statement that a sufficient number of workers had resumed work (placard of th june, ). however, the baron von bissing cannot have been ignorant of the fact that none of the strikers of the malines workshops had returned; the only workers whom the germans had been able to recruit were some unemployed persons from lierre, boom, and duffel, who had never set foot in the shops before. as they could not be employed in the manufacture of railway material, they were made to dig trenches in the direction of wavre-ste catherine and duffel. the workers whom the soldiers led to the shops by force related that their escort begged them not to resume work, because they would then be obliged to leave malines and to go to the yser, a prospect which inspired them with the keenest terror. (_b_) _the germans' talent for organization._ "the industrial and commercial prosperity" which belgium is at present enjoying is, of course, due to the germans' incontestable spirit of organization. "this sense of discipline and order, which the foreigner calls militarism" (_voss. zeit._, th february, , morning), has enabled the officers of the reserve to accomplish such wonderful things that herr oswald f. schütte, correspondent of the _chicago daily news_ (see _k.z._, th may, , first morning edition) can scarcely find the words to describe them. "we understand," adds the same journalist, "that the government at havre does not look with a favourable eye upon the success with which the german administration has once more made life worth living in belgium." they are certainly something to be wondered at, the officers who are administering our country. would you have proof? the belgian officials of the bridges and highways department refused to obey the germans, so that the latter appointed their engineer officers to direct the work of repairing roads. but the work was naturally carried out by belgian contractors. on macadamized roads the breaking of stones, which formerly cost from to centimes per square metre (about d. per square yard), now costs to centimes. good business, you will say, for the contractors and their men. but no!--the difference goes into the pockets of the officers. _conflict between authorities._ this method of procedure naturally results in conflicts between the various administrations. we have already related (p. ) that the city of brussels was condemned to pay a fine of half a million francs because the civilians and the soldiers were in disagreement. muddles of this kind testify to something quite different from a brilliant talent for organization, which the germans would have us believe is the distinguishing mark of their administration. _suppression of the bureau of free assessment._ in order to give the impression that they alone are capable of re-starting the economic machine in belgium, the germans begin by dislocating the existing machinery. thus, a group of advocates and surveyors created a bureau for the gratuitous assessment of the damage caused by the war to real estate. this body was working to the general satisfaction, when suddenly, in march , the germans decided to take its place. now observe their methods. the applicant who wishes the damage suffered by his property to be estimated has to begin by paying a provisional deposit, after which he finds that the costs of the assessment have to be paid out of his own pocket. what this really comes to is this: the germans, having burned a house and reduced its owner to poverty, demand that the latter shall pay in advance for the evaluation of the damage done. _the belgian red cross committee suppressed._ another example of the suppression of a body working in a normal manner. as soon as they occupied brussels the germans began to meddle in the doings of the directing committee of the red cross society, and appointed a delegate to the society. they then tried to force the red cross to exceed its duties, which were clearly specified by the international convention known as the _convention for the amelioration of the condition of the wounded and sick in armies in the field_. neither in the text of the convention of , nor in that of the convention of , is there any question of other patients than soldiers wounded during hostilities. doubtless it is a matter for praise if the red cross of each country should extend its action to needs existing in time of peace; in belgium, for example, the red cross has organized ambulances in the international exhibitions. but it is none the less true that its essential mission, and the only mission foreseen by the international convention, is to ameliorate the condition of soldiers who are victims of warfare. it was therefore an abuse of the red cross to impose other aims upon it; to compel it, for example, to organize "the relief and support of women by means of labour." the red cross of belgium decided, with abundant reason, that it could not in time of war assume novel functions, nor, above all, could it set apart for the same sums of money which were largely derived from private subscriptions entrusted to it for the succour of the wounded; it therefore refused to involve itself. after lengthy negotiations the governor-general suspended the belgian managing committee from its functions, and seized the funds. we should mention that the central administration of the red cross, sitting in geneva, decided that the brussels committee was in the right. attempting to justify their illegal attitude, the german authorities established a special journal, _la croix rouge, bulletin officiel de la croix rouge de belgique_, printed in flemish, french, and german. this journal continues to pretend that the belgian committee was legally dissolved, as it would not "assist the people in the present melancholy situation." in vain did the germans endeavour to put the world off the scent as to their intentions. they knew perfectly well that the national committee of relief and alimentation patronized and subsidized without distinction all the benevolent undertakings which applied to it (p. ). the real aim of our enemies is to supplant the national committee. this committee is a private institution in which they have no voice, which greatly annoys them; at most they can endeavour to make it believed that the revictualling of belgium is effected with their assistance. but this, as may be supposed, is not enough for them; their real aim, their unavowed object, is to obtain entire control of the national committee, in order to exercise there also their talent for organization--or, more precisely, their talent for peculation. the , , frs. per month does not sate their appetite. what an indefinite perspective of fleshpots could they only lay hands on the revictualling of belgium! the whole affair of the red cross was conducted with annoying duplicity--annoying even to us, who nevertheless were beginning to grow accustomed to their campaign of lies. for months there were negotiations between the belgium managing committee and the german authorities, represented by the graf von hatzfeld-trachenberg. at each interview the latter brought forth fresh demands on the part of the governor-general, but he always added that he was acting reluctantly, and that in his opinion the demands were unjustified; only, of course, he had to obey. (this is, by the way, the classic procedure. whenever a german commits a dirty action he entrenches himself behind discipline.) these lame discussions lasted until the th april, ; upon a final refusal on the part of the belgian committee to exceed its proper functions, graf von hatzfeld-trachenberg gave orders for the decree of dissolution to be read. (_c_) _the belgian attitude toward the germans._ our enemies spread the report that the relations between occupants and inhabitants were greatly improving, and that the belgians had abandoned their provocative attitude, which was so unpleasant at the outset of the war. they also asserted that by the end of october the people at antwerp had ceased to display any antipathy towards them (_köln. volksz._, th october, , morning edition).[ ] but, in truth, they flattered themselves when they stated that the belgium people regarded them with glances full of hatred. hatred? no; merely glances full of disdain, when by chance one could not do otherwise than gaze at them; but, as a rule, the belgians turn their eyes away, as they turn their backs upon german music. at liége, in brussels and antwerp, and at malines, when an officer addresses a belgian the latter pretends not to hear (_n.r.c._, th october, , morning edition), or simply states that he has not time to speak to the other; or he replies in flemish; or else, having affected to listen to him with all the marks of the most exquisite politeness, he leaves the german standing still without replying a word. the ladies more often reply, but it is only to beg the germans not to speak to them. the officer who asks his way is almost certain to be sent in a contrary direction; while he who climbs on the platform of a tram finds that all the passengers immediately turn their backs upon him; and this rotation is executed with the regularity and precision of a reflex movement. the officer who begs a a passer-by to lend him his cigar that he may obtain a light, sees the other disgustedly throw away the cigar which an enemy has touched. the child whom an officer condescends to caress pushes away his hand with an indignant expression, and makes the ugliest grimace he knows of. in short, they are the objects of universal detestation. perhaps it will be said that this attitude is peculiar to the towns which have been little or not at all affected by the war. but no! in localities which were largely burned down, such as aerschot, eppeghem, dinant, and louvain, the population behaves in a manner even more characteristic. at dinant the children sing at the tops of their voices a _marseillaise_ with new words, expressly anti-german, in which a good deal is said about pigs. at louvain some officers who used to amuse themselves with a phonograph which reproduced the record of the song _gloria, vittoria_, had to give up using it in june , because the passers-by accompanied the refrains with other words: _gloria, italia_. at eppeghem and aerschot the children play at soldiers, with belgian police bonnets on their heads, yelling _la brabançonne_. one would say the sight of those calcined ruins, far from intimidating the belgians, as the butchers had hoped, only whets their rebellious spirits, and that the certainty of final success has completely effaced, in the soul of the people, the memory of the terrors experienced at the time of the burnings and killings. not only is the belgian population far from fraternizing with them, as they try to make the world believe, but it neglects no opportunity of proving that it is animated by very different feelings. it must be confessed that when we openly wear the belgian or american colours it is with a double object: to advertise our attachment to our country, or our gratitude to america, and also to make the germans furious. the little celluloid portraits of the king and queen which one wears in the buttonhole serve the same purposes. after the germans had imprisoned m. max in a german prison many people displayed his portrait. this was extremely disagreeable to our enemies (_köln. volksz._, th september, , morning edition); but precisely for that reason people persisted in wearing the little medallion until the german police demanded its forcible removal. when the governor-general, in the interviews which he granted the correspondents of the _n.a.z._ and the _berliner tageblatt_, pretended to regard the wearing of the belgian or american colours as a piece of childish mischief, he was simply trying to put them off the scent, for he of all people had no illusions as to the significance of the ribbons which the belgians are wearing in their buttonholes. this significance was as follows: the germans pretend ( ) that their armies are victorious and will remain so; ( ) that they will be able to dictate their terms, and will annex belgium; ( ) that this will be easy, as the belgians are already abandoning their provocative attitude, and are beginning to fraternize with their persecutors. for the moment we cannot reply publicly to lies and ; as to , any belgian who wears a little rosette tacitly proclaims that he does not wish to be taken for a craven, and that his anti-german feelings have lost none of their keenness. other germans try to deceive their compatriots as to the feeling of the belgians for their oppressors. here is what herr walter nissen says, the bruxelles correspondent of the _düss. gen.-anz._ ( rd july, ): "opinion in belgium is daily becoming more conciliatory. belgium may, for the moment, be compared with a woman who is beginning to love despite herself, and who, through pride and vexation, says 'no!' as loudly as possible, for fear anyone should see what is happening to her. but one does see it, despite the ribbons of the national colours--indeed precisely on that account." is this incurable blindness? is it an ineradicable spirit of falsehood? does herr nissen really doubt the sincerity of our anti-german manifestations? during the months he has lived in our midst he must have discovered that we do, systematically, everything we can to displease the germans, until they issue decrees of prohibition. here is a last trait which can leave no one in doubt as to the feelings of the belgians. in march the german authorities organized a concert in the théâtre de la monnaie in brussels. there were only three known belgians present, among them a professor of the university of brussels. the university showed its disapproval by sending him to coventry. (_d_) _behaviour of the german administration._ the preceding pages have already informed the reader that the germans have not accustomed us to look for either gentleness or sincerity. but hitherto we have not insisted on their administrative procedure, which nevertheless deserves examination. but first let us picture to ourselves the mental condition of the belgians since august . cut off from all intellectual relations with foreign countries, we receive independent newspapers only in secret, at the peril of our liberty, or even of our lives. every day, on the other hand, the newspapers, mutilated by the censorship, printing only the news--often false--which is favourable to the germans, are instilling their slow poison into our brains. no matter: the people still repulse all attempts to foment disunion and demoralization; they pull their belts a little tighter rather than go to work for the enemy; they continue, to the last, to display our colours; in short, they have retained, unshaken and unshakable, their faith in our just cause and the final victory. the german newspapers are full of admiring articles describing the firmness of mind evinced by the german people, for they, too, consent to certain privations to ensure the success of their arms. wonderful! the german people are unfailingly encouraged by their newspapers, their pastors and priests, their schoolmasters and professors, and by lectures and innumerable pamphlets. everything that might cause their resolution to falter is carefully concealed from them. they are, moreover, accustomed to hold no other opinions than those which are officially presented to them. to falter, under these circumstances, would be almost incomprehensible. but in our country, on the other hand, everything is done to exhaust us, to dishearten us. the least success of the german arms becomes the "final crushing" of the enemy; the executions of belgians who have aided their country are immediately advertised on every hand; and, finally, we are prevented, by every imaginable means, from spreading good news or preaching confidence. that in spite of all the belgian should retain his tranquillity of mind and even his good humour is almost unbelievable, but it is true. here, then, is a population which is systematically refused the least item of comforting information, but which, on the other hand, is treated prodigally to everything of a nature to demoralize it; a population which, in order not to sink into despair, has to make an effort every moment of the day; a country in which it is strictly forbidden to do anything to encourage those who may suffer from a temporary depression, or to sustain and reassure those who feel themselves threatened. is it not obvious that such pitiful psychologists as the germans will resort to intimidation to reduce this population to their mercy? everything is magnified into an offence, and all offences are punished by the heaviest penalties; the germans even going so far as to threaten with death him who spreads "false news"--that is to say, who communicates news to his fellow-citizens which is displeasing to the germans. _the appeal to informers._ the placards already cited show amply the diversity of the offences which may be committed, and the punishments which may be inflicted. but we must not forget those notices which order the inhabitants, often on pain of death, to inform against those persons who possess arms; to denounce those who are _believed_ to be strangers to the commune; and those _suspected_ of acting in a manner contrary to the orders of the german authorities. here are some of these notices: detention of arms. the communal administration forwards the following document:-- _important warning._ it has come to my knowledge that the inhabitants of the country are still hiding arms and munitions in their houses. those who still have arms in their possession (whether firearms, bows, cross-bows, arquebuses, or knives and swords of any description) will not be punished in any way if the arms and munitions are deposited by the th december (noon precisely german time) at the house of the burgomaster of the commune, to be handed over to the military commandant. after the date indicated all persons found in possession of arms or munitions will be shot. an account also will be demanded of the burgomasters concerned, and also of all the inhabitants of the houses or farms in which arms or munitions are found, as well as the neighbours of the guilty persons. the death penalty will be imposed on all who learn of the existence of arms or munitions without warning the burgomaster of their commune, who must warn the military commandant. the present decree forms the last appeal to the population to surrender their arms, and once the th december is past the severest action will be taken. the burgomasters are personally responsible for ensuring that this warning receives the widest publication. they are required to deposit with the nearest military authority not later than the th december (at six o'clock in the evening, german time) the arms and munitions that shall be delivered to them. the commander-in-chief. thielt, /xii/ . (_le bien public, th december, ._) by order of the military authority. the inhabitants of dieghem are strictly forbidden to assemble in groups. moreover, the inhabitants are required to bring to the secretariat, chaussée d'haecht , those persons whom they believe to be strangers to the commune, in order to verify their identity. the burgomaster, g. de connick. (_posted at dieghem, october ._) on the order of the german military authority. the commissary of the arrondissement of verviers calls the attention of the communal administrations and the inhabitants of his jurisdiction to the following regulations:-- the severest penalties will be inflicted upon offenders: whosoever shall damage the roads, telephones, or telegraphs will be hanged. the same penalty will be inflicted on every person in whose house arms, ammunitions, and explosives shall be found. the house in which these objects are discovered will be destroyed by fire, and all the men encountered on the premises will be hanged. rigorous penalties will be inflicted on localities in which roads, telephones, and telegraphs shall be damaged. for their own safety the inhabitants of communes are invited to make known to the commandants of _étapes_ those persons suspected of disobeying the present order or of opposing the measures taken. on the other hand, those communes which remain tranquil, and in which this order is strictly obeyed, will enjoy the full protection of the german government. von rosenberg, _colonel commanding the th brigade_. verviers, _ nd august, _. those who are _believed_ to be strangers; those who are _suspected_ of acting contrary to orders ... it is a régime of organized suspicion, a reign of terror, informing erected into a governmental process. the most abominable thing which the germans have conceived in this respect is that they encourage the denunciation of militia-men by their fathers, mothers, wives, or sisters. it is a principle admitted by all civilized nations--and also, no doubt, by germany--that the courts definitely abstain from evoking a conflict between the paternal and maternal instinct and the duty owed to justice. it is considered that it would be revoltingly inhuman to force a father or mother to bear witness against a son. sophocles, in the _antigone_, ranks this prejudice among "the immutable laws, unwritten, which are from all eternity." now, in belgium, when a young man leaves his family to rejoin the belgian army, the german authorities enjoin upon his parents, his brother, or his sister, the duty of denouncing the absent man; in other words, his father or his mother--yes, we said his mother--must deliver up the son because he is doing his duty toward his country (notice of the th april, ). and the germans are not content with threats. if the germans forget their promises, at least they scrupulously carry their threats into execution. at hasselt they imprisoned a woman whose son had rejoined the belgian army (p. ). at namur they have on many occasions punished the parents of soldiers who had not committed the crime of denouncing them. and not content with inflicting these disgraceful penalties--disgraceful to those who impose them--they have forced _l'ami de l'ordre_ to give publicity to these sentences, to the number of ten or more. here are the details of one sentence: according to § , no. , of the imperial decree of the th december, , concerning the extraordinary proceedings of the council of war for foreigners, the governor of the fortified position and the province of namur has pronounced a deprivation of liberty against the following belgian subjects: the farmer, félix duquet, of jemeppe, two months; his wife, victoire duquet, _née_ swain, one month. they had harboured their son, clement duquet, belgian soldier, who had lost his regiment, for several months, instead of notifying him to the german authority; by so doing they acted in contravention of the proclamation of the government of namur, dated th september, . (_l'ami de l'ordre_, - th july, .) assuredly for the germans the word "humanity" is void of meaning; they have replaced it by "germanity." no doubt they regard maternal love among the belgians as being of an essence so inferior that they need not take it into account. yet in order not to wound the sensibilities of their own soldiers, nor those of their "brothers by race," the flemings, they omitted any mention of mothers in the german and flemish texts of their notice of the th april. as we have already stated, they feel that they need not observe towards the feelings of the belgians--and above all of the walloons--the same consideration as is shown towards those of the germans. _german espionage._ informing cannot exist without espionage. now we know that the germans are past masters in this art. every one of our towns has been favoured by a swarm of spies, male and female. in the streets, on the promenades, in the cafés, in the trams[ ]--everywhere one is conscious of the invisible inspection of secret agents. woe to him who utters aloud an opinion unfavourable to germany, or complains of a too outrageous placard or announcement, or criticizes a passing officer or any one connected with germany, or abuses the german army: immediately a lady or gentleman hails a german soldier, and the offender is taken to the _kommandantur_. and when a belgian enters the _kommandantur_ he does not know when he will come out again; there he awaits, sometimes for several days, his turn to be interrogated; and after that imprisonment is certain. not, of course, that he is always condemned; it sometimes happens that the offence has not been proved; but even so, "his hash is settled," for while he has been waiting his turn his house has been searched, and where is the house that does not contain some letter from a son or a brother who is a soldier? prohibited correspondence! sentenced! _agents-provocateurs or "traps."_ a close espionage surrounds those who undertake the carrying of letters or the introduction of newspapers. in this case the spies work principally by means of "traps"--_agents-provocateurs_. a spy introduces himself to the person suspected of dealing with correspondence; he pretends he has a letter to send or receive. if the suspect listens to him, a picket of soldiers and policemen arrives on the following day to make a search. other spies will speak in the street to a seller of newspapers; they will ask for a french or english journal, and scarcely has the vendor taken the forbidden journal from his pocket than a hand falls upon his collar. it is also by means of "traps" that the germans catch those who enable our militia to escape from the country. a young man, of the proper age, goes in search of the suspected person, and by means of false papers passes himself off for a patriot who wants to take his place at the front. arrangements being made, the spy departs; but a skilfully set trap enables him to catch a whole group of young fellows. it matters little to our cause, however, since for every one arrested hundreds cross into holland every week. many belgians devote themselves to this patriotic task, though they well know that in case of failure they will be sent into germany or shot. it should be said that their most active helpers are the soldiers of the landsturm, the guardians of the frontiers, who, according to an established tariff, for the sake of alcohol or money, close their eyes as our militia-men cross the frontier. one step further along the path of the informer, the spy, and the "trap," and we come to means whose ignominy is such that even the germans themselves are forced to admit their dishonesty. thus, at liége most of the letter-boxes on the house-doors are closed by means of nails. why? at the end of many citizens of liége used to receive _le courrier de la meuse_, a newspaper edited and printed at maestricht by belgian refugees. there was no great mystery about its distribution; the paper was simply slipped into the letter-box. but the german agents spied on the vendors, and having done so, searched the houses at which the newspaper was delivered. the subscriber, of course, was condemned to pay a fine. did part of this go to the spy? it is probable; in any case it was not long before the spies were importing _le courrier de la meuse_ in order themselves to place it in the letter-boxes of well-to-do houses. a search conducted immediately revealed the prohibited article, and, in spite of the indignant denials of the victim, the fine was inflicted. at ferrières, near jemelle, worse than this was done. a german priest pretended that the curé of ferrières had repeated, before a witness, a private conversation held some hours earlier. moreover, he wanted to garble the conversation. the abbé's action was repugnant in such a degree that even baron von bissing himself was a little uneasy about the matter, and revoked the punishment awarded to the belgian. while the mission of the spies and _agents-provocateurs_--including the _abbés-provocateurs_ or ecclesiastical "traps"--was to procure the condemnation to various penalties of as many belgians as possible, other "agents" in the pay of germany commenced a vast inquiry, in order to prove, in the face of the evidence itself, the crimes of the "francs-tireurs." well!--in spite of all the manoeuvres of spies and _provocateurs_ and the inquirers themselves, in spite of the personal rancour which impelled a few rare belgians to become the accomplices of the germans, and to denounce, in a spirit of vengeance, certain of their fellow-citizens, never did the germans succeed in mentioning a single name, not one single name, of a belgian civilian accused of having fired upon the german troops. we say expressly "accused," and not "convicted," to show that nowhere, in village or provincial town, although petty rivalry is so acute, and although informers, even though anonymous, would have been welcomed with joy by the germans, nowhere was any one found to assert that a belgian civilian had fired on the german troops. no, it was so improbable, so manifestly false, that not even the most miserable of wretches would have dreamed of formulating such a calumny. the germans wanted to make us believe that anonymous letters were pouring in upon them, but that they, as upright administrators, refused to follow up these accusations (declaration, th may, ). obviously a lie. we know them capable of themselves fabricating these anonymous accusations, simply to cause the belgians mental uneasiness, and to give rise to mutual suspicion. this is yet another attempt to cause dissension. for the rest, they have since then admitted that they have invited denunciation. worse than this: denunciation is enough to procure condemnation; it is not necessary for the offence to be proved. notice. cases are increasingly frequent in which letters are sent to belgian soldiers at the front by means of intermediaries. i remind the public that this is strictly prohibited. any person denounced to the german authorities for such action will be subjected to a severe penalty. the governor of the fortified position and the province of namur. (_l'ami de l'ordre_, th june, .) we should never come to an end were we to mention all the tricks and shifts that enter into their methods of administration. we will confine ourselves to relating one or two more. according to the hague convention, the functionaries of an occupied territory who remain at their posts must declare that they will undertake nothing, and will refrain from everything, that may be contrary to the interests of the occupier. note two essential points: it is only the _officials_ who are required to sign this agreement, and they undertake to _refrain_ from anything that may be hurtful to the occupier. now in january the german administration of namur wished to force the entire male population of the canton of Éghezée between the ages of eighteen and forty to sign the following declaration:-- "i the undersigned promise, conformably with the hague convention of the th october, , to continue scrupulously and loyally the fulfilment of my functions, to undertake nothing against the interests of the german empire, and i promise to prevent all that might be injurious thereto." in certain communes the inhabitants, meaning well and imperfectly informed as to their rights and duties, signed this declaration, which is an improper one, as it was required of all the inhabitants, and not only of the officials; moreover, it made the signatories promise to _prevent_ what was injurious to the germans, not merely to _refrain_ from it. up to a certain point, therefore, all the inhabitants were obliged to place themselves at the service of the german authorities. some burgomasters refused to allow the document to be signed as it stood. they added, on their own authority, the following sentence:-- "with the reservation of being able to respond freely to the appeal of the belgian government if the latter comes to resume possession of the country at present occupied by the german armies." the germans did not accept this addition; they proposed a new form of words:-- "i the undersigned promise, conformably with the provisions of the hague convention of th october, , to continue scrupulously and faithfully in the performance of my functions, to undertake nothing against the interests of the german empire, to refrain from all that might injure it." in many villages the people again refused to sign. men between and years of age cannot promise to continue in the performance of functions which they have never fulfilled. what did the germans do? they forced all the male inhabitants of the recalcitrant communes to present themselves daily at Éghezée, the chief town of the canton. but eventually they realized that it was iniquitous to make these men lose half their day every day simply because they, the germans, were demanding an absolutely illegal thing. so the daily muster at Éghezée was abandoned. the german administration falsely invoked the hague convention of in addressing the peasants, who doubtless did not even know the convention by name, and it tried twice over to take advantage of their good faith. it is not surprising that the inhabitants of the province of namur should have become suspicious, so that they would not willingly put their names to any paper presented by the germans. in may it was only after long negotiations and threats that the young men of rhisnes and emines signed their identification cards, which, according to the germans, "imposed no engagement on the signatory." we have not ourselves seen the wording of this card, so we cannot speak as to its tenor; but it is curious that the germans should be so insistent upon the signing of a card having so little significance. they also wished to impose, on the civic guard of rhisnes and emines, the engagement that they would no longer bear arms against germany. more than half the men refused, and were sent as prisoners of war to germany. monday, rd may, in the morning, sixty-nine belgian militia-men of the communes of rhisnes and emines were arrested because they refused to sign their identification cards, which contained nothing else than the information as to their persons necessary to complete such a document. they were taken to the prison of the fortress. on th may they were questioned a second time, and, having all without exception signed, they were immediately released. tuesday, th may, members of the civic guard at rhisnes were arrested because they refused to sign the declaration that they would not bear arms against germany and her allies during this war. in the course of the same day forty-nine signed the declaration and were released. the other fifty-eight maintained their refusal, and were transported to germany as prisoners of war on tuesday evening. wednesday, the th may, eighty members of the civic guard of emines and warisoulx were arrested for the same reason; forty signed the declaration and were released. the rest were transported to germany on the evening of the th may as prisoners of war. similarly on the th may, in the afternoon, men, part being members of the civic guard and part militia-men of the communes of taviers, dhuy, st.-germain, hemptinne, villers-lez-heest, and bovesse, were arrested because they refused to sign their identification cards. the government hopes that these men will reflect and hear reason, and that they will submit spontaneously to this measure, which serves only for purposes of registration, so that they may be released. it is expressly added that the signature of the identification cards imposes no engagement on the signatory; these cards contain only information as to identity, and all the belgian militia-men, as well as the members of the civic guard, have been several times informed upon this point. (_communicated._) (_l'ami de l'ordre_, th and th may, .) let us look into this case. in the first place, there never was a civic guard at rhisnes nor at emines, so that it is absolutely fraudulent to give this title to all the male adult inhabitants; and since they have not been civic guards they have never borne arms against germany, and cannot therefore engage to cease doing so. here again appears the german duplicity in all its beauty. the men of rhisnes and emines assure us that the paper said "no longer bear arms against germany." the germans have imposed a communiqué upon _l'ami de l'ordre_ which gives another version--"not to bear arms." but in the communiqué provided by the german authorities and published in _la belgique_ on the th june, our enemies recognize that the document said "no longer bear arms." however, a german communiqué is never entirely truthful; and this one forms no exception to the rule. conforming to the truth in this respect, it departs from it in another. it says, in effect, that the men of rhisnes "regarded themselves as still belonging to the belgian army." what absurdity! they refused to sign precisely because the germans wished to make them say that they did belong to the army! in august and september the germans were sending belgians into germany as civil prisoners; in may they were sending them as prisoners of war. the difference is important, since the hague convention states that the cost of maintenance of war prisoners falls upon their country of origin, but that it is not speaking of civil prisoners. this is why the civilians of rhisnes and emines went to germany as prisoners of war, as did the curé and the vicar of cortemarck (p. ). we have already cited (p. ) one case of premeditated abuse of a signature. here is another: in october the german authorities of mont st.-guibert (between ottignies and trembloux) had the following placard posted:-- notice. . all the male inhabitants of the commune aged from to years, rich or poor, must present themselves to-morrow, tuesday, morning, the th october, at o'clock in the morning (belgium time) at the railway booking-office. . these inhabitants can no longer change their place of residence; their names have been given to the military authorities. those who do not carry out this order, who seek to escape, will be made prisoners and will render themselves liable to be shot. the families of offenders will be taken as prisoners and their property destroyed. . english, french, or russians who are in the locality must be delivered to the military authorities. the same with belgians having belonged to the army who are deserters or have been prisoners. offenders will be punished by death. . fire-arms of all kinds which are still in possession of the inhabitants must be deposited immediately with the commandant of the railway-station. those who are discovered to be still in possession of these arms, after the publication of this notice, will be shot. . assemblies for roll-call will be held from time to time. the day and hour will be given in advance. . umbrellas and sticks are forbidden at the station. men must not present themselves in a state of drunkenness. mont st.-guibert, th october, . the burgomaster, e. wautier. the commandant of the railway-station, hamich, _sergeant_. this placard threatens penalties, even shooting, for the failure to attend at the railway-station; moreover, the offender's family is of course held responsible. so far it is commonplace enough. we will say nothing as to the grade of officer who thus disposes of the lives of citizens--he is a sergeant; but we know that the humblest german soldier possesses every right. what does rather surpass the usual level german administrative procedure is the fact that the burgomaster, whose name figures at the bottom of the placard, knew nothing of the latter until it was posted. the sergeant had used his name without deigning to consult him. to give a complete idea of the administrative methods employed by the germans against our country, it will be as well rapidly to describe how they behaved in a certain locality immediately after proceeding against the "francs-tireurs." hitherto we have dealt only with places where they did not have to carry out "reprisals." we will now select andenne, on account of the particularly savage character of the "repression" which drenched this unhappy town with blood and fire. here are the facts in their tragic sequence:-- the german patrol which penetrated into the town on the th august, , went straight to the house of the communal receiver and seized the funds: , frs. on the following day the bulk of the troops arrived. that evening, between and p.m., a very sharp fusillade broke out. immediately the civilians were accused of having fired, and the troops began to shoot down the inhabitants and burn the houses. on the following morning--the st august--all the inhabitants not yet shot were driven into the place des tilleuls. the men were herded on one side, the women on the other. from time to time major scheunemann, who commanded the operations, had a few men shot, sometimes before the whole population, sometimes a little apart. during the morning the soldiers dragged the corpse of the burgomaster, dr. camus, into the place. as soon as major scheunemann learned of the death of the first magistrate, he appointed as burgomaster m. de jaer, who was one of the group of persons waiting their turn to be shot. from that moment the order was given to kill no more; they contented themselves with sack and pillage. there were then houses burned at andenne and at seilles, and inhabitants were shot (_ th report_). we will confine ourselves, as regards the events which followed the burning and the massacre, to reprinting the placard posted at andenne during the first ten days of the occupation:-- inhabitants of andenne. by order of the german military authority occupying the town of andenne:-- all the men are held as hostages. per shot fired on the german troops, there will be _at least_ two hostages shot. the hostages will be fed by the women, who will carry them the necessaries close to the bridge at in the evening and in the morning. women are strictly forbidden to converse with the hostages. all the streets and public places will immediately be cleaned by all the women of the town, on pain of immediate arrest. it is strictly forbidden to move about the town after in the evening and before in the morning, on pain of severe repression. the dead will immediately be buried without any formality. young people over and the women must give their assistance in every case of requisition. it is strictly forbidden to show oneself at the windows. by order of the german military authority, the burgomaster designate, e. de jaer. the secretary, monrique. _andenne, the st august, ._ proclamation.[ ] on the th august of this year there was firing from numerous houses of the town of andenne on the german troops who were passing through the town; bombs also were thrown. it is certain that the first outbreak of firing occurred, according to a certain plan, at precisely the same time in several streets: in the rue brun, the rue de l'hôtel de ville, the place des tilleuls, and several other streets. a number of soldiers have been killed or wounded and war material damaged. after denying the first attacks, there was again firing from many houses for several hours, and again on the st august, at two o'clock in the afternoon, an under-officer was killed by a shot from one of the houses in the rue de l'hôtel de ville. those guilty inhabitants who have hitherto been found have been shot by the council of war, but it was not possible to find the persons who arranged the plot. we appeal, however, to the honour of the city of andenne, which appears in the eyes of the civilized world as a nest of murderers and bandits. perhaps it is possible to restore the honour of this town; this is why the inhabitants are invited, in their own interest, to communicate to the military authority all that may make it possible to make progress in revealing the plot and its authors. he who delivers proofs capable [of revealing, etc.] receives according to their value a reward of - frs. the measures which have been taken will or might be sooner mitigated as soon as inquiry shall have made progress to make known the guilty. the commandant of the city. _andenne, the nd august, ._ _andenne, sunday, rd august, ._ official notice. between saarburg and metz there has been a great battle. the german troops have made , french prisoners. long live his majesty the emperor of germany, king of prussia and margrave of brandenburg! scheunemann, major and chief of department. official notice. the revictualling of the population will be effected by the efforts of the military administration, assisted by the civil administration of andenne constituted by the german government, as far as possible. . in this connection, the sale of provisions and commodities is strictly forbidden. . householders are advised to report at once the quantity of their provisions. commodities will be taken for cash or redeemable voucher. . it would be in the interest of the population to announce exactly the quantity of their provisions. . provisions not exceeding two days for the family need not be reported. . all the available forces of the commune are in the care of the administration for the harvest. properties abandoned will be harvested as the rest. the commandant of the town of andenne. _ th august, ._ proclamation. i have confidence in the administration and in the population, that now each will be careful to obey as strictly as possible the orders of the kommandantur in order to soften as far as possible the misfortune caused by the criminal deeds of a few inhabitants. this is why i object to all that prevents the free circulation of the inhabitants. i trust that none of the inhabitants of andenne and seilles will make use of their liberty save for the prosperity of the commune. the administrations of andenne and seilles are working with me day and night to bring about a settled state of affairs. all questions of revictualling and welfare must be addressed directly to the administrations of andenne and seilles, which have also the power to require the inhabitants to work. the german army displays the greatest severity and energy if it is perfidiously attacked by the inhabitants, but it sincerely desires to use justice and humanity towards the people, if the conduct of the inhabitants permit. der kommandant, schultze, hauptmann. _andenne, th august, ._ to the inhabitants of andenne. we call the attention of the population to the proclamation which the military commandant has just handed to us on leaving. i am leaving this town in the expectation that it will perform, as during the last few days, and also in the future, all that may ensure orderly conduct towards the german army. i hand over the new bridge to the town for its use, and require it to be responsible for its safety and to maintain it in good condition. for the present a small garrison will remain here, which will be fed and lodged by the town. if all energies are permanently directed upon the prosperity of the town of andenne and seilles these localities will soon be cured of the grave wounds which the war has inflicted upon these communes, by their own fault. schultze, hauptmann. _andenne, th august, ._ we are profiting by this occasion to congratulate and to thank the inhabitants of andenne for the admirable manner in which they have behaved, during these latter days, and we urge them strongly to assist the communal administration to repair as far possible the great misfortunes which we have experienced. the burgomaster delegated by the military authority, e. de jaer. the secretary, monrique. _andenne, th august, ._ proclamation.[ ] . from _saturday, th august, _, midday, all the clocks must be set to the german time (one hour earlier). . assemblies of more than three persons are strictly forbidden _under penalty of fines_. . to move about after p.m. the authorization of m. le commandant is required. . arms must be deposited with the guard _at the casino, by noon on the th inst_. where arms are still found in the houses after this date, the householder will be hanged. . the german troops requiring absolute tranquillity, workmen can return to work at once. tho least revolt on the part of the inhabitants will result in the complete burning of the town, and the men will be hanged. simons, lieut.-col. and commander-in-chief. _becker_, _captain and commander-in-chief._ dear fellow-citizens, we are happy to announce to you that the military authority will show the greatest goodwill towards us if, as we doubt not, the worthy population of andenne continues to remain perfectly quiet, to labour with courage, and to obey authority with docility, _as it has done_ up to the present, for which we thank it. at a military fête, at which the military authority expressly invited us to be present, all the troops, including the officers--in our presence, and before many of the notables of andenne, and dean cartiaux in particular--repeatedly shouted "hurrah for andenne!" in the name of all of you, much affected, we expressed our thanks. dear friends, have confidence in us; we are working with all our souls for the safety of andenne. we have assured the military authority that the soldiers might be perfectly at ease in our midst, that none of us would wish to commit the least aggression--that, on the contrary, we shall all treat the germany army with _complete loyalty_. we have been responsible for you. in return, we ask you only one thing: it is, to continue to do what you have done until to-day, and, if, by some impossible chance, there should be among us an ill-conditioned person who might be capable of compromising honest people, point him out to us; for our worthy fellow-citizens must not be responsible for the crimes of a scoundrel. let the german army be sure that the communal administration will with the utmost promptness hand over to it any one guilty of an act of ill-will, whoever he may be. dear fellow-citizens, patience and courage to support privation. be easy in your minds; we are with you. the burgomaster delegated by the military authority, dr. ledoyen, e. de jaer, councillor lahaye. the secretary, monrique, _andenne, th august, _. proclamation. i am under the impression that the greater portion of the inhabitants desire tranquillity, therefore i invite them not to leave the town. before employing violent means, i shall make a strict inquiry to discover the guilty persons in case a revolt should break out. i therefore expect of the population of andenne that it will do everything to ensure that no german soldier shall be molested otherwise i shall be forced to act in accordance with the measures of my first proclamation. becker, captain, l.i.r. , and commandant-in-chief. one word as to these placards. _placard of the st august._--the men are all regarded as hostages; the women have to feed them; they also have to clean up the town. _placard of the nd august._--the military authorities declare, on the nd of august, that andenne, where the "attacks of francs-tireurs" were repressed during the night of the th and the morning of the st, is already regarded by the whole civilized world as "a nest of murderers and bandits." it offers a reward of to frs. to any one who will denounce the author of the plot. it also promises, to excite the zeal of the informers, that the severe measures in force will be mitigated as soon as the leaders are discovered. (no one was denounced.) _ st placard of the rd august._--this announces the great victory between sarrebourg and metz: , french prisoners were taken. (an attempt to demoralize the population.) note that the wolff agency reported only , prisoners; where did major scheunemann find the other , ? _ nd placard of the rd august._--the germans are attending to the revictualling of andenne. (in reality the people of andenne were starving.) _placard of the th august._--the german administration is strict, but just. (the people of andenne had noticed the severity.) _ st placard of the th august._--once again the inhabitants are urged to remain calm, and are congratulated on their good conduct. (the burgomaster was forced to countersign this proclamation. had he seen it first?) _ nd placard of the th august._--the german time is made compulsory. assemblies of more than three persons are prohibited. if arms are found in a house their owner will be hanged. at the least disturbance, the complete burning of the town and the hanging of the men. _ st placard of the th august._--the german troops, having pillaged andenne and shot down its inhabitants, now shout "hurrah for andenne!" then a fresh appeal to informers. _ nd placard of the th august._--the german authorities now promise to make an inquiry if there is another revolt. (this inquiry would have been a novelty.) e.--ferocity. we may be brief, for the cruel character of _kultur_ is so obvious, and appears so plainly from the documents cited, that it would be idle to insist upon it. if it were necessary to justify our aversion, we need only remark that the cruelties recorded were systematically premeditated. do not the _kriegsbrauch im landkriege_ (_usages of war on land according to the great general staff_) state that the observation of these usages is not "guaranteed by any sanction other than the fear of reprisals," and that the officer, the child of his age, carried away by the moral tendencies which affect his country, must protect himself "against exaggerated humanitarian ideas," and must realize that "the only true humanity often resides in the unmitigated employment of these severities?" if such principles are professed by the highest authorities, the german soldier will not shrink from any degree of violence; for he knows that wickedness will not merely provide him with amusement; it will also help to achieve the final aim of warfare. so that the officer shall be in no danger of forgetting the spirit in which he should conceive his relations with the enemy population, he carries some such aid to memory as the _tornister-wörterbuch_. if he has letters or proclamations to draft, he has recourse to _l'interprète militaire_ of captain von scharfenort, professor and librarian at the academy of war in berlin. m. waxweiler (in _la belgique neutre et loyale_, p. ) has already drawn attention to the cruel and odious character of this _vade-mecum_, so we will not enlarge upon it. it was after consulting _l'interprète militaire_ that a certain placard posted in belgium in the august of was drafted. it gives no details as to the "lugubrious cruelties"; it applies both to towns and villages; it speaks of the "mayor" instead of the "burgomaster"; it is neither dated nor signed; in short, it presents all the characteristics of an "emergency placard," drafted beforehand. proclamation. we are not making war upon citizens, but only on the enemy army. in spite of this, the german troops have been attacked in great number by persons who do not belong to the army. they have committed _acts of the most lugubrious cruelty_ not only against combatants, but also against our wounded and our doctors who are under the protection of the red cross. to prevent these brutalities i order that which follows: . any person who does not belong to the army and who is found arms in hand, will be shot instantly. he will be regarded as outside the laws of nations. . all arms, rifles, pistols, brownings, sabres, daggers, etc., and all explosive material, must be delivered immediately by the mayors of every village or town to the commander of the german troops; if a single weapon is found, no matter in what house, or if any act has been committed against our troops, our transports, our telegraph lines, our railways, etc., or if any one gives asylum to _francs-tireurs_; the guilty persons and the hostages who will be taken in each village will be shot without pity. besides this, the inhabitants of the villages, etc., in question will be driven out. the villages and towns even will be demolished and burned. if this happens on the road of communication between two villages or two towns, the inhabitants of the two villages will be treated in the same manner. i expect the mayors and populations will be able, by their prudent supervision and conduct, to ensure the safety of our troops as well as their own. in the contrary case, the measures indicated above will come into force. signed: the general commanding-in-chief. (no name.) the appeal to brutality comes from above. in the whole world shuddered at the advice which wilhelm ii gave the expeditionary corps setting out for china. "follow the example of the huns," cried the kaiser. why, then, do the germans profess to be annoyed when compared to-day with the soldiers of attila--or when their motto is spelt _gott mit huns_? a german lieutenant, whose military note-book we have had before us, does full justice to his companions. after the massacre and burning of ottignies on the th august, , he wrote as follows (we translate):-- the inhabitants were in the square, under a guard of soldiers. several men were condemned by the council of war and at once put to death. the women, dressed in black, as in a solemn procession, then departed. among those who had just fallen, how many innocent were shot! the village has been literally sacked: the "blond brute" has shown himself for what he is. the huns and the freebooters of the middle ages could not have done better. the houses are burning now, and when the action of the fire is not enough we raze what remains standing. very suggestive too is the placard of the th april, , in which baron von bissing informs us that according to mr. fox, an american journalist, the germans have committed no useless "cruelties." then there are useful cruelties? really the governor-general, who seems to know his subject, ought to publish a table differentiating the various qualities of cruelty. but a thing that does surprise us is that the virus of cruelty should already have contaminated civilians--i mean the catholic members of the reichstag. herr erzberger, the same who asserted, and who perhaps is asserting still, that the belgians invaded germany on the nd august, wrote what are perhaps the most coldly ferocious words imaginable: "_above all, no sentimentality!_" (_n.r.c._, th february, , evening edition). such advice bore fruit, as we shall discover when we come to examine, in succession, the physical and moral tortures in which our executioners delight. but first let us cite a few examples of _aggravations_. by that we mean acts of malice which do not endanger the life or reason of the victims, but which reveal, perhaps the more clearly for that, the desire to torment. . aggravations. a general remark occurs to us at once: it is that the germans have failed in their object. for instead of exasperating us to the point of forcing us to commit some imprudence, which they would have been obliged to repress, they simply made sure of our profound contempt. to tell the truth, each fresh persecution makes us furious for a day; but the sense of irony soon regains the upper hand, and then we have only one anxiety: to make their latest form of vexation ridiculous by all the means in our power. nothing better shows the contrast between the german mentality and the belgian than the manner in which we have obeyed the decree concerning the german time. after only a week's occupation the inhabitants of andenne were obliged to set their clocks to the german time. at namur, too, this was required from the st august. elsewhere the german time was enforced only at a much later date, and only in respect of the clocks in cafés. many cabaret-keepers merely stopped their clocks; others had fitted a second small hand, an hour in retard of the first; others wrote beneath the clock "german time," or even "this clock is an hour fast." in the window of a brussels watchmaker, in the midst of many clocks which indicated more or less precisely the german time, was one which was specially labelled "correct time"--and that one told, of course, the belgian time. in short, every one did what he could to avoid letting his customers regard the german time as the true time. and really, if one has adopted, as is the case in germany and in belgium, the system of hourly segments, it is obvious that belgium ought to form part of the segment of western europe, not part of that of eastern europe. it is, therefore, solely in a spirit of aggravation that germany forces her time upon us; and she is fully aware of this, as her public notices are always careful to speak of "german time," not of "central european time." _treatment inflicted upon belgian ladies._ what do you think of the additional suffering inflicted on ladies condemned to several weeks' imprisonment for having conveyed letters from belgian soldiers to the parents of those soldiers, or for speaking a little too boldly before an officer, or for some other crime of a like nature? it is a delicate idea to shut them up in common with half a score of other prisoners, in a room containing no convenience but a pail furnished with a cover. they are lucky if the company does not include some very dubious characters. * * * * * we need not insist: these are aggravations, not serious at bottom, but their irritating nature can only be fully appreciated when one suffers them daily, or hears them described by friends or relatives who have been their victims. after the examples of collective and impersonal malfeasance dictated by some high officer desirous of justifying the fair fame of _kultur_, we will take those cases in which the personality of the author clearly reveals itself, and, let us say at once, in which this personality instantly excites the disgust and indignation of all merely civilized persons. the germans reached capelle-au-bois on the th august. but on the st they were repulsed by belgian troops. on the th september they returned in force and forced back the belgians; not without difficulty, however, for they had many killed, of whom nineteen were buried at capelle-au-bois. with the belgian troops as they withdrew went all the inhabitants of the village, leaving behind them only a few helpless old people. in this all but empty village, where no one was left to offer them the least resistance, the germans hastened to kill several inhabitants--four, it is believed. then, under the orders of captain von puttkammer, the strong-boxes were broken open, the objects of value packed and sent to germany, and the wines carried to the bank of the canal and into the houses occupied by the officers. on the evening of the th september the troops set fire to the village. thanks to incendiary pastilles and benzine pumps, the fire spread rapidly; houses were burned of the three hundred which formed the heart of the village. so far all was as usual; but here is the characteristic fact. the better to enjoy the spectacle the troops spent the evening on the bank of the canal; there they organized a little orgie, over eight hundred empty bottles being afterwards discovered. at the same period the germans established a few miles further to the west, at londerzeel, pillaged and then burned the house of the notary, m. van hover. they had tried in vain to open the safe, so, furious at their failure, they poured benzine into it and set fire to it, procuring at least the satisfaction of knowing that all the papers would be reduced to ashes. what are we to think of the officer who, lodging in the house of a curé in the province of antwerp, found it amusing to tear pages from the books which formed his host's library, or to gum them together, so that in seeking to separate them the owner himself would tear them? note that it was no clown who devised this kindly pastime, for he took care to choose, in the latin books, the pages bearing the most important passages.[ ] _filthy amusements._ others preferred to defile things. when in august and september we were told that the germans were amusing themselves by depositing ordure in their beds we refused to believe in such perversion. but a walk through eppeghem, sempst, and weerde was enough to enlighten us. not only had they emptied all the houses, rich or poor; not only had they taken the trouble to smash into quite small pieces all the glass and crockery they could not carry away; not only, in the grocers' shops, had they delighted themselves by mixing snuff with the butter, and tacks with the cloves, and pepper with the flour, but all the bedding bore the malodorous traces of their visit. let it not be imagined that this mania of beastliness is peculiar to the common soldiers. the officers who spent the night of the th august, , at cortenburg, between louvain and brussels, were infected by the same _kultur_. in a certain house they carefully laid the table in the dining-room, without forgetting the serviettes, and then deposited a souvenir on every plate. in another house in cortenburg they chose, as a receptacle, the tall hat of the householder. in the château of malderen (brabant), having taken all that pleased them and broken the rest into small pieces, they opened a card-table, deposited their excrement there, and carefully closed it again. another manifestation of the scatological mania: many hundreds of german army surgeons met in congress during the easter holidays of , in brussels. on the last day of the congress, wednesday, the th april, a banquet was held, on the premises of the palais de justice. on the thursday morning it was discovered that the surgeons had left souvenirs behind them; they had evacuated the surplus of food and liquor consumed by the three natural orifices, and had chosen for their purpose the most beautiful halls of the palais. frankly, we should not have expected this from the doctors; it is true, however, that they were german military doctors. a man amuses himself as he can--or, to put it more plainly, according to his mentality. after all, these beastly habits, disgusting as they are, are not those whose results are most disagreeable. there are others who seek violent contrasts. thus, at houtem, while the church was burning, on the th september, , a military band was playing its liveliest selections at a few yards' distance. at monceau-sur-sambre, on the nd august, officers were playing the piano in the château of the demoiselles bourriez, on the trazegnies road, when the soldiers had already lit the upper floors. at louvain, on the th august, , in a café near the railway-station, soldiers set fire to the upper floor without warning the proprietor, and remained below, where they kept a mechanical piano going. they were thus able to enjoy the despairing expressions of the inmates when they discovered that they could no longer hope to save anything. . physical tortures. we shall not here refer to the innumerable cases of torture cited in the reports of the commission of inquiry, nor those reported in nothomb's _la belgique martyre_. we will confine ourselves to facts of which we have personal knowledge. the germans will, of course, seek to deny them. so it is as well to begin by a declaration of their own. _vorwärts_, on the rd august, (the very day on which the chief atrocities were committed in the dinant district), protested against the proposal made by a german officer, not to kill francs-tireurs outright, but to wound them mortally and leave them to die slowly in agony, while forbidding any one to go to their assistance. what to our mind is even graver than the proposition itself is the fact that the _deutsches offizierblatt_ accepted it as quite a natural thing. it is clear that where they are proved, the cruelties committed by our enemies must be denounced, and that everything must be done to prevent their repetition. however, we must not allow the recital of these cruelties to force us to resort to a sort of policy of retaliation, or lead us to wash out what others have done with innocent blood. what are we to say when we find an organ like the _deutsches offizierblatt_ expressing its sympathy for the following proposition: the "brutes" captured as francs-tireurs should not be shot outright, but should be fired upon and left to their fate, all succour being prevented? what again are we to say when it is added that the destruction, in reprisal, of whole localities even does not represent "a sufficient vengeance for the bones of a single pomeranian grenadier assassinated"? these are the imaginings of bloodthirsty fanatics, and we are ashamed to perceive that men capable of speaking thus exist in our nation. such expressions, even if they are not carried into action, are truly of a nature to place our struggle in an unfavourable light all the world over. (_vorwärts_, rd august, .) _the fate of the valkenaers family._ one of the most horrible tragedies of this war was the massacre of the valkenaers family, at thildonck, on the th august, , while louvain was burning. because they had not prevented the belgian soldiers from utilizing their farms as points of support, the members of the two valkenaers households were shot down in cold blood. of these fourteen unfortunate people three were grievously wounded and seven killed. the better to amuse themselves, the germans forced the elder of the young girls to wave a sort of flag. during the preceding night (that of the th august), in louvain, they had savagely mangled the corpse of a young woman. on the afternoon of the th, being still in the immediate neighbourhood, at bueken, they had seized the curé and cut off his nose and ears before giving him the _coup de grâce_ (p. ). at the same time began the torture of the curé of pont-brûlé, to end only on the th. at elewijt, on the th, they amused themselves by amputating the hands of four men--the three brothers van der aa and françois salu. a little further to the east the first german troops who had passed through schaffen, near diest, on the th or th august, had there tortured the blacksmith broeden. all day long he had laboured, shoeing the horses of the enemy's cavalry. early in the evening he repaired to the church, with the sacristan, with the object of saving some precious articles which had not been placed in security. he was surprised by the soldiery and seized. successively the germans broke his wrists, his arms, and his legs; perhaps he suffered yet other tortures. when he was practically lifeless the soldiers asked him whether he thought that he would in future be capable of undertaking any kind of labour. on his replying, in an almost inaudible voice, that he did not, they declared that in that case he ought not to continue to live. immediately they threw him, head first, into a ditch dug for the purpose; then the ditch was filled, leaving his feet protruding. * * * * * in other parts of the country also the most varied tortures. at spontin, near dinant, on the rd august, , they pierced the curé and the burgomaster with bayonet-wounds until death ensued; but first they had bound each man with a strong cord, drawn violently tight round the waist by the combined efforts of two soldiers. it must be supposed that the officer who presided over the "severities" at spontin had quite a special affection for cords, for having taken alive some inhabitants of the place (the rest were killed, shot down while they were trying to escape), he had them all tied together by the wrists and conveyed them towards dorinn; but many were shot before reaching that village. on the same day, in dinant prison, a soldier strangled a baby in the arms of its mother because it was crying too loud. at sorinnes, still in the dinant district, and on the same day, jules and albert houzieaux were burned alive. at aiseau, on the st august, the germans shut two men into a house, to which they set fire. but the unexpected arrival of a shell prevented them from enjoying the sufferings of their victims. at hofstade chance favoured them better; they threw victor de coster, whom they had just stripped, into the furnace provided by his own house; his servant shared his fate. we must suppose that the germans take great pleasure in the contortions of the hanged. herr heymel had to content himself with admiring the corpse of a priest swinging in a tree; and his friend, herr klemm, was careful to devote, to the memory of this comforting spectacle, a drawing, published in _kunst und künstler_ (january ). herr heymel expresses his great satisfaction before this spectacle; but what pleasure he would have experienced could he have witnessed the hanging of the men whom the germans boast of having hanged to the trees of the herve district; or could he have assisted to hang that inhabitant of Èvelette, whom the soldiers put to death at andenne, on the th; or the cabaret-keeper who was strung up to a lantern before the louvain railway-station, on the night of the th; but our fastidious _littérateur_ would have tasted the keenest delight at arlon, when an old man was put to death; he remained hanging for hours, with his feet just grazing the soil (p. ). the germans, perhaps, will say--supposing they think they ought to excuse themselves--that these executions were carried out as a result of the attacks of francs-tireurs, or after the mutilation of the german wounded by belgian civilians. but it will be impossible for them to allege these lies as circumstances extenuating the inhuman treatment which they inflicted upon belgian soldiers at the time of their first attacks on the forts of liége, on the night of the th august; that is, a few hours after the commencement of hostilities. not only did they maltreat in every imaginable manner their belgian prisoners, but certain german soldiers pushed _kultur_ so far as to refuse water to poor wounded fellows dying of thirst; more, they even gave themselves the atrocious pleasure of spilling on the ground the water contained in the wounded men's own flasks, and this before their eyes. . moral tortures. the physical tortures which the germans have inflicted upon us cannot rival their methods of moral torture. in these they have achieved refinements worthy of the inventive genius of an edgar allan poë. _moral torture before execution._ to force those about to be shot to dig their own graves, as they did at tavigny,[ ] is quite a commonplace method. in the fonds de leffe, on the rd august, (p. ), they perfected their mode of operation. they had called up eight men of dinant to bury the victims as they were shot (there was so much work to do that it had to be entrusted to experienced hands). in the evening each of the gravediggers dug his own grave; four were shot, and buried by their colleagues; just as these were about to suffer the same fate an officer "pardoned" them: not out of humanity (that would have been too decent), but simply because their services would be required during the following days. at dinant, during the bloody days of the rd and th august, they invented many other moral tortures. on the morning of the rd they shot, in a meadow of the fonds de leffe, a group of thirteen men. but instead of leading them all together before the firing platoon, they cunningly prolonged their pleasure; the thirteen unfortunates were tied, in succession, to the same tree, and shot down one by one. the whole of the rd was consecrated, in the fonds de leffe, to killing the men in small batches of half a dozen; these were shot either before their wives and children, or at a short distance, but within earshot, so that the family should lose none of the groans of the dying. when, later on, the women and children were shut up in a windmill, having first been marched in front of the corpses, the germans allowed themselves the distraction of lighting fires before the windows from time to time, in order to make the women believe that they were about to be burned alive with their children, and to delight in their anguish. while men were being shot in the fonds de leffe, horrible massacres were being committed at leffe and at dinant, at only a few minutes' distance. here, too, men were shot before their families--for example, victor poncelet and charles naus--and the survivors were forced to pass through the midst of the corpses. the officers, too, devised more complicated diversions; for instance, allowing a group of women and children to escape into the mountains, in order to shoot them down from a distance. a moral torture commonly employed is that which consists in making people believe that they are going to be killed. all the inhabitants of sorinnes were placed before machine-guns, and a german chaplain, speaking french, ceremoniously shook each man by the hand. at dinant two or three hundred persons were lined up against a wall; then a pastor recited the prayers for the dead (perhaps the chaplain of sorinnes had found another opportunity for his pleasantry), and an empty machine-gun was pointed at them. an officer laughed as though his sides would split while he threatened, with his revolver, some fifteen women shut up in the convent of prémontré, at leffe. pretended executions and threats of execution were everywhere in common usage. at wépion, near namur, on the rd august, (the day of the dinant horrors), the germans packed the women into boats, and told them to row into the middle of the meuse. they took aim at them several times; then, having sufficiently amused themselves, they allowed them to return to the bank. on the th september, , a group of civil prisoners from the north of brabant were going towards the railway-station, whence they left for germany. the procession was preceded by a military band, which played funeral marches, so that they were convinced that they were being led to execution. two citizens of brussels, taking a walk on sunday, the th august, ventured as far as koningsloo, in the suburbs. they were seized by german sentinels, and imprisoned at the post. from time to time an under-officer approached them, held his revolver under their noses, and grimaced at them: "ah, ah, walk's over, walk's done!" (_fini, promenade!_). one of the prisoners asked the guard if they were really going to be shot; in which case they would wish to make certain arrangements. but the soldier reassured them: "don't be afraid," he said, "it's only a game of our officer's; he does it every day to amuse himself." and sure enough, towards evening the two prisoners were set free without further ceremony. sectional execution--execution by small groups--under the eyes of those awaiting their fate, was applied on a large scale at arlon. on the th august, (or , or ) inhabitants of rossignol and neighbouring localities were taken thither, and were killed in groups of ten or twelve. madame hurieaux was reserved for the last; she saw her husband and all her companions in misfortune perish first; and she died crying "vive la belgique! vive la france!" it will be of interest to reproduce here the narrative of a medical student who was present at the executions which took place at arlon. it may be taken as a sample, so to speak, of the german procedure: massacre and incendiarism, with no previous inquiry; the most varied moral and physical tortures; capricious condemnation or liberation of prisoners; pillage of the communal funds, etc. at the beginning of august i left y----, where my parents live, to go to the village of x----, lying to the north of my native town. two days later the french arrived, making towards the north of luxemburg. there were movements of troops in different directions, and soon one could see that battles would be fought in the neighbourhood. i thought i could make myself useful by opening a small ambulance, which i did. i was lodging with one of my aunts, who has a son of my own age. one day an engagement took place between the french and the german troops, and a wounded german soldier was brought into my little ambulance; his name was kohn. i gave him first aid; i apologized for not being able to do more, and i told him that towards evening it might be possible to carry him to arlon, where he would receive all necessary care. i returned to my aunt's house; i found her in tears; they had just taken away her son, my cousin jules, on the pretext that he had fired on them. it was a piece of stupidity, for there was nothing in the whole house but one revolver, and i was carrying that on me. i had had it on me all the time i was at the ambulance. i hastened to hide it under a chest, and i decided to go and demand my cousin of the germans. i speak their language a little, and i was so convinced of my cousin's innocence that i imagined a few words of explanation would make them give him up. i soon found him, tied to a tree, beside other prisoners. i began to parley with a german officer. he replied that there was nothing to do for the moment, that the prisoners would be sent to arlon, and that he was convinced that if i followed them i should be able, at arlon, to obtain justice for my cousin. we set out for arlon; i was beside the prisoners. at a determined spot we were handed over to other soldiers. i was greatly astonished, at a given moment, to see that i had become a prisoner myself; i was no longer accompanying my cousin, to save him; i was sharing his fate. we arrived at arlon; we were lined up against a wall. there were with us, notably, a woman, with two young children of nine and ten, an old villager with his son, and other people whom i did not know. an officer on horseback approached us. he was, it seemed a judge. he turned to the soldiers and asked, pointing to each of us: "did that one fire?" and the soldiers always replied in the affirmative. now it should be noted that these soldiers had seen nothing, and could have seen nothing, for they were not those who seized the prisoners in the village in which they were arrested. the head-dress of the troops was entirely different; the first had helmets, and the second caps. when the officer had finished pointing at us, we were informed that we were all condemned to death. an old man was seized; i myself was seized; and we were pushed to one side, to be shot. the old man's son rushed towards him and tried to drag him away from the soldiers. the result was that the son was seized, to be shot with the father. this is how things happened: the two were put against a wall; a platoon of soldiers commanded by an officer took up their position in front of them. the officer commanded all their movements with a deliberation calculated to increase the torture of the victims. "load!"... then a pause. "take aim!"... then a pause. "fire!"... the two unhappy men fell to the ground, groaning. the officer went up to them, recognized that they were not dead, and again gave orders to fire, with the same deliberation and the same method. this time the father ceased to move; it took a third volley to finish the son. we were then all led to a guard-house. there we remained for three days. we were given nothing to eat. we fasted from the morning we were taken; it was only on the following day, or the day after that, that we received a little water. in that room we were literally tortured. we were forced to stand upright; an old man was groaning he was so thirsty that his tongue protruded from his lips and the flies settled on it. as he could not stand any longer, the germans passed a cord round his neck and attached it to a ring-bolt in the wall, so that he was supported only on his toes. the cord stretched and the wretched man fell now to this side, now to that. the soldiers made him stand upright again by striking his face with the butts of their rifles. at one time his trousers fell down and we saw he was wounded in the thigh, by bayonet-thrusts. later he became insane. in his delirium he cried: "prepare food for the cows."[ ] it was a horrible scene. at another time the woman was taken out, with her two little children, and all three were shot against the wall of the palais de justice at arlon. the soldiers asserted that they had "found a german soldier's purse" in this woman's house. the time passed in the most atrocious moral anguish and physical suffering. we had lost all notion of time. the soldiers insulted us, spat upon us, made signs that our throats would be cut, that we were going to be shot. they took a pleasure in drinking in front of us. at a certain moment an officer of superior rank entered the room. he came up to me and asked: "why are you here?" i replied: "they accuse us of having fired on the troops." immediately he turned his back upon me, but i cried, with energy: "yes, and far from having fired on them, i looked after them. if you want the proof of this, ask the soldier called kohn who must be in the hospital here at arlon." i then told him of kohn. he went to the hospital, and returned some time later; he had found the soldier kohn, who confirmed my story. an officer on horseback (the judge) came to the door of the guard-room: we were sent out, my cousin and i, and without even questioning us he said, "you are acquitted." i protested, saying: "there are still five or six people there of my village who are no more guilty than we are." they were sent out, and the judge told them, as he told me, without any further inquiry, "you are acquitted." as for the unhappy old man, i will tell you later how he escaped. he returned to his village; he is crippled. * * * * * i remained at arlon until the end of august, at the house of one of my relatives, whose business brought him daily into contact with the belgian authorities and the german army. i was thus able to obtain a good deal of precise information. * * * * * the germans entered arlon on the th august. they came from mersch, in the grand-duchy. several days earlier, all the weapons the inhabitants possessed had been deposited at the hôtel de ville. the people of arlon knew from the newspapers what atrocities the germans had committed in the neighbourhood of liége, at visé, herve, battice, warsage, etc., and they were far from meditating any disturbance. on entering the town the uhlans began to break in the doors with the butts of their rifles. on the following day commandant von der esch, commandant of the town, had a notice posted up, which i have copied _verbatim_. proclamation. luminous signals have been made to-night between freylange and the lower part of this town; one of our patrols has been attacked; our telephone wires have been cut. to punish the population guilty of these acts of ill-will, i order for to-day at o'clock the burning of the village of freylange and the sack of houses in the west of arlon. i also condemn the town to pay a war contribution of , frs., which must be paid over before p.m., or i shall have the hostages shot. von der esch. * * * * * while the communal administration of arlon was deliberating on the subject of the war contribution, the burning of freylange and the sack of houses of arlon was carried out according to the programme. after the , frs. had been paid to the germans, they summoned to the general headquarters, established in the hôtel de ville of the northern portion of arlon, a police agent, named lempreur, and instructed him to proceed to arrest those who had fired on the german troops. he came back to say that he had found no one. "ah!" they told him, "you are going about it unwillingly! very good; you shall pay for the others." and without listening to his pleading, without allowing him to see his wife or children again, he was placed with his back to a door and a firing platoon shot him down. i saw the door at the hôtel de ville; it was riddled with bullets. a few days later another army division replaced the first. immediately the town was condemned to pay a fresh war contribution: a million francs. the town could get together only , frs. it was let off the remainder. * * * * * from the day when i was set at liberty we used almost daily to hear of executions in arlon; they were of prisoners, brought just as we were, from the neighbouring villages, notably from rossignol and tintigny, who were shot in small parties. one of these executions took place in the courtyard of the church of st. donat. the dean succeeded in obtaining pardon for two of the condemned. the most important execution was that of (others say ) inhabitants of rossignol and its immediate surroundings, who were shot on th august. they were taken near the viaduct which passes over the arlon railway-station (towards the connecting station). they were killed in small groups of ten or twelve. those who were not dead were finished with the bayonet. each group had to climb over the surrounding corpses. they kept to the last a lady of rossignol, mme. hurieaux, who thus had to see her husband and the greater part of the inhabitants of her village killed before her eyes. she died crying "vive la belgique! vive la france!" here is one little detail which i was able to verify. when the receiver and examiner of customs of arlon learned of the approaching arrival of the germans they removed all the money from the safe, leaving only copper coin to the value of about a franc. the germans immediately proceeded to break open the safe, but succeeded only after two days' work. infuriated by this discomfiture, they used the safe as a commode. but whatever the moral sufferings inflicted on those who were executed, the tortures which the germans applied to those against whom no accusation was brought were a hundred times more atrocious. think of the martyrdom of mme. cambier, of nimy, who was forced to tread on her son's brains; and the sufferings of the innumerable men and women of whom the germans made a living shield, at anseremme, mons, tournai, and charleroi (p. ). as to charleroi, here is a detail not recorded by herr heymel. the prisoners collected at jumet and odelissert were tied in couples by the wrists, to prevent them from trying to escape when the french should fire on them. moreover, they had to walk with their hands raised. when, by reason of fatigue, they dropped their arms, the soldiers struck them with the butts of their rifles. we know a man who was thus placed before the german troops, who saw one of his relatives killed at his side, and two of the latter's sons. he himself received three bullets, one in the right wrist, one in the left arm, and the third under the chin. he escaped, but is lamed for life. imagine also the tortures suffered by the civil prisoners who, in defiance of all justice, were sent to germany. hunger, thirst, threats, and insults; packed into cattle-trucks, they had no room to lie down, or even to sit. above all, they had no news of their families. on the th september, , more than inhabitants of lebbeke, near termonde, were placed as a screen in front of the german troops marching against termonde. in the evening, those who had not been shot were added to others just captured, and all together, in all some , were sent into germany. at the moment when these unhappy folk were leaving lebbeke the germans set fire to some of the houses, and kindly informed the prisoners that the whole village was about to be burned. moreover, they said, the women and children would in part be killed, and the rest driven off in the direction of termonde and gand. imagine, if you can, the sufferings endured by these unfortunate people for the two months during which they remained without news of their homes, in the conviction that their families were massacred or wandering wretchedly across the devastated country. while by means of these cruel lies, whose horrible effect was systematically calculated, they filled with despair the hearts of those who were departing, the soldiers amused themselves also by wringing the hearts of the poor women--mothers, wives, sisters, daughters--who remained in the village. for they, too, were for long weeks without news from the prisoners, and the abominable manner in which the german troops, drunk with carnage, had assassinated, on the day of exodus, twelve of their fellow-citizens (_ th report_), permitted them to entertain the most frightful suppositions. make no mistake: the case of lebbeke is far from being exceptional. all the civil prisoners were treated with the same barbarity, a barbarity utterly unjustified, since, in the judgment of baron von bissing, no complaint had been formulated against the civil prisoners who have been sent back to their homes. but all have not returned. in june , for example, most of the prisoners from visé were still in germany. as for those taken from rossignol and so many other localities in luxemburg, they will never return, alas! they have been shot without pretext. another horrible torture consists in the suppression of communications between the belgian soldiers and their parents. since mid-october all connections have been severed between the belgian army which is fighting on the yser and the belgians remaining in belgium. those who seek to establish communication between the belgian soldiers and their relatives are spied out and sentenced. against jules-arthur de cuypere, bachelor, domiciled in the last instance at liége, a deprivation of liberty of five months has been pronounced, because, contrary to the known regulations, he took charge, during a number of journeys to the dutch frontier and into holland, of a large number of letters from belgian soldiers in france and interned belgian prisoners in holland; and delivered these letters, addressed to different members of families of namur and the environs, at their addresses, by carrying them thither. at the same time he rendered himself guilty by crossing the frontier. (_l'ami de l'ordre_, - th july, .) since the spring of the posts have been operating between belgium and holland, so that those few privileged persons who have a correspondent in holland might thus indirectly obtain news if the germans had authorized correspondence through an intermediary. but they have strictly forbidden it (pp. - ). they could easily organize a service enabling soldiers to write to their relations: "i am going on all right ... i am wounded ..." and enabling the relations to reply, so that the soldiers' families would be reassured; while now the only news arrives by precarious methods, and often goes astray. but what our enemies desire is to make the poor relatives suffer as much as possible. we do not believe that such a form of torture has ever in any previous war been inflicted on a whole population. it is untrue, it seems, that bismarck was the first to use the words which have been attributed to him: "in territories occupied by our victorious troops the inhabitants must be left nothing but eyes to weep with." but he quoted them with an approval that made them his own. now they have come true. here is quite another kind of moral torture. the germans are fond of leading small groups of belgian prisoners through the streets of brussels at moments when the latter are as busy as possible: for instance, on sunday afternoons. one can imagine the humiliation of the poor soldiers exposed to the curiosity of the crowd; but it delights their guardians. it was evidently the desire to enjoy, simultaneously, the misery of the prisoners and the impotent anger of the spectators which led the germans, at the time of their entry into louvain on the th august, and into brussels on the th, to place a few belgian countrymen, with their hands tied behind their backs, at the head of their columns. in ancient rome captives used to walk before the triumphal car of the conqueror. do not the germans realize how utterly this practice is contrary to the humane principles enjoined by article of the hague convention? we must suppose that they do not; for not only do they not abandon the practice, but they make use of it to coin money. condemnation of the town of roulers. amsterdam, _ th may_ (havre agency).--the town of roulers is condemned to pay a fresh fine of ½ millions, because the population cheered belgian prisoners passing through the town. (_l'ami de l'ordre._) impossible, it will be said, to invent tortures yet more diabolic. but no, when it is a question of doing evil, _kultur_ can surpass itself. imagine the mentality of the person who sent to m. brostens, of antwerp, the identity-disc of his son, who was taken prisoner. and imagine the inward joy of the sender in picturing the parents' despair on receiving the medal! refined cruelty. when they make prisoners they sometimes detach the identification-discs from the men and send them, unaccompanied by comment, to the parents, to make them believe that their son is dead. this is what has just happened to m. brostens, lieutenant of customs, of antwerp. having received, a few days ago, his son's regimental number, he went into mourning. so yesterday morning, what was not his amazement to see his son return, who, having been made prisoner at the beginning of the war, had succeeded in escaping. (_le matin_, antwerp, th september, .) here, perhaps, the culprit was an uncultivated soldier. but what are we to think of the mentality of baron von der goltz, when he informs us by placard that a record is kept in a register of all aggressions against the german army, and that the localities in which such attacks have taken place may expect to receive their punishment? general government of belgium. it has recently happened, in the regions which are not at present occupied by the german troops in more or less force, that convoys of wagons or patrols have been attacked, by surprise, by the inhabitants. i draw the attention of the public to the fact that a register is kept of the towns and communes in whose vicinity such attacks have occurred, and that they may expect their punishment as soon as the troops are passing through their neighbourhood. the governor-general in belgium, baron von der goltz, _general-field-marshal_. when one learns on what ultra-trivial hints the german troops have based their condemnation of the inhabitants, one may conclude that not a commune will escape repression. it was evidently this generalized terror which the governor wished to inspire. he, too, wished to have the pleasure of inflicting moral torture. * * * * * to give point to the contrast between the mentality of our oppressors and our own, between their _kultur_ and our civilization, we should like to reproduce a letter in which a young girl, living in gand, invited belgian women to enter the hospitals for the purpose of assisting the wounded, germans as well as our own, to write to their families. committees of this kind were immediately constituted, notably in brussels. belgian compassion. m. paul fredericq, professor at the university of gand, writes to the _soir_:-- "a young girl of gand has had a touching inspiration. "she wished belgian women who can write english and german, forgetting international hatred, and listening only to the voice of compassion, to attend at the ambulances and hospitals, in order to place themselves at the disposal of wounded foreigners, without distinction, and to write, at their dictation, letters intended to reassure their relatives. "this truly christian work of charity would put an end to the anguish of so many mothers, who know that their sons are engaged on the belgian battlefields. "i am certain that this appeal to the good hearts of our girls and women will not have been made in vain." while the germans are butchering our sons and wives, this is what belgian hearts are thinking of. (_le peuple_, th august, .) finally, to close with, here is a numerical example which, better than any reasoning, gives you the _kultur_ of the german army to the life:-- on the morning of sunday, the rd august, , the population of fonds de leffe (a suburb of dinant) comprised men and boys, including some fifteen inhabitants of neighbouring communes whom the germans had dragged away with them. by the evening of the following day had been put to death: none of those taken was spared; the eight who escaped the massacre had succeeded in fleeing. "happily"--we were told by a woman whose father, husband, and four brothers-in-law were massacred--"happily many of the men had left for the army and were fighting on the yser. a strange war, in which the soldiers are less exposed than the children, the old folks, and the sick who are left at home!" footnotes: [ ] apparently our author had never heard timber burn before.--(trans.) [ ] as the chancellor must have known, if the civil population _had_ been called to arms it would have been a perfectly legal measure. but the germans, who claim the right to do what is forbidden to others, would forbid others to do even those things that are lawful.--(trans.) [ ] see the _tägliche rundschau_ supplement, th september, ; and _hamburger fremdenblatt_, weekly supplement, th october, . [ ] epistle to romans viii. . [ ] the bill-stickers of brussels take a malign pleasure in refraining from pasting other matter over the burgomaster's denial. in july , eleven months after it was posted, one could still read the famous denial in several parts of brussels. [ ] nothing was known of the torture inflicted on the curé of bueken until, at the request of the dutch government, the body of father vincentius sombroek was exhumed, at the end of september (_n.r.c._, st october, evening). the body of m. de clerck was found at the same time, and it was then seen that he had been mutilated. this was known to his parishioners, but they had never dared to speak of it. what other horrors shall we learn of when tongues are again unloosed? [ ] rom. xii. , . [ ] oratio in dominica infra octavam epiphaniae. [ ] rom. xii. , . [ ] prayer for the sunday in the octave of epiphany. [ ] _etappen_, a provisioned halting-place for troops.--(trans.) [ ] the words in brackets are ours. [ ] other witnesses, however, more sincere, admitted in may that the attitude of the people of antwerp had remained just as hostile as at the outset (see the article by dr. julius burghold, in _k.z._ for the th may, , p.m. edition). [ ] in brussels the tramways had issued, up to the th july, , , gratuitous permits to german spies. [ ] the french of this proclamation is so bad that literal translation is impossible, but i have kept as close to the original as is consistent with intelligibility.--(trans.) [ ] the passages italicized were underlined in pencil on the placard posted at andenne. [ ] we shall give names at a later date. [ ] at least, they boast of having done so. [ ] i was told later that this old man was a sand merchant of chatillon, and was in a state of senile dementia. he was well known to the people of arlon. index absentees, tenfold tax on, - accusations, german, of belgian cruelty, why made, ; absurdity of, - ; progress of, - ; against the belgian government, - administration, german, of belgium, - aerschot, return of prisoners to, ; german burgomaster of, - ; massacre at, agadir crisis, agents-provocateurs, - aggravations, - agreements, attempt to enforce illegal, - air raids, german, - , - , _see_ dirigibles albert, king, ; his patron saint's day, - ; portraits of, - ; his birthday, ; german abuse of, - america, germany desires to influence, ; sends help, ; belgium's gratitude towards, andenne, massacre at, , - andré, m. françois, speech by, - anseremme, men sent to germany, ; germans hide behind women at, - antwerp, siege of, , ; bombardment of, - , - ; the city fired, ; sorties from, ; flight from, arlon, massacre at, ; narrative of an eye-witness, - arms, surrender of, , army, belgian, the "enemy," - ; 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germany attempts to obtain promise of neutrality from, ; belgium incited against, - eppeghem, fined, - , _eroberung belgiëns, die_, propagandist publication, - erzberger, herr, objects to sentimentality, escaille, m. de l', - espionage, german, - , - evere, air-raid at, executions, insufficiency of inquiry before, - factories, destruction of, falsifications, german, of documents, - famine in belgium, causes of, - , ferocity, instances of german, filthy tricks and amusements, - fines, illegal and absurd, - , flag, belgian, prohibited, - , flemish tongue, favoured, - fleming-walloon problem exploited, - flight of belgians before invasion, fonds de leffe, massacre at, forest, hostages taken at, france, germany accuses, - ; were her suspicions genuine? ; pacific mood of, ; accused of entering belgium in july, - ; sudden attack on checked, francorchamps, atrocities at, ; plundering of, "francs-tireurs," the german pretence of ( - ); were there any? - ; an obsession, - ; germany's invention of, ; method of "repression," - ; the great general staff prepares the army for, - ; fines for attacks by, - ; pretext for massacre and pillage, ; german lies concerning, - , , ; organization of "attacks," ; proposal to torture, frankenberg, pretended murder of, - freemasons appealed to, gand, coercion at, ; belgian girl's proposal, - gas, poisonous, use of, - , - german administration in belgium, - german character, classical authors on, german language, attempt to enforce, german mentality, - , , - german prisoners, letters of, - germans, belgian antipathy to undiminished, - germany, belgian distrust of, - ; gerard, mr., godet, m. philippe, goltz, baron von der, , , , , , - , , gottberg, herr, narrative of, graphic lies, - great general staff, the german, murderous tactics of, - ; methodical care of, - greindl report, falsification of, - haecht, massacre at, hague convention, violations of the, , - hainaut, incendiarism in, ; provincial council convened, hate, hymn of, harden, maximilian, , hedin, dr. sven, deluded by germans, - , , herve, massacre at, heymann, robert, lying narrative of attack on jesuits, - heymel, alfred, on the battle of charleroi, - , hindenburg, , holland, refugees in, honour, belgian, german price of, , hoover, mr. herbert, , hostages, taking of, - , - , hostilities, precede declaration of war, houtem, atrocities at, humanitarian sentiments, claimed by german army, huns, the kaiser invokes the, huy, atrocities at, , identification cards, - incendiarism, methods of, - ; a cover to pillage, ; organization of, incendiary material, - information, extraction of, - informers, appeal to, - innocent, to suffer with or in place of guilty, , - , inscriptions, protection, - insults, german, reason of, intellectual life in belgium, intellectuals, german, wilful blindness of, - ; the "ninety-three," - international law, suppressed by war, _interprète militaire, l'_, invasion, of belgium, reasons for the, - ; danger of recognized, - ; the greindl report, - , ; reason for, ivy leaf, wearing of, jagow, herr von, sends ultimatum, , jesuit convent, lying tale of, - _journal de la guerre_, german propagandist journal, - jungbluth report, the, - king of belgium, the, _see_ albert, king kitchener's army, german account of, koch, the apotheosis of, - koester and noske, authors of _kriegsfahrten_, , , , , _kölnische volkszeitung_, suspended, _kriegsbrauch im landkriege_, , , , _la guerre_, german propagandist journal, - ladies, treatment of, laeken, orgies at, _l'ami de l'ordre_, propagandist journal, - latin authors, on german race, law of nations, violation of the, _le bien public_, propagandist journal, - leaflets, propagandist, - league of german scientists and artists, lebbeke, atrocities at, , , - leffe, massacre at, leffe, fonds de, massacre at, - , legation, british, documents found in the, - leman, general, , liége, german lies concerning forts of, ; occupation of, lies concerning, - ; warned against belgian news, ; marvellous tale of jesuit convent near, - ; keeps anniversary of august th, - lies, concerning the situation in belgium, ; concerning "francs-tireurs," - , - ; photographic, - , - ; written, - lissauer, ernst, author of the "hymn of hate," living shields, belgians used as, - , , - lloyd george, speaks at city temple, loot, _see_ pillage louvain, atrocities in, ; protective inscriptions, ; return of prisoners to, - ; massacre in, ; lies concerning, - _lügenfeldzug_, luttre, strike at, - _lusitania_, sinking of the, machinery, requisitioned, - magnet, m. charles, appeals to freemasons for inquiry, - malines, bombardment of cathedral, - ; traffic in suppressed, - manuals, military, _marseillaise_, the, shopkeepers fined for selling, , - max, m., imprisoned and released, ; and the governor of belgium, - ; his denial of a lying placard, - , ; portrait worn, massacre, the two great periods of, - , , - ; _see_ atrocities, reprisals, etc. massacres, pretended, of german civilians, - mentality, german, - mentality of a german officer, - mercier, cardinal, , - meuse, pillage on the banks of the, - middelkerke, belgians detained at, - might before right, - militarism, - military employment of belgians, - militia, belgian, escape of, - mons, pillage at, monuments, destruction of, - , - murders, german, - music, censored, , , - national anniversary, the - national committee of relief, - ; food, etc., distributed by, - neutral opinion, necessity of influencing, , , - neutrality, belgian, violation of, , - ; justification of, - ; germany accuses france of violating, - ; england guarantees, - news published by the german government, news, secret propagation of, - , - newspapers forced to appear by the german government, ; censored, ; authorized german newspapers, ; official, ; dutch, - ; introduced surreptitiously, - ; secret, _nieuwe rotterdamsche courant_, correspondence in, - "ninety-three intellectuals," the, , - nissen, herr momme, on german virtues, ; pretends the belgian attitude conciliatory, _norddeutsche allgemeine zeitung_, observation-posts, pretended, - , officers, german, lie to their men, - organization, peculiarities of german, ostend, belgians detained in, - ottignies, account of atrocities at, by german officer, - pasteur, ignored by germans, - pastoral letter, mgr. mercier's, - pastors, protestant, servility of, - photographs and picture-postcards, - ; "faked" photographs, etc., - ; showing germans before paris, etc., - pillage, ; officers join in, - ; methodical nature of, - ; prohibited by _kriegsbrauch_, , ; systematic, ; on the meuse, - placards, german, plague, lying report of, in paris, poison-gas, _see_ gas poincaré, president, pope, the, surrenders peter's pence, portraits of royal family, - , postcards, _see_ photographs preventive measures, _see_ reprisals, terrorization pride, german, priests, _see_ clergy prisoners, civil, treatment of, - ; return of, - ; admittedly innocent, - , ; torture of, - prisoners, german, letters of, - , - proclamations, some absurd, - professors, manifesto of the, , , - propaganda, perfection of german, ; organization of, - ; bureaux in germany, - ; abroad, - provincial councils convened, queen of belgium, the, ; german abuse of, - railway journeys, railways, stoppage of, - , rape, raw material, requisitioned, - , - red cross, belgian, suppressed, - , - refugees, belgian, reims, bombardment of cathedral, - relief, measures of, ; food, etc., distributed, - relief, national and american committees, - repression, measures of, - ; at andenne, - "reprisals," against "francs-tireurs," - ; excuse for, ; frivolity of, ; _see_ atrocities requisitions, illegal, - ; in kind and service, - , ; of forage, ; of provisions intended for relief, royal family, portraits of, - ruysbroeck, coercion at, sabbe, m. maurice, denies german libel, - sacrilege, school inspection, - "scrap of paper," the, shelters, temporary, sibret, atrocities at, socialists, german, docility of, - ; visit belgium, , sorel, e., sorinnes, atrocities at, - spontin, torture and murder of priest and burgomaster at, spitteler, herr karl, stamps, theft of, state property, treatment of, - submarine campaign, - sweveghem, coercion at, - tamines, atrocities at, - , tavigny, atrocities at, - taxation, illegal, - , , ; of absentees, - telegraph and telephone wires, fines, etc., for damages to, - termonde, incendiarism at, , , , , terrorization, ; uses of, ; blöm on theory of, ; the theory of the german staff, - ; in practice, tervueren, prisoners from, theft, _see_ pillage time, aggravation in respect of, - _tornisterwörterbuch_, - , torture, inflicted on priest, ; recommended, ; another priest tortured, ; other cases, - ; moral and physical, - trade, stagnation of, - traffic, suppression of, - treaty of london, ultimatum, the, uncensored newspapers, - unemployment, - ; patriotic reasons for, untruthfulness, german, - useful cruelties, villalobar, marquis of, violation of belgian neutrality, _see_ neutrality, belgium, invasion violence, claimed as legitimate, , visé, massacre at, _vorwärts_, protests against german lies, - , ; suspended, , ; protests against incitement to torture, war, _see_ ultimatum, invasion, etc. war booty, , , , - war tax, monstrous, - waxweiler, m. emile, , , , , weber, pretended murder of, - wépion, atrocities at, werchter, atrocities at, white flag, abuse of, whitlock, mr. brand, , - , , wiart, m. carton de, - wilhelm ii, his "well-intentioned proposal," ; his three successive proposals, - ; his telegram to president wilson, , ; tacitly admits innocence of civilians, , , , , ; text of his telegram, , , wilson, president, kaiser's telegram to, , wounded, german, letters from, - ; houston chamberlain on belgian treatment of, ; _see_ atrocities, pretended belgian zobeltitz, refers to museum specimens as proving belgium's preparation for war, _printed in great britain by_ unwin brothers, limited, the gresham press, woking and london * * * * * * transcriber's note: obvious errors of punctuation and diacritical markings were corrected. inconsistent hyphenation was made consistent. p. : contributions and requsitions -> contributions and requisitions. p. : german troops entered belguim -> german troops entered belgium. p. : sacrified on the altar of kultur -> sacrificed on the altar of kultur. p. : pepetrates this trickery -> perpetrates this trickery. p. : it would be impossible as this moment -> it would be impossible at this moment. p. : degree of obstinancy -> degree of obstinacy. latin letter on pp. - : militess onim -> milites enim. dignitate nestrae -> dignitati nostrae. di eadem matutina -> die eadem matutina. aminarum pastor -> animarum pastor. potius aminarum -> potius animarum. decenatus evenerunt -> decanatus evenerunt. p. : german goverment -> german government. p. : proceded to break open -> proceeded to break open. index entry for propaganda, bureaux in germany changed from - to - . at the sign of the sword a story of love and war in belgium by william le queux published by sully and kleintech, new york. this edition dated . at the sign of the sword, by william le queux. ________________________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________________ at the sign of the sword, by william le queux. chapter one. the waters of the meuse. warm, brilliant, and cloudless was the july noon. beneath the summer sun the broad, shallow waters of the meuse sparkled as they rippled swiftly onward through the deep, winding valley of grey rocks and cool woods on their way from the mountains of lorraine, through peaceful, prosperous belgium, towards the sea. that quiet, smiling land of the ardennes was, in july in the year of grace , surely one of the most romantic in all europe--a green, peaceful land, undisturbed by modern progress; a land where the peasantry were still both honest and simple, retaining many of their primitive customs; a land where the herdsmen still called home the cattle by the blast of the horn as they had done for past centuries, where the feudal castles studding the country--mostly now in ruins--were once the abodes of robber-knights. in that long, deep green valley, which wound from namur up past dinant to the french frontier at givet, the people had advanced but little. legend and history, poetry and fiction, provoked an interesting reminiscence at almost every turn, for it was, indeed, a land that fascinated those used to the mad hurry of our modern money-making life. not far from quaint, old-world dinant, with its church with the slate-covered, bulgy spire nestling beneath its fortress-crowned rock, its narrow cobbled streets, and its picturesque little place, lay the pretty riverside village of anseremme, the favourite resort of artists, being situated at the junction of the lesse--one of the loveliest of rivers--with the meuse. seated at a shaded table eating their _dejeuner_, upon the rose-embowered _terrasse_ of the unpretending little hotel beau sejour, which ran beside the rippling meuse, sat a young man with a girl. that the pair had met clandestinely was apparent to the white-aproned _patron_--who also acted as _chef_--from the fact that the young man had arrived on foot with rather dusty boots an hour before, had seated himself, ordered an _aperitif_ and idled somewhat impatiently over the _independance belge_, until, from the direction of givet, a fine grey car, sweeping along the road and raising a cloud of dust, suddenly pulled up before the hotel. from it a well-dressed young girl had alighted, and as she passed on to the _terrasse_, the young man had sprang up, uttered a loud cry of welcome, and bent over her hand. meanwhile, the chauffeur had discreetly moved on to the hotel de la meuse, where he apparently intended to get his luncheon. the young girl was distinctly handsome, as she sat leaning her elbows upon the table, gazing into her companion's eyes, and bending forward to listen to the low words he was uttering. she was little more than twenty, with dark hair, regular, well-chiselled features; a small, pretty mouth, which puckered when she smiled; soft, delicate cheeks, and a pair of those great, dark-brown liquid eyes, which are so characteristically belgian. her dark-blue serge gown was a model of tailored neatness, while her little, close-fitting hat, in black straw, suited admirably a delicate, refined face, about which there could be no two opinions. the poise of her head, the white, delicate throat, discreetly open, and upon which hung a beautiful diamond and pearl pendant; the smallness of her white, ungloved hands, and the daintiness of her grey suede shoes and silk stockings to match, all combined to produce a _chic_ which was that of one living in a smart circle of the _haut monde_. both speech and gesture betrayed an education in france, for her accent was not of the bruxellois but, like her graceful bearing, that of the true parisienne. she was laughing merrily at some remark the young man had made, and in her eyes, as they fixed themselves upon his, there showed the love-light--that one expression that can never be feigned by any man or woman in the world. her companion, a dark, oval-faced, well-set-up young fellow, was under thirty, above the average height for a belgian, perhaps, with a pair of keen, shrewd eyes, in which was a kindly, sympathetic look, closely trimmed hair, and a small dark moustache cut in english fashion. he was broad-shouldered, strong, and manly, and by his gesture and attitude the keen observer would have marked that he had had more military training than was usual in the circle in brussels in which he moved. he was dressed in a suit of well-cut grey tweeds, with straw hat, while the silver watch set in the well-worn leather wristlet gave him an altogether english air. indeed, he had lived five years in london--in lodgings in shepherd's bush--when a student, and, as a consequence, spoke english fairly well. that they were a handsome pair monsieur le patron of the hotel, quizzing them through the low-set window of his kitchen which looked out upon the _terrasse_, could not disguise from himself. often he had seen the big car sweep past, but of its ownership he was in ignorance. yet more than once the interesting pair had met at his hotel and had lunched quietly together, while signs had not been wanting that those meetings were in secret. jules, the little bald-headed waiter from rochefort, had flicked out the white cloth and spread it between them; he had placed two yard-long loaves crosswise upon it, with serviettes flat upon the plates and single knives and forks, when aimee, with a light musical laugh, exclaimed in french: "i had the greatest difficulty to get away to-day, edmond. at the very last moment i feared lest i should disappoint you. my mother wanted some lace from teitz's, in brussels, and i, of course, last night volunteered to go shopping for her. but this morning, while i was taking my _petit dejeuner_, melanie came to me to say that mother had made up her mind to come with me, as she wanted to see the countess d'echternach before she went to england. she and her husband are taking their yacht to cowes, and we had been asked to join the party, as you know, but father unfortunately is kept at home because of important meetings of the senate." "then your mother, the baroness, may suspect--eh?" exclaimed edmond valentin with some apprehension. "no. i think not," reflected the girl. "but at first i didn't know what to do. i knew that by that time you had already left brussels, and i could not telephone and stop you. suddenly i recollected that mother has a bad memory, so presently i reminded her of a purely fictitious engagement she had made with the committee of the archaeological society of antwerp on that day, and succeeded in inducing her to remain to receive the burgomaster and his antiquarian friends, to whom her father had granted a permit to see over the chateau." "and so you succeeded in escaping!" he laughed; "and instead of shopping in brussels and lunching with old madame garnier, you are here. splendid!" then, glancing round to reassure himself that nobody was present, his fingers tenderly closed over the tiny hand which lay upon the tablecloth. "but, dearest," he went on in french, with a grave expression in his kind, dark eyes, "when you did not come at eleven o'clock i began to fear--fear what i am, alas! always fearing--" "what?" she asked quickly. he hesitated for a few seconds. "that somebody may have discovered the truth, and told the baron-- aimee," he replied very slowly. "really, edmond, i don't see what there is to fear. i know you have enemies, and further, that my father does not view you in exactly a friendly spirit, simply because you are not rich, like arnaud--" "arnaud rigaux!" interrupted edmond angrily. "i hate to hear the very name of the fellow! your father, the baron, wishes you to marry him, in order to cement the two greatest financial houses in belgium--that of neuville freres and the banque de tervueren. besides, he must be at least thirty years your senior, aimee." "this is really unkind of you, edmond," exclaimed the girl in reproach, withdrawing her hand. "i came to meet you, so that we might spend a pleasant day in the country. surely you believe that i love you, and that being so, how could i possibly consent to marry monsieur rigaux?" "but i am only a mere obscure brussels lawyer, aimee," he said. "how can i ever hope to marry you?" the girl did not reply. her heart was too full for mere words. they were alone upon that shady _terrasse_, with the great river swirling and rippling past them, while at the moment the quiet was broken by the sweet carillon of old church bells somewhere, chiming the hour of noon. "i know, my darling," he said in a low voice, in english, so that none should overhear and understand, as he looked at her across the table, "that your father and his friends hold the money-strings of our little nation. they reckon the world by its millions of francs, and the finances of belgium are in their hands. he will make the most strenuous effort to force you to marry rigaux, and so strengthen the position of both houses." "i will never marry the man--_never_!" aimee de neuville declared emphatically in good english. "i hate him!" "you swear that?" he demanded quickly, a fierce light suddenly in his eyes. "i do, edmond." "ah?" he sighed in deep relief. "then i am satisfied. let us discuss the subject no further." and at that moment old jules reappeared with the plate of tempting _hors d'oeuvres_ and the _carafe_ of _vin-blanc ordinaire_. edmond valentin, the _avocat_, who struggled hard and fought for small fees in that most palatial palais de justice in the world, sat for a few moments gazing thoughtfully across the broad sunlit meuse, where, on the opposite bank, a train, looking like a small toy, was following the bend of the river on its way to france, leaving a long trail of white smoke behind. he was thinking--thinking of something he knew--a secret--and as it arose in his mind his strong hands clenched themselves tightly beneath the table. the girl, watching his countenance, wondered when she saw that strange expression of fierce hatred flit across his broad brow. but next second it had vanished, and smiling upon her, he began to help her to the anchovies and salad which the bald-headed waiter had placed before them. they were truly a striking pair, she pretty and dainty, with a soft, sweet expression that men always found so charming, while he was particularly smart and handsome, without the slightest trace of foreign effeminacy, a fine, well-set-up fellow, who, but for the depth and largeness of his eyes, might easily have been mistaken for an englishman. yet their social positions were wide as the poles. she was the only child of baron henri de neuville, the great financier, whose money controlled railways and tramways in half a dozen countries in europe, and whose splendid old chateau de severac, higher up the river, was one of the show-places of belgium. ex-minister of finance and a member of the senate, his position gave his wife, the baroness, and her daughter, the _entree_ to the court circle in brussels, hence aimee moved in the most exclusive set. her companion, however, was the son of the late burgomaster of ghent, an estimable man, who had amassed a considerable fortune and possessed much land around antwerp, but who had, with hundreds of others, been completely ruined by dabbling in a wild-cat scheme on the congo, and who had died penniless, save for the little pittance which his son edmond could afford him. love, however, laughs at money-bags, and aimee, while she was passionately fond of the man before her, detested that thin-faced, black-haired, narrow-eyed man, monsieur rigaux, whose praises the baron was so constantly singing when they sat at table together. there was an indescribable look in the financier's eyes which had, for the past four years--ever since she returned from school at roedean--always frightened her. it was an expression which, though with her woman's intuition she distrusted, yet she could neither describe it, nor the feeling which it always aroused within her. what we too often term natural antipathy, is a silent, mysterious warning which springs from our innermost conscience, and surely should never be dismissed. the little cloud which had descended between the pair had quickly lifted, and as they sat eating their _dejeuner_, childishly happy in each other's love, two officers of the th chasseurs, in their braided tunics and undress caps, came along the _terrasse_, and, seeing a lady, saluted as they passed, and took seats at a little table at the farther end. "my old regiment!" edmond remarked. "sometimes, aimee, i regret that i resigned to take up law," he added, with a sigh and a wistful look as he glanced at the two men in uniform. "but you are making a name at the courts," the girl declared. "i read in the paper yesterday a case in which you are defending--the affaire of the rue du trone, they call it--a murder-mystery." "yes," the man answered, with a touch of bitterness in his voice. "i am defending the man sigart, though i myself am convinced of his guilt." "and yet you defend him?" edmond valentin shrugged his shoulder. "an advocate is forced to serve whichever side engages him," he replied. "that is why the profession of arms is so much more honest." "granted," his companion said. "it gives you an _entree_ to the better houses--you can become a member of the _cercle militaire_, and all that, but is it not all useless? the war, which has been predicted all these years, has never come--nor, in my belief, will it ever come. germany only raises a bogey from time to time, in order to terrify europe, as my father puts it," the girl added. "ah! i fear the baron is a little too optimistic," replied her lover. "war, when it comes--as it most assuredly will--will come in the hour when we least expect it. then, when the teuton hordes burst their bonds, woe-betide the nations they attack." "well, edmond, we have one consolation, that they will never attack us. we are neutral, and the powers--even germany herself--have agreed to respect our neutrality." "ah, aimee, that remains to be seen," was his slow, apprehensive reply. "germany, when she fights, will fight for world-wide power, irrespective of treaties or of agreements. the kaiser is the great war lord, and his intention is to vindicate his self-assumed title, and to rule the world." "father, who is behind the scenes of international politics, quite disputes that view." "the baron will not admit it--nobody in belgium will admit it--because no cloud appears to-day upon the political horizon. but the dark cloud will arise ere long, depend upon it, and then we shall, every man of us, be compelled to fight for our lives, and for all we hold most dear." a silence fell between them. the young man slowly stirred his coffee, and then, taking a cigarette from his case, lit it, with a word of apology at having expressed such words of warning, and daring to disagree with the view held by the baron de neuville. "but do you really fear war, edmond?" asked the girl at last, having reflected deeply upon her lover's words. "oh, i didn't mean to alarm you, dearest," he laughed quickly. "war will, i believe, break out in europe; but not yet--probably not for years to come. germany is not ready; and besides, she fears both france and england. nevertheless, she is preparing to conquer the world. of that, one has evidence everywhere in germany." "my father does not believe it." "because, like so many others all the world over who are piling up their money and reaping rich dividends, he does not wish to believe it. he, like millions of others, is content in the blissful paradise which he himself creates. but there, dearest, enough of my controversial subjects. let us enjoy this glorious day," and he blew a cloud of blue cigarette smoke from his lips, and laughed at her merrily across the little coffee-cup which he raised to his lips. then presently, edmond having settled the account, the blissful pair entered the great grey car, in which antoine, the baron's clean-shaven chauffeur, loyal to his young mistress, drove them rapidly away, up the white, winding road which led due east into the heart of the peaceful, picturesque ardennes. chapter two. the rising cloud. a fortnight later--the second day of august, to be exact. the taverne joseph, that popular restaurant in the boulevard d'anspach, in brussels, where, beneath the shadow of the bourse, the business-man gets such delicious _plats du jour_, was crowded, as it always is each day at noon. the many little tables set out upon the pavement, along which the life of the bright little belgian capital ebbed and flowed, were filled by men who daily, year in and year out, ate their midday meal, gossiped, and drank long glasses of iced _bock_. at one table, in a corner by the glass screen which divided the pavement before joseph's establishment from that belonging to a restaurant next door, edmond valentin sat alone. he had every reason to congratulate himself most heartily. an hour ago, after making a most brilliant and impassioned speech for the defence in the assize court, the trial of the affaire of the rue du trone had at last ended. the chemist's assistant, sigart, a cruel-hearted assassin who had killed his young wife by administering gelsiminium--as the prosecution had alleged--had been acquitted, and upon edmond's remarkable success he had been everywhere congratulated by his _confreres_ in the great atrium of the courts. as he sat alone, idly watching the passers-by, he was wondering what aimee would think. she would read in the _petit bleu_ that night the account of the trial, which she was so closely following, he knew. what would she say when she saw that he had been successful--that he had made a name in the legal world at last! he was in the act of lighting a cigarette, one of a special brand of egyptians which were sold only at the little _mosque_ in the courtyard of the grand hotel opposite, when a strident voice reached his ear, and next second a perspiring young vendor of newspapers, in a peaked cap, thrust under his nose a newspaper, crying in french, "german ultimatum to belgium!--_v'la le journal_!" he paid his sou, and eagerly opened the thin damp sheet. his quick eyes scanned the sinister news which the paper contained, to the effect that the german minister in brussels had, at seven o'clock on the previous evening, offered belgium an _entente_ with germany in return for her facilitating german military operations. a pistol was held at belgium's head. she had been given till seven o'clock that morning to reply. a council meeting had been held which had lasted till midnight, after which messieurs hymans and van den heuvel had drafted a reply, which for three hours further had been discussed. belgium relied upon the treaty to which germany herself had been signatory, guaranteeing her neutrality, and had therefore replied that she could not accept the proposal. edmond valentin held his breath as he read those significant lines of print. half the men in the restaurant eagerly bought papers, were silent for a moment, and then the greatest excitement was apparent everywhere. "_war with germany_!" yelled the newsvendors in strident tones as they rushed along the boulevard, and even the police--the most correct in europe--were so dumbfounded that they did not raise a voice in protest at this unseemly breach of the regulation which prohibits the crying of news. belgium had defied the great and terrible machine of prussian militarism. she had told the kaiser, openly and plainly, that she would, like holland, remain neutral, in accordance with the solemn treaty to which the powers had put their signatures. "well, my friend," remarked a fat stockbroker, to whom valentin was known as having his lunch daily at the joseph. "this is defiance--eh? we have held up our hand to stop the great war lord of germany. we have no quarrel with our neighbours. this is only newspaper gossip. there will be no war, i assure you. a bourse canard--perhaps." "but if germany attacks us?" queried the young lawyer, placing his newspaper on the table. "bah! that she will never do. we know the kaiser and his mailed fist of old. if russia has mobilised, surely it cannot concern us?" "but france and great britain are russia's allies, remember." "exactly. germany will never dare to face europe with only austria, an effete nation, as an ally. your agreement supports mine, my dear friend," laughed the fat over-dressed man, who wore a large diamond in his cravat. "but are there not already violations of the french frontier, and also in luxembourg? the germans have also occupied frontier towns in russia," edmond argued. "_bien_! but it is only a menace on the part of germany--and menace is not war. do not forget the agadir incident. no, no, m'sieur. the coming war is not yet--not yet, although i quite admit that we have felt the unrest on the bourse this morning." "unrest?" echoed edmond. "i tell you that to-day there is war in the air, m'sieur! the german emperor has created, by his clever chicanery, a diplomatic position in europe which is impossible. the preparations of prussia are complete. that the emperor means war is apparent to those who have studied events, as i have, ever since the deplorable assassinations in sarajevo." "ah! _mon ami_, i see you are pessimistic," laughed the stockbroker, draining his glass of benedictine. "it would be bad for belgium if all her sons were alarmists like yourself." "no, m'sieur, pardon?" was edmond valentin's quick response. "if all were like yourself, we should be lulled to deep by the assurances of our bitter enemy--the enemy who intends to march through this capital of ours to antwerp, and the sea." "bah! the old story told to us for so many years!" laughed the man at the next table as he rose slowly and took his straw hat. "we shall meet here again--say this day week, and then you will be forced to admit the truth of my argument." "well--let us hope so, m'sieur. we shall see," valentin replied with a gesture of apprehension, which showed him to be concerned. the fat man wished him a merry "_bon jour_," and passed out upon the sun-baked pavement, where the excited crowds were now hurrying, eagerly discussing the alarming news. "war! _war_! war!" the word was upon everyone's lips throughout the length and breadth of the animated little capital of _les braves belges_--the people so long sneered at by their superiors in paris until the very expression had become synonymous of a populace actuated by timid arrogance, and who merely aped all the culture and most of the vices of the parisians. when the optimistical stockbroker had gone, edmond again took up his paper and read how sir edward grey had made a statement in the house of commons, in london, regarding the obligations of honour, and of national security involved in the maintenance by great britain of belgian neutrality. france and russia were already in a state of war with germany. would great britain stand by belgium? upon the _terrasse_ of the crowded restaurant and within, the sole topic of the excited conversation was the seriousness of the situation. old men who had been scared times without number by the war-clouds which had risen over europe, laughed to scorn the idea of a great conflict. "my dear jules?" shouted a thin-faced, white-bearded man--the head of a great commercial house--across the restaurant. "do not give it another thought. there will be no war. the germans are not yet ready, and the diplomats will arrange it all, as they always do. they are paid for it. the kaiser's bark is worse than his bite." whereat many laughed. but not so edmond valentin. he had been a close student of international politics, and in order to supplement his income at the criminal bar, he had often written articles upon international politics for the _independance belge_, and the _matin_ of antwerp. what he had feared and predicted was, alas! coming rapidly true. germany, with her horde of spies everywhere in belgium, france, and england, and her closely guarded military and naval secrets had deceived europe. she was fully prepared--and her emperor intended to make war, and to crush civilisation beneath the despotic heel of prussian militarism. the cross of christ was to be overthrown by the brutal agnosticism of nietzsche, the blasphemous "philosopher" who died in a madhouse. edmond valentin held his breath, and replacing the paper again upon the table, while the buzz of dispute and argument was still in his ears, stared straight before him into the busy, glaring thoroughfare. war! _war_! war! at length he rose, and making his way blindly to the bourse, only a few steps away, he boarded one of the open-air trains, and ascended the steep, winding streets, the narrow marche aux herbes, and the rue de la madeline, until he reached the broad rue de la regence, which led straight up to the great facade of the domed palais de justice. half-way up the street he alighted and, entering a block of offices, ascended to his bureau. the city was agog with excitement. in that hot, blazing noontide, everyone seemed outside discussing the grave peril in which belgium was now placed by daring to stem the overwhelming tide of teutons. "if they come they will not hurt us," a man in the tram had laughed. "they will simply march through belgium--that is all. what on earth have we to fear?" edmond had overheard those words. they represented the opinion of the populace, who had been frightened by the bogey of threatened war so many times, until now they had grown to regard the regularly rising cloud over europe as part of the german policy, the brag and swagger of the great war lord. edmond was alone. his one clerk was still away at his _dejeuner_ as usual, from noon till two o'clock. from the open window of the small, dingy room he watched the animated scene below--watched like a man in a dream. at the moment he was not thinking of the threatened war, but of the man arnaud rigaux. an imprecation escaped his set teeth, as his face assumed a dark, threatening expression, his strong hands clenched, as they always did when certain thoughts arose. "one day ere long," he murmured, "we will settle the account between us, m'sieur. with us it is an eye for an eye, but you little dream what form my revenge will take. the hour is now fast approaching--depend upon it!" turning suddenly from the window, he lit a cigarette, for, like most belgians, he was an inveterate smoker as well as something of a dandy in his attire, and seating himself at his big writing-table he began to scribble hastily memorandum after memorandum. for fully two hours he continued. old andre, his clerk, returned, and placed a copy of a newspaper containing the report of the affaire of the rue du trone at his elbow, saying: "the press are full of your praise, m'sieur. is it not splendid-- magnificent!" but his master took no heed, so intent was he upon his writing, referring to various bundles of legal papers before him, as he scribbled on. then, at last, just before four o'clock, he put on his hat and went forth again, walking to the palais de justice, where, after searching through the courts, he found, in the dark panelled court of appeal, a _confrere_ of his--a tall, thin man, with a bushy black beard. his friend congratulated him heartily upon his success in the _cause celebre_ that morning, after which they both went out into the atrium and sat upon a bench, while edmond valentin gave him a number of instructions. afterwards, just before five, edmond emerged again, crossed into the wide, leafy avenue louise, and boarding a tram, rode straight up that splendid boulevard of fine private residences, to the gates of the pretty natural park of which bruxellois are so proud, the bois de la cambre. upon a seat in one of the secluded paths, not far from the entrance, he found aimee, dressed in white embroidered muslin, awaiting him. "ah, edmond!" she cried, springing up. "terrible, is it not? there will be war! you were right--quite right--dearest. germany intends to encroach upon our land?" "yes, darling," he replied, bending over her little gloved hand with _deep_ apology at being late. "i fear that it is so, and that we shall be compelled to defend ourselves," he sighed. "the terror of war is upon us." "but there will not be fighting in belgium--surely?" the girl declared. "colonel maclean, the british military attache, was at lunch with us to-day, and he told my father that england did not anticipate war. it is only the german nature to be aggressive against russia." "ah! no. do not believe the optimists, my darling," the man said, seating himself at her side. "do not believe in the soft words and the self-styled culture of the germans. they are the natural enemies of europe, and the camarilla of potsdam intends now to fight for world-power." she was silent, tracing a semicircle on the gravel with the ferrule of her white silk sunshade. it was a pretty, leafy nook where they were sitting--a spot where it was often their habit to meet in secret when she was in brussels. that big white mansion of the baron henri de neuville he had passed half-way up the avenue louise was one of the largest and most handsome private residences in brussels, with its imposing gates of ornamental ironwork surmounted by a gilt coronet, and huge glass-covered winter-garden--a place pointed out to _messieurs_, the tourists of the agence cook, who passed daily in the motor char-a-banc, as the "town-house of the baron de neuville, the great belgian millionaire," as the uniformed guide put it each morning in his parrot-like english, when he conducted his charges on their way to the field of waterloo. "do you know, aimee," exclaimed her companion seriously at last, "i have decided to return to my old regiment, and to act my part--the part of a true belgian. i can at once return as _sous-officier_." "what?" gasped the girl in quick alarm. "but, edmond--you--you--you might be wounded if war really broke out! you might even be killed! no! for my sake, dear, don't go," she implored, placing her trembling little hand upon his arm and looking up appealingly into his eyes. "war will be upon us, if not to-day, then to-morrow. my place is in the ranks of the defenders," he said firmly. "i have no money-bags to protect, as your father the baron has. my profession will be at an end with war, hence i have decided. i have made all arrangements for my friend verbruggen to take my cases in the courts." "and you will really rejoin the chasseurs-a-pied?" she asked anxiously. "i shall. it is only my duty, dearest. against the great germany our little belgium will require every man who can hold a rifle," replied her lover. "the german kaiser means war--and war means the shedding of blood in our land." "but think--if you were killed, edmond!" she gasped, staring at him. "i should at least die knowing that we loved each other, darling," he answered, taking her hand tenderly in his own and raising it to his lips. "you are mine, and i am yours; only death can part us." he glanced up and down. they were alone in that narrow, leafy way, with the birds twittering gaily above them, and the hot sunshine filtering through the branches; for the charm of the bois was its rural picturesqueness, near as it was to the centre of the gay, vivacious little capital. his arm stole very slowly around her waist, and she fell back into his embrace in the supreme ecstasy of that moment. "though the barrier between us--the barrier of money--is insurmountable, aimee, i love you better--ah! better than my own life, sweetheart. to-day, though the sun still shines over our dear belgium, it is, alas! the darkest day of our history. the terror of the uhlan is already over our land. your father, the baron, will, i know, endeavour to snatch you from me, and marry you to the man whom i have so just a cause to hate-- enemy as he is of my own race, my name, my country. but, darling, i refuse, in this hour of deadly peril, to remain inactive. i love you, and, my darling, i know that you love me. our dear country is threatened by the invader, who intends to smash and to crush us, to sweep our smiling, peaceful land with fire and sword; to stamp out our national life, and to grind us beneath the millstones of a blasphemous autocracy. and, as an officer of the belgian army, my place is with my regiment--to defend our country; to defend our innocent women--to defend you, my own beloved." tears welled in her great dark eyes as she listened to his words, and he bent until his lips pressed hers. his argument was complete. how could she protest further? her secret lover was a fine, manly man--far more manly than any she had ever met in her own select circle of that vain bejewelled society, where mammon was god, and where finance daily juggled with the destiny of nations. to rejoin his regiment was, after all, her lover's duty. she knew it in her innermost consciousness. yes, he was right. though a lieutenant, he could rejoin as _sous-officier_. the war-cloud, so black and lowering, must burst within a few hours. as a true daughter of belgium she was at heart a patriot, even though, in her own home, the only patriotism ever taught her had been the love of self-esteem. he was silent, not daring to utter further word; and she, looking into his dark, thoughtful, serious eyes, in silence, wept. yet in the ears of both of them rang that single word of such awful and such fatal significance: war! _war_! war! chapter three. the heart's desire. at ten o'clock on the same evening the baron henri de neuville sat smoking a cigar in a small, luxuriously furnished room in the great white mansion in the avenue louise. a broad-shouldered, grey-haired, slightly bald man, whose heavy jaws were fringed by short grey side-whiskers, and whose deep-set eyes were rendered darker by the natural pallor of his complexion. his hair was well brushed to hide his baldness, and in his well-cut evening clothes he looked younger than he really was. he had been commanded to the palace earlier in the evening, for the king had consulted him in connection with some secret financial transaction affecting the nation, and therefore at his throat he wore the ribbon and cross of the order of leopold. with him sat his friend, arnaud rigaux, a dandified thin-faced man, a few years his junior, with black hair plastered down upon his head, a pair of narrow-set beady eyes, a countenance of distinctly hebrew cast, and a small pointed black moustache, unmistakably dyed. the shrivelled thinness of his hands was certainly not in keeping with the artificial youth of his face, and, on second glance, the most casual observer would have realised that he was one of those men who, by reason of a fast life, have aged prematurely, and who endeavour to remain young, and believe themselves still attractive to the fair sex. he had, in years past, been a rather handsome man. but the life he had led had left its mark indelibly upon him, for he looked what he was, a _roue_ who had run the whole gamut of the gaieties of europe, from the casino at aix to the villa regala at bucharest, and from the haunts of the _demi-monde_ on the riviera to the night-cafes of berlin and the _cabarets_ of the montmarte. as he lounged back in the big, soft, saddle-bag chair, the fine diamond glistening in his shirt, he presented a picture of the affluent parvenu, that type of wealthy financier of hebrew strain, which is so familiar the world over. the baron was certainly of a refined and gentlemanly type, though there was in his face that shrewd, hard expression which seems inseparable from the financial mind. yet his companion was of an entirely different stamp--coarse, unsympathetic, with sensuality stamped upon his loose lips. he removed the cigar from his mouth, and lifting his narrow eyes to his companion, remarked: "i am relieved to hear your opinion, my dear henri. it agrees entirely with mine. though the bourses show signs of panic, i cannot but think that war is impossible." "the minister orts was at the palace, and i had a few words with him," the baron said. "they had, at the ministry, a telegram from our minister in london only an hour ago. war is not anticipated there." "nor here--only by the ignorant," laughed rigaux. "germany cannot--nay, she dare not--attack europe." "it is whispered that the king has appealed to king george of england to uphold our neutrality. but in one or two quarters i hear it alleged that the fixed purpose to provoke a general war has underlain germany's policy for many years, and now, with austria as her ally, she has wantonly flung down the gauntlet to all europe." "i don't believe it at all," declared the other. "the kaiser cannot commit such an outrage on all justice and all public right. our neutrality was guaranteed by germany herself. how can she dishonour her own signature?" "but germany aspires to supremacy, we must not forget, my dear friend, and to supremacy as complete as that claimed by napoleon. she intends that all the other powers shall be her subordinate allies. she would drag them all in her wake." "bah! england will not bargain away to germany her obligations to us, depend upon it," was the other's reply. "the kaiser fears the british fleet. he is not yet ready, my dear baron. so let us dismiss the so-called peril, for it does not exist, i assure you." the baron rose from his chair, and stepped out upon the long balcony into the close, breathless night. a regiment of lancers were clattering along the broad avenue, just distinguishable among the trees, and the people were cheering wildly as they passed. war was in the air. notwithstanding the assurances of his friend rigaux, the baron could not disguise from himself the serious apprehension that had so suddenly arisen in his mind. hitherto, he had been loudest in his expressions that war would not be yet, but since he had been at the palace, an hour ago, and seen the serious expression upon the faces of his sovereign, and of certain officials, he had become suspicious of the worst. what if england defied this sabre-rattling of germany, and declared war to protect belgium? he pondered as he stood there, glancing down into the leafy avenue where the people were shouting, "_a bas les allemands_!" he had his back turned to his friend, who still sat smoking. had he turned, he might, however, have seen something which would have aroused wonder within him, for while he stood there, looking down upon the straight, leafy way, bright under its lines of lamps, his friend, behind his back, had clenched his fists fiercely. arnaud rigaux's teeth were set, and upon his countenance was a fierce look of hatred of the man whom he was trying to lull into a false sense of security. a distinctly evil expression played about the corners of his sensuous mouth, as his narrow-set eyes glinted with the fire of a detestation which, until that moment, he had so cleverly concealed. though posing as an intensely patriotic belgian, he was, if the truth be told, one of the few men in brussels who knew the german intentions, and who, for a fortnight past, had been fully prepared. war must come, he was well aware. it had all been arranged two years ago, yet the belgian government, and even the baron de neuville, its chief financial adviser, had remained in utter ignorance. they had never suspected the kaiser's treachery. rigaux smiled as he reflected how cleverly the secret of it all had been kept. great britain must now certainly fall into the trap so cunningly prepared for her, and then europe would, as the kaiser intended, be drenched in blood. in those moments, while the baron stood outside, he reflected upon the private audience he had had with the emperor at potsdam nine months before, of the secret reports he had furnished regarding the financial situation of belgium, and other matters, and the preparations for war in luxembourg and along the frontier, which were revealed to him by a high official in the wilhelmstrasse. he had returned from his "business-visit" to berlin, and not a soul in brussels had ever dreamed that he had been received by the most highest. the secret policy of the kaiser was to court the good-will of certain financiers who, most of them, willingly became his agents and cats'-paws, and kept the war office in berlin well informed of the trend of events. it was so in the case of the clever, wealthy, and unscrupulous arnaud rigaux. the baron turned, but in an instant the face of his friend reassumed its expression of easy-going carelessness. "this silly war-scare seems to please the people--eh?" he laughed aloud. "hark at them shouting! it is to be hoped they will not attack the german legation, burn the german flag, or commit some ridiculous outrage of that sort." "let's hope not, or it might be misconstrued into an act of war," the baron agreed, as he stepped again into the small, cosy, but exquisitely furnished room. "probably the garde civile have taken every precaution to avoid demonstrations. nevertheless," he added, "i do not like the outlook at all, my dear arnaud. i confess i do not like it at all." "_mon cher ami_, surely you, of all men, are not being led away by this sensation in the newspapers!" exclaimed his friend, pursing his thick lips. "we both know the value to be placed upon _messieurs les journalistes_. we buy them all whenever we desire their favour--do we not?" but the baron cast himself into his chair and shook his head gravely, saying: "i fear, notwithstanding, that the outlook is very black for belgium. war would mean ruin to us both. we have, both of us, large interests in france and germany," he added, ignorant of the vile treachery of which his friend had been guilty. "if war came in europe, i should be ruined." "exactly," responded the other. "that is why, in such circumstances as these, a union of our houses would be so intensely desirable. have you spoken to mademoiselle aimee again?" he asked, regarding the baron with those narrow, crafty eyes of his. "yes," was the reply. "and what has mademoiselle said?" "up to the present," sighed the baron, "she is still obdurate." "because of that good-looking _avocat_--eh?" he retorted. "why do you allow her still to meet the fellow?" "she does not meet him to my knowledge." "she does--almost daily. i have set watch upon them. they met to-day-- in the bois, at five o'clock." the baron was again silent for a few moments. then he said: "valentin has, it seems, made quite a sensational success in the affaire of the rue du trone. there is a long account in to-night's papers. berton, the minister of justice, was speaking of it." "but surely you will not allow your daughter to marry a penniless lawyer?" protested the financier. "think what you and i could do, if only we amalgamated upon fair and equivalent business lines. as you well know, i am extremely fond of aimee." "you have spoken to her, she tells me." "i have. but, unfortunately, she treats me with a calm and utter indifference." "perhaps she will, eventually, grow tired of edmond valentin's attentions," her father suggested. "never," growled rigaux. "i believe she loves the fellow. but if you were only firm, my dear friend, she would, in the end, consent to marry me." "i am firm." "yet you allow them to meet daily!" "how can i prevent it?" "by sending her away--say to england. i will go to england also." "my own opinion is that you would fare no better in england than here. aimee is a girl of spirit. she may be led, but driven never," her father declared emphatically. "but cannot you compel her to give up this man?" urged rigaux eagerly. "have i not tried, for weeks and weeks? personally, my friend, i don't think you dance attendance sufficiently upon her, if you really mean to win her. she has been spoiled ever since a child, and likes lots of attention." arnaud rigaux's brows narrowed slightly, for he at once realised that what the baron said was the truth. he had certainly been deficient in his amorous advances, for, truth to tell, he had become so utterly _blase_ that few women nowadays attracted him. "yes," he sighed grossly. "perhaps you are right, baron. is she at home this evening?" "she's alone in the _petit salon_, reading, i believe. my wife is out at dinner with the wife of the roumanian minister." "then, if there is nothing else for us to discuss, i will go down and spend an hour with her--eh?" "_tres bien_," acceded the baron, while rigaux, casting away his cigar, settled his cravat before a big mirror at the end of the room, smoothed his hair with both his hands, and left. passing down the softly carpeted corridor he paused before a door, and opening it entered, to find himself in a good-sized salon carpeted in saxe blue, with white enamelled walls and gilt furniture of the style of louis quatorze. over the elegant apartment was suffused a soft light, the source of which was cunningly concealed behind the wide cornice running round the walls, the electric glow being thrown down by the white ceiling itself. upon a side-table stood a great silver bowl of la france roses, which filled the room with their fragrance, and near it, in a comfortable _chaise-longue_, reclined aimee, looking sweet and dainty in a soft, filmy evening-gown of palest carnation pink. she looked up from her book, startled, as the door opened, and then, recognising her visitor, rose, rather stiffly, to greet him. "what, all alone, my dear mademoiselle?" exclaimed rigaux, as though in surprise, as he bowed over her hand. "i have been chatting with the baron, but i expected to find madame here. well, and what do you think of all this very alarming news--eh?" "awful--is it not?" the girl replied, inviting him to a chair. "the baron and i have just been discussing it, and we are of opinion that there will be no war. i notice, however, in the papers to-night, a report of monsieur valentin's great success in the affaire of the rue du trone. i must congratulate him--and yourself." the girl blushed slightly. it was the first time this man, whom she so heartily hated, had ever mentioned her lover. indeed, she was not, until that moment, quite certain whether he was aware of her secret-- whether the baron had told him. "yes," she managed to reply at last. "it should secure him a foothold in his profession. the papers say that his speech for the defence was apparently one of the most clever and brilliant ever heard in the courts." "and you, of course, must be justly proud, eh, mademoiselle?" he remarked, looking straight into her beautiful eyes. "well, i suppose so," she laughed, her fingers toying nervously with the leaves of bazin's latest romance. he sighed deeply. then, after a pause, said: "ah! i only wish that you entertained one little thought for me, aimee--one kindly reflection regarding myself--i who love you so." and, bending, he stretched forth his hand to seize hers. but she swiftly withdrew it. "oh, why return to that subject again, m'sieur!" she protested impatiently. "its discussion only pains us both. i am fully aware that my father is anxious, for business reasons, that we should marry, but i assure you, once and for all, that i will never accept any man whom i do not love." "you put it--well, a trifle bluntly, mademoiselle." "i only speak the truth, quite openly and frankly," she responded, her big serious eyes turned upon his. "would you have me accept, and afterwards fool you!" her question--a somewhat disconcerting one--held him silent for some moments. "remember, aimee," he said at last, in a deep voice, "i have known you ever since you were a tiny child. i have watched you grow to become a woman, and gradually i have realised that there is no woman in the whole world whom i love--except your own dear self. can you doubt me?" and with an earnest expression that was well feigned, he looked straight into her pale, set countenance. "no, m'sieur, i do not doubt you," was the girl's quiet response, and he fancied he saw her trembling slightly. "but when, the other day, you asked if i could ever love you, i told you the bare truth--brutal as it may have appeared. yet i am not mistress of my own heart, and i tell you that i do not love you--i can never love you--_never_!" "i am too old," he murmured bitterly. "not that," she responded, shaking her well-poised head. "age matters nothing when a woman really loves." "you love that man edmond valentin," he snapped, almost savagely. she nodded in the affirmative, but no word escaped her lips. arnaud rigaux set his teeth, and his fingers clenched themselves into his palms. but only for a second, and she, with her eyes cast down upon the carpet, did not detect the fire of hatred which shone, for a second, in his crafty, narrow-set eyes. next second his manner entirely changed. he was one of those men whose cunning enables them to conceal their feelings so cleverly that, while they smile and hold out the hand of friendship, murder lurks within their heart. this attribute is, alas! one of the elements of success in business in our modern days, and is a habit cultivated by the man whom the world admires as "keen and smart." "but, my darling?" he exclaimed, in a voice broken by an emotion which was so cleverly feigned that it deceived even her woman's sharp observance, "you do not know how very deeply i love you," he declared, bending to her, and again trying to take her hand, which, however, she again snatched away and placed behind her. "all these years i have watched you grow up, and i have longed and longed for the day when i might beg of you to become my wife. think of what our marriage would mean to you--to your father, the baron, and to myself. he and i, united, could rule the whole finances of the nation; we could dictate terms to the chamber, and we should be the greatest power in belgium-- next to his majesty himself. surely your position as my wife would be preferable to that of the wife of a poor struggling lawyer, however estimable he may be." she sat listening without interrupting him. she had heard this man's praises sung daily by her father for so long that at last they now fell upon deaf ears. she listened quite coldly to his outpourings, yet, at the moment, she despised him in her innermost heart. what edmond had declared was the bare, naked truth. arnaud rigaux was only seeking to gain further personal riches and aggrandisement by doing her the honour of offering her his hand in marriage. her anger arose within her as his words fell upon her ears. she had not been blind to his stealthy unscrupulousness, for she remembered how, on one occasion, she had overheard her father upbraid him for participating in some shady financial transaction with some electric tramways in italy, the details of which she, as a woman, had been unable to follow. but her father's bitter words of reproach had been, to her, all-sufficient. the baron had told him, openly and plainly, that he had swindled the italian company, and she had always remembered his outspoken words. the man seated before her suddenly rose, and unable to take her hand because she was holding it behind her, placed his sensuous grasp upon her shoulder, and bent in an attempt to kiss her. she turned her head swiftly from his foetid breath. it was nauseous. it caused her a fierce revulsion of feeling. she sprang up, her eyes aflame in an instant. "m'sieur rigaux! this is intolerable!" she protested, drawing herself up in proud defiance. "i wish you to remember who i am, and further, i wish you to go to my father and tell him, that no matter what may happen, no matter what pressure he may place upon me, no matter if i die unmarried, i will never become the wife of arnaud rigaux. _you hear_!" he drew back at this obstinate rebuff--he whose money bought women's smiles from end to aid of europe. in a second he became apologetic. "but, mademoiselle, i--" "please leave this room," she ordered, very firmly. "if not, i shall ring for the servants. go!" and she pointed determinedly to the door. "go! describe this scene to my father, and tell him from me, once and for all, that i love edmond valentin, and that i intend to marry him." the man's loose lips hardened. he murmured something which the girl could not catch, but she saw in his eyes, for the first time, the light of a fierce and terrible hatred, as he bowed stiffly, and, turning on his heel, took his _conge_, and with a fierce imprecation upon his lips strode out of the pretty, artistic room, wherein she stood, an imperious and defiant figure, in the centre of the carpet. chapter four. the man from cologne. two hours later arnaud rigaux entered his small, well-furnished den in the big house on the broad boulevard de waterloo, close to the medieval porte de hal, that medieval castle-like structure, now the fine musee d'armes, known to every traveller in brussds. scarcely had he crossed the threshold when his man, a white-haired, ultra respectable-looking valet, ushered in a rather stout, middle-aged man of military bearing, with fair hair and blue-grey eyes. he was wearing a cap and a motor dust-coat. "ah! my dear guillaume! i must apologise," rigaux said. "i had no idea you had been waiting for me." "your servant was unaware where you were. we telephoned to a dozen places. i arrived from cologne just after nine o'clock." rigaux glanced at the closed door rather apprehensively, and then in a low voice asked: "what does it all mean?" "war," replied the other in a whisper. "the emperor is in cologne in secret. i had audience with him at three o'clock, and he sent me to you. i have to return at once. i was to tell you that his majesty wishes for your final report." for a moment the financier's narrow eyes grew serious, and his lips quivered. "the reply from england has not yet been received," his visitor went on, speaking in excellent french, though he was undoubtedly german. "but whatever it may be, the result will be the same. eight army corps are moving upon the luxembourg frontier. they will soon be in belgium. what a surprise our big howitzers will be for the forts of namur and liege--eh?" and he laughed lightly, chuckling to himself. captain wilhelm von silberfeld, of the famous death's head hussars, was a trusted messenger of the kaiser, a man who had performed many a secret mission for his imperial master. he was attached to the general staff in berlin, and for hours he had sat in the fast two-seated motor-car, travelling swiftly over the hundred and sixty miles or so of long, straight white roads which led from cologne to the belgian capital. "in four days we shall be in belgium," the german officer whispered. "the emperor, as you know, decided upon war three months ago, and ever since we have been steadily and carefully making the final preparations. what is the opinion here?" "the cabinet meets to-night. the government do not, even now, believe that germany really intends to defy europe, and i, of course, have endeavoured still to lull them to sleep," responded the financier. "but i have not been idle these past three days. my reports are all prepared. the last was written at seven o'clock this evening." and crossing to a big, heavy book-case, which occupied the whole of one side of the room, he opened one of the glass doors. then, pulling forward a section of the books which swung round upon a pivot, there was disclosed the green-painted door of a safe, securely built into the wall. this he opened with a key upon his chain, and from a drawer took out a large envelope filled with papers, which he handed to his visitor. "all are here?" asked the other. "yes. according to instructions i received by courier yesterday, i have prepared the list of names of influential persons in liege and louvain-- the banks, and what cash i believe them to hold. how are you proceeding in antwerp?" "antwerp is practically a german city. we have, outside the city, six concrete platforms ready for our big howitzers. they were put down two years ago by german residents in their gardens--for the english game of tennis," and he laughed. "besides, we have three secret wireless installations of wide range communicating with nauen, as we also have here in brussels. is your wireless here in working order?" "s-s-sh, my friend?" rigaux said warningly. "i will send michel out on a pretext, and you shall see. he is loyal, but i trust no man. i never let him know too much." then he rang, and his man, white-haired and humble, appeared. "michel, go down to the grand hotel at once and ask for monsieur legrand. tell him i wish to see him. if he will kindly come up here in a taxi." "_bien, m'sieur_!" and the grave-faced servant bowed and withdrew. a few moments later arnaud rigaux took from a drawer in his library table an electric torch and led the way up the great wide staircase, through his own bedroom, past a door into a smaller dressing-room, in which was a huge mahogany wardrobe. the door of this he opened, and pushing the back outwards through a line of coats hanging there, a dark opening was revealed. into this both men passed, finding themselves upon a wooden flight of dusty stairs, up which they ascended for two floors, until they arrived in a long, low attic, beneath the sloping roof of which were suspended, upon porcelain insulators, many thin, black-enamelled wires. "come! you shall hear for yourself," rigaux exclaimed; and passing along to the gable-end of the main wall of the house, he paused before two tables, upon which were set out a most complete set of wireless instruments. to the uninitiated eye those two tables were filled with a most complicated assortment of weird electrical apparatus connected by india-rubber covered wires. to the expert, however, all was quite clear. on the one table stood a receiving-set of the latest pattern, while upon the other was what is technically known as "a five kilowatt set," which would transmit wireless messages as far as nauen, the great wireless station near potsdam, and, indeed, over a radius of nearly a thousand miles. it was a marconi set, not telefunken. arnaud rigaux seated himself upon a stool before the receiving-table, while overhead, insulated from the rafters of the roof, were a hundred bare copper wires strung across and across. his example was followed by captain von silberfeld, both clamping the double head-telephones over their ears, listening. next instant both heard the buzzing ticks of wireless, so weird and uncanny to those uninitiated. "da-de, da-de-da. da-de, da-de-da." it was a call. then followed the code-letters, "b.b.n." with "b.y.b." "hush!" rigaux exclaimed, glancing at the book at his elbow. "the british admiralty station at cleethorpes are calling the battleship _london_." the big wireless code-book--a book which could be bought in berne for five francs--lay open before him. there was a quick response in the 'phones. "the _london_ is off the west coast of ireland," he remarked, bending with interest. "there's the reply. here is `london.'" he touched the "tuner," one of the round ebonite handles upon a long mahogany box, and next moment a little "click" of quite a different note was heard in the head 'phones. "listen?" rigaux exclaimed, and then for a moment he was again all attention. "marseilles is speaking to one of your north german lloyd liners on her way from alexandria." then he paused. "are you satisfied that i am leaving to your army a complete set, quite in working order-- eh?" "entirely. why, it is splendid," declared the captain, who, though he had no expert knowledge of wireless, had seen quite enough to convince him that the secret installation was practically perfect. "this," he added, "will surely be of great use to us before many weeks are over. it is splendid!" "let us descend," rigaux said. "michel may now be back. this part of the house is, of course, unknown to my servants." when they were again back in the financier's snug little business-room, wherein he received visitors privately, he asked earnestly: "tell me, count, is all complete?" "everything. we shall advance to-morrow, or next day. we have mobilised secretly, though europe is in entire ignorance. first belgium is to be occupied--then we shall cross to england. paris is only a secondary affair. london is our chief goal. we shall crush for ever the arrogant english with our zeppelins and our submarines. oh! what an unpleasant surprise they will have?" and he laughed. "but you will not conquer belgium--eh?" "not if she offers no defence. if she does, then i tell you--in confidence--the kaiser means to sweep this country with fire and sword; we shall wipe villages and towns completely out of existence, so as to strike terror and horror into the heart of europe. war is war, you know." "do you advise me to leave brussels?" "well, not yet--wait and see. your safety is assured. you already have your safe-conduct, have you not?" "that has already been arranged." "his majesty told me to give you his imperial assurance. the final draft in your favour on the dresdner bank has been passed, and you will receive it in due course, paid into your bank in london," replied the german officer. "but what do you advise me to do, my friend? remember, i may yet be discovered as having assisted you. and it will be awkward--very awkward?" "remain here for a time, and then go back to the coast. you can, as a patriotic belgian, always cross from ostend to england as a wealthy refugee--when the time arrives. and that will not be very long, i assure you," he added, with a grim smile. "the brave belgians have to-day ended their career. our big howitzers will come along. pouf! and belgium is no more. in a few days we shall be at the mouth of the scheldt, and at ostend--in front of dover. besides, our grand fleet of zeppelins are ready in their secret sheds. later, when belgium is devastated, they will glide forth for the conquest of our dear, sleepy friends, the british--whom god preserve. meanwhile, we have a very satisfactory army of secret agents over yonder making ready to undermine any poor, puny defence that they--with all their vaunted might of empire--can possibly put up." both men laughed heartily as they stood there together, conversing in low tones. "the intention, then, is first to destroy belgium?" asked rigaux, suddenly growing serious. "yes. to seize this country, notwithstanding any defence which may be offered. the grand duchy of luxembourg we shall only march through. but the general staff know that, in belgium, there may be a desperate resistance, if britain--the broken reed--is to be relied upon. hence we shall smash her--and britain afterwards." "but is great britain, with her splendid navy, really a broken reed?" queried the financier very seriously. "personally, i do not at all agree. i only tell you the declaration of our general staff." "britain has a very mysterious way of asserting her own superiority," said the banker, shaking his head dubiously. "france is still, as she has ever been, a nation of great emotions. but great britain, with her enormous colonial possessions, her deep-seated loyalty, and her huge wealth, is a tremendous power--a power which i believe the kaiser has never yet estimated at its true value." "bah! my dear arnaud. we, in berlin, know all that is in progress. surely you must know, you must feel, the irresistible power of our militarism--of our great and formidable war-machine. germany is the greatest nation at war that the world has ever seen, and--" "and england still rules the seas," interrupted the financier in a hard voice. "the seas! bah!" declared his dusty, travel-worn visitor. "we shall first win on land; then our grand fleet will face those overbearing british. we shall, like the dutch, place a broom upon the mast-head of the flag-ship of grand admiral von tirpitz, and sweep the british clean off the seas." "you are optimistical--to say the least." "i am, my dear arnaud," he admitted, "because i, as one of the general staff, know what has been arranged, and what is intended. i know the great surprises we have in store for europe--those great guns, which will smash and pulverise to dust the strongest fortresses which man can devise, and aircraft which will hurl down five tons of high explosive at a time," he added, with an exultant laugh. "but, i had almost forgotten. have you had any report from our friend van meenen, in ostend?" "it came yesterday, and is included in the papers you have there. our friends in liege have been warned, i suppose?" "they have been warned to-day. doctor wilberz, brave belgian, of course, has a secret wireless in his house, while sixty of our trusty agents are living there, quite unsuspected." "wilberz was here in brussels a month ago, and told me what he was doing. truly the ring of forts will stand a very poor chance when you make the attack." "belgium will never dare to resist, we feel sure," declared captain von silberfeld. "in a month the crown prince will enter paris. but i must get away at once. i have to be back in cologne with the dawn. the staff are awaiting your reports with eagerness, especially those upon the financial position." "i have supplied every detail," responded the banker. "the position is not good, and even my friend the baron de neuville cannot, i happen to know, come to the rescue at the present moment." "good," exclaimed the captain, dropping into german. "adieu!" he said, placing the bulky envelope beneath his cotton dust-coat. "what excitement there is in the streets--eh?" the banker laughed grimly. "it will increase very soon, i suppose," he said. "yes," whispered the other, as they descended to the front entrance together, where the long, powerful, low-built car stood with its glaring headlights, in charge of a smart chauffeur, who saluted in military fashion. "adieu, my dear arnaud. i must hasten," he whispered, "for to-morrow's dawn will bring to us `the day'!" and with a triumphant wave of his hand he mounted beside the driver, and a moment later the car moved swiftly and silently down the hill on its long journey to the german frontier, carrying with it the final secret report of the many made through the last ten years by the traitor arnaud rigaux to the prussian general staff. the man who had sold his country for german gold stood for a few seconds watching the car disappear into the night, and then, as the roar of the crowd making a demonstration before the french consulate farther up the boulevard fell upon his ears, he turned, and with a bitter laugh of triumph, went within and closed the great oaken door. a silence fell. no one was near. suddenly, a few moments later, the dark figure of a man, who had evidently been watching the departure of the car, as he stood back in the deep shadow of the trees in the centre of the boulevard, emerged, crossed the road, and hurried down the hill in the direction the car had taken. chapter five. bursting of the storm. a great, long, old-fashioned room with a rather low ceiling, across which ran black oaken-beams, around were lancet windows, high and narrow, with ancient leaded panes and green glass, the walls panelled with rare but faded tapestries, the carpet dull and also faded, and the heavy furniture genuinely flemish of the sixteenth century. on a long, padded seat in the recess of the central window, the depth of which showed the great strength of the walls, aimee de neuville sat, her white pointed chin resting upon her hand, gazing away over a marvellous panorama of winding river and wooded slopes, the deep beautiful valley of the meuse, which lay far below that high-up chateau, once the fortress of the robber-knights of hauteroche. the splendid old chateau de severac, standing as it did half-way between quaint old-world dinant, the resent of british tourists, and the french frontier at givet, commanded a wide sweep of the beautiful valley with the blue, misty high-lands towards luxembourg. the great place with its ponderous three-foot-thick walls, its round towers with slated roofs, and its deep, cavernous dungeons with inscribed stones, dated from the twelfth century, a fine feudal castle, which had played a leading part in the history of the meuse valley--indeed, in the history of europe. built high upon its steep limestone cliff, around which the river swept suddenly in a semicircle, it had, in the days of its builders, been a fortress impregnable. its private chapel bore the arms of the knights-templars, and in that very room, where the pale-faced young girl sat, the emperor charles v had sat, after the capture of metz in . a place full of historic memories, for the very walls spoke mutely of those turbulent times, when that valley was the chief theatre of all the fierce wars in western europe. but the knights of hauteroche had defended it always from the attack of their bitterest foes, until, in , it had passed from their hands, and having fallen to ruin, had, in the last days of the nineteenth century, been acquired by the rich baron de neuville, who was reputed to have spent half a million sterling upon its restoration, and a similar sum in furnishing it just as it had been in the sixteenth century. few such splendid strongholds existed in europe. for years the baron's agents had travelled up and down the continent with open commissions to purchase antique furniture, tapestry, and armour of the period, with the result that the castle was now unique. inside its courtyard one was at once back in the days of the emperor charles v, the illusion being complete, even to the great kitchen of the robber-knights, where, upon the huge spit, an ox could be turned and roasted whole, so that the retainers--the bowmen of the forest--could be regaled and rewarded after their doughty exploits. from every corner of the world, tourists--many of them loud-speaking americans with their red-bound baedekers--craved of the baron's major-domo, a vinegar-faced frenchman, permission to pass through the splendid apartments, and when "the family" were not in residence, permission was generally accorded, for--as with all financiers, from twickenham to timbuctoo--the baron, in secret, liked to be talked about. indeed, the late king leopold, who had on several occasions stretched his long legs in that room wherein aimee now sat, had declared that the view from the window up the river to be one of the finest in all europe. looking up the peaceful valley, where the meuse wound far below in the august sunshine, there lay on the right bank grey rugged rocks descending sheer into the water green and deep, making a sudden bend; while on the left lay green pastures and spreading woodlands, with range upon range of hills away to the blue haze of the frontier of france. beside the river, the road followed like a white ribbon along its bank, and upon it the dusty old post-diligence, with its four weedy horses and its jingling bells, was travelling, just as it had travelled for two centuries past. truly that reach of the meuse was the most rural, peaceful, and picturesque spot in all the ardennes, and little wonder was it, indeed, that the baron de neuville, when the great ruined castle had been offered for sale, had immediately purchased it, and renovated it to its present perfect state. "i can't think why father should have made us come here just in these troublous times," the girl exclaimed petulantly to her mother, a grave, white-haired, well-preserved lady in black, who, seated at the farther end of the room, was busy with her fancy needlework. and then the girl beat an impatient tattoo upon one of the small leaded window-panes with the tips of her slim white fingers. "your father thinks it is more pleasant for us here than in brussels just now, with all the silly excitement in progress, my dear," the baroness replied. "i have just had a telegram. he will be here to-night." "does he give any further news of the situation?" "none." "but when we left in the car yesterday, it was believed that we might be at war at any moment," the girl said. her mother, a calm-faced, rather stout woman, and typically belgian, sighed deeply. "what will happen we cannot tell, my girl." "but if the germans come, what shall we do?" queried aimee, for she was thinking of edmond, from whom she had had a hastily scribbled letter that morning. he had rejoined his regiment as _sous-officier_, and he said they expected to leave that day for the frontier. "do?" echoed the baroness. "why, nothing. they will simply march along the valley down yonder, and we shall be quite safe up here. the germans are, after all, men of culture. they are gentlemen." as she spoke, melanie, aimee's french maid, entered the room, saying: "a gentleman wishes to speak to m'sieur le baron on the telephone. will you speak, mademoiselle?" she asked. "who is he?" "the name he gave was huart, mademoiselle." "huart," exclaimed the baroness. "that is surely the name of the manager of the sirault ironworks at liege. go and speak to him, aimee." the girl descended to her father's small business-room situated in the base of one of the round-slated turrets of the castle, and took up the telephone-receiver from the table. "hello?" she asked. "is the baron there?" demanded a man's rough voice. "no, m'sieur. but i am mademoiselle de neuville. can i give him any message? he is in brussels, and will, i think, be here this evening." "i am huart, speaking from the works at liege. war has broken out." "war?" gasped the girl, holding her breath. "yes. eighty thousand germans are advancing towards the river, and we are already defending liege against them. terrible fighting is taking place. hark! listen to our forts! can you hear?" the girl listened, and for the first time heard the thunder of war--a dull, low roar in the receiver. "that was one of the big guns in fort loncin, general leman is defending the city, but the germans are burning all the villages around. from my window here i can see the smoke across the river." "oh! this is awful!" the girl cried. "i will telephone to my father and tell him--if i can find him." "yes, mademoiselle--tell him that i fear the worst. the first reports of the enemy reached here at dawn, and liege seems to swarm with german spies. a dozen or so were caught signalling to the enemy with flags from the tops of high houses. they have all been shot--outside here, against the wall." "they were not belgians." "they posed as such. one of them was one of my foremen. i always believed him to be a belgian. it is a revelation, mademoiselle." "but can the germans enter the city?" "no, mademoiselle. last night all the bridges over the river were destroyed." and then, even as she listened, a dull roar fell upon her ear. it was fort loncin speaking again with its steel throat. "please tell the baron that i shall remain here pending further instructions from the company. we shall hold out here. soldiers are pouring into the town. the first regiment of the guides, and the second, fourth, and eighth chasseurs-a-pied passed here early this morning, having come poste-haste from brussels. they have gone along the river-bank. liege will not suffer much, but the country around is already in flames. it is terrible, mademoiselle--_terrible_!" the eighth regiment of chasseurs-a-pied! then edmond valentin was already at the front! he was with them, along the river-bank! "but are they killing people?" asked the girl, in frantic excitement. "i fear they are, mademoiselle," replied the voice, dying away slowly, and being succeeded by a loud electrical buzzing. "reports have just come in that at vise and argenteau some townspeople fired at the soldiers, and in consequence the germans are killing them, and burning down the houses. it is awful." "but that can't really be true," she cried, "the germans are surely not savages like that!" "i fear that the reports are only too true, mademoiselle. one came over the telephone from the burgomaster of cheratte, close to argenteau. as an eye-witness of fearful atrocities, he reported them to the prefect, with a request that they be immediately transmitted to the minister of justice, in brussels." "but it seems utterly incredible," the girl declared. "as incredible as the swarms of spies here in the town. to-day, one does not know enemy from friend! but please tell your father that i will speak to him this evening--if the wires are not cut. they are already cut to maastricht, verviers, and aix." "yes, do ring us up, m'sieur, and tell us what is happening," implored the girl. "tell me what the eighth chasseurs are doing, and where they are. will you, please? i have a friend in them--an officer." "certainly, mademoiselle, i will do what i can, and--_mon dieu_!" the voice broke off short. "m'sieur! m'sieur huart! hello!--hello?" cried the girl in wonder and apprehension. there was no response, only a slight buzz. she replaced the receiver upon the instrument, and turned the handle quickly. then she listened again. all was silence. "hello! hello?" she called. "hello, liege! hello, liege!" the wire was dead--cut, perhaps by a german shell! again and yet again she tried to obtain response to her call. their nearest exchange was that at dinant. "hello, dinant! _dinant_!" she kept repeating. "_hello, dinant_!" but from dinant there was no reply. upon her the blow had fallen. edmond, so manly and brave, was already at the front--one of the first to go forth against the giant invader of their gallant little nation. those words from her father's employe in liege had conveyed volumes to her. war was no longer an eventuality. it was a fact. already the kaiser was hurling his legions of pikelhauben westwards towards the sea. the teutons had burst their bonds, and edmond's prophesy had, alas! proved only to be true. the ambitious kaiser meant war--war at all hazards and at all costs, in order to retain his imperial crown, and in order to justify, with his clamorous people, his title of the great war lord of the twentieth century and ruler of the world. but there had been many war lords in the world ages before him--rameses, herod, caesar, attila, and napoleon. after all, the kaiser, surrounded by his disgracefully degenerate camarilla, was but a pinchbeck edition of bonaparte; a monarch who, while holding the outstretched hand of friendship to great britain, had been hourly plotting to conquer her. the quintessence of treachery, the zenith of personal egotism existed, with the wildest dreams of avarice, in the heart of that deformed monarch, who was as warped in his brain as in his body. in his gaudy tinsel, and in all his panoply of uniform, and his tin crosses which he believed to be iron, he was but the pliable puppet of the degenerates of potsdam. he believed himself to be the sword of god--as he had insanely declared to his troops--and stood as the idol of the people of "kultur" yet tottering upon his pedestal. his fierce antagonism towards civilisation, as opposed to the prussian militarism, had been betrayed by his undying words, which would live in history through the ages. the fierce war lord, in his pitiable arrogance, had actually incited his troops to murder and debauchery by the words he had spoken--words that would be for ever registered against him upon his downfall: "when you meet the foe you will defeat him," he had said. "no quarter will be given, no prisoners will be taken. let all who fall into your hands be at your mercy. gain a reputation like the huns under attila." that reputation was, apparently, what his hordes were achieving in the burning of vise and argenteau. attila, in his expedition across greece, reduced seventy of the finest cities to smoking ruins and shambles. he was the black demon of ruin and destruction, and this modern murder-monarch of the huns, if that report over the telephone be true, was emulating the blood-guilty ruffian. pale and breathless, aimee de neuville rushed up the great staircase to relate to her mother the appalling news that germany had, at last, swept down upon peaceful little belgium with fire and sword. the war-cloud had burst! the kaiser, in his eagerness to plunge europe into blood, had not waited for great britain's reply. his lustful, grey-coated hordes of braided uhlans, infantry and artillery, with all their endless streams of lumbering guns, heavy waggons, motor-cars, and loaded motor-lorries, had crossed the frontier, and with the fierceness of hell-hounds let loose, were already sweeping the valley of that peaceful-flowing river which wound below the great chateau de severac. war! _war_! war! the girl, pale and excited, held her breath as she placed her thin, trembling fingers upon the handle of the door of that room wherein her mother sat in calm ignorance of the awful truth. war! _war_! war! and edmond, the man whom she loved, the man whose last final kiss she still felt upon her brow, had marched into liege with his regiment, to face the treacherous germans, to fight for home and freedom, and to stem the great oncoming teuton tide. should she tell the baroness the truth? for a second the girl, pale with agitation, hesitated. the awfulness of such sudden news might unnerve her. she had a weak heart. no. she would conceal her knowledge of the awful fact. she drew a deep breath and, opening the door, entered smiling, as she exclaimed with a wonderfully careless and nonchalant air: "oh! the man only wants to talk to father on business, i told him he would be here to-night to dinner." chapter six. in the trenches before liege. at that same moment when aimee had listened to the dread news over the telephone, edmond valentin, in the uniform of a _sous-officier_ of chasseurs-a-pied, in his heavy dark-green overcoat and peaked shako, with his bulging haversack upon his back, was kneeling in a hastily dug trench firing steadily across the broad sunlit river, which lay deep in its valley. on the opposite bank ran the railway from liege, across the dutch frontier to maastricht, and from beyond the line there appeared all along, for miles, light puffs of smoke which betrayed the position of the enemy, who had crossed those picturesque green hills of the frontier, and who were endeavouring to force a passage across the meuse. on the right, over the hills where the river wound, could be heard the loud roar of the german guns which had been brought up against liege, while from the left came the eternal rattle of the machine-guns. in that trench, before which the river and the canal ran parallel, the men on either ride of edmond uttered no word. they were silent, firing with regularity, fascinated by the novel scene. most of them had played the war-game at the annual manoeuvres, when one stood up in trenches and laughed in the face of blank cartridge. yet here was real war. already more than one of their comrades had fallen on their faces struck by german bullets, and not far away a shell had just burst behind one of their machine-guns. the din and rattle of it all struck a strange, uncanny note upon that quiet countryside. for nearly half an hour edmond had been plugging away with his men, when of a sudden a machine-gun section ran up close to them. room was made in the trench, and the gun, carried in parts by half a dozen sturdy soldiers, was quickly assembled. then, the belt of cartridges having been adjusted, at the word of command the terrible engine of destruction suddenly spat its hail of death across the river. the _onder-officier_ with the gun laughed gaily to edmond, saying in flemish: "our friends yonder will not like this--eh?" "_oy hebt gelyk_," (you are right), laughed edmond. "but see over there! what is that smoke; there--away to the left?" "that is vise," was the reply, shouted above the rattle of the machine-gun. "the enemy must have set the place on fire--the brutes! look?" and as both watched they saw a great column of black smoke rising slowly into the clear, cloudless sky. "if they cross at the bridge there they will have the road open to them to tongres and st trond--the main road to brussels. i suppose we are defending it," said the _onder-officier_, a man with a red moustache. "_ja_! let's hope so," said edmond, raising his mauser rifle mechanically again, and discharging the five cartridges from its magazine. at that instant the trench was suddenly swept by a perfect hail of lead from across the river, while from over the heights beyond came a taube aeroplane, which noisily buzzed as it rose higher and higher, and then, out of range, made a complete circle, in order to reconnoitre the defenders' position. dozens of men in the trenches raised their rifles and fired at it. but it had already risen high out of harm's way, and gaily it circled round and round over the line of the meuse, noting all the belgian positions on the north bank of the river, and signalling to the enemy from time to time. the spot where edmond was stationed with his regiment was situated about eight miles from liege, and one from vise. just to his right was a bridge, which the belgians had not destroyed, and which the enemy were now protecting from destruction by means peculiar to the "blonde beasts" of the kaiser. placed upon it were two big furniture-vans, which had been hastily daubed in the belgian colours--red, black, and yellow. and these were filled with belgian soldiers, prisoners in german hands. by adopting these dastardly methods, they knew that the defenders would not shell the bridge and destroy it. edmond's regiment did not present any picture of uniformity. some men about him were dressed in the military fashion of thirty years ago--caps with enormous peaks, and wide-flowing capes covering green and yellow uniforms--while others, including himself, were in the dark-green modern uniform which has lately been adopted, and had been served out to those who had hurriedly rejoined the colours. while the enemy were all in the new service kit of greenish-grey cloth, which at a distance was exceedingly difficult to distinguish--with heavy leather boots reaching half-way up their calves--the belgians marched in garments of all colours, from the sombre black of the carabineers to the bright amaranthe and green of the guides. in war some curious sights are seen in the trenches. close to where valentin was crouching there knelt a smart lancer, with a basket containing carrier-pigeons strapped to his back like a knapsack. amid the roar and din the poor birds fluttered about restlessly inside their _cage_, eager to escape to their homes. but if the brave little belgian nation lacked uniforms and accoutrements, it never lacked courage. all was a hubbub of hope, and a talk of victory. "_a bas les alboches_!" "_vive la guerre_!" had been shouted from ostend to givet, and the spirits of the nation--soldiers and civilians alike--were of the highest, for now that england had declared war, belgium was fighting the battles of two great nations, france and britain. both french and british soldiers would soon come to their aid, if they could only hold out. "they will never silence our forts at liege," declared the lancer with the pigeons. but just as he uttered the words, edmond valentin heard a sound like the shrill yell of a small dog in the distance, and the next second there occurred near them a terrific explosion. the deadly german artillery were getting the range! again and again came the familiar yell, followed by the inevitable crash. a dozen or so men were lying about him, shattered, dead, or dying. but the pom-pom continued to deal death, slackening only now and then when a fresh belt was adjusted. adding to the roar of heavy guns, and quite close to them, lay the hidden fort of pontisse, while forts barchon, evegnee, and fleron, on the heists across the river, were thundering and dealing death in the enemy's ranks. behind them, to the left, lay three other forts--liers, lanlin, and loncin--defending the city of liege, and forming a further portion of the ring. time after time their huge guns roared, and the very earth quaked. time after time the enemy across the river were decimated by the terrible fire. then, every now and then, the ear was deafened by the loud crackling of musketry, which sounded like the loading of granite blocks into a cart. they were of two pitches, the deeper from the rifles of the infantry, and the sharper from the cavalry carbines. and above it all--above the constant explosions of shrapnel--sounded the regular pom-pom-pom-pom, steady as the tick of a rapid clockwork motor--adding to the deadly fire now sweeping the valley for nearly twenty miles. edmond, quite cool and determined, lay there firing away in the direction of the little puffs of grey smoke, which were hardly distinguishable behind the distant railway line. it was his first experience of being under fire, and after the first few minutes he grew quite unconcerned, even though he saw that many of his comrades had, alas! been bowled over. the primeval fury of the male beast bent on fighting, which seizes every man who is called upon to defend his life, had also seized him. "they say that the french will be at liege to-night," remarked the _onder-officier_ with the red moustache, in charge of the machine-gun. "if they are, we will teach those german brutes a lesson. we will--" next instant he reeled and fell forward upon his face. a bullet entering his jaw had passed through his head, carrying with it a large piece of his skull. death had been instantaneous. with hope of victory upon his lips the brave fellow had passed, in a single second, into that land which lies beyond the human ken. the four chasseurs serving the gun stopped and turned him over, but saw at once that he no longer lived. a few seconds later edmond heard sharp words of command from his lieutenant, who had crawled along to him, and in obedience he ceased firing his mauser, took the dead man's place and assumed charge of the machine-gun, which, within another half-minute, was continuing its work, while the body of the _onder-officier_ was dragged aside. "curse the grey devils! they shall pay for that!" cried one of the men fiercely. just then, however, there came a lull in the firing. the shells had ceased, and the enemy was slackening in his attack all along the line. was the fight subsiding? a dull, distant roar was heard from boncelles, where the steel cupolas were rising, and the big guns hurling death at the grey hordes of the kaiser, and then disappearing. then silence. suddenly another loud crackling of rifles, and again edmond's pom-pom recommenced its rapid rhythmic rattle. more mausers crackling, the shrill yell of a shell passing over them, and then a blood-red explosion some distance behind them. another shouted word of command, and the whole line of rifles were again discharged. it seemed almost as a signal for the fight to recommence, for next moment the attack was renewed with redoubled vigour. the short, sharp reports of the enemy's artillery reverberated along the valley, and shells were now exploding unpleasantly near the trenches. "i thought they had had enough," growled one of the men to edmond, in french, "but it seems they haven't. _bien_, we will show the kaiser and his brigands that we mean defiance. see, over there, m'sieur! they are burning vise, and argenteau too! i lived in vise when a boy. my sister is there now--unless she has escaped into holland. i pray to god the poor girl has done so." "i sincerely hope she has," edmond declared. "it surely is no place for a woman down yonder." "_ah, mon vieux_, they've been killing women and children, the savages," growled another man with set teeth, as he took out a fresh belt of cartridges. "i heard so as we came along from liege. but i can't believe it to be true. the germans are surely not savages, but a cultured race." "culture?" snapped the first man, a somewhat rough, uncouth fellow, plainly of the peasant class. "if they were cultured, as it is said, they would not burn those undefended villages yonder, and massacre the inhabitants as they are doing. it is horrible--awful!" "ah, but the massacres are only hearsay," edmond remarked. "no. one man, an eye-witness, has escaped from vise. he swam the river, told the terrible truth, and the report was telephoned this morning to brussels. i overheard our captain tell the major as we were on the march here. the germans have shot down dozens of men and women, and even little children. some of them have been deliberately burned alive in their homes. that, m'sieur, is the way germany makes war! but surely that is not war--it is savage butchery, m'sieur. culture, bah!" and the man bent again to his gun. could those brave belgians have seen what was, at that moment, happening in those unoffending villages about them, they would surely have left their trenches and, even regardless of the pitiless fire of the enemy, dashed to the rescue of the poor unoffending inhabitants. on that warm, bright sunlit august day, whole villages were being put to the sword by the ruthless soldiery of the kaiser, upon the flimsy pretext that the villagers, being non-combatants, had fired upon the troops. yet the truth came out that such massacres of the inhabitants were actually part of the general plan of campaign. the kaiser had ordered those cold-blooded atrocities for purely strategical considerations. they were not merely the riotous and isolated outbursts of marauding and buccaneering soldiers, but were ordered by imperial command. over there, among those green hillsides sloping to the river, the teutonic wave had burst its bounds. fiendish tortures were being inflicted on helpless old men, women, and children. peaceful villagers were hanged to trees, sometimes stark naked, and their bodies riddled by bullets. innocent children were savagely sabred by german officers who, only a week before, were strutting in civilised drawing-rooms, the scented and elegant darlings of the ladies of berlin. at that hour, while edmond valentin crouched beside his newly acquired pom-pom, pouring a deadly fire away across the river, there were being enacted scenes of outrage, plunder, and massacre too terrible even to bear description--scenes in which blood-guilty ruffians of the great war lord of germany performed their grim and terrible work, a work so dastardly and inhuman as to have no parallel; atrocious acts actually ordered by the officers themselves, and which would for ever be handed down in history as an indelible blot upon the escutcheon of those blasphemous and barbarous brigands who loved to call their country the fatherland. that strip of green, smiling, undulating country between the german frontier and the meuse, dotted by small prosperous villages, many of them filled by factory-hands and work-people, was that day swept by the fierce fiery hurricane of war, and so suddenly had it all come upon them that most of the people had not had time to realise what war meant ere they found the swaggering uhlans clattering up the streets, shouting at and insulting the inhabitants, shooting down men, women, and children, and laughing heartily at the panic which their appearance caused. from where edmond valentin was posted he could only see the columns of black smoke as it rose steadily from the farms and villages now burning in all directions. he, like nearly everyone else, disbelieved the stories of murder and mutilation, for they were really in credible. surely the kaiser would never treat little belgium in such a manner after his empire solemnly guaranteeing its neutrality! if so, of what use were treaties? why should anybody's signature be honoured further, either in business or in social life? bang! there was a blood-red flash, the air was filled with blue-grey smoke and a poisonous odour which made one's eyes smart. for a second, edmond was staggered by the terrible force of the concussion, for he had been dealt a blow from behind which sent him reeling forward heavily. the air was filled with flying fragments, and he held his breath. it was as though an earthquake had occurred. then, when the smoke cleared, he saw a dozen of his comrades lying shattered about him, including two of the men at his gun. not far away the scorched grass had been torn up, and a great hole showed in the brown earth. he set his teeth, and bent over the two fallen men. one had been wounded in the stomach by a fragment of the shell, and was writhing on the ground in his death agony, uttering fearful curses upon the enemy and the kaiser in particular; while the other, after a final convulsive shudder which shook his whole frame and told its own tale to anybody who had been under fire in battle, turned slowly over and then lay quite still. the shell alas! had only been too truly placed, for not only were a dozen brave fellows lying shattered, but a splinter had also struck the breech of edmond's gun, and it had jammed in consequence. when serving before with the chasseurs he had been in charge of a machine-gun, and hence was thoroughly familiar with its mechanism. therefore, quite calmly, as though no fight were in progress, he quickly unscrewed the parts, discovered that a pin was bent and knocked it straight, and within five minutes the pom-pom was again pouring forth, its rain of lead sweeping to and fro across the railway line opposite. suddenly, with a roar and flash, another earthquake occurred. the air instantly became filled with black acrid smoke and flying fragments of shell from one of the enemy's howitzers beyond the hills, and at that moment the trench became a perfect inferno, for deadly shells were falling upon it, and dozens of edmond's comrades were being maimed or killed on every hand. as the smoke cleared slightly he bent again to sight the gun, when his eye caught the bridge below, whereon the dastardly enemy had placed that vanload of brave belgians as a parti-coloured screen. just as he looked, he saw a shell, fired deliberately by a german gunner, strike the van, explode, and next second there remained only a heap of wreckage, among which the twenty poor fellows who had been imprisoned in it were lying heaped, dead and dying, some of them shattered out of all recognition. "the murderers!" cried edmond, while his men, who also noticed what had happened, loudly cursed the ruthless barbarians with whom they now found themselves confronted. bang! the explosion was deafening. edmond again felt the concussion where he was crouching. it knocked his shako aside, and for a second he believed he had been hit. yet, by a miracle, he was unharmed. next second an order was shouted--the order to retire! the germans, now using their artillery and shelling the belgian trenches, were advancing. they were crossing the bridge below, and a pontoon section had already begun its work under fire. bang! bang! bang! shells were falling thickly now. their defence had, alas! been all in vain. edmond heard the order shouted in flemish. "_vlucht! vlucht_!" shouted the lieutenant. edmond stood for a second like a man in a dream. the earth everywhere was being whipped by bullets. then he directed his men to dismantle the gun and, two others helping, each quickly shouldering a piece, the little party made off with the chasseurs over the crest of the hill and down the other side, leaving behind them, alas! many hundreds of their poor comrades. bang! yet another shell fell, rending a great hole in the trench at the very spot where, only a few moments before, edmond valentin's gun had been standing. chapter seven. in the eagle's claws. two days later the sixth brigade, to which the eighth chasseurs belonged, had been christened by the men "the flying column," for it had been designed to support the other brigades in action. since their retreat from the meuse, edmond valentin had marched with his regiment hither and thither; marched until he was footsore, with few intervals of rest, sometimes engaging the enemy, and then moving forward again to some new position, blindly, but with the knowledge that it was upon some general, previously conceived plan. war is truly a strange experience. the mere man in the fighting-line shoots in a trench, lies low, smokes a cigarette and chaffs his comrades, shoots again, then advances--or retreats, as the case may be. rumours pass from mouth to mouth of success or of defeat; he knows not which is the truth. retire or advance, what does it matter? if one retires it is for strategic purposes; if one advances it does not mean victory. edmond valentin, _sous-officier_ of infantry, was but a mere little pawn in that colossal game of world-power. they had made a great detour around liege, behind the forts of lanlin, loncin, and flemalle, and as the fighting had now become intense near fort boncelles, they had been called up to assist the attacked brigade. it was night when they reached the little village of esneux, prettily situated on the river. on the previous day the place had been occupied by the germans under von emmich, but the big guns from boncelles had been turned upon them, and the bavarians had been compelled to evacuate the place, not, however, before they had driven out the poor frightened inhabitants and sacked it. but the heavy shell-fire from the boncelles fort had wrecked the town and set fire to it, so that when the chasseurs arrived they found it only a heap of still smoking ruins. about nine o'clock that evening edmond's company took up a position in a dark wood close to an old ruined chateau above the burnt-out village, but presently, with about thirty others, he was ordered out to the edge of the wood where the highroad ran to liege. once there, every one of them was left to his own thoughts, and edmond, having fixed his gun in position in a ditch well covered behind a wall, sat back with his men, lit a cigarette and reflected. he was thinking of aimee, as he thought of her always every hour, wondering whether she had fled from belgium, now that invasion was an accomplished fact. that day the wildest rumours had reached them-- rumours of german successes everywhere, save at liege. it was declared, from mouth to mouth, that the french had been driven back all along the line, and that the enemy were already marching through holland on to antwerp--german-made lies which were, later on, proved to have been circulated to create panic. as they waited there, gazing anxiously across the river where blood-red glares showed away in the distance--farms and homesteads fired deliberately by the uhlans--the moon rose brightly in the clear sky. now and then could be heard the distant rumble of heavy artillery, while at infrequent intervals the forts of embourg across the river and boncelles on their left roared forth, showing sharp, angry flashes in the night. close by where edmond had taken up his position was a small stone-built hut, roofless and in ruins; but upon its walls he noticed that a big white paper had been pasted. he strode up to it, and in the moonlight examined it. the poster was one of the enemy's proclamations which had been printed in berlin in readiness months before, and he read as follows: au peuple belge! c'est a mon plus grand regret que les troupes allemandes se voient forcees de franchir la frontiere de la belgique. elles agissant sous la contrainte d'une necessite inevitable la neutralite de la belgique ayant ete deja violee par des officiers francais qui, sous un deguisement, aient traverse le territoire belge en automobile pour penetrer en allemagne. belges! c'est notre plus grand desir qu'il y ait encore moyen d'eviter un combat entre deux peuples qui etaient amis jusqu'a present, jadis meme allies. souvenez vous au glorieux jour de waterloo ou c'etaient les armes allemandes qui ont contribue a fonder et etablir l'independance et la prosperite de votre patrie. mais il nous faut le chemin libre. des destructions de ponts, de tunnels, de voies ferrees devront etre regardees comme des actions hostiles. belges, vous avez a choisir. j'espere donc que l'armee allemande de la meuse ne sera pas contrainte de vous combattre. un chemin libre pour attaquer celui qui voulait nous attaquer, c'est tout ce que nous desirons. je donne des garanties formelles a la population belge qu'elle n'aura rien a souffrir des horreurs de la guerre; que nous payerons en monnaye les vivres qu'il faudra prendre du pays; que nos soldats se montreront les meilleurs amis d'un peuple pour lequel nous eprouvons la plus haute estime, la plus grand sympathie. c'est de votre sagesse et d'un patriotisme bien compris qu'il depend d'eviter a votre pays les horreurs de la guerre. le general commandant en chef l'armee de la meuse! von emmich. it was a proclamation which was now posted everywhere, not only in the districts occupied by the germans, but it had also been secretly affixed to walls by spies in liege, louvain, charleroi, and even in brussels itself. by it, the germans were hoping to secure the allegiance of the belgian people. while this proclamation expressed regret that the german troops found themselves obliged to cross the belgian frontier, it pointed out that only necessity compelled them to do so because french officers had violated belgian territory by crossing from france into germany by motor-cars. a poor excuse surely for the burning and sacking of all those little undefended frontier towns--vise, argenteau, soumagne, poulseur, and the rest. "belgians?" it went on. "it is our great desire that there may still be means to avoid a combat between two peoples who were friends until now, and were formerly even allies. remember the glorious day of waterloo, where fought the german armies who contributed to found and establish the independence and prosperity of your country. "but we must have an open road. any destruction of bridges, tunnels, or railways must be regarded as hostile actions. belgians, it is for you to choose! "i hope, then, that the german army of the meuse will not be compelled to wage war with you. an open way to attack those who wish to attack us: that is all we desire. "i give these formal guarantees to the belgian population: that it will suffer nothing from the horrors of war; that we will pay in gold for the provisions that we find necessary to take from your country; that our soldiers will show themselves to be the best friends of a people for whom we cherish the highest esteem and the greatest sympathy. "by your wisdom and patriotism, which we fully recognise, your country will be spared the horrors of war. "general commander-in-chief of the army of the meuse,-- "von emmich." and yet the poor inhabitants of vise had been outraged and shot by the kaiser's unrestrained savages! in all those villages lying across the rippling ourthe and the broad meuse, the treatment of the inoffensive civilians had been ruthless and merciless. removal from the face of the earth--a favourite phrase of the germans themselves--was, from the first, the invader's idea of how best to deal with the unarmed, unoffending villagers, the only crime of whose hard-working people was that they had fallen in the path of the blasphemous prussian militarism. a private who was reading the proclamation remarked to edmond: "what trickery--eh? i hear that the uhlans yesterday shot the burgomaster of esneux, over yonder, and propped his body against a wall all day as a warning--because he had carried a revolver. thirty men were afterwards shot in the place without any trial whatever, and women and children were outraged and bayoneted and their bodies flung into the river. our women, they say, are being treated infamously, and all the possessions of the villagers are being destroyed. may god curse those germans!" "yes," replied the _sous-officier_, and as he turned away with a sigh a red light behind the hill gradually appeared, and then quickly grew brighter. "there is another village on fire, over there. i suppose the uhlans will drive our people to reprisals so that excuse for further cruelty may be found." "and yet they post up this proclamation!" cried the man in flemish, and with the point of his bayonet he succeeded in tearing holes in the notice, and eventually mutilated and obliterated it, saying: "death to the alboches! death to the kaiser's murderers and brigands! after all, the emperor who makes war upon women and children is only a brigand, just like those in sicily. surely a prize should be offered for his head!" just as the man spoke they both saw, in the distance, sudden little red flashes, which told that the troops were vomiting death upon the enemy again, so they dashed back to their ditch, while in the trees above them could already be heard the "phit" of the enemy's bullets as they struck the branches. ere a few moments the order was given to fire, and quickly edmond's pom-pom again began its regular spitting of death, whilst on the flank their invisible batteries also opened fire with destructive shrapnel. the night grew darker, and the moon became, for a time, obscured behind a bank of swiftly-drifting cloud. in the distance the fires lit up the battle scene with a red, sinister glare, while, far away upon the hills on the right, could be seen moving masses of belgian soldiers, a dantean vision of hell, and whilst the men lay in their shallow ditch firing away with monotonous regularity, bullets were whistling past, striking the trees, or flattening themselves with muffled noise in the earth. the fight was a hot one. in front were the millions of the kaiser, oncoming like a great irresistible tide, yet the gallant little belgian army, which for years had been jeered at by every frenchman, soldier or civilian, as a comic-opera force, were defending their country in a manner so patriotic and desperate that it held the whole world in surprise. confronted by a big and arrogant empire, which for years had laid its cunningly-devised plots for their destruction, the belgian army stood undaunted, and meant to strive on and defend their soil until france and great britain could come to their aid. that the germans should never take belgium had been resolved in the hearts of all king albert's subjects, while his majesty himself, in the uniform of a private of infantry, was daily in the trenches, and often spoke quiet, homely words of encouragement to private and general alike. the whole army knew how, two days before, he had been in the trenches at herstal, and had given private soldiers cigarettes with his own hands. in some cases he had not, at first, been recognised, dressed in a shabby, dusty uniform, just like themselves. but he was a king--a king eventually without a country--and his name will for ever go down in history as a wonderful example of self-denial, personal bravery, and of human sympathy with his crushed and desolated nation. suddenly, while edmond was commanding his gun, a shrapnel burst just behind him. a bullet struck his water-bottle, and a splinter passing through it the water ran out down his leg. but at the same moment another bullet struck in the head a man to whom he was giving an order and he fell heavily forward on his face--dead. in a moment the place seemed swept by lead. two or three shells fell in quick succession, the enemy having apparently advanced to a long copse just across the river-bank. "the brutes have occupied esneux again, i believe," remarked a man close by. away on the crest of one of the hills a small but very bright light showed. it was flashing in morse code. a signaller quite near read it aloud. "the enemy!" he shouted. "the message is in german!" yet they still plugged away with their rifles, undaunted at the enemy's advance. the forts were speaking more frequently now, and continually the very earth trembled beneath the great crashes of modern artillery of the brailmont system of defence. along that dark line of low hills was seen constant flashing in the blackness; storm clouds had arisen to obscure the moon, and rain was now threatening. the whole sky was now a deep, angry red, with patches of crimson heightening and dying down--the reflections of the inferno of war. the noise was deafening, and on every hand the gallant defenders were sustaining heavy losses. of a sudden, before indeed they were aware of it, the whole edge of the wood became lit up by an intense white brilliance, so dazzling that one could not discern anything in front. a thousand headlights of motor-cars seemed to be there focussed into one. the germans had turned one of their great field searchlights upon them, and a second later shells fell and burst in all directions in the vicinity. handicapped by want of such modern appliances, the belgians were unable to retaliate. they could only remain there, in the actual zone of the enemy's pitiless fire. dozens of brave men fell shattered or dead amid that awful whirlwind of bullets and fragments of steel, as slowly the long ray of intense light moved along the line, searching for its prey, followed by the enemy's artillery which never failed to keep up a pitiless, relentless fire, with wonderful accuracy for a night engagement. from end to end swept that white line of brilliancy; then slowly--very slowly--it came back again, causing the men to lie flat upon their stomachs and wait in breathless anxiety until it had passed. time after time that long, shallow trench which was, after all, only a ditch, for no opportunity had been afforded for military engineering--was swept by both light and fire from end to end, and each time edmond's comrades were being placed _hors de combat_. that the situation was critical, he knew. yet not a single man stood dismayed. their mausers crackled with just the same regularity, and, thanks to the fine spirit of his men, his pom-pom continued to rain lead upon the trenches of von emmich's walls of men across the river. at last the "retire" was sounded. the position had by this time become quite untenable. edmond valentin bit his nether lip. the same order always. they retired, but never advanced. for them, the teuton tide seemed utterly overwhelming. yet their spirit was never broken. the belgian is ever an optimist. surely belgium would never fall beneath the kaiser's rule, to be ground under his iron heel and smashed by that "mailed fist" which had so long been the favourite joke of the great caricaturists of europe. impossible! with alacrity the maxim was dismounted, and with calm orderliness the retirement was commenced at a moment when that annoying searchlight had turned its attention to the right flank, and the great white beam lay full upon it. they were to withdraw towards liege, first retiring into the wood. "_wat sullen wy doen_?" (what is to be done?) asked one of edmond's men in flemish--the thickset man who had read the proclamation. "our general knows best, my comrade," edmond reassured him in his own language. "this may be only a strategic move. we shall sweep them off our soil before long--depend upon it." "_gy hebt gelyk_," (you are right), muttered the man, panting beneath his load--the barrel of the maxim strapped across his shoulder. "_ik stem geheel met u_!" (i quite agree with you), murmured another of the men in his soft, musical flemish. "we will never surrender to those brigands! never, while there is breath left in us. they are assassins, not soldiers!" they marched forward along the wide, dark, dusty road, safe from the enemy's fire at that point because of the rising ground between them and the winding, peaceful valley of the ourthe. in their faces stood liege, five miles distant. they were moving forward, still in high spirits. many of the men were whistling to themselves as they marched, sturdy and undaunted. the eighth chasseurs was one of the first regiments of king albert, all men of splendid bravery, and of finer physique than the average belgian. from liege came still the continuous boom of artillery, for the forts untaken were keeping up a regular fire, and the enemy, it was known, were sustaining terrible losses both night and day. the forts, built in a ring in the environs of the city, were safe enough. but not so the town. the germans, aided by their swarms of spies in the place, had made a dozen attempts to take it during the past forty-eight hours, but had always been repulsed. they had resorted to every ruse. one party of germans had dressed themselves in british uniforms--whence they obtained them nobody has ever known--and on entering the town were at once welcomed enthusiastically as allies. but, fortunately, the ruse was discovered when one was overheard to speak in german, and all were promptly shot. then another party appeared as belgian red cross men, and they, on being discovered to be enemies, shared a similar fate: they were shot in the place cockerill. the germans had requested an armistice for twenty-four hours to bury their dead. this, however, was refused, because it was well known that the big krupp howitzers--"the german surprise to europe"--were being brought up, each drawn by forty horses, and that the cessation of hostilities asked for was really craved in order to gain time to get these ponderous engines of destruction into position. as they were marching, the moon again shone out over the doomed city of liege, when of a sudden edmond saw over it, in the sky, three black points which immediately changed into a light cloud, and soon flames were rising from the town. the germans were now firing petrol-shells upon the place! they gained a small village called angleur, a quaint little whitewashed place, over which shot and shell had swept for the past three days, until the villagers now took no notice. here generous hearts offered comfort to the tired soldiers, jugs of fresh milk and bread were brought out though it was the middle of the night. but they had no time to accept those gifts. presently they met some terrified people--men, women, and children-- fleeing from outside liege, carrying bundles, all they could save from their wrecked homes. "the germans are in the wood!" they cried. before them lay a blazing village. edmond's captain gave an order to halt, and they drew up. then they saw the disappearance into the red furnace of entire companies, and soon afterwards the stretchers and ambulance corps following each other in quick succession told them of the splendid heroism of their glorious defenders. again they went forward, every man's mouth hard-set and determined, yet in some cases with a grim joke upon their lips, for they resolved to defend the lives of their dearly-loved ones, and to account for as many of the enemy as they could. "for god and belgium?" shouted one man, a stout private from malines, who had lost his shako and his kit. then they all ran to death with but little hope left in them. such an illustration of bravery had been rare in this present century. the remembrance of the almighty, shouted by that fat private, had an effect upon the religious men in the ranks, officers and privates alike, and in that red glare of war, with blood showing in the very sky, they dashed on with renewed hope and a spirit of splendid patriotism unbroken. they took cover in an orchard and, pulling down the hedges frantically, soon saw, descending from the hill on their right, the batteries and remains of their own much-tested regiments. stretchers were taken up to the woods on the left, and soon came down again with the wounded. edmond's "flying column" was protecting the transport of these "braves," but an order was shouted that they had to withdraw away up on to the plateaux. then they rushed to the fort of flemalle, where they took up fighting positions. but the germans did not want to make another attempt. the mission of the eighth chasseurs was over. three hours later they moved forward again. the forts would now defend their position in the campaigning army. such was a typical night of the defence of liege. chapter eight. the double face. at the chateau de severac the hot, fevered days were passing but slowly. aimee and the baroness were still there, and now they had been joined by the baron, who had in brussels been assured that the enemy would respect the houses of the rich, and that at his splendid home, perched high on that rock above the meuse, they would have nothing to fear. rigaux, indeed, had declared to his friend that at the chateau they would be far safer than in any of the towns, which might be invested or bombarded-- safer even than in brussels itself. hence they had remained there, full of hourly anxiety as to what really would be the outcome of it all. the baron de neuville had suggested that his wife and aimee should flee to england. but while aimee felt that so long as she remained in belgium she might at least have a chance of seeing edmond very soon, the baroness, on her part, refused to leave her husband's side, while he, in his responsible position as financial adviser to the government, could not leave belgium. from time to time they received scraps of terrifying news over the telephone from brussels. aimee, indeed, each hour rang up her father's secretary in brussels, and listened to the latest news from the scene of the fighting. but, alas! it was a tale of repeated disaster, until she became sick at heart. of the whereabouts of the eighth chasseurs she could glean nothing. she had heard nothing whatsoever of them since they passed through liege on their way to the front. for aught she knew, they might have shared the same fate as that of other regiments, or been swept out of existence by the terrible fire of the enemy's machine-guns. often she would step out upon the balcony which led from her own room and gave such a wonderful panorama of river and woods, and there she would listen attentively. sometimes she fancied she could hear the far-distant booming of the guns. and yet the world about her, warm and sunlit, without a cloud in the brilliant summer sky, seemed so very peaceful. the birds sang merrily, and the peasants, undisturbed after the first days of war, were now garnering in the yellow corn. the first panic of war had passed, and the dull-eyed walloons, who composed the major part of the population in that district, clattered along in their wooden sabots and declared that the enemy were going straight on towards brussels. they would never come near them. they were unaware as yet of the frightful deeds being done beyond liege in those warm summer days, acts of merciless savagery and every refinement of cruelty which degenerate minds, filled with the blood-lust of war, could conceive. they knew not of the dastardly practice, made by the kaiser's "cultured" troops, of placing before them innocent women and children to act as a living screen, in the hope that the allies would not, from motives of humanity, fire upon them. the whole world was being thrilled and shocked by the unspeakable acts of these blonde beasts who, at the behest of their arrogant kaiser, had simply become hordes of savages, and whose atrocious acts could only be compared with those of the troops of african wilds. but in belgium little was known of it all, save in the devastated villages themselves, and by monsieur carton de wiart, the minister of justice in brussels, who was preparing an official report to present to the powers. the hideous atrocities perpetrated during that bloody fortnight, from august th to the th, during which the country north of liege was being swept by fire and sword, were being hidden from the gallant little nation. in the great high-up chateau de severac they only knew of them by rumour, and whenever aimee told what she had heard over the telephone to her father sitting there so grave and morose, he always shook his head and declared that they were only wild rumours. "the german soldiers are civilised. they do not shoot women, my dear girl," he would always declare. the true stories of the kaiser's "frightful examples"--which his bloody majesty himself admitted--had not yet been told. the baron and his family did not know how, at aerschot, the male inhabitants who crossed their thresholds were seized and shot under the eyes of their wives and children; how poor monsieur thielemans, the burgomaster, and his fifteen-year-old son, with a dozen prominent citizens, were set up against a wall and shot, and their bodies cast unceremoniously into a hole. they knew not how young girls, and even little children, had been raped at orsmael; how wounded belgian soldiers were tied to telegraph poles and shot; how, constantly, red cross waggons bearing doctors and wounded were deliberately fired upon; or how these teuton apostles of "kultur" had actually mounted machine-guns in their own red cross vans and fired at the unsuspecting! of the awful scenes in st trond, velm, and haelen, rumour only gave the faintest outline, which was dismissed as imaginary and without foundation. alas! however, it was the bitter and terrible truth. abominable deeds were committed not only in those places, but at sempst men had their arms and hands cut off; at corbeek loo women and girls were bayoneted; at seraing the blood-guilty ruffians massacred several hundred people, and in more than one village terrified women were made to pass in front of machine-guns amid the laughter of the drunken german soldiers and their threats to blow them out of existence at any moment. was it any wonder that many poor wretches went stark mad with terror? over this stricken country, between liege and louvain, towards brussels, the "flying column" were fighting--struggling along bravely from day to day against the most fearful odds. while aimee sat, hour after hour in silence, watching and wondering, edmond with his maxim was doing terrible execution. yet of what use was it all? they were being gradually driven back towards brussels, compelled to leave the villagers to their fate. the roads were crowded by homeless men, women, and children, poor wretched people who had watched their homes sacked and burnt. for years they had been thrifty, and saved until they could live in quiet comfort, still working hard. yet in one short fortnight all had gone from them; all they now possessed was piled into a wheelbarrow, perambulator, or cart, or else carried in a sack upon their backs. the scenes on that wide, open main road leading through louvain and tirlemont to brussels, a well-kept highway, lined in places by tall poplars, were enough to cause one's heart to bleed. edmond looked upon them with a sigh. beneath the pitiless sun the never-ceasing crowd moved westward, driven on by the advancing german army. all sorts of ramshackle vehicles were mixed up in the slowly moving mass of humanity who were tramping their way, day and night, on and on to some place of safety--where, they knew not--brussels, antwerp, or to ghent, ostend, or perhaps the sea. the iron of despair was in their souls. such a human tide as this, naturally, hampered the belgian army severely. weary, footsore, and sad-eyed, many old persons fainted by the wayside, and those who were friendless were left there to die. everybody was thinking of his or her own family. they had no time for sympathy with others. most of them were dressed in their best clothes-- in order to save them--and all had fearful tales to tell of the behaviour of the uhlans. many of those poor, red-eyed, hatless women in black had seen their husbands, brothers, sons, or lovers shot down before their eyes. some had been falsely accused of firing at the troops; some had simply been seized by drunken, laughing soldiers; some had been questioned by swaggering german officers, others had not. with all, trial or no trial, the end was the same--death. and their corpses had been left to rot where they fell, and the village fired by those little black cubes of a highly inflammable chemical substance, which the brutes carried with them for that one purpose. the fog of war was over everything. "it is not warfare, father," declared aimee one evening, as she sat with her parents in a big, handsome salon, wherein the last blood-red light of the fiery afterglow was fast fading. "it is massacre. they have just told me, over the telephone, of fearful things that have happened in aerschot. the germans have wrecked the beautiful church, smashed the holy statues, desecrated the crucifix, and stabled their horses there. and these are the troops upon whom the kaiser is beseeching god's blessing. it is all too awful for words!" "yes, child," replied the grey-haired baroness, looking up from her embroidery--for in these days of excitement she tried to occupy her mind with her needlework. "the kaiser respects neither the laws of nations, nor the laws of almighty god, whose aid he asks. his evil deeds cry aloud to heaven, and to us who, horror-struck, are watching." "the emperor is carrying out the policy, which i read yesterday in the _independance_, advocated by bismarck," said the baron. "the iron chancellor laid it down, as a maxim, that true strategy consisted in hitting the enemy hard, and in inflicting on the inhabitants of invaded towns the maximum of suffering, so that they might bring pressure upon their government to discontinue it. he is declared to have said: `you must leave the people through whom you march only their eyes to weep with.'" "the inhuman brute!" ejaculated the baroness. "but our dear belgium will never sue for peace." "never," declared the baron fiercely, rising and passing to the window, an erect, refined figure. "we have the british on our side. they will quickly wipe the germans from the seas, and then come here to our assistance. the speech of asquith in the house of commons shows their intentions. besides, have we not russia--a colossal power in europe when she commences to move? so we may rest assured that for every evil and unwarrantable act committed upon our soil, ample vengeance will be exacted when the cossacks are let loose upon our friends of berlin." "they say that at liege and in other places, german spies have been discovered," aimee remarked. "i hear that at the entrance to liege, the german soldiers were actually met by spies--hitherto respectable inhabitants of the place--who acted as their guides through the city, and pointed out the principal buildings and the residences of the rich." "exaggerated stories," declared the baron. "i do not believe in the existence of german spies in belgium." "but they have arrested many both in brussels and antwerp." "spy-mania seems to arise in every war," was his reply. "but germany has been long preparing. her spies are said to be everywhere," declared the girl with emphasis. "no game is too low or despicable for the enemy to play, it seems." at that moment the liveried footman entered and, bowing, announced to the baron: "monsieur rigaux has arrived." "ah! show him in. he may have news," cried his master, eagerly. next moment the thin-faced, dark-haired man, wearing a smart grey suit and yellow gloves, came forward all smiles and graces, as he bowed low over the baroness's hand and then over aimee's. "well, my dear arnaud?" the baron commenced anxiously. "what is the latest from the front? have you motored from brussels?" "yes. and the news is disquieting--distinctly disquieting. max, the burgomaster, is already taking precautions in anticipation of the occupation of the capital by the enemy. our troops are evacuating the city." mother and daughter exchanged glances, both pale-faced and startled at such a turn of events. "then we have again been defeated," exclaimed the baron in a hard voice. "it seems so. the news is out that liege has fallen at last. the forts are silent--reduced to rubbish-heaps." "liege fallen!" gasped both mother and daughter. "yes. it seems that several days ago the germans brought up some big krupp howitzers, the secret of which has been so admirably kept, and--" "why do you say so admirably, m'sieur rigaux?" interrupted aimee quickly. "such words would make it appear that you admire the germans." the man started. his eyes narrowed, and his face assumed a sinister look. but only for a second. he saw the slip he had made, and hastily corrected it. "my dear mademoiselle," he laughed. "surely you cannot suspect me of pro-german sympathies? i hate the kaiser, and all his abominable works. i used the words `admirably kept' because in germany they really know how to keep a secret. they are not like the english, for example, who will show any foreigner of distinction over their latest dreadnoughts, or their strongest defences." "well, the tone in which you spoke was certainly as though you entertained pro-german tendencies," said the girl frankly, adding "but what about these wonderful guns?" "ah! mademoiselle. they are wonderful, alas! as soon as they got these fearful engines of destruction into position they simply pulverised the forts. poor general leman was taken out of the ruins, unconscious, and is now a prisoner in germany." "leman a prisoner?" gasped the baron. "why, it was only a month ago that he dined here with us." "poor fellow!" exclaimed the baroness. "but why was he unconscious?" "owing to the deadly fumes from the explosion. one of the big shells from the german howitzer penetrated to the magazine, and it blew up." "ah! but leman did not surrender." "certainly not," said rigaux, who was, in secret, very well informed of all that was in progress along the front. his wireless--worked by a german naval wireless operator who lived in seclusion in his house at brussels--had, for days been picking up all the official messages, the operator having in his pocket the key to the war-cipher. not a move on land or on sea on the part of the germans but was known at once to arnaud rigaux, who daily handed to the fair-haired young operator a brief report of what was in progress in brussels. this the young man reduced to code and transmitted it, after having called up the german station at nauen. other stations heard it, but the message being in a code specially supplied for the purpose, it conveyed to them no meaning. arnaud rigaux, the most clever and most dangerous spy which germany possessed on belgian soil, was, because of his high position as a financier, still unsuspected. from his manner the baron could see that his friend had come out from brussels hastily, in order to tell him something which he hesitated to do in the presence of the ladies. "so an advance is really being made towards brussels and the government has moved to antwerp?" aimee asked anxiously. "the papers are so vague about it all." "i fear that is so," was rigaux's reply. "it seems, too, that the british are moving uncommonly slowly. they have not yet, it is said, embarked their expeditionary force, as we fully expected they would have done days ago." "the british, if they move slowly, always move very surely," was the girl's reply. "i was at school in england, you know, and i am quite aware of their slowness." "it is fatal in war, mademoiselle. why are they not here to help us-- eh? we have relied upon them." "they will be here soon, and when they come they will give a good account of themselves, never fear. they are tried soldiers. the germans have never seen a modern war. they are only swaggerers." "true. but they are at least scientific in their campaign. the english are not." "well, arnaud, if you continue to talk like that i shall begin to agree with aimee, and accuse you of taking the german side," laughed her father. "_diable_! i hate them too much. look what i have lost--what i stand to further lose--eh?" protested the thin-faced man, with a quick gesture of the hands. "all i hope is that the english army will be in belgium before the enemy enters brussels." "but the french," suggested the baron. "what are they doing? one hears so very little of general joffre and his army!" "ah! he, too, is moving slowly. at verdun, and along the line of alsace-lorraine, there has been some fierce fighting, i hear." "how do you know?" asked the girl. "by the papers." "but the papers have published no reports," she said in surprise. "what journal has given the news? we have them all, and i read them very carefully." again rigaux was, for a second, nonplussed. "oh! i think it was in the antwerp _matin_--the day before yesterday-- if i recollect aright." the truth was that he had heard it over his secret wireless only that morning. "who won?" "unfortunately, the germans." "ah!" sighed the girl. "it is always so. when shall we ever have a victory?" "who knows, mademoiselle? let us hope it will be very soon. belgium will never be crushed." "not so long as a single man remains alive who can carry a gun," declared the baron fiercely. "i wish i were younger. i'd go to the front at once and do my share." "as edmond valentin has gone," aimee remarked, more in order to spite arnaud rigaux than anything else. in a second the spy's face was wreathed in smiles. "ah, how is m'sieur valentin? where is he, mademoiselle?" he inquired. "he is with the eighth chasseurs-a-pied, somewhere near liege." "he is not near liege now," their visitor said. "the whole country, up to louvain, is now held by the enemy. his brigade has, i expect, been thrown back to somewhere near brussels--unless, of course, it has come south, towards namur." in an instant the girl was eager and anxious. namur, with its great forts, believed to be impregnable, was only a few miles away. "would they come across in this direction, do you think?" she asked eagerly. "certainly. if they were in the meuse valley they might follow it up towards huy, and onward." "but there has been no sign of the enemy along there." "there will be soon, i fear, mademoiselle. we are not sufficiently strong to keep them back." as a matter of fact, he knew that uhlan patrols were in the woods within fifteen miles of them, and that very soon the whole meuse valley would probably run with blood. the potsdam plan of campaign was to sweep every part of belgium, from the frontier to the sea, with the fire of war. "what shall we do if they come?" asked the pale-faced girl, dismayed. "is it best to stay here?" "i believe so. you are far safer here in your chateau than in brussels." "but what will happen to us?" "oh, you may have a visit, perhaps, from a polite german officer who may billet some of his men here for the night. he will simply apologise for the inconvenience he causes. that is all." "but they have been massacring people north of liege," aimee remarked. "bah! those are simply exaggerated tales of the country-people. do not credit them, mademoiselle. nobody in brussels believes them. in war, such tales are always told," he said assuringly. "who is commanding the eighth chasseurs? do you know?" asked the girl anxiously. "well, yes, i happen to know because jacques, my second chauffeur, is in the regiment of monsieur valentin. they belong to the sixth brigade under general paul thalmann." "thalmann!" echoed the baroness. "ah, we know him quite well. he was commandant at bruges a year ago. then he was moved to ghent. aimee and i stayed with him for three days during the exhibition. a fine old soldier. one of the best men in all belgium." arnaud rigaux smiled curiously. the hebrew came out in him at that moment. "yes," he said, with slight hesitation. "but a gambler, my dear baroness. he is in my debt to a considerable extent. besides, i--well, i suspect him." "of what?" asked the great financier. "of dealings with the enemy." aimee started. "what do you mean, m'sieur?" she asked quickly. "i simply mean what i say, mademoiselle. general thalmann has, to my knowledge, been on the verge of bankruptcy for the past three years. he is a bosom friend of a certain karl schnerb, whom i have long suspected of being a secret agent of germany. after his acquaintance with schnerb, the general began to repay me some of what i had lent him. _voila tout_!" "you say, then, that general thalmann is in the pay of our enemies?" asked aimee quickly. "you surely don't mean that, arnaud?" asked her father at the same moment. "i only tell you facts that i know, my dear baron," was their visitor's reply. "and for that reason, and that alone, i say: `may god help our poor little belgium.'" aimee was silent. was it possible that a traitor was in command of edmond's brigade? the girl held her breath. if what arnaud rigaux had alleged was the actual truth--and he always knew the truth--if such things were, then poor little belgium was, alas! doomed. chapter nine. the kaiser's secret agent. "the position is a very grave one, henri," rigaux explained when, a few minutes later, they were alone together in a small, circular, book-lined room, that room below one of the high round towers of the chateau, which the baron used as a bureau. "i hesitated to speak very openly before your wife, because it would cause her undue alarm. there is no doubt-- indeed, there has been abundant proof in these last four days--that belgium swarms with german spies. they are everywhere. our enemies have been most crafty and cunning in their preparations for our undoing. they have arrested and shot sixteen german agents in antwerp alone. they had carrier-pigeons, secret wireless, code-books, german ammunition, secret stores of petrol, and other things, which showed, only too plainly, their intentions. now your telephone was cut at noon to-day, was it not, and you are wondering? well, the truth is that the germans occupied brussels at eleven o'clock this morning?" "_they are in brussels_!" gasped the baron, starting up. "you must be joking!" "i am not, i regret to say. to-day, at eleven, burgomaster max met the german commander in the chausee de louvain. there was no resistance, and the enemy marched into the city, doing the goose-step as they passed the gare du nord." "impossible?" gasped de neuville, pale as death. "but it is the unfortunate truth. the germans are asking for an indemnity of eight millions sterling. the minister of finance has asked me to negotiate the loan. will you and your friends take part in it?" for a moment the baron de neuville was silent. he knew the financial straits of the government at that moment, and he was reflecting. at last he said, in a low, earnest voice: "arnaud, if i touch it at all, my friends in london and myself will make the whole loan." "what, you will bear the eight millions?" asked rigaux, with some surprise. "yes. i feel it my duty to assist in the present crisis." "but i only asked for a portion. i can do some myself, and obtain the remainder in holland." "i tell you i will arrange to bear the whole responsibility. i will send word to monsieur max to-night. i can arrange with good substantial friends in london to assist me." rigaux was silent for a few seconds. "well," he said enthusiastically at last, "yours is indeed a fine example of patriotism, henri, i will let max know your generous offer. there is no telegraphic or telephonic communication with brussels now." he did not add that in his pocket was a special pass, signed by the german commander, which allowed him to go through the enemy's lines, backwards and forwards, at will. if the baron and his friends paid over eight millions to the enemy, then his friends in berlin would be highly pleased at his clever diplomacy. "you return to brussels to-night--eh?" "yes, at once. it is a risky business to be on the roads at night nowadays." "i shall go to brussels to-morrow, and make the offer personally," the baron said. "but, if you do so, you will not leave your wife and daughter here. if i were you i would send them to ostend, where, if further trouble occurs, they can easily cross to england. they should not be left here alone. one never knows what may happen." the baron did not reply. he was still reassured by the words of certain highly-placed officials in brussels that the baroness and aimee would be quite safe at severac, and rigaux, on his part, did not think it worth while to tell him of the close proximity of the uhlans. "i shall see you in brussels to-morrow," the baron said briefly. "yes. may i tell max that you will be at the hotel de ville at noon-- eh?" asked the secret agent of the kaiser, "and that you and your english friends will, if necessary, guarantee the loan to the municipality of the eight millions demanded?" "yes," was his friend's reply. "ah, henri," cried arnaud rigaux, "you are a true patriot. you, the wealthiest man in belgium, to come forward at such a time," and, judas-like, he took the baron's hand--he who was now secretly acting as financial agent of the german government. "monsieur max has been made responsible for the good behaviour of the capital, and they have handed him back his scarf of office. the surrender was a sad and impressive scene, i can assure you," he added. "ah, yes," replied the baron very gravely. "i had no idea that the enemy were already in brussels." "yes. they have taken liege, tirlemont, and louvain, and are now coming up to bombard namur." "so near!" cried the broad-shouldered baron, amazed. "yes. that is why i suggest to you, privately, that the ladies should be sent at once to the coast." "thanks for your hint, my dear arnaud. i will certainly consider it," was the other's reply. he handed rigaux the big silver box of cigarettes, and when both had lit up, the footman brought, in response to his master's summons, two tiny bohemian liqueur glasses and filled them with fine old cognac. they tossed them off, in belgian fashion, and soon afterwards rigaux gripped his friend's hand, saying: "_au revoir_, till to-morrow. and all belgians will thank you, henri, for saving their capital from the kaiser's brigands." the baron de neuville smiled, and shrugged his thickset shoulders. "it is but my duty as a loyal belgian. i cannot fight side by side with our brave men, as i certainly would if i were younger. so i will help as far as my means permit." and then arnaud rigaux, with those winds in his ears, waved his hand and descended the winding stairway to the great hall, outside which in the courtyard his fast, open car was in waiting. having put on his holland dust-coat, he flung himself into the bucket-seat next the driver, and then they moved away cautiously down the steep hill into the peaceful valley, where the summer twilight was fast darkening into night. many groups of homeless, despairing people, hauling along great packages and tramping towards an unknown bourne, were upon the road, and now and then suspicious cars passed without salute or challenge. once they met a patrol of uhlans riding merrily along, big-booted fellows with lances, who chatted gaily, and who seemed to take no notice of them, knowing that in that particular area there was no opposition. suddenly rigaux, who had now become very alert, remarked to the driver: "be careful. we are getting near loverai, outside charleroi." before them had suddenly showed points of light from lanterns in the road, and then, a few hundred yards further on, they heard a gruff challenge in german, and a stern command to halt. the driver drew up at once, and the car was instantly surrounded by half a dozen stalwart german outposts, their fixed bayonets shining in the headlights, demanding to know the destination of the travellers. "to brussels," replied rigaux, in german. "here is my official permit from headquarters, signed by the commander-in-chief of the army of the meuse." the sentry, in his spiked helmet, examined it beneath the flickering light of a lantern held by one of his comrades, and while doing so a lieutenant strolled up and also carefully scrutinised it. yet for the moment the motorists were under arrest. "herr rigaux--eh?--and chauffeur?" the officer read. "a general secret service pass from headquarters. you are going to brussels, i suppose?" arnaud rigaux replied in the affirmative, whereupon the lieutenant gave an order and the half-dozen men drew up in the dark, clicking their heels together, and presented arms in salute. "you are free to pass, herr rigaux," said the officer. "take the left-hand road, and you will avoid the outposts of charleroi and get to nivelles. our lines are two miles farther on, but with your pass you will have no difficulty. i see that you are one of us." rigaux remounted into his car, and with a merry good night they swept along the dark, wide road, which at that point ran between two rows of high poplars, which were swaying and rustling slightly in the cool night wind, so refreshing after the broiling day. half a dozen times the car had been challenged in as many miles, but on each occasion the permit to travel was scrutinised closely, and as they went forward they saw in the sky, on the far-off horizon, the dull, red glare of the fires of war. they had left charleroi on their right--the town of hardware, which the germans had now surrounded, and intended on the morrow to reduce--and had now set their faces straight for the capital. the pass which that morning rigaux had received, on application to the headquarters at the hotel cosmopolite, in brussels, proved an open-sesame everywhere, for it was one of those cryptic passports which the german empire had issued to all its spies, from the lowly to the wealthy. that small piece of grey paper, stamped, signed, and countersigned, rendered its bearer immune from arrest, and provided safe conduct everywhere. what would his friends the belgians say, or do, if they had known he had possessed such a document? time after time, on that dark, straight road between charleroi and brussels, the car was held up by men in spiked helmets, who covered both master and chauffeur threateningly with their rifles. but sight of that paper was magical. arnaud rigaux was bowed to with politeness, and urged onward with cautionary words to the next post. brussels lay thirty miles from charleroi. they were now within the enemy's lines, and were passing many burnt-out cottages and villages, some of the debris of which, strewn in the roadway, still glowed red in the night. before them, in the dark, heavy sky, showed the glare of the lights of brussels, the gay little city which now lay crushed and invested by the teuton invaders. the reflection of the light was not red, as in the case of a burning town. the germans were committing no atrocities there, for the simple reason that, in the capital, they were beneath the eyes of the representatives of neutral powers. in the country it mattered not, and could easily be denied, but in brussels the commander-in-chief had decreed that all should preserve a correct attitude and present the quintessence of german "culture." it was nearly one o'clock in the morning when at last, rigaux having pulled his cap over his eyes, they passed the sentries outside the station of uccle, and were allowed to proceed down the long, straight avenue brugmann and the chausee to the end of the avenue louise. half the street lamps of brussels were out, and no one was in the streets save german sentries at the corners, acting as policemen, their fixed bayonets glinting in the brilliance of the car's headlights. brussels, with her civil guard disbanded, was in the grip of the invader, who modestly demanded eight millions as its ransom. the car turned into the small place louise, past the cafe in the corner, and de boek's hotel so long a famous "english house," turned to the left, and then ran along the tree-lined boulevard to where rigaux lived. there was now no secrecy of presence of the fair-haired german naval wireless operator, for the enemy had occupied the capital. indeed, as soon as arnaud rigaux arrived home he met him in the hall, and accompanied him to the room in the roof, in which was that powerful wireless plant run off the electric-light main. the young fellow seated himself at once at his table, and, touching a morse-key, a long blue spark was emitted and crackled across the big coil. "call up nauen," rigaux said, his holland dust-coat not yet removed. "give them this message: that the baron de neuville has consented, upon representations i have made, to negotiate the whole of the indemnity of eight millions levied upon the city of brussels. let me know of the acknowledgment of the receipt of the message by r.x." "certainly, m'sieur," was the operator's reply in good french, and he began to tap out the preliminary "da-de-da-de-da," the call-signal, followed by the code-letters indicating that he wished to speak with nauen. then he switched over, and adjusting his headphones to his ears, listened attentively. again he repeated the call, with dexterous rapidity, when, a few seconds later, he heard the answering ticks of the telefunken near potsdam, after which he reduced to code the significant message which rigaux had given him for transmission, and tapped it out. chapter ten. the hotel de l'epee. the quaint, old-world little town of dinant, with its crooked cobbled streets--the resort of painters and dreamers--lay in a narrow ravine on both sides of the winding meuse, connected by a long iron bridge. high limestone cliffs towered above the town, crowned by a good-sized but out-of-date citadel--a fort which dominated the whole country. across the river lay the railway station, and some modern hotels, while the modern town was built upon the pleasant wooded slopes behind. it was here that edmond valentin found himself with the sixth brigade. five days ago they had arrived, after a forced march under the hot sun, from gembloux, beyond namur, and, having joined the french force which had crossed the frontier between sedan and givet, they were occupying the heights above the town. indeed, from where edmond stood on that bright, sunny morning, he could look down upon the tiny little white village of anseremme, just beyond dinant, the place where he had, on that memorable day before the war, lunched with aimee so happily on the long rose-embowered _terrasse_ beside the river, now sparkling in the sun. had the red tide of war yet reached high-up severac, he wondered? it was not far off--perhaps fifteen miles or so beyond those blue hills. daily--nay, hourly--he thought of her, wondering how she fared in those hot, breathless days when belgium was fighting so desperately for her very existence as a nation. the sixth brigade, under general thalmann--the fine, grey-moustached, well-set-up man, who had been so grossly calumnified by rigaux for his own crafty purposes--had been in the very thick of the fighting ever since that day when they had so suddenly arrived in liege and found themselves in the firing-line. they had helped to repulse the german cavalry at haelen, and had then fought their way desperately up to tirlemont, to gembloux, and back to the meuse again. with scarce any sleep they had been in touch with the enemy practically the whole time, and were, indeed, "the flying column" of the belgian army. their losses around charleroi had been considerable, and though so weary, dusty, and worn, not a man among them was dismayed. the spirit of the men was admirable. general joffre had already held council with the belgian commander-in-chief, a council at which general thalmann had been present, and from information they had gathered it was well known that the germans intended to make an assault upon the town of dinant, and take the citadel as one of the important and strategic points on the meuse. the peaceful inhabitants of the place--which, besides being a tourist centre, possessed a thriving trade in beaten brass-ware, and the making of those grotesquely-shaped cakes of honey and flour called _conques_, two industries which had survived in the place ever since the middle ages--were, of course, in ignorance, and the authorities did not deem it expedient to express their fears, in order, if possible, to avoid panic. edmond knew that the french army, on its way up the meuse valley, must have passed beneath the great old chateau of severac. if so, aimee must have watched those long, interminable lines of red-trousered infantry, trudging on with their piled-up haversacks, the squadrons of heavily-booted cavalry, and the snake-like processions of lumbering field-guns, motor transport wagons, and drab vans marked with the red cross. away across those blue hills, in the direction of france, aimee was probably watching and waiting in patience. he longed to write to her, to send her words of hope and courage. but it was all utterly impossible. no letter could ever reach her now, unless he could find means to deliver it himself. there was fighting in progress behind them--fierce fighting at charleroi--for they had learnt, only an hour ago over the field-telephone, that the germans were attacking the place, and that a big battle had already opened. the first few hours of that hot, breathless day were hours of inactivity, welcome indeed to the hard-pressed sixth brigade. edmond's company had piled their arms, and were lying about on the sun-scorched grass behind the citadel, smoking cigarettes and laughing as gaily as though they were at manoeuvres, when of a sudden a german taube aeroplane, distinguishable by its shape, was seen crossing them at a great altitude, whereupon many rifles were raised at it. but it was far beyond range, and circled round and round over their camp, taking observations. "the enemy must be near," remarked a thin, little, dust-covered lieutenant to a brother-officer. "they intend to attack, without a doubt." hardly had he spoken when the aeroplane dropped two smoke-balls, indicating the position of the defenders, and then sailed away across the hills and was lost to view. the old fortress in front of edmond was occupied by belgian artillery ready for a desperate defence; but the force, though a gallant one, was, unfortunately, not large. another hour went by. the men were still at ease, for perhaps, after all, the enemy, with the strongly fortified town of namur before them lower down the river, might not think dinant worth attack. suddenly, however, the truth became revealed. somewhere over in the direction of severac the enemy had taken up positions, and without warning a shell fell unexpectedly upon the railway station, narrowly missing the dock, crashing through the roof, and exploding with a crash which reverberated along the whole valley. in a moment bugles sounded and the defenders were instantly on the alert. a second shell tore out part of the front of the hotel des postes, opposite the station, and then, from the citadel the guns thundered in reply, sending shells in the direction where the grey masses of the enemy were seen to be. to watch the battle from that height was fascinating to edmond. below, a french captain and a squad of couriers on motor-cycles crossed the bridge rapidly and disappeared on the road to namur, while, in the town, a few french troops of the line regiments were marching. the inhabitants were all indoors with closed doors and shutters, most of them crowding into the cellars in fear. soon the cliffs resounded with rifle and gun fire, while away in the east could be heard the continual rumble of the field howitzers of the enemy. the germans had, it seemed, also brought up several mountain-batteries along the hills. the enemy were advancing rapidly. the bridge was being defended strongly by the french troops, while, very soon, members of the volunteer hospital corps began hurrying along the streets in search of the wounded. in half an hour the quiet, prosperous little town where, from the bulgy slate-covered steeple of the church the bells had, for centuries, sent their sweet carillon over the river, became swept by lead. beneath the pitiless shell-fire the houses in the narrow rue grande were suffering severely and, at certain spots the street were covered with falling debris, a rubble of stones and mortar mixed with articles of furniture. half-way down that long, narrow street, so well known to summer visitors to the ardennes, there stood, on the left, a quaint old-fashioned little inn called the hotel de l'epee--the hotel of the sword--one of the most ancient houses in dinant, for it dated from the fifteenth century, and had then been part of a franciscan monastery. the rooms were small, with their original old oaten panelling; the floors were of great stone slabs hollowed by the feet of many generations, and though the little place was typical of the ardennes, there was a curious medieval air about it which was genuine. the hotel of the sword was kept by a stout, prosperous, red-faced old belgian named francois mazy, who usually wore the blue linen blouse of the ardennois. "uncle francois" was known to all dinant, on account of his cheery good-nature and charitable disposition. and to his homely inn, each summer, went many well-known people of brussels, because there they fared exceedingly well--uncle francois doing the cooking himself, and charging his visitors, in each of whom he took a real personal interest, only very modestly as compared with the more modern houses. to uncle francois' hundreds of the townspeople, men, women, and terrified children, now fled, because beneath the house, and running far under the cobbled street, were huge vaulted cellars hewn in the limestone rock--the cellars of the ancient monastery, the entrance to which had, only a few years before, been discovered behind a walled-up archway. there, lit by flickering candles and one or two evil-smelling lamps, the great cavernous vaults of the monks of old, were filled by those poor excited and terrified people, who had taken refuge from the sudden horrors of war. many of them were women, anxious for their husbands' safety, and little children with big wide-open wondering eyes, while uncle francois himself, with marie, his stout, middle-aged daughter, moved among the crowd in that hot, stifling atmosphere, uttering cheering words in his native walloon, and trying to comfort them. "all will be well soon, my friends," he declared. "it is only a skirmish." meanwhile, the fight was growing hotter every moment. edmond, with his ever-ready maxim, had found cover behind a piece of thick, broken wall, one of the ancient earthworks of the citadel, and from there he and his men kept up a terrible rain of lead upon the oncoming germans, who were now fighting in the place below. of a sudden, a shell struck the spire of the church, blowing off part of the pumpkin-shaped top which fell into the place with a heavy crash and clouds of dust, the beautiful bells, which had rung out there so musically for ages, coming down also. on the long bridge, terrible fighting was now in progress. the defenders were in cover under the abutment wings of the bridge, which were about three feet high. edmond could witness it all from where he was, three hundred feet or so above. suddenly there was a red flash over the river, a great roar, and the air was filled with smoke and debris. the defenders had retired suddenly and blown up the bridge across the meuse, to prevent the enemy's advance. it was magnificent--yet it was terrible. on every side the town seemed to be now attacked by the enemy, who had sprung from nowhere. in the position they had taken up, the belgian chausseurs were barely two companies strong, and though they fought so bravely, they could see that the enemy were surely, if slowly, advancing upon the citadel. for another hour the fearful fight went on. from behind the debris of the bridge the red-breeched french were replying gallantly to the enemy. one could hear nothing save the irregular explosions of rifles, the machine-like splutterings of the mitrailleuse punctuated by the shock of shell-fire, and now and then, on explosion which caused the earth to tremble. owing to the heavy firing, clouds now obscured the sun. the heavens darkened, and it began to rain, but the firing in no way abated. from where edmond crouched behind his gun he could see what was happening below in the place, and across beyond the blown-up bridge, which lay a mass of wreckage and twisted girders across the stream. a sudden increase in the firing told that reinforcements had arrived, and he saw a half-company of a line regiment hurriedly enter the hotel opposite the station, expecting to find there a good field of fire. they brought with them a dozen terrified, shrieking women, whom they had found hiding in the waiting-room at the railway station. an hour after noon the fire slackened, and the rain ceased. a few limping figures, the french in blue coats and red trousers--that unfortunately flamboyant uniform which always drew fire--staggered into the hotel, while, during the lull, a hatless woman in black calmly crossed the little place and, quite unconcerned, dropped a card into the letter-box! at that moment edmond's company heard the order to retire. retire! every man held his breath. their spirits fell. dinant had fallen, after all, notwithstanding the defence of the combined french and belgian forces. it was hopeless. the germans meant to crush them and to swarm over belgium. in perfect order the sixth brigade retired back, down the steep, grassy slopes behind the citadel, and within half an hour the hated german flag was, even as edmond stood watching through his glasses a couple of miles away, hoisted over the captured citadel. he uttered a malediction beneath his breath, and turned to hand his glasses to one of his men. sight of that flag was a signal for renewed fighting. two french batteries had, happily, arrived, and having taken up a position close to them, opened fire upon the citadel from the rear. the enemy's flag had roused the defenders to fury, and one of the first shots from the french field-guns cut the german flag right across, at which the belgians cheered wildly to the echo. the french batteries threw their sheik upon the ancient citadel with marvellous accuracy, and the fire was heavy and incessant. another french line regiment arrived to reinforce the belgians, marching gaily in those fatal red trousers of theirs, and then so smothering was their fire that, through his glasses, edmond could see the heads of the germans, dotting the ramparts of the fort, begin to gradually disappear. for four long hot hours the desperate struggle continued without a moment's cessation. the belgians were determined to drive the enemy from their position, while the enemy were equally determined to hold it, and the slaughter on all sides became terrible. one of edmond's men fell forward, dead, with a bullet in his brow. suddenly heavier firing was heard from across the river. the french were shelling the citadel from the other side of the meuse, and this they continued to do until, at six o'clock, a long pontoon bridge, just completed by the germans a little higher up the river, was suddenly swept by a hail of shell and destroyed. a regiment of german infantry, who were at that moment upon it, in the act of crossing, were shattered and swept into the river, the clear waters of which became tinged with their blood. the french had waited until that moment, allowing the germans to construct the pontoon, and had then wiped it out. so heavy had now become the attack of the allies upon the citadel, that not a living thing was to be seen upon the ramparts. shell after shell fell upon them, exploding, shattering the thick masonry everywhere, and sending up columns of dense black smoke which hovered in the still evening air. then, of a sudden, there was a roar, and a terrific explosion of greater force than all the others before, which completely tore out one angle of the fortress, some of the heavy masonry falling with a huge crash down the hill-side into the place below, which was already thick with dead and dying. a great cheer sounded somewhere in french, for another fresh regiment had suddenly arrived. orders were swiftly given to the sixth brigade to re-advance, and in half an hour edmond found that victory was theirs after all--they had retaken the fort! the german flag was hauled down and, in wrath, destroyed, and amid vociferous cheering, the belgian red, black, and yellow tricolour was hoisted again in its place, edmond at last regaining the position he had held in the early morning. looking down upon the stricken town once again, he saw at what frightful cost the fort had been retaken. that morning peace had reigned--but alas, now? the streets and the river-banks were dotted with the dead, french, belgian and german, lying in all sorts of contorted attitudes, the blue coats of the french infantry splashed with red, and their red trousers, alas! stained a deeper hue. the germans had retired away towards namur, it was said. the fire had ceased, and some belgian infantry--in their round caps and blue greatcoats--moving down the narrow street from the place, were cheered lustily. but the yells of triumph died from their lips as they saw the ambulances eagerly and silently at work, and they paused at that grim, awful testimony of what war really meant. a big grey armoured car of the french, with the muzzle of a machine-gun pointing out, tried to pass out of the town, but was unable to do so because of the bodies heaped in the streets, for the fronts of several houses were lying across the roadway. then, at that moment, there was heard in the air, the whirr of a scouting aeroplane which, at a second's glance, was seen to be french, observing what positions the enemy were taking up for the night. the sun had set, and the red afterglow--that crimson light of war--was showing in the west over where lay great britain, the chief objective of the kaiser and his barbaric hordes of brigands, hangmen, executioners, and fire-bugs--the men doing the bidding of that blasphemous antichrist who was daily lifting his hands to heaven and invoking god's blessing upon his hell-hound impieties. in the twilight, sparks of fire were beginning to show in the shadows across the river, where the french were encamped, while below, in the town, after that thirteen hours of fierce bombardment, the dinantais, much relieved, came forth from every cellar and every shelter to assemble in animated groups and discuss the terrible events of that never-to-be-forgotten day--a day unequalled since charles the bold reduced the old tower of creve-coeur--the tower of the broken heart-- opposite at bouvignes, and the streets of the town had run with blood. slowly--very slowly--the twilight faded and night crept on. the quiet of death spread over the historic little town. the streets were not lit, because the electric plant had been wrecked. the great vaulted cellars of the hotel of the sword had disgorged its crowd of terrified refugees, and all, thankful that they had survived that fierce attack, returned to their fire-swept homes again, while the allies holding the town prepared their evening meal and tended their wounded, of whom, alas! there were so very many. and as night fell, edmond valentin, who had flung aside his shako, flung himself upon the ground near his gun, and fell to wondering--wondering as he always did--how aimee, his dearly beloved, was faring now that the enemy had advanced up the valley, from the misty hills of the german frontier. the men about him were smoking, laughing, and joking, but he heard them not. one thought alone filled his mind--that of aimee, always aimee. chapter eleven. this word of the uhlan. the german tidal-wave was steadily advancing. prussia had set her heel upon belgium. a perfect horde of jack-booted uhlans had swarmed over the country, and had already made themselves hated by their mad, murderous acts of cruelty and pillage. they were--as the blasphemous kaiser had intended they should be when making his plans at potsdam--agents of the terror. of the nineteen regiments of them in the german army, no fewer than fourteen were being employed to terrorise the inoffensive villagers of poor little belgium; yet so bravely did the belgian army fight that within twelve days the larger part of this force, in their gaily-braided uniforms and carrying their ready lances--upon which they sometimes impaled children--were either killed, wounded, or held prisoners. these brutes, who had boasted of their "kultur," and commanded by noblemen, had been sent out to live upon the country; but they had been entrapped everywhere, and revenged themselves by acts of the most fiendish and horrible cruelty unequalled in modern history. the uhlans! as in the war of , so now in belgium, their very name struck terror into the hearts of the hard-working, thrifty people of eastern belgium. therefore it was hardly surprising when, one evening a week after dinant had been stormed, aimee, who had just ascended to her room to tidy her hair prior to sitting down to dinner with her mother, should stand white-faced and aghast when melanie, her dark, good-looking _femme-de-chambre_, burst in, crying: "ah, mademoiselle, it is terrible--_terrible_! the uhlans are here! they are already in the chateau, asking for m'sieur le baron!" "the uhlans _here_!" she gasped, in an instant pale to the lips. "what can they want?" "_mon dieu_! who knows? i hope they will not kill us all?" cried the trembling maid, her face pale and scared. "i have just seen gustave talking excitedly with two soldiers down in the great hall, while outside, in the outer courtyard, there are a lot of horses." aimee dashed from her pretty chintz-hung room, across to a spare room at the rear of the chateau, and looking down, saw, in the falling twilight, a number of horses champing their bits in the big, paved courtyard, while heavily-booted and spurred uhlans, in their grey service uniforms, were standing astride in groups, talking and laughing. she held her breath. she and her mother were alone and defenceless, the baron being in brussels. what could they do? how should they act? war was suddenly at their doors! without a moment's hesitation she ran quickly down to the great _salle-a-manger_, the walls of which were hung with rare tapestries, and where, on the table already laid with fine old silver and flowers, candles were burning in their handsome silver candelabra. the baroness, grey-haired and stately, sitting in an ancient high-backed chair, looked up in surprise from her book when aimee rushed in, and exclaimed in reproof: "my dear child, whatever has happened? are you mad?" "ah! mother," cried the girl in frantic apprehension, "the uhlans are here! they are asking below for father. the germans are upon us at last!" "_the germans_!" echoed the baroness, quite unperturbed, looking eagerly over her gold-rimmed glasses. "what can they want with us? we are doing them no harm." "they are demanding to see father." at that moment the liveried footman entered, trembling and pale-faced, saying: "a german officer is demanding to see the baron, madame. he refuses to believe that the master is absent in brussels. he therefore demands to see you, madame." the baroness knit her brows and drew herself up with hauteur, preserving a wonderful calm in their defenceless circumstances. "very well," she sighed, "i suppose i had really better see him." a moment later a big, broad-shouldered uhlan officer, a fair-haired saxon, not bad-looking save for the ugly sabre-scar of his student days upon his left cheek, strode into the handsome apartment, and halting before the two ladies, clicked his spurred heels together and saluted. in his long military boots and his uhlan helmet this officer of the war lord of germany looked taller and more forbidding than he really was, yet his politeness to the baroness and her daughter was at once reassuring. "i sincerely regret this intrusion, madame," he said, in almost perfect french. "i am extremely sorry i am unable to respect the privacy of your home, but, alas! it is war--the quarrel of nations." and taking from within his grey tunic a card, he handed it to her. the baroness glanced at it, and saw that the name was "baron wernher von meyeren." "i am in command of my platoon of the tenth uhlans, and we are compelled to billet upon you," he explained. "i did not wish to disturb you, ladies, but i find that the baron himself is absent, hence i have to intrude myself upon you." "my husband is in brussels, at a council meeting at the ministry of finance," replied the baroness de neuville. "he gave me to understand, however, that here we should be quite safe from molestation." the german officer, his strong hand upon the hilt of his sword, smiled grimly. he looked worn and dusty, and had the appearance of a man who had ridden far at the bidding of his superiors. "i fear, baronne, that nobody is now safe from molestation, here, in belgium. i am no politician, only a soldier, but it seems that your gallant little country has decided to defend itself--a mouse against a lion--with unfortunate and very regrettable results. i have with me forty-five men, upon whom i have imposed the strictest orders to behave with proper decorum in your beautiful chateau. if you will please order your servants to give them food--of which they are sorely in need--they will make themselves comfortable for the night in any corner they may find." then, turning to aimee, he added politely: "mademoiselle need have no fear. it is but the fortunes of war." the baroness, still quite cool, looked at him steadily for a few seconds. then she asked: "cannot you billet your men upon the villagers below, in the valley?" "ah, i regret, baronne, that that is impossible. some of the villagers, though non-combatants, have fired at my men and killed them; therefore, in accordance with international law, their houses have been set on fire. the peaceful villages are all occupied by troops to-night, so we have been compelled to come up here." "we have m'sieur rigaux to thank for this?" cried aimee to her mother. "he told us we should be quite safe here?" the big uhlan officer shrugged his shoulders, and glancing at the table already set, said: "the unfortunate situation need not, i think, be discussed, mademoiselle. i merely ask if i, with my two subordinate officers, may be permitted to join you at table this evening?" the baroness hesitated, still holding the uhlan's card in her hand. his rank equalled that of her husband, and though they were strangers, she foresaw that any resistance might have unpleasant results for them. the german tide was undoubtedly advancing. "baron von meyeren," she said at last, with considerable dignity, "this indignity you place upon us, two defenceless women, compelled as we are to entertain our enemies, is, i suppose, but the fortune of war. you and your officers are quite welcome here at my table, but i would ask you to order your men to behave with decency, for i heard--only yesterday--some terrible stories of the conduct of uhlans further up the valley." the officer bowed. "madame," he said, "i assure you that you need not have the slightest apprehension. in the german army we punish disobedience by death. my men know that--by examples already set them." "my daughter and i have your word, m'sieur--eh?" asked the baroness. "madame," he replied, "you certainly have my solemn word. to-morrow morning we shall, i hope, relieve you of this incubus, and i trust that you will, by that time, have discovered that we are not the bloodthirsty savages which the world reports us to be." the baroness then called the footman and gave certain orders that the troopers below should be entertained, while half an hour later baron von meyeren, who had suddenly betrayed a sabre-rattling overbearing towards the ladies, sat down at the dinner table with his two younger officers, apparently young fops from berlin. the baroness and her daughter refused to sit at table with their enemies. the swaggering german baron did not ask for what he wanted. he simply ordered it from his orderly who stood behind him. the wine served did not exactly suit his palate, whereupon he told the orderly to go down into the cellars and ascertain what they contained. "bring us up some good wine," he added in german. "the best these people have. they are sure to have something worth drinking. and give the men some also. it will keep up their spirits." the two women were sitting at the further end of the long room, watching the weird scene, the three men laughing and eating beneath the zone of light shed by the dozen or so lighted candles. soon the orderly returned with six bottles of baron de neuville's choicest champagne. these they opened themselves, and in loud, harsh voices, brutally drank the health of their hostess and her daughter. beneath a veneer of polish and culture which that trio of the enemy wore, was a coarseness and brutality which were at once revealed, for they laughed uproariously, gossiping together in german, with coarse remarks, which only aimee, sitting in silence, understood. they swallowed the wine in tumblers--the choice wine of belgium's great millionaire--and very soon they demanded that the baroness and her daughter should sit with them at table. again they refused, but both women discerned the drunken leers in the eyes of the men, yet believing the assurance of the uhlan commander, the word of a german nobleman, they were not frightened. nevertheless the swords those men wore at their sides bore the blood of the innocent people massacred to provide the "frightful examples" which the kaiser had laughingly given to their brave little nation, which had no quarrel with the bombastic and treacherous monarch who had self-styled himself the war lord of europe. "come, mademoiselle!" cried von meyeren. "do not sit over there. we are enemies, but we will not hurt you. and you, baroness!" he cried, rising and going across to them, "i insist upon your having dinner. it is not fair, is it, heinrich?" he asked, addressing the elder of the pair. "no. the baroness must join us. she must," he said. the two women refused, but with their heads elevated by wine the three men insisted, and at last, in order to pacify them, the mother and daughter consented to sit at the further end of the table, though they would eat nothing. "here's health to the fatherland?" cried the younger of the three, getting up unsteadily and spilling his wine as he raised it to his lips amid the "hochs" of his two companions. the scene was surely as disgraceful as it was unexpected. baron de neuville's wife and daughter left there, alone and unprotected, in that great mediaeval chateau, had accepted the word of honour of a saxon nobleman. they had never expected to witness such a scene of drunkenness as that! suddenly, from somewhere below, sounded men's shouts and women's screams. were the men below drunk, like their officers? again and again was the uproar repeated. the baroness rang the bell, but there was no response. "whatever can be happening below?" asked aimee, full of fear. now that the officers were drunk, what hope was there for the kaiser's barbaric savages in the servants' hall? again the bell was rung, when melanie, in her cap and apron, dashed into the room, crying: "ah! madame! it is terrible--_terrible_! the soldiers are wrecking the _salon_. they are ripping the furniture with their swords. they are all drunk, madame--the beasts are all drunk?" the girl was flushed and dishevelled. her hair was down, and she was panting, having, truth to tell, just escaped the embraces of a too amorous german in his cups. the cultured baron wernher von meyeren heard the maid's complaint to her mistress, and laughed heartily. "our men are evidently enjoying themselves," he remarked in german to his two brother-officers. "this baron de neuville is the richest man in belgium. it is fun to be in his house--is it not? and his daughter is pretty too. what do you think--eh?" aimee overheard the words of the "blonde beast." she stood boldly before him, and turned upon him like a tiger. "you uhlan?" cried her mother. "your very regiment is synonymous of all that is treacherous and ill-begotten. if you do not respect women, then i believe all that is told of you. let your god-cursed emperor let loose his hordes upon us, but the day will come, and is not far distant, when the finger of god will be placed upon you, and you, a nobleman of saxony, will be withered and die as a stickleback will die beneath the sun." "oh, mother! do be careful what you say. pray be careful!" urged aimee, clinging to her beseechingly. the gallant baron, with crimson face, rose unsteadily, gripping the edge of the table to prevent himself from falling, and in fierce anger cried: "for those words to us, woman, your house shall suffer," and drawing his sword, he swept from the table the beautiful epergnes of flowers and china baskets of fruit, and, staggering to the wall, he slashed viciously the fine old tapestries, in his frantic drunken rage. "ernst," he hiccoughed to one of the officers, "tell the men below that this belgian woman has insulted us while we are her guests, and let them make an example of this fine baron's castle." "no, no?" shrieked aimee. "no, i beg of you, baron--i beg of you to spare our home. remember your word to us!" cried the girl frantically in german. but he only laughed triumphantly in her face, and the man he addressed as ernst, having left to do his bidding, he with the other officer and two grey-coated orderlies, gleefully commenced to wreck the splendid room, while the two terrified women, clinging to each other, stood in a corner watching how they vented their mad ire upon all on which they could lay their hands. in a few moments they were slashing the upholstery with their swords, tearing down and destroying the ancient flemish tapestries, while the baron himself paid particular attention to the pictures--all valuable old masters--defacing and destroying them one by one. "see, woman! what we will now do with this snug home of yours?" he said in his drunken frenzy as, taking up an iron poker from the big open grate, he attacked the beautiful old chandelier of venetian glass suspended in the centre of the room, smashing it to fragments. the yells of the men in the adjoining apartments mingled with the smashing of furniture and loud, drunken laughter, reached them where they stood. they told their own tale. everywhere in that splendid old chateau destruction was being carried on at the express orders of the cultured baron von meyeren, one of germany's noblemen. "wreck the place?" he yelled to half a dozen burly uhlans who burst in, two of them holding bottles in their hands. "and we will make a bonfire afterwards. this woman has cursed us, and we, as german soldiers, will teach her a lesson she will not easily forget!" poor melanie had disappeared, but above the terrible disorder and wild shouting were the shrieks of the female servants below, while a smell of fire suddenly greeted their nostrils. "look, mother! there's smoke!" gasped aimee in terror. "they have set the chateau on fire?" as she spoke, two of the uhlans had torn down a huge picture--part of an altar-piece from a church at antwerp--which occupied the whole of the end wall of the room, and were kicking their big boots through the priceless canvas. it was a picture attributed to rubens. "come, child, let us go," whispered the baroness, her eyes dimmed with tears, and her face pale and set. they turned to leave, but as they did so, the baron caught aimee roughly by the shoulder, and leering at her, patted her beneath the chin. in an instant the girl, resenting such familiarity, turned upon him like a tigress and slapped his flabby face so heavily that he drew back in surprise, while the others witnessing the rebuff, laughed at his discomfiture. he raised his sword with an oath, and would have cut her down had not the man called ernst rushed forth and stayed his hand. "go, ladies," urged the man in french. "escape, while there is yet time." "hold that girl!" shouted von meyeren, fiercely struggling to get free from his brother-officer. but the latter held him, and barred his passage while the two terrified women dashed down the stairs, up which the black smoke was already slowly curling. darkness had fallen, and only here and there had the lamps been lit. therefore the baroness and her daughter were enabled to obtain hats and wraps and to creep down a steep, winding back staircase which was seldom used, and which the uhlans had, fortunately, not yet discovered. the scene was a terrible one of wholesale, wanton destruction. some of the men were busy getting together the plate and valuables, while, just as they left, they caught sight of one man who emerged into the courtyard with the baroness' jewel-case beneath his arm. the thieves and murderers of the kaiser were repeating in the beautiful chateau of severac, the same disgraceful methods which they had pursued in the villages of the meuse. they respected neither god nor man, neither old age nor youth. they made war upon women, and shot down the unarmed and defenceless. indeed, this great army of "kultur" was, in reality, but a disciplined horde of barbarians. the baroness and her daughter, with wraps hastily thrown about them, succeeded in escaping from the house by the postern gate, which gave entrance to a wood, but ere they left, a red glare from one of the lower rooms, shining away across the river, told only too plainly that the dastardly uhlans had used some of their famous inflammable "confetti," and were burning the place. the fierce, exultant yells of the drunken soldiery fell upon their ears as they plunged into the dark wood, part of the baron's wide domain, the intricate by-paths of which were well known to aimee. breathlessly they hastened on, until in the darkness beneath the trees they were compelled to slowly grope their way. their fear was lest the woods be searched, and they might be captured, for the brutes--inflamed as they were with wine--were now in the mood for torture and for murder. woe-betide them if they fell into their hands. mother and daughter pushed eagerly, breathlessly on, terrified at the fearful orgie of destruction they had just witnessed. for a full half-hour they walked, aimee leading the way through the narrow, winding shooting-paths, until at last they came forth into the open fields. then they paused, scarce daring to look behind them. alas! at the bend of the valley, high upon its rock, severac stood out vividly with flames belching fiercely from the windows of its high, round towers, and casting a blood-red glare upon the waters and across to the woods on the opposite bank. "_dieu_!" gasped the baroness--"the fiends!--those hell-fiends of the emperor?" "mother," exclaimed aimee, quite calm again now that they had escaped from the hands of that brigandish band, "remember there is a god of justice, with whom vengeance lies for wrong, and most assuredly will he, if we place our trust in him, mete out the dread fate of death and obscurity to the arrogant kaiser, and to all his dastardly barbarians. let us get back to brussels somehow. there, at least, we shall be safe." and as they stood watching the fierce flames leap up around those ancient towers which had withstood the wars of charles the bold, they knew not the awful scene taking place in the courtyard, where gustave, melanie, and seven other of the servants, male and female, were shot one after the other in cold blood, as they emerged in terror from the burning place. appearance of each was being hailed by the drunken laughter of the assembled soldiers, and in escaping the fire they fell victims of the blood-lust of the brutes. "the red cock is crowing all over belgium!" shouted the baron von meyeren thickly, alluding to the incendiary acts of germans being committed everywhere. "we shall make a bonfire of namur, to-morrow, my men! hurrah! for god and the fatherland." and as he passed across the courtyard, for the atmosphere had now become hot and stifling, he savagely kicked aside the body of one of the young female servants who, poor thing, had been sabred in her attempt to escape. chapter twelve. the fugitives. that flight proved indeed a hideous nightmare. throughout those hot, stifling hours of oppressive darkness, the baroness de neuville--as homeless as those hundreds of poor people on the roads, even though wife of a millionaire--wandered on, aimee taking her arm tenderly. on, and still on they went, along the straight, open road which, leaving the meuse, led over the hills to the straggling little whitewashed village of winenne, which they at last reached. there they joined a hustling crowd of terror-stricken fugitives of all classes, sad-eyed men, frightened women, and wondering children, some stern, some crying bitterly, but all carrying bundles, or pushing wheelbarrows or perambulators containing all they had saved from their lowly homes. from winenne, the baroness and her daughter, after trudging on with the crowd for some distance, left the high road and took a by-way, which aimee knew by motoring frequently over it, led due south across the hill, for ten miles or so, to bourseigne, where lived the baronne's brother, a large landed proprietor. in his house they had decided to seek protection. the red flush of dawn had given place to the light of day ere they came in sight of the little place, lying deep in its hollow, but as they looked eagerly upon "the chateau"--as the long, white, old-fashioned house was termed--their spirits fell, for it was roofless, and its grim, blackened walls, alas! told their own tale. a peasant on the road told them the story. three days ago the germans had arrived and occupied the place, which was only three miles from the french frontier. monsieur hannaerts, the seigneur of the place, had been arrested as hostage for the good behaviour of the village, but, because a half-witted youth had discharged a toy-pistol at a german soldier, the unhappy gentleman had been bound to a telegraph pole at the roadside, and shot in the presence of the villagers. an hour later the british, under general sir john french, who had arrived at charleroi and had extended their line towards mezieres, began to shell the village, with the result that it had been partially destroyed, the chateau, which had been the enemy's headquarters, suffering most severely. the tide of war, however, had now passed by, and when the two weary, footsore women entered the village, they found life proceeding almost as usual. those who had not been killed had returned to their wrecked and shattered homes, and were full of stories of the fierce brutality of the invader, which the gallant "anglais" in khaki had so swiftly driven out. naturally, much distressed at the news of her brother's murder, the baronne entered the place with fixed, terror-stricken eyes, that same set expression of woe and hopelessness which was seen everywhere in belgium, now that the gallant little kingdom had fallen beneath the fire and sword of a relentless barbarian. on every hand great holes showed in the walls, torn open by the british shells, many houses were completely demolished, and in some places only rubble heaps remained to show the site where houses had stood. in others, walls stood gaunt and blackened where the fire had gutted them, causing roofs and windows to fall in. wandering pigs were grunting in the long street, and big-eyed little children, now that the roar of war had ceased, were playing merrily among the ruins and finding all sorts of oddments half burned in the debris. one, evidently a humourist, had put on the spiked helmet of a dead german, and was striking comic attitudes, to the delight of his playfellows. his head being completely buried in the canvas-covered helmet, he presented a most ludicrous appearance. "let us find m'sieur labarre, mother," suggested aimee, for she knew the place well, as they had often been her uncle's guests at the now ruined chateau. "yes," murmured the baronne. "i feel so very faint, dear, that i really can go no farther?" and, indeed, the poor woman, refined and cultured, having tramped all through that terrible night in her thin shoes, and having been challenged so constantly by soldiers in the darkness--each challenge being a fright lest it be that of the enemy--she was entirely exhausted and unnerved. labarre was a farmer, who held some land belonging to aimee's unde, and it was not long before they entered his modest house--a long, ugly, grey-slated place surrounded by haystacks and outhouses. labarre, a stout, ruddy-faced man, of middle age, in a blue linen blouse, typical of the walloon farmer, welcomed the poor ladies warmly and in great surprise, and soon they were in the hands of his stout wife, elise, and were drinking cups of hot _bouillon_, for, in the farms of the ardennes, the stock-pot is usually simmering upon the fire. the long, old-fashioned room, with its heavy beams, its stone-paving, its row of copper cooking-utensils shining in the sun, and its wide chimney and wooden chairs was, indeed, a haven of rest after the terrors of that night. and while they drank the _bouillon_, the fat farmer lifted his hands as he told them the story of the german occupation. "ah! baronne! it was terrible--very terrible," he cried in his walloon dialect. "those pigs of germans came here, took all the corn i had, smashed my piano and thieved two of my horses. but the brave english drove them out. we fled when the english shells began to fall, but, fortunately, not one did any damage to our house, though the big barn was set on fire with two haystacks, and destroyed." having remained under the farmer's hospitable roof for a day, aimee, who had now completely recovered, resolved to leave her mother in madame labarre's charge, and endeavour to reach dinant where, it was said, the telephone with brussels had been repaired. by that means she could, she hoped, communicate with her father, and ascertain what they should do. the british soldiers in khaki were now in possession of bourseigne, and that communication was open from dinant to brussels, aimee had learnt from a lieutenant of the gloucesters, a good-looking young fellow named dick fortescue, whom she had met in the little place having some trouble with the walloon language in a purchase of fodder he was making, and had offered to interpret. what fortescue had told her caused her to decide, therefore, two hours later, there being no trains nor any conveyance available, she set out alone, a slim, pathetic little figure in dusty black, wearing a black shawl borrowed from the farmer's wife, and turned her face westward along that white road so familiar to her, a highway which ran over green hills and along deep valleys, and which was the main road over which the lumbering, old-fashioned post _diligences_, with their jingling bells, still passed, in peace time, between sedan and dinant. with her face to the deep glow of the sunset she trudged forward, her thoughts reverting, as they always did, to edmond--her edmond! "where is he?" she murmured, as her white, hard-set lips moved. "what can have happened to him?" was he lying still and dead--buried perhaps in a nameless grave--or was he still fighting valiantly in defence of his country and his king? if he were, he would, wherever he might be, still be thinking of her. of that she was confident, for they loved each other with a firm, all-absorbing and eternal love, a love that could never be shaken, and that could never die. the light of the fading day darkened into the blood-red afterglow, and before her there rose the lowering clouds of night, as alone and unprotected she still bent forward, with sixteen miles to cover ere she reached the narrow, cobbled streets of dinant. ten miles away on her left stood severac, now, alas! but a smouldering ruin, and over in that direction she could hear the distant booming of heavy guns, for that evening the british, acquitting themselves so bravely, were fighting von kluck all along the line from mons, through charleroi, to near mezieres. they were stemming the german invasion, and while the flower of the german army was being hurled against them, they swept them off even though the kaiser, in his insane arrogance, had issued as his "imperial command" that general french's "contemptible little army" should be crushed out of existence. in her torn and dusty black gown, and patent leather shoes, worn badly down by the long tramp from severac, aimee, though weary and footsore, did not lose heart. she was gratified that her mother was in a place of safety, and now, if she could only communicate with her father, they would, no doubt, be able to get to ostend, and perhaps over to england. so she went forward with the distant rumble of artillery ever in her ears, while as darkness fell, she turned aside to notice a fierce red glare in the sky far away across the meuse, in the direction of phillipeville. over there another town had no doubt been given to the flames. at the village of malvoisin she met several thousands of refugees coming towards france, raising clouds of suffocating dust. they were peasants driven by the enemy out of the peaceful valley of the winding ourthe, and were hoping to find shelter across the frontier in france. now and then there passed clattering squadrons of belgian cavalry, the little yellow tassels hanging gaily from the front of their caps, while ever and anon there lumbered past, in the dim light, great grey-painted siege-guns, long trains of ammunition-wagons, red cross motor-ambulances, and endless lines of transports of all sorts. squads of infantry marched gaily to martial airs, or the men sang the latest popular songs of the _cafe-chantant_, while there also passed several machine-guns drawn by their dog-teams. presently aimee joined three tearful, homeless women, one of whom trundled an old rickety perambulator filled with her household goods. they had come from rossignol, forty miles distant, which had been sacked and burned by a uhlan patrol, and they described to her the terrible scene. therefore, in company, the trio pushed forward until at length they entered a long dark street of shattered houses, which aimee recognised, to her amazement, as that of anseremme. yes! there was the little hotel beau sejour where she and edmond had spent so many sunny hours in secret together, but alas! its walls were now gaunt and roofless. it had been gutted by fire, while the pleasant little _terrasse_ beside the river was heaped with the debris of fallen walls. she sighed as she passed the place which held for her so many fond memories, and again pressed forward with blistered feet, on past that great high split rock, through which the road runs beside the river, known as the roche bayard, until at length she found herself in the long dark street of half-ruined houses that led straight into the little place at dinant. arrived there, she halted aghast. the long bridge had fallen, a wreck, into the river, and there were signs everywhere of the ruthless bombardment a week before, when happily the germans had been driven out and had retired. but at that hour, about half-past ten o'clock, the place was as silent as the grave. everywhere was ruin and desolation, while in the air was still the pungent odour of burnt wood, the woodwork of houses set on fire by the german shells. there being neither gas nor electricity, an oil lamp had been hung upon a nail on a wall, and it was near this that the girl was standing. she was well known in dinant as daughter of the baron who held the purse-strings of belgium, and, with her mother, frequently came to the little town in their car. she stood hesitating as to whom she should ask a favour and allow her to telephone to brussels, when she was suddenly startled by a familiar voice behind her, and holding her breath, she faced the man who had addressed her. it was a belgian soldier. it was edmond valentin! chapter thirteen. before the storm. "aimee?" he gasped. "_you_!" "_dieu_! edmond. you!--fancy _you here_, just at the moment when--" "when--what?" he echoed. "tell me, why are you here--in this place? why are you not in brussels? it is not safe for you here, my darling!" and he placed his hand tenderly upon her shoulder and, in the dim light of the lantern, looked straight into her dear face. she gazed at him. he was in his heavy military overcoat, with a rifle slung upon his shoulder, for he had come down into the town from the fortress above, where his machine-gun was posted, in order to take a message from his captain to the captain of infantry holding the head of the wrecked bridge close by. a few brief, hasty words sufficed to explain the terrible scene at severac; how she and her mother had fled, and the reason of her long tramp to dinant. there, in that dark, silent little square before the ruined church, with the high ruined old fortress on the cliff above, he drew her weary head down upon his breast, imprinting upon her white brow a long, passionate kiss, and murmuring: "ah! my darling, i have prayed to god that i might be spared to see you once again--if only just once--for the last time!" "no, no," she cried, lifting her lips to his, and kissing him long and fervently. "no. we shall win, edmond, and you will live. right and justice are, surely, upon our side, and we shall vanquish this german enemy of civilisation. brute force can never win in the face of providence and god's good-will." "true, darling. but you must save yourself," he urged. and, hastily, he told her of the attack upon liege, the retreat to the meuse, the bombardment of dinant, and the valiant manner in which the defenders had fought and retaken the citadel. in those five minutes in which the devoted pair stood together in the dim, flickering light, he held her in his strong embrace. their affection was a fierce and passionate devotion, the fire of a love unquenchable. he repeated in her ear his fervent love for her, and then he added in a hard voice: "aimee, if in this terrible fight for life i fall, and we do not meet again, i want you to promise me one thing. will you, darling?" "of course, edmond. what is it?" "that you will never consent to marry that man, arnaud rigaux--our enemy?" "i will never marry him, edmond. i would rather die first?" "you promise me that?" he asked eagerly. "i promise you. before i consent i would rather take my own life. i swear to you that i will never be the wife of arnaud rigaux." "_bien_! remember always that he is our mutual enemy--yours and mine," he said in a hard, determined tone. then he again kissed her, reassured by her fervent promise. as they stood beneath the lamplight, a sentry passed them, his bayonet gleaming beneath the fitful light. but they were both in ignorance that, away in the shadow of a doorway, a man who had just entered the square had withdrawn to watch the affectionate pair--out of curiosity perhaps. lovers are always interesting to the curious, yet this man who had hitherto walked very briskly, had suddenly stopped and withdrawn to the shadow, so suddenly indeed, that the heavy-footed sentry had not detected his light steps. had edmond valentin known that he was being spied upon, then woe-betide the watcher! the belgians were again in occupation of the town, and any suspicious character was at once arrested as a german spy, of whom there were so many hundreds swarming all over the country. as it was, the pair stood in utter ignorance of the sharp watchful eyes upon them, and in the silence of the night, continued in low undertones their assurances of affection. away across the river--beyond the ruins of the old chateau of creve-coeur--a fierce red light rose until it glared in the night sky, the toll of war paid by the poor defenceless peasantry, to those barbaric hordes of "kultur" who were sweeping across belgium with rapine, fire, and sword. at no crime or outrage, torture or desecration, were those hirelings of the master criminal of earth now hesitating. the modern judas, who had stretched out the hand of friendship to great britain, to russia, to france and to belgium, falsely proclaiming himself the apostle of peace, and endeavouring to blind the world to his true intentions, had now revealed himself as the world's bitterest, most dastardly, and most low-down enemy, who was making what he was pleased to term "frightful examples" in an endeavour to terrify and to stagger humanity. "i fear that you will not be able to telephone to your father, darling," edmond was saying. "only an hour ago communication was again interrupted. some uhlans have cut the wires, i suppose. they do so every day. your only chance will be to try and get through to brussels yourself--only it is so far away, now that there is no rail or motors-- sixty miles, or more." "but what shall i do?" she asked. "what do you advise, edmond?" what could he advise? he stood before her, unable to reply. so engrossed were they in their conversation that they did not notice that, after the sentry had passed across the square to the corner of the narrow rue grande, up which aimee had trudged, the dark civilian figure in the doorway had slipped across the grand place, and was again engulfed in the shadows. "you can go no further to-night, dearest," he said. "you know this place--dinant. why not go to the hotel de l'epee yonder, up the street, and remain there till morning? then i will get permission to come and see you, and we can decide upon some plan." "ah! yes!" she cried. "uncle francois! i know the dear old fellow. his son was in our service as chauffeur two years ago. what an excellent idea! yes. i will go at once. but without money will he take me in?" she queried with hesitancy. "never fear, darling?" he laughed. "the daughter of the baron de neuville has unlimited credit in any town in belgium. but alas?" he added, "i must go, sweetheart, for i have to deliver an immediate message, and obtain a reply. i may be too late if i do not hurry." "yes--go, edmond," she said, just a little reluctantly. "carry out your duty. i know my way to uncle francois' quite well. _au revoir_!" "till to-morrow, my own darling," he said, and holding her again in his strong embrace for a few seconds, he imprinted upon her white, open brow, fond passionate caresses in all the ecstasy of their mutual love. as he held her in his arms, in the dark silent grand place, the sharp sound of a bugle broke upon their ears. it was blown from the citadel above. "the alarm!" gasped her lover breathlessly. "_dieu_! what can have happened?" in a moment the call was repeated, and echoed across the river, while next second there was the rattle of rifle-shots in the darkness, and from the rock, above where they stood, opened out long white beams of intense light which slowly swept the valley up and down. suddenly the quick pom-pom-pom of a maxim--edmond's maxim--broke the quiet, followed by a red flash and a terrific explosion above them. the belgians had discovered that the enemy, under cover of darkness, were making another attack upon the town! "you cannot stay here, darling," edmond cried, in frantic haste. "run along to uncle francois'. he has big cellars there. remain below in them until the storm has passed. i must get back to my gun." and he kissed her again breathlessly, saying, "good-bye, darling--till to-morrow." once more the heavy guns upon the citadel flashed and roared. no time was now to be lost. "we are attacked again?" cried valentin. "run along to the epee! you will be safe there. run quickly!"--and he kissed her in hasty farewell. then they parted. she had only a couple of hundred yards to go to gain the old-fashioned inn. he watched her disappear around the corner, then, as fast as his legs could carry him, he ascended the hill-side to where his men, posted with their machine-gun, were already firing. by this time, however, the whole town was agog. the alarm signals had aroused everyone. it was, indeed, an awful nightmare. the barbaric enemy were again upon them for a second time! a german armoured motor-car had suddenly swept down the rue st jacques--which ran behind the rue grande--and was firing with its machine-gun into the windows of houses without warning or provocation. behind it, rode a large body of uhlans, who at once ran through, with their lances, those of the peaceful inhabitants who opened their doors to ascertain the cause of the firing. aimee succeeded in gaining the door of the ancient inn only just in time, knocking frantically, and obtaining admittance, while uncle francois, recognising her, was at once eager for information as to what had happened to the baron. at the moment the girl entered the shelter of the house, bullets were already sweeping up the streets. dinant had been attacked suddenly by a force under lieutenant-colond beeger, one of the most arrogant huns of the kaiser--a monster, who dealt death upon defenceless women and children, and who had been sent by his superiors to repeat the "frightful examples" of aerschot and of vise. the sharp, relentless talons of the prussian eagle had, alas! been set into the little place, peaceful, quiet, and unoffending as it had always been throughout the ages. within five minutes the town arose from its silence to a pandemonium of noise. edmond, who had climbed up the four hundred steps leading to the citadel to his machine-gun, saw but little of the dantean scene below. his pom-pom was now spitting death down into the grand place, but suddenly he slackened the fire in fear lest he might be sending to the grave any of those brave dinantais, whom he could not distinguish from the enemy in the darkness. meanwhile, aimee stood in the great cellars of the hotel of the sword, huddled with a hundred others of all ages and all classes, and fearing for her lover in that violent storm which had so suddenly burst upon them. how would it end? what could the end be? chapter fourteen. held by the enemy. the long, narrow street was being swept by a hail of lead. once again was dinant stricken. the germans--ordered by the assassin who led them--were firing indiscriminately into the houses as they rode along. a woman sleeping in the top room of the hotel was killed, while, in the next house, a poor little child was mortally wounded, and died in its mother's arms. those who opened their doors, startled at the commotion, were all ruthlessly shot down. the marauders, more savage than the warriors of the khalifa, spared nobody. aimee, seated upon a mouldy wine-barrel in the stuffy cellar amid that crowd of terrified women, listened to the firing, keenly apprehensive of edmond's fate. that sudden and unexpected meeting now seemed to her like some strange dream. hiding there, she knew not the savage, awful acts that were being committed by the kaiser's assassins, acts which were but the prelude of a reign of terror. "do not be distressed, mademoiselle," urged old uncle francois, placing his big, heavy hand kindly upon the girl's shoulder. "you are safe here, and besides, our soldiers will soon drive out the enemy, as they did before." as he spoke, the earth shook beneath the roar of a big field-gun. "hark! they are firing upon them from the citadel?" he added. that night proved one of breathless suspense. the sound of intermittent firing could be heard, even down in that vaulted cellar, together with the heavier explosions which, ever and anon, shook the ancient place to its very foundations. uncle francois and his daughter busied themselves in making coffee for the refugees, poor, frantic women, who dreaded what fate might befall their husbands and brothers. many of them knelt piously and aloud besought the protection of the almighty against the barbarians. dawn came at last, and with it large masses of german troops swept into the town. some sharp fighting had occurred along the heights above the meuse, but during the night the gallant defenders had been driven out of the town, being compelled to fall back along the wide valley towards namur. edmond valentin worked his gun valiantly, with a fierce, dogged determination not to leave aimee in the hands of the brutal soldiery. but it was all to no purpose. the order was given to retire, and he was compelled to withdraw with his comrades under cover of darkness. "the pigs shall die?" he muttered fiercely to himself. he clenched his teeth, and, even after the order to "cease fire," he still worked his maxim, mowing down a squad of twenty or so german infantrymen who had just entered the place below, at the spot where he and aimee had stood together only a short time before. aimee was down there, in that stricken town! could he thus abandon her to her fate! he blamed himself for advising her to go to the house of uncle francois. she should have kept on the road towards namur, for had she done so, she would have now been beyond the danger zone. a shrapnel bullet had grazed his left wrist, and around it he had hastily wrapped a piece of dirty rag, which was now already saturated with blood. but in his chagrin at their compulsory retreat, he heeded not his injury. the welfare of the sweet girl, whom he loved more dearly than his own life, was his only thought. his brigade, thus driven from their position, withdrew in the darkness over the hills to behind the village of houx, where the long railway-bridge crossing the meuse, destroyed a few days ago by the defenders, was now lying a wreck of twisted ironwork in the stream. there they took up a second defensive position. but meanwhile in dinant the germans, filled with the blood-lust of triumph, and urged on by their cultured "darlings" of berlin drawing-rooms--those degenerate elegants who were receiving tin crosses from their kaiser because of the "frightful examples" they were making-- were now committing atrocities more abominable even than those once committed in bulgaria, and denounced by the whole civilised world. into the big, ill-lit cellar descended a terrified woman who told an awful story. german soldiers were smashing in the doors of every house, and murdering everybody found within. "my poor husband has just been killed before my very eyes!" shrieked the poor, half-demented creature. "my two children also! the imites! they stabbed them with their bayonets! i flew, and they did not catch me. they are arresting all women, and taking them up to the monastery. they will be here soon." "here!" gasped aimee, her face suddenly white as death. "surely they will not come here?" she cried. "they will?" shouted the frantic, half-crazed woman, who had seen her beloved husband fall beneath the bullets of the soldiers ere they, laughingly, set fire to her house. "they will?" scarcely had she spoken before a young man, pierre fievet, a nephew of uncle francois, limped down the broken steps into the cellar, wounded in the foot, and, calling the old man aside, said in a low voice in his native walloon dialect: "don't alarm the women. but the situation outside is fearful." he was a young doctor, and well known in dinant. "about sixty workmen at the cotton-mill, together with our friend himmer, the manager, have just been found in hiding under a culvert," he added. "they have all been shot--everyone of them. the soldiers are using bombs to set fire to the houses everywhere. it is a raging furnace outside?" "_dieu_!" gasped the old man. "what shall we do?" "heaven help us! i do not know," replied the young doctor. "i only just managed to escape with my life. i saw, only a minute or two ago, in the place d'armes, quite two hundred men and boys--old men of seventy-five and boys of twelve, many of whom i knew--drawn up, and then shot down by a machine-gun. pere jules, our old friend, was among them--and surely he was fully eighty!" "holy jesu! may god place his curse upon these germans?" cried the old fellow fervently. "as surely as there is a god in heaven, so assuredly shall we be avenged by a hand which is stronger and more relentless than the kaiser's in wreaking vengeance. what else do you know?" he inquired eagerly. "xavier wasseige, manager of the banque de la meuse, has been shot, together with his two sons, and camille finette and his little boy of twelve have also been murdered. they are wiping out the whole, district of saint medart, between the station and the bridge. all is in flames. the soldiers are worse than african savages. the new post-office has been burnt and blown up. it is only a heap of ruins." uncle francois knit his grey brows, and gazed steadily into his nephew's eyes. "look here! are you lying, pierre?" he asked. "have you really seen all this?" "yes. i have seen it with my own eyes." "i don't believe you," declared the old man bluntly. "i will go out and see for myself what these german fiends are doing." "oh! in the name of god, don't!" cried his nephew in quick apprehension. "you will certainly be killed. the whole of the rue sax, along by the river-bank, is burning. not a single house has escaped. they intend, it seems, to destroy all our town, on both sides of the river, now that they have repaired their pontoon. think that we have lived in dinant to witness this!" "but what shall we do?" gasped the poor old fellow. "how can we save these poor women?" his words were overheard by aimee, who rose quickly and came forward, asking: "what has happened?" and, indicating the young man, she asked, "what has this gentleman been telling you?" "oh--well--nothing very important, mademoiselle," francois answered with hesitation. "this is doctor pierre fievet, my nephew, and he has just brought me a message. there is no real danger, mademoiselle," he assured her. "our splendid troops are still close by, and will drive the invaders out, as before. the brigand, von emmich, will meet his deserts before long, depend upon it, my dear mademoiselle." the girl, thus assured, withdrew to allow the two men to continue their conversation, which she believed to be of a private character. "don't alarm these women, pierre," whispered old francois. "poor creatures, they are suffering enough already," "but what will you do? what can you do? at any moment they may burn down this place--and you will all be suffocated like rats in a hole." "and, surely, that will be a far better fate for the women, than if the soldiers seize them," was the old man's hard response. "i, and your cousin marie, will die with them here--if it is necessary. i, for one, am not afraid to die. i have made my peace with god. i am too old and feeble to handle a rifle, but when i was young i was a soldier of belgium. our little country has shown the world that she can fight. if the great wave of germany sweeps further upon us we must necessarily be crushed out of existence. but the powers, france, england, and russia, will see that our memory--our grave--is avenged. i still believe, pierre, in our country, and in our good king albert!" "forty men over at the brewery of nicaise freres, who were found in the cellars an hour ago, were brought out and shot," the young man said. "but ah! _mon oncle_, you should have witnessed the scene in the place d'armes--how they placed our poor, innocent townspeople against the wall--ranging them in rows, under pretence that the german colonel was to address them. a miserable spy, who spoke walloon as fluently as i do myself, shouted that colonel beeger wished to speak to them, and to urge them to bow to the inevitable, and become german subjects. they were all attention, ready to listen, and little dreaming the awful fate in store for them. they never foresaw the german treachery until a little grey machine-gun at the corner, with the four men behind it, suddenly rattled out, and in a few moments the whole of them were wallowing in their own life-blood. ah! it was fearful, cruel, inhuman--_ghastly_! and this is in our civilised age!" "pierre," exclaimed the good-natured old fellow softly, so that the women in that dank dantesque vault should not overhear. "our god is the god of justice and of righteousness. these murderers may wreck and desecrate our churches; they may kill our dear devoted priests; they may ridicule our religion, yet the great god who watches over us will, most assuredly, grind in his mill the arrogant nation that has sought to crush the world beneath prussian despotism. we may die to-day in our good cause, but the kaiser to-morrow will be hurled down and die accursed by humanity, and damned to hell by his creator!" "true, our poor people are falling beneath german bullets--though they have committed no offence against the german nation--yet what can you do here? you seem to be caught in a trap. what shall you do with these women?" "heaven knows?" gasped the honest old fellow. "what can i do? what do you suggest?" and he wrung his hands. at that moment a white-haired old man, nearly eighty years of age, staggered down the broken steps, shrieking: "ah! let me die! let me die! the brutes are shooting men and boys in the place, and now the soldiers are here--_to kill us all_!" a terrible panic ensued at those significant words. the women huddled together, shrieked and screamed, for there, sure enough, came down the stone steps a grey-coated german soldier in spiked canvas-covered helmet, shouting roughly some command in german, and carrying his gleaming bayonet fixed before him. "you women must all come up out of here!" cried a stern voice in bad french, as several other soldiers followed the first who had descended, until a dozen stood in the cellar. the poor frightened creatures shrieked, wailed, and prayed for protection. but the brutal soldiers, led by a swaggering young lieutenant of the brandenburg infantry, were obdurate and commenced to roughly ill-treat the women, and cuff them towards the steps. uncle francois raised his voice in loud protest, but next second a shot rang sharply out, and he fell dead upon the stones, a bullet through his heart, while the brute who had shot him roughly kicked his body aside with a german oath. such an action cowed them all. a silence fell--the grim, terrible silence of those caught in a death-trap, for the women were now held by the enemy, and they knew, alas! too well, what their fate would now be--either dishonour or death. chapter fifteen. betrays the traitor. the few moments that followed were indeed full of grim horror. an old peasant woman, standing by aimee, in her frenzy, spat at one of the german soldiers, whereupon he struck her in the breast with his bayonet, and, with a piercing shriek, the poor thing fell, her thin, bony hands clutching at the stones in her death agony. "come! no loitering!" shouted the young officer brutally, in french. "we must have you cellar-rats out above ground." then, catching sight of aimee, he approached her, and spoke some words in german. she knew the language well, but did not reply, pretending that she did not understand. at that moment there was a struggle on the stone stairway, which was narrow and winding, and his attention became diverted from her, whereupon the big, grey-coated infantryman, who had shot poor uncle francois, strode up to her and leered in her face. she turned her head. he placed his heavy hand upon her shoulder, saying, in his bad french: "my girl, you are young and very pretty--to be sure?" and then she saw, by his flushed face and bright eyes, that he had been drinking. the germans drank up whatever they could loot--spirits, wine, beer, liqueurs, aperitifs--all the contents of the cafes. the girl, though defenceless, drew herself up quickly, and replied in german, with the words: "i see no reason why you should insult me?" "insult!" he laughed roughly. "ah, you will see. we shall teach you rats, who live down here in holes, a lesson. get along--and quickly." and he prodded her with his bayonet towards where the others, driven like sheep, were stumbling up the dark, slippery steps of the ancient vault. she went forward without a murmur. the fate of the others was to be hers also. where was edmond? if he were there he would certainly teach those brutes a severe lesson. but alas! he was not there. the belgians had been driven out, and they, weak and defenceless, were held by a fierce relentless set of savages. the whole world was now learning the vanity of attempting to distinguish between the germany of "culture" and the panoplied brutality of prussian arrogance. with the others, aimee had ascended the steps and had gained the big ancient kitchen of the inn. a number of the elder women had been pushed forward out into the street, where some screamed in sudden madness at seeing the bodies of men lying in the roadway. but aimee, with half a dozen or so of the younger women, were detained by the officer, who had just given a sharp order to his men. suddenly the young elegant in command went outside, leaving the women to suffer the indignities of a dozen or so soldiers left to guard them. the big infantryman again approached aimee, but the would speak no further word. suddenly, in the doorway, there appeared the figure of a major, at whose word the men quickly drew up to attention. aimee looked at him, scarce believing her own eyes. was she dreaming? she stood staring at him. though his uniform was strange, his face was only too familiar. it was arnaud rigaux. "m'sieur rigaux! you!" she gasped. "_you--a german_!" "yes, mademoiselle," he laughed. "i have been searching everywhere for you. it is indeed fortunate that i am here in time. this, surely, is no place for you." "searching for me?" she echoed. "how did you know i was here--in dinant? and, tell me--why are you, a belgian--wearing the prussian uniform?" truly the meeting was a dramatic one. he laughed lightly, replying hastily: "my dear aimee, i will explain all that later. come. get away with me, while there is yet time." then, whispering in her ear, he added: "these men are mostly drunk. quick! come with me, and i will place you in safety." "but i cannot understand," the girl cried, still in hesitation. "why are you here--with the enemy, and in the enemy's uniform?" "this is surely no time for questions or explanations," he urged. and, turning to the soldiers, he gave an order to march the remaining women out of the house. "let me save you, aimee," he added in french, turning to her. "how? how can you save me?" she inquired, instinctively mistrusting him. the very fact that he was dressed as a german officer had aroused grave suspicion in her mind. "i have my car in waiting, away beyond the german lines. come with me. don't hesitate. trust yourself in my care, i beg of you, mademoiselle." "i want to get to my father," she said, still hesitating. "he is in brussels. i will take you to him--on one condition," and he placed his hand upon her arm and looked earnestly into her pale, agitated countenance. "what condition?" she inquired, starting quickly at his touch. he made conditions, even in that hour of direst peril! dinant was aflame, and hundreds of innocent people were now being murdered by the kaiser's huns. "the condition, aimee," he said, looking straight into her eyes very seriously, "is that you will become my wife." "your wife, m'sieur rigaux--_never_!" "you refuse?" he cried, a brutal note in his hard voice. "you refuse, mademoiselle," he added threateningly--"and so you prefer to remain here, in the hands of the soldiery. they will have but little respect for the daughter of the baron de neuville, i assure you." she turned upon him fiercely, like a tigress, retorting: "those men, assassins as they have proved themselves to be, will have just as much respect for me as you yourself have--you, a traitor who, though a belgian, are now wearing a prussian uniform?" the man laughed in her face, and she saw in his countenance a fierce, fiendish, even terrible expression such as she had never seen there before. gradually it was beginning to dawn upon her that this man who could move backwards and forwards through the opposing lines, dressed as a german officer, must be a spy. "very well," he said. "if you so desire, i will leave you to your fate--the wretched fate of those women who have just been driven out from here. the enemy has set his hand heavily upon you at last," he laughed. "and you belgians may expect neither pity nor respect." "ah, then i know you?" she cried. "you are not belgian--but german-- you, who have posed so long as my father's intimate friend--you, who thought to mislead us--who schemed to bring the enemy into our midst. though you have uttered words of love to me, i see you now, exposed as a spy--as an enemy--as one who should be tried and shot as a traitor?" she did not spare her words in the mad frenzy of the moment. "you speak harshly," he growled. "if you do not have a care, you shall pay for this?" "i will. i would rather die here now, than become the wife of a low, cunning spy, who has posed as one of ourselves while he has been in secret relation with the enemy all the time. i hate you, arnaud rigaux--_i hate you_!" shrieked the girl. "do your worst to me! the worst cannot be worse than death--and even that i prefer, to further association with one who wears the prussian uniform, and who is leading the enemy into our country. your cultured friends have burned and sacked severac. let them sack the whole of belgium if they will, but our men have still the spirit to defend themselves, just as i have to-day. i defy you, clever, cunning spy that you are. hear me?" she cried, her white teeth set, her head low upon her shoulders, and her hands clenched as she stood before him, half crouched as a hunted animal ready to spring. "you men who make war upon women may try and crush us, but you will never crush me. go, and escape in your car if you will. pass through the belgian lines back to brussels. but, though only a defenceless girl, i am safer even in the hands of this barbarian enemy than in the hands of a traitor like you?" "very well, girl--choose your own fate," laughed the man roughly. "you refuse to go with me--eh?" "yes," she said. "i refuse. i hate the sight of your treacherous face. already i have told my father so." "your father is no longer a person to be regarded," the man declared. "he is already ruined financially. i have seen to that, never fear. you are no longer the daughter of baron de neuville, but the daughter of a man whom this war has brought to ruin and to bankruptcy. it should be an honour to you, daughter of a ruined man, that i should offer you marriage." "i am engaged to marry edmond valentin," she replied. "bah! a mere soldier. if he is not already dead he soon will be. germany flicks away the belgian army like so many grains of sawdust before the wind." "no. edmond is honest and just. he will live," she cried. "and you, the spy and traitor, will die an ignoble death!" "well," he laughed defiantly. "we shall see all about that, mademoiselle. we have been long preparing for this _coup_--for the destruction of your snug little kingdom, and now we are here we shall follow bismarck's plan, and not leave your country even their eyes to weep with. it will be swept from end to end--and swept still again and again, until it is belgian no longer, but german--part of the world-empire of our great kaiser." the fellow did not further disguise that he was a german agent--he who had posed as a patriotic belgian, was there in dinant, dressed in prussian uniform. the trembling girl stood amazed. the ghastly truth was, to her, one horrible, awful nightmare. "your great kaiser, as you call him, does not intimidate me," she replied boldly. "go, arnaud rigaux, and leave me to my fate, whatever you decide it to be. i will never accept the friendly offices of a man who is a traitor and a spy." rigaux bit his lip. those were the hardest words that had ever been spoken to him. he had been on a mission into the german lines, and only by pure chance had he recognised her with valentin, standing in the place on the previous night. his cunning brain was already working out a swift yet subtle revenge. aimee had attracted him, and he had marked her down as his victim by fair means or by foul. but her defiance had now upset all his calculations. to his surprise she preferred death itself, to the renunciation of her vow to edmond valentin. he hesitated. he held her in his relentless hands. that she knew. death was to be her fate, and she stood, with pale face, bold and defiant--prepared to meet it. chapter sixteen. the fire of fate. outside in the streets could be heard the sound of rifle-fire, while the air was filled with the pungent odour of powder, and of burning wood. the whole town had, by that time, become a veritable hell. not far along the street, indeed in sight of the hotel of the sword, forty or so innocent men--honest workers at a neighbouring factory--had been drawn up against a wall. the front row was ordered to kneel, with their hands up, the others remaining standing behind them. a platoon of soldiers suddenly drew up in face of these unhappy men, with their rifles ready. in vain did the frantic women beg for mercy for their sons, husbands, and brothers. but the officer, grinning, ordered his men to fire. some fell forward, dead, others were only slightly wounded. but the soldiers, to make sure, fired three volleys into that heap of men in their death throes. such fell, hellish work had been ordered "as examples" by the glittering war lord--the man who declared that god was his guide in his arrogant desire to rule the world. those poor fellows were, even while their bodies were still warm, thrown into a pit dug in a neighbouring garden. further up the same street, a poor old paralytic was shot in his invalid-chair, together with a bright little boy of twelve, and their bodies were kicked aside into a doorway, while, at the same time, a man of sixty-five, his wife, his son and his daughter, were set up against the wall of their burning house and shot. and none of them had committed any crime! here and there were loud explosions. the soldiers, who had pillaged the cafes and drunk indiscriminately all they could find, were blowing open the safes of merchants and shopkeepers with dynamite, and stealing all they could discover. they were mere brigands. the faubourg de leffe, near the broken viaduct of the railway, was already in flames. soldiers were using their inflammable confetti provided them by the fatherland, which they were sprinkling everywhere, for the monster in command had given the order that dinant, after being sacked, and its people massacred, should be burnt. as the slim, pale-faced girl stood facing her father's false friend, she could hear the wild shrieks of the defenceless women outside--those poor creatures dragged forth to witness the heartless murder of those dearest to them. "well," rigaux asked again, with an evil grin upon his face. "so you are quite decided--eh?" "i am quite decided, m'sieur, that you are my bitterest enemy," was her hard, defiant answer. "i have been caught here, helpless. but i have no hope, therefore i have no fear. to whatever fate you, as spy of the accursed kaiser of germany, may condemn me, i am quite prepared." for a few seconds he remained silent. her coolness and bold defiance, in face of that awful scene, absolutely staggered him. he never credited her with such nerve. "but will you not accept my offer, and escape with me?" "no. i will not accept the assistance of one who has openly confessed himself to be a traitor," she responded. "but you cannot remain here--you will be killed--perhaps even meet with a worse fate. you do not know what awful scenes are in progress in dinant at this moment," he said. "the soldiers are collecting up the people, men, women, and children, and mowing them down with their machine-guns. you cannot remain here while this awful work of destruction, theft, and incendiarism is in progress!" "and whose work, pray, is this? it is men such as you who are responsible--men who have sold belgium into her enemy's hands," she cried bitterly, her big eyes glaring at him in her woman's undisguised hatred. "merely the fortunes of war, mademoiselle," he replied with a smile, as he shrugged his shoulders, quite unperturbed by her violent denunciation. "then go, and leave me to face this terrible fate to which i have been consigned. shoot me with that revolver i see you have in your belt," she cried wildly. "shoot me, if you will. i am quite ready." but he grinned horribly in her face--the grin of a man who intended a demoniacal revenge. she knew herself to be defenceless--utterly helpless in his hands. men and women of dinant, known to her from childhood, lay stiffening in death in that narrow street wherein hell had been let loose by the orders of the arrogant war lord--that pinchbeck napoleon who dangled his tin crosses before his troops to incite them to deeds of barbarism, which were afterwards magnified and distorted into those of valour. "no," the man laughed. "if you, as daughter of the baron de neuville, still disregard my well-meant efforts to rescue you from this awful abyss of dishonour and death, then i have no more to say. i can only leave you to the same fate as that of the women of the town." "no!" shrieked the girl. "shoot me." and she stood before him ready to fall beneath the bullet of his revolver. "shoot me--have mercy upon me and _shoot me_!" she felt his hot, foetid breath once again upon her cheek; she heard the report of the rifles outside, the loud, piercing shrieks of defenceless women, the exultant shouts and laughter of the germans, and the rapid crackling of a machine-gun in the immediate vicinity. she struggled violently to free herself, but he was the stronger. his sensuous lips were upon hers, his big eyes looked fiercely into hers, while her slim figure was held within his strong, desperate grasp. she saw the evil, wicked look in his eyes. "let me go, you brute--you spy of germany!" she shrieked in french. "_let me go, i say_!" "no, no," he laughed in triumph. "you are mine--_mine_! i have brought ruin upon your miserable little country, upon your father, upon your fine chateau, and now, because you still defy me--i bring it upon you!" "_bien_! and what do you intend?" she asked. "i intend to take you out yonder, into the street, and to hand you over to the tender mercies of those most unpolite troops of germany--the bavarians. there are three thousand in the town, and they are having a really reckless time--i can assure you." "you hell-scoundrel!" cried the poor girl in her frantic, almost insane terror. "you--you who have sat at our table and eaten with us--you, whom my father has trusted, and to whom my mother has sent presents at noel. ah! i now see you unmasked, yet you--" "enough!" cried the fellow, springing upon her and putting his thick, loose lips to hers. "a last kiss, and then you go to the late which every belgian woman goes to-day where our kaiser and his troops are victorious," and he kissed her though she still struggled fiercely to evade his grasp. suddenly both started, for in the room sounded a loud deafening report. aimee started and drew back, breathless and shocked, for from that hated face thrust into hers, before her, one eye disappeared. the hateful face receded, the body reeled and suddenly falling backward, rolled over the stone flags of the kitchen. a bullet had entered the eye of arnaud rigaux, and, passing through his brain, had taken away a portion of his skull, causing instant death. that left eye, as he reeled and fell backwards, was blotted out, for it was only a clot of blood. "aimee!" shouted a voice. the girl, startled, turned to encounter a man in a grey uniform--a german infantryman! he wore a small round grey cap, and in its front the little circular cockade of blue and white--the mark of the bavarian. "_aimee_!" the girl stared into the face of her rescuer. it was edmond--edmond--_her own dear edmond_--and dressed as a bavarian! "the infernal spy!" he cried in a hard, rough voice. "i caught the fellow just in time, my darling. for two years past i have known the truth--that in addition to being our worst enemy--he has also been a traitor to our king and country, and your father's false friend." "but edmond?" gasped the girl, staring at him like one in a dream. "why are you here--dressed as a german?" "hush!" he whispered. "if i am caught i shall be shot as a spy! i must not talk, or i may betray myself. come with me. we must get back at once to the belgian line." "but--but how?" she gasped, for now the truth had dawned upon her--the truth of the great risk her lover ran in penetrating to the invested town. "come with me. have no fear, my darling. if god wills that we die, we will at least die together. come," he whispered, "appear as though you go with me unwillingly, or somebody may suspect us. come along now," he shouted, and taking her wrist roughly pretended to drag her forth into the street, where dead men and women were lying about in the roadway, and the houses only a few yards away were already ablaze. he dragged her along that narrow street, so full of haunting horrors, urging her beneath his breath to pretend a deadly hatred of him. they passed crowds of drunken germans. some were smashing in windows with the butt ends of their rifles, and pouring petrol into the rooms from cans which others carried. others were dragging along women and girls, or forcing them to march before them at the points of bayonets, and laughing immoderately at the terror such proceeding caused. a swaggering young officer of the seventieth regiment of the rhine staggered past them with a champagne bottle in his hand. he addressed some command to edmond valentin. for a second aimee's heart stood still. but edmond, seeing that the lieutenant was intoxicated, merely saluted and passed on, hurrying round the corner into the square where, against the wall near the church, they saw a line of bodies--the bodies of those innocent townspeople whom the bloodthirsty horde had swept out of existence with their machine-guns. on every side ugly stains of blood showed upon the stones. a dark red stream trickled slowly into the gutters, so awful had been the massacre an hour before. as they crossed the square they witnessed a frightful scene. some men and women, who had hidden in a cellar, were driven out upon the pavement ruthlessly, and shot down. the officer who gave the order, smoking a cigarette and laughing the while. aimee stood for a second with closed eyes, not bearing to witness such a fearful sight. those shrill cries of despair from the terrified women and children rang in her ears for a moment. then the rifles crackled, and there were no more cries--only a huddled heap of dead humanity. edmond dragged her forward. german soldiers whom they passed laughed merrily at the conquest apparently made by one of their comrades. and as they went by the ruined church, and out upon the road towards leffe, the scene of pillage and drunkenness that met their eyes, was indeed revolting. though the belgian government has since issued an official report to the powers concerning the wild orgies of that awful day in dinant, the story, in all its true hideousness, will, perhaps, never be known. those seven hundred or so poor creatures who could testify to the fiendish torture practised upon them: how some were mutilated, outraged, bound, covered with straw and burned alive, and even buried alive, are all in their graves, their lips, alas! sealed for ever. another officer, a major of the seventeenth uhlans, rode past, and edmond saluted. they were, indeed, treading dangerous ground. if edmond were discovered, both he and she would be shot as spies against the nearest wall. how she refrained from fainting she knew not. but she bore that terrible ordeal bravely, her spirit sustained by her great, boundless love for the man at her side. the road they had taken led by the river-bank, and just as a body of uhlans had clattered past, raising a cloud of dust, they saw across the hills at bouvigne, a heliograph at work, signalling towards namur. above them a taube aeroplane was slowly circling. chapter seventeen. in deadly peril. not only was dinant itself being decimated, but in the faubourg of leffe, through which they were now passing, the german soldiers, the majority of them infantrymen wearing on their caps the green and white cockade denoting that they were from saxony, including also many from baden, were busy pillaging the houses, and in one spot an officer had drawn up a number of terrified women and children, and was compelling them to cry "_vive l'allemagne_!" each house, after being sacked, was systematically burned down. in safety they passed through all the terrors which filled the little place, yet in fear each moment of detection. but the soldiers and officers seemed so intent upon their fell work of wanton destruction that, happily, no notice was taken of the fugitives. at last they gained the high road which, following the bold of the meuse, ran in the direction of namur. ten miles or so beyond lay the german front, and that would have to be passed, if they were to escape with their lives. on the road were many german soldiers, and passing them constantly were rumbling guns, ammunition-wagons, and motor-cars containing staff-officers. aimee knew the roads in the vicinity well, and in a whisper suggested that they should turn off into a narrow lane on the right. she knew of a path which led through the wood to a village called assesse, she said. "assesse!" echoed her lover. "you know the way, darling! _bien_, it is near that place we must get. close by there i hid my belgian uniform, and dressed in these clothes--clothes i took from a bavarian shot by us while on outpost duty." they turned into the lane, where they found themselves alone. "i think," the girl said, "that it would be best if we did not walk together. we might be suspected. i will go ahead, and you follow me. it is nearly five miles, but when we enter the wood the path is quite straight, through two other woods and over a brook--until we reach the village." "very well, dearest," he said, reluctantly obliged to admit that her advice was sound. he would certainly stand a better chance of escape alone, now they were in the open country over which the germans were swarming, than if they were together. yet neither could disguise from themselves the fact that their lives now hung by a single thread. should any soldier they met accost edmond, then he would certainly be betrayed, and death would, most assuredly, be their lot. having parted, however, the girl, dusty, dishevelled, and hatless, went forward, he following her at a short distance, in fear lest she might fall into the hands of one of the prussian brutes. at last, however, they came to the wood, but both noticed that, near by, were half a dozen uhlans drawn up on outpost duty. they quickly caught sight of the girl, but regarded her as harmless, and then, when edmond came swinging along, they allowed him also to pass, believing him to be one of their comrades-in-arms. within the wood they were practically safe, and had hurried forward a couple of miles, when aimee suddenly heard voices and loud laughter ahead. a number of uhlans were riding in single file up the path in their direction, therefore, in an instant she dashed away into the undergrowth until they had passed, an example followed by edmond. then, when the enemy had gone, they once more went forward again, but full of caution lest they should be taken by surprise. those five miles were the longest either of them had ever covered, for every yard was full of breathless terror. they knew not where, an outpost might be lurking, for they were gradually approaching the belgian front. it was nearly two o'clock in the afternoon when, on emerging from the wood into the hot sunshine again, they found themselves above a tiny whitewashed village, with slated roofs and thin church spire--the village of assesse. this place they carefully avoided lest it should be occupied by the enemy, but approaching a field not far away, edmond said: "see yonder! darling, that old black shed. in there, my uniform is hidden beneath some straw. until night comes on i dare not change." "then let us hide in the shed till night," she suggested. "you can change after dark, and we can then go forward." he sighed. the situation was, he knew, critical. "you know the risk we shall run, darling. are you really prepared for it?" "i will face any danger at your side, edmond. you have saved my life to-day, remember, and at imminent risk of your own." "because i love you, my own darling," was his quick response. "i have thought only of you, and of you alone. i must save you, and god will surely assist me in so doing." "yes. we are in his hands," she declared fervently. "let us go over yonder, and hide till it grows dark." "but you must be hungry," he suggested. "no, edmond," she laughed. "don't think of me--think of yourself, of your own safety." so they crept forward, unobserved, until they reached the shed--a mere shelter for cows. in one corner of the dirty place lay a great heap of mouldering straw, and edmond, having worked away until he had made a hole large enough to admit them both, they both crept in and lightly covered themselves. and then, as she found herself in his strong arms, she felt his fond kisses raining upon her brow, fierce, passionate caresses, that told her plainly how deep and how sacred was his great love for her--how strong was his affection and devotion. for seven long hours they remained there, conversing in whispers, he recounting to her the various engagements in which he had been since the outbreak of the war. he explained to her, too, how by reason of a law-case brought to him by a client, his suspicions had, two years before, been aroused that arnaud rigaux, the great brussels financier, was a secret agent of the german government. for months he had watched closely until, only a fortnight before the war, rigaux's suspicions had been aroused that he was being watched. the spy feared him--feared lest he should go to the minister of war and disclose his suspicions. this course, however, edmond had hesitated to take. "why?" asked aimee. "was it not your duty to tell the truth?" "it was my duty, i admit. but had i done so, you, dearest, not knowing the true facts, would have believed me guilty of trying to remove my rival by an underhand method. i should have lost your esteem. therefore i preferred to wait until i could strike an effective blow, and still, at the same time, reveal to you that i had just cause for so doing." "your just cause was revealed to-day, edmond," she said. "you have avenged our country, which that mean, despicable spy sought to undermine and destroy, and at the same time, dear, you saved me." "i had no idea that the scoundrel was in dinant, watching the wanton work of his prussian friends. he hated belgium, and all belgians, and so he went, i suppose, to witness a scene of destruction unparalleled in modern history. "last night, after we had been driven back over the hills, i resolved at all hazards to return to you; therefore, as i have explained, i took the clothes from a dead bavarian and succeeded in passing the german outposts just before the dawn. it was an exciting journey back to dinant, i can assure you," and he smiled grimly. "ah! it must have been. and you risked your life--you are risking it now--in order to save me," she said. slowly the light faded and a ray of red sunset, shining in at the doorway of the shed, lit up the place with crimson light. suddenly they heard sounds of voices. they both held their breath. aimee, who knew german, heard one of the men exclaim, as they approached: "this would, i think, be a snug place in which to spend the night, karl." her heart beat quickly. she could hear it thumping. the man's companion muttered some response gruffly, and they both entered with heavy tramp. she could see that they were tall, broad-shouldered uhlans, in grey braided tunics, jack boots, and helmets. they looked around for a few seconds, whereupon the gruff-voiced man exclaimed in disgust: "no. it's too dirty. let us get further along. we shall surely find a better place than that." and then they strode out, remounted their horses and rode away. the pair in hiding drew long breaths of relief. that had, surely, been a narrow escape. when it had grown quite dark and the rats began to scamper, edmond, foraging about, discovered his torn worn-out belgian uniform, and quickly exchanged his bavarian dress for his own clothes. then he having carefully stolen out and reconnoitred, they both crept away across the fields to where the trees of a plantation showed like a black, jagged line against the night sky. in his belgian uniform edmond valentin was now in even greater danger than before, for at any moment they might be challenged, when he would, assuredly, be shot. but, keeping closely in the shadows, they went on until they gained the plantation. the night was close and oppressive. in the distance, every now and then could be heard the thunder of guns, while in the sky before them, the long straight beams of the searchlights, sweeping backwards and forwards, showed the direction of the belgian front, now that they had retired from the meuse. "i left the regiment about three miles from the edge of this wood," edmond whispered. "they were yonder, where that second searchlight is showing. but probably they have retired farther, towards namur, or our outposts would certainly have been here. we must have a care, and avoid the german sentries." then they crept forward and entered the dark, silent plantation. there was not a breath of wind; not a leaf stirred, hence their footsteps sounded loudly as they stole forward, holding their breath, and halting every now and then to listen. once they heard voices--men speaking in german and laughing. even the scent of tobacco reached their nostrils. they halted, drew back and waited, so escaping detection. that was truly a weird and exciting night adventure, for they were now very near the german outposts. they could see the twinkling lights of camp-fires upon a hill-side on their right, and once the far-off sound of a bugle fell upon their ears. presently they emerged from the plantation, and edmond, having paused for a few moments to take his bearings, struck off down a narrow lane, where the trees overhung until their branches met above. for nearly a mile further they went along, leaving the roadway whenever they heard the tramp of soldiers approaching, and once very narrowly running right into the arms of a german sentry, who was standing hidden in the shadow of a haystack. it was only by drawing up suddenly, bending behind a bush, and waiting through some ten minutes of breathless agony, that they were able to extricate themselves from a very tight corner. and at last, when they were aide to creep forward unseen, they again found themselves almost beneath the hoofs of a cavalry patrol, riding along across some open pasture-land. when that further danger had passed, edmond whispered to his beloved: "we have, i believe, passed the german outposts now, dearest. yet we must be very careful. we may not have got quite through yet. come, we will cross that low hill yonder. no, the valley, perhaps, will be best," he added. "i see there's a farmhouse on the hill. the uhlans may be there--in quarters for the night. we must avoid that." so they descended over the grass land, where the country dipped towards the low ridge of hills, beyond which lay the belgians on the defensive. a few moments later they found themselves in a field of standing corn which had, alas! been sadly trampled by the enemy, and still crept along in the shadow of a high bank. on their right ran a shallow brook, rippling musically over the stones, one of those many trout streams, the undisturbed haunt of the heron, with which the picturesque ardennes abound. all was quiet, and nobody appeared to be in the vicinity. yet edmond knew that the whole of the enemy's lines must be so well patrolled that it would be most difficult for them to escape across to the belgians with their lives. the german sentry system is as near perfect as the military brain can render it. not a cat could slip by the german lines, now that they were advancing to the conquest. still he had come through on the previous night, and he was bent, for the sake of aimee, upon getting her back safely. of a sudden, a voice sounded a short distance away--a loud gruff expression in german. the pair drew up and waited, holding their breath. straight before them the long, bright beam of a searchlight was slowly sweeping the sky, searching for german aeroplanes. the men were against a line of bushes. "be careful, edmond!" whispered the girl. "they are coming this way." but they were not, for they could see that the dark figures silhouetted against the night sky were receding. straight before them was another dark copse, which led up the side of the low hill. when the germans had gone, aimee and her lover crept forward noiselessly, making their way to the cover afforded by the copse which, edmond had concluded, lay between the opposing lines. they had, however, not gone more than a hundred yards when a german sentry sprang suddenly forth from the shadow, with fixed bayonet, and uttered a loud, gruff challenge in german: "halt! who goes there?" aimee, startled, drew back in terror, clinging to her lover's arm. but only for a second. then she drew herself up again, and stood motionless at his side. "who goes there?" again demanded the sentry, in a tone of quick suspicion. "come forward," he commanded in an imperious voice. "who are you?" neither spoke. in their ignorance they were walking right into the enemy's camp! they were entrapped! chapter eighteen. the gulf of shadows. "we must fly for our lives, aimee!" her lover whispered. "follow me!" "_bien_! i am ready!" she answered, quite cool in that moment of their supreme peril. the terrors of that day had not unnerved her, because of edmond's presence. she thought only of him. between where they stood there, half concealed by the low bushes and the dark shadow of the copse before them, was a distance of some ten yards, or so. to escape, they must make a dash across that small open space. the german sentry repeated his challenge loudly. not an instant was now to be lost. it was a matter of life or death. "now, darling!" cried edmond, and together they held their breath and together sped towards the copse. next instant a rifle flashed, and there was a loud report, followed, a second later, by another sharp shot, and then another, and yet another. the alarm had been given, and, in a moment, the whole line of the enemy's sentries were on the alert. aimee heard the bullets scream past her as she ran. she heard, too, edmond gasp and ejaculate an expression of surprise. but until they were safe in the copse, speeding along together as fast as their feet could carry them, she was unaware that her lover's right arm was hanging limp and useless--that he had received an ugly wound through the shoulder. "why?" she gasped in dismay, pulling up suddenly. "you are hurt-- dearest! you are wounded!" la the darkness she felt some warm sticky fluid upon her hand. "it's nothing, really, aimee. just a graze--that's all," he declared. "come, for heaven's sake. let us get on, or we may yet be caught! our own outposts must be somewhere close by. let us hope they are beyond this copse. come--let us hurry--_hurry_!" those final words of his were uttered because he felt his strength giving way, and before he fell exhausted, as he must do, he meant still to strive with his last effort to place his beloved in safety. she, noticing that his voice had somehow changed, and knowing that the blood was streaming from his shoulder, took his left arm and assisted him stealthily along. suddenly, by a mere chance, they struck a narrow path in the darkness, and this led them to the further end of the copse. scarcely, however, had they come out into the open, when another voice challenged them loudly--_in french_! those words, startling them for a second, caused them next moment to gasp with relief. edmond answered the challenge cheerily, and they walked forward to where stood the friendly belgian outpost. in a few quick words valentin explained to the cavalryman how they had passed through the german lines, but being suspicious of spies, the man, quite rightly, called up four of his comrades, and then both fugitives were conducted along a high road for a considerable distance to the belgian camp. before general thalmann, commanding the sixth brigade, seated in his tent, edmond valentin quickly established the fact that he was no spy, and, indeed, he was able to give some very valuable information regarding the disposition of the enemy, and related for the first time, the terrible story of the sack and destruction of dinant. the grey-moustached general, having complimented him upon his gallant conduct and his wonderful escape, ordered him to at once have his wound dressed. then, rising from his camp-chair, he bowed politely to aimee, saying: "i also wish to offer my heartiest congratulations to you, mademoiselle, upon your providential escape from dinant. i allow you to accompany _sous-officier_ valentin to the base hospital. captain dulac, he added, turning to one of his officers present, please sign the necessary order. and note that i bestow the highest praise upon _sous-officier_ valentin, of the eighth chasseurs, for penetrating into the enemy's lines and obtaining much valuable intelligence." "i may add, general, that i discovered, in dinant, the brussels financier, arnaud rigaux, dressed as a german major, and, having myself proved that he was a spy, shot him?" "you shot arnaud rigaux!" exclaimed the general, staring at him. "is that true?" "yes, m'sieur." "you are quite certain of this?" "quite certain. mademoiselle was present." "then please make a note of that also, captain dulac," the commander said. "only yesterday i received word from headquarters that he was to be captured, and wherever found, sent for trial by court-martial at antwerp. so you, valentin, it seems, have put a sudden end to this man's dastardly career--eh?" and the well-set-up, grey-moustached man-- one of belgium's bravest generals--grinned with satisfaction. "well, i congratulate you, and you may rest assured that your distinguished services will not go unrewarded. _bon soir, mademoiselle--bon soir, valentin_." and the pair were then led forth from the tent, away to that of the medical service, where a doctor quickly investigated edmond's wound. aimee, fortunately perhaps, remained outside, for scarcely had her lover entered the tent, than he fell fainting. restoratives were quickly administered, and the bullet was extracted under an anaesthetic, while she waited in patience outside. edmond's wound was, alas! of a far more serious character than the gallant soldier of belgium had at first believed. in consequence of medical advice he was sent, next day, by train to the military hospital in antwerp, aimee, by order of the general, being allowed to accompany him in the military train. from antwerp aimee was able to communicate with both her mother and father, and a fortnight after her arrival there she received, with intense satisfaction, the joyful news that they had both met at ostend, and had gone to london, brussels being, of course, in the hands of the enemy. the baroness wrote several times, urging her daughter to come to london--to the langham hotel, where they had taken up their temporary quarters--but the girl replied that she would not leave edmond's side, she having volunteered as a red cross nurse at the st elizabeth hospital. for over a month edmond valentin, eager to return to the front and to still bear his part in the fighting, lay in his narrow bed in the long ward now filled to overflowing with wounded. his shoulder had been shattered, and more than one medical consultation had been held regarding it. aimee, in her neat uniform as nurse, with the big scarlet cross upon the breast of her white apron, had learned the sad truth--that, in all probability, edmond might never be able to use his right arm again, though no one had told him the painful fact. as he lay there he was ever dreaming of going back to again work that innocent-looking little machine-gun of his, which had sent to their deaths so many of the huns of the kaiser. the bitter truth was, however, told to him one day. the enemy, under general von baseler, were advancing upon antwerp. they had destroyed malines, and were almost at the gates of belgium's principal port. it was the third day in october, and british troops had now arrived to assist in the defence of antwerp. all the wounded who could walk were ordered to leave. and so it happened that edmond valentin, accompanied by aimee, resolved at last to escape to london, where the girl could rejoin her parents. with a huge crowd of refugees of all classes, the pair, ever faithful to each other--yet, be it said, greatly to edmond's regret--crossed one grey wintry afternoon to dover, where, on the pier, the pair woe met by the baron and baroness, and carried with delight to that haven of the stricken--that sanctuary of the war--london. the gallant conduct of the _sous-officier_ of belgian chasseurs, in a shabby blue military great-coat, worn and torn, and with the right arm bandaged across his chest, had reached england through the press long before. in the papers there had been brief accounts of his fearless penetration into the enemy's lines, and the gallant rescue of the woman he so dearly loved. king albert had bestowed upon him the cross of the order of leopold, and his photograph--together with that of aimee--had been published in many of the newspapers. little wonder was it, therefore, that a little over a month later--on that well-remembered day in november when the british monitors from the sea assisted the belgians and our own troops in the splendid defence of the straits of dover--newspaper reporters and photographers stood so eagerly upon that long flight of stone steps which lead up to the entrance of st martin's church, in trafalgar square, where a wedding of belgian refugees was to take place. the happy couple emerged from the church at last man and wife, and edmond valentin, still in his shabby dark-blue great-coat, and with his arm bandaged, did not escape the ubiquitous photographers any more than did aimee de neuville--now little madame valentin. but both were modest in the happy denouement of the great human drama, preferring to remain blissful in each other's love, rather than to court any further publicity. true, most of the newspapers next day,--and especially the illustrated ones,--reported that the wedding had taken place, but there was only the vaguest hint of the real and actual romance which i have--perhaps somewhat indiscreetly--attempted to describe in the foregoing pages--the romance of those terribly dramatic happenings at the sign of the sword. the end. two daring young patriots or, outwitting the huns by w. p. shervill author of "edgar the ready" _illustrated by arch. webb_ blackie and son limited london glasgow and bombay [illustration: like a whirlwind they flung themselves upon the hated foe] contents i. trouble in the crew ii. the races iii. max durend at home iv. the cataclysm v. the fall of liége vi. a new standpoint vii. a few words with m. schenk viii. treachery! ix. the opening of the struggle x. getting ready for bigger things xi. the attack on the power-house xii. the attack on the munition-shops and its sequel xiii. the german counter-stroke xiv. schenk at work again xv. the dash xvi. in the ardennes xvii. cutting the line xviii. reprisals xix. a further blow xx. across the frontier xxi. the great coup illustrations like a whirlwind they flung themselves upon the hated foe both lads began to hurl the great stones upon the german soldiery a cloth was clapped over the soldier's nose and mouth "it's all right; we're friends" the two watchers gave a loud full-throated british cheer two daring young patriots or, outwitting the huns chapter i trouble in the crew "here come benson's!" the speaker leaned over the edge of the tow-path and watched an eight-oared boat swing swiftly round a bend in the river a hundred yards away and come racing up to the landing-stage. "eee--sy all--l!" came in a sing-song from the coxswain, perched, for better sight, half upon the rear canvas, and eight oars instantly feathered the water as their boat slanted swiftly in towards the shore. "hold her, seven." with almost provoking sloth, after the smartly executed movements already described, number seven dug his oar deeply into the water, making up somewhat for his tardiness by the fierceness of the movement. the nose of the boat turned outwards almost with a jerk, and the craft slid in close to and parallel with the landing-stage. "seven's got the sulks again, jones," commented the watcher on shore, a middle schoolboy named walters, as he eyed the proceedings critically. "his time's bad. it's just as well they get to work to-morrow." "yes," assented his companion. "but, you know, it beats me why they didn't put montgomery at stroke instead of seven. he's a far better oar than durend--the best in the school--and it would have upset nobody." "his style may be better," admitted walters a little reluctantly, "but he hasn't got that tremendous shove off the stretcher that makes the other so useful a man to follow. besides, he has too much temper to be able to nurse and humour the lame ducks and bring them on as durend has done." "maybe--his temper certainly doesn't look sweet at the moment," replied jones, gazing with a grim sort of amusement at montgomery as the latter released his oar from the rowlock and stepped out of the boat, his handsome clean-cut face sadly marred by an undeniably ugly scowl. "durend's work isn't showy, but i hear that benson thinks a lot of it," walters went on. "it's a pity monty takes it so badly, for the crew has come along immensely and with ordinary luck ought to make a cert of it." "riggers!" the stroke of the crew sang out, and the crew leaned out from the landing-stage and grasped the boat. "lift!" and the boat was lifted clear of the water and up the slope to the boat-house hard by. from bow to stern the faces of the crew were smiling and cheerful, albeit streaming with perspiration, as they passed through the admiring knot of their school-fellows assembled to watch them in. all, that is, save seven, aforesaid, and stroke, who looked downcast, and whose lips were set firmly as though he found his task no very pleasant one, but had nevertheless made up his mind to see it through. in the dressing-room montgomery vented his ill-humour somewhat pettishly, flinging his scarf and sweater anyhow into his locker and his dirty rowing boots violently after them. "i don't care a fig whether we win or lose," he growled. "i'm sick of being hectored by a coach who never was an oar, and a stroke who knows about as much about rowing as my grandmother." "shut up, monty!" replied another member of the crew good-naturedly. "another week and it will be all over, and we shall be at the head of the river for the first time--what?" the thought of benson's first victory in its history seemed, if anything, to incense montgomery still more, for he glared angrily at durend's set face and went on: "it's always _my_ time or _my_ swing that's wrong, too, when everyone used to say that i was the best oar in the school. bah! it's to cover up his own faults that he's always blaming me. for two pins i'd resign, durend; and i will, too, if you're not a deal more careful." "you needn't," replied durend shortly, but with a significance that was not lost upon those present. "what d'ye mean?" demanded montgomery. "you're no longer in the crew." "what! _you_ turn me out? i'll take that from benson, and from no one else, my boy!" "mr. benson has left it to me, and i say you're no longer in the crew," replied durend coldly, and with no hint of triumph in his voice. he knew, in fact, that his action was probably the death-knell of all the hopes of his crew. montgomery's face blazed with passion, and he sprang violently upon durend and struck fiercely at him. the two boys nearest grasped him and dragged him back, though not before he had left his mark in an angry-looking blotch upon the left cheek of his former chief. through it all durend said no word. he merely defended himself, looking, indeed, as though only half his mind were present, his interest in the matter being far out-weighed by concern for the threatened destruction of his beloved crew, the object of his deepest thoughts and hopes for a period of six crowded weeks. the incident closed, for, montgomery's first anger over, he saw the foolishness of making so much of losing a seat he had all along affected to despise. the crew dispersed, and soon the affair was the talk of the whole school. benson's--the favourites--crippled by the loss of their seven on the very eve of the race! stroke and seven at blows! stroke licked, and no doubt spoiled for the race! the news, soon distorted out of all recognition, provided hawkesley with matter for gossip such as it had not enjoyed for many a long day. chapter ii the races "well, stroke?" asked the benson's cox, as the two slowly made their way from the boat-house towards the school. "what's to do now? i'm afraid we're done for. mind," he went on in another tone, "i'm not blaming you. any other fellow with a spark of spirit in him would have jibbed. but have you counted the cost?" "yes, dale, i've counted the cost, and know what i'm going to do." "so?" "three must come down to seven and franklin must come into the boat at three. if only we had a week of practice before us i should not fear for the result, but to-morrow----" stroke's voice died away as he dug his hands deeply into his trousers pockets and walked moodily on. suddenly he turned to his companion: "after all," he said, "we may stand a chance. if not on the first day or two of the races, then on the last. rout out franklin for me, dale, and tell him what's afoot, and that we row at seven this evening with him at three. then tell the others. there'll be no hard work, only a paddle to help franklin find the swing. one thing--he's fit enough." "yes, and i must say we have you to thank for that, old boy. those runs before breakfast that used to make monty so savage have done us a good turn by keeping franklin fit, not to mention the occasional tubbing we have given him." "aye, he's not bad; and if the rest of the crew buck up well we may yet do things. now good-bye, dale, until seven o'clock! see that every man is ready stripped sharp to time for me, for i must now see benson, and tell him all my plans." the further news that benson's were going out again with their spare man at three, coming upon the sensational story of the quarrel between stroke and seven, spread like wildfire through the school. every boy who was at all interested in the eights--and who was not?--made a note of the matter, and promised himself that he would be there and see the fun for himself. when seven o'clock arrived, therefore, the tow-path in front of benson's boat-house was thronged with boys; some there in a spirit of foreboding, to see how their own crew shaped after its heavy misfortune, some to rejoice at the evidence they expected to see of the impending discomfiture of a redoubtable foe, some to jeer generally, and others--a few, but the more noisy--in out-and-out hostility to the crew which had turned out from among its number their favourite, montgomery. so great was the crowd that the crew had almost to push its way through the press, at close quarters with a medley of cheers and groans that did not do the nerves of some of them much good. the outing was a short one. mr. benson, who had coached the crew himself so far as his time permitted, did not put in an appearance, and durend had the field to himself. all he did was to set an easy stroke, and to leave dale, as cox, to keep a sharp watch upon the time and swing of three and seven. the change naturally upset the rhythm of the crew a little, but not so much as was generally expected. in fact, on the return to the boat-house, cheers predominated, as though others besides themselves had been agreeably surprised. the eights week at hawkesley always stood out prominently from the rest of the year as a kind of landmark. it marked the highest point of the constant struggle between the several houses into which the school was divided, and all energies were therefore concentrated upon it for weeks in advance. as may have been surmised, the eights races were not direct contests, with heats, semi-finals, and finals, but bumping races, for the little river suir would hardly permit of anything else. for a short stretch or two, perhaps, a couple of boats might have raced abreast, but it would not have been possible to have found a reasonably full course for a race to be decided in that way. consequently the boats were anchored to the shore four boat-lengths behind one another, and by the rules of the game they were required to give chase to one another, and to touch or bump the boat in front to score a win. a win meant that the victors and vanquished changed places, and the whole essence of the contest was that the stronger crews gradually fought their way forward into the van of the line of boats. there were six houses to the school, and the same number of crews competed, for the honour of their respective houses. six days were allotted to the task, and it was no wonder that the crews had to see to it that they were in first-rate condition, for racing for six days out of seven was bound to try them hard. the legacy left the benson crew by their comrades of the year before was the position no. in the line. the position the year before that had been no. , so it was not surprising that the bensonites had great hopes that this year would see them higher still. cradock's was just in front of them, with colson's at the head. both were strong crews, and so was johnson's, just behind--too strong, indeed, for durend to feel very comfortable with an unknown quantity at his back. the race was timed to start at eleven, and a minute or two before the hour all the crews had taken up their position, stripped and made ready. the crews were too far apart for signals by word of mouth or by pistol to be effective, so a gun was fired from the bank--one discharge "get ready!" two "off!" and three--after a lapse of ten minutes--as the "finish". "boom!" went the first gun, and men ceased trying their stretchers or signalling to their friends on shore. a few words of caution from the stroke, and then all was still in tense expectation. the mooring-ropes were slipped, and the boats left free to move slowly forward with the stream. "boom!" simultaneously forty-eight oars dipped and churned the water into foam. like hounds suddenly unleashed, the six boats leapt forward and began their desperate chase upon the waters of the suir. the strongest point of benson's crew had been its lightning start, and durend had always counted upon this giving him at least half a length's advantage at the outset. striking the water at his usual rate, he hoped--almost against hope--that this advantage still remained to him. less than half a dozen strokes, however, were sufficient to convince him that the hope was a vain one. the perfect swing of the boat was marred by a jar that became more pronounced with every stroke. he knew well enough what it was: it was the new half-trained man, franklin, vainly trying to keep up the pace of a trained crew. it was a bitter disappointment, but durend was not one to let such feelings cloud his judgment, and without a moment's hesitation he let his racing start fall away into a long, steady swing. victory--for the moment, at any rate--must be left to others, while his crew were brought back once more to the swing and rhythm they had lost. for some time durend kept his stroke long and steady, and the boat travelled evenly and well, though at no great pace. by that time cradock's, in front, were almost lost to sight, but johnson's, behind, were very much within view, and coming up fast. the situation seemed so critical that dale at last could contain himself no longer. for some minutes he had been nervously glancing back at the nose of the boat creeping up behind, and wondering when he must forsake his straight course for the forlorn hope of an attempt to elude the bump by a pull at the rudder line. "durend, they'll have us, if you don't draw away a little." durend nodded. he had not been unmindful of the boat creeping up behind, but he had a problem, and no easy one, to settle. should he press his crew to the utmost, or should he hold his hand for another time? it was a terribly difficult thing to decide for the best, with johnson's creeping up and every fibre in him revolting against surrender and calling out for a desperate spurt right up to the end. suddenly durend quickened up. his men were waiting and longing for a spurt and caught it up at once. but again the swing was marred by franklin's inability to support the terrific pace. after the first stroke or two the boat began to roll heavily, the form and time became ragged, and there was much splashing. one glance at dale's agonized face and durend again allowed his stroke to drop back into its former steady swing, and doggedly, with sternly-set face, plugged away as before, refusing to look again at the crew drawing inexorably up behind. twice the boats overlapped, but both times dale managed, by skilful steering, to avoid a bump. the third time no trick of steering could avoid the issue, and the nose of the johnson boat grated triumphantly along the side of benson's. at the touch, both crews ceased rowing. the race for them was ended for that day at least, and they could watch and see how the other crews had fared. but the other races were also over, for the third and last "boom" rang out within a few seconds of the termination of their own. defeat is always hard to bear, and the benson crew were no exception to the rule. it was obvious to every one of them that they had not been allowed to have their full fling, and angry and discontented thoughts surged into the brains of the disappointed men as they leaned over their oars and tried not to hear the jubilant chatter of those insufferable johnsonites. why had stroke set so wretchedly slow a stroke that defeat was certain? the members of the beaten crew were, for the most part, fresher far than the winning crew. why had not stroke given them the opportunity of rowing themselves right out instead of tamely surrendering thus? no answers to these discontented queries were forthcoming. durend could have spoken, but would not. dale might have spoken; for though he knew not the plans of his chief, his position at the rudder enabled him to conjecture a great deal. but he, too, was dumb. so it was that the benson crew could answer the questions of their distressed friends only by referring them with disparaging shrugs of the shoulders to their worthy stroke. durend had never been a popular boy. he was respected for his steady persistence and his capacity for unlimited hard work, but popular he could not be said to be, even with his crew. he held himself rather aloof, and never really took them into his confidence. he seemed to think that if he did his best as stroke, both in rowing and in generalship, he had done all that was necessary. his plans, his hopes, and his fears he kept strictly to himself. why worry his men about them? he reasoned, and in the main, no doubt, he was right, though he carried it much too far. as a consequence the crew, with the possible exception of dale, were left to conjecture his reasons for all that he did, and in most cases to put a wrong construction upon them. but, though they growled, they were too sportsmanlike and too loyal to their house to do more, and a.m. next day saw them at their places every bit as eager as before. this time, without a doubt, they told one another, durend would set them a faster stroke and give them a chance to show the stuff they were made of. unhappily they were doomed to fresh disappointment. twice, indeed, durend quickened up his stroke, but almost immediately he felt the time and swing of the crew again becoming ragged. in his judgment it was useless to persist in hope of an improvement; so, with the decisiveness that was one of his chief characteristics, he promptly dropped his stroke back into his old rate of striking. his men fretted and fumed behind him, and one or two even went so far as to shout aloud for a spurt. a sharp reprimand was all they got for their trouble, and in high dudgeon they relapsed again into a savage silence. fortunately, though they saw nothing of the crew ahead, they managed to keep a length of clear water between them and the weak crawford crew travelling in their wake. no cheers heralded their return. the doings of benson's attracted little attention now, for all interest had centred upon the desperate struggles between the three leading boats, cradock's, colson's, and johnson's--for the first two had now changed places. it is almost as hard to be ignored as to be scoffed at, and it was a very sore crew indeed that put their craft upon its rack that day and filed upstairs to the dressing-room of benson's boat-house. self-contained and preoccupied though he was, durend could not help noticing that his conduct of the races was being severely and adversely commented upon. but he only shrugged his shoulders, hurried on his clothes, and left the building perhaps a little more quickly than usual. some strokes would have given explanations to their crews, but it never occurred to durend to do so. dale followed him from the room. "see here, max," he said, as he overtook him, "i think you should know that our fellows are tremendously sick at the poor show we are making. they feel that your stroking of the crew is not giving them a fair chance." durend stopped abruptly. "so long as i am stroke, dale, i shall set the stroke i think proper. i am doing what i think is best for the crew, and shall follow it out until the last race is over--lost or won." "i know, i know, old man," replied dale hastily. "but what is your game really? you must know you can't win races with a funereal stroke like that, so what's the good of trying it?" durend opened his lips as though about to make an angry reply. apparently he thought better of it, for he closed them again, and for some minutes walked on in silence. when he spoke it was in the quiet measured tones of one who has thought out his subject and has no doubts in his own mind of the wisdom of his conclusions. "after six weeks' hard work, dale, we've managed to get the crew into pretty good form--everybody says so. is it all to be lightly thrown away? can we really expect franklin to keep up the pace of the rest of us without rushing his slide, bucketing, or something of the sort? can we now?" dale, but half convinced, returned to the charge. "well, i don't know. something's got to be done. i heard three of the fellows just now whispering something about asking benson to put montgomery back in the boat." "where?" dale hesitated. "i see. at stroke. well, i may be prejudiced, but i don't think it would answer, old man. anyhow, we'll leave all that to benson, and those three fellows too. come, dale, i'm sick of thinking about this, so let's try and talk about something a little more cheerful." dale was a light-hearted, cheery fellow enough, and found no difficulty in turning the talk into other and more pleasant topics. the two, though so opposite in point of character and physique, were very good friends. dale was a slim, lightly-built young fellow of eighteen, with a fair complexion and an open boyish face. he was a general favourite, and, though not athletically inclined, was always ready to assist in acting cox or kindred work. max durend was dark-complexioned, somewhat reserved, and of a more thoughtful disposition. he also was eighteen years of age, was of medium height but strongly built, and possessed a great capacity for hard work. as has already been explained, he was not popular, and that may have been partly due to his reserve, and partly to the fact that he was only half english, namely on his mother's side. the race on the following day was even less exhilarating than the last. benson's still rowed at their provokingly slow stroke, simply retaining their position at no. , while johnson's and colson's, after a terrific struggle, changed places. thus cradock's remained at the head with the johnson and colson crews second and third. it needed all dale's persuasion and plentiful supply of hopeful suppositions (partly derived from his talk with durend, but mostly made up out of his own head) to keep the benson crew from breaking out into open revolt. every day they had finished the race half fresh, and not one of them could see the use of parading up and down the course as though uncertain whether they were in the race or not. and through it all mr. benson just looked grimly on, indifferent, apparently, to all their woes, and said no word save a little--a very little--commendation, no doubt intended to keep them from entering the very last stages of despair. it seemed as though he had given the whole thing up as a bad job, and did not intend to interest himself further in the matter. another day came just like the last, and listlessly the dispirited crew turned their oars on the feather and waited for the signal to start. quite suddenly they woke up to the fact that stroke was leaning back towards them and speaking. "now, you fellows," he was saying in a quiet but tense voice, "i am going to give you a racing start at last. see to it, then, that you pick it up and keep it. don't forget. franklin, i rely upon you to do your utmost to keep up with us. now, boys!" "boom!" there was scarcely a soul about to see benson's start; nearly everyone was watching the struggles going on ahead, where strong crews were striving in the last days to secure and hold a higher position for the houses they had been called to represent. so it was that the benson start passed unnoticed until it dawned upon colson's, the crew ahead, that the benson boat had drawn unaccountably nearer. and benson's, too! it could only be a fluke, and with that conviction colson's settled down grimly to the task of shaking them off. but somehow or other it did not seem at all easy to shake them off. in fact, to their dismay, the end of the great spurt saw the gap between the boats no wider. suddenly, too, benson's spurted in their turn, and the nose of their boat drew closer at a speed that wellnigh paralysed colson's. indeed, in the benson boat, the pent-up energies of three days of enforced self-restraint were being let loose in a series of desperate spurts for the mastery. even durend could contain himself no longer, and franklin, though he had not yet reached anything like the form of the rest of the crew, was yet able to do his part in the struggle with a fair measure of success. within five minutes of the start benson's had overlapped colson's, and, almost immediately after, the bump came. we need not describe the joy and relief in the benson crew at their unexpected victory--unexpected to all of them, for even durend, though he had hoped and planned, had not anticipated it so soon. to the rest of the school the whole affair was so unexpected as to be stupefying. only the most penetrating and experienced observers could give a reason for their sudden recovery, and the remainder explained away the sensational victory by a disparaging reference to the utter weakness of colson's. had not colson's dropped in three days from head of the river to no. , and was that not enough proof of weakness? they argued. gradually the general view crystallized down to the opinion that benson's had had their fling, and could hope to make no impression upon the two really strong crews now in front of them. nevertheless, though this seemed the general opinion, the following morning found the whole school on the tow-path opposite the benson boat. no one wanted to see the struggle between cradock's and johnson's, but everyone was anxious to see the start of the benson crew, and to learn whether any fresh surprises were in store for them. there could be no doubt about the spirit of the crew. hope and confidence seemed to exude from every pore, and it was clear that for them the week was only just beginning. at the report of the gun, durend took his men away with a racing start that recalled those they had made before montgomery left the crew. the form was well kept; even franklin, who had improved rapidly with every day's work, keeping well in with the swing of the rest of the crew. dropping the stroke a little soon after the start, durend led them along with a strong, lively stroke that was soon seen to be gaining them ground slowly, foot by foot, upon their old foe, the johnson crew. the latter were, however, in no mood to yield an inch if they could help it, and made spurt after spurt in the desperate endeavour to keep well away. for the first eight or nine minutes of the race, durend did not allow himself to be flurried into any answering spurt. he knew that he was within reach, and to him that was, for the time, sufficient. his watch was strapped to the stretcher between his feet, and he was carefully measuring the time he could allow johnson's before calling them to strict account. it wanted one minute to the time when the finishing gun would boom out before durend quickened up. his men were waiting in confident expectation for that moment, and answered like one man. from the very feel of the stroke they had known what a reserve of power their stroke and comrades possessed, and they flung themselves into the spurt with all the energy of conscious strength. the boat leapt to the touch, and up and up, nearer and nearer, the nose of their craft crept to the boat ahead. a hoarse and frantic appeal from the stroke of the johnson boat, and his men strove to answer and stave off that terrible spurt. but they had spurted too often already, and another and a greater was more than they could bear. their time became ragged; some splashed and dragged, and the boat was a beaten one before the end came. it was a thrilling moment when the boats bumped, and the straggling crowds upon the tow-path shouted and yelled with delight and deepest appreciation. rarely had there been such a race in the school's annals; never one in which the winning crew had thus fought its way up from previous failure and defeat. after witnessing that achievement, the opinion of the school veered completely round, and everyone confidently predicted that benson's would win their way to the head of the river on the following morning. it had now become as clear as noonday to all that the stroke of benson's had been playing that most difficult of all games, the waiting game. he had held his crew inexorably in until the new man had had time to settle down into his place and catch the form and time of the rest of the crew. clearly, too, the crew was rowing better every day, and no one believed that cradock's would be able to keep them off in the full tide of their swing to victory. this time the opinion of the school was right, and the following day benson's caught up and bumped cradock's within three minutes of the start. they had settled down and become a great crew, confident in themselves and even more confident in the power and judgment of their stroke. the ovation they received on the return to their boat-house they long remembered. the noisy and enthusiastic tumult was indeed something to remember and be proud of, but to durend the few words of commendation of mr. benson counted for far more. "well done, durend!" he said simply. "i saw you knew your business, and that is why i did not interfere. but even i did not expect so splendid a success. your men have done well indeed, but it is to you and your fixity of purpose our win is mainly due. i have never known an apparently more hopeless chase; and, to you others, i say that it shows that there is almost nothing that fixity of purpose will not achieve in the long run." even more pleasurable were the words of montgomery, touched with real contrition, as he grasped his old stroke by the hand and begged his pardon for doubting his ability and power to stroke a crew to victory. chapter iii max durend at home it was only two days after the close of the races when the head master called durend into his room. he held a slip of paper in his hand, and in rather a grave voice informed the lad that his father was seriously ill. his mother had cabled for his return, and he was to get ready to catch the . train for harwich at once. max obeyed. his preparations did not take long, and there was still a little time to spare before he needed to start; therefore he sought out dale to say good-bye. "but you will come back, of course, durend?" the erstwhile cox protested, rather struck by the earnestness of his friend's adieu. "i have a feeling that i shall not, dale. i cannot help it, but i keep on acting almost unconsciously as though this were the last i shall see of hawkesley." "don't say that, max. why should you think your father is so ill as all that? the cablegram doesn't say so. no, i can't take that. you simply _must_ come back. there are lots of things we have promised to do together." "can't help it, dale. but there's one thing you must promise me before i go, and that is, that if i should not come back you will come over and see me. spend a fortnight at our place at liége in the summer--eh?" "you're coming back, old man," replied dale with determination. "but all the same, i will give you the promise if you like. my uncle and aunt--all the relatives i have--would not mind, i know." "thanks, old man--you shall have a good time." presently durend left, and in forty-eight hours he was back in his own home in belgium on the outskirts of liége. prompt as he had been, he found he was too late, for his father had died at the time he was on the boat on the way to antwerp. though not altogether unexpected, the blow was a severe one to max durend. he had been very fond of his father, who had latterly treated him more as a chum than anything else, and had talked much to him of his plans for the time when he could assist him in his business. his mother was, of course, even more upset, and though max and his sister, a girl of twelve, did their best to comfort her, she was quite prostrated for some days. it was now more than ever necessary that max should enter his father's business, and, when old and experienced enough, endeavour to carry it on. from the nature of the business it was evident that this was no light task, and would require a great deal of training and an immense amount of hard work if it were to be done successfully. but the prospect of hard work did not appeal max, and within a fortnight of his father's death he was busy learning the details of the vast business carried on under his name. monsieur durend had been the proprietor of very large iron and steel foundries and workshops in liége. the business was an immense one, and, beside the manufacture of all kinds of machinery and railway material, worked for its own benefit several coal and iron mines, all of which were in the district or on the outskirts of the town. the business had been a very flourishing one, and had been largely under the personal direction of the proprietor, assisted by his manager, m. otto schenk, to whose ability and energy, m. durend was always ready to acknowledge, it owed much of its success. the latter was now, of course, the mainstay of the business, and it was with every confidence in his ability that madame durend appointed him general manager with almost unlimited powers. m. schenk was indeed a man to impress people at the outset with a sense of strength and of power to command. he was over six feet in height, broad, but with rather sloping shoulders, and very stoutly built. his head, large itself, almost seemed to merge in a greater neck, and both were held stiffly erect as he glowered at the world through cold and rather protruding eyes, much as a drill-instructor glares at his pupils. he was florid-complexioned, with short, closely-cropped grey hair and a short, stubby, dirty-white moustache. of his grasp of the affairs of the firm and his business ability generally, people were not so immediately impressed as they were with his power to command, but they invariably learned to appreciate this side of his character in time. the matter of the direction of the affairs of the firm settled to everyone's satisfaction, the question as to what was to be done with max came up for discussion. "i think it will be best, max, if you go into m. schenk's office and assist him there," said madame durend at last. "you will there pick up the threads of the business, and when you are two or three years older we can consider what we are going to do." "but, mother," replied max, "that was not the way father learned his business. you have often proudly told me how he used to work as a simple mechanic, going from shop to shop and learning all he could of the practical side of the different processes. how he then bought a small business, extended it and extended it, until it grew to its present size. and the whole secret of his success was that he knew the work so thoroughly from top to bottom that he could depend upon his own knowledge, and needed not to be in the hands of men with more knowledge of detail but vastly less capacity than himself." "yes, max, that is true; but the business is now built up, and is so big that it does not seem necessary for you to go through all that. we have an able manager, and from him you can learn all that you will ever need to know of the work of directing the affairs of the firm." "i should then never know the work thoroughly. i should always be dependent upon those who had learned the practical side of the work, mother. let me spend a year or two in learning it from the bottom. i shall enjoy the work, and shall then feel far more confidence in myself." max spoke earnestly, and his mother could see that he was longing to throw himself heart and soul into the work. it was, indeed, the spirit in which he had flung himself into the task of lifting benson's to the head of the river over again. though she had a mother's dislike to the idea of her son's donning blouse and apron and working cheek by jowl with the workmen, she had also a clear perception that it would be a mistake to discourage such energy and thoroughness. she therefore resolved to consult m. schenk on the morrow, and, if he saw no special objection, to allow max to have his way. m. schenk did see several objections, foremost among which was his view that for the master's son to work like a common workman would tend to lessen the present extremely strict discipline in the workshops. max, however, scouted such an idea as an unfair reflection on the men, and continued to press his point of view most strenuously. in the end he managed to get his way, and within a week had started work at the firm's smelting furnaces. this story does not, however, deal with the experiences of max durend in learning the various activities of the great manufactory founded by his father. it will, therefore, suffice if we relate one incident that had, in the sequel, an important influence upon his career, an incident, too, that gives an insight into his character and that of the different classes of workmen that would, in the course of time, come under his control. max was at the time working at a huge turret lathe in one of the turning-shops. around him were other workmen similarly engaged. across the room ran numerous great leather driving-bands, running at high speed and driving the great machines with which the place was filled. apparently the material of one of the driving-bands was faulty, for it suddenly parted, slipped off the driving-wheels, and became entangled in one of the other bands. as this spun round the loose band caught in the machine close by, wrenched it from its foundation and turned it over on its side, pinning down to the floor the workman attending to it. the man gave a screech as he was borne down, a screech that was broken off short as the heavy machine fell partly upon his neck and chest, choking him with its fell weight. a straggling cry of alarm was raised by the other workmen who witnessed the tragic occurrence, and many pressed forward to his aid. but the great band which had done the mischief was being carried round and round by the driving-band in which it had become entangled, and was viciously flogging the air and floor all about the stricken man. some of the men shouted for the engines to be stopped, others ran for something that could be interposed to take the rain of blows from the flying band. max, however, saw that something more prompt than this was necessary. from the look on the man's face it was clear that if the pressure on his throat and chest were not immediately relaxed he would be choked to death. crawling forward beneath the flogging band, and bowing his head to its pitiless flagellations, max grasped the overturned machine and strove to lift it off the unfortunate man. the weight was altogether too great for him to lift unaided, but he found he could raise it a fraction of an inch and enable the man to gain a little breath. holding it thus, max grimly stood his ground with his head down, his teeth firmly set, and his back arched against the rhythmic rain of blows from the great band. soon the clothes were flogged from off his back, and the band touched the bare skin. almost fainting, he held on, for the eyes of the man below him were staring up at him with a look of dumb and frightened entreaty that roused in him all the strength of mind and fixity of purpose he possessed. the shouts for the engines to be stopped at last prevailed. the bands revolved more slowly, and then ceased altogether. many willing hands were laid upon the overturned machine, and it was lifted off the prostrate man just as max's strength gave out, and he sank limply to the floor in a deep swoon. neither max nor the workman was seriously injured. both had had a severe shock, and max, in addition, had wounds that, while not dangerous, were extremely painful. after six weeks at ostend, however, he was himself again, and ready to continue his work in yet another branch of the firm's activities. this time he was to learn the miner's craft, and to see for himself all that appertained to the trade of hewing out coal and iron from the interior of the earth and lifting it to the surface. on the evening of his return to liége from ostend he was sitting in his study alone, reading up the subject that was to be unfolded in actual practice before his gaze on the morrow, when there came a knock at the door. "come in," he yelled. the door opened, and the maid ushered in a middle-aged workman in his sunday clothes, accompanied by a woman whom max guessed to be his wife. the man he recognized at once as the workman he had succoured in the accident to the driving-band. "monsieur dubec--he would come in," explained the servant deprecatingly, as she withdrew and closed the door. the man looked furtively at max, twisted his cap nervously in his hands, and stood gazing down at the floor in sheepish silence. his wife was less ill at ease, and, after nudging her spouse ineffectually once or twice, blurted out rapidly: "he has come, monsieur, to thank you for saving his life, and to tell you that he will work for you and serve you so long as he lives. he is my man, and i say the same, monsieur, though i do not work in the shops, and cannot help. but if ever ye should want aught done, monsieur, send for madame dubec, and she will serve you with all her heart in any way you wish." the woman spoke in a trembling voice, and with a deep and earnest sincerity that showed how much she was moved. her emotion, indeed, communicated itself to max, and he felt as tongue-tied as the man dubec himself. it had somehow not occurred to him that he would be thanked, and the whole thing took him by surprise. still, he had to say something, and he struggled to find something that would put them at their ease. "i am sure you will, madame dubec, and i will remember your offer indeed. but make not too much of what i have done. i was near at hand, and came forward first, but many of your husband's comrades were as ready, though not quite so quick. it was the aid of one comrade given to another, and one day it may be my turn to receive and your husband's to give." the man shook his head vigorously in dissent, and in so doing seemed to find his tongue. "nay, sir, 'tis much more than that. some there are who would have helped; but the more part of my fellow-workmen would not lift a hand to help another in distress. as ye must have noticed, sir, there are two classes of men in your father's works. there are the belgians born and bred, who loved your father and hated, and still hate, the tyrant schenk and the german-speaking workmen who have joined in such numbers of late that we others fear a time will soon come for us to go. the belgians are good comrades, and would have come to my aid had they the quickness to have known what to do. the others would have seen me die unmoved--i know it." "but they, too, are belgians, are they not?" "aye, sir, they are belgians so far as the law can tell; but they speak not our tongue, and are not really of us." "they are good workmen, and m. schenk thinks much of them." "true. but they do not hold with the rest of us, and we do not like them. nor do we trust them, sir." the man spoke in an earnest, almost a warning, tone, and max looked at him in some surprise. it seemed more than the mere jealousy of a walloon at the presence of so many men, alien in tongue and race, in a business which had once been exclusively their own. max had himself noticed the two classes of workmen, but had, if he thought about it at all, put it down as inevitable in a town so near the frontiers of three states. "well, never mind them, monsieur dubec," he replied reassuringly. "they have not been with us long, and it may be they will be better comrades in a few years' time. and now good-bye! think not too much of your accident, and it will be the better for you and me." "good-bye, and may the bon dieu bless you, sir!" replied both monsieur and madame dubec in a fashion that told max that he had gained two friends at least, and friends whose staunchness could be depended upon to the utmost. m. schenk's view of the whole affair was blunt and to the point. "you are foolish," he said to max, "to trouble yourself about these workmen. they are cattle, and it is always best to treat them as such. that has always been my way, and it has answered well. consider them and humour them, and the next minute they want to strike for more. bah! keep them in their place; it is best so." "but," urged max, quite distressed as he thought of dubec, and recalled the accents of trembling sincerity of his spouse--"but surely many of them are better led than driven--the best of them, at any rate? i know little of business as yet, but something tells me that it is well for us to get the goodwill of our men." "it is not worth a straw," replied m. schenk with conviction. "the goodwill, as you call it, of your managers, and perhaps even of your foremen, is of value, but the goodwill of your men--your rank and file--is of no account. so long as they obey, and obey promptly, you have all that is necessary to carry on even a great undertaking like this successfully." "well," replied max rather hotly, "all i can say is that when _i_ direct the affairs of the firm, i shall give the other thing a trial. i don't like the idea of treating men as cattle, and i cannot help thinking too many men have been discharged of late because they have shown a little spirit." m. schenk looked at max in a way that made the latter momentarily think he would like to strike him. then the manager half turned away, as he replied in an almost contemptuous tone: "you will be older and wiser soon, and we shall then see whether any change will be made. until then it is _i_ who direct the affairs of the firm, and it is _my_ policy which must prevail." max felt uncommonly angry. he had been conscious for some time past that m. schenk was acting as though he expected to rule the affairs of the firm for all time, and the thought galled him greatly. was not he, max, sweating and struggling through every workshop solely in order that he might fit himself to direct affairs? how was it, then, that this man, in his own mind, practically ignored him? was it because he was so incompetent that the manager thought he never would be fit to take his place? max certainly felt more angry than he had ever done before, and, unable to trust himself to speak, abruptly left the manager's presence and walked rapidly away. one good result the conversation had, and that was to redouble max's ardour to learn, and learn thoroughly, every branch of the work in every part of the vast concern. chapter iv the cataclysm the second summer since max durend had left hawkesley had come, and for the second time max invited his friend dale to come over to liége and spend a few weeks with him. the previous summer they had spent most pleasantly on a walking-tour through the ardennes, and they were now going to do the same thing along the middle and upper rhine. max had originally planned a tour in holland, but m. schenk recommended the rhine valley as much more varied and picturesque, and max had agreed readily enough to follow his recommendation. behold them then setting out from bonn railway station, knapsack on back and walking-stick in hand, full of spirits and go, for a four or five weeks' tramp, first through the drachenfels and then on through the pretty rhine-side villages, making a detour here and there to visit the more picturesque and broken country through which the rhine made its way. they marched light, their only baggage besides their knapsacks being a large gladstone shared between them. this they did not take with them, but used, merely to replenish their knapsacks occasionally with clean linen, by sending it along a week or so ahead of them to such towns as they expected to visit later on. their days were full of happiness, peace, and contentment, and the last days of july, , drew to a close all too rapidly for them. they knew next to nothing of the fearful storm brewing, until dale happened, towards the end of the second week of their holidays, to take up and glance down the columns of a german newspaper lying on the table of the hotel at which they were about to dine. his knowledge of german was small, but was sufficient to enable him to grasp the purport of the thick headlines with which the journal was plentifully supplied. "hullo, max, look at this," he cried, pointing to the thick type. "german ultimatum to russia. immediate demobilization demanded." "that looks serious, eh?" "phew! it does," cried max, taking the paper and rapidly scanning the chief columns. "you may be sure that if russia is in it france will be too. my hat! what a war it will be!" "yes, and----by the way, this explains why those two frenchmen we met at the hotel yesterday were in such a hurry to be off without waiting for breakfast. they had seen the news and were afraid that, if they didn't get back at once, they wouldn't get back at all." "that's it. there's one comfort, anyway, dale, and that is, that neither of us is likely to be concerned. there seems no earthly reason why england or belgium should come into this." "no, and a good job too. we have enough troubles of our own all over the world without butting in on the continent." for the next few days max and his friend were again more or less buried from the outer world. they had not, however, altogether forgotten the great events that were taking place, and on reaching bingen went so far (for them) as to purchase a paper. matters, they found, had grown far more serious. germany was already at war with russia and france, and had demanded of belgium free passage for her troops to enter and attack france. max was thunderstruck. he had never expected anything like this. that belgium, peace-loving belgium, with her neutrality guaranteed by practically all the great civilized powers, should, in spite of it, be about to be forced into a great european war had seemed unthinkable. yet so it was, and it seemed that war was inevitable, for max did not believe belgium would ever allow foreign troops to cross her territory to attack a country with which she was at peace. with belgium, then, on the verge of war, it behoved him to look to his own safety; for it was obvious he was not safe where he was. "i think we had better make tracks for home, dale," he said soberly. "i dare say i can pass with you as an englishman, but it won't do to take risks. our bag should be at the central post office, so let us get it and take the first train back to liége." "if there are any trains bound for the frontier that are not crammed with troops," responded dale somewhat significantly. "oh, shut up! come along and let's see." they lost not a moment in getting their bag and having it conveyed to the railway station. fully alive to the situation, they now kept their eyes well open and noticed things they would never have noticed before. for one thing, it struck them that the post office official who handed their bag over to them seemed decidedly over-curious, and remarked that he supposed they were going to the railway station. that was disconcerting enough, but when they arrived at the station, and were almost immediately accosted by a man whom they both remembered seeing inside the post office, they felt almost as though they were already under lock and key. not that the man was unfriendly. he was quite the reverse. he seemed anxious to strike up an acquaintance, wished to know exactly where they were going, and gave them to understand that there was nothing he desired more than to be allowed the privilege of making a part of the journey with them. max presently gave dale a meaning glance. it was all very well for an englishman like dale, he felt, but for him, virtually a belgian, the situation was wellnigh desperate. "i say, dale," he said casually, "we must have some sandwiches to eat in the train. stay here by the bag while i get some--or perhaps this gentleman wouldn't mind looking after it for a moment?" the young german hesitated a second, and then nodded. max and his friend strolled coolly off, arm in arm, towards the refreshment buffet. neither looked back, but their conversation was far from being as airy and unconcerned as their manner might have seemed to indicate. "we must leave the bag and get clear at once," cried max emphatically. "the fellow has been set to watch us and see that we don't get out of the country. i think he must believe we are both english, and it therefore looks as though the germans think england is on the point of coming in too. see, now, let us stroll quietly in at this door and slip out again at the end one. then into the street and somewhere--no matter where--so long as it is out of the way of spying eyes." they did so with an unhurried celerity that might have deceived a smarter man than the supposed spy. soon they were clear of the town and in the open country beyond, and it was not till then that they felt as though they could talk unrestrainedly together. "now what shall we do, max? walk to the next station out from bingen and see if we can get a train for home?" enquired dale, not too hopefully. "no, old man; we must keep clear of railways and railway stations. let us make tracks for the frontier as we are, and go all out." "it will be dark in another hour." "never mind. we must foot it all night. we have no time to lose, and we must not throw away a single hour. in fact, it is hardly safe for us to be about in daylight anywhere. you look as english as they are made, and i'm not much better." "all right! i'm game for an all-night tramp. come on." "we have about seven hours of darkness before us, and i reckon we ought to be able to do four miles an hour. that gives us about thirty miles. it's less than that to the frontier, and we ought to be able to manage it, even if we have to leave the road and cut straight across country. come along; we'll keep to the road while we can, but if too risky we must go helter-skelter, plumb for the frontier." that night march neither of them is ever likely to forget. for an hour or so they tramped along the road unmolested. then they began to find soldiers and policemen very much in evidence, and, fearing to be questioned, they left the road and took to the fields and open country. it was desperately rough going in many places, and instead of doing four miles an hour they could oftentimes do no more than two. but they stuck gamely to their task, and plodded steadily on all through the night, realizing more surely with every step they took that it was a plain case of now or never. for every time they neared a road they found it alive with soldiers, all marching steadily in one direction--towards the belgian frontier. the still night air resounded with the tramp of innumerable feet, and now and again they could catch the distant rumble of heavy guns. when day broke they were still in germany, but near the frontier, and in a sparsely peopled district. they were both nearly dead-beat, covered with mud from head to foot, and with their clothes torn half off their backs. it seemed a risky business to let themselves be seen anywhere in that condition, but finally max chose a lonely farm-house, and, after cleaning himself up as much as possible, managed to make a purchase of a good supply of food. they then tramped on for another mile or two, ate a good meal, hid themselves in a dry ditch, and instantly dropped asleep. it was ten o'clock when they awoke, and after some discussion they decided to make the few miles between them and the border at once, and then to purchase cycles and press for home. this they did exactly as they planned, and, though often delayed and compelled to make wide detours to avoid bodies of german cavalry, they managed to reach liége safely in the evening of the same day. the sights that met their gaze on the latter part of their journey made them doubly eager to get within the safety of the ring of forts surrounding liége. peasants were fleeing from the frontier villages, and their tales of what the germans had done to their homes and dear ones made the blood of max and his friend alternately freeze with horror and boil with rage. their tales were a long catalogue of deeds of ruthless barbarity, cold-blooded cruelty, lust, and rapine. the smoke of burning houses seen in the distance gave emphasis to their tales of horror, and max and dale at last felt as though the world must be coming to an end. indeed, the world of make-believe german civilization was coming to an end in a wild outburst of unrestrained cruelty and lust. but at liége, they told one another, things would be different. there the invaders would come against something more than villages peopled with frightened peasants and trustful countryfolk, and would realize in their turn something of the terribleness of war. chapter v the fall of liége arrived at his home, max was astonished to find that his mother and sister had fled over the border to maastricht, taking two of the servants with them. a letter had been left for him, however, and this he tore feverishly open. in a few words his mother explained why she, as an englishwoman and one getting on in years, preferred to seek safety in holland to remaining in a city which obviously would soon be the storm-centre of a terrible struggle. she then reminded max that he had not yet reached a man's age, and could not be expected to take a man's part. would he not leave the affairs of the firm to m. schenk and join her in holland? but his conscience must decide, she finally conceded, though it was clear how her own desires ran. but whether he left or stayed, she expected him to take no part in the fighting that was bound to come. questioning the servants, max found that his mother's flight had been arranged at the urgent solicitation of m. schenk, and without more ado he left the house and hastened to the works to see the manager, and gather what further particulars he could. he did not doubt the wisdom of his mother's precipitate flight, for even now scouting parties of the germans had appeared before the eastern forts, and no one could doubt that the city was on the point of being invested and besieged. m. schenk was clearly surprised to see max and his friend, and was at no pains to hide it. "a letter was left for you, monsieur max," he said in his ponderous way, "telling you that your mother wished you to join her instantly. did they not hand it to you?" "yes," replied max, "i have received the letter, and i have come to learn something more about their flight. have they taken money enough for what may be a long stay? and can we send them more before the city is invested?" "all that is seen to, monsieur max. i have had a large sum of money transferred to a bank in maastricht for their use. they will be safe and well there, and i strongly advise you to join them. you will certainly not be safe here." "why not? why should i go if you can stay--if you _are_ staying?" "because, sir, you are half an englishman, and before the day is out england will have joined in this conflict. no englishman will be safe here if the germans enter, and i strongly urge you and your friend to escape before the city is surrounded. i will carry on the business, and do my best in the interests of the firm and your good mother." "yes, yes, i know; but i am a belgian as much as an englishman, and i am not going to fly the country like that. if i cannot yet fight for her i can work for her, and i have made up my mind to stay, monsieur schenk." "as you will," replied m. schenk, shrugging his shoulders in indifference, "but do not blame me if things do not go as you wish." "that's all right," replied max quickly. "now, as to the work of the firm. i have been thinking that we might use our great works to assist in the defence of the town. soon the forts will be in action, and if the city is invested they can only replenish their stores from within the town itself. why should we not begin to cast shells instead of rails, and see whether we cannot make rifles and machine-guns instead of machinery? there are many things we could do at once, and many others in a little while." "that is true, sir, and you will find that i have not been behindhand. i have already seen the commandant, and our casting-shops are almost ready to begin casting shells. i am not letting the grass grow under my feet, i can assure you, and in a week or two we shall be able to do great things in the defence of the town. come down to the works with monsieur dale, and see the preparations we are making for turning out shells for big guns. you will see that the durend workshops are going to be well to the fore here as elsewhere, and i prophesy that they will be so until the end of the war." as they made the tour of the works, max was both astonished and delighted at the evidence he saw of the energy and ability displayed in turning over the vast manufacturing resources of the firm from peace to war. the rapidity with which the works had been transformed was indeed remarkable, and his opinion of m. schenk's capacity, already great, became almost profound. "now, dale, what are you going to do?" demanded max as the two friends parted company with the manager at the door of the last shop. "i think you had better get clear while you can. this place is my home and i must stand by it, but you are not concerned and ought to get out of it, if only for your people's sake." "my people! my uncle and aunt, you mean. _they_ won't bother their heads about me," replied dale decidedly. "no, max, i came over here to see the sights, and i am going to see 'em, come what may. if england is in it, well and good; it will then be my quarrel as much as yours, and we will work or fight against germany together. hurrah!" max grasped his friend's hand. "i ought not to encourage you, dale, but i can't help it, and i'm jolly glad. let us go into this business together--it will seem like old times. d'ye remember the fight we put up for benson's?" "who could forget it?" cried dale with enthusiasm. "and how it ended?" "aye--and it was fixity of purpose that did it, so said benson. well, let us do something of the sort again. hark! d'ye hear that?" "rifle-shots. the fun has commenced. come along, and we will see what we can of it before the day is out. to-morrow i am going to start work in the casting-shops, and i hope you will come and help me." "i will. come along." the sound of rifle-shots was quickly succeeded by the distant boom of guns. then the sound was swallowed up in the roar of the big guns of the forts, and it seemed as though a tremendous attack was in progress. the streets of the town instantly began to fill with excited people, until it appeared as though everyone had left his work to discuss the situation and listen to the noise of battle. through the crowds pressed small bodies of soldiers dispatched as reinforcements to the ring of forts surrounding the town. max and dale followed one of these parties at a respectful distance, and climbed with them from the cup-like hollow in which liége is situated to the hills beyond. the soldiers were bound for one of the forts on the eastward side, and, as they reached the higher ground, the two lads caught their first glimpse of the fighting. darkness was coming on, and away in the distance they could see the intensely bright flashes of high-explosive shells bursting on or around the forts, as well as the flame of the fortress guns belching forth their replies. as it grew darker the duel grew more intense, and lasted without intermission throughout the night till three or four o'clock in the morning. by that time the forts were apparently thought to have been sufficiently damaged to permit of an assault, and the german infantry were flung against them in massed formation. unfortunately for them, however, the guns had not been heavy enough to make any impression on the steel cupolas which sheltered the big guns of the forts, and, as the infantry pressed forward to the attack, they were literally swept away by a devastating shell-fire from the forts attacked and those flanking them. again and again fresh masses were sent forward to the assault, only to meet with a similar fate. in the attack on one of the forts the infantry, favoured no doubt by the formation of the ground, were able to get so close that the guns could not be depressed sufficiently to reach them. they believed the fort as good as won, and with cheers of exultation pressed on to the final assault. but at the corners of the forts quick-firing guns were stationed, and these and the infantry lining the parapets mowed them down as surely as the big guns. in the wide spaces between the forts the belgian field army had entrenched, and with rifle-fire and frequent bayonet attacks frustrated every attempt of the german infantry to break through. the infantry assaults lasted until eight o'clock in the morning, when the germans withdrew, heavily shaken. they had hoped to rush the forts with heavy masses of infantry, supported only by light artillery, and they had failed. they now waited for the heavy guns, which were already on the road, to arrive, and very soon forts fléron and chaudfontaine were deluged with an accurate fire of enormous shells, so powerful as to overturn the massive cupolas and to pierce concrete walls twelve feet thick as though they were made of butter. such shells as these they had never been built to withstand, and it was not long before they succumbed, thus opening a way for the invaders towards the town itself. forts evegnée and barchon soon shared the same fate, and the belgian field army, which had continued to maintain an heroic resistance, began to fall back on the town. max and dale had not been allowed to see much of these events. before midnight they were accosted by a patrol and ordered to return to the safety of the town. early the following day, before the fall of the forts and the retreat of the belgian army, max and dale carried out their intention of presenting themselves at the casting-shops and lending a hand in the making of shells. to their satisfaction they found the work going forward with splendid energy and smoothness, and, with their own ardour kindled by the sights they had seen the previous night, they joined zealously in the work. presently it came home to max that there had been considerable changes in the personnel of the shop since he had last worked there. the men he looked out for--those with whom he had been on most friendly terms when he was there--were gone, and their places were taken by other and, for the most part, younger men, all quite strangers to the place so far as he could see. but, most strange of all, the language of the shop was german. the walloon, or flemish-speaking belgians, were the men who had gone, and german-speaking workmen had taken their places. on making a few cautious enquiries, max learned that the men who had gone had been transferred to shops which were still engaged in executing peace-time orders, rails, axles, wheels, and the like, and that the whole of the shell output was being handled by the newer german-speaking workmen. max felt no particular resentment at this. he did not like it, but he knew the manager's preference for these men as workmen, and he could not deny that they were a hard-working, docile lot, nor that the work was well organized and being carried on with splendid spirit and energy. it seemed hard, however, that the belgian-born men should not have a chance of directly working for their country's benefit, and, as soon as he could, max took an opportunity of representing the matter to m. schenk. "why have you withdrawn all the older men from the shell-shops, monsieur schenk? they were good men, and have served the firm well. upon my word, while working there and hearing naught but the german tongue, one might have fancied oneself in the enemy's country." "they are loyal belgians, monsieur max," replied m. schenk reassuringly. "they are as ready as flemings or walloons to work to the utmost, casting shells for our gallant army. that speaks sufficiently for their sentiments. i have filled the shop with them because they work well together, and there is no jealousy. we must do our best for belgium in this crisis, and should be swayed by no consideration save that of finding the best men for each of our great tasks." "well done, monsieur schenk!" cried max impulsively. "i also will go where you think best. where shall it be?" "thank you!" replied the manager, smiling. "i think you are doing so well where you are that i cannot improve upon it. remain at work in the casting-shop and aid me to increase the output of shells. it is my belief that we can turn out double the number with no increase of staff, and i shall leave no stone unturned to make my opinion good." greatly heartened by this evidence of the manager's energy and patriotism, max and his friend did stick to their work and fling themselves into it even more whole-heartedly than they had done before. on the morrow, the th august, however, events happened that entirely changed the aspect of affairs. forts fléron, chaudfontaine, evegnée, and barchon had fallen, and early in the morning of that day german infantry entered liége. the forts on the north, south, and west of the town still held out for a time, but the town from that moment remained in german hands. to the people, and especially the workers of liége, this made a vital difference. the output of the numerous factories, in so far as it was useful to the german armies, was at any moment liable to be requisitioned by them; and it was as clear as noonday that all who toiled in the manufacture of such articles were assisting the enemy in their attack upon their own kith and kin, and strengthening the grip he had already laid upon their native land. chapter vi a new standpoint to max and his chum these were days charged high with excitement. their day's toil in the shops over, they raced away to the points where the most exciting events were to be seen. they were witnesses of most that went forward, and actually lent a hand in the rounding-up, from among the civil population of the city, of the band of armed germans who attempted to assassinate the commandant of the fortress, general leman. the entry of the germans was to both of them a fearful blow. they knew little of military matters, and vaguely believed that the town and forts were strong enough to stand a regular siege. and yet on the third day after the attack the town had fallen! as they watched the young german troops marching into the town they could not help feeling deeply disappointed and discouraged. "i wish now that you had gone home, dale," remarked max in a gloomy voice as they slowly made their way towards the works. "now that the place has fallen you can do no good here. and as you are not a native you may be taken for a spy and shot off-hand." "shut up, max! we've agreed to go through this business together, and there's an end of it. liége is lost, but the war's still on, and it will be hard if we can't find some way of giving our side a shove forward." "aye to that, dale. well, if you don't mind being here in a conquered town i'm jolly glad to have you. now, i suppose we can still go on helping to cast shells--why no, dale! we simply can't do any more of that work; it's absolutely useless." "of course it is. you may be sure the germans won't let shells be sent away from liége except to germany. your works had better get on with the other work. shells are out of the question." "i must see schenk about this," replied max thoughtfully. "it needs thinking out what work--if any at all--we can do without helping the germans. it's an awkward business, but i have no doubt schenk can see daylight through it." "i should think so, but--hallo! what's that?" dale stopped suddenly, and stood gazing down a side street, the end of which they were just about to cross. a sudden burst of screams and shouts, quite startling in its intensity, assailed their ears, and made them look and look with a feeling of foreboding new to them. at the far end of the street they could see a group of men in the grey-green uniform surging to and fro before a house from which the screams seemed to issue. "the germans--doing the same dirty work as they did at visé!" gasped max, turning away his head and clenching his fists in his pockets. "i hardly know how to keep from rushing down there, utterly useless though it is." "it is women they are ill-treating--how can we walk away?" cried dale in acute distress. "let us go down, and if we cannot fight, let us beg them to desist. perhaps if we offered them money----?" "useless," muttered max, though he stopped and gazed down the road in irresolution. "and yet how _can_ we pass by, dale?" he went on with a groan. "i know i shall always call myself a coward if i do nothing. let's walk a little closer, and see if we can do anything." dale eagerly agreed, and they walked quickly down the road towards the group of soldiers and their victims. as they drew nearer, and could see something of what was happening, their anger increased, until they were almost ready to throw themselves upon the soldiers and oppose their bayonets with their bare fists. the house before which the outrage was taking place seemed, for some reason, to have been singled out from the others which lined both sides of the street, possibly because the head of the house was well known as an opponent of the germans or because of some act of hostility committed against the soldiers. at any rate, an elderly man, evidently dragged from the house, had been tied to the front railings, and was being subjected to treatment so cruel that it almost amounted to torture. the womenfolk of the house had apparently rushed out and endeavoured to intervene, but had been forcibly held back, and were at that moment being subjected to brutal indignities that angered max and dale even more than the cold-blooded cruelty to the man himself. the two had arrived within some forty yards of the scene, and were still pressing on as though drawn by a magnet, although neither knew what he was going to do, when one of the soldiers drew the attention of his fellows to the two young men advancing towards them. at the same time he picked up his rifle, took quick aim, and discharged it directly at them. the bullet whizzed between them, and, on the impulse, max seized dale by the arm and dragged him through the open doorway of the nearest house. a roar of laughter from the soldiers at their rapid exit followed them, and made the anger of one at least of them burn with a still fiercer resentment. "right through and out at the back," cried max in urgent tones, and the two passed through the house, which appeared to be deserted, and found themselves in an open space intersected only by low garden fences. max laid his hand on his friend's arm. "i am going to move quietly along until i reach the back of the house where those curs are at work," he said in a hard, suppressed voice. "i must do something, but do not you come, dale. there is no need for you----" "i am already in it, i tell you," almost shouted dale as he impatiently shook him off. "it's as much my affair as yours. come on." the two made their way rapidly but cautiously along until they reached the house they sought. the doors were open at the back, and the shouts and screams were almost as audible there as at the front. "we have no weapons; let us arm ourselves with these," cried max, pointing to some blocks of ornamental quartz bordering a little fernery. even in the midst of his excitement it struck max how strangely the orderliness of the tiny, well-kept garden seemed to contrast with the deeds of violence being committed outside. rapidly but quietly the two lads filled hands and pockets with the heavy missiles. then they crept inside the house and up the stairs to the floor above. the house was quite empty, for all within had rushed or been dragged to the scene in front. the bedroom windows were wide open, and the instant they entered both lads began with one impulse to hurl with all their strength the great stones upon the german soldiery below. they were both wild with rage at what they had witnessed, and utterly reckless what fate might ultimately be theirs, so long as they could inflict some punishment upon the cowardly wrongdoers. [illustration: both lads began to hurl the great stones upon the german soldiery] the soldiers, completely taken aback by this sudden rain of missiles almost from the skies, immediately scattered to the opposite side of the road and took refuge in the gardens there. not one of them had his rifle to hand, for their arms had been stacked against the wall of the house they were attacking, and even the man who had fired at max and dale had put down his rifle once more. thus, for the moment, the soldiers were impotent, and max shouted rapidly in the walloon dialect to the women below to release the man tied to the railings and escape through the house. with a promptitude that was wholly admirable, one of the women drew a pair of scissors from her pocket and cut the cords that bound the man to the fence. with a cry of joy the poor fellow staggered to his feet. but, stiffened by his bonds or exhausted by the cruel treatment he had received, he could barely stand, and had to be half supported and half dragged by two of the women back into the house. "tell them to be off, dale," cried max rapidly. "i will hold back these men for a minute. take them right through into the street beyond and get them out of sight. i will follow in a moment." dale obeyed, and under his guidance the whole party made their way rapidly through the house, into the gardens, and through the houses opposite into the road beyond. at the disappearance of their prey the soldiers set up a howl of rage, and made a concerted rush for their weapons. but max redoubled his efforts, and, his supply of quartz exhausted, rained down upon them jugs, mirrors, pictures, and everything movable he could lay hands upon, holding them in check for a few precious moments. then, after one final fling, he bolted from the room into the bedroom at the back and leapt out of the window. landing in a flower-bed unhurt, he rushed without a pause at the low garden fence in front of him, cleared it at a bound, and dashed through the house opposite in the wake of dale and the fugitive people. meanwhile, out in the roadway, the soldiers had seized their weapons, and, hardly knowing what to expect, poured two or three volleys into the empty house. then they cautiously reconnoitred, and by the time they had come to the conclusion that the house was indeed empty, the fugitives were completely beyond their reach. characteristically enough, they vented their rage and disappointment on the inanimate objects within their reach. the crash of furniture soon rose above their shouts of fury, and in the end smoke rolled from the windows and poured upwards to the sky as a silent witness to the new spirit that had come to dominate the land. max and dale hurried the people they had rescued away from the scene of the outbreak, and would not allow them to slacken speed until they had put a mile of streets between them and their savage foes. it was then, max judged, high time to find a haven of refuge of some sort, for, with one exception, the women were half crazed with fear and the man quite exhausted with ill-usage. any german soldiers or spies who passed them could hardly fail to remark that they were fugitives, and they would soon find themselves in as bad a case as before. questioning a woman who still retained a show of self-possession, max learned that they had friends in another part of the town, and towards their house he promptly directed their retreat. without further misadventure they reached the house they sought, and max and dale saw their charges safely inside the door. then they hurried away, for it was obviously dangerous both for them and for the fugitives to be in one another's company a moment longer than necessary. thanks were not thought of; the rescued were not ungrateful but were altogether too upset for expression, and the rescuers were only thankful to have been of use, without a thought of anything else. "by george, max, how i did enjoy that!" cried dale with enthusiasm, as they turned their steps once more towards the works. "i feel an inch taller, and can face the world as an honest man." "aye, jack, i feel like that too. how should we have felt had we let that business go on unchecked?" "and it has done a bit of good, too, i imagine. those cowardly germans will not forget that rain of quartz in a hurry, and may leave the poor folk alone another time." "i am not so sure. but the question is, what are we going to do now? we cannot go on casting shells which will be certain to be seized by the germans. if we make railway material it will only be used to convey soldiers into the field against our men. no. i must see schenk, and get him to close all branches of the works that might be of use to the enemy. that is the only thing to be done. then i shall try to get through to join the belgian army." "and i too, max. i will join with you. we have started on this business together and we will finish it together." chapter vii a few words with m. schenk arrived at the durend works, max went straight to m. schenk's office. two men, whom max had not seen before, were coming out as he entered, but the manager was at that moment alone. he looked up as max came in, and, when he saw who it was, smiled in a way that our hero did not altogether like. it seemed less a smile of welcome than of tolerant amusement, and instead of commencing diplomatically, as he had intended, max burst out rather heatedly: "monsieur schenk, we must close the works. we cannot go on making shells now that the germans are in occupation of liége. it is not loyal to belgium, and i am certain my mother would not wish us to do such a thing." the manager gazed at max almost blankly for a moment, as though quite taken by surprise. then he smiled again, almost pityingly, as he replied: "i do not think you understand the position, monsieur max. the germans are now masters here, and what they order us that we must do. the german commander only an hour ago sent word that he would hold the heads of the firm responsible for any decrease in the output of the durend works; so what can i do? would it help belgium if you and i were replaced by men from krupp's? no; it were better that we--or at any rate i--remain, so that the firm's interests are not wholly forgotten." "but if we refuse to work, the workmen will do so too," cried max earnestly. "if we continue at work, they may continue also. we have an example of patriotism to set, and set it we must." "bah! if krupp's run these works the workmen will have to work, make no mistake on that point. now, monsieur max, pray leave me, for i must to work again. you may rest assured that i am looking after the interests of the firm. think no more about such matters, but take heed to yourself, for your end will be swift indeed if the germans think you actively hostile to their occupation of the town." "i care not," cried max recklessly. "let them take us both and let krupp's take over the firm--at least our hands will be clean of treachery to our country. once more, monsieur schenk, as my mother's representative, i appeal to you not to aid the enemy by running the works for their help and benefit." the manager snorted indignantly. "_i_ am responsible here, and i am going to exercise my own judgment," he cried sharply. "and now, leave me. you are too young to discuss these matters and you weary me." turning round sharply on his heel, max left the room. he had never been spoken to like that before, and it cut him to the heart. he wanted time to think out the situation and to make up his mind what action he should take. true, this man was manager and entrusted with great powers; but max stood to some extent in the position of owner, and that he should be treated thus seemed an indignity in the highest degree. it was a relief to pour his woes into the ear of the faithful dale, and together these two paced through the yard, conning over earnestly all the bearings of the situation. it was while they were thus engaged that a fleet of thirty or forty great military motor-lorries rattled by. "the beginning," cried max bitterly, nodding towards them. "yes, i fear so. i wonder what they are after?" "let us follow and see. we may as well know the worst." the wagons came to a stand alongside one of the largest of the stacks of empty shells which now dotted the yard, and, with a promptitude that showed that everything had been arranged beforehand, the tarpaulins that covered the stacks were thrown aside and the shells passed one by one into the wagons. "now that seems queer to me," remarked dale, as he watched the men with a thoughtful face. "what can the germans want with shells that will only fit the belgian guns! queer, i call it." "they may be going to use them in the captured guns," replied max. "let us look in again at the casting-shops and see if they have started on shells for german guns. 'pon my word i have half a mind to appeal to the men to cease work, strange as it would be coming from the owner's son while the manager of the works made no sign. the place is running at top speed too--see, dale?" it was evident that there was no relaxation here. the whole of the buildings and furnaces engaged in the castings were simply humming with energy, and when they entered the nearest door they were amazed. double the number of men that were at work the day before were now engaged and were working with an intensity that seemed inexplicable to max. as they entered, one of the foremen came up to them. "keep a still tongue, dale," muttered max beneath his breath. "you are late, monsieur," he said, addressing max and gazing at him somewhat closely. "are you going to work this morning?" "i think not," replied max, shrugging his shoulders. "i see you are pretty well full up with men." "yes, we have had a lot more hands placed at our disposal here. i estimate that we shall turn out at least three times as many shells as yesterday." "the new men are german-speaking, of course?" "of course. this business will be profitable for the firm no doubt?" the man looked at max as though not quite certain of the state of affairs. "undoubtedly. has monsieur schenk given any orders for a change in the calibre of the shells?" "no. we are still on the same gauge. but i suppose we shall be making all sizes soon. there is no help for it, of course; we must submit to the inevitable?" max turned away. "this trebling of output does not seem like unwilling submission to the inevitable, dale," he whispered savagely. "come, let us get out of this--i'm choking here. the place reeks to me of treachery. if i had the strength of samson i would bring the roof down and bury the whole villainous crew beneath the ruins." "there's certainly something dirty going on," agreed dale. "but if we're not samsons we have strength enough to put a spoke in their wheel, i fancy. let us wait a bit and see." in savage silence the two lads left the casting-shops and walked mechanically on towards the buildings which had been engaged on peace-time work. here all was quiet and almost deserted. only a machine here and there was running, and at first they thought that the whole of the workmen had been diverted to the other shops. but at the farther end of the yard they presently noticed groups of men congregated together, much as they were wont to do in the dinner interval. but it was not the dinner interval now. "what's the matter here? this looks as though some part of schenk's plans had gone awry. are they dismissed, or are they refusing to work?" "refusing to work, by the look of the armed guards yonder," replied max, nodding towards a body of german soldiers, a dozen or more strong, posted at a corner of one of the buildings within easy reach of the entrance. "let us have a talk with one or two of the men and find out what's afoot." "aye, but don't let our german friends see us talking to them. they will think it a conspiracy." the two lads joined themselves to one of the groups, and began questioning them as to the reason for their presence there instead of in the workshops. but somehow the men seemed to view max and dale with coldness and suspicion, and either refused to reply or answered in sullen monosyllables. max was about to turn away, in disappointed perplexity, when he noticed the man dubec. in sudden relief he appealed to him to tell him what was happening. "it is because we will not work if the goods are to be seized by the germans. we are true belgians--not like those traitors who fill the shell-shops--and we cannot work against our country." "and you are right," cried max warmly. "i am with you heart and soul." "huh! but what our men cannot understand is why the firm does not close down. why is it left to us poor workmen to show our patriotism? why does not the firm take the lead? we would stand by them to the death if need be." "i believe you," cried max, with difficulty gulping down the lump that rose in his throat. what a cur he felt--he, the owner in the sight of these men, helpless to influence in the slightest degree the affairs of the great works called by his name. "but, lads--to my shame i say it--i am helpless. i am but just come from demanding of monsieur schenk that the works should be closed. he will not hear of it, and it is he who has the power, not i. and behind him stand the germans. i can do nothing, and i feel the shame of it more than i can say." max's voice trembled with earnestness and sincerity, and the men clearly believed him. their cold looks vanished, and the one or two near him seized him by the hands and wrung them vigorously. "that is good, monsieur. we are glad to hear that you are for us. it makes our stand easier now that we know that the owners at least are on our side. as for that schenk, we have always hated him as a tyrant, and now we doubly hate him as a traitor as well." "aye," broke in another of the men, "he is the cause of the mischief. and we have sworn not to work so long as the germans hold the town. if we were ready to strike and suffer long for wages, will we not do so for the good of our country?" the man gazed round at his comrades, who gave a half-cheer in answer to his appeal. the attention of the german guards was attracted by the sound, and the non-commissioned officer in charge instantly ordered his men to advance on the offending party. "disperse!" cried max and one or two more, and the group broke up, most of the men walking out of the yard into the open road. the regular tramp of heavy-booted feet and harsh commands that followed them were a further reminder, if one were needed, of the utter change that had come over the scene of their humble daily toil. chapter viii treachery! "what is to be our next move, max?" enquired dale presently, after they had walked almost mechanically nearly a mile from the durend works upwards towards the hills on the western side of the town. twice he had to repeat his question, for max was too immersed in thoughts bitter and rebellious to pay much heed. "i care not where we go, jack. for me everything seems to have come to an end." "i know, i know, max, just how you feel; but do not give way to it. there is belgium to live for; and you have what i have not--a mother. let us go home and think things out." "i cannot rest at home, dale--yet. let us walk on for a while. we shall feel free on this side of the town. thank god, the forts here are still holding out, and the germans have not yet over-run the countryside. presently we shall reach the crofts, and we will sit in the cottage or the old summer-house while we talk it all over." on the western side of the town, at a distance of some six miles or so, madame durend owned a little old-fashioned cottage, picturesquely planted in a large garden and wood. it was a favourite resort of the family in summer-time, and max and dale had had their full share of its pleasures. for one thing, there was an asphalt tennis-court there which had claimed a large part of their spare time, not to mention that of max's sister and her friends. avoiding the road, in order to lessen their chance of encountering enemy patrols, max and his friend travelled across fields and along bypaths towards the cottage. they had come to within half a mile or so of the place when they were startled beyond measure, and almost stunned, by a tremendous report like the explosion of an enormous gun. it was close at hand, too, and seemed to come from the general direction of the cottage. almost immediately there was another similar report, followed by others at a greater distance. max and dale looked at one another significantly. "attacking either fort loncin or fort hollogne," said max resignedly. "i wonder we have got so far unnoticed." "yes; but now we are here we may as well see the fun. let us go to the crofts, and climb the big oak as of yore. we shall see everything from there." "and be seen too, i'm thinking. never mind; i feel reckless enough for anything this afternoon." "well, reckless or no, we may as well move cautiously. let us keep well under cover of this hedge. whew! what a row there is!" as the two friends drew nearer to the cottage they became convinced that not only was the firing taking place quite near the crofts, but that it was going on in the very garden itself. closer and closer they crept, their curiosity keenly whetted by this unexpected discovery, until they reached a little clump of thick undergrowth which overlooked the garden. here the greatest discovery of all awaited them. two big -cm. guns were in position in the centre of the garden, and being loaded and fired without a moment's respite. the sight was fascinating--nay, awe-inspiring--enough, but to the two lads the thing that most caught and fixed their attention was the fact that both guns were planted full on their asphalted tennis-court. to dale this was merely curious, but to max it had a significance so terrible and nerve-shaking that it was all he could do to prevent himself crying out. "what's the matter, max?" cried dale in alarm, as he caught a glimpse of his friend's pale, drawn face and staring eyes. "come away--quick! let us get away and i will tell you," cried max in a hoarse voice, and, followed by his friend, he sped swiftly from the scene towards a thick wood a short distance away. once well within the shelter of its leafy screen, he stopped and faced dale excitedly, his face aflame. "that scoundrel schenk! he is at the bottom of it all. he is a paid traitor and spy of the german government, and, fool that i was, i never saw it before!" "why, what has happened to tell you this? a traitor i dare say he is, but why so suddenly sure?" "that tennis-court. do you know that schenk, when he heard we were thinking of one, pressed us to have an asphalt one for use in all weathers. he saw to it himself, and dug down six feet for the foundations. i asked him why he was doing that, and he said he had a lot of material, concrete or something, over from something else--i didn't take much notice what it was--and that it would make it all the better. it was all a ruse to lay down solid concrete gun-platforms ready to blow our forts to pieces. the utter scoundrel!" "ah! and that was why he replaced the walloon and flemish workmen by naturalized germans! i see. he wanted to have men he could be sure of and to have the works ready for running without a hitch directly the germans entered. and the shells----" "yes," almost shouted max, grasping his friend roughly by the arm, "yes, their calibre will be that of german, not belgian, guns! they never were for belgian guns! that was why they were kept covered up so closely in the yard." "phew! it was a risky game to play; but no doubt he expected the town to fall quickly--perhaps even more quickly than it did." "and there are other things," max went on in a quieter tone. "why was it schenk persuaded us to go to germany instead of to holland for our holiday? why--why? simply because he wanted to get us out of the way. then do you remember those men who were captured after trying to assassinate general leman in the town? i thought i had seen two or three of them somewhere before. i remember now. they were some of the workmen of the shell-shops, and one was a foreman. the plot was hatched by schenk, not a doubt of it." "not a shadow of a doubt. the whole business is as plain as a pikestaff. but who would have dreamed of such devilish forethought? he must have been planning it for years!" "yes, he has been my father's right-hand man for nine or ten years at least. he must have come for no other purpose--and my father never knew it! how glad i am my mother is out of it all, safe and sound." for some time the two friends discussed the great discovery in all its bearings. matters stood out in a fresh perspective, and one of the first things to appear prominently was the peril in which both of them now stood. in peril from the germans they had known they stood, but the peril from schenk was new and far greater. at any moment he might come to the conclusion that their continued presence about the works or in the town was inconvenient, and denounce them as hostile to the occupation. in fact--and a bitter realization it was--they were only saved from this by the manager's contempt of them as adversaries and his calm assurance that they were really not worth considering one way or the other. "well, max," said dale at last, "what line are we now going to take? it is time we made up our minds once and for all. we are clearly outclassed by this schenk--he holds all the cards--and the best thing we can do is to make tracks to join the belgian army before it is too late to get away." "yes, dale, that is the best thing--for you. only _i_ cannot come with you. you go and join the british army. my place is here more than ever, and leave it i will not." "come now, max, don't be obstinate! there is nothing to be done here. you are absolutely helpless pitted against schenk and his friends the germans. you must recognize it. come with me and we will see what we can do for the good cause elsewhere." max shook his head decidedly. his face was very downcast, and it was clear to his friend that he felt most keenly the way in which his father's name and resources had been exploited by the enemies of their country; but his lips were firmly set, and in his eyes was the steady look dale remembered so well during the dark days of the struggle for benson's. benson's! the recollection brought back again to dale the words spoken by the master at the close of the races: "fixity of purpose ... there is almost nothing that fixity of purpose will not accomplish." "no," max said simply, after a moment's pause, "i am going to keep watch and ward over the durend workshops. cost what it may i am going, by all means in my power, to hinder the use of them for the enemy's purposes. what influence i have--little enough i fear--with the real belgian workmen, i will exert to keep them from aiding schenk. the works are mine--i speak for my mother--and i will not hesitate to destroy them if i find opportunity. there must be many ways in which i can make trouble, and i am going to strain every nerve to do so. let schenk look out; it is war to the knife!" "hurrah!" cried dale excitedly. then he went on in a sober tone: "but it is risky work, max. schenk will very soon suspect us--he has agents and spies everywhere, you may be sure." "we must be as cunning as he is--more so. we must outdo him at his own game. we--i, i should say, for you must go back to england--i am going to disappear and emerge as a simple workman, with german sympathies of course. then the fight will begin." "yes, and i'm in it, max," cried dale joyously. "i wouldn't miss it for worlds. it sounds good enough for anything. to outwit the germans is great, but to outwit schenk is ten times better. come along, let's get to work." "all right!" cried max, smiling at his friend's enthusiasm. "we'll get back at once, and, as a start, go home and fetch away some of our things. it will have to be the last time we go there." quickly, and yet with caution, the two lads retraced their steps to the town. they knew every foot of the country, and, though there were numerous patrolling parties of germans between them and the town, they were able to pass them without difficulty. at the door of his house one of the servants met max and handed him a note. "a young man brought it, monsieur, an hour ago. he has come all the way from maastricht with it. it is from madame, your mother, and he said it was very important." rapidly max tore away the cover and opened the missive. his senses were perhaps preternaturally sharpened, for he felt a sense of foreboding. after many fond messages, and repeated injunctions that he would take care of himself and not offend the germans, the note went on: "and now, max, i want to tell you something that distresses me extremely, though i have hopes that it may be all a mistake. when i left, bringing only a few things and a purse with such money as i had by me at the moment, m. schenk, on my explicit instructions, assured me that he would arrange at once for a large sum of money to be transferred to my account at the maastricht bank. i have been there repeatedly, asking about it, but none of the officials know anything of the matter. they say they have not been approached, and though they have enquired of other banks in the place they can learn no tidings. they have been very good to me, for, hearing who i was, they advanced me a small sum for my immediate use. will you now please see m. schenk and have this matter--which is so distressing--put right?" max clenched the paper in his hand. the blood flooded up into his head with such force that he had to put his hand against the doorpost to steady himself. "what's the matter?" cried dale, again in alarm at the look on his face. "is it bad news?" "aye--the worst--the blackest treachery," cried max in a voice which trembled with the intensity of his emotion. "i must see schenk--and wring from him the money he has stolen," and, turning impetuously on his heel, max strode rapidly away from the house in the direction of the works. dale darted after him and caught him up. "you must do nothing rash, max," he cried earnestly. "wait a while until you are calm; you are no match for schenk like that. let us walk slowly along while you tell me what has happened." max thrust at him the crumpled letter. then in a few broken words he told him, what was scarcely needed, that the manager had tricked his mother into leaving the country, and had then left her stranded without a penny to live upon. the baseness of it all came as a shock, even on the top of their knowledge of the man's deep treachery. "there's more behind it, i believe," said dale, after a few minutes' cogitation in silence. "i think this may be a lever to get _you_ out of the country. he will think you will be compelled to go to your mother and work for her support." "he knows he can get me out of the way at any time by denouncing me to the germans," replied max in dissent. "no--that will not explain it. but as sure as i live i will wring the truth from him before another hour is gone." dale gazed in some apprehension at his friend as he strode feverishly along towards the durend works. he feared that he might, in his anger, do some rash act that would destroy all. but presently, to his relief, he saw that he was regaining control over his feelings, and, by the time they reached the works, he seemed his usual self again. the only evidence of his past emotion was to be found in his somewhat gloomy looks and in lips tightly compressed as though to hold in check feelings that struggled for an outlet. chapter ix the opening of the struggle the manager was in his room, and stared in some alarm at max and his friend as they strode unceremoniously in. then he touched a bell and his secretary entered. "remain at the door, erbo. i shall want you in a moment," he said coolly. it was a declaration of distrust, if not war, and both sides knew it. it robbed max's words of any circumlocution he might otherwise have used, and he went straight to the point. "you have not sent my mother the money that she instructed you to send, monsieur schenk. why is that?" the manager cleared his throat. "the german commander has forbidden any moneys to be sent out of the country, monsieur max, and it is unfortunately now impossible for me to do so." "i have not heard of any such order. but why did you not do it before the germans entered? you had ample time." "i gave instructions, but the tremendous pressure a day or two before the germans entered--you know how i worked to cast shells for our armies and the garrisons of the forts--caused it to be overlooked. i regret this very much, but it is now too late to do anything." the manager looked squarely and unblushingly at max as he boasted of the way in which he had aided the belgian troops, and the latter was hard put to it to keep back the torrent of wrathful words that rose to his lips. but other and more pressing matters claimed attention just now, and, choking down his indignation, he replied temperately: "it is _not_ too late, monsieur schenk. hand me the necessary moneys or securities and i will convey them to maastricht. my mother must not be left destitute." the manager shook his head decidedly. "no, monsieur max, i cannot do that. you would be certain to be taken, and i should have to pay the greater share of the penalty. no, i cannot think of it; but there _is_ a way out of the difficulty which would indeed simplify matters in another direction. you are in great danger here and are doing no good. go to maastricht and support your good mother. i will obtain for you a passport through the germans and a letter to a friend of mine who will see that you secure well-paid work. yes, that is the best way out of the difficulty, monsieur max, and you and your mother will live to rejoice at having taken it." "if your friend can get me well-paid work, can he not advance money to my mother, monsieur schenk?" "no, he is in a position to get you a berth, but he has no great means. come now, monsieur max, be guided by me and leave liége without delay. the works are running splendidly, and i shall have a good account to give of my stewardship after the war." the man's cool effrontery and the tone of lofty regard for the interests of the owners of the durend works almost stunned max, and for a moment he could but stare at him in dumb astonishment. that his faithful stewardship of the durend works now ran counter to the vital interests of the country seemed not to matter to him one straw. ceasing to plead his mother's cause, max asked with sudden directness: "how is it, monsieur schenk, that the shells we are casting for the belgian guns will not fit them, but yet do fit the german guns?" it was a shot at a venture, but it went home. the manager was obviously taken aback, although he recovered himself almost instantly as he replied: "you have noticed that then? yes, there was a misunderstanding about the size with the commandant. apparently he was speaking about the calibre of the shells thrown against the forts, when i was under the impression he was discussing the calibre of the shells most urgently required for use. it was a ridiculous mistake, but not so strange when one considers the turmoil and confusion of those early days." at this max could contain himself no longer. "monsieur schenk--herr schenk, i should say--you are a traitor to belgium, and i denounce you here and now. you are a base schemer, and the biggest scoundrel in liége, if not in belgium. you have the upper hand at present, but i declare to you that i shall spare no pains in the distant future to bring you to justice and to see that you get your deserts. i know your plans--or some of them. the concrete tennis-court--the filling of the shops with german workmen, the plot against general leman, and, greatest of all, the fearful shell treachery. oh, the shame of it should tell, even upon a german!" it certainly seemed to tell a little upon m. schenk. he gasped, flushed up, and opened his mouth, apparently to deny the accusations. then he apparently thought better of it, for he controlled himself by an effort and replied coldly: "very well, monsieur max; it is war between us, i see. and it will soon end--in your discomfiture!" "we shall see. good day, herr schenk!" this mode of addressing him seemed to sting the manager more than anything else, for he burst out angrily: "fool of a boy! do you think to measure your puny strength with mine? bah! i shall crush you before ever you can raise your hand against me. as for my name, herr schenk suits me well enough. i am a german, and i hate these decadent peoples we call belgians. let germany rule--she is strong and virile, and before her the world must--and shall--bow down. you, whether you call yourself english or belgian, shall know what it is to have your country crushed and beaten, and to have brains--german brains--to direct and rule you. go--and see if i'm not right." "i am going--and going to do my best to prove you wrong," replied max proudly as he strode quickly from the room. dale followed him, venting his own indignation, as he turned away, by shaking his fist full in the manager's face. * * * * * "we must not dally here," cried max as they left the building. "we had better make ourselves scarce at once. we have burnt our boats, and both schenk and the germans will be after us from now onwards." "and a good job too," replied dale, who did not appear at all alarmed at the prospect. "the fight now begins." "quick--round here," cried max, turning a corner sharply. "let us lose ourselves in these narrow streets for a while. we will then go to madame dubec's." "madame dubec's?" "yes, we must not go home. madame dubec--the wife of the man whose life i saved, you remember--she will shelter us for a day or two while we look about us. we will get her or her husband to buy us rough clothes, so that we can pass as workmen. we must not go about like this any longer." "aye, we must act the part of honest sons of toil. always have a spanner sticking out of a pocket, and a hunk of bread and cheese tied up in a coloured handkerchief in our hands. hurrah!" madame dubec gave them a quiet but sincere welcome, and for the remainder of the day and the following night they sheltered beneath her roof. she was anxious that they should stay permanently with her, when she learned that they were in danger, but neither max nor dale would hear of it. should schenk or the germans learn that she had sheltered them it might go hard with her, and neither cared to contemplate such a thing. as soon, therefore, as they had been provided with workmen's clothes, they took a room in a poor quarter of the town well away from the durend works and made active preparations for their campaign. although max had not dared to go to his home to fetch any of his belongings, he had managed to get a few of the more necessary things by sending one of madame dubec's daughters with a note to one of the domestics whom he knew he could trust. to max, the great campaign he had in mind against schenk and the germans was momentarily eclipsed by the urgent need for doing something to relieve the distress of his mother and sister. he tried at first to think of friends, who, knowing the value of their property, might be disposed to advance a sufficient sum of money upon its security. it was in the midst of these reflections, and the angry thoughts of schenk that naturally coloured them, that a wild and desperate idea occurred to him. he dismissed it at first as an absurdity, but the thought kept coming back again, until, weary of resisting it, he allowed his mind to dwell upon it at will. it was while heedlessly immersed in these rambling thoughts that a sudden recollection came which considerably altered the aspect of affairs. from a wild and desperate dream it changed into a project, difficult and perilous indeed, but one by no means hopeless of achievement. in the end it took such firm hold upon him that he thought it out seriously and at last unfolded it to dale. that worthy welcomed it with such unbounded admiration and delight that the question as to whether it should or should not be attempted was settled out of hand, and the preparations for carrying it into effect promptly begun. the project was, briefly, to go and take by a _coup de main_ the moneys belonging to his mother that schenk had wrongfully and treacherously refused to hand over. it seemed a most risky venture, but max had a recollection that his father long ago had entrusted to his mother the duplicate key of his safe in case anything should at any time happen to him. it had never been used, and his mother, likely enough, had almost forgotten she possessed it. nevertheless, max believed it was still in her possession, and he resolved to settle the point by sending a messenger to fetch it. more important still, he believed that schenk was quite unaware of its existence. if the key could be secured it would simplify matters immensely, and, as max was naturally familiar with the building in which the manager's office was situated, the enterprise was one which seemed likely to succeed if resolutely attempted. the safe, he knew, ought to contain all the money and securities of the firm, unless, indeed, schenk had already handed them over to the germans. this did not seem likely, however, and max would not allow so disappointing a thought to interfere with his calculations. monsieur dubec's eldest daughter was promptly dispatched to madame durend with a letter asking for the key. max entered into no details, and his mother may possibly have supposed that m. schenk's failure to send her the money he had promised was due to the loss of the original key. at any rate, to the delight both of max and dale, the key duly arrived the following day. tools were needed, and these were of course easily obtained. max, as we have seen, had been through most of the shops in the durend concern, and knew how to use almost any tool as well as the best of the firm's mechanics. no difficulties, therefore, were to be anticipated on that score. in fact, the more the details of the scheme were discussed the more feasible it seemed and the more the spirits of the two plotters rose. the third night after the break with schenk, max and dale set out from their lodging at midnight and made their way to the durend workshops. dale was carrying a good-sized bag, in which was a lantern and an assortment of tools and other articles, one or two of them of such a nature that to be stopped and the bag examined would have been fatal to their liberty of movement for many a long day. it was, therefore, necessary for them to move with caution, and max accordingly went on a hundred yards ahead, ready to give the agreed signal--a stumble forward on the pavement--whenever it was advisable for dale to disappear. the offices of the durend company were situated in a separate building just inside the main entrance gates. the latter were ordinarily guarded by a watchman, but since the germans had entered liége a guard of german soldiers had been established there, and the sentinel on his beat passed within view of the front and two sides of the offices. it was pretty obvious, therefore, that the rear of the building would have to be the part attacked. it was close on one o'clock when max and dale scaled the outer wall well away from the entrance, and moved cautiously up to the rear of the building which was their objective. they had had only one alarm so far, and this had been so easily disposed of that they had begun to feel quite elated. "this window gives access to the drawing-office, dale, and ought to suit us well. give me a lift on to the sill, and hand up the tools." in a surprisingly short space of time the window was forced open, and max clambered into the room. a whispered word, and dale handed up the bag and sprang quietly up after it. "heat no. pulled off at a paddle," commented dale exultingly. "the door is open, as i expected," whispered max, who was too intent upon the work in hand to heed his friend's playfulness. "now i will light the lantern and we will go upstairs. the door of the manager's room is sure to be locked, but we shall make short work of that." as max expected, the door was locked, but they had come provided with tools for all eventualities, and in ten minutes the whole of the bottom panels right up to the framework had been neatly sawn out in one piece. through the aperture the two lads crept, drawing the bag through after them. "heat no. won by a dozen lengths," cried dale joyously. the room was a fairly large one, and contained the manager's desk, a really handsome piece of furniture which had been max's father's, two or three tables, bookcases, a screen, and a large and massive safe. max lost no time. setting dale to keep watch and ward at the window which commanded a view of the entrance-gates, he placed the lantern on the desk, so that its light fell upon the safe, and then advanced upon it, key in hand. this was the crucial moment. had schenk appropriated the money and securities committed to his charge, or were they still there, awaiting the strange midnight visit from their rightful owner? it was, indeed, a strong indictment of the methods of the invaders that the legitimate owner should have to come by stealth at dead of night, while the unfaithful steward could do as he listed in the broad glare of day. max's hand trembled, and the lock seemed to stick. then the lever seemed to jamb, until he feared that, after all, something had happened that would balk him at the last moment. but it was only his momentary nervousness, and the door swung ponderously open at last. "well, max, how goes it?" enquired dale excitedly, turning to watch his friend as he explored the open safe. "all's well, i think. it seems full enough." "semi-final won by a clear length--eh?" cried dale in great glee. "seems a regular walk-over. if we want any real excitement we shall have to go and throw stones at the german guard." "we haven't done yet," replied max more soberly, though his voice was confident enough. "here, i'm not going to examine all these papers and documents now. i'm going to cram the whole lot into the bag and be off. we can see what our capture is when we get back to our room." "right you are. by george, though, what's that?" both stood stock-still and listened. the sound of voices and the tramp of feet upon the stairs was plainly audible. max darted an angry look at dale. in the excitement of the opening of the safe the latter had forgotten that he was on guard at the window, and no doubt this was the result. "you see, dale?" he cried sharply. "i'm sorry, old man," replied dale miserably. "no matter. cram these things into the bag while i lock the safe. mind, not a sound!" the safe locked, max sprang noiselessly to the door, replaced the cut-out panels and secured them in position, against anything but a blow or strong pressure, by two or three sharp nails pressed in with his fingers. flight was out of the question, but it might be possible to make good their escape later on if they could only hide themselves successfully for a little while. for a hiding-place max had no need to look. he had played at hide-and-seek in that very room with his sister years ago, too often to forget that the best shelter was inside the well of his father's--now the manager's--desk. the panels replaced, max knelt down and gently blew away the tell-tale sawdust. then he turned and eagerly scanned the room. dale had already packed the bag, and was looking vainly round for a hiding-place. "under here--quick!" cried max, indicating the desk, and in dale scrambled, dragging the precious bag after him. there was only one thing left which needed to be disposed of, and that was the lantern. max knew that if he blew it out and hid it under the desk the smell would inevitably betray them. therefore he took it to the fire-place, blew it out close under the chimney, and instantly thrust it as far up as his arm would reach and lodged it there. the noise of voices and the tramp of feet had, during the few moments that these preparations had taken, been growing stronger, and the lantern had scarcely been disposed of before the approaching persons halted at the door. the rattle of keys, as someone--no doubt the manager--drew a bunch from his pocket, could now be distinguished, and as max crawled in under the desk, and packed himself in on top of dale, the key turned in the lock. several men entered, talking together in the german tongue. one voice only max and dale recognized, and that, as they expected, belonged to the manager, otto schenk. "... take severe measures against any workman adopting a hostile attitude. would this meet with approval in highest quarters?" "certainly. you may rest assured, herr von schenkendorf, that the government of his imperial majesty has no intention of showing aught but the utmost sternness and rigour towards the whole belgian population, whether workmen, property owners, or their families." "thank you, general." "serious consequences have ensued from the unexpected delay caused to our armies by the resistance of the belgian army, and it is the belgians who shall be made to pay for it. and to make them pay for it in a literal sense is, as you know, the reason of my presence here now." "true, general," replied the manager as he switched on the light; "but if i am to develop these works to the utmost, and to support our armies with ample supplies of guns and shells, i must be able to pay my workmen." "the gold and securities handed over will be replaced by notes of our imperial reichsbank or by belgian paper money, which i have good reason to believe we shall shortly commence to manufacture. you will thus be as well off as before, and the government will have securities which it can sell in neutral countries." "oh, i am not objecting, general! the plan is excellent, and should yield much profit to our country. as for these belgians, they have brought it on themselves by their foolish obstinacy. ha, ha! a large part of the securities i am about to hand to you, general, were, by the explicit instructions of the widow of monsieur durend, to have been sent into holland for her use. i thought i could find a better use for them than that, however, and they will doubtless be made to render important service to the imperial government. only two days ago, too, that young english cub, monsieur durend's son, attacked me in this room and demanded money for his mother's use. i told him to go and work for her, and sent him about his business." there was a rumble of laughter, and the desk creaked as one of the officers--there seemed two men beside m. schenk--sat down on the side of it. "and what sum will it be, herr von schenkendorf? it must be a large one. my government will expect much from so large and prosperous a business." "i can give you , , marks in money and securities," replied the manager as he drew his keys from his pocket and approached the safe. "if you wish i will hand the sum to your aide-de-camp now." "i do wish it, herr von schenkendorf," replied the officer decisively. max and dale held their breaths in suspense as they heard the key turn in the lock and the door of the safe swing heavily open. there was a sharp exclamation, followed by a dull sound as though the manager had flung himself down on his hands and knees, the better to peer into the inside. "mein gott!" he cried in a strangled voice. "gone--all gone!" "no tricks, sir!" cried the general in a rasping voice, getting up suddenly from the desk on which he had been sitting. "i will not be trifled with." the manager made no reply, but max could hear him breathing heavily and fancied he caught a groan. "what is the matter, von schenkendorf? have you been robbed?" demanded the officer. "yes, general," replied the manager after a pause in which he vainly endeavoured to find his voice. "mein gott--yes--robbed! how--i know not. last evening i left all----" "bah! you _are_ trifling with me!" cried the officer in a stern voice. "this is altogether too opportune to be the result of accident. i come to you demanding a contribution to his imperial majesty's exchequer and you tell me you have just been robbed. i begin to have grave doubts of your faithfulness to our cause." "general," cried schenk in a voice which positively trembled with vexation, "general, i assure you that it is a pure coincidence. never before has the firm been robbed, and how or why it should happen now i do not know. but it shall be fully investigated and i will leave no stone unturned to recover possession of the valuables--be assured of that." "so! well, well, you have had a good reputation with our government in the past and i will let matters rest for the moment," replied the officer in a voice which contained more than a suspicion of a threat. "by the way," he went on suddenly, his voice again taking on a rasping tone, "i am no doubt right in assuming that those siege-gun plans which i handed to you yesterday are in safe custody?" "i will look after them, general, have no fear," responded schenk in a voice which made max, who knew its usually firm tones so well, grasp the bag on which he leaned with a sudden new affection. "i fully realize their vast importance to our common cause." apparently the officer also noticed something amiss. "show me the plans," he replied curtly. there was a few moments' suspense. max could hardly suppress his impulse to laugh aloud, for, although he could not see, he could picture without the least difficulty the manager's utter misery and discomfiture. "i have them not. they were with the valuables locked in the safe," replied schenk in a stammering voice. "but, general, they shall be recovered. i have agents everywhere, and no efforts shall be spared to recover them." the officer strode the length of the room and back. then he sat heavily down again on the side of the manager's desk, cleared his throat, and responded slowly and impressively: "this matter, von schenkendorf, is now beyond my powers. i must report the matter to my government. till then you must not move from liége without my permission." the manager made no reply. "this room," the officer went on, "must be kept locked until it has been thoroughly investigated by officers whom _i_ shall send. but you may make such enquiries through your own agents as you think fit. if you succeed, it will, of course, influence matters considerably to your advantage." "general," replied the manager humbly, "general, i will do so. but let me beg you not to let this one mischance, which might have happened to anyone, wipe out the recollection of my many great services to the state." "all shall be considered," replied the officer coldly as he strode towards the door. it was obsequiously opened for him, and the three men passed out, the manager locking the door behind them. "give me the key," demanded the officer. it was handed over, and the party moved with heavy tread along the passage and down the stairs. chapter x getting ready for bigger things "now for it, dale; it's now or never," cried max in a voice of suppressed eagerness, as he emerged from under the desk the moment the party of germans moved away along the passage. "if we do not get clear at once i rather think we never shall." "yes, we are what you might call 'right on the post' and rowing neck and neck. 'twill be a near thing whoever wins," replied dale, again breaking out into rowing jargon, as he was apt to do whenever excited. "the prize is bigger than you imagine," responded max, dragging out the bag and glancing quickly about the room. "could you follow what was said well enough to understand why they rounded on schenk, or schenkendorf, as his name seems to be?" "no, old man, my german isn't nearly equal to the job, especially when i'm submerged in trunks and desks." "well, among the papers we've stuffed into this bag are the plans of some special siege-guns the germans seem to set no small store on. schenk was just going to wire in making them, by the look of it. we've upset the whole business, and if he isn't under arrest he's very near it. but come along; we must get out of this." the bottom panels of the door were quickly removed and max and dale crawled through, carrying the now doubly precious bag with them. the manager and the two officers had by this time reached the front entrance of the building but appeared to have halted there and to be talking earnestly together. hastily removing their boots, max and dale crept quietly down the stairs to the door of the drawing-office. they paused and listened before opening it, and heard the party at the entrance descend the steps, still talking together, and the scrunch of the gravel under their feet as they strode away. then, almost immediately, they heard a harsh command and the rapid tramp of feet as the guard turned out at the entrance to the works. max whipped open the door of the drawing-office and they entered and closed it behind them. the window through which they had come an hour or two before gaped before them, and they eagerly moved to it and peered out. all seemed clear for the moment, but they could hear men in motion somewhere, and in the passage they had just left they were startled to hear the voice of the manager talking in a peremptory tone to someone, one of the guard they imagined, and the tramp of their feet as they passed the door and began ascending the stairs. "quick; jump out," whispered max, and he assisted his friend to drop as noiselessly as possible to the ground. then he handed down the bag and lowered himself down after it. in silence and in great trepidation they sped towards the outer walls at the point at which they had entered. without mishap they helped one another up and over, and fled at the top of their speed towards their lodging. at any moment they feared a general alarm might be sounded, and the truest caution seemed to be to throw caution momentarily to the winds. they reached the door of their lodging in safety, and as they entered dale whispered triumphantly to his friend: "we've won the final too. by george we have!" * * * * * day was just beginning to break as the two friends left the town on the northward side and made their way across country towards the dutch frontier. they carefully avoided the roads, and their progress was slow; but it was sure, and as soon as they were well away from the neighbourhood of the town they regained the roads and made more rapid progress. before the day was out they reached maastricht, and max found his mother and sister safe and sound, though indeed in great distress. the relief of madame durend at the return of her son from beleaguered liége was intense. the stories told by the numerous refugees from the towns and villages of belgium were so terrible that she could not be other than most anxious for his safety. now he had arrived, and had brought, she soon learned, sufficient funds to enable them all to live in comfort and security for a long time. but it was not until max and his friend unfolded their story that she fully realized in what peril they had been, and at what cost they had been able to bring the much-needed assistance. their story was indeed amazing. schenk a traitor, and schenk outwitted! priceless german plans captured, and funds that the enemy had hoped to secure removed from beyond their grasp! madame durend could not but be proud of her son's exploits, but it was a pride with many a tremble at the frightful dangers run. a fuller examination of their captures revealed to max and dale how valuable their prize had been, and sent them both hotfoot to the house of the nearest british consul, into whose care they confided the precious plans, with instructions that they wished them handed over to the british war office without delay. a statement briefly describing who the captors were, and how the _coup_ had been brought about, was drawn up and signed, and, in high glee at the shrewd blow struck against schenk and his germans, they returned once more to the lodging of madame and mademoiselle durend. a few days spent there in safety, and almost in idleness, were, however, sufficient to make max and dale, and especially the former, restless and dissatisfied with their inactivity. the onward march of the germans, their terrible unscrupulousness and rapacity, and the tales of the terrific fighting with the english and french vanguards reached their ears and made them long to be doing something, however small, to aid the great cause. max, in addition, had a constant sense of irritation at the thought that his father's great works were running night and day in the interests of the germans and to the vast injury of his own countrymen. he could not get away from the feeling that he had a responsibility towards the durend works--a responsibility which he seemed in honour bound to discharge. this feeling grew and grew until it became so intolerable that he was impelled to announce to his mother that he must, without delay, return to his post in the stricken city. "but surely you have done enough, max?" cried madame durend, almost in consternation. "you are not yet of man's age, and ought not to think of taking upon yourself such fearful tasks. it is no fault of yours that our property is being used by the germans. many other factories and workshops besides ours have been seized, and who can fairly put the blame upon the owners?" "i know, mother," replied max in a quiet voice, and with a far-away look in his eyes. "i know it is no fault of ours. but our workmen--the faithful and real belgian workmen--are there bearing alone in silence the pain and misery of seeing the great business they helped to create worked to the destruction of their own liberties. they feel nothing so much as the thought that their masters have deserted them, and left them to fight the battle for their land and liberties alone. i must go back and join them, if only to let them know we are with them, hand and foot, heart and soul. i feel, mother, that so long as one workman still holds out against tyranny and oppression, the owners of the durend workshops must be by his side to give him both countenance and aid." max's voice grew stronger, and thrilled with a deeper and deeper earnestness, as he went on. it was clear to each of his hearers that the guardianship of his father's works had become the one great object and aim of his existence. with such a burning, passionate desire in his heart, it was almost impossible that he could be persuaded to abandon his project if he were not to be rendered miserable for life, and madame durend realized almost at once that she dare not attempt it. but the thought of the desperate character of the undertaking made her mother's heart sink with dread. "i dare not say you nay, max, my son," she said tremulously, after a long pause, "for i should feel that i was setting my own wishes against what is, perhaps, your duty to your country, and still more your duty to your dear father's name. go, then--only do not--do not run unnecessary risks. be as cautious as you can--and come back to me often." "we will be as cautious as we honourably can, will we not, dale?" cried max, appealing to his friend. "it is stratagem that we shall use in making our war--not force. we have thought it all out together, and hope to give a good account of ourselves without giving the germans a chance to pay us back with usury." "yes," replied dale cheerfully, "we are not going to give the enemy a chance. why, you have no idea how cautious and full of dodges max is. he just bristles with 'em, and i think we shall give schenk and his friends a warm time." madame durend sighed deeply. "it seems terrible to me to think of two such boys returning to that dreadful place to do battle unaided with those men. how i pray that you may come safely back!" "no fear of that," cried dale confidently, and max gazed into his mother's face and nodded reassuringly. the next day they left the hospitable streets of maastricht and arrived safely in liége, still in their disguises as walloon workmen. a visit to a clever hairdresser before they left had completed their disguise. their fresh complexions were hidden beneath a stain that darkened the skin to the tints of the swarthiest walloons of the liége district. max, as he was by far the better known and ran the greater risk of detection, had, in addition, his brown hair dyed a much darker hue and his eyebrows thickened and made to meet in the centre. a few lines skilfully drawn here and there about his face gave him the appearance of a much older man than dale, and enabled them to pose as brothers aged about twenty-eight and twenty respectively. their hair was allowed to run wild and mat about their brows and ears; hands and wrists were left, much to their discomfort, to get as grubby as possible, and in the end they were ready to meet the gaze of all as belgian workmen of the most out-and-out kind. the necessity for the constant renewal of their various disguises was not overlooked, and the hairdresser was prevailed upon to part with a supply of his dyes and to tell them exactly how and when to apply them. max of course could maintain the part of workman to perfection, even if questioned at length, but dale was under the necessity of answering only in monosyllables, as his knowledge of the language was at present not very great. with max at his elbow, however, this was not a serious drawback, and neither anticipated any difficulty on that score. max was now a broad-shouldered, well-built young fellow of twenty. he was not much above medium height, but his rowing and running at hawkesley and his hard work in the various shops of the durend concern had given him a muscular development that most of the real workmen might have envied. his responsibilities as stroke at college, and, later, as the future head of the firm, had given him a self-reliant attitude of mind that was reflected in his bearing, and enabled him to maintain with unconscious ease his sudden increase in years over his more youthful-looking comrade. dale was still slim and boyish-looking. he was wiry enough, however, and was, as we have seen, extremely cool and courageous in any tight corner. he was quick, too, and the pair made an ideal couple to hunt together. had schenk known that they were bending all their energies to the task of hindering his use of the durend workshops for the benefit of the germans he would probably have bestowed more than a passing thought upon them. and had he had an inkling that they were at the bottom of the shrewd blow already dealt him within the sacred precincts of his office he would, no doubt, have spent a sleepless night or two. the few days that had elapsed since max and dale left liége had already witnessed yet another development in the rapid conversion of the durend workshops into a first-class manufactory of war material for the german army. a large building on the outskirts of the town had been taken over and converted into a filling-shop, and the shells manufactured within the works were conveyed thither on a miniature railway, and there filled with high-explosive drawn from a factory situated about a mile and a half away, well outside the limits of the town. this new shop was being staffed with men drawn partly from germany and partly from former workmen of the less determined sort, who were gradually returning to work under stress of hunger. on max and dale applying for work they were promptly drafted to this shop. fortunately for them, perhaps, the foreman who was now engaging fresh workmen was a man sent from germany, a bullying, overbearing, prussian foreman who was expected to bring the methods of the prussian drill-sergeant to bear upon the poor half-starved wretches applying for work, and to reduce them to a proper state of submission. max had no difficulty in satisfying the man, especially as he made no demur to working in the night shift. few workmen cared for the night shift, and the foreman was therefore the more ready to clinch the bargain. soon max and dale were being shown the way to fill the shells and finish them off, ready to be sent on their mission of destruction. "things couldn't have happened better, dale," remarked max at the first opportunity. "why, max? we are safe inside; is that what you mean?" "not exactly. what i mean is our being sent to the filling-shops. it's no end of a piece of luck." "ah, i see! you are thinking of wrecking the place, eh?" "possibly, later on. but what i mean is that for our plans we need explosives, and plenty of them. well, here they are, ready to hand, and all we have to do for a start is to get what we want away unseen." "aye; accumulate a store of our own ready for the day we want them?" "yes; the best place to attack we can settle later. in fact we may have to seize our opportunities as they come along." "the best places to choose are these filling-shops, old man. heaps of explosives about, and, although they watch everyone pretty closely, we ought to get a chance before long. if this place were blown sky-high it would damage a lot of the other shops, and probably get schenk the sack. he seems to have got over that other affair all right." "yes, but i can't bring myself to blow up this great place with all the workmen in it, germans or renegade belgians though they are. i want to cripple the works, not kill the work-people." "don't see much in your scruples, max. if we don't kill them they are left to go on sending shells out to kill our men." "true, old man, but all the same i should like, if i can, to do the business without causing any loss of life among the workmen. there is the power-house now. if we could wreck that we should bring the whole of the works to an absolute standstill." "phew! yes. well, and why shouldn't we?" "i've been thinking, and i believe we ought to be able to do it. of course you know there is a soldier always posted at each entrance?" "we must dispose of him--that's all." "or else we must get jobs as stokers. but enough of this--see that man coming along there eyeing the benches?" "yes." "i believe he's a spy. he is really looking more at the men than at the benches. we must be very careful, or one of those fellows will get in our way." "it will be the worse for him," muttered dale under his breath, as he went on with his work with redoubled energy. "and for us too," replied max, lifting a heavy shell with an ease that many of the regular workmen, practised though they were, could not have excelled. the man stopped when he reached the bench on which max and dale were working. "where are you from?" he enquired sharply, in very indifferent walloon. "yonder," replied max, nodding towards the poorer quarter of the town. "back of rue gheude." "you're a belgian, eh?" "yes," admitted max with an appearance of reluctance. "why do you come here to work? many of your countrymen refuse to work." "one must live," replied max sullenly. then he went on in an angry tone: "we have been deserted and left to starve. why shouldn't we work? they should protect us, these french and english, if they want us to remain on their side. are we to let our little ones perish for their sakes?" "you are right, my friend," replied the man approvingly. "these english and frenchmen care naught so long as their country is safe. why should belgians fight their battles for them? no, no, my friend." max nodded and turned back to his work. the man watched him for a minute or two and then continued on his way along the shop, scarcely glancing at dale, who was to all appearances too engrossed in his work to pay much attention to what was going on about him. "end of round no. ," whispered max to his friend. "we've got the better of mr. ferret so far, but i fear we shall have trouble in getting many live shells away from under the noses of him and his tribe." "we shall do it," replied dale confidently. "we may get the job of loading them up on the lorries presently and find an opportunity. if the worst comes to the worst we must carry medium-sized ones away one by one in our folded coats." "h'm!" grunted max. "we must find a safer way than that i fancy. i doubt if our ferret friends would let us do much of that sort of thing." dale shrugged his shoulders in contempt of the whole of the spy crew, and the conversation dropped. for some two weeks max and dale worked in the filling-shops, observing the routine and making careful note of every circumstance that seemed to offer a chance of making off with supplies of finished shells. they soon found that they had reason to congratulate themselves upon having joined the night shift. max had accepted the foreman's offer of the night shift for two reasons: first, because he thought that their disguises were less likely to be penetrated in artificial light, and, secondly, because they might reasonably expect to be quite safe during their journeys to and fro in the dark. but he found that an even greater advantage to their projects lay in the fact that the shop was only half manned at night, the work, and especially the supervision, were less efficient, and the yards, while well lighted, contained plenty of deep shadows suited to shelter those on dubious errands. as soon as he could, max got into touch with his friend dubec and the workmen who had remained faithful to their country's cause. he had brought ample funds with him from the moneys recovered from the firm, and hoped to relieve any who might be in acute distress. he soon found plenty of outlet for his funds, for the men who refused to work in the shops were drawing terribly near the edge of starvation. as max had expected, the knowledge that their employers were standing by them, and were ready to aid them at every opportunity, greatly heartened the men, and a small but loyal band steadily refused to work, and fought a gallant battle with starvation in the cause of their country's freedom. between max and these men an unbreakable, unforgettable bond of union was gradually forged; and several times, to their unbounded delight, he was able to use them in furthering his projects. he found them particularly useful in obtaining information and in keeping watch over the movements of m. schenk and his numerous spies. patriotism, resentment at their sufferings, and hatred of schenk, all combined to render them zealous auxiliaries, and lightened, in some measure at least, the heavy task fate seemed to have cast upon max's own shoulders. chapter xi the attack on the power-house some three weeks after max and dale had so unobtrusively re-entered the durend works, their plans were laid and their preparations complete. eight large shells had been carried off one by one and secreted in a hole in the bank of the meuse, at a spot where it was well shaded by thick bushes. the power-house had been carefully reconnoitred, and the times and habits of the men and of the sentries carefully noted. the bulk of the great engines which provided the power required to run the various workshops were underground, and all the approaches to the building were commanded by two sentries stationed at opposite corners. the success of their enterprise was dependent upon one of these sentries being put out of action for some minutes. this was no easy matter, but by dint of much discussion and careful observation they reached the conclusion that it could be done; and, better still, done so that no alarm need be given. a sunday night was fixed for the attempt, because max and dale had never worked on sundays, and their absence would not therefore be likely to arouse any subsequent suspicion that they had had anything to do with the matter. moreover, all departments of the works were run on reduced staffs, and the staff of the power-house was reduced proportionately. the loss of life which both max and dale feared might ensue from the realization of their plans was thus brought to a minimum. shortly after midnight, max, dale, and dubec made their way silently to the little cache of shells in the river bank, and began transporting them to a point as near the power-house as they could expect to get without attracting notice. there was a bright moon, but there were also clouds, and they patiently bided their time, and moved only when the moon was obscured. it was one o'clock before the whole of the shells had been transported within easy reach of the power-house. the sentries were changed at two o'clock, and max and dale waited only until this had been completed. then they drew near, and took a long look at the sentry upon the least-exposed corner of the building. he was a young fellow, and while not looking particularly alert, yet seemed fully alive to his duties and determined to carry them out. as has already been explained, he was posted at a corner of the building, and could command a view of two sides. one of these sides was flooded with the light of the moon, but the other was in shadow, except at intervals where it was cut by the light from the windows of the power-house, which were here on a level with the ground. after a whispered word or two, dale left max and worked his way round until he was near the side of the building which was in shadow. watching his chance, he slipped into the shadow at a moment when the sentry was gazing the other way. max now retreated some distance, and then began boldly advancing towards the building, his feet crunching heavily into the gravel and giving the sentry every warning of his approach. the sentry watched him with lazy indifference, but, as he drew near, lifted rifle and bayonet and challenged. "who comes there?" "a workman with message to the engineer," responded max in a casual voice, slackening his pace and coming to a stop a few paces away. "pass," replied the sentry indifferently, letting the butt of his rifle drop again to the ground. max slouched on again, directing his steps so that he would pass just in front of the young soldier. the sentry idly watched the supposed workman, who slouched along gazing at the ground in front of him in the most stolid fashion. just as he was on the point of passing the sentry, however, he shot out a hand, seized the man's rifle, and tore it from his grasp. simultaneously a hand appeared from behind, and a cloth was clapped over the soldier's nose and mouth and held firmly in position, while another hand and arm grasped him round the middle. [illustration: a cloth was clapped over the soldier's nose and mouth] noiselessly grounding the captured rifle, max in his turn sprang upon the sentry and wound both his arms about him, crushing his arms to his side and preparing to subdue his wildest struggles. almost immediately, however, the man's muscles relaxed, as the chloroform, with which the cloth had been sprinkled, took effect, and max and dale lowered him to the ground. "now, dale, off with his tunic and helmet and put them on," cried max rapidly. "then take his rifle and stand on guard. all is well, and i believe we shall win through without a hitch." dale did as he was bidden. the soldier's tunic and helmet were removed, and his body was dragged into the shadow close to the wall of the building. then max walked quickly back to the spot where the shells had been deposited. here dubec crouched in readiness. "bring them along," whispered max. "the sentry is disposed of, and we ought to meet with no interruption." "'twas splendidly done," replied dubec with enthusiasm. "the man seemed to be overcome as though by magic, and i heard scarce a sound." in three trips the shells were transported to the power-house and laid along the wall. then max went to one of the windows and looked in. the power-house was largely underground, and the windows, which ran around all sides on a level with the ground at intervals of about six feet, were high above the great boilers. in fact, as max gazed down he had a bird's-eye view of the interior, and could see workmen flitting to and fro, stoking the great furnaces in blissful ignorance of the fact that a bolt which might destroy them with their engines was on the point of being shot. drawing back his head, max drew a bomb of his own manufacture from his pocket and lit the fuse. then he leaned through the window, and, shading his mouth with his hands so that his words might carry downwards and be heard above the roar of the engines, cried in quick, urgent, warning tones: "fly for your lives--the engine-house is being blown up! fly! fly! fly!" the workmen looked up, startled, and into their midst max flung his bomb. the men scattered to right and left, and a second or two later it burst with a splutter, sending out a great puff of white, pungent smoke. it was quite harmless, but the men did not know that, and a great cry of alarm went up and a terrific stampede began towards the nearest exit. "now, dubec," cried max energetically, "light the fuses and fling them in. it matters little where they fall so long as we cover a wide area." in a few seconds the shells had been flung down into the power-house, right in among the boilers and machinery. then the two men took to their heels and fled, followed by dale, who had already divested himself of his borrowed plumes and donned his own. the success of their enterprise was complete. hardly had they got clear of the building before a series of heavy explosions occurred in the interior of the power-house, followed by the upward burst of great clouds of smoke and steam. instantly all the lights in the whole of the durend workshops and the great lights in the yard went out, and the roar of machinery slackened and gradually ceased. the entire works were at a standstill, and the whirr of lathes and clink of hammers were succeeded by shouts of alarm from the thousands of workmen as they poured excitedly out into the open air. * * * * * the alarm and excitement were not decreased when, almost immediately, there was a great outburst of flame in one of the large workshops devoted to the building of the bodies of railway carriages and trucks, and the chassis of motorcars. with extraordinary rapidity the flames leapt up from floor to floor, until the great yards in the vicinity, a moment before plunged in blackness by the destruction of the electric-light plant, were again as light as day. "see that, max?" whispered dale in an awestruck voice as the flames leaped up. "surely our raid on the power-house cannot have done that?" "i expect that something was upset in the mad rush for the doors. the place is full of inflammables, and they will never get the fire out--you see." the scene was of absorbing interest, and max and dale and the faithful dubec mingled with the crowds of excited workmen and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. alarm-bells were sounding and bugle-calls ringing in all directions, and in a few minutes two or three engines dashed into the yard and began a hopeless fight against the raging fire. max and his friends continued to gaze on at the exciting scene until the former was recalled to himself by the heavy tramp of what seemed to be detachments of soldiers outside the walls of the yard. "listen, dale, i can hear a lot of troops marching outside. i don't think their presence bodes any good, and i think we had better be off. the germans will be most awfully savage, and will be firing on the mob, or something of the sort." "shouldn't wonder, old man. well, we've done enough for one night, so let us join this crowd and leave by the main entrance." a number of workmen, who were probably of the same mind as max and did not like the look of things, were moving towards the gates, and to these our three friends joined themselves. on reaching the gates, however, the whole party came to a standstill. the gates were closed, and a dozen soldiers with fixed bayonets stood on guard in front of them. "we made a mistake, dale, in not getting away at once," whispered max. "we shall have trouble now, you may be sure." as he spoke, the gates were opened and a motorcar drove through. it contained the manager, m. schenk, and two officers, and came to a stand on the outskirts of the crowd collected at the gates. the manager immediately stood up in the car and addressed the crowd in such stern and peremptory tones that it would have seemed fitter, max thought, had the words been uttered by one of the officers at his side. "listen, men. a dastardly outrage has just been committed in these works, and i am determined to bring the guilty ones to justice. i shall allow no one to leave until he has been thoroughly examined, however long it may take. stand aside, therefore, and await your call quietly, or i shall have recourse to sterner measures." the car moved on, and the workmen addressed stopped obediently where they were and began discussing the affair in low, excited tones. "this sort of thing won't suit us, dale," whispered max, as he edged out of the crowd and began moving away from the gates. "examinations are not a strong point with us at present." "no, we require to study a little more--in strict seclusion," replied dale in the same spirit, as they got away from the crowd into the blackness between a long workshop at a distance from the burning building and the outer walls. "where now, master," asked dubec, looking at max enquiringly as the three came to an involuntary halt. "over the walls and away, i think. we have done enough for one night, and i fancy schenk will think so too--eh, dale?" "aye, and say so, if ever he gets the chance," replied the latter. the party moved to the walls at the darkest point they could find and prepared to clamber over. the wall was here nearly ten feet high, and it was necessary for dubec to plant himself against it and allow max, assisted by dale, to climb on his back. he could then help dale up also before clambering on to the top. the rest would be easy enough. but a rude awakening was in store for them, for max had no sooner put his head above the wall than he was greeted by a rifle-shot from the road below, and a bullet whizzed close overhead. "down, max, down!" cried dale, clutching at his friend in sudden consternation. "i'm all right, old man," replied max, who, needless to say, had lost no time in bobbing down below the level of the wall. "but we can't get over here," he added as he lowered himself gently to the ground. dale followed suit, and the three men stood at the foot of the wall and anxiously debated their next move. "it is pretty clear," max summed up, "that the germans have put a cordon of soldiers all about the works, and clearer still"--a little ruefully this--"that their orders are to shoot first and make enquiries afterwards." "we must chance it and try to get over somewhere," responded dale. "no--too risky. the moment we top the wall we show up plainly against the light of the fire behind us. we should be noticed at once. we must try another plan." "what's that?" "the river." "ah--swim across?" "yes--or, better still, float down until we get beyond the roads about the works." "but what about dubec? can he swim?" "i don't suppose so. can you, monsieur dubec?" the answer was a decided negative, and max went on: "but it doesn't matter. dubec doesn't need to leave in the unorthodox way that schenk has forced upon us. he is a _bona fide_ workman, and has been working in the shops for the last three days. he is safe enough." it was so arranged, and soon the party had gained the shelter of the bushes at the spot where their stock of shells had been hidden. max and dale then waded waist-deep into the meuse, and, with a whispered farewell to m. dubec, allowed themselves to float down with the stream. for some yards out the edge of the river was in deep shadow from the bank, and beyond a gentle movement of the hands to keep them within its shelter, the two lads let themselves drift at will. the water was warm and they felt no discomfort, and in half an hour they were beyond what they considered the danger zone. clambering out of the river, they wrung as much of the water as possible out of their clothes and made rapid tracks for their lodging. as was to be expected, the destruction of the power-house and the burning of one of the largest workshops at the durend works created a great sensation among both the germans and the liégeois. the former looked upon it, rightly enough, as a determined attempt to interfere with their exploitation of the manufacturing resources of the city for the benefit of the invading armies; the latter, as a patriotic and successful demonstration of the hatred of the belgians for their temporary masters and of their determination to hinder them by every means in their power. it gave the spirit of the people a fillip, and, despite the redoubled severity of the germans, the liégeois went about their businesses with a prouder air, as if conscious that, though temporarily overcome, they were very far from being beaten. on attending for work on the following evening, at the usual hour, max and dale were curtly informed that they would not be required for another week at least. they had expected this, of course, and were only disappointed that the holiday was likely to be so short. they had hoped that the works would be out of action for at least three weeks. but the manager had set to work with his usual energy. engines were being requisitioned from other factories in the town, not engaged in the manufacture of war supplies, and repairs to those less seriously damaged were going on with shifts of fresh workmen night and day. it was nearly a fortnight, however, before the works were again in full swing, or would have been in full swing had not other events occurred to hinder the complete resumption of business. that fortnight max considered as a specially favourable opportunity for paying further attention to m. schenk and his many activities. it meant that the various workshops were empty, save for two or three watchmen, and that groups of workmen were necessarily hanging about the premises, idly watching the proceedings and waiting for the time when they could recommence work. the first meant opportunities that would not occur when the workshops were in full swing, and the second that the prowling of max and his friends would be the less likely to attract notice. one of the first things that caught the attention of max and dale was the rapid accumulation of great stocks of coal outside the yard, owing to the enforced idleness of the power-house. the durend mines were, of course, unaffected by the stoppage of the workshops, and coal was sent up to the surface with the same regularity as before. in fact, the rate of production was accelerated, as numbers of the workmen thrown out of employment by the closing of the workshops applied for work at the collieries. thus the stores of coal grew and grew, from stacks of the moderate dimensions (for the durend company) of or tons, to great piles of , and finally , tons. then came a rumour that, as soon as trucks were available, the accumulation was to be transported into germany and, worse still, to krupp's. this was enough to set max and dale discussing the matter with anxious care. to the former it was as intolerable that the durend mines should produce coal for krupp's as it was that the durend workshops should cast shells for the german guns. and yet it was no easy matter to devise means of dealing with a great mass of coal. obviously, it could not be carried off, and to blow it up was hardly practicable. however, after much discussion, it was decided that an attempt should be made to burn it. it certainly did not seem a very hopeful scheme, seeing the number of fire-engines that were close at hand in the city and the unlimited supply of water in the river meuse. but to max and dale anything seemed better than to do nothing in such a matter, and they determined to make the attempt. for materials all they needed was a good supply of firewood, a gallon or two of benzine, and some fuses. the coal stacks were situated on a piece of waste land outside, but adjoining, the walled-in enclosure of the durend works. they were accessible on all sides, but a watchman was always on guard to see that none of the coal was stolen. this man patrolled round and round the stacks, keeping a look-out for suspicious characters, especially, of course, any bearing sacks or baskets which might be used to contain coal. it was in the middle of the night that max and dale, accompanied by the faithful dubec, appeared on the scene. the last was carrying a bulky sack filled with firewood, max bore a two-gallon tin of benzine, and dale a dummy sack which appeared to be full, but which, as a matter of fact, contained only a light framework of wood designed to fill it out. dale's part of the performance began first. waiting until the watchman had passed, he flitted across the road to the coal stack. then he gave the stack a kick which sent a number of loose pieces of coal rattling to the ground. the watchman stopped instantly, and without more ado dale turned and bolted down the road in full view. as was expected, the watchman immediately gave chase, and in a couple of minutes both men had disappeared from the scene. max and dubec now emerged, and lost no time in getting to work. they crossed the road to the end of the stack where, in the morning, work would be resumed. there they made four caches of wood close against the stack, covered them over with loose coal, and deluged the pile with benzine. from these caches fuses were laid upward to the top of the stack, and the whole covered over with more coal. long before the watchman had crawled back, grumbling and exhausted from his long chase after a thief who carried a great bag of coal with an ease that seemed extraordinary, the two other conspirators had disappeared from the scene. an hour later they rejoined dale and spent half an hour in laughing over his recital of the way in which he had led the man farther and farther afield by pretending to be always on the point of dropping from fatigue. the next day dubec spent in watching the stacking of further supplies of coal. the caches of firewood, he reported, had not been noticed, and by the end of the day another tons of coal had been dumped against the stack, completely enclosing them. for one day more max held his hand, while he worked at another scheme that was slowly maturing. then, immediately after nightfall, he crept to the stack, and, watching his opportunity, clambered carefully to the top and lit the three fuses. the smell presently told him that the fires had caught, and he crept away, satisfied that on the morrow there would be something of a hubbub, even if no very considerable damage resulted. it was with the idea of watching developments that max and dale applied for work at the depots next day. they hoped to witness amusing and exhilarating scenes, and to get as near to the spot as possible they gladly offered to shovel coal. their offer was accepted and they were soon at work transporting coal and shovelling it on to the stacks. they soon experienced a sense of disappointment. instead of finding the stacks enveloped in smoke, and all work suspended for the day, as they expected, they discovered that work was going on as usual and nothing seemed amiss. "seems to have been a frost, max," grumbled dale discontentedly. "all our trouble and brain-fag gone for nothing." "i thought so at first, dale, but i'm not so sure now. see that light haze yonder? it may be the fires have caught all right but are burning out for lack of draught. let's hope they've done a bit of damage anyhow!" "h'm!" grunted dale in a tone of discouragement. "besides," max went on, "this is only a small affair. the next real attack will come in a day or two, and i hope there will be no failure there." "no," replied dale, brightening up, "if that comes off we shall have done something worth doing. schenk will be ready to tear his hair, and we shall have to look out for ourselves." "well, so we will. we shall deserve a rest, and we will retire into obscurity for a season and recuperate. another ramble in the ardennes would suit us well." "especially with a little shooting thrown in--uhlans, i mean," replied dale facetiously. "there will be plenty of scouting, if not shooting, if all the tales we hear of those gentlemen be true." "aye--but see, max, how that smoky haze is getting thicker! the pile must be alight all right after all." the light fleecy smoke which hovered over the great stack certainly seemed denser than it was, and a slight smell of burning was in the air. the other workmen had also noticed it, and hazarded conjectures as to whence it came, but none of them got very near the mark. all day the smoke increased, until, by the time the men ceased work, it lay like a thick fog all about the neighbourhood. max and dale returned to their lodging in high glee, and their joy was not diminished when they noticed that the wind was beginning to freshen up. "this ought to finish the business, dale," remarked max. "with a high wind all night, if the fire doesn't get into its stride it never will." soon after daybreak the shrill notes of a bugle in several quarters of the town and the ringing of fire-bells told our heroes that something unusual was afoot. they guessed, or rather hoped, that it might be on their account, and dressed and sallied out as quickly as they could. sure enough, an enormous pall of smoke, that a volcano in full eruption need not have disowned, lay in the air in the direction of the durend coal-yards. fire engines were hurrying to the scene from all parts of the town, and the hoped-for hubbub seemed to have arrived. "this is worth a little trouble," remarked dale with intense relish as they drew near the burning stack and saw hundreds of soldiers and firemen hovering actively about the spot. "yes, but we may as well take a little more trouble and do the thing in style," responded max coolly. "let us follow these hoses to the river bank and see whether there is anything doing." they did so, and, finding that the hoses entered the water at a point where a patch or two of short scrubby bushes gave cover against chance watchers, they passed on and struck the bank again a hundred yards farther on. then they disappeared from view, and, crawling along under cover of the bushes, they reached the hoses, and with a dozen rapid slashes of their clasp-knives effectually put them out of action. an extraordinary hubbub ensued. soldiers and firemen rushed about in all directions, chasing away every unfortunate civilian who had had the temerity to approach the scene of the fire. in the confusion max and dale had no difficulty in escaping, and retired to the hills, there to gloat over the further efforts made to fight the fire, which seemed only to grow fiercer as hundreds of gallons of water were pumped upon it. it was two days before the fire was completely subdued, and the net result from a material point of view was that at least , tons of coal had been destroyed and the project of transporting coal to krupp's effectually quashed. from the point of view of _moral_, the germans were the laughing-stock of the town; they were deeply enraged and the townsfolk proportionately delighted. chapter xii the attack on the munition-shops and its sequel to max durend the successful raid on the coal-yards was only the prelude to the main performance. his mind was bent wholly towards one great object, and that was to prevent, by every means in his power, the exploitation of his father's great works by the enemies of his country. the coal-yard incident, as he termed it, was satisfactory so far as it went, but gave his mind no real relief such as had resulted from the recovery of part of the firm's monetary resources and the destruction of the power-house. the next affair, which, as has been hinted, was already well in hand, was more important and was an attempt to damage, if not destroy, some of the great machines installed for the production of rifles and machine-guns. the largest workshop in the yard was devoted to this and a few other of the more delicate kinds of work, and it seemed to max that the greatest amount of injury might be inflicted upon the germans by an attempt on this shop. the works were still at a standstill, though it was fairly evident that they would not be so for much longer. the attempt ought, therefore, to be made within the few following days. the plan was simplicity itself. it merely provided for max and dale to enter the workshop during the night and to work as much mischief among the machines as they could, consistently with the need for silence and the avoidance or silencing of the watchmen. for some days they had kept the place under close observation, and noted the hours and habits of the watchmen and the sentinels at either end of the building until they knew them as well as the men themselves. dubec they would not bring with them. he was eager to come, but the work required alertness and lightness of hand and foot rather than strength, and for this he would have been of no use. besides, the two lads, keen as they were on their self-imposed tasks, were not unmindful of the fact that he had a wife and children to mourn him should the venture come to grief. all, however, seemed to go well. max and dale succeeded in effecting an entrance into the ground floor of the workshop after they had seen the watchman, by the glint of his lamp, make his midnight round. the two soldiers--one at each end of the building--saw nothing and heard nothing, of that they were assured. without delay, therefore, for in a little over an hour the watchman would be back from his rounds upon the upper floors, they proceeded to put out of action the more valuable and more complicated machines in the building. it was necessary, of course, that they should be almost silent; so their mode of procedure was to muffle up in an old blanket the most delicate and fragile parts of the machines before smashing them with a heavy hammer well swathed in flannel wrappings. the machines dealt with first were those farthest from the route that would be taken by the watchman on his next round. consequently, when he came, he passed along swinging his lantern in utter ignorance that anything was amiss, or that two men lay in ambush close at hand, ready to spring upon him should he suspect anything wrong and pause to investigate. as soon as he had passed out of ear-shot the two recommenced their work with redoubled energy, and some two and a half hours were thus consumed in work that utterly spoiled a large proportion of the valuable machines which filled the great workshop. skilful, vigilant, and almost silent as they had been, they were yet after all caught napping. how or by whom they never knew, until, some time after, dubec told them of a tale that was going the round among the workmen to the effect that one of schenk's hired ferrets had all the time been hidden on the upper floor. strange to say, he had been there not so much to deal with disaffected workmen--the sentinels were expected to do that--as to spy upon the watchmen themselves. the story seemed to fit in well with what max knew of schenk's character, and he accepted it as in all probability true. at any rate, neither max nor dale dreamed that aught was amiss until the latter heard the sound of marching outside, and that upon an unusual scale. he slid quickly to the nearest window and peeped out. "we're done, max!" he cried soberly. "scores of soldiers, and they look to be forming a cordon right round the building." "are you sure?" max cried incredulously, hurrying to a window on the opposite side of the block. one glance was enough to show that a strong cordon of soldiers was being drawn--nay, to all appearances was already drawn--all round the workshop. the soldiers faced inwards, and stood with bayonets fixed, as though prepared for an attempt at escape from some body of men caught within their armed circle. "we've been seen, jack, old man!" cried max, coming back to the side of his friend. "it's all up, i fear. they've made up their minds they've got us, and do not intend to let us slip. i'm so sorry, old man, you should have been mixed up in this. it's really not your quarrel, but mine." there was a new note in max's voice, one his friend had never heard before, and it was with something suspiciously like a break in his own that dale replied as he seized and wrung his hand: "don't say another word, max. it's my affair too, and i won't have you blame yourself on my account. we've simply fought for our country, and have now got to die for it--that's all." for a moment or two the friends stood silent, grasping one another's hands. that moment they were indeed friends, and each would cheerfully have given up his own life to save the other. then the ruling thought which still swayed max's mind asserted itself once more. "it seems so, dale. well, then, let us die to some good purpose. here we have under our hands the most valuable of the workshops filched from us. it is only partly out of action. let us complete the good work, and we shall at least have deserved well of our country." "aye; but how so?" "let us burn it down." "with us in it?" "aye, if need be. but if we will we can always sally out and exchange that fate for the bayonet's point." dale gazed at his friend in undisguised admiration. "you are a terror, max," he said slowly. "these old works are your very life-blood, and i believe you would go through fire and water to keep the germans out of 'em." "so i would," replied max with conviction, as he coolly reached down a great can of lubricating-oil and poured it over the floor and upon a pile of wooden cases close by. "well, if you are game--and i know you are--let us scatter all the oil and stuff we can find about the place and set fire to it. they'll never get it out." "right you are, stroke. it's the final, and we must make a win of it. what would hawkesley's think if they could see us--or benson's?" "dale," cried max, with sudden and deeper earnestness, "d'ye know, i believe this is what we were really training for during all those gruelling races. it was not for nothing we slogged away there day after day, learning to conquer disappointment and defeat. no; it was to know how to serve our country here." "i believe you--and we will." "hark! i think i can hear soldiers on the floor below. look out! i am going to set a light to this pile of cases. get ready to run. i fancy it will spread like wildfire." a match was applied, and flames leapt up and spread with a rapidity that would have terrified anyone less absorbed or less determined than our two heroes. the flames flew along the floor and benches, and max and dale retreated down the room, overturning all the cans of oil and grease they could find, and making it an easy matter for the fire to catch and hold. the smoke, driven along in front of the flames, quickly became so intolerable that they had to fly for relief to the staircase at the farther end of the building. outside the workshop the burst of flame was the signal for a loud yell of execration, mingled with cries of warning to the soldiers who had entered the building in search of the hostile workmen reported there. the soldiers trooped noisily out and joined the cordon still drawn about the burning building. messengers were dispatched to the fire-stations, and in a few minutes a couple of engines arrived and set to work to fight the flames. but though they were expeditious in arriving, the firemen were not equally expeditious in getting their hoses effectually trained upon the building. for one thing, the river had been largely relied upon to furnish a water-supply, and no hydrants were close at hand. consequently the hoses had to be carried a great distance, and as the yards were still in darkness, save for the lurid light shed by the burning building, the hoses were badly exposed to the attentions of any hostile workman who happened to be near the scene. dubec "happened" to be there, with two or three other men animated by out-and-out hostility to the germans, and waged fierce war upon the hoses at every point at which they lay in shadow. by the time the officer commanding the troops had awakened to the situation, the hoses had been completely ruined, and the fighting of the flames delayed until fresh ones could be brought to the spot. in the meantime max and dale had ceased their efforts to extend the fire, and had retreated to one of the stone staircases situated at each end of the building. there was, in fact, little more to be done, for the fire had got firm hold, and it seemed certain that the whole building was doomed. the end by the staircase was almost free from smoke, and max and dale lingered there while awaiting the moment when they should be compelled to choose between death by burning or by the bayonets of the german soldiers. they fell somewhat quiet during those moments, and when they talked it was of the good old glorious times they had spent together. presently max's ear caught the sound of someone ascending the stairs. "someone--a fireman, i suppose--is coming up the stairs, dale." "what shall we do with him? give him his quietus? i still have my hammer." "no--get in the corner here and watch what he's after. it won't help us to hurt him." the man moved on up the stairs until he passed by the spot where max and dale were in ambush. he was a fireman, and his object seemed to be to find out at close quarters the extent and power of the fire. as the man passed him, max had a sudden idea. "we must attack him after all, dale," he whispered. "come--help me so that no alarm is raised. i will tell you why in a moment." sheltered by the fitful light and occasional gusts of rolling smoke, it was an easy matter to creep upon the fireman unawares and to bring him to the ground stunned and helpless. that accomplished, max immediately proceeded to remove the man's tunic and helmet. dale then understood--it was to be the ruse of the sham sentry outside the power-house over again. "now put them on, dale," cried max rapidly. "you can then go boldly down and out to the cordon of soldiers. they will let you through without question." "not i," replied dale sturdily. "i'm not going to leave you like that. what will become of you, i should like to know?" "i shall be all right. when the next fireman comes along i shall do the same. now, go ahead, and don't delay." "no," replied dale decidedly. "i'll not do it, max. we will wait for the next fireman together if _you_ will not don the suit." "dale--you will do as you are told!" cried max, roused to sudden anger by his friend's unexpected obstinacy. "i am stroke of this crew--not you." "i know you are, but you are asking too much when you want me to leave the boat. besides, i should never get through. i can't muster up nearly enough german. you put them on, old man--it's no use staying here when you might escape." "you shall suffer for this, dale, upon my word you shall," cried max angrily, as he savagely thrust himself into the tunic, buckled on the belt and axe, and donned the great helmet. "but if you think i am going without you you are badly mistaken. come downstairs, near the entrance, and i will tell you what i propose." the two lads descended the stairs, bearing the unconscious fireman between them--for they could not bring themselves to leave him there to burn--until they reached the entrance to the building. there they deposited him just inside the door, in such a position that the first man entering would be sure to stumble over him. outside several engines were now in full swing pumping water into the first floor, which was burning furiously from end to end. the fire had spread to the upper floors, and the ground floor had begun to catch in several places. the whole workshop, indeed, seemed doomed to complete destruction, for the fire had obtained such firm hold that the engines seemed to make little impression upon it. from the shouts of the germans it was clear that they were greatly enraged, and it was perfectly certain that the shrift of the authors of the fire, if they were caught, would be an exceedingly short one. "halt here for a moment, dale, while i tell you what i propose. it is a desperate venture, but if you are still going to be obstinate it is all i can think of, and we might just as well try it as throw our lives away." "i'm absolutely obdurate, max. i'm not going to be saved at your expense, so go ahead with your venture." "well--it's this. i am going to sally out, wearing the fireman's uniform and carrying you in my arms. you are to feign unconsciousness. the idea is that you have been badly hurt, and i am carrying you out of reach of the fire. i have some hope that in my fireman's garb and with my blackened face they will let me pass." "all right--it sounds good enough, max. at any rate, we shall keep together--whether we sink or swim." "come along, then," replied max briskly, stooping down and lifting dale in his arms. "let your head fall back and look as lifeless as you can. it's now or never--absolutely." the cordon of soldiers with fixed bayonets, outside, suddenly saw the fireman--apparently the man who had entered the building a few minutes before--reappear, bearing in his arms the limp figure of a man rescued from the flames. the fireman strode straight out towards them, and as he reached them the men opened to right and left and let him pass through. a non-commissioned officer followed him. "what have you there, fireman?" he asked, as he endeavoured to catch a glimpse of the blackened face that hung so limply down. "is the man dead?" "no--he still lives," replied max, moving on without checking his pace. other people were coming up, and his one thought was to get beyond the circle of light cast by the great fire before taking action. "set the man down here while i give him a drain from my flask. you must not take him away until my officer has seen him." "one moment--here is a bank against which i can lean him," replied max, still moving steadily away. he could see the non-commissioned officer was getting impatient, if not suspicious, and whispered to dale: "i am going to set you down. directly your feet touch ground, bolt for the river. i will follow and be there as soon as you; but don't wait for me. _now!_" as he spoke, max slowly lowered dale to the ground. the soldier was close by, but none else was within some yards. they were beyond the circle of bright light cast by the fire, and a few yards would take them into darkness, which was pitchy to anyone coming from the vicinity of the fire. the chance of escape was good, and max, the time for resolute action at hand, felt his heart bound with fresh hope and energy. the moment dale's feet were on the ground max gave him a push in the direction of the river and off he flew. almost simultaneously max seized his helmet and dashed it in the face of the soldier, who had raised a shout of alarm and was on the point of chasing dale. the sudden blow disconcerted the man, and he hung in the wind for a moment. the supposed injured man might be an enemy, but it was certain this aggressive fireman was one, and, as max darted off, the soldier turned, lifted his rifle, and aimed a shot at him. max had little fear of the man's rifle. it was too dark, and he was moving too rapidly and erratically, for anyone to take good aim. the bullet passed wide of the mark, and the soldier, realizing his mistake in not pursuing at once, instead of wasting precious moments in firing, put his rifle at the trail and rushed madly after, shouting to his comrades and all who might be within hearing that a spy was on the point of escaping. max knew the ground and the soldier did not, so max had no difficulty in increasing his lead. he could see dale a dozen yards ahead, and by the time he reached the bank had caught him up. "in at once, and dive down-stream, dale!" he cried, and without a moment's pause they both tumbled in, anyhow, and struck out with all their strength down-stream. chapter xiii the german counter-stroke the fury of the german military governor and his staff at the destruction of the largest workshop in the durend concern could hardly have been greater had the town under their charge successfully revolted. for the fifth time at least the durend works--which the germans had looked upon as peculiarly their own--had been the scene of successful blows against their authority. these exploits were too extensive and too public to be hidden, and the walloon workmen of liége--never a docile race--had been progressively encouraged to commit similar acts elsewhere, or to resist passively the pressure of their german taskmasters. in the view of the german governor it was imperative that a blow, and a stunning one, should be struck at this tendency among the liége workmen. had the authors of this latest outrage been captured, an example would have been easy. unfortunately, they had again escaped, and in a manner so impudent and daring that the exasperation of the germans was greatly intensified. rewards had been offered before and had proved fruitless. on this occasion the governor resolved to sweep aside what he termed trifles, and to use firmly and pitilessly a weapon of terror already in his hands. the durend yards had been entirely closed the moment intelligence had reached m. schenk that suspicious persons had broken into one of the idle workshops. after the fire all workmen found within the yard had been closely examined, and those definitely known to have belgian sympathies placed under arrest. these men numbered thirty-nine, and it was by using them as hostages that the german governor intended to strike terror into the hearts of the walloons. they were hurried before a military court, briefly examined, and found guilty of conspiring against the german military occupation. sentence of death followed as a matter of course. max and dale had reached their lodging without any particular difficulty, after again taking refuge in the waters of the meuse. they were tired out with their all-night exploit, and, removing their wet garments, tumbled heavily into bed. it was thus late in the afternoon before they heard from the landlord of their house the news that the german governor intended to execute all the belgian workmen caught within the precincts of the durend yards. even then they could hardly bring themselves to believe it. "it's too rascally even for the germans, max," declared dale at last. "it's probably only a threat to force one of them to give away his fellows." "maybe, dale, but i know enough of the germans to believe that if they don't succeed they will not hesitate to carry out the sentence." "the cold-blooded murderers!" cried dale hotly. "yes," replied max in a strained voice, as he began to pace slowly up and down the length of their room. "yes, they are; but shall not we have really had a hand in their deaths?" "not one jot," cried dale emphatically. "no particle of blame can be laid at our door if they are foully done to death." "had we not so harassed the germans, these men would not be under sentence of death," max went on, half to himself. "it seems hard that they must die for our success." "bah! they die for belgium and to proclaim to the world that the germans must be crushed," cried dale contemptuously. "no, max, we have nothing to reproach ourselves with in this business." "no, but still----" then, rousing himself with an effort, max went on: "but we need not worry ourselves yet. will you go into the streets and find out anything else you can? i am going to find dubec, and we will then see if aught can be done." the two parted, and in a few minutes max was at the door of dubec's house. here a rude shock awaited him, for madame dubec, white-faced but tearless, told him, with a quietude and directness that somehow seemed to make the news more terrible still, that her husband was one of those lying under sentence of death. the shock was a great one, although, in his heart, max had half expected it. he knew dubec had been in the yard, and what more likely than that he had been detained? too upset to do more than mumble a few words of sorrow, max turned on his heel and hurried from the house. taking the road to the open hills, max strode on and on, his mind filled with serious and oftentimes conflicting thoughts. he had no doubts as to the fate of the thirty-nine men if the germans were unable to lay their hands upon the real authors of the destruction of the workshop. they would surely die, and with them dubec, towards whom max felt specially drawn by his constant loyal aid and the memory of the day when he had answered his mute appeal for succour. and to max the responsibility seemed his. these men had no part nor lot in it. why should they die? it did not help matters much to blame the germans--the worst might always be expected of them--for that would not give back to madame dubec the husband for whom it seemed to max she had unconsciously appealed. supposing he gave himself up in order that they might go free? ah, what a triumph for schenk! how he would rejoice! true, he did not know that max was at the bottom of all the shrewd blows dealt him of late, but he probably had more than a suspicion of it. at any rate he was known to have traced much of the money and valuables, recovered from his room, to the bank at maastricht which madame durend patronized. knowing, then, the authorship of that most daring exploit, it would have been strange if he had not looked to the same quarter for an explanation of the similar blows dealt him so soon after. yes, it would be a great triumph for schenk, and the end of that resolute opposition to the use of the durend workshops for the benefit of the german army that had taken such a grip upon our hero's mind. that task he had made peculiarly his own. all the fixity of purpose he possessed, and it was not a little, was concentrated upon keeping his father's--his--works from aiding the projects of a brutal and unscrupulous enemy. to give it all up would not only be a victory for schenk but a bitter pill to himself--the uprooting of something that had taken deep root in the inmost recesses of his mind. the struggle was a long one, but it came to an end at last, and max returned to the town, scribbled a short note to dale, which he left at their lodging, and then walked directly to the governor's house. at the door the sentry's bayonet barred his entry, but the officer of the guard, on being informed that a man had applied to see the governor on urgent business, came out and spoke to him. a few words were sufficient, and max was brought inside under a guard of two men while the officer sought the governor with the welcome news that the man who had destroyed the durend workshops had given himself up. the governor directed that he should be searched to ensure that he was not in possession of firearms and then admitted to his presence. the german governor of liége was quite a typical prussian officer, stiffly erect, with bullet-head covered with short bristling grey hair, well-twisted moustache, and fierce aggressive manner. he was the man who had called upon schenk on the never-to-be-forgotten occasion when max and dale had been his uninvited guests underneath his office desk. to say the least of it, he was not a man who was afraid of being too severe. "you are then this rascal who has burned the durend machine-gun shop?" he cried in a rasping voice as soon as max had been led before him. "yes," replied max, "but i am no rascal. the shop is mine, and i have burned it." "yours, impudent?" cried the governor angrily, raising a cane which lay upon his desk as though about to slash his prisoner about the face. "yours? and who are you?" "i am max durend, the son of the owner of the workshops, and i would sooner see the place burned from end to end than of use to the germans." "ah, that is good!" replied the governor in a voice of satisfaction, dropping his hand and turning towards the officer who had ushered max into the room. "it will have a salutary effect if we execute the son of herr durend. it will aid our cause tremendously." "yes, general." "i have given myself up that the innocent men you have seized upon may be released," max interposed. "they know nothing of it. i am solely responsible." "ja, so. i have now no quarrel with them," replied the governor indifferently. "they are pawns. now i have the real miscreant i need them not." "i am no miscreant. they are miscreants who would slaughter thirty-nine innocent men because the right one had slipped through their fingers." the governor glared at max with eyes that goggled with rage. he was clearly unaccustomed to such plain speaking. "i remember that herr von schenkendorf once told me that monsieur durend had married an englishwoman. you are half a mad english dog, and your manners proclaim it." "it is true," replied max steadily. "ja, you and your countrymen are half barbarian. you know naught of kultur." "thank god!" cried max with an emphasis that caused the governor to spring to his feet, seize the cane anew, and slash the prisoner heavily across the cheek. max flinched--he could not help it--but he moved neither hand nor foot. this outburst seemed to calm the prussian, for he dropped back into his chair and in a judicial manner, though with a very vindictive and unjudicial scowl upon his face, he passed judgment. "the prisoner has pleaded guilty. you will take him to-morrow morning to monsieur durend's works, and at midday you will shoot him there." "in public, sir?" enquired the officer. "yes, as an example to all his late workmen. a placard announcing the impending execution will be posted outside." "yes, sir." max was led away. indignation at the brutality of the prussian was strong within him, and he held his head erect, and answered look for look the hostile glances of those about him. the hot blood still coursed through his veins, and the sacrifice he had made did not loom over large in his imagination. it was not until he had been conducted to a gloomy, ill-lit room in the basement of the building, and there left in solitude to think and think upon his impending fate, that things grew different, and his fortitude partially left him. the end seemed so merciless and hard, and, leaning heavily against the wall, he fell a prey to unhappy reflections. at times he went farther than this, and shed a few furtive tears at this end to all his hopes and secret boyish ambitions. * * * * * shortly after max had been led away to his cell, the thirty-nine workmen were released. no reason was vouchsafed for this sudden change of front, but the curt notice already affixed to the gates of the governor's palace soon supplied it. max durend had been taken, and found guilty of the deed for which they had been seized, and he was to pay the penalty. m. dubec was one of the men released, and at the news he hurried home. naturally his wife was overjoyed at seeing him, but he was too preoccupied by doubt and concern at the fate of his master's son to stay with her more than a few minutes. from his home he hurried to the lodging of max and dale, and at the door met the latter coming slowly out. one glance at his face was enough to tell even m. dubec that he knew of his friend's terrible position. "you have seen the notice, sir?" he asked. "no, i have seen no notice," replied dale heavily. "i do not want to know of any notice, thank you, dubec." "but you know of monsieur max----?" "yes." "then you must have heard from him or seen him taken. i first knew by the notice on the gates of the palace." dale threw off a little of his lethargy. "what was this notice?" he said. "that he is to be shot at noon to-morrow in the durend yard." "ah! and i shall join him there!" cried dale in so wild a voice that dubec looked at him in wonderment. then dale told him what had happened. that max had not been captured by the germans, but had voluntarily surrendered himself to save the imprisoned workmen. the note which max had left, and which had told him all, was read aloud to the wondering man, who, somewhat slow-witted as he was, managed to grasp the one awe-inspiring fact that his master's son had offered up his own life to save his and his comrades' lives. the note which dale read to him was as follows:-- "dear jack, "i can't stand it. i cannot bear that those thirty-nine men should die for my affairs. i know that their blood would not lie at my door, but at the door of their unscrupulous judges; yet i cannot feel that this removes from me all responsibility. no; and i must yield myself up in their place. do not grieve for me, old man. return to england, and, if you will, take a more direct part in the war. leave the durend affairs alone; they must, for the war, die with me. "good-bye, old man, good-bye! remember me to all at hawkesley. tell them i lost upon a foul, and not in fair fighting. "ever your old comrade, "max." dale's voice shook as he read the letter. he was obviously much upset, and, seeing it, dubec, in his uncouth but good-hearted way, persuaded him to return with him to his home for a little while. there madame dubec was called to their aid, and as soon as dale had recovered himself a little the situation was anxiously discussed. in his desperation dale was for interrupting the execution and compelling the germans to execute him by the side of his friend. such an idea as that was quite foreign to madame and monsieur dubec, and they refused to entertain it. as the former said, if monsieur dale was determined to die, it would be better to do so in trying to liberate his friend rather than in attempting to share his fate. the reasonableness of this struck even dale, distraught as he was, and the three settled down to discuss the possibility of rescue, of reprieve, or whatever seemed likely to put off the evil hour, if only for a day. chapter xiv schenk at work again max did not long allow himself to give way to weak and bitter reflections. as soon as he properly realized how much he had fallen below himself, he exerted himself to throw off all weakening thoughts and to take a better and higher view of his unfortunate position. he was about to die for his friends and for his country. well, had he not oftentimes thought that it would be a grand and good thing so to do? was he now going to go back on those cherished ideals, and regret the heavy blows he had inflicted upon a brutal enemy and the succour he had given to his friends? indignant with himself, max braced himself to a more wholesome frame of mind, and tried to prepare himself for the last scene of the drama of the durend workshops--a drama in which he had been one of the principal actors since the war began. he would, he told himself, do his best to finish worthily the last and greatest task destiny had set him. his self-uplifting efforts had met with a considerable measure of success, and he had almost completely regained his usual quiet, steady frame of mind, when his thoughts were interrupted by the sudden challenge of the sentry outside. the challenge was apparently answered satisfactorily, for the door was almost immediately unbolted, and a man entered. it was with very mixed feelings that max recognized the manager, m. schenk. "you do not seem pleased to see me, monsieur max," observed the manager, smiling in an ingratiating manner that to max was more objectionable at that moment than open triumph. "have i reason to?" queried max shortly. "i think so. but that depends as much upon you as upon me. you are aware that you die to-morrow?" the almost casual manner in which the manager spoke struck max as being doubly horrible. he seemed to think nothing at all of the execution of a fellow-creature, and one who had been closely associated with him for a good many years. "i am aware of it," replied max as quietly as he could. "well, it seems a pity. such a young fellow, and one so energetic and keen in his business, and with a brilliant future before him," said the manager in a smooth, velvety voice that max had known him use to influential business men when he was specially anxious to gain his point. "i have, in fact, monsieur max, been talking your unfortunate case over with the governor. i have told him that, serious as this offence of yours undoubtedly is, you are really the tool of others. he is, of course, much incensed against you for the destruction of so important a workshop, but is ready to be merciful--upon conditions." "ah! and what conditions?" "not hard ones," replied m. schenk, obviously pleased by the eagerness with which max spoke. "you stole some plans of mine a month or so ago----? yes? i thought it must be you, and i am ready to go to some lengths to get them back." "they have left my hands, monsieur schenk." "where are they?" "in the hands of the english government." "you rascal!" shouted m. schenk furiously, his smooth, easy manner utterly giving way. "you--you--but, after all, i thought as much; and they were really of no great value," he ended lamely, recovering himself with an obvious effort. "i thought they were," replied max coldly. "no; but what i want to know is about the other papers. did you hand over _all_ you took to the english government?" max thought a moment. should he give schenk the information he so evidently desired? so far as he knew, the papers had no particular value, though he had not really examined them with any care; but they might have. still, they were safe enough, he thought, for he had seen them handed over into the possession of the bank. "no--only the plans. the others seemed only business papers, and i had them put away in safety against the time when the durend works should again be mine." "it hardly looks as though they ever will be, does it, monsieur max? but i am going to make you an offer. among those papers are letters that passed between the imperial government and myself in the days before the war. they are valueless, really, but i do not wish them to get into enemy hands, as they will damage me in the eyes of my imperial master. you see, i am frank with you. get me, then, all those papers and you shall go free--free, that is, on condition you join with me in running the durend works to its fullest capacity during the war. i will not ask you to work on war material--you shall manage the shops manufacturing railway material and farming machinery. i need you and your influence with these obstinate belgian workmen, and am ready to pay a heavy price to get you." "a heavy price?" muttered max. his head was beginning to whirl, and he caught confusedly at the last words. "ja. think you it has cost me nothing to beg your life from the governor? he is madly enraged with you, i can tell you. these, then, are the terms: those papers and your active assistance, or your life." max sat slowly down in the chair and put his face between his hands. life was sweet, and he could not disguise from himself that he was ready to do the utmost he honourably could to save his life. but here, it seemed clear, dishonour was too surely involved. to give up the papers, if they were really private, might not be so hard, but to join schenk in running the works, even on non-war material, was a thing he shrank from instinctively. would the workmen understand the distinction? would they not conclude he had turned traitor, and some revile him, and others--worse still--follow his dubious example? max was not very long in doubt. after all, he reasoned finally, anything proposed by schenk must needs be bad, however plausible his tale. the only really safe line to take with a man of that kind was to have naught to do with him in anything. "no, monsieur schenk, i cannot accept your offer," said max in a steady voice, getting up rather suddenly from his chair and facing the manager resolutely. "what? you----but why not, monsieur max?" he cried eagerly. "it is all nothing. but there, if you do not like to join with me in running the works i will not press that point. get me the papers. write for them to your mother, and as soon as they come you are free." "no," replied max at once. "no, monsieur schenk, i am going to have nothing to do with all this. i have fought and worked hard for belgium since the outbreak of war, and i am not going to do aught to betray her now." "then die to-morrow--i shall at least have done with you!" cried m. schenk, with a bitter hate that told max how much his blows had shaken him. "your temerity in stealing my papers and in burning the machine-gun shop will be amply avenged." "have you then forgotten the power-house and the coal-yard?" asked max with a secret satisfaction that made him forget, for the moment, even his approaching fate. "those too--were those your handiwork?" gasped the manager. "you villain--you nearly destroyed my power and reputation with them. 'tis well you die. my only risk of further disaster will perish with you." "maybe. but i have the consolation of knowing that your treachery is known to many, and that when the war is over, and the germans are driven out of belgium, you will go with them." "bah! belgium is german territory for all time. i tell you, max durend, that, were it not so, i would see to it that before our armies left not one stone of the durend factories remained upon another. take this with you to the grave: in memory of what you have done, the trouble and worry you have caused me, these works shall never more pass to your family. if germany win, they will remain mine. if the impossible happen, and we lose, then i will blow the whole up to the sky and leave to your family naught but the smoking ruins." the vindictive earnestness with which the manager spoke left no doubt upon max's mind that he meant every word he said. the durend works, then, were as good as lost to his mother and sister, and it was with additional thankfulness that he recollected that the large sum of money and valuables he had managed to rescue from schenk's clutches would be ample, and more than ample, for their needs. "you will not be able to remove the memory of duty done for our country," replied max quietly. "and it may be that if germany lose--as all in belgium believe she will do--she may have to build up all that she has destroyed. it may be that there are great factories across the border in which _you_ have an interest, and it may chance that they will be called upon to replace the machines and buildings you destroy here." too enraged to speak, the manager made a gesture expressive of his complete rejection of such an idea, and turned abruptly away. max also turned his back, and, in a silence expressive of bitter hate on the one hand and chilling contempt on the other, the two parted. * * * * * the discussion of the possibilities of rescuing max by dale, dubec, and the latter's wife, soon took a certain shape. there was no chance of rescuing him while imprisoned in the governor's palace; that was clear at once, as they knew nothing of the whereabouts of his cell, and there was too little time to find out. there remained the opportunities presented while he was being conveyed from the palace to the gates of the durend works, and during the execution within the yard. the latter seemed hopeless. the yards were bounded by high walls, or by the river, which was by this time well guarded, and the whole place was full of workmen, the majority of whom were well disposed towards german rule. it was during the march from the governor's palace to the gates that the only hope seemed to offer, and upon this they concentrated their attention. the whole thing looked desperate in the extreme, but dale was in such a state that either he must do something desperate or recklessly place himself by his friend's side. eventually, mainly through the quick-wittedness of madame dubec, a plan that seemed to offer a chance presently began to take shape. this plan was to create so strong a diversion at some point of the route that max might be enabled to make a dart away to safety, and to aid his further progress once the first part of the plan had been achieved. a diversion--strong, sudden, and terrifying--was what was needed, and to furnish this their united brains planned and planned until there emerged an idea that satisfied them all. chapter xv the dash a curt command, and max sprang to his feet. the last lap in the final of his life's race had been begun, and it was now for him to score a glorious win. for a win it was, even with his life sacrificed at the end of the race. max well understood this, and it was with a proud, though steady, thoughtful air that he followed the non-commissioned officer who summoned him from his cell. through a fine marble hall, that had so short a time before echoed with the footsteps of belgians, and was now thronged with prussian officers and their servants, max was led. out at the wide portico and into the open square, full in view of a large crowd assembled to do silent honour to a patriot; but only for a moment, for a sharp word of command rang out and a score of men closed round him, and with short military steps marched him rapidly through the crowd. max was dressed exactly as he was when he gave himself up. he had had no opportunity to wash or to make himself presentable for that last hour; unkempt, bareheaded, but erect and outwardly serene, he strode along, conscious that he was not only an example from the german point of view, but an example, and a greater one, to the belgians. he tried to tell himself that the unscrupulousness of the germans should not have the effect they desired, that his execution should be a rallying-point for all true hearts in liége and a turning-point so far as their little locality was concerned. but though max was outwardly calm and serene, inwardly he was deeply anguished. it was not a small thing to him to lay down, so to speak, his tools and to leave to others the continuance of the good work. his mother and sister, too--he could not think of them without many and bitter pangs. however, he strove hard to hold at bay such thoughts and to go down strongly to the parting of the ways. with monotonous tramp his escort marched unmoved along. max marched in the middle, unbound like a prisoner of war rather than the miscreant he had been called. once away from the governor's palace the people were sparse--ones and twos and a few groups here and there--until the gates of the durend works came in sight. here there was a larger crowd. there always was a small crowd about the gates, for the number of belgians who still refused to work was considerable, and these men passed much of their time outside, gloomily scanning the many evidences of abounding work, and discussing in low tones the progress of the war. it wanted only twenty minutes to noon, and at that hour max knew he would take his last look upon the things of this world. it was hard, he could not help thinking, but---- "_get ready!_" those words, spoken in english, sounded in his ears. they seemed uttered in the sing-song tones he knew so well, in which the starter of a rowing contest prepared to send off the crews waiting in eager readiness before him. max looked curiously about him. he knew he must be dreaming, and yet he had not been conscious at that moment of dreaming of the old days at hawkesley. how far away they seemed--and how jolly--he would never know such glorious times again. a fresh wave of new regrets passed through his mind. it was---- "_are you ready?_" this time max looked more sharply about him. he was not dreaming, he was sure now. the words had certainly been uttered, and again in the sing-song of the hawkesley starter. no one but dale could have uttered them, and dale it must be. where was he? a man carrying a big packing-case was at the side of the road on his right a dozen yards or so ahead. the packing-case hid his face, but his gait seemed somewhat familiar even while moving under his burden. he was slanting towards the prisoner's escort, the foremost of whom had now reached the outer edge of the big crowd assembled outside the gates. what did the words mean? what but that he was to act as though the greatest contest of his life was before him--aye, one with his very life for the prize! the zest for life, the deep-rooted objection to give up his task half done, the old sporting instinct to battle to the very finish, all combined to brace max's nerve to a point at which nothing was impossible. ready?--aye, he was ready and more than ready--all he waited for was the signal he knew was close at hand. suddenly something dark flew through the air. ere it touched the ground another and another followed. three tremendous explosions took place at the very feet of the men of his escort in front of him. the officer and four of the men fell to the ground, and escort and crowd surged back and away in all directions. "_go!_" like a shot from a gun, max dived into the crowd on his right. not a man of his escort put out a hand to stop him. the surprise was complete, and in an instant max was in the midst of the crowd of men already on the move, flying in terror from the scene of the fearful explosions which had killed five of the soldiers and injured others as well as some of the nearest of the crowd. four more explosions followed hard on his heels, just behind him, and he guessed they had occurred in the middle of the rearmost of his escort. the crowd scattered in all directions. max followed those who fled towards the open country, and in a few minutes he was on the outskirts of the town. hardly turning to right or left, he sped on at top speed. it was his own safety he had now to look to, his own race to win, and he put out all the energy he possessed. out of the town and up the heights into the open country he ran, and it was not until he was practically beyond pursuit that he slackened and looked about him. only one solitary figure was in sight, a quarter of a mile behind, and he was clearly not a soldier. in fact, as max slowed down and looked back, the man waved a hand. it was dale, and with a feeling of tremendous joy and gratitude max dashed back to meet him. "by george, max--you are no end of a sprinter!" dale gasped as they met. "i had no idea--you were such a hot man on the track." "ah! wait until you are under sentence of death and see what speed you can work up to. i am glad--i can't tell you how glad--to get away from there. and you are a brick, dale, a real brick." "nonsense, old man, the boot is on the other leg altogether. i am still fathoms deep in your debt." "come out of the road into the wood here where we shall be safer. what about dubec--he was in it, of course?" "yes; and _he_ has been a brick, if you like. it was he that got us the hand-grenades--schenk has just started making them--and he was one of those who pitched them into the middle of the germans. ha! ha! schenk will know that they were his own grenades when he hears about it. i guess it will not improve his temper." "is dubec following?" "no, he is safe at home, i expect, by now. he will be all right. they have nothing against him, and he is not going to the durend yard again. he is going to apply for work at the mines instead." "good! then we can be off?" "aye--though we haven't fixed up where we are to go. we were too busy over the rescue to think about anything else." "well, we ought to give liége a rest. let us go for another trip into the ardennes until this affair has blown over and we can return to the attack once more. we have earned a rest, and i for one feel i need it." "hear! hear! i've got my wind again, so let us make tracks before the germans send out patrols to hunt about the countryside. it would be too bad to be captured after hoodwinking them so thoroughly." "not to mention killing and wounding an officer and several men." chatting gaily together, but nevertheless keeping a sharp look-out, the two friends strode along out into the open lands southward of the town, and then on towards the wide stretch of broken highlands known as the ardennes. they had no clear idea of what they would do when they got there, the one thought in their minds being to find some quiet rural spot where they could remain in safety and quietude for a little while. it was certainly as well for them to do so, for the daring and successful rescue of the prisoner under sentence of death stirred the city of liége to its very depths. to the people it was an example of courage and self-sacrifice joined to determined and skilful leadership; to the germans it was most exasperating evidence of their inability to crush this people notwithstanding their many and varied methods of repression. the affair was hushed up by the governor so far as he was able to do so, but it eventually became known that it had been the cause of a violent altercation between him and the manager of the durend works, herr von schenkendorf, who was said to have made a strong complaint to the imperial government at the bungling of the military. be that as it may, it was certain that no stone was left unturned to recapture the prisoner and to find out who were the workmen participating in the rescue. nothing was ever discovered, but the manager of the durend works from that time forward refused to employ any walloon workmen anywhere save in the durend colleries, where they were supposed to be incapable of doing any serious damage. chapter xvi in the ardennes after two days' steady tramping max and dale arrived at la roche, a little town on the ourthe, well in the broken country of the ardennes. they had had no such easy and uneventful journey as they anticipated. the whole country was in a very unsettled state, the people ready to be startled and alarmed by every rumour--and they were not few--and viewing strangers with the utmost suspicion as probably german spies on the look-out for more victims. half the population of the villages passed on the way had gone. houses stood unoccupied, with doors wide open, although the furniture of those who had so lately tenanted them was still within. the whole countryside bore evidences of a great panic, and some places the more sinister signs of rough and brutal treatment. many houses had been burned down and others had been plundered in a most barbarous manner, property that could not be carried off having been wantonly destroyed. the fields and farmlands seemed deserted, as though no one dared to work at a harvest that was likely to be reaped by the enemies of their country. the authors of all this mischief were said to be the uhlans. it appeared that these formidable horsemen, after the fall of liége, had spread in small parties all over the ardennes and had carried terror and destruction wherever they went. their principal motive was, no doubt, to gather information of the enemy's whereabouts, but, while doing so, they seemed to throw themselves heart and soul into another task--that of making their name known and dreaded throughout the length and breadth of belgium. la roche had so far suffered little. parties of uhlans had passed through from time to time, but they had usually been in a hurry, and had had no time to do more than seize supplies for themselves and their horses. this was the kind of place max and dale were looking for, and, finding no troops there at the moment, and none expected, they sought out (avoiding the hotels) a café in the most out-of-the-way spot they could find, and settled down for a long stay. at least they hoped it might be a long stay. they had had so busy a time of late that neither felt any inclination to go out of his way to meet trouble. if only the enemy would leave them alone, they were prepared to welcome a long period of peace and tranquillity. but somehow peace and tranquillity seemed to have turned their backs upon max and dale. only the second night after their arrival they were awakened in the middle of the night by the clatter of horses' hoofs upon the cobbled pavements, loud shouting, and the insistent hammering of doors. "ask the proprietor what's the row, max," growled dale sleepily, as he heard max get up and look out of the little window of their bedroom. max did so, and learned that a strong body of uhlans had just ridden in and demanded shelter and supplies. "are we in any danger?" he asked. "i do not think so," the innkeeper replied. "but you must not leave the town, for they have posted men to intercept all who try to go." "and what is that for?" cried max, more perturbed by this than if he had been told that a house-to-house search for suspected persons was already being made. "why, you must know that the uhlans are rounding up escaped english and french soldiers. everyone knows that. they have been doing so for weeks past." "ah! of course. and they will not let anyone leave the town to give the soldiers information of their coming?" "no, monsieur. they are making a special effort this time. they have caught one or two, but the rest seem to grow in numbers, and are getting more audacious owing to hunger. i have heard that they stopped and plundered two army wagons full of provisions only a week ago. it is this that has made the commandant at marche determined to kill them all this time." "well, i think we will dress, in case they come here and want to search the house." "you must not hide here, monsieur, if that is what you want," replied the innkeeper quickly. "i could not have that, for if they found anyone in hiding they would burn the house down." "what for?" asked max in some astonishment. "i know not, but they have done so. no doubt it is to make us all afraid of harbouring fugitives. but you are a belgian, monsieur? you speak like a walloon." "aye; but i do not want to have aught to do with uhlans if i can help it. they so often make mistakes, and then it is too late to explain. i think we will leave your house, monsieur, and then you will run no risks." max called dale, and they put together their very slender belongings and sallied out into the night. the innkeeper was certainly pleased to see them go, and gave them as much help in the shape of information as it was in his power to bestow. he told them, with a warning to them to be careful to avoid the locality, the general position of the fugitive soldiers and the villages in which cavalry patrols had lately taken up their positions. "it seems to me, dale," remarked max, as they left the inn and crept along in the shadow of the houses towards the little bridge which spanned the ourthe, "that in leaving liége we have jumped out of the frying-pan into the fire. there we could hide in the lower quarters of the town and pass as walloon workmen easily enough, but here we are strangers, and strangers are always objects of suspicion." "yes; we did not bargain for all this chasing around by german cavalry. however, it will be good fun while it lasts, old man." "yes, but how long will it last? here's the bridge. we can't cross it in this moonlight; we should be sure to be seen and challenged. we must get into the river and cross in the shadow of the bridge." "what's the game, max? why cross at all? why not cut straight away into the open country?" "wrong direction. the innkeeper was so careful that we should get away from the district on which the uhlans were closing in that he told me exactly where it was. and that's where we are going, of course. we can't let these germans make a grand sweep of english and french fugitive soldiers without at least giving them warning, can we, old man?" "you beggar!" cried dale, with a note of admiration in his voice. "no, of course not. won't it be jolly if we find some english soldiers, and manage to pilot them away to a safe place?" "not bad. now here we are; climb over this wall, and lower yourself into the bed of the river. then creep along in the shadow of the wall until you reach the shadow of the bridge. then we can cross, and shall stand a good chance of getting away. most of the germans are quartered on this side of the town." max and dale were by this time experts in eluding observation, and had no great difficulty in getting out of the town without raising an alarm. once well away, they strode at a good pace straight across country towards the wooded region south-west of the town, where the fugitives were popularly supposed to be. they knew that by their action they would be placing themselves inside the zone about to be swept by converging bodies of uhlans, and that all persons found there, who could not give a good account of themselves, would almost certainly be shot or speared out of hand. but they took no heed of that, for the thought that some members of the gallant little english army which had, they knew, from the gossip of the countryside, fought so splendidly against overwhelming odds might be caught unsuspecting, and probably killed, made them ready to face even greater risks than that. besides, they had, in their many successful encounters with the germans in liége, gained a self-reliance and confidence in themselves that made them look upon the affair as one by no means certain to go against them. an hour or two after daybreak max and dale had reached the woods in which the fugitives were said to be, and were slowly traversing them, keeping a sharp look-out on all sides. the trouble, they now realized, was how to get in touch with them. it was highly probable that they would keep out of sight, and avoid contact with everybody they were not forced to have dealings with in the way of purchasing or begging food. fortunately the difficulty was solved very suddenly and unexpectedly. "'alt!" came a hoarse command just as they were about to enter a somewhat thick belt of timber well supplied with undergrowth. simultaneously a rifle protruded from the bushes right in front of them, and a wild, famished-looking face followed it. max and dale stopped dead. "what d'ye want poking about 'ere?" the man demanded in cockney english in a surly tone. "i don't understand your lingo, but say something, or i'll let go." the man had a fierce and reckless look, and fingered his rifle as though ready enough to keep his word. hastily max replied: "it's all right; we're friends. put down your gun, there's a good fellow." [illustration: "it's all right; we're friends"] "huh! friends--eh? fust i've seen for many a long day. 'ere, boys, 'ere's a johnny wot speaks english says he's a friend--in this outlandish place." in response to this summons, five other men pushed through the undergrowth and confronted max and dale. four of them were english soldiers and one was a scot--that much could be seen at a glance, although their uniforms were in such a state of muddiness and rags that little of the original colour or cut remained. nine other soldiers, who were equally clearly frenchmen, joined them, attracted by the sense that something was going on, although they did not understand the language. these fifteen men apparently formed the whole of the band, so far as max could see, and seemed on very good terms with one another. all the men wore side-arms, although only five or six rifles were to be seen among the lot. a man wearing corporal's stripes pressed forward, shoved the cockney soldier aside, and planted himself straight in front of max with his hands on his hips. "who are you?" he demanded at once. "and what do you here?" "we are two englishmen--at least i'm half english--and we have come to warn you that the uhlans are after you." "that's nothing new, lad. the uhlans have been after us these three weeks past, but they haven't caught us yet." "aye, but it's a special beat this time," replied max, and dale emphasized his words. "they've brought in a lot more men, and are determined to make an end of you. there is a tale going about that you have looted two wagons full of stores, and it is that, they say, that has so upset the germans." there was a burst of laughter from the english soldiers at the mention of the wagons, and the frenchmen joined in as soon as one of the others demonstrated by signs eked out by one or two words what the laughter was about. "i dare say," remarked the corporal, grinning. "i dare say it did upset them a bit. we got enough food to last us a week, four german rifles, two hundred rounds of ammunition, and had the best bonfire since guy fawkes day. and i fancy we shall upset them worse than that before we've done, lad, if only we can get hold of some more food. we're starving, and that's the long and short of it." his comrades murmured assent, and certainly they all, including the frenchmen, looked wolfish enough. max and dale had a little food with them, and this they promptly brought out and handed round. it provided about two mouthfuls for each of the band, but was accepted and disposed of with eager alacrity. "can't you purchase food from the peasants?" asked max in some surprise. "we did while our money lasted, though it was risky enough. now we have to beg it of the people, and what with that and the fear they are in from the germans if they give us any help, we fare badly. if you can get us a good square meal apiece we shall be more grateful to you than we are for warning us against the uhlans. we don't fear them half as much as we do starvation." "we have money and will get you food, but not here. you must get ready for a forced march of a dozen miles across the railway between reçogne and bastogne. the uhlans are assembling all round the loop made by the railway and the ourthe." the corporal--his name was shaw--consulted with his comrades for a moment or two, and then replied: "all right, lad. you seem straight enough, and we will make tracks as you suggest. if you speak french, tell these frenchies here what's afoot, and ask them if they're game for another spree. we are not going to cross a railway without leaving a memento or two of our visit, i can tell you." max in a few words explained the situation to the frenchmen. though they hailed from all parts of france, he had no difficulty in making himself understood, and they eagerly fell in with the plan already agreed upon by their english comrades. this accomplished, max and dale put themselves at the head of the band, more in virtue of their knowledge of the language of the country than of their powers as guides, and in single file and very cautiously they set out. max was agreeably surprised at the way the men moved, taking advantage of every bit of cover afforded by the trees and undergrowth, and, when in the open, of every fold in the ground. they had clearly made good use of the weeks they had spent in eluding pursuit, and had become in their way very fair backwoodsmen. this accomplishment was worth any amount of fighting power at that moment, and increased threefold their chances of escape from the armed circle closing in upon them. during the march, max and dale, at every opportunity, increased their knowledge of the men with whom they had now practically thrown in their lot. the british soldiers had been stragglers from the army which had been pushed up to mons, and had subsequently retreated before the overwhelming odds hurled against it at the express command of the german emperor. the object had been annihilation rather than defeat, in order, no doubt, to fill the people of britain with discouragement and make them reluctant to venture another force on the continent. everyone knows how the emperor's legions failed in their intention, and at what a heavy cost, and there is no need to dilate upon it here. corporal shaw had been wounded and left behind during the retreat. he had managed to drag himself to the house of a belgian peasant woman, who had nursed him quickly back to health. then he had said farewell and made for the belgian coast at ostend. he had been constantly headed off, and at last found himself in the ardennes with several comrades picked up here and there on the way. their stories were much like his. some had been wounded, and others had dropped behind in the retreat totally exhausted, or so sore of foot that they were unable to move another step. the frenchmen had been picked up for the most part in one body. they had been engaged in a running fight with some german infantry, and the british soldiers, drawn irresistibly to the spot by the sound of firing, had joined in the little battle with good effect, enabling their french comrades to get away with only the loss of two of their number. these had fallen wounded, and it was asserted in the most positive manner that the german soldiers had been seen to smash them to death with the butt-ends of their rifles the moment they came upon them. such an episode as this did not improve the feelings of either the british or french soldiers towards their german foes, and went far to explain to max and dale the keenness and zest of the men for yet other encounters, notwithstanding that their foes now had all the points of the play so strongly in their favour. in their turn max and dale told the story of their fight against the germans; how they had waged an industrial, but equally open, war upon them, and had inflicted damage that had had a high moral as well as material effect. the story was not without its effect even upon men who understood most the warfare of bullet and bayonet, and max and his friend were viewed with an increased respect as men of action as well as interpreters and guides. one thing struck max forcibly in the little band of which he had to all intents and purposes now become a member, and that was the fine spirit of discipline and camaraderie among them. corporal shaw was the only non-commissioned officer present, and the french soldiers accepted his lead as unhesitatingly as their british comrades. all food obtained was rationed out equally, and turns were taken with the carrying of the half-dozen rifles. in spite of the careful and rapid way in which the retreat from the dangerous neighbourhood of the former haunts of the band was carried out, it seemed that they were not to escape unscathed. in crossing a road, little more than a track, about four miles from the railway, they must have been seen by a german soldier, himself unseen, on the look-out, for they heard a loud shout of warning, and almost immediately after the tramping of horses' hoofs as though a body of cavalrymen were hastily mounting. "guns to the rear!" ordered corporal shaw curtly, and the six men carrying rifles, three british and three french, dropped to the rear of the little party and spread out in open order on either side of the line of retreat. "if they're cavalry hadn't we better retreat through the most broken country we can find?" enquired max suggestively. corporal shaw nodded and led the way in the direction indicated. the noise of the pursuing cavalry drew nearer, and the corporal turned suddenly to max: "do you lead the retreat, lad. you know where we're bound better than i do. keep only just in front of the men with the guns--we're going to give them a fight for their money." the retreat was being made along a narrow track through rough and broken country overgrown with short, thick undergrowth. looking back, max saw that the six men with guns had disappeared, and the only men in sight were the bunch he was himself leading, and three or four a few yards in his rear. but the six men were not far off, and now and again he caught a glimpse of one or other of them in the woods on either side of the line of retreat of the main body. suddenly the uhlans crashed through the thickets and came into sight only a hundred yards away. there were about a score of them, and they caught sight of the fugitives at the same moment as the latter caught sight of them. they gave a fierce yell of delight, and, at a harsh order, put spurs to their horses, grasped their lances, and rode helter-skelter over the bushes towards the straggling body of unarmed men in front of them. the nearest men, conspicuous among whom was the scot in full war paint, quickened their pace to catch up to max and the party in front. "they love to spear a scot," remarked shaw in an undertone to max, coolly indicating the main decoy and the wild eagerness with which the uhlans charged down upon their unarmed foe. sixty yards, fifty yards, then forty, and still the enemy closed down upon their quarry. then shaw raised his voice and shouted: "now, boys, give it them!" although he had been expecting it, the answering blaze of fire from the bushes on both flanks of the charging horsemen took even max somewhat by surprise. three horses fell in a bunch, and two turned tail and dashed back riderless the way they had come. again, in a second or two, a scattering discharge came from the bushes; more men fell, and the remainder, their nerves obviously shaken by the unexpected attack, turned their horses' heads and rode madly away. five men, apparently dead, were left behind, among them the young officer in command, and three more lay wounded. "get their rifles and ammunition," ordered corporal shaw, and the unarmed men darted back and secured rifles and ammunition with an eagerness which showed how irksome they felt their inability to join in any fight that might be going. seven rifles, six lances, and a revolver were secured, but all the lances except two were thrown away almost immediately as useless. the two retained were broken off half-way down the hafts, and their captors, two of the french soldiers, grinning with delight, sloped arms with them and fell in with their comrades fully satisfied with their share of the spoils. "not a bad business that," remarked shaw coolly. "we have nearly enough rifles now, and ammunition for a regular battle. and it can come as soon as it likes. i'm fair sick of dodging these germans." "'ear, 'ear!" chimed in the londoner, whose name was peck. "give me a bit of cover, a packet of cigarettes, and a hundred rounds, and i'll die happy--eh, corp?" "shut up, peck, and get a move on," growled shaw testily. "did you find any grub?" he added. "i saw you going through their haversacks." "aye, enough to give us all a snack at our next 'alt," replied peck, giving a knowing wink and pointing to his own bulging haversack and those of two pleased-looking frenchmen close at his heels. "and no need, i presoom, to mention a matter of a few cigarettes the orfizer had to dispose of--cheap?" and he displayed the end of a large packet of cigarettes which he had been careful to take charge of himself. "forward--single file," commanded shaw, and the band resumed its interrupted march towards the bastogne railway. "what d'ye think of 'em, dale?" asked max presently, indicating with a gesture the rest of the miscellaneous band of which they themselves now formed a part. "a game lot; we shall see some fun presently," replied dale in tones of deepest satisfaction. "they're just about ready for anything, from a uhlan patrol to an army corps." "ye--es," replied max with much less assurance. "we shall certainly see things. what i'm afraid of is that it won't last long. we came to the ardennes for a rest--not to commit suicide, you remember." "i don't feel as though i want any more rest, max," replied dale, still eyeing his new comrades with delighted satisfaction. "be a sport and join in the fun, there's a good fellow." "i'm ready enough to join in," replied max, smiling. "what i don't approve of is the reckless way they go about things. this fight with the uhlans will bring all the rest of them buzzing about our ears, and then it will be one last struggle and all over." dale shrugged his shoulders. "what could we have done?" he said. "the uhlans caught us up, and we had to fight." "we could have dispersed, and rejoined one another later at a rendezvous agreed upon. but never mind, we're in with them for the moment, only i can't forget that we have still some work left to us at liége, and work more important than livening up the uhlans in the ardennes." dale made no reply. possibly he thought it useless to argue with max on the subject of liége, and for some time they marched along in silence. presently the band arrived within about half a mile of the railway line, and max and corporal shaw went on ahead to reconnoitre. chapter xvii cutting the line the line was well guarded. a company of infantry was allotted to every four or five miles of line, and furnished the sentries who were posted every hundred yards or so. these men were within easy reach of one another, sometimes stationed on the line itself and at other times at the top of any adjacent knoll or rising ground. the nucleus of the company, the men resting from their turn of sentry-go, was stationed at a point of vantage within easy touch of the whole of the line under its care. an alarm at any point would not only attract the sentries from both sides to the spot, but would also quickly bring the remainder of the company hurrying to the scene. corporal shaw's dispositions were soon made. his men were brought within reach of the railway at a point where it ran through country well wooded on either side. a sentry was then marked down as the point of contact, and six men, three on either side, were detached to act as flank guards. these were posted within easy reach of the sentries, next on either side, with instructions to shoot them down should they make any move to interfere, and to hinder, by all means in their power, the approach of further reinforcements. the unfortunate sentry marked down as the point of contact would not require much attention. he would obviously be helpless against ten men. a whistle apprised the flank guards that the attack was about to begin. then the main body emerged from cover and half a dozen rifles were levelled at the sentry in front of them. for a moment the man was too astonished to move; then he gave a shout of alarm and fled down the line towards the sentinel on the right. two rifles cracked almost simultaneously and the man fell in his tracks and lay motionless. "get his rifle, someone, and then come and lend a hand here," cried corporal shaw, springing out on to the line and getting to work with an entrenching tool upon the permanent way. other men followed his example, the gravel was rapidly scraped away from the sleepers, and several long iron bars, taken from some derelict agricultural machine passed on the way, inserted beneath the rails. but the united efforts of several men made no impression upon the well-bolted rails and the attempt was promptly abandoned. the bolts and nuts which held the rails together were attacked instead, and, although no spanners were available, the men managed, by dint of much persuasion from the iron bars and their bayonets, to get the nuts to turn. two rails were in time entirely removed and carried across the line and laid endwise in a ditch, where they promptly sank out of sight in the muddy ooze. in the meantime the flank guards had not been idle. the shout of the sentry first attacked had given the alarm to his comrades on either side, and one had started immediately to his aid. the other remained where he was, but levelled his rifle at shaw and his men as they sprang on to the line. both were promptly shot down and their rifles and cartridges as promptly secured. by this time the alarm was fairly general. several shots had been fired, and the line guards up and down the track had come to the conclusion that a serious attack on the line was in progress. instead of rushing in ones and twos to the point of attack, they now waited until some half-dozen men had collected before advancing. even these bodies were easily disposed of by the flank guards posted by shaw. they were well concealed, and, as the germans came up, opened a heavy fire upon them at close range. most of the latter dropped at once, and the survivors fled, only too glad to get away in safety with their lives. max and dale had assisted in the removal of the rails and their deposit in the muddy ditch. this accomplished, max, who viewed the whole affair with some misgiving, stood aside and took no part in the further attacks already in progress on the rails. "you look glum, max," remarked dale in a rallying tone, as he straightened his back. he himself looked far from glum. his face was flushed, his eyes sparkled, and he bore himself as though at the height of enjoyment. "don't you like raiding the railway?" "not this way," replied max with decision. "what's the good of it? it won't take half an hour to repair, and, coming after that other affair, will mean half the cavalry in the ardennes stirring on our tracks." "who cares?" retorted dale recklessly. "i----what's the matter?" "hark! a train i think. let's get to the top of this bit of rising ground and see what happens. the driver can't come steaming through with all that firing going on yonder." the two friends climbed upon the little hill and up into the lower branches of a large tree. the view thus obtained was a wide one, and showed them much. in the distance a train was approaching. it was slowing up as they watched, and presently came to a standstill. instantly crowds of soldiers poured out from both sides and formed up on the permanent way. apparently in response to an order, the troops split into two bodies, one passing to the north side of the line and one to the south, both almost immediately disappearing from view in the woods. max and dale next turned their gaze towards the flank guards. here desultory fighting was going on with numbers of the sentries attracted to the spot. but beyond them, and in the direction of the head-quarters of the company guarding that section of the line, a strong body of men was on the march; and, in yet another direction, max and dale could see the lances of cavalry occasionally coming into view as their line of advance led them past bunches of low bush or gaps in the trees. "time we were off, max," remarked dale in a much sobered voice. "you see what those troops from the train are after?" "yes, they want to strike across our rear, whichever side of the railway we go, before the other bodies begin to attack us in front. had we not chanced to climb up here, that last fight of ours would have been very near indeed. as it is, i shouldn't wonder if we have a job to get corporal shaw and his fire-eaters away in time." "we shall. they all reckon they're getting a bit of their own back, and they'll be in no hurry to move." as quickly as possible, max and dale dropped from the tree and ran back to the railway, where shaw and the bulk of his men were still working like bees, tearing up rails and transporting them to the swampy stream. the gist of what they had seen was soon told to corporal shaw, and that worthy, while not inclined to take too much notice of "a few germans", now that all his men were fully armed, was duly impressed with the necessity of moving from the neighbourhood without loss of time. he promptly called in the flank guards, and curtly told the whole of the band that it was time to march. "now, lad," he said, addressing max, "you seem to know your way about. lead on out of this fix, and we will live to fight again another day. forward!" max and dale strode quickly away, straight into the woods, and in single file the band followed them. the men were in high glee at the success of their enterprise, and seemed neither to know nor care about their critical situation. max, however, felt very anxious, and presently managed to get corporal shaw so far to agree with him as to order complete silence and every care, as they threaded their way through the thickest-wooded country to be found in the quarter not yet reached by the soldiers from the train. for over three miles the band moved in silence, at top speed, away from the scene of their daring exploit. max judged that by that time they were outside the sweep of the encircling bodies of germans, and could take a breather for a few minutes. the work on the railway had been hard and exhausting, and the men had for some time been too ill-nourished to be able to sustain long-continued exertion. at the order to halt and rest the men flung themselves on the ground, and for five minutes lay prone upon the grass. then they went on again. "d'ye see that smoke yonder, lad?" remarked corporal shaw, soon after they had restarted, pointing to a thick column of smoke rising above the trees a couple of miles in their rear. "is it a signal, or what?" "no--it's not that," replied max, after a long look at the smoke, which was rising more thickly at every moment. "there is a little village just there, and i can guess what has happened. the germans have fired the nearest village in revenge for the attack upon the line. i have often heard of it being done. it is one of their methods of terrorizing the people, so that they dare do nothing themselves and try to prevent others doing any thing in the vicinity of their villages. i had forgotten it until this moment." "what a black shame!" cried corporal shaw with fierce indignation. "what had those poor folk to do with it? the germans knew that well enough--the cowards!" the other men in the band soon knew what had happened, and their rage and indignation were extreme. some wanted to vent their rage by returning to the scene of the burning village and attacking those responsible for the outrage. it was as much as max and shaw could do to keep them from turning back and flinging away their lives in a desperate endeavour to exact reparation for the foul deed. the retreat of the band was continued, but the rage and indignation of all concerned was not lessened when, later in the day, after a long halt, they were overtaken by two families fleeing from the burning village. it needed no question to tell them what they were. there were old men and women, heavy-eyed and outwardly uncomplaining, trudging beside creaking bullock-carts loaded with all the little bits of property they had been able to save from their burning homes. there were white-faced, frightened children, too, tucked in the corners of the carts or perched upon the piled-up goods, and their faces seemed to express mute wonder that such things could be. it was indeed a sight to make any beholder furious with indignation, but on the unwitting causes of the trouble it acted with fourfold force. an instant reprisal was demanded by all the band, and corporal shaw, as angry as any of them, promised that they should have it, and that without any more loss of time than he could avoid. chapter xviii reprisals dale was at one with the soldiers in desire for reprisals, but max was dead against the whole idea. it was not that he was less indignant at the cruel wrong just inflicted upon innocent peasants, but he feared that any more such acts would react upon the country people in precisely the same manner. a reprisal which brought fresh trouble upon yet another set of innocent folk would, he felt, be worse than useless, and he spoke his mind freely to corporal shaw on the subject. "you've done no good," he ended, "by attacking the line and tearing up a few rails. your methods were too wild to bring about any real damage. all you have done is to make it additionally hard for me to get you safely out of the country." "humph!" grunted the corporal rather sourly. "i know you've done some neat little things in liége, but could you manage a better affair out here? i give you leave to try. as for getting us out, i don't see much prospect of that coming off, my lad." "i'll get you out if you'll drop all these wild-cat exploits," replied max firmly. "is it a bargain?" the corporal consulted with his men for a few minutes. "no," he said, shaking his head emphatically, "the men refuse to sneak out of the country before they have what they call redressed the wrong done those poor villagers. they want one more good cut at the germans to make that good, and then they are ready to make tracks for home, if you think you can get us there." "will you let me plan the reprisal attack as well as arrange to get you out?" asked max quickly. the corporal opened his eyes a little. "so _you_ do think you can do better? well, i don't mind; you shall plan the reprisal and then get us out of the mess. done!" "done!" replied max firmly, and it was thus settled that he should, from that time forward, practically take command of the little band, subject only to the stipulation that the escape should not be arranged until the germans had been made to pay, and pay handsomely, for their recent exhibition of brutality. as soon as that was decided, max changed the direction of the retreat to due east, and in that direction they continued all day. when night fell, the men looked about them for a comfortable spot to sleep, but max would not allow them to stop, and, with frequent halts for rest, they continued on their way all through the night. there was some grumbling, but it was soon silenced; and, when all was said and done, the men recognized that max managed to feed them fairly well. this part of the business he saw to himself. at nearly every farm-house he passed he managed to purchase some food. none of the soldiers were allowed to come within sight of the people, and, with this precaution, and his knowledge of the language, he hoped that no suspicions of the destination of the food would be aroused. during the following day the band hid themselves in a copse and slept. it was nearly dark when max aroused them and told them they must go on. "we've been travelling a good many miles, lad," remarked shaw carelessly. "where are we now?" "in germany," replied max. "germany!" cried the corporal, his carelessness vanishing. "why--what d'ye mean? d'ye think we want to find a good safe prison?" "no. your men insist on one more attack on the germans, as a reprisal for the burning of the village. well, we cannot do anything in belgium, for it would only mean another village burned. if we make the attack in germany it will be different. they can hardly burn down their own villages." corporal shaw held out his hand. "well done, lad!" he cried heartily, and the other men within ear-shot echoed his words. "that's a stroke of genius, and we are with you to a man. what are you going to attack--nothing less than metz, of course?" max smiled and shook his head. "something a little less ambitious will have to do, i think. after another night march we shall be on the spot, and can get to work." "what are you going to do, lad?" max hesitated a moment. should he keep the men ignorant of the nature of the enterprise until the hour for it had struck? it was hardly worth while--in forty-eight hours or so it would be all over. "to block the main line between aix and liége," he answered simply. "phew! i think you mentioned wild-cat exploits the other day. what sort of cat exploit is this?" "it must be carefully planned beforehand." "humph! trains filled with troops passing every five minutes; the lines thick with guards. it'll want careful planning--and a trifle more. in fact, it'll need the devil's own luck. what say you, boys?" "no matter, corp," cried peck testily. "give the lad his head. we ain't particular, so long as it's a fust-class scrap." "it'll be all that," grunted shaw. "did we expect to git out of this show alive?" retorted peck. "what's the odds? let the lad 'ave his way--he's grubbed us well anyhow." the other men murmured an assent, and it was clear that most of the band were quite ready to follow max in an attempt, however desperate, on the germans' main line of communication. the frenchmen were quite ready to agree to anything that would lead to another encounter with the enemy in company with their british comrades, and so max was left in possession of the field and charged with full responsibility for the tremendous task before them. * * * * * two days later the whole of the band arrived safely within a mile or so of the great main line which runs between aix-la-chapelle and liége, and then on through namur to paris. a stoppage to their communications on this line would disconcert the germans in a way that hardly anything else could do, and max, from the knowledge he had gained, while at liége, of the great trains loaded with troops and munitions that constantly passed through at all hours of the day and night, was very well aware of it. next to his darling scheme for the frustration of the germans' plans as regards the durend works, the breaking of the great railway through the town had seemed the most serious blow that could be aimed at the germans by a few men working independently of the great military forces of the allies. it was a difficult matter, but not impossible. that was enough. max and dale, accompanied by shaw, reconnoitred the railway after hiding their men well away out of sight. the first point reached max did not consider suitable, and it was not until they had approached the line at several different places that he found a spot that satisfied him. this spot was one where the line passed along a fairly deep cutting, the sides of which were thickly overgrown with bushes with here and there a young tree. it was a spot at which it would be easy to approach the line unseen. and yet this was not max's chief reason for selecting it. his design had been to find a spot where the line at night-time would have dark patches of shadow cast upon it here and there. dale and corporal shaw now returned to the spot where the band had been left in hiding, while max set out for aix-la-chapelle alone. he still wore the workman's clothes in which he had masqueraded for so long, and, with his excellent knowledge of the german tongue, he had little to fear so long as he took care not to blunder into a military patrol. without misadventure he reached aix, and purchased a dozen spanners similar to those used by plate-layers, except that the handles were short and lacked the great leverage necessary for their work. this difficulty would, however, be easily got over by cutting stout rods from the woods and lashing them to the short spanners. the tools thus obtained would, he knew, be fully suited to the end in view. the reconnoitring of the railway had disclosed the fact that the guards were stationed only about eighty yards apart. also that they were changed every four hours, at four o'clock, eight o'clock, midnight, and noon. an hour before midnight max led the band towards the line at the point fixed upon. he had already, at some pains, explained exactly what he desired each man to do, and from their intelligent eagerness felt pretty well assured that they would not fail from want of zeal or knowledge of the part they had to play. to the frenchmen he, of course, explained matters in their own tongue, and found them equally as ready as their island brethren. the moon, what there was of it, was fairly low in the heavens, and the long shadows max counted upon so largely in his plans were much in evidence. silence was another factor of importance, and the feet of all the men were swathed in long strips of cloth--their puttees in the case of the british soldiers, and strips from their clothing in the case of the frenchmen. the band was divided into three groups, and the orders were that on arriving at the edge of the cutting all were to remain motionless in hiding until the guards were changed at midnight. then three men from each band were to creep up close to one of the three sentries marked down for attack, and wait for an opportunity to seize and kill or capture him without raising an alarm. the latter point max insisted upon as of the utmost importance. the groups of three might spend two hours, even three hours, he told them, so long as they performed their task without making a noise that would attract the attention of the sentries on either side. the darkness of the line, from the shadows of the trees and bushes and the deepness of the cutting itself, max felt he could rely upon to prevent the other sentries from seeing if aught were amiss. the important thing, therefore, was that they should perform their task without noise. promptly at midnight the sentries were changed. the momentary bustle was, as arranged carefully beforehand by max, taken advantage of by the groups of three to creep close up to their objectives. then things settled down again in quietude. all was peaceful and silent between the thunder of the trains, and time was allowed the sentries to grow accustomed to their surroundings and to develop any individual habits of carelessness that might be theirs. at first the men marched to and fro rather frequently. later, they contented themselves with leaning on their rifles and making themselves as comfortable as such a position would allow. there had been no attacks on any part of the line in germany so far as had become known, and there was no reason in the world why these line guards should expect one now. one of the sentries presently came to a halt in the shadow cast by a tree. he was thus out of sight of his comrades on either side, and the three men in deadly attendance upon him were satisfied that their chance had come. noiselessly emerging from the shadows, they stole upon him from behind. one seized him by the throat in a grip of iron, stifling all utterance, another pinioned his arms to his sides, while the third caught the rifle which fell from his startled hand. between the three the struggles of the unfortunate sentry were quickly mastered. he was securely pinioned, gagged, and dragged out of harm's way into the shelter of the bushes. the capture of one made the capture of the two others comparatively easy. it was only necessary to await a moment when the farther sentinel was facing away from the next man marked down for attack, before springing upon him. one after the other the three guards were successfully placed out of action, and the stern work of reprisal was at hand. as a precautionary measure, two men, wearing the tunics and helmets of the captured germans, were stationed as sentries one at each end of the break, to satisfy their german neighbours in case they should miss the sight of the comrades who had gone. then rapidly max selected two pairs of rails, one pair on the up-line and one on the down-line, and the dozen great spanners were quickly at work. certain of the nuts of the rails and of some of the chairs were carefully loosened a little, and everything was made ready to shift one end of each rail as soon as the signal should be given. then the men withdrew once more to the obscurity of the bushes. having satisfied himself that everything was in readiness, max settled himself to watch the trains as they passed, and to seize upon the essential moment. trains were now running less frequently than at every hour in the twenty-four, and in the comparative silence he could tell when a train was approaching while it was yet some miles away. it was his intention to await the almost simultaneous approach of two trains from opposite directions, and in steady patience he waited. his men did not know the full extent of his plans and were impatient to see the result of their--to them--successful labours. they could not understand this halt, and grumbled under their breath at the strange hesitancy of their young leader. but everything had gone so well under his guidance that none of them dared to express his discontent aloud, and max was left to put the finishing touch upon his plans in peace. suddenly his ear caught the sounds he had been awaiting. "forward!" he commanded in an undertone in two languages. the men sprang quickly on to the lines and wrestled with the nuts and bolts with all their might. in a very short space of time the rails were loose at one end and the chairs removed. then max gave the word for all four rails to be levered inwards, towards the centre of the track, until the loose ends were a foot out of line with the other rails. the chairs were then roughly refixed at the extreme ends of the sleepers, and the bent rails bolted as firmly as possible in their new positions. while this was being done the four rails next the gaps were unbolted and entirely removed. when all was done there was a break feet long in each track, and the pair of rails on the side from which the trains were approaching had been bent inwards, and now pointed towards the corresponding pair on the other track, thus:-- [illustration] for the first time the men now understood the whole significance of the work they were doing. they had known enough of their young leader's plans to expect much, but now they expected a great deal more and moved off the track full of suppressed excitement and jubilation. like a pistol-shot it had come to them that the brutal destruction of the poor village beyond bastogne was about to be very amply revenged indeed. the rumble of the two trains approaching from opposite directions was now drawing very close, and the men hung about in the bushes, a few yards up the side of the cutting, watching eagerly for any sign that the drivers had seen the short breaks in the line and were bringing their trains to a standstill. but there was no sign of this. the trains approached at a steady speed, and the drivers, if on the look-out, noticed nothing amiss in the patches of deeper shadow in the half darkness of the gloomy cutting. the two trains reached the fatal spot almost at the same moment. both followed the direction of the tampered rails and left the track with a bumping grind that made those who heard it shudder. then they collided with a crash that could be heard for miles. the engines reared up almost on end--as though in a desperate attempt to leap over one another--and rolled over on their sides. behind them the great wagons still drove on and piled themselves up on high in a welter of hideous confusion. the noise, the confusion, the sense of dire destruction, were almost paralysing; but, almost without being conscious of it, max found himself eagerly scanning the wrecked wagons to see what they contained. the "bag" was one sufficient to satisfy the most ardent patriot. the trucks, or some of them, of the train bound outwards to liége clearly contained the guns of several heavy batteries. those of the inward train were filled with machinery and other stores filched from the great belgian workshops and being transferred to germany to set up fresh works there. a few of the trucks of the inward train appeared to contain shells, and these max marked down as the point for the final attack. the noise of the collision, of course, brought all the men guarding the line, within hearing, hurrying to the scene. none of them, or of the survivors of those on the trains, had any thought that the catastrophe was anything but an accident, and no attempt was made to search for possible enemies. most of the german soldiers, indeed, flung down their weapons and busied themselves in the task of extricating men and horses from the piles of overturned wagons. thus when again, at max's signal, the band of british and french soldiers left their hiding-places they were able, in the darkness, to mingle with the germans and go about their final work almost unchallenged. in only two instances were german officers or non-commissioned officers inconveniently inquisitive, and those difficulties were solved by an instant attack with the bayonet. even these conflicts were insufficient to attract special attention amid the general turmoil. any who noticed the actions might readily enough have concluded that they were the result of a quarrel or of some demented victim of the accident attacking an imaginary foe. the work which still kept max and his auxiliaries on the dangerous scene of their successful exploit was that of bringing down great bundles of straw and dead wood, prepared some time beforehand, from the top of the railway cutting where they had been hidden in readiness. the wagons, which max had ascertained to be indeed full of shells, were what they were after, and against these the bundles were piled. almost unmolested the exulting men made all ready for the final blow which should set the seal upon their terrible reprisal. and yet, when it came to the point, max hesitated to give the order to fire the pyre. there might yet be some unfortunate men pinned alive beneath the wreckage, and he was unwilling to add to their miseries the dreadful fate of being burned alive. for ten, fifteen, and almost twenty minutes he waited, until he could feel satisfied that none were likely still to remain alive beneath the pile. his own men indeed, well knowing what was coming, had busied themselves in dragging out their fallen foes from the certain fate which would otherwise have befallen them, forgetting their desire for reprisals in their pity for wounded and helpless men. at last the moment arrived. max gave the word, the straw was fired, and the band beat a hasty retreat to the shelter of the bushes on the north side of the cutting. a loud cry of warning and alarm arose from the german soldiers as the flames shot up into the air, illuminating the track for many yards around. a harsh command rang out, and a number of men dashed forward to beat or stamp out the flare. "those men must be kept away, corporal," cried max quickly. "we must not leave until the fire has got firm hold." "bayonets, men," cried corporal shaw sharply. "get ready to charge home." "no, no, corporal," cried max, seizing him by the arm; "no bayonet fighting this round. keep them away by rifle-fire from the bushes. they know nothing of us now; let them remain as ignorant as possible." "right. ten rounds, rapid, boys! ready! present! fire!" the germans had barely reached the fire and begun to pull away the burning faggots, when a sudden and withering hail of bullets swept down upon them. half of them fell at once, and the remainder recoiled in confusion and doubt. fire seemed to spit from the darkness all about them, and none knew for the moment whether they were in the presence of a foe, or whether a detachment of their own men, but just arrived, had taken them for enemy wreckers. long before the officer in command could rally his men, push out scouts to ascertain the cause of the rifle-fire, and set the main body to resume their task, the fire had caught such firm hold that it was obvious to all that at any moment the shells might explode. a general stampede away from the vicinity of the burning wagons ensued, and at a respectful distance the discomfited germans gazed at the fire or occupied themselves in firing in the direction apparently taken by their unseen foes. suddenly, with an ear-splitting roar, the shells exploded. the concussion was tremendous, and huge showers of shells, broken bits of wagons, gravel, and flaming wood fell heavily in all directions. many of those looking on were killed outright by the avalanche of falling material, and the remainder fled in mad panic from the deadly scene. max had already withdrawn his men beyond the edge of the cutting and marched them a couple of hundred yards farther down the line. the explosion caused them no casualties beyond a few minor cuts and bruises, and, with one last look at the track beneath them, they turned their backs upon the place and marched silently away towards the dutch frontier. the work of reprisal for a foul deed was done. where the explosion had taken place an enormous crater had been torn in the permanent way. beyond that the line was blocked by great piles of tangled wreckage which must have weighed hundreds of tons--krupp guns and gun mountings, twisted almost out of all recognition, masses of machinery ruined beyond redemption, and engines, wagons, rails, and sleepers piled high in inextricable confusion. many hours, if not days, of unremitting toil would be needed before the line could be reopened for traffic. thus the main lines of communication of the germans were severed and a heavy blow struck for the cause of the allies. on the trunk of a tree, at the top of the cutting close by, a notice was fixed: "in reprisal for the burning of an innocent village above bastogne." chapter xix a further blow the point at which the line to aix had been broken was not far from the dutch frontier, and for an hour or so max and the band he led made good progress. then their difficulties began. the alarm had clearly been given, and a serious alarm it seemed to be. bodies of troops, and especially cavalry, were on the march in all directions, and it became a matter of the utmost difficulty to avoid contact with them. finally, max, as the day dawned, led his men right away into a wide expanse of farm-land, and took them towards a solitary farm-house. "what's the game now, laddie?" asked corporal shaw, as max led them boldly towards the farm-house, much to the surprise of the farmer and his family, who came out to see what this strange visit of a body of armed men might mean. "doesn't this give us away to the enemy?" "we must have rest and food, corporal," replied max seriously. "if we surround the farm and keep prisoners all who are there, and detain all who call, we shall be safe if no parties of german soldiers happen to light upon us. if we can get through the day, i think we shall get safely across the frontier. we are only seven miles away, and a few hours of darkness will see us there." "good! you know your business, lad, i can see," replied shaw briskly, and he gave a quick order to his men to spread out at the double and surround the farm. max interpreted the order to the french soldiers, who promptly followed suit. in a moment or two the farm had been surrounded, and the men began to close in upon it. the surprise and curiosity of the german farmer and his family quickly turned to fear as the object of the move became apparent. they could now see, too, the faces and equipment of the men converging upon them, and knew that, whatever they might be, they were certainly not soldiers of the fatherland. "you're a prisoner, mein herr," cried corporal shaw cheerfully, as he strode up to the burly farmer and slapped him familiarly on the shoulder. "be good, or it will be the worse for you." max interpreted his words, and added the information that neither he nor any of his household were to stir outside the house, or even to look out of the windows. they were to consider themselves close prisoners, and on their good behaviour their own treatment would absolutely depend. the farmer, as soon as he could recover from his astonishment, passed the order on to his family and domestics with a peremptoriness no doubt considerably enhanced by his own lively fears. the germans filed into the farm-house, followed by all the band except two. these were set on the watch on the roofs of two barns a little distance away on opposite sides of the building. max then called upon the farmer to provide a meal for them all, promising him in return fair payment. soon the whole band, in high good humour, were deep in enjoyment of the best meal they had had since the retreat from mons and charleroi began. during the day there were occasional alarms as bodies of german soldiers were observed scouring the country in the distance, but none approached the farm-house. several labourers, evidently missing the presence of the farmer, called, and these were promptly made prisoners. at nightfall everything was made ready for the last march. the women were sent to their rooms and locked securely in. then the men, seven in number, were marshalled in line and informed that any attempt to give warning to german troops or the authorities would result in instant death. the order to march was given, and, in single file, max and the farmer leading, with the remainder of the prisoners in the centre, the band moved across country towards the dutch frontier. with the aid of the farmer, max led the band to a point opposite maastricht, where the frontier ran through a little wood. he hoped that here there would be no difficulty in getting unmolested through the barbed-wire fences everywhere erected along the frontier by the germans. a road ran across the frontier close by the wood and a post had been established there by the enemy, but max believed that, favoured by night and the darkness of the wood, there would be no difficulty in eluding observation. they entered the wood unobserved, and max halted the band and went forward with dale and one of the english soldiers to silence the sentry and cut the wire. the sentry was an oldish man, of the landwehr, and entirely unsuspicious. he was seized by the throat from behind, his rifle snatched from his hand, and his arms and legs securely pinioned. then his throat was released and his mouth securely gagged. it was all over in ten minutes, and, leaving the soldier and dale at work upon the wire, max went back to bring along the rest of the men. to his consternation he found them on the move, the last files disappearing from the wood in the direction of the german frontier post, two men only being left behind in charge of the prisoners. running after them, max caught up the rearmost men, and was told that they were about to attack the germans and root them out. much hurt and angered at this sudden reckless move, max ran forward to the front of the column and accosted corporal shaw. "what is this, corporal?" he cried. "it was to be my business to get you over the frontier. i don't agree with your attacking the germans here." "that's all right, sir," replied shaw, still pressing on. "we know what we're about. we've reconnoitred the place, and can clear out the whole lot without turning a hair. come along, lad, and lend a hand." "no, shaw, i'm not going to have this. i've breached the wire a few yards away yonder and put the sentry out of action. all we have to do is to walk through and we are safe. this mad attack right on the frontier will----" "no, no; our fellows will be disappointed if they don't get one more fling at the germans!" cried shaw, pressing on as though anxious to get away from max's protests. "it'll all be over in----" at this moment the german sentry in front of the building which housed the frontier guard caught sight of dark shadows approaching. he challenged, and almost simultaneously brought his rifle up to his shoulder. there was a flash and a report, and one of the men just behind max gave a gasp and staggered. he recovered himself, however, and with the rest of the band charged madly down upon the sentry and the guard, who were now rapidly tumbling out of the entrance of the building, rifle in hand. the fight that ensued was to max the most desperate he had ever seen. the french and british soldiers, after all their discomforts and privations and the terrible sights they had witnessed, were burning with the desire to get to close quarters with the germans and to try conclusions with them. like a whirlwind they flung themselves upon the hated foe, and, scarcely firing a shot, stabbed and bayoneted with wild and desperate energy. the germans who had poured outside the building were cut down in a remarkably short space of time, and, without a pause, the men dashed into the passage and up the stairs, every man striving to be the first to close with the enemy. against such reckless valour as this the german landwehr, although they outnumbered their assailants at least two to one, could do nothing, and it could not have been more than eight minutes from the first onrush before the last german had been cut down. "set a light to it, boys," commanded shaw, highly excited with the success of the combat. "let's have a blaze to light our way across the frontier, and to tell the germans we bid them farewell." "now, boys, three good cheers for the allies and down with the germans!" the huzzas were heartily given as the fire promptly kindled within blazed up. round the burning house the soldiers danced, flinging into the fire the arms and equipment of their foes. across the frontier, only a few yards away, the soldiers of the dutch guard had turned out, and they watched the strange scene with an interest that to one at least of the band of british and french was far from pleasing. "fall in!" commanded shaw, and the men obeyed. "form fours--right! now, boys, we've seen our last of germany for a time, and are going to march into holland. soon we shall be back in the armies of the allies, ready to take part in another march through germany. now, then, by the right, quick----" "one moment, shaw," cried max quickly. "you are making a big mistake if you think you can march thus into holland and also be free to join the armies of the allies." "why so?" cried corporal shaw impatiently. "why can't we? who's to stop us?" "the dutch soldiers will stop you quick enough," replied max. "do you think they will treat us as they do escaped prisoners or fugitives after a battle at their very frontier?" "well, what will they treat us as?" cried shaw sharply. "as belligerents, of course. we shall be disarmed and interned, and our fighting days will be over." "yes, shaw," interposed peck. "the lad's right, and we have played the fool in lashing out at the germans right agin the frontier. you're too headstrong, shaw. the lad was running this show. why didn't you leave him alone?" "pooh! if we drop our tools, and march across, the dutchmen will let us go," replied the discomfited shaw apologetically. "let's try it on anyway." "nay, nay, shaw," cried the scot in a deep voice. "ye've spoiled this business, and ye'd better let be. the lad has the best heid, and let him have his way over it. come, lad, what say ye--what's oor next move?" it was certainly time for a move of some sort. on both flanks of the party desultory firing had commenced. the sentries posted along the frontier had doubtless been attracted by the sound of the fighting at their head-quarters and were straggling inwards, exchanging dropping shots with the men on the outskirts of the band. as their numbers increased, a regular battle would ensue, finally compelling the band to surrender, or to cross the frontier and be interned. max had no mind to be interned, whatever shaw felt on the subject. his great task of guarding the durend workshops was still waiting for him to complete, and were he put out of action it was certain that no one else would carry it on. shaw had made a great mistake, but it was possibly not irretrievable. at any rate, max believed it could be set right by prompt and resolute action. "come, then," he said firmly. "if you still wish to fight again for your country, follow me, and i will do my best to keep you from losing the chance. you must be silent and watchful and make the best speed possible. exert yourselves to the utmost for three or four hours, and then i hope we may be safe again. come--fall in in single file, with the prisoners in the centre, and follow me. exchange no shots unless i give the word. if you are attacked, use the bayonet, and the bayonet only." there was a murmur of general assent and a quick bustle as the men fell in. several were slightly wounded, but only two sufficiently so to need any assistance. two men took their stand by each of these, and as max led the way inland from the frontier, through the open country, these assisted them to keep up with the others. max kept the german farmer close by his side. the man knew the country well, and max gave him to understand that his comrades would be very glad indeed of an excuse to strafe him. the man certainly had no reason to disbelieve him. the wild, fierce looks of the men, the assured way in which they marched through an enemy's country, and the pitched battle, ending in the burning of a german post, just fought were enough to convince him that he had to deal with men who were nothing if not determined. at any rate, max had no trouble with him, and found him a ready and reliable guide all through the night. for nearly two hours the band moved obliquely inland. then max turned and aimed once more at the frontier at a point at least ten miles away from the place where the previous attempt had been made. the german patrols were fewer here, and with only one mishap they reached the frontier. this mishap took place while the party was crossing a high road. scouts had reported all clear, and all had crossed except the men at the rear, who were helping the wounded along. these were in the middle of the road, when a motorcar, moving at high speed, turned a corner a short distance away and ran rapidly down upon them. the powerful headlights of the motor of course revealed the little group of men in the roadway. brakes were applied, and the machine came to a standstill a yard or two away. "who are you? what do you here?" came in the deep peremptory tones of a man who was evidently a german officer. for the moment the party in the road, half-blinded by the powerful lights, stopped stupidly where they were. none of them understood what was said, and none made a move either to fly or to resist capture. max, the instant he saw the headlights approaching, ran back to the roadway and was just in time to hear the officer's demand. it was too late for flight--too late for anything but attack--and, calling to the men nearest him, he sprang towards the car. two revolvers flashed in the darkness. one of the bullets cut through the side of his jacket and grazed his side. the other missed altogether. in another moment he was alongside the car and using the rifle and bayonet he carried with hearty goodwill. the car contained four german officers and a soldier chauffeur. for a fraction of a second max attacked them single-handed. then other men sprang to his assistance, and from both sides of the car the germans were assaulted with an energy they doubtless had never experienced before. it was quickly over. all the men were bayoneted, and left for dead, and, without waiting to do more than dash out the headlights and overturn the car in a ditch, max again led the band forward to the frontier. day was breaking as the band neared the frontier, at a point where it was crossed by a railway. in a little copse at the side of the track max halted his men and allowed them a short rest while he went with shaw to reconnoitre and determine the best means of making the actual crossing. they found, of course, the line well guarded, and with a strong post at the frontier to watch the gap necessarily left in the great barbed-wire fence. the post consisted of about thirty men of the landwehr, and the band of british and french fugitives could have rushed and destroyed it with the greatest ease. but, should they do this, max feared that they could not cross into holland and retain their freedom. they would, he felt sure, be treated as soldiers and be interned for the duration of the war. none of them had any desire for that; all wished to be free to strike again at the foe. from the frontier back to a busy little station, two miles inland, max and shaw continued their search. then they returned to the place where they had left the rest of the band in hiding. "well, max, what do you think of it?" asked dale. "d'ye think we can get through anywhere about here without too much of a rumpus?" "i hope so. i've thought of something that seems to promise." "what is it, old man?" "take forcible possession of yon station in the middle of the night and collar the first train that arrives _en route_ to the frontier. we ought then to be able to run her successfully through the dutch frontier guards." "phew!" cried dale in amazement. shaw gave a prolonged chuckle of intense delight. "train-snatching--eh?" he cried at last. "that'll suit the boys, i give you my word." "it's not so easy as it sounds," responded max soberly. "it needs careful planning, for it must be done like clockwork if we are not to make a mess of it." "well, we can do that, i suppose?" replied shaw confidently. "you found the clockwork all right in that raid on the railway? you plan it out and you'll find we shan't fail you." "no, i don't think you will, shaw. well, it must be done about an hour after nightfall, so we must lose no time. this is how i think it ought to be done," and max unfolded the plan as it had so far framed itself in his mind. for an hour or two the three discussed the affair earnestly together. then they broached the scheme to their waiting comrades. as they anticipated, it met with rapturous approval, and it was in a fever of impatience--for the hour of their deliverance or their defeat was close at hand--that the whole of the band awaited the closing in of night. chapter xx across the frontier a train steamed slowly into storbach station. the stationmaster and a host of officials crossed the platform and prepared to search and interrogate the passengers with that thoroughness and also with that lack of courtesy and consideration which seem peculiarly prussian. the engine-driver and his fireman, momentarily released from toil, crossed to the near side of their engine, leaned over the rail, and prepared to enjoy the proceedings. the platform was well lighted, but beyond was a wall of darkness into which the eye could not penetrate more than a yard or two. suddenly, out of this obscurity, three men appeared. swiftly they crossed the platform, and, without a moment's hesitation, sprang upon the engine. "see this?" growled one of them--it was peck--levelling his bayonet at the engine-driver who had shrunk back into the cab. "you do? well, then, keep quiet or you'll feel it--sharp. we're desp'rit men, we are, and that's all about it." the engine-driver understood well enough, and the fireman, who had been similarly cornered by another of the trio, seemed to understand equally well that the first doubtful movement on his part would be his last. full possession having thus been obtained, the three new-comers gave an eye to what was happening on the platform. events there were sufficiently exciting. from all sides armed men of a particularly wild-looking variety had suddenly invaded the platform. one group had promptly seized the telegraph office and seen to it that no messages appealing for help should be sent along the wires in either direction. in fact they went a step further, and put the instrument out of action so thoroughly that all risk from this source was at an end for a long time to come. the main body as promptly attacked the guard of soldiers in charge of the station and overwhelmed them utterly at the first onrush. german landsturm and landwehr troops were as children in the hands of these veteran british and french soldiers, and complete victory was won at the cost of two men slightly wounded only. then came the turn of the astonished officials, railway porters, and the few passengers waiting to enter the train. these surrendered with commendable promptitude, and, dumbfounded with amazement, were shepherded into one of the waiting-rooms and locked securely in. the passengers on the train were ordered out on to the platform, ushered into another waiting-room, and there similarly secured. all was now ready, and max gave the signal for the men who had been stationed outside, guarding all exits, to close in and for the whole of the band to entrain. running forward to the engine, max sprang up and gave the signal to start. "full speed ahead, peck. let her go." that worthy, by the aid of very expressive pantomime, assisted by a sentence or two in german from max, quickly induced the engine-driver and fireman to perform their offices, and the train moved out from the platform to the tune of suppressed cheers from its delighted occupants. the two miles to the frontier were covered in a few minutes, and with a cheer, no longer suppressed but full of heart-felt gladness, the fugitives saw the last outpost of their enemies flash by. they were now in a friendly country and had only to play their cards with care and moderation to find themselves once more on the way to their native lands. presently max ordered the train to be brought to a standstill. they were now well into holland and there were no line guards, and, at that hour, none to mark their doings. all rifles and bayonets were handed out and dropped into a muddy ditch. then the journey was resumed until they reached a siding into which the train could be run. the driver and firemen were gagged, bound hand and foot, and left in charge of their empty train while their captors marched on foot across country _en route_ for rotterdam. they were stopped and questioned many times, but on each occasion they were eventually allowed to proceed. at the great dutch port max and dale took leave of their soldier friends. max, now that he had brought the band to safety, wished to seek out his mother and sister, and dale, of course, must go with him. on the deck of a ship bound for england the two friends said good-bye to shaw and his stanch command, and when they trod the gangway back to the shore of holland the cheer that went up brought all the dutchmen and german spies about the dock hurrying to the scene. huzza after huzza rent the air, and, when the ship drew away out into the stream on its way to the ocean, the strains of the marseillaise and rule britannia could be heard high above the throb of engines and the clank and rattle of the busy port. "fine fellows, those," remarked dale with more than a suggestion of regret in his voice. "none better," replied max emphatically. "and how well the men of the two races worked together. i think it must be an earnest of the way france and britain will work together in the great alliance." "aye. and what part are _we_ going to play, old man?" asked dale eagerly. "'pon my word i feel all on fire to get to work and strike a few good blows for england." "so we will, but we have earned a rest, so let us go to maastricht and stay quietly with my mother and sister for a little while. then we will go to england and offer ourselves for service in any capacity in which we can be of most use. then 'hard all' right up the course." "hurrah! i'm with you. forward all! paddle!" "but i should like a job that will give me a chance to give an eye occasionally to the durend works," presently remarked max meditatively. "there you go again," groaned dale. "those works of yours are the bane of my life. there's no getting away from them for a moment." "they're my special job, and schenk is my special enemy," replied max in the steady resolute tone dale knew so well. "there is no one who can take my place there in thwarting the enemy's plans, and while i live i can never forget it." "i don't believe you can," agreed dale comically, "so it's no use my trying. i suppose that will be the end of your fine talk about our offering our services to the british authorities?" "not at all, old man. what about the secret service? with our knowledge of belgium and its languages i should think they might find us employment that will be every whit as useful to the allies as fighting in the ranks. and it will give me a chance, occasionally, to see what schenk is up to, and, perhaps, to try another fall with him." "well, _that_ doesn't sound so bad. anyway it is good enough to think about a little more before we make up our minds. now for maastricht and that rest we've been chasing ever since we left liége for the ardennes. at last there seems a chance of our getting it." at maastricht max had a joyful reception. his mother had never lost hope of his safe return, but the suspense had been trying, and the news from liége had not been of a kind to reassure her. however, here he was back again, safe and sound, and in that fact all fears and anxieties were forgotten. dale shared in the welcome, and for a week or two the friends stayed happily at home. then the leaven began to work again, and one day dale found max going carefully through the miscellaneous lot of papers which he had taken from his father's safe along with the money and securities on which his mother had since been living. "business, eh?" he enquired jocularly. "something of the sort," admitted max. "looking through those old papers we raided out of schenk's clutches. some of them are his and not my father's, and i can see why he was so anxious to get them back again. why, here is correspondence--between the rascal and someone who, i expect, is an agent of the german government--dating back years before the war, in which schenk is instructed to prepare the durend works for the eventuality of a german occupation of liége. it's all here, even to the laying down of concrete gun-platforms, one of which the impudent beggar disguised as our tennis-court." "good! anything else?" "nothing quite so good as that. plans of the durend mines and works and such-like. they may be useful some day." "when we get rid of schenk, eh? that will be some time yet, so you need not bother your head about plans of the works. in fact, to put it mildly--i don't want to hurt your feelings--i expect the place will be so altered when you get it back that you won't recognize it, and those plans will be of mighty little use to you or anyone else." "yes," replied max thoughtfully. "you're referring to schenk's threat that, if ever the germans had to leave liége, he would smash up the works so thoroughly that not one brick would be left upon another?" "aye." "he's just the man to do it." "he is that. and the less reason for you to bother about the place. it's no use worrying; it can't be helped." "i'm not so sure. anyway i'm going to do what i can to save the place. as for these papers of schenk's, i'm going to hand them over to the british consul. they'll be useful, i don't doubt, as one more proof of germany's deep-laid plans for war." max did as he proposed, and the papers were accepted with alacrity and forwarded to the british foreign office. at the same time max made application on his own and dale's behalf for employment in belgium as members of the british secret service. after a week or two's delay, during which time enquiries no doubt were being made into their credentials, an official arrived with the necessary documents, and after a long conversation, detailing exactly what was required of them, max and dale were accepted and enrolled. a few days later they had said good-bye to their home in quiet maastricht and were away across the frontier, in the great whirlpool of the war once more. they resumed the disguises of walloon workmen, which had already served them in such good stead, and applied for work in liége and all the big towns of belgium. for two years and more they worked steadily, in different workshops up and down the country, gathering news and transmitting it faithfully to the agents of the british government. they were cool and reliable observers, and their information was found to be so uniformly accurate that it was relied upon more and more as the months went by. chapter xxi the great coup at the commencement of their work in the secret service, max and dale visited liége, and, while collecting information there, thought out and put into operation a far-reaching plan that they hoped might checkmate schenk's schemes for the destruction of the durend works when the germans should be forced to evacuate the city. it was a plan formulated after they had again got into touch with m. dubec and the small band of men who still loyally refused to work in the interests of the invaders. m. dubec had imparted to them the information--not unexpected--that schenk had placed mines under all the workshops, and put everything in readiness for blowing them into the air whenever he should wish to do so. "i have it from one of the men who actually helped to dig and fill them, monsieur. he was not allowed to help in the wiring, and he believes this was done secretly at night, by germans whom schenk knew he could trust." "so you know that the shops are mined, but do not know where the wires run?" "that is true, monsieur." "could you not find out?" "i do not think so, monsieur. since that last affair of ours there have been too many sentries in the yards, especially at night. it would be impossible to dig anywhere." "we ought to do something, dubec." "yes, monsieur?" "but the job is to know what," dale struck in. "we can't tunnel underground, i suppose, and get at them that way, so we must find out by spying where the wires are run to--eh, max?" "tunnel?" ejaculated max. "that's an idea, dale. those old mines we were tracing in the plans the other day! why not?" "why not what?" asked dale a little testily. "why, you know we noticed that one of them ran right up to the outskirts of the city? well, why shouldn't we continue it secretly, until we get beneath the yards, and then burrow upwards to the workshops? then we can remove the mine-charges from below, and sit still and hold tight until the great day arrives." "hurrah!" cried dale enthusiastically. "the very thing. phew! what a coup it will be!" "we shall, of course, have to get dubec here and one or two others to arrange it for us. they must go to work in the durend mines, and take it in turns to spend a night down there. each man, as his turn comes, must go into the old workings, and continue the gallery fixed upon in the direction of the durend works. narrow seams of coal, not worth working, did run in that direction according to the plans, and they will have no difficulty in getting rid of the coal of course. the rock they hew out must be taken away and dumped in remote, abandoned workings, where it is not likely to be found or understood." "'pon my word, it sounds like the real thing," cried dale with fresh enthusiasm. "but it'll take a long time i should think, so we must make a start at once. what do you think, dubec?" "yes, monsieur, it will take much time. but we will work hard, knowing that we are working for our country. it will make our hearts light again to feel that we are once more of use, and some who might give way will keep on and on, refusing to bend the knee to the german tyrants and to work their will." "yes, it may well do that," said max thoughtfully. "and if any object that they will be helping the germans by sending coal up to the surface, tell them that i say that the other work they are doing far outweighs that. if we can secure the durend works intact, ready to make shells and guns for the allies when the germans are driven out, we shall have struck a strong blow--aye, one of the strongest--for our side." "i will tell them, monsieur, though i do not think it will be necessary." "any money and tools that will be required i will supply. and i will occasionally come down into the mine and correct the direction in which you are driving the gallery. we must be exact, or all our work will be wasted." after a few days' more planning, and another consultation with dubec, the details of the scheme were settled to everyone's satisfaction, and the work commenced. the direction of affairs on the spot was left to dubec, and to him was also left the responsibility of deciding to what men the secret should be imparted. then max and dale left the district and went on with their own special work, satisfied that the last and final stratagem for defeating schenk was in good hands, and likely, in the course of time, to be brought to a successful issue. it is not here that we can describe the many adventures that befell max and dale while in the british secret service. they were numerous and exciting enough, but this tale deals primarily with the fortunes of the great durend workshops and their influence in the war. a long, tedious period of trench fighting now began on the western front. there were no big territorial changes, although there were many attacks on a grand scale at ypres, at verdun, on the somme, and in the plain of flanders. but this period, tedious though it was, came to an end at last in the great german retreat. then came for max and dale the crucial period of all their long and patient scheming to outwit their own special enemy, otto von schenkendorf, the manager of the durend works. when the great retreat began, max and dale were at liége, on the spot. at the gates of the works they watched the serried ranks of workmen and workwomen as they trudged out in response to the manager's orders that the works must be closed and that all workers of german nationality or sympathies must retire across the frontier. the anger and consternation in their faces were a treat to see, after the long years of their arrogance towards men and women of belgian nationality. the war was virtually over--so said their faces--and many of them were doubtless dreading lest infamies, similar to those wreaked on the helpless belgians, might be perpetrated in _their_ towns and villages. as the crowd thinned, max and dale caught sight of the manager, accompanied by a german officer, seated in a great grey motor just inside the gates, apparently waiting for the last workman to file out and away. the guard of soldiers was still there, standing stiffly to attention, and it seemed to max that there was an air of tension about them all, as though something was about to happen. he could well guess what. suddenly, in the distance, there came the sound of dropping rifle-shots. "they've cut it pretty fine, if those shots mean the advance guard of the allies," remarked max in a voice tense with excitement. "the works are clear of the workmen; now for the last great act. then the curtain!" herr schenk--as we shall continue to call him--stood up in his car and shouted to the officer of the guard: "you have your instructions, lieutenant. act upon them now without delay." the officer saluted, turned about with military precision, and strode into the guard-room. herr schenk resumed his seat, nodded to the chauffeur, and the car moved slowly through the gates into the road. max thought he was about to leave the works for good and all, but the car stopped at the side of the road a hundred yards or so from the gates, and all in her stood up and gazed back in the direction of the works. in the distance, but nearer now, could be heard a brisk fusillade of rifle-shots, with now and again the brief chatter of a machine-gun. "strong cavalry patrols approaching," commented max. "they are driving in scattered bodies of stragglers or outposts, i should say. look now at schenk! he is waiting for the works to go up sky-high." the moments passed, and nothing happened. a minute, two minutes, three minutes. still there was no change, and the tense attitude of the men waiting in the car relaxed, and they began talking together in low tones. suddenly the figure of the officer of the guard appeared at the gates, gesticulating excitedly. schenk gave a quick order to the chauffeur. the car was turned and moved quickly back to the gates, and there stopped. the officer of the guard ran to it, leaned over the side, and explained volubly. max and dale, from where they stood, could hear nothing of what was said, but they knew, almost as well as if they had heard, that the officer was explaining that he had tried to fire the mines, but somehow without success. with a gesture of rage or impatience schenk sprang out of the car, and, followed by both officers, ran quickly to the guard-room and disappeared from view. the dropping shots had approached quite near, and max believed that the skirmishers could not be more than half a mile away, and were advancing with a speed that indicated that they consisted either of cavalry or armed motors. "i'd give something to see their faces now--wouldn't you, max?" queried dale, who could hardly contain himself in his delight. max was busy scribbling on a sheet of paper torn from his notebook, and did not for a moment reply. when he had finished, he folded it up carefully and addressed it on the outside. "let us walk past the gates, dale, as though just passing. i am going to administer the _coup de grâce_ to our friend schenk." they crossed the road and slouched along past the gates. as they passed the great grey motorcar, max lightly dropped the note he was carrying on to the seat which schenk had just been occupying. the chauffeur was looking eagerly in the direction of the guard-room, and did not observe the act or the missive. they slouched on until they turned a corner, and then max cried eagerly: "now back again and in that garden among the bushes. we shall see it all, and see schenk's face when he reads my note." "what did you say, old man?" "let us get out of sight there, and i will tell you." in a few moments the two friends were snugly ensconced in a clump of bushes in a garden very near the entrance to the works. the grey car was still occupied only by the chauffeur, but they could tell, by his listening attitude and the expectant looks of the guards, that an altercation of some sort was going on inside the guard-room. "this is what i said, old man," max went on in a voice which betrayed his excitement:-- "to herr von schenkendorf, _alias_ otto schenk, "i observe that you have at last accepted your dismissal from your post as manager of the durend works. you are going--hated and despised--back to the land which gave you birth. and at last, in this moment, you must know yourself defeated by those at whom you scoffed as boys. the works you swore to destroy still stand intact, and will, in a short time, be throwing all their weight and power into the cause of the allies. adieu. "max durend, "jack dale." "good, old man! that'll make the beggar sit up if anything will. hark! cavalry. ours or theirs, i wonder?" in a measure they were answered by a sudden move of the soldiers guarding the gates. the lieutenant had shouted an order, and they fell into marching order and strode swiftly away in the direction of the frontier. the officer remained where he was, and was almost immediately joined by herr schenk and the other officer. all three walked quickly to the motor and got in. the manager, as he did so, picked up a letter lying on his seat and glanced at the writing. he gave a start that was visible even to the watchers at the other side of the road, then plucked it open with nervous, jerky movements. he glanced quickly through it and sprang uncontrollably to his feet, his face aflame with passion. the officer at his side shouted to him in alarm and endeavoured to pull him back into his seat. suddenly there was a loud clatter of horses' hoofs at the end of the street, and a body of belgian cavalry debouched into view. the chauffeur of the grey car instantly started and turned his machine, and it moved away with ever-increasing speed, schenk still standing and gesticulating wildly, with max's letter clenched in his right hand, and the officer endeavouring ineffectually to drag him back into his seat. as the car passed the two watchers, they could not repress their exultation, but jumped to their feet and gave a loud, full-throated british cheer. [illustration: the two watchers gave a loud, full-throated british cheer] the officer whose hands were free drew his revolver and fired viciously at them. the shots went wide, and in a moment or two the car had turned a corner and vanished out of sight. a squadron of belgian cavalry clattered by, and max shouted to the officer in command that a car containing german officers had just driven off and that a detachment of infantry was only a matter of a few minutes ahead. the officer nodded and pressed on, while max and dale cheered the men as they rode eagerly by. "i think we have seen the last we shall see of schenk, dale," max remarked as they crossed the road and entered the durend yards. "yes, and i don't suppose you, or anyone else in belgium, will be sorry." "no; least of all our walloon workmen. they hated him to a man for his overbearing, tyrannical ways. we are all well rid of him." the works seemed strangely deserted. the doors of the workshops stood wide open, but inside all was still. the great lathes were just as they had been left, some with shells half turned, indicating the haste with which the attendants had obeyed the call to go. other hands would doubtless finish the turning, and the shells would be fired at the germans and not against the armies of the allies. "i suppose schenk will have taken all the firm's cash?" suggested dale presently. "yes, of course. but that will be more than covered by the additions he has made to the buildings and plant since the germans came. i should think the concern is worth twice as much as when he took it in hand for the fatherland." "that's great! no wonder he nearly went out of his mind when he found he must leave it all intact and in first-rate working order for you to enter into. if he lives until he is as old as methuselah he will never forget it." "i don't think his german friends will let him forget it. they will find it hard to forgive a bungle that leaves a first-class munition factory absolutely undamaged in the hands of their enemies. i don't envy schenk his job of persuading them that he couldn't help it." "not after the other explanations he has had to make on our account--those siege-gun drawings, the wrecking of the power-house, workshops, etcetera." "no, he is a back number now, and he will be lucky if it is no worse." (long afterwards they learned that the exasperation of the germans at herr schenk's failure to destroy his workshops before the evacuation, was so great that he was tried by court-martial, and, notwithstanding his considerable influence, promptly shot.) a burst of cheering from the town in the direction of the market-place drew the attention of the two young fellows away from the works to the events that were taking place in the town. they left the works, closing the great gates after them, and joined the townspeople in their great welcome to the soldiers of belgium and the allies as they passed through in triumph in pursuit of their enemies. it was all very exhilarating, and even the discovery that max's house had been burned to the ground was insufficient to damp their patriotic ardour, for they had expected no less. it had not been possible to arrange to save this, and, as max said, so long as the works were saved it mattered little about the house. another could soon be found, or built for that matter. but the works--to get those into full swing in quick time was the equivalent of a victory for the allies. and in almost full swing they were in a couple of days. all that day and the next the loyal workmen dribbled back--some from the town, some from remote villages, and many from across the dutch border. with hearty goodwill they threw themselves into their work, and soon the roar of the lathes and engines announced that the durend works were themselves once more. the tale of how max durend had fought the long battle of the works, of how vigilantly he had watched over them, and of how, at last, he had won the greatest fight of all in saving them from destruction, passed from mouth to mouth among the workmen. if anything had been needed to cement the strong bond between them and their employer, this would have supplied it. but their relations were already of the best, and this great story served but to set a seal upon it and to render the link between the two unbreakable. and from strength to strength the great workshops went on. ever in the van of progress--for max had learned his work from the bottom upwards and was ever ready to learn more--secure in the possession of skilled workmen filled with zeal and goodwill, well-directed, and trusted far and wide, the durend works expanded until they were twice the size of any similar concern in belgium. jack dale stuck to max to the end. he followed his friend's example and went through all the shops, learning the work thoroughly, and later on became the manager of an important branch of the firm. eventually he married max's sister, and drew closer yet the ties which held him to his friend. max became, in the fulness of time, something of a figure in belgium, and did much to aid its recovery from the ravages of the enemy. he never forgot his english blood, and was a foremost supporter of all movements which might draw the two countries closer to one another in friendship and esteem. book was created from images of public domain material made available by the university of toronto libraries (http://link.library.utoronto.ca/booksonline/).) [illustration] the daily telegraph war books the campaign round liÈge the daily telegraph war books cloth /- net. vol. i. (_ rd enormous edition._) _how the war began_ _by w.l. courtney, ll.d., and j.m. kennedy_ is britain's justification before the bar of history. vol. ii. _the fleets at war_ _by archibald hurd_, the key book to the understanding of the naval situation vol. iii. _the campaign of sedan_ _by george hooper_ the key book to the military situation. vol. iv. _the campaign round liege_ ¶ describes in wonderful detail the heroic defence of liege, and shows how the gallant army of belgium has upset and altered the whole plan of advance as devised by the kaiser and his war council. the campaign round liÈge by j.m. kennedy with an introduction by w.l. courtney, ll.d. hodder and stoughton london new york toronto mcmxiv contents chapter page introduction i. outbreak of war--invasion of belgium and luxemburg--the first fighting at liÈge ii. french join belgians--details of the battles--german spy system--raids by uhlans iii. preliminary atrocities--bravery of the belgians--battle of haelen-diest iv. life at brussels--french advance--capital removed to antwerp v. preparations at namur--scenes at liÈge--germans pressing forward--occupation of brussels vi. british troops in action--their "customary coolness"--zeppelin at antwerp--german atrocities--lord kitchener's speech introduction "to attack always, to attack everywhere, and to overlap in the attack" is the essential principle of german military training. this is the principle which is acted upon when hostilities definitely open and the diplomatist retires into the background. there is only one means by which it can be carried into effect, and that is to have overwhelming numbers of men ready to pour into the field and bear down opposing forces by sheer weight. at liège, at namur, at charleroi, or in the vosges, the mowing down of the invading hosts by rifle or cannon must have seemed to the defensive troops as wearying and useless a task as cutting off the heads of a hydra; for two german soldiers appeared to rise out of the ground for every single one that fell. this was one great advantage with which the german army entered upon the war. for years past strategic railways have been under construction on the belgian border--railways designed, not for the conveyance of goods or passenger traffic (for there was none), but for the conveyance of german troops from cologne and other places to north-east france through belgium and luxemburg. the plans of the german general staff were admirably conceived. one observer compared the advance of the invading army to a human tidal wave spreading through the valley of the meuse. true, there were one or two small hitches. it was clear from the stories told by the prisoners taken by the belgians at liège that the german commissariat was unexpectedly defective. again, insufficient preparations had been made for besieging liège itself, and it was not for some days that it was found possible to bring up the great siege guns which should have been there from the very beginning. these faults, however, were not the result of negligence so much as of conceit and of too great a belief in the invulnerability of the german arms. according to a message quoted in the present volume, the kaiser waved his hand through the air and said: "i will go through belgium like that." he did not; and the delay consequent upon the stubborn defence of liège interfered with the german plans at the outset and gave the french time to complete their mobilisation. the effects of this delay are, indeed, incalculable, especially in view of the unexpected rapidity of the russian mobilisation, and general rennenkaempf's advance through east prussia. still, once the germans realised that they had to meet resistance in belgium it must be acknowledged that they took immediate steps to break it down. large siege guns were hurried to the front, with the result, so far as can be ascertained from the meagre news which is allowed to pass the censors on both sides of the channel, that four of the strongest forts at namur fell after a three days' siege. nothing, at first, seemed to be able to stop, or even to check, the advance of , , teutons. although only a few details have been allowed to leak out, the admitted facts all go to show that the german onslaught on france through belgium has been successful, but delayed. it is said that the invaders expected to be in paris within two weeks of crossing the frontier, after which they expected to be able to turn the bulk of their mighty army towards russia before the tsar's forces could be properly mobilised--before, at any rate, they could take the field and begin their advance into east prussia. to this extent the plan has miscarried, thanks to the gallant resistance of liège. unless the germans were in full possession of the railways at liège and namur an entry into france would have been dangerous, since the free passage of reinforcements could not be guaranteed. as it was, the russians were in possession of eydkuhnen before the germans were in possession of liège; and the german advance on namur coincided in point of time with the russian advance on insterburg. while the german plans have miscarried to this extent, it would be foolish not to realise that they have succeeded in other respects. a glance at the map will show this; for if the official communiqués tell us little else they tell us, at least, what the approximate position of the armies was at given dates. on august th and th, for instance, and even, we may assume, on the th, the german army stretched in an irregular line from maastricht to alt breisach, through huy, arlon, longwy, and metz. the southern portion of it, composed chiefly of bavarians, lay from château salins to strassburg, and thence to the end of the long line in the neighbourhood of alt breisach. the french army lay opposite in a nearly parallel line. french regiments had reached and reinforced the belgian lines at malines and louvain, and the main body of the french army was spread out along a front of nearly three hundred miles from tirlemont to mülhausen, via namur, mézières, verdun, sarreburg, cirey, and colmar. as the germans had opened their southern campaign by invading french territory at cirey and longwy, the position of the french army at this time makes it clear that general joffre had taken the offensive. the germans had been driven back over their original lines; alsace had been invaded by the french; altkirch and mülhausen had been captured, and even strassburg was menaced. this right wing of the french forces--the wing which had been thrust forward into alsace--was based, of course, on the impregnable fortresses of belfort and epinal. as the subsequent developments showed, this invasion of alsace was a strategic error, and this was acknowledged almost in so many words before a week had passed. why, at this early stage, a forward move was made in this direction was never explained. there were critics who not unreasonably called it "fancy work." certainly, it was to be expected that the germans would advance from their southern base of strassburg, and their central base of metz; but the really serious work of the campaign, as everybody expected, was to be in the north-east. the advance into alsace gave general joffre an opportunity of issuing a proclamation to the alsatians which, in view of their treatment by the germans for more than a generation, naturally rejoiced them. but it was an advance which had to be paid for in another direction, when the main body of the german army began to make its way across the upper meuse. if the position of the german troops has been traced as indicated, the line will be almost straight, except towards the south, where the germans have had to give way before the french in alsace. a day or two later, however, the line will be anything but straight. by the th, although there is still fighting at liège, and brussels has not yet been occupied, there is a distinct german advance towards the north-west. the invaders have pushed on to malines and louvain, and, in the centre, they menace namur. they have also brought up large forces to givet, dinant, and sedan. they are cut down by the thousand; their dead fill the trenches; the defenders wonder how the officers can possibly induce their men to advance in such close formation, since they are certain to be annihilated. there is a reason, nevertheless, and a good one; for the time being there is no limit to the number of men who can be brought forward to take the places of those that fall. the result is a slow german advance, and everywhere the allies, though stubbornly contesting every inch of the ground, slowly retire. by the nd there is a further decided change. brussels has been occupied, and the german forces are converging on charleroi in, so far as we know, six or seven parallel columns. from enghien, from hal, from nivelles, from la hulpe, from wavre, and from jodoigne, the kaiser's troops make their way into the country lying between namur and mons. we do not know, at this time, precisely where the british troops are, nor are we at liberty to guess the strength of the french in this district. we are soon to know, however. a battle rages for three or four days at charleroi; the french retire in good order; and two thousand british casualties are reported. our troops and the french troops have behaved with the utmost gallantry; but, so far as we can ascertain, they have been outnumbered by two to one--perhaps in an even greater proportion. set the minute hand of a clock at eleven, and the hour hand at five. that will, roughly, indicate the position of the german army (with the belgian, british, and french troops in an almost parallel line) about august th to th. then bend the minute hand of the clock to nine. that will convey a correct impression of the broad sweep made by the northern wing of the german army within four or five days; and it must be acknowledged, unfortunately, that it swept the allies in front of it. the result of the first stages of the charleroi fighting made one or two things evident. in the first place, it was then known that the strength of the opposing german armies had been considerably under-estimated; they had succeeded in bringing up very strong reinforcements, with field guns and adequate munitions, through liège. secondly, it was seen that the french had not advanced northwards in sufficiently strong force. general joffre had concentrated on alsace and the ardennes, rather than on the namur front. the official statement published in paris shows the french position at the commencement of the battle: an army starting from northern woevre and proceeding towards neufchateau is attacking the german forces which have marched through the grand duchy of luxemburg on the right bank of the semois, and are going in a westerly direction. another army, which had started from the region of sedan, is crossing the ardennes, and is attacking the german forces which are marching between the lesse and the meuse. a third army, from the region of chimay, has begun an attack on the german right between the sambre and the meuse. this army is supported by the english army, proceeding from the mons region. in this statement, as mr. ashmead-bartlett remarked at the time, several very important facts stood forth clearly: ( ) the french armies had never held the line of the meuse and of the sambre in any strength. ( ) the german armies, before the commencement of the fighting at charleroi, were in possession of the country contained within the triangle, of which namur is the apex, between the sambre and the meuse. ( ) before some of its forts fell, namur must have been entirely isolated, and attacked not only from the north but also from the south; and the french armies were not in a position to reinforce the garrison unless they sent forward some detachments before the germans crossed the sambre. ( ) in the fighting between august th and nd or rd it was the french armies who attacked and not the german--except in the neighbourhood of mons. reference has been made to the triangle of which namur is the apex. this, it was generally believed by the military critics, was the angle which the french were ready to occupy, if they had not, indeed, already occupied it, before the fighting at charleroi began. the discovery that this triangle was really in possession of the germans came as a shock. exaggerated hopes gave way to exaggerated fears; and it was even held that the germans had a reasonable chance of breaking through the french lines in the north and advancing on paris before the russians could advance much further into germany. it is to be presumed that these fears are exaggerated, and that general joffre can shift his men from alsace to the north. one gathered that eighteen german army corps had advanced through belgium, and that only three or four had been left to watch over alsace-lorraine. it would be unwise to hazard any conjecture as to the strength of the french; but if it were said that the proportions were just the reverse the statement might not be far out. at any rate, the fact remains that at the time of writing the french advance has been entirely checked; and the allies are now on the defensive. if general joffre had chosen to remain on the defensive from the first instead of advancing into alsace; or, on the other hand, if he had considerably strengthened his force in the north and advanced in that direction with the object of establishing himself at namur, the position would have been totally different. the numbers of the opposing forces would, at least, have been better proportioned, and the "human tidal wave" could have been held back. there is, of course, another side to the story. although the allies had to retire, the retirement was carried out in good order. german prisoners bore flattering testimony to the accuracy of the british firing, and it was admitted that the invaders had lost very heavily--so heavily, in fact, that they could not proceed with their advance for a day or two. furthermore, there was no particular reason why, at this stage, the allies should have wished to assume the offensive at all. they were not driven out of their original defensive positions; they merely failed, by their forward movement, to dislodge the germans, who were greatly superior to them in numbers. the net result of the fighting was that the allies had simply to abandon their offensive--an offensive which does not appear to have been included in their original plans. in the official statement already quoted there was a passage saying: "on the orders of general joffre our troops and the british troops took up positions on the covering line, which they would not have left had not the admirable belgian effort enabled them to enter belgium." commenting on this, mr. ashmead-bartlett said: the only deduction one can draw from this is that these operations were never included in the pre-arranged plan of campaign, and that they were only undertaken on the supposition that namur, isolated and surrounded by the enemy, would be able to offer the same prolonged resistance as liège, which would give the allies time to advance in strength and occupy the triangle formed by the junction of the sambre and the meuse. the unexpected fall of this fortress at the very apex has now forced general joffre to fall back on his original line of defence along the french frontier. as will be seen from telegrams quoted in the course of the following pages, german cavalrymen made a series of raids through northern belgium, and took possession of ghent and bruges, even penetrating as far as ostend. these raids, similar to many others in the central and southern parts of the country, were carried out--the germans admitted it officially--with the aim of terrorising the civilian population. it appears to be a german belief--quite erroneous!--that when the civilian population is terrified by raids of this nature it brings pressure to bear on the government to "stop the war." on august th, in order to check further german advances of this kind along the coast, a large force of british marines took possession of ostend. as moral effects count for as much in war as the effects of accurate marksmanship or the "pounding" of siege guns, it should be stated that the belgian resistance did more than delay the german advance. it had an effect which, in this war, was of even greater importance. for forty years all europe had been brought up to believe in the invulnerability of the german army. the mere threat of german intervention was enough to turn the scales in favour of any proposals which were being urged by german diplomats. it almost became an accepted axiom of diplomacy and war that the germans would always win and that their opponents would always lose. certainly the germans, and above all the prussians, lost no opportunity of impressing this fact upon the world at large. to a supreme belief in themselves they added a disdainful arrogance of the rest of mankind which was, for an extraordinarily long period, found effective and impressive. * * * * * the atmosphere which this attitude brought about, the atmosphere of terror which had enveloped europe for so many years, was swept away, once and for all, by the belgian army at liège. such was the awesome feeling inspired by the mere name of germany that we should have hardly been surprised to see the belgians turn tail and throw down their arms without firing a shot. what did happen we all know. the forts, which the germans expected to capture in a few hours, were still holding out after twelve days. in the field, small forces of belgians time and again cut up forces of germans out-numbering them by three or four to one. in some outpost engagements, on a scale which would have entitled them to be called battles a century or so ago, the invaders were beaten back time after time--cavalry, infantry, and artillery were equally ineffective against the belgian arms. it was only by sheer weight of numbers that the belgians were forced back into antwerp, and even then they preserved their ranks intact and were ready, after a few days' rest, for a further onslaught. the importance of this great moral change should be emphasised. the german army will never again represent invulnerability; it will stand rather for pure savagery. reference has already been made to the raids undertaken by german cavalry for the purpose of terrorising the civilian population. as the telegrams in this volume will show, intimidation did not stop at mere raids, fuss, and noise. inoffensive civilians were shot on the slightest provocation; houses were looted; villages burned; women and even young girls outraged; boys battered to death with the butts of rifles--and all this was done, not because the men got out of hand and "saw red"; but systematically, because the invaders wished to terrorise the civil population. when this statement was first made it seemed incredible--the methods of the huns or the tartars in the twentieth century. some refutation, some attempt at refutation, from the german side was awaited. it did not come. instead there came an admission of the truth of the allegations which had been accumulating for several days. after the outbreak of war it was customary for the german "wireless" stations to send out war "news" at nauen or norddeich. this was picked up by the marconi company and given out to the english press. the "news" was usually exaggerated and in many cases utterly mendacious. but hidden away at the end of a batch of these messages which reached london on august th was to be found an appalling paragraph, which, in the course of a very few lines, admitted publicly and officially the terrible charges of barbaric savagery that during the preceding days had compelled the belgian government to appeal to the judgment of the civilised world. special stress must be laid on the official character of this confession, because it is notorious that nothing can be transmitted from the german wireless stations under war conditions without the express sanction and approval of the berlin government. the statement in question is as follows: the distribution of arms and ammunition among the civil population of belgium had been carried out on systematic lines, and the authorities enraged the public against germany by assiduously circulating false reports. they were under the impression that, with the aid of the french, they would be able to drive the germans out of belgium in two days. the only means of preventing surprise attacks from the civil population has been to interfere with unrelenting severity and to create examples, which by their "frightfulness" would be a warning to the whole country. the increased war contribution levied on the province of liège has also had an excellent effect. could a confession be more frank or candid? could any statement nerve us, as we have never been nerved before, to resist the menace of prussian militarism to the uttermost? chapter i outbreak of war--invasion of belgium and luxemburg--the first fighting at liège in the first volume of this series, "how the war began," the causes leading up to the great conflict were dealt with in detail. it may be briefly recalled that on thursday, july rd, the austro-hungarian ultimatum was sent to servia, the belgrade authorities being allowed only forty-eight hours in which to reply. the next day saw the holding of a cabinet council in russia. on july th the austrian minister left belgrade because the reply handed to him by the servian cabinet was deemed unsatisfactory. sir edward grey, on monday, july th, announced his plan for a "four-power conference"--germany, france, italy, and ourselves--a plan which had to be abandoned owing to the hostility of germany. on july th, austria-hungary declared war on servia; a partial russian mobilisation was ordered on the th; germany mobilised on the st. it became evident at once that it was the aim of the german general staff to cripple the french army immediately, so that the german soldiers, who were concentrated on the french and belgium frontiers, could be hurried back to east prussia to meet the russian forces later on. before any definite declaration of war had been made, indeed, either against france or russia, german patrols invaded french territory on the night of july st, seized several locomotives, and cut the telegraph and telephone wires. this may be regarded as the first act of war, though the french outposts were withdrawn in order that they might not come into actual conflict with the invaders just then. so serious had the international situation become, that the smaller countries began to make preparations lest their territory should be violated. on friday, july st, the belgian government ordered a partial, and the dutch government, a complete mobilisation; and before the week-end had passed practically all belgium was in arms. the stavelot-malmedy route near the german frontier was strengthened by advance cavalry outposts; dirigibles were got in readiness; the meuse strongholds were fully garrisoned, and barbed wire fences were erected everywhere. on august nd, without having yet declared war, germany invaded the independent state of luxemburg, the neutrality of which had been guaranteed by the treaty of london of , by great britain, austria-hungary, france, prussia, russia, italy, holland, and belgium. the german soldiers arrived at the station of luxemburg during the night, seized the station and the government offices, and held the bridges on the trèves and trois vierges lines, so as to ensure the passage of military trains across the grand duchy. the grand duchess was rudely treated by the german officers, and imprisoned in her palace; and the invaders positively refused to withdraw. it was admitted a day or two afterwards by the imperial chancellor, speaking in the reichstag, that the violation of neutral territory was wrong, but that the germans were determined, in his now famous phrase, to "hack their way through." at the same time the german army penetrated french territory at two points, namely, longwy and cirey-les-forges. it was stated on august nd that the number of germans who had crossed the grand duchy was about , , and that they were concentrating in belgian territory in the neighbourhood of liège. strong guards were posted round the railway lines. on sunday, too, a despatch from luxemburg announced that the luxemburg minister of state had received, through the german minister there, a telegram from the imperial chancellor stating that the military measures taken by the germans in luxemburg did not constitute a hostile act against the grand duchy. they were simply measures taken to protect the working of the railways connected with the german system against a possible attack by french troops. luxemburg would be completely indemnified for any damage that might be done to the lines. [illustration] although germany formally declared war on russia on july st, no great military efforts were made in the east. on the other hand, the movements already made against france were followed up with energy, in spite of the fact that diplomatic relations had not actually been severed. what the next german step was may be seen from the following brief statement, which was made by sir edward grey in the house of commons on the evening of august rd: germany sent yesterday evening at seven o'clock a note proposing to belgium friendly neutrality covering a free passage through belgian territory, and promising the maintenance of the independence of the kingdom and possessions at the conclusion of peace, and threatening in the case of refusal to treat belgium as an enemy. a time limit of twelve hours was fixed for reply. belgium answered that an attack on their neutrality would be a flagrant violation of the rights of nations and that to accept the german proposal would sacrifice the honour of a nation conscious of its duty. belgium is firmly resolved to repel aggression by all possible means. king george at once signed the proclamation ordering the mobilisation of the entire british army and embodying the territorials. this cynical disregard of a treaty to which germany had affixed her signature could be redressed in only one way. while the british expeditionary force was being prepared, however, the germans were making haste to secure their positions in belgium and on the french frontier, and their movements were reported from the outset by the special correspondents of _the daily telegraph_. on august th, by order of the belgian general staff, the railway bridges at lavaux and bastogne were destroyed, so as to delay the germans if they advanced through luxemburg: everywhere the conditions in belgium were those of war. civilians in all directions took refuge in the towns, and the roads were blocked by wagons and ploughs. on the luxemburg frontier many german patrols and posts were seen. the germans occupied the whole of the province, with the object of facilitating the concentration of their army. a correspondent, returning from longwy, the great natural fortress which forms the advance guard of the french covering troops, found it necessary, owing to military obstacles, to perform some part of the journey on foot. the roads were barred by sentries and posts at all points. the officers of the garrison asked him to assure the english that the morale of the army was superb. certainly, the correspondent added, he had never seen french soldiers so calm, cool, and confident. on the same day the germans entered belgium at three points--dolhain, francorchamps, and stavelot; and other forces advanced from luxemburg in the direction of longwy, villerupt, and thionville. in the evening belgium was declared to be in a state of war with germany. the german raids, following upon the insolent demand that german troops should be allowed to march through the country, had caused an intense feeling of indignation throughout belgium. at the brussels recruiting station men of all ages literally fought to enlist and get rifles. there was wild patriotic enthusiasm and no sign of fear. at an extraordinary sitting of parliament many members appeared in military uniform, ready to start for the front. the king delivered the following speech to the deputies: never since has a graver hour sounded for belgium. the strength of our right and the need of europe for our autonomous existence make us still hope that the dreaded events will not occur. if it is necessary for us to resist an invasion of our soil, however, that duty will find us armed and ready to make the greatest sacrifices. our young men have already come forward to defend the fatherland in danger. one duty alone is imposed upon us, namely, the maintenance of a stubborn resistance, courage, and union. our bravery is proved by our faultless mobilisation and by the multitude of voluntary engagements. this is the moment for action. i have called you together to-day in order to allow the chambers to participate in the enthusiasm of the country. you will know how to adopt with urgency all necessary measures. are you decided to maintain inviolate the sacred patrimony of our ancestors? no one will fail in his duty, and the army is capable of performing its task. the government and i are fully confident. the government is aware of its responsibilities, and will carry them out to the end to guard the supreme welfare of the country. if a stranger should violate our territory he will find all the belgians gathered round their sovereign, who will never betray his constitutional oath. i have faith in our destinies. a country which defends itself wins the respect of everyone, and cannot perish. god will be with us. deafening cheers welcomed the announcement that m. vandervelde, the leader of the socialists, had been nominated as minister of state, to show that men of all parties were now united for the defence of the flag. the king's speech, appealing to the devotion of the whole nation, and expressing confidence in the fate of a neutral and peaceful country which had been so unlawfully attacked, caused an indescribable outburst of loyal and brave assent. all bills regulating a moratorium and the recall of more army drafts were voted without a minute's discussion. while the king and queen left the palace amid wonderful ovations, emotion increased when the premier, m. de broqueville, announced that belgian territory had already been invaded by germans, and when he read the recent germano-belgian diplomatic notes, threatening belgium with germany's dire vengeance for defending her neutrality. the king started for the front at once. on august th, dr. e.j. dillon, one of _the daily telegraph's_ special correspondents, wired: i received information this morning that british troops had landed and were on their way to the frontier to defend belgian neutrality. i at once drove out to laeken, through which suburb they must pass. there i learned that the news was premature. french regiments are alleged to have arrived at namur. others are marching into belgium. it is reported here that the german troops, when entering belgian territory, were fired upon from houses in visé, whereupon they decimated the population, sparing neither age nor sex. all these reports must be received with circumspection. i myself, however, have witnessed scenes of poignant grief, the actors in which were relatives of the people in visé, who had heard the narrative and believed it. the authorities naturally keep such things dark in order not to frighten the population, which is incensed against the germans. belgium is beset with german spies, who even now continue their work, with marvellous deliberation and courage. wireless telegraphic apparatus is alleged by the authorities to be still employed by the german agents, some of whom have been arrested. the population of both brussels and antwerp are excited against the germans. the authorities are now effectually protecting the shops. twenty-five thousand germans, many occupying influential positions, reside in antwerp, and the public desires their expulsion in the interests of defence. belgians have been expelled from germany and forbidden during the railway journey to look out of the windows or speak any language but german. this morning a german eagle-shaped aeroplane was hovering over liège city. a belgian aviator rose higher, and descended heavily upon the german craft, cutting it in two. the belgian is said to be but slightly wounded. as his name is not given the narrative is open to doubt. an eye-witness of the combat at visé affirms that a squadron of prussian cavalry moved towards visé bridge, in which the belgians had made a breach sixty mètres wide. the belgians, hidden among the broken piers, opened a cross-fire, almost annihilating them. at the same time shots were fired from the houses on the right bank of visé, which was already occupied by the germans. it was then that the indiscriminate massacre of the inhabitants by the german soldiers began. they also fired upon the red cross ambulance. the latest news received from the front on the same day stated that under the protection of the long range guns of the fortress of liège the belgian troops were putting up a fine defence against the german invaders. they inflicted great losses on the enemy, whose attempts to cross the river meuse by means of a pontoon bridge had failed. this, it was stated, would compel the germans to cross the meuse on foot at the dutch frontier. the attitude of the dutch towards them was not yet known. official news received at brussels stated that a fierce fight had occurred at liège. the present situation was understood to be very favourable for the belgians, who had victoriously repulsed all the german attacks. the germans, who endeavoured to pass through the spaces between the forts, were driven back by a mixed brigade. it was said that not a single one who passed the intervals returned. the german shells were unable to pierce the defences. german aeroplanes showed themselves much inferior to the belgian. none of the belgian aeroplanes sustained any accident, but several of the german did so. it was confirmed that the germans behaved disgracefully at visé. they shot many civilians, expelling the remainder of the inhabitants and giving the town to the flames. * * * * * the _rotterdamsche courant_ in a leading article said that holland had read with satisfaction sir edward grey's statement that it was obligatory on the great powers to maintain the neutrality of the netherlands, belgium, and denmark. holland also observed with satisfaction that germany was avoiding the dutch frontier. the engagement referred to above was generally known as the first battle of liège. subsequent particulars of it showed that the belgian forces captured seven guns, and that , of the invaders were killed and wounded. on wednesday, august th, in an encounter between the vesdre and the meuse rivers a single belgian squadron annihilated six german squadrons. the seventh german corps suffered enormous loss, prisoners being brought into brussels. the encounter began in the early morning, and lasted till five in the afternoon. germans, with the seventh army corps supported by a large mass of cavalry, began a violent attack against the south-eastern section of the liège stronghold, not engaging the forts with their artillery, but trying to reach the interior of the stronghold through the intervals. the ground was mined in several places, and all the battalions were destroyed. the german loss was enormous. that of the belgians was very much less. early on wednesday morning, by force of numbers, the german advance guard succeeded in entering liège. fighting went on in the street for a time. in view of the strength of the fortifications at liège, the strategic position of the town, and the fact that the main body of the belgian army was concentrated there, it became evident that the invaders could not advance without either "containing" liège--_i.e._, surrounding the place with a large body of troops, and, as it were, imprisoning the garrison without making any attempt at capture--or reducing the fortresses to such an extent as to drive the main body of the belgian army before it. the latter plan was adopted and was eventually successful; but not before the heroic garrison, though greatly outnumbered, had succeeded in delaying the german advance for nine or ten days. as time was an essential factor in the german programme, it is difficult for us to over-estimate the advantage which thus accrued to the defenders of western europe. the town of liège stands on the meuse, close to the point where the hills on its left bank come to an end, and near the spot where the valleys of the vesdre and ourthe on the other side afford routes for roads and railways, east to verviers and southwards towards the ardennes. the main stream divides the far-extending city into an older town, wherein is situated the citadel and most of the public buildings, and a newer suburb containing the manufacturing establishments and dwellings of the artisans. the most noteworthy buildings are the magnificent church of st. jacques, dating from the eleventh century, the handsome académie des beaux arts, the theatre royal, built upon the model of the odéon at paris, the palais de justice, and town hall. liège owes much of its prosperity to the fact that it is the centre of a rich coal district, some of the mines actually extending under the houses and streets. iron industries and coal increased its population from , in to , in . the iron manufacturers are chiefly concerned with the production of cannon and those implements of war for which the adjoining township of seraing is especially famous. the textile industry also employs thousands of workers, while paper, oil, tobacco, leather, gold and silver ware, bicycles, watches, and light machinery of all kinds are manufactured in the busy quarters. known to the germans as lüttich, the city is the capital of the walloons, a race who have been described as "marked by an indefatigable industry and a fierce and implacable spirit of hostility towards those who have attempted to infringe their privileges." since its foundation the town has been the scene of endless fighting. charles of burgundy sacked it in , and put thousands of its brave inhabitants to death. it was stormed by maximillian i. in ; three times by the french between and ; and was captured by marlborough in . in the wars of - french and austrians fought repeatedly for its possession, the height of robermont outside the defences being the spot where the prince of coburg was defeated by marshal jourdan on september th, , in the last battle fought by the austrians on belgian soil. the citadel, feet above the sea level, whence the approach of the germans was anxiously watched, commands a view over the whole of the city and the populous and industrious valleys of the meuse, while in the south can be seen from its summit the peaks of the ardennes and northward the petersburg near maastricht and the broad plains of limburg. hardly had the siege begun in earnest when a small body of uhlans, who had been directed by spies to the headquarters of general leman, the belgian commander, made a determined attempt to assassinate him by forcing their way into his office and shooting at him with revolvers. one of the general's brother officers lifted him up bodily, carried him to the yard at the back of the house, and dropped him over the wall into the yard alongside. this promptness, in the momentary confusion, was believed to have saved general leman's life. two belgian gendarmes and an officer were killed; but the other belgians present shot dead the uhlans who had made the daring raid. there were eight of them in all--two officers and six men. in a despatch sent off in the evening of august th dr. e.j. dillon briefly summed up the early fighting. the invading army, he stated, at first expected a mere nominal resistance. disappointed, they despatched forces to the north and south-east of liège, where are the forts of barchon, north of evegnée, of fléron and chaud-fontaine to the east, and of embourg and boncelles to the south. the attacks proceeded at various points along this front. the position at liège was defended by forts and also by field works, trenches, barbed-wire entanglement, and mines, with artillery served by mobile troops, under improvised cover, who occupied the spaces between the forts, but hidden behind them so that the germans who endeavoured to pass through these spaces in order to surround the forts were unable to determine the position of the field works and direct their artillery fire against them. this piece of strategy proved fatal to the enemy's troops, who were exposed to artillery fire from the forts, and cut down piecemeal by the defenders within the spaces. the country was favourable to the invaders, owing to the ravines, woods, and winding roads, which enabled them to advance under natural cover. despite this advantage, the belgians, who displayed genuine heroism, drove them back with slaughter, but not without themselves making heavy sacrifices, which they did with a degree of valour that commanded universal admiration. the russian tsar sent his hearty congratulations. during the night of wednesday--thursday, a tremendous assault was undertaken by the germans, in which the entire seventh army corps took part. the belgians manfully held their positions, while the whole country around, illumined by dazzling searchlights, quaked as if shaken by a seismic convulsion. the grey light of morning revealed hundreds of german corpses and also the advance of the german forces against fort barchon. the belgians having formed a mixed brigade of two regiments, proceeded to effect a daring counter-attack from the heights of wandre. their advance was as irresistible as an oceanic tide. the germans stood a few minutes awaiting the onset, and then fled panic-stricken. the seventh corps was broken, and a few hours later , fugitives passed by maastricht, where they were received, fed, and, curiously enough, sent to aix-la-chapelle. on the south the spaces between the forts of embourg were the objective of a resolute attack. the invaders advancing within three hundred yards of the garde civique were first deprived of their colonel, whom a soldier shot dead, and were then literally mown down like grass by the scythe. meanwhile the german artillery fire was concentrated upon the château of langres, opposite fort embourg. under cover of a heavy artillery fire a body of german troops surrounded the château when suddenly a grey cloud with flame arose, followed by a terrific explosion. the belgians having mined the château had blown it up, and many germans with it. the upshot of this brilliant stand made by the belgians was the maintenance of all the forts, the capture of numerous prisoners and seven guns, the death of and the disablement of thousands of the enemy, and the defeat of the two crack corps of brandenburg. after this defeat the germans sent a parlementaire to demand the surrender of liège, threatening an attack by a zeppelin airship as the alternative. general leman's refusal was speedily followed by an advance executed by the tenth army corps. it was repulsed. [illustration] the belgian war office stated that the german invaders, having already lost about , men, killed, wounded, or taken prisoners, requested the belgian authorities to grant a twenty-four hours' armistice. this was refused. chapter ii french join belgians--details of the battles--german spy system--raids by uhlans french outposts effected a junction with the belgians on the th. before they could offer effective assistance, however, the first battle had already taken place. the germans, profiting from their previous experience of the belgian forces, had this time taken greater precautions and brought up more men. a _daily telegraph_ correspondent said that he could clearly see from the hill the germans in little boats and others building a pontoon over the meuse south of visé. the horses were swum across. the crossing was carried out in half a dozen places with great regularity. the germans did not seem much concerned at the fire of the belgian forts. the belgian troops were spread out over the rising ground. fire from a german mitrailleuse kept the belgians at a distance, and slowly the whole hillside became covered with german soldiers, who drove the belgians before them. near visé an automobile arrived with five belgian civilian guards. they alighted from the car and advanced on foot. a german patrol called on them to halt, and instantly the belgians fled. four escaped; one fell wounded. as they passed him the germans said that when they came back they would kill him. by five o'clock a large force of germans had crossed the meuse and commenced to march south on liège. the belgians tried to harass the germans by firing into the progressing columns. at last the belgians ceased firing and retired. from the houses along the road the people took to flight in despair. in the village of eben people were calm, looking with astonishment at the tremendous body of troops passing along the route. they were not molested at all as the germans progressed towards liège along both banks of the meuse. with characteristic optimism germans said: "in two days we will have liège, and within a week we will be before paris." the germans did not seem to have any idea, in fact, that in front of liège they might have an encounter with the french army. an incident was reported which showed how little the german soldier knew about the war in which he was engaged. amongst the wounded in maastricht was a young german of eighteen who believed that he had been fighting the french. great was his surprise when he was told he had been fighting the belgians. "the belgians!" he said, "but we have no quarrel with the belgians!" he was under the impression that he had a french bullet in him. already the advance guard was fighting near liège, and the germans agreed that they had lost heavily. they said, "cost what it may, we will take liège." fort pontisse, near liège, was heavily attacked. some of the wounded germans received bullets in the back in the encounter at visé. it was believed that, by mistake, one body of germans fired into another. twenty-six were killed and wounded. small wonder that the feelings of the people were filled with anguish at maastricht, as at all hours of the day motor ambulances came in from the battlefield. the seriously wounded were brought to maastricht, where there were surgeons. the less seriously wounded were taken to eysden. a dutch lady with two children took to flight from visé on hearing that the germans were approaching. she was stopped by a body of germans, who compelled her to go with them to visé and afterwards show where they could get provisions. finally she was escorted to the frontier. in a later telegram the same correspondent said: i have just returned from the frontier village of mesch, where i saw the most magnificent and impressive sight of a vast german army. from the hill on which i was standing i could see the german troops come up before me, artillery, cavalry, infantry, and all, while behind the hill i could hear the boom of gun fire. as the holsteiner dragoons passed i could see on their colour the date . then i saw fifteen farmers with bent heads led forth as prisoners. their crime was that they had defended their homes. then an aeroplane flies overhead. is it german or belgian? will it drop bombs? it passes on. and then i am approached by german soldiers, who point revolvers at me, and order me to retire, for in my eagerness i had stepped beyond the dutch frontier post. in a still later message he writes: the belgians have destroyed several bridges on the light railway from tongeren to bilsen. several important despatches appeared on monday, august th, giving particulars of the movements of troops during saturday and sunday. there were no movements by the germans for three days. beyond the range of the forts' fire they rested, recovering strength. the threatened attack along the river ourthe was suspended. these facts, in the view of the belgian general staff, denoted insufficient preparations and showed that the german concentration had not been fully carried out. the situation, in their opinion, gave every assurance that merited punishment would follow the invasion. liège was invested by the germans on sunday night, but this was expected, and was regarded as unimportant. the forts were known to be ready for further and prolonged resistance, while the foe's stock of projectiles was evidently short. the belgian field forces, apart from the liège garrison, were massing in the right directions. the portion of belgian luxemburg invaded by the germans was being cleared of them by the advancing french troops, who marched forward with the greatest speed and energy and got good assistance from a division of belgian cavalry. many trains conveyed more french troops to the front via brussels. king albert reviewed and congratulated the triumphant third division, which had been keeping the foe at bay at liège. liège city possessed an old disused fortress, which the belgians blew up to prevent the germans from availing themselves of it. it was reported, and afterwards confirmed, that many bavarians were deserting or refusing service, the idea of fighting peaceful belgium, whose queen is a beloved bavarian princess, being very unpopular. a belgian who passed through rotterdam on saturday evening said: "i left liège on saturday morning, and then the town was still defending itself valiantly. not one of the forts was then in the hands of the germans. an armistice of three hours was agreed upon to bury the dead, who lay all around." the man, who was evidently highly wrought up after the terrible experience of the siege, declined to say more. the german prisoners captured had very few cartridges, from which it was assumed that the germans had some difficulty in bringing up ammunition and supplies. how deadly a task the germans had undertaken in rebuilding the bridge over the meuse was illustrated by the following telegram sent by the _rotterdamsche courant's_ correspondent at maastricht on saturday afternoon: the pontoon bridge built by the germans was shot away, so that further troops cannot cross. the th and th german regiments, which supported the bridge-builders, were mown down by the quick-firing guns. a wounded belgian was asked how the germans had fared. he replied in one word, "annihilated." those of the wounded who can be transported by rail are to be brought from the hospitals at maastricht to alkmaar. the gallant defence offered by the belgian garrison was not to pass without suitable recognition. on august th, the french president, m. poincaré, despatched the following telegram from the elysée to the king of the belgians: i am happy to announce to your majesty that the government of the republic has just decorated with the legion of honour the gallant town of liège. it wishes thus to honour the courageous defenders of the place and the whole belgian army, with which since this morning the french army has been shedding its blood on the battlefield. in the view of a very high military authority, the severe check inflicted by the belgian garrison of liège on the german vii. army corps was of cardinal importance. the german general staff made no secret of the fact that they looked forward to an easy task in marching through belgium. an officer in the german war office recently stated that they counted on the benevolent neutrality of belgium at worst; and, more probably, the king of the belgians would range himself on the german side. some time ago a military mission, at the kaiser's invitation, attended manoeuvres of special importance near berlin. in conversation with the senior british officer present the kaiser said: "i shall sweep through belgium thus"--and waved his arm in the air. the authority alluded to expressed the opinion that the line of the meuse could now be held, but that the crucial trial of strength would occur when the main bodies of the two field armies met in the open. what was of no less interest, as showing the elaborate methods adopted by the germans for years beforehand, was dr. e.j. dillon's account of the germans in belgium before and after the outbreak of war. dr. dillon telegraphed from brussels on sunday, august th: it is a noteworthy fact that during the fierce fighting of the past few days a disproportionately large number of officers as compared with privates were disabled owing to their distinctive uniforms, and among the officers were a disproportionately large percentage of surgeons, whose uniform is still more conspicuous. the war minister's attention is being drawn to the advisability of rendering the outward marks of rank differences less noticeable at a distance. the belgian government has decided not to proceed to the expulsion of germans en masse, although the country is infested by spies and agents, who make desperate efforts to reveal and frustrate the plans of the military authorities. in the german consulate and the german school wireless telegraphy apparatus were discovered. at antwerp, where the germans had for years wielded paramount influence, many of them repaid the hospitality shown them with perfidious hostility. two sons of the principal german firm in antwerp, which has been established for over twenty years there, have been arrested on a charge of treason. even the school of aviation had trusted a caretaker of german nationality, who has occupied this and similar posts for eighteen years, and was discovered on friday working the wireless telegraph apparatus. he was arrested, tried, and condemned. nowhere in belgium were the germans more at home than in antwerp; nowhere have they proved such relentless enemies to their hosts. when quitting the city on friday some of them exclaimed, "we are going now, but we will return shortly escorted by troops." the bitterness against germany in antwerp is intense, but there and throughout belgium the german prisoners and wounded are treated with the utmost consideration. the germans, who were hospitably received in holland, fed, and sent home, were not, as the belgian press believed, soldiers, but fugitive civilians. holland has scrupulously discharged her duties as a neutral state. the flemish population of belgium is making heroic sacrifices for the struggle, which has only been begun. the smiling suburbs of antwerp, with their gardens, lawns, thickets, and luxurious villas, are being disfigured beyond recognition in order to meet the requirements of the military strategists, and the owners look on with grim approval at the destruction of their cherished property. the narrative of how the neutrality of luxemburg was violated is interesting. on sunday morning while i was painfully travelling through bavaria towards the rhine the population of luxemburg awakened to find all the ways of communication in german hands. everywhere detachments of german soldiers were stationed, but what most astonished the simple-minded citizens was this--that the detachments were commanded by the employés of commercial and industrial firms established in luxemburg who two days previously had been at their offices as usual. now, attired in military uniform, they were at the head of bodies of german troops, leading them through the streets, directing them to places where perquisitions might be made or arrests effected, and giving them the benefit of their admirable knowledge of the town and people. this they did with noteworthy results. thus they denounced some alsatians who had not served in the german army, and who naturally reckoned on a safe asylum in neutral luxemburg. these unfortunate men were roused from their sleep and spirited away, their appeal for humanitarian treatment being answered by violence or threats. a german major who was first to cross the adolf bridge found his way barred by the cabinet minister m. eyschen, who, having arrived in a motor, turned the car lengthwise across the bridge. taking out a copy of the berlin treaty, he showed it to the german officer, who remarked, "i am acquainted with it, but have orders which i must execute." immediately afterwards the grand duchess marie adelaide drove up in an automobile, which she also turned lengthwise across the bridge, saying that the neutrality of luxemburg must be respected, and that she would telegraph to the kaiser, whereupon the major curtly answered, "you had better go home quietly." the commander of the luxemburg army, vandyck, came up just then and remonstrated with the german officer, who retorted, "if these are not your methods they are ours," and, putting a revolver to his head, cried, "clear out!" soon afterwards the work of military destruction began, villas and farmhouses being demolished, and thickets cut down for strategic purposes. terror reigns throughout luxemburg since then. a farmer with provisions, being stopped and his wagons seized, grumbled. he was arrested, taken before a court-martial, and has not been heard of since. from luxemburg to rodange the fields are devastated, houses razed to the ground, trenches dug, and whoever casts a glance at these is arrested as a spy. in a word, the population of the grand duchy is learning the meaning of the words "reign of terror." military experts here hold that some days must elapse before important aggressive operations are resumed by the german army. they explain the miscalculation of the invaders as follows: germany secretly moved forward about , men towards the franco-belgian and russian frontiers during the week ending august nd, with the object of being able to surprise and overpower the resisting forces at the very outset of the war. in order to accomplish this stroke, which would have had an immense effect upon the morale of the troops, the men were despatched without adequate provisions or ammunition, on the assumption that they would find the former in the conquered districts, and could await the latter from their own trains of supplies, which would follow shortly afterwards. the reception at liège upset this reckoning, and explains why the prisoners complained of hunger. these unexpected reverses, which have given time for the junction of the french and belgian forces, will now necessitate the definitive concentration of the german army, which includes the second line of another million men, and this operation is at present in full swing. it involves the mobilisation of the landsturm, or territorial army, and according to trustworthy private advices received here, the officer commanding the cologne military district has already called all the men of the landsturm to arms. in other words, a tremendous effort will shortly be put forth to burst through the franco-belgian barriers of the forts and men, and inundate france with german soldiers. in view of this mighty tide of armed men and the relatively narrow area through which they must force a passage, it is nowise impossible that they may at the last moment choose a route northwards of visé, and violate dutch territory. this eventuality should be borne well in mind by those interested in preparing for it. one of the curious methods of warfare employed by the germans is the despatch of uhlans in groups of six and eight, who ride for miles in advance of the army, enter undefended towns and villages, announce the arrival of the bulk of the troops, and return. it is amazing how far ahead of the army they advance. on friday evening they entered arlon, and were received in silence, but when leaving they heard the report of a revolver in the principal café. then, turning sharply, they discharged their firearms at the house, and one rushed with pointed lance against a woman sitting at a window. she was wounded mortally. the municipal authorities, fearing further reprisals, drove out in a motor, with a white flag, found the commanding officer, and tendered their excuses, promising to punish the person guilty of firing. the organisation of the german espionage was elaborate beyond belief. large german commercial firms established for many years in belgium prospered under conditions which rendered competition by belgians hopeless. they entertained intimate relations with all classes of the population, subscribed handsomely to local charities, wielded great influence in municipal affairs, and were conversant with everything which the german government was concerned to know. the secret of their prosperity was a munificent state subvention from the berlin government. each german subject who was in the secret service of the government had his own work to execute. at cambria, it is affirmed, a german firm was charged with the work of having the bridge blown up. a belgian servant discovered and denounced the plot. the authorities shadowed a german merchant day and night, and when at last he drew near the bridge with the requisite explosives the sentinel rushed upon him with the bayonet. the german military captain erchard was arrested at ostend on suspicion. on his person was found a sum of , francs and a written order, "remain ostend observant," also the key to a cipher with which he corresponded with the german staff. after his arrest a letter to him was intercepted from a belgian offering him important information concerning the plans of national defence. the writer of the letter has also been apprehended. in the ancient synagogue of antwerp, now used only as a magazine, , german rifles, carefully wrapped and packed in cases, have been discovered. for a day or two the main interest shifted from liège to alsace, as on sunday, august th, a french force advanced into alsace and occupied mülhausen. the men were greeted with unbounded enthusiasm by the inhabitants; but strategic considerations necessitated the evacuation of the town shortly afterwards. another wing of the french army, however, advanced at the same time into belgium, and there were several cavalry encounters, of minor importance, on the banks of the meuse. mr. granville fortescue, who, as the special representative of _the daily telegraph_, had spent the first two days of the siege in the city of liège, caught the last train from the besieged city and sent his telegram dated liège, august th, from brussels. he said: last night and early this morning the germans attacked this city in force. about . p.m., on hearing heavy cannonading, i crossed the river by the bridge fragnée, and took position on the heights to the south of the city. it was full moon. the german attack was directed against the forts at fléron, embourg, and boncelles. the artillery practice was perfect. shell after shell was exploded fairly on the ramparts of the forts. the return fire of the belgians i could not judge for effectiveness, as the german gun positions were admirably concealed. the rough nature of the country and the darkness favoured the attackers. in my opinion no siege guns were in action. the germans used a high explosive shell that burst with extraordinary vividness. about three a.m. infantry fire broke out in the woods west of the river ourthe, between embourg and boncelles. it was impossible to distinguish anything except the flashes of the rifles. about this time i heard infantry fire in the west. the country in the vicinity of the forts has not been cleared, and evidently only hastily fortified. the belgian infantry, th and th line regiments, held the country between the forts fléron, embourg, and boncelles. the th regiment bore the brunt of the attack, which was repulsed along the line. with the first rays of daylight, about four a.m., i was able to make out the troops of the german line of battle. they were fighting in close order. i could not believe i was watching the first line, as this seemed to me to be a return to old-fashioned tactics. but there could be no doubt as to their formation. the engagement attained its fiercest stage about five a.m. about this time the fort at fléron was silenced. i was afterwards told that the german fire had smashed much of the machinery of the disappearing gun carriages. small parties of german cavalry could be seen in the intervals between the infantry battalions. but there was no attempt at a cavalry attack. towards eight o'clock there was a lull in the attack. the accidental nature of the country to the south favoured the concealment of the germans. i would not attempt to estimate closely their force at this point. it might have been a division. they were occupying the intervals between the fortresses, and had as their objective the bridges south of the city. the attack was checked all along the line. battalion after battalion was thrown back by the belgians, whose th regiment of the line fought like demons. my own adventures were many and varied. the most stirring was when i was held up by a lancer, who kept his revolver pointed at the pit of my stomach while i explained that i was not a german. four times i was arrested and brought before the authorities. when i got back into the town the crowd that swarmed on the streets would one minute surround me and threaten me as a german, and the next loudly acclaim me as the first of the arriving english. that was the question in every mouth. "when would the english come?" the whereabouts of the french was another topic eagerly discussed by the mob. panic-stricken refugees came hurrying in during the morning, and continued throughout the day to flood the city. wherever they could find listeners, which was easy, they would tell the story of their night's experiences. one woman with her two daughters had spent the whole night in the cellar of their home. a shell had exploded in the kitchen. had any of her family been injured? someone asked. "yes, monsieur, the poor cat was dead." a stout gentleman, with a pointed grey beard was inconsolable because his "collection of little birds" had been left behind at the mercy of the germans. this influx of frightened outsiders had a very baleful effect on the people of liège itself. naturally the discussion of the number of killed and wounded on both sides was the principal topic. motors carrying wounded soon began to arrive. these stopped before the hotels or establishments which had been turned into improvised hospitals. "fifteen beds ready," "ten beds for wounded here," were signs posted on the doors of many houses. the news was soon current in the city that the fighting had ceased for the moment. there was to be a conference with the germans. the palace of liège was now the centre of attraction. "the germans demanded the immediate surrender of the forts and the city." "the belgians had asked for twenty-four hours in which to consider this proposal." "the germans refused, and threatened to bombard the city at once." these and a dozen other rumours ran through the crowds. suddenly a loud explosion set every heart thumping. "had the bombardment commenced?" "no, the belgian engineers had blown up the arches of the bridge." but as the afternoon wore on it became known that the belgian commanders had refused to give up the city. the bombardment was to begin at six p.m. that was the last word i got. the last train out of the city was crowded with refugees fleeing with such little property as they could gather together. the scenes were pitiful in the extreme when the train pulled out. never can one forget the expression of those left behind. and the scenes in the train! i carried a woman who must have been between eighty-five and ninety years old up the step of the vehicle and to a rude bench in a third-class carriage. a sister of mercy was her only attendant. before we were half-way to brussels a priest had given her extreme unction. opposite me sits a man with four five-week old puppies and the mother in his lap. in the next car are herded a score of german prisoners. the helmets covered with cloth. the insignia gone. in order to understand the attack which the belgians so gallantly repulsed during the early hours of the morning it is necessary to have some idea of the country south of liège. the most remarkable feature of the terrain is the sharp rise of the hills south of the river meuse. from the flat banks of the stream the land rises at an angle of fifteen degrees until it reaches feet. these figures are my estimation. the country is wooded and rough. from a military point of view the section to the south and west of where the river ourthe joins the meuse is extremely important. in the first place, the meuse is crossed here by two bridges, one railway and the other a splendid masonry road bridge built to commemorate the liège exposition. this latter is called sometimes the pont de fragnée and sometimes the exposition bridge. the pont du val-benoit is the name of the railway bridge. the exposition bridge has been mined ready for destruction. i could not get a chance to examine the railway bridge. the railways from hervé and verviers enter the city over this crossing. as it is certain that the main german force is coming over these lines of communication, the capture of the bridges must be their first object. the angle between the rivers ourthe and meuse is a flat plain. besides the railway junction, the angle is occupied by the electric lighting plant, a smelting works, and a gun and small arms factory. these were all in full blast during the day. a coal mine was also being operated. in addition to these plants, whose value to an invading army is beyond estimation, a force holding the hills to the south would have the city at its mercy. again, there is another railway running to namur. so if the germans are to get anywhere near their second objective this line of communication must be taken. nothing could be superior to the resistance put up by the belgian army to the attacks made between embourg and boncelles. the th and th regiments of the line not only checked the advancing germans, but actually threw them back. the belgians were greatly helped by the fact that the enemy advanced in close order. battalion after battalion of germans were thrown into the fight in solid formation. it is small wonder that they were decimated. however, the estimated number of killed and wounded on their side is certainly exaggerated. rumour puts it at , . at the assault of port arthur where i saw the japanese swarm up the forts at ban ju san, and where there were pieces of artillery in action, the losses from august th to the st totalled , on the japanese side. while the belgians have inflicted the severest kind of repulse, yet i cannot believe that the enemy's casualties reach the figures given. still, they have been heavy enough to make them ask for an armistice of twenty-four hours. the belgian troops engaged are the rd division and th mixed brigade. the germans are reported as the th, th, and th corps under general von emmich. the detachments of germans captured which i have seen have all been cavalry. they are mostly boys of from eighteen to twenty-four years old. their grey uniforms are stripped of all insignia, and they have covered their helmets with grey drill. in justice to the attacking force, i must say that their artillery practice was excellent. this fact only adds to the credit of the belgian defence. in all honour to the work done by the army, the spirit of the citizens of liège also merits the highest praise. it takes courage to sit still under a bombardment. and this is what the civilians have had to do. their courage was also tested to the utmost by the stories of murder and rapine told by the panic-stricken refugees coming in from the outlying towns. fortunately, so far, the german shells have done little harm to the city proper. yet it seems contrary to the spirit of our boasted civilisation that the rules of war permit an enemy to drop projectiles among women and children. liège is a fortified town, and under this classification it is liable to artillery attack without notice. in a subsequent despatch mr. fortescue emphasised the fact that the dogged resistance of the belgians had been of the highest military importance for two reasons: in the first place, it had given france time to complete her mobilisation; and, in the second, it had given the british army time to mobilise and to begin its landing on the continent. at noon on august th, the press bureau issued a statement showing, _inter alia_, the disposition of the german forces at liège, so far as they were known. the statement said that about two german cavalry divisions were reported in the neighbourhood of tongres; three german corps were still opposite liège; other german troops were reported to be entrenching the line of the river aisne. the large german force was moving through luxemburg, and the advanced troops were now on the belgian frontier. chapter iii preliminary atrocities--bravery of the belgians--battle of haelen-diest at this stage of the fighting numerous circumstantial stories of german atrocities began to filter through, though for various reasons large portions of them were deleted by the censors. they were generally summed up in an official statement by the belgian government which is quoted in a subsequent chapter. dr. dillon, telegraphing on august th, asserted that it was still impossible to throw any light upon the military operations, which might culminate on thursday or friday in a terrific collision between the forces of disruption and those of civilisation. never before, not even during the japanese campaign against russia, had the movements of an army been shrouded in such impenetrable mystery. considering the number, audacity, and ingenuity of the german agents still in belgium, these precautions were indispensable. anyhow, the war office, the only source of intelligence, contented itself with a brief assurance that the news was satisfactory, or that there was no news of importance to communicate. concrete facts were learnt mostly from paris or holland. another fact which was beginning to dawn upon the public was that the heroic resistance of the belgian army had been offered hitherto to covering troops only, and that the enemy's losses did not exceed , , although three german army corps had been thoroughly beaten. it was believed in brussels that the hostile main armies would be ready any time after wednesday night, august th. on the th several detachments of german covering troops were sent forward to the belgian advanced posts as feelers. the belgians when possible concealed themselves in thickets or in fields, and captured a considerable number of the invaders. one belgian lancer, named bogaerts, deserves especial mention. his habit was to sally forth alone, lance in poise, and dash forward against the uhlans, one of whom he generally killed or wounded, whereupon the remainder gave themselves up. in this way he took fourteen prisoners, wounded several uhlans, and killed three, without suffering the slightest injury. encounters became frequent in the district stretching from liège to tongres, hannut, and tirlemont, whither two divisions succeeded in penetrating on the th. already the airships of the different combatants were floating gracefully into the visual range of the brussels population, but at such a height that one could only conjecture the nationality of each; and the authorities warned the public neither to fear nor attack the uhlans. anxiety respecting holland's neutrality was not yet wholly dispelled. nobody doubted the firm resolve of the dutch government to maintain its right to hold aloof from the war, but certain misgivings were entertained as to the adequacy of the troops stationed in the district where the violation of territory by the germans was most probable. some months previously dutch limburg, possessing only a few squadrons of cavalry, was practically defenceless. since then a number of infantry battalions were stationed along the frontier from maastricht to venloo, together with several companies of the local landwehr. if, as many military men believed, these troops were the only obstacle to a german advance in holland, they constituted an inducement rather than a deterrent, it was thought. german spies and secret agents were still numerous and audacious. ten days before the declaration of war all trees near the sources of water in the forest of soignes, outside brussels, had notices posted up in german, with the words, "potable water." the mayor of brussels had these placards removed, but they were afterwards found posted up anew. on august th when a representative of _the daily telegraph_ was leaving the american legation, he saw two municipal guards arresting a lady, whom they politely conducted to the police-station. his chauffeur cried, "that's no lady. he is a german spy." a couple of men hearing this rushed up and attempted to maltreat the prisoner, but the guards protected their charge effectually. at the station the prisoner, who looked quite collected, was found to be a male german agent possessed of apparatus for cutting telegraph wires and also of compromising documents. belgian treatment of germans, said the correspondent, whether civilians or prisoners, erred on side of humanitarianism if it erred at all. on the night of august th the press bureau stated: of the twenty-six german army corps the bulk have now been definitely located, and it is evident that the mass of the german troops are concentrated between liège and luxemburg. the number known to be on the western side proves that in the eastern theatre of war the frontier, as far as germany is concerned, is comparatively lightly guarded, unless by reserve troops. at this time, beyond some unimportant outpost fighting near liège, the position in belgium was quiet. "a sense of stagnation," as dr. dillon expressed it, was creeping over the public. of the troops massing behind the various cavalry covers, of the enemy's numbers, whereabouts, and plans, nobody but the general staff knew anything. the vaguest of conjectures were the sole substitute for knowledge. some held that the germans, disheartened by their failure to traverse belgium in three days and by the severe defeat of three army corps, were preparing for the defensive. this view, taken in official circles, was borne out by the circumstance that they were entrenching themselves on the river ourthe, employing the peasants to make routes in the south of the province of liège and in luxemburg, bringing up fresh troops for the reinforcement of the line maestricht-liège, and withdrawing most of their covering cavalry regiments. [illustration] passing from the region of conjecture to that of fact, it was soon learnt that the enemy's cavalry which advanced on monday into belgium to see how the land lay threw out feelers from hannut and saint trond towards tirlemont, hougaerde, and jodoigne. they came with artillery and machine guns, occupied landen, neerwinden, pellaines, and other places, burning houses and hayricks as they passed. a regiment of belgian lancers met them at dormael, where a sharp encounter gave a momentary advantage to the defenders, whom the german artillery, which was opened shortly afterwards, forced to retire. the germans then proceeded to shoot seven inmates of the houses on an unproved charge of firing. they also burned the houses of the village of orsmael, and shot three brothers, peasants, on a like allegation. universal execration followed the german troops in belgium, where all observers were unanimous in accusing them of cruelty towards civilians, unwarranted by the attitude of the population and forbidden by the rules of war. wherever they tarried peaceful inhabitants were shot down on charges which were emphatically denied by their neighbours. at dormael a uhlan, seeing a priest go forward to administer the last sacraments to the agonising wounded, cut him down as if he too were a combatant. having compelled the belgian lancers to retire from dormael, the german cavalry advanced in the direction of tirlemont to the number of about , . arriving at bost, which is a mile from tirlemont, they found their further advance barred by belgian infantry, whereupon they fell back upon saint trond and waremme. the belgian troops did not begin the pursuit of the enemy's cavalry until august th, when they drove it beyond waremme. liège became a new centre of an artillery action, both offensive and defensive. the germans pounded away at the forts, their shells exploding on the cupolas and around these, while the forts responded with vigour unimpaired. meanwhile the invaders began to construct a pontoon over the meuse at lixhe, for troops and trains of ammunition and provisions. it was believed that they were also preparing to cross the river above liège, for they were forwarding heavy war material in the direction of engis. meanwhile, the french cavalry showed themselves to the population of brussels, who gave them a warm ovation. the second general engagement in the struggle for the possession of the liège forts took place on wednesday, august th, and lasted until the early morning of the th. the germans attempted a "reconnaissance in force," and attacked the belgian army at two points. again, however, the belgian soldier proved more than a match for the most highly trained troops of the kaiser. the reconnaissance in force failed utterly. two of their finest cavalry divisions and two regiments of jaegers suffered heavy losses in killed, wounded, and prisoners. the attack was made at two points, one to the north of namur and the other near diest, which is a railway junction. about ten in the morning cavalry patrols reported the advance of the enemy towards haelen, a village about three miles south of diest. at the head of the force rode the famous th dragoons; behind them marched a regiment of jaegers with a battery of artillery and machine-guns. belgian carbineers awaited them at zelck and succeeded in checking the advance until they could retire on haelen, which was formerly a fortress. with reckless courage the dragoons galloped into what was an armed cul de sac. in front of them was a battery on the mound of the fort, and the road was trenched and barricaded. the belgians opened fire from buildings which had been loopholed to meet an attack from that quarter. under cover of artillery fire and aided by machine-guns the cavalry attempted to carry the position by assault. it was an enterprise that did more credit to the courage than to the judgment of the german soldier. * * * * * mr. william maxwell, who communicated these facts, added: at manoeuvres in germany some years ago i remember the kaiser asking sir ian hamilton what he thought of the infantry formation. sir ian ventured to suggest that the formation was too dense. whereupon the emperor rebuked him with these words: "half of those men would be killed, but we can afford to lose them." the cavalry seem to act on this principle. without a pause they rode upon the barricade, which they attempted to leap. i counted seven dead horses close to the barricade, while others lay writhing a hundred yards off, bearing testimony to the bravery of two-score men who now lie side by side awaiting burial. so stout was the resistance of the belgians who held this position against a division of cavalry and a regiment of infantry that the enemy soon found it prudent to withdraw. not allowed to retire unmolested, though pursuit beyond zelck would have been folly, they left behind about forty dead, many wounded, and prisoners. it was remarkable, according to the accounts of eye-witnesses, how readily some of these brave men surrendered. one belgian officer captured three officers. the first question they asked was, "what is england doing?" they were evidently ignorant that england had declared war. their second question was, "what of our fleet?" the wounded were treated not only with skill and kindness, but even luxury. the object of this raid was to feel the nature and strength of the opposing force, and, if possible, to capture points on the railway as well as to threaten the capital in order to strike terror--a phrase so often on the lips of their war lord--into the heart of the people. a more detailed version of the haelen-diest fight on the road to louvain says that the encounter lasted all day. the germans were supported by a battery of artillery. the belgian field forces fought desperately, and lieutenant van doren even enlisted the diest fire brigade against the enemy, whose loss in killed, wounded, and prisoners was comparatively heavy. many of the prisoners were fainting, and the horses were dying from hunger. the german attacking party had probably been detached from the liège right wing for an audacious raid on louvain and brussels. further details about the haelen-diest combat showed that the german losses must have approached , . the action, when the german mitrailleuses (machine-guns) were captured, took place north of eghezée, on the road from liège to namur. of course, the main german forces continued to be arrested before liège, but they sent forth detachments in every direction to make believe that they had carried everything before them in their rear and to create popular panics. each of these detachments was gradually beaten in its turn, and this slowly weakened the large forces intended for the great general battle, and estimated at about seven army corps, or about , men. the following official statement was issued at brussels on thursday, august th: the victory gained by the belgian troops yesterday is now officially confirmed. the belgian troops engaged were only one cavalry division and a brigade of all arms. the german losses were very heavy, and it is believed that about three-fifths of the enemy engaged was put out of action. the belgian losses were relatively slight, only a few men being killed. the belgian cavalry division this morning took up the offensive against yesterday's defeated troops, in order, it is believed, to pick up the dead and wounded and to collect the abandoned war material. no german surprise is expected. another encounter took place this morning in the south with the german troops reported yesterday to be marching towards eghezée. these were attacked by our troops and repulsed with very heavy losses. we captured a number of machine guns mounted on motor-cars. there is no reason to fear any german cavalry movement on brussels from the south, all roads to the capital being guarded by the army and by the garde civique. the military situation at the time was summed up as follows by mr. e. ashmead-bartlett, _the daily telegraph's_ military expert: every single account of conversations with wounded german soldiers or prisoners serves to show that the rank and file of the german army have not the smallest idea for what they are fighting, and that all profess not to have the smallest desire to invade either france or belgium. in the war of , the situations were reversed. every german knew that the future of his country as a world power depended on victory, and all marched to the front with a determination to conquer or to die. the french, on the other hand, had no idea for what they were fighting, and their purely professional army left for the war amidst vague cries of "À berlin!" buoyed up by no moral principle. these factors must bear a very far-reaching effect on the eventual outcome of the campaign. in a recent journey through france, i noticed nothing so remarkable as the intense seriousness of the people. frenchmen will tell you there has been nothing like it since the revolutionary wars, prior to the napoleonic epoch, when the levée en masse crushed the invader at valmy and jemappes. the french have entered into this struggle through no love of fighting, but because they know their existence as an independent nation is at stake. one other fact must also be noted before the chances of the opposing armies are examined. in the french regular army, which should have had a peace strength of , men, only numbered , , whereas the germans, at the very start of the campaign, stood at a total war strength of over , , men. this inequality no longer exists. on paper germany has a considerable superiority of numbers, namely twenty-five army corps against twenty-one, and her reserves are probably more numerous and better organised than those of the french. on the other hand, she is, according to the most reliable information, keeping four corps on the russian frontier, and, therefore, the numbers available against france should certainly not show any superiority, and will probably show an inferiority when the belgian and british armies are united along the line of the meuse. for years german strategists have reckoned on having to fight both france and russia at the same time, and they have professed themselves as being confident of undertaking such a gigantic task. four corps especially trained under von der goltz to fight in more open formations were to hold the russians, whilst the remaining twenty-one were to be flung with such rapidity against france as to obtain a decisive success before russian intervention could make itself seriously felt. it is one thing to have twenty-one army corps ready to invade france, and quite another to find a suitable front on which to deploy them for such an invasion. all the time-honoured old routes for the invasion of france are practically closed to modern armies by the chain of fortresses which the french have constructed, and, vice versa, the old roads to germany are closed to a french invasion. therefore, french, german, and belgian strategists have long recognised that the only route by which a modern german army could invade france and march on paris would be via belgium, and that declarations of neutrality would count but little in the strategic scale. it was to resist such a menace that the belgians constructed two fortified camps at liège and namur. the old routes of present too many formidable obstacles to be overcome. a direct advance into france from alsace would have found itself faced by the fortified front belfort-epinal-toul, and verdun, four formidable fortified camps, supported by forts on the heights overlooking the moselle and meuse. there are only two routes by which this line can be passed. that by way of charmes, between epinal and toul, protected by the fort of manonvillers, which would enable the germans to enter haut marne and to gain the valley of the seine, and the road to paris via bar-le-duc, st. dizier, and troyes. this is the theatre of war of , and also the road used by the crown prince after froeschwiller, in . but an invading army would have to take or mask all these entrenched camps, which would take a very long time, or else have his communications continually threatened. the other road is that by dun-stenay, north of verdun, passing through the defiles of côtes-de-meuse and the forest of argonne to the open country round valmy. but this country is extremely difficult for military operations on a large scale. it was used by the duke of brunswick in . the germans confidently expected to overrun the whole of belgium and to gain the french frontier before a single french corps could be concentrated to offer any serious resistance. they reckoned on two factors which have turned out the reverse of what they hoped. they relied on a partial break-down in the french mobilisation, especially on the railway lines. in this supposition they have been completely mistaken. nothing so far has been so remarkable as the smooth working of the railway service, and, consequently, the rapid concentration of the french armies. the second factor on which the germans relied was the readiness of the belgians to see their country overrun by a swarm of invaders or else their inability to resist such an invasion. the quickest route into belgium is to cross the meuse at liège, and from there to march south by the left bank along the mons-charleroi road, and to gain the french frontier between maubeuge and valenciennes. of recent years the germans have made every preparation for such a move. they have organised depôts for troops and collected large masses of stores, and have quadrupled lines at aix-la-chapelle, malmedy, st. vith, bitburg, and trèves. they can thus rapidly concentrate immense numbers of troops from dusseldorf, cologne, and coblenz in front of liège. but the stubborn and unexpected defence of liège has thrown all their plans for a direct advance into belgium via the liège-namur line out of gear, and, to judge from the meagre reports which are coming through slowly, they have entrenched that line strongly, and are holding it on the left bank of the meuse with the two corps which were so roughly handled while the bulk of their forces are preparing to cross the belgian frontier further north on the line maestricht-roermonde, and to march on brussels through the duchy of limburg. we read of constant cavalry engagements in this district and of partial defeats of the german troops, but these stories must not be taken too seriously, as the german cavalry is merely being used as a screen to cover the concentration of immense masses of infantry who will soon be making their presence felt. chapter iv life at brussels--french advance--capital removed to antwerp a striking description of life in and around brussels at this time is given by dr. dillon: brussels is herself again. the delirious excitement which during the first days of mobilisation displayed itself in acts of frenzy has subsided. the inhabitants have adjusted themselves to the wearisome suspense and unpleasant surprises of a state of war. shops that were shuttered a few days ago are open and doing a brisk business once more. the cafés are thronged inside and out. the boulevards are bright with streams of many-coloured humanity. the newspapers which dish up the same stories day after day are grabbed at by citizens eager to obtain the first news of the military movements. the only striking differences one discerns between this and normal times affect the lives of the well-to-do classes. all the theatres, cinematographs, and other places of amusement are closed. some of the principal hotels are turned into temporary hospitals. public conveyances, whether cabs or taxis, can hardly be said to exist. certain sorts of food which were formerly exported, such as peaches, grapes, and chickens, have hardly any market and are being sold at half prices. flowers are withering on their stalks for lack of buyers. artisans, such as electricians and plumbers, have vanished. notwithstanding these changes, added dr. dillon, the links with the cheerful life of a month ago had not yet been severed. the people of brussels were still blithesome and self-confident, buoyed up by the sense of security imparted by the heroic conduct of their defenders and the consciousness of a right cause. as yet the unquiet temper of war had nowhere manifested itself, yet maimed warriors, homeless families, destitute women, orphaned children, claimed and received attention, and reminded the observer all too suggestively of the harvest of misery yet to be garnered in. a couple of hours' drive out of the town took one to a world of grim realities and sinister contrasts. over the country between tirlemont and saint trond, but yesterday full of tame beauty, rich in cornfields and carefully tended gardens, the withering breath of the ruthless moloch had already fitfully passed. as the traveller moved along the dusty road, catching a glimpse of an occasional farmhouse quivering in the distance through the heat of the august day, he might well feel beset by the vague dangers that might at any moment have started into concrete shape and ended his hopes and cares for all time. as one approached the village of orsmael at this time unmistakable tokens of desolation thrust themselves on the view. at first shattered panes of glass, then domestic utensils flung among the cabbages of the gardens or before the wrenched doors, greybeards with shrivelled faces moaning under the trees, women trembling and wailing plaintively, and still beholding as a mirage the scenes of horror which upset their mental balance. here a couple of children prattling in subdued tones, there a mother leading three orphaned little girls from the still smoking ruins of their house into the wide world, and everywhere the loathsome soilure and squalor of war. inhuman hate appeared to possess those prussian invaders, whom terror drove and terror alone could curb. belgians who dealt with them at close quarters, as at dormael, declared that these uhlans fought with the bitterness of personal fury, and, not content with killing those who manfully resisted them in fight, assassinated numbers who had laid down their weapons and held their hands up. many of the corpses have their hands raised and their elbows on a level with the shoulders. the wounds of these brave defenders are horrible, having been inflicted with weapons fired at a distance of a couple of inches from the mouth or breast. some uhlans met a belgian chemist who was riding a bicycle near jodoigne. arresting him they inquired their way to the town hall, placing the muzzles of revolvers to his head while they listened. he gave them the required information and was allowed to pass on, but before he had gone ten yards they sent three bullets into his back. on friday afternoon, august th, the press bureau issued the following statement, summing up the position in northern belgium: ( ) after a successful resistance of five days at the passes of sainte marie aux mines and le bonhomme, the french troops have occupied the region of the saale pass, which commands the valley of the burche, an affluent of the rhine. ( ) at saale numerous desertions from the german troops are notified. the french have taken many prisoners, and have captured some machine-guns. ( ) it is now confirmed that in belgium the belgians were successful in an engagement which took place on august th between their troops and six regiments of german cavalry, supported by , infantry, machine-guns and artillery. the enemy was completely disorganised; the six cavalry regiments suffered great losses, and the belgians pursued the infantry which gave way. ( ) this (friday) morning, towards eghezée, sixteen kilomètres to the north of namur, a mixed detachment from the garrison surprised some german cavalry regiments in camp, threw them into confusion and forced them back towards the east, after taking numerous prisoners and capturing cannon and machine-guns. to the south of the meuse the german cavalry avoids contact with the french. ( ) the news of fighting about haelen yesterday is confirmed. the germans were driven back eastwards, and there is now no german cavalry between hasselt and ramillies. ( ) liège forts are reported to be still holding out, and to have plenty of supplies. ( ) german cavalry patrols are now reported north of montmedy. ( ) general joffre, by virtue of the powers conferred on him by the ministry of war (decision of august th, ), has made lieutenant bruyant, of the dragoons, a knight of the legion of honour. "this officer," it is stated in the text of his appointment, "accompanied by seven horsemen, did not hesitate to charge a platoon of some thirty uhlans: he killed the officer in charge of them with his own hand, and routed the german platoon, inflicting severe losses upon it." ( ) the commander-in-chief has conferred the first war medal of the campaign on escoffier, corporal of dragoons, for having charged with the greatest courage and received several wounds. ( ) belgian cyclists and cavalry from namur surprised yesterday a force of german cavalry, accompanied by artillery and machine-guns, and compelled them to retire. the germans lost a field gun and several machine-guns. the french army was meanwhile making good progress, and on the night of the th it was officially announced by the war ministry in paris that the french were entering belgium through charleroi and were proceeding in the direction of gembloux, some thirty miles to the north-east. reports were current on friday evening that the german attack had been renewed, but these were afterwards seen to be baseless. the german forces around liège were content to remain on the defensive for a time; and even towards the south, in the vosges, the french troops were slowly driving the invaders before them. at liège itself several bodies of the enemy had taken up their position in the town, but the forts were still intact. an observer of the scene at this juncture commented on the changed physiognomy of that once gay capital of the walloon country. some , of the inhabitants had fled from the place in terror when the enemy's guns began to shower shells upon the forts from fléron. the remainder buried themselves in cellars and underground passages, scores huddling together without food, drink, or other of life's necessaries. the city bore marks of havoc everywhere. gaping bridges, half-demolished houses, many without doors, which had been taken off their hinges and cast into the courtyard or the roadside, fallen roofs, smouldering ruins, told their dismal tale. there was not a street in which shells had not fallen. the very asphalt was ploughed up in places like a cornfield at sowing time. hurriedly-made graves with their soft mounds protruded in unexpected places. during the day the germans were everywhere in evidence: they patrolled the principal thoroughfares, stood at the barricades which they had raised at all the approaches to the town, or crept up towards the forts with remarkable recklessness. nine of them on bicycles rode to within mètres of the forts one morning; eight returned unharmed, only one paying for the pleasant sense of daring adventure with his life. the inhabitants were cowed by recent deterrent examples and by the terrors hanging over them. at nightfall the city assumed the aspect of a churchyard. the silence was soul-curdling, yet the hearts of the inhabitants beat quicker and louder when that silence was broken by the heavy tread of the prussian patrols or the rending thunder of heavy guns. all the doors still extant had to be kept wide open. early in the morning when the bakers removed their bread from the ovens, german guards, posted wherever victuals are to be had, were in the habit of pouncing down on the entire output of the bakeries, for which they sometimes paid; but the ill-starred inhabitants had no share. the soldiers made their own coffee and soup in great motor cauldrons, from which it was poured into metal porringers that they carry with them. they now wore reformed field uniforms, rendering them hardly distinguishable from a distance, just as their airships were so re-painted as to resemble the grey of cloudland. at haelen and diest, the scene of wednesday's engagement, one drew nearer to the ghastly realities of war. the struggle waxed desperate, man meeting man, striking, thrusting, and wrestling in the final fight for life or death. here the once peaceful country-side was utterly transformed. in the background heaps of ruins that so lately were farmhouses still emitted pungent smoke. between the leafy trees one saw the charred rents in the dwellings still erect, animals erring hither and thither, barricades hastily erected of dead horses, their horrible wounds gaping and spreading the mephitic reek of death, and along the carriage-road on either side freshly-made ridges which hid the german dead. the serious attention of the civilised world was at this juncture once again directed to the inhuman methods of warfare practised by the german soldiery in belgium, else, it was declared, the campaign would assume a character of fiendish savagery unmatched in the annals of war. "unless some real respect be shown to the usages received by civilised nations," said one observer, "both sides will end by making no prisoners. if even a tithe of the narratives now passing from mouth to mouth about the atrocities committed by the invaders be well founded--and they are vouched for by credible and level-headed clergymen, mayors, and foreigners who feel no personal animus against the germans--the soldiery of the fatherland have outrun the hercules pillars of inhumanity." another report stated that the germans in liège were trying to fraternise with the belgians, and that german military bands played daily in the two belgian cafés. about the middle of august a belgian who had a relative at port talbot, cardiff, wrote: every day brings to light new acts of heroism displayed by the plucky little belgians, whilst several more no doubt have been accomplished, of which we shall never hear. their heroes are either too silent or for ever silent. lupin, a boy of eighteen, a corporal in the regiment of major jeanne, who himself was nearly killed during the battle of liège, has died, a great hero in the eyes of his whole regiment. one of his comrades who has known lupin for years tells this pathetic story, which major jeanne has himself brought to light. "we were on the right bank of the river meuse at bellaire, which is not far above jupille, and we were in close touch with a german battery. the musketry on both sides was terrible. i was stretched out flat, continuously loading and shooting, and could feel my gun getting hot. bullets were flattening their noses in front of me, raising clouds of sand and dust. my mouth, eyes, and ears were full of powder. corpses were heaped round me, their faces black with powder, and stamped with the horrible grimace of death; their hands, with swollen veins, gripping their deadly mausers. yes, war is magnificently terrible. "all at once the germans adopted new tactics, and i must give them credit for being a cute lot. they seemed to withdraw from their position, and we could distinctly notice their ranks splitting as if in great confusion, but it was only to bring to the front some more artillery which had been rushing from behind. the move was smartly executed, the ranks closed again, and for a time they seemed as if they were going to have the advantage over us. "but now young lupin had seen his chance looming, and what he did altogether changed the face of things. 'leave them to me now,' was what someone heard him say, and like a flash the boy dashed off under cover of a ditch on the left. only a few of us had seen it, but major jeanne knew his corporal of eighteen, and knew he was up to something grand. watching him, he shouted, 'go for them! get at those square-heads with your bullets. fire!' "in the meantime lupin had managed to get to the left of the german battery, and at mètres distance he sheltered behind a wall. he took aim at the battery in enfilade, and under the fire of his mauser brought down in quick succession the chief officer, the under-officers, and the artillerymen. this time real confusion took place at the german battery, which was nearly silenced, the germans, thinking that a whole platoon was now attacking them from behind the wall, directed their last piece of artillery on the wall, and with a terrific crash the wall came down, burying the brave corporal lupin. the boy's bravery had weakened the german position, and it did not take us long to scatter them, and put another victory on our list." on saturday and sunday, august th and th, there was little definite news from any part of the theatre of war. there was some fighting in the south undoubtedly, and a french force defeated a strong body of bavarians, capturing prisoners. at dinant, in belgium, there was another stiff engagement, but no details of it came to hand for a few days. an authoritative report was given out at brussels to the effect that the germans had lost more than , killed, wounded, and prisoners at liège--more than half an army corps. these losses, of course, would have been reckoned as trivial if the germans had succeeded in their original design of executing a "military promenade" through belgian territory. apart from the scarcity of food, already referred to, the besieging forces at liège suffered from lack of horses, and cavalry reconnaissances were gradually becoming impossible. on monday, august th, it was officially announced that the british expeditionary force had been safely landed on french soil; and it was at the same time stated that the french army had scored some successes in upper alsace. the movement of this wing of general joffre's army appeared to extend from the swiss frontier at altkirch, near mülhausen, as far away as château salins, a distance of eighty miles. its object, which was afterwards frustrated by a strong german advance, was to isolate and "contain" the great fortresses of metz and strassburg. the two official notices issued by the war ministry in paris describe these operations: sunday midnight [_i.e._, august th]. the forward movement has been developed along the whole front from réchicourt to sainte marie-aux-mines. in the vosges we have carried sainte marie-aux-mines and made progress towards sainte blaise. the french troops which occupied the donon yesterday have advanced. in the valley of schirmeck especially their progress has been extremely rapid. we have taken , prisoners, in addition to the captured yesterday. large quantities of equipment have been abandoned by the enemy. in this district, as at sainte marie, we have captured guns of large calibre, field-guns, and ammunition. in the region blamont--cirey we have gained the heights of lorquin, and in doing so have taken the convoy of a division of german cavalry, consisting of nineteen motor wagons. in the attack on dinant the enemy's forces consisted of the cavalry division of the guard and the first division of cavalry, supported by infantry from several battalions and some companies with maxims. when these forces appeared on the left bank the french troops attacked them. this attack, delivered with magnificent dash, soon drove the enemy back, and they recrossed the meuse in great disorder. many were unable to regain the bridge, and fell into the river, which at this point has steep banks and flows swiftly. numbers of the enemy were drowned. taking advantage of this disorder, one of our chasseur cavalry regiments crossed the river after the germans and pursued them for several kilomètres. several hundred horses belonging to the uhlans were captured and subsequently passed to the rear for remount purposes. in this pursuit the french regiment put to flight forces of the enemy considerably superior to itself in numbers. monday ( a.m.) [_i.e._, august th]. our advance continues to develop. our troops have carried the heights to the north of the frontier, and their lines pass breschwiller, lorquin, azaudange, marsal. in the donon region we occupy schirmeck, - / miles beyond saales. the number of field-guns taken by us at this point is not four, as was stated yesterday, but twelve, as well as twelve limbers and eight maxims. our cavalry has pushed forward as far as lutzelhausen and muhlbach. further to the south we have occupied ville, to the east of the pass of urbans, on the road to schlestadt. thann, cernay, and dannemarie are occupied. at blamont, a village from which the germans have just been driven by our troops, they had, without reason or provocation, put to death three persons, of whom one was a young girl and another an old man of eighty-six, whose name was m. barthélemy, and who was an ex-mayor of the village. on monday, august th, the queen of the belgians and the ministers for war, finance, and foreign affairs retired from brussels to antwerp with the ministers of france and russia, who left french interests in the hands of the spanish legation. it was officially stated that this was according to long pre-arranged and constitutional arrangements, and not because the military situation was disquieting. the families of the withdrawing ministers remained in brussels, which was protected by over , civic guards, entrenched behind barbed-wire fences, making the capital quite safe against surprise attack. this move was really made because the germans had managed to bring up heavy siege guns; and, although the forts were still holding out, arrangements were gradually being made to "contain" them and to advance on the capital with the main army. the belgian government afterwards decided not to attempt to defend brussels, and the barricades which had been erected were dismantled and the barbed-wire fences taken down. chapter v preparations at namur--scenes at liège--germans pressing forward--occupation of brussels in the meantime the second stronghold of the belgian army, namur, was prepared for the onslaught of the enemy. on august th mr. granville fortescue, who had arrived there, noted that the city exhibited all the grim circumstances of a siege except the actual falling of shells within its boundaries. when he arrived at the station he followed the crowd, which was herded into a corner until each passenger had been examined. one could not move without a "laissez-passer." soldiers patrolled the streets, and every few hundred yards pedestrians were halted and made to show their papers. barricades commanded all the main avenues into the city. they had been made by dragging enormous goods vans across the street and turning the van into a sort of blockhouse. the sides were pierced for rifle fire, and sand bags were piled breast-high inside. [illustration] defences of sand bags and earth were built at either side of the van. * * * * * suddenly the whirl of an aeroplane sounds overhead. then we hear a scattered volley. the aeroplane is german, and the garrison are trying to pot it, despite the fact that it must be , feet up. they are striking in appearance, these german aeroplanes. once seen it is easy afterwards to distinguish them. seen from directly below, it is best described as scarab shaped--what i should imagine a giant scarab would look like on the wing. the whole machine is white, except for a panel of sky blue painted across the centre of each wing. the engine of the german machine makes a louder noise than either the french or belgian. the aeroplane we were watching circled above the forts and remained in this vicinity about half an hour. then it turned about and disappeared to the east. * * * * * the kaiser, with three of his sons, left berlin on august th for mayence, about miles to the north of strassburg; but he did not venture upon belgian soil. * * * * * an english officer who returned to england from brussels at this time had had the most interesting experience, and, it should be added, privilege, of chatting with one of the heroic defenders of liège, a belgian officer. to a representative of _the daily telegraph_ he said: i never had any doubt that the belgians were plucky fellows. the defence of liège shows them in heroic light. one of them, in the course of a casual conversation, which would not have given you any idea that he, or any of his colleagues, had taken part in anything extraordinary, said: "some of us late arrivals only managed to get to our posts when the german attack began. it was night-time. we replied sharply with our guns. until the dawn came we had no very distinct idea of what our practice was. then we noticed heaps of slain germans in a semi-circle at the foot of our fort. the german guns must have been much less successful, because they rarely hit us that night. they did better at daybreak. we did better still. "as line after line of the german infantry advanced, we simply mowed them down. it was terribly easy, monsieur, and i turned to a brother officer of mine more than once and said, 'voilà! they are coming on again, in a dense, close formation! they must be mad!' they made no attempt at deploying, but came on, line after line, almost shoulder to shoulder, until, as we shot them down, the fallen were heaped one on top of the other, in an awful barricade of dead and wounded men that threatened to mask our guns and cause us trouble. i thought of napoleon's saying--if he said it, monsieur; and i doubt it, for he had no care of human life!--'c'est magnifique, mais ce n'est pas la guerre!' no, it was slaughter--just slaughter! "so high became the barricade of the dead and wounded that we did not know whether to fire through it or to go out and clear openings with our hands. we would have liked to extricate some of the wounded from the dead, but we dared not. a stiff wind carried away the smoke of the guns quickly, and we could see some of the wounded men trying to release themselves from their terrible position. i will confess i crossed myself, and could have wished that the smoke had remained! "but, would you believe it, this veritable wall of dead and dying actually enabled these wonderful germans to creep closer, and actually charge up the glacis? of course, they got no farther than half way, for our maxims and rifles swept them back. of course, we had our own losses, but they were slight compared with the carnage inflicted upon our enemies." the english officer added: "there is, as you know, quite a large colony of english people in brussels, and also in bruges. they have their english club and tennis courts. many of these britishers have their own houses, and live in belgium for three or six months every year. when the war broke out all but those owning, or renting, property were advised to leave the country, which they did. many english householders in belgium also closed their residences and left for england. "the belgians were at first extremely dubious of our intention to send troops to belgium to support them, and night after night, at a certain well-known seaside resort, they crowded about the british consulate for news. when it was definitely known that the british expeditionary force had started belgian men and women asked for the union jack to be brought out by the consul, and when this was done they filed past, kissing it. i saw this with my own eyes." on the th it became evident that the german forces had gathered on the line maastricht-liège and were about to make an attempt to penetrate the allied armies facing them. there was no serious fighting on this date, but german cavalry were seen in the direction of antwerp. the long-expected battle appeared to have begun on the th (wednesday), and tirlemont, a town some twenty-three miles from brussels, on the railway to liège, was said to be its centre. refugees hurried into brussels from aerschot and diest, and hundreds of civilians from tirlemont also made for the capital. saarburg was occupied by the french on the same day. * * * * * the great german advance on belgium was begun on friday, august st, in a line extending from dinant, a town to the south of namur, as far as a point opposite antwerp. about noon brussels was reached and occupied. the following account of the position of the belgian government was issued officially just before the capital was transferred to antwerp: at the present moment the general situation in the belgian theatre of war may be described as follows: after having lost a great deal of time, a large number of men, and a great quantity of material, the prussian army has managed to gain ground on both banks of the meuse up to a line where it is in contact with the allied armies. the german troops on the north side of the meuse belong to various corps, whose operations have been principally directed against liège, and who in the course of time have become available in other directions. there is also a strong force of cavalry, by means of which the germans have been able to make a great show by extending to the north and south. in the south they came into collision with our troops and the french troops, and were repulsed. in the north, on the other hand, they found an open road, and small portions of them managed to make dashes far afield. in a word, the germans have taken the measure of our position, but that they should have lost a fortnight in attaining this result is all to the honour of our arms. that may have incalculable consequences for the issues of the operations. the normal development of the latter, according to the plan concerted between the allies, may lead to the carrying out of "manoeuvres," that is to say, to changes of position in order to effect a change in the general situation. we are on the outside wing, where these manoeuvres are nearly always necessitated, either for the direct or indirect protection of the flank. our army, therefore, must necessarily modify its original positions, and thus carry out completely the first task devolving upon it, which consists in gaining time. there is, consequently, no ground for anxiety if the army makes a movement in such and such a direction, and armchair strategists need not occupy themselves with the arrangements made, but should realise that our army now belongs to a co-ordinated whole, and remember that the strategic conditions have entirely changed since close contact has been established with our allies on our right. the object of the operations as at present going on is not to cover such and such a district or such and such a town, which has now become a matter of only secondary importance. the pursuit of the aim assigned to the belgian troops in the general plan of campaign preponderates over everything. this object cannot be revealed, and the most well-informed persons are unable to discover it in view of the veil of obscurity which is rightly being spread over all the news allowed to come through regarding the operations. fighting is going on along the whole front from bale to diest. the closer the contact comes between the two armies and the closer one gets to a decisive action, the more one must expect to see an advantage gained at one point while ground is lost at another. that is only to be expected in the case of battles taking place over such immense fronts as those occupied by the great armies of modern times. to sum up, one may say that what is going on at our gates is not the only thing to be thought of. a strategic movement conceived with a well-defined object is not necessarily a retreat. the fighting which has taken place at the front during the last few days has resulted in making the enemy more circumspect and in delaying his forward march to the great advantage of the whole scheme of operations. there is no reason at the present time for letting oneself be hung up, thus playing into the hands of the germans. that is the motive of the movements now being carried out. we are not beaten, far from it, but are making arrangements for beating the enemy in the best possible conditions. the public should, in this matter, place all trust in the commander of the army, and should remain calm and confident. the outcome of the struggle does not appear doubtful. meanwhile the newspapers should abstain from mentioning movements of troops, as secrecy is essential for the success of the operations. the exodus from brussels was vividly described in a telegram from mr. a.j. rorke, the correspondent of the central news agency. he wired, under date of august th: i left brussels at three o'clock this morning, with the germans at its very gates. all through the evening, following the evacuation of tirlemont, louvain, and neighbouring villages, there had been coming into the city from all the roads leading into it one unending procession of old men, women, children, and wounded soldiers retreating before the advance of the uhlan vanguard. they came into the centre of the city, clamouring at the gare du nord for tickets to the coast, but the trains were all reserved for the hosts of wounded brought in by motor-ambulances and carts from the firing-line. most of the men had been wounded in the head and face, disproving the repeated stories that the germans were bad marksmen and aimed low. as a matter of fact, practically all the men wounded in yesterday's battle were hit high, proving that the germans, infantrymen and cavalrymen, are firing from the hip. later came the news that there would probably be no more trains out of brussels, so the more timid of the population began to prepare hurriedly for departure. a dramatic moment in the history of europe occurred when the civic guard, unwillingly, and only on instructions from the executive government at antwerp, abandoned their defensive on the outskirts of the city, and in the forest around the town, and marched into brussels. they were ordered to ghent, and singing, with unbroken spirit, the "marseillaise," the strains of which rose over the murmurs of a panic-stricken population, they entered the railroad station. and so brussels, undefended, evacuated by its troops unwillingly, though their going really showed a finer spirit of patriotism than death on a battlefield, awaited the arrival of the "modern huns." just before i left early this morning a rumour, which at that hour i was unable to confirm, spread through the city that the french had arrived, and that the turcos were actually in action with the germans on the louvain road. these facts must stand out in the battle of yesterday. one long line of burning villages marked the german advance, and three regiments of belgian troops are no more. they are, i hear, the first regiment of guides and the third and ninth regiments of the line. a weeping woman whom i took into my automobile drew from her breast, on the road to ghent, a blue cap with a yellow facing, upon which was the figure " ." "voilà une casquette d'un de nos braves petits soldats," she said to me, "mais il n'y a plus du troisième." as mr. william maxwell pointed out, the real capital of belgium, in the military sense, had always been antwerp, not brussels; and napoleon himself gave one of his generals to understand, in explicit terms, that there could be no glory in entering the undefended capital of an enemy's country. "most of the country the germans have overrun up to the present," said mr. maxwell, "has not been seriously contested, for it does not enter into the allies' plan of action." antwerp, as an important belgian official explained, was provisioned for an indefinite period; it could be supplied with stores of every kind from the sea; and it was calculated that the forts would be able to hold out for at least a year. in these circumstances the belgian army entrenched there would always be a menace to the right wing of the germans, who would be obliged to detach a large part of their forces to prevent an attack from that direction. great indignation was aroused all over europe when it became known that the germans had imposed a war levy on brussels of no less a sum than £ , , , the alternative being the sacking of the city, with all its priceless art treasures. a levy of £ , , had already been imposed on the province of liège. the germans made their official entry into brussels at two o'clock in the afternoon of friday, august st. to the eternal credit of the people it must be said that they betrayed not the slightest sign of panic, but faced their painful uncertainty with dignity and courage. the civil guard, of whom , were in brussels, were uniformed men, and may be compared to our old volunteers. they had made preparations to resist the capture of the city, and had covered the approaches with trenches and barbed wire entanglements. but brussels is not a fortified place, and armed opposition would have involved severe penalties. the guard, therefore, withdrew from the capital soon after midnight. they retired with the honours of war, singing songs of victory. for some days the citizens had recognised the possibility of having the germans for their uninvited guests, and when louvain was abandoned they accepted the inevitable. the spirit they manifested was reflected in a dignified and courageous proclamation by their burgomeister. at six o'clock in the morning the enemy's cavalry appeared at tervueren, a distant suburb of the capital. from that hour every door was closed, and every window was darkened with shutter or blind. from the outskirts people began to flock into the heart of the city, yet there was no panic-fear. at nine o'clock the capital was surrounded, but no entry was made until after two o'clock. the occupation proceeded with method. railway stations and telegraph and telephone offices were taken over, and sentries were posted on all the main roads. the city, which was crowded twelve hours before, looked like a deserted place. pushing on from brussels the same evening, the germans took possession of the undefended cities of ghent and bruges, and advance brigades of cavalry made their appearance at ostend, which was occupied shortly afterwards. this advance--of no military importance, and savouring of what is colloquially known as window-dressing--was more than compensated for by a series of french successes in alsace-lorraine. general joffre's forces drove the germans out of several of the smaller towns, captured many hundreds of prisoners, and took ninety-one guns from the enemy. coincidentally with the arrival of the germans in brussels, it was announced that this country would lend our belgian allies the sum of £ , , in recognition of their splendid services at the beginning of the war. the first complete account of the fighting at dinant a few days previously was given in a special message from mr. granville fortescue. writing from dinant on august th, mr. fortescue said: a considerable force of german light infantry, supported by mountain batteries, to-day made a determined attack on this town. the fight lasted from daylight till dark. although the germans had some success in the morning, the arrival of french reinforcements compelled them to evacuate the excellent positions they had taken. the first shell just missed the clock above the railroad station, which marked ten minutes past six, and fell through the roof. it did little damage beyond shattering numerous windows. the railroad station is directly opposite my hotel. the second shell tore through the chimney of the hotel. the kitchen was filled with bits of bricks and mortar. the breakfast coffee was spoiled. captain x., who was here on a special mission, made his escape in a motor, accompanied by a squad of khaki-clad couriers on motor-cycles. the guests of the hotel scuttled to the cellars. it was nearly seven o'clock before the infantry began firing in earnest. the only french troops in the town were some of a regiment of the line. the french had no artillery when the action opened. the position was in a certain state of defence, which might have been improved. however, the streets were barricaded and a field of wire entanglements stretched across the bridge, which was also commanded by a mitrailleuse. dinant lies in a well, one might say, on both banks of the meuse. high limestone cliffs tower above the town. on the east bank these are steep, and are crowned by an ancient fort known as the citadel. the fort dominates the whole adjacent country. on the west bank of the meuse the town scrambles up a hillside, covered with trees. when the engagement opened i joined commandant a. and lieutenant b., who were in charge of the detachment defending the bridge. at this time the germans were making a strong effort to capture the citadel. it was held by a small french force, perhaps one company. the cliffs resounded with the rifle and gun fire. the din and the falling shells drove the population en masse to the "caves." members of the volunteer hospital corps, however, hurried along on their bicycles searching the streets for wounded. the german mountain batteries fired with accuracy, although the small projectiles had little effect. i picked up the fuse of one shell, a dapp, cut at , mètres. about ten o'clock the germans held the crest of the cliffs across the river, and soon took the citadel. they sent down a veritable hail of lead on the defenders. behind the cover of the bridge abutments the french reply gallantly. thus the fight goes on for an hour. one hears nothing save the irregular explosions of rifles, the machine-like sputterings of the mitrailleuse, punctuated by the shock of shell fire. it rains, but this in no way halts the firing. about thirty wounded are brought in when the french troops change position to the high ground back of the town. a sudden increase in the volume of sound tells me that the wished-for reinforcements have arrived. soon a half-company of a regiment crowd into the hotel, expecting to find there a good field of fire. they bring with them a dozen frightened women who have been hiding in the station. about noon the firing slackens, and the rain ceases. a few limping figures in blue coats and red trousers stagger into the hotel. a doctor stationed here gives them first-aid attention. while the lull continues a woman crosses to the pillar-box and drops in a postcard. about one i return to my post of observation. the german flag has been hoisted over the citadel. this is a signal for renewed firing. the sight of the hated flag seems to rouse the french troops to fury. about p.m. i hear for the first time the welcome sound of french field artillery. one of the first shots cuts the german flag across. two french batteries have arrived, and they hail projectiles into the citadel with extraordinary accuracy. another line regiment arrives to reinforce the troops here, and under a smothering fire i see the heads of the germans that dotted the ramparts of the fort begin to disappear. at this time i also hear heavy firing in the south-east. about ten minutes before six i cannot distinguish a german on the ramparts. the only firing is some scattered shooting from the french side. a cheer greets the coming of another new regiment, and soon the french troops are back in the positions they held in the morning. but the road back of the bridge is dotted with the dead. they lie in all sorts of contorted positions. their blue coats are splashed with red, their red trousers are stained a deeper crimson. and the cheers of the troops who have just arrived die down as they pass this grim testimony of what war means. as it was the intention of the french to hold the dinant bridge at all hazards, their strongest force was placed behind the abutment wings of this bridge. these are limestone block walls, about three feet high, and offer good cover. but this cover would have been vastly improved if the walls had been capped with sandbags. there was plenty of time to have so improved this defence. again, the field of fire before this position was poor. but the gravest mistake was the neglect to construct protected approaches to the advanced position. reinforcements had to be rushed across an open field of fire, where they suffered unnecessary casualties. and when the french line of defence had to be changed, and the troops withdrawn to a higher position behind the town, they suffered heavily because they must pass along a road swept by the german fire. all of which should have been provided against. this is not written in a spirit of criticism, but simply to call attention to certain mistakes that will, in the future, surely be corrected. the french are under a severe handicap in the matter of uniform. it is over a dozen years since the boer war, and certainly they should have discarded the blue coat and red trousers for a more neutral colour. they have covered the red crown of their caps with blue. this is to prevent their being discovered by aeroplane scouts. but the flamboyant uniform of the line regiments makes a fair mark, as far as the modern rifle is effective. in groups they are all the gunner asks for a target. on the other hand, the germans have adopted a grey-green colour that is almost invisible. yesterday, with a first-class glass, i had difficulty in locating individuals. what i have written applies with more force to the belgian troops. these soldiers are as conspicuous as claret stains on a new tablecloth. on my way here i passed some four or five regiments of infantry. though the men are young, they are going into this war with a seriousness unusual in the french. of course, the gallic temperament is not changed. they still show their "esprit" and their gaiety is not altogether extinguished. perhaps the solemnity i have alluded to is more noticed among the officers than the men. they are as grave as schoolmasters. all of which is a good sign. i have been particularly struck by the professional atmosphere of the artillery officers. it needs but a glance of the eye to be sure that this arm will perform splendid service under their direction. the germans had so many men massed in the occupied portions of belgium by this time that temporary checks did not stem what one correspondent aptly described as a tidal wave of troops sweeping irresistibly through the valley of the meuse. japan, who had sent germany an ultimatum with regard to kiao-chau, declared war on receiving no reply by the stipulated time; but, it is unnecessary to add, this fact had no influence on the operations of the german troops in belgium. telegrams sent off on sunday stated that a big battle was developing in the neighbourhood of charleroi--mons, and that the germans in order to ensure the uninterrupted and safe passage of their army, had occupied all the villages between louvain and alost. the liège forts, it was officially announced, were still holding out, but the germans had "contained" them by a large force of soldiers. attention was rather concentrated on the forts at namur, to subdue which the germans had advanced their heavy siege guns. it was said on monday, august th, that "namur had fallen," but no confirmation of this statement could be obtained, and it was generally taken as meaning that the invaders had managed to enter the town, but that the forts were still holding out. an official message from brussels on the following wednesday evening said that namur had not yet fallen. in the meantime refugees were hurrying from ostend, to which city both belgian and german wounded were being brought. the cross-channel steamers were crowded, and belgian refugees who had come away from brussels and tirlemont made their appearance in london. chapter vi british troops in action--their "customary coolness"--zeppelin at antwerp--german atrocities--lord kitchener's speech the british expeditionary force was engaged in the battle at mons, and it was subsequently stated that the soldiers had been fighting for thirty-six hours on end. a short statement by the press bureau was more usefully expanded into the following account, which was issued by the french embassy and summed up the situation as it existed on monday night, august th: on the west of the meuse the english army, which was on our left, has been attacked by the germans. its behaviour under fire was admirable, and it resisted the enemy with its customary coolness. the french army which operated in this region attacked. our army corps, with the african troops in the first line, carried forward by their over-eagerness, were received with a very murderous fire. they did not fall back, but later by a counter-attack by the prussian guard they were compelled to retire. they did so only after having inflicted enormous loss on the enemy. the flower of the prussian guard suffered very severely. on the east of the meuse our troops advanced across very difficult ground. they met with a vigorous attack as they left the woods, and were compelled to retire after fierce fighting on the south of the semoy. at the order of general joffre, our troops and the english troops have taken up their position on the covering line, which they would not have quitted had not the splendid courage of the belgian army permitted us to enter belgium. the covering line is intact. our cavalry has not suffered. our artillery has proved its superiority. our officers and our soldiers are in splendid physical and moral condition. as a result of the orders given, the struggle will change its aspect for several days. the french army will for a time remain on the defensive. when the proper moment comes, as chosen by the commander-in-chief, it will resume a vigorous offensive. our losses are severe. it will be premature to estimate them or to estimate those of the german army, which, however, has suffered so severely as to be compelled to halt in its counter-attack and establish itself in new positions. the communiqué then proceeds to deal with the situation in regard to lorraine. it says: yesterday we four times counter-attacked from the positions we occupy on the north of nancy, and we inflicted very severe losses on the germans. generally speaking, we retain full liberty to use our railway system, and every sea is open for our re-provisioning. our operations have permitted russia to enter into action and to reach the heart of eastern prussia. it is, of course, regrettable that, owing to difficulties in execution which could not have been foreseen, our plan of attack has not achieved its object. had it done so it would have shortened the war, but in any case our defence remains intact in face of an already weakened enemy. all frenchmen will deplore the momentary abandonment of the portions of annexed territory which we had already occupied. on the other hand, certain portions of the national territory must, unfortunately, suffer from the events of which they will be the theatre. the trial is inevitable, but will be temporary. thus, some detachments of german cavalry, belonging to an independent division operating on the extreme right, have penetrated into the roubaix--tourcoing district, which is defended only by territorial forces. the courage of our brave people will support this trial with unshaken faith in our final success, which is beyond doubt. in telling the country the whole truth, the government and the military authorities afford it the strongest possible proof of their absolute confidence in a victory, which depends only on our tenacity and perseverance. a thrilling description of the behaviour of the british troops at mons was given by mr. a.j. rorke, the correspondent of the central news agency, who wired from paris on monday night: graphic stories of how the british troops at mons fought during the two days in which they bore the brunt of the main german advance reached paris in the early hours of this morning, when officers arriving from the front reported at the war office, and, in subsequent conversation with their closest personal friends, told of the wonderful coolness and daring of our men. the shooting of our infantry on the firing fine, they said, was wonderful. every time a german's head showed above the trenches and every time the german infantry attempted to rush a position there came a withering rifle fire from the khaki-clad forms lying in extending formation along a big battle front. the firing was not the usual firing of nervous men, shooting without aiming and sometimes without rhyme or reason, as is so often the case in warfare. it was rather the calm, calculated riflemanship of the men one sees on the stickledown range firing with all the artificial aids permitted to the match rifle expert whose one concern is prize money. when quick action was necessary the firing and the action of the men was only that of prize riflemen firing at a disappearing target. there was no excitement, no nervousness; just cool, methodical efficiency. if the british lost heavily heaven only knows what the germans must have lost, because, as one of their wounded officers (whom the british took prisoner) remarked, "we had never expected anything like it; it was staggering." the british troops went to their positions silently but happily. there was no singing, because that was forbidden, but as the khaki-clad columns deployed and began to crawl to the trenches there were various sallies of humour in the different dialects of english, irish, and scottish counties. the yorkshireman, for instance, would draw a comparison between the men they were going to fight and certain dogs that won't fight which the yorkshire collier has not time to waste upon at the pit-head; the cockney soldier was there with his sallies about "uncle bill," and every irishman who went into the firing line wished he had the money to buy a little irish horse, so that he could have a slap at the uhlans. and the cavalry! officers coming from the front declare that our cavalrymen charged the much-vaunted german horsemen as berserks might have done. when they got into action with tunics open, and sometimes without tunics at all, they flung themselves at the german horsemen in a manner which surprised even their own officers, who had themselves expected great things of them. the uhlans, whose name and fearful fame had spread terror among the belgian peasants and the frontier villages of france, were just the sort of men the british troopers were waiting for. the britishers, mostly londoners, who, as wellington said, make the best cavalry soldiers in the world, were dying to have a cut at them; and when they got into clinches the uhlans had the surprise of their lives. from the scene of battle, the point of interest in the european war drama, as far as england is concerned, shifted in the small hours of this morning to the railway station at x, where officers and men of the army service corps awaited the arrival of the wounded--the british wounded from the firing line. everything was perfectly organised; there was no theatrical display; the officers and men of the british army waited silently and calmly for the toll of war, which they had been advised was on its way. the station at the time was crowded with americans coming to england from paris after their release from switzerland, and cheer after cheer, in which the french in the station joined, echoed under the arched roof. britishers who were there felt very proud of their empire and their soldiers at that moment. the men who were waiting for the wounded had not been in the first line of battle it was true--that was not their job--but their work was probably the greatest of all. it was for them to watch and wait, while every fibre of their inmost being thrilled to the note of war; and yet to restrain their desires while they practised that which the iron duke called the wonderful "two o'clock in the morning" courage. so they waited in a draughty station for their comrades, thrown back temporarily from the scene of action, to fit them to return, if possible, immediately. while the crowd waited for the wounded, train after train rolled slowly through carrying more of "our boys" to the active front. they were sleeping in horse trucks alongside their equine friends; they were sleeping in cattle wagons; yet they stood up when the cheering reached their ears, looking fresh, fit, clean, and healthily british from their service caps to their puttee straps. all young, all full-blooded, all british; happy and eager to get at grips in what is to them a holy war. and then, at the end, as the boat-train was creeping out in the early morning, the wounded arrived. it was my privilege to witness, on the road between boulogne and paris last saturday, a scene as picturesque and deeply inspiring as a page from froissart. the two english cardinals, cardinal-archbishop bourne and the cardinal abbot gasquet, famed as an historian, had left london to journey to the conclave at rome. on the line the train in which they travelled was stopped, and by a curious chance a train in which a regiment including in its ranks a large number of irish catholics--these men, like the plantagenets of old, wearing a sprig of green in their head-dress--was drawn up for a moment alongside. the cardinals, who, under their cassocks, wore the red of their rank, stepped into the corridor, and, leaning out of a window, said together, "may god bless you, my children." in an instant every catholic soldier in the open trucks of the troop train dropped to his knees to receive the cardinals' blessing. it appears, maybe, a simple affair, but in its spontaneity and sincerity, its mingling of the spiritual with the grimly material, it was eloquent and moving beyond the comprehension of those who only read what others saw. on august th the germans made a raid by zeppelin airship on antwerp and dropped several bombs on the palace, the st. elizabeth hospital, and other public buildings. twelve persons were blown to pieces in different parts of the city, and shots aimed at the airship proved ineffectual. the same evening the belgian government gave out the following official statement regarding the shocking atrocities committed by the invading forces in various parts of the occupied territory: in spite of solemn assurances of goodwill and long-standing treaty obligations, germany has made a sudden savage and utterly unwarranted attack on belgium. however sorely pressed she may be, belgium will never fight unfairly and never stoop to infringe the laws and customs of legitimate warfare. she is putting up a brave fight against overwhelming odds, she may be beaten, she may be crushed, but, to quote our noble king's words, "she will never be enslaved." when german troops invaded our country, the belgian government issued public statements which were placarded in every town, village, and hamlet, warning all civilians to abstain scrupulously from hostile acts against the enemy's troops. the belgian press daily published similar notices broadcast through the land. nevertheless, the german authorities have issued lately statements containing grave imputations against the attitude of the belgian civilian population, threatening us at the same time with dire reprisals. these imputations are contrary to the real facts of the case, and as to threats of further vengeance, no menace of odious reprisals on the part of the german troops will deter the belgian government from protesting before the civilised world against the fearful and atrocious crimes committed wilfully and deliberately by the invading hosts against helpless non-combatants, old men, women, and children. long is the list of outrages committed by the german troops, and appalling the details of atrocities, as vouched for by the committee of inquiry recently formed by the belgian minister of justice and presided over by him. this committee comprises the highest judicial and university authorities of belgium, such as chief justice van iseghem, judge nys, professors cottier, wodon, etc. the following instances and particulars have been established by careful investigations based in each case on the evidence of reliable eye-witnesses: german cavalry occupying the village of linsmeau were attacked by some belgian infantry and two gendarmes. a german officer was killed by our troops during the fight and subsequently buried at the request of the belgian officer in command. no one of the civilian population took part in the fighting at linsmeau. nevertheless, the village was invaded at dusk on august th by a strong force of german cavalry, artillery, and machine guns. in spite of the formal assurances given by the burgomaster of linsmeau that none of the peasants had taken part in the previous fight, two farms and six outlying houses were destroyed by gun-fire and burnt. all the male inhabitants were then compelled to come forward and hand over whatever arms they possessed. no recently discharged firearms were found. nevertheless, the invaders divided these peasants into three groups, those in one group were bound and eleven of them placed in a ditch, where they were afterwards found dead, their skulls fractured by the butts of german rifles. during the night of august th, german cavalry entered velm in great numbers. the inhabitants were asleep. the germans, without provocation, fired on m. deglimme-gevers' house, broke into it, destroyed furniture, looted money, burnt barns, hay and corn stacks, farm implements, six oxen, and the contents of the farmyard. they carried off madame deglimme, half-naked, to a place two miles away. she was then let go, and was fired upon as she fled, without being hit. her husband was carried away in another direction, and fired upon. he is dying. the same troops sacked and burned the house of a railway watchman. farmer jef dierick, of neerhespen, bears witness to the following acts of cruelty committed by german cavalry at orsmael and neerhespen on august th, th, and th: an old man of the latter village had his arm sliced in three longitudinal cuts; he was then hanged head downwards and burned alive. young girls have been maltreated, and little children outraged at orsmael, where several inhabitants suffered mutilations too horrible to describe. a belgian soldier belonging to a battalion of cyclist carabineers, who had been wounded and made prisoner, was hanged, whilst another, who was tending his comrade, was bound to a telegraph pole on the st. trond road and shot. on wednesday, august th, after an engagement at haelen, commandant van damme, so severely wounded that he was lying prone on his back, was finally murdered by german infantrymen firing their revolvers into his mouth. on august th, at orsmael, the germans picked up commandant knapen, very seriously wounded, propped him up against a tree, and shot him. finally they hacked his corpse with swords. in different places, notably at hollogne sur geer, barchon, pontisse, haelen, and zelck, german troops have fired on doctors, ambulance bearers, ambulances, and ambulance wagons carrying a red cross. at boncelles a body of german troops marched into battle carrying a belgian flag. on thursday, august th, before a fort at liège, german soldiers continued to fire on a party of belgian soldiers (who were unarmed, and had been surrounded while digging a trench) after these had hoisted the white flag. on the same day, at vottem, near the fort of loncin, a group of german infantry hoisted the white flag. when belgian soldiers approached to take them prisoners the germans suddenly opened fire on them at close range. harrowing reports of german savagery at aerschot have reached the belgian government at antwerp from official local sources. thus on tuesday, august th, the belgian troops occupying a position in front of aerschot received orders to retire without engaging the enemy. a small force was left behind to cover the retreat. this force resisted valiantly against overwhelming german forces, and inflicted serious losses on them. meanwhile practically the whole civilian population of aerschot, terrorised by the atrocities committed by the germans in the neighbouring villages, had fled from the town. next day, wednesday, august th, german troops entered aerschot without a shot having been fired from the town and without any resistance whatever having been made. the few inhabitants that remained had closed their doors and windows in compliance with the general orders issued by the belgian government. nevertheless the germans broke into the houses and told the inhabitants to quit. in one single street the first six male inhabitants who crossed their thresholds were seized and shot at once under the very eyes of their wives and children. the german troops then retired for the day, only to return in greater numbers on the next day, thursday, august th. they then compelled the inhabitants to leave their houses and marched them to a place yards from the town. there, without more ado, they shot m. thielmans, the burgomaster, his fifteen-year-old son, the clerk of the local judicial board, and ten prominent citizens. they then set fire to the town and destroyed it. the following statement was made by commandant georges gilson, of the th infantry of the line, now lying in hospital at antwerp: i was told to cover the retreat of our troops in front of aerschot. during the action fought there on wednesday, august th, between six and eight o'clock in the morning, suddenly i saw on the high road, between the german and belgian forces, which were fighting at close range, a group of four women, with babies in their arms, and two little girls clinging to their skirts. our men stopped firing till the women got through our lines, but the german machine guns went on firing all the time, and one of the women was wounded in the arm. these women could not have got through the neighbouring german lines and been on the high road unless with the consent of the enemy. all the evidence and circumstances seem to point to the fact that those women had been deliberately pushed forward by the germans to act as a shield for their advance guard, and in the hope that the belgians would cease firing for fear of killing the women and children. this statement was made and duly certified in the antwerp hospital on august nd by commandant gilson, in the presence of the chevalier ernst n. bunswyck, chief secretary to the belgian minister of justice, and m. de cartier de marchienne, belgian minister to china. further german atrocities are continuously being brought to notice and made the subject of official and expert inquiry by the proper authorities. * * * * * in issuing the above statements to the english press, the only comment the press bureau could offer was that these atrocities appeared to be committed in villages and throughout the country side with the deliberate intention of terrorising the people, and so making it unnecessary to leave troops in occupation of small places or to protect lines of communication. in large places like brussels, where the diplomatic representatives of neutral powers are eye-witnesses, there appeared to have been no excesses. when parliament met on august th, after a short adjournment, lord kitchener, minister for war, gave the following account of the situation in the house of lords: as this is the first time that i have had the honour of addressing your lordships, i must ask for the indulgence of the house. in the first place i desire to make a personal statement. noble lords on both sides of the house doubtless know that, while associating myself in the fullest degree for the prosecution of the war with my colleagues in his majesty's government, my position on this bench does not in any way imply that i belong to any political party, for as a soldier i have no politics. another point is that my occupation of the post of secretary of state for war is a temporary one. the terms of my service are the same as those under which some of the finest portions of our manhood, now so willingly stepping forward to join the colours, are engaging. that is to say for the war; or if it lasts longer, then for three years. it has been asked why the latter limit has been fixed. it is because should this disastrous war be prolonged--and no one can foretell with any certainty its duration--then, after three years' war, there will be others, fresh and fully prepared, to take our places and see this matter through. the very serious conflict in which we are now engaged on the continent has been none of our seeking. it will undoubtedly strain the resources of our empire and entail considerable sacrifices on our people. these will be willingly borne for our honour and the preservation of our position in the world, and will be shared by our dominions beyond the seas, now sending contingents and assistance of every kind to help the mother country in this struggle. if i am unable, owing to military consideration for the best interests of the allied armies in the field, to speak with much detail on the present situation of our army on the continent, i am sure your lordships will pardon me for the necessary restraint which is imposed upon me. the expeditionary force has taken the field on the french north-west frontier, and has advanced to the neighbourhood of mons, in belgium. our troops have already been for thirty-six hours in contact with a superior force of german invaders. during that time they have maintained the traditions of british soldiers, and have behaved with the utmost gallantry. the movements which they have been called upon to execute have been those which demand the greatest steadiness in the soldiers, and skill in their commanders. sir john french telegraphed to me at midnight, as follows: "in spite of hard marching and fighting, the british force is in the best of spirits." i replied: "congratulate troops on their splendid work. we are all proud of them." as your lordships are aware, european fighting causes greater casualties than the campaigns in which we are generally engaged in other parts of the world. the nation will, i am sure, be fully prepared to meet whatever losses and sacrifices we may have to make in this war. sir john french, without having been able to verify the numbers, estimates the loss since the commencement of active operations at rather more than , men _hors-de-combat_. as to the work of the last few weeks, i have to remark that when war was declared, mobilisation took place without any hitch whatever, and our expeditionary force proved itself wholly efficient, well equipped, and immediately ready to take the field. the press and the public have, in their respective spheres, lent invaluable aid to the government in preserving a discreet silence, which the exigencies of the situation obviously demanded, and i gladly take this opportunity of bearing testimony to the value of their co-operation. the hands of the military authorities were also strengthened by the readiness with which the civilian community faced and accepted the novel situation created by the issue of requisitions for horses, transport, supplies and billets. the railway companies, in the all-important matter of the transport facilities, have more than justified the complete confidence reposed in them by the war office, all grades of railway services having laboured with untiring energy and patience. and it is well to repeat that the conveyance of our troops across the channel was accomplished, thanks to the cordial co-operation of the admiralty, with perfect smoothness and without any untoward incident whatever. we know how deeply the french people appreciate the value of the prompt assistance we have been able to afford them at the very outset of the war, and it is obvious that not only the moral but the material support our troops are now rendering must prove to be a factor of high military significance in restricting the sphere and determining the duration of hostilities. had the conditions of strategy permitted, everyone in this country would have rejoiced to see us ranged alongside the gallant belgian army in that superb struggle against desperate odds which has just been witnessed. but, although this privilege was perforce denied to us, belgium knows of our sympathy with her in her sufferings, of our indignation at the blows which have been inflicted on her, and also of our resolution to make sure that in the end her sacrifices will not have been unavailing. while other countries engaged in this war have under a system of compulsory service brought their full resources of men into the field, we, under our national system, have not done so, and can, therefore, still point to a vast reserve drawn from the resources both of the mother country and of the british dominions across the seas. the response which has already been made by the great dominions, abundantly proves that we did not look in vain to these sources of military strength, and while india, canada, australia, and new zealand are all sending us powerful contingents, in this country the territorials are replying with loyalty to the stern call of duty which has come to them with such exceptional force. over seventy battalions have, with fine patriotism, already volunteered for service abroad, and when trained and organised in the larger formations, will be able to take their places in the line. the , recruits for which, in the first place, it has been thought necessary to call, have been already practically secured. this force will be trained and organised in divisions similar to those which are now serving on the continent. behind these we have our reserves. the special reserve and the national reserve have each their own part to play in the organisation of our national defence. the empires with whom we are at war have called to the colours almost their entire male population. the principle we, on our part, shall observe, is this, that while their maximum force undergoes a constant diminution, the reinforcements we prepare shall steadily and increasingly flow out, until we have an army in the field which in numbers, not less than in quality, will not be unworthy of the power and responsibilities of the british empire. i cannot, at this stage, say what will be the limits of the forces required, or what measures may eventually become necessary to supply and maintain them. the scale of the field army which we are now calling into being is large and may rise in the course of the next six or seven months to a total of thirty divisions continually maintained in the field. but if the war should be protracted, and if its fortunes should be varied or adverse, exertions and sacrifices beyond any which have been demanded will be required from the whole nation and empire, and where they are required we are sure they will not be denied to the extreme needs of the state by parliament or the people. the case for belgium it has been sought in the preceding chapters to give as detailed a description as the information at our disposal will allow of the fighting in the north--_i.e._ the struggle for liège and namur, and the subsequent series of closely-contested battles from tirlemont to mons. the case for the belgian people, and an account of the sufferings which had to be endured by a peaceful, non-combatant population, will be found mentioned also in the course of the narrative. the diplomatic case for belgium has already been given to the public in another volume of this series ("how the war began"); but the details of this case, and the reasons why this country is taking part in the war, have been so well summed up by mr. asquith that a few extracts from his speech are necessary to make this volume complete. the first of a series of meetings to bring home to the people of england the vital importance of the questions at issue was held in the guildhall on friday, september th; and the speakers included the prime minister, mr. bonar law, mr. churchill, and mr. balfour. in the course of his remarks mr. asquith referred to the arbitration treaty between great britain and the united states, which he mentioned at a previous guildhall meeting some three and a-half years previously. "we were very confident three years ago in the rightness of our position," he said. "we are equally confident to-day, when reluctantly and against our will, but with a clear judgment and with a clean conscience we find ourselves involved with the whole strength of this empire in a bloody arbitrament between might and right." mr. asquith continued: the issue has passed out of the domain of argument into another field, but let me ask you, and through you the world outside, what would have been our condition as a nation to-day, if we had been base enough, through timidity, or through a perverted calculation of self-interest, or through a paralysis of the sense of honour and duty, if we had been base enough to be false to our word and faithless to our friends? our eyes would have been turned at this moment, with those of the whole civilised world, to belgium, a small state, which has lived for more than seventy years under the several and collective guarantee to which we, in common with prussia and austria, were parties; and we should have seen, at the instance and by the action of two of these guaranteeing powers, her neutrality violated, her independence strangled, her territory made use of as affording the easiest and most convenient road to a war of unprovoked aggression against france. we, the british people, would at this moment have been standing by with folded arms, and with such countenance as we could command, while this small and unprotected state, in defence of her vital liberties, made an heroic stand against overweening and overwhelming force. we should have been admiring, as detached spectators, the siege of liège, the steady and manful resistance of their small army; the occupation of their capital, with its splendid traditions and memories; the gradual forcing back of their patriotic defenders of their native land to the ramparts of antwerp; countless outrages suffered through buccaneering levies exacted from the unoffending civil population, and finally, the greatest crime committed against civilisation and culture since the thirty years' war--the sack of louvain and its buildings, its pictures, its unique library, its unrivalled associations--shameless holocaust of irreplaceable treasures, lit up by blind barbarian vengeance. what account should we, the government and the people of this country, have been able to render to the tribunal of our national conscience and sense of honour if, in defiance of our plighted and solemn obligations, we had endured, if we had not done our best to prevent--yes, and to avenge--these intolerable outrages? for my part i say that sooner than be a silent witness, which means in effect a willing accomplice, of this tragic triumph of force over law, and of brutality over freedom, i would see this country of ours blotted out of the page of history. several german newspapers, distorting the facts of the case with remarkable disingenuousness, had roundly asserted that england had chosen to take part in the war for purely materialistic reasons, and that this country was not so anxious to vindicate the principle of belgian neutrality as to secure the oversea trade of the german empire. even if mr. asquith had not spoken on the subject at all, it would have been realised sooner or later that there was no foundation for this assertion; for it was hardly likely, if we had had only this object in view, that a community of practical business men would have tolerated the enormous sacrifice of life and money involved in attempting by war to displace german exports to european and non-european countries. as this argument was advanced with such persistence in the german press, it may be worth while dwelling on it for a moment. the total value of the german export trade for was just over £ , , , and of our own export trade £ , , . with many german products, such as dyes, and certain chemical and electrical goods, this country has never been able to compete. at the beginning of the war, for example, when the german coast had been blockaded by our fleet, we should have been compelled to spend millions of pounds in order to experiment with, and later on to manufacture, aniline dyes analogous to those produced in germany. the same remark applies to many classes of electrical goods. millions would have had to be spent on experiments before we began to manufacture the products, assuming--in many cases a large assumption--the success of the experiments. this, too, at a time when money was notoriously scarce, when accommodation could not be obtained from the banks, and when the government had just announced that it wanted a hundred millions sterling as a first instalment of war expenses. apart from this, even if we had thought of capturing germany's export trade, or a large part of it, it was clear that other nations had conceived the same notion and were getting ready to act upon it. japanese merchants, for instance, had their eyes fixed on the markets of china, and manufacturers in the united states had been showing, even before the war, a deep interest in south america. is it likely, in these circumstances, that a nation such as this would have seen at least half a million men withdrawn from productive work, and the expenditure of millions of money, purely for the sake of competing with the united states and japan in foreign markets?--always realising that the war must end some time, that germany must once more begin to manufacture, and that competition would be as severe as ever in less than a decade? no; if we can capture some of germany's export trade, that will be a mere incidental in the struggle for national existence, and the profits represented thereby will but ill balance the lives and money which will have to be sacrificed in the meantime. fortunately, mr. asquith took the opportunity, when speaking at the guildhall, to make it clear that great britain and the british dominions were not actuated by materialistic aims in entering upon the greatest campaign in history. there was something to be considered besides profits. having referred to the sacking of louvain, mr. asquith went on to say: that is only a phase--a lurid and illuminating phase--in the contest in which we have been called, by the mandate of duty and of honour, to bear our part. the cynical violation of the neutrality of belgium was, after all, but a step--a first step--in a deliberate policy of which, if not the immediate, the ultimate and the not far-distant aim was to crush the independence and the autonomy of the free states of europe. first belgium, then holland and switzerland--countries, like our own, imbued and sustained with the spirit of liberty--were one after another to be bent to the yoke; and these ambitions were fed and fostered by a body of new doctrines, a new philosophy, preached by professors and learned men. free and full self-development, which to these small states, to ourselves, to our great and growing dominions over the seas, to our kinsmen across the atlantic, is the well-spring and life-breath of national existence--that free self-development is the one capital offence in the code of those who have made force their supreme divinity, and upon its altars are prepared to sacrifice both the gathered fruits and the potential germs of the unfettered human spirit. i use this language advisedly. this is not merely a material; it is also a spiritual conflict. upon its issue everything that contains promise and hope, that leads to emancipation, and a fuller liberty for the millions who make up the mass of mankind, will be found sooner or later to depend. the prime minister proceeded to combat the absurd suggestions that the anglo-french agreement of , and the anglo-russian agreement of , were likely to prove a menace to the german empire: let me now just for a moment turn to the actual situation in europe. how do we stand? for the last ten years, by what i believe to be happy and well-considered diplomatic arrangements, we have established friendly and increasingly intimate relations with the two powers, france and russia, with whom in days gone by we have had, in various parts of the world, occasions for constant friction, and now and again for possible conflict. those new and better relations, based in the first instance upon business principles of give-and-take, have matured into a settled temper of confidence and goodwill. they were never in any sense or at any time, as i have frequently said in this hall, directed against other powers. no man in the history of the world has ever laboured more strenuously or more successfully than my right honourable friend, sir edward grey, for that which is the supreme interest of the modern world--a general and abiding peace. it is, i venture to think, a very superficial criticism which suggests that, under his guidance, the policy of this country has ignored, still less that it has counteracted and hampered, the concert of europe. it is little more than a year ago that under his presidency, in the stress and strain of the balkan crisis, the ambassadors of all the great powers met here day after day, curtailing the area of possible differences, reconciling warring ambitions and aims, and preserving, against almost incalculable odds, the general harmony. and it was in the same spirit, and with the same purpose, when a few weeks ago austria delivered her ultimatum to servia, that the foreign secretary--for it was he--put forward the proposal for a mediating conference between the four powers who were not directly concerned--germany, france, italy, and ourselves. if that proposal had been accepted actual controversy would have been settled with honour to everybody, and the whole of this terrible welter would have been avoided. with whom does the responsibility rest for its refusal and for all the illimitable suffering which now confronts the world? one power, and one power only, and that power is germany. that is the fount and origin of this world-wide catastrophe. we are persevering to the end. no one who has not been confronted, as we were, with the responsibility of determining the issues of peace and war can realise the strength and energy and persistency with which we laboured for peace. we persevered by every expedient that diplomacy could suggest, straining almost to the breaking point our most cherished friendships and obligations, even to the last making effort upon effort, and hoping against hope. then, and only then, when we were at last compelled to realise that the choice lay between honour and dishonour, between treachery and good faith--when we at last reached the dividing line which makes or mars a nation worthy of the name, it was then, and then only, that we declared for war. is there anyone in this hall, or in this united kingdom, or in the vast empire of which we here stand in the capital and centre, who blames or repents our decision? (cries of "no!") for these reasons, as i believe, we must steel ourselves to the task, and in the spirit which animated our forefathers in their struggle against the domination of napoleon, we must, and we shall, persevere to the end. at the guildhall, as in the house of commons, the prime minister referred to the noble example shown by the belgian people in summoning all their available forces to repel the aggression of a power which had been presumed to be friendly. he said: it would be a criminal mistake to under-estimate either the magnitude, the fighting quality, or the staying power of the forces which are arrayed against us. but it would be equally foolish and equally indefensible to belittle our own resources whether for resistance or attack. (cheers.) belgium has shown us by a memorable and a glorious example what can be done by a relatively small state when its citizens are animated and fired by the spirit of patriotism. in france and russia we have as allies two of the greatest powers of the world engaged with us in a common cause, who do not mean to separate themselves from us any more than we mean to separate ourselves from them, (cheers.) having paid this tribute--how well deserved it was, and to what a remarkable extent the german check at liège influenced the subsequent developments of the campaign, the world is now beginning to realize--mr. asquith paid an equally warranted tribute to our own fleet: we have upon the seas the strongest and most magnificent fleet which has ever been seen. the expeditionary force which left our shores less than a month ago has never been surpassed, as its glorious achievements in the field have already made clear, not only in material and equipment, but in the physical and the moral quality of its constituents. as regards the navy, i am sure my right honourable friend (mr. winston churchill) will tell you there is happily little more to be done. i do not flatter it when i say that its superiority is equally marked in every department and sphere of its activity. we rely on it with the most absolute confidence, not only to guard our shores against the possibility of invasion, not only to seal up the gigantic battleships of the enemy in the inglorious seclusion of their own ports, whence from time to time he furtively steals forth to sow the seeds of murderous snares which are more full of menace to neutral ships than to the british fleet--our navy does all this, and while it is thirsting, i do not doubt, for that trial of strength in a fair and open fight which is so far prudently denied it, it does a great deal more. it has hunted the german mercantile marine from the high seas. it has kept open our own sources of food supply and largely curtailed those of the enemy, and when the few german cruisers which still infest the more distant ocean routes have been disposed of, as they will be very soon, it will achieve for british and neutral commerce passing backwards and forwards from and to every part of our empire a security as complete as it has ever enjoyed in the days of unbroken peace. let us honour the memory of the gallant seamen who in the pursuit of one or another of these varied and responsible duties have already laid down their lives for their country. as not the least important object of the guildhall meeting was to stimulate recruiting, mr. asquith naturally referred to the army and its work. at a very early stage in the war both germany and france had called up practically their last available man. indeed, so hard pressed did the german empire find itself after five weeks' fighting that arrangements, it was officially announced, were made for giving instruction in rifle shooting to boys aged from sixteen to nineteen. it was not, of course, intended that these lads should at once take an active part in the fighting: but it was assumed that by the time they reached their military age they would be familiar with the use of weapons and more or less adequately drilled. retired officers who were too old to take part in the campaign were ordered to take the boys in hand. to remedy the inevitable wastage in the french army, as well as in our own expeditionary force--which, a few days before mr. asquith's speech, had already fought gallantly and lost some , men at mons and charleroi--it was desired that armies should be raised in england, trained, and sent out to the fighting line as required. for this purpose lord kitchener had intimated that at least , men would be required, and calls were made for , men at a time. the oversea dominions, and, above all, india--where the german government had vainly tried to bring about a disloyal outbreak--hastened to come forward with offers of men; but all this did not relieve the home country of its responsibility. speaking on this subject, mr. asquith said: in regard to the army, there is call for a new, a continuous, a determined, and a united effort. for, as the war goes on, we shall have not merely to replace the wastage caused by casualties, not merely to maintain our military power at its original level, but we must, if we are to play a worthy part, enlarge its scale, increase its numbers, and multiply many times its effectiveness as a fighting instrument. the object of the appeal which i have made to you, my lord mayor, and to the other chief magistrates of our capital cities, is to impress upon the people of the united kingdom the imperious urgency of this supreme duty. our self-governing dominions throughout the empire, without any solicitation on our part, demonstrated, with a spontaneousness and a unanimity unparalled in history, their determination to affirm their brotherhood with us, and to make our cause their own. from canada, from australia, from new zealand, from south africa, and from newfoundland the children of the empire assert, not as an obligation but as a privilege, their right and their willingness to contribute money, material, and, what is better than all, the strength and sinews, the fortunes, and the lives of their best manhood. india, too, with no less alacrity has claimed her share in the common task. every class and creed, british and natives, princes and people, hindus and mahommedans, vie with one another in noble and emulous rivalry. two divisions of our magnificent indian army are already on their way. we welcome with appreciation and affection their proffered aid. in an empire which knows no distinction of race or cause we all alike, as subjects of the king-emperor, are joint and equal custodians of our common interests and fortunes. we are here to hail with profound and heartfelt gratitude their association, side by side and shoulder to shoulder, with our home and dominion troops, under the flag which is the symbol to all of a unity that a world in arms cannot dissever or dissolve. with these inspiring appeals and examples from our fellow-subjects all over the world what are we doing, and what ought we to do here at home? mobilisation was ordered on august th. immediately afterwards lord kitchener issued his call for , recruits for the regular army, which has been followed by a second call for another , . the response up to to-day gives us between , to , . i am glad to say that london has done its share. the total number of londoners accepted is not less than , . i need hardly say that that appeal involves no disparagement or discouragement of the territorial force. the number of units in that force who have volunteered for foreign service is most satisfactory and grows every day. we look to them with confidence to increase their numbers, to perfect their organisation and training, and to play efficiently the part which has always been assigned to them, both offensive and defensive, in the military system of the empire. but to go back to the expansion to the regular army. we want more men--men of the best fighting quality--and if for a moment the number who offer themselves and are accepted should prove to be in excess of those who can at once be adequately trained and equipped, do not let them doubt that prompt provision will be made for the incorporation of all willing and able men in the fighting forces of the kingdom. we want first of all men, and we shall endeavour to secure them, and men desiring to serve together shall, wherever possible, be allotted to the same regiment or corps. the raising of battalions by counties or municipalities with this object will be in every way encouraged. but we want not less urgently a larger supply of ex-non-commissioned officers, and the pick of the men with whom in past days they served, men, therefore, whom in most cases we shall be asking to give up regular employment and to return to the work of the state, which they alone are competent to do. the appeal we make is addressed quite as much to their employers as to the men themselves. the men ought to be absolutely assured of reinstatement in their business at the end of the war. finally, there are numbers of commissioned officers now in retirement, who are much experienced in the handling of troops and have served their country in the past. let them come forward, too, and show their willingness, if need be, to train bodies of men for whom at the moment no cadre or unit can be found. mr. asquith concluded one of the most eloquent speeches he had ever delivered with a warning to the optimists who had predicted a too easy task for the allied forces, and recommended those present--and, through them, the british empire generally--to cultivate the virtue of patience: i have little more to say. of the actual progress of the war i will not say anything, except that, in my judgment, in whatever direction we look there is abundant ground for pride and for confidence. i say nothing more, because i think we should all bear in mind that we are at present watching the fluctuations of fortune only in the early stages of what is going to be a protracted struggle. we must learn to take long views, and to cultivate, above all other faculties, those of patience, endurance, and steadfastness. meanwhile, let us go, each of us, to his or her appropriate place in the great common task. never had a people more or richer sources of encouragement and inspiration. let us realise first of all that we are fighting as a united empire in a cause worthy of the highest traditions of our race; let us keep in mind the patient and indomitable seamen, who never relax for a moment, night or day, their stern vigil of the lonely sea; let us keep in mind our gallant troops, who to-day, after a fortnight's continuous fighting, under conditions which would try the mettle of the best army that ever took the field, maintain not only an undefeated, but an unbroken front. finally, let us recall the memories of the great men and the great deeds of the past, commemorated, some of them, in the monuments which we see around us on these walls; nor forgetting the dying message of the younger pitt, his last public utterance, made at the table of one of your predecessors, my lord mayor, in this very hall: england has saved herself by her exertions, and will, as i trust, save europe by her example. the england of those days gave a noble answer to his appeal, and did not sheath the sword until after nearly twenty years of fighting the freedom of europe was secured. let us go and do likewise. as the published documents now at our disposal sufficiently show, the german government matured its preparations for the greatest war in history in what they believed to be the certain hope that great britain would not intervene. it was fully believed at berlin that our domestic differences would prevent any designs at helping belgium which the government here might wish to carry out. the sudden change in national feeling, which reconciled political opponents like sir edward carson and mr. john redmond, or mr. asquith and mr. bonar law, mr. winston churchill and lord charles beresford, could not be comprehended on the other side of the north sea, and completely upset the plans of the german government. this loyalty to the nation, taking the place of loyalty to party at a time of national emergency, was demonstrated in the house of commons as soon as the crisis became acute. at the guildhall, too, mr. bonar law once more proved how ready the opposition were to sink their differences with the government, and to support the liberal ministry in its endeavours to bring the campaign to an honourable conclusion. when mr. asquith, after an enthusiastic burst of applause, had sat down, mr. bonar law rose, amid an equally enthusiastic demonstration of welcome, and said: it would, indeed, be impossible for me to add anything to the force of the appeal which has just been addressed by the prime minister to our people. but i am glad to be here as representing one of our great political parties in order to show clearly that in this supreme struggle, and in everything connected with it until it is brought to a triumphant close, the head of our government must speak not as the leader of a party but as the mouthpiece of a nation. we are a peace-loving people, but never, i believe, in our history has the whole nation been so convinced as it is to-day that the cause for which we are fighting is righteous and just. we strove for peace by all means up to the last moment, but when, in spite of our efforts, war came, we could not stand aside. the honour and the interests of great britain-and believe me, they go together--alike forbade it. it was inevitable that we must be drawn into this world struggle, and the only question was whether we should enter it honourably or be dragged into it with dishonour. this war is a great crime--one of the greatest in history. but it is a crime in which as a nation we have no share. now, as always, for nearly a generation, the key of peace or war was in berlin. the head of the german government had but to whisper the word "peace," and there would have been no war. he did not speak that word. he drew the sword, and may the accursed system for which he stands perish by the sword! war has come, and we are fighting for our life as truly as belgium or france, where the tide of battle, with all its horrors, is rolling on. as cromwell said of his ironsides we can say with equal truth to-day: "we know what we are fighting for, and we love what we know." we are fighting for our national existence, for everything which nations have always held most dear. but we are fighting for something more--we are fighting for the moral forces of humanity. we are fighting for respect for public law, and for the right of public justice, which are the foundation of civilisation. we are fighting, as the prime minister has said, for right against might. i do not attempt what burke has declared to be impossible--to draw up an indictment against a whole people--but this i do say, that the german nation has allowed itself to be organised as a military machine which recognises no law except the law of force, which knows no right except the right of the strongest. it is against that we are fighting to-day. the spirit in which this war was entered into was shown clearly in the words addressed to our ambassador at berlin by the german chancellor. "you are going to war," he said, "for a scrap of paper." (cries of "shame!") yes, but a "scrap of paper" with which was bound up the solemn obligation, and with that obligation the honour, of a great nation--a "scrap of paper" in which was involved also the right to independence, to liberty, the right even of existence, of all the small nations of the world. it is for that "scrap of paper" that the belgian soldiers have fought and died, that the belgian people, by what they have done, and by what they have endured, have won for themselves immortal fame. it is for that "scrap of paper," and all that it means, that we, too, have already watered with the blood of our sons the fair fields of france, and for which we shall conquer or perish. like mr. asquith, mr. bonar law emphasised the fact that the war was a spiritual and not a materialistic conflict; and he denounced in no less vigorous terms the atrocities which had been perpetrated by the german army on its way through a friendly country. after his reference to the "scrap of paper," he went on to say: the words which i have quoted show not merely the spirit in which the war was entered into, but the spirit in which it is being conducted to-day. when reports first reached us of german atrocities in belgium i hoped for the sake of our common humanity that they were untrue, or at least exaggerated. we can entertain that hope no longer. the destruction of louvain has proclaimed to the world in trumpet tones what german methods are. it has fixed upon german honour an indelible stain, and the explanations which it has been attempted to give of it have only made that stain the deeper. war at the best is terrible. it is not from the ordinary soldier, it is not from below, that restraint can be expected. it must come, if it come at all, from above. but here the outrages have come not from below but from above. they are not the result of accident, but of design. they are part of a principle--the principle by any means, at any expense of the lives of defenceless men or helpless women and children, to spread terror in the country and to facilitate the german arms. this is a moral and a spiritual conflict. believe me, in the long run, the moral and the spiritual are stronger than the material forces. the object of this meeting, and of the speech to which we have just listened, is to appeal to the manhood of our country to rally once again round the old flag. that appeal will not be made, is not being made, in vain. our people had only to realise, as at first they did not quite realise, what were the issues at stake to come forward with all the spirit of their fathers. that lesson is being driven home now by influences stronger far than any speeches. it is being taught by the heroic steadfastness of the belgian people. it is being taught now by the knowledge that but for the close shield of the navy--the shield which if we fail to conquer cannot save us--our fate to-day would be the fate of belgium. it is being taught, above all by the accounts, meagre though they are, of what has been done by our soldiers on the field of battle. with that mistaken estimate of themselves and of others, which is one of the explanations of this war, the germans, before and after the outbreak, have spoken of us as a decadent nation. do they say that to-day? let the long-drawn-out fight that began at mons give the answer. there our troops, pitted against the choicest bodies of the german army, outnumbered by nearly three to one as i believe, were undefeated and unbroken. when the story of that fight comes to be written, it is my belief that it will form as glorious a page as is to be found in the whole annals of our history. the men will come. there is no doubt of that. everywhere i find the same spirit. everyone is asking, "what can i do to help my country?" the men will come. there is one thing more only which i should like to say. many of those whom i am addressing are, like the prime minister and myself, unable to take our place in the fighting line. it is not right, it is not fair, that we should make an appeal for sacrifices to the patriotism of those only who are able and willing to fight our battles. an equal sacrifice is demanded of those who remain behind. let us not as a government merely, but as a nation, realise our obligation and make a vow and keep it, that no dependent of any man who is fighting our battles shall go hungry while we have bread to eat. and let us realise also, as we have not always realised in the past, that our soldiers are the children of the state, and that they have the first claim upon the resources of our nation. when mr. balfour had supported the leader of the unionist party there were loud calls for mr. churchill, who made a very brief but pointed speech on the navy and its work: my lord mayor and citizens of london,--you may rely with good confidence upon the strength and efficiency of our naval defence. that defence will enable you to live and to work and draw the means of life and power from the utmost ends of the earth. it will give you the time, it will give you the means to create the powerful military force which this country must wield before this trouble is brought to its conclusion. certain i am of this, that you have only to endure to conquer. you have only to persevere to save yourselves and to save all those who rely upon us. you have only to go right on, and at the end of the road, be it short or be it long, victory and honour will be found. _apropos_ of the german atrocities at liège, the brutal character of the german troops, and mr. bonar law's reference to the fact that the outrages were instigated from above and were not to be blamed wholly on the soldiers themselves, a word may be added regarding one or two philosophical misconceptions which have arisen as to the origin of this modern trait in the character of the german people. it is often asserted that the philosophy of nietzsche has been responsible for not merely encouraging but developing the german belief in physical power and brute force; and amid the host of "professors," on whom blame is cast for urging on the teuton to develop his country at the expense of his neighbours, nietzsche has frequently been singled out for special mention as a man in whose works the kaiser has always taken an especial interest. this belief is quite erroneous. nietzsche, who poked bitter fun at the clumsiness and stupidity of his countrymen, who cracked jokes over the musicians and philosophers most dear to the german heart, and who, before all else, repudiated prussianism lock, stock, and barrel, was certainly not a writer likely to appeal to the kaiser or to any of the makers of modern germany. the reader cannot fail to be impressed by the striking fact that the "professors" who have written in support of german development have one and all disclaimed any connection with nietzsche or his teachings. the thinker who is really responsible, even more so than treitschke, for germany's attempt to burst her confines and to increase her possessions, is a man of a very different order. a year or two ago there appeared the english translation of a book by houston stewart chamberlain, "the foundations of the nineteenth century." this was a book dealing generally, in so far as a connected thread ran through it, with racial problems, and the author's admiration for the teutonic race was expressed without limits. chamberlain came of english stock, but he developed german sympathies, lived in germany, and wrote in german. for the aryans, gradually turned into the teutons and modern germans, chamberlain claimed all the virtues of mankind; and his net was spread wide. the founder of the christian church was of teutonic stock, according to the teachings of the chamberlain school; and so was dante. the latin races, on the contrary, were held to be decadent--it was only a matter of time before they would have to disappear and make way for the strong, virile race from the north. this book created a profound impression at the time of its publication in germany--and in german, although the author had been an englishman. it was read widely in court circles, by the "professors," and by military men. it was brought to the notice of the kaiser, who ordered several hundred copies to be sent to him. these--the number was said to be as many as eight or nine hundred--were distributed, by the imperial command, to heads of schools, burgomasters, and the like, throughout the length and breadth of the german empire. to the views of the chamberlain school nietzsche was unalterably opposed; and his choicest fulminations were directed against the group of thinkers who wrote with unstinted admiration of the teutonic race. to use his own expression, the victories of - had given the germans an inflated conception of their own importance in the world, and the material wealth that accrued to them during the next two decades ruined completely the old german philosophy and culture which had been the pride and hope of such men as goethe, schiller, beethoven, and schopenhauer. next to chamberlain, the greatest influence in the modern development of germany was the famous historian, heinrich von treitschke. like chamberlain, treitschke distorted some facts to suit his purpose, and neglected others which would have spoilt his theories; but there is no doubt about the vigour of his thought and the lucid style in which he wrote. he lived from to , and specialised on historical subjects from his 'teens. his view was that the germans were the greatest people on earth, that it was their duty to the world to subjugate other peoples and races, and that nothing should prevent the fulfilment of this task. these opinions, enunciated at first in a series of brilliant historical essays, found their most dramatic, one might almost say their most sensational, expression in treitschke's "history of germany in the nineteenth century," a work which has for many years been regarded in germany as scarcely less important than the bible itself. it was treitschke who first poured contempt on the french as a race of "decadents," and who prophesied that the most difficult reckoning would be with england. these two men had, and still have, innumerable followers; nor should we overlook bismarck's speeches. but there was a third and independent influence who must not be overlooked, either. this is general von bernhardi, whose book "germany and the next war" has now become notorious, as much in the original as in the english and other translations. with a curious smattering of philosophy and religion, general von bernhardi advocated the opinion that war was not merely difficult to avoid, but that it was desirable and necessary for maintaining the virility and strength of a nation. for this reason he did not profess to shrink from a european campaign, no matter how dire the effects of it might be; and his book contains a full _exposé_ of what the german plans should be, on land and sea, on the outbreak of war. he has full confidence in the german army, and no less confidence in the german navy; and he is determined that the power of prussia and the prussian system shall be used to secure for his country the place in the sun to which he thinks she is entitled. he ridicules peace conferences, geneva conventions, and the like--for war is war, and not, as the german ambassador in washington has just told us, an afternoon tea-party--and war is to be waged ruthlessly against france and this country. "france," writes general von bernhardi, "must be crushed so that she can never again cross our path." it is obvious to any reader who compares the thoughts and sentiments in all these works with the kaiser's speeches that his majesty is a careful student of them. to him both heine and nietzsche, who preferred the old to the new germany, are enemies of his empire; but men like bernhardi, treitschke, chamberlain, bismarck, and frederick the great are safe guides. the kaiser has, throughout his speeches, made many references to frederick the great, whose literary works deserve more study than is usually accorded them in england. they contain the views of a man who, bullied in childhood by a coarse father, had to fend for himself and to make his own discoveries in war and social administration. his experiences are summed up, now and then, in a series of snappy epigrams which are even more to the point than bismarck's. within his limits, the emperor william ii. is at least original, and it would hardly be fair to accuse him of plagiarism; but he has, at least, had recourse to his great ancestor for inspiration. a survey of the influences at work in modern germany, then, must include the writings of the men just referred to, and often of their followers as well. when these writings are considered we shall be able to realise why mr. bonar law had to refer so pointedly to the belgian atrocities and their instigation "from above." the kaiser himself has declared more than once that war must be waged ruthlessly; and treitschke, bernhardi, frederick the great, bismarck, and chamberlain unite in holding weakness up to ridicule and in emphasising the necessity for brutality, in the face of these teachings, which have influenced the ruling caste in the german empire for more than a generation, we need not wonder if the invaders of belgium and france have been urged on by their officers to excesses which have called forth the censure of the civilised world. when the emperor himself advises his soldiers to "leave a name like attila," we may be sure that his officers will not be behindhand in enforcing the instruction. _wyman & sons, ltd., printers, london and reading._ canada in flanders by lord beaverbrook the official story of the canadian expeditionary force volume ii canada in flanders by lord beaverbrook volume ii _with maps and appendix_ hodder and stoughton london toronto new york mcmxvii preface the narrative of the second battle of ypres was written on the spot and immediately after the action. it was not until long afterwards that it was possible to collect and collate the whole of the battalion diaries. the story, therefore, could only be compiled from the personal reports of the officers commanding units, and in some cases these were not available, and certain regiments did not therefore receive the prominence which was their due. these regiments will, i am sure, readily understand that the omission was not intentional, but due to the impossibility of making sure of all the details of a great and confused action until months after the event. although the material has become available, i have decided not to attempt to rewrite the story. it is, in its main features, absolutely accurate, and has the advantage which must belong to any narrative written within sound of the guns, and while the impressions of the battlefield are still vivid to the mind. i am, in fact, afraid that any attempt on my part to reconstruct the narrative would spoil whatever merit it may possess. in the first place, it is necessary, however, to make good some mistakes in the first volume which have been pointed out by persons who were engaged in various actions. the majority of errors occur in the matter of names, which, in about a dozen cases, have been given inexactly. in some cases it has been possible to make the requisite corrections of initials, rank, or spelling in succeeding editions. i particularly regret the confusion between the two brothers, sergt. l. g. newell and sergt. f. c. c. newell, both of whom took part in the charge at langemarke. the first-named, the older brother, died of his wounds after that attack, while the second and younger recovered, returned to the trenches, and won the d.c.m. at givenchy. with reference to the names of regiments concerned in the second battle of ypres, the king's own royal leinsters have been named by a misprint instead of the king's own royal lancashires, as part of colonel geddes' command, on page . king edward's horse should have the prefix nd throughout. i offer my very sincere apologies to both regiments. as to the position of various units, it is stated on page of vol. i. that lieut.-col. watson, of the nd, was employed with his regiment on a dangerous digging operation to connect a weak point in the line on the night of april th, . it should have been added that the entire st brigade took part in this, the nd battalion being on the left, the rd in the centre, and the st on the right, the th battalion digging in the meanwhile a support trench close in rear. the omission of the description of the part played by the th battalion (colonel tuxford) in the second battle of ypres was a serious one, but this is dealt with in the course of the next few pages. the only serious accusation of inaccuracy in the tactical survey of any situation is preferred by those who maintain that the sketch of the action at festubert is wrong or misleading. i have communicated with colonel j. e. leckie, of the th battalion, who, as a major, took a prominent part in the assault and succeeded to the command of the regiment, when his brother, brigadier-general r. g. e. leckie, was promoted to a brigade. he assures me that the sketch of the two positions occupied by the canadians in their successive attacks is quite accurate, and, in fact, it is so. none the less, it is easy to see how the idea that there was an error originated. in an attempt to secure largeness of scale in the map, the area is unduly limited in its scope. the position from which the canadians attacked is not given, and the extent to which the germans were forced back is only just indicated. in consequence, the words "first canadian position" might be held to imply that this was the line from which they sallied forth instead of the first position they occupied before they advanced to the final attack on the orchard. it is a misfortune if the plan underestimates the ground won by the th and th. no further serious errors have been suggested so far as vol. i. is concerned. mistakes will no doubt be discovered in the second volume. they will be found, however, to apply to the misspelling of the names of individuals and to an occasional mistake or doubt as to the precise position of a particular unit on a certain date, and not, i hope, to any main question of the tactics or strategy of battle. the contemporary historian cannot hope to avoid these errors. he has at his disposal neither the leisure nor the information of the writer of after years. he must take his information as it comes to him and trust that rough justice is done, believing that his honest misjudgments will be cleared up when the full history comes to be written. in the meantime, he may hope to supply material of value for subsequent examination and use. but for this final judgment we may have to wait some years. in the confusion and isolation of a modern battle men are acutely aware of their own experiences, and can have little knowledge of what is passing to the right or left, while the staff behind have the same difficulty in discovering what is happening on their front. in these circumstances, the eye-witnesses themselves often disagree. even the historians of the past have not infrequently made mistakes and waged with the pen as fierce battles over stricken fields as were ever fought by the opposing hosts with the sword. there is, of course, one easy way out of these troubles; it is to have no immediate record, but to await the official publications of after time. the dominion government has, and i think rightly, declared against this policy. it has been from the start in favour of publicity so long as there was no danger to national interests. it has not concurred in the suppression of the deeds of regiments or individuals, believing that in a democratic country the greatest stimulus to exertion is the knowledge that one is known and approved by one's fellow-citizens. its eye-witness accounts, therefore, set in many respects the tone for similar publications, and it has adopted the same liberal view in authorising a contemporary story. in another respect, the dominion government has been wise. enormous sums were spent after the american civil war in collecting the official records. the units had been disbanded and the witnesses scattered to civilian pursuits all over the country, and the inquiry was in consequence laborious and expensive. the dominion government, warned by this example, have taken prompt measures to secure from day to day and week to week full reports of the movements and actions of all units, at a cost which is trifling compared with what it would cost in after years; in this way the framework has been erected for an official narrative. this is a prudent measure which will be endorsed by canadian students of history, since there is a growing tendency to demand a full and intelligent documentary record of our progress. all the officers of the canadian corps have in one respect or another contributed to the collection of these facts, and have done so often in the face of grave danger and complete exhaustion, when they might well have been excused from troubling about such trivialities as to what posterity would think about them. the members of the record officer's staff have been unwearied in collecting all the available material, and this common sense of duty has laid the foundation of our records on a substantial basis of fact. for all mistakes which occur, and more particularly for the omissions, i, as record officer, take full responsibility, for the record officer is no more exempt than others from the fog of battle. but i would point out that my task would be rendered less difficult, and the chances of error or injustice diminished, if the commanders of units would supply exhaustive diaries and reports on all occasions of importance. i have particularly in my mind's eye the case of brigadier-general (then lieut.-col.) tuxford, of the th battalion, who with his regiment conducted a most heroic defence of the extreme right of the position during the second battle of ypres. his regiment was, in fact, the pivot of the retirement, and, had it given way, very few of the st division would have come back to tell the tale. the general is well known as a man of action and a brilliant soldier, and is perhaps, therefore, though well qualified to write, little disposed to do so, and so it was long after the stress and confusion of the great conflict that i became fully aware of the part that he and his regiment had taken. yet his defence of the gravenstafel ridge was a great feat of arms, well worthy of the th division, the household cavalry, and the guards brigade, who had fought up and down that bloodstained soil against overwhelming odds in the autumn of . i hope to make all mistakes good in some final edition of "canada in flanders"; if not, posterity will vindicate any who have been wronged by accident. but in return for such confessions as i have made, i would give one word of warning to the critics. the original twelve battalions have become an army corps, and if one division or another happens to find itself involved in a great battle, it is not unnatural that the attention of the public should be concentrated on its achievements, failures, or losses, even though the others are doing their work equally well. fortunately, or unfortunately, the turn of each division comes, and the st is known by ypres, the nd by st. eloi, and the rd by sanctuary wood. there is enough glory and enough suffering to go round. my thanks are due to those who have helped in the production of this volume. to chapters ii. and iii., which deal with the period from the embarkation of the nd division at folkestone in september to the beginning of march, , capt. theodore roberts has contributed much valuable information and material. so excellent was it, that i have availed myself of his permission to insert many passages in the very words that he employed, and the canadian public will be a gainer thereby. his services were very valuable in the post he occupied at the front. the april and june operations involved the reading and careful consideration of a great mass of documents. to reduce them to a satisfactory form entailed an extraordinary effort of intense concentration; for this work i am indebted to capt. maurice woods and to capt. talbot papineau. capt. woods in particular has largely contributed to the fabric of the chapters which deal with this part of the story. in placing these services on record, i must make mention of lieut.-col. sims, who performed at the front the difficult and onerous task of preparing the weekly _communiqué_ to the canadian press and of organising the collection of the various diaries and other data with great success, and of lieut. bradley, who was indefatigable in collecting material. the kindness of the public in england, canada, and the united states called for fourteen editions of the first volume of this work within a very few months. i am encouraged to hope that the attempts to continue the narrative which i began nearly two years ago may not be unwelcome. the present volume contains no central drama quite comparable to that presented by the second battle of ypres, but i believe it will be found to present an accurate account of much suffering and much glory. beaverbrook. cherkley, leatherhead, _jan._ _th_, . contents chapter i the second division canadians in the clash of world powers--effect of losses on canadian people--tribute of the british--the service in st. paul's--"pure gold"--eighteen hundred fresh troops cross the channel--prompt action of the minister of militia--call for men from the third contingent to refill the ranks--outstanding feature of the second battle of ypres--colonel henderson on volunteer armies--adaptability of the canadians--gallantry and intelligence _v._ lengthy training--the real strength underlying great national movements--the superiority of volunteer armies--the conduct of canadian and australian troops--the landings at gallipoli--lone pine hill--recruiting for the second division--unbounded patriotism of the provinces--the commanding officers--mid-winter training--sailing of the second contingent--major-general steele--training in england--ready for any emergency--divisional artillery--a satisfactory inspection--visit of the prime minister, the colonial secretary, and the minister of militia--the great achievement of sir sam hughes--words of praise from the colonial secretary--the new world ready to redeem the balance of the old--our king, our country, our empire--special message from the king--towards the firing line--a startling incident in the channel--the historic landing-place--the french canadians in france--a dramatic moment chapter ii patrols an interval of calm--process of forming the second and third divisions--st. eloi--the sector of bailleul--work of the army corps staff--changes in the higher command--the first experience of the second division--a demonstration opposite la douve farm--dummy trenches--smoke sacks--veterans of the third brigade act as instructors--bombardment of the fifth brigade--the gallant deed of major roy--steadiness of the french canadians--new brunswickers on their mettle--heroism of sergeant ryer--canadians at home in patrol work--stolidity of the germans--inventiveness of canadians--plucky rescue of corporal may--deadly land mines--lucky escape of the winnipeg boys--a thrilling adventure in the air--capture of a german 'plane--singular recovery of a colt gun--the value of model trenches--the formation of a brigade--difficult night work--havoc wrought by storms--useful work of labour battalion--holy ground chapter iii trench raids the manner of raiding in "no man's land"--winter in grim earnest--the use of the grenade--changes in methods of warfare--the musket and the field gun--adaptability of canadians--rehearsal of each assault--good work of the headquarters staff--general lipsett--a bold decision--a gap in the wire entanglements--a desperate venture--a welcome storm--canadians in the german trenches--the exploit of captain costigan--a hot twenty minutes--german prisoners--bridges placed across the douve--lively times in ploegsteert--good work of the seventh battalion--a series of failures and a stirring success--a "crack shot"--"missing"--its significance--the german line pierced--careful work of the general officer commanding--at work in the enemy's wire--into the jaws of death--canadians disguised--the huns caught napping--captain mcintyre's report--a timely shot chapter iv formation of the third division coming events cast no shadows before--general seely's command redistributed--the seventh brigade in the trenches--heavy bombardment at messines--fortified positions of the huns battered--good work of the artillery--three privates distinguish themselves--death of a daring explorer in "no man's land"--visit of h.r.h. the prince of wales and the colonial secretary--canadians co-operate with british--a terrific bombardment--the huns establish themselves in british trenches--canadian guns aid the british--"tobin's tigers"--the tenth battalion in a serious encounter--a fierce medley in the dark--an unfortunate day--two generals wounded--a survey of the strategic position--the force of massed artillery--a new era--mr. lloyd george's work--iron lips produce conclusive arguments--a successful ruse--ingenious device of captain costigan--a swollen river aids the canadians--a hero indeed--an exchange of front--the value of salients questioned--the problem of transferring a sector--the battle of st. eloi a joint affair--description of the ground--the process of exchange described--adequate reasons for changes--a critical moment--second canadian division supports the british--six huge craters created by exploding mines--activity of northumberlands and royal fusiliers--timely assistance of canadians acknowledged--the "canadians' trench"--the enemy cleared out of debatable land--good fighting of the enemy at st. eloi--trenches filled with the dead of both combatants--the sixth canadian brigade to the relief chapter v st. eloi canadians in a serious engagement--the old german line--the new british line--the effect of the eruption--trenches little better than drains--the second division in "no man's land"--the situation described by general turner--a gap in our line--the call for additional guns--welcome relief--the importance of rear exits--evacuation of the wounded--our weak spot discovered--prompt and intelligent action by general turner--steadfast endurance--the bravery of privates smith and bowden--conspicuous gallantry of captain meredith--miscalculation--the enemy dashes through the zone of our artillery--desperate situation of the canadians--communication by telephone intermittent--confusion in the trenches--under bombardment for sixty hours--the enemy's artillery preparation begins--pandemonium inevitable--clogged rifles and machine-guns--a brave struggle for existence--a moment of doubt--the enemy gains the craters--an unfortunate mistake--unorganised retirement--precipitate action--a case for help--dilemma of the higher command--trench mortars put out of action--full story of the retirement cut short by death--a hand-to-hand encounter--failure less welcome than success--reasons for retirement only appreciated by those experienced in trench warfare--the fates unpropitious--the error of the craters--success denied though well deserved chapter vi st. eloi (_continued_) counter-attacks--obstacles to victory--the ground described--the enemy deceived--ravage wrought by heavy guns--impassable ground--schemes based upon unreliable information--forward movement ordered--the th severely shelled at voormezeele--confusion regarding the occupation of the craters--raid on craters and fails--wrong craters attacked--the canadian infantry in craters and --enemy patrols walk straight into canadian trenches and are taken prisoners--the actual situation revealed by aerial photographs--unit follows unit to certain death--the brave th--heavy casualties--determination of the higher command--sniper zacharias--a gallant deserter--imperative order to take the german positions--crater no. captured--unfortunate lack of reliable information--four privates hold an exposed position for hours--individual acts of bravery common--good work of the lewis gun team--"get on at any cost"--brave though fruitless attempts--a glorious failure--repeated counter-attacks unsuccessful--the third phase of the battle of st. eloi--a parallel of verdun--the enemy seizes a dominant position--a deadlock--general turner's suggestions--reconstruction of the old british line under general watson--the inglorious drudgery of digging--perilous position of canadians in advanced positions--carrier pigeons used as messengers for the first time--value of position problematical--superior trenches of the enemy--useful work of aircraft--historic ground--first and second great actions of dominion army contrasted--failure and success enter into the education of a nation chapter vii st. eloi (_conclusion_) the enemy's final effort to capture canadian trenches--the higher command decides to hold on--the precise position of affairs--the th brigade in inferno--loneliness of the watchers--carrier pigeons killed by shell-shock--crater no. abandoned--the enemy's lack of imagination--the power of the british army "to come again"--troops of the allies able to act without support--general watson on the state of the craters--the report of lieut. vernon--linking up the craters with the old british line--advantageous position of the huns--four attempts to take canadian craters--the huns driven back--the assault on craters and --isolated position of the canadians--aeroplanes reveal the true position--army commanders blameless--the importance of dominant ground--difficulties of the higher command--the enemy begins an intense bombardment--many casualties--permission to surrender---lieutenant myers fires his last round--five survivors--sergeant bostel's narrative--the failures at st. eloi--the garrison of the canadian craters swept out of existence chapter viii the battle of sanctuary wood moving northwards--the immortal field of ypres--the greatest of all canadian battlefields--description of the ground--who holds the rim holds the saucer--advantageous position of the enemy--sanctuary wood--observatory ridge--the unpleasantness of life and the prevalence of death--situation of the canadians--fortified posts--the german attack begins--the artillery preparation--jack johnsons--whole areas destroyed--a tornado of iron and steel--canadian trenches swept out of existence--the thunder of high explosives--german guns on the second line--the capture of general williams--tragic death of general mercer--the th canadian mounted rifles swallowed up--heavy casualties--a gallant advance--machine-guns on hill --lieuts. key and evans make a brave stand--the princess pats in the firing line--the exploits of captain niven--the gallant-hearted gentleman--a mix-up--between two fires--game until the last--major critchley--rescue of men buried alive--lieut. glascoe--canadian guns spotted by the enemy--attacks repulsed by the royal canadians--plucky deed of corporal hood--loss of sacrifice guns--lieut. cotton killed--faithful unto death--a critical position--the colours of princess pats returned to headquarters--second canadian mounted rifles move under heavy fire--the enemy loses an opportunity--energetic action of general macdonell--the seventh brigade in peril--timely support of the royal canadian regiment--general butler sends relief--the fifth canadian mounted rifles hard pressed--daring reconnaissance of sergeant jones--fifth canadian mounted rifles save the salient--heavy losses of the eighth brigade--help at hand chapter ix the counter-attack method of counter-attack--successful efforts of the french--the question of time--attacks which failed--precipitancy of main counter-attack--enemy reinforced--the assaulting forces--inadequate system of railways--failure of well-laid plans--value of armoured cables--a stroke of misfortune--uncertainty as to the enemy's positions--a test of endurance--defective communications--artillery unable to support infantry--an american officer gives a lead--the death of major stuart--observatory ridge--enemy well supplied with machine-guns--the fatal trench--heavy casualties--gallant attempt of the th battalion--the th battalion digs itself in under heavy fire--the fateful gap bridged--lieut. beaton and sergt. topham--the higher command misinformed--misfortunes of the nd and th battalions--the princess pats cheer their comrades--gallant officers of the th--main object of the counter-attack fails--the road to ypres blocked to the enemy--the rd division wins its spurs--a prospect of defeat turned into an achievement of victory chapter x a lull in the storm. the fight for hooge relief of the front-line battalions--heavy losses of the seventh brigade--good work of the third pioneer battalion--sudden advance of the enemy--the knoll of hooge--the menin road--description of the scene--the th relieves the royal canadians--heavy bombardment by the enemy--the importance of the knoll of hooge--the enemy springs four mines under the first-line trenches--a company of the th perishes--a terrific explosion--fierce fighting of the th june--effective work of captain styles--the enemy in dangerous proximity to our support line--former tragedies in zouave wood--serious casualties of the th brigade--the effective loss of the village of hooge--preparations for retaliation chapter xi the final victory canadians take the initiative--the anglo-french offensive--good fellowship between the imperial and canadian army--british brigade supports the canadians--the württembergers and the canadians--general burstall commands formidable assembly of heavy guns--aeroplane photographs--battalions massed in strength--divisional commanders--artillery pounds the german position--the enemy demoralised--the advance to the assault--intense artillery preparation--a struggle between weapons of attack and methods of defence--unforeseen developments of trench warfare--the significance of the battle of the marne--the use of gas a failure--terrific force of great guns--mr. lloyd george and the industrial development of england--the rd toronto battalion advances--the centre attack--a daring scheme to baffle the enemy--the front line moves forward unnoticed--german listening post captured--the forward rush--the bayonets clear the trenches--captain bell-irving's daring exploit--the th and the rd battalions recapture the heights--the th battalion to the charge--machine-gun fight and bombing encounters--hill in canadian hands--real gain of the day--counter-attacks dispersed--the enemy dazed by the suddenness and the success of the onset--splendid arrangement and precision of the attack in face of difficulties--ypres salient reconquered with bayonet in semi-darkness--a devastated territory--the natural green blotted out--earth churned up into masses of mud--the sight after the battle--where captains and soldiers lie--those we shall remember--defeat turned into victory chapter xii "canada in flanders" conclusion--canada will meet new necessities with fresh exertions--the military co-operation of all parts of the empire to lead to closer political union--significance of the title "canada in flanders"--french general's views--british infantry have never had to protect their own soil--devotion of australians and canadians for an ideal--they felt the empire was in danger--lack of foresight in england--prevision of mr. hughes, general botha, and sir robert borden--recrimination in war-time useless, but the feeling for closer union and more responsibility growing overseas--difficulty of organising this sentiment in a constitutional form without imperilling the liberty of the dominions--perils of refusing to do so--controversy between captain papineau and mr. bourassa--risk of reaction after the war--"admit us to your councils"--reorganisation of imperial resources the first constructive task for the statesmen of the empire appendix chapter i the second division canadians in the clash of world powers--effect of losses on canadian people--tribute of the british--the service in st. paul's--"pure gold"--eighteen hundred fresh troops cross the channel--prompt action of the minister of militia--call for men from the third contingent to refill the ranks--outstanding feature of the second battle of ypres--colonel henderson on volunteer armies--adaptability of the canadians--gallantry and intelligence _v._ lengthy training--the real strength underlying great national movements--the superiority of volunteer armies--the conduct of canadian and australian troops--the landings at gallipoli--lone pine hill--recruiting for the second division--unbounded patriotism of the provinces--the commanding officers--mid-winter training--sailing of the second contingent--major-general steele--training in england--ready for any emergency--divisional artillery--a satisfactory inspection--visit of the prime minister, the colonial secretary, and the minister of militia--the great achievement of sir sam hughes--words of praise from the colonial secretary--the new world ready to redeem the balance of the old--our king, our country, our empire--special message from the king--towards the firing line--a startling incident in the channel--the historic landing-place--the french canadians in france--a dramatic moment. the repercussion of the battle of ypres was immediately felt in canada. it was an event unique in the history of the dominion. the numbers engaged, the high proportion of casualties, the character of the enemy, and the desperate nature of the fighting made the engagement the most serious military action in which canadians had ever borne a part, and the effect upon home opinion was proportionate. the american attack of , the red river expedition, the abortive fenian raid, and even the south african campaign, were by comparison affairs of minor importance. the canadian regiment had indeed made a name for itself at paardeberg, and the , canadians who volunteered for service in africa had set a high standard of soldierly virtue in more than one engagement; but as the european conflict dwarfed the struggle of - for the empire as a whole, so the share taken by the dominion in the war against the central powers entirely overshadowed the effort she had made against the transvaal and free state. here at last in the clash of world powers a new nation had come into its own. twenty thousand canadian troops, many with less than one year's service, had, almost unsupported and wholly outflanked, held their own for days against the vastly superior numbers of the most highly trained troops in europe, who, in addition to their usual weapons of warfare, had suddenly and unexpectedly made use of a vile and inhuman method of attack. of these , nearly one-third were casualties, and the list of six thousand killed, wounded, and missing came as a shock to a public which had not been hardened as great britain had been by the battles of mons, the marne, and the aisne to the colossal sacrifices involved in war. so our land grieved her losses, and set herself to make them good. from each one of our provinces came the same voice of mingled sorrow, pride and invincible determination. the feeling found expression in the memorial services for the dead held on april st in montreal, in five churches representing all religious denominations. the flags were flown at half-mast and the troops turned out to attend the services. "the achievements of our men," said the bishop of montreal, "have brought canada into a new and more honourable place in the empire. they endured privation, they suffered greatly, and now they have paid life's greatest tribute with their lives." [sidenote: _may nd, ._] nor was great britain without her tribute. a memorial service was held in st. paul's on may nd, , for the canadians who fell at ypres. the officiating clergy were the archbishop of canterbury, the bishop of london, the chaplain-general to the forces, and the dean of st. paul's. the ceremony took place not without propriety in the city cathedral of st. paul's; for though westminster abbey is consecrated by long tradition and the immortal tombs of great monarchs and statesmen of times almost out of remembrance, yet the shrines of saxon, norman, angevin, and tudor kings are a little remote from the dead of a far-off country with which these recumbent figures were never concerned. but st. paul's possesses not only the monuments of the great soldiers and sailors who laid the foundations of the empire of to-day, but enshrines that spirit of patriotic and constrained freedom which has made the citizens of london both "the regular army of liberty" and the firm supporters of all those statesmen, from chatham to disraeli, who have combined freedom with empire. here the volunteer army of canada committed to the imperial cause would find that its dead might speak without constraint to those of an older time. in this temple of a magnificent sobriety was held the funeral service of the heroes of ypres. in the stiff and formal tombs of their age lay the mortal remains of wellington and nelson, who, if there be remembrance among the shades, might well have been present to pay tribute to men whom even they would have been proud to command. but round the walls hung a more significant witness to the fallen in the countless tablets which still hold the memories of the soldiers and sailors, now long forgotten by history, who in many a desperate battle by sea and land laid the enduring foundations of a canada which has proved itself not unworthy of its origins. among these records are those of the city merchants whose purses and patriotism supplied the sinews of war to remind us that the great material resources of the dominion are not inferior to the patriotism of its sons, and are no less a vital factor of national victory. here, then, were gathered the representatives of an empire united both by pride and sorrow. over the vast assembly which thronged the building on that dim summer evening the half-lights scarcely illuminated the interior of the spacious dome. as those lights grew and shot up into the gloom the massed bands opened with the "dead march," and a thrill ran through the multitude--one of those waves of emotion which only great occasions can evoke. the bishop of london was the preacher, nor was his eloquence wanting to the occasion. "it was on that tremendous day when french and british had been overpowered by poisonous gas that the manhood of canada shone out like pure gold. the example of these men will never die, but will remain as a perpetual inspiration to their successors." those successors were already on their way. within three days of the ypres fight , reinforcements from the canadian training division crossed the channel to bring new blood to the decimated battalions in flanders. the commander-in-chief in france at once dispatched lieut.-col. carrick, m.p., to ask for a further supply of new canadian formations. the minister of militia and defence, general sir sam hughes, did not wait for any request to deal with the instant need. he called for a draft of men from the rd contingent, still training in canada, to go abroad and help refill the ranks. the losses of the st division were thus partially made good, and it was able now to inscribe on its banners the proud name of the second battle of ypres. to the military writer of the future the amazing feature of the second battle of ypres will always be the courage and discipline shown by the canadians, equal to the best to be found in the armies with which they were associated. the greater proportion of the anglo-french armies were composed of regular soldiers in the broadest sense of the term, and it has been held by most military historians as an axiom that no amount of gallantry and intelligence can make up for a lack of prolonged training and discipline. ordinary military writers put the case even more strongly. they maintain in effect that the value of troops depends on the length of service and on the character of their training, and on these things alone. this point of view ignores the other factors which go to the making of a soldier or a regiment--physique, natural boldness and resource, intelligence, and high patriotic motives; and would claim that a body composed of naturally inferior but technically better trained troops could defeat an equal number of men possessing the qualities i have mentioned, but deficient in discipline and experience. i would submit that the second battle of ypres does not accord with the expert theory, but rather teaches the reverse. the late colonel henderson, perhaps the best known of modern historians of war, goes so far as to countenance the suggestion that had either the north or the south in the american civil war possessed at the start a single army corps of regulars, the struggle would have been decided instantly in favour of its possessors instead of lasting over four years and necessitating the calling to arms of the great majority of the citizens of the united states! colonel henderson states the matter more moderately in a passage i cannot forbear to quote at some length, because it embodies the best which can be said for the professional military point of view. speaking of american volunteer troops, colonel henderson says: "the volunteers had proved themselves exceedingly liable to panic. their superior intelligence had not enabled them to master the instincts of human nature; and although they had behaved well in camp and on the march, in battle their discipline had fallen to pieces. _it could hardly be otherwise_. men without ingrained habits of obedience, who have not been trained to subordinate their will to another's, cannot be expected to render implicit obedience in moments of danger and excitement; nor can they be expected, under such circumstances, to follow officers in whom they can have but little confidence. the ideal of battle is a combined effort, directed by a trained leader. unless troops are thoroughly well disciplined, such effort is impossible; the leaders are ignored, and the spasmodic action of the individual is substituted for the concentrated pressure of the mass.... the volunteers, although on many occasions they behaved with admirable courage, continually broke loose from control under the fire of the enemy. as individuals they fought well; as organised bodies, capable of manoeuvring under fire and of combined effort, they proved to be comparatively worthless." ("stonewall jackson," vol. i., p. ; longmans, .) colonel henderson quoted in support of his view the undisciplined advance and disorganised retreat of the federal levies at the battle of bull run, and the utter failure of the brave french territorials of the army of the loire in - to relieve paris or to make any headway against the germans when once the french regular armies had been destroyed at gravelotte, metz, and sedan. such views, by ignoring the real strength which underlies great national movements and supports national armies, however ill-trained, lead to that kind of miscalculation which lured napoleon to his destruction in spain. they spring chiefly from a study of those periods in history when small mercenary or highly-trained bodies of troops existed side by side with a population whose civic organisation and patriotic ardour were at a low ebb. such conditions occurred at certain periods of mediæval history, in the italy of the renaissance, and during the end of the seventeenth and throughout the eighteenth centuries. but even in those epochs we can notice the victories of the ill-organised levies inspired by joan of arc over the highly-trained british men-at-arms and archers, the successful resistance of volunteer troops in holland to the veterans of alva, and the contest waged by the house of orange with the levies of the united provinces against the flower of the french army led by condé and turenne. and the system of small, trained armies, and most of the lessons derived from it, were utterly shattered by the armed development of the french revolution. the prussian and austrian armies which crossed the french frontiers in were the last word in disciplined perfection. the prussian army in particular was the exact model of the instrument which, fighting against similar organisations, had made frederick the great. the french regular army had vanished with the old régime. in its place was nothing but a mass of ill-trained, ill-armed, ill-supplied national volunteers, whose only strength lay in a passionate determination to drive the invader from the soil which they had consecrated to liberty. the field of valmy decided the issue in favour of the volunteers, or, more strictly, of the _levée en masse_, and it was not till the humiliation of jena and the slackening of french enthusiasm for the napoleonic cause had given germany the national movement which was ebbing from france, that the military _rôles_ of the two countries became reversed. the armies which finally drove napoleon back across europe to abdication and elba would have compared unfavourably in technique with the old prussian regulars, but they were armed with an enthusiasm for their cause which their predecessors had utterly lacked. the lessons of history receive a startling reinforcement from the conduct of the australian and canadian troops. both were volunteer and semi-trained troops in the strictest sense of the term--and what was true of the rank and file was, with a few distinguished exceptions, true of its officers and of its higher command. both forces were confronted, the one in gallipoli and the other at ypres, with circumstances of unprecedented difficulty and danger. the landings in the peninsula and the fierce fighting at lone pine hill were certainly operations of an unusual character in war, and just of a kind, if colonel henderson's view is correct, to bring out the unsteadiness and unreliability of volunteer troops, however brave. the same is true of ypres. here we find an attack by a new, horrible, and terrifying instrument of war, accompanied by a massed assault of the flower of the prussian army; the left of the position becomes a huge gap with the canadian trenches in the air. communication between units becomes more and more difficult in the swaying _mêlée_ of the battle, and the senior officers are falling fast; supports for many hours there are none. if our semi-trained troops had broken under these combined stresses, who could have blamed them? but in the face of these almost unparalleled difficulties, the canadians showed the world an example of courage, steadiness, and co-ordinated discipline which could not have been surpassed by that guards brigade which stemmed the german tide in the first great onslaught at ypres. the truth would appear to be that although, when other factors are equal between opposing forces, training and discipline will win, yet there resides in intense patriotism, high physical courage and endurance bred of pastimes which are akin to war, and superior personality, a force which can only be equalled by the last word in highly-trained infantry. sudden and unexpected emergencies, so far from breaking the nerves of great volunteer armies, as they do those of inferior trained troops, who are confused if the drill book fails them, bring out the resources of an individuality not yet crushed by tradition. the volunteer adapts himself more quickly than a machine-made soldier. [sidenote: _april, ._] but it is time to turn to the fortune of the nd division, part of which was already crossing the atlantic at the time of the second battle of ypres. the original offer of the dominion government had been a full division of all arms numbering , . but the patriotism of the country outran the offer of the government, and the actual number of the first contingent was , men. of these, five battalions, the th, th, th, th, and th, had been left in england when the st division sailed for france to act as the nucleus of a drafting and training division. but even before the st division had left for england the dominion government was feeling its way towards a further offer. the day after the great review of september th, , at valcartier, the rt. hon. sir robert borden had cabled sir george perley that there were , men under arms in canada, and had requested him to sound the colonial office as to the dispatch of a second contingent. in the first week of october, , the offer of the nd division of , men was made by the dominion and accepted by the imperial government, and recruiting for it was started at once. the nd division consisted of the usual three brigades of infantry, but at the start each battalion was raised as a separate unit, for the purposes of enlistment and training. in fact, in some cases, companies of the same battalion were raised and partly trained in separate localities. [sidenote: _oct., ._] the th brigade was for a time under the command of col. denison. illness intervened, and the high hopes of an officer with a splendid record were completely destroyed. the brigade then passed to the command of brigadier-general lord brooke. the battalions were recruited from such well-known regiments as the queen's own (of toronto), royal grenadiers, st essex fusiliers, th kent regiment, th perth regiment, th highland light infantry, th london fusiliers, th prince of wales' own rifles, th victoria regiment, the brockville rifles and the governor-general's foot guards. mobilisation commenced in october, , and the th (western ontario battalion) was commanded by lieut.-col. wigle, the th (ontario battalion) by lieut.-col. maclaren, the th (northern and central ontario battalion) by lieut.-col. allan, and the st (eastern ontario battalion) by lieut.-col. st. pierre hughes. the th brigade consisted of the nd (french canadians), the th (victoria rifles), the th (nova scotia), and th (new brunswick) battalions. all these regiments began their mobilisation in the latter part of october and the first week in november, , but they completed it for various reasons at very different dates. the brigade was taken over by brigadier-general watson, formerly commanding the nd battalion of the st division. the nd battalion, under col. gaudet, was recruited entirely from the french canadians, and nearly all its officers and men hailed from montreal or quebec. its point of concentration was st. john's. some two thousand recruits offered themselves, and of these , were finally accepted or retained, the process of enlistment being completed by november th. the next battalion of the brigade, the th (victoria rifles), lieut.-col. gunn, was mobilised in montreal on october nd, , but did not complete its mobilisation until may th, . there appears to have been a great rush of recruits, no fewer than four thousand offering themselves. the method here was to accept , men and continue to weed them out by a process of selection for several months until the full complement of the regiment was obtained. a great proportion of this battalion came from montreal, and, like the nd, had carried out most of its preliminary training in the middle of the winter snows. the th battalion was recruited in nova scotia, including a contingent from cape breton. lieut.-col. le cain was in command, and halifax was its main centre of mobilisation. the th battalion, commanded by lieut.-col. mcavity, was recruited in new brunswick and mobilised in the first three weeks of november at st. john's. the th brigade, which when constituted was taken over by brigadier-general ketchen, was mainly raised in the west. the th battalion (city of winnipeg) was mobilised in winnipeg and the surrounding districts, and was almost entirely composed of local recruits. lieut.-col. snider was in command. the next battalion, th (north-west), under col. embury, was more composite in its origin. from regina came officers and men; from moose jaw, officers and men; from saskatoon, officers and men; whilst smaller detachments were raised at fort william, port arthur, and prince albert. it reached winnipeg on november st, , strong; and it was there able to take part in combined training with the th. the th (vancouver) battalion was raised entirely in british columbia and was mobilised very rapidly in the last week of october, . lieut.-col. tobin was in command. the st (alberta) battalion, lieut.-col. bell, was mobilised at calgary in november, and was recruited from that town and from edmonton, medicine hat, lethbridge, and red deer. the two regiments, which had joined the brigade in winnipeg on march st, were somewhat handicapped in battalion training owing to the bad weather. however, all ranks were kept hard at work at platoon and company training, and route marching was freely indulged in. the th and st, on the other hand, found the climates of calgary and vancouver more fortunate, and were able to carry out battalion training to a fairly large extent.[ ] the sailing of the second canadian contingent was less spectacular than that of the first. the st division had started from the mouth of the st. lawrence as a single whole under the escort of warships--the most formidable armada which had ever crossed the atlantic. the nd division left in single ships and without the picturesque accompaniments of the first embarkation. the units had been raised separately and were transhipped separately to their point of union and divisional concentration in england. the voyage was accomplished in safety, and nothing except speculations on possible submarine attacks relieved the ordinary routine of the voyage. a recapitulation of the dates of arrival of the various units and of the vessels which carried them would be tedious. it is enough to say that the transhipment was begun in april, , was in the main completed by may, and that the last body arrived in august. [sidenote: _may to aug., ._] although some of the units did not join up till august, the division was actually constituted on may th, , the first divisional standing orders being issued on that day by colonel dennison. on the th major-general steele assumed command. the nd division was fortunate in the man who was appointed to command it. major-general steele, c.b., m.v.o., had taken part in practically every event in the military history of the dominion since he joined the th regiment of militia as an ensign at the age of sixteen during the fenian raid of .[ ] in december, , he became inspector-general for western canada, and organised the th infantry brigade. in all these activities he was ably assisted by lieut.-col. ketchen, whose efforts were largely responsible for the success of the recruiting in the west, and who finally took over the command of the th brigade. he, too, like the divisional commander, had served in the north-west and in south africa, where he obtained a commission from the ranks. [sidenote: _april to sept., ._] the further training of the units began as soon as each was landed. up till may th those which had arrived took part in the work of the training division at shorncliffe. after that date the nd division was constituted as a separate formation, and as each battalion, battery or squadron was landed it was gradually brought up to full strength. the nd division was, in many respects, more fortunate than its predecessor. it had the best of an english summer, since its time at shorncliffe ran, roughly, from april to september of ; the high green downs above that well-known seaside resort abut on a charming country, and the pleasure of being able to go into a town was added. the men thus avoided the hardships, mud, and isolation of a winter on salisbury plain which had fallen to the lot of the st division, and they carried away to france, no doubt, a more pleasant impression of english weather and scenery. all these months they were to be seen tramping the kentish lanes, the very picture of health and vigour. their work, of course, was heavy, special care being given to musketry. from the first it was impressed upon every man that he must learn to shoot, and to shoot straight. the musketry courses began in the middle of may, and so great was the number of men to be trained, so limited the time and range accommodation available, that rifle practice went on continuously at hythe from a.m. until p.m. the th and the st battalions carried out their musketry training at lyd, marching eighteen miles to the ranges and camping on the flats for three weeks. the men, needless to say, were as keen as mustard, and their regular instructors found them apt pupils. a machine-gun school was set up. practice in bayonet fighting and the ordinary processes of infantry training went on simultaneously with musketry. the method of preparing new units to take their place in the field is, however, much the same all the world over, and by now only too familiar to millions of the citizens of the british empire. it is the old story of learning to do things under favourable conditions so thoroughly and completely that in moments of stress they are done almost sub-consciously, leaving the mind free to grapple with anything novel there may be in the situation or in the actions of the enemy. it was in this quality of rapid decision in the face of unexpected emergencies that the canadian contingent proved itself pre-eminent. the divisional artillery was far behind the rest of the formation as regards training. drafts of artillery reached england as late as the middle of august. for some time practice was retarded by lack of equipment, and even so late as october th, when the infantry were becoming used to life in the trenches, progress made by the artillery in england was poor. it stands to reason that far more time and trouble are required to make an efficient gunner than an efficient infantryman. the _personnel_ of the artillery brigades was, however, such as to inspire high hopes, and these were fully justified by the nd divisional artillery when it finally reached the front. ten weeks later the inspector of royal horse and field artillery inspected the training, and congratulated brigadier-general morrison, d.s.o. (who had returned after serving with great distinction with the st division in france), and major constantine on the work accomplished. "all ranks," he reported, "know their work, the drill at the guns is good and quiet, and good effects were obtained. i consider them the best divisional artillery i have seen on salisbury plain this year." a break was made in the daily task of training the division by two weeks' field manoeuvres in august in the valley. here the division operated as a whole and existed entirely under service conditions. the nd division had now gone through its preliminary training both in canada and europe and was ready for the ordeal of battle. it has, however, always been the habit of statesmen, leaders, and commanders to address their troops in the field before the hour of action comes. the great causes which inspire volunteer armies to supreme exertion gain added strength from the presence of the leaders themselves. [sidenote: _aug. th, ._] the prime minister of the dominion had visited the troops at shorncliffe in july, (vol. i., page ). he was followed on august th by the rt. hon. a. bonar law, m.p., secretary for the colonies, who was accompanied by general sir sam hughes, k.c.b. the presence of general hughes was significant, for he above anyone else was the embodiment of canada in arms. he had performed the amazing feat of raising a huge army in a country remote from europe to do battle for the imperial cause. when one remembers that the presence of , men in south africa at the beginning of a century only fifteen years old was regarded at the time as a crowning achievement on the part of the dominion; that the enrolment of , men for the camp at valcartier and the dispatch of the first contingent had been considered only twelve months before this review as a triumph of patriotism and organisation, who would have ventured to predict that in september, , another contingent of equal strength would be about to set sail for flanders; that by the dawn of a rd division would be in the trenches and engaged in the death grapple of june; and that far beyond this huge reserves would lie waiting in canada to create yet other divisions or replace the fallen in the field? great armadas had crossed the atlantic carrying armies beside which those dispatched by the might of great britain against washington and his levies in a day when chatham still lived, dwindle into insignificance. and the tireless energy of sir sam hughes directed the system which procured the men to meet the demand. like all strong men he has, and has had, not only friends, but opponents; but if these will set aside the controversies of the present and look down the vista of the future to an impartial and final judgment, both alike will perceive the singleness and simplicity of purpose which constitute greatness of character, and, joined to strength of will, lead to greatness of achievement. as the general looked on the march past of the nd division he might well have been thinking of the pride of work well done; but in reality his heart was with the men, who were going out to fight, suffer, and perhaps to die for their common cause; and in such thoughts there is no room for any pride except that of the aim and the race. the colonial secretary has a natural claim to address a force of imperial troops, but in this case there are special reasons why mr. bonar law should have been given a cordial welcome. he is canadian born and british trained, and therefore represents a natural link of union between the dominion and the mother country. direct and business-like, at once enthusiastic and unimpassioned, he is the natural interpreter between the newer nations and the old. the conditions of the review were not happy. a heavy thunderstorm had broken the summer weather, and the troops were wet through long before the inspection began. the men, of course, were not worried, and it struck more than one observer that the driving rain and heavy cloud-wrack behind it gave a solemnity to the occasion which might have been lost in the mere picture of green glades, tall immemorial trees, and brightly-dressed spectators. rain, after all, has about it a certain air of reality for anyone who is going to flanders. as the artillery removed itself on its own devices, the long columns of infantry, platoon by platoon, began to swing past the saluting base, where stood the colonial secretary and the canadian minister. the dull afternoon light shone on the rippling bayonets, beneath which thousands of men, superbly fit, marched by to prove to canada and the empire that the new world was still ready to redress the balance of the old. something of this seems to have stirred in the colonial secretary's mind as he addressed the officers. in simple language he told his hearers that when he watched them marching past he thought how strong had been the call of duty which had brought them there. the world knew what they had sacrificed, and that every one of them was prepared to face danger and death and to give a good account of himself when the opportunity came. he realised their courage and their devotion, and he thought also, when he saw so many young faces, that, after all, their sacrifice was not perhaps so great as that of those whom they had left behind in anxiety as to the fate of their dearest. he himself was born in canada--he was proud of what canadian troops had done and of the future which lay in front of them. "after the war things would never be quite the same again." already by an arrangement with the mother country and the self-governing dominions it was understood that when the time came for peace, the dominion governments were to have a say in the negotiations. that marked a great step onwards, but it was only a step. it had long been his hope and was now his belief that as a result of the war the time would come when the whole of the self-governing dominions, in proportion to their population and resources, would share with the mother country in the duty and honour of governing the british empire. [sidenote: _sept. nd, ._] the nd division had at least the sense that they were contributing to the making of history. nor were they without the further assurance that their efforts were appreciated. on september nd, , his majesty the king, accompanied by lord kitchener, inspected the division before it left for the front. once more, under a grey and gloomy sky, it marched out--this time to parade before its sovereign. the nd division was only following in the steps of the st, which had already received that supreme honour. but the st division had already earned the king's accolade in the field, and there was a rigid determination on the part of the nd to do the same. so, as line after line of infantry went by the saluting point, the unspoken homage was in the heart of every man: "one king, one country, one empire."[ ] [sidenote: _sept. th, ._] major-general turner (vol. i., p. ) had taken over the division from general steele, who had been appointed to command the troops in the shorncliffe area. preparations were now begun for departure. the divisional supply column had already started on september th. the real crossing, however, began on september th, , when the transport, with the th canadian infantry brigade, the borden machine-gun battery, the divisional signallers, the th canadian field ambulance, and all the motor ambulance wagons of the division, left southampton for havre. on the night of september th the headquarters staff and the bulk of the division embarked, including the th brigade, canadian field artillery. the rest of the divisional artillery, the th, th[ ] and th brigades, were left behind for a time to complete their training, proceeding later to france on january th, . eight battalions were left in reserve and absorbed in the training division at shorncliffe--the rd, th, nd, th, th, and rd, to supply drafts for the infantry, the th for the pioneers, and the royal canadian regiment afterwards incorporated in the rd division. the nd canadian division headquarters in shorncliffe were then closed. the voyage of the nd division was not to be a long one like that of the st, from bristol in the west of england to st. nazaire on the coast of brittany. the high, white cliffs of folkestone by day and the light of its lamps by night are clearly visible from the high downs above boulogne in fair weather; while the light of gris nez flashing like a wheeling spearshaft has long been familiar to the canadian troops. it was for boulogne that the nd division set out--to the harbours below the heights from which the statue of napoleon on its great bronze column still looks out, as he did all the summer of , at the white cliffs on which he was never to set foot, to the coast, too, whence cæsar first saw the almost fabulous land of britain. those conquerors of the modern and ancient worlds would have marvelled had they beheld the sailing of , men of french and british birth from the other side of the atlantic across the narrow salt-water trench, once the confluent of the thames and rhine, to defend the land of gaul against that teuton menace which both of these had overthrown. who of the millions that have undergone the experience will ever forget their first crossing of the channel in a troopship? the absence of any lights and the swift drive of the engines give the sense of a stealthy escape from the unseen perils of the deep. dimly visible for a moment is a dark shape of another transport or some destroyer of the escort. the men who can crowd below are perhaps asleep, but to the remainder, shivering a little on deck in the sea breeze, the whole air and the chopping seas seem to breathe something of danger, of the mystery of the dark, and the romance of the high adventure yet ahead. it was in this atmosphere that a serious collision occurred. the staff of the th brigade under brigadier-general lord brooke and the th battalion were aboard a paddle-wheeled steamer when a dark mass suddenly shot out of the night and rammed her amidships. the shock threw everybody off their feet; no one could tell at first whether it was a german cruiser or a friend; and had panic broken out among the massed humanity of over a thousand souls on board it would not have been surprising. but the volunteer troops showed themselves in calmness and discipline the equal of any regulars. the instant the collision occurred the troops were paraded on deck with the life-belts which had been provided for them. for a time it was thought that the ship was going down. but the men ranged on deck remained steady in the ranks, and the parties told off to loose the rafts carried out their duties swiftly and surely. the incident adjusted itself. the stranger, which turned out to be one of our own destroyers, had by a fortunate chance struck the great wooden paddle-box of the steamer, and though the latter was for a time out of control, no irretrievable damage had been done. the transport carrying the divisional staff stood by and endeavoured to tow her in, but the hawsers and steel cables parted under the strain of the rough weather. it was necessary to send for tugs from boulogne, and, finally, at five in the morning, that port was made. all through the night an escort of destroyers which had raced up at the first news of the accident circled round flashing their searchlights over the seas to guard against a possible submarine attack, but no enemy appeared to disturb the work of rescue. the remaining ships of the division, despite the heavy weather, made the passage in security, and the whole body began to pass up country to effect its junction with its comrades of the st division. the landing in france possessed one feature both of racial and historic importance. the st division had included one company of the th battalion, which was entirely composed of french canadians, and many others of the same race were scattered among the various units. the nd battalion of the nd division was entirely recruited, as has been recorded, from the french of the old province, and its appearance on the sacred soil of france serves to awaken a host of memories. there is no parallel in history that matches the picture of the descendants of the men who founded port royal and quebec under champlain in the first decade of the seventeenth century returning, after three hundred years of absence and a hundred and fifty years under a different flag, to fight once more for the soil whence their ancestors sprang. the german menace has welded the two great nations of the west on the two sea-boards of the atlantic and linked the centuries together beyond imagination and almost beyond belief. in the firing line at ypres were found side by side not only the successors of the british who had stayed in their island home and of the french who had remained in france and dealt with the british since on many a hard-fought field in europe, but the sons of those who had struggled together before the entrenchments of ticonderoga or on the fateful plains of abraham. when after the seven years' war in the empire of the west passed finally to great britain under the pressure of british sea-power and the military inspiration of chatham, france must have mourned what seemed the irrevocable loss of her sons. yet in france and flanders to-day they are risen again for her service, returned across the atlantic by that same sea-power that once claimed them, and are now warring on the very fields their fathers held, with the same courage and fortitude their race displayed in the eighteenth century against great britain. the french are of all people the most susceptible to an appeal to the imagination. one can imagine their feelings when they learnt that a whole regiment of french canadians had landed with the nd division. very strange must have been the meeting between these two branches of a race separated so long by the seas of time! gradually it dawned on these people that among the strange soldiers from across the ocean were men speaking their mother tongue--not the french, perhaps, of modern brittany and normandy, but french none the less. one must picture the joyous effort to find the common idiom and accent, the older country casting back in memory across the years to the point where the two streams of speech had divided, the younger nation of the older speech casting forward to catch the new french which had sprung up since the division. the scene is one for the painter or the novelist, and this wonderful journey's end in lovers meeting must leave an ineffaceable imprint on the memories of both england and france. dramatic moments are few in modern war, but this was one of them--a fitting pendant to that other scene when the joint memorial to wolfe and montcalm was unveiled on the heights of quebec. [ ] the divisional artillery consisted of the th, th, th, and th brigades of the canadian field artillery, and the th, th, and th siege batteries. the th brigade was recruited in toronto, and commanded by lieut.-col. w. j. brown, the th (lieut.-col. dodds) came from winnipeg, the th (lieut.-col. king) was raised from various quarters, and the th (lieut.-col. stewart) from montreal, toronto, and new brunswick. the divisional ammunition column was under the command of lieut.-col. harrison. the entire artillery of the nd division was commanded by lieut.-col. thacker, until june th, , when that officer took command of the st divisional artillery and was succeeded by brig.-general e. w. b. morrison. mention must also be made of the other units of the division. the divisional engineers were under lieut.-col. j. houleston until september, , when lieut.-col. h. t. hughes took over command; the divisional train was under lieut.-col. a. e. massey, the cyclist company under lieut.-col. denison, and nos. , , and field ambulances under lieut.-cols. webster, farmer, and campbell respectively, with col. j. t. fotheringham, c.m.g., as a.d.m.s. [ ] major-general steele's career in the army reads more like a romance than reality. having distinguished himself as a mere boy in all his examinations while attached to the british regulars then stationed in canada, he left the service, only to rejoin as a ranker in the red river expedition of . here he spent a year in fort garry, which was then "the farthest west." after a short time in the royal canadian artillery he went west again, became a major in the alberta field force during the rebellion of , having raised his own corps of "steele's scouts." he was through all the fighting of that summer, and finally broke up big bear's band at loon lake, a place in the great northern forest where no white man had ever before set foot. in , as soon as the klondyke gold rush began, he was dispatched at once to secure the frontier, erect customs posts, and prevent american miners establishing claims on the wrong side of a vast and ill-defined frontier. in he was promoted lieut.-colonel, and became the military representative of the government in the yukon. the south african war brought him immediately into the field. within the space of five days he recruited "strathcona's horse" from the western provinces; within a month he had them ready to move from ottawa--truly a miraculous performance. in south africa he saw a good deal of fighting in natal and the lydenberg district east of pretoria, notably at belfast. on august th, , he was mentioned in despatches, obtained the queen's medal with four clasps, and finally took command of a division of the new south african constabulary. at this stage he was for six months under the direct orders of lord kitchener, with whom he became intimately acquainted. in , after a period of mixed civil and military administration in south africa, he returned to the dominion to take over the command of the western canada military district, a post he occupied until december, . seven thousand six hundred men went from his command in the west to the first canadian contingent, and before he left to take command of the nd division no fewer than , men in his district had joined the colours. [ ] the special message from the king to the nd canadian division was published after the inspection:-- "officers, non-commissioned officers and men of the nd canadian division,--six months ago i inspected the st canadian division before their departure for the front. the heroism they have since shown on the field of battle has won for them undying tame. you are now leaving to join them, and i am glad to have the opportunity of seeing you to-day, for it has convinced me that the same spirit which animated them inspires you also. the past weeks at shorncliffe have been for you a period of severe and rigorous training; and your appearance at this inspection testifies to the thoroughness and devotion to duty with which your work has been performed. you are going to meet hardships and dangers, but the steadiness and discipline which have marked your bearing on parade to-day will carry you through all difficulties. history will never forget your loyalty and the readiness with which you rallied to the aid of your mother country in the hour of danger. my thoughts will always be with you. may god bless you and bring you victory!" [ ] the th brigade was formed by reorganising the th howitzer brigade from the reserve brigade at shorncliffe. chapter ii patrols an interval of calm--process of forming the second and third divisions--st. eloi--the sector of bailleul--work of the army corps staff--changes in the higher command--the first experience of the second division--a demonstration opposite la douve farm--dummy trenches--smoke sacks--veterans of the third brigade act as instructors--bombardment of the fifth brigade--the gallant deed of major roy--steadiness of the french canadians--new brunswickers on their mettle--heroism of sergeant ryer--canadians at home in patrol work--stolidity of the germans--inventiveness of canadians--plucky rescue of corporal may--deadly land mines--lucky escape of the winnipeg boys--a thrilling adventure in the air--capture of a german 'plane--singular recovery of a colt gun--the value of model trenches--the formation of a brigade--difficult night work--havoc wrought by storms--useful work of labour battalion--holy ground. [sidenote: _sept., ._] with the junction between the two divisions the work of the canadian troops in flanders enters on a new and broader phase. the meeting took place in time midway between the tempest which raged on the plains of ypres in may of and that scarcely less violent iron-storm which, in the same month of , burst in the fields of st. eloi. an interval of calm, or such calm as modern war knows, was permitted for that reunion. it is well for the soldier that there should be such intervals, for the strain of modern action, were it never relaxed, would destroy the mind and nerve of man as surely as the continuance of its shell fire must destroy the body. but though modern armies cannot always be locked in desperate conflict, the reader may not find the ensuing chapters altogether dull. he will be able to trace the steps by which the original st division added unto itself first a second and then a third, and developed into an army corps. he can watch the multiplication of the staffs, the promotion of brigadiers to command divisions, of colonels to brigades, and of majors and captains to regiments; the process of the division of labour as the specialists develop in bombing, mining, or machine-gunning; the foundations of schools of instruction behind the line; the methodical study of the arts of patrolling and raiding. he can survey, in fact, the full range of those methods by which large bodies of men carrying rifles gradually develop into a self-sufficient army far greater in numbers than the british troops that the duke of wellington commanded, not so far away, on the field of waterloo. as a stream draws into it confluent after confluent until it attains the dignity of a river, so the original canadian expeditionary force, by the flow of men across the atlantic, is becoming an army; and it is the history of this process that the next few chapters must relate. in artillery alone is the development a slow one, and here the nd and rd divisions were for long dependent on the assistance of the british gunners. the scene is laid in a sector to the south of ypres and to the north of armentières. its more southerly position in the line is marked by the greater number of spinneys, small eminences, and commanding heights, such as that of kemmel, from which the enemy's lines can be overlooked. but portions of it are a dead level, and it is very far from the well-covered hills of the real southern line. the main features are still those of flanders--the slightly rolling flat where the transparent richness of the crops which spring from the sand and the clay seems no deeper than the paint of a fresco on the wall, and the scraggy trees and ragged woods mock one with a delusive memory of forest cool and shade. as the army grows the winter draws on, and the fine, hot autumn days and brilliant nights with the moon high in the heavens behind the trenches turn to the rains of november and the mists and frosts of christmas. the ground grows wet underfoot and the air is clammy and cold. such is the winter season of northern europe, when most of the campaigners of history allowed their troops to hibernate in warm and comfortable billets. the st division had spent the later summer on a sector the right of which rests on the northern edge of ploegsteert. as the nd division came by degrees into the fighting line the canadian sector was extended northwards until the left of the corps finally rested on a spot a little to the south of st. eloi. the moves which resulted in the final disposition were not all made in a day, but it would be tedious to do more than note in passing the various shifts the new corps made with the ii british corps to the south of them and the v british corps to the north. roughly speaking, the northern line ending by st. eloi was taken over by the nd division while the st division remained in the ploegsteert area to the south. the dividing point was a little to the north of wulverghem, facing the german trenches half-way between messines and wytschaete. for the sake of clearness one might call it the sector of bailleul. the distinguishing feature of the line is length rather than depth--the precise converse of the subsequent st. eloi position. the line from that place to ploegsteert is not excessive for a corps of three divisions, but it is distinctly so for one with only two. in fact, on march st, when the whole three divisions were assembled, the frontage was occupied by six out of the nine brigades, and this six brigade frontage was throughout the normal one. but the rd division was not in full existence till the middle of january, , and in the meantime the reliefs could only be effected by such elements of corps troops as happened from time to time to be in readiness. thus on october rd, when an additional two thousand yards were taken over, and the nd division occupied our final position to the north, the only corps troops available for reliefs were brigadier-general seely's force, consisting of three regiments of the cavalry brigade and the st canadian mounted rifle brigade. the nd battalion (royal highlanders of canada) and the th battalion (edmonton regiment) did not arrive till the middle of that month, the nd canadian mounted rifle brigade till towards the end of it, the princess patricia's canadian light infantry and the royal canadian regiment till november, and the various units which finally formed the rd division were not completed till january. this necessarily entailed a somewhat extended sojourn in the front line area by the various brigades of the first two divisions. the task, therefore, of interchanging the different units was one that required careful working out on the part of the corps staff. the ordinary divisional front is held by two brigades, with a third at rest well in the rear. the business of interchanging them becomes as mechanical as that of a bridge-player opening a long and strong suit; every unit knows to within two or three days its time in the front line, support line, reserve line, or rest billets. as the units of the rd division began to arrive, matters, of course, became simpler, but in the last months of the year the corps found itself compelled to make heavy calls on the endurance of the various battalions. [sidenote: _sept. th, ._] to return to the narrative. the nd division arrived at caestre on september th. on the previous day the canadian corps had been formed. upon his appointment as corps commander, general alderson relinquished the command of the st division to major-general currie, who was in turn succeeded in the nd brigade by brigadier-general lipsett. major-general turner was already in command of the nd division, and he was succeeded in the command of the rd brigade by brigadier-general leckie. the th battalion was taken over from brigadier-general leckie by his brother, major leckie. the changes in the higher command were now for the moment complete. the duty of the nd division was to relieve the th british division in what may be called for convenience the kemmel section of the line, which stretched north from the ground of the st canadian division. as in the case of all inexperienced troops, they were given a "trial trip," and their officers went in with the th and th british brigades for a few days to learn the tricks of the trade and the lie of the land. [sidenote: _sept. rd, ._] the relief was finally accomplished by september rd, . the th brigade, nd division, took the north of the line; the th brigade the south; while the centre was stiffened by the hardened veterans of the rd brigade, st division. the th brigade remained in reserve at kemmel. the first experience of the nd division and of the new canadian corps was a curious one, as a glance at the dates will suggest. the last week of september was the time of the great anglo-french offensive, which to us spells loos and to our allies champagne. the advantage of the initiative is the uncertainty for the enemy as to where the real blow will fall. until he knows, he dare not shift his reserves. the ingenuity of the canadian force was, therefore, exercised to produce without loss of life the appearance of an attack which would pin the germans opposite to their ground and prevent them from going to the assistance of their sorely-pressed colleagues to the south. the new corps rose gallantly to the demand for theatrical effect, and a demonstration was arranged along the whole line, but particularly in front of the st division, opposite la douve farm. it must have been exciting for everyone to think out methods of simulating a bogus assault to keep the germans on tenterhooks. on the night of the th the guns opened on the enemy wire and cut great gaps thirty yards wide in it as though to open the way for the assaulting columns. dummy trenches were dug close behind the firing line to hold the supports of the supposed assailants. [sidenote: _sept. th, ._] in the early dawn of the th the germans could see great and dangerous activity in the canadian trenches, which hummed like a hive of bees about to swarm. at . a.m. sacks full of wet straw were fired and thrown on the parapets whenever the wind blew towards the enemy. that same morning real gas was covering in grim earnest the rush of the british over the stricken field of lens and to the hohenzollern redoubt. to intensify the effect, the platoon commanders shouted orders and blew their whistles, while scaling ladders and the shimmer of bayonets were shown above the edge of the parapet. our troops then opened fire, both with rifles and machine-guns. the germans, in the face of this provocation and menace, became convinced that an attack was imminent, though reflection might have convinced them that serious assaults are seldom so well advertised. they put down a heavy barrage behind our firing line to prevent the arrival of supports, and thronged their own second-line trenches. this was precisely the intention of the canadian command, whose gunners shelled the communication and support trenches severely. about six o'clock in the morning, when it was too late to move troops to loos, the false smoke thinned, and the enemy could see clearly that no attack was in progress. the fire died away; but the german bulletin announced the successful repulse of a determined advance. it is not surprising that the canadians have achieved a certain unpopularity among their _vis-à-vis_ in the trenches owing to their predilection for "slickness." such incidents, as the men know well, relieve the monotony of trench warfare. [sidenote: _sept. th to th, ._] from september th to th, following this episode, certain changes were made in the british line on the right of the canadian corps. the th division was pulled out, to be sent further south, and a new division, the th, was brought up to take its place. during the change the rd brigade took over a part of the british line and acted as instructors to the inexperienced troops of the th british infantry brigade for the space of a week, when the scholars took over from the tutors. their place in the nd division was occupied by the th canadian brigade, commanded by brigadier-general ketchen, and until then in reserve at kemmel. all three brigades of the nd division were now in the front line, and, as has been mentioned, they were extended two thousand yards to the north to complete the final frontage of the corps. they possessed in divisional reserve brigadier-general seely's force, which had been replaced in the firing line by the nd infantry brigade. the line of the st division was held by this brigade and by the st brigade, while the rd enjoyed a well-earned rest as corps reserve. these two brigades were, however, holding the frontage of three, and it must be observed once more that the forces behind the entire british line were at this period hardly sufficient to supply adequate reliefs, much less to resist a strong attack. this state of affairs was merely the result of the general lack of preparation of the british empire for the duration and scale of the land war. in the first week of october five brigades were in the front line of a six-brigade frontage, and their total reserve was four battalions of infantry and six regiments of cavalry. during the month, however, the situation was improved, since the nd (royal highlanders of canada), under lieut.-col. cantlie, and the th (edmonton regiment), under lieut.-col. griesbach, arrived on october th, and the nd canadian mounted rifle brigade, under the command of colonel sissons, on the th. [sidenote: _oct. th, ._] the beginning of october was not, however, by any means without its incidents, both tragic and glorious. on the evening of october th, while the great struggle round loos was still raging, the th brigade was subjected to its first severe bombardment. the perpetual pillars of yellow and green smoke, slashed with black _débris_ spouting to heaven, and the earth-shaking roar of heavy shells, are enough to try the nerve of the most trench-hardened warriors, and this brigade was but a week in the trenches and entirely new to the experience. in these cases all depends on the example and leading of the officers. it may be recorded here how that example was set. brigadier-general watson had been moving continually up and down in the front of his brigade, and was passing through the line of the nd (french canadians). he passed major roy of that regiment in the muddy trench and spoke a word to him. hardly had he turned the traverse when out of the sky fell one of those huge abominations fired from a trench mortar. there it lay in a trench full of men, ready to explode any second. like a flash major roy took his risk and dashed to save the lives of the rest. as he stooped to pick up the great greasy cone of steel and hurl it over the parapet he slipped in the mud, and the shell exploded in his arms. there died a very gallant gentleman, and with him all doubts as to the steadiness of the french canadian regiment under shell fire. throughout the early part of october the enemy exhibited great activity in mining on the front of the corps. it was the turn of the new brunswickers to show their mettle in a first raid into "no man's land." the fibre of the race that province breeds has become indurated by generations of contest with the elements, and has taken on something of the unbending hardness of the north. they were now to test these ingrained qualities against a new antagonist, for immediately on their front the enemy one day blew up a great mine. [sidenote: _oct. th, ._] the th (new brunswick), under lieut.-col. mcavity, was ordered to make a reconnaissance on october th, and the company commanded by major brown held the post of honour. if the mine crater could be occupied with advantage, then it was to be held by the attacking party; if, on the other hand, it was useless to hang on there, the crater was to be abandoned. imagine the infantry, bombers and bayonet men in four successive lines, straining on the leash till the artillery had finished pounding and the smoke-bombs which had been prepared to cover the advance from the sight of the german trenches had been let loose. thrilling is the moment when warriors climb their trenches to the assault. the new brunswickers were untried. but before dawn, at four o'clock, out they came from a saphead dug in advance of their trench, and raced for the crater over forty yards of open ground. the weight of a threefold decision lay upon them. major brown and lieutenant fairweather, of the th, and lieutenant mcphee, of the engineers, had to survey the ground, determine whether to hold on or retire, and guard against counter and flank attacks. one party at their order rushed to within throwing distance of the german side of the crater, where the enemy occupied a saphead from which noises of tapping had been heard, and held off assault with bomb and rifle. shielded by their efforts our officers examined the ground, while major brown extended the supports right and left of our saphead to ward off a flank attack. both advanced support parties were met by high-explosive bombs and a heavy crossfire from enemy machine-guns. in the words of captain mcmillan, of the th:--"in the face of a shower of bombs from the front, and enfiladed from both sides by machine-gun fire, the first and second lines went forward and gained the crater. after a careful reconnaissance made by the officers in charge it was found inadvisable to remain in the crater, and the order to retire was given. nor did that order come a moment too soon. just as the officers and party cleared the crater, a mine trap, whose existence had been suspected, was fired by the germans and the whole force barely escaped destruction. at this moment the ground between the crater and our trench was covered with a hail of bullets from the machine-guns of the enemy, and by flying shells and bursting bombs." the explosion stunned everyone within reach. sergeant ryer, a well-known scout and trapper in civil life, remained unshaken. "instead of retiring at once, he kept in the open, using his rifle as opportunity offered with good success, accounting--it is believed--for eleven of the enemy." after he had helped to cover his comrades, with an indifference to orders not unlike nelson at copenhagen, ryer turned to the wounded. the losses of the th had been severe. imagine a ground swept by machine-gun fire "with a noise like a giant tearing calico," the shattering crash of bombs, and the perpetual spit-fire rattle from the enemy. to live in it seemed impossible. but sergeant ryer, his fancy shooting done, tried to give assistance to sergeant cotter, who had led the first line to the german sap. finding him beyond all aid, he turned to pte. d. winchester, who was badly wounded, unwound one of the wounded man's puttees, passed it under winchester's armpits and around his own shoulders, and crawled back to the trench, struggling under the weight of his comrade. pte. daly came to his help, and between them they dragged winchester into safety. for all kinds of patrol work between the lines the canadians showed an inherent aptitude from the start. the art of woodcraft, the inherited instinct of men whose fathers and grandfathers had been mighty hunters before the lord, gave the corps supremacy almost at once over their adversaries in these contests of small groups in the dark. except for one brief period, when a particularly adventurous saxon corps developed a tendency to dispute the mastery of "no man's land," the canadians throughout the winter of ranged almost at will over that doubtful territory. they won the right by their conspicuous victories over larger bodies of the enemy in struggles where good shooting, steady nerves, and individual initiative were more vital to success than drill or routine. they excelled in the most fascinating of pursuits which modern war has left to its votaries. the sharp night air, the rustle in the grass or the trees which may mean an enemy, the stealthy crawl with the fingers on the trigger, the fitful flare of the star-shells, the rasp of barbed wire, the knowledge that life depends on one's own personal swiftness of action, wake again in civilised man the old instincts of the hunter and the hunted. life runs keen in the veins because death lurks under every shadow. in spite of their personal courage, the disciplined stolidity of the germans is hardly adapted to this peculiar kind of sport. they lacked the range of inventiveness of their opponents, and by posing opportunities of quick action they lost the initiative of attack. instances without number could be given of these small engagements on the front at night in which every regiment has borne its share. one could almost select one's instances at random and do no injustice to the general picture. [sidenote: _oct. th, ._] on the night of october th, , a patrol from the th (central ontario) battalion, in charge of sergt.-major matheson, became enveloped in a heavy fog in "no man's land" and lost its way. while trying to regain direction, pte. inwood was wounded. corporal may went to inwood's assistance, and found him lying in the german entanglements. in attempting to remove inwood from the wire, the corporal's foot struck a tin can, and the sound drew an instant volley of fire from the enemy's parapet. inwood received another wound in his body and may was hit in the thigh and shoulder. the corporal remained with inwood in the german wire until the latter's death, and then crawled into the cover of a clump of bushes close at hand. in the meantime, the other members of the patrol had been forced back to our trenches by a converging fire from the enemy. sergt.-major matheson, accompanied by sergt. norwood, went out and searched unsuccessfully for the wounded men. at dawn the sergeant-major went out again, this time with pte. donoghue. these two separated soon after leaving our trench, the better to cover the ground in their merciful quest. donoghue found corporal may in the little clump of bushes near the german wire, dressed his wounds, and slowly, tenderly, and under the constant menace of death, removed him to the head of one of our saps. on the same evening lieutenant cosgrave, of the engineers, supported by a small party of the th ( th highlanders), under lieutenant mclaurin, of the th (canadian scottish), who had reconnoitred the ground beforehand, went out two hundred yards from our trenches and blew up a heavily-wired and fortified house. the weather during the latter part of october was inclined to be misty, and this led to a considerable activity on the part of the patrols in front of the line by night, and of the digging parties behind it by day. [sidenote: _oct._ _rd_, .] but a new horror was added to life--the discovery of land-mines laid down by the germans between the lines, some fired by trip-wires after the fashion of the spring gun in forbidden woods, others electrically connected by wires with the hostile trenches. on the rd, a whole party of the th (winnipeg rifles) nearly fell victims to one of the former kind, and pte. green, who actually touched off the wire, was blown to atoms. the end of the month was marked by one or two very daring reconnaissances by lieutenant owen, of the th (british columbia) battalion, up the bed of the douve river, and by a great aeroplane battle. the aeroplane battle occurred upon a morning warm and bright with sunshine. the conditions were admirable for flying and observing, and, as usual, a german albatross took advantage of them. soaring high against the warm blue of the sky, over bailleul, over the headquarters of a division, over our brigades and trenches and back again, it glinted like silver in the morning sun. the snow-white blobs of bursting shrapnel from our anti-aircraft guns followed its graceful sweeps and curves--followed and followed, but never caught it up; and thousands of our men stared after it. but a more dramatic spectacle was in store for the watchers on the brown roads and in the brown trenches. a british machine appeared suddenly low against the blue, mounting and flying out of the west. the men in the albatross were evidently so intent on their task of observing the landscape beneath them and keeping well ahead of our blossoming shrapnel that they failed to observe the approach of the british 'plane as soon as they should have for their own good. they were heading west when they saw their danger, and instantly the albatross swerved round and sped towards home. but the british flier had the heels of the german and the advantage of the position. it circled and dipped, and down through the clear air aloft came the rippling "tap-tap-tap" of the aerial machine-guns. again and again the enemy's frantic efforts to escape were frustrated by the skill and daring of the british pilot and the hedging fire of the british guns. suddenly the gun of the german 'plane jammed and ceased; the pilot was hit and wounded; the albatross commenced a rapid descent, in which it was followed by the british 'plane to within a thousand feet of the ground. then, under heavy shell-fire from german batteries, the victorious machine rose and flew away undamaged, and the unfortunate albatross struck the earth between the front and support trenches of the th (montreal) battalion and turned turtle. the german pilot was dead; the observer, slightly wounded, crawled to our support trenches and surrendered. the german batteries kept up a hot fire of high explosives and shrapnel on the machine with the object of smashing it beyond hope of repair before the canadians could salvage it. they made several direct hits, but our men sapped out to the wreck and managed to bring most of it in, piece by piece. among the articles brought in was the machine-gun that had jammed in the heat of the fight. this was found to be a colt gun. closer examination proved it to be one of the original guns of our th battalion--to whose lines it had just made such a dramatic return! the gun had been abandoned during one of the desperate and confused fights of the second battle of ypres half a year before. [sidenote: _sept. and oct._, .] in these months of september and october great efforts were expended on improving the line. work in the front positions was done by the occupying battalions, and the troops in reserve came up night after night to assist their labours and to create new secondary positions and drive through fresh communication trenches. even the training of new units was occasionally and rightly sacrificed to the performance of this essential task. the weather was, on the whole, favourable for these operations, with the exception of three days of rain early in september and a wet week late in october. the st division, long on the ground and fortified by the experience of what good trenches mean for comfort and safety, was pre-eminent in these exertions, as would be proved by the trench-map with its continuous increase, month after month, in the black and zigzag lines of new work. each tiny scrawl on the surface of such a map represents the labours of hundreds of men, extended over many nights. second and third lines grew apace, so that a sudden attack of the enemy would still leave trenches to be held and would reduce the german bite to mere nibbles at the forward trench. the communication trenches are driven true and straight from well in the rear, and up these the ration parties toil in safety night after night under their burdens of food, water, ammunition, and r.e. material to feed the front line. these parties know well enough the difference between well-made lines and bad ones. stooping under the heavy weights as they struggle on through the dark, they will bless in army fashion a smooth and dry surface underfoot and a sound high parapet which protects them from the casual german shells which are searching for them, or the intermittent whistle of the long-range bullet humming on its errand in the dusk. messengers or stretcher-bearers with their burdens can move backwards or forwards even by day along the well-built hollow, and all those who pass are protected both from the arrow that flieth by night and the terror which walketh in the noonday. very different is the story of a badly-kept line. it finds carrying parties struggling in, hours late, exhausted by wading through mud and water, and delayed by continually climbing out and walking outside the trench to avoid impassable sections. here an unlucky shell or a casual bullet may take its toll. the men struggle back with difficulty, arriving hardly before the dawn, and with their period of supposed rest and recuperation turned into the most arduous of labours. it is not too much to say that the efficiency of a regiment or division can be tested by a comparison between the state in which it takes over and that in which it leaves its trenches. the creation of secondary positions is as important as that of communication trenches, and on this task the canadian corps worked unsparingly throughout the autumn. the disposition of a brigade is two, or on occasion three, battalions in the front line and one or two in support or reserve trenches. but in most cases even the leading regiments will not have their whole strength in the firing trench. one or two companies lie close up in support or reserve to reinforce any threatened point. the nearness of these supports is a very present help in time of trouble, and gives confidence to officers and men, who would be nervous if they knew that no assistance was nearer than a mile away in distance and an hour in time. but these lines must be dug under cover of dark, so the men toiled with the spade through the nights of autumn and blessed the dawn which put a term to their labours. their record is written on the scarred earth from st. eloi down to ploegsteert. let us hope that the corps which took their place in march was duly grateful for the blessing of a well-constructed line. [sidenote: _nov., ._] with the end of october and the beginning november, however, trouble began. the mists of early autumn had enabled some of the back-line digging to be done by day, without undue attention from the german gunners, but with the rain of the end of the first-named months the efforts of weeks began to dissolve in hours. as a sudden thunderstorm fills all the ditches to the brink, so two days' rain in the horrible clay of flanders turns every trench into a miniature mill-race. traverses, parapets, and parados, which in the summer sun had assumed the solidity of egyptian monuments, collapsed like melting jelly as the torrents tore under the foundations. men struggled waist-high in water to repair the damage, only to hear the heavy splash of falling earth and sandbags as the rain broke away the trenches as a cheese-scoop cuts out cheese. many of the communications became impassable, and parties had to walk outside them even in broad daylight and in plain view of the enemy's observers. the situation of the germans, at any rate, was no better, and our gunners had their revenge on them when they also were compelled to walk in the open. the last fortnight of november was, however, fortunately drier, and the canadian corps were able by increased exertions to make their trenches safe and habitable for the winter. the weak places in the trenches were revetted with chicken-wire, and strutted wooden paths two or three feet high, like the crossings of a swollen stream, were placed in the worst parts of the communication trenches, so that even if men's feet were in water, they had a firm foothold beneath them instead of a deadly morass. in this work they were assisted by the th (british) labour battalion, which was attached on november st to the canadian corps. a scientific system of drainage was devised and carried out.[ ] one can cast one's eye southwards from voormezeele and st. eloi through vierstraat to kemmel, and from kemmel and petit bois to wulverghem, neuve eglise to hutte and ploegsteert, and everywhere line upon line of canadian trenches score the ground like a succession of gigantic furrows. far beyond the line extends till it strikes the grey seas of the channel on the north and the snow-clad alps on the south. the labour of these vast field-works would have built the canadian pacific, and one may wonder how long these gashes in the earth will survive the passions and ideals of the men who created them. for some years after the war soldiers will be able to move freely over the ground where once the bravest man dared scarcely show his head, and say, "here we charged and here we stood our ground"; or, "it was there the captain fell." then the kindly work of nature will crumble the well-built trenches and cover them with grass, and the industry of man will drive the plough once more over the stricken fields of history, and ypres and st. eloi will become as valmy or gravelotte. none the less, certain great earthworks or craters will remain, and, like the hoof-prints "stamped deep into the flint," will serve to remind the canada of the future that a line on the soil of flanders is for the nation holy ground. these upheavals of the raw earth, covered in time by the grass and turf of centuries, may survive almost as long as the great emplacements of the bronze age which, after four thousand years, still guard the loop of the thames by dorchester, command the valley under white horse hill, and ring with a double forty-foot ditch the immemorial temple of avebury. [ ] on november th, , the princess patricia's canadian light infantry, led by lieut.-col. buller, rejoined the canadian corps after a long separation. chapter iii trench raids the manner of raiding in "no man's land"--winter in grim earnest--the use of the grenade--changes in methods of warfare--the musket and the field gun--adaptability of canadians--rehearsal of each assault--good work of the headquarters staff--general lipsett--a bold decision--a gap in the wire entanglements--a desperate venture--a welcome storm--canadians in the german trenches--the exploit of captain costigan--a hot twenty minutes--german prisoners--bridges placed across the douve--lively times in ploegsteert--good work of the seventh battalion--a series of failures and a stirring success--a "crack shot"--"missing"--its significance---the german line pierced--careful work of the general officer commanding--at work in the enemy's wire--into the jaws of death--canadians disguised--the huns caught napping--captain mcintyre's report--a timely shot. [sidenote: _nov., ._] the winter had now set in in grim earnest, as the rains and mists of november bore witness. the nights were longer, and with them stretched out hour after hour the possibility of activity denied to the infantry of either side in the long summer days. for great actions or extended movements the sodden soil afforded no scope. the sharp edges of conflict are stationary--sunk in the muddy trenches and nailed down to machine-gun emplacements. but while the fronts of the great war machine are thus held, they are never still. the wear and tear of conflict go on day and night, week after week, month after month. behind the infantry in their earthy strongholds the great guns of the artillery hide, long-sighted and tireless. some , shells a month pour out from their unseen lips--nearly double the number given in exchange by the germans. but, after all, gunnery is, in the main, an affair of daylight; the dark has given birth to the adventure of the midnight escalade. "one form of midnight activity," says sir douglas haig, in his report of events from december th to may th, , "deserves special mention, namely, the raids or cutting-out parties which are made at least twice or three times a week against the enemy's line. they consist of a brief attack with some special object on a section of the opposing trenches, usually carried out at night by a small body of men. the character of these operations--the preparation of a road through our own and the enemy's wire, the crossing of the open ground unseen, the penetration of the enemy's trenches, the hand-to-hand fighting in the darkness and the uncertainty as to the strength of the opposing force--give peculiar scope to the gallantry, dash, and quickness of decision of the troops engaged, and much skill and daring are frequently displayed." the commander-in-chief adds that the initiative has, on the whole, been with the british, and that statement would certainly be true of the canadian section of the line. the objects of such expeditions might roughly be described as threefold:--to gain prisoners and information; to lower your opponents' moral--a form of terrorism; and to kill as many germans as possible before beating a retreat. two features of the attempts of this character undertaken by the canadian corps will at once arrest attention; the immense pains taken to rehearse the actual performance beforehand and the lavish and successful use of bombs as a weapon of offence. the grenade, indeed, seemed to have passed into history with the fortress warfare of which it was the product. it has always required for its effective use an enemy tethered to his ground and impervious from his cover to rifle fire. in open fighting the rifle must always have the mastery of any hand-thrown weapon because of its superior range. now the importance of fortifications or fixed defences has always depended on the nature of the weapons employed by man. the original dyke, moat, or vallum, from the stone age to the fall of rome and the rise of the middle ages, gave the defender the advantage both of cover against arrow or javelin, and of the psychological moment for the counter-attack, sword or spear in hand, as the advancing force floundered in confusion against a sudden obstacle. it was used as the duke of wellington used the ridge of busaco and many other crests of the peninsula to inflict the maximum loss on the assailant, and to keep reserves well in hand for a counter-stroke, the power and place of which could not be foreseen by the enemy. it possessed, of course, the disadvantage of all field works of a non-continuous nature: it might be outflanked and surrounded. it was to guard against this danger that imperial rome in the second century constructed a permanent line of works, wherever nature failed in her protection, from the mouths of the rhine to the mouths of the danube, and from carlisle to newcastle, and thus produced the only parallel to the gigantic trenches which bestride europe to-day. the defence of such a system implied, of course, a great central power; and as that power sank into impotence, the fortress keep of stone, impervious to anything but treachery or starvation, arose in its place to protect the local potentate against his neighbour. but these great structures again vanished into smoke before the blasting force of gunpowder. earthworks were the next answer of the defence to the new attack, but these in their turn failed because no country had the population, the wealth, or the will to keep an adequate garrison on the whole of a threatened frontier, while an army superior in the field could outflank the defender or compel him to give battle in the open. the musket and the field gun became, therefore, the supreme arbiters of war, and sieges a mere incident in their struggles. napoleon simply carried the process to its logical conclusion. but the advance of science brought new developments in its train. first, it gave weapons so terrible that men could hardly live against them in the open field, and the advantage was to the prepared defence. this in itself would have mattered little, for metz would have fallen in by starvation though it had been as strong in guns as the russian fortress of port arthur. but science also gave populations great enough to hold with a continuous garrison, as did the roman empire, the whole line of national frontiers. with this the inherent weakness of the field work, its liability to outflanking, vanishes; and we come back once more to fortress warfare, and with it to the grenade. in all sieges the grenade is there, from the seventeenth century to badajos, sevastopol, and port arthur. the opposing trenches are impervious to rifle fire, but not to the lobbing of high explosives thrown in a curve from anything up to forty yards. neither side was quite prepared for this development, and the original jam-tin bomb with a protruding fuse lit by a match was indeed a sorry device begot of native ingenuity and urgent need, and was soon improved upon. the st canadian division showed their adaptability by taking very readily to the new weapon. the guards acted as their instructors, and the canadian corps set the pace at once by being the only troops that attached to each brigade a bombing-school of its own. the result of this earnest preparation was seen in the success of the bombing assaults in the encounters of the winter of - . perhaps more admirable, because more rare, was the careful rehearsal of each assault given to the units behind the lines. the photographs taken by the aeroplanes and the results of dangerous personal reconnaissances were used in this service, until an accurate model of the enemy's trenches could be dug and each man could go through the precise task he would have to perform at the actual moment of crisis. rarely were these ground plans found to be wrong. but the staff which could conceive and carry out such a laborious undertaking deserves to be given the kind of praise which history has bestowed on the headquarters staff of the great von moltke. they had grasped the true principle underlying all success in war. you must practise and practise the expected together and disseminate all available knowledge through all ranks, so that when the unexpected comes, as it must in battle, every man knows the situation and the probable conduct of his neighbours, and can act on his own initiative without throwing the whole plan into irremediable confusion. the doctrine, at any rate, was justified by its results. early in november the officer commanding the nd infantry brigade (brigadier-general lipsett) decided that conditions on his front were ripe for the proving of his belief that strong parties of determined troops, properly equipped and led and operating on carefully-planned lines, could enter the german trenches and inflict casualties out of all proportion to their own losses, make prisoners, and get away. these objects were fully realised. at this time "no man's land" on the whole canadian front was well in our control, and so completely so in the area through which the river douve meanders from the german position before douve farm to a point at which it cuts our trenches just north of red lodge, that german patrols seldom ventured beyond their wire entanglements. the scouts from the th battalion, commanded by lieut.-col. g. s. tuxford, reported a gap in the wire before the point of their intended attack twenty yards in width and leading to the hostile parapet. the scouts of the th, however, found that a screen of trees protected the defences before the point selected by their battalion for entry into the german trench. the commanding officer of the th (lieut.-col. v. w. odlum) then decided that such wire-cutting as was required for his share in the raid should be done by hand. the night closed in chilly with a promise of rain. the moon was frequently obscured by clouds. lieut. w. d. holmes, sergeants merston and ashby ( th battalion), and corporals odlum and babcock crept out and were busy with the enemy's wire by nine o'clock. they worked on this job until midnight, lying flat when the moon was clear, and cutting fast when it was clouded. as the task was one which caused both muscular and nervous fatigue, hot cocoa was carried out to the wire-cutters at intervals during those three hours. during that time two lanes were cut completely through the german entanglements. they ran diagonally so as not to be observed from the german parapet, and converged on the point of attack. satisfied with his work in the wire, lieut. holmes then took up his bridging party and spanned the river douve in three places. one bridge was laid at a point within sixteen yards of the german parapet. sergeant ashby and lance-corporal weir were conspicuous in this enterprise. the raiders from both battalions were to enter the german trench at . a.m., but the attacks were entirely separate as to their striking points and their control. the th battalion party, under lieuts. j. e. purslow and k. l. t. campbell, was checked directly beneath the german parapet by an obstacle which had been overlooked by their reconnoitring party. that obstacle was a trench or ditch about feet wide and feet deep, full of water from the overflow of the douve. in the water, rising from the bottom of the ditch to within a couple of feet of the muddy surface, were coils and tangles and strands of barbed wire. five men of the party fell into this ditch and were with difficulty rescued. the officers made several attempts to negotiate it, only to learn that it could not be crossed either by swimming or wading. as further investigations failed to disclose a passage across the wired and flooded ditch, the party bombed across it into the heavily-manned trench. this grenade fire, delivered at a considerable distance from the th battalion's point of attack, doubtless served well in misleading the enemy as to the extent and exact location of the threat against his front. also, it must have caused him numerous casualties. their supply of grenades exhausted, the th battalion party returned to their own line. in the meantime, the british columbians ( th battalion) had left our front-line trench by way of a gap in our parapet in front of irish farm. led by scouts along the douve, they crossed the bridges, passed the lanes through the enemy wire, and scaled the hostile parapet, and commenced operations. capt. c. t. costigan, grenade instructor for the brigade, led one party of thirteen men, and lieut. mcillree led another. these parties were composed of bayonet-men, grenadiers, grenade-carriers, wire-men, and shovel-men. every man wore a black mask, and none carried any badge or mark of identification. each bayonet-man had a small electric lamp fastened to his bayonet in such a way that he could flash it without shifting his grip on the rifle. lieut. a. h. wrightson followed with the rifle party and telephone. his command consisted of five riflemen, a telephonist, a linesman, and two stretcher-bearers. before the raiders reached the german wire a sudden heavy downpour of rain commenced. under the black screen and splashing patter of the storm our men went over the enemy parapet. capt. costigan and lieut. mcillree dropped into the trench together--on top of a german sentry crouched beneath a sheet of corrugated iron, seeking shelter from the rain. mcillree shot the sentry, seized another german, disarmed him and threw him down, then clubbed yet another of the enemy with the german rifle. he was then overtaken by his men, and they all moved down the trench to the right, bombing, bayoneting, and shooting as they went. in the meantime, capt. costigan--a medium-sized officer of the most charming manners--had dispatched three of the enemy with his revolver and bombed his way along the trench to the left for a distance of three bays before being joined by his party. the trench was heavily garrisoned, and (as we afterwards learned from the prisoners) the men had been warned by their officers to expect an attack, but all the forewarning had not forearmed them sufficiently for their salvation. for twenty minutes the canadians toiled terribly in the outraged stronghold of the enemy, by the light of star-shells from the german support trenches, under a tumult of fire from artillery and machine-guns in both lines and the crashing of their own bombs. the dug-outs were full. while our raiders made prisoners of the occupants of some dug-outs by dragging them bodily forth, and dead men of others by simply throwing grenades in at the narrow doorways, our artillery made a barrage in the rear of the invaded trench and our machine-guns searched with their fire all the roads by which german reinforcements would be likely to move. lieut. wrightson, with his rifle party, remained at the point of entry into the german trench during the bombing. he communicated the progress of the affair by telephone to the commanding officer of the th battalion, and the officer in charge of operations (capt. l. j. thomas) guarded against a german counter-attack from the rear and passed prisoners over the parapet to our scouts. the scouts took the prisoners as they came over the parapet to our bridge-covering parties; these in turn passed them back to a strong party which supported one of our listening posts, and from the listening post they were handed back to and through the gap in our front line. when the allotted time of twenty minutes was up, lieut. wrightson gave the signal for the bombing parties to get out and come back. as soon as our men were clear of the enemy's parapet our artillery dropped its fire from the german communicating roads and rear positions to the bombed trench, in the hope of catching the reinforcements which the enemy was sure to have got up by this time at all costs to repulse the invasion. it is probable that our gunners' hope was realised. the return of the raiders across "no man's land" was safely accomplished. captors and captives retired immediately from our front-line trench by the rising and waning illumination of star-shells shooting up hysterically from the enemy's bewildered positions. they moved back to safety under a brisk fire of a variety of weapons. but this condition of being "under fire" is nothing to write about so long as one happens to be far enough under it. lieuts. holmes and wrightson, with their scouts and riflemen, did not come in until they had withdrawn all our bridges from the douve. the artillery and machine-guns put the finishing touches on the offensive operation. at about four in the morning every british and canadian gun cut loose again and drubbed the german positions for twenty minutes. machine-guns spat from every grey bush behind irish farm. the woods about red lodge and all the hedges on the ploegsteert road were red and alive with flashes of field-guns and howitzers. from romarin way several big naval guns joined in the game. thus the enterprise at la petite douve was accomplished without a hitch. a handful of men of the th canadian battalion had gone into the german trench, killed at least fifty of the enemy, and brought away twelve prisoners. they had knocked parapets, dug-outs, and machine-gun emplacements about. the artillery had knocked things about, too, in their part of the enterprise, and who knows the extent of the casualties caused by our high explosives, our shrapnel, and the fire of our machine-guns? the moral of the enemy had been shaken and his nerves unstrung. fame and decorations had been won, and fresh glory for canadian arms; a new branch of the science of trench warfare had been demonstrated and proved; and against all this one canadian soldier had given his life and another a little of his blood. the next episode begins with a series of failures and ends with a striking success. a large tree felled across the messines-armentières road by artillery fire, at a point within one hundred and twenty yards of our front line, had been gradually built into a formidable barricade by the enemy. several attempts by our artillery to demolish this strong point failed, owing to an obstructive screen of large trees along the roadside. this barricade grew in strength daily. strong wire entanglements were put across its face and across the ditches on its flanks, which ran parallel to the road from our position to the front line of the enemy. the garrison moved in and out by way of the roadside ditches. several gallant attacks were made on this position before it was finally taken and demolished. in an unsuccessful attack led by lieuts. n. w. f. rant and a. v. evans, of the nd canadian mounted rifles, lieut. rant was wounded by the explosion of a german grenade. [sidenote: _dec. th, ._] a week later, on the night of december th, after a careful reconnaissance by daylight, lieut. john galt, jr., of lord strathcona's horse, and fourteen grenadiers and riflemen of his regiment, assaulted the barricade. the enemy held the position in force, and his fire was too heavy for the strathconas. our party was driven in, and lieut. galt and two of his men were left wounded on the ground. of the twelve who got back to our lines, eight were wounded. [sidenote: _dec. th, ._] on the night of december th- th, the th battalion and the rd battery canadian field artillery took the barricade in hand. preliminary work was done by our artillery on the th, th, and th. during the bombardment of the position on the th, twenty germans broke from the cover of the barricade and made a dash across the open for their own lines. sergeant mcglashan, of the th battalion, a crack shot and an opportunist, dropped five of the enemy before they could reach their parapet. the th battalion had constructed an emplacement for a field gun in our front line where our trench cuts the messines-armentières road. from a flank of the emplacement they sapped out towards the barricade. [sidenote: _dec. th, ._] early on the morning of the th an -pounder from the rd battery canadian field artillery was brought down the road by an armoured car to within a couple of hundred yards of the prepared emplacement. from that point it was man-handled into position in our trench by capt. g. v. taylor and his gun crew. attacking parties from the th, commanded by lieuts. k. t. campbell and k. a. mahaffy, and supports under lieut. e. h. latter, took up position to right and left of the gun and just outside the parapet. it was now four o'clock in the morning. on the minute our artillery opened against the german trenches with shrapnel and high explosive, and capt. taylor's gun cut loose at the barricade, point blank at yards, firing five rounds a minute for five minutes. then our guns in the rear lifted their fire from the enemy's front line to his reserve trenches, and the attacking parties of grenadiers and riflemen advanced to the site of the barricade. four dead and two living germans were found in the ruins of wire and sandbags. the living were captured and sent back to our trench. live wires were discovered in the bottom of a ditch on a flank and immediately in rear of the position. these were cut in a hurry, in the belief that one or more of them connected mine locations near at hand with the hostile trench. our men then mined the ruined barrier and retired to one of our saps. the german artillery and machine-guns now became active, and retaliated heavily against the wrecked barricade and our front line and winter trenches. during the examination of the prisoners it was learned that three wounded canadians--one of them an officer--had been passed back through messines a few days before. it was suggested more in a reliance upon hope than upon fact that those men may have been lieut. galt and the survivors from the attack of december th, when lieut. galt and two men were left behind. all we know is that his name appeared in the list of "missing"--a word which means a greater tragedy than any other in the casualty list. the dead have died in their glory, and of them we know the best and the worst; the wounded we expect and hope to see again; but the missing remain for months nothing but a supreme and torturing anxiety.[ ] [sidenote: _jan. th, ._] on the night of january th- st, , two battalions of the th canadian infantry brigade (brigadier-general ketchen), supported by artillery, machine-guns, and trench mortars, succeeded in an important attack against the unsuspecting enemy on their brigade front. the objects of this operation were the same as those of the th battalion's offensive in november, to obtain prisoners and information, to cause casualties, apprehension, and material damage. this enterprise exceeded that of our nd brigade in that it pierced the german line at two widely separated points. in their conception and plans of attack the general officer commanding the th brigade and his staff gave the same careful attention to details as had their comrades of the nd brigade two months before. the th (north-west) battalion's objective was a point on the northern side, and that of the th (vancouver) battalion a point on the southern face of the spanbroekmolen salient. here, a little to the south-east of kemmel and about the centre of the canadian line, the german line runs sharply in to a western thrust over some , yards, and the attacks were like the jaws of pincers gripping the base of the protuberance at that distance from each other. the two objectives were about eleven hundred yards apart. the wire in front of these selected points was cut solely by hand, as one of the chief features of this attack was to dispense with the customary artillery preparation and so take the enemy by complete surprise. the operation, as has been stated, consisted of two widely separated and individual attacks, delivered simultaneously, both maintained in the hostile trenches for the same number of minutes and simultaneously withdrawn. scout-sergeant turner and corporal conlin, of the th battalion, worked in the enemy's wire from p.m. to . in the morning, and stayed there until joined by the attacking party, with whom they entered the german trench at about twenty minutes to three. the enemy's entanglements had been strongly reinforced during the previous day, under cover of a heavy fog; but turner and conlin stuck to their difficult and dangerous task and completed it without an error. the raiders of both battalions advanced from their positions of readiness in "no man's land" at half-past two sharp. the th battalion party, thirty strong, commanded by capts. d. e. macintyre and k. c. taylor, lost a few minutes in negotiating the trunk of a fallen tree, and were still strung out in the german wire when sounds of exploding grenades and an increased flaring of star-shells told them that their comrades of the th were already in violent touch with the enemy. there was no time to lose. lives hang on fractions of seconds in such work as this. the two captains and the two tireless wire-cutters were still in the lead. together they crawled up the sloping face of the big german parapet, and each threw a grenade into the crowded trench. four explosions followed. sentries shouted and fired their rifles. capt. macintyre accounted for one of the sentries with the second shot of his automatic. then the four leaders jumped down into the -foot-deep trench, into the midst of confusion and rage and fear. the other raiders followed them with a rush. here were thirty canadians with blackened faces[ ] and armed with sudden death in a trench full of germans. many of the germans were "standing to," many had but then scrambled from their dug-outs, their blankets still about them, and their feet still unbooted. make the picture for yourself, with the help of these extracts from capt. macintyre's report:-- "the trench seemed full of men running both ways.... almost at once corporal conlin fell at my feet shot through the head. behind conlin was a hun. i shot him through the stomach. the noise was frightful, and i could not tell where it was coming from. the flares made it nearly as light as day. i was knocked down by something once, but don't know what it was. "after six minutes i blew the horn, and all the men heard it and the squads retired to the point of entry. capt. taylor held the right and sergeant cameron the left. i asked them if all their squads were out, and they said 'yes.' then i told them to 'beat it,' and we all jumped." the casualties suffered by this party were two men killed and two officers and eight men wounded. capt. taylor, though wounded in the leg while in the very act of invading the trench, did terrible execution. it is claimed for him that he killed fourteen of the enemy, shooting some and bayoneting others. he was wounded in eight places, but returned to our lines unaided when the affair was over. the majority of our casualties were caused by a machine-gun which enfiladed the invaded trench. this gun was fortunately put out of action by a bomb from our trench-mortars just before the retirement commenced. the th battalion party brought out no prisoners, but inflicted thirty-nine casualties by actual count. while the north-westerners were thus engaged at peckham, the raiders of the th battalion were as busily employed in their chosen place of trench at spanbroekmolen. the officers in charge of the vancouver battalion's assault were lieuts. g. i. gwynn, n. e. o'brien, and l. a. wilmot. lieut. wilmot and his men cut the wire, then acted as guides to the others, and accompanied them into the trench. the leading men of the right and left parties went over the parapet together, using the loophole of a machine-gun emplacement as a step. sergeant dungan bayoneted the first two sentries encountered by the left party. lieut. o'brien entered a dug-out and captured one of its inmates. a machine-gun opened fire on the raiders, but the gunner was promptly shot by lieuts. wilmot and o'brien and the gun and the dug-out of the crew were bombed. other dug-outs were also bombed. the right party, on the other flank of the central machine-gun emplacement, did equally fine execution. the work of lieut. gwynn was conspicuous. things had gone very well with the raiders thus far, when lieut. wilmot was wounded by a grenade. in spite of his injury he kept his head clear and a grip on the situation. seeing that a number of prisoners had been taken and that the alarm of the enemy had become general, he ordered a retirement, and then signalled to our artillery to open fire. the return to our lines was accomplished without accident. the th battalion killed at least twenty of the enemy, did considerable damage to dug-outs and machine-guns, and brought back three prisoners. lieut. wilmot, sergeant kirkland, and two men were wounded. these two successful raids illustrate not inaptly the various phases through which advance patrol work has gone. the first stage, as soon as trench warfare set in, was the casual encounters of hostile parties in the dark. the second was the organised trench raid by night, in which the canadians led the way. the last stage was reached in midsummer, before the canadians fought on the somme, when the th ontario battalion made a most successful daylight rush into the enemy trenches, led by lieuts. b. o. hooper and s. s. burnham. they disposed of forty or fifty of the enemy, and after remaining in the enemy's lines for five minutes returned with very valuable information as to the enemy's dispositions. and these, as i have said, are instances, chosen almost at a venture, to show in what manner and under what conditions we go raiding in "no man's land." [ ] lieut. john galt was taken prisoner, but died of his wounds very soon afterwards. he was buried by the enemy, and the words "here lies a british officer" inscribed on his tomb. [ ] the one thing most likely to be seen by the flare-lights sent up by the enemy is the face of an opponent. those advancing in "no man's land," therefore, blacken their faces to avoid being seen. chapter iv formation of the third division coming events cast no shadows before--general seely's command redistributed--the seventh brigade in the trenches--heavy bombardment at messines--fortified positions of the huns battered--good work of the artillery--three privates distinguish themselves--death of a daring explorer in "no man's land"--visit of h.r.h. the prince of wales and the colonial secretary--canadians co-operate with british--a terrific bombardment--the huns establish themselves in british trenches--canadian guns aid the british--"tobin's tigers"--the tenth battalion in a serious encounter--a fierce medley in the dark--an unfortunate day--two generals wounded--a survey of the strategic position---the force of massed artillery--a new era--mr. lloyd george's work--iron lips produce conclusive arguments--a successful ruse--ingenious device of captain costigan--a swollen river aids the canadians--a hero indeed--an exchange of front--the value of salients questioned--the problem of transferring a sector--the battle of st. eloi a joint affair--description of the ground--the process of exchange described--adequate reasons for changes--a critical moment--second canadian division supports the british--six huge craters created by exploding mines--activity of northumberlands and royal fusiliers--timely assistance of canadians acknowledged--the "canadians' trench"--the enemy cleared out of debatable land--good fighting of the enemy at st. eloi--trenches filled with the dead of both combatants--the sixth canadian brigade to the relief. [sidenote: _dec., ._] the main event of the new year was the formation of the rd division. authority to create this force had been received in the last week of december, and at the same time the th and th brigades had come into being. the th brigade, which was commanded by brigadier-general macdonell (who handed over the command of lord strathcona's horse, r.c., to lieut.-col. c. m. nelles, c.m.g.) consisted of the princess patricia's light infantry (lieut.-col. c. h. buller), the royal canadian regiment (lieut.-col. c. h. hill, d.s.o.), the nd royal highlanders of canada (lieut.-col. g. s. cantlie), and the th (edmonton) canadian battalion (lieut.-col. w. a. griesbach), all of which had been acting for some time as corps troops. the th brigade was made up of the six canadian mounted rifle regiments, which had up till now been part of seely's force. they were made into four battalions of infantry, known as the st (lieut.-col. a. e. shaw), nd (lieut.-col. c. l. bott), th (lieut.-col. s. f. smith), and th (lieut.-col. g. h. baker) canadian mounted rifles, and placed under the command of brigadier-general williams. early in january the rd division was constituted out of these two brigades, and major-general mercer was appointed to the command. coming events cast no shadows before, and there was no fore-knowledge of the ill-luck which was to attend one of the distinguished officers, and the death in action which awaited the other. all seemed fair for the prospects of the rd division, which was within a few months to pass through the most terrible ordeal that the canadians had yet sustained. the creation of this new force scattered brigadier-general seely's command.[ ] the canadian mounted rifles, as we have seen, were incorporated in the rd division, while the cavalry brigade was removed altogether from the corps command. the nd king edward's horse was dispatched on january th to general headquarters, and the remaining units, the royal canadian dragoons, strathcona's horse, and the royal canadian horse artillery, were attached on january th to the st indian cavalry division at friville.[ ] general seely commanded a brigade holding the front trench line since may of , and it was unfortunate that the fact of his commanding a cavalry brigade compelled him to abandon the advanced command on the redistribution of the cavalry units. in the opinion of the higher command and of all canadian officers who came in contact with him, he exhibited conspicuous intelligence, coolness, and courage in a degree which qualified him for high command and a distinguished military career. [sidenote: _jan th, ._] by the end of the first week in january the th brigade was able to begin its share of trench duties, and took over from the st brigade of the st division. their first turn of duty as a brigade was a long one, lasting for full three weeks. the month was, on the whole, a quiet one until the trench raid of january th/ st, described in the previous chapter. the weather turned from wet to fine and cold, and the most persistent reminders of winter were the occasional fogs, which settled down like white blankets on the flats and enabled parties to move about with impunity in the day-time. the artillery bombardment on both sides formed the main feature of the month. although the corps was not able to keep up the great superiority over the germans in the number of shells fired in november and december, very heavy bombardment of the trenches in front of messines took place. the enemy, perhaps in reply, shelled the front trenches somewhat severely. on the whole, however, their bombardments were characterised by the usual features--a wide dispersement of shells over a large area, dranoutre being heavily bombarded during the early part of the month. this kind of attack is annoying rather than serious. the policy of the canadian gunners was very different. it was to concentrate on objects of real importance. organised bombardments of sections of the enemy's front were carried out by the artillery, and the combination of the heavy batteries and field guns was most effective. german mounds and fortified positions near the front lines were battered in, and all machine-gun emplacements were carefully registered in case of sudden emergencies. it is the custom of the enemy to occupy farm buildings as redoubts, and two direct hits were obtained by the gunners at la douve farm on january th. germans were seen scattering as the result of these shots, and were instantly pursued by shrapnel. it is necessary to lay some stress on the work of the artillery, which is liable to suffer neglect; only the infantry can know the relief of hearing the guns roaring over their heads. [sidenote: _jan. th and th, ._] throughout the month of january considerable liveliness in patrol work was kept up, and if encounters between parties were infrequent, this fact was due to teutonic caution. some encounters, however, did take place, and there was fighting on the th and th on the front of the rd infantry brigade. [sidenote: _jan. nd and rd, ._] on the night of the nd and rd the th battalion (winnipeg rifles) made a careful reconnaissance of their front--a task in which privates bole, gunn, and matkin, scouts of the regiment, particularly distinguished themselves in a short, severe encounter with the enemy. here again the lack of automatic pistols and sufficient ammunition proved a handicap in the struggle. the incidents in which good work was done are almost too numerous to mention, but a particular interest attaches to the death of lieut. owen, of the th british columbia regiment, well known as a daring explorer in "no man's land." lieut. owen and three of his men encountered some fifteen germans in the sudden and nerve-breaking way which characterises a patrol battle. a fierce fight with revolvers and bombs ensued, and four germans at least were seen to fall; then the bombs ran out, and a retreat became imperative. the officer ordered the men to retire, saying, "i am coming right after you," and remained, covering the retreat by revolver fire. he never returned, and when his party went back to seek him they found him lying in the wet ground with a bullet through his head. the end of the month, which passed in comparative quiet until the assault of the night of the th, described in the previous chapter, was chiefly marked by the arrival of two distinguished visitors. [sidenote: _jan. th, ._] on january th h.r.h. the prince of wales spent a day with the canadian corps, surveying the whole field from the eminences behind the lines and passing down a portion of the front trenches. he met and conversed with the various brigadiers and a few of the regimental commanders. on the th, mr. bonar law, secretary of state for the colonies, whose interest in the corps is well known, arrived, and addressed the st (alberta) battalion. [illustration: map--ypres-armentières area] [sidenote: _feb., ._] in february began that period of close co-operation with the v british corps which was destined to last for nearly seven weeks owing to the persistent fighting at the bluff and about the mound of st. eloi. so long is the range of modern artillery that the guns of neighbouring corps and divisions can be of the greatest assistance to the actual combatants by firing slantwise into the enemy positions around the field of action, while an infantry demonstration may hold up his reserves. [sidenote: _feb. th, ._] about three o'clock in the afternoon of february th a terrific bombardment was directed against the british trenches north of the bluff, a high artificial mound covered with trees immediately north of the ypres-comines canal; a series of mines was exploded in the neighbourhood of hill and in the direction of hooge and of sanctuary wood. as the dusk fell several assaults were delivered along the line defended subsequently by the canadians on the day of june nd. the majority of these assaults were repelled, but the germans broke through the bluff north of the canal, and succeeded in establishing themselves in the british front trenches, where they stayed until they were expelled on march nd. this action was the beginning of many woes to both combatants. the moment the trouble started the v (british) corps called up the canadians and asked for the help of their guns. this was readily accorded, and throughout the evening of the th and the day of the th a combined anglo-canadian shoot was directed with success on the german positions in front of the bluff. [sidenote: _feb. th, ._] further relief to the british was afforded by an extension of our line on the night of february th, yards to the north, as to set free the northumberland fusiliers. this task was given to the th brigade, and brought it into the trenches which flanked the line on the right of the st. eloi position, and from which the final relief of the northumberlands was made in the battle of the first week of april. the th (vancouver, "tobin's tigers"), supported by the th (north-west), took over this additional task. patrol fighting went on steadily all this time. early in the month of february a particularly exciting action was fought between a large party of the th (western canada) battalion and an equally numerous party of germans. it had been decided to creep up, cut the german barbed wire, and bomb their front-line trenches. lieut. kent and sergeant milne, of the th, with two privates, succeeded in cutting the wire, and were joined by a column of fifty men. while waiting immediately in front of the german trench for the best opportunity of bombing the enemy positions, a patrol of thirty or forty germans stumbled across them from the flank. a fierce medley in the dark followed, the germans attacking with bombs and revolvers, and our men with grenades, bayonets, and knobkerries.[ ] the enemy machine-guns took the alarm and fired blindly into the scrimmage. eventually the german patrol was dispersed with heavy casualties, and the th returned with five prisoners. [sidenote: _feb. rd, ._] the th was an unfortunate day for the canadian corps. brigadier-generals macdonell and leckie were both hit by stray bullets and seriously wounded during their tour of the trenches.[ ] on the rd, the th brigade of the rd division was formed. it consisted of the rd canadian battalion, under lieut.-col. r. mcd. thomson; nd, under lieut.-col. a. w. hay; th, under lieut.-col. h. a. genet; and th, under lieut.-col. f. a. de l. gascoigne, and was placed under the command of brigadier-general f. w. hill, d.s.o. the rd division had now its three brigades; and with a sharp brush between the nd (royal highlanders of canada) battalion and some over-adventurous germans, the month came to a close. the canadian corps was now approaching the second crisis in the history of its various divisions; this was to lead them through three months of continuous fighting steadily northwards across the blood-stained fields of st. eloi and hooge until they almost reached the scene of the second battle of ypres. to grasp the inner meaning of these movements and the consequences to which they led, it is essential to take a wider survey of the strategic position which the allied commanders had to face on the western front. two great bodies of the german reserves were known to be in existence, the first opposite verdun, the second in the region of the northern british line. whether this last concentration was a defensive measure against a possible british advance, or portended a third german assault on the ypres salient, could not in the month of march be known for certain. one fact at least was clear. the persistent and violent offensive against verdun which marked that month made it incumbent on the british armies to come to the assistance of the french. this was done in two ways. a fourth army was assembled out of the growing hosts in france, and the arras sector of the line given into its charge--a step which released a french army for the heroic contest before verdun--while a series of attacks was delivered from the original british line, any of which might have been the beginning of an assault on a larger scale. the actions of the bluff, of the mound of st. eloi, and of vimy, were designed to show the enemy that in the northern line we were "ware and waking," and to pin the enemy reserves to the ground. nor, it may be added, were the germans slow to take up the challenge. [sidenote: _mar. nd, ._] indeed, the whole series of actions with which the remainder of this volume is concerned began with the german assault on february th on the bluff, when the troops of the v british corps, who held the line on the left of the canadians, were driven from the position on the bluff and the front-line trenches to the north. preparations had been made for the recapture of the lost positions, and the advance took place on march nd. the divisional artillery of the st and nd canadian divisions[ ] co-operated that day with the gunners of the v british corps in a terrific bombardment of the ground to be taken. as a result of this fire a large section of the german front-line trenches and communication trenches north of the canal was reduced to ruins, and the successful assault of the british on the morning of march nd met with little resistance. the lost ground was regained and consolidated. this action was one of the first to demonstrate the increased blasting force of massed artillery, which became the standard weapon of offence on either side during the battles of the next five months. the continued piling up of munitions and guns during the preceding twelve months had begun to modify profoundly the tactics of the western front, and it would be alike an error and an injustice to judge the performance of the infantry in the spring of by the standards of the previous year. the old british idea of a solid and immovable front line held almost entirely by the fire of a rifleman to a yard of trench, was beginning to give way in the stress of circumstances and the example of the french. a line more lightly held by the aid of machine-guns and wire entanglements, and a greater disposition to yield or gain ground, were the signs of a new era. but chiefly the enemy's guns were our teachers, for their iron lips pronounced very conclusive arguments. however, if the main work of the canadians in the attack on the bluff lay with the canadian gunners, the infantry were by no means idle. they assisted the v corps by a demonstration on their front, and by massing three battalions of the th infantry brigade behind their left flank to come to the aid of the british in the event of a counter-attack. all arms contributed to the frontal demonstration. in the early morning of march nd smoke-bombs were loosed from the trenches as though in prelude to an attack, and a great blare of musketry and machine-gun fire roared up and down the line. the germans sprang to arms and hurried supports up their communication trenches into their lightly-held front line. it was for this that our field guns had been waiting, and with continued bursts of fire they ranged the denser masses opposite as they came crowding into the trenches. the retaliation of the german artillery was singularly ineffective, probably because their attention was now wholly occupied with the line further north. this operation produced one striking incident of ingenuity in warfare. at one point in the corps position the stream of the douve, flowing rapidly with the winter rains, ran through our trenches and disappeared into the german line. this fact suggested to capt. costigan, d.s.o., of the th battalion, a new method of alarming the hun. this enterprising officer suggested that a raft loaded with high explosive might be floated down the current and exploded in the enemy's lines. the stream was, however, narrow, and, as anyone who has thrown sticks into a river will remember, the tendency of a floating object is to get stuck on some obstacle or corner on the way down. capt. costigan therefore proposed to accompany the raft himself until it was within certain reach of the objective. he and corporal witney came out of the trenches and carried the raft to the river. after floating down some distance, he found the stream continually obstructed by low overhanging boughs, and to avoid any chance of failure he continued to pilot his dangerous convoy to within thirty yards of where the german barbed wire, stretched across the channel, barred any further progress. here he waited in the water until the light of a flare gave the signal for the general demonstration. the fuse was then lit and the load shot fair at the enemy's obstruction from a distance of thirty yards. the explosion was a very fine one, and so perturbed the gentle soul of the enemy that he fired off several concealed machine-guns, the existence of which the th battalion had long suspected but the location of which they had never known. writing in cold blood, it is easy to represent such a feat of arms as ordinary, but when one considers what the action really entailed, the exploit was heroic even as we count heroism to-day. it was something which an ordinary man could not have done and could not reasonably have been expected to do. the long stumble in the dark with sudden death in one's hands, the plunge into the icy stream, the physical struggle with the sweeping boughs and jutting bends, the swift drift down towards the enemy, and the calm waiting in the cold, dark water for the given signal, serve to show that the most romantic deeds of the hero of fiction can be matched and mastered in the battlefields of to-day. that the whole demonstration was a success is witnessed by the following telegram from the v corps:-- "sincere thanks for your most valuable co-operation. should enemy renew counter-attack to-morrow at dawn or later, hope you will again help us." [sidenote: _mar., ._] early in march orders were issued by the nd army commander for the exchange of fronts between the v and the canadian corps. the sector held by the v corps runs from the ypres-roulers railway just north of hooge down south as far as st. eloi. it constituted the southern half of the ypres salient, and was by common consent about the worst portion of the whole british line. in the autumn of during the first battle of ypres, it had been heroically defended by the guards brigade, the household cavalry, and the th division, seldom mustering more than , men at any given time, against the successive attacks of two german army corps and of the prussian guard lasting for a month. the v corps had now held it for little short of a year, and had during that period incurred heavy losses. nor is this to be wondered at when one considers the number of general and minor actions which had taken place in the area since the great attack on hill in april, . the trenches round hooge had continually changed hands. fierce divisional actions had been fought there on june th, july th, and august th, ; while later in the autumn an unsuccessful british assault had been launched against the bellewarde lake line. of minor actions there had been no end, while the great bulge of the salient rendered every trench in it liable to that most deadly of dangers, a direct lateral fire from heavy guns placed to the south or to the north. salients are valuable as examples of the british soldier's willingness to die rather than to live. they make a great many widows and orphans and splendid material for patriotic speeches. for the rest, their utility may be questioned--and has been. [sidenote: _mar., ._] the transfer of a sector from one army corps to another is one of those operations which the layman thinks of as done by a single sweeping stroke of the commander-in-chief's pen. in reality, it is a slow and intricate process--nothing less than the gradual interchange of all the population of two countrysides and all the means of feeding and clothing them--a wave of immigration and emigration affecting more than , people, and this has to be carried out with the minimum of disturbance, since the inhabitants of the two areas must be ready to man the trenches and fight a battle at any stage in the process of change. the staffs are in the position of two householders who are exchanging residences and moving their families under the immediate threat of a burglary at either or both houses. if it is done on too large a scale, there will be confusion, but, on the other hand, every day that the move is protracted, there will be mixed staffs and units in the same battle line and sector--a state of affairs not conducive to the efficient management of a sudden crisis. far behind the front line trenches the ramifications of the services extend; for though a brigade may be holding a frontage of a couple of thousand yards, its section runs back through miles of land crowded with reserves, with light and heavy artillery, with transport services, hospitals and depots, and all the paraphernalia of modern war. the trench line is like a tooth, the depth of the roots of which is only discovered when one tries to pull it out. to the staffs, at any rate, the period of movement is one of strain and anxiety, and the total changes were not completed under a period of three weeks, during which time both corps were engaged in heavy and continuous fighting. the battle of st. eloi was indeed a joint or rather a successive affair carried on by units of two corps, the canadians and the v (british). [sidenote: _mar. th-april th, ._] the moves began as early as march th, when the heavy divisional artillery, supporting the rd canadian division, were taken north, and were completed by the night of april th. the corps command of the two sections was not handed over till april th. a glance at the map will show the problem which confronted the corps commanders. the v corps held exactly the southern curve of the ypres salient from almost due east of the town. the left of its th division rested on bellewarde beek, and its line continued along the rise through sanctuary wood to a high point south-east of the extremity of zillebeke lake, known as mount sorrel. we shall have occasion later to study this ground with more particularity, for the force which holds it holds ypres in the hollow of its hand. here the salient headed back violently, running almost due east and west, took a southerly turn again, crossed the railway to comines, passed hill of glorious and tragic memory, and struck the ypres-comines canal by the bluff. this was the sector of the th british division--south again was the rd british division holding what was destined to be the field of st. eloi from the canal to bois quarante. at the village of st. eloi there was another of these violent turns of the line which leave the opposing forces facing each other due north and south. the total length of this corps sector was about six miles, but the curves of the trenches and the ground would make the actual number of yards to be held considerably greater. it was, roughly, broken up into three sections of two miles each belonging to a single division. with bois quarante the salient of ypres came to an end. the canadian corps line to the south reaching to ploegsteert has already been described. it was devoid in the main of salients and had become increasingly peaceful since the fierce fighting in the streets of comines and wytschaete in the autumn of . it was held, when the rd canadian division was formed finally in the middle of february, by three divisions on a frontage of six brigades. the rd division had no line of its own, but sent its brigades up indifferently to relieve those of the other two divisions. it was therefore selected as the first of the infantry formations for transference to the new canadian front. a moment's consideration will make it clear that to exchange two bodies of men in the front line would mean an open gap in the defence during the period of the full relief. as in the game of "fox and geese," though the metaphor is perhaps not very complimentary to the enemy or ourselves, a single hole in the ranks lets the fox through. the change can therefore only be made in two ways. it can be begun by moving the reserve troops of the two corps into each other's positions and pushing them up into the front line in succession until the process is complete, or by a swifter and more direct method of marching the reserve division of one corps to relieve a front line division of the other, this division in turn becoming a temporary reserve for its neighbouring corps. in accordance with the former plan, the rd canadian division was taken up in the third week of march and took over from the th division in the hooge-zillebeke sector, while the th division came back to the rest area of the canadian corps, whence they in turn displaced a front line canadian division. the process once set on foot by the initial move becomes more or less automatic. but it is necessarily slow. it would be in the last degree inadvisable and dangerous to substitute larger bodies of troops in a single night and place each on ground with which it is thoroughly unfamiliar. even the ordinary visits of officers to their new trenches a day or so in advance would be no protection against confusion in the dark on ground unknown to a whole brigade or division--and this lesson was written in letters of blood in the first week of april over the stricken field of st. eloi. the rd division move was therefore made by degrees. it began on march th with two battalions of the th brigade to the v corps camp behind the lines, while two british battalions took their place in canadian reserve. the next day the exchange of the remainder of the brigade was effected, while in the course of the night the two original canadian battalions took over their share of the british trenches. on the day of the th the entire th canadian brigade marched from its own reserve area into that of the v corps near poperinghe, and went into the firing line the following night. the th brigade followed them on the rd, and became the supporting brigade of the whole division. the relief of the north section of the line was now complete, and the divisions changed on the night of the st. in the meantime as each british unit was pulled out it came swiftly and surely into the place of the canadians. the change can be put most simply in a mathematical form. if _a_ represents the british in the trenches, _b_ the british in reserve, _c_ the canadians in the trenches, and _d_ the canadians in reserve--_b_ and _d_ change places. that is the first move. on the following day or night approximately _d_ relieves _a_, and _b_ relieves _c_ in the trenches. that is the second move. there remains only the substitution between the two units _c_ and _a_ and the full relief has been accomplished, and each party stands complete within its new area. the process in a corps will be slow, since the unit of exchange will be only two battalions out of thirty-six, or at most of a brigade. [sidenote: _mar. rd- th, ._] thus the th british division as soon as the rd canadians had got into place, began to relieve the st canadian division. on the night of the rd two of their battalions took the lines of the two battalions of the rd canadian infantry brigade in the trenches, and the change was finished by the night of the th. next came the turn of the st canadian brigade, which was out by march th- th. [sidenote: _mar. th- th, ._] on that night the th british division began to move to the rear as the leading columns of the st canadian division came up to take its place. the process was continued until the nd canadian division in its turn stood in the trenches of the rd british division. the length of time and the order of the moves are best indicated by the days in which the various high commands took over their new responsibilities. the rd canadian division took over from the th british division, as has already been mentioned, on march st. the th british division from the st canadian division on march th, giving ten days for the double change. the st canadian divisional staff assumed responsibility for the area of the th division on the night of april rd, four days later. the th relieved the nd canadian division on the same night, while the nd canadian division did not relieve the rd british till the fatal night of april th- th. reading the map from north to south, we find the th and th brigades holding the front of the rd canadian division; the rd and st brigades in the same order as that of the st division, while the th brigade covered the whole frontage of the nd division opposite st. eloi. the corps commanders changed their functions on april th, and by the th- th the v corps were safely ensconced in the canadian area. but in describing this move in its completeness we have run ahead of history. while the columns of weary men were tramping through the dust of the day, the delicious cool of the evening, and the chilliness of the night march, and the great batteries were being slowly removed from position to position, an event had occurred which added greatly to the difficulty. if the transfer of a corps can be done in peace so much the better for all concerned. in this case a fierce conflict was raging on the front of the rd british division before the nd canadian division had taken over from them. after the fighting at the bluff in february and march, it had been determined that the v corps should assault the enemy's position at st. eloi, and this attack had no doubt originally been intended to be the business of the corps concerned. [sidenote: _mar. th, ._] for other reasons, which it is not necessary to relate here, the canadians were brought up half-way through the intended action, which began on march th. the strategic reasons for a move on the british front in answer to verdun have been indicated; the tactical reasons for a change in the _personnel_ of the line were strong. none the less, the obvious disadvantage of changing the higher command in the middle of an action would have been overwhelming but for one single reason. the mineshaft and the mines, the explosion of which would hurl the charge, were by the end of march ready for use. every hour's delay meant a risk of their discovery and a counter-explosion by the enemy, when the labours of weeks would have been lost for ever. in these difficult and conflicting circumstances it was decided by the higher authorities to send the rd british division to the attack opposite st. eloi, and to bring the canadian nd division up to their support and relief as soon as the first stage of the fighting was over. on the night of march th the mines were exploded, with cataclysmic effect, and six huge craters full of dead or wounded germans took the place of the enemy's front trenches. the northumberlands and the royal fusiliers of a british division were over the parapet in a moment and dashed on the shattered enemy position. a heavy barrage of artillery fire was kept up by the various divisional artillery brigades to prevent the counter-attack; in this the canadians took their share, as the commander of the v corps telegraphed in the following message:-- "the handling of the trench mortars reflected the greatest credit on the officers and men concerned." in the meantime, the th canadian brigade had been giving most valuable assistance in linking up the right of the attacking regiments with the old line. they had driven a communication trench during the four days of doubtful fighting through from the trenches on the right of the st. eloi position to the new line--and it was christened forthwith "the canadian trench." further demonstrations were made by our infantry up and down their front and were duly and generously acknowledged as before by our brothers-in-arms of the v corps. "thank you very much for all the most valuable help you are giving. your assistance has contributed very largely to the success which we have achieved." but the attack of the northumberlands, though it had attained its immediate objective, had not been uniformly successful. it had begun to encounter all those difficulties which were to confront the th canadian brigade. the centre attack went right through the crumbled _débris_ of the craters, and a position was established some two hundred yards south of them and four hundred yards in advance of the old british line. the rd division fought throughout with the greatest gallantry and resolution. on the right, the efforts of the th canadian brigade succeeded finally in establishing touch, but the left remained in the air, and crater , the easternmost of the big craters, was still in the enemy's hands. [sidenote: _april nd, ._] finally, after four days' fighting, it was necessary to make what was practically a renewed assault on april nd and clear the enemy out of the debatable area. this was done with the utmost gallantry by the rd british division and a new line well beyond the craters finally established. but this last effort absolutely exhausted the energy of the troops concerned. they had fought like heroes, but there are limits to human endurance, and it was imperative to bring up the canadians to their support. a considerable number of german prisoners passed through the lines of the canadian troops in support, and the reports speak of them as fine upstanding men in the main, but too young from our military point of view. the divisional command was able to extract from them much valuable information as to the distribution of the german regiments. there can be no doubt that the enemy infantry fought well at st. eloi, and with a nerve and initiative that they have seldom displayed. they may have been new troops, but they were not old men driven on by their officers to certain death in massed formation, and they were all the more formidable for that. it was now necessary to move the nd division into action. the th brigade led, and the th and st battalions were its spearhead, with the th and th in support and reserve. the northumberlands had been in the new line for about forty-eight hours, but they had been unable to place it in a good condition for defence. their trenches were the remains of german second or third line defences choked with the dead and wounded of both combatants; their communications were only to left and right; firing trenches or platforms there were practically none; the earth was a sodden pulp and the skies full of falling shells; the schemes for the reconstruction of the lines put forward by their divisional command, wise as they were, had not been carried out owing to extreme weariness and the want of material; the position of the enemy was unknown, and doubt and darkness enveloped the whole situation. it was under this cloud of danger and uncertainty that the th canadian brigade advanced to the relief. [ ] this had consisted of the royal canadian horse artillery, lord strathcona's horse, nd king edward's horse, royal canadian dragoons, and st, nd, rd, th, th, and th canadian mounted rifles. the fort garry horse did not come out until february th, . brig.-general seely had commanded his brigade with marked ability, and its dispersal was much regretted by the troops. [ ] the rd divisional train, under lieut.-colonel c. h. lougheed, and the machine-gun companies accompanied the division to france in january, . the divisional signal company was formed from units in the field in december, , and placed under the command of major t. e. powers. the supply column was also formed in the field. the th and th field ambulances, under lieut.-colonels c. a. peters and a. w. tanner respectively, went to france on april rd, and the th field ambulance, under lieut.-colonel s. w. hewetson, followed a month later. the rd divisional engineers, with lieut.-colonel t. v. anderson in command, arrived at the front early in april. [ ] these were made locally in the trenches, and consisted of about two feet of hedge-stick, covered at the top with nails bound round with wire. [ ] general leckie was assisted back to safety by major e. mccuaig, of the th battalion. this officer, while temporarily in command of the battalion, subsequently repulsed a very severe german attack on the line north of st. eloi on april th, . the th were very heavily bombarded, and lost officers and men, but held their ground. [ ] the remaining three brigades of the nd division--the th (lieut.-colonel g. a. carruthers), the th (lieut.-colonel w. b. m. king), and the th (lieut.-colonel j. s. stewart) canadian field artillery--had crossed to france in january. the th brigade c.f.a. had been out since september, . chapter v st. eloi canadians in a serious engagement--the old german line--the new british line--the effect of the eruption--trenches little better than drains--the second division in "no man's land"--the situation described by general turner--a gap in our line--the call for additional guns--welcome relief--the importance of rear exits--evacuation of the wounded--our weak spot discovered--prompt and intelligent action by general turner--steadfast endurance--the bravery of privates smith and bowden--conspicuous gallantry of captain meredith--miscalculation--the enemy dashes through the zone of our artillery--desperate situation of the canadians--communication by telephone intermittent--confusion in the trenches--under bombardment for sixty hours--the enemy's artillery preparation begins--pandemonium inevitable--clogged rifles and machine-guns--a brave struggle for existence--a moment of doubt--the enemy gains the craters--an unfortunate mistake--unorganised retirement--precipitate action--a case for help--dilemma of the higher command--trench mortars put out of action--full story of the retirement cut short by death--a hand-to-hand encounter--failure less welcome than success--reasons for retirement only appreciated by those experienced in trench warfare--the fates unpropitious--the error of the craters--success denied though well deserved. [sidenote: _april rd, ._] on the night of april rd began the most serious engagement in which canadian troops had been involved since the second battle of ypres. the nd division was ordered to occupy the ground won by the rd british division in the two successive actions on march th and april nd. to understand the protracted battle which ensued it is necessary to have a clear grasp of the ground over which it was fought. the opposing lines opposite st. eloi ran almost due east and west, instead of the north and south frontage which marked the usual direction of allied and german trenches. the old german line had been a salient north pushed out towards st. eloi and receding from it right and left. the new line captured by the rd british division was a salient thrust due south into the german position and receding again slightly on its right and abruptly on its left, to meet the old british line. in other words, the old british line had been the arc of a bow turned north and the new line became the arc of a bow pushed south. the distance between these bows never exceeded yards, and both of them were less than , yards in length from end to end, with a direct frontage of yards. in the middle, running as the string of both concave bows and separated by or yards from either old or new line, was the original german line blown to atoms in most places and represented throughout the centre part of its length by a series of four huge minecraters. these crowned the mound of st. eloi, a rise in the ground which dominated the surrounding country. to hold the craters and the mound was to look down into your enemies' trenches. the explosion of the great mine had leapt to heaven in a colossal shower of yellow smoke and _débris_; it could be seen from miles away and shook the earth like the sudden outburst of a volcano. the effects of the eruption on a narrow space of yards were tremendous. trenches on both sides collapsed like packs of cards under the shock; old landmarks were blotted out, and right in the centre of the arc of the bow stretched a line of huge tumbled _débris_. in front lay the new trenches captured by the rd british division on april nd. behind lay the remains of the old line, while the crater stood as an almost impassable bar between troops holding the one and troops holding the other. to get to the new front trench, you had to enter it from the left or the right, and a line to which supports cannot be brought up from the rear is always in grave danger. so much for the general position; its particular features have yet to be considered. we have learned from a study of the french reports at verdun what can be effected by concentrated artillery fire on a selected area. the frontage at st. eloi was that of to , yards, and against it was directed for over three weeks a colossal concentration of german fire, answered shell for shell by our own artillery. under the combined efforts of the artillery of both sides and the result of the mine explosions, the whole face of the country was altered. the "high hills were laid low and the valleys were exalted" until an officer of the rd british division who had stayed behind to assist the newcomers, twice confessed himself utterly unable to recognise the ground destroyed by man as bearing any resemblance to the ground he had known designed by nature. in this change will be found the explanation of much that followed. but there was to be added another cause, the inclemency of the weather. in this battered soil was nothing but mud. every shellhole was a pond, every step might lead one up to the waist in the sticky element, and earthworks fell in from the flood as much as from the shell-fire of the enemy. it is then under a doubtful star that we must conceive of the whole action being fought. the trenches in the first firing line were little better than scattered drains--behind was the crater barrier--underfoot were the mud and the water, and above the unceasing whine of the shells. the air was heavy with a damp mist, even by day, and by night all objects were magnified and uncertain till a shell-hole appeared a crater, an advance of fifty yards like one of yards, and an hour grew into years! the battle was fought in "no man's land"--a _débris_ of shattered trees, sudden pool-holes, and upraised earth, "where no man comes, nor hath come since the making of the world." [illustration: map--st. eloi area] into this area the nd division came on the night of rd april. the th brigade, under brigadier-general ketchen, took over the immediate front, while the th and th brigades were in reserve. the post of honour was given to the th (winnipeg) battalion, commanded by lieut.-col. snider, on the right of the line and to the st. (alberta) battalion, under lieut.-col. bell, on the left. the th (vancouver) battalion, under lieut.-col. tobin, was in support of the th, while the th (north-west) under lieut.-col. embury, occupied a position behind the craters and in the centre, with its left supporting the st. it is on the first two regiments that attention must be concentrated for the moment, for they had to occupy the southern thrust of the line and to file into their new positions from the old line on either flank. a glance at the map will show the position, while gen. turner has given a lucid description of the state of the various defences three hours after the men were in. from the right of the old british line, the canadian communication trench, built by the th canadian brigade--as elsewhere mentioned--broke straight out to the left and ran east with a touch of south, until it met the original german firing trench at a point known as sackville centre, of which we shall hear more in the future. the general described it as yards in length, "a wet, shallow communication trench." this was held by a company of the th, under lieut. wilson. continuing to our left the line crossed the first of the two roads (that to wytschaete) which run from north to south and meet in st. eloi; here the front, after going south-east for about fifty yards, swung round due east until it reached bathurst butts, near the second road; it then bent sharply north, so as to complete the salient by striking the old german firing trench again at campbelltown corner.[ ] this bit was about yards in length, and consisted of a deep _untraversed_ firing trench, with a few firing platforms _facing north_: that is, the wrong way.[ ] apparently the rd british division had been unable to turn it about after they took it by storm. the last two hundred yards were--adds the general--badly battered. the frontage was fairly evenly divided between two companies of the th. the left-hand company thus secured the most shaky point in the frontage--a yards which proved a miniature gap of alsace to the germans. from campbelltown corner to the original british line the circuit was completed by one company of the st. here the old british line continued due east to the canal and was occupied by two more companies of the st, with a third in support. machine-guns were also posted at intervals along the line. it was found necessary, owing to the extent to which these were being constantly put out of action, to call for additional guns. these were supplied by the th brigade, the nd, th, th, and th each sending up a lewis gun and team; but they were not available till the night of the th just before the german attack, when they were posted by lieut. mclorg, of the th. the relief, in the language of the official reports, was successfully concluded during the night of the rd and th. how much doubt, how much discomfort, how much danger a single sentence can cover! as the canadians slipped and struggled along the wretched drains, or clambered over the places where shell-fire had destroyed them, they found everywhere the men of the st british brigade, rd british division in a state of considerable exhaustion. they had been fighting what was practically a continuous general action for five days under terrific shell-fire. the last push, which had driven the germans or yards south of the craters, left the british in such casual shelter as they could obtain, encumbered with the dead on both sides and with their own wounded, whom they were unable to evacuate. a firing trench with no direct way in or out from the rear exposes its occupants to every horror and hardship and danger. the supply of food, water, and ammunition, is intermittent and uncertain, while the knowledge that supports may take hours to come up in case of attack is added to the mental torture and physical staleness induced by a persistent bombardment by heavy guns. but the presence of wounded men in a crowded trench passes the limit of horror. the dreadful nature of the injuries inflicted by high explosive, the irrepressible cries and moans of pain; the impossibility of bringing relief to the sufferers form a combination of sight, sound and sensation which if protracted for many hours absolutely unnerves the unwounded survivors and forms the nightmare of their sleep for years. [sidenote: _april rd and th, ._] even with fair weather and solid defences a night relief has its trials; under the conditions of the night of april rd, its success was an achievement. as the th (winnipeg) and the st (alberta) succeeded to this bed of thorns, in the pitch dark of night, they discovered that the officers of the st (british) brigade, through no fault of theirs, but owing to the lie of the ground and the conditions of the assault, could tell them practically nothing of the whereabouts of the enemy. they looked out into a noisy darkness which covered the unknown. such a state of affairs is by no means uncommon in trench warfare. furthermore, while the line throughout could nowhere be held continuously, that portion of it between bathurst butts near the second road, and campbelltown corner could only be held by small bombing posts linked together by visiting patrols. by daylight it was altogether untenable for any body of men in sufficient number to resist a resolute attack. there was thus a gap sparsely and insecurely occupied by patrols of the th between the left of that regiment and the right of the st battalion. this was the joint in the harness, and against it the germans directed a continuous shower of heavy explosives. it was obvious to the higher command that if the position was to be made secure or even tenable, a drastic scheme of consolidation must be set on foot. general turner grasped the situation firmly and clearly; and after consulting general haldane ( rd british division) put forward the following plan. he proposed to repair the front line, to dig communication trenches through the intervals between the craters, so as to link old and new lines together, to make good the damage done to the old line, and finally to dig another trench about halfway between the firing line and the craters where supports could be kept handy. dummy trenches were also to be made in the lips of the crater and both lines wired. the work was carried out by small parties, one n.c.o. and a few men of the th, centre support battalion, and most of them were overwhelmed by the german onrush on the morning of april th. this plan would have saved the situation had time or opportunity been given to carry it out, but the fates ruled otherwise. the first thing to do was to evacuate the british wounded, and this gruesome task was accomplished during the morning to the accompaniment of heavy shelling, which began at ten o'clock and lasted at intervals nearly all day. lieut. mccaw and his company, holding the bad part of the line, endured, without shifting an inch, a terrible bombardment which destroyed the greater part of their position from under their very feet. out of the men present (for had been sent back as there was no cover for them), were killed or wounded--a notable example of endurance. the trenches were blown out of existence and men lay down in the open under what cover they could find. as one wounded man was seen to fall, private smith dashed out to render first aid under the shower of high explosives; he was himself struck down at once. private bowden went in his turn to the two men, dressed their wounds, and remained with them until they both died, with no cover against the rain of shell except a shovel over his head. wading in many places waist-deep in the mud, capt. meredith, of the th, who behaved with conspicuous coolness and gallantry in the action which ensued, found that the day's bombardment had practically wiped out the position he was to occupy. there was a little cover on the right, just east of the second road; but to the left, in the gap itself, it was impossible to do more than put out isolated groups of sentries and bombers, to crouch in shell holes, or behind improvised shelters, and trust that one would not be observed. a single fact speaks volumes; although capt. meredith had only men for his company, it was found impossible to get cover by daylight for more than a few isolated posts, and the remainder of the men had to be sent back in the early morning of april th, to come up again on their weary journey as soon as it was dark. there was, in a word, no longer a line for over yards of the front. some men were trying to hold the position of a strong company of . [sidenote: _night, april th and th, ._] on the following night, that of the th and th, it was decided to relieve the two sorely-beset companies of the th. capt. gwynn, of the th battalion, was to take over from capt. meredith the left of the line, and lieut. o'brien, of the same regiment, was to relieve the company of the th on the right. it was during the concluding stages of this relief that the german attack took place. the blasting fire of our artillery had been well maintained on the german second and third line trenches, and it was supposed that this barrage[ ] had proved effective in preventing any considerable force of the enemy reaching through to their own front line. this did not prove to be the case. the german th battalion, with some units of the th, had--according to the accounts of prisoners--succeeded in passing through the barrage into the front line, from which they launched their assault. on the night of the th, the germans had dashed through the zone of our artillery fire in a succession of small parties in extended order, and had thus, by choosing their occasions, escaped with comparatively small casualties, and massed in strength within striking distance of our front. it may be said that throughout the action the germans showed a far greater aptitude for fighting in small parties than is usual with them, and that they nowhere attempted the mass formation attack which has generally been a prelude to their defeat. but while the germans are forming up for the assault at dawn, we must return to the fortunes of the canadians. the working parties are out for the second night in succession, and a strong second line trench with barbed wire entanglements has been constructed in front and south of the craters. behind and north of the craters a third supporting line is being dug, while the reliefs of the th are struggling up through the delays of mud and barrage to reach the battered th. [sidenote: _night, april th and th, ._] capt. gwynn, of the th, had already been informed that the left of his line would only be occupied by machine-guns, bombing, and sentry posts, and with some men, picked out for these danger posts, he went on ahead of the remainder of his company and found capt. meredith near bathurst butts at o'clock on the morning of the th. the position was rapidly becoming desperate. one of capt. meredith's subalterns, lieut. dunlop, had been out under a rain of shells to try to find the original line to the left, held by the st, and the posts holding it. he returned to say that he could find no vestige of either the trench or the posts. everything had been wiped out; and two machine-guns and their crews perished with the exception of a single man, who crawled back wounded hours after. a party of the st who had made a similar attempt to keep connection from their right, returned with the same news. under the circumstances, capt. meredith could supply no guides into the unoccupied chaos of shell-holes which represented his left, and the two officers having completed their relief in the small fraction of surviving trench, returned to the nearest telephone, at fredericton fort, to get orders from the colonel of the th battalion. it was at this point in the line alone that the telephone was working, and that only intermittently, in spite of the heroic conduct of the signallers in going out into the open again and again to repair the shattered wires. lieutenant browne of the nd (french canadians), of the th brigade, with his machine-gun party, remained behind with the men of the th on the left of bathurst butts. the two officers and the men who had been relieved reached fredericton fort successfully at about . a.m., and found there several officers of the th, and also lieut. o'brien of the th, who was trying to relieve lieut. wilson's company of the th. less fortunate than capt. gwynn, he had not succeeded in finding the officer he was to replace, but none the less he appears to have got his men somewhere near the trench he was to occupy. this place he found full of stray units, ration-carrying parties of the th, many of whom had lost their way, and having placed his men in position, he also returned to the telephone at fredericton fort in the hope of finding someone in authority. the canadian communication trench was by this time practically abandoned under heavy shell-fire. for the rest, then, one must conceive the remains of the front line as held, where there was any cover, by isolated groups of the th, intermingled here and there with men of the th who had not been relieved or who had missed their way, and with a gaping space on the left. beyond this, the line on the left still held firm for the moment. the th battalion, the relief of which was by now more or less complete, had suffered a terrible experience. it had been almost continuously under heavy shell fire in hopeless trenches for about sixty hours, during which sleep, rest, or refreshment had been practically out of the question. major kitson had conducted the defence of the first line with skill and judgment, and the company commanders, capt. meredith, lieut. mccaw, lieut. wilson, and their subalterns had shown great courage and coolness in the face of adverse circumstances. lieut. r. e. n. jones, of the same battalion, met a gallant death in the early morning of the attack in an attempt to keep touch with and collect the left of the regiment during the retirement. he went out into the open under a terrific fire and was killed almost instantly. [sidenote: _april th, a.m._] it was by now three o'clock of a misty morning; and as the officers around the telephone dug-out discovered that the line was cut, and were taking counsel together, the german artillery preparation began. the shelling--heavy but intermittent--rose to a roar and the night overhead became pandemonium, while the ground underneath shook with the concussion or dissolved under the explosions. officers endeavoured to rejoin their units, but it most cases found it impossible, and every group turned to their official or natural leader for orders. it is easy for those whose experience of the movements of bodies of men is confined to reviews in peace time, or to the organisation of a big political demonstration, to consider that this state of affairs is not to be expected of an army. such a view simply springs from ignorance of conditions. not here was a broad plain, smiling in the sun, on which battalions could be moved with uniformity; or the familiar pavements, where every street turning is known to the marshals of the delegations; not here the frictionless chess-board of the war game, with its moves pondered silently long in advance. the ground on which to move is certain death; the shattered and almost impassable trenches; the vast distance away in time of any supports; the blindness in the sense of direction which affects nearly every man on unknown country in the dark; the line of craters behind and the noise of the shells overhead: these are the elements making up the picture of the situation which, on that april morning, the th canadian brigade had to face. the rifles and machine-guns on which armed men are accustomed to depend for their lives, were half-clogged and useless. the very position of the enemy was unknown. but the native hardihood of the race asserted itself; groups made up of every unit formed themselves for the struggle for existence, fought where they could and retreated or died when the choice became retirement or passive annihilation. [sidenote: _april th, . a.m._] on this scene of incertitude and disturbance the day began to break. it was the hour when men rub their eyes and shiver in the cool air and stand to arms to meet that period which is most likely to bring the attack. the light of dawn, stealthy and suspicious, was showing in the east over a scene of ruin and desolation, and in this valley of dry bones something began to move. to the group of watchers in the trenches dark forms advancing could be seen through the mist. they came straight on without hesitating up the st. eloi-wytschaete road, towards sackville centre. it was known to our men that some pioneers were out in that direction wiring the front. a whisper of doubt ran along the line. were they the enemy or one of our working parties gone astray? one group evidently had made up its mind, and a sputter of fire broke out--how different in volume and intensity, alas! from the full-throated crash of musketry from a strongly-held, well-filled trench! it was enough, at any rate, for the germans. they had thought to find nothing alive in the area on which their guns had wrought such havoc. the dark line turned half-right and swung round like a wave, seeking an inlet through some rocky barrier. instantly every gun and rifle which would work was brought to bear. but the result was one to break the hearts of men trained to regard their weapons as their unfailing friends in the hour of need and danger. the foul mud splashed over them in torrents by the bombardment had worked into breech and magazine, and men threw down their choked rifles with curses, and snatched for one left behind by some dead or wounded man. but these, too, after a shot or two, refused to do their work! all along the line the remaining lewis guns jammed, groups were too isolated to make a concerted counter-attack with the bayonet; and the germans passed along our front until they found the fatal gap in the line. as they came opposite the last post on our left, lieut. browne, a machine-gunner of the nd french canadians, turned his lewis gun and what rifles the party had full on to them at short range. some fifteen or twenty germans were seen to fall, and the remainder threw themselves flat on their faces. then the inevitable happened, and the gun went out of action. as the fire dribbled away to the crack of a single rifle, the enemy jumped up, swung to the left of the outpost, and headed straight through the undefended breach for the craters yards behind. the light had now grown brighter, and the officers at sackville centre could see the germans breaking through to craters and . they turned their remaining men half-left rear, and fired with every rifle which would work. but the damage was done. the working parties on the second line, which was being built in front of the craters, had been withdrawn before light, and the small groups of the th battalion in the craters themselves must have been overpowered by the or germans who broke in on them. once over the rim, the enemy were for the moment safe, and they promptly set about digging themselves in, and getting the machine-guns they had brought with them into position. in all, then, some or germans succeeded in occupying the two craters on the right of our position. from this point they began to work towards our left, and in the course of the day or the following night became possessed of craters and . this movement would have placed them in the rear of the men of the st battalion at campbelltown corner had that still been occupied. as a matter of fact, however, the extreme right and south position of the st had been abandoned and destroyed in the course of the preliminary bombardment. at dawn a tremendous fire had been directed on the top line towards shelley farm,[ ] and the trench between campbelltown corner and the old british line became untenable. to stay in it was certain and useless death. part of its garrison got back into the original line. other parties occupied the two small and ancient craters and , immediately in advance of it, under the impression, arrived at without due thought, that these were craters and ; while one platoon cut off by the barrage moved to their left into an old advanced trench which afforded them some cover. [sidenote: _april th, : a.m._] at . in the morning, or an hour after the attack on the th, about of the enemy made a second attack and attempted to overwhelm the party holding craters and ; major doughty, of the st, organised the defence with skill and resolution. he allowed the germans to advance within effective range, and then brought a concentric fire to bear on them. the isolated platoon enfiladed them on the left, the men in the craters enfiladed them on the right, while the original occupants of the old front line just behind and to the left of the craters mowed them down from the front. the attack recoiled in confusion. [illustration: map--st. eloi] some fled, others threw themselves down into shell-holes and lay there unobserved as long as the daylight lasted. our line was suffering now the fate of a taut rope cut in the centre. each end recoiled instinctively to its point of connection with the old british trenches. it cannot be maintained that the retirement on the right, albeit it was from an untenable position, was carried out in a very skilled or organised fashion. this fact was due partly to the general nature of the ground and the situation, which has been sufficiently dwelt on, and partly to the number of different units on the same front. the time of relief--and the relief of the th was not yet fully accomplished though nearly so--with two sets of officers and men on the same front moving contrary ways, is always a period of some little confusion, and for that reason reliefs are not carried out at dawn, because it is the likely time for an attack. in this case the circumstances made it impossible to get the reliefs up earlier. but, apart from this, there were small parties of pioneers scattered about in or in front of the line. it was not, of course, the business of these latter to await the germans, but to get back into their own line, but the precipitancy and thoroughness with which they executed this movement added to the prevailing disturbance. at any rate, on the right every party from bathurst butts and the extreme right of their original line was between two fires and in imminent danger of being surrounded. so the scattered groups began to retire towards sackville centre and fredericton fort, where capts. gwynn and meredith were organising the defence. their party consisted of some subalterns of both their regiments, sixteen men of the th, and five pioneers. these officers determined to hold on in spite of the heavy machine-gun fire from the craters in the rear, and to give time for the more easterly parties to rally on them. they got the telephone to work and asked for reinforcements; they tried to establish a continuous line down the canadian communication trench, which had been deserted at its easterly end, and they asked for fire to be directed on the captured craters from the guns and trench mortars. col. snider, of the th, was the nearest commanding officer to them, and he did his utmost to come to their assistance. their last request verged on the heroic, for their own trenches were only a hundred yards beyond those of the enemy, and their precise position could not be known to our gunners far to the rear. all this time men were falling fast. the cover was poor, and to show one's head was to invite an almost inevitable bullet. none the less, lieut. jackson, of the th, volunteered to go out with four men of the th and try to locate more precisely the positions the enemy had taken up. so murderous was the fire that within a few minutes he and one private returned alone. the other three had been killed almost instantly. the requests for assistance from guns and men from the brigade could not be very adequately met. the higher command were under a double difficulty. in the first place, so heavy was the german fire on the communication trenches that it was impossible to move supports up to them in the daylight hours of that morning. in the second place, the continual breakdown in the telephone service made all information as to the precise state of affairs in the front line impossible to obtain from minute to minute. in so far, however, as messages came through they continued to confirm the original evidence which had given the brigade a radically false view of the whole situation. the view of the brigade was that the germans were simply a small raiding party who had broken through a weakly-held part of the line and seized on crater , and possibly crater . there they were, surrounded on every side except that by which they had come in, by parties of our troops in the closest proximity to them. capts. gwynn and meredith were close behind their line on the right; and it was quite wrongly believed that major daly and the st were cheek by jowl with them in craters and on the left; in the centre, of course, was our main force. to start a heavy bombardment was therefore impossible, for it would have killed more canadians than germans; it would have been using a steam-hammer to crack a nut and cracking one's own finger instead. a bombing and rifle attack was the only way to deal with such intruders. that was the obvious argument, and it would have been correct had the premises on which it was based borne any relation to the facts. the difficulties with which general ketchen was confronted can best be appreciated in the light of the fact that he was not definitely informed till o'clock on the morning of the th that the two craters-- and --were lost, and that all communication with the front then ceased for two and a half hours! as it was, under the urgent pressure of col. snider, of the th, and capt. gwynn, artillery fire was finally opened on crater . the trench mortars in our original right-hand trenches, whose gunners were near enough to see what they were doing, were out of action. eventually, however, some -pounders were turned on the enemy. capt. gwynn, who observed the bombardment by fredericton fort, was doubtful of its efficacy, but the testimony of prisoners taken during the ensuing night proves that the garrison of crater lost heavily, though not heavily enough to induce them to retire. but the main reliance was placed on a bombing and infantry attack from the north and north-east, and the th battalion, which had not yet been in action, was ordered to come up from its trenches behind the centre of the position and assist in the assault. in the meantime, the isolated parties of the th and the th were making their way back as best they could from the east to the rallying point in front of crater . the stories of these successive retirements will, in the main, never be told--for too often they were cut short by death. the machine-gun teams of the th brigade were also involved in the retreat. lieut. browne commanded the nd, sergt. naylor the th, lieut. white the th, lieut. lockhart the th. of all these, only one gun was brought out of action--that of sergt. naylor, of the th battalion, who showed great presence of mind in mitigating the confusion of the mixed units in the retreat, and saved the majority of his team. the character of the force is well illustrated by the private occupations of his team. the sergeant was a storekeeper, lance-cpl. rose a patternmaker, lance-cpl. duley a bank teller, private arundel a ledger-keeper, private clarke a salesman, private burchell a private secretary. the parties of the th and th were never seen again. they must presumably have perished, and their stories with them. one tale, however, survives--and that is the march of lieut. browne of the nd (french canadians) and his detachment across the front and through the lines of the enemy. as has been already related, lieut. browne found himself on our extreme left with a lewis gun when capt. gwynn went back for instructions. he fired on the germans and saw them pass behind him to the crater. "the enemy," he says, "marched in absolute silence until i opened fire, and they extended and began to shout as they ran forward. in my opinion the enemy did not think that the front line was occupied, which would account for their advancing in close order until struck by our fire." as the enemy swung round his left, there was no outbreak of fire from the lewis gun of the th battalion--it had been buried and its crew presumably killed. every gun and rifle save one having jammed, and the enemy being well behind the line, lieut. browne took his decision. "not being able to do any effective work and believing the other crews to be out of action; also seeing the enemy closing on the left towards the craters, i decided to retire to the second line, there to unite with the garrison to make a stand." the party, which consisted of five men of the nd and a few others, accordingly started back north, following in the wake of the advancing germans. there was, however, no garrison in our newly-dug second line south of the craters, for the working party had gone. instead they encountered the barbed wire the working parties had put in front of the trench. the germans, by now on the edge of the craters, fired on them as they were struggling through. lance-cpl. lambert, private rattè, private brisebois, and a man of the th fell, but as they gained the other side they came across a digging party which had lost its way, and had not gone back with the others. hastily gathering these men, lieut. browne charged for the spot where they had been fired on. not a man had a rifle which would work, but they rushed in like the paladins of romance on the armed germans who were in the trench. these they killed in hand-to-hand conflict with the butts of their rifles. alter this notable feat of arms the party got into the new second line trench and proceeded along it towards fredericton fort. as they came running down the trench, the germans came out of the crater against them, but lieut. browne's detachment managed to elude the enemy. picking up some of the th, and the gun crew of the th on the way, lieut. browne succeeded in reaching fredericton fort, where he found capts. gwynn and meredith. of his original section only two remained alive. none the less, each new group had rallied round this officer, and were "ready for a fight at any time." such a story of valour and discretion exceeds all that fiction has ever imagined. [sidenote: _april th, a.m._] at a.m. on the morning of the th, all telephone communication with the officers at fredericton fort ceased. the last message which came through to capt. gwynn (as appeared subsequently) from the canadian communication trench was a simple and tragic one: "_we are retiring_." isolated by now on both right and left, and with the enemy in front and rear, capt. gwynn still held firm until he was reasonably certain that the last party from the abandoned line had come in. finally, some two hours afterwards, no orders having been received, as indeed they could not be, he decided to retire. his men were falling fast in an impossible position and no alternative was open to him. fortunately, a message asking for the support of the machine-guns in our original trenches on the right had got through, and under cover of their fire and the shelling of the crater by our -pounders, capt. gwynn conducted a successful retirement to the old lines. in this emergency the th and the th were ably led, and seconded their officers' efforts to the last. the news of this final movement on the right did not reach the brigade until some time later in the day. with this retirement the first phase of the battle comes to an end. the new line has been indubitably lost with the exception of a few outpost positions like the minor craters, and the remainder of the prolonged struggle is devoted to the attempt to reoccupy by a series of counter-attacks ground which has been abandoned, and to oust the enemy from the craters. it will be well to defer to a later stage a full consideration of all the circumstances which prevented a successful issue, but something may be said with advantage on the fighting from the night of april rd, when the canadian nd division took over, to the morning of the th, when the german advance succeeded. it is inevitable that the mere event should leave behind it a certain trace of bitterness. to lose trenches, however indefensible, can never be pleasant. failure must differ from success whatever the real merits of the case may be. and it is part of the tragedy of modern warfare that the real conditions which make such a retirement unavoidable can never be understood to the full by those who have not gone through the experience of a general action in trench warfare. no word painting, however vivid, can make the picture actual to minds which have mercifully been preserved from the experience and to eyes which have never seen a modern battlefield. the shock of squadrons, the bayonet charge, or the exchange of point-blank volleys between opposing battalions has become familiar to us in history-books, and the artist can draw them to the life. it is easy to grasp the recoil of a column down the hill-side under the furious impetus of an overwhelming assault. but to be killed in sections by high explosives and machine-guns in a trench which is rapidly ceasing to exist, so that the agony is prolonged for hours, is an ordeal more difficult to grasp. the mere reiteration of its horrors dulls the sense of the reader as the actuality strains the nerves of the soldier. every sentence would have to end with the word "shell." the knowledge that to stay is useless because no attack will be made while anyone remains alive; that to bring up supports is impossible under the barrage, and that anyone who came would merely share your fate; the impossibility of keeping pace with the destruction of your only cover; the biting fire from rear, front and flank; the impotence of gripping a useless rifle--these things are indeed worse than the bitterness of death! the men of the th brigade were right in retiring as soon as the line was broken and had become indefensible, and when no supports could be brought up to their assistance. but, apart from the unavoidable necessities of the case, the nd division suffered from ill-luck. in all military operations luck is of primary importance, because even the best planned and most carefully executed schemes are met by such unexpected changes and conditions that they go to ruin through the unforeseen. every commander must expect a reasonable share of the favours of fortune. that share was in this action conspicuously lacking. the mistake about the identity of the craters and was the beginning of all the trouble. had the st battalion occupied these instead of craters and , when they were blown out of campbelltown corner, they might have checked the whole enemy advance and made the germans in craters and what they were for long believed to be by the higher command, an isolated group partly surrounded by the canadians. the initial mistake was the precipitate action and belief of the st battalion, due to the fact that no one knew the ground as it had been transformed by mine and shell fire. but the results of the blunder were cumulative. the counter-attack on the night of the th- th--dealt with in the next chapter--by the th and st battalions confirmed and exaggerated the error by failing to get to the real craters, although the men of these battalions were firmly convinced that they _had_ done so. they found men holding what they thought to be crater , and naturally believed them. the result was to immobilise our artillery during the crucial phase of the action and for days afterwards. had we known that the whole crater line in the centre was held by the germans, we could almost certainly have blown them out of it. as it was our gunners were crippled by the fear of destroying the positions of their own infantry. such a mistake is no doubt "the luck of war," and in the ordinary course of events it would soon have been rectified by the photographic pictures taken by our aeroplanes. but here came the crowning blow of a malignant fortune. all through the first fortnight of the action a great gale blew. it not only hindered our actions on the surface of the earth, but it absolutely stopped them in the air. no aeroplane could go up in it, and the vital facts of the position were hidden from the commanders until the morning of april th. confronted by all these adverse circumstances, the companies of the th, th and the st did all that mortal men could do. in the face of heavy casualties, and holding positions under intolerable artillery fire, they stood their ground firmly so long as defence was possible, and retired, in rallying groups when to hold on was merely suicide they did not command success; they deserved it. [ ] the whole of this line from the canadian communication trench to campbelltown corner consisted of german communication, or second and third line, trenches, which had been battered in turn by the guns of both sides. [ ] a traverse is the projection of earth back into the firing trench which divides it into sections or firing bays. its object is to give cover against flank fire, so that if an enemy enfilades you he cannot sweep right down the length of the trench. a trench without traverses is therefore very dangerous. the firing platform is a ledge of earth from one to two feet high, on which a man must stand in order to see or fire over a parapet. it follows from this that until he gets up on the platform he can, in a good trench, walk about freely, without exposing his head to the enemy. here, of course, the trench was a german one, and in consequence the parapet and platform were on the north side of the trench, whereas we wanted them on the south side. the first thing to do in capturing a trench from the enemy is to seize the sandbags of the parapet and to drag them across to the other side and then make a new platform below them. [ ] a barrage is a concentration of shell fire on a particular point or frontage so as to make it impassable to the enemy. it is also called "curtain fire" by the french. it can be used to prevent an attack on one's own front line, or check reinforcements coming to the enemy first line from the second or third lines. [ ] the farm was not named after the poet, but because of the number of shells it received. chapter vi st. eloi (_continued_) counter-attacks--obstacles to victory--the ground described--the enemy deceived--ravage wrought by heavy guns--impassable ground--schemes based upon unreliable information--forward movement ordered--the th severely shelled at voormezeele--confusion regarding the occupation of the craters--raid on craters and fails--wrong craters attacked--the canadian infantry in craters and --enemy patrols walk straight into canadian trenches and are taken prisoners--the actual situation revealed by aerial photographs--unit follows unit to certain death--the brave th--heavy casualties--determination of the higher command--sniper zacharias--a gallant deserter--imperative order to take the german positions--crater no. captured--unfortunate lack of reliable information--four privates hold an exposed position for hours--individual acts of bravery common--good work of the lewis gun team--"get on at any cost"--brave though fruitless attempts--a glorious failure--repeated counter-attacks unsuccessful--the third phase of the battle of st. eloi--a parallel of verdun--the enemy seizes a dominant position--a deadlock--general turner's suggestions--reconstruction of the old british line under general watson--the inglorious drudgery of digging--perilous position of canadians in advanced positions--carrier pigeons used as messengers for the first time--value of position problematical--superior trenches of the enemy--useful work of aircraft--historic ground--first and second great actions of dominion army contrasted--failure and success enter into the education of a nation. [sidenote: _april th, ._] with the morning of april th began that series of counter-attacks against the germans which continued at intervals during the remainder of the action. here, in estimating the causes of success or failure, three factors are of primary importance: the general lie of the land and the consequent disposition of our troops on it; the concentrated fire of the enemy's heavy artillery; and the state of the weather and the subsoil. none of these factors was in our favour, and though taken singly their hostility need not have proved fatal, taken in conjunction they formed as grave an obstacle to victory as any general has encountered. the knoll of st. elbi is in itself of no great magnitude. from the plateau which it crowns the ground drops suddenly to the south and the german second line trenches. but though it possesses this local advantage it is in its turn dominated both by the rise at eikhof farm some , yards to the east and by gun positions well back in the german line. this drawback was aggravated by the fact that, like most positions, such as hooge or hill , in the ypres salient, it could be subjected to a converging fire from the front and either flank. the german observers could thus look north past the knoll, and watching any signs of the movements of our troops far behind the line, turn on them a rain of shells from at least three points of the compass. the canadian higher command was compelled in consequence to order the dispositions of the troops accordingly. the divisional frontage was taken by only one brigade with two battalions in the advance positions. the centre and support battalion had to find cover farther back, while the reserve battalion was right back near dickebusch nearly three miles away. such a dispersion cannot but be disadvantageous. but the configuration of the ground would have been of less importance had there been no great concentration of german guns to face. such a collection of heavy pieces takes days to assemble or disperse, and is not therefore to be looked for on the side of the defence. the enemy, _ex hypothesi_, should have been taken by surprise when the craters were blown up and the rd british division attacked, and plenty of time given to the assailants to consolidate the new position before a great concentration of guns could be brought to bear on them. but this did not happen, by a simple piece of bad luck, as has been related in chapter iv. in february the british division holding the bluff to the north of st. eloi, just east of the canal, and included in the subsequent canadian position, had some trenches there snatched from them. they took the matter calmly; got up the heavy batteries, including even the monstrous -inch guns, blew the bluff practically to pieces, and took back the lost ground on march nd. this performance caused keen irritation to the germans, who looked round for the best spot on which to retaliate, and selected st. eloi. the troops then who carried the new line, and the canadians, who had to hold it, found a ready-prepared artillery concentration against them from the moment they started. the whole area was laid waste, and the old british line in the centre, and many of the support and communication trenches behind it, were rendered untenable. [illustration: map--st. eloi area] depth then, not length, is the distinguishing feature of the section occupied by the nd canadian division. and here the third factor comes into play, the state of the soil. in war, distance, time, and energy are interchangeable terms. the interval between a line and its supports is not to be measured by the number of yards between them, but by the time it will take to traverse and by the amount of fatigue involved in the process. undisturbed earth under rain forms mud, but in a country which is not marshy it can be crossed somehow. but earth disintegrated by high explosive and drowned in water becomes pulp. one can wade through water, or struggle over mud, but this stuff was neither. as men splashed from shell-hole to shell-hole--and the surface of the earth consisted of nothing else--they sank up to the armpits and could find no grip for their feet. one of the strongest men in the nd division has declared that after sixty yards of this work he was incapable of going further. to make new--or, worse still, to repair old--trenches out of this material was impossible. add darkness for a night attack, and the picture is complete. even by daylight, parties reported in the utmost good faith that they had reached such and such a point on the map, when, as a matter of fact, they had done nothing of the kind, for all the old landmarks had vanished. yet it was on this information that schemes of attack had to be based. [sidenote: _morning, april th, ._] on the morning of the th, as soon as the enemy attack was known of at headquarters, a forward movement of the supports and reserves of the th brigade began. two companies of the th were already up with the th in the original british trenches and the new canadian line beyond, and a bombing party followed them into the former position. the th occupied voormezeele in the support centre line, where they were subjected to as severe a shelling as any experienced in the forward trenches. two battalions, th (western ontario), commanded by lieut.-col. wigle, and st (eastern ontario), under lieut.-col. hughes, of the th brigade, took their places at dickebusch in reserve. two counter-attacks were then organised. the attacks were to be simultaneous and converging. from the right of the line the bombers of the th and the th were to head an assault against craters and , which lay to the south-east of the original line. from the left-centre of the line, the bombers of the th and st battalions were to re-occupy craters and , should these have been abandoned, moving in a south-westerly direction. the men of these two regiments had to come up from well behind st. eloi on to ground with which they were utterly unfamiliar, and from which all landmarks had been blotted out. as they advanced through the half-ruined communications in the full light of day, the german observers caught a glimpse of them and a tremendous barrage of fire was turned on them. dashing through this, they saw in front of them the outlines of two craters and immediately assumed that their objective was before them. no one knew at the time which craters on our left were in german hands, and as has been noted before, the st under major doughty, when they evacuated their forward position at the time of attack, were firmly convinced that they had seized craters and , whereas they had actually occupied craters and , and from these repulsed the assault. it was into these two craters that the bombers of the two battalions broke, and found one still occupied by a party of the st, and the other abandoned under a rain of shells. they reported accordingly, and the original error was again confirmed in the minds of the brigade. in the meantime, the raid on craters and had come to grief. it was delivered across the open, where the only cover was shell-holes, in face of a sweeping machine-gun fire from the german redoubts in the craters, backed by their gunners behind their lines. to advance in the face of this hail of death was impossible, and finally the attempt was abandoned. an attack organised for . a.m. on april th was postponed while our artillery bombarded the craters. all through the day the german barrage hardly lifted, but it was decided to make a new push against craters and , then supposed to be craters and , as soon as the dark descended. but at dusk the germans themselves took the initiative for a moment. [sidenote: _ p.m., april th, ._] when the st had repulsed the attack at dawn on the th, they imagined that the surviving germans had made a final retirement. this proved not to be the case; some or of them had flung themselves flat down in the shell-holes in front of craters and and the trenches on our left, and had remained crouching there all day. as evening fell, they leapt up suddenly and charged the st. a withering rifle fire swept the enemy's groups, which faded out of existence. some fell and some fled, but a few dropped back again into their shell-holes, and remained there during the night. the strain appears to have been too much for the nerves of the survivors. driven mad by their position and the fire of our artillery, they leapt up again at dawn on the th, and with their rifles slung danced "like red indians," as an eye-witness observed, in front of the canadian lines. on the evening of the th, the th were coming up in successive parties to the support of the right of that hard-tried battalion, and had effected a junction with major daly ( st) behind our own craters. their instructions were to pick up bombers of the st and to assault and capture craters and . they actually advanced against craters and . the bombing attack was led by lieut. v. p. murphy ( th), who succeeded in establishing himself nearer the hostile craters than any previous advance had done. he was supported by capt styles ( th), who exposed himself with the greatest gallantry in the continuous attempt to keep touch with the various scattered units of the th and the st. but the mud was almost impassable, the darkness intense, the position of the enemy uncertain, and the ground a mere mass of holes. [sidenote: _dawn, april th, ._] dawn found the canadian infantry still entrenched in craters and , but with no visible progress towards the enemy positions. the attacking parties had lost their way or been overwhelmed by sheer exhaustion. this is the more remarkable, because it is clear that the germans were throughout the night in position in craters and . [sidenote: _night, april th- th, ._] it thus appears that throughout the night of april th- th, the enemies can only have been separated by the distance of less than forty yards, between craters and . in fact, a few german patrols, as much confused as their opponents, walked straight into the canadian craters in the dark and were taken prisoners! and yet neither side succeeded in coming to grips with the other. it was as though an impenetrable curtain had fallen between the contending parties of infantry. the mud, the darkness, and the shells made every movement a failure. that such a state of affairs could be possible can only be understood by the insight of imagination or by an actual experience of the ground and the conditions. but a study of the photographs taken by aeroplanes makes it at least intelligible. among the infinite traceries of lines, trenches new and old, which wrinkle the surface of the chart, the rims of the four great centre craters stand out ominous and distinct. we actually see down into the hollows held by the lurking germans as one gazes through the sunlit depths of a rock-bound pool to where the tiny monsters of the deep dart in and out of their caves and recesses upon the clear floor of the sea. away to the right lies crater , a perfect circle of light and shade with its foliated edges like the milling on the rim of a coin. across a flattish, almost unmarked surface, the canadian and the british communication trenches drive north and south of it from the strong serrated line of our own trenches, until they strike the intricate tangle of the old german front line. but turn your eyes to the centre and to the ground which lies directly between st. eloi and the craters. the old outstanding british position on the right crumbles away into a vague tangle of flattened outlines. behind it the whole surface of the ground is pockmarked with the white dots which indicate shell-holes, and in front of it there is no solid earth at all, but a bewildering labyrinth of minor craters spreading out till they touch the four huge eruptions. [illustration: st. eloi craters] on the left the space is a trifle more open. craters and held by us can be distinguished as mere holes separated by some forty or fifty yards from the giant rim of crater . from high up it looks so clear, but to the men struggling in the dark over that quagmire, sweating to dig themselves in by daylight under the pitiless hail of death, it appeared confusion worse confounded. looking down from a great altitude on the passionless picture in high relief it is hard to imagine that here men battled in the mud till they could do so no more, and tasted the bitterness of failure as they fought and died for their country. the photographic record seems cold compared with the ideals and efforts the result of which it enshrines. one turns from it as one might turn from the privacy of the human soul outraged by omniscience. all this chaos was to the advantage of the germans once they had seized the dominant position. from the rear came continued orders to take the enemy's entrenchments at any cost, and a constant trickle of reinforcements was sent struggling up the communication trenches or dashing across the open in groups the moment the barrage lifted. but in the conditions existing at the front, all these groups seemed to melt away. units went up and were heard of no more at headquarters. the bare official reports are tragic. one can select any one at random; for instance, this from lieut.-col. embury, of the th:--"i told capt. a. g. styles ( th) he was to come around north of the craters. he started off at . and left part of his men with major daly. it was dark and raining hard and we had never seen the ground before. the craters looked just like the ordinary ground. styles went up and found lieut. v. p. murphy ( th) at o'clock a.m., but had no time to fix up for the attack. the men were all in; they had only had three hours' sleep in forty-eight." [sidenote: _night, april th- th, ._] but it is impossible for the contemporary writer in the space at his disposal to give a clear and detailed picture of the movements of all these units or of the valour displayed by individuals. the fog of war lies heavy on the scene of confusion and heroic effort, and if (which is very unlikely) it is to be lifted at all, it must be by the hand of the future historian. the troops did their best, but the odds both of man and nature were against them. the th battalion throughout the fighting set a notable example of gallantry and endurance. that night of april th- th the germans effected their relief. they had, by all accounts of prisoners, suffered very severely from the fire of our artillery--but they had held on, retiring by a perverse stroke of irony to our own second line trench dug south of the crater when the bombardment became intolerable. it cannot be questioned that if we had been fully aware of the relative positions of the two forces the british artillery could have blown their opponents bodily out of the craters. that night, too, the th brigade began to come up to the relief. the th brigade had done its best; it had been fighting continuously for three days and nights; its supply of rations had been intermittent; many of its officers and men had had no sleep for days, and the exhaustion bred of shell-fire and mud was upon it. its casualties were in all officers and men. the th had borne the brunt of the first german onrush and suffered proportionately. eight of its officers and of its rank and file had been killed or wounded. the st, which held its line for the longest period in the brigade, came next with a roll of casualties. the th lost , and the th, . the brigade had failed, but it had failed gloriously! [sidenote: _april th- th, ._] the relief could only be accomplished by degrees. to move large bodies of men up simultaneously was impracticable, and the fighting was therefore continued by mixed battalions of the two brigades. the th brigade, under general rennie, consisted of the th (western ontario), commanded by lieut.-col. wigle; th (ontario), under lieut.-col. j. t. maclaren; th (northern and central ontario), under lieut.-col. c. h. rogers, and the st (eastern ontario), under lieut.-col. hughes. in effect, the relief, which lasted over four nights, put the st instead of the th on the right in the trenches, the th replacing the th in the centre support position; while the th took the place of the st on our left and in the canadian craters. but the higher command of the nd division, which exhibited throughout great determination, was not content to await the full relief before it launched a new attack on the enemy. [sidenote: _night, april th- th, ._] on the night of the th- th fresh assault was launched against craters and . [illustration: attack on the germans night of th to th april ] the object of this attack was to effect a lodgment on the north-west side of crater and on the north side of crater --that is to say, to secure a position where the st. eloi-wytschaete road passes through the craters and bends to the right. the assault on the right was led by capt. miller, of the st, who was wounded during the engagement. he and a small bombing party succeeded in getting to the edge of crater under a heavy fire, and in the blackness of the night crept up unobserved. here pte. comego had his right arm shattered. in spite of his excruciating agony he managed to control himself when a single sound would have given away the presence of the whole party. they had expected to find only about twenty of the enemy, but, discovering a far stronger force, beat a retreat to secure reinforcements. fifty more men of the st went up with lieut. brownlee, who distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry, to make a renewed attempt. by this time, however, the alarm had been given, and such a tornado of fire was turned on "no man's land" that the attack stuck fast. [sidenote: _ . a.m., april th, ._] at . in the morning the exhausted survivors succeeded in struggling back to the trench. in the course of the advance and of vigorous exchange of bombs with the germans, they had lost three-fourths of their number. great bravery was displayed by many men of the st. sniper zacharias used his rifle in the assault until it was blown out of his hands; he then became a grenadier and hurled bombs at the germans until his party retired. two lance-corporals, currie and henderson, made heroic efforts to drag the wounded back into the trench under heavy and continuous fire. as a result practically all the wounded of the st were evacuated by the stretcher-bearers. the attack on crater by the th met with no better success. lieut. kerr, who had reconnoitred the ground on the previous evening, led the party on, but the heavy barrage of the enemy checked the progress, and finally they had to content themselves with re-occupying the old british line and putting an outpost position in advance of it, fifty yards in front of the german crater. the th (western ontario) fought throughout with great courage. lieut. kerr was wounded, and lieut. baxter had been untiring in the most dangerous form of reconnaissance, working on unknown ground; lieut. elliott, the signal officer, went out over and over again into the open to establish and keep connection between the front position and battle headquarters, and was well backed by his men. but, as in the case of the st, in this attack the great difficulty was to bring in the wounded. capt. mckeough, company sergt.-major richardson, sergt. cunningham, sergt. bowie, and lance-cpl. evans dashed out time after time to bring the casualties in. private tom jones, said to have been in turn a deserter from the british army, the british navy, and the american army, though quite a young boy, lost his life at this stage of the action. he had been helping to carry lieut. clarke ( th), who was wounded, into safety, and on returning to guide an officer up, was shot clean through the head, to the grief of his regiment. the attack had suffered heavily, losing men in killed and wounded. in the meantime, the th battalion was engaged in relieving the st in the canadian craters on the night of the th and th. lieut. hooper ( th batt.), the grenade officer of the battalion, had undertaken the risky work of reconnoitring the position in advance, and majors moors and morrison ( th batt.) held this very awkward bit of the line in succession. the th, in fact, like the st, could give very little active assistance to the assaults, for their position in craters and was dominated by the german crater , and was exposed to heavy shelling. the main object was to hold their own, and this, it may be said, they succeeded in doing. orders, however, to retake the german positions were peremptory, and, as each wave of assault recoiled under the fire of the enemy, and because of the impossible state of the ground underfoot, a new one was promptly organised for the succeeding night. [sidenote: _night, april th- th, ._] the attack on the night of the th was of a extensive character, and achieved at least some measure of success. the th were brought up from brigade reserve and thrown into a line between the right of the th and the left of the st, and pushed into action. the main idea of the higher command was a very sound one, if due allowance be made for the extent of their knowledge. the german craters, then supposed to consist only of craters and , were to be attacked simultaneously on three sides. the st were to attack crater from their own front and through crater , taking their left in reverse, and reoccupy the positions at sackville centre and fredericton fort which had been held by capts. gwynn and meredith during the morning of april th. the th, to their left, were to attack crater from the north-west. the th, further to the left of the line, were to attack craters and from the north. the th, continuing the line again to the left, were to close in and assault the germans on their right flank, and so practically enclose them. the first plan shows the position as it actually was; the second as it was according to the information of the higher command. [illustration: maps--action on the night of april th to th .] but here again all assaults from the north broke down utterly. the men simply could not get on, and came staggering back into the line at dawn with heavy casualties and in a state bordering on collapse. on the right, however, a glint of success visited our standards. it had been discovered on the previous night that crater was not in the hands of the enemy. lieut. davidson ( st)--taking the place of capt. miller who had been wounded in the assault of the th--and lieut. brownlee once more led a strong party of bombers from our trenches up into crater . seizing this, they charged into the old german line about fredericton fort, where it had been held during the german main attack by capt. meredith and capt gwynn. they took back this lost ground and advanced north along the trench to capture crater from behind. this they failed to do, but they established themselves close to its south-west rim. the ground won was retained and consolidated, and the nd division once more held much the same position as it did on the morning of april th. col. wigle, of the th battalion, had been in charge of both these successive night attacks, and his account of the failure of his own battalion and of the th to get on in this last attempt throws up in high relief the difficulties confronting the commanders in all these operations. "they had no proper information as to the ground in front of them. they could not find a guide to locate crater at night--a heavy bombardment retarded progress, and lieut. clarke reported that his party could not get through. the brigade said the attack must proceed. the result of the operation brought no change from the position of the previous night." the th battalion continued during this assault to maintain the positions in the canadian craters it had taken over from the st battalion on april th, and continued to do so until its relief on the th, lieuts. thomson and macdonald commanding the garrison of crater , and lieuts. pepler and cassells of crater . an advanced machine-gun emplacement in a very exposed position was held by privates d. c. ballantine, a. w. sharpe, and w. hull, for hours without repose or relief. there were many other notable examples of gallantry in the regiment. cpl. a. f. lynch went out and dragged in a machine-gun, the entire crew of which had been killed. private hagan carried private hoffman, who had been wounded in both legs, to a place of safety yards away through a heavy artillery barrage. lance-cpl. bishop and private schwann, d.c.m., carried food and water out from the front trench to the garrisons of the craters, who had been cut off from all supplies for hours. this act was done in broad daylight, when to move was almost certain death. the th did well. nor were the th, though less continuously engaged, far behind them in their record of individual heroism. lieut. c. a. thomson helped to dress the wounded men of his own and other companies under heavy fire during the night attack of april th- th, though he himself was hit through the leg by a rifle bullet. he remained with his men till dawn and then dragged himself back for first aid--a journey which took four hours. private cooke, too, a stretcher-bearer, went on binding up the wounded long after he was hit, and private b. asquith carried a comrade to safety single-handed under a heavy fire. the lewis gun team of the th, under sergt. simpson, also exhibited marked courage and endurance. they were under fire continuously from april th to th, held crater against an encircling attack of german bombers, repulsed the attack, and took three prisoners. wave upon wave of men had been thrust forward in succession to retake the lost positions, yet as each party came up it seemed to melt away in the noise, squalor, and confusion of the front line. the telephones from behind were perpetually jangling with the urgent messages from the brigade, "you must get on at any cost," and when the wires were cut in spite of the heroic efforts of the regimental signallers to make them good, runner after runner risked his life in a dash across the shell-swept area with the same pressing orders. urged on by their commanders and their own indomitable spirit, the regiments renewed the attack again and again. but they could not get on. in the daylight the air was full of flying steel, and the bright light showed the assailants to their enemies so plainly that the lines of the attackers withered away under that devastating hail. by night the impenetrable darkness and the chaos of earth and water enveloped each succeeding party before they could get to grips with the enemy, in the dark hours small parties were wandering round trying to find their location in vain. the survivors returned almost fainting with exhaustion to the nearest detachment they could find. some were left behind as day broke, in the precarious shelter of small holes. private warn, of the th battalion, lived for nine days in such a position subsisting on the rations and water-bottles taken from the bodies of men of the rd british division killed in the fighting of the last days of march. marvellous to relate, he rejoined his unit in safety after his long sojourn with the dead. the company officers had throughout behaved with unflinching gallantry and vigour, nor had their men failed in any way to second their continued efforts. man had done his best, but he had been defeated by nature. with this assault, then, ended the second phase of the battle of st. eloi. the first period had witnessed the success of the german raid on the craters, the second the repeated failure of the counter-attacks; we now enter on the third phase, the consolidation of the line which remained in our hands. [sidenote: _night, april th- th, ._] on the night of the th began the relief of the th brigade by the th; their casualties had been officers and men.[ ] the whole action must be regarded as a counter-battle fought under the worst possible circumstances. the original advance of the rd british division over the shattered mine craters had met with strong resistance and an unexpected concentration of artillery fire, parallel to that of verdun. it is probable that the enemy were already planning an attack of their own. they were, however, taken by surprise and lost the first trick in the game. their reply was instant and effective. smashing down the ruined trenches in front of them before they could be made good by the defenders under a deluge of high explosive they found a hole in the line and seized the dominant position. after this coup, the weather and the guns combined to make movement on either side almost impossible in a front battered out of all recognition. had the germans known it, there were no front-line trenches worthy of the name opposed to them at st. eloi itself for days, and even the second-line positions had been battered to bits. but, in fact, they could no more advance than we could. the barrage of our artillery prevented, for them too, any heavy concentration behind the craters, and they hung on desperately, as we did, to the ground in their possession. from the beginning general turner had formed a clear view of the situation on which he based his operations. from the infantry point of view the weakness of the position was the extreme narrowness of the front, which enabled the enemy's guns to concentrate on a line the length of which was only from to , yards. this made successful movement impossible under fire, for there was no cover for the massing of men preparatory to the assault, and the small parties available were cut down in a narrow area by the full weight of the massed guns. on the other hand, the weakness from the point of view of the british and canadian gunners was the nearness of our lines to those of the enemy and the uncertainty of all precise locations. this latter factor was terribly aggravated by the mistake about craters and . two alternatives then offered themselves. the first was to make a renewed assault on a far wider front from ruined farm or beyond, on the left, to piccadilly farm on the right, and so scatter the enemy's shell fire. the second was to get well back from the craters and destroy their garrison by a concentrated hail fire from the heavy guns. it was not practicable to adopt either of these courses, and it was decided to reconstruct the old british line and to hold fast to the two craters in our possession. the work of reconstruction fell to the lot of the th brigade under general watson. as has been stated, on the night of april th the moves for the relief of the th brigade began and general watson took over the line in the early morning. the front was for the moment comparatively quiet. the th (new brunswick) relieved the th on the left, the nd (french canadians) took over from the st on the right, the th (victoria rifles) relieved the th in the centre support position, while the th (nova scotia) remained for the moment in brigade reserve. by april th the relief was accomplished. the position taken over by general watson consisted of the tenable trenches and posts in the old british line, the craters and and the advanced trenches in crater , and sackville centre and outposts to the north. the task of consolidating this last position fell to the th (victoria rifles). [sidenote: _night, april th- th, ._] two very daring reconnaissances were made on the night of the th- th by lieuts. robertson and duclos, and by lieut. greenshields and major ross, who was in charge of this particular part of the line. as a result, the position of the posts in the old german trench leading into crater were considerably strengthened and the approaches to crater were heavily wired. from this time on it may be said that the ground recaptured on the night of the th- th by the st passed finally and firmly into our hands. lieut. vernon, of the corps intelligence staff, came down during the relief from the corps commander to clear up the actual state of affairs. his report was of immense value, though it failed to note the crucial error about the craters, and confirmed the higher command in the view that the first necessity was to remake a sound front line. nowhere, as brig.-general watson discovered, were we anywhere as near the german positions as previous reports had led us to imagine. so deep was the mud and slush that no patrols could move, and the greatest difficulty was experienced in carrying up materials for the repair of the line. from the trenches on the right to the trenches near shelley farm, in the rear of our own craters was a gaping void held precariously by a few isolated posts. the brigade, however, set to work tenaciously to make defences out of slush. basing itself on the line held in the extreme left, it succeeded in re-establishing a considerable part of the line in the direction of the trenches on the right. all this was done under heavy fire, and the repairing of smashed-in parapets occupied as much time as the preparation of the renewed line. some author will yet arise to sing the epic of digging. it is of all work the most tedious and dangerous; there is no glory in it; and an infinite amount of labour and risk. yet the whole safety of the line depends on the exertions of the digging parties. a well-kept line spells comfort and security; a badly-kept one is a purgatory to its occupants. every battalion and brigade looks askance at the efforts of its predecessors, but none the less rough justice is done in the common opinion of the army. the th brigade, at any rate, strove valiantly; sandbags were placed in position, and the front was at last protected by coils of barbed wire. in the meantime the position of our troops in the advance craters had for some time been the cause of serious anxiety. held in succession by garrisons of the st, the th, and the th, throughout the battle they had, except at rare intervals, been cut off from communication with the main body. reliefs were accomplished by the dashes of the parties in the dark; food and water got up by the same method; and an occasional daring runner got through by daylight, and carrier pigeons were for the first time in the war employed as messengers. the orders were to hold on, but the value of the position was most uncertain. the two small craters lay in advance of our trench well under the dominance of german ground and of the rim of crater . they were joined by a shallow communication trench, along which it was only possible to crawl by daylight, and the right-hand crater was in any case absolutely untenable under artillery fire. forty yards away lay the germans, ready to pounce down on the garrison at any moment of the day or night. the defences were negligible, and all attempts to improve them permanently a failure. no man stood upright without the risk of a bullet through his brain. [sidenote: _night, april th, ._] the germans, on the other hand, had, beside the crater, a well-built trench made out of one of our own support trenches dug on april th. from this they launched on the night of the th four successive bombing attacks against the garrison. all were repulsed by bombers under the command of lieut. parish, grenade officer of the th. from this point onward the action gradually merged into the ordinary forms of trench warfare except for the peculiar violence of the artillery. [sidenote: _april th, ._] on the th, however, an event of great importance occurred. the gale died out, and the aeroplanes were able to soar aloft once more. the veil which had shrouded our operations was at last lifted, and it was clear that craters and were in the hands of the germans and craters and in those of the canadians. one final effort was made by the enemy to capture the canadian craters, but the story of this will be told in the following chapter. it remains to sum up the action of st. eloi as a whole. the nd division was fighting upon historic ground. a few miles to the north lay the battlefield of ypres, which the st division had made famous in the eyes of the world; near by was hill , from which the th british infantry brigade had come to the support of the canadians during the crucial days of april, . at st. eloi itself, the princess patricia's had, a year before, fought a long but unsuccessful action. it is therefore impossible to avoid comparisons between the first and second great actions of the dominion army. to do so is to refuse to accept the obvious. the st division lost ground indeed under the gas attack and the steady movement forward of massed prussian army corps. they retreated, but under circumstances which left them with a great and justified reputation. to the nd division was left the more bitter task of fighting for a month under leaden skies above and crumbling mud below, and yet failing to retain their original positions. but they deserved none the less well of canada. what mortal man could do, they did. the divisional command was wise; the brigadiers thrust their commands forward with unflinching resolution; the battalion and company commanders were both daring, resolute, and prudent; the rank and file shouldered their tasks of exhaustion and danger in a manner well worthy of the best infantry in europe. it was not given to the nd division to take a part in one of those glittering charges which figure so largely in press reports and so rarely in actions in the field. here were no bayonets flashing in the sun, no shouts of a triumphant infantry, but a long struggle against dirt and darkness, the terror of the high explosive, and the sharp spitting of the machine-guns. it is easy to think of war as one triumph reaching to another, and the historians gloss over easily the failure of their national arms. this lesson is, perhaps, not inapposite for a nation already proud in arms but new in history. wherever in the long confines of the dominion there comes in the cool of the evening the sense of irreparable loss for a treasured life, let it be remembered that the men who died at st. eloi died no less nobly than the men who fell at ypres. the lesson of failure is as much a part of the education of a nation as that of success. [ ] the th brigade was commanded by brig.-general rennie, who displayed marked capacity and ability in handling his command. we may expect for this officer a distinguished future in the canadian corps. chapter vii st. eloi (_conclusion_) the enemy's final effort to capture canadian trenches--the higher command decides to hold on--the precise position of affairs--the th brigade in inferno--loneliness of the watchers--carrier pigeons killed by shell-shock--crater no. abandoned--the enemy's lack of imagination--the power of the british army "to come again"--troops of the allies able to act without support--general watson on the state of the craters--the report of lieut. vernon--linking up the craters with the old british line--advantageous position of the huns--four attempts to take canadian craters--the huns driven back--the assault on craters and --isolated position of the canadians--aeroplanes reveal the true position--army commanders blameless--the importance of dominant ground--difficulties of the higher command--the enemy begins an intense bombardment--many casualties--permission to surrender--lieutenant myers fires his last round--five survivors--sergeant hostel's narrative--the failures at st. eloi--the garrison of the canadian craters swept out of existence. in the meantime the position in the craters became increasingly difficult as the days went on. so grave indeed was the situation that the higher command was at one time seriously considering the plan of abandoning them completely so as to give the gunners freer play with the german positions and attempt to blow them bodily out. this solution of the problem was ultimately rejected, and the orders were to hold on at any cost. as brigade relieved brigade this was done in succession by the st, the th, th, th, and th--the last-named regiment being still in crater on the morning of april th. before proceeding, however, to the story of the craters it may be as well to remind the reader, even if a few facts must be repeated, of the precise position of affairs. [sidenote: _night, april th- th, ._] on the night of april th- th, the th brigade carried out its relief of the th. on the morning of the th the position of the various regiments was as follows:--the nd held our trenches on the right, the th were in the centre, and the th on the left and in the craters. the th were in reserve. compared with the storm of battle which had been raging, the times were comparatively quiet, except for the occupants of the advanced post. the rise to the knoll of st. eloi is a gradual one, but the slope of the ground now gave the germans the dominating position, and the very force of the explosion of the mines had confirmed their advantage. looking out from craters and at night the dimly-seen outlines of craters and loomed out on the sky-line overshadowing the minor emplacements, which were in the hands of the canadians. by day, from a distance of about yards, it was possible for the enemy to see right down into the cups of craters and over the flattened and crumbling edges, and no man moved there save at the peril of his life. the daylight bombardments were fierce and intensive, for the germans had the range to a nicety with their trench mortars. the evenings were enlivened by periodical bombing assaults from the higher ground. under these conditions the digging of a proper defensive position could not be carried out, and in this inferno the successive parties of the th brigade continued for five days. one must picture the garrison looking out in the darkness on a serrated ridge illumined moment to moment by the light of star-shells and wondering at what instant the hostile rush would come. loneliness is a great feature in war; and loneliness here was carried to its extreme. the communication with the shattered defences of the old front-line trenches in the rear was even by night fitful and uncertain. by day all touch over the intervening ground of yards was hopeless, except now and again for a daring runner who took his life in his hand's and usually lost it. [sidenote: _april th, ._] the carrier pigeons were killed by shell-shock;[ ] the supply of food, water and ammunition was precarious. many units of the garrison went without any sleep, except the doze of sheer exhaustion, for three or four nights on end--for to sleep soundly might mean to wake to instant death. the ground underfoot was a morass and the sky above charged with falling shell. so terrific was the bombardment that on one occasion crater had to be abandoned chiefly owing to the annihilation of its defenders. under these adverse circumstances the successive regiments of the th brigade held their ground with the customary tenacity of canadian infantry. the germans with all their military virtues suffer from one defect of imagination. they can never believe that small bodies of men, unsupported and beyond the control of the higher command, will hold on to untenable positions, or will remain fighting units long after they have been beaten by all the rules of war. this error accounts for the failure to pursue after the battle of le cateau, and the disregard of the power of the british army to "come again," which led to the fatal wheel of von kluck; it also accounts for the german neglect to push their undoubted advantage at various stages of the first and second battles of ypres. they could not believe that men would resist so boldly who had nothing in reserve. on a lesser scale the position in the craters and behind them was the same as in these historic combats. the reconstruction of the front or old british line by the th brigade was only beginning; the second line was not in a satisfactory state; the difficulty of bringing up more troops into the advance positions was almost insuperable. the germans had a chance, had they known it, of pushing through, but the th brigade held the fort until the opportunity had long passed away. the great concentration of reserves, the massed attack delivered shoulder to shoulder with unflinching courage in the face of a devastating fire, is familiar to the teutonic mind, which yet seems unable to realise that the democracy of great britain, france and canada can produce men who can do their military duty without the support of carefully-arranged reserves. as to the state of the craters and the line it may be better to call independent witnesses. [sidenote: _april th, ._] general watson had made a tour of the whole position on the morning of the th and reported that the st battalion were quite wrong in thinking that in the attack of the th- th they had got anywhere near crater . they were, in fact, never nearer than yards to it. this statement is confirmed by all the evidence, though no doubt the attackers were, in the dark and confusion, unable to ascertain where they were. the general also reported that the first line, that is, the old british line of trenches, was in a very battered state for defence. he regarded the construction work on crater , described in the last chapter, as excellent, and this must go to the credit of the th brigade and the st and th battalions. [sidenote: _april th, ._] on april th lieut. vernon, of the intelligence department, was sent down by the corps commander to investigate the situation. he failed to penetrate the error between craters and and and , like everyone else, but his account of the craters is of great interest in view of what followed. "crater no. .--this is in our hands, and is a shallow crater about forty yards across; the rims are flat and not high and do not dominate the enemy's new line as to elevation. this crater has no protection from enemy's fire except on the front side (inside), no trenches or parados exist on the rear (north) side, and this side is not occupied by our troops, as it is constantly exposed to rifle and machine-gun fire. "the communication trench leading to this crater from the north-east is now being improved (fifty men, engineers, working during night), but as yet affords only limited protection; its route includes old mine craters and shell-holes. "crater no. .--this is in our hands, and is approached through crater no. by a ruined shell-wrecked trench along which one has to crawl on hands and knees, and it is constantly sniped at and constantly under observation by enemy flares. "the crater itself is deep, about forty yards across, and affords much better protection than no. . its rims are higher, but the germans so dominate it from their trench in front that our garrison has to keep their heads down; the rims are constantly swept by rifle and machine-gun fire. it is built up with some works on the inside facing the enemy, and garrisoned by an officer, men, and machine-gun." in the light of these facts it was decided to make various arrangements for the improvement of the defence--particularly for the linking-up of the craters with the old british line by a communication trench. it proved impracticable, however, to carry out the whole of the scheme, though , men were turned on to the various works. the germans were in a comparatively enviable position. the lie of the ground was with them and the protection afforded by their own craters adequate. their knowledge of the precise state of affairs was also more accurate, and in consequence they were better served by their gunners. they possessed in addition the support trenches dug by the nd division on the nights of april rd/ th and th/ th. they could use the trenches north of the craters as the basis of their own new front line, and the ones south as retiring points whenever our artillery fire became unbearable. none the less, according to the accounts of prisoners, they suffered severely, and the artillery barrage made it impossible for them to bring up strong supports. this did not prevent them taking the offensive as soon as our own counter-attacks had ceased. [sidenote: _morning, april th, ._] on the morning of the th, as has been related, they four times attempted to take the canadian craters and by bombing assaults, but the th battalion repulsed them every time. simultaneously an attempt was made to oust the garrison of crater . the enemy to the number of charged boldly across the open in broad daylight. this position had, however, as related in the previous chapter, been considerably strengthened, and lieut. parish, the grenade officer of the th battalion, who took over the command on april th, had extended the outpost line towards crater , and drove back the assailants without much difficulty, but with considerable loss to them. in fact, our position in crater can never be said to have been seriously threatened, for the ground gave the germans no special advantage. at dawn on the th, the bombing assault on the craters and began again, this time preluded by a hellish bombardment of trench mortars and heavy guns. communication with the main position was absolutely broken, and runner after runner failed to get through. man after man was killed, wounded, or driven back in the attempt. the th, however, maintained their position until they were relieved by parties of the th on the following day, when lieut. lamb took over crater and capt. sutherland crater . [sidenote: _ . , night, april th, ._] at . p.m. the newcomers had to repulse a strong bombing attack by the enemy. like others of the very gallant men who held the advance posts, they seem to have been of opinion that their retention served no useful purpose and was in fact impracticable, except at the cost of a continuous drain of human life. they speak of the isolation of the position, of the dominating outlook of the enemy, and of watching that enemy improving his defences without any interference from our guns while they themselves were subjected to an almost continuous fire. [sidenote: _april th, ._] all this is no doubt true--but it must be remembered that on this day (the th) the aeroplanes for the first time were able to soar into the heavens, and look down on the real position of the earth. up to this date, then, the higher command were informed that we were holding essential positions right in the heart of the enemy's line, and that every shell fired by our guns would be a positive danger to the canadian garrison. it was only as the weather grew calm that the true facts of the case emerged. in any case, the higher command of the nd division had no cause to blame itself. general turner's information from below had been incorrect; in spite of this lack of knowledge his instinct for a practical situation, innate in all real soldiers, had shown itself on every occasion. but the further we get from the front the more difficult it is to arrive at truth, and the corps and army commanders are hardly to be blamed if they were wrongly informed as to facts when company and battalion commanders in the firing line were, with the utmost sincerity, reporting that they occupied points which, as a matter of fact, were never in their possession. the slope of the ground, as at hooge and zillebeke, dominated the position; as soon as the germans held the mound and rise of st. eloi their advantage of sight was such that the free movements of troops was impossible. intelligence could not be obtained, and the co-ordination of the various units became a matter of practical impossibility. on the other side of the ridge the germans, screened from any accurate artillery observation on their immediate front, were able to move with comparative impunity. the only answer was a counter-attack on a far more extended area. it is one of the fallacies of people who talk about modern warfare to say that ground is nothing. a good trench, forty or fifty yards' fire zone, and sound wire in front will no doubt protect resolute infantry against a frontal attack. but the whole movement and massing of troops for such an attack, the supply of provisions, ammunition and reliefs, the ordinary workaday business which makes the existence of an army possible, can hardly be carried out in the face of an enemy who can watch every move on the board, while the higher command can see practically nothing of what is happening on the other side of the hill. it may be possible for troops to carry on under these conditions, but it is neither usual nor expedient. [sidenote: _noon, april th, ._] at noon on april th, the th battalion was relieved by the th; they had been twenty-four hours in the advance post, the ordinary time for anyone occupying a position of great stress and danger. the frequency of the relief speaks more eloquently than words of the strain to which the various garrisons had been subjected. [sidenote: _night, april th, ._] the th were in their turn relieved by the th battalion of the th brigade on the night of april th/ th. these latter troops had suffered severely during the original fighting at st. eloi; but as the other brigades had done their turn in the trenches it was imperative that the th brigade should relieve them. [sidenote: _april th, ._] the next day the end came suddenly and the defence collapsed. lieut. myers, of the th battalion, with forty men was in occupation of the left-hand crater , and lieut. biggs, of the same regiment, held crater on the right. during the morning all was quiet, but shortly after two o'clock the enemy started an intense bombardment, which made the craters practically untenable. very few men remained alive or unwounded after three hours. the shelling on the right-hand crater was particularly severe, and some of the survivors got along the shallow communication trench into crater . they discovered, however, that their comrades were in no better case than themselves. the men were buried over and over again, and the rifles, in spite of their breech covers, finally refused to work. when all resistance had been annihilated some forty or fifty germans started to come across. as far as can be ascertained, lieut. biggs appears to have given permission to his few remaining and weaponless men to surrender. lieut. myers, who exhibited a most indomitable spirit, resisted to the last, firing one round from a discarded rifle and blazing off his own revolver at the advancing enemy. these were the only shots left in the hands of the defence. finally, although already wounded, he suggested to the remains of his command that they should endeavour to retire across the fire-swept open country rather than fall into german hands. five men, two of them wounded, made this desperate attempt, "and as the remainder," says lieut. myers, "seemed disinclined to take the risk, i gave them my sanction to surrender, as the germans were then almost across to the crater." of the five men and the officer, three were wounded before they started, and only one came in untouched; none the less, they succeeded in making good their escape. of these, one was private harding, who had come in from crater , after having his own brother and three other men killed by his side. they were the only survivors of the garrison--the remainder being all killed or taken prisoners. it is, as a matter of fact, very difficult to conceive and quite impossible to describe exactly what the defenders of the craters had been through, and it is wonderful that the men who escaped retained their sanity. sergt. h. bostel, of the th, has, however, left such a clear and convincing record of his experience that i prefer to use his own words rather than to give it at second-hand. "i was one of a party of men under lieut. myers, th battalion, and went forward to occupy crater left at about midnight april th. we posted our sentries as soon as we got in and relieved a party of the th battalion under lieut. ross. during the morning everything was quiet until about p.m. when the enemy light artillery--whizzbangs, and possibly minenwerfers were firing on crater left, the one which we were in. this continued for about three-quarters of an hour, during which time we had no casualties whatever, there was no shelling for about one-quarter of an hour, and then they opened up with heavy shells, which fell just on the right front of the crater, and afterwards got direct hits on the centre of the crater, and in my section i had two killed and four wounded. [sidenote: _ : p.m., april th, ._] this was about . p.m. the heavy shelling continued for about half an hour, but there were no casualties, as my section took what cover there was. during the bombardment, mr. myers was badly wounded. he, however, gave orders that immediately the bombardment ceased all men were to 'man' the parapet. the bombardment ceased about . p.m. we then finished dressing the wounded. sergt. slaughter went around detailing men to posts and duties. i remained with my section of nine men. [sidenote: _ : p.m., april th, ._] it must have been about . p.m. when they opened up again, as i remember sergt. slaughter inquiring for me about . p.m. 'what time it was, and if the rifles were clean and ready?' i might have mentioned that during the bombardment, mr. myers tried to get a message through by pigeon, but they were killed by this bombardment. the artillery then opened an intense bombardment which was terrific. our wounded were killed in this bombardment, being blown to pieces, and many men were buried in their dug-outs. it was impossible for the remainder to render assistance, although several attempts were made. it was raining, and water was flowing from the right crater to the left, and it was practically impossible to move, as the ground within the crater was like porridge except in a few places. during this bombardment we had many casualties. i saw personally eight men knocked out by one large shell. we half expected that an attack would follow after this, and got as many rifles posted as possible. it was noticed shortly after this that the germans opened up rifle fire from the trenches along the crater. at the same time the bombardment was continued. the fire of the german heavies now seemed to be concentrated on our next crater. some men came across from the right crater into the left crater. sergt. platt told me that the order had been passed along saying that we were to close into the left crater, as there appeared to be less shelling in it. the german rifle fire continued, and we expected that at every moment they would come across. i discussed the question with sergt. slaughter of sending back a message, to warn our rear lines, but he said it was hopeless for any man to try to get through that fire in time to be of any assistance, and it was thought that it would be impossible to bring reinforcements up to us in any case. mr. myers came out of his dug-out with his wounds bandaged up and shouted out 'come on, boys; we will make a fight for it.' we all came out of our shelters. i had been buried no less than four times and the shells were splashing mud all over the place. we covered our rifles with sandbags, but it was impossible to keep them in working order, owing to the terrible state of the ground. sergt. slaughter left me and went to his own platoon. i calculate that we had fifteen to twenty men left. by this time there were fifty or sixty germans coming across. i should say there were three rifles actually capable of firing, and these opened up. mr. myers used his revolver and then seized a rifle, but was only able to fire one round out of it. i then said to mr. myers: 'are we going to make a fight for it?' and he said 'yes, boys.' it appeared to us that in the other crater the germans had got up to the remaining garrison and had overpowered them, as i distinctly saw one or two men put up their hands. they were standing thigh deep in mud, and it seemed absolutely hopeless for them to do anything else but surrender. i saw mr. biggs and three or four of his men on the enemy's side of the crater. all this time i might mention that the enemy had a machine-gun playing right across the craters and his artillery fire was extremely accurate on our side of the craters where mr. myers and our party were. shortly after this we decided to retire, as we had no means of putting up any resistance, and rather than be taken prisoners decided to get back and give information and ask for a counter-attack. we then started out with a party of three. mr. myers was wounded and had to be assisted, also private mcdonald, who was wounded in the back and neck, and a machine-gun man, i think named whelan, who was wounded in the face, joined us shortly after we left, and later on one of the pigeon men overtook us. i do not know where he came from. the remainder of our small party in the craters must have been killed or taken prisoners. it was about p.m. when we got back to voormezeele, where we left the wounded." [sidenote: _april th, ._] the craters were thus lost. the view that they were untenable was obviously shared by the germans, who made no attempt to occupy them except by way of roving patrols. on the morning of the th major tait, of the th, and a small party made a bold and complete reconnaissance of crater , which he found quite deserted. "the crater lips have been so knocked about that there is no sign of any edge, and the whole is a mass of slimy mud full of dead bodies." on the same evening lieut. jackson, of the th, took a patrol over the abandoned ground and found it clear except for a party of five germans who made off as soon as they were seen. the opinion of the regimental officers on the spot was, however, conclusive against re-entering a position from which they had literally been blown out, and their view was accepted by the higher command, whose aeroplane information enabled them to tell that the main crater line had been lost on april th, and that the retention of the small craters was merely an embarrassment to our own gunners. the position in crater , maintained throughout the fighting of the th, remained definitely in our hands. the story of the craters is like that of most of the battle of st. eloi, one of misfortune for the nd division; but it is not one of blame. the successive regiments who held the outposts were from the very outset at a great disadvantage compared with their enemies. they were not, and could not be, properly supported by their own gunners while the enemy's artillery was pounding them to pieces. they endured the horrors of this experience with fortitude, and repelled the earlier assaults with success. but their defences were like a child's castle on the sand, as wave after wave creeps up the shore on an incoming tide. the outlines became blurred and faded under the remorseless gunfire, until the final wave quietly and calmly swept the th out of existence. of a garrison of eighty men one returned unwounded. [ ] the last message dating the th. chapter viii the battle of sanctuary wood moving northwards--the immortal field of ypres--the greatest of all canadian battlefields--description of the ground--who holds the rim holds the saucer--advantageous position of the enemy--sanctuary wood--observatory ridge--the unpleasantness of life and the prevalence of death--situation of the canadians--fortified posts--the german attack begins--the artillery preparation--jack johnsons--whole areas destroyed--a tornado of iron and steel--canadian trenches swept out of existence--the thunder of high explosives--german guns on the second line--the capture of general williams--tragic death of general mercer--the th canadian mounted rifles swallowed up--heavy casualties--a gallant advance--machine-guns on hill --lieuts. key and evans make a brave stand--the princess pats in the firing line--the exploits of captain niven--the gallant-hearted gentleman--a mix-up--between two fires--game until the last--major critchley--rescue of men buried alive--lieut. glascoe--canadian guns spotted by the enemy--attacks repulsed by the royal canadians--plucky deed of corporal hood--loss of sacrifice guns--lieut. cotton killed--faithful unto death--a critical position--the colours of princess pats returned to headquarters--second canadian mounted rifles move under heavy fire--the enemy loses an opportunity--energetic action of general macdonell--the seventh brigade in peril--timely support of the royal canadian regiment--general butler sends relief--the fifth canadian mounted rifles hard pressed--daring reconnaissance of sergeant jones--fifth canadian mounted rifles save the salient--heavy losses of the eighth brigade--help at hand. the fighting since march had, like the canadians, been moving steadily northward, from the trench raiding opposite messines and wytschaete, through the battle of st. eloi in april, to the successive actions at sanctuary wood and hooge which i am about to record. these actions, which were in scale if not in intensity the greatest of all the canadian battles, took place but a few miles away from that field of ypres which the first division had rendered immortal. the dead who lie in their graves round langemark and st. julien might well have stirred in their sleep at the thunder of the canadian guns. many men now quick and vigorous were to join them in their last rest, falling in the same spot for the same cause. in fact, the first action was fought north-east of ypres, while the present struggle took place south-east and much nearer to it. anyone who had stood before the war on some high tower within the circle of the vast mediæval ramparts of earth, which have defied even modern artillery, and of the ancient grey walls which still look out across the calm waters of the broad moat and through the poplars which fringe it, would have obtained an excellent view of all save the outer edges of the field of battle. the menin road drives out over the flats for a mile, and then for another mile up the gentle slope to the ridge crowned by the ruins of hooge. this road marks the left and northern boundary of the fighting with the exception of the bombing posts running down to bellewaarde beek. this ridge, with one main gap and many irregularities, curves round south-west and runs continuously to mount sorrel, where the fighting stops on the south. it represents, as it were, the rim of a saucer of which ypres is in the central depression: and in war who holds the rim holds the saucer. standing on such a position and casting his eye along the ridge from hooge, the observer sees across a mile or so of green water-meadows striped with the dark lines of high, luxuriant hedges, the northern part covered only by a few isolated and shattered trees, until he comes to zouave wood, which runs up into the first and greatest of the gaps. this gap isolates hooge from the system, and through it the germans can see right down on to the british trenches in the plain. farther south the nearer slopes are covered with the great expanse of sanctuary wood, once so thick as to be almost impenetrable to the guards in october, , but now sadly thinned by gun-fire, and crowned by the slight eminences known as hills and .[ ] beyond these comes mount sorrel, and the sector of the action is complete; for here the british line breaks suddenly back to the west and to the railway. but between sanctuary wood and mount sorrel there is a curious feature--observatory ridge--a long tongue of higher ground, bare and barren, runs right back due west into the british positions towards zillebeke village and lake. [sidenote: _june st, ._] such was the position occupied by the third canadian division on june st, , as seen from the rear--a pleasant prospect if it were not for the signs of devastation, the white-scarred, headless trees, the upcast earth and the growl of the guns which in the salient seem to come from every point on the horizon. viewed by the germans from the east, it did not look quite so strong, for they too held high ground dominating slightly in many places the line held by the canadians. none the less it is a strong defensive position, and lord ernest hamilton in "the first seven divisions" maintains with great show of reason that it was always the natural place from which to protect the town. high ground may not possess to-day all the importance it had in the warfare of past ages, but the men on the hill still have one great advantage over the men in the hollow: they can see and their enemy is blind. every trench and every movement of troops can be seen, and artillery fire can be directed and observed with complete accuracy without relying on aeroplanes and balloons, which are imperfect substitutes for direct observation and which bad weather may put out of commission. furthermore, the life of the infantry in the plain becomes intolerable when every head is liable to show and become the target for immediate fire. life is too unpleasant and death too prevalent. the canadian corps, then, had to hold the plateau at all costs. this description of the ground may make it easier to understand the positions occupied by the rd division and the st division on its right--for the nd division was still far away on its old ground at st. eloi, farther to the south, and was not called up to help till a later stage of the action. the left of the line was held by the th brigade under brigadier-general a. c. macdonell, and the right by the th brigade under brigadier-general victor williams. two companies of the royal canadian regiment, commanded by lieut.-colonel c. h. hill, were firmly astride the menin road towards the farther side of the ruins of hooge village. their left sloped down through a series of bombing posts to bellewaarde beek, where they linked with the th british brigade. their right extended to the gap, where they were in touch with the princess patricia's canadian light infantry. the trenches here had been partially demolished, and an attempt was being made to repair them at the time of the attack. next to the right came the princess patricia's canadian light infantry, under lieut.-colonel buller. they had two companies in the front line, the left-hand one on the slight rise on the northern boundary of sanctuary wood, the right-hand one in another gap or dip, so that the regiment had a depression on either side of its position. in the southern section of sanctuary wood they met the line of the st canadian mounted rifles of the th brigade under lieut.-colonel shaw.[ ] this last battalion held hills and with three companies in the firing line and one just behind, but its junction with the princess patricia's was slightly broken at the dip. next on the right came the th canadian mounted rifles battalion under colonel ussher, with three companies in the firing line holding mount sorrel. two platoons were just in rear in the support trenches and in the communication trench leading to headquarters. here the th brigade ended and the nd brigade of the st division took on the line. behind this front line there was a support line on the left of the position. from the menin road the strong and excellent support line trenches drive south-east. this line was held by the support company of the royal canadian regiment and the support company of the princess patricia's canadian light infantry, each backing their respective regiments in the front trenches. at a point north-east of maple copse and in the middle of sanctuary wood this well-marked support line ceased and broke into two separate systems of trenches. in the first place a series of communication trenches broke back sharply to maple copse and the south-west, making an acute angle, or apex, facing the germans. from this apex the support line continued, though not at all points in a fully completed condition, close behind our front-line trenches on hill and mount sorrel.[ ] behind these again was a series of fortified posts covering, in a somewhat irregular pattern, the ground between zouave wood and the southern slopes of observatory ridge. this in effect completed the system of front line and support defence. further back, a second line nearer ypres, known, as the g.h.q. trenches, represented the last barrier. it will be observed that there was no trench between maple copse and square wood. the fortified posts on the north were held by the support battalion, the th canadian mounted rifles, under lieut.-colonel baker, and on the south were in possession of the spare platoons of the th canadian mounted rifles and were in rear of their lines. one fort, however, was in the hands of the princess patricia's canadian light infantry. maple copse was occupied by a company and a half of the th canadian mounted rifles, and the remainder of the latter were back in reserve. with them were the nd battalion (royal highlanders of canada) under lieut.-colonel cantlie in support of the th brigade, and also the remaining company of the royal canadian regiment. a glance at the map will make the positions of the various units and the general scheme of defence clear, and tiring as such a recapitulation of companies and regiments may be, it is necessary if the story is to be in the least intelligible. the th (edmonton regiment), under lieut.-colonel griesbach, was the reserve battalion of the th brigade, and the nd canadian mounted rifles of the th. the th brigade was in divisional reserve. [illustration: map--sanctuary wood area. position before attack on june nd ] such were the dispositions of the corps, now under gen. sir julian byng, who had on may th succeeded gen. alderson, when the storm finally broke.[ ] there had been warnings already. the enemy had been driving "t" saps[ ] out in front of their lines and linking them up so as to form a new trench in advance of the old one. lieut.-colonel odlum, of the th (british columbia) battalion, launched a daring plan of counter construction at one place against the works and definitely checked their progress. the shelling of the last few days before the attack had been peculiarly heavy, and it is probable that the higher command had other information of impending mischief. it was undoubtedly this fact which induced major-general mercer and brigadier-general williams to make their tour of the trenches on that fateful early morning of june. [sidenote: _june nd, early morning._] they left at six in the morning and reached the battalion headquarters of the th canadian mounted rifles before eight o'clock. general mercer was accompanied by his a.d.c., lieut. gooderham, and general williams by capt. fraser, the brigade orderly officer. colonel ussher conducted them up the communication trench at about a quarter past eight, and the party had either reached the front trench or was about to enter it when with a sudden crash the enemy's guns opened. the rd division was now to experience in its full fury the artillery preparation of the summer of . all that had gone before was as nothing to this. the bombardment of had been feeble in comparison, and those of a mere sun-shower as compared to tropical rain. the soldiers of the st division when they landed in france had, with their native humour, come to laugh at the jack johnsons from the -inch howitzers, though these were formidable to an army which then had no guns of an equal range. but a preparation in the modern style leaves very few remaining to laugh. the nd division had a taste of the new shelling at st. eloi and its dangers had been intensified by a bad position and wretched trenches. but even so, all agreed that there was no comparison between the gun-fire of april and of june, which was the heaviest endured by british troops up to that time. the germans were directing their efforts against a strong position and sound trenches, yet they swept both out of existence as the autumn wheat is mowed down by the reaper. it was not merely a line they destroyed, but a whole area. [sidenote: _june nd, . a.m.- . p.m._] indeed, the storm which burst on the rd division at . that june morning was like a tropical tornado which presses men flat to the ground and suffocates them with the mere force of the wind, which uproots forests and hurls them headlong, obliterates all ancient landmarks and the houses and shelters of men and beasts, and leaves behind nothing but a tangled desolation from which a few survivors creep out scarcely sane enough to realise the catastrophe or to attempt to repair the damage. but here the blinding crashes overhead were not those of thunder and lightning, but of high explosive. the fragments which drove through the air were not bits of wood or masses of vegetation. they were steel and iron fragments which pierced the flesh, as the shock of the explosion stopped the heart and threw cascades of earth over bodies in which life still beat feebly or in which it was already extinct. the solid trenches melted away, and mounds and craters appeared where none existed before. a litter of broken wood, burst sandbags, and human remains cumbered the earth where it was not merciful enough to bury them. and this tornado of man was let loose on a few acres which contained, perhaps, two or three thousand troops, and continued for the space of about four hours. at the end, although the awful noise goes on, the shower of steel ceases. the guns have lifted to the second line. here and there groups of survivors creep out, wild-eyed or stupefied, like men just risen from the tomb, to see the solid lines of the enemy advancing at a walk or a jog-trot. every man acts according to his instinct. a few lie where they are and chance being taken prisoners. some make a rush and crawl for the ruined communication trenches and face the barrage once more in the hope of rejoining their comrades. another group resists desperately, grasping what rude and broken weapons remain to it, and dies in a hopeless struggle. such in effect is the story of the front and support line companies of the st and th canadian mounted rifles and the right-hand company of the princess patricia's between . and . of june nd, as their casualties will prove. that story must, however, be told in greater detail; but isolated facts cannot be understood without their environment. the generals and their staffs were caught by the outbreak of this inferno. it is idle to go into the question as to exactly how, when, and where the divisional general died. there are many ways into such a controversy and no way out. all that is certain is that one of the first shells burst close to the staff, wounding brigadier-general williams[ ] and stunning major-general mercer. none the less, shortly afterwards general mercer sent back a message, the last to come through from mount sorrel, asking for the howitzers to be turned on. after that he tried to get back to his post behind the lines and failed. some say he remained with the th canadian mounted rifles battalion for a time and was seen moving up and down. soon, at any rate, he was seen no more by living men. he must have made another attempt to get back to his post and been killed on the way. his body was found with three wounds on it in armagh wood. he was buried at poperinghe. there lie the mortal remains of lieut.-colonel hart-mcharg and lieut.-colonel birchall, who served under him in the th battalion of the st brigade of the st division. it is tragic to think that such a brilliant soldier, who had risen to the command of a division by sheer force of ability, should have died just as his new command was going into its first big action and needed his services so greatly. the trenches of the th canadian mounted rifles and their garrisons thus vanished, and nothing more was heard of them save for the stories of small isolated parties which escaped. the last trench on the right and round the western bend of the salient escaped a little more lightly. the garrison held on till night fell, and then the survivors, finding the germans coming up behind them in armagh wood, made good their escape to the lines of the nd brigade on their right. colonel ussher collected some of the support company in a roofed-in trench, hoping to keep them under cover there until the german attack. almost immediately heavy shells blocked both ends of the tunnel and many were stifled before the party could break out of this living grave. this was the last attempt at any organised resistance. major dennison fought a rearguard action at point-blank range with the advancing germans, and eventually got back into the second line with five men. meanwhile, the shelling on the support line had been almost equally intense. the fortified posts held by the th canadian mounted rifles were blown to pieces and the platoons in them. one garrison perished and of the second garrison three men got away. in all some thirty or forty men of the th canadian mounted rifles got away and were rallied behind the support line. their casualties were ; the regiment had simply ceased to exist.[ ] on their left the st canadian mounted rifles battalion had fared little better. all through the morning, their advance and support trenches being flattened out section by section, the survivors rallied in isolated groups wherever cover was left. in face of the attack these retired, some on the trenches in the apex, and some on the battalion headquarters, where colonel shaw and the support company were preparing to put up a vigorous resistance. the casualties of the front companies speak for themselves. of one company fifteen came out alive, of the second company fifteen, of the third twenty-three. [sidenote: _june nd, . p.m._] the german assault was delivered just after one o'clock, when their guns lifted from the front trenches and was preluded by the blowing up of mines, which were, however, outside our trenches and had no effect on the ultimate issue. the attack was launched from the south-west, for it was plainly visible to our men in the trenches by hill . the watchers saw in the clear air four successive lines of grey-clad figures carrying packs and greatcoats advancing in the distance with the assurance of those who neither dread nor expect resistance; behind came the engineers with the material to make good the position. an indignant rapping from the machine-guns on hill greeted them; but the tide flowed on, unheeding. the lines reached mount sorrel and disappeared. the enemy, by attacking the corner of the line, advanced in effect "en échelon"--that is to say, their left flank reached mount sorrel and cleared it somewhat before their centre attacked the st canadian mounted rifles. the result was that colonel shaw in his redoubt found his right flank exposed and was the object of a concentric attack. none the less, the garrison put up a heroic fight against machine-guns, rifle-fire, and grenades. colonel shaw fell, and with him major palmer and his adjutant, lieutenant rowles. finally, when all the officers but two and most of the n.c.o.'s were killed or wounded, and the position was in danger of being surrounded, lieuts. key and evans led the fifteen survivors back into a fortified post just in front of the apex, where they collected some stragglers from other units and held on until relieved the following day. this dogged defence was of the utmost value, for the second line at this point was desperately weak and quite unable to resist a resolute assault.[ ] of the support company and battalion headquarters about seventy-one men survived. the total casualties of the regiment were . it was now the turn of the princess patricia's to withstand the assault, which came upon them at about . p.m. [sidenote: _june nd, . p.m._] regiments which possess some special name as opposed to ordinary battalions, which are designated by numbers, and which are therefore picked out by over-zealous correspondents for particular praise for their share of work which all have done equally, are not always popular. this is certainly the case in the imperial service; and yet no line regiment would grudge the guards their reputation, for what they have won in praise they have earned, and they have worn their laurels with a studious modesty. the princess patricia's had two companies in the firing line, one in the communication trench leading up to it past battalion headquarters with a tail in the support line, and a fourth entirely in the support line trenches. the right-hand company in the firing line was, like the canadian mounted rifle regiments, blown out of its trenches, and the survivors took ground in communication trenches held by the support company. at . p.m. the german wave lapped round the left of all except the front-line company commanded by captain niven, which turned about and volleyed into the germans' right rear. this company kept its position in the front line and maintained it for eighteen hours after the bombardment began, although the enemy attempted to penetrate the gap on the left and had seized the dip to the right of the trenches on the rise which they held. capt. niven had with one hand to fend off attempts to bomb his men at right and left down the trench, and with the other to turn and enfilade with excellent result the germans who were pressing in on either flank. yet he, who was in command, is chiefly anxious to explain in his report that this was the result of a pure accident, as the enemy had over-ranged his trench and the heavies and trench mortars were bursting twenty yards behind, save for the right platoon, which mustered only three survivors. the enemy then attacked the princess patricia's canadian light infantry companies in the communication trenches and began to bomb his way to the support line and the apex line, which possessed at that time scarcely any defenders. colonel buller rallied the support platoons in the communication trench and pushed them up to a counter-attack to save the support line. not satisfied with the rate of their progress through the shattered trench, he climbed outside to urge them on, and was killed instantly.[ ] he possessed one of those fearless and impetuous natures which made him the fitting commander of a famous regiment and brought him the soldier's death he would have desired. [sidenote: _june nd, p.m._] there followed a dark and bloody _mêlée_ between the germans and the canadians in the communication trenches, the former trying to press on and rush the support line and the latter trying to build blocks down the communication trenches to stave them off until that line could be fully manned. at one time the princess patricia's in the communication trench, though attacked across the open simultaneously on both sides, resisted the enemy, thus emulating the traditions of the famous british regiment which, when attacked from behind, simply turned its rear rank about and fired in both directions.[ ] major critchley, staff captain of the th infantry brigade, going up after we had retaken the communication trenches, said that he found the bodies of the princess patricia's canadian light infantry lying in succession behind six blocks in the trench, showing that in their retirement they had held each block until a new one was built. in effect, the garrison of each block had perished while the new one behind was being built. the losses were, of course, very severe, but in the meantime the reserve company of the regiment had come up into the support line behind, and the vital position was saved; for if the support line had gone, the whole of the ypres salient would at that hour in the day have gone with it, as the subsequent argument will show. colonel buller and his men held the fort at the critical hour, and gave brigadier-general macdonell time to bring up his reserves.[ ] in the meantime, captain niven, some hundred yards to the north-west, was still clinging to the knoll of trenches in the front line amid an encircling tide of germans. as has been already stated, his right-hand platoon had been destroyed by the bombardment and lieut. hagerty, its commander, killed. lieut. molson then took charge, and with great gallantry dug out some of the men buried alive, although the trench was ranged to a nicety. he was shot through the jaw, and the section was abandoned in the end. lieut. triggs, in the nearest sector, was severely wounded soon afterwards, and lieut. irwin, the only remaining subaltern, was hit later on in the day. captain niven, though hit himself, continued to command and move about, as he was by this time the only remaining officer of his company. the telephone dug-out was smashed in and all communication with the battalion lost. none the less, two heroic runners managed to get through and to report that the company were still holding out. some of the worst cases of wounded were even carried back by the stretcher-bearers under an appalling fire to the support line. [sidenote: _june nd, p.m._] at dusk lieut. glascoe was sent up from battalion headquarters, and captain niven handed over his command and attempted to go back and report to battalion headquarters. in the course of his wanderings he came to a dressing station, and, after his wound had been dressed, started once more for his isolated company, which after eighteen hours was still left among the encircling germans as lonely as the survivors of the flood on mount ararat. he was promptly hit again in the breast. at . a.m. of the rd lieut. glascoe, seeing that the whole surviving party would shortly be completely surrounded, exercised a wise discretion and got his remnant safely back to the support line. "during the bombardment," says captain niven, who certainly has a right to be heard, "this company behaved splendidly, every man holding his own and inflicting heavy losses on the enemy wherever the opportunity occurred."[ ] it was during the general retirement from the east of sanctuary wood that two of our guns were lost. those guns were -pounders, and had been brought up to within yards of the front line and established in gun-pits. they were to be used only in case of emergency, as their fire would be sure to disclose their position to the enemy. owing to their position and purpose they were known as "sacrifice guns." lieut. c. p. cotton, of the st divisional artillery, was in command of them. a german aeroplane found these guns on friday morning (june nd), and particular attention was immediately paid to them in the midst of the general bombardment of our trenches and positions. lieut. cotton's gun-crews suffered, and he reinforced them with sappers james e. hood and chambers, who were in charge of an emergency wireless station situated within a few yards of the gun-pits. cotton opened fire at . in the afternoon, and, assisted by his three surviving gunners and the two sappers, continued to fire until the enemy came over observatory ridge to within a few yards of the gun-pits. he then ordered a retirement. sapper hood rushed into his wireless dug-out, destroyed his instrument, and then escaped with a bullet through the bone of his arm. lieut. cotton and the others of the gun-crews were not so fortunate. they died near the gun-pits--they and their guns having served their desperate purpose to the end--and so they too made the great sacrifice. the attack still continued to spread up to our left. between two and three o'clock in the afternoon the extreme german right had come up to assault our extreme left at hooge. two attacks were however, repulsed with great loss to the enemy by the royal canadian regiment. [sidenote: _june nd, p.m.- p.m._] none the less, the position at three o'clock was one of the very gravest danger. on a frontage of three battalions the germans had overwhelmed our front and right support lines on the crest of the ridge and annihilated or decimated the defending regiments. from maple copse they could be seen advancing in strong force on the high ground of observatory ridge into the very heart of our position, and they were also attacking farther north down the various communication trenches which led to the support line.[ ] our left at hooge had held firm, but it was now utterly in the air, save for captain niven and his men, and the triumphant enemy were rapidly sweeping behind that line of defence. the support trenches having been taken on hill and mount sorrel, there was nothing in front of the german left and centre except the apex line to maple copse. it was, therefore, a matter of life and death to hold on to these left-hand support trenches to the apex and to maple copse. but the line was very weakly held for the task of resisting , germans attacking from higher ground and flushed with victory. there were, in fact, about three companies of the th canadian mounted rifles, the remains of the st and th canadian mounted rifles, perhaps a hundred all told, and what was left of three companies of the princess patricia's canadian light infantry. the situation looked so dangerous that the famous colours of the princess patricia's were entrusted to lieut. scott, who took them back to brigade headquarters to avoid any possibility of their capture. to the left, from zouave wood to menin road, was one company of the royal canadian regiment in support of their companies in the front line trenches, who could not abandon their ground. in addition, the staffs of the rd division and the th brigade, who were primarily concerned, had lost their commanding officers. from mount sorrel and the th canadian mounted rifles they had had no news since . a.m., and did not know whether general mercer and general williams were alive or dead, or whether the trenches there still held. on the other hand, the st canadian mounted rifles had continued to report till just before the german attack at . p.m. that they were holding their ground and were in no need of reinforcements. none the less, at noon the nd canadian mounted rifles were moved up from brigade reserve to zillebeke under heavy barrage fire. the three factors which prevented a serious disaster were undoubtedly the hesitation of the enemy to pursue an advantage, the strenuous resistance of the th canadian mounted rifles under colonel baker, and the energetic action of general macdonell of the th brigade in taking advantage of the precious moments of delay and pushing every man he could command, beg or borrow into the threatened section.[ ] the germans at le cateau, and at the first and second battles of ypres, had always stopped just when victory seemed within their grasp. nor on this occasion were they wanting to themselves. there are, however, no doubt explanations. one was in a document found on the body of a german officer which laid down precisely the position they were to occupy and entrench, and this they had attained except in the neighbourhood of rudkin house.[ ] our barrage was heavy behind them, and it was not until p.m. that they were reinforced by an additional two thousand men in spite of our heavy artillery. [sidenote: _june nd, afternoon and evening._] by two o'clock the right of the th brigade was in grave peril. the brigadier at once ordered up the reserve company of the royal canadian regiment to help. already ten minutes before he had sent up two companies of his support battalion, the nd, to assist the hard-pressed th canadian mounted rifles in maple copse and beyond. these two companies undoubtedly just saved the situation, and a delay of an hour or so in dispatching them might have proved fatal. the remaining two companies of the nd, which were back in ypres and beyond, were ordered to come up to the support line trenches. the th (edmonton) battalion (col. griesbach), which was right back in brigade reserve, was ordered up to the ypres ramparts, and reached there about . p.m. not content with this, at p.m. the brigadier asked general butler, of the th british brigade, on his left, to lend him a couple of companies to help hold the support line. the request was granted, and two companies of the king's royal rifles took up the left-hand section, south of the menin road, thus enabling the royal canadian regiment companies to shift farther to their right and strengthen the critical point of resistance at the apex. [sidenote: _june nd, p.m.- p.m._] by or p.m. general macdonell had got into the support line and apex line five entirely fresh companies--a welcome relief to the nerve-worn and shattered units which, under the most tremendous shell-fire, had been struggling there from eight in the morning against heavy odds. he had also the th well up in reserve, while the th brigade had three companies of the nd canadian mounted rifles up on the right of the th canadian mounted rifles in maple copse in the communication trench running back in the direction of zillebeke. the reinforcements thus amounted to eight fresh companies or two battalions. it is impossible to speak too highly of the resource, vigour, and moral courage of the general, who took the situation in charge on his own initiative, or of the dash of the men who came up through the barrage over flat ground, every yard of which could be seen by the enemy. for the brigade and divisional staffs the period was one of doubt and anxiety. information was hard to get from the front, and what news came in was generally bad. between five and six in the evening general hoare nairne, c.r.a.[ ] took command of the rd division, and lieut.-colonel bott, nd canadian mounted rifles, of the th brigade.[ ] but to the units hastily gathered under lieut. evans in the fortified post, to the princess patricia's canadian light infantry, and the th canadian mounted rifles, the strain was well-nigh intolerable, for the shelling on the support line had been almost as intense as that on the first line. the th canadian mounted rifles were nearly blown out of maple copse, and had to shift from trench to trench more than once as the germans got the range, but they held on. on the left the enemy had in no way abandoned his intention of getting into our support line, and about . p.m. some forty succeeded in rushing it.[ ] there was a sharp, short hand-to-hand struggle, in which the princess patricia's bayoneted the lot. the occupants of the fortified post at maple copse were annihilated by shell-fire, and maple copse, held by the th canadian mounted rifles, was so heavily shelled that the whole wood was smashed flat. they had to make new trenches, as the old ones became untenable. this was done under the eyes and fire of the enemy, who loomed over them on observatory ridge in unknown numbers and from invisible positions. major hugh walkem arrived with the first relief--a company of the nd--about p.m., and finally got into position in the apex between the canadian mounted rifles and the princess patricia's. the other company of the nd took up a place in the support trenches.[ ] through all this period there were constant rumours, fortunately untrue, that the germans had penetrated the line at one point or another. it was here that sergeant jones, nd (royal highlanders of canada), made a peculiarly daring reconnaissance, lying out all night within thirty yards of the enemy and observing the line of their digging and the direction of their fire. in the meanwhile, the nd canadian infantry brigade on the right was also in a position of grave peril, for the enemy in armagh wood were practically behind its left rear. at p.m. they were already in armagh house, but were chased out by a patrol of the th battalion under captain collum. the only course left open to the th battalion (western cavalry), which held the line here, was to throw its left out at right angles to its main line of trenches along a communication, and not a firing, trench in the direction of square wood, and to establish themselves firmly in the wood itself. this they did, and remained till evening watching the movements of the enemy, who were entrenching themselves firmly on the ridge just behind rudkin house. to the north the canadian mounted rifles were in maple copse yards away, but the ground between was fire-swept and trenchless. in the meantime, the th battalion (british columbia) was brought up to support the th battalion (western cavalry). the nd brigade offered to make a counter-attack in the course of the afternoon with the ten platoons available in this line, but the offer was rejected by the st division, which considered, rightly enough, that the force was insufficient for so long a frontage. the germans, therefore, remained undisturbed. none the less, the brigade was warned that a counter-attack would almost certainly be made as soon as sufficient reserves came up. one counter-attack of a minor character was attempted from the maple copse side of the trenchless area by the rd division. the nd canadian mounted rifles, three companies strong, had arrived in the trenches in front of zillebeke at p.m. [sidenote: _june nd, p.m._] they linked up with the th battalion of the nd brigade on the right, who had come up to support the th battalion of their brigade, and attempted to create out of the old trenches there a third line in case the enemy should break through. [sidenote: _june nd, p.m._] finally, as dusk drew on, two companies of the nd canadian mounted rifles were ordered forward to maple copse to attempt a counter-attack on the enemy at rudkin house. it was eleven o'clock when they reached the copse and met major allen, of the nd c.m.r.'s. colonel baker had just fallen mortally wounded while walking up and down behind a new trench his men were digging under heavy fire and encouraging them by his coolness and example.[ ] [illustration: map--sanctuary wood--position after the attack june nd ] the th canadian mounted rifles succeeded in maintaining their position in maple copse. shelled to pieces for hour after hour, and hunted from cover to cover, they yet held on, and this fact was in no small measure due to the great firmness and heroic disregard of death exhibited by colonel baker. he inspired his men by sheer personal magnetism and by the example of a splendid devotion to duty. other men did their share in saving the line; still, but for him it might not have been saved at all, and in that case june the nd would have been associated with a great disaster to our arms. the attack of two companies of the nd c.m.r.'s in the dark against an unknown german position held by troops whose numbers it was impossible to estimate was not a very promising venture, and it was not pressed home, the attackers being set to the more feasible task of trying to dig a trench linking up square wood and maple copse. [sidenote: _june nd, p.m._] the battalion sustained very heavy losses. this attempt likewise failed, the shell-fire in the open proving too heavy; but captain leduc, of the nd canadian mounted rifles, advanced with great daring as far as rudkin house and satisfied himself--as proved to be the case--that the enemy's new line was being built well behind it. [sidenote: _june nd, midnight._] the th brigade had by now suffered between , and , casualties out of their total strength, and it was time for some fresh troops to take a hand in the game. the losses, indeed, in both the th and th brigades had been heavy, but the support line, in spite of its extraordinary zigzag conformation and the wide gaps which intersected it, remained firm. on the left the royal canadian regiment still held its original position with a resolute calm, though its right was only supported by capt. niven's company, and they retired at dawn on june rd. behind it and in the centre the support line trenches were intact, and the princess patricia's canadian light infantry and the nd still clung to their positions; just in front of them lieut. evans was still holding the fortified post, and no shelling could shift the canadian mounted rifles from maple copse, and beyond that to the south the th battalion of the st division were in square wood and the front line leading to hill . general macdonell was up and down his front encouraging his men by his very presence--and, indeed, there was much need of encouragement. the movements of the germans on the overlooking heights were shrouded in darkness and uncertainty. they had been heavily reinforced.[ ] there was no remission of the shell-fire, which alone gave flashes of light in the darkness except for the white flares which occasionally illumined the ridges in front, and might portend the sudden assault of an overwhelming enemy. help, however, was at hand. by the early afternoon of the nd the higher command had been alive to the danger of the attack, and were informed as to the true position. the determination to retake the lost trenches was arrived at, and as darkness fell the corps began to move in the direction of the enemy. everywhere in the night was heard the tramp of marching men, and the dim outlines of endless columns flowing steadily towards the east were visible on every road. [ ] these two hills are called by the germans doppelhohe, or "double heights." [ ] one company of the princess patricia's was in support. [ ] in consequence of this forking of the trenches in sanctuary wood, there are just behind the hill position two support positions, one behind the other--the first close to the front trenches and the second formed by the westward bend of the apex. i use the term "support trenches" as meaning the first of these two lines, and in addition, of course, the trench running from the menin road to the point of the apex. [ ] lieutenant-general the hon. sir julian byng, k.c.b., m.v.o., was born in , and joined the th royal hussars in his st year. in he commanded that regiment, having done distinguished service in the sudan, , and in the south african war. he commanded the rd cavalry division with great brilliancy during the opening stages of the campaign in france. [ ] a "t" sap is one of a series constructed in the form of a letter "t," so that the top of the "t" may be driven out left and right, and, linking up with the others, form a new trench in advance. [ ] brigadier-general williams was taken prisoner. the canadian corps was unfortunate in thus losing the services of a soldier of such wide experience and proved skill so soon after he had taken over a brigade. [ ] the chaplain of the regiment, capt. a. g. wilken, was in the trenches at the time of the attack. he acted as guide to a party of volunteer stretcher-bearers, who brought out the wounded and returned carrying up ammunition to the front line. he was killed during the final assault. [ ] lieut. evans was greatly assisted in his defence by private murphy, of the machine gun company of the th brigade, who beat off every german attack, although his gun was twice buried by shell-fire. lieut. beatty of the same company also showed conspicuous gallantry and ability in organising the machine-gun defence of the second line. finally he was shot through the leg, but continued at his duty until he fainted from loss of blood. [ ] general macdonell says of colonel buller: "he fell as the splendid soldier and gallant-hearted gentleman would have wished, in the forefront of the battle at the head of his regiment, all ranks of which, it is not too much to say, idolised him. the empire can ill afford to lose such a man, a 'chevalier sans peur et sans reproche.'" [ ] the gloucester regiment ( th line) at abercrombie's landing in egypt in . the regiment was accorded the right of wearing its badges both in front and back of its headgear. [ ] during this fierce engagement capt. j. d. macgregor, the doctor of the p.p.c.l.i., displayed the greatest devotion, remaining three days at his post in the firing line without rest dressing the injuries of the wounded, often in places where there was no cover from fire. [ ] casualties: officers, the princess patricia's:--_killed_: colonel buller, major jones, captain cornish, lieuts. macdonnell, wanklin, hagerty, de bay, fyfe. _wounded_: major gault, captain and adjutant martin, captain niven, lieuts. scott, mcdougall, currie, irwin, triggs, glascoe. killed, wounded-- out of present at action. [ ] these bodies were unquestionably strong german patrols. they developed in this action a course of procedure now generally adopted, but then new. the assaulting column sends out in advance large parties, whose duties are not merely reconnaissance, but the occupation of advance positions in front of the captured line, which are to be taken by fighting if necessary and used to repel counter-attacks. [ ] valuable reconnoitring work was done in this connection by lieut. e. basset, of the st battalion, who was attached to gen. macdonell's staff for instruction. it is a curious fact that nearly all the officers from the home regiments out for this purpose were wounded in the fighting of june. [ ] the germans had laid down two alternative lines to take and entrench. one, "the gold line," in case of complete success, another, "the iron line," farther back, in case of a partial success. in effect, they reached the gold line. [ ] commander of the artillery of the rd division. this was the lahore division lent to the canadian corps, since the rd divisional artillery had not yet left england. [ ] maj. g. a. stevens (royal fusiliers), brigade-major of the th brigade, took command in place of brigadier-general williams, and commanded it with marked ability from . a.m., june nd, until relieved by lieut.-col. bott. [ ] these were strong combative patrols sent out according to the new plan mentioned above. [ ] capt. molson and lieut. ewing, of the nd battalion, both showed great resolution in holding out with their men at the apex during the critical hours of the german attack. capt. molson was wounded at the ypres ramparts on the way up; lieut. ewing was also wounded later, but both went on throughout the engagement. [ ] major draper took over the command of the th c.m.r.'s when col. baker fell. although hit himself, he carried his colonel, mortally wounded, out of action, and then returned to conduct the defence. [ ] colonel hill's defence of hooge from june nd to th will always be remembered as a fine military feat. there was nothing to prevent the germans, after they had broken through the main line, rolling up his right flank and rear except the coolness and courage of his regiment and the skill of his own dispositions. [transcriber's note: there is no reference to this footnote in the text.] [ ] our outposts by hill reported strong masses of germans moving up at p.m., june nd, towards mount sorrel. chapter ix. the counter-attack method of counter-attack--successful efforts of the french--the question of time--attacks which failed--precipitancy of main counter-attack--enemy reinforced--the assaulting forces--inadequate system of railways--failure of well-laid plans--value of armoured cables--a stroke of misfortune--uncertainty as to the enemy's positions--a test of endurance--defective communications--artillery unable to support infantry--an american officer gives a lead--the death of major stuart--observatory ridge--enemy well supplied with machine-guns--the fatal trench--heavy casualties--gallant attempt of the th battalion--the th battalion digs itself in under heavy fire--the fateful gap bridged--lieut. beaton and sergt. topham--the higher command misinformed--misfortunes of the nd and th battalions--the princess pats cheer their comrades--gallant officers of the th--main object of the counter-attack fails--the road to ypres blocked to the enemy--the rd division wins its spurs--a prospect of defeat turned into an achievement of victory. the doctrine of the counter-attack is one of the most simple in theory, and yet it appears to be one of the most difficult to apply effectively in practice. the idea is to take advantage of that confusion which must always beset an enemy in a victorious advance, and to strike him violently with the impact of new and well-organised troops from the second or support line of the defenders. the french have reduced this method to a fine art by punishing the germans severely in their advance on a lightly held trench, allowing them to occupy it, and then turning them out at the point of the bayonet by a strong counter-attack from troops ready in the support line trenches just behind. it may also be used in the last resort to rally broken troops returning on their own line and threatening confusion to all concerned, or to repel an enemy adverse to bayonet fighting, rather than allow him to get into one's own trench. all these methods of counter-attacking are largely questions of timing, like the blow delivered by a skilled boxer. you cannot hit too soon, but if you hit too late you fail. the time limit for the launching of this assault in the later stages of modern warfare is practically decided by the interval which it takes an enemy to get into some kind of cover and bring up his machine-guns. after that the confusion in the ranks of the opponents has vanished, the machine-guns are waiting, and artillery preparation is ineffective, as the gunners have not yet had time to locate and register the enemy positions with sufficient accuracy to make sure of putting those machine-guns out of action. this chapter is the record of a counter-attack which failed, but it is only fair to the brigades which undertook the assault to point out that it took place eighteen hours after the germans had made their first rush and many hours after they had fortified their new positions. during these eighteen hours it had been impossible to locate with any exactitude the new lines taken up by the germans, so that while our artillery peppered the whole ridge very effectively, they could not concentrate on and wipe out trenches of the existence and position of which they were unaware. it has been pointed out in the last chapter that the real counter-attack of the afternoon, or evening, of june nd could not be delivered because there were not at hand troops in sufficient force to attempt the task. gunnery had gone too fast in its development for infantry tactics. the rim of the saucer, which could have been held against all odds eighteen months before, had been carried by the new artillery, and yet it was in effect the last and only defence of the ypres salient. it is not possible to-day to defend on a single line of defence, and yet the canadian corps had been compelled by the logic of events and the policy of its predecessors to do so. indeed, since lord ernest hamilton wrote of the mount sorrel position as "the natural line," the whole science of defence had undergone a drastic change owing to the increased sweeping power of heavy artillery. a position must have "lungs," as verdun proved--first lines which can be lost without overwhelming consequences. in the northern section of the ypres salient there were at least three defensible sets of trenches with good sweeping ranges of fire, one behind the other, but here in the south-east the configuration of the ground did not permit of a dual or triple system. lose one position of defence and you lose all. this fact no doubt accounts for the anxiety of the corps and for the haste with which the main counter-attack was launched. the original decision to attack was taken before p.m. on june nd, and the divisional commanders of the st and rd divisions were aware of it shortly afterwards, although the actual operation orders were not issued until . p.m. that day. [sidenote: _june nd, . p.m._] the real difficulty was to get the troops up in time for an attack at dawn. in the ordinary course of events the natural troops to undertake such a task are the support and reserve battalions of the brigades which have lost the position, if a prompt decision is to be reached before the enemy can build himself in. but so serious had been the fighting of the morning that of these the th battalion (edmonton regiment), colonel griesbach, alone had not yet been drawn into the fighting in the front line. the th canadian mounted rifles, the nd canadian mounted rifles, and the nd battalion (royal highlanders), under lieut.-col. cantlie, were already used up. furthermore, it was known that at o'clock on the night of the nd the germans had been heavily reinforced, and a rough guess might have put their numbers at anything between four and five thousand. a strong assailing force was therefore necessary. the rd brigade of the st division, which was in corps reserve, and two battalions of the th brigade of the rd division, nd battalion, new ontario regiment, under lieut.-colonel hay, and the th battalion (victoria rifles), under lieut.-colonel gascoigne, were therefore sent up. two battalions of the nd brigade of the st division, th battalion (western cavalry), under lieut.-colonel dyer, and the th battalion (winnipeg rifles), under major humble, were already in the trenches on the right of the line, and had, with the exception of the th battalion, been only slightly engaged. the th (british columbia) battalion, under lieut.-colonel odlum, and the th (western canada) battalion, under lieut.-colonel rattray, were in support and reserve. the new troops then at the disposal of the general officer commanding in charge of the attack were the th and th battalions ( nd brigade), general lipsett, the th, th, th and th battalions ( rd brigade), general tuxford, the th of the th brigade, and the nd and th of the th brigade, making a total of nine battalions. the th and rd battalions of the th brigade were not made use of in the fighting at the time. all these were placed under the command of general hoare-nairne, of the rd division. that officer, in the conference which preceded the formation of the plan, had put forward the view that, rather than make a frontal assault across the open, it would be better to start from what i have called the apex of the defence (the projecting angle between zouave wood and maple copse) and bomb a way up the various communication trenches towards hill into the heart of the enemy's country and then spread right and left along our own original line. it was agreed, however, that such an advance through an intricate tangle of trenches involved first-hand knowledge of the ground on the part of the troops engaged; otherwise the result would be confusion worse confounded. none of the fresh troops available had this knowledge, and it was therefore decided somewhat reluctantly to risk the frontal assault. [sidenote: _june rd, a.m._] the attack was originally to be at dawn and to be delivered on a wide frontage--both precautions to obviate the deadly effect of the machine-guns. on the right, colonel rattray, with the th in advance and the th close in support, was to carry the south aspect of observatory ridge, and finally mount sorrel. brigadier-general lipsett, the commander of the nd brigade, was to see that this attack conformed with the movements of the centre battalions under general tuxford of the rd brigade. these two were old comrades, and well accustomed to work together; they decided to set up common brigade headquarters. the centre was the rd brigade--the th battalion ( th highlanders) under lieut.-colonel bent advancing on the left of the th, with the th battalion (canadian scottish) under lieut.-colonel leckie in support and the th battalion (royal montreal regiment), under major mccombe to the left again, with the th battalion (royal highlanders) under lieut.-colonel buchanan close behind it. the right of the rd brigade was square wood and the left maple copse, with observatory ridge road as the point of junction between its two battalions. the objective of the rd brigade was hill . farther north still, and not in immediate contact, the th battalion of the th brigade was to attack through the southern section of sanctuary wood and the nd battalion of the th brigade to the north again, while the th battalion acted as support. their aim was the position between hill and the royal canadian regiment, still in place at hooge. such in brief was the plan. it was to prove, unfortunately, as fallible in execution as sweeping measures hurriedly conceived under the stress of war are apt to be. there were two main difficulties: to get the troops up in time and to co-ordinate the artillery and the infantry so as to get the preparation and the assault to move as if by clockwork. but time was the great enemy. the original attack, as has been stated, was timed for a.m. on june rd. the rd brigade was back in corps reserve, and found the roads blocked with ambulances, transport, and ammunition.[ ] [sidenote: _june rd, . a.m._] it struggled vigorously, but could not get into position until . a.m. on june rd, and the nd brigade, which was already on the spot, could not attack without it. this upset the whole of the arrangements with the artillery, and these had to be rectified under conditions which were far from satisfactory for accurate staff work. the telephone lines were constantly broken, and the heroic runners were frequently killed.[ ] the armoured cables[ ] were the main stand-by. on the left the th were ready at . a.m., but without their left-hand battalion (the nd) or their support (the th). as a result of these delays, the attack was delivered in broad daylight, in a succession of waves, against hidden machine-guns, so that the enemy's fire was concentrated on each section in turn. the signal was to have been six green rockets fired by the rd division staff as soon as all the troops were ready. but this was, of course, a night and not a day warning, and by a crowning stroke of misfortune many of the rockets fired in daylight were faulty, and fourteen had to be discharged before the requisite number was reached. [sidenote: _june rd, dawn._] the day dawned dull and stormy, with dashes of driving rain which drenched the troops, many of whom had been marching all night. and though the day broke, the signal to attack still tarried hour after hour. the th and th battalions on the right had been in position since before a.m., and in waiting on the others had lost the precious hours of darkness. the same fate had befallen the th on the left, which waited interminably for the battalions of the th brigade which never came. the th battalion was given permission to charge at a.m., but their commander preferred to wait for the nd and th rather than risk ruining the whole affair by an isolated effort. the th and th were ready by . a.m. as the chilled soldiers of the th, th, and th peered out in the full grey light they saw in front of them some hundred yards of open ground, and behind a tangled, irregular piece of woodland, sloping up to a low crest. somewhere in this thicket lay the enemy's trenches, but the precise spot was largely a matter of guesswork, not of certainty. the time of waiting for the charge is one of tense anxiety. as the company commanders consult their watches and note the passage of the minutes, the men string themselves up for a final effort. the next few seconds will carry them over the parapet through the shell fire and machine-gun fire into the enemy trenches if they are fortunate, but in any case to a fate which no man can predict. here the moments of nervous strain were prolonged hour after hour until endurance must have become an agony. but the spirit of the counter-attacking battalions on the right never faltered, and when the time came at last they advanced to the assault in the face of a devastating fire with their customary resolution and gallantry. the artillery preparation was from the first, in the opinion of competent witnesses, not adequate for the task of clearing the way for the infantry. the assault, as we know, had been ordered for a.m. on june rd. the time had to be altered owing to the delay in the arrival of the infantry in some parts of the field. [sidenote: _june rd, . a.m._] the new assault was timed for a.m., june rd, but in one case it was postponed for another hour owing to the constant breakdown of all telephone communication between the higher command, the battalion commander, and the gunners. these last had indeed a hard task in any event. the trenches in front of them had been dug by the germans since the assault, and were neither ranged by observers nor photographed by our aircraft. the heavy rain and brooding mists had robbed the guns of the vision which is essential to accuracy. they fired blindly into the positions which the enemy might be supposed to occupy, and could not give the infantry the unfailing support which it expects and almost invariably receives. at last it came! the green rockets were fired at . a.m. of june rd, and those battalions which were ready went over the parapet. major stewart, an officer of the canadian forces, formerly in the regular u.s.a. army, was wounded in giving the th a lead over the parapet at . a.m., as they were clearly puzzled as to whether the signal had been given or not. his orderly stopped behind to bandage his wound, and both were killed in an instant by a shell. the th battalion, closely supported by the th, attacked on the extreme right of the position with the view of clearing the south edge of observatory ridge, and so getting through to mount sorrel. it was impossible to go straight for the objective while the ridge remained in german hands. the task was a very difficult one, and it is not surprising that they failed. they were exposed to an enfilade fire from the position on hill held by the enemy,[ ] who as the th battalion dashed out from the trench, could see our troops with perfect distinctness. the enemy were plentifully supplied with machine-guns, and had even wired their front in the eighteen hours in which they had enjoyed undisturbed possession. they had a particularly new strong trench just behind armagh wood, which held up the whole centre of the assault, for it had been in no way impaired by the artillery preparation. lieut. elliott and lieut. carstairs, each with a company of the th, attacked on the right, and captain holmes with two companies of the same battalion and one of the th under captain fisher on the left. captain holmes found it impossible to get on, and finally dug himself in about forty yards in front of the enemy; captain fisher, pressing up to his assistance, was shot through the head and killed. meanwhile a party on the extreme left found a hole in the enemy's line, and, turning the fatal trench, broke right through. but the germans had reconstructed the battered fortified post, once held by the c.m.r.'s at this place, and manned it with machine-guns, which simply swept the bold adventurers out of existence. few returned. on the right, lieut. elliott fought his way forward and turned the south end of the german position, reaching the original trench line just south of mount sorrel. here, however, he was caught in the right rear by the german machine-guns on hill . his party suffered heavy casualties and he was wounded. they were not able to hold their ground. lieut. carstairs' company fared no better. the attack on the right had broken down, and to press it was mere suicide on a large scale. there was no alternative but for the nd brigade to get back and turn on the guns. [sidenote: _june rd, . a.m._] next, to the north, came the th battalion, who attacked at . a.m. they were already astride the end of the ridge, but the ground in front of them had absolutely no cover, and after pushing to just beyond rudkin house they were compelled to stop and dig themselves in under a withering fire. the th battalion (royal montreal regiment) was to continue the attack on the north, its right connecting with the th battalion on observatory ridge. the connection was duly made earlier in the night, and the battalion was in position to attack at . a.m. in the morning of june rd. it is of the essence of an attack made on a broad frontage that it prevents the concentration of enemy fire at any one point in the line, and it is therefore essential that the various assaults should be simultaneous. this, unfortunately, was not the case with the th battalion. although the regiment had been ready for some hours and had been notified that the artillery preparation would begin at . a.m. and last till about o'clock, a subsequent message was received to the effect that the bombardment would not begin until . a.m., and therefore terminate at . . [sidenote: _june rd, . a.m._] the battalion in consequence advanced to the attack at . in broad daylight against machine-guns, an hour after the first assault had taken place. in spite of these adverse circumstances, the th battalion went forward without flinching and ultimately linked itself up with the th at rudkin house on the right and with maple copse on its left. here the regiment dug itself in under the fire of the enemy, and so with the th bridged the fatal gap between square wood and maple copse. the casualties in the th were .[ ] two notable feats of arms were performed on both flanks of the th battalion. lieut. beaton and his platoon pushed right up to the german lines on the right of the regiment and maintained himself there until midnight of the rd- th. on the left sergeant topham and fourteen men broke clean through the enemy and reached a point not far from our own original front line. they were, of course, completely unsupported, and soon found themselves practically surrounded by the enemy. of sergeant topham's party of fifteen, two succeeded in making a safe return. these stories, however, of isolated bodies getting through the first german line and penetrating to our trenches reached the higher command and conveyed to them a totally erroneous view of the actual situation. in consequence, although the right and centre attack had stuck fast after an advance of or yards, the left was urged forward later in the day under the impression that the whole enemy position was being carried.[ ] the position on the extreme left, where the th and th[ ] were to attack through sanctuary wood, was a peculiar one. the th battalion was in position by . a.m., the regiment having moved steadily to its objective under heavy fire, merely panting for the fray. it had not yet been engaged in any great general action, and was anxious to give its proofs--which, indeed, it did most nobly. unfortunately, the nd and th battalions failed to arrive in time for the assault, which took place at a.m. on june rd. [sidenote: _june rd, . a.m._] they were caught in heavy barrages in the only communication trench which led them to their points of assembly, and all the senior officers who understood the plan were either killed or wounded. the two regiments became mixed up in the mile-long trench. the th, however, eventually reached the position originally allotted to them as supporting battalion in the support trenches, and these lines they maintained all day of the rd under heavy fire, relieving the p.p.c.l.i. that night. colonel griesbach, who was in charge of the whole assault, and had therefore handed over the command of his regiment to major weaver (major weaver was hit in the barrage and handed over his command to major hobbins), twice walked back across the open through a sleet of steel to consult by telephone with his brigadier and to try to find someone in command of the nd or th. in the latter effort he failed, and these regiments took no part in the assault. colonel griesbach succeeded, however, in getting on the telephone with general macdonell, to whom he explained the situation. the general speaks very highly of the clear grasp of affairs which colonel griesbach displayed. by now, however, the morning had come, and there were no assembly trenches to shelter large bodies of men for the assault through sanctuary wood. the th were sheltering in what cover they could find in the apex, and the support line in sanctuary wood. the nd and th were far behind, and it became a question whether to assault with the th alone or to abandon the attack altogether. colonel griesbach decided that it would be dangerous to let down the battalions on his right, even though the main plan on the left had gone awry, and at o'clock the th climbed the parapet and attacked across the open. [sidenote: _june rd, a.m._] as they passed through and to the right of the princess patricia's attenuated companies, these stood up and cheered a new battalion going out to win its battle honours. the princess patricia's canadian light infantry, in fact, seem to have contemplated the action which ensued over ground on which they had just fought in the spirit of an elder brother watching a younger one snowing his mettle. the attack of the th was well planned and carried out in a very gallant manner, the officers leading their men, revolver in hand, to within point-blank range of the enemy. in this manner captain mcnaughton and lieut. f. w. scott fell at the high tide of the assault. five officers were killed and eight wounded. but the effort was an isolated one, and was persisted in far too long under the erroneous impression that the nd and rd brigades had recaptured the old front line and were urgently in need of support on their left to make the whole position good. [sidenote: _june rd, afternoon_] the th, at any rate, succeeded in making a very considerable advance and in establishing blocks in sanctuary wood and in rendering the apex of the new front line comparatively safe from assault. finally, on advice from the officers of the princess patricia's they desisted from any further attempt to advance to the old front line, and rested content with the security of the new line which their own gallantry and persistence had achieved. [sidenote: _june rd, p.m._] by p.m. of the evening of june rd it was known that the counter-attack had failed in its main object. the strange stories about capturing the original trenches had withered away, by their lack of proof and by their intrinsic absurdity. the enemy neither fainted nor failed, but remained roughly where he stood at the beginning of the day, though he had been thrust back here and there. none the less, the failure had achieved certain important objects. it had made good the line which now ran continuously from the menin road to hill in a shape which, though irregular, was firm. the deadly danger of the afternoon of june nd no longer existed. the fatal gap had been closed. the spirit of the canadians had risen in the face of adversity and proved to the württembergers that as long as the corps stood in the entrance there was no easy road to what remained of the famous city of ypres. the st division had saved the town from entrance by the north a year before; the corps had protected it from the tramp of german infantry advancing from the south. that heap of stone and rubble, with its one projecting pinnacle, still remained inviolate and inviolable. the line was not a good one, but it was a line still. finally, the regiments of the rd division had proved themselves in action on the big scale, and so had entered into the fellowship of arms of the canadian corps. it has not been necessary to dwell at any length on the st division, which, from brigadiers down to privates, behaved with the skill and courage of experienced veterans. but if this chapter is one of failure it is not devoid of consolation. the rd division in its first great fight had won its battle honours. deprived at the very outset of the encounter of the services of its general and one of his brigadiers, assailed by the fiercest bombardment british troops had yet encountered, with a first line swept out of existence and a second line full of rending gaps, it yet held on and changed the fortunes of the third battle of ypres until the prospect of an overwhelming defeat was turned into the achievement of a final victory. [ ] it is impossible to pass over the check thus experienced by the rd brigade without commenting on the reason for much misfortune to the british armies during the two years of war on the western front--the inadequate system of light railways. i have witnessed on many occasions blocks on the roads in flanders caused by ambulance and transport wagons going down and infantry and ammunition wagons coming up, whereby hours were lost, very often at critical moments. many of these checks might have been avoided altogether if a system of light railways had been constructed behind the trenches as soon as it became apparent that trench warfare had rendered the contending armies immobile for a long period of time. since sir douglas haig took command there has been a great improvement in this direction, but it is difficult to make up for lost time. i could not help thinking of the contrast between this delay and the rapidity and skill with which sir william mackenzie drove his railway across the canadian prairies, not unlike the plains and plateaus of flanders. the military leaders, indeed, with their technical staff training, lagged far behind in a task which would have been accomplished rapidly by experts like sir herbert holt. possibly, however, they had not the requisite authority from the government to employ civilians in engineering tasks and in transportation problems. it must be added, however, that there were two principal difficulties which it took time to overcome: the shortage of shipping to carry over the material, and the dual, and sometimes triple, control of the railways by the british, french, and belgian authorities. [ ] among them private h. johnston, of the nd battalion, is entitled to special mention for his absolute indifference to danger when carrying important despatches. [ ] the armoured cable is an underground telephone system, protected by armour from damage and destruction by shell fire. it is recorded in the diaries of the canadian divisions that the system of steel cables on this front was hit by shells fifty-seven times during the fighting in june without communication being broken. [ ] positions on hill were held by the enemy and ourselves. [ ] the th was commanded by major mccombe (formerly captain in the rd victoria rifles, montreal) during the temporary absence of lieut.-colonel clarke. major mccombe, who had already been once wounded in action, showed great gallantry and ability in the attack. [ ] during the fighting of this and the following night sergeant brayton, of the th, exhibited conspicuous courage in the work of carrying the wounded lying in the open. [ ] the nd battalion had been detailed for attack with the th battalion, but in the night march was overtaken by the th. in consequence, their _rôles_ were reversed. chapter x a lull in the storm. the fight for hooge relief of the front-line battalions--heavy losses of the seventh brigade--good work of the third pioneer battalion--sudden advance of the enemy--the knoll of hooge--the menin road--description of the scene--the th relieves the royal canadians--heavy bombardment by the enemy--the importance of the knoll of hooge--the enemy springs four mines under the first-line trenches--a company of the th perishes--a terrific explosion--fierce fighting of the th june--effective work of captain styles--the enemy in dangerous proximity to our support line--former tragedies in zouave wood--serious casualties of the th brigade--the effective loss of the village of hooge--preparations for retaliation. after the storm which had blown for thirty hours since the morning of june nd, a kind of lull settled down on the field. the artillery bombardments on both sides showed that the fighting was by no means finished, but the infantry remained on the ground where the assault of june rd had left them. it was now necessary to relieve the decimated front-line battalions. the th brigade was in reserve of the nd division, and it was decided to bring it up to the hooge section on the left, but this move was not finally completed until the night of the th- th, when the royal canadian regiment was relieved by the th (north-west) battalion. [sidenote: _june th, . a.m._] at . a.m. on the th the battalions of the nd and rd brigades in the firing line were relieved by the st brigade; the st battalion (ontario regiment) under lieut.-colonel hodson took the place of the th and th from the old line to square wood; and the nd battalion (eastern ontario) was substituted for the th and th in the new trench from square wood to maple copse. on the following day the rd, nd, th, and th battalions, th brigade, relieved the princess patricia's canadian light infantry and the th battalion in the centre of the position at . p.m., and these regiments were able to go back for a well-deserved rest. [sidenote: _june th_] the casualties of the th brigade had indeed been severe, totalling in all officers and , men, and making up with those sustained by the th brigade considerably more than , , apart from the losses incurred by the th and nd battalions of the th brigade. the effect of the action can be seen by giving the rifle strength of the brigade as it came out of the fighting. this was as follows:--royal canadian regiment, ; the princess patricia's canadian light infantry, ; nd battalion, ; th battalion, ; or , to a brigade, which, if it had been at the full strength of rifles to a battalion, would have numbered , , or nearly three to one of the actual survivors. they had left their trenches, however, sensibly improved, chiefly owing to the efforts of the rd pioneer battalion, commanded by lieut.-colonel holmes, which all through the action continued to make good the new front line and to dig trenches in support of it. this work was indeed essential, as it must be remembered that the larger part of the new position had never been intended for defence at all. [illustration: map--battle of hooge th to th june ] in the meantime, it became clear that the situation could not be left as it was. officers' patrols had been out on the night of the th- th and had located the enemy's position fairly accurately. [sidenote: _night, th- th._] but while the higher command was planning the counterstroke, the enemy moved suddenly against the only part of the front line which remained in our possession. the knoll of hooge, if it hardly formed part of mount sorrel ridge system, was yet an eminence of great importance, for from it one could look straight down to the walls of ypres. it had in consequence changed hands over and over again, until the chateau, stables, and tiny village were nothing but a rubble heap of bricks stained with the best blood of great britain and canada. its last adventure had been in the summer of , when it was lost on july st and retaken by the th division on august th. since then, however, the advance trenches had been pushed forward until they were right at the east end of the village and looked down on lake bellewaarde. on the left the ground falls swiftly, too, to bellewaarde beek, on the other side of which was the th british brigade. the line here was exposed and open to the germans on the higher ground, and was only held by a series of bombing posts. on the night of the th- th the th battalion came up to relieve the royal canadian regiment. the direct way up to hooge is the menin road, straight from the historic gate. but you will not take that way unless you are anxious for death, for it is ranged to the last millimetre. the battalion will turn outside the gate, which has seen so many armies and generations pass, and skirt the edge of the calm and stagnant moat. then it will turn through the long grass and water meadows such as fringe the thames, and finally into the communication trenches. after this descent it is a question of a long struggle up the communication trenches, of clawing one's way through abandoned telephone wires which conspire in the effort to strangle, and of climbing and leaping shell-holes where the german guns have struck the trench with accuracy. finally comes the menin road again. the great causeway runs straight with the rectitude of a roman road. but there is added to it modern engineering, which has raised it twenty feet above the ground on each side. the road is lined with poplars, now mostly decapitated and scarred. now and again, as the relieving battalion advances, a high, shrill noise will be heard overhead, followed by the flash and detonation of shells among the shattered trees. the th battalion, used to these manifestations, plodded steadily up to the relief of the royal canadian regiment on the night of june th. [sidenote: _night of june th._] there are three lines of trenches of great importance in the hooge position. the front-line trenches are now pushed forward to the extreme limit of the village beyond the crater the british blew up in august, --for these look down into the valley of the germans, though they are, in their turn, somewhat commanded by the enemy's heights at bellewaarde farm. these trenches connect with the british on the left of this rise beyond bellewaarde beek, and on the right stretch as far as the gap which leads down to zouave wood. some two hundred yards behind lies a support line, a good trench leading down to the beek. its field of fire is limited by the slope of the ground upwards towards the front-line trenches. north-east it commands a good field of fire, and proved, in consequence, useful to the th battalion when the front line had been abandoned. behind the support line the machine-guns were concentrated for the defence, and behind that again was another set of trenches. the disposition of the th brigade was as follows:--one and a half companies of the th in the front line and in bombing posts. the remaining two platoons and the machine-gun sections were in the support line. the machine-gun sections consisted of three colt guns left by the th brigade,[ ] two lewis guns of the royal canadian regiment, one colt gun of the th brigade machine-gun company, and in addition a stokes gun. the other two companies of the th were in support trenches by the menin road. the st battalion was in reserve along with a company of the th battalion of the th brigade, which it was found impossible to relieve at the last moment on the night of the th- th. the th and th were in brigade reserve. shortly after midnight the th brigade was in position. the shelling during the night was very heavy, and the relief was, in consequence, accomplished under some difficulties, but as these bursts of fury died away time after time there was no particular reason to suspect an attack of the german infantry. at a.m. on the th an unprecedented bombardment began once more, and lasted until the very moment of the assault at hooge seven hours later. [sidenote: _june th, a.m._] one vital fact was entirely unknown to the royal canadian regiment and the th brigade. the germans in planning their attack on mount sorrel and hill had not in the least forgotten the importance of the knoll at hooge. it was necessary to capture it if the new line was to be made complete and the ypres salient finally broken. their right wing had, as has been recorded, lapped round in the direction of the village and had been driven back by the sturdy fire of its defenders. but long before this they had made their plans and had driven four mines right under the front-line trenches. when the hour of attack at p.m. came the mines were sprung simultaneously. [sidenote: _june th, p.m._] the aeroplane photographs after the event show them actually overlapping in the craters they threw up. the explosion was horrible, and one entire company of the th perished in it almost to the last man. many of the remaining company of the th were involved in the catastrophe; the bombing posts were abandoned and the survivors concentrated in the support trenches. yet so tremendous was the noise of the artillery preparation that the garrisons in the fortified posts behind were quite unaware that any mines had been exploded until the survivors began to arrive, although they were but a little distance from the scene of this tremendous detonation. [sidenote: _june th, afternoon._] after this the day of the th witnessed some very fierce fighting. the germans had already taken the whole canadian front line from the gap to mount sorrel on the morning of june nd, and were determined to carry the remainder at hooge on the th. soon after the mines had exploded they came forward in the usual formation with packs on their shoulders like men expecting no resistance. so far as the front line was concerned they were right; otherwise they made an error. they occupied the remains of the trenches in hooge and assaulted the th british brigade opposite bellewaarde farm, but were repulsed with considerable loss by the resolute infantry of the british brigade which had neither been mined at all nor bombarded to any considerable extent. the enemy then came straight down the line of the menin road both on the right- and the left-hand sides. by this time, however, the resistance, in spite of the continuous bombardment. had been organised by captain styles, of the th, who was fortunate in having at his disposal in the support line such an exceptionally strong force of machine-guns. the battle was back on the old line always occupied when hooge is lost, and was defended with the greatest obstinacy by the canadian infantry and gunners. on the left-hand side of the causeway the enemy got as far down the hill as bellewaarde beek, but any further advance was swept out of existence by the machine-guns in the support line. on our right side of the menin road the attack appeared more dangerous. the enemy succeeded in jumping from shell hole to shell hole, and attained dangerous proximity to our support line. but here again the th drove them back by rifle and machine-gun fire.[ ] [sidenote: _june th, . p.m._] by . p.m. on june th the attack on the support line had been repulsed for the moment by captain styles and the machine-guns, but it persisted on the right-hand side of the road all the afternoon. at about o'clock the enemy determined to attack the support trenches now held by the st. their avenue of approach was obvious. it was through the gap and down by the zouave wood. this is an old field of battle, fought over until every yard of earth is covered with the relics of the slain. here in october of seven hundred of the prussian guard broke clean through the british front line, and paused as though bewildered when they found they had attained their object. they were immediately caught in reverse by the fire of the th division, still holding the slope of the ridge to the right and left, and charged from the support trenches by the nd (oxfordshire light infantry), who killed them to a man. for many months afterwards their piled bodies still cumbered the ground. the germans, undismayed by this precedent, attacked down zouave wood at o'clock and renewed their attempts during the course of the evening. the support trenches are good ones, the field of fire excellent, the wood itself devoid of all substantial cover, and the enemy gained nothing by the attempt except a heavy list of casualties. hooge had gone, but the support line still remained.[ ] the main attacks were delivered in two waves at five yards' interval and fifty yards' distance. but although all the main attacks were repelled, the germans succeeded in establishing small posts down our old communication trenches in the zouave wood area. early on the night of the th- th the bombardment, which had been applied to the whole area for nearly seventeen hours, died away. none the less, the casualties of the th brigade were serious-- officers and men. [sidenote: _june - th, night._] the whole line, then, had gone, and ypres remained open to its assailants. this is the first reflection on the loss of the village of hooge. but all the time that attack was going on, and some time before it, the powers that be had been brooding darkly over methods of retaliation and reconquest. it was time to teach the enemy that two could play at the game of the new artillery preparation, and ground lost by that method could as speedily be regained. in the next chapter we shall see how these plans evolved themselves and what the result of the trial was. as it is, on the night of the th, the germans were sitting on the rim of the saucer imagining that in the third battle of ypres they had at last conquered the salient. [ ] under lieut. ziegler. when lieut. ziegler was wounded lance-corporal james took over the command. the assistance of these guns was invaluable in repelling the attacks. [ ] the advance of the enemy down the communication trench north of the menin road was checked by lieut. gilmour, of the th, who put up a block just beyond the support trench nearest to the front and drove them back with bombs. [ ] capt. w. e. manhard, of the th field company r.e., showed great gallantry and devotion to duty in making the new front line secure. his splendid example was an inspiration to all ranks working under him. chapter xi the final victory canadians take the initiative--the anglo-french offensive--good fellowship between the imperial and canadian army--british brigade supports the canadians--the württembergers and the canadians--general burstall commands formidable assembly of heavy guns--aeroplane photographs--battalions massed in strength--divisional commanders--artillery pounds the german position--the enemy demoralised--the advance to the assault--intense artillery preparation--a struggle between weapons of attack and methods of defence--unforeseen developments of trench warfare--the significance of the battle of the marne--the use of gas a failure--terrific force of great guns--mr. lloyd george and the industrial development of england--the rd toronto battalion advances--the centre attack--a daring scheme to baffle the enemy--the front line moves forward unnoticed--german listening post captured--the forward rush--the bayonets clear the trenches--captain bell-irving's daring exploit--the th and the rd battalions recapture the heights--the th battalion to the charge--machine-gun fight and bombing encounters--hill in canadian hands--real gain of the day--counter-attacks dispersed--the enemy dazed by the suddenness and the success of the onset--splendid arrangement and precision of the attack in face of difficulties--ypres salient reconquered with bayonet in semi-darkness--a devastated territory--the natural green blotted out--earth churned up into masses of mud--the sight after the battle--where captains and soldiers lie--those we shall remember--defeat turned into victory. it is difficult to penetrate the mind of the german headquarters staff. the enemy had, by a profuse expenditure of ammunition and a great concentration of heavy guns, conquered the last defensive position which guarded ypres on the south-east. the canadians lay below them in hastily constructed trenches on the flat, where every move was visible to the keen observers on the heights above. one would imagine that the next step would be to turn the guns on again to destroy far weaker positions, to break the salient finally, and to compel the retirement of two army corps to posts far back in the rear. yet after june th the germans made no move and allowed the initiative to pass into canadian hands. the best explanation of this singular line of conduct has been suggested by the army commander, who held that the sole object of the attack was to compel the british to move troops from other parts of the line. the idea of the anglo-french offensive in the summer of had long been a nightmare to the great headquarters staff. they dreamt of the continual piling up of men and munitions from beyond the narrow seas at some pre-arranged point; they believed that a vigorous offensive at one or two places would disturb their opponents and confuse the threatened move. according to this theory, verdun and the third battle of ypres were defensive-offensive operations. neither action prevented the offensive at the somme. however that may be, the germans remained impassive after their first two strokes, while the canadian corps devoted itself in quietness and confidence to the preparation of the real attack. they borrowed liberally both in men and guns from the army corps on their right and left, but no general reserve of the british army was shifted to imperil the great offensive on the somme. there has been nothing pleasanter in the course of the campaign than the feeling of good comradeship, common among soldiers, which subsisted between the imperial service and the canadian corps. the canadian corps had borne the brunt of the fighting on the ypres salient, and, as far as they were concerned, to ask was to have. a british brigade was moved into the st. eloi district, so as to set the nd division free for retaliation. a reserve cavalry division of the british army was moved up at once to occupy the third line in order that the canadian generals might have no doubt as to their freedom of action in moving to the final assault against the captured positions. the higher command now had the reserves necessary to make them secure in an advance, and they certainly needed such security. in the fighting which ensued between june nd and th every brigade of the canadian corps was fully engaged, and many of them suffered severe casualties. none the less, they endured until the end and the canadians regained the lost ground. their attitude is best summed up by the remark of a senior staff officer, who, basing prejudice on military knowledge, declared "that this was a personal matter between the württembergers and the canadians and that the canadians were going to win." troops animated by this spirit are not likely to fail. but the work of the real counter-attack had to be done behind the lines. the failure of the first effort had been due to lack of artillery preparation on unknown trenches. none the less, the heavy guns were on the march. some were asked for from neighbouring army corps, others were freely offered as a voluntary contribution to the gallantry of the canadian infantry. the new reinforcements were stupendous. general burstall, of the canadian corps, thus commanded one of the greatest assemblages of guns ever concentrated on the british front. i have described already the effect of the enemy's bombardment on the canadian front. the germans were now about to get a little of their own medicine back. the guns were divided into groups, the trenches accurately ranged, and each battery was given its definite and proper objective. on the other side of the line, one must conceive the germans toiling mightily, with the assiduity of coral insects, to make good what they seem to have imagined was to be their permanent home. their industry was certainly marvellous. when the weather grew clear again and the aeroplane photographs could be taken, they showed no fewer than eight communication trenches driven up from the old german line to the new one, and an entire and excellent support line, dug just west of our own original front trench, now battered almost out of recognition, while the assault revealed deep dug-outs innumerable. so, from june th to june th the powers of offence and defence got ready, one for the other. [illustration: map--position th-l th june before successful attack] but while the heavy guns were being brought into position, it was necessary to reorganise the infantry and to mass the corps for a strong and concerted attack. an immediate assault had been put out of the question by the failure of june rd. [sidenote: _june th- th._] the enemy's trenches had to be located accurately before the fire of the guns could be directed upon them. for some days after the rd the weather remained unfavourable, and in the heavy rains and mists it was impossible for our aircraft to obtain good photographs, or for the ranging shots of our guns to be observed adequately. this delay gave us an opportunity for the reorganisation of the infantry, preparatory to a general assault, and it is, after all, by the infantry that the final issue will be decided. the canadian battalions were therefore massed in great strength for the night of the th- th. the th british brigade took over the st. eloi sector, and thus released the nd division, which was enabled to take over the ground on the northern sector, while the st division prepared for the attack, and recuperated its forces in rest billets. [sidenote: _june - th._] when the reliefs had been accomplished the position on june th was as follows: th brigade of the nd division at hooge, and th brigade of the rd division from zouave wood to maple copse; th brigade of the nd division in line of maple copse to hill ; th brigade of nd division from hill to ypres-commes canal; th british brigade in the st. eloi sector. [illustration: map--position before & after attack on night th- th june ] the accompanying sketch will make the position of june th quite clear. the nd division were to hold the line while the attacking brigades were reorganised. the st division was given the post of honour; but its formation was entirely altered for the purpose of the battle. it was necessary to secure two elements: knowledge of the ground and a sufficient number of battalions which had not been too severely punished in the action of june rd. further, it was essential to secure the conjoint services of the two brigadiers, general tuxford and general lipsett, who were familiar with the locality and accustomed to work together. with these objects in view the st division was redistributed in the following manner:-- general lipsett took command of the st, rd, th and th battalions for the right attack. general tuxford took command of the nd, th, th and th battalions for the left attack, while general hughes remained as divisional reserve with the th, th, th and th battalions to push the matter through should any disaster overtake the leading regiments. [sidenote: _june th._] the map will show the disposition of our forces and the great mass of infantry assembled for the purpose of retaking the lost position. [sidenote: _june - th, night._] the nd division was relieved by the st division on the night of the th- th preceding the attack at dawn of the th- th. the artillery in the meantime had not been idle. apart from pounding the german position in a regular and methodical spirit, it had indulged in the last few days in bursts of intensive fire, which seemed to herald an infantry assault which did not take place. by this time the germans were first of all demoralised by being kept on perpetual tenterhooks, and finally lulled into a false security. so much was this the case that our final attack, though preceded by three-quarters of an hour's intense preparation, caught them in the middle of a relief.[ ] the frontage of the attack was one of three battalions, the rd, th and th, from right to left. strong reserves were behind, and on both flanks demonstrations would be made, the th loosing smoke bombs from hill and confusing the enemy with a bombing attack, while the th made a severe bombing attack up the well-fought-over communication trenches by the apex on the left of the st division, and were to link up finally with the captured position. [sidenote: _june th, . p.m._] in the evening of june th, at . , a tremendous bombardment was directed on the german trenches before the last light failed; at . a.m. of june th the tempest of the guns would be let loose once more, and at . the guns would lift and the battalions advance to the assault in successive lines, each supporting regiment occupying trenches in front of them as soon as they were vacated by their predecessors. the staff preparations had been complete and were crowned with success. in this, as in previous operations of the st division told in this volume, major-general currie exhibited the skill and resolution which he had shown in so marked a degree at the second battle of ypres. he achieved, however, so great a reputation at that action that it would seem almost superfluous to mention that the conduct of affairs in his hands was efficient and successful. he was greatly assisted in his operations by lieut.-colonel kearsley, the chief staff officer of the division. brigadier-general harington, of the corps staff, did much to perfect the plan of operations. he left the canadians, much to their regret, shortly after the action to take up a superior command. he stayed long enough, however, to see an action which had begun as a reverse turned into a striking triumph. but the main credit must be given to general byng, who well sustained his previous military reputation in laying down the outline of the plan which brought success, and in supervising its preparation. it had been agreed that, in the event of a check taking place anywhere, flares should be sent up to indicate the position stormed by the assailants, and for this purpose the objectives were divided into four successive lines. it would, perhaps, be unwise to give further details of these arrangements, and one may be content to remark that they worked admirably. finally, when the rd battalion arrived at mount sorrel on the right, the th at hill in the centre, and the th to the old lines to the north of this, a red flare from each section would be the signal that the whole position was taken. [sidenote: _june - th, night._] the weather throughout the attack was of the vilest description, the rain coming down in torrents; but it was not, as subsequent events will show, altogether unfavourable to the successful prosecution of the adventure. the new wire which had been placed along the front by the nd division was removed early in the night of the th, for to do so before would have been to evoke suspicion; and planks were placed across the trenches to allow the supports to cross them quickly. [sidenote: _june th, . a.m._] then at . the guns began. for three-quarters of an hour the air was full of the preparation. an enormous force of heavy artillery had been assembled, against which no ordinary parapet or traverse would stand for an instant. the -pounders reached an astonishing total, with several belgian field guns in addition. it is true that the whole of this artillery would not be turned on the actual field of battle. some of it was to be employed for purposes subsidiary to the action. none the less, a great battery of guns of all calibres pointed their muzzles towards the germans on hill and mount sorrel. the enemy's positions on mount sorrel and hill were to be shelled upon a frontage of , and to a depth of , yards, while it was the ambition of the artillery to break to pieces, day in and day out, some , yards of german trenches, so that when the moment for the assault arrived the infantry could go forward, in general burstall's words, with slung rifles. this ambition they very nearly fulfilled, as the light casualty lists of the st division show. the infantry would be the first to acknowledge the immense debt they owed to the artillery behind them. war, while it is in one sense a contest between two opponents, is also a struggle between the weapons of offence and the methods of defence. a strange kind of attack suddenly grows formidable, and after winning one or two resounding victories is countered by the cunning brains which organise an appropriate form of resistance. on the other hand, man raises what appears to be an impregnable bar to the forward progress of armies; instantly, far away, perhaps in laboratories beyond the seas, human intelligence is contriving to break the bar and to prove that it is impossible for any one force to say to another, "so far shalt thou go and no farther." in this interplay of forces the functions of the infantry, cavalry and artillery are constantly changing. now one has, for a short period, a greater superiority and importance, and then the circle swings round and "the spoke which is to-day on top to-morrow's on the ground." in all these calculations, each side is fallible until it has gained by experience. it is a general and very fallacious view that the germans foresaw all these developments of war and prepared for them, while the allies were caught napping. nothing could be more untrue. the germans were better prepared for all possible eventualities than anyone else, but no soldier in any army foresaw the actual course which modern warfare would take. as a matter of fact, the development of trench warfare and the reign of the machine-gun was so fatal a blow to german prospects that it is improbable that they would have declared war at all if they had thought it anything more than a bare possibility. to them it was a matter of life and death to keep the armies on the move--life if they could crush the french and british armies in the field and then turn back on russia; death if they were condemned to a static defence while the invincible resources of the allies in men and money accumulated slowly on either front. history decided at the marne in favour of the latter alternative. from the date of the aisne the infantry in defence gained a decided superiority over the artillery in attack and kept it for many months after the race to calais had locked the lines in western europe. the enemy possessed indeed a great superiority in heavy guns, but it was not sufficient to blow out of its position a resolute corps or army. the deadlock was complete. the gunners could not destroy the trenches and the machine-gun emplacements sufficiently to allow the infantry to advance, and time was on our side. it was in the attempt to break through this impasse that gas was first used at ypres; but after that terrible experience the defence produced the gas helmet, and the new weapon broke in the german's hands. then began the race between the contending armies to produce guns and shells of such size and in such quantities as would blast a whole area with death, bury the machine-guns and the garrisons, destroy the superiority of the infantry in defence, and give the game once more into the hands of the offensive. in this race we were slow starters. the generals took time to realise the necessities of the new situation, and it was not until the cyclonic energy of mr. lloyd george was harnessed to the work of the munitions department that the vast industrial resources of great britain were really brought into play. it was a work which required not only the energy of genius, but the tact of a consummate man of affairs conversant with all the details of civilian life. but presently the machine began to work and to gather momentum in its course. every private concern adapted to the task was taken over and pressed into the work. the factories smoked on every hillside and the furnaces flared in every city. the vast metal tubes of the guns took shape, and a tremendous volume of shells began to flow in ever-increasing numbers across the channel. by the summer the work was well in hand and the guns were ready to overpower the defence of the german defenders and clear the way for the st division. on that june night mr. lloyd george was fighting on canada's side. [sidenote: _june th, . a.m._] then, as the guns lifted, the infantry charged. on the right lieut.-col. allan led the rd toronto battalion forward, with the st battalion close in support. so dense was the brushwood in armagh wood that in the first stages they went forward in the curious formation of sections in file. advancing with great dash, they got in advance of the enemy's barrage before the latter could be turned on to our trenches, and took the germans' front line. one of our fortified posts, then in the enemy's hands, turned a machine-gun and rifle fire on them, but the fort was taken by assault and the garrison bayoneted in the fighting. this fortified post represented the left of the rd battalion, and thenceforward they met with little opposition here and in the centre, except attacks from isolated bombing posts, and their casualties were almost entirely due to enemy shell fire. they rushed a position somewhere in the region of their old line on mount sorrel, as soon as our guns lifted to the old german line, and were the first of the attackers to signal that the final objective had been reached at ten minutes past two in the morning of june th, forty minutes from the commencement of the action. [sidenote: _june th, . a.m._] the right-hand company, however, working up the old front line british trenches, was somewhat delayed by an obstinate resistance, but with the assistance of a company of the st battalion it also pushed through. the night of the attack was, as has been stated, dark and squally. the rain blew in great gusts, drenching the waiting battalions to the skin and filling the assembly trenches knee-deep in water. but these conditions suggested to the mind of colonel j. e. leckie, of the th battalion, or centre attack, a particularly daring scheme. two of his subalterns, lieuts. adams[ ] and scroggie, had been for some days reconnoitring and crawling about the ground in front, with the view of guiding the battalion during the actual assault.[ ] in the course of these investigations they had come across an old trench marked on no map and about yards in front of the canadian first line. such a trench is a common feature on ground which has been much fought over. it was suggested that if the leading lines of the battalion crept up during the night to this new position they would be yards nearer their objective and would probably escape the german artillery fire, which would break out on our front line the instant our guns lifted and the attack was seen to be imminent. such a course had great advantages. on the other hand, colonel leckie had to consider the fact that an encounter with a patrol or a listening post of the enemy would give away the secret of an attack the prospect of which had, so far, been sedulously guarded from reaching the ears of the enemy. a premature brush on the part of a company with even a small section of the enemy would have meant flares and infantry firing along the whole line and the plan would have stood disclosed. colonel leckie decided to take the risk and the responsibility. his regiment was drawn up for the assault on a frontage of two half-companies in four successive lines. the first two lines were passed successfully up to the unmarked trench without any suspicion of their intention reaching the enemy. the margin between success and failure was, however, narrow to the last inch. the germans had actually put out a listening post well in front of their line, but the advance guards of the th (canadian scottish) passed by it in the dark. by the time the germans discovered the presence of the canadians they were hemmed in in front and rear, and remained quiescent until dawn led to their discovery and surrender. of course, they ought to have fired their rifles and given the alarm at any cost to themselves. but the manoeuvre succeeded, like many risky chances taken in war. the enemy's shells missed the two front lines completely as the th battalion charged straight into the german positions. the two supporting lines, on the other hand, suffered somewhat severely from ranged shell-fire as they climbed the parapet. the first two waves of the assault met, indeed, with little resistance owing to the unexpected rapidity of their advance--a plan since extensively adopted in the fighting on the somme. isolated german parties of bombers or machine-gunners still put up a fleeting resistance. in the face of these assaults the canadian infantry moved steadily on with the quietude of fate. the second two waves of the th, on approaching the german front line, were met in places by machine-gun fire and by a bombing resistance, in which captain wood, an american army officer whose services were very valuable to the canadians, was killed. the trench was soon taken and the enemy who resisted were bayoneted. the survivors, who were taken prisoners, appeared to be dazed and to possess neither rifles nor equipment. about thirty yards behind this line, however, a machine-gun was still in action and was causing many casualties in our ranks. captain bell-irving dashed out from the line, got behind the gun, shot three of the team with his revolver, and, picking up a rifle, charged in from the rear and killed the remaining gunners with the bayonet. line after line was carried in this fashion until the th were able to put up the red flares, which signalled to the division that they had recaptured the heights and stood once more on their old ground or in its immediate vicinity. although not so quick to arrive as the rd battalion, they were soon in touch with it, and the new line was linked up. meanwhile, on the left the th battalion (royal highlanders of canada), under lieut.-colonel buchanan, had advanced at a given signal. the german artillery had ranged their assembly trenches during our own bombardment and inflicted somewhat severe losses on them before they climbed the parapet at the correct moment. they set out in the usual formation of four waves on a frontage of two half companies, the first two waves under major perry and the last two under major mccuaig, and, advancing across broken ground under heavy shell fire, reached their first objective. here they were held up for a time by a machine-gun on their left front; a bombing party had to be sent round its rear to destroy it before the regiment could proceed. finally, after some isolated bombing encounters in the communication trenches, the th broke through to the north of hill and linked up with the th on their right.[ ] the circle from left to right was now complete, for the th (colonel genet), fighting their way slowly up the communication trenches on the left of the th, finally established touch with them. the main action was over shortly after . on the morning of june th. [sidenote: _june th, . a.m._] on the right the st division had not, as they thought, retaken the precise position held by the rd division on june st, although in the heat of the assault they were fully convinced that they had done so, and, in fact, succeeded in doing so on the following day. the germans had built a new support trench somewhat to the west of the original british line, and this was in very good condition. in the meantime, a fortnight of rain and heavy bombardments, both from british and german guns, had practically obliterated the old first line. in the confusion of the final onrush in a half-light the company commanders of the various battalions occupied at once the first sound trench which obviously held a dominating position looking towards the east, and, in doing this, they no doubt stopped on the right yards short of their objective. such an error must be regarded as trivial by those who understand the conditions of modern warfare; it is a mistake which is bound to be made over and over again, even by the best infantry in the world, and is a far less dangerous offence than the opposing one of overcharging the position. bombing posts were at once established down the german communication trenches and all measures taken against threatened counter-attacks. immediately behind the assaulting waves came the pioneers carrying on them the materials for consolidating and making good the captured trench the very instant it was clear of the enemy. in this work, major w. b. lindsay, of the engineers, especially distinguished himself. the enemy, indeed, threatened a counter-attack, but their concentrations were, however, dispersed by our gun-fire. the enemy, in fact, had been surprised, and appeared to be dazed by the suddenness and the success of the onset, and the various reliefs of the assaulting battalions were carried out successfully, though under heavy shellfire. it may be pointed out in summarising the action that no military movement can be realised without a consideration of its environment. the advance of the canadians to the final counter-assault took place in the semi-darkness which precedes the dawn. the wildness of the elements tended to produce confusion if it added security from observation. there was enough light to distinguish the features and uniform of the enemy from our own and to give the officers a general sense of their direction. in the gloomy rainstorm, just before daybreak, the st division advanced in a long succession of four lines, one close behind the other, on the frontage of three companies. each regiment maintained its correct line of attack on the objective; each leading company was reinforced at the proper moment by the company which was marching steadily behind. the fury of the german shell-fire in no way discomposed the orderly advance of these disciplined battalions. in the shadows of the shattered woods which surrounded them it was easy to be deflected from the true course by the sudden spurt of machine-gun fire from an undestroyed emplacement, or to be checked by bombs thrown by isolated detachments of germans. but the regiments moved steadily forward in the darkness, over a ground ravaged both by british and german artillery until no landmarks remained. here and there patches of barbed wire still stood out to show that a trench had once existed behind it. the orders were to use the bayonet until light came, for fear of firing into the other detachments. through this chaos of shattered trees and earth the canadian infantry moved steadily forward, and as the dawn broke once more on a ruined countryside it saw the assailants unshaken in discipline and correct in alignment--masters once more of the heights which defend the salient of ypres. captain papineau, of the corps staff, on june th surveyed the field of battle after the canadian corps had re-established itself in its old positions. his impressions are well worth recording. looking north from the works which we still maintain on hill , he was able to survey most of the ground over which the ebb and flow of battle had raged during the preceding fortnight. the first impression was one of blight--as though a devastating plague had suddenly descended upon these woods and fields and hills, had blotted out the natural green of nature, and churned up the earth into sordid masses of mud. the blaze of sunshine and the blue sky flecked with slow-moving clouds could not wipe out the ugliness of the prospect. man had defaced nature until the charm of nature had vanished. gaunt and grey and menacing, the prospect of the low hills swept out from the feet of the observers. below were the shattered remains of square wood and armagh wood. observatory ridge, lost and recaptured, stood in front, its coppices full of the memories of hidden machine-guns. behind there peeped out the higher grounds of hills and , to which the remains of sanctuary wood still climbed upwards. on the right rose mount sorrel, where the grim earth and shattered trunks still met the clear sky. behind, in contrast, the green fields of high grass stretching towards ypres ringed this land of death. the uncut crops, grown wild, had attained an unwonted luxuriance. here and there a bunch of scarlet poppies might have drawn their intense colour from the gallant blood which had soaked the earth beneath. the unkempt hedgerows, no longer tall and neat, ran back to the city behind, and the beheaded and scarred poplars remained as mute witnesses to the strife of man. yet nature was attempting to assert herself, and through this summer's growth of verdure to cover the riot of battle. scattered beneath this innocent mantle of green are innumerable shell holes, old crumbling trenches full of the memories and odours of death, graves and graveyards marked by the crosses commemorating the long-forgotten captains once well loved by their regiments, and of humble privates perhaps still remembered. the torn and trampled equipment, the empty ammunition boxes, the remains here and there of shattered bodies, which human care and energy had been unable to bury, all await the healing tide of nature which will cover them in its due time. on the roads behind lie the bodies of dead horses, with the flies thick on their congealed sides, killed in the effort to bring up to the assaulting battalions the necessities of war and livelihood. yet of these, too, the poet has written that their cups are the calm pools and the winding rivers, and that care never breaks their healthy slumbers. even over all that quiet countryside has come the continued spray of bursting shells, week after week and month after month, and if you look closely into every field and tree and ruined house, every yard of that wide landscape will show its wounds. we shall remember when the time of reckoning comes. even as the observers watched the field of conflict on june th, sudden clouds like giant powder-puffs leapt into the sky, and the air carried less swiftly the sound of bursting shrapnel. they looked into square wood, which was a wood no longer. in it there was no speck of green--only grey mud, slowly crusting in the sun, and bare, white, lifeless stalks to mark what had once been trees. but against the sky-line the new canadian trenches ran, marked by the new outlines of red earth, to show that we held once again the lines of mount sorrel. the experience had been a hard one; the cost of life severe; the energies of the whole corps had been required to balance the advantage the württembergers had gained over us in the early days of june, and no regiment had been exempt from a share in the trial. yet the task was accomplished, and defeat was turned into victory. [ ] the greatest possible assistance to the attack was given by capt. godwin and the trench mortar batteries of the st division. these mortars kept up so heavy a fire on hill that the enfilade fire which had largely stopped the night attack on june rd was kept down completely. capt. godwin was unfortunately killed. [ ] lieut. adams was killed in the attack. [ ] a reconnaissance was also undertaken on the night of the th to try to estimate the accuracy of our shooting in the bombardment beginning at . p.m. [ ] the staff direction of general tuxford's brigade was admirable throughout, and for this special credit should be given to the work of the brigade major--major clarke--and to captains urquart and clarke kennedy. chapter xii "canada in flanders" conclusion--canada will meet new necessities with fresh exertions--the military co-operation of all parts of the empire to lead to closer political union--significance of the title "canada in flanders"--french general's views--british infantry have never had to protect their own soil--devotion of australians and canadians for an ideal--they felt the empire was in danger--lack of foresight in england--prevision of mr. hughes, general botha, and sir robert borden--recrimination in war-time useless, but the feeling for closer union and more responsibility growing overseas--difficulty of organising this sentiment in a constitutional form without imperilling the liberty of the dominions--perils of refusing to do so--controversy between captain papineau and mr. bourassa--risk of reaction after the war--"admit us to your councils"--reorganisation of imperial resources the first constructive task for the statesmen of the empire. it is more than a year ago since, in the last chapter of the first volume of "canada in flanders," these words were written:-- "after incredible hardships patiently supported, after desperate battles stubbornly contested, the work of the canadians is still incomplete. but they will complete it, meeting new necessities with fresh exertions, for it is the work of civilisation and of liberty." these words still contain some truth in relation to the conditions of to-day. the work is still incomplete. but in the interval which has passed the dimensions of the task have wholly altered. in this war success depended, as mr. churchill once pointed out, not upon episodes, but upon tendencies. and in the last ten months the tendencies have all marched with the terrible inevitableness of a greek tragedy towards the doom of the central powers. in that development the canadians have played their part. they will continue to play it, "meeting new necessities with fresh exertions," until the happy day when peace is dictated upon the terms which the allies require. and then they will return to the farm, the bank, the university, the shop, and the ranch, as the seven thousand returned who fought in our south african quarrel. but is it possible that they should return without having stamped upon the loose constitution of the empire articles at once more formal and more mutual than those with which until this war we have on the whole been content? it does not seem possible, and it is certainly not desirable, that this remarkable military co-operation should be so unfruitful in constitutional result. in this final chapter of the second volume--the last volume in which it is likely that the present writer will be able to undertake the responsibility of authorship--he may perhaps be forgiven if he allows himself the intrusion of a more personal note than has been consistent with the scope of that part of the work which has preceded it. "canada in flanders" suggests many reflections to a mind either acquainted with the past or imaginative in relation to the future. it speaks of achievement; and it also speaks of the agony of lingering death; it recalls ypres, which will perhaps be in the history of young canada what verdun is in the history of old france; it recalls, too, the truncated bodies of the maimed who have offered the sacrifice of radiant youth and health upon a shrine the reality of which to them may perhaps sometimes have seemed a little remote. "canada in flanders," if confined to the military activities of canadians in that unlovable country, would awake these and many other tragic and glorious memories. the pages which precede these words are a contribution and an effort to do justice to this branch of the subject. but to the title "canada in flanders" must be conceded the relevance of some other observations which as a canadian i think ought to be made, because it is plain that the empire is still in an evolutionary stage; because plans and policies involving great changes are being boldly canvassed; because i myself am in favour of great changes; and, finally, because to see the facts as they really are is a condition precedent to fruitful development. the first step in such a consideration is to examine shortly the nature, the significance, and the inevitable consequences of the dominion's contribution to the necessities of this gigantic struggle. the degree of heroism which has been constantly displayed by canadians of all ranks will be admitted by all who have read these pages. the moral grandeur of their deeds can only receive justice from those who keep in mind considerations which are sometimes overlooked, but which are nevertheless of immense importance. a very distinguished french general--a general than whom none more distinguished has been discovered by france in this war--and very few by any country in any war--was good enough once to discuss with me the respective qualities of the french and british infantry. our conversation took place under circumstances which invited and won from him both sympathy and candour. he spoke of the soldiers of france in words so eloquent, so full of personal reminiscence, so charged with emotion, so vibrant with a wholly attractive pride, that for the first time i fully understood how deep and how pure are the wells from which the patriotism of this immortal nation is distilled. then he began to speak of the british forces. of these he made this penetrating observation: "to the british of all nations this singular tribute must be paid: that their infantry has never been engaged in any protracted war without a universal admission that it was the equal of any infantry in the world; and yet that it has never been afforded the supreme incentive to soldiers, that of fighting on their own soil, and for their own women and children at the moment and on the scene of their instant peril. "in flanders, under marlborough, in the peninsula and at waterloo, under wellington, your infantry have compelled the admiration of the world. and yet, my friend, they have never responded, as we have, to this appeal:-- "'soldiers! facing you are the men who still occupy the sacred soil of france: who have ravished your women: and murdered old men, your compatriots. soldiers, advance to avenge your country and those of your blood and race whom a savage enemy has done to death!'" deeply moved by a tribute made with so much feeling, tact, and sympathy, i ventured to ask, "do not these remarks of yours, general, apply with even more force to the troops of the great self-governing dominions who from so far have come to sustain with their lives the fortunes of the allies upon soil so remote?" his reply stated so clearly and with such insight the view on which i desire to insist that i venture to reproduce it. "nothing," he said, "in the history of the world has ever been known quite like it. my countrymen are fighting within fifty miles of paris to push back and chastise the vile and leprous race which has violated the chastity of our beautiful france. but the australians at the dardanelles and the canadians at ypres fought with supreme and absolute devotion for what to many of them must have seemed simple abstractions, and that nation which will support for an abstraction the horror of this war of all wars, will ever hold the highest place in the records of human valour." i recall this conversation because it illustrates my point. in a sense it is true that the majority of australian and canadian soldiers understand generally that they are fighting for the existence of the empire, and in particular for the independence of that part of the empire to which each respectively belongs; but the conclusion can only be a general one, the outcome rather of intuition than of exact knowledge. australia is far, far remote from european quarrels. canada has no neighbour but the united states. the shearer from australia and the lumberman from canada have come to help the empire; but they would, i suspect, rather fight for six months than spend six minutes in attempting a lucid exposition of the motives which proved decisive to each individual volunteer. and, indeed, how could they--simple men far away from the heart of the empire--be expected to have grasped the nature of the german menace when the whole of a great historic party in england was blind to it six months before the war broke out? was a bank clerk in toronto, or a book-keeper in sydney, or a squatter in rhodesia, to appreciate the ultimate tendency of german policy when the chairman of the national union of liberal federations, himself a privy councillor, was declaring that as a business man he preferred the sanctions of international law to the protection of the british fleet; when members of parliament were forming each year a powerful committee to fight the naval estimates; when official invitations to suspend shipbuilding programmes gave annual indulgence to the teuton sense of humour; when german editors and professors in yearly deputations exploited the simplicity of their silly hosts; and when, finally, statesmen in high places paid periodic and public tribute to the sincerity and humanity of german _kultur_? to ask these questions is to answer them. the majority of those who stood to the colours did so because they saw that at that moment the empire was in peril. the circumstance that neither they nor their leaders were responsible for the policy which brought us, wholly unprepared on the military side, to the most gigantic struggle in history, seemed to them no sufficient reason for refusing to fight while the fight lasted. but it may be pointed out that many of their leaders had a very clear vision of the dangers in our path. they saw the european situation from a distance, and perhaps for that reason in truer perspective. mr. hughes, the prime minister of australia, who unites with profound knowledge of affairs dauntless courage and the analytical power of a trained mind, has always believed this struggle must come. general botha--in many ways the most romantic figure in the empire to-day--adroit politician, skilful general, chivalrous soldier, faithful friend--returned from a visit to the german army manoeuvres some years ago with the same apprehension branded upon his mind. sir robert borden, only four years ago, in introducing his naval proposals in the canadian parliament, used these prophetic words:-- "but to-day while the clouds are heavy, and we hear the booming of the distant thunder, and see the lightning flash above the horizon, we cannot and we will not wait and deliberate until the impending storm has burst upon us in fury and with disaster." the leaders, then, of political thought in the dominions had arrived at sound conclusions by observation and inference from known facts. and having formed these conclusions, they decided, when war came, to throw their whole strength into the scale, though they were well aware of the errors of judgment that had paralysed preparation in england. the rank and file volunteered in hundreds of thousands, and then in more hundreds of thousands, because they saw that recrimination as to past responsibility was at that moment futile, and that there and then the empire was in mortal peril. from thousands of miles the flower of the youth of the empire have come and trained, and fought and died, or have drifted back broken after the war to the dominions whence they set out. and the men who have done these things, uncompelled and uncompellable, have accepted our military and diplomatic direction of the war, even when they disagreed with it, without question and without complaint. nothing nobler has been uttered in the war than the answer, made in the australian parliament, by the prime minister to a member who gave expression to the bitter grief with which australia learned of the definite abandonment of the dardanelles adventure. "not upon us," said he, "have these great burdens and responsibilities been cast. not by one word or even one doubt will i add to the anxieties of those from whom decisions have been required." it is a commonplace that no such phenomenon as the great rally of the dominions has ever been witnessed in history. none of the great empires of the world has ever conceded so much freedom to its constituent parts or been rewarded by so much devotion. and it is well known that the whole world--our friends and our enemies alike--have been amazed at the spectacle of imperial solidarity which the war has exhibited. "for the purposes of a european war," wrote one of germany's many military philosophers, "the british colonies, even if they remain faithful, may be ignored." to-day this gallant theorist--the nursling of treitschke--is, one may presume, somewhat better informed. it may perhaps be urged that, after all, the very co-operation of which so much has been said has become possible under the undefined, impalpable, and sentimental union which has hitherto prevailed throughout the empire; that the task of translating in the twin fields of defence and diplomacy informal into formal representations of the dominions is very hard to reconcile with the complete domestic independence of each unit; and that all our most valuable constitutional doctrines have been the fruit of an evolutionary and not of a conscious or studied process. this is true. but it ignores a real peril to the empire. in all things physical, mental, and moral, great activities are followed by great reactions. and the violence of the reaction is generally determined by the violence of the activity. the efforts made by all parties in this war have been stupendous. it is certain that these exertions will be followed in every belligerent country by violent reactions. the dominions will not escape the influence of these currents of opinion. "the captains and the kings depart," but there remain the memory of the dead, the presence everywhere of the maimed, and perhaps to many of the bereaved the anxiety of financial pressure. canada has been and is overwhelmingly loyal, but none the less a student of imperial affairs should give attention to the recent correspondence between mr. bourassa and capt. papineau. similar problems survive even the immense influence and prestige of general botha in south africa. in australia and new zealand the loyalty which is endemic in these stubborn and homogeneous peoples is reinforced by obvious local inducements to a centripetal policy. but even here there are forces which at a time of reaction are certain to become both articulate and critical. in measuring the probable extent and seriousness of such a reaction the student of politics will not forget the lessons of the south african war. the glamour of war is dissipated: material gains are forgotten: there survive commercial and industrial dislocations, the stale but strident advertisement of war scandals, and the abiding, grinding pressure of war taxation. the khaki election in england was followed by the _débâcle_ of , and by the accession to power of a parliament which consisted to a greater extent than any house of commons which had ever existed in england of pacifists, idealists, and demagogues to whom not only the thought of war, but even of preparation for war, was abhorrent. but the country in which this reaction against the south african war took place was, after all, the country whose government, elected by themselves, was responsible for the diplomacy which led up to that war and for the conduct of the war when once it was declared. the danger in the case of the self-governing dominions is that the reaction is certain to be supported by opponents of the war with the argument that those who have made contributions relatively so immense were never consulted as to the policy, and have merely been called in to support the consequences of other men's bungling. it is sufficient to say that such a campaign might become formidable. there is only one remedy. it is not attempted here to work out the details; and, indeed, their elaboration might most usefully engage the exclusive work of the twelve ablest statesmen in the united empire. but without making any such attempt, it may be broadly claimed that both in the interests of the mother country and of the dominions, and of that empire of which they are equally the legatees, the close of the war will mark the moment when the claim of sir robert borden, "admit us to your councils," will become irresistible. it is important that this claim should be recognised now. with every year that passes it will become more important. the dominions have played a great part in this war and one which will never be forgotten. but they are still in their infancy. their adult strength has yet to be tested. there may never be another world struggle. should such an occasion unhappily arise, it is at least likely to be remote in time. and the more remote it be, the more decisive is the part which our kinsmen in the outer empire may hope to play. do not, at least, let us fail in the attempt to keep our friends for want of imagination. burke, in a splendid and memorable passage, dealing with those colonies which the folly of our ancestors lost, spoke to a deaf audience of the swift development of our old american colonies:-- "whether i put the present numbers too high or too low is a matter of little moment. such is the strength with which population shoots in that part of the world that, state the numbers as high as we will, whilst the dispute continues, the exaggeration ends. whilst we are discussing any given magnitude they are grown to it. whilst we spend our time in deliberating on the mode of governing , , we shall find we have millions more to manage. your children do not grow faster from infancy to manhood than they spread from families to communities, and from villages to nations." such will be the growth of these great communities which have given us their lives in this war. let us welcome, and, if it be possible, let us increase their proven attachment. nor let us for one moment forget, among the great tasks with which peace will confront us, that the reorganisation of our imperial resources is the first constructive task which awaits the statesmen of the empire. if this indeed be realised, the work will not have been done in vain which has been done by "canada in flanders." appendix. extracts from the third supplement of the _london gazette_ of friday, may th, . in the despatch from sir douglas haig, g.c.b., commander-in-chief british forces in france, of may th, the following references are made to the canadian troops:-- section . during the period under review the forces under my command have been considerably augmented by the arrival of new formations from home, and the transfer of others released from service in the near east. this increase has made possible the relief of a french army, to which i have already referred, at the time of the battle of verdun. among the newly arrived forces is the "anzac" corps. with them, the canadians, and a portion of the south african overseas force which has also arrived, the dominions now furnish a valuable part of the imperial forces in france. section . the following units were specially brought to the notice of the commander-in-chief for good work in carrying out or repelling local attacks an raids: st divisional artillery, nd canadian howitzer brigade, th canadian infantry battalion, th canadian infantry battalion, th canadian infantry battalion, th canadian infantry battalion. section . st. eloi. . on march th our troops made an attack with the object of straightening out the line at st. eloi, and cutting away the small german salient which encroached on the semicircle of our line in the ypres salient to a depth of about yards over a front of some yards. the operation was begun by the firing of six very large mines; the charge was so heavy that the explosion was felt in towns several miles behind the lines, and large numbers of the enemy were killed. half a minute after the explosion our infantry attack was launched, aiming at the german second line. the right attack met with little opposition, and captured its assigned objective; but the left attack was not so successful, and a gap was left in possession of the germans, through which they entered one of the craters. the following days were spent by both sides in heavy bombardment and in unsuccessful attacks, intended on our part to capture the remaining trenches, and on the part of the germans to drive us from the positions we had occupied. in the very early morning of april rd we succeeded in recapturing the crater and the trenches still held by the enemy, thereby securing the whole of our original objective. we had, moreover, captured five officers and men in the first attack on march th, and five officers and men in the attack on april rd. the work of consolidating our new position, however, proved extremely difficult, owing to the wet soil, heavy shelling and mine explosions; though pumps were brought up and efforts at draining were instituted, the result achieved was comparatively small. by dint of much heavy work the brigade holding these trenches succeeded in reducing the water in the trenches by two feet by the morning of the th. this state of affairs could not, even so, be regarded as satisfactory; and during the th the enemy's bombardment increased in intensity, and the new trenches practically ceased to exist. on the morning of the th the enemy attacked with one battalion supported by another; he penetrated our new line, and gained the two westernmost craters. it is difficult to follow in detail the fighting of the next three weeks, which consisted in repeated attacks by both sides on more or less isolated mine craters, the trench lines having been destroyed by shell fire. great efforts were made to maintain communication with the garrisons of these advanced posts, and with considerable success. but there were periods of uncertainty, and some misconception as to the state of affairs arose. on the th it was reported to me that we had recaptured all that remained of the position won by us on march th and april rd. this report, probably due to old craters having been mistaken for new ones, was subsequently found to be incorrect. the new craters, being exposed to the enemy's view and to the full weight of his artillery fire, have proved untenable, and at the present time our troops are occupying trenches roughly in the general line which was held by them before the th. in a subsequent despatch, dated december rd, , issued in a supplement to the london gazette of december th, the following references to the activities of canadian troops during june appears:-- while my final preparations were in progress the enemy made two unsuccessful attempts to interfere with my arrangements. the first, directed on may st against our positions on the vimy ridge, south and south-east of souchez, resulted in a small enemy gain of no strategic or tactical importance; and rather than weaken my offensive by involving additional troops in the task of recovering the lost ground, i decided to consolidate a position in rear of our original line. the second enemy attack was delivered on june nd on a front of over one and a half miles from mount sorrel to hooge, and succeeded in penetrating to a maximum depth of yards. as the southern part of the lost position commanded our trenches, i judged it necessary to recover it, and by an attack launched on june th, carefully prepared and well executed, this was successfully accomplished by the troops on the spot. neither of these enemy attacks succeeded in delaying the preparations for the major operations which i had in view. printed in great britain by richard clay and sons, limited, brunswick street, stamford street, s.e. and bungay, suffolk. note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustration. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/ / -h.zip) [illustration: "faster! thad, squeeze a little more speed out of the poor old thing." _the boy scouts on war trails in belgium._ _page _] the boy scouts on war trails in belgium or caught between hostile armies by herbert carter author of "the boy scouts first campfire," "the boy scouts in the blue ridge," "the boy scouts on the trail," "the boy scouts in the maine woods," "the boy scouts through the big timber," "the boy scouts in the rockies," "the boy scouts along the susquehanna." etc., copyright, by a. l. burt company contents chapter page i. the news that reached the rhine. ii. a bold undertaking. iii. giraffe makes a bargain. iv. the blocked way to the border. v. at the ferry. vi. scout tactics. vii. dodging trouble. viii. the country of windmills. ix. at a wayside belgian inn. x. the throb in the night breeze. xi. warned off. xii. the penalty of meddling. xiii. repentant bumpus. xiv. more hard luck. xv. at the end of a tow line. xvi. the german raiders. xvii. a man in the tree top. xviii. good samaritans. xix. the battle at the bridge. xx. victory in defeat. xxi. the call for help. xxii. up from the depths. xxiii. "a tempest in a teapot." xxiv. the ambuscade. xxv. the scouts' camp fire. xxvi. a tattooed fugitive. xxvii. the uhlan hold-up. xxviii. turned back. xxix. a change of plans--conclusion. the boy scouts on war trails in belgium. chapter i. the news that reached the rhine. "it strikes me allan's a pretty long time coming with those letters, thad." "oh! perhaps he's struck some exciting news worth picking up; you know he's a correspondent for a newspaper at home in the good old united states, and must always be on the lookout for happenings. have a little more patience, bumpus." "but you see i didn't sleep ten winks last night, thad. after our lovely quiet trip down the rhine by boat from mainz this place seemed just as noisy as any boiler factory." "no wonder, bumpus, with trains pouring in from the east and north, every one loaded down with german first-line troops, field artillery, cavalry horses, aeroplane supplies, and all sorts of war toggery." "yes, but, giraffe, i took notice that _you_ slept like a top through it all, just as if we were camping again in the maine woods, or down in that louisiana swamp where we had such a roaring good time." the boy who answered to the peculiar nick-name of "giraffe" laughed when the stout, auburn-haired member of the trio, known as bumpus hawtree, made this assertion. "oh! i've got it down to a fine point, bumpus," he remarked with a touch of boyish pride in his voice; "i've found out how to make mind win over matter. when i lay me down to sleep i just tell myself to forget all troubles; and after counting a hundred sheep jumping over a fence i lose myself the finest way you ever saw. try it yourself, bumpus, and see how it works." "as a rule i don't have any trouble getting my forty winks, and you know that, giraffe," the fat boy continued, sadly; "but just now i'm terribly worried about my mother back there in antwerp. whatever would she do if this war does break out, so helpless to get away by herself, because of that paralysis she's trying to have cured by a specialist?" "we've given you our promise, bumpus," said the one called thad, "that we'd stick by you through thick and thin, and do everything in our power to get to antwerp. so cherk up and try to feel that it's all going to come out right in the end." "thad, a scout never had a better chum than you've always been to me," bumpus acknowledged, with a trace of tears in his eyes, as he laid his hand on the other's khaki sleeve; "and i'm going to do my level best to see the silver lining of the cloud. but it's tough being hemmed in by a whole army like we are, and given to understand that it's impossible to enter belgium again until the skies clear." these three boys who wore the well-known uniform of scouts were seated in a boat that had apparently been used as a means for descending the historic rhine. thad brewster was the leader of the patrol to which the others belonged. it was known as the silver fox, and formed a part of cranford troop. he had worked his way up until his field of experience was so broad that it entitled him to take the place of the regular scout master of the troop when the latter could not accompany the boys on their outings. giraffe was really known to his teachers in school as conrad stedman. his ancestors had come from this same rhine country long ago, and as the boy had made a specialty of german in school he was able to jabber fairly well during their trip down the beautiful river. giraffe came by his nick-name honestly. he had been given an abnormally long neck by a bountiful nature, and on occasion it seemed as if the boy could even stretch this out to an astonishing extent, just as the giraffe does. he never complained because every one of his mates called him by such a name, for if it hadn't been that he must surely have been dubbed "rubber-neck," which would have been infinitely worse. bumpus hawtree also had another more dignified name, that of cornelius jasper, but it was utterly unknown among his comrades. whether on the baseball field, in camp, on the trail, in a boat, or any other place where boys might gather it was always plain bumpus. no one knew exactly why that peculiar name had been given to the fat boy, except that being clumsy he was always stumbling into trouble, and given to bumping against his chums. these boys, with some others connected with the cranford troop of scouts, had seen considerable in the way of adventure since the first day they organized their silver fox patrol. wonderful opportunities had come to them whereby they were allowed to visit the blue ridge country down in north carolina; go to the maine woods on an outing; cross the continent to the great rockies and enjoy a hunt for big game in the wilderness; and even take a trip down into the sunny south, where amidst the swamps of louisiana they had encountered numerous remarkable adventures. no matter what difficulties beset them, thad brewster and his chums had always met emergencies as became true-hearted scouts, and as a rule managed to emerge from the encounter in triumph. earlier in the same summer that we see them so far away from their home town of cranford they had been concerned in a wonderful hunt for a valuable missing paper that took them along the banks of the susquehanna river, and brought them in contact with a number of thrilling happenings, all of which have been fully described in the volume preceding this. bumpus hawtree's father was the president of the bank, and known to be a wealthy man. the boy's mother had suffered from a paralytic stroke, and urged to go abroad to be treated by an eminent specialist, this trip had suddenly been thrust upon the chums. circumstances having arisen whereby mr. hawtree could not leave his business, he had entrusted the care of the invalid to bumpus, and even agreed to stand for half of the expense of having his three comrades accompany him. thad and allan hollister had long hoped to some day take a boat trip down the rhine, and when they learned that bumpus was going this fever had attacked them more furiously than ever. then came giraffe with the suggestion that he join with them, making a party of four. it proved to be an irresistible temptation. if mrs. hawtree had to remain for a month or so at the sanitarium of the specialist in antwerp what was to hinder the four chums from carrying out their cherished scheme? at that time there seemed to be no cloud on the sky of european politics. servia had indeed put a match under the magazine when some scoundrel assassinated the heir to the austrian throne, and the dual monarchy was demanding redress; but nearly every one supposed it would end in servia backing completely down, and doing whatever her big neighbor insisted upon. so the trip had been made, the invalid left comfortably in the belgian city on the scheldt, after which the quartette of wide-awake american boys hurried across to the german city of mainz, where they managed to hire a boat that would answer their purposes. this was fixed up the best way possible for cruising, and they had taken their own good time drifting down the beautiful rhine. at night when away from any city or town the boys would proceed to camp just as though they were over in america, and navigating the waters of the mississippi or the susquehanna. it would perhaps take a book to tell of the many interesting things they saw and experienced while on this voyage along the german waterway. the task would be a most pleasant one, too; but there are too many more stirring scenes lying ahead of thad and his friends and awaiting our immediate attention to linger here. bumpus had been greatly worried of late. the reports had grown more and more serious the nearer they approached cologne, and evidences multiplied that went to tell them the great german nation was taking no chances of a sudden invasion from the french border. they had seen trainloads of soldiers all sweeping toward the west and south. heavy traction engines had been noticed moving slowly along country roads, and drawing enormous guns behind them. thousands of motor trucks, each also loaded to the limit with men in helmets, had been seen scurrying along. all these things pointed to a growing fear that some terrible calamity was impending over poor europe, so that possibly the long talked of world's war might be nearer than most people across the atlantic dreamed of. to comfort bumpus, thad had solemnly promised him that no matter what happened they would do everything in their power to forge ahead and reach antwerp. when he made that brotherly promise thad could not have foreseen one-tenth of the tremendous difficulties that would have to be surmounted before it could ever be carried into execution; but once it was given he had such a tenacious will that the leader of the silver fox patrol was bound to try and keep his word. their other comrade, allan hollister, had gone into the city for any mail that might be awaiting their arrival at cologne. sitting there with the magnificent twin spires of the famous cathedral in plain sight, the others were impatiently awaiting his return. it may have been ten minutes after the little talk occurred with which this chapter opens that a boy was discovered hurrying toward the boat. from the fact of his wearing a khaki suit like the ones thad and his other two chums sported, it could be set down for granted that this must be allan hollister. as he drew nearer, all of them could see that his face was grave. this gave bumpus a new pang, for he feared he would never be able to make the journey across belgium, and join his invalid mother, who would be waiting for him in antwerp. allan silently handed each of them some mail, but after a glance at his thad voiced the feelings of his other two allies when he said: "you're bringing us bad news, allan; it's written on your face, and there's no use keeping it back any longer. what's happened?" allan was the second in control of the patrol, a good woodsman, and a stout-hearted scout. he braced himself with an effort, and after drawing a big breath went on to tell them the thrilling news he had heard when getting the mail. "the war is on--german armies have crossed the frontier into belgium--king albert has refused to let them pass through his country, and there is a terrible battle being fought at liége, with thousands of men killed and wounded on both sides. the whole of germany and austria have flamed up, and it's going to be a fight to the death with the biggest nations of europe on the battle line!" chapter ii. a bold undertaking. no one said anything immediately. bumpus had turned very white, and a pained expression crept across his round face, seldom seen there. "my poor mother!" they heard him mutter, as he stared over into the mysterious west, in the direction where antwerp was supposed to lie, with part of germany and the whole of belgium between. under ordinary conditions there would have been only one way out of the scrape for the four chums. this would have been to make as rapid a retreat as they could, passing further into germany, and managing by some good fortune to get over into holland where at amsterdam they might secure passage to london by steamer. thad would have laid out their campaign along those lines only for his sacred promise to poor bumpus, who being very set in his way might have attempted the task of getting to the belgian city by himself, and of course making an utter failure of it, because bumpus never did many things right. "so, the worst has come, after all," said thad, presently; "and the torch has been put to the powder magazine that will blow up pretty much all europe before the end is reached." "will great britain fight, do you think, thad?" asked giraffe, in somewhat of an awed voice for one so bold as he had usually proved himself. "that's to be seen," replied the other, gravely; "but we know that france and russia will fly to arms, and i don't see how england can keep out of it. you know she has sworn to maintain the neutrality of belgium even by force of arms if necessary. if the german army is over the border that settles it, i'm afraid." "whew! but there will be a fierce old row!" declared giraffe; "and just to think of our being over here at such a wonderful time. mebbe we won't have lots to tell step hen, davy jones, smithy, bob white, and the rest of the fellows when we get back home again." "yes, when we do!" echoed bumpus, dolefully. "here, cheer up, bumpus; don't look like you'd lost your last friend," the boy with the long neck told him. "remember what thad said about our hanging to you all the way through, don't you? well, it still goes. even the whole german army can't keep us from getting over into belgium, and hiking for old antwerp. we'll pull up there sooner or later in pretty fair shape, and smuggle ma hawtree across the channel to england's shores, mark my words if we don't." thad and allan both said something along the same lines. perhaps they may not have felt quite so sanguine as giraffe, but that did not prevent them from trying to bolster up the sagging courage of bumpus. of course the latter began to show immediate signs of renewed hope. how could it be otherwise when he had the backing of such loyal chums? "but what can we do when the whole country is just swarming with soldiers, all heading in the direction of the border?" bumpus wanted to know. "we've got our passports, i admit, but in time of war they wouldn't be worth the paper they're written on. and, thad, no common person can ride on one of the trains these days, i'm sure." "yes, that's right, bumpus," the other admitted, "and in making up our plans we must omit travel in the regular way." "the border is something like forty miles away from here, i should say," suggested allan, who had of course looked the thing up on the map. "there's the netherlands a bit closer," thad explained, "if we chose to cross over the line; but we might find it hard to get into belgium that way. one thing sure, we must be on the move to-day." "do you mean we'll hoof it, thad?" demanded giraffe, who, being a good walker, evidently did not see any particular difficulty about managing twenty to thirty miles a day over good summer roads. with bumpus it was quite another matter, and he held his breath while waiting to hear what the patrol leader had to say. "if we have to we might make it," thad presently returned, as though he had considered the matter himself at some previous time. "then who knows but what we might be lucky enough to run across some man owning a car, who would either rent it to us or give us a lift to the border." "but, thad," objected allan, "you know what we heard about all cars? as soon as the order for mobilization went out it was flashed from the russian border to alsace and lorraine, and from that minute every car worth owning in the entire german country would be the property of the government. why, if we owned even an american-made car right now it would be taken away from us, to be paid for by the military authorities. i'm afraid it's going to be a case of shank's mare with us." "let it," said thad; "we've got to make a start inside of an hour or so!" that was the prompt way in which most of the matters engineered by thad brewster were put through. somehow his manner of saying it thrilled the others, for there could be seen a new grim look come into their faces. even the woe-begone countenance of bumpus took on fresh hope. "do you really mean that we're going to start out into the west, thad?" he asked, with glistening eyes. "just what we'll do, bumpus!" he was told with a reassuring smile on the part of the patrol leader such as always carried fresh cheer to anxious hearts. "how about getting rid of the boat that's carried us down the rhine so splendidly?" questioned giraffe. "that's already been arranged for," was what the other told him; "all we have to do is to hand it over to that boat builder, and get his receipt for the same. we have paid the last thaler we owe, and there's no reason why we can't leave our duffle here with the same man, to be sent for later on when the war is over and railroads are taking on freight again for america." "it sounds good to me," said giraffe. "i'd hate to lose a few things i brought along to make myself comfortable with--the red blanket, for instance, that's been with me on so many camping trips. i hope there's a good chance of seeing our stuff again some fine day." "well, talking isn't going to help us any, so what do you say we get busy?" suggested thad; and as the others were all agreeable they soon made quick work with packing up their belongings, so they could be left in charge of the owner of the boatyard on the outskirts of the city. all the while they worked the boys could hear a thousand and one sounds connected with the feverish rush of military trains crossing bridges, and starting off anew toward the belgian border at three points beyond the mobilizing centre of aachen or, as it was once called, aix la chappelle, almost due west by south from cologne. when the hour was up they had accomplished all the preliminaries looking to the start on foot across german territory. the owner of the boatyard doubtless wondered what they meant to do, for he asked a number of curious questions. still he readily agreed to store their packages until such time as he received instructions how to ship the same to america, accompanied by a tidy little sum to pay his charges. "if you asked my opinion," remarked giraffe, after they had left the place and started off, "i'd say that old chap didn't wholly believe the story we told. right now he may think we're really a party of british boy scouts, over here in the land of the kaiser to learn some of the garrison secrets, so in case of an invasion later on the beefeaters would know where the weak places in the defences are." "do you think he would go to the trouble to inform some of the military authorities of his suspicions, and get them after us?" asked bumpus, looking concerned, as well he might, for every delay promised to make his task of rejoining his ailing mother more difficult. "let's hope not," said thad; "but these germans certainly do have the greatest secret service ever known. they get their news in a thousand ways, i've heard; and this war is going to give the world the biggest surprise it ever had." when thad made that remark he little knew what wonderful things were fated to come to light connected with the spy system of germany, which would prove to be the most elaborate ever conceived by any nation, modern or otherwise. "next to americans, they're the most wonderful people under the sun!" boldly declared giraffe, whose ancestors had lived along that same rhine river, so that he could not help but feel very kindly toward the whole teuton race. there was bumpus who was on the other side of the fence, for the hawtrees came of good old english stock. hence he and giraffe often had friendly little tilts, each standing up for the land from which his ancestors sprang. that little remark about the "beefeaters" was meant as a sort of sly slur at bumpus by the boy with the long neck, though for once it failed to arouse any comment. having been compelled to pass the city in order to find the boatyard to which they had been directed, the boys were on the northern side of cologne at the time they began their long tramp. little did they dream what amazing incidents were fated to fall to their portion before that journey came to an end. it would have thrilled them through and through could they have guessed even one-half of the hardships and the adventures that awaited them on their bold undertaking. with small bundles thrown over their shoulders after the manner of scouts' knapsacks, they left the river behind them and faced the west. "we've enjoyed meeting you, old father rhine," said giraffe, waving his hand toward the stream as though he looked on it as a very good friend, "and we'll always keep a little corner of our memory sacred to this glorious trip; but we've got something to handle now that's a heap more serious than just loafing in a pleasure boat, and eating three square meals a day." "first of all," said thad, "we might pin the little miniature american flags we brought with us to our coat lapels. then folks can see that we are yankees, and not britishers." "but we haven't run across much bad feeling for the english among the germans," bumpus ventured to say. "huh! wait and see what happens if great britain dares to take up the challenge the kaiser's thrown down when he crossed the belgian border," asserted giraffe. "the first shot a british man-o'-war takes at a german vessel and it's going to be unsafe to talk in english over here. you'll even have to change that snore of yours, bumpus, and give it a dutch twist. now if your name was only gottlieb you'd pass for a native easy enough, with your red face and round figure." thus chatting they made their way along the road leading away from the city to the cathedral. many persons they chanced to meet gave them a respectful salute, no doubt at first thinking they might belong to one of the german troops of boy scouts so common all over the empire. when they glimpsed those tiny flags which the four lads so proudly wore, their eyebrows went up and they were noticed to say things in an undertone, one to another. on several occasions thad thought it best for them to step off the road and settle down in some fence corner, or under a shed it might be. each of these times there passed a company of soldiers hurrying toward the city, and evidently making for a mobilization point so that they might occupy a place previously arranged for in the grand concentration scheme of the nation's army. these delays were not numerous, but they served to hold the boys up more or less, so that by the time noon came they had not covered more than three miles of territory beyond the suburbs of cologne. "there's a ramshackle old car stalled over yonder," thad announced about this time, "and i propose that we see if anything can be done to hire or buy it. all good cars are seized by the military on sight, but they'd pass such a wreck by. if we find we can repair it, and can get even five miles an hour out of the machine, it'd be our policy to commandeer it, if our pocketbook will stand the strain." chapter iii. giraffe makes a bargain. "that's the stuff, thad," declared bumpus, enthusiastically. no one considered this an odd remark for the stout boy to make, because they knew from past experience that he was not an ardent pedestrian. bumpus was not built for action along those lines; he "het up" too easily, as he was fond of explaining, and even now could be seen mopping his perspiring brow with his bandanna handkerchief. the man with the disabled car was so busily engaged that he did not notice the approach of the four chums until they reached the spot. apparently he was about ready to give it up as a bad job, for he scratched his head helplessly, and had a look of utter chagrin on his face as he turned toward them. thad had previously asked giraffe to conduct the negotiations, using his best german to produce results. the man was apparently some small tradesman in one of the towns so thickly scattered about that region. he stared hard at the boys, understanding immediately that they had a foreign look. still the rhine country attracted many thousands of pilgrims each year, and myriads of honest people helped out their living by what the tourists left behind them; so he must have been used to seeing strangers. perhaps the news that had reached his ears concerning the breaking out of war may have been the cause of his puzzled look. while giraffe engaged him in conversation, the others took a look at the engine of the car. both thad and allan had a fair smattering of mechanical knowledge, and it did not take them long to size the situation up, as the latter termed it. "an old rattlebox, sure enough, thad," observed allan, knowing that the owner could not very well understand what he was saying. "i've seen a few worse machines, but i believe i could count them on the fingers of one hand," the patrol leader admitted. "it's easy to see what the matter is, though the man doesn't seem to know," was what allan remarked next. "yes, and so far as that goes it can be remedied without a great amount of time and trouble," continued thad. "would it pay us to make an offer for the discard?" asked bumpus, anxious to have a little say in the matter. the other two exchanged looks. "let's take another squint at the thing before we decide," remarked thad. "agreed," his chum added. "i never did like to buy a pig in a poke, as they used to say." once more they examined the engine, and then took a look at each of the pretty well-used tires. meanwhile giraffe had exhausted his vocabulary, and both he and the old german owner of the stranded car stood and watched what the others were doing. bumpus bustled around like a busy beaver. from the way he poked his head under the hood of the machine, touched this part of the machinery and then that, one would have thought he might be an experienced mechanic; and yet what bumpus did not know about such things would fill many volumes. but then it pleased him to look wise. "did you ask him if he cared to sell the old trap, giraffe?" questioned thad. "yes," the other scout replied, "i put it up to him, and he told me he didn't care if he did, providing he could get his price, and that it was in cash." "the cash part we could meet easily enough," continued the scout leader, "but i'd want to know what sort of a price he means to put on the wreck. it's of little use to him as it stands, for he can't do a thing with it." "i told him so," said giraffe, "and that if we chose to buy the car it would only be to have a little fun out of it, and then throw the old tub in the discard." "it's only fit for the scrap heap," ventured bumpus, pompously. "well, get him to set a price on it, spot cash, and if it's too high we'll step out with shank's mare again," thad told the negotiator. accordingly giraffe brushed up his high-school german and set to work. the man listened to what he was saying, nodding his head meanwhile. his eyes had a cunning look in them thad thought, that seemed to tell of covetousness. "whew!" they heard giraffe say in an explosive way, after the other had committed himself. "what is his lowest figure in cash?" asked thad. "he nearly took my breath away," declared the other; "actually asks five hundred marks for an old trap like this!" "it's highway robbery, that's what!" commented bumpus, in dismay. "he says all the decent cars are being taken over by the military authorities," continued giraffe; "and that this sort of machine is the only kind that it's safe to own." "well, so far as that goes he's right," admitted allan. "yes, but he couldn't get twenty-five dollars for the tub if he put it up at auction!" bumpus asserted, just as though he were an authority on all such subjects; "and here he asks a plump hundred for the bunch of scrap iron." all the same bumpus kept an eager eye fastened on thad, as though he were in hopes the patrol leader might yet find some way to negotiate a deal; for bumpus would a thousand times rather travel in the slowest and most uncertain car ever known than to walk. "offer him two hundred marks cash down," said thad; "and that's a heap more than it's worth. the balance is for the accommodation. we'll likely throw it away after we've used it a bit." "all right, just as you say, thad," remarked giraffe, and turning to the german owner of the car he started in once more to dicker. he had hardly gotten part-way through his speech before the others saw a broad smile appear on the red face of the man, who began to nod his head eagerly. at the same time he thrust out his hand toward thad. "what d'ye think of that, boys!" exclaimed giraffe, apparently both surprised and disgusted; "he snapped me up like a flash. two hundred marks it is, thad, and the trap is ours for keeps." "oh! why didn't we set it at a hundred," groaned bumpus; "a fine lot of traders we are, i think. no david harums in this bunch. we're easy marks." "yes, two hundred of them," chuckled allan. thad meanwhile, fearful lest the man might change his mind, counted out some bills and handed them over to giraffe. "write out a receipt in german, giraffe, and have him sign the same before you give him the money," he told the go-between. this giraffe soon did, and the man signed it without hesitation. then clutching the money, he said something to giraffe, nodded his head several times to the rest of the boys, and hurried away. somehow his actions, coupled with the way he glanced back over his shoulder several times caused the four scouts to look at each other in surprise. "what do you think he means to do, now he's got the money?" bumpus asked. "oh! put for home and hide it away in a stocking, most likely," allan laughingly remarked. "he acted as if he was afraid we'd repent, and want the money back," suggested the patrol leader. "that price was about twice as much as the rattle-trap is worth, you see." "you don't think he's hurrying off to get into town and report that there are suspicious characters on the road who talk english, and may be spies from across the channel?" ventured giraffe, uneasily. "worse than that, it may be," said bumpus mysteriously. "explain what you mean, then," demanded giraffe. "mebbe he _stole_ the car somewhere," suggested the other, "and before we know it we'll be hauled up for the job." the thought was far from pleasant. in the present disturbed state of the rhine country any one who did not have the stamp of the fatherland on his face and in his tongue was apt to fare harshly if placed under a cloud by any circumstances. "well, the sooner we get busy and fix up our new purchase the better, i should say, no matter where the man got it," allan went on to remark. thad thought the idea so good that, taking off his coat, he started in to working at the engine. he had enough experience to know what was wrong, and how to go about fixing the defect, with allan at his back to give occasional bits of advice which helped out considerably. bumpus and giraffe hovered around. they could not be of any material assistance, and did not want to get in the way so as to delay things. so they talked matters over, and every now and then would step closer to see how the workers might be getting along. "i only hope she holds out till we're safe over the border, don't you, giraffe?" remarked the fat boy, fanning himself with his hat, for the august day was pretty warm, and there did not happen to be a breath of wind blowing at the time. "yes," replied the tall scout, "because once we get beyond where the fighting is we can move around without being held under suspicion." "there, thad seems to be fixing things up, and i do believe he's going to try the engine to see if it works!" exclaimed bumpus. it took several efforts to get the result thad was after, but all at once the loud thumping told that he had succeeded. "hurrah!" cried bumpus, showing signs of excitement. "all aboard!" exclaimed thad. fortunately the car happened to be headed in the direction they wished to go, so there was no necessity for turning, which might not have been an easy task. all of them soon stowed themselves away in the body of the car, though it required some crowding, due principally to the fact that one of their number took up enough space for two ordinary fellows. of course that was not the fault of poor bumpus, who was willing to squeeze himself into as small a cavity as he possibly could. when thad started the car they actually found themselves moving along at what seemed to be a fair rate of speed, after their recent slow progress afoot. bumpus almost held his breath for a short time. he acted as though he feared he must be dreaming, and that he would presently awaken to a bitter disappointment. after they had actually covered a full mile, and the machine was still moving ahead, bumpus could restrain his exultation no longer. "ha! this is the life!" he exclaimed with a broad smile on his happy face. "a fellow would be a fool to walk when he could sit here in his own private car and whirl along the highway at this dizzy pace of five miles an hour. thad, that was a dandy idea of yours about buying the wreck; and giraffe, i want to give you great credit for doing the bargaining. here we are headed for belgium in fine shape, and with our cares yet to come." being boys, and with abounding spirits, they did not believe in crossing bridges before they came to them. so while unaware of what the uncertain future might hold for them they did not mean to worry. it was enough, as bumpus said, that the present looked sunny, with not a cloud on the horizon. in that jolly frame of mind they started to do the next mile with slightly increased speed, as the engine "got its second wind," as giraffe called it. chapter iv. the blocked way to the border. they passed over a second and even a third mile without having any trouble. now and then they overtook or met people on the road but although the natives stared at seeing four boys in khaki riding in that dilapidated old car they did not offer to molest them. thad knew, however, that they had a rocky road to travel, for many times they must run up against soldiers, who would not be apt to let things pass so easily. "we're coming to a bridge ahead there, that spans the river," he told the other three presently. "i wonder will it be guarded," remarked giraffe; "i've heard so much about the wonderful way every little thing has been mapped out in case of war being declared by germany, that i reckon each man, young and old, knows just what his part is to be, and has rushed off to do it the first thing when the news came." "yes," added thad, "we were told that the older men of the landstrum would stay at home and guard bridges, water plants, zeppelin sheds, gun factories and all such places. and unless my eyes deceive me i caught the glint of the sun on steel at that bridge right now." "yes, that's a fact, thad; i see soldiers, and they're watching us come on," allan observed, with a tinge of disappointment in his voice. it was with more or less anxiety then that the scouts approached the bridge. "i don't suppose it would be wise to risk rushing it!" said bumpus, and the idea of such a thing was so ridiculous that giraffe laughed aloud. "just imagine us bearing down on the guard in this wheezy old trap!" he exclaimed; "why, old don quixote on rosenante wouldn't be a circumstance to us. he fought windmills, and we'd have to tackle german soldiers armed with guns. well, our only chance would be to _scare_ them nearly to death, so they'd be unable to shoot." "we'll not think of taking any such risk," said thad, severely, though of course he knew very well giraffe was only joking. with many a groan the car was brought to a stand at the bridge. three middle-aged men in uniform stepped up, and one who seemed to be a non-commissioned officer addressed them in german. of course it devolved on giraffe to do the honors, and so he proceeded to tell just who they were, how they came to be on the rhine, and how necessary it was that they get back to antwerp so as to take the sick lady away. all this had been arranged between giraffe and thad beforehand; and possibly the former had practiced his speech at a previous time, so that there might be no hitch. meanwhile bumpus was waiting and listening, hoping for the best. the gruff old german soldier looked at their passports, and then at the little american flag which each one of them had fastened to the lapel of his khaki coat. he shook his head, and it was in the negative, bumpus noticed, with a spasm in the region of his heart. then followed some more conversation between giraffe and the soldier; after which the former turned to his comrades with a look of pain on his long face. "he says we've got to turn and go back to cologne again, boys," giraffe informed them. "he has his orders to not let a single person cross the bridge who doesn't live around here, and is known." "but we are americans, and he might have some consideration for us," complained allan, though he knew just as well as anything, from the severe look of the soldier, that talking would be useless. "it makes no difference," giraffe said, "orders are orders with him. i really believe if the kaiser himself should come along he'd have to go back again. he says we might as well give over our foolish scheme of getting across the border into belgium, now that war has been declared, and the fighting is going on." poor bumpus looked heart-broken. "then we'll have to give up this beautiful car, and just when we were getting so used to it, too," he fretted, as though that were the worst and most cruel blow of all. thad knew it was folly to think of trying to swerve that old man, who had an iron jaw, and may have been with the army many years ago when paris was taken and france humbled. "well, we must make out we're going to do what he suggests, anyway," he said, in a low tone to the others. then he began to maneuvre so as to make the turn. it required some dexterity, for the old car did not respond to the wheel very readily. in the end, however, the turn was negotiated successfully, without any accident. bumpus had been clutching the side nearest him as though fearful lest they might be precipitated down the embankment into the river. it was with despondent faces that the boys started back along the road which they had so recently traveled in such high spirits. bumpus, however, believed that things were not utterly hopeless. he had caught the words spoken by thad, and to his mind they could have but one meaning. "do we give up the ship at the first storm, thad?" he asked plaintively. "we have to make a show of doing what they ordered, you know," explained the pilot at the wheel; "but i noticed on that little map i bought in mainz that there's another good road leading to that belgian border. we can try that and see what luck we have." "was that it about a mile back, leading off to the right as we came along?" asked allan, quickly, showing that he, too, had kept his eyes about him, as every wide-awake scout should at all times. "yes," thad told him. "and you mean to take it, do you, thad?" demanded bumpus, oh! so eagerly. "we can make the try, and see what happens," he was told. "of course, if every bridge and culvert on the road has its guard, we'll not be apt to get very far before we're hauled up again." "well, let's all hope that if that happens it'll be a man without that iron jaw, and one who might listen to reason," giraffe ventured, for he was feeling badly over the utter failure of his attempted negotiations with the guard. they rode on in silence for a short time, and then allan cried: "there's your road ahead, thad; and we've lost sight of the bridge long ago, so they couldn't see us dodging into the same. there are some people coming along, but they'll not notice what we're doing." "i hope you haven't changed your mind, thad?" remarked bumpus, anxiously. "certainly not, bumpus," he was informed, and that satisfied the stout chum, for he sank back again into his place with a grunt. it turned out that the second road was almost as good as the other, a fact that caused the boys to congratulate themselves more than once. "they certain sure do know how to make roads over here in the rhine country," giraffe declared; "fact is, they do about everything in a thorough way that makes a yankee sit up and take notice. no slip-shod business will answer with these germans." "yes, they even turn you back when your passport is o. k., and you've got rights they ought to respect; they're thorough all right, but it's too much red tape to suit me," bumpus complained. "no kicking yet awhile, bumpus," giraffe warned him; "you notice that we're still on the move, and headed for the upper corner of belgium's border. if we've got any decent sort of luck at all we ought to make the riffle." "i'm afraid we're coming to some sort of town," thad told them, "and as there's no way of turning out here we'll have to take our chances." "i did see a side road back a piece," remarked allan. "yes, and running to the northwest in the bargain," added giraffe. "that would mean if it kept on straight it would finally bring up at the holland border, wouldn't it?" bumpus wanted to know. "i don't suppose we're twenty miles away from holland right now," said allan. "if we had to come to it, would you try to get across the line there, thad?" asked the stout boy, and when he was told that "half a loaf would be a lot better than no bread," he seemed to be satisfied that all was not lost. as they proceeded the evidences of a town ahead of them became more and more evident. neat houses, each with its well kept garden, could be seen on both sides of the road. women and children, many of them wearing wooden shoes, stared at the car as it wheezed past, bearing the four boys. doubtless the sight of their khaki uniforms caused a general belief that they must in some way be attached to the army, for several boys ventured to give them a salute, which the pilgrims hastened to return in every instance. "even the kids over here have got the military spirit born in 'em," remarked bumpus, after a very small specimen had waved his hand in real soldierly fashion. they were now entering the town, though it could hardly be called by so pretentious a name, since there was really but the one main street running through it, with others cutting across. "too bad!" they heard thad say; "but we're going to be held up again." several soldiers stepped out in the road. one seemed to be an officer, from his uniform, though he did not carry a sword. he held up his hand in the manner of an autocrat who must be obeyed, and of course thad stopped the car just before coming to the little squad. the other three soldiers carried guns, and with such an array of weapons it would certainly have been the height of folly for the boys to think of running the gantlet. to the surprise of thad, the officer spoke in excellent english. perhaps he had at some time been stationed in england, or else in the united states, though that did not necessarily follow, as undoubtedly many germans were proficient in other languages. "you must turn back!" he said, severely; "i do not know that i would be exceeding my authority if i ordered your detention under arrest." "but we are american tourists, as our passports will show you, sir," thad explained; "and all we want to do is to leave the country. one of my comrades here has an invalid mother in antwerp and he is wild to get to her, so he can take her back home to america. surely you will not want to keep us here against our will, where we would be a burden on you, and with four more mouths to fill?" "it is sad," said the officer, with a shrug of his shoulders, "but now that war has been declared, and we do not know what will befall the fatherland, we must do many things that would never happen in times of peace. so while i am sorry for the boy with the sick mother, it must not interfere with my orders, which were that no one should be allowed to pass on toward the belgian border unless he showed proof that he was in the service of the central government." "i am sorry to hear you say that, sir," thad told him. "there is still more," continued the other, sternly; "this is the second warning you have had to turn back. we received word by telephone from the bridge to look out for four american boys in scout uniforms. be careful how you risk a third offence, for i fear it would result in your being thrown into prison. and remember, it is a long way from the country of the rhine to your washington." what he said gave the four chums a cold feeling. they knew he meant that no matter how innocent of any intention to do wrong they might claim to be, if they persisted in breaking the rules laid down by the german government for war times, why they must take the consequences, which could not be very pleasant. all of those castles in the air which bumpus had been conjuring up during their short ride now came tumbling in ruins to the ground. "i guess we'll have to give it up, fellows," he groaned, "and take our medicine the best way we can. we've tried our hardest to get out of this beastly country; and no one can blame us for not succeeding. but i hate to think of my poor sick mother over there, waiting and waiting for me to come to help her, that's what!" chapter v. at the ferry. "if at first you don't succeed, try, try again!" giraffe was one of those fellows with a disposition very much like a rubber ball; when crushed down by some sudden disappointment he would come up again on the rebound. "here's that other road!" remarked thad; "and do you see any one following after us, to watch, and find out what we do?" "nope, coast clear back here," said bumpus, nearly bursting a blood vessel in his endeavor to look. thereupon the pilot deliberately disobeyed the orders of the officer stationed in the town. he turned into the side road, and thus gave positive evidence of an intention to once more try to run the blockade. at the same time thad understood what risks he was taking; only there may arise situations that demand radical cures, unless one means to lay down meekly and submit to fate. bumpus began to show signs of renewed interest. "it may be a case of two strikes, and then a swat over the fence for a home run, thad!" he announced, after they had gotten well started along the new trail, which did not seem to be built along the same order as those other roads, though not at all bad in that dry season of the year, early august. "let's hope so," replied the pilot. "from the way this road runs we'll have to give up all notion of getting across the line into belgium. we'll be lucky if we can make it holland." "well, along here where a tongue of holland runs down between germany and belgium," explained allan, who had looked up these things on the map, "and which is a part of the limberg country, it isn't over twelve or fourteen miles across. there's one place at the holland town of sittard where the gap can't be much more than four miles, so you see how easy it would be for us to run across that neck, and land in belgium." "with this lightning car," observed giraffe, "we'd hit the border, give one grand splurge, and then bring up on belgian soil." "limberg, you said, didn't you, allan?" remarked bumpus; "i guess i know now where that strong cheese comes from. i only hope we don't strike any factories on the way. it always makes me feel faint, you know." "huh!" snorted giraffe, the taint of german blood coming to the surface, "that's because some people don't know a good thing when they strike it." "well, giraffe, you ought to be glad then that i don't, because sometimes you complain of my appetite, as if i could help being always hungry." "thad, of course we're bound to strike that river again, if we keep on heading into the northwest?" suggested allan. "yes, for it runs into holland on its way to the sea far above where we hope to cross," admitted the other. "this doesn't seem to be a very important road, for we haven't come across a single soul on it so far," allan suggested, significantly. "and from the marks of wheels i'd be inclined to believe few vehicles ever come this way," continued the patrol leader; "but what makes you say that, allan?" "oh! i was only wondering if it really kept on to the river, or turned back after a bit," the other explained. "that is, you hardly think such a road would deserve a bridge, which must be a pretty costly proposition, the way they build them over here, to last for centuries; is that it, allan?" "yes, you've struck it to a fraction, thad. now, supposing there should only be a ford for a crossing, we couldn't take this car over." "certainly not," came the ready reply; "but the fact that so many cars travel the roads of germany in these modern days makes me feel pretty sure there will be some kind of way for getting over the river, even without a bridge." "do you mean by a ferry?" asked giraffe. "more than likely," he was told, "but we're going to know right away, for i had a little glimpse of the river through those trees back there. we ought to be there in a jiffy." a "jiffy" might mean almost anything, but with that slow car it stood for more than five minutes. then allan heard giraffe, who had abnormal vision, give an ejaculation that had a smack of satisfaction about it. "it's a ferry, i guess, thad!" said the tall scout, who had that neck of his stretched to an enormous extent that gave him a great advantage over his comrades. "what makes you say so?" asked bumpus, who could see absolutely nothing as yet. "i notice a rope stretched across the river," giraffe told him, "and yes, there's some sort of a barge or float up at the landing on this side." allan just then announced that he, too, could see what giraffe was trying to describe, and there could be no doubt about its being a ferry. "here's luck!" cried bumpus, puffing out with new expectations. "let's hope they haven't gone and stuck a soldier alongside the ferryman so as to keep him straight!" grunted giraffe; "and, thad, i suppose i'll have to do the interpreter act again, if the chap doesn't talk united states?" "we depend on you for that, giraffe," he was told. the road led directly down to the edge of the water. there was some sort of landing there at which the ferryboat put up. it allowed the traveler who had a vehicle of any sort to pass directly from the shore on to the deck of the monitor which was used for a ferryboat. no one was in sight when they first arrived. "if he doesn't show up couldn't we take charge of the boat and run her across to the other side?" bumpus was asking, as though about ready to try anything once. "toot your horn, thad, and see if it'll wake him up," allan suggested. "there's so little to do on his lay that p'raps the ferryman takes a nap between trips." "that's a good idea," assented thad, and accordingly he used the auto horn to some advantage, making certain doleful sounds that were easily calculated to awaken any sound sleeper. immediately a man appeared in view. he may have been taking a nap for all they ever knew. he was an old fellow wearing wooden shoes and a knit cap. as he approached the car he seemed to look them over curiously. probably it was seldom indeed that any one outside of the natives came his way. "see him take in our little american flags, will you?" remarked bumpus, while giraffe entered into a labored conversation with the ferryman; "he must know what they stand for, too, because i could see his eyes light up when he first noticed the same." giraffe at that moment turned to them. "yes, you're right about that, bumpus," he said; "this man says he has a son and his family out in cincinnati, and wants to know if we've ever met hans kreitzner. i told him i wasn't quite sure, because there were some people in america i'd never yet run across, though i hoped to round them all up later on." "don't josh the poor old fellow, giraffe," urged bumpus; "as for me, i'm so glad because we haven't run across a pesky military guard here at the ferry i'd be willing almost to promise to look his son up when i got back home--by mail, of course, and tell him i'd met his respected paw." "how about taking us on his ferryboat, giraffe?" asked thad. "i hope he hasn't got his strict orders, like all the rest of the men we've run across to-day," ventured allan. giraffe nodded his head in a way that stood for hope. "seems to be all right, fellows," he assured them. "old hans here has agreed to set us over on the other side. perhaps when i promised to double his fee it made him jump after the silver hook more nimbly." "yes, there he goes now to get his ropes unfastened," said bumpus. "whew! from the way he's tied the old batteau up i should think he hadn't had a passenger all this day. he's as slow as molasses in winter, and that can't be beaten." giraffe looked at the speaker and grinned. when bumpus called anything "slow" it must move about as tediously as an ice wagon, or one of those enormous german guns drawn over the hard roads by a powerful traction engine. "let me crawl out first, thad," the fat boy remarked, "if you're meaning to move the car aboard the ferryboat." "bumpus is afraid of you, thad!" cried giraffe; "he thinks you may make a slip and dump the whole business over the side of the boat; and bumpus doesn't care to go in swimming with his suit on. if it should shrink when he tried to dry it, whatever would he do for another?" all the same, giraffe himself was not averse to leaving the little old car while thad was taking it carefully aboard the flatboat used as a ferry, showing that he might be just as guilty as bumpus. "well, now!" exclaimed the fat scout on noticing that even allan joined them, "seems like we might all be in the same boat, doesn't it?" "we expect to be, right away," giraffe told him, calmly. thad did not let the car play any trick. he soon had it aboard the ferry, and about as well balanced as any one could have accomplished. the old man had just about finished undoing the last rope, and in another minute they might expect to find themselves moving out toward the opposite shore, by means of the pulley fastened to the rope above, and the long stout pole which was intended for pushing in the shallow water. "thad, there's somebody coming on a gallop up there!" announced giraffe just then; "and i do believe it's a mounted soldier in the bargain!" "oh! thunder!" gurgled bumpus, almost collapsing; "that's always the way things go. we get just so far, and then the string pulls us back again." "don't let on that you see him," said thad, quickly. "the old man is pretty deaf i should say from the way you shouted at him, giraffe. he doesn't hear the man calling. now, if he is so busy pushing off that he fails to look up, we ought to be half way out in the stream before that horse gets down to the bank." "he's coming with a rush, i tell you!" said giraffe, who had better opportunities for seeing than any of the others, so that it did appear as though at times it paid to have a neck that would stretch. the ferryman had now thrown off the last rope and was stooping down to take hold of the setting pole. another minute or so would decide the question. bumpus was so worked up that he could not keep still. as usual, he advanced some wild idea, for while not as a rule fertile in expedients there were times when it seemed as though that slow brain of the stout boy worked furiously. "there, hang the luck, fellows, the ferryman has seen him!" burst out bumpus, in the deepest disgust; "he's going to wait up for the soldier, and take him aboard." "our cake will be dough," added giraffe, gloomily, "if it happens that the man on horseback comes from the town where we got turned back, and orders us to go back with him, to be shut up in a german dungeon. i've heard a lot about what terrible nasty places those fortress prisons are, but i never thought i'd be in danger of finding out for myself." "do we have to give in so tamely as all that?" asked bumpus, with a spurt of spirit that would have become a warrior; "suppose now he does try to browbeat us, ought four husky scouts from good old america get down and kiss the shoes of just one bullying german soldier, because he wears a helmet on his head. thad, it's up to you to say the word, and we'll all jump on him!" "don't be so rash, bumpus!" giraffe warned him, while thad said: "we'll wait and see what happens before we lay plans that must make every man of the kaiser's army our enemy. here he comes now. every one keep a still tongue in his head but giraffe; and while about it let's hide these little flags. if he asks who we are tell him the truth, though, remember, giraffe!" chapter vi. scout tactics. the horseman was now coming down the bank. already he seemed to eye the four passengers aboard the ferryboat, as though they interested him more or less. "giraffe," muttered thad. "what is it?" asked the other, in a whisper. "you might take occasion to ask the ferryman while we're crossing, whether we can strike the road leading north to grevenbroich, after getting over. get that name, do you?" "yes, and i'll do it as a sort of blind," continued the other; "he'll naturally believe we're meaning to put up there instead of heading across country." the man was undoubtedly a soldier, but thad came to the conclusion that he must now be on some important mission rather than simply riding to a concentration camp. in fact, he soon decided in his own mind the other might be a dispatch-bearer, for he noticed what seemed to be a small leather pouch partly hidden under his long coat. they were soon moving across the stream. the man had dismounted before leading his horse aboard the craft, since the animal showed positive signs of not liking the ill-smelling old car. none of the scouts blamed the intelligent animal either, for the mingled odor of gasoline and burnt grease was anything but pleasant; although they believed that "beggars should never be choosers," and that it was bad luck to "look a gift horse in the mouth." giraffe did not forget his instructions. when they were about half-way across he spoke to the old ferryman, and apparently asked for directions about the way to the town mentioned by thad, for he plainly said "grevenbroich." the man with the setting pole answered him, and even pointed several times in a northwesterly direction, as though assuring him that the place mentioned lay in that quarter. as though regretting one thing he had done, thad took out the miniature stars and stripes and fastened the little flag to his coat again. he realized that the man would readily guess they were not germans, and it was better that he know their nationality than to suspect them of being english. he looked sharply at the emblem, and his heavy eyebrows went up, but he did not say a single word to indicate what he may have thought. the boys were only too well satisfied that matters should be as they were. they had feared something much worse, and that the soldier would order them to turn back again. "what did he say about grevenbroich, giraffe?" thad asked, so that the horseman could plainly hear him mention that name. "oh! it lies off there some ways," said the other, also pointing. "how can it be reached from this road?" further inquired the scout leader. giraffe shrugged his shoulders. it was a new habit he had picked up since coming abroad, for over there on the continent nearly every one depends on contortions of the facial muscles, and movements with the hands and shoulders to add emphasis to what they say, or else take the place of words. "i couldn't understand all he said, you know, thad," he explained, with a broad grin, "because he speaks such terrible german, not at all like our teachers gave us at school. but as near as i could make out, this road comes to a place inside of a mile or so where it branches in three different directions." "well, now," said bumpus, "you wouldn't dream it was of so much importance." "one road runs southwest to the city of duren, where the railroad from cologne goes, and where all the soldiers are pouring through on the way to belgium. then another runs almost north, and lands you at grevenbroich; while the third keeps on until it strikes the border at the holland town of sittard." "gravenbroich is the place for us!" said thad, meaning to ring the changes on that particular name until it had become impressed on the mind of the listening soldier who must naturally believe they were headed thither. they believed they had deceived him when the landing was made, for after paying the ferryman he sprang on his horse and galloped away, never once looking back over his shoulder. thad willingly handed the man the sum agreed on, and the old fellow was very polite, making sure that everything was secure before allowing them to get the car off the float. "that was what i call luck," said giraffe, as they lost sight of the river and the queer ferry. "soon we ought to come to the three forks of the road," announced allan; "when we must decide whether we want to go to duren, grevenbroich or the dutch border." "as if there could be any doubt which we'd choose," observed bumpus. a short time later and they found themselves drawing near the split in the road. just why there should be so many feeders for so ordinary a road none of them could understand; they simply found it so, and acted accordingly. "of course we strike out over the middle one, thad?" giraffe remarked; "but i say, what's going to happen, now that you've pulled up here at the forks?" "wait for me a minute, while i take a look and see which way our friend with the horse went," the other told him. "thad never forgets he's a boy scout, and able to find things out in a way that would never occur to any ordinary fellow," said allan, not without a touch of genuine admiration in his tone; for he realized, much to his regret, that there were times when the same could not be said of him, skillful tracker that he was, as all maine boys are supposed to be. the three of them sat there in the car and watched thad. apparently he had not the slightest trouble in finding what he was looking for, since the hoofs of the horse had left plain imprints on the dusty road. "he's turned up the road that leads to duren, all right, as sure as anything!" announced giraffe, after they had seen thad pass along that way for a short distance. "that means a good riddance of bad rubbish," laughingly remarked allan. when a minute later thad returned he looked satisfied. "he started on that way, and so far as i tracked him he kept right along, so it looks as if we might be well rid of him," he reported. "guess all that talk about grevenbroich told on him," insinuated bumpus, proudly, as though the idea had originated with him, and he felt that the credit should come his way also. they had just started off and gone about a hundred yards when giraffe was heard to snort in disgust. "played a neat game on us after all!" he exclaimed; "we're a fine lot of babes in the woods to let a german soldier bamboozle us in that way. look over yonder and you can just manage to glimpse him through little openings in the trees." "oh! he's galloping off in the direction of duren!" cried bumpus; "and i warrant you after going along that road a piece he came back on the side, to hide, and was there watching us all the while." thad shook his head as though he did not like the situation. "you see," he explained, "if he had any suspicion before about us, it must have doubled when he saw me following his tracks, and then watched us come along this road. he knows now all that talk about grevenbroich was hot air, and that we're making for the dutch border." "yes, and going lickety-split at that!" added giraffe, contemptuously, as the engine emitted several sounds as closely approaching groans of protest as any inanimate object could produce. "well, what's to be done about it?" asked bumpus, uneasily, looking behind him, as though half anticipating seeing a squad of uhlans with their bedecked lances chasing headlong after the suspicious car. "nothing," replied thad. "all we can do is to keep pushing on, trusting both to luck and our sagacity to pull us through." "there's one comfort about it, boys," allan told them; "every rod we cover means we're just that much nearer safety. if we can only get within a mile or so of the border, and the cranky old motor holds out we'll give them all the laugh, even if it means a hot chase at the end." "i wonder if the old tub would be equal to showing a clean pair of heels if you hit up the pace for all it was worth," questioned giraffe. "i'd be afraid we'd all go up in a cloud of smoke and fire. these sort of machines are always balking or else exploding." "oh! now you're just saying that to bother me, giraffe," complained bumpus; "but i've got too much confidence in our pilot to be afraid of trouble. it may stop on us, that'd be the worst that could happen." "now you notice we're coming to a place where it's well settled, for you can see fields on every side, and gardens, too. yonder are some women and boys getting in the harvest; and here comes an old man, his cart loaded down with some kind of roots or potatoes. i hope there isn't a town ahead of us, where we'd find that the officer had telephoned about us." it was giraffe who said this. when making out to be tormenting bumpus he was evidently only voicing his own fears. "no, the road chart shows no place worth mentioning along this section," thad assured them; "but you know the soil here is something like that in holland, and very rich. westphalia and rhenish prussia are the garden spots of germany, so we'll see plenty of farms and grain fields." indeed, as they passed along they saw people working in the fields on every side, but it was always the same, not a single stalwart young man, only boys, women and very old men. the rest had all obeyed the call to the colors, and were already either fighting at the front, or else in concentration camps, preparing for the time when they would be needed to fill awful gaps in the ranks. all at once the engine stopped short. "that's what i call a low-down trick!" said giraffe, as thad sprang out to throw back the hood so as to take a look, and see what was wrong this time. "oh! we must expect something like that to happen every little while," he was told by allan; "it's a poor arrangement at the best, and pretty well worn out in the bargain. but we agreed to make the best of it, and so what's the use of knocking?" the three of them sat there for a little while, as thad pottered at the refractory machinery. then allan jumped out to assist him, saying that "two heads might be better than one," as often proved to be the case. "wake me up when you've found out the trouble, and rectified the same," said giraffe, pretending to stretch himself out over the seat, and make ready for a nap. just about three minutes later he had reason to change his mind. it was bumpus who did it, and if giraffe suddenly started up it was not because the other had been malicious enough to thrust a pin into his leg. "say, looky here what's bearing down on us, thad, will you?" the fat scout had called out, and giraffe was up on his feet like a flash. as he turned and looked back he saw something that was not apt to make him feel happy, to say the least. along the road came a swarm of women, boys and old men. they must have been recruited from the fields near by, for they were carrying all manner of pitchforks and such tools that looked dangerous when held in the hands of aroused tillers of the soil. whether the people of the farming country could have received word concerning the four boys in the old car, and meant to effect their arrest; or mistook them for some other parties who may have been disturbing the peace in that section of the country, thad and his chums were fated never to learn. it was quite enough for them to know just then a threatening cloud had appeared above the horizon, and that unless they could fortunately get a quick start out of that particular neighborhood they stood a good chance of finding themselves warmly beset. chapter vii. dodging trouble. "gee whiz!" burst out giraffe, of course using his favorite expression to denote his great astonishment; "why, they must be running to interview us, fellows! and say, i don't just like the way they're hollering one single bit. they even act as if they might be real mad!" "same old story," mumbled bumpus, sinking back into his seat with a look of sudden misery on his round face; "out of the frying pan into the fire. hardly off with one trouble before we're taking on a new one! what's the end going to be, i'd like to know?" "thad, how's it coming on?" asked practical allan, as he once more leaned over the hard-working mechanic, ready to lend a helping hand if possible, though only one could properly work at a time. "i think i'm getting it straight now," came the quick response that gave giraffe fresh cheer. "but it'll be too late in another five minutes," declared bumpus, trying to figure just how long it might take that oncoming crowd of german country people to arrive on the scene. "less than that, bumpus," said giraffe, better used to judging distances; "three would be the limit. are we intending to haul off and try to defend ourselves, or do we just throw up our hands and tell 'em we surrender? they're mostly women and old men, which accounts for 'em not getting over ground faster." "yes, but such women!" echoed bumpus; "every one looks like a regular amazon, because they're so used to working in the fields. besides, i don't like the way they handle those pitchforks they've been using to handle the hay with. it makes goose-flesh come up all over just to think of having the tines of a pitchfork stuck into me. guess we'd better call it off, and be good if they surround us." "it may all be a mistake, after all," said allan. "don't see how that could turn out," grumbled giraffe. "these honest people may be taking us for some other boys who have been pestering the life out of them," allan hastened to explain. "hope they find out the truth then before they start to prodding us with those old forks!" bumpus breathed. then silence fell upon them. thad was working furiously, while the other three held their breath in suspense, mingled faintly with the hope that died hard. the oncoming crowd was now quite close. their appearance became even more awe-inspiring as they drew nearer the scene; and their loud, angry cries did not soothe the nerves of the anxious scouts. bumpus was even fumbling in one of his pockets with the idea of taking out a supposed-to-be white handkerchief, and waving it, to indicate that they did not mean to resist the coming onslaught. just then thad gave a cry. "oh! have you got it, thad?" gasped bumpus. for answer the patrol leader slammed down the engine hood, and seizing hold of the crank gave it a whirl. there was no response! bumpus groaned fearfully. "all is lost!" he exclaimed in abject despair. thad made a second try, but with the same disappointing result. this time giraffe sank back in his seat, a look of resignation on his angular face. two bad turns was apparently his limit. it proved fortunate that thad was not constituted that way. he had known engines to require as many as half a dozen trials before they consented to be good and turn over. so thad went at it again, with even more energy than before. what a thrill passed over them all when with a roar the engine started in to make the old car quiver from end to end. bumpus and giraffe could not restrain their pent-up enthusiasm; their recent scare only added to the vim with which they gave a shout. thad made a leap into the front seat of the car. allan had already settled down to do the honors temporarily, for every second counted with that mob not thirty feet away. if the car was stalled five seconds longer it would be all up with the scouts. nothing so bad as that happened, for away they went with a jump, amidst the angry cries of the disappointed crowd. the country people did not mean to give up without further effort, for most of them continued to run. they must have seen that the car was an old and ramshackle one, and cherished hopes that they might yet overtake it. giraffe stood up and waved his campaign hat excitedly as he cheered in the good old american way. "bully for the machine!" was the burden of his cry; "she's actually doing her little five miles an hour, perhaps even more. say, this is getting too reckless for my blood. i forgot to take out any life insurance, thad, before starting on this break-neck trip. be careful, please, and don't spill us out!" soon they saw the last of their pursuers, and the road seemed to be clear in front. the boys of course began to chatter concerning this latest happening, trying to figure out what had caused this sudden and mysterious feeling of enmity on the part of the workers in the harvest fields. in the end, however, they had to give it up as an unsolved puzzle; nor did they ever learn the facts, since they came to that part of the german fatherland no more. allan consulted the little road chart which, before they started down the rhine on their wonderful cruise, had been purchased in mentz, principally to know the nature of the many sights that were to be met with along the historic banks of that famous river. "as near as i can make out, this is where we are right now, thad," he mentioned, making a pencil mark on the paper. "i know it from many reasons, and one of them is that fine old dutch windmill we just passed on the knoll. it's marked here, you can see, as if it had some historic connections." "you're right about that part of it, allan," said the scout leader after taking a quick glance at the chart, for his attention was needed at the wheel, since the progress of the car was inclined to be erratic; in fact, as giraffe had several times declared, "she did not mind her helm very well, which made their course a zigzag one." "well, how much further do we have to go before we get to the dutch line?" bumpus asked, with more or less concern; for every two minutes he had kept twisting around, almost putting his neck out of joint, with the idea of making sure that they were not being pursued. "i'm figuring what course we'll have to take in order to avoid several german towns that are marked here," returned allan. "that's right, we have no use for even the cleanest towns agoing just now," ventured giraffe, "though i'm getting pretty hungry, to tell you the truth." "that's cruel of you, mentioning it," spluttered bumpus, "when i've been fighting all the while to forget that i've got an awful aching void inside of me that's wanting to be filled the worst kind. but how far do we have to go, allan?" "not more than five miles more," came the answer. "that sounds encouraging, i must say," remarked thad; "if the cranky old thing holds out another half hour we might be on the border; and once across, our troubles will be done with for awhile anyhow." "then she must be making all of _ten_ miles an hour, thad!" exclaimed giraffe, pretending to be greatly excited; "why, i can feel my hair beginning to stand up with the nervous strain! it's the nearest approach to flying i ever expected to meet up with. if we have an accident when going like the wind they'll have to collect us in baskets. i'm going to hold on to bumpus here, let me tell you!" "what for?" demanded the fat scout, suspiciously. "oh! nothing much, only sometimes it's a mighty fine thing to have a good buffer when you meet up with trouble," said giraffe, calmly. "don't mind him, bumpus," said allan; "nothing is going to happen, for the motor seems to be on its best behavior. let's hope we'll find only a dutch guard on the road when we come to the border line." "i think that's apt to be the case," ventured thad. "so do i," added allan, "because the germans as yet couldn't be expected to care who left their country for holland; while the dutch would want to make sure there was no infringement of neutrality, no using their territory by one of the belligerents for passing around and taking the enemy by surprise. if either german, belgians, french or british soldiers happen to land on dutch soil they'll have to be interned there until the close of the war." "well, all i hope is that they won't include boy scouts in that class," ventured bumpus, whose sole thought those days was to reach antwerp and the suffering mother, who must be very anxious for her boy, knowing he was at the time in germany and doubtless caught in the mad whirl accompanying the mobilization of millions of troops. "they might if we were german scouts," thad told them, "but we can easily prove that we belong on the other side of the atlantic. i think they'll be pretty kind to us on that account, and do anything we might ask." "well," remarked giraffe, with a longing look in his eyes, "if we happened on a nice clean tavern over there it might pay us to stop and get a dutch dinner. i've heard a lot about what appetizing dishes those housewives can serve, and i'd like to say i'd eaten just _one_ meal in the netherlands." "count on me to vote with you, giraffe," observed bumpus, "though of course if it was going to delay us any i'd be willing to stand the famine till we got over in belgium, and had to put up for the night on account of darkness." "for that matter, we will have a moon about nine o'clock to-night," said thad, "but i'm afraid you'll have to excuse me from driving this crazy car over roads i don't know, by moonlight. it's bad enough in broad day." they continued to push steadily on. at no time were they out of sight of farms and gardens, all of them as neat as anything the boys had ever seen. they often remarked on the great difference between the thrift of these german market gardens and the ordinary shiftless way of doing things seen in their own country. "of course," allan said, in trying to excuse this want of neatness, "we have all sorts of people come over to us, and they bring their habits along with them. some are as careful about keeping their places clean as these germans, while others never knew a thing about thrift in the native lands, and have to be taught. but on the whole we seem to get along pretty well." "how goes the mad whirl now, allan?" asked giraffe. "not more than two miles away from the border, my map says," came the reply. "that sounds good to me," bumpus assured them, rubbing his hands together much as a miser is supposed to do when gloating over his gold; "huh! two little miles oughtn't to keep us long on the way." "not when you're navigating the roads in such a whiz-cart as this," chuckled giraffe, as he started to get partly out of his seat to look around him, so as to discover anything new worth calling his companions' attention to. "why, hello--we didn't make all that dust back there, did we?" the others heard him saying, as he shaded his hand to look, and then almost immediately went on to exclaim: "as sure as you live it's a little squad of horsemen, and they're coming along at a fast gallop! what's that they're holding so that the sun glints from the ends like it does when you use a glass in heliographing a message? boys, i do believe they must be lances!" "lances!" burst out bumpus, in sudden alarm; "why, that would mean they are the german rough riders they call the uhlans; and thad, if they're coming after us they'll overhaul this old pony go-cart as easy as falling off a log!" chapter viii. the country of windmills. of course everybody became tremendously excited; at least everybody but thad, who somehow seemed to be able to retain his coolness in the presence of peril better than any of his comrades. "there are four of them!" announced giraffe, immediately, "and they're digging their spurs into their nags for all that's out. i guess they know we're meaning to cross over into little old holland, and they want to nab us before we can get over the border line!" "they must have been sent after us by that smart officer we ran up against at that town; the one who turned us back, and threatened to arrest us!" allan remarked, this being the one explanation of the pursuit that flashed into his mind. "either that," added bumpus, "or else the chap who was on the ferry with us told of the meeting after he got to duren, and they sent out that squad with orders to bring us in, dead or alive!" thad was saying not a word. he seemed to be devoting all his attention to manipulating the old car so as to get every atom of speed out of it possible. besides, since its course was so erratic he had to be very careful how he steered, as even a slight blunder might mean a smash-up. thad had not even made the slightest attempt to look back and see their oncoming pursuers. he was content to take the word of his mates for it that they were making great headway, and closing in on them at a rapid rate. "this is getting mighty interesting, let me tell you!" exclaimed giraffe, as he twisted his long neck again and again in order to watch the rush of the cavalrymen, and then try to judge whether the car could gain an offing before being overhauled. "i can see what looks like the border post ahead there another mile!" allan now told them. that was indeed cheery news, and must have revived their drooping courage. still naturally giraffe immediately expressed a desire to know on what sort of foundation allan fixed his assertion. "what makes you think it's the crossing where we strike holland?" he demanded. "because i can see soldiers in uniforms, and they don't happen to be the gray kind we've seen most germans wear, either. yes, and they've got what looks like high-peaked caps, which i've read the dutch troops use." "bully!" exclaimed bumpus, and the others knew he must be greatly worked up, for as a rule bumpus never used words like this, leaving that to giraffe. "how are they doing now?" asked thad. "catching up hand over fist," replied giraffe. "it's going to be an open question whether they reach us before we cross the line, or not." "oh! i think we've got a good chance to slip over, unless something happens to our cranky old engine," allan asserted, for it was his nature to be sanguine, just as the tall scout could not help looking at the gloomy side of things as a rule. "now they're lashing their mounts like everything," reported giraffe; "and seems to me they do get more speed out of the horses." bumpus did not attempt to get up any more, so as to look. he had a firm grip on the side of the quivering car, and was staring ahead. perhaps he was trying to figure how happy he would be if only they could rush across that border line, and secure the protection of those dutch soldiers. they were drawing very close to the haven of refuge, so that it was easy for all of them to see the little squad of guardians stationed there to see that the strictest neutrality was maintained. while the netherlands might seem to be a small country, still she has an active army of some five hundred thousand soldiers, and history tells how bravely the dutch have always fought when their country was invaded. germany would not want to have such a foe on her flank. besides, many of those harbors of holland would be extremely valuable to an allied navy seeking to strike at the heart of the gun foundry region of the fatherland. giraffe was becoming more excited than ever. he fairly quivered as he reported the lessening of the distance between the fleeing car and the pursuing horsemen. "faster! thad, give her all the juice you can! squeeze a little more speed out of the poor old thing, and we'll do it yet!" was the burden of his appeal. of course thad was trying everything he could to coax the motor to do just a little mite better. small things count at a time like this, and even the wobbling motion that the car continued to keep up as it ran was counting against them, more or less. but the race could not last long now. the dutch border guard had spread out, and seemed to be ready to do some threatening with their guns. "i only hope they don't mean to shoot at us," giraffe was heard to say when he noticed this; "if only we had a big enough flag for them to see they'd know we were americans, and friends. i wonder how it would do for me to shout out that word as we come up?" "it would do no harm, giraffe!" allan told him. accordingly the tall scout began to make frantic gestures as he stood there, trying to balance himself in the swaying car. he had an idea that he was using his arms to denote their peaceful intentions; but possibly the puzzled dutch soldiers might imagine him stark crazy. "americans! we're american boys!" he kept shouting. bumpus tried to pull him down. "they're shooting at us back there, giraffe!" he pleaded, "and you might get hit." it seemed that the uhlans were using their weapons, though when going at that wild pace they could not have had much hope of doing any execution, unless by some accident. a dozen seconds more of suspense followed, every one of which must have seemed an eternity to the fleeing scouts. then they reached the line of the dutch border guard and were thrilled to know they had actually left german soil behind them. thad immediately shut off power, and applied the brake, for he had seen that one of the guard made a motion easily interpreted. giraffe was dancing about in the car, though bumpus after having his toes trodden on several times promptly shoved him out. the uhlans had given up the pursuit. they evidently felt so chagrined over having failed to overhaul the fugitives that they would not even wait to exchange words with the dutch soldiers, but wheeling their horses started back along the dusty road. of course the dutch guard at once gathered around. giraffe wondered whether his poor command of german would serve him in this case as well as it had done under other conditions. he was saved from this anxiety, however, for the one who seemed to be in command of the post immediately addressed them in fair english. he must have taken his cue from the way giraffe shouted that word "american"; and then, now that they had come up, it was easy to see those miniature flags pinned on the lapels of the scouts' khaki coats. he proceeded to ask questions, and thad was only too well pleased to answer. the passports were shown, and seemed to satisfy the soldiers. there would be hundreds, yes thousands of non-combatants presently seeking an asylum on the neutral soil of holland; and those warm-hearted, hospitable people would show the world that they had no superiors when it came to holding out a helping hand to those in distress. "we have boy scouts over here in holland," the non-commissioned officer proudly told them; "and they have won the respect of the whole nation. only here in europe, you know, every boy has to look forward to serving the colors at some time in his life, so they all expect to be soldiers of the queen later on." "i hope you will not think it necessary to detain us, sergeant?" thad asked, after he felt sure they had made a good impression on the dutch. "please stretch a point if you can," pleaded bumpus, "for i am wild to get over in belgium where my poor sick mother is waiting for me." the soldier scratched his head as though a little puzzled. "we would know what to do if you were enlisted men of any country at war," he explained; "it would then be our duty to interne you until peace came. but orders have not been so clear about what to do if citizens of the united states choose to cross our country. i might hold you until you could communicate with your minister, dr. van dyke; or on the other hand i might just wash my hands of you, and let you go as you pleased." "oh! that's most kind of you, sir!" exclaimed bumpus, possibly meaning to help the soldier choose the latter course; "all we want to do is to cross over this neck of holland and enter belgium, so we can go around the fighting line without getting caught in the mess. thad, we'll never forget this kindness, will we?" it was really clever in bumpus to exert this species of flattery in order to gain his end. perhaps it did influence the dutch sergeant more or less, for he smiled amiably and offered his hand to bumpus. "get across as quickly as you can," he told them; "for my superior officer will be due here presently, and he might look at things in a different light from what i do. i spent several happy years in your country once, and then came back home to marry, and serve out my time in the army. good luck to you, young mynherr, and to all of you. that is all; you can go!" they lost no time in making a fresh start. the superior officer might happen to come along ahead of time, and spoil all their plans. it was with considerable satisfaction bumpus looked around him at the new sights that met their eyes as they passed across that narrow strip of territory belonging to holland, and which stretches down between the other two countries as if it were used as a convenient buffer, and for no other purpose. "there's a real dutch windmill, yes, and i can see some more of the same kind!" bumpus was telling them, pointing excitedly as he spoke. "oh! they're as common as dirt, you'll find," allan told him. "they not only pump water but are used for a great many other purposes. a dutchman would almost as soon think of doing without his vrouw as his windmill." "given half an hour, and if this road isn't too wobbly we ought to be at the belgian frontier," thad announced. "we've carried everything by storm so far," said giraffe, exultantly; "and there's some hope we may get to antwerp. if the germans over the line couldn't hold us in check we oughtn't to be much afraid that the belgians will try to detain us." "i wonder now if that can be an inn we see ahead there?" suggested bumpus, with a most intense longing look on his face as he shaded his eyes with one hand the better to see. "it looks like some sort of a road-house," thad ventured. "yes," added giraffe, almost as eagerly as the fat scout, "and i can see what must be a swinging sign hanging there. thad, hadn't we better take a chance, and say we've tasted one meal in holland?" "what about you, allan?" asked the patrol leader. "i think i could tackle any sort of stuff just about now. we had an early breakfast on the boat, you know, and it's now getting along in the afternoon. i'm willing to try most anything once." thad laughed. "i guess that settles the question," he told them. "then we stop over, do we?" demanded bumpus. "three against one would carry the day, because scouts believe in majority ruling," said thad; "and to tell you the truth, i'm pretty savage myself for something to eat. so we'll pull up, and see what they can give us at this hour." chapter ix. at a wayside belgian inn. "it looks all right to me, fellows!" remarked bumpus, as they approached the inn where a swinging sign announced that travelers and their animals could be entertained. "yes, and if the grub is as attractive as the surroundings," added giraffe, "i'd wish it was night time right now, so we could put up here. i've heard how neat as wax these dutch vrouws are about their beds and food, and it'd sure suit me to try the thing out. but of course, since bumpus here is in such a hurry to get to antwerp, we couldn't think of that." "you don't blame me, i feel sure, giraffe?" mentioned bumpus, with a vein of mild reproach in his mellow voice. "sure not," instantly replied the tall scout, for he felt that those blue eyes of his chum were filled with surprise; "i'll do everything i can to help get you there in a rush, even to going hungry if i have to." "oh! we haven't come to the starvation point yet, i hope," the red-haired chum told him, as the car stopped in front of the road-house, and all of them clambered out. giraffe patted the seat as he left it. "after all, you've turned out to be a heap better than you look, old stick-in-the-mud car," he said, meaning it as a compliment; "appearances are often deceptive, and in the pinch you didn't fail us." "we ought to be thankful for that," said thad. "i know my heart seemed to be up in my throat more than a few times when we were making that last mile of the mad race. i thought sure the engine would give up the ghost with a groan, and leave us there stranded on the road to be taken prisoners by those uhlans." "oh! we're the lucky bunch, take it from me," said giraffe; "but here comes mine host, smiling all over at the honor we do his house to stop our elegant car before the door. i'll try him in my best teutonic first; but i hope he can understand united states dutch like our friend back at the border post." the landlord joined them. he wore a long white apron, and had a clean look that impressed all of the boys immensely. his face was as rosy red as health and good living could make it. it turned out that, while his english was faulty, he could understand the language fairly well, and that was the main thing. when the boys explained to him that they were hungry, and hoped he could get them up some sort of a dinner, he readily promised to do the best he could, though of course, he explained, it was long after the usual hour for dining. so they found a way to wash up, and then sat on the broad porch resting while awaiting the call to dinner. their car attracted more or less attention; but giraffe was of the opinion this was because of its dilapidated appearance more than anything else. "i'd hate to be seen driving such a wreck over around cranford," he remarked, "but here it was a case of take it or leave it, and there you are." "just you go slow about running that machine down," warned bumpus, shaking his head threateningly; "it's served us a noble purpose, let me tell you. think of all the tiresome tramping we'd have been forced to do only for our great luck in picking up this vehicle." "yes," said allan, "we'll never know, i suppose, where that man got it, or whether we bought a stolen car; but it stood the racket splendidly, and we won the day against the crack horses of the german cavalry." just then the urbane landlord came to announce that dinner was served, and there was a hasty exodus from that porch. the boys had sharp appetites, and everything tasted just right, for there is no better sauce to any meal than hunger. "if this is only a picked-up dinner," said bumpus, as he sighed and shook his head when thad asked him to have a fourth helping, "i'd like to sit down to one of the regular ones, just to see what it would be like." "all through?" asked thad. "if you are, i'll settle the bill, after which we'll cut for the western border line. we ought to get over a few belgian miles before night comes on." even the thought of finding themselves on belgian soil thrilled the scouts. it was easy to understand why this should be so. there the two armies were fast in a death grapple, with the germans doing the assaulting, and the heroic forces of king albert trying to delay the passage of the invading hosts across their land as much as was possible. the mere idea of being close to a battlefield was enough to fill their boyish hearts with eager anticipations, for without experience along these lines they could not as yet realize the horrors of war. the settlement proved to be an easy one. this dutch landlord at least had not learned the tricks of his trade, so far as overcharging travelers was concerned, for his prices were exceedingly moderate. when once more they found themselves on the road, and headed into the west, the boys began to discount their arrival at the other border line. "of course we'll run smack up against more dutch soldiers on guard there," said allan; "because by now they'll be mobilizing all their forces, so as to be ready if they have to enter the war to preserve their country. you've often heard of dutch courage, and they do say these smiling soldiers don't know what fear is." "let's hope that this road across into belgium isn't guarded as yet," ventured giraffe, "or else that they'll be glad to get rid of us." it was not a great while later that they discovered a white post alongside the road. there had been one just like it back where they came over from the country of the rhine, and from this they judged they had arrived at the dividing line. several soldiers now appeared, attracted by the noise made by the exhaust of the car, for the muffler worked poorly even when used. "they're giving us the high sign to pull up, thad," announced giraffe, as the dutch guards were seen to make motions. some difficulty was experienced on this occasion, for none of the dutchmen could speak any english. giraffe worked hard to explain just who they were, and how they simply wanted to be allowed to cross over into belgium on a peaceful errand. bumpus hung on his words, and looked so appealingly at the puzzled guards that it could be easily seen he hoped there would not be any miserable delay. by dint of extravagant gestures, displaying the little flags on their coats, saying the word "american" lots of times, then "antwerp," and finally pointing toward the southwest, in the end giraffe seemingly managed to convince them that all the boys in the old car wished was to be let alone, and continue their journey. finally one of the guards nodded his head, shrugged his shoulders, spoke to his companions, and after about ten minutes' delay they stepped aside, as if to signify that the way was clear, and they would not interpose any further objection to the boys going on. "hurrah!" cried giraffe, as he settled back in his seat, "get her moving, thad, before they wake up and change their minds! i kind of think i mesmerized that big chap some. he looks half dazed still." "i think you must have talked such a mixture of german and american that he began to think we were all crazy," laughed allan; "but no matter, we're thankful for even small favors." "why," said bumpus, who was vastly relieved by this sudden change for the better in their fortunes, "as for me, i'd be willing to be looked on as demented if only it carried the day for my plans. we're across the line, thad, wouldn't you say?" "no doubt about that, bumpus." "and this is really belgium we're running over?" continued the delighted stout scout. "yes, really and truly," giraffe told him; "but it looks as like holland as two peas in a pod. if it wasn't for the dutch guard, and the white border post, none of us would ever know we'd changed countries." after that they continued to forge ahead at a fair pace as the balance of the afternoon slipped away. once the engine chose to balk, which necessitated an overhauling on the part of thad and allan. happily the trouble was again located and rectified, so that they did not lose a great deal of time. "there's one thing sure, thad," said giraffe, who had been prowling around while the repair work was going on, looking into a number of things; "we couldn't think of going much more than another hour." "gas tank getting low, is it?" asked the other, who had seen giraffe meddling in that quarter, and could make a good guess as to what discoveries he had run upon. "just what it is," replied giraffe; "about enough juice to do us till we want to stop for the night. we must manage to buy ten gallons or so in the morning, no matter what they ask for their old petrol, as they call it over here." "there, you see how obliging a car we've happened on," said bumpus. "it holds out till we get ready to stop over, and then asks for a fresh supply. i think this must be a french make of car, it's so very polite." "yes, just so," said giraffe; "do you know, i've been suspecting for some time it was swearing in french every time it groaned and grunted when thad was driving the engine so hard." the next hour passed and once again fortune seemed to favor the boys, for just as the sun was about to sink out of sight they came to a village where they discovered a quaint-looking inn. when they found that there was plenty of room, and that they could be supplied with a supper and a breakfast, the boys asked for nothing better. the car was taken into a sort of barn, where cattle were munching their feed, and left there. as before thad and his chums managed to find the pump, and washed up the best way possible, after which they sat around in the taproom, waiting for the welcome call to the table. there were a number of men over by the bar, where they talked in their own language, which of course the boys could not understand. but giraffe seemed to think one of the natives took an unusual amount of interest in the new arrivals, since he looked their way again and again, and called the attention of another fellow to the wearers of the khaki uniforms. of course, it might be that the possession of these same garments had aroused the curiosity of the man; but giraffe fancied he had a sinister look on his face, and being possessed of a suspicious nature, the boy actually got up and sauntered over to the door, after he saw the party go out. looking that way, presently thad discovered that giraffe had actually vanished. "i hope now he doesn't get himself in any scrape," thad told the others, for he knew only too well the impetuous nature of the boy with the long neck. allan and bumpus did not think there was any reason for fearing such a thing. according to their way of looking at it, everything seemed peaceful, and giraffe was acting foolish in entertaining any suspicions. about five minutes later, with supper as yet not placed on the table, giraffe entered the room about as silently as he had left it a while before. he hurried over to where his three chums were lounging, and they began to rouse themselves at noticing an expression of excitement on the other's face. "what's wrong now?" asked thad, just as though giraffe could always be looked on as the bearer of bad news. "i told you so," came the answer; "that fellow with the sneaky eyes is a bad egg, and he means to do us trick or i miss my guess." "are you only saying that in a general way, or do you know something?" asked the scout leader, in the voice he used when giving orders to the troop in place of dr. philander hobbs, the real scout master, who was often absent when the boys were enjoying an outing in camp or on the trail. "i followed him outside," continued giraffe, sinking his voice to a mysterious whisper, "and saw him talking with some other tough-looking fellows; and, let me tell you, they acted mighty suspicious." chapter x. the throb in the night breeze. thad may have thought that, up to this point, giraffe was allowing his suspicions to overcome his better judgment; but he now saw the other was unusually serious. so the scout leader considered it wise to ask a few questions. "how many others did he talk to, giraffe?" was what he first wanted to know. "there were two, all told," came the answer; "i think one was that fellow with the coarse laugh, and the other may have been the man almost as broad as he was long, and who made our bumpus here look like a baby." "huh!" grunted the party referred to, "i always told you i wasn't such great shakes when it came to topping the scales; but you've got us interested, giraffe, so give us the whole story while you're about it, please." "did they only get their heads together and talk?" thad continued. "oh! that was just the beginning," admitted giraffe; "and if it stopped there, how would i know that they were bothering themselves about a party of boys who had dropped in to spend the night? it was what they did that gave them away." "tell us about it, then," said thad. "well, when i saw them making for the barn, i kind of suspected they meant to look over our car, and i slipped along after 'em. course my having been a scout helped me a lot to do that without giving myself away," and there was a vein of justifiable pride in the way the tall boy said this. "was it our car they looked over?" asked allan. "they were nosing all around it," replied giraffe, "when i glimpsed them through a knot-hole. would you believe it, that man with the crooked eye was lighting matches to let them see better. and they certainly did overhaul the car from stem to stern." "thad, it might be they thought we left something valuable in the car, such as a pair of expensive field-glasses, you know?" suggested bumpus, as though seized with a bright thought for once. the others waited to hear what the spy thought of that idea. giraffe, however, did not seem to consider it an answer to the riddle. "no," he said decisively; "they acted as if they were more concerned about the car itself, for they even tested to see whether there was any amount of petrol in the tank, and looked the engine over in the bargain." "then they want to make us an offer for the car in the morning?" bumpus once more advanced; "but i hope none of you'll feel tempted to part with it, while we're still so far away from antwerp." "they don't look as if they had pockets full of money," giraffe told him scornfully. "my idea was that they mean to steal the car some time during the night!" thad sat, and seemed to be turning it over in his mind. "do you mean for their own use, giraffe?" he asked finally. "no, if you ask me plainly, thad, i don't," the other admitted. "that's queer," muttered the fat scout, who would not stay squelched; "why do people go around taking cars if not for themselves, i'd like to know?" giraffe lowered his voice still more, and in consequence bumpus felt an additional thrill pass through him, it was all so mysterious. "for their government they might," he said. "how do we know but what these belgians are so patriotic they think it only right strangers should be made to contribute to the good of their army? they must have great need of every kind of motor conveyance just now, to bring up their troops. the german army has tens of thousands of big motor-trucks, we heard. well, they looked over our old car with the idea of running her off if it seemed worth while." "thad, do you take any stock in that idea?" asked allan, as though somewhat in doubt himself. "it might be possible," was the reply of the patrol leader. "but there's one thing i do know, and that is, no matter what they want our car for, they mustn't be allowed to take it!" "hear! hear!" said bumpus joyfully. "while we all feel sorry for poor little belgium, dragged into this terrible war when she hadn't done a single thing to bring it on, still we'll need that car ourselves for some time yet." "yes," added bumpus, "and, thad, for one i'm willing to turn the machine over to the belgians, such as it is, if they can make any sort of use of it, just as soon as we strike antwerp." "same here," added giraffe; "but i haven't quite told you all yet." "what, is there another chapter to the story?" asked bumpus, getting ready for a second edition of those thrills. "i watched them come away from the barn," continued giraffe; "though of course they didn't know anybody was around. they walked along the road a bit, and i saw them stop to speak to another man. and, thad, he was a soldier!" "is that a fact?" remarked the other, deeply interested of course. "he wore the uniform of an officer, i want you to understand!" giraffe added; "and that's the main reason why i think they mean to steal the car for the use of the government. perhaps they haven't just got to the point here of taking anything they see in sight, like the germans are doing, we were told." "there's the call to supper," said bumpus, struggling to his feet with considerable difficulty. "what's the last word about this business, thad?" "just this," he was told, "we're going to try and protect that car to-night, if we have to camp out there in the hay and guard it." "second the motion!" said giraffe, with all the vim he was capable of showing, for he dearly loved excitement and action. "now, don't say another word about it while we're eating," warned thad. "there may be people at the table or nearby who could understand english. we'll talk of other things we've met with in the past. there are heaps of incidents that might be worth while bringing up again, you know." "i should say there were," admitted giraffe; "fellows who have hit the trail down in the blue ridge mountains of north carolina; tramped and camped up in the pine woods of maine; had a summer cruise through the lake superior region; spent a time down in the swamps of the sunny south; and even hunted big game away out among the rocky mountains, shouldn't find it hard to rake up things to talk about, it strikes me." the meal passed off pleasantly enough. there was plenty to eat, and all cooked in a way that satisfied their boyish tastes. at the table were several other people, but as they conversed in flemish and the boys did not understand much of what was said, they made no attempt to enter into the general talk. after eating all they wanted, they left the table and sought the outside of the inn. it was quite dark by now. at giraffe's suggestion they sauntered over to what he called the "barn" to make sure the car was all right. thad happened to have a small pocket electric flash-light with him, which he found very valuable at various times when a means for illuminating was required. making use of this he detached the spark-plug, and thus rendered the car useless until another could be obtained capable of filling the gap. "that might keep them from stealing the car," he observed, "and again it wouldn't. even if i had a chain, and locked the wheels, they could file it off, given a little time. so on the whole i think we'll have to camp out here. the night's warm, and it won't be the first time all of us have hit the hay actually." "but we'd have to let the landlord know," suggested allan. "i'll do my best to tell him privately, if you say so," declared giraffe. "at the same time find out what our bill is and we'll pay in advance," said thad. "what's the idea in doing that?" bumpus wanted to know. "just to let him understand we haven't any intention of slipping off, and beating him out of an account," explained the other. "and, giraffe, another thing you can do; that is, if you are able to tackle it." "tell me," said the other simply, just as a missourian might say, "show me!" "give him to understand that we're armed, and would defend our property to the last gasp," was the astonishing declaration thad made, though he could be heard chuckling at the same time, as though himself more or less amused. "but we're not, thad, you know; we haven't got more than pocket knives along with us this trip. even those we used aboard the boat we packed up with the other junk, to be sent across to america when we wrote to that boatyard man." it was bumpus who made this protest; the others understood that thad must have some sort of little scheme of his own which he intended to make use of; so they only waited to hear its nature. "we'll find some of the tools to handle," he told them, "and in the half dark even a monkey wrench, if you know how, can be made to look like a revolver, especially if you click! click! when aiming the same!" "that's right," was the comment of giraffe; "for i've seen the game worked myself, and to tell the truth had my knees knocking together as if i had the ague till the chap who was giving me the grand scare had to laugh outright, and broke the game up." "well, we might as well go back and sit on that porch till we feel sleepy. then giraffe can tackle the landlord and have it out with him." thad's suggestion appeared to strike them all favorably, and it was not long afterward when they settled down to making themselves as comfortable as possible. there was more or less conversation, though gaps came between, for the boys found themselves rather tired. they had not slept as well during the last night or two as they might, owing to numerous things, worries of the mind more than of the body. "i'm wondering what that queer far-off throbbing sound can be?" giraffe happened to mention all at once; "i've been hearing it for some time, and it comes as regular as a clock, once in so many minutes." "and i've been listening to the same," admitted thad. "then perhaps you can give us an idea what causes it?" asked bumpus, after he too had caught the odd sound, the like of which they could not remember ever having heard before. "i believe it's the discharge of a monster siege gun!" was thad's startling declaration, which of course provoked a series of outcries. "do you mean away over at liége, where we've been told the germans are trying to batter down the conical-top steel forts by dropping monster shells on them from points miles away?" allan asked in a hushed voice, as though thrilled by the thought. thad went on to say that he could not think of any other reason for the strange sounds. he also told them to notice that some of the men they had seen inside the inn had come out, and seemed to be listening to the sounds as if they had a sinister meaning to them. it was indeed a strange experience for the scouts. they had been in contact with a great many remarkable happenings in the past few years, especially since the troop had been organized at cranford; but never had they expected to be sitting and listening to the deep-throated throb of giant guns engaged in a terrible battle of opposing armies. although they tried to picture the stirring scene, of course it was utterly beyond their capacity; for no one who has not looked on a battle can imagine what it is like. giraffe even had the nerve to express a wish that some time or other he might be privileged to see what a modern engagement was like; but of course it was only a thoughtless boyish desire. before he was through with this journey over the war trails of belgium possibly he would regret having ever made such a remark; for there might be some things come into his experience that he would be glad to forget. long they sat there in the warm night air, listening to the sounds that came, now faintly, and anon in a louder key, according to the character of the breeze that wafted them to their ears. then thad, seeing that bumpus had allowed his head to fall forward on his chest, told giraffe he had better seek the landlord and sound him on the scheme of their sleeping in the hay-mow within the barn. chapter xi. warned off. "i've been thinking it all over," said giraffe, "and i've got it arranged. you know our landlord isn't much on the american lingo, and i expect to have some little trouble making him understand; but i'm getting my hand in at this interpreter business, and i'll make it or bust the boiler trying." "don't forget," cautioned the patrol leader, "to give him to understand that we love the fresh air, and really prefer to sleep in the open, being scouts. yes, and you can hint at the same time that it would be a serious thing for any rascals if they tried to steal our car." "do you suspect the landlord knows anything about the raid, if there is going to be one?" asked giraffe. "perhaps he doesn't," thad told him, "but there's no harm giving him that hint; he may manage to push it along and save us some excitement." "huh! that doesn't bother me any," remarked the other disdainfully; "you know i live on excitement. but i'll try and do all you say, thad." he was gone some time, almost twenty minutes, and when he once more appeared on the porch it was with his arms full of blankets. bumpus was sound asleep in his chair and breathing as peacefully as though safe at home in his own bed. "gee! but i'm weak," said giraffe, sinking down in a seat, the blankets being dropped to the floor. "oh! it isn't because of the heft of those coverings, you know, but the way i had to work to get that old innkeeper to understand. when he did finally get it through his head he was as nice as pie about it--insisted on getting four clean blankets for us, and hoped we'd have a pleasant night." "then that part is settled," remarked hugh. "he took the money, of course?" "sure thing, thad. did you ever hear of one of his kind shoving any cold cash aside when it was offered to him?" "did he act as if he felt disappointed at our wanting to stand guard over our old car?" asked allan. "why, he tried to tell me that people were very honest around this place, and never even fasten their doors. fact is, you can't find a lock in the inn, only a hook to keep the doors from flying open. but i must say i couldn't see any sign of his being upset by our action." "then i reckon he doesn't know the plan of those men, if they do really intend to try and run the car off," thad concluded. giraffe yawned. "i tell you, i'm as sleepy as they make 'em," he remarked. "suppose we trek over to the barn and get busy. me for the hay." "there's bumpus here to be looked after," suggested allan. "he looks so happy it's a pity to wake him up," said thad; "but of course we couldn't think of leaving him here on the porch all night." he shook bumpus gently as he said this. the fat boy gave a grunt, but beyond this there was no sign of life about him. "wake up, bumpus!" said thad, giving him a little rougher treatment. "oh! leave me alone, can't you?" grumbled the other; "'tain't mornin' yet. when the coffee's ready i'll climb out, i tell you. leave me be!" bumpus evidently imagined that he was in camp somewhere, with some of his chums bent on routing him out at an unearthly early hour. thad this time gave him so sturdy a shake that bumpus began to sit up and rub his eyes. "hey! what's all this, anyway? where am i at? i was dreaming that----" he commenced, when the impatient giraffe interrupted him. "never mind what you were dreaming, bumpus; we're going out to the barn to sleep, and, unless you want to be left alone here on the inn porch the rest of the night, hump yourself and trot along with us. i've got a blanket here for you, see?" of course bumpus stirred himself at that. he quickly realized he was indeed far away from the dearly beloved camp up on silver fox island in omega lake, near his home town of cranford. once out at the so-called barn they began their simple preparations for sleeping in the hay. the moon had arisen and flooded the world with light on that august night. everything looked so peaceful and lovely that thad found it hard to believe tens of thousands of human beings were engaged in a terrible and sanguinary battle only a comparatively few miles away from that spot. still, whenever he listened carefully, and the night wind happened to be just right, it was easy for him to hear that uneasy grumbling which he knew must come from the fighting line, where the germans were battering the steel fortresses at liége day and night. with the supply of petrol down to the last dregs, and a section of the necessary working parts of the engine secreted, it would seem as though thieves might have some trouble in carrying the car off, even if they came to the barn. but thad did not mean to take any chances. when each of them had been apportioned his bed in the hay, within touch of one another, thad gave a few last instructions. it was understood that no one was to do anything to betray their presence until thad uttered the signal. even bumpus had it sternly impressed on his mind that if he felt a hand shaking him he was to simply hold his breath and lie quiet, waiting for the next move. thad's little electric torch came in very handy in selecting their sleeping quarters, though he did not use it more than was necessary. finally all settled down to get what sleep they could. bumpus had been forced to lie on his side so that he might not make any of those queer snorting sounds which so often amused his fellow-campers, and frequently excited their ire in the bargain. thad, being a light sleeper, expected to be aroused should any one open the door. the sudden influx of moonlight was calculated to accomplish this, but he did not depend on that alone. having found a small, empty tin can, he fixed it so there would be something doing in case the door moved, enough noise made to arouse him, whereupon he could touch each of the others. some time must have passed before thad was awakened by this same small clatter. he felt allan move on one side of him, showing that the second leader of the silver fox patrol was on the alert. "give giraffe a shake, allan!" he whispered in the other's ear. "it's all right, for he kicked me just then!" replied the other, in the same cautious tone. it only remained to arouse bumpus. thad would have let the fat scout sleep right along, only he was afraid his heavy breathing might awaken suspicion, and lead to an investigation before they were ready to spring their surprise. for once bumpus proved to be on his guard when thad bending over shook him, and at the same time whispered in his ear: "wake up, bumpus, and keep as still as a mouse!" they lay there, hardly daring to breathe, for all of them could tell that some one was opening the wide doors of the barn, since the moonlight began to flood the interior. it was quite thrilling for the boys to be lying there straining their eyes so as to see to advantage. dark figures flitted in through the opening. they could hear low-muttered words, and might have understood what the intruders were saying only that none of the scouts happened to be up in the flemish language, which was like so much greek to them. but from the fact that the prowlers immediately gathered around the car and seemed to be once more examining the same, it was easy to understand their motives at any rate. thad waited to make sure that their night visit might not have been caused by some other motive than a desire to steal the property of himself and chums. when after considerable fussing around he saw that the men were actually starting to push the car outside, he knew it was folly to hold back any longer. so thad gave the signal. the other three had doubtless been waiting, like hounds held in the leash, for the call to arms. instantly allan and giraffe sprang erect, while poor, clumsy bumpus, trying to be exceptionally swift, got his feet entangled and actually rolled out into full view. thad instantly turned his torch upon the astounded schemers. the intensity of that white glow must have done much to demoralize them. if anything more were needed, it was supplied when the three figures extended their right hands and seemed to be covering the intruders with what looked like dangerous pistols. "get out of this, you rascals, or we'll open fire, and shoot you down like dogs!" thad shouted, and the whole three of them waved their weapons in a most suggestive manner that could not well be mistaken. it is of course doubtful whether those fellows understood a single word of that dreadful threat. they did know, however, that they were caught nicely in the act of stealing other people's property, and that safety could only be secured by a hasty departure. it was surprising the way in which they vanished through the open doors. even the big man mentioned by giraffe as being equal to three of bumpus seemed to slip away as if on wings of fear. so the four scouts were left to shake hands with each other over their great victory. "it was almost too easy," said giraffe, who seemed disappointed because he had not been able to get in a single blow. still thad said they should be satisfied with having chased the thieves off, and in this fashion saved their property. he fastened the doors again, set his tin-can trap, and told the others he was going to finish his sleep out, as he did not fear any further annoyance. in fact, the balance of that night passed without anything happening to arouse the four chums. morning found them ready for breakfast, and congratulating each other on the success of their little game. "we'd be out a car, such as it is, this morning," asserted allan, "if we hadn't camped out here." "don't suppose we'll ever know just what they meant to do with her," suggested bumpus; "and we don't care much, either. when a fellow's been robbed it doesn't matter to him what becomes of the stuff. but seems to me i smell cooking going on." that was enough to excite bumpus, and giraffe as well. they were soon enjoying a hearty breakfast, and as the landlord asked no questions they did not think it worth while to tell him about the night alarm. the next problem was to secure a supply of petrol. while there was no scarcity of the fluid as yet, still every one who owned any seemed to suspect that the time was near at hand when it would become very valuable, especially if german raiders overran this part of belgium, and commandeered every gallon they could discover. upon asking the landlord he put them on the track, and in the end they were able to purchase just five gallons, at about three times the usual price. still this would enable them to make a start, and there was always hope that they could pick up a further supply as they went along, even if it had to be in driblets, a gallon here and another there, to eke out. leaving the roadside inn, the boys were feeling in fairly high spirits, especially giraffe, who declared that with such luck on their side they were bound to get to antwerp some way or other, sooner or later. "i tell you we're just bound to do it," he said, with spirit, as they moved along the road, "and if all other channels are blocked, what's to hinder us backing up again and crossing the border into holland? we could make our way to rotterdam, and there take a small boat through the inside passages to the schelde river, so as to get to antwerp all right. so keep that in your mind, bumpus--when the silver fox boys settle on doing a thing it has to come, that's all!" chapter xii. the penalty of meddling. "the thing that's bothering me," said bumpus, a little later on, "is this. if the military in belgium here are so hard up for cars that they'd even think to take such a tough-looking machine as this, how are we ever going to keep hold of the same, somebody tell me?" "we'll do the best we know how," thad informed him. "for one thing, every time we chance to run across any belgian soldiers i intend to coax the engine to puff and groan the worst you ever heard. it'll help discourage envy on their part. we'll act as though it's stalled every twenty feet, and that we're having a dickens of a time with it." that idea amused giraffe, who laughed heartily. "it certainly does take you to get up some of the smartest games going, thad," he ventured; "and i guess now that'd be the best dodge to save our palatial car from being commandeered by the army. when they see what a cantankerous mule it is, they'll ask to be excused from trying to bother with such a kicker." perhaps the car understood what they were discussing. at any rate, it proved to be most accommodating, and tried to give them as good an excuse for calling it hard names as it could. at the very next rise it refused to work its passage and only for thad's expertness in backing into a gully they might have had a wild return ride down the grade, with a fair chance for an upset. "hey! look at that, will you?" puffed bumpus, after half tumbling from the car, when the others jumped nimbly out; "now we _are_ up against it good and hard. if the poor old tramp refuses to make the climb, however are we to get over the rise?" "take off your coat, bumpus," thad told him. "oh! do we have to really _push_?" asked the fat scout, looking at the balance of the hill, and scratching his head in a manner that told how little he enjoyed the prospect ahead. "it's the only way," giraffe explained, "unless we want to leave the car here, and continue our long journey afoot!" that caused bumpus to get out of his coat hastily. "anything but that!" he declared. "and when you get me started at a thing i guess i can do my share, all right." he proved as good as his word, because bumpus was strong, even if he seldom cared to exert himself, on account of indolence. when four husky, well-grown boys get busy, with their shoulders against a vehicle that has balked on a rise, they are able to accomplish a good deal. there were several things in their favor. in the first place, the car was far from being a very heavy one; then the hill did not have a steep grade; and they were half way up when the engine refused to do its duty; besides, they could rest several times by allowing the car to back into the gully again. bumpus did his full share of the work, though with many a grunt. in the end they reached the top and then got aboard, after thad had made sure the engine would do its duty again. "now for a good, long coast down-grade," said bumpus, as though that pleasure would pay up in part for his recent labor; as he expressed it himself, "it helped take the bitter taste out of a fellow's mouth, anyhow." "what were you limping about the last part of the way, bumpus?" asked allan, as they continued their journey, after reaching level ground again. "guess i must have worked too hard," explained the other, with a grin, "because it seemed just like i'd strained my muscles some way. feels some sore at that, and it's lucky i don't have to do any walking about now." "thad, what would you call that thing away off yonder? sometimes it disappears in among the fleecy clouds, and then comes out again. from here it makes me think of one of those big buzzards we used to watch soaring ever so high up, while we were down in louisiana." thad gave a steady look. "it's an aeroplane!" he told them positively. allan had apparently come to the same conclusion himself, for he instantly echoed the assertion of the patrol leader. "no hawk about that, or buzzard either, if they have such things over here in belgium," he said. "see, there's another of the same kind further on. they must be german taube machines, and are being used to spy on the positions of the belgian forces down below." all of them looked and wondered, as was quite natural, for although they had of course seen aeroplanes maneuver many times at county fairs and other places, this was their first experience at watching the evolutions of war machines doing scout duty. "you see how valuable they are going to be in this war," thad remarked. "from a safe position thousands of feet above, the aviator can see every movement of troops, note the coming of reinforcements, take stock of the position of every battery of big guns, and by a code of signals inform his side just how to direct their fire in order to do the most execution." "whew! it's wonderful when you come to think of it," giraffe exclaimed, with a whistle to indicate the state of his feelings; "and i can see how an up-to-date war with such a country as germany is bound to give the world heaps of surprises and thrills." "just stop and consider," said allan, still gazing at the far-away soaring objects among the light clouds, "what those chaps are seeing as they sail around up there. it must be a wonderful spectacle, and i'd give a lot to be up there half an hour or so." "but it must be dangerous work at that, i'd think," observed bumpus. "all aeroplane work is," admitted giraffe, "and if you once started to take a drop it'd be the end. you'd never know what had happened; but, say, i'd pity the poor fellow underneath when _you_ landed, bumpus!" "i didn't mean that, giraffe," expostulated the other; "don't you suppose now if those are german airships the belgians must be cracking away at them with their guns and trying to bring them down?" "they'd be silly not to, bumpus," replied giraffe, "and if we only had a glass along the chances are you'd be able to see some of the bombs or shrapnel exploding up there. but it's hard to hit such a moving target, and besides i reckon the pilots fly high enough to be well out of range." since leaving the roadside inn they had covered quite a few miles, with nothing out of the way happening, except that little trouble on the slope of the hill. thad had studied the little chart he carried with him, and tried to lay out a route which he hoped would carry them beyond the danger line. he understood that the invaders must be stretching out toward the west so as to control that section of country. there was a chance that at any time the boys might meet with a raiding band of rough-riders connected with the german army; but he hoped this would not happen, for it was likely to spoil all their plans and set them back. "why, this is getting too sleepy for anything," giraffe was complaining finally. "we don't even have any housewife rush out and threaten us for running over her dog, or killing a poor old hen. why, even the ducks can waddle out of reach of our slow-poke car. it makes me feel like i'm going to a funeral." "you're the same old giraffe," declared bumpus, chuckling, "always finding fault. now the only thing that makes me sad is because i never yet had a chance to show what i know about driving a car. i took three lessons last spring, and later on thad might let me spell him some." "i'll get out first, if ever you do!" vowed giraffe; "i don't care to be splashed up against a wall, or hoisted twenty feet up in the branches of a tree, to hang there with my head down. and i don't think thad's reckless enough to take chances with such a green driver. bad enough as it is, with a wobbly car." bumpus did not answer, but there was an aggrieved look on his round face, which would indicate he did not agree with giraffe at all, and still considered that he might be trusted. the sun, being well up, was beginning to prove pretty warm, so that it was not surprising to hear giraffe express a desire for a cool drink. "since such things as road-houses seem to be as scarce as hens' teeth along here, and you can't expect to get any soda or sarsaparilla, suppose we keep an eye out for a spring, and call a halt to water our dusty throats?" everybody seemed willing, and bumpus even went to the trouble to produce an old well-battered tin cup he had picked up somewhere, as he remarked: "and if you do run across a spring, giraffe, please fetch me that full of nice cold water, will you? my leg still pains me, and i'd better not get out. i hate to give any one trouble, but it's a case of necessity. get your fill first, and fetch mine when you come back to the car. you were always a good friend of mine, giraffe." "no trouble at all," the other told him; "but first catch your rabbit before you start cooking the same. we have yet to find the spring. here, stop making such faces, bumpus; i know your throat is full of dust, but you can't hurry things that way, for even two swallows don't make a spring!" bumpus pretended to feel faint after hearing that, but recovered almost magically upon hearing thad say he believed he saw what they were looking for up ahead. "these belgian country people are always thinking of others," he said, "and they mark a spring near the road with a white stone so passers-by can know it." "yes," added allan, "and ten chances to one we'll find it as neat as wax, with some sort of a clean mug to drink out of." "i hope this isn't going to turn out a false clue, that's all," remarked giraffe, "because i've gone and got my mouth watering for a drink, and the disappointment might prove fatal to me." two minutes afterwards they halted. "yes, it is a spring, i do believe!" said giraffe, making one of his flying leaps out of the car. "here, you're forgetting all about my cup!" screeched bumpus, and of course the impatient one had to come back in order to keep his promise. the spring was at some little distance from the road, it being necessary to negotiate several fences before reaching the white stone marking the spot where the ice-cold water gurgled forth. "you were wise not to try the venture, if your leg pains you, bumpus!" allan called back; and the one left behind in the old car doubtless agreed with him there. giraffe was swallowing his second cup when the others arrived on the scene. he looked as though he might be enjoying himself hugely. "i'm on the water-wagon now!" he warbled, making way for them, and pointing to a stone mug that lay close by for the use of thirsty travelers. it was water that could hardly be excelled anywhere, and allan, filling the mug, insisted on thad drinking the contents. after that he dipped in for himself, while giraffe came along for his third helping. "one good turn deserves another!" he chuckled; "and it seems as if i never could get enough of this splendid stuff. i mustn't forget to fetch poor old bumpus his share, and if he wants more i'll have to trot back here and get---- hey! what's that mean, thad? the car's running away with bumpus, as sure as you're born!" the trio by the spring stared for a few seconds as though they thought they must be dreaming, for it seemed utterly impossible that such a thing should come to pass. and yet there was the car hurrying along the road, with the fat scout clutching the steering wheel, and looking half scared to death as he tried to keep from running into the gullies that lay to the right and to the left! chapter xiii. repentant bumpus. there was no mystery attached to it all, and thad understood the whole occurrence as soon as he saw the car moving down the road with bumpus in it. as usually happens, meddling was meeting with its customary reward. bumpus, as they very well knew, had long been desirous of learning how to run a motor car. of course his father, being at the head of the cranford bank, owned a big car, and had a chauffeur to run it; but he had issued positive orders that under no conditions was the boy to be allowed to ever handle the steering wheel. he knew bumpus, and his capacity for doing the wrong thing, and meant to take no chances of having a smash-up. boys are human. what is denied them they most of all yearn to possess. perhaps had bumpus never been restrained from trying to run a car, his first little accident would have ended his vaulting ambition. as it was, this desire fed on the fact that it was a forbidden luxury for him. when, therefore, thad and the other two scouts were making their way toward the spring, with the intention of satisfying their thirst, he found himself tempted to clamber awkwardly over into the front seat, so as to sit there, and grasping the steering wheel try to imagine himself a bold chauffeur. the engine was throbbing in restraint, and the trembling motion of the car gave bumpus an additional opportunity to believe himself it. how he ever came to do it no one ever knew. bumpus himself was so startled when he felt the car give a sudden leap forward that his wits almost left him. he always stoutly maintained that, so far as he could remember, he had done nothing at all to influence the start, but of course this was a mistake, for cars do not run away without some help. bumpus still gripped that wheel in a frenzied clutch. he stared hard at the road ahead, which to his excited fancy seemed to consist of a zigzag course as crooked as any wriggling snake he had ever watched. at one second it seemed as though he were headed for the gully on the right, and no sooner had he wildly given the wheel a turn than the car, in sheer ugliness, bumpus thought, started for the other side of the road. the ditch there did not look a bit more tempting to the greenhorn chauffeur, and so he would strive to avoid being overturned by a contrary whirl of the wheel. there he was going along at a rapid pace, with the crazy car making the most eccentric dives and plunges imaginable. "after him!" shouted thad. he feared for the car, but most of all he felt great concern for bumpus himself. with all his faults, the fat boy was a general favorite among his comrades of the cranford troop. in fact, everybody liked him on account of his sunny nature, his happy-go-lucky disposition, and his genial, child-like and bland smile. hardly had thad given this shout than all of them were on the go. they did not attempt to return to the road over the same course taken in reaching the wayside spring, but started along a diagonal line. this was to overcome the lead which the runaway car had already obtained. thad shouted out directions which if heard and understood by bumpus would have allowed him to bring the car to a sudden stop. perhaps in his excitement the boy who clutched the steering wheel could not make head or tail of what thad was calling. then again it may have been the rattle of the cranky old car prevented him from catching the tenor of the directions. in fact, as bumpus afterwards frankly confessed, it would have made little difference whether he heard and understood the order or not. he only had two hands, and they were both needed every second of the time to keep that wheel moving, and thus prevent an accident. the three scouts found many obstacles in their way from the spring to the road. they climbed fences with a surprising agility, and mounted a wall as though they were hounds coursing after a hare. the long-legged giraffe proved himself to be a trifle better than either of the others at this sort of thing, and consequently he came upon the road first. when thad and allan arrived he was some little distance along, running like a deer, and utterly regardless of the clouds of dust created by the eccentric motions of the reckless runaway car. thad was used to judging distances, and after making a rapid mental calculation he decided that, barring some accident, giraffe was sure to overtake the car before many minutes had passed. he only hoped they would come to no abrupt bend in the road, where the inexperienced chauffeur would lose what little command he now possessed over his refractory vehicle. of course, thad did not attempt to voice his opinion. he needed every atom of breath he could get in order to keep up that burst of speed; and, besides, in that choking dust it would have been folly to have opened his mouth. the car was doing as well as at any time since it came into their possession. perhaps it meant to show them that even a car may have feelings, and resent constant slurs. only for that zigzag motion, which consumed more or less time, giraffe might have found it a much more difficult thing to catch up with the runaway. more than once it seemed to thad that his heart was trying to crowd up into his throat and choke him. this came about whenever he saw bumpus make a more desperate lunge than usual and come within an ace of landing in the ditch, the car wrecked, and his own neck placed in extreme peril of being broken. as giraffe afterwards privately said, "there seems to be an especial little cherub aloft given the task of protecting children and fools"; and, if this were true, the angelic being had bumpus in charge on that wild run. now giraffe by dint of a spurt was close behind the car. thad still chasing after, with allan close beside him, waited in suspense to see how the tall comrade would manage. he knew just how he would act under similar conditions, and had enough faith in giraffe to believe he could do at least as well. they saw him lay hands on the rear of the car. then he seemed to make a mighty effort, and the next thing they knew he was clambering, scrambling, getting aboard any way at all, so that he accomplished his aim. no doubt he was also holding his peace so that poor, clumsy bumpus might not be still further "rattled" with the knowledge that help had arrived in his sore extremity. then all at once giraffe was seen to bend over and clutch the steering wheel. it was heartening to notice how quickly the car stopped that erratic wabbling, and settled down to doing a fairly straight run. no doubt giraffe was not telling bumpus just what he must do with his freed hands, for they saw the fat boy lean over, while the car began to run slower and slower until it came to a dead stop. then for the first time did thad allow himself to say a word. the relief from all that suspense was so great that he had to give expression to his satisfaction, which he did by gasping: "thank goodness, he did it--bully for giraffe!" "it sometimes pays to have _extra_ long legs!" was the characteristic remark made by allan, as they both ran on, though at a reduced pace. when they arrived at the now motionless car they found an extremely repentant bumpus awaiting them. "don't ask me how it happened, thad," he said sadly, "because i don't know. i was sitting there, turning the wheel this way and that, and trying to imagine how it felt to be a real chauffeur, when all at once she gave a snort and a kick, just like an army mule that feels the lash, and commenced to start whizzing along the road. oh! look at me, soaking wet with perspiration. whew! i've had a lesson i won't forget in a hurry. you don't catch me fooling with a buzz saw again in a hurry, i promise you." with such a contrite culprit owning up to his faults what could thad say? to scold bumpus seemed almost cruel, and besides, thad was feeling too well pleased over the successful outcome of the adventure to hurt the poor fellow's feelings any more than was absolutely necessary. giraffe was not quite so tenderhearted, though feeling flushed with satisfaction over his recent victory. "guess you know now why your dad wouldn't let you learn to run your big touring car at home, don't you, bumpus?" he jeered. "i'm beginning to think he knew a heap better than i did about it," admitted the humble bumpus. "it takes brains to run a car," asserted giraffe meaningly. "some people never should try it, because they get rattled at the least little thing out of the ordinary, and go all to pieces." bumpus heaved a great sigh; then one of his old-time smiles crept over his face, now white no longer on account of alarm. "well, i'm mighty glad i didn't quite do that, giraffe, by bringing up in the ditch, you know," he started to say. "gimme a little credit for escaping smashing things to splinters. and, giraffe, i want to say that i'm ever so much obliged to you for doing what you did. it was a noble deed, and there are few fellows who could have carried it out half as well as you." after that splendid compliment, of course there was no use of giraffe feeling hard toward the one who had just given them all such a scare. he smiled back at bumpus, and the subject was dropped, so far as finding fault or laying down the law went. "what shall we do now, thad?" asked allan. "we might go back again to where we were," suggested the other, with a curious look toward bumpus, which the other noticed, and understood. "what for, thad?" he demanded. "if you're meaning to let me get a drink, i refuse to allow it. i'm going dry, to make up in part for what i did. serves me right, and i'll get it rubbed in all the time i'm being half choked by the dust." thad saw he meant it, too, and knew that bumpus could be very stubborn when he wanted to. besides, perhaps it would be just as well for him to punish himself in this way, since the more he suffered the less likelihood there was of the incident being repeated. "just as you say, bumpus," he remarked, as he climbed into the car again; "we'll keep our eyes on the watch for a chance to stop at one of these cottages where they have a well in the yard, and you can get a drink there." "thank you, thad; it's a lot more than i deserve," said bumpus; "but i tell you i had the surprise of my life when she gave that snort, and started to run away with me. i'm shivering yet with the excitement; just feel my hand, will you, giraffe?" another start was made, everybody feeling satisfied that there had been no serious outcome of the adventure. to have had the car put out of the running would have caused them considerable distress; but they might have even forgiven that if only their jolly chum came through the accident unscathed. it was really thad himself who discovered a wayside cottage, with a well in the yard. possibly bumpus, bent on severe atonement, would never have called their attention to the same if he had been the only one to glimpse it. he even began to demur when thad said they would stop and ask for a drink; but giraffe told him not to be foolish. "think we want you to get choking pretty soon, and scare us half to death?" he told the fat boy severely; but then bumpus knew very well this was all assumed, and that giraffe really wanted him to assuage his raging thirst. so they came to a stop, and when a woman accompanied by several children came out of the cottage, thad managed by signs to ask permission to drink at her well. she quickly understood what he wanted, and nodded an assent, even starting to draw a fresh bucket of water, though thad took the rope from her hands, and completed the job. chapter xiv. more hard luck. during the next few hours they made progress, but the distance covered did not count for many miles. there were several reasons for this. in the first place thad found he had made a mistake in the road, for his chart was not as accurate as it should have been, and of course to rectify this they had to go back and try it all over again. then giraffe complained of being hungry, and that necessitated looking for some place where they might get something to eat. coming to a village finally, they saw another tavern, and as money "talks" with people who keep caravansaries of any sort, arrangements were made whereby they might be supplied with a meal. so an hour and more was consumed in waiting for this to be cooked, and in afterwards eating the same. no one, however, begrudged the time or the money, for what they had proved to be quite appetizing, with its flavor of french cookery. another cause for delay consisted in the fact that the road they were following mounted several rises, and as they had already learned, to their cost, the tricky old car disliked hill climbing above all things. so they were compelled to display their scout knowledge of "first aid to the injured" in the way of lending a helping hand. they came upon many people as they pursued their way. some were going in the same direction as the boys, while others came from the opposite quarter. they could not help noticing that all looked unusually excited; while some of them seemed to be carrying heavy burdens. these were doubtless possessed with the idea that the german cavalrymen would be raiding through that entire section at any time now, and if they hoped to save their most cherished possessions it was time they took them to some place of security. the day was passing, and only another hour remained for them to push on. thad was not at all satisfied with the poor progress they had made. "we'll try and do better to-morrow," he told them as they jogged along, the engine making more noise than ever, it seemed. "if only we can get to a point where there's no danger of being stopped by commands of raiding uhlans we can figure on reaching our destination--hello! what's gone wrong now, i wonder?" the engine had given a last weak throb and refused to carry on the work any longer. thad, allan and giraffe all jumped out and started to investigate. "oh! ginger! what do you think of that?" the last named was heard to exclaim, as though he had made a startling and unexpected discovery. "what is it, giraffe?" asked bumpus, who had not descended from the car, but for all that was deeply interested in everything that went on. "tank's clean empty!" burst from giraffe. thad and allen stared hard at each other. "you must be mistaken, giraffe," said the former. "you certainly have made a bad guess," added allan, "because we put in five gallons just an hour ago, and couldn't possibly have used more than a third of that amount by now. try again, giraffe!" "look for yourself," said the tall boy, with a shrug of his shoulders that stood for disgust, and perhaps a little indignation as well, that his word should be doubted. an investigation revealed the fact that there was hardly a drop in the tank. "here's the reason," said thad, pointing with his finger to where plain signs of a leak could be seen; "the reservoir has gone back on us. it must have sprung that leak in the last mile or two, and drained the tank." "oh! what tough luck!" exclaimed bumpus, and then settled back in his seat in the consciousness that these comrades, so fertile in resources, would speedily find some solution for the problem. thad glanced at allan, shook his head, and smiled dismally. "looks as if we're bound to run the whole gamut of car troubles before we're done with this machine, doesn't it?" he observed. "of course there are several things we might do. one is to pull the car aside so as not to block the road, and then strike on in hopes of finding a village, where we can either put up for the night or else get some gas, enough to bring us on." "failing that," said giraffe, "what's to hinder hiring a farmer and his horse to pull the machine along to town? it's a common occurrence over in our country, and these belgians are ready to do anything like that to earn a dollar or two. and if you say the word, thad, i'll be glad to strike off right now to either get the juice or hire a horse to tow us out of this." that was always the way with giraffe, for there never breathed a more willing comrade than the tall scout. "it's nice of you to make that offer, giraffe," the patrol leader told him, "and i guess we'll have to take you up on it, since there seems to be no other way." "we'd find it pretty tough to try and push the car a long ways," ventured bumpus, always remembering the effort it took to surmount the low hills they had struck; "and as to camping out here without a bite of supper, i'd rather be excused from trying it, even if i had to go for help myself." of course no one would dream of allowing such a thing as this last hint covered; and doubtless bumpus knew that he was perfectly safe in making it. "then i go, do i, thad?" asked giraffe, looking actually pleased at the chance to make himself "useful as well as ornamental," as he himself called it. "yes, if you will," he was told; "we'll promise to stay here and watch the car, though it'd be hard for any one to steal it without a bit of petrol in the tank to run the engine. take your time, giraffe; no need of sprinting. if you can't get the gasoline, bring a horse and a driver." "we're not so very proud!" laughed bumpus. "it'll only be another experience," ventured allan; being boys they could grapple with troubles without being greatly discouraged, for as is often the case they saw something of a frolic in each successive adventure, something to be remembered and retold later on with more or less pride. "while you're away, giraffe," continued thad, "we'll see if we can mend the hole in the petrol tank. i believe i saw a little soldering outfit in the kit of tools. just as like as not this isn't the first rust hole that's happened in that same old tank. if we can't do it, some plumber will have to undertake the job, for we can't go ahead otherwise." so giraffe walked on, taking great strides with those long legs of his. bumpus, who being so stout only made mincing steps, always declared giraffe must have inherited the famous seven league boots they used to read about in the fairy story books. giraffe waved his hand back to his comrades before turning a bend, and that was the last they saw of him on his mission for help. thad and allan were soon busily engaged. they made a little fire close by, where the small soldering iron could be heated. bumpus having asked if he could be of any assistance, and being told to the contrary, solaced himself by sitting there and watching all they did. "no telling but what i might want to mend a hole in a coffee pot some of these fine days," he remarked, complacently, "and it's just as well that i learn how to handle the tools. i believe in a scout's knowing things every time"; then as though his conscience suddenly smote him he hurriedly added: "but once in a while you may run up against a snag, like i did when i fooled with that driving wheel. think you c'n fix it, thad?" "it begins to look that way, bumpus," the other told him; "we seem to be making some progress, anyway." "oh! we'll get the hole mended all right," allan remarked, confidently; "but it's always going to be a question how soon another will come along. the tank is worn out, and not worth much." "we can only hope it serves our purpose, and after that who cares?" ventured the now philosophical bumpus. in the end the leak was repaired, and so far as they could see the tank would do its duty again as a reservoir, providing any petrol was to be had. by this time the boys were thinking they ought to see something of their messenger. giraffe would surely have had plenty of time to run across some wayside cottage where they had a horse that could be hired. "i expect," thad explained, to account for the delay, "he's got his mind set on getting some juice, and so he's gone on to the next town. well, if he fetches it with him we'll get along in a hurry all right." sitting there in the car, which had been dragged to one side of the road, they settled down to wait. the day was done, and with the setting of the sun thoughts of supper naturally came into the mind of bumpus, because that fierce appetite of his gave him little peace. "what if he doesn't show up to-night, thad?" he remarked, voicing a fear that had latterly been tugging at his heart. "i hope it doesn't come to that," replied the other, looking serious. "we'd be worried about him. of course we can put up the top of the car. it's a pretty ragged top at that, but would keep the dew from falling on us. as scouts we've camped out in a good many queer places, and ought to stand a little thing like that." bumpus did not much relish the prospect, but being a wise fellow he kept his disappointment to himself. the minutes crept on, and pretty soon darkness had engulfed the stalled car. still no giraffe. it looked very strange, for they could not imagine what might have happened to their chum. another hour passed. the moon even peeped into view over in the east, and there was no welcome hail in the cheery voice of the absent chum. bumpus gave himself up to the most agonizing speculations. he possibly saw, in his mind, poor giraffe undergoing all manner of tortures, from being shot as a german spy on account of having tried to converse with some one in the teuton language, to being taken prisoner by a band of raiding uhlans. and while engaged in thinking of all these things bumpus actually fell asleep. he could do that about as easily as any one thad had ever known. hearing his regular breathing, and seeing that bumpus was lying back in the corner under the hood which had been raised, thad gently placed the one thin cover they possessed over the sleeper; and after that when he and allan wanted to converse they lowered their voices so as not to disturb bumpus. "what do you think has gone wrong, thad?" allan asked, as though not fully satisfied with his own conclusions. "it's hard to say," replied the other; "but let's hope it's only because giraffe is dead set on getting the juice, and nothing else will suit him. we know once he makes up his mind he can be dreadfully stubborn, almost as bad as bumpus here, for a fact." after that they sat there and exchanged sentences only once in a while. the time was august, but all the same the night air began to feel more or less cool; and thad was even wondering whether it would not be a good idea to resurrect the fire they had used for heating the iron, so as to ward off this chill, when suddenly he heard sounds along the road that gave him a thrill. instantly his hand sought the arm of his chum. allan may have been half dozing, but as he felt that warning touch he was instantly wide awake. "listen!" whispered thad. more plainly than before came the sounds, and allan, too, was thrilled when he made out what seemed to be voices, mingled with a clanking noise such as would be made by soldiers bearing arms. yes, and now he plainly caught the thud of horses' hoofs on the hard road. "sit tight!" said thad; "there's nothing we can do to help ourselves. even if it is soldiers they may be belgians maneuvering to get in the rear of the germans. but we'll soon know the worst, for the sounds are coming closer all the time." so, sitting there while bumpus slept peacefully on, the two chums awaited the explanation of the mystery. chapter xv. at the end of a tow line. this state of uncertainty was of short duration. then thad chuckled softly. "i certainly heard giraffe's laugh then," he told allan; "and you can tell now it's only a single horse that's thumping along. after all giraffe had to give up on the petrol business, and come down to getting us towed in." soon they could see moving figures on the road, and catch the creak of heavy wheels much in need of axle grease. it proved to be a cart, and seated in the same was giraffe, together with a couple of half-grown belgian lads. "thought i was never coming, didn't you?" the tall scout remarked, as he jumped to the road; "well, i kept trying to get some gas all through the village, but it was no use. when i contracted to buy a supply i must have bitten off a bigger wad than i could chew. and i had a number of things happen, too; tell you about the same later on. now, we'll get busy hitching our chariot to a star. this was really the best i could do, thad." he was of course assured that no one dreamed of blaming him; and that they would be very well satisfied to get somewhere or other, no matter what the means of locomotion turned out to be. the two stout belgian boys soon managed with the help of giraffe to fasten the stalled car to the rear of their queer-looking cart. ropes had been brought along for that very purpose, giraffe foreseeing the need of such things. when the start was made the car gave a jerk. that served to arouse bumpus, who had continued to sleep calmly on despite all the talking. "oh! so we're going on again, are we? did giraffe fetch the stuff, and--my stars! whatever is that ahead of us; and a towing rope in the bargain? oh! i see now; we're being carted into town, for a fact!" giraffe was full of his recent hunt for liquid fuel. "i never saw the beat," he told them, "how everybody wants to hold on to what little petrol they've got. i offered double price, but they shook their heads and as near as i could understand tried to tell me they needed every drop for their own use. now that the war has broken out nobody knows what will happen. after chasing around till i was tired out, i made up my mind it was a case of the tow-line for us, or stay out here all night. i took the tow, and here we are." "how far away is the town you mention?" asked thad. "all of two miles," he was told; "but it wasn't the distance that kept me. i had to waste so much time trying to make them understand. then one party would direct me to a certain house where i might buy some petrol. result, half an hour wasted and not a thing gained." "is there an inn in that town, giraffe?" asked bumpus, softly. "thinking about your grub, ain't you, bumpus?" chuckled the other; "but that's all right. there's an inn, and i told the landlord we might show up later on. he even promised to cook us some supper when we came, charging extra for the same, you understand, bumpus. it was in front of that same inn i saw the soldiers." "germans?" asked allan, quickly. "no, a belgian battery of field guns that is heading for the fighting line," the late messenger explained. "they came in with a whirl while i was there, and watered the horses dragging the guns at the trough in front of the inn. it made a pretty sight, let me tell you, for the moon was just rising. i'll never forget it as long as i live." "they didn't offer to bother you, did they, giraffe?" asked bumpus. "sure they didn't," replied the other, scornfully. "why, i soon found that one of the gunners could speak pretty good english, and i had quite a little talk fest with him while the horses were drinking their fill at that trough." "did you pick up any information worth while, giraffe?" asked allan. "what i got only made me feel sour," the other replied. "why should it, giraffe?" bumpus wanted to know. "because i was told the germans seemed to be sending out thousands of their hard-riding cavalrymen to scatter through this part of the country and terrorize the people," explained giraffe. "there would be another meaning to such a move, i should think," ventured thad. "right you are there, thad," continued the other. "that gunner let me understand it was believed the germans, being held up so fiercely by the forts at liége, were trying to make a flank movement so as to threaten brussels from this side. and thad, he said there wasn't more'n one chance in ten we'd ever be able to get through the lines." "i'm sorry to hear that, giraffe," remarked the patrol leader. "but we don't mean to give up yet, do we?" queried bumpus, who never liked to quit; he had plenty of faults, but that of yielding could hardly be called one of his shortcomings. "it doesn't look like it," admitted thad; "for we've got our tank mended, and if there's any gasoline to be had for love or money we'll push on to-morrow, taking what comes, and making the best of it." "and always remembering," said giraffe, "that in case the worst comes we can go back to the dutch border, cross over, and make for rotterdam. that's what the belgian gunner told me. he was a fine young chap, and if he comes through the fighting all right i expect to hear from him after i get home again." as he never did, giraffe was later on forced to the sad conviction that his new-found friend must have given up his young life in defence of his beloved country, as thousands of others did likewise. they continued to talk as they made slow progress. it was snail-like, after having become accustomed to the ten-mile-an-hour gait of the car, when it was doing its best. still, no one complained, for half a loaf was a good deal better than no bread. "i'd a lot sooner be caught in this fix than to stay out there all night, crammed in the car," remarked bumpus, and then continuing he said, with a vein of reproach in his mellow voice: "but, thad, allan, it wasn't just right for you to tuck the only wrap we had along around me, like i was a big baby. i've got to learn to take my knocks like the rest of you, and i want you to let me meet my share, or else i'll be unhappy." "there, we're getting close to the village now," said giraffe, pointing to where houses could be dimly seen in the misty moonlight. the hour was pretty late when they hauled up in the inn-yard. the landlord had kept his word, and supper was being cooked even then, a fact bumpus discovered as soon as he could scent the odors in the air. "oh! mebbe i'm not glad you decided to take a horse when you couldn't get any gas, giraffe," he remarked, sniffing vigorously; "now, i wonder what he's having cooked for us. if it's as good as the stuff we had at noon i'm going to find out how it's made. then some time or other when we're camping out with the rest of the boys i'll spring a big surprise on you all." "i think that everything considered," said thad, "we have reason to be thankful things are no worse. so far as i can see there's been no damage done; and here's the landlord coming to tell us supper is ready." "hold on, bumpus, you forget that you've got a game leg, don't you?" called out giraffe, as the fat boy jumped to his feet in readiness for a rush. "oh! that's got well again," bumpus assured him blandly. "fact is, the scare i had when i was run away with by that car did the business for that lame leg. but if both of them happened to be crippled that wouldn't keep me from feeling hungry, would it?" since no one had ever known anything to do this of course there was no chance for giraffe to make any response. the supper turned out to have the same appetizing flavor which bumpus had so much admired at noon, and after a great deal of effort giraffe managed to extract the information from the landlord that it was all a little french trick of rubbing a bit of garlic on the pan in which the food was being cooked, and which gave it that flavor. "i see all sorts of trouble ahead for us scouts," ventured giraffe, after he had imparted this information to bumpus, "if ever he takes to carrying a string of garlic along with him on our hikes." they really enjoyed that supper immensely. possibly it was because they had such keen appetites after waiting so long in the cool night air; but no matter what the cause they left the table satisfied. "next thing is to get some sleep," remarked bumpus. "we're going to step out a bit first, bumpus, and push the car under a shed, so it will be hidden," allan told him. "oh! we don't have to lie around again to guard the same, i hope," suggested the fat scout, who was hoping to have clean sheets and a mattress for a change, instead of just ordinary hay. "no, we've decided to cut that out this time," thad explained, "because we don't believe there's going to be any stealing done. i'll cripple the machine again by taking away some part; and with no petrol aboard it ought to be safe." they were given a couple of large rooms that overlooked the front of the house. when thad thrust his head out of a window he could see the road, and the watering trough where as giraffe had told them the horses of the belgian field battery rushing to the front had stopped to drink. all seemed peaceful and quiet. if a dog barked occasionally, or a nearby rooster gave vent to a few crows, as was his habit at certain hours of the night, none of the tired lads were likely to pay any attention to such common sounds. they figured that given two more days, with as much progress accomplished as had marked the one just passed, and they should be beyond the danger line, with what could be called a clear field ahead of them. so doubtless as they settled themselves to sleep, two in each room, and with good clean and comfortable beds under them, their last thoughts must have been of hopes for the morrow, and wishes for as few interruptions as possible. allan was thad's bed-fellow, which of course left bumpus and giraffe to pair off--"the fat and the lean," as the tall boy remarked when proceeding to get most of his clothes off and try that "dandy-looking bed." thad could not go to sleep very easily, for a wonder. it was not that he had any reason to anticipate coming trouble, for as far as he could see there was nothing of the sort in sight. so many things persisted in crowding into his mind that for once his plan of settling down did not seem to work very well. it must have been fully eleven o'clock before he dropped off; and the last thing he remembered hearing was a series of odd little snorts coming from the adjoining room, which he knew must be caused by bumpus lying on his back. giraffe on his part was certainly sound asleep, or he would never have stood for such noises. then thad awoke. he heard the clatter of many horses' hoofs outside, together with the jangling of accoutrements. it gave him a shock and he immediately sat upright in bed. this awoke allan, and he copied thad's example as soon as he caught the strange and significant noises coming in through the open windows. as the two boys sat there listening, hardly knowing what all this rattle of iron-shod hoofs might signify, they heard a loud voice give a command, which was evidently intended as "halt!" what thrilled thad and his chum, however, was that the order was not given in english, french or flemish but in plain, unmistakable german. "the kaiser's men have struck this place, allan!" said thad, as with quivering hands he threw back the bed clothes, and jumping out started toward the window, bent upon seeing what it meant. allan was at his heels, and upon reaching the open window they looked out, to discover a sight that was calculated to impress them so strongly that it could never be forgotten. chapter xvi. the german raiders. the moon was well up in the heavens and this made it almost as light as day out there in the open. both the scouts could see that scores and scores of men mounted on fine horses had halted for a breathing spell. down by the pump as many horses as could gather around were drinking their fill at the very trough where only a few hours before the animals drawing the guns of the belgians had stood, according to what giraffe had told them. crouching there in the window the boys stared and listened and took it all in. it happened that the moon was on the other side of the inn so that the wall here was well in shadow. this prevented thad and allan from being noticed, and they had the good sense to remain perfectly still so as not to attract undue attention. there could be no telling what these hard-riding uhlans might do. doubtless nine-tenths of all the terrible stories told about their cruel work could be set down as pure fiction; but even then some among them might be reckless enough to fire a shot at a shrinking figure, half seen in a window, under the impression that it might turn out to be a "sniper" getting ready to shoot into their ranks. the landlord had come out, and was now talking with one of those who seemed to be in charge of the band. none of the boys had known up to this time he could speak german; and giraffe in particular would be surprised to know it, for had he only been aware of the fact on his previous visit it would have saved him much time and effort. when thad remembered about the belgian battery having been on the identical spot such a short time before he was strongly impressed with the strange vicissitudes and contrasts of war. and had that same battery but lingered in hiding it would have been in a position to strike a blow at the invaders not often encountered. remembering that they had companions in the other room thad started to creep through the connecting door, with the intention of waking them. then they too could afterwards boast of having looked upon a band of those dashing hard riders known as uhlans, and who with the russian cossacks have had the reputation of being the most terrible fighters of all europe. he had his trouble for his pains, for he found the bed in the other room empty, with giraffe and bumpus over at the window watching all that was going on below. "keep quiet, and don't draw any attention if you can help it," thad whispered to the others as he reached the spot where they crouched. "some of the officers are coming inside," said giraffe; "i reckon they've ordered the landlord to fetch up his best wines. it would be just like them to make him clean up his wine cellar for the benefit of the troop. and just our luck not to have paid our bill yet; for he's bound to make good his losses on his guests." "oh! let us hope they won't think to set fire to the inn, because his stock of drinks gives out," whimpered bumpus, doubtless already picturing in his mind what sort of work he could make of climbing out of the window and down the water pipe, in case such a dreadful catastrophe did come about. "here, you're shivering at the window, fellows," whispered thad; "and i'd advise you to go and get a blanket over your shoulders, if you want to stay and see all that happens." "you don't think they'll burn the house, do you, thad?" asked bumpus; "i want to know, because it'd take me some little time making a rope ladder out of the sheets. that's the best way to get down from here, because it'd be too big a drop for a fellow like me." "oh! don't worry about that," giraffe told him; "there won't be any burning done. you stand more chance of freezing to death right now; so get that blanket, bumpus. hold on, stay where you are, and i'll fetch one for you; it isn't safe to have you moving around so much." thad soon went back to his own room and provided himself with the bed covers which he divided with allan. there was really nothing new to report. more men and horses kept pushing up to the pump and the water trough. the handle of the former kept up a continual groaning as strong arms worked it constantly, to keep the trough from running dry. "here the officers come out again," remarked allan; "they've had their wine, and mean to let the landlord off easy this time. perhaps they're in too big a hurry to stay long in one place. that was the call to mount we just heard. and, thad, this is about as thrilling a scene as we've ever looked at." "yes," added the other, "and inside of a week half of those fine strapping big fellows may be dead, for all we know. they take their lives in their hands when they go galloping across an enemy's country this way. any hour they are likely to find themselves in a trap, with deadly rapid-fire guns pouring a hail of bullets into the troop, cutting down horses and men. it's terrible just to think of it." they saw the uhlans begin to gallop away, with a sense of great relief. the little pennons at the ends of their long lances fluttered in the night air. seen in the mellow moonlight it was an inspiring picture that made the hearts of the onlookers beat faster than usual. "i don't like that, though," thad was muttering as he watched, with the last of the troop leaving the watering trough. "what is it, thad," demanded allan, who had just barely caught the low words. "don't you see which way they're going?" asked the patrol leader. "why, they seem to have come into town from the left-hand road, and are leaving by the one that runs toward the southwest," replied allan. "well, that's our course to-morrow, you know," thad continued, with a meaning in his voice that could not well be mistaken. allan gave a low whistle. "i see now what you mean, thad," he remarked. "it begins to look as if that belgian gunner giraffe talked with knew what he was saying when he said we didn't have more than one chance in ten to slip through. if there are many more detachments of uhlans like this floating around, so as to fairly cover the country, we'll be hauled up as sure as anything, and chased back." "yes, because they'd be afraid we might carry important news to the enemy, and set the belgians on their trail," thad went on to say. they had no further reason for staying up in the chilly night air, with a comfortable bed so close at hand, and a few minutes later the two chums were tucked under the covers once more. "you don't think they bothered our car, do you, thad?" asked allan, as he prepared to coax further sleep to visit his eyes. "i hope not," he was told. "i did see several of the men go into the shed and move around the stables, but they must have been looking for sound horses, and not broken-down wrecks of cars. as they didn't carry off any horses that i could see i reckon all the good ones have already been taken for the belgian cavalry and field batteries." when eventually morning came it found all the scouts up bright and early. even bumpus astonished his mates by showing no desire to remain in bed after being aroused. "course we're going on, boys," he decided, as they were dressing; "just because there's a bunch of german rough-riders cruising around these parts isn't enough to make us back down and show the white feather, i hope." they all assured him that so far no one thought of doing such a thing, which information doubtless gave bumpus more or less satisfaction. "i wouldn't like to promise that we'll be able to break through, though, bumpus," thad warned him. "it's all going to depend on how the germans have scattered over the country down in that direction. if we have a lot of luck we'll escape them; but don't forget that we've still another scheme up our sleeve in case this one fails." this fleeting visit by a troop of the enemy had aroused the belgian village as nothing that had ever before occurred could have done. the women were out gossiping over the low fences, or else gabbling in groups in front of the houses. boys, old men, and those who from some physical defect were debarred from participating in the active service of the army could be seen talking in knots. although as yet they had not heard the crash of gun, and seen men falling in scores before the modern rapid-fire guns, or those using shrapnel, it was getting pretty close to the border line with them. to have two rival forces visit the quaint and peaceful place only a few hours apart brought the war home to those who dwelt in the little belgian town. giraffe had been greatly impressed. he was by nature a pugnacious sort of a boy, and it had always been a hard thing for him to subdue his passion when he first subscribed to the twelve cardinal rules that govern the life of a scout. now and then that old spirit would persist in cropping out again, in defiance to the law of the scouts. "tell you what," he was saying this morning, when, after eating breakfast at the inn, the boys started out in a bunch with an empty five-gallon can, determined to pick up enough petrol in small lots to serve to carry them over a good many miles of belgian territory; "tell you what, fellows, i'll be pretty much disappointed and broken-hearted if after being so near the firing line i don't get a chance to glimpse just one solitary battle between these belgians end the germans. somehow i've got a hunch that king albert and his boys can put up a good article of scrap; and from what we've heard they're giving the kaiser the surprise of his life over at liége right now." thad told him he was foolish to wish that, because a battle was a terrible thing, and apt to give him a fit of the horrors every time he remembered what he saw. "general sherman knew what war was when he called it a pretty hard name," the scout master continued, "and it's silly for a boy to want to see men shot down as if they were ripe grain. a scout should know better than that, giraffe, you want to remember." giraffe did not make any reply, but from his manner it was plain to be seen that he was far from being convinced by thad's logic. what was bred in the bone it was very hard to beat out of the flesh; and in other days giraffe had even owned a game rooster which he had proudly boasted could whip any barnyard fowl in and around cranford. they first got a few hints from the landlord, and then started out to try and get enough petrol to give them a fair start. sometimes they met with luck, and then again their mission proved just as fruitless as had giraffe's on the preceding evening when on the way to this same town. still, when half an hour passed and they had managed to buy four gallons they considered that they were doing very well indeed. "if we can double that in the same length of time we'll consider ourselves pretty lucky," said thad; "but no matter how we come out we're going to start about that time. every chance we get on the road we can stop and hold up the little sign our friend the landlord has made for us, and which reads: 'we want to buy a gallon or more of petrol, and will pay twice the regular price for it. we are american boy scouts trying to reach antwerp. help us out.'" they took turns in carrying the can which was by this time beginning to feel rather weighty. even bumpus insisted on taking his regular spell, for when they tried to spare him from doing his share of things he always grew indignant, and wanted to know why they tried to make him out to be a baby. bumpus was getting to be exceedingly touchy on such matters, it seemed, for his pride received a severe jolt every time it happened. when the next half hour had expired and thad told them they must go back to the inn so as to make a start they had close on seven gallons of petrol. apparently the fluid famine had already started in that part of little belgium, and it was certain to get worse continually as the bitter war went on. the scouts quitted their refuge of the night, feeling that they had passed through another novel experience in watching the coming and going of the raiding uhlan troop. chapter xvii. a man in the tree top. "to-day ought to tell the story whether we're going to get through or not," giraffe was saying, after they had been making more or less progress. "put it a little stronger, giraffe," ventured thad. "say to-day and to-morrow will go pretty far toward settling it; because with such a knock-down machine we're apt to meet up with all sorts of delays." bumpus shook his head and sighed. "i know i'll be glad when the agony is over," he remarked pensively; and there was not one of his companions but who felt he was thinking of his waiting mother rather than himself. for a little while their progress was indeed very fair, and as giraffe counted the number of miles they were putting behind him he kept smiling more broadly than ever. "bully for the busy little worker!" he exclaimed finally. "i sure believe it's taken on new life, and is renewing its youth. and yet they say they can't come back." hardly had he spoken the last word when the engine gave a loud groan that sounded almost human, and quit working. "there, that's what you get for shouting before you're out of the woods!" said bumpus, in sheer disgust. giraffe looked blank. "say, do you really believe motors can understand the english language?" he demanded of the fat scout. "this one has been brought up on either german or french, and how would it know i was boasting? anyway next time i say a thing like that you'll see me knocking on wood right away." thad was already out and had the hood lifted so that he could look the disheartened engine over, and find just what the trouble might be. "mebbe it's that silly old gas tank again?" suggested bumpus. allan made a hurried examination. "nothing wrong here," he announced; "no drip, and plenty of stuff inside. looks as if the engine could only stand just so much, and then had a fainting fit. and no matter where we bring up in the end, mark my words, fellows, we've got to work our passage." "find out what bust, thad?" asked giraffe, as he jumped from the car. "i don't seem to get it yet, and as there's no telling what may come along the road while we're loafing here, suppose we all get busy and push the car to one side, where it isn't apt to block the passage." thad's advice was immediately carried out, and when this had been done he applied himself industriously to the task of first ascertaining what had happened to the wretched engine, and then to repair the defect, if it were possible. giraffe, always nervous and hard to keep quiet, meanwhile walked over toward a mound that lay close by. "just to take a little observation, and see if there's any sign of those airmen we saw yesterday," he told the others. "i heard something that sounded like firing early this morning," said thad, "and it may be there has been more warm work going on. the breeze came from the wrong quarter to help me out, and so i couldn't be sure." they saw giraffe make his way up the little rise and reach the top, where he began to cup his hands about his eyes so as to see the better. possibly three minutes passed when those at the car heard sharp barking as of a fox, and which of course was the call of the silver fox patrol. "he's waving to us to come up there!" exclaimed bumpus, scrambling out of the car, for he had felt so very comfortable that so far he had not thought fit to make any change. "yes, and he means the whole bunch of us in the bargain, if signals stand for anything, thad," added allan. "all right, let's go," the patrol leader replied, as he started toward the knoll, still gripping the monkey-wrench with which he had been working at the time. with bumpus puffing at their heels the two boys soon arrived at the base of the mound, and started up. it was a severe task for the fat scout, but bumpus could do considerable, once he made up his mind, and he was with them when they reached the spot where the excited giraffe stood. "what ails you, giraffe?" asked allan. for answer the elongated scout leveled his arm, and pointed in a certain direction. "see that tall, bushy tree, thad?" he exclaimed; "well, turn your eyes up toward the top of the same and you'll see what gave me a body blow." "i see it!" called out bumpus, "and say, it looks like a man fastened up there! oh! as sure as anything it moved then! it must be alive, fellows!" "it is a man," said thad, decisively. "but what on earth could he be doing away up there?" asked allan, still straining his eyes to look. giraffe had a remarkable vision. he could often discern things that were next to invisible to his chums. "he's caught fast there, i tell you," he remarked, eagerly, "and it's a good thing for him he is, because if he fell to the ground he'd be killed." "how queer!" cried bumpus, his eyes almost starting out of their sockets with the intensity of the interest he took in the affair; "whoever could have hung the poor fellow away up there in that tree top?" giraffe snorted in disdain. "nobody hung him there, silly!" he exclaimed. "he fell there, that's all!" "fell there!" repeated bumpus, incredulously. "oh! now you're trying to kid me, giraffe. i don't take any stock in those big yarns about mars being inhabited, and all that stuff. speak plainer, can't you?" "if you look close, thad," giraffe said, ignoring bumpus completely now, "you'll see something lying on the ground near the tree." "yes, you're right, giraffe, i see it," replied the other; "and it looks as if it might be some sort of wreck, too." "just what she is!" cried giraffe exultantly; "the wreck of an aeroplane. that man in the tree must have been one of the flying squad, german or belgian, we don't know which yet. he met with an accident while up aloft. mebbe some of that shrapnel injured his machine, and he was making for the earth to land far away from the battle field when he struck that tree, and there he's stuck ever since." "oh! how hard it must have been for him, hanging up there all night, and p'raps badly hurt at that!" cried the tender-hearted bumpus. "thad, you wouldn't think of going on and leaving him there, i hope?" "well, i should say not, bumpus," giraffe told him. "we'd deserve to be kicked out of the organization if ever we did that. how could we look back without turning fiery red every time we remembered such a cowardly act? leave it to us, and we'll get him down out of that, eh, thad?" "our duty compels us to do everything we can to alleviate distress," the patrol leader said, soberly. "and it doesn't matter the least bit to us whether that poor chap is a german, belgian or frenchman. he's in a terrible position, and may lose his life unless we do something for him. so let's head that way on the run!" "what about the car, thad?" asked allan. "hang the car," replied the other, impulsively. "it's stalled right now, and the engine partly dismantled, so there's no danger of its running away." "i hope not," bumpus was heard to mutter, dubiously, "but cars are mighty funny contraptions any way you put it, and nobody ever knows what they're meaning to do. when you think they're sleeping as sweet as anything they may kick you all of a sudden just like a mule." bumpus did not say anything more. he needed all the breath he could gather in so as to keep within reasonable distance of his three chums, who were making pretty fast time toward the tall tree. as they drew closer to the spot all doubt concerning the nature of the heap on the ground was dissipated. it was undoubtedly a wrecked aeroplane, and thad, who had taken pains to look these things up, told the others it was without question a taube model, small but swift. "that means the man up yonder will turn out to be a german aviator, doesn't it, thad?" asked allan, who was at his side, with giraffe leading. "no question about that," was the reply, "because the germans are the only ones who are using the taube model exclusively. they seem to think it about fills the bill for safety and speed." they had seen the man who was held fast among the branches of the tree almost at the apex, in fact, wave his hand to them several times. this told the boys he was still alive, even though possibly suffering tortures. it also informed them that he had been watching their coming, and while restraining from shouting out, meant to implore their assistance. "how are we going to get him down?" asked giraffe, as they reached the foot of the tree, which looked as though it could be easily scaled, since the lower limbs came close to the ground. "three of us must climb up," said thad. "we can help each other, and it strikes me we ought to be able to make it." "one thing in our favor," remarked allan, who was famous for seeing things, "the aviator is a rather small man. that's going to be lots of help." "what can i do, thad?" asked bumpus, willing to attempt anything going, though his bulk would hardly allow him to be useful up aloft; in fact he was apt to bother the others rather than prove of assistance. "stay down here, and take the man when we lower him from the limbs," thad told him. it was not much, bumpus thought, but then he could at least say that he had had a hand in the rescue of the unfortunate aeroplane pilot. giraffe climbed quickly, and reached the vicinity of the stranded aviator first. he was even talking in german with him when the other two arrived. they could see just how the garments of the man had become caught in the branches, so that he was held there as in a vise, utterly unable to help himself. "he says he's been here all night," said giraffe, eagerly, his face aglow with pride over the fact that once more his high school german was proving valuable. "he was swinging up pretty high, taking notes of the disposition of the belgian forces, when he found himself a target for heavy firing. he thinks his machine must have been hit as well as himself, for it started to act queer. so he made off like the wind to get as far away from the firing line as he could, always falling, and in the end he struck this tree just before dark." "he's been wounded in the left arm," said thad, "for you can see how it hangs helpless, and there's dried blood on his sleeve too, caking it hard. he might have bled to death here if that arm didn't happen to be above him, which has helped to stop the flow. i'm afraid it'll start in again while we're getting him down, but that can't be helped." "we'll fix that soon enough, thad," said giraffe, eagerly, "once we get him on the ground. scouts ought to know their business enough to fix up any ordinary hurt like that. but have you arranged your plan, thad? tell us what to do, and you'll see us get busy." the patrol leader had taken a hasty survey of the situation. he saw there was only one way in which they could get the aviator free from the clinging branches, and swing him in to the body of the tree. accordingly he began to give his orders clearly. "you reach him on that side, giraffe, and i'll take hold here. when we swing him in, allan, you catch hold, and keep him steady. then we'll cut these twigs, and free his leather coat. but be careful, both of you, for a slip would mean broken bones, if not something worse. now, ready, giraffe? then when i say three, start swinging!" chapter xviii. good samaritans. "well done, allan!" exclaimed giraffe as the third boy successfully clutched the aviator, after they had managed between them to swing him in. thad now gave instructions just how to work the branches free, one by one. "keep a good hold on him everybody," he said, and was also pleased to note that the aeroplane pilot had himself taken a desperate clutch upon a small limb, as though meaning to be of what little assistance he could. step by step they accomplished it, and before long were commencing to descend the tree. the man proved to be full of grit, as was to be expected of one who continually took his life in his hands in making those daring aerial flights, thousands of feet above the earth, and over hostile lines at that, where he would be a target for dozens of exploding shrapnel bombs. bumpus down below grew more and more excited the closer they came. he had braced himself like a gladiator, as though he meant to try and catch the man if by any mischance he slipped from their grasp and fell, and bumpus would have been foolish enough to offer himself as a buffer, had any such accident happened. but there was, fortunately, no slip, and presently they lowered the man into his waiting arms, so that after all bumpus was able to do a small share in the rescue. apparently the poor fellow was greatly weakened by his recent terrible experience. to hang there the livelong night, swaying with the branches, and in constant danger of dropping to his death, must have been a severe shock to his nervous system. and then besides he had lost much blood, and that would weaken him in itself, even without the lingering peril. he sank to the ground, but at the same time looked inquiringly at them, as though to question whether they were capable of helping him further. "tell him, giraffe, if you can," said thad, "that as boy scouts, over in america, we have learned how to care for all ordinary wounds, and that we mean to do what is possible for his arm." "it's lucky, thad," said bumpus, "that you always insisted on carrying that little roll of linen along with you, and some healing salve. i own up there have been times when i thought you were foolish to load yourself down that way, but i see how valuable it can come in." "some people think it folly to insure their houses," said thad, "but when the fire comes along they understand what a comfort it is to those who get the cash to rebuild. i carry this stuff because one of us might get hurt when away from a doctor or surgeon. and i'm willing to use it on the first fellow we've run across who needs it." meanwhile giraffe was again talking with the pilot. the man nodded his head eagerly when he heard what the tall boy said. perhaps he knew what german boy scouts were always taught to do in emergencies, but was in doubt with regard to their american cousins, for giraffe had of course informed him before then how they came from over the sea, and were only pilgrims in belgium at the time. it was deemed advisable to help the man down to the little stream that thad had noticed close by. here they commenced to get his leather coat off. it was no easy task, and bumpus turned pale when he saw what a mess his arm was in, through lack of attention for so many hours. giraffe had been dispatched over to the car and returned with a little tin bucket they happened to possess. allan meanwhile had started a small fire, and over this the tin utensil, after being filled with water, was placed. when the liquid was heated enough thad started to wash the man's arm. gradually the nature of the wound was disclosed. after all it was not so very serious, when that dried blood had been cleansed from his arm. some missile from the bursting shrapnel bomb had cut through the muscles, but it would soon heal, if no serious consequences followed his long exposure. thad used his liniment and bound the arm up as carefully as any experienced red cross surgeon could have done under similar conditions. the man looked very grateful. that could be seen in his manner, and the pleased way in which he followed all of thad's operations with his eyes. still, there was an expression of doubt on his face now and then, and thad could give a pretty good guess what it meant. undoubtedly the german air pilot had begun to wonder just what his status was going to be, now that he had been rescued from his perilous position in that high treetop, and his wound so splendidly dressed. would he have to consider himself a prisoner of war? these boys in khaki who said they came from america,--were they so much in sympathy with the allies that they would consider it their duty to hand him over to the belgians? he must have put the question to giraffe when he talked so fast, for that worthy after having him repeat it more slowly shook his head, and turning to thad remarked: "what d'ye think, thad, the poor chap is wondering whether he's a prisoner of war or not?" "do you mean he thinks we want to consider him our prisoner?" asked the other. "just let him know that we're as neutral as we can be, giraffe. while we don't like this thing of the big german army invading the country of the poor belgians, and think it all wrong, still we're not taking any side. so far as we're concerned he is as free as the air." when giraffe told this to the eagerly listening air pilot he seemed to be very much gratified. "he says he has good friends not a great ways off," reported giraffe, after some more talk with the wounded aviator, "and thinks he could manage to reach them, if only he can hide somewhere till dark settles down." "that's all right!" thad declared, "and so far as we're concerned we hope he may sooner or later manage to get back inside the german lines. he's a brave man, and we're only too glad to have been of service to him." "thad," continues giraffe, "he says he wants to write something down if you've got a pencil and paper handy. i think he means to fix it so that in case we run across some of his people they'll be good to us. it's the only way he knows to show how grateful he feels." "i don't know but what it might be a good idea, although we hope we won't come across any of those german raiders," thad remarked, as he searched his pockets, and found the needed articles. the man wrote with some difficulty, for his hand was stiff, but after he had completed his task giraffe said he could read it all right. "he's gone and told how he happened to land in a tree top, and would have died there only for us getting him down," explained giraffe; "and then he goes on to tell how we bound up his wounds, and did everything for him we could; so that he asks any german officer who reads this to be kind to us for his sake. i reckon now that the name he's signed is well known among german airmen; seems to me i've heard it, or seen it in print." the air pilot had gotten out his pipe, and was actually enjoying a smoke. doubtless, being addicted to the weed he would have suffered less during the long night could he have had the satisfaction of an occasional puff. allan looked at him curiously, while giraffe was filled with admiration. "these air pilots have to be pretty cool customers, it strikes me," he remarked, as they prepared to say good-bye to the man, who evidently did not think it wise on his part to go near the road, lest he be seen and taken prisoner. "they certainly do," said thad, "because there isn't a second when they're up in the air that they're not in deadly danger. a man may stumble on land; he may have an accident when on the water, but he's got a fair chance to save himself. with them a collapse means being snuffed out of existence." "whew! excuse me from being an aviator!" declared bumpus, so fervently that giraffe turned and looked him over from head to foot, to remark caustically: "no danger of that happening, bumpus. they'd have to build a zeppelin to accommodate you." "oh! i'm not thinking seriously of trying it, giraffe," said the other, sweetly. "i guess i know my shortcomings as well as any one could. i don't expect to fly as long as i stay in this world. there may be a time--but never mind about that. our friend wants to shake hands with you, thad. he knows what a heap you've done for him, and i guess he'll have a right good opinion of american boy scouts after this." the rescued german aviator shook hands not only with thad but each one of them in turn, and he said something in his own language which giraffe later on told them was a warm expression of his heartfelt gratitude. as the four lads started toward the road where they had left the stranded car he was standing there and waving his uninjured hand after them. when, however, they arrived at the mound and looked back once more he had disappeared. some people were coming along the road, and possibly the man may have discovered them before the boys did, seeking a place of refuge in order that they might not make out that he was a german, and so carry the news to some belgian regiment quartered nearby. thad started in to work at the engine as though this thing of being called off to save the life of a birdman was a mere nothing at all, just coming along in the course of his ordinary business. bumpus installed himself in his seat and watched him work. that was a favorite occupation with bumpus, for he did enjoy seeing some one else do things about as well as any boy that ever lived. "think he'll get clear of his enemies, thad?" he remarked, showing that all the while his thoughts were connected with the air pilot whom they had just rescued. "he seemed to feel pretty sure of it," the other replied, "though of course he'd have to avoid all the people living around this section, for they'd turn on him if they guessed he was a german. the belgians are pretty furious over their country being overrun with the kaiser's troops. i've even seen old peasants handling guns as if they meant to fight for their homes, a very foolish thing for them to do, because it would only enrage the invaders, and end with a massacre." "you act as if you'd remedied the break in the engine, thad, seeing that you're putting up your tools, and wiping your hands off," remarked giraffe. "i've got it fixed," thad informed him, without any great show of enthusiasm; "but remember i'm not promising how long it's going to stand. there's always a toss-up with a machine of this kind as to what part will break down next." "tell me about that, will you?" growled giraffe, in disgust. "i'd like to kick the old box into the river only that it does save us some walking. it's a lottery any way you can fix it." "get aboard everybody, and let's see how she cranks," suggested thad. as usual it took several urgent efforts before the engine decided to heed the call to duty. "there, she sings like a bird!" cried bumpus as the loud whirr announced that once again their motor was in working order. so they started off. "one thing sure," remarked giraffe, looking back toward the place where presently they could just glimpse the top of the tall tree where they had found such queer fruit growing, "that was a remarkable little adventure, and none of us are likely to forget it in a hurry either." "i know for one i won't!" declared bumpus; "and every time i look at this bolt that i took from the broken taube aeroplane i'll think of how you fellows climbed right up to the top of that tree and brought the birdman down safe to the ground, and how i stood there to receive him. yes, it's marked with a white stone in my memory, and i can just imagine how smithy, step hen, davy jones and bob white'll stare when they hear the story of the wrecked aeroplane man!" chapter xix. the battle at the bridge. once more the fugitives managed to go on for some little distance, with nothing out of the common run happening. bumpus was thinking that the engine had commenced to act quite decently, but of course he did not dare mention this fact aloud. the recollection of what had followed when giraffe boasted was still fresh in his memory. "there's a fork in the road ahead of us, thad," announced the keen-eyed giraffe. "do we take the right or the left branch?" "i'm a little dubious about that," said the pilot at the wheel. "why, what does your chart say?" asked giraffe. "as near as i can make out," he was told, "the roads come together again some ways further on, perhaps as much as seven miles or so. the one that leads toward the left seems to be shorter than the other by considerable." "then why should you hesitate about starting along that one?" asked allan. "only because it heads so far toward the southwest, you see," explained thad. "oh! i'm on now," exclaimed the tall scout. "you're a bit worried for fear we'll run smack into some of the fighting that seems to have been going on over that way--is that it, thad?" "well, yes, giraffe, but on the whole i think i'll make the try. if we see things getting thick ahead of us we can turn around and come back again at the worst. and if we do manage to get along without being held up we'll save quite some time." that was how they came to be moving along that road, and heading in a direction that opened up new hazards. "we want to keep a good lookout whenever we strike a rise," the pilot warned them. "tell me if you happen to see anything that looks suspicious, for it may be a hard job to get turned around, you know." each one of the others readily promised, though very likely the task would fall principally to giraffe, as he had the best eyes for this purpose. they may have covered as much as three miles after passing the fork when they saw a hill ahead of them. bumpus looked and groaned. he knew what that meant. "more push coming, fellows!" commented giraffe. "as for me, i won't be sorry to get out and stretch my legs a bit, because they're feeling cramped." "hit it up for all the old tub can carry, thad," begged bumpus. "the further she carries us before giving up the ghost the less hard work we'll have to do. go it, you shirker, do your level best! if you could only drag us all the way up i'd beg your pardon for ever having even thought evil of you. here we go!" they started up the rise bravely enough, but speedily the engine began to make signs as of distress. "get ready to jump, everybody!" called out giraffe. "yes, that's easy for you to say," complained poor bumpus, "but think of me, won't you? how can i spring like a frog when she starts to go backward down the hill again? i'll do my best to roll out; only somebody grab hold, and don't let me get started rolling like a barrel after the car!" "oh! no danger," thad told them. "just as soon as she stops i'll jam on the brake and let her back off the road." "we're two-thirds of the way to the top anyhow!" cried giraffe, triumphantly. he had hardly spoken when the engine gave a last expiring puff, and thad immediately turned the car into the little ditch alongside the road. they had done this grand pushing act so often by this time that they had it all reduced to a system. two took hold on either side, and in this way the car was urged up the balance of the rise. with but a couple of stops, so as to catch their breath, the boys managed to reach the crown of the low hill. "worth all it took to get here, just to enjoy that grand view!" gasped allan. giraffe uttered a cry. "look down there to where the road crosses a river by a bridge!" he exclaimed. "why, there are lots of men in uniforms on the other side of the bridge, belgian soldiers as sure as anything!" cried allan. "they've got cannon, too," added bumpus, staring with distended eyes, "because you c'n see the glint in the sunlight. what d'ye suppose it all means, thad?" as usual he had to appeal to the patrol leader for an opinion. bumpus had never fully learned that a scout should try to figure out things for himself, and not be forever asking some one else for an explanation. but then it was so much easier doing things by proxy, and bumpus, as every one knew, hated to exert himself more than was absolutely necessary. "that bridge must be an important one, i should say," thad explained, "and the battery has had orders to guard it so that no german cavalrymen can cross." "and perhaps sooner or later there will be a fierce old fight take place right down there!" giraffe was saying, half to himself, and with a touch of envy in his voice, as though he felt sorry that he could not be upon that same hill so as to watch the battle below. "ought we to keep on and try to get across that bridge, thad?" asked allan. "it's a question whether the belgians would let us get close enough to tell who we are. they might open on us as soon as we came in sight," bumpus remarked, from which it might easily be seen what he hoped thad would do. "we're not going to have the chance to try and cross the bridge," remarked giraffe, "and if you want to know the reason why just look along the river road that joins this one down near the bridge." no sooner had the others done this than loud and excited exclamations told what a shock they had received. "that's what all the dust meant i noticed rising over those trees," said bumpus. "why, there comes a whole army of soldiers, and say, they've got field guns along with them, too, because you can see the horses dragging the same." "and do you notice the gray uniforms they are wearing?" giraffe demanded. "that shows who they are--the kaiser's men, as sure as anything. now there's going to be the dickens to pay. the river must be deep, and i reckon that same bridge is the only one around this section. the germans are bent on crossing over, and the belgians just as set that they shan't do the same. thad, you won't think of quitting this splendid view-place and losing the one chance we may ever have to see a real up-to-date battle?" thad did not answer immediately. he had a boy's curiosity as well as giraffe, and felt that it would be something to say they had actually witnessed a fierce fight between the rivals for belgian soil, the defenders and the invaders. "yes, we will stay a while," he finally said; "but first let's get the car turned around, and make sure it will work when called on. we may have to leave here in a big hurry, you understand." these little matters having been duly attended to they were in a position to observe all that was transpiring below. it was just like a grand panorama, or something that had been staged for a moving picture show. the german battery was advancing on a gallop now, as though the fact had been discovered that the bridge was guarded by the belgians. men could be seen using the whip on the steaming horses, already galloping wildly. the rumble of the wheels on the road came distinctly to the ears of the interested boys standing on the rise, and really not more than a mile or so from the scene. "there, the troops are coming on the double-quick, too!" announced giraffe. "you can't see the end of them yet, and i should think there must be thousands of soldiers in that bunch. it's going to be a hot old affair, believe me. mebbe the germans may carry the bridge, and again they might get more than they bargained for right there." evidences of considerable excitement could be seen among the defenders of the river bridge. men ran this way and that; perhaps ammunition was being placed handy, so that the guns could be quickly served, because time was a factor that would undoubtedly enter into the result. a delay of a few seconds was apt to count heavily for either side when fighting it out at such close quarters. of course all of the scouts were keenly interested. while neither thad nor allan felt just the same eagerness that giraffe displayed, at the same time they knew such an opportunity to see a wonderful and terrible spectacle would not be apt to come their way again in a hurry, and so they were satisfied to stay. as for bumpus, he was shivering, not with eagerness, but in anticipation of awful sights he expected to witness, once those guns started business. the florid look had left his round face, and it was now almost pallid, with his blue eyes round and expectant. amidst clouds of dust and more or less racket the german battery came dashing along. it broke through into a field as though all this had been figured out beforehand in the wonderful systematic way these teuton fighters did nearly everything they undertook. there the horses were detached from the guns and caissons and hurried away to a place of security. already a loud crash announced that the belgians were beginning hostilities, not meaning to wait until that host of grim gray-clad infantry reached the abutment of the bridge. the four boys watched and saw a shell burst close to one of the german batteries. it did not seem to do any damage, nor did the gunners show the least sign of any flinching, but went steadily about their work of loading. other shots began to roar out until there was a constant crash in the air almost deafening, and white powder smoke rose in billows, through which the watchers on the hilltop could actually discover flashes of flame when another gun was discharged. the battle for the bridge was now on in earnest. hurrying figures could be seen in every direction. the germans were evidently not fully satisfied with their first position for down came the horses again, and being attached to the guns the latter were whisked further up the rise where they could get a better chance to shell the chosen position of the belgian battery. it seemed to get more and more exciting every second. none of the boys said a single word; they were too intensely interested in looking; and besides, the riot of noise was now at its height, so that they would have had to shout in order to have made themselves heard, even close at hand. doubtless there had already been many casualties on both sides, with all that furious bombardment at close range; but the smoke hid much of this from the eyes of the spectators. thad was of the opinion the germans could not have known of the belgian battery at the bridge; he believed that had they been aware of it in all probability their battery would have taken up its stand on the crown of the hill where the four scouts stood, from which point they could have made it too warm for the belgians to remain there below. all at once thad realized that the infantry columns had been hurrying along the road and scattering through the fields near by. he caught glimpses of their number and was amazed when he saw they must be in the thousands. other batteries also began to show up back along the road. this was not a sporadic dash on the part of a mere detachment of the german force, but an advance of the main army, bent on getting around the stumbling block at liége. and to himself thad was saying: "they mean to take that bridge, no matter how many lives it costs them, for it is an important link in their general plans." giraffe was calling out something. it chanced that there was a little lull in the roar of guns, and they could hear what he was saying. it seemed to give the finishing thrill to the situation, as though the grand climax had been reached. "look! oh, see what they're meaning to do, fellows!" was what giraffe cried at the top of his shrill voice. "the order's been given to charge the bridge, and as sure as you live there they go with a rush!" and bumpus hurriedly put his hands before his eyes, though possibly peeping through between his fingers, impelled by some dreadful fascination. chapter xx. victory in defeat. through the clouds of powder smoke they could see that the germans were moving toward the bridge in solid ranks, shoulder to shoulder, in the favorite formation of the kaiser's troops, and one which gives them confidence to march straight into the jaws of certain death. other detached groups were hastening down to the bank of the river, apparently with the idea of swimming across in some fashion, so as to gather on the opposite shore, and take the hostile battery in the rear. it was all wonderfully exciting, and no boy could stand there gazing at such a stirring spectacle himself unmoved. so many things were happening all the time that as giraffe afterwards said, it was like "trying to see a three-ringed circus, where amazing feats were being enacted in all three rings at the same time." a fellow would have need of several pairs of eyes if he expected to lose nothing of all that went on. as the head of the attacking column drew nearer the bridge the belgian gunners stopped firing at the battery above. they turned their guns directly at the close ranks of the oncoming host. when thad actually saw a shell explode in the midst of that pack of gray-garbed men, and noted the terrible gap that followed he felt sick for the moment. he was, however, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight; it was so novel, so fascinating, and so dreadful that it held his gaze as the pole does the needle of a compass. there was not the slightest sign of a stop, even though other shells tore ugly gaps through the lines. to thad it almost seemed as though those men were parts of a vast machine which, having been set in motion, could not be stayed. one thing he noticed, and this was that the belgian battery was entirely unsupported. if ever the germans managed to push across the bridge they would easily smother the few gallant defenders of the highway to brussels. from this thad judged that the few belgians at the bridge must have their plans all arranged, and that when they found their cause hopeless there would be a sudden change of front. perhaps they would bring the horses forward, and try to save their field-pieces from capture. now some of those who had hurried to the edge of the water were wading in, holding their guns high above their heads. others ran up and down the bank looking for any kind of old boat that could be utilized in order to transport a few at a time across to the other side. there were still a considerable number who hastened along the bank toward the abutment of the bridge. the intention of these latter could not well be mistaken, for they meant to gain access to the structure, regardless of the success or failure of the general assault. suddenly in the midst of all this clamor a shadow fell athwart the four scouts standing on that rise, and staring downward. looking up they discovered an aeroplane, low down, and speeding swiftly toward the spot where that desperate fight for the possession of the bridge was taking place. thad instantly recognized another of those taube machines, so different in construction from all others that, once noticed, they could never again be mistaken. then it was a german aviator who served as pilot aboard that little buzzing craft. he should have covered the field before the soldiers came, and his report might have made a difference in the attack. as it was now he headed straight for the half-concealed belgian battery, as though it might be the intention of the man aloft to drop bombs on the gunners, and help to create a panic among them. somehow the boys found themselves compelled to follow the flight of the birdman as he swooped down and crossed the river. whether there was a bridge or not made no difference to him. he was as free to come and go as the swallow that on swift wing flashes past the house chimney of a summer evening. looking intently thad could even see when he raised his arm, and he knew the precise instant the bomb had been thrown. allowing his eyes to drop to the ground he saw a sudden burst of smoke and realized that that was where the deadly little missile had burst. still swinging around in a circle the birdman commenced hurling other menacing missiles. each time the result could be seen in the puff of smoke close to the belgian battery; but at that distance it was impossible for thad to make sure that any casualty followed those repeated thrusts. but now the head of the attacking german force had reached the bridge. fearful had been the price they paid for this advantage; but fresh men had closed up the gaps, so that they were just as densely packed as ever when they came to the end of the structure. a gun had been so placed that it commanded the length of the bridge. when it was fired there followed a shrinking of the whole front of the attacking force, as if it had been terribly smitten. that was just for a second, and then the red lane was closed by the gray flood, and the first hostile feet were set upon the bridge. undoubtedly the crisis was now at hand. thad fairly held his breath with anticipation with what was to come though he could not even give so much as a guess as to its nature. surely those valiant belgians must have prepared against such an eventuality as this, and would not be caught napping. there was no force in hiding that thad was able to discover, ready to burst into view, and grapple with the oncoming germans after they had gotten fully upon the bridge. ah! from above he saw the horses dashing madly to the spot! then the belgians meant to withdraw while there was still time. but it seemed incredible to thad that they should leave the bridge intact in the hands of the invaders. he quickly understood when, without the slightest warning, there came a mighty shock that made the very earth quiver, and the further end of the bridge was seen to vanish into space, accompanied with a rising cloud of smoke. they had blown up the bridge when realizing the futility of further resistance against the superior numbers of the germans. when the great cloud of smoke had cleared away sufficiently for the scouts to again see what was going on they found that the horses had been attached to such of the belgian guns as were in condition, and already the foremost was moving along the road leading directly away from the ruined bridge. a few of the soldiers who had crossed the river tried to take pot shots at the gunners who lay as flat as they possibly could while riding the horses, or holding on to the caissons. the battle was over, and, looking down at the ruins of the bridge, thad was of the opinion that it had ended in favor of the defenders. true they had been obliged to sacrifice the bridge in the end, but that mattered little since they had balked the design of the invaders to seize and use the crossing of the river. now much time must be wasted in building another bridge, or else in seeking a new way for crossing the river with their guns. as the smoke lifted further the boys could see what was going on. many must have been injured when the bridge was blown up, for there was great scurrying to and fro, with men bearing stretchers in evidence. bumpus had allowed his hands to fall from his eyes now, though he could be seen shaking his head after a sad fashion. plainly bumpus was stirred to the depths of his heart by the conviction that there must be scores of those who were terribly wounded down there, and who needed attention the worst kind. had thad only given the word that would have taken them to the aid of the suffering germans bumpus would have gladly responded, even though his knowledge of surgery was confined to the first elements of binding up a wound. but thad did not mean to attempt such a thing. he knew that soldiers would never permit inexperienced boys like they were to play the part of army hospital attendants. they were amply supplied with all the necessary means for saving life; and besides, soldiers are taught never to grumble no matter how long they have to wait after being shot down on the battlefield, before their chance comes for attention. those who had actually stemmed the current of the river only to find that their intended prey had escaped them were seen rushing about on the other bank. they may have been looking for wounded belgians to make prisoners; thad hoped it was not any desire to kill that animated them in the bitter hour of defeat. "gee! is there no end to the procession?" exclaimed giraffe, as he could still see countless numbers of the same gray-coated soldiers swarming out of the woods to the west, and coming on in serried ranks. "just to think of the nerve of that one little battery trying to hold a whole army corps in check!" declared allen. "it strikes me these belgians are the bravest of the brave, and mean to fight for their country to the last gasp." "do you know what i believe?" demanded giraffe, as though a sudden thought had come into his head. "tell us, please, giraffe," asked bumpus. "i wouldn't be a bit surprised if that battery we watched do all this fighting was the identical one i saw come into that town. you remember i told you about the chat i had with a young gunner who could talk united states? i hope now he isn't one of those who are lying across the river, where the german shells and bullets caught them." he glanced almost pityingly toward the place where the battery had been stationed, as though he had a personal interest in the gallant belgian gunner. thad was meanwhile watching the movements of those on the near side of the river. he could see how machine-like everything was carried on, the men with the stretchers coming to get their burdens, and then carrying them to the rear, where a temporary field hospital would undoubtedly be started. already a corps of engineers had come up, and men were seen out on the broken bridge, measuring the gap as though figuring on what would be required to mend the causeway so that the heavy artillery could move across, converging toward brussels. "they'll get across, all right, you can see," asserted allan, drawing a long breath, as though up to then he had been too fascinated to do more than gasp. "yes, but the belgians detained them," urged giraffe, "and that's their game, we understand. every hour that the kaiser can be held in belgium is life for france, because it gives time to get her men together. germany is the only country that has always been ready for such a thing as this. they expected to be in paris before the french woke up, and only for this delay nothing could have prevented them." "well, you wait till the britishers get over, and going good," said bumpus, with a wise nod of his head, "then you'll hear something drop." "yes," jeered giraffe, who was anti-british when he chose, and this was whenever he thought he could get up an argument with bumpus, "john bull will make a pretty loud crack when he falls, i should imagine. he'll find that these germans are a whole lot different from the boers or the kaffirs, or the arab slavers of africa." "oh, well!" said bumpus, "i'm coming to the conclusion that bravery isn't monopolized by any one nation on earth. look at the belgians for instance; could you beat the way they held that bridge till the last gasp and then blew the whole business sky-high with dynamite, and some germans with it?" thad had listened to what they were saying. he knew that it was no time for argument, for how could they tell but what some of those germans might come up the hill to see what sort of road it was, or else get a good view for miles around, and they would not want to be caught there. explanations might prove awkward, if the invaders chose to believe they had been giving the range by signal to the defenders of the bridge. "come, let's be getting away from here, boys," said thad. there was not a single objection, and rather white of face, as well as awed, the four scouts moved over to where the car stood awaiting them. a short time afterward they commenced to coast down the hill which only a little while back had been climbed with such painful penalties. and now that it was all over not one of them was sorry because of what he had witnessed that august morning. chapter xxi. the call for help. "giraffe, would you mind bending over and pinching me?" asked bumpus, sweetly, after they had been going on for a short time, leaving the watch-hill behind them, with all its dreadful memories. "sure i will, bumpus, as many times as you want me to. i'm the most accommodating fellow you ever knew, and i can give a nip equal to one of those dobsons we use for catching black bass in the good old summer time." giraffe evidently was as good as his word, for there was an immediate low screech from the fat chum. "hold on, giraffe, that's enough!" he hastened to exclaim. "you'll have me all black and blue if you keep that going. i'm sure of it now." "sure of what?" asked allan, chuckling, for this was not the first time he had seen this interesting little circus play come off between the two chums. "that i'm awake, and didn't just dream about that awful battle!" bumpus shuddered as though he had suddenly been taken with a chill that foretold a visitation of the ague or malaria. they knew from this that the sights he had recently witnessed must have made a tremendous impression on his mind, and would probably haunt him for many a long day. "i guess all of us feel pretty much the same way you do, bumpus," thad informed him. "we're sorry to have seen such sights, and yet glad at the same time. it was an opportunity that few american scouts could ever expect to have come their way. and if we could have done any good we'd have been only too glad of a chance to offer our services." "they'd have laughed at us if we'd risked it," asserted allan. "and like as not bundled us all into a dungeon for suspects," added giraffe, although he immediately added, "but say, did you ever see such dauntless bravery as those same germans showed when they marched straight up to that bridge, and every time a hole was torn in their ranks closed in as if on dress parade." "oh! i don't know," spoke up bumpus, "it struck me that handful of belgians showed the real stuff in the way of bravery, holding out with ten or twenty times their number against them. the german brand of courage seems to be different from some others i know of. they are parts of a big machine, and have to touch elbows when they fight." giraffe was up in arms at once, but thad poured oil on the troubled waters. "listen, giraffe," he said, "this is what bumpus means, and i've read the same thing more than once; even high german generals have admitted it. germans soldiers are not trained to take the initiative like our men and the french are. they are educated to obey orders as a unit, and a company of them will walk directly into the jaws of death with a courage that couldn't be beaten. but there's little of that hurrah and dash and single-handed work we're accustomed to associating with heroic actions." perhaps there was food for thought in what the scout leader said. giraffe may not have looked at matters in this light before. he became pensive as though revolving the theory over in his mind. then he broke the short silence by saying: "here's the fork of the road, thad, and we can make a start in the other direction. after all the longest way around is sometimes the quickest way to the fire. but for one i'm glad we took the other. i've seen a real battle, and that's talking some." there was good reason for thad to be thoughtful. troubles seemed to be multiplying as they proceeded. he was beginning to believe that young belgian gunner with whom giraffe had talked must have known what he was saying when he declared they had but one chance in three to get through the country that seemed to be a network of war trails, with hostile forces moving in every direction. secretly thad was rapidly coming to the conclusion that they would show their wisdom by turning back and making for the dutch border again. once in holland they could take a train for rotterdam, and in some way secure a passage to antwerp. the more he considered this the better it looked to him. he was even sorry now he had not insisted on such a course at the time they were across the border. in fact he had given up mostly on account of the plea advanced by bumpus, who after all was a poor one to make suggestions. so thad determined that should they meet with another backset, he was bound to put the matter before his chums in its true light. he knew he could count on the support of allan, and also that giraffe was open to conviction, even if a little set in his way. for a few miles the car moved along the second road fairly well, though thad was chagrined to find that he could not speed it up at all. "what ails the old shebang, thad?" demanded giraffe, impatiently, when it crawled along with sundry groanings and complainings. "it's tired out, and creaks in the joints, don't you know," said bumpus, with one of his old-time grins. "but shucks! we're on level ground right now, and she ought to spin along like fun!" mentioned giraffe, with a snort of disgust. "why, honest, i could keep out of your way walking, and never feel it. talk to me about an ice-wagon, this goes it one better. it's like those harvester engines we see creeping along the country roads up our way, slow but sure." "what do you figure can be the matter, thad?" asked allan. "i'm in a fog," came the reply. "the only thing i can think of is that some of that petrol we bought at double price is mighty poor stuff." "you mean it's been weakened to make it seem more," said giraffe. "i didn't know oil and water could be mixed, but mebbe these smart belgians have found a way to do it. and thad, now that you mention it i reckon you've about hit the right nail on the head." "well, there's nothing to be done," ventured allan; "so we'll have to grin and bear it. but let's hope we'll strike a chance before long to buy a new lot of gas, and this time get a decent quality with push in it." "yes," added giraffe, "just now it looks as if we had need of all the push going; in fact i was going to offer to step out and put my shoulder against the car to help along." "oh, you'll get all that pleasure right away," bumpus told him, "because i can glimpse another of those rises ahead there, and we'll never make a third of it under this low pressure, worse luck." just as he had prophesied they were compelled to work their passage to the top of the rise, though coasting down the other side with a fine burst of speed. about a mile beyond this point thad was noticed to listen attentively, and immediately work the car over to one side of the road. "something coming!" announced giraffe, "and listen to the row, will you? makes me think of a fire engine going on the run. but it's an automobile at that, believe me. give 'em all the room you can, thad, because, my word! they're coming to beat the band." already they could see the dust rising above the trees, and all sorts of vague speculations took form in the minds of the boys. then suddenly there burst into view a strange contraption, the like of which none of them had ever seen before. in one way it was a large car, but it had been boxed in with some sort of metal, so that it looked like a "battering ram," as giraffe declared afterwards. rushing at a rapid pace along the road it quickly reached the car and sped past. the staring scouts heard loud voices, and even saw waving hands over the top of the barricade. then it was lost to view in the cloud of dust. "whew! that's going some!" gasped giraffe. bumpus was coughing from the dust he had inhaled, but he managed to give expression to his astonishment in a few jerky sentences: "oh! whatever was that! i thought a goods van had skipped off the railroad track and was raging along the road. thad, can you guess it? please enlighten me. schew!" and he ended up in a tremendous sneeze. "yes, i think i know, though i never saw anything like it before," thad obligingly told him. "i remember reading that some belgian had been experimenting with what he called an armored motor-car, and which it was claimed would be a terror in war times. i think that must have been it." "well," admitted giraffe, scratching his head, "it was all of that, let me tell you. and thad, there was a hole in the armor plating on our side. that must be where they use the quick-firing gun that mows things down, just as the farmer cuts the wheat with his machine." "if that war engine struck a regiment of the enemy it would make holes in their ranks, all right," allan remarked, with a shake of his head. "i'm glad i saw it," ventured bumpus, "but they're sure a reckless lot aboard, from the way they rushed along this road." "it takes that sort of men to use an armored car, i should think," said thad. "they expect to drop down on the enemy wherever they can find him, and never stop to count heads, but just run the gantlet, firing as they go. if they're lucky, and get through without an accident, they go back home laughing over a good day's hunt." "this war is bound to show up some queer freaks," remarked allan. "now, d'ye know that armored car makes me think of the war chariots the ancient romans used, with sharp knives fastened to the wheels, and as they dashed through the crowded ranks of the goths and vandals these mowed them down. this scheme is only a little more up to date, that's all." "nothing new under the sun, when you come to look into things," declared bumpus. "this mad pace gives me a shiver," said giraffe. "as i didn't sleep good last night i think i'll cuddle down right here, and take a few winks. if anything exciting comes along just give me a jolt, will you, bumpus?" "it's more than likely to be a hill," was the reassuring answer returned by the stout chum. "all i'm hoping for now is that we strike a village pretty soon, where we can find some decent petrol for sale, and load up." "huh! one word for the petrol and two for your dinner," chuckled giraffe. "now, don't say anything more to me, bumpus, because i'm booked for a nap. the warm sunshine, the drone of the bees, the grunting of our elegant car, and a lot of other things combined make me feel _aw_-fully drowsy." he was really meaning it, too, for he had closed his eyes, and seemed about ready to let his senses slip away. bumpus looked down at him as though he might not object to a little of the same sweet slumber himself. with thad and allan on guard there could be no harm in giving way to this feeling. and should they come to one of those nuisances in the way of rises, which would stall the engine, of course all of them stood ready to drop out and do their duty. but it was not to be. they happened to be passing a small cottage just then. it sat back from the road, and there were flowers in the front yard, yes, and a well also. thad was almost tempted to stop and ask for a drink, but he thought better of it. further on, when they came to a town, and made an effort to secure a supply of petrol it would be time enough to think of quenching their thirst, aggravated by the dust they were forced to breathe most of the time. and it was at that instant they heard wild shrieks ring out, in a woman's voice. looking toward the cottage and half expecting to see it in flames they discovered a woman at the well. she was wringing her hands frantically, now leaning over to peer into the depths, and then rocking to and fro as if in the very abandon of grief over something. thad stopped the car instantly. both giraffe and bumpus were on their feet, and staring with might and main at the spot. "oh! whatever has happened?" the latter was exclaiming in horrified tones. "she acts like a child had fallen down the well!" chapter xxii. up from the depths. that must have been the thought flashing through the mind of each of the other three scouts. indeed, what else could they believe, after seeing the woman carrying on in such a wild way? giraffe made a flying leap out of the car, nor were the others far behind him. they all ran toward the cottage, and the kneeling woman, deeply impressed with the seriousness of the incident. their duty as scouts loomed up before them. unless it was already too late they must find some way to save the poor woman's child from a watery grave. giraffe was trying to understand what she was crying as the others came up, although from the frown on his face it was evident that he could not be meeting with any great success. "his name is benjy, boys," the tall scout exclaimed, "and he's down there in the well!" "oh! the poor little chap!" whimpered bumpus, as he watched the others throw themselves flat on their stomachs, and try to peer into the dark recesses of the gaping stone-bordered hole in the ground. "listen!" said thad, in a thrilling voice. "i can hear splashing down there!" "sure thing!" added giraffe, "which shows the child is alive still. that settles it with me. i'm the one to go down!" thad had already discovered that there was a windlass above the well. a stout rope was wound around the barrel of this, and the bucket could be seen standing on the other side on a stone shelf intended for the purpose. he knew that whatever was done there should be no more delay than was absolutely necessary. his first act therefore was to step around and release the bucket, at the same time grasping hold of the handle of the windlass. "put your feet on the bucket and hold on, giraffe," he told the adventurous one. "when you get down close to the water give one call. to lower a little more give two; and when you're ready to come up make it three. understand that?" "all right, thad; lower away!" bumpus was also peering over the edge into those mysterious depths. the woman was beside him, still wringing her hands in nervous anguish, and repeating that word "benjy" until it was so impressed on the memory of bumpus that he could never forget it. immediately giraffe disappeared from view, and all they could hear consisted of the creaking of the windlass, as thad lowered away, and the hysterical wailing of the woman belonging at the cottage. a dozen and more times had the handle gone around and thad began to wonder how deep that well could be. then suddenly he heard a cry. it welled up from the depths and sounded very weird, but thad knew this must be the signal he had arranged with giraffe, to indicate that the latter was close to the water. immediately there came two more calls, which meant that giraffe wished to be lowered a little further; thad accordingly allowed another turn of the handle, so as to release several more feet of the rope. a single cry announced that this was enough; and then a brief period of great suspense followed. they heard the dripping of water, accompanied by more or less splashing. "oh! i hope he hasn't fallen in himself!" bumpus was heard to say, with a long breath, as his overwrought feelings almost overpowered him. then came three calls. that was the signal for those above to draw up. allan was already at thad's side, and ready to bend the power of his young muscles to assist in the task, and together they made that windlass creak at a lively rate as they worked. bumpus was on his knees now. he acted as though a new fear oppressed his heart. what if the strain proved too great, and the rope parted--giraffe must be hurled back into the depths, and a tragedy would be presented to them. it was with the liveliest possible feeling of gratitude that bumpus finally saw the beloved face of his chum appear in view above the stone coping of the well. he was also struck with the fact that giraffe seemed to be grinning instead of having a serious expression on his thin countenance. allan put out a hand and assisted him to effect a landing on solid ground. meanwhile the woman had set up a renewal of her half shrieks bumpus could easily guess why this should be, for look as he might he could see no sign of a child! "where's poor little benjy, giraffe?" the fat scout demanded, half indignantly, for he could not understand what it all meant. then what did giraffe do but thrust a hand into the bosom of his splashed khaki coat and draw out the queerest _puppy_ bumpus had ever seen. he stared at the water-soaked little beast as though he thought he might be looking at something unreal. allan burst out into a shout, while the woman with a shriek of delight snatched little benjy from the hands of the one who had saved him, and kissed his doggy mouth again and again. giraffe stood there with that grin spreading across his face. he looked down at his wet feet and leggings. "think of me taking all that trouble for a fike not much bigger'n a postage stamp?" he presently exclaimed. "i guess the joke's on me this time, boys, so laugh all you're a mind to. i'm wet up to my knees, all right; but i got dear little benjy, didn't i?" thad clapped him on the shoulder. "after all there's not so much to laugh about, giraffe," he said, soberly. "we all thought benjy was a child, and you risked your life to save him. the motive is what counts every time; and i'm sure you did what any scout would be proud to own to; but we're glad it wasn't a child after all, for it would have been drowned." "i guess you're about right there, thad," the other admitted, "for you see the puppy could swim, which is what a child couldn't do. let's be going on again, fellows." "i thought i was thirsty," said bumpus, "but i guess i can wait till we come to a well that isn't used for a swimming tank by dogs." the woman seeing them moving off tried to thank them for having saved her little pet. of course not being able to talk french the boys could not understand just what she said, though they caught the meaning, and nodded their heads accordingly. once they were going they found occasion to laugh again and again as different remarks were made concerning features connected with the adventure. giraffe laughed louder than any one else. he said he no longer felt sleepy, and that he believed it would be better for him to sit with his feet in the sun so as to dry off. half an hour afterwards it was found that they were once more approaching what seemed to be a bridge. remembering the tragic occurrences that had taken place at that other crossing of the river the boys naturally felt more or less anxiety as to what they might run across here. "it's guarded, as sure as anything," said giraffe, who had stretched his long neck in order to give those keen eyes of his a better chance to see. "yes, and by belgian soldiers in the bargain, sure pop. i can tell by their uniforms." "i hope they won't think of stopping us from crossing," said bumpus. as they drew nearer to the bridge they saw several men in blue uniforms, and wearing high-peaked hats, holding their guns in a significant manner as though giving plain warning that access to the bridge was forbidden. thad felt from this that they were doomed to meet with a disappointment. he stopped the car close to the guard. to the surprise of the boys one of the soldiers, evidently guessing their nationality from the little flags which they still wore fastened to their coats, addressed them in very good english. "it is not possible for you to cross the bridge!" was what he said. "we are hoping to reach antwerp, where this boy has a sick mother who needs him," thad explained, laying a hand on bumpus's shoulder as he spoke. the soldier shook his head in the negative. "no car can cross the bridge after this; it would not be safe, and would spoil all our plans for a trap," he went on to say. "but couldn't you make an exception in our case?" asked bumpus, trying to throw all the pathos possible into his voice. again the soldier shook his head. "it is impossible," he said, in a manner that would admit of no further argument. "you must turn and follow the river road to the west. there is another small bridge six miles that way, not strong enough for guns to be moved over, but you might get across. i hope you reach antwerp safely." "we happened to see the fight at the other bridge, and watched when it was in the end blown up," giraffe ventured to say, at which the other's face lighted up and just as giraffe knew would be the case he cried out: "tell us what happened there, for we have been wondering what all the sounds of fighting in that direction meant. but we have had no word up to now." accordingly thad, assisted by the others at intervals, related some of the stirring sights they had seen while on the watch-hill a mile or more distant from the battlefield at the bridge. the three belgians listened eagerly, and while two of the guard might not fully understand what was said, they caught enough to feel that their comrades had won new honor by their gallant defense of the bridge, and its ultimate destruction when defense was no longer possible. "thank you very much for giving us such splendid news," said the soldier who spoke english, as he thrust out a hand to thad; "and in return i may let you into a secret that will explain why you cannot cross here. this bridge had been weakened so that it is apt to fall when any weight is put on it. even your car might be sufficient to bring about the catastrophe. we are hoping it will go down with the first detachment of raiding uhlans that comes this way. our duty is to fire on them and get them to charge. if twenty go down with the bridge so much the better." of course thad realized that all thought of crossing there must be abandoned. he saw that a road ran along the river, and by taking this they would after a bit come to the small bridge which was recommended for their notice. so the boys started, making up their minds that, as giraffe said, "you never know what's best for you; and after all our going this way may turn out to be just splendid." "if it'd only throw us in the way of getting a new supply of petrol i'd ask nothing better," remarked allan. "it's getting pretty near high noon too, don't forget," said bumpus, significantly; "and human beings have to be fed as well as cranky old engines. i ought to have asked that accommodating fellow whether there was any village on the bank of the river down this way. seems to me there must be. anyhow we could try every house we struck, and see if some lady wouldn't get us up a dinner for ready cash." "one thing i think we might do," suggested thad; "that's lay in something at the very next chance. i mean food to cook, together with several pans, and a pot to boil coffee in. then we'd feel independent of any inn; and if overtaken by night could get on fairly well." bumpus expressed delight at the idea. "i think it's a great scheme, thad!" he declared, with beaming face; "and really i'm surprised that none of us have thought of that dodge before. we've got plenty of room aboard the old machine to stow things; and for my part it's going to bring up heaps of happy memories of by-gone days and nights, when we've sat around a jolly camp fire with our mates." "then that settles it," decided the scout leader. "and, thad," called out giraffe, after one of his observations, "unless all signs are wrong we're going to have a chance to get some dinner, and p'r'aps lay in all those stores, because there's a village ahead of us." "that eagle eye of yours is correct as usual, giraffe," said allan, after taking a look for himself. chapter xxiii. "a tempest in a teapot." bumpus seemed to scent more trouble ahead. "now i certainly do hope we'll be able to get what we want here at this place," he went on to remark, dubiously. "so few of these belgians in this section of the country understand plain united states as she is spoken. we'll have to make use of signs to bargain with them for our grub." thereupon bumpus began to practice what he imagined was a good idea for showing he was hungry, and wanted to buy food. he rubbed his stomach, sighed heavily, then pointed to his open mouth and champed his jaws vigorously, after which he smiled sweetly, and, with a nod of his head, held up a franc. "oh! you'll be able to satisfy anybody going that your proper place is in an asylum, bumpus, if you carry on that way," jeered giraffe; "you leave it all to thad and allan and me. we have the goods, and can deliver them. they're all wool and a yard wide, let me tell you, too." so the car entered the village, and pulled up in the most likely place the pilot could see. this was where there seemed to be some sort of open-air market, with all manner of things good to eat exposed for sale. their coming of course excited considerable interest. people began to cluster around the car as soon as it stopped. curious eyes observed the inmates, with their natty khaki uniforms. of course there were few among them but who realized that these lads must be boy scouts, but they seemed to understand immediately that they were not of the belgian type. the boys jumped out and started to try and find some one who could understand what they desired to do. bumpus alone was left sitting there in the car, and he amused himself looking around. when he thought his chums were well out of sight he concluded to try his little scheme; so taking a coin from his pocket he held it up and began his grotesque motions. at first the crowd seemed to watch him in wonder. then they began to say things among themselves, and smile. after that some of the half-grown boys laughed rudely, and began to mimic poor bumpus. this humiliated him so that he stopped his show, realizing that they were beginning to look on him as some sort of circus performer, perhaps a hokus-pokus medicine fakir on his travels, and trying to gather a crowd around before opening his box of goods for sale. meanwhile the other boys were trying to find some one who could talk english, in order to engage a midday meal, and later on purchase what supplies they needed. thad noticed almost immediately that there was a scarcity of able-bodied men in the river village. he knew the reason, because every one capable of bearing arms had been hurried to the front to try and resist the invaders. women, old men, cripples, and children of all sizes made up the population of the place, and thad really believed the entire village must have come out of doors to size up the strangers within their gates. although at the time he did not imagine any harm could come of their separating, thad afterwards wished he had insisted on the other two keeping with him. if that had been done possibly they would have been saved from more or less inconvenience, not to use a harsher term. the patrol leader had just managed to locate what looked like a sort of tavern where possibly they could make arrangements for a dinner, if they waited until it could be prepared, when he saw part of the crowd heaving in a strange way. at the same time loud angry voices began to reach his ears. allan was hurrying towards him from another direction, as though he too had noticed the upheaval and considered it best that they consolidate their forces. "it must be giraffe who's gone and gotten himself into trouble some way or other," allan was saying hurriedly as he joined thad. "we'll soon know," added the other, "because they're pushing this way now. yes, and there's giraffe in the lead too. see him brush off the hands of those women and boys. they look excited enough to tear him to pieces! this is a bad job, i'm afraid." "what can have happened to cause it?" said allan, glancing back uneasily toward the car, and finding that it was near at hand, with the alarmed bumpus already standing up to observe what was going on. "i'm afraid," said thad, hurriedly, "giraffe has been unwise enough in trying to make himself understood to air his german, and that's made these people suspect we may be spies sent on ahead of the army to get the lay of the land, and learn where they're hiding all their valuables and wine." in another minute giraffe came hurrying up. he was looking disturbed, and a little white of face, though his teeth were clenched, and there was an ominous glitter in his eyes. "what's all the row about, giraffe?" asked thad, though he had to speak much louder than ordinary on account of the noise made by the increasing mob. boys were whooping, women shrieking and chattering as they shook their fists toward the four strangers, and taken in all the prospect was decidedly stormy. no wonder bumpus was rubbing his chubby hands together, and staring with open mouth at the "tempest in a teapot." "i don't know what ails the sillies!" cried giraffe, indignantly. "i was trying my best to make them understand that we wanted a dinner and to buy some food. one fellow turned around and shouted something to the others. then they began to flock about me like people at a county fair do when the snake-charmer comes out of the side-show to give an exhibition with her scaly pets. say, they even tried to lay hands on me but i shook 'em off!" "look here," said thad, sternly, "did you try any of your german on them?" demanded thad. giraffe wilted at once. "why, yes, i own up i did, thad!" he confessed. "you see i thought some of them might be able to understand the language, and i bet you they do too; but whee! they acted mad at me. i never thought my german was as rank as that." "don't you understand that german is in bad favor through belgium just now? those who do speak it are trying to forget all they know. when strangers drop into a belgian village and talk it, with the kaiser's army only a few miles away, it's only natural they suspect us. now i've got to try like everything to set things right." so saying thad turned to the shouting crowd, and held up his hand. somehow there was something about the boy to inspire confidence. the yelling and jeering gradually died down. several old men cowed the boys and the women. possibly they told them to give the stranger a chance to explain. "is there any one here who talks english?" called out thad. at that an old man pushed his way forward through the crowd. judging from the deference shown him by the others he must be a person of considerable importance in this humble little village on the river. "i do, young m'sieu," he said. "i lived in london some years, and learned the language. what is it you desire to say?" thad smiled. he knew now he would be able to convince these good people that far from being german spies or even sympathizers, he and his chums were deeply concerned over the threatened fate of poor little belgium, in danger of being made the battleground for warring neighbors. "we are american boy scouts," he started to say. "we have been traveling through the country, and had just made a trip down the rhine when we heard that war had broken out. one of my friends has a sick mother in antwerp. we are trying our best to make our way to her. we bought this old car to help us along. when we get to our journey's end we expect to turn it over to the authorities, if they can make any use of it." "but why does this young m'sieu speak the hated language?" asked the old man, looking straight at giraffe. "he learned it in school, and thought some one might be able to understand him," continued the scout leader. "he was asking where we could buy some dinner, and then a few supplies afterwards. that is all. it was not wise for him to expose his knowledge of german, but the very fact that he did so proves he meant no wrong. see, we have our passports to prove who we are." the old man came closer, to look the documents over. thad just then felt glad to remember that he had concealed in the lining of his hat the paper given him by the german aviator whose life they had saved. it might have been very unpleasant for the boys had this been found on his person. besides the passports thad exhibited several letters he had received from across the water since coming abroad. allan and giraffe also contributed their quota to this display. it really had more influence on the old villager than the official documents, which might be false after all, but he knew those stamps and post-marks must be the genuine thing. the old man turned and talked to the crowd. evidently what he said impressed the assemblage, for their angry looks gave way to others of a more genial nature, though some of the half-grown boys continued to get their heads together, and confer mysteriously, as they looked at the car with bumpus in it. "here is the proprietor of the inn," said their friend, the old villager, who had once worked at his trade in the great city across the channel. "he has promised to supply you with dinner in half an hour. if you wish to buy anything you are at liberty to do so. but i would not leave the car alone, for something might happen to it." thad told giraffe to get in along with bumpus while he and allan made what purchases they had in mind. as fast as these were secured, which was only after more or less argument in the deaf and dumb alphabet, the boys carried the things to the car and stowed them away. bumpus saw that in the end they were well supplied with enough food to last several meals, as well as a tin pail in which they could boil coffee. as the half hour was now about up they took the car into the inn-yard, and thad meant to keep an eye on it if possible while they ate their dinner. this was rendered possible because he sat where he could look out of an open window; but after all nothing out of the way happened. the boys noticed that there had been a bridge at this place, but it seemed to have been destroyed by some flood, for a new one was under construction, though only partly built, and of no use at that time. this of course necessitated their going further along the river road until they arrived at the small bridge of which they had been told by the belgian soldiers some time before. there was no fault to be found with their meal. even bumpus admitted that it tasted good, and was in abundance. so the four scouts arose with a feeling of satisfaction, and thad settled the account. it is not a very hard matter to pay bills, even when two parties are unable to speak each other's language, for signs and the sight of money go a long way toward settlement. as they passed out thad saw their old friend beckoning to him. "get in the car, fellows, and i'll join you as soon as i've had a few words with the old chap, and thanked him heartily for his friendly act," said the leader. a few minutes afterwards he came hurrying toward them, and when giraffe saw the way thad's brows were knitted he knew some new trouble was in store for them. "what's coming next, thad?" he asked, and if any one had taken the pains to look beneath the surface they might have found an undercurrent of satisfaction in the tones of the tall scout. "our good old friend has warned me that a parcel of the rougher boys of the village have started out, meaning to waylay us, and take our car away. he says they've got an idea we've no business riding around when their military authorities need every sort of motor car they can get. and that's how the land lies, boys!" chapter xxiv. the ambuscade. "well, here's a nice kettle of fish!" burst out bumpus, fixing his eyes on the scout leader, as though mentally asking what thad meant to do. the actions of giraffe spoke louder than words could have done. with a really wicked grin he reached down and took something in his hand which it seemed he had stowed away in the body of the car. it was a club almost the size of a baseball bat, one of those home-run kind boys talk about, and call "the old wagon-tongue." "say, i had a sort of hunch this would come in handy sooner or later, and now i know it!" giraffe muttered, with a shake of his head. "but what do you suppose this means, thad?" asked allan, with a puzzled look on his face. "i always understood these belgian boys were well-behaved chaps, and the last ones in the world to do a thing like this. if we were in some town across in our own country it wouldn't seem so strange." "stop and think for a minute what's happening here in belgium this very day," said thad. "a million germans have overrun the country, and every belgian capable of bearing arms is hurrying to the battle line. of course the boys are worked up to fever heat. you all saw how they acted when that mob surrounded us. they're not the same well-behaved boys they were two weeks ago. the excitement has settled in their brains." "but, thad, that doesn't mean we've got to hand them over the old car, does it?" asked bumpus. "certainly not," he was assured. "will we have to turn back again so as to keep from having a row?" continued the fat scout, anxiously. "well, i should hope not," burst out giraffe, angrily. "i'd be willing to turn back before the majesty of the whole german army, but i'll be hanged if i want to knuckle down to a pack of kids. if you ask my opinion there it is, straight goods!" "there's another thing," said thad, "that i think has had some influence on these boys, or given them the idea of holding us up." he pointed to a fence across from the inn-yard. it had some gaudy bills pasted on it, which apparently none of the others had noticed before, though taught to use their eyes as scouts on every occasion. "why, those look mighty familiar!" said bumpus. "what's this?" cried giraffe. "a regular american wild west show over here in belgium, raking in the coin this last summer? thad, if that gave an exhibition here, or anywhere close by, i can understand what you mean. the kids must have been practicing throwing the rope, and holding up stages ever since. yes, by george! that's where they get this idea from, as sure as anything." "after all, the world is getting smaller all the time," remarked allan, "when you can find such pictures as those thousands of miles away from home. before long it may be all japan, china and india will be looking at our cowboys perform, and the indians hold up stage coaches." "oh! they do that already," thad told him; "for the moving pictures are being shown all around the world. but i've got an idea. wait here for me, fellows." with that the scout leader hurried away, leaving the trio to talk matters over, and trying to guess what he had in view. a short time later thad reappeared, with a little package in his hand. "i just happened to notice some whips for sale at a store in the place," he explained, "and i've bought several. if we're forced to we'll use them on those boys the best we know how. the old man told me they were the bad lot of the village, so you see they do have them even over in belgium." "how that takes me back to dear old cranford," sighed bumpus, "where we used to have all manner of times with brose griffin and his cronies, eli bangs and walt hopkins. so they have a rowdy element here too, do they? thad, i hope you didn't forget me when laying in that stock of cowhides?" "three covered the entire stock they had," the other told him; "and so giraffe will have to depend on that club of his; only i hope he uses it carefully. it's big and heavy enough to floor anybody." giraffe nodded, and smiled. "oh! i'll be on the watch not to knock the poor chaps silly, if they take warning, and clear out," he remarked, as he hid the article in question away, but in a place where it could be quickly seized. it was in anything but a pleasant humor that thad prepared to leave the village where they had been hospitably entertained, after that first little misunderstanding. he did not like this idea of meeting the attack of the belgian boys with violence, but there seemed to be no other way, for the old man had declined to ride out with them, saying that he did not wish to be connected at all with the matter, and considered his duty done in giving them due warning. thad was really under the impression that he would not be sorry if the boys received some sort of drubbing to pay them for their audacity in treating strangers in the way they intended. there was no choice about the route; it was necessary that they go up or down the river, since no other road led away from the place. of course across the river there was one they would have been glad to have taken, only with the bridge gone it was not possible to get the car over. "somebody waving his hand to us, thad, over there at that cottage window," observed the watchful giraffe. "i think it must be our old friend," said thad, as he made haste to answer the signal. "yes, i can see his face now, and his gray beard." they passed out of the village, with the people simply looking after them, for all signs of resentment had apparently died out. these good folks had too many serious troubles of their own to think of hunting up new ones. "i wonder how far we'll get before they jump out at us?" that was bumpus trying to secure an opinion. it was one of his ways of fishing for what he called "a rise." and as usual giraffe hastened to accommodate him. "oh! not far, you can depend on it, bumpus," he said, "because they haven't been gone long, and would have to tramp it. i reckon now they'd just want to get say half a mile or so outside the place, so the racket they kick up won't reach the ears of their folks here." "undo the package, allan," said thad, with a business-like air. this being done disclosed three stout whips of the type often spoken of as "cowhides." bumpus immediately took possession of one, and seemed to be as tickled as a child with a new toy. "they're just prime stuff, thad," he asserted. "course i've never dusted any fellow's jacket with such a thing, and i don't hanker after the job now; but what has to be can't be helped. i'll promise you to do my level best to sting their legs, for that's the best way, i take it." giraffe looked at the whips rather enviously. possibly he almost felt sorry he had displayed that ferocious club so hastily; only for that he might have been given one of the cowhides to manipulate, instead of bumpus. they had by this time left the village behind them. the river lay on their left, and the further bank was not very far away. thad was watching the road in advance, as though mentally figuring on where they would run across the ambuscade planned by these bellicose belgian boys. "there's some sort of a turn i can see up yonder, thad," ventured giraffe, with his neck stretched in his favorite manner when sighting things, and which peculiarity had given him his queer nick-name. "yes, it's a bend, all right," added allan. "just around a place like that would offer a fine chance to jump out on us, i'd think," suggested giraffe. he was bending down while speaking, and taking hold of his cudgel as though intending to be ready when the call to duty came. "listen," said thad, impressively. "i'll stop the car the very second they come in sight. the chances are they'll have the road blocked in some way, so as to prevent our getting past. then when i give the word everybody get out in a hurry, and meet their rush with the liveliest business you know how." "he didn't say how many there were in this bunch, did he, thad?" asked bumpus. "no, and i forgot to ask him," came the reply. "that's the way with scouts always," said giraffe, pompously. "when danger comes along a scout shouldn't say, 'how many are there of the enemy,' but just shout out, 'where are they, so i can get busy?'" "half a dozen or ten, it doesn't matter," said allan, "we're primed to scatter them like chaff before the wind. remember they are bringing all this trouble down on their own silly heads. it isn't any of our choosing." it was in this resolute spirit then that they approached the bend in the river road, around which they fully expected to find trouble lurking. bumpus was so tremendously excited that he actually seemed to be holding his breath. his blue eyes were round, and staring at that curve in the road now dreadfully near; and if the hand that gripped that tough cowhide trembled it was from nervous tension, not fear. apparently all was calm and peaceful about that spot. not a single sign of anything unusual could the four scouts detect as they came close to the bend. doubtless watchful eyes had noted their coming, and the news had been duly conveyed to those who were in hiding, so that they would know when to commence operations. now the car had reached the turn and was commencing to negotiate it. whatever was in store for the chums it could not be longer delayed. still, so far as they could see after swinging around the curve, the road was perfectly clear of all manner of obstacles, which fact rather surprised giraffe, who had evidently anticipated discovering a log thrown in such a way as to completely barricade the thoroughfare. "why, they don't seem to be here after all, thad!" he exclaimed. giraffe spoke just a second too soon. in fact hardly had the last word left his lips when there was something doing just ahead of them. a shrill whistle sounded, and at that the bushes on both sides of the road seemed to be alive with leaping figures. some seven or eight boys had been concealed there, and now hurried out on the road. some of them carried branches, others stones, and still more hastened to throw a half-rotten log across the road, effectually blocking it for the passage of a vehicle, especially a car. thad was ready for just this sort of thing. he instantly shut off the power and there was no trouble whatever in coaxing the car to come to a complete standstill--there never was any complaint along this score, all the anxiety being in the other direction. immediately the belgian boys rushed to surround the car. their actions were very threatening, for they shouted, and waved their arms, and several even had sticks with which they cut the air venomously. perhaps they expected that the four boys in khaki would just naturally throw up their hands in the same way the actors in the american show had done when the road-agents were robbing the stage coach. it was a mistake, and those belgian lads discovered this for themselves before five more seconds had passed. instead of displaying a willingness to yield without any struggle the strangers immediately started in to "rough house" it in the most approved fashion. "go for 'em!" shouted giraffe, as he made a leap over the side of the car, just as furiously as he had many a time in the past accomplished a "flying tackle" in battling for his school colors on the gridiron. the others were not far behind him, even clumsy bumpus displaying unwonted agility in bouncing out of the car, rawhide in hand. chapter xxv. the scouts' camp fire. it was certainly pretty lively while it lasted. giraffe, who liked excitement must have felt quite in his element when turning the tables on those plotting belgian boys who had figured in taking their car away from them, so as to offer it to the government, just then so sadly in need of transportation facilities. however laudable their ambition may have been thad and his three friends were determined that they would block the game. with this purpose in view they commenced to spring a pretty surprise on their assailants. the three who wielded the whips started to flay the legs of the ambushing force, and immediately the shouts that had been intended to intimidate the scouts began to change their tune and become yells. giraffe, too, was swinging that club with his old-time vigor. true, he had no particular animosity against these native boys who thought they were only doing a patriotic duty; but giraffe believed he had a right to fight for his property, and he claimed a quarter interest in that car, miserable affair though it was. had the belgian boys been equipped with the same type of weapons as thad and his chums it might have been a longer battle, for they would probably given as good as they took. since the advantage was all on one side, save in numbers, the end was a foregone conclusion. some of the astonished boys started to run, then came back and took a second generous dose, before concluding that the game was up. a signal was finally given which must have been the recall, for immediately the wielders of the whips and the club found their occupation gone, since their adversaries had retreated in hot haste. thad saw that they darted into the brush, and suspected their main object was to secure some sort of fighting material for themselves, after which they would likely return to the attack. he did not want any more of that rough and tumble sort of scramble if it could be avoided; and a quick "getaway" was the one thing needful in such a case. "clear the road!" he called out, suiting his actions to his words by jumping forward to seize hold of the log, which with a few adroit turns he sent spinning into the ditch. the others hastened to do their share, and in less time than it takes to tell it a passage had been made through the barricade. "that's enough!" called thad, giving his orders with the precision of a military commander; "now get aboard, for we're going to start off!" bumpus had been expecting something like this. knowing his faculty for lagging he was already "legging" it for the car when thad spoke. thus he managed to clamber aboard in good time, and fall on his knees inside the tonneau of the car. giraffe came flying after him, landing almost on his back; but a little thing like that was not to be noticed when the main object had been accomplished. they had managed to get rid of their tormentors for the time being, and this gave thad a chance to start the engine. there was fortunately no need of cranking, and hardly had allan clutched hold of the car to swing himself aboard when it was moving off. "duck your heads, everybody; they're going to bombard us with stones!" shouted giraffe, as a missile struck the back of the car with a bang. several came aboard, and one by some freak of fortune took bumpus square in the back, causing him to give a loud grunt, though he declared it was nothing to bother about. the fusillade continued until the car, increasing its momentum, managed to draw so far away that the stones fell short. when this became a certainty giraffe, looking back, told them the belgian boys had given up the pursuit. "ha! guess that was a case of the biter bitten!" said giraffe, assuming all the airs of a victor expecting to be crowned with the laurel wreath; although if the question had been actually put to him he must have admitted that three other fellows had also had a "finger in the pie." "we got out of the scrape better than i thought we would," said bumpus, "when i saw how many of them there were. giraffe, you're a good friend of mine, ain't you? would you mind rubbing me in the middle of the back? please not _quite_ so hard, for you see that rock gave me a bit of a clump there, and raised a knob, i guess." "i'm wondering what's going to strike us next," ventured allan; "for when you come to look at it we've been having some of the queerest adventures on this trip that ever could have happened." bumpus shook his head as though he might be ready to pass the puzzle along. "it's too deep for me, allan," he said. "i'd think we'd pretty nearly exhausted the whole list by now, but still there may be more coming. it's making me believe we're fated not to get through with this car, after all, and that we'll soon run up against a snag so big that it'll sink our craft." "so long as we don't go down with it i won't kick," asserted giraffe, who seemed to be feeling much more cheery since that last little exciting affair. "and bumpus, after all what does it matter how you get to antwerp so long as you pull up there sooner or later?" "oh! i'm getting reconciled to almost anything," admitted bumpus, showing that this constant series of happenings was beginning to have an effect on even his stubborn nature, just as water dripping constantly will wear away a stone in the course of time. thus talking they moved speedily along the river road until finally giraffe announced he had sighted the bridge over which they hoped to be able to cross the stream, and head once more for the big city on the schelde. there were some belgian soldiers on guard here also, possibly older men who had not expected to go to the front, yet had a certain line of duty to perform in this the latest crisis of their beloved country's history. just as thad expected they had to stop and give an account of themselves, as well as show their passports, and the letters with the american stamps. they were again lucky in having one of the belgians able to talk with them, for it turned out that he had been in america, and even asked them how hoboken was getting along. satisfied with being permitted to cross the bridge and pursue their journey the four scouts waved good-bye to the guards and started on. "well, that was a hard river to cross let me tell you," said giraffe after they reached the other side. "just stop and think how many times we've been knocked out of our calculations. there was the battle we saw that blocked us; then the bridge that had been fixed to trap some of the raiding uhlans when they came galloping along, and tried to rush things; after that there was the one that was being built in the village, and which of course we couldn't use; and at last we struck oil up here, many miles out of our way." "seems to me we've been pushing backwards part of the time, thad, instead of advancing," ventured bumpus. "makes me think of the boy who was late to school and told the teacher that every time he took a step forward he slipped back two; and when the teacher asked him how he ever managed to get there he said he just turned around and headed the other way; so mebbe that's what we're doing. where do you figure we are now, thad?" "as near as i can find out," replied the scout leader, "we're not far from the town called moll, which is on the railroad. there's a canal somewhere nearby, that swings around to the city of turnhout, and then still on to antwerp. i should say that we're not more than seven miles or so from the dutch border." "and how far from antwerp?" asked bumpus, anxiously. "as the crow flies not more than thirty miles, perhaps," thad explained; "but the way things are upset here in belgium, that stands for hard sledding." "here's the canal right now, after we cross the railroad," ventured giraffe, to whom it was all getting very interesting. "but the sun is going down before a great while, you notice," said bumpus, because they had been held up for nearly two hours while thad tinkered with that horrible engine again, and deemed himself lucky to get it started even then. "yes, and as we've settled on staying outdoors to-night," said allan, "let's be on the watch for a decent place to make camp." "just think of our having a chance to do that over here in belgium, with battles going on all around us," giraffe remarked. "we'll make those other scouts turn green with envy when we relate all our adventures on this trip. it was fine enough coming down the rhine, but then nothing queer happened to us like we've been up against the last few days." a short time later they struck what looked like an ideal place for stopping overnight. just here there were no houses in sight, though of course the boys did not know what lay beyond, perhaps a village or a town. belgium is so thickly populated that very little ground is allowed to remain idle, or be planted in trees, but just here there was a strip of woods that had a most inviting look. so the car was run in and they started to make themselves comfortable, as scouts of long experience might be expected to do when surrounded by similar conditions. "i hope that when we're just sitting down to supper, after cooking the same," bumpus remarked, pensively, "some old gruff belgian farmer doesn't come hurrying up, complaining because we've trespassed on his property, and making us clear out bag and baggage." to bumpus that represented the sum total of depravity; it meant a catastrophe without limit, and something to cause a shudder, even in the bare contemplation; for it meant hunger, and that was always a calamity in his eyes. "not much danger," allan told him, "because you may have noticed i'm making this fire small, and out of extra-dry stuff. scouts know that if you take green wood you'll always get a smoke that can be seen far off. that's what we use it for when we want to communicate by smoke signals. but bumpus, if you were fifty feet away i don't think you could notice smoke from this wood." "but i warrant you he could sense cooking going on, all right," giraffe laughingly observed. "you never can fool bumpus on that. he can scent an onion frying half a mile away, can't you, bumpus?" "i couldn't deny the soft impeachment, for i know i've got a splendid nose for grub," admitted the good-natured scout. although the means for cooking supper were somewhat primitive because these boys had always been accustomed to having a full kit along with them, still they knew how to manage. consequently in good time, just as it was getting dusk, the meal was pronounced ready, and all of them gathered around to share in its disposal, a duty that no one ever complained of. they were hungry, and somehow the familiar odors seemed to give an edge to their appetites that nothing else had done. for a little while talking ceased, because every one was too busily engaged to bother making any remark. then as the edge was taken off their appetites they commenced to exchange comments on the doings of that particular day, which could always be marked with a white stone in their memories. suddenly and without the slightest warning there came a terrific sneeze that startled them all. it came from the bushes close at hand, that much even bumpus knew. of course every eye was turned in that direction, being focussed on a certain spot where the bushes seemed to be moving. as they stared, hardly knowing what to expect, there arose the lanky form of a man. he made no hostile move, but stood there looking at them; and bumpus even fancied he was sniffing the air, just as a half-starved dog might, when approaching the spot where a feast was being devoured. "don't shoot, gents!" this singular being called out. "i'm not dangerous at all, only as hungry as a wolf. from what i've heard you saying i opine that you're american the same as myself; and i'm sure hoping you'll invite me up to join you in a snack." chapter xxvi. a tattooed fugitive. thad did not wait to consult his chums on hearing what the forlorn figure standing amidst the bushes said; he knew they would back him up in his generous impulse. "if you are an american you'll be doubly welcome here," he called out; "but no matter where you came from, if you're hungry we've got plenty and to spare. step this way and join us!" the man did not hesitate after that warm invitation, but hustled forward. they looked curiously at him, and no wonder, for he was apparently no ordinary individual. his sleeves were rolled up to the elbow and it could be seen that his arms were fairly covered with the most wonderful colored tattoo marks imaginable. really it looked like the work of an artist in this line; and bumpus, who had never gazed upon such a sight stared as though the other were a curiosity. it turned out that this was just what he was, and thad suspected it the first thing he discovered those tell-tale marks. "you see," said the stranger, as he joined the scouts, "i'm the wonderful tattooed man of the great circus and wild west show that has been exhibiting in belgium this summer. we got caught when the war broke out so suddenly. our boss told every one to look out for himself or herself, and with that the whole show went to smash. the last i saw of our injuns they were being herded up by the authorities of the town where we separated. they were afraid they'd start on the warpath, and scalp everybody, i guess." "sit down here on this log," said allan, "and we'll help you to some coffee and whatever we've got. it's lucky we cooked much more than we needed. i think bumpus and giraffe must have expected company, or else overrated their own appetites." "bumpus and giraffe sound good to me!" declared the tall stranger, as he looked with a smile at the two boys designated; "somehow hearing those names gives me a feeling that i'm still with the big show. but i want to tell you it's a piece of great luck for me to meet up with you boys. to look for americans over here is as bad as hunting a needle in a haystack." "then you've been having a hard time, i take it?" remarked thad, as he heaped a pan with food and turned it over to their unexpected guest. "hard!" echoed the other. "i'm thankful to be alive, and outside of a dungeon to-night. and what d'ye think it all comes from but my name." "what might that be?" asked giraffe. "the worst any poor man marooned in belgium or france could own up to right now," replied the other; "it's kaiser!" "oh! my stars!" ejaculated bumpus. "i should say so; and you couldn't change it, i suppose?" "i'd been billed under my own name as the greatest freak alive, the man whose body was decorated with more dragons and flags and pretty girls than anything ever seen before. yes, and until a week ago i was proud of that name of kaiser. now it threatens to be the death of me." he groaned a little, and then started to eating voraciously. after a while, when he had seemingly taken the sharp edge off his appetite, he condescended to explain further, knowing of course that his kind entertainers must be curious to hear his story. "you see, they know me all over belgium by now. crowds would stand and stare at me, and try to ask questions. the boss had to keep an interpreter nearby to answer these. some of them were terribly foolish. it even seemed to many of these simple people that i was in some way connected by blood with kaiser wilhelm; and fool that i was, i never bothered correcting that silly idea. bitterly have i repented that mistake. it has cost me dearly." "after the circus disbanded and you had to shift for yourself," remarked thad, "i suppose you thought to get out of the country before the fighting began?" "well, at first i wasn't in any hurry," came the reply, with a shrug of the bony shoulders of the side-show freak. "when i did wake up and get busy it was just too late. you see the people remembered that i was a kaiser, and they had it in for me. oh! what i have suffered. turned back one day, kicked out of a town the next, threatened with prison, and doors shut in my face when i tried to beg or buy something to eat, i've lived the life of a dog for days." "well, that was too bad," said the kind-hearted bumpus; "here, let me fill your tin cup again with coffee, mr. kaiser." "please don't mention that name again above a whisper, while we're in belgium," pleaded the other. "it's just like showing a red flag to a mad bull. call me bob, if you feel like it, boys. i'll come to any name these days, especially if there's a feed like this goes with it." "what are you aiming to do next?" asked thad. "i'm heading north the best i can," he explained. "when after being kicked and cuffed around i found that it was useless to hope to get to antwerp where i might steam over to england, i knew that the next best thing for me to do was to cross into the netherlands, where they wouldn't abuse me on account of my name." "but are you a german?" asked giraffe. "i was born in the good old united states," replied the freak. "i believe my ancestors did come from the fatherland, but to tell you the truth i haven't a bit of german feeling in me. i'm yankee to the backbone. i ran away as a boy, and have knocked about the four corners of the world, principally in the far east, where all this wonderful tattoo work was done for me, a little at a time. when i'm done eating i'll let you see what my body looks like. i'm told that there's nothing like it known." "do you like being a freak?" asked bumpus, innocently. the man looked at him and smiled. every one liked bumpus from the first, because there was something so candid and sincere about him. you could look straight into those blue eyes of his and believe that there was no hypocrisy or deceit lurking back of their depths. "well, son, i do and i don't," the other finally replied. "i know now i was a fool to get this done, but once it was started, there could be no rubbing it out, you understand, because it's picked in with indelible colors. it gets me a living by exhibiting myself, and people do lots of mighty queer things for that, in their journey through this old world." "but if you had the chance again would you allow it to be done?" asked giraffe, who himself had an anchor in blue upon his arm, of which he had been rather proud in the past. "not if i was in my right senses," came the prompt reply. "to tell you the truth the first tattooing i had was given to me against my will when i was held a prisoner among some wild men in borneo. they thought my white skin was a good background to display the art of their boss tattooer. later on the crazy idea came to me to have it continued, and then join some show. i think with what little money i've got saved over in philadelphia i'll buy a farm and settle down, if only i'm lucky enough to get out of this war-cursed country alive." later on the fugitive circus freak did let the boys look him over, and all of them united in declaring that he certainly was a wonderful exhibition of the art of tattooing in bright colors. giraffe mentally decided, however, that he would never allow another anchor, or any other design for that matter, to be placed upon his arms. this awful example had effectually cured his leaning in that direction. the man sat there for fully two hours and entertained his young hosts with amazing stories connected with his adventurous past. whether they were all true or not might always be open to suspicion, but then none of the scouts doubted that he had been through a maze of exploits, equal to anything they had ever read in those books so dear to the heart of youth, "robinson crusoe," "swiss family robinson," "gulliver's travels," "sindbad the sailor" and "the arabian nights' entertainment." later on they disposed of themselves the best way they could, and managed to secure more or less sleep while the night lasted. nothing occurred to disturb them. if there were various sounds heard during the time that the moon rode high in the heavens they were not of a character to cause any alarm. so morning found them, and breakfast was prepared in much the same fashion as supper had been on the preceding evening. bob kaiser was loud in his protestations of gratitude as he shook the hand of each scout at parting. he told them he would never forget what they had done for him; and from that time forth he meant to say a good word for scouts wherever he went. when the four lads saw him last, as they moved off along the road, he was waving farewell in answer to their salute, before turning his face toward the north. upon the whole they were very glad such an opportunity to extend a helping hand had come to them. it must always please a genuine scout to be of assistance to any one in distress; and the fact that the party had been a fellow american added to the satisfaction they felt. the man had told them he had friends at amsterdam who would look out for him if only he could get there; and with a reasonable amount of good luck he surely ought to be able to cover the seven miles, more or less, between their camping place and the border, during the day ahead of him. in fact, thad almost envied him his resolution to head that way. it seemed the shortest route to safety in those strenuous days when the whole of belgium was ablaze with excitement, hostile armies battling for supremacy, and every one suspicious of all strangers. "to-day will decide the question for us," allan was saying, an hour or so after they had started that morning; "if we manage to pull through up to night time without any more backsets, we can consider it settled that we're going to make antwerp by this route." no one disagreed with him. even bumpus was figuring what thirty miles "as the crow flies" might mean, when they had to follow varying trails and roads, subject to the whims of any military commands they chanced to meet. "something coming ahead there!" announced the ever-watchful giraffe. on looking the others could see that a cloud of dust was rising in the direction they were heading. this of course indicated the passage of some considerable number of men or horses along the road. "another battery coming from antwerp and hurrying to the front by this route," speculated allan, and indeed that seemed the most probable explanation of the disturbance. "there, i heard what sounded like the clatter of horses' hoofs then," announced giraffe, with his hand cupped at his ear to imitate the rabbit, which a kindly nature has so constructed as to be able to throw its ears forward and catch the slightest sound that otherwise would be inaudible. thad listened, and as he did so his eyebrows went up as though a suspicion might be passing through his mind that allan's speculation was altogether wrong. he too heard the clatter of hoofs now, for they were coming more heavily. to him it seemed as though there were many hundreds of them, and that they pounded the road more like a squadron of cavalry on the gallop. thad drew the car to one side of the road, and then stopped his engine. until the mystery had been solved there was no use trying to proceed further. perhaps this spot was to mark the high-water line of their advance on antwerp. "there, i can see them beginning to show up now!" cried giraffe. moving figures came into view, constantly augmented until there must have been scores amidst the rising dust. no sooner had thad noticed the fact that they were gray-coated, and that they carried what seemed to be lances, with small pennons fluttering at the ends, than he knew what it meant. giraffe voiced what all of them understood by that time when he ejaculated: "why, they're german lancers, don't you see, boys; the uhlans we've heard so much about, the rough riders of the kaiser, and raiding the country to cut off communications between the belgian army and brussels. whew! now we're in the soup!" chapter xxvii. the uhlan hold-up. bumpus was heard to give a big sigh. "i can see our finish, boys," he remarked, calmly, as though he had resigned himself to the inevitable. "i'm ready to cry quits, and hold up my hands. holland looks pretty good to me just now." "let's wait and see what happens," said thad, though he secretly rejoiced to hear bumpus admit this, for the fat scout had more at stake than the rest of them, in that his sick mother was waiting and watching in the city of the schelde. the uhlans came swiftly along. if they noticed the old car drawn to one side of the road, out of the way, they gave no evidence of the fact until the leaders had arrived almost abreast of the spot. then a bugle sounded, and the whole squadron halted, causing the dust to mount up more furiously than ever. a score of troopers gathered around the car, most of them officers, thad could see, although the dust covered them so completely that it concealed the insignia of their rank to some extent. "giraffe, it's your turn," said thad to the lanky scout; "air what german you know, and tell them we're american boy scouts; also ask if one of them can converse with me in english." "there is no need to ask that, because most of us are familiar with your tongue," said the stout officer who seemed to be in chief command, much to the satisfaction of the scouts. "but we must take that assertion of yours with a grain of allowance. we even suspect that you are english boys, bent on getting through our lines with valuable information for the enemy, which we cannot allow, you understand." thad was not surprised. he realized that at such a time every one who spoke the english language must come under the ban with the teuton race. already he had discovered that this stout man was inclined to be a martinet, and possibly ruthless in dealing with those whom he had reason to suspect. "i assure you, sir," he hastened to say, respectfully but firmly, "that we are every one of us native-born americans. we were making a cruise down the rhine and when we arrived at cologne news that war had broken out gave us a shock. one of my comrades here has a sick mother in antwerp, under the care of a specialist. that is why we are trying to make our way there." "where did you get this car?" asked the officer, sternly. "in cologne, or rather near there, buying it from a man we met. i have the bill of sale here. it is a terrible car, and has broken down with us many times. that is why we were allowed to keep it." "but if, as you say, you were in germany when the kaiser's troops crossed over into belgium, how happens it you are here? they would not let you come by way of aachen, where the glorious army crossed the border?" thad, of course, did not mean to tell how they had been hotly chased by german troopers, and just managed to elude them by reaching the dutch guards in time. he fancied that such an account would hardly be likely to influence this stern looking uhlan leader in their favor. "we figured that there would be all sorts of difficulties in trying to cross at that point, sir," the boy explained, simply; "and so we arranged to pass over into holland where it is very narrow, and from there reach belgium. that is what we have done." "yet you have been allowed to proceed this far in peace, it seems?" observed the prussian, as though he considered this a very significant fact. "oh! we have had all sorts of troubles besides our poor car breaking down," thad continued. "yesterday from a hilltop we witnessed the fight for a bridge that was defended by a belgian battery. the germans charged bravely, and would have carried the bridge, but it had been mined, and was blown up just as they reached it." the uhlan officers exchanged glances. thad was of the impression that possibly they may have been having a tragic little experience themselves in connection with the ingenuity shown by the belgians in setting traps at bridge-heads. he remembered how he and his chums had been told by those belgian soldiers that they had fixed it so the bridge they guarded would fall as soon as troopers started to swing across it, carrying some of them down in the ruins. he heard them talking among themselves in german. giraffe was listening eagerly to what he could catch, and when he found a chance he whispered to thad what he was able to make of it. "they say a breathing spell for the men will do no harm, and you can see their horses are sweating something fierce, thad. but somehow all you've said doesn't seem to have convinced that head officer. he must hate everything english like the mischief, for some reason or other. he's telling them that perhaps we're cunning spies after all, smart britishers playing a game, and pretending to be neutral americans. i'll keep on listening and see what they mean to do, thad." meanwhile, now that most of the dust had settled, thad found a chance to glance along the line, and notice what a sturdy, well-set lot those uhlan raiders were. as a rule they seemed to be fair-haired young chaps, with clear eyes and ruddy cheeks. thad was more than a little surprised. like many others, he had imagined that all uhlans, having such a reputation for daring and recklessness, must be grim-looking men, after the type of the russian cossacks. these fellows were not at all what he had pictured them. they sat their saddles like men who were born to ride hard. and the horses were a picked lot, capable of standing great fatigue, thad also noticed. after all he believed he would always be glad he had come in contact with these uhlans; for he had wanted to see them at close quarters; and on that other occasion the moonlight did not allow of much scrutiny. presently the chief officer turned again to the boy in the car. "show me your passports!" he commanded, and if anything his voice and manner were sterner than before. thad was only too glad of the opportunity to do so. he also gave up the several letters so that the other could glance them over, which he proceeded to do. all that time the look of suspicion did not leave his set face. every now and then he would eye the boys keenly. "he just keeps on thinking we're sailing under false colors, thad," muttered giraffe, who had also observed the actions of the uhlan commander. "take out what letters the rest of you have had from home since coming over," said thad, hoping that this would convince the other, and bring about their release; for should they be arrested as spies, and treated harshly, he considered that would be the hardest blow of all. even when he had carelessly glanced at these the face of the officer still wore that same frown, as though he could not get rid of his suspicion that they were really english boys, and all this might only be a cleverly arranged scheme to hide their identity. thad was almost ready to give up in despair. he felt that he had about reached the end of his rope, and could do nothing more. just how these hard riders could hold them prisoners, and make them accompany them he could not guess, unless they happened to have four empty saddles among them. and it would be difficult to imagine bumpus going at headlong speed across country, keeping pace with such mad riders as these uhlans. then all at once thad remembered something. it was not that a verbal plea would do any good, for he suspected the more he talked the stronger would this martinet be inclined to hold them under the ban of his displeasure. the brief note written by the aviator whom they had aided--might not that be of benefit to their cause? it will be remembered that thad had taken pains to conceal this under the lining of his campaign hat, lest some belgian eye read what the taube birdman had written over his signature, and charge them with being german spies. taking off his hat he fumbled under the lining, and quickly produced the paper, a bit crumpled, and lacking freshness, but with the penciled writing plainly legible, which was all thad cared about. when he looked up he saw that many eyes had been following his motions, as if the uhlans had had their curiosity aroused. "there is one incident connected with our trip through this part of belgium, sir, that i would like to speak of, hoping it will convince you we are what we claim to be, only that and nothing more. have i your permission to tell you about this adventure, sir?" "proceed," the officer told him; "we are giving the horses a little rest, which they sorely need, so a short delay will do no harm." "we were coming along when we had an accident to the engine. while i was making the necessary repairs one of my friends made an astonishing discovery. we saw the figure of a man caught in the top of a tall tree. he was moving his arm to us as if he hoped to attract our attention in that way. when we hurried up to the tree we found, just as we expected, the wreck of an aeroplane there!" thad purposely paused at that thrilling point so as to let them grasp the full force of his assertion. he was not much surprised when the officer demanded: "could you tell from the build of the aeroplane what sort of a machine it may have been, boy?" "yes, for i had noticed them while over in germany, sir," replied thad. "it was a taube model. we climbed the tree at once, three of us, and after some hard work managed to get the aviator safely down. he told us how he had been scouting over the belgian lines when both his machine and himself were struck by shots. he tried to sail slowly to the ground miles away from the fighting line, but by hard luck struck that tree, and became caught there, his machine falling to the earth." again thad stopped as though to get his breath, but it was really done for effect and to give the officer a chance to ask a question, which he immediately did. "then you claim that this man whom you aided was a german aviator, do you?" "he had a bad wound in his arm," proceeded the boy, promptly, "which we had no trouble in binding up, because you may know, sir, that scouts are taught how to treat all manner of wounds. i am sure he felt very grateful on account of what little we were able to do for him. we were only carrying out the principles of our scout organization. it did not matter to us whether he was german, belgian or french, he was in need of assistance, and we gave it." the officer in command swept a look around at his comrades, and thad saw that several of them nodded their heads as though they rather liked the way the boy in khaki had put forward his ideas concerning strict neutrality. "would you know the name of this german taube operator if you heard it again, boy?" asked the commander. "oh! he left a note with us, which he signed with his name," said thad, smilingly; "you see he said it might be of assistance to us in case we came across any party of uhlans on our travels. i supposed from that he must be pretty well known, although of course none of us had ever heard his name." "was it that note you just took from under the lining of your hat?" asked the officer. "yes, sir, and here it is. you see, i felt that it might get us into trouble if belgian eyes saw it, for they would not like to know we had saved the life of a german aviator who would have died in that tree, perhaps." the officer hastily took the piece of paper and read the few lines written thereon by the man of the wrecked taube. thad saw that it seemed to create something of a sensation among the uhlans as it was passed from hand to hand, and from this he felt satisfied that the aviator must have been one of the leading airmen in the german flying corps. now the grim face of the uhlan commander had relaxed. he even smiled on the scouts. "i am convinced that you are what you claim, my brave boys; so shake hands with me, one and all of you," he said. chapter xxviii. turned back. "bully," giraffe was heard to mutter half under his breath, at this sudden change in front on the part of the stern uhlan officer, evidently a soldier of more or less reputation. even bumpus wanted to be able to say he had grasped the fist of a german cavalry officer raiding through belgium, for he crowded forward, and was the last to be greeted in that friendly way. "let me give you back this slip of paper, boy," said the commander to thad. "you should be very proud of having saved the life of that brave man, for he is called the foremost aviator in our entire corps. if our commander, the kaiser, ever learns of what you have done be assured that he will send you a personal letter of thanks." all this was very pleasant for the boys to hear. bumpus was evidently still hugging a faint hope to his faithful heart that they might be allowed to pass on. he even managed to find his voice, and put his anticipation into words. "and could we be allowed to keep on to antwerp, sir?" he asked. at that the officer frowned again. he seemed to consider for a moment, then shook his head slowly in the negative. "you must turn back, and proceed to the dutch border," he told them. "it would be much better for you to try and reach antwerp by way of rotterdam and the sea. there nothing will delay you, while on land a thousand obstacles may arise to prevent the accomplishment of your plans. besides, you must give us your word of honor as scouts that you will not come back this way again." thad felt as though a great load had been taken from his chest. now that they were to be forced to promise bumpus could not complain; and they would be able to try the other plan. he was sorry now he had not insisted on doing that at the time they trod dutch soil; before now they would have reached rotterdam, and might even be sailing for the schelde. "we are ready to make you that promise, sir," he told the commander of the uhlans, "in fact, we should have decided on that course long ago. it would have saved us a heap of trouble. once across the border and on dutch soil we should not have crossed back again." "i differ with you there, boy," said the other, smiling again; "for had you done so the german flying corps would perhaps have lost its most brilliant and daring exponent. turn your car, therefore, and you can proceed ahead of us. first of all let me mark out the course i wish you to take." with that he drew out a map of belgium and holland. thad was interested when he saw what a marvel of ingenuity that map was. it had evidently been carefully prepared for the army to be used in case of just such an invasion. possibly there were other charts covering great britain, france, russia, italy, switzerland and denmark. thad saw that it was very minute. not a railroad, station, crossing, canal, road, town, village, bridge, ford, fort or anything else of consequence but that it was plainly marked there. and the officer had other maps too, for thad glimpsed them when he was selecting this one. he traced the route back to the dutch border, and thad, taking out his own apology for a chart, made marks to indicate the course he was to take. then after considerable work he managed to get the car turned, some of the troopers being ordered to dismount and lend a helping hand. after that they started, and before they had gone far the clatter of horses' hoofs from the rear announced that the entire squadron of troopers must be coming after them. "gee! but i'm glad they're not meaning us any harm," remarked giraffe, as he took one of his usual backward peeps by simply twisting that long neck of his around; "because they'd be able to overtake us in a jiffy, even if their nags are tired. it's a heap nicer to have these hard-riding uhlans for friends than enemies. and i also hope we don't run afoul of that armored motor-car we saw, with those reckless belgians in the same. i do believe they'd charge the whole uhlan squadron." thad himself echoed that wish. he had seen sights during that terrible battle for the possession of the disputed bridge that would never fade from his memory; and he did not want to look on anything further that had to do with bloodshed and misery, under the thin veneering of glory. "we're coming to the side road he wants us to take, and which will lead to the dutch border," thad announced after a time. a few minutes later and the car turned to the left, after which thad shut down. standing up they watched the troop gallop past, and fortunately the dust was blowing toward the opposite quarter so their view was not hindered. the scouts had taken off their hats, and every time they saw any one in that long column give them a salute they answered in kind as they had been taught by the rules of the organization to which they belonged. finally the last uhlan had ridden past, and only a slowly settling cloud of dust told where they had gone. "we'll always remember this last incident as one of the pleasant episodes of our dash through belgium," remarked thad, as they settled down again in their places for another start. "one thing sure, thad," observed giraffe, "that commander must have placed a lot of confidence in your simple word, because he wouldn't know now whether we meant to keep on into holland, or try again to push on after he'd forbidden it." "i guess he knows whatever a scout says he'll do he tries to perform," ventured bumpus, proudly. "seven miles isn't far, and with any sort of luck we ought to be over the line by noon," remarked allan. "what's the plan of campaign, then, thad?" inquired bumpus. "we'll try for a station on a railway," he was told. "over in holland they're not so apt to be given over wholly to the military forces, so we stand a chance to get passage to rotterdam. the very first time our car goes back on us with the railroad close by it's good-bye to this machine." "i really don't think any of us will mourn much for the dinky trap," giraffe argued; "but then i suppose after a time when things get mellow in our minds well all take a lot of satisfaction in talking about this trip, and the old car will come in for its share of attention. time heals many faults, you know." now that the change in plans had really come about, they could feel a sort of satisfaction in reflecting that they had kept on to the very last. in fact, they had refused to give up until actually in the hands of the uhlans, and compelled to promise on their honor as scouts that they would do as ordered. "oh! did you see that?" exclaimed bumpus, starting them all to staring around in various directions; and then he condescended to go on, thus centering their attention to the one point--"it was ahead of us i saw it, boys." "saw what, a boa constrictor from the menagerie?" demanded giraffe, with the suspicion of a sneer in his voice. "it was a _man_," said bumpus, severely, "if you want to know, and he dodged into the bushes there as quick as a flash when we came around the bend." "oh! he did, eh?" continued giraffe; "and now mebbe you could tell us what sort of a man it was, bumpus, white or black, tall or short, soldier or just a plain ordinary citizen. speak up, bumpus, we're waiting." "he looked to me about like our friend the kaiser!" said the fat scout, with a trace of a smile on his rosy face; "and there's where he dodged into the brush, too!" thad stopped the car. "nothing more likely than that it was the very man," he remarked. "i should think he might have gotten this far along the way to the dutch border by now," and then raising his voice the patrol leader called: "hello! kaiser, don't you want to buy a dog? show yourself, bob; you ought to know your friends!" at that a lanky figure bobbed up and there was an inarticulate cry, after which the circus fugitive hurried to join them. "why, this _is_ a surprise, i must say, and a pleasant one in the bargain," he declared, fairly bubbling over with delight as he shook first thad's hand and then that of each scout in rotation; "i never dreamed i'd see you boys again on this side of the water. what made you change your minds?" "a stout officer in the uniform of a uhlan colonel," laughed thad. "the fact is we ran smack into a squadron of uhlans, and they made us promise to cross over to holland; so, as scouts always keep their solemn word we're bound that way right now. and there's room enough for you to crowd in, if you think we can make faster time than afoot." the tattooed man did not wait for a second invitation, and easily squeezed in with the two boys in the rear. there was not much room to spare, owing to the fact of bumpus being so very corpulent; but then kaiser was as thin as he was long, so that he occupied very little space. giraffe said he "wedged" himself in, which was about the truth. he was greatly interested in hearing of the adventure that had befallen thad and his three chums since they separated from him that morning. for the first time he learned how they had saved that german taube man from the treetop, afterwards binding up his wound. "it does beat all creation," declared the circus fugitive, "how you boys manage to go around doing good to others. i owe you a big debt just as that aviator does, and i warrant you there are many others, only you're too modest to mention the fact." "oh! that's all in the game!" said giraffe, making out to look upon such things with a feeling bordering on contempt, although being human he must have liked to hear his praises sung. "to tell the truth," ventured thad, "we are the ones who feel under obligations, because we get much more benefit out of these happenings than the other fellow. everybody does who believes in the old saying that it's more blessed to give than to receive. besides, we are only obeying the rules of the organization that we're proud to say we belong to." as they went on their way the man who had traveled to the uttermost corners of the world entertained them with still further stories connected with his strange experiences. thus they hardly noticed the lapse of time, and when thad told them they had passed the seventh mile the eagle eye of giraffe began to get busy with the task of locating the guard station that would mark the border line. a short time afterwards he pointed it out to them, and they discovered one of the same white posts that had marked the division of territory at the time they were chased by the german cavalrymen, and found refuge over the line with the soldiers of queen wilhelmina. of course they were stopped, but at this early stage in the war the dutch guard along the border had no orders to keep any one out of holland. questions were put to them by an officer who was summoned by the privates. these of course thad could answer truthfully, and besides, the manly bearing of the lads must have had an influence in determining the officer to admit the party. he did look rather doubtfully at the circus freak, but having been told just who kaiser was, and seen something of his wonderful adornment, he did not think himself justified in turning him back. so it came the four scouts left belgium territory again. they had been through some pretty warm experiences since first striking the soil of the buffer state, many of which would never be forgotten. somehow all of them seemed to breathe easily after they had started along the road that would take them to the nearest railroad town. thad knew it had all been a mistake, their trying to break past the struggling armed hosts, and that they would have shown wisdom had they come this way in the beginning. at the same time he did not feel very sorry. they had been given a wonderful experience, and would certainly never forget some of the things that had happened to them. particularly would they have reason to remember that terrible battle for the bridge head, when the german hosts fought their way through a storm of shot, only to see the bridge blown up with dynamite before they could secure it. chapter xxix. a change of plans--conclusion. "that finishes it with me," remarked thad, when the car came to a sudden stop, on account of the treacherous motor breaking down again. "get ready to leave the old trap in the ditch, boys. we'll give some other simpletons a chance to tinker with the machine. i'm done with it, once and for all." "well, you gave us all plain warning in good time, thad," spoke up giraffe, not in the least depressed with this change of plans, because his impatient spirit could not brook these irritating delays. even bumpus did not show any considerable amount of chagrin, and the reason was quickly made manifest when he broke out with: "i really believe we must be close on to that railroad town they called valkenswaard; because as sure as anything i heard the sound of a train moving along just then. yes, there it goes again, with the motor puffing like hot cakes. thad, tell me if i'm right about that." "just what you are, bumpus," replied the patrol leader. "i heard it myself, which was one reason i said what i did. we've been heading nearly due east for some little time now, and were due to strike the line of steel before long." "the plan then is to step out lively, and get to this dutch town," suggested allan. "i suppose then we'll take the very first chance we can strike to start for rotterdam by way of--for goodness' sake, let me see that chart of yours again, thad; because these terrible dutch names twist my tongue so--here it is, hertogenbosch, which seems to be about the biggest railway center in all holland." "how far away is rotterdam, thad?" asked bumpus. "i couldn't tell you exactly, bumpus," answered the scout leader; "but on a guess i'd say not more than a hundred miles. the netherlands isn't a very big country, you remember, and yet one of the most wonderful places in the world. we'll see some strange sights as we go along." "i hope we make the trip by daylight, then," said giraffe, who was more or less fond of seeing new scenes. they made sure to leave nothing behind that they cared to keep. "good-bye, little old trap," said giraffe, making a mock bow toward the abandoned car; "you played your part all right in the circus, and we'll often think of you, with tears in our eyes. all the same we're glad to be able to say our necks haven't been broken while we navigated the roads of germany, belgium and holland in your care." inside of half an hour they actually arrived at the town on the railway. here they managed to get something to eat while waiting for a train to come along. it was by the greatest luck in the world that they found themselves on the road shortly after noon, because the service between belgium and holland was already sadly disorganized on account of what was going on across the border. when they arrived at the town of hertogenbosch they found that they would have to wait an hour before they could make a fresh start for rotterdam. here kaiser the tattooed man said good-bye to his young friends, since he was headed for amsterdam, and their routes ran in different directions. "i've got your home address, boys," he said after squeezing their hands for the third and last time, "and i'm going to drop in and see you some time or other, if i get out of this country alive. you've been good friends to me, and i'll never forget it. i'm a firm admirer of boy scouts from this time on, and will preach the gospel of humanity wherever i go, just as you've paid it out to me. good-bye, all!" they were really sorry to part with bob kaiser, for if ever there lived an entertaining and good-hearted eccentric fellow he "filled the bill," as giraffe said. during that long afternoon they continued to pass through a most interesting country, with many glimpses of watery sections, where the dikes kept the sea from flooding the rich land which the industrious dutch had wrested from the grip of mother ocean. it seemed as though every rod of it must be under cultivation, and the boys understood after that journey what was really meant by "intensive farming." flowers without number were included in the various crops, for holland is the home of the greatest nursery of bulbs in the whole world, her rich soil being just suited to their growth. evening was drawing on apace when they neared the great city of rotterdam and sniffed the salty scent of the sea that lay beyond. it acted like a tonic upon the four lads. even bumpus was noticed to take numerous whiffs of the invigorating atmosphere, although he had been very seasick on the voyage across the atlantic. they managed to get located at a small but neatly kept hotel, where they could stay while looking about, and making inquiries concerning the possibilities of getting to antwerp by water. never in all their lives had they seen such wonderful cleanliness. the women and children with their queer head-dresses, and snow-white garments were a never ceasing source of wonder to the boys, especially bumpus, who often chuckled when he pointed out roly-poly boys who put even his own generous proportions into the shade, so to speak. "this is the land where you really belong, bumpus," giraffe told him; "here you could pass unnoticed, if only you dressed like these other boys do. just imagine our bumpus with a pair of those wide trousers on, and wooden shoes to finish him off, would you? i've got half a mind to buy an outfit for you, bumpus, while we have the chance. you'd make a great hit with the pretty girls of cranford when you came out and set the style for the rest of the fellows." "squander your money if you feel like it, giraffe," bumpus good-naturedly told him; "but getting me to wear such a clown outfit will be another thing. one boy c'n lead a horse to water, but the whole cranford troop can't make him drink against his will, remember." they had a peaceful night of it, although at first they feared the many noises welling up from the water front where the shipping was so dense would annoy them. it must have been they were all pretty tired, and that of late they had failed to enjoy their customary sound sleep, for to tell the truth none of them seemed to know a thing from the time they retired until thad, arousing, found it was already broad daylight. immediately after breakfast they started out. bumpus was becoming distressed once more on account of his not having heard from his mother for such a long time. he was exceedingly fond of her, and felt sure she must be enduring great mental agony on account of the uncertainty concerning her boy, marooned up in the rhine country by this sudden breaking out of the great war. at first they did not meet with any luck. vessels were starting out that day, a number of them, but for america and england. those destined to cross the atlantic had every stateroom engaged, for thousands of sight-seers had already taken the alarm, and were flocking to the dutch ports to get passage home. it was about the middle of the morning when thad struck a clue which seemed to give more or less hope. eagerly following the trail they finally learned that a small steamer expected to leave rotterdam for antwerp an hour after noon that same day. there might not be another for forty-eight hours, and so it became necessary for the scouts to immediately engage passage, and then hurry back to settle their score at the hotel, as well as carry their personal belongings aboard. being something of hustlers they managed to accomplish all this in record time, having learned that they could get dinner on board the boat. and once comfortably settled they could await the sailing of the boat with a conviction that their troubles were in all probability over. "just to think," said giraffe, after they had started down the river to the sea, lying some twenty miles or so away, "if we could have continued our voyage in that little boat of ours through the rest of germany and then into holland we'd have brought up here, sooner or later." "why, is this really the mouth of the rhine?" asked bumpus, wonderingly; "i had an idea rotterdam was situated on the meuse river." "it's all a regular mix-up, however you try to see it," responded giraffe, who had been studying the chart, and wished to exploit his knowledge; "there seem to be no end to the outlets of those two rivers when they get to the delta region of the netherlands, and you can call them either the rhine or the meuse as you please. it's all salt water down here, anyhow, and these are really arms of the north sea reaching far up into the low countries." it was a very interesting trip down the river, at any rate. they had glimpses of forts which holland had erected in order to defend her cities against any foreign foe; though the boys considered that her greatest possible danger lay in the west, where germany had an envious eye on this valuable territory that seemed to properly be a part of her expanding empire. finally about the middle of the afternoon they came in sight of the sea, though its heaving had been manifest for some time previously. all of the scouts viewed the apparently boundless expanse of salt water with delight; bumpus however was heard to express a fervent hope that he would not have to pass through another attack of sea sickness. when about an hour before the setting of the sun they saw heavy smoke along the horizon, and presently could make out a long line of what appeared to be misty-colored battleships headed _north_, it gave them a decided thrill. "they must be a part of the great british fleet, on the way to seek battle with the kaiser's warships!" was the consensus of opinion; and having lately witnessed the ferocity that marks a battle the boys could easily picture the stirring scene if ever a decisive conflict did take place between the rival fleets of the north sea. with the good boat forging on toward the mouth of the schelde river, up which it would pass to the docks at antwerp, it seemed as though the troubles of thad brewster and his three fellow scouts might be over for the present. they fully anticipated being in the belgian city by morning, and possibly taking passage for london before another night, with mrs. hawtree in their care. here we may well leave them, confident that no matter what may arise to throw obstacles in their way, these energetic and resourceful lads can be depended on to overcome all trials, and reach the haven for which they are heading. at some no far distant day we can hope to once more follow their fortunes in new fields of scout endeavor; but until that time comes we must ring down the curtain and say good-bye. the end the boy scouts series by herbert carter for boys to years all cloth bound copyright titles price, cents each new stories of camp life the boy scouts' first campfire; or, scouting with the silver fox patrol. the boy scouts in the blue ridge; or, marooned among the moonshiners. the boy scouts on the trail; or, scouting through the big game country. the boy scouts in the maine woods; or, the new test for the silver fox patrol. the boy scouts through the big timber; or, the search for the lost tenderfoot. the boy scouts in the rockies; or, the secret of the hidden silver mine. the boy scouts on sturgeon island; or, marooned among the game-fish poachers. the boy scouts down in dixie; or, the strange secret of alligator swamp. the boy scouts at the battle of saratoga; a story of burgoyne's defeat in . the boy scouts along the susquehanna; or, the silver fox patrol caught in a flood. the boy scouts on war trails in belgium; or, caught between hostile armies. the boy scouts afoot in france; or, with the red cross corps at the marne. the boy troopers series by clair w. hayes author of the famous "boy allies" series. the adventures of two boys with the pennsylvania state police. all copyrighted titles. cloth bound, with attractive cover designs. price, cents each. the boy troopers on the trail the boy troopers in the northwest the boy troopers on strike duty the boy troopers among the wild mountaineers the golden boys series by l. p. wyman, ph.d. dean of pennsylvania military college. a new series of instructive copyright stories for boys of high school age. handsome cloth binding. price, cents each. the golden boys and their new electric cell the golden boys at the fortress the golden boys in the maine woods the golden boys with the lumber jacks the golden boys on the river drive the radio boys series by gerald breckenridge a new series of copyright titles for boys of all ages. _cloth bound, with attractive cover designs_ price, cents each the radio boys on the mexican border the radio boys on secret service duty the radio boys with the revenue guards the radio boys' search for the inca's treasure the radio boys rescue the lost alaska expedition for sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the publishers a. l. burt company - east rd street new york the belgian front and its notable features by captain willy breton of the belgian army _translated from the french_ london: chatto & windus mcmxviii _price sixpence net_ the belgian front and its notable features [illustration: view of front line through the floods] _the illustrations are from photographs taken by the photographic service of the belgian army command_ the belgian front and its notable features. the belgian army's activities since the battle of the yser. everyone knows how severely the belgian army was tested in the initial stages of the campaign. caught unawares by the war while in the midst of re-organisation, it had to struggle alone, for long weeks on end, against forces greatly superior in both numbers and equipment, suddenly hurled against it in accordance with a deliberate and carefully planned scheme of attack. yet the belgian army bravely faced the enemy, grimly determined to fulfil its duty to the last, and at once aroused enthusiasm by its heroic resistance at liège, from august onwards, to the onset of several army corps. on the th the troops emerged victoriously from the bloody engagements at haelen; and not till the th, and then only to escape being overwhelmed by the ever-rising flood of invasion, did the belgian army abandon its positions at la gette and fall back on antwerp, the national stronghold in which would be concentrated the whole of the country's powers of opposition. its retreat was covered by rearguards which fought fiercely, especially at hautem ste. marguerite. namur, threatened since august th, fell to the enemy on the rd, after several of its forts had been destroyed by a terrific bombardment and the complete investment of the position made further resistance impossible. by a desperate effort, some , men of the th division escaped the assailant's grip and succeeded in reaching france in the first instance, and antwerp subsequently. the army, left to its own devices in the great fortress which it still hoped to make impregnable, continued the stubborn fight against its implacable foe, though it had suffered cruel losses and the germans had initiated a reign of terror in the invaded provinces. it did everything possible to assist the allies against the common enemy; first, by a sortie, made while the battle of the somme was in progress; and then by a second vigorous and timely attack which coincided with the immortal victory of the marne. for four days (september - , ) the belgian troops hurled themselves on the strong german positions facing antwerp, drove back the masking forces in them, and prevented three whole divisions from going to the support of von kluck's hard-pressed army. the part played by the belgian army in the battles of the marne was, although an indirect one, very important and effective--as the germans themselves have admitted.[a] while engaged in continually harassing the enemy and also putting the fortress into a proper condition for defence, the belgian army was preparing, in the closing days of september, for a fresh and vigorous offensive to be directed chiefly against the left wing of the german containing forces, when it was confronted by a pressing danger which completely altered the aspect of affairs. the germans, having massed before antwerp all the huge resources at their disposal, decided to attack the belgian army as it lay by breaching the defences of the fortress. on september th the first shells from the mammoth guns fell on the forts of waelhem and wavre-sainte-catherine, doing fearful damage, and from that moment the fate of antwerp was sealed. the belgian commander saw this clearly; and one of the things most greatly to his credit will always be that in these tragically momentous hours he was able to keep a stout heart and make the manly decision to abandon a position which he could not hold, in order to save his fighting army and continue the struggle elsewhere without respite or signs of weakening. to cover the operations of evacuating from antwerp all supplies that could be moved, and to ensure the army's retreat towards the coast, the belgian troops, though exhausted and half-dead with fatigue, fought steadily for eight days under a fire of unprecedented violence. the order for a general retreat was not given till the night of october - , by which time the limit of resistance had been reached. only one narrow avenue still lay open--between the scheldt on the one side and the dutch frontier and the sea on the other. protected at first by a flanking guard (a cavalry division and two infantry divisions) and later by a rear-guard of two cavalry divisions, the field army managed by a miracle to reach the yser, without leaving anything behind in the hands of the enemy during that epic retreat in which the exhausted troops had to cover more than kilometres of congested roads. the yser line had not been designedly selected. but at the moment it happened to be the nearest line on which the belgian army could link up with the allied forces now gradually advancing northwards along what has been termed "the sea-board route." prodigies of valour and endurance were still needed to make the continuous front a fact and to shatter the enemy's efforts in the great battle of flanders. it is not my intention to recapitulate here the ensuing changes of fortune. the first act of the drama was, as everybody knows, the desperate fight which the "belgian army of ragamuffins"--now reduced to , men, with but , rifles and guns--put up on the yser during the last two weeks of october, against , germans--mostly fresh troops--employing at least guns of all calibres. except for a reinforcement of , french marines, it was at first unsupported, yet it maintained an heroic resistance for eight days, fired by the passionate appeal and the example of its king. after october rd it had the help of the first detachments from the french division under grossetti, and kept up the fight for another week with almost superhuman energy. on the st the germans were driven from ramscapelle, and obliged to give ground before the inundation, whose dark, stealthy waters slowly but surely invaded the low-lying plain between the river and the nieuport-dixmude railway. the battle of the yser was then practically over. it had ended in victory, and the direct road to dunkirk and calais was barred to the enemy. he had suffered huge losses; but those of the belgian army also had been heavy enough--they were placed at , killed and missing and , wounded, a total of some , men, including those put out of action by sickness and exhaustion. the cadres had been so depleted that some regiments had only about ten officers left. material was in a sad condition; half of the guns, rifles and machine-guns were useless, at least for the time being, and reserves of ammunition had given out. the men looked hardly human in their ragged clothing. there were terrible gaps in their ranks. the infantry--to mention only the arm which had the hardest fighting to do--was reduced to , rifles. yet, in spite of its weakness and its destitution--all the more pitiable now that winter was approaching--this army set about mounting guard over the last fragment of belgian soil which its valour had preserved for the fatherland. three years have passed, and it still clings obstinately to its position, though the front originally defended in the battle of the yser has been gradually lengthened. circumstances have not hitherto allowed the belgian army to undertake operations on a large scale. except for the considerable part which it played in checking the german attack on steenstraat (april-may, ), when poisonous gas made its first appearance, its activities have been limited to minor operations, carried out chiefly with the object of improving its positions. these last have, however, been held with admirable courage and tenacity. simultaneously with the tremendous effort which resulted in its glorious resurrection, the belgian army has done wonders along this front under peculiarly trying conditions, by dint of hard work and stoical endurance. amid mud and water its soldiers have raised fortifications which are models of strength and ingenuity. so that the belgian front, despite the unparalleled difficulties to be overcome, is admittedly among those whose defences have been constructed in the most solid possible manner. it is, in fact, a vast fortress, extending over many square kilometres. the visitor may be astonished when he notes the degree of perfection to which the belgian command has brought the organisation, properly so-called, of an army now consisting of robust men, well supplied with all kinds of armament and technical material, self-reliant and confident in its renewed strength; but he is dumbfounded when he realises what infinite labour was needed to build across these wet plains, oozing water everywhere, the impassable barrier which has arisen under the very guns of the enemy. we propose to notice briefly here the chief features of this last enterprise, which is unknown to the world in general. perhaps a description of it will lead to fuller appreciation of the part played by the belgian army since its front was immobilised on the yser, and to a better understanding of the energy, goodwill and endurance of which it has given proof. the front to be held--the task before the belgian army--general features of the country to be organised for defence. after their failure to trample upon the remnants of the belgian army and take calais, the germans had transferred their activities to the ypres district, where they hoped that attacks pressed home with the utmost fury would enable them to effect their purpose. this second stage in the battle of flanders ended in the enemy experiencing a second check as costly as the first. while it was in progress, the germans, with the double object of holding the allied forces on the north and of trying to force the yser at that point, renewed their assaults on the dixmude bridgehead. on november th, , the weakened french and belgian troops, whose muddy trenches had been blown to pieces by the bombardment, had to give ground before the enemy's pressure and fall back on to the left bank of the yser, leaving the ruins of dixmude in the hands of the germans. but all attempts of the enemy to cross the river were fruitless. the germans encountered so stubborn a resistance that they soon abandoned a project which had already cost them frightful losses. with the approach of winter, fighting gradually died down all along the flanders front. the two opponents were exhausted, and were obliged to reconstitute their forces and organise their respective positions. from this time onwards there was nothing to record save a few local engagements of short duration, though fierce and always entailing heavy casualties. the enemy's artillery, however, took advantage of its numerical superiority and greater weight in the belgian sector to keep up a ceaseless and destructive fire upon our works, now in their earliest stages, and on the villages which acted as cantonments for our wearied troops. one after the other, the humble townlets of the yser front crumbled into dust, shot to pieces by shell and devoured by fire. it was in this devastated and desolate region, and in the depth of a severe winter, that the hastily reformed belgian army--as yet hardly recovered from its terrible experiences and still lacking a thousand necessaries--had to set to work to convert into a solid rampart the weak barrier on which the enemy's attacks had been broken only by prodigies of heroism. the front entrusted to its care extended from the outskirts of nieuport to the old knocke fort at the confluence of the yser with the yperlée. passing round the east side of nieuport, it rejoins the railway to the south of the town and then follows the railway embankment to dixmude, separated by the inundation from the yser itself. to the south-west of oud-stuyvekenskerke the front curves inwards to meet the yser dyke at the th milestone, and runs along the left bank of the river, skirting the lands which the flood waters, working steadily southwards, have converted into swamps. as fast as the belgian army regained its strength the front was extended further, along the yperlée and the ypres canal, to the north of steenstraat in the first instance, and then to boesinghe. so it is really the belgian army which has definitely organised the whole front up to the latter place, over a distance of at least kilometres. if one considers only the portion which had to be defended by the army in the early stages--that between the sea and fort knocke--it is clear that a heavy strain was put upon the weak effectives left in being after the battle of the yser--a strain all the greater because the gaps in the ranks could be filled but slowly and with great difficulty. the inundations certainly protected a large part of the front and made the enemy's attacks less formidable. but the protection might be nullified by frost. a great deal of work was, therefore, needed to enable the area of the inundation to be regulated at will, to prevent the water invading our own trenches, and to make it impossible for the enemy to use the inundation against us. it would be a serious mistake to assume that this sheet of water formed an impassable obstacle at all points. where it seemed to give the greatest security--between the nieuport-dixmude railway and the yser--the roads and tracks, which are causeways in all weathers, and the small risings in the ground near the buildings and farms scattered about the country, stood out of the great lagoon and offered chances of getting across, or formed islands that might usefully be occupied. from the first belgians and germans had fought for the possession of these points, in order to cover their main positions and prevent access to them by the creation of advanced posts in the very heart of the floods. further to the south, the water had spared the dixmude region, where the ground rises slightly. at this place the two foes lay facing one another, separated only by the width of the yser--some to yards. just as it was necessary to organise a bridgehead able to resist any attack at nieuport--where the locks are--so at dixmude, where we were in close contact with the enemy, we had to construct a bastion of the strongest possible kind, since this was a vital spot in the belgian line, and the enemy's repeated attempts upon it showed clearly enough how extremely important he considered its possession to be. still further south, the belgian front clung to the western bank of the canal formed by the yser and yperlée, while the enemy occupied the other, keeping as close to it as he could and standing off only when compelled to do so by the floods. to sum up: though the main positions were not very near together, the advanced posts of both sides threatened each other, in some instances at point-blank range. the germans, who were well aware of the weakness of the belgian army, would not have failed to profit by the least negligence on our part, nor to try for an easy success at any weak point discovered in our lines. but no chance of the kind was given them. * * * * * * the system of defence created by the belgian army along the front, as briefly described above, served a double purpose. first, it gave support to the left flank of the allied forces along the western front, and at this end barred the most southerly roads to dunkirk and calais. secondly, it preserved unviolated for belgium the last fragment of her national soil--an object of both political and military importance. while the first shows with sufficient clearness the importance of the part undertaken by the belgian army, the latter explains even more fully the great value which that army sets upon the positions entrusted to its valour. it realises in full the seriousness of its task, for by relieving the allies of all anxiety concerning the most northerly part of their front, it gives them the necessary freedom of action for dealing the enemy, in selected sectors, those heavy blows which have already repeatedly shaken the might of germany. but how the belgian soldiers' readiness to do their part without flinching stiffened into a firm resolve when they reflected that, in doing it, they were also defending against the enemy's greed the last few square miles of belgian territory, in which the air they breathed was still free, in which lived their king! what a holy enthusiasm was kindled in their hearts by the prospect of one day leaping from their trenches to drive out the tyrannical and cruel oppressor! these are the noble feelings whence spring the moral strength and stout-heartedness of our troops--qualities which have enabled them to endure without a murmur severe privations, the cruel separation from all they hold most dear, the long sojourn in their comfortless trenches, amid water and mud and ruins that become more and more depressing--heart-breaking surroundings among which they will have to pass yet a fourth winter, now close at hand. * * * * * * to give a better idea of the work imposed on the belgian army it will be convenient to summarise what, in the present war, is implied by organising the defences of a sector. the power of modern artillery and explosives, which are able to destroy the most massive fortifications, renders it impossible to rest content with a single position, however strong it may be. hence the absolute necessity for extending the state of defence to a _deep zone_ and for creating _several successive positions_. this is the only way of localising a temporary success, such as the enemy may win at any time if he take the necessary steps and be willing to pay a heavy price for it. moreover, every position must itself consist of a series of defensive lines, a short distance apart, each covered by its own subsidiary defences. these conditions are all the more difficult to fulfil when the defences are rendered less permanent by the nature of the ground, as is the case on the belgian front, where one cannot burrow into soil which is practically at sea level. it thus comes about that--to take an example--the organised zone, to kilometres deep, between the two natural defensive lines of the yser and the loo canal, is nothing more than an unbroken series of organised lines, placing as many successive obstacles in the path of an assailant who may have succeeded in breaking through at any point. the positions nearest to the enemy are necessarily continuous; and the lie of each is influenced not merely by the terrain but still more by the arbitrary direction of the contact lines of the two opponents. each line, therefore, follows a twisting course. more or less straight stretches are succeeded by salients and re-entrant angles which take the most varied forms. the defences embrace farms and other premises and small woods, all converted into _points d'appui_. where such are lacking at important points, they must be created artificially. communication trenches, allowing movement out of sight of the enemy, connect the various positions, and the successive lines of a position, with one another. shelters have to be constructed everywhere--they cannot be built too strong, to protect the men as much as possible from bombardment and from the weather during their long spells on guard in the trenches. special emplacements must be most carefully prepared for machine-guns, bomb-throwers and trench-mortars, which play a part too important to need special comment. the whole zone is dotted over at various distances from the enemy with batteries, or emplacements for batteries, of all calibres. you will understand that their construction represents a vast amount of hard and exact work, and that only with the greatest difficulty can they be more or less satisfactorily hidden from the enemy's direct or aerial observation in a plain that is practically bare and commanded everywhere by the clercken heights. the magnitude of the movements of troops and material, as well as the need for ensuring rapid transfer in all directions, have compelled the creation of all means of communication to alleviate the existing shortage--roads, tracks and railways of standard or narrow gauge. the execution of such work is attended by great difficulty where the soft nature of the soil gives an unreliable foundation. you may imagine also how complicated the task is when foot-bridges, in many cases several hundred yards long, have to be carried right across the floods in full view of the enemy, to give access to the most advanced positions. in conclusion, we may mention among the most important undertakings the vast network of telegraph and telephone wires, with which the whole of the occupied zone has to be covered in order to inter-connect the numberless centres and keep them in touch with the posts close to the enemy lines. * * * * * * topographically, the sector which the belgian army has had to organise and defend is certainly one of the worst. this will be denied neither by the british units which this year occupied the nieuport district nor by the french units linked up with the belgians near boesinghe and steenstraat. several descriptions have been written of the peculiar appearance presented by this low-lying, perfectly flat, region between the franco-belgian frontier, the sea coast and the yser, and known as the "veurne-ambacht." it is a monotonous plain of alluvial soil, which centuries of toil have slowly won from the waters. as far as the eye can see stretch water-meadows, which serve as pasturage for large numbers of cattle. that they may be flooded during the winter and drained again later in the year, these water-meadows are surrounded by irrigation ditches three to four yards wide--"vaarten" or "grachten," as they are called locally. a glance at the staff map reveals so great a number of these ditches that the district appears to be nothing more than a huge marsh. as a matter of fact, the country is subdivided into innumerable lots by this inextricable tangle of ditches, and looks like a huge fantastic chess-board. with the approach of winter the "vaarten" become brimful of water; and at any time of the year a short spell of rain makes them overflow and transform the ground into a morass. during the happy times of peace the only shelter to be found on the plain was that of the villages or hamlets, their houses as a rule grouped round a slated steeple, and of the isolated farms whose red roofs relieved the monotony of the landscape with bright splashes of colour. apart from nieuport and dixmude it could boast but one town of any importance--furnes the dismal, which german shells soon reduced to deserted ruins. in this essentially agricultural country, boasting not a single manufacturing industry, a people of simple tastes, strongly attached to the fruitful soil which supplied most of their wants, lived a peaceful, sober life, into which, at regular intervals, the village fairs introduced an element of rude and boisterous gaiety. property here has always been much subdivided, and large farms are quite the exception. so that in belgium, which as a whole is so rich and thickly-populated, "veurne-ambacht" has always been regarded as a district that would afford an army the minimum of billeting facilities and of the various supplies required. communications, too, are few and far between. except for the nieuport-dixmude railway--which follows the same course as our main positions--and a few very second-rate light railways, there is but one line, that connecting dixmude and furnes with dunkirk; and it is only a single line without depôts or sidings. roads worthy of the name are rare enough. one of them, which begins at nieuport and passes through ramscapelle, oudecapelle and loo, runs almost parallel to the front, under the enemy's direct fire. to the west there is only one more, the high-road from furnes to ypres. this, also, is of great importance, although, being within range of the german guns, it is constantly subjected to bombardment. lateral communications towards the front are confined on the one side to the roads which connect furnes with nieuport and pervyse; and on the other to the by-roads which the main furnes-ypres highway throws off towards oudecapelle, loo and boesinghe. the remainder of the system is made up of badly-paved or dirt roads, which are rendered useless by the lightest shower. men and horses get bogged in a deep, sticky mud, from which they can extricate themselves only by the severest exertion. of a truth the thick, clinging mud of "veurne-ambacht" is a persistent and terrible enemy, which one can only curse and fight without respite. we may add that this inhospitable region is entirely exposed to an observer stationed at any of several favourable points east of the yser. the plain is commanded on the north from the top of the westende dunes; centrally, from near keyem; on the south, by the clercken heights, where the ground rises to hill . not a movement, not a single work undertaken by the belgian troops escaped the enemy until the clever but very complex arrangement of artificial screens was evolved which now protects almost the whole of this vast plain from direct observation. the above is a short and imperfect description of the region in which the belgian army has made a stand for the last three years, and which it has converted into a practically impregnable fortress. the features emphasised by us will enable readers to understand the very special character of the defence works which it has had to construct, and the amount of patient labour which was and still is imposed on it. for germany is not the only foe that the belgian army has to fight. it must struggle ceaselessly with the weather and the treacherous water which oozes from the inhospitable soil and gnaws at the foundations of defences whereon shells and bombs fall day in, day out. it lives in a country which has a disagreeable climate; where rain persists for two-thirds of the year; where dense and quickly-forming fogs spread an icy murk in the winter; where fierce storms rise suddenly and at times blow with extraordinary violence. a general review of the works constructed. before we proceed to a short account of the main defensive works, special attention should be drawn to certain constructive features common to them all. we must remember that it is impossible to excavate even to a slight depth, except in some parts of the more southerly front, where the ground rises on a gentle slope. drive a spade in but a few inches, and you strike water. the result is that defence-works of all kinds _have had to be built with imported material_. [illustration: a sandbag communication trench _with arches and duckboards_.] [illustration: a communication trench, southern part of front _revetted with sandbags and hurdles_.] [illustration: first line as seen across the floods] [illustration: a typical communication trench _with protective arches and light railway track_.] the trenches of the belgian line are not the least like the narrow, deep ditches of the western front, of which we all have seen many illustrations taken from all points of view. properly speaking, they are nothing else than _ramparts_ raised _above_ the ground. behind these breast-works, built throughout with the greatest difficulty, the defenders tread on the natural ground, which thus really forms the bottom of what is incorrectly named a "trench." the mere fact that one cannot excavate obviously makes it necessary to bring up from the rear--often from a great distance--all the materials required, including earth, hundreds of thousands of cubic yards of which is piled up in millions of bags. the transport of these materials meant a very formidable task, especially in the early days. we have referred to the country's deficiency in means of communication of any value. so everything--sand-bags, stakes, tree-trunks, rails, cement, bricks, shingle, hurdles, barbed wire--has to be moved to the front lines by night on men's backs or in light vehicles able to carry only a strictly limited load, as a heavy one could not be got along the muddy and soft roads. need one dwell upon the peculiar difficulties encountered in consolidating the ground sufficiently to bear the weight of special defences, such as those of concrete? not till long after the battle of the yser, when the main positions had been adequately strengthened, could attention be given to improving the road system by building new roads and constructing additional railways of narrow and standard gauge. it is, therefore, not surprising that the recollection of the labour, more particularly that done during the winter, has remained a veritable nightmare to the men engaged upon the task. shot and shell raked them incessantly. they had to toil knee-deep in water and mud, perished with cold, whipped by wind and rain. owing to the depleted condition of the ranks, most of the fighting forces had, one may say, to mount guard continuously along an extended and still imperfectly consolidated front. an appeal was made to the older classes, elderly garrison troops, or "old overcoats" as the soldiers picturesquely called them. working tirelessly behind the lines, they "shovelled their fatherland into little bags," so they jokingly described it among themselves. these old fellows, assisted by a few resting (?) units, toiled day and night, preparing all the indispensable materials and carrying them to the front trenches over sodden roads swept by the enemy's fire. there, the stoical defenders of the yser, protected by watchful guards and with their rifles always ready to hand, patiently, persistently and with marvellous pluck raised bit by bit the invincible barrier which they had sworn to hold against every new effort of the enemy. (_a_) _mastering the floods_ the inundation let loose at the most critical period of the battle of the yser, when the enemy had succeeded in crossing the river at saint georges, schoorbakke, tervaete and near oud-stuyvekenskerke, could not at first be so regulated as to harass the enemy only. it had gradually invaded part of our own trenches, and it was therefore an urgent matter to get the waters under complete control, lest the heroic means employed should compel the belgian army to abandon positions held hitherto at so serious a cost of life. to effect this, important works had to be put in hand without delay; some for defence, others for offence. the first defensive measure consisted in the construction of trenches, which it was imperative to build at once, whether in water which oozed up at all points or in deep mud. working with feverish activity, men piled sand-bags, brought up in a constant stream from the rear, on the marshy soil. in this manner parapets of a steadily increasing solidity slowly formed a continuous front which, though still of doubtful strength, sufficed to protect the occupied zone against surprise attacks. before the business of putting the ground in a proper state of defence could be initiated, the inundation had to be got under effectual control. this implied, let us note, the power to flood the ground on the enemy's side at will, while preventing the water passing beyond a sharply defined line, and making it quite impossible for the enemy to threaten us in turn. the enormous technical difficulties which our engineers had to overcome can easily be imagined. we may observe, in the first place, that the yser district is intersected by many small tributaries of the river and by a number of interconnected canals. the two zones--our own and that of the enemy--thus had direct communication with one another, so that, unless minute precautions were taken, and a great deal of work done, it was not possible to flood either zone without exposing the other to a similar fate. [illustration: an artillery unit's control post] [illustration: battalion headquarters in the front line] [illustration: a shelter] [illustration: a footbridge across the floods _from the first line to an outpost_.] [illustration: view of the first line _where it crosses flooded ground_.] [illustration: first-line trench round the ruins of a farm _note the arch-shaped traverses for protecting its occupants from snipers._] [illustration: advanced post on the right bank of the yser _beyond it is seen "no man's land."_] nor was this all. the enemy was, and still is, at liberty to lower the water level by "bleeding" the inundation on his side. to defeat such attempts, it was necessary to put ourselves in a position to turn the requisite volume of water towards his lines. finally, provision must be made for draining off the water promptly and carefully, should the need arise, so as to prevent a disaster being caused by the enemy increasing the inundation, or merely by the torrential rain which falls at times with disheartening persistence in this depressing region. a constant struggle between the two opponents was thus always in progress. let us say at once that the ingenuity and unwearying exertions of our men always triumphed in contests of this kind. they continue to dominate the situation completely, and the germans have had to own themselves beaten. the reader will realise that we cannot give a detailed description of the measures taken; the most difficult and complicated of which were unquestionably those designed to protect the belgian lines from inundations let loose on the enemy's positions. it has been mentioned more than once that, thanks to their command of nieuport and its locks, the belgians held the key of the inundations in their hands. but we must not forget that for three years german shells have been continually directed at the locks and bridges. the works that have had to be undertaken, carried out and maintained in good condition throughout this region will astonish the experts when it is possible to reveal their real character. what shall be said, then, of the great importance of the many barrages which we have had to raise; of the dykes--some of them more than a kilometre long--of the strengthening of the banks along the canals and water-courses that furrow the country in all directions? the embankments are of two main kinds: the solid and those with sluices. the second are used in places where the free play of the water must be allowed and regulated. it will easily be believed that the construction of these artificial barriers, able to withstand heavy pressure, needed the piling up of , , , and even , sand-bags apiece; that not fewer than a _million_ bags were required for the largest dyke, the contents of which were a trifling , cubic yards! we cannot say more on the subject here; but the few figures given will, we think, convey an adequate idea of the vast work entailed in controlling the inundations. (_b_) _the trenches._ when the first dyke, running continuously along the front, had been finished, and the waters were sufficiently under control to relieve all fears of a serious catastrophe, and when the water-posts disputed with the enemy had been occupied in the midst of the floods, we had to give immediate attention to improving the lines, completing earthworks and organising the depth of the positions in accordance with the general principles set forth above. there was no time to be lost. with the return of fine weather we had to expect a renewal of activity on the part of the enemy, who apparently had not given up his ambitious designs on dunkirk and calais. in each of the sectors which our depleted divisions had to guard, operations were organised on a systematic plan, with the firm determination of carrying them through in the shortest time possible. work of any importance could not, of course, be done in broad daylight, for, as we have already said, nothing escaped the enemy's notice. though far away, his guns never ceased to plough up the grounds, and to what losses should we not have exposed ourselves had we attempted to strengthen our positions in daylight, close up to his fines and before his very eyes! so in the depths of a wet and severe winter our men had to toil during the night, under the most trying conditions imaginable. now that these have been considerably improved, thanks to a perfect organisation which extends to the smallest details, it is difficult to realise the enormous efforts and the real physical suffering which the defenders of the yser had to face during those long months of the early part of the war. [illustration: a second-line trench] [illustration: a concrete redoubt _forming the point d'appui for a first-line trench_.] [illustration: a front-line trench, with sandbag parapet] the unit detailed for work in the front line of a given sector was, by the irony of words, "resting," or partly resting--which means that it was quartered among ruins in cantonments partially destitute of resources, a long way from the workshops to which it had to find its way at night-fall. "doing their bit" valiantly, sustained by a self-confidence which never deserted them, the men showed on all occasions the greatest goodwill, and--despite certain reports to the contrary--unfailing good humour. they grumbled a good deal, goodness knows; and who would not have done the same in their place? but they kept going, enduring hard labour and privation, under the stimulus of a burning desire to punish the enemy who was responsible for all the troubles that afflicted them. clad in the most weird and often deplorable clothes, these men trudged along through the darkness of the night, over muddy tracks and sodden roads, towards the marshy belt of flooded meadows. this tramp through the night was a real penance. at every step the men stumbled in the heavy and sticky mud, over displaced cobbles or in shell-holes brimming with water. they had to struggle along in this fashion, sometimes for hours on end, to reach the "material depôts" where such sand-bags, stakes, corrugated iron sheets, barbed wire and tools as could be got together were distributed among them. to-day there is an abundance of all these things; but at the time of which we write supplies were very short, and one had to get along as best one could with anything that came to hand in a haphazard way which now seems pitiable. however, what did it matter? carrying loads which added to the difficulties of progress, the men plodded along almost indistinguishable paths and tracks where the least slip threatened to send them headlong into deep mud. extreme caution was needed to avoid rousing the enemy. lights were constantly thrown up from his lines, flooding the dreary country with their pale radiance. when one rose, the men instantly threw themselves flat in the mire. occasionally the column would be surprised before it could take cover, and be subjected to bursts of machine-gun fire. in this way many brave fellows died an obscure death while performing one of the most thankless and disagreeable tasks imaginable. on reaching the scene of action, the men set to work, forgetting their fatigue in the anxiety to add their quotum to that done on the previous night before daylight should return; raising and consolidating the frail rampart of sandbags, building fresh shelters or arranging the auxiliary defences in front of the trenches. what words can fitly describe the patience, courage and endurance of these workers, perpetually overlooked by the enemy, toiling to exhaustion under the fire of machine-guns trained on our lines, exposed to death-dealing bombs, a single one of which would sometimes nullify the efforts of a whole night or burst like a thunder-clap in the midst of a group of men, scattering death and horrible wounds? no suffering, however, could break their indomitable will. admirable they were and are. nothing could be more touching than the self-sacrificing spirit which animated these heroes. they had not even the satisfaction of being able to return blow for blow, to increase their keenness and energy. on the contrary, they knew that death threatened them, not while rifle in hand and drunk with the madness of the fray, but while ingloriously wielding a common trenching-tool. this dreadful life lasted for weeks and months on end. think of the exhaustion of it, when the same men had to work every night, then take their turn on guard in the trenches without any chance of getting a really refreshing sleep! later on, the bringing of the regiments up to full strength and the advanced condition of the work fortunately made it possible to arrange a judicious rotation of duty. nevertheless, our men have never been able to consider their job quite done, since on the belgian front one has constantly to reconstruct, repair, even entirely rebuild, fortifications damaged by the enemy's fire or by water--that second foe which is often more destructive than the first. the best means of arriving at a due appreciation of the perseverance shown by the belgian troops and of the time required for the completion of their task, is a numerical statement of the work actually achieved. we may note that the whole front organised by the belgian army extends for about kilometres ( ¼ miles), as measured along the front line of trenches; also, that this system of continuous or discontinuous positions has a great depth, and that each position is made up of several lines, one behind the other, their number varying according to tactical requirements or topographical conditions. without fear of being accused of exaggeration, we may, therefore, reckon the total length of the trenches which the belgian army had to make, as to times that of the front itself. to this we must add the many kilometres of communication trenches which allow the men to move from one line to another without being seen and to a certain extent without being hit by the enemy. at a low estimate the total work amounts to at least kilometres of earthworks[b]--the distance, as the crow flies, from paris to cologne or from paris to strassburg, or half as much again as that from ostend to arlon, the longest stretch which can be measured in belgium. the accompanying photographs show several views of the trenches of the belgian front on the yser, and give a better idea than any words of the real convict work accomplished during three years of incessant labour in horribly difficult ground. just think what it involved! every yard of fire-trench--traverses and parados included--required the moving of to cubic metres of earth; every yard of communication trench, the transport and placing of at least cubic metres. you will not be far out if you reckon at ½ _million cubic metres_ ( - / million cubic yards) the volume of the earthworks raised on the belgian front in the construction of the main and communication trenches alone. trenches of both classes are either formed entirely of sand-bags or very solidly revetted with sand-bags, wattles or bricks. all these materials have had to be laboriously brought up from the rear. we mention this fact again, as it cannot be over-emphasised. the total number of bags used runs into _tens of millions_, while the superficial area of the hurdles placed in position must be reckoned in _thousands of square yards_. but the mere making of the trenches is not the whole business. they must be protected from attack by means of a dense and deep system of auxiliary defences--networks of barbed wire, _chevaux de frise_, land mines, etc. what statistician could calculate the number of the _hundreds of thousands_ of stakes that have been driven and the _thousands of miles_ of wire arranged in front of the parapets by our heroic workers? wherever our lines are near those of the enemy--who as a rule possesses the great advantage of commanding them--special works are needed to prevent bullets enfilading the trenches and doing havoc. all these trenches are, therefore, covered with a series of arches, which may be seen in some of our photographs. the soft bottoms of the whole system of defences must also be carefully consolidated to render their occupation possible and to enable the men to move about with ease. duckboards, assembled just behind the front and then brought into the lines, have had to be laid everywhere with infinite labour in the muddy bottom of the trenches--dozens of miles of them--and relaid heaven only knows how often! it would be a good thing if one could regard the works when once carried through as definitely finished; but that would be too much to hope for, since the most solid revetments crumble in sorry fashion under bombardment, and the elements also seem to be bent on destroying them. anything heavy settles little by little, owing to the lack of consistency in the subsoil. in bad weather especially, when the rain never ceases and the floods spread, our men daily report parapets giving way and duckboards disappearing under the water or mud. then everything has to be done over again. one must set to work, with a patience ever sorely tried, to reconstruct laboriously what was originally put together only by the most strenuous efforts. thus it has come about that many of the trenches have had to be reformed _five or six times_. so far we have dealt only with the main positions. we turn now to the prodigious effort demanded by the construction of advanced fortifications right in the middle of the floods. the first step is to make foot-bridges, several kilometres long in some places. (one of our photographs gives a striking view of such a bridge.) over these, which the enemy can sweep with his fire, all the materials needed for making the advanced works must be carried, usually on men's backs and in any case by very precarious means of transport. a mere "water-post" requires thousands of sand-bags, so you can form some idea of the labour implied in the building of one of the many important posts situated in the inundated area to protect our main positions. all the earthworks, reckoned in hundreds of cubic yards; all the concrete emplacements which alone are able to withstand the continual bombardment; all the close networks of barbed wire have had to materialise but a few yards away from the enemy's lines. you may well ask yourself whence the men have drawn the reserves of perseverance, energy and pluck that were needed in such conditions for raising fortifications like these above the waters. (_c_) _various engineering works._ most of the works already referred to were carried out either entirely or chiefly by the infantry, who, after hours of guard duty in the trenches, laid aside the rifle only to pick up a tool and indefatigably continue their rough and dangerous labour among the same scenes of ruin and devastation. we have remarked in passing that much detail work of widely different kinds has had to go forward simultaneously with the organisation proper of the defensive positions. its execution was entrusted to special troops; engineers (sappers), bridge-builders, telegraphists, railway corps, etc., as well as to many labour companies consisting of men of the older classes attached to the engineers. men of the heavy and field artillery have had to make the many emplacements for batteries of all calibres, which have increased steadily in number as the belgian army has been able to get and assemble in its workshops an abundance of the requisite material. it is impossible to describe the innumerable works of this kind in detail without straying too far, so we will content ourselves here with reviewing them briefly and giving some figures which will enable the reader to appreciate the great responsibilities assumed by the various branches. . _concrete shelters, redoubts and fighting-posts._--the weakness of earthworks constructed with sand-bags, which are scattered in all directions by bursting shells, has compelled us to build numerous concrete shelters, though the work is beset by many difficulties and sometimes has to be executed right under the enemy's nose--bombproofs, machine-gun posts and fighting-posts for the battalion, regimental and battery staffs. all construction of this kind must be preceded by a thorough consolidation of the ground, which in its natural condition is too soft to support such heavy weights. at several points in the front lines themselves we have also had to make particularly strong _points d'appui_, usually concrete redoubts, in which a large garrison may hold out to the last man. the importance of these works will be inferred from the statement that their construction has involved the use of at least , to , cubic yards of concrete. . _communications._--it will be remembered that the district occupied by the belgian army was poorly supplied with railways, roads and usable tracks. after the battle of flanders (october to november, ) the continuous movement of troops over the existing roads, added to the effects of bombardment and bad weather, had done great damage to almost all the few available means of communication. this state of things had to be promptly remedied, both to accelerate putting the sector into a state of defence and, what was still more urgent, to enable all kinds of supplies required by the troops and the materials for the defence works to be brought up. special units, therefore, laid in the advanced army zone some kilometres of new railways of standard gauge, and several hundred kilometres of decauville railway. the light tracks were gradually pushed through the communication and main trenches, and even along the foot-bridges leading to the main pickets. so that our men might cross the countless canals, streams and ditches met with everywhere, and move over flooded and marshy areas, the belgian engineers built hundreds of bridges and thousands of culverts, besides some tens of kilometres of the foot-bridges already described. as an example, we may mention that one of these foot-bridges, crossing a marsh in the southern part of the front, is quite metres long. as for the road-system, existing roads had to be remade and improved, while new ones were built and narrow ones widened and strengthened sufficiently to carry all kinds of traffic. this road-building and mending was applied to _kilometres of roads and usable tracks_ in all; and absorbed some , tons of road metal and as many tons of sand--which involved the moving and handling of, say, , , , tons of various materials. the upkeep of the roads, which carry a dense and continuous traffic, demands unceasing labour, especially in the winter. in conclusion, we should mention that there are, in addition to the road-system properly so-called, many infantry routes and approaches for artillery which have had to be made with great difficulty across marshes and soft meadowland. . _various forms of construction._--one cannot pretend to give even a bare list of the varied and numberless erections for which our engineers have been responsible behind the belgian front, to accommodate the fighting troops and auxiliary services and mitigate the scarcity of suitable quarters. for three years german guns have battered everything within range, and converted the humble, peaceful villages of veurne-ambacht into heaps of ruins. one must go far behind the front to find any premises that have still escaped shell-fire. in them have been established all the organisations which need not be actually in the lines, and there also are quartered as large a part as possible of the resting units. but they cannot hold all the troops not in the trenches; and it will readily be understood that battalions held in reserve and warned first in case of an attack, must be near enough to throw themselves into the fight without loss of time. the problem has been solved by building a large number of huts in each divisional sector; yet without grouping them so closely as to afford an easy mark to the enemy's guns and aeroplanes. so the hutments, capable of accommodating some , men and about , horses, have been scattered over the whole of the district occupied. in addition, much has had to be done and many buildings have had to be erected, in order to secure the best possible conditions for the elaborate organisations of the medical service, even in the fighting zone. we have had to provide bombproof first-aid stations, dressing-stations, and field hospitals, in many cases quite close to the lines, under circumstances the difficulties of which have already been sufficiently emphasised. huge hospitals, with several thousands of beds, have had to be built from the foundations upwards for the reception of the wounded not able to endure removal to the rear. furnes, the only town in the district, at first provided invaluable accommodation; but, when systematic bombardment of the city endangered even the lives of the poor wounded, the hospital services had to be transferred elsewhere. the splendid hospital at la panne, adinkerke, hoogstade and beveren-sur-yser, have long been regarded as models of their kind, though their establishment was attended by serious difficulties. every possible modern improvement has been turned to account in their equipment; and although within earshot of the never-silent guns, they have accomplished marvels which the greatest authorities on the subject have on many occasions unstintedly and rightly praised. we may conclude by just mentioning the aviation and balloon parks, the necessary installations for the various technical services, and the repair shops for motor- and horse-drawn vehicles, all of which have been established in the advanced zone by the belgian army. the vast amount of labour represented by these undertakings is self-evident, as the district contained practically no supplies of the materials needed. . _artificial screens._--unless we were to be content to expose ourselves to grave inconveniences and suffer huge losses, it is obvious that we could not long tolerate the enemy's full command of a plain entirely devoid of any cover able to interfere with his observations. the only means of blinding him was to protect all our works with artificial screens, composed of branches, hurdles and canvas set or hung all over the area occupied. viewed by an observer in the german lines, these screens overlap in such a way as to form a virtually unbroken barrier, impenetrable to the eye. to the layman this picturesque solution of the problem may seem simplicity itself, because he does not take into account the trouble of establishing these screens. as usual, all materials have to be brought to the spot from the rear. fabulous quantities of branches are transported to the front by rail or barge, then loaded on to vehicles and taken to the workshops, where they are converted into enormous screens to be placed in carefully selected positions by special gangs detailed for the purpose. as the supply of branches is not enough to meet all requirements, our resourceful fellows make use of reeds cut in the marshes of flooded meadows, some of them adjacent to the enemy's lines. the reeds are tied into large bundles and carried on the back to the hurdle-works, there to be interwoven and arranged between suitable supports. many thousands of square metres of these artificial masks have been set up all over the great plain. but, unfortunately, they are as fragile as they are picturesque. the wind, which often rises to a gale in this coastal region, blows them down or makes yawning holes in them; so they need constant attention. however, our long-enduring men have worked so well that the enemy cannot now watch what goes on in our lines. . _the supply of drinking water._--by a peculiar irony of fate, although the belgian soldiers live in a country so saturated with water that every possible means must be employed to combat it, they would die of thirst had not works of considerable magnitude been undertaken to provide them with water fit to drink. during the battle of the yser, when complete disorganisation reigned among the supply services of our valiant but unlucky army, many of the men could quench their thirst only with the muddy and loathsome water of the ditches which served them as trenches. as soon as that tragic fight was over, the greatest precautions had to be taken to prevent an epidemic of typhoid fever decimating what remained of our army. the existing wells in the fighting area had been invaded by the brackish flood water, in which floated hundreds of corpses; while those in the districts not yet ravaged by fire scarcely sufficed for local needs. so to the rear, as in other cases, we had to look for drinkable water, which must be got up to the front lines in spite of transport difficulties. as soon as circumstances allowed, we began to sink an adequate number of wells; and while in some places our fighting men obstinately strove to protect their defensive works from the treacherous floods, in others our workmen dug and bored into the unkindly soil in search of a stratum yielding potable water, which was struck at a depth of _metres_--sometimes even further down. this alone will give some idea of the obstacles that had at all costs to be overcome. our desperate and unwearied efforts were happily crowned with success, and soon the whole army, including the many auxiliary services of the advanced zone, enjoyed an abundance of good water. . _the telephone system._--everybody knows how very important the telephone has become during the present war; but even the most far-sighted people who had strongly urged the general employment of this essentially practical and rapid means of communication, had not anticipated the extraordinarily wide scope which was to be given it. to-day the telephone is the real bond of union between all units serving at the front, from the observer crouching in his advanced post to the commander-in-chief. it links those who issue commands with those who obey them, the lowest with the highest, and makes it possible for all efforts directed towards a single end to be correlated most efficiently in the performance of the common task. if so bold a comparison may be permitted, the telephonic network is the nervous system traversing the huge body of an army in action. the best mode of showing the prime importance of this network is to give some figures, which certainly exceed all the calculations that the layman would be likely to make. would he imagine, for instance, that, by about the middle of the year , the telephone wires of a single sector held by the belgians had a total length greater than half that of the equator, or exactly , kilometres? it is not difficult to realise what labour was needed to install such a system. the innumerable wires and posts had not merely to be put in place, but to be protected from destruction, sheltered against incessant bombardment, and repaired at once if unavoidably damaged. in the most dangerous areas the wires had to be buried deep, or, where they crossed flooded areas, laid under water. this meant the excavating and filling-in of hundreds of kilometres of deep trenches before the delicate work of burying wires and cables was completed. the , kilometres of wires in the belgian front system are made up of , kilometres of buried or submerged wires and , kilometres of aerial line. the telephone instruments in use number nearly , ; the exchange switch-boards, not far short of , . let us add that this network requires unremitting attention, and that it is being extended and improved daily, and we shall have said enough to give an idea of the prodigious task accomplished by the special corps entrusted with the management of this arduous undertaking. . _the batteries._--the belgian army began the war with but a limited supply of -mm. guns and hardly a couple of dozen -mm. and -mm. howitzers; so that it was for a long time compelled to face its powerfully equipped enemy on very unequal terms, a state of things which gave rise to much anxiety. its battery crews, however, though so seriously handicapped, always fought with remarkable courage and technical skill. during the violent battle of the yser, especially, their self-sacrifice and devotion won the deepest admiration: and they were also largely responsible for the heroic stand which will be one of the most glorious pages in our army's history. it was apparent in the very first encounters that artillery would play a much more important part than had been assigned to it by pre-war theory. as soon as the two opponents had dug themselves in opposite one another, it became evident that strong entrenchments, forming an unbroken barrier along an extensive front, could be mastered only by the number and weight of guns brought into action. we shall say nothing here about the great effort which enabled us to solve the second part of this momentous problem,[c] our immediate object being to demonstrate the intense effort which the fighting army had to put forth in organising the yser front. when the last struggles of the battle had ceased, our artillerymen vied with one another in the keenness and industry with which they screened their pieces from enemy observation in the open plain whereon they had perforce to establish them. it was impossible to dig into the ground and sink the guns behind solid earthworks. as with the trenches, all structures had to be laboriously fashioned out of imported materials, not merely under the enemy's eyes but under the fire of his formidable artillery. over and over again the gunners had to cease work in order to reply to the enemy, giving him as much as he gave, and showing themselves always ready for a fight, whatever the odds. the duel over, they picked up their tools, repaired any damage done, and cheerfully carried on. however, thanks to the steady augmentation of belgian resources, the german superiority gradually disappeared; while, on the other hand, the number of works to be executed increased. as the positioning of mere field-pieces was a very troublesome business, one can guess what was entailed by the installation on such unstable ground of heavy batteries with ponderous platforms to support them. nevertheless, our men patiently overcame all difficulties. an imposing number of batteries--greater than the public imagines--is now disposed _en échelon_ over the plain. cannon, howitzers and mortars are hidden so skilfully that they can hardly be detected even at a short distance. hundreds of concrete shelters have been built for ammunition dumps and headquarters. among the ruins rise practically indestructible observation posts, themselves invisible from afar, but commanding the whole country. from these a ceaseless watch is kept upon the enemy's lines. artificial screens protect the works from direct observation, and clever "camouflage" entirely conceals them from overhead view. to mislead the enemy, "dummy" batteries are scattered about everywhere. many reserve positions have also been prepared so that, should the need arise, the batteries may be shifted and re-concentrated in different sectors. it has been, one sees, a great enterprise; and the men who have worked so hard and unremittingly may well feel a legitimate pride in what they have so successfully accomplished. yet in this, as in other spheres of activity, work can never stop. bad weather and bombardment alike inflict constant havoc; and in spite of the most ingenious precautions the enemy always succeeds eventually in spotting the emplacement of this or that battery or in marking off an area which conceals a group of batteries. a furious fire from heavy guns is then concentrated upon the point discovered, and by the time our artillery manages to silence it the damage done is sometimes of such a nature that works which represent long months of labour may have to be practically reconstructed. conclusion. we have now described the most outstanding features of the remarkable feat which the belgian army has accomplished with the object of rendering impregnable the important sector of the western front entrusted to its watchful care. it may claim to have safely defended the vital route leading to dunkirk and calais. mere written words can, however, but imperfectly convey a complete idea of the colossal work it did among most discouraging and desolate surroundings; and prudence forbids us to say anything at all about many, and those by no means the least considerable, of the operations. moreover, the few data which we have been permitted to give are but a slight indication of the efforts unsparingly made by men and officers alike. the task was done in self-effacing silence; the world at large scarcely knows of it. but perhaps in these few pages we may have succeeded in making the merit of our fearless and tenacious troops better appreciated, and in showing how well they have earned the homage due to the determined energy which they have displayed for more than three years, with no thought but that of valiantly performing a duty of prime importance to the common cause, though it brings no glory with it. can anyone realise fully the kind of life belgian soldiers are leading, even now that the essential military works are completed? a division guarding a sector of the front invariably divides its time between duty in the trenches, outpost duty and rest. rest! magic word! you would like to think that our men enjoy a blissful calm, long hours of pleasant freedom, lounging about all the day, almost forgetful of the war and its cruel chances. alack! how far the reality falls short of this seductive vision! "rest" means shelter in comfortless hutments or squalid cantonments, with a truss of straw to serve as bed. fatigue duties are needed to prepare, load up and move the materials for all the works whose upkeep and completion demand constant care. then there are the long route marches to keep the troops in perfect training, and drill in which military instruction is given and our men are taught the latest modes of fighting with a view to making future attacks. at night come alarms and enemy shells bombarding their quarters and poisoning them with asphyxiating gases. when on outpost duty in the second-line positions one must always be ready for a fight. when the german guns concentrate an intense fire upon certain sectors, one must wait stolidly and stoically in the shelters which a single shell can blow to atoms. then, too, whenever the chance is offered, one must toil to restore defence works which are as constantly knocked to pieces again. with nightfall come the reliefs, a long and tiresome business, surrounded by deadly peril if the enemy be on his guard and puts up a barrage, searching the ground with sudden, furious bursts of machine-gun fire. in the trenches one has to keep a close and cautious lookout, always watching the enemy's lines, mind and body ever alert, while pitiless death prowls about and threatens at every point. at times, no doubt, the hours pass slowly with tiresome monotony. a heavy silence broods over this corner of the great battlefield wherein the belgian soldiers, tramping along the bottom of the trenches or huddled in a dark shelter, dream at length of all that they have in tender memory, the affections, the hopes left behind them in the country now oppressed and tyrannised over by the invader. their souls are full of bitterness, as with fixed stare they dumbly surrender themselves to their sad musings. a mad desire comes over them to clasp again to their breast, if only for a moment, some suffering dear one--whether still living or with eyes closed for ever in death, they do not know. so violent an access of home-sickness sweeps over them that at times they cannot restrain their tears. then, suddenly, all heads are raised: eyes flash like points of steel. let a shell whistle over the trenches and burst a few yards further on, and these men, who a moment ago were numbed by their gloomy broodings, become in a trice the fighters whose keenness awakes when danger threatens. explosions, nearer and yet nearer. the earth quivers under the continuous shell-bursts. an acrid smoke spreads in the trenches, now all alive. the men rush to arms. with an eye glued to their peep-holes the look-outs feverishly scrutinise the enemy's lines, while the infantry lean against the broad, high parapets or crouch in their dug-outs, stoically waiting for the rain of steel and fire to cease falling about their ears. [illustration: a front-line trench in the southern sector of the belgian front] [illustration: a footbridge through the floods _replaces a road and carries a narrow-gauge railway_.] [illustration: an outpost among the floods _armed with machine-guns_.] but the bombardment, far from dying down, seems to increase in fury. here come grenades and torpedoes, bursting everywhere with a terrible din, excavating huge holes in the ground, throwing up great sheaves of earth and mud, scattering sand-bags, stakes, planks and beams in all directions, demolishing with fiendish persistency the ramparts built so painstakingly by our stubborn workers. we on our part have been prompt to reply to the enemy's fire. our gunners are already busy; mortars and bomb-throwers discharge a stream of projectiles into the opposite trenches without intermission. and soon, far away on the plain, the batteries also lift up their voices. the long-drawn-out, deep growls of the heavy guns mingle with the sharp barks of the "soixante-quinze." everything round about the bombarded trench seems to be engulfed in the terrific uproar. the struggle continues obstinately, with periodic bursts of excessive violence, until the enemy's fire is mastered and dies away into silence. when quiet returns, the officer of the guard, in his half-demolished post, pens his terse report by the flickering light of a candle:-- "to-day, from to p.m., the trench occupied by my company was heavily bombarded. shells and bombs have damaged our works very seriously for about yards. two shelters were entirely destroyed. the men behaved splendidly in spite of heavy losses: killed, wounded--a dozen severely. stretcher-bearers just arrived. the company has got to work again. moral excellent." * * * * * * some may imagine that the belgian troops must have had their readiness to attack blunted, and their desire to leap over the entanglements and hurl themselves on the enemy weakened, by their long immobility in the same trenches, by the never-ending construction of defensive works, by the interminable residence in the same monotonous environment. but they are wrong. their sadly mistaken conclusions would soon be corrected could they but see how eagerly our soldiers contend for the honour of taking part in those adventurous patrols in no man's land and in the risky reconnaissances towards the german lines. if volunteers be called for, a hundred offer themselves. hardly a night passes without some expeditions of this kind being set on foot. then are fought in the darkness weird and deadly combats, wherein our men display magnificent courage and wonderful dash. neither bad weather nor suffering can quench their desire to conquer and their hot eagerness to fling themselves upon the enemy and hunt him out of the country which he has remorselessly despoiled. as the soldiers of justice and right, they wish to be--and will be--the soldiers also of deliverance and liberty. they know that their hour is coming and that they cannot choose it; but they are ready to throw themselves heart and soul into the thick of the fray when they get the impatiently awaited signal. meanwhile they are content simply to do their hard duty in what remains of a free country--a tiny corner of belgium where the eye sees nothing but a vast battlefield with its ruins; its camps, bubbling with active life; its hospitals, homes of suffering; its cemeteries, too, where rest those who died for their fatherland. _printed in great britain by alabaster, passmore & sons, ltd., london and maidstone._ footnotes: [a] see _les batailles de la marne_ (_die schlachten an der marne_), by an officer of the german general staff. translated from the german by th. buyse. van oest & cie, paris, . [b] going into detail, we may point out that kilometres of fire and communication trenches are included in the area of the front line organised defensively _for a single division occupying but a very narrow sector_. [c] for information on this subject, consult _les Établissements d'artillerie belges pendant la guerre_, by captain willy breton. berger-levrault, paris and nancy, . the german army in belgium the white book of may translated by e.n. bennett _late capt. th batt. oxford & bucks light infantry, formerly fellow of hertford college, oxford_ with a foreword on military reprisals in belgium and ireland [illustration] new york b.w. huebsch, inc. mcmxxi foreword the allied case against germany with respect to the conduct of the kaiser's troops in belgium rests mainly on four publications. ( ) "the report of the belgian commission of inquiry." ( ) the belgian "_rapports sur la violation du droit des gens en belgique_." ( ) the belgian "reply to the german white book." ( ) the "bryce report." it was the last of these which mainly influenced british and american opinion. this famous compilation owed much to the reputation of the eminent scholar who presided over the enquiry, and to the names of messrs. fisher, harold cox and others who were members of the commission. nevertheless, it must be admitted that our experience during the storm and stress of the war does not indicate that our literary and intellectual leaders have as a class shown either greater fidelity to principle or less susceptibility to the evil influences of war-fever, than the ordinary man in the street; and now that the more salient symptoms of this fever are abating and prejudice is slowly being replaced by reasoned judgment, the bryce report can no longer retain unchallenged its claim to present a critical and convincing record of unquestioned facts. the numerous statements which it embodies were mainly derived from belgian refugees who had reached our shores. very many of these men and women were naturally in a state of nervous excitement and full of bitter indignation against the invaders of their soil. such mental conditions are never conducive to the presentation of accurate and veridical evidence. further it is obvious that some of these refugees were not eye-witnesses of the outrages they describe, for they had fled from their homes and merely record their own inferences as to events which had occurred during their absence. another serious weakness in the report arises from the fact that the various barristers and others who were sent round to interview these refugees were with very few exceptions quite unable to converse fluently in french and wholly ignorant of flemish. finally, none of the evidence was taken on oath. here then we have an ill-digested mass of unsworn statements--some merely at second-hand--made by excited and angry belgians, and transmitted by interpreters, themselves unsworn, which is presented to the world as final and conclusive proof of germany's guilt, while at the same time the publication in this country of a plain translation of germany's official defence against these charges was forbidden by the censor. the testimony of the bryce report served its purpose and aroused a volume of indignant and scandalised opinion which provided one of the sharpest weapons employed against our chief enemy; but it must be admitted that the methods by which it was compiled were so lax and uncritical that the results sink far below the level ordinarily demanded by the serious historian. the definite and fundamental contention of both the bryce and the belgian reports is that, with the possible exception of a very few and very doubtful cases, no civilian attacks were made on the german troops. this point is strongly and repeatedly emphasised. "the german government" says the bryce report, page , "have sought to justify their severities on the ground of military necessity and have excused them as retaliation for cases in which civilians fired on german troops. there may have been such cases in which such firing occurred, but no proof has ever been given, or to our knowledge attempted to be given of such cases, nor of the stories of shocking outrages perpetrated by belgian men and women on german soldiers." the belgian reply to the white book (p. ) is still more emphatic. "as a matter of fact the so-called belgian _francs-tireurs_ were non-existent.... the theory of an armed resistance on the part of the belgian civil population to the german troops is utterly opposed to the facts." the following statement of monseigneur haylen is quoted: "we declare in concert with the whole belgian people that the story of belgian _francs-tireurs_ is a myth, an invention and a calumny. we do not hesitate most solemnly to defy the german government to prove the existence of a single group of _francs-tireurs_.... we have no knowledge even of an isolated case of civilians having fired on the troops.... in no single case was the supposed culprit named." such is the position definitely taken up by the official reports and adopted by an overwhelming majority of people in great britain and america, to go no further. nevertheless i have always found it difficult to accord unquestioning acceptance to the popular belief. from an _a priori_ point of view it is difficult to believe that german troops, probably the most sternly disciplined and best educated soldiers in the world, should have deliberately gone out of their way to shoot innocent civilians in belgium and destroy their property for no apparent reason at all. to embroil themselves wilfully with the civilian inhabitants at a time when every minute was precious in their scheme of a rapid advance against the anglo-french forces was obviously the last thing the invaders would desire. the supposition that the germans indulged in appalling and indiscriminate acts of terrorism against quite innocent people in order to secure the safety of their lines of communication is ridiculous on the face of it. in short, the current view of "belgian atrocities," admirably as it served its purpose as valuable propaganda, contains within itself so many difficulties that no fair-minded historian of the future could accept it as it stands. we have seen the evidence adduced to prove germany's misdeeds in belgium. why have we been prevented from seeing germany's defence against these charges? in any civilised society, even the vilest criminal is allowed to defend himself. what is the use of "defying germany" to prove a single case of _franc-tireur_ action and at the same time depriving the public of all access to the german white book with its long list of specific outrages supported by sworn evidence? here then is presented for the first time in great britain germany's official reply to the charges formulated against her troops during their passage through belgium. the reader can judge of the evidence for himself. to refuse it a hearing on the _a priori_ assumption that, as mr. bonar law declared in the house of commons, it was "full of lies," or that nothing that a german states could be true, is scarcely worthy of a sane and judicial mind. nor do i hesitate to say in this respect that any englishman who knew his europe in pre-war days would have regarded the sworn testimony of a german as at least quite as trustworthy as the unsworn evidence of a belgian. but apart from the bryce and belgian reports on the one hand and the german white book on the other there exists a mass of evidence hitherto almost unknown in great britain or america--i refer to the evidence of the belgian press in the early days of the invasion. here are some extracts from well-known newspapers:-- the _het handelsblad_ of antwerp, august th, :--"a furious struggle without mercy, which roused in a portion of the civilian population of the low countries, disturbed in its peaceful work of the fields, a veritable and violent desire to defend the natal soil against the prussian traitors.... it is incontestable that from the air-holes of the cellars, loopholes in the roofs made by removing tiles, from houses, farms and cabins a terrible fire was directed on the uhlan and silesian assailants." _nieuwe gazet_, august th:--de burgerij schiet mee op den indringer. ("the citizens also fire on the invaders.") "at bernot the outposts had to fight against the civilians who fired like madmen at the invaders from houses, roofs and windows. some women even took part in the struggle. a young girl, eighteen years of age, armed with a revolver, fired at an officer.... the peasants and inhabitants kept up a regular fusillade against the germans." _het handelsblad_, no. :--"the peasants seized their sporting guns and killed the officer who was commanding the detachment and several men." _nouveau précurseur_, antwerp, says _à propos_ of the massacre of berneau:--"the priest of the village gives the signal to fire with a sporting gun from the belfry of the village. he was surrounded, forced to descend and shot." this is given as the account of an eye-witness. _matin_, antwerp, no. :--"at dormael the three brothers sevenans who had fired on the germans were shot; their bodies were pierced by lance-wounds and their house was burnt down." _nouveau précurseur_, no. :--"it is no laughing matter. all the people, soldiers, gardes civiques or armed villagers take their task seriously.... it is no longer a question of soldiers or of the regular gardes civiques. these are villagers and retired members of the garde. the majority are armed with sporting guns, several have revolvers and a few have sabres in addition." this is followed by the following advice from an officer of the belgian staff to a civilian correspondent:--"take care not to fall into the hands of the uhlans.... never abandon your revolver; if you see them, fire at them but do not stop for a moment, it would mean death." _burgerwelzijn_, bruges, no. , gives the following account of the fighting at herstael:--"some , germans had penetrated as far as the national arms factory and were received by a hail of bullets. all the houses, even the smallest, had been transformed into veritable fortresses. in addition to this, barricades had been erected in the streets, behind which soldiers and civilians were posted ready to fire. women and children brought up the supplies of ammunition. the resistance lasted until all the men and women were _hors de combat_. the germans then penetrated into the village, no longer fighting under command, but firing independently. they sheltered themselves behind a few remaining bushes, for the inhabitants had burned and destroyed everything which could serve as cover. their trumpets rallied them, at least those who survived, and they retired on vivegnies. it was with real joy that the inhabitants had seen the enemy disappear, when the sound of a trumpet was suddenly heard. the uhlans had remounted and were advancing on the village at a trot while the infantry at the same time wheeling to the right attacked the village from the flank. the population allowed the assailants to approach. the attack of the uhlans was terrible, no less terrible the resistance of the villagers. men, women and children opened such a frightful fire on the enemy that the first ranks tumbled one on the other. the germans nevertheless entered the village streets, cavalry in front, infantry behind, while the exasperated populace did not cease to overwhelm the enemy with its fire. the women poured boiling oil and water on the german soldiers who rolled on the ground howling with the pain. it will be some time before the people in germany learn what the assailants of the village of herstael went through; one can, in fact, count on five fingers those who escaped alive from the carnage." _la presse_, antwerp, no. :--"fighting in the streets of liège": "liège is resisting marvellously. the inhabitants uniting with the garde civique are fighting in the streets." _la métropole_, antwerp, august th:--"some of the inhabitants of liège broke open the window of a gunsmith's shop, seized guns, revolvers and cartridges and pursued the uhlans to the outskirts of the town." _nouveau précurseur_, no. , _apropos_ of the battle of haelen:--"lieutenant van doren, th chasseurs-à-cheval, charged with the defence of the town of diest, had not a single soldier at his disposal. he appealed to the volunteer firemen of diest. these as one man demanded to march to the firing line.... three of the firemen were slightly wounded; their names are emil kneuts, louis van attenhoven and leandre segars." with regard to the incidents at visé:-- _de stem van haspengouw_, august th:--"the germans entered visé where they met with a vigorous resistance not only on the part of a small detachment of soldiers who were there but also on the part of the civilians. the germans completely destroyed the town." the _nieuwe gazet_, august th:--"some women and civilians have fired on the germans who have shown themselves pitiless in sparing nothing." another correspondent of the same paper describes what he saw at visé: "young and old ran to take up arms, and if they were unable to stop the murderous advance of the german cavalry, the inhabitants at least resisted till the last moment. people fired from the houses upon the germans, who, in conformity with the laws of war, in these cases, accorded no mercy. they penetrated into the houses from which the shots had been fired and shot a certain number of inhabitants found with arms in their hands." _nieuwe gazet_, august th:--"after the german artillery had set some houses on fire, the infantry marched to the attack. this was not only directed against the soldiers, but also against the civilian population who took part in the combat. people shoot from the houses, small boys and women bombard the assailants with stones, and even some old men from behind the doors fire on the advancing soldiers." the paper goes on to tell us that a german officer assembled the inhabitants round him and was urging them to remain calm. "scarcely had the officer closed his mouth, when a shot suddenly fired at him caused him to fall dead to the ground." _gazette de liège_, august th--"the inhabitants of the country side display a fine enthusiasm; all the peasants are in ambush, armed with their sporting guns ready to fire on the invader." in the face of such evidence, much of it furnished by correspondents who were eye-witnesses of what occurred, the main contention of the belgian and bryce reports falls to the ground. the belgian criticism of these statements as "taken from second-rate papers," "proving nothing," "unimportant," is obviously futile. that the german troops were confronted with a wide-spread and determined opposition on the part of armed civilians in flagrant violation of the laws of war must be accepted as a fact established by evidence varied, cumulative and irresistible. on the other hand it is clear that no final verdict can be passed on the vexed question of the belgian atrocities in general, until the unsworn evidence accumulated against the kaiser's troops has been met to a much fuller extent. the white book does not cover more than the incidents which occurred at dinant, aerschot, andenne, louvain, and the neighbourhood of visé. while therefore it disproves, in conjunction with the belgian evidence cited above, the propaganda plea that the story of civilian attacks was a myth, it does not of course deal with more than a portion of the ground covered by the british and belgian reports. before any complete decision can be reached we should require official replies from the german government to a variety of alleged outrages in dozens of villages like gomery, latour, ethe, the horrible charge of the shooting of the valckenaers family at thildonck, and so on. there were certain cases, one of them known to the writer, in which mistakes and misunderstandings led to the execution of innocent civilians. full allowance, too, must be made for the existence in all conscript armies of brutal and criminal types--not confined to the rank and file--and for the demoralising effects to which all the armies of the war were exposed whenever an abundant supply of wines and spirits was easily accessible by purchase or looting. nevertheless the fact that the main position taken up by the allied reports is obviously untenable, coupled with the significant refusal to allow the official german defence access to our shores, and the deliberate and disgraceful circulation of pseudo-atrocity stories during the war, would seem to suggest that as regards some at least of the alleged incidents lying outside the white book suspense of judgment, pending further researches, may be the wisest attitude. some day a useful and interesting monograph may be written on the whole question of atrocities in war. careful investigation would, i am convinced, yield psychological results of permanent value, and establish the fact that the mental attitude which originates or accepts atrocity stories is frequently based on an amazing inter-mixture of credulity, mal-observation, megalomaniac impulses and deception, conscious or unconscious. meanwhile it is evident that the immense outlay of money and energy expended on the propaganda publications of the entente fully accomplished their object and contributed most effectively towards winning what president wilson has described as "a commercial and industrial war." nevertheless the impartial historian of the future will, i think, present the story of the german invasion of belgium in a somewhat different light from that in which this chapter of history has been portrayed in the official propaganda of the allied powers. * * * * * the final conclusions arrived at will perhaps be shaped on these lines:-- ( ) that the allied propagandists adopted methods of investigation which were often superficial and inadequate and accepted, together with certain evidence which was valid, much that was unsound and worthless. ( ) that the official defence put forward by the enemy was to a very large extent ignored or suppressed. ( ) that according to the recognised usages of war the german troops were fully justified in taking reprisals on the persons or property of those belgian civilians who actually attacked them. ( ) that in some cases this right was exercised with unreasonable severity, and without adequate discrimination. ( ) that in certain instances, _e.g._, the shooting of the hostages at les rivages, the invaders acted in a manner condemned by the general consensus of civilised opinion. * * * * * the civilised world was invited to condemn the german reprisals of in belgium. what verdict will it record with reference to british reprisals in ireland six years later? the analogies inevitably suggested between the two cases are not as clear as they might at first sight appear to be. ( ) the civilians who fired on the invaders in belgium were irregular combatants wholly distinct from the recognised belgian army. they were in fact _francs-tireurs_ and nothing else. the men who are fighting against the troops of the crown in ireland constitute the only hostile force we have to meet. they are certainly not _francs-tireurs_: the question is, are they rebels or, as they have consistently claimed to be, combatants in civil war? if the former, they are technically outlaws and cannot claim belligerent rights. but the prime minister has himself definitely stated that "civil war" is being waged in ireland and this statement appears to be in strict accord with international law, which makes a clear distinction between "rebellion" and "civil war."[ ] rebellion is action undertaken by sporadic groups of individuals with little organisation and hopelessly inferior in numbers to the forces of the existing government. the irish republican troops on the other hand are organised in divisions, brigades and battalions, are controlled by responsible leaders, and greatly outnumber the military and armed police forces opposed to them. their claim therefore to be combatants engaged in civil war and, as such, to be treated in accordance with the rights and usages of war, seems well grounded. had this claim been admitted from the commencement, the hideous death-reprisals indulged in on both sides would probably never have occurred. such acts as the ambushing of troops in lorries or on foot are of course perfectly legitimate methods of offence in ordinary warfare. [footnote : _vide_ sir t. barclay, "laws of war" (_encyc. brit._). even rebels, when fighting for a political object, are, according to high authorities like bluntschli and fiore, entitled to belligerent rights, and must not be treated as a "crowd of criminals" (eine masse von verbrechern). _cf._ bluntschli (das moderne völkerrecht viii. ).--wird sie dagegen nur strafrechtlich verfolgt, so wird dadurch der tatsächliche kampf verwildert und es ist gefahr dass die beiden streitenden parteien in die barbarei versinken und einander mit grausamen represalien zu überbieten suchen. what a prophetic picture of ireland in !] ( ) as far as can be gathered from the white book, the _francs-tireurs_ who fired on belgian troops were, even when caught _flagrante delicto_, usually accorded a drum-head court-martial or summary trial. but many instances have occurred in ireland when unarmed men have been shot dead in or near their homes and sometimes in their beds, without even the semblance of a trial. ( ) military reprisals in belgium were, at any rate, regular in one respect: they were carried out under orders. according to the "manual of military law," compiled for the use of our own army, no reprisals are legitimate unless ordered by an officer. it is obvious that in very many cases irish reprisals have been executed by the rank and file on their own responsibility, in total disregard of military discipline, but with complete immunity from punishment. certain of these reprisals, _e.g._, the shooting down of men, women and children at croke park, far exceed in atrocity anything proved against the germans in belgium. ( ) although houses were frequently destroyed by the germans the pretext in every case was that from these houses civilians had fired upon the troops. no parallel, as far as i can see, exists for the amazing order issued in cork to the effect that houses with their furniture are to be burnt because the occupants "must have known of ambushes" in the neighbourhood and "ought to have informed the authorities." nor again is any parallel found in the white book to the reckless destruction in cork of public and private buildings, including the free library, as a reprisal for an ambush outside the city, or for the burning of creameries, factories, farms and haystacks in a general campaign of vengeance. it seems clear that fresh precedents are here established which are certainly not covered by the rules of civilised warfare, and run counter to the ordinary laws of reason and humanity. ( ) the use of hostages has been adopted in ireland, as in belgium, for there is little discrimination in principle between shooting hostages and exposing them to death on military lorries from the fire of their compatriots. although the question of hostages is not covered by the regulations of either geneva or the hague, the claim to inflict injury or death on innocent persons in order to bring pressure to bear on an enemy force is now generally condemned as a barbarous and obsolete usage of war, and as such is expressly discountenanced by our "manual of military law" (page ). preface immediately after the outbreak of the present war, the belgian civil population began a wild contest against the german troops, which constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, and resulted in the most serious consequences for belgium and its people. this struggle of a populace governed by the rudest passions raged during the entire forward march of the german army through belgium. when the belgian army had retired before the german troops, after obstinate combats, the belgian civil population in the unoccupied parts of the country endeavoured to hinder the german advance by every possible means; moreover, even in the places which had been in possession of german troops for a long time, the inhabitants had no hesitation in trying to damage and weaken the german forces by cowardly and treacherous attacks. the full extent of this armed popular resistance can be gauged from the accompanying sketch-map (app. ), wherein the german lines of advance and the belgian places in which the civilian fighting took place are marked. that along these routes and at these places the belgian civil population of every grade, age, and sex took part with the greatest bitterness and fury in the fights against the german troops can be proved from existing and weighty material, supported by official documents containing the results secured by examinations on oath and official reports. a selection from this material is given in the various appendices, which, however, only deal with the most important events, and can be supplemented at any time by further extracts. according to the accompanying material the belgian civil population fought against the german troops in many places in the provinces of liège (apps. - ), luxembourg (apps. - ), namur (apps. , , - ), hainault (apps. , , , , - , ), brabant (apps. - ), east and west flanders (apps. , ). the fights were of a particularly dreadful character in aerschot, andenne, dinant, and louvain, and about these places special reports were delivered by the military court of examinations, instituted by the ministry of war for the purpose of inquiring into the violations of the laws of war (apps. a, b, c, d). according to these reports, men in all stations of life--workmen, factory owners, doctors, teachers, even priests, not to speak of women and children--were arrested with weapons in their hands (apps. , , , , , ; a ; c , , , , , , ); in districts from which the belgian regular troops had long since retired the germans were fired on from houses and gardens, roofs and cellars, fields and woods. in the fighting, methods were employed to which regular troops would certainly not have resorted, and large quantities of sporting-guns and ammunition, out-of-date revolvers and pistols were also found (apps. , , , , , , , , ; a ; c , ; d , , , , ); in consequence, there were numerous cases of wounds caused by small-shot, and also by scalding with hot tar and boiling water (apps. , ; b ; c , , , ; d , ). in view of all these facts, there can be no doubt that the uprising in belgium was not undertaken by isolated civilians, but by large masses of the population. the methods of fighting employed by the civilian population were absolutely incompatible with the universally recognised rules of international law, as laid down in articles and of the hague convention (laws and customs of war on land), which had also been accepted by belgium. these rules differentiate between organised and unorganised civilian warfare. in an organised people's war (article ) the militia and volunteer corps, in order to be recognised as belligerents, must observe the four following regulations: they must have responsible leaders at their head; they must wear a distinctive badge, also visible at a distance; they must carry their weapons openly; and must conform with the laws and usages of war. the unorganised people's war (article ) need not fulfil the first two of the above conditions, but must strictly adhere to the two latter ones: it may only be carried on in territory not yet occupied by the enemy, and only then if no time has been left to arrange for an organised people's war. the two special conditions laid down for organised civilian warfare were certainly not carried out by the belgian francs-tireurs, because all the german military reports are unanimous in stating that the civilians found fighting had no responsible leaders, and wore no military badges (apps. , ; c - , , , , , , ; d). the belgian francs-tireurs can therefore not be looked upon as organised militia or volunteer corps according to the meaning of the laws of war. the fact that apparently belgian soldiers and members of the garde civique also took part in their enterprises does not alter the case, because, as these persons too did not wear military badges, but mingled with the population in civilian dress (apps. ; a ; c ; d , , , ), they forfeited the rights of belligerents. the whole of the belgian people's war can therefore only be regarded as an unorganised armed opposition of the civilian population. being as such only permissible in unoccupied territory, it was without doubt absolutely against international law, when carried out in places already in the possession of german troops, as, for instance, in aerschot, andenne, and louvain. but also in those places not yet occupied by german troops unorganised civilian war was not permissible, as the belgian government had had ample time to organise civilian war in accordance with international law. the belgian government had reckoned with the fact for many years, that in the event of an outbreak of war between germany and france they would be drawn into the conflict; the preparations for their mobilisation were, as can be proved, commenced at least a week before the entry of the german troops. the government were therefore in the position to provide those members of the civilian population they proposed to make use of for fighting purposes with military badges, and give them responsible leaders. if the belgian government made known to the german government through the mediation of a neutral power that they had taken the necessary measures, this only proves that they were in a position to comply with the conditions as laid down; in any case, however, such steps were not taken in those parts of the country traversed by the german troops. the requirements of international law for an unorganised people's war were, according to this, quite disregarded in belgium, and, moreover, it was carried on in a manner which alone would have sufficed to have put those who participated in it outside the laws of war. for the belgian francs-tireurs regularly carried their weapons in a concealed fashion, and failed to observe the laws and usages of war throughout. on unimpeachable evidence it has been proved that, in a large number of cases, the german troops were received by the inhabitants on their arrival in an apparently friendly manner, and then, when darkness set in, or some other opportunity presented itself, were surprised by an armed attack; such cases occurred especially in blegny, esneux, grand rosière, bièvre, gouvy, villers devant orval, sainte-marie, les bulles, yschippe, acoz, aerschot, andenne, and louvain (apps. , , - , , , , , ; a, b, d). all these surprise attacks obviously offend against the precept of international law that weapons are to be carried openly. the chief burden of blame which rests on the belgian people is, however, their unheard-of violation of the usages of war. in several places, for instance liège, herve, brussels, aerschot, dinant, and louvain, german soldiers were treacherously murdered (apps. , , , , ; a ; c , , , , - ), which is absolutely against the prohibition which forbids the "treacherous killing or wounding of individuals belonging to the enemy people or army" (article , section (b) of the hague convention: the laws and customs of war on land). further, the belgian population did not respect the sign of the red cross, and thereby offended against article of the geneva convention of july th, ; in particular, they did not hesitate to fire upon the german troops under the protection of this sign, and also to attack hospitals in which there were wounded, as well as members of the ambulance corps, while they were carrying out their duties (apps. , , , , , , , , , ; c , - , , , - ; d , , - , , ). finally, it is absolutely certain that german wounded were plundered and killed by the belgian population, and indeed in many cases horribly mutilated; and that even women and young girls took part in these shameful actions. in this way the eyes of german wounded were torn out, ears, noses, fingers, and sexual organs cut off, or their bodies slit open (apps. - ; c , ; d , ); in other cases, german soldiers were poisoned, hung on trees, deluged with burning fluid or otherwise burnt, so that they died a particularly agonising death (apps. , , ; c , , , , - ). this bestial behaviour on the part of the population is not only absolutely contrary to the express obligation laid down in article , section of the geneva convention regarding the "respect and care of" the wounded and sick of the enemy army, but also to the first principles of the laws of war and humanity. under these circumstances, the belgian civil population who took part in the fights could of course make no claim to the treatment due to belligerents. on the contrary, it was absolutely necessary for the preservation of the german army to have recourse to the sharpest measures against these francs-tireurs. individuals who fought against the german troops had therefore to be cut down; prisoners could not be treated as prisoners of war, according to the laws of war, but as murderers. all the same, the forms of judicial procedure were complied with, in so far as they were compatible with the necessities of war; the prisoners were, when the circumstances permitted, only shot after a hearing in accordance with the regulations, or after sentence by a military court (apps. , , , , , , , ). old men, women, and children were spared to the widest extent, even when gravely suspected (apps. ; c , , , , , , , , , ); and indeed the german soldiers, although their patience was put to an extremely hard test, looked after such people, whenever possible, sometimes in the most self-sacrificing manner, taking the helpless under their protection when in danger, sharing their bread with them, bringing the sick and weak to places where they could be cared for (apps. c , , - , , , - ). that the belgian government are largely to blame for the illegal attitude of their population towards the german army is indisputable. for apart from the fact that a government has, under all circumstances, to bear the responsibility for actions of this kind, which are the expression of the popular will, the serious accusation must be made against them that they did not put an end to this guerilla war, although they could have done so (apps. , - ; d , , ). it would certainly have been easy for them to give the necessary instructions to their officials, such as the burgomasters, members of the garde civique, and the soldiers, in order to check the passionate excitement of the people, which had been artificially aroused. therefore the full responsibility for the terrible blood-guiltiness which rests upon belgium must be attached to the belgian government. the belgian government have made the attempt to free themselves from this responsibility by attributing blame for the occurrences to the destructive rage of the german troops, who are said to have committed deeds of violence without any reason. they have appointed a commission for the investigation of the alleged german outrages, and have made the findings of this commission the subject of diplomatic complaint. this attempt to pervert the facts has failed utterly. the german army is accustomed to make war only against hostile armies, and not against peaceful inhabitants. the incontestable fact that from the commencement a defensive struggle was forced on the german troops in the interests of self-protection by the population of the country cannot be argued away by the investigations of any commission. the narratives of fugitives gathered together by the belgian commission, which are characterised as being the result of scrupulously impartial investigations, bear the stamp of untrustworthiness, if not of malicious misrepresentation. in view of the existing conditions the commission was not in a position to test the correctness of the reports brought before it, or to grasp the connection of events. their accusations against the german army are therefore nothing but low calumnies, which cannot stand before the documentary evidence possessed by us. the struggle of the german troops with the civil population of aerschot did not arise because german officers attacked the honour of the burgomaster's family, as is suggested on the belgian side, but on account of a well-thought-out attack on the commanding officer of the place by the civil population, who treacherously murdered him (app. a). at dinant it was not innocent, peaceful inhabitants who fell victims to the german arms, but murderers, who treacherously attacked german soldiers, and in this way involved the troops in a struggle which destroyed the city (app. c). in louvain the fight with the civil population did not arise because fleeing german troops were involved by mistake in hand-to-hand contests with their comrades who were entering the town, but because a deluded population, unable to grasp the course of events, thought they could destroy the returning german soldiers without danger (app. d). moreover in louvain, as in other towns, the burning torch was only applied by german troops when bitter necessity demanded it. the plan of the destruction of louvain (app. ) shows clearly how the troops confined themselves to destroying only those parts of the city in which the inhabitants opposed them in a treacherous and murderous manner. it was indeed german troops who took care, whenever possible, to save the artistic treasures, not only of louvain, but of other towns; a special german commission has shown to what a large extent german troops protected the art treasures of belgium. the imperial german government believe that by the publication of the material contained in this work they have proved in a convincing manner that the action of the german troops against the belgian civil population was provoked by the illegal guerilla war, and was required by the necessities of war. on the other hand, they level a solemn and emphatic protest against a population which has, by the most despicable means, waged a dishonourable war against the german soldiers and still more against a government which, in complete perversion of its duties, gave rein to the senseless passions of the population, and now does not scruple to endeavour to free itself from its own heavy guilt by mendacious libels upon the german army. berlin, _may th, _. the german army in belgium appendices - --down the eastern frontier app. . statement of lieutenant of reserve max von amelunxen, jäger battalion no. (at the time attached to the headquarters staff, nd army). i took part in the sudden outbreak of hostilities at liège as reserve officer of my battalion. when during the advance upon liège a stoppage occurred on the line of march, i rode out through the village of battice to discover the cause. at the very first houses, i was fired upon, and saw clearly two civilians shooting from a window in the roof, whose fire i returned. one of them i must have killed with my mauser carbine, for he fell to the ground at once. i believe i hit the other also. at the same time from different sides--in my estimate there were at least from to guns--fire was opened on myself and the cavalry men, who had in the meantime arrived on the scene. i received a light gunshot wound in the lower part of my body, while many pellets passed through my valise. the persons who fired were certainly civilians. the houses, from which they had been fired at, were set alight by the troops who had arrived. i myself had meanwhile ridden on farther. the incident must have occurred on the th or th of august. during later motor-car journeys on military duties i was fired at by civilians on countless occasions. in france up to the present nothing of the kind has ever happened to me. signed: v. amelunxen. app. . statement of colonel von gottberg, infantry regiment freiherr von sparr ( rd westphalian), no. , th division. guignicourt, _september th, _. on the th august , just before dark, violent gun-fire was directed against our heavy baggage from many windows by the inhabitants of the village of blegny. lieutenant hahn deposes that troops were fired upon at night by the inhabitants from the very same houses in blegny in which they had been entertained during the day. musketeer gocheln of the th company was killed in this way; musketeer hochgrafe of the th company was wounded by a shot in his shoulder. both companies were witnesses to this. these incidents were repeated during the night, and in this way musketeers maiworm and epping of the th company were wounded. lieutenant edler von daniels testifies that in a belgian village near blegny his patrol was fired upon from ambush. this took place in a street where the th company had bivouacked for a day and a night. at troisfontaines the th company was fired upon from the houses by civilians. musketeers meister and schwaffertz were wounded. in this same place men belonging to this company were in the daytime entertained with cigars and food, and particularly by an elderly man; this same man fired by night and wounded a man of the company. staff-surgeon dr. falk, who, with the ambulance party of the st battalion, wanted to push forward to the wounded on august th, , was fired upon by civilians, so that he was forced to take shelter. non-commissioned officer voss of the th company was killed by three shots from civilians. he could not be fetched, as the street had been brought under fire by the inhabitants. lieutenant hahn was an eye-witness of what took place. in anderlues shots were fired from a house by a french soldier and a civilian. an acting-sergeant-major and non-commissioned officer were seriously wounded, a musketeer of the th company was killed. a witness of this occurrence is captain eckhardt. the soldier and civilian were shot. signed: von gottberg. app. . military court examination of staff-surgeon of reserve dr. rehm, infantry regiment no. . cherisy, _november rd, _. court of the th infantry division. president of the court, dr. welt. secretary, lorenz. there appeared as witness staff-surgeon of reserve dr. rehm, rd battalion, infantry regiment no. , who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: on the th of august i reached at retinne a military ambulance station, where the staff was very busily occupied. the character of the station was clearly made known by its red cross flags, and in view of the whole nature of its activities no doubt could exist as to its real character. in the immediate vicinity no fighting had taken place; on the contrary, our troops had already advanced to bellaire. nevertheless our ambulance station was persistently fired upon; continually, for the whole day long, single shots fell amongst us, coming from the houses close at hand, and mostly, as a matter of fact, from the roofs. the shots which fell upon the hospital could only have proceeded from civilians, as there were no longer any enemy troops in the place. as i could not for the time being secure any troops for the protection of the ambulance station, i armed the lightly wounded and allowed them to return the fire--for the moment, however, with little success, as we could not see our well-concealed adversaries. when in the evening some detachments of troops arrived at retinne and were also fired at, the houses were systematically searched. from some houses dozens of men were dragged out. it was noticeable that in the houses were only one or two women and no children at all, so that i formed the impression that the firing had been arranged beforehand. the men fetched out of the houses were without exception civilians of various ages. read over, approved, signed. signed: staff-surgeon dr. rehm. proceedings closed. signed: dr. welt. signed: lorenz. app. . statement of lieutenant zielsche, machine-gun company, infantry regiment no. . waldrieder, _august th, _. . at visé the inhabitants carried out a surprise attack upon the th pioneers on the night of the th- th august. . between visé and warsage my platoon was continuously fired at from the immediate surroundings from about o'clock in the evening till in the morning. a column of army bakers retired from visé and was also fired at. we could see nothing of the inhabitants. when in the morning i passed through warsage in order to secure provisions, it was empty, with the exception of one or two houses. signed: zielsche, lieutenant. app. . military court examination of non-commissioned officer of reserve rasch (reserve regiment no. ). hanover, _november th, _. present: president of the court, lindenberg. secretary, lÜhe. there appeared as witness dentist rasch, non-commissioned officer of reserve, now in reserve battalion, infantry regiment no. , who stated: as to person: my name is gustav. i am years old; lutheran. as to case: when the mobile infantry regiment no. was marching on liège in august , i received the order to remain behind with a detachment of the th company for the protection of the baggage collected in the market-place at poulseur. there were also available a few infantry soldiers and hussars as escort. amongst the officers personally known to me was an artillery lieutenant of reserve, hildebrandt, who came from hanover. when the regiment itself had already advanced from poulseur in the direction of liège, and night had fallen, the baggage and the escort beside it in the market-place were suddenly fired upon from all the surrounding houses. this hostile firing had clearly been planned and concerted beforehand, for immediately before the fire began the lights in the surrounding houses were simultaneously extinguished, and at the same moment came firing from all sides. we did not know what was happening to us. moreover, we were not only fired at from the houses, but assailed with cartridges of dynamite or some similar explosive, which possibly were derived from one of the mines in the neighbourhood of poulseur. the firing continued, with certain intervals, the whole night through. we on our side of course opened fire and tried as far as possible to find shelter behind the baggage waggons. nevertheless we had dead and wounded; among these was a lieutenant of reserve of a hussar regiment, whom we placed in an inn belonging to a german. i myself took part with my men in storming a number of houses. during this process persons who actually opposed us in the houses with weapons in their hands were shot down. where we found arms and munitions in the houses, we brought the occupants into the market-place. i can affirm with absolute certainty that all those who resisted us or were brought to the market-place wore no uniforms; on the contrary, they were, without exception, civilians. next morning when we had proceeded with the baggage to the outskirts of the town there arose from the town an extremely violent series of crackling sounds which served to indicate the existence of thousands of cartridges. some of the men said that the countless cartridges which had been found in the burgomaster's house were exploding. further, when the baggage of regiment no. withdrew on the following day through poulseur from the direction of liège, we were again fired upon. read over, approved, signed. signed: rasch. the witness was sworn. verified. signed: lindenberg. signed: lÜhe. app. . statement of captain haupt, commander of the heavy commissariat column no. , x. army corps. at midday on august th, at louveigné, an artillery munitions column marching behind the commissariat column was fired on by civilians. the number of the column i cannot now remember. on august th, at gerpinnes, driver pook, who was looking for food in an abandoned house, was fired at from a neighbouring house, and wounded slightly in the hand. the search among the neighbouring houses for the assailant was unsuccessful. signed: haupt, captain and column commander. app. . military court examination of sergeant-major mävers, non-commissioned officer kielholz, corporal fruth, lieutenant schliep, acting-sergeant-major horn, and corporal niebeln, all of infantry regiment no. . pontgivart, _november th, _. present: president of the court, fuhse. secretary, hensen. there appeared as witnesses the under-mentioned persons, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to them, made the following statement: . sergeant-major mävers, th company, infantry regiment no. . as to person: my name is wilhelm mävers. i am years old; protestant. as to case: on the afternoon of august th, , somewhere between and o'clock, our company had to secure the eastern exits of louveigné. we took up a position before a farm at the exit of the village. suddenly--it was still quite light--a shot was fired near us; the bullet whistled close past my ear. the shot was evidently the sign for a general firing upon the company and on the baggage which remained behind us in the village, for there now commenced a violent fire from the houses, especially from the roofs and upper storeys. the company speedily took up a position on the slope of a garden near the farm where we were posted. while this was going on, i looked round and noticed that several shots were fired from the first storey of a corner house; one saw the smoke rise up after the shot was fired. i am quite certain that i saw that those who fired wore civilian clothes. the company replied to the firing for about / hour, and directed their fire against a house near the above-mentioned farm. in our neighbourhood the fire slackened, while in the village shooting still continued. read over, approved, signed. signed: mÄvers. the witness was sworn. . non-commissioned officer kielholz, nd company, infantry regiment no. . as to person: my name is paul. i am years old; protestant; bank employé at husum. as to case: on the th august i was one of a field outpost, which was placed about metres west of louveigné on the road. suddenly as it began to grow dusk we were fired on from the village, and shots were directed against us from trees and from a rather high-lying cornfield. we skirmished out and lay down in a field of roots, and some of us replied to the fire. we then noticed that a number of people in civilian clothing who had been lying in the cornfield were running away. we were under fire for about half an hour, and at least shots were fired at us. read over, approved, signed. signed: kielholz. the witness was sworn. . corporal of reserve fruth, th company, infantry regiment no. . as to person: my name is friedrich. i am years old; protestant; hairdresser. as to case: on august th, , i found myself near the campaign baggage of the company. in the afternoon we reached esneux, where we halted in the village street. the inhabitants were very friendly to us, and the people came out of the houses and gave us food and cigarettes without taking payment. towards evening we left this place and marched in the direction of liège. we then noticed that the people looked at us from the windows and laughed ironically. about a kilometre in rear of esneux we had to halt. suddenly fire was opened upon us from some ground near us on our left, whereupon we received the order to turn back. up to the present only single shots had been fired at us, but as soon as we regained the village a hot fire was opened from the houses. shots came from almost every house; it was impossible to select any in particular. from the sound of the shots one could recognise that the guns were of different patterns. several of us were wounded, one horse was shot dead, another was wounded. we searched the houses and found guns of various kinds. i did not see any of military pattern. read over, approved, signed. signed: fruth. the witness was sworn. . acting-sergeant-major horn, th company, infantry regiment no. . as to person: my name is friedrich horn. i am years old; protestant. as to case: on the th august this year i was in charge of the baggage of the nd battalion of my regiment. when i arrived in the neighbourhood of poulseur i sent forward three men of the cyclist company of the th jäger battalion, who had joined us as stragglers, as a cyclist patrol, towards the village ahead, in order to see if the battalion was already there. however, one man of the patrol soon returned with the news that he had lost both the others; they had apparently fallen, as the patrol had been fired at from houses in poulseur. when i reached poulseur with the baggage, i and my men also came under fire. i placed the two foremost waggons across the road for defence, and led my men forward. we also made preparations in a house for our own defence. then things became quiet. after a short interval the firing broke out again, so that we were compelled also on our side to fire into the houses. the sound of the assailants' shots was altogether different from that from our rifles. there were no enemy troops in the place; it could therefore be only civilians who had fired. several cavalry patrols also declared that they had been fired at by civilians. read over, approved, signed. signed: horn. the witness was sworn. . as witness, corporal niebeln, th company, infantry regiment no. . as to person: my name is ernst. i am years old; lutheran; by calling a merchant in hanover. as to case: on the day of the fight near liège our regiment, as we were leaving esneux, was under fire from the houses. further, when outside the town we were fired upon from the hill-sides on the right and left, and also from trees. our troops at once forced a way into the houses from which shots had come, and some civilians were brought out. a number of weapons were also discovered. i myself saw the civilians. there were no belgian troops in the houses. two days after the battle of liège, when we were leaving the village of louveigné in the evening, a hot fire was opened on us from the houses. one man was wounded, and i saw the pellets in his back. we replied to the fire and drove the people from the houses. only civilians emerged, and these were shot. read over, approved, signed. signed: niebeln. the witness was sworn. signed: fuhse. signed: hensen. app. . military court examination of non-commissioned officer gruber, bombardier schökel, and captain neumann, all of the st infantry munitions column, x. army corps. alsfeld le ville, _november th, _. present: officer of the court, lieutenant maack. secretary, non-commissioned officer schÜtte. with reference to what took place at the surprise attack at louveigné, the under-mentioned witnesses, after the importance and sanctity of the oath had been pointed out to them, made the following statements: . non-commissioned officer gruber. as to person: my name is fritz gruber. i am years old; protestant; non-commissioned officer, st infantry munitions column, x. army corps; implement-smith in a machine factory in hanover. as to case: on the second day of our march through belgium we passed through louveigné. the place was already burnt down. we halted here, and orders were given to water the horses. as we were waiting for the command to make ready, a shot was suddenly fired at us from a house in the street on our right, and after this a number of other shots followed from other points. i was standing by the last waggon in front of the supplementary convoy, so pretty nearly at the end of the column. we forced our way in the direction of the shots into the garden belonging to the house, and here caught two civilians, one of whom had his hand in his pocket full of cartridges. he was hidden in some bushes, and tried to escape on our approach; the other was standing close beside him. read over, approved, signed. signed: fritz gruber. the witness was sworn. . captain neumann. as to person: my name is wilhelm neumann. i am years of age; lutheran; captain and leader of the st infantry munitions column, x. army corps; police-court councillor at syke, near bremen. as to case: on august th, , my column was marching with others through louveigné. a halt was made here for watering the horses. i was near the head of the column when i heard shots behind me. subsequently i was informed that the rear of the column had been fired at from the flanks. soon after, before i could make any definite arrangements, two civilian men were brought forward by soldiers belonging to my column, with the information that these were caught in trying to escape after they had fired on the column. after a brief trial these persons were shot because they had been caught in the act. read over, approved, signed. signed: neumann. the witness was sworn. signed: maack, lieutenant. signed: schÜtte, non-commissioned officer. app. . statement of st lieutenant helmke of the telephone detachment, x. army corps. on the night of the th- th august at hockai, in the quarter in which i lay with my platoon together with a platoon of infantry, two infantry soldiers were wounded in the head by small shot which had been fired from outside through the open door down the passage. as i myself, too, stepped out of the house a shot was fired at me in the dark, apparently from a revolver. as there were no enemy troops in the vicinity, it is only the action of civilian inhabitants which comes into question here. when on the evening of the nd august, during an advance, i entered with my detachment the apparently deserted village of aiseau, near tamines, in the middle of the village, at a bend of the street, a vigorous fire was opened on the detachment from the houses on every side. this had the appearance of a surprise attack, thoroughly prepared beforehand; and this was afterwards confirmed by the fact that on searching the houses we discovered a considerable collection of ammunition on the window-sills, amongst it a large number of french cartridges. as cartridges of military pattern were found in the houses of four of the inhabitants, we may accept it as certain that the inhabitants had taken part in the firing. the four inhabitants were arrested and led away by a platoon of pioneers who had carried out the search of the village. signed: helmke, st lieutenant. app. . report of colonel von wentzky, commanding th cavalry brigade, th cavalry division. on the th august, dragoon regiment no. arrived at grande rossière ( - / kil. n.w. of nives) and there bivouacked for the first time on belgian soil, _i.e._ four squadrons of the regiment bivouacked in two detachments quite close to the village. the staff of the th cavalry brigade took up its quarters in a house. here we found two elderly women and a young man who received us in a markedly cordial manner and exerted themselves most willingly in looking after us. we noticed that during the course of the evening young men came into the house for a short time and soon afterwards disappeared, and in the same way the young man belonging to the house disappeared. towards o'clock in the evening i betook myself, accompanied by an orderly officer, to the bivouac of the th and th squadrons of dragoon regiment no. , which lay some metres from my own quarters. when, after about minutes, i wanted to return from this spot, i heard shots in various places; one could distinguish the reports of the sentries' rifles from those of other weapons. at this moment the adjutant of dragoon regiment no. came to me and reported that he had just been fired upon at the door of his house from a house lying opposite and ostensibly abandoned. i at once made the th squadron take up their rifles, and ordered lieutenant baron von richthofen to surround the house from which the shots had come, and make prisoners of the persons found inside. some minutes later the firing was renewed. lieutenant baron von richthofen received a shot in the body, and died next day from the wound. two civilians were fetched out of the house with pistols in their hands which had just been discharged; we also found in their possession both discharged and loaded cartridges. later in the course of the night the bivouacs of dragoon regiment no. were repeatedly fired at. according to the report of lieutenant nikisch there were found in the houses a considerable number of pistols, guns, and ammunition; also loose powder and quickfires, more especially in the house occupied by the th cavalry brigade. signed: von wentzky, colonel and brigade commander. app. . report of lieutenant-colonel and regimental commander von giese (leib-kürassier regiment no. ). at petite-rosière, the first quarters occupied by the regiment in belgium, the inhabitants received the troops, and especially the officers, with the utmost cordiality and goodwill, so that not the slightest difficulty was experienced in securing food and forage. at grande-rosière, distant about - / kil., lay dragoon regiment no. , and also the staff of the th cavalry brigade. at this place the inhabitants waited until the officers assembled in the evening for the issue of orders, and then opened fire upon them as they left the house. very soon after this shooting, shots were fired by the inhabitants of petite-rosière at the bivouacs of the squadrons and at the pickets. this firing only ceased completely when every inhabitant had been brought out of the houses and had one and all been locked up. the inhabitants of the village were not irritated in any way whatever, but were treated throughout with kindness. on august rd at bièvre the rd squadron acting as reconnoitring squadron found facilities for watering the horses placed at its disposal in a very obliging manner. then after a short time the inhabitants fired at the squadron from the houses. in this place at the same time one of the inhabitants shot a trooper of the th kürassiers dead, and severely wounded an infantry soldier. at the fight of les rivages the regiment had to leave behind some of its wounded on a very thickly wooded hillside. when the surgeons and the ambulance men of the regiment approached the wood over open ground, shots were fired at them by the inhabitants in spite of the waving of two large red cross flags. on the nearer approach of our men the assailants withdrew; nevertheless, the ambulance men while still in the wood were again fired at, even when engaged in succouring the wounded. signed: v. giese, lieutenant-colonel and regimental commander. app. . report of the brigade staff, th infantry brigade ( nd division), in quarters at condé. _october th, ._ on the th august of this year the th infantry brigade entered gouvy. the population at first gave us the appearance of being well disposed to the germans, and was extremely cordial. pails of water, _e.g._, were provided for the troops as they marched through, without any previous request for this service. the stationmaster was especially prominent in welcoming the troops; the parish priest, in apparently friendly fashion, took pains to make the officers comfortable. despite all this, the behaviour of the inhabitants seemed to the brigade to be suspicious, and for this reason the place was searched for weapons. the search of the station buildings also took place in the presence of the stationmaster. to the question whether goods of any kind, weapons, explosives, etc., were to be found in the place, the stationmaster returned a most decided negative. his assertion, nevertheless, turned out to be false. for in a small room, lying hidden away, which, according to the stationmaster's statement, served for the storing of his furniture, we discovered, underneath a good deal of rubbish, boxes which contained about browning pistols. in addition to this there was concealed in the room a hundred-weight of dynamite. as the stationmaster could give no credible explanation as to the use which was to be made of these weapons and explosives, he was arrested. further, on the night of th- th august , the orderly officer of the th infantry brigade, lieutenant of reserve schmidt, was ordered to ride to vielsalm and there give the alarm to the guard-jäger battalion and the th jägers. on the way there he was fired at by civilians in the neighbourhood of bovigny. at this time no enemy troops were to be found in that locality. at leffe it was established unquestionably by the brigade staff that, after the capture of this place, the civil population fired on the troops of the th infantry brigade from cellar windows and barricaded houses, to some extent even using small shot. in consequence, we lost a number of men, including officers. signed: morgenstern-dÖring. app. . statement of st lieutenant and column commander marggraf, field-bakery column no. , iii. army corps. montaigu, _october rd, _. on the morning of august th the field-bakery column no. , iii. army corps, had begun work near marche, almost as far up as the village of hollogne-aye. the occupants of the houses in the vicinity displayed throughout the day no hostile intentions. nevertheless, when towards evening a munitions column wished to drive up into position, quite close to the bakery, shots were fired at them from the neighbouring woods and gardens, which contained some single houses. on searching these houses no arms were found on the inhabitants, but some of them were still in possession of cartridges loaded with large shot. these persons were taken away. signed: marggraf, st lieutenant and column commander. app. . statement and military court examination of captain burkhardt, commanding heavy commissariat column no. . ferme fleuricourt, _october rd, _. the heavy commissariat column no. reports that the column on the th and rd august, before and after its entrance into marche, was fired at by the inhabitants. signed: burkhardt, captain and column commander. present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary, lips. ferme fleuricourt, _october th, _. there appeared as witness captain burkhardt, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: as to person: my name is heinrich burkhardt. i am years old; evangelical; farmer; now captain of landwehr; commander of the heavy commissariat column no. . as to case: on august th, , outside hollogne, fire was opened upon us from the wood from all sides. it was about o'clock in the evening. we were on the march to marche. there were no enemy troops in the neighbourhood. our assailants were therefore civilians. we also took prisoner about twenty civilians who were caught red-handed in the wood, and these were conveyed to marche by an artillery munitions column. on august rd, , we marched right through marche. shots were fired at us and at the munitions column from various houses. however, we made no halt here at all, as we were bound for laroche. read over, approved, signed. signed: burkhardt. the witness was sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. app. . military court examination of army baker börner, nd field-bakery column, xii. army corps. montaigu, _october th, _. present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary, lips. there appeared as witness the baker börner, who made the following statement: as to person: my name is max gotthard börner. i am years old; protestant; by trade formerly baker; later, assistant pointsman; at present, baker in the field-bakery no. , xii. army corps. as to case: while we were quartered in marche, or close to it, i went with field-baker werner into the town, where, as we felt thirsty, we asked a woman who stood at the gate of a yard for _l'eau_. she gave us to understand that she would like to give us some coffee, and led us into the house by the back door. we both drank coffee, thanked the woman, and went out again by the same way. as i closed the back door one or more shots were fired from inside. one of the fingers of my left hand was covered with blood. we tried to enter the house, again, but the door had been fastened on the inside. i fired a shot through the door, but i do not know whether i hit anybody. read over, approved, signed. signed: bÖrner. the witness was sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. app. . report of captain and detachment commander, th infantry munitions column, and military court examination of acting-sergeant-major kern, rd infantry munitions column. siffone, _october nd, _. _report._ on the nd of august , at midday, i arrived at the northern entrance of marche with the th infantry munitions column, which i commanded, and received orders to pass through the village to the southern exit. i rode with some mounted men through the place, the principal buildings of which had already been arranged and taken over as hospitals. there was also here some of our infantry. several inhabitants, amongst them a priest, were standing in the street, apparently inoffensive. as i returned through the village, somebody levelled a gun at me from the window on the first storey of a house in the neighbouring street. my assailant was, however, prevented from carrying out his purpose, thanks to the watchfulness of an infantry sentry, who anticipated the treacherous villager and frustrated his purpose by a shot from his own rifle. hereupon a lively fusillade developed from all the houses, in which the village priest took part. signed: michahelles, captain and detachment commander. siffone, _october th, _. present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary, lips. there appeared as witness acting-sergeant-major kern, who made the following statement: as to person: my name is theodor kern. i am years old; catholic; formerly mason; later frontier guard; at present acting-sergeant-major of landwehr in the rd infantry munitions column. as to case: on august nd, , about . p.m., i rode back through marche, after i had previously ridden into the place to arrange for quarters. in front of me rode captain michahelles. as we passed a cross-road the captain began to trot. at the same moment i saw at a first-storey window of a house in this cross-street a civilian, who was aiming with a gun at the soldiers, and in my judgment more especially at the captain. almost at the same instant came the crack of an infantryman's rifle, who fired up at the civilian. on august rd, , we were at sorrinnes. during the day one noticed no signs of hostility among the inhabitants, but at o'clock, when it had become dark, we were fired at from various houses. from one house lieutenant knauer received a shot in the abdomen, from which after some days he died. read over, approved, signed. signed: theodor kern. the witness was sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. app. . report of the infantry regiment von winterfeldt ( nd upper silesian) no. ( th infantry brigade). _october th, ._ captain wagner states: on nd august, at léglise, two civilians from antier were handed over to the company, which was acting as escort to the heavy baggage. these had been caught with guns in their hands by two gendarmes. at this period the company was fired at by civilians on several occasions. at tintigny was discovered the body of a reservist of infantry regiment no. , who had been slain by the inhabitants with a mason's pickaxe. at laheycourt a man of the st battalion shot dead a civilian who had fired at the soldiers from a garden. captain von debschitz states: at nothomb, our first quarters in belgium, after the general in command had issued a proclamation, the inhabitants immediately handed in a very large quantity of military rifles and ammunition, which not long before had undoubtedly been distributed by the authorities for the purpose of a "franc-tireur" campaign. these were, as far as i knew, menier rifles, recently oiled, with cartridges in cotton packing, labelled exactly as if they had just been received from a depot. lieutenant of reserve schmidt, leader of the heavy baggage of the regiment, states: on the night of august rd- th, while we were on our way from habay to neuve-ansart, the heavy baggage was several times fired upon at houdemont and rulles. at houdemont, inhabitants fired from windows and from behind walls; upon this, some houses were set on fire. in rear of houdemont the heavy baggage passed through a defile. here we noticed small lamp signals, and then suddenly a heavy fire was opened on the baggage from front, rear, and both flanks. several bullets struck the woodwork of the waggons and the oat-sacks, one of which is still in our possession. one man was missing; two horses were wounded and had to be killed. in the same way at rulles and in the rear of this village, the baggage was fired at from the front and on the right flank. on august th the heavy baggage on the road from ansart-tintigny was again fired at from houses by francs-tireurs. in this way two convoy soldiers were shot dead. on the evening of the th august the baggage passed through the village of villers devant orval. our men were there received in friendly fashion by the inhabitants, who distributed fruit and eatables among the soldiers. when darkness fell, and the baggage came to a long halt outside the village, shots were suddenly fired at them from the rear. signed: count keller. app. . statement of captain and battery commander walter, rd battalion of foot artillery regiment von dieskau (silesian) no. . condÉ les autry, _september th, _. _august nd, ._--during the advance through ansart the troops, among them the rd battalion of foot artillery regiment no. , were fired at by the inhabitants from the houses. the village was by order set on fire. the same thing occurred at tintigny; the village was already in flames, but in spite of this the population fired from the burning houses upon the troops passing through. _august rd, ._--near st. vincent the observation post of the th battery was fired upon by the inhabitants from the woods at the back. these persons had withdrawn to the woods, because their village was burnt down. _august th, ._--during our march through jamoigne the battalion and the light munitions column too were fired upon from the houses. fire was also opened from the schoolhouse, which flew the red cross flag. the village was partially set on fire. on august th, , the th battery, which was following the battalion in the evening alone, was fired on from the rear at villers devant orval, close to the french frontier, although the population had in the daytime behaved themselves in quite a friendly manner. the houses from which the shots had come were, by our leader's orders, set on fire. signed: walter. app. . military court examination of acting-sergeant-major of reserve ernst wolff, infantry regiment no. . la marc-aux-boerst, _september rd, _. there appeared as witness acting-sergeant-major of reserve ernst wolff, who made the following statement: as to person: my name is ernst. i am years old, of the jewish faith. as to case: i am leader of the campaign baggage of the nd battalion, infantry regiment no. . at noon on august nd, , the campaign baggage under my command advanced through the belgian village of tintigny, through which our regiment had already ridden. from the market-place as far as the western exit we were assailed with a hot fire from the windows of a large number of houses. as we could hear from the whistling, our assailants were firing bullets. i noticed people at various windows with the usual belgian caps on their heads, standing behind smoking rifle-barrels. as i had no effective troops at my disposal i endeavoured to pass through the village rapidly, but i allowed the drivers to dismount quickly for greater protection. from the western exit i brought the cartridge waggons forward to the firing line, while the field-kitchens, in order to keep them under shelter, were compelled once more to pass through the village. in this way they were again exposed to the fire of civilians, and here too a field-kitchen was rendered useless by a bullet through the boiler. at midday on august rd i rode through the village of st. vincent as dispatch-rider. as i rode past a house which flew a red cross flag, i came under a vigorous fire from this house and others lying near it, and here again i was quite convinced the assailants were civilians. my horse received a bullet through its ear as well as a glancing shot. i myself was uninjured. read over, approved, signed. signed: ernst wolff. signed: lassmann, st lieutenant and court officer. app. . military court examination of captain of reserve adolf pachur, field artillery regiment no. . binarville, _september th, _. court of field artillery regiment no. . before the under-mentioned court officer appeared as witness captain of reserve adolf pachur, catholic, years of age, unmarried. after being informed of the object of his examination and warned to speak the truth in his deposition, he made the following statement: on august nd the light munitions column, st detachment, field artillery regiment no. , was fired upon by francs-tireurs on its march through tintigny. as the village had a long time since been cleared of the enemy by our infantry, and our firing line already lay some to kilometres beyond the village, the firing in question could have come only from francs-tireurs. the same position occurred on the rd of august at st. vincent. when the light munitions column were ordered to halt in the village they were several times, with brief intervals, under hot fire from houses, gardens, bushes, and trees. it was noticed that the first shots were principally on every occasion from one and the same house, and were followed by a general fusillade. one civilian escaping from a house was shot dead by the officers and men of the column. a sergeant-major of infantry who, with a detachment, had been given the duty of clearing the village of francs-tireurs subsequently established the fact that this man was armed with a revolver. according to the reports i received, the men of the column were questioned about their leader, _i.e._ myself, by the proprietor of a café. this person treated our soldiers with extreme friendliness, but secured no information. shortly afterwards i saw how we were being fired at from this very house which was pointed out to me. read over, approved, signed. signed: pachur. the proceedings were as above stated. signed: baron von steinaeker, lieutenant and court officer. app. . statement and military court examination of lieutenant of reserve felsmann of the light munitions column, st detachment, field artillery regiment no. . lanÇon, _september rd, _. at tintigny, on the evening of august nd, i received the order to proceed to the artillery munitions column to replenish ammunition. on the way at sainte marie i had the horses of the ammunition waggon watered. in doing this i received help apparently of the most willing character from the occupants of the house from which the water was drawn. when the harness had been put on the horses again, the occupants of this very same house fired at the ammunition waggon and wounded one or more of the horses. the light munitions column of the st detachment, field artillery regiment no. , on their advance through tintigny on august nd and through st. vincent on august rd, were heavily fired upon by the inhabitants of this place from the houses, and partly also from bushes and trees. at st. vincent we shot dead a civilian who had fired at us with a revolver. signed: felsmann, lieutenant of reserve. binarville, _september th, _. court of field artillery regiment no. . _proceedings._ before the under-mentioned officer of the court appeared lieutenant of reserve johannes felsmann, protestant, years of age, married. after being informed of the object of his examination and warned to speak the truth in his deposition, he made the following statement: i repeat the contents of the preceding statement of september rd, , and regard it as correct in all its details. read over, approved, signed. signed: felsmann. the proceedings were as above stated. signed: count von steinaeker, lieutenant and court officer. app. . report of the nd battalion, infantry regiment no. ( th infantry brigade). . on august nd, at tintigny, the heavy baggage was fired upon by civilians from a house on which the red cross flag was flying. the house was surrounded, and a civilian who was jumping from one of the windows was shot dead. witnesses of this incident are lieutenant groeger and non-commissioned officer wollny of the th company of the regiment. . on the evening of august nd, in the village of rossignol, a corporal of the th company was fired at from behind by a civilian with a shot-gun, and wounded. . at nightfall on august rd, non-commissioned officer wilde of the th company was dispatched with a detachment to les bulles to fetch straw for the bivouacs. on entering the village these men were fired at by the inhabitants. orders were thereupon given to set fire to the place, and these were partially carried out. . musketeer adolf of the th company discovered at tintigny a musketeer of regiment no. tied to a fence with his skull split open. after considerable search our men discovered in the vicinity a bloodstained axe. signed: guhr, major and battalion commander. app. . report of rd battalion, infantry regiment no. . captain rumland, leader of the th company, infantry regiment no. , declares: when on august nd, , i was attached to the heavy baggage, and this was compelled to halt a little way from tintigny, i noticed a cart on which lay the body of the reservist franke, th company, infantry regiment no. . the helmet was driven in, and in franke's skull was a square hole, caused by the pickaxe which was lying near him. this axe was smeared with blood, and the point fitted exactly into the hole in the skull. franke had been slain in this way. some soldiers present in tintigny had found franke's dead body tied to a fence, and made a report of this. we officers held a court-martial for the examination of some twenty persons who had buried the executed belgian civilians by the roadside, in order to investigate more thoroughly the circumstances of franke's death. the court was presided over by the president of the court-martial of the th division. for this purpose we brought these people with us into a field; on the way one of the prisoners sprang over a bridge into a stream with a stony bed, and was killed instantly. our investigation was fruitless. we could not determine who was the guilty man. in my belief franke was slain by the man who leapt over the bridge. the people who buried the executed belgians made use of a pickaxe which exactly resembled the one which was lying near the slaughtered soldier, franke. signed: engelien, captain and battalion leader. app. . military court examination of lieutenant von lindeiner (otherwise von wildau), field artillery regiment no. . proceedings at binarville, _september th, _. court of field artillery regiment no. . there appeared as witness lieutenant von lindeiner (otherwise von wildau), field artillery regiment no. , who, after he had been informed of the object of the examination, made the following statement: as to person: my christian names are hans erdmann. i am years old; protestant. as to case: about august th of this year i was quartered with the staff of my regiment at thibesart, and was summoned to act as interpreter in the examination of a woodman called bienveler, on whom concealed cartridges were discovered, although he had denied his possession of any. the soldiers who had fetched him brought some of the cartridges with them, and i ascertained that a portion of them had been opened and then again closed, a common practice amongst foresters. from one of the cartridges which i opened the small shot had been drawn and pieces of lead, cut up small, loaded in their place. this loading had evidently taken place quite recently, because the rough edges of the bits of lead still looked bright and silvery. as i was informed, several of our patrols were on this and the preceding day fired at from the wood at thibesart, amongst them that of captain von richthosen, mounted jäger regiment no. , despite the fact that no enemy soldiers were in the neighbourhood. in the fight at rossignole tintigny on the nd august i rode with colonel von zglinicki into the village of tintigny. near us marched a portion of grenadier regiment no. , and field-kitchens were standing on the road. from one of the first houses on the left of our line of march a woman, standing in the doorway, called out to me some words like these, "est-ce que nous sommes sûrs, ici, monsieur?" as i was just going to answer her, from this very same direction two shots passed just in front of and behind my body. at the same instant i saw on the first storey of this same house two men in civilian clothes who opened on the german troops a vigorous fire and had apparently fired the shots at me. my horse made a spring forward where, on the right, a side street joined the main one. from all the windows of this street i myself, like all the rest of our german soldiers who were blocked at this spot, came under a vigorous fire. none of the enemy troops were to be seen, but, on the other hand, civilians, firing from a number of windows. i am also convinced that i noticed a machine-gun served by civilians at the first-floor window of a house some twenty paces from myself. i observed with my own eyes that a considerable number of our soldiers were wounded by this fire. we were obviously dealing here with a concerted co-operation of the inhabitants, for it was after the two first shots that a simultaneous fusillade broke out throughout the village. i was then sent back, and on the way came again under fire from the houses of the next village which lay beside the road, running from north to south. this village, ansart or marinsart, lay to the north. i got some men of the light munitions column (field artillery regiment no. ) to break down the fastened doors, and discovered in the house from which the shots had come six or eight civilians, none of whom were soldiers or women. about an hour afterwards i received orders to lead the nd detachment, field artillery regiment no. , on the north side of the road leading to east and west, past the same village to a position to the west of the village. i asked for and received an infantry escort of the rode company, grenadier regiment no. . in carrying out our orders we were here exposed to a continuous fire, despite the fact that no french or belgian soldiers were to be found in the village. in detail i made the following accurate observations: in several places beds were lying in the gardens, and from behind these beds, which were evidently placed there as a protection, fire was opened upon us. at another place three persons in women's clothes advanced towards us and then disappeared behind a bush. i had time to call out, "don't shoot; they are women." at the same instant we were fired at from this bush also. at the end of the village two or three cows came into a garden towards us, and at once two shots were fired at us from the direction of the cows. we then saw that, sheltering behind a cow, a man had also approached and fired at us. this man was shot dead by one of our infantrymen. read over, approved, signed. signed: lindeiner (otherwise von wildau). signed: von buttlar, st lieutenant and regimental adjutant. signed: von zglinicki, president of the court. app. . report of th company, infantry regiment no. . binarville, _september th, _. there appeared as witness fusilier helmyss, and made the following statement: after the fight of august nd, , i passed with some comrades through st. vincent. we were fired upon by civilians, and thereupon forced our way into a house. we here found on tables and window-sills a great deal of sporting ammunition, consisting of discharged cartridge cases and loaded cartridges. read over, approved, signed. signed: gottfried helmyss. signed: traue, lieutenant and company leader. there appeared as witness the reservist stellmacher, who made the following statement: at thibesart i was sent into the village to fetch a pail of water. i there entered a house and found several large pails full of leaden bullets. i thereupon made a closer search with some of my comrades. we found in this spot a large quantity of sporting ammunition, and behind a wardrobe several sporting-guns hidden away. on the floor lay strewn about discharged cartridge cases. read over, approved, signed. signed: august stellmacher. signed: traue, lieutenant and company leader. app. . statement of captain von rode, grenadier regiment no. . binarville, _september th, _. there appeared as witness captain von rode, st battalion, grenadier regiment no. , who made the following statement: on august nd, in the fight at tintigny, the st company of grenadier regiment no. was acting as escort for artillery near ansart. when the artillery was pushed forward a hot fire was opened on the infantry men by the civilians of the place. lieutenant von lindeiner, foot artillery regiment no. , requested the company to proceed with the battery through the village as they could not pass through it without the protection of an infantry escort. the company was likewise met by shots the moment it entered the place. the firing was especially violent from the mill, which was occupied by some thirty men, with women and children. a number of persons, before the company arrived on the scene, ran off through the bushes, carrying guns with them. guns that were discovered were of quite recent manufacture from liège. while the company was clearing the mill it was suddenly fired at from the cellar windows and roof windows of the big white house which lay obliquely opposite. a portion of the shots struck the artillery equipment. two small detachments, which at once stormed the house, shot down three civilians armed with guns, who were trying to escape from the back through the garden. their guns were new, and came from liège. read over, approved, signed. signed: von rode. the proceedings were as above described. signed: kruppe, lieutenant and adjutant, st battalion, grenadier regiment no. . app. . report of rd upper silesian infantry regiment no. ( th infantry brigade). . major schwerb of the rd battalion, infantry regiment no. , states: on august rd, after i had placed the wounded lieutenant rocholl on a waggon in order to convey him to a medical corps company, at least twenty shots were fired at him and myself. the house from which the shots issued was thereupon to a large extent destroyed by the fire of a battery which happened to be passing through the village. on the same evening the battalion, which was marching through frenois in the dark, was fired upon, again obviously by inhabitants, from roof windows and trees. . captain rothe of the th company of the regiment states: on august rd civilians opened fire on the water-carriers of the th company from the village of rossignol, which was already occupied by german troops. the leader of the water-carriers was sergeant flashar. in consequence, the civilians were taken prisoners by the men of infantry regiment no. . on august rd cyclist heinrich was similarly fired at by civilians in the village of les bulles, after a considerable force of german troops had already marched through the place. . lieutenant stuth of the th company states: on august rd, when the rd battalion had withdrawn from les bulles, i led the th company to frenois. we halted in the village street to wait for the other companies, which i fetched up by orders of major schwerk, as adjutant-lieutenant rocholl had been severely wounded. in the meantime, the company was suddenly and unexpectedly assailed by shots fired from the windows by inhabitants. further, as i was riding along through the village, one of the inhabitants called me to him, but i rode on at a gallop, and was fired at from behind. signed: v. poser. app. . report of field artillery regiment no. ( th field artillery brigade). nauroy, _october th, _. captain blumenthal, commander of the light munitions column ( nd division), reports: on august th, during the advance, the column halted at jamoigne for a considerable time, to water the horses. a number of the inhabitants who still remained in the village were standing in front of the doors and behaved in a friendly manner. water, coffee, and tobacco were offered to some of the officers and men. while the watering of the horses was going on, two shots came from a house in front of which a short time previously an elderly man and a woman had been sitting. the shots were apparently fired at the two officers who were standing close to the house, lieutenants kloass and luozny. these two shots gave the signal for a general fusillade from the skylights and windows of the houses. while the pioneers, who had been attached on the march for escort, forced their way into the houses, the column was pushed forward in order to make room in the village, which had been at once set on fire, for the other column marching behind it. one man of the column and two horses were wounded. signed: warneke. app. . report of medical corps company no. , vi. army corps ( th infantry division). bivouac at lanÇon, _september th, _. on august th, during the advance of the army corps through jamoigne, the medical corps company received the order to take charge of the german and french wounded, who had been conveyed into a hospital and a convent. on entering the hospital the senior surgeon and commander were received by a belgian civilian doctor. he declared that he had only been able to afford the wounded poor attention, because he lacked medical _personnel_, bandages, and provisions. questions addressed to the germans in hospital revealed the fact that the wounded had not been attended to by the local doctor for three days. when our senior surgeon remarked that in practice splints ought to have been used for the wound of one of the patients, the doctor replied that he possessed no material of this kind. the non-commissioned officer accompanying the senior surgeon opened a wardrobe and found splints inside. the german wounded, among them the adjutant of the st mounted detachment field artillery regiment no. , declared they had had little to eat. the sisters in the convent alleged that they possessed only a meagre quantity of provisions; at the same time they informed us that women and children had been collected into the cellar after their flight from the village. these statements of theirs did not arouse any feelings whatever of distrust. after the whole of the wounded, and, at the request of the sisters, also a few poor old folk in the village had been fed from our field-kitchen, and medical treatment of the wounded was still taking place, shots were fired at the stretcher-bearers halted in the convent garden from the tower of the convent, a thicket in the convent garden, and the roof windows of the hospital some metres away. meanwhile a detachment of stretcher-bearers proceeded to the convent with the special order to search it thoroughly from the cellar to the attics and tower. the firing here at once ceased. in the search of the convent there were found in the cellar not only children and women, but also men, and, beside these, a particularly large quantity of eggs--three kegs holding each. another detachment advanced towards the thicket in the convent gardens lying close by the convent. here two elderly men were discovered standing up to their waists in a stream which flowed through the thicket. both these men had guns which they threw into the water the instant they were caught by the detachment; the pair of them were shot outside the convent precincts. for protection against the firing from the hospital on the other side of the principal street of the village, the medical corps company went into a narrow court belonging to the convent. while this was in progress, shots were fired also from the roof windows of the houses lying opposite the convent garden and near the hospital. this fire was diverted from the medical corps company by the passage through the village of a munitions column. the medical corps company quitted jamoigne and bivouacked outside the village, taking with it the german wounded and the lightly wounded french who might still be able to bear arms. the two priests and the doctor of the village, as well as all the male inhabitants found in the cellar of the convent, were carried off to the bivouac for greater security. with the exception of the convent and the hospital, the houses from which shots had been fired were burned to the ground. during the conflagration a great many explosions occurred. it may be assumed that in the course of the fire quantities of ammunition exploded, which had been stored in the houses. signed: brettner, captain and column commander. app. . report of captain larrass, commanding th foot artillery munitions column, and of st lieutenant reichel, commanding th artillery munitions column; also the military court examination of lieutenant-colonel hübner and sergeant-major peschke. eastern camp, siffone, _october nd, _. th foot artillery munitions column. _report._ on august rd, , the th foot artillery munitions column was bivouacked at sorrinnes in belgium at . p.m. as it was becoming dark the inhabitants of the village, whose behaviour had been extremely quiet the whole afternoon, treacherously and maliciously opened fire on the bivouac. in accordance with my orders, during the afternoon a young man was seized in a house in which an old man of seventy, alleged to be at the point of death, was lying on a bed. this was done because suspicious noises were audible in the house. in the evening the column was fired at, and more particularly from this house. in the course of this attack of the inhabitants upon the column, not only small shot was fired, but also bullets, which exploded on impact. signed: larrass, captain and commander of the th foot artillery munitions column. siffone, _november st, _. th artillery munitions column, xii. army corps. on the afternoon of august rd, , the th artillery munitions column occupied a bivouac at the western exit from sorrinnes. throughout the day no villagers showed themselves; on the contrary, the village appeared to be completely abandoned. at nightfall, about p.m., the entire column, bivouacked near sorrinnes, was from all sides suddenly fired upon by the inhabitants from the houses or from the roof windows and from hedges. signed: reichel, st lieutenant and column commander. berrieux, _october th, _. present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary of the court, lips. lieutenant-colonel hübner as witness made the following statement: as to person: my name is max friedrich hübner. i am years of age; protestant; lieutenant-colonel (active list) and commander of the st munitions column division, xii. army corps. as to case: on august nd, , in command of the munitions column detachment of the st foot artillery regiment no. , i arrived with my staff at our quarters at yschippe in belgium. we numbered about men and horses. beside ourselves, munitions column no. was bivouacked to the south of the village, while column no. at the other end had been actually brought inside the village. the staff was quartered apart from the other troops in the neighbourhood of the church in two adjacent buildings. the occupants of these houses, both men and women, met me in a very friendly spirit. at nine o'clock i lay down to sleep in my room on the first floor. at . i was awakened by a noise in the house, and my non-commissioned officer informed me that shots had been fired. as i myself had heard nothing, i did not believe the story, and returned to bed. scarcely had i extinguished the light when a gun was fired, and the shot struck against the window-panes. i then alarmed all the men, and ordered the unharnessed waggon to be pushed crossways over the street, and the mayor and six inhabitants to be brought to me as hostages, and tied together one pace apart from each other. i informed these persons that they would be placed in a line across the street if a single other shot was fired. the wives of the hostages took care that this statement of mine was made known throughout the place. after this, no more shooting occurred, and next day i left the village without further molestation. read over, approved, signed. signed: hÜbner. the witness was then sworn. siffone, _october th, _. present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary of the court, lips. there appeared as witness sergeant-major peschke, who made the following statement: as to person: my name is karl friedrich august peschke. i am years old; protestant; a merchant of table-glass; at present sergeant-major of the th (foot) artillery munitions column. as to case: from the nd- rd august we lay at yschippe; our waggons had been driven to the western exit of the place. i had myself at first found quarters in the village, and found my hosts there apparently friendly. but after i had learnt that already on the preceding day shooting had taken place, i determined to pass the night in bivouac. there we came under fire about . p.m. from the direction of corbion, at a distance of some - metres to the west of us. i at once ordered the watch to seek shelter and reply vigorously to the fire, which then in a short time ceased. after about a quarter of an hour the firing recommenced, and, indeed, more actively than before. when i myself with four men advanced towards our assailants they fled in the direction of corbion. when we reached the hedge from behind which firing had taken place our assailants were already from - metres away. i recognised unmistakably that these persons were civilians, and not soldiers. read over, approved, signed. signed: peschke. the witness was sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. app. . report of senior staff-surgeon kaiser, surgeon-in-chief, field hospital no. , xii. army corps. amifontaine, _october rd, _. field hospital no. of the xii. army corps, posted at sorinnes was, on the evening of the following day, between and o'clock, fired upon by armed inhabitants from the park of the castle. the shots came from the thicket immediately behind the castle courtyard. the fire was aimed at the _personnel_ of the hospital, who were engaged in cooking in a large house next to the park. as i myself, with hospital inspector voigt, entered the park in order to see after the cooking, we were fired at. signed: dr. kaiser, senior staff-surgeon and surgeon-in-chief. app. . report of senior staff-surgeon esche, field hospital , no. , n. army corps. on august th, towards p.m., a column on the march was at biesme fired upon by inhabitants from the houses of the village. a detachment of some men of infantry regiment no. , which was guarding prisoners in the castle garden in which the field hospital no. was posted, moved out in order to restore quiet, while for the time being lightly wounded men undertook the guarding of the prisoners. sergeant kortebein and two drivers of field hospital no. , schmidt and dietrich, saw shots fired from two of the houses. according to the statement of the lady occupying the castle of gougnies, in which the medical officers and officials of the field hospital were quartered, the _conseiller provinciel_ at gougnies, adelin piret, had distributed to the inhabitants the weapons stored up at the mairie. shots were fired from the village at a column marching through it. signed: esche, senior staff-surgeon and surgeon-in-chief. app. . report of st lieutenant balterman, commanding military pack column no. , x. army corps, st train division of the x. army corps. on august rd, , at le roux, military park column no. of the x. army corps was fired at several times from a house. the assailants escaped. on august th the column was fired upon at biesme from the flanks and the rear. moreover, a side street was closed against us by some twelve armed civilians. these armed civilians were shot and several houses burnt down. on august th the column was exposed to a very hot fire at lanesse and somzée. a number of civilians were shot and several houses burnt down. signed: battermann, st lieutenant and column commander. app. . military court examination of lieutenant henry müller attached to the telephone section of the xii. army corps. guignicourt, _october th, _. present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary, lips. there appeared as witness lieutenant of reserve müller, and was examined as follows: as to person: my name is johannes henry müller. i am a student of physics; years of age; protestant; lieutenant of reserve attached to the telephone section of the xii. army corps. as to case: the following statement, dated october th, was read over to the witness: on august nd there was an interruption in the telephone connection to conneaux. corporal lorenze and another cyclist were dispatched on bicycles to remove the cause of this interruption. the two cyclists were fired upon at close quarters in front of a wood. the search of the farm, carried out by lieutenant müller (telephone section xii.), with a platoon of infantry, proved to be without result. according to the unanimous reports of soldiers, who were met on the way, a number of civilians came out of the wood immediately after the shots had been fired. a further search was set on foot, and the telephone cable was found to be cut right through at the place where the shots had been fired. the witness thereupon made the following statement: i am the lieutenant müller mentioned above. i was quartered in the castle of conneaux; the little wood lay about metres away from the castle. after the shots had been fired, the cyclists at once returned to me. within a few minutes of their arrival the pursuit could already be set on foot, because the platoon of infantry mentioned in my report was ready at hand for employment as an escort. only for this reason is it possible to furnish a definite statement as to the time and place when the civilians were met in the road lying behind. the men who fired had only one covered line of retreat, _i.e._ a road not under our observation, which i afterwards used in my pursuit. all the soldiers whom i met on this road gave a nearly unanimous description of some eight or ten civilians whom they had seen quickly running away. the approach of nightfall prevented their capture. read over, approved, signed. signed: johannes henry mÜller, lieutenant of reserve. the witness was sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. app. . military court examination of sergeant ebers, rd guard field artillery regiment. berlin, _november th, _. proceedings held at the barracks of the rd guard field artillery regiment. there appeared after citation sergeant of landwehr ii, georg ebers, office assistant in the chief office of the great berlin tramways, at this time attached to the th reserve battery, rd guard field artillery regiment. the witness, being duly sworn on oath, made the following statement: on august rd, , when non-commissioned officer attached to the th battery, st guard reserve field artillery regiment, i was wounded in the neighbourhood of namur. on the next day, august th, i was brought to the nd field hospital, xi. army corps, which occupied the convent at champion, near namur. on the evening of this day, when everything was already quiet, there commenced at o'clock a general fusillade. the window-panes were shot through, and we noticed the flash of the guns from the houses lying opposite. i myself in some ten cases saw civilians firing upon us from windows and skylights in three houses lying opposite to the wings of the convent. when the firing began, the soldiers of the medical corps and the lightly wounded, of whom i was one, assembled round the doctor in the corridor. we next looked for the convent sisters, who had disappeared, and found them hidden in the cellar. we brought them into our midst and betook ourselves to the main entrance with the intention, of making a sally. meanwhile a belgian and a french doctor, both of whom were prisoner-inmates of the hospital, advanced to the door and there addressed the population in the hope of quieting them. the firing thereupon diminished; but as we entered the street in order to search the village with the aid of men belonging to the munitions column encamped in the vicinity, the firing began afresh and continued till about o'clock in the evening. at night, about , houses from which shots had come were set on fire. at daybreak we ascertained that the outside walls of the convent showed numerous marks of shot. further, we found in a house occupied by a priest, lying opposite the chief entrance of the convent, about cases of dynamite and some cases of cartridges. i was present, and saw with my own eyes how our artillerymen ascertained the number and contents of the cases. read over, approved, signed. signed: georg ebers. proceedings took place as above. signed: guradze, lieutenant of landwehr artillery ii. and officer of the court. app. . military court examination of acting-sergeant-major schulze, corporal spans, and the grenadiers wenzel, kachel, pfeiffer, wittstadt, and wilhelmy, all of infantry regiment no. . proceedings in berlin, _september th, _. there appeared as witnesses acting-sergeant-major schulze, th company, corporal spans, th company, the grenadiers wenzel, th, kachel, th, pfeiffer and wittstadt, th, and wilhelmy, th company, infantry regiment no. , and made the following statements in the official deposition: on august th, , we were wounded inmates, together with belgian and french wounded, of the convent of champion, which was arranged as a hospital. after the withdrawal of our troops, there remained on the evening of august th only a light munitions column in the direct neighbourhood of the convent. no sentries were posted. towards o'clock in the evening a hot fire was suddenly opened on the main entrance and windows of the convent. i, acting-sergeant-major schulze, was awaked by the shots, and proceeded to the main door, and there heard the whistle of bullets as they passed. i then returned to fetch my weapons. when i again reached the exit, the light munitions column had already commenced operations. previous to this, as grenadiers wilhelmy and wenzel had heard, the belgian doctor, who was also an inmate of the convent, had gone into the courtyard and addressed to the shooters concealed from view a demand that they should cease fire. as the doctor, however, re-entered the convent, the firing continued. the light munitions column now cleared the courtyard and its surroundings, captured several francs-tireurs, who were proved to have formed the firing-party, carried out a search of the neighbouring houses, made absolutely certain that the shots had come from these, and then, as punishment, set the houses on fire. we may also observe that on august th a search of all the houses in the village was undertaken, in the course of which several cases of dynamite and ammunition were discovered in the house of the priest. the dynamite was rendered harmless by the artillerymen of the light munitions column. the priest was left for two days under guard by the light munitions column, and then once more set at liberty. read over, approved, signed. signed: schulze, spans, wenzel, kachel, pfeiffer, wittstadt, wilhelmy. the proceedings took place as above. signed: hilsmann, lieutenant and adjutant, reserve battalion, reserve infantry regiment no. . acting-sergeant-major schulze, together with corporal spans and the soldiers kachel and wittstadt, came before the court after citation, and were to-day sworn to the preceding declaration. berlin, _november th, _. officer of the court: signed: hilsmann, lieutenant and adjutant. secretary of the court: signed: jumperts, non-commissioned officer of landwehr. app. . statement of major heltzer, th reserve hussar regiment and leader of the heavy baggage, nd infantry division. on the early afternoon of august th, , the heavy baggage of the staff, nd infantry division, after a considerable halt at the s.w. exit of the village of anthée, was in the act of getting ready to move off. very suddenly a vigorous fire was opened upon it on several sides from houses and from a thicket in the vicinity. all the men of the divisional baggage were equipped with rifles and sent ahead through the houses, in order to protect the waggons as they moved off. later on, a detachment of infantry arrived on the scene, which occupied the village and relieved our men. of this infantry detachment half a platoon was assigned to act as escort of the heavy baggage. . when shortly afterwards the head of the baggage column reached the neighbouring village of rosée, here, too, it was assailed by a vigorous fire from houses and gardens and from a neighbouring copse. i ordered a search to be made of a farm standing on the road from which an extremely hot fire had previously come. inside were found a man, a woman, and two half-grown boys. the man and the woman were shot while attempting to escape. no belgian or french troops of any kind were present either in anthée or rosée. the attacks on our troops were always made from ambush, and gave one the appearance of a general and concerted co-operation; they were usually preceded by a shot, fired as a signal. signed: heltzer. app. . statement of st lieutenant stiemcke, commanding military train column , x. army corps, attached to train section , x. army corps. on august th, , when the column, in conjunction with the nd echelon, approached the village of silenrieux, it was immediately fired upon by members of the civilian population from the church tower. it was therefore necessary for our riflemen to advance against the place. when these accordingly replied to the fire, shooting took place from a number of houses in the village. signed: stiemcke, st lieutenant and column commander. app. . statement of st lieutenant schumann, commanding military train column no. , x. army corps, attached to train division no. , x. army corps. on the night of st- nd august, , the military train columns nos. and bivouacked in front of fleurus. a soldier standing at his post was dangerously wounded in his ear by a shot fired by a civilian, who had crept up under cover of a straw stack. the civilian escaped in the darkness. on august th, , the column proceeded on its march to verguies through the village of silenrieux. the inhabitants met our troops on the march in a kindly and well-disposed manner. at the exit of the village towards verguies the column was forced to halt for some time. at this point the officers of the column, which was halting in front of the church, noticed that the church roof was partially uncovered on the side next to the street. the village itself did not show any signs of damage in the case of the houses lying on the other main street. when the advance of the column was resumed, the last section, as it passed the church and the houses lying near it, was suddenly fired upon. to meet this surprise attack the riflemen of the column were deployed and opened fire upon the church and the houses from which the shots had come. as at least to shots were fired from the church tower, it is impossible that this could have happened without the knowledge of the priest. the surprise attack gave one the impression of having been thoroughly prepared in advance. signed: schumann, ist lieutenant and commander. app. . statement of lieutenant deule, telephone section, x. army corps. on august nd i, with my platoon of the telephone section, x. army corps, was marching from tongrinne to the château of quiltremont _via_ tamines. towards p.m. i found myself with my platoon on the street of vignées at tamines at the spot where, on the right side of our line of march, a long stretch of the street is skirted by a manufactory. at this point my platoon, which was marching alone, was suddenly assailed by a hot, but badly aimed, fire from the church and from a large building lying off the road to the left, and easily recognised by its red cross flags. i at once ordered my platoon to take up a position under cover, and then dispatched flanking patrols on the right and left against the buildings indicated above. in the vicinity of my men we ascertained for certain that a considerable number of armed civilians had retired in hasty flight into a wood behind the buildings, so that it was impossible for us to open an effective fire on those persons. my official duties prevented me from undertaking the pursuit; nevertheless, i had a brief account of these incidents written with chalk on the big gates of a factory in this place to serve as a warning to any detachments of german troops who might follow us. signed: deule, lieutenant. app. . statement of acting-sergeant-major and officer-substitute mackemehl, th battery, field artillery regiment no. . on the afternoon of august th we halted with the "heavy baggage" (we had also with us the baggage of infantry regiments nos. and and of field artillery regiment no. ) at convin, north of nocroi. the infantry baggage behind us was fired upon from a house on the right of our line of march. on searching the house, we found that the only inmates were three civilians, who were in possession of weapons and cartridges. signed: mackemehl. app. . statement of lieutenant huck, commanding horse depot no. , x. army corps ( nd train detachment no. , x. army corps). on august th, , at . p.m. i entered acoz with my horse depot no. . i then with the unmounted men and non-commissioned officers endeavoured to secure stabling for the horses. i came across only a very few people; these were extremely friendly, and offered me milk without payment and water for washing. the only exception was the village priest. the large size of his house and courtyard rendered them in my opinion very suitable as quarters for men and horses. he received me very curtly, showed me the red cross brassard on his arm--this had no official stamp--and declared that he had no room for me. his behaviour and manner displeased me, and at once rendered me suspicious. most of the houses appeared to be abandoned, and were shut up: so i saw it was necessary to break down the doors and find suitable accommodation. when i had brought most of my horses under shelter, and only a few were still standing in the street, a heavy fire was suddenly opened upon us from the windows and houses. i saw the flashes of the rifles coming from the upper windows of almost every house in the street in which i myself was standing. my sergeant-major and i heard quite clearly the whistling of bullets round our heads. i ordered my troops to reply to the fire, which on the side of the assailants died out after about three-quarters of an hour. i directed the especial attention of some of my men to the priest's house. they accordingly forced their way in and found the priest and, further, two other men hidden in the loft. according to the soldiers' statements, these persons had also weapons in their possession. they were handcuffed and handed over to the munitions column, whose men had joined in the fighting and advanced against the house. i was told that the priest and the two other men were shot next day. on more careful search cartridges, both discharged and loaded, were found on their persons. signed: huck, lieutenant and commander, horse depot , x. army corps. app. . statement of captain lüdke, commanding nd train detachment, x. army corps. on august th, , the nd echelon of trains had assigned to it for quarters the villages of acoz and joncret. the staff of the nd train section, x. army corps, and horse depot no. , occupied quarters in acoz. on our arrival at acoz at . p.m. there was scarcely a villager to be seen in the street. the doors and windows of the houses were shut. after the horses had been brought into a barn opposite the church, the three staff officers took up their quarters in the empty and open house of the doctor, which was also opposite the church, but on the other side of the square. the men of the horse depot were still engaged in bringing their horses into the side street. when we officers had been in the house about half an hour, a hot fire was, as if by word of command, opened upon the doctor's house in which we were quartered and on the horse depot. the shots came from all the windows of the houses which lay opposite, and from those of the side street, in which a part of the horse depot had already taken up their quarters, though some were yet in the street. at this moment an artillery munitions column marched through acoz past the square near the church. these troops were in the same way assailed by the fire of the inhabitants. in conjunction with the men of the horse depot and this munitions column we advanced against the houses from which shots were still being fired. at last the firing ceased. all the front doors were shut, and had to be burst open; all the back doors which led into gardens or the open fields stood open. when the houses were searched there were found in the priest's house the priest himself and two men, whom he had hidden in the loft, with cartridges in their possession. the priest and these two men were taken off by the munitions column, which continued its march. the houses from which shots had come were set on fire. the staff of the nd train section and horse depot no. occupied quarters in serpinnes. next day i dispatched non-commissioned officer trapp and corporal bölhof from the staff of the nd train section to joncret with orders. at acoz, which they passed on the way, they were informed by several non-commissioned officers and men of the artillery munitions column and by an artillery non-commissioned officer, that in the town hall, which lies near the doctor's house, several cases of dynamite had been discovered and some hundreds of guns and cartridges in packets. each packet bore a label with the name of the townsman to whom they were assigned. the artillery munitions column took possession of these objects. signed: lÜdke, major and commander, nd train section, x. army corps. app. . military court examination of st lieutenant müller, lieutenant schröder, and gunner huismann, all of the th artillery munitions column, x. army corps. present: lieutenant maack, officer of the court. non-commissioned officer, schÜtte, secretary. avaux, _november th, _. with respect to the incidents which occurred during the surprise attack at acoz, the under-mentioned witnesses, after the importance and sanctity of the oath had been pointed out, were examined as follows: . st lieutenant müller. as to person: my name is richard müller. i am years of age; protestant; brewery director in hanover; st lieutenant and leader of the th artillery munitions column, x. army corps. as to case: towards p.m. on august th, , i was marching with my column through the village of acoz. i allowed my men to dismount here, because in front of me the rd foot artillery munitions column, x. army corps, were watering their horses. at the moment when i gave my men the order to mount again, the column was assailed by a vigorous fire from the houses of the village. in my opinion some to shots were fired at once. they were firing from shot-guns, for i could hear from the sound of these shots that they were using small shot. as a number of horses fell headlong, and various men were also wounded, i endeavoured for the moment to get the column again on the march. meanwhile, with a detachment of about twenty men, who had come to help from the neighbourhood of the wireless station, i had the village searched. during the search of the village three persons were seized who had been found in the priest's house, two of them indeed hidden in the loft. in examining these persons i found on one of them called boucher, or some name like this, four discharged cartridges. according to the reports of the soldiers, the priest, who was found amongst the captured men, strenuously denied that any people were with him in the house; he had also by gestures offered the search-party money and drink to keep them back from searching his house. he had also for the moment refused them entrance into his house by pointing to a red cross which he carried on his arm. none of these three persons denied their participation in the attack. some hours later there was found on the priest an invoice for the receipt of an english revolver. these men were subsequently shot. it is altogether out of the question that the surprise attack could have been brought about by uniformed troops. the belgian-french army had already retired a long way, and the village of acoz had already been for several days in german occupation. read over, approved, signed. signed: mÜller. the witness was sworn. . lieutenant schröder. as to person: my name is georg schröder. i am years old; protestant; lieutenant of reserve, th artillery munitions column, x. army corps; farmer in nordermon, administrative district of elsfleth. as to case: on august th i followed with the supplementary platoon of the th artillery munitions column about an hour's distance on the road to serpinnes. the moment i arrived before the village of acoz my platoon was fired upon from the houses and from the high ground. at acoz, which meanwhile had been set on fire, i got into contact with the column. i learnt that they had been fired at, and that the village had been set on fire after the perpetrators of the attack were found to be civilians. three persons were arrested--the parish priest and two others called bastin and boucher. since the leader of the column, st lieutenant müller, had been wounded through a fall, i did not know whether he had examined these persons, and so examined them myself for our better security. the three prisoners gave only unintelligible replies to my questions. i accordingly examined the soldiers who had taken part in the affair. i ascertained that bastin and boucher had been found hidden in the loft, where weapons and discharged cartridges had also been discovered. as regards the priest, it was reported to me that he had offered wine and money to the soldiers as they were forcing their way in, to deter them from searching his house. on the following morning there was found on the priest a receipt with reference to a revolver and cartridges which had been assigned to a _garde champêtre_, or, through his agency, to someone else. i had ordered a soldier to search all three men, and personally discovered the paper in question in the purse which was taken from the priest. read over, approved, signed. signed: georg schrÖder. the witness was sworn. concluded. signed: maack, lieutenant. signed: schÜtte, non-commissioned officer. app. . military court examination of captain von guaita, uhlan westphal, and sergeant hammermeister, all of reserve uhlan regiment no. . bazancourt, _november nd, _. court of the nd guard reserve division. present: president of the court, dr. bernhold. secretary, guntowsky. there appeared before the court the under-mentioned witnesses, who, after the importance and sanctity of the oath had been pointed out to them, made the following statement: . captain von guaita, reserve uhlan regiment no. . as to person: my name is leon. i am years old; protestant. as to case: on august nd, , i rode in company with lieutenant feierabend, dragoon regiment no. , at the head of a troop of cavalry consisting of some twenty-five uhlans. our orders were to reconnoitre the bridge at monceau sur sambre. in the middle of the town of monceau sur sambre, while we were both halted in the rue neuve, we were suddenly assailed by a hot fire. shots were fired at us from all the windows of the houses and from cellar gratings. as our men were falling around me i rode forward and reached a side street. one man had been killed, four wounded, and six horses were dead; lieutenant feierabend received a shot through the leg. i was unwounded, but my map, which i held in my left hand, was pierced by two pellets. this is a convincing proof of the fact that a sporting-gun was used to fire at me. i am convinced that fire was opened upon us at a prearranged signal. read over, approved, signed. signed: von guaita. the witness was sworn. . sergeant hammermeister, reserve uhlan regiment no. . as to person: my name is hermann. i am years old; protestant. as to case: on august nd of this year i was one of the patrol led by st lieutenant von guaita. our orders were to reconnoitre the bridge over the sambre. when we were in the middle of a street in monceau sur sambre we were fired at on our front. my impression was that two volleys were fired from the quarter in front of us. this was clearly the signal for the fire now directed upon us from the houses. shots came from doors, windows, and cellar openings. i saw a civilian standing in a doorway and firing at us with a revolver. i saw no soldiers. read over, approved, signed. signed: hammermeister. the witness was sworn. . uhlan westphal, reserve uhlan regiment no. . as to person: my name is wilhelm westphal. i am years old; protestant. as to case: when the reserve uhlan regiment no. passed through monceau sur sambre i was acting as cyclist in front of it. in the main street i immediately came under fire from a house at the moment when i wanted to ride back in order to report to the regiment that the patrol under st lieutenant von guaita had been assailed by a hot fire. with some men of the reserve infantry regiment no. i forced a way into the house from which the shots had come, and there saw on the stairs a civilian with a gun in his hand. we at once shot this man. read over, approved, signed. signed: wilh. westphal. the witness was sworn. the above is a true account of the proceedings. signed: dr. bernhold. signed: guntowsky. app. . military court examination of captain caspari, infantry regiment no. . present: president of the court, lieutenant stÜrenberg-jung. secretary, acting-sergeant-major bannehr. there appeared as witness captain caspari, who was examined as follows: when the head of the rd company, infantry regiment no. , to which i belonged, approached hougaerde, it was met by a person from the small town in priest's clothing. he greeted me and declared that there were no more belgian troops in the place, and that the feelings of the inhabitants were quite friendly towards us; further, that we had no reason to fear any surprise attack from them. my request that he should act as our guide through hougaerde was obviously distasteful to this person; nevertheless, he undertook to lead us. during our march into the village the street was quite empty, the window-shutters and doors closed, and the window-apertures of a new house on the right were covered with sacking. just before we reached a bend in the street, some to metres behind the railway crossing, the priest sprang into a doorway. a man at the head of the company, musketeer ernst block, just managed to seize him by his coat-tails and dragged him back. at the bend we saw ourselves confronted by a street barricade at a distance of some to metres, and were at once met by simultaneous volleys of fire from the houses on all sides, and even from the rear. the priest was one of the first who was mortally wounded by shots from the houses. as i subsequently ascertained, the village had been systematically arranged for defence. houses and walls were furnished with concealed and barely visible loopholes, prepared beforehand by the population for a surprise attack by fire at a fixed spot. that civilians took part in this fighting i can personally guarantee, for i saw such persons escaping through the gardens with weapons in their hands. moreover, several men were wounded by small shot. read over, approved, signed. signed: caspari. the witness was sworn. signed: stÜrenberg-jung. signed: bannehr, lieutenant and president of the court, secretary. app. . report of captain strauss, grenadier regiment no. ( rd infantry division). condÉ, _september th, _. on august th, after the retirement of the enemy, i rode through the village of capellen with my company and heard shots being fired at my riflemen from a house behind me--from the house itself and from the garden. while the garden was being searched, the firing was renewed, and was replied to by my men. a woman, whose dead body was subsequently found in the garden, was a victim of this firing. the firing from the house continued, though from what part i could not determine. we found two men and some nine women and children, all unarmed. there were no soldiers in the house. i had the house set on fire, and, during the conflagration, cartridges exploded four or five times in the burning house. after the decision of the regiment had been secured next morning the inhabitants in question were set at liberty, because they had not been found with weapons in their hands, nor had any such persons been discovered in searching the house. the firing from the house and garden undoubtedly occurred. signed: strauss, captain and company leader. app. . military court examination of musketeer peter behle, infantry regiment no. , non-commissioned officer otto biernirth, reserve infantry regiment no. , war volunteer willi kandt, reserve infantry regiment no. , war volunteer fritz blum, reserve infantry regiment no. , and war volunteer franz breidbach, reserve infantry regiment no. . lennep, _november th, _. königliches amtsgericht. present: amtsgerichtsrat landsberg, judge. referendar weltman, secretary. at the red cross hospital at lennep the under-mentioned witnesses were met, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to them, were examined as follows: . peter behle, years of age, catholic, foreman builder from lennep, musketeer of the th company, infantry regiment no. , after taking the oath, made the following statement: in the middle of august, in a belgian village called, i think, tirlemont, a controlled fire was opened upon us in the dark by the civil population. no belgian troops had been there for a long time. shots were fired from, amongst other places, a fruit garden. my comrade, franz gockel from wiesdorf, was fatally shot through the back of his head. the order was then given to collect the weapons in the houses, to secure the men, and bring the women and children into the church. in doing this we discovered unfinished revolvers, the wooden handles of which were still lacking. the houses, from which shots had come, were set on fire. read over, approved, signed. signed: peter behle. . otto biernirth, years of age, protestant, certificated business instructor of bremenhaven, non-commissioned officer, reserve infantry regiment no. , after taking the oath, made the following statement: on october th we were in front of the village of staden (flanders). the whole night through we were fighting exclusively with francs-tireurs, who fired from the houses. in the morning we had to capture the town. however, some to metres from the town, a flanking fire came from a single house on the left, whereby our comrade fröse was struck by a ricochet bullet. from this house, which was seized, four francs-tireurs emerged. read over, approved, signed. signed: otto biernirth. . willi kandt, years of age, evangelical, merchant from berlin, war volunteer, nd company reserve infantry regiment no. , after taking the oath, made the following statement: on the march to lessen we came under fire from two farms lying opposite. a reconnoitring company ascertained that the shots came from a barn. this was set on fire, and one could hear the continuous explosion of the cartridges stored up in the barn. on tuesday, october th, , we caught a civilian, who was shot because he had cartridges in his pocket. towards the evening of this day the first four companies of reserve infantry regiment no. were to go forward on outpost duty, followed by the remaining companies. when the last companies had passed through the town of lessen and the baggage had already arrived on the scene, it was fired upon on all sides from the houses and the church tower. four of our men were wounded. when our artillery received the order to bombard the church tower, the church was set on fire, and in this way, probably, a non-commissioned officer and eight men who had been sent to search the tower were burnt to death. the enemy troops had already left the place; the only persons still there were civilians. on the following day we were fired at from a farm, but could find nobody in the house. after the house had been burnt down, we found inside the body of a franc-tireur. read over, approved, signed. signed: willi kandt. continued in the königliches amtsgericht at lennep on november th, . . fritz blum, years of age, evangelical, a compositor from meiningen, war volunteer, th company, reserve infantry regiment no. , after taking the oath, made the following declaration: on october th we occupied quarters at westroosebeek (between thielt and roulers). we there ascertained that both the millers had set the wings of their windmills in a particular direction, and so furnished a signal which betrayed our entry. both the millers were seized, but in the course of a subsequent fight we lost sight of them. on october th we took roulers by storm. when we marched in we came under a hot fire from the houses. in searching the houses i found on the roof of a house a civilian who had fired with a shot-gun. he was just trying to escape through the skylight. so, as he paid no attention to my call, i shot him. he wore wooden shoes, and was otherwise dressed altogether as a townsman, and differed in no respects from a civilian. on the stairs we found bullets; they were partly of french origin, partly "dum-dum" leaden bullets, apparently made at home. the gun that was found was an old sporting-gun. read over, approved, signed. signed: fritz bluhm. . franz breidbach, years of age, catholic, abiturient from luttinghausen, war volunteer, th company, reserve infantry regiment no. , after taking the oath, made the following statement: on october th we marched through roulers, which had previously been captured by infantry regiment no. . our company formed the head of the column; the entire town was badly injured by artillery fire, and there was only one street which was fairly intact. from the houses of this street shots were fired at us, coming more especially from the cellar windows. my comrade, kremst of coblenz, fell in front of me, and two other comrades were slightly wounded. when we searched the houses we found six to eight francs-tireurs and a number of revolvers. a large quantity of ammunition was indubitably stored in the houses, for when the houses were set on fire a continuous series of explosions occurred. on october nd i arrived at a field hospital in roulers. there i heard four or five shots strike the hospital; a wounded jäger, who was lying on a stretcher in front of the hospital, was shot dead by francs-tireurs. read over, approved, signed. signed: franz breidbach. signed: landsberg. signed: veltman. app. . military court examination of ersatzreservist gottfried hilberath, reserve infantry regiment no. . proceedings at werne in the hospital, october st, . königliches amtsgericht, langendreer. present: magistrate hidding, as judge. district court assistant, harries, secretary. on the suggestion of the authorities of the hospital at werne, the above-mentioned court commission visited the hospital in order to examine a sick soldier. there was brought before them gottfried hilberath, of moselstrasse, cologne, who, after being warned against the giving of a false oath, was examined as follows: as to person: my name is gottfried hilberath; hotel waiter; born at neuenahr, august th, ; catholic; ersatzreservist, reserve infantry regiment no. , rd battalion, th company. as to case: our regiment marched off on september th, . we were conveyed by rail from our manoeuvre ground. in the middle of october our detachment lay in the neighbourhood of the belgian village of deynze, near which we had to throw up trenches. during the night we occupied quarters in the town. at dawn we again entered the trenches. on the evening of october th we brought the wounded into the field hospital established in a village. at deynze, with ten to fifteen comrades, we entered a house which was lighted, and found a number of our men already there, sitting in the room and drinking coffee. the housewife made coffee for the party of soldiers, as well as for ourselves, who came in afterwards. the husband was busily occupied with his grocery shop. all the soldiers spent the night in the house. that same evening about eight of our men filled their field flasks with coffee made by the woman. in the evening some bought themselves sugar in the shop for centimes. i did this myself, and put it into my field flask, like the others. the sugar was ready for use in little packets. it struck me that a sticky mass adhered to the paper, which looked like gum-arabic. the sugar was made up in twisted pieces of paper, which were not stuck together and were apparently filled by the shopkeeper. on the following day, some ten minutes after partaking of the coffee in the trenches, i became unconscious, and must have remained in this condition about five hours. two cyclists brought me through the village of deynze to the field hospital at west-roosebeck. here i heard that the other comrades too had been poisoned, and also that some of them were already dead. what happened to the grocer and his wife in consequence of this, i do not know. read over, approved, signed. signed: gottfried hilberath. the examined witness, after once more being warned against the giving of false evidence, thereupon took the oath. proceedings concluded. signed: hidding. signed: harries. app. . court of the belgian government-general. brussels, _december th, _. present: president of the court, sÄger. military court assistant, dunve, as secretary. interpreter fulles of the military court of the province of brabant, once for all put on oath. there appeared as witness the merchant, heinrich bloch, of rue du marché, brussels, who made the following statements: as to person: my name is as given above. i am years old, of the jewish faith; a citizen of baden. as to case: up to a.m. on august th, , i was in brussels. in the brussels newspaper there was published a demand that weapons should be given up. on august th, , i sent my man-servant to the commissariat, rue croisate, with a revolver which he was to hand in. after a brief interval he returned and used these exact words, "one must not believe everything one reads in the newspapers" ("il ne faut pas croire tout qu'on lit dans les journeaux"). the proclamations were officially issued by the burgomeister. that the commissaire took us to be belgians, i have no reason to believe. the commissaire who had refrained from taking the revolver from my man-servant fell in belgium, when and where i cannot say. read over, approved, signed. signed: h. bloch. there appeared further as witness, the man-servant jules brontine, years of age, catholic, a belgian citizen, who made the following statement: i can only state what herr bloch has already made known. he sent me on august th to the police station, in order to surrender his revolver. the commissaire of police, to whom i handed the weapon, sent me off with the words, "one must not believe everything one reads in the newspapers." thereupon, i returned home again with the revolver. i said that the weapon belonged to herr bloch, who, as a german, was personally known to the commissaire of police. i assumed that the demand in the newspapers only referred to guns and swords. read over in french, approved, signed. signed: j. brontine. the witnesses brontine and bloch were sworn according to regulations. proceedings concluded. signed: sÄger. signed: dunve. app. . report of lieutenant von manstein, commanding st squadron, dragoon regiment no. . _august th, ._ on august th the patrol, while evading two french squadrons in the direction of behême, was fired upon by inhabitants of this village. a communication dated august th was seized, in which the chief of the gardes forestiers writes to the burgomeister that gendarmes and verderers were instructed to organise the inhabitants for armed resistance. an inhabitant of chiny informed me on august th, in answer to my questions--he took me for a frenchman or an englishman--that on the previous day the garde civile had been in the village and carefully instructed the inhabitants in the handling of weapons and the defence of the village. on august th the inhabitants of peissant had placed strong barricades across all the entrances to the village, shut the doors and window-shutters of every house, and furnished them with loopholes. they refused to open me a passage through, because they knew i wanted to avoid a company of english infantry, which was quite close to the village, and had with me only a single dispatch rider. during the night they then divulged to the english artillery the names of the farms occupied by the st squadron, uhlan regiment no. , and the st squadron, dragoon regiment no. , and also the houses in which our valuable goods had been stored, so that the next morning the english artillery brought these farms and houses under shell-fire. signed: von manstein, lieutenant, uhlan regiment no. , commanding st squadron, dragoon regiment no. . app. . military court examination of lieutenant of reserve bohme, infantry regiment no. . court of the th infantry division, cherisy. present: president of the court, dr. welt. secretary, lorenz, as recorder of the court. _november th, ._ there appeared as witness lieutenant of reserve bohme, infantry regiment no. , who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, was examined as follows: when i was quartered at retinne, an officer of the rhine regiment came to me, and showed to myself and other officers a bond, which, according to his account, had been found in the burgomeister's office, in a neighbouring village. the bond was typewritten, and contained the demand issued by the belgian government to the populace, that they should carry on armed resistance for payment. a fixed sum of money was mentioned in the bond. the bond was stamped with an official seal. the bond was seen at the time by my comrades pusch and kurt wagner, as well as by lieutenant of research bloch, infantry regiment no. , and lieutenant brohm, jäger battalion no. . read over, approved, signed. signed: bohme. proceedings concluded. signed: dr. welt. signed: lorenz. app. . military court examination of reservist richard weise, fusilier regiment no. . blankenburg (harz), _november th, _. herzogliches amtsgericht. present: oberamtsrichter dr. schilling, judge. gerichtsobersecretär hornig, secretary. there appeared as witness the reservist richard weise, th company, fusilier regiment no. , born march th, , at hohenmölsen, district of weissenfels, at present in the hospital of this place. there were read over to him the following statements made by st lieutenant reyner on october st, : "in the early days of august, it may have been the middle of the month, i was on officer-patrol duty near the belgian frontier, with orders to occupy a bridge. a brief engagement took place, and after an hour and a half the patrol retired. i, with some fusiliers, received some special orders, and for that reason left the patrol. "during our retirement over a meadow we noticed in a street-trench, near a group of houses, several civilians who remained there. when we approached nearer, we saw lying in the trench a german soldier whose eyes had both been cut out. thereupon we attacked the civilians, who ran off into the adjacent houses, and from these opened fire upon us. what became of the cruelly treated soldier i cannot say." the witness thereupon declared: this statement is correct. i adopt it also as my own statement to-day, and make the following addition to it. i did not see the three or four civilians (who, in fear of us, ran away from the wounded german soldier into the adjacent houses) put out the eyes of the soldier. that these men, however, were guilty is clear from the fact that our wounded german comrade implored us, "take me with you; they have just put out my eyes." the attention of the witness was then called to the importance of the oath, and he accordingly gave his sworn testimony. read over, approved, signed. signed: richard weise. signed: dr. schilling. signed: r. hornig. app. . military court examination of the reservists, gustav voigt, fritz marks, and heinrich hartmann, infantry regiment no. . proceedings at quedlinburg, in the reserve hospital. present: president of the court, keil. secretary, fahlberg. schilling, _november th, _. in the reserve hospital at schilling, to which the above-mentioned court officials had proceeded, the following examinations took place after the witnesses had been individually warned as to the importance of the oath: . reservist gustav voigt. as to person: my name is gustav voigt. i am years old; protestant; reservist of the th company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: on the morning of august th found myself with seven comrades separated from my detachment. in order to get cover we had to creep through the gardens of a village lying just beyond herve in belgium. we suddenly saw five belgian soldiers, who held up their arms and offered to surrender. they called to us, and when we reached them we noticed that they had with them two german soldiers of the th hussars in handcuffs. one of them brought to our notice that a third hussar was hanging dead in the tree. we observed that the ears and nose of the corpse had been cut off. the two hussars told us also that the five belgians, who were there, had hung and mutilated their comrade. the belgians were just on the point of slaughtering or mutilating these two also, had we not arrived on the scene. we disarmed the belgians, took them prisoners, and handed them over to a party of five uhlans, who were already taking several belgian prisoners away with them. we, too, then joined the uhlans in order to regain our company, and, while passing through the village, were fired at from the cellars and windows. the name of the village i do not know, but it lies between herve and a large coalpit shaft in the direction of liège. i myself was wounded in the street-fighting at liège. on the day before this occurrence our company had an outpost fight to the right of herve, in the course of which an einjähriger of the th company, infantry regiment no. , was wounded and left behind. when we passed this spot again on the following morning we found the body of the einjähriger lying under a garden fence; both his eyes had been gouged out. we were all convinced that this had been done by villagers. on about august th, as we were advancing towards liège, we saw a german infantry-man; i believe he belonged to infantry regiment no. . he showed no marks of any shot wound, but was dead, and all his private parts had been cut away. read over, approved, signed. signed: gustav voigt. . reservist fritz marks. as to person: my name is fritz marks. i am years old; protestant; by calling a factory worker; reservist of the nd company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: on august th our battalion marched through a village near herve in belgium. a man of the th company came to meet us with the words, "what brutality! now they have gouged out the eyes of one of our einjähriger." he pointed to the place where the einjähriger lay. we all had to go to the place, and saw the einjähriger lying dead by a garden fence, with his eyes put out. we were convinced that this was the work of the villagers. next day, when we again passed through the village, we were fired at from cellar gratings and windows, so that orders were received to disarm the villagers and make them prisoners. we forced our way into the houses and carried out the order. as, in spite of this, the firing did not cease, six guilty belgian peasants were shot by order of an officer. read over, approved, signed. signed: fritz marks. . reservist heinrich hartmann. as to person: my name is heinrich hartmann. i am years old; protestant; reservist in the nd company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: i saw lying on the ground the einjähriger of the th company, with his eyes gouged out. our company leader, hauptmann burkholz, ordered us to search the houses in the place. inside the house, by the garden fence of which the einjähriger was found, we came across a big strong man of middle age, who was lying on his bed and pretending to be asleep. we brought him before the officer, who cross-examined him. the man was then shot by a musketeer of the th company. on the advance towards liège we came across a german infantry-man who had been thrust into a swampy pool with his head and half his body under water; the man was dead. read over, approved, signed. signed: heinrich hartmann. the witnesses were thereupon sworn. proceedings end. signed: keil. signed: fahlberg. app. . military court examination of musketeer paul blankenburg, infantry regiment no. . blankenburg (hartz), _november th, _. herzogliches amtsgericht. present: oberamtsgerichter dr. schilling, judge. gerichtsobersecretär hornig, secretary. there appears as witness musketeer paul blankenburg, th company, infantry regiment no. , at the present time in the reserve hospital of this place. the witness, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, was examined as follows: as to person: my name is paul blankenburg. i was born in magdeburg, september th, ; protestant. as to case: the following statement, which he had made on october st of this year before st lieutenant reyner in this place, was read over to the witness: "we were on the march in close column, and in the course of it passed through a belgian village, lying west of herve. in the village german wounded were lying, and indeed i recognised some jäger troops from jäger battalion no. . the column in marching through suddenly came under fire from the houses, and the order was therefore given to remove all the civilians from the houses, and to get them together into one place. while this was going on i noticed that some girls of eight or ten years of age, armed with sharp instruments, were busying themselves with the german wounded. i subsequently ascertained that, from the most severely wounded, the lobes and the upper parts of their ears had been cut off. on continuing our march, an ambulance soldier, belonging, as far as i remember, to the th regiment, was shot dead from a house by belgian civilians while he was occupied in a school-yard in rendering assistance to a wounded man." the witness therefore declared: "the statement just read over to me corresponds to the truth. i again emphasise the fact that i myself saw girls of some eight or ten years of age busying themselves with severely wounded men in the belgian village. the girls had steel instruments in their hands--but they were not knives or scissors--and with these instruments, which were sharp on one side, they busied themselves among the wounded. we took the instruments from them. the wounded had fresh wounds on their ears, from which the lobes and upper portions had evidently been just cut off. one of the wounded told me in reply to a question that he had been mutilated by the girls in the way here described." read over, approved, signed. signed: paul blankenburg. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: dr. schilling. signed: hornig. app. . statement and military court examination of dragoon funke, nd hanoverian dragoon regiment no. . caisnes, _november th, _. dragoon funke states: at herve men of the magdeburg field artillery regiment, which was marching through the place, drew my attention to the fact that a dead hussar was lying near a straw stack. i went towards the body and saw that the ears and nose of the hussar had been cut off, and also that the whole of his face had been mangled. signed: heinichen, lieutenant. caisnes, _november th, _. present: deputy-president of the court, dr. stahl (gerichtsassessor). secretary, fredersdorf. there appeared as witness corporal funke. the witness funke made the same statement as that previously made by lieutenant heinichen. after this had been read over he declared, "this is so correct that i have nothing to add to it." read over, approved, signed. signed: funke. the witness funke was thereupon sworn. proceedings took place as above. signed: stahl. signed: fredersdorf. app. . military court examination of reservist ernst baldeweg, infantry regiment no. . magdeburg, _november st, _. gericht der immobilen etappen-kommandantur no. . present: military assistant-judge dr. pauls, judge. gladrow, secretary. at the request of the deputy-general in command of the iv. army corps, the reservist ernst baldeweg, dairy assistant in berlin, rathenower street, th company, infantry regiment , years of age, reformed church of germany, after the sanctity of the oath had been pointed out to him, was examined as follows: about the th of august , in a village close to verriers, i saw with my own eyes that in one stable one horse, and in another stable four horses, had had their tongues cut off. in the first case i noticed that the tongue had not been completely severed, but hung from the mouth on the jaws by a small fragment of flesh. i am of opinion that belgian civilians had mutilated the animals in order to prevent their being taken on farther by the germans. either on sunday, august th, , or on monday, august th, , i saw at a village quite close to herve in belgium a german hussar bound to a tree by his hands and feet. two large, long nails had been driven through his eyes and his head, so that he was fixed to the tree by the two nails. the hussar had ceased to live. in the same village there was lying by a wooden fence in front of a farm an infantry-man of the nd infantry regiment. his eyes had been put out, his ears, nose, and fingers cut off, and his stomach slashed about so that the intestines were visible. the breast of the dead soldier had also been so badly stabbed that it was completely mangled. for both these cases of gross cruelty the belgian civilians alone can be held responsible. i again assert that i have reported only what i personally observed, and have refrained from any exaggeration. read over, approved, and signed. signed: ernst baldeweg. the witness was sworn. signed: dr. pauls. signed: glasdrow. app. . military court examination of musketeer lagershausen, ersatz regiment no. . hanover, _november st, _. president of the court, lindenburg. secretary, non-commissioned officer of reserve koepf. there appears as witness musketeer lagershausen, st ersatz company, reserve regiment no. , who, after the importance of the oath has been pointed out to him, made the following declaration: as to person: my name is hugo lagershausen. i am years of age; protestant. as to case: i was attached to the th company, infantry regiment no. , which had pushed forward from spa towards liège. we, _i.e._ a corporal of regiment no. , several musketeers of regiments nos. and , and i myself, forthwith got the order to act as a reconnoitring patrol on the right. this was on the night of august th- th. as the darkness had set in, and we had to proceed very quietly, i suddenly found myself separated from all the rest of the patrol. towards midday on august th i reached a dressing-station which had been arranged in some farm buildings near the village of chênée. i found in the house some fifteen severely wounded german soldiers, four or five of whom had been shockingly mutilated. both eyes had been put out, and some of the victims had several finger joints cut off. their wounds were still comparatively fresh, though the blood was already somewhat coagulated. these soldiers were still alive and groaning. it was impossible for me to give them any help. there was no doctor in the place, as i had already ascertained by questioning other wounded men lying in the house. at the same time i came across in the house six or seven belgian civilians; four of these were women, who gave the wounded water. the men remained quite inactive. i saw no weapons in their possession; further, whether their hands were bloodstained i cannot say, because they kept them concealed in their pockets. as regards the point whether it was these persons who had perpetrated these cruelties on the wounded soldiers, i can make no definite pronouncement. i could take no action against these persons, because i was absolutely alone. read over, approved, signed. signed: musketeer lagershausen. the witness was sworn in accordance with regulations. signed: lindenberg. signed: koepf. app. . military court examination of the soldier koch, infantry regiment no. . staden, _november th, _. divisional headquarters. present: president of the court, jÄger. secretary, brehmer. there appeared as witness the soldier koch, th company, infantry regiment no. . after he had been made aware of the object of the inquiry, and the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, he was examined as follows: as to person: my christian name is mathias. i am years of age; catholic; smelter by trade; living in eschweiter-röhe. as to case: up to august th of this year i belonged to the st company of the ersatz battalion, infantry regiment no. . we were assigned as escort to guard the motor ambulances. the motor ambulances had been provided by the voluntary aid society, and ran between liège and aix-la-chapelle. one day in the period from th- th august i was ordered to accompany one of these motors. we drove towards the battlefield in the vicinity of the town of visé. in front of us the men of the voluntary aid society deployed, and we followed slowly after them. from some rising ground i could easily survey the land lying in front of me. at a distance of about metres i saw near a wounded german soldier two women sitting in a crouching position. i at first assumed that the women were praying beside the soldier. hard by, three or four men were standing. one of these suddenly fired at me. i replied to the shot, whereupon the men and both the women ran away. i then went up to the wounded soldier, who was bleeding from a wound in the chest. his trousers were open in front and partly drawn back. on nearer inspection i ascertained that the sexual organ of the soldier had been completely severed and placed in his mouth. the soldier showed no longer any signs of life, but his body was still warm. the sight appeared to me so terrible that tears came into my eyes. i removed what had been put in the mouth, and buried it in the ground. i left the soldier lying there, as he was unquestionably dead. on the same day i also found the body of a german, whose ring finger had been cut off. when i told this to the men of the voluntary aid society, they gave me to understand that this was no news to them, as they had often seen the same thing before. read over, approved, signed. signed: mathias koch. the witness was sworn. proceedings end. signed: jÄger. signed: brehmer. app. . report of medical corps company , vi. army corps. beine, _october th, _. on august rd i went to the french field hospital through rossignol, where the company had established its chief dressing-station. on the way a musketeer reported to me that a dead german was lying in a house. i at once inspected the corpse and ascertained that, in addition to a wound, which was not mortal, the head of the soldier had been burnt. a few metres away stood a half-filled bottle of petroleum, and another half-filled with benzin. one could clearly see from this that the inhabitants had dragged the wounded soldier into the house, saturated his head with petroleum and benzin, and then set it alight. on the night of th- th of august i drove in an automobile from rossignol to florenville, where a number of inhabitants were standing by a house engaged in a lively conversation. when, about metres farther on from this point, i stopped my automobile in order to ascertain the direction from a signpost, i was suddenly exposed to a vigorous fire from these people behind me, so that it was only by driving off very quickly that i was able to save my life. signed: sternberg, captain and commander of medical corps company , vi. army corps. app. . statement of senior staff-surgeon dr. kiefmann, medical corps, viii. army corps. proceedings at field hospital no. , viii. army corps. st. morel, _october th, _. there appears as witness dr. beyer, who states that lieutenant erich koch, th company, infantry regiment no. , who had received a severe wound in the perinæum, with laceration of the rectum, informed him after receiving his wound he had been stripped naked by the civilians, robbed, and thrown into a cesspool. lieutenant koch was in fact naked, and only wrapped in a blanket when brought into the hospital. read over, approved, signed. signed: dr. beyer, staff-surgeon. there appears as witness acting-sergeant-major (medical service) joseph steffen, who states in reference to the case in hand: i can only confirm the statement of staff-surgeon beyer. lieutenant koch gave me the same information, and added the fact that the women also had taken part in this outrage. koch was wounded near porcheresse. read over, approved, signed. signed: steffen, acting-sergeant-major, medical service. proceedings took place as above. signed: dr. kiefmann, senior surgeon and chief staff-surgeon. app. . military court examination of landwehr soldier alwin chaton, reserve infantry regiment no. . braunschweid, _october st, _. (the hospital "konzerthaus.") gericht der stellvertretenden xl. brigade. present: president of the court, dr. behme. secretary, de boer. there appeared to-day as witness the landwehr soldier alwin chaton, th company, reserve infantry regiment no. , who made the following statement: my name is alwin chaton. i am years old; protestant; book-keeper at emmerstadt, near helmstadt. during the street-fighting in charleroi, in the course of the fight we passed the main street and reached a side-street leading from the main street. when i had come to the street corner and fired down the side-street, i saw some to paces in front of me a german dragoon lying in the street. three civilians were near him, one of whom was bending over the soldier, who was still kicking with his legs. i fired among them and hit the last of the three civilians; the others ran away. on coming nearer i saw that the civilian i had shot had a long bloodstained knife in his hand. the right eye of the german dragoon had been cut out, and the left one as well, though this was still hanging from the side of his head. from the nature of the wounds there could be no doubt that the eyes had been cut out, not in the fighting, but by sheer malice. a great deal of smoke came from the body of the dragoon. he had no doubt been soaked in inflammable liquid and set alight. later on i saw other bodies burning, though there was no sort of fire in the vicinity; these also must have been set alight. read over, approved, signed. signed: alwin chaton. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: behme. signed: de boer. app. . military court examination of acting-sergeant-major weinreich, infantry regiment no. . court of the th infantry division. present: deputy-president of the court, schmetzer. secretary, hÄnse. ursel, _november th, _. there appears as witness acting-sergeant-major weinreich, machine-gun company, infantry regiment no. , who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: as to person: my name is adolf weinreich. i am years of age; protestant. as to case: one day in the middle of august this year, i proceeded with the company transport, behind the company, which was taking part in the fight. at the entrance of neer-linter i saw a german hussar lying in the house covered with a sack. i dismounted from my horse, lifted the sack, and noticed that the hussar was dead. his face was covered all over with blood, the eye cavities were bored out, the eyeballs themselves had been completely cut away and had disappeared. the coat was torn open, the breast exposed, and showed marks of some twenty stabs. i covered the corpse again with the sack. read over, approved, signed. signed: adolf weinreich. the witness was hereupon sworn. signed: schmetzer. signed: hÄnse. app. . herzogliches amtsgericht. present: oberamtsrichter dr. schilling, judge. hornig, secretary. blankenburg (hartz), _november th, _. there appeared as witness fusilier paul rohr, th company, fusilier regiment no. , at present in the reserve hospital at this place; he was examined as follows: as to person: my name is paul rohr; born on august th, , at galbitz, near cönnern; protestant. as to case: the following deposition, which he had made before lieutenant reyner on october st, , was read over to witness: "whilst taking some straw for camp purposes from a barn near brussels we found two otherwise unwounded german uhlans hidden under the straw. both had their eyes poked out. the case, as i know, has already been reported to my battalion commander, kirchner." he thereupon declared: i affirm this deposition to-day, and add the following detail: the occurrence took place in a village near brussels at about the end of august this year. the two german uhlans i found lying dead under the straw in the barn were absolutely unwounded, with the exception of their torn-out eyes, and there exists no doubt in my mind that the wounds inflicted, when their eyes were destroyed, were the sole cause of their death. read over, approved, signed. signed: paul rohr. after the witness had been admonished as to the importance of the oath, he was duly sworn. signed: dr. schilling. signed: hornig. app. . military examination of captain troeger, reserve infantry regiment no. . ministry of war. military place of examination concerning violations of the laws of war. present: kriegsgerichtzrat, dr. linde, judge. pfitzner, secretary. berlin, _november th, _. there appeared as witness captain troeger, reserve infantry regiment no. , who stated: as to person: my name is hans troeger; years old; protestant. as to case: on the march from ghent to thourout, two volunteers of reserve infantry regiment no. , who had collapsed from exhaustion, were mutilated by belgian villagers, their ears and noses were cut off, their stomachs slit open, and one of them had his skull fractured by the heel of a boot. this fact was made known to us amongst others by the commanding officer of the company, captain zur nieden, to whose company the two volunteers belonged. the following is another case, which took place at cessen-kappel: non-commissioned officer schnitzer, th company, reserve regiment no. , reported to me on october th or th that he had found a mutilated prussian dragoon at cessen-kappel whose ears and nose had been cut off, and his stomach slit open by villagers. the said non-commissioned officer thereupon searched the farms in question with a detachment of his men, and found a few armed inhabitants, who were shot at once. on our march through belgium from ghent onwards we were constantly fired on by the inhabitants from houses and church towers. read over, approved, signed. signed: troeger. the witness was sworn. proceedings concluded. signed: dr. linde. signed: pfitzner. appendix a.--aerschot app. a. war office. military court of inquiry into the violation of the laws of war. belgian civilian uprising in aerschot on august th and th, . _comprehensive report._ the officially summoned belgian commission of inquiry, together with the foreign press, have included the case of aerschot in their innumerable calumnies against the german method of waging war in belgium. neither could find enough to say in their descriptions of the "barbarous" attitude adopted by the german troops and their officers towards the "harmless" inhabitants, nor against the utter lack of ground for the court of punishment held in the "peaceful" town. the true facts of the matter, which have been established by a number of carefully sworn testimonies given by unprejudiced witnesses, reveal quite a different picture. on august , , german troops of the th infantry brigade were housed in aerschot. the town quietly watched the brigade staff enter on the same day. colonel stenger, in command of the brigade, sent his adjutant, captain schwarz, in advance, in order to procure billets for the members of the staff. captain schwarz was received in a friendly manner by the mayor and his wife. the mayor suggested that his own house, situated in the market-place, would provide the best accommodation. the colonel and his orderly officer, lieutenant beyersdorff (app. ), went there in the afternoon between four and five. the relations between the officer staying in those quarters and his host were from the very first amiable and polite (app. ). colonel jenrich, officer commanding infantry regiment no. , attached to the brigade, was made governor of the town, and summoned the mayor in order to ask him whether any dispersed belgian soldiers were hidden in the place, or disguised as civilians in the houses. the mayor replied to both questions in the negative. colonel jenrich warned him expressly against attacks by the civil population, for which the mayor, on penalty of death, would be held responsible. further, he desired him to see that the inhabitants delivered up all weapons. this demand colonel jenrich had to repeat twice, as it turned out that great quantities of weapons were kept back by the population (app. ). at o'clock in the evening a particularly loud report was heard in the town, which proved to be the signal for a general firing on the german troops gathered together in the streets and the market-place. the fire--evidently at the given signal--opened from the roof windows of a corner house near the market-place, situated opposite that of the mayor (app. ). three volleys were fired from this house, then the shooting ceased for a short time, after which brisk and rapid firing began again from many of the houses. the shots came chiefly from the roof window. all the doors and windows of the house from which the first shot had been fired were firmly locked, and had to be broken open by the soldiers. the house was set on fire. several civilians, who attempted to flee, were seized, many with weapons in their hands (app. ). eighty-eight men amongst them were shot as francs-tireurs (app. ). colonel stenger had remained alone in his room in the mayor's house. by a notice on the door the house was easily recognisable as being the quarters of the brigade staff. colonel stenger, trusting to the assumed friendliness of the inhabitants, had spent the afternoon on the balcony adjoining his room, where he was clearly visible to all. towards the evening he retired to his brightly lit room, leaving the balcony doors wide open (app. ). when captain schwarz and lieutenant beyersdorff went to call on him in the evening about o'clock, in order to receive instructions with reference to the uprising, they found colonel stenger lying mortally wounded in the middle of the lighted room, with the balcony doors still wide open. the doctor, who was immediately summoned, could only testify to the death that had already overtaken him (app. ). the shots fired at the colonel occurred then at the same time as those of the first lively volleys fired from the house opposite his room. it was the case of a systematic attack upon the german troops, who, robbed of their leader, were to fall into disorder and confusion. hence the cessation of the firing after the first volleys, when the criminals saw they had succeeded in murdering the colonel, and its immediate hostile renewal against the apparently leaderless troops. the sequence of events is so obvious that it is only confirmed by the previous pretence of friendliness on the part of the inhabitants, and not weakened by this fact, as the belgian representation of events would have it. an immediate search of the mayor's house showed that the family were not only cognizant of the hostilities, but also participated in them. shots were fired into the street from the locked cellar, the key of which the family declared to have been lost, and it had to be forcibly opened; a stand had even been moved to the cellar window, in order to make their position easier for the marksmen (app. ), and a musketeer was positively certain that he had noticed a shot fired from the house (app. ). the mayor's son alone could be held responsible for the actual deed; hidden away by his family, he was fetched out of a dark room (app. ). but since the whole family were guilty of the colonel's murder after having received him with such "hospitality," according to belgian reports, both father and son were shot on the following day, august (app. ). at the town governor's instigation, captain karge, officer commanding the military mounted police, was lodged in the house of the mayor's brother, and thus he too shared the same fate (apps. , ). according to the nature of the firing, no doubt remains of its being a case of a systematic and murderous attack on the german garrison. this was also admitted to captain karge by a civilian prisoner of the educated classes (app. ). the participation of the mayor's whole family proves that the belgian authorities supported such treacherous deeds against the german troops--deeds that were, unhappily, only too frequent. in aerschot this mischievous official authority led to the ruthless murder of the commanding officer. berlin, _january th, _. military court of inquiry into the violation of military law. signed: major bauer. signed: dr. wagner, member of the supreme court of judicature. a. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve klauss, officer of the court. acting-sergeant-major ross, clerk of the court. roubaix, _november th, _. at the inquiry concerning the events in aerschot, on the night of august - , , there appeared as witnesses: . the adjutant of the th infantry brigade, captain schwarz. . the orderly officer of the th infantry brigade, lieutenant of reserve beyersdorff. after they had been acquainted with the nature of the inquiry, and their attention had been called to the importance of the oath, they were separately examined, as follows: . captain schwarz. as to person: my name is carl schwarz. i am years of age, of the protestant faith. as to case: on the th of august i was sent in advance of colonel stenger, who later was shot, and was commanding the th infantry brigade, to aerschot, to find quarters for the staff. the mayor of aerschot suggested to me that his own house, situated in the market-place, would provide the best accommodation. i entered this house, and was received in the most friendly manner by the mayor's wife. between four and five in the afternoon, colonel stenger and the orderly officer, lieutenant of reserve beyersdorff, arrived. shortly before eight in the evening, soon after i had had a short interview with the colonel in his room, there suddenly arose a brisk rifle-fire in the town; it was directed on the troops, who were partly passing through and partly halting in the market-place. the first shots, which, according to the sound, seemed to come from a northerly direction, i thought came from the enemy's fire, who had been reported as advancing from the north. but i was soon convinced by the shots directed on our house that they were intended for us. the shots did not emanate from our troops. after a short pause, the firing was renewed with equal violence. in the meantime, the mayor was brought to me by the men of the th infantry regiment. i had to protect him from the fury of the men. i now went through the streets with the mayor, and through him tried to bring the citizens to reason. after the firing had died down, i handed the mayor over to the commandant of the town, major jenrich. as i now returned to the mayor's house to receive orders from colonel stenger, i found him lying seriously wounded on the floor of his room. owing to the many shots fired at our adjoining rooms, and to the fact that the townsfolk obviously knew that the commander was billeted in the mayor's house (indicated on the door), and further, that colonel stenger could be seen through the wide-open doors of the balcony, i was under the impression that the fire was specially directed against the colonel. after colonel jenrich had given the command that the troops should leave aerschot, i personally, accompanied by a few men of the th infantry regiment, made a thorough search of the mayor's house, from which shots were supposed to have been fired. on this occasion, by my orders, the locked cellar doors, of which the keys were alleged to have been lost, were broken in with axes. in the cellar, in front of the window which opened on to the street, i found a conspicuous stand from which shots must have been fired. the window-panes were completely shattered. whilst we were searching the living-rooms, the mayor's son came towards us from a darkened room. i, personally, handed him over to the sentry in the market-place. those calumnies about our doings in the mayor's house, published in a foreign newspaper, are untrue. the negotiations concerning the housing and catering were conducted on both sides in a friendly fashion, mostly with the mayor's wife, as the mayor was occupied at the town hall. it was natural that, after the shooting of colonel stenger, the friendly tone which had reigned should have been changed to a strictly official one, and i did not omit to show my horror at the sad event. read over, approved, signed. signed: schwarz. hereupon the witness took the oath. . reserve lieutenant beyersdorff of the th dragoon regiment. as to person: i am called bruno beyersdorff. i am years of age, and a protestant. as to case: at the hearing of the witness it turned out that his evidence agreed with the evidence of captain schwarz. therefore captain schwrarz's deposition was read to him, whereupon he declared this evidence to be correct, and confirmed it and added a few more details. with the exception of a few short intervals, i was at the time in question in the same room with captain schwarz. the negotiations concerning the housing and catering, which we both had with the mayor and his wife, were conducted in an entirely friendly fashion. i am, for similar reasons, of the same opinion as captain schwarz, that the fire which was directed on our quarters was especially intended for colonel stenger. in referring to this, i want to add that colonel stenger, especially noticeable by his decorations, sat for some time on his balcony, and could be clearly seen from the whole market-place. i also, with captain schwarz, left the room after the first sounds of firing, and proceeded to the market-place to restore order there amongst the troops, who had become disorganised through the firing. when the shooting began soon after, for the second time, i went alone to colonel stenger's room, to ask him for orders. as no one opened the door after repeated knocking, i entered, and found him stretched on the floor in the middle of the room, with his face on his bended arm, in his death-agony. as i could observe wounds, and there was copious bleeding, i immediately fetched a doctor, who certified that the colonel had since died. i cannot give the name of the doctor. i was not present at the searching of the rooms, which took place later. there is no question of our having behaved in a rough manner in the mayor's house, as is supposed to have been stated in a foreign newspaper. after the colonel's body had been found, we did adopt a strictly official tone towards the mayor's wife. on leaving the house, captain schwarz said to the mayor's wife, "your husband had been frequently warned, and you will have to bear the consequences." i also wish to add to this, that, after the firing had ceased, captain karge, as far as i know, gave command for at least three houses to be set on fire, from which shots were supposed to have been fired. i myself ascertained that during the burning of the house belonging to the mayor's neighbour, exploding munition was distinctly heard. it was noticeable from the separate detonations. read over, approved, signed. signed: beyersdorff. the witness thereupon took the oath. signed: klauss, lieutenant of reserve and officer of the court. signed: ross, acting-sergeant-major, as clerk to the military court. a. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve klauss, as officer to the military court. acting-sergeant-major ross, as secretary to the court. ostel, _november rd, _. at the inquiry concerning the events of the night of august and , , in aerschot, there appeared as witness the officer commanding the th infantry regiment, colonel jenrich. after he had been acquainted with the subject of the inquiry, and his attention had been drawn to the importance of the oath, he was examined as follows: my name is andreas jenrich. i am years of age; protestant. on august th i came personally with the staff of my regiment to aerschot, after the rd division had had a fight with belgian troops in that neighbourhood. i was commander of the place, and had to make preparations for internal administration, as well as for safety. the staff of the th infantry brigade were already in aerschot, and were billeted in the mayor's house. i at once sent for this gentleman and asked him whether there were any disbanded belgian soldiers hidden away, or if there were otherwise any belgian soldiers in civilian clothing in the houses. he denied this. i pointed out the consequence to him, for which he and the town would be held responsible, if anything was undertaken by the populace against the german troops; and especially i left him in no doubt as to the death penalty awaiting him should an attack by the civilians against the german soldiers take place. i felt justified in this threat, as on the day before, in schaaffen, near siest, civilians fired at our soldiers, killing several of them. as far as i know, at midday on august , , the general commanding the ii. army corps, von linsingen, had likewise warned the mayor and the population. i also ordered the civilians to give up all their weapons in front of the town hall in the market-place. after an hour i ascertained that only a small quantity of arms had been given up. i then renewed my commands to the mayor that he should see to the handing over of all weapons. to my especial astonishment, rifles were then brought forth, which had evidently been intended for the purpose of public shows and for the garde civique. portions of ammunition for these rifles were found packed away in a case. after repeated and serious warning to the mayor, a larger quantity of weapons was given up. towards o'clock the troops had just marched in, and still found themselves in the streets. all at once, at o'clock exactly, firing suddenly began from all the houses, and this was naturally returned by our men. i should especially like to point out that before the commencement of the general firing, a particularly loud report was heard, which must have been the alarm signal. i succeeded, with several other officers, amongst whom i may mention brigade adjutant captain schwarz, in stopping the fire of our soldiers in the market-place. soon after i heard from captain schwarz that the officer commanding the brigade had been found shot dead in his room in the mayor's house. at about . in the evening i commanded the evacuation of the town, and we bivouacked outside the place on the way to wispelaer. in the meantime the houses had been searched by the troops, and a considerable number of inhabitants taken prisoners, who were proved to have taken part in the attacks on the soldiers. of the male population taken prisoners the mayor, with his son as well as his brother, and every third man, were shot the next morning. read over, approved, signed. signed: jenrich. hereupon the witness was sworn. signed: klauss, lieutenant of reserve and officer to the military court. signed: ross, acting-sergeant-major and secretary to the military court. a. app. . present: president of the military court, hottendorff. secretary to the military court, westphal. tourcoing, _november th, _. at the investigation concerning the events in aerschot on the night of august th to th, , there appeared as witness captain karge of the cavalry, officer commanding the troops of the field cavalry police of the ii. army corps, who, after his attention had been drawn to the importance and sanctity of the oath, was examined as follows: as to person: my christian name is hans. i am years of age; protestant. as to case: the witness was handed the supplement to this record and declared: i have given my evidence in writing in the supplement. witness then further added to the record, after this supplement had been read through: i acknowledge the supplement just read as my own. several german officers told me that, according to report, the belgian government, and especially the king of the belgians, had intimated that it was the duty of every male belgian to do the german army as much harm as possible. an order of this kind was also supposed to have been found on a captured belgian soldier. i also heard that belgian soldiers had been discharged in their native towns, so that they could there fight in plain clothes against the germans. it is true that a number of belgian soldiers, who were partly clothed as civilians, were made prisoners. an officer, who was present at the attack in aerschot, told me that on the belfry tower of a certain place in the neighbourhood of aerschot he had himself read that belgians who caught german officers were not allowed to keep them prisoners on parole, but were to shoot them. i cannot exactly repeat this officer's words, but they contained the meaning i have just given. a college teacher from aerschot, whom i have already mentioned in the supplement, assured me, as i now positively remember, that the garde civique had orders to do the german army as much harm as possible. read over, approved, signed. signed: karge. the witness thereupon took the oath. proceedings closed. signed: hottendorff. signed: westphal. supplement to a. app. . on august th, , towards o'clock in the evening, i stood at an open window in the quarters which had been offered me by the mayor of aerschot, whose brother's house it was, situated in a street which led to the market-place. it may have been a few minutes to eight when i heard a shot. a column was just marching down the street towards the market-place. i leant out of the window, under the impression that perhaps one of the soldiers had carelessly fired a shot from his rifle; immediately there was a fusillade. i had just looked in the direction from which the single shot had been fired, and i could ascertain that from the ledge of the roof of a red corner-house, situated opposite my billet, towards the right, the smoke and dust were ascending. my certainty that the first shot had been fired from this spot was strengthened, and i now distinctly saw a second volley being fired from the same place, appearing in thin clouds of smoke. the shots may have been fired from about eight or ten rifles, and from the regularity of the volley i had the impression that we had to do with a well-organised and perhaps military operation. shortly after the second volley a third was heard, and added to that a brisk and rapid firing took place, which did not proceed only from the house mentioned, but also from the other houses in this street. apparently this firing did not only come from the windows, but also from the openings in the roof and prepared loopholes in the attics of the houses; it is because of this that one can explain the small harm done to the men and animals. the street was narrow, and the rifles had to be placed in an unnaturally slanting position, if they were to be aimed at the halting columns in the middle of the street. the drivers and soldiers of the supply column had in the meantime left their waggons and horses and sought shelter from the fire in the doorways of the houses. some of the waggons had collided with each other, and the restless horses, having lost their drivers, had broken loose. as shots also came my way, i sought shelter against the partition wall between the windows. after a short time, i thought i heard the firing returned by our soldiers in the market-place. soon after, signals and calls were heard to "cease fire." the firing did then cease for a time, but was apparently renewed on both sides, though not so violently as before. i had taken the opportunity to leave my billet during the cessation of the firing, and go to the market-place, to inform a colonel there of the proceedings i had witnessed. at the same time, i asked permission to set fire to the house from which the signal shot--as i took it to be--had been fired, and from which the volley had also come. in my opinion, the ringleaders were assembled there. the colonel refused my request. i hereupon returned to my street, but was there detained a moment by a rifleman, who, standing in a doorway, called out, "just now i plainly saw a shot fired from the house opposite." he then pointed out the house, which i recognised as that of the mayor. i now took a few soldiers who were standing near by (of the th infantry regiment), and proceeded with them to the house from which the first shots had been fired, and in the attic of which i guessed the instigators and leaders still to be. in the meantime the regiment arrived, and--giving my commands to the officer and his men--i ordered the doors and windows on the ground floor, which were firmly locked, to be battered in. the house had a front door and a shop door. i then also forced my way into the house, and with the help of a fairly large quantity of turpentine, which was found in a tin can holding about litres, and which i had partly poured on the first floor, i succeeded, after a short time, in setting the house on fire. further, i gave orders to the men who had so far taken no part in this affair to occupy the entrances to the houses and arrest all men seeking to escape. as i left the burning house several civilians, amongst them a young priest, were arrested in the neighbouring houses. i had them taken to the market-place, where in the meantime my troop of field cavalry police had assembled. i then ordered the columns to march out of the town, and took over the command of all the prisoners, but released the women, boys, and girls. i received from a staff officer (divisional commander of artillery regiment no. ) the order to shoot all the captured men. then i gave orders to a part of my police force to conduct the columns out of the town, whilst the others were told to escort the prisoners and take them away. at the exit of the town a house was burning, and by its light i saw the guilty men, in number, shot, but not before i had taken away three cripples from among them. later on i met a second batch of prisoners. i picked out the most intelligent looking, and told him all the prisoners would be shot, but that i would save his life if he told me the truth concerning the organisation of the attack. for i looked upon the whole affair as such. this man, who spoke german and was a teacher at a college in aerschot, confessed to its having been a great mistake of the people of aerschot to have sheltered some fugitive belgian soldiers, and to have hidden them and clothed them in civilian garments. these had joined the garde civique, and they had then organised an attack. if i consider all the circumstances of the strange and remarkable behaviour of the mayor, his brother, and other citizens with whom i came into contact, then i have no doubt that a great part of the civil population were all agreed in carrying out their hostile intentions. signed: karge, captain of cavalry. a. app. . present: president of the military court, jÜngst. secretary to the court, appel. gnesen, _november th, _. at the investigation concerning the events of the night between august th and th, , at aerschot, captain schleusener of the th infantry regiment, at present in gnesen, appeared as witness, and after his attention had been called to the importance of the oath, was examined as follows: my name is georg schleusener, captain and company commander, th pomeranian infantry regiment no. , machine-gun section. i am years of age, protestant, and i live in gnesen. late in the afternoon of august th, , i arrived with my machine-gun section, on a special mission, in this little town of aerschot, by the northern exit. about yards from the market-place i heard a few isolated shots, which i took to be exploding ammunition. but i soon found i was mistaken, as i encountered some returning cavalry patrols and their waggons, belonging to the rd infantry division, trying to beat a hasty retreat. after having succeeded in stopping our own firing, i myself saw shots fired from the houses, whereupon i ordered our machine-guns to be directed on the house fronts to the left. i was told that shots had been fired from a house on the right. as i commanded the guns to be turned round in order to open fire, a medical officer told me that there were wounded in the house. at my instigation a search was made, and five men were found in the house. i did not allow this house to be fired on. captain folz, at present attached to the general staff in berlin, is supposed to be able to give more direct information concerning the death of colonel stenger. read over, approved, signed. signed: schleusener. the witness was hereupon legally sworn. signed: jÜngst, president of the military court. signed: appel, secretary of the military court. a. app. . present: president of the military court, bernhards. clerk of the military court, hofmann. darmstadt, _january th, _. there appeared as witness at the inquiry concerning the detailed circumstances of the attack of the civil population in aerschot, captain folz. after he had been acquainted with the subject-matter of the inquiry, and his attention had been drawn to the importance of the oath, he made the following statement: my name is hermann folz. i am years of age; protestant; captain, th infantry regiment, at present with the reserve flying corps, section . on a day in august, the date of which i have forgotten, i arrived in aerschot, as my regiment's billeting officer, with the staff of the th infantry brigade. it was between three and four in the afternoon when we rode into the place. of german troops, the rd infantry division had already passed through in batches, and already the narrow and angular little town was full of commissariat, artillery, and ammunition columns. we had been about three hours in the little town, when suddenly violent firing began. the firing seemed to come from the north-west exit of the village. immediately afterwards the medical corps, i believe it to have been the nd (including a certain dr. wild) as well as a section of the supplies of the rd division, came towards us, under incessant fire, and informed us they had been fired upon. a belgian battalion was supposed to be advancing. with difficulty we managed to make headway with our machine-gun company, and by taking a seat on the last waggon, with the company leader, captain schleusener, i proceeded in the direction of the alleged advance of the belgian force. about three kilometres before the town, near a windmill, we discovered that there was no enemy at hand. i thereupon returned on foot to aerschot. we had already, during our march out of the town, heard continuous firing. entering aerschot by a bridge, i noticed that our troops were being fired upon from the houses. shots came sometimes from the upper floors, sometimes from the cellars, and one could distinctly tell by the sound that both rifles and machine-guns were being used. the situation developed in such a manner that our own men had to seek cover with their backs to the houses, and as soon as a marksman was observed in the opposite house he was fired at. i saw several of our men wounded by these shots, and the bullets also whistled round my head. near the town hall, which was to have been converted into an artillery depot, stood a captain of the th infantry regiment, who continuously ordered the bugles to sound the "cease fire." evidently the officer first wished to stop the firing of our men in order to be able to settle upon a plan of action. brigade adjutant schwarz, since fallen, met me in the market-place and informed me that the officer commanding the th brigade, colonel stenger, had been shot. i immediately hurried to the mayor's billets, which were situated in the mayor's house in the market-place, and there found colonel stenger dead on his bed. the orderly officer present, lieutenant beyersdorff, dragoon regiment no. , told me he had found the colonel in the room, about three metres from the window, lying dead on his face. on the spot one distinctly saw two pools of blood, and i also noticed that the wall opposite the window was marked by many bullet-holes, and the window-panes were shot through. i saw a wound on the corpse stretching from the right eye to the right ear, and also a shot through the right breast, but of the latter one saw only the broad hole caused by the bullet. the regimental doctor of the th infantry regiment, who on the following day opened the corpse in my presence, found in the passage of the breast wound a shapeless lead bullet, which had broken up on coming in contact with a hard substance. the bullet had torn a main artery and caused immediate death. according to the evidence of the doctor, the facial wound was not caused by a shot from an infantry rifle. owing to the vertical passage of the wound, and the nature of the shot, there can be no doubt that the colonel was not fired at from the street, but by an inhabitant of the opposite house. to judge by the calibre of the breast bullet, the weapon used must have been a muzzle-loader. the bullet taken from the body i gave into the keeping of the paymaster of the nd battalion, th infantry regiment. the paymaster's name is wirowski. the revolt was then systematically suppressed, and the houses searched for francs-tireurs. in this way about forty civilians, amongst whom were several--at least two--priests, were found with weapons in their hands. according to my observations and to the events described, there is no doubt that a systematic plan of attack on the german troops had been adopted by the belgian civilians. the regimental adjutant, lieutenant v. oppen, was also witness to the events, and will be able to make a statement regarding them. the captain of the ii. corps of military police, named karge, was also present. read over, approved, signed. signed: folz. legally sworn. signed: bernhards. signed: hofmann. supplement to the record of november th, . appendix b.--andenne app. b. war office. military court of inquiry into the violation of the laws of war. belgian civilian uprising in andenne on august th, . _summary report._ andenne is a small industrial belgian town of about inhabitants, situated on the southern bank of the meuse, half-way between the fortresses of huy and namur, in the province of namur. during their advance, the german troops had constantly come into contact with andenne. about the th august two infantry regiments and a jäger battalion marched from coutisse towards andenne, towards the north, in order to be able to cross the pontoon bridge there over the meuse. they were commanded by major-general freiherr von langermann and erlencamp; major von polentz was at the head of one of the infantry battalions. the inhabitants of andenne received the passing troops in an apparently friendly manner; they gave them water, and the soldiers believed that in the quiet of the evening they would be able to pass peaceably through andenne and reach the meuse, flowing northwards. but scarcely had the head of the marching column arrived at the bridge over the meuse, when the peaceful picture presented by the town suddenly changed, and the inhabitants showed their true character, a thing which unfortunately occurred only too often in belgium. this time their deeds were truly devilish. bells pealed from the church tower; as they ceased, the citizens, recently so helpful, suddenly disappeared from the streets, and bolted their doors and let down the shutters. a mad fire from all sides was poured upon the unsuspecting troops. in the town they shot from the cellars and from specially prepared openings in the roofs, and bombs and hand-grenades were hurled down on the defenceless men who happened to be nearest. machine-guns sent their murderous bullets through the soldiers' ranks. at the same time, hidden francs-tireurs began firing from the heights opposite the end of the bridge over the meuse. besides which men and women in wild fury poured boiling water from the half-open windows upon the german troops. of major v. polentz's men alone over one hundred were scalded. against this inhumanity the troops had to defend themselves energetically. they pressed into the houses and shot down the cowardly aggressors in their hiding-places. the houses which had served them for cover were set on fire. about two hundred inhabitants lost their lives in these fights. these are the details of the street-fighting in andenne, which are supplemented by the official report attached, made by major-general von langermann and erlencamp; and also by the evidence on oath of major von polentz, as well as of rifleman roleff--all eye-witnesses--who gave evidence without prejudice; and by the report of lieutenant goetze. berlin, _the th of september _. military court of inquiry into the violation of the laws of war. signed: major bauer. signed: dr. wagner, member of the supreme court of judicature. b. app. . berlin, _january st, _. _official report._ on the afternoon of august , , i received the command to march from coutisse to andenne with the brigade ( st and nd guard reserve regiment and guard reserve jäger battalion); from there we were to cross the pontoon bridge over the meuse. in the industrial town of andenne we had to call a halt of about ten minutes, during which the inhabitants standing before their houses in the narrow streets willingly gave us water and behaved in a remarkably friendly manner. just as i had crossed the bridge at the head of st guard reserve regiment, we heard suddenly and simultaneously a furious rifle-fire coming from the heights opposite the bridge and from the houses. not only men fired at us, but also--as i was informed--isolated women. our men pressed into the houses from which the firing proceeded, and shot down the armed inhabitants. by my order the houses, from which firing had proceeded, were set alight. these measures were helpful; the rifle-fire gradually decreased and finally ceased altogether, but was renewed later against the troops that followed my brigade. marvellous to relate, our losses were insignificant; the francs-tireurs had aimed badly. i saw no single french or belgian soldier in the town or in the surrounding neighbourhood. the fire directed on us came solely from the civil population. later it was reported to us that a document had been found--on the next day, i believe--with the commandant of the town, showing the attack of the civil population to have been minutely planned, with a fixed hour for its commencement. shortly before the prearranged time all the inhabitants, who had met us with such friendliness in the streets, locked themselves in, and at the given minute the fire was opened upon us. no cruelties of any sort were practised by the troops under my command, and all inhabitants found without weapons in the streets were especially spared; if they seemed to us to be of a suspicious character they were arrested. signed: freiherr von langermann. b. app. . berlin, _november st, _. war office. military court of inquiry into the violation of military law. present at the court: dr. wagner, as judge. secretary to the court, pfitzner. there appeared as witness major von polentz, of the above-named place, who declared: as to person: my name is fredrich von polentz. i am years of age; protestant; major in the rd foot guards regiment. as to case: in the latter half of august, as i marched through belgium in command of the battalion of the nd reserve guard regiment, i frequently saw the belgian civil population take an active part in hostilities against our troops; in particular, they fired upon us. i draw attention to the fact that this happened in birdontige, near stavelot, as well as in evelette, south of andenne. the most serious case, however, occurred in andenne (between liège and namur). after we had marched in here, the bells from the church-tower suddenly began to ring out a signal at about . in the evening. thereupon iron shutters were let down in all the houses; the inhabitants, who until then had been standing in the streets, vanished; and from different sides firing began on my troops, especially from the cellars and from openings in the roofs which the inhabitants had made by removing the tiles. also, from many houses boiling water was poured over our men. in consequence, some bitter street-fighting ensued between the civil population and my troops, who had given no cause for this treacherous attack. that these measures were well prepared, and carried out by the whole population of the town of andenne and its suburbs, is proved by the fact that --one hundred--of my men were hurt by scalding alone. also the marching column of troops following me was attacked by the civil population of andenne, as well as those sections of the marching column preceding me, who were fired upon. in lenze, north of namur, i was met by the priest of the place, who at first assured me in a friendly manner, on his word of honour, that no hostilities of any sort need be expected from the people in his parish. in spite of this, shots from six or eight houses were heard fifteen minutes later. these shots could only have come from the civil population, as the regular enemy troops had long since been pressed back. read over, approved, signed. signed: von polentz. the witnesses were thereupon sworn as above. signed: wagner. signed: pfitzner. b. app. . berlin, _december th, _. present: president of the military court, stack. secretary to the military court, non-commissioned officer wesselmann. there appeared as witness rifleman hugo roleff, of the th company of the nd reserve guards regiment, and after his attention had been called to the importance of the oath, he made the following statement: as to person: my name is hugo roleff. i am years of age; protestant reformed church; by profession a ribbon-weaver, living in elberfeld, osterbaum . as to case: i joined the nd company of the nd reserve guards regiment as private, and went with the regiment to the front. on august , , the first half of the nd company was to serve as cover to the artillery munition column. we arrived at andenne in the evening. as everything was quiet we rode into the town. all went smoothly through a few streets, but as we were going to turn into the main street, bells were suddenly heard. at the same time we received a murderous rifle-fire out of all the windows and from all sides. hand-bombs and hand-grenades were used against us, and machine-guns were also employed. i noticed this as i lay wounded in the street, and also that regular shots came from the cellar windows, and that the characteristic noise of machine-guns could be heard. our horses broke loose, our waggon was struck by a hand-grenade, the horses were thrown to the ground, the waggon was overturned, and, the following waggons driving into it, a wild confusion ensued. as the waggon was overthrown, i fell out and crushed the calves of my legs. we immediately returned the fire, for it had been recommended to us, and we were prepared in consequence. before the munition column could be set in order again and proceed, we had to endure half an hour of continuous firing, until the defence guard came to our help. on account of my wound i was just taken to the market-place, and then lay for two days in the house of a doctor, who was, however, absent. after that i was cared for in the schoolhouse, which had been turned into a hospital. some german families, who had lived in this place for a considerable time, looked after us here. these told us that the whole attack had been planned, and that the clergy had issued directions from the pulpits. read over, approved, signed. signed: hugo roleff. signed: stack. signed: rudolf wesselmann. b. app. . namur, _january th, _. report of the inquiry into the alleged atrocities in andenne. at the command of the imperial military government of namur i went, on the th inst., to andenne, in order to obtain information from the mayor emile de jaer regarding the atrocities of war that were said to have occurred in andenne. he only knew that on august , at o'clock in the evening, a murderous fire was opened on our troops, who wanted to cross the bridge leading to seilles. at my request he handed me over a list of those who had been shot; it contained names. on examining this list it turned out that only persons had been shot without any doubt whatsoever; were missing. i instructed the mayor to procure a number of trustworthy witnesses, who in his opinion were in a position to give information concerning the events. thereupon appeared: . hermann frerand, place du perron, merchant. he could give no evidence, as he had been a prisoner from august to . . alexander wery, rue brun, merchant. he declared that he had kept in hiding during the days of agitation. he therefore knows nothing, but only heard reports. . léon lambert, place des tilleuls, merchant. he knows nothing of the events, as he had been in hiding in his cellar. . florent sebrun, factory director, rue wouters. on the evening of august , at o'clock, he was in the garden of his brother-in-law, dr. melin, grande rue. a large aeroplane appeared at a great height, and the german troops immediately fired at it. suddenly fire opened from all sides of the town. . madame ermine blanchart, rue de l'hôtel de ville, will state personal grievances, but knows nothing of the events. . ernest thys, rue brun, merchant, hid himself for five days in his cellar. . dr. isidor loroy, rue de l'industrie, only knows that the mayor, camus, who was a doctor in private life, was shot in the rue du pont on august , after having spent the night as a hostage, together with the priest, in the town hall. he was released towards the morning. loroy only knows of the events by report. . pane tillmann, rue bran, chemist, had been wounded since august , and can give no evidence. . louis cartiaux, place du chapitre, priest, was arrested on august , at o'clock in the evening, and taken to the town hall. here he met the mayor, camus, who had already been taken as hostage. cartiaux was, however, released during the night. about the alleged events he could only state that a detachment of troops had already made an inquiry in september, and that three suspected persons had been arrested, who were, however, not inhabitants of andenne. he did not know what had happened to these three people. he refers the matter of the boy who was supposed to have been shot because he carried a cartridge on his person, to george belin, schoolmaster, rue bertrand. the latter had told him that a boy was going to be shot because he wore some lead as a charm that had been given him by his brother. . achilles rambeaux, rue bertrand, assistant to a notary, has nothing to report, as he had kept in hiding in his cellar. . g. belin, the schoolmaster referred to in no. , was heard at namur on the morning of january . he was asked if he was prepared to swear to his alleged statement concerning the shooting of a boy. he denied ever having made such a statement in the most vigorous terms. pressure being brought to bear, he admits further that in andenne the opinion is held that a belgian soldier of the th line infantry regiment stayed behind, put on civilian clothes, and actually fired on the german troops. this soldier was universally known to the townsfolk by the nickname of "le petit roux," and was flemish. another flemish soldier, also in mufti, had been in his company. both had deserted from their detachments. furthermore all the above-named persons declared unanimously that another doctor (not mayor camus), aged years, had not been shot. those rumours were also false which gave out that seven members of one family had been killed by german bullets; this matter concerned two families and, moreover, two brothers of the name of savin. that a number of people had been brought out from the cellars, threatened with death, and placed in front of the machine-guns, in case of firing from the nearest barricades, could be proved from no side. it was universally admitted, however, that rumours went round the town, including those that gave out that inhabitants had been killed with blows from an axe. in andenne itself houses were destroyed, in the suburb peau d'eau, together therefore , while andenne contained houses. not a single factory was destroyed or burnt. naturally, as is unavoidable in street-fighting, many houses were damaged by gun-shots, but not so severely as to cause the owners any considerable losses. it is true that a large number of window-panes were shattered when the cannon fired from the market-place. according to the statement of the schoolmaster belin, the population of andenne is rather a simple-minded one, which accounts for the incredible rumours abroad in the town. signed: goetze, lieutenant. appendix c.--dinant app. c. war office. military court of inquiry into the violation of the laws of war. belgian civilian warfare in dinant from august st to august th, . _summary report._ immediately after crossing the belgian frontier the xii. army corps had difficulties with the civilian population of belgium, which reached their climax in and around dinant. for the advance of the army corps dinant had especial importance, since here it was that the crossing of the meuse was to take place. the town with its suburbs, leffe and les rivages on the right bank of the meuse, and neffe, st. médard, and bouvignes on the left bank, lies along the river in a deep section of the valley. both banks rise up in terraces, steep and frequently rocky, to a height of some metres, the right bank somewhat higher than the left. on the right bank about the centre of the town stands the fortress, about metres in height. close by, to the north, the high road from sorinnes enters the town. two further approaches from the east are found in the deep-cut flanking valleys which come to an end in leffe and les rivages. on august th, , the operations of the german cavalry, in which among others jäger battalion no. took part, led to the temporary occupation of the right bank of the meuse. owing to superior enemy forces, it was again evacuated on the same day; numerous dead and some wounded were left behind. on august th the enemy forces on the left bank of the meuse withdrew. from this time onward dinant, leffe, and les rivages were free from the presence of any regular enemy troops. on august st the xii. ( st royal saxon) army corps engaged in operations before dinant. the nd battalion of rifle (fusilier) regiment no. , together with a company of pioneers, undertook on the evening of this day a strong reconnaissance towards dinant. as the first houses on the road coming from sorinnes were reached, the sound of a signal shot was suddenly heard. the next moment there came a rattle of musketry from all sides. shots were fired from all the houses, and the slopes were lighted up with the flashes. the houses were firmly barricaded, so that rifle-butts, hatchets, and hand-grenades had to be used to force an entrance. trip-wires were drawn across the road. numerous wounds were inflicted on our men by the discharge of small shot. they were even pelted with stones (apps. - ). the battalion penetrated as far as the bridge, ascertained that this was occupied by enemy troops, and then returned, being continually fired upon from the houses. under the necessity of haste it was impossible to clear the place thoroughly of francs-tireurs. to some extent attempts were made to master them by setting on fire the houses from which the firing took place. it was evident that this assault by the inhabitants on the reconnoitring detachment took place according to plan, that people known in dinant were aware of the intended operation, and that for this purpose well-prepared measures had been adopted. among other things indicating this preparation was the fact that numerous houses and walls had been provided with loopholes. in view of these experiences we naturally assumed that in any further operations the civilian population would also take part in the fighting. nevertheless, all anticipations in this direction were far exceeded through the extent and obstinacy of the people's participation in the fight. on august the rd the left bank of the meuse was to be taken by the xii. corps. after preliminary artillery fire the infantry advanced in the direction of dinant--the nd infantry division to the north, the rd infantry division to the south. on the left wing the (guards) grenadier regiment no. forced its way into the town, on the right of them infantry regiment no. , and in close conjunction rifle regiment no. , whilst in the leffe valley infantry regiment no. reached leffe. the fighting on august rd, accompanied by comparatively slight loss, resulted in the dislodgement of the enemy forces from the heights of the left bank of the meuse. on the other hand, the losses which the hostile civil population of dinant and its outskirts had inflicted on the xii. corps on august rd, and the effort which was necessary to break down the completely organised resistance of the civil population on august rd and the following days were very considerable. once more, as on august st, people in dinant and the neighbourhood had apparently secured information that a movement of the corps was imminent, and they were accordingly prepared. the st battalion of the guards regiment, approaching from herbuchenne, were assailed by a vigorous fire from the houses and alleys. bit by bit, every house had to be fought for singly with the use of hand-grenades in order to dislodge from their hiding-places the inhabitants who had stowed themselves away from cellar to attic and who were making use of every possible kind of weapon. those who were caught with weapons in their hands were immediately shot, while suspected persons were led off as hostages to the town gaol. despite these measures the grenadier guards were still further fired on by the population, and thereby suffered considerable losses, especially in officers. here, among others, fell lieutenant treusch von buttlar, and captain legler was severely wounded. in the meantime, a great part of the place had been consumed by fire, caused partly by the use of hand-grenades, partly by the french and german artillery fire. all this, however, was not sufficient to convince the population of the uselessness and danger of participating in the fighting. until the evening, even on the march to the crossing-place at les rivages, the regiment was fired on from the houses (apps. , , , , ). the regiments no. and no. had similar experiences when they, to the north of the guards regiment, reached dinant. from the moment they reached the most easterly houses they came under fire. the farm of malais was stormed by the st battalion of the rifles (fusilier) regiment no. , and the whole of the francs-tireurs who made a stand there were destroyed. fighting hotly for every house, our men pressed forward in the direction of the market, all the time expecting to be fired at by invisible foes from cellars, caves, and hill-sides. it was here that, among others, major lommatzsch of infantry regiment no. was fatally wounded by the bullets of two civilians from the windows of a house. they even fired down from the cathedral (apps. , , ). already in the course of the forenoon the commanding officer of the th brigade recognised that it was impossible, without artillery bombardment, to gain the mastery over the fanatical population. the troops were, however, too much involved in house-to-house fighting to be immediately withdrawn. it was only after o'clock in the afternoon that it was possible to withdraw the troops to the heights north of dinant, so that the artillery, in particular, sections of field artillery regiment no. and a battery of heavy artillery, could now bring dinant, from leffe, more effectually under their fire (apps. , , ). in the early morning infantry regiment no. had set out from thynes on their march towards leffe, making use of the leffe valley road. already before reaching leffe the advance company was fired on from detached holdings as well as from the steep hill slopes (partially wooded), which stretched along on the right and the left of the road. this harassing fire was directed with particular activity from the paper-mill situated on the left of the road and the adjacent houses. for this reason, the slopes were searched for francs-tireurs, later on with the co-operation of the th jägers, and the barricaded houses forcibly opened and cleared of inhabitants. all those caught with weapons in their hands were shot. more and more vigorously the advancing regiment was attacked by the inhabitants concealed in the houses. there was firing from all the houses, although in many of them no one was found. the marksmen crept into their hiding-places in order to leave them later on and renew their firing on the german troops. this made it necessary to set on fire a number of houses in order to drive out the marksmen from their places of concealment. a number of inhabitants were marched off as hostages to the monastery (apps. - ). the th company of the th regiment occupied the garden of a villa along the meuse and a factory which fronted the enemy on the left bank of the meuse (apps. , , ). here again they were fired on; the villa and the factory were therefore cleared of their occupants. the proprietor and a large number of the workpeople were fetched out of the cellar of the factory and shot, whilst the women and children found there were lodged in the monastery. practically for the whole of the day the th regiment carried on a hot fight with the population of leffe, and suffered severe losses (apps. , ). infantry regiment no. , which reached leffe towards evening, was also fired on by francs-tireurs from the slopes of the leffe ravine as well as from the houses, and defended itself in the same way by disarming and shooting the men found with arms, and by burning down single houses which could not otherwise be cleared (apps. , ). in the evening it became quiet in leffe. the assumption, however, that nothing more was to be feared from the inhabitants proved to be erroneous. after nightfall the left-wing outpost of the nd battalion of infantry regiment no. , posted as a guard against attack along the meuse, was assailed by a large body of the inhabitants to the south of the barracks of the th belgian infantry regiment. a detachment of reinforcements cleared this locality and the adjoining district, being continually fired upon from the houses by francs-tireurs. a large number of persons caught with weapons in their hands were shot (apps. , , ). in the night, towards o'clock, the detachment of zeschau came from houx by the northern entrance to leffe. scarcely had they reached the first houses when the foremost company received a brisk rifle fire. the houses, the doors of which were barred and the windows barricaded with furniture and beds, were stormed and set on fire as a security against francs-tireurs, who were not otherwise to be caught. the men found in them who were carrying arms were shot (app. ). from the factory above mentioned also the detachment, especially the machine-gun company of infantry regiment no. , was briskly and continuously fired on. the shooting of the francs-tireurs only died out when the factory was set on fire (apps. , , ). whilst these events were taking place in the north of dinant, in the south, also at les rivages and anseremme, sanguinary fighting with the civil population had taken place. late in the afternoon, grenadier regiment no. with the rd field pioneer company reached les rivages by the road which ends there, in order to cross the meuse. the pioneers, with pontoon waggons for bridge-building, had already entered the section of dinant occupied by the guards regiment. on account of the fire which they received from the houses, and of which they could not get the mastery, despite all attempts in conjunction with the infantry to clear the houses, they had been obliged to withdraw to the heights. the village of les rivages at first appeared as if deserted. on the opposite bank the houses in neffe, struck by our artillery fire, burst into flames (apps. , , ). the crossing began at once. first the nd, then the th company of grenadier regiment no. , gained the left bank and advanced to the attack in extended order against the enemy infantry on the western heights of the river-bank. the th company received about five consecutive discharges of small shot from a house in the narrow alley through which they had passed in neffe. the barred house was broken open, and the francs-tireurs, a man and two women, were shot. directly after this the company, led by the company commander, reached the railway embankment. at this spot a waterway led through the embankment; before the culvert lay a civilian with a sort of carbine, shot dead; in the dark culvert people were seen. from the top of the embankment the officer advancing with another company shouted down that he had been shot at from the culvert. the company commander called out loudly, "sortez, on ne vous fera rien" ("come out; nothing will be done to you"). no answer came from the culvert, neither did the people leave it who were concealed there. thereupon a number of volleys were fired into the culvert. the grenadiers continued their advance over the railway embankment and up the heights. the detachment left behind for clearing and guarding the culvert brought out about thirty-five to forty civilians, men, half-grown lads, women, and children, and with them about eight to ten rifles, not sporting-guns, but apparently military rifles. a portion of the civilians had been killed or wounded by the fire of the grenadiers (app. ). in the meantime everything had still remained quiet in les rivages. the first person who showed himself was a lame man. he described himself as the mayor, and protested that the inhabitants of les rivages were peaceable in contrast to those of neffe. he was therefore sent over to neffe for the purpose of warning the population in that place to keep the peace, as in that case nothing would happen to them. the commanding officer of grenadier regiment no. forcibly collected a large number of persons from the nearest houses in order to hold them as hostages against the hostile action of the populace. it was made clear to them that their lives were guarantee for the safety of the troops. the causes for this measure were the notorious hostility of the population of dinant, and the report just made by an officer that, close by, to the south of les rivages, towards anseremme, shots had been fired from the houses. the men were placed against a garden wall to the left of the place of crossing, the women and children who came with them out of the houses, somewhat farther down the river. the bridge-building and crossing were in progress. when the bridge had been built out about metres alike from the houses of les rivages and from the rocky slopes close to the south of the "rocher bayard," francs-tireurs began to direct a hot fire upon the grenadiers, who were waiting in close order for crossing, and on the working pioneers. the greatest consternation and confusion ensued. in consequence of this the male hostages assembled by the garden wall were shot. the shooting of the hostages, evidently visible to the unseen francs-tireurs, resulted in the cessation of the firing and a continuation of the bridge-building (apps. , ). partly during the night of august th and partly on the next day the troops of the corps were able to cross the meuse at les rivages and neffe. on august th the rear portions of the corps also crossed the meuse. in no way, however, had the severe measures taken on august rd put any final stop to the excesses of the francs-tireurs. on the two following days also, columns passing through and single persons were shot at from the slopes and from the houses, although no longer to the same extent as on august rd. this necessarily led again to retaliatory measures, to the shooting of individual inhabitants caught in the act, and to the artillery bombardment of buildings which were occupied by francs-tireurs. the former measures were taken on august th in neffe and st. médard, and the latter on august th and th in all parts of the town (apps. , ). if one reviews the whole of the resistance offered to the german troops by the population of dinant and its suburbs, the first thing that strikes one is its systematic organisation (apps. , , ). already before the rd of august it was known to the inhabitants of the neighbourhood of dinant that in this place there existed an organisation for treacherous attack on the german troops (apps. , ). it was known that the surprise attacks upon the german troops by the local inhabitants, which took place at sorinnes and other places lying to the east of the meuse, were partly to be traced to emissaries from dinant. this organised effort was distinguished by its careful preparation and by the extent of its activities. the houses were placed in a state of defence by the barricading of the doors and windows, by the construction of loopholes, and by the accumulation of a large supply of firearms and ammunition in the houses. the existence of large stocks of ammunition was proved in one way by the repeated explosions in the burning houses. in the night operations of august st trip-wires were drawn across the street (apps. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ). from the fact that the firearms were not only in part sporting-guns and revolvers, but were partly machine-guns and belgian military rifles (apps. , ), one may conclude that the movement had the support of the belgian government. the whole of dinant with its suburbs on the right and left bank of the meuse was prepared in the same way. everywhere, in leffe, in les rivages, in neffe, one found the barricading of the houses, the loopholes, and the presence of weapons. at the same time it is expressly pointed out in the reports of the fighting that the belligerent belgian civilians did not wear any kind of military badge (apps. - , , , , , , ). the whole population was imbued with the same purpose--to hold up the german advance. if, by taking part in the dangers into which it knowingly ventured, some portion of it perished, it has only itself to blame. this resistance offered to our troops was extremely obstinate. it was carried on with every kind of weapon, with military rifles and sporting-guns, with bullets and shot, with revolvers, with knives, with stones (apps. , , , - , , , , , , , , , , , ). all grades, even the clergy (app. ), took part in it, men and women, old men and children (apps. , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ). from the cellars of burning houses firing was still kept up. at the very moment when he was being shot by martial law, a franc-tireur discharged a revolver, which he had kept concealed, at the firing-party (app. ). with treachery and cunning (apps. , , , , , ), themselves invisible from the outside, they fired from loopholes in the rear of passing detachments and on single officers. they disappeared before the advancing germans (apps. , , ) through back ways into the caves and subterranean passages, to continue their work of assassination in some other place. some male francs-tireurs had put on women's clothing (apps. , ). the geneva badge was misused by individuals and in the case of buildings in order, under its protection, to cause injury to the germans (apps. , - , , , - ). even the wounded who were being transported to the rear, as well as hospital orderlies, were shot at from the houses (apps. , ). the fanaticism of the population found its most revolting expression in the cruel murder of sleeping men, in the mutilation of the fallen, and in the burning of wounded prisoners who were bound up with wire for this purpose (apps. , , , , - ). in judging of the attitude taken by the troops of the xii. corps in the face of the action of the civil population, which was hostile to the last degree and employed the most reprehensible methods, we must remember that the tactical aim of the xii. corps was the rapid passage over the meuse and the clearing of the enemy from the left bank. the speedy suppression of the resistance of the inhabitants, which was directly opposed to this aim, was a military necessity to be secured by all possible means. from this point of view, the bombardment of the town, which was taking an active part in the fighting, and the burning of the houses occupied by the francs-tireurs, as well as the shooting of inhabitants caught with weapons in their hands, were all justified. in the same way, the shooting of the hostages in various localities was also justified. the troops fighting in the town found themselves in the direst extremity, inasmuch as they were under the artillery, machine-gun, and rifle fire of the regular troops posted on the left bank of the meuse, and were at the same time being fired at in the rear and on the flanks by the inhabitants. the hostages were taken as security in order to put a stop to the conduct of the francs-tireurs. despite this, and since the population continued, as before, to inflict losses on the struggling troops, the shooting of the hostages was carried out; otherwise, the holding of the hostages would have only implied an empty threat. their execution was all the more justified, since, with the general participation of the populace in the fighting, it was hardly a case of innocent victims. in view of the military objective mentioned above and the serious straits in which the troops found themselves, treacherously attacked as they were from the rear, such action on our part could not be avoided. the lives of women and children were, on principle, spared, so long as they were not caught in the act, or it was not a case of self-defence against their attacks (apps. , , , , , , , , , ). the fact that, despite this, women and children were killed and wounded is intelligible from the prevailing circumstances. they were struck partly by shots coming from the enemy on the left bank of the meuse and partly by stray shots during the house and street fighting (app. ). in the shooting of the hostages at les rivages a few women and children were also hit. this happened in the case of some who, contrary to the arrangements made, had left their station which was apart from the male hostages, and had crowded together with the latter (apps. , ). that the troops of the xii. corps did not show themselves harsh or cruel is proved by numerous cases in which they exhibited, under the existing circumstances, a solicitude, deserving special recognition, for women, old men, and children (apps. , , , , - ). a number of women confined to their beds on account of child-birth were carried from houses in the danger zone to a sheltered place and laid on mattresses near our wounded (app. ). wounded inhabitants--the wounds mostly originated from the enemy's fire--were bandaged and given over to conscientious medical treatment (apps. , , , , , - , , , ). little children found alone were handed over to female care (apps. , ). the large number of women and children from burning dinant who were in les rivages on the night of august th were sheltered in a house and provided with food and drink (apps. , ). in the morning they all received coffee from the field-kitchen of the guards regiment. the account given by the surviving inhabitants of dinant about the fighting for their town, and the statements thereto appended by the belgian commission of inquiry, as well as those of the hostile press, are marked by their complete silence as regards the part taken by the populace in the fighting against our troops, and, with intentional exaggeration, solely record what our troops have done to suppress this participation in the fighting. in face of what positively occurred, it is a malicious distortion of the actual facts to maintain that, because orders had been issued to give up all weapons, the inhabitants did not fire. without doubt it is deeply regrettable that, in consequence of the events of august rd and th, the flourishing town of dinant with its suburbs was burnt and laid in ruins and a great number of human lives were destroyed. the responsibility for this lies not on the german army, but only on the population. the inhabitants collectively engaged in conflict with the german troops contrary to international law and in a fanatical and treacherous manner, and forced our troops to take those counter-measures required for the purposes of war. had the population held aloof from armed resistance and open participation in the fighting, scarcely any injury would have been incurred by them, as regards life or property, despite the hazardous position in which they were placed by reason of military operations. berlin, _april th, _. military department of investigation into the violation of the laws of war. signed: major bauer. signed: councillor of the supreme court of judicature, dr. wagner. c. app. . extract from the military diary of the general officer commanding the xii. ( st royal saxon) army corps. _august nd, ._ on august nd the imperial headquarters remained at the château of taviet. the day was occupied in carrying on reconnaissances in the manner directed. towards o'clock in the forenoon the report came through a general staff-officer sent in advance that the nd battalion of rifle regiment no. had succeeded by a night attack in throwing the enemy back across the meuse at dinant. here the inhabitants had once more taken part in the fighting, in some cases with shot-guns. _august rd, ._ the general's staff reached the western outlet of sorinnes at a.m. the rd infantry division, present at the same point, immediately reported its readiness for opening fire; the nd infantry division, communication with which was at first lacking, did not report until . a.m. at . a.m. the commander-in-chief gave the order to fire, which, at first, could not be complied with on account of the thick weather. in virtue of the command to open fire, the general in command gave the order: "the divisions to occupy the bank on this side of the meuse with strong lines of riflemen, to enable the slopes on the opposite side to be taken under an effective infantry fire." as the weather, towards a.m., permitted regular artillery fire to be delivered, it was observed that the enemy only replied weakly. for this reason the general in command gave the order at . a.m. that his reserve troops were to follow their divisions, as he expected a more rapid advance of the divisions towards the meuse. for the same reason the general staff proceeded at a.m. to gemechenne. the next reports received up to . a.m., as well as a reconnaissance undertaken by captain bahrdt and st lieutenant count schall in the district of dinant, seemed to contradict this assumption. at . a.m. a report arrived from colonel francke, infantry regiment no. , which seemed to confirm the original opinion of the general in command. a communication by the oberquartiermeister with reference to the observation of an army airman coincided also with this opinion. at the same time the commanding general had directed that the order for the crossing of the meuse should be made out. in the meantime, the troops had also advanced into new positions in the direction of the meuse. it seemed to be more and more certain that the enemy had to all intents and purposes withdrawn, and only continued to offer any serious resistance at the presumed crossing-places, especially at houx. although st lieutenant berckmüller and st lieutenant count schall reported at . a.m. that on a renewed reconnaissance near dinant they had met with brisk shrapnel-fire, the army corps order to cross the meuse was given at . a.m.; for this purpose a half of the bridge-building corps was placed at the disposal of each of the two divisions. for the more rapid suppression of the resistance at houx, the reserve division of the general in command was given back to the nd infantry division at a.m. after the issue of this order, st lieutenant hasse of general staff no. arrived and reported that the ii. army had crossed the sambre to the west of namur on august nd, so that a serious resistance on the part of the enemy on the meuse was not to be expected. it was intended to give the xii. army corps the direction on anthée; the xix. army corps, on the other hand, was to be taken over the meuse to the south of givet. the possibility of getting into touch on the western bank of the meuse with the general command (left wing, ii. army) was immediately communicated to the nd infantry division. the opinion, seemingly confirmed by an air report received in the meantime that the corps would get across the meuse without serious difficulties, was destined to prove incorrect. the nd infantry division met with serious opposition at houx and leffe, and a similar experience befell the th infantry brigade in burning dinant. it was only at the crossing-place of the th infantry brigade at les rivages that everything, at first, appeared to go smoothly, so that the rd infantry division reported at . a.m. through major v. zeschau that they were able to commence the crossing. it was to be inferred from the reports in general that the crossing, even if beset with difficulties, could still be effected in the afternoon. a corps command was therefore issued at . p.m., which assigned sommière as the objective of the nd infantry division, and onhaye that of the rd infantry division. the general staff, in view of the shortly expected crossing, proceeded from gemechenne to the bend in the road . kilometres to the east of dinant. at p.m. the xix. army corps reported that the th infantry division was crossing at lenne with a brigade. the troops of the corps had, however, at the crossing-places some very severe fighting with the enemy posted on the west bank of the meuse. this fighting, through the participation of the inhabitants, assumed an especiallv severe character. at the moment when the (guards) grenadier regiment no. had lowered the first pontoons into the water, a violent fire was delivered from the adjacent houses. the troops found themselves in the unpleasant position of being fired at by the infantry and artillery of the enemy on the western bank and by the inhabitants in their rear. the most unsatisfactory result of this fight was that a part of the pontoons had been rendered unserviceable by the bombardment. subsequently the crossing of the rd infantry division proved exceedingly difficult. the material to hand was no longer sufficient for the building of a military bridge. the general in command, who towards p.m. had personally ascertained the position of the nd infantry division in leffe, proceeded to the crossing-place of the rd infantry division, which he reached towards p.m. the position of the corps at this time was more or less as follows: in leffe the nd infantry division was still fighting for the crossing. at dinant the th infantry brigade had been obliged to withdraw to the heights on the eastern bank because it was impossible to remain in the burning town. at les rivages a part of the bridge was ready, but the material was not sufficient for its completion, consequently a system of ferrying had to be contrived. the commander of the rd infantry division accordingly arranged that a mixed force under colonel meister (grenadier regiment no. , hussar regiment no. , st section, field artillery regiment no. ) should first be put across. the (guards) grenadier regiment no. was to follow next, while the remainder of the army corps was directed to the bridge of the nd infantry division at leffe. according to an army order sent at . p.m. to the east of dinant, the pursuit was to be taken up with the available troops on the western bank of meuse; xii. army corps; direction, philippeville. for correct transcript. signed: von loeben, captain on the general staff. c. app. . extract from the report of rifle (fusilier) regiment no. on the fighting in dinant during the night of the st- nd august . when the rear of the nd battalion had reached the first houses in dinant, a signal shot suddenly rang out. the next moment there was a rattle of musketry on all sides. there was firing from all the houses; from all the slopes, which are honeycombed by cellars and vaults, there came flashes. all the houses were firmly barricaded. an attempt was made to penetrate into the houses. if rifle-butts and hatchets were not adequate, there were pioneers at hand to throw in hand-grenades. machine-guns had been fixed up in a corner house. c. app. . extract from the report of the st field company of pioneer battalion no. on the reconnaissance in force of august st, , carried out with the nd battalion, rifle (fusilier) regiment no. . as soon as the first houses in dinant were reached, the street-lighting was destroyed; the columns marched closely along by the two rows of houses and arrived as far as the first cross-street. here the head of the infantry column suddenly received from the corner house on the right a very violent fire, which was immediately returned. instantly there was firing from all the houses. a violent street-fight then ensued. the pioneers forced the fastened doors open with hatchets and axes, threw hand-grenades into the lower rooms, and set others on fire with the torches which had been in the meantime ignited. lieutenant brink turned into the first side-street on the left. this, however, had been obstructed by trip-wires; from the houses came firing, and stones were thrown. all at once the company was fired at from the rear, and was obliged to return to the corner of the street. non-commissioned officer grosse, who had been struck by several stones and lay unconscious by the trip-wires, was also brought back. the st company had fifteen slightly wounded and one severely wounded. c. app. . dresden, _november th, _. chief military court, dresden. on citation paul kurt büchner, reservist, st field company, pioneer battalion no. , in pirna, appeared as witness and made a statement: on the night of august st, , my company was sent on a reconnaissance towards dinant in belgium. the nd battalion, rifle regiment no. , marched with us. when we had arrived in the town we were briskly shot at from the houses, and, indeed, chiefly with small shot. we stormed a number of houses, and saw that the marksmen were civilians without any military uniform or badge. we then withdrew. on august rd, , the rd division advanced to the attack on dinant. here, also, we were vigorously fired on from the houses, and certainly only by civilians, of whom a number were killed. it was here that i received a shot in the thigh. i then got into the hospital which had been established in the château of sorinnes. in the night the château of sorinnes was attacked and fired at by the inhabitants of the place. the inhabitants were, however, beaten off before they could force their way into the château. read over, approved, signed. signed: kurt bÜchner. the witness was sworn. signed: dr. illing, chief counsellor of the military court. c. app. . present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary, lips. neufchÂtel, _february th, _. in the examination concerning the events in dinant the under-mentioned witness appeared and stated: as to person: my name is herbert max reinhard brink. i am years old; protestant; lieutenant in the st field company, pioneer battalion no. , xii. army corps. as to case: i was leader of the platoon of the st field pioneer company which took part in the reconnaissance in force on the night of the st- nd august . in dinant, on that occasion, we were briskly fired at from the houses. i did not see the marksmen; certainly they were not soldiers. i conclude this from the numerous injuries from small shot which our wounded had. during the street-fighting a little old cylinder-revolver, from which one shot had been discharged, fell on my head. no officer and, still more, no soldier would have been likely to use such an antiquated weapon. on august rd, , i marched into dinant with a part of the st field pioneer company, and joined up with the detachment of count kielmannsegg. we were fired at very vigorously from the houses, among others also from those on the bank of the meuse, but not at all from the opposite bank. the marksmen were civilians without any military badge. i myself saw several civilians with weapons in their hands. a woman also fired down at us from the stairs as we were forcing our way into a house. she was immediately shot down from below. i was witness how four men and a woman were shot by grenadiers because they came out, armed, from the houses from which we had been fired at. i was further witness how a larger number of guilty inhabitants were shot by order of count kielmannsegg; the women and children were first separated from the men. i saw, at the moment when the volley was delivered, one of the men draw a revolver from his pocket and fire at the soldiers. i was astonished, too, that the weapon had not been taken away from him. in any case, he had only just been brought up at the last moment before the execution. as far as i have seen, our soldiers did not in any way behave cruelly towards the inhabitants. on the contrary, from the houses out of which the inhabitants had been driven, our men brought out on mattresses four women, who were unable to walk on account of recent confinement, and laid them in the street in a place sheltered from the firing, close to our own wounded. in the evening towards o'clock i marched with my detachment from dinant to les rivages. on the way, at the last houses in dinant we again received a brisk fire from the houses. we had no time to stop and clear these houses, as we had strict orders to evacuate dinant immediately on account of the impending bombardment of the place. as we entered les rivages the bridge-building was in progress. we remained at this place a further two days. after the completion of the bridge, we noticed repeatedly on august th that our columns, which had crossed the bridge and were marching downstream on the west bank of the meuse, were fired at from dinant. read over, approved, signed. signed: brink, lieutenant. the witness was hereupon sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. c. app. . extract from the report of the (guards) grenadier regiment no. . _august rd, ._ during the descent towards dinant all three companies of the st battalion received losses through the fire of civilians--portions of the populace, amongst whom were women and children--and presumably also from belgian soldiers in civilian clothing, who obstinately defended themselves with every possible kind of weapon. in the streets the companies encountered a murderous fire. in parts every single house had to be fought for with the use of hand-grenades. the civilians wore no military badge or uniform; if they were caught with weapons in their hands, they were shot. the remainder of the population were led away to the town gaol. the grenadier guards pressed farther on, all the time being fired at by the treacherous inhabitants. a great number of buildings were provided with flags bearing the geneva cross, yet from these the troops were fired on with special violence. grenadier h., thrice wounded, nevertheless continued to take part in the fighting, while he called his comrade's attention to the houses from which the inhabitants were firing. late in the afternoon, since the whole place was not yet in our hands, the artillery bombarded the town, which now, for the most part, became enveloped in flames. towards o'clock in the evening the house-fighting in the midst of the burning streets broke out once more for a short time. the civilians detained in the prison were brought out. old men, women, and children were released; the men were led by up to marche as prisoners. on the morning of august th, after the pontoons had been repaired, the regiment began to cross in pursuit of the retreating enemy. while this was going on, shots from different houses struck the marching column. c. app. . willmsbaracken, _january th, _. _deposition._ by order of the (guards) grenadier regiment no. , lieutenant-colonel count kielmannsegg appeared for examination and, being warned to speak the whole truth, made the following deposition: as to person: my name is bernhardt hermann carl kedel, count kielmannsegg, born in celle (hanover) on july th, ; evangelical-lutheran; lieutenant-colonel in the (guards) grenadier regiment no. and commander of the st battalion. as to case: the town of dinant was attacked and occupied at about o'clock in the forenoon on august rd, , by the rd company, st battalion, st (guards) grenadier regiment. no enemy troops were discovered on the right bank of the meuse. notwithstanding this, our troops were fired on from the houses of the town by persons in civilian clothing without any military badge or uniform, whereby captain legler, the first of the guards company to enter the town, was severely wounded. sections of the town were assigned to the companies for the purpose of searching and clearing, with the injunction to take all inhabitants, so long as they offered no resistance, to the town gaol; all those who offered resistance to be dealt with by force of arms. the occupant of the house, from which captain legler was wounded, was shot by my order. infringements of the orders given by me have not been reported from anywhere. the search took place by patrols under leaders who were detailed for this purpose by the companies. several hundred inhabitants were brought into the town gaol, and there put under guard. before leaving the town, in which the three companies had been engaged, from about o'clock in the morning until about o'clock in the evening, in constant street and house fighting, with their own losses as indicated, about a hundred guilty inhabitants of the male sex were shot by my direction and in accordance with an order given by higher authority. our own wounded, as well as the inhabitants who were wounded, chiefly by the fire of the enemy on the left bank of the meuse, were bandaged and taken care of by chief-doctor merx of the nd battalion of the (guards) grenadier regiment in a house prepared for this purpose. read over, approved, signed. signed: kielmannsegg. witness was hereupon sworn. signed: von haugk, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: beymann, acting-sergeant-major, clerk of the court. c. app. . (guards) grenadier regiment no. . present: lieutenant of reserve bandel, as officer of the court. non-commissioned officer haunstein, as military clerk of the court. guignicourt, _january th, _. by order there appeared as witness captain von montbé, who, being warned to speak the whole truth, made the following deposition: as to person: my name is charles sylvester alban von montbé. i am years old; protestant. as to case: it has not come to my knowledge that any cruelties have been committed by our soldiers on the inhabitants of dinant; neither have the inhabitants of dinant been ill-treated or mutilated or been badly treated at all; on the other hand, various inhabitants of the place who have treacherously fired from the houses, so far as one could get hold of them, were shot. read over, approved, signed. signed: v. montbÉ. witness was hereupon sworn. signed: bandel, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: haunstein, non-commissioned officer and military clerk of the court. c. app. . guignicourt, _january th, _. _deposition._ lieutenant prietzel of the reserve appeared as witness and, being warned to speak the truth, in lieu of oath declared as follows: as to person: my name is ernst rudolf prietzel. i am years of age; evangelical-lutheran; dr. jur. of bautzen. as to case: when the th company of the st (guards) grenadier regiment marched into dinant it was fired on from the houses situated in the narrow lane leading from herbuchenne. i was myself able to observe shots from about three windows. grenadier oberlander was killed; probably two or three grenadiers were wounded. the shots undoubtedly did not come from the opposite bank of the meuse, which, at that time, was only weakly occupied by the enemy troops. on the contrary, the shots were discharged by the civilian population. in the narrow lane, and previously towards herbuchenne, there lay numerous dead and wounded of the th company, which had, in the same way, been fired at by the civilian population from the houses. one could plainly see in the burning houses of dinant, mostly wrecked by our artillery, that cartridges were exploding in the flames. these houses were unsuitable for military purposes, especially for defence. the cartridges must therefore have originated from the civilian population. on the other side of the meuse was a building provided with a red cross flag. the walls enclosing this building had loopholes. the building was therefore, despite the red cross flag, adapted for defence. the th company, in passing through the narrow lane mentioned above, replied to the fire of the civilian population. it is not true that soldiers of the guards regiment or of any other regiment have taken any action which was not absolutely required by the military situation or in consequence of the behaviour of the civilian population. read over, approved, signed. signed: lieutenant of reserve prietzel. witness was thereupon sworn. signed: von loeben, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: baier, non-commissioned officer and clerk of the military court. c. app. . present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary, lips. neufchÂtel, _february th, _. in the matter for investigation with reference to the events in dinant, acting-sergeant-major bartusch appeared as witness. after he had been made acquainted with the object of the investigation, and the importance of the oath to be taken had been pointed out, he was examined as follows: as to person: my name is georg wilhelm bartusch. i am years of age; protestant; acting-sergeant-major, battalion drummer, st battalion, (guards) grenadier regiment no. . as to case: on august rd i served on the staff of the st battalion in dinant. we slid down the steep slopes into dinant rather than ran. an inhabitant, the luxemburger mentioned below, told me they did not believe we should get down; on the contrary, they reckoned that we would be shot on the way. from the very beginning we were assailed by fire from the houses, small shot was also used; the firing came from all the openings in the houses, from the windows and doors, and also from holes cut out between the roof and wall. below in the town we sought a temporary shelter in a warehouse nearly opposite the gaol. from here an attempt was made to clear the neighbourhood of sharpshooters. all those of the inhabitants who were found in the houses were taken to the prison. the persons who had been caught with weapons in their hands were separated and placed against the garden wall near the open place. they were there shot by a detachment of grenadiers by order of lieutenant-colonel count kielmannsegg. how many there were, i cannot exactly say; there may have been or . they stood in three or four rows, and were to my knowledge only men. that women and children were shot with them, i did not see. one man tried to keep a child on his arm, but this was prevented by a woman who took the child from him. one must try to imagine the confusion prevailing, and that all this was taking place while we were still being fired on. i think it is possible that some of the women and children, whom we had forced away from the men, had fled behind the wall of the garden, and that there they perished either by our bullets which pierced the wall or by the bullets of the enemy on the other bank of the meuse. everyone who stayed out of doors did so at the continual risk of his life. at the very commencement, when we reached dinant, a girl of about thirteen years of age received a shot in the stomach from the other bank of the meuse. she was bandaged by two german stretcher-bearers. one man was caught in the street by two grenadiers, who declared he had wounded captain legler. we tied his hands with a cord and took him with us. he was, however, rescued by civilians in the street-fighting. i recognised him again among the men lined up for execution by the marks left by the cord on his hands. in a house which had already been searched, and which i and a grenadier were again searching through, i found behind a secret door two men of about twenty years of age; each had a revolver in his hand from which shots had already been discharged. among the persons who had been taken to the prison was a well-dressed man of about seventy years of age. a bulging of his waistcoat attracted my attention; when i went to touch it he said, "purse." i tore his waistcoat open and produced from it a small revolver from which a shot had already been discharged. as far as i know, this old man was not among those who were shot. to judge by the continuous firing, all the inhabitants of dinant must have taken part in the shooting. when we were attending to the thirteen-year-old girl who had been shot, her father, a luxemburger living in dinant, who spoke broken german, said that in dinant parents had given revolvers to their children of ten to twelve years so that they might shoot at the "allemands." in the prison we found about eight pistols and the same number of swords, as well as a cigar-box full of cardboard packets which were filled with small shot. read over, approved, signed. signed: bartusch. witness was hereupon sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. c. app. . willmsbaracken, _february rd, _. _deposition._ by order of the regiment there appeared as witness grenadier of the reserve straczinsky, th company (guards), grenadier regiment no. , who, being warned to speak the whole truth, made the following deposition: as to person: my name is felix johannes straczinsky; born on the th june at bautzen (saxony); evangelical-lutheran. as to case: i was wounded on august rd, , in dinant by a discharge of small shot fired from a cellar window. the shot went into my right ankle. the grains of shot were removed at julich, near aachen, where i was under treatment. i saw the shot myself. read over, approved, signed. signed: johannes straczinsky. the witness was hereupon sworn. also signed. signed: von haugk, st lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: beymann, acting-sergeant-major and clerk to the court. c. app. . extract from the reports of the staff of the th infantry brigade and of regiments nos. and on the fighting at dinant, august rd, . staff of the th infantry brigade. towards o'clock in the forenoon regiments nos. and reached the eastern slopes of the meuse. there now ensued a hot fight for the town of dinant, which was defended by francs-tireurs, and which resulted in serious loss, especially of officers. as the brigade commander was of opinion that dinant could not be taken without previously bombarding it with artillery, he gave the order at a.m. to again evacuate dinant if possible. at the time this was no longer practicable, since the regiments were already too much involved in the house-to-house fighting and were pressing forward in the direction of the market-place. whilst every individual house was being hotly fought for, the troops were being heavily fired on from the opposite bank of the meuse by artillery and machine-guns. the commanders of the two regiments met in the market-place. since no decisive result was possible without artillery against the enemy who were concealed in houses, cellars, and caves, and who were even firing from the cathedral, they resolved to gradually evacuate the town. this was begun at about o'clock in the afternoon. rifle-fusilier regiment no. . the rd battalion in its advance on dinant had at once been fired at from the eastern houses. nothing was to be seen of the enemy, although continuous firing came from the northern border of the dinant-gemechenne road valley. the farm of malais was stormed by the st battalion. the whole of the francs-tireurs who had resisted there were killed. according to its instructions, the battalion reached leffe and dinant under fire from the inhabitants. in the house of dinant there were no longer any of the enemy forces either in uniform or provided with any military badges, but it was the fanatical population, even women, who fired on the troops. in the market-place there developed a brisk house-to-house fight. there was firing even from the tower of the cathedral. almost all the houses were systematically defended. both regimental commanders (of the th and nd regiments) came to the conclusion that the meuse could not be reached without the support of our artillery, and therefore ordered the return of the regiments at . in the afternoon. at o'clock the bombardment of dinant by our artillery began. on the following morning the brigade crossed the meuse on the pontoon bridge at leffe which was built by the nd infantry division, since it was impossible to march through burning dinant. infantry regiment no. . during the advance of the regiment along the edge of a valley it received a continuous shrapnel fire from the western bank of the meuse and infantry fire from the buildings and copses on the edge of the valley, causing losses. captain klotz, the leader of the machine-gun company, fell through a shot from above, apparently from one of the fortress-like watch-towers which stand there. two battalions penetrated into dinant and on towards the bridge, and received a detached fire from the houses and from the cliffs of the east bank, in numerous rocky caves of which francs-tireurs were hidden. at . in the evening the regiment stood again on the heights above dinant while our artillery from the north furiously bombarded the town on both sides of the river. in the evening and during the night enemy sharpshooters still continued to fire from the woods and buildings on the edge of the valley, which they had reached by passages in the rocks unknown to us, and into which they again disappeared. c. app. . wood south-west of la ville aux bois, _february th, _. _deposition._ by order of the rifle (fusilier) regiment "prince george" no. there appeared as witness corporal schmieder of the th company. warned to speak the whole truth, he made the following deposition: as to person: my name is hermann walter schmieder. i am years of age; of the evangelical-lutheran faith; gardener by calling; now corporal in the th company. as to case: on the sorinnes-dinant road the following occurrence took place in the part of the town of dinant which lies on both sides of the road. i witnessed how two male civilians discharged pistol-shots at major lommatsch, battalion commander, th infantry regiment no. , from the first storey of a house standing directly on the road. major lommatsch immediately collapsed. read over, approved, signed. signed: schmieder. the witness was sworn in accordance with regulations. signed: lassow, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: schubert, acting-sergeant-major and clerk of the military court. c. app. . wood south-west of la ville aux bois, _february th, _. _deposition._ by order of the rifle (fusilier) regiment "prince george" no. there appeared: . corporal horn. . corporal matthes. warned to speak the whole truth, they made the following deposition: . horn. as to person: my name is max bruno horn. i am years old; of the evangelical-lutheran faith; machinery smith by trade; now corporal, th company, rifle (fusilier) regiment "prince george" no. . as to case: on the afternoon of the rd august a platoon of artillerymen was standing in the vicinity of the water-tower at the fort of dinant. all at once the artillerymen sent for the infantry to help them. the group in which i was moved up. the artillerymen were firing with their pistols at about eight civilians who were armed with rifles. when the civilians saw us coming they ran down the slope towards dinant. i did not see german soldiers in dinant commit any cruelties on the inhabitants. read over, approved, signed. signed: horn. the witness was duly sworn. . matthes. as to person: my name is johannes walter matthes. i am years old; of the evangelical-lutheran faith; butcher by trade; now rifleman, th company, rifle (fusilier) regiment "prince george" no. . as to case: i concur to the fullest extent in the statement of corporal horn, and have nothing further to add. read over, approved, signed. signed: matthes. witness was duly sworn. signed: lossow, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: schubert, acting-sergeant-major and clerk of the court. c. app. . wood south-west of la ville aux bois, _february th, _. _deposition._ by order of the rifle (fusilier) regiment "prince george" no. there appeared as witness rifleman körner. warned to speak the whole truth, he made the following deposition: as to person: my name is artur hugo körner. i am years old; of the evangelical-lutheran faith; glass-cutter by trade; now rifleman, th company, rifle (fusilier) regiment "prince george" no. . as to case: i belonged to a patrol of twelve men led by lieutenant gauser and berger with orders to arrest civilians in dinant who might take up arms against the germans. from a building in course of erection we observed that civilians were firing on us from a house. we surrounded the house, forced an entrance, and arrested about six male civilians. all had firearms, but no military badge or uniform. two of them were young people about eighteen years old, another an older man with white hair. i know nothing of cruelties having been perpetrated by german soldiers on the inhabitants. read over, approved, signed. signed: kÖrner. the witness was duly sworn. signed: lossow, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: schubert, acting-sergeant-major and clerk of the military court. c. app. . present: st lieutenant grau, as officer of the court. acting-sergeant-major limbÄcker, as clerk of the court. "the front," _february th, _. there appeared as witness major-general francke, who, after reference to the significance of the oath, was examined as follows: as to person: my name is franz samuel ludwig francke. i am years old; protestant; major-general and regimental commander, infantry regiment no. . as to case: i confirm that in dinant a civilian who wore a white band with the geneva cross was brought to me by a corporal and two men of the th company. the party assured me that they had seen an arm with a geneva brassard project from between the shutters of a window on the first floor of a house distant about thirty paces from where i was, and that it had discharged a pistol into the street which was thronged with soldiers. several dead and wounded soldiers were lying in the street who could only have been hit from the houses or straight through from the houses on the riverside. the soldiers stated that they had broken into the house and had fetched out the occupants, among whom was this man. the civilian explained to me, without being asked, at first in hardly intelligible german, and then in french when i addressed him in french, that he was a doctor, and that he had protected the women who were in the houses, and had not fired on the soldiers. i thereupon ordered him to immediately bandage one of the wounded lying there. on his assertion that he had no bandages, i told him to fetch some bandages from the pharmacy which was situated directly behind me. i had already wondered that he had not taken this simple step if he was really a doctor. as i was very much occupied i could not watch him further myself, but ordered a corporal and one man to accompany and keep watch on the supposed doctor. some time after, the corporal came to me and reported that, as they entered the ground floor of the pharmacy, the doctor had suddenly run into the rear part of the house and not into the room used for the pharmacy on the street front, whereupon they had brought him out and shot him. read over, approved, signed. signed: franz francke. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: grau, st lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: limbÄcker, acting-sergeant-major, as clerk of the military court. c. app. . present: president of the military court, naumann. secretary of the military court, schwarzbach. la malmaison, _december _. in the investigation concerning the violation of international law committed against the german troops, there appeared as witness corporal saring, who, after reference to the significance of the oath, was examined as follows: my name is johann georg saring. i am years of age; protestant; locksmith by trade; corporal, th company, infantry regiment no. . on the afternoon of sunday the rd august, , i saw in dinant the arm of a man thrust itself out from the first storey of the pharmacy. the hand held a pistol. the pistol was fired at us soldiers. the arm was wearing, as i plainly saw, the red cross band. i burst the door in with a pickaxe; there came out children, women, and an elderly man, and, last of all, the man with the red cross band. this man was taken to colonel francke, whilst the other civilians were detained in the corner of a house. we then rushed towards the church in which the inhabitants had been brought together. as i know for certain, we were fired on from the tower of the church. this could only have been done by the inhabitants; enemy troops were not to be seen the whole of the day. read over, approved, signed. signed: johann georg saring. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: naumann. signed: schwarzbach. c. app. . present: president of the court, naumann. secretary to the court, schwarzbach. la malmaison, _december th, _. in the investigation of the violation of the international law committed against the german troops, there appeared as witness corporal of the reserve einax, th company, infantry regiment no. , who, after reference to the significance of the oath, was examined as follows: my name is karl hermann einax. i am years old; protestant; cooper by trade; corporal since november st, . on sunday, august rd, , during the second hour of the afternoon, as we advanced into dinant, we were fired on. it turned out that the fire came from the other bank of the meuse. we forced our way into the houses and searched them. i saw how an elderly man with grey bristly hair stepped out of a house, into which our comrades had forced an entrance, and fired at us. major lommatsch, who was severely wounded, died in the afternoon in consequence of the wound. on interrogation: i then plainly saw that eight gun-barrels projected from the attic windows of a house in the main street and were directed at us. from the tower of the church and from cellars we were also fired on. all this was done by the inhabitants only. i remember distinctly that eight men were brought out of a house from which there had been firing, amongst them the pastor with a red cross band on his arm. read over, approved, signed. signed: karl hermann einax. witness was thereupon sworn. signed: naumann. signed: schwarzbach. c. app. . extract from reports of field artillery regiment no. . august rd, . regimental staff. as our infantry was hindered in the advance into dinant by franc-tireur fighting, the town was bombarded and set on fire by the regiment. st detachment. since we had not gained possession of that part of dinant situated west of the meuse, and, according to reports coming from the front, our troops had been fired on from the houses by civilians, general lucius gave the order to bombard this part of the town. two companies of the st battery were posted on the western border of herbuchenne, and set on fire some large houses with about thirty shrapnel shells. as our infantry had again evacuated dinant in the afternoon, our detachment received orders to bombard and burn the town. after a short time the order came to cease fire. at o'clock in the evening the opposite heights of the meuse were in the possession of our infantry. nd detachment. the commander of the detachment asked for companies from captain pechwell, rd company, infantry regiment no. , and proceeded with these to the position ordered; as all the houses and the quarries on the way had to be searched for francs-tireurs, the position was only reached at . p.m. at o'clock two farms situated on the right flank suddenly burst into flames; at . lamp-signals were observed from the quarries north-east of the position. c. app. . extract from report of field artillery regiment no. . as our infantry in dinant, from the houses of which there was heavy firing, were also still being fired on by the fort, the rd battery received the order to bombard the fort from a more advanced position. in leffe also, our infantry made no headway; the th battery therefore received the order at o'clock in the afternoon to bombard and set on fire the farm roud chêne and the neighbourhood of leffe. dinant was evacuated by our infantry from o'clock in the afternoon onwards, and from o'clock onwards was bombarded by our foot artillery. c. app. . extract from report of foot artillery regiment no. , st battalion. _august rd, ._ at midday, by order of major-general schramm, the eichler battery was moved forward on the road north of dinant to an advanced position south-west of leffe, later on to the convent place of dinant, and from there bombarded dinant itself. _august th, ._ the reconnaissance showed that the roads in the meuse valley of dinant-leffe were impassable on account of the débris of fallen houses, conflagrations, and the shots fired from the houses by the inhabitants. c. app. . extract from report of the staff, th infantry brigade. the infantry regiment no. had not only opposed to it a strong force of the enemy, but was also being heavily fired on by francs-tireurs from the houses of the village of leffe. a company of the nd battalion as well as a detachment of the machine-gun company, infantry regiment no. , were, as the brigade staff itself saw, fired on in the same way from all the houses as they were entering the village of leffe. this could only have come from the inhabitants; some of them were seized with weapons in their hands and shot. toward . in the afternoon a detachment of heavy artillery opened fire on the houses of bouvignes which were occupied by the enemy, with obvious results. as shots were being fired from the woods and cliffs north and south of leffe on our troops passing through the village street, the kurhessian jäger battalion no. received the order to clear the woods. here also civilians, without any military badge or uniform, were seized with weapons in their hands and shot. th infantry brigade. leffe, _august rd, , . a.m._ to field artillery regiment no. . the rd company, infantry regiment no. , is suffering especially through infantry fire from the houses with the pointed towers and from the ruins to the right of them in bouvignes. the th brigade asks you to kindly bring these houses under fire. th infantry brigade. c. app. . extract from report of infantry regiment no. . _august rd, ._ when the leading company ( th company) of infantry regiment no. had almost reached the meuse in its march through leffe it received a brisk fire from the front and on the right and left flanks, chiefly from the houses. the th company thereupon received orders to clear the village. the battalion had a severe struggle and suffered considerable losses, as it was under a violent infantry and machine-gun fire from the opposite bank of the meuse, and, above all, because the battalion was being fired on by the inhabitants from practically all the houses. various civilians who had fired at our troops were shot. at . about twenty inhabitants were still firing at us to the south of the barracks of the th belgian infantry regiment. they were fetched out and shot. c. app. . present: president of the military court, schweinitz. secretary to the military court, lips. quarters of infantry regiment no. at variscourt, _march rd, _. in the inquiry concerning the events in dinant there appeared as witness lieutenant koch, who stated: as to person: my name is friedrich bruno koch. i am years old; protestant; lieutenant-colonel, infantry regiment no. . as to case: i led the nd battalion, infantry regiment no. , on august , . first of all, in the morning, i had to deal with the franc-tireur firing in the leffe valley at "la papeterie." as the battalion was continually being fired on there from the houses, i gave the order, on higher authority, to clear the houses. i was then detailed to take over the leadership in the fighting at leffe. there i saw very many dead civilians lying all along the road and also especially in an open space in leffe itself. at nightfall after the occupation of the place i had to secure the section towards the meuse--it was reported to me that my left-wing post was being attacked by francs-tireurs. i snatched together a number of men, led them personally to the scene of the fighting, and instituted measures for clearing the place. by my orders reinforcements arrived, and i gave over to st lieutenant wilke the further work of clearing the place. during this work we were continuously and heavily fired on by civilians without any military badge or uniform. consequently, in this affair also, very many men who were caught with weapons in their hands were shot. read over, approved, signed. signed: koch. witness was thereupon sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. c. app. . short report to the regiment of the nd battalion, infantry regiment no. , on the fighting at leffe. _february th, , p.m._ in the advance on leffe the battalion came across a mill or factory. the advance guard, in which was the regimental staff as well as the staff of the rd battalion, infantry regiment no. , were received by a heavy fire from the factory. in the same way the battalion was fired on from the surrounding heights. the foremost ( th) company stormed the factory; here were found, despite a close search, only about twenty men in civilian clothes without any military badge or uniform, and some women, but no belgian or french soldiers. the patrols sent out on the heights also reported that they had seen only single fugitive civilians, but no soldiers. the civilians captured in the factory were shot by order of the regimental commander because they had been firing. the battalion thereupon continued its advance towards the meuse unmolested. when the head of the battalion reached the meuse fire was opened on it from the opposite bank. the battalion deployed in the town. the locked-up houses had to be opened by force by the companies in order to bring the enemy under fire from the gardens in the rear on the meuse bank. for this moment the population seems to have waited, for they suddenly opened fire on us from all sides with rifles and pistols. the companies were now obliged to contend against two fronts, on the one side against the enemy on the opposite bank of the meuse, on the other against the population. one of the first victims was captain franz of the th company of the regiment, who was shot through the leg from a cellar window. the civilian was fetched out of the cellar by captain lücke of the th company of the regiment, single-handed, and, as he was caught with a weapon in his hand, was immediately shot. in the course of further operations six men of the battalion were killed and a larger number were wounded in the interior of the town, in places, in fact, where the fire of the troops on the other side of the meuse could not have reached them. the losses were to be ascribed solely to the attack of the inhabitants. from the circumstance that belgian military rifles were found with the greater number of the prisoners and belgian infantry cartridges in their pockets, it may be concluded that belgian soldiers, after discarding their uniforms, had also taken part in the attack. hunting-rifles, obsolete and modern pistols were found in the possession of the others. whether women or children participated in the fighting is beyond my knowledge; at any rate, none were intentionally shot. i had given the order to hand over all women and children to the abbot of the monastery in leffe; this was also done. how many civilians were shot in the street-fighting, i am unable to state. the correctness of the foregoing statements can be testified to by numerous persons belonging to the battalion who have taken part in the fighting. quarters of infantry regiment no. , _march rd, _. present: president of the military court, schweinitz. secretary to the military court, lips. in the inquiry concerning occurrences in dinant there appeared as witness major fränzel, who stated: as to person: my name is georg friedrich artur fränzel. i am years of age; protestant; major and battalion commander, infantry regiment no. . as to case: on the reading over of the report of the th february on the fighting at leffe: this report originated from me. i still hold to-day to its contents. i still emphasise expressly that only men were shot, no women and children. read over, approved, signed. signed: frÄnzel. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. c. app. . th company, infantry regiment no. . _february th, ._ _report._ on the night of the nd august , after its assembly at thynes-les-dinant, the nd infantry division marched by the so-called leffe lower road to the northern suburb of dinant. on the rd august, towards o'clock in the forenoon, a halt was made about metres east of the spot where this way enters the meuse valley road; the cartridge waggons were emptied and the colours were unfurled for the first time in the campaign. there the first command to attack was given. the th infantry brigade deployed on the heights to the north of the lower road. the nd battalion of the infantry regiment held itself at the disposal of the brigade commander on this road close to the first houses in leffe. shortly after the front battalions had fallen in, i received the order from the battalion commander, major koch, to report myself to the brigade commander for a reconnaissance patrol. there i received the instruction to reconnoitre a pathway which leads by la papeterie to the heights north of the lower road; a group of about ten houses on the left of the road, clustering round a large paper factory, is called la papeterie. in carrying out this order i rode first by the lower road to la papeterie in order then to turn off towards the heights. on my approaching the factory some shots were fired, evidently pistol-shots; i then rode farther, because i thought the firing was not meant for me; but as it became more brisk and i saw that the shots struck the steep-rising wall of the rocks, as high as houses, on the right of the road, and that i could not carry out the reconnaissance in this very broken, rocky district on horseback, i turned back. only the sharpest pace saved me from the shots which, thick as hail, struck the face of the cliff beside me. i reported this affair to my battalion commander and took the foremost section of the leading company in order to execute my errand on foot without delay, not without having first asked to have the factory cleared. on my second advance i was again fired at, so that i found myself obliged to turn off before the steep cliff in order to get forward under cover of gardens and hedges. i succeeded in this without any losses, although on this occasion i was still briskly fired at. when i had returned from this patrol i learned that the company had penetrated into the factory and had cleared the place. i heard and saw shots still being fired from this direction. i thereupon received the order to clear the houses without regard to anything, but to spare old men, women, and children. having reached the houses of the factory workpeople, i was heavily fired on from all sides. of the marksmen there was no trace to be discovered, despite the keenest search. the houses were consequently surrounded, and separate individuals forced their way into the buildings. it turned out that these were strongly barricaded. the doors were barred, the entrances to cellars and basements were blocked up with boxes, mattresses, and all kinds of domestic utensils; windows and skylights were covered with boards. i, personally, penetrated into two or three houses, and am witness to the fact that it required an extraordinary amount of strength and skill to gain an entry to the forty-five buildings. in one house i found a number of discharged browning-pistol cartridge cases. this house i had set on fire, as nobody was found in it. in this district of leffe we had to deal in the main, according to my opinion, with browning marksmen, who did not seem to be properly acquainted with the weapon. the discharged ammunition found proves this in the first place; also, on the other hand, the quick succession of shots, then a long pause, because the marksmen were not properly acquainted with the loading mechanism of the pistol. some non-commissioned officers reported to me that they had fought in the house with armed civilians, had overpowered, killed, or shot them. after the houses had been cleared and searched i assembled my company and moved back by the road to the original position of the battalion. in the meantime the marburg jägers had marched up, and had again searched the factory and the adjacent buildings. i saw how a number of men in civilian clothing, about twenty, were shot by this unit in the yard of the factory. meanwhile my company lay on the lower road and was further fired on from the steep slopes of the valley, which were covered with wood and thickets, through which the road passed. on the right flank i sent out in advance lieutenant schreyer of the reserve in order to search the thickets, whilst the marburg jägers advanced on the left. with glasses i was able to plainly see several civilians on the left slope who were firing at us. i believe i can remember that they were equipped with pistols. suddenly i heard firing on the right above me from the detachment of schreyer, and saw at the same time how one man collapsed on the left slope and rolled a few paces, another crawled back apparently wounded, and a third took to flight into the adjacent wood. the marburg jägers, who soon after came to this spot, and with whom i spoke later, had ascertained with certainty that in this case we were dealing with civilians. soon after this, lieutenant schreyer came back and reported to me that he had observed on the opposite slope some suspicious rascals on whom he had fired. shortly after we were fired at from a detached house on the right slope. this was somewhere about o'clock in the morning. i once more sent out a strong patrol on the right bank to clear out this house. the patrol soon returned and brought a big, strong man about forty years old, in labourer's clothes, and a lad of about sixteen years, as well as a number of wailing women and children. the men had been armed, according to the statement of the leader of the patrol, with sporting-rifles which the patrol themselves in the house had rendered unserviceable. i can no longer remember the name of the patrol leader. the men were taken to the factory, the women and children bundled off to the monastery in leffe. towards midday the nd battalion of infantry regiment no. was moved forward towards leffe direct to the meuse. in the village street itself there lay a great number of dead men in civilian clothing. on questioning different soldiers i learnt that the troops marching through before us had been fired on from almost every house; hence the great number of civilians shot. dead women and children i did not see. i had my company halted at the monastery at leffe, and went forward myself to the meuse. parts of the rd and st battalions of the th regiment were still there, fighting the enemy on the opposite bank. i also saw there bodies of troops, in particular, of regiments nos. and , of rifle regiment no. , of the marburg jägers, and of the artillery. in the compact rows of houses at leffe, the reports of firing were continuous, and one could not always tell from whence they came. without doubt they were pistol-shots discharged from cellars and attics. i can also remember that a large number of brown sporting-shot cartridge cases lay in front of a house in the principal street of leffe. in the course of the afternoon i received the order to occupy the bank of the meuse with my company, and was allotted for this purpose the school and the houses near it. behind the school was a gasometer, and close to the gasometer coals had been piled up and set on fire--manifestly by the civilian population. i therefore sent acting-sergeant-major bauer, officer's deputy, with his men, in order either to extinguish the fire or otherwise to prevent in some way the threatened explosion. he reported to me, however, that the pioneers who had already arrived before us, correctly judging the danger of the gasometer, had emptied it. after the enemy had evacuated the opposite bank in the late afternoon, and the crossing of single detachments of troops had already begun, i withdrew my company from the school and from the bank of the meuse and assembled them in the street enclosed by two rows of houses. towards o'clock in the afternoon we were again fired on from these houses, and, consequently, i got the order from the battalion commander to search all the houses and to have all armed persons shot without compunction. on this occasion, the soldiers hautschick and altermann found in a house on the floor a soldier of the th company of the th regiment who had been shot. he lay with his face over a kneading-trough, and had obviously been shot from behind. in the adjoining room the soldiers found two sporting-rifles which plainly bore the traces of having been discharged quite recently. in a vineyard just above this house two men were caught with rifles by two other soldiers, whose names can no longer be ascertained, and shot. at about the same time acting-sergeant-major paatsch (who fell at saunois), together with private kaspar, broke into a house close by the castle. kaspar depicts the occurrence in the following way. on entering the house a man on the ground floor threatened him with a long-barrelled pistol. he struck this man down with a spade which he had at hand. he then mounted with paatsch to the first floor. six men were there with sporting-rifles, whom they shot or felled with rifle-butts. on the floor there stood a chair close to an attic window beside which lay a number of cartridges, a proof that the people had fired from this window. when they wanted to leave the house, five men armed with rifles again opposed them. they were only able to overcome these because their comrades came to their aid from outside. in executing the order given by the battalion commander to search all the houses, i met the brigade commander, who again enjoined me to proceed without any compunction, and to fire the houses in case the people could not be got hold of. on this occasion i reported that one company seemed too weak for such a task, especially as the searching of the houses, with darkness approaching, would take a lot of time. a second company was consequently given to me. during the searching of the houses we were continually being fired on by invisible marksmen. the orders given to me by my battalion and brigade commanders i have carried out. men caught in the act were shot; where the marksmen could not be seized, the houses were set on fire; women and children were taken to the convent. this order which, by reason of the high risk run by our troops, had proved to be absolutely necessary, i regarded as executed after about fifty men had been shot and the main street of leffe had been rendered impassable as a result of the burning houses. despite this, my company was again alarmed towards o'clock at night because a dismounted squadron of hussars on the quay had been fired on from a single house. once more i moved with my company through burning leffe in order to find the culprits. on the way i met division commander edler von der planitz, who once again impressed upon me the duty of proceeding against the fanatical francs-tireurs without any compunction whatever, and by the most energetic methods. i had the house, pointed out to me by the hussars, surrounded and searched, but found nobody there. after i had set fire to the house, i returned with my company to the place where the regiment was assembled. signed: wilke, captain and company leader, th company, infantry regiment no. . quarters of infantry regiment no. , _march rd, _. present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary, lips. at the inquiry concerning the events in dinant, the witness named below appeared and stated: as to person: my name is manfred horst wilke. i am years old; protestant; captain and company leader, infantry regiment no. . as to case: on the reading of his report: this report is in full conformity with the truth. in addition to those statements which, as may be recognised from the report, are based on the statements of others, i mention that i pointed out to the individuals whom i questioned to tell me the whole truth, so that their statements could also be maintained on oath. read over, approved, signed. signed: wilke. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. c. app. . sender: th company, infantry regiment no. . date: _february th, _. time: _ a.m._ to the nd battalion. on august rd, , towards . a.m., the th company--placed at the disposal of the rd battalion, which was fighting in leffe--marched into this place. while i rode on to report the arrival of my company to the commander of the rd battalion, th regiment, the company halted on the lower road leading to the meuse, under cover from the opposite heights of the meuse, which were occupied by the enemy. during this brief halt the company was assailed by a murderous rifle-fire which came from a house with closed windows and bolted door. one man (private uhlemann) was badly wounded in the right instep, another (private neumann) was slightly wounded by three shots in the arm and hand; all the wounds came from small shot; the firing could only have been done by civilians. the company then occupied the heights south of leffe on the east bank of the meuse. from here could be plainly seen how, from the windows of various houses, and stealing about round the houses and in the gardens and yards, civilians quickly popped up and fired on the german soldiers. the company had lain on the heights by the meuse about hours, and had made these observations chiefly during the first - / hours ( . to midday). the last facts i can bear witness to myself. signed: john, captain and chief company. st battalion, infantry regiment no. . _february th, ._ _deposition._ captain john, questioned, made the following statements, additional to his preceding report: before the th company was placed at the disposal of the rd battalion in leffe on the morning of august rd, the company received the order from the battalion commander, major koch, to send out, from the halting-place of the battalion, about metres east of leffe, a detachment to la papeterie, in order to clear this group of houses of armed civilians who had fired on marching troops and mounted officers (captain wilke), and to shoot the guilty civilians. for this purpose the detachment of lieutenant of reserve wendt (who fell later) was detailed to me. when the detachment rejoined the company later on the heights south of leffe, lieutenant of reserve wendt reported to me that, in accordance with the order received, he had had some men shot whom he had caught in the act; they were armed with browning pistols. i was wounded myself on august rd towards . by a french rifle bullet which came from the west bank of the meuse. i did not observe any shooting or ill-treatment of women and children. read over, approved, signed. signed: johannes john. signed: kaiser, lieutenant and legal officer. _deposition._ present: lieutenant thomas, as officer of the court. acting-sergeant-major lange, as clerk of the court. there appeared as witness captain john, who, being advised of his previous statement, deposed: as to person: my name is wilhelm johannes john. i am years old; protestant; captain and company chief, th company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: i maintain my statements. the witness was thereupon sworn. read over, approved, signed. signed: johannes john. signed: thomas. signed: lange. c. app. . th company, infantry regiment no. . _february th, ._ _report._ . on the events in dinant i am able, as leader at that time of the first platoon of the th company, infantry regiment no. , to make from personal observation the following statements: the th company, in conjunction with the nd battalion, had halted in the morning hours of august rd in a valley before leffe. during this halt i heard shots from sporting-rifles and revolvers (pistols) on the wooded heights which stretch on both sides towards leffe, without being able to discern any of our assailants. no one in the company was hit. this firing, intermingled with infantry fire, was audible during the whole course of the day. towards o'clock the company marched into leffe, where, in consequence of the incessant firing, a frightful tumult prevailed. only a few civilians were to be seen in the streets. these all showed signs of their peaceable intention by holding up their hands. almost all the windows of the houses were closed with blinds, shutters, etc.; and the majority of these, as well as the doors, walls, and roofs, were marked with apertures like loopholes. shortly after our entry major frenzel brought to the company chief the order of the brigade commander to shoot all the men found with arms. he pointed out a long row of houses which were to be searched for men, and added in explanation that the inhabitants had shot at our firing-line from the rear. captain gause gave me the order to take over the searching of the houses with my detachment. i did this with one party. we found the houses all shut up. since our summons to open was regularly ignored, we were everywhere obliged to gain entry by force. three men were shot; their wives and children i had taken to the convent, which had previously been pointed out to me as intended for that purpose. i also noticed during the course of the day that women and children were taken there by our men quietly, some by persuasion. in searching the houses it was seen that the apertures, everywhere visible from the outside, were doubtless intended for firearms. according to my observations, no women or children were fired upon anywhere by us. that some incidentally came to grief in the mêlée was not to be avoided. i saw one woman who had received a glancing bullet in the foot. according to the statement of the men, she had been wounded in a house which had been fired into because it would not open voluntarily. . further observations have been made by men of the th company and by the th company, at that time led by myself, which seem to be absolutely authentic. the men in question, previous to their interrogation, had all been warned of the probability of having to swear to their statement. thus, eight men of the th company were witnesses to the fact that six civilians, among them one of very youthful age, had fired on the company. these were all shot. reservist kluge, with some other comrades, in searching a house, found on the floor a german soldier who had been shot, and close by him a civilian busy with his rifle and ammunition, whom they shot. the observations of the non-commissioned officers and men of the th company are of a similar character to those made by me. here privates uhlmann and neumann were wounded by small shot fired from the houses. acting-sergeant-major schaefer and several men noticed that civilians (men) had fired on german soldiers. german cartridges were also found here on the civilians. signed: kipping, lieutenant and company leader. _deposition._ present: lieutenant thomas, officer of the court. acting-sergeant-major lange, clerk of the court. there appeared as witness lieutenant kipping, who, after the reading of his report of february th, , stated: as to person: my name is martin friedrich franz kipping. i am years old; protestant; lieutenant of reserve. as to case: i maintain my statements. witness was thereupon sworn. read over, approved, signed. signed: martin kipping. signed: thomas. signed: lange. c. app. . th company, infantry regiment no. . _february th, ._ _report._ with reference to the fighting round dinant on august st and rd, non-commissioned officer macher, th company, infantry regiment no. , states: towards a.m. on the rd august the order came for the attack on leffe, a suburb of dinant. the th and th companies, infantry regiment no. , occupied a height in front of the place. the rd battalion of the regiment had already advanced; the th and th companies followed in the valley in the second line. when we came near the place we heard in front a muffled sound of firing. the rd detachment of the th company of the regiment was sent in advance to take cartridges to the rd battalion. the battalion, lying on the height, was engaged with the enemy's infantry on the opposite bank of the meuse. to get there we were obliged to pass through dinant. at the entry to the town there already lay dead civilians, and some soldiers warned us against passing through the place in close order as there was firing from the houses. after this, we went through the street on the right and left along by the houses, rifle in hand, ready to fire. the houses were shut up, the cellar windows barricaded and provided with loopholes. on the march back to the company i saw that the th company of the regiment and the marburg jägers were searching the houses; there were also lying in the street some dead civilians and a wounded german. some men and a number of women were handed over to the platoon by a strange officer to be taken to the mill. several civilians had already been assembled there; some dead also lay there. after we had again reached the company we heard, coming from a farm on the right, firing which was apparently meant for us. riflemen of the guards fetched the people out of the farm; they were only civilians, about six men and a number of women and children. when the company had been advanced to the open space near the convent, firing came from a house standing opposite. from this quarter also men were brought out. in the searching of the house, under the leadership of sergeant schuster of the th company, a cellar which was occupied by civilians was not opened. sergeant schuster therefore fired through the door, and thereby wounded in the chest a woman who was in the cellar. as private jentsch also deposes, after the opening of the cellar, he immediately provided for the transport of the wounded woman to the hospital in the convent by men of the medical corps. according to the statement of private jentsch, the woman died and lay for two days on a bier in the convent. finally the company arranged the frontage of the houses along the meuse for defence, and other companies undertook to clear the inhabitants out of the houses. the women and children were principally taken to the convent. towards p.m., when the baggage entered the place, the firing from the houses began again. we were given the alarm. the buildings behind us on the slopes afforded a special difficulty on account of the numerous exits. we here came in contact with a company of infantry regiment no. . the leader of the company ordered the houses to be set alight because there was still firing from other windows. he himself smashed a lamp and fired the first house. we then marched off and returned to the company. the nocturnal firing, in my opinion, was done by civilians, for our troops had already occupied the opposite bank. in one house a dead soldier was lying on the floor, as was reported to me by men of the company. in one street the company was fired on from the rear; many of the men said at once that the assailant was a woman; this, however, could not be established with certainty. among the men seized i saw one of youthful age; all the rest were older; grey-haired men were also among them. signed: lucius, st lieutenant and company leader. _deposition._ present: lieutenant thomas, as officer of the court. acting-sergeant-major lange, as clerk of the court. there appeared as witness non-commissioned officer macher, who, having been advised of the statement read, deposed as follows: as to person: my name is paul otto macher. i am years old; protestant; non-commissioned officer, infantry regiment no. . as to case: i maintain my statement. signed: macher, non-commissioned officer. signed: thomas. signed: lange. c. app. . having been apprised of the significance of the oath, and advised as to the object of the examination, major fränzel made the following statement: as to person: my name is georg friedrich artur fränzel. i am years old; protestant; major and battalion commander, infantry regiment no. . as to case: on august rd the nd battalion, as st, received the order to place itself in possession of leffe. the whole of the regimental staff rode with the leading company. at the beginning of the valley, which stretches away to leffe, there stood a factory; the battalion was fired at from here and from the heights behind. the factory was at once stormed; only a few civilians were found in it, but no french or belgian soldiers; any escape of the people who had fired from the factory was impossible as we had surrounded the place. the guilty civilians, provided they were men, were shot by order of the commander of the regiment, colonel von reyter, while some women arrested in the factory were handed over later to the abbot of the monastery. on a further advance the battalion, in order to get into the gardens on this side of the meuse which were under the fire of the enemy's infantry, was obliged to open forcibly several locked-up houses. the inhabitants seemed to have only been waiting for this, as we were now fired on from the houses all round, especially from the cellars, apparently with revolvers and pistols, for we found these later in clearing the houses, some still loaded. one of the first who was wounded by a shot from a cellar was captain franz, who stood quite close to me. in all, my battalion had at that time in the place itself--not by the meuse--six killed; the number of wounded i am not able to state. the battalion was forced by the treacherous attack to proceed against the population; all the houses, from which there had been firing, were cleared by our troops. how many of the inhabitants were shot on this day, i am unable to state definitely; at any rate, all the women and children were led off to the monastery in leffe and given over to the abbot. i have further to remark that again late in the afternoon, as our artillery was entering leffe, the artillery-men were fired on by inhabitants of the market-place, although several francs-tireurs who had been shot were lying there. the battalion was unable to finish the clearing of the place alone, and was obliged to ask for support from the regiment, which was granted in the shape of the th and th companies. in searching the houses, not one enemy soldier was found. consequently, the shots could only have been discharged at us by civilians. read over, approved, signed. signed: frÄnzel. the witness was sworn. signed: starke, magistrate. c. app. . court of the (deputy) th infantry brigade. present: military magistrate dr. uhlig. non-commissioned officer of reserve gÖrner, as military clerk of the court. there appeared as witness acting-sergeant-major stiebing, rd reserve company, infantry regiment no. , who, having been made acquainted with the object of the inquiry, and advised as to the significance of the oath, declared: as to person: my name is friedrich franz paul stiebing. i am years old; protestant; acting-sergeant-major, infantry regiment no. . as to case: on august rd, , infantry regiment no. and my regiment took part in the fighting on the heights on the right bank of the meuse. the nd battalion, infantry regiment no. , remained in reserve behind the left wing, just at the entry into leffe. the battalion had halted for a rest, and arms were piled. the men lay and sat in the ditches of the road; otherwise the order of march was kept, the th company leading just at the entrance into leffe. the th company, to which i belonged, followed. it was about o'clock in the morning when the battalion was suddenly overwhelmed by a heavy fire. the shots came from the thickets which covered the hills quite close to leffe. the district is such that leffe stretches along the road in a side-valley of the meuse and at right angles to the latter. no uniforms were to be seen on the heights; the firing came first from one thicket and then from another. in the meantime a captain of the battalion had advanced into the village to reconnoitre, and came galloping back shouting that he had been fired on in the place by francs-tireurs. thereupon two detachments of the leading company sallied out from the village to the left and right, in order to capture the sharpshooters on the hills. they succeeded after a considerable time in capturing a number of civilians (peasants), part of them in their shirt-sleeves. these had fired on us with sporting-rifles and were caught with the weapons in their hands. the range, from which they shot at us, amounted to about metres. they fired down from the heights into the hollow in which we lay. in the meantime the last detachment of the foremost company had pushed forward into the village itself. the men proceeded in quite detached formation. they were at once received by francs-tireurs firing from the various visible houses on both sides of the street. the detachment was obliged first to clear each individual house of francs-tireurs before they could again advance a little. the street door had to be smashed in and each separate room had to be captured from the francs-tireurs. about a.m. two platoons of our company, one of them the nd platoon under lieutenant schreyer, to which i belonged, came to the help of our comrades. we were obliged to fight for each individual house, to kill the male population in them who, as far as i saw, carried rifles and fired, and to shut up the women and children in order in this way to advance gradually. only some quite old men were found without arms. they were not killed, but locked up with the women. in the afternoon, towards o'clock, the house-fighting still fluctuated, and we had not yet penetrated as far as the village square when i received the order to go back with about half a platoon and occupy the heights of the meuse from which francs-tireurs were still firing. in executing this order, i passed a wood-sawing factory before which lay about thirty francs-tireurs who had been shot. this house had been stormed by men of my st platoon. they told me in the evening that each separate room in the house had been occupied by civilians engaged in firing. the francs-tireurs had been shot according to the usages of war. up on the heights i did not succeed in catching a franc-tireur. up there they were by this time very much scattered. right under the heights lay the village. i could look straight down from above into the village street. the street-fighting was still in progress, but became less since the village in the meantime had begun to burn. on the opposite heights i saw german jägers--i believe marburgers--subduing armed civilians. these francs-tireurs had previously also fired on my platoon. when i returned, towards o'clock in the evening, from the heights, the whole place, as far as the village square which lies on the meuse, was in the hands of the germans. about the whole village, also on the village square, there lay corpses of francs-tireurs. i took part in the storming of eight or ten houses. they all afforded the same picture: shots from the windows, street doors barred so that they had to be forced open, all male persons, without any military badge or uniform, armed with sporting-guns. as soon as we got into the room they dropped their weapons and held up their hands. during the street-fighting and on the heights where the civilians were firing i did not see any uniform. the civilians did not give me the impression of being soldiers in civilian clothes. they were mostly older people, years old and upwards, or young fellows of to years; persons of to years i practically did not see at all. read over, approved, signed. signed: stiebing, acting-sergeant-major. the witness was sworn. signed: dr. uhlig. signed: gÖrner. c. app. . present: lieutenant francke, officer of the court. acting-sergeant-major lange, military clerk of the court. acting-sergeant-major (deputy officer) bauer states: my name is kurt bauer. i am years old; protestant; now acting-sergeant-major of reserve, attached to th company, infantry regiment no. ; in civil life cand. arch. as my company leader had been fired at from a factory in leffe my platoon received the order to clear the factory and the houses standing in the rear. i advanced with my detachment and plainly saw that we were heavily fired on from roof windows and skylights in the roofs of the factory and the houses, as well as from bushes on the heights, by civilians armed with pistols. we stormed the houses and set them on fire. i was also witness to the fact that we were even fired on from the monastery, although the geneva flag was hoisted above it. read over, approved, signed. signed: kurt bauer. the witness was sworn. signed: francke. signed: lange. c. app. . extract from the report of operations, infantry regiment no. . _august rd, ._ at . in the afternoon the regiment received the order from the nd infantry brigade to move off to leffe. the regiment halted in the ravine east of leffe behind the pontoon column of the division. as the firing from the slopes of the ravine down into the valley was continuous, the th company received the order to clear the southern slopes. one man of the regiment was severely wounded by a shot fired from a house by an inhabitant; the house was set on fire; the men, who were inside with weapons in their hands were shot; in other ways, too, the place was cleared of francs-tireurs. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve kleberger, as officer of the court. sergeant richter, as military clerk of the court. orainville, _march th, _. summoned as witness, there appeared major langheld, who, after being advised as to the significance of the oath, made the following statement: as to person: my name is karl anton emil langheld. i am years old; protestant; major, infantry regiment no. . as to case: on the afternoon of august rd i marched with my battalion at the head of the regiment from lisogue to leffe. the march from the beginning of the leffe valley was somewhat interrupted. during the advance the report came from the rear that a man of the st company had been shot at from a house. by command of captain wuttig the house was set on fire by soldiers of the st company, and the men who were seized in it, with weapons in their hands, were shot. during the whole of the afternoon one heard continual firing among the houses in leffe and on the heights encircling the right and left of the leffe valley. a company of the jäger battalion, no. , was engaged in clearing the slopes on which there were armed inhabitants. the th company of my regiment received a similar commission on the southern slope. i myself marched on with the th and th companies to the bank of the meuse in order to cross over there. here i saw several times that guilty male inhabitants were shot. on the night of the th, from time to time, fugitives turned up at our outposts--principally women and children--amongst them a number of nuns led by a priest. i sheltered them in a farm near which the th company was in bivouac. our men gave some of their provisions to the people, although they had only a little themselves. i pacified the fugitives myself, and as i was obliged that same night to march farther, i handed over to the priest a note to say that these people had incurred no blame. i was unable to take further trouble about them. however, i asked the catholic divisional chaplain kaiser, whom i met next morning, to see that the people got away safely. read over, approved. witness was sworn according to regulations. signed: kleberger, lieutenant of reserve and officer of the court. signed: richter, sergeant, as clerk to the military court. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve kleberger, as officer of the court. sergeant richter, as clerk of the military court. orainville, _march th, _. summoned as witness, there appeared lieutenant richter, who, being advised as to the significance of the oath, made the following statement: as to person: my name is martin richter. i am years old; protestant; lieutenant of st company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: on the advance of the st battalion of th infantry regiment no. on the rd august to the crossing-place over the meuse at leffe, there came a single shot from a farm. a soldier of the st company of the regiment was wounded. by order of captain wuttig the farm was searched. about fourteen male civilians were arrested who had with them weapons and ammunition for sporting-rifles, pistols, etc. a thirteen to fifteen year-old lad was released on account of his age; the other thirteen persons were shot. read over, approved. witness was sworn as usual. signed: kleberger, lieutenant of reserve and officer of the court. signed: richter, sergeant, as clerk of the military court. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve kleberger, as officer of the court. sergeant richter, as clerk of the military court. orainville, _march th, _. on summons there appeared as witness lieutenant of reserve martin, who, being instructed as to the significance of the oath, made the following statement: as to person: my name is kurt martin. i am years old; protestant; lieutenant of reserve, nd company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: i have seen how a german soldier was wounded by small shot, and know that he died of the effect of the injury in the castle before leffe. the doctor who treated him was dr. schneider, now in infantry regiment no. . the inhabitants of leffe arrested in a house near the factory were well treated. after their provisions were exhausted, they were provided for from the field kitchen of the th company, infantry regiment no. . they were later on released by a general order. at one time i was detailed as guard of the hospital which was located in the château de chession, near leffe. the proprietress, a madame chiehe, and her people we also provided with food; she expressed her warm appreciation of the kind treatment. read over, approved. the witness was duly sworn. signed: kleberger, lieutenant of reserve and officer of the court. signed: richter, sergeant, as clerk of the military court. c. app. . report of the th company, infantry regiment no. . on the fighting round dinant on august st and rd, . _february th, ._ private jentsch states in general the same as the witness, non-commissioned officer macher,[ ] except that he actually only saw a great pool of blood on a floor; the dead german soldier, of whom he had heard, had already been concealed. he does not now know to which company he belonged. on the same day, according to his statement, a further batch of four civilians were shot because they had attacked a sentry of infantry regiment no. . these people were fetched out of an underground passage. the order was given by lieutenant tränker. [footnote : see app. .] in the military school about men in civilian clothes were guarded. these were well looked after, and were also later on allowed to receive their relations. on the fourth day we were relieved by reserve infantry regiment no. . signed: lucius, st lieutenant and company leader. _deposition._ present: lieutenant thomas, as officer of the court. acting-sergeant-major lange, as clerk of the military court. there appeared as witness private jentsch, who, after the reading over of the preceding report, made the following statement: as to person: my name is karl albin richard jentsch. i am years old; protestant; private, th company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: i maintain the correctness of my statements. the witness was thereupon sworn. read over, approved, signed. signed: jentsch. signed: thomas. signed: lange. c. app. . present: military magistrate, hunersdorf. military court secretary, mÜller, clerk of the military court. corbeny, _december th, _. in the investigation concerning the violations of international law committed against german troops, there appeared as witness captain nitze, who, after reference to the significance of the oath, was examined as follows: as to person: my name is otto hermann oswald nitze. i am years old; protestant; company leader, machine-gun company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: on august rd, , as we were marching into leffe, i found myself several hundred metres in front of the company, and was all at once fired at from the surrounding houses. i first rode back to the company and confirmed the order already given to bring the houses under fire. i then rode to the detachment leader, lieutenant-colonel von zeschau, reported the attack, and received the order to have the houses searched and, in case any male persons were found in them with arms, to set the houses on fire. in the search there were discovered by lieutenant-colonel reichel in my presence two persons of forty years of age who had hidden themselves in a room and were armed with a belgian pistol and a rifle of an ancient pattern. as i heard, a third man had also been found in the house. the first two men were immediately shot. while lieutenant-colonel reichel went on farther to search other houses i saw how at least eight rifles were discharging on the search-parties a brisk fire from the first floors of at least two houses. the marksmen stood behind windows barricaded with mattresses. i saw the flash of the shots and heard the bullets whistle; as far as i could judge from the reports, they were using partly bullets, partly small shot. only the horse of assistant doctor sippel was wounded. read over, approved, signed. signed: nitze. the witness was sworn. signed: hunersdorf. signed: mÜller. c. app. . extract from the report of the rd field pioneer company. _august rd, ._ the patrols were heavily fired on from the houses and from the other bank. the company advanced with the pontoon waggons on the steep, narrow road into dinant behind rifle (fusilier) regiment no. and infantry regiment no. . there was firing from the houses, although one could see little of the enemy. the company took part in searching the houses for civilians; some were arrested with arms in their hands and subsequently shot. the infantry had considerable losses here. the order came to evacuate the town as it was to be first bombarded by our artillery. the company, with grenadier regiment no. , reached the meuse at les rivages. the village appeared to be quite peaceful; nevertheless, a number of inhabitants were arrested by the grenadiers for security. the rifle-fire of the enemy on the left bank was only very weak. the houses over there burst into flames, one after another, as a result of our artillery fire. the crossing began at once with a half-column corps, pontoon train, train battalion no. , which had been assigned to the company; the building of the bridge was at once begun, and at first proceeded rapidly. suddenly we received heavy rifle-fire from the houses on the right bank. the firing was briskly answered by the grenadiers who were waiting in dense masses to cross. the houses were set on fire. on the afternoon of august th the bridge was finished. in the meantime, it frequently happened that firing came from the heights, and even from the cellar of a burnt-out house. in such cases, civilians caught with arms in their hands were shot. c. app. . present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary, lips. invincourt, _march st, _. in the matter for inquiry concerning the events in dinant there appeared as witness major von zeschau, who stated: as to person: my name is arnd maximilian ernst von zeschau. i am years old; protestant; major and battalion commander, grenadier regiment no. . as to case: on august rd, , towards o'clock in the afternoon, i, with my th company, reached the meuse at les rivages, and was at once taken across. i had the order to gain the heights on the other bank, to the right of the nd company, which had already been put across. opposite les rivages were connected rows of houses. we first went downstream as far as the church, and then turned off to the right. i passed with a detachment through a very narrow lane; the shop windows and house doors were closed. suddenly four to five shots came from behind me. my men at once broke open the house from which the shots were fired. the house was empty; at the back was a small yard with a washhouse. in the yard lay a discharged sporting-gun. going farther, we came to a railway embankment through which ran a culvert. before it lay a dead civilian with a weapon like a carbine. on the other side of the embankment was lieutenant von oer, who shouted to me that he had been fired at from the culvert. in the culvert i noticed some people; a few paces in front of the culvert crouched some of my men with rifles at the ready, and, on my question, reported that there had been firing from the culvert. i shouted into the culvert, "sortez, on ne vous fera rien." as the people did not come out, i caused about five to six men to fire some shots, ten to twelve in all, into the culvert. as there arose a great outcry in the culvert, i left a non-commissioned officer behind to clear it. this officer reported to me next morning that he had fetched out about thirty-five to forty civilians, men, half-grown lads, women, and children, and with them a number of weapons--he told me there were about eight to ten carbine-shaped weapons. the captured civilians were handed over at the bridge-head. about metres behind the railway embankment i came into fighting contact with the french infantry. read over, approved, signed. signed: von zeschau. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. c. app. . present: president of the court, oertel. secretary, acting-sergeant-major sommerburg. proviseux, _march nd, _. there appeared as witness for examination non-commissioned officer faber, who, after reference to the significance and sanctity of the oath, was examined as follows: as to person: my name is kurt friedrich faber, non-commissioned officer, th company, grenadier regiment no. . i am years old; protestant. as to case: according to my war-diary, i crossed the meuse at dinant on sunday, august rd, , at . p.m. in company with major von zeschau and about three detachments of grenadiers. we were bound for the ridge of hills lying opposite, as these were said to be occupied by the enemy. on my way thither i noticed in a side-street that a woman discharged shots at us from a revolver from a half-opened door. i thereupon fired at the woman, who quickly banged the door to. i do not know whether i hit her. read over, approved, signed. signed: kurt friedrich faber. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: oertel, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: sommerburg, acting-sergeant-major and clerk of the court. c. app. . present: president of the court, lieutenant of landwehr oertel. secretary, acting-sergeant-major sommerburg. proviseux, _march nd, _. there appeared as witness for examination grenadier schlosser, who, after reference to the significance and sanctity of the oath, was examined as follows: as to person: my name is franz otto schlosser, grenadier, th company, grenadier regiment no. ; years old; protestant. as to case: on the afternoon of august rd, , i crossed the meuse at dinant in a boat with captain graisewsky, lieutenant von der decken, and men of the th company, grenadier regiment no. . when we were about the middle of the river, there began a heavy fire on us from various directions. on the other bank we occupied, by order of the captain, a trench, and there received a heavy fire from the houses which were on the right and left of us. i saw with my own eyes that several women stood at the window of a house and discharged shots at us. we then received the order from the captain to fetch the occupants from the houses, and brought about twenty persons out, i believe, only women and children. these were brought down as prisoners to the meuse. we then set fire to the houses. read over, approved, signed. signed: franz otto schlosser. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: oertel, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: sommerburg, acting-sergeant-major and clerk of the military court. c. app. . extract from the report of grenadier regiment no. , nd to the th august . _august rd, ._ the mayor of les rivages appears and protests that none of the inhabitants are in possession of weapons, and that no attack would take place on the troops. after the divisional bridge (pontoon) train had arrived, the pioneers begin the construction of a bridge over the meuse, but a heavy enemy fire, partly from infantry, partly from the inhabitants on the opposite bank, perforates the pontoons and makes any further construction impossible. at first the th company is put across the meuse and proceeds on a broad front through leffe, where they are fired on from the houses and from the railway embankment. several civilians, who fired on the company from places of concealment, are shot; the houses are set on fire. following the nd company the remaining companies of the st battalion have also reached les rivages. whilst the battalion is standing by the meuse to cross over, it is attacked from the houses by the inhabitants of the place. from all the windows, from the hedges of the gardens, from the slopes of the hills, bullets and shot from the rifles of the inhabitants rattle down on the companies. the battalion at once received the order to take up the fight against the fanatical inhabitants of the place. with fixed bayonets, the grenadiers rush through the narrow streets; with pickaxes and axes the closed doors and windows are burst open. in groups the grenadiers force their way into the houses in order to seize the occupants who are still firing on us. not only men and youths take part in the fighting, but also old men, women, and children. the francs-tireurs have well chosen their hiding-places. already twilight is falling, but still the fire of the enemy does not abate. our object is to reach the other bank of the meuse, but, on the other hand, the troops and columns which follow us must be able to pass through the place without being attacked anew. thus there only remains one remedy, to set the place on fire, and soon it is a sea of flames. c. app. . report on the street-fighting in les rivages (dinant) on august rd, . the companies of the st battalion of grenadier regiment no. had reached les rivages in the afternoon of august rd, , but had to be retired for about to metres on the road from pont de pierre on account of our own artillery having opened a heavy fire on this locality. the mayor of the place, who was fetched up by me, protested that there were no weapons at hand, and that the inhabitants entertained no plot against our troops. he was commissioned to have ready, within a fixed time, bread and butter for the companies at the outlet of the place, where later the bridge was thrown over the meuse. the companies did not get there to enjoy these, since, in the meantime, the nd company had crossed over and the remaining companies were involved in the street-fighting. when the companies, after the cessation of our artillery fire, had again been led out to les rivages and had been divided into commandos to receive the victuals asked for, the inhabitants began a murderous fire on the companies from all the houses and gardens and also from the hill-slopes. inside and outside the houses, men of all ages were firing, also innumerable women and even girls of ten years of age. here a woman was severely wounded in the breast by the inhabitants, and was bandaged by us. the battalion received the order to take up the fight against the inhabitants of the place, who were firing as if demented; for this purpose the rd and th companies pushed forward to the street-and house-fighting, whilst portions of the st company remained on the river-bank. a part of the inhabitants who were acting in a particularly mean fashion and were firing madly with all kinds of firearms, without let or hindrance, upon our troops, were shot down to the number of about twenty; amongst these were some women who, with special cunning, fired again and again into the companies from the rear. this shooting was done to defend ourselves and to scare the inhabitants from any further atrocities. about to men and women, also children, were seized and taken over the meuse to the opposite bank by the first rope-ferries, partly to prevent further outrages, partly to remove them, as far as they appeared innocent, from the terrible fighting. the fighting of the rd and th companies in the streets lasted until far into the darkness, until finally the burning of the whole place put a stop to the general activity of the population. the order to take up the street-fighting by direction of the regiment came through me and was detailed by me to the rd and th companies. i, for my part, can only protest that the inhabitants of the place--men of every age women and girls--fired madly on us at a given signal, and that the remedy taken only constituted an act of self-defence. the situation in which the troops found themselves, especially at the spot where the bridge was later thrown across, deserves, in every true sense, the name of a witches' cauldron, for a worse situation, brought about by a raging force of men and women, cannot be imagined. despite all the dreadful impressions of such fighting, i have since always admired the calmness our men maintained in the presence of such brutes, far removed from any thought of cruelty, even though they themselves were exposed to the worst. signed: schlick, major and commander, st battalion, grenadier regiment no. . c. app. . present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary, lips. neufchÂtel, _march nd, _. in the inquiry concerning the events in dinant there appeared as witness major von zeschau, who stated: as to person: my name is karl adolf heinrich von zeschau. i am years old; protestant; major and adjutant, general command, xii. army corps. as to case: on the rd of august i arrived at the meuse in les rivages at p.m. all the houses were closed; none of the inhabitants were to be seen. the grenadiers stood in column of route on the by-road which enters les rivages, the head of the column at the valley road. i inquired whether the houses had been searched. thereupon a patrol was dispatched to search the houses, and an acting-sergeant-major reported to me that the houses were empty. i stayed there about a quarter of an hour and watched the effect of our artillery on the houses on the left bank of the meuse. at this time there came along by the valley road from dinant a number of inhabitants--men, women, and children--who were held up by the grenadiers. as the bridge was half finished and some pontoons with grenadiers were at the opposite bank, my task was finished and i returned to the commanding general. when i again returned to the bridge-head at les rivages there lay there a heap of corpses. i learned that shortly after my departure there had been firing from the seemingly empty houses. in the night several hundred inhabitants who had come from dinant arrived at the crossing-place. these were well treated; many women and children were also provided with provisions by the soldiers. read over, approved, signed. signed: von zeschau. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. c. app. . present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary, lips. neufchÂtel, _february th, _. in the matter for inquiry concerning the events in dinant there appeared as witness captain reserve ermisch, who stated: as to person: my name is karl traugott hubert ludwig ermisch. i am years old; protestant; engineer (with diploma), director of mines, now captain of reserve, st field pioneer company. as to case: on august rd, , i was with the rd company of the pioneer battalion no. , and present when the pontoons of the corps bridging train, at first brought down to dinant, were obliged to turn back. we then made a detour into the valley road which leads to les rivages; from there i was sent out to reconnoitre the place for the bridge. in les rivages all was peaceful. neither french nor german soldiers were to be seen. when i had been there about one hour, my company arrived with the bridging waggons and other german soldiers. these rounded up the civilian population standing near as hostages. in the meantime, i commenced with the construction of the bridge. somewhere about or o'clock we suddenly received a tolerably heavy fire, which was directed straight towards us at the bridge-head. we were forced to conceal ourselves under the cover of the bridge. i noticed plainly that the firing came from the slopes to the right and left of the flanking valley, and particularly from a red house not far from the bayard rock, which stands near the north of les rivages. in consequence, the hostages were shot by direction of a senior grenadier officer. read over, approved, signed. signed: ermisch. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. c. app. . present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary, lips. neufchÂtel, _march nd, _. in the inquiry concerning the events in dinant there appeared as witness, st lieutenant of reserve freiherr von rochow, who stated: as to person: my name is heinrich bernhard wichart freiherr von rochow. i am years old; protestant; st lieutenant of reserve uhlan regiment no. , now commander of the cavalry staff escort of the general command, xii. army corps. as to case: on august rd, , i reached les rivages at nightfall, and saw at the crossing-place a great heap of corpses. in the course of the evening, when the crossing was in progress and things had become quieter, we saw that some wounded were among them. these were brought away. i myself saw a girl of about eight years with an injured face, and an older woman with a shot in the upper part of the thigh taken to the women prisoners and handed over to the doctor. i remained until the bridge was finished the next day. up till then shots were being fired again and again, obviously by the inhabitants. the houses were searched by field-police. the people who were in them were examined, and in the course of this i also acted as interpreter. two men, from whose house there had been firing, and in whose pockets ammunition was found, were shot. a woman was not shot, although a loaded revolver was found on her, because her guilt was not fully established. the guilt of every single person was dispassionately considered by the officers present. read over, approved, signed. signed: freiherr von rochow. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. c. app. . present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary, lips. neufchÂtel, _march nd, _. in the inquiry concerning the events in dinant there appeared as witness major steinhoff, who stated: as to person: my name is fritz eugen steinhoff. i am years old; protestant; major and commander of pioneers, xii. army corps. as to case: on august rd, , about o'clock in the afternoon, i came to the crossing-place at les rivages, where there was no one except an officer's patrol of the pioneers. i went as far as the bank, and then on about metres towards anseremme. various soldiers pointed out to me that there was firing from the bridge, and from the houses near the bridge. wounded soldiers lay in the street. i was also fired at, and other soldiers warned me against proceeding farther. i went back to the crossing-place, and there met colonel meister, to whom i reported my observations. he had the district cleared by a detachment, which brought in a large number of men and women. of these, the men were placed by a wall at the crossing-place, the women and children somewhat farther downstream. the crossing and building of the bridge was now in progress. when the bridge had been pushed out about metres, a heavy rifle-fire was delivered from the houses of les rivages and from the rocks above on the waiting grenadiers and the pioneers at work. i myself heard the whistle, on a rough estimate, of bullets. a great confusion ensued. everybody sought cover, and work was interrupted. even the grenadiers, who stood there in a mass, were in great agitation. i went again through a garden-plot to the meuse in order to look after the pioneers. at this moment the fire of the enemy flared up, and simultaneously i heard a couple of rapid volleys in the immediate vicinity. i thereupon went back and saw at the spot, where previously the captured men had stood, a heap of corpses. from that moment onwards the francs-tireurs' firing ceased completely, and the bridging work proceeded undisturbed. read over, approved, signed. signed: steinhoff. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. c. app. . present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary, lips. neufchÂtel, _february th, _. in the inquiry concerning the events in dinant there appeared as witness the divisional chaplain, dr. kaiser, who stated: as to person: my name is dr. paul kaiser. i am years old; roman catholic divisional chaplain of the nd infantry division. as to case: i lay in leffe from the evening of the rd until the morning of the th august. on the afternoon of the th august, a captain of my acquaintance invited me to eat a plate of soup with him. this took place in a courtyard where, besides ourselves, were the captain's servant, who was cooking the soup there, and two or three units who were pottering about round a freight-automobile. all at once some shots were heard and missiles flew quite close over us. everyone was naturally excited. in the direction from which the shots presumably came, stood a fairly new brick-built house, distant about metres. between the first floor and the attic was a white ledge in which one could see several holes, and from which arose smoke, evidently from a shot which had just been discharged. as i learned, the house was then searched. shortly afterwards, a whole procession of civilians, men and women, were led off by us; these persons, as i was told, had all been arrested in the house. they were then handed over to the cadet school, which was used as a prison. read over, approved, signed. signed: dr. kaiser. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. c. app. . present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary, lips. neufchÂtel, _february th, _. in the matter for inquiry concerning the events in dinant, there appeared as witness staff-surgeon dr. petrenz who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, was examined as follows: my name is max georg hand petrenz. i am years old; roman catholic; by profession dr. med., staff-surgeon with the commander of the train, xiith army corps. questioned on the subject of his examination, he stated the following: on august st and nd, , i was in taviet; on august rd the mounted echelon of the general command started off and reached the meuse at les rivages towards o'clock in the evening. as i learned, the village of sorinnes had been cleared on august nd of all the men and suspicious characters by our troops. when i came to sorinnes early on the rd august i saw a burning house surrounded by our troops. i learned that passing hussars had been fired on from the house, that the house had been searched for the marksmen without result, and that in order to smoke them out of their hiding-places the house had been set on fire. i related this when i had ridden back again to taviet, to my billet-landlady, a woman of the middle class. she gave it as her opinion that they were certainly, some of them, once more from dinant. she related further, that suspicious characters had been sent out from dinant to the surrounding districts; if these did anything to the german troops, the blame was put upon the inhabitants. i gathered from her words that the resistance to the german troops was directly organised in dinant. our mounted escort set out from taviet at three in the afternoon, made a halt for some time to the south of the sorinnes-dinant road, and carried out the descent to the meuse in the ravine which leads to les rivages. we reached this point when it was already dark. in the night there came here a large number of women and children who really wanted to go still farther south. as this was attended with great danger, because everything on the way was burning, we detained them there and sheltered them in a large empty house, just opposite the pontoon bridge, where they were safe from the danger of fire. besides myself, a number of grenadier officers of the (guards) grenadier regiment no. also looked after the sheltering of the women and children. the next morning, at my request, all the women and children were provided with warm coffee by captain von criegern. on the bank of the meuse, between the river and a garden wall, there lay close to the left of the pontoon bridge a heap of civilians who had been shot; how many i do not know--i estimate the number at from thirty to forty. i do not know who had shot them. i have heard that the grenadier regiment no. had carried out an execution there. among those who had been shot were also some women; by far the majority were young lads. under the pile i discovered a girl of about five years old, alive and quite uninjured. i took her out and brought her to the house where the women were. she accepted some chocolate, was quite pleased and evidently quite unconscious of the gravity of the situation. i thereupon examined the pile of corpses to see if any more children were among them. i only found further a girl of about ten years with a wound in the leg. i had her bandaged and lodged her with the women also. the next morning she was almost without pain. it turned out that the mother of the girl was among the women who had come from dinant. the mother and daughter were very grateful to me. the pile of corpses was so situated that it could not be seen from the house in which the women and children were lodged. when i was getting ready at o'clock the next morning for marching off, pioneers were about to dig a common grave for the bodies behind the garden wall, before which they lay. it was in an orchard. i convinced myself personally and by daylight that only the dead lay there. any mistake of burying alive is precluded. further, i will cite the following: in the course of the night i was requested by a grenadier officer to take a wounded civilian from a house in danger of fire into a safe place. the man had a bullet wound in the upper thigh; he belonged to the better class. he told the grenadier officers that he had been shot by belgian francs-tireurs because he would not grant them a hiding-place in his house. he had been bandaged by our people, and was now carried into the house to the women. the next morning, after crossing the meuse, we rode along the left bank in order to gain the road to onhaye. the bank lying opposite, as well as the houses of dinant, seemed deserted. only in the doorway of some hotel stood a civilian who aimed a rifle at us and fired, without making a hit. when we replied with revolver shots he disappeared. read over, approved, signed. signed: dr. petrenz. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve kleberger, as officer of the court. sergeant richter, as clerk of the military court. orainville, _march th, _. summoned as witness there appeared private steglich, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: as to person: my name is willy steglich. i am years old; protestant; by calling bricklayer in mügeln, now private in the machine-gun company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: with acting-sergeant-major and some other men--there were also present some marburg jäger--i fetched the occupants out of a house in dinant which had been wrecked by the impact of a shell, and set them at liberty. there were men, women, and children. they were then brought to a house where, at the instigation of an officer of the marburg jäger, they were protected and looked after by two red cross nurses. in various houses in dinant we found a quantity of small-shot ammunition lying piled up by the windows; everywhere the lowest pane was broken, evidently to allow a rifle to be pushed through the opening. read over, approved. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: kleberger, lieutenant of reserve and officer of the court. signed: sergeant richter, as clerk of the court. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve kleberger, as officer of the court. sergeant richter, as clerk of the court. orainville, _march th, _. summoned as witness there appeared acting-sergeant-major bartsch, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: as to person: my name is erich bartsch. i am years old; protestant; acting-sergeant-major in the machine-gun company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: as patrol leader i found in a series of houses in dinant sporting ammunition lying all ready, from which it may with certainty be assumed that it had been used by the francs-tireurs before their expulsion, as ammunition for firing on the german troops. from the streets i saw inhabitants in the cellars of burning houses, chiefly women and children, who were no longer able to save themselves from their perilous position. through the men of my patrol, in company with the marburg jäger, their rescue was made possible, and the persons saved were lodged in houses which were guarded by german troops. at times the work of rescue could only be carried out with great danger to life on the part of the patrol. i myself was witness to the fact that sisters of mercy, in company with german soldiers, fetched along provisions for the inhabitants who had been given protection. i was also present when colonel hoch sent all non-interested persons to their homes, with the strict injunction not to let themselves be seen in the streets. for the other inhabitants whose houses had been completely burned down, lodging was procured in the houses of the railway signalmen. close to dinant a bullet was found by a hussar in the leaden centre of which a spear-shaped steel blade had been inserted. this missile was passed round in my platoon. read over, approved. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: kleberger, lieutenant of reserve and officer of the court. signed: sergeant richter, as clerk of the military court. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve kleberger, as officer of the court. sergeant richter, as clerk of the military court. orainville, _march th, _. summoned as witness there appeared reservist hentschel, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: as to person: my name is alfred hentschel. i am years old; protestant; by trade a butcher in dresden, now reservist, th company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: in a house in dinant which stood at the right of the bridge i found a severely wounded civilian, an old man with white hair, who still had his sporting rifle with him. i also came across civilians farther on in belgium who had fired on the german troops with sporting rifles. in a village beyond dinant, which cannot be very far from dinant, i had my right hand injured by shot-wounds. the shot are probably still in the fingers. on this side of the meuse, where a convent stood, we distributed bread and what else we still had (cold meat, etc.) to the population, women and children, also men. read over, approved. the witness was thereupon duly sworn. signed: kleberger, lieutenant of reserve and officer of the court. signed: sergeant richter, as clerk of the military court. c. app. . rifle (fusilier) regiment no. , officer of the court i. la ville-aux-bois, _january th, _. there appeared assistant surgeon of reserve, dr. sorge, st battalion, rifle (fusilier) regiment no. , who, being warned to speak the truth, made the following statement: as to person: my name is kurt hermann georg sorge. i am years old; protestant; st assistant surgeon of the ear department of the town infirmary of friedrichstadt, dresden. as to case: during the fighting of the st battalion, rifle regiment no. , near and in dinant, i was always in the immediate neighbourhood of the troops engaged. i have repeatedly bandaged riflemen whose injuries were to be ascribed to non-military rifles (shot-wounds). women, children, and old men were always spared. the burial of the inhabitants who had been shot, as far as my sphere of work extended, never took place on the same day. i have, moreover, repeatedly seen that bread and drink were handed to various inhabitants by the riflemen. read over, approved, signed. signed: dr. k. sorge, assistant surgeon of reserve, st battalion, rifle (fusilier) regiment no. . the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: glaser, lieutenant of reserve, adjutant, st battalion, rifle (fusilier) regiment no. , as officer of the military court. c. app. . wood south-west of la ville-aux-bois, _february th, _. by order of rifle (fusilier) regiment "prinz georg" there appeared as witness non-commissioned officer lauterbach, who, being warned to speak the whole truth, made the following statement: as to person: my name is paul rudolf lauterbach. i am years old; protestant; by trade mechanician, now non-commissioned officer, th company, rifle (fusilier) regiment no. . as to case: when, on our advance with the company, from the fort we had reached the sorinnes-dinant road in dinant, i distinctly saw how a woman, standing at full height at a window, fired on the german soldiers with a rifle. the woman was immediately shot by a german soldier, and fell with the upper part of her body on the window-sill. volleys of rifle-fire were discharged from a remarkably large house on the west bank of the meuse which was flying the red cross flag. south of the dinant-sorinnes road by the meuse, at a place which i am no longer able to fix, i saw lying there the charred body of a german jäger whose feet were bound together with wire. read over, approved, signed. signed: paul rudolf lauterbach. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: lossow, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: schubert, clerk of the military court. c. app. . (guards) grenadier regiment no. , nd battalion. willmsbaracken, _january st, _. deposition concerning the wounding by the discharge of (small) shot in dinant. there appeared as witness grenadier bischoff, who, being warned to speak the truth, made the following statement: as to person: my name is karl bischoff. i was born on january th, , at dürschau, near zittau; protestant; by trade butcher. as to case: when the th company was marching through dinant at about o'clock p.m. on august rd we were fired on from two houses. i was struck in the left arm and the left leg. an examination of the wounds in the leg showed that they resulted from a discharge of small shot. in the carolahaus in dresden a small round bullet was removed in an operation by dr. kretzschmar from the left foot; besides this a pellet was located in the left upper thigh, and is still there. on december th i returned again to the th company. read over, approved, signed. signed: karl bischoff. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: v. loeben, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: baier, non-commissioned officer and clerk of the court. c. app. . present: lieutenant of landwehr oertel, as officer of the court. acting-sergeant-major sommerburg, as clerk of the court. proviseux, _march nd, _. there appeared for examination as witness deputy-officer ebert, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: as to person: my name is eduard kurt ebert, deputy-officer, acting-sergeant-major, th company, grenadier regiment no. ; years old; protestant. as to case: on august rd, , i came back early, towards o'clock, from a patrol which i had undertaken on the previous evening from before château reux to dinant in company with lieutenant schurig and some men of the th and th companies of my regiment, which lay in readiness about half an hour's distance from dinant. on the way back from dinant to the regiment we found at the end of the town a non-commissioned officer and six men of rifle regiment no. lying dead in the road. some of the dead showed wounds on the face and chest, which lieutenant schurig, as well as myself, recognised without doubt as having been caused by small shot. on the evening of the same day, probably about p.m., i stood with the th company of grenadier regiment no. in the street on the bank of the meuse below the place where the bridge was being built. all at once a heavy fire was opened on us from all sides, especially from above. a man of the th company, who stood beside me, received a shot in the stock of the rifle. i removed the missile myself from the wood; it was a small round bullet. the firing then died down, and i was put across the meuse. after i had crossed over, i received the order from lieutenant and adjutant stark to guard the civilian prisoners who had been rounded up there, and later the military prisoners also. i then saw how men of my guard handed water to the captive women and children and gave them chocolate. i myself bandaged a wounded french sergeant. read over, approved, signed. signed: eduard kurt ebert. the witness ebert was thereupon sworn. signed: oertel, lieutenant of reserve and officer of the court. signed: sommerburg, acting-sergeant-major and clerk of the military court. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve dachsel, as officer of the court. non-commissioned officer of reserve steiger, as clerk of the court. la ville-aux-bois prÈs pontavert, _march th, _. at the request of the imperial german court of justice of the general government in belgium there appeared by order, as witness, medical-corps non-commissioned officer rost, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, and he had been warned to speak the truth, made the following statement: as to person: my name is paul richard rost, medical-corps non-commissioned officer, th company, rifle (fusilier) regiment no. ; years old; protestant. as to case: when i was attending the wounded in dinant on the night of august st and nd, i noticed that behind the men, some in their shirt-sleeves, who were firing from the windows, the heads of women were also visible. the next day i saw in the courtyard of the château of sorinnes, among the dead lying there on biers, corporal kirchhof of my company. he had an injury to the skull which could only have originated from a blunt instrument. the brain-pan was quite smashed in. on august rd i found on a detached estate near dinant, close by the road which leads from sorinnes to dinant, a german soldier almost completely carbonised, lying under a burnt heap of straw. he appeared to be a jäger, judging from portions of his equipment which lay near. i was told by comrades that a second jäger had been found in a field in the vicinity of dinant, with his face burnt. the estate, where i found the jäger, had been organised as a dressing-station for wounds. read over, approved, signed. signed: paul richard rost. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: dachsel. signed: steiger. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve dachsel, as officer of the court. non-commissioned officer steiger, as clerk of the court. la ville-aux-bois prÈs pontavert, _march th, _. at the request of the imperial german court of justice of the general government in belgium, there appeared by order, as witness, rifleman lange, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, and he had been warned to speak the truth, made the following statement: as to person: my name is emil bruno lange, rifleman of reserve, th company, rifle (fusilier) regiment no. ; years old; protestant. as to case: in the night-fighting at dinant on august st i saw an elderly woman firing at us from a house which was brightly lighted up by a lamp burning in the street. after some time she fell backwards; apparently she had been hit by us. read over, approved, signed. signed: emil bruno lange. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: dachsel. signed: steiger. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve dachsel, as officer of the court. non-commissioned officer of reserve steiger, as clerk of the court. la ville-aux-bois prÈs pontavert, _march th, _. by request of the imperial german court of justice of the general government in belgium, there appeared by order, as witness, rifleman vorwieger, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, and he had been warned to speak the truth, made the following statement: as to person: my name is paul vorwieder, rifleman, th company, rifle (fusilier) regiment no. ; years old; protestant. as to case: in the street-fighting in dinant on august st i saw in a house, which i was just about to enter, a woman about thirty years of age standing with a revolver in her hand, ready to fire. on august rd i found in an open field, about metres from dinant, a dead saxon jäger--i recognised him as such by his uniform--with face completely carbonised. he lay on his back, his arms widely extended. read over, approved, signed. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: dachsel. signed: steiger. c. app. . there appeared as witness reservist hund, who stated: as to person: my name is artur otto hund; i was born on february th, , at dresden; protestant; at the time reservist in the th company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: i saw how the twelve-year-old son of the lawyer adam shot at me and two comrades with a revolver. the two comrades were wounded. read over, approved, signed. signed: hund. signed: ryssel, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: schultz, acting-sergeant-major and clerk of the military court. present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary, lips. quarters of infantry regiment no. , _march rd, _. in the inquiry concerning the events in dinant there appeared as witness reservist hund, who stated: as to person: my name is artur otto hund; i was born on february th, , at dresden; protestant; at the time reservist in the th company, infantry regiment no. ; coachman by calling. as to case: i was sent with two comrades into the house to see if it was vacant, so that it could be turned into a hospital. we were shot at in the garden behind. when we went in the direction of the shots we found under a bush a twelve-year-old boy with a revolver in his hand. one of my comrades was fatally wounded by the shots, the other slightly. the lad was shot on the spot by one of the comrades who had also come up. we knew by photographs in the house that he was the son of the occupier of the house. read over, approved, signed. signed: hund. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. c. app. . there appeared private trenkler, th company, infantry regiment no. , who stated: as to person: my name is max julius trenkler; i was born on december st, , at markersdorf; protestant; at the time on the active list, th company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: i have seen civilians firing with (small) shot, and, in a like manner, children have fired on our soldiers in the rear of the convent. signed: max trenkler. signed: ryssel, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: schultz, acting-sergeant-major and clerk of the court. present: president of the court, schweinitz. secretary, lips. quarters of infantry regiment no. , _march rd, _. in the inquiry concerning the events in dinant there appeared private max julius trenkler as witness, who, after the reading over of the preceding statement, declared: details as to myself are correctly given; i am an excavation worker. as to case: on the afternoon of august rd, , we lay in reserve on the northern slope of the leffe valley opposite the convent in the wood. there we saw how a boy on the opposite slope behind the convent fired at us from a fir copse, and with small shot too. the shot fell in our vicinity. we called to comrades who were on the road to go and search for the lad behind the convent. they then brought him along. i do not know what they did with him. read over, approved, signed. signed: trenkler. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: schweinitz. signed: lips. c. app. . report on the encounter of the machine-gun company with francs-tireurs at leffe-dinant on august rd, . machine-gun company, infantry regiment no. . the machine-gun company of infantry regiment no. had started off from houx in the rear of the regiment towards the evening of august rd, , and had marched along the meuse to leffe. when the company had entered leffe about midnight, and the last of their vehicles were passing a bridge, two white figures were all at once seen under it. the men of the company bringing up the rear noticed these people; two shots followed close upon one another, and immediately after two figures enveloped in white clothes were seen to jump into the meuse. the marksmen of the machine-gun company fired at the two persons, who, shortly after, were washed up dead to the bank. a closer examination showed that they were two men wearing female dress, who had wrapped themselves up in white cloths. under the bridge stood two chairs, and from here the column in marching by had been fired on. it was supposed that the two francs-tireurs wanted to blow up the bridge, and, surprised by our people, flew to arms; as their retreat was cut off, they wanted to make their way through the water. shortly after, infantry regiment no. , which was marching behind us, was fired at from the factory which stands close to the bridge. as was ascertained, a passage led from the bridge into the factory, which was, at any rate, made use of by other francs-tireurs in order to withdraw in safety into the factory, from the windows of which they then opened a brisk fire. signed: noack, lieutenant and company leader. c. app. . present: st lieutenant winkler, as officer of the court. non-commissioned officer schwertner, as clerk of the military court. near st. marie, _march th, _. in the matter for inquiry concerning the firing on a machine-gun company by francs-tireurs at leffe-dinant there appeared as witnesses privates büchner and ulbricht of the machine-gun company, infantry regiment no. , who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to them, were examined individually as follows: . private büchner. as to person: my name is heinrich max emil büchner, years old; private in the machine-gun company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: on august rd, , the machine-gun company, infantry regiment no. , marched from houx along the meuse by leffe to the military bridge at dinant. the company arrived in leffe towards midnight of the rd and th august . on the left of the line of march was a large factory. from this a brook or canal led into the meuse. our route passed over this brook or canal by a bridge. i marched with ulbricht behind a provision waggon which brought up the rear. when the centre of the company was on the bridge, two shots came from the direction of the bridge towards us. i at once ran with ulbricht to the bank of the meuse to see if anybody there had fired. the two shots appeared to have been alarm shots, for immediately after several rifle-shots were fired from the factory. while we were running to the bank of the meuse, two white figures came out from under the bridge in order to swim to the other bank of the meuse. i immediately shot with ulbricht at the two white figures. we reached one whilst still close to the bank, whilst the other was already in the middle of the meuse. both figures were hit, for the one who was already in the middle of the river suddenly drifted with the stream, while the other was floated up to our bank. together with ulbricht, i let myself down the steep bank with the aid of comrades who had come up, by means of a bearing-girth. we drew the white body from the water, threw back the white cloth, and saw by the face that it was a man. this man was wearing women's green stockings and a pair of black low shoes such as women wear. he had received a shot in the back of the head and was dead. we then went under the bridge; not far from the water stood two chairs. from the bridge, the canal went through a tunnel towards the factory. in this tunnel-canal, which was about metres long, there was very little water; one could easily go upright in it. with ulbricht, i had penetrated about two to three metres into the tunnel, but as our company was marching on and were being called by our comrades, we turned back. behind us came men of the machine-gun company, infantry regiment no. ; they went into the factory in order to search it whilst i and ulbricht went to our company. the firing only came from the factory when the two white figures had discharged the two shots, the firing, which lasted about five minutes, evidently came from the windows of the factory and originated from several persons. during this time our company halted, then it moved nearer to the military bridge. as the firing from the factory opened again shortly after, the machine-gun company, infantry regiment no. , replied with the machine-guns. we now saw the flashes of the francs-tireurs' fire at the windows of the factory. the firing from the factory only ceased when the place had been set on fire. read over, approved, signed. signed: bÜchner. . private ulbricht. as to person: my name is friedrich richard ulbricht, years old; protestant; private in the machine-gun company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: the statements of private büchner, which were read over to me, i fully endorse. i have nothing further to add. read over, approved, signed. signed: ulbricht. the witnesses were thereupon sworn. signed: winkler, st lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: schwertner, non-commissioned officer and clerk of the court. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve glaser, as officer of the court. acting-sergeant-major of reserve referendar richter, as clerk of the court. sinzbaracken, _february th, _. rifleman kähler, st company, rifle (fusilier) regiment no. , after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, stated: as to person: my name is emil robert kähler, years old; protestant; electrician at kiel, on active service since october th, , in the rifle (fusilier) regiment no. . as to case: on august rd, , i saw in a street at dinant a civilian, about twenty-seven years old, who wore a band on the left arm with the geneva badge, and who fired a revolver from a house door at a pioneer, but without hitting him. i thereupon shot the civilian. the pioneer took the revolver away from him. kähler took the oath as a witness. signed: kÄhler. signed: glaser, officer of the court. signed: richter, as clerk of the court. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve and battalion adjutant dachsel, as officer of the court. non-commissioned officer of reserve steiger, as clerk of the court. la ville-aux-bois les pontarvet, _february nd, _. there appeared by order as witness, assistant-surgeon dr.med. köckeritz, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him and he had been warned to speak the truth, made the following statement: as to person: my name is albin werner köckeritz. i am assistant-surgeon of reserve, dr.med.; years old; protestant. as to case: during the night-fighting of august st to nd, i was in dinant. i did not see any cruelties committed by our troops against the inhabitants, who fired with shot-guns and buck-shot from their windows. in the further fighting round dinant also, at the close of which we moved into dinant, i saw no misusage whatever of the civilian population. that the bodies of inhabitants, who had been shot for taking part in fighting, were mutilated, is untrue. i saw, however, in a side-valley a german cavalryman, who had apparently been shot down, lying charred upon a grating and fastened with wire. this was in the vicinity of the field dressing station put up by the nd and rd battalion, rifle (fusilier) regiment no. and the st field artillery regiment no. and stationed west of dinant. the firing, which came from the hospital denoted by a red cross flag, lighted up for a long way the opposite bank of the meuse. read over, approved, signed. signed: dr. kÖckeritz. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: dachsel. signed: steiger. c. app. . (guards) grenadier regiment no. , officer of court iii. present: lieutenant of reserve bandel, as officer of the court. acting-sergeant-major ranke, as clerk of the military court. guignicourt, _january th, _. by order there appeared as witness: non-commissioned officer martin, th company (guards) grenadier regiment no. , who, after having been warned to speak the truth, made the following statement: as to person: my name is otto kurt martin, years old; protestant. as to case: concerning the article "the incredible atrocities of the german soldiers," martin made the following statement: inhabitants of the town of dinant were only shot after it had been conclusively established that they had treacherously fired at us from the houses. moreover, there was firing from houses which displayed the red cross. i did not see any mutilated inhabitants. i likewise do not know of any cruelties or crimes by our troops. i did not see that our troops were treated by a belgian doctor. on the contrary, i noticed that wounded inhabitants were treated by german doctors and bandaged by our military non-commissioned officers. i know nothing of the remainder of the incidents mentioned in the article. i have nothing further to add. read over, approved, signed. signed: kurt martin. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: bandel, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: ranke, acting-sergeant-major and clerk of the military court. c. app. . report to (guards) grenadier regiment no. . in the fight at dinant, heavy rifle fire was directed upon our troops from several houses on the west bank of the meuse, especially from a large red infirmary. these houses were all distinguished as hospitals by the hanging out of flags with the red cross, and were, in consequence, at first spared by our troops. later, however, after the occupation of these houses by hostile, armed inhabitants had been definitely ascertained, and it was recognised that the red cross only served as a blind, the houses were brought under fire and destroyed. witnesses to this are all the officers of the st battalion (guards) grenadier regiment no. . signed: zeidler, captain and battalion leader, (guards) grenadier regiment no. . c. app. . present: military magistrate, naumann. secretary of the military court, schwarzbach. la malmaison, _december th, _. in the inquiry concerning the violations of international law committed against german troops, there appeared as witness non-commissioned officer esche, th company, grenadier regiment no. , who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: my name is bruno arno esche, years old; protestant; factory worker. on sunday, august rd, , in the afternoon, i saw plainly with field glasses from the right bank of the meuse that the windows of a large red house on the left bank of the meuse were blocked up with boards, mattresses or coverlets. loopholes were cut out in the house at the height of a man. the house was flying the red cross flag. read over, approved, signed. signed: bruno arno esche. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: naumann. signed: schwarzbach. c. app. . st. erme, _december th, _. staff-surgeon dr. lange, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made, as witness, the following deposition: as to person: my name is richard gotthold lange, years old; protestant; staff-surgeon and battalion surgeon of the rd battalion infantry regiment no. . as to case: directly after the entry of the battalion into leffe it was surprised by shots which not only came from the two ranges of hills but also from the houses and cellars. the houses from which the shots came were thereupon searched for sharpshooters and the guilty civilians found there were shot. the houses from which there was no firing were searched in the same way, and their occupants were guarded in the street. it was reported to me that a sergeant-major of the th company of my regiment had been severely wounded, whereupon i rode through the streets and was continuously fired at from the houses, especially from the cellars. i found two german wounded inside the houses, further, one dead in a cellar and another dead on a ground floor. as the number of the wounded accumulated, i saw myself obliged to arrange as a dressing-station the villa of councillor adam, where i was busy up till o'clock at night. the number of the wounded german soldiers, on the handing over of the hospital to the nd medical company, amounted to about eighty men. read over, approved, signed. signed: dr. lange. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: starke, officer of the court. c. app. . present: military magistrate, naumann. secretary of military court, schwarzbach. la malmaison, _december th, _. in the inquiry concerning the violations of international law committed against german troops, there appeared as witness medical non-commissioned officer ostmann of the th company, grenadier regiment no. , who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: as to person: my name is otto eduard ostmann, years old; protestant; shop assistant by trade. as to case: on the evening of august rd, , when it was getting dark, my company entered les rivages. it halted in the street at the beginning of the place. as there was no medical non-commissioned officer farther on, i went as far as the crossing-place over the meuse and stood close by in the middle of the street. there was no one in the street in my immediate neighbourhood. while i was facing the houses where some civilians were standing, a shot fell from a house to the right of me; i immediately felt a stinging pain under my right eye and felt blood running down my cheek. my battalion-surgeon, dr. haupt, after examining the wound, said that a small shot had grazed me. the shot could only have been meant for me, since i was the only person standing in an open space of metres in circumference. i had duly put on the geneva cross band, which was visible. read over, approved, signed. signed: otto eduard ostmann. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: naumann. signed: schwarzbach. c. app. . present: military magistrate, naumann. secretary of the military court, schwarzbach. la malmaison, _december th, _. in the inquiry concerning the violations of international law committed against german troops, there appeared as witness transport soldier of reserve müller, nd field pioneer company, pioneer battalion no. , who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: my name is emil erwin müller, years old; protestant; fruit grower. on the afternoon of august th, , in company with non-commissioned officer fehrmann, i saw a number of bodies of civilians and that of a woman lying in front of a house in a cross-street in dinant. we entered the house. in the room on the right there lay an officer--a lieutenant of infantry regiment no. --a sofa-cushion under his head; his head and a part of his chest were covered with a white cloth. all three civilians wore the uniform of infantry regiment no. . in the adjoining room there lay stretched out dead a non-commissioned officer and five privates of the same regiment. i lifted up the cloth covering the lieutenant and saw that he had received a shot in the head. i did not see any further injuries to the officer. one of the privates who lay beside the lieutenant had his trousers unbuttoned in front so that one could see his body. this soldier had a shot in the lower part of the body. extending from the larynx to at least cm. to the left was a cut which was bloody and the edges were probably cm. apart. the blood had flowed down towards the side. i am convinced that it could only have been a wound from a cut. in the other room the trousers of one of the soldiers were unbuttoned so that one could see the body. this man had a cut or stab wound in the lower body about cm. wide. the clothing of the remaining soldiers showed no disarrangement, they all bore shot-wounds. the scene conveyed the impression that the officer, the non-commissioned officer and the men had been attacked in their sleep by the inhabitants in that quarter. i infer this from the fact that the officer had a sofa-cushion and the others either a cloth or a knapsack under their heads. the rifles stood in a corner. in the house with fehrmann and myself was also pioneer of reserve kretzschmann. read over, approved, signed. signed: emil erwin mÜller. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: naumann. signed: schwarzbach. c. app. . by order of the rifle (fusilier) regiment "prinz georg" no. there appeared staff-surgeon of reserve dr. holey, who, having been warned to speak the whole truth, made the following statement: as to person: my name is franz alfred holey. i was born on september st, ; protestant; practising physician in civil life, during the war, staff-surgeon and battalion-surgeon with the rd battalion, rifle (fusilier) regiment no. . as to case: on august rd, as we were proceeding to dinant, my attention was drawn by major von der pforte, a short distance from dinant, to the body of a german soldier, who had been fastened with wire by the hands and feet to pegs which had been driven into the ground. the body was almost completely carbonised, and to all appearances some highly inflammable liquid had been poured over it. according to the state of the existing lines of demarcation, the man must have been burnt alive. by the remains of the uniform, particularly the buttons, he was plainly to be recognised as a german soldier. read over, approved, signed. signed: dr. holey, staff-surgeon of reserve. the witness was thereupon sworn. further remark: the body lay in the neighbourhood of an estate near the marble quarries. signed: lossow, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: schubert, acting-sergeant-major and clerk of the military court. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve dachsel, as officer of the court. non-commissioned officer of reserve steiger, as clerk of the court. la ville-aux-bois, near pontarvet, _march th, _. by request of the imperial german court of justice of the general government in belgium there appeared by order as witness corporal of reserve wahl, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, and he had been warned to speak the whole truth, made the following statement: as to person: my name is hermann kurt wahl, years old; protestant; corporal of reserve, th company, rifle (fusilier) regiment no. ; shop assistant at deuben, near dresden. as to case: on the march to dinant on august rd, i saw lying in a ditch by the road to the east of the sorinnes-dinant road a dead jäger. his hands and feet were bound together with wire. the body was otherwise completely charred. i was only able to recognise that he was a jäger by the articles of equipment lying near. read over, approved, signed. signed: hermann kurt wahl. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: dachsel. signed: steiger. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve dachsel, as officer of the court. non-commissioned officer of reserve steiger, as clerk of the court. la ville-aux-bois, _march th, _. by order there appeared as witness rifleman willkommen, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, and he had been warned to speak the truth, made the following statement: as to person: my name is paul robert willkommen, rifleman, th company, rifle (fusilier) regiment no. ; years old; protestant. as to case: on the afternoon of august rd, i found a completely charred body quite close to an estate near dinant, where we had set up a dressing-station. on closer inspection it proved to be a saxon jäger whose hands and feet had been tied up. he lay in the ditch close to the road. we covered him with straw. that he was a saxon jäger i recognised with certainty from his buttons and other articles of equipment. on this day, before we marched through dinant and crossed the meuse, my company made a halt at an estate near dinant. the inhabitants of the estate--several men, women, and children--fetched us water. i and several of my comrades gave in return some cigars to the men and sweetstuff to the children. read over, approved, signed. signed: paul robert willkommen. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: dachsel. signed: steiger. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve dachsel, as officer of the court. non-commissioned officer of reserve steiger, as clerk of the court. la ville-aux-bois, _march th, _. there appeared by order as witness corporal oehmigen, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, and he had been warned to speak the truth, made the following statement: as to person: my name is otto albert oehmigen; corporal, th company, rifle (fusilier) regiment no. ; years old; protestant. as to case: before we marched through dinant on august rd i saw in a cabbage field near dinant the body of a saxon jäger with a charred face lying on his back. he lay in the middle of the field, not by the road. i did not notice whether his feet and arms were tied. read over, approved, signed. signed: otto albert oehmigen. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: dachsel. signed: steiger. c. app. . prouvais, _february th, _. by order of field artillery regiment no. there appeared as witness this day captain von lippe of the light munitions columns, nd division, st field artillery regiment no. , in order to be examined on oath regarding the occurrences in dinant. captain von lippe stated: as to person: my name is fritz von lippe. i am years old; protestant; estate-tenant by calling, attached to the light munitions column of the nd division, field artillery regiment no. . as to case: on august rd, , behind the firing position of the nd division, st field artillery regiment no. , i saw the bodies of a rifleman and a jäger. one had his eyes gouged out, and the other lay half burnt under a heap of straw with hands and feet tied together. captain von lippe testified his statements on oath, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him. read over, approved, signed. signed: fritz von lippe. signed: haase, st lieutenant and officer of the court. c. app. . st. erme, _december th, _. acting-sergeant-major göpfert, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: as to person: my name is oswald emil göpfert. i am years old; protestant; battalion drummer, rd battalion, infantry regiment no. . as to case: when my battalion was entering leffe, numerous shots came from almost all the houses. we supposed at first that the shots came from soldiers; however, it could only have been civilians, since no soldiers were found in the houses. i saw with my own eyes that a civilian fired at and wounded captain franz. only the men who were implicated in the firing from the houses were shot, while the old men, women, and children were taken to the convent. i was myself present when an old man, who had been fetched out of a house, was separated from the guilty civilians and taken to the convent. read over, approved, signed. signed: gÖpfert. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: starke, officer of the court. c. app. . guignicourt, _january th, _. _deposition._ there appeared, as witness, lieutenant of reserve löser of the th company, (guards) grenadier regiment no. , who, having been warned to speak the truth, made the following statement: my name is walter löser. i am years old; protestant; forest-referendary on the state forest preserves, elster ii. at adorf in saxony. as to case: on entering dinant the th company, (guards) grenadier regiment no. , was ordered to fire only at civilians who were themselves shooting at our troops. the order was everywhere complied with. no atrocities were committed by our troops. i even know of cases where our troops treated with the greatest consideration the innocent inhabitants of dinant, who evidently were suffering under the critical condition of the time. i remember to have seen how the men of our regiment carried infirm old people and children through the rows of burning houses with the intention of rescuing them. read over, approved, signed. signed: lÖser, lieutenant of the reserve. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: von loeben, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: baier, non-commissioned officer and clerk of the military court. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve kleberger, as officer of the court. sergeant richter, as military clerk of the court. orainville, _march th, _. summoned as witness there appeared non-commissioned officer of reserve teubner, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: as to person: my name is georg teubner. i am years old; catholic; by trade a locksmith at schirgiswalde, now non-commissioned officer of reserve, machine-gun company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: in the night, after we had crossed the meuse, two platoons of the machine-gun company lay by the railway; an infantry guard lay opposite. in the house where the guard lay were already some civilians. in the early morning a belgian woman came to us and gave us to understand by motions of the hands--we could not understand french--that somewhere a house was on fire, and that we were to help. we saw that something must be particularly amiss there, and some of the men followed the woman with tools (hatchets, etc.). i was not able to go at once myself. when, later, i was on my way to the burning house i met the men with the rescued civilians who had stayed in the cellars and had been buried by the débris. they were men, women, and children--among them a priest. the people were taken to the guard, and there examined; later they were again released. in the last house of a village behind dinant we found a large quantity of ammunition (shot and spear-like missiles), which were evidently placed there for use. in the gable-roof were openings similar to loopholes. on the march farther i saw a civilian who had been shot lying by the corner of a house; he had a gun still in his hand--it was a double-barrelled sporting-gun. read over, approved. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: kleberger, lieutenant of reserve and officer of the court. signed: sergeant richter, as clerk of the military court. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve kleberger, as officer of the court. sergeant richter, as clerk of the court. orainville, _march th, _. summoned as witness there appeared corporal richter, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: as to person: my name is max gustav richter. i am years old; protestant; by trade a chairmaker at bärenstein, now corporal, th company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: the th company, infantry regiment no. , after the fighting at dinant; was detained to guard the bridge. lieutenant lemke was local commandant of the district allotted to us. we lay there four to five days. during these days lieutenant lemke had those civilians who were innocent taken to a house and looked after. the people received bread, meat, potatoes, and milk. read over, approved. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: kleberger, lieutenant of reserve and officer of the court. signed: sergeant richter, as clerk of the military court. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve kleberger, as officer of the court. sergeant richter, as clerk of the military court. orainville, _march th, _. summoned as witness there appeared lieutenant lemke, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: as to person: my name is martin lemke, years old; protestant; merchant at zürich, now lieutenant of reserve, th company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: one night between the rd and the th august , a large column of captured belgian soldiers came through dinant. i had been left behind with a platoon of the th company, infantry regiment no. , as bridge-guard, and was, during the days named, local commandant of dinant-bouvignes. this long column of prisoners i lodged in double columns of route on the railway track in the neighbourhood of the station at dinant. at intervals paces i had lighted large wood-fires. towards o'clock a heavy fusillade broke out. two belgians jumped down from the railway embankment into the road and were shot by my sentries. a wounded belgian was at once taken to the "red cross" near by, where a small-shot wound in the posterior was able to be ascertained with certainty. the firing with small shot came down from the wooded height on this side of the railway track amongst the resting column, and the result was, that a panic broke out among the prisoners, of which the two belgians were the victims. the belgian officers present, as well as the mayor of bouvignes, to whom i explained the affair, expressed their indignation about the francs-tireurs. the inhabitants were well treated by the soldiers under my command. on august th a number of women, children, and men were fetched out of the cellar of a burning house on the road to bouvignes by our soldiers at the risk of their lives. during those days i provided with victuals a total of over fifty inhabitants, mostly women, also children and various men belonging on the average to the better classes. among them were also patients from the wrecked hospitals. an old lady who could not walk was carried by our soldiers to the "red cross." we provided the people with woollen coverings for the night, and gave up some mattresses from our district, which had been quite forsaken. for the invalids and a little child we provided milk. for the "red cross" in bouvignes, where some twenty wounded french soldiers were lying, among them one major and one st lieutenant, we also provided victuals, especially flour for baking bread. the people could not adequately express their gratitude. the lord of the manor at bouvignes, the mayor of bouvignes, a mons. van willmart of the same place, have taken a note of my home address in order, after the war, to inquire after my welfare. the people had all acquired a high opinion of germany. mons. van willmart even wants to visit me after the war. a health-resort patient at dinant, a legal official from brussels, who was staying there with his two sisters, has written a card to my mother to testify his gratitude. read over, approved. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: kleberger, lieutenant of reserve and officer of the court. signed: sergeant richter, as clerk of the military court. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve kleberger, as officer of the court. sergeant richter, as clerk of the military court. orainville, _march th, _. summoned as witness there appeared captain schröder, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: as to person: my name is severin schröder. i am years old; protestant; captain and company chief, th company, infantry regiment no. . as to case: my company was bridge-guard on the left meuse bank from the rd to the th august. in some houses were from to civilian prisoners, among them also many women and some children. i had the provisions brought together from the partially destroyed houses in order to provide for my company. on the petition of some women for victuals i gave them bread, rice, and sausage, and some for the remainder of the civilians. i had explained to the inhabitants that nothing would happen to them as long as they remained in the houses under the protection of the company. a number were let go at their request, as they did not appear to be under suspicion. men who seemed open to suspicion were detained; some women remained voluntarily. when i was relieved, lieutenant lemke, who remained behind with his platoon, took over the prisoners. read over, approved. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: kleberger, lieutenant of reserve and officer of the court. signed: sergeant richter, as clerk of the military court. c. app. . present: lieutenant of reserve kleberger, as officer of the court. sergeant richter, as clerk of the military court. orainville, _march th, _. summoned as witness there appeared captain von lüder, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: as to person: my name is georg von lüder. i am years old; protestant; captain and battalion commander, nd battalion, infantry regiment no. . as to case: on august rd, , as company chief, i led the machine-gun company. this was transported late in the evening on pontoons across the meuse. the company remained until midday of august th, on the other bank of the meuse, to await the arrival of the vehicles which were to reach the left bank of the meuse by the bridge erected by the pioneers. when the vehicles arrived in the afternoon of august th the company marched off. during the time the company remained on the left bank of the meuse, inhabitants who had been arrested by the soldiers were continually being brought to a house which was situated next to the halting-place of the company. i saw the bringing of these inhabitants to the house, and can confirm that they were decently treated in every respect by the soldiers escorting them. in the forenoon of august th my regimental commander, major hoch, came to the company and spoke to the inhabitants interned in the house. at their request he let many of them go free. my impression was that the arrested inhabitants were very kindly treated. they were allotted a room for the night, and on the morning of august th were well and plentifully provided for. read over, approved. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: kleberger, lieutenant of reserve and officer of the court. signed: sergeant richter, as clerk of the military court. c. app. . present: lieutenant oeser, as officer of the court. acting-sergeant-major lippmann, as clerk of the military court. prouvais, _march th, _. there appeared for examination lieutenant and regimental adjutant florey, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, made the following statement: as to person: my name is georg friedrich florey; - / years old; protestant; lieutenant and regimental adjutant, grenadier regiment no. . as to case: with lieutenant von zenker of the st company, i bandaged a man (inhabitant) in les rivages who had a gaping wound in the head. later on i gave the men of my platoon the order to carry a woman of about eighty years from an already burning house and bring her into safety. my grenadiers at once complied with this order and handed over this old lady for further care to other inhabitants. in neffe i endeavoured to fetch a doctor for the wounded inhabitants. at that time i was platoon leader in the th company. read over, approved, signed. signed: florey, lieutenant and regimental adjutant. the witness was thereupon sworn. signed: oeser, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: lippmann, acting-sergeant-major and clerk of the military court. c. app. . the trenches, _january th, _. by regimental order, chief surgeon of the reserve, dr. marx, assistant surgeon of the nd battalion, st grenadier regiment (guards) no. , appears, and, being warned to speak the whole truth, makes the following deposition: as to person: my name is karl theodor hans marx. i was born on april rd, , in döbeln (saxony); evangelical-lutheran; senior surgeon of the reserve, st (guards) grenadier regiment no. . as to case: i also extended my medical activity during the whole of the day to the wounded inhabitants of dinant. in one case i treated a young girl with a shot wound in the head, and allowed her a separate room in the house where i had set up my place for dressing-station, so that her parents could be with her. as towards the evening that part of the town in which my hospital lay came under heavy artillery fire, i had the girl carried to a safer part of the town. this was in the street where the town gaol of dinant is situated. the wounded girl, in consequence of her severe injury, lay at the point of death. in a column of inhabitants which was being sent across the meuse was a clergyman, whom i recognised as such by his clothes. i begged him to take charge of her, and was witness how he gave her absolution. i was present the whole day (august rd, ) in dinant, and did not notice any excesses on the part of the german soldiers. read over, approved, signed. signed: dr.med. hans marx. the witness was then sworn. signed: v. haugk, lieutenant and officer of the court. signed: hartmann, non-commissioned officer and military clerk of the court. appendix d.--louvain app. d. war office. military inquiry office regarding the breaches of rules and usages of war. the uprising of the belgian populace in louvain, th to the th august . _summary report._ . the uprising of the town of louvain against the german troops of occupation and the judgment inflicted on this town have found a lasting echo in the whole world. in the first place, because louvain is a town famous on account of its time-honoured university, its rich architectural monuments and art treasures, the fate of which would interest wide circles; principally, however, because of the action of the opponents of the german people, especially of the belgian government, who have circulated and spread abroad in the world by means of the press, by their foreign diplomatic representatives, and by agents sent everywhere, reports of the events of august , which were designed to prejudice public opinion against the germans. the commission appointed by the belgian government for inquiry into the violation of the code of international law and of the laws and usages of war, has tried by every means to throw the blame for the disturbances in louvain on the german troops. in several reports it has brought forward the accusation that the german troops, in violation of international law and without any reason, have attacked and ill-treated the--so it is alleged--unsuspecting and peaceful inhabitants of louvain, have wounded and killed a great number, have plundered, desolated, and burned, and, in fact, completely destroyed the town. these accusations are false; moreover, it has been confirmed that the german troops have acted in a manner free from reproach and have committed no deeds in violation of international law. on the contrary, heavy blame attaches to the civil population of louvain and the neighbourhood for having, by reason of their disregard of the rules of international law, and through their thoughtless and criminal action, inflicted injury on the german army, and also, as the result, on the town of louvain. . according to inquiries which were instituted, the events in louvain occurred as follows: on august th, , the first german troops marched into louvain and occupied quarters in the town. intercourse between the inhabitants and the troops, whose number and composition were continually changing, appeared at first to be exceptionally good. no single case of excess occurred. the german troops behaved themselves in exemplary fashion, which even the belgians recognised; further, the population of the town made such friendly advances that the german soldiers in louvain felt so secure that many of them went about without arms (apps. , , - , , , , , , , , ). this peaceful picture suddenly changed on august th, . on that day belgian troops from antwerp made a thrust in the direction of louvain. the german troops in and about louvain advanced to meet them; further troops were sent from liège via louvain to the front. the fighting took place on the road to malines, near bucken and herent, in the vicinity of louvain. the fight ended in the heavy defeat of the belgians, who were thrown back in the evening towards antwerp. the inhabitants of louvain, who had remained in secret communication with antwerp even after the occupation of their town, and who had information of the impending attack by their countrymen, had apparently not reckoned on this result of the fight. they held the erroneous opinion that the projected breaking through of the belgian army must, with the help of english troops, be successful, and saw in the advance initiated by the belgian troops a promise of success and also an encouragement to themselves to take part in the fighting (apps. , , , ). already before the fight had been decided, a german company of the landsturm, which had been stationed at the north-western exit of louvain, marched back towards o'clock in the evening to a place situated at the east end of the town, near the station, in order to establish themselves there. during their march through the town everything was apparently still quiet. in the streets there were isolated ammunition and baggage columns, and several small detachments of german soldiers. there were no very large bodies of troops in louvain at this time (apps. , , , ). among the inhabitants of the town who observed the march through of the landsturm company were astonishingly large numbers of young men, apparently belonging to the wealthier classes, who stood about in the streets and retired slowly into the houses (apps. , , , ); women and children were not to be seen. the return march through the town of the landsturm company and other small bodies of troops most likely strengthened the inhabitants of louvain in the belief that the germans were beaten and retreating, and encouraged them to execute an apparently long-thought-out and prepared plan to annihilate the germans during their retreat through the town. a little later, after the above company had arrived at the station square and settled themselves to rest, about p.m. german time, rockets shot up in the town. quite a number of soldiers saw first a green and then a red rocket appear against the dark evening sky (apps. , , - , , , , ). at the same time, in consequence of this signal, the inhabitants of louvain began to open a furious fire from different parts of the town upon the german troops who were in the town-hall square, the station square, and the intermediate town quarters. they shot with rifles, revolvers, and pistols out of cellars and out of the windows of the buildings, and especially out of windows in the roofs (apps. - , - , - , , , , , , , , - ); the firing sounded in several places as if machine-guns were in use (apps. , , , , , , ). the german soldiers were completely surprised at this attack. many of them were wounded and some were killed before they could offer any resistance. among the columns and the baggage sections, which had drawn up in the streets, confusion reigned, because the horses, who had shied from fright and were hit by the bullets and small-shot, broke loose and were galloping through the streets (apps. , , , , ). an especially violent fire was poured upon the market-place and the first échelon of the general command stationed there. several officers and men were wounded or killed. the staff of the general command alone lost officers, officials, men, and horses (app. ). the fire was most violent in the rue de la gare and at the station. the landsturm company, standing there between the baggage carts, was obliged to retire into the station in order to find better cover. a vigorous fire was also directed upon the troops drawn up at the place du peuple (apps. , , ). the horror of this treacherous attack was increased by the darkness which had already fallen on the town, the street-lighting having been destroyed. the surprised troops tried to assemble, sought to defend themselves, and returned the fire. when this ceased for a moment they entered the houses out of which shots had been fired, by the order of their superior officers, and searched for the culprits. several of these had been killed in the fight (apps. , , , ); others were found in possession of arms and were shot according to the usages of war, after having previously been found guilty of unjustifiable participation in the fight (apps. , , , , , , , , ). many were able to escape through the back exits of the houses to participate once more in the continual recommencing street-fights. while these fights were raging, the general in command of the xi. reserve army corps, von boehn, returned from the battlefield to the town. this was about . p.m. on his way to the town hall he was several times shot at. so as to put an end to the street-fighting, he ordered a brigade of the landwehr to enter the town, and had the mayor and other distinguished citizens arrested as hostages. at his order they were led through the town and told to order the insurgents in a loud voice to cease their hostilities. although accompanied by threats of severe punishment, these orders had no effect. the population continued to attack the troops. in their fury they even shot at the doctors, the hospital orderlies, and at the sick and wounded who were under the protection of the red cross (apps. , , - , ). they paid so little attention to the geneva convention that they also fired out of houses from which flew the red cross flag (apps. , ); they even directed their fire against a military hospital (apps. , , ). on more than one occasion the use of explosives and bombs is vouched for (apps. , , ); it is proved also that hot tar was poured upon the german troops (apps. , ). in some cases the population was even carried away to commit barbarous atrocities on german soldiers who had become defenceless. private hoos found in the cellar of a house the corpse of a german soldier whose abdomen had been cut open with a sharp knife so that the intestines were protruding (app. ); one of the german soldiers had a revolting mutilation inflicted upon him by one of the inhuman inhabitants, in consequence of which he died (app. ). in the face of these brutal attacks, the german soldiers had to protect themselves by energetic retaliatory measures. as had been threatened, the inhabitants who had participated in the attack were shot, and the houses out of which they fired were burned. it was impossible to prevent the fire from spreading to other houses, and thus some rows of them were destroyed. it was in this way also that the cathedral caught fire (app. ). a further spreading of the conflagration was prevented by our troops who, led by their officers, undertook the work of extinguishing the fire in a self-sacrificing manner (app. ). thanks to their efforts, only a comparatively small part of the town, _i.e._ the quarter between the station and the town hall, suffered. the magnificent town hall was saved through the efforts of our troops. the burning houses lit up the dark night and enabled our soldiers to meet the attack more effectively. thus it diminished gradually; only here and there a few shots were fired during the night. the next morning, however, the attacks were renewed with great violence. the disturbances still continued on this and the following days, though the hostages were, on august the th and th, again led through the streets in order to exhort the inhabitants to keep the peace (apps. , , , , , , ). that the insurrection did not break out accidentally, but was prepared long beforehand, can be proved, apart from the above-mentioned rocket-signals which announced the beginning of the surprise attack, by the following facts: . the circumstance that arms had been found in large quantities, though these, according to the declaration of the mayor, had been already handed over on august th (apps. , ). . the observation that a great number of young men entered louvain and dispersed in the town (app. ). it was easy for them to take up quarters in the hotels and the lodging-houses left by the students. . numerous stores of cartridges and explosives, which had been hidden there by the population, exploded in the burning houses (apps. , , , ). in accordance with these facts, the attack evidently was carefully planned, and lasted for several days with the utmost stubbornness. the length of time during which the revolt against the german military force continued excludes any idea of spontaneous and excited actions on the part of isolated persons. the direction of the treacherous revolt must have been in the hands of highly placed persons. everything points to the fact that the authorities had a hand in the organisation. the official headquarters of the chief of the so-called garde civique were in louvain; he was still in the town immediately before the rising, and the movement commenced there with the dispatch into louvain of undisciplined young men not wearing any distinctive badge or uniform, who, together with soldiers transformed into civilians, concealed themselves in the houses in order, while invisible themselves, to fire at a suitable moment upon the apparently departing german troops. the belgian government itself has never dared to speak about the regular troops having participated in these actions. we are here dealing with the perfidious deeds of francs-tireurs who were most readily received and offered hiding-places by the population of louvain. the crimes of the garde civique will be unveiled to the whole civilised world in the classical case of louvain (apps. , , , ). unfortunately a number of priests also allowed themselves to be carried away into misusing their influence upon the civilian population, and encouraging them to shelter the insurgents; it is certain that some of them even took direct part in the fighting (apps. , , , , , , , , ). those who appreciate the authentic facts discovered by the german government regarding the case of louvain, facts which are not based upon hasty examinations of people labouring under strong excitement and possessing little education, by equally agitated examiners, but which are founded upon inquiries entered upon in a calm and quiet spirit, will be able to judge for themselves what value can be attached to other similar accusations on the part of the belgians against the german troops. in the case of louvain the official belgian commission of inquiry has tried to account for the doubtless very embarrassing fact, so difficult to be explained away, of the shots fired in the streets by maintaining that the german troops had fired on their own soldiers. but it conceals the point that the firing lasted several days and was renewed continuously. this simple fact does away with the thread-bare attempt to explain the beginning of the street-fights. while the belgian commission of inquiry so lightly brushes aside the above-mentioned principal question of the violation of international law, it seeks to calumniate the german army by accusations in isolated cases. we have not been able to establish the truth of any of these cases; the impartial person must not overlook in this matter on what kind of evidence these cases are founded, nor how these accusations recede into the background, compared with the principal question of the origin of the street-fights. they are based on the depositions of the same persons who are responsible for the statement that louvain was completely destroyed, and that of the whole town nothing but the town hall and the station remained intact, as is asserted in the third report of the commission and thus announced throughout the whole world. the adjoining sketch shows how matters really stand with regard to the conflagration; in reality not one-sixth part of the town, but only the quarter in the proximity of the station, was destroyed by the fire (app. ). one of the few positive calumnies can be brought home, because it foolishly tries to cast a slur on the entire german army administration; according to the fifth report of the commission, a "large part of the booty (derived from the alleged looting) was forwarded in military waggons and later on sent to germany." this allegation is a pure invention, for what has to be forwarded in waggons and railway trucks is decided by the army administration, and the latter has never made any arrangements of the kind. the slight importance the commission even attaches to the tales dished up to them and unfortunately passed on without criticism is also shown in the fifth report, which mentions the execution of bishop coenraets and father schmidt. the commission even speaks about the "alleged" execution, and adds without further ado the fairy-tale that the compulsory spectators of this pretended scene were forced to show their appreciation by clapping. it is impossible to admit more forcibly that the hurriedly collected material was brought out in order to create a sensation whereby truth and justice would have to suffer. one must know, moreover, that--as can hardly have been concealed from the belgian commission--mons. coenraets, who is safe and sound, is living to-day with professor toels in jirlen, holland. berlin, _april th, _. military inquiry office, regarding the violations of the rules and usages of war. signed: bauer, major. signed: dr. wagner, councillor of the supreme court of justice. d. app. . court of justice of the government-general of brussels. present: dr. ivers, justice of martial law. secretary, reisener. noyon, _september th, _. the general commanding ix. reserve army corps, general of infantry v. boehn, declared: as to person: my name is max von boehn, aged : protestant. it was made known to the witness that the governor-general field-marshal general baron von der goltz had ordered an inquiry by the court in order to establish whether a punishable offence in connection with the burning of louvain could be charged to the account of german military persons, and, if so, to which persons; he states as follows: as to case: when the first échelon of the general command entered louvain on august th, the orders received were first briefly talked over, and the report to the army headquarters, dealing with the time of arrival of the troops of the th reserve corps, was prepared. the detraining had not yet been terminated when the report was received from the th reserve division that the enemy was advancing to the attack against bueken, along the road malines-louvain. i went immediately by motor to the battlefield with the chief and a part of the staff. here the action was principally sustained by the th reserve division. our losses were only small. while the different portions of the th reserve division were advancing, the hussars and one part of the infantry were furiously fired upon by the inhabitants in herent, as well as from the windows of the houses south of bueken. they lost heavily. people caught firing were shot and their houses set on fire. when i was on the point of returning to louvain at midnight with the officers of my staff, i was warned by the th landwehr brigade, which was resting to the north of the town, not to enter it, as infantry fire had been heard there. but, as it was necessary for the whole staff to be in louvain, i drove in my motor into the town, where we were very soon fired upon. i ordered the above-mentioned landwehr brigade to enter louvain, and went with portions of it to the town hall, where the mayor and other hostages were arrested. under the protection of a detachment of infantry they were instructed to announce that if the firing out of houses continued, the hostages would be shot and the place set on fire by the artillery. it now also came to my knowledge that the first échelon of the staff, after having entered the town, and being drawn up in the market-place, was suddenly assailed by a murderous fire from the surrounding houses. the officers and men present, of course, returned the fire; nevertheless, apart from other officers, captains of cavalry v. harnier and v. esmarch, captain v. raven, st lieutenant v. oertzen, lieutenant risler, as well as several men, were wounded or killed. nearly all the saddle-horses were killed or wounded, or had stampeded and could not be recaptured. the total loss of the staff in dead, wounded, and missing amounts to officers, officials, men, and horses fully harnessed. different houses in the proximity of the market-place had thereupon been set on fire. shots had also been fired out of the hotel into which the hand-baggage of the staff had already been taken. i therefore decided to move with the general command to the station, and to remain there. the station had to be held, as transport trains were arriving at intervals of an hour. first of all, fresh horses were put into the waggons, and the staff was rearranged. owing to the foresight of the commander of the ammunition column, colonel stubenrauch, assisted by the st adjutant, captain v. kretschmann, the staff was successfully reformed during the night in spite of the greatest difficulties, and held in readiness at the station. a portion of the landwehr brigade also remained here and one company of infantry regiment no. , in order to guard the further unloading of trains during the night. the heavy baggage of reserve regiment of hussars no. was fired on when moving out of the cavalry barracks, and was forced to return. when, in the evening, the regiment of hussars had returned to the barracks, shots were fired into the buildings from all the surrounding houses. peace was only restored when all the houses had been set on fire and the inhabitants shot, in so far as they were found with arms in their possession. numerous explosions of stored cartridges and explosives proved that the attack had been carefully planned and prepared. the next morning the regiment of hussars was able to leave the barracks without any losses, but a patrol of the st squadron in rotselaer was fired on suddenly by about civilians, and, as a result, hussars were wounded and horse killed. whenever bodies of troops showed themselves in the town they were fired at. towards midnight an especially lively fire was suddenly directed from the roofs of the houses opposite the station upon the troops and the general command encamped there. the proclamation of the mayor had consequently been fruitless. therefore there was nothing else to be done but to have the civilians found firing from the windows, of whom several were discovered to be soldiers in disguise, shot, and the houses set on fire. in spite of those measures, the troops of the reserve corps, who had been fired at from all sides when coming into the station, were obliged to fight when marching through the town on the forenoon of the following day, and sustained some losses. on the morning of august th i went with the officers of the staff to the field of battle. we were also fired at when driving out. the second échelon of the staff remained behind, as well as staff officer captain albrecht, to whom i gave orders to collect the arms in the town. for the execution of this order, the nd battalion of infantry reserve regiment no. and a company of infantry reserve regiment no. were placed at his disposal. a threat was made that, in the event of a continuation of the attacks by the citizens, the town would be bombarded. on wednesday forenoon the fighting recommenced with renewed violence. a systematic disarming of the town became impossible, also the collection of a fine of twenty million francs levied on the town. according to the statement of captain albrecht, he was obliged to assemble the whole garrison at the station, in order to hold it under any circumstances for the coming reinforcements. he was especially menaced from the houses situated to the east, and from a factory which had been prepared for defence, and had therefore to be levelled to the ground. but even from the remaining outer walls, which had escaped destruction, the fire was reopened. the occupants who had fled into the cellars procured ladders, from which they renewed the firing. several armed persons, remarkable because of their robust and still comparatively young appearance, were discovered in the trees of the boulevard and arrested. many of them were ascertained to be soldiers in disguise by their identification discs and parts of their uniform they were wearing underneath the civilian clothes. numerous and violent explosions resounded from the burning houses, due to explosives and cartridges stored there. on the following day also the troops were continually fired upon. captain albrecht had the people once more exhorted by two priests to keep the peace, but this attempt also was in vain. as the revolt again extended a detachment of artillery was sent into the town on august th, and several houses were destroyed. this detachment of artillery was put at the disposal of lieutenant-colonel schweder, commander of the landsturm battalion neuss. on august th, nd infantry reserve battalion, regiment no. , was replaced by landwehr regiment no. , and the detachment of artillery was replaced by a landsturm battery. on the same day a detachment of pioneers made a breach in the convent, situated at the exit leading to herent, from which building the military road was fired upon with special intensity. in spite of these measures, the firing upon columns and troops continued without interruption until august th. after the preceding evidence, his excellency v. boehn also gave the following legal opinion about the burning down of louvain before dr. ivers, councillor of the war-field court of justice, leading the inquiry: the progress and the fury of these fights already prove that we are here dealing with a planned organisation. it is proved beyond doubt by the following facts: . in a church in louvain rifles were found, and in herent numerous rifles, pistols, and a great quantity of ammunition were discovered by the th division. . a large number of the civilians, who took part in the rising and were shot, were ascertained to be soldiers. . in the haversacks of fallen soldiers civilian clothes, especially garments of priests, were found. the priests themselves led and incited the population. in bueken, for instance, the signal to fire was given by the priest leaving the church. in spite of his assurance that no armed men were in the church, five were caught. they fired from the roof of the church. all these people were shot. acting-sergeant-major predöhl, reserve regiment of hussars no. , reported that he was fired at by twelve priests while on patrol duty. after they had been arrested with the help of the field-battery column of the iii. reserve corps, which was close by, they were taken to the iii. reserve corps to be tried, but they were liberated by the court-martial, as it could not be proved who had fired. these people had identification discs and wore military boots and under-garments. . during the fights a uniform was often found close to the empty haversack, but no corpse; the owner had no doubt disappeared in civilian dress. . amongst those persons caught red-handed and shot immediately were quite a number in very disarranged workmen's clothes. by their delicate hands, their exceptionally fine and superior underclothes, one could recognise with certainty that the garb of a workman was not their usual one. inhabitants of the place declared they did not know these people and had never seen them there before. the garde civique formed the nucleus of these bands of francs-tireurs, at the head of which was evidently the commandant of louvain, whose baggage was taken as booty to the hôtel métropole. it is obvious how easy it is for bodies like the garde civique, who usually wear civilian clothing, to continue to wear it or put it on again, as best suits their purpose. louvain was obviously the centre of this organisation, which was most effectively made use of here because the commandant was on the spot. the sortie from antwerp on august th was evidently the signal for the commencement of activities. consequently the whole population had to be removed from the district; to as large an extent as possible they were taken as prisoners to germany. for as antwerp is not completely shut off, they could always rise again, and would do it with the courage of despair. their removal to antwerp would therefore be no real remedy. read over, approved, signed. signed: von boehn. the witness was then sworn. apart from that, he had taken the oath on his opinion given in to-day's report of the proceedings. proceedings closed. signed: dr. ivers. signed: reisener. d. app. . court of the government-general at brussels. present: dr. ivers, judge of military law. secretary, reisener. noyon, _september th, _. major von klewitz, officer of the general staff, ix. reserve corps, declares as follows: as to person: my name is wilhelm von klewitz, born at magdeburg on february rd, ; protestant. the witness was told that the governor-general, field-marshal general baron von der goltz, had arranged judicial proceedings for the purpose of ascertaining whether military persons, and, if so, which, are guilty of the destruction of louvain by fire; he then made the following statement: as to case: when the general staff arrived at louvain station, captain albrecht, who has since fallen and who had preceded the general staff, reported that he had prepared quarters in the town, at the hôtel métropole, where the commander-in-chief had also stayed, and that the town was perfectly quiet. we then proceeded to the hôtel métropole in the town, and from there to our offices. this was about o'clock p.m. we had just spread out our maps and were informing ourselves with regard to the situation when acting-sergeant-major fischer returned by motor from the iii. reserve corps and reported that the iii. reserve corps before antwerp was attacked and asking for immediate support from the ix. reserve corps. at that time about half of our corps was detrained and the other half still on the rails. the chief of the general staff and i immediately went to see the general in command. meanwhile the greater part of the officers of the general staff with the horses had arrived and were still busy with the unloading. it must also be mentioned that on driving up to the battlefield the commanding general ordered the alarm to be sounded, and the troops already quartered in louvain were ordered to the battle-ground. at o'clock p.m. the general, the chief of the general staff, and i returned to louvain by motor-car. the battle took place at bueken, km. north of louvain. on returning to louvain we already found in the villages situated between bueken and louvain regular troops (of the landwehr) who declared that our men were being fired at in the surrounding villages. we saw ourselves how all the traffic was stopped in a village because firing from the houses had taken place. all troops warned the commanding general from going into the town because street-fights were taking place there. but the commanding general declared that he would not leave his staff in the town if fighting were going on, and he wished to return to the staff. we were therefore obliged to get out when we got into louvain. the commanding general, with the chauffeurs and we few officers, went through the dark town to the market-place at about o'clock p.m. during this march through the town a flank fire was opened on us every time we turned a street corner. suddenly, the staff veterinary surgeon of the corps arrived and reported that the staff of the general commandant had been attacked, and that the horses were either shot or had stampeded. the men were firing on the houses. the baggage therefore was safe, only the horses were gone. we went first of all to the town hall, and there found a number of hostages who had been taken in the meantime. my brother, lieutenant v. klewitz, now told the hostages in the presence of the commanding general that they would be shot if the firing in the town did not cease at once. the hostages then begged to be allowed to use their influence in the streets. lieutenant v. klewitz then passed through the town with the hostages, and the inhabitants were exhorted to be quiet. we then went to our hôtel métropole. when we arrived there we found in front of the house a civilian, shot. it appeared that this man had sat in the hôtel métropole, and when the hotel was searched he had been found in a room, armed, and had wounded two soldiers, whereupon the soldiers shot him in a hand-to-hand fight and threw him out of the window. besides one civilian person, of whom we know nothing, there was no longer anyone in the hotel. the commanding general then went, under escort of a company of infantry, through the streets to the station, and stayed there in order to conduct the whole affair. the motors of the general staff had also taken up a position there. temporary quiet reigned at the station. at about o'clock p.m. some isolated shots were fired from the surrounding houses upon the troops stationed at the railway station, which was followed by continually increasing firing, so that the commanding general ordered the house to be taken. the house was taken and, as armed resistance was encountered, it was set alight. the house was hardly alight when i saw personally the following incident: i was standing with my back to the station and looking at another house. i saw how the corner window on the top was lit up, a dark figure appeared at the window, and a shot was fired into the street. at the same moment when this shot was fired i saw how the tiles in the roof of the hôtel maria theresa were raised, and a terrible fire was opened from the roof of this hotel upon the troops in the station square. we all immediately sought cover. personally i had the definite impression that we were being fired on with machine-guns from the hôtel maria theresa; the bullets were rattling down on us. on the following morning one was able to ascertain that we had been fired upon with machine-guns, because at the station one could distinctly see the rows of fire. the fire from the machine-guns lasted about four to five minutes, and was immediately replied to by our troops, who finally took the house and set it alight. in the meanwhile, a number of wounded were brought in. definite instructions had been given to burn at once all those houses from which firing had taken place. many belgian civilians were taken with arms in their hands; they were to be shot by order of the general in command. at about o'clock the firing ceased. stores of ammunition continually exploded during the burning down of the houses. the general in command sat in a railway carriage from till o'clock at night. at a.m. the army corps marched to the battle. we did not pass through the main streets, but drove along an avenue. here i saw distinctly the following incident: as i sat in the motor several shots were fired out of a cellar on the left at a distance of metres. we fired on this cellar-opening, whereupon the firing ceased. the commanding general left the motor with loaded revolver and went to the open place just in front of the bridge. we then went to the battlefield. behind us, infantry advanced. the officer marching at the head was shot by a civilian who sat on a tree at exactly the same place where we had left the car. as the regular line of halting-places was continually fired at, orders were given to clear the town by force. two guns with rounds were sent. the two guns fired shrapnel from the station into the streets. thus at least that quarter near the station was made safe, and in this way it was possible to take the columns, that had been bivouacking for days before louvain, through the town. read over, approved, signed. signed: v. klewitz. the witness was then sworn. proceedings closed. signed: dr. ivers. signed: reisener. d. app. . court of the government-general at brussels. present: dr. ivers, judge of military law. secretary, rambeau. louvain, _september rd, _. major v. manteuffel, commanding th mobile commando, declared as follows: as to person: my name is walter v. manteuffel, born at gnesen on january rd, ; protestant. the witness was informed that the governor-general, field-marshal general baron von der goltz, had arranged judicial proceedings for the purpose of ascertaining whether german military persons, and, if so, which, were guilty and deserving of punishment; he then made the following statement: as to case: on sunday, august rd, , at noon, we arrived at louvain. the town gave me an impression of quietude and peace. one company of landwehr regiment no. occupied the town hall. there were no other troops present. as soon as troops arrived, the company was to commence the victualling. this was the case on tuesday at noon. the following troops had arrived in the meanwhile: two companies and a battalion of the th landwehr brigade, which were accommodated in the town hall and in the building opposite. sections of troops of the ix. reserve corps also marched through the town. in the afternoon, at about o'clock, the st company of the landsturm battalion neuss, under st lieutenant v. sandt, arrived at the station. at about . p.m. i had gone to the hôtel métropole, rue vital decoster, to dine. i had just finished the soup when a gendarme (we had six of them with us) brought me word that i was to go to the town hall. on the way he told me that inhabitants had fired upon soldiers in the town. a few minutes later at the town hall i heard suddenly lively firing in the town-hall square. i saw the company in the lower room standing at the windows and replying to the firing of the inhabitants. in front of the town hall, on the entrance staircase, i also saw soldiers firing who replied to the firing of the inhabitants in the direction of the houses. when asked, they all declared that inhabitants had first fired on them from such-and-such windows. the whistling of the bullets was similar to that of brownings, and totally different from the sound of our projectiles. in the meanwhile, the firing had been stopped by the company leaders. in the upper room lay another company. it was quiet for a time. the town-hall square was now filled with artillery--one battery--and with columns, motor-cars, and benzine-tanks. a tremendous rifle-fire now commenced again from the surrounding houses of the townsfolk. i saw how one company sought cover in the entrance to st. peter's church. in the meantime, we had deposited the wounded in the town hall; i believe there were three, wounded chiefly in the legs. after the firing had again ceased i ordered the surrounding houses to be searched. this was effected in such a manner that all inhabitants found with arms or ammunition were immediately shot. the houses were set on fire. i saw myself one belgian civilian on whom was found a roll of cartridges. at about this time the general in command, ix. reserve corps, his excellency v. boehn, arrived at the town hall at about . p.m. he was very indignant about this firing by the belgians. when he rode to the hotel with the staff a murderous fire was opened upon him and his staff from windows and roofs, without any provocation, and three of his adjutants were seriously wounded, a troop of about ninety horses was stampeded, wounded, or killed. his excellency v. boehn asked to be conducted to the town hall to see the hostages. in his own presence and that of his officers, the hostages were told in french that if the town continued to be fired on, the town would have to pay a contribution of twenty million francs, the hostages would be shot, and the town destroyed. i offered to make these measures at once known to the inhabitants by going through the town with two hostages and a group of soldiers, and the hostages repeated the words of general v. boehn. on the following morning the general had this procession with the hostages repeated. several houses from which firing had taken place were already burning. no firing by the inhabitants was heard at the town hall, but on the boulevards the firing is said to have been continued. i wish to add that at the town hall a horse was killed by a shot in the head. read over, approved, signed. signed: v. manteuffel. the witness was then sworn. signed: dr. ivers. signed: rambeau. louvain, _september rd, _. expert opinion of the commandant, th mobile forage commando, major v. manteuffel. in addition to my statement as a witness i would like to express expert opinion as commandant and soldier to the effect that the whole firing was instigated by the inhabitants. at the same time, the approach of two belgian battalions from the direction of bueken was reported. the german detachments on duty were given the alarm to oppose this. when these troops had nearly got away, the belgian inhabitants opened a lively fire upon them from windows and garret dormers. our german soldiers went through the streets quietly and unsuspectingly, when they were suddenly fired on. the german soldiers in no way commenced or provoked the firing. signed: v. manteuffel, major and commandant. d. app. . court of the government-general at brussels. present: dr. ivers, judge of military law. secretary, rambeau. louvain, _september rd, _. lieutenant of the landwehr ibach, adjutant, mobile foraging commando no. , declared as follows: as to person: my name is ernst ibach, born on may th, , at braunschweig; protestant; municipal councillor at halberstadt. the witness was informed that the governor-general, field-marshal general baron von der goltz, had arranged judicial proceedings for the purpose of ascertaining whether german military persons, and, if so, which, were guilty and deserving of punishment; he then made the following statement: as to case: on august th, , i was as adjutant of the forage commando at louvain in the town hall there. between and p.m. it was reported to me several times at short intervals that belgians had fired upon our german troops on the outskirts of the town. i asked the commandant, major v. manteuffel, to come to the town hall. shortly after his arrival, at about p.m., violent firing took place directly outside the town hall. on going from the office of the commando into the hall, our soldiers told me that the inhabitants had fired from the opposite windows and roofs. the german soldiers replied to the fire. among the soldiers at the town hall i saw several with shot-wounds; one was injured in the upper part of the thigh, and was bandaged at the office of the commando. in the course of the night, german soldiers brought in a corpse wrapped in a red cover; the bearers related that he was an ensign of the th regiment, who had been shot in the head by the belgians. during the night i noticed that a house diagonally opposite and one behind the town hall were burning. i went to see judge schmit, who was at the town hall as a hostage, and upon my request he asked the police to collect the firemen who, in company with german soldiers, commenced operations for extinguishing the fire. the other houses burned near the town hall and the peter church were, as far as i could see, set on fire by sparks from neighbouring conflagrations. the roof of the church burned first. the endeavours of an hussar officer to extinguish the fire by means of a minimax apparatus from the roof of the church were ineffective. a soldier coming to the town hall gave me a broken shot-gun which had been found in the possession of an inhabitant shot by summary court-martial. read over, approved, signed. signed: ernst ibach. the witness was then sworn. signed: dr. ivers. signed: rambeau. d. app. . court of the government-general at brussels. present: dr. ivers, judge of military law. secretary, rambeau. louvain, _september rd, _. judge of military law grebin declared as follows: as to person: my name is john grebin, born at halle a.s. on may th, ; protestant; president of the court of justice at aschersleben. the witness was informed that the governor-general, field-marshal general baron von der goltz, had arranged judicial proceedings for the purpose of ascertaining whether any german military persons, and, if so, which, were guilty and deserving of punishment; he then made the following statement: as to case: i am president of the military court of justice, mobile supply commando no. , and since sunday, august rd, , i have been at louvain. on tuesday, august th, at about o'clock p.m., i was having supper with major manteuffel, captain v. westhofen, and st lieutenant winkler, at the hôtel "métropole de suède," rue vital decoster. suddenly a gendarme came and reported to major v. manteuffel that the alarm had been raised. major v. manteuffel immediately set out, whilst we others remained a few minutes longer, and then followed the major. we then left the hotel and went to the rue de la station on our way to the town hall. on the way there i stopped twice for a short time, addressing a german company marching through the rue de la station from the direction of the market-place to the station, and immediately afterwards speaking to an officer who sat in a motor-car. when i entered the market-place i heard suddenly violent firing to the right of me, in a street leading to the market-place at the corner of the rue de la station. to judge from the sound, the firing did not come from german military rifles. as i advanced a few more steps towards the town hall, violent firing could be heard in the market-place, which, to judge from the direction of sound, came from the houses. as i could not proceed and could not remain without cover in the market-place, i sought cover between the baggage-carts standing on the left of me in the market-square. while i stood there, a bullet fell a few steps away from me upon the pavement, and i could clearly see the sparks flying up. when after a time the firing ceased, i went to the town hall, where i remained until the morning. read over, approved, signed. signed: johannes grebin. the witness was then sworn. signed: dr. ivers. signed: rambeau. d. app. . court of the government-general at brussels. present: dr. ivers, judge of military law. secretary, rambeau. louvain, _september rd, _. first lieutenant telemann of the reserve, supply commando, declared as follows: as to person: my name is paul telemann, born at nordhausen on october th, ; protestant; royal president at the ministry of public works in berlin. the witness was informed that the governor-general, field-marshal general baron von der goltz, had arranged judicial proceedings for the purpose of ascertaining whether german military persons, and, if so, which, were guilty and deserving of punishment; he then made the following statement: as to case: since noon on august th the infantry barracks, rue de tirlemont, with about men suffering from foot trouble and a few slightly wounded doing guard duty at louvain, were under my supervision. on the evening of august th i and two st staff-surgeons were having supper in the café royal--since burned down--in the market. suddenly--as far as i remember, soon after p.m.--i heard lively firing in the market, which steadily increased. the hostess, a german, immediately switched off the electric light, and we and the other guests of the establishment, chiefly officers and non-commissioned officers of our army, went into a back room so as not to be hit from the street. as the greater number of us were without arms, we decided for the present to wait there. when after a time the firing ceased, we hurried into the street, and there met german soldiers going along the houses for the purpose of taking action against those from which inhabitants had fired. as far as i remember, only isolated shots fell at that time. we went over to the town hall, where i met a group of people from my barrack who had gone to the town hall to look for me. i at once went with them to the infantry barracks. during this time also only isolated shots were fired behind us. the guard and a large number of soldiers stationed there stood in front of the infantry barracks with their rifles ready, and they showed me several houses in the rue de tirlemont from which inhabitants had fired on them. i forbade them, under threat of heavy punishment, to set these houses on fire as they had intended, as i wished to protect the "military hospital" opposite the barracks and the barracks themselves with the wounded. a short time afterwards we heard continuous firing from the direction of the adjoining place du peuple, and in this direction we also saw several houses burning. motor-cars arrived now, bringing german wounded to the "military hospital." as far as i remember, there were in all about thirty to thirty-five, amongst whom were also some severely wounded, as, for instance, captain v. esmarch, who had shot wounds in the head and had dislocated both arms in his fall from horseback. owing to the fairly strong wind the entire blocks of houses behind the field hospital began to catch fire, apparently from the houses set alight in the place du peuple; i had thus to direct my whole attention to the safety of the wounded. fortunately the wind abated somewhat later on and drove the flames to the other side, so that after bringing up fire-hose, it was possible to save the field hospital. during the night the crack of isolated gun-shots and the explosion of ammunition in the burning houses continued intermittently. in the early hours of the morning a division of pioneers marched through the rue de tirlemont, who asserted that they had just been fired on from the houses of this street, and they also wanted to set the houses on fire. i forbade this for the reasons already mentioned. read over, approved, signed. signed: paul telemann. the witness was then sworn. signed: dr. ivers. signed: rambeau. d. app. . court of the government-general at brussels. present: dr. ivers, judge of military law. secretary, rambeau. louvain, _september th, _. station buildings. during the judicial proceedings of the court of the government-general at brussels for the purpose of ascertaining whether any german military persons, and, if so, which, were guilty and deserving of punishment for the burning down of louvain, there appeared as witness: lieutenant-colonel (active list) schweder, commanding nd mobile landsturm infantry battalion neuss, who made the following statement: as to person: my name is max karl schweder, born in posen on april th, ; protestant. as to case: on monday, august th, , the landsturm battalion neuss, coming from neuss, arrived in tirlemont, and was immediately detrained. i went with my staff by motor to louvain, where i arrived about . p.m. it was my intention to prepare everything for the drawing up and quartering of the company v. sandt. the company also arrived at louvain at . p.m.; it was quartered near the station, with closed ranks in an alarm quarter. i, st lieutenant v. sandt, st surgeon dr. berghausen, and adjutant-lieutenant lamberts took up our quarters at an hotel opposite. the night of august th to august th was quiet. on august th, at a.m., began the marching of the troops of the ix. reserve army corps through louvain towards malines, coming from liège. on the th there were only about men in louvain of the v. sandt company, because about men were told off for guard and sentries. as far as i know, no other troops were present in louvain on tuesday, august th, except this company. during the day, until o'clock p.m., the town was perfectly quiet. at o'clock staff-major-general, th reserve division, v. rosenberg appeared and ordered the company to be ready at the north-west exit of louvain. i and st lieutenant v. sandt immediately led the company there and drew it up, covered by the crest of a small hill. the company lay there from . till o'clock at this point without taking part in the fight, which, as far as i remember, had already begun at a.m. on both sides of the main road mechlin-louvain, and the main points of attack were herent and bueken. shortly after o'clock i ordered st lieutenant v. sandt to march back with his company and to draw it up ready at the station at louvain, because i felt that the company was more necessary there than outside the town. i myself went on foot through the town, which was almost devoid of troops, to the station. i saw some isolated persons and several of the inhabitants in small groups standing in front of the houses and walking about in the streets. the houses were everywhere dark. of the german forces i saw in the evening only a few baggage-carts accompanied by small detachments. about paces from the station, in the rue leopold, i saw suddenly the flash of a rocket across the station road. at the same moment firing took place from all surrounding houses, from windows, attics, cellar gratings, upon me and upon the german soldiers near--about fifteen men, who were in the street either singly or were following their baggage, which was ahead of them. i emphasise particularly the point that before the rocket went up the streets were perfectly quiet, and that the soldiers went quite quietly and harmlessly on their way. i assert distinctly that neither a german officer nor a german soldier had once fired upon the inhabitants of louvain before this attack began. i collected about ten soldiers, with whom i went to the station, part of them going on one side of the road and part of them on the other. on the way, a distance of about metres, i with my men, about ten of them, were fired at from the houses of this street, so that we were continually under a hail of bullets. during this march i ordered my soldiers to reply to the fire directed upon them. when i arrived at the station, st lieutenant v. sandt's company was already fighting the inhabitants of the surrounding houses, who fired from the roofs, windows, and cellar windows. i immediately placed myself in the firing-line and took part in the fight with a rifle; st lieutenant v. sandt did the same. about ten minutes later there was a pause in the firing, which i made use of for sending strong patrols into the nearest houses, from which firing had taken place, to bring out the inhabitants. i took the company straight back to the station. one non-commissioned officer and five men of the company were wounded, several by small-shot. in the course of the evening his excellency v. boehn appeared with a few officers, and i and st lieutenant v. sandt had to give a general report. i finally add that, with short intervals, the inhabitants fired during the whole night from their houses, and also from the group of houses to the east of the station. read over, approved, signed. signed: max schweder. the witness was then sworn. signed: dr. ivers. signed: rambeau. d. app. . court of the government-general at brussels. present: dr. ivers, judge of military law. secretary, rambeau. louvain, _september th, _. station buildings. first lieutenant of reserve v. sandt, nd westphalian hussar regiment no. and leader of the company, nd mobile landsturm infantry battalion neuss, declares the following: as to person: my name is otto v. sandt, born at bonn, may th, ; catholic. the witness was informed that the governor-general, field-marshal general baron von der goltz, had arranged judicial proceedings for the purpose of ascertaining whether any german military persons; and, if so, which, were guilty and deserving of punishment; he then made the following statement: as to case: i arrived at louvain from neuss with the st company, nd mobile landsturm infantry battalion neuss, on august th, . my company was quartered in closed ranks in an alarm quarter near the station. the night passed quietly; on the morning of august th i commenced at once to fall in sentries as a railway guard. there were no other troops in louvain on this day except a section of railway engineers, about strong. during the day, great trains of troops of the ix. reserve army corps, coming from liège, went through louvain towards malines. at about o'clock colonel schweder ordered me to march with my company to the north-west exit of louvain; at about o'clock my company lay upon a small hill in a covered position. a good deal of fighting was taking place about metres away from us. i did not take part in it with my company. on the command of colonel schweder we marched back to the station square at louvain. on the way to the town-hall square many german troops with the baggage passed us. inhabitants stood singly and in groups before the various houses. on the way to the station square all was quiet; one could not anticipate that the inhabitants were planning an attack. at about ten minutes before o'clock i was with my company in the station square near the baggage that was ready to march. i stood with my company about five minutes, when my company was suddenly and quite unexpectedly fired at from all the surrounding houses, from the windows and attics. at the same time, i heard lively firing in the station road and all the adjacent streets; firing also took place from the window of my hotel (hôtel de l'industrie), directly from my room. we stood near the baggage; then we knelt down and fired upon the houses opposite. after a short time the baggage horses and those of the officers, some of which had been wounded by shots, ran away. i then sought cover with my company inside the doors of a few houses. five men of my company were wounded in this attack. that so few were wounded can be explained by the fact that the inhabitants fired too high. on the command of colonel schweder i then led my company back, close to the station. an hour later an adjutant came who called my name--v. sandt. he said that he was an adjutant of his excellency v. boehn. the adjutant asked me, "can you swear that belgians fired on your company from the opposite and adjacent houses?" i replied, "yes; i can swear that." the adjutant then led me to general v. boehn, who stood near. his excellency desired an accurate report. i gave my report exactly as i have given it here before the judge of military law, dr. ivers. after having given my report, his excellency said to me, "can you swear to the accuracy of what you have just reported to me, especially to the fact that the inhabitants first fired from the houses?" i replied to this, "yes; i can swear to this." read over, approved, signed. signed: otto v. sandt. the witness was then sworn. signed: dr. ivers. signed: rambeau. court of the government-general at brussels. present: dr. ivers, judge of military law. secretary, rambeau. louvain, _september th, _. station buildings, o'clock p.m. first lieutenant v. sandt added the following: about half an hour after his excellency v. boehn had spoken with me about the firing of the belgians from their houses upon my company, and after his excellency had had these houses at the station set on fire, and while they were blazing, with the exception of the house "maria theresa" (an hotel which was not set on fire because near it were the military benzine stores), two or three more volleys were fired from the windows, and particularly from the roof of this hotel directly upon the officers and men standing in front of the station. besides my company, about soldiers of the th reserve regiment, just detrained, stood in front of the station. it was only now that--after having removed the barrels of benzine--we fired on the house and set it alight. after this statement too had been read to the witness he declared it also on the oath which he had taken at the first examination on the morning of the same day. signed: otto v. sandt. signed: dr. ivers. signed: rambeau. court of the government-general of belgium. present: president, stempel. secretary, stemper. malines, _november th, _. there appears on citation captain v. sandt as witness, and after the object of the examination has been made known to him, he is examined as follows: as to person: as already stated. as to case: i can only confirm as perfectly true my statement of september th, , which has been shown to me again. like my commander, schweder, i had taken up my quarters in the hôtel de l'industrie at louvain. i did not see myself the light signals shown at the station, but soldiers of my company assured me repeatedly in the most trustworthy manner that light signals had gone up near the station, and the firing from the surrounding houses commenced immediately afterwards. the shots from these houses were undoubtedly fired by civilians. there were not yet any german soldiers in the houses at that time. our soldiers only fired after a lively fire had been opened on them from the houses. our troops marched into louvain in close order when they arrived from the fight at bueken, and they were not pursued by belgian troops as far as louvain. the belgian troops had been pressed back beyond herent to bueken. there was no reason at all for our troops to fire prior to the firing from the houses. i emphatically declare on my oath that it is altogether out of the question that our troops should have previously fired upon each other by mistake in louvain. i was told that identification discs were frequently found on shot civilians, so that one may assume that belgian soldiers in civilian clothes took part in the firing. i did not myself see any mutilated german soldiers in louvain, but soldiers of the marine battalion--i think of the th--under the command of colonel v. berund, told me credibly that a german soldier had been found in the hôtel de suède with the head beaten in. according to their statement another german soldier was found dead in the rue maria thérèse, his legs and arms having been chopped off. this house was consequently set on fire. read over, approved, signed. signed: otto v. sandt. the witness affirmed the correctness of his statement, referring to the oath already previously made. signed: stempel. signed: stemper. d. app. . court of the government-general at brussels. present: dr. ivers, judge of military law. secretary, rambeau. louvain, _september rd, _. first surgeon, nd mobile landsturm infantry battalion neuss, dr. berghausen made the following statement: as to person: my name is georg berghausen, born at cologne o.rh. on february st, ; old catholic. as to case: i am battalion surgeon in the landsturm infantry battalion neuss, and arrived at the station of louvain with the st company of this regiment on august th, , at noon. i lived with the staff in the hôtel "de la ville," and in order to prepossess the proprietor and the employés i immediately paid out of my own pocket francs for the purchase of provisions. the evening of the th and the night passed quietly. at noon on the th i was on duty at herent and bueken. at about p.m. i was again in louvain. at about o'clock i heard that there was a battle proceeding at bueken. the st company of the landsturm infantry battalion neuss, under st lieutenant v. sandt as company leader, marched to the north-west exit of louvain. i had gone there previously by motor, and went as far as the fighting-line before bueken, where i was repeatedly fired at whilst sitting in my car, though i was wearing the white armlet with the red cross. i returned to louvain in my car at . p.m. i got out near the town hall and sent my car with the chauffeur to the station. i myself went on foot along the rue de la station in order to go to the station where i was living. on the way, between the town hall and the station, i was fired at from the windows of the houses about ten or twelve times. close to where the monument stands, i saw a german soldier lying dead on the ground; he had been shot in the head (mouth). his comrades, with whom he had passed the monument, told me on inquiry as to who had shot the soldier, that the shot had been fired from the corner house of david fischbach. with the help of my servant i broke open the street door, and there first encountered the occupant, old david fischbach. i questioned him regarding the murdered soldier, because, as the other soldiers declared with certainty, the shot that had killed the soldier on the monument place had been fired from his house. old david fischbach declared that he knew nothing about it. his son, young fischbach, then came down the stairs of the first floor, and from the porter's lodge came an old servant. i immediately took father, son, and servant into the street. at this moment a tumult arose in the street because the soldiers, standing near the monument, and i myself, were being terribly fired on from a few houses farther away on the same side. during this time i lost fischbach, his son, and the servant in the darkness. lively firing proceeded from a house obliquely opposite the present commando, rue de la station, no. . just in front of this house, no. , two officers of high rank and several soldiers passed, hurrying in the direction of the station on account of the violent firing. i can state with certainty that the officers and soldiers, who went along the rue de la station during the time that i passed from the town hall to the railway, did not fire. accordingly, it is certain that while the german soldiers did not fire, the inhabitants fired on us german officers and soldiers from their windows in the rue de la station on the night of august th to th, at between and o'clock, and, particularly that when we passed the house no. , rue de la station, i saw myself that a murderous fire was directed upon us officers and soldiers from the second floor of this house. that we, or some of us, were not killed, i can only explain by the fact that the officers and soldiers ran along on the same side of the street from which the firing took place, and that, moreover, it was dark. a few minutes later i met, near the monument, the commissariat commandant, major v. manteuffel, with the belgian president of the red cross, the prior of the dominican monastery, and the old priest of the town. we four or five all saw the shot soldier and, a few steps farther, the old fischbach lying shot in front of the monument. i assumed that the comrades of the shot soldier, who had seen the firing from the house of fischbach upon their comrade, had immediately carried out this punishment on the owner of the house. i then joined the commandant with his group of eight soldiers and the three hostages. the commandant went with his soldiers and the three hostages through the main streets of the town, and the father prior announced in a loud voice in flemish and french that no belgians should fire upon german soldiers, otherwise the hostages would have to be shot and the town would have to pay a fine of twenty millions, and furthermore the houses, from which german soldiers had been fired at, would be burnt. from this statement of mine, which i can conscientiously swear to, it can be clearly seen that on the night of august th to th, and also on the forenoon of august th, the inhabitants fired repeatedly and frequently upon german officers and german soldiers without any cause, that is to say, without a german officer or a german soldier having first fired upon the inhabitants. finally, i wish to add that during those days i saw myself a st surgeon, a captain, and a landsturm soldier wounded by small-shot, the two former in the face; i treated the landsturm soldier myself; he had shot-wounds in the forehead, on the right hand, and the right thigh. i also treated a fourth wounded, a landsturm soldier with shot-wounds in the thigh. read over, approved, signed. signed: dr. georg berghausen. the witness was then sworn. signed: dr. ivers. signed: rambeau. d. app. . court of the government-general at brussels. present: dr. ivers, judge of military law. secretary, rambeau. louvain, _september th, _. station buildings. non-commissioned officer friedrich hüllermeier, st company, nd mobile landsturm infantry battalion neuss, made the following statement: as to person: my name is friedrich hüllermeier, born at hardenberg, near neviges (district of düsseldorf), on november th, ; protestant. as to case: on monday, august th, , our company, coming from neuss, arrived at louvain, the st company having gone as far as louvain by rail. i was attached to the baggage, consisting of three carts, three drivers, six men, and four cyclists. we arrived at louvain at about . p.m. the night passed quietly at louvain. on august th everything in louvain was quiet until o'clock p.m. our carts and baggage, with the necessary guard, stood in front of the hotels in the station square. at . the baggage leader, non-commissioned officer cardinco, came and gave orders to fetch the horses at once from the avenue and side-street, and to make them ready for marching. we stood harnessed. at about o'clock our company, with st lieutenant v. sandt at its head, returned from the north-west exit of louvain and drew up between our baggage. the company had been barely five minutes near the baggage when suddenly and unexpectedly we were terribly fired at from the surrounding houses, from windows, attics, and particularly from the roofs. beside me stood the servant of colonel schweder, corporal fehnes. he received a wound in the head and several in the arm, and was carried from the place seriously injured. i also saw four of our horses hit by shots from the windows. i saw that many shots were fired on us from the hôtel de l'industrie, the hotel where our officers were staying. several soldiers of our company are said to have been grievously injured. i add, that the inhabitants fired too high. this was our good fortune, for, in the terrible fire directed upon us from all the houses in the station square most of the german officers and soldiers would have been killed or seriously wounded. at the command of colonel schweder the company was then led close to the station building. we stood close to the station for about a quarter of an hour, and then i saw that the houses at the station--except the hôtel "maria theresa"--were blazing. the hôtel "maria theresa" had not been set on fire because, as i heard only later on, the german military store of benzine was near it. but i saw clearly that several volleys had been fired from the windows and the roof of this hotel, which were aimed directly at the officers and men in front of the station. besides my company, about to soldiers from a regiment just detrained stood at the station. only, now, since the volleys had been fired from the house hôtel "maria theresa," we also fired at this house and set it alight. not a single shot was fired either by our soldiers, standing near the baggage, or by my company, which returned about o'clock from the north-west exit of louvain, and which was partly standing between our baggage and partly lying down a little distance away. only after we german officers and soldiers had been fired at from almost all the houses round the station did we receive orders to reply to the fire. i can swear to this. the witness, after his statement had been read over to him, was admonished that his statement must be perfectly true, since he would have to swear to it. the witness declared: i have only spoken what is quite true, and i can swear to it to the best of my knowledge. read over, approved, signed. signed: friedrich hÜllermeier. the witness was then sworn. signed: dr. ivers. signed: rambeau. court of the government-general of belgium. present: president, stempel. secretary, stemper. malines, _november th, _. there appears on citation the witness mentioned below, who, after the object of the examination had been made known to him, was examined as follows: as to person: friedrich hüllermeier, aged ; non-commissioned officer, st company, nd landsturm battalion neuss, at present in malines. as to case: on the afternoon of august th the alarm was raised in louvain because there was a battle in the neighbourhood. i had instructions to be ready at the station to march with our baggage-carts (the baggage of the staff and our company). i saw nothing of a light signal or a green light near the station. but towards the evening my attention had been aroused by a very large number of young people in civilian clothes--compared to the number previously--who moved about in the streets, and also went into some of the houses. towards the evening i also saw some figures glide past the windows of the surrounding houses, and i noticed curtains at the open windows being pulled together. suddenly, after o'clock p.m., we were fired at from all sides as if by word of command. many of us were wounded; some of us were seriously injured. my horse was shot in the head. we were ordered to lie down, and we fired upon the houses. previous to this firing there was perfect quiet, and we were on the best terms with the inhabitants. comrades, particularly such as had stood guard at the station, assured me in the most credible manner that on that evening, and prior to the sudden firing, they had seen light signals go up, especially red and green lights. i declare on my oath that i saw myself how we were fired at from the surrounding houses, particularly from the windows and attic dormers; i also clearly noticed many shots from the hôtel de l'industrie and whole volleys from the windows and the roof of the hôtel "maria theresa." i maintain my statement, made on september th, , which has been read over to me. read over, approved, signed. signed: non-commissioned officer hÜllermeier. the witness affirmed the correctness of his statement with reference to his previous oath. proceedings closed. signed: stempel. signed: stemper. d. app. . court of the government-general at brussels. present: dr. ivers, judge of military law. secretary, rambeau. louvain, _september th, _. station buildings. landsturm-soldier wilhelm krebbers, st company, nd mobile landsturm infantry battalion neuss, made the following statement: as to person: my name is wilhelm krebbers, born in crefeld, october th, ; catholic. as to case: i can testify with certainty that the german officers and we german soldiers only fired on the houses after the inhabitants had previously made a murderous attack upon us germans by firing many shots and whole volleys from the windows and especially the roofs of all houses near the station. i was baggage leader. after the firing was finished, my baggage-cart and horses had disappeared. it was not until about . at night that i met in the rue de la station two soldiers of a strange regiment with my cart and my horses. i got on the cart and drove to the station. when i passed the hôtel "maria theresa" several volleys were fired from the windows and the roof upon my cart. the horses bolted and only stopped behind the station at a wall. the statement was read over to the witness, and he was admonished to speak only the truth, since he would have to swear to it. he then declared: i have spoken the perfect truth, and can swear to it with a clear conscience. read over, approved, signed. signed: wilh. krebbers. the witness was then sworn. signed: ivers. signed: rambeau. d. app. . court of the government-general at brussels. present: dr. ivers, judge of military law. secretary, rambeau. louvain, _september th, _. station buildings. sergeant-major schmiele, st company, nd mobile landsturm infantry battalion neuss, made the following statement: as to person: my name is arnold schmiele, born on may th, , at berlin; protestant. as to case: i am sergeant-major, st company, nd mobile landsturm infantry battalion neuss, and am under the immediate command of st lieutenant v. sandt. when i had heard the first two or three shots of the inhabitants from the houses opposite the station--it was about o'clock p.m., shortly after dark--i noticed coming in a south-westerly direction a swarm of small bluish balls of light that descended on us without making any noise and were then extinguished. i immediately drew the attention of the soldiers near me to this; five to six soldiers had, so they told me, made the same observation as i had done. in my opinion, this rocket was to be the sign for the inhabitants to begin firing at once upon the german soldiers; in any case, it is certain that immediately after the appearance of the rocket in the sky, the inhabitants fired from their houses. i saw that we german soldiers were fired on from two houses in the station square directly from the roof and from the attic windows. i can swear according to the truth that in the station square where my company lay, the inhabitants were the first to fire on us from the houses, and that it was only then, after the belgians had commenced the firing, that we germans fired on the houses in the station square. read over, approved, signed. signed: arnold schmiele. the witness was then sworn. signed: dr. ivers. signed: rambeau. d. app. . court of the government-general at brussels. present: dr. ivers, judge of military law. secretary, rambeau. louvain, _september th, _. landsturm-soldier küppers, landsturm battalion neuss, made the following statement: as to person: my name is hubert küppers, born at güchen, district of grevenbroich, on april th, ; catholic. as to case: i am a soldier of the st company, landsturm infantry battalion neuss. on august th i was, in the evening between and o'clock, sentinel in front of the main entrance to the station building at louvain. at about o'clock the leader of our company arrived with his company in the station square. one part of the company drew up between our baggage-carts in the station square, another part lay down on the ground a few paces from us. the company had only been in the station square for about five minutes when i saw a green rocket go up, going in the direction above the hôtel "maria theresa" at the station square. i saw how the rocket became extinguished above the monument in the station square and a number of bright, many-coloured little balls fell down, which all went out in the air before they touched the ground. hardly had the green rocket and the small balls become extinguished when, on the opposite side of the town, and also in the direction towards the station, a red rocket became visible. after a few minutes the red rocket also became extinguished, and immediately afterwards a number of luminous little balls, blue, red, and green, from the rocket fell down and were extinguished before touching the ground. only a few seconds later a murderous fire was opened upon the german soldiers from the windows and attics of nearly all the houses in the station square. i am certain that the two rockets were a sign to the belgians for commencing the fire upon the german soldiers. at o'clock i was relieved. i immediately reported to non-commissioned officer grünewald, on duty in the guardroom, that at about o'clock i had seen two rockets go up, one from the left of the town and the other from the right--the first, a green one, followed immediately by a red one, from both of which fell a quantity of luminous, many-coloured, small balls. after the witness had been earnestly exhorted to speak the truth, he made the following statement: i am ready to swear conscientiously to the incident of the two rockets just as i have described it. read over, approved, signed. signed: hubert kÜppers. the witness was then sworn. signed: dr. ivers. signed: rambeau. d. app. . court of the government-general at brussels. present: dr. ivers, judge of military law. secretary, rambeau. louvain, _september th, _. non-commissioned officer engemann, landsturm battalion neuss, made the following statement: as to person: my name is hugo engemann, born at barmen on june th, ; catholic. as to case: i am a non-commissioned officer of the st company, landsturm battalion neuss, and on august th i was on duty at signal-box . the guard is posted at some metres' distance from the station at louvain. i sat in front of the guard-house and noticed in the twilight, immediately after o'clock, a red rocket in the sky. in my opinion it rose above the main railway station at louvain. immediately afterwards i heard loud firing from the town. i can swear to my statement with a clear conscience. signed: hugo engemann. the witness was then sworn. signed: dr. ivers. signed: rambeau. d. app. . malines, _november th, _. court of the general-government of belgium. present: president, stempel. secretary, stemper. on citation there appears the witness mentioned below, who, after the object of the examination has been made known, was examined as follows: as to person: my name is frederic messelke, aged ; corporal, nd landsturm battalion neuss, st company, at present in malines. as to case: on august th i marched with my company in close order through louvain to the station there. in the preceding action the belgians had been pressed back. on our return the town was quiet, nor did we hear any shots on our return march. the troops in louvain did not mistake us for belgian troops trying to enter the town. above the station i saw suddenly, at about o'clock p.m., a blaze of light as of a rocket. on the appearance of this light we were suddenly fired upon from every quarter. at the command of our feldwebelleutnant we fired on the houses. the shooting continued for some time. i immediately told my comrades that the signal light mentioned above was evidently a rocket. read over, approved, signed. signed: fritz messelke. after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, the witness was duly sworn. signed: stempel. signed: stemper. d. app. . malines, _november th, _. court of the general belgian government. present: president, stempel. secretary, stemper. there appears as witness corporal heinrich weinen, and is examined as follows: as to person: my name is heinrich weinen, aged ; corporal, st company, nd mobile landsturm battalion neuss, at present in malines. as to case: on august th i saw from the station square a light signal suddenly given. upon this signal we were fired at on all sides from the windows of the surrounding houses. the rooms, from which the shots came, were dark. i did not see any figures at the windows; i only saw the flash of the shots; the flashes from the objects pointed from the windows, which i took to be revolvers, were reflected from the houses upon the street. the bullets struck the square close to us and burst about our heads too. read over, approved, signed. signed: heinrich weinen. after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, the witness was duly sworn. signed: stempel. signed: stemper. d. app. . malines, _november th, _. court of the general belgian government. present: president, stempel. secretary, stemper. there appears on citation musketeer wilhelm mainz as witness, and is examined as follows: as to person: my name is wilhelm mainz, aged ; musketeer, st company, nd landsturm battalion neuss, at present in malines. as to case: on august th, in the evening, i was on guard at the signal cabin, about metres from the railway station at louvain. once, on turning round--it was between and o'clock--i saw clearly two bright rockets rising near the station. after the ascent of these rockets, i heard all at once in the town, and more especially near the station, violent firing. read over, approved, signed. signed: wilhelm mainz. after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, the witness was duly sworn. signed: stempel. signed: stemper. d. app. . louvain, _november th, _. stationsstrasse, . court of the general belgian government. present: president, stempel. secretary, stemper. on citation there appears as witness corporal erwin bastian, who is examined as follows: as to person: my name is erwin bastian, aged , at present engaged at the commandant's office at louvain. as to case: on august nd i came here with st lieutenant thelemann, and was billeted upon a wine merchant, w. philipper, opposite the infantry barracks, with two more comrades. up to august th the relations between the local inhabitants and the soldiers were throughout good, so that the men went partly without arms. on this evening we retired to rest about . ; half an hour later we heard isolated shots in the street. from what seemed to me the unusual sound of these shots, i believe i can say with certainty that the shots did not emanate from our weapons. we dressed ourselves at once. from the window of my quarters i noticed several horses, especially officers' horses, galloping through the streets riderless and coming from tirlemont. i also saw baggage horses without riders galloping past, presumably from the baggage column, which was then stationed in the market square here. later we went to the infantry barracks, and there reported ourselves. when the shooting increased, we made our way out under the command of a non-commissioned officer to the tirlemont street, but soon returned again to barracks. our section had not been firing. on the way i saw dead horses lying in the street. riderless horses also galloped past us. in the barracks we occupied the windows. from there i saw the flashes of different shots; according to the illumination they caused, they had been fired from the surrounding houses, perhaps at the height of the roof in the direction of the street. i heard the bullets from these shots fall in the street; i had the impression that they came from small bore rifles. it was dark in the street; there was no light; the electric lighting, which on the previous day was in order, had been destroyed during the night. read over, approved, signed. signed: erwin bastian. after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to the witness, he was duly sworn. signed: stempel. signed: stemper. d. app. . louvain, _december th, _. stationsstrasse, . court of the general belgian government. present: president, stempel. secretary, stemper. there appears on citation as witness musketeer robert dreher, and is examined as follows: as to person: my name is robert dreher, aged ; musketeer, th company, infantry regiment no. , at present engaged at the commander's office at louvain. as to case: i arrived here on august th, and have remained here since that date. i was in the infantry barracks here, suffering with bad feet. on the evening of august th, at about o'clock, i heard shots in the street. i therefore marched with several men under the command of a non-commissioned officer. in the rue de tirlemont shots were fired upon us from right and left of the houses of this street, and, as i could clearly see in the illuminating flashes of the firing, by people dressed as civilians. the shots came from the windows and roofs; the bullets struck the street. it was clear from the sound of the shots that they did not come from german weapons. we entered the houses from which the shots had come and brought out five to six civilians, all of whom still held revolvers in their hands. these persons were later on shot at the railway station. i did not notice any previous signal lights; riderless horses galloped past us, as well as baggage-carts and horses, without drivers. on the morning of august th i saw on the railway-station square many civilians shot, more than , among whom were five clergymen, because they had shot upon german soldiers, or because arms had been found with them. on august th i was in the town with a comrade. i was shot at, without being injured, from behind the hedges of a garden. it was in the afternoon; i was unable to see the person who had fired the shot. on civilians who had been shot we subsequently found distinguishing marks, from which i conclude that they were belgian soldiers. read over, approved, signed. signed: musketeer dreher. after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to the witness, he was duly sworn. signed: stempel. signed: stemper. d. app. . louvain, _november th, _. stationsstrasse, . court of the general belgian government. present: president, stempel. secretary, stemper. on citation there appears as witness corporal willi kröber, who is examined as follows: as to person: my name is willi kröber, aged ; corporal, th leib-grenadier regiment, at present in louvain at the commandant's office. as to case: i have been here since the st of august, in the infantry barracks, rue de tirlemont, with bad feet. on august th, at about o'clock in the evening, we here heard shots which, according to the sound, came from revolvers, but not german ones. we had to form up in the court. a sergeant-major distributed cartridges among us, whereupon i marched off with about twenty men. in the rue de tirlemont we were vigorously fired at from houses to the right of the barracks and from houses near the military hospital, the shots being fired from small rifles. we entered a restaurant, from which shots had been fired on us, and we found that the owner had about browning cartridges. he was taken prisoner and shot. in the public square i saw in the above-mentioned night two dead baggage horses and several german soldiers lying dead in the street. by the light of the shots it could be clearly seen that we were being shot at from the houses of the rue tirlemont. we also heard the bullets from these shots strike the street. on our return to barracks i still heard many shots in the distance. on august th i did not go out. on august th, in the afternoon about o'clock, i went with five men under the command of a non-commissioned officer from the town hall to the market-place. in this square we were shot at with revolvers from the roofs of several houses; the bullets fell near us. read over, approved, signed. signed: willi krÖber. after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to the witness, he was duly sworn. signed: stempel. signed: stemper. d. app. . malines, _november th, _. court of the general belgian government. present: president, stempel. secretary, stemper. there appears on request as a witness assistant medical officer keuten, who declares: as to person: my name is arnold keuten, aged ; assistant medical officer of the nd mobile landsturm battalion neuss, at present in malines. as to case: as far as i remember, i came to louvain in the course of the afternoon of august th, and was there until the beginning of october, when the landsturm battalion marched off. in the course of the afternoon i heard shots in the rue de la station. i was then wearing the red cross armlet. i had the impression that shots were being fired on us from a house in spite of my visible red cross armlet. we moved towards the house. a german soldier of another battalion jumped out of the first floor of this house, and in doing so broke the upper part of the thigh. he related to me that he had just been pursued and shot at by six civilians in the house. later i went to the station at louvain. there two german soldiers, both wounded by small shot, were taken to the ward under my care. they had small shot in the upper part of the thigh and the abdominal muscles respectively. according to their statement, civilians fired at them from houses when they were standing at the station between carriages. from september th to september th i had the care of a concentration ward in wygmael, about kilometres from louvain. from the th to the th of september there had been some engagements in the vicinity, especially at rotzelar and wackerzerl. it was reported to me that there were still on the battlefield about belgians. i went there twice to take care of the wounded belgians, the first time with a cart and a few men wearing the red cross. in bringing out the severely wounded belgians from a house, we were shot at from bushes two or three times, though it was still light. on the second occasion, too, when i went to the field with two motor ambulances and two transport cars for wounded, marked with the red cross and carrying flags with the red cross that were visible a long way off, shots were fired at us from bushes; the drive was merely undertaken in order to bring in belgian wounded. read over, approved, signed. signed: a. keuten. the witness was duly sworn. signed: stempel. signed: stemper. d. app. . malines, _november th, _. court of the general belgian government. present: president, stempel. secretary, stemper. there appears on citation as witness non-commissioned officer joseph fenes, who is examined as follows: as to person: my name is joseph fenes, aged ; non-commissioned officer, st company, nd landsturm battalion neuss, at present in malines. as to case: i arrived at louvain on the evening of august th with my landsturm battalion. in the afternoon of the following day, at about o'clock, i was ordered to saddle at once, ready for battle, the two horses of our commander, lieutenant-colonel schweder. the hotel, at which my commander had put up, was situated at the right, looking from the station square, at a corner of the square. when i arrived at the hotel with the two saddled horses my commander had already left in his automobile for the battlefield. i was instructed to wait with the two horses outside the hotel. from this point in front of the hotel i could well overlook the station square. i noticed that on the stroke of o'clock (german time) a rocket went up suddenly from the station square, such as i have seen them at displays of fireworks. the rocket, giving a bright light, went up from the square to the right of the station from a bush near which there are to-day graves; i was about metres away from it. i only saw one rocket go up. before the rocket went up i had already noticed that between and in the evening a remarkable number of the civilians who passed me entered the hotel of my commander and went up the stairs. hardly had the above-mentioned rocket gone up when shots were fired from all the surrounding houses upon the german soldiers who were in the station square. the shots were fired from the houses by civilians, as i noticed distinctly--it was still fairly light. i also saw civilians running about on the roofs of the surrounding houses and firing down from the roofs. the first shot fell from a window of the top storey of the hotel of my commander, outside which i was waiting, and, as i distinctly noticed, was fired by a civilian. immediately afterwards many more shots were fired from the windows of this hotel into the street. for safety's sake i at once mounted one of the horses. but immediately after i had mounted, it was shot in the leg (hind leg) from the window of my commander's hotel, so that it fell down with me. just afterwards the other horse also was struck by a bullet from the hotel. it fell on me, so that i broke a rib and shoulder. as i was lying between the two horses, i received suddenly from above, from a window of the hotel, a shot on the crown of the head. (witness shows the wound; the injury is to-day still clearly visible, and is situated on the upper part of the head, approximately in the centre, so that he must have received the shot from above.) i was carried to the hotel by a comrade and bandaged by a german military doctor who did not belong to our battalion. later on i was moved to another house, and then laid down in a place amongst some bushes. from there i saw that brisk firing was still taking place from the surrounding houses. the persons firing the shots i could not recognise because of the darkness. i declare most positively that the german soldiers only fired after the civilians had already begun the firing from the houses, after the rocket had gone up. after the rocket had ascended, wild and indiscriminate firing at once began from all the surrounding houses. a mad confusion ensued. riderless horses and driverless baggage-carts tore past. read over, approved, signed. signed: joseph fenes. after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to the witness, he was duly sworn. signed: stempel. signed: stemper. d. app. . malines, _november th, _. court of the general belgian government. present: president, stempel. secretary, stemper. there appears on citation as witness medical non-commissioned officer adam meschede, who is examined as follows: as to person: my name is adam meschede, aged ; medical non-commissioned officer, st company, nd landsturm battalion neuss, at present in malines. as to case: on the evening of august th, between and o'clock, i was in a ward at the railway station of louvain. as trained medical non-commissioned officer i was bandaging the wounded there. among the wounded two german soldiers of the st company of our battalion were brought to me this evening; their names are kloenters and roesseler. in both cases i ascertained, and i declare this on oath, that they had been injured by small shot in the head. on this evening i had in all about forty to fifty german wounded brought to me. read over, approved, signed. signed: adam meschede. after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to the witness, he was duly sworn. signed: stempel. signed: stemper. d. app. . malines, _november th, _. court of the general belgian government. present: president, stempel. secretary, stemper. there appears on citation as witness musketeer franz bongartz, who is examined as follows: as to person: my name is franz bongartz, aged ; musketeer, st company, nd landsturm battalion neuss, at present in malines. as to case: on the evening of august th we came back from an engagement near bueken, and formed up at the station. suddenly, as if by command, shots were fired upon us from all sides from the surrounding houses, as i clearly saw. whole volleys were discharged at us. i saw how we were being shot at from a restaurant there. we brought out from this restaurant a few women and one man, who were taken to the town hall. on the way there we were shot at from the houses. on the following day, at about o'clock in the morning, i was shot in the knee. a german sentry showed me his rifle which, as i convinced myself, was hit by small shot. i saw clearly that civilians fired from the houses; the shot i received in the knee was fired from a cellar by a civilian. read over, approved, signed. signed: franz bongartz. after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to the witness, he was duly sworn. signed: stempel. signed: stemper. d. app. . quedlinburg, _november nd, _. court of the ersatzbataillon, th hannoverian infantry regiment no. . present: moellmann, lieutenant, as officer of the court. bringern, sergeant-major, as military clerk. there appeared as witness musketeer august zander, rd ersatz company, th hannoverian infantry regiment no. , shop assistant by calling, and after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, he was examined as follows: as to person: my name is august zander, aged ; protestant; born in schönebeck a.e., now living in quedlinburg infantry barracks. as to case: on august st i was brought to the field hospital at louvain because i was hurt in the foot. the field hospital was situated in the barracks of the th belgian line infantry regiment, opposite the military hospital, and was recognisable by a red cross flag. food was conveyed to us regularly by young belgians, who visited a school in louvain to train as clerics, by a few dominicans or franciscans, who wore yellow coats, and also by a few civilians. the nursing attendants wore white armlets with the red cross. on august th these people, who had given us our food, had from the afternoon onwards disappeared without a trace. the evening meal we received on this evening from a civilian; it must in some way have been spoiled, for most who had eaten of it were attacked by violent diarrhoea. in the evening, when most were already abed, it may have been or . , we heard suddenly violent firing. all who could jumped from their beds and endeavoured to get rifles to defend themselves. the senior soldier present in the field hospital was a battalion drummer (sergeant-major) from regiment no. , who was lying in bed severely wounded. he tried to quiet us by saying that we were under the protection of the red cross; no one could hurt us. those of us who had been able to get rifles crowded to the entrance of the field hospital in order to defend ourselves. i saw quite clearly two or three persons sitting on the roof of a neighbouring house, who fired at our hospital. below at the door, where the guard stood, we heard violent firing. one could distinguish clearly between the pistol firing, carried out by the belgians, and the rifle fire of our own troops. meanwhile, one or other of our soldiers came to us and told us to rest quietly; the attack undertaken by the inhabitants had failed. they only said that our sentinels were having a bad time, that they were covered with hot tar, and were suffering great pain. finally we went to bed again. we heard throughout the night single pistol shots, which could be clearly distinguished from our rifle shots. next morning, between and , i had gone into the court. two other soldiers were near. suddenly about ten pistol shots were fired on us, which, as i saw clearly, struck the ground quite close to me. the shots had evidently been fired from the opposite roof by pushing back the tiles. on the way to the station, which we took on the same morning, we were repeatedly told by our posts to take care, as more shots had been fired. at the louvain station it was some hours before the field hospital train went off. during this time several pistol shots fell again at the end of our column, which were evidently intended for the hospital train; a comrade was immediately afterwards carried from the rear part of the column, where he had just been severely wounded in the legs, to the front of the train. read over, approved, signed. signed: august zander. the witness was then sworn. signed as above. signed: moellmann. signed: bringern. d. app. . _report._ on august th, , a motor-car, provided with a red cross flag and painted with the sign, stopped in the town hall square at louvain. the night affair in the streets was finished. the square was being cleansed from blood, etc. from mons had arrived a vehicle with wounded. of these captain count v. reventlow, th grenadier regiment, was carried in the voluntary aid society's automobile. it was p.m., sunny, raining at times. rifle fire upon this automobile was opened from the windows of the houses. signed: georg v. zitzewitz, capitänleutnant, delegate of the voluntary aid society. d. app. . fÜrstenwalde (spree), _november th, _. present: lieutenant prince zu carolath-beuthen, as court officer. sergeant-major altendorf, as clerk. there appears as witness uhlan friedrich herzog, st field squadron, uhlan regiment ( st brandenburg) no. , who states: as to person: my name is friedrich herzog, aged ; protestant. as to case: i was in the hospital at louvain. on the evening of august th, , o'clock, we heard shots directed upon our hospital. the shots came from a house opposite the hospital. they were fired by civilians, whom i saw myself. on the next day i was taken from the hospital to the station at louvain. on the way there i saw how shots were fired by civilians upon four nursing sisters who were carrying a wounded german soldier. the soldier, on this occasion, was hurt in the foot. read over, approved, signed. signed: friedrich herzog. the witness was sworn. proceedings took place as above. signed: zu carolath-beuthen, lieutenant, officer of the court. signed: altendorf, sergeant-major, clerk. d. app. . frankfurt a.o., _november rd, _. court of the reserve battalion, grenadier regiment prince carl von preussen ( nd brandenburg) no. . present: lieutenant and adjutant quander, as officer of the court. acting-sergeant-major troschel, as secretary. on citation there appears as witness reservist emil getzke, nd company, grenadier regiment no. , now with the nd company of reserve grenadier regiment no. , and after the importance of the oath has been pointed out, he is examined as follows: as to person: my name is as stated. i am years old; protestant; fireman by calling, living in berlin, winstrasse . as to case: from august th to th, , i was in louvain, wounded, where i was stationed with other wounded men in a school arranged as a hospital. on august th, shortly after p.m., we suddenly heard rifle fire coming from the street, which later on was augmented by machine-gun fire. as we could see nothing from the window owing to the geographical position of our house, an offizierstellvertreter, unknown to me, called the hospital guard, which was stationed in a building separated by the school-court, to inquire about the reason for the firing. the guard having replied to the query, the offizierstellvertreter ran quickly over and returned in a few moments. he ordered all lights in the house to be extinguished, and no one was to fire. on the afternoon of the following day the hospital was cleared. all the wounded, i amongst them, were conveyed to the station in a furniture van. immediately behind the van, sisters of the red cross carried a severely wounded soldier. when we had arrived at the station, and were about to leave the van, we were suddenly fired on by civilians who were passing. none of the wounded were hit, nor the sisters, but a few of the landwehr men, who were accompanying the conveyance of the wounded. they, as well as the guard at the station, at once replied to the firing. a number of the assailants were hit by rifle shots. read over, approved, signed. signed: emil getzke. the witness was then sworn. proceedings closed. signed: quander, officer of the court. signed: troschel, secretary. d. app. . cologne, _november th, _. royal government. present: president greeven, as judge. referendary, dr. wolter, as secretary. on citation there appears as witness the soldier dadaczynski, th company, reserve infantry regiment no. , who states: as to person: my name is stanislaus anton dadaczynski, aged ; catholic; gardener in stassfurt, near magdeburg, at present in the reserve battalion, reserve infantry regiment no. . as to case: when my battalion was in a village before louvain, the name of which i do not remember, i was taken by a non-commissioned officer to louvain on account of lung-trouble, together with two other soldiers who were suffering with their feet. on tuesday, august th, , about p.m., we were lying in the barracks in which i was placed, in our rooms, on the straw. each one had by his side his rifle, also loaded cartridges. suddenly we heard shots directed upon our barracks from the hospital opposite. shots also came from the houses near the hospital. i can say with certainty that shots were also fired from the hospital. we could hear distinctly that shots were being discharged not only from guns, but also from machine-guns. when we heard the shooting we took our rifles and ran from the second or third storey, where we were stationed, downstairs. as the main entrance of the barracks was covered by machine-gun fire, we could not get out of the barracks. some of us, who tried all the same, were wounded; one fell dead. when the shots ceased for a moment we ran, thirty to forty together, out of the barracks. we were shot at from all surrounding houses, from cellars and windows. we now stormed all the houses from which shots had fallen; i with four others rushed into the first house to the left of the hospital. we brought out five inhabitants; from the other houses, close by, about twenty men were brought out. those who were found with arms were immediately shot or bayoneted. some twenty men, who were unarmed, we brought to the barracks. from all side-streets near the hospital came shots. we had to rush house after house. wherever an armed inhabitant was discovered he was killed. the house in which he was found was set on fire. i myself, together with a comrade, bayoneted one inhabitant who went for me with a knife. shots were fired not only from the windows and cellar-openings, but from the upper storeys of houses tin boxes filled with hot tar were thrown on us. i saw myself how a box filled with tar was thrown upon the helmet of one of my comrades, so that the tar ran down his neck and shoulder. another comrade had been hit by such a tar box on the arm, so that the tar ran down his sleeve. happily for them, the tar was no longer so very hot as to cause worse burns. during the storming of the houses we again made a number of prisoners, among them women and children; these were taken for safety's sake. we brought these prisoners also to the barracks, and had to guard them there. shots were heard until a.m., and between and a.m. the firing commenced afresh. at about a.m. i saw a church burning near the town hall, also many houses in the neighbourhood. the shooting continued intermittently until thursday, august th, when i received instructions to accompany the convoy of captured francs-tireurs, to which were added about four hundred english prisoners, from louvain _via_ aachen to cologne, where we were dismissed to the ersatz battalion, reserve infantry regiment no. . read over, approved, signed. signed: stanislaus dadaczynski. after the importance of the oath had been urged upon the witness, he was duly sworn. proceedings closed. signed: greeven. signed: dr. wolter. d. app. . aix-la-chapelle, _november th, _. garrison command. present: president of the court, captain schneider. secretary, klinke. on citation there appears as witness herr hubert sittart, member of the imperial diet, living in aix-la-chapelle, and on being questioned he declares the following: on august st a number of women of louvain told me there, with tears in their eyes, of the sorrow caused them by the bombardment of the town. they admitted emphatically that our troops had been fired at from the houses and cellars. one of them, the widow of a medical man, thought the firing had been done by the garde civique. but when she heard that wounded were lying at aix-la-chapelle who had been seriously wounded by small shot, she had to admit that civilians had also taken part in the firing. she also agreed with me when i declared that the garde civique, as well as the regular troops, deserved no forbearance if they fired from an ambush, from cellars and roofs instead of in open, honest fighting. the vice-rector of louvain university, monsignore coenraets, told me that he was ordered as hostage to read out to the people a proclamation to the effect that the hostages would be shot and fire opened on the town if the troops were treacherously fired at. he had hardly read this out in one street when shots were actually fired upon the german soldiers accompanying him. the importance of the oath having been pointed out to the witness, he was sworn according to regulations. signed: h. sittart. signed: schneider. signed: klinke. d. app. . louvain, _november th, _. court of the government-general of belgium. present: president, stempel. secretary, stemper. on citation there appears the witness albert lemaire, aged , professor of medicine, chief physician of st. peter's hospital at louvain, living in the leopoldstrasse, and he declared: in the afternoon of august th german landwehr (i do not know the number of the regiment) was quartered on me. the germans behaved quietly and decently. later on they marched out in consequence of an alarm. later on in the evening, whilst taking supper with my family, i heard violent firing in the street. we fled to the cellar. between and o'clock (belgian time) i went once from there into the garden. there i was several times fired at, but owing to the darkness i cannot tell by whom. previously i heard a german call out, "louvain is on fire." i could see from my garden various reflections of conflagrations. i did not see civilians fire from houses or in the streets. nearly all the houses of doctors and professors in the leopoldstrasse are burned down. on the following day i had my family taken to the hospital by two german soldiers for safety's sake. on thursday, august th, the bombardment and destruction of the town was announced. i went to the country with my family. on my return i found my house burned down. read over, approved, signed. signed: professor dr. albert lemaire. after the importance of the oath had been pointed out, the witness was sworn according to regulations. the examination took place in the german language. signed: stempel. signed: stemper. d. app. . proceedings at louvain, _november th, _. court of the government-general. present: president, stempel. secretary, stemper. _legal statement of evidence._ in a side-street of the rue de tirlemont at louvain, near the prison, the following was ascertained: in this side-street there is on the left-hand side, coming from the rue de tirlemont, a long wall, about metres high. opposite this wall lies a continuous row of houses of several storeys. the wall shows numerous traces of gun-shots. according to the traces of these shots, which are still clearly visible, they have been fired without a doubt from the upper storeys of the houses opposite. the range of these shots on the wall extends, according to the traces there left, transversely from the top to the bottom. signed: stempel. signed: stemper. d. app. . deposition of reservist hermann behnke, th company, reserve infantry regiment no. , received by pastor friedrichs in the reserve field hospital at hagen, on september st, . on august th we arrived at louvain station in a military transport train. we heard brisk firing, so that we assumed that a battle between our troops and the belgian troops was taking place. however, when we arrived in the town, we saw that civilians were firing from the houses and from trees. we noticed that german troops were fighting a regular street battle with these civilians. we went to the assistance of our troops. the civilians were requested to leave the houses from which firing had taken place. these houses were then set on fire. proceedings at hagen in the office of the reserve field hospital, hochstrasse , on november th, , placed at the disposal of the royal war ministry, military examination office for infringement of military law. there appears hermann behnke, reservist, th company, reserve infantry regiment no. , and declares: the above is my correct name. i was born on february th, , at neuhof in mecklenburg-schwerin; protestant; married. admonished to speak the truth, i make the following statement: i maintain as correct the deposition made on september st before the protestant minister, wilhelm friedrichs. this deposition is true in every respect, and it has been read over to me. behnke is then sworn. signed: hermann behnke. the correctness of the above is certified by: signed: dr. jotel, chief regimental surgeon. signed: winand engel, clergyman of the field hospital. d. app. . quarters at thiescourt, _november th, _. present: leader of the proceedings, lieutenant stegmueller. secretary, schmidt. there appeared as witness captain josephson, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out, declared: as to person: my name is walter josephson, aged ; protestant; leader of nd battalion, landwehr infantry regiment no. . as to case: on august th, , the rd battalion, landwehr infantry regiment no. , marching from rotzelaer to louvain, had to conduct a transport of about civilian prisoners. at first, the th company, under my leadership, and the th company, landwehr infantry regiment no. , under the leadership of captain ernst, carried out the supervision. when subsequently further transports of prisoners were added, the st battalion of the landwehr infantry regiment no. assisted in the supervision. amongst the prisoners were a number of belgian clergymen, one of whom particularly attracted my attention because at every halt he went from one prisoner to the other and spoke to them excitedly, so that i had to put him under special supervision. at louvain we delivered the prisoners at the station; another section of the troops, whom i cannot now name, undertook the watch over them. on the following morning i was told by various people, amongst whom was also captain ernst, that the clergyman above mentioned had fired upon a guard, but had not hit him, and that he had therefore been shot on the square outside the station, probably by the order of the local commandant. captain ernst saw his body still lying there on the following day. with regard to the conditions then prevailing at louvain i am able further to state the following: the rd battalion, landwehr infantry regiment no. , entered louvain on august th, that is, on the day of the sudden attack, and remained at louvain from august th to september st. my company was quartered on the belgian rector of an intermediate school, a very quiet, sober-minded man, with whom i fully discussed the attack. he related to me that he had gone for a walk in the neighbourhood of louvain on the day of the attack, and had visited an inn. the host told him that on that day a troop of about young men, who conversed in different languages, had passed his house on the way to louvain. they asked for drinks and lodgings for the night, but the whole thing appeared to him so suspicious that he removed the sign outside his inn, so as to have nothing to do with these people. he said to the rector literally, "if these people get to louvain, there will be bad smells there to-morrow," by which he meant to say that then blood would flow. the rector also stated to me that in almost every house at louvain a room for students is to be let. these rooms were tenantless at the time in question on account of the university holidays; friends and acquaintances of the students, or persons who posed as such, could quite easily get admission to these rooms; he assumed that these rooms had been occupied by the above-mentioned persons. it was, at any rate, a striking fact that when i rode at the head of my battalion, together with captain ernst and the adjutant, lieutenant stegmueller, in order to quarter myself at louvain in the rue des joyeuses entrées, there was a young man in almost every house, whereas the younger belgian male population had been called up for war service; that, furthermore, the inhabitants absolutely urged us to quarter only officers in their houses, and that, finally, in all officers' quarters there was--so we were told--only in the outhouses room for the officers' servants, and never in the houses in which officers were quartered. i had to supply the guard at the railway station from my company; opposite the station building lies a block of houses, and in front of it a street fenced off by boards from the station. from this plank-fence the watch was fired on daily in the dark. i had then all the houses cleared and the block of houses surrounded by guards. on the evening of this day i saw myself how, at dark, a troop of to civilians emerged from the wood which was about to metres away, but withdrew when the guard was noticed. from this date the firing upon the guard ceased. read over, approved, signed. signed: josephson, captain and battalion leader. the witness was sworn in accordance with regulations. signed: stegmueller. signed: schmidt. d. app. . proceedings at reserve field hospital at cleve, _october th, _. royal court of justice. present: judge, fritzen. secretary, frings. there appears the under-mentioned witness, and, after having been acquainted with the object of the examination, he was examined as follows: as to person: my name is adam hoos, aged ; catholic; soldier, nd company, landwehr regiment no. , at wesel, at present in reserve field hospital at cleve. as to case: on august th we entered louvain and took part in the street-fighting. on the morning of august th, when searching the houses for wounded, we found in the cellar of a house a soldier of our regiment whose name i do not know, whose body had been cut open so that the entrails protruded. we did not ascertain whether the dead man was otherwise wounded. in my opinion, the cut could have only been effected with a sharp knife. read over, approved, signed. signed: adam hoos. the witness was sworn. signed: fritzen. signed: frings. d. app. . lÜbeck, _march th, _. court of justice, department . present: judge, dubel. secretary, giese. at the request of the war minister appeared on citation the witnesses mentioned below, who were examined individually and in the absence of witnesses to be heard subsequently. . student oldenburg. as to person: my name is hans ludwig oldenburg, aged ; protestant; student of law; at present non-commissioned officer, rd reserve company, reserve battalion no. . as to case: on august th, between and o'clock p.m., our regiment entered louvain in marching order. the standard of the battalion was at the head of our company. it was already dark and, in marked contrast to the places through which we had passed the previous night, a surprising number of gas-lamps were alight. in the doors of the houses stood belgians in civilian dress who behaved in a quiet and not unfriendly fashion. i saw no windows illuminated. having marched into louvain for about ten minutes, there was suddenly a halt. two to three minutes later, but perhaps sooner, we were suddenly fired at from the houses of the right and left. i also saw the flashes of several shots from the houses near me. from one house i also saw bombs fall; one fell about metres away from me in the street and exploded there with great detonation. i do not know whether anyone was hit by it. i can point out accurately the house from which the bomb fell. it stood on the left side, near the second lamp, which stands behind the next cross-road, or the next yard-entrance, on the left. when the bomb fell, no shots had as yet been fired by us. we now received orders, "about turn, march." but after we had turned we were ordered from the rear to shoot into the houses. we then fired into both fronts of the houses. i cannot say what reply was made to our fire because the noise and confusion was too great. it also became at once quite dark, because we demolished the lamps with our fire so as to offer no aim to the opponent. this firing may have lasted a full hour. during the firing i saw a soldier near me fall. i was then run over and lost consciousness. when i recovered from my swoon, the firing was still continuing. i dragged myself to the nearest wall, and was then driven by an automobile to the field hospital. read over, approved, signed. signed: oldenburg. the witness was sworn. . corporal hoehne. as to person: my name is max robert theodor hoehne, aged ; protestant; art dealer; at present corporal, th reserve company, reserve battalion no. . as to case: on the evening of august th, at about o'clock, our regiment marched into louvain in column of route. at the head marched the st company. then followed the nd, to which i belonged. it was already dark. the gas-lamps were alight. outside in the suburb a few windows showed light. people in civilian dress put water in the street for us. but we did not drink of it because an officer warned us not to do so. the civilians behaved in a quiet and not unfriendly manner. we marched over the railway bridge into the town straight on. at a point where there was a square occupied by automobiles, the road made a sharp bend. we marched past this bend straight on again. up till then nothing happened, except that we saw no civilians at all in the town. the windows of the ground floors in this part of the street were closed by shutters. the windows of the upper floors were open. but this fact only struck me when we were fired at. shortly after my company passed the bend of the road, a shot rang out, and this was immediately followed by brisk firing. i saw many such shots flash from the upper windows, and also noticed how sparks flew about as the bullets fell into the street. immediately at the beginning of the firing two men behind me fell; one of them was corporal wiessner. wiessner sat down at the roadside; the other soldier remained lying in the street, face down. we now dispersed on both sides and fired into the upper windows. during the firing i saw yet another soldier fall. in the meantime we had destroyed the lamps by our fire, so that nothing could be seen. i cannot say how long the firing continued. after some time the order was passed along to cease firing. when we were about to reassemble we were fired at from the windows of the ground floors. i was hit by small shot that had been fired directly through a window-pane on the ground floor; the shot remained in the haversack and coat. a comrade who turned towards the window fell at once owing to, so i assume, a shot in the head. we now fired also into the ground-floor windows, removing in part the shutters. i, with a few others who had burst open the door, entered the house from which came the small shot. we could find no one in the house, but in the room from which the small shot had come, an overturned paraffin-lamp, still smouldering, was on the table. when the firing ceased, the order to "rally" was sounded, and i only heard the call of our company. we rallied outside a restaurant at the corner of a street, and were suddenly fired at from a window near us, with revolvers, as i could tell by the sound. after having rallied, we wanted to return in close order, but were again fired at from the houses. the greater part of us continued the retreat. i and four others, however, turned about and marched on in the old direction. we joined some few other soldiers going in the same direction. on our way we saw more than half a dozen wounded soldiers lying in the street. two men lay beneath and beside a shot horse. one of them pulled himself from beneath it. i pulled away the other from the horse, but left him lying because he was dead. in doing this i was kicked on the knee by the horse. later on we joined the main body of our battalion near the station bridge in that road which one reaches when entering louvain straight from the railway bridge. the troops were here drawn up and ordered to search the houses. shortly before, a woman, with a child upon her arm and with two children beside her, passed right through the troops. no harm befell her. she was allowed to pass into the town unchecked. read over, approved, and signed. signed: max hoehne. the witness was sworn. signed: dubel. signed: giese. d. app. . bremen, _january th, _. present: officer of the court, ahrens. secretary, heinhorst. at the investigation regarding the events at louvain the following witnesses appeared, and, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to them, made the following statement: . officer's deputy walter kruse, rd company, reserve battalion, reserve infantry regiment no. . on the evening of august th, , at about o'clock, the rd battalion, reserve infantry regiment no. , entered by train the station at louvain. at a distance of about metres from the station building our train was suddenly fired at from both sides of the railway embankment. i heard the shots rattling against the carriages. the train stopped, and an order was given to leave the train. i made my men at once deploy along the track and reply to the firing. we were about three to four minutes under fire when i received some small shot in the right upper thigh. i then had myself bandaged, and was not a direct witness of the subsequent events. the firing, after scarcely ten minutes, suddenly ceased, whereupon the companies were rallied. in the dark one could only see the flashes of the shots. they came for the most part from above, so that one was obliged to assume that they had been fired from the windows, roofs, and trees. i did not see any individual persons who fired. about an hour and a half later i heard from the railway station, where i lay wounded, another burst of violent firing, which, however, ceased again at once. read over, approved, signed. signed: walter kruse. the witness was sworn. . sergeant-major ludwig hilmer, rd company, reserve infantry regiment no. , at present at bremen. when the train with the rd battalion, reserve infantry regiment no. , entered the station at louvain on the evening of august th, , at about o'clock, we were suddenly fired at from both sides, at a distance of about to metres from the station building. the window-panes in my compartment broke at once. we got out and replied to the firing. the enemy could not be seen, because it was already quite dark. we only saw the flashes of the shots, and assumed that they came from the houses at each side of the railway. five men of my company were wounded in this fight. i ascertained that the wounds were partly caused by small shot. after about ten minutes the firing ceased, but was resumed again at once. only when we had the lights on the station extinguished did the firing cease. the companies now rallied to the station, removed their packs, and were ordered to fire all the houses from which firing had taken place, after searching them first. with this order we received strict injunctions not to hurt a hair of women and children. my company entered in groups the houses of the section allotted to it. captain brinckmann and i entered an inn diagonally opposite the station, and found there behind the bar a waiter with a ball-gun and ammunition. he was immediately taken to the railway commandant by some men. we then continued searching. various civilians were led off by my men, and after a final decision of the commandant they were shot in the place before the station. in accordance with my orders, i helped to fire several houses, after having convinced myself in every case that no one was left in them. at about o'clock p.m. this work was finished, and the company returned to the station building, in front of which lay about fifteen inhabitants, shot. two clergymen also stood there who were to serve as hostages. i heard a patrol report that in a church inhabitants had been taken with guns and munition. sleep was not to be thought of during the night, because the town was echoing with the explosion of bombs and munition stored in the burning houses. one might have believed oneself in a heavy artillery fire. on the morning of august th the company was again alarmed, because baggage was being fired at in the town. we advanced into a street about five minutes' distance from the station, and were here fired at from the houses, apparently with shot-guns. we entered the houses and took prisoner several civilians whose behaviour had been suspicious. the houses from which the firing had come were then set on fire. about noon the company returned to the station. at about o'clock p.m. i stood with an acting-sergeant-major at the monument in front of the station, when we were suddenly exposed to a violent fire. immediately afterwards five riderless horses galloped towards us, coming from the street in which the shots had been fired. as was ascertained subsequently, the horses were those of gendarmes whose riders had been shot in the town. arrangements were now made and published in the whole town by the ringing of bells and the beating of drums that every company advancing into the town must be headed by a number of hostages. these were to be shot the moment there was any more firing from the houses. among the hostages held at the station were clergymen and state officials. in spite of these measures, the inhabitants again fired on that evening and during the night. the morning of august th passed without any special events for my company, because we urgently needed rest. it was only during the afternoon that we were again active. as peace could not be restored in the town by means of hostages, the order was issued to take all male inhabitants, aged seventeen to fifty. i carried out this order by the help of a strong platoon of eighty men after the order had been read out everywhere by a lieutenant. the people had to be fetched out of every house. after three hours' work i took to persons to the station. every man on whom arms or munition was found was shot; these again numbered some fifteen to twenty persons. the others were notified that if shots were again fired during the night they would all be put in front of a machine-gun. this announcement was effective, for the next night passed perfectly quietly. on the following morning, hardly were the prisoners dismissed when the firing began afresh. my company, accompanied by hostages, advanced again into the town, and was again fired at. again we had to fire some houses. on this occasion i saw with my own eyes how a civilian fired from a high window upon captain brinckmann. i heard the shot fall in the street. the captain at once ordered the burning of the house. from here we advanced to a monastery on a hill. it was said that firing had taken place there, but we found neither arms nor munition. but immediately we again heard cries for help from the main road leading past the monastery; we hurried back, and had to assist an artillery column that had been fired at. we again set a few houses on fire, whereupon the command was given for all inhabitants to leave louvain, as firing with artillery was to commence. this happened between and o'clock p.m. whilst our battalion was still at the station. i observed myself that the artillery projectiles only fell in those parts of the town in which attacks had been made. read over, approved, signed. signed: hilmer. hilmer was sworn. . soldier heinrich westerkamp, company of wounded, reserve battalion, reserve infantry regiment no. . at noon, on august th, i had arrived at louvain with the nd battalion, reserve infantry regiment no. . whilst we were being provisioned from the field-kitchens in that part of the town which is near the suburb of herent we were struck by the number of young strong people who were in the street and putting their heads together. at herent i was transferred to the baggage because of foot-trouble whilst my battalion marched on. i was about to draw water from a well when suddenly the baggage was being fired on from all sides. the baggage had already turned about, and as the horses could not be stopped we returned to louvain at full speed. but there, too, all was not safe, as we heard from stragglers; we wanted to drive past the station into the nearest village in order to spend the night there. we got, however, only about metres beyond the station, and had to halt there because a wheel had come off a cart. hardly had the carts stopped on the perfectly dark road when we were violently fired at from the houses near us, as well as from those on the other side of the railway and from the bushes on the railway embankment. the man beside me on the cart immediately received a shot in the foot. we dismounted and tried to make ourselves safe. at that moment a civilian came running up towards me from a house, pointing a revolver at me. i immediately shot the person down. a hand-grenade exploded immediately after this, about to metres away from me, and smashed a horse. three of us now sought cover in the recess of a house, from which we succeeded in reaching a goods-shed. at this time--about p.m.--the rd battalion arrived, which we joined. during the night the detonations never ceased, and the houses round the station were burning. from the hôtel du nord a machine-gun had even been fired, as could be distinctly heard from the regular shots. on the following morning i ascertained that five horses of the baggage transport had been killed. i remained in front of the station building until noon on august th, and i here saw that about forty persons were examined by an officer and about half of them were shot. two clergymen were also brought forward, one of whom declared himself a german, and said that he had not fired. i heard subsequently, however, that a browning pistol was found on him. i also saw a man of regiment no. or carried past on a stretcher. he whimpered terribly, and i heard that whilst doing patrol duty in the town several inhabitants fell upon him and cut off the scrotum. later on i heard that the man had died of his wound. a belgian who addressed me in german declared that the whole misfortune could have been avoided if the clergy did not from the pulpit praise those who fire upon german troops. at noon on the same day we followed the company with the baggage after having previously received fresh horses. we only found a heap of ruins where the village of herent had stood. about three days later i met lieutenant foerster (now of the th company, reserve infantry regiment no. ). he told me that german soldiers had had the genital members cut off and put into the mouth, and that the latter had then been sewn up. read over, approved, signed. signed: westerkamp. the witness was sworn according to regulations. signed: ahrens, lieutenant and judicial officer. signed: heinhorst, non-commissioned officer. d. app. . altona, _march st, _. court of the commandant. present: president, dr. steengrafe. secretary, koch. there appeared the merchant gruner as witness, and, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, he was examined as follows: as to person: my name is richard gruner, aged ; protestant; merchant in hamburg. as to case: after mobilisation i offered my services voluntarily and went into the field as a motor driver on the staff of the ix. reserve army corps. on the evening of august th, , we arrived at louvain. as a sortie had been announced from antwerp, the german troops were taken from louvain and, as i assume, employed in the attack. the baggage, including the motors, stopped in the square in the immediate vicinity of the hôtel métropole. at the command of captain von esmarch, i followed the troops who were marching off and brought back one company for the protection of the staff, which was then drawn up in the place mentioned above. at about o'clock p.m. i saw a green rocket ascend over the town. at the same moment commenced the firing upon us from the houses surrounding the place. i also heard the regular "tak, tak" of machine-guns. the german soldiers fired again and succeeded in beating down the hostile fire; the houses from which firing had taken place were set alight. i had the impression that the proceedings had been systematically prepared. up till then we had been treated by the inhabitants with the greatest kindness and amiability. after the attack in the centre of the town had been dealt with, the troops in the interior of the town were conducted to the station. until then i had not seen any sign of interference on the part of the belgian clergy. on the way to the station i saw a man in clerical garb, with unmistakable clerical physiognomy and a broad-brimmed hat with two tassels, directing our troops to a certain road. i myself drove along another road, following some cars before me. subsequently i heard that the troops who had followed the directions of the clergyman reached a cul-de-sac, and were there exposed to fire from the houses. when i arrived at the station i heard that here, too, an attack had been made upon the german soldiers by the civilian population from the surrounding houses, and had been defeated; in the station square and throughout the town houses were burning. all citizens taken were conducted to the station square, examined, and, if their guilt was ascertained, shot according to martial law. i myself acted as interpreter during part of the examinations. the examinations continued through the night until the following morning. the number of persons shot by court-martial may have been eighty to a hundred; among them may have been ten to fifteen clergymen. this number is exclusive of one man in unmistakable clerical garb, because beneath his clerical garb he wore civilian dress. among the clergymen shot was the one i mentioned previously, and of this i am quite sure. he was pointed out by soldiers as the one who had directed them and their comrades into the cul-de-sac; he, too, was shot. i interpreted during the examination of two further clergymen. on one of them a revolver was found that still contained four cartridges, and one had been discharged; he, too, was shot. it had, moreover, been announced previously that every inhabitant on whom arms were found would be shot. i cannot now say what was furthermore ascertained in relation to this clergyman; but no one was shot whose participation in the attacks upon the german troops was not determined beyond doubt by at least two witnesses, or on whom arms were not found. those brought up for examination must have rendered themselves suspect in some way, otherwise they would not have been examined at all. during the night isolated attacks upon german troops took place, also during the day. during the examinations many of the belgians related that their behaviour towards the germans had been represented to them by the authorities, also by the preachers, as a matter of faith. when we fetched the wounded in automobiles during the night we were fired at, and also from a convent. read over, approved, signed. signed: gruner. the witness was duly sworn. authenticated: signed: steengrafe, president. signed: koch. berlin, _march th, _. ministry of war. military examination bureau for infringements of martial law. present: president, dr. grasshoff. secretary, pahl. there appears on citation merchant richard gruner of hamburg-grossborstel, holunderweg . the importance of the oath was pointed out to the witness, and he declared: as to person: my name is richard gruner, aged ; protestant. as to case: i repeat, first of all, all the statements made during my judicial examination at altona on march st, . this statement, which has just been read to me, is perfectly true in all respects. i add further what follows: the examination of the volunteers brought forward by the german troops on the station square at louvain on the night of august th to th, , was conducted by captain albrecht, who was then reporting officer on the staff of the ix. reserve army corps, and who fell later, at the end of october , at noyon. captain albrecht was attached to the grand general staff in peace time. i was requested by him to act as interpreter during part of the examinations. the examination proceeded in such a way that the soldiers brought forward the civilians taken by them, whilst the firing in the town continued. i was given about to persons to search and to examine. captain albrecht passed from one group of persons assembled in the station square for examination to another group, and inquired the result in order to give instructions for the further treatment of the accused. altogether about persons may have been brought forward, at least of whom were spared death by shooting because no sure proof of their guilt was brought forward during the examination. these persons were led aside; the men amongst them were later on sent to germany, whilst it was left to the women and children to go to anvers. it is not true that the persons were arbitrarily selected when arrangements for shooting them were made; on the contrary, the examinations were carried out strictly according to the facts. i examined myself the persons brought forward for arms, and frequently found arms on them. i also had instructions to see whether the accused were belgian soldiers, which could be seen from the identification disc. on many of the persons brought to me i found the military disc in the pocket or in the purse. captain albrecht proceeded--i assume on higher command--in such a way that he ordered those to be shot on whom either arms or a rallying sign was found, or those of whom it was testified by at least two witnesses that they had fired upon the german troops. in my opinion it is quite out of the question that any innocent person lost his life; particularly captain albrecht did under the circumstances all that was possible to exhort the soldiers to speak the truth; if no arms or identification discs were found, he himself questioned the witnesses as to whether they could make their assertions with certitude, and he pointed out to them that the life and death of a man depended upon their word. and only when the soldiers maintained their assertions after this admonition, the command for the shooting of the condemned was given. amongst the persons brought forward were a number of priests; of these about ten to fifteen in all were shot. i ascertained myself that one priest carried a loaded revolver which had been fired once, and the empty cartridge-case was still in the barrel. i furthermore recognised another priest as the one who, according to the testimony of the soldiers, had intentionally decoyed them into the fire of the francs-tireurs. these two were undoubtedly genuine clergymen. on a third man wearing clerical garb, and civilian clothes underneath, i found a military identification disc. i was in the station square during the whole examinations, and i can therefore testify from my own knowledge that no mock-execution of priests has taken place, and that not one of the involuntary spectators of these scenes was forced to applaud. among the persons brought forward there were many civilians who, when they became aware that i spoke french, called to me that they were innocent, and that the priests bore the whole guilt of what had taken place. they expressly pointed to the priests who had been brought forward. amongst them was a belgian civilian who, as a sign of his goodwill to the germans, showed a document, according to which the king of prussia had bestowed the order of the red eagle upon him. i took the opportunity to remonstrate with this person that he, an educated man, and the other men of his station had not stopped the populace from making the attack; he replied, "it is quite impossible for us to prevail upon the people who are in the hands of the clergy." i remained at louvain until august th, , p.m. during august th i still heard and saw, now and again, firing from the houses; comrades of mine were wounded actually at my side; thus also the voluntary soldier wuppermann. during the morning of august th i spoke in the station square, where there were many women prisoners, with two of them who evidently belonged to the educated classes. one of them, an american from st. louis, addressed me in english and begged me to release her and another known lady from imprisonment, as they were innocent. she explained to me that the clergy were responsible for the events. she then called the other lady, a belgian, with whom i also conversed in french. she also confirmed to me that the firing from the houses was due to the conduct of the clergy. she related the following: in the evening, belgian soldiers dressed as civilians entered individual houses and forced the inhabitants by threats to receive them and to admit them to the windows in order to shoot from them; previous to that the clergy had gone into the houses and declared to the inhabitants that it was their duty to receive and support the belgian soldiers because the german troops were making war upon the faith of the belgians. during the critical days, particularly violent firing on the german troops came from a convent outside louvain, on the road from louvain to bueken. i have heard this repeatedly from soldiers, and on august th, , in the afternoon, whilst going in my automobile to bueken, i had to pass the street near the convent under special protective measures. in order to be safe from any firing from the convent we had to take with us several civilians, who were placed partly upon the footboard of the car, partly upon the cooler. i wish to emphasise that even during the examinations in the station square we were fired at from houses there. i particularly remember the incident when about ten to twelve young people in sporting-caps--which was frequently the distinguishing mark of disguised belgian soldiers--were brought up quite close to the station building, and that i was fired upon from a building opposite on my way to see these persons, and that the prisoners ran away, and that we germans fired after them. read over, approved, signed. signed: richard gruner. the witness was sworn. proceedings closed. signed: pahl. signed: dr. grasshoff. d. app. . guiscard, _march st, _. present: member of the military high court, riese. secretary, reisener. there appeared as a witness non-commissioned officer muesfeldt, and, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, he was examined as follows: as to person: my name is willy muesfeldt, aged ; protestant; non-commissioned officer, ix. reserve corps. as to case: on august th i arrived with the first party of the general command at louvain. we unloaded and drove with the baggage to the market-place. here we remained, as it was said that the english were near, and that we might have to go into action that day. in the evening, at about o'clock, captain von esmarch, leader of our baggage, arrived in the automobile and said that matters had turned out differently, and that we could march off to quarters. the captain mounted the horse and gave the order "mount." he had hardly said this when firing commenced from all sides. i fetched my rifle from the cart, took cover, and fired. then i noticed that the captain lay on the ground, wounded; i brought him into safety beneath a cart, and continued firing. i cannot say exactly how long the firing continued. when it ceased, the order was given to search the houses from which the firing had taken place for francs-tireurs. i approached a house from which firing had taken place, battered the street door, and went down the cellar, from which shots had also been fired. i found there a man of about forty years of age, with dark pointed beard, who had a revolver in his hand. i immediately threw myself upon him, and in spite of his struggles i led him up the stairs, where i handed him over to gendarmes. i did not indeed see this man shoot, but i assume it with certainty, since i found him with the revolver in his hand; he struggled, and there was no one in the house except his wife. all this i related to captain von esmarch at christmas when he was here on a visit to the general command. there was a pharmacy in the house, which i mentioned above. read over, approved, signed. signed: non-commissioned officer muesfeldt. the witness was sworn. proceedings closed. signed: riese. signed: reisener. d. app. . altona, _march st, _. court of the commandant. present: president, dr. steengrafe. secretary, sergeant meyer. there appears as witness engineer weiss, who, after the importance of the oath has been pointed out to him, he declares as follows: as to person: my name is robert weiss; engineer, in altona; aged ; christian; motor-driver. as to case: after mobilisation i offered my services as a volunteer, and went into the field as motor-driver on the staff of the ix. reserve army corps. on the afternoon of august th, , we arrived at louvain. the inhabitants behaved at first more than kindly towards us. towards the evening i had driven a wounded man to the field hospital near the market-place. the field hospital was established in a monastery. about o'clock i drove the car with captain von harnier in it from the monastery back to the market-place, when suddenly firing began on all sides from the houses. i stopped my car and remained unhurt; captain von harnier was wounded in the arm; he hurried to the market-place, and i sought cover beneath the car. i may have remained there about half an hour when a platoon of german infantry came along the road. i called to the leader, and he had the surrounding houses, from which the shooting continued, covered by fire. i then took the car to safety in the yard of the monastery. when, after a short time, i wished to leave, captain von esmarch was carried in, covered with blood. whilst being carried to the field hospital, he was fired upon from the monastery. i went into the monastery with an infantryman; we found a revolver, but to save ourselves from being cut off we could not enter the vaults of the monastery into which the people had evidently retired. the belgian field hospital did not want to bandage captain von esmarch; i finally forced a belgian surgeon, whom i caught by the arm, to apply the bandage. subsequently, on driving my car to the market-place, and from there to the station with the general staff, i saw everywhere on the way burning houses; now and again isolated firing from the houses still took place. at the station there were no burning houses, and strict orders had been given to set no houses on fire there. after half an hour the firing from the hotels opposite the station began. from that point right to the station there was firing with machine-guns; i could distinctly hear the regular "tak, tak." it was only then that orders were given to raze the houses in front of the station; they were set on fire, but even from the burning houses, and finally from the ruins, the firing continued briskly. we suffered losses. later on, isolated shots were fired. the citizens who had in any way taken part in the attack were brought to the station square, and, if found guilty, shot according to martial law. the soldiers, who brought the citizens along, were exhorted--as i have myself heard--to bear witness carefully and conscientiously. the examinations were conducted by officers of the general staff. whoever carried loaded arms, in spite of the prohibition issued and announced, was shot at once. in the town lay several men in clerical garb, shot; at the station, too, several men in clerical dress were shot; all were examined, but i was not present at the examinations. on the following day, too, isolated shots fell upon us from houses. read over, approved, signed. signed: weiss. the witness was sworn in accordance with the regulations. signed: dr. steengrafe, president. signed: meyer. d. app. . court of the commander. present: president, dr. steengrafe. secretary, meyer. altona, _march rd, _. there appeared as witness merchant dammann, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, was examined as follows: as to person: my name is carl dammann, aged ; christian; merchant in hamburg; soldier of the reserve. as to case: after mobilisation i volunteered for duty as motor-driver, and as such i was assigned to the staff of the ix. reserve army corps. on the evening of august th, , we arrived in louvain. at first the inhabitants were very obliging. my motor-car was put in the market-place, a big square near which is the hôtel métropole. in the evening, towards o'clock, we motor-drivers stood under the trees of the place and chatted together. comrades told me they had seen a rocket go up. suddenly an awful firing commenced from the houses surrounding the place. the fire was first of all directed on the baggage-carts which were to be drawn up at the place. each one of us sought cover, i on a baggage-cart, the horses of which had just been shot. my car showed later on a hole as large as a fist in the protective cover and in the body of the car; to judge by the way the tin was bent, the shot must have come from below, from a cellar. whilst we sought cover, the firing continued, and some of us were wounded. in my opinion this was a well-prepared and planned attack of the civilian population. after the firing had become less violent, we drivers went to the station. at the market-place and in its small side-streets the houses were burning. during our drive to the station, german patrols passed us everywhere. in the station square firing took place principally from the four large hotels there. the firing in the station square continued till the morning. those persons of the town who had participated in the attack upon the germans were taken to the station square in the course of the evening and during the night. an officer then examined them; the soldiers who had brought up the people were examined. a number of men, nearly fifty, were shot in the station square after the examination was over. as far as i remember, there were two persons in clerical garb amongst them; but there may have been more. read over, approved, signed. signed: carl dammann. the witness was then sworn. signed: dr. steengrafe, president. signed: meyer. d. app. . court of the commander at altona. present: president, dr. steengrafe. secretary, kahl. altona, _december th, _. on citation there appears as witness captain of landwehr ii. hermansen, who, after the sanctity of the oath had been pointed out to him, makes the following statement: as to person: my name is richard, aged ; protestant; public prosecutor at düsseldorf; at present in the reserve battalion, infantry regiment no. , hamburg. as to case: i arrived at louvain on august th at about o'clock p.m. after a railway journey of hours. at the moment of alighting a violent fire was opened upon the station and its vicinity from the houses lying round the station. i also heard a mechanical noise, which i took to be machine-gun fire. we took part in the searching and the burning down of houses from which firing had taken place. some of the houses were furnished with regular loopholes, among them also houses which, as i saw on the following morning, had flown white flags. on september st, at lombeek, st. catharinen, near ternath, west of brussels, i made the acquaintance of a priest, to whom i expressed my approval of the quiet bearing of the inhabitants of lombeek towards our company. he said, "yes, for weeks i have been preaching this from the pulpit, and my flock listens to me. i have told them that if they wished to fight, they should go to antwerp, put on uniform, and obtain a rifle. the enemy is only doing his duty; his soldiers are children of the same heavenly father." i replied that, if all his colleagues in office had acted thus, much that was disagreeable would have been avoided both for the belgians and for us. he did not contradict me; we remained talking a little while longer, and when i took my leave of him, he blessed me. read over, approved, signed. signed: hermansen. the witness was then sworn according to regulations. signed: steengrafe, president. signed: kahl. d. app. . present: president, felgner. secretary, becker. flensburg, _january th, _. there appeared as witness captain von vethacke, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, was examined as follows: as to person: my name is moritz, aged ; protestant; captain, reserve battalion, reserve infantry regiment no. . as to case: i have just read captain hermansen's statement of december th, , and i confirm it with the following remarks: i know for certain that among the corpses lying in the station square there were several dressed in clerical garb. the examinations in the station square in louvain were carried out very carefully. each company had its portion of the town which it tried to clear of francs-tireurs. persons found with a rifle in their hand were at once shot, but others who could not be at once convicted of the participation in the attack were led to the station building for a decision to be come to there regarding them. the witnesses accompanied them in order to give their testimony in the station square. whatever priests were shot, were found guilty before the court. i also made the acquaintance of the priest mentioned by captain hermansen at the end of his statement; he made an excellent impression on me also; he did not contradict me when i expressed my view that priests had stirred up the people and had taken part in the attacks. from my conversation with this priest i gained the impression that he did not approve of the behaviour of his colleagues in office. read over, approved, signed. signed: von vethacke. the witness was sworn according to regulations. proceedings closed. signed: felgner. signed: becker. d. app. . court of the bavarian landsturm infantry battalion gunzenhausen. present: president, captain hahn. secretary, walz. vielsalen, _february th, _. on citation there appeared as witness herr karl dörffer, born on december th, , at erda, district of wetzlar; protestant; st lieutenant, reserve of prussian railway regiment no. , assigned to the railway constructing company no. , at present commanded by the bavarian staff officer of railway troops in vielsalen. the witness, to whom the importance of the oath was pointed out, was examined as follows: as to person: my personal description is correctly stated. as to case: on august th, , i was commanded to effect the detraining at the station in louvain. i was acting manager in the station as well as commandant over the station. on august th detraining took place almost continuously; i particularly mention the detraining of the ix. reserve corps and the general staff of this corps. on the evening of august th, at nightfall, shots fell suddenly in front of and on both sides of the station area; in this area were detachment of troops and trains. at first i did not attach much importance to the firing; but as it became more violent i went to the front of the station building. i now saw that violent firing was taking place, particularly from an hotel to the right of the station. from the long flash of fire from the individual shots i assumed that military rifles were not being used. i know for certain that firing took place from the upper floors of this hotel, but the windows from which firing took place were dark. the following design will indicate the position of the hotel more clearly: [illustration] to judge by the violence of the firing i must assume that firing from other houses also took place. through officers of the mecklenburg dragoons belonging to the general commando of the ix. reserve army corps--if i remember right, through captain von alten and another officer--the news was received at the station that even the transport of the army corps had been fired on in the town. a high officer gave the command to search the hotel mentioned and other houses, and then to set them on fire. a number of persons, partly middle aged, partly older people, were taken out of these houses, and a great number of them--but only males--were immediately shot according to martial law. it was then quiet in the station square for a long time. i would point out that i could not stand in the station square continuously, because i had business to transact in the station itself. it was therefore impossible for me to watch all the events in front of the station. at about or . p.m.--most of the houses in the station square were burning--a volley was fired on us from the roof of an hotel on the left of the station; the hotel was already burning at the bottom. i stood, as it happened, in the centre of the station square with several officers; there remained nothing for us but to throw ourselves upon the ground so as to offer the smallest possible target. orders were then given to search this house once again; in spite of this, a few isolated shots were fired during the night from the houses in the station square, especially from the houses on the road to tirlemont, opposite the loading ramp, upon which artillery and vehicles were unloaded even during the night. i know that, after the volley had been fired from the house last mentioned, a high officer gave orders to clear the people from all the houses round the station; a number of women and children, also old and middle-aged men, were thereupon apprehended; a few of the men were shot according to martial law, but in a great number of cases it could not longer be ascertained whether they had taken part in the firing. these persons were first housed in the station; part of them were later on transported. on august th a few isolated shots fell near the station. on my request, the commandant of a battalion--according to my notes it must have been colonel von treskow, nd battalion, reserve regiment no. --had various houses on the road to tirlemont cleared; this officer told me that in doing so he lost one of his reserve officers. i cannot say whether there were persons of the garde civique among the belgians who fired on us. as to the persons shot--i speak, of course, only of my own observations--it had been ascertained by witnesses that they were guilty. read over, approved, signed. signed: karl dÖrffer, st lieutenant of the reserve. the witness was then sworn. signed: hahn, captain and officer of the court. signed: friedrich walz, secretary. d. app. . court of the mobile commissary commando, , vii. army corps. present: president, elble. secretary, casser. pÉronne, _december th, _. there appears on citation as witness paymaster otto rudolph, reserve railway constructing company no. , at present at péronne, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, was examined as follows: as to person: my name is otto rudolph, aged ; protestant; police officer at worms. as to case: the reserve railway constructing company no. , of whom i am paymaster, marched into louvain on august th, . my commandant instructed me to arrange for quarters for the officers and the horses of the company near the principal railway station. i first applied to the proprietors of the hotels in the station square, especially to the proprietor of the hôtel "maria theresa." everywhere i was received in the kindest way. as the rooms of the hotel were, however, already engaged by officers of other units of troops, i could not get the necessary rooms. i therefore tried to find quarters in the main road leading from the town hall direct to the station, but the name of which i have forgotten. here the necessary rooms were put at my disposal in the kindest way. in the house no. of this street i found quarters for three officers. in the house diagonally opposite, the apartments of a bank official, i was also well received. the quarters were not occupied on this day, because the company was trench-digging at the station during the whole night. on the following day i had requisitioned vegetables, straw, etc., at linden and kessel-loo, the latter a suburb of louvain. the various farmers fulfilled my requirements in the kindest way. in the evening i returned from the requisitioning. on the way, in the suburb kessel-loo, male civilians, who had assembled in imposing numbers, intimated to me that the english had succeeded in breaking through near louvain. on inquiring for the messenger who had brought this news i heard that priests had related it. i also remember actually to have seen three priests at the eastern exit of the village at about o'clock p.m. they went through the streets singly, and here and there made communications to the people. as i heard the firing of cannon at no very great distance, i hurried to reach the main station at louvain. i arrived there at about o'clock p.m. at about o'clock i suddenly saw, near the station, a rocket go up. at the same moment i heard violent gun-fire. in order to inform myself regarding the firing, and to have a better view, i went to a "g"-car of the company transport, which was about metres distant from the station square. from the open peep-hole of the "g"-car i obtained a good outlook over the station square and towards the road that connects louvain with kessel-loo. i saw quite clearly firing upon the railway train from the roof of the third house of the street opposite to the train entering louvain. i also remarked firing towards the station square from a window on the third floor of an hotel. from a window of the hôtel "maria theresa" firing upon the station square took place. during the firing, the station square and the adjacent streets, which i was able to overlook, were filled with our troops. the firing could only be intended for our troops. our men replied to the firing. i myself fired at a window of the second floor of the fifth house of the road that is parallel to the train, from which a civilian, whom i could clearly see, was firing. after our side had received the signal to stop firing, i went to the station square; this may have been at about . . a general there had instructed the field-gendarmes to search the houses from which firing had taken place for arms and ammunition. on my report of what i had seen, a search was also made in the third and fifth houses of the street parallel to the train. in both houses suspected persons with guns and suitable ammunition were found. one of these persons who was examined at the station had cartridges which fitted the guns in his pocket. at about o'clock p.m. several civilians, among them about six or seven priests, were shot in the station square. suddenly a window was opened on the second floor of the hôtel "maria theresa," where i had received information in such a trustworthy manner during my search for quarters on the previous day. i saw a male person who repeatedly fired upon the troops assembled in the station square. firing also took place from houses whose inhabitants had wished to signify their friendliness by flying white flags. on the following day, august th, at about o'clock, i again went to the station square. a large number of male and female inhabitants of louvain were there. among the male inhabitants who were held as hostages i recognised the bank official who was the proprietor of the house in the rue de la station in louvain. i entered into conversation with him; he told me that the belgian garde civique had fired from his house, as well as from house no. in which i had intended to engage quarters. when asked why he had permitted it, he told me that on august th, , at about o'clock in the afternoon, members of the belgian garde civique had appeared and had forcibly seized the houses under threat of death; he said that the citizens of louvain did not wish this treacherous firing, but had been forced by the garde civique to put up with the firing from the houses. at about o'clock p.m., when a few of the houses in the main street of kessel-loo, opposite the main railway station, had been set on fire, firing took place from the other houses of this street whose inhabitants had on the previous day conversed with me apparently in the kindest way. in my opinion, supported by the foregoing personal observations, this treacherous firing was organised according to plan. read over, approved, signed. signed: rudolph. the witness was then sworn. signed: elble, president. signed: casser, secretary. d. app. . war ministry. military examination office for infringements of laws of war. berlin, _february th, _. before the president at the war ministry in berlin, dr. grasshoff and the secretary pahl, there appears to-day, without citation, captain karl friedrich von esmarch (permanently living at his country seat, schönheim, post rinkenes, district of apenrade, at present wounded in berlin, club hospital, wilhelmstrasse , landowner). the witness requests to be heard as such with regard to his observation of the events at louvain on august th, . the importance of the oath was pointed out to him, and he makes the following statement: as to person: my name is karl friedrich von esmarch, aged ; protestant. as to case: on august th, , i arrived at louvain as commandant of the headquarters of the corps, ix. reserve army corps. we arrived in louvain by train about o'clock p.m. we detrained the horses and the st division. we were to march to a belgian hussar barrack, take in provisions, and move into quarters. on the way from the station to the barracks the adjutant brought me the order to turn back because the alarm was being raised as our troops were fighting about km. outside the town. the horses and st division were therefore to go to the place du peuple in louvain, taking in provisions there, and the riding horses were to follow on a new order. we rode to the place designated, and drew up there. in the square stood a train column. the square was therefore rather fully occupied on all four sides with vehicles and horses. gradually it became dark. infantry regiments marched past us; on the south-west side of the square they went in the direction of the town hall. as i had only a few staff guards to escort the hand-carts, i asked a passing infantry regiment for a company as reinforcement. i had become uneasy as to our safety for the following reason: at first the streets were full, very full of inhabitants; towards the evening all movement of the inhabitants suddenly stopped; the streets gave me the impression of being deserted; i also noticed that generally the roller shutters in the houses were down. i obtained the company and drew it up on the north-west side of the square; i then rode to the opposite (south-east) side of the square, where the forage master stood, in order to urge him to hasten matters. i had hardly arrived there when i heard a clock strike. i did not count the strokes, there may have been eight or nine. it was already perfectly dark. at the same moment i saw a green rocket go up above the houses south-west of the place. shortly afterwards the sound of gun-fire came from the direction south-west of the place. this first gun-fire was followed by general firing from all the houses round the square itself; the firing was directed upon the german troops in the square. the shots came from the closed shutters; one could clearly see their flashes; holes must therefore have been bored previously in the shutters. i now wanted to gallop to the company to make arrangements, and as i could not ride through the whole park of vehicles i had to ride round them, _i.e._ round the north-eastern part of the square. in doing so i was shot from my horse on the north-eastern side of the square. i heard distinctly the rattling of machine-guns, and the bullets flew in great quantities all round me. i was severely hit by five bullets; i also received a large number of grazing shots; my whole coat was in rags. when i had fallen from the horse i was run over by a baggage-cart, the horses of which bolted on account of the firing; i was dragged to the corner of the square which separates the north-east side from the north-west side. here i remained lying under the cart for about half an hour. during this time i never lost consciousness and i accurately observed my surroundings. the bullets continually rebounded on the pavement all round me; i noticed clearly the cracking off of numerous splinters. i also heard repeatedly the explosion of apparently heavy projectiles all round me; i thought artillery was firing; but as there was none present there is only one explanation, that the inhabitants were throwing hand-grenades on us from the houses in the square. the firing was not answered to by our troops until some time had elapsed. the firing on both sides continued for about half an hour, during which time i lay under the cart; the chain of the brake-shoe had caught my belt so that i could not get free by myself. when the shooting ceased somewhat, my servant came and released me from my position. he brought me to the place where my company was drawn up on the north-west side of the square and laid me on the edge of the square, leaning my back against the wheel of a cart. from this position i could observe all the houses on the north-west side of the square and also the first houses on both sides contiguous to the square. i noticed the following: the company continued firing into the houses. the firing of the inhabitants gradually ceased. the german soldiers then beat open the doors of the houses and set them on fire by throwing burning paraffin lamps into the houses or by knocking off the gas cocks, igniting the escaping gas and throwing tablecloths and curtains into the flames; now and again benzine was used as an incendiary means. colonel von stubenrauch gave the order to set the houses on fire, and i heard his voice. as soon as the smoke in the houses became stronger, the francs-tireurs came out of their houses down the stairs. in many cases they still held their arms in their hands; i saw clearly muskets, revolvers, military rifles, and other firearms. i was particularly struck by the great number of revolvers. the francs-tireurs were to a man evil-looking figures such as i have never in my life seen before; they were shot by the german sentries standing below. our men took great care to spare women and children, who were allowed to leave the burning houses without interference. i have not seen a single case in which a woman or child were hurt. some of the women and children even assembled in the square round us and were very well treated by the german soldiers. near me stood a woman with a perambulator containing a small child. the soldiers standing round were consoling the weeping woman. i watched the scenes of burning the houses and taking the francs-tireurs perhaps for half an hour. my servant then brought up a motor-car. together with other wounded i was driven to a hospital, which we only reached after driving to and fro for some time. it was a belgian military hospital; i took it to be a monastery at the time, because there were many monks there. i was handed over about o'clock, midnight, august th, . on the very next day, august th, , i was again fetched in an automobile and taken to louvain station to be transported to liège. read over, approved, signed. signed: karl friedrich von esmarch. the witness was sworn. proceedings took place as above. signed: grasshoff. signed: pahl. d. app. . present: president, dr. van gember. secretary, lempfrid. wesel, _january th, _. there appeared as a witness musketeer schmidt, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, was examined as follows: as to person: my name is alfred schmidt, aged ; protestant; butcher; musketeer, th company, landwehr infantry regiment no. . as to case: with regard to participation of civilians in the battle i know the following: i was attached to the staff of the nd battalion, landwehr regiment no. , as a butcher. on august th we had arrived at louvain in the afternoon about o'clock. at first we could not go to our quarters. in the evening at o'clock i was near the baggage. a lieutenant, who was leader of the baggage, called us together and explained to us that we were to keep our eyes open, because things did not seem quite safe. we had hardly returned to our baggage, which stood in a somewhat narrow turning in the market, when i heard a loud shot. this was evidently not a rifle-shot, but rather a shot from a small gun, and evidently a signal; for its sound had hardly died away when we were fired on from all sides from the houses. the shots came from the cellars and from all floors; it was real rapid fire. the horses having shied and the carts having become interlocked, as i stood between two carts, i could not at first get out. after about five minutes i got free, looked about for my comrades, and could see none. i therefore ran to the market, but was fired at there too, also in two side-streets into which i wished to turn. at a third street i finally succeeded in finding cover inside a new building. after a time a few comrades assembled there. we then determined to advance together towards the gun-fire which we heard in the distance. coming through a street in which firing went on continually, i stepped on an iron grate with which cellar holes are covered in louvain; i fell through, fell on my arm, and broke my wrist. immediately behind me two other comrades fell into the cellar. we had hardly fallen on the floor when we were fired at from the interior of the cellar. after some time a sergeant-major of artillery came who had evidently seen us fall down, and he asked from the road whether we were germans. i then stepped up to the cellar opening, and was pulled up by him by my uninjured hand. the other two could not rise. i told this to the sergeant-major, who then said that help was coming immediately. i was taken to a barrack and bandaged. i cannot say from own knowledge what happened to my comrades who had fallen in with me. on the following day, however, i was told at our quarters that they had been severely wounded. on august th, at about o'clock in the afternoon, we were to be sent off by rail. the signal for starting had already been given when the train was heavily fired at from the houses near the station. one could hear the rattling of the bullets. everybody who could do so had to load. not till half an hour later were we able to proceed, the firing lasted so long. the train was only a hospital train, and was marked as such with the red cross. read over, approved, signed. signed: schmidt. the witness was sworn. signed: dr. van gember. signed: lempfrid. d. app. . present: president, dr. czarnikow. secretary, thiele. allemant in france, _december th, _. there appeared as witness lieutenant brandt of the reserve, infantry regiment von alvensleben ( th brandenburg) no. , who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to him, was examined as follows: as to person: my name is kurt brandt, aged ; protestant; book-keeper in the printing works of j. schmidt at markneukirchen, saxony. as to case: i can only repeat the statements which i made in my report to my regiment on september th. the report was then read to the witness, and he then declared the following: the report is the one just mentioned by me. i repeat its contents. the letter of the belgian government mentioned therein and the list of members of the garde civique found, i handed to the regiment on the following day. lieutenant dunkel of the reserve will confirm the correctness of my statements; he was then also at louvain, and led a train of the army telegraph section . during the firing, field gendarmes handed over to me about five civilians who bore no badge or uniform. the gendarmes reported that they had taken the persons with arms in their hands, and they also produced the arms. i did not examine the prisoners, but had them taken to the commandant. the owner of the hotel mentioned by me, who appeared in the morning from within the hotel when it was already quite burned down, was handed over by me to the general staff officer of the ix. reserve army corps, a captain, whose name i do not know. it was the same officer who had given me instructions to destroy the two hotels. the civilian was examined by the officer and shot about half an hour later. at about the same time two priests were shot; when i saw them, they had already been apprehended. on inquiry, an orderly officer of the commander general told me that they had distributed ammunition among the civilians. major hildebrand, mentioned in my report, had expressly pointed out that he and his people had been fired on particularly from the houses opposite the station. read over, approved, signed. signed: kurt brandt. the witness was sworn. proceedings closed. signed: czarnikow. signed: thiele. sender: brandt (kurt), lieutenant of reserve. place of dispatch: wood near fort condé. date: . , p.m. _report._ to infantry regiment no. . on the th ult. i arrived as protection to our army telegraph section with a platoon of the th company, infantry regiment no. , at louvain, and took up our quarters in the court of justice; we were exceptionally well received by the inhabitants. on the following day troop trains arrived continually with troops of the ix. reserve army corps who marched off in the direction of antwerp, because a sortie was reported from that city. only one company and my platoon remained behind with the baggage. this and the thunder of the cannon which could be heard in the town seemed to furnish an opportune moment for the inhabitants to carry out the attack upon our troops which they had no doubt planned and prepared. at about o'clock there commenced a violent firing upon our soldiers from the houses, especially directed upon the newly arriving trains. major hildebrand, leader of a not yet detrained battalion, reserve infantry regiment no. , an old regimental comrade of mine, also suffered from this fire. the fire was opened in the whole town in so surprising and uniform a fashion that preparations for it must surely have been made. in my opinion, the belgian garde civique took part in it. this assumption of mine was confirmed by a document of the belgian government taken on the rd of august from the burgomaster of winghe-st. georges, from which can be seen that the garde civique was to be mobilised. the distinctive signs mentioned in the letter (band and rosette) could not be found, because ostensibly they were to be distributed from louvain, as the place belonged to this district. lists of members for the last three years were also found. it was impossible to make arrests because, according to the statement of the burgomaster, almost the whole population had fled; i suspect, however, that the male population had been "drawn" into louvain where these "troops" were to assemble. in the course of the evening, troops were brought back into the town, and at about o'clock the firing ceased at last. on the command of the general staff of the ix. reserve army corps i then joined the other troops in the station square, and was suddenly ordered to destroy and set on fire two hotels from which firing had taken place during the whole time, and to fetch out the occupants. the principal culprits, however, evidently found an outlet in time over the roofs, for only the proprietor came out at about a.m., and very soon he received his reward, as well as two priests who had distributed munition to the civilians. on the following morning we continued our march in the direction of brussels, and on the way we were again violently fired at from different houses. i reported by telegram what i had ascertained regarding the garde civique to the commandant of the town of louvain on the same day (the rd), so that he might be able to take counter-measures; i know nothing further of the result. but like all the others who have lived through the attack i am firmly convinced that the matter had been previously arranged by the authorities. signed: kurt brandt, lieutenant of the reserve, th company, infantry regiment no. . d. app. . court of the th reserve division. present: president, v. kauffberg. secretary, rappe. avricourt, _january th, _. there appeared as witnesses the persons mentioned below, who, after the importance of the oath had been pointed out to them, were, in the absence of the witnesses to be heard subsequently, examined as follows: . captain schaefer, reserve field artillery regiment no. . as to person: my name is walther schaefer, aged ; protestant. as to case: i was leader of the light ammunition column, nd reserve field artillery regiment no. , and arrived with my column at the station in louvain on august th, , at about p.m. the train was so long that only half of it could be brought up to the station platform. when the first half of the train had been unloaded, and i was remaining with about horses in the goods station, a murderous gun-fire suddenly commenced. the firing evidently came from the roofs and windows of the rows of houses to the east and west of the station. it lasted from twenty minutes to half an hour. in the meantime, a train with infantry arrived. i heard subsequently that the infantry replied to this fire from the carriages. when the firing had ceased i drew my horses under cover in a goods shed. we had barely arrived there when we were violently fired at from the direction of the church tower. i had the impression that the shots came from above; it was related generally that a machine-gun had been placed in position on the church tower. the firing lasted at first only for a short time, but was repeated at brief intervals, and continued intermittently for a few hours. i cannot state the period more accurately. i was also in the sheds of the stations. a general staff officer of the ix. reserve corps was busy there and helped me to get the second half of my train unloaded; this was about o'clock at night. at o'clock i marched off in the direction of herent-bueken. the general commanding the ix. reserve corps and captain vieregge were during the night in the square in front of the station. read over, approved, signed. signed: schaefer. the witness was sworn. . lieutenant of the reserve duckwitz, reserve field artillery regiment no. . as to person: my name is richard duckwitz, aged ; protestant. as to case: i belonged to the light ammunition column, which arrived on august th, , about o'clock p.m., at the goods station of louvain. soon after my arrival i was commanded by the leader of the column to ride to bueken and to report to the commandant of the th reserve division the arrival of the column. i rode along a broad boulevard that leads along on the outer edge of louvain. the street was perfectly quiet. when i subsequently came to smaller streets, i met infantry marching along rifle in hand. they called to me to dismount because firing from the houses was taking place. i met infantry who told me that i could not proceed because our infantry was firing with machine-guns into the town from the other side. one could hear the firing. when it became more quiet after a few minutes i rode on and reached bueken, part of which was burning. after having made my report, i was told to ride back and to tell the column to come up at once. on the return journey i missed the boulevard and got into the town. i rode along a broad street and overtook a troop of twenty to thirty gendarmes on foot, revolver in hand. with them were several officers, a priest in white cassock, and a few civilians surrounded by a division of soldiers. the priest called out a few words in french now and again; i heard subsequently that he called out to the people to put lights in the houses. i also saw that light was burning in some houses; the street itself was dark. as i could not proceed i returned to herent, where i remained during the night. on the following morning, at about o'clock, i rode back to louvain. i found the boulevard, and arrived at the station at about o'clock. the houses surrounding the station were partly burned down, partly still burning. in front of the station was the general in command with several officers. after making my report to the leader of my column we soon marched off and left louvain unmolested _via_ the boulevard mentioned above. read over, approved, signed. signed: duckwitz. the witness was sworn. proceedings took place as above. signed: v. kauffberg. signed: rappe. transcribers note i have found two inconsistencies in the spelling of names; lieutenant balterman/battermann and rifleman vorwieger/vorwieder i have been unable to ascertain the correct spellings, so have left the names unchanged. headley bros., ashford, kent & devonshire st., e.c. . available by internet archive (https://archive.org) note: images of the original pages are available through internet archive. see https://archive.org/details/cu brave belgians from the french of baron c. buffin by alys hallard preface by baron de broqueville belgian minister of war awarded the audiffred prize by the french academy of moral and political science g. p. putnam's sons new york and london the knickerbocker press copyright, by g. p. putnam's sons the knickerbocker press, new york foreword st. pierrebrouck. january , . my dear friend: i am glad to hear that you have now completed the work you undertook of collecting, from our soldiers themselves, these accounts of the war. they will certainly help people to know, and to appreciate, what you so rightly call our heroic and valiant belgium. you could not have employed your talent and activity in a better way. as it is not yet possible to write the history of the tragic days we are living, it is highly necessary to collect the most striking episodes, and to prevent the loss of testimony to which posterity can appeal when it wishes to judge the men and things of our times. the accounts that you have collected so patiently help us to live over again the whole campaign, from the startling revelation which the glorious days of liége were for many of us, down to the hard moments through which our army is passing in its victorious defence of the yser. "the determined resistance," our king called it in his memorable speech to parliament. how we see this determined resistance in the magnificent enthusiasm of our soldiers, arresting, around the liége forts, the first wave of invaders, without troubling about the human torrent rolling onwards towards them from the whole of germany! how we see it, too, in the tragic episodes of the invasion, in the bold adventures of our volunteers, in those glorious deaths of which your book reminds us, deaths of which we cannot think without a pang at our hearts! your accounts prove to us how the unanimous will of the nation galvanised the army and how the example of our chiefs, from the king down to the merest sub-lieutenant, encouraged and brought about the most noble self-sacrifices. these accounts prove to us, thanks to many details of episodes lived through during these eighteen months of war, what a quantity of virtues our magnificent little army, brave and studious as it is, held in reserve for the hour of danger. well-known figures and deeply regretted friends are evoked in these pages by their sorrowful comrades. these rapid sketches, written in campaign diaries by those who shared the same dangers and sacrificed everything to the same cause, have a special value. the modesty of the man who tells the story is still another homage rendered to the whole corps, and it is to the army, to the traditional, disciplined, national force, that our admiration goes out, when we read of the fine deeds described in this book. on reading it, the country will better understand the affection and respect it owes to the soldier from whom it may demand, some future day, all that those of our day have endured and given. in your former book, you retraced for us the early life of leopold i., our first king. when i congratulated you on your conscientious work, in depicting for us the early days of the man who has very justly been called leopold the wise, i little thought that you would soon be the chronicler of the army of his grandson, acknowledged by the whole world, as the champion of loyalty and honour, the incarnation of an oppressed and valiant country. how times have changed since then! the horizon is brightening, though, and i hope that, in order to complete your work, you may be able to connect the past with the present and sketch for us the history of this gigantic struggle, in which the indomitable courage of the belgians, led by albert i., will have preserved, for our country, the independence, and the liberty that the political spirit of our fathers had won for it under the reign of leopold. accept, my dear friend, my best wishes, broqueville. contents chapter i page the defence of visé from the account given by deputy staff major collyns of the th line regiment. chapter ii the first german flag taken from the account given by deputy staff major collyns of the th line regiment. chapter iii the attack on the offices of the rd division from accounts by general major stassin, commanders vinçotte and buisset, captains lhermite and renard, adjutant burlet and private poncelet. chapter iv the sart-tilman combat from an account given by père de groote, army chaplain to the st regiment of unmounted chasseurs, and completed by major n---- of the th regiment of unmounted chasseurs. chapter v the retreat of the by captain ---- of the th line regiment. chapter vi chaudfontaine by count gaston de ribaucourt, sub-lieutenant of the heavy howitzer corps. chapter vii loncin fort from accounts by the army doctors: maloens, of the rd battery of heavy howitzers; courtin, of the st chasseurs; roskam, of the th line regiment; defalle, director of the calais municipal crèche ambulance; and quartermaster krantz, of the gendarmerie. chapter viii haelen by colonel baltia, chief of staff of the st cavalry division. chapter ix the budingen combat death of lieutenant count w. d'ursel. by colonel de schietere de lophem, commander of the th lancers. chapter x aerschot from the report of captain commander gilson, commanding the th company of the st battalion of the th line regiment. chapter xi a few episodes of the retreat of namur by captain paulis, artillery commander. chapter xii death of corporal trésignies from the account given by first sergeant-major ---- of the nd regiment of unmounted chasseurs. chapter xiii the first attack of the retrenched camp of antwerp by father hénusse, s.j., army chaplain to the th artillery battery. chapter xiv the re-taking of aerschot by sub-lieutenant ch. dendale of the th line regiment. chapter xv a fine capture by staff deputy captain courboin. chapter xvi the second sortie from antwerp episode of the battle before over-de-vaert (haecht). by lieutenant l. chardome of the th line regiment. chapter xvii the st regiment of lancers by staff deputy colonel e. joostens. chapter xviii the termonde bridge by an officer of the th artillery regiment. chapter xix the no. armoured car by sub-lieutenant g. thiery, of the st regiment of guides, in command of the group of armoured cars of the st cavalry division. chapter xx the wavre-st. catherine combat by sub-lieutenant henroz, in command of the st company of the st battalion of the nd regiment of fortress carabineers. chapter xxi the death-struggle of lierre fort by an officer of the garrison. chapter xxii prisoner in the soltau camp from the account given by amand hasevoets, first sergeant of the regiment of fortress grenadiers. chapter xxiii the last fragments of antwerp by artillery captain m---- c----. chapter xxiv tournai by general-major frantz. chapter xxv dixmude from an account given by ernest collin, a private of the th line regiment, and completed by ernest job, a corporal in the same regiment. chapter xxvi eight days in dixmude extracts from the diary of an artillery observer, by f. de wilde of brigade b (formerly th brigade). chapter xxvii four hours with the boches from the diary of dr. van der ghinst, of the cabour (adinkerque) military ambulance, and an account given by léon deliens, private of the th line regiment. chapter xxviii the tervaete charge by artillery captain m---- c----. chapter xxix a reconnaissance from the diary of father hénusse, s.j., chaplain of the th battery. chapter xxx the irony of fate by m. sadsawska, civic guard, motorcyclist of the st line regiment. chapter xxxi observers by artillery captain m---- c----. chapter xxxii a patrol by artillery captain m---- c----. chapter xxxiii the death march by doctor duwez, army surgeon to the regiment of grenadiers. chapter xxxiv shelter d.a. by dr. duwez, army surgeon to the regiment of grenadiers. chapter xxxv steenstraete by dr. duwez, army surgeon to the regiment of grenadiers. chapter xxxvi lizerne by dr. duwez, army surgeon to the regiment of grenadiers. chapter xxxvii death of sergeant count charles d'ansembourg by dr. duwez, army surgeon to the regiment of grenadiers. chapter xxxviii a guard on the yser:--the death trench by corporal j. libois, of the th line regiment. chapter xxxix nieuport in ruins by sub-lieutenant l. gilmont, director of the automobile park, ocean ambulance, la panne. chapter xl the st. elisabeth chapel by marcel wyseur, registrar to the military court. la panne, august , . brave belgians chapter i the defence of visé from the account given by deputy staff major collyns of the th line regiment[ ] in order that the reader may have a connected idea with regard to the episodes related in the following chapters, the main lines of the preliminaries of the war must be remembered. on the nd of august, , at p.m., germany presented an ultimatum to belgium. the belgian government replied at a.m. the following day that "it would resist, by all means within its power, any attempt to violate the rights of belgium." on the morning of the th of august, the german extreme right, composed of regiments of cavalry and of battalions of chasseurs, brought in motor-cars, crossed the frontier and endeavoured to seize the visé bridge. this attempt did not succeed. the enemy then extended its movement in a northerly direction, crossed the meuse at the lexhe ford and endeavoured to crush the resistance of the fortified place of liége. on the th of august, troops of the rd, th, and th corps made an assault on that part of the defence front comprised between the meuse and the vesdre. before the barchon, evegnée, and fléron forts, the assailants were driven back with sanguinary losses. between the barchon fort and the meuse, the th corps broke through the lines, but it was counter-attacked by the th brigade with a bayonet charge, and thrown back in absolute disorder in the direction of the dutch frontier. fresh assaults began in the night between the th and th of august. fresh troops belonging to the th, th, th, and th corps took part, and the attack extended over the whole ground between the liers fort and the meuse, above liége, that is on a front of about miles. the belgian troops had to face danger on every side at the same time and, after a most heroic defence, the rd division fell back, exhausted. the forts continued to resist and the last one fell on the th of august. during the night of august - , , lieutenant-general leman, military governor of the fortified position of liége, entrusted to me the defence of the visé and argenteau bridges. it was an important mission, as german forces were massed at the frontier and were preparing to violate our neutrality. i hurried to the barracks, called up my battalion[ ] of about four hundred men, and started for visé, where i arrived at seven in the morning. the whole day was taken up in organising the defence. a company was placed at each of the bridges of visé and argenteau, which are about two miles apart; a platoon of about thirty men were told off to guard the lixhe ford, about six miles to the north; outposts were sent to the right bank of the river, with instructions to send out patrols and reconnaissances in the direction of the frontier. the rest of the battalion remained in reserve at haccourt. the soldiers were enthusiastic and had perfect confidence. most of them looked upon the war as a kind of pleasure party, which would relieve the monotony of their barrack life, and their good humour increased, thanks to the cordial welcome they received from the population. in the evening, captain chaudoir arrived with about sixty men. he was in command of the mounted chasseurs of the liége civic guard. they were all brave fellows, courageous and ready for anything, but their equipment was very defective and they were even short of rifles. i accepted their services, nevertheless, and entrusted them with the surveillance of the valleys of the meuse and the geer. the inhabitants of visé also offered their help. "i am a good shot," said a lawyer, "and i want to do my share. put me in the firing line." "no, i cannot have any civilians," i replied, categorically, and i sent them all away. on the following day, august rd, m. delattre arrived. he is an engineer, a specialist in explosives, and he had been sent by the staff to attend to the obstruction of the right bank of the river and the destruction of the bridges. groups of workmen, under his orders, felled trees with which to bar the roads, placed mines in the piles and, in short, put everything in readiness for the blowing up of the bridges, if necessary. this fresh responsibility did not by any means lessen my anxiety. it was very difficult to realise what the situation really was. the most extraordinary rumours circulated and were believed, no matter how improbable they might seem. the staff of the rd army division announced to me, by telephone, that german troops had crossed the netherlands and were advancing through limbourg. thanks to the telephonic communication i had established with the _gendarmerie_ stations, and with lieutenant de menten, who was on the watch with a platoon of the nd lancers, near the dutch frontier, i obtained exact information with regard to the enemy's movements, and was able to let the commander of the division know that the rumours were inexact. they had been invented by boche spies, and circulated by scaremongers. towards evening, general leman warned me that two divisions of the enemy's cavalry had invaded our territory. he ordered me to blow up the visé and argenteau bridges. i transmitted the order to delattre and, whilst he was making his final arrangements, i withdrew my outposts from the right bank of the river and, for fear of accidents, proceeded to evacuate the houses in the vicinity. when everything was quite ready, delattre came to me. "you can make your mind easy," he said, "we have taken the precaution to put a double charge, so that whatever----" the sound of an explosion interrupted his speech and we both hurried away full of confidence. our disappointment can easily be imagined, for great blocks of macarite had not exploded. the visé bridge was weakened, but it was still practicable for carriages. at argenteau, i was told, the result was no better. "bad work!" declared a sergeant, who appeared to be as mortified as i was. several civilians were jeering. i pitched into them and that soothed my nerves. we made use of the telephone at once and asked the staff at liége to send us fresh explosives immediately. the delay seemed to us interminable and we wondered whether we should be surprised by the enemy. the motor-cars arrived at last. we placed the powder, and by six o'clock all the necessary measures were taken. this time the explosion was formidable. great blocks of stone, a cubic yard in diameter, were flung two hundred yards away. the middle of the bridge, about fifty yards in length, fell into the meuse. a most unfortunate accident now happened. the shock produced by the explosion destroyed the telegraphic and telephonic lines and interrupted all communications. i wondered what was to be done. was my mission ended, as the bridges no longer existed? ought i to return to our fortified position of liége or stay and defend the passages of the river? none of the couriers i sent to general leman came back. i was therefore obliged to decide for myself. i was there and i determined to stay there. at daybreak, on the th, i endeavoured to complete the defence by utilising the houses overlooking the bridges, as from them it would be possible to fight the enemy on the opposite bank of the river. my information service left much to be desired. from time to time, my soldiers crossed the river, in two little boats which we had discovered by chance, and went in search of news. it was in this way that i learnt the fact that an important corps of the enemy's cavalry was at berneau and that it was followed, at a short distance by a strong force of infantry. suddenly, we heard a buzzing overhead and a _taube_ appeared in the sky. for a few minutes the sinister bird hovered over us, flinging down general von emmich's proclamations. it then returned to the enemy's lines, taking back very inexact information. in the first place, it could not see my troops hidden behind the houses, and it is very possible, thanks to its height, that it did not see that the bridge was destroyed, as the middle part was lying downwards in the meuse. warned by the aëroplane i modified my arrangements and collected all my forces at visé, with the exception of one company which i had left at argenteau. it was very fortunate that i acted in this way, as, at one o'clock, some death's head hussars appeared in sight and, without any hesitation, made straight for the bridge. my soldiers watched them anxiously, their fingers on the triggers of their guns. "wait," i said, "wait, let them come nearer." as soon as i saw them on the first part of the bridge, i yelled out "fire!" "piff! paff! piff! paff!" ... with the sudden crackling sound of the firing, the terrified horses reared, kicked, and struggled, and the horsemen rolled into the river; others, turning quickly around, rushed into the ranks that were following, collided with them and, in wild flight, escaped through the fields of clover and oats. all was helter-skelter! just at this moment, heavy firing began from the houses on the right bank near the river. unseen by us, some germans had entered these buildings and were now protecting the retreat of their cavalry. from one bank to the other, the firing continued at intervals, but without much damage on either side. during a lull, i called out to my brave men: "permission to grill one!" ah, how joyfully they revelled in that cigarette! the baptism of fire had not produced the least emotion. they were all smiling and joking with each other, and as soon as the enemy recommenced the firing, the combat continued as gaily as possible. sheltered by a wall, their jerseys unbuttoned, the men of my reserve contingent were fortifying themselves by devouring bread and butter. the idea suddenly occurred to me to try an experiment. "well," i said, "are you not proud to take part in the firing? as you see, we have stopped the boches. it is not finished, though, and just now i shall want three of you, three of the bravest, who fear nothing. who volunteers?" before i had finished speaking, every one of them shouted: "i do, major." the german artillery had now come into line. two or three batteries on the slopes of fouron, to the north-east of visé, had opened fire. in spite of my men's courage, i felt it was necessary to stimulate them a little. they were only four hundred strong and, without artillery or machine-guns; they were fighting an enemy infinitely superior. i went to all the different shelters and affected the most hilarious gaiety. "we are going to have fine fun," i said to them. "the boches have never yet managed to fire straight with their cannons, and their projectiles will fall everywhere except in the houses we are occupying." this succeeded very well and the men greeted the german shrapnels, which were bursting at tremendous heights, with laughter. my joy was great, for if the artillery had fired straight into the houses, our position would have been impossible and we should have been obliged to retreat. ah, if we had only had a few guns, how many of our adversaries we should have brought down! during the combat, some of the horsemen of the civic guard told me that a huge infantry column had crossed the meuse, north of visé and that a battery was already directing its firing on us. this news seemed all the more probable, as we heard a cannonading which appeared to be coming from a height on the left bank. isolated as we were, and not having received any instructions, my situation was extremely disquieting. in order to protect my retreat, i gave orders to the nd company to prevent, by its firing, any movement of the enemy southwards. to the st company, i gave orders to go towards hallembaye and strengthen the outpost at lixhe and, at the same time, to observe how the land lay towards the north. presently the nd company had to undergo such violent firing from musketry and machine-guns that captain françois, who was in command, was obliged to evacuate certain houses along the meuse, as the walls were pierced by the balls. captain burghraeve, too, in command of the st company, sent me word that the german artillery was sending a veritable storm of shells of every calibre on to the troops that were defending the lixhe ford, and that the men, lying down under each fresh burst, were unable to reply, and still more unable to observe the country round. it was, therefore, possible for the germans to cross the meuse without being seen by them so that he could not warn me. "hold out," i replied, "it is all right!" at the same time, i continued encouraging my brave men who were resisting energetically at visé. by . , the development of the enemy's front was getting more and more extensive. the weakness of my forces, part of which could do nothing on account of the adverse firing, made me decide to evacuate my position, under cover, at the different points occupied, of our rear-guard. this retreat took place in perfect order, without the enemy being aware of it. the st company, in spite of its dangerous situation, also succeeded in withdrawing, group by group. the lixhe post was now the only one to cause us any anxiety. crouching down in the beet-root fields, our comrades awaited a lull in the steel whirlwind, in order to get up and make a rush forward. fifty yards farther on, they threw themselves down again. the german artillery increased its firing, the earth shook, and clouds of dust flew about everywhere. with intense emotion, i watched this terrible race. finally, thank god, they were all there with us. the soldiers had their coats, shakos, and kits pierced with balls. two men saw the bicycles they were holding shattered by shells. by the most unheard-of good luck, not one of them was wounded. our total losses amounted to two men killed and ten wounded. the inhabitants of visé told us afterward that the enemy had suffered greatly, and that a number of carts took away their wounded. footnotes: [footnote : now lieutenant-colonel, commander of the st line regiment.] [footnote : the battalion, at the moment, consisted of four contingents of militia, as the general mobilisation, decreed on july st, was not yet complete.] chapter ii the first german flag taken (august , ) from the account given by deputy staff major collyns of the th line regiment on leaving visé, i went to milmort, where, on august th, i received an order from general leman to go immediately to wandre and to prevent, at any cost, the germans crossing the bridge over the meuse. on arriving, i made a brief survey of the position. as my battalion was only four hundred strong, the defence meant principally the construction of barricades and the utilising of houses and walls for firing obliquely and from all sides over the bridge of the meuse, over the canal bridge to the west, and over the roads leading to these bridges. with feverish activity, the soldiers set to work. in the various houses indicated, they broke the window-panes, arranged the bedding and sacks of earth against the windows, in order to shelter those who were firing. they then dragged carts, carried planks of wood and barrels, and all kinds of other material, to the bridge over the meuse, piling everything up in such a way as to leave only a narrow passage, scarcely sufficient for one man to cross at a time. a barricade was then put up on the road from herstal to vivegnis. the walls of the cemetery, a huge rectangle between the road and the canal, were pierced to form loopholes and so transformed into a regular redoubt. in a very short time, my men were posted behind the windows of the houses and the loopholes of the cemetery, with their mausers ready, on the lookout for the enemy. these preparations evidently interfered with the plans of the germans and their spies set to work to move us away. one of their agents transmitted to me, by telephone, an order from the staff to leave wandre. as i had received an order to defend the bridge at any cost, i was greatly surprised and asked at once for communication with headquarters. "i have given no such instructions," answered general leman, in reply to my question. "is collyns still there and can i count on him?" i assured the general that i should on no account leave there without his express order to do so. on returning to the bridge, to my great amazement, i saw some men taking away the carts which formed our barricade. i called out to them furiously and asked what they were doing. they informed me that they were merely obeying an order they had received from the superintendent of police. i asked the latter what he meant by interfering. "there is no knowing what to do," he answered, angrily. "the general has just telephoned to me to have the bridge cleared." "look here," i replied, "i am going to give an order now to the sentinels to shoot down every man who touches the barricades, and i shall hold you responsible for what happens." my energetic attitude took effect and there was no further attempt to disobey my orders. the remainder of the day, august th, passed without any other incident. fearing a night attack, i arranged for a new system of lighting. i had some piles of straw soaked in tar and placed at various points, out of sight of the enemy, giving orders to the sentinels to set fire to them in case of an alert. no information reached me except that the enemy was bombarding the forts violently. as a matter of fact, my position at the wandre bridge constituted a second line of defence, for, at a certain distance in front of us, fortress troops occupied the ground between the pontisse fort and the meuse. i had not much faith in the value of these soldiers, as they belonged to our former recruiting system. they had left their regiments years ago and had only been under arms again four days. my estimation turned out to be true. at midnight, a sustained firing was suddenly heard in front of us and, very soon after, the fortress troops endeavoured to reach the town by the roads i was defending. i rushed forward to meet them and ordered them to return to their position, threatening to shoot those who disobeyed. they started back, but the darkness prevented my seeing whether they really returned to their posts, or whether they slipped round on our left flank. towards one o'clock, my sentinels fired and, immediately, the bonfires were lighted. an intense firing then took place, principally from the herstal-vivegnis road. the german musketry and machine-guns replied. a few minutes later, the firing was less intense and was heard farther away. the enemy had been obliged to retreat, but, before long returned in greater force, by parallel streets. once more our firing compelled them to retreat. they then rushed into the gardens, passed through the houses and advanced along the street which cuts the herstal-vivegnis road perpendicularly. this street was simply swept from one end to the other by our soldiers, hidden in the houses skirting the right of the square. after suffering frightful losses, the germans were obliged to escape and take shelter in the gardens. fresh troops appeared and attempted to force the passage. the attacks continued uninterruptedly. mingled with the sound of the orders, of the shouts and cries of "forward!" could be heard the firing of the guns and the dull thud of bodies falling to the ground. whole groups of german foot-soldiers were lying in the streets, at equal distances, their hands clenching the butt end of their guns, guarding their ranks even in death. they lay there, showing their breasts, torn open by the balls, and their hideous wounds. blood trickled over the footpaths and over the roads, there was blood on the fronts of the houses, blood everywhere. huge flames from the bonfires lighted up this scene of carnage. the flames danced, jumped, mingled with each other in golden wreaths, throwing long shadows which seemed to be climbing and running along the walls.... gradually, the adversaries' vigour weakened, their efforts diminished, and there were long intervals between the attacks. as soon as the heads of the assaulting columns came within reach of our firing, they were mown down. the rest disbanded and, rushing in all directions, hid in the gardens and cellars. during a lull, a few of my brave men explored the surrounding district and, a few minutes later, the soldier lange brought me the flag of the th regiment of mecklenburg grenadiers, which he had found just below the houses facing the vivegnis road. the colonel, the adjutant-major, the standard bearer, and a number of officers were lying there near their glorious trophy. i seized the flag and went forward to my soldiers crying: "victory! victory!" there was wild enthusiasm and, spontaneously, they burst out with our national anthem: the _brabançonne_, and shouts of "long live the king! long live belgium! long live the major!" the officers hurried to me to congratulate me and, i may as well confess it, in a state of excitement that made my soldiers forget all hierarchy, they rushed to me and grasped my hand. ah, the brave fellows! the firing became less and less violent and, towards eight in the morning, the enemy beat a final retreat. a strange man-hunting chase then began in the little gardens of the houses. there were boches hidden in the bushes, crouching down behind heaps of leaves. some of them held up their hands, crying, "comrades, do not shoot!" others, on the contrary, fought to the last. in one garden, a dozen of them refused stubbornly to surrender, and were massacred. after confiding the flag to engineer hiard, who undertook to take it to general leman, i went through the streets of the town. stretcher-bearers were carrying away the germans or dressing their wounds. near the square, i witnessed a very painful scene. as one of the stretcher-bearers approached, a german officer raised his pistol. our man snatched it from him, but, whilst he was calling one of his colleagues to help him, the boche drew out his pocket-knife and cut his own throat. there were helmets, swords, guns, and fragments of all kinds of things strewing the ground and i could not resist the temptation of sending a little collection to the liége town hall. just at that moment, i heard some alarming news. i was told that there had been an attempt to assassinate general leman; that the germans had entered liége, that they already occupied herstal, and that they threatened to bar our way. in spite of our success, our situation was extremely perilous. whatever might happen, i had given my solemn promise to general leman that i would hold the bridge and i was determined to keep my word. i sent word to the governor telling him what my position was. i told him that the germans had retreated and were probably within a certain distance of my lines, that i saw the possibility of going forward and throwing them back under the firing of the pontisse fort, but that i could not undertake this attack, unless i could be sure that the heights of wandre, situated on the right bank, were in the possession of our troops, as otherwise i should be exposed to the enemy crossing the bridge and getting at us from the other side. i sent three cyclists, one after the other, to headquarters but, to my great disappointment, i received no answer and so did not dare leave our shelter. towards ten o'clock, captain grossman arrived. he was formerly an officer of my battalion and now, since the mobilisation, he was in the nd battalion of the nd line regiment. "major," he said, "i was in position on the right bank of the meuse and i have received orders to fall back. i heard that you were on the other bank and i have come to place myself at your disposal. do not pack me off again, major. make use of my hundred and fifty men." this help was a godsend. "grossman," i answered, "this is just like you. i am very thankful you have come. we succeeded at visé and we have taken a flag here and a number of prisoners. i will give you an opportunity of doing something worth doing. the situation is as follows: the enemy is retreating in front of us, but my left is threatened and we are threatened from behind. i also know that a fairly important german force is in rhèes cemetery, and may be able to turn round us. go by basprial towards the heights, clear the ground of what you find there, hold the troops which now occupy rhèes, at all costs, and endeavour to make an impression on them. i fancy you will do a good stroke there, grossman." the commander started off at once with his company and, towards one in the afternoon, he crossed the bridge again, followed by four hundred prisoners, among whom were seven officers, lieutenant count von moltke included, the grand-nephew of the famous marshal. "i congratulate you heartily, grossman," i said, "and, by way of reward, you shall take the prisoners to liége." a few minutes later, i received notice that general bertrand was coming with his brigade to the left bank, that i was to cover his passage by the wandre bridge and form, afterwards, the rear-guard of his troops, which were retiring in the direction of ans.... chapter iii the attack on the offices of the rd division (liége, august , ) from accounts by general major stassin, commanders vinçotte and buisset, captains lhermite and renard, adjutant burlet and private poncelet the aspect of st.-foi street on august , , will never be forgotten by those who were there on that date. officers and soldiers, covered with dust, came hurrying along from the quays and from st. leonard street and defrecheux street, towards the offices of the military headquarters of the fortified position. with feverish haste, they hurried along through the crowds of young men in the street, who, with their tri-coloured cockade in their buttonholes, were shouting and singing in their enthusiasm, for they had all come to offer their life for their country. everyone was in high spirits, as the greatest confidence and certainty of victory reigned supreme. the various groups were chatting and joking with each other, and the arrival and departure of the military couriers were greeted with amusing sallies. "bring me back a helmet!" called out one man. "i would rather have a lance to make a hat-pin with for my wife!" cried another. bursts of laughter greeted every speech. young men, rich and poor, were all there together, fraternising with each other, all actuated by a fine burst of patriotic enthusiasm. here and there, forming a contrast to this careless gaiety, were the farmers and cattle-dealers, in their smocks, with their iron-tipped sticks. they all looked more or less anxious and were discussing gruffly the requisition prices. "make way there!" called out a voice authoritatively. a gendarme suddenly appeared, carrying a pigeon crouching in a woman's hat. he was followed by a wretched-looking woman in tears, with dishevelled hair, and by a shifty-looking individual. both of them had a shrinking attitude as they were hustled along. the man kept repeating in a mechanical way: "let us go! let us go!" "down with all spies!" yelled the crowd and fists threatened the two boches, as they disappeared under the archway. several carts, under the care of a sub-officer, followed. they were full of weapons and war equipment of various kinds. the news soon spread that fifteen thousand guns had just been discovered in a cellar in st. marguerite street and more than fifty thousand lances, saddles, revolvers, and machine-guns in a house in jonckeu street, which, from cellar to attic, had been converted into a veritable arsenal. a thrill of anger ran through the whole crowd. inside the house which was the headquarters of the staff, feverish activity reigned. night and day, without ceasing and without any rest, the officers had been at work, for, we may as well confess it, we had had too much faith in the loyalty of our neighbours, and the ultimatum had taken us by surprise. everything had to be thought of and everything organised within a few days. motor-cars, horses, cattle, and fodder had to be requisitioned. houses in the firing line would have to be destroyed, trenches and shelters must be constructed. there were, in fact, thousands of things to be done, in order to complete and improve the defence of the forts. the telephone bell kept ringing and couriers rushed off every minute along the various routes, carrying orders from the governor to the various points threatened. towards midnight, st.-foi street was silent again. at the military headquarters, the officers continued their work and, at the door of the building, a bureau carriage and several motor-cars were stationed. suddenly, shouts and cries of "hurrah!" were to be heard. surrounded by a crowd, wild with delight, an open motor-car appeared. standing on the cushions, engineer hiard was to be seen waving a german flag. it was the flag of the th regiment of the mecklenburg grenadiers, which a soldier, fernand lange, had just taken at the wandre bridge, at herstal. windows opened, and faces, with eyes puffed up with sleep, appeared. bare arms were to be seen waving handkerchiefs, and the enthusiasm was beyond all words. gradually the tumult ceased once more and there was silence again. day broke and a dim light illumined the street. suddenly a motor-car appeared through the morning mist, and two lancers, who were seated in it, cried out, "the english are here!" behind them were five german officers, preceding soldiers in grey uniform marching in two ranks and shouldering guns.[ ] a crowd of men and women of the people accompanied them, shouting joyfully: "long live the english!" commander marchand was standing in the doorway of the headquarters building, smoking a cigarette. he looked at the procession in amazement, wondering whether the men were truce-bearers or deserters. he advanced a few steps to meet them in a hesitating way. inside the building, the officers were still at work, taking no notice of the noise in the street. by chance, commander delannoy went to the window. his office is on the second floor and looks on to st. leonard street. he saw about thirty germans in this street. he rushed back to the landing shouting: "the germans are here!" commander vinçotte, who was on the first floor, loaded his revolver and rushed down the stairs. commander buisset and lieutenant renard followed him. in the meantime, the five german officers walked slowly up to commander marchand and, putting their hands behind their backs, armed themselves with a revolver in the right hand and a dagger in the left. when within two yards of the commander, their chief officer, a tall, stout man, whom we learnt afterwards was major count joachim von alvensleben, spoke to the belgian officer in english. no one knows what he said. marchand suddenly shouted: "you shall never pass!" all the german officers, feigning no longer, fired immediately. marchand and vinçotte fired back. three german officers fell. alvensleben rushed to the door to enter the house, but vinçotte forthwith fired four shots at him, and the major fell forward head first. the last german officer fell at his side, brought down by captain lhermite with the butt end of his gun. following the example of their chiefs, the enemy soldiers opened fire, holding the butt end of their guns on their hips. they aimed badly and the shots grazed the walls. commander sauber sprang out of the carriage standing at the door, and discharged his browning on the assailants. a german slipped behind the motor-cars and aimed at sauber from the footpath. he missed the commander, but hit marchand, who fell down, wounded at the back of the neck and in the chest. at this moment, about twenty germans turned the corner of the street and rushed to the rescue of their countrymen. hidden behind a barrier, they fired into the windows and entrance hall. colonel stassin, chief of the staff, was working with general leman in a back room of the ground floor. at the sound of the shooting, he rushed along the hall and, in spite of a shower of bullets, out into the street. a terrible sight awaited him there. commander marchand was lying in a pool of blood, and four belgian officers were fighting courageously with about thirty germans. the colonel did not hesitate a moment. before all things, the governor must be saved. he returned to the office and took the general to the royal foundry which adjoins the buildings. helped by captain de krahe and captain lebbe, the two chiefs scaled the wall, between the houses, and, by taking st. leonard street, reached the vivegnis station. from there, they went by carriage to the loncin fort, where the governor remained. in the meantime, commander vinçotte, in order to cover the general's retreat, called together the soldiers and the gendarmes of the guard and led them to the attack, seconded by captain buisset, captain lhermite, and lieutenant renard. with a gun which he found in the street, commander hauteclerc joined in the attack. the belgians were ten against thirty, but, in spite of this, they sustained the fight with advantage to themselves. on their knees on the ground, crouching down on the footpath, or sheltered behind doors, they avoided the enemy's balls, whilst their well-aimed firing brought down many victims. when about ten were killed, the others, most of whom were wounded, took flight. one alone, the last of them all, posted opposite the headquarters, continued firing at the windows. adjutant burlet, from the balcony above, brought him down. undecided which way to escape, the germans stopped at the corner of st. leonard street. a few of them waved the white flag. "forward!" cried vinçotte, at the head of his courageous little troop, rushing off in pursuit of them. in st. leonard street, two more germans were killed. unfortunately the belgians only had their revolvers and, thanks to this, the remaining boches escaped. after placing men to guard each end of the street, the officers returned to headquarters and carried the body of commander marchand into a room on the ground floor. the unfortunate officer gave no sign of life. he had a frightful wound at the back of his neck and a great clot of blood at his chest. a second victim, a gendarme, named houba, was placed at his side. in an adjoining room the wounds of two soldiers were quickly dressed. the bodies of the enemy were then searched. in major von alvensleben's pocket, a / , map of liége was found, on which an itinerary was traced in pencil from hermée to coron-meuse. had the germans really followed that itinerary and had they managed to come unseen across the waste land of the vignes and so enter the town? it is possible, but it is quite certain that their departure was as mysterious as their arrival, as they were neither seen to enter nor leave the town at any point of the fortified region. it is much more probable that they were hidden inside the town when they prepared this expedition. the following rumoured version of the affair is much the more probable explanation. a few days before the declaration of war, it is said that some danes took a flat at thier, liége. on the evening of august th, they paid their bill to their landlady, an honest, unsuspecting woman, telling her that the town did not seem safe and that they intended leaving the following night. towards three in the morning, she heard a noise and, getting up, went to see them off. to her amazement, she saw that they were wearing german uniforms. without attempting any explanation, the boches made off. were these men alvensleben and his friends? whatever were the means employed, the attempt on the offices of the rd division was a most daring exploit, and if it had not been for the heroic resistance of the staff officers and of the soldiers on guard, the germans would certainly have succeeded in capturing the governor of the stronghold and in getting hold of the documents concerning the defence. footnotes: [footnote : some of these soldiers belonged to the th regiment of chasseurs.] chapter iv the sart-tilman combat from an account given by père de groote, army chaplain to the st regiment of unmounted chasseurs and completed by major n---- of the th regiment of unmounted chasseurs on august , , the inhabitants of charleroi crowded to the streets, windows, and balconies to cheer the st regiment of chasseurs which was starting, preceded by the band, to take part in the defence of belgium. "long live the king! hurrah for belgium! hurrah for the soldiers!" every man shouted the words that came first to his lips, and the soldiers, with bright eyes and smiles, marched proudly along, under a shower of flowers and tricolour ribbons. pushing through the ranks, a woman held a little girl of three or four years of age up to one of the volunteers, and the father, with tears in his eyes, kissed his child for the last time, amidst the frantic cheering of the crowd. just at this moment, the people rushed forward on to the horse-road, surrounding the soldiers, and commenced filling their pockets with tobacco, chocolate, and a hundred other dainties. the officers, half-laughing and half angry, endeavoured to re-establish order. as for me, i had great difficulty to get along, for people i did not know at all clutched me, grasped my hands and, recommending their sons to my care, forced money upon me with the words, "take it, take it, it is for the soldiers." i managed to get free of the mob and rushed home. to my great annoyance, my appointment as army chaplain had not yet arrived. what was i to do? the soldiers wanted me to be with them and it seemed to me that, at such a time, i could not desert them. i did not hesitate long, but rushed off to the station and took my seat in a compartment with eight officers. after two hours' journey, the train stopped and we were at huy. after organising the bridge-head and protecting the destruction of the engis and hermalle bridges, the regiment was sent by train to liége in the afternoon of august th. we arrived at the longdoz station and were greeted here, too, with cheers. the enthusiasm increased when the crowd discovered a priest in the ranks. we were stationed on the road which leads from jupille to bellaire, as reserves, behind the th brigade, which was then fighting furiously in the vicinity of the barchon fort. the soldiers piled arms and lay down on the roadside. presently a line regiment passed. from horseback, i addressed a few patriotic words to the brave fellows, who seemed to appreciate what i said. they knelt down and asked for my blessing. i prayed that god would give them the victory. towards evening, we returned to liége, went through to fragnée and halted in a meadow. it was then ten o'clock. i lay down on the grass by commander henseval. i had not closed my eyes for three nights and was dead tired. the commander, who was preparing his stylograph, in order to write to his wife, noticed my exhaustion. "go to sleep," he said; "in case anything happens, i will wake you." i did not need telling twice, but alas, ten minutes later, there was an energetic call: "to arms! to arms!" i sprang to my feet and rushed forward to find out what had occurred. the german staff, having failed in its plans to the east, was employing one of its favourite manoeuvres and developing action by means of its left wing, in the direction of a more vulnerable sector, that of embourg-boncelles. from our position at fragnée, we could already see the light of the bursting shells, here and there, in the direction of boncelles. we were sent with the th chasseurs to ougrée. i was at the head of the column, behind general massart. it was raining in torrents and the water was streaming down our faces. this mattered little to us and we continued our march along the white road bordered by two rows of trees. suddenly, a motor-car arrived, travelling at full speed. commander marchand was in it. he belonged to lieutenant-general leman's staff. "our men are outflanked at sart-tilman," he said to the general; "the chasseurs must defend the hamlet at any cost." "you mean a sacrifice?" "yes, general." "good, agreed! forward!" the commander of the regiment, colonel jacquet, went quickly from rank to rank of the soldiers, stimulating their enthusiasm and telling them how proud he was to be marching at their head. as he wished to add example to precept, he went straight to the vanguard and advanced cautiously along, for the ground was hilly and it was quite possible that enemy patrols might have penetrated there. sart-tilman is the key of a wooded table-land, the entrance to which was crowned by a series of redoubts and hastily prepared trenches, but the firing range was not sufficiently cleared. it was nearly midnight when we passed through the hamlet. the major of the st battalion placed three companies between the redoubts, facing the st. jean and sclessin woods and kept one company back as a reserve. the noise from this side was deafening. everything seemed to be rumbling together, guns, machine-guns, and cannons, and, in the midst of the darkness, the bursting of the shrapnels illuminated the sky with their blood-red lights. to the right and left, the boncelles and embourg forts seemed to be wrapped round with a girdle of flames. from time to time, we could hear, in the still night, the doleful sound of the fifes sounding the rally and the march forward. it was a grand and thrilling sight. it was war in all its tragic beauty. the deployment of the chasseurs was carried out just as though it had been on the drilling ground. they climbed the slopes in files. here and there, lay the dead body of a belgian soldier. "halt!" came the order and, when once they were established in an advantageous position and sheltered as much as possible, they fired by guess and for a good reason. it was impossible to see a single one of the enemy soldiers. they were all hidden in the trenches and their heads scarcely came up to the parapet. suddenly, some soldiers, dragging with them their machine-guns, rushed away, crying, "the germans are there. each man for himself!" it was impossible to stop them and there was a veritable helter-skelter. we discovered afterwards that these men were germans, disguised as belgian soldiers, in order to create a panic amongst us. there was a slight hesitation and then our officers rushed amongst the sharp-shooters and led them forward, to the positions they were to occupy. a violent musketry fire greeted them, coming chiefly from the st. jean wood, a part of which had not been felled. scattered about, our chasseurs continued to advance, sheltering behind one tree after another, in spite of the ceaseless firing. the balls whizzed along and, with a dry crackle, cut down the branches or entered the trunks of the trees. i can still see a young corporal, who had been hit in the head and chest with a ball and was red with blood, walking towards major le doseray. "i have done my duty, major," he said, "haven't i? are you satisfied with me?" the major had only just time to grasp his hand, when the poor fellow sank down. i rushed to him, but he was dead. the battle developed with great violence. the german scouts, who preceded their columns, were driven off; but our company to the right, under captain commander rochette, had suffered terrible losses and he asked for reinforcements. the reserve of the st battalion and two companies of the nd battalion soon formed part of the chain, and the struggle continued until break of day with alternative calm and violence. the germans found a way of creeping into our thickets, thus obliging our regiment reserve patrols to explore our positions on each side and even at our back. the chasseurs were congratulating themselves on having accomplished their mission and they believed that the victory was theirs, when, just at dawn, on our left wing, the boches waved white flags and the bugle rang out, " st chasseurs, cease firing!" our officers were amazed and, for an instant, our firing stopped. we understood immediately, though, that it was only another ruse and that the germans had imitated our bugle call. the fight began once more, and very soon after, groups of the enemy who, during the darkness had crept into some of the sart-tilman houses that were still intact, took our trenches and our explorers from behind. there was a moment's consternation, as one of our men fell face downwards at the colonel's feet, declaring that he had been shot in the back by his comrades. by way of restoring confidence, the commander of the nd battalion sent a platoon to reconnoitre in the direction of the cense-rouge farm. it came back without discovering anything, after losing some men who were also shot in the back. another platoon inspected the field of oats adjoining the farm. our adjutant-major went himself into the gardens. in the houses, there were soldiers dressed remarkably like our chasseurs. the colonel told them to come out and join in the shooting. they refused and we broke down the doors, but the point blank firing of these imitation chasseurs obliged our men to fall back. captain fleuracker, captain rochette, lieutenant sohier, lieutenant pereaux, and lieutenant dufrane were killed. our reserve had to be withdrawn and the houses had to be attacked one after another. we were not supplied with incendiary and asphyxiating means, as the germans were. the battle continued to rage and some german machine-guns, stationed four hundred yards north-east of sart-tilman and protected by barbed wire, fired volleys into the hamlet and its neighbourhood. captain vergeynst, followed by a few courageous men, rushed forward and succeeded in bringing down the boche commander and his gunners, but, unfortunately, the losses in our ranks were considerable. the regimentary reserve, which for a time had been dispersed, now rallied round the officers, whilst the first line executed a furious counter-attack. this continued until towards five o'clock, when the rd battalion, with the flag, the machine-guns, and the artillery of the th brigade came from the st. laurent wood and began to attack the trenches we had had to leave. these were soon retaken. just at this moment captain henseval, commanding the rd company of the rd battalion, noticed a white flag in the midst of a group of germans who, with hands up, were crying, "kamarades! kamarades!" a sign was made for them to approach, but, as they did not move, henseval, accompanied by about ten men, advanced towards them in order to take them. he had almost reached them, when the germans flung themselves down on the ground, discovering a machine-gun which mowed down the little group of belgians, including the captain, who received several balls in his chest. of all this brave group, only one man escaped. to the left, in the direction of boncelles, grey masses could be seen treading down the beet-root fields. they were the rd and th regiments of german infantry, marching in close ranks, shouting "hurrah!" and attacking the fort. our shells and machine-guns made great gaps in their columns. at the command of their officers, the battalions closed up the gaps and continued their march forward. three times their lines were broken and three times they re-formed them. finally, decimated, they broke up near the moats. only a hundred men remained on foot. without their officers, and completely demoralised, they waved a white flag. captain lefert, in command of the fort, and lieutenant montoisy, climbed on to the benches and, when the germans saw them, they held up their hands. just at that moment, two shots were fired from somewhere and the captain fell, a ball in both thighs. the germans gave themselves up all the same, and disappeared in indian file inside the fort. the assault had failed and the enemy fell back towards seven o'clock and attempted nothing more than a few counter-attacks at intervals. the chasseurs were masters of the place and their flag flew over sart-tilman. i went out at once to the battle-field. what an abominable sight it was! around the trenches, were the dead bodies of belgians and germans, piled up and forming parapets three yards high. i went down into one of the trenches; it was a pool of blood, with a heap of bodies entangled with each other. alas, how many of our brave young chasseurs were there, poor fellows whom anxious mothers were expecting back home! stepping over the dead bodies, i dressed the wounds of our men and said a few words to encourage them. they were resigned and bore their suffering without any complaint, but what anguish i read in the eyes that were already becoming dim! how fervently they clasped their hands together in a last prayer! when i spoke a few words in their own language to the german wounded, what a deafening noise began! they cried, moaned, pitied themselves and, imagining that i was one of their countrymen, gave me farewell messages for their relatives, their wives, and their children. they clung to me, kissed my hands, beseeched me not to leave them. i hurried away from this hell and made my way up and down the battle-field, in search of wounded men to relieve and dying ones to whom to administer the last sacraments. there in front of me, lay more than five thousand soldiers of the brandenburg, hanover, and pomeranian corps. the ground was covered with a grey cloak, relieved here and there by the dark patches of our chasseurs' uniforms. from this field of suffering, could be heard groans, sobs, and the death-rattle. it was horrible, frightful! lying on his back, with a fearful wound, a poor young volunteer of some seventeen years old, was calling out, piteously, "mother, mother, i want to see you!" i knelt down beside him and the poor boy held out a silver coin of fifty centimes to me. "it is all i have," he said; "i want to send it to the church where i was baptised." i was moving on, when a commander suddenly forbade me to go forward. "as long as there are any wounded, i have a mission to fulfil," i protested. he finally yielded and gave me two soldiers for protection. this precaution was wise, as, a minute later, a german officer, who appeared to be dead, fired two shots from his revolver at me, but fortunately he failed to hit his mark. after this i was extremely cautious in approaching any officers of the enemy. however serious their wounds might be, they always clutched their swords in disdainful silence, in order to avoid the humiliation of being disarmed. "i wish to be buried with my sword and decorations," said a dying german captain. i promised him that his wish should be respected and he died contented. with the most admirable devotion, the nurses carried the wounded soldiers to the ambulances and, very soon, a long convoy was moving along the angleur road. at every jerk, cries and groans could be heard. towards evening, i was alone on the battle-field. a gloomy twilight lit up this plain of the dead. disagreeable odours mingled with the sweet scent of the woods. there was not a murmur, not a rustle or sound, everywhere peace and silence! on the torn-up, hollowed-out ground, were heaps and heaps of dark-looking, horrible terrifying things.... chapter v the retreat of the by captain ---- of the th line regiment among the episodes of the war, there is one which, thanks to the brilliant result obtained, deserves mention in the glorious pages of our history. it is the retreat carried out by two infantry battalions, the one of the th line regiment, and the other belonging to the fortress. the episode occurred eight days after the occupation of liége by the german troops when the place appeared to be completely invested. the st battalion of the th line regiment, after organising the defence works of werihet, in the barchon-pontisse sector, was sent during the morning of august th, to the embourg-chaudfontaine interval, with the mission to defend the valley of the vesdre, in case of any attacks on the vesdre road or on the ninane road. retrenchments were quickly constructed, ditches dug, and quantities of sacks of earth piled up. in short, the interval was soon transformed into a regular fortress. the commander, on hearing that the enemy was advancing on liége and had sent out reconnaissances in the direction of chaudfontaine, ordered a patrol to explore the rochette wood to the north-east of the fort. this patrol returned towards four in the afternoon, bringing baron von zutfen, lieutenant of the nd chasseurs of ziethen, as prisoner. this feat was cheered, and it was with lively curiosity that our soldiers gathered round the first german prisoner. the order to retreat given, on august th, to the troops fighting in the intervals round the liége position did not affect this battalion, so that all day long, on august th, th, and th, the men were employed in completing the defence of the valley. during the morning of august th, the news spread that german troops had entered liége. measures were immediately taken for repulsing any aggression from the town side. it was hoped that, even if the enemy had succeeded in penetrating, it might only have been by forcing the fléron, evegnée, and barchon intervals. if this were the case, though, the situation was critical for the belgian corps, and the commander was surprised that he had received no instructions. from another side, persistent rumours were afloat, announcing the arrival of the campaigning army through waremme, reinforced by a french contingent. what were we to believe? messengers sent to general leman did not return and the days passed by in anxious waiting. every instant we had news to the effect that the circle was getting more and more hard pressed. officers and soldiers were anxiously wondering whether they would be able to hold out. on the th, th, and th, there had already been various skirmishes between detachments of the enemy who had made use of the red cross flag in order to approach, and patrols of a company in retrenchment on the vesdre road, near the second milestone. a few enemy prisoners were taken. on the th, at . p.m., a terrible bombarding of the chaudfontaine fort commenced, which never ceased until . . the following morning at five o'clock, the cannonading recommenced most violently, the fort was blown up, and the enemy surrounding it rushed from every side to the assault. the embourg fort met with the same fate. finally on the morning of the th, towards nine o'clock, a courier arrived at château nagelmackers, where the commander was staying, with an order from general leman calling for the troops at awans. just as the nd company, which had been guarding the chaudfontaine and ninane roads, was setting out, it was surrounded by an enemy column and taken prisoner. the two remaining companies climbed the hill and reached the henne château and the basse-mehagne farm. on arriving there, the st company, which formed the rear-guard and was being attacked on its flank by a detachment coming from chênée, executed a helter-skelter firing on the adversary, whose shooting gradually became less and less intense. finally, the enemy retreated, so that the little belgian column was able to continue its march towards embourg, where it rejoined the rd company as well as a fortress battalion, which was also without instructions and was endeavouring to escape. these various troops, after crossing the ourthe, some in little boats and others by a chance footbridge thrown across the river opposite rousseau island, climbed the sart-tilman, keeping by the boncelles fort, which was already being watched by the enemy, passed through the village in ruins, driving back the sentinel occupying the vecquée woods and, just escaping a cavalry detachment, finally reached the communes. our poor soldiers were thoroughly exhausted; they had been overpowered by the heat and tortured by hunger and thirst. fortunately the population, although somewhat taken aback by their arrival, did all in its power to supply them with provisions. the retreat then continued in the direction of the val st. lambert bridge, which, according to information received, was being guarded by about a score of men. although obstructed by a train and various accessory defences, it could still be crossed in indian file. all measures were taken for a bayonet attack and, in the middle of the night, our men advanced silently. to their amazement there was no one there. what had become of the troops which had charge of the defence of the bridge? had they made off? this remained a mystery. the crossing of the bridge took some time, but the men were encouraged by this incident and the column set off once more, passing through flémalle and mons-crotteux. after a most difficult march, beset by ambushes of all kinds, it finally arrived at awans-bierzet, on august th, at about . . it took up its quarters here, whilst awaiting orders from general leman. the enemy had been seen in the neighbourhood, so that the roads were guarded and urgent measures of security were taken. various incidents took place before the end of the day and german detachments, which were approaching the loncin fort, had to be dispersed, causing us some losses. from information received from various sources, we gathered that the enemy was endeavouring to cut off the retreat. in case this were so, there was nothing left but to fight to the last man. the soldiers and their officers were very much troubled, as they feared they had not rendered all the services to their country which it had a right to expect from its defenders. the bombarding of the loncin fort began at p.m. and increased rapidly in intensity. to those military men who had been present at the fall of chaudfontaine, it seemed certain that loncin would share the same fate. there appeared to be only one thing to do and that was to join, at all costs, the fighting army, certain elements of which were then in the huy suburbs. after such intense nervous excitement as they had just undergone, after so much fighting and such long marches, the men were exhausted. thanks to the rousing words of their chiefs and to their own earnest wish to avoid falling into the hands of the enemy, they decided to make a supreme effort in order to escape from the vice, the jaws of which were gradually closing round them. the posts were withdrawn silently, between and p.m., and the column, assembled behind the church, was prepared to take its fate into its hands. the commanders of the hollogne and flémalle forts were informed that friendly troops would soon be passing within their zone of action, in an attempt to join the army in campaign. a somewhat extraordinary itinerary was chosen, in order to avoid the most frequented roads. the column was to go from awans-bierzet to hollogne, mons-crotteux, horion-hozémont, haneffe, chapon-seraing, villers-le-bouillet, and huy. in spite of fatigue, which made this night march excessively difficult, not a single man dragged behind, not a single one fell out. each one of them was determined to carry out the plan decided on. in the early dawn, the column was within sight of haneffe, which was evidently in the power of the enemy, as a platoon of uhlans was to be seen patrolling the country round. fortunately this was not an important detachment and, after a feeble resistance, it was driven out of the village. the belgian troop continued its march southwards. at seven o'clock, it surprised a flank guard of the same cavalry bivouacking in a field. at a distance of about five hundred yards, the elements at the head of the column opened fire and the uhlans, without even having time to mount, took flight in all directions. they were impeded by their riding boots and spurs. some of them stumbled and fell and, on getting up, started off faster than before. this excited our men to hurry along in pursuit of them. two of the least agile of the horsemen were caught and taken prisoners. the horses took fright, broke loose, and galloped all over the country. the sight would have amused us if it had not been for the dead and wounded who were lying on the ground. the valiant little troop now continued its way in the direction of chapon-seraing, where the soldiers had refreshments and then went on to villers-le-bouillet, which was to have been the end of their trying march, as, according to our latest information, the th line regiment was there. once more we were to have a cruel disappointment, as, on arriving, we found that the troops which had been occupying the village had left the previous evening. fortunately huy was only five miles distant. another effort was made, and slowly, with bleeding feet, exhausted by fatigue and half dead with hunger and thirst, the soldiers, leaning on sticks which they had torn from the trees on the way, dragged themselves along the dusty horse-road. this last stage of the journey, although the shortest, was the most painful of any. when once we had reached huy, there was still another disappointment. the th had left the town at midnight. from the heights which dominate the left bank of the meuse, could be seen enemy patrols. from one minute to another, strong enemy forces might appear. the men were terribly exhausted. in spite of the overwhelming heat, they had marched for sixteen hours at a time, during two days. the question was would they have strength enough to start again and to continue their march as far as couthuin, where the th had gone? at the station there was neither an engine nor a waggon. after some parleying, however, the station-master of huy-statte succeeded in getting a train from namèche and, at . , the column set out by rail for namur. in spite of the extreme fatigue of these brave men, it would be impossible to give an idea of the joy depicted on all their faces. nothing could prove the determination of each one of them to escape the enemy better than the result obtained by this supreme effort. not one of those who left awans on the night of the th had fallen out of the column. every man of the little phalanx answered to the roll-call at namur. at the college de la paix, where they were all quartered, the doctors soon dressed their bleeding feet. thanks to their force of character, to their exceptional powers of endurance, and to their extraordinary courage, these heroes escaped a humiliating captivity. a few days later, they were to be seen once more on the battle-fields of antwerp and of the yser, fighting desperately with the enemy, and ready again to sacrifice their lives for their country. chapter vi chaudfontaine (august, ) by count gaston de ribaucourt, sub-lieutenant of the heavy howitzer corps as soon as the mobilisation was decreed, i went to the war office to ask what services i could render as electrical engineer. i was advised to go, as quickly as possible, to the fortified position of liége, as technical help was needed there for preparing the defence. i arrived there the evening of august rd and, the following morning, was engaged for the chaudfontaine fort. the next thing was to fit myself out. i went at once to the citadel, which looked like a huge hive. every different service was in full swing and the most perfect order and activity reigned. ten minutes later, i was equipped as an artilleryman and, with my bag in my hand and my field-glasses strapped round my back, was on the way to the train which took me, after changing, to the foot of the hill which dominates the fort. it was a warm, bright august day and i climbed the steep hill at a rapid pace, without giving a thought to the beautiful landscape around me. an hour later, i had reached that little nest of defence which we call a fort, and was glad to be able to offer all the energy, intelligence, and knowledge that i possessed for the service of my country, which was symbolised for me by the flag which floated at the summit of the hill. everything had already a warlike aspect. here and there, trees had been felled in all their verdure. barbed wire trellises had been stretched across the most accessible passes. sentinels stationed here and there stopped me and, after questioning me and hearing why i was there, gave me a friendly salute. an orderly on guard took me to the officers in charge. i was at once received, installed in my new quarters and welcomed with enthusiasm and with that feverish energy which characterised the combatants of our heroic resistance. i set to work at once, for i had much to learn. in the first place, there was the observation of the firing range, then the regulating of the cannons and all the electrical mechanism of the accessory services, the registering of the mine chambers, of the wire entanglements, etc. all this took up the rest of my morning and it was only later on that i could begin to think of the special functions which had been delegated to me. concealed among the hills which dominate the east of liége, protected in a semi-circle by one of the windings of the river vesdre, the chaudfontaine fort, of triangular form, was intended, together with the fléron and evegnée forts, to cover the herve plateau. from its position, it seemed as though it would be the object of the enemy's first efforts. behind the fort, emerging from the abrupt slope of the valley, could be seen, standing out against the sky, a corner of liége, that corner which was so familiar to all belgians, thanks to the exhibition of the th anniversary. in the foreground, a little to the right, about a mile and a half away, was chévremont abbey, and on the slopes were the villages of romsée and magnée, their red roofs, and their active, suburban life giving a gay touch to the landscape. a telephone message suddenly broke the calm, by announcing the approach of the enemy. the village of foret, situated on the east, became the object of all our attention, and very soon we saw the sombre procession of grey uniforms appearing on the scene. the commander of the fort assembled his men on the parapets and, after a few rousing words, gave his little garrison the order to open fire. when the first cannon was fired, each man returned quickly to his post. as my service was the observation of the firing range, i hurried to the plain and, under cover of the surrounding woods, reached the spot which had been indicated to me. thanks to my portative telephone, i could then direct the first shooting. at the second firing, the shells and shrapnels burst over the village and it was at once evident that the quick firing from the fort and the batteries were producing excellent results. with my field-glasses, i could distinctly see the enemy stop short, hesitate, and finally retreat, as it was hopeless to fight with an invisible adversary. this prompt defence probably preserved our fort from the terrible assaults sustained, during the night, by the neighbouring ones. the simultaneous attack of all the forts of the vesdre-meuse sector was one of the most impressive sights i witnessed during the whole campaign. it began in the evening by an intense bombarding by the german light artillery, answered heroically by the whole liége defence. the incessant cannonading was dominated by the louder voice of the big fortress guns. the wan flashes from the cannon burst forth in thousands, while through the darkness the crude search-lights were projected, in an attempt to find the enemy's batteries. from time to time, during a moment's calm, could be heard the cries and moans of the german wounded, caught in the barbed wire and fired on by the machine-guns. all this gave a magnificent, and at the same time, frightful, aspect to the scene. the following day, the morning was more calm, when suddenly we were informed that an infantry regiment, after creeping through the woods, had taken possession of the forêt château. posted on the parapet, i directed open firing on the enemy there. the distance had been very exactly gauged, so that our prey was an easy one and our first shell fell right on the building. just as from an ant heap, suddenly destroyed by a kick, myriads of boches rushed out, seeking refuge among the trees of the park and in a hollow road near by. carefully directed, the projectiles followed them everywhere and reached them in their hiding-places, so that very soon the lawns were strewn with wounded or dead men. the enemy was once more obliged to disappear and nothing was now to be seen but convoys of ambulance cars, taking away those over whom death had only hovered. the resistance now became more and more difficult, as the enemy had managed to place batteries at points near enough to the fort to reach it without being exposed. it was, therefore, necessary to discover fresh observation posts. i was designated for this service and, accompanied by a corporal, i set out. for nearly an hour we advanced, burrowing and hiding, in order to discover the enemy's positions. it was my first experience with shrapnels rifling the ground in every direction, in order to prevent observation. the germans fired in volleys of four and, every time we heard the projectiles arriving, we had to lie down and then get up directly after the explosion, in order to locate the batteries. i discovered them, at last, behind a hedge in one of the romsée gardens. as soon as i had informed the fort, a few shots were fired in order to find the exact spot and then the german batteries had such a deluge of fire that, in less than a quarter of an hour, the position was considered impossible by them and at once evacuated. but the iron circle was gradually closing round us. after two days of heroic effort, the rd division had been obliged to retreat, leaving the forts to their fate. threatened on all sides, it was indispensable for us to establish a high observatory which should supply us with necessary information, as this was absolutely lacking since the departure of our covering infantry. a few miles to the left of the fort, the spire of the chèvremont church stood out proudly against the sky. the old abbey, a vestige of a former epoch, was to help in our powerful modern defence work. by order of the commander of the fort, i set out in the night, to establish, as invisibly as possible, a telephonic line which should connect the observatory with the fort. fastening the wire through the brambles which abound in this district, and placing it along the road, i was fortunate enough to see my efforts crowned with success. getting the wire into the abbey was more difficult. fortunately i was able to make use of the poles which served for the electric light. i had to replace the wire of the lightning conductor, along a stake, by a telephonic wire and, following the other canalisations, bring it as far as the church. this took me a good part of the morning, but, by ten o'clock, after inventing a whole system of cords and ladders, i was finally established in the top of the spire. thanks to a slate i had removed, i could see the country round to the east and north-east and, by means of the subterranean telephonic wires, i could communicate information concerning the slightest incident at fléron and at evegnée, and thus render valuable service to the defence. for the next four or five days, i lived inside this spire, with a sub-officer. twice only, a belgian patrol paid us a visit. the rest of the time, only germans prowled round. many were the alerts which surprised us. a dozen men, belonging to the german infantry, spent half a day inspecting the abbey to see if there were really no belgian soldier hidden there. another day, just as we were looking through our window, we caught sight of a german patrol looking up. that was an alarming moment. we wondered what to do. if we moved away, it would make a change in the appearance of the window. by staying, we risked betraying ourselves and should probably be killed. this torture lasted half an hour. at a certain moment, i saw six men of the patrol take aim at the window. fortunately, the sub-officer evidently thought better of it and did not give the command to fire. remaining motionless had saved our lives. two men who had inspected the tower had reported to their chief that there was nothing suspicious, and the seven boches went away slowly, singing as they went. august th was fatal to us. in the morning, towards six o'clock, although i had taken the precaution to hide in a closed chapel, i was noticed by a man in the neighbourhood. two hours later, when i was at my post of observation, i saw that the abbey, and particularly the church, was the aim of the enemy. after three or four trial shots, a shell reached the roof of the church and then the volleys were repeated quickly. i was just endeavouring to locate an enemy battery which was bombarding fléron from beau-tilly. whilst i was giving indications about this, i was obliged to climb up into the steeple, which was the only place of escape from the firing. batteries concealed behind the chenée station were destroying the abbey. what terrible moments i spent up there! i was alone in the steeple, as my companion had gone to take his meal and could not get back to me. i stayed there as long as i could give any useful information. for two long hours the projectiles rained on the abbey. presently, the steeple itself was hit. a shell burst in the woodwork over my head, took off my forage cap, and smashed the telephone in front of me. i was almost buried under the heaps of slate and wood and was half stunned by the violence of the blow. i thought my last hour had come. it was only at that moment that i thought of my tragic position and, on turning round, i saw that the roof of the choir was on fire. it was quite time to get away. as i descended the ladder, i discovered that i was slightly wounded in the knee. it was only a big surface wound though. i pulled myself together, rushed quickly down and, amidst all the _débris_ that was falling on every side, made my way to the cellars, which the fathers, the last few days, had been transforming into a shelter. an impressive scene awaited me there. in the middle of the subterranean vault, two fathers and my companion were kneeling in prayer round the holy sacrament, which they had taken from the church at the beginning of the bombardment. their joy was great on seeing me appear, for they thought i must have been dead some time. for the next hour, we remained there, praying god to protect us. in the meantime, a great part of the abbey fell in. nothing remained of the church but ruins. the valuable library was now only a heap of cinders, and was still burning. believing that they had attained their end, the german batteries now ceased firing. we were obliged to spend the rest of the day, though, amidst these ruins, which presented a sinister appearance, and wait until the darkness to go back to the fort. in the night, feeling that at any rate we had done our duty, the sub-officer and i started on our way, stealing along for two miles, through country occupied by the enemy. it seemed a long, long way, beset as it was with danger. several times we had to crouch down and hide until german patrols had passed by, only a few yards away from us. finally, we caught sight of the outline of a belgian sentinel and, a few minutes later, were back in the fort, where the story of our adventures was enjoyed by all and we were congratulated by the officers. august th was a wretched day for us, as there was no more observation possible. the big cannons had begun firing and our last moment was approaching. the hours seem interminable when the firing is only haphazard from the remaining cannons, and when one fires with the idea of using up the ammunition, quite as much as for the sake of endeavouring to injure the enemy. chaudfontaine was in a deplorable state. we could have no light at night, as a shell had fallen, without bursting, into the chimney of the steam engine. the commander was determined to defend his fort up to the very last and had posted men on the slopes to fight with the bayonet and endeavour to repulse the attack which was expected in the night. with our hearts full of fury, we were all determined to give our lives for our king and our country, and our fellow-feeling caused the soul of each man to rise to the same level. whilst the others were keeping watch, with the help of a few men i endeavoured to get the accursed shell out of our machinery. it was nearly three in the morning when we succeeded in our task. everything was quickly put in order, and it was with a hearty outburst of our national anthem that our brave men greeted the light which poured from the electric projectors twenty minutes later. this seemed like life renewed, and with it came renewed hope. another day had commenced and the fort was not taken. that morning, alas, all hope was crushed, for, as soon as it was daylight, huge projectiles came at regular intervals and we could not reply to them, as they came from too great a distance. towards nine o'clock, when i was in the officers' shooting gallery, a shock, accompanied by a terrific report, shook the whole interior of the fort. an immense " " had just burst in the powder-room and the fort was blown up. i was thrown against the opposite wall, and dragged myself to the door through the _débris_. with another officer, i crossed the hall, which had been transformed into a barracks, and there a fearful sight met my eyes. at the moment of the explosion, a hundred and forty men of the garrison had been lying there on straw or on mattresses, and now, in tragic horror, i saw the whole of this place on fire. straw, mattresses, and soldiers, all were burning together! in the midst of this brasier, wretched men were struggling, with their clothes all in flames, like veritable living torches. we could scarcely drag one of them from the furnace. it was a horrible death, worthy of the martyrs of old. from the midst of the fire, dominating the groans, moans, and shrieks of suffering, some voices could be heard uttering the supreme cry of "hurrah for the king!" "hurrah for our country!" chapter vii loncin fort from accounts by the army doctors: maloens, of the rd battery of heavy howitzers; courtin, of the st chasseurs; roskam, of the th line regiment; defalle, director of the calais municipal crèche ambulance; and quartermaster krantz, of the gendarmerie on the morning of august , , lieutenant-general leman suddenly arrived at the loncin fort. "an attempt has just been made to assassinate me," he said to captain naessens, commander of the fort, "i have come to take refuge behind your cannons." the captain immediately asked him for orders. "i have no orders to give you here," replied the general. "you give your own orders in the fort. my business is to attend to the defence of the fortified position." the commander of the fort immediately called his men together and addressed them in french and in flemish: "general leman has done us the great honour of taking refuge with us, my boys," he said. "shall we give up the general?" there were cries of "no! no!" on all sides. "well, then, if we have decided not to give up the general, we shall perish here. for, either the fort will be blown up and i shall be blown up with you, or the germans will come up here to attack us and, when they have passed the accessory defences, walking over the dead bodies of their own men, we shall form a last square. i shall keep seven bullets in my browning, six for my enemies and the last for myself and we will all go together to paradise." commander naessens, a short, thick-set man, with a very determined face, and steel-blue, piercing eyes, was adored by his men, and this speech was greeted with indescribable enthusiasm. "you must all swear that you will never yield," he cried, in the midst of the tumult. thereupon, one by one, the soldiers filed up to their commander and took this solemn oath. from that moment, naessens had his men thoroughly in hand. they would stand by him to the very death and his greatest pride was to be able to reply to the general's question: "are you sure of your men?" with the words: "as sure as i am of myself, general!" it was quite true, too. they were absolutely ready for anything. if volunteers were wanted for a dangerous expedition, double the number needed volunteered to go and they all beseeched the commander to let them be the ones chosen. those who were not accepted went away greatly disappointed. three or four of those brave fellows had formed themselves into a band which was known as "the bonnot band." armed with guns or carbines, these explorers set off, each day, in a motor-car and acted either as a _liaison_ between loncin and the forts which were still holding out, or as a patrol for getting information for the commander, with reference to the presence of the enemy. their daring was amazing. on one occasion the commander's horse, whilst grazing in a neighbouring enclosure, had been killed. this "band" promised to provide him with another mount. a few hours later, they returned with the horses of two german officers, laden with helmets and lances. after the combats round liége, soldiers of the st and th unmounted chasseurs and of the th and th line regiments, men who had lost their units, came to take refuge in the loncin fort, but, the following day, the commander sent an officer with them to waremme, only keeping for himself his own garrison of about five hundred men. this number was really sufficient and, during the terrible days from august th to th, the calmness and indifference to danger of these men were admirable. during a violent bombardment, general leman, on coming into the central building with commander naessens, saw a little scene which moved him to tears. the men, scattered about in little groups, were playing cards or talking together quite tranquilly, whilst, in one corner, indifferent to the noise, a soldier was playing some liége _cramignons_ on a flute, and his comrades, standing round him, were singing the refrains in chorus. the following notes are taken from the diary of quartermaster krantz of the gendarmerie, who had been appointed bodyguard to general leman. after the explosion of the loncin fort, krantz, with eight serious wounds, was taken to the st. servais college of liége. _august th._ the fortress infantry, sent out to reconnoitre, called our attention to a patrol of uhlans on their way from ans to loncin. it was at once dispersed by one of our sub-officers, at the head of his section. we learnt from some courageous men that the german field artillery had taken position near the ans aviation base. _august th._ during the morning, german patrols, which had reached awans, were driven back by our shrapnels and our infantry. at three o'clock, the fort opened fire with its twelve-centimetre guns over the ans aviation base, where our reconnaissances had signalled enemy batteries and a movement of troops. _august th._ i have been to liége, where i heard that the germans were bringing heavy artillery in order to attack the forts. i told the general, and he ordered me to watch the movements and the passage of this artillery. he also gave me the mission of examining whether the nasproué tunnel near dolhain were practicable. i discovered that the line, which we had destroyed, had been repaired by the germans, as they had no other way for their " " cannons. during the afternoon, the fort fired on various enemy batteries. we observed that a _taube_ had come down on the ans aviation base and we fired on it violently with shrapnels. we also took a patrol of uhlans prisoners on the tongres road. in the night, we bombarded a mass of troops quartered in the direction of awans. _august th._ the enemy bombarded with about thirty shells of light calibre, which caused no further damage than to chip one of our chimneys. the fort replied on the enemy's batteries near ans. i was sent to discover the movements of the troops and returned with important information. among other things i had been informed of the installation of a post of observation by the germans, in the steeple of the church on the ans plateau. we fired on this steeple and brought down the tower, thus rendering it impossible for observation purposes. _august th._ calm. reconnaissances in all directions by motor-car. _august th._ morning, terrific and rapid bombarding by the germans. we replied each time with great energy and with very exact aim. unfortunately, the cupola of one of our twelve-centimetres was soon injured, but, during a lull, we managed to repair it. the entrance to the fort was also hit. we captured four more uhlans. during the night, reciprocal bombarding. _august th._ we noted that the heavy german artillery had commenced action. a violent firing from guns of millimetres injured two of our cupolas. _august th._ at three in the morning, we were bombarded by howitzers of and mm. the fort shook to its foundations, an iron whirlwind broke loose in perfect avalanches over the exterior surface, and the gusts continued, every other two minutes, for some hours. after each shock, fragments of cracked and powdered cement fell on our heads. a grey dust, mingled with thousands of glass splinters from the window-panes, crackled under our feet, parching and irritating our throats and nostrils. the fort was gradually crumbling. a shell entered the infirmary, killing and wounding several soldiers. at eleven o'clock, the clothing stores met with the same fate and, one after another, various buildings were destroyed, also the electric material, the ventilators, and the draw-bridge at the entrance of the fort. at about three or four in the afternoon, a truce-bearer asked to be allowed to speak to the commander and demanded the surrender of the fort. "we prefer dying to surrendering," answered captain naessens. it was a proud answer and it expressed the general feeling. towards evening, the firing slackened and everyone could rest. during the night, a staff officer slipped out, taking away with him the various valuable papers belonging to the position. _august th._ what a terrible day! from five in the morning, the bombarding has been continual, coming in gusts. four crashes, one after another, and then a whizzing, a fall, and explosions in the cement. the shells penetrated to a depth of half a yard, digging out holes of four yards square. towards eight o'clock the soldiers' rooms were wrecked, their beds overturned, and windows, fastened with iron bars eighteen centimetres thick, were broken; the infirmary, the operating room, the kitchen, refectory, and the general's room were swept away. everything was destroyed, not a single place remained which could serve as a shelter. the fort is now in ruins from top to bottom, and we are in complete darkness and scarcely able to breathe, on account of the poisonous and noxious gases, as not a single ventilator works. only two cupolas remain with which we can reply to the enemy's terrible avalanche. we are not continuing, though, as we do not know where the enemy's batteries are and they are certainly beyond our reach. during a lull, this morning, another truce-bearer paid us a visit. he was not escorted and carried a white flag. the sentinel ordered him to halt and to return, so that he should not be able to communicate any information with regard to the result of the adverse firing. on the boche's refusal to obey, the sentinel ordered him a second time to halt and, as the second time he refused to obey, he was shot down. he had time to signal with his white flag before falling to the ground dead. we believe, and it is also the opinion of our officers, that this supposed truce-bearer came treacherously to take his bearings for the firing of the four hundred and twenty guns, and that he sacrificed his life for the sake of giving the exact spot to the artillery. immediately after his death, we had to endure a very exact and continued bombardment. it was on this day, august th, that the germans employed their famous " " howitzers. from time to time, we saw the general and the officers walking about in the open on the fortification glacis, observing the enemy, with the most admirable _sang-froid_ and an utter disregard for danger. the most miraculous and incomprehensible thing was that not one of them was injured by the explosions on every side of them. at . in the afternoon, general leman, captain naessens, lieutenant modard, their two sub-lieutenants, several other sub-officers and i were in the shooting gallery, and, although the fort was practically destroyed, our brave, valorous chiefs continued giving orders. the others were sitting down in the central passage awaiting events. suddenly we heard the protracted whizzing sound of a big projectile. "here's another!" said one of the men in the passage. a huge burst of flame and then a formidable shock which flung us all against the wall and then--nothing but silence! * * * * * quartermaster krantz's diary stopped here. he had fainted and did not come to himself until he was in the hospital. dr. courtin, who had the good luck to come out of the explosion uninjured, soon regained his presence of mind. "i found myself lying on the ground," he said, "after a faint. it was very difficult to breathe, but fortunately a little air from a broken window reached me. i managed to get up and found that dr. maloens was lying at my side. his face was bleeding and i gave him a few drops of brandy. nearly all the men had instinctively protected their eyes. all of them remembered their oath and refused to surrender. a remarkable example of heroism was given us by a young soldier who was at the end of a passage. he was black with powder, his clothes were in rags and he had two holes covered with blood in place of pupils to his eyes. he continued shooting, nevertheless, until he had used his last cartridge. on approaching him, we discovered that one of his feet was wedged between two blocks of stone and it had to be amputated so that he could be released. "in the meantime, a few men who had escaped injuries managed to get out through the window, by taking down the bars. as i knew the passage, i moved slowly forwards in the darkness and found all the windows blocked. suddenly, i saw a ray of light filtering through some pieces of cement which had fallen. by widening the aperture, i managed to get out. all round the fort, our poor men were hurrying along in flames, half wild with pain. others, on their knees, were reciting prayers. it was a frightful sight!" * * * * * in the evening, a german colonel went to the liége military hospital to say that a terrible explosion had destroyed the loncin fort. two or three doctors, one of whom was dr. defalle, started immediately to this fort. "we met some of the wounded," he told me, "coming along the thier d'ans road and, as we went along, we kept meeting motor-cars and pedestrians. in the villages, nearly all the inhabitants were at their doors, anxiously looking out. at ans plateau, where the church steeple had been razed to the ground, we met a cart in which general leman was lying. the cart was drawn by two horses and the general was accompanied by staff deputy commander collart and by a german officer. the general, who had just been taken from the ruins through a hole in the escarpment, was still half suffocated, and his face was blue. he had no wound visible though, and he was perfectly conscious.[ ] on reaching the fort, i found it was surrounded by numerous enemy troops of different arms and particularly by the engineers. some of the soldiers were waving a large red cross flag, in order to stop the firing from the hollogne fort. the explosion had chiefly affected the south-east part and the moats there were filled with the _débris_. the central masonry was destroyed and encumbered with blocks of cement. the cupola was knocked down. there was very little smoke, but, from time to time, detonations, caused by the cartridge stores exploding from the heat. "from these ruins, could be heard the most unearthly groans and cries. the poor, suffering men, who were burning there, were begging us to help them. blocks of stone or cement had to be raised and sometimes we were obliged to saw off a limb, in order to release these brave men. they were partly carbonised, quite black, and almost naked, when we succeeded in transporting them to a meadow near. from there they were taken to the town. in the counterscarp, separated by the moat, were some flanking coffers. the occupants of these had not been able to get back to the central construction, as the subterranean passage was obstructed. after some hours of labour, we were able to push in the ventilation gratings and to get the half suffocated men out. "the loncin inhabitants, overwhelmed with anguish, watched our terrible work. the recruiting had been local and they all dreaded lest they should recognise a member of their own family in these poor tumefied, charred bodies, with burnt hair, which were dragged from under the _débris_. they helped the doctors in bandaging and in administering the morphia for attenuating the traumatic shock. they gave the patients soothing drinks and installed them in their houses. nearly every house had its wounded men, who were sent as soon as possible to liége, either to the military hospital, the ambulances of the daughters of the cross and of the jesuits, or to the one in the rue des rivageois. "the germans seemed surprised at the immensity of the catastrophe. their officers, particularly those belonging to the engineers, endeavoured to ease the suffering of the victims. when a few shots were fired, though, from the waroux wood, they changed their attitude, blamed the belgians, and talked of reprisals. we doctors reminded them that _our_ lives were as much in danger as theirs, and that that fact did not prevent us from doing our duty. the boches were somewhat confused and were quiet after this. towards ten o'clock at night all the wounded were removed." * * * * * "i was at the st. laurent hospital," said dr. roskam, "when the wounded were brought in, towards nine in the evening. the sight of these poor men, with frizzled hair, black hands and faces, and scorched clothes, was frightful. the germans took them for senegalese. in the operating-room, scenes took place which filled us with horror. on taking off their clothes, shreds of flesh were torn off, legs and arms separated from the body, and horrible wounds and burns of all sorts appeared. there was a frightful odour of carbonised flesh. what made this scene more poignant still, was the courage, the stoicism of all these men _who did not complain_. "they had scarcely come to themselves again after their dizziness, from which they were roused by the suffering caused by the washing of their wounds with green soap, when they asked after their commander and their lieutenant. many of them had tears in their eyes when they heard that their chiefs were saved and they asked to be carried into the ward where naessens and modard were lying, seriously wounded. the two officers could scarcely recognise their men, thanks to powder, bandages, scars, and swollen features. they encouraged and congratulated them nevertheless, and in all justice. the whole of the time these men were in hospital, they were admirable. horribly burnt, some of them blind, some with the sight of one eye gone, in many cases the drum of the ear perforated and the patient suffering from otitis, they endured everything with resignation, never complaining, grumbling, or protesting in any way. they were veritable heroes. when the first to recover started for germany, naessens and modard, who had never intended to leave their soldiers and who were obliged to stay longer in liége, in order to finish their cure, were carried to the courtyard by the men-nurses, in order to say a last farewell to the brave men who adored them!" footnotes: [footnote : this was confirmed by a letter from captain commander hauteclerc to mlle. leman, the general's daughter.] chapter viii haelen (august , ) by colonel baltia, chief of staff of the st cavalry division after defending liége, the rd division rejoined the belgian army, which had taken up its position on the gette. the st, rd, and th divisions were placed in the first line; the nd and th in the second line, whilst the th defended namur. these forces were covered by the cavalry division which was first placed at waremme. it fell back on st. trond and then on the left of the army, thus lengthening the line from tirlemont to near diest. on the th of august, the enemy cavalry endeavoured to force the passage of the gette at haelen. against six regiments of the nd and th divisions of german cavalry, supported by the th and th battalions of chasseurs and by three batteries, that is horsemen, foot-soldiers, and cannons, the belgian cavalry opposed victoriously horsemen, cyclists and cannons. (see army commandment report.) for several days, detachments of the enemy cavalry had made daring attempts at all the points of our line of defence along the gette, but had found it well guarded everywhere. on august th, our intrepid reconnaissances, consisting of officers of the guides and lancers, informed us that the enemy had been reinforced everywhere, and we had the distinct impression that an effort to pierce our line would be made at haelen. we were on our guard and if the division of german cavalry hoped to pass there, it would meet the principal mass of the cavalry division of the belgian army. the enemy imagined that we were scattered all along the river, as we had been the preceding days, from diest to drieslinter, but it did not know that, by a skilful manoeuvre, lieutenant general de witte, only leaving the minimum of our forces at the secondary points of the passage of the river, had constituted an important reserve, which was in readiness to receive the enemy. whilst this mass was forming, general de witte gave into the hands of the colonel of the th lancers the standard which this newly-formed regiment had just received. on that very day, this valiant troop won the honour of having "haelen" inscribed on the immaculate silk of that standard. _the battle ground_ the sun, which on rising had appeared sulky, now burst forth in all its splendour, lighting up the farms and the white farm-houses scattered along the road which unites loxbergen and haelen and winds between fertile fields, which were still partially covered with their rich harvests of corn and oats. the division had made its headquarters on the border of loxbergen, from which spot there is an extensive view. to the left is a narrow valley encircled with poplars and willows. here and there are to be seen the red roofs of houses. on the brow of the hill dominating the valley, a belgian battery was installed. the bells of the church steeples of diest rang out clearly and solemnly. in the distance could be seen the outline of the little, low-built church of haelen. this little straggling town, almost unknown hitherto, was destined to be the witness of the violent, brutal effort of the german cavalry to dislodge the belgian cavalry and open a way for itself into the heart of the country, after reaching the flank of the belgian army covered by the cavalry division. the germans counted on having their revenge this time for all the successes that the belgian division had won during the first eight days of the campaign. they expected to avenge themselves on the belgians, who had swept away their reconnaissances, their patrols, their posts of _liaison_ and their centres of information and entirely disorganised their clever but fragile lookout system. _the first firing_ presently, the lights of an incendiary fire were to be seen. it was the signal given by the german reconnaissances to let their army know that we had baffled their plans. our brave cyclist-carabineers were already at work, valiantly defending the position they occupied. with the help of the cyclist pioneer pontonniers, they had made excavations, deepened the ditches, arranged hedges and fences, barricaded the roads and paths, installed their machine-guns in favourable positions, and were now determined to inflict a severe punishment on the invaders. as soon as the first squadrons of dragoons and hussars appeared, the firing broke loose. the enemy hesitated a moment and then, urged on by their chiefs, took fresh courage and fired on our little cyclists with their rifles, machine-guns, and cannons. the cowardly cads who led, or rather pushed them on, had protected themselves by placing unoffensive inhabitants of the villages whom they had hunted up, in front of them. our riflemen, well hidden, took aim calmly, and at every shot, a pointed helmet, a _colbak_ or a _schapska_ rolled on the ground and a man, dressed in grey uniform, fell among the harvest. our "diables noirs" fell back, step by step, defending every furrow of ground and every bush. _german cavalry charges_ suddenly, the avalanche of german squadrons appeared and, in a wild gallop, rushed on the foot-soldiers, who sustained the shock without flinching, replying with their guns and bayonets. the squadrons, excited by their gallop, continued their way until they came to the belgian lancers, who had alighted behind the cyclists and who now received the charge with a running fire at short distance. the gallop of these yelling, clanging masses shook the very ground, and the long, piercing lances looked as though they must overturn everything in their way, but at the first discharge of our lancers' carbines, aided effectually by the four machine-guns manipulated calmly by lieutenant scouvemont and lieutenant ouverleaux, and by the firing of three squadrons of the st guides, stationed to the right of the battle-field, the mass whirled round and was scattered. the first squadrons were followed by others. the second charge was received in the same way as the first one, and the third one like the second. seven charges one after the other were broken up. the moment was a tragic one. a quantity of horses was tearing wildly about, mad with terror and pain, and red with blood. some of them came rushing against the horses of our lancers. the panic spread among these, and, in a moment, an immense troop of horses was tearing about the plains amidst the firing of guns and the dry bursting of the shrapnels. our soldiers, unmoved, reloaded their guns and prepared to repulse any further attacks, scarcely stopping to give a pitying glance at the dead bodies of friends and enemies around them, or at the wounded, who were groaning in pain. _fresh attacks of the enemy_ those in command of the german cavalry, recognising the inefficacy of their charges, sent no more horses, but their horsemen on foot, with carbines, supported by their machine-guns. these men advanced over the plain, creeping in amongst the corn, crouching down in every shelter offered by the ground, and hiding behind the sheaves to escape the terrible fire of our courageous and skilful men. six regiments of dragoons, hussars, and cuirassiers were already engaged and were advancing with great difficulty, when the help of two battalions of chasseurs was sent to them. our artillery then entered into action. the first horse battery, manipulated by an energetic officer quite sure of himself, sent his shells and shrapnels with straight aim on to the cavalry and foot-soldiers covering the plain and, at the same time, covered with his destructive shells the haelen bridge and the village, in which the fresh cavalry regiments were massed together which had come to reinforce and support their comrades. under the pressure of superior numbers, our cavalry had hard work to hold out, but it did not budge an inch whilst giving our infantry time to arrive. _arrival of our first reinforcements_ it was three o'clock in the afternoon when our first help appeared: three battalions of the th regiment and two of the th, accompanied by a group of artillery. these troops had started from hauthem-st. marguerite at . . part of the infantry was sent to velpen, to reach haelen from there, and the other part was sent, as a reinforcement to the defenders of the yserbeck farm. the artillery supported these two attacks, but unfortunately, of the two batteries which took position at the loxbergen mill, only one could open fire without being immediately counter-attacked by the german artillery, which was in position to the north of velpen. whilst the infantry was on its way to velpen and yserbeck farm, the st cavalry brigade took to horse and went in the direction of the left wing of the battle-field. the nd brigade, which had been in action for seven long hours, now went in search of its horses. at o'clock, yserbeck farm, or rather the smoking ruins of this farm, were retaken by the leconte battalion, and velpen was reconquered by the rademaekers battalion. all around us were horses with broken limbs, blood streaming from their nostrils and wounded sides. some of them were dying in the ditches by the roadside, or in the fields. others were galloping wildly about, their saddles swinging between their legs. then began the pitiful procession of the wounded, who, with haggard faces, were dragging themselves with difficulty towards the rear. some of them went along, bent nearly double, walking in the ditches. others were supported by the ambulance men, or by priests of the ambulance contingent. some, too, were carried on stretchers, or even in their coats held at the four corners. standing up, in the middle of the road, disdainful of the destructive shells which struck horses quite near them, or of the shrapnels which hit the horses they were leading, or of the bullets which whizzed through the branches, general de witte and his staff watched the various phases of the struggle, giving to the troops a fine example of fearlessness in the midst of danger. _débris_ of all kinds strewed the ground, ammunition waggons came galloping along the road, bringing fresh supplies, whilst along the whole front, fires lighted by the shells sent up their sinister light and bitter smoke towards the clear sky above. _victory!_ the battle seemed still undecided when the sun was sinking in the horizon, but just then, our artillery men noticed a retreating movement of the enemy's line, which, driven by our infantry, was beginning to fall back towards the bridge and village of haelen. our men immediately opened fire, with all their cannons, in the direction of the passage along which the fugitives were pouring. the latter, in spite of the efforts and threats of their officers, drew away with them the cavalry regiments that had just come to their rescue. the retreat, as night came on, degenerated into a wild helter-skelter, which went on as far as hasselt and herck-st. lambert, where the defeated troops fortified themselves hastily, in order to be able to oppose an eventual pursuit. the dismal croaking of the crows could now be heard in the night which was already almost dark. the galloping of the frightened horses, spurred on cruelly by their riders, hammered on the pavement. under the ceaseless rain of projectiles from the belgian guns, the ten german regiments, magnificent as they had been in the morning, formed now only a disorderly mob trampling on the foot-soldiers, the dead, and the wounded, and abandoning their officers and even their generals. at the other extremity of the battle-field, could be heard the songs of victory of the belgian troops, triumphing in their first feat of arms. _the night after the combat_ gradually, the battle-field became silent, a veil of darkness, of mourning, and of terror covered this ground, where so many young men, who only the day before were so happy to live, were now sleeping their last sleep, or moaning in pain, abandoned to their fate. the silence of night, which followed the hell-like noise of the day before, seemed more profound than ever. the stars, which were already twinkling, and the moon, shining in all its brilliancy, were a startling contrast to the horrors before our eyes. our thoughts became clearer as we walked slowly along in the direction of our quarters. the tension of our nerves was at last relaxed. many of us had not found our horses again. they had disappeared, and some of them had been killed in the tumult. this walk in the darkness of night gradually soothed our minds, and the memories of all that had happened became clearer. _heroes. courageous deeds of our soldiers and officers_ we thought of that cyclist, brave royer, belonging to the cavalry division of the staff. he had gone out resolutely, in the very midst of the fight, to bring in an officer, lieutenant waepenaere, who had been wounded in the thigh when he was leading out some timid foot-soldiers to the fray, young men who had not been under fire before. this brave soldier went back a second time into the furnace to get a machine-gun that had been abandoned and that he had to bring back on a cart. he then returned a third time to shoot two german cavalry men with his revolver. he had seen them hiding behind the sheaves and they had fired on him when he was bringing back his lieutenant, and again when he was returning with the machine-gun. he brought their two helmets with him on his last expedition. this intrepid young man was from liége and he performed these three courageous acts in the most natural manner possible, convinced that he had merely done his duty as a soldier. he was very much surprised when he was appointed corporal for his fine conduct. later on, he was always ready, day or night, for the most dangerous expeditions. his career ended gloriously, for he was killed in an army motor-car expedition, during the pellenberg fight. we thought, too, of that young soldier who had been horribly wounded and whose arm was all slashed. with his valid arm, he held out a piece of his gun to his general, crying out: "i still have my gun!" then, too, there was that other one who had to be helped along by two of the ambulance men, but who insisted on carrying his trophy, which was a german lance. we thought, too, of those other courageous ones: thiery and prince baudouin de ligne. they had both enlisted as motor-car volunteers for as long as the war should last. they obtained permission to go to the firing lines with the foot-soldiers, whom they stimulated by their example. they had made a trench, six of them together, had occupied it and, for an hour, had held out against superior forces, whilst endeavouring to take a machine-gun. our thoughts went out to many, many heroes, whose brave deeds we cannot relate here. among them were major bourgouis and major stacquet; commanders demaret, vandamme, and wacquez; captains lequeux, panquin, van vlierberghen; lieutenant stoops and sub-lieutenant marrée, who were killed, and major rademaekers, commander dujardin, lieutenants mortier, m. van damme, a. desmet, ch. albert and chevalier de waepenaere, all of whom were wounded. our belgian race and our corps of officers gave proof, during that first shock, from the first moment of their baptism of fire, of all the bravery of their cool energy and of their unflinching tenacity. _after the victory_ it was broad daylight, the following morning, when we moved onwards towards haelen. there was intense activity at loxbergen; motor-cars and ambulances were taking their loads of wounded men to the infirmary that had been installed in the school. they were laid there, side by side, on straw that was soon stained with blood. the atmosphere was impregnated with the odour of disinfectants. sisters of mercy, priests, doctors, and ambulance men lavished every care on them, seeking to alleviate their sufferings, to console them, to bring a gleam to their dim eyes by the mention of their absent families, of their homes, of their wives and children. the most hardened heart would have given way at the sight of those poor naked bodies, writhing with pain, of those mutilated limbs, of those twisted arms, and of those beseeching looks, there, in the midst of all the rags and bandages, uniforms, boots, and weapons flung in a heap in the corner, or on the school desks, where only a few days before, happy belgian children were learning to read and to love their country. _the battle-field_ on leaving that den of pain and suffering, we felt a sort of relief in the open air, but this was not of long duration, as the sight of the battle-field filled us once more with anguish. in front of the church of this little village, and already covered with dust, dead horses were lying, overturned carriages, trampled straw, remains of food, and of fires, and all the vile chaos that an army leaves behind it. on the outskirts of the village, on the haelen road we saw the first dead bodies of germans, with their faces tumefied and their limbs rigid. they were lying in the most extraordinary positions. a cuirassier was still holding on to a charger supplied with ammunition; farther on a dragoon was lying face downwards, his leg bent backwards. presently we reached the little farm which had been fought for all the day. the house was torn asunder by shells and the barn reduced to ashes. the pigs were loose and wandering round the ruin. as we advanced towards haelen, the number of corpses increased. at the spot where the encounter between the riflemen had taken place, an almost continuous line of german and belgian corpses showed what desperate fighting there had been. an officer of our th line regiment and a dragoon officer were lying there, side by side. which of the two had lived to see the other die? what drama was hidden under the contact of these two bodies? at haelen, the drama was poignant. in most of the houses there were gaping holes and the walls were all knocked about. the street was covered with _débris_ of all kinds. hundreds of horses were lying with their heads crushed, their bodies open, or their backs broken. a nauseous odour almost choked us. the courageous inhabitants had already buried the dead in huge graves, which they had dug near the village, and they were now beginning to take away the dead bodies of the horses. at the corner of the street, a waggon with its cannon had been abandoned, as the wheels were broken. a little further on was another waggon, containing ammunition, which would have to be drowned in the little river. in a wide ditch, was the dead body of a horse almost covering the body of an officer of the dragoons, whose head alone was visible, emerging from the stagnant water. on the square, we picked up the belgian flag, which had been floating at the municipal building. it had been snatched down by the prussians, torn and dragged through the mud. we had it put up again, just as it was, and we saluted it with deep respect, little thinking then that it would soon be the emblem of our poor country, torn, violated, and trampled under foot by a barbarous soldiery. on our return, we took the tragic path where our indomitable cyclists had held out so heroically. the broken bicycles, the dead bodies of our "diables noirs" and of their adversaries, proved their courage, and the punishment they had inflicted on these germans, particularly on those of the th dragoons, that famous regiment, composed of the flower of the mecklenburg nobility. a little farther on, we met some soldiers carrying a ladder, on which a sub-officer of our lancers was lying. he had been wounded in the knee. "i have spent a terrible night," he said, with a smile on his lips. "i was wounded and lying in a beet-root field by the side of a german sub-officer. after insulting me, he fired on me three times with his revolver, and lodged his last ball in his own head. he is still there in the field." how long this walk back seemed to us! we would willingly have closed our eyes. we could not help thinking of the mothers, sisters, and families of all those we had just seen there, men who had died for their country, victims of a sanguinary, brutal, perjured despot. the thought of these poor families threw a sombre veil over our pride in the memory of our first victory! chapter ix the budingen combat (august , ) death of lieutenant count w. d'ursel. by colonel de schietere de lophem, commander of the th lancers the combat of budingen is an episode of the forcing of the gette by the vanguards of general von kluck's army. the attack extended from diest to tirlemont and was particularly violent at tirlemont and at hauthem-st. marguerite. on the th of august, towards . , in the evening, i received orders to go to budingen, with the staff of the nd group of the st guides. early in the morning, the two squadrons under my command had been sent from geet-betz on reconnaissance: the rd, towards looz and the th, in the direction of oreye. it was, therefore, without troops that i arrived at budingen towards . p.m. i took up my quarters at the dubois farm where there was already a relief post. the passage of the gette, the bridge of which had been destroyed, was defended by a company of the th line regiment, installed in good trenches. the commander, lieutenant dothée, informed me, though, that he had instructions to go on to cumptich during the night. as i could not remain alone in a locality so accessible to the enemy, i begged him to stay until other troops came to replace him, and i informed my colonel of the situation. during the evening, captain commander de favereau was sent to my support. he was at the head of the st squadron of the nd guides. they bivouacked in a field near my farm, and after having his horses attended to and his men fed, the captain was ready at . to relieve the company of the th line regiment. lieutenant formanoir occupied the bridge and the left bank of the gette; lieutenant comte d'ursel the trenches to the south, keeping watch, too, over the mill of the st. job farm. between them was lieutenant viscount de jonghe d'ardoye's platoon and, established in the chapel, yards to the east of the bridge, a post kept watch on the graesen and léau roads. during the night there was no sign of any approach by the enemy and we were perfectly tranquil. towards . , the th squadron of the st guides, under commander van den branden de reeth, arrived. his men were tired out after a very difficult reconnaissance. they took some rest and supplied themselves with fresh provisions before occupying the northern sector. towards o'clock, i made an inspection of the positions. the defence did not reach sufficiently near geet-betz. i therefore sent baron de crombrugghe (a pupil of the military school) with about ten horsemen, about or yards further north. at another place, i discovered a little footbridge which i ordered to be surrounded with brambles pulled up from the neighbouring estates. this passage was thus rendered impracticable. the soldiers were now at their posts everywhere, impatient to fight and anxious to distinguish themselves. on my return along the gette, i heard a detonation. it was lieutenant d'ursel firing on some german soldiers, who were hidden in the woods a few yards away. i armed myself with a carbine and very soon caught sight of two germans crouching down, preparing to shoot us. i brought one of them down and d'ursel accounted for the other. after shooting for a few minutes, we rendered several of our adversaries _hors de combat_. suddenly a ball whizzed by and i heard a slight snapping noise to my right. on turning my head, i saw d'ursel stretched inanimate on the slope of the trench. he appeared to be dead. one of the cavalry, simon, approached and raised the poor man's _colback_. a gaping wound was to be seen at the back of the unfortunate officer's head. what a painful impression, and what a feeling of intense sadness a chief feels on seeing one of his bravest officers fall at his side! the combat was now going on all along the line and many balls whizzed by our ears. i hurried to the dubois farm and ordered commander van den branden to bring his horses to the rendezvous to the west of the station, and to occupy the trenches to the north of the bridge, immediately, with as many men as possible, while the squadron of the nd guides continued to defend those on the south. after sending a patrol on horseback to glabeck, to watch the stream between this hamlet and the gette, i sent the doctors from the relief post to fetch d'ursel and attend to him. the combat was violent, the enemy sending us bullets and shrapnels all the time. our men answered with great precision. all the enemy sharp-shooters who ventured out of the wood were brought down. fortunately, towards o'clock, quartermaster bonnejonne, of the st chasseurs, arrived with a machine-gun. this was placed to the south of the bridge, under the direction of lieutenant de jonghe. a few minutes later, i received the following order by telephone: "in case the line of the river should be forced, rally at grootenbosch, to go to vroen and kersbeck-miscom," and at the same time the following notice: "commander of squadron of nd guides at budingen. by order of general commanding cavalry division, you pass under my orders, and have for mission to defend, to the uttermost, budingen bridge. a machine-gun is at your service. communicate with me at geet-betz.--colonel st guides." as i had the direction of the budingen combat, i took these orders for myself. on going again through the trenches to the south of the bridge, i came to the spot where d'ursel had been hit. the lieutenant was lying at the foot of the slope and seemed to be asleep. an almost imperceptible wound marked the corner of his left eye with a red spot. "well, d'ursel," i said, "how do you feel?" before he had even opened his eyes, he answered: "ah, it is you, major?" i was surprised to see that his eyes were clear and animated. "are you suffering much?" i asked. "no, not much," he answered. "i have given orders that you are to be taken to the relief post," i said. "with good care, you will soon be yourself again." he thanked me and then said: "if i should not get through, will you tell my wife that my last thought was of her." i promised, but assured him that his wound was not at all grave and that the doctors would soon dress it. on seeing him perfectly conscious and calm, able to talk quite easily, i hoped that the ball had only gone round the skull, and that the wound at the back of the head was merely a slit caused by the exit of the projectile. on leaving him, i gave orders for the removal of the wounded man. unfortunately, the order could not be carried out, as the german attack now became more violent and more decisive. the enemy's shrapnels reached our trenches and the number of the assailants increased every minute. at the chapel, the observation post had been compelled to fall back, and there were masses of enemy foot-soldiers there, who were being mown down by our machine-gun and by the platoons of lieutenant de jonghe and of lieutenant d'ursel. it was then a quarter past nine. a fresh order now reached me: "in case the river should be forced, rally at vroen.--colonel st guides." as i had previously received instructions to hold out to the uttermost, i considered it was my duty to resist still. my men were behaving admirably, but some of them declared that they heard balls whistling behind them. "you are mistaken," i said to them, "what you hear are the balls against the walls of the houses near." our machine-gun was now choked and could not be used for a time. quartermaster bonnejonne was wounded. lieutenant de jonghe managed to repair the mechanism of the gun and went on firing himself. at . , i went to the village square, where commander van den branden was stationed. two shells burst a few yards away from us. just at this moment, brigadier desterbeck, of the th squadron of st guides, who was on patrol with glabeck, hurried to me to tell me that an enemy company, preceded by a number of sharp-shooters, was coming along by the railway line from geet-betz towards budingen. this changed the situation, as superior forces would attack my flank rendering our resistance useless. i gave the order to retreat and mentioned grootenbosch as our rallying point. some germans already occupied houses in the villages, and others had reached the big farm and the buildings to the west of the halt. the conditions of the retreat of our two squadrons were therefore against us, as, in order to get to their horses, my men had to cross a space which was now being fired on by the adversary. this was a bad piece of ill-luck. whilst the fight had been going on, some of our horses, terrified by the noise of the firing and by the bursting of the shrapnels, had escaped from their keepers and were galloping about on the plain. a wild chase now took place, in order that my men should capture their mounts. when they were once more in their saddles and the retreat had commenced, the germans, hidden in the farms, fired on them to the best of their ability. fortunately, their aim was not good, so that only a few of our men were hit, more or less seriously. captain commander de favereau had his left arm fractured and his horse killed under him. the moment was critical, as the enemy foot-soldiers, more and more numerous in the adjacent houses, continued firing, although nearly always unsuccessfully. if their aim had been good, not one of us would have escaped. there was no time to lose and a rapid gallop saved our squadrons from the enemy projectiles. as i was one of the last to leave the spot where the combat had taken place, when i went, at full speed, to the place where the horses had been left, men and mounts had started. only quartermaster keucker de wattlet and two or three others were there. it was impossible to find my horse. to avoid danger, as the bullets were whistling through the air on every side, i took refuge behind a house. luckily, a horse was just passing. i caught it, sprang into the saddle and set off at a gallop in the direction of grootenbosch, across the open country. i was almost grazed by hundreds of bullets. it is perfectly incomprehensible that i should have escaped uninjured. i drew up near a brick-kiln, and called out to the various isolated horsemen who rode past. about forty men were soon with me, when an important group of other guides joined us, and told me of the presence of cavalry between dries and miscom. at the head of these men, i went off in the direction of hoogen, a hundred yards to the east of grootenbosch, where i met lieutenant de formanoir with his platoon. i at once gave orders to this officer to reconnoitre the cavalry we had heard was on the plain. twenty minutes later he returned, telling me that it was the st regiment of guides on the way to kersbeck-miscom. it was then about o'clock. it will be of interest here to give an extract from a letter sent to me by dr. lepape, who was wounded during the combat and taken prisoner. "at the beginning of the engagement," he said, "i was with dr. spelkens, near the dubois farm, which we had converted, as well as we could, into a relief post. we each went our way, in order to make final arrangements about getting the wounded in as promptly as possible. just then, only a few rare balls whizzed over the road, but there was firing, parallel with the railway line, at the horses grouped between the farm and the railway. it was here that i was first called for, and, whilst i was dressing wounds, i saw the helter-skelter among the horses, which were rearing and pulling at their tethers, in order to get away. it was all in vain that their keepers and the farriers endeavoured to soothe them. afterwards, they tried to rally them in the direction of the level crossing. i saw gevaert, the farrier, killed by a shot in his forehead. i was just getting up, as i saw my efforts were all in vain, when i was hit in the knee by a projectile. fortunately, after extracting this and bathing my knee, i was able to continue my service. when our soldiers were retreating, i saw that they were being followed, at about a hundred yards' distance, by men in grey uniforms who were creeping along by the railroad. my orderly now came rushing back to tell me that we were retreating. i went into the farm and destroyed all the papers which the sub-officers had left there, when surprised by the alert. among these papers were officers' lists, papers with the regiment headings, diaries of the campaign, letters, etc. i then went off to join the troops. i was unwise enough to spring on to a horse without thinking of my leg, so that a few yards farther on i fell off and fractured a rib. when i came to myself, all my papers and my weapons had disappeared, most of the houses were in flames, and a few belgians, inside one of the houses, were still firing. a little while later, i saw troops of infantry with machine-guns and cannons filing along for about two hours. i remember a few things that i noticed: " st. the german officers made their men believe that we were french and not belgians (the red trousers served as a proof). " nd. the doors and windows of the houses were systematically forced with the butt end of guns, and the dwellings were set on fire by means of plugs piled up in packets, that certain soldiers were carrying. in a few seconds the flame appeared and spread rapidly. " rd. the germans wanted to shoot the prisoners, one of whom was a quartermaster, because they had fired from a window, and this they said was contrary to the laws of warfare. as i could speak a little german, i endeavoured to interfere and, for my intervention, i received some heavy blows. i do not know how the matter ended. "the medical service was perfect. the service of burying was extremely faulty. the grave-diggers did not trouble about the belgian dead, leaving them to be buried by the inhabitants. needless to say they were robbed." as regards lieutenant d'ursel, i knew he had been wounded under the left temple, but i heard that he was dead when i was at st. trond. according to information that i received, when the body of this officer of the guides was identified, he was wounded in the face and heart. from this account, we see that the germans attacked the budingen bridge with considerable forces, that the two squadrons of guides resisted with the greatest bravery, and that, in compliance with their instructions, they _defended to the uttermost_ the passage of the gette. to my deep regret, i was obliged to leave lieutenant d'ursel on the battle-field. but i affirm that, at the time i left him, he had only one wound in the head and that if he was wounded afterwards in the heart, he had been killed _when wounded_, in contempt of the laws of warfare. chapter x aerschot (august , ) from the report of captain commander gilson, commanding the th company of the st battalion of the th line regiment the belgian army, two corps strong, had held its observation position from the th to the th of august. it had resisted the attacks of the enemy cavalry and light troops. when attacked by eleven enemy corps and three cavalry divisions, about , men, supported by machine-guns and cannons, it fell back on antwerp. a lively rear-guard action took place between the th german corps and the th and th line regiments in the direction of aerschot. on the th of august, , the th line regiment was entrusted with protecting the right flank of the campaign army, which was falling back in the direction of antwerp. the regiment left kessel-loo at . in the afternoon, reached aerschot at o'clock and took up its position to the north, on the right bank of the démer. the st battalion faced the aerschot-hersselt road; the nd, a little to the east, defending doorenberg, a country house, inhabited in time of peace, it is said, by a german officer; the rd was first held in reserve, but after reconnaissance of the place, two of its companies fell back, in order to rally the st and nd battalions and cover the retreat. the information which reached us, from time to time, was to the effect that the germans were advancing by the aerschot-hersselt road, occupied by the th company of the st battalion. the commander, captain gilson, an officer of great bravery, who had given proof of what he was capable in the congo, at once endeavoured to consolidate his position by defence works; barricades, beams, and heaps of earth were brought to obstruct the level crossing of the antwerp-hasselt railroad; barbed wire was stretched across the threatened road, the plains of which could be swept by two machine-guns, placed on the right and left and protected by grass earthworks. as to the company, it was disposed in the following manner: the st platoon, under lieutenant fauconier, was ranged along the aerschot-herenthals railroad; the nd platoon, under lieutenant jacquet, and the rd platoon, under adjutant theys, took up their position along the curved embankment of the hersselt road, one of them guarding the west sector and the other the east. a watch-out post, composed of twelve men, under the command of first sergeant scheenaerts, was placed six hundred yards away from milestone , near the aurondenberg mill, to the summit of which an observer climbed. finally, sentinels and patrols went on further to the front and were stationed on the flanks, in order to avoid surprises of any kind. on the th of august, towards five o'clock in the morning, the observer signalled the approach of a column of german infantry and cavalry on the hersselt road. their scouts soon reached our watch-out post, which fell back. in the distance, could be heard the characteristic sound of the artillery guns rolling along the pavement. the enemy's advance guard stopped at the border of the woods, about four hundred yards to the north of the railway, whilst, at the extreme right, six scouts continued their advance in the direction of the level crossing. commander gilson told his sharp-shooters to keep in hiding and to let the enemies approach. when he saw them about a hundred yards away, he seized his gun, aimed calmly and deliberately, and brought down three boches, one after the other. the three others, alarmed, threw themselves into a ditch. fresh scouts, in greater number this time, replaced them immediately, and the german vanguard company deployed to the east and west of the road and commenced firing. the belgians did not reply, but when the enemy, scarcely attempting any concealment, made a bound forwards all along its line, gilson commanded the opening of fire with rifles and machine-guns. the aim of the latter was so remarkable and so precise that the commander could not help crying out "bravo" to the nearest gunner. under this avalanche, the enemy company was almost wiped out. from this moment, the germans never ceased sending reinforcements to the right and left of their initial deployment. they emerged from the woods, at about three hundred or four hundred yards to the north of the belgian line, but, as soon as they were in the open, their march was stopped by the fire of their adversaries. four companies attempted the passage in vain and retreated into the woods, leaving a great number of their men on the plain. towards four in the afternoon, the german artillery, placed beyond the crest of the hill, probably near milestone , opened fire, first on the border of the wood to the north of aerschot, then more to the south, on the town itself. some of the shells burst in the belgian line. half an hour later, two german machine-guns were put into action and one could hear their "ta-ra-ta-ra" distinctly in the midst of the detonations of the musketry. on account of the absence of any smoke, though, the belgians could not discover their exact position. finally, commander gilson, with his field-glasses, caught sight of one of the enemy machine-guns on a heap of wood. an observer, crouching down, gave the necessary indications to our gunner. he, in his turn, passed the information on for the machine-gun nearest him and to a few sharp-shooters, and, in a few minutes, the german gun was reduced to silence. the boches brought up another one, and, in spite of its proximity, gilson had the greatest difficulty in locating it. as soon as he had done so, thanks again to his field-glasses, he directed the firing himself and brought down two of the enemy gunners. as they could not succeed in breaking through the belgian front, the germans now executed a turning movement in the direction of our left. three or four companies crept along the west embankment of the herenthals railway, whilst other troops came out from the de heide woods, situated still farther west. the artillery, too, came nearer and took position at about seven hundred yards away, on the side of the mill, the gallery of which concealed an observer. four guns then executed a rapid firing of shrapnel exactly over the belgian line; the others continued bombarding the town of aerschot and its outskirts. on the crest of the hill, to the east, could be seen the outline of grey masses on the way down. in order to oppose this turning movement, and to prevent the enemy cutting him off, colonel flébus, in command of the th line regiment, sent a company to occupy the railway line behind aerschot, at the height of the milestone . he would have a safe retreat there, if the position became impossible. the enemy was concentrating its chief effort, though, on the th company of the st battalion, the men of which had been sustaining a very unequal fight for several hours. commander gilson sent a note to the major by a cyclist, notifying: " / severely engaged. germans outflanking us to the left. can i count on a reinforcement?" this request was transmitted to the colonel, who sent a company to support the / . in order to reach the spot occupied by commander gilson, this company had to cross an open space which was being swept by the enemy artillery established at geymelberg. the firing to bar this way made it impossible for the reinforcement to advance. it was all in vain that the men endeavoured to hollow out shelters for themselves, rapidly, as the machine-guns raked the trenches, thus causing many victims. under these conditions, the colonel judged a retreat necessary and ordered the different companies to fall back by the railway, under the protection of the troops placed there in reserve. the despatch bearers, with the order intended for the th company, were killed on their way back, though, and commander gilson remained without instructions and without reinforcements. he saw the companies, occupying his right leave, one after the other, in the direction of aerschot. the fate of this single troop, left alone to sustain the brunt of the enemy's onset, is told by commander gilson himself in the following words: "on seeing the various companies moving off in the direction of aerschot, i understood that the position of the regiment was impossible. two explanations came at once to my mind: (a) either the order to retreat has been sent and has not reached me, (b) or the care of protecting the retreat is left officially to me. considering the precarious situation of the regiment on march under the fire of the german artillery, a situation which would soon be considerably worse if i ceased to hold back the important forces of the enemy and left them the opportunity of flinging themselves upon our troops, i decided to cover the retreat of the regiment and to fight, if need were, to the last man. in spite of this resolution, in order to encourage my soldiers, i called out to them: 'courage, hold out a few minutes more. our comrades will come to the rescue.' "as no reinforcement arrived, though, my men realised the final sacrifice i was asking of them. in the midst of the uproar of the fray, i reminded them of the promise they had given me at liége to hold out to the death. 'this is the moment, to know who are brave men!' i added. all who heard me answered with a nod of approval and a gesture of disdain for the germans. at the same time, i sent my major two more notes, exposing to him my position and telling him my resolution. they did not reach their destination, the despatch bearers were killed in the street at aerschot, the entrance to the town being literally under a rain of projectiles. "towards seven o'clock, i sent a soldier to the cross-roads to find out if all the regiment had passed southwards. during my retreat, i found his dead body at the entrance to the town, his head nearly blown off by a shrapnel. i recognised him easily by his wallet of white linen. "from quarter past seven, we were almost surrounded by forces which i reckon must have been at least ten companies strong. the firing was so violent that it was impossible for me to communicate with lieutenant fauconier's platoon, forming a defensive angle to my left. "towards seven-thirty, lieutenant jacquet, placed on the left of the road, called out to me that the position could no longer be held, as the germans had turned round us and were firing on us from the back. i saw this myself, but i considered that it was too soon to let go, as the enemy might still catch up with the regiment. i told lieutenant jacquet, by shouting and by gesture, that we _must_ still hold out, in spite of everything. _this officer replied 'good!' simply by the military salute._ "the fight continued in the following manner: the germans had brought up six machine-guns, two on our front, two on our right, and two in the second line. the artillery guns were firing continually, some on the town, and the others on our line. we went on like this until seven fifty-five. one of our machine-guns gave out; it was pierced by balls. i tried to save the second. the gunners endeavoured to draw it back, but, during the few minutes that this was taking place, it was hit by balls and damaged. we flung it into the ditch. the regiment was now out of reach and it remained for me to save those of my men who were still unscathed. a hundred of them, either killed or wounded, were lying on the embankment. they had fallen at their post. others had gone a few yards farther back before falling. i whistled for the retreat, giving the command: 'in rank, to the left, we are going to beat a retreat slowly. adjutant theys, with your right section, you will protect the rest of the company.' at that instant, a ball hit me in the face. i made a sign to lieutenant fauconier to begin the movement. he started, followed by jacquet's platoon, and then by they's platoon with the last section, which i accompanied. the retreat was accomplished without any hurry, by creeping along, which was the only way possible. in spite of this, many of my men fell in the open space that we had to clear before reaching the entrance to the town. this entrance was literally swept by balls and shrapnels. as i was quite the last, behind all the others, with seven men, two of whom were wounded, i took refuge close to a building and fired five cartridges on the enemy who were closing up round us. i took from a dead soldier, the roll of maps of / , that i had entrusted to him, and flung it into a well. "during a lull, we set off again and finally reached the deserted station. we asked for news of the regiment. some of the inhabitants, wildly excited, assured us that the troops had taken the louvain road. we followed the railway line in the same direction, crossed some gardens and went by the same road. "i am proud to testify in the first place to the admirable, intrepid conduct of my three platoon officers lieutenant fauconier, lieutenant jacquet and adjutant theys. i cannot find words strong enough to tell how heroic and how sublime their conduct was. under the fiercest fire, they remained absolutely calm and, with utter fearlessness of death, they carried out orders and accomplished, in the most perfect way, the mission of protection which we had the great honour of receiving. their _sang-froid_, their spirit of abnegation, their sentiment of comprehension of a sacred duty was transmitted by them to their men. i take the liberty of asking for a token of distinction for these three officers, whether living or dead. "i do not yet know who has survived of this company. i only know that the losses must have been very great. i salute, with intense emotion, the memory of the brave men who fell, and i salute, with all respect those who are still living. all of them, and i repeat _all_, behaved as heroes. i would also specially mention those who remained with me at the very last: quartermaster sergeant van wynendael; corporal deltombe, who was wounded; corporal fernand bauwens, and private berlens. these four soldiers supported me and, at a given moment, almost carried me during the retreat, when, through loss of blood, i began to feel weak and my sight became dim. "commander georges gilson, provincial government ambulance antwerp." chapter xi a few episodes of the retreat of namur by captain paulis, artillery commander the bombardment of namur commenced on the st of august, at o'clock a.m., and was directed simultaneously on the andoy, marchovelette, and cognelée forts, as well as on the intervals. during the morning of the nd of august, the garrison made dashes in the direction of the besiegers' lines. they were greeted by a violent discharge of musketry and by the fire of machine-guns. towards o'clock, on the arrival of three french battalions, an attack on wartet was attempted, but the troops were compelled to fall back and the bombardment continued without respite. on the rd of august, at three in the morning, after the hard fighting of the preceding days, overwhelmed by mental and physical fatigue, i had fallen into a troubled sleep. an order which was brought to me roused me completely. the last batteries we had were to be taken to the citadel, immediately, for the defence of the town redoubt. this was the end of the resistance. namur, shattered by the cannon, was living its last hours. the retreat of the active troops was about to commence. a fresh order reached me, telling me to take my detachment of artillery to bois-de-villers and to await instructions there. in the radiant brightness of that beautiful summer morning, whilst the shooting of the guns and the roar of the cannon was to be heard on all sides, i led my little troop in the direction of entre-sambre-et-meuse. my men were silent and sorrowful. i saw the anguish in my own heart reflected on their faces. at liége, after the most heroic defence, we had seen our men obliged to fall back before the foreigner. at namur, it was to be a repetition of the same thing. there, as here, we had hoped and hoped, up to the last minute, that friendly reinforcements would arrive. it was different here though! from liége, our retreat had been towards the centre of our own country, we were at home and we knew that we were going to join our comrades of the army in campaign. from namur, alas, we should be moving towards the frontier, getting farther and farther away from our fellow-soldiers, from our friends, and from our families. after liége, every man in our detachment had answered to the roll-call. on leaving namur, we thought sorrowfully of those of our comrades who were sleeping for ever at the border of the grandes-salles wood, or who were dying, in pain, in hospital beds. "courage! though," i said to myself, "we must keep our hearts up. we must throw a veil over the past and look ahead. at any rate, i must save the brave men under my care." the information i had with regard to the enemy was very vague. the germans were said to be stopped at the sambre, on one side, and repulsed in the dinant neighbourhood, some distance from the meuse, on the other. the truth, as we were soon to see, was quite different. at bois-de-villers, where i arrived towards nine o'clock, i noted that there was intense firing in the direction of sart-st. laurent. there was no doubt possible. the germans had forced the passages of the sambre. i made a hasty reconnaissance in the direction of the valley of the meuse. the inhabitants told me that the french had placed outposts as far as profondeville, but that they had taken them away the evening before, and that enemy patrols were moving about on the right bank. it was, therefore, impossible to start with my column along the road from profondeville to dinant. this road, which skirts the river, is commanded, only a short distance away, by the heights of the right bank. there was only one thing to be done, and that was to return to namur for instructions. at one o'clock in the afternoon, i was back again as far as the st. héribert fort. the commander informed me that he no longer had telephonic communication with the governor of the position. he could only give me all the information he had from private sources. the germans had crossed the sambre in great masses and were being held, at the present moment, between fosse and st. gérard, by a french army. the meuse also had been forced by the enemy at dinant. the situation was, therefore, most critical for the namur garrison. it would probably be completely encircled and it only had one road left for retreat towards france. i decided to go to ermeton-sur-biert, through arbre and bioul, and await events there. we accordingly set off and, as i was mounting my horse, i gave one last look at the town. the sight was both imposing and terrible. in namur itself, many of the houses were burning. the citadel seemed to have a halo round it, formed by the fleecy bursting of the shrapnels. farther away, the villages of champion, bonnine, and bouge were in flames. muffled detonations, repeated by the echoes, reverberated on every side. on all the roads from namur and from flawinne, could be seen the heads of the column of troops of the th division, who were endeavouring to escape from the grasp of the enemy. poor namur! with heavy hearts, we then began that long retreat, which was to lead us, by belgian and french roads, to the environs of paris. i arrived at ermeton-sur-biert towards half past eight in the evening. i went a little further on than the village and fixed on an oat-field for our bivouac. an uninterrupted firing could be heard from a northerly direction. the march of the german troops was indicated, over half the horizon, by the villages and farms in flames. in a south-easterly direction, an immense glow, in strong contrast to the darkness of the night, revealed the incredible crime of dinant. whilst some of my gunners were dressing the wounds of half a dozen french soldiers whom we had picked up at denée, and the drivers were getting some oats for their tired horses, i remained at the roadside, anxiously questioning the dark figures who passed by in the night. the most contradictory rumours were circulating. according to some, the british troops had driven the germans back, between mons and charleroi. according to others, on the contrary, we had already been turned by these same germans. i had been at my observation post more than an hour, when some french batteries passed by at a quick trot. there was no doubt now; it was very evident that the french were retreating. tired though we were, it was indispensable that we should follow the movement. we, therefore, set out once more. it took us three hours to go the five miles which separate ermeton from rosée, as the road was blocked by waggons, trucks, refugees' carts, and vehicles of all sorts. they were advancing with the greatest difficulty, three or four abreast. numbers of refugees on foot, men, women, and children, from the neighbouring villages, had slipped in among the horses and vehicles, adding considerably to the confusion. the night was particularly dark, and this darkness was only relieved by the distant light of the flaming houses and, from time to time, by the bright flashes of the st. héribert fort search-lights, which seemed to be sending us a last farewell message. we reached philippeville at four o'clock the following morning. during the night, my column had increased in numbers. soldiers of all arms, who had lost their regiments, had joined us, feeling instinctively that they were lost if they had not an officer in command. the first person i met, on arriving at philippeville, was duruy, the french battalion chief, whom i had known before the war as military attaché at brussels. three months later, he was killed in flanders, whilst marching bravely at the head of a colonial regiment. i explained my situation to him quickly and asked for news of the battle. what he told me was by no means re-assuring. the allies had been crushed by the invading stream and they were falling back, inch by inch. i soon received instructions from the french officer in command of the district. i was to collect all the belgian troops now in philippeville and take them to rocroi. we were to be in rocroi that same day. twenty-two miles to march with troops which had been marching already for twenty-four hours! the order was definite, though, and i felt myself that it was necessary. once more we set out. before leaving, i went and shook hands silently with my brave comrade, hankar. only the day before he was a lively sub-lieutenant from the military school, and now he was lying in a motor-ambulance, with his foot smashed by a shell. i could do absolutely nothing for him. what a terrible thing war is! i also took the wounded french soldiers we had brought from denée to an ambulance. i will not describe the calvary of that long march and the sufferings of my exhausted soldiers. it was eight o'clock at night when we reached rocroi, and the men were then able to take their first meal that day. we had to think of the horses, too, and to get some oats for them. i plead guilty to having acted in a manner that was incorrect, but i hope i may be forgiven for it under the circumstances. at that late hour, the forage stores were closed, and the man in charge did not consider himself obliged to supply me until the next day. necessity knows no law. in accordance with this precept, somewhat lax, but indispensable in time of war, i ordered my men to break open the door and take, _manu militari_, the oats necessary. i left a receipt, quite honestly, for what i had taken. i spent the night, with my men, in the big square of the town, but i could not close my eyes. too many thoughts crowded to my mind, for, from what i had heard and seen on the way, i was convinced that the germans would soon be at rocroi and that we should have to move on southwards. where were we to go though? how were we to rejoin the belgian army, when we did not know where it was? i had not even a map of the district. as soon as it was daylight, my first idea was to try to get a map, but how was i to find it in a town that was asleep? i knocked at several doors, but there was not a map to be had. presently, i met a young cyclist who had a road-map of northern france. i am about to confess my second indelicate act. i said to the young cyclist: "how much did you give for your map?" "three francs," he replied. "i will give you five francs for it." "i won't sell it," he answered, "as i cannot get another one." "i will give you ten francs," i insisted. "no," he replied. "then i shall have to take it," i said and, before the cyclist had time to recover from his surprise, i took his precious map and made off like the thief i was. after examining various projects, i decided on going to rethel. there was an important junction of railways and roads there. i could communicate by wire with our military attaché of paris and receive instructions. we set out once again, but our march was slow, as my detachment was composed of soldiers of all arms, most of whom were on foot. the problem of food for my men was causing me serious anxiety, when, a few miles from rocroi, i came across a column with food, stationed in a little village. a sub-officer, whom i had sent on reconnaissance, came back telling me that the officer in command of this column had given orders that no food was to be given to belgian troops, except in case of a requisition written by the general commanding the th belgian division. i have already confessed to breaking into forage stores and to theft. i must now confess to an abuse of confidence. i signed an order for food with my own name, preceded by the following words: "by order of the general commanding the th belgian division." i had no right to do this, if i am to be quite frank. i obtained the food though and, as will be seen later on, lieutenant general michel himself reaped some advantage from my indelicacy. the scene took place at liart, where we arrived the second day after this incident. taught by experience, i always arranged for our bivouac to be near places where food columns were quartered. i sent a subordinate at once to establish a _liaison_ between this column and mine. one night when we were quartered near liart, my _liaison_ agent, when sending my food, let me know that a goods train was to return empty to rheims, the following day. he had made arrangements with the military commander at the station for me to make use of this transport. glad to spare my men fatigue, and to gain time, i accepted the offer. i did not wait for daylight, but set out at once for liart. a surprise was in store for us. lieutenant-general michel was there, at the head of his division. there was no question now of our making use of the train, as it was, of course, to be reserved for the troops on foot. the mounted soldiers were to go to laon by the ordinary way. a column was formed under the orders of colonel iweins. whilst the men were eating, i remembered that i had some beefsteak in reserve. general michel, who was passing near, honoured me by coming to our table and sharing our meal. do you remember this, general? i did not own then that it was, in reality, you inviting me, as i had obtained that meat, thanks to "an order" from you. it took us two days to reach laon and nothing occurred to interfere with us on our way. one thing surprised us, though. we did not meet any french troops. we met columns with food, with ammunition, and various carts with accessories, but absolutely no fighting troops. our surprise increased when we had passed laon. neither at soissons, château-thierry, coulommiers, nor anywhere else, along that long road which led to the south-east of paris, did we meet either infantry, artillery, or cavalry. we began to wonder where the french army was, or whether a french army existed? it was not until a few days later, after the victory of the marne, that we understood general joffre's wonderful manoeuvre. we will not anticipate, though, so we must return to laon. we stayed there two days and we took advantage of this time for reorganising our column. the cannons and waggons of the old pattern were packed and sent to the south of france; the horses were divided among the existing units, and all the men we did not need were sent to rouen. in this way, we formed a column of cavalry, artillery, gendarmerie, and accessory services. i was no longer in command, but, as there was a question of taking part in the operations of the french army, i did not like the idea of being sent to a dépôt. i asked for a place now vacant as deputy commander of a group and i was fortunate enough to obtain it. we left laon rather suddenly and went in the direction of soissons. in my new function, i had to form the vanguard. with a few others, i would arrive unexpectedly in the villages, where our foreign uniforms generally created alarm, as we were taken for german patrols. in order to avoid mistakes, i used to send a horseman on in front to announce the arrival of friends. the astrakhan _talpack_ that i wore surprised the inhabitants of the villages and i overheard the following conversation: "you see the one with a fur cap. he is an officer of the russian vanguard." another person probably better informed, with regard to distances, replied: "impossible, the russians could not be here yet." it is only fair to say that all the papers then were announcing, in big letters, formidable advances of the russian army. the day after leaving laon, we arrived at sermoise-sur-aisne. an english patrol was there, under the command of an officer, who told us that german forces had been signalled to the north of the aisne. colonel iweins, who had already had this information, told the english officer that some squadrons had been sent to reconnoitre and that news was awaited before authorising a bivouac there. he added that he would send an officer with the information he received to the english general then at soissons. as i acted as interpreter and arrived with the vanguard, colonel iweins entrusted me with this mission. he told me, too, that the detachment that he commanded was to start the following day by rail from soissons. i was entrusted with the reconnaissance of the station and was to wait there for his arrival. the squadrons soon returned without having anything special to report. the bivouac was therefore organised and i started. i was delighted at having this mission as, when i had accomplished it, i should be able to dine on something else than rabbit, which had been our food for several days, and i should also have a good hotel bed instead of sleeping on straw at the bivouac. i was accompanied only by my orderly and, with a light heart, smoking a cigarette, i arrived in soissons after an enjoyable ride. it was just getting dark. there was not a person in the street, and a death-like silence prevailed. i wondered what this meant? finally, i met an english cycling platoon. the officer in command informed me that the germans were at the gates of the town, on the other side of the aisne. "surely," i said, "there must be some mistake, as there is an english general at soissons." "we beat a retreat in a south-westerly direction," replied the officer, "and we form the extreme left rear." i went at once to the station and found that all the rolling stock had been removed. after some time, i found one of the station officials. "have you been informed that some belgian troops are coming to soissons to-morrow to take the train?" i asked. "to-morrow!" exclaimed the man, in amazement. "why, the boches are there, on the other side of the river. the station has been evacuated and...." i did not stay to hear the end of his sentence, but rushed off to the prefecture of police, where i was assured that the german vanguards were quite near the town. "but surely there must be some military authority here in soissons!" i said. "perhaps you may find the commander of arms. he lives at the house with the stone steps, in the first street to the left." i went there and found him. "colonel," i said, "i have just come from sermoise and have a communication for an english general whom i expected to find here. i am also to make arrangements for some belgian troops to take the train from here to-morrow." "but, are you not aware that the germans may enter the town from one minute to another?" he asked. "i have given orders for the bridges to be blown up as soon as they are in sight, and immediately after that i am starting for rheims. the english headquarters have been transferred, to-day, about ten miles away. i should advise you to take your communication there and to stay there yourself. the road is not safe...." at that very moment, i heard some loud explosions. the aisne bridges had been blown up. "_au revoir_," said the colonel, getting into his motor-car, "and good luck!" i remained there a moment half dazed. the communication i had was worthless, and dangerous too, as it gave wrong information. the only thing that remained was to ride, at full speed, back to sermoise and warn my chief there of the danger that threatened us. an hour later, i arrived there breathless. colonel iweins was dictating his instructions for the journey of the following day. i informed him immediately of what i had learnt at soissons. the bivouac was at once broken up and major joostens set out in his motor-car to get instructions from the french headquarters. he returned soon after with orders to start immediately for château-thierry. the main road from sermoise to château-thierry passes through soissons. there is another way, but it is not practicable for artillery, and it would have caused us delay at a time when every moment was precious. colonel iweins decided to send his horsemen to guard the passages of the aisne. during that time the batteries and the vehicles with the accessories were to gallop through soissons. the squadrons were to fall back and they would thus be able to protect the retreat. this plan was carried out and only just in time. the gendarmerie waggon, which was a little behind, was attacked and captured by the germans. on the château-thierry road, i saw once more the same scenes of desolation that i had already witnessed in belgium: i mean the exodus of the population. crowds of people and of animals, all hurrying along and knocking against each other; vehicles colliding with each other and barring the road, as the drivers, in their mad hurry to escape, blocked the way and increased the confusion. the most heart-rending of all the miseries of war are those which afflict the weak and unoffending. on this long journey, i came across belgian families from hainault, who had been driven out of their peaceful villages by the barbarians, and had been wandering for weeks. wherever they had found a temporary refuge, they had been once more hunted out, and they were now going along, resigned to their fate, towards the unknown. when would the hour of deliverance ring out for them and for all of us? we stopped a night at château-thierry, and the following day our column was divided; one detachment went in the direction of coulommiers and the other in the direction of la ferté-gaucher. i was with the latter detachment, under the command of major capilion, and, as usual, i was responsible for the vanguard. the batteries arrived at our halting-place rather late, and it was dark when the installation was finished. i was very tired, and was just going to rest for a time, when i was informed that the two detachments were to start for havre, by rail, the following day. further orders were to be given us later on. when everyone was lying down, before going to rest myself, i decided to go as far as the station. it was as though i had a presentiment, for, on arriving there, at ten o'clock exactly, i found the station-master at the telephone. what i heard startled me. the germans were at château-thierry. we had left there in the morning and they had arrived in the afternoon. they had bombarded the station, left the town, and were on the way towards coulommiers and la ferté-gaucher. i rushed to the telephone and asked for communication with coulommiers. i told them to fetch an officer. major joostens was soon there. "do you know that château-thierry has been occupied to-day by the germans, and that they have now left the town?" i said. "what are you telling me?" he replied. "it is impossible. we have come fifty miles from soissons and an army cannot go along at that rate." "it is a fact nevertheless. make enquiries at once, as we run the risk of being taken." "wait there, i will telephone to you as soon as i get any information." a quarter of an hour later, major joostens confirmed what i had told him and informed me that he was having trains sent immediately to la ferté-gaucher. he told me to give the alarm and to commence embarking the troops during the night. never, i imagine, has any man alone, made as much noise in the night as i did that night at la ferté-gaucher. thinking that we were far enough away from the enemy, our lodgings were separated from each other, from one end of the town to the other. for the first time for a month, each man had a bed. it can readily be imagined that it was no easy task to wake everyone up. at half-past twelve, the first battery arrived at the station, and the embarking of the troops commenced immediately. on account of various faulty installations, it took a considerable amount of time. at mid-day, our scouts informed us of the approach of the germans. we were prepared to evacuate by road what we could not send by rail, but fortunately this was not necessary, as the enemy halted a few miles away from la ferté-gaucher. the command of the last contingent was given to me. at four o'clock, all the waggons were on the trucks. i then embarked the gendarmerie platoon, which served as my support, and the train started. it was an immense relief to me when we were once on the way, as we then knew that we should be able to join the belgian army, and do our share towards defending our country. coulommiers and la ferté-gaucher were, as everyone knows, the extreme points reached on french soil by the german invasion. from havre, we went by boat to zeebrugge and from zeebrugge to antwerp by rail. we found our infantry regiments there, as they had preceded us. the th division was re-formed and it contributed gloriously, later on, to the defence of antwerp and the yser. i dedicate these pages to the soldiers who were under me during this period of the war. they were composed of men of the oldest classes (the th and th) and of young volunteers. all of them behaved with the greatest courage. several weeks after the events i have just related, when i was no longer the direct chief of these brave soldiers, i received from them the following letter, which moved me to tears. it is a letter which i shall ever keep as my most treasured recompense: "vieux dieu (fort ), " . . . "to our commander paulis: "the sub-officers of your old group beg you to accept, in their name and in the name of all the brigadiers and privates who have been under your orders, their respectful homage and the assurance of their sincerest feelings of gratitude, in remembrance of the way you led them under fire, and saved them during the retreats from liége and namur. "rest assured, commander, that you will never, never be forgotten by us, and that your name will ever be included in our ardent wishes for the welfare of our king, our country and our families." [here follow the signatures.] "pervyse, october , ." chapter xii death of corporal trésignies from the account given by first sergeant-major ---- of the nd regiment of unmounted chasseurs. on the th of august, the belgian army, supported by the line of the antwerp forts, took position on the rupel and the nèthe. in front of it, the rd and th german corps were quartered. on learning that violent fighting was going on on the sambre and in the direction of mons, a _sortie_ was decided upon for the th and th of august. the th division took hofstade and the schiplaeken woods. the st and th divisions took sempst, weerde, and eppeghem; but, on the left wing, the nd division could not gain the left bank of the louvain canal and, in the centre, the th division could not occupy elewyt. the army, therefore, returned to the retrenched camp. on the th of august, , towards nine in the morning, a platoon of the nd unmounted chasseurs, under the command of first sergeant-major ---- occupied a trench, constructed by the germans, at pont-brûlé, on the south bank of the willebroeck canal. a continual rain of balls from the enemy's lines soon made the position impossible, even for our men who were firing as they lay on the ground. there was no retreat possible. it was necessary, therefore, at all costs, to cross the canal. there was a bridge only a few yards away, but its platform was raised and the crank of the windlass was on the opposite bank. the sergeant attempted to construct a raft, but this was almost impossible, as the necessary material was lacking and the enemy's firing was too frequent and violent. he was compelled to give up this idea. "a good swimmer who will volunteer to cross the canal!" he cried out. "present!" replied private trésignies, getting up from the ground. "it is to go and lower the bridge, my boy." "right, sergeant." quite tranquilly, trésignies wrote on a slip of paper the following words for his wife: "adieu, it is for the king." he handed the message to his officer, slipped off his clothes, and sprang into the water. whilst he was swimming, the sergeant called out to him: "trésignies, in the name of the colonel, i appoint you corporal." trésignies smiled in answer to the words, crossed the canal, reached the other bank, climbed on to the abutment of the bridge, and seized the crank. he first turned it the wrong way, raising the bridge still higher, but, on seeing his mistake, he turned it the opposite way. the bridge slowly descended. the man's tall figure stood out against the horizon, looking like an antique statue. the firing from all sides was now aimed at him. his thighs and his arms were hit. the blood spurted from his wounds and ran down his body. he continued turning, as though nothing had happened, determined to accomplish his work of deliverance. he went on turning and turning until his heart was pierced and he fell down on the blue stone. after a few nervous twitches, his body remained still and lifeless, the head hanging down.... * * * * * in remembrance of this hero, the municipal council of antwerp decided that one of the streets of the capital should be named after corporal trésignies, and that a subscription should be opened for the benefit of his widow and two children. chapter xiii the first attack of the retrenched camp of antwerp (september , ) by father hénusse, s.j., army chaplain to the th artillery battery on that day, the staff of the th division had decided on an offensive reconnaissance, starting from willebroeck and going towards lippeloo. towards in the morning, we heard that the germans had arrived in force at breendonck. commandant c---- transmitted this information to the staff, who, no doubt, gave orders to the cavalry to verify the information, as the hour fixed for our departure passed, and we were still there for a long time afterwards. the foot-soldiers were yawning behind their piled arms and the gunners were strolling about near the cannons. towards o'clock, the order finally arrived for us to start, but the itinerary was modified. we were to go by way of sauvegarde and pullaer, instead of leaving willebroeck along the network of barbed wire. the column set out. the th brigade of mixed forces advanced along the narrow road which is the ordinary way to the line of forts. towards . , it was preparing to take up a position, when suddenly, four detonations were heard and four shrapnels exploded in front of the artillery, just near the commander of the group, who saw his cyclist hit, his men wounded, and horses either fall or take fright. the astonishment was so great, that a slight confusion ensued. an explanation was almost as quickly obtained. the enemy was making a sudden attack on the double interval, breendonck-letterheide-liezele. an order was immediately given to the artillery to occupy the positions organised for the defence of the said intervals. the th battery had its sector limited by the canal of willebroeck and breendonck, the rd the sector comprised between breendonck and letterheide-liezele, and the nd the sector letterheide-liezele. "wheel round!" was the command given and, on the narrow road, the wheel round took place in perfect order. whilst the batteries were going to their positions, the commanders went just as quickly to their observation posts. that of the commander of the rd was an extraordinary post. between two poplars, a platform, eight yards high, had been made, protected by a shield. it was reached by a huge ladder and was big and strong, as was necessary for the man who was to use it. when he reached it, the balls were already whizzing from all sides and the huge shrapnels were bursting above the forts. it was evident that the germans had begun the attack with their masses, without waiting for the preliminary artillery preparation. the commander climbed quickly on to his perch and began scrutinising the horizon with his field-glasses. in the direction of breendonck, the firing range had been cleared for about eight hundred yards in advance of the line of forts. all the houses but one had been destroyed. farther away, in the background, there were isolated farms, the roads leading to the village, mills, and clusters of trees; in the foreground, immense fields of asparagus a yard high. suddenly, a movement was to be seen on the road leading from the village. an enemy column was advancing there. it broke up into little groups, in order to reach sheltered places. this was just the moment to seize the telephone and order a quick fire from the battery yards in the rear. unfortunately, the telephone had been taken off on account of the reconnaissance that morning, and torture now began for the unfortunate commander. to have a mass of several thousand men in front of him and, there, behind him, the four fire-spitters which could sow death and carnage among that mass, and not be able to make a sign to them, not be able to transmit the order! tantalus had nothing like this to endure! the commander's eyes were fixed first on the advancing enemy, and then on the plain where the telephonists ought to be unrolling the wire, the precious wire.... he could see nothing but the green grass and the sunshine.... finally, he could stand it no longer and he clambered down from his observatory, saluted by a volley of balls, which only did harm to the poplar branches. he rushed to his horse, which was hidden in the little wood at the back and rode at full speed in the direction of the telephonists. as soon as they appeared, he gave his orders in feverish haste and returned, at the same rapid pace, to his observatory. the question now was would he reach the top of the ladder or not? the balls came whizzing along, hitting the steps of the huge ladder. one, two, three, and he sprang on to it and began to mount. with a thrill of anguish, he continued his way until, at last, he was once more at his post. this time, though, he flung himself down full length on his platform to look through his field-glasses at the horizon. the changes he now saw were that the enemy columns were advancing, in close rank, behind the isolated farms and behind the mills. in the foreground, sharp-shooters were gliding and crawling towards the asparagus fields. hundreds of men were already hidden there. he felt sure of that. the commander was furious. he remembered a certain shooting-party, when he had had a magnificent animal within his range and it had made straight for his neighbour's vicinity, thus preventing him from shooting, for fear of hitting his fellow huntsman. it was certainly his fate to play the part of tantalus. he wondered why the telephonists did not arrive, and whether the poor wretches had been shot down? finally, he caught sight of them crossing the railroad, five hundred yards away. he hoped they would stoop down, and crawl if necessary, for the balls were whizzing along all the time. in the meantime, the commander took his measures, noted the distances on the map, and revelled in advance at the thought of massacring the most odious enemies that ever existed, and cutting short their triumph in this sudden attack, which they fancied they were carrying out so well. the minutes seemed endlessly long; his blood was boiling and beating in his heart and brain.... finally, the telephonists were at the foot of the ladder, the communication was once more set up and the first command sent like lightning. a few seconds passed, and the reply was there. four rapid shrapnels burst above the asparagus, just at the right height, and now, quick, quick, and rapid firing! the storm continued pouring down on the fields where the boches were crouching and, through his field-glasses, the commander could see hideous things flying in the air: arms, legs, and helmeted heads. at the same time as his orders, the telephone communicated to the battery the result of the firing, and the gunners imagined that they saw with their eyes the magnificent work of death. this excited them and, in glee, they continued their work with enthusiasm and speed. after the asparagus fields, they attacked the farms. the shells fell there like thunderbolts and fires broke out everywhere. in spite of all this, the balls continued to whizz round the observatory. it was very evident that there were some men hidden who were shooting desperately. the commander searched everywhere and concluded that they were in the one house still standing, the one house that the engineers had not destroyed. it was situated on the road from breendonck to lippeloo and within the last two hours it had been suddenly loopholed. what was to be done? it was too small a building to constitute an objective for indirect aim, and consequently it would have been useless to inform the battery. the breendonck fort, though, could knock it down directly. it was the telephonist who thought of this and suggested his idea to the commander, who had been obliged to come down once more from his perch, as it was impossible to remain there. the idea was good, but the question was how to communicate with the fort? it was more than eight hundred yards away, and there was almost entirely open ground between them. the telephonist started off on his own account and, less than ten minutes later, the fort opened fire on the house. with the third shell, it was flaming like a huge torch, after which it fell, sending an immense bouquet of sparks up into the air.... the commander once more went back to his observation post, but the fête was over. the roads were deserted; the asparagus plants on which he turned his glasses were quite still; the farms were smoking and the rumbling of the cannon could only be heard dying away in the distance. over yonder, beyond the village of breendonck, the disorderly retreat of the boches could be imagined, saving their cannons, dragging along their wounded, and hastening to hide their disgrace. after that our reconnaissances and our ambulances came out, and the sad and glorious balance sheet of the day's work was gradually made out. the next day we found that, in the asparagus fields, german identification plaques had been gathered. the commander, whom everyone was congratulating, grasped the hands of the two soldier-telephonists and said to them: "and all this, thanks to you, my brave fellows!" chapter xiv the re-taking of aerschot by sub-lieutenant ch. dendale of the th line regiment on the th and th of september, the diminution of the forces besieging antwerp was known at headquarters and a _sortie_, with all the troops of the fighting army, was decided upon, either to inflict a defeat on the enemy, or to oblige the germans to bring back, towards antwerp, some of the forces now on the way to france. the _sortie_ commenced on the th of september and began favourably. on the th, the passages of the démer and of the dyle were conquered and aerschot was taken. on the th, a platoon of the nd mounted chasseurs entered louvain, but the nd division was stopped at wygmael and at putkapel. the enemy brought back the th division of reservists who were then marching to france. on the th, the rd division succeeded in an offensive on over de vaart and the th division reached the railway from malines to louvain. on the th, it was the enemy's turn to take the offensive and drive back the nd division at rotselaer and wesemael. this retreat drew with it the th division and then the rd division, and on the th the army fell back towards the retrenched camp. the chief object was nevertheless attained. the adversary had been obliged, not only to bring back to the belgian front the th division of the rd corps, but also to delay the march of the th corps towards france for two days, at the precise moment when the german armies, in effecting their retreat on the marne, had the most urgent need of reinforcements. this is not an account of a particularly glorious feat of arms, but merely a statement of impressions during a combat which, although it was less murderous than any other in which i took part, left the most vivid impression on my mind. during the second _sortie_ from antwerp, the th regiment, which landed at heyst-op-den-berg during the night of the th and th of september, received as its first objective: aerschot. all along our road we could see the ruins of the dwellings which had been destroyed by fire by the germans. these ruins stood out clearly and lamentably against the blue sky. from the _débris_, which were still smoking, a special, bitter odour emanated, which choked and suffocated us, giving us an indescribable sensation. we did not dare stir the ashes, for fear of exposing to view the calcinated remains of the martyrs who had been burned, with all they possessed, on the bit of land where they had been born, and where they had grown up, struggled, suffered, and where, with visions of horror before their eyes, they had died. we approached the town and the boches had not yet shown any signs of life. suddenly, my attention was drawn to a forage cap, the red band of which stood out in contrast against the green of the meadow. i rushed forward and then stood still, deeply moved. the cap was attached to a little cross, made of branches, planted on a small mound. this first vision of the anonymous grave of a brave man, who had died for the sake of his country, gave me a pang at my heart. alas, how many such tombs i have seen since then! i stood there thinking, and my thoughts went from the hero, who had fallen in the midst of life and light, to the poor old parents who were trembling for their son, to the poor parents who would never know where their lad had been buried. we entered the town after the vanguard, which did not meet with any serious resistance. there were no longer ruins just here and there, but heaps and heaps of them everywhere. nothing had escaped the destructive rage of the invader. everything which had not been consumed by the flames had been saccaged. the shop windows had been cleared, furniture destroyed, glasses smashed, clothes thrown about in lamentable heaps. it must have taken whole days to destroy all these things, with kicks of heavy boots and with the butt end of guns. and what amazed us was the number of empty bottles strewing the ground. there must have been "colossal" drinking bouts. perhaps the soldiers, in order to carry out their cruel task, had lacked courage. perhaps at the bottom of their hearts, some sentiments of honour and of probity had been stirred, and they had had to stifle all this by drinking until they had lost their reason. gradually, a little curiosity mingled with our emotion. silently, and with heavy hearts, we visited these ruins, exhaustless and glorious relics of patriotic love and virtue. everything here, from the tombs down to the very stones, proved that belgians prefer death to cowardly submission, prefer to suffer rather than to betray their word of honour. an atmosphere of august sacrifice sanctified this spot. suddenly, i uttered a cry. over yonder, on the front of a convent, a big german flag was floating insolently in the wind. i rushed forward, but the soldiers had already preceded me, and the colonel stamped on the accursed emblem. our eyes shone with joy and hope. this sight was a symbol to us. we saw in it german power laid low, right triumphant, belgium delivered, and we were filled with absolute confidence.... piff! paff! there was fighting going on over yonder and these detonations exasperated us. we rushed forward spontaneously in a wild, disorderly chase, crying out: "long live the king!" the boches occupied the heights at the other side of the town. they greeted our vanguard with a violent firing, but fortunately it was badly aimed. our battalion rushed to the rescue. just as we were turning the corner of a street and entering the zone swept by the firing, the first ranks hesitated for an instant. then, and never shall i forget that sight, the standard-bearer rushed forward, holding our flag high with its three colours unfurled. electrified, the men rushed like a whirlwind, the clarions sounded the assault, and a confused clamour rang out: "hurrah, hurrah for belgium!" the irresistible stream of our troopers gained the heights. the men were mad with fury, for the sight of the german atrocities had exasperated them. they hurried on, their hearts overflowing with rage. "no prisoners! no quarter! death to the bandits!" curses rang out on all sides. the men's faces were hard, savage, pitiless. "they shall be cared for, their wounded!" i heard someone say. i turned round and saw our doctor. the expression of his eyes scared me. a veritable flame of hatred had been lighted in all hearts. "yes, we are ready for anything. no pity! no conventions. so much the worse for them. they have brought it on themselves! it is their punishment!" an immense joy took possession of us and transported us, the joy of the idea of snatching from the invader a shred of our national territory. * * * * * a pitiful troop of german prisoners was halting on the road. the sun was scorching. our men, streaming with perspiration, grouped themselves round them, looking at them curiously. what did i now see, though? was it possible? the same soldiers who had been intoxicated with the madness of carnage, with vengeance and hate, were now looking after these captives. one offered them cigarettes, another one coffee from his flask. our "ferocious" doctor was busy lavishing his care on them, and dressing their wounds down to the very least scratch. suddenly calm again, on seeing the suffering of others, we were once more kind-hearted, simple belgians, hospitable and compassionate, according to the traditions of our race. moved by pity, we were doing our best to relieve the sufferings of our wounded enemies. i looked on at this poignant scene thoughtfully, and i was seized with deep emotion. my eyes were dim with tears and my heart swelled with joy, with unutterable pride, the joy and the pride of being a belgian. hotel dieu, albert i. hospital. . . . chapter xv a fine capture by staff deputy captain courboin _september , ._ aerschot, devastated and pillaged by the germans, was retaken by belgian troops composed of the cavalry division and the th brigade. surprised by the rapid action of our men, the enemy occupants made off, like a band of sparrows, in the direction of louvain. to the south of the town, though, some detachments, probably unaware of the direction of the retreat, were still holding out. our troops had gathered together on the heights towards nieuw-rhode and were awaiting orders. i had left my unit and was walking along at the border of the st. hertoger heyde bosch, when a soldier of the th line regiment told me that, according to a patrol, a horseman of the nd guides was lying wounded on the road running through the forest. i asked for a gun and some cartridges and proposed to an army chaplain that he should accompany me. twenty soldiers at once volunteered their services and i had the greatest difficulty in limiting my escort to a corporal and six men. ten minutes later, the horseman, who was unfortunately dead, was brought into our lines. my men had to encounter a violent firing, which came from the border of the wood to the south, proving that there was at least one enemy company there. the horrors they had seen at aerschot had roused the anger of our men, and they beseeched me to return to the forest with a force and avenge our unfortunate compatriots. i could not possibly have yielded to their entreaties, if an unforeseen circumstance had not more or less justified our escapade. an auto-machine-gun of the st division of cavalry, which was to reconnoitre in the direction of nieuw-rhode asked for an escort of scouts. i offered the help of our little troop and, a few minutes later, we were once more exploring the st. hertoger heyde. the woods appeared to be deserted, but, on arriving near the southern border, an intense firing, from the nieuw-rhode summit, greeted us. our machine-guns replied with interest, whilst my men searched the houses skirting the road, one after another, and, hiding behind the hedges, were ready to take aim at any german heads which, in a moment of imprudence, should be outlined against the deep blue of the horizon. we bounded on until we were within a hundred yards from the summit. the enemy firing had ceased and we now saw about fifteen wounded men sheltering in a ditch and imploring our aid. we wondered whether this could be a trap for us? it was too late, though, for prudence. we had risked coming two miles into the enemy's lines and my men were there, quivering with impatience. it was no use hesitating. four houses stood in the corners of the cross-roads here, and these were probably sheltering the wounded and those who were trying to escape. there was no window looking out on to the place where we stood; the gardens appeared to be empty; one more rush and we should be able to see what was going on beyond the summit. when once we were at the top, i had no time to deliberate. a horseman, who, i must own, appeared to have lost control of his mount, galloped towards me at full speed. i shouldered my gun and ... the boche bit the dust. the terrified horse leaped about in the fields; my men took aim and the machine-gun seemed to start firing on its own accord. that moment of over-excitement saved us. the enemy thought we were there in strong force. a gun, covered with a white handkerchief, appeared at a skylight window. they were surrendering. i placed myself against the wall of the house, so that i might escape any treacherous firing from the window in the roof. "throw the guns out!" i shouted. a gun fell on the ground at our feet, then another and another. my men were wild with delight. "twenty ... fifty ... a hundred," they counted. when the hundred and sixth gun fell to the ground, there was a lull and a german sub-officer then, came out to make terms with us. in very good french, he asked that the lives of the lieutenant, five sub-officers, and one hundred and six men, concealed in the house, might be spared. two minutes later, a little troop of men arrayed in iron-grey and blue, were standing in line on the road. a very prussian little lieutenant handed me his pistol, which joined the guns piled up in the ditch. my men did not seem to be at all aware of the strangeness, which was really somewhat alarming, of our situation. if only our prisoners had had a little energy, the rôles might have been reversed. i would not allow myself an instant even to think of this and i gave the order to my boche colleague to take the command of his men. with incontestable authority, tapping his high boots with a little stick, the lieutenant commanded in a very arrogant tone: "attention!" i wondered again whether, in reply to one of his injunctions, given in a guttural tone in the german language, the whole band would not suddenly fall upon us and, instinctively, i tightened my hold on the butt end of my mauser.... no, it was very evident that these soldiers had a special mentality. the little dandy, tightly buttoned up in his grey coat, marching at the head of his men, seemed to me absolutely repugnant. i knew that our soldiers, commanded by one of our brave comrades, would not have remained long in the situation of this band of cowards. there they were, out-numbering us ridiculously, escorted by seven belgian soldiers, marching to our headquarters at aerschot. prisoners! they were prisoners and ... happy! i was just about to fall in and close the march of this column, after promising to send help to the wounded, who were groaning in the ditch and calling out all the time: "a doctor. a doctor!" when a big, rough hand seized mine and shook it unceremoniously. it was corporal dethier, of the th, a brave miner of liége. "captain," he whispered, "we all thank you. as for me, i am very glad, for i feel that i have been a good soldier to-day."[ ] footnotes: [footnote : the names of these six brave men are: massin, cyclist company; de sutter, / ; menu, / ; le kouttre, / of the th line regiment; barthels and sty, cyclist carabineers of the st cavalry division, who were both proposed later on for honorary distinction; corporal j.j. dethier, who was wounded at the yser and had his leg amputated. he has been made a knight of the order of leopold.] chapter xvi (september - , ) the second sortie from antwerp episode of the battle before over-de-vaert (haecht). by lieutenant l. chardome of the th line regiment i am writing the account of this combat in bed, at the elisabeth ambulance, as i am still suffering from my wounds of thirteen months ago. i give this account without any pretension and without any false modesty; my only care being to tell the exact truth. it was during the second _sortie_ of the antwerp garrison. my company, the nd division of hotchkiss machine-guns of the rd army division, had passed the night of september and , , along the embankment of the malines-louvain railway line, five hundred yards from the haecht-wespeleare station. at in the morning, we received orders to get into line and go to the support of the th line regiment; my men mounted the slope in glee, and had soon cleared the summit. very soon the two guns of my section, the nd and rd, had taken their place with the sharp-shooters of commander magnette's company, supporting the last section of infantry to the extreme left. the sharp-shooters during the night had occupied a trench intended for those who kneel and they were now busy making it deeper. to my right, i could see their outlines dimly through the morning mist. in the rear the howitzers, placed beyond the railway, had sounded the reveille and immediately, three batteries of the th brigade took up the firing on the left. towards o'clock, the mist had entirely disappeared and the battle-field could be seen. our losses were already important. first sergeant-major carlens, chief of the machine-gun section, had been killed and butjèns, who served the nd, had been shot through his thigh. i had reserved the nd for myself and i was pointing it. from time to time, i called out to the men who were firing haphazard: "what are you aiming at? do not shoot till you see the enemy." in order to give them confidence, however, i sent off about thirty cartridges, now and then, towards spots that i believed were occupied, as i know how it comforts the soldier to feel that he is being supported by the machine-gun. in front of us, the firing continued, and the german maxims never ceased for an instant their ta-ra-ta-ra-ta. the question was, where did this firing come from? it was not until ten o'clock that i finally caught sight of the enemy trenches. for six hours, until then, i had been searching the firing range with excellent field-glasses, and had not been able to discover anything. suddenly, a german head emerged and revealed to me the whole position. "caught!" i said to myself and i felt the most ferocious joy. i could now direct my firing, and hubert massart, my orderly, served me as observer. i succeeded, with three strips of thirty cartridges, in hitting straight at the parapet and the talus. i at once communicated my discovery to the infantry and to my rd and, from that moment, our firing was more intense, although intermittent. the morning passed by without any special incident and i took advantage of this for examining our position. in front of us was a glacis something like that of st. privat, but ten times more dangerous, considering the power of firearms at present. it was a horseshoe of fire, skirted with long, low houses, and these were now full of invisible and almost invulnerable defenders. the background consisted of two german trenches, separated by a white house with walls of cracked bricks, which served as a shelter for legions of boches. the whole of the morning, the cannons and the howitzers were directed on these houses, which, we were told, were occupied by picked shooters or by machine-guns. our gunners aimed with wonderful precision, but the shells went through the first wall, burst in the first room, and left the others intact. one out of three of our projectiles set fire to something, which was distinctly better for us. i was installed behind the first obstacle of a deserted german trench, slightly outside and in front of our line, which i could flank, if necessary, whilst meeting a flank attack. to my left there was a gap opposite the artillery, but on this side no foot-soldier could be seen. at mid-day, our brave men suddenly cleared the parapet of their trench and advanced, crawling along and firing all the time. the line at once supported them, slightly to the right, and this freed my two machine-guns. we advanced, in our turn, within the fiery circle, from which we could only come out dead or conquerors. i decided to leave the rd to continue the firing and flank the attack, whilst, making use of the empty boche trench, i could go forward with the nd and support the infantry. "bring the gun," i said to sergeant maréchal; "close the cartridge boxes and follow me." i then set off to reconnoitre the road along which we had to go and the place to occupy for the firing. i had only to follow the german trench, about two hundred yards long, the end of which i was holding. when i came to the other end of this, i saw that the infantry was advancing at a prodigious rate, under an extremely violent fire of musketry and machine-guns. to my right, in front of me just beyond a cross-road, was a second boche trench which, curiously enough, i had not seen. i cleared the twenty-five yards which separated me from the cross-road. i then went along the ditch and, with a jump, reached the second trench. i went quickly right to the end of it and found that this formed a sort of hook, and that it would be a good position for the firing. i went quickly back to fetch my men and found they had already reached the cross-road. unfortunately it was not possible to free the gun from the trivet of the hotchkiss and, on account of the narrowness of the passage, we had great difficulty in transporting it. we made use of the ditch along the road, and then slipped into the second german trench. to the right, half way along, i caught sight of corporal boreux, of the th, out in the open field. he was dragging himself along with his legs bleeding. "can i have my wounds dressed, lieutenant?" he called out. "quite impossible, my poor fellow!" i replied. "get down into the ditch, and as soon as the fight is over, you shall be seen to." the brave foot-soldiers were already at the end of the second boche trench when i arrived and installed my gun. "lieutenant," said maréchal, "there is a machine-gun firing on us." he was quite right for, from the right of the little house opposite us, a german gun was sending us its messages. i pointed immediately, at a distance of two hundred yards, and silenced it with the first volley. its rôle was over. i then began to pepper the boche trenches, to the right and left of the little house. my gun worked excellently well and my men were absolutely calm. the brave fellows of the th soon passed by and went farther on. in less than a quarter of an hour they had cleared four hundred and fifty yards. the line continued to support them. "maréchal," i said, "i am going to entrust you with a confidential mission. go and fetch the rd and bring it here." i continued firing, thus neutralising the trench to the right. our artillery was obliged to stop firing on that side, but it peppered the left part and hit the walls and the houses on the main road from louvain to malines with its shrapnels. the germans had no artillery, which was extremely fortunate for us. my rd did not arrive though, and i had decided that, as soon as it came to relieve me, i would go forward and join the left wing of my regiment, in order to give these brave fellows, at any cost, the comfort of the presence of a machine-gun. i wanted to be with them to the end. fearing to arrive too late, i decided to start. "come along, boys," i said, "the moment has come for the final blow. forward!" i seized the right foot of my gun, massart the left one. janssens gave a hand, and fraikin and collard carried the cartridge cases. with a great effort, we got out of our shelter into the open field. it was more than imprudence, it was almost foolhardiness. my shooting had proved to be very superior to the adversary's though, and the brilliant attack had made me so hopeful. we went along about ten yards, surrounded by a swarm of balls. the german trenches had recommenced firing right and left. at a distance of three hundred yards, their picked shots and their machine-guns were aiming at us. suddenly massart fell, stifling a cry of pain. we all flung ourselves down on the ground. the well-known "kiss, kiss," was whistling through the air. "who is hit?" i asked. "is it you, hubert?" "yes, in the arm, lieutenant." the other men crawled down into the trenches we had just left. "lieutenant, could i have my arm seen to?" asked hubert. "who is to do it?" i said. "vile boches! i will pay them for it. get close to the trench, put your head against the parapet, and do not stir from there." the "kiss, kiss" had ceased, for we were supposed to be all dead, and there were other objectives. i got up and once more began firing, but i was alone now in the midst of the fiery circle. my cousin, lieutenant fernand marissal, who had brought his guns to my right, had stopped firing for the only reason possible. he had just been killed. some boches, hiding in a house had sent him a ball in the head. the sharp-shooters no longer existed, the brave commander magnette had been killed at the head of them. i therefore had to face three sides. i commenced by imposing silence once more on the trench to the left, and a ball grazed my right cheek and nose. it was a violent shock and my face was all bleeding, but, fortunately, my eyes were spared. i continued shooting at the houses on the right and i peppered doors, windows, and roofs. after this i aimed at the trench, which fired back at me. i was hit in the right fore-arm. a vein was cut, and this meant a considerable hemorrhage. i turned up the sleeve of my sweater and found my shirt quite red; my fingers still worked, but with difficulty. i meant to make the men in hiding, on the main road, pay for this. my poor hubert had dragged himself along to the first trench and he said to his comrades, who were now shooting with guns: "what, do you mean to say that the lieutenant is left alone to do the firing? he has been wounded twice. is there no one to help him?" these were his last words. mortally wounded as he was, this hero used his last breath to exhort his comrades to do their duty. janssens came out of the trench and charged my machine. i was just going to fire, when i was hit on the knee and brought to the ground. "they have broken my leg!" i said. it certainly was in a strange position, and i pulled it round and stretched it out in front of me. i fired the last strip of cartridges loaded, and all those in the box near me. it was all i could do. janssens had returned to the trench. i took off my right spur, which was twisting my broken leg, and lay down on my back, with my head on my shako, and a map on my face to protect me from the heat of the sun. it was . . the sky was extremely limpid, with whitish clouds here and there. from time to time, the crows flew slowly by, uttering their hoarse croak. "what are your orders, lieutenant?" suddenly said a voice near me. it was the brave maréchal, accompanied by corporal treize and private van herck of the rd. "what about the rd?" i asked. "it won't work, lieutenant." "where is it?" "we have put it completely out of use." "is there nothing more to be done then?" "yes, we are going to move you from here, lieutenant." "no, my boys," i said, "during action, the wounded cannot be moved." i could not, of course, accept for myself what i had refused twice for my men. "put the gun out of use," i said. "we are going to save it, lieutenant." taking advantage of a lull, he and the other two seized the gun and managed to drag it into the trench. this was a joy to me. the assault had failed. the first line had been massacred and those supporting it had stopped firing. behind us and to the right, the darche company, of the th, now occupied the cross-road, where my poor cousin's two guns had been once more brought into action. farther on, and to the left, the moreau company was defending magnette's trench. the balls of this company, as well as those of the enemy, passed over my head. before going away with my nd, the good fellows begged affectionately to take me away. i refused categorically, for, as an officer, i wished to share the same fate as the brave soldiers who had fallen during the attack. i put an eighth cartridge into my browning, determined to defend myself to the end. presently, i heard the breathing of my poor hubert massart develop into the death rattle. a significant crispation of the spine caused his chest to swell, his nostrils were ominously drawn. i was present at his death and could do nothing. as to myself, i was happy and very proud. my blood was flowing freely and i had nothing with which to staunch the wound. fortunately, my tight breeches and my putties served as a sort of harness and, as vigorously as my injured hand allowed me, i fastened the strap of my field-glasses round my thigh. the combat continued intermittently. at . , a few boche shells were still falling here and there, within the firing range. one of them buried itself a few yards away from me and the soil thrown up by the explosion half covered me. i determined to try and rejoin the darche company and began to drag myself along on my back, with the help of my one leg and my elbows, leaving behind me a line of blood. from time to time, i lifted my arm to show my rank to friends, and i heard them cry out distinctly: "take care, take care, the lieutenant!" towards . i reached the cross-road and, by a miracle, i managed to clear the first ditch. one of the sharp-shooters took me by the shoulders when i arrived at the second one. he dragged me the whole length of the ditch to the left of his company. corporal boreux and other wounded men were there and we were then in safety. chapter xvii the st regiment of lancers by staff deputy colonel e. joostens the operations of the siege of antwerp commenced on the th of september. the enemy bombarded the forts, the resistance of which was compromised by the firing of cannon of cm. at the same time the enemy endeavoured to force the escaut, between termonde and ghent, with the idea of cutting off the retreat of the belgian army. the river was defended by the th army division, which was posted chiefly in the vicinity of termonde. the st lancers were at the extreme right of the division. more to the west, towards wetteren, the st division of cavalry was spread along the whole left bank of the dendre. the organisation of the belgian army, when at war, requires a cavalry regiment for every division. thanks to the hazards of this campaign, only the st and rd lancers remained permanently with the big units to which they were organically attached. whilst the greater part of the men with our arm expected to keep their spurs, which are worn very high, and were preparing their flourish of trumpets, the st lancers, that is the mounted ones, could not have the same pretensions, as they were destined to share the fate of the th army division during nearly all the operations. there was plenty of good work to be done, nevertheless, and from the very commencement, both on the banks of the meuse and around namur, our bold reconnaissances proved the value of this arm. in the northern sector, deputy staff major lenercier, at present a brilliant colonel of the th lancers, took the direction of the combats of boneffe and of the sauvenière mill. to the south, our regretted comrade, lieutenant moreau, made a most daring reconnaissance. at the head of two platoons, he went as far as ciney, which was full of germans. on his return, his little troop was completely surrounded, but the lieutenant was not to be intimidated. he assailed his adversary and, thanks to his own personal intervention, he saved the life, or at least the liberty, of one of his comrades, who was surrounded by uhlans, just as they were preparing to do him an evil turn. the spirit of our mounted lancers is admirable. how many of them have given proof of individual prowess! i well remember, among a hundred instances, that of the gay trumpeter, who had specialised in hunting the boches. he would start off alone on his hunt, and he was very much cast down if he did not account for two or three in his day's work. sometimes he would account for about ten of them, and his eyes were brighter than usual on those days. the evacuation of namur took place on the rd of august, and was a difficult and sorrowful retreat. the march was long, the horses exhausted, the temperature very high, and the uhlans sometimes very near indeed, but what did all that matter? we had to rejoin our fellow-soldiers with the fighting army. and after various incidents we reached coulommiers and la ferté. from there we went to havre, and had a few days of peaceful life, in the midst of a population whose hospitable welcome has left grateful memories in our belgian hearts. four steamers then took us back to our own country. we had time to re-equip ourselves and, after a few days at contich, we took part in the operations around the retrenched camp. there were reconnaissances to be carried out to the north of malines, and in the direction of louvain, lippeloo, etc. our officers kept surpassing each other in activity and daring, and the men were as brave as their chiefs. at the beginning of october, the besiegers commenced the general attack of the position organised on the north bank of the nèthe. at the same time, they made some attempts to force the passage of the escaut at baesrode, termonde, and schoonaerde. the th army division and the st cavalry division stopped them. the rôle of the st lancers, at that time, was to send out reconnaissances beyond termonde, to gyseghem and audeghem and then, when the enemy was too insistent, to ensure the guarding of the escaut and, if necessary, the defence of the river between dyck and schoonaerde. towards the th of october, the situation became rather critical. the following is an extract from an account given by captain commander cartuyvels de collaert, who depicts the situation faithfully as far as his squadron was concerned. the others had experiences just as critical. "a company of infantry in the first line," he says, "and my squadron in the second line were to prevent the boches from passing the bridge, which had been partially destroyed, at schoonaerde. "in the afternoon of the th of october, there was violent firing from the enemy. i evacuated the horses quickly. part of the little hamlet of dael, to the south of berlaere, where the horses then were, was literally shattered. "during the bombardment, staff deputy colonel joostens, who was then major, arrived at berlaere on his way to the schoonaerde bridge. i was stopped by the shells at the last houses, to the south of dael, and had just time to fling myself into a ditch two yards to the east of the road, in front of a farm which received four or five projectiles. a little while after this, staff commander adjutant major yperman hastened up to me. "'where is the major?' he asked. "'there,' i answered, pointing to the escaut. just at this moment, an artillery salvo saluted his arrival. honour be to whom honour is due! "'i fancy you want me to be killed,' said commander yperman, laughing. "to my right, on the other side of the road, was a cultivated field, and then a little farm surrounded by hedges. i saw a firing effect there that seemed extraordinary. the shells were raining down. suddenly, a ball of fire, which looked about three or four yards in diameter, came along quickly, parallel with the road in the direction of the little farm, but close to the ground. it cleared the hedge, scarcely touching it, just as a horse might have done at a hunt. it was a very pretty sight! "we had no losses that day, but alas, it was a very different thing the day following. towards evening, i received orders to fall back and occupy, with my squadron, the south border of berlaere. "lieutenant roup was hit in the leg by shrapnel, but was not seriously wounded. at night, a fresh communication arrived. my brave lancers were to go into the trenches that i had been to inspect near the schoonaerde bridge. the boches were on the other side of the river. "the following morning, the th of october, we were to be four or five hundred yards to the east of the bridge, in order to let our artillery shoot over schoonaerde. just at this point, the escaut makes a slight concave bend towards the north, that is on our side. i was, therefore, afraid of two things. first, there was the danger that the germans, covered by their own artillery, might cross the bridge without our seeing them, as we were rather far from it ourselves. then i feared that we might be surprised from behind, on account of the turn in the escaut, as boche sentinels were visible on a sort of cupola, at the top of a german manufactory near the schoonaerde station, a manufactory which we had not been allowed to destroy by fire the week before. towards . , i went to the bridge, after telling my men to hide in the small trenches we had made during the night in the embankment of the escaut. on arriving as far as the church, i heard the roar of cannon. i had a pang at my heart, dreading lest the target should be my poor squadron. two minutes later, a formidable storm burst over our wretched little trenches, and this storm continued for half an hour. "'not a single man will be left,' i said to myself, as the projectiles passed, one after another, twenty yards in front of me, with an infernal noise. the whizzing of the shrapnels and the roar of the shells were frightful. the air seemed to be torn by them and the commotion was terrible." the following is an episode of what took place in the trenches, according to a letter from lieutenant de burlet, which i received a few days later. "at schoonaerde, i lost seven men of my platoon. one of them was a sub-officer and another my poor orderly, whom you saw by me in the trench. a shrapnel burst two yards away from us, taking off my poor tuitinier's face. i took refuge under his dead body from . to . when, after escaping a thousand dangers and feeling all the revulsions of the body which was protecting me, each time it was hit by the splinters from the shells, i beat a retreat on hearing your whistle." "at about . ," continues commander cartuyvels, "the firing ceased. i left my shelter and heard german being spoken on the other side of the water. piff! paff!... a ball had hit me in the chest, but by a miracle had been turned aside by a pocket-knife. a second hit me in the left knee. "i had received instructions to remain as long as i thought it possible. considering that the position could no longer be held, i gave orders to my squadron to beat a retreat. i tried to start as well as i could on all threes, as i could not use my fourth member. i got into a ditch, which was full of water, and then into a second one. i was up to my neck in water and i then dragged myself along on the wet grass. another ball broke my right thigh, near the hip. i was settled now and i pretended to be dead, but, in spite of this, these 'cultivated creatures' continued firing on me. what a mental retrospection one has time for when one has to stay for twelve or thirteen hours under the enemy's balls! "i wrote on my cuffs to my wife and to my mother, bidding them farewell, and i lay there waiting for death! the shells continued to rage over my head and the bullets to whizz through the air. a foot-soldier, crawling along a few yards away from me, was shot through the head. he uttered a hoarse cry and his soul passed away. "in the afternoon, i either had a dum-dum ball or one that had been turned aside in my left thigh, and this caused me great suffering. "when the darkness came on, thanks to a little whistle which i always used for giving orders, i was found by quartermaster de looz-corswarem and thibaut of my squadron. they were helped by a civilian and by a private belonging to the infantry, whose name i believe was ledent, and i was put on to a wheelbarrow and taken to dael. i was saved! "under the direction of dr. godenne, de looz and thibaut brought in several other wounded men. they have since received a military decoration for their fine work. seventeen men were killed or reported missing that day, and seven were wounded and taken to the hospital. out of three officers engaged in the combat, two were seriously wounded, and one escaped by using the body of his orderly as a shield. the th squadron had proved itself worthy of its country! "things were no better on the th. the reserve squadrons intervened in their turn and held out wonderfully. nothing whatever disturbed their equanimity. what brave men they were! they were told that if the enemy attempted to come to close quarters, they could defend themselves with the butt end of their guns, as they had no bayonets. they accepted this perspective with _sang-froid_ and with that decision which had always been their characteristic. "lieutenant-general michel sent them his warmest congratulations on the following day. i transmitted the same to my troop in the following words: "'after the combats in the neighbourhood of schoonaerde and appels, the lieutenant-general in command of the th army division has begged me to convey his warmest congratulations to all the officers, sub-officers, brigadiers, and men of the regiment who, for several consecutive days, carried out an extremely difficult and exposed service in the trenches. the exceptionally firm and resolute conduct of the st regiment of lancers has won the admiration of lieutenant-general michel and i am proud and happy to transmit to all those who have merited it the testimony of his great satisfaction. we shall none of us ever forget those of our comrades who fell during these cruel days, nor any of those whom we have lost since the beginning of the campaign, and our courage and activity will be greater than ever now, in order to avenge and honour their memory.'" the retreat led us in the direction of the yser, and we were frequently in close contact with the enemy's cavalry at thourout, moerbeke, vladsloo, and bovekerque, and finally, after the great battle, the squadrons, giving up for the time their spurs, mingled during long months with the foot-soldiers, in order to share with them in the work of organising and defending the trenches. the king considered that the st regiment of lancers had specially distinguished itself at schoonaerde, at selzaete, and before dixmude, and rewarded a number of my brave officers by granting to them the following distinctions: colonel a.e.m. joostens, major a.e.m. lemercier, captain commander cartuyvels: officers of the order of leopold. major a.e.m. yperman, captain commander ch. de mélotte: knights of the legion of honour. captain commander de thier, rosseels: knights of the order of leopold. lieutenants pulincx, delfosse, deboek, laffineur, orban: knights of the order of leopold. sub-lieutenants dugardin, cartuyvels de collaert, ch. de mélotte: knights of the order of leopold. drs. brasseur, hallez, godenne: knights of the order of leopold. lieutenants moreau, de kerchove, de denterghem: knights of the order of leopold and a citation in the minutes of the army. lieutenant rolin: knight of the order of leopold and a decoration of the order of st. anne ( rd class). lieutenant bertrand: knight of the order of the crown. commander bosquet: a citation in the minutes of the army. army doctor evrard. a citation in the minutes of the army. lieutenants verhaegen, roup, fichefet, count d'ursel (georges): a citation in the minutes of the army. sub-lieutenant baron sloet van oldruytenborg: a citation in the minutes of the army. it would take too long to enumerate the rewards of the lower ranks and of the cavalrymen, but i would not finish this brief account without expressing to them my admiration and taking off my hat to all of them, whilst repeating the words of a great chief: "i would go down on my knees to them all." wulpen, october, . chapter xviii the termonde bridge by an officer of the th artillery regiment on the th of september, , the st group of the th artillery, under captain commander t'serstevens, after distinguishing itself in the combats fought to the south of termonde, at st. gilles, at audeghem and at wieze, came to grembergen to take the place of the batteries of the th brigade, which was made up of various units. of all the positions at termonde, that of the bridge itself, then occupied by a cannon intended to take it by enfilade, was the most dangerous of any. all the chiefs of the sections of this group had been on service there, turn by turn. two of them, sub-lieutenants hiernaux and mayat, were killed there. hiernaux fell at his post, the night of the st of october, during an attack by the enemy. the termonde bridge had been destroyed beforehand, and a wooden bridge had been constructed and mined by a section of the engineers, who were there ready to blow it up. with the th line regiment, and a machine-gun, we occupied the left bank of the escaut and the germans held the town itself, which was built on the opposite bank. the bridge, therefore, constituted a passage common to us both, and the defensive organisations on both sides were similar and formidable. the banks of the river were merely deep trenches, and the nearest houses served as block-houses for the machine-guns and small cannons. our lookout men, on the alert all the time, were endeavouring to surprise the enemy's least preparations in the ruins, with which we were already familiar, of the burnt town. the framework of the gaping houses looked, at night, like so many weird skeletons. from time to time, by the light of a moonbeam, we saw figures gliding along between the portions of the walls. such figures were always promptly saluted by the crackling of a ball and they would then disappear among the ruins. over yonder, like so many will-o'-the-wisps, little blue flames could be seen at intervals. they were caused by the _élite_ of the enemy's picked guns aiming at any heads which appeared above our parapets. the night of the st of october was a beautiful, starry autumn night. the german artillery, after an excessively violent bombardment, which had lasted several hours and had obliged our much-tried infantry to leave the dyke and to curve round the other parts of the bridge, now fired less frequently. the soldiers, leaning against their shelters, were enjoying fresh air in relative tranquillity. a vigilant sentinel suddenly hailed his chief. he had just seen a dark compact mass moving along. it was not very visible by the light of the moon, but it appeared to be making for the bridge. there was no doubt about it, the enemy was trying to effect a passage. at the signal of alarm, foot-soldiers, machine- and cannon-gunners rushed to their posts, and the storm immediately broke loose. under the protection of a violent and continuous firing from the right bank, an assaulting column came out from the principal street of termonde. the first men were carrying mattresses, which they endeavoured to use as shields; the others followed, in close ranks without any order. they looked more like a flock of animals than a regularly constituted troop. they were singing their famous _gloria victoria_ and appeared to be absolutely drunk. after the first discharges of musketry, the artillery gun had its men _hors de combat_, with the exception of sub-lieutenant hiernaux and the man in command of the cannon, who both opened fire on the assailants. the machine-gun entered into action as well, whilst the soldiers of the th line regiment fired direct on the german troops who, nevertheless, managed to get a footing on the bridge. the officer of the engineers who had mined it had two discharges. seeing that the assailants who were killed were instantly replaced by others, and that the enemy was threatening the left bank, this brave man established the electric contact. to our stupefaction, no detonation followed. the germans had now reached the end of the bridge. without any excitement, the officer seized the second discharge. a formidable explosion took place, flinging into the distance the ruins of the bridge, fragments of human beings, and various objects of their equipment. all fell _pêle-mêle_ into the river and on to the banks, covering the soldiers who were hidden there with blood and with human shreds. in face of this disaster, the assaulting column stopped short, horrified, and then rushed back in disorder towards the town, whilst huge flames rose from the piles of the bridge which had been soaked in petroleum. the surprise attack had failed, and two more weak attempts were cut short by our shelling. the usual vengeance was then resorted to. the enemy artillery concentrated its fire on the vicinity of the bridge. our brave troops lived through one of those critical moments when the destructive power of the human machine is only comparable to the grandeur of souls ready for any sacrifice. for one long hour, our soldiers were submitted to a storm of steel which, with a hellish clatter, warned them of a fresh attack. it was necessary to conquer the intense nervous strain, to watch without ceasing, and to examine all the impenetrable and threatening fortification works on the other bank of the river. it was whilst examining all this, from above the shield of his cannon, that sub-lieutenant hiernaux fell, just at the critical moment, struck between the eyes by a ball. his fine death proved to us once more all that there is of energy, _sang-froid_, and courage among our subaltern ranks. quartermaster francotte ordered the officer's body to be carried to a neighbouring shelter and he covered it over with a wrap. he then took hiernaux's place at the cannon and kept his aids there all night, whilst the neighbouring trenches had to be abandoned for a time, as they were impossible, on account of the gas from the explosion of the shells. two days later, sub-lieutenant mayat was on service at the bridge. in the afternoon, the commander of the group and his aid came to examine the adversary's organisation. the heads of the three officers, sub-lieutenant mayat between the other two, were just for an instant above the shield formed by the cannon. this formed an excellent target for those on the other side. a ball whizzed by and one of the heads disappeared. mayat, without uttering a cry, fell against his chief, and a stream of red blood spurted from his pierced temple and inundated his face, which had turned suddenly livid. at present, the two friends are sleeping their glorious sleep side by side, in the little cemetery of grembergen, where we buried them reverently. the day will come when those who know of their noble death and who, more fortunate than they, have been spared, will be able to go and place flowers on their tombs, in order to show their gratitude and admiration. but no homage can be equal to the tears of sincere grief of the officer who was sent to take sub-lieutenant mayat's place, when he saw his comrade lying at his post, in all the rigidity of the last sleep. chapter xix the no. armoured car by sub-lieutenant g. thiery, of the st regiment of guides, in command of the group of armoured cars of the st cavalry division what an easy and pleasant task it is to relate the adventures of another person and to praise the exploits and the courage of a friend. but how delicate and trying it is to describe one's own deeds! to the man who considers himself rewarded by the feeling of having done his duty, it is by no means easy to have to say: "i was there and this is what happened to me...." however, since i am requested to give this account, i must do so. it was at wommelghem, near antwerp, that, on the th of september, , i was given command of the no. armoured car attached to the cavalry division. i will begin by congratulating those who invented and thought out this engine of warfare. some have been built which were six months in the work-shops. of these, some are monuments which can never be utilised, and others are wonders invented in offices, which need to be stripped of three quarters of their improvements, in order to be of any use under fire. in three weeks, the minerva factory and the cockerill work-shops delivered to the belgian army what i believe to be the best armoured car in use. it is sure, easily worked, rapid, strong, and efficiently protected. the no. car brought me a number of brave men. first there was count guy de berlaymont, the personification of courage and indifference to danger; then constant heureux, bravery and abnegation made man; finally dujardin and gouffaux, two good and valiant soldiers. all of them, like myself, were volunteers. without any preliminaries, we found ourselves at once in the midst of the drama. on the evening of the th of september, at the criterium at antwerp, lieutenant hankar, count henri de villermont, prince baudouin de ligne, misson, philippe de zualar, berlaymont and i were sitting round a table, discussing our departure joyfully. on the evening of the th, berlaymont and i were again at the criterium, and big tears came to our eyes, as we looked at the empty seats which had been occupied, the previous evening, by our friends. that afternoon, whilst patrolling round herenthals, we heard that their vehicles had been attacked near zammel. all that we were able to snatch from the enemy had been three dead men, four wounded ones, some weapons, and two armoured cars. the germans had now a fresh item, and a very big one, on the account that we had to settle with them. on the th of september, we had our revenge. for the second time, the army made a _sortie_ from antwerp, and the cavalry division, forming the left wing, advanced towards louvain. information of all kinds poured in at headquarters and one detail struck general de witte, that chief of whom i can never speak without the greatest respect and admiration. the general had been told that the village of werchter was only weakly guarded. a bold stroke might make us masters of the passage of the dyle. this stroke was to be attempted. the execution of it was confided to the battalion of cyclist carabineers, that heroic phalanx which does not need to be introduced to any one, so well is it known. everyone is acquainted with our _diables noirs_ (black devils), those of haelen, and of everywhere else where there were blows to be given and laurels to reap, that band of brave men who always set out laughing, dressed their wounds whilst singing, and returned to the fight the following day, their natural ardour increased by the desire to avenge the deaths of the previous day. my armoured car set out at the head of the little column. between schriek and tremeloo, a company of cyclists was left to serve as support for the two others who went forward. we arrived at tremeloo. in this devastated and deserted village, lieutenant fritz de menten and half a platoon of the nd lancers were awaiting us. they confirmed the information that werchter was only held by a small force. they had been assured that the boche foot-soldiers, with the exception of those who were doing the cooking in the square, were all busy getting drunk on _yack op_ at the wine-shop. what enthusiasm there was amongst us! our two hundred and fifty cyclists were relishing the joy that they would have in seeing their old acquaintances again, the prussian pilferers, house-burners, and torturers. they set off in three columns. the middle one, which i led, took the direct road. another one turned to the left, in order to attack werchter, by the dyle. the third column took the plain to the right, in order to approach the village from the north. lieutenant de menten's half platoon served as scouts for the column on the left. we rushed off at full speed. the bridge over the laak, a small tributary to the right of the dyle, was soon crossed, the cycles were then left, and the sharp-shooters went off at a trot, stooping in order to be hidden in the harvest fields. i reached the first houses in werchter with my car. there was not a soul to be seen! this silence and mystery did not seem natural to us. a hundred yards away, the chief street was barricaded. an inhabitant assured us that the few boches who had occupied werchter had already taken flight in the direction of the bridges. we immediately took the machine-gun out of the car, together with its support and the cases of cartridges, intending to carry all this over the barricade, which the motor-car could not cross, and then sweep the bridge with balls, so that our prey should not escape us. berlaymont, with the machine-gun on his shoulder, and a cyclist carrying two cartridge cases, were the first to enter the street. they had not gone ten steps when they were greeted by a volley of bullets. the shooting was from all the windows and the cyclist had his arm broken. this volley was evidently a signal, as the whole circumference of werchter now broke out into short flames. an infernal firing then took place, interspersed with the tac-tac-tac of maxims. werchter was a trap. we were attacking the enemy one against four, and our adversary was invulnerable behind the walls of the houses. our retreat was obligatory, but the question was, could the destruction of the battalion be avoided? it is in these tragic moments that the worth of a troop can be judged. in reply to their officers' whistling, the cyclists fell back in good order, replying at the same time to the enemy's firing. just as though they were at drill, my men put back the machine-gun support in its box, and strapped it up, whilst the chief gunner put his cannon on its battery and awaited the order to fire. in the car, each man took the place assigned to him beforehand: the chief gunner standing up by the side of the driver. the latter charged the machine and also attended to his driving. the second gunner was seated in turkish fashion at the back. he passed the charges full and arranged the empty cases. the chief was kneeling down at his side, the upper part of his body higher than the plating. it is his part to direct the aim, with the aid of his field-glasses. this is the dangerous post, at which three quarters of those killed in armoured cars have had their skulls pierced. i have been wounded twice in the head at this post. our cyclists were now beginning to recross the laak bridge, and we opened a rapid fire on the limits of werchter, where the enemy appeared to be coming out in our pursuit. firing attracts firing, and a shower of balls crackled over the armoured car, passing close to our ears with the noise of huge, furious flies buzzing quickly through the air. our brave hotchkiss fired without ceasing. the second gunner was tending his machine as though it were a pet animal. as soon as it had spit forth its shower of a hundred balls, he quickly put a pinch of vaseline on the piston and a damp rag over the cannon. in five minutes, a thousand cartridges had been fired. the cannon was getting warm. from black, it had changed to blue and was mottled with spots. it had to be changed. we were advancing towards the laak bridge, which all the cyclists had now crossed. as we went along, we encouraged the wounded ones who were trying to crawl along as far as there. we changed the cannon, whilst under fire. there was a bolt to draw, then a few blows of the mallet on a big key, the cannon was grasped between rags and plunged into a basin of cold water. with a hissing noise, a long spurt of boiling water flowed up-hill. whilst the chief gunner examined the mechanism of his machine and greased it, his helper drew the second cannon from its sheath and put it in its place. with a thud, it settled and, the whole operation having taken forty seconds, we were once more ready to fire. the enemy was now coming out from werchter. i could see the lines of sharp-shooters distinctly. they were advancing in the fields of rye and beet-root. "do you see them?" i asked. "yes." "at three hundred yards, mow them down with volleys of sixty, if you like, fire!" and our hotchkiss continued its noise, which sounded like a huge sewing machine. over yonder, we saw the grey fellows tumbling over each other, running, hiding. and the balls whizzed round us quicker than ever. the cyclists were still five hundred yards away from us in their retreat, but our cannon was again getting warm and, besides this, the extractor was dirty and some of the balls failed. we fell back a second time and, behind a hedge, the changing of the cannon again took place. this time we had the additional complication of changing the extractor. the enemy took advantage of this for advancing at full speed. "quick! quick! is everything ready?" the car fell back. a hundred yards from the bridge there was a good place for it. from there we could see for five hundred yards along both sides of the route skirting the laak. this time we were keenly on the watch. we no longer replied to the firing intended for us: it was no use wasting munition haphazard. the chief gunner to the right, and i to the left, watched the groups which arrived on the bank of the river. rrann!... and there was a charge[ ] for each group. how many fell like that! it was good firing, with certain result. and there was no hurry now, so that the cannon only got gradually warm. the combat had been going on for forty minutes. the cyclists must have reached tremeloo. there were still the wounded ones to look after. berlaymont and i got down and picked up six or seven of them. we placed them on the chests, on the wings, on the platform, at the back, and even on the hood. this exasperated the boches, who fired on us furiously. we now made off, but on the tremeloo road, we came across about twenty poor wounded men, dragging themselves along in the most lamentable way. they stretched out their hands to us, beseeching to be picked up. it was impossible to abandon them. six volunteers of the cyclist rear-guard offered their services. they discovered a cart and an old horse which, by some miracle, had remained among the ruins of a farm and, whilst they were doing this, the machine-gun received certain indispensable repairs. the car then started once more towards werchter, followed by the cart transformed into an ambulance. about one hundred yards in front of the bridge, a wounded man was lying across the road. he begged to be picked up at once. we fastened him to the platform and thought no more about him, for the balls were raining down again. the boches had crossed the bridge and we had to drive them back, so that we could pick up the wounded men. we advanced slowly, giving our enemies a hellish fire. they were running from hedge to hedge, quite near to us. lieutenant de menten, who had been taken prisoner at the beginning of the action, and was freed later on, told us about this part of the fight. the germans, two battalions and a squadron strong, dragged him along with them in the pursuit, and we came very near freeing him ourselves. for a short time, he was surrounded by the dead and he had to lie down flat in a ditch, in order to avoid sharing the fate of his keepers. we were only one hundred yards away. we had painted a gigantic on our car, out of sheer bravado. a german officer told him that evening that that "cursed number seven" had killed more than two hundred men in an hour. our provision of cartridges was coming to an end though. we began to fall back a little, especially as the balls were now coming from right and left. there were no longer any wounded men on the road, as our brave carabineers had worked well. "good heavens!" we suddenly exclaimed "and what about the man we picked up and put at the back of the motor-car?" when our last volley was fired we visited him, expecting to find him in a piteous state. miraculously, he had not a single scratch more than when we had picked him up, and yet the back of the car was riddled with marks of bullets. what a piece of good luck for him and, as for us, our men were all there; we had not lost one. during that second _sortie_ from antwerp, we had magnificent chances of distinguishing ourselves every day. on the th of september, for instance, we started from rhode st. pierre with some pioneers and, slipping between german posts and patrols, we reached cumptich, near tirlemont, about ten miles behind the enemy's lines. whilst the pioneers were destroying the railway line from louvain to liége, we kept a lookout on the road. a red auto came along. it was a pipe, horse-power, , driven by a german soldier, and there were two conceited-looking officers in it. berlaymont seized his carbine and, at a hundred yards' distance, fired twice. each ball hit an officer straight. the car stopped short and the chauffeur held up his arms. we rushed forward, our brownings in our hands. the two officers were on the floor of the car, with their heads open. "what a pity," said berlaymont, regretfully, "they have made a mess of the leather!" after securing the chauffeur, we started along the road in our car. on approaching the sentinels, we called out to them: "come here, or you are dead men." not one of the five prisoners we made attempted to defend himself. as soon as they saw the armoured car, they threw down their weapons and put their hands up. some of them knelt down and asked for pardon. on returning, our captured car came to a stand-still and the prisoner chauffeur repaired it with the most obsequious eagerness. the climax was that, just as we were setting off again, we heard a voice calling out: "stop, stop, you have forgotten me." it was one of our prisoners, who had got down while the car was being repaired and whom we had not missed. that same day, the th of september, i had two more big fights, and was able to advance as far as blauwput, a suburb of louvain. unfortunately, this cost me the life of corporal royer, a very brave man who had already had honourable mention in his division. in the afternoon, we had the pellenberg fight, where the violent resistance of the german marine fusiliers stopped our progress. until we reached the yser, my car was engaged on an average three times a day. it would be impossible to tell of all our skirmishes, so i will only give the most interesting episodes. on the th of september, at alost, my car was sheltering in the little street of the morseel bridge, behind a barricade made of herring barrels. we had to wait there and could see nothing, whilst shells were falling all round us. suddenly, a projectile fell right on the barricade and filled our car with herrings. it was a perfect infection, and never had our nostrils been poisoned by any odour as disagreeable as that. whilst we were raging and holding our noses, a tall american fellow came up with a cinematograph photo apparatus. "captain," he said, "i am the operator of an american cinematograph company. may i have the honour of taking views of your motor-car in fighting position?" we had scarcely recovered from our amazement, when a shell dropped on a neighbouring house, which immediately fell on us and on the american, in the midst of a cloud of dust and a frightful noise. with the most superb calmness, berlaymont called to me: "look out, it is always a good thing to notice the objective." he got up and began searching for the objective. just at this moment, we saw the cinema american, who had stepped back a few yards and, with his apparatus still on its three feet, was taking views phlegmatically. between eleven o'clock and twelve, we received orders to fall back one hundred yards, in order to support the platoon of the th lancers, under the command of lieutenant van den elschen. it was entrenched behind a barricade of tan bales. our enemies were not visible and we were only aware of their presence by the arrival of shells. one of these projectiles broke in the window of the delhaize grocery shop. it was most providential for us, as it allowed us to lunch copiously on the verandah, free of charge, with a musical accompaniment, composed of the latest tango airs, played on the piano by lieutenant poncelet. things went on very well until another shell knocked down a chimney. as this fell on the verandah, we had to move from there. we returned to our barricade and found the cinema operator getting our horsemen to rehearse a "defence of alost." "i have only taken a bombardment, so far," he explained, "and i should like to get a real fight." amused at this idea, the officers allowed him to direct operations. commanded in nigger french, our horsemen first repulsed an imaginary attack of the enemy, by fire, and then executed a brilliant counter-attack. victims were now wanted. "some dead men now, the ground must be strewn with corpses," ordered the american. the excitement of the troops was such, though, that he had to repeat his injunctions, in order to keep the corpses lying still on the ground until the film had finished turning. these views appeared in the _daily mirror_, of october , , under the title of "the defence of alost," and have been given in all the london cinemas. my readers may, perhaps, see them later on on the screen at brussels. they will know then that, of the whole story, only the bombardment was authentic. on the th of october, our motor-car came very near having a fine feat of arms to its credit. at schoonaerde, on the road from wetteren to termonde, the germans had placed a battery of field howitzers, which was bombarding our trenches on the left bank of the escaut. the armoured car and the lancers were on observation about two miles away, near wetteren, at the entrance to wichelen. between schoonaerde and us, the road was only barred by the hamlet of bohemen, which was weakly guarded by the enemy. we decided to attempt a big venture. whilst berlaymont, the man who feared nothing went off by the railway line with three sharp-shooters to attack bohemen, i rushed into the hamlet at full speed with the motor-car. some carts had been placed in a way to bar the road. our car knocked them over, and we were then within six hundred metres of the enemy battery in action. my chief gunner, heureux, opened fire. it was a thing to see the way the artillery-men, taken by enfilade, came down! those who survived, and there were very few of them, cut the tethers of the horses, sprang on to their backs, and made off. we thought the battery was ours, but alas! it was not. the belgian artillery saw an armoured car in a place where there could only be boches. it opened a quick fire on us. their shells ploughed up the ground and our armoured car was riddled with shrapnel fragments. the belgians aimed too well and we were obliged to leave. half an hour was lost in telephoning to the commander of the artillery that he was mistaken. we rushed into bohemen again and saw our cannons once more. what joy it was! but the boches had had time to cover them. to our right, fifty metres away, the hedge along the railroad was held by sharp-shooters with a machine-gun. in front of us, a farm and its kitchen garden on the road were also occupied, and we were greeted by a fearful, direct fire. i gave up my steering wheel, for when berlaymont is not there, i am the only one who can drive, and directed the fighting. handled by heureux, a clever marksman, our machine-gun spit forth what was certain death. the firing became weaker from every place on which we turned our gun. suddenly, i felt a double shock in my right arm. the boche machine-gun had just presented me with two balls. heaven be thanked, i had seen it though, and heureux silenced it by bringing down its gunners. suddenly, and without ceasing his work, heureux called out to his aid: "go on charging, i cannot do any more." i looked and saw that his left hand had been torn off by a dum-dum ball. i had another terrible shock myself, this time in the head. i was conscious of falling from the car to the ground ... and then ... i knew nothing more. when i came to myself i was lying at the bottom of the car, and my gun was still fizzling. it was being worked by the second gunner. heureux, who had looked after me until i was conscious again, said, quite simply: "now that i have picked you up, it is your turn. you must drive the car." it was by no means easy. my right arm was useless, and the blood from the open wound on my temple half blinded me. as well as i could, altering the speed with my right foot, i was able to start the car. under the fire of the boches i had, once more, to overturn the carts they had again put in place. at wichelen, berlaymont joined us again. he was furious that we had had an armoured car fight without him. and whilst the ambulance took heureux and me off, he obtained a reserve machine-gun, installed himself in the car, all dripping with blood, and went off to kill a score of the boches who had treated his friends in such an evil way. footnotes: [footnote : a charge comprises thirty cartridges placed on a metallic band.] chapter xx the wavre-st. catherine combat by sub-lieutenant henroz, in command of the st company of the st battalion of the nd regiment of fortress carabineers (september -october , ) as the germans were harassed by the belgian army and uneasy as regarded the flank of their line of communication, they decided to take their revenge on the antwerp fortress, which was the refuge of our army after each of our offensive operations. at the end of september, the enemy had received a reinforcement of troops of all kinds of arms, but more particularly of siege artillery and pioneers, as these had been freed by the fall of maubeuge. on the th of september, at in the morning, i received orders to occupy the trenches with my company and to suspend all work. my company was in the interval of the dorpveld redoubt and the wavre-st. catherine fort. it was supported on the right by the company of the staff deputy captain commander havenith, who was in command of the interval. the germans, that day, had commenced driving back the detachment of the st army division, which was holding the front of the line. we knew, therefore, that they were going to attack us, but we were convinced that our positions were absolutely inviolable, as we had organised them so carefully and they were bristling with engines of warfare of every kind. we awaited the first contact, therefore, with the greatest confidence. the whole day was very calm all around the fort. a belgian aëroplane was brought down and fell in our lines, near to our little post. _monday, september th._ there was every promise of a fine day. far away, in the background, two boche captive balloons went up. they were rocking about at the wind's pleasure, in a threatening way. we could hear the purring of their motors. both these signs were prophetic of an imminent attack. towards o'clock, a distant whizzing sound was heard. this was soon transformed into a thunderous roaring, which increased all the time and finished in a formidable explosion. through the trench lookout, we could see, at about metres in front of the wavre-st. catherine fort, a column of smoke at least twenty yards high. it was a millimetre which had just exploded. exactly eleven minutes later, a second shell fell, with the same noise, within fifty yards of the glacis. every man was ready, and all eyes were fixed on the fort with anguish. we did not have to wait long for the third shell. eleven minutes later it burst, straight on the fort.... "poor catherine!" said the men. in spite of her wounds, though, catherine continued spitting forth her balls. the firing of the continued, at intervals of eleven to twelve minutes, the whole of the morning. during the afternoon, the firing was still more intense and the shells then arrived in salvos of two. many of them, fortunately for the fort, missed their mark, but the resistance was seriously endangered. the cementing and the plating had only been calculated in view of a bombardment with guns of twenty-one centimetres at the most. we frequently saw five or six of the artillery-men come out from the earthworks and, between two storms, climb quickly on to the fort and fill up the excavations, made by the projectiles, with sacks of earth. at the approach of the next bolides, they rushed away again as quickly as they could. some of them even, braving the metal monsters, continued their work. these courageous men gave the soldiers in the trenches a fine example of heroism. we watched them in amazement and felt our own courage increase. the bombardment ceased at exactly . in the afternoon. the cement of the fort was cracked and the passages blocked by the sickening odour of the gases. there was no victim on either side. the wavre-st. catherine fort had received its baptism of fire. _tuesday, september th._ the st and nd divisions were now in the rd sector, waelhem-lierre; the rd and th divisions in the th sector, waelhem-escaut; the th division occupied termonde, and the th formed the general reserve. the bombardment began again at daybreak, and very soon the huge shells were falling thickly on the fort. occasionally, one of these masses, badly aimed, burst on the interval. it was a regular earthquake. the ground shook and it seemed as though the earth were about to open and swallow us up. presently, the firing increased in intensity. at certain moments, the fort was cannonaded, at a speed of twenty to twenty-five a minute, with shells of every calibre. the noise was deafening. we could scarcely hear each other speak. everyone feared for the fort and each time that a shell was "drunk in" by it, the men murmured: "poor catherine!" towards ten o'clock, the firing of shrapnels on to the interval commenced. commander havenith gave me the order to occupy the fighting trench, with a section. the remainder of my troop took up their quarters in the trench-shelter, about fifty yards behind us. during this change, a volley of shrapnels fell on the communication trench. four men were very slightly wounded, one of whom was sergeant claudot, a volunteer. we were obliged to evacuate him. presently, it was the turn of the wavre-st. catherine village to get its share. several of the volleys made a fair number of victims, some of whom were civilians. this caused a panic and the people, terrified and wild with fear, rushed off taking with them a few of their possessions. the women, in tears, dragged their little ones along with them, and the children, without knowing why, uttered the most heart-rending cries. just as the darkness was coming on, several houses were in flames. we were present, and absolutely powerless, at this lamentable scene, and we were furious at not being able to avenge these unfortunate people. on every side, the cannon was thundering. the air, saturated with smoke, was bitter, and the odour of the powder was suffocating. gradually, everything became calm once more and the sentinels went to their posts, just beyond the network of barbed wire. up to the present, our cooking had always been done in the trench, by the side of the machine-gun shelter. during the bombardment, a wretched shell had plunged into the water in which the soup was cooking, and had scattered the meat and broth everywhere. as all communication with our rear was cut, it was impossible to get fresh food. i advised my men to be economical with what they still had and, above all, to keep their reserve rations at any cost. they were quite calm, unmindful of the danger they had run during the day, and they did not protest in the least. they went bravely to their observation posts, whilst their comrades took a little rest. the night passed by without any incident. _wednesday, september th._ the company was still occupying the same position. the sun had scarcely risen, when the bombarding of the forts, of the interval, and of the redoubt began as fresh as ever. a reinforcement arrived for me, the nd company of the rd battalion of the th line regiment, which at once occupied the shelter trench. more than three hundred men were huddled together in this hole. i began to fear a dropping on this trench. what a horrible carnage it would be! i trembled to think of the danger my men were in. they never even thought of this themselves. they were delighted about the unexpected reinforcement and their one idea was victory. shells of every calibre were raining down from every side, and shell-mines were exploding with a frightful noise. the firing was getting more exact and reached our parapet. the trench shook, and i wondered whether it would fall in. fragments of the shells fell at our feet, and suddenly one shell hit the trench. as soon as the smoke was dispersed, we saw, with horror, that several men were buried under the _débris_. we could hear them calling out and, for the first moment, we all remained motionless, riveted to the spot in stupor and horror. then several men rushed to the rescue of their comrades. i advanced and saw that our poor vander stappen had been decapitated. his head lay intact at his feet. three others, one of whom was sergeant dooms, were seriously wounded. the shells continued to arrive in showers. it was frightful! the men were lying down on the ground, with their blankets over their heads to protect them from the shell fragments, and in order that they might not see anything. a soldier, near me, took out of his pocket-book the portrait of his wife and children. there were three of them grouped around their mother. during this infernal bombardment, the poor man, seeing death so near, wanted to see his own family once more. with tears in his eyes, he shook his head sadly. i sat down by him and, in a few words, i managed to revive his courage. he got up suddenly and, shaking his fist in the enemy's direction, called out: "come on then, you vile boches, we shall see whether you are as good with the bayonet as with your ." he had scarcely uttered the last word, when a still more formidable explosion than all the others made us start. the powder room of the fort had been blown up. poor catherine! our artillery, placed in the intervals, although like us subjected to a violent bombardment, was answering courageously. our men were encouraged by this; they felt they were being supported. it was now exactly . . a breathless messenger arrived and, with a trembling hand, gave me a sealed letter. it was an order from the commander of the fortified position of antwerp. "in spite of the bombardment, no matter how terrible it may be, you must resist to the uttermost, even to death!" good, we will resist! i dismissed the messenger, a boy of eighteen. without troubling in the least about the shells and shrapnels, he hurried back to his post. the germans were still bombarding the dorpveld redoubt furiously. a fell on a house near the fort. nothing was left of it but a heap of ruins, and some of the bricks fell into our trench. the hours passed by and the day gradually came to an end. in the evening, the cannonading was less intense and the soldiers took advantage of this to move about and stretch their limbs. they were gay, glad to see each other again, and to have escaped death. they were also awaiting the arrival of the boches most hopefully. the results of the day's combat had been: one killed and five wounded. when once the little posts were all organised, everyone was on the watch. none of the men wanted to rest. they were convinced that there would be a night attack and they all wanted to be there, in order to fire the first shot, and to receive the enemy in a proper way. contrary to our expectation, the night passed by without incident, except for a few patrols being seen near the village. _thursday, october st._ the company occupied the same post. the bombardment, both in the intervals and on the positions in the rear, began again and was still more terrible than on the preceding days. the boches poured down upon us their projectiles of every calibre. our men remained there undaunted, in spite of showers of shot. the batteries replied all the time. the forts alone were silent, as they had been completely destroyed. the bombardment continued with the most intense violence, as though the enemy wanted to crush us completely, by means of the heavy artillery, against which we were, of course, powerless. the noise was beyond all description. in less than twenty minutes, i counted three men killed and about ten wounded. my trench seemed likely to be entirely destroyed and, at all costs, it was necessary to repair it. at my request, several volunteers came forward and, in spite of the bombardment, worked energetically. the losses were great, but not a man dreamed of budging from his post. the order had come to resist to the uttermost, to hold out in spite of everything, and we intended to obey. we were resolved to die at our posts if necessary. the shells continued all the time to rain down on us. in the village of wavre-st. catherine, the ravages were terrible. the whole locality trembled under a continuous roar like thunder. it was in this hell that the soldiers entrusted with the defence had to hold out. sub-lieutenant blanckaert and his gunners were stationed near the church. they took shelter as best they could, and one of the most imposing sights was their coolness under the infernal bombardment. the enemy artillery, with its usual sacrilegious rage, aimed at the church, which was still standing. the steeple was just hit and some houses near fell in ruins. from time to time, a more formidable explosion was heard, and someone would remark simply: "that's another ." it was very evident that the enemy was endeavouring to render our positions impossible by the intensity of the bombarding, hoping thus to demoralise us. in our poor trench, which shook and rocked in a way calculated to give us all sea-sickness, the sight was terrifying. each time that a shell of big calibre struck it, whole positions gave way, burying together the dead, the wounded, and the living. two, three, and four huge shells a minute fell on it. the captain of the th line regiment, m. bisschop,[ ] fell at my side, with his shoulder shattered. in the trenches, the men held out, in spite of the horrible nervous tension, of thirst, of the sight of their comrades cut up, and of the plaintive moans of the wounded. sergeant-major demarche was also wounded. our batteries were firing at full speed, but they too suffered, as they were sighted by the accursed captive balloons. shrapnels and mine-shells burst over our cannons, which were destroyed, one after the other. our brave gunners lay there at the side of them. it was horrible! the situation grew more and more critical. in the absence of the captain of the th line regiment, who had been evacuated, i had to take command of the trench. at exactly . in the afternoon, we suddenly saw two men in the wire network, two hundred yards in front of the fort. they were certainly boches, but what were they doing there, as their own shells were falling near them? three volleys were fired from the trench of captain commander a.e.m. havenith. one of the boches fell and got up again. he fell a second time, and the other one made off. a quarter of an hour later he returned, accompanied by two comrades, wearing an armlet and waving a red cross flag. not a shot was fired, and the wounded man was taken to the german lines. the bombardment continued and was only less intense towards nightfall. the commander of the fort, who had evacuated his stronghold, took advantage of the lull to go back to it, but it was partly destroyed. the heavy shield of a cupola of fifteen centimetres had completely disappeared, and its ruins were also on fire. i had the dead buried, and the wounded taken away. towards five o'clock, i received an order from the commander of the interval to occupy the fighting trench with the two companies. an attack was expected during the night. when once my observation sentinels were at their posts, we awaited the arrival of the germans. we took advantage of a moment's lull to eat something. the men had nothing left but their last reserve rations. we did not know what we should do for eatables the following day. the men were very thirsty, their throats were parched, and there was no water. some of them found some behind the trench. it was rather muddy, but that did not matter, as it refreshed them. guessing that i, too, was thirsty, one of the brave fellows offered me his flask. "thanks," i replied, "keep it for to-morrow. i am not thirsty." "but, lieutenant, there is sugar with it!!!" he insisted. i was just on my way to visit my posts, and had scarcely gone twenty steps when a corporal arrived. "lieutenant," he said, "the boches are there, near the wire." i listened and sure enough the bells fastened to the wire were tinkling. there was no doubt about it. they were there. i gave the command, "fire!" and my men opened a vigorous firing on the wire network. it was a hellish firing. the bullets cut the wire and thousands of sparks were soon flying. the redoubt, that everyone believed destroyed, was soon aglow like a furnace and sent showers of shot on the enemy. my men shouted "victory!" and were delighted to open fire, but furious at not seeing any boches. the night was as black as ink and we could not see two yards in front of us. the germans, surprised in their attack, replied energetically, but they fired over us. three quarters of an hour later, all was calm once more. from time to time, a few enemy balls fell behind us, as though they were aimed at a wall which did not exist. we all had the same impression. they were explosive bullets. several patrols were sent to search in the neighbourhood. i let half of the men rest. as i had scarcely any ammunition left, i sent sergeant-major cromphout to ask captain commander havenith to let me have some cartridges without fail. i learnt afterwards that the sergeant-major never arrived. what happened to him? was he killed, or had he only disappeared? the night passed by without any other event. _october nd._ at daybreak, the enemy's heavy artillery recommenced its destructive firing. the duffel bridge was attacked by shells of centimetres. more than shells fell on the station in less than two hours and a half. the wavre-st. catherine fort and the dorpveld redoubt were covered afresh with projectiles. these were the preliminaries of an infantry attack. towards . , over two hundred men appeared, marching in close ranks, on the malines road and, crossing the fields, went at full speed in the direction of the redoubt. i at once commanded quick firing. my men aimed well and, at two hundred yards' distance, whole ranks were mown down. these were quickly replaced by others, which, in their turn fell under the firing of our mausers. suddenly, the whole band stopped short and a few men began waving belgian flags and white flags. we could now distinguish their uniforms better and we saw that these belonged to our line regiments. "stop firing they are our men!" called out the soldiers. instead of this, i gave orders to continue firing. the germans had once more violated the laws of warfare, by clothing their troops in our uniforms, stolen from our dépôts. the firing began again more violently now than before and, of all these troops, only about thirty men reached the redoubt and at once hid in the ditches. one of them, who was carrying posters, put these up at the top of the redoubt, the inside towards the enemy. i could not read signals of this kind. the firing ceased and, ten minutes later, one of the posters fell and about twenty germans then made off in the direction of their lines. a few seconds later, we heard the _mac-mac_ of their machine-guns placed above the redoubt. they were turned in our direction and their balls pierced our loopholes. sergeant chaignot, a volunteer, who had his gun pointed at one of the machine-guns, fell down dead, hit in the forehead. this brave boy, who was only just seventeen, was the only son of a widow. a short lull enabled me to have our wounded men evacuated. the enemy now only bombarded our positions in the rear. just when the german artillery began to lengthen its firing range, the enemy infantry suddenly emerged from somewhere, yelling! "hoch!" they rushed towards the wavre-st. catherine fort. i had orders to hold out to the uttermost, but, as i was turned on my right and had scarcely any cartridges left, it was evident that i should be surrounded. to the right, captain-commander havenith, who was outflanked, was falling back in good order. there was no safety for me, therefore, on that side. i saw that i should be compelled to beat a retreat in the direction of the chapel, some five hundred yards behind our line. corporal deron and about ten men remained behind to continue firing until the last soldier had left the trench. i have to deplore the loss of many victims. the accursed machine-guns of the redoubt mowed down about twenty of my men. many of them were wounded and, as we could not take them away, they remained, unfortunately, in the hands of the germans. when we had reached the post at the chapel, which was our second line, i gave orders to occupy the new trench. we had not time to do this, as about fifty teutons, whom i had not seen, fired, from their ambush, at our flank and several of my men fell. we were compelled to retreat again, leaving our wounded behind. we were pursued as far as poupelaerstraat, where, worn out and exhausted, my company halted for a short rest. we were all thankful to have escaped the enemy. if we had stayed five minutes longer in the trenches, we should all have been prisoners. i next went in the direction of elzemtraat, to our concentration spot, the duffel bridge. on entering the village, i met captain-commander havenith. he was glad to see me again after these terrible days. he congratulated me on having held out valiantly with my men during the five days of furious bombardment, and on having fallen back in good order. during the rest that i gave to my men, i found that seventy-five soldiers were missing at the general roll-call. they had been killed or wounded, or had disappeared. two officers only remained, first sergeant coppens and i. we thought we had earned a few days' rest in the rear, but, as soon as we had been supplied again with cartridges and provisions, we received orders to take up our position once more between wavre-st. catherine and duffel. we were greeted there by a fresh bombardment. outflanked on our right, in the direction of waelhem, we were obliged to fall back on duffel. it took us some time to pass through this village, as it was being bombarded by shells of big calibre. we soon received orders to fall back at any cost. we went along quickly, crossed the duffel bridge, which was being shelled with absolute frenzy. we rushed along like a hurricane and drew up beyond the village, without having lost a single man. we were then ordered to fall back on linth, where we arrived in the evening. commander havenith had received the same order. the rest of the regiment was there. i was present when the chief of the corps congratulated sergeant delobbel on his fine conduct under fire, and his bravery during the bombardment. at the risk of his own life, he had saved his commander (commander van der minnen), who had been buried in the trench. another feat of this sub-officer deserves to be recorded. his company was just between the koningshoyckt fort and the borsbeek redoubt. the gunners of a battery, which supported the trench on the left, had left their cannons behind. these cannons would be extremely useful against the german cannons and the boche infantry, which was installed only eight hundred yards away from the position. without any hesitation, carried away by his patriotism, delobbel, who knew how to handle a cannon, offered himself for putting the battery into action again. with three men, one of whom was a wounded gunner, he went to the battery. all the defences were shattered and there was no longer any earthwork to count on. under the direct fire of the infantry and the big cannons, sergeant delobbel wanted to begin firing at six hundred yards, but unfortunately the gunners had unfastened the breeches and other parts before leaving. with the straps of their knapsacks, the brave fellows improvised what was necessary and very soon their cannons opened an infernal fire. unfortunately, exposed to the firing of the infantry, two of the improvised gunners were disabled and a fragment of shrapnel killed the third. two cannons were thus useless, but our sub-officer continued alone, and the shells fell fast on the boches. very soon, though, completely exhausted, fired at fiercely from ambush and his last cannon destroyed, he was obliged to burrow, and it was impossible for him to return to the trench until the evening. needless to describe the welcome he received there! footnotes: [footnote : in spite of several operations the captain is still crippled.] chapter xxi the death-struggle of lierre fort by an officer of the garrison no harvest of impressions will be found in this account, for, although it might seem that the garrison of a fort must be crowded together within the narrow surface occupied by the building, it is in reality dispersed everywhere: three men here, ten there, in the cupolas, in the munition stores, at the observation posts. each man is in his special department and the contact is much less close than among the troops in campaign. when, on account of the destruction of certain parts of the fort, the garrison comes gradually nearer together, the moral tension, the lack of sleep, the irregularity of the alimentation transform the garrison into a passive troop under an avalanche of blows. the men are still capable of reaction and of desperate efforts, but the efforts are silent and, as it were, mechanical. those who have never lived through such hours can never know the intensity of the suffering endured by the defenders of the fort. * * * * * _september , ._ the cannon is roaring in the distance and appears to be coming nearer. we can hear waelhem and wavre-st. catherine firing quite distinctly. huge tufts of white smoke rise above the trees in the distance. the malines tower has disappeared entirely in the smoke. for the last few days, every man has been at his post. german troops, probably on patrol, have been signalled to us by our watchers, at a distance of more than yards from the fort. they are too far away for us to do anything. the attack is imminent. our men are resolute and their one wish is to open fire. the day and night have passed without any incident. _september th._ the morning has been calm for us. the cannon is roaring all the time. our telephonic communications inform us that waelhem and wavre-st. catherine are being bombarded violently. at two in the afternoon, our observation posts signal to us the occupation, by enemy groups, of localities within our radius of action. the cupolas of fifteen centimetres open fire and will continue until evening. the first firing of our cannon was a veritable relief. the nervous tension, caused by waiting, is over, and the whole fort is gay and animated. at o'clock, bombardment by the forts of the agglomerations along the aerschot road, where we had been informed that the enemy was quartered. there has been no reply from the enemy. the aviation had informed us of the construction of siege batteries within our defence sector. we could do nothing against them, on account of the distance. _september th._ with the exception of our firing yesterday, all has been calm. at . this morning, characteristic whizzing sounds warned us that shells were passing over the fort. the explosions took place a long way off, probably at lierre. the screen of trees hides the town from us. by telephone, we heard that shells were falling at the gates of louvain. before long, it was our turn. shrapnels came first, and their strident, metallic explosion surprised our men. presently shells burst on the masonry of the barracks. our t.s.f. antenna is cut. this is the first phase of our isolation. we are replying vigorously to the enemy's fire. at o'clock, suspension of the firing. the men brought into the firing gallery fragments of shells and shrapnels, bullets and fuses. from one of the fuses, we found that the measurement of the germans is at yards, which is the average of our own measurement on the batteries indicated. at o'clock, the firing on both sides began again. we received projectiles of centimetres by , one of which had fused and came rolling in front of our office. the town of lierre was still being bombarded and we were informed that the civil hospital had been struck and that eight persons had been killed. at o'clock, suspension of the firing. at . , renewal which did not last long and was not very efficacious. with all this the fort has not suffered much. there are a number of holes, chiefly in the barracks masonry, above which simili-cupolas had been installed. a cupola of fifteen centimetres had been grazed and a few window-panes broken. all is well and the spirits of the men excellent. they, are getting bolder and bolder and we are compelled to stop them moving about in the open. sixty-four shells have struck the fort. we learned, by telephone, in the evening, that wavre-st. catherine fort, shattered by formidable shells, had been evacuated. we have heard nothing about the waelhem fort. it has no doubt met with the same fate. this sad news was only announced to the officers. at . , an observer warned us of the approach of a column by the aerschot road. we accordingly fired on this road and the land around until about . . _september th._ at . , a grouping of enemy troops was announced to us beyond the village of koningshoyckt. at the same time the fort of that name and the tallaert redoubt, which were both being attacked, appealed for support to the lierre fort. acting on information from them, and with the aid of their interval observatories, we opened fire which continued until o'clock. there was no sleep for any one at night, and this will not be the last night of the kind. from henceforth there will be no more rest for us. at o'clock, the bombardment recommenced, not only on the lierre fort but also on the interval constructions and on the forts and redoubts to our right. a few shrapnels came first, and then a deluge of shells of every calibre. not a single pane of glass could resist this, and the very ground shook under our feet. this sensation of springy ground will continue for several days after the bombardment. at o'clock, utter silence. the interior platforms are damaged and all circulation within the fort is difficult, but our armament is still in perfect condition. at . , there was an ominous whizzing sound first, and then a noise like an express train at full speed. the projectile fell above the barracks with a formidable detonation. after this, a shower of cement and of masonry fell on the whole of the fort. we have just received the first shell. without intermittence until o'clock, a similar projectile has arrived every six minutes. we have received fifty-seven of them in this way. the craters measured from to metres in diameter. the stoppers were flung metres up in the air and they came down again like fresh projectiles. one of the first of these shells fell near us. the lower part, thrown vertically, fell on the edge of the crater. its dimensions were remarkable. the fitter was told to go, _after the bombardment_ and bring this in, in order to weigh and measure it. he went off at once, during the bombardment, and after twenty minutes of effort dragged the piece into the office. he was reproved for this unnecessary imprudence. the soldier replied simply: "but it was not hot!" this piece measured millimetres in diameter and weighed kilogrammes. other fragments picked up had sharp edges: one of them measured centimetres in length. the explosion produced a black, bitter, and very dense smoke, which curled round on the ground and was very slow in dispersing. the interior telephonic communications are still practicable, with the exception of the battery adjoining the glacis of the semi-front left gorge. the barracks have partially given way and the officers' pavilion is cut in two. this does not trouble us, as these places were evacuated a few days ago and orders were given not to stay in them. from the caponier of the front gorge, we were told by telephone that the vault was cracked and that the stoke holes were obstructed by earth, and also by the _débris_ of masonry thrown up by the explosions in the immediate vicinity. this was evacuated. as to the cupola of fifteen centimetres on the left, we were informed that the cuirass of cent. of the salient i. had been thrown up in the air and had fallen about twenty yards from the tower. a shell had fallen in front of the postern entrance, about fifty yards long, and the compression of air had caused this damage. a cannon of cent. , placed for firing at æroplanes and zeppelins, had been flung from its position, the gun carriage had been entirely turned round and one wheel broken. when the bombardment ceased, we rushed out to see for ourselves what the damages were, whilst our cannons continued firing in order to relieve the koningshoyckt fort, which had several of its pieces too much injured to use, and also the tallaert redoubt, which was threatened with a frontal attack. the archways were cracked everywhere and the paving-stones were torn up out of the ground, which was all furrowed and broken up. some of the communication passages were destroyed. the diameter of the craters was greater than the distance which separated the jambs. these were all weakened and the heavy cement arches, deprived of their support, were absolutely broken, as though they had been hacked by a gigantic blow from an axe. this bombardment had not disturbed the equanimity of the soldiers much. when the masonry or the cement was struck, a shower of bricks and of shingle covered the fort, pouring through all the openings violently. the first time this happened, two men who were at the entrance of a postern were bruised by the shingles. a jocular man remarked: "good, now they are putting pebbles in their shells!" we heard groans though from the barrack ruins, and we dragged out one wounded man and two who had been killed. they were civilian workmen who had come there to install loud-speaking telephones. the wounded man told us that two or three men, one of whom was a soldier, were under the ruins of what had served as a mess-room for the troop. it was impossible to get them out from under the heaps of ruins. the battery of the glacis was destroyed by two projectiles. we found neither dead nor living men there. what had become of the gunners? all was not lost, however, as, with the exception of the cupola of cent. of salient i. all our defence works are still in good condition and our men do not manifest any anxiety. _october st._ in obedience to orders from our chief, and together with the neighbouring forts and the interval batteries, we opened a rapid fire of twenty minutes' duration, at and at o'clock, on the localities and the roads in front of our line of defence. at o'clock we buried our dead. from o'clock, the intervals, the koningshoyckt fort and the tallaert redoubt were actively bombarded. our turn did not come until . . only nine projectiles were sent to us. at o'clock the bombardment began again and, as on the previous day, a shell came every six minutes. towards o'clock, the semi-caponier on the right was hit. the aim had been shortened, as the firing had hitherto generally been directed at the left half of the fort. most of the men had taken refuge in the right half. on this account, no one was wounded, but the fifteen centimetre cupola was disabled by the blocks of cement coming from the half demolished tower. some of these blocks measured nearly a cubic yard. the men were quickly evacuated to the front. a gunner, bringing information bulletins, now arrived all covered with mud. as the cupolas had been covered with soaked earth, the men thought that he must have taken this covering off by crawling over the cupola, and his comrades blamed him for this. the good fellow was surprised at their accusation, as he had simply rolled into a crater under the firing, and this was why he was in such a muddy state. the bombardment continued and we saw that our intact shelters were becoming fewer and fewer. the artillery commander fell into a crater. he could not walk and had to be taken to the infirmary. the commander of the fusiliers, overworked and intoxicated by the gas from the explosions, was ill and one of the doctors was ill too. the influence of the gases became more and more distressing. some of the men had fainting fits, others wept. certain of them were depressed and seemed to be awaiting the shell which should finish them off. neither persuasions nor threats from the commander of the fort, aided by the doctor and the chaplain, took any effect on these men, who were awaiting death like irresponsible cattle. towards . in the evening, this infernal bombardment slackened and very soon it ceased. the fort had received of the terrible shells. the commander of the lierre-tallaert interval announced an attack by the enemy infantry supported by field artillery. the men pulled themselves together, the cupolas were occupied, and the firing line filled with machine-gunners and fusiliers. the tallaert redoubt could not do much and asked for help. we fired with all our pieces on to the ground in front of the accessory defences of the interval. the enemy attack, under our firing, was defeated about o'clock. all the garrison had taken part in the fight, even our invalids. the commander of the fusiliers went back to his post on the rampart. the fort was once more bombarded and at o'clock, a fresh attack on the interval began, without any better result for the enemy than the first one. _october nd._ at o'clock, the third attack on the interval began. the firing line on the front of the fort head was inundated with cartridges from the enemy machine-guns. our fusiliers replied with fury. their commander had the hardest work to regulate the firing. the heated guns got choked. no matter, our men were determined the germans should not pass. our cannons fired at full speed. the noise was deafening. for more than two hours, we lived in the midst of this hell and we no longer heard the enemy's balls which came in swarms whizzing over our heads. one of the cannons was disabled by the firing. the second one did double work, but before long could not keep its place in the battery either. at . , we knew by the red fuses, that the enemy was retreating. the interval had not been crossed and not a single wire of the accessory defences had been cut. this success gave our men fresh hope and confidence; they were almost joyful. their fatigue was very evident though. as soon as the enemy attack was withdrawn, the firing gallery stopped replying to calls. we went to see what was happening and found the whole staff asleep. the officer had thrown himself down on a mattress, and on getting up he staggered with fatigue. there had been a few minutes' respite and all the men, not having to keep on the alert, had succumbed to their exhaustion. the commander of the fort himself, a little time before, had fallen asleep in a cupola in full action. the commander of the fort artillery, who still could not walk, was evacuated, together with another wounded man. food was then distributed and repairs done. the replenishing of the cupolas with ammunition was effected, thanks to the covered passages that were still intact. at . the bombardment began once more. enemy aëroplanes had been to see the state of the fort, and the destruction then became systematic. every six minutes a projectile arrived--"the block train," as the men called it. we watched the progress of the bombardment with great anxiety. the projectiles could be heard from afar, and they struck first the left and then the right of the fort. the flank salients being very close together, the blow struck either one or the other of these projections indifferently. the soldiers remarked this and made bets as soon as the sound of the projectiles was heard in the distance. the salient i. was well sprinkled first and then the firing was on the front. the covered passage to the right of the front gave way. it was by this that the ammunition supply for the cupolas was effected. how many men were under the ruins? a roll-call was impossible. we had to evacuate part of the front, and half of the staff had to take refuge in the semi-caponier on the right. all telephonic and telegraphic communication was cut off. the lierre office no longer replied, as the town had been evacuated. the firing now approached the right semi-caponier, and a shell burst fifteen yards from the entrance. the men were ordered to keep at the other side of the fort, which was no longer bombarded. it was impossible to warn those who had remained at the front caponier. the explosions continued every six minutes, and the bombardment was carried on systematically by series, and in an invariable manner. by observing where the projectiles fell, we could calculate just the moment when it would be time to move away. the first firing of a series was dangerous for us. as soon as the explosions followed each other too quickly, the men collected together, as soon as they heard the whizzing, waited for the projectile to fall, and then rushed off to their fresh shelter. this game could not, however, continue very long. the projectiles seemed to be following us, and the arches gave way one after another after we had left them. towards o'clock in the afternoon, the order was given to the commander of the fusiliers to collect his men in groups and to send them, in the intervals between the firing, to the postern gate of the fort, which, so far, was intact. the order was carried out and we were able to pass, in the most miraculous way, between the projectiles. the firing now continued for some time on the left part of the fort and the men grouped themselves on the berm in the space which separates the parapet from the moat against the outside talus of the semi-front of the right gorge. just at that moment the two hundred and thirty-fifth shell fell on the fort. with the exception of the danger from the pieces of masonry and from the explosions, which did not injure any one seriously, we were fairly safe. towards noon, the projectiles came more frequently and the men who were under the entrance postern and in the guard-room were called inside. all the defence works were by this time either destroyed or of no use. the corridors and posterns were obstructed by huge blocks of masonry. the cupola of centimetres of salient iv. was the only one which appeared to be in good condition, but it was impossible to get to it. the garrison's last shelter was now threatened in its turn. a projectile burst on the edge of the moat, a few yards beyond the entrance to the fort, and this caused a moment's panic. the bombardment continued, making it impossible for us to reoccupy the building. at . , a formidable detonation and a dense smoke made us presume that the koningshoyckt fort had just been blown up. we saw that the firing of our field-batteries, which were in position at the back of us, had shortened their aim, in order to cover the retreat of the troops in the intervals. their shrapnels burst just at the height where we were stationed. german batteries were now placed to the right of the fort, so that we were caught between two fires. it was not possible for us to re-enter the ruined fort. the shells continued to fall on it every six minutes with hopeless regularity. our reserve rations and cartridges were buried under the ruins. there was no more drinking water, the guns were empty, and the men starving with hunger. there was, perhaps, just time to prevent ourselves from being surrounded. we had to make the attempt under a deluge of shrapnels. the men were worn out, and it was with a feeling of intense sadness and discouragement that, at o'clock, the officers decided to take them toward lierre. the defence had lasted four interminable days, under a bombardment which allowed of no rest and which prevented our relieving each other. counting beforehand on the demoralising effects of their terrible engines of warfare, the germans had imagined that on the night of the st to the nd of october, a strong attack would make them masters of the fort. their three attempts at assault were so many failures for them. when, twenty-four hours later, they actually entered the fort, it was merely a heap of ruins which fell into their hands. fighting is nothing if only one can return the blows one receives. the range of the enemy's artillery was considerably beyond ours, so that they were protected from our firing. we were obliged to wait, with folded arms, until death saw fit to take us. this waiting, in a dark passage of masonry, which one knows is doomed to be destroyed and which every six minutes is in danger of being dashed to pieces by the projectiles that one hears coming, means enduring the agony of death over and over again. such an experience acts on the best tempered nerves, and the heroism of those who awaited death there, simply because they had been ordered to do so, was all the more admirable because it was simple, unobtrusive heroism, about which the world has hitherto never known. chapter xxii prisoner in the soltau camp from the account given by amand hasevoets, first sergeant of the regiment of fortress grenadiers i belonged to a company of the fortress grenadiers' regiment. we occupied the interval between the kessel and broechem forts when, on the th of october, , the bombardment commenced. the germans began with shrapnels for regulating their firing, and then, at intervals from five to ten minutes, they sent their shells on to broechem. according to whether the projectile fell into the sand, into the moat, or on to the cement, a yellow, black, or white sheaf rose ten yards high in the air. towards evening, we received orders to protect a column of soldiers belonging to the engineers, whose mission was to destroy the bridges over the nèthe. hidden in the fields, we saw figures gliding along by the river. in the darkness of the night, there were five immense glows and five detonations. the bridges had been blown up at broechem, the cannonading slackened, and flames surrounded the fort. we fell back on the second line of defence. we passed through wyneghem, burght, and zwyndrecht, where the regiment rejoined us. the soldiers who had marched about thirty-seven miles, and for weeks had had no other beds than the trenches, were worn out. they had scarcely piled arms when most of them were stretched out on the pavement. the inhabitants, from the thresholds of their houses, looked at the grenadiers with curiosity mingled with fear. what had these troops come to do here? the sight of a few coins reassured them, and very soon a carefully prepared little meal was ready in every house. the following day, we continued our retreat by the st. nicholas road. the cannon was roaring and the ground trembling under a rain of shells, which interrupted our march and obliged us to await the end of the storm lying down among the beet-root, or turnip plants. at beveren-waes, the colonel called the officers together and talked to them for a long time. they came back to us gloomy and discouraged. "we are surrounded," they said, "by an enemy of overpoweringly superior numbers. all resistance would be useless. our last and only resource is to get to holland." desperate, and with tears in their eyes, the soldiers talked in low voices to each other, giving utterance to their opinions. "fancy being shut up there without having fought, without having seen the enemy! how humiliating!" the regiment, however, was soon on the way towards clinge and, in the midst of a heavy fog, made a passage along the road which was encumbered with carts and vehicles of every kind, in the midst of a distracted population in flight. the soldiers thought sadly of their departure from brussels two months ago, of the enthusiasm, the pride and confidence which they had felt, as they set out, on a bright sunny day, singing as they went along the wavre road, amid the cheers and applause of the crowd. on approaching the frontier, the men threw down their guns, cartridge cases, and bags. for several miles the ground was strewn with articles of equipment. this sight roused my indignation. "no," i exclaimed, "whatever happens, i am not going to holland!" i picked up some cartridges and stuffed all my pockets with them, and whilst my comrades crossed the frontier, i went with big strides towards the lokeren road. i have no idea how long a time i walked, for i was like a madman. at every instant, patrols appeared on whom i fired. auto-machine-guns passed along at full speed and, hidden in a ditch, scarcely daring to breathe, i waited until these terrible engines of warfare had disappeared. by incredible luck, escaping all kinds of danger, i reached the suburbs of lokeren. peasants were working peacefully in the fields. i approached them and asked whether there were any prussians in the town. "more than , ," was the reply. "where can i find some civilian's clothes?" i asked. "over yonder, in that farm. they will probably give you some." i entered the farm and, after a little discussion, i obtained some clothes for fifteen francs, which i at once put on. after burying my gun and my uniform, emboldened by my disguise, i advanced fearlessly along the lokeren road. "who goes there?" i heard someone call out. "an inhabitant of lokeren," i answered. "hands up!" i obeyed. "advance!" i obeyed again. i had happened upon a bavarian patrol hidden behind the trees on the road. i was questioned briefly and then taken to join a hundred and fifty civilians in hiding along the hedge. after waiting for an hour, as the mouse-trap did not catch any fresh victim, the commanding officer, a lieutenant, addressed us. "as you are peaceable citizens, i am going to have you taken back to the town." we set out escorted by bavarian soldiers. near the bridge over the durme, a lieutenant, stationed in front of a manufactory, was awaiting us. "come in here!" he said. we entered and, inside the courtyard, we saw piles of uniforms belonging to the belgian engineers. we were ordered to put them on. i went to the officer and protested. "i am not a soldier and i am not going to act this comedy," i said. by way of answering, the lieutenant seized my hands. with a pen-knife he took some of the dirt from my nails and smelt it. he then took a little bottle, poured some liquid over this dirt, and smelt it again. after this, he gave me a blow with his fist. "your hands are not the hands of a labourer, but of a soldier," he yelled. "obey, or you will be shot." under the surveillance of two soldiers, who carefully inspected my under linen, i put on the uniform and took my place among the belgian soldiers they had thus improvised. grouped in a column, we were triumphantly promenaded through the lokeren streets, and insults and jokes were lavished on us by the german soldiery. the parade ended, after a mock interrogation, we were taken to a place without any egress and obliged to bury a lot of dead horses already in a state of decomposition. whilst doing this, i took note of my surroundings and i saw, on the right, the entrance to a dark passage. taking advantage of a moment of inattention, i slipped into this. it was an ice-house. it was intensely dark, but i groped along and crouched down behind some blocks of ice, where i spent several hours shivering with cold. i could hear the expressions of disgust uttered by my companions during their repulsive task. when this was accomplished, a sub-officer took it into his head to count the men. "there is one missing," he remarked. one of us, a wretched spy, denounced me. "he is in the ice-house," he said. the germans entered, discovered me, and literally kicked me out. no one can imagine my state of fury and rage. if only any of these wretches ever fall into my hands, they will have no time to feel bored, for i am reserving for them a little fête of my own invention. on tuesday, eight hundred english soldiers and three hundred belgian soldiers were added to our number. they were real soldiers this time. as some of the belgian ones were in civilian dress, i made an arrangement with one of them to change my uniform for his clothes. it would be more easy in this way to play my part as a citizen. the following day, escorted by bavarians, we set out on foot and were taken to termonde, a march of about twelve miles. the walk was very painful, as our only food was the turnips that the soldiers gathered in the fields and threw to us. termonde was frightful to behold. in the midst of the houses which had been burned down were drunken sailors, holding bottles of wine under their arms, while they pillaged, saccaged, and turned out everything. in one of the streets, the burgomaster of waesmunster stopped us and, thanks to his protestations, obtained the liberation of the inhabitants of his commune. i saw an officer dressed as a belgian and asked him to intervene in my favour, pleading that i was a civilian. the belgian officer immediately spoke to the commander of the convoy, who replied in excellent french: "we have received orders to arrest the civilians in the districts where our troops have been fired on. if i gave this man his liberty, he would be arrested again before he had gone five hundred yards. come and speak to me at schaerbeck and i will see." at o'clock in the evening, we were taken to the station, counted, given a plate of soup, and then huddled into cattle trucks, upon which was a thick layer of manure. in each truck were thirty-six belgians and four bavarian soldiers. we then started in a broken-winded train! it advanced slowly, puffing, whistling, and stopping every minute. very soon our keepers began to talk to us. they showed us their blue and white cockades proudly. "queen elisabeth is bavarian, too," they said. "she is a noble woman and will be an example for the belgians. we admire her and respect her." in other ways, too, they expressed their sympathy with the belgian nation. taking advantage of all this i asked one of them to open the door, so that we could have a last look at our country. he consented and, whilst my eyes were fixed on the pasture ground full of cattle, the golden harvest fields, with red-roofed farms here and there, looking so gay and cheerful under the setting sun, i, crouching down on the manure, in the warm, infected atmosphere, with insects worrying us, made a fresh plan of escape. presently all was silent and the bavarians were dozing. outside there were no troops in sight. sentinels posted from one half-mile to another kept watch over the railway line. we were within sight of zellick and there was the race-course. it seemed to be a propitious moment. i opened the door cautiously and prepared to jump out. just then a voice called out: "what fool has opened the door, letting in the cold?" the four bavarians sprang to their feet, cursing and swearing. they distributed a few blows among us with the butt ends of their guns. our train passed through brussels, creeping along like a tortoise and, at five in the afternoon, reached liége. our arrival was announced, and the population, massed around the station and in the neighbouring streets, cheered us and threw us bread, chocolate, tobacco, and other things and called out, "is antwerp taken?" on our reply in the affirmative, they groaned: "oh, god, what a misfortune!" it can readily be imagined how thankful we were for the food thrown to us. since the day before, we had had nothing to eat or to drink. our hunger touched the bavarians who allowed us to get down on the line and pick up the gifts strewn all about. for the men of our truck, we had a loaf weighing about two pounds, a tablet of chocolate, and four bottles of wine. all this divided by thirty-six did not allow of big portions, but the sight of the courageous liégeois city and the cordial welcome of its inhabitants had comforted us. after the meal, when two cigarettes each were allotted to us, we felt as though we had just had a king's feast. a little emboldened, i went up to a german officer who had a kindly look and introduced myself to him as an inoffensive pastry cook of brussels, who had gone to flanders to buy butter more cheaply, and was a victim of a frightful mistake. i was eloquent and persuasive in my arguments. "you are free," the officer said at last; "ask for a ticket for brussels." intoxicated with joy, i rushed to the office of the military superintendent of the station. he was a big fellow, with a head like a bull-dog's. he did not trouble to listen, but gave me a blow with his fist on my head, another on the back of my neck, and hastened my departure from his office by a formidable kick. on leaving liége, we had to travel in absolute darkness. at herbesthal, a dummy hanging from a stake, and dressed up in the full military dress of a belgian artilleryman, caused laughter, in which our bavarian keepers joined. without stopping, we continued our way as far as dusselheite. in a shed near the station, we were allowed to wash. it is impossible to give an idea of our filth. our faces were smudged with dirt and filth of all kinds, our hair was tangled and full of straw, our clothes were dirty. each one of us, looking at his neighbour, said to himself: "what a dirty creature!" thanks to some soap and water, after brushing and scraping ourselves, we once more looked like human beings. we drank a bowl of soup, devoured three sausages, and set off once more on our way. we passed by stations, went over bridges, level crossings, and under tunnels. frequently we met trains filled with german soldiers, who shook their fists and shouted their insults. we did not reply, but our eyes spoke for us and our hatred could be read in them. our apparently interminable journey came to an end finally and, on october th, at o'clock at night, after sixty-four hours of travelling, we arrived at soltau. at the station, we were divided into two groups, soldiers and civilians, and were sent to the riding-school. we had to pass through a crowd more curious than hostile. when we reached the building, a sub-officer, with the word "gibraltar" on his uniform, told us to go in. we entered and found it full. without being disturbed in the least, "gibraltar" struck out right and left, yelling: "here, there's room enough here for a pig." we lay down on the ground and slept like brutes. the next day, i discovered that the circus contained civilian prisoners, of ages varying from eight to eighty-four. among them were the catholic priests of lebbeke and of sommeleuze, the chaplain of the termonde orphanage, the notary of ----, abbé bilaers, etc. all the ecclesiastics had been compelled to dress as laymen, as the sight of the cassock excited the soldiers' anger. they drove the priests along with their bayonets, shouting: "dogs, pigs, you pray in church and you shoot in the street!" with the exception of "gibraltar," the soldiers on guard did not ill-treat us. they shouted, swore, and threatened, but they rarely struck any of us. very strict rules were imposed on us and any infraction was punished by prison or by the stake. this latter punishment consisted of fastening the guilty man to one of the upright pillars of the circus. he had to stand there for twelve hours, and this was excessively painful. as for our food, we had coffee in the morning, soup at noon, and in the evening, and every third day a loaf of bread of grammes. this alimentation was wholesome, but insufficient. as i had a little money, i was able to get some extra food, but those of my companions who had used up their money were reduced to devouring the scraps that their keepers left them. it was a heart-rending sight to see rich, educated men, who held high posts in our country, seizing the tins containing the leavings of the german soldiers and eating these scraps gladly. our number decreased, as the children under fourteen were sent back to brussels and the ecclesiastics to selb. finally, on the th of october, all the remaining prisoners were sent to the camp at soltau. situated in the midst of the lunebourg fir-tree woods, this camp looked very cheerful. the installations occupied a vast space and consisted of wooden sheds, yards long, and wide, covered with bituminated pasteboard and provided with electricity and central heating. each shed, beside the work-rooms and baths, had six dormitories, all built alike. on the floor, which was raised saddle-back fashion, were straw sacks filled with vegetal fibre, which generally harbours vermin in quantities. against the outer wall were shelves, upon which each man could keep his clothes and toilette affairs. the discipline was strict, the food wholesome and scanty, and work obligatory. seated on benches, we spent our days plaiting straw bags. our fingers were numb with cold, as the central heating apparatus was never used. my hands were stiff and rigid with rheumatism, and very soon i could do no more work. i sat there for long, weary hours idle, gazing out blankly, thinking of my wife and children, and of my country, that i should probably never see again. on the th of january, the flemish were separated from the walloons, and on the th of the same month we were told, to our delight, that the flemish were to be sent back to their country. our joy can be imagined. we began shouting and dancing and then, suddenly ashamed of ourselves, we were silent. our unfortunate walloon companions were weeping bitter tears. we endeavoured to encourage them, we assured them that they would soon be freed and, in their presence, we hid our joy as much as possible. whatever may have been our social differences, and our differences of opinion, the suffering we had endured together had created a strong bond of friendship between us, and it was with a pang at our hearts that we left them when the time came to start. we were in number and we left on the th, at ten in the morning. we reached schaerbeek on the th, at nine in the evening, and were set free on the th of january, at eleven in the morning. i rushed off immediately, in the direction of my home. joyful, and with a light heart, i hurried along the familiar streets. as i arrived nearer and nearer, my eyes became dim and my legs felt as though they would give way. when once i saw the house, with its shop window full of tempting cakes, just as when i had left it, my heart seemed to give a bound within my breast and i suddenly felt weak and had to lean against the wall. what joy it was to see my dear wife and children once more. alas, the joy was not of long duration. i could not forget that our country was in danger, and i could not desert the brave comrades who were doing glorious deeds on the banks of the yser. in spite of the entreaties of my wife and the tears of my children, i made my way, a few days later, to the frontier and rejoined the army. chapter xxiii the last fragments of antwerp by artillery captain m---- c---- _the retreat_ we were approaching the frontier---- behind those trees, five hundred yards away, was holland, the boundary of our country. to cross that frontier meant the end for the time being of our resistance.... what would be done with us there? would they--? ah no, at that idea, my whole soul revolted and strengthened me against the force of things. cross that frontier? never! and once more the idea which had come into my mind, and taken possession of me ever since leaving antwerp, became imperious: "join the king once more or--die." good, this time i felt ready to risk everything. confusion reigned supreme. everything seemed to be mixed up in inextricable disorder. in the narrow streets of this frontier village, men of all kinds of arms, belonging to every different unit, were gathered together _pêle-mêle_. the retreat had brought them all here together to this spot. soldiers were looking for their chiefs, officers were looking for their troops and, whilst trying to bring some kind of order into the chaos, they were hindered by carts and vehicles of all sorts, the drivers of which were endeavouring to make a way for themselves through the seething crowds. i had never felt, until this moment, all the horror of the defeat and the strange impotence of the army that has experienced it. these lamentable fragments were all that remained of the antwerp garrison. assailed on all sides in the last redoubt of the fortified place, they had held out against the victorious enemy to the very end. the cannons, dragged along for miles by the men themselves, had been turned round and pointed backwards, on the city from which the germans were already coming. then the retreat had taken place, the interminable, exhausting retreat, when, in order to avoid being surrounded, we had marched, without halt, in the dust and heat of the sun, half dead with hunger and parched with thirst, the enemy harassing our flanks and threatening to cut us off all the time. at present, we were here, at the frontier, and were in the position of an army in a blind alley. the darkness came on and we were surrounded by the enemy. we had been without food for two or three days. the men were dazed and bewildered by the commotion and could no longer hear the orders they received. one of them came wandering towards me and i told him where he would find his company. he looked at me in a dazed way. i seized him by the shoulders and pushed him in the direction of his troop. under the impulse of the strength acquired by my push, he walked a few steps and then rolled into a ditch, and remained there stretched out as though lifeless. vague rumours were circulating, discouraging, gloomy news. some of our troops had gone over into holland and we were going to follow them, as our retreat was cut off and the enemy quite near.... in the midst of the darkness, firing rent the air. i prepared immediately for parrying an attack, as i found myself in the rear-guard. suddenly, i heard a dull, prolonged sound in the village. i sent a messenger and went myself to the outposts. quartermaster snysters, a volunteer, though quite an elderly man, addressed me: "lieutenant," he said, with an anxious look on his face, "is it true that we are going over into holland?" "my dear fellow, we shall not go over into holland unless we want to," i answered. "are we both of the same mind?" "ah, good! as for me, you know----" he finished with an energetic gesture which required no words. "where are the others?" i asked. the others were a few brave sub-officers, who, with my friend snysters, had promised to follow me whatever happened, through everything, through the enemy, through death itself, if necessary. they were all there, awaiting me. "my friends," i said, "things seem to be in a bad way. the moment has come to prove your mettle. are you all of the same mind still?" "lieutenant," said big van bastelaer, "we are ready for everything--except to be prisoners." "good," i answered. my messenger had not come back though. the sound i had heard in the village seemed farther off and everything appeared to be calm. i went to see for myself and found perfect silence in the dark street. there was not a man to be seen. what was happening? presently, in the deserted square of the little village, i saw a little group of soldiers appear and, at the head of it, i recognised major s----. "is that you m----?" he called out, and then, in a lower tone, he added, "they have crossed the frontier, we are alone.... have you any men?" "yes, major, i am holding the outposts." "bring your men to the square at once." "my friends," said the major, speaking very gravely, when we were all assembled there, "we are surrounded by big forces. there is nothing left but to cross the frontier and go into holland. those who do not wish to go with me are free." "good, major," i answered, approaching him. "i will go with you to the frontier, but not beyond it." the major looked angry, but he restrained himself. "what do you propose doing?" he asked. "i intend getting through the german lines or dying in the attempt." "but it is pure madness." "i do not care to give up my sword, major, as long as i can use it." he reflected for a minute and then held out his hand. "good," he said, "you are free. adieu!" four men then left the ranks. they were my four friends, who all preferred a glorious death to servitude. "attention! right flank! right! forward--march!" silently and with dragging footsteps, the troop set out and was soon at some distance. it then disappeared in the darkness. the thing was done and we were alone, separated from our army by streams of enemies, against whom we had to fling ourselves, and either pass or die in the attempt. courage! the moment had come for us to prove our filial love for our beloved country! we were not conquered, we four, and in spite of the disaster hovering over us, in spite of death, which we expected awaited us over yonder, we felt our hearts full of joy, hope, and pride.... _in the german lines_ before setting out, we held council together for a few minutes. the german lines now reached from st. nicolas to the frontier. in a movement as rapid as theirs had been, it was very probable that they had left gaps between these two points, and we had to try to pass through these gaps. i took the direction and we set out. i made the sign of the cross and committed my soul and the souls of my companions to the god of justice. we each had a good gun, a bayonet, and our pockets full of cartridges. we set off across the fields in the darkness. after walking about fifty yards, i was compelled to come to a stand-still. the nervous tension which had kept me up whilst with the troop had suddenly given way and, suddenly, the fatigue of the preceding days seemed to come upon me and stiffen all my limbs. i felt giddy and the whole country seemed to be turning round and round. i fell to the ground, and my whole body seemed to be seized with an immense weariness. i dare not give way to it, as it was necessary to move on. "forward!" i said to myself, "for the king's sake!" presently we came to a cross-roads and it seemed to us as though something had moved behind the hedge. one of us crawled towards the spot and made a sign to the others that it was nothing. the wind had probably stirred one of the branches. we walked on and on, straight in front of us, across the immense polder, jumping over ditches full of water, and stumbling over the turnips in the field, for we passed through one after another of these turnip fields. i tore up a beet-root and ate it greedily as i walked along. in the distance, we saw a group of houses standing out vaguely against the horizon. this was probably the dyke which forms a passage over the water. if this dyke should be guarded, which was very probable, we should have to look to ourselves. as we approached, we saw that the houses were lighted up. peasants would not have lights at that hour. i crept along stealthily to one of the windows and gazed eagerly through a crack in the shutters. there was a room full of boches in grey coats, some of them snoring and the others talking. we slipped round towards the entrance to the dyke. at the bend was a sentinel, motionless. i rubbed my chin and thought things over. if we went along by the water, keeping at the bottom of the embankment, there must surely be a way of crossing, if there were not a second sentinel. holding our breath and watching every shrub, we crept slowly along. we came to the end of the dyke and had met no one. this then was the first obstacle cleared without any difficulty. our prayer was that heaven would protect the slumber of the boches! we were now once more in the endless desert, stumbling along in the furrows, eating turnips, crossing fields, our gaze searching for landmarks, which always seemed to draw farther away as we approached. our minds were occupied with a vision of our army, that army which needed our arms and which had conquered our hearts. soon we came to a little hamlet. there were no lights and, if the germans were not there, we thought we might be able to take shelter during the day. we approached a courtyard and there we saw some weapons. in the sheds, we heard sonorous snores. we went on very quietly, but we were glad to see how badly the prussians kept guard. if only they had known that five well-armed belgians were having a look round their quarters! we continued our way and had now to go through meadows with hedges and barriers of barbed wire. here and there were solitary houses. we came to one with a light in the window. we went some distance round in order to avoid it. suddenly, big jeanjean, who was ahead of us, called out: "this way, lieutenant, there is a good path here." he had scarcely finished speaking when i heard a tremendous splash and the sound of a body struggling in the water. the unfortunate man had taken one of those moss-covered canals, which intersect the district, for a dry path, and had hurried forward with an eagerness worthy of a better reward. a shot was heard almost immediately. jeanjean freed himself and came out of his bath, but bullets whizzed by our ears, as we had been discovered. we crawled along by the wretched ditch, and we jumped over another one, and then hurried along under the hedges like hunted foxes, but we were followed all the time by bullets. in front of us, at the end of a field, i saw a row of houses, but we had to be cautious, for the building on the right was the house with a light that we had been avoiding. to the left were more houses, and above them emerged a church steeple. it was a village, then, and we knew it must be st.-gilles-waes, which was full of germans. i noticed a huge patch of big cabbages. we crept quickly to them and then, crouching down amongst the leaves, with our fingers on the triggers of our guns, we awaited events. the firing gradually ceased, as the boches had evidently lost track of us. it was necessary for us to get away from there, though, before daybreak and it was high time to start. we came quietly out of our hiding-place, fifty yards from a sentinel, whose back was turned towards us. we had to keep quite close to the walls of farms which were swarming with the enemy. on passing in front of the house with the light, i saw a figure lean out of the window, and then the light was extinguished. the village behind us became animated and the pursuit commenced. a hundred yards in front of us, a group of men suddenly appeared at the turn of the road. it was a patrol. we crept down an embankment and then slipped, one after the other, into a little ditch which was covered by the branches of filbert trees. the patrol passed by and disappeared. the hour was advancing though, and day began to break. our poor jeanjean was shivering all over. we could not possibly think of spending the whole day like this. i saw a house, which looked very peaceful, outside the village. perhaps it was empty. we decided to go and find out. under the shelter of ditches and hedges, we arrived at the back of the house. in the courtyard there were guns and bags lying about. this was ominous, but our enterprising van bastelaer had already crossed the fence and was quite near to it. "lieutenant," he said, "they are belgian haversacks." we hesitated a moment, and then all five of us entered the courtyard. some of us searched the bags, whilst the others began to explore the house. i went to have a lookout from the little lane that led into the road. at the other end of it, ten yards away from me, i saw a motor-car and by it ... a german officer! just as i was looking at him, he turned round facing me, and our eyes met. i went back to my men, but the boche followed me. we were only three steps away from each other, looking into each other's eyes. with a quick gesture, he drew out his pistol and took aim. i unsheathed my sword and held its point under his nose. i shall never forget what i then saw. the prussian officer turned deadly pale. like a flash of lightning, i saw a look of unutterable terror pass over his face and then suddenly, before i had time to strike, this man, who had held my life in his hands, turned on his heels and disappeared in the lane. but at the same moment there was a general stir in the barns near by. heads looked out from everywhere. this time, it was going to be a tough business. without waiting for our change, we all sprang over the palisadings. the first one caught his foot and fell, the next one fell on him, and all five of us rolled one over the other into the ditch, laughing in a way that must have made all the boches in the farm wild with fury. facing us was an immense, open space, as flat as a glacis. there was nothing for it but to cross this. we started at full speed, but it was over ploughed land. "i fancy this stroke of business will be the end of us!" said snysters, gasping for breath. "yes," replied jeanjean, who was breathing like a seal. "it'll be good for your cold!" shouted little gilissen, who was acting as our rear-guard. and all five of us, keeping up our speed, laughed heartily. presently we came to a road. jeanjean rushed a little way towards us, then stopped short and muttered: "attention, lieutenant!" i looked and saw a german sentinel, leaning on his weapon, stationed at a little building some five yards away from us. there was no time to manoeuvre; i turned to my men and, whilst running, shouted out to them "es geht wohl! kommen sie hierdurch!" we crossed the road under his very nose and rushed into a little wood which skirted the opposite side. the sentinel did not move, deceived probably, thanks to the dim light, to my words, and to the audacity of our manoeuvre. to our joy, at the other end of the wood, we saw a dark line stretching out towards us. it was the labyrinth of fir-trees, of tall broom and brushwood, which skirts the northern part of the country. we crossed a glade, and then a clearing and a railroad. the enemy post there had not time to stop us. there was another wood and then, at last, we were in the thicket. behind us, we gradually heard less and less noise, and the firing was farther off and at longer intervals. still running, we described a series of zigzags and curves, leaving behind us ditches, clearings, and glades.... finally, in the midst of a patch of young fir-trees, i fell down. i could not have got up again though for anything. the others stretched themselves out near me and we all lay there, like so many dead men, in the wet grass. the day broke, a fine rain fell persistently, wetting us through to the skin. we were shivering in every limb. jeanjean coughed, snored, and talked in his sleep. the two flemish men joked, swore, and insulted each other, each treating the other as a coward.... gilissen, the little liége "_rossai_," was the only one who kept silence. he was trying, conscientiously, to sleep with one eye and to take stock of our surroundings with the other one. i reminded him of that time when he had been on observation for the barchon fort and had remained for forty-eight hours perched up on his steeple, surrounded by germans, and had come back to the fort with all the material of the observation post. jeanjean, who certainly did not appear able to sleep well, now felt it his duty to compose the _menu_. "anchovies," he said, "salmon trout, stuffed chicken, cream cakes," and i do not know what beside. i found half a turnip in my pocket, gilissen had three sweetmeats, and the ground near us was strewn with acorns. we were all right, and could certainly sustain a regular siege! i looked at my map, a touring club map, which was the only one i had. to my horror, i discovered that all the incidents of the night, and the various turns we had been obliged to make, had made us describe an immense semi-circle and that, at that moment, we were less than a mile from the frontier and surrounded on all sides by germans. in the wood, the firing began again. we heard it in the distance and then nearer to us. it was an organised search. presently, this pursuit made us a little anxious, for the bullets broke some branches near us. we were obliged to leave our shelter and we went along under cover of a deep ditch. at the end of this we came out and found ourselves--ten yards away from a group of prussians. we rushed into a thicket and the hunt began again. presently there was a fresh respite for us, as quite suddenly some quick firing was heard near by in a southerly direction. it sounded like an engagement and we wondered what it could be. perhaps it was a belgian troop, trying, like us, to get free. extraordinary as this supposition was, it was the only one that seemed probable. in case we were right, it was our duty to endeavour to join it, at any cost, and work together. perhaps our unexpected intervention, insignificant though it should be, might be sufficient to decide the issue of the fight. we moved on and had scarcely gone two hundred yards, when we saw a group of peasants coming out of a glade. they looked terrified. we questioned them and found out that the boches were firing on the houses in the village, under the pretext that the inhabitants had hidden some belgian soldiers. the brutes! instinctively, i moved forwards, but the bullets whizzed by, quite close to our ears. this time, they came from every side. on the left, on the right, the germans were everywhere, the whole place swarmed with them, like a veritable ant-heap. from thicket to thicket, from ditch to ditch, we struggled along in order to avoid being surrounded. but, alas, we were going backwards and behind us was the frontier! finally, we reached it. there was the line and that open view beyond--a hundred yards away from us was holland! it was the only side on which death would not mow us down. snysters swore like a demon. we took counsel together in whispers. there were three things open to us. first, we might give ourselves up to the germans, but we had no idea of doing that. secondly, we might let them kill us here, on the last little corner of our native land. this was tempting, but we could not rejoin our army if we decided on it. there was one other alternative, and that was to keep close to the frontier and continue our way, endeavouring to escape the german pursuit and the dutch sentry. this seemed to us the wisest plan of the three. we soon cleared the hundred yards. there was an iron milestone at the corner of a wood. a few steps and then we were in holland. _prisoners_ the enemy from henceforth was the sentry, whom we had to avoid in order to continue our way. we started along a sandy road in the midst of a thick fir-wood. we had not gone a hundred yards, when we found ourselves in front of a tall dutch sergeant, who made a sign for us to stop. i looked all round just as a hunted beast does. in the clearing, out of which the sub-officer had stepped, i saw a multitude of soldiers, with orange-coloured stripes, walking along a road, together with civilians. "hang it," i said to myself, "we are in a neutral country and are bound to be polite." i entered into conversation with the dutchman. i endeavoured to make him understand that everyone is liable to make a mistake in the road. i apologised and, moving back, assured him that we would recross the frontier by the shortest cut possible. this did not meet with his approval, though, at all, and the great lanky fellow smiled amiably in reply to my speech and invited us, very calmly, to accompany him. we had nothing left but to obey, as we were already surrounded by soldiers, and they looked devilishly in earnest. i hid my sword under a bush and i took off my officer's insignia, to spare it shame, and in order to be less noticed myself. when we were at the police station, we threw our guns down on a heap of plunder and then we were led away. disarmed and prisoners! ah, there was no more laughing now! my four wolves, transformed against their will into lambs, were furious, and ready to gnaw their own fists. as for me, i felt myself degraded and i could have wept with shame and rage. i thought i could read in the eyes of the people, who were watching us pass by, a smile of pity and of contempt, and i was grief stricken at having exposed our uniform to such dishonour. ah, how i regretted having crossed the fatal line! how stupid of us to have let ourselves be caught like this! not one of us uttered a word. we did not reply to the questions we were asked. we were like feline animals, caught in a trap, looking furtively for any way of escape. it was a fixed idea with us to get back to belgium, and we felt that we must be back there the following day. we were put with a convoy of prisoners. how shall i describe the painful journey of that lamentable herd of men! oh, the humiliation of that procession of soldiers without arms! on turning a street, we made off, but we were brought back. at terneuzen, we made a second attempt to escape. together with another comrade, who was ready to make common cause with us, we tried to get some civilian clothes. it was useless. the ready-made-clothes shops were shut and no one would supply us with any. in desperation, i placed my men in two ranks, put on my officer's insignia again, and we marched quietly towards the gate of the town. we were stopped on the way by the sentry. "where are you going?" we were asked. "to sas-de-gand." "what for?" "to fetch some teams for the ambulance carriages." "who sent you?" "the officer at the bridge." our questioner did not look thoroughly convinced. "forward--march!" we did not need telling a second time. at the boundary postern, we were questioned again. as we put on a calm, assured manner and were very gruff, our stratagem succeeded again. we were now on the selzaete main road, and in two hours we should be on belgian soil, if all continued satisfactorily. our feet now seemed to have wings. half way, alas, we came across another sentry-box and here a telephonic message had been received with regard to our escape. in this land of canals and dykes, things are easy for the authorities. we were arrested and taken back to terneuzen, between two rows of soldiers with drawn bayonets. this fresh attempt made things bad for us, and we were now considered dangerous individuals, put on to a boat, and carefully guarded. we were then sent off by water, with a group of prisoners, to an unknown destination. * * * * * it was dark and i was lying down on the bridge, although it was icy cold, looking at the stars, whilst on the coast the quays seemed to be flying behind us. we had been sailing along for some time, and i supposed we were now in front of flushing. there were more canals, which seemed to intersect each other endlessly. i wondered where we were going, and all night long we went on and on. in the morning the boat stopped. on the quay, the crowd hurried towards us and threw us bread and fruit. there was great confusion, shouting, and a regular tumult. this was the moment for us. we stepped over the netting, jumped on to the quay, and hid ourselves in some enormous packing cases filled with manure, which were standing near. we had not been seen, so that all seemed right. the towing-boat whistled for the departure, but, unfortunately, we were too well known. our absence was noticed, and we were once more discovered and taken on board. for hours we continued on the water, in the immense arms of the sea and we did not stop anywhere on our way. water, water everywhere! how should we ever escape? the first thing for us to do, evidently, was to procure some civilian clothes. on the boat, certain prisoners were already dressed as ordinary citizens. we talked to some of them quietly, and offered to exchange our uniforms for their garments. very soon, we were wearing the finest dockers' suits imaginable. we could not help laughing to see what ruffians we looked in this fresh disguise. snysters looked like a regular hooligan, jeanjean wore a thread-bare flannel suit, which outlined his corpulent figure admirably. gilissen looked like a collier and i like a miserable beggar. rolent, our new recruit, with his soft felt hat, was the one who looked the most decent. van bastelaer refused obstinately to take off his uniform. it was unfortunate for him, as he was not able to get away with us. finally, we reached dordrecht. the convoy was allowed to land, so that the prisoners might have a meal at the barracks. after this, we were to be taken to groningen, in friesland, to be interned there. "groningen, merciful heavens!" we said to ourselves; "we absolutely must find a way of escape from here, as this is the last good card left in our hands." we were placed four abreast and, between two rows of soldiers, the troop set out. the streets were full of spectators, who asked the soldiers for buttons and cartridges as keepsakes. this was just the thing for us. one of us, at the turn of a street, set to work distributing so generously that a crowd collected and there was disorder, and a break in the line of the troops. that was just what we needed and, very simply, turning half round we took our place with the crowd, and watched the procession pass, like all the other good people. oh, liberty! in order to relish its sweetness, we must first have been deprived of it for a time! how joyfully we went along in those narrow streets where we were quite unknown! how eagerly we discussed our plans for returning to our "free" belgium! _the return_ we had the good luck to find a courageous belgian boatman at dordrecht. he put us up on his boat and provided us with the wherewithal for reaching flushing. once there, mingling with the refugees, we had no difficulty in passing unnoticed. we were at last on our way to belgium: boat, train, carriages, motor-car, waggons, every kind of transport did we make use of in order to hasten our return. our determination carried us through. finally, we reached the frontier and our feet were on belgian soil. oh bliss, no words can describe the feelings we had at that moment! it was then that i understood fully what the love of one's country really is. the very air seemed purer, the ground looked different, and we knew all the odours and the grasses which grew in the ditches by the roadside. the trees welcomed us and their branches told us over again old things that we already knew, with their familiar swayings, which awoke in the bottom of our hearts all kinds of adorable and mysterious memories. oh, that profound life in all things, how it drank in and absorbed the life of our very souls, and with what happiness this expanded and mingled again with that other life! the soul of our country was in everything and, whilst murmuring its captivating song, with its smile both sad and gay, it seemed to take us under its wings and at the same time implore our aid. poor belgium! mother of my blood and of my life, i should have liked to kiss thy martyred ground! but what my burning kiss could not have told you then, my blood, which is thine, shall tell thee some day, when it waters the soil for thee, glad to fertilise the germ of thy liberty! we walked on, happy and feverishly anxious, hurrying on with all our strength, in order to be ready for that invading stream which was on its way to our coast and which might cut us off a second time. finally, at ostend, we found the very last of our columns pressed on closely by the germans. with our columns we reached furnes, where the king was. no one recognised us at first, such wretched objects did we look. we were all five of us at the end of our tether. one or two of us could not walk any farther, and the others were as though dazed. but we had drawn from the struggle, with the joy of having done our duty, a force that was infinitely greater and more precious than bodily force. it was the force of the heart that loves, whose will is imperious and can accomplish what it wills, for the sake of that love! chapter xxiv tournai by general-major frantz on our arrival at tournai, towards the end of september, , we were welcomed as the saviours of the country. our arrival was supposed to mean the reconquering of the whole province of hainault. the inhabitants of tournai had already suffered by the first invasion and on seeing me, with my staff and troops, they imagined that they were now saved. they were all the more convinced of this as some french troops arrived at the same time. alas, these troops were composed of a battalion of territorials, who had never been under fire, and a squadron of chasseurs, also territorials, commanded by a captain of fifty years of age; two squadrons of algerian _goumiers_ of all ages and tribes, who looked superb. they were cavalrymen with brown faces, and were wearing their white burnous and carrying their long, slender guns in their shoulder belts. their sheiks, who had already fought for france, were proud of the crosses of the legion of honour which they wore. these troops did not look sufficient for the defence of the town and baron stiénon du pré, the burgomaster, asked the commander of the french troops if they would really prove an efficient protection, or whether they would have no reinforcements and would have to leave tournai to its fate, on the first attack. when the germans had made their first appearance here, tournai had been ordered by them to pay a tax of three million francs, and whilst this sum was being found, by means of a house to house collection, the burgomaster and several other prominent men had been taken to ath, as hostages. from there, they were sent to brussels and imprisoned nine days, although the sum exacted had been handed over to the enemy. the french commander considered the burgomaster's question a poor kind of welcome, and i asked the latter for an explanation. he apologised amply and assured us of the absolute loyalty of himself and of all his citizens. after this, the french had no further cause for complaint with regard to their reception by the inhabitants of tournai. the remembrance of their sufferings was, however, too recent for the prominent men not to dread a renewal of them. the evil days when they had all been living under the prussian heel was uppermost in the thoughts of all the townspeople. we were constantly being asked by them whether the germans had been definitely driven back, etc.... unfortunately the information i received prevented my giving them an assurance of this. for several days we lived at tournai in constant danger of a fresh invasion. i took the precaution to have all the civic guard scout chasseurs provided afresh with arms. their own guns were now in france and in different places in belgium, so that instead of their mausers they were supplied with gras rifles. this did not inspire them with confidence. they were absolutely lacking in initiative, but were always very willing. my principal forces consisted of about a hundred gendarmes of the hainault province, under lieutenant-colonel bloem, of the gendarmerie. i supplied my men and, later on, my volunteers, with fifty-seven new bicycles, which the germans had left behind them in their sudden retreat. thanks to these machines, i was able to send patrols out to a good distance. they managed to bring back a great deal of useful information and they succeeded in killing, or taking prisoners, a certain number of uhlans. at the same time, we managed to convince the enemy that considerable troops were massed at tournai and in the neighbourhood, and this illusion delayed their march forward. the famous german spying system was very defective here, and our enemies knew so little about the troops advancing on tournai that, believing they had no time to take their wounded away with them, they had left a certain number in our hospitals. i sent them away promptly, as prisoners, to bruges. on the th of september, , i learnt that enemy troops of all arms, estimated at , to , men, had reached ath and, in the afternoon, had sent their outposts to ligne, about half way to leuze. we might, therefore, expect to be attacked the following day. i sent a request for help to lieutenant-general clooten, who provided me with about a hundred volunteers from eecloo. their instruction had only been rudimentary, but they were excellent men. as we had no artillery, i sent an urgent request to the commander of the french division of douai to come to our help, but he could not, as he was threatened on three sides at the same time. we were, therefore, reduced to gendarmes, to scout chasseurs, and to the eecloo volunteers, with the addition of a cyclist corps under lieutenant gérard. this officer had been ordered to destroy the thulin bridge, over the canal from mons to condé. unfortunately, the belgians were betrayed by a woman in the neighbourhood and fell into an ambush, thereby losing forty men out of the hundred and twenty of which their contingent was composed. the others fell back on tournai. they were all daring young men, full of enthusiasm, and quite ready to undertake the most dangerous missions in the enemy's lines. i remember, among others, a soldier of the th line regiment. he had walked some miles, bringing a wounded comrade with him in a wheelbarrow. towards ten o'clock at night, on the th of september, lieutenant gérard had come to me and placed himself at my service. i explained to him the situation, and that very night he went and blew up several fortification works on the railway line between ath and leuze. at midnight, lieutenant gérard came to tell me that he had been beyond ligne and had succeeded in his daring enterprise. thanks to this bold expedition, the first uhlan patrols did not reach tournai till late the following morning. as we were threatened from the south-east as well as from the south, i was obliged to divide my poor forces in a way to bar the passage for the enemy in these two directions, and also towards the north-east, on the tournai-frasnes road. in the plains, my patrols of gendarmes and volunteers scoured the country. my method was to send out strong patrols of twenty men, half of them gendarmes and half volunteers. i gave them instructions to await the patrols of enemy cavalry, until they were only one hundred yards away, so that they could fire effectually, and not to let either a horse or its rider escape. on the northern border of a little wood, about a mile and a half to the west of ramecroix, to the south of the tournai-leuze road, a patrol of twenty men, under the orders of captain motry of the gendarmerie, allowed an enemy patrol of seven men, commanded by an officer, to approach within a hundred yards. with one single volley, they then brought down all the riders with their horses. our soldiers took the horses' bits and the overcoats of the men they had killed, in order to show me the result of their work, and made off at once, as, to the south of the wood, a second enemy patrol was on its way to the rescue of the first one. a good number of uhlans of this fresh troop also had to eat the dust. we could not, nevertheless, hold out against hordes twenty times, or rather fifty times, superior in numbers to ourselves. towards mid-day, the french beat a retreat in the midst of the exodus of the unfortunate inhabitants of the town. at orcq, i showed the major in command a magnificent place from which he could sweep the whole country right up to the entrance to tournai. he took up position there, but soon after received orders to continue the retreat towards the west, that is towards lille. the french had left behind them, at the st. jean barracks, all that would have impeded their retreat: wounded and sick, horses, luggage, etc. before leaving tournai, it occurred to me to go and see what had become of this convoy. it was a fortunate thing that i did so, as no one had any idea of the immediate danger. i had only just time to give orders to the senior quartermaster to collect all, men, horses, and baggage, and to set out for the tournai-lille road, where they would find the french troops. at the same time, i told my patrols to guard all the roads out, in order to allow the _goumiers_ and mounted chasseurs to keep their retreat line in the direction of lille. they were all saved! with my staff, i took up quarters in the froyennes convent, on the tournai-courtrai road where, thanks to a telephone, i could communicate with the various gendarmerie posts. the brothers of the christian doctrine, who were nearly all french, received us with open arms and, in spite of our protestations, while we were getting information and i was giving orders, they prepared a meal for us and looked after us generally. they had transformed their convent into a hospital and, unfortunately, all their trouble only served for the boche wounded, as i received strict orders, in case the french left tournai, to beat a retreat in the direction of courtrai and to organise the defence of the espierres canal. i started at once and arrived at espierres on thursday, october st. i saw at once that all the drawbridges of the canal opened on the south side, that is on the enemy's side, and that it was impossible to change them and make the bridges work on our side, that is on the north side. this was most unfortunate, and is another proof how little we had thought of going to war. i quartered my staff at dottignies and took measures for guarding the various points where it was possible to cross the canal between the village of espierres (escaut) and the herseaux-tournai railway. this compelled me to spread out my men and so divide my poor forces, on account of the number of bridges. for the next three days we were in contact with the enemy. we drove back patrols and took prisoners. my young volunteers were under fire for the first time, but they were so brave and so eager to fight that, on the second day, i made seven soldiers corporals for their conduct before the enemy. this encouraged the others, as they all wanted to distinguish themselves. on saturday, october rd, at dusk, the enemy, after being driven back three times, came again in force and drove back two of my posts at the extreme right. on another side, the enemy advanced by herseaux and estampuis. i was in this way turned on my right and, at the same time, wedged in at espierres. i had only just time to constitute a strong flank-guard of gendarmes and cyclist volunteers to oppose the enveloping movement and beat a retreat in the direction of courtrai. we were being pursued all the time and our march was difficult, on account of the darkness. i stopped a local tramcar coming from courtrai and put the tournai civic guards into it. these men had no notion of a fighting retreat. half way from courtrai, i met the east flanders gendarmes coming to our aid and, under their protection, we reached courtrai. at the roll-call of my soldiers, i saw that three of my volunteers were missing. i thought they were either dead, wounded, or prisoners. not at all. these three brave men had performed the following exploit. on sunday morning, october th, two of these missing men arrived at courtrai, carrying the saddles of two uhlans with all accessories. they had carried this weight, about lbs. each, from espierres, through the enemy's lines, a distance of about twelve miles. when we questioned them, they replied that they knew we were beating a retreat towards courtrai, but they each wanted to "have their prussian" before rallying. they had been pursued by the uhlans along the canal bank. they had crossed the muddy espierres brook, which runs parallel with the canal, on a plank of wood. the uhlans had attempted to do the same thing, but had sunk in the mud. our soldiers had killed them and had dragged the horses out and taken the saddles, in order to prove to us that they had attained their object. the third missing soldier brought back to courtrai a horse, fully equipped, after having killed its rider. he had come back quite alone with his plunder. we thought these feats superb, considering that they had all three come through an invaded district. chapter xxv dixmude from an account given by ernest collin, a private of the th line regiment, and completed by ernest job, a corporal in the same regiment as soon as the enemy began to attack the forts with an artillery so powerful that no permanent fortifications could resist, the staff realised that antwerp was lost, and that all efforts must be made to save the fighting army. the retreat began in the evening of the th of october. it was admirably organised, but it meant excessive and inevitable fatigue for the troops. the rd division, which covered the most exposed flank of the army, had the hardest task, as it was compelled to make continual night marches, without any rest whatever. from antwerp to ghent, our battalion had to march all the time and our difficulties were increased by the combats we had to wage at lokeren and at oostacker. on their arrival at tronchiennes, on the th of october, our men were thoroughly exhausted. the following day, at five in the morning, the th line regiment and the greater part of the rd division were sent by train to nieuport, where they arrived in the afternoon. the exhaustion of the soldiers was so great that it was necessary to give them two or three days' rest. on the th we set off once more, and on the th we took up our position along the yser. it was a very good line of defence, reaching from the north sea at boesinghe, along the river as far as knocke and, beyond that town, following the yperlée canal.[ ] from nieuport-bains to boesinghe, the line measured about miles, an extent not at all out of proportion to the strength of the belgian army, which was then reduced to , men with , guns. the whole country is interspersed with ditches, canals, and rivers, and the supreme resource was that, at nieuport, we had a dyke system which allowed us to inundate the country where german forces might be too strong. at daybreak, on the th of october, we were at work. we made trenches at leke, pervyse, and oudecapelle and we were lodged, more or less comfortably, in sheds and barns. the trenches and the movements of the troops gave us plenty to think about. in the distance, the cannon was roaring, and its sullen voice came nearer and nearer every minute. what was going to happen? all kinds of conjectures came into the minds of the soldiers. for the last two days, they had had no bread, but, fortunately, there were biscuits to appease their hunger. some french bread was then distributed, but, although it was good, it did not take the place of the national brown bread. in a deserted farm, a few dainty-lovers massacred some poor pigs. when they had caught one, in a few seconds it was slaughtered, dressed, and cut up, and then each man went off with his share. on the th, the th line regiment had orders to occupy dixmude. up to that date, this town had been defended by a brigade of marine fusiliers, who had opened fire on the morning of the th, in order to drive back a strong body of enemy reconnaissances. according to the orders communicated to us, the brigade b, which comprised the th and th, as well as a group of artillery, was placed at the disposal of the french admiral ronarc'h, to whom the defence of the dixmude bridge-head had been entrusted. the admiral gave orders to the brigade b to hold the bridge-head on the right bank of the yser, whilst his sailors, attached to the belgian th division, would execute an offensive in a northerly direction. our immediate chiefs were colonel jacques, commanding the th regiment, and colonel meiser, commanding the brigade. i have mentioned the names of these courageous officers, as it will be understood that, led by such men, the troops had confidence and it was certain that the soldiers would all do their duty. we were absolutely responsible for the defence of the yser. the king had appealed to us, asking us to hold this line for the next forty-eight hours, although it was probable that the germans would do their utmost to pierce it. we had all given our word to die rather than to yield this last shred of our territory. on the th of october, which was a bright, sunshiny day, the regiment was assembled at oudecapelle. we were fully aware that serious things were taking place, but the colonel, with a smile, announced a great victory. we strapped up our kits gaily and set off, thinking of our return to reconquered liége. we gradually approached our poor, unfortunate dixmude. when we entered the town, we were surrounded by an anxious, but sympathetic population. very many refugees were already on the way towards more favoured countries. these poor people, flying from the invaded towns and villages, had been wandering aimlessly day and night, in search of a safe and hospitable district. on seeing them, i was seized with fury against our relentless enemy, and i thought of my own family and of all those i loved, whom i should, perhaps, never see again. we passed through the town and took up our position in the trenches, which had been quickly prepared in front of the bridge-head. there was no doubt but that we were going to fight again. and what a fight it would be! the fate of the allies depended on our resisting to the uttermost. if the enemy crossed, we were conquered. with the most determined resolution, we began to improve our position. the marine fusiliers had only done the rough part of digging out the trenches. there was no accessory defence whatever, no wire, and nothing demolished, so that our defence would be infinitely more difficult. beside this, certain trenches had been established against the coverts. the first thing to do was to complete the trenches and to clear the firing range within the near zone. we set to work energetically. it was three o'clock in the afternoon. my friend job was at work fortifying the parapet of our shelter, and i was a little ahead of him clearing away whatever obstructed the outlook. suddenly, i heard a whizzing sound and a shell destroyed the trench. several more followed and i was knocked down. i got up again and ran to shelter. the shells showered down, and all kinds of _débris_ were blown up in the air. i looked round for job and, just at this moment, a projectile fell straight on to his parapet, which crumbled away, burying him under it. this was a terrible moment of anxiety, but he managed to extricate himself and, with a very red face, escaped to another trench. the bombardment continued and, at the end of an hour, the firing took a longer range and projectiles burst on the town itself. it took us a little time to recover. we then went back to our holes, or rather we had to make fresh ones, as nothing remained but a heap of rubbish, and i could neither find my arms nor my kit. i was obliged to take those of a wounded man near. at six o'clock in the evening, we were informed that the th army division, together with the marine fusiliers, was to cross the yser and pass to the left bank. the troops in position were to protect this retreat. the night was fairly tranquil and it was raining even in the trenches. the soldiers were dozing, with their arms ready in case of an attack. each man was his own sentinel in these inconvenient holes. finally, after long hours of anguish and of anxiety, the darkness was over and the dawn comforted us. we were very weary and we hoped to have a little rest. alas, the enemy was advancing and threatening us again. at eight o'clock, on the th of october, the bombardment commenced. it was an incessant shower of big shrapnels and of mine shells, a sort of torpedo shell, which burst with a deafening noise and an opaque smoke. the moral effect was immense, although the material damage was not very great. job and i were lying face downwards against the parapet, helpless and dazed, expecting to be killed every second. for long hours, that seemed like centuries, we heard these fatal whizzings, these formidable explosions, and saw our men lying still like so many wax-work figures. no one moved, no one spoke and no one could eat anything. only the sound of heavy breathing broke the silence of the trenches. and this torture endured until two in the afternoon. suddenly, our advance sentinels signalled the arrival of germans in masses. the bombardment was the prelude to an infantry attack, which began at half-past two in the afternoon. the artillery firing took longer aim, in order to reach points behind our line. dixmude was bombarded to the uttermost, in order to prevent the arrival of reserves to our trenches. in the german lines, a ceaseless infantry firing then took place and the lines gradually advanced. the enemy made use of the ground and the numerous coverts in the district, as the firing zone had not been cleared to any great extent. the enemy troops did not reach the assault position, as the firing of our men caused them considerable losses. at this moment, my platoon chief sent me to ask the captain for some information. i crawled away, but on my return i found my chief wounded. i wanted to take him away, but the captain insisted on my returning to the trench. our cannons were being directed on to a wood from which the enemy was coming. the battle was engaged and we were all possessed with the fever of war and were shooting from everywhere. dixmude was buried under showers of shells and shrapnels. the germans appeared rapidly on all sides. we were threatened on our left and, under the intense and murderous fire, the company which had joined us had all its officers either killed or wounded. the position was impossible to hold. the men still left evacuated the trenches and went about two hundred yards farther back. in spite of his energy, the major was thinking of falling back, when a company of the th arrived, accompanied by marine fusiliers. these brave men marched forward and reoccupied the lost trenches. many of my comrades had been struck down. i took one of them away who had been dazed by the explosion of a shell in his trench. i then came back, crouching in the ditches to avoid the balls. the shells were falling on every side. we did not trouble any more about them, as it was just luck whether we were hit or not. i wondered whether job were still living. i did not know and i could not see him anywhere. it was getting dark. we were now in the park, scattered about as sharp-shooters behind a hedge. in front of us were the trenches occupied by our men, reinforced by the fusiliers. balls were whizzing about everywhere. lying down sideways, i hollowed out the earth with my shovel and made a slight parapet. the firing became more and more intense. the boches were beginning a fresh assault and we could hear them distinctly shouting "hoch! lebe der kaiser!" it was a sight never to be forgotten. in the trenches, and in the park, a strange-looking swarm of men. by the light of the flashes from the firing, we could see dark figures gliding about, running to the right, to the left, or forward. the belgians and the french were all mingling and making frantic efforts. the artillery ceased, and then the guns and machine-guns continued alone. what a diabolical concert it was! it seemed as though hell itself had been let loose. with their fruitless assaults, the boches made an infernal uproar. they yelled like savages, their clarions rang out, and they were beating their drums. the cannon began again, and the machine-guns told their beads, whilst the rifles discharged murderous volleys. in the midst of the darkness we could hear shouts, calls, orders, exclamations of all kinds. certain french soldiers, in spite of the danger, when the boches ran away, seized all kinds of utensils and banged the metal together, making an indescribable din. it was tragically comic, for in the very fiercest of the fight they were joking. the enemy tried in vain to take our trenches. those who came near enough to us were mown down. it was a regular massacre. listening intently, i could hear the imperious commands of the german officers and the obstinate refusal of the soldiers, who were in revolt against the task imposed upon them. towards eleven o'clock, during a lull, we were quietly relieved, and, feeling a little more reassured, we went back to dixmude. we were supplied with provisions and, incredible though it may seem, we spent the night in the attic of a house. no one could sleep. we all had the impression that we should neither leave the town, nor even that house, alive. the shooting continued and we could hear the echo of it. it seemed very near and one would have thought the fighting was taking place in the street. finally, the cannon began again. the german tactics are to prepare infantry attacks by a violent bombardment. in the first days of the war, this bombardment lasted three hours and then the attack took place. if this failed, the bombardment began again and gradually increased in intensity. at the first glimmer of daylight, on the st, the captain called us together under the porch of the house where we had slept. platoon by platoon, we were to cross the square, at full speed, where the projectiles were dropping. there was a second of hesitation, then the gate was opened and the first group rushed out. at the same instant, a shell burst at our side. the officer and twelve men were wounded. i left the house, cautiously, with a few comrades, by the garden gate at the back. we slipped along under cover of the shattered houses and reached the bridge, which was in a shaky condition. on this side of the town, trudging along in the mud and rain, there was a pitiful procession of women, children, old men, and indeed the whole population which had remained in the town until now and which was now escaping in terror. what a sigh of relief we gave when we had once crossed the bridge and were safely on the other side! we went through the ruined village of caeskerke, the church of which was still burning, and we were then in the country. about two miles away from the town, in the fields, the battalion was re-formed. the various companies then separated and lay down amongst the verdure, in order to escape being seen by the enemy. about forty of our men were missing. there were about double that number still in our company. a little warm soup restored us after all the emotions of the last few hours. job and i were unhurt, we had certainly escaped very narrowly. we were quite joyful, and we told each other various details and exchanged opinions. we almost forgot the furnace we had left, as we joked together. then the remembrance of those we had left behind saddened us once more. suddenly, some shells passed over us. their whizzing, and the formidable explosions that followed, warned us that these were not exactly children's playthings. the enemy had no doubt discovered us, for the projectiles dropped very near. we were obliged to move about frequently and to cross the brooks and canals, with which the whole district is interspersed, with the greatest speed. it was by no means easy always and several of us had an unexpected bath. on the road, behind us, the "big blackies" kept bursting, and one of them exploded on an artillery waggon. that was a tragical moment, and we never saw anything more of the waggon, the driver, or the horses. finally, after a hundred events of one kind or another, it began to get dark once more. we were quartered for the night in the village of oostkerke. nothing happened during the night, but in the distance we could hear the ceaseless firing of guns and cannon. the following day, october nd, we made trenches all day long, covering them with material which we fetched from the half-deserted village. we went there along the railroad, thus avoiding the canals. towards mid-day, an armoured-train arrived by rail, bringing some english cannons. at last, we said to ourselves, we were to have some heavy artillery, with which to reply to the boches. job and i were just on our way back from the village, carrying a beam on our shoulders, and this prevented our seeing the signal. the cannon was suddenly fired, and we two found ourselves on the ground with the beam in front of us. we got up, almost stunned, and took ourselves quickly out of the way. the enemy replied promptly and, in front of us, just before the railway line, the "no. cigars" kept dropping. each time that a projectile arrived, with its ominous whizz, we raised our heads, instinctively, just to see where it burst. fortunately for us, not one of them reached us. we spent the night in our shelters, narrow holes in which we were obliged to remain close together like sardines, half stifled and cramped. on the rd, we continued our work until towards six in the evening. we had almost finished when orders were brought to us. our battalion was to return once more in the direction of dixmude. this was not very re-assuring, but we made our way back, passing again through the ruins of caeskerke. the white tower of the church was blazing and its gleams lit up the darkness of the night. we had been walking for a long time and were now moving about, backwards and forwards, waiting for definite instructions. they came at last; we were to reinforce the dixmude troops. we set out in the darkness. a volley of shrapnels exploded over our heads. the men jumped into the ditch which runs along the road and buried themselves as well as they could. a few minutes later, as all was calm, we continued our way. when we were near dixmude, we took shelter in the houses. we kept a lookout, with our arms ready, as we formed the assaulting column. if the germans crossed our lines, we should have to use our bayonets. fortunately they were too well-behaved, or rather too weak. towards four in the morning, we went to the relief of our comrades. to reach the trenches, we had to cross the shaky bridge again. we did this in indian file and then kept close to the shattered walls. we went down the narrow streets filled with rubbish and, here and there, with the dead. we were constantly obliged to fling ourselves suddenly down, no matter where, and behind no matter what, as the big calibre shrapnels kept coming all the time. at a certain moment they followed us, and several of us were seriously wounded. after a hundred incidents, we managed, by crawling along, to cross the park and reach the trenches. our companions in misfortune went silently away and we organised the position. behind us, in the mysterious darkness, we kept seeing long blood-red trails, and these were followed by terrible explosions. our cannons were carrying death, in their turn, to the enemy lines. i shall never forget those doleful whizzings, that clanging sound of steel, that noise of air filling the vacuum, roaring like a wild sea and then, in the distance, those formidable explosions which intoxicate one and make one thrill with excitement. it was almost dawn on the th, and we were concealing ourselves as best we could, for it was impossible to come out for anything whatever. everything had to be done secretly, as the german captive balloons were overhead watching everything. the bombardment began once more and the whole earth shook. over our heads, the shells kept flying. we heard them burst, with a terrible noise, either in the park behind us, or on the town. one of them entered the cellar of a large house and exploded in the midst of our musicians, who were hiding there. some of them were killed and many of them were wounded. as for us, we were all crouching down in the trenches. some of us were watching and the others talking. no one could smile that day, and our only occupation was to keep watch on the horizon, in the direction of the enemy, and to notice where the shells exploded. sometimes we were aimed at, and then we could do nothing but collect ourselves together, as it were, with our knapsacks on our backs and wait anxiously until the whizz should pass over us. the number of projectiles which fell beyond our positions is incredible. in front of us, we were faced by death and behind us by devastation. the ground between us and the wood in which the enemy was sheltering was covered with dead animals, cows, horses, pigs, and sheep. at times, i saw one of these animals move. there were even two sheep which were browsing tranquilly, but all the life that remained was doomed to destruction. there was not the slightest lull in the storm all day long. at four in the afternoon, a violent infantry attack began. this attack was repulsed and the bombardment began again as fresh as ever. all night long, there was a succession of bombardments of the trenches and of all the neighbouring ground, followed by infantry attacks. the latter were no longer like the attacks we had been having. i had the impression that there was a certain confusion in the direction of them, and that it was more difficult to commence them. after a few minutes, though, there was more zeal and it was a terrible struggle all along the line, finishing with the assault. the attack did not last very long and, almost before the end of it, the bombardment began again. in the execution of these operations, there was admirable co-ordination, on the enemy's side, between the infantry and the artillery action, and this co-ordination was such that when our troops no longer heard the fall of shells in the immediate neighbourhood of the trenches, they were certain of the infantry attack. as soon as the bombardment ceased, there was firing all along the line and then, as the line approached, the shouts of the assault could always be heard. as the night advanced, the firing was no longer regular but by fits and starts. hesitation could be felt. as to the defence, full latitude was given to the commanders of every company. "as soon as the assault has failed," the major had said, "get your men in hand again as much as possible, and fire in volleys." each time i heard these volleys i was glad, for, as i said to myself, the enemy is beating a retreat at some point. the second the volleys ceased, the bombardment recommenced and our infantry, crouching in the trenches, did not reply. the damage was not very serious, as it is extremely difficult to hit very slight trenches, so that it was only from time to time that an enemy shell really reached them, burying a few men and breaking up the line. when this did happen, we were quickly at work re-establishing our communication, getting the victims from under the ground and sometimes burying them a few yards behind the line. it is impossible to find words of sufficient praise for the heroism of our soldiers in such frightful circumstances. it must be remembered that our poor troops were facing masses of infantry in overwhelming superiority of number, that they were exposed to a huge quantity of heavy field artillery, and that they could not reckon on the support of our field batteries, as these were held at bay by huge german cannons of very much longer range. beyond our lines, dixmude was burning. the continual bombardment had reduced its houses to ashes. the streets were no longer practicable, as the high pile of ruins made it impossible for a foot-passenger to walk through them. this fact greatly complicated the question of ammunition supply. from the rear, we had been informed that the waggons could no longer cross the yser bridge, nearly a mile away from our positions. men were sent constantly through the town to fetch sacks of cartridges and, on account of the great quantity of ammunition needed, this going backwards and forwards was continual. this ammunition was brought to a kind of stable near, and then carried to our fighting posts by supply agents. on the th, as soon as it was daylight, the bombardment began again more violently than ever. with my field-glasses, i looked at the plain. here and there i could see enemy patrols and trenches. at the fringe of the wood, just beyond, i saw troops gliding along and i thought i could see a german on the lookout behind the chimney of a house. at a certain moment, a battery of the enemy light artillery took position about yards away from us. it began firing and its projectiles almost grazed us. we informed our artillery, which answered feebly. we were furious at this, for we did not know that our gunners were short of ammunition. we had lost our antwerp stores and the french supply was not yet organised.[ ] in spite of all this, and with our poor resources, we resisted these mass attacks prepared by a diabolical artillery. on that day, i still had courage enough to write a few words in my note book, whilst dixmude was crumbling away under the and shells. everything trembled, the heavens, the earth and--the men. the taubes were hovering over us constantly. they were trying to discover our positions, which they indicated by dropping white fuses. a shower of shrapnels and shells informed us of the result of this information. our soldiers presently began to complain. they had nothing to smoke, and some of them began to cut the handles of their knapsacks into shreds. several of them were ill from this privation and among these was our lieutenant, the only one left among us. life now was a martyrdom. after all our overwork and fatigue, we had nothing with which to sustain ourselves, and we felt our strength giving way. we could not get any more provisions and we had no more warm food, as our kitchen had been destroyed at dixmude by the shells. the enemy was approaching and we wondered whether we were going to be relieved or reinforced. alas, no! there was nothing for it but to go on watching, with our bayonets ready, whilst the "big blackies" fell round us all the time. quite near to us, on the keyem road and in the park, huge trees were mown clean down and enormous craters, with charred edges, hollowed by these murderous engines of warfare. sometimes fragments of the shells fell at our feet, or passed over our shelter with a whizz, burying themselves deeply in the ground. certain projectiles entered the ground without bursting, causing us great anxiety. our flasks had long been empty and we were literally dying of thirst. our commander asked if a few men would volunteer to fetch some wine from the town. i went with three or four comrades. dixmude was a lamentable sight. the streets were all torn up and filled with ruins and rubbish of all kinds. the houses were all destroyed and as empty as eggshells. what was underneath all that? probably, both living and dead, riches and art-treasures. i saw the body of a poor mother, with haggard eyes and clenched teeth. she seemed to me like a reproach to the germans for their odious war. near her was a young child, which looked as though it were sleeping. what a number of wrecked houses! furniture, carpets, and curtains strewed the ground, all this saccaged by man returned to a savage state. if the enemy should take the unfortunate city, i thought, he will only have conquered ruins. at the relief station, i found my lieutenant stretched out on the ground between two boches. one of these was groaning all the time, the other one was a very young man, scarcely seventeen, i should think. to see my lieutenant near these two gave me a pang. we managed to get some wine and then returned to the trench. the distribution of this precious liquid caused our men a little joy and made them more hopeful. each of them was ready to go to work again with fresh energy. a little later, my friend job went with a few other men to get some more wine and some cartridges. they were less lucky than we were, for one of them had both legs broken. another one had the good luck to escape uninjured, although the bottle he was holding was smashed by a bullet. when the darkness came on again, things looked very threatening. after sprinkling our trenches with projectiles of every calibre, the german artillery bombarded the town, in order to prevent any reserves from coming to our relief. the enemy then came out from a wood and moved a little to our right, in the direction of the cemetery, where our nd battalion was lying in wait. the shells fell there in quantities, damaging the tombs and causing a fearful scene. the vaults and tombs opened under the fire and coffins were exposed to view. when our courageous soldiers fell, in the midst of this furnace, we saw what will probably never be seen again, the living buried alive and the dead brought out of their graves.... at daybreak, on the th of october, the germans, in a compact mass, came out of a small wood and moved rapidly, with heads lowered, marching in column, four abreast, towards a canal which separated them from us and which was crossed by only one bridge. by means of a little ditch along the bank, they were able to deploy as sharp-shooters and, in this way, they attempted to cross the bridge. our men were watching though, and sprinkled the passage with shot, which meant death to the enemy. the bridge was soon obstructed and the dead men were piled up one on the top of the other. the heaps of dead were as high as a man. in spite of this, these loathsome beasts, for they are no longer human beings, crawled up behind their brothers-in-arms, climbed up on to the top of the dead men and ... fell down from there, under the fire of our machine-guns. the more lucky ones, those who were not hit, fell into the ditch and, getting up again, rushed on to the assault with hoarse cries, only to be killed as they came nearer to us. they were in such quantities though, and they came on so quickly, that we could not bring them all down and some of them crossed to the right of us. mad with excitement and eager for carnage, three or four hundred boches crossed our line and rushed on into dixmude, uttering wild beast cries and hoping to cause a panic amongst us. the wild band was stopped at the yser bridge by the fire of our machine-guns. several fell under the murderous storm and rolled into the canal; the others wheeled round and divided into several detachments. in the town itself, there was now a terrible chase, and a sanguinary hand-to-hand struggle between the boches and us. we were able to take some of them prisoners though. hidden in the cellars, as soon as they caught sight of our patrols, they held up their hands in fear and trembling, and begged for mercy. those who offered the least resistance were shot down. soon after, our advance sentinels captured some of the enemy who had escaped the massacre. they were crawling along the canal side, hoping to get back to their lines. these were the last of the band. in spite of all their efforts, the germans had not crossed the yser, nor broken our resistance. the belgians and the french fusiliers were the conquerors. the entrances to our trenches were strewn with enemy equipment and arms, and a few yards in front of us lay dead bodies _pêle-mêle_. our soldiers searched these bodies and handed over a lot of things to the chiefs. certain sums of money and jewellery and watches found on the enemy were given back to us, as we frequently had the proof that these objects had been taken from the belgians. once more night came on, putting an end to the terrible work of the day. our sentinels, in absolute silence, went back to their outposts, and we waited for the comrades who were to replace us in the trenches. our food was all gone and nothing more to eat or drink was brought to us. we began to get very anxious. at eleven o'clock, the senegalese came to take possession of our trenches. these brave soldiers came so quietly that they took us almost by surprise. they are tall, strong fellows, and in the dusk only their eyes and teeth can be seen shining in contrast to their black skin. we were glad to have them with us. they had scarcely been there half an hour, when the enemy attacked them, but without any success. the senegalese rushed forward to meet the enemy, whom they repulsed with their bayonets and knives. as to us, glad to be free for a time, we marched along with big strides in spite of our fatigue. there was a death-like silence in dixmude. the stretcher-bearers, taking away the wounded, were all that gave to these smoking ruins a little life. we crossed the shaky bridge over the yser once more and moved on, after giving a last sad look at the huge pile of _débris_, with its dead, which was all that was left of the town. on the road, our major told us that we were going to have a rest, that our banner had just been decorated with the "order of leopold," and that the name of "dixmude" was to be embroidered on it in gold letters. footnotes: [footnote : _the campaign of the belgian army._] [footnote : the artillery ammunition began to be scarce a few days later. towards the th it was chiefly the congested traffic of the railroads which interfered with the supply.] chapter xxvi eight days in dixmude extracts from the diary of an artillery observer, by f. de wilde of brigade b (formerly th brigade) _october , ._ we have been at nieucapelle for the last three days. the war is getting picturesque. blue or red burnous are now to be seen as the army passes along. the horses are small and their riders perched on the saddle like monkeys. the whole tribe must have set out together, as there are several generations, from youths to old men with faces like parchment. at eight o'clock, we had been ordered to assemble at oudecapelle. we found the horde of _goumiers_ there, giving a touch of orientalism to the melancholy flemish landscape. our men fraternised with them, and details about arab life were soon forthcoming. these bedouins were accustomed to be paid three francs a day and to have the right of pillaging in the enemy's country. they were constantly asking, after crossing a field, if they were not yet in germany. armed with big knives, they kept brandishing them with the gesture of cutting off an enemy's head, at the same time grinning in a way that showed their white teeth. they have a great partiality, too, for ears. among them was a tall negro, who kept repeating in very bad french: "francise, belgise, anglise, all comrades!" thereupon he would hold out a huge hand and pretend to be drawing his gloves on, rather a suggestive way of asking for some, perhaps. this country is by no means an easy one for them, cut up, as it is by wide, muddy ditches, in which their horses have to wallow breast high. in the distance, could be heard the english fleet, cannonading the coast and the german columns coming from ostend. the french marine fusiliers, together with the belgian th division, went to beerst. a violent combat was engaged there. beerst was taken, lost, and then retaken by the fusiliers. german reinforcements, coming from roulers, compelled all the troops to beat a retreat. it was decided that we should defend the bridge-head at dixmude. our brigade and the french marine fusiliers were entrusted with this. we were placed under the command of admiral ronarc'h. there was a very frugal board at the admiral's headquarters. we managed to find a biscuit and a tin of pressed meat and, what was better still, we found--a mattress. * * * * * _october th._ an attack on the bridge-head is imminent. we have received orders to take position at kapelhoeck with our three batteries, the th, st, and nd. a violent and ceaseless cannonading was to be heard from early morning. shrapnels, hidden in fleecy clouds, and mine-shells, with a clanging noise and black smoke, kept falling on dixmude and bursting with a deafening noise. we were camping in a deserted farm. the dogs had lost their voices and the cattle were wandering about at their own will. at eleven o'clock, the th battery, under commander aerts, was sent to the north of dixmude, near the keiserhoek mill, and the st, under commander huet, towards essen. at noon, just as some atrociously salt pork was simmering on the fire, we were sent with the nd battery, under commander schouten, to take up our position at keiserhoek, near the th, in order to support the th line regiment. major hellebaut, who commanded the artillery of brigade b., hazard, a pupil of the military school, a brigadier trumpeter, and i were in front. we trotted at a good rate over the paved road and, without uttering a word, crossed the bridge, and went along the streets leading to the square. a few infantry companies, in line by the houses, watched us in bewilderment. on arriving at west street, we halted and dismounted in front of the house of the notary, m. baert. this house was empty. we left our horses in charge of the trumpeter and continued our way on foot, through dixmude, towards keiserhoek. the town was awful to behold; the streets were absolutely deserted and full of _débris_ of all kinds and of shell-holes. the houses were shattered, the walls cracked, the tiles in fragments, and the window-panes broken. in the street leading to keyem, we noticed enormous splashes of blood. it was no use trying to find which side of the street was more sheltered. we were walking in the very centre of the firing line.[ ] suddenly, on a window ledge, we caught sight of max, a young malines collie, which our soldiers had adopted at boom and which had gone with us on one waggon or another everywhere. the poor dog was trembling now with fear. we took him away with us and continued our way. a waggon came back with half of its team. the whole road was being swept with shrapnels and it was impossible to keep straight on. we turned to the right by the handzaem canal and endeavoured to find lieutenant-colonel van rolleghem, who was in command of the th line regiment. thanks to the trees along the canal bank, we reached the trenches. the colonel was not there. we were advised to try the other side of the canal. a boat was at hand and we crossed, under the sharp whizzing of shrapnels. the colonel was at the extreme end of the winding line of the blood putteken trenches. it was impossible to employ the nd battery there. the th, which had been able to put only two of its cannons on the battery in an orchard to our right, had not been able to stay at keiserhoek.[ ]it had two of its horses killed and would have lost a cannon if it had not been for the self-sacrifice of quartermaster vivier. the trenches were being shelled. thanks to wrong observation, the german firing was concentrated on a line of willows, the indistinct outline of which appeared to be a hundred yards away from the retrenchments. orders were given to us to return to kapelhoek. we had to go once more into the dixmude hell. just as we reached the big square, a big shell of centimetres fell twenty yards away, at the corner of west street, filling the whole street with opaque grey smoke. we ran through this to the middle of a heap of stones, bricks, and beams. another projectile entered by the air-hole of a house and killed the band of the th line regiment which had taken refuge in a cellar. in the meantime, the st battery, returning from eessen, joined us and the three batteries crossed the bridge over the yser, arriving at a trot at kapelhoek. they opened a violent fire on the ground to the south of the cemetery, and the boches were obliged to clear out. that evening we entered a farm-house, and found five beds in a state which proved that there had been a hasty flight from there. we jumped into the beds just as we were. there was a deafening noise of artillery and the sharp crack of guns. all this was intermittent at first, but it increased until it became incessant. the machine-guns continued all the time. a terrified soldier came in and informed us that there was an attack on the town. all night we heard the tumult of the fight, the roaring of the cannon, the whizzing of balls, and a wild clamour. _october st._ at daybreak, the firing diminished and the germans were falling back. our troops had been superb and had repelled three assaults. a band of prisoners passed by. nearly all of them were young and had come from brussels. they had not fought before. according to them, many of their officers had been killed the previous day. they had been replaced by officers they did not know, taken from the central army. a german officer with dum-dum balls was arrested. when he was questioned, he declared that these balls did not belong to him. as he became arrogant, he was made to turn round. he took advantage of the first moment of inattention for trying to escape. he was shot down at a distance of metres. his revolver was loaded with these same dum-dum balls, and he was buried at once. we then fired on vladsloo and on eessen. we did not have to wait long for the reply and a few of our men were wounded. the morning was relatively calm, but towards one o'clock, the battle began again as fiercely as the day before. this time the enemy aimed at the roads by which we might retreat. the german firing was more exact now. a quantity of vehicles were stationed on the oudecapelle road. at the first shells, they started off at a trot for shelter. three waggons were hit and the horses fell down. the fête began once more and dixmude was again bombarded violently. a shell set fire to the collégiale and the tower was soon a brazier. through the capricious flames we could see an arch for an instant, and then the clock tower foundered in an apotheosis. it began to get dusk and five fires could now be seen against the horizon. dixmude burst into flames here and there. a roof flamed up and threw a vivid brilliant gleam over the open-work gables. the germans were firing continually and the bursting of their projectiles made a cloud of sparks. it was dismal and at the same time imposing. the firing continued and then, in a moment's lull, which seemed strange in the midst of the infernal noise, we heard the charge being sounded. this was followed by an immense and ferocious clamour which was answered by an intense firing. suddenly, everything was quiet and this sudden silence in the midst of the darkness was most impressive. we wondered whether the enemy had succeeded or been repulsed. the silence continued. then the firing began again, more intense still and in the same spot. we breathed freely, for the line had evidently not been forced. the anguish which we had all felt was over. it had been atrocious, that anguish of listening and seeing nothing, knowing nothing for certain, except that our lives and the lives of so many others were at stake, in the midst of the mysterious darkness. we kept all our positions. for three whole days it was one incessant fight. the german infantry was a few hundred yards away from ours, and on the yser, to the north of dixmude, we were each holding one of the banks of the river. for four nights we had taken what rest we could, just as we were, and we had no notion of time. we ate when we could; sometimes the meals were good and frequently bad. _october nd._ with the dawn the firing slackened. the germans were falling back and we opened a violent firing in the various directions of their retreat. then there was silence again. we wondered whether they had changed their points of attack. towards ten o'clock, an energetic cannonading began towards the right. our cavalry divisions were on that side and the english were making their way vigorously in the same direction. at eleven o'clock, the battle began again. the big calibre abounded on the german side. they showered their and on us in all directions. nothing was spared. the ground was ploughed up with a frightful noise and the fields studded with enormous craters. up to the present, there had been more noise than damage. during the afternoon and the evening, the boches attempted several more attacks, but these all failed. we fired with great rapidity and our storms did a great deal of damage and cut short their attempts. some of the prisoners told us that we had destroyed one battalion and part of the cavalry, which had been taking refuge at the castle to the south of dixmude. the french army had asked us to hold out two days on the yser, and our troops had resisted eight days, and had been attacked during six days with terrific stubbornness. _october rd, th, and th._ the infantry attacks were getting fewer and farther between. on the other hand, the artillery was working hard. the germans have a fearful proportion of artillery of all calibres, and it is their cannon that does the most work. the struggle continued like the day before and the day before that. it was the battle of the aisne continuing. the adversaries had retrenched themselves, and more particularly before woumen. the boches had piled up their embankments here. as i was out on observation every day, along the banks of the yser, i could see their trenches spring out of the earth as though by magic, grow longer and become intersected with each other. they work with an ease and activity that is remarkable. in a place where there was nothing at night, a close network of trenches is to be seen the following day, together with a series of junctions and communication trenches. we fired violently, and overturned their mole-heaps, but a few minutes later we could see the rapid movement of earth turned over, and hear the noise of the iron spades, which would soon restore the damaged places. in the distance, a few patrols were moving about; a battery was passing by at a trot in a sheltered road. in the beet-root fields, to the south of dixmude, could be seen long, grey figures lying in front of the german retrenchments. this was a neutral zone, within which no one could enter. all this was the ransom of the battles of the previous day, these were the dead bodies that could not be brought in. on the evening of the rd, we heard groans and shouts in bad french coming from the long grasses in the fields. this was the first time i had heard wounded men shouting. a few voices could be heard above the rest: "help! help! french ... wounded!" we wondered what this fresh ruse was, for ruse it certainly was, and a very palpable one. we did not stir, of course, and all was soon quiet again. the artillery was not long quiet though, and the quantity of ammunition it consumed was considerable. the germans bombard with unprecedented energy. the small calibre had almost disappeared and only the heavy guns were now doing their part. mine-shells exploded with a noise like thunder. it was sheer madness, for the boches were evidently firing without much observation, as, after placing the batteries, instead of firing in a way to destroy everything, they changed their target, fired at longer or shorter range, peppering the whole district, but not doing any great damage. when they have an idea though, they persist in it, so that when their idea was to attack one special point, they went on shooting with admirable persistency--even when there was nothing at the point at which they were aiming. a shell has just burst under one of our windows, breaking the panes and staining the adjutant major's papers with mud. our roof is like a sieve at present. one or other of us is all the time at the telephone. the wires are broken constantly by the shells. the telephonists run along and the communication is set up again. night and day, we hear the strident ring of the telephone bell. some information arrives, or an order is given, one of the officers gets up, rushes off to the battery--and a telephonic message orders us to stop firing for the moment. when there is an important piece of information, everyone starts off. the dry, hoarse voice of our mingles hurriedly with the dull rumblings in the distance, and with the formidable explosions of the projectiles that arrive. after this, all who have luck go to rest again, the privileged ones in any beds that are free, and the others on straw that is spread each night in the kitchen. for a whole week we have been installed on this farm. we have managed to find a few vegetables for our table, but meat is rare. the first day, we feasted on fowl, but now there are no more fowl. then we had a pig killed. to-day, we have some tinned meat; to-morrow, i do not know what we shall have. our greatest privation is the scarcity of cigarettes. we are reduced to making shapeless cigarettes with bad pipe tobacco. there is literally nothing to be had here. the water is so salty that we drink only coffee. fortunately there is no shortage of milk. our men go, in the early morning, and milk the wandering cattle which they find enjoying themselves in the beet-root fields. not a single dog barks. they all go creeping along close to the buildings, with their tails between their legs, and at the first whizz of a shell they jump down wildly into any hole they happen to find. the projectiles have made a hecatomb of cattle on every side. all the famous meadows round dixmude and veurne-ambacht are strewn with dead cows, lying on their back with their feet in the air. the game is all terrified. the cannonading keeps on all the time: the shooting is intermittent during the day and almost incessant during the night. whenever there is a lull, the prolonged roar of the ypres cannon in the distance is deafening. all this noise gets on our nerves, which are already at full tension. _october th._ dixmude, kapelhoek. at six in the morning, we were suddenly roused by a firing almost in our ears. the bullets lodged in our walls. it was evidently an alert. a commander came back to us calling out: "the germans are yards away!" we got up in haste, amazed at what we heard. on looking out, we were greeted by a hailstorm of bullets. they seemed to come from all sides at once, so that it seemed as though we were surrounded. we took counsel together quickly. "to the guns," was the order "and shrapnel fire at short distance!" it was impossible to get to the batteries. the morning mist was hanging over everything. we could see only indistinct figures moving about. there was a moment's lull in the firing and our men rushed to the guns. the zeal of one of our gunners was fortunately calmed in time. he was just about to aim at one of our own patrols. "what is the meaning of this? where are they? what is the matter?" were the questions everyone was asking. about fifty germans had crossed the yser and search was being made for them. i rushed off to headquarters to give this information and to bring help. i met a patrol of dragoons, another of fusiliers, and a third of carabineers. the alarm had been given. at the admiral's headquarters, everyone was up and discussing the incident. an enemy detachment had crossed the river and caused a panic, thanks to its firing, but at daybreak the troops had pulled themselves together, the positions were reoccupied, and the hunt was taking place. i went out towards dixmude and, in a ditch, i saw two germans lying face downwards in the mud. on the other side the road were two blue-jackets, with their sweaters unbuttoned and the blood flowing freely. a girl, half wild with anxiety, rushed across to me. she had been helping an old woman along. "oh, sir, my mother is dying; something to put her on, so that she can be carried!" i could only point to the headquarters. just then a stretcher passed by, carried by four of the fusiliers. on it was the dead body of commander jeanniot. his face was covered with a handkerchief, but his crushed arm was hanging down and he had a fearful wound in his thigh. there were dead bodies heaped up on the dixmude bridge. one of them was still hanging on to the railings, which he had clutched in his death-agony. all of them had quantities of wounds, holes in their breasts, and eyes wide open, scared by the frightful sights they had seen. beyond the bridge were heaps of dead bodies, lying _pêle-mêle_ with their stiff limbs intermingled and their coagulated blood on the pavement. still farther on were more dead bodies. a few belgians were also sleeping their last sleep on the footpath. patrols were going to and fro, searching houses, their weapons in their hands and their eyes on the lookout for everything. as i went farther into dixmude, i found heaps of ruins, charred walls, blackened stumps, broken windows. in one house, the whole façade had given way and the ceilings had remained. it looked like a piece of stage scenery. strangely enough, too, one house stood entirely unscathed. the square was completely torn up and there were rows of craters bordered by paving stones. the council house could still boast the skeleton of its clock tower and the stained glass was still dropping from its window frames. the headless tower and the four walls were all that remained standing of the collégiale building. on my return, i met two stretchers, on one of which was an old german officer who had been mortally wounded, and on the other an immense fellow with square shoulders, wearing enormous spectacles with horn rims. the men could scarcely carry him, as he was so heavy. on returning to the battery, i learnt that two prisoners had been taken. i went to see the place where the last struggle had taken place. about fifteen bodies were lying on the muddy ground, which was all bespattered with blood. four of the men were still living. the major in command was lying on his back, dead, with his mouth open and his skull pierced. a lieutenant had fallen sideways with his arm under him. he was young, with refined features. he was very carefully dressed and was wearing extremely fine linen. one of the blue-jackets approached, turned him over skilfully, and plunged his hands in the dead man's pockets. "ah, not much there, his pockets have been cleared out!" this was the only funeral orison he had.[ ] the other bodies were covered with wounds, for the bayonet is a terrible weapon. a little farther on were the fusiliers who had been assassinated in so cowardly a way. their wounds were frightful. after this alert, the morning was almost tranquil. it was not until the afternoon, that the artillery began once more its nerve-wearing fire. _october th._ dixmude-kapelhoek. after their failure of yesterday, it seemed as though the germans wanted to change the point of attack. they went towards the north. thirteen footbridges had been thrown over the yser towards tervaete and some of their troops had landed on our side of the river. a french division reinforced us, thus enabling us to make a vigorous counter-offensive, but without regaining all the lost land. the artillery struggle began again more fiercely than ever. the heavy guns were used almost entirely. their projectiles seemed to cut the air. the explosions were terrible, sending up into the air enormous masses of earth. the splitting of the shells was such that at metres fragments arrived like a whirlwind with a threatening bee-like noise. we picked up a fragment centimetres long, by broad and in thickness. _taubes_ were flying overhead. around dixmude, the network of trenches was getting more and more complicated. it was getting gradually smaller, and the encircling movement had commenced. we remained at dixmude until the th of november. on that day, french batteries came to relieve us, and on that day we had only one cannon left out of twelve; the eleven others had been disabled. we had seen the grip getting tighter and tighter, the cannonading more violent, the firing more intense, and the assaults more frequently repeated. when necessity obliged us to leave, we had, at any rate, seen the inanity of the adversaries' furious attacks and their recoil from the quiet, mounting water and the inundation, which had just begun at the right moment. we had been able to guard intact the last shred of our beloved belgium. footnotes: [footnote : according to information taken from an account by major hellebaut.] [footnote : this information was obtained from an account given by artillery major hellebaut.] [footnote : the major's name was von oidtmann. he was in command of a battalion of the nd augusta regiment. the lieutenant's linen was marked p. and p.c.] chapter xxvii four hours with the boches from the diary of dr. van der ghinst, of the cabour (adinkerque) military ambulance, and an account given by léon deliens, private of the th line regiment _october th._ dixmude, at night. by the sinister light of the burning houses, the belgian soldiers and the french marine fusiliers were moving about among the ruins, in the midst of the flames which skimmed along the ground. with blackened faces, haggard eyes, and unkempt beards, their uniforms covered with blood and with dust, they went up and down the streets, springing over the stones, beams, and _débris_ of all kinds, and climbing over walls. the gigantic shadows which they threw added to the phantasmagoria of the strange scene. from time to time a shrapnel burst, vibrating in the air with the sound of a huge timing-fork, or with a great flood of light the explosion of a shell made the cracked walls shake. our relief post was installed in what had formerly been a much frequented drawing-room in the house of a notary. presently, the stretcher-bearers brought in a wounded man who, between his groans, told us that the germans had entered the town. this seemed incredible, as our trenches formed an uninterrupted barrier. we thought the man must be delirious. very soon, a second wounded man told us the same thing and it was confirmed by a third. one of them told us that he had seen the dead body of a german at the square, nearly two hundred metres away from our ambulance. we began to wonder whether our line had been broken? if so, it would mean street fighting. two days ago, the french doctors had transported their installations beyond the yser. the only thing for us to do was to imitate them and so save our wounded. without wasting a minute, i had them put into an ambulance carriage. we crossed the bridge and took the road leading to caeskerke. on arriving at a little wine-shop, about four hundred yards outside this place, where another belgian relief post had been installed, we carried our patients in and made them as comfortable as we could. in the night, i was roused suddenly by my faithful orderly. "the germans are here!" he shouted, shaking me out of my slumber. in a second, i was on my feet. all my companions, doctors and stretcher-bearers, i found in the principal room of the wine-shop, talking together in the dark. i asked what had happened and they explained to me, in a whisper, that a trumpet blast, which was not ours, had been heard. after that there had been firing and shouts, and then a rush of men passing like a hurricane by our door, in the direction of caeskerke. they were all shouting: "hurrah!" if this were so, our lines must have been forced and, whatever happened, it was necessary for us to know the truth. anything was better than this mortal anguish. i opened the door. it was pitch-dark outside, an october night, cold and rainy. i could hear groans coming from the house opposite. with my browning in my hand i entered and, by the light of my electric lamp, i saw two men stretched out on the floor, side by side, giving no sign of life. on approaching, i recognised lieutenant richard, of the navy, and abbé le helloco. i heard a groan coming from a corner of the room and found dr. duguet, the head doctor of the marine fusiliers. two stretcher-bearers, in answer to my call, came and fetched my unfortunate colleague to our relief station. "my back is broken," he said, with a moan. i tried to reassure him, and he then told me that, on hearing the shouts, the three officers, less prudent than we had been, rushed to the door of their house. their outline, standing out in the framework of the door, made an excellent target and they had all three fallen, hit by the horde as it rushed forwards. we wondered what would happen next and what had become of our staff, which had its headquarters in one of the neighbouring houses. what had happened to our brave colonel jacques, to captain philippron, and to their comrades? i rushed to the house where they were installed, and rapped. the door was promptly opened, but several revolvers were all i saw, and they were pointed at my head. "doctor van der ghinst!" i shouted. at the sound of my voice, the brownings were lowered. in spite of the darkness, i recognised colonel jacques. "what is the meaning of this joke, colonel?" i asked. "yes, yes," answered the voice of our chief, "the african." "the boches have got through. you cannot stay here; we must have a reinforcement." "where is it to be found?" "there is a battalion at caeskerke. the question is who will go and take the information?" "i will," i answered. "the road appears to be clear." i was soon on my way. a french sailor, going in the same direction, went with me. it was perfectly dark. stretching our heads forward, we tried to peer into the darkness. we had scarcely gone two hundred yards when we heard voices. "halt!" cried someone. thinking i had to deal only with french soldiers, i replied: "belgian doctor." "hands up!" was the command. i could now see, in the ditch, to the left, some pointed helmets and also some bayonets confronting us. there was nothing to be done, as all resistance would have been in vain. if we had moved a step, we would have been killed. we had to go down into the ditch, where we found other victims. i protested in german, declaring that i was a doctor. thanks to this, i had to attend a great lanky teuton officer, who had been wounded in the leg. i gradually distinguished a certain number of prisoners, among whom i recognised léon deliens and gaston de marteau, privates of the th line regiment. their hands were tied behind their backs, their braces cut, and their trousers unbuttoned, so that it was impossible for them to escape. the same fate awaited me and also my companion in distress. i protested energetically in german, and this produced a magical effect. an officer questioned me and asked me about the position of the troops at dixmude. "i am a doctor," i replied, "and i know nothing about military questions. even if i could reply, though, i should not, as such questions are contrary to the stipulations of the hague treaty." the officer did not insist. in the dark night, an absolute silence reigned, only broken now and then by the brief orders of the chief, a major with a hoarse voice, whose name was von oidtmann. presently a carriage appeared on the road. it was a french red cross ambulance car that the boches had captured. the major sent it to dixmude with the order to get to the german lines and bring back instructions to him. when the carriage reached the bridge, the french sentinel cried out: "halt! who goes there?" "red cross," answered the german driver. you can imagine that, in an instant, the carriage was surrounded and that, one after another, the boches were taken out. in the meantime, the major and his three lieutenants were deliberating in the ditch. by listening to their discussions, i gathered that seventy germans had managed to get through our lines at the junction between a french and a belgian trench, that they had passed through dixmude, crossed the bridge, and rushed along the caeskerke road like a bomb, passing by the relief posts, the various staffs, and reserves. they were now hiding in this ditch, three hundred yards away from the railway station, and were awaiting the remainder of their battalion, which did not arrive. one or two of the marine fusiliers were captured as they were passing along the road, and a cyclist who refused to stop was killed. the time seemed very long and the major was evidently getting impatient, for, whilst i was talking to one of my warders, i overheard him give the following orders: "shoot the prisoners!" i protested and, to my great astonishment, my warder protested too. "no," he said, "we cannot behave inhumanely, not the doctor!" knowing the severity of the german discipline, i was agreeably surprised at this instance of individuality. the young german who protested was charming. he was a berlin law-student, and several of his university friends protested with him, so that the order was not carried out. presently, the germans got up, and endeavoured to advance, but the head of their column came to a trench occupied by the marine fusiliers. a few shots were exchanged and the troop, after crossing a field, went in the direction of the railway line. there we made another halt and, for the second time, the order was given: "shoot the prisoners!" the order was not executed this time, probably thanks to the intervention of a german soldier, who was a doctor. he had introduced himself to me whilst we were marching and he told me that he should speak to the army doctor. the germans now saw that their comrades had not been able to follow them and that their only chance of safety was to go back, by the railway bridge, across the yser, and get to their own lines again. we went over the railway line from caeskerke to dixmude and were only twenty yards away from the armoured train which they did not see. we walked along in silence, two by two, with our warders on guard. presently we came to a group of about fifteen germans who were behind a mill and we all lay down on the ground. four shrapnels burst over our heads. a young sailor had his leg shot through. deliens dressed the wound quickly. a german said in a mocking tone: "good german shrapnels!" this was true. we set off again and for more than two hours we walked across fields, jumping hedges, ditches, and streams. when we were trying to avoid a stream about three yards wide, a german asked: "is that the yser?" we could not help laughing. we were now quite lost and were plodding along in the mud, frozen to the bones. the officers went groping along. with the help of an electric lamp hidden in their long coats, they consulted their maps and the compass. between the major and his subordinates there were violent discussions as to the way we should go. i noticed the confidence the germans have in their chief. every minute we could hear someone asking: "where is the major?" and he, with brief orders, shouted in a hoarse voice, reminding them to pay attention to the prisoners, maintained cohesion among his grey flock. my poor companions in misfortune, some of whom, at my request, were freed, now helped each other, dragging along in groups with great difficulty. the young soldier who had been wounded, leaning on deliens and de marteau, trotted along courageously, leaving a track of blood behind him. several young law and theology students walked with me and we conversed in german. they were volunteers of the nd regiment, who had just arrived fresh from berlin and who were under fire for the first time. "how long do you think the war will last?" they asked. "six months, or perhaps more," i replied. "oh no," they exclaimed, "that is impossible. italy has declared war on france and we have just taken , russian prisoners." "and do you believe such tales?" i asked. "we must believe what we are told." when i asked them why they had attacked belgium, i could get no other reply than the one word: "necessity." they were surprised, in their turn, that so many young men in belgium were not under arms and they were proud of their own patriotism, which, beside the compulsory service, had given them , , volunteers. "we have , , soldiers," they said. "we are through with it, are we not, doctor?" asked an officer in a jeering tone. i simply shrugged my shoulders in an evasive way. we were marching all the time and when we turned a corner, in the darkness, we always ran the risk of coming upon a field-gun which would mow down friends or enemies alike. from time to time we were grouped. a soldier pushed me roughly and i protested. "i am an officer, if you please," i said, and oh, discipline, he apologised! another soldier wanted me to carry his bag. i refused on the same ground, and he did not insist. gradually, the night became less dark and the dawn appeared. it was the pale dawn of a rainy day. about seven hundred yards away from us, in the indistinct light, we saw a woman and a child hurrying along, laden with packages. a few shots were fired. "gute leute," said some men and the firing ceased. a similar scene took place farther on, when a man and a woman appeared at the door of a farm-house. it was now light, as it was . . the smoking ruins of dixmude could be seen through the mist and this served as a landmark. we marched on in that direction, wondering whether this might prove our salvation or our misfortune. a discussion began between the major and one of his lieutenants. in the midst of it, there was a volley fired from a belgian trench which brought down five germans. a brief command was given: "right about face and quick march!" with bayonets behind us, we had to beat a retreat. some shots were fired from a farm and bullets whizzed through the air. we were certainly within the line of the allies. the major gave orders that the prisoners should march in front of the germans. fifteen of us formed the first rank. my companion on the right, frigate captain jeanniot, explained to me that, on seeing the boches, he had come towards them to parley, with a belgian, as interpreter, and he had invited them to surrender. he had been made a prisoner. "they are turning round, they are lost," remarked a soldier. our position was most dangerous, as firing was directed against us from every farm. a german fell and i moved towards him, but a brief order: "vorwaerts!" and the threat of a pistol stopped me. the unfortunate man, holding out his hand and imploring help, was left to his fate, without a word of encouragement or of consolation. decidedly that major was a brute. we were just passing by major hellebaut's belgian battery and we should certainly have been greeted with firing, if it had not been for lieutenant de wilde, who discovered, just in time, that there were allies' uniforms in the enemy group. the situation was most critical, as our warders were more and more occupied with replying to the firing of our men. this was our moment of neck or nothing. my stretcher-bearer and the french sailor whom i had led into the fray followed my lead. i moved along gradually, more and more slowly, until i reached the rear and then sank down in a trench that was not very deep. nothing happened, as no one had noticed our disappearance. we got away by crawling along and then with a few bounds we were soon out of reach. we were saved! * * * * * this account is completed by the soldier léon deliens. "just at this moment," said the latter, "a german officer shouted: 'what must we do with the prisoners?'" "shoot them dead!" replied another. a shot was fired at commander jeanniot, who was not hit. it was a terrible moment. our warders hurried us along and pushed us about. they had lost their heads and, after taking a roundabout way, they were going towards dixmude. suddenly an energetic firing began and the german ranks suffered severely. the major assembled his men and someone, i cannot say whether he or a lieutenant, gave the order: "shoot the prisoners dead!" each soldier chose a prisoner. their bayonets pierced the defenceless breasts of their victims and shots were fired point-blank. my executioner aimed at me, his gun on his hip. i flung myself down on the ground and the bullet passed over my head. i got up again and, with a bound, rushed off some forty yards. my shoes sank in the mud and i fell down again with my head in the mud. the next bullet must have missed me, as i did not feel any wound. there was a veritable hailstorm of bullets and, when i looked up, the boches were beating a retreat. the major was giving his commands, but in a hoarse voice. i saw the french rushing out to assault and i was between two fires. the soil flew into the air, wounded men were howling with pain, and i could hear the death rattle of our poor comrades who had been assassinated. there was a medley of blue, black, and grey uniforms. a fit of furious anger took possession of me. i sprang up, seized a german gun and fired the three cartridges that the weapon contained. i waved my forage cap towards the french who were hurrying along. one of them fell; i seized his gun with its bayonet and, in mad, indescribable rage, animated by an irresistible thirst for revenge, i rushed forward and confronted major von oidtmann. he was still shouting, holding his riding-whip in one hand and his browning in the other. i must own that he was braver than ever at that moment. i plunged my bayonet into his left side, under his heart, and he fell down all in a lump. the scene then changed and the boches surrendered, holding up their hands, imploring mercy and offering money. my comrade, de marteau (spared by good luck, as a bullet had pierced his forage cap), and i took some prisoners with us and returned, very much astonished at coming out of this skirmish safe and sound. by admiral ronarc'h's order, the germans we recognised as having fired on the prisoners were shot. of the seventy boches who had crossed the dixmude bridge twenty-five were living. of the fifteen prisoners they had taken, all the french were either killed or wounded. the poor young sailor who had been wounded in the leg was killed outright by the germans, and a soldier of the belgian engineers was massacred. i never think of those frightful hours that we passed without a feeling of deep admiration for the stoic patience, the contemptuous silence, and the indifference to death of commander jeanniot and of all my unfortunate companions. chapter xxviii the tervaete charge by artillery captain m---- c---- (in memory of major count henri d'oultremont.) refusing stubbornly to budge from the yser, the belgian army was struggling desperately with the enemy, making a frantic effort to hold on to the last shred of its beloved country. the valiant little army had been asked to hold out for forty-eight hours in the gigantic and unequal combat in which it was engaged. it had done this, but relief had not come, and the fierce battle had now lasted five days. the defenders of their country had now decided to die at this spot rather than yield. the stubborn fight had so undermined the strength of the heroic army that it was now like a wrestler, out of breath and at the last gasp, only sustained by the extreme tension of his nerves and the force of a fixed idea. the army was short of ammunition and of reserves. it consisted now of a meagre line of almost exhausted men, tired in every limb, but making a last desperate effort. it seemed probable that, under a formidable push of the germans, some point would give way and cause disaster along the whole of the rest of the line. the germans continued unceasingly to harass our wearied troops with their machine-guns and with fresh assaults until, finally, at tervaete they managed to break through our line. when once the breach was made, the stream rushed in like a wild torrent, gaining the left bank of the river and driving back our battalions in disorder. with a frightful whirl, everything gave way before the massed effort of the enemy. a furious, mute, desperate counter-attack was crushed and wasted in this gulf of death. it was simply stifled and mown down by the deadly work of two hundred machine-guns. there was then a moment of terrible anguish experienced along the whole line. our troops had fallen back, without yielding, and were thronging together, forming two wings on the yser, at the extremities of the huge bend where the germans had broken through the defence. this fresh front was like a fragile rampart of earth piled up in haste before a powerful torrent, a rampart which would surely fall away under the rush of the waters, as fast as it was built up. there was no longer any organised unity of action. each one was fighting on his own account. it was an amalgamation of horrible looking men, all covered with mud and with blood, their faces blackened by the smoke of explosions. they no longer looked like human beings. as they fought there, with haggard eyes and weary arms, it was more like a vision of hell, lighted up for a moment by the wan flashes from the guns. we wondered what would happen? was this to be the end of everything? in front of us, the attack was still coming along in constant and ever-increasing waves, with an ominous roaring, beating down our crumbling human wall with furious shocks. could our army possibly resist these endless assaults? * * * * * just at this moment, the order arrived for this spectre of a troop to take the offensive and, by means of a general counter-attack, to fling the enemy back, at any cost, on the other side of the river. the instructions given were in the following simple words: "your charge must be a wild rush." the order passed through the dislocated ranks like an electrical current. a thrill of glory was felt by every man in the line. the blackened faces looked up once more and turned pale under the masks of blood and dirt, and all eyes flashed once more with a superhuman light. a splendid thing was then seen, a thing that seems incredible in its grandeur. all these wavering fragments of an army suddenly formed up again in a solid block. in the fresh ranks, each man took his place just where he happened to be. wounded men got up from the ground and wedged their way into the mass to increase the weight. from the nearest sectors, troops rushed forward and mixed with the others. and then the whole newly formed line moved forwards, with great difficulty at first, making a formidable effort under the hurricane of fire. then a wild rush took place and, with a bound, they were there in the prussian lines; foot-soldiers, cavalrymen, pioneers, gunners, soldiers, and officers, valid or crippled, all had flung themselves _pêle-mêle_ on their enormous adversary, going straight ahead in the breaches that opened before them and their bayonets. here and there, in the chaos of mingled troops, a clearer line marked the points where the neighbouring troops had rushed in to reinforce them. in some places, thanks to the impulsion of fresh energy, salient points could be seen pushing forward and leading on the rest. and, in the midst of the fray, above the roaring din of the battle, one cry could be heard, one conquering cry, uttered as though by one voice coming from three thousand men, a cry that grew louder and louder, swelling as it were under the influence of its own frenzy, a cry that could be heard over all the plain, like the rumbling of a wild storm: "long live the king! long live belgium!" the first enemy line was driven back under the sudden rush. behind it, the second line gave way, and then each wave driven back drove back the following one, and there was general disorder among the german troops. it was a carnage for which there are no words. there was no longer any question of numbers or of tactics. only one thing was evident now, a mysterious and all-powerful thing, the force of a will stronger than death itself, dominating all material things. the germans, disconcerted by the suddenness of all this, were seized with panic. with an irresistible effort, our panting, breathless soldiers, veritable phantoms of death, crushed all resistance. in their rush forward, without a second's hesitation and in their continued rush, they had driven back the enemy masses as far as the yser; they pushed them to the brink and then into the river itself. half dead themselves with their superhuman effort, they reoccupied the dyke and--the last shred of belgian territory was saved. chapter xxix a reconnaissance from the diary of father hénusse, s.j., chaplain of the th battery _november , ._ this morning, our dear captain had just begun reading the daily orders, when he suddenly exclaimed: "ah, no, it begins to get on one's nerves! this footbridge is a regular see-saw. we cannot go on being fooled like this!" he threw the paper down on the table and went out of the room. something was evidently on his nerves. i picked up the paper and read that, contrary to the aviation information received the last few days, there was a footbridge across the yser, between the milestones and , on a level with the petroleum tanks and opposite the "nacelle." this was the tenth time we had been informed that this bridge existed, and just as many times we had been told that it did not exist. we were first ordered to destroy it with shells and then to stop firing there, as the objective was an imaginary one. this little game had unhinged our captain, and this morning he was more unhinged than i had ever seen him. when he came back, i saw by his face that it was one of the days of his big decisions. he was extremely reserved, and appeared to have his ideas concentrated on some subject. he did not utter a word and i said to myself, "either our captain is going to fulminate a 'note' or he is going to investigate that footbridge himself." i had guessed rightly. he put on his boots and gaiters, placed his browning behind his hip and his field-glasses in his breast-pocket, took up his cap, and made his exit, without even uttering his famous: "_au revoir_, my friends." it was ten in the morning, and a regular november morning, grey, cold, and damp, but as a matter of fact no one took much notice of the weather. all day long we were inside the infamous little farm that we had nicknamed "taboo farm" because, in the midst of a plain ravaged by shells, it was the only building that had remained intact. two or three "saucepans" had fallen in the farmyard, shattering all the windows, but that was all. we replaced the window-panes by planks of wood and mattresses and lived in a little cavern-like room, sitting round a cracked stove, in which we only burned wood. as to showing our faces outside, that was not good enough. in the first place there was the mud, the terrible "polder mud," slimy, deep, and clinging. after walking ten steps, one came back with enormous cakes of about twenty pounds on each foot. and then there were the petroleum tanks, the two enormous tanks over yonder in the background of the yser. they dominated the whole region in its autumn bareness and were like two sentinels of death. for the last month they had been riddled by the firing, and the petroleum had flamed up. oh, the fine flames, lighting up with a glorious fire the dixmude victory! these tanks were now full of holes like sieves. one of them had given way and fallen in, but the other one was still standing and made an admirable observation-post for the enemy's artillery, so that we did not care to attract their terrible "saucepans" in the direction of "taboo farm." at noon, our chief had not returned. we waited luncheon until one o'clock and then we decided not to wait any longer. the inevitable soup, made of preserved peas, and the pneumatic-tyre beefsteak disgusted me a little more than usual. i was feeling very anxious about the captain. i made enquiries two or three times at the battery, but the same reply came each time: "we have not seen him since this morning, when he came to give the command of the battery over to the lieutenant." towards three in the afternoon, the door was opened noisily and in he walked. he looked tired out, but his eyes were feverishly bright. he was all be-starred with mud and, half joyfully, half wearily, in a way not at all like himself, he sank on to a chair. "well, i always said so," he remarked. "there is no footbridge, but, my boys, it came very near there being no captain either." ... "what happened? tell us!" we all begged, crowding round him. "give me a beefsteak first. i am dying of hunger. and some coffee, too, for i am parched with thirst." he then took his boots off, pitching one to the right and the other to the left, and his gaiters anywhere. "there!" he said, at last. "i have been myself, for i had had enough of that nonsense. lieutenant zaeydydt, brigadier marteau, and i set off together. we could not stand that sort of thing any longer and i was determined to get to the bottom of it, if we had to go right there ourselves. things went all right as far as the yser, to the milestone . the last of the trenches occupied by the french territorials are there, but we could not discover anything that was of any use to us. looking out from there, towards the north, on a level with the tanks, there was something that looked like a footbridge over the yser, but it was not distinct enough for us to be sure about it and we decided to go on along the river. "just then, the french howitzers opened fire on the tanks: all the firing was from eighty to one hundred yards too far. suddenly our good little eighty-four began to spit. you cannot imagine the pleasure it gave us to hear it quite near to its target. it was hitting a ruined house and each shot entered straight inside. it was the famous wine-shop, where we had been told there was a battery. all rubbish! there was no more a battery there than there is on my hand. all the same the firing was good. "we left the territorials and went on, half crawling. we made good progress along the river just below the towpath. a hundred yards farther on were two french sentinels, who wished us good luck, and then two belgian sentinels belonging to the nd chasseurs. we could see nothing but their heads emerging from a hole, and after this we met no one. to the left, was a great sheet of inundation, to the right, was the yser, and beyond, apparently nothing but deserted ruins. we kept on our way and, presently, came up against a huge tree lying on the ground and barring the towpath. we had to go round this obstacle and we first passed behind the ruins of a little house, built on the roadside. we were now advancing towards the inundation. it was all terrible. ruins of houses broke the surface of the lake here and there. sometimes we saw the dead bodies of horses and of cows there, too. there was also a dead man, a poor young belgian chasseur. he must have been there since the dixmude battle. he was fair-haired, half buried in the mud, his gun under his arm and his head thrown back, so that his pointed beard was skyward and he was wearing an eyeglass. we were now once more on the towpath and were a little nearer the famous footbridge. it was only a hundred yards from us. we stood still and at once understood. on looking at the map, you will see on the left bank of the yser the two petroleum tanks near the towpath, where we then were. on the right bank is the "nacelle," as indicated on the map, but at this spot, yards above the tanks, the yser makes a bend and, consequently, what is at the water's edge on the left bank looks, from where we are, as though it were on the right bank. now on the left, starting from the tanks and projecting over the river, are two big pipes, by means of which the boats get the petroleum on board, and these two pipes, seen projecting on the right bank, are what had been taken for a footbridge, and it is on this imaginary footbridge that we have been firing like imbeciles. "farther on, there is a footbridge facing the road which crosses the last 'e' of oudstuyvekenskerke on the map. just as we had taken note of this, we heard 'bzim! bzim! bzim!' and a whole collection of balls broke up the ground around us. we threw ourselves flat down first, and then began to concert. where had they come from was the first question. it was not possible to decide that, but, instinctively, we suspected the petroleum tanks and the terrible house with turrets, to the left of the petroleum tanks, and the cemented cellar, between the house and the tanks, where we could see the black mouths of the loopholes. we decided to rush along the towpath and bury ourselves in the deserted trenches along the bank sloping down to the river. we went along like three zebras. 'bzim! bzim! bzim!' we were in our holes though--for our refuge was not a regular trench, but separate holes made for single riflemen and divided by earth. "zaeydydt was in one hole, marteau in another, and i in a third, separated from each other by the distance of a yard to a yard and a half. we were quiet for a few minutes, getting our breath again, and then we began a fresh consultation, without being able to see each other. as there were about twenty of these holes, we decided that we would each spring out, turn round on our stomachs, so that our legs should drop into the next hole, and then slip down bodily into it. this we did, and the boches must have had an amusing sight if they were watching us. three men springing out of a hole, pirouetting on their stomachs, and disappearing into the next hole. each time we were greeted by the same volley, 'bzim! bzim! bzim!' "i now know something of the sensations of my rabbit-brothers, when the shooting season commences. just at that moment, i remembered that i had not said a word to our chaplain, our dear, good chaplain, before starting on this expedition. i regretted this, but at the same time i did not know what i could have said to him. "we reached our last shelters in this way. the lieutenant joined me in my hole. he was laughing like a lunatic, but i was not laughing at all. "'marteau! brigadier marteau!' i called out. there was no reply. "'good heavens! had he been hit at the last hole?' "'marteau!' i called again and a voice that sounded a long way off replied, 'captain!' "'are you whole, my boy?' "'yes, captain.' "'well played then! now listen. the tree that lies across the road is fifty yards from us. we are going to run to it at full speed, jump over it, and lie down behind it to get our breath again. the lieutenant will lead off.' "de zaeydydt started and bullets whizzed through the air and exploded. he reached the tree, got mixed up in the branches, and rolled on the ground. i thought he had been hit and i shuddered. he got up again, cleared the tree, and disappeared. i said to myself, 'my dear boy, you are too short to scale that. you had better go round the tree again and the house.' 'marteau,' i called out, 'i am going to start. follow me.' i sprang out. marteau followed me and there was a shower of bullets, but our hour had not yet come--and we got through safely. "we were very soon in the french trenches and the soldiers welcomed us heartily. they had not expected to see us again. our return journey, from the time we had seen the first bullet to the last one, had taken an hour and twenty minutes. ah, i forgot to tell you that we had taken notes on the map and from the last 'e' of kaesteelhoek, there was a gleam from a boche battery. that battery will hear from us to-morrow!" the beefsteak and the coffee now put in an appearance, and our captain started on his meal like a wolf that had been starving for a fortnight in the snow. he is now sleeping and i am noting down this souvenir of the war, by the side of a fire which is smoking badly, as it is raining and raining outdoors.... * * * * * december , . great joy at our battery. our captain has received the order of leopold for his fine reconnaissance, november , , on the yser. chapter xxx the irony of fate by m. sadsawska, civic guard, motorcyclist of the st line regiment we were occupying the dixmude sector. our trenches were hollowed out in the road which skirts the yser, and the regiment was sheltering in the centre of a vast horseshoe-shaped curl, traced by the river among the meadow grasses. the scenery was dolefully sad. beyond a row of century-old trees, or rather of poor trunks of trees bewailing their scathed branches, which seemed to be mounting guard around our shelters, the ruins of a railway bridge stood out, half hidden in the water. on the embankment, surrounded by broken and twisted telegraph poles, and festoons of wires and cables all mixed up, lay a powerful locomotive, which had been overturned, so that its wheels were in the air. the melancholiness of the site did not disturb our equanimity at all. we were full of hopefulness and quite ready to march on towards the piles of fallen roofs, gaping houses, and tottering walls of strange shapes, which now constituted dixmude, our old flemish city. in the misty twilight, it seemed to us as though the poor town were stretching out its mutilated arms to us, and as though the murmur of the wind in the ruins were hailing us. "courage, courage, come!" it seemed to say. alas! the few hundred yards of verdure, which our thoughts and our wishes cleared only too willingly, hid the entrenchments and the redoubts of the enemy. every night, the bravest of our men started out patrolling, endeavouring to discover the barbed wire, the ambushes, and the traps set for us. sergeant renson had specially distinguished himself for his daring and his _sang-froid_. he was naturally of an adventurous nature and was an excellent soldier. in spite of his mature age, he had joined the colours as a volunteer at the very beginning of the war. he was anxious to find out whether some information he had obtained on a preceding expedition was exact, as it was very difficult on these ink-black nights to distinguish the real from the imaginary. he, therefore, expressed a wish to carry out a reconnaissance alone, and by daylight, in the direction of the enemy's lines. "i am not afraid of death," he said to his chiefs. "i have always lived in my own way and i now want to carry out this plan. i am free to risk my own skin and, as i am forty-two years old, i should not be any great loss." he was finally allowed to do as he wished. he went along a narrow, long passage, until he came to the edge of the yser, just where a few planks formed a raft. this means of transport was invaluable at night, but could not be used by daylight, as the enemy was on the watch. renson could not swim. that did not trouble him and he crossed the current clinging to a cable. accustomed as he was to all kinds of difficulties, this was mere child's play to him. he reached the other side, slipped into a big sack covered with grass and flowers, and, under this mantle of verdure, crawled along dexterously. our emotion was intense in the trenches. all eyes were watching him, there was not a single loophole unoccupied. under the rays of the sun, we saw this moving grass crossing the meadow. it advanced, fell back, turned, stopped, appeared and disappeared, according to the undulations of the soil. our hero was gaining ground. he was observing in his own defiant way, braving death itself. nothing daunted him, nothing seemed to affect him. he was there, moving about in front of the enemy's line. our hearts were beating wildly. every time that a bullet whizzed along, it was anguish to us, and each minute seemed eternal. finally renson turned round and, slowly and methodically, began to wend his way back. after a few yards more he would be in safety. we saw him on the crest of the bank. he glided into the water, crossed the stream, entered the narrow passage, and was soon back in the trenches, contented and happy, bringing with him valuable information. and this man, who had thus braved death, laughed heartily, as he gave us flowers from the german trenches. he then went to his shelter and prepared his report, tracing in full detail the daring itinerary he had chosen. the commander questioned him on some point and, in order to explain better and to show the exact spot, they both approached a loophole in a communication trench. the sergeant pointed with his finger to the spot in the meadow where the enemy was observing. a few seconds later and he was moving away.... malediction! there was a cruel whizzing sound and renson was dead. his skull had been pierced and he fell to the ground, the earthen wall bespattered with his generous blood. at alveringhem, in a peaceful country cemetery, in a grave covered with flowers and surmounted by a large cross, lies adjutant renson, knight of the order of leopold ii. who died for his country. chapter xxxi observers by artillery captain m--- c--- leaning on my beam, i looked out into the night. it was a beautiful winter night, dreamy and peaceful. a vague gleam of moonlight hovered over the serene space, touching the fleecy clouds which were floating in the sky. and yet everything was sad with an infinite sadness. from the summit on which i was perched, i looked out on every side on an immense horizon, and on every side it was a desert of death and desolation. in front of me were the germans. five hundred yards separated us from their outposts and that was the only side where there was no water. to the right, to the left, and behind us was the inundation, a great humid street, which, as far as the eye could see, shone strangely under the wan moonbeams, a weird shroud, covering, in its icy folds, thousands of corpses buried in the mud. here and there, a dark spot could be seen in the water. it was all that remained of a farm, a charred, crumbling skeleton, or there was a dead beast breaking through the winding-sheet, or a human corpse turning its grimacing face to the moon. there were two, not far away from me, that i knew well. for some months, they had been my daily companions. the first one was a german with a ravaged face, showing all its teeth in a horrible grin. the other one was a belgian. only the face emerged and the water splashed round it, leaving green shreds on its grey cheeks. a dark bird was poised on its nose, pecking at its gnawed eye sockets. oh, shades of heroes! can the glory that surrounds you with its halo not cover the remains of your poor profaned bodies? there was a deadly calm and the cold wind made the trembling reeds rustle. every breeze brought me a whiff of fulsome decay. nothing broke the silence, except the funereal croaking of the birds of prey and the wail of the sea-gulls, which kept hovering in long flights over the deserted space. oh, the sadness and the infamy of war! this then is your work, oh brutal and barbarous force, the rights of which men dare in our days still affirm and glorify! * * * * * presently, some stealthy footsteps were to be heard. it was the guard being relieved. on the long footbridge, which was all that united our men with the outpost, a line of silent figures passed. a flash was to be seen, lighting up the darkness, and this was immediately followed by about twenty shots. the troop passed underneath my observation post. there was a fresh flash, and a bullet struck the wall under my feet. there was a cry followed by a long groan. it was a wounded man. he was carried away and the others went on to occupy the trenches. our order here had been to hold out to the very death. retreat was impossible anyhow. to be convinced of this, one had only to look at the immense stretch of water which separated us from our first lines, that dark band in the distant horizon. the change of guard was scarcely finished when i heard a well-known strain coming from afar. it was a "saucepan" on its way: "ou-oû-ou-oû!..." it was a fifteen calibre. "boom!" it exploded five yards away from me, covering me with mud. it was the moment when every man crouches down in his shelter, but, for the observer, it was the moment to see something and to get up higher, if possible, in order to gaze out at the land around. a second shot was to be heard and, so far, i had seen nothing. an infernal noise shook the building under me. that was charming. i sent my two aids to get under cover and i fixed a certain spot in the darkness. ah, there was a gleam of light. quick, i had to place it, whilst the projectile was on its way. this was aimed too far. it passed like a whirlwind over my head. quick with the telephone! good, we are going to reply. thirty seconds later, a volley started from us, and now the concert began in earnest. an enemy battery answered our firing. on our side, a second one was brought into action, and this bombarded the german post in front of me. presently, there was a deafening noise on all sides. i could no longer hear the german projectiles, but red flashes and formidable shocks warned me that we were coming in for it. i shouted my observations to the telephonist, who could scarcely hear me a storey lower. finally the battery which was firing on us was reduced to silence. others went on firing, but slackened down and, at the end of an hour, there was dead silence again, broken only by bullets which, from one trench to the other, were fired in search of victims. * * * * * when my time had expired, i went down below and was surprised to see my brave liénart at the side of the ladder. he had been observing too. instead of getting under cover, during the storm, he had come up to help in case of need. as to the telephonist, cornez, i found him crouching down near his apparatus. "no chance of going to sleep here!" he said, on seeing me. and as it was his turn, he went up to take my place. i threw myself down on my "flea sack" (the name answered to the reality in this case) and i slept the sleep of the observer, which had now become a habit with me. that is, i had one ear closed and the other listening to every sound. i kept my boots on, my pistol and cartridge case at my side, and my carbine within reach. suddenly, a bullet passed quite near, with that special click peculiar to shots fired at a short distance. a volley of shots then came, flattening themselves against the walls. we were all quickly on the alert. i went to look out at the observation post. it was probably an enemy patrol wandering about. three men offered to go out in search of this and quickly started off, crawling along in the darkness. a few shots were exchanged and then all was quiet. the german patrol had withdrawn. when i returned to my post, i felt suddenly chilly. i lighted a few pieces of wood in my brick oven and cooked three sweet potatoes over the cinders. this had been our usual meal since we had been at this observation post. gradually, whilst the wood was crackling and cornez, who had been relieved, was snoring near me, i began to think of my home and of my old parents, who were watching and waiting so far away. i thought, too, of the beloved convent which i had left for this war, and of the strange contrast between this adventurous life and the serene life of the cloister. for five months, we had been going from ruin to ruin in the midst of the inundation, trying to find a fresh post among the putrid waters, as soon as the shells had reduced the preceding one to a heap of ruins. a hundred times death had hovered over us, and a hundred times shells had paid us their gracious visits, in the very rooms in which we were living. it was all in vain, though, for we were "vaccinated." as to our diet, it was worthy of robinson crusoe. what did it all matter! we were inured now to hunger, thirst, cold, and weariness. the worst of everything was the rain. it was all in vain that we struggled to protect our shelter. the bombardment soon played havoc with the roof and then the water was hopeless. it was no use thinking of sleep. drop by drop, the rain would first come through a crack in the ceiling.... "toc!... toc!... toc!" ... we would put a basin down for it. a second little streamlet would commence. down would go our saucepan for that. then other streamlets would begin, and we would follow them all up with receptacles. we changed the places of our mattresses. it was all in vain, as very soon the deluge began again. among all this ceaseless spotting, each drop competed with the other in making the clearest sound and the quickest drip: "ticlictacpictoctoc".... "tu-u-u-u-û!" the one in the middle would say, for it had suddenly found a way to make one steady stream. that one certainly deserved the prize, and we gave it the honour of having the big saucepan to receive it. finally, we resigned ourselves to the inevitable. we had our feet in a pool, water on our clothes, water on our heads, gradually dripping down our necks, and our mattresses full of water. there was only one thing left for us to do, and that was to put on our big coats and to let it go on raining, to shut our eyes and dream (with the joyful concert of the drip, drip going on) of all that life has that is beautiful, great, and good, provided all this be consecrated to some holy cause. just as dawn was appearing, i had an agreeable visit in my lonely hermitage. my old comrade, lieutenant de w----, had come here to observe in his turn. he was accompanied by his two faithful followers, quartermaster snysters, an old antwerp friend, who had gone through the retreat with me, and gunner frentzen. how am i to describe frentzen? imagine a tall, bony, roughly-hewn flemish man of six feet, with a surly look and two small, keen eyes, constantly lighting up with a smile. frentzen had been taken prisoner by the germans. the first night, he went and found the sentinel, killed him with his fists, and then, smoking his pipe, returned calmly to his lieutenant. my two flemish friends are inseparable. they insult each other from morning to night and are always in search of some adventurous exploit. they go roving about in the midst of the inundations, right to the outposts, under the very noses of the boches. the newcomers received a hearty welcome and de w---- and i stirred up, not only the fire, but all our old memories, by way of cheering ourselves. whilst we were chatting, his two companions had been laying their plans. frentzen came ambling up to us, scratching the back of his neck. "lieutenant," he began, "if we could just have a look in at the little farm over yonder?" "the farm? that one? why, it's full of boches." "the 'bosses'!" exclaimed frentzen, with superb disdain. "we can put a few bullets into them." de w---- and i roared with laughter at his expression. "right," said my friend. "you can go, but be prudent." snysters favoured me with a wink that was full of eloquence and shrugged his shoulders slightly, and the two men set out on their expedition. an hour later they returned, wet through, covered with mud, and accusing each other of being milksops, cowards, and using various other complimentary epithets, such as only the flemish language can render with sufficient emphasis. frentzen's pocket had been pierced by a bullet. snysters had had one through his cap. a minute or two later, snysters went out of the room and frentzen came a few steps nearer and remarked, confidentially: "lieutenant, snysters, he doesn't know what it means to be afraid of anything, but he's a bit...." frentzen winked and touched his own forehead. "you understand, lieutenant." "yes, yes, i know him well." frentzen went away and when snysters came back, he drew his chair up and remarked: "lieutenant, that frentzen's a chap with plenty of nerve, but," hereupon he tapped his forehead with a knowing expression, "a bit touched here, you know." "yes, yes, i know...." a little while later, they went off again, arm in arm, insulting each other more than ever, but on the lookout for fresh adventures. the bombardment recommenced at an early hour. it began with volleys of 's, those miserable, ridiculous 's. they come along as though they are going to smash everything before them, and they finish with a poor little "petch" and a bit of pipe smoke. _parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus._ cornez, my youngster from liége, gave a whistling accompaniment. presently the song changed and the arrived. the planks of wood which served as window-shutters were flung inside the room. in front of the building, the footbridge was pulverised. that was the fifth time this had happened. there would be no chance of going outside and keeping our feet dry now. our guns answered. i looked out at the firing zone and was pleased to see that the enemy battery was well encircled. it continued in spite of this, and as a matter of fact, we were no less encircled than they were. i went downstairs to go to the telephone. i was only just there, when a formidable explosion flung a whole collection of bricks and rubbish behind me and i was in the midst of a cloud of dust. i looked up and saw that there was nothing left of my observation post. a huge breach in the wall showed where the brutal visitor had just entered. de w---- came running to me, delighted to see me whole. "i fancy there are too many prayers being said for you," he remarked, "for the shells to be able to touch you." "i have been vaccinated," i replied. after all this, we had a good night's work before us, as we were obliged to build the place up again. and that was not all. that satanic was warming up with its work. the footbridge was smashed in several places. it would be difficult for the relief at night, and, by way of a climax, the telephone was silent, as the wire was cut. good, we were completely isolated from the rest of the world. for the moment there was nothing to be done, so we sat down and began talking, knowing that there was every possibility of our conversation finishing up above, in the presence of st. peter. towards noon, there was a lull and we were able to repair the telephone wire. as soon as we were in communication once more with our comrades in the rear, the first thing they asked was whether we were all dead. we then cooked some more sweet potatoes, put the platform up again, and then the fête began once more, and this time continued until night. just when it was beginning to grow dark, our telephone wires broke again. we were now getting volleys of shrapnel, which continued all the time, covering the ground with hurricanes of lead and iron. this foreshadowed an attack. i thought i would go and have a look at the trenches. i kept slipping on the mud and went splashing through pools of water and tumbling into holes, made recently by the shells, whilst overhead the wretched volleys kept bursting with their sharp, dry din and, at my feet, the bullets pierced the ground. in front of us, nothing could be seen moving. the lieutenant in command of this post was on his guard, as he expected an attack. the night was getting quickly heavy and dark, so that very soon we could distinguish nothing ten yards away from us. nothing could be seen at all but the weird flashes which kept lighting up the darkness on all sides, and these seemed to be getting more and more furious. "there is nothing to fear, at present," i said to my comrade, "but as soon as the firing slackens, we must keep a sharp lookout." "lieutenant, lieutenant!" i suddenly heard from my post. "what is the matter?" "come quick!" i returned as quickly as possible. there was no light, but a huge hole in the ceiling which let in the cold air. on the floor, among all the rubbish, lay a man. i turned my light on the face and saw that it was my brave friend, snysters. he was covered with blood which was still smoking; a huge fragment of shell had pierced his heart. i examined him to see whether he were really dead and i offered up a prayer to god for his heroic soul. i then went in search of the others. they had taken refuge in a trench. de w. was wounded in the wrist. cornez was still dazed by the commotion, and frentzen was growling and swearing in a low voice. "filthy bosses! wretched pigs! poor snysters! curse them, curse them!" towards o'clock, the bombardment suddenly slackened and the germans extended their firing range. a minute later, there was shooting from our trenches, and the germans fired back from quite near to us. our shooting then became hurried and agitated. attention now for the attack! i took a fuse and then went to our line. what was the meaning of the disorder? we were just being relieved. "halt! let no one move until further orders. every man in the trenches." i met the fresh commander of the post and we concerted for a few seconds. whilst he threw a fuse from the trench to the left, i was to look out with my field-glasses at the trench to the right, which appeared to be the one threatened. the fuse was thrown and the whole country round was bathed in a bright light. there was nothing to be seen. not a man appeared. but as i knew every detail of the land by heart, i could distinguish, thirty yards in front of us, a long line of little heaps that had been newly made. the boches were hollowing out the ground and were burying themselves ready for the assault. i stopped the firing and ordered absolute silence. in the midst of the darkness, we could then hear distinctly the rough, brief orders that the commander of the attack was giving in a low voice. ah, the rascals, they had come as near to us as that! good, we will give them something for their trouble. with the agreement of the officer in command, i had one of the two machine-guns brought from the other salient. i then looked out again with my field-glasses; a faint moonbeam now lighted up the ground. i could see the little heaps and also the spades that were moving the earth. presently a shadow could be seen standing up and then two, three, ten figures. i indicated the spot to the gunner and he took aim. "fire!" the horrible engine of war did its work and, in a trice, it had mown down all these figures. five minutes later, some more figures rose and these too were brought down by the machine-gun. an enemy machine-gun now replied to us, but, fortunately, it fired too high and too much to the left. for three hours, we kept this game up. the germans were nailed to the ground, and each time they attempted to get up, they were swept down again by our firing. finally, they retired and disappeared, crawling along in the darkness. we then went back to our post. a never-to-be-forgotten sight awaited us there. snysters was lying in the middle of the room. his face was turned to the sky and he was sleeping his long sleep under a beam of light. just above his head, by the gaping breach in the ceiling, the moon shed a white ray which surrounded his face with a halo of glory. it looked very pure and very peaceful, and left all the rest of his body hidden in dense darkness. i have never seen a finer mortuary than the one which the heavens had thus raised to this martyr to his country. and it seemed to me that the soul of the hero had risen gloriously, in this beautiful ray of light, to the kingdom above. an hour later, the body was taken away. frentzen wrapped it in his own cloak, because it was a better one than that of the dead man, and he carried it out alone. whilst he was digging a grave, swearing all the time between his teeth, i noticed that he kept furtively wiping away his tears. when he had finished his task, he came back to me. "lieutenant," he said, "i knew it would happen to him. i always told him so. he was always swearing like the devil, it was sure to happen to him.... damn! damn!" and swearing away now for two men, instead of one, he went on growling quietly. * * * * * before the dawn, we had again repaired the damage. and then the day broke, rosy and smiling, in the limpid horizon, lighting up a pile of german corpses and of ruins in the midst of our own ruins. and when i had gone up to my post once more, a blackbird came and perched on the top of the roof and warbled his gay song to the echoes. i understood then that only one thing matters in our existence, and that is to so order one's soul that, high up in the ideal azure, it shall sing its song in spite of the storm. it must be a soul which, free and strong, shall continue its own way, always ready for any struggle, always ready for martyrdom, and always ready to rise heavenwards! _march, ._ chapter xxxii a patrol by artillery captain m---- c---- everything looked gay that morning at the outposts. the big, radiant sun, saturating the blue sky, made the sheet of water sparkle, as it rippled along with silvery spangles right up to the enemy lines. the ruins of the red roofs and picturesque white gables had quite a festive air, reflected in the lake which now bathed them. they seemed surprised to find themselves in the midst of these moving meadows, instead of in the green meadows in which they had been accustomed to slumber. in the horizon could be seen tints of periwinkle and lilac, which seemed to be smiling to the deep blue of the sky. the reality of things was by no means so jovial as this charming setting. the violet, huge trees, which looked so beautiful over yonder, concealed batteries which would presently send out death amongst us. the gay, white gables had little loopholes where wicked guns and machine-guns were waiting in readiness. and, under the silvery ripples of the great, greenish lake, there were corpses hidden, and ruined harvests rotting in the water. unhappy the human being who ventured out into the inundated meadows! he would be caught in the deep, slimy mud, in the barbed wire, in the numberless canals which furrowed the whole district, and which were treacherously concealed under great tufts of reeds. in a very short time, bullets and shrapnels would whistle round his ears as warning precursors of death. just at the edge of the inundation, two soldiers were talking together, as they examined the big farm emerging from the water, six hundred yards to the north of the post. "i tell you there is no one inside. there's nothing left but the loopholes." "one never knows with these wretches." "the only thing is to go and see." "the sergeant says that the major, he'd like to know what's inside that farm." "well then the only thing is to go and see." "come on then." they went in search of the lieutenant. "lieutenant, can we go out on patrol round the n---- farm and have a look to see whether there's any boches inside?" "on patrol ... in a boat you mean?" "we'd make our plans, lieutenant." the lieutenant was silent a minute. that farm puzzled him too, but he was anxious about the lives of his men. "it's too dangerous," he replied, and soon after he moved away. the two men looked at each other. "he didn't say no." "he said it was dangerous. we know that." "let's go then, shall we?" "yes, we'll go." they spotted a big tub lying in a yard. they emptied it, put it on the water, and set off, each one armed with his gun and a pole. the first one, on getting in, had some difficulty in balancing himself, but for the second one it was still more difficult. the tub tossed about, threatening to turn upside down. finally they managed to steady it, and they then set sail. with one pole they pushed against the bank, and with the other they steadied themselves in the muddy lake. the tub then moved on heavily and awkwardly, leaning first suddenly to the right, then to the left, and then spinning round an invisible rotation axis. our patrol was now upset into the water, and the confounded tub, as though proud of its exploit, danced about on the ripples with a contented air. our two poor rabbits had a struggle. they managed to keep their guns above water and, on coming to land, they looked at each other and burst out laughing. it was evidently impossible for two of them to get along in that tub. they went in search of something else and presently came back with a trough. this was put on the water by the side of the tub. they each took their place, with the manoeuvres of tight-rope walkers, and the squadron set out to sea. the two ships sailed along in the most alarming way. the tub, not satisfied with leaning down, first on one side and then on the other, jumped about with the agility of a stag, in the direction of all the cardinal points, and seemed to take the greatest pleasure in spinning round with such speed that it looked as though it were wound up and would never stop again. the unfortunate sailor plunged his pole in the mud. the obstinate skiff calmed down, pretended to stop, thought it over a second, and then started off in the contrary way, with its horrible spinning movement. the pole was plunged in again, farther on. the tub stopped short, darted into an eddy, and disappeared in the water. we, who were watching, uttered a cry of fear. ah, the tub was back again, it had only been a pretence. it went on its way once more, turning about all the time, more and more turbulent and more and more incoherent. as to the trough, that was still more awful. it made me giddy to look at it. the pilot's pole had to do service as pole, oar, and beam. as it was absolutely incapable of performing all these functions at the same time, the trough had fine sport and made the most of it. it went along with such bounds and leaps that each time it seemed as though it were turning right over and plunging under the water. it went on more and more quickly, always by fits and starts, and in the most irregular way possible. the wretched pole had to keep striking the water in every way possible, splashing and dabbling in an agitated, incoherent manner, and so quickly that it looked like the fingers of a compass out of order. its poor captain, who was still in the trough, was tossed about all the time. he never ceased to brandish his giddy pole, except when he was emptying the water out of his death-trap with a saucepan. the two men were making headway, nevertheless, with the tub turning round and round, and the trough leaping and bounding, both of them dancing wild waltzes. the tub, thanks to a few vigorous strokes, got ahead. the trough followed with great difficulty, but, presently, its pilot managed to set it going and, with a few energetic strokes with his pole-oar, he too gained ground, came up with his rival, who appeared to be in distress, and then passed by him with ease. they were a good distance from us now and we held our breath as we watched them. one or the other kept disappearing every minute, apparently sinking straight to the bottom. finally the trough, which was certainly the stronger of the two, approached the coast! a few more strokes of the oar and it had landed at the edge of the green islet. as to the tub, it leapt, rocked, and spun round in a way that would have made a demon shudder. finally, it ran aground on a mud bank. the man landed in the water, wallowed in the mud, freed himself, set his barque afloat again, but it was quite a drama to re-embark in it, in the midst of the "sea." he managed this, though, and he finally crossed without any further accident. we breathed freely once more. the two patrols examined the land, consulted for a moment, and then advanced towards the mysterious farm. there was no sign of life, but we trembled for them, as we knew the ways of the boches. they were now within a hundred yards of the quiet-looking building, when, suddenly, they were saluted by bullets from invisible holes. the farm was occupied then. the object of their expedition was attained and we expected that our men would now come crawling back. not at all! they were crawling, but it was in the direction of the german trench, which ran to the right of the farm along the strip of land. they did not care to have taken such a long trip for nothing and they thought they might as well see whether the trench was occupied too. they approached it slowly and cautiously, looking up occasionally to see whether anything moved. they reached the parapet, stopped a second, and then, striding over it, disappeared. at my side i heard a man whisper: "they must be mad!" "ping! pang!" we heard in the trench. this time the daring fellows must certainly have been taken prisoners. not so, though. we saw them suddenly emerge, like two jack-in-the-boxes, jump down the bank, and crawl on all fours, with the speed of two lizards running through the grass. only their guns were then visible, swaying with a quick movement like two pendulums. the men themselves were so flat down in the mud that they soon looked like two lumps of mud being moved by an invisible hand. from time to time, after a sharp volley, one of them would remain still and apparently lifeless. had he been hit, we wondered? no, he was only pretending to be dead and, a minute later, he started again, going along more quickly still. after a good quarter of an hour of this alarming chase, they reached the water. they waited five minutes and then, with a jump, each one seized his "boat," got into it, and once more set off waltzing, twisting, and turning, under a shower of bullets. twenty times over they escaped death and finally, wet through, perspiring, covered with slime and moss, as sturdy as two neptunes, they landed, and going straight up to their lieutenant, laughing as they went, they gave in the result of their expedition. "the farm is occupied and the trench too," was all they said. "i can see that for myself, on looking at you two, by jingo!" the officer, torn between anger and admiration, did not know whether he ought to blame them or praise them. he did a little of each and our dare-devils, a trifle ashamed of being "pitched into," but very well satisfied with their exploit, went off to wash their clothes and dry themselves in the sun, which was now smiling on them. chapter xxxiii the death march by doctor duwez, army surgeon to the regiment of grenadiers there is very little improvement in the situation. the germans are holding the trenches from het-sas as far as steenstraete. their attacks are getting more frequent. to-night, the zouaves are to attack lizerne. at the present moment, all our batteries are raging. it is six o'clock in the evening. the 's are yelling at short intervals. our seven-fives, with the noise of anvils, send out their volleys into the vibrating air, with a piercing, shrill whistle. we saw pypegale, with its ruined houses. english couriers, concealed here and there, watched us pass by. to the left, the green plain stretched out before us as far as the tall trees of kemmelbeeck. they were standing in groups, with their branches still bare. farther away were hedges and little gardens, and in the corner, where the valley is cut into two by the road, in the midst of the green coppices, were pear-trees covered with blossom. we could see the red roofs of the little village of zuydschoote, with its white church all charred. the big german shells were falling all the time on these wooded places. great black convolutions rose in the air in balls, or, if the shell burst in the houses, the pink dust of the pulverised tiles could then be seen. we could hear the roofs cracking, the walls giving way, and the beams falling down. above the road occupied by the column, the white clouds of the little shrapnels were rising. they stood out clearly against the clear blue sky. the wind stretched them gently out, changed their shapes, and wafted them towards us. farther still, the horizon was gradually veiled in a mist composed of smoke, rubbish, and dust. on our left was the farm, to which this road led. we passed through the devastated barn. balls began to whistle and crash against the walls. the windows had no panes and the rooms were full of rubbish and rotten straw. a grenadier dragged himself along towards us, his face drawn and his forehead covered with cold perspiration. his trousers were sticking to one of his legs with blood, and, on cutting them away, a big wound was to be seen with a dark background, formed by the muscles, and a long, red stream which was trickling down. next arrived a zouave, short and broad-backed. he came along merrily, supporting his arm which he showed us. "i think they've broken it this time, the pigs!" he said, with a marseilles accent. "they had me, anyhow." he spoke with great eloquence, gesticulating energetically. when his arm was dressed, he turned suddenly pale and was silent, as he leaned for support against the wall. we looked out to see where we should cross the fiery barrier. every man gave his opinion on the matter. the zouaves over yonder were going along, in single file, near the hedges, in the direction of zuydschoote. we could see their yellow jackets and the blue veiling covering their _chéchias_. holding their guns in their hands, they were advancing cautiously, hiding like indians on the war-path. as we approached kemmelbeeck, the bullets whistled, snapped, and whined more than ever. we saw the footbridges, the sentinel's niche, all covered with grass, and the big, bare trees, with their out-stretched arms. all along the coppice, in the ditches, the grenadiers, with dark coats and red badges on their collars, could be seen lying down among the zouaves in their light costumes. to our right, the farm in ruins, with nothing but fragments of walls, level with the ground, was hiding its bricks in the grasses. the zone here was fired on to such a degree that it was wiser to hasten along. we had to cross the road in order to reach the little guard-house. this was sheltering a whole group of soldiers, who were in the garden taking refuge near the walls and among the green plants and tufts of jonquils. their uniforms stood out in vivid colours, all the more vivid as the sun was sinking in the horizon. the little house was intact and this was a miracle. the men were chattering like magpies. they were relating all kinds of exploits amidst the din of the battle. those near the walls were crouching down close to each other. the others were lying flat down. the wounded had taken refuge inside the house. two small rooms were full, and the wounded were lying down on straw. one of these, a grenadier, was near the wall. he was dying from a bullet in his head. a zouave, crouching in a corner, was pressing his arm against his breast. he did not speak and was gazing with a fixed stare in front of him. others were tossing about and moaning. the floor was strewn with bandages covered with blood, with scraps of dirty uniforms, with knapsacks, guns, and bayonets. a hand that was stretched out towards me had the fingers almost torn off. a young corporal, very plain-looking, with dark hair, his moustache cut in brush fashion, and with twinkling eyes, was joking at his own expense, as he pointed to his wound. "what am i going to do," he asked, "for i cannot sit down again?" in the adjoining room, there were more wounded men, all crowded together. the army chaplain, in one corner, was giving the absolution. two officers were taking their supper at a table, whilst reading their orders. coming out from under this table, could be seen the iron-tipped boots of a dying man. "doctor, doctor, am i going to be left here?" moans could be heard on all sides and everyone was talking at the same time. it was a mixture of languages, in which slang and flemish predominated. "my bandage is torn, doctor; i am losing all my blood!" there was a poor fellow whose leg had been nearly blown off; another one, bent double, was leaning his head against the wall. another man had his head bandaged and bleeding. "i was advancing," he said, "the first of the section, when all at once i felt a shock." he gesticulated with his dry hand, trying to explain what had happened. there were many others in a similar plight. it was getting dark and the red wounds looked black in the darkness, and the expression in the men's eyes seemed more profound. a candle was lighted and the shadows on the wall now grew longer and looked enormous. a wounded man, in a corner of the room, had just ceased suffering. his eyes were wide open staring fixedly at the room. from the windows, the green light of the shrapnels and the red flames of the shells lit up the darkness with sudden flashes. tiles kept falling and lumps of earth thudding against the roof. a strange heaviness weighed on everyone, numbing the brain and drying the eyes. was it fatigue or torpor? no, it was something indescribable. outside, the human bunch was still there. to the right could be heard the regular _tac-tac_ of a machine-gun. "ah the animals!" cried a zouave, shaking his fist. "we shall have them, though, just now, with the bayonet!" shells went whizzing over the house, exploding in the coppices with a whooping noise. then came the heavier, jerky whizz of the big "fifteens," _ram ... ram ... ram!_ they exploded and kept coming in threes, at regular intervals. from one minute to another the great glow might appear, the final destruction which would send all our human islet to its death. our first line trenches were over yonder. there was the lizerne mill. the village was to the right. the ground looked black, the plain was lighted by the moon, so that one could see a heap of bricks which reminded one of the mill. in october, we had seen it in all its glory, with its sails in the form of a cross. through the cloud of dust which rose from the battle-field, lighted up by the shrapnels which kept rending the darkness, and in the midst of the wan light, the scene before us looked like a dream picture. we could see the spot we wanted to reach. with our eyes fixed on it, we went along as though hypnotised. over there was the hill-top that had been laid waste, the accursed spot where craters had been made in every direction. bullets were whizzing through the air and clods of earth kept falling with heavy thuds. fragments of shells kept burying themselves with a whirring sound. onward, onward, we must get there! as we advanced, the outline of the spot we were aiming at grew bigger and bigger. we kept stumbling, falling down and getting up again. now we saw the house all in ruins, the hill on which the mill had stood before it fell in. a shelter had now been dug in the hill. i pushed the door open, a whiff of hot air nearly choked me, the light dazzled me and, in the heavy atmosphere, i could scarcely recognise any faces. there were about twenty men there, some wounded, who were waiting, and officers who were there at their posts. we had to go still farther on than this. we could stay only long enough to exchange a few words, and then, shaking hands, we said "adieu! good luck!" how many of us would never return! it was now the last stage of our journey. there was a communication trench here. we glided along, sheltering near the house, dark shadows in the night. the trench had been blocked and was almost destroyed. we had to climb on heaps of sand, stride over, jump and then let ourselves fall again into the holes. it was a labyrinth of fragments of walls, and of moving earth, above which tall, branchless trees stood up like black skeletons. shells kept coming regularly, every quarter of a minute. between every explosion we ran, hurrying forward. our hearts were beating fast. the bullets kept snapping. we did not think of death. our one idea was to arrive, to advance. it was a deadly race. and then the odour that rose to our nostrils, at the same time as the odour of the powder, became stronger and stronger. at last we came to yperlée, to the footbridge. only a rush now and we shall be on sheltered ground. the tree that used to be there is split up. its dark branches were all intertwined as they fell, and we could see the white of its sap-wood, with its enormous prickles. on the ground were four zouaves. one of them was crouching down, with his gun between his legs and his head on his chest. the others were lying down, as though they were asleep. and that terrible odour became persistent. agreeable at first, something like jasmine, it finally became sickening. it had been pursuing us for a long time, and, at times, it was most violent. the band seemed to be tightening round our temples. our eyes were burning and tears were running down our cheeks. there were little drops of moisture in the air which settled on us. here was the trench, and the moon made the shadows seem enormous. the sudden gleam from the shrapnels rent the darkness overhead. the shells yelled as they passed heavily along. it was as though they found it difficult to advance. suddenly some "seventy-fives" rushed along. they ceased and then began again wildly. the horizon was brilliant with sudden flashes. in the distance we could hear the stifled "boom!" of the big cannons, the bell-like sound of the which went on and on. the cannonading became slower and we thought it was stopping, but, after a moment's silence, one cannon began again, then another, and then all of them together. our grenadiers were there, lying on the parapets, crouching in the trenches, big, dark shadows on their still greyer sacks. they fired. bullets smashed into the sacks, into the earth and the trees. shadows could be seen gliding about, men bending double, with their guns in their hands. on the right, a great, red light was to be seen, gradually covering all the sky. ypres was burning. the ruins of ypres were in flames. the bullets sang and whined. others plunged into the bluish darkness with a reverberating noise. they went a long way and then suddenly ended in the ground. they came from the front, from the back, from everywhere. a fuse came down from the sky, a green star lighting up the trench with an unnatural light, like a diabolical smile. the whizzing began again. shrapnels burst with their greenish light, again and again, and all the time. it was a wonderful and terrible hour. flanders was bleeding from all her veins. but no matter, the germans did not pass! chapter xxxiv shelter d.a. by dr. duwez, army surgeon to the regiment of grenadiers in the low room of the farm-house, with its dingy ceiling supported by oak beams, everyone was listening in silence. the germans had lost lizerne, but they were still holding out on this side of the water: het-sas and steenstraete. this evening, the battalion was to occupy a transversal position, behind the telegraph pole opposite the bridge-head. the officers, in their dark uniforms, were standing up. in the dim light, their faces looked paler than usual. their brass buttons and their stars shone. through the curtains of the windows we could see the green landscape. only those who had passed through the lizerne hell could imagine the impression caused by the idea of returning to it. all day long, the cannon had been roaring, making the window-panes rattle. a few shells had come as far as our farm and killed a grenadier. i had seen him near the hedge. he was stretched on the ground, his skull broken in, his white face framed by the blood from his forehead. not far from him the dry, ploughed ground had been lacerated. a man, spade in hand, was looking for the head of the shell. our departure took place in silence. in the dim light, our men's red badges stood out vividly. they went along in indian file by a path in the wood. their heavy tread could be heard as they crossed the footbridge. they marched on. the black farms, in the darkness, looked fantastic. there were hedges, rows of willow-trees, and desolate houses. the framework of only a few of these was still standing. tiles cracked under our feet. then there were paths on which our dark shadows fell side by side with the poplar trees. from time to time, we heard the clatter of a metal cup or a stealthy tread on the grass, like that of an animal going to the river at night. the moon shone very faintly and the stars looked like silver nails. a few bullets sang round our ears. one of our fuses rushed into the darkness with a long, whistling sound. the white star stood out shining over the landscape and making it look elysian. we now came to the trench, with its heaps of sacks and up-turned earth. the traces of the struggle were still visible. whole trees had been felled down on the parapet and were now lying, split open, their beams in the air. we penetrated into a new domain, gliding along in the deep passages. from time to time a fuse came down with a greenish light and a graceful, curving movement. it lighted up the tops of the trees and then searched the coppices. the shadows moved about again, stretched themselves out and then again all was darkness, the darkness to which our eyes had once more to get accustomed. we saw some soldiers wearing blue coats among our men. they were the brave fellows of the th. we could scarcely distinguish them from the others. they hollowed out niches for themselves in the bank and crouched right down in these shelters, with their heads almost buried in the bank. they were there _pêle-mêle_, the dead and the living. those who were sitting had their guns between their legs and were dozing. we knocked against one of them in passing. "what's the matter?" he exclaimed. "are we going to the assault?" and he was up and ready at once. the tall outlines of the trees now stood out against the sky. we had reached the entrance of the communication trench. just as we were crossing the little bridge, something luminous burst over us and we suddenly heard the fizzling of a storm of bullets. we had only just time to lie down flat and wait till the hurricane was over. the darkness then returned. one by one, we entered the labyrinth of mud and of crumbling parapets. a prop had been made out of the ruins of a farm-house, which had been razed to the ground. these ruins did not look like any other ruins. among the dark coppices, the scattered stones looked like white patches. our shelter was composed of a number of small wooden boxes, half covered with earth. in the bluish light of night, our outlines looked enormous. the moon lighted up, with a vague gleam, this devastated space, where the shattered, broken-branched trees added their cataleptic attitudes to the general desolation. around the shelters, many of which were no more than tangled rubbish, about fifteen dead bodies were lying crushed on the ground. in the background was the lizerne mill. a jagged outline could be seen standing out against the sky. our men were wandering about trying to find a place. at the bottom of a hole, the yellowish light of a candle could be seen, but it was soon extinguished. the ambulance men were burying the nearest of the dead. the chaplain, who looked like a dark shadow in the moonlight, offered up a prayer. it was in this spot that we were to live for the next three days. our men huddled together on planks of wood with a slight layer of straw. each one rolled himself up in his blanket and wedged himself into his corner. everyone was silent. through the open door could be seen the pale blue of the sky with two stars shining in it. in the distance, the big cannons were booming all the time. we tried to go on sleeping as long as possible, stiff though we were. the sun had already risen. the square of the sky which could be seen through the open door had gradually become a square of light. death had not come to us during the night. the sun was warm and we lay down on the bare ground behind the shelter, like so many lizards. the kindly golden light chased away all bitterness and fatigue. under our feet, the bodies which had only just been buried gave a sensation of elasticity to the ground. the full daylight took away the phantasmagorial appearance of everything, and our shelters appeared in their true aspect, wretched boxes, made of pinewood half covered with tufts of grass. the ground all around us was hollowed out in enormous craters, several of which were quite close to us. a field all yellow with turnips in flower crowned the summit, the rest was nothing but brown earth. a few men at work passed along by the hedge. one by one they ran along, bending nearly double. they passed near to us, making straight for the top of the hill. little clouds of dust, made by bullets, kept rising at their feet. their coats could be seen mingling with the yellowish-green of the turnip field. they then disappeared among the flowers. towards two o'clock the cannonading commenced. the seventy-fives thundered without ceasing. our seven-fives accompanied them. very soon the germans began to do their part, and their tens exploded with a noise that rent the air. next came the wild-beast yelling of the shrapnels rushing on to the batteries, the dull noise of the heavy block-trains, the whizzing of our own shells, which passed quite near to us and then went on rapidly to lacerate our enemies in their dens. then came the bell-like sound of the english howitzers, the fantastical dance of the seventy-five shells, striking their wild chords on the trenches, the yelling whistle of the heavy shells which soon began to fall on the plateau. they exploded near to us, with a heavy crashing din. the rubbish whirled round in the air with harmonious songs. the bursting of certain german shrapnels was accompanied by a hubbub like the cries of wounded men. and then once more came the big shells. the sky was darkened by the clouds of black dust which rose up in the air like waterspouts. the planks of wood were riddled with fragments. the cannonading then diminished and finally ceased. what was going to happen next? we listened anxiously and then, suddenly, a machine-gun was to be heard. this meant the assault, and our hearts were full of anguish. we looked out into the distance, straight in front of us, sure, however, that we should see nothing. then, all at once, by the communication trench, a whole mass of wounded men arrived. they were pale and panting and many of them drenched to the bones. "oh the wretches, the wretches, they had us, doctor! it was horrible. we had scarcely left the trench, when they mowed us down. some of our men plunged into the water to save themselves, into that water over yonder, the stream, i don't know what you call it, and they have been drowned in that rot. others who were wounded and were trying to get back into our lines were finished off by them, finished off, doctor, by their machine-guns, men who were dragging themselves along on the ground." the machine-gun was silent now. more and more wounded arrived, in little groups, pursued by the shooting. one of them had his face red with blood. there was blood and mud everywhere, and on all sides moans of pain. one poor fellow was sitting in a hole, with bullets in both feet and his arm shattered. he was holding his arm as one holds a baby, rocking it and uttering incomprehensible things, as he shook his head. there were about forty lying either at the back of the shelters or inside, _pêle-mêle_, amongst our men. they gradually became more calm and were quiet. those who could go on farther started off one by one. the one who had been crying was now shivering in a corner. the darkness came on again gradually. the assault of the th had failed. in the night, the dance began once more, and this time, through the chinks, we could see the red light of the explosions. suddenly a shell made a breach over our heads. "is anyone hit?" we asked. "no one," came the reply. another one came presently, and then others. we heard them fall and the ground shook. we tried to go to sleep, but, with our hearts beating fast and our limbs cramped, sleep would not come. more shells arrived. we thought they were exploding farther away, but no, that one was nearer. then another farther away and, after this, silence again. we were tired of hoping against hope and we all pulled our blankets up and covered our faces. the dawn was slow in coming. there were no more illusions possible for us. as long as the germans were on this side of the water, life would be unbearable for us. and yet it was a beautiful day and a bird was singing on the broken branch of a tree. it was so good to be alive! thanks to the shells round here, the graves were ready made. we put the grenadiers and french who were in the neighborhood into them. our domain was very limited, and was skirted on every side by death. presently breakfast was served, bread and jam, cold coffee in aluminium goblets. these were the usual rations, for we had to live in spite of everything. we yawned as we looked out and saw the thin brown lines of the german trenches in front of us. in the afternoon, the aëroplanes were flying about over our heads in the blue sky, and presently the azure road was riddled with white spots. we were all watching them, but we soon had to go in and take shelter, as the splinters fell about with a whirring sound. one of our machines then appeared in pursuit of the others and this was intensely exciting for us. it rushed along like a bird of prey, but unfortunately its victim had time to escape ... and so the time passed. once more the dance began, and the noise, this time, was formidable and uninterrupted. again the big shells tore up the ground near us, flinging into the air enormous clouds which hid the light from us. the rubbish fell down like rain, the ground trembled, and our huts shook. the next one came along with a terrible, hissing sound, and then another and another. we wondered whether the cannon would never cease again. for days now, we had heard it like this. at last there was silence once more. we could scarcely believe it at first. the backs of our necks ached and our ears were on the alert. what was the meaning of this wonderful silence? we could not hear the machine-gun. well, then ... our assault must have succeeded.... we could not believe this. it was too good to be true. in spite of everything, our breasts were swelling with joy and the men burst out singing the _marseillaise_. oh, if we could only know what had happened! presently a soldier came our way. "what's the news?" cried out our men. he looked at us in a dazed way, holding his metal cup in his hand. "news of the assault?" he said. "it's been put off." * * * * * it was night and, on the steenstraete side, there was a house in flames, throwing huge red lights on the sky. the fuses, with their ideal colouring, rose silently again in the air with their gentle curves. our long serpents, with their golden spangles, rushed out into the darkness, letting a star of pale light fall in the air. by gliding along, from shell hole to shell hole, it was possible to get as far as the mill. in the communication trench, a dark, crushed, charred body had sunk down. farther on, there were paving stones that had been torn up and rubbish, from all sides, that had accumulated. the hillock was torn open and the opening led out to the light night. the shadows here were motionless and the very things looked dead. it was absolute solitude, a terrible picture of war, the strange domain of fear. * * * * * of the five shelters, only one was intact. two of them were nothing but heaps of planks. the ear was now accustomed to all the noises; it had learnt to know when danger was near and every sound had its own special significance in our minds. every afternoon the action began again, it was always the same thing. weariness made our heads and limbs seem heavy. life was passing by in this way now. from time to time, delegates went to the different companies, bending down almost double, tricking danger. in the shelters, a fool was telling extraordinary tales, tales of riotous life and of quarrels. everyone laughed. his face was all awry, but he would not upon any account laugh himself. there was a red-haired young man there, too, with long hair. he was pale and sickly. he was listening anxiously to all the sounds outside. why in the world did he think so much of his life. he began arguing when it was his turn to start and then rushed out into the danger, as though his fate were a thing of great importance. we are all of us like that. some of the men were asleep, others were eating, and a fierce-looking grenadier was polishing the head of a shell. as a matter of fact, we could really have lived there a long time, it was only a question of habit and custom. to our right, the big green shells kept bursting fairly regularly on a group of houses. farther on, shell-mines kept falling. no one paid any attention to these now. they came at their own sweet will on our side. suddenly, a long, dark mass was to be seen rushing along and turning round and round above a roof. was it a man that had been flung into the air? no, it was a shell that had not exploded and which had bounded again on to the footpath. the darkness came over us for the third time. it slowly changed the luminous tints of the sky into pastel-like grey harmonies, which grew slowly fainter and ended in darkness. suddenly, red fuses were flung into the air. an attack had begun. in a few seconds, all the cannons were thundering together. the german shrapnels exploded four at a time in a luminous mass of absinthe green, in the centre of which were red balls. they rent the air with a huge noise. the seventy-fives rushed out yelling. in the distance, their sudden flames were like gigantic will-o'-the-wisps. a machine-gun could now be heard, and then a second one, and a third. some soldiers of the th passed along in close file, dressed in pale blue which mingled with the darkness. their bayonets glittered in the green light of the fuses, and then again, with mad yells, the "big" shells appeared on the plateau, flinging into the air opaque clouds which gathered round us. gun firing could be heard crackling all along the line. an immense brazier had been lighted at lizerne. it grew bigger and bigger. and among the piles of dark night clouds, above steenstraete in flames, a blood-red moon arose. chapter xxxv steenstraete (may , ) by dr. duwez, army surgeon to the regiment of grenadiers at steenstraete, the upheaval, the absolute destruction of everything is formidable. the very places where the houses stood are only recognisable by the heaps of broken bricks of their foundations. there was not much left when we arrived in the sector, but, at present, there is not even one stone upon another. everywhere there are craters hollowed out, and these are so close together that they run into each other. in one of these, a german corpse could be seen, standing up, buried up to his waist and headless. pieces of uniforms were visible in the beaten soil, and, as the ground gave way, one saw a face under one's feet, the shape of which was vaguely outlined and the mouth, with its white teeth, was open like a rat hole. we saw what had been the brewery with its huge cellars. it had fallen completely in. we could only recognise the road by its torn-up pavement and its twisted rails. of all steenstraete, there is nothing left, it has been razed to the ground. the bridge is nothing but a wretched heap of old iron. the steenstraete bridge! names and sites, like people, acquire their titles of nobility. at present, the algerian sharp-shooters are guarding the bridge. in order to go forward, we had to disturb the sentinels who were lost in thought near their battlements. we had to climb over the sleeping soldiers, too. some of them had hollowed out alcoves in the earth and they were almost buried in them. others had stretched their tents out on the stakes and they were sleeping in the square of shade which this afforded. they rather blocked the way for the patrol's rounds. their greenish yellow uniform was almost the colour of the ground. here and there, the red of a _chéchia_ cap gave relief to the colouring. bayonets could be seen everywhere, glittering in the sunshine. they had a _crapouillot_, a bomb-thrower and a german machine-gun, all this among the battery, together with sacks of earth, dry mud, and the ruins of walls which formed the trenches. the _crapouillot_ seemed to be crouching down, whilst the machine-gun and the bomb-thrower stretched their necks forward in the direction of the enemy. here and there, the green and yellow bags, which the germans had left behind them, reminded us of the recent occupation. it was a tranquil moment, for the cannon was silent. under the ardent sun, with the dry mud colour which pervaded everything, the outlines of the algerian sharp-shooters, their bronzed complexions and their eagle-like profiles reminded one of an oriental street. one can have no idea of modern warfare without having seen the ground all torn up by shells and hollowed out in all directions by trenches, with the old communication passages of the germans cutting ours perpendicularly. houses, the road, gardens, fields are all mixed up in one mass of ruin and broken earth. it is no use expecting to find here that comfort which embellishes calmer war zones; it is useless to look for tombs all regularly arranged and covered with grass, each one with a cross, on which the dead man's name is written in white letters. here and there, in this region, a rusty bayonet emerges, and on it is a tattered military cap. two sticks joined together to form a cross may also be seen now and then, but that is all. and yet, under this ground, there are heaps and heaps of dead bodies buried haphazard. the sharp-shooters have taken some of them for consolidating their parapet. cellars fell in burying their occupants. on every side there are whiffs of strong odours. the ground moves under our feet and whenever one treads in muddy puddles, this odour is still stronger. the wind of death has passed. everything is destroyed here, and even the grass does not grow again in such spots. chapter xxxvi lizerne (june, ) by dr. duwez, army surgeon to the regiment of grenadiers we were walking along the winding attack trench, skirting the yperlée. it is a trench that gradually gets more and more shallow. just where it ends, the dead bodies of two french soldiers were lying, their faces black and unrecognisable. water was running over the injured thigh of one of them and his flesh was as red as his trousers. the brook among the wild grasses was full of rubbish of all sorts; and the tall trees sheltering it were either headless, or they had been mown down, and were lying shattered on the ground. some of the branches had resprouted and the muddy brooklet, in which mouldy bread and tins of provisions were floating, continued to flow slowly on. polluted, but glorious, it went on over crumbling tree trunks and improvised bridges, past earth shelters and mud banks towards archways that, in the distance, appear to be covered with flowers. it was flowing on towards that old gay, laughing valley, little known formerly, but which now bears the charming and terrible name of the "covered road of the yperlée." we then went along the other trench, in which are the tombs of many of our men. a foot could be seen emerging from the parapet, and everywhere was that odour that one can never forget, the odour that reveals the presence of dead bodies more distinctly than the sight of them. we then went along the parallel one. it curves inwards near lizerne and we crossed the road under the district-railway. by dint of creeping, climbing, and running, we managed to reach the german trench which forms an arched circle on the other side of the village. it had been entirely overturned by the shells. we could see grey coats that had been left behind, stiffened legs emerging from the embankment, and cartridges. the houses, behind which the trench had been constructed, had fallen down, whole pieces of the walls together, but there was more character about them than those of steenstraete, as they showed that they had been houses. the whole of the back of one house had fallen all in a piece. under the ruins could be seen three dead bodies of _joyeux_,[ ] their skulls crushed and covered with long, dull brown hair. i crossed the road and entered a little house, the general sitting-room of which was still intact. a boche was lying there with his limbs stretched out, his face black, his nose flattened, and his eyes sunken. flies had left their traces on his chin and cheeks. he had evidently been searched, as the buttons of his coat had been cut off, but he still had his boots on. the whole hamlet was nothing but a heap of ruins. guns, bayonets, beds of sacking, and belts were flung about everywhere. the dead could scarcely be distinguished from the ground which partially covered them. shells had hollowed out holes everywhere and on returning from the other side of the road, i walked over half-buried corpses. from where we were, we looked over the plain in the distance, the beautiful plain with its gentle undulations and its groups of trees here and there. it was quite green and looked so flourishing and lovely. we could see the brown line of our trenches and those of the germans. nearer to us, all the ground was furrowed with communication trenches, with elements of defence, with sacks of earth for fortification. it seemed as though enormous ants had devastated the beautiful garden of flanders. the sky was wonderfully blue. we could see it between the broken-up roofs, through the holes in the walls, between the branches of the rent trees, between the fragments of exploded barrels, which were spread out fan-shaped like palm leaves. the shrubs were already sprouting again over the ruins. birds were singing in the midst of the silence, and the fields of turnips, which had gone to seed and which were flowering, formed big yellow patches among the corn. and these were the places which had witnessed such hard fighting, the places over which avalanches of fire had swept. they were now given over to silence, and mankind there was nothing more than flattened carrion, almost in a state of deliquescence, only to be recognised by his colourless hair and by the blue or grey coat which covered him. and nature, as we saw, was ready to cover everything up, nature which never dies. in an instant, the products of so many centuries of civilisation had been annihilated there. but the space devastated, in spite of its extent, is remarkably limited, and only the works of man and man himself had suffered. the enemy was there and had seen us, for we were absolutely in the open. we were comparatively safe though for, near though we were, we were too small. shells of calibre began to be fired again at lizerne. they fell with a great noise, sending columns of rubbish and clouds of black smoke into the air. we set off again, taking with us a german bayonet, a _chéchia_, a shell fuse, and some yellow and purple pansies of rich colouring, which had flowered in the deserted gardens. we went back by the intricate trench passages. in a solitary shelter, by the side of one of these, a man belonging to the th was lying. we recognised him, thanks to his brown, ribbed velveteen trousers and his pale blue coat, with its two squares of vivid yellow on the collar. he was lying on his back and some open letters were on his chest. some of his friends had fastened some papers on the entrance to the hole, giving his name. standing there, bareheaded, in the glaring sunshine, we remained for a moment looking at this man, who, here alone, far away from his own people, had seen his moment of happiness and glory escape him for ever. footnotes: [footnote : soldiers belonging to the african battalion.] chapter xxxvii death of sergeant count charles d'ansembourg by dr. duwez, army surgeon to the regiment of grenadiers between the walls of sacks, by the breach hollowed out in the dyke, we could see the yser, its banks of mud, and its grey, tranquil stream. the green bank on the other side was reflected in it, surmounted by spikes lifting their sharp points towards the sky. the raft glided along noiselessly. the man who was drawing the rope was crouching down at the water's edge and his khaki coat made him look like a big rat curled up. in the breach opposite, one or two anxious faces could be seen. the raft bunted against the edge. we were almost in the enemy's territory. along the little dyke was a shallow trench hollowed out in the thick grasses. one had to bend almost double in order to be protected by the top of the trench. the yser, at our feet, made a bend and curved inwards towards dixmude. the pink and white ruins of this town could be seen in the background. the trench then continued higher up and very soon we were in the little post. it was there that sergeant d'ansembourg was lying. a soldier was endeavouring to staunch the blood which, flowing in long drops over the face and from the back of the wounded man's head, formed a little pool. the ball had struck him just above the right eye, near the temple. it had made a hole in the cap lying near the grenade. the wound was a mortal one; there was nothing to be done. all that remained of life was gently ebbing away. as yet, the paralysis was not complete. some faculties still remained. when the wound was dressed, the poor man remained for a few seconds, holding his head with his hands, leaning on his elbow, as though wrapt in thought. he did not recover consciousness, though, for a single minute, nor did he utter a word. he had on his waterproof coat, of a greenish colour, and his brown uniform with a leather belt. the refined outline of his sympathetic face could be seen. in the little excavation, with its steep approach, everything was the colour of the ground. the blood stains alone were a cruel contrast to the rest of the colouring. presently a head appeared at the edge of our burrow. it was a soldier bringing with him a stretcher. he gave a leap and then came in on all fours. gently we laid the wounded man on the stretcher. bullets grazed the top of the earthen parapet, flinging rubbish and dust over us. the germans were there, quite near, only fifty yards away probably. the wounded man lay there unconscious, his legs already paralysed, his arm clenched on his breast. we pushed the stretcher a little further forward, where the digging had been deeper. we were in a trench that had belonged to the enemy and had been won by our men. there were niches in the walls, which had served as refuge during bombardments. by crouching down, we could get right into these niches with our knees up to our chins. at the end of the passage were some sacks, used for protecting the sentinel. the sky was blue above us, but we could not look at it, as our attention was given to the man lying there before us. "he was too daring," said a corporal. "yesterday, he came boldly in without stooping in the least. to-day i was here and, as i watched him coming in, i was just beginning to cry out: 'sergeant, what are you doing?' when i saw him sink down. he fell there, against the side first, and then he rolled down." the man who spoke had the thin, stern-looking face peculiar to those who have suffered much during the war. "i have seen plenty wounded," he continued, "but never anyone like that whilst i was speaking to him. you cannot imagine the impression it makes." a man who was crouching down making the trench deeper, threw some earth over the parapet. some bullets dashed against it. the face of the wounded man grew gradually more and more lifeless and his breathing became more difficult. in order to take him away, we were obliged to wait until the blue of the sky grew fainter and the darkness came on. to attempt anything else meant certain death. everyone tried to say something, by way of helping to kill time. "he was not even on duty. he volunteered to give a hand in taking the post. 'i am better qualified than the others, commandant,' he said, 'for risking my life. i am not married and i am not an only son. if i happen to disappear, i shall leave no one depending on me.'" leaning against the parapet, we waited there. it began to get gradually colder and colder, and our heads and limbs were feeling more and more the fatigue of three days' consecutive bombardment. our eyes were fixed all the time on the motionless features of the man whom we had known so gay and so full of life. in the distance a mine exploded, giving a sudden shock to the ground. a part of the trench had blown up, it was a piece of the "death trench" that had disappeared in the air. an aëroplane then came and shooting followed it. the cannon now made its voice heard. the time seems long when one is waiting and watching and, as the wounded man's face changed, our hearts grew fuller and fuller, and we suffered acutely as we watched this life passing slowly away. under the slight moustache, the white teeth could now be seen, the uninjured eye had lost its expression and brilliancy, and only one of the slender, sun-burnt hands moved. the sky over our heads began to get paler and paler. the white clouds then turned grey and mauve. the hour was approaching for us to leave and, creeping along, we went to see how the land lay, in order to decide which way to go. the green ground was all pierced with shell holes newly made in the dark earth. spikes were to be seen everywhere, ours made of wood, and the others of iron, protected by barbed wire. rubbish of all kinds strewed the soil. on the other side of the winding yser, the green and brown dyke looked like a cliff rising above the water, that wonderful dyke against which the barbarous wave of invaders had lashed in fury and then died away. it was just the moment when the blazing light fades and every different colour stands out clearly. the piles of the two landing stages, made of planks, were plunged in the water. one of us pushing and the other pulling, we brought the stretcher to the little trench. the man who had been crouching like a rat at the riverside was to be seen again. he gave a low whistle and the raft came gliding along the water. on returning, weighed down by us, it dipped in front, thus breaking the wavelets. the entrance was very narrow. we had to carry the wounded man through labyrinths of passages with their walls of sacks of earth. this dyke, which, from the other side, looks so beautiful in all its greenery under the blue sky, showed up its ugliness and misery on our side. the whole trench had been devastated by the bombardment and behind it was nothing but a chaos of torn-up earth amidst pools of water. in the distance could be seen the plain, finishing in the horizon by a thin band of trees and houses, outlined in black against the sunset. the bushes nearer to us were of a dense, green colour and the sky gradually became livid and heavy, with a few streaks of bluish green. darkness was coming over us and had already swooped down on the passages, with their medley of rubbish. the wounded man was now lying quite motionless, unconscious, with his eye swollen and his face rigid. he was wrapped round in a blanket. caps in hand, officers and soldiers watched him pass away. with their earth-coloured coats, they looked like so many shadows. they listened in silence to the last prayers. in the growing darkness, he was carried away along the path under the willow-trees. a mist was stretching over the plain and a fog was rising from among the reeds. for another moment we could see the dark outline of the stretcher-bearers. how many we had known who had come amongst us young and joyous! and how many of them had we seen carried away in the darkness, along the path under the willow-trees!... chapter xxxviii a guard on the yser:--the death trench (june , ) by corporal j. libois, of the th line regiment this day's work was more terrible than the dixmude battles. i certify that corporal libois has given an exact account of the critical situation in the death trench of milestone on the yser. sub-lieutenant vueghs of the th line regiment. _extract from a letter, . . ._ the french offensive of arras led to unusual activity on our front. our regiment, which had just come back from the thankless oostkerke sector, had some very painful experiences during that week, and some of our battalions were severely tried. on the night in question, our company had to relieve guard. certain sections were ordered to the outposts. "to-morrow," said lieutenant vueghs, "we shall occupy a position on the yser dyke. our various posts will be ranged along a communication trench that has been made by the engineers, but in this trench, a result of recent attacks, there are still about thirty dead men. as we come across them, we are to pick them up and place them on the parapet. the stretcher-bearers will then take them away. one more word, this trench leads into the german lines on the other side of the yser, and comes, therefore, under the enemy's firing. you will have to stoop down, and even creep along, when the passage is too low. there must be great caution as you go along. that is all i have to say. as for the rest, i trust to you." the lieutenant was to command the sap head, trench no. . this was the most advanced of all the posts, only thirty yards away from the boches. i was to be there too, and sergeant deltenre with about ten men. what would be the outcome, we wondered? at any rate, it would be something fresh, and we were delighted at this. the summer twilight came very gradually. the soldiers lined up, with their heavy knapsacks on their backs, and their wallets containing provisions for two days. "right! four in a line! march!" and quite tranquilly, the company filed by in a long column, crossing the meadows and the fields of sweet-scented horse-beans. we went along humming and singing. half-way, we had the usual halt and rest. the soldiers lying in the fields, in the dusk, gave a picturesque note to the scene. the purple-tinted clouds of the beautiful sunset of flanders gradually took a pinky shade. in front of us, towards the east, was the horribly mutilated steeple of the oostkerke church, standing out, with extraordinary clearness, against the great red disc of the moon, which was just rising. and in the background could already be seen mysterious stars flashing forth from the earth. these were the brilliant and ephemeral enemy fuses. everything else was absolutely calm. from time to time, a cricket replied to another cricket. a cool wind swept over us and, from the various groups, here and there, melancholy refrains lulled us and made us dreamy. our officers appeared to be enjoying the poetry of it all, for they gave us a rather longer halt than the time fixed. "laugh and sing," they perhaps thought, "be gay and joyful, a little later on, we shall, perhaps, bring back with us, the glorious remains of one or other of your comrades, now singing there!" on the yser plains, there are probably places destined for many of us. heaven knows that we all value life, and yet these thoughts do not make us sad and, thanks to a force of character which we never suspected, there is more liveliness and sincere gaiety to be found among the simple soldiers than anywhere else. presently the order came to shoulder arms, and we set off once more. the calm that we had enjoyed was only a truce. it was now broken by the deafening volleys of our guns. the enemy's lines were being bombarded and it was a great joy to us to see the flashes over there, to the right, produced by the explosions of our shells. we had now entered the danger zone and the darkness was intense. we advanced in indian file, one platoon at a time. in the background, lighted up almost all the time by the luminous fuses of the germans, we could see outlines of figures bending down, stooping low, and then standing up again. it was like a scene out of some enchanted land. finally, we reached our trenches. the relieving of the guard took place very quickly with no waiting about. the enemy was bombarding us, but the aim was not good. we began to fit up and remake our shelters. i made a reconnaissance in the direction of the communication trench. the entrance was obstructed by the evacuation of the dead bodies. we had a most awful task. the stretcher-bearers, moving along on their backs, dragged the bodies with them by ropes. these bodies were already in a state of decomposition and, when they came into the light, it could be seen that their clothes were torn off and that their skin was grazed. shrapnels kept exploding near us, so that we had to keep close to the parapet. the night passed without any other incident than the visit of the general of the division. in the morning our watch was over and, when the lookouts were placed, we had permission to sleep. all day long we remained walled up in our trenches of sacks. from the dixmude posts, which dominated us, the enemy kept an eye on us and, each time that we showed any sign of life, proved to us that we were very carefully watched. from time to time, by way of entertainment, our outposts were bombarded. at night, our time came for relieving guard again. we restored ourselves with coffee, for we were in a very thirsty place. we took a good provision of cartridges, of sacks of earth, and, with heavy shields, leaving our knapsacks in safety, we started, at o'clock, on our march through the yser communication trench. it was a march that appeared to us to last a century, and certainly dante's imagination, in his visions of hell, never surpassed the horrors of it. the passage was narrow and skirted the parapet of the yser. its access was so difficult and trying, that it was no use thinking of removing the dead which obstructed it. we had to imitate the serpent, the toad, and the mole. in order to pass the guard we were relieving, the men had to lie down flat and we had to crawl over them. no one spoke a word. shrapnels kept exploding and bullets whizzed along continually, flattening themselves against the parapet. i saw some of them ploughing up the earth scarcely twenty centimetres above the heads of my comrades, and i was afraid each time that, in rebounding, they would wound one or another of them. we were all wedged in as though in a vice. at times, we had to advance quickly, bent nearly double, our backs almost broken, at times we had to crawl along, pushing ourselves onward with our elbows and knees, letting go our shields which encumbered us and which, knocking against the sides, made a sonorous noise. when we came to embattlements, watched as we were by the marksmen posted on the other side of the yser, we had to rush for our lives. our faces were bathed in perspiration. suddenly, we came across a dark, motionless mass on the ground. we thought it might be one of the engineers at work. "hi there, what are you doing? answer!" ordered the lieutenant. shaking his arm, we found that it dropped lifeless. "forward! over the dead man!" was our order. shuddering, and gasping for breath, we obeyed. feeling for him with our feet and slipping over his head, we went on our way. presently we had reached the spot known as "the house in ruins." the parapet had been torn away by a shell, and this might expose us to view. we had to climb and jump at the same time. horrors! i fell with my hand on the icy face of a dead man. the german artillery now came into play. the devilish schoorbakke battery took the dyke by enfilade and bombarded us. the shells arrived whizzing along and bursting with a frightful noise, making the dyke crumble, and sprinkling us with all kinds of rubbish. there was a second's calm. by the livid light of the fuses, a horrible sight was to be seen, living men swarming along the passage among human fragments in a state of decomposition, the most appalling and terrifying wrecks of humanity imaginable. horror, repulsion, and disgust were what we felt, but we were compelled to master our feelings. we had to be superhuman. the perspiration ran from our faces on to the dead men, as we climbed over them. and over our heads the bullets never ceased pouring down, whilst the shells whizzed along and the fuses kept lighting us up. panting and breathless, with our tongues hanging out and our backs aching so painfully that some of our men were just going to stand upright for a moment's relief when they were stopped by the whizzing of bullets overhead. we pushed on again and it seemed as though we should never be at the end of the passage. at one moment, we lost sight of the file and feared that we had passed the post. my brother headed the little group that had become separated from the others, and i closed the march. fortunately we were able to join our comrades again. just at this moment, we came to a number of corpses in a worse state than the others. we had to pass over them, our faces almost touching theirs, our knees on their legs. a terrible putrid odour emanated from them, an odour that will always be an infernal memory. again we found ourselves knocking against some human bodies. but this time we were crawling over living men. finally, we arrived at our post. what a relief it was to us! our end had been accomplished. we had relieved the guard and not one of us had been hit. our instructions were simple. we had to keep a lookout and defend ourselves in case of attack. we thought we should have nothing to fear from the german artillery, as their own post was so near. the one thing was to escape bombs and grenades. when the service was organised, we hollowed out some shallow burrows to serve as shelters. the lieutenant passed me a bottle and told me to disinfect a dead man buried in the trench, whose shoulder was visible. in order to prevent the boches from approaching, we fired over the parapet all night without showing ourselves. towards . , when the dawn was breaking, i started off in search of the body i was to disinfect. a few yards away, just at the entrance of the next trench, i found a shapeless mass covered with linen. was this the one? after a moment's hesitation, i raised the garment which covered a figure and saw a face. the features had not changed and the man looked as though he were asleep. i sprinkled the body with the liquid which the lieutenant had given me and covered it again gently. the second corpse, of which the lieutenant had spoken, was a little farther on. the shoulder was rather above the parapet. we covered it with earth and, towards six o'clock, the stretcher-bearers arrived to take the two dead men away. this was such a dangerous task, however, that the lieutenant would not allow them to carry it out. they took away the other dead bodies and that made it less difficult to get out of the trench. by means of the periscope, i now looked at the german trenches, and thereupon that instrument became a target for their bullets. projectiles now began to arrive from behind us. we wondered what this meant, and the lieutenant sent word to sergeant denis, who was at the last post but one. we were informed that sergeant denis had just been killed by a bullet in the head. on passing by an embattlement, someone had called out to him to stoop down, but it was too late, a bullet had killed him instantaneously. poor sergeant denis. yesterday evening, when i crawled over him, he said to me: "good-bye, i shall see you again soon." i wondered, in spite of myself, whether the fate in store for me might make his words prove true. he had fallen against corporal g----, without uttering a word, but his eyes had been fixed earnestly on him. we can only hope that the company will not have to deplore other losses. i took notes, thanks to the periscope, and i fired from an embattlement through a german embattlement. the enemy was not long in replying with dumdums, destroying our embattlement over which were the upper sacks of the parapet. on the other side of the yser in the german trench, i could distinguish a boche periscope, and i was quite amazed to see a soldier's bust above the parapet. he did not stay there long. there was a long, soft, whizzing sound. this was something fresh: _floo-oo-floo-oo_--. they were grenades, some of which burst over our shelters, and some beyond them. only a few were thrown and, dismal though their noise was, it did not alarm us. it was a beautiful, sunshiny day. our aircraft could be seen against the blue of the sky. our machines were pursued by the shrapnels of the boches but these did them no harm. our artillery was firing quite near to us and we had to take shelter from the shell fragments. some of our men had lost their blankets, and some their provisions, during yesterday's march. they were separated from us by an obstacle. we passed them some food and exchanged some amusing notes. the lieutenant, by way of a souvenir, took the signature of each occupant of the post, in his note-book. others followed his example. and the day passed by very, very slowly. whilst keeping watch, we talked with the lieutenant about the war, about peace and our respective occupations. we talked about our preferences and our tastes, whilst, only a few yards away, myriads of big flies danced a ghastly saraband around the body of our poor comrade. the heat began to be overpowering: whiffs of warm, nauseous air kept rising and took our appetites away. by way of rewarding us, the lieutenant promised us each a good glass, if everyone of post i. returned safe and sound. it certainly would not be our fault if we failed to accept this invitation. at half-past twelve, the observer on the river bank signalled to us that an officer was on his round. we all smiled, thinking it was a joke. colonel rademakers[ ] of the rd chasseurs suddenly appeared in the corner of our trench. we were amazed and wondered how he had got there. had he come up from underground or had he fallen from the skies? considering his size, it is certain that he could not have come through the passage without having been massacred fifty times over. he was there, nevertheless, and very much alive, his fine face expressive of his natural gaiety and of his great courage. he looked through the periscope, wondering whether the boches would honour him with a bullet. he certainly was an officer of the "right sort." night came on and the embattlement that had been discovered had its place changed, and was strengthened by a shield. we kept a still stricter watch. towards . , the firing became violent. a quantity of explosive shells burst on our parapet and gave us the impression that the boches were on our trench and were firing point blank at us, so violent was the dry sound of the explosions. in our post, two of our guns would not fire any more. an attack seemed imminent. we prepared our bayonets and then fired without ceasing. one of our comrades who was completely worn out, and could not stand, was seated near us loading the guns for us to fire. it was midnight when the relief guard arrived. the orders were given while we continued firing. "keep a watch on the bank. attention at that battlement! on guard! good luck!" our return was safely effected, but not without difficulty. it was easier than our coming had been, as most of the dead men had been evacuated. finally, we were out of that hell once more. the whole post was safe and sound. shrapnels were bursting quite near to us and here, in the first line trenches, where we had had to hide and press against the parapet yesterday, we felt that we were almost in security. we wanted to halt in the very midst of the danger zone, to get our breath, but the officers begged us to be prudent and we left the trenches. in the distance, we saw the stretcher-bearers carrying away the body of poor sergeant denis to the lesenburg cemetery. we rested a little on the way, when we were in the rear, and each one gave his experiences, describing various incidents with picturesque details. once more we set off, and at four in the morning we were back at our quarters. it was now light and the larks had been singing a long time. it seemed to me as though everything around us was quite new to us, and as though a century had passed since we had seen this familiar landscape. we felt intense satisfaction and deep joy at having accomplished a difficult task. everyone was happy and longed to be able to write to his relatives and friends, to all those for whom he cared and whom he was now defending. footnotes: [footnote : killed a few days later by a shell fragment.] chapter xxxix nieuport in ruins by sub-lieutenant l. gilmont, director of the automobile park, ocean ambulance, la panne when the battle of the yser was over, and the teuton hordes were stopped, nieuport, the advance post of the immense front reaching from the north sea to the vosges, had to suffer pitiless destruction. it was the ransom we had to pay, because their ineffectual effort had been crushed by the steadfast defence of our heroes. i was present at the slow death of nieuport and, as i had to go there frequently, i never passed by the heaped-up ruins without experiencing a sentiment of infinite sadness mingled with revolt. how many times its faithful admirers questioned me about its fate! how the old city had always charmed us by its exquisite archaism, with its little narrow, picturesque streets cut in straight angles, its quaint, yellow-ochre buildings with their green shutters, its church with the parvis planted with tall, protecting trees, its imposing templars' tower, its archdukes' house teeming with memories, and above all its massive cloth hall, proudly situated on the market place. what pen can ever faithfully depict the havoc that seventeen months of war have made of the exquisite flemish city we had all known and loved? as far away as oostdunkerque, the vision of war begins. the population has been evacuated and here and there, along the streets, there are shattered houses. then comes the winding road across deserted fields and the triangular wood, that ill-omened wood, where so many of our brave men fell, where the shells rained down with desperate persistency. at present, all is sad silence, disturbed only by detonations in the vicinity, by the sound of a cart passing, or by the measured tread of troops filing by along the edge of the road. on coming out of the wood, the horizon is suddenly in view and the sight is heart-rending. in the background is the town in ruins, and all along the road little houses that have fallen in. on each side a former arm of the sea cuts the dreary moor, which is skirted by uncultivated meadows, partially wooded. most of the sublime old trees are lying there, all twisted by the machine-guns, silent for evermore. some of those which are still standing seem to be lifting their bare branches heavenwards, in fruitless protest. we crossed the bridge and the level-crossing, with its little guard-house. the latter had fallen on to a cart, which now stood there unable to move under its unexpected burden. and there, with its boulevard leading to the old station, all perforated now with enormous craters, are the first houses of the town. the deflagrations were all brittle, and we were in the very midst of the furnace. it was a vision of all that is horrible and, above everything else, there was that indescribable, persistent odour of rubbish, dust, and death.... other martyred towns allow the spectator time enough to become accustomed to the frightful vision. the farther one goes, the more do the wounds appear huge and cruel. but here, the chaos and ruin strike one immediately. nieuport, like dixmude and ypres, shared the sad privilege of an absolute and systematic destruction. there are rent walls everywhere and piled-up ruins, from which the most extraordinary fragments of rubbish emerge, showing all that remains of furniture, so often endeared to its owners by fond memories. not a single house has been spared. the roofs and the floors, riddled by shells, are shapeless masses now lying on the ground. a few house fronts are still standing, showing the trace of streets all dismal and deserted, except when a few rare soldiers pass silently by, looking like so many wandering ghosts in the midst of fantastical scenery. the market place, adjoining the church, was specially aimed at. it is now unrecognisable, thanks to constant bombardment. in a corner, can be seen the massive outline of the cloth hall. it is disfigured by horrible wounds, but is still fascinating. it was one of the most interesting monuments of our flemish art of the fifteenth century. the injuries of time, and those of men, had hitherto respected its primitive architecture. the roof, which was of a special technique, had escaped until now, but these last days it fell in, under a veritable avalanche of balls. quite near to it stands the spectre of the ruined church. i could still see it, as it used to be, dominating the whole town with its imposing mass, interesting to contemplate and to study in every detail. it was original, too, on account of its various reconstructions, the traces of which could be seen in the different styles composing it, from primitive gothic to the renaissance and louis xiv. and what is left now of all this? one night, it was set on fire by shells, and the deluge of shrapnels, which immediately surrounded the building, prevented anyone from saving the least object. the vaulted roof fell in. charred walls, riddled by shell fragments, now frame the columns which are still standing, supporting the graceful ogives that had been sullied by the odious aggression. quantities of material lie in unequal piles; here and there a few decorative pieces, disfigured by their fall. it is an imposing looking skeleton, though, in its despair, and it seems as though it wants to remain there, as a witness, after its own death, to its past grandeur. one tragic relic of its wreckage still remains, and that is the tower. in spite of numberless projectiles, its massive construction, devastated, but not conquered, persists in dominating the horizon of flanders. it had been constructed, primitively, to support three times its weight. it scorned the shells which wounded it without knocking it down, and its dark mass, proudly standing in the midst of the heaped-up ruins, seems to be defying the infernal inventions aimed at it. the cemetery adjoining the church is a most touching sight. loving hands have managed to keep the graves in order and they are covered with flowers. there are very many of these graves, and some are even on the paths. not a single tomb is neglected. there are flowers, vases, statuettes, and ancient woodwork, side by side with figures of coloured plaster. all that could be rescued from the ruins has been used for honouring the memory of those who are no more. there is one grave which i shall never forget. it is surrounded by the ironwork of a child's bedstead and, with infinite care, climbing plants and flowers have been trained over this. in the centre, there are more plants, a crucifix and two statues forming a calvary. one night we were crossing this resting-place, where so many heroes are sleeping their last sleep, when we witnessed a touching scene. we heard the tread of approaching footsteps and a murmur of voices. the chaplain, in his surplice, advanced, reciting the prayers for the dead. behind him, on a stretcher, carried by two sailors, was a long form. they went on their way slowly to the other end of the cemetery, where a grave had been prepared. they had to wait a little, as in order to find the grave they needed the light of the fuses. the body was lowered, a few more prayers were said, and then the dull thud of the earth falling, and that was all.... there was the most impressive silence, in spite of the cannon which kept vomiting forth death, and the almost uninterrupted crackling of the bullets. a few hundred yards away, the horizon, forming a semi-circle was lighted up at quick intervals by the fuses which rose, throwing their reddish glow over the darkness, lighting up the dreary plain, on the screen of which the sombre mass of the tower, and the irregular lines of the dismantled pilasters and of the arches, stood out all the more distinctly. a terrified bat turned wildly about in the air, seeking a shelter that it could no longer find. i remember that i spent that night at the relief station of the fusiliers, where i found a shelter for my men and where i was most hospitably treated. in a cellar, adjoining the one in which their poor wounded comrades were lying, a bed was very quickly made for me. the walls of this improvised bedroom were papered with red, striped paper, comfortable furniture was arranged here and there, and i should certainly have slept, and not thought any more about the war, if it had not been for the sound of the cannon, the detonations of the grenades, and the clack of the bullets which, from time to time, came flattening themselves against the outside of the wall. at o'clock, i was called, and we went on to the town hall, to do some work there at daybreak. it was absolutely calm just then; not the faintest sound, not even the slightest detonation could be heard to disturb the great silence. we arrived at rue longue and i saw the beautiful louis xiv. façade once more. it was so characteristic, with its double flight of stone steps. it stood there almost intact, in one of the angles of the two streets that it ornaments. we went up one flight of stairs and entered the museum through the bay window. we stopped short in front of a huge, gaping hole, obstructed by all kinds of material. two shells of calibre had fallen there, taking away with them the whole of the back of the building. when we had finished our work, before leaving what had been the museum, i looked out at the horizon. there was a wider view from there now, thanks to the fall, one after another, of the crumbling gables. i could see the line of the yser, and the canals, the destroyed houses of the lock-keepers, and, in the background, the great downs. i then glanced at the place where the huge, documentary picture of the siege of nieuport used to hang. i had fetched it away in , and the kaiser, on his visit to brussels, had stopped a long time looking at it in a thoughtful, interested way.... on our return, we passed through the town again. it was just rousing to its military life. the firing had recommenced, and from time to time a bullet whizzed through the air. as we passed by, we looked at what had been the relief station for the sailors. we had seen so much suffering there. our colleague, chopard, had been hit near by and had died there. on leaving the town, we passed along the country roads. the sun was shining brightly and it bid fair to be a glorious day. the most fragrant odours came to us from the woods, and the fields were all refreshed with the dew. the birds were singing.... we came to an inhabited farm. children were playing outside, careless of all danger. the father was moving to and fro, attending to his usual daily work. in front of the half open door, the mother could be seen feeding her baby. the hours we had lived through seemed now like a horrible nightmare which we would fain forget. when we came to la panne, the bell of the convent of the "pauvres claires" of nieuport, which rings in the little tower of the simple ocean chapel, reminded us that it, too, had witnessed tragic moments. poor little bell! it seems to me that i can see it falling down from its graceful bell-tower, after the brutal and monstrous blow given by the murderous shell. i can still hear its rebounding fall above the noise of the tumbling walls, in the midst of the ghastly furnace. i could hear its last echoing groan, a last protest against the odious destruction. go on ringing timidly, little bell, in the calm of this bright morning, a calm only disturbed by the noise of the work of death. very soon, that song shall be followed by another one. you shall ring out then, to all the echoes, the song of joy, the song of victory, announcing to the crowd, thrilled with joy unspeakable, that the hour of the great deliverance has arrived, the hour when we shall find our heroic belgium free once more and born anew! chapter xl the st. elisabeth chapel by marcel wyseur, registrar to the military court. la panne, august , (to the patriotic devotion of m. louis gilmont) everyone knows of the admirable institution founded by dr. depage at la panne: "the ocean hospital." a few miles away from the firing line, he has entirely created an establishment which is the most perfect thing of its kind, an institution which, for the last year, has rendered immense service daily. ever since it was opened at the end of , this hospital has been continually enlarged. various detached buildings and several fresh departments have been added to the house as it first stood. the latest improvements, as regards science and hygiene, have been introduced and it does not seem possible that a more complete organisation, answering so thoroughly to all needs, could be carried out at the front. in rendering homage here to those who are responsible for this work of public service, we are only anxious to bear testimony to its utility and to acknowledge the merit of the founders of the institution and of all their devoted collaborators. doctors and nurses alike deserve more than the gratitude of the belgian army and people. they deserve our admiration too. the last sunday in august, we were present at the inauguration of one of the fresh additions to this immense "everything" which constitutes the ocean hospital. it was the inauguration of the chapel. at the limit of the downs, this simple church, which has sprung out of the earth, as though by magic, faces the sea and the country. it is a building on primitive architectural lines, surmounted by a little sturdy spire. nothing more was necessary. it was certainly a most impressive scene when the little procession of believers wended their way to the service, called there by the bell of the convent of the "pauvres claires" of nieuport. the three naves were soon full. in the choir, her majesty the queen, who had graciously deigned to be present at the ceremony, had taken her place, and behind her were a crowd of wounded soldiers. the altar reflected the light of all the burning tapers, the incense was smoking in the silver vessels, and, over yonder, between the nave and the choir, the organs were singing of joy and happiness. the good saints and the little chubby angels could neither believe their eyes nor their ears. the poor, who had expected to die in the general earthquake when their churches were bombarded and the infernal battle was raging around them, arrived here now from everywhere; from nieuport--the dead; from caeskerke--the sorrowful; from pervyse--the devastated; and from ramscapelle--the solitary. one evening, they had all met in a room. a lamp was burning in front of a tabernacle, there was a kneeling bench for communion, a confessional-box, a pulpit, and some saints, too, as astonished as they were themselves. were they really not dreaming now? was their nightmare over? this was a church, a real church like _their own_! it was full of people, too, and the psalms were being chanted by the choristers. all this seemed more beautiful than the finest dream, and at this festival they forgot all their past anguish and the nightmares they had lived through. and in the midst of the general devotion, the reverend father hénusse, chaplain to the th battery, pronounced the following eloquent words: "madame, "we are to-day inaugurating a chapel, which, in our gratitude, we have spontaneously dedicated to st. elisabeth. in the liturgical intention of this dedication, st. elisabeth was that admirable woman, elisabeth d'anjou, a heroine of goodness, gentleness, and charity, whom the catholic church has placed on its altars and about whose touching glory everyone has heard. in our dedication, there is something else though, and no one, at any rate no belgian, will make any mistake about this. in our eyes, the good saint of the twelfth century has been reincarnated in the twentieth century. a few rays from her halo have come to encircle another forehead. her name is repeated once more, but with an accent of veneration and of tenderness, more keenly felt than would be the case for a foreign queen who died long centuries ago. in short, according to us, the ocean chapel has two patron saints. the one is reigning in heaven above in glory, and only lives on earth in the memory of christian generations. the other patron saint is she who reigns over the last sands of what was belgium, but who lives in the hearts of us all. "when the long ordeal of this war shall have come to an end, this humble chapel of wood, which we hope may become historical, will be clothed afresh in a mantle of stone and adorned with the splendour of souvenirs in its coloured glass windows, and in its frescoes. we shall certainly see then the sweet face of the gentle elisabeth d'anjou, and the miracle of the roses and the miracle of the leper will be evoked for us. we shall see the leper whom st. elisabeth tended with her royal hands, to whom she gave her husband's bed, and who suddenly rose, dazzlingly bright, uttering the one word: '_elisabeth_,' for the leper was jesus christ! "but by the side of those windows, belgian mothers will ask for others and for other frescoes. "they will want to see their queen, who in time of peace, cared for their little children, their poor little children, some of whom were consumptive through poverty. they will want to see their queen, who, when war broke out, cared for their big children, their poor big children, wounded and mutilated, their health shattered by battle. belgian mothers will want to see her there, near to the other saint, so that they may kneel to her and tell her, whilst on their knees, of the ardent gratitude of their hearts. they will want to see her there, because it is her place, beside him--who pronounced those superhuman words which created charity: 'inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.' they will want to see her there beside christ, who spake the name of saint elisabeth so tenderly, and who, to-day, will surely call another saint by that sweet name, with that accent of infinite tenderness which we all utter, madame, in the respectful and fervent silence of our hearts. "madame: "my dear friends: "the great royal heart which thought of establishing a military hospital on the coast, on the very edge of the battle-field, and the generous hearts which helped in the realisation of the project, wished to make this establishment as perfect as possible. "they have succeeded, and our ocean ambulance excites universal admiration. "by opening this st. elisabeth chapel, perfection in this humanitarian work has been attained. the chapel is an essential part of any hospital. a chapel is necessary everywhere where man suffers, as it is a place for prayer. suffering possesses the mysterious privilege of striking a man hard, of making him think about life. it throws him back on himself, as it were, makes him weep, remember, and dream, and when a man gives himself up to this great inner work, he is not far from finding god. he is ready to pray. "suffering, too, possesses the precious gift of humiliating a man, of making him feel the nothing that he is, and of making him realise of what little value he is, and when man is humiliated, he is not far from feeling god bending down towards him. he is ready then to pray. "finally, the effect of suffering is often to plunge a man into deep distress, which makes him so unhappy that he utters the supreme cry: 'help, oh, help me!' "and when a man cries for help from the bottom of his heart, he is not far from hearing within himself, as though in answer to his appeal, the echo of that infinitely sweet voice which has soothed the miseries of the world for twenty centuries: "'come unto me, all ye that are weary and heavy-laden, and i will give you rest.' "this is why the instinct of a man who is suffering is to enter the temple. "go to the darkest nave of a church, at a moment when the crowd is not bidden to the traditional exercises of worship, and what do you see? women, men, and young people praying, and, on their faces, in their eyes, in their very gestures, one sees that they have experienced sorrow, anxiety, and sadness. "ask your mothers who are waiting for you, over yonder, in the deepest anguish, where they go in their sorrow and suffering? they will answer you, 'to church.' "at the present moment, ask where the suffering country takes refuge, now that it is mourning for its lost liberty. the answer will be: 'in the churches, where the presence of god still permits the people to have the comfort of seeing their tri-coloured flag, of hearing the national hymn, and of responding to it with the cry of love and hopefulness: "long live the king! long live liberty!"' i tell you that everywhere where there is suffering, there should be a chapel, in which to shelter one's suffering, under the protecting wing of god! "but if there be one place of suffering in the world that needs this holy refuge specially, it is the war hospital. the reason of this is on account of the nature of the suffering that men endure there. what is the reason of all this suffering? why are you here sick and wounded, with your arm or your leg amputated, scarred for ever in the beauty and prime of your early manhood? why? for the sake of your brothers. the enemy arrived at the frontier, threatening that sacred property, the native land. in order to defend that land, occupied by seven millions of freemen, two hundred thousand of them rose and, seizing their guns, marched forward to meet the invaders. these two hundred thousand went forth to fight, struggle, fall, and die if necessary for the sake of all the others, for the sake of the women, the children, the aged--and even for the sake of the cowardly shirkers who have not even yet grasped what is their duty. the suffering then of these men, our soldiers, is a suffering of immolation, of sacrifice, of devotion, a loving sacrifice. "you see, then, why you need a chapel, where you can come to find him who revealed to the world the beauty, the value, the fecondity of this suffering, a chapel to which you can come and contemplate the crucified one, the man of nazareth, who left us, saying as he went: 'love one another, give your lives for each other; the great proof of love is that we should be ready to give our lives for those we love.' he went about repeating this until that day when, still quite young, only thirty-three years of age, in the prime of his manhood, adding example to precept, freely and courageously, and, in the sight of his broken-hearted mother, he took up the cross and dragged it along through the city and across the country to calvary. he was then stretched upon it and for three long, mortal hours, under the rays of the sun, he hung upon that cross, dying for those he had loved. "you need a chapel for those evil hours when, suddenly, you fail to understand the meaning of your suffering and begin to pity yourself, wondering why the lot should have fallen on you, why you should have lost that arm, that hand, that fine workman's tool which was your glory, and with which you earned your living? 'why should my life be cut in two by this mutilation?' you ask. 'why should my youth come to an end half way? why should i be doomed to drag out a miserable existence? why is all this? and of what use is all that blood poured out obscurely in the trenches?' "when these gloomy thoughts come to you and your soul is filled with bitter agony, you need a chapel, to which you can come and hear the divine reply to your human complaint, the reply given by that very mouth which revealed to the world the benefits of suffering, the value and the virtue of blood that is shed for the sake of love. it is here, in this chapel, that he will repeat to you and explain to you the mysterious words he addressed to his disciples, three days before he went up to calvary. "'except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit. "'and i, if i be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me.' "his disciples did not understand this at first, but gradually their eyes were opened to this new light, and very soon the world knew the law of life, which was to be one of the most beautiful truths of christianity: 'when a just man dies, out of his suffering and death shall spring wonderful fruits of light, of truth, and of justice, and life shall become better thereby.' the martyrs gave their blood courageously, and on their tombs their brothers repeat joyfully the great christian words: "'sanguis martyrum semen christianorum!' (from the blood of martyrs have sprung christians!) "you will come here, dear friends, to learn to understand the sublime utility of your wounds and of your suffering, to learn that the trench is not a trench, but a furrow, and that the blood you have shed there is as a seed which will soon give its beautiful fruit of happiness and liberty to those you love. thanks to your blood, your country will live! come often to this little chapel, where christ is always awaiting you. he awaits you here as his brothers, as those whom he loves best, who resemble him the most. come here and pray and remember that your prayer is the most efficacious one of all those that are uttered on earth, because it is your blood crying to god. come and pray for all those for whom your heart is filled with love, for your aged mother, for your little children and for those who are awaiting you in your saddened home. pray that they may have hope and courage given them. come and pray for your brothers-in-arms, those who are continuing the great struggle in which you fell whilst doing your part as brave men. pray that god may keep them courageous and strong. come and pray, too, for the men and women who are devoting themselves so admirably to you here, for those who are helping to relieve your suffering and to heal you. pray that they may have strength given them to carry out their work of pure abnegation and charity. come and pray for the great cause of the allies, the cause of right and justice, which is the cause of god. pray too, that he may soon make it triumph gloriously. come and pray for our beloved country, the noble martyr to honour. pray that our country may know, as christ knew, the great reparation, the supreme rehabilitation, and that after having descended to death, to the death of the cross, our country may be raised by god, that she may obtain a name above all names, that every head may bow before her in the whole universe, and that every tongue shall confess that this little nation is truly great among all nations. come and pray, come and pray often for him and for her who represent, so magnificently, our country and in whom it is incarnated for us. come and pray for the king and for the queen." the end. belgium and the great powers by emile waxweiler _ °. $ . net. by mail, $ . _ the eminent scholar, emile waxweiler, director of the solvay institute of sociology at brussels, presents a thesis which it will be difficult for his opponents to disprove. with calm, dispassionate judgment, he upholds belgium's right to oppose the violation of her territory by germany, citing with telling force the treaty of , and subsequent events of international importance, such as lord palmerston's action at the time of threatened french aggression in . g. p. putnam's sons new york london belgium: neutral and loyal the war of by emile waxweiler director of the solvay institute of sociology at brussels, member of the académie royale of belgium _ °. $ . net. by mail, $ . _ in order to clarify opinion and to correct wrong judgment, the author has not deemed it superfluous to weigh in the balance all the imputations that have been made against belgium, even to the inclusion of those that do violence to common sense. there are five chapters, with the following titles: "up to p.m. of august d," "to be or not to be," "belgian neutrality," "imputations against the loyalty of belgium," "german rules of waging war and their application to belgium." g. p. putnam's sons new york london "the war and humanity" by james m. beck a notable sequel to "the evidence in the case" "mr. beck's volume was a classic the moment it appeared. we know of no more logical and lucid discussion of the essential facts and problems of the great war, nor any more truly, consistently, and even vigorously american in its spirit. we should be well content to let it stand, if there were no other, as the authentic expression of the highest aspirations, the broadest and most penetrating vision, and the most profound convictions of the american nation on matters which have never been surpassed and have only twice been rivalled in vital interests in all our history."--_new york tribune._ _theodore roosevelt's opinion_ "it is the kind of a book, which every self-respecting american, who loves his country, should read." _revised and enlarged edition_ _nearly pages. $ . net. by mail, $ . _ _at all booksellers_ g. p. putnam's sons new york london the evidence in the case a discussion of the moral responsibility for the war of , as disclosed by the diplomatic records of england, germany, russia, france, austria, and belgium _by_ james m. beck, ll.d. late assistant attorney-general of the u.s. _with an introduction by_ the hon. joseph h. choate late u.s. ambassador to great britain _ th printing--revised edition with much additional material_ _ °. over pages. $ . net. by mail, $ . _ "mr. beck's book is so extremely interesting from beginning to end that it is difficult when once begun to lay it down and break off the reading, and we are not surprised to hear not only that it has had an immense sale in england and america, but that its translation into the languages of the other nations of europe has been demanded."--_hon. joseph h. choate in the new york times._ new york g. p. putnam's sons london none the boy scouts on belgian battlefields by lieut. howard payson author of "the motor cycle series," "the boy scouts of the eagle patrol," "the boy scouts on the range," "the boy scouts and the army airship," "the boy scouts' mountain camp," "the boy scouts for uncle sam," "the boy scouts at the panama canal," "the boy scouts under fire in mexico," etc. _illustrated by charles l. wrenn_ new york hurst & company publishers copyright, , by hurst & company [illustration: the long roll of rifle firing in volleys, and the faint cheers of charging men.--_page ._] contents chapter page i. antwerp, on the scheldt ii. the aerial map-maker iii. leaving for the front iv. the day of the boy scout v. under the bridge vi. getting near the war zone vii. the desertion of anthony viii. when the uhlans came ix. with fire and smoke x. the duty of a scout xi. mysterious signals in the night xii. the meeting between the lines xiii. caught in the act xiv. the field hospital xv. chasing a jack-o'-lantern xvi. the battle for the trenches xvii. the badge of courage and mercy xviii. after the fighting was over xix. an important clue xx. the camp fires of an army xxi. the hanging bridge xxii. scout tactics xxiii. the frog hunters xxiv. the armored car xxv. turning the tables xxvi. for humanity's sake xxvii. conclusion the boy scouts on belgian battlefields. chapter i. antwerp, on the scheldt. "oh! how glad i am that part of the trip is over, now we've crossed from england to antwerp without being wrecked!" "you certainly did seem to have a bad time of it, tubby, in the wash of the channel!" "bad time did you say, rob? it was a great deal worse than anything we struck on the voyage between new york and liverpool, let me tell you." "but now we want to forget all our troubles of the past, tubby." "i know what you mean by that, merritt; it's just the same as telling me the worst is yet to come." "well, i'm a little afraid myself that's going to turn out a fact. here we are, just landed in a strange country that is being overrun by an army of german invaders; and all of us are bound to push deeper and deeper into the mire." "hey, merritt, you give me a shiver when you say that, don't you know?" "i guess you must mean a quiver, tubby; because whenever you laugh or tremble you make me think of a bowl full of jelly!" "now you're making sport of me because i'm so pudgy and fat. just as if i could help that; can i, rob?" "to be sure you couldn't, tubby; and we wouldn't want you to be anything but what you are--the best natured scout in the whole eagle patrol, and i'm safe in saying you're the only fellow in the long island town of hampton who hasn't an enemy. everybody takes a fancy to a jolly rolypoly like you, tubby." "what would we do without you?" merritt added, with real feeling in his voice. "well, but it strikes me you tried mighty hard to induce me not to join you two on this wonderful trip abroad," complained the fat boy reproachfully. "there was a good reason for that, tubby," defended merritt quickly. "i could see that with all these old world countries in a scrap, my job of finding that man who is wanted so badly by my grandfather might take me into the fighting zone. now rob, as the leader of the eagle patrol, volunteered to stand by me, and i gladly accepted his assistance. when you asked to go along i was afraid the hardships of the trip might be too much for one of your peculiar build. that's all, i give you my word for it, tubby." "my 'peculiar build,' as you call it, merritt," chuckled the other, considerably mollified by the explanation offered, "has gotten me into a peck of trouble, i admit. but you never saw me show the white feather, did you?" "never, tubby!" admitted the boy addressed, who was a rather thoughtful looking young chap, of athletic build, though possibly not quite the equal of rob blake, the leader of the scout patrol to which all of them belonged. "it was mighty good of you two to back me up when i'd decided to take the risk alone. but unless that precious paper can be recovered, my grandfather, you know, stands to lose what he says is an enormous amount of money." "he's got plenty in reserve, i understand, merritt," observed blake. "what a grand thing that turned out for your folks when grandfather merritt, who had cut your dad out of his will many years ago after he married against his wishes, repented of his cruelty, and paid you an unexpected visit to get acquainted. little did you think, when you stood up for that old fellow who was being snowballed so unmercifully by a bunch of village boys, that it was your own grandfather." "yes," added tubby, "you know they say a good action is never thrown away. that's why i'm always watching for my opportunities. some day i hope to win the admiration of a crank millionaire who should, of course, make me his heir." "well, here we are landed in antwerp, and with a lot of sights to gather in before we set out in the direction of brussels to find your man. every minute counts, so let's get busy, and begin to wander around." "that's right, rob," said merritt. "suppose you lead the way." these boys, who were all dressed in the well-known khaki that distinguishes scouts in nearly every country of the world, had just landed from a steamer that reached antwerp from the shores of england. they had managed to get themselves and few belongings conveyed to a fair hotel by means of a vehicle drawn by a broken-down horse; all of the best animals as well as such automobiles as were deemed worth taking having been commandeered by the government for cavalry, field and artillery purposes. while rob blake and his two chums, tubby hopkins and merritt crawford, are thus starting out to secure their first view of the quaint flanders city, we may take occasion to glance back and see who they are and what they have done. those who have had the pleasure of reading previous volumes of this series need no further introduction to the trio; but for the benefit of any who are now making their acquaintance for the first time, a few paragraphs may not come in amiss. there were other patrols in the hampton troop, but as the eagles had been first in the field, the members of this organization were looked upon as the pioneers of the scout movement in that part of long island. rob filled the post of patrol leader, and had, on one occasion, even occupied the position of assistant scout-master, being fully qualified for the certificate he had received from scout headquarters in new york city. merritt, the second in command, filled the position of corporal. tubby thus far seemed content to remain just a scout, though he had, by dint of hard labor managed to climb into the first grade rank. until recently, merritt's folks had been in just ordinary circumstances. his father was said to be the best wheelwright in the eastern end of the island, and by constant labor kept his little family housed and clothed, and perhaps laid up a little for a rainy day. merritt always knew there was some sort of a family skeleton around, and that he had a severe old grandfather somewhere far away; but beyond that he had never been able to probe. one day, near the end of the preceding winter, had come the singular little incident that wound up in a joyful reunion. merritt, as one of his chums chanced to remark a little further back in this story, had come upon several village roughs engaged in battering a stranger in town, a little old gentleman who, carrying his grip and finding the hacks all away from the station, had evidently attempted to walk to the hotel. the cowardly assault aroused the indignation of merritt, who was a manly boy at all times. he remonstrated with the assailants, and when they continued to pelt the old man, he proceeded to attack them. whether he could have won out alone and unaided will always be an open question. fortunately one of the town policemen chanced to come in sight, which event caused the three foes to vanish in hot haste. then imagine the astonishment of merritt when, after giving the old gentleman his name at the other's urgent request, he found himself being hugged by the stranger. he announced himself as merritt's repentant grandfather who, unable to keep up his bitter feud longer, had sought the forgiveness of his son. just what came up later to start these three boys across the water during vacation time, when the old world was commencing to rock and heave in the throes of the most terrible war ever known, will be made clear as the story progresses. the first volume in the series, _the boy scouts of the eagle patrol_, was necessarily confined to the activities of the young organization; but rob and his mates met and overcame many difficulties that are well worth reading about. in the second volume, _the boy scouts on the range_, were recounted a series of strange adventures that befell some of the eagles during a visit to the far southwest, where they took part in the wild life of a cattle ranch. through the pages of _the boy scouts and the army airship_ the reader will find that rob and his comrades always bore themselves manfully, no matter the emergency; and that they scrupulously observed "scout law" under any and every occasion, as every true wearer of the khaki makes it a point to do. after this, followed an account of many remarkable happenings that befell the eagles when under canvas. _the boy scouts' mountain camp_ has deservedly been reckoned one of the very best scout books ever published for boys, and those who own a copy are likely to read it many times. once more, chance allowed some of the leading characters in the hampton troop to come in touch with government officers who were experimenting with a wonderfully designed submarine. it happened that rob and his friends were enabled to assist uncle sam's agents in defeating the plans of foreign spies who tried to steal the design of the new invention. in the pages of _the boy scouts for uncle sam_ are recorded the adventures that accompanied their service, as well as mention of the reward following their victory. it was a happy chance that allowed some of the boys to pay a visit to the then uncompleted panama canal. while in the canal zone they again demonstrated that they were always wide-awake and devoted to the service of their country. much useful information will also be found between the covers of this volume, called _the boy scouts at the panama canal_. once more, rob and several of his close adherents were unexpectedly allowed to take a trip. andy bowles, the bugler of the troop, had an uncle who owned a cattle ranch down in chihuahua, in mexico. he was sick, and unable to go down himself to dispose of the stock before the fighting forces of rebels and federals drove the herds away. accordingly, he sent his nephew and several of his chums to seek general villa, whom he had once befriended, and gain his assistance in selling the valuable stock. the wonderful things they saw, and the peculiar adventures that came their way, have all been described in the seventh volume, just preceding this, under the title of _the boy scouts under fire in mexico_. that, telling briefly some of the remarkable things that happened in their career as boy scouts, will have to suffice to introduce rob and his two chums to the reader. starting out from their hotel, the three american boys were soon engrossed in their pursuit of seeing some of the strange sights for which this old flemish city on the scheldt has always been famous. while they gazed, and made many amusing comments, rob could not help noticing that, in turn, they attracted considerable attention. he could give a good guess as to the reason of this. at that time, with the vast german army spreading out over most of belgium, and also fighting its way to paris, the good people of antwerp were constantly worried over the possibility of an attack. they had many scares, though as yet the invaders, after taking brussels, had not chosen to invest the big city near the sea. later on, as we all know, the time came when their heavy artillery was turned on the forts of antwerp, and before the terrible fire from those colossal german guns, steel domes that had been called invulnerable were easily battered to pulp. with the assault and fall of antwerp we have nothing to do, at least at present; but possibly those flemish people thought the boy scouts part of an english army coming to defend antwerp. when rob and his two chums landed from england, after crossing on a small steamer, they found the city choked with fugitives and belgian soldiers. pushing their way along the crowded sidewalks, the boys took in all the sights that were so new to their american eyes. only rob had a small smattering of french, while his companions could not speak a word of the language. all of them were utterly ignorant of flemish, current in half the homes of belgium. the way in which the natives made use of sturdy-looking dogs, harnessed in small carts, and trained to do their duty in order to earn their keep, was perhaps the most interesting thing that held their attention. "why," remarked merritt, "they use dogs for nearly everything. dozens of milk peddlers have teams to drag their big brass cans around. then there are the hucksters, like we have over in new york, only these fellows peddle from carts drawn by dogs. we saw one poor, four-footed wretch roped to a treadmill, and doing the family churning; so i guess belgium must make the dog traffic pay right well." "and think of dogs drawing a quick-firing gun, which we saw in that street where the soldiers were getting ready to go to the front!" exclaimed tubby. "i think that was the queerest sight ever." "i can plainly see," rob told them, "that while we're over here we are bound to keep our eyes wide open all the time because there are so many things that strike us as being queer just because we've been used to other ways. these people would stare at many of the things we think are common." "what are you looking at now, tubby?" asked merritt, seeing that the boy, who had gained his name because after a fashion he resembled a tub of butter, was in the act of stretching his fat neck in order to see something that had attracted his attention. "why, i was wondering what made all the people crook their necks like that, and look up in the air. is there a german zeppelin heaving in sight? i don't seem to glimpse any big dirigible up there; do you, fellows?" "what's that moving along away up near the clouds?" demanded merritt. "it must be an aëroplane," said tubby. "i just heard somebody say my name close by; but he pointed up at that flier. what could he have meant, rob?" "i think i can tell you," replied the other scout. "german aëroplanes are called taubes, and it sounded like your name. they say that is an aëroplane spy up there!" chapter ii. the aerial map-maker. "he's flying pretty high, let me tell you," said tubby, straining his neck in an endeavor to watch the evolutions of the far-distant object sailing on the border of the cloud, and which looked so much like a great bird with outstretched wings. "and all the while he is using his powerful field-glass to watch things going on below," added rob. "i wouldn't be surprised if those chaps make a rough map, as they go over a place, with the position of forts marked, and the disposition of troops. in this war they say aëroplanes and dirigibles are going to play great stunts." "think of the nerve of that german aviator, sailing right over antwerp in broad daylight!" tubby declared. "it's a dare, all right, and i wonder if any of these belgian fliers will take him up. i really think i'd like to see a little scrap up in the air. we didn't have a chance for anything of that sort since we were down in mexico with villa." "well," returned merritt, "you may see more of that kind of business over here than you want. these fliers don't go circling around just to spy on the enemy. in lots of cases they have another and more terrible mission." "oh!" ejaculated the fat scout uneasily, "now you're thinking of that visit paid by a zeppelin to antwerp a short time back when it dropped a bomb that smashed things to flinders. they say it was aimed at the king's palace. but you don't think now that fellow away up there in the clouds would bother dropping explosives on our heads, do you, rob?" tubby always appealed to the patrol leader when bothered about anything. to hear him talk you would imagine that he considered rob blake a walking encyclopedia, and capable of answering any kind of question. "no, he's flying too high for that," the other told him confidently. "you see, with the air currents, that we know something about ourselves, no one at that height could count on landing his explosive anywhere near the place he wanted it to go. chances are that chap is only out on a spying trip. aëroplane pilots are the scouts of the air these days, you understand. nothing can be hidden from them." "i understand," ventured merritt, as they continued to watch the circling of the lofty observer and map-maker, "that there can be no surprises in this war, because the enemy always knows all about the massing of troops long before an attack can be delivered. an eagle or a hawk, hovering over shallow water, can see every bit of bottom when the surface is still, and so he's able to pounce down on the fish he's selected for dinner. these wonderful air-pilots will bring information of every contemplated move on the part of the enemy." "poor old napoleon would be a back number in these days," tubby sighed, "because you remember his strongest card was to divide the enemy, and then smash one army and then the other. they'd know all about his game in time to block it. the romance of war has gone glimmering, i'm afraid." "listen to all that shouting," said merritt. "seems to be cheers, as well as these people can cheer, which is not like the good old united states way," tubby commented. "you can see what it means," remarked rob. "there goes a belgian biplane up, to get after the bold german!" "my stars!" gasped tubby. "now we _will_ see a circus! think of two rival pilots maneuvering up there among the clouds, and trying to knock each other out! whew! but watch him boring up in spirals, would you? does the german see him, do you think, and is he beginning to skip out?" "nothing like that has happened yet, as far as i can see," admitted rob. "there he starts around again, as if meaning to complete his map, no matter if a dozen belgian or english airmen come up after him." "it'll be a fight, then, see if it doesn't!" tubby affirmed. "there goes a second aëroplane, and this time a monoplane," merritt told them, pointing as he spoke. "unless i miss my guess, there's an english aviator in that machine. it doesn't carry the little belgian flag the other does, you notice." "two against one," muttered the deeply interested tubby. "better be making up your mind to turn tail and run, mr. deutschland. the odds are against you, and, if you should get tumbled out of your seat a mile high, i'd hate to be under you when you strike the ground." "they seem to be maneuvering for position," asserted rob. "yes, both are circling around now, and going still higher all the time. before long the german will be hidden in that cloud bank, and that's what he's aiming to have happen." "i thought i saw something like a little puff of smoke just then!" declared merritt, who had exceptionally good eyes, strong almost as those of an eagle. "then they must be bombarding each other!" tubby ventured to say, evidently greatly thrilled by the spectacle that could never have been dreamed of a few generations back. "it's likely they are using their automatics, and trying to disable each other," admitted rob, "though, between us, merritt, i don't believe the tiny puff of smoke could be seen away down here, unless you had a strong glass. of course, when moving as fast as they do, the chance of making a shot tell is next door to nix." "anyhow, they're chasing the german aëroplane off," tubby declared. "that is the main object for the brave belgians going up there." the boys had made up their minds while on the way across that as americans they must obey the president's appeal and be strictly neutral, if it were possible. they had many good friends who were of german descent, while others had english ancestors and near relatives. the one country with which they sympathized deeply was belgium. the stubborn and heroic way in which that seven millions of people had defied seventy millions, and the gallant manner in which their little army had tried to resist the invasion of their beloved country, had aroused the admiration of every one of the scouts. as they stood there on that afternoon, and watched, they finally saw the german taube vanish in the clouds, with the leading belgian aëroplane following suit. whether the pursuer ever overtook the foreign air-scout or not, the boys never learned. "well, that was a lively little tilt while it lasted," remarked merritt as, the entertainment being over, the crowds again commenced sauntering back and forth, with everybody talking volubly about the spectacle in the heavens. soldiers gave them a curious look in passing. every stranger in antwerp was under more or less suspicion in those days, for it was becoming known that the german secret service had for years maintained the most wonderful system of spying in france, england and belgium ever dreamed of. antwerp had thousands of teuton residents before the war, some of them leading merchants who owned splendid country places six or seven miles outside the city, where solid cement tennis courts afterward came in very handy as foundations for the immense german siege guns. "we'll see plenty more things that will give us a thrill to beat that," rob observed, pushing through the bustling, chattering crowds. "yes, and i'm afraid times may come when danger will hang over our heads," merritt pursued, with a touch of regret in his voice. "then you'll both be sorry you didn't let me go off on this wild goose chase, as it may turn out to be, by myself." "what do you take us for, i want to know?" demanded rob. "haven't we been through all sorts of tough times together in the past; and why shouldn't we stand by our chum when he needs our help? what's a scout good for if he is ready to desert a comrade when the sky grows dark? that's just the time to show his true colors." "you're taking the very words out of my mouth when you say that, rob!" asserted tubby valiantly. "no matter what happens, we're bound by the ties of old friendship. we'll sink or swim together, boys. and merritt, please don't ever tell us again you're feeling sorry for letting us come along." "if that man is to be found, we're going to corner him!" declared rob, with his lips taking on the firm lines that marked them whenever he was making up his mind to hammer away persistently, like grant did before richmond; "and when we go back to the other side, we hope to be carrying that precious old paper your grandfather let get out of his possession in such a queer way." "this seems like a pretty warm day to me, even for summer," observed tubby irrelevantly. "now, we can give a pretty good guess, rob," ventured merritt smilingly, "that tubby has a sly meaning back of that remark." "yes," added the patrol leader, "and the chances are three to one it has something to do with feeding." "you are champion guessers, both of you," tubby informed them, without seeming to be in the least ashamed of the confession. "i'm consumed by a violent thirst right now; and i bet you the milk in that shiny brass can that those two tired dogs have been dragging all over antwerp this afternoon will have a lump of ice in it. anyway, i'm going to test it; come along and let me stand treat." laughing at his earnestness, the others followed the fat scout across the street, where the old woman with her dog team was apparently resting, and observing the remarkably interesting sights around her. just then there were loud cheers that attracted the attention of the three boys. "something else coming along that's worth seeing," merritt announced. "better curb that fierce thirst of yours for a minute or two, tubby, while we watch what's passing." "oh! well, i guess the milk won't sour while we're waiting," admitted the fat boy with a sigh of resignation, as he wheeled so as to face the street. "what do you call that, i wonder?" remarked merritt, as he looked. "it's got the wheels of an automobile; but say, notice how the body of the car has been built up with steel sides, will you? and as sure as you live there's a quick firing maxim mounted behind that bullet shield." "now i know what it is," rob hastened to say. "then tell us, please," urged tubby helplessly. "they call them armored cars," said the patrol leader. "i've read about how some of these reckless belgians have fitted up cars in this way. nearly every day they start out to raid through the country, where they expect to run across detachments of uhlans, or bicycle squads of the german advance. then they dart down on them and do some terrible work; before the enemy can recover to smash them, they are off like a flash, and return to town with all sorts of trophies." "they must have just been coming in," ventured merritt. "i saw one of the soldiers had a bandage around his head. another was holding up two helmets which must have been worn by uhlans. and listen how the crowds roar and cheer. they certainly do hate the kaiser and his army in antwerp." "well, do you wonder?" rob asked. "after some of their lovely towns have been burnt down, and thousands of houses destroyed, simply because these belgians dared to stand up for their rights as a neutral nation!" "well, how about that drink of milk, fellows?" tubby wanted to know. "suit yourself, tubby," rob told him. "if it tastes good to you, we might join you in a glass." "huh! sort of 'trying it on the dog first,' eh?" tubby retorted, and then turning toward the owner of the dog team and the milk cart, he made a gesture with his head, and held up three fingers. evidently the old woman must have understood what he meant, though she looked a bit "peeved," as tubby afterward expressed it, at being asked to do a retail business. there were a number of measures dangling from hooks around the top of the shining brass milk can, also several glass "schooners." taking one of the latter the old belgian milk vender was in the act of filling it from the contents of the can when something astonishing happened. four soldiers who had been passing became excited, and pointed at the group; then they laid violent hands on the owner of the milk cart! chapter iii. leaving for the front. "what's this? what's this?" stammered tubby, as the schooner of rich milk fell with a crash to the pavement when the soldiers began struggling with the woman vender, who was also the owner of the dog team. of course a crowd collected immediately, as it always will in a city when there is the first sign of something doing. antwerp was fairly seething with half suppressed excitement at that time, and anything of this kind was like putting a match to the powder magazine. "well, i declare but she's a husky old woman, that's right!" tubby was heard to say after his astonishment had in a measure abated, and he could catch his breath. "why, it takes the whole four soldiers to subdue her. shame! to hit a poor old woman like that; but my stars, don't she kick and try to land a blow on some of their noses." "whew! what do you think!" exclaimed rob just then, for he had been listening to some of the chattering on the part of the excited crowd near by. "it isn't an old woman, after all, but a man. that explains how he comes to fight as he does, and why the belgians keep on treating him so roughly." "a man, and dressed up like a woman!" cried tubby. "well, if that isn't a queer stunt, i want to know. is he trying to escape military duty, do you think, rob? i remember they have conscription here in belgium just like in germany, russia and france. every young fellow has to serve the colors just so long." but rob shook his head. by now the soldiers had apparently conquered the spirit of the man in woman's garments. his white belgian cap had been torn off in the struggle, showing that his hair was short underneath. he was also bleeding from having come in contact with some hard object, but he now stood there as straight as any grenadier, and looked his captors contemptuously in the face. "they say he's a german spy!" rob told his two chums. tubby again held his breath, and stared as hard as he could at the prisoner. the crowd became fairly wild to get at the captive, and made all manner of violent threats as they surged around the little group. the milk can was upset, and the dogs liberated by some friendly hand ran wildly away, as though knowing that their temporary master had gotten himself in a serious scrape. the four determined belgian soldiers guarding their prisoner against the fury of the mob began to work a way along the pavement, meaning, no doubt, to land their prize in the lock-up, where he would be safe until the firing squad was called on to complete the tragedy. presently their signals brought another detachment of the guard to the spot, a way was speedily cleared through the dense masses of people, and that was the last the three scouts saw of the spy. they could guess his fate, but at the same time felt positive that he must have met it as a man. somehow, the experience gave them a queer feeling. here they had been rubbing up against some of the tragic happenings of the war, and after being in antwerp only a few hours. no wonder they all felt convinced that the signs pointed to their having some lively times ahead. "and say, i didn't get my drink of milk, either, did i?" lamented tubby, after things settled back into the old rut again, with that never-ending procession of citizens, refugees, soldiers, and even a sprinkling of venturesome foreign tourists passing by in both directions. "oh! that doesn't cut much figure in the matter," merritt told him, "because if you step off this main street into one of the side _gassens_ you'll run across plenty of other milk-venders, who will not turn out to be something else." "i see one right now," announced the persistent tubby, who did not like to give up anything on which he had set his heart. "and look at the name of the same, will you: _the street of the steen_. now what does that stand for, rob? is it the same as the german word _stein_?" "oh! no, you're away off there, tubby," he was immediately told by the patrol leader, who had studied his guide book to some advantage. "this steen used ages ago to be a terrible prison, where in the days of the spanish inquisition they tortured people in all sorts of ways. just now it's a great museum; and if only we had time, which we don't expect, i'd like nothing better than to explore it." "you see," merritt told them, "if only you would let me go on by myself, and try to find steven meredith, you might stay around here and have a fairly decent time, unless the germans do really start to try and capture antwerp, after all." "that'll do for you, merritt," rob informed him severely, "you forget that incident is closed." "yes," added tubby, trying to frown, but as usual making a sorry mess of it, for the lines of his chubby face refused to take on such an air, seeing that they were only adapted for smiling, "don't let us hear another wheeze from you, merritt. but please come with me, and let's see if all the old milk-venders of antwerp are german spies. i hope the milk isn't poisoned." "that isn't fair talk, tubby, because you know the germans would be away and above doing anything like that. they have their faults, but nobody calls them cowards. in fact, they seem to be too brave for their own good, because we hear how they are shot down like ripe grain, pushing along in masses straight into the jaws of death, and singing as they go." this time they were allowed to quaff their mugs of cool, fresh milk without any unpleasant incident to interrupt the ceremony. tubby did eye the woman who owned the outfit rather suspiciously, and must have aroused her curiosity by the way he turned his head several times after they had walked off. for another hour the three american scouts tramped back and forth, seeing all they possibly could in so short a time. the quaint flemish houses, with their many gables, and their red-tiled roofs, interested them greatly. in some of the streets the buildings even seemed to lean toward one another, and tubby declared two men could almost shake hands by stretching from the upper windows. "now we ought to see the burgomaster," said rob, as the afternoon waned. "you know you are carrying a letter to him, merritt, from your grandfather, who happens to be acquainted with him. and we count on getting a guide through his influence who will take us along the roads between here and brussels." "even if a guide is not to be found, because nearly all the men are enlisted in the army," merritt replied, "we've made up our minds not to hold back. fellows who have had as much experience in running the gauntlet as the scouts of the eagle patrol can point to, needn't worry about how they're going to get along." "leave that to us," said tubby, rather pompously; "and we'll land on our feet all right, just as a cat does if you drop it out of the second-story window." after considerable difficulty, the boys were admitted to an audience with the mayor or burgomaster of antwerp in his official chambers. fortunately, he spoke english, so they expected to meet with little difficulty in acquainting him with the nature of their mission to belgium at a time when nearly all other americans were only too well pleased to get away from the land of strife and warfare. the burgomaster looked surprised and even anxious when he heard that they desired an official paper from him, requesting all belgians to assist them in their search for one steven meredith, who was believed to be located in a town not many miles to the west of the capital. "i would do much for my old friend, monsieur charles crawford, for whom i have long entertained a sincere affection," he told merritt, after he had read the letter presented to him, and questioned the boys at length, "but it is a most serious undertaking you have in view. i question the wisdom of my encouraging such a dangerous trip." rob, seeing that the good burgomaster appeared to be hesitating, and as tubby expressed it, "on the fence," started in to talk. rob had a very persuasive way about him, as his chums knew from past experiences. they guessed how it would all turn out as soon as they saw how impressed the belgian city official seemed to be with the arguments the boy brought forward. of course, in the end, the burgomaster yielded, and wrote them out the passport they wanted so badly. this document would possibly permit them to go even beyond the lines where the belgian army was intrenched, waiting to deal a blow at the enemy in case the germans turned threateningly toward antwerp. "i do this much against my will," he told them, as he was shaking each one by the hand upon their leaving. "but my old friend has written me so much that is clever about the faculty you boys have shown in taking care of yourselves, that i am in hopes you may get through safely. but i shall be sad indeed if anything overtakes you through my giving way to sentiment. i wish i could influence you to remain here in safety, and send out some messenger in your stead to bring this man to antwerp." "we have made up our minds to accompany our friend, the grandson of the charles crawford you knew, sir," rob told him, "and all we can promise is that we mean to be very careful. if the man you will send around to us as a guide does his duty faithfully, we hope to get along fairly well. and believe us, sir, we feel that you have advised and assisted us even more generously than mr. crawford expected of you. we thank you a thousand times. good-bye." that night passed without anything unusual happening to disturb the three boys. their hotel chanced to be situated in a quiet part of the seething city, so that they were not at all annoyed by patriotic outbursts. and boys as a rule have a happy faculty of losing their troubles in sleep. with the coming of that next morning all of them were early astir. after breakfast they went in search of mounts, having secured some hints from the proprietor of the hotel. horses were certainly at a high premium just then in flanders. nearly every animal of any worth at all had been taken by the belgian field forces for army use. if a few were by accident hidden, and escaped this search, they were apt to be discovered by the advancing germans. "it would be of no use, anyway, getting hold of respectable nags," rob explained, when he saw even tubby gape at sight of the poor looking animals they had offered to them at exorbitant prices, "because we'd never have the least chance to get anywhere on their backs. no matter how many passes we had from burgomasters, or even king albert himself, somebody would be sure to take them away from us." "i suppose half a loaf _is_ better than no bread at all," complained merritt with vivid recollections of the fine mounts he and his chums had sported on several occasions, notably when on the cattle ranch, and following mexican war trails. "but _such_ a loaf!" sighed tubby, as he ran his hand over the bony back of the nearest quadruped, and wondered whether so weak looking a horse could long survive under his rather heavy weight. "they may turn out a heap better than they look," rob told them. "sometimes it's the bony horses that can hold the pace in a grueling journey. but, after all, it's a case of hobson's choice with us; either these nags, or walk." "whew! better close the bargain then, merritt; that is, if you think you can afford the price," tubby hastened to say, for as may be easily understood, he was not very much in love with protracted walks, not having been built for a sprinter. so merritt bought four horses, and paid cash down for them, receiving a regular bill of sale from the dealer, to show they were his property. with them went old saddles and bridles, good enough for the purpose of the three scouts, but not of a type calculated to incite anyone to steal the same. all that remained to be looked after now was that promised guide. if the good burgomaster of antwerp kept his promise, they expected to find a native waiting at the hotel when they got back after their foray into the limited horse market. and sure enough they found a swarthy belgian there who said he had been engaged by the mayor to serve them. merritt quickly made terms, for the guide, besides being able to converse in french and flemish, could speak some english, and readily comprehended all that was said in that tongue; especially when the subject of a money contract came under consideration. "there's nothing to detain us any longer, boys," remarked merritt. "we have made up a little pack apiece which we'd like to take along. we travel light on this trip, you know; all but tubby, and that's something he always gets left on. the balance of our duffle the proprietor of the hotel has promised to keep safely until we show up to claim it again." "small loss if we never see any of it again," rob admitted. "at the same time we hope to come back this way after we've run that person down, and either recover the paper your grandfather wants, or learn that it's lost for good." "that is," corrected tubby, "we expect to see antwerp again if the germans don't gobble us up." "i'd like to see them try it," remarked merritt, with a significant look at the ample proportions of the fat chum. "they'd have their work cut out, as sure as you live, tubby." "now, don't get personal again, merritt," cautioned the other, holding up a warning forefinger, "but as there are heaps and heaps of queer things i'd like to poke into around this town, i certainly hope to visit it again." half an hour afterward, mounted on scrubby looking horses, which would have excited the derision of any respectable cowboy in the west, rob and his two chums, accompanied by anthony wallenhout, the belgian guide, passed out of the city, heading toward the east. before they had gone a sixth of a mile they found themselves stopped by a patrol of soldiers, led by a young lieutenant, who, it happened, could speak english. "it is no use, messieurs," he told them, with a pleasant smile, but a determined shake of the head, "you must face the other way and go back. the enemy is in force in many places between brussels and antwerp, and severe fighting is going on wherever our brave army has thrown up entrenchments. antwerp is the only safe place for any who speak english, these days." chapter iv. the day of the boy scout. "now, wouldn't that jar you!" muttered tubby, sprawled on the back of his horse very much after the manner of a great toad. "here we hardly get started on our wonderful trip over the battlefields of belgium before we're held up, and told to fade away. huh! talk to me about luck, we seem to have lost our grip." "show him what you've got, merritt," suggested rob, who did not give up quite so easily, because of a sudden snag in the stream. "oh! why, yes, how about that passport the burgomaster wrote out for us himself? it ought to do the trick!" exclaimed tubby, his sad look disappearing like a flash, and an expectant one appearing in its stead. the officer scanned the paper which merritt handed him. "at a time like this the burgomaster himself is under military orders," he told the waiting boys, "and if it happened to be a matter of much importance i could not honor his request. it chances, however, that in this case there is nothing involved except your safety. and you seem to be willing to take the risk?" "yes, because we have a very important piece of business to carry out," rob hastened to tell him, seeing which way the wind was blowing, and wishing to take advantage of the flood-tide. "it means a great deal to one of my friends if we can find a certain man. you will allow us to go on, then, i hope?" the lieutenant shrugged his shoulders in real french style as he handed the burgomaster's passport back. "yes, if you are that rash, young messieurs," he said. "we, of the belgian army, can admire pluck. you certainly have my best wishes." "oh! thank you, lieutenant!" gushed tubby, who was relieved to know that the enterprise was not fated to be condemned at the start. perhaps the time might come ere long when the same tubby would be secretly lamenting over the fact that it had been given a free swing. but coming events do not always cast their shadows before; and just at that moment none of the venturesome scouts could so much as guess what awaited them in the disturbed country beyond. they gave the obliging lieutenant a regular scout salute, which he returned in kind. the paper had informed him that rob and his chums were members of the boy scout organization in america, so that the fact of their wearing khaki uniforms was easily understood. "i hope we have as good luck in skipping past every obstacle we run up against," merritt was saying, as they moved along the road leading from antwerp in the direction of the belgian capital. "oh! we mustn't expect to be always as fortunate as that," said rob. "i believe in hoping for the best, and preparing for the worst. it's good policy all around." "something like we read the pilgrim fathers used to do in the good old days when they used to ride to church with the wife back of them," tubby explained, "and every man carrying his gun along. their motto was 'trust in the lord; but keep your powder dry!'" "that's the idea," agreed rob. "and so far, in all our tramps and wanderings, we've managed to do our part fairly well." "let's hope this venture turns out as good," tubby added, with a side glance toward merritt, for, of course, it concerned him more than either of the others whether success or failure resulted from their trip abroad. that was only a beginning, for they were soon held up again. this time it came about that the soldier in charge of the detachment could not speak a word of english, so the guide had to exercise his ability in the line of a translator. so well did he plead, and explain that they were all good friends of the burgomaster of antwerp, that once again they were allowed to proceed. rob could easily see, however, that considerable doubt had arisen in the mind of the officer as to whether he should permit three boys to head into such a disturbed country as that lying beyond. like the lieutenant, he shrugged his shoulders, and dismissed the matter of responsibility from his mind. indeed, there were too many other serious affairs to be considered just then to bother about a party of tourists fairly wild to say they had gazed upon actual battlefields; for, doubtless, he concluded this was the real reason why these venturesome boys elected to take chances in the war zone. so long as they were not spies in the service of the enemy it was all right; only he wanted to warn them that they were apt to meet with some roving detachment of germans at almost any time, since they were overrunning most of the country, appearing suddenly at villages, and demanding food and wine, or surprising isolated stations poorly guarded, so as to hold some important bridge for the coming of a column. "look what's coming whizzing along ahead there!" tubby called out a short time after this encounter. there was a little cloud of dust, and they could see that it was caused by someone mounted on a bicycle, who was bending down over the handlebars and working his feet very rapidly. "give him the road, fellows; he seems to be in a big hurry!" ordered rob. a minute later and the bicyclist shot by them. as he did so he straightened up in the saddle, and to their surprise gave them a regulation scout salute. then he went tearing down the road in that cloud of dust. "did you see that?" cried tubby. "why, he was a boy scout as sure as anything! now, what in the wide world was he in such a terrible hurry for? he acted like he might be late for his breakfast." "just now the boy scouts in belgium have a good many other things to bother them besides missing an occasional meal," explained rob. "they have been taken over by the military authorities and are doing splendid work in heaps of ways." "yes," added merritt, as they rode on again, "i noticed a number of them while we were in antwerp, and they seemed to be on the jump constantly. every fellow had a badge on his left arm with the letters 's. m.' on it. you remember, rob, when you asked what they stood for, you were told the letters meant 'service militaire,' and showed that the boys were working for the government." "what d'ye reckon they find to do?" asked tubby, deeply interested. "they act as dispatch bearers," replied rob, "ambulance orderlies, and aids to the police. they told me that in brussels, now held by the germans, some scouts daily herded the women who came for their regular ration issued by the government, and kept order, too. everybody takes them seriously. this is no time for play among the boy scouts of belgium, when war has gripped their native land." "when we were over in england," merritt related, "i made it a point to find out how all the scouts there were being made use of. it gave me a mighty proud feeling to know that i was authorized to wear the uniform of the eagle patrol; for there never was a time in the history of the world when boys were of as much use as now." "but there have been no battles on english soil, up to now, merritt; tell me how the boy scouts of great britain could do things, then?" asked tubby, who it seems could not have been bothering himself very much when his chums were making all these observations. merritt took a slip of paper from his pocket. they were riding slowly at the time, indeed at all times, for the horses did not seem desirous of making any particular speed. "here's an account i clipped from an english paper while we were in london," he told tubby. "it tells a lot of things the scouts have taken to doing in order to assist; for, during the war, school duties have been mostly dropped." "oh! what joy!" cried tubby; "but go and read it out to us, merritt." "here's what the account says, then," merritt told them, as he managed to read from the slip: "'acting as guides to troops. forwarding dispatches dropped from air craft. coastguard work, such as watching estuaries, guiding vessels in unbuoyed channels, and showing lights to friendly vessels!'" "whew!" remarked tubby; "that sounds fine to me, merritt. for once i almost wish i happened to be a johnny bull boy instead of an uncle sam. is that all?" "it's only the beginning," he was told. "listen to some more work a scout can do for his country over there. 'collecting information as to available supplies and transports. helping the families of men at the front. first aid; fitting up nursing stations, refuges, dispensaries, and kitchens in their own club rooms. carrying on organized relief of the destitute. guarding and patrolling bridges, culverts, telegraph lines, and water supplies. serving as dispatch bearers, telegraph and mail delivery riders; and distributing millions of notices as to billeting, commandeering, safety precautions, and the like,' how's that strike you, tubby?" "it certainly gives me a thrill," the fat boy replied, "and i envy the lucky boy scouts of great britain. i reckon they're doing things like that down in france. yes, and in germany too. now people will see what it means to wear the khaki uniform. i'm prouder than ever because i have that right." "they say," remarked rob, chiming in with what knowledge he had picked up, "that for once the boys are appreciated in these times. they have at last come into their own. a scout's uniform is regarded in england as a sign of competence and responsibility. it is treated with the same respect given to any other official garb." "this account goes on to say that the boys have developed a wonderful topographical knowledge," merritt continued, full of the subject as any boy scout might well be. "they pack ambulances systematically with instruments and medical supplies, checking off their lists like experienced quartermasters. others take charge of the delivery of camp outfits from the stores to the troops about to embark for the seat of war. the bicycle corps and mounted squads can care for their machines and horses, make high speed, and meet emergencies with decision and intelligence. the signal corps can use the telegraph key, semaphore, and flags almost as well as veterans, thanks to their training. they can repair telegraph lines and instruments, and have considerable knowledge of wireless." "hurrah!" exclaimed tubby. "this is sure the day of the boy scout. i never thought i'd ever live to see him climb to such a dazzling height. of course, over in america, scouts have never been trained with any idea that they might be soldiers; for we don't have a chip on our shoulder all the time, and feel that we're spoiling for a fight." "all the same," said rob, "the time may come when what we've learned will be of great use to our country. besides, every boy is ten times better off for joining the organization." they had been riding in this fashion for an hour and more, often meeting parties of fugitives on the road, some of them bearing household treasures, leading a mooing cow, or driving a spavined old horse that was attached to a shaky wagon piled up with goods of value to the owners only. these sights at first struck the boys as pitiful. they would in time become so accustomed to them that such spectacles must be taken as a part of the war game; still, all of them were sure that in this case "familiarity would not breed contempt." then at times it happened that houses were scarce, and a stretch of the road, from some reason or other, ahead appeared deserted. often, in the distance, they heard strange sounds like far-away thunder. it thrilled them to imagine that possibly this was the roar of big guns; perhaps they were even drawing near to an actual battlefield! about this time the boys noticed that their guide was acting as though excited. "what's the matter, anthony?" asked rob, bent on knowing the worst. in his broken english the belgian guide tried to tell them his fears. "look you--over thisaways--you see men, horses--they run thisaway, they run thataway--some shake hands at us--i do not know, but it may be they will turn out to be uhlan cavalrymen--bad men who ride far in advance of the army, to screen movements of troops. if they are uhlans, we may not go ahead further!" chapter v. under the bridge. of course what anthony told them caused the boys more or less concern. they had no desire to fall into the hands of the germans. while it could not be said that they were against the invaders, the terrible stories they had heard in antwerp, even if only a small part were true, gave them an unpleasant feeling toward the kaiser's men. that word uhlan was dreaded by every belgian or native of northern france. while it really stands for the cavalry arm of the german forces, still, ever since the franco-prussian war of more than forty years ago, it has possessed a terrible significance all its own. humble peasants shivered when they pronounced it, and no doubt many an unruly child was threatened with the coming of the terrible uhlans unless it mended its ways. "if that's the case, then," merritt voiced the opinion of himself and chums by saying hurriedly, "we want to get out of this. it's a case of either run or hide with us." "but where could we hide?" asked tubby, looking all around him helplessly. "just now there isn't a single cottage in sight; and the bare fields around don't offer much shelter, seems to me." "there's a bridge just ahead of us," said rob. "and we might manage to get our mounts down underneath," added merritt instantly, grasping the idea that was in the patrol leader's mind. "the bank slopes easy enough to allow of it." "eet could be done, messieurs!" allowed the guide, who was even more alarmed, it seemed, than tubby himself, since the prospect of falling into the hands of the dreaded uhlan raiders began to assume greater proportions, now that the peril no longer lay in the dim distance, but was close at hand. "then let's hurry and see what it looks like under the bridge," advised rob. just as they figured, it proved easy enough to lead their horses down the bank, which was covered with grass and growing weeds, for since the war began all really unnecessary work on roads and railways had been stopped. and those horses would have willingly gone anywhere if there only seemed a prospect that they might rest a spell, for they seemed tired all of the time. "listen to them shouting, will you?" tubby complained as they were going down amidst the bushes that promised to screen them from the party on the other side of the little stream across which the massive bridge had been built. "i'm afraid they must have seen us," merritt said, "and that will mean they'll soon be across the bridge again to find out what we're doing, and who we are. what's the program, rob?" "we must act as though our only object in coming down here was to water our horses," replied the patrol leader; this idea having possibly come into his mind as he noticed the way his mount put its ears forward, and commenced to whinny--as horses invariably do when they scent water, and are thirsty. "come on, here, what's ailing you, dobbin?" demanded tubby, jerking at the reins when his animal displayed an inclination to hold back. "he acts kind of queer, doesn't he?" merritt said when, after considerable fussing, tubby managed to coax his horse to once more advance, though the animal seemed to be snorting, and trembling. "if we were on the cattle range right now i'd be half inclined to think he smelled a rattler near by." "my stars! i hope they don't have such pests over here in belgium!" exclaimed tubby, beginning to himself show immediate signs of nervousness. "not the least danger," declared rob. "but, all the same, my horse seems trying to hold back, just as yours did, tubby." "they're sure a cantankerous lot all through!" grumbled the fat scout, looking carefully where he expected to plant his foot next; for, in spite of rob's assurance, he was not quite so certain that the undergrowth beneath the bridge might not harbor some poisonous reptile which might strike unexpectedly. "they're still keeping up that shouting!" announced merritt, listening. "which i take it is a queer thing for them to do. if they're german raiders why don't they come across and interview us, i wonder? i thought i saw uniforms among the bunch. how about that, rob?" "the sun was in my eyes, and i couldn't say for certain," acknowledged the one spoken to, jerking at the bridle of his horse. "one thing is sure," said tubby, "the horses are not at all thirsty; else there's some thing they don't like about this place down here." all of them were really puzzled by the strange actions of their horses. it was no longer simply tubby's mount that acted so contrary, but the other three also. "guess my nag got cold feet about something; and it's catching as the measles," tubby announced, as he shook his head in the manner of one who finds himself with too hard a nut to crack. "well, that water looks cool and clear," said merritt, "and i think i could enjoy a few swallows myself, if the horses won't." "sure it ain't poisoned, are you, merritt?" queried tubby dubiously. "oh! get that crazy notion out of your poor head, tubby. germans don't make war that way. they face the music, and stand up before the guns. what makes you look at me like that, rob?" and merritt as he asked this question stopped short, for he had been in the act of putting his threat into deeds, and getting down beside the stream to take a drink. "i smell it too, rob!" exclaimed tubby just then. "and, oh! let me tell you it's a rank odor. isn't it in this country they make all that limburger cheese; or over the border in holland? well, if you asked me i'd say it was something like that." "smells more like burnt powder to me!" snapped rob, showing visible signs of increasing excitement. with that he commenced looking hurriedly around. perhaps a sudden tremendous suspicion may have flashed into his mind, and he was seeking to justify it by making some sort of discovery. the gully was of considerable width, as has been said before, though just at that time in the late summer the stream that flowed through it did not appear to be of any great depth, and could be easily forded. there were bushes and grass and weeds growing all about, besides stray stones that may have fallen there when the solid masonry of the really fine bridge had been constructed years before. although he turned his eyes in this quarter and that, rob failed to see anything that looked at all suspicious. still that peculiar odor continued to strike his sense of smell, stronger than before, if anything. "must be something burning, fellows!" announced tubby, as he held a hand up so that he could close his nose with thumb and finger against the offensive odor. the guide had meanwhile thrown himself down at the brink of the stream and proceeded to drink his fill. evidently he had no fear concerning the quality of the water. typhoid germs were unknown to his lexicon; and so long as water looked fairly clear it suited him. he was getting on his feet again as tubby made that last remark. his horse had been pulling more violently than ever at the rein, and the belgian started to say something uncomplimentary to the animal in flemish. rob had stopped examining the shore upon which they were standing. he turned his gaze across the stream to the opposite bank, for his scout training told him that since the breeze came from that quarter he would be apt to learn the cause of the odor, so like burnt powder, if he followed it up. the others heard rob give a half suppressed shout, as though he had made a sudden and startling discovery. "oh! what is it?" cried tubby, straining to keep his horse from trying to start up the ascent again. "across the river, over there under the arch of the bridge, don't you see that little curl of blue-white rising?" exclaimed rob. "watch it and you'll find that it is creeping along over the ground. come, we've got to get up out of this in a hurry! turn your horses, and let them help to drag you up! quick, everybody; not a second to lose, i tell you!" tubby no longer tried to hold his horse back; on the contrary, he even urged the animal to climb the grade in frantic haste. he did not know what it all meant, but rob acted as though there must be some terrible danger threatening them; and tubby was no fool. with cries and shouts they urged the animals to ascend. several times a horse would slip, and come near falling headlong backward; then it was the one who held the reins found it necessary to encourage the struggling beast with word and act, so that the horse might regain his footing. tubby, chancing to glimpse rob's face about the time they drew near the top was horrified to see how very white it seemed. then more than ever did he realize that it must be something dreadful that had threatened them. "rob, tell us what it was all about?" tubby managed to gasp, when, having reached the road again, they were hurrying back as rapidly as they could go, the horses helping to drag them along. "just this," rob told him briefly. "they've fixed a mine there under the bridge, so as to blow it up; and we've had the narrowest escape of our lives!" chapter vi. getting near the war zone. "hold on to your horses, everybody!" called out merritt, as he looked back toward the bridge from which they had now managed to press quite a little distance. merritt somehow did not seem to be very much astonished at what rob had said. it might be he himself had entertained suspicions along those same lines. they had heard that the determined belgians were engaged in throwing all the obstacles possible in the way of an advance in force on the part of the invaders. if only cavalry were to be dealt with, the defenders of the soil had faith in their ability to take care of all that could be sent against them; but it was known to be a fact that the artillery arm was what the germans meant to depend on more than anything else in this war for conquest. if bridges and culverts were destroyed in every direction before the enemy could take possession of the roads, it would be next to impossible to move the great siege guns until some sort of strong temporary structure had been built in place of the stone and steel fabrics that were blown up. and so, for days, there had been reports drifting in to antwerp that certain bridges had been marked for destruction. those who sallied forth in armored cars to speed over the country, and play havoc with their maxim guns, found it necessary to revise their map of the district every night so as to conform to the new changes that had been wrought. it was hardly ten seconds after merritt told them to keep a firm grip on the bridles of their horses that the boys on looking back saw the bridge suddenly rear itself in the air. then came a terrifying boom that made the very ground under their feet quiver; and, in a moment later, in place of the fine bridge lay a horrible gap, from which smoke and dust was arising in sickening clouds. tubby was as white as a sheet. the others could hear the big sigh with which he drew in a gulp of air. "i want to say right here," he started to remark solemnly, "that i'm thankful i've got such a cracking good nose for queer odors. think what might have happened to us if i hadn't begun to sniff around, and made rob take notice. all that pile of stuff would have buried us out of sight. and the horses knew, sure they did. that explains why they acted so funny all the while. but isn't it a shame to see how they had to smash that splendid bridge!" "don't forget that this is war, tubby," merritt told him, "and to hinder the enemy from coming up, anything is allowable." "but that's going to block our going on, i take it," ventured tubby, watching anthony, who showed evidences of having been considerably excited by the explosion, though tubby could not tell whether it was fear that influenced the man, or an overmastering desire to join the army, and engage in some of this obstructive work himself. "oh! that doesn't follow," rob assured him. "i noticed that the river was shallow just now; and i imagined i could see the old ford that used to answer before this bridge was ever thought of. we can get across without swimming. you forded the rio grande once upon a time, tubby, and such a little bug stream as this shouldn't phase you a bit." "oh! count on me going wherever the rest of you lead," retorted tubby, with a blustering air, as though he did not want anyone to think him at all timid. "we might as well go back now," remarked rob, "and see about getting over. if the mine has been exploded, there shouldn't be any danger; i want to try that ford." it was found that though the bridge was wrecked pretty badly, the greatest damage was to the span, and not so much to the anchorages or piers. in time another arch could be built--should peace ever come to this distracted land--when men would be able to once more "beat their swords into ploughshares," and start to rebuilding what had been destroyed. "follow after me," rob told them, as he started to urge his horse across where he could see the old ford had been. little of the material from the wrecked bridge had been thrown to any distance, so the ford was not blocked. the horses still displayed more or less restlessness, as though they could not understand that, with such a smell of choking gases in the air, the danger was all over. the three boys, however, had had considerable experience in handling balky animals, and knew just how to urge them on. once on the other side, they started up the bank. as they arrived at the road, having crossed the abyss, they saw a crowd of men hurrying toward the spot. they were partly belgian soldiers, it turned out, along with some civilians, possibly men versed in explosives or strategy to be employed to delay the advance of the german artillery. of course, they were very much excited at meeting the boys. the khaki uniforms seemed to soften their anger to some extent, but one who appeared to be in authority started to scold them for walking so blindly into a trap. through the guide rob hastened to explain how it came they had not suspected the truth. then as questions began to follow, he also told who and what they were, even mentioning something concerning their self-imposed mission into the danger zone of the fighting. when the precious passport, written out by the good burgomaster, was shown, it had an additional soothing effect. the man in charge of the squad of destruction smiled and nodded as he perused the document, written in french. "he say burgomaster his uncle!" explained antonio, after the other had handed the paper back, and made some remark. "well, now, that's what i call fine. tell him we're glad we got out from under that bridge in time," said rob, "and also that we think he made a clean sweep of the job." this seemed to please the belgian officer, for he insisted on shaking hands all around. feeling that they were now free to proceed, the scouts resumed their journey along the road that led to brussels; probably, wholly in the hands of the invaders further on toward the capital, since rumor had it that immense numbers of german troops were daily being moved toward ghent. "all of which only goes to show how necessary it is to be constantly on the watch while you're in a country that's fighting for its life," merritt remarked to his companions as they lost sight of the ruined bridge. "if only we had eyes in the back of our heads, we might get along a heap better, i think," grumbled tubby, as his horse awkwardly stumbled over some small object, and gave him a shock. "it was a close call, all right," acknowledged merritt, "and has sobered our guide a whole lot, i notice. he listens to every far-off boom now, as though something might be drawing him. but the morning is wearing away, so i suggest that we stop at the very first village we come to, and see if we can beg, buy, or steal something to eat. i'm hungry as a bear." "oh! bless you, merritt, for those kind words!" called out tubby. "i've felt a vacuum down around my belt line for two hours back. whoa! there!" he added, as his horse stumbled again. "want to break my neck, you animated skeleton? he knocks his hoofs together every third step he takes. no wonder they didn't grab him for the cavalry; he'd have fallen all over himself in the first charge." coming to a little hamlet, the boys found a house where they could secure something in the way of a lunch. even at this early stage in the war, however, prudent hotel keepers realized that times were going to be hard, and that it would be the part of wisdom to conceal all the stores possible against a rainy day, or the raids of such invaders who might be billeted upon the villagers. here the boys remained between one and two hours, since the day was unusually hot, and their mounts were not in the best of condition for standing hard service. some of the good people had left for safer quarters, which would mean antwerp, of course,--deemed impossible of capture at that day on account of its wonderful defenses. a group gathered in front of the little hotel, and questioned anthony as to who the three boys in the uniform of scouts might be, and of the nature of their mission that tempted them to invade a region being made desolate by war. anthony himself knew very little on that score; but since it would not look well for him to admit this fact, it is possible he "drew the long bow" to some extent. he may even have told all sorts of fairy stories about the boys being english agents sent over to learn facts in connection with the movements of the german army, so that a strong force of the allies from across the channel could be hastily dispatched to the scene, and chase the haughty germans back across the rhine. some idea like this the boys found very prevalent all through their journey. the belgians seemed to believe the english were getting a wonderful surprise ready with which to stagger the enemy. if they could have only known how an army had to be built up step by step in the great island country, they might have felt less confidence, and perhaps shown more discretion in attacking the invaders. rob suspected something of this sort when he saw the way the villagers observed him and two chums, staring at them as though they were curiosities. "makes you feel like some punkins, to have all these people watch every little thing you do, and get out of your way so quick when you go to make a move, don't it?" remarked tubby, evidently tickled over the attention shown them. "i don't just like it, to tell you the truth," admitted merritt. "oh! you're too modest by half, merritt!" jeered the fat scout. "it isn't that, tubby," explained the other. "rob here says he believes our guide is spreading the report that we're english messengers, sent ahead to pick up news about the germans, so they can be smashed when the british army gets here." "well, what of that?" demanded his friend. "it isn't so _very_ dreadful that i can see, to be mistaken for a johnny bull." "you'll change your tune, my boy," rob told him, "if the germans should come along and nab us. we'll soon see how you begin to roar out that you're a yankee, as true-blue as they make them." "oh! but they wouldn't know anything about that!" declared tubby, though showing signs of increasing dismay at the same time. "you never can tell," he was told by rob. "the ways of these smart germans are past finding out. they've got spies everywhere. right now there may be some secret sympathizer with the fatherland in that bunch close by, taking in all that silly anthony has been saying." "gingersnaps and popguns!" gasped tubby, "if that's really so i guess we'd better muzzle our guide in a hurry. where's he gone to, do you think, rob? it was all of half an hour ago that i saw him last, talking to the crowd." "i was wondering about that myself," said merritt. "if we expect to be getting along about this time, we ought to look anthony up." "you take a turn that way, and i'll step into the taproom of the inn, to see if he is there," remarked rob, who had a slight frown on his face as he spoke, as if he might not be wholly satisfied with the way in which their guide was acting. five minutes later rob and merritt joined tubby at the same time. "nothing doing in my section," remarked merritt, "except that i'm afraid somebody has swiped one of our nags, for i could only count three horses hitched there." "then, that settles it!" said rob positively. "settles what?" piped up tubby. "anthony has basely deserted us, and taken to the back road!" rob told them. "i feared as much from what the little inn proprietor let out; but what you say clinches the thing. our guide is a mile or more on the way back to antwerp by now!" chapter vii. the desertion of anthony. "the miserable hound! hanging would be too good for him!" exclaimed merritt, who it appeared had not up to that instant suspected anything like the truth, and was therefore taken completely by surprise. "that all depends on what his motive may have been," said rob reflectively. "why, it's plain he got cold feet after that little experience at the bridge this morning!" merritt hastened to declare. "i thought he was a man of more nerve than that. i hope all belgians are not made of the same kind of stuff." "hold on a minute, merritt," rob cautioned him, "you are jumping to conclusions now without being sure of your ground. i've been watching anthony from time to time and i've noticed that whenever he happened to speak of the gallant doings of his people on the battlefields his face would beam with pride, and what i took to be a touch of envy." "oh!" said tubby, grasping the idea, "then, rob, you think our guide shook us just because he couldn't hold back any longer. he thought he ought to be on the firing line along with the rest, and get in a crack at the invaders of his country. is that the stuff, rob?" "i'm thinking that way," rob informed him gravely, "but we've got no time to look anthony up. whether he's gone to join the belgian army or turned back to the city of antwerp isn't going to cut any figure in our calculations." "that's about the size of it, rob," agreed merritt, beginning to show signs of returning confidence, when the patrol leader spoke with such vim. "what we've got to do is to figure out whether we want to call the whole thing off just because we haven't a guide to do the talking business for us and turn back to the city, or set our teeth together and push on." tubby and merritt exchanged looks. the latter even half opened his mouth as if to indignantly protest against giving up the most cherished plan of his life for a little snag, such as the desertion of anthony proved. then he suddenly closed his lips firmly. he had remembered an important fact, which was that after all he should not be the one to make such a suggestion. let one of these good chums, who were his side partners, express an opinion first of all. that was why merritt remained silent. "oh! we just can't quit at the first puff!" remonstrated tubby. "fellows who have been through all we have shouldn't be built that way. think of the battles we've been up against on the diamond and the gridiron; and did anybody ever hear us complain, or show a yellow streak? well, i guess not! tell him how you feel about it, rob!" "just as you do, tubby," responded the scout leader heartily. "i wasn't counting any too much on anthony's services, come to speak of it. nine-tenths of what we expected to accomplish would have to come from our own hard work. if you put it up to me to decide, i say every time, go ahead!" merritt looked almost joyous. though he was not a demonstrative fellow as a rule, he could not help reaching out and squeezing a hand of each of his faithful chums. indeed, no one ever knew more reliable allies than merritt possessed in rob and tubby, who were ready to go through fire and water with him, if necessary. "it may all turn out for the best," tubby continued, with fine optimism, such as these chubby fellows nearly always show since life looks rosy to them. "and it's going to save you a little money in the bargain, too, merritt. i must brush up my french and flemish from now on. already i can say as many as six words of the first, and i think i know how to almost pronounce one in flemish." "no trouble to tell what that one is," remarked rob, laughing. "it stands for grub!" added merritt. "now, i consider it strange how you should guess so easily," tubby shot back at them reproachfully. "i suppose i'll have to acknowledge the corn. we've got to eat to live, and so i thought i ought to know the right word that would produce results quickest. don't blame me, boys; i was thinking of you as well as myself." "well, shall we get out of here?" asked rob. "i don't altogether like the way we are being stared at by some of the people of the village. they say in antwerp that there's a hidden sympathizer of the germans in every city, town and hamlet through the whole of belgium always trying to send information of value to the enemy." "huh! don't know just what to believe, and what to brand as big yarns," protested tubby. "since we've landed here i've heard stories that would make poor old baron munchausen hide his head in shame as a has-been. if one-tenth of the same turned out to be true, these germans are the most remarkable people that ever lived for getting ready for a war against the whole world forty years ahead of the date. i'm beginning to use my own horse-sense, and figure things out." ten minutes later they turned their backs on the little hamlet where a fair meal had been procured, and which had also witnessed their first real misfortune in the base desertion of anthony. in many cases they found the roads occupied with throngs of fugitives. these poor peasants were flocking, in a general way, toward antwerp, though possibly a few of them meant to cross the line into the netherlands, where they hoped to be safe from the german armies of invasion that were gradually progressing further and further toward the coast. a thousand-and-one sights greeted the eyes of the three scouts. more than a few times they stopped for some purpose or other that did their hearts credit. once it was a limping boy whose condition excited the pity of rob. he did not hesitate to put to some use the practical knowledge of surgery that he had picked up in company with all the other members of the eagle patrol. another time they saw a wretched woman trying to mend the wheel of a miserable old handcart, upon which she had some humble belongings, and three small children. that was more than the boys could stand. they stopped their horses, and giving the lines of their mounts into the keeping of tubby, rob and merritt busied themselves with fixing up the disabled wheel. although they had next to no tools with which to work, their skill proved sufficient to surmount the difficulty. inside of twenty minutes the woman was able to trudge along again. she thanked them volubly in flemish, which they did not understand. tubby listened eagerly, but owned up that it was beyond the range of his extremely limited vocabulary, consisting, as that did, of but one word. "well, that look on her face paid us for all our trouble," rob remarked contentedly, as he once more remounted, and led the way along the highway. "it's something fierce where all these forlorn people come from," said tubby. "to me the greatest puzzle is where they're all going," merritt added. "if you should ask them," rob advanced as his opinion, "nine out of ten couldn't begin to tell you. some have had their houses burned over their heads; others i expect have seen their homes destroyed by bursting shells, where they happened to lie near the place where an artillery duel was going on. so they've just started on the road, hoping to reach _somewhere_ the fighting won't follow." "it's a terrible sight," sighed tubby. "i'll never forget it as long as i live. every minute i'm telling myself we ought to be the happiest people going over in america, to know that we needn't get mixed up in all this butcher business." slowly the afternoon wore away. the three chums did not make very rapid progress, and for many reasons. in the first place their horses objected to putting forth any unusual exertion, and seemed to consider that they were doing their full duty by merely working their four weary legs in a machine-like fashion. then, again, the roads were cluttered in places with squads of the peasant population fleeing from the battle lines. three times did the scouts come upon detachments of belgian soldiers stationed behind temporary intrenchments, where they expected to harass the advance forces of the germans whenever they appeared. from these men they received many curious stares. of course the soldiers could not understand why three boys in khaki, who were undoubtedly not belgian scouts, should be heading so boldly toward the scene of carnage, when everybody else was fleeing madly the other way. they were halted and questioned. at first rob felt a qualm of anxiety, lest the fact that they no longer had an interpreter in their company to explain things might get them into trouble. that fear soon vanished, however. in every instance it was found that some man could either talk fair english, or else what little french the patrol leader was able to muster explained matters in a satisfactory manner. the probability was that the message given them by the burgomaster of antwerp was much more potent than anything else. the worthy official was a well known and highly respected man; and among these commands there were always those who knew him personally, so that his "passport," while hardly worth the paper upon which it was written, officially, acted magically with the belgian officers. as the afternoon sun began to draw near the western horizon they continued to be on the lookout for some haven of refuge. another night was coming; they must not only have food but lodging, if this latter could possibly be obtained. "of course," explained rob, as they walked their sorry looking horses on, "while we'd like to find some sort of respectable beds to-night, if the worst comes, we can always make shift with a haystack. it wouldn't be the first time we've curled up in the hay and snatched a few winks of sleep." "i should say not," tubby assured him. "only i do hope we manage to strike a dinner-call somehow or other. i can do without a bed, but i must have eats or i'll collapse utterly, like a balloon with the gas let out." "please don't think of it, tubby," merritt implored him. "we promise to do everything in our power to find the grub. brace up! we're coming to a village; and i think i can see an inn the first thing." it proved to be as merritt had said, and better still, the man who kept the modest little tavern assured rob in fair english that he would be proud to serve the honored guests; also that he had once spent a year in the birmingham machine shops himself. "just like all the rest, he takes us for johnny bulls," complained tubby. "well, that's partly your fault," rob told him. "just because i'm so well filled out, i suppose you mean, rob? well, if they keep on thinking that, i guess i'll have to get busy and cultivate a real cockney accent. 'beg pawdon; thank _you_; my word!' you see i've got a few of their favorite jabs spotted." as before, they found themselves the object of more attention than any of them enjoyed. people kept peeping in through the open door of the room where the three strange young chaps in khaki were enjoying their really excellent supper. "don't mind them," advised rob, when he saw that tubby was posing, as if conscious of being in the lime-light. "let's finish our supper, and then we can sit outside on the porch as the sun goes down, and talk over our plans for to-morrow." "yes," added merritt quickly, "because to-morrow may take us so far on our journey that we'll either find our man, or meet with some bitter disappointment, something i hate to think about." "don't do it, then," advised rob. "we must believe everything is bound to come out right, and that you'll not only run across steven meredith, but that the paper will be found under the lining of the cover to his field-glass case, where he's been carrying it all this while, without knowing it." "one thing sure," said merritt grimly, "if he's left that post and gone anywhere else, i'll follow him, hit or miss, if it takes me to the battle front." "listen!" exclaimed tubby. "what's that man shouting, rob?" "as near as i can make out," replied rob quickly, "he says the uhlans are entering at one end of the town." chapter viii. when the uhlans came. when rob blake made this startling explanation of the loud cries from without, his two companions started up from the table in dismay. they could easily understand that the coming of the german cavalrymen just then threatened them with unpleasant consequences. if they were mistaken for english boys they might expect not only rough treatment, but possibly find themselves railroaded into germany, with one of those terrible dungeons in a rhine fortress as their destination. perhaps even tubby began to deplore the fact that he chanced to be wearing a boy scout khaki suit, and a campaign hat besides; with the leggings that scouts in the states have adopted instead of the woolen stockings used by other branches of the organization abroad. if pride must have a fall, tubby began to experience the first twinges of regret at that moment as he scrambled to his feet, and waited to hear what rob or merritt would say. "it may be only a false alarm," merritt suggested. "these poor people have been seeing imaginary regiments of uhlans ever since war was declared." "but they're making oodles of noise, anyhow!" tubby protested. "we can soon find out if it's so," said rob, hurrying over to one of the windows, which were partly screened with flimsy curtains, through which any person from the inside could look out, but which would prevent scrutiny from the village street, except when the lamps were lighted later. they quickly saw that their worst fears were realized. down the street at least fifty horsemen were riding. the fact that they carried lances and wore the customary spiked helmets of the german troopers told rob as well as words could have done that at last they were gazing on the far-famed uhlans. they were not at all the fierce-appearing warriors the boys may have pictured them, having the russian cossacks in mind at the time. indeed, a number seemed to be laughing heartily, doubtless on account of the evident terror their presence had apparently inspired in the breasts of the villagers. and some of them were rosy-cheeked young fellows, who, shorn of their military accouterments, would have struck the scouts as good-natured german youths. others, however, were more grim and haughty, as though they thought it their duty to impress these stubborn belgians with a due sense of their importance as factors to be dealt with. it was a thrilling sight to see those hard-riding soldiers of the kaiser coming along the village street, with people staring at them from open doors and windows, yet none daring to utter a word of protest. fear was written largely on nearly every face, though doubtless there were also those who viewed the coming of the hated uhlans with illy suppressed rage. perhaps they had lost some dear one during the battles that had already been fought around liège and other places; or in the destruction of louvain. "rob, don't you see they're heading right this way?" whispered tubby suddenly, after they had watched the stirring picture for a minute or so. "yes, that's a fact," replied rob. "let's hope they mean to only ride through the village, and leave by the other side." "gee! i hope now they won't fall in love with our horses, and run them off!" ventured tubby, excited by his fears in that respect; for tubby did not like to walk any more than he could possibly help. "not much danger in that line," scoffed merritt. "but look at that officer in front of the column--he's pointing right this way, you notice, rob, and is saying something to another rider close behind him." "oh! can he have seen us?" wailed tubby, no doubt having very positive visions of prison life before him just then, with solitary confinement on a diet of bread and water, which was the worst punishment he could imagine. "that's impossible," rob instantly assured him. "the chances are he's discovered this inn, and is telling the other officer they may be able to secure something to eat, and a bottle of wine here. their men can pick up supper through the place, making the poor people furnish the meal, or have their houses knocked about their ears." "but if they come in here do we want to stay and be arrested for english spies?" asked merritt; whereat tubby's lips could be seen to move, although no words came forth, while he anxiously waited for rob to decide. the other had already made up his mind. "that would be foolish on our part," he told merritt, "and unnecessary in the bargain. they may only stop for five minutes to drink wine, and then go on again, because they know they're in the enemy's country here. we must find a place to hide till they leave. come along with me, fellows." now it happened that rob had never forgotten one of the things all scouts are enjoined to impress upon their minds; which is to observe the most minute detail wherever they happen to be. in the woods this faculty for observation had often served the patrol leader a good turn, and the same thing happened now. while sitting there and enjoying the warm supper which the keeper of the village inn had spread before them, rob had taken note of his surroundings. thus he knew just where the stairs leading to the upper _etage_ or floor of the inn was located; and also that it could not be easily seen from the door leading to the street. he led tubby and merritt over to the stairs. "we'll slip up here," he told them, for a quick glance around had assured rob that no one was watching them. most of those who had been around the tavern hurried outside at the first sign of alarm, and were now gaping at the coming troop. the proprietor, guessing that his establishment would be the first object of attention on the part of the invading enemy, was wildly striving to conceal certain valuables he possessed under a board in the floor, where, perhaps, he also kept his choicest wines. once the scouts had climbed aloft they managed to gain a sort of garret where broken furniture and hair-covered trunks seemed to be stored. "this will answer us as well as any other place," rob told them, as he closed the door, and managed to push a heavy trunk against it. "and there are two little peephole windows, too, for all the world like eye-glasses, but big enough for us to see through," tubby remarked, groping his way among the collection of riffraff with which the garret was encumbered, until he found himself able to kneel and look through the dusty glass of a window. "they're spreading all over the place," he immediately announced, "and making the village people get supper ready for them. chances are, too, they won't whack up a red cent for all they eat and drink. whee! so this is war, is it? well, all i can say is it's a mighty mean game." "some of them have come into the inn," ventured merritt. "i can hear heavy voices below us, german voices, too. you know sound travels up walls like everything. and there's a heap of bustle going on below, as if the landlord, his wife and everybody else might be on the jump to wait on the uhlan guests." "can you blame them?" said tubby, "when like as not if they said no they'd find a torch put to their house? rob, you don't think they'll come up here, do you?" "oh! hardly, unless they take to ransacking the house for valuables, or more wine. they must know time is too valuable for that, because there are belgian forces all around this place who might drop in on them. no, they'll get a hurried bite and then be off again." for some little time they continued to listen to the confused sounds that came to their ears. considerable shouting from the street testified to the fact that some of the soldiers might be acting, as tubby expressed it, "rough-house"; and although the light outside was commencing to grow rather dim, looking through the window they saw several instances where a soldier struck some half grown boy who may have acted in a sullen fashion, or declined to do what he was told. all at once there was a shot! this was followed by a great outcry, in which loud german voices could be heard giving orders. a scrambling downstairs announced that the officers who had been eating at the inn were hurriedly rejoining their command. "are the belgian troops coming, rob?" asked tubby, finding it impossible to see what was going on, because he had been unable to open his window, as the others had done. "no, it must have been some desperate villager sniping from a house," replied rob; and a minute later he continued hastily: "yes, they're carrying a uhlan to his horse, and threatening the people with guns and lances." "oh! i hope now they don't start in to shooting the poor things down!" cried the sympathetic tubby, wringing his hands, though hardly conscious of what he was doing. "they've rushed into the house next to this," merritt now exclaimed, "and seem to be searching it, which tells me the party who fired, man or boy, must have been concealed there!" "gee! that's getting pretty near home!" muttered tubby. "rob, did you see that puff of smoke coming out of the house then?" merritt presently demanded, almost bursting with the excitement. "yes, i'm sorry to say i do see it," replied the leader of the eagle patrol, as he continued to look downward. "they've set fire to the building; and what bothers me most of all is the wind coming straight this way. i'm afraid it means the inn will take fire too, and like as not be burned to the ground!" chapter ix. with fire and smoke. "gingersnaps and popguns! then we're in for a warm time of it!" tubby burst out. "let's hope they manage to get the fire out; or that it doesn't spread to the inn," merritt soothed him, after the manner of one who wished to throw oil on troubled waters. "if only the germans would pull out right away we could get down from here in good time," continued tubby hopefully. "look again, fellows, and see if they show any signs of skipping." "they seem to be galloping all over the village, as far as i can see, and threatening to shoot if anybody dares take a crack at them," rob announced, after making a hurried survey. "oh! my stars!" groaned tubby, "little did i ever dream that i'd stand a chance of being cooked before i'd been in belgium two days. i always said i liked cold weather best, and now i know it. baked or stewed or even broiled doesn't suit my taste." "the fire next door is beginning to rage fiercely," remarked rob. "the people are just standing on, and sullenly watching it burn. they don't seem to dare to offer to help save a single thing, because they might be shot down." "that house is doomed!" asserted merritt, gloomily. "better keep back more," cautioned rob. "the light grows stronger all the while, you notice, and we might be seen up here by some uhlan, who'd think it fine sport to send a shot if only to frighten us. i thought i saw one man glance up. if he happened to see that we wore khaki and had on these military looking hats he'd pass the word along that there were belgian soldiers hiding in the inn." "please don't start a riot," begged tubby. "it's sure bad enough as it stands without that happening. if we had wings now we might sail away. what wouldn't i give for an aëroplane to come along at this minute, and pick me up? rob, has our house taken fire yet?" at first rob did not see fit to answer, upon which the suspicious tubby pressed him to declare the truth. "no matter how bad it is," he said soberly, "we should know the worst, instead of pulling the wool over our own eyes, and believing everything's lovely. how about it, rob?" "i'm afraid it's a bad job, tubby." "you mean we're on fire, do you?" questioned the other, with a hurried intake of his breath, as his heart possibly beat tumultuously with new apprehension. "yes, it's caught the end of the inn, and with that breeze blowing there isn't a chance for this house to be saved," rob continued. "i'm sorry for the poor man who owns it; but then he'll be no worse off than tens of thousands of other belgian sufferers." "but think of us, will you?" the fat scout urged. "we're neutrals only, and it's a shame to make us stand for that foolish shot some sniping boy may have fired. hadn't we better make our way downstairs, rob, and throw ourselves on the mercy of the uhlans?" "i'm in favor of sticking it out just as long as we can," said merritt desperately; for only too well did he know that once they fell into the hands of the germans, all chances of carrying out his well laid plans would be lost. "oh! so am i, when it comes to that," affirmed tubby; "and i hope that neither of you think i'd be the one to scream before i'm hurt. but i do smell smoke, and that looks bad, as the plight of bluebeard's wife." there could be no questioning that what tubby said was so, for little spirals of penetrating smoke had commenced to come under the door, so that they could already feel their eyes begin to smart. rob went back to the open window to watch. he knew that the thing calculated to help them most of all would be the flitting of the uhlan troop. if the raiders would only gallop away from town there would be an opportunity for the three boy scouts to make their way from the garret of the doomed inn. "are they showing any signs of going yet?" asked tubby, rubbing one hand continually over the other; and then he burst out into a half hysterical fit of laughter as he went on to add: "d'ye know, when i said that it made me think of bluebeard, don't you remember where the wife was waiting to be called down to lose her head, and expected her brothers to come to the rescue, she had her sister watching out of the window for a cloud of dust on the road? and all the while she keeps on asking: 'sister ann, sister ann, do you see anyone coming?'" "i guess you're not as badly rattled as you make out, tubby," suggested merritt, "when you can joke like that with the house on fire. in this case you're wanting to know whether there's anybody going. well, they're here yet, i'm sorry to tell you." "but i think they are getting together to ride away," rob added. "did they shoot down many of the poor villagers on account of that sniper?" asked the fat scout anxiously. "no, i couldn't see anything like that," rob hastened to assure him. "there was some firing, but it looked to me as if it might be done for effect, just like cowpunchers ride into town, yelling, and shooting their guns in the air. but at the same time i think they must have got the person who did the sniping." "yes, i heard several shots that seemed to come from inside that next house," merritt admitted. "it'll certainly be his funeral pyre. the house is all aflame, and burning fiercely." "poor chap! he must have been crazy to fire on uhlans when they were in such force," tubby declared. "they never refuse a dare, i've heard said. and believe me, i don't ever want to test them. i hope they hear the call soon now. that fire must be getting pretty close to us by this time, boys!" rob opened the door of the garret a trifle, after having pushed back the heavy trunk. immediately a cloud of smoke entered, at which poor tubby fell back in dismay. "oh! we're goners, i'm afraid!" he moaned, making his way through the pall in the direction of the one small window that was open, so that he might secure a breath of fresh air. "if we can keep the smoke out a little while longer it's going to be all right," rob informed them. "the uhlans are all in the saddle, and seem to be only waiting for the order to leave. i can hear the captain in charge of the troop telling the villagers something or other, and he is speaking in french, too; so i reckon it must be a warning that if a single shot is fired as they ride away, they will turn back and not leave one stone unturned in the place." "that seems to be the usual uhlan way, i've heard," muttered tubby, glad he could say anything; for at the time he was desperately clutching his nose with thumb and fingers, as though in hopes of keeping the pungent smoke from entering his lungs. he had apparently gotten beyond the seeing stage, for both his eyes were kept tightly closed. at the same time tubby was listening eagerly for good tidings. he knew that his chums were constantly on the lookout. "there they go off!" he heard rob say presently, when the situation had almost become unbearable. the sound of many hoofs coming to their ears, even above the roaring of the fire, affirmed this statement. tubby acted as though he wanted to cheer, and then reconsidered his intention, through fear that the sound might be heard by the uhlans, and work them harm. "now, let's get out of here," said rob briskly. "take hold of my coat, tubby. merritt, bring up the rear. we'll find a room just below this where we can drop out of a window easily, if the stairs are ablaze, as i'm afraid may be the case." passing down from the garret in this fashion, through dense billows of smoke that struck terror to the soul of tubby, they presently found themselves in one of the ordinary rooms, used perhaps for stray guests. looking from the window rob saw that it would be easy for him and merritt to drop down on the turf below. tubby must be taken care of first, and so rob snatched a sheet off a bed, and twisted it into the shape of a rope. this he forced tubby to take hold of, and then climb over the window sill. "keep a fast grip, and we'll lower you!" rob told the fat scout, who had full confidence in his comrades since they had never failed him. after all, it was an easy thing to let him down, because the distance was short. as for themselves, the other two boys scorned to make use of such means. clambering out of the window, when tubby reported himself safe below, they hung down as far as they were able, and then just let go. there was a little jar as they struck solid ground, and it was all over. "beautifully done, fellows," tubby was saying, as he dug his fat knuckles into his still smarting eyes. "we'd pass muster for fire laddies, i tell you. after all, it takes scouts to know what ought to be done. but i think some of these people must have gone out of their minds to whoop it up so. what's that poor woman shouting now, rob? can you make it out? and look how they're holding her back, would you? it must be the wife of the inn keeper; the loss of her home has unsettled her reason, i'm afraid, poor thing!" but rob, who had been listening, knew better, as he immediately proved. "it's a whole lot worse than that, i'm afraid," he told the others. "she keeps calling out for her baby; and i think the child's been left in the burning building!" chapter x. the duty of a scout. tubby was dreadfully shocked when he heard the news. "the poor thing!" he cried, "to be forgotten in all the row, and left to be smothered by the smoke, perhaps burned up in the bargain. oh! rob, i hope you're mistaken!" "i wish i could believe so myself, tubby, but if you look you can see them all staring up there at that window next to the one we jumped from. some even point at it, and you notice more than a few of the women are crying like everything." "but my stars! why doesn't somebody run up and get the child out, if that's so?" tubby demanded,--forgetting that his eyes still smarted,--because this discovery, and the distress of the parents overwhelmed him. "because the lower floor is all afire, and the stairs can't be used," merritt told him. "if only we'd known about the child before we came out, we might have saved it," tubby wailed. "if i could climb like some fellows i know, who can even go up a greased pole in the contests, i'd be for making my way up there right now. hey! what are you going to do, rob, merritt? let me help any way i can. stand on my back if you want to; it's broad enough to do for a foundation! the poor little thing! we mustn't let it be burned if we can help it!" neither rob nor merritt had waited to give tubby any answer when he made that really generous offer. they knew there would be no need of his back as a means for elevating one of them to the sill of the upper window. in fact, rob had made a sudden discovery that must have been the main reason for his speedy actions. "the tree is close to the house, merritt!" he was saying as he sprang forward. "better still, rob, one limb grows right alongside the window!" the other scout added, keeping in touch with the patrol leader. they were quickly on the spot, rob starting up the trunk of the tree at once. "don't follow me," he told his chum, as he climbed upward. "if i find the child i may want to drop it down to you. get busy underneath, merritt!" "all right, rob; i understand!" came the answer. tubby had also heard what was said. he came puffing forward, as though he did not mean to be left out entirely of the rescue. "let me help you, merritt," he was saying, between his pants from his recent exertions. "sure i will, if there's any chance, tubby." "can rob reach that window from the limb?" the fat scout asked anxiously, as he tried to look straight upward, a task that was always a trying one with tubby because of the odd shape of his chubby neck. "he's about there now, you notice. there's something of a little ledge underneath and he's going to make it all right." "there! he's clinging outside and starting to throw a leg over," tubby exclaimed in evident rapture. "and if there is a child inside that room, our chum will find it. if it was me now, i'd be so blind with the smoke i'd have to just grope my way around, and p'raps get lost in the shuffle." "but what's that you've got in your hand, tubby?" pursued merritt, becoming aware for the first time that the other was holding on to some white object. "this? why, what but that fine sheet you used to lower me with," he was told. "i remember that rob dropped it down after you landed," said merritt, "but i never thought you'd want to take it along with you, tubby." "oh! shucks! don't you see, i picked it up when i started over after you," the stout boy tried to explain. "but why should you do that?" persisted merritt, who was looking eagerly aloft just then, and possibly not fully paying heed to what he was saying. "why, you know how firemen stand and hold a blanket for people to jump into?" explained tubby; "i thought that if it came to the worst, rob might drop the baby into this sheet, which both of us could hold stretched out!" "well, you _are_ a daisy, after all, tubby!" cried merritt, in sincere admiration. "that's as clever a scheme as anyone could think up. here, give us a grip of an end, and we'll get ready for business!" quickly they clutched the four corners of the sheet. fortunately, it appeared to be a fairly new bed-covering, and might be trusted to bear a certain weight without tearing. having reached the point where nothing more could be done in order to assist rob, the other two scouts had to stand there and wait, as the precious seconds crept by, each seeming like an age to their anxious hearts. meanwhile, what of rob, who had, without the least hesitation, risked his life in order to save the child forgotten in the excitement of the uhlans' coming, and the strange events that had so soon followed? when he reached that window, he found it closed, but, on his pressing against the sash, it had swung inward, allowing him free access to the room. it was rather an appalling prospect that confronted rob. the smoke seemed to be thick, and he could not see three feet away. for all he knew the fire that was raging in the lower part of the inn might by this time have eaten partly through the floor boards, so that, if he put his weight on them, he stood a chance of being precipitated into the midst of the flames. rob never hesitated a second. he had taken all these matters into consideration when making up his mind as to what he meant to attempt. more than this, he did not believe anything partaking of such a disaster threatened him in case he entered that apartment. the most he feared was that he might be unable to discover where the child lay, for it was manifestly impossible to use one's eyes to any advantage, with all that veil of smoke interfering. over the window-sill he climbed, just as the two boys below witnessed. and, no sooner did rob find himself in the room, than he started to cross it. he expected to find a bed somewhere, and toward this purpose he at once set himself. he could hear the crackling of the flames below. besides this, there came to him with painful distinctness the wails of the poor woman who was being restrained from trying to rush into the burning inn. rob was listening for something more. he had strong hopes that he might catch another sound, perhaps feeble, but enough to guide him to where the imperiled one lay in the bed or on the floor. groping as he advanced, and at the same time feeling with his feet, in case the object he sought should prove to be on the floor, rob passed away from the vicinity of the open window. the smoke was pouring from the aperture now, as though it were in the nature of a funnel. this turned out to be of considerable help to the boy, for the draught served to thin the smoke that had filled the room to suffocation. now he had reached the farther wall, and, turning sharply to one side, started to comb this, every second expecting to come upon a bed of some sort. it was about this time that rob thought he heard a low, gasping cry just ahead of him. though unable to use his eyes with any measure of success in locating the source of the sound, he was encouraged, and persisted in pushing forward. in this way he found himself bending over a cot. his groping hand came in contact with something warm--something that moved ever so slightly at his touch. it was the forgotten child. rob found that it was a mere baby, possibly not much more than a year old. the smoke had not yet choked the little thing, though a short time longer would have certainly finished it. rob had no sooner clutched it in his arms than he tried to set himself right for the window by means of which he had reached the room. in this he was assisted by the light that came through the opening, and which served as his guide. by the time he reached it, he could no longer see a single thing, and, when he leaned out of the window, his first thought was to shout: "merritt, are you down below? i can't see a thing! the smoke has blinded me!" to his great satisfaction there came an immediate response, and never had words from the lips of his chum sounded sweeter than they did then. "yes, we're both here, rob. let the child drop straight down! we'll take good care of it!" "but you might miss it," objected rob, still unable to see a thing. "we can't! we've got a sheet spread out to catch it in!" merritt sent back. "you're all right just there! let go! leave the rest to us!" so rob did as he was told. accustomed to giving orders himself, he at the same time could obey when the necessity arose. perhaps it was with considerable fear that he allowed the child to leave his grip; but the joyful shout arising from his chums below assured him that all was well. then he heard a feminine shriek, and judged that the frantic mother had darted to where the boys were standing, to clasp her rescued offspring to her breast. rob crawled over the ledge. he could not see how to make that friendly limb again, but then there was no need of going to all that trouble. he had dropped in safety before, and felt able to do the same again; so down he came like a plummet. chapter xi. mysterious signals in the night. of course once rob found himself away from that pungent smoke his sight was gradually restored to him, though for quite a while his eyeballs smarted more or less from the experience. "what will we do now?" asked tubby, who was very happy in the knowledge that he had been allowed to have at least a hand, two of them, he affirmed, in the saving of the little one. "i did have an idea of staying here all night," returned rob. "but, since the inn has been destroyed, or will be utterly before the fire dies down, of course that's out of the question." "you remember we asked questions of the tavern-keeper," merritt remarked. "he told us there was another village about three miles farther on along the road. we might make out to go there, and see if they will put us up. if not, it's a haystack for ours, provided there are any haystacks around." "h'm! three miles or more, on that animated saw-buck, eh? i like that. it just invigorates me, of course," they heard tubby telling himself, but his voice was anything but cheerful. "here comes the mother and the baby; she wants to thank you, rob," merritt told the patrol leader. "let's hurry and get out of this, then!" urged rob, who, above all things, seemed to dislike being made a hero of when he felt that he had not done anything worth mentioning after all. "no, you don't!" exclaimed tubby, laying violent hands on his chum. "it's only fair that you give the poor woman a chance to tell you how grateful she is. as it stands to reason she speaks only flemish, none of us can make head or tail out of what she says, unless she mentions that one word i know, which isn't likely." but the woman could talk french, and she made it very evident to rob that her mother heart was full of gratitude to him for what he had done. to the intense amusement of tubby, she even kissed rob again and again, on either cheek, after the manner of the belgians. "bully! that's the ticket! give him another for his mother! i like to see anyone appreciate a _real_ hero. and here's the innkeeper; mebbe he'll want to add a few little caresses, too, rob. now, don't grieve his heart by refusing. they all do it over here, i reckon." the man who had owned the inn contented himself, however, by telling rob just how much he appreciated the gallant work of the american boy scout. rob would not soon forget that experience; and it must always bring a warm feeling to his heart when thinking of how, with such a little effort, he had made these two humble people supremely happy. when he tried to make the man accept pay for their food, the other utterly refused to listen to such a thing. "it is the good wife and myself, young m'sieu, who are heavily in your debt," he told rob, with the simplicity of sincerity. "how, then, could we ever forgive ourselves for taking money from one who has saved our baby's life? it would cause the blush of shame to dye our cheeks. we could never look our neighbors again in the face. it would not be right." of course that ended it, although rob would rather have settled for that supper. merritt tugged at his coat, understanding what it was all about. "don't insist, rob," he told the other. "you mustn't try to take away the satisfaction he feels in having done one little thing for you. let it go at that. he is not a poor man, i imagine, and has something laid by. now, hadn't we better be getting out of here?" "oh! by the way, where are our horses?" asked tubby, suddenly. that reminded them they had forgotten all about the animals. the horses had been left tied to a rail at some little distance alongside the inn when they went in to get supper. rob had intended, in case they meant to spend the night there, to have the three animals taken care of, and fed. the hitching bar was entirely destitute of horses of any type when they turned their eyes in that quarter. "what if those awful uhlans took our steeds away with them?" tubby suggested, with his usual blank look, and that woebegone shake of his head. "it seems unbelievable to me," rob replied; "but i'll make some inquiries. the inn-keeper may have had them taken to the stables back yonder, though i remember noticing the animals at the time we were peeping out of the window when the troopers were coming down the village street. wait for me, and i'll ask him." "i surely hope you learn good news, rob!" tubby sighed, as he thought of three long belgian miles separating him from some sort of bed, where he could secure the rest he needed so badly. presently rob came back, and, when tubby saw him shake his head in the negative, he gave a dull sort of a groan. "bottom knocked out of everything, is it, rob?" he asked, in a dazed sort of way. "well, nobody could give me any hope," was the reply. "of course, the landlord was too excited over the burning of his house to notice just what the uhlans did as they rode away, but one man told us he saw the troopers take our horses trailing behind them." "then that settles it," said merritt; "though i'll never understand what they could want with those bony and tired nags, unless it was to make bologna sausages out of. we're in for a little hike that will stretch our legs." "yes, i guess it will," echoed tubby, in a way that was hardly cheerful. "and yours can stand a good deal of stretching, tubby, you know," added merritt. "there's no use crying over spilt milk," said rob, in his usual cheery fashion. "i more than half expected that we'd lose our mounts, sooner or later." "so did i," agreed merritt. "only i thought perhaps they'd die on our hands from over-exertion. i never dreamed that rough riders like the german cavalrymen would want to be caught leading such ragtag animals along." "well, shall we make a move?" asked rob. there being no word against it, even from tubby, who knew when duty called, the three scouts took their last look at the still burning houses, and then strode forth on the road leading toward the east. the night promised to be unusually clear, for one thing. this pleased rob, for, as they would have no moon to light them on their way, even the stars were welcome. three miles, under ordinary conditions, would have been reckoned almost nothing to scouts accustomed to taking lengthy hikes over hills and along valleys. it was a different matter, however, when passing through a war-distracted country, where hostile armies were encamped, so that at any minute they were apt to be greeted with a stern command, either in german or in french or flemish, to stand and give the countersign, with the warning that to attempt flight would be at the peril of their lives. naturally the nerves of the boys were continually on edge. tubby, in particular, kept his eyes roving from side to side, then into the uncertain distance ahead; and even at times turning to ascertain whether they were being pursued by some soft-footed enemies who thought to take them by surprise. in this way more than a mile was passed over. when rob announced that he believed they must be all of halfway to the other village, tubby expressed fervent thanks. "i'm still able to put one foot in front of the other," he remarked in a hushed voice, for rob had cautioned them against speaking aloud, as it might draw unwelcome attention to the little party. "wait up a minute, please," whispered merritt, and there was that about his mysterious manner that gave tubby another bad shock. "what's the matter, now, merritt?" he asked softly but solicitously. "hope you haven't got a stone bruise on your heel. did you hear anything suspicious? are we going to be held up by a patrol? oh! dear, why don't you hurry and tell us the worst?" "what do you make of that flickering light over there, rob?" asked merritt. "it seems to be in an open field, as near as i can understand. just watch how it keeps on jumping up and down, then sideways." "why, it caught my eye just about the time you spoke, merritt," came the reply from the patrol leader. "it must either be the work of some crazy person, or else a way of signaling by lantern." "say, i honestly believe you've struck the truth that shot, rob," broke in tubby, who had, of course, immediately turned toward the spot indicated. "see the way he swings the light around and makes all manner of figures in the air with the same. why, that was the letter n, as sure as you live. and there goes e, followed by w and s. what does that spell but news? hey! we're on the track of a discovery!" "will you keep still, tubby, and let's see if he begins again?" said merritt eagerly. "that must have been the last word of his message," remarked rob quickly, "but chances are he'll repeat it. stand ready to spell it out as well as we can. three scouts accustomed to reading the myers code of fire signaling ought to---- there, that was c; and after that o, a, s, t--which means coast." slowly, and somewhat laboriously, the boys spelled the message, letter for letter, their previous training proving of the greatest help; and this was the result: "_coast clear--safe landing here--important news!_" chapter xii. the meeting between the lines. "good for us! we're the ones to read a message! but say, was that in german, or french, or english, i want to know?" and tubby seized his chums each by an arm, as he asked this question in a husky whisper. "when you come to making dots and dashes in the morse code, or what answers for the same with the heliograph, or a torch, or signal flags, i guess all languages are the same!" merritt told him, more to keep tubby quiet than for any other reason. "the question is, who could that message have been for?" rob was muttering. "there, he starts in again," said tubby. "he's a most persistent sort of chap, i take it, and means that the other fellow will get that message, sooner or later. what 'coast is clear'? why, we're miles and miles away from the sea-shore now, ain't we? and what under the sun does he mean by 'safe landing'? where's the boat going to come from, somebody tell me quick?" "i think i know," rob had just managed to say in reply, when all of them were suddenly startled to hear a queer, rattling sound from behind that kept swiftly drawing nearer and nearer, until presently tubby, in sheer alarm, dropped flat to the ground. as he lay sprawled out on his back, judge of his astonishment when he saw some object, that was like an immense bird, pass over not fifty feet above him. it was heading directly for the spot where the light of the lantern glowed in that open field. the shuttle sound abruptly ceased. "he's shut off his engine," remarked rob, apparently intensely interested. "yes, because he means to alight in the field," added merritt. tubby suddenly comprehended what it must apparently mean. he hastened to scramble to his feet again, and no sooner had he accomplished this than he was, of course, busily engaged with his questions. "was that an aëroplane, rob?" "it certainly was," he was informed. "then that signal was for the pilot; that was what it meant by 'safe landing here' and 'coast clear!' oh! i begin to see it all now. the 'important news' he mentioned in his message must be something a spy has gathered, and which he wants this air-pilot to carry back to the german lines for him? am i on the right track, rob?" "yes; that's about what it all means, tubby." "then that machine must have been one of the taube aëroplanes they told us about?" "we expect it is," replied the obliging rob. "it must have landed by now, then, hasn't it?" "as we can hear nothing moving, that's about the way things stand," replied the patrol leader. "please shut up, tubby, so we can listen," merritt suggested, not unkindly, but with the authority that his position as second in command of the eagle patrol allowed him to display. tubby thereupon collapsed; that is, he simply mumbled to himself, while staring as hard as he could toward the spot where they could see that feeble little glow, made by the signaling lantern. rob was considerably interested in the adventure. it appealed to him in a way that was almost irresistible. he could understand that this might be only one of many methods taken by the astute germans to get valuable information to the staff headquarters, which were at that time supposed to be located in the captured belgian capital of brussels. some spy, who had the run of the belgian lines, would gather up certain information which he believed might be appreciated. then, at a given time, when darkness covered the land, he was to be waiting for a daring aviator, who would take such risks as always accompany night traveling and landing with an aëroplane. if the man aloft failed to receive the signal agreed on, he would hover around up to a certain hour, and then go back to brussels. but, if the coast was clear, and the secret agent gave him assurance to that effect, he could dart down, and take charge of the precious documents or maps showing the positions of various hostile forces, or else some new arrangement on the part of the defenses of antwerp. "i'd like to be able to just crawl up closer, and see what goes on," merritt remarked, after they had stood there for a little while, listening and watching, yet seeing only that small light in the open space under the stars. "would it be safe?" asked tubby cautiously; though, no doubt, if his chums decided on the venture, he would be found remaining at their side. as often happened, here again rob had to show his leadership, and curb his chum's impetuosity. merritt was apt to do things sometimes on the impulse of the moment which were really unwise. the prospect of stealing along, like indians on the warpath, and gradually drawing closer to the spot where the pilot of the air-craft and the spy were in consultation, was very inviting. rob, however, took a grip on himself, and decided that it would be most unwise of them to accept such an unnecessary risk. "it's really none of our business, merritt," he said. "first of all----" "of course not, but----" "and, if they discovered us, you know what it would mean?" rob continued gravely. "i suppose they would fire on us," admitted merritt. "they certainly would, because they could only believe that we were enemies," continued the other, who, once he had started in to convince an impulsive comrade, believed in delivering sledge-hammer blows in succession, "and we're not aching to be filled with lead just yet." "but," urged merritt, "we might move along the road just a little bit farther; that would take us closer to the place. i'd like to be able to see that taube machine fly over our heads again." "well, there's no objection to doing that, only we must keep mighty quiet. and, tubby, mind your feet!" said rob. tubby did not bother making any reply, for none seemed necessary. he knew well enough that, as a rule, he was inclined to be clumsy, and could stumble, if given even half a chance. but, on the open road, and with the starlight to help out, he could not believe there was any danger. so he sniffed disdainfully, and braced himself to move as softly as a cat; for it is wonderful how light on their feet most fat people can be, when they try their best. of course they could not see a thing, but then, imagination often helps out, and by this means they could picture the daring air-pilot, having successfully landed, in consultation with the secret agent. when he had delivered what news he had picked up, perhaps verbally as well as through some written process, the spy would most likely assist the flier to get his taube under way again, after which he could return to take up his risky profession amidst the belgian forces. once tubby did come near falling, as his toe caught in a projecting stone, which, of course, had been invisible. he managed to clutch hold of merritt, who was on his left, and in this way avoided a tumble that might have caused more or less noise, even if it did not result in any damage to his nose. then rob came to a stop. the others understood that he must have decided they were as near the place where the lantern glowed in the field as they could get without clambering over the stone barrier. this wall fence came up to tubby's chin, so that he had to stand on his tiptoes to see over it. "has he sailed away yet, rob?" asked tubby, in his hushed voice, which sounded as though he might be using the soft pedal on his vocal organ. "we would have heard the clatter of his motor if he had," returned rob. "so far it hasn't been found possible to deaden the rattle of the propeller. and, on a still night like this, you could get that some ways off. no, they're talking business yet, i reckon." "gee whiz! but they must have a lot to say," muttered tubby. "after they separate we'd better lie low a while," suggested rob. "what for?" demanded tubby, bound to understand everything, even if he had to swamp his mates with questions. "the spy, or spies, for there may be more than one of them, might just happen to cross this way, so as to get to the road; and, if they saw three shadowy figures moving along, the first thing they'd be apt to think was that we were enemies who had been listening." "oh! now i see!" tubby admitted. "and, since we don't want to be made targets for them to practice at, we'll be wise to do what you say, rob." "please, please, let up on all that talk, tubby!" implored merritt. "oh! i will, if it bothers you any," the fat boy answered; "but i think it queer a fellow can't ask a few little innocent questions once in a while, without being sat down on so hard. now, i know a boy who made himself a real nuisance with his everlasting wanting-to-know, but i only speak up when there's absolute nec----" tubby stopped short there. it was not that the annoyed merritt clasped a hand over his mouth, thus shutting off his supply of breath, for no such thought entered the mind of the corporal of the eagle patrol; but just then a horrible din, in which shots, mingled with wild shouts, broke out in the field nearby. chapter xiii. caught in the act. what had happened was no mystery to rob and merritt, though possibly tubby, not quite so apt to jump to conclusions, remained a little bewildered at what was going on. it seemed that the belgians must have suspected something wrong, and possibly followed the bearer of the lantern when he went into the open field to flash his signals toward the sky. the three scouts from across the ocean were not the only watchers who had read that message. yes, and the coast had not been as clear as the signal man believed, since even then enemies must have been creeping toward him, though utterly unseen in the darkness. the rapid discharge of guns, and the loud outcries of men engaged in desperate warfare, thrilled the boys. they could not see a single figure, but the spiteful flashing of firearms, as they were discharged, told them that the fight was not all one-sided, and that the germans must be resisting capture with their usual valor. all at once they heard another sound. "it's the motor--the aëroplane man has managed to get going!" exclaimed rob, instantly comprehending what that meant. in order to rise, after starting his machine, it was necessary for the aviator to first skim along the field for a little distance, and gradually gain an impetus which, at the proper instant, results in a slow ascent. of course he was taking all sorts of desperate chances in making this blind venture; but his life was at stake, if caught. besides, he undoubtedly must have examined the nature of that level stretch of ground before, and selected it as a landing place on account of its good qualities. "he's heading this way, rob!" exclaimed tubby, almost in a panic. "if he butts into this wall it'll spell his finish!" added merritt. "no danger of that," said rob. "he knows every foot of ground around here. but duck down, everybody. they will fire a volley after him, and we might get in line of the bullets." tubby dropped flat, forgetting that the high stone wall was as good a breastwork as any one could want. just as rob had anticipated, there was a series of explosions, and they could even hear the patter of bullets striking the piled-up stones composing the wall. this was enough to tell them that the fleeing aviator had headed straight toward the spot where they were crouching. and, as the rattle of his machine grew louder, they realized that he was approaching them with considerable speed. then, with an additional clatter, the taube passed over the wall, clearing its top by not more than ten feet. "keep down!" exclaimed rob, feeling merritt beginning to make a move, and afraid lest he should stand upright in order to better follow the progress of the aëroplane. it was well he spoke when he did, for another burst of firing came. the soldiers were sending random volleys after the fleeing airman, in hopes of injuring his machinery or wounding the aviator himself. "that was sure a great getaway!" bubbled tubby, still seated there on the ground. "but i rather think they winged him," added merritt, possibly with a note of regret in his voice. it was not that he felt any particular sympathy for the german cause; but, boy-like, he could admire grit and daring, no matter under what flag it might be found. that bold flight of the taube operator in the face of the flying missiles was quite enough to arouse the spirit of any one with red blood in his veins. "what makes you say that?" asked tubby, not meaning to remain in ignorance when he possessed a ready tongue. "i was pretty sure the machine wabbled as it passed over," said merritt. "my opinion, too," rob chimed in. "it seemed to me he was trying his best to get it to mount, but it balked. that could only mean something had gone wrong with the machinery, or else a wing had been fractured." "huh! you talk just like the machine might be a baseball pitcher," commented tubby. "but, if that's the case, the chances are he'll drop to the ground right away, or else smash up against some tree." "just what may happen to him," agreed merritt. "you'll notice that the sound of motor and propeller has suddenly died out," suggested rob, "which i take it looks pretty rough for the man-bird." "oh! that would be too bad, now!" tubby whimpered, as he imagined he could see the bold pilot of the crippled flier dashed to the ground amidst the wreckage of his machine. "well, the shooting seems to be over!" remarked merritt. "i wonder what happened to the spy?" rob observed, as he stared over the top of the stone wall toward the spot where the late confusion had taken place. they could still see that little glow, proving that the lantern had not been kicked over in all the riot when the creeping belgians had pounced on the enemy. "would it be wise for us to head over there now, rob?" plainly merritt was curious to know what had happened, and his manner of putting this question to the patrol leader showed that he would never be satisfied unless they made some sort of attempt to solve the mystery. this time he found rob more agreeable. conditions had changed considerably since the leader had put his foot down upon any suggestion that they thrust themselves into the game. the belgians were their friends, and they could not believe any danger was to be feared from that source. "we might walk over that way," rob admitted slowly; "that is, if tubby can get over this wall." "if not, he could wait for us here," suggested merritt, with a chuckle. "i see myself waiting all alone on the other side of the wall, while you two step forward and find out all there is going on. i can climb walls, all right, if somebody only gives me a little boost. try me, and see, rob. that's a good fellow!" of course rob was ready to lend the desired assistance; and as tubby secured a hold on a large stone that crowned the wall, he was able to hunch himself up, puffing and grunting at a great rate. it was easy enough to get down, if one did not care how he fell; but tubby proved fortunate in finding toe places where he could secure a hold, and in some fashion managed to "dismount." he pattered after his two chums, who were already moving toward the middle of the big field. rob, always noticing things as he went along, found that the field was very level, and he could understand how the place must have been selected for a rendezvous since it offered such exceptional facilities for an aëroplane to land and start up again. perhaps this had been a regular nightly affair, and all sorts of valuable information may have been carried to the german headquarters by means of this novel air route. as the three boys gradually drew nearer the place where the lantern could still be seen, they discovered that it was now being held in the hand of some person who wore a uniform. "belgians, all right!" muttered rob, after noting that the garb was not like the khaki-colored clothes of the british troops, nor yet the blue and red of the french soldiers. there seemed to be more than a dozen of the men, showing that they had come in force. whether they had discovered the spy by accident or followed him to the place of meeting, rob, of course, could only guess; nor did it matter to him. "i can see the prisoner!" whispered merritt. "yes, and there seem to be two of them," added rob, noting that the men were being held by several soldiers, and it was as though the officer in command might be questioning them closely, for a voice could be heard speaking in french. "they've been up against hard knocks, it looks like," tubby mentioned, eager to let his chums know he was close at their heels, and able to see a few things for himself. indeed, the men did have the appearance of having been through the mill. their hats were missing, so that their hair hung about their faces, which looked as if they had been brought in contact with a pile-driver, for there was blood, also contusions and bruises visible. "and one of them stands as if he hadn't any use for his left leg, which means most likely he's got a bullet through it," rob continued. he spoke aloud, and for a reason. it were better that the soldiers in the field learned of their advance by some such method as this. if, on the other hand, the trio of scouts were detected advancing in any sort of suspicious manner they might be unfortunate enough to evoke a volley. excited men sometimes shoot first and ask questions afterward. a harsh voice suddenly demanded in french to know who they were, and what they had to say for themselves; adding that unless they replied instantly the order to cut them down would be given. [illustration: "advance, and hold up your hands above your heads!" he ordered.--_page ._] chapter xiv. the field hospital. "we are friends, three american boys only!" very often rob had practiced his french so as to get this explanation correct. if his accent happened to be altogether wrong, what he said could be understood, and that was the main thing. apparently, what he had called out must have surprised the belgian officer in charge of the detachment, for he could be heard exchanging comments with someone else. then he spoke aloud again. "advance, and hold up your hands above your heads!" he ordered. rob understood the words, but of course his chums could not; so the first thing he did was to elevate both hands as high as he could, and say to them: "do the same as i am, both of you. the officer has ordered it. and then come on over to where they are waiting for us!" in this manner they drew near the spot where the others stood. everyone was staring very hard, for to see three boys dressed in khaki, and talking unmistakable english among themselves, was indeed a considerable surprise. the one who held the lantern proved to be a lieutenant. he was a man of middle age, and as the newcomers drew near he held up his light in order the better to examine their make-up. what he saw must have created a good impression, for the frown began to leave his face. "it is fortunate that i speak english," he started in to say, greatly to the delight as well as the surprise of rob, "so you shall tell me how it comes we find you here on this particular night, and so close to a spot where a suspicious transaction was going on which we had the pleasure of nipping in the bud." apparently the lieutenant was not wholly satisfied. he could not tell but that these smart looking boys might have some connection with the game he and his detachment had blocked in the capture of the two spies. so rob hastened to explain as briefly as he could. "we have come to belgium on some very important business that has nothing whatever to do with the war. there is a man we must see, and it happens that he was last reported in a town near brussels. we know what great risks we run in trying to pass between the lines of the hostile armies; but we hope to keep out of the hands of the germans; and as for the belgians, we are carrying with us a letter that has up to now always passed us." this was the signal for merritt to produce the passport written for them by the obliging burgomaster of antwerp. the lieutenant received the paper gravely. he was evidently puzzled to know how much of rob's strange story to believe; for it seemed remarkable that three boys should take such a dangerous mission upon their shoulders. when he had read the short recommendation through, and saw the signature at the bottom, the officer uttered an exclamation of satisfaction. "you could not have chosen a better sponsor than the worthy burgomaster of antwerp," he said warmly. "i have met him more than once, and he is held in high respect throughout the land, as is burgomaster max of brussels. let me return your paper safely. it is worth keeping." "and you will allow us to go on when we choose, then?" asked merritt eagerly. "there is no occasion for your detention," he was informed, "but if i sought your best welfare i should order that you turn back, and give up this foolish mission, for there is hardly one chance in ten that you can escape capture at the hands of the enemy, since they are everywhere. but you know best, and i shall not interfere. it must be a serious motive that brings you into this wretched country?" "it means a great lot to my family that i find this man, steven meredith," merritt told him, possibly with a faint hope that the lieutenant might recognize the name, and admit that he knew the person. rob had noticed several things. for one, that the taller prisoner was certainly badly wounded, since he stood on one leg, and had his teeth tightly clinched as if to keep from betraying any weakness that might be deemed unmanly. one of the belgians also carried a bandage, roughly fastened, possibly by a clumsy comrade, around his arm. it showed traces of blood, and rob could guess that a speeding bullet fired by the spies at bay probably had caused the wound. "i notice that a couple of men here have been wounded," he ventured to say to the lieutenant, "and, as you must know, boy scouts are taught something of field surgery. would you mind if i and my friend here looked at them? we might stop the flow of blood, anyway, and perhaps make the men a bit easier." the belgian officer hesitated for a brief time. he looked at rob, and seemed to be considering. then he nodded his head. "as we have to stay here until my superior officer and a larger detachment come along in answer to the signals we are about to make, it could do no harm. yes, i have heard that boy scouts are supposed to know something of surgery, although i myself have never seen them practice it. you may proceed. albert!" he beckoned to the private who had his arm bound up. the man upon being told to show his injury hardly knew what was about to happen. he could not believe that mere boys would know what a surgeon was supposed to do. that man evidently had the surprise of his life when rob, assisted by merritt, washed the wound by the aid of some water obtained from a canteen, and then neatly bound the arm up, using some strips from a little roll of linen which rob took from his pocket. the officer watched the whole operation with considerable interest. "that was neatly done," he commented, after the man had stepped back to where a comrade was holding his gun for him. "as you expressed a wish to attend to the prisoner, i give you full permission to do so. though, after all, it will make but little difference with him, since his doom is sealed." the tall german said never a word, but allowed the boys to do as they willed with him. he realized the desperate condition in which his boldness had placed him and was evidently determined, if convicted of being a spy, to die game. his injury turned out to be much more serious than that of the belgian soldier, for the bullet had made a bad puncture, and he had already lost much blood. tubby turned his head away at first, as though he could not bear to see the wound, but evidently realizing that a display of such timidity was hardly in keeping with what they wished these men to believe of boy scouts, he finally forced himself to offer to assist his chums in their gruesome work. it took all of ten minutes to wash and dress that wound with the few things at their command the best they were able to. during all that time the spy did not say a word, nor did he groan even when rob knew he must be hurting him more or less, although that could not be avoided. and the officer had commenced to ask questions. it seemed to surprise him that even in far-away america there, too, the boys had organized themselves into patrols and learned all these valuable lessons calculated to make them better citizens when they came to take their places in business, on the firing line, or among the professions. "then the scouts over in your country are also taught to be ready for any emergency, the same as the boys are in belgium?" he asked rob, as he watched the latter's nimble fingers, with considerable dexterity into the bargain, draw the bandage tightly into place. "oh! yes," replied the boy, only too pleased to say a good word for the thousands upon thousands of comrades in khaki whom he represented. "you see, most of us camp out a good deal, and all sorts of accidents happen. i've known a boy to cut himself so badly with an ax when he was chopping wood that he would have bled to death long before they could get him to a doctor, but it was easy for his mates to stop the flow of blood, and do the right thing." "it is grand, this teaching boys to be able to save human life," declared the middle-aged officer, who perhaps had sons of his own in the army, "and yet it never came to me before that even in america they were practicing these noble avocations. i have seen them in england, yes, in france also, but in america--it is superb to think of it. and there are other ways in which boys in camp could be injured, you are telling me?" he had become so deeply interested that rob only too willingly proceeded to explain at greater length. "why, sometimes a boy is taken with a cramp when in swimming, and of course he is saved by those who know just how to get him without being pulled down themselves." "and," continued the belgian lieutenant, "if the poor fellow should be nearly gone, what then? i myself once had a narrow escape that way, and to this day it gives me a cold feeling every time i remember it." "oh! every scout, even when he's a tenderfoot, is supposed to learn how to resuscitate a comrade who has swallowed lots of water, and come near drowning. unless he was pulled out too late, he will be brought back every time. then there are the bites from poisonous snakes and insects that may happen; we are taught how best to counteract the effect of poison, so as to save the victim." "i am delighted to know all this," the officer told them. "it has been quite a pleasure to have met you, although under peculiar conditions, i admit. and the more i see of you, young messieurs, the more i am convinced that you can look out for yourselves. at first i considered it was a shame that three tender boys were allowed to travel over this dangerous country. i no longer feel that way. if anybody should know how to take care of themselves, i surely believe you know, and are equal to do it. i am proud to shake hands with you, and wish you all a successful journey." which operation he proceeded to immediately put into execution; though tubby, having had one previous experience with a hearty belgian hand-grip, was mighty careful just how he allowed the other to take hold of his plump digits. rob was quite satisfied now that they had done the right thing in coming forward and joining the party. at least it had been the means of easing the pain of those who were wounded, and stopping the flow of blood sensibly. the german had actually broken his silence to thank the boys when they finished their work. it was evident, however, that he was not caring very much what happened to him, since he knew the probable penalty for allowing himself to be captured in the act of delivering important plans of fortifications--death. none of the boys so much as mentioned the fact that they believed the taube machine might have been injured, and even fallen a short distance away. if the belgians did not see fit to investigate conditions, it was no part of the scouts' business to put them on the track. the dashing aviator deserved to get away, rob thought, and it would hardly be fair for outsiders, who had really no interest in the matter, to betray him to his enemies. so they left the soldiers still waiting for their comrades to come along with a superior officer in charge. the lieutenant had taken quite a sudden fancy for rob and his two chums; but then that was not strange, tubby told himself, since the patrol leader always had a knack of making friends wherever he went. they soon arrived at the stone wall, and to tubby's satisfaction found a break where they could actually pass to the road without once more climbing the barrier. the last they saw of the field was when the lighted lantern was being waved in a way that looked as though the lieutenant might be signaling to others. in the opposite quarter only darkness was to be seen. rob wondered what had become of the operator of the taube aëroplane; whether he had indeed come crashing to the earth, or managed to sail away to safety. but they were never fated to know. chapter xv. chasing a jack-o'-lantern. "i wish you could tell me we were nearly at that old village, rob. seems to me we've been trudging along for hours, and i own up to feeling just a little bit tired." tubby had a beseeching way about him that was hard to resist; and so rob really felt sorry that he could give him no joyful news. "i would like to be able to tell in the worst way, tubby," he told him, "but you see we're making this turn only on hearsay. none of us knows a single thing about it. there must be some sort of a place ahead of us, because several times i've heard dogs barking, and i even thought i could hear people calling." "it's all right, tubby," chimed in merritt, "because there's a light, yes,--two, three of the same kind. we'll soon be there, and i hope we'll find some sort of a bunk, even if we have to drop in the hay." "that's what i say," the fat scout declared energetically, bracing up, now that it seemed the haven might be in sight. "i could sleep standing up, i believe, if only you braced me on the sides." "i believe you," remarked merritt; and tubby hardly knew whether he ought to demand an explanation of that insinuation or not; he finally concluded to change the subject. they soon found they had arrived at another of those frequent little belgian hamlets where, in the past, thrift had held sway, but which were rapidly becoming demoralized under the pressure of the war fever. most of the men were serving the colors, of course, those remaining being the very aged or crippled, the women, and always the flocks of children. "seems to me they're carrying on kind of queer here, as if something might be going on," merritt hazarded while they were approaching the border of the place. "gingersnaps and popguns!" exclaimed tubby, "i hope there isn't a bunch of those terrible uhlans in town, smashing things, and threatening to burn every house unless the wine and the ransom money are brought out!" "let's go slow till we can make sure about that," suggested rob. their recent unpleasant experience was so fresh in their minds that they did not care to have it duplicated. the next time they might not be so fortunate about escaping from a burning inn, or avoiding capture at the hands of raiding uhlans. "i don't seem to glimpse any cavalrymen around, do you, rob?" merritt questioned, as they hovered on the outskirts of the place, ready to melt away in the darkness should any peril arise. "no, and it's safe for us to push on," the patrol leader announced. "but there are a raft of people around," ventured the cautious tubby, who had been closely observing each and every soul, as though he suspected that crafty uhlans might be hidden under peasants' garb, or in the clothes of the stout belgian dames. "well, a lot of them are fugitives, the same as those we've been seeing on the roads all day long," rob explained. "some of them have been burned out of house and home; but in the main they're people who have believed all these awful fairy stories about the terrible germans, and think that if they stay they'll be eaten up." "this place must have escaped a visit from the germans so far," merritt suggested, "and they are coming to believe it's a lucky town, which would account for so many stopping here in their rush to get away." "that's bad!" muttered tubby. "why is it?" demanded merritt. "all the spare beds will be taken, you see," explained the other dejectedly, "and those who come late, like we are doing, must sit up all night, or else sleep in the dog kennel or the pigsty or the barn. well, i said before and i mean it, if i can have some hay under me to keep my bones from the floor, i won't complain, or make a single kick. i'm easily satisfied, you all know." "that must be the village inn, over yonder, rob," merritt remarked, pointing as he spoke. "judging from the crowd in front we've got a poor show to get beds for to-night." "everybody stares at us as if they thought we might be some kind of wild animal," tubby complained. "well, i can see that they've had some sort of circus here lately because the showbills are still posted on the fences," merritt observed with a chuckle, "and can you blame them for thinking that the side shows have bust up, with the freaks hiking all through the country, unable to ride on the railroads, which are all taken over by the government to haul cannon, horses and soldiers? i'll pass for the living skeleton, while you could stand for the fat boy, tubby!" tubby was so used to having his friends joke at him on account of his chubby build that as a rule he let such reminders pass by without showing any ill feeling. in this instance he hardly noticed what merritt was saying, because so many other events were happening around them. being satisfied at last that they were in no apparent danger from concealed uhlans, tubby felt his spirits rise once more. at the inn rob entered into a brief conversation with the proprietor. as this worthy knew very little french, and rob next to nothing of flemish, the "confab," as tubby called it, had to be conducted mostly through a series of shrugs and gestures. "what luck, rob?" asked tubby, when the other chum turned to them again. "he's cram full of sleepers to-night, and couldn't give us even a cot," explained rob. "when i said we'd put up with the hay, he gave me to understand we could pick out any place found unoccupied." "gee whiz! 'unoccupied,' you said, didn't you, rob?" cried tubby hastily. "now, does that mean the place is apt to be _swarming_ with these peasant women and children, and shall we have to listen to babies bawling all night long, not to speak of roosters crowing, dogs barking, horses neighing, pigs grunting and cows mooing?" "'beggars should never be choosers,' they say," merritt warned him. "and, after all, let's hope it won't be quite so bad as all that," said rob. they sought the stable. it was in the rear of the inn, and a rather decent looking structure in the bargain. "why, this isn't half bad," admitted tubby, as they entered and found that the kind proprietor of the house had hung up a lighted lantern, by means of which it was possible for the boys to see the stack of hay. "it smells like a sweet new crop," rob remarked, glad to find something to commend when surrounded by such dismal prospects. "and so far as i can see we're the only barn guests," tubby announced jubilantly as he started to burrow in the hay. he had hardly made much progress before he came backing out in a hurry. "there's a great big dog sleeping in there!" he declared excitedly. "what makes you think so?" asked rob, who could hardly believe it possible. "i tell you he tried to bite me," urged tubby, holding up one finger of his right hand, and on which a tiny speck of blood was visible. "shucks! you only stuck it on a thorn, that's all!" protested the unbelieving merritt, "and i'll prove it by crawling in the same hole." "look out, now!" warned tubby, anxious, and yet with some eagerness, for he hoped to have his words proved in a fashion even merritt could not doubt. immediately there was more or less excitement in the hay; and then came the unmistakable scolding of a setting hen. merritt backed out, laughing. "there's your ferocious bulldog!" he told tubby; "but we'll leave old biddy to her eggs, and try another place. plenty of room in this hotel without chucking the other guests out of their nests." after a while they made themselves comfortable. tubby, before turning in, had prowled around a little. he told the others that as a true scout he was only taking an inventory of his surroundings, so that if there should happen to come a sudden midnight alarm he at least would know what to do in order to lead the way out of the barn by a rear exit. "smart boy, tubby," merritt told him, when he heard him say this; and it always pleased the fat scout to receive a word of praise, possibly because the occasions when he deserved any were few and far between. they lay in the sweet hay, and talked in low tones. no one else seemed to be pushed so hard for a place to sleep as to come to the barn, for which all of the chums professed to be very grateful. in the course of the conversation, which had more or less bearing on their strange mission abroad, the subject of the precious paper came to the front. perhaps it was merritt himself who mentioned it, because the matter was frequently in his thoughts, and he seemed to be growing more and more anxious, the nearer they drew to the place where he anticipated finding steven meredith. "you've never really told us who this man is, merritt, and how he comes to be wandering around the world with a paper belonging to your grandfather hidden away under the lining of the case containing his field-glasses," rob remarked while tubby, who had just been yawning, sat up and seemed to be wide awake again. "that's a fact, merritt," he chimed in. "if you don't object, why, we'd like to be told." "the fact of the matter is," replied merritt, "i don't know a great deal more than you do, come to think of it. grandfather crawford comes from old scotch stock, so he's a canny sort of an old gentleman. no use of my telling you about the way he treated my father when he was a young man and married against the wishes of his parents, because that you already know. it's about the paper, also of steven meredith you're curious to hear?" "yes, go along, please," begged tubby. "the paper is a little scrap, he told me, on which are marked certain directions as how to find a certain rich gold mine out in our southwest country. grandfather has one-half his paper, and the other half is lodged in the cover of that field-glass case--if the man is still carrying it with him." "that gets more and more queer, i must say," grumbled tubby, looking as though he could not untangle the knot that was presented to him. "yes, if anybody had told it to me," admitted merritt, "i'd have made up my mind right away he was trying to pull the wool over my eyes with a silly yarn. and yet there was grandfather crawford just as sober as you ever saw anyone, and vouching for every word of it as true." "well, how on earth did the half of the map or the directions happen to get in that field-glass case, without steven meredith, who carries the same, knowing a thing about it?" asked rob. "this deposit was discovered by an old miner who never worked it, but had samples of wonderfully rich ore, which he showed my grandfather at the time he was rescued by my relative from being tortured by a couple of halfbreeds who wanted to get the miner's secret. he gave grandfather the half of the map, and directions he had on his person, and told him where he would find the other half." "now it's beginning to look understandable," tubby admitted. "the old miner did that so if anybody got hold of him they wouldn't be able to locate the secret mine--wasn't that it, merritt?" "just what he had in mind," the other told him, "and of course the injuries received in the fight carried the miner off eventually, leaving my grandfather as his sole heir, if he could only lay hands on the other half of that valuable little paper, for neither portion alone made any sense. "gee! this is getting real interesting--if true!" ventured tubby. "oh! it's a straight yarn, never fear," retorted merritt without any trace of ill feeling, however, for no one ever could quarrel with tubby. "and just about here is where this man steven meredith, as he calls himself, breaks into the story. the old miner had told my grandfather that for security he kept the other half of the chart, and the directions how to find the treasure, hidden in the lining of the case holding a pair of field-glasses that he had carried for years, as they were of a special make and considered extra fine." "and when your esteemed relative came to make a hunt for the said glasses," remarked tubby, anxious to show that he was following the narrative closely, "why of course he found that steve had got away with them--is that the stuff, merritt?" "great head, tubby," chuckled the other, as if amused at this unexpected smartness on the part of the stout boy. "you've said it, after a fashion; for that was what really happened. the glasses were supposed, along with other things owned by the old miner, to be in the charge of an old and invalid sister in a small town. to that place my grandfather went, armed with a paper which would give him possession of the traps of the dead man, including the case with the glasses. and that was where he came up against a staggering disappointment. "it seemed that this sister of the miner was a little queer in her head. when a visitor chanced to examine the glasses, and offered her a pretty fine sum for them, she, not knowing how her brother valued them because of their association with his prospecting life, thought it a good chance to dispose of some useless property. "and so the wonderful half of the chart was gone. my grandfather took enough interest in the matter to learn that a man by the name of steven meredith possessed the glasses. he even started a search for him, thinking that he might be able to buy the glasses back, so as to satisfy his mind about the worth of the chart. "later on he learned that some valuable ore had been struck in the region where the secret mine of the dead prospector was said to be located. this kept making him take more and more interest in the finding of steven and the lost paper. he became absorbed in the hunt, and in the end had three men on the track. "they traced meredith across the ocean. all sorts of strange rumors came back as to what he really was. once it was even said that he was secretly in the pay of the german government. anyway, he went to berlin, and was known to meet with certain men high up in the secret service there. "just a little while ago my grandfather received positive word from one of his agents that steven meredith was stationed in a belgian town, though what his business there could be was a mystery. this little town was an obscure one near brussels, where he could keep in the background. its name is sempst; and that's where we are headed now." "but just explain one queer thing, won't you, please, merritt?" asked tubby. "i know what you're going to say," replied the other. "of course you're wondering why my relative didn't wire his agent about the glasses, and offer him a good sum to get them, with the case. well, the fact is he didn't have as much faith in his agents as all that." "you mean that if the man knew he valued the article so much he would begin to smell a rat, and perhaps examine the lining of the case himself, after he had managed to steal or buy the glasses?" suggested rob. "that's what he had in mind," merritt continued. "so he hardly knew what to do, or whom to trust, until i asked him to send me, and let me have you along. they didn't like the idea of us boys starting over here when things were so upset; but grandfather believes boy scouts can do almost anything. so it came about. and in a nutshell that's the strange story." "gee! you'd think it a page from the _arabian nights_," tubby declared. "but queer things can happen to-day just as much as ever. i only hope that if we do manage to rake in that old field-glass case, and the paper is still nestling underneath the lining, it doesn't turn out to be a pipe dream--something that old miner just hatched up to make himself feel he was as rich as a vanderbilt." "we'll have to chance that," said rob. "our part of the business will be done when we carry the case back to merritt's grandfather. it's up to him for the rest. but don't you think we'd better try and get to sleep, for it's growing late?" they determined that this was a wise suggestion, and shortly afterward not only tubby and merritt, but rob as well had lost all realization of trouble and stress in sound slumber. the night passed, and with the coming of dawn the boys were astir. nothing had apparently happened during the night to disturb them. in the morning hens were beginning to cackle, and cows to low, as the boys awoke and crawled from the hay. a few minutes later, at a nearby pump, they washed the last bit of drowsiness from their eyes; after which they began to think, from the pleasant odors in the air, that it was nearly time for breakfast. "i dreamed about that grand paper hunt you told us about, merritt," tubby announced, as with his chums he sauntered over to the inn to see what chance there was for getting something to eat. "and talk to me about your will-o'-the-wisps, or what they call jack-o'-lanterns, such as flit around graveyards or damp places nights, that certainly did beat the record. lots of times i was just stretching out my hand to grab it when i'd hear a laugh, and steve, he'd snatch the old field-glass case away. i woke up still on the trail, and as set as ever to win out." "let's hope that will prove to be the case with us," ventured rob cheerily. they found that they were to be given breakfast; and as all of the boys had a ferocious appetite they soon did justice to the meal set before them. it was while they were finishing that they suddenly became aware of the fact that something along the line of a battle had broken out not a great ways off. the first intimation they had of this was the deep-throated sound of a heavy gun. it made them jump; and the entire village seemed to become aroused at once, as people began to run this way and that, chattering like magpies, some of their faces turning white with apprehension of what was to come. they had heard of the fate of louvain, and dreaded the hour when the german army should come sweeping with irresistible force across that section of the country. quick on the heels of that opening gun came other sounds--the long roll of rifle firing in volleys, and the faint cheers of charging men. the boys even fancied they could hear amidst all the confusion the loud singing that was said to mark the advance of the german legions as they went into battle chanting the "watch on the rhine." rob could well believe it, for he knew singing was to the teuton mind what the bagpipes meant to scotch highlanders, or cheers to american boys in khaki. it was evident that the gallant little belgian army, determined to resist to the uttermost the passage of the germans across their territory in the direction of antwerp and ghent, had again given battle to overwhelming numbers. of course the boys had rushed out of the inn and immediately sought the best position from which they could see something of what was going on. many of the villagers were clustered there, gazing with deepest concern at the section where the smoke of battle was beginning to spread like a pall over the country. "oh! what is that up there, and heading this way?" tubby suddenly exclaimed. no sooner had rob turned his gaze aloft than he was able to give the desired information. "that is one of the famous german zeppelins, hovering over the battlefield," he told tubby. chapter xvi. the battle for the trenches. by this time everyone was gazing in mixed wonder and awe at the strange dirigible balloon, speeding in great circles far up toward the clouds. rob and his comrades had read more or less about these monster airships which the german count had invented, and which were expected to play a prominent part in this world war. they had even hoped that before they left belgium they might be given an opportunity to see one of the fleet monsters, which were said to be able to carry dozens of men, as well as tons of explosives, incredible distances. in antwerp there had been considerable talk concerning the possibility of these zeppelins making a concerted attack on the city, and forcing its surrender. all manner of fearful stories were going the rounds, and many timid people had even left the city on the scheldt for the more hospitable shores of england, just on account of the threatening peril from the clouds. "so, that's a real zeppelin, is it?" tubby remarked, as they stood there with their eyes riveted on the flittering monster of the air. "no question about it," merritt told him, "because the poor belgians don't own such an expensive airship, though they have some aëroplanes, i was told." "but what do you reckon they're doing up there?" asked tubby, still seeking to increase his limited stock of knowledge. "why," rob replied, "don't you see there's a battle going on below, and from that height men with glasses can see every little thing that's happening. they are able to tell how the belgian forces are intrenched; and by means of signals let their gunners know where to drop shells so as to do the most harm." "whee! what won't they do next in modern, up-to-date fighting?" exclaimed tubby. "there have been lots of remarkable surprises sprung in this war already," merritt observed thoughtfully, "but i'm thinking the worst is yet to come. there never was such a war before in the history of the world, and it's to be hoped this one ends in a peace that will last forever." "yes," added rob, greatly impressed by what he was seeing, "war's going to cost so much after this that the nations will have to fix up some other way to settle their differences. about that zeppelin, tubby; don't you see how they might be able to drop a few bombs on the enemy's trenches; or where the belgians have fixed barbed-wire entanglements to stop the rush of the charging german troops? just to think that here we are really watching a battle that isn't like one of the sham rights they have every summer at home. it's hard to believe, boys!" they were all agreed as to this, and every little while one of them might be detected actually rubbing his eyes, as though suspecting he were asleep and all this were but a feverish dream. the cannonading grew more and more furious as the morning advanced. huge billows of smoke covered sections of the country, some of it not more than a mile away from the village where rob and his chums had stopped. "and just to think," said tubby, with a touch of sorrow in his voice. "while all this sounds like a fourth of july celebration to us, safe as we are, it spells lots of terrible wounds for the poor fellows who are in the fight. why, with all those big shells bursting, and the shrapnel too, that you spoke about, rob, right now i reckon there are just hundreds of them wanting to be attended to." "that's true enough, tubby, the more the pity," replied rob. "what's this coming up behind us?" called out merritt, as loud cheers, together with the rattle of wheels and the pounding of many horses' hoofs, were heard on the road they had used on the previous night. "oh! they're going to bombard the village; and now we'll get it!" gasped tubby. "it looks like a battery coming from the direction of antwerp, and hurrying to get in action!" rob ventured to say, as he discovered that those who were seated on the horses and on the gun caissons wore the belgian uniforms. "just what it is, rob," added merritt excitedly. "they hear the sound of the guns ahead, and are crazy to get there. look at them whip the horses, would you! and how the animals run! they smell the smoke of burnt powder, and it's fairly set them all wild!" it was indeed a stirring sight to see that battery come tearing along straight through the little village, and heading directly toward the place where the flashing and roaring of battle seemed fiercest. the men were all keyed up to a pitch of excitement that made them forget they were about to face danger and death. they shouted as they swept past, and the poor villagers, filled with a momentary enthusiasm, sent back answering cries. such enthusiasm is always contagious. why, even peace-loving tubby seemed to be infected with some of it. his eyes glowed, and his breath came in short puffs, as he watched the guns and caissons go whirling along until men, horses and all had vanished down the road in a cloud of dust. "some of those brave fellows will never come back again, i'm afraid," said tubby sadly. "it begins to look as if the artillery arm was going to be everything in this war," rob remarked, as though the sight of those bursting shells impressed him. "but what do you suppose all that bombardment means?" merritt asked. "i can only give a guess," the patrol leader replied. "from all i've read i get the idea that before the germans order a charge of their infantry they pour in a heavy bombardment from every big gun they can get in line. that makes it so hot in the trenches that the enemy has to keep under cover. then the infantry manages to get a good start before they are fired on." "nothing new about that, i guess," replied merritt. "it was done in the battle of gettysburg, where lee used more than a hundred cannon to bombard, before starting to carry little round-top and cemetery hill by assault. i was just reading about it a few weeks ago in a magazine article at home. but if those are their tactics, rob, we ought to be seeing some movement of troops pretty soon." "yes," the patrol leader admitted, "the gun fire is slackening right now; and if we had glasses i expect we could see the infantry starting forward. those up in the zeppelin can watch every move that takes place." "all the same i'd rather take my chances down here," tubby announced. "what's that moving away over there, rob?" demanded merritt. "seems like a gray looking snake creeping out from the shelter of the woods. i declare if i don't believe it is a mass of men charging straight at the belgian trenches!" "the germans all wear a sort of grayish green uniform, you know," tubby declared, "which is so like the dirt that lots of times you can't tell the soldiers from the earth half a mile away." "look sharp, fellows," said rob, "because that is where they're going to shoot their bolt. what we see is a battalion of infantry charging. now watch how they begin to gather momentum. yes, and when the gun fire lets up we'll hear the voices of thousands of men singing as they rush forward, ready to die for the fatherland." they stood there with trembling limbs, and continued to watch what was developing right before their eyes. it seemed as though that gray mass would never cease coming into view. the whole open space was covered with lines upon lines of soldiers all pushing in one direction, and that where the intrenchments of the belgians must lie. "oh! look! look! they're opening on them with quick-fire guns, and all sorts of things!" tubby exclaimed, in absolute horror. "why, i can see lanes cut in the lines of the germans; but they always close up, and keep right on! isn't it terrible?" "it is sublime!" said rob; and that tribute to the unflinching bravery of the german advance was about the limit of a boy's vocabulary. "but the plucky little belgians won't yield an inch of ground, you see!" cried merritt. "they keep pouring in that terrible fire, and mowing the germans down, just like they were cutting wheat on a minnesota farm." "how will it all end, i wonder?" said rob, fascinated, more than he would have believed possible, by the panorama that was being unfolded before his eyes. "if the ammunition of the belgian batteries and maxims holds out," ventured merritt, "there won't be any german army left in this part of the country. their best troops are said to be down in france now, fighting the allies; but if these are only second or third class reserves, i wonder what the really top-notch ones can do in a battle." "they're weakening, let me tell you!" rob startled the others by saying. "watch and you'll see that they don't advance as fast as before. perhaps the general in charge has found that the trenches can't be taken by a direct charge. they're going to fall back, and let the artillery start in again! the first part of the terrible battle is over, for there the germans begin to scatter, and run, to get out of range of the maxims!" "and the plucky belgians have won again!" merritt declared as though almost tempted to join in the cries of satisfaction that were beginning to rise from those of the villagers who were clustered close by, intensely interested spectators of the thrilling spectacle just enacted. "and there's that old zeppelin still swinging around up in the sky," remarked tubby. "for all the information they were able to signal down, the germans couldn't take the belgian trenches. when they got the wire entanglements they were blocked." "but unless i miss my guess," exclaimed merritt, "the zeppelin will have to get on the run pretty quick or it'll find there's a little war brewing in the sky, because i can see a couple of aëroplanes rising from back of the belgian lines!" chapter xvii. the badge of courage and mercy. "it seems like we were to be treated to about everything there is going in the way of up-to-date fighting!" said tubby, who was having some difficulty in craning his fat neck, to look toward where the wonderful airship was still making enormous circles above the battle lines. "are you sure they are belgian aëroplanes?" asked merritt, who had been attentively observing the ascending fliers. "they came up from behind the line of trenches," replied rob, "and that makes it look as if they couldn't be german machines. besides, the invaders all use a model that is called a taube, which is different from these." "but why d'ye suppose they didn't climb up before now, and tackle that monster zeppelin, so as to put it out of business, or chase it off?" inquired tubby. "they had their reasons, i suppose," he was told by the patrol leader. "no matter what they may have been, we're not interested. it's enough for us to watch what's going to happen from now on." "i'll be jiggered if the zeppelin isn't going to have it out with them!" exclaimed merritt. "did you see that little puff of what looked like smoke? they've got some sort of gun aboard, and mean to try and riddle the aëroplanes with it!" "whew! talk to me about excitement, this has got everything i ever knew beaten by a mile!" admitted tubby. "you notice that both the monoplanes manage to keep pretty far away from the dirigible," rob told them. "and see how they bore up in circles all the while, too, getting higher right along." "what's the idea of that?" asked merritt. "for one thing it'll put them on equal terms with the zeppelin so that they can send back shot for shot," explained the other. "but unless i miss my guess they mean to try a bigger scheme than that, if once they can get above the airship." "you mean drop a bomb down on it, don't you, rob?" merritt asked. "yes. you know these zeppelins are made in many sections. they say one could keep afloat even if a dozen of these were smashed. they're along similar lines as the watertight compartments of steamships. some auto tires are made the same way too. but if a bomb was dropped on top of the gas bag, i reckon the explosion would play hob with the whole business." they stood there and watched the strange duel in the heavens. the thrill of that occasion would never be forgotten by any one of the three scouts. and all the while the guns over beyond the low-lying hills were beating a terrible tattoo that was like the music of the orchestra when a play is being performed. that tragedy was there above them, the stage being the limitless expanse of the heavens. the zeppelin maneuvered again and again in order to get in touch with the wasp-like enemies that constantly darted out of reach. there was more or less firing going on, the boys could see, even though the distance and the growl of the german artillery prevented them from hearing any reports. "there, i believe they've done it!" shouted merritt suddenly. "the zeppelin is running away, that's sure!" echoed tubby, "and one of the aëroplanes seems to be further up, too!" "something has happened, because the rear of the dirigible looks as if it had collapsed," rob announced. "i wonder how they manage to steer, with the rudder useless. but they're coming down fast now, you notice!" "and aiming so as to bring the monoplanes over the german lines," added merritt. "if the little fellows know what's good for them, they'll keep a good distance off, because there are guns made that can shoot straight up for a mile, and send a shell or shrapnel to burst, and fetch an aviator every time." while they watched, the disabled zeppelin dropped out of sight back of the woods, and it was easily possible for the boys to hear the wild shouts of derision that ascended from the trenches where the belgians lay concealed. the two aëroplanes then started to have a little scout of their own, and doubtless those daring air pilots picked up more or less information that would prove of value to the defenders of the trenches. "is the battle over, do you think?" asked tubby, when this exciting panorama in the upper air currents had come to an end. "some of the guns are still muttering," rob told him, "but they seem to be further away. perhaps the germans are bombarding some fortified place off in the distance, or it may be an english army has shown up, and is giving battle to the kaiser. you know the poor belgians are hoping for that to happen right along." "but just think what is over there!" continued tubby, with a shudder as he pointed a chubby finger toward the scene of the late charge and repulse. "why, i can see hundreds of men lying around, just like the corn when they go to cutting so it can be stacked. ugh! it's awful to think of all those poor germans!" "they're not all germans, either," corrected merritt; "because i saw one place where the belgians rushed out of their trenches, and fought hand to hand. lots of them must have been knocked over, too. they just couldn't hold back, i guess, with the fighting spirit in them." "and this is what's going on all through belgium, northern france, and over along the border of russia," said rob, powerfully impressed with the tragic scene he had looked upon. "here's another battery coming along the road, too late to get in the fight!" they heard tubby saying. "that's where you're barking up the wrong tree, tubby," merritt assured him, "because what's coming now is just the opposite of a battery. one cuts down the ranks of the enemy, this one helps to bind up their wounds, and carry them off the battlefield! in action the fighting men become like fiends; but i guess you could call these angels of mercy!" "why, sure enough, i can see the red cross on the wagon!" cried tubby, evidently pleased by the discovery. "then that must be an ambulance, and they're going on the battlefield to help the poor wounded fellows! oh! how much i admire them right now. i wish i was worth a continental as a surgeon, and i'd like to volunteer to help take care of some of the wounded." "there are three more ambulances, and they seem to have several nurses aboard each one," rob observed, as the procession advanced closer to where they were located. "there's a man driving, and i reckon now that may be the surgeon," merritt was saying, as though deeply interested. "how about this, rob? i thought nurses only worked in the hospitals back of the lines; but these seem heading right for the battlefield." "as a rule they let men bring in the wounded," said rob. "but sometimes a nurse is allowed to go about trying to help the poor fellows as best she can until such time as a stretcher can reach them. most of them are parched with thirst, and what they ask for first of all is a drink of water." "i might do that much, anyway," tubby was heard to mutter to himself, "if only i thought i could stand the terrible sights. you know, seeing blood always used to make me feel faint-like. but then a scout ought to overcome that weakness." possibly it may have been something in what tubby said that gave merritt his brilliant idea, for he immediately whirled upon the patrol leader, and exclaimed: "rob, why couldn't we ask them to take us along, and let us do what we can to help? as scouts we know something about taking care of wounds, you remember. why, didn't that officer compliment us on the way we looked after his men, and the german spy they'd captured? rob, see if we could do it, won't you? it might be a terrible experience for us; but i feel like i'd be better satisfied if i could lend a helping hand here." the first of the three army ambulances had by this time come close to the boys. attracted by their khaki uniforms, and possibly their bright eager faces, the man who was driving held up his team. a woman of middle-age, garbed as a nurse, jumped to the ground, and approached the boys. they saw that undoubtedly she must be the one in charge of the red cross detachment. at sight of the little american flag which tubby wore on the lapel of his coat her eyes glistened. "that is a glorious sight to my eyes in this foreign land," she told them, "for i, too, am american-born. my profession is that of a trained nurse. a wealthy patient i brought abroad died in antwerp; and as the war had broken out i determined to offer my services to the government, so that i was immediately given a position of trust and responsibility. we are short-handed with men, you can see. i happen to know what boy scouts over in america have to learn about taking care of wounded persons. it is a terrible thing to ask, but this is a case of necessity. would you be willing to help us out; and do you think you could stand the awful sights and sounds of the battlefield?" rob and merritt exchanged glances; while their flushed faces told the nurse what their answer would be, even before they spoke a single word. "we were just wondering whether you would let us join you," rob said quickly, "for we want to do something to help those poor fellows over there. yes, if you can make room for us aboard your ambulance we'll gladly go along." poor tubby had lost all his color. he was as white as a ghost; but with tightly shut teeth he pushed up, to allow the nurse to fasten a bit of muslin, stamped with a vivid red cross, upon his left arm, and then he climbed into the ambulance. chapter xviii. after the fighting was over. the horses had been urged on at considerable speed, in order to arrive upon the scene of action, for the animals began to show evidences of exhaustion long before they reached a position back of the belgian trenches. that may have been one of the reasons why they were halted temporarily, at the time the head nurse talked with the three boy scouts. as they approached the battle line rob and his friends became intensely interested. they saw the heads of the defenders of the trenches thrust up to observe their coming, and heard the hearty ringing cheers with which the red cross nurses were greeted. men sprang out to assist them, so that apparently it would be no hard task to find plenty of recruits to handle the stretchers upon which the wounded could be carried to the hastily constructed field hospital in the rear, where the surgeons would soon be busily employed. tubby was still looking very white, but he had made up his mind that he would go through with this wonderful experience even if he fainted dead away. all that was stubborn in his nature had come to the surface; and rob, after noticing this, made up his mind tubby was going to take a long step forward before another sun had set. now they were on the other side of the trenches. there was considerable bustle. nurses commenced to spread out over the field, on which some men lay groaning and others very still. the assistants with the stretchers, upon whose arms had been fastened badges bearing the sacred red cross, began to carry off such of the wounded as they found needed urgent attention. "come on, boys, let's see where we can help out!" said rob, trying to appear perfectly cool and collected, but at the same time knowing that his knees were inclined to knock together, so that he could not blame poor tubby for feeling as he did. they started out. at first all of them stuck together, for the sights they soon saw filled them with a sense of horror, as well as compassion. never were boy scouts placed in a position where they had more reason to be thankful for what little knowledge of surgery they had attained. the american nurse may have felt considerable doubt as to whether she had done a wise thing in affording these boys a chance to assist the red cross upon the battlefield. rob saw that she hovered near them, as though keeping an eye on what they did. it was a dreadful experience for those boys, to be thus brought in close contact with the dead and the dying; they could never forget what they saw there that day. even tubby braced up when he found that he could be useful in helping the others. he had secured a bucket of water, and when he heard some poor fellow cry out, or saw him make frantic gestures, it was his business to hurry over and supply his wants. no matter what uniform the wounded man wore, it did not make a bit of difference; since the red cross recognizes neither friend nor foe, but treats all alike. it is possible to get accustomed to almost anything in this world. not one of those boys would have imagined a short time before this that they could find courage and nerve enough to walk in the midst of such carnage; and yet they were actually doing it now. as rob and merritt finished binding up the leg of a poor fellow who would soon have bled to death but for their coming, the nurse who had meanwhile come up behind them commended their work. "it was excellently done, i want you to know," she told them, "and i can plainly see that i need have no further fears concerning your ability to be of much assistance here. do all you can, my brave boys, but remember not to go too far. you are not accustomed to such sights, and it may affect you in the end." she hurried away to take up her own labors, leaving the boys with a proud sense of having done their duty as genuine scouts should, trying to be of use to others in sore need. for an hour, yes two of them, they continued to work there, while the stretcher bearers and the ambulances bore the victims of the late conflict back in apparently an unending procession. those poor fellows who had no further need of attention were of course allowed to remain just as they had fallen; and by degrees the wounded were weeded out, to be taken care of back of the desperately defended lines, where the red cross floated from the canvas field hospital. tubby had about reached the end of his endurance. they could see that he was certainly getting very wabbly on his feet, for often he stumbled as he moved around with his bucket and dipper, seeking a stray wounded soldier who might have been overlooked, so as to supply water to quench his raging thirst. the sun looked down from a cloudless september sky, and it was very hot for the advanced season of the year. far off in the distance those never-ceasing german guns still kept up their muttering as they sent shells into some fortified place. the battle in this particular field was apparently not going to be renewed; for already some of the belgian batteries were being taken away, to face a new quarter where, according to their air scouts, the enemy meant to next try a forward movement. terrible though the experience may have been to all the boys, none of them had any regrets. the grateful looks and words they had received repaid them tenfold for all the nerve-racking ordeals through which they had gone. "i think it's queer, though," merritt was saying to rob, as they walked around in search of any wretched victim whom they might assist, "that not a single german has been out on the battlefield to render first aid. i don't understand it at all. they've got as fine surgeons as any in the world, and the red cross works with their armies the same as with all the rest." "i was bothering my head about that, too, since you mention it," rob announced. "what did you make up your mind was the cause of it?" continued merritt, who had considerable respect for the opinions and decisions of the eagle patrol leader. "it means either one of two things," he was told. "it may be the settled policy of the germans in their rush to push through belgium and northern france to leave their wounded to be taken care of by the enemy, whenever the battle has gone against them; or else a quick change of front compels them to abandon the field." "still," argued merritt, who secretly was much in favor of the allies, "you'd think there would be some parties out with stretchers, looking up their wounded. i never will understand it." "well, they must have a good reason for acting that way," rob told him. "you know the germans are great sticklers for sacrificing everything to the good of the cause of the fatherland. if necessary even the wounded must be temporarily neglected until the end aimed at is attained. you remember what we heard in antwerp about those three british cruisers that were just torpedoed in the north sea by german submarines?" "i can see what you mean, rob. one was struck, and began to sink. the other two hurried up to render assistance, and while their engines were still they were hit by torpedoes and went down. if, instead of trying to help their distressed comrades in the english way, they had let them look out for themselves, and first of all smashed the conning towers of the submarines, they would have saved themselves. i guess in war times the german style counts best, though it seems cruel to me." "i think we had better pull out of this before long," remarked rob. "well, if you asked me i'd say i've had enough to last the rest of my life," merritt told his chum. "if ever i had any idea i'd like to be a soldier i give you my word that's gone glimmering now. what i've looked on this day has cured me." "i was thinking more of poor tubby than either of us," the patrol leader remarked. "you can see he's pretty near the end of his rope. twice now i've seen him trip and fall flat, over some of the war material that's scattered around so thick. and he could hardly get on his feet again, he's that played out." "but, rob, tubby has certainly shown up splendidly in this terrible trial!" "he's done a heap more than we have," rob asserted, "because he always has been a timid sort of chap with regard to seeing blood when any of us got hurt. i remember how ghastly white tubby grew that time one of the scouts in the owl patrol cut his foot with the ax. i thought for a while we'd have two patients on our hands. he had to sit down so as to get over it." "yes, and see what he's stood to-day," said merritt. "many a boy who boasts of having lots of nerve would have shrunk from doing what he has. tubby's all right, and that's a fact. but it's high noon, and i warrant you he's feeling mighty hungry." "he would, under ordinary conditions," said rob, "but just now i don't believe any of us could eat a mouthful. i know the very thought of it makes me feel queer." "that's because we're not used to such sights and sounds," merritt explained. "i expect to wake up many a night with a groan and a shiver, dreaming i'm on a battlefield again, after those awful maxims have been doing their murderous work." "well, we might take one last turn around," suggested rob, "and if we fail to find any more wounded men, we'll call it a day's work, and quit." "for one thing, i'm glad i don't mean to follow this up as a profession," his comrade continued. "i think i've had enough experience of fighting to last me a lifetime, and yet, on second thought, if it should happen again that they needed what little help i could give, why i'd have to pitch in." chapter xix. an important clue. "there was one thing i meant to mention to you, merritt," said rob, as they once more started to zigzag across the field where so many windrows of fallen germans lay, just as they had dropped when making that daring charge. it was perhaps a little strange how the boys could come to converse as they did while surrounded by such gruesome sights; but after several hours' familiarity with such scenes these begin to lose some of their harrowing features. and while rob and his chum were still shocked by frequent sights, they did not feel the same weakness that had, in the beginning, almost overpowered them. "then, tell it now," urged merritt. "it was about anthony," continued the other. "well, as we know only one anthony just now," pursued merritt, "i reckon you must be referring to our late guide, the same who gave us the slip like a coward. what about anthony, rob?" "i guessed right about him," replied the patrol leader. "it was not fear that tempted him to leave us in the lurch, but a craze to get in action. i think anthony, while too old a man to be on the active list of the belgian army, must have been a reservist." "yes, he told me so," said tubby, coming up and catching what was being said by his chums. "well," rob continued, "apparently he knew where to go to get a suit, for there he was as big as life, and he even had the audacity to wave his hand at me, and grin." "where was this, rob?" demanded merritt, surprised, as well he might be. "where but sitting on one of those ammunition caissons that went whirling past us into action. anthony must have been with the artillery corps. he felt the longing come over him when he thought of the enemies of his country--those raiding uhlans. so what did he do but take french leave on his horse, and get to where this battery was waiting for orders to proceed to the front." "oh! well, if you're dead sure it was anthony," merritt observed, as if mollified by the information, "of course we'll have to forgive him. i was only mad because i thought the fellow'd gone and gotten cold feet, after taking our advance pay, too. if he's that kind of a patriot, i've got no quarrel with anthony." "and perhaps he even had a share in mowing down some of these germans who had invaded his country," suggested tubby. "anthony seemed to be pretty bitter against the kaiser and his people for trying to cross belgium in order to strike france in the back, as he called it. whee! i'm tired; but i didn't give up, did i, fellows? you never thought tubby would be able to come through with what he has, and i know it." "you deserve a medal, tubby; and we were just saying what a change there's been in you," rob told him, causing a wan smile to flit across the wearied face of the fat scout. "yes," added merritt readily, "to see the tender way you handled that german, hardly more than a boy himself, and who may never live to see his people again, anyone would have thought you had it in you to be a surgeon. tubby, if i were you i'd pay more attention to such things. i honestly believe there's a streak of it in your blood." "well," tubby remarked complacently, "we've had eminent doctors in our family; and my folks always said they hoped i'd take a fancy that way; but when i found how weak i was every time i saw a little blood, i gave up the idea. now i've had my baptism on the battlefield, so mebbe i _will_ change my mind. even a soft-hearted fellow might make a good doctor, if he couldn't be a surgeon." "listen, there's someone calling to us!" exclaimed merritt. "and in german, too," added rob. "look all around, and see if you can find him. he must have recovered his senses after we passed by before." "there's something moving under that pile of bodies," remarked tubby with a shudder; "yes, and now you can see a hand waving to us. oh! let's hurry and get the poor fellow out!" the others were just as willing, and soon they had dragged a man out from the weight that had almost smothered him. "he's pretty badly hurt, i reckon," remarked rob, as he immediately stooped down over the bavarian soldier, "but not fatally, i think. we'll do what we can for him here, and the next time men come along with a stretcher, we'll send him over to the field hospital." the wounded german soldier had listened to them speaking. "are you american boys, then?" he asked, in excellent english. "well, now, he must have guessed that when you said you 'reckoned,' rob," declared merritt, "but how comes it you talk english, my friend?" "oh! i'm from hoboken," said the man, smiling in spite of the terrible pain he must have been enduring. rob was already busily engaged stanching the bleeding from his wounds, which seemed to be numerous, though not apt to prove fatal, if they had proper attention. "do you mean hoboken, new jersey?" he asked, in surprise. "sure. i have lived there for many years now, and have a large brewing interest. krauss is my name, philip krauss. i went across from munich, in bavaria, and was on a visit to my old home when the war came about. although i have long been an american citizen i still love my native land, and they soon found a place for me in the ranks. but now if i ever get over this i think i will have had enough of fighting, and expect to return to my wife and children in hoboken. but what are you doing here on this terrible field? it is not the place for boys." "we are boy scouts," tubby informed him proudly. "by accident we were where we could watch the battle being fought. then along came the red cross ambulances, and the nurses. they asked us to assist, and as scouts all learn something about first aid, why we thought we'd help out. i guess you're about our last case, herr krauss." meanwhile rob and merritt busied themselves. the way they went about temporarily relieving his suffering, as well as stopping the loss of blood, quite won the admiration of the hoboken patriot, even as it had done in the case of numerous other wounded men whom the boys attended previously. it chanced that once again the boys became immersed in their own affairs, which were beginning to weigh heavily on their minds. "i was making inquiries of one of the men with the stretchers," rob told his comrades, "and he assured me that this little place by the name of sempst is only a matter of six miles or so from where we are right now." "then," said merritt, brightening up, "if only we stand a chance to get around without being gobbled by the germans, we might strike in there to-morrow, and see if steven meredith is still at his post. the agent sent word to my grandfather that he had accepted a position there in charge of some manufacturing plant owned by a german firm in brussels. i think myself there may have been some truth in that story about his being in the pay of the german government, both over in america and here!" the wounded man was listening eagerly to what they said. "excuse me," he now broke in. "but that is not a common name; and i once met a steven meredith, who pretended to be an american citizen, but who i knew was an agent of the german government. it may be the same man. i entertained him, together with the german consul in new york city, at my home in hoboken. do you happen to know any peculiarity about his looks or manner that would identify him?" "the man we are trying to find was tall," said merritt quickly, "and has a slight cast in his left eye. he talks with something of a twang, as though he might be a down-east yankee." "it must be the same!" declared philip krauss, as though convinced. "that accent, i believe, was cleverly assumed for a purpose. promise me that you will not think it your duty to betray him to the enemy, and i will tell you still more of him." merritt and rob exchanged significant looks. "we have no fight against either germany or the allies," merritt observed, "for americans are neutral, and there would be no need of our betraying him, even if we had the chance. so we can easily give you that promise. he has something in his possession that belongs to my family; and we have come a long way to get it; that is all we want of steven meredith. now, what can you tell us about him?" "only this," replied the wounded hoboken brewer. "you have perhaps saved my life, and i feel i am under heavy obligations for the favor. it is worth something to my wife and family that i should live to see hoboken again. the man you are looking for is in the suburbs of brussels. you spoke of sempst. he was there two days ago when my troop passed through. that may ease your minds, my brave boys." "would you mind telling us how you know this?" asked rob. "i saw him, and talked with him," came the convincing response. "he remembered me, though he put his finger on his lips, and looked around him as though he were suspicious. he is, as you said, in charge of a manufacturing plant, or appears to be, though he may have been sent there to spy upon the people, and learn valuable facts for the service. but i am glad to be able to do even a little in return for your kindness." as two soldiers wearing the red cross on their sleeves came along just then with a stretcher, the boys beckoned to them, and had philip krauss carried off to the field hospital. they did not see him again after that. if, however, they should ever reach home again, they determined some day to look the hoboken man up, and learn of his further adventures. chapter xx. the camp fires of an army. "here, it's getting well along into the afternoon," remarked tubby with a forlorn look on his face, "and i'm so knocked out that if you told me you meant to make a start for the little belgian town right away i'd faint, sure i would." "don't think of doing it, then, tubby," rob told him, "because the rest of your chums are feeling in pretty much the same box themselves." "we've had a terribly hard day of it, for a fact," agreed merritt, as he looked around upon the scene, and shuddered in spite of his well known nerve. "then please tell me what's the program?" pleaded the fat scout. "that munch of black bread was good enough to keep a fellow from starving to death; but i certainly do hope there's a better prospect ahead of us for supper." "rob, you've got a scheme!" asserted merritt. "what makes you think so?" asked the other, smiling languidly; for he was very nearly exhausted from the hard work he had done acting as an assistant field surgeon in the service of the red cross corps, doing temporary work in binding up wounds, and giving stimulants to those who were weak through loss of blood. "oh! i can tell it from the way you act," replied merritt. "i haven't been your closest chum all this time without getting to know what different things mean. now give us a pointer; what about getting some supper, and finding a place to sleep to-night?" "well, do you think you could stand for another night in the hay?" demanded rob. "just try me, that's all!" whimpered tubby. "and, say, if you're thinking of going back to that village again, i only hope they'll be good to us, and feed us like they did this morning." "that's what i had in mind," the patrol leader told them. "so the sooner we make a start that way the sooner we can rest up." it was weary work tramping all the way back to the little village where they had first met the ambulances of the red cross corps, and joined hands with the workers. rob would have liked to say good-by to the american nurse who had taken so much interest in their welfare. he knew, though, that it would be too much for tubby to approach that terrible field hospital, where undoubtedly the nurses were still busily engaged helping the surgeons in their labors. whenever tubby groaned and gave signs of dropping, they called a temporary halt and, in this way, made it as easy for the fat scout as possible. somehow the very thought of that sweet-scented hay appealed to tubby very nearly as much as a good feed might; and that was saying a great deal. "i don't wonder at hoboes liking haystacks when they're wandering around the country, if only they're as nice as that mow we struck," he told the others more than once. "why, things couldn't be better. now i understand what they mean when they say 'hitting the hay.' it means a sweet sleep. but we're really getting there, ain't we, rob?" "we're right on top of the village now, tubby," merritt told him. "yes," added rob, "there you can see the elevation we stood on when we watched the terrible battle. the village is here on our left. one more tug, and we'll arrive, so brace up, tubby." "oh! i'm getting along quite decent, thank you, rob. but i'll be glad when we're sitting on that bench under the shade of the tree." as they entered the village they found that it was quite a different place from the time of their previous visit. streams of wounded men had been brought in, and every other cottage was turned into a temporary hospital. of course the injured belgians were given the first choice, as was perfectly natural; but rob was pleased to see that after all these humble villagers had human traits in their make-up. misery makes the whole world akin, and although they had no reason to love any german invader, the sight of stalwart young teutons suffering agonies touched many a mother's heart; their own sons might any day be in need of the same attention from strangers, and they could not refuse to aid these wounded foes. so into many a belgian home a sorely stricken german was carried, to be cared for until the time came when he could be removed, either to his own lines, or to antwerp. the boys first of all sought that shady spot where the bench mentioned by tubby offered an inviting seat. here they sat down, and observed the many stirring sights that were taking place all around them. "i've seen two men taken to the barn," remarked merritt, half an hour later, "and so i reckon we'll have neighbors in our hay-mow to-night." tubby made a grimace, and then seemed to be ashamed of his selfishness. "well, if we do have to play nurse," he observed with the air of a philosopher, "i suppose we can stand it. what are all our troubles, i'd like to know, compared to those these poor people are suffering?" "that's right, tubby," said merritt, "and we'll manage to pick up plenty of sleep, i should think." "it'll have to be in the early part of the night, then," rob told them, "because we want to get out of this a couple of hours before daylight." "you mean to start then for sempst, do you?" asked tubby, with a sigh. "yes, because it might turn out to be dangerous work walking in broad daylight, until we've managed to get around the germans," rob explained. "i've already picked up considerable information about the country, and the lay of the land. between now and the time we turn in i hope to learn still more, so that i can take you on a road by starlight that will make a circuit around the german camps." apparently both his mates had the utmost confidence in rob's ability to do this, for there was no word of protest raised. merritt asked a few questions, and then they fell back upon their old occupation of watching the movements of the villagers, mostly women, as they bustled to and fro. pretty soon rob sauntered over to the inn, and had a long talk with the old man who ran the public house. they could see him doing considerable pointing, and from this fact judged that rob was keeping his word about picking up all the information possible. when he came back it was getting near sundown; and of course the first thing tubby asked was: "did he say we could have it, rob?" as both of the other scouts were so well acquainted with tubby's weak points they did not need a dictionary in order to understand what was on his mind. "i'm glad to tell you, tubby," replied the other, "that the innkeeper says we deserve the best supper he can get ready. it seems that they've been talking about us here. some of the nurses must have told how we worked on the battlefield; or it may be the wounded soldiers mentioned the fact that we did something to help them bear up till the stretchers arrived. no matter what happened, the innkeeper thinks a heap of us all, and we'll not go to our hay shake-downs hungry this night!" "hurray!" cried tubby joyfully, "he's certainly a good fellow, rob, i tell you; and i'm never going to forget him. the man who keeps my body and soul together has my eternal gratitude." later on they were called in, and found that a substantial meal had been prepared for them. tubby was fairly ravenous, and his chums found it necessary to warn him not to founder. "remember, we've got to be up and doing by three in the morning at the latest," rob observed, "and if you make yourself sick the whole plan will be knocked galley-west. we might have to leave you behind, after all." that last threat brought tubby to his senses. "why, you see," he explained, as he pushed himself away from the table and its temptations, "i was trying to fix it so that in case we had to go without our breakfast to-morrow i'd be in shape to stand it." "sometimes," mused merritt, "i think you're trying to fix it so that you could do without eating for a week." when they made their way outside again it was to find that night had fallen. in the western sky a young moon looked down pityingly on the field which had so lately been marked by the desperate charge of the german hosts, only to fail in their effort to break through the belgian intrenchments with their barbed wire defenses. "look, over there are hundreds of little fires flickering!" exclaimed tubby. "those are the camp fires of the germans," rob told him. "i want to fix them in my mind, because we will have to make a wide detour, so as to avoid running across any patrol on the outskirts of their camp. i hope by the time daylight comes we can be far enough around to get off without being seen. the worst thing is this khaki uniform business. if only we had on ordinary clothes we might be taken for belgian boys. but, as it is, they'll think we're soldiers, or at the least belgian scouts, and they treat them as if they were regular enlisted men." shortly afterward they again sought the barn. the lantern once more hung on its accustomed hook, and by its friendly gleam rob and his two chums were enabled to find the place where on the preceding night they had slept so well. the wounded men happened to be removed from them by some little distance. they could be heard occasionally groaning, or talking in low tones; but, as the boys were too tired to remain awake long, they soon lost all consciousness of what was passing around them. perhaps the crowing of a rooster nearby may have told rob that it was in the neighborhood of three o'clock, for he aroused his chums close to that time. chapter xxi. the hanging bridge. "do we have to get out at this terribly early hour?" asked tubby, as he dug his knuckles into his eyes, still heavy with sleep. "yes," said rob. "i've taken a look at the stars, and it must be half-past two, or near it. you know i've made it a practice to be able to tell the hour of night in that way, and can hit it every time. come, get a move on you, tubby, unless you'd prefer staying here in the hay and waiting till we come back." "well, you don't shake me that way if i know it," muttered tubby, hastening to crawl out of his snug nest. the night air was rather chilly, when once they found themselves outside. all of them were glad to button up their coats. looking in the direction where the myriad of fires had been burning earlier in the night and seeming like innumerable giant fireflies which they were accustomed to seeing summer evenings at home, they found that most of them had died out. "i expected that would happen," said rob, when merritt called his attention to the altered conditions in the camp of the germans, "and it's lucky i made my plans without depending on seeing those fires again. i've got other landmarks to go by." "i expected you'd have," said merritt, filled with the utmost confidence in the leader of the eagle patrol, which faith was founded on a long list of past performances worth remembering. as there was nothing to hinder them, they made an immediate start. tubby was observed to cast a last longing look back toward the humble village inn. no doubt he was deploring the necessity that compelled them to leave such hospitable quarters without waiting for breakfast-time to come along. it was not exactly dark, once their eyes became accustomed to conditions. the stars shone brilliantly in the clear heavens overhead, and in open country it is possible to steer one's way fairly well by starlight. for some time the boys went on. tubby, of course, often stumbled, for it would not have been tubby otherwise; but, as he had not so far actually spread himself face downward on the road, he thought he was doing very well. merritt could see how rob had laid out their course, by the assistance of the friendly innkeeper, who had been told of their desire to reach the little place called sempst. he had really drawn rob a rude but correct chart of the roads covering the territory between, and informed him as to what his best plan of campaign would be. a number of times they had slight scares. once a dog ran out from a yard and commenced barking wildly at them, even threatening to nip tubby in the leg. it was only natural for the threatened one to shout angrily and kick desperately at the offending canine. by great good luck he managed to land the toe of his shoe against the vicious animal's nose, as a loud howl announced. "there, that serves you right, for bothering me, you silly thing!" grumbled tubby. the others knew he must be very proud of that shot, and would often refer to it when complaints were made afterward to the effect that he was "slow." any one who could manage to get his foot in contact with a snapping dog must not be reckoned out of the running. just what they would do should they finally reach the small town where steven meredith was supposed to be in charge of a large german manufacturing plant, they had not as yet determined. it was rob's plan to secure possession of that field-glass case by hook or crook, for, if it proved impossible to obtain by fair means, then he meant to try strategy. for this purpose he had even bought an empty case while in antwerp which had been carried through all their adventures. it was a new one, for, in making up his plans, rob may have had in mind the old arabian story of the magical lamp, and how the cunning schemer managed to get possession of it by going around and offering housewives to exchange new lamps for old ones. he meant to exchange with steven, and give him a brand new case for his worn one, should the opportunity arise for such a transfer. "and once we get our hands on that bit of paper," he had told the others, "we'll shake the dust of this country off our shoes in the biggest hurry ever." it must have been fully an hour after they left the stable of the village inn when rob imparted some information to his chums that caused tubby, at least, more or less apprehension. "it's about time we were coming to it now," rob started to say. "what, already?" remarked tubby, evidently delighted, for, of course, he foolishly thought it must be the little town they were heading for that rob meant. the other quickly undeceived him. "oh! we're a long, long way off from sempst yet, tubby," he said. "i was referring to a bridge the inn-keeper told me about, that's all." "what's there about a bridge to worry us, i'd like to know?" muttered the fat scout suspiciously, feeling terribly depressed, because he had been so like a drowning man grasping at a straw. "unless it happens to be guarded by the germans," suggested merritt softly, "and then we'd have a dickens of a time getting across." "the trouble about this particular bridge isn't so much that it's apt to be guarded," rob went on to inform them, "but the inn-keeper was afraid we'd find it gone!" "blown up, do you mean, rob?" tubby demanded. "it's been reported that way," he was informed. "fact is, there doesn't seem to be much doubt about it. from all accounts, the belgians destroyed it, as they have done many other costly bridges, so as to impede the advance of the german heavy guns. it takes lots of time and trouble to rebuild a bridge and make it strong enough to let a monster siege gun rumble over." "but, rob, shall we have to swim across, or is there a sort of ford handy that we might use?" merritt inquired. "i certainly hope we don't have to swim, anyway," tubby declared, "for, if there's one thing i hate to do, it's to get soaking wet. it's so uncomfortable afterward, and especially when you can't change your clothes. but, of course, if it's got to be done, we'll all have to just grin and bear it." "it may not be necessary in this case," added rob, no doubt purposely delaying his information, because he liked to hear tubby drumming up his courage in this way. "then mebbe you've gone and got some wings hidden away, which we can use to fly across?" suggested tubby quickly, "or it might be an aëroplane is kept handy so's to ferry folks over dry-shod." "neither of your guesses hits the mark, tubby," he was informed. "the inn-keeper said one man told him that, while the bridge was wrecked, a few of the steel beams still hung in place, so that any one who was fairly spry might manage to make his way over from one side to the other. a number had done it, including the man who told him." "if others can, we ought to be able to make it," merritt said stoutly. "yes, i suppose that's so," admitted tubby ruefully, "but then you mustn't forget that they had daylight to help out. that makes a heap of difference. i never did have the eyes of a cat so's to see in the dark." "it's getting on toward the first peep of dawn," rob told him; "and i expect there'll be some light for us when we reach the bridge." "we can wait till she comes along, then," tubby continued, as though even that assurance gave him more or less satisfaction. from the formation of the country rob judged they must soon arrive at the place of the bridge. he had already made the discovery that there was a stream on one side of them, which the road would have to cross before long. "i think i see where it lies," merritt announced a few minutes after they had stopped talking. "yes," admitted the leader, when he had followed the course of merritt's outstretched finger as well as was possible in the semi-darkness, "that must be the anchorage of the bridge. we'll soon know what we're going to be up against." "well, all i hope is we don't have to swim, that's what!" tubby muttered. rob, as they continued to advance, kept a careful lookout. he wondered whether any sort of patrol could have been stationed at the ruined bridge by one or the other of the hostile armies. it might make considerable difference with them in their intended crossing; and would turn out very awkward if, when they were in the middle of the span, they discovered they were being made targets by some reckless marksmen on the further shore. presently they drew up alongside the spot. as rob had hinted the night was really at an end, and in the east the first peep of coming dawn could be seen in the brightening sky. "it's a wreck, all right!" said merritt, as they stood there, straining their eyes to try and follow the outlines of the torn steel girders that seemed to have been twisted into all manner of queer shapes by the force of the explosion. "gingersnaps and popguns!" ejaculated tubby helplessly, "and do you really expect to crawl over that swinging thing? i've read about some awful hanging bridges in the mountains of south america and africa, but i bet you they couldn't hold a candle alongside this mussed-up affair. whee! you'd have to blindfold me, i'm afraid, boys, if you expected me to creep out there on that dizzy girder." "we'll wait a bit till the light gets stronger," rob counseled, knowing full well that when it came to it tubby would summon the necessary resolution to cross over, especially if his comrades showed the way. a quarter of an hour elapsed. by that time they could see across fairly well. "first of all," rob summed up, "there doesn't seem to be anybody over there to bother us, that i can notice." "and the way across isn't so bad, that i can see," announced merritt, principally to help buoy up the sinking heart of poor tubby. "why, all of us have done stunts worse than that. you know we have, tubby, many a time." "well," tubby answered him weakly, "just as you say, boys. i'm in your hands. i promise to do the best i can to get over; but, if i _should_ slip, please get me out of the river as soon as you can. you know i'm not a cracking good hand at swimming." of course they promised, and cheered him up by every means possible; but it was with many doubts that in the end tubby consented to start forth on the trip. rob led the way, and after him came the fat chum, with merritt bringing up the rear. there was a method in this arrangement, for, while the pilot could test each girder, so as to pronounce it secure, the rear guard was able to keep an eye on luckless tubby, and even give him an occasional word of advice. now that the morning had arrived they could see better with each passing minute; and rob soon declared there was no necessity for any further delay. it was always a principle with him to grapple with a difficulty, and carry out his plans, without letting anything like dismay seize hold of his heart. accordingly rob now made a start. "why, this is dead easy," was the way he sung out, after he had passed along the swaying girder for a little distance. "all you have to make sure of is that your grip is sound. then keep hunching along, foot by foot. and don't look down any more than you can help, because it might make you dizzy." tubby shut his teeth hard, and began to follow after the pilot. he made good progress until he had about reached the middle of the rocking span. then rob was really alarmed to hear a sudden loud cry, and feel his slender hold shaken violently. something had certainly happened to unfortunate tubby! chapter xxii. scout tactics. just as he feared, when rob managed to turn around and look back, he found that tubby had gone and done it again. whether he had missed his footing, or something had given way under his additional weight, was a question that could not be decided. before merritt, close in his rear, could thrust out a helping hand, poor tubby had fallen. the river was all of thirty feet below, and just there the water looked unusually unpleasant, because it had considerable foam on the surface, there being a shallow rift above the wider stretch. by the merest accident in the world, tubby's clutching hands had succeeded in fastening upon a loose steel stay that hung downward for ten feet. it must have given the fat boy a considerable wrench when he gripped this, but he had clung with the tenacity of despair. when rob turned around, the first thing he saw was merritt kneeling there on the violently agitated girder over which they were making their crossing. he was staring downward, and, of course, rob instantly focused his gaze in the same quarter. he had expected to see tubby splashing about like a porpoise in the stream far down below; but, instead, was astonished to discover him clinging desperately to that loose piece of steel wreckage. tubby had his face turned up toward his chums. there was not a particle of the rosy color to be seen that as a rule dyed his ample face; in fact, he was as white as a ghost. a beseeching look was in his eyes. tubby knew that swinging there he was in a serious predicament, from which there would be only one escape if he were left to his own devices. that would mean he must release his frantic clutch on the swaying steel rope, and drop down into the river, a possibility he shuddered to contemplate. "hey! get me up out of this, fellows, can't you?" he whined, for, after his recent gymnastic efforts, he no longer had sufficient breath to shout. "clasp your legs around the thing, can't you, tubby?" said rob, who saw that the strain on the other's arms must be tremendous, judging from the way he was hanging there. the advice struck tubby as well worth following; so he immediately began to work his short legs violently until he found that he could, as rob suggested, twist them around his slender support. when that had been accomplished it was much easier for him. he began to suck in some encouragement once more. "but won't you try and get me up again, rob?" he asked piteously. "i can't hang on here for very long, like a regular old pendulum to a clock. i'm not wound up for a seven-day-goer. and say, i'd hate to have to drop kerplunk into all that water down there. think up some way to grab me out of this, won't you, rob?" "i'm trying to, tubby. keep still a bit, and let me think," he was told. in one way, of course, it was a ridiculous sight, and that was why rob winked his eye at merritt when he thought he could detect a whimsical look on the other's face. still, it was anything but a laughing matter to poor tubby, who felt that he had a tremendous amount at stake. every time he found himself compelled to let his horrified eyes turn downward that noisy stream seemed to be more and more formidable to him. he fairly hated it. "can't you climb up again, tubby?" asked merritt, who knew exactly what he would have quickly done had he found himself placed in the same predicament. "i'd like to, the worst kind," the fat scout assured him, "but you know i'm feeling very queer and weak, so i don't believe i could do much that way, unless," he added quickly, "i had some assistance from above." "and that's just what i'm going to try and give you, tubby." while rob was saying this he had unbuttoned his coat. this he proceeded to take off, first making sure to transfer anything he had in the pockets, so that he might not suffer a loss. "now, by leaning down here, i think i can reach you with this coat," he proceeded to explain. "if i had a rope, it would be much easier, for with a loop i could make a sure thing of it. but half a loaf is better than no bread, they say." "of course it is, rob," agreed tubby, who was in no position to quarrel with any measures that were taken for his relief. "but what can i do with the coat when it comes down to me? i don't feel that cold, you know." "i'm going to keep hold of one end, tubby," rob explained quietly, in a way to convince the imperiled scout that everything was working as arranged, and that he need not worry. "with just one hand you get a good grip of the end that's near you; then start in to try and climb, using your clasped legs the best you know how. and don't get discouraged if you only come up an inch or so at a time. when you're within reach merritt will hang down and lend a hand, too." all of which was undoubtedly very cheering to tubby. this thing of having stanch comrades in times of distress was, he had always believed, one of the best parts of the scout brotherhood. [illustration: he immediately took a firm grip--and commenced to wriggle the best he knew how.--_page ._] he immediately took a firm grip of the dangling coat-sleeve, and commenced to wriggle the best he knew how. "i'm making it, rob; sure i am!" he presently announced. "that time i slid up as much as six inches. it was a bully hunch, that coat racket of yours. keep her going, rob, and i'll get there yet. never give up--that's my motto, you know. i may get in lots of scrapes, but somehow i always do manage to crawl out, don't i?" "save your breath, tubby, for your work; don't chatter so much," rob told him. merritt was ready to do his part. he had clasped a leg about the girder to help hold him, and was leaning as far down as possible. presently the grunting fat chum reached a place where he could be taken hold of, and so merritt fastened a hand in his coat back of his neck. "here you come, tubby," he said encouragingly. "don't let go with your hands or knees yet!" warned rob; for, should tubby be so foolish as to do this, the chances were that such a sudden weight might drag merritt down, and both would take the plunge. it required considerable effort to finally land tubby on the horizontal girder, but in the end this was accomplished. then all of them sat there to rest after their recent violent exertions. "i don't see how i came to do it," tubby finally remarked, as though he deemed it necessary that some sort of explanation were forthcoming. "i was moving along as nice as you please, when all of a sudden i felt myself going. i must have grabbed at the air, and happened to get a grip on that hanging steel rope. well, it might have been a whole lot worse for me! i'm glad i didn't get soused in the river. and i'll never forget how nobly my chums came to the rescue." "oh! stow that sort of talk, tubby," merritt told him. "that's what we're here for. what's a scout wearing his khaki uniform for if it isn't to remind him what he owes to his chums? you'd do the same for us any old time." "just try me, that's all," declared the grateful tubby; and then, changing his tune, he went on to say: "here we are, out in the middle of the span, and it's just as hard to go back as it is to move forward. so when you're ready, rob, start off again. i'll try not to slip any more. the next time you might see my finish." "i'm sure it would see mine," remarked merritt, rubbing the arm he had used in order to tug at tubby's great weight. luckily nothing more happened, and they were able to reach the opposite shore in safety. tubby sank down and panted, as soon as he crawled off the end of that fragment of the steel bridge. "thank goodness that job is over with!" he exclaimed fervently, "and all i hope is that we don't have to come back this way." "oh! you're getting to be an expert tight-rope walker by now, tubby," merritt said encouragingly. "a little more practice, and you could apply for a job with barnum & bailey's circus." "thank you, merritt, but i have loftier aims than that calling," said tubby disdainfully. "well, let's be getting on," suggested rob. "we've spent enough time here already." "thank goodness i don't have to tramp along soaked to the skin," tubby was heard to tell himself, with gratitude. the road skirted the river bank on the side they were now on for some little distance at least. rob continued to keep a watchful eye around as they progressed. he knew there was always a chance that they might meet some detachment of troops hurrying along; though the fact of the bridge being down must be known to the germans, and would deter them from trying to make use of this road until a temporary structure could be thrown across the river by their engineers. most of the inhabitants had fled from that part of the country. some may have drifted into brussels before the capital fell into the hands of the invaders, when august was two-thirds gone; and they had remained there ever since. others had fled in the direction of ghent and antwerp, in the hope that these cities might hold out against the german army. several times they saw old men at work in the fields, trying to save a part of their farm crops, though without horses they could do little. every beast of burden had been drafted for one or the other army; what the belgians missed the germans had certainly commandeered to take the place of horses lost in the numerous fierce engagements thus far fought. on consulting his little chart rob soon found that it would be necessary for them to abandon this good road, and take to a smaller one that branched off from it, winding in through the trees, and past farms that had been thrifty before this blight fell on the land. "here's a wood ahead of us that looks as if it covered considerable territory, and you don't often see such a bunch of timber in belgium," merritt announced presently. "because, with seven million inhabitants to such a small area," added rob, "it's always been necessary that they employ what is called intensive farming. that is, they get as much out of the soil as possible, even to several crops off of the same patch of ground during the year." "belgium is a busy manufacturing country, too, or has been up to now," merritt continued, which information he may have remembered from his training at school, or else found in some guide-book purchased in new york city before their steamer sailed for england. "i wonder what we'll strike on the other side of this wood?" tubby questioned, always speculating on things to come; and possibly hoping then and there they might run across a hospitable farmer who would kindly offer to provide them with some sort of breakfast. "that's yet to be seen," merritt told him. "here's where there seems to be a sort of swampy patch, with water and bogs. listen to the frogs croaking, will you? and i can see more than a few whoppers, too. chances are this is a frog farm that supplies the big hotels in brussels and antwerp. you know the french are keen on frogs' legs, and pay fancy prices for them by the pound." "i've eaten them more than once," rob informed them, "and i never had spring chicken that was more toothsome and tender." whereupon tubby cast a wistful eye toward the border of the frogpond, where the big greenbacks could be seen, sitting partly in the water, and calling to one another socially. the boys kept walking on, and finally came to where the trees began to get more scanty. about this time rob made a discovery that was not at all pleasing. "hold up, fellows," he said in a hoarse whisper that thrilled tubby in particular, "our road is blocked. there's a whole german army corps camped ahead of us; and it's either go back, or else hide here in the woods till they take a notion to break camp and clear out. let's drop down in the brush and talk it over." chapter xxiii. the frog hunters. "that settles me, i guess!" said tubby sadly, as he followed rob into the shelter of the brush nearby, from which haven of refuge they might watch to see what chances there were of the big camp, a mile and more away, being broken up. "i know what you're thinking about, tubby," merritt told him; "that none of us has had any breakfast, and the outlook for dinner is about as tough as it could be." "yes," admitted the fat scout, "i feel just like kicking myself, because i didn't think of doing it when i had the chance." "doing what?" asked merritt. "getting that good-natured old fellow at the inn to put us up some lunch," was the explanation tubby offered. "i guess he'd have done it, too, because he thought we deserved being taken care of, after hearing what the wounded belgian soldiers had to tell about us. oh! it's a shame how all my great thoughts come afterward. what's the use of locking the stable door when the horse has been stolen?" "well, cheer up," said rob, who, of course, had overheard what was being said; "it may not be a case of starving." "see here, you don't happen to have a lot of stuff hidden away on your person, do you, rob?" gasped tubby hopefully; and, as the other shook his head, he continued in a mournful tone, "i thought that would be too good to be true. but please tell us what you mean by saying it mightn't be so very serious. mebbe you know of a henroost nearby, where we might find a tough old dominick fowl that had been overlooked by the raider squads from the camp?" "if i did i'd tell you, tubby; but wait a bit, while we watch the camp. if nothing happens inside of two hours, i've got a sort of scheme to propose to you both, and i hope it'll meet with your approbation." "two hours! two long, weary hours! gee!" and, as tubby said this, he proceeded to take in some of the slack of his waistband, possibly meaning to show rob how terribly he had fallen away of late. they could see that myriads of men were moving about on the level stretch of country where the invaders were encamped. fires were going, and doubtless those excellent camp ovens, of which so much had been written, were being used to bake fresh bread for the day. those germans omitted nothing that would provide for the comfort of the enlisted men. "it looks as though they meant to stay there all day," remarked rob, when they had been observing these things for at least a full hour. "oh! rob!" protested tubby helplessly, as though the information gave him a severe pain. "well, they believe in drilling right up to the minute they go into battle," was what merritt remarked; "for there you can see a whole regiment of them marching in review past the commander, with others following behind." "it's a wonderful sight," admitted rob. "i never saw soldiers keep step, and seem to be such parts of a machine like that. you'd think they were moved by some network of wires, like a big automatic engine." "oh! look what funny steps that first line is practicing!" cried tubby. "why, they must be only boys, and just playing soldiers. see how they lift their feet, and go along like a high-stepper of a horse. ain't that the limit, now?" "i tell you what that must be," said rob, quickly. "i've read about what they call the 'goose-step.' it's a flinging up of each leg, as the step is taken, bending the knee, instead of keeping it stiff, like most soldiers on parade do." "the silly nonsense!" laughed tubby. "what would i look like trying that fancy step? i thought the kaiser had more sense than that." "hold on. don't condemn a thing before you know what it's meant for," said rob. "there's an object, and a mighty good one, about that step, even if it does make most people smile when they see it for the first time." "then let's hear what it is, please, rob." "as far as i know about it, the object is to strengthen the muscles of the leg, and give those that are tired from a set position a rest. don't you see how that sort of a movement relieves the leg? try it a few times, and you'll believe me." "have you ever seen the goose-step before, rob?" asked merritt. "only once, in a moving-picture play of the german maneuvers," he was told. "it struck me then as ridiculous; but i knew those german military men had long heads, and would not start a thing like that in a parade without something big back of it. so, when i got home i tried it a few times, and then i saw what a splendid relief that throwing forward of the foot was. there goes another line doing it." they continued to crouch--there was small possibility of any one discovering them--and watched all that was going on in the busy camp beyond. not once did any of the soldiers wander away. it was plainly evident that they were being given no liberties. rob only hoped that the order would come for this corps to get on the move, and head to the southwest; for he did not doubt but they were meaning to go to ghent, or to some other place toward the coast. several times tubby was observed to crane his neck and look up toward the heavens anxiously. the others did not need to be told what those signs indicated. they knew very well that the fat chum had not become suddenly interested in astronomy, or expected an eclipse of the sun to happen. he was merely noting how far along his morning journey the sky king had traveled, because he could not forget how rob had set a time limit on their remaining there. two hours he had mentioned as the sum total of their stay; when that boundary had been reached rob was going to make some sort of pleasing proposition. tubby hoped it would have to do with the procuring of a certain nourishment, of which all of them certainly stood in great need. at last rob gave signs of making a move. "now, if you fellows will come back along the road a little ways with me," he announced with a smile, "i've got something to propose. i only hope you fall in with my views, for then there's a chance that we'll have something to eat." "oh! you can count on me agreeing with you, rob!" said tubby cheerfully. "no matter whether it's fur, fin, or feather, i think i could do justice to nearly anything that grows." "as it happens, it's something that doesn't fly or walk that i have in my mind," rob declared rather mysteriously. "the fact is, it hops!" "now you have got me worse balled up than ever," protested tubby, his brow wrinkled with his endeavor to guess the answer. "i think i know," volunteered merritt, grinning amicably. "what does he mean, then? please hurry and tell me," pleaded tubby. "frogs, isn't it, rob?" demanded the other. "oh! gingersnaps and popguns! do i have to come down to choosing between eating jumpers and starving to death?" complained the fat boy, looking distressed. "well, wait till you get your first taste, that's all," rob told him. "if you don't say it beats anything you ever took between your teeth, i'm mistaken, and that's all there is about it. why, they're reckoned one of the fanciest dishes in all the high-class clubs in america, along with diamond-back terrapin, canvas-back duck, and such things. the only thing i'm afraid about is that after you get your first taste you'll want to hog the whole supply." "but how shall we catch the frogs, and then cook them?" asked merritt. "the first ought to be easy," replied rob, "seeing how plentiful they are, and how big and tame. i see a dandy piece of wood that would make a good bow with a piece of stout cord i've got in my pocket. merritt, get some of those straight little canes, growing on the edge of the water. we can make them do for arrows, and, even without feathers, i think i can hit a big frog with one at ten paces away. it'll be fun as well as a profitable business. frog-hunters, get busy now." "here's a long pole, rob. shall i take it and steal up close enough to whack a few of the jumpers on the head?" asked tubby, now entering into the spirit of the game. being given permission, and warned not to make too big a noise, lest he frighten all the frogs into jumping, he set about his task. after several failures he finally brought one monstrous greenback frog to where the others were still working. "i'll show you how to cut off the saddle, and skin the hind legs," said rob. tubby did not altogether like this job. the slimy feeling of the frog rather went against his stomach. still, after the large hind legs had been duly skinned, they presented so much the appearance of the white meat of a spring chicken that tubby felt encouraged enough to set forth again. he had four victims by the time rob and merritt pronounced the bow and arrow part of the business in readiness for work. they kept at it steadily for an hour and more. rob found considerable excitement and profit in his archery. his arrows could not be wholly depended on, for they were not properly balanced; but the distance was so short that he made numerous fatal shots. merritt, too, had secured another long pole, and joined tubby in his share of the frog hunt. it was exciting enough, and with more or less delicious little thrills connected with it. no doubt the frogs must have enjoyed it immensely; but then, no one bothered asking what they thought of such tactics. a boy's hunger _must_ be allayed, and, if there were only frogs handy, why so much the worse for the "hoppers." "whew! don't you think we've got enough, rob?" asked tubby, unable to stand it any longer. "what's the score?" asked the archer, as he tossed still another great big victim toward the spot where the fat scout had been counting the pile. "twenty-one, all told," replied tubby. "that would mean seven for each. but how in the world can we cook them? i hope now you don't mean to tackle them raw? i love raw oysters, but i'd draw the line at frogs. i'm no cannibal." "well, let's find a place deeper in the woods, where we can make a fire out of selected dry wood that will make so little smoke it can't be noticed. that's an old indian trick, you know. hunters used to practice it away back in the time of daniel boone and simon kenton. when they were in a hostile country they had to be mighty careful about making a smoke. i've tried it before, and believe i can pick out the right kind of fuel to use." while the others were finishing the not very pleasant work of skinning the numerous frog saddles, rob busied himself with making the fire in a secluded neck of the woods. in the midst of jutting stones he soon had a blaze going. it could not be seen twenty feet away, on account of the obstructions; and, as the proper kind of wood had been selected, there was no smoke to mention. the boys would have given something for their well-remembered frying pan, just at that time, and some pieces of salt pork with which to sweeten the dainty morsels which were to constitute their luncheon. they were true scouts, however, and could make the best of a bad bargain. "all hunters do not have skillets when they're in the woods," said rob, as he took a long splinter he had prepared, thrust it into one of the saddles, and then, poking the other end into the ground close to the fire, allowed the meat to get the benefit of the heat. "we must do what we can in this old-fashioned way. the best sauce, after all, is hunger; and, from the look on tubby's face, i reckon he's fairly wild to set his teeth in the first of the feast." pretty soon it was a lively scene, with all those forks having to be attended to. a tempting odor also began to rise up that made tubby's mouth fairly water. he heaved many a sigh, as he waited for rob to tell him that the first of his allotment was sufficiently browned to be devoured. "now, let's begin," said rob finally. "only look out not to burn your lips. and, tubby, take my word for it, you're going to get the treat of your life!" chapter xxiv. the armored car. "honest, rob, i never knew what i was missing when i said toasted frogs' legs would do for frenchmen, but none for merritt crawford," and, while making this abject confession, the speaker allowed a look of sublime content to possess his features, such as would remove any lingering doubt concerning his sincerity. "how about you, tubby?" asked the master of ceremonies. tubby had been savagely tearing at his first helping. his eyes were glued on the various sticks under his charge, at the ends of which the rear portions of as many frogs were dangling, and turning a delicious brown under the influence of the heat. then tubby was seen to heave a sigh. "to think that there are only _six_ more apiece!" he said in a most solemn tone. but the others laughed softly, because they knew any loud merriment, under such peculiar conditions, was hardly safe. "that settles one thing," remarked rob. "there's going to be a marked reduction in the profits of this particular frog-raiser this season, if tubby has to stay here long." tubby was already commencing on his second batch. he could not waste time in talking when his appetite had been excited to a feverish pitch by the first bite of tender and succulent meat. "only thing i kick about," he presently mumbled, throwing away the slender bones which he had picked clean, "is that they go so quick. why, you hardly get started before you're at the end." "that's the way with nearly all good things," merritt informed him. "just as soon as they become so numerous that you can have all you want, somehow it seems as if the craving leaves you." "yes, i guess that's about it," admitted tubby, talking only because the next batch of provender was not quite ready for disposal. "anyhow, i've seen my mother just dote on a horrible little cucumber that dad brought home in january, paying about twenty cents for the same, and, when we have bushels of splendid ones in our own garden, why, nobody cares to eat them." the little feast continued until everybody had cleaned up their mess. tubby was disconsolate because the supply was so limited and the demand so great. "how foolish we were not to double our catch," he said several times, "for there wouldn't have been any trouble about doing the same. one thing i've settled in my mind, i want to tell you." "well, go on, then, and explain," urged merritt. "i'll have one next summer, see if i don't," asserted tubby. "what--a feast of frogs' legs?" chuckled the other scout. "me? only one show at the same? well, when i like a thing, i rave over it. i want it every day. i mean to have a frog hatchery, and a pond where i can raise 'em by the million!" "listen to him, will you, rob?" exclaimed merritt, pretending to be horrified. "if ever there was a case where eyes were bigger than a stomach, it's right here. millions of them, tubby wants now; seven is only a flea-bite to him." "oh! shucks! don't make me out a hog!" remonstrated tubby. "i didn't mean i expected to devour the whole lot. why, can't you see there's good money in raising frogs? i'm going to get the figures, and find out just what the ratio of increase might reach. and my folks have got a dandy marsh on the old farm back near huntington that we own. rob, i thank you for opening my eyes to this grand opportunity. i expect it will be the turning point of my life yet." they were used to hearing tubby talk like this. he often became inspired with ambition, but, as time went on, the spirit died out, and something new took its place. "you're letting the little fire die out, i notice, rob," merritt observed. "why, yes; we have no further use for it," he was told, "and there's always a small chance that some soldier would be sent this way on an errand, when he might get a whiff of the smoke, and take a notion to investigate. for one i'm not hankering to be sent a prisoner of war to some detention camp on the rhine." "and i'd feel pretty bad if my mission over here turned out a fizzle," said merritt, "because my heart is set on getting that paper for grandfather crawford." "i'm going to propose," tubby projected, as though he could not tear his thoughts away from the one fascinating subject as long as the taste of his remarkable feast was still on his lips, "that we put in a couple of hours' more work getting a supply of these bouncing big frogs. if the germans stay right there the rest of the day we want to lay in some provisions; and our choice is limited, you know, to this one thing." "of course we could do that," rob informed him, "in case it was absolutely necessary; but i've got a hunch that there's going to be a movement of that army before sundown. if that happens, we can get away from here, and find some one to cook us a meal." "then you must have noticed signs that told they were beginning to get ready to go?" suggested merritt. "which was just what i did," replied rob. "i can hear certain sounds that tell me they have received the order they were expecting, and are breaking camp." as all of them were anxious to learn whether this glorious possibility could be really true or not, they once more made their way back to the spot where their former vigil had taken place. "why, the whole army is in motion, seems like!" ejaculated tubby. "and a wonderful sight it is, at that," added merritt. "they can say what they please about these german soldiers--and the belgians feel they've got a right to call them all sorts of hard names, as barbarians and the like; but there never was such remarkable discipline in the history of the world. the huge army is like one vast machine. men count only as necessary cogs. when one goes another takes its place, and the engine grinds on." they crouched there and watched every operation from a safe distance. it seemed as though there was a never-ending procession of gray-coated figures, most of them with the spiked helmets on their heads, marching away in columns toward the southwest. then came batteries of quick-firing guns, and heavier field pieces. the clattering of accouterments, the neighing of horses, and the hoarse singing of various regiments--all these things came floating on the breeze to the ears of the three lads, as they lay there in the afternoon sunshine and watched. "they seem particularly fond of certain tunes," remarked tubby, "and i know one is the german national air, 'the watch on the rhine,' because we've sung it many a time in the school at hampton. what's that other they roar out, rob?" "i think it's a popular patriotic german air, called _deutschland ueber alles_, which means, of course, 'germany over all'," rob obligingly replied. "oh! well, every country's sons believe they ought to have the first place in the sun; and i reckon we americans have done a heap of boasting that way," merritt remarked, which seemed to be about what tubby thought, too. so they lay there until the camp was entirely deserted. never would those three scouts forget the spectacle to which they had been treated that day. it was now along toward the middle of the afternoon. far off in the distance somewhere, an action was certainly going on, for the grumble of heavy cannonading came almost constantly to their ears. "chances are," said rob, as they prepared to vacate their refuge and once more push onward, "there's a fierce battle in progress, and this corps has received orders to get on the firing line. that would account for the way the troops were singing. their business is to fight, and most of them are only happy when they can smell burnt powder, hear the crash of bursting shrapnel, and the heavy boom of big shells." "we've seen one battle," observed tubby with a shudder, "and for myself i'm not hankering after a second experience." "i suppose in time we'd get used to such terrible things," rob pursued in a reflective way, "for even the fellow who nearly swoons away in his first fight, they say, becomes a regular fire-eater after a while; but, so far as i'm concerned, i'll be a happy boy when i see good old peaceful long island again, with its sandy beaches, and the familiar things we love." "we all will, rob," remarked tubby fervently, a yearning expression coming over his rosy face, as in imagination he again saw the home folks, and sat down to a table that fairly groaned with the good things he doted on. "yes, after i've carried out my mission i'll be just as glad to start back as either of you fellows," merritt assured them. the last of the germans had disappeared from view when the boys started out. rob was looking a bit serious, and the other noticed that he kept turning his eyes off toward the right, for it was in that direction the great host had gone. "you don't expect they will turn back and give us trouble, do you, rob?" asked merritt, noticing this frequent look. "no; it isn't that," he was told, "but i'm wondering what a certain movement that i happened to notice could mean." "tell us about it, won't you, rob?" tubby implored. "it can't be that we have to take the same road that army marched away along, because we're heading in just the other quarter." before rob could commence with his explanation they heard the sound of what appeared to be an automobile behind them. at the time they chanced to be at the foot of a slight elevation, which rose for perhaps twenty feet in a gradual ascent. "gingersnaps and popguns! look what's bearing down on us, will you?" gasped tubby. "it's an armored automobile, as sure as anything!" added merritt, "just like that car we saw in antwerp, you know. yes, i can see the muzzle of the deadly maxim gun that's back of that metal shield. rob, it's heading straight at us. what if they take us for germans, and open fire?" "oh! for goodness' sake, let's wave a white flag to keep them from mowing us down like wheat!" exclaimed tubby, commencing to fumble in his pocket. "hold up your hands to show that we have no arms!" ordered rob, abruptly. "they are belgians, and perhaps the same daring fellows we saw come into antwerp with all sorts of spoils to show they had made a raid, and shot down their regular allotment of the enemy. yes, wave the white bag, if you want, tubby; we don't mean to take any chances." "it's a hard thing to be shot down, and then have some one say they're sorry, and that they didn't know the gun was loaded," remarked merritt. the armored car slowed down as it approached. those vigilant belgians aboard were doubtless observing the three figures in khaki closely. already they must have discovered that they were boy scouts. possibly they more than half expected to find they were belgian scouts, for such boys were being used as dispatch bearers all over the war zone. "we are friends!" called out rob, "american boys, who belong to the scouts over in our country, you understand? we have nothing to do with the war. do any of you speak english? i can talk in french a little, if it's necessary." [illustration: "if you keep on the road ... you will fall into an ambush."--_page ._] the three belgian soldiers laughed at that. plainly they had been at a loss to place these three lads. "i happen to be able to talk english very good," one of them called out, as the car stopped, "and we are glad to meet you. americans are good friends of ours." "listen," said rob impressively, "if you keep on the road you expect to take, so as to follow the german army corps, you will fall into an ambush inside of three minutes." chapter xxv. turning the tables. when rob made this astonishing statement his two chums suddenly realized that this must be the matter he had been on the point of explaining to them when the armored car from antwerp came tearing along the road in their rear like a modern war chariot. the leader of the three belgian soldiers, and who seemed to be a captain, looked incredulous. he repeated what rob had said to his backers, in flemish; and they, too, observed the scout with wondering eyes. "this is a strange thing you are telling me, boy," remarked the captain. "how is it you know there is an ambuscade laid to catch us napping?" "i will gladly explain," the eagle patrol leader hastened to say. "you see, we want to get to sempst, and, as we helped the red cross on the battlefield yesterday, we were detained. then we found that there was a german army camped right in our way. it moved off toward the front only an hour ago, and we have been hiding most of the day. but, while we were watching the troops depart, i was surprised to see a single gun taken into a patch of scrub on a little elevation that commands the road. it is pointed this way, and you can never notice it there unless you have been posted. now i can guess what they are hiding for; they expect that you may be along, and mean to rid the german army of your stinging them so often!" tubby's mouth was wide open. he stared at rob as though he hardly knew whether he were awake or asleep. even merritt seemed thrilled by what he had heard. as for the belgian captain, it was an incredulous look that gripped his features. "i do not know what to believe, boy," he said, looking earnestly at rob. "the best way is to prove it," that worthy told him immediately. "it would at least be convincing," the pilot of the armored car declared. "suppose, then," continued the scout, "you leave your car here at the foot of this little rise. they couldn't see us with that hump between. go up the hill, and look along the road. you needn't let them see you, of course; but i notice that you've got a pair of field-glasses along. follow the road with those until you come to a little break in the stone wall that lies around a patch of field on the right. it is this knoll i spoke of, crowned with brush. watch that brush closely for a minute; perhaps you will see the sun glint from the gun; or else one of the hidden german gunners may move ever so slightly. that will tell the story, captain." the pilot of the armored car jumped out. "i will do as you say, at least it can be no harm," he remarked hastily. after speaking in flemish to his companions, he started up the rise, carrying the field-glasses and a revolver along with him. watching, they saw him get down and crawl the last yard or so; and then evidently he found a way to level his glasses in the quarter under suspicion. five minutes later and he backed off, coming quickly down the little declivity. the first thing he did was to grip rob's hand and squeeze it fiercely. "i have to thank you for my life, and the lives of my brave comrades as well!" he said with fervor. "then you found that what i told you was exactly so?" rob asked. "yes, there is an ambuscade," replied the soldier. "they must have suspected that we would chase after the army so as to pick up stragglers, because that is our favorite game these terrible days; anything to sting the snake that is crawling across our beloved country and leaving death and destruction behind." "you will not go ahead after learning what is waiting there, i suppose, captain?" rob continued. "certainly not, my boy, because they have the range plotted out, and, when we reached a certain spot, one shot would blow the car and the three of us to pieces. our play is to go around another way. but why have you done this for us, when you say, as americans, you must be neutral?" "i hardly know," replied rob. "up to lately we have not felt like favoring either side, because we have many good german friends at home. but what we have seen and heard here in belgium is beginning to turn us to the side of the allies. you see, i could not watch you rush right to your death, knowing what i did. perhaps, if the tables had been turned i might have warned a german pilot to turn around before it was too late." "well, you have done us a great favor, and we thank you," said the belgian soldier, with considerable feeling; after which he conversed with his two comrades for a minute or so, no doubt explaining what had awaited them close by; and that only for the timely warning of the americans they would have been launched into eternity. then the car was turned around, and away the three dashing belgians sped. the last the boys saw of them was when they waved their hands back ere vanishing around a curve in the road. "well," said tubby, "that was a splendid thing you did, rob. and to think you noticed the germans laying that cute little ambush there! it shows what training will do for a fellow, doesn't it?" "it is only what every scout is supposed to do," replied rob, thinking to impress a lesson on tubby's mind. "observe every little thing that happens, and draw your own conclusions from it. when i saw that gun going up into the field, i wondered what they meant by that. then i saw they were laying a trap. i couldn't believe it was intended for us, and so i was puzzled, because we didn't expect to use that road at all." "and when the armored car came whizzing along you knew the germans meant to get the belgians who had been doing so much damage day after day, as we'd heard; that was it, eh, rob?" and merritt nodded his head sagely, as though things were all as plain as anything to him now. "huh!" snorted tubby, "after columbus had cracked the end of the egg and stood it up, didn't those spanish courtiers all say that was as easy as pie? course we can see things after they've happened. but you and me, merritt, had better be digging the scales off our eyes, so we can discover things for ourselves next time." merritt did not answer back. truth to tell he realized that he merited a rebuke for his lack of observation. it might pass with an ordinary boy, but was inexcusable in a scout who had been trained to constantly use his faculties for observation wherever he went. "our road will take us past that place where they are hiding, won't it, rob?" he presently said. "suppose, now, they guessed that we must have turned the armored car back, and lost them their victims, wouldn't they be likely to take it out on us, thinking we might be belgian boy scouts?" "i had that in my mind, merritt," admitted rob, "and for that reason i reckon we ought to leave the road right here. we can make a wide detour, and strike it further along, where the danger will be past." all of them were of the same mind. they did not fancy taking any chance of having that concealed six-pounder discharged point-blank at them. mistakes are hard to rectify after a fatal volley has been fired. the best way is to avoid running any chances. they found a way to leave the road and take to the fields, skirting fences, and in every way possible managing to keep out of sight of the german gunners who were lying concealed in that scrub on the little elevation. it was while they were pushing on some distance away that without the least warning they caught a strange pulsating rattling sound from the rear. all of them came to a stop, and wondering looks were quickly changed to those of concern. "rob," exclaimed merritt, "it comes from near where that gun lies hidden back of the bushes; and that's the rattle of a maxim, as sure as you live. those belgians have turned the tables on the germans; they've managed to sneak around back of them, and must be pouring in a terrible fire that will mow down every gunner in that bunch of brush!" rob was a little white in the face, as he continued to listen to the significant discharge. he had seen what mischief one of those maxim guns could do at fairly close quarters, for they had witnessed them at work during the battle of the preceding day. "i feel bad about it in one way," he said, "because in saving the lives of those three belgians we have been the means of turning the trap on those who set it. but i never dreamed they would try to surprise the men in ambush." the sounds died out, and silence followed; though the far-away grumble of the conflict could be heard from time to time. "they've launched their bolt," said merritt, "and either skipped out again, or else the german battery has been placed out of commission. we didn't hear the six-pounder go off, so they had no chance to fire back." they continued their walk in silence. all of them had been much sobered by these thrilling and momentous events that were continually happening around them. much of the customary jolly humor that, as a rule, characterized their intercourse with one another had been, by degrees, crushed by the tragedies that they had seen happening everywhere among the poor belgians and amid the stricken soldiers whom they had so nobly assisted on the field of battle. striking the little road again at some distance beyond, they continued to follow it, under the belief that they could not now be very far away from the town they were aiming to reach. before they entirely lost sight of the late encampment of the german army, the boys discovered that a number of peasants from the surrounding country had come on the scene, and appeared to be hunting for anything of value which might have been purposely or by accident left behind. "the poor things know they're going to have the hardest winter ever," said tubby, with considerable feeling in his voice, "and they're trying to find something to help out. like as not some of them even came from louvain, where they lost everything they had in the wide world when the place was burned to the ground. it's just awful, that's what it is. america looks like the only place left where there's a chance of keeping the peace." as they went along rob was keeping track of their course. he gave merritt his reasons for believing they would reach sempst before sunset after all, unless something entirely unexpected happened to delay them again. "just now we're in great luck," he finished. "so far as we can see the germans have cleared out of this particular section completely. they may be back again to-morrow; you never can tell what they'll do. but the main line of railroad is where they are mostly moving, because in that way they can get their supplies of men, guns, ammunition and food, and also take back the wounded. some of their dead are buried, but in the main they prefer to cremate them, which is the modern way to prevent disease following battles." merritt did not make any remark, for he was becoming more and more anxious the closer they drew to the town where he expected to have that question of the success or failure of his mission settled. rob knew how strained his nerves must be. he could feel for his chum, and it was only natural for him to want to buoy up merritt's sinking hopes. "don't get downcast, old fellow," he told him. "you've stuck it out through thick and thin so far. whether you find this steven meredith in sempst or not, you're bound to meet up with him somewhere, sooner or later, you know." merritt gritted his teeth, and the old look of resolution came across his face, which the others knew full well. "thank you for saying that, rob," he observed steadily. "you know that once my mind is made up i'm a poor one to cry quits. i'll follow that man to china, or the headwaters of the amazon, if necessary, but i'll never give up as long as i can put one foot in front of the other." "and," said tubby vehemently, "here are two loyal comrades who mean to stick to you, merritt, to the very end." chapter xxvi. for humanity's sake. "i think we're coming to sempst," said rob. it was nearly half an hour after merritt had so firmly announced his intention of staying in the game, no matter if he should meet with a bitter disappointment in the town, which had been the loadstone for their advance through the heart of war-stricken belgium. "then brussels can't be very far away, over there," said tubby. "gee! i only wish we could find some scarecrows about now, and get a change of clothes." "what makes you say that?" asked rob. "i thought you were so proud of your suit of khaki that nothing could tempt you to give it up." "oh! i didn't mean i'd really want to discard this bully suit," tubby hastened to explain. "only if we could manage to conceal the scout uniform under something more common, why, you see the germans might take us for belgian boys, and in that case wouldn't molest us." "i understand what he's getting at, rob," merritt chuckled, "tubby has said a number of times that the one thing he was sorry about was that we couldn't have a run through brussels. seems like he got a great notion he wanted to visit there, as he'd read a lot about the wonderful city. but you'll have to let that longing sleep until the next time you come abroad, tubby." "unless we happen to find we've got business in brussels," observed the other cunningly. "then mebbe we might decide we'd find a way to go in. 'course i mean if they told us here in sempst that mr. steven meredith, who seems to be a pretty smart secret agent of the german government, had changed his residence to brussels, so as to be in touch with army headquarters and the general staff. how about that, merritt?" "we won't cross rivers before we come to them," rob hastened to remark, not wishing the other to fully commit himself to any course. "after coming so far with the intention to find our man here in this little town, it seems silly to get cold feet when we're right on the spot, and before we know anything that's against our having the best of success." "oh! you're right, rob," agreed tubby. "you remember the old motto we used to write in our copybooks at school long ago--'sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.' guess that's from the good book, too; but it applies to our case, all the same. we'll wait till we see what is going to happen here in sempst. anyway, they haven't burned this little place down, because i don't see anything that looks like ruins." indeed, it seemed as though the peasants living close to brussels had been induced by the germans to continue their regular field work, under promise of purchasing for fair prices all the green stuff they could fetch into the capital. they, mostly women, old decrepit men, and children, for even the smallest could be given some task that would help out, were working in the fields. "i wonder if any of them could understand my french," rob was saying. "of course it wouldn't be likely they could talk english. i've got a good notion to try it on the first one we meet on the road ahead." "do it, rob," urged tubby. "merritt and i will stand by to catch him if he starts to faint." "oh! i hope my french isn't quite that bad," exclaimed rob. "i've been polishing it up considerable, you know, while on the steamer, and after we landed in belgium; and, with what i know, and by pointing and shrugging my shoulders, i generally manage to make people understand. of course, i don't know how it would be with a clodhopper who didn't happen to be as intelligent as i'd want. but here's a chance, and i'm going to make the attempt." "it won't kill, even if it doesn't cure," said merritt; "and, rob, if you can get him to understand what you're saying, be sure and ask if that chemical factory, where we understood steven had been given his responsible berth, has shut down, or if it is still in operation." "i'll do that, merritt," the other promised. accordingly, when the peasant, smoking his big pipe, came along in his wooden shoes, rob stopped him. he wanted to impress the fellow favorably, so as to increase the prospect for a favorable answer; and so rob made sure to have one of his famous smiles on his bright face when he began to air his french. the other boys stood there watching the "circus," as tubby called it. they saw, however, that rob, many times at a loss for words in order to express his meaning, must have managed to make the peasant understand him. again and again each of them pointed toward the town so near at hand. possibly rob may have been explaining just who he and his chums were, and also how they had come all the way from antwerp with the one hope of finding a certain person in this little suburb. "he's picking up some kind of news, seems like," merritt told tubby, as the dialogue progressed under so many difficulties, expressive movements of the shoulders, and waving hands taking the place of words that failed. "what makes you think so?" demanded the fat scout. "look at rob's face, and you can tell that he's feeling more or less satisfied with the way things are going on," replied merritt. "gosh! that's so," muttered tubby. "seems you're getting a move on, too, with observing things. i'll have to hurry and do something myself, if i don't want to find that i'm no first-class scout, after all, but only a dub." finally rob was seen to press a coin in the calloused palm of the peasant, who took off his cap and bowed several times, as though grateful, and then he continued on his way along the road. "what luck?" asked tubby immediately; while merritt, more deeply interested than any of them, silently waited to listen. "oh! he gave me quite some information," replied rob; "and, so far as i can see, it looks good for us. i didn't learn anything about steven meredith, because the farm laborer probably never heard of such a person; but he did tell me that the chemical works have been kept going full blast ever since the germans occupied brussels." "that must be because certain things are made there that they can use in their war game, eh, rob?" merritt conjectured, and the other nodded. "no question about it," he said, "though the peasant couldn't say why certain things were done, only that they did happen. but, if the factory is running wide open, there seems to be a chance that we may find steven still on deck, and keeping his finger on the pulse." "i'm only afraid that if he really is what we think, a secret agent of the government," merritt suggested uneasily, "that he may have been transferred to some other point where his smartness would be apt to count, perhaps away down in france, so that he could send up valuable information about the making of artillery, or how the conscription of the nineteen-fifteen boy recruits is coming on." "still, to find the works open, and doing business right along, looks like a piece of good luck to me," said tubby. "it is," added rob positively. "we agreed long ago that we'd consider it such, if we learned there had been no shutdown. we hoped it would be that way, for we already knew that german capital had been back of the chemical works. i wouldn't be much surprised if it was learned that somewhere about the place, unknown to most people, these clever germans had long ago built a heavy concrete floor, to be used in their business; but which would make the best kind of foundation for one of those big siege guns they used to knock down the liège and namur forts." when rob said this he did not dream how closely he was hitting the truth. it had not been discovered at that time how secret preparations along such lines had been made by the germans, year after year, in close proximity to many of the leading cities in belgium, france, and even over in england. "well, now for moving on, and entering the town," merritt remarked, with a look on his face that told how he was summoning all his resolution so as not to appear too heartbroken should they meet with bitter disappointment. "i hope we don't run across any german soldiers here," said tubby. "we want to keep on the constant watch for them," rob gave warning. "if they saw us, they might think it their duty to have us arrested at once, and detained until our story could be investigated." "and that would spell ruin for all our plans, wouldn't it?" merritt asked, not as cheerfully as he might, because he had been fearful all along that something like this might come to pass just when he had discovered the object of his long search, and before he could proceed to relieve steven meredith of the old case in which he carried those splendid field-glasses. they were now among the outer houses of the town. so far as they could see, sempst did not differ to any degree from various other belgian towns they had seen. it consisted of numerous small houses, a few more pretentious dwellings, possibly of brussels business men, and some factories. from only one of these stacks was smoke seen coming, and, having picked up a pointer, it was easy for the scouts to decide that this must be the german-owned chemical works with which steven meredith had been connected, between his foreign trips. when thus entering the town that was so close to brussels, where the germans were in full charge, it was the policy of the three scouts to draw as little attention to themselves as possible. while thus far they had not chanced to notice any german soldiers, still there was always a possibility that some of them were around. besides, rob figured that if a german-owned chemical factory had been in operation here for years, very naturally there would be many natives of the rhine country employed there, and living in the town. if the german government were really back of this belgian works, as seemed possible, they would want to have mostly reliable men on guard, who, in case of sudden emergency, could throw off their workmen's garb and show themselves in their true colors, as regularly enlisted soldiers, serving their superiors while plying their regular trade. when, therefore, the boys heard loud outcries, after entering the town, and made the distressing discovery that there was a runaway approaching them, the first thought rob had was that they must keep out of the way, and not interfere, lest by so doing they attract attention toward themselves. with this discreet plan of action rapidly forming in his mind, rob was even in the act of hastily drawing both his chums back behind a wall until all the excitement had subsided, when he made a discovery that brought his scheme to a halt. it was, after all, only a pony that had been seized with an attack of blind staggers, and was now dashing frantically away, with a little basket-cart dragging back and forth at his heels; but in that cart rob saw was a frightened child. in that moment, rob struggled with a grave question. to show themselves before a crowd such as would likely gather, was full of danger, not only to themselves, but for their mission as well. at the same time there was a something within his soul that refused to avoid the responsibility by shutting his eyes. he could not do it. he knew that child was in deadly peril, for, small as the pony might be, just then he was acting like a little demon. if he allowed the runaway to go by, and something dreadful happened, how could he ever reconcile his action with his vows as a true-blue scout? so rob's mind was made up. "merritt, we must save that poor little child, come what will!" he exclaimed; and that loyal comrade, forgetting all else for humanity's sake, instantly cried: "we will, rob! hurry and get on one side, while i look out for the other!" chapter xxvii. conclusion. "where do i come in? won't you let me help?" bawled tubby, hurrying after his two chums as fast as his fat legs would carry him. neither of the others paid the slightest attention to him. just then tubby was about as useless as a fifth wheel to a wagon. he was so clumsy that if he attempted to take a hand in the rescue work the chances were rob and merritt would have to spend a portion of their time in saving him. they ran out into the middle of the road. the crazy little pony was already close up, and there was no time to be lost. "now!" shouted rob. "nab him, and throw him if you can!" both scouts fastened upon the bridle close to the bit. every ounce of muscle the boys possessed was brought to bear, supplemented by all the shrewdness they had acquired upon the football field, in tackling and throwing the runner who held the coveted pigskin oval. there was something of a struggle, and then down went the frantic pony. "hey! let me sit on him; i'll keep him quiet!" called tubby, as he came panting up to the spot; and once he had deposited his extra weight upon the little beast, it had no other course open but to succumb to circumstances and lie quiet. rob turned to see what had become of the child. there was a stout, red-faced man, coming on the run as fast as he could hurry. undoubtedly it was his child. while he was in a store, the pony probably had been taken with a sudden seizure of what rob called "blind staggers," which sometimes causes horses to dash madly away as though possessed of an evil spirit, and even to destroy themselves against any barrier that arises in their path. the child, though crying with fright, was apparently unhurt. some one had taken her from the basket-cart, and should the pony have broken loose again, it could not have imperiled the little one. in another minute, the red-faced man was hugging his child, and covering her face with kisses. the people must have told him who had saved his darling, for he came up to rob and merritt. (the pony had now become quite calm, though tubby continued to occupy his seat, for, as he afterwards said, "he knew a good thing when he found it; and he was _awful_ tired.") the big stout man, evidently a german, from his appearance and language, began to pour out his thanks; but rob shook his head as he remarked: "none of us can speak german, sir. we are american boys, you see; i can understand a little french, but that is all." the man's face lighted up. he immediately seized rob by the hand and commenced to kiss him on the cheeks; but the boys had learned that this was the common method of warm salutation abroad, even among men, though they had never seen it done across the water. "i am glad you are american and not english!" the other went on to cry. "i would be sorry, indeed, if i owed the life of my little frieda to an english boy. but an american, it is quite different. ach! what would i not do to show you how grateful i am for your brave act? tell me, can i not do something to prove that in germany we look upon your country as our friends? my name it is herr frederick haskins, i am the principal owner of the chemical works over yonder. let me be your host while in sempst you stay. it would give me much pleasure, i assure you." rob stared at merritt, and the latter almost held his breath. was there ever such great luck as this? they had saved a child from danger, and made a warm friend of her father, who had turned out to be the proprietor of the very factory where steven meredith had an interest outside of his occupation as a secret agent of the kaiser. "rob, ask him!" whispered merritt, too overcome himself to find words in which to give utterance to what was weighing so heavily on his mind. so the patrol leader, mastering his inclination to feel just as "shaky" as corporal crawford, turned again toward the red-faced german chemist. "we might accept your kind offer of entertainment for to-night, herr haskins," he said, as though they took the man's sincerity for its face value, "because we will have to put up somewhere, though to-morrow it may be we shall want to start back toward antwerp again. you said that you were the proprietor of the chemical company in town. are those the works where the smoke is coming out of the stacks?" the man nodded. he held his little girl in his arm, as though he could not bear to let her be away from him again. a look of what seemed to be pride crept over his face; it meant something that his was the only factory that had been kept running, simply because his foreign hands did not have to go when the call to the belgian colors came. "it is because i have the confidence of the german government that i am allowed to continue my works," he said in a low tone, as though not wishing others to hear what he was saying. "it is very strange," continued rob, bound to learn the worst immediately, now that such a golden opportunity had come along, "but it was to see a man connected with your business that we came all the way from antwerp. his name is mr. steven meredith, who was over in america not so many months ago." it was apparent that they were going to meet with a keen disappointment; rob knew this the second he saw the shade of regret pass over the rubicund face of herr haskins. "ah! that is really too bad," the stout man exclaimed; "for you are just one week too late!" "has he left sempst, then?" asked merritt sturdily. "just seven days ago he shook hands with me, and said i could look for him when i saw him again. that might be in a month, and it might be six, even steven could not say. he simply had to obey his orders from his superiors. his interest in the works is not the only thing he follows, you understand." "no," said rob, mysteriously, looking carefully around, as though he wanted to make sure he was not overheard, "of course we know his other business. the general staff has ordered him again on duty somewhere. it is too bad, because my friend here wishes to see herr meredith very much, indeed." "i am sorry," remarked the stout man, in a hesitating way, and rob knew that if he hoped to get any information from this source at all now was the time to strike--while the iron was hot. "you say you are grateful, sir," he hurriedly whispered, "because we happened to save your little girl's life, or at least kept her from being badly injured. we would call the debt canceled if you could tell us where we can find herr meredith. if he is in france, tell us where." the man did not immediately reply. his face was a study. he was undoubtedly being torn between gratitude and devotion to the interests of his emperor, whom he would have died to serve, no doubt. "if i could only be sure it was right for me to give you that information," rob heard him mutter, and he hastened to follow up his attack. "i give you my word of honor, herr haskins," he said earnestly and convincingly, "that none of us has the slightest intention to betray steven meredith to his enemies. if you write down the information we need, we solemnly promise you not to use it to his injury. my friend only wants to get a small thing herr meredith has with him, although he himself does not know it is in his possession, for it was all a mistake about his taking it. he will be only too glad to give it to us, and we shall trouble him no more. won't you take our word of honor, sir?" the big man looked down at his child, and that must have decided him. "come home with me, and spend the night," he said in a hospitable way. "we will entertain you the best we can under the peculiar conditions existing here. if you care to, you can tell me all about yourselves; and i promise you that before you go to sleep this night i will place in your possession an address in northern france where you will likely find my partner, _under another name_. but you must swear to me that under no conditions will you imperil his position there. is it a bargain, my boys?" rob looked at merritt. the latter, although terribly disappointed, was still game. he gave not the slightest sign of submitting to the decrees of a cruel fate. "we will accept your hospitality, herr haskins," he said quietly, "and also take from you that address under the promise you ask. steven meredith has no reason to fear that we will betray him. we are americans, and our president has asked that every one, old and young, remain strictly neutral while this war is going on." "we bound up the wounds of three times as many germans after the battle as we did belgians," rob added, while tubby was heard to mutter under his breath: "which was because there were ten times as many germans hurt as there were of the brave little belgian army." they accompanied herr haskins to his fine home, where they were splendidly entertained that night. tubby ate so much dinner that he was incapable of joining in the conversation that immediately followed, though that fact was of minor importance, because, as a rule, he only made himself a nuisance when there was any serious discussion on hand. at least, if they had to be disappointed in not finding the man they had come so far to deal with, they could deem themselves lucky in meeting herr haskins under conditions that placed him heavily in their debt; otherwise they might never have discovered in what direction steven meredith had gone when his superiors in the german secret service ordered him on duty again. as it was, when the boys on the following morning once more headed in the direction of antwerp, armed with a letter from herr haskins that would be of considerable service should they be held up by any german patrol, merritt also had a small bit of paper secreted inside the lining of his coat, on which simply an address was written. as they journeyed they had plenty of opportunities to lay out their new program and build fresh castles in the air concerning the success which they meant to attain if it lay in mortal power. whether they were as fortunate in the new fields that now stretched before them as they had been in avoiding pitfalls between the battle lines in belgium, you will find recorded in the next volume of this series, under the title of "the boy scouts with the allies in france." the end. boy scout series by lieut. howard payson modern boy scout stories for boys cloth bound, price ¢ per volume. the boy scouts on the range. connected with the dwellings of the vanished race of cliff-dwellers was a mystery. who so fit to solve it as a band of adventurous boy scouts? the solving of the secret and the routing of a bold band of cattle thieves involved rob blake and his chums, including "tubby" hopkins, in grave difficulties. there are few boys who have not read of the weird snake dance and other tribal rites of moquis. in this volume, the habits of these fast vanishing indians are explained in interesting detail. few boys' books hold more thrilling chapters than those concerning rob's captivity among the moquis. through the fascinating pages of the narrative also stalks, like a grim figure of impending tragedy, the shaggy form of silver tip, the giant grizzly. in modern juvenile writing, there is little to be found as gripping as the scene in which rob and silver tip meet face to face. the boy is weaponless and,--but it would not be fair to divulge the termination of the battle. a book which all boy scouts should secure and place upon their shelves to be read and re-read. sold by booksellers everywhere. hurst & co., publishers new york boy scout series by lieut. howard payson modern boy scout stories for boys cloth bound price, ¢ per volume. the boy scouts of the eagle patrol. a fascinating narrative of the doings of some bright boys who become part of the great boy scout movement. the first of a series dealing with this organization, which has caught on like wild fire among healthy boys of all ages and in all parts of the country. while in no sense a text-book, the volume deals, amid its exciting adventures, with the practical side of scouting. to rob blake and his companions in the eagle patrol, surprising, and sometimes perilous things happen constantly. but the lads, who are, after all, typical of most young americans of their type, are resourceful enough to overcome every one of their dangers and difficulties. how they discover the whereabouts of little joe, the "kid" of the patrol, by means of smoke telegraphy and track his abductors to their disgrace; how they assist the passengers of a stranded steamer and foil a plot to harm and perhaps kill an aged sea-captain, one must read the book to learn. a swift-moving narrative of convincing interest and breathless incident. sold by booksellers everywhere. hurst & co., publishers new york transcriber's note: obvious mistakes have been corrected, but other discrepancies have not been changed. inconsistent hyphenation has been retained. distributed proofreaders note: project gutenberg also has an html version of this file which includes the original illustrations. see -h.htm or -h.zip: (http://www.gutenberg.net/ / / / / / -h/ -h.htm) or (http://www.gutenberg.net/ / / / / / -h.zip) through the iron bars two years of german occupation in belgium by emile cammaerts illustrated with cartoons by louis raemaekers mcmxvii contents. i. the prison gates ii. the lowered flag iii. the poisoned wells iv. the sacking of belgium v. the modern slave . the creeping tide . "by the waters of babylon" vi. the olive branch through the iron bars i. the prison gates. the english-speaking public is generally well informed concerning the part played in the war by the belgian troops. the resistance of our small field army at liège, before antwerp, and on the yser has been praised and is still being praised wherever the tale runs. this is easy enough to understand. the fact that those , men should have been able to hold so long in check the forces of the first military empire in europe, and that a great number of them, helped by new contingents of recruits and led by their young king, should still be fighting on their native soil, must appeal strongly to the imagination. if it be told how the new belgian army, reorganised and re-equipped after the terrible ordeal on the yser, is at the present moment much stronger than at the beginning of the war, how it has been able lately to extend its front in flanders, and how some of its units have rendered valuable help to the cause of the allies in east africa and even in galicia, the story sounds like a fairy tale. there is, in the history of this unequal struggle, the true ring of legendary heroism; it seems an echo of the tale of david and goliath, or of jack the giant killer; it is full of the triumph of the spirit over the flesh, of independence and free will over fatalism and brute force, of right over might. i feel confident that some day a poet will be able to sing this great epic in verses which shall answer to the swinging rhythm of battle and roll with the booming of a thousand guns. but, in the meantime, i should like to say a few words about a much humbler, a much simpler, a much more familiar subject. it awakes no classical remembrances of leonidas or marathon. my heroes risk their lives, but they are not soldiers, merely prosaic "bourgeois" and workmen. they have no weapon, they cannot fight. they have only to remain cheery in adversity and patient in the face of taunts. they cannot render blow for blow, they have no sword to flourish against an insolent conqueror. they can only oppose a stout heart, a loyal spirit, and an ironic smile to the persecutions to which they are subjected. they can do nothing--they must do nothing--only hope and wait. but there are as much heroism and beauty in their black frock-coats and their soiled workmen's smocks as in the gayest and most glittering uniforms. it is the plain matter-of-fact story of belgian life under german rule. many more people will be tempted to praise the glory of our soldiers. but, if the incidents of conquered belgium's life are not recorded in good time, they might escape notice. people might forget that, besides the , to , heroes who are now waging war for belgium on the western front, there are , , heroes who are suffering for belgium behind the german lines, in the close prison of guarded frontiers, cut off from the whole world, separated alike from those who are fighting for their deliverance and from those who have sought refuge abroad. these are the people whom america, england, spain, and many generous people in other allied and neutral countries have tried to save from material starvation. if i could only show to my readers how they are saving themselves from despair, from spiritual starvation, i should be well repaid for my trouble, for, among all the wonders of this war, which has displayed mankind as at once so much worse and so much better than we thought, there is perhaps nothing more surprising than the way in which the belgian people have kept their spirits up. one can, to a certain extent, understand the bright courage and the grim humour of the fighting soldier; he has the excitement of battle to sustain him through danger and suffering. but that an unarmed population, which, having witnessed the martyrdom of many peaceful towns, is threatened with utter destruction, which, ruined by war contributions and requisitions, is on the brink of starvation, which, persecuted by spies and subjected constantly to the most severe individual and collective punishments on the slightest pretext, is obliged to refrain from any manifestation of patriotic sentiments--that such a population, completely cut off from its government and from most of its political leaders, and, moreover, poisoned every day by news concocted by the enemy, should remain unshakable in its courage and loyalty and should still be able to laugh at the efforts made by its masters to bring it into submission, is truly one of the most amazing spectacles which we have witnessed since the war broke out. general von bissing has declared that the belgians are an enigma to him. no wonder. they are an enigma to themselves. i am not going to explain the miracle. i will only attempt to show how inexplicable, how miraculous, it is. * * * * * the german occupation of belgium may be roughly divided into two periods: before the fall of antwerp, when the hope of prompt deliverance was still vivid in every heart, and when the german policy, in spite of its frightfulness, had not yet assumed its most ruthless and systematic character; and, after the fall of the great fortress, when the yoke of the conqueror weighed more heavily on the vanquished shoulders, and when the belgian population, grim and resolute, began to struggle to preserve its honour and loyalty and to resist the ever increasing pressure of the enemy to bring it into complete submission and to use it as a tool against its own army and its own king. i am only concerned here with the second period. the story of the german atrocities committed in some parts of the country at the beginning of the occupation is too well known to require any further comment. every honest man, in allied and neutral countries, has made up his mind on the subject. no unprejudiced person can hesitate between the evidence brought forward by the belgian commission of enquiry and the vague denials, paltry excuses and insolent calumnies opposed to it by the german government and the pro-german press. besides, in a way, the atrocities committed during the last days of august, , ought not to be considered as the culminating point of belgium's martyrdom. they have, of course, appealed to the imagination of the masses, they have filled the world with horror and indignation, but they did not extend all over the country, as the present oppression does; they only affected a few thousand men and women, instead of involving hundreds of thousands. they were clean wounds wrought by iron and fire, sudden, brutal blows struck at the heart of the country, wounds and blows from which it is possible to recover quickly, from which reaction is possible, which do not affect the soul and honour of a people. the military executioners of were compassionate when compared to the civilian administrators who succeeded them. the pen may be more cruel than the sword. considered in the light of the recent deportations, the first days of frightfulness seem almost merciful. observers have found no words strong enough to praise the attitude of the belgian people when victory seemed close at hand, when news was still allowed to reach them. what should be said now after the twenty-seven months for which they have been completely isolated from the rest of the world? the ruthless methods of the german army of invasion which deliberately massacred , unarmed civilians and sacked six or seven towns and many more villages has been vehemently condemned. what is to be the verdict now that they have succeeded, after two years of efforts, in sacking the whole country, ruining her industry and commerce, throwing out of employment her best workmen and leading into slavery tens of thousands of her staunchest patriots? the horrors of louvain and dinant were compared, with some reason, to the excesses of the thirty years war, but modern history offers no other instance of forced labour and wholesale deportations. if, fifty years ago, the conscience of the world revolted against black slavery, what should its feelings be today when it is confronted with this new and most appalling form of white slavery? we should in vain ransack the chronicles of history to find, even in ancient times, crimes similar to this one. for the jews were at war with babylon, the gauls were at war with rome. belgium did not wage war against germany. she merely refused to betray her honour. * * * * * let us watch, then, the closing of the prison gates. up to the beginning of october, the belgians, and specially the people of brussels, had been kept in a state of suspense by the three sorties of the belgian army, which left the shelter of the antwerp forts to advance towards vilvorde and louvain, a few miles from the capital. at the beginning of september, the sound of guns came so close that the people rejoiced openly, thinking that deliverance was at their gates. to sober their spirit--or to exasperate their patience?--the governor general ordered that a few belgian prisoners, some of them wounded, with their quickfiring gun drawn by a dog, should be marched through the crowded streets. the men were covered with dust, their heads wrapped in blood-stained bandages, and they kept their eyes on the ground as if ashamed. some women sobbed on seeing them, others cursed their guards, others plundered a flower shop and showered flowers upon them. at last two stalwart workmen shouldered away the escort, and, helped by the crowd, which paralysed the movements of the germans, succeeded in kidnapping the prisoners, and getting them away to the neighbouring streets. they could never be discovered, and it was the last display of the kind which the governor gave to brussels. during the siege, people had learnt to recognize the voice of every fort of antwerp. they said to each other: "that is lizele, wavre ste. catherine, waelhem." one after the other the belgian guns were silenced, first wavre, then waelhem ... and the vibrating boom of the german heavies was heard louder than ever. the listening bruxellois grew paler, straining every nerve to catch the voice of antwerp. it was as if their own life as a nation was slowly dying away, as if they were mourning their own agony. but still the valiant spirit of the first days prevailed. "they will be beaten for all that. what was antwerp compared with the marne? all forts must fall under 'their' artillery. after all, the nest is empty; the king and the army are safe." since those days a kind of reckless indifference has seized the belgians. if we must lose everything to gain everything, let us lose it. the sooner the better. it is the spirit of a poor man burning his furniture in order to shelter his children from cold, or of a saint suffering every physical privation in order to gain the kingdom of heaven. it is an uncanny spirit composed of wild energy and bitter-sweet irony. "first liège, then brussels, then namur, now antwerp. the king has gone, the government has gone. if all belgium has to go, let it go. it is the price we have to pay. the victory of our soul shall be all the greater if our body is shattered and tortured." henceforth, the voice of belgium reaches us only from time to time. its sound is muffled by the enemy's strangle-hold, which grows tighter and tighter. before the fall of antwerp, the german administration of general von der goltz had merely a temporary character. we knew that most of the high officials were stopping in brussels on their way to paris. on the other hand, any skilful move of the allies, any successful sortie from antwerp, might have jeopardized all the conqueror's plans and necessitated an immediate retreat. the yser-ypres struggle barred the way to brussels as well as to calais. the germans knew now that they were safe, at least for a good many months, and began systematically to "organize the country." all communications with the uninterrupted part of belgium were interrupted. it became more and more difficult and dangerous to cross the dutch frontier without a special permit. the economic and moral pressure increased steadily, and the conflict between conquerors and patriots began, a conflict unrelieved by dramatic interest or excitement from outside, which carried the country back to the worst days of austrian and spanish domination. ii. the lowered flag. the contrast which i have endeavoured to indicate, in the first chapter, between the attitude of the german administration before the fall of antwerp and its behaviour afterwards is nowhere so well marked as in the measures taken for the purpose of repressing all belgian manifestations of patriotism. during the two first months of occupation, the germans made at least a show of respecting the loyal feelings of the population. in his first proclamation, dated september nd, in which he announced his appointment as general governor of belgium, baron von der goltz declared that "he asked no one to renounce his patriotic feelings." and when, a few days later, the governor of brussels, baron von luttwitz, issued a poster "advising" the citizens to take their flags from their windows, he did this in conciliatory words, giving the pretext that these manifestations might provoke reprisals from the german troops passing through the town: "the military governor does not intend in the least to hurt, by such a measure, the feelings and self-respect of the inhabitants. his only aim is to protect them against all harm." (september th.) every belgian was still wearing the national colours, pictures of the king and queen were sold in the streets, and the brabançonne was hummed, whistled, and sung all over the country. the people had lost every right but one: they could still show the enemy, in spite of the declarations of the german press, that they were not yet ready to accept his rule. this apparent tolerance is easy to explain. after the massacres of august, the german authorities were anxious not to exasperate public opinion, and not to spoil by uselessly vexatious measures the effect which had been produced. during the marne and the three sorties of the belgian army, they had only a very small number of men at their disposal to garrison the largest towns. the slightest progress of the belgian army might have endangered their line of communications. we know now that the withdrawal of the seat of the government from brussels to liege was at one moment seriously contemplated, and that the same troops were made to pass again and again through the streets of the capital in order to give the illusion that the garrison was stronger than it really was (_frankfurter zeitung_, august nd, ). besides, germany had not yet given up all hopes of coming to terms with king albert, since a third attempt was to be made at antwerp to separate the belgian government from the allies. in these circumstances it seemed wiser to let the belgian folk indulge in their harmless manifestations of loyalty, so long as they did not cause any disturbance and did not complicate the task of the military. let us look now at the next phase. as soon as the belgian army has achieved its junction with the allies on the yser and all communications are cut between the government and the people, the germans cease to consider belgium as an occupied territory, and seize upon every pretext to treat her as a conquered country, which will, sooner or later, become part of the empire. they no longer take the trouble to explain or justify their oppressive measures, or to reconcile them with their former promises. they simply ignore them. first in namur (november the th, ), then in brussels (june the th, ), it becomes a crime to wear the tricolour cockade. the te deum, which is celebrated every year, on november th, in honour of king albert's saint's day, is forbidden. from the month of march, , it is practically a forbidden thing to sing the brabançonne, even in the schools. all patriotic manifestations, on the occasion of the king's birthday (april th) and of the anniversary of belgian independence day (july st) are severely prosecuted. in some of the orders issued there is still a weak attempt at "respecting," in a german way, "the people's patriotic feelings." the governor of namur, for instance, discriminates with the acutest subtlety between wearing the national colours in private and in public, and the brabançonne can for a time be sung, so long as it is not rendered "in a provoking manner." in fact, the belgians are free to manifest their patriotism so long as they are neither seen nor heard. they are generously allowed to line their cupboards with tricolour paper and to hum their national tunes in the depth of their cellars. but, in most of the orders made under governor von bissing's rule (his reign began on december rd, ), this last pretence of consideration and respect disappears entirely. "i warn the public," declares the governor of brussels on july the th, , "that any demonstration whatsoever is forbidden on july st next." more than that, the german administration frequently goes out of its way to hurt the people's feelings. the fact of helping a patriot to join the army is not merely punished as a crime against the germans, it is delicately called "a crime of treason," and when people are condemned because they are suspected of belonging to the belgian intelligence service, the public posters announcing their condemnation speak of them as supplying information "to the enemy." the sham tolerance of the first days has given way to a restless repression, and even, during the last year, to deliberate persecution. schools may be inspected at any time by the authorities and every "anti-german manifestation" (that is to say, any pro-belgian teaching) is severely punished. shops are raided so that every patriotic picture post-card (especially the portraits of the royal family) may be seized, and even the intimacy of the private home is not respected. to begin with, the belgians have been allowed to show their loyalty--with discretion; next, every patriotic manifestation is excluded from public life; and last, the germans, through their spies, penetrate the homes of every citizen, and endeavour to extirpate by a reign of terror these same feelings which they so emphatically promised to respect. * * * * * people who are leading a quiet life and who enjoy the blessings of an autonomous government will perhaps not appreciate the importance which the belgians attach, at the present moment, to these patriotic manifestations. they may imagine that, so long as national life is assured and citizens are otherwise left alone by their conquerors, public affirmation of loyalty to king and country is of secondary importance. god knows that the economic situation of occupied belgium is bad enough, and the endless and tragic lists of condemnations and deportations are there to prove that her people are living under the most barbarous regime of modern times. but, even if this was not the case, anybody with the slightest knowledge of their national character would understand the extraordinary value which the belgians attached to their last privilege and the deep indignation roused by this german betrayal. von bissing shrugs his shoulders and calls them "big children." so they are. and his son, with a scornful smile, declares in the _suddeutsche monatschrift_ (april th, ) that it is in "the people's blood to demonstrate and to wear cockades." so it is. the love of processions and public pageants of all kinds is deeply rooted in belgian traditions. but what does it prove? simply that the people have preserved enough freshness and joy of life to care for these things, enough courage and independence to feel most need of them when they are most afflicted. this is how they think of it: "our bands used to pass through the streets, shaking our window-panes with the crashing of their trombones, our flags used to wave in the breeze--in the happy days of peace. should we now remain, silent and withdrawn, in the selfish privacy of our houses, now that the country needs us most, now that we want, more than ever, to feel that we are one people and that we will remain independent and united whatever happens in the future?" baron friedrich wilhelm von bissing sneers at the belgians because on any and every pretext they display the american colours. if they do, it is because they are not allowed to display their own, and because they feel somehow that the best way to show that they have still a flag is to adopt the colours of the great country which has so generously come to their help. it may well be, as the baron informs us, that most of the "small and big children" who wear the stars and stripes do not know a word of english. what does it mean again? simply that heart may call to heart and that it is not necessary to talk in his own language to understand a brother's mind. it is true that only children--children small and big--know how to do it. if the germans had had the least touch of generous feeling for the unfortunate country upon which they thrust war in spite of the most solemn treaties, they would not have obliged the belgian citizens to lower the flags which they had put up during the defence of liège, they would not have torn their tricolour cockades from their buttonholes, they would not have silenced their national songs, they would not have added these deep humiliations to the bitter cup of defeat. one wonders even why they did it if it was not for the mere pleasure which the bully is supposed to feel when he makes his strength felt by his victim. they might have gone on gaily plundering the country, shooting patriots, deporting young men, doing whatever seemed useful in their eyes. but the petty tyranny of these measures passes understanding. governor von bissing is certainly too clever to believe that the satisfaction of making a few cowards uneasy by such regulations can at all outweigh the danger inherent in the resentment and the deep hatred which the bullying has aroused against germany. you may take the children's bread, you may take their freedom, but you might at least leave them a few toys to play with, and you would be wise to do so. * * * * * such narrow-minded tyranny always defeats its own objects. burgomaster max's proud answer to general von luttwitz's "advice" to remove the flags became the password of the patriots. every bruxellois henceforth "waited for the hour of reparation." a great number of women went to prison rather than remove the emblems of belgium which they wore. stories passed from lip to lip. their accuracy i would not guarantee, but they belong to the epic of the war and are true to the spirit of the people. a young lady, who was jeered at by a german officer because she was wearing king albert's portrait, is said to have answered his "lackland" with, "i would rather have a king who has lost his country than an emperor who has lost his honour." another lady, sitting in a tram-car opposite a german officer, was ordered by him to remove her tricolour rosette. she refused to do so, and, as he threatened her, defied him to do it himself. the boche seized the rosette and pulled .. and pulled .. and pulled. the lady had concealed twenty yards of ribbon in her corsage. when the tricolour was forbidden altogether, it was replaced by the ivyleaf, ivy being the emblem of faithfulness; later, the ivyleaf was followed by a green ribbon, green being the colour of hope. the brabançonne being excluded from the street and from the school took refuge in the churches, where it is played and often sung by the congregation at the end of the service. there are many ways of getting round the law. the belgians were forbidden to celebrate in any ordinary way the anniversary of their independence. thanks to a sort of tacit arrangement they succeeded in marking the occasion in spite of all regulations. on july st, , the bruxellois kept the shutters of their houses and shops closed and went out in the streets dressed in their best clothes, most of them in mourning. the next year, as the closing of shops was this time foreseen by the administration, they remained open. but a great number of tradespeople managed ingeniously to display the national colours in their windows--by the juxtaposition, for instance, of yellow lemons, red tomatoes and black grapes. others emptied their windows altogether. these jokes may seem childish, at first sight, but when we think that those who dared perform them paid for it with several months' imprisonment or several thousand marks, and paid cheerily, we understand that there is more in them than a schoolboy's pranks. it seems as if the belgian spirit would break if it ceased to be able to react. one of the shop-managers who was most heavily fined on the occasion of our last "independence day" declared that he had not lost his money: "it is rather expensive, but it is worth it." * * * * * if patriotism has become a religion in belgium, this religion has found a priest whose authority is recognised by the last unbeliever. if every church has become the "_temple de la patrie_," if the brabançonne resounds under the gothic arches of every nave, cardinal mercier has become the good shepherd who has taken charge of the flock during the king's absence. the great brotherhood, for which so many christian souls are yearning, in which there are no more classes, parties, and sects, seems well nigh achieved beyond the electrified barbed wire of the belgian frontier. are not all belgians threatened with the same danger, are they not close-knit by the same hope, the same love, the same hatred? when the bells rang from the towers of brussels cathedral on july st last, when, in his red robes, cardinal mercier blessed the people assembled to celebrate the day of belgium's independence, it seemed that the soul of the martyred nation hovered in the church. after the national anthem, people lifted their eyes towards the great crucifix in the choir, and could no longer distinguish, through their tears, the image of the crucified from that of their bleeding country. iii. the poisoned wells. we must never forget, when we speak of the moral resistance of the belgian people, that they have been completely isolated from their friends abroad for more than two years and that meanwhile they have been exposed to all the systematic and skilful manoeuvres of german propaganda. not only are they without news from abroad, but all the news they receive is calculated to spread discouragement and distrust. how true lovers could resist a long separation and the most wicked calumnies without losing faith in one another has been the theme of many a story. from the story-writer's point of view, the true narrative of the german occupation of belgium is much more romantic than any romance, much more wonderful than any poem. the mass is not supposed to show the same constancy as the individual, and one does not expect from a whole people the ideal loyalty of desdemona and imogen. besides, we do not want the reader to imagine that, before the war, the belgians were ideally in love with one another. like the english, the americans and the french, we had our differences. it is one of the unavoidable drawbacks of democracy that politics should exaggerate the importance of dissensions. therefore it is all the more remarkable that the sudden friendship which sprang up between classes, parties and races in belgium, on the eve of august th, should so long have defied the untiring efforts of the enemy and should remain as unshakeable to-day as it was at the beginning. we do not wonder that the german intellectuals who have undertaken to break down belgian unity are at a loss to explain their failure. scientifically it defies every explanation. here was a people apparently deeply divided against itself, socialists opposed liberals, liberals opposed catholics, flemings opposed walloons; theoretical differences degenerated frequently into personal quarrels; political antagonism was embittered by questions of religion and language. surely this was ideal ground in which to sow the seed of discord, when the government had been obliged to seek refuge in a foreign country and a great number of prominent citizens had emigrated abroad. the german propagandist, who had been able to work wonders in some neutral countries, must have thought the task almost unworthy of his efforts. every one of his theoretical calculations was correct. he only forgot one small detail which a closer study of history might have taught him. he forgot that, in face of the common danger, all these differences would lose their hold on the people's soul, that the former bitterness of their quarrels was nothing compared with the sacred love of their country which they shared. * * * * * the first action of the german administration after the triumphal entry into brussels was to try to isolate the occupied part of the country, in order to monopolize the news. rather than submit to a german censor, all the belgian papers--with the exception of two small provincial journals--had ceased to appear. during a fortnight, brussels remained without authorized news. from that time, the authorities allowed the sale of some german and dutch dailies and of a few newspapers published in belgium under german control. the government itself issued the _deutsche soldatenpost_ and _le réveil_ (in french) and a great number of posters, "_communications officielles du commandant de l'armee allemande_," which were supposed to contain the latest war-news. to this imposing array, the patriots could only oppose a few pamphlets issued by the editor bryan hill, soon prohibited, and copies of belgian, french and english papers, which were smuggled at great risk, and consequently were very expensive. still, before the fall of antwerp, it was practically impossible for the germans to stop private letters and newspapers passing from the unoccupied to the occupied part of the country. besides, they had more important business on hand. here again, it was only after the second month of occupation that the pressure increased. during october and november, several people were condemned to heavy fines and to periods of imprisonment for circulating written and even verbal news. the dutch frontier was closed, wherever no natural obstacle intervened, by a continuous line of barbed wire and electrified wire. passports were only granted to the few people engaged in the work of relief and to those who could prove that it was essential to the interests of their business that they should leave the country for a time. the postal service being reorganized under german control, any other method of communication was severely prosecuted. at the end of , several messengers lost their lives in attempting to cross the dutch frontier. under such conditions it is easy to understand that, in spite of the efforts made by the anonymous editors of two or three prohibited papers, such as _la libre belgique_, the bulk of the population was practically cut off from the rest of the world and was compelled to read, if they read at all, the pro-german papers and the german posters. the only wells left from which the people could drink were poisoned. * * * * * the german press bureau in brussels, openly recognised by the administration and formerly the headquarters of baron von bissing's son, set to work in three principal directions. it aimed at separating the belgians from the allies, then at separating the people from king albert and his government, and finally at reviving the old language quarrel between walloons and flemings. the campaign against the allies, though still carried on whenever the opportunity arises, was specially violent at the beginning, when the germans had not yet given up all hope of detaching king albert from the alliance (august-september, ). it was perhaps the most dangerous line of attack because it did not imply any breach of patriotism. on the contrary it suggested that belgium had been duped by the allies, and especially by england, who had never meant to come to her help and who had used her as a catspaw, leaving her to bear all the brunt of the german assault in an unequal and heroic struggle. it was accompanied by a constant flow of war news exaggerating the german successes and suggesting that, even if they ever had the intention of delivering belgium, the allies would no longer be in a position to do so. according to the first war-news poster issued in brussels, a few days after the enemy had entered the town, the french official papers had declared that "the french armies, being thrown on the defensive, would not be able to help belgium in an offensive movement." i need not recall how, his name having been used at liège to bolster up this false report, m. max, the burgomaster of brussels, found an opportunity of contradicting it publicly and, at the same time, of discrediting all censored news. the effect was amazing. henceforth the official posters were not only regularly regarded as a tissue of lies, but definitely ridiculed. the people either ignored them or paid them an exaggerated attention. in some popular quarters, urchins climbed on ladders to read them aloud to a jeering crowd. the influence of m. max's attitude was such that, eighteen months later, several people coming from the capital declared that, as far as war news was concerned, brussels was far more optimistic than london or paris, every check received by the allied armies being systematically ignored and every success exaggerated. when one reads through the series of german "_communications_" pasted on the walls of the capital during the first year of the occupation, one wonders how they did not succeed in discouraging the population. for, in spite of some extraordinary blunders--such as the announcement that a german squadron had captured fifteen english fishing boats (september th, ), that the serbs had taken semlin because they had nothing more to eat in serbia (september th, ), or that the british army was so badly equipped that the soldiers lacked boot-laces and writing paper (october th, )--the author of these proclamations succeeded so skilfully in mixing truth and untruth and in drawing the attention of the public away from any reverse suffered by the central empires, that the effect of the campaign might have been most demoralizing. after this first reverse, the germans only attacked the allies in order to throw on their shoulders the responsibility for the woes which they themselves were inflicting on their victims. when some english aeroplanes visited brussels, on september th, , a few people were killed and many more wounded. the german press declared immediately that this was due to the want of skill of the airmen, who dropped the bombs indiscriminately over the town. we possess now material proof that the people were killed, not by bombs dropped from the air, but by fragments of shells fired from guns. this can only be explained in one way. the german gunners must have timed their shells so that they should not burst in the air, but only when falling on the ground. this method of propaganda may cost a few lives, but it is certainly clever. it might well be calculated to stir indignation in the hearts of the people against the allies and at the same time to serve as a warning to enemy headquarters to the effect: "whenever you send your aeroplanes over belgian towns, we are going to make the population pay for it." the same kind of argument is used at the present moment with regard to the wholesale deportations which are going on in belgium. to justify his slave-raids, governor von bissing denounces england's blockade. it is the economic policy of england--not german requisitions--which has ruined belgium and caused unemployment: "if there are any objections to be made about this state of affairs you must address them to england, who, through her policy of isolation, has rendered the coercive measures necessary." [ ] but the argument is used more for the sake of discussion than in the real hope of convincing the public. general von bissing can have very few illusions left as to the state of mind of the belgian population. he knows that every belgian worker, would answer, with the members of the commission syndicale: "all the allies have agreed to let some raw material necessary to our industry enter belgium, under the condition, naturally, that no requisitions should be made by the occupying power, and that a neutral commission should control the destination of the manufactured articles." [ ] or, more emphatically still, with cardinal mercier: "england generously allows some foodstuffs to enter belgium under the control of neutral countries ... she would certainly allow raw materials to enter the country under the same control, if germany would only pledge herself to leave them to us and not to seize the manufactured products of our industry." such arguments are extraordinarily characteristic of the german mind, as it has been developed by the war: "let belgium know that she is suffering for england's sake. let england know that, as long as she enforces her blockade, her friends in belgium will have to pay for it." it is the same kind of double-edged declaration as that used on the occasion of the allied air-raid on brussels. literally speaking, it cuts both ways. the excuse becomes a threat and the untruth savours of blackmail. healthy minds work by single or treble propositions. if we did not remember that our aim is to analyse the beautiful and heroic side of the occupation of belgium, rather than to dwell on its most sinister aspects, we should recognize, in this last manoeuvre, the lowest example of human brutality and hypocrisy, the double mark of the german hoof. [footnote : answer of governor von bissing to cardinal mercier's letter, oct. th, .] [footnote : letter of the "_commission syndicale_" to baron von bissing, nov. th, .] * * * * * in spite of the most authentic documents, of the most glaring material proofs, it might be difficult to realise that the human spirit may fall so low. it seems as if we were diminishing ourselves when we accuse our enemies. we have lived so long in the faith that "such things are impossible" that, now that they happen almost at our door, we should be inclined to doubt our eyes rather than to doubt the innate goodness of man. never did i feel this more strongly than when i saw, for the first time, a caricature of king albert reproduced from a german newspaper. surely if one man, one leader, has come out of this severe trial unstained, with his virtue untarnished, it is indeed albert the first, king of the belgians. his simple and loyal attitude in face of the german ultimatum, the indomitable courage which he showed during the belgian campaign, his dignity, his reserve, his almost exaggerated modesty, ought to have won for him, besides the deep admiration of the allies and of the neutral world, the respect and esteem even of his worst enemy. there is a man of few words and noble actions, fulfilling his pledges to the last article, faithful to his word even in the presence of death, a leader sharing the work of his soldiers, a king living the life of a poor man. when in paris, in london, triumphal receptions were awaiting them, he and his noble and devoted queen remained at their post, on the last stretch of belgian territory, in the rough surroundings of army quarters. the whole world has noted this. people who have no sympathy to spare for the allies' cause have been obliged to bow before this young hero, more noble in his defeat than all the conquerors of europe in their victory. but the germans have not felt it. not only did they try to ridicule king albert in their comic papers. even the son of governor von bissing did not hesitate to fling in his face the generous epithet, "lackland." [ ] as soon as the last attempt to conciliate the king had failed the german press in belgium began a most violent and abusive campaign against him. the _düsseldorfer general-anzeiger_ published a venomous article, in which he was represented as personally responsible for "the plot of the allies against germany and for the crimes of the franc-tireurs." he was stigmatised as "the slave of england," and it was asserted that "if he did not grasp the hand stretched out to him by the kaiser on august nd and the th it is only because he did not dare to do so" (october th, ). he was said to have "betrayed his army at antwerp. had he not sworn not to leave the town alive?" and _le réveil_, another paper circulated in belgium by german propagandists, announced solemnly that, once on the yser, the king wanted to sign a separate peace with germany, but england had forbidden him to do so. the _hamburger nachrichten_, the _vossische zeitung_ and the _frankfurter zeitung_ repeated without scruple this tissue of gross calumnies. the _deutsche soldatenpost_, edited specially for the german soldiers in belgium, went even a step further and violently reproached the queen of the belgians for not having protested against the cruelties inflicted on german civilians in brussels and antwerp, at the outbreak of the hostilities! [footnote : _suddeutsche monatshefte_, april .] * * * * * not being able to stir the people against the allies or against their own government, the german press bureau attempted to revive the language quarrel and to provoke internal dissensions. it is interesting to notice that the new campaign, whose crowning episode was the opening of the german university at ghent, in october last, began two months after the surrender of brussels and did not develop until the spring of , when an important minority of germans began to realise that it would be impossible to retain belgium, and when a greater number still only hoped to keep antwerp and flanders, thanks to the "social and linguistic affinities of flemings and germans." that is how germany, who had never troubled much before about the flemish movement and flemish literature, suddenly discovered a great affection for her flemish brothers who had so long been exposed to "the insults of the walloons"; how she suddenly espoused their grievances and put into effect, in spite of their strong protests, some reforms inscribed on the programme; how she tried by every means at her disposal to conciliate flemish sympathies and to stir up antagonism and jealousies by treating flemings and walloons differently, whether prisoners in germany or in occupied belgium. the german train of thought is clear enough: "if we are unable to hold belgium, any pro-german demonstrations in the northern provinces may suggest the idea that it is the wish of the flemings to be bound to the empire and give a pretext for the annexation of antwerp and flanders. if even that is impossible and if we are obliged to give back his kingdom to king albert, we shall have sown so many germs of discontent in the country that it will be impossible for the government to restore belgium in her full unity and power. she will never become against us the strong bulwark of the allies." all this walloon-flemish agitation started by germany belongs to a vast plan of mismanagement. the day germany knew that she would not be able to keep her conquest she deliberately set herself to ruin belgium economically and morally. she succeeded economically, for nobody could prevent her from requisitioning whatever she wanted. she failed morally because the people understood her purpose and because the flemish leaders proudly refused the german gifts. the reform of ghent university was made in spite of them. it was made with the help of a few germans, german-dutch and belgians without any reputation or following. the professors have been bought and the students (they only number eighty) have been mostly recruited among the flemish prisoners in germany and among a few young men threatened with deportation. they are obliged to wear a special cap and are under the ban of the whole population. no true "gantois" passes them in the street without whispering, "_vive l'armée_." this is the pitiful medley of cranks, traitors and unwilling students which general von bissing is pleased to call a "university." in his inaugural speech, the governor exclaimed, "the god of war, with his drawn sword, has held the new institution at the font. may the god of peace be gracious to her for long years to come." the germans' lack of humour surpasses even their ruthlessness. with one hand general von bissing was baptizing the baby--rather a difficult operation--with the other he brandished his fiery sword over the heads of all the true flemings who refused to adopt it. many of them paid for this patriotic attitude by losing their liberty. with one hand germany inflicted this unwelcome gift on the flemings, with the other she banished m.m. pirenne, frédéricq and verhaegen from the sacred precincts of flemish culture! most solemnly, on different occasions, all the prominent flemish leaders have protested against the german administration's action. they have declared that it was illegal and unjust. governor von bissing reminds them that, according to de raet's words, "two heroic spirits dominate the world: the mind and the sword." they may possess the first but he holds the second. iv. the sacking of belgium. there is one idea which dominates the belgian tragedy: "the body may be conquered, the soul remains free." these words were uttered for the first time, i believe, by the belgian premier, baron de broqueville, in the solemn sitting of the house, when the german violation of belgian neutrality was announced to the representatives of the people. the idea is supposed to have been expressed by king albert, in another form, before the evacuation of antwerp. it was used to great effect in one of the most popular cartoons published by _punch_, in which the kaiser says to the king, with a sneer, "you have lost everything," and the king replies, "not my soul." it is so intimately associated with the belgian cause that the image of the stricken country is scarcely ever evoked without an allusion being made to it. we have seen, in the course of the earlier chapters, how belgium succeeded in preserving her loyalty and patriotism in spite of the most ruthless oppression and the most cunning calumnies. we must now look at the darker side of the picture and see how she has not succeeded in preserving either her prosperity, or even her supply of daily bread. we shall soon be confronted with the most tragic aspect of her calvary. so long as her armies were fighting the invader, so long as her towns and countryside were ruined by german frightfulness, so long as her martyrs, men, women and children, were falling side by side in the market-place before the firing party, so long as every symbol, every word of patriotism was forbidden her, belgium could remain vanquished but unconquered, bleeding but unshakeable. she enjoyed, in the face of her oppressors, all the privileges of the christian martyrs of the first centuries; she could smile on the rack, laugh under the whip and sing in the flames. she remained free in her prison, free to respect justice, in the midst of injustice, to treasure righteousness, in spite of falsehood, to worship her saints, in the face of calumny. she was still able to resist, to oppose, every day and at every turn, her patience to the enemy's threats and her cheerfulness to his ominous scowl. she had a clear conscience and her hands were clean. there is one thing that can be said for the roman emperors, they seldom starved their victims to death. popular imagination revels in their cruelty, and the _golden legend_ displays to us all the grim splendours of a chamber of horrors. but the worst of all tortures--starvation--is not often inflicted. the idea is, i suppose, that the conversion must be sudden and striking. but belgium's oppressors do not any longer want to convert her. they have tried and they have failed. they merely want to take all the food, all the raw materials, all the machines and--last but not least--all the labour they can out of her. their fight is not the fight of one religion against another. it is the fight of material power against any philosophy, any religion which stands between it and the things which it covets. the germans do not sacrifice belgium to their gods. such an ideal course is far from their thoughts. they sacrifice belgium to germany--that is, to themselves. it matters very little whether a slave is able to speak or to think, as long as he is able to work. here again, in spite of the wholesale plundering of the first days of occupation, and of the enormous fines imposed on towns and provinces, i do not suppose that the german plan was deliberately to ruin the country. it might even have been to develop its resources, as long as there was some hope of annexing it, though this benevolent spirit had scarcely any time to manifest itself. after the marne and the yser, however, when it became evident that anyhow the whole of belgium could never be retained, and when the attitude of the people showed clearly that they would always remain hostile to their new masters, the systematic sacking of the country began without any thought for the consequences. * * * * * the best way of coming to some appreciation of the work accomplished during these two years is to remember that, before the war, belgium was the richest country in europe in proportion to her size. relatively she had the greatest commercial activity, the richest agricultural production, and she was more thickly populated than any other state, with the exception of saxony. nowhere were the imports and exports so important, in proportion to the number of the population, nowhere did the average square mile yield such rich crops, nowhere was the railway system so developed. pauperism was practically unknown, and, even in the large towns, the number of people dependent on public charity was comparatively very small. to this picture of unequalled prosperity oppose the present situation: part of the countryside left without culture for want of manure and horses; scarcely any cattle left in the fields; commerce paralysed by the stoppage of railway and other communications; industry at a complete standstill, with , men thrown out of work and nearly half of the population which remained in belgium ( , , ) on the verge of starvation and entirely dependent for their subsistance on the work of the commission for relief. it is said that the tree must be judged by its fruit. such then is the fruit of the german administration of belgium. when he arrived in brussels, governor von bissing declared that he had come to dress belgium's wounds. what would he have done if he had meant to aggravate them? there is an insidious argument which must be met once and for ever. we have seen how germany is trying to throw the responsibility for the misery prevailing in belgium and for the present deportations on the english blockade, which paralyses the industry and prevents the introduction of raw materials. but, if this were the case, the situation ought not to be worse in belgium than in germany. on the contrary, thanks to the splendid work of the commission for relief, she ought to be far better off. how is it then that--according to general von bissing's own declaration made to mr. julius wertheimer, correspondent of the _vossische zeitung_ (september the st, )--how is it that "the average cost of life is much higher in belgium than in germany," and that "a great number of inhabitants (tens of thousands of them) have not eaten a piece of meat for many weeks?" this inequality between the social conditions in germany and in belgium, in spite of the advantages given to the latter by the introduction of food through the blockade with england's consent, can easily be explained: on the one hand, german industry has transformed itself, many factories which could not continue their ordinary work owing to the shortage of rawstuffs having been turned into war-factories in which there is still a great demand for labour. on the other hand, germany has not been submitted to the same levies in money, and requisitions in foodstuffs and material; germany has not been deprived, from the beginning, of all her reserve, she has not been depleted of all her stock. we shall have to deal, in the next chapter, with the first question. let us only consider the second here. it is impossible to give more than a superficial glance at the matter. the particulars at hand are not complete and a full list of german exactions has not yet been drawn up. let us, however, try to give an idea of the disproportion existing between the country's resources and the demands which were made on her. on december th, , a poster announced to the citizens of brussels that the nine belgian provinces would be obliged to pay, every month during the coming year, a sum of forty million francs, making a total of about millions (over million pounds). in order to understand the indignation caused by this announcement it is necessary to remember: st. that the belgians were at the time already paying all the ordinary taxes, to the commune, to the province and to the state, so that this new contribution constituted a super-tax. nd. that all the direct taxes paid to the state, in ordinary times, amount scarcely to millions, that is to say, to a sixth of this contribution. rd. and that the new economic conditions imposed by the war had considerably reduced the income of the most wealthy citizens. as the germans persist in invoking the text of the hague convention of which they have again and again violated every clause, it may be useful to point out that, according to the th article, the occupying power is only allowed to raise war contributions "for the need of the army," that is to say, in order to pay in money the requisitions which he is obliged to make in order to supply the army of occupation with food, fodder, and so on. as, most of the time, the germans only pay for what they requisition in "_bons de guerre_" payable after the war, and as, in spite of their sound appetite, we can scarcely believe that the few thousand "landsturmers" who are garrisoning belgium are eating two million pounds worth a month, the illegal character of the german measure seems evident. besides, if any doubt were still possible, we should find it laid down in the nd article that any service required from the occupying power must be "in proportion to the country's resources." as the announcement had provoked strong protests, governor von bissing announced a few days later that, if this contribution was paid, no further extraordinary taxes would be required and the requisitions would henceforth be paid for in money. needless to say, none of these promises have been fulfilled, and the contribution of millions was renewed at the beginning of , and even increased to millions lately, so that, from that source only, the germans have raised in belgium, after two years of occupation, a sum equal to one-fourth of the total state debt of the country on the eve of the war. this is only one example among many. the communes did not enjoy better treatment. the reader will remember that during the period of invasion the enemy exacted various war-taxes from every town he entered: millions from liège, millions from brussels, millions from namur, millions from antwerp, and so on. since then, he has never lost an opportunity of inflicting heavy fines even on the smallest villages. if one inhabitant succeeds in joining the army, if an allied aeroplane appears on the horizon, if, for some reason or other, the telegraph or the telephone wires are out of order, a shower of fines falls on the neighbouring towns and villages. in june last the total amount of these exactions was estimated, for , at ten millions (£ , ). if we add to this the fines inflicted constantly, on the slightest pretext, on private individuals, we shall certainly remain below the mark in stating that germany succeeds in getting out of belgium over twenty million pounds a year. twenty million pounds, when the ordinary income of the state amounts scarcely to seven millions! and i am not taking into account the money seized in the banks and the recent enforced transfer to germany of the millions (£ , , ) of the national bank. if we remember that the total value of commercial transactions in belgium, before the war, did not exceed ten million francs ( , pounds) per year, we shall realise the absurdity of the german argument which shifts on to the english blockade the responsibility for belgium's ruin. even a complete stoppage of trade could not have done the country as much harm as the german exactions in money only. but the conquerors were not satisfied with fleecing the flock, they succeeded in robbing it of its food, in taking away its very means of life. * * * * * quite apart from any sentimental or moral reason, the last step was a grave mistake, even from the german point of view. it would certainly have paid the germans better in the end if they had allowed the allies to send raw material to feed the belgian factories, under the control of neutral powers, and if they had not requisitioned the machines and paralysed industry by the most absurd restrictions. it would have been a most useful move from the point of view of propaganda, and, while posing as belgium's kind protectors, they might always have reaped the benefit through fresh taxes and new contributions. if they have killed the goose rather than gather its golden eggs it is because they could not afford to wait. it was one of these desperate measures, like the violation of belgian neutrality, the ruthless use of zeppelins and the sinking of the lusitania, which did them more harm than good. from the beginning germany has fought with a bad conscience, prompted in all her actions more by the dread of being defeated than by the clear intention of winning the game. the manifestation of such a spirit ought only to encourage her enemies; they are the sure signs of a future breakdown. in the meantime, they must cause infinite torture to the unfortunate populations which are not yet delivered from her yoke. during the first months of occupation the requisitions extended only to foodstuffs, cattle, horses, fodder, in short, to objects which could be used by the army. they were out of all proportion to the resources of the country (article of the hague convention) and therefore absolutely illegal, but they could still be considered as military requisitions. in a most interesting article published in smoller's _jahrbuch für gesetzgebung verwaltung und volkswirtschaft_, professor karl ballod admits that the requisitions made in belgium and northern france have more than compensated for the harm caused by the russian invasion of east prussia. not only the army of occupation, but all the troops concentrated on the northern sectors of the western front, "three million men," have been fed by the conquered provinces. besides this, germany took from belgium, at the beginning of the war, "more than , tons of meal and at least one million tons of other foodstuffs." with governor von bissing's arrival the requisitions extended to whatever raw material was needed in the fatherland, and all pretence of respecting the hague convention (article ) ceased forthwith: one after another the stocks of raw cotton, of wool, of nickel, of jute, of copper, were seized and conveyed to germany. the administration seized, in the same way, all the machines which could be employed, beyond the rhine, for the manufacture of shells and munitions. i am afraid of tiring the reader with the long enumeration of these arbitrary decrees, but in order to give him an idea of what is still going on, at the present moment, i have gathered here all the measures of the kind taken by the paternal administration of baron von bissing which came to our knowledge during one month only (october last). i have chosen the period at random, and it must not be forgotten that, owing to the difficulties of communication, these particulars are far from complete. they will, however, give a fair idea of the economic situation of the country after the second year of occupation: october th: the requisitions in cattle have been so frequent in flanders _that many farmers have not a milch cow left_. october th: owing to the lack of motors, bicycles and horses, some tradespeople in brussels are using oxen to draw their carts. october th: all the chestnut trees around antwerp have been requisitioned. potatoes cannot be conveyed from one place to another even in small quantities. october th: according to a decree dated september th, any person possessing more _than kilos of straps or cables_ must report it under a penalty of one year's imprisonment or a fine up to , marks. october th: the scarcity of potatoes is increasing, in spite of a good crop. the peasants were forbidden to pull out their plants before july the st, _when the greater part of the crop was commandeered_. october nd: the boot factories in brussels are forbidden to work more than hours per week. october th: a decree dated october the th adds borax to the list of sulphurous products which must be declared according to the decree of september th. october th: the germans continue to take away the rails of the light railways ("vicinaux"). the line from st. trond to hanut has been demolished. a great deal of rolling stock has been commandeered. owing to the shortage of lubricating oil _it is to be feared that this last mode of conveyance left to the belgians will have to be stopped shortly_. october th: a decree dated september th makes the measures for the requisition of metals still more severe. all the steel material--_in whatever shape it may be (including tools)_--must be declared to the _abteilung für handel und gewerbe_ in brussels, under a penalty of five years of imprisonment ( , marks). october st: the commune of anderlecht has voted a credit of , francs for the purchase of _wooden shoes as the shortage of leather prevents most of the people from buying boots_. november st: a decree dated october th prepares for the seizure of all textile materials, ribbons, hosiery, etc. no more than one-tenth of the stocks can be manufactured, under a penalty of , marks. a decree dated october th makes the declaration of poplars all over belgium compulsory. it was scarcely necessary to underline some passages of this report. however bad may be the impression it causes, it would be twenty-six times worse if we had the leisure to follow step by step the progress of german economic policy in belgium. it is evident that the german administration, in spite of its former declarations, is resolved to ruin belgian industry and to throw out of work the greatest number of men possible. all raw material must go to germany in order to be worked there. as it has become evident that the belgian workers will not submit to war work so long as they remain in their surroundings, they must be torn away from their country and compelled to follow the materials and machines over the frontier. labour has become an inanimated object necessary to the prosecution of the german war. it is as indispensable to germany as cotton, nickel and copper. it will be treated as such. if the men resist, they will be crushed. if the soul of belgium will not yield to persuasion, it will be taken away from her, like her cattle, her corn, her iron and her steel. and so belgium will become a weapon in germany's hands, a weapon which will strike at belgium. and the only thought of the deported worker turning a shell in a german factory will be, as is suggested by louis raemaekers' cartoon, "perhaps this one will kill my own son?" v. the modern slave. i. the creeping tide. we must now deal with the second factor which makes the conditions worse in belgium than in germany. while german peace-factories, ruined by the blockade, have been turned into war-factories, the majority of belgian industries have remained idle. in spite of the high wages offered by the germans--some skilled workmen were offered as much as £ and £ s. per day--the workers resisted the constant pressure exerted upon them and preferred to live miserably on half-wages or with the help given them by the "comité national" rather than accept any work which might directly or indirectly help the occupying power. if a few thousands, compelled by hunger or unable to resist their conquerors' threats, passed the frontier, all the rest of the working population kept up, under the most depressing conditions, a great patriotic strike, the "strike of folded arms." if they could not, as the , young heroes who crossed the dutch frontier, join the belgian army on the yser; they could at least wage war at home and oppose to the enemy the impenetrable rampart of their naked breasts. it should not be said, when king albert should return to brussels at the head of his troops, that his subjects had not shared the sufferings of his soldiers. they should also have their wounds to show, they should also have their dead to honour. * * * * * when, at the beginning of november last, the protests of the belgian government and the "signal of distress" of the belgian bishops made known the slave raids which had taken place, most of the outside world was shocked and surprised. it had lived, for months, under the impression that "things were not so bad" in the conquered provinces. after the outcry caused by the atrocities of august, , there came a natural reaction, a sort of anti-climax. fines, requisitions, petty persecutions do not strike the imagination in the same way as the burning of towns and the wholesale massacre of peaceful citizens. it had become necessary to follow things closely in order to understand that, instead of suffering less, the belgian population was suffering more and more every day. besides, news was scarce and difficult to check. when alarming reports came from the dutch frontier, it was usual to think that the newspaper correspondents spread them without much discrimination. but to those who were familiar with the policy pursued by the german administration since the spring of , the bad news which they received lately only confirmed the fears which they had entertained for a long time. as the war went on, it became more and more evident that germany, whose man-power was steadily decreasing, would no longer tolerate the resistance of the belgian workers, and would even attempt to enrol in her army of labour all the able-bodied men of the conquered provinces. the slave-raids coincide with the "levée en masse" in the empire and with the organisation of the new "polish army": "if every german is made to fight or to work, ought not every belgian, every pole, to be compelled to do the same? the fact that they should turn their arms or their tools against their own country is not worthy of consideration, as it is supposed already to enjoy the blessings of german rule and has become an integral part of the fatherland." there is a great deal to be said for the slavery of ancient times. it was at least free from cunning and hypocrisy. the conqueror ill-treated the vanquished, but he spared him his calumnies. the only law was the law of the stronger, but the stronger did not pretend to be also the better. the tyrant was always right, of course, but he did not pretend to show that the victim was always wrong. now the worst aspect of the german policy is that it associates the subtlest dialectics with the most insane brutality. when the time comes, they act with the blind fury of the bull, but they have already thought it all over with the wisdom of the serpent. that is why the popular appellation of "huns" is so misleading. it suggests merely the brutality of primitive men, which is not always so dangerous and so depraved as the brutality of civilised men. brutality does not exclude honesty and pity. attila listened to the prayers of the pope and spared rome. the kaiser's lieutenant does not listen to cardinal mercier's protests. the huns, as most strong men, made a point of keeping their word. the germans seem to make a point of breaking theirs. when i compared the fight of belgium and germany to the unequal fight of jack and the giant, of david and goliath, i was forgetting that david and jack were cleverer than their antagonists. folklore and fairy-tales always equalize the chances by granting more wit to the small people than to the big ones. it is a healthy inspiration. but we are confronted to-day with a new monster, a wise giant, a cunning dragon, a subtle beast. we must therefore not imagine that governor von bissing got up one fine morning, called for pen and ink, like king cole for his bowl, and wrote a proclamation to the effect that all belgians of military age would be reduced to slavery and obliged, under the penalty of physical torture and under the whip of german sentries, to dig trenches behind the western front or to turn shells in a german factory. any fool--any goliath--might have done that. every german crime is preceded by a series of false promises and followed by a series of calumnies. between such a prelude and such a finale, you may perform a symphony of frightfulness with dr. strauss' orchestration--it will sound as innocent and artless as the three notes of a shepherd's pipe. the violation of belgian neutrality is bad enough, but if you begin to lull belgium to slumber by repeating, on every occasion, that she has nothing to fear, and if you end by declaring to the civilised world that belgium was plotting with england and france a traitorous attack against germany, then it becomes quite plausible. to massacre , civilians and burn , houses in cold blood looks rather harsh, but if you begin by giving "a solemn guarantee to the people that they will not have to suffer from the war" (general von emmich's first proclamation) and end by saying that women have emptied buckets of boiling water on the heads of your soldiers and that children have put out the eyes of your wounded, it becomes almost a kind proceeding. in the same way, to seize and deport hundreds of thousands of men and compel them to work in exile against their country seems the act of barbarians, but if you accumulate assurances that "normal conditions will be maintained" and that nobody need fear deportation, and if you end by declaring that the belgian working classes are exclusively composed of loafers and drunkards, it becomes a measure of providence and wisdom for which your victims in particular, and the whole civilised world in general, ought to be deeply grateful. the promise testifies to your good intentions and the calumny explains how you were regretfully obliged not to fulfill them. the promise keeps your victims within reach, the calumnies shift to them the responsibility for your crime. who doubts that every town visited by a zeppelin is fortified, that every ship sunk by a u boat carries troops or guns? the old hun killed everything which stood in his way; the modern hun does the same and then declares that _he_ is the victim. the old hun left the dead bodies of his enemies to the crows; the modern hun throws mud at them. the old hun tried to kill the body; the modern hun tries to ruin the soul. * * * * * for this last and most monstrous of all germany's crimes we have to register not one promise only, but a series of promises, an accumulation of solemn pledges. it seemed worth while apparently to keep the belgian workmen at home. let us record them here, in chronological order: st. september nd, . proclamation of governor von der goltz posted in brussels: _"i ask no one to renounce his patriotic sentiments..."_ nd. october th, . letter of baron von huene, military governor of antwerp, to cardinal mercier, read in every church of the province in order to reassure the people after the fall of antwerp and to stop the emigration: _"young men need have no fear of being deported to germany, either to be enrolled in the army or to be subjected to forced labour."_ rd. on the same day, a written declaration of the military authorities of antwerp to general von terwisga, commanding the dutch army in the field, declaring without foundation "the rumour that the young men will be sent to germany." th. a few weeks later, this promise was confirmed verbally to cardinal mercier _and extended to the other provinces_ under german rule by governor von der goltz, two aide-de-camps and the cardinal's private secretary being present. (see letter from cardinal mercier to baron von bissing, october th, ). th. november, . assurances given by the german authorities to the dutch legation in brussels in order to persuade the refugees to come back: "_normal conditions will be restored and the refugees will be allowed to go back to holland to look after their families_." (see also the letter of the dutch consul in antwerp urging the refugees to come back to their homes.) th. july th, . placard of governor von bissing posted in brussels: "_the people shall never be compelled to do anything against their country_." th. april, : assurances given to the neutral powers after the lille raids that _such deportations would not be renewed_. * * * * * now, let us confront these texts, not even with the facts which come to us from the most trustworthy sources, but with the german decrees and proclamations preparing and ordering the recent deportations. we are not opposing a belgian testimony to a german one, neither are we, for the present, propounding even our own interpretation of what occurred. we will merely oppose a german document to another german document and let them settle their differences as best they can. the first trouble began in april and may, , in luttre, at the malines arsenal, and in several other flemish towns, when the german authorities exerted every possible pressure to compel the belgian workmen to resume work. they were brought, under military escort, to their workshops, imprisoned, starved, and about two hundred of them were deported to germany, where they were submitted to the most cruel tortures. (see the _nineteenth report of the belgian commission of enquiry_.) the threats and persecutions are sufficiently established by three placards issued by the german authorities. the first one, posted on the walls of pont-à-celles, near luttre, says, among other things: "if the workmen accept the above conditions (that is to say, resume work with handsome wages) _the prisoners will be released_...." the "prisoners" being several hundred workers who had been imprisoned in their shops and deprived of food. (april, .) the second, _signed von bissing_ (so that nobody could imagine that these measures were taken by some too zealous subaltern) and posted in malines, on the th of may, tells us that "_the town of malines must be punished as long as the required number of workmen have not resumed work_." these workmen were employed by the belgian state--which owns the country's railway--for the repair of the rolling stock. when they had refused to resume work, at the beginning of the occupation, a few hundred german workmen had filled their posts. these had been sent back to their military depots. the patriotic duty of these belgians was evident enough: by resuming their work, they released german soldiers for the front and increased the number of coaches and engines, of which the enemy was in great need for the transport of troops. if you will compare this poster with the one printed above and dated july th, you will be confronted with one of the neatest examples of german duplicity. other people have broken their promises after making them. it was left to governor von bissing to make them after breaking them. the third document is still more conclusive. on june the th the citizens of ghent could read on their walls that: "the attitude of certain factories which refuse _to work for the german army_ under the pretext of patriotism proves that a movement is afoot to create difficulties for the _german army_. if such an attitude is maintained i will hold the communal authorities responsible and the population will have only itself to blame if the great liberties granted to it until now are suspended." this clumsy declaration is signed by lieutenant-general graf von westcarp. and to think that, even now, governor von bissing perseveres in maintaining that no military work has ever been asked or will ever be asked from the belgian workers! as the french proverb says: "on n'est jamais trahi que par les siens." [ ] but, like the man who marries his mistress after the birth of the first child, the governor general was thinking of "regularising the situation." he knew that his attitude was illegal. he decided, therefore, to concoct a few decrees in order to legalize it in the eyes of the world. he had, you see, to save appearances. you cannot get on with no law at all. it might shock neutrals. so, if you break all the articles of the hague convention one by one, like so many sticks, the only thing to do is to manufacture some fresh regulations to replace them. and everything will again be for the best in the best of worlds. that is where german subtlety comes in. you must not do things rashly, at once. like a skilful dramatist, you must prepare the public to take in a situation. there is a true artistic touch in the way this general of cavalry succeeds in gradually legalizing illegality. in a first decree, dated august th, , a fortnight after his last pledge, governor von bissing promises from fourteen days' to six months' imprisonment to anyone dependent on public charity who refuses to undertake work "without a sufficient reason" and a fine of £ or a year's imprisonment to anyone who encourages refusal to work by the granting of relief. notice that the accomplice is punished more heavily than the principal culprit. the idea is clearly to deprive every striker of the help of his commune and of the "comité national." however, as it is still left to belgian tribunals to decide which reasons are "sufficient" and which are not, this decree is not very harmful. on may nd, , the rising tide creeps nearer to us. the power of deciding on the matter passes from the belgian tribunals to the military authority, and thereupon every striker becomes a culprit. on may th, there is a new decree by which "the governors, military commanders, and chiefs of districts are allowed to order the unemployed _to be conducted by force_ to the spots where they have to work." this, no doubt, in order to avoid the crowding of prisons, which would have necessarily followed the last decree. it only remains to declare that the workers can be deported to complete the process and to legalise slavery. this step was taken on october rd last, when an order, signed by quartier-meister sauberzweig and issued by the general headquarters of the german army, was posted in all the communes of flanders. this order warned all persons "_who are fit to work_ that they may be compelled to do so _even outside their places of residence,_" when "they should be compelled to have recourse to public help for their own subsistence or for the subsistence of the persons dependent on them." [footnote : another poster dated from menin (august, ) reads as follows: "from to-day the town is forbidden to give any support whatever even to the families, wives, or children of workmen who are not employed _regularly on military work_.."] * * * * * but there is more to come in the story. three guarantees were left, which have been quoted again and again by the german press and by baron von bissing in his various answers to cardinal mercier. it was first stated that the men seized would not be sent to germany, then that only the unemployed were taken, and finally that these would not be used on military work. these last guarantees have been repeatedly broken. again, i will leave the germans to condemn themselves. in his decree published at antwerp, on november the nd, general von huene (the same man who had given cardinal mercier his formal written promise that no deportations should take place) declares that the men are to be concentrated at the southern station, "whence ... they will be conveyed in groups to _workshops in germany_." in a letter sent by general hurt, military governor of brussels and of the province of brabant, to all burgomasters, it is said that "where the communes will not furnish the lists (of unemployed) the german administration will itself designate the men to be deported to germany. if then ... errors are committed, the burgomasters will only have themselves to blame, for _the german administration has no time and no means for making an inquiry concerning the personal status of each person_." finally, an extraordinary proclamation of the "major-commandant d'etapes" of antoing, dated october th, announces that "_the population will never be compelled to work under continuous fire,"_ this population being composed, according to the same document, of _men and women_ between and years of age. if they refuse "they will be placed in a _battalion of civil workers, on reduced rations_." here is the address of one of these militarised civilians dropped from a train leaving for the western front and picked up by a friend: x., comp. ziv. arb. bat. .--et. indp.--armee no. this did not prevent governor von bissing from declaring, a week later (letter to cardinal mercier, october th), that: "no workman can be obliged to participate in work connected with the war (_entreprises de guerre_)"! [ ] the last fatal step has been taken. from decree to decree, from proclamation to proclamation, the last threads of the curtain of legality which remained between the victim and the tyrant have been cut one by one. between the acts of the german administration in belgium and those of the african slave drivers, we are now unable to discover any difference whatever. the old plague which had been the shame of europe for more than two centuries has risen again from its ashes. it appears before us with all its hideous characteristics. people are torn from their homes and sent away to foreign lands without any hope of returning. any protest is crushed by the application of torture in the form of starvation, exposure, and their kindred ills ... there is, however, one new point about the modern slave: his face is as white as that of his master. the nineteenth century stamped out black slavery. it was left to the twentieth century to reinstate white slavery. it is the purest glory of the english-speaking people to have succeeded in eradicating the old evil. it will be the eternal shame of the german-speaking people to have replaced it by something worse. civilisation forbade any man, sixty years ago, to force another man to work for him. civilisation to-day does not forbid a man--a conqueror--to force another man to work against himself. the old slave only lost his liberty. the new slave must lose his honour, his dignity, his self-respect. he has only one other alternative: death. and this, not the glorious death of a martyr which makes thousands of converts and shines all over the world, not the death of nurse cavell, but the anonymous death of x.y.z., the death of hundreds and hundreds of unknown heroes who will die under the whip or in the darkness of their cells in the german prison camps. i had almost forgotten a last distinction between the old and the new forms of slavery: the average slave driver of past days was only a trader who sold human beings instead of selling oxen or sheep. when his trade was prohibited, he took heavy risks and ran great danger of losing his fortune and his life. but the german rulers of belgium, whether they be in brussels or in berlin, whether we call them von bissing or helfferich, live in the comfort of their homes, surrounded by their families, and when assailed by protests, can still play hide and seek around the broken pillars of the temple of peace and wave arrogantly, like so many flags, the torn articles of international law: "i assert," said dr. helfferich in the reichstag (december nd)--"i assert that setting the belgian unemployed to work is thoroughly consonant with international law. we therefore _take our stand, formally and in practice, on international law, making use of our undoubted rights_." let dr. helfferich beware. he is not the only judge on international law. his stand may come crashing down. [footnote : i should ask the reader to confront this declaration with the statement made by the belgian workmen in their appeal to the working classes of the world. "on the western front they force them, by the most brutal means, _to dig trenches_, construct aviation grounds...." in his letter sent to the belgian ministers to the vatican and to spain, baron beyens, the belgian minister for foreign affairs, says: "the men are sent to occupied france _to construct sets of trenches and a strategic railway, lille-aulnaye-givet."_ among many trustworthy reports, we hear that the th zivilisten-bataillon, including some men of ghent and alost, has been forced to work, under threat of death, on the construction of a strategic railway between laon and soissons. some of the men, exhausted by the bad treatment inflicted upon them, have been sent back to belgium in a critical condition, and have written a full statement relating their experiences, signed by twenty of them. on the other hand, the belgian general headquarters report that belgian civilians, obliged to dig trenches and dug-outs near becelaere (west flanders), were exposed to the fire of the english guns.] ii. by the waters of babylon ... "by the waters of babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered zion." what prophetic spirit inspired cardinal mercier when he chose this psalm for the text of his sermon, on the occasion of the second anniversary of their independence (july st, ), which the belgians celebrated in exile and captivity? it was in the great gothic church, in brussels, under the arches of ste. gudule, at the close of a service for the soldiers fallen during the war, the very last patriotic ceremony tolerated by the germans. socialists, liberals, catholics crowded the nave, forgetting their old quarrels, united in a common worship, the worship of their threatened country, of their oppressed liberties. "how shall we sing the lord's song in a strange land?" his audience imagined that the preacher alluded only to a spiritual captivity, that he meant: "how shall we celebrate our freedom in this german prison?" and they listened, like the first christians in the catacombs, dreading to hear the tramp of the soldiers before the door. the cardinal pursued his fearless address: "the psalm ends with curses and maledictions. we will not utter them against our enemies. we are not of the old but of the new testament. we do not follow the old law: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, but the new law of love and christian brotherhood. but we do not forget that even above love stands justice. if our brother sins, how can we pretend to love him if we do not wish that his sins should be punished...." such was the tenor of the cardinal's address, the greatest christian address inspired by the war, uttered under the most tragic and moving circumstances. for the people knew by then the danger of speaking out their minds in conquered belgium; they knew that some german spies were in the church taking note of every word, of every gesture. still, they could not restrain their feelings, and, at the close of the sermon, when the organ struck up the _brabançonne_, they cheered and cheered again, thankful to feel, for an instant, the dull weight of oppression lifted from their shoulders by the indomitable spirit of their old leader. what strikes us now, when recalling this memorable ceremony, is not so much the address itself as the choice of its text: "for they that carried us away captive required of us a song." many of those who listened to cardinal mercier on july st, , have no doubt been "carried away" by now, and they have sung. they have sung the brabançonne and the "lion de flandres" as a last defiance to their oppressors whilst those long cattle trains, packed with human cattle, rolled in wind and rain towards the german frontier. and the echo of their song still haunts the sleep of every honest man. * * * * * for whatever germany may do or say, the time is no longer when such crimes can be left unpunished. notwithstanding the war and the triumphant power of the mailed fist, there still exists such a thing as public conscience and public opinion. nothing can happen, in any part of the world, without awakening an echo in the hearts of men who apparently are not at all concerned in the matter. the germans are too clever not to understand this, and the endless trouble which they take in order to monopolise the news in neutral countries and to encounter every accusation with some more or less insidious excuse is the best proof of this. when one of them declared that raemaekers' cartoons had done more harm to germany than an army corps, he knew perfectly well what he was talking about. only they rely so blindly on their own intellectual power and they have such a poor opinion of the brains of other people that they believe in first doing whatever suits their plans and then justify their action afterwards. they divide the work between themselves: the soldier acts, the lawyer and the professor undertakes to explain what he has done. however black the first may become, there is plenty of whitewash ready to restore his innocence. if the unexpected resistance of belgium has infuriated the germans to such an extent, it is not only because it wrecked their surprise attack on france, it is also because, even after the retreat of the army, they have been confronted by a series of men courageous enough and clever enough to stand their ground and to come between them and the uneducated mass of the population. since, for the sake of propaganda, they wanted to make a show of respecting international law, they were taken at their word; so that they were obliged either to give way or to put themselves openly in the wrong. when they tried to break their promise to the municipality of brussels and to annihilate the liberties of the old belgian communes, mr. max stood in their way, calm and smiling, with no other weapon than the law which they pretended to respect. mr. max was sent to a german fortress, but germany had torn up another scrap of paper--and the civilised world knew it. when they wanted to establish extraordinary tribunals for matters which belonged only to local tribunals, mr. théodor and all the barristers of the country lodged protest after protest and fought their case step by step. mr. théodor was deported, but the german administration had blundered again--and the world knew it. when baron von bissing tried to infringe the privileges of the church and to cow the belgian priests into submission by forbidding them to read to their flock the patriotic letter of cardinal mercier, published on christmas day, , he found himself opposed not only by a far cleverer man than himself, but by all the spiritual influence of one of the greatest priests in europe. the letter was read, the cardinal did not leave for germany but for rome, whence he came back to malines, and, if anything, adopted a still firmer tone in his subsequent letters and speeches. von bissing was beaten--and the world knew it. these are only a few striking examples among many. since august, , hundreds and hundreds of civilians have been imprisoned or deported; workmen, because they refused to work for the enemy; lawyers, because they refused to accept his law; bankers, because they would not let their money cross the frontier; professors, because they did not consent to propagate kultur; journalists, because they objected to print wolff's news; tradespeople, because they put their patriotism above their private interests; priests, because they did not worship the german god; women, because they did not admire german officers; children, because they did not play the german games. meanwhile the firing parties did not remain idle. the world has heard with horror of the death of miss cavell; it has been shocked by the disproportion between her "crime" and her punishment, and by the hypocrisy displayed by the german administration during her trial. but, if england has lost one great martyr, belgium has lost hundreds, who perished in the same way, sometimes for smaller offences, often for no offence at all. for the german judges are in a hurry, and they have no time to enquire too closely in such matters. the vengeance of a spy, the slightest suspicion of a policeman, sometimes even an anonymous letter, are enough to convince them of the guilt of the accused person. the healthy effect produced on the population by dinant and louvain must not be allowed to spend itself. frightfulness must be kept up at any price. the reign of terror is the condition of the german regime. * * * * * to-day, in this most tragic hour of belgian history, when so many leaders, so many patriots, have been imprisoned, deported or shot, after twenty-nine months of constant threats and persecutions, we might ask ourselves: is belgium at last cowed into submission? listen, then, to belgium's voice, not to the voice of the refugees, not even to the voice of the king and his government, but to the voice of these miserable "slaves" whom germany is trying to starve into submission. letters have been dropped from these cattle trucks rolling towards germany or towards the french front. they all tell us of the unshakeable resolution of the men never to sign an agreement to go to germany, and never to work for the enemy: "we will never work for the germans and never put our name on paper" (_onze naam on papier zetten_)--"we will not work for them. do the same when you are taken." (_faites de même quand tu dois aller_.) two young men imprisoned in ghent write to their father: "they will have to make us fast a long time before we consent to work for the king of prussia." another man who was stopped when attempting to escape writes: "they tell us here that the germans will make us work even if we do not sign an engagement. it would be abominable. _take heart, the hour of deliverance will strike one day, after all_." another workman sends the following message to his employer: "we are here two thousand and three hundred men. they cannot annihilate us. _it is not right that our fate should be better than that of our brothers who suffer and fight at the front_. we cannot make a step without being threatened by the gun or the bayonet of our jailors. _i am hungry ... but i will not work for them_." and as the slave raids reach one province after another from flanders to antwerp, from hainant to brabant, as the fatal list of deportees increases from , to , , from , to , , from , to , , whilst the cries of women and children are heard in the streets, whilst the modern slaves tramp along the roads carrying a light bundle of clothes on their shoulders, from everywhere in belgium the strongest protests are sent to the governor general, by the communes which will not consent to give the names of the unemployed, by the magistrates who will not see the last guarantees of individual right trampled upon, by the socialist syndicates which are defending the right of the workmen not to work against their own country, by the chiefs of industry who show clearly that the whole responsibility of the labour crisis rests on germany alone, by the bishops of the church, who refuse to admit that, after two thousand years of christian teaching, a so-called christian nation should fall so low as to revive, for her own benefit, the worst custom of paganism. the energy of these protests is wonderful if one considers the conditions in which they have been made. the town councillors of tournai were asked to draw up a list of unemployed. they refused; as the germans insisted, they passed the following resolution: "the municipal council decide to persevere in their negative attitude.... the city of tournai is prepared to submit without resistance to all the exigencies authorized by the laws and customs of the war. its sincerity cannot be doubted, as it has shown perfect composure and has avoided any act of hostility during a period of over two years ... but, at the same time, the municipal council could not furnish weapons against their own children, fully conscious that natural law and international law, which is derived from it, forbids them to do so." (october th, ). we possess also the german answer, signed by major-general hopfer. it is a necessary supplement to von bissing's unctuous literature. major-general hopfer calls the resolution "an act of arrogance without precedent." according to him, "the state of affairs, clearly and simply, is this: the military authority commands, the municipality has to obey. if it fails to do so it will have to support the heavy consequences." a fine of , marks is exacted from the town for its refusal, besides , marks for every day of delay until the lists are completed. the case of tournai, like that of antoing and a good many small towns, is typical. the officers commanding in these districts either disregard the "mot d'ordre" given in brussels or do not think it worth their while to keep up the sinister comedy played in the large towns. here "kultur" throws off her mask and the brute appears. we know at least where we stand. the conflict is cleared of all false pretence and paltry excuses. the councillors of tournai appeal to some law, divine or human, which forbids a brother to betray his brother. it is not without relief that we hear the genuine voice of major hopfer declaring that there is no other law than his good pleasure. that settles everything and puts the case of belgium in a nut-shell. men like him and the commander of the antoing district--another major, by the way--are invaluable. but they will never become generals unless they mend their manners. from the perusal of the belgian protests and of all particulars received, two things appear clearly: first, in spite of all the official declarations, whether the raiders are able or not to get hold of the lists, there is no real discrimination between employed or unemployed. and, secondly, in many districts, unemployment has been deliberately created by the authorities in order to justify the deportations. we cannot discover any method in the raids. in some places, all the able-bodied men from to are taken away; in others the priests, the town-clerks, the members of the "comité de secours," and the teachers are left at home; in others still a certain selection is made. _but everywhere some men who were actually working at the time or even men who had never been out of work since the beginning of the german occupation have been obliged to go with the others_. the proportions vary. in the small town of gembloux, of a total of inhabitants deported, _there were only two unemployed_. at kersbeek-miscom out of deportees only two had been thrown out of work. at rillaer, the germans have taken boys under years of age.[ ] in the district of mons, from the numbers taken down in fourteen communes, we gather that the proportion of the unemployed varies between and per cent. of the total number of deportees.[ ] among the men taken from arlon (luxembourg) were members of the "comité de secours" who were working in connection with the commission for relief, so that not only the people supporting their families are being deported, but even those who employed themselves in alleviating the sufferings of the whole population. this practice has been repeated in several other towns, for instance, in gembloux and libramont. whether the people are ordered to present themselves at the town-hall or seized in their own homes, whether they are taken forthwith or allowed a few hours to prepare themselves, whether they are forced to sign an agreement or not, the same fact is evident: the criterion of employment is never considered as a sufficient cause for exemption. in certain districts where, in spite of the requisitions, no unemployment existed, the authorities have manufactured it. some of the new coal mines of the limbourg province have been closed on the eve of the raids. the case of the luxembourg province is still more typical. "we have not to enquire here," declare the senators and deputies of this province, "if unemployment has been caused in other regions by the disorganisation of transports, the seizure of raw stuffs and machines, the constant requisitions, and other measures which were bound to penalize the national industry. one fact remains incontestable; it is that, so far as the luxembourg province is concerned, unemployment has been non-existent. during the worst periods, we have only had a small number of unemployed, and thanks to the initiative taken by the 'comité de secours' all, without any exception, have been at work without interruption." after enumerating a great number of works of public utility which had been approved by the german authorities, construction of light railways, drainage of extensive moors, creation of new plantations, water supplies, etc., ... the report goes on: "and to-day most of these works, which had been approved and subsidized by the province and by the state, have been suddenly condemned and interrupted.... _such official obstacles to the legitimate and useful activity of our workmen renders still more painful for them, if possible, the measures taken against them by those who reproach them for their idleness and who prosecute them to-day under the pretext of an inaction which they have deliberately created_." in the face of such testimony all the german argument crumbles to pieces. as monseigneur mercier puts it decisively: "it is not true that our workmen have caused any disturbance or even threatened anywhere to do so. five million belgians, hundreds of americans, never cease to admire the perfect dignity and patience of our working classes. it is not true that the workmen, deprived of their work, become a charge on the occupying power or on public charity under its control. the 'comité national,' in whose activity the germans take no part, is the only organisation concerned in the matter." but even supposing, for the sake of argument, that the rd article of the hague convention should justify some form of coercion in the matter, the new measures should only be applied to some works of _public utility in belgium_. far from encouraging such works, the germans have stopped them, seized _employed and unemployed_, and sent them either to _germany_ or to some _war-work_ on the western front. to put it simply, they wish to avoid public disturbance where there is no disturbance, to save money which is not their money, to deport unemployed who are not unemployed, to oblige them to work against their country instead of for their country, and in germany instead of in belgium. they are doing everything but what they want to do, they go anywhere but where they are going, and they say anything but what they are thinking. [footnote : letter of cardinal mercier to governor von bissing, nov. th, .] [footnote : reply of the deputies of mons to governor von bissing, nov. th, .] * * * * * the other day i heard two people--two wizened city clerks--discussing the war in the train. "when and how will the germans be beaten?" asked the first. the other shrugged his shoulders and declared solemnly, while pulling at his pipe: "the germans? they have been beaten a long time ago! they were beaten when they set foot for the first time in belgium." the remark is not new, and i daresay it was a reminiscence of some sentence picked up in a newspaper or at a popular meeting. but whoever uttered it for the first time was right. the case of belgium has uplifted the whole moral atmosphere of the struggle. since the first guns boomed around liège and the first civilians were shot at visé, a war which might have been represented, to a certain extent, as a conflict of interests, has become a conflict of principles. in a way, the germans were beaten because, from that moment, they had to struggle against unseen and inflexible forces. whatever you choose to call them--democratic instinct, christian aspiration, or the conscience of the civilised world--they will do their work relentlessly, every day of the year, every hour of the day. it is their doing that, in spite of the immense financial influence and the most active propaganda, germany has become unpopular all over the world. other facts, like the _lusitania_, the trial of miss cavell, the work accomplished by zeppelins, have contributed to provoke this feeling. but whether we consider the origin or the last exploits of german policy, whether we think of two years ago or of to-day, the image of belgium, of her invasion, of her martyrdom, of her oppression, of her deportations, dominates the spiritual aspect of the whole war. when they crossed the belgian frontier, the germans walked straight into a bog, and since then they have been sucked deeper and deeper into the mud of their own misdeeds and calumnies. they were ankle-deep at liège, waist-deep at louvain, the bog rises even to their lips to-day. in the desperate efforts which they make to free themselves they inflict fresh and worse tortures on their victims. it is as if victory could only be reached through the country's willing sacrifice. but every cry which the germans provoke in the belgian prison is heard throughout the world, every tear shed there fills their bitter cup, every drop of blood they shed falls back on their own heads. the world looks on, and its burning pity, its ardent sympathy, brings warmth and comfort to the belgian slave. there is still some light shining through the narrow window of the cell. and there is not a man worthy of the name who does not feel more resolute and more confident in final victory when he meets the haggard look of the martyred country and watches her pale, patient, and still smiling face pressed against the iron bars. vi. the olive branch. we may ask ourselves if it was by chance only or through some subtle calculation that the first slave-raids in belgium were timed to take place on the eve of the christmas season, when the angels proclaimed "good-will towards men," and when the german diplomats offered us the olive branch and the dove--peace at their own price. we may perhaps admit, now that the crisis is over, that for us belgians at least the temptation was great, and if our repeated experience of the enemy had not shown us that he is most dangerous when he dons the humanitarian garb, we might have been duped by this remarkable piece of stage-management. there is every reason to believe that the deportations were part and parcel of the german peace manoeuvre. by increasing a hundredfold the "horrors of war" germany provided a powerful argument to the pacifists all the world over: "look at these miserable belgians. have they not suffered enough? is it not time that an end should be put to their misery? germany has declared that she is ready to evacuate the country. she might even give an indemnity. what other satisfaction can the allies ask, considering the present situation on both the eastern and western fronts? if england really went to war to deliver belgium, let her prove it now by stopping the struggle to spare her innocent citizens. it is all very well for those who are living comfortably at home to urge the continuance of the struggle. but can they take the responsibility of speaking on behalf of the population which has to submit to the enemy's rule and whose sufferings increase every day? ..." we have all listened to that voice. the belgians in exile more intensely perhaps than the other allies. belgium had nothing whatever to do with the origin of the quarrel. she had nothing to gain from its conclusion. she had been drawn unwillingly into the conflict. she has taken arms merely to defend her rights and territory. what should her answer be if germany offered to restore them? * * * * * at the beginning of august last, a certain number of socialist leaders, in occupied belgium, succeeded in arranging a meeting, in spite of german regulations, and passed the following resolution, which they sent to the minister vandervelde, in london: "the belgian working classes are decided to endure all sufferings rather than to accept a german peace, which could neither be lasting nor final. the allies must not think that they must hasten the conclusion of the struggle for us. we are not asking for peace, and we take no responsibility for the socialist manifestations made in neutral countries on our behalf. _we ask those who want to help us not to let the idea that we long for peace influence their decisions_. we pass this resolution in order to prevent the disastrous effect, which such an argument might produce." the belgium people has never departed from this attitude, and it is the plain duty of all those who are defending them, to conform, in the spirit and in the letter, to their heroic message. in the "appeal" of the belgian workers to the civilised world, sent during the worst period of the slave-raids, the idea of a truce is not even entertained. on the contrary, the workers declare that, "whatever their tortures may be, they will not have peace without the independence of their country and the triumph of justice." an eye-witness of the raids was telling me, a few days ago, that, on some occasions, the men in the slave trains are able to communicate with the people outside: "they shout, of course, 'long live belgium' and 'long live king albert,' but the most frequent cry, in which they seem to put their last ounce of strength, is: 'do not sign,' which means: 'do not sign an engagement to work in germany, do not sign a compromise.'" and i have not the slightest doubt that, if they had heard of the german peace offers, they would still shout, "do not sign, do not sign a german peace!" we know what this attitude costs them. we know, from the report of those few men who have been sent back to belgium from the western front and from the german camps, the tortures to which the modern slaves are being subjected. these men were so ill, so worn out, that their family scarcely recognised them, and greeted them with tears, not with laughter. it was like a procession of ghosts coming back from hell. at soltau, the prisoners are given only two pints of acorn soup and a mouldy piece of bread, every day. they are so famished that they creep at night to steal the potato parings which their german guards throw on to--the rubbish heap. they divide them amongst themselves and eat them raw to appease their hunger. after the first week of this régime, several men went mad. others were isolated for a few days and given excellent food. "will you sign now? if you do, you shall be kept on the same diet; if not... you go back to camp?" the great majority refused ... and were sent back. this is not an isolated report. all the accounts agree, even on the smallest details, and the deportees who have been able to write to their families tell the same story as those who, being henceforth useless, have been sent home to die. * * * * * it has always been the german policy to bully and to cajole almost at the same time. but the image of germania offering, with her sweetest humanitarian smile, an olive-branch to the allies whilst her executioners are starving thousands of belgian slaves and clubbing them with their rifles, will stand in the memory of mankind as the climax of combined brutality and hypocrisy. should we wonder if the present has been refused? there is only one peace which matters, it is the peace of man with his own conscience, the peace of the soul with its god. we have it already, and even the roar of the german guns will not disturb it. it hovers over our trenches, over the sea, even over these terrible german camps where the best blood of a great people is being sucked by the vampires of war. and those who have fallen stricken on the battlefields, those who have succumbed to the slow tortures to which they were subjected, are resting now under its great wings. should we dare to disturb their sleep? should we dare to stain their glory? it is not for germany to offer peace. she has lost, it with her honour. it lies in some pool, at the corner of a wood, where the hooligan waits in ambush, or on the rubbish heap of the soltau camp in which men--noble men--are made to seek their food like pigs. germany cannot offer what is not hers to offer. the allies cannot take what they have already. for there is only one peace, "the peace that passeth all understanding." as for the german olive branch, how could we accept it? it is no longer green. there is a drop of blood on every leaf. * * * * * it is perfectly useless to try, as has been done in certain quarters, to distinguish between belgium's attitude in the conflict and that of the powers who are fighting for the restoration of her integrity. from the day when england, france and russia answered king albert's appeal, the unflinching policy of belgium has been to act in perfect harmony with the allies. how could it be otherwise? their cause is her cause. their victory will be her victory, and--if we should ever consider the possibility of defeat--their defeat would be her defeat. the belgians who like myself, were in england during these fateful days of august, , when the destiny of europe hung in the balance, know perfectly well the decisive influence which the invasion of belgium had on english public opinion at that time. nothing can ever blur the clear outlines of the events as they passed before us under the implacable rays of that glorious summer sun. the whole policy of germany is determined by her first stroke in the war. that stroke was delivered against a small nation. the whole policy of england and of the allies is determined by their first efforts in the struggle, and these efforts were made to protect a small nation against germany's aggression. never has the choice between right and wrong been made plainer in the whole history of the world. canada in flanders by sir max aitken, m.p. the official story of the canadian expeditionary force volume i. canada in flanders by sir max aitken, m.p. with a preface by the rt. hon. a. bonar law, m.p., ll.d., secretary of state for the colonies and an introduction by the rt. hon. sir robert borden, g.c.m.g., m.p., ll.d., prime minister of canada _with maps and appendices_ hodder and stoughton london toronto new york mcmxvi first edition . . printed january, . second edition . . printed january, . third edition . . printed january, . fourth edition . . printed february, . fifth edition . . printed february, . sixth edition . . printed february, . seventh edition . . printed february, . eighth edition . . printed february, . ninth edition . . printed february, . tenth edition . . printed february, . to the officers and men now serving in the canadian expeditionary force in flanders and to the memories of those who have fallen, i dedicate this little book. preface by the rt. hon. a. bonar law, m.p. the author of this book is an intimate personal friend, and possibly for that reason i take too favourable a view of his work; but i think he has already rendered a great service, and not to canada alone. as canadian record officer, he published a glowing account of the part played in the battle of ypres by the canadian contingent. this account was circulated widely, and it contributed largely to make the deeds of the canadian soldiers a household word, not only throughout the dominion, but in the united kingdom as well. the present work seems to me a model of lucid, picturesque, and sympathetic narrative, and it will have, i feel sure, a lasting value. we have a right to feel very proud of the part which is being played in the terrible tragedy of this war by the great dominions of the british crown. we had no power to compel any one of them to contribute a single penny, or to send a single man, but they have given of their best, not to help us, though i think they would have done that also, but to defend the empire which is theirs as much as ours. led by a general who a few years ago was in arms against us and who is the prime minister of south africa, the union government have wrested from germany a territory larger than the whole german empire; and a south african contingent is now in england ready to play their part on the battlefields of flanders. the australians and new zealanders have shown in the dardanelles that in courage, resourcefulness, and tenacity better troops have never existed in the world. whatever the final result of that operation may be, the blood which has been shed there has not been shed in vain. not to australians and new zealanders alone, but to men of every race throughout the british empire, the peninsula of gallipoli will for ever be sacred ground because of the brave men who lie buried there. "in glory will they sleep, and endless sanctity." what canada has done, and is doing, shines out in every page of this book. higher praise could not be given than was contained in the despatch of the commander-in-chief after the battle of ypres: "in spite of the danger to which they were exposed, the canadians held their ground with a magnificent display of tenacity and courage, and it is not too much to say that the bearing and conduct of these splendid troops averted a disaster which might have been attended with most serious consequences." our enemies said, and probably they believed, that the outbreak of war would be the signal for the breaking-up of the british empire. they have been mistaken. after this war the relations between the great dominions and the mother country can never be the same again. the pressure of our enemies is welding us together, and the british empire is becoming in reality, as well as in name, a united nation. a. bonar law. colonial office, _december_ _th_, . introduction by rt. hon. sir robert l. borden, g.c.m.g. more than a year ago the bugles of the empire sounded throughout the world the call to duty. the justice of the cause was recognised in every quarter of the king's dominions, and nowhere more fully than in canada; it has since been confirmed by the judgment of the civilised world. within a week canada had sprung to arms; within three weeks , men were marshalled on valcartier plain, which had been transformed, as if by magic, into a great military camp; within six weeks from the outbreak of war a canadian division, fully organised and equipped in every branch of the service, with a surplus of guns and ammunition nearly sufficient for another division, and with a detail of reinforcements amounting to , men, was ready to proceed overseas. twice in september of last year i saw these forces march past under review by the duke of connaught. later, i visited every unit of the contingent, addressed their officers, and bade them all god-speed. the armada which left the shores of gaspé on october rd, , carried the largest army that ever crossed the atlantic at one time. in the midst of the following winter they went to the front. few of them had any previous experience of war. they had lived in a peace-loving country; they had been gathered from the varied avocations of our national life; they had come from the hills and valleys and surf-beaten shores of the maritime provinces; from the banks of the st. lawrence and its hundred affluents in the two great central provinces; from the mining and lumber camps of the north; from the broad prairie provinces and their northern hinterlands; from the majesty of the mountains that look to the east upon the prairies and to the west upon the pacific; from the shores of the great western ocean; from all the far-flung communities of our dominion they had hurried, quickly responsive to the call. almost in the dawn of their experience at the front there came to them an ordeal such as has seldom tested the most tried of veterans. an unknown and terrible means of warfare, which temporarily shattered the gallant forces that held the line at their left, poured upon them torture and death. the bravest and most experienced troops might well have been daunted and driven back by the fierceness of the onslaught to which they were exposed and by the horrible methods of the attack. assailed by overwhelming numbers on front and flank, the held their own in a conflict which raged for days; they barred the path against the german onrush and saved the day for the empire, for the allies and for the world. the story of their tenacity, their valour, and their heroism has been well told in the pages that follow. but it can never be completely told. many of those upon whom memories along splendid incidents of that story were indelibly engraven lie beneath the sod in northern france and in belgium. on more than one stricken field the record thus made by the st canadian division has held good. from the lips of those who fought at festubert and at givenchy, from dauntless survivors of the princess patricia's regiment, i have heard, in many a hospital and convalescent home in the motherland, what their comrades had dared and done. no canadian can ever look forth unmoved upon that valley where ypres lies shattered in the distance, and the sweep of the hills overlooks the graves of more than , men who fell because a remorseless militarist autocracy decreed this war. in the years to come it will be the duty and the pride of canada to rear, both in this dominion and beyond the ocean, monuments which will worthily commemorate the glorious deeds of her sons who offered the supreme sacrifice for liberty and civilisation. r. e. borden. ottawa, _december_ _th_, . "'carry the word to my sisters-- to the queens of the east and the south, i have proven my faith in the heritage by more than the word of the mouth. they that are wise may follow ere the world's war-trumpet blows: but i--i am first in the battle,' said our lady of the snows." --kipling. author's note i am so conscious of the imperfections of the chapters which follow that i was for long unwilling to publish them in the form of a book. they were written under great difficulties and in many moods; nor am i unaware that the excuse for collecting them is very slender. it was, however, represented to me by persons of much authority, that the subjects dealt with excited an interest so lively in canada that imperfections in the workmanship would be readily overlooked in the dominion. i therefore publish my impressions of the fortunes of the st canadian division and of princess patricia's regiment. some of the scenes described fell in whole, or in part, under my own observation. in dealing with others i have had access, in the discharge of my duties, to a large number of military diaries and official documents. it may be stated that the greatest care is being taken by the canadian government to collect and preserve every authoritative document which may hereafter throw light upon the military history of the canadian expeditionary force. nor is there reason to doubt that the official historian of canada (whoever he may prove to be) will find abundant material for a grave and adequate work. perhaps such a one may find here and there in these hurriedly written pages a contemporary echo, however faint and elusive, of the clash and passion of war which the author has attempted to describe. i shall be content if one canadian woman draws solace from this poor record of her dead husband's bravery; if even one reader recognises for the first time the right of the canadians to stand as equals in the temple of valour with their australian brothers who fought and died at anzac; if the task of consolidating our imperial resources, which may be the one positive consequence of this orgy of destruction, counts one adherent the more among those who have honoured me by reading these records. and of englishmen i ask nothing but that they shall hereafter think of my countrymen as "brothers in whom a man trusts even if a great quarrel arises." w. m. aitken. contents chapter i mobilisation war without warning--canada's loyalty--improvising an army--efforts of the minister of militia--camp at valcartier--canadian armada sails--arrival at plymouth--lord roberts's interest--king's visit to canadian camp--training completed--sailing for france chapter ii warfare "plug street"--british army in being--at general headquarters--rest billets--mud or death--the trenches--buzzing bullets--sir douglas haig--the front--restrictions on the narrative--reviewed by commander-in-chief--canadians in the trenches--our men take to football--"jack johnsons"--a german challenge--general alderson--the general's methods--his speech to the canadians--a fine force chapter iii neuve chapelle canadians' valuable help--a ride in the dark--pictures on the road--towards the enemy--at the cross-roads--"six kilometres to neuve chapelle"--terrific bombardment--grandmotherly howitzers--british aeroplanes--fight with a taube--flying man's coolness--attack on the village--german prisoners--a banker from frankfort--the indians' pride--a halt to our hopes--object of neuve chapelle--what we achieved--german defences under-rated--machine gun citadels--great infantry attack--unfortunate delays--sir john french's comments--british attack exhausted--failure to capture aubers ridge--"digging in"--canadian division's baptism of fire--"casualties"--trenches on ypres salient chapter iv ypres canadians' glory--a civilian force--ypres salient--poelcappelle road--disposition of troops--gas attack on french--plight of the rd brigade--filling the gap--general turner's move--loss of british guns--canadian valour--st. julien--attack on the wood--terrible fire--officer casualties--reinforcements--geddes detachment--second canadian brigade bent back--desperate position--terrible casualties--col. birchall's death--magnificent artillery work--canadian left saved--canadians relieved--story of rd brigade--gas attack on canadians--canadian recovery--major norsworthy killed--major mccuaig's stand--disaster averted--col. hart-mcharg killed--major odlum--general alderson's efforts--british reinforce canadians-- rd brigade withdraws--general currie stands fast--trenches wiped out--fresh gas attack--germans take st. julien--british cheer canadians--canadians relieved--heroism of men--col. watson's dangerous mission--the ghurkas' dead--record of all units--our graveyard in flanders chapter v a wave of battle individual heroism--canadian tenacity--before the battle--the civilian element--a wave of battle--new meaning of "canada"--"northern lights"--the fighting paymaster--major serves as lieutenant--misfortunes of hercule barré--"runners"--a messenger's apology--swimming a moat--rescue of wounded--colonel watson's bravery--colonel watson's leadership--his heroic deed--dash of major dyer and capt. hilliam--major dyer shot--"i have crawled home"--lieut. whitehead's endurance--major king saves his guns--corpl. fisher, v.c.--the real canadian officer--some delusions in england--german tricks--sergt. richardson's good sense--"no surrender!"--corpl. baker's heroism--bombs from the dead--holding a position single-handed--the brothers mcivor--daring of sergt.-major hall--sergt. ferris, roadmender--heroism of the sappers--sergt. ferris, pathfinder--a sergeant in command--brave deeds of pte. irving--he vanishes--absurdities in tragedy--germans murder wounded--doctors under fire--the professional manner--red hours--plight of refugees--canadian colony in london--unofficial inquiries--canada's destiny chapter vi festubert objective of aubers and festubert--allies' co-operation--great french offensive--terrific bombardment--british support--endless german fortresses--shortage of munitions--probable explanation--effect of _times_ disclosures--outcry in england--coalition government--after ypres--the canadian advance--disposition of canadians--attack on the orchard--canadian scottish--sapper harmon's exploits--drawback to drill-book tactics--a canadian ruse--"sam slick"--the orchard won--arrival of second brigade--the attempt on "bexhill"--in the german trenches--strathcona's horse--king edward's horse--cavalry fight on foot--further attack on "bexhill"--redoubt taken--"bexhill" captured--"dig in and hang on"--attack on the "well"--heroic efforts repulsed--general seely assumes command--a critical moment--heavy officer casualties--the courage of the cavalry--major murray's good work--gallantry of sergt. morris and corpl. pym--death of sergt. hickey--canadian division withdrawn--trench warfare till june chapter vii givenchy minor engagements--a sanguinary battle--attacks on "stony mountain" and "dorchester"--disposition of canadian troops--an enemy bombardment--"duck's bill"--a mine mishap--"dorchester" taken--a bombing party--coy.-sergt.-major owen's bravery--lieut. campbell mounts machine-gun on private vincent's back--how private smith replenished the bombers--fighting the enemy with bricks--british division unable to advance--canadians hang on--"i can crawl"--general mercer's leadership--private clark's gallantry--dominion day chapter viii princess patricia's light infantry review in lansdowne park--princess patricia presents the colours--south african veterans and reservists--princess patricias in the trenches--st. eloi--major hamilton gault--a dangerous reconnaissance--attack on a sap--a german onslaught--lessons from the enemy--a march to battle--voormezeele--death of colonel farquhar--polygone wood--regiment's work admired--a move towards ypres--heavily shelled--a new line--arrival of major gault--regiment sadly reduced--gas shells--a german rush--major gault wounded--lieut. niven in command--a critical position--corporal dover's heroism--a terrible day--shortage of small arms ammunition--germans' third attack--enemy repulsed--regiment reduced to rifles--relieved--a service for the dead--in bivouac--a trench line at armentières--regiment at full strength again--moved to the south--back in billets--princess patricias instruct new troops--rejoin canadians--a glorious record chapter ix the prime minister the prime minister's visit--passing of politics--end to domestic dissensions--the imperial idea--sir robert's foresight--arrival in england--at shorncliffe--meeting with general hughes--review of canadian troops--the tour in france--a canadian base hospital--a british hospital--canadian graves--wounded under canvas--prince arthur of connaught--visiting battle scenes--received by general alderson--general turner's brigade--speech to the men--first and second brigades--sir robert in the trenches--cheered by princess patricias--enemy aeroplanes--meeting with sir john french--the prince of wales--with the french army--general joffre--a conference in french--the french trenches--the stricken city of albert--to paris--the french president--conference with the french war minister--shorncliffe again--canadian convalescent home--a thousand convalescents--sir robert's emotion--his wonderful speech--end of journey chapter x the canadian corps tranquil canadian lines---german reconnaissance--incident at "plug street"--pte. bruno saves capt. tidy--a sniper's month--sharpshooters' compact--sergt. ballendine--the ross rifle--"no man's land"--our bombers--sergt. william tabernacle--his new profession--general sir sam hughes' visit--canadian patriotism--civilian armies--"last word of kings"--art of the "soldier's speech" lord kitchener's inspiration--lord roberts and the indians--general hughes arrives in france--at british headquarters--consultation with king albert--meeting with prince alexander of teck--conference with general alderson--the second canadian contingent--in the firing line--many friends--general burstall's artillery--inspection of cavalry--meeting with prince of wales--the princess patricias--conference with sir douglas haig--general hughes' suggestions--meeting with general foch--impressed with general joffre--the ruin at rheims--general hughes' message on departure--a quiet august--the canadian corps--general alderson's new command--an appreciation of a gallant commander--conclusion appendix i the king's messages to the canadians appendix ii canadians in despatches appendix iii the prime minister and the war appendix iv lieut.-general e. a. h. alderson, c.b., commanding the canadian corps appendix v honours and rewards granted appendix vi statement of casualties chapter i mobilisation war without warning--canada's loyalty--improvising an army--efforts of the minister of militia--camp at valcartier--canadian armada sails--arrival at plymouth--lord roberts's interest--king's visit to canadian camp--training completed--sailing for france. "o ye by wandering tempest sown neath every alien star, forget not whence the breath was blown that wafted you afar! for ye are still her ancient seed on younger soil let fall-- children of britain's island-breed to whom the mother in her need perchance may one day call." --william watson. war came upon us without warning, like a thunderbolt from a clear sky. our people were essentially non-military, fearing no aggression from a peace-loving neighbour, and ignorant of the imminence of german aggression. yet, in seven weeks, canada created the first apparatus of war. in seven weeks we assembled an army which, a few months later, was to save calais on the battlefield of langemarck. as a demonstration of practical loyalty the exertions of canada were only equalled by australia and new zealand. as an example of administration rising to an emergency, the effort has never been surpassed in military history. when the british ultimatum to germany demanding the recognition of the neutrality of belgium expired, the canadian government decided to raise an expeditionary force. as this news flashed across the dominion, the fires of patriotism, which had been smouldering, burst into flame in every province. parliament was in vacation, but the prime minister returned from the west and summoned his cabinet. the minister of militia was already at work in his office, for the proposal of the canadian government to raise , men had been accepted by the british government. within two months of the outbreak of war between great britain and germany, the dominion of canada concentrated, armed, and sent to europe an expeditionary force of , men. a voluntary army, the first complete canadian division ever assembled, with more than half a reserve division, this force was by far the greatest body of soldiers that had ever crossed the atlantic at one time. it comprised cavalry, artillery, infantry, engineers, signallers, supply and ammunition columns, field ambulances and hospital staffs, provided with all the apparatus required for the handling and treatment of the wounded; it carried its own complement of rifles, machine guns, field guns, and heavy artillery, and a store of ammunition. it was not the first time that canadians had taken up arms in defence of imperial interests. in the crimean war, canadians fought in the ranks of the british army. the indian mutiny saw the old prince of wales' royal canadian regiment at gibraltar and at malta. more than , canadians fought for england in the south african war. but now the empire was to be tested to its foundations. the minister of militia, major-general the hon. sir sam hughes, k.c.b., acted with the promptness and energy for which he was already famous in the dominion. in less than a month the government, which had asked for , men, found almost , at its disposal, and the minister of militia deemed it necessary to issue orders that no more recruits be enrolled for the first contingent. thus did canada answer the call. from the workshops and the offices of her cities, from the lumber camps of her forests, from the vast wheatfields of the west, from the farms and orchards of the east, from the slopes of the rockies, from the shores of hudson bay, from the mining valleys of british columbia, from the banks of the yukon, from the reaches of the st. lawrence, the manhood of canada hurried to arms. no mere jackboot militarism inspired them. they sought neither the glory of conquest nor the rape of freedom, nor the loot of sacked cities. no selfish ideal led them to leave their homes and exchange the ease and comforts of civil life for the sufferings of war and the risk of death. they came forward, free men and unconstrained, with a simple resolve to lay down their lives, if need be, in defence of the empire--their empire too--the very existence of which, as they swiftly saw, was menaced by the most formidable military combination which had ever sprung to arms. the first contingent was born partly of the glory of adventure but more of the spirit of self-sacrifice; and this spirit, in its turn, was born of the deepest emotions of the canadian people--its love of country, of liberty, and of right. the government, in deciding to raise a contingent for service in europe, were carrying out the national will, and when parliament entered upon its special session, some days after the declaration of war, unanimity prevailed. the prime minister spoke for all parties when he declared that canada stood "shoulder to shoulder with britain and the other british dominions in this quarrel." sir wilfrid laurier spoke of the "double honour" of canadians of french descent in the opportunity of "taking their place to-day in the ranks of the canadian army to fight for the cause of the allied nations." the government announced its further intention of raising a sum of fifty millions of dollars for war purposes. as soon as the policy of the government had been ratified, general hughes devised and ordered the establishment of the largest camp that had ever been seen on canadian soil. the site at valcartier was well chosen. it lay some sixteen miles to the west of quebec, within a day's march of the gathering transports. the soil was, in the main, light and sandy, and a river of pure water was available. yet the work of adapting this virgin soil to military purposes was enormous, and the transformation, effected within a fortnight by an army of engineers and workers, a remarkable triumph of applied science. roads were made, drains laid down, a water supply with miles of pipes installed, electric lighting furnished from quebec, and incinerators built for the destruction of dry refuse. a sanitary system, second to none that any camp has seen, was instituted. every company had its own bathing place and shower baths; every cookhouse its own supply of water. troughs of drinking-water, for horses, filled automatically, so that there was neither shortage nor waste. the standing crops were garnered, trees cut down and their roots torn up. a line of rifle targets -½ miles long--the largest rifle range in the world--was constructed. three miles of sidings were run out from the wayside station, and a camp telephone exchange was quickly put in working order. camp and army leaped to life in the same hours. within four days of the opening of the camp, nearly , men had arrived in it. a week later the number was , . in those august days all roads led to valcartier, and the railways rose to the occasion, gathering the first division to the rendezvous, from every corner of the country, in great trains, each of which carried and fed men. the assembling force comprised elements from every phase of canadian life. there were those whose names were known throughout the land. there were men who had fought at paardeburg--some of them "very barely" within the age limit of . one, who had retired from a colonelcy of a regiment, offered to serve as a private, so anxious was he to go. he was more than satisfied when he received a majority. another, who had spent his fifteenth birthday as a bugler in south africa, has since celebrated his third war birthday in the flemish trenches. the original intention of the authorities was to send to england a division, consisting of the regular complement of three infantry brigades; but, on september st, general hughes announced at the camp that a fourth brigade would be formed, to be used as drafts to supply the war wastage in the other three. towards the end of the month the government decided to send all four brigades over together. "the total reinforcements for the first year of a great war," said sir robert borden in announcing his decision, "are estimated at from to per cent. if the reserve depots necessary for supplying such reinforcements were established in canada, eight or ten weeks might elapse before they could reach the front.... for these reasons, as well as others, we deem it advisable that the reserves shall be kept on hand in great britain, as the force at the front must continually be kept at full strength, and that without the slightest unnecessary delay." while the new army underwent its preliminary training at valcartier, there were other preparations of every kind to be made. the cloth mills of montreal began to hum with the manufacture of khaki, which the needles of a great army of tailors converted into uniforms, greatcoats and cloaks. the ordnance department equipped the host with the ross rifle--a canadian-made arm. regiments were shuffled and reshuffled into battalions; battalions into brigades. the whole force was inoculated against typhoid. there were stores to manufacture and to accumulate; a fleet of transports to assemble; a thousand small cogs in the machine to be nicely adjusted. early in september, the whole first division was reviewed by the governor-general in a torrential downpour of rain; and again, towards the end of the month, a few days before embarkation, the duke of connaught (accompanied by the duchess and the princess patricia) took the salute at valcartier from the first army of canada. at this final review the contingent was fittingly led past the saluting base by the man whose name, more than any one other, will be linked in history with the first canadian division. general hughes had cause to be proud of the , men who marched past that day, fully armed and fully equipped, well within two months of the declaration of war in europe. the feat of raising such a force is all the more remarkable when one considers that, with the exception of the princess patricia's light infantry, the overwhelming majority of the men who volunteered for the great war were civilians, without previous experience or training. the "princess pats," as that already famous regiment is now commonly called, was the only one that consisted almost entirely of old soldiers. the governor-general's review over, news from the camp came fitfully. the censor was at work, and the public guessed rightly that the division was on the move. through the darkness and the rain and the mud of the night of september rd- th, the guns crawled down the sixteen miles of valley that brought them to quebec at daybreak, the men drenched, but happy in the knowledge that they were at last off to the war. the weather was so bad that the infantry, instead of marching, were brought down in a long succession of heavy trains. the embarkation of horses, men, guns and wagons was completed in less than three days. and so the first canadian division, with its reserves, sailed away down the st. lawrence, in a fleet of atlantic liners such as the mighty gateway of canada had never before borne on her bosom. the fleet assembled in gaspé basin, on the coast of quebec, where the warships which were to convoy it across the atlantic awaited it. on october rd the transports steamed out of gaspé bay in three lines ahead, led by his majesty's ships _charybdis_, _diana_, and _eclipse_, with the _glory_ and _suffolk_ on the flanks, and the _talbot_ in the rear. later, the _suffolk's_ place was taken by the battle-cruiser, _queen mary_. the sealing-ship _florizel_, with the newfoundland regiment aboard, joined the fleet after its departure from gaspé bay. the voyage was uneventful if rather long, the fleet entering plymouth sound on the evening of october th. so strict had been the censorship that the arrival of the canadian armada was quite unexpected by the people of plymouth and devonport; but no sooner had the word gone forth that the canadian transports had arrived, than the townsfolk flocked to the waterside, to cheer and sing, and cheer again. no one was allowed on board the transports, but, when on the succeeding days the troops were landed and marched through the streets, they received a welcome which they will never forget. hundreds of the men had relatives and friends who were anxious to catch a glimpse of them at the docks, but access was refused. the only exception made throughout the various disembarkations was in the case of the late field-marshal lord roberts. lieut.-general alderson[ ] had been appointed to the command of the contingent, and visited the commanding officers before the work of disembarkation began. the canadian division, the princess patricia's canadian light infantry, and the newfoundland regiment occupied camps on salisbury plain at bustard, west down south, west down north, pond farm, lark hill, and sling plantation. here the canadians remained until their departure for france. here, in the mud and cold and rain of those four dismal months, they worked and lived and displayed that spirit of endurance, courage, and willingness which has since proclaimed them to the world as troops of the finest quality. on the sodden grazing lands, in the fog and mud of the battalion lines, in the dripping tents and crowded, reeking huts, the men of canada gave promise of the great spirit they possessed, and their officers saw it and were proud. lord roberts visited the division soon after its arrival in england. it was the last public appearance of this great soldier in england, and the following are the principal points in his speech to the canadian troops:-- "we have arrived at the most critical moment of our history, and you have generously come to help us in our hour of need. * * * * * "three months ago we found ourselves involved in this war, a war not of our own seeking; but one which those who have studied germany's literature and germany's aspirations, knew was a war which we should inevitably have to deal with sooner or later. the prompt resolve of canada to give us such valuable assistance, has touched us deeply. that resolve has been quickened into action in a marvellously short space of time, under the excellent organising and driving power of your minister of militia--my friend, major-general hughes. * * * * * "we are fighting a nation which looks upon the british empire as a barrier to her development, and has, in consequence, long contemplated our overthrow and humiliation. to attain that end she has manufactured a magnificent fighting machine, and is straining every nerve to gain victory. * * * * * "it is only by the most determined efforts that we can defeat her."[ ] the king paid his first visit to our troops early in november. his majesty was accompanied by field-marshals lords roberts and kitchener, sir george perley, member of the canadian cabinet in charge of the office of the high commissioner in london,[ ] and sir richard mcbride, prime minister of british columbia. the princess patricia's canadian light infantry left salisbury plain early in december and joined the th british division. the regiment was brigaded with the rd king's royal rifles, th king's royal rifles, th rifle brigade, and nd king's shropshire light infantry. the king again visited the canadian troops on february th, ; and on the following day a division composed of three infantry brigades, three artillery brigades, ammunition column, divisional engineers, divisional mounted troops, and divisional train, marched off salisbury plain and entrained for their port of embarkation under the command of lieut.-general alderson. lieut.-colonel (now major-general) m. s. mercer commanded the st infantry brigade, which was composed of the st battalion (ontario regiment) under lieut.-colonel f. w. hill, the nd battalion under lieut.-colonel (now brigadier-general) david watson, the rd battalion (toronto regiment) under lieut.-colonel (now brigadier-general) r. rennie, and the th battalion under lieut.-colonel a. p. birchall, who was killed in action. the nd infantry brigade was commanded, by lieut.-colonel a. w. currie (now major-general), and his four battalions, the th, th, th, and th, were commanded respectively by lieut.-colonels g. s. tuxford, w. f. h. hart-mcharg, l. j. lipsett (now brigadier-general), and r. l. boyle. colonels hart-mcharg and boyle fell at ypres. colonel r. e. w. turner, v.c., d.s.o., who has since been promoted to the rank of major-general, commanded the rd infantry brigade, with lieut.-colonels f. o. w. loomis, f. s. meighen (now brigadier-general), j. a. currie, and r. g. e. leckie (since promoted to brigadier-general) commanding respectively the th battalion (royal highlanders of canada), the th battalion (royal montreal regiment), the th battalion ( th highlanders of canada), and the th battalion (canadian scottish). lieut.-colonel (now brigadier-general) h. e. burstall commanded the canadian artillery, with lieut.-colonels e. w. b. morrison (now brigadier-general), j. j. creelman and j. h. mitchell commanding artillery brigades. the officer commanding divisional engineers was lieut.-colonel c. j. armstrong (now brigadier-general); lieut.-colonel f. c. jameson was in command of the divisional mounted troops and major f. a. lister of the divisional signal company. the division sailed from avonmouth, and the last transport reached st. nazaire, on the bay of biscay, in the second week of february. the th, th, th, th, and th battalions were left in england as the base brigade of the division. these battalions were formed later into the canadian training depot; later still, together with reinforcements from canada, into the canadian training division, under the command of brigadier-general j. c. macdougall. such, in its principal commands, was the army which left canada for the great adventure. it carried with it, and it left behind, high hopes. it was certain that no men of finer physique or higher courage could be found anywhere in any theatre of this immense struggle. but there were some--and these neither faint-hearted nor unpatriotic--who recalled with anxiety the scientific organisation and the tireless patience with which germany had set herself to create the most superb military instrument which the world has ever seen. and they may have been forgiven if they asked themselves: "can civilians, however brave and intelligent, be made in a few months the equals of those inspired veterans who are swarming in triumph over the battlefields of europe?" "can generals, and staffs, and officers be improvised, able to compete with the scientific output of the most scientific general staff which has ever conceived and carried out military operations?" these were formidable questions, and even a bold man might have shrunk from a confident answer. the story of canada in flanders, however inadequately told, will make it unnecessary ever to ask them again. [ ] lieut.-general edwin alfred hervey alderson, c.b., has a distinguished record of service. he was born in , at ipswich, and began his military career with the militia, from which he passed to the regular army in december, . he joined the royal west kent regiment as second lieutenant, and was promoted to lieutenant in july, ; and in this year he first saw active service with the natal field force in the transvaal campaign. he was ordered to egypt in the following year, serving there with the mounted infantry. he was in two actions, at kassassin and at the battle of tel-el-kebir on september th. he received the medal with clasp and the khedive's bronze star. lieut. alderson took part in the nile expedition of - . he was promoted captain in june, , and major in may, , and received the brevet of lieut.-colonel in . in and he served in south africa under sir frederick carrington. in october, , he was given the command of the mounted infantry of the st cavalry brigade. his services throughout the south african campaign were constant and distinguished. in he was promoted colonel, and appointed to the command of the nd infantry brigade, st army corps. he became a major-general in , and in commanded the th division, southern army, india. his rank of lieut.-general dates from october th, . general alderson has received the honour of k.c.b. since this book was in the press. [ ] from _canada_ of october st, . [ ] when war was declared sir george perley, k.c.m.g., m.p., was in london, on his way from canada to attend a congress of the international parliamentary union for peace, at stockholm. he remained in england to act as high commissioner for canada, in succession to the late lord strathcona, whose place had not been filled. sir george is the first commissioner, from any dominion, of cabinet rank, and the advantage to canada is at once obvious. he is, of course, a man of vast business experience, and it would be difficult to over-estimate the services he has already rendered to the imperial government and the government of canada. chapter ii warfare "plug street"--british army in being--at general headquarters--rest billets--mud or death--the trenches--buzzing bullets--sir douglas haig--the front--restrictions on the narrative--reviewed by commander-in-chief--canadians in the trenches--our men take to football--"jack johnsons"--a german challenge--general alderson---the general's methods--his speech to the canadians--a fine force. "things 'ave transpired which made me learn the size and meanin' of the game. i did no more than others did, i don't know where the change began; i started as an average kid, i finished as a thinkin' man." --kipling. "the strong necessity of time commands our services awhile." _antony and cleopatra_. after a slow journey by rail of miles from the landing point in france, the canadians reached a wayside station which lies about twelve miles due west of ploegsteert--the war-historic "plug street" wood, which british regiments had already made famous. at this point the canadians were well within that triangle of country lying between st. omer to the west, the ruins of ypres to the east, and bethune to the south, which at that time contained the entire british army in france. it was one of the most remarkably interesting pieces of triangular territory imaginable, full of movement, romance, and the intricate detail of organisation. within it lay the already wonderful beginnings of the great british force as it is to-day, and i will do my best to make clear how, within that triangle, the first british army lived, moved, fought, and generally had its being. you must picture the british army in the field, spread out like a fan. the long, wavy edge of the fan is the line of men in the firing trenches, at the very forefront of affairs, often within a stone's-throw of the opposing german line. some hundreds of yards behind this firing line lie the support trenches, also filled with men. the men in the firing and supporting trenches exchange places every forty-eight hours. after a four days' spell they all retire for four days' rest, fresh troops taking their places as they move out. at the end of their four days' rest they return again to the trenches. all relieving movements are carried out in the dark to avoid the enemy's rifle fire. further back, along the ribs of the fan, one finds the headquarters of the many brigades; behind these, headquarters of divisions; then headquarters of army corps, then of armies--the groups becoming fewer and fewer in number as you recede--until, at the end of the fan handle, one reaches the general headquarters, where the commander-in-chief stands, with his hand on the dynamo which sends its impulses through every part of the great machine spread out in front. from general headquarters the movements of the entire british army, or rather of the several british armies, are directed and controlled. it is a war office in the field, with numerous branches closely co-ordinated and working together like a single machine. here is the operations office, where plans of attack are worked out under the direction of the commander-in-chief and his chief of staff. near by is the building occupied by the "signals" branch, which with its nerve system of telegraphs, telephones, and motor-cycle despatch riders, is the medium of communication with every part of the field, and also with the base of supplies and the war office in london. "signals" carries its wires to within rifle shot of the trenches, and every division of the army has its own field telephones from battalions headquarters to the firing line. close at hand is the office of the intelligence branch, which collects and communicates information about the enemy from every source it can tap. it receives and compares reports of statements made by prisoners, and interrogates some prisoners itself. it goes through documents, letters, diaries, official papers--captured in the field--and extracts points from these. it collects news from its own agents--it is only your enemy who calls them spies--about events that are happening, or are likely to happen, behind the screen of the enemy's lines. at general headquarters you find the department of the adjutant-general, who is responsible for the whole of the arrangements--keeping the army in the field supplied with men and munitions of war, for the transfer of all prisoners to the base, for the trial of offences against discipline, and for the spiritual welfare of the troops. from a neighbouring office the quartermaster-general controls the movements of food and fodder for men and horses, and all other stores, other than actual munitions of war. still another branch houses the director-general of medical service, who supervises the treatment of the wounded from the field aid post to the field clearing station, from there to the hospital train, and thence to the base hospital in france or great britain. one of the most fascinating spots at general headquarters is the map department. thousands of maps of various kinds and sizes have been produced here since the war began. they vary from large maps, to be hung on walls or spread on great tables, down to small slips--with a few lines of german trenches accurately outlined--and most handy for the use of battery and battalion commanders. remarkable photographs are also printed here--panoramic views and photographs of german positions, taken at very close quarters, often under fire. there are officers who specialise in this perilous and wonderful business. as one goes forward from general headquarters towards the edge of the fan, one comes in contact with more and more men, and realises quickly that, in spite of the hardships of trench warfare, our troops are superbly fit and ready for any task which the fortunes of war may impose on them. their physical condition remains so robust as to be astonishing. for instance, the evening that i reached the billeting area, i saw several battalions of the expeditionary force marching from their billets towards the trenches--they had been at the front for months, yet they stepped as freshly as though they were just from home or route-marching in english lanes. their faces shone with health; their eyes were as bright as those of a troop of schoolboys. they were, in fact, tramping down a long, straight, poplar-lined flemish highway, with a misty vista of flat ploughed land on either side. they whistled as they marched. the complete efficiency of the men is largely due to the excellence of their food. the army is, in fact, healthier than any other army that has ever faced war. typhoid is almost unknown. the amazing record of health owes much to the sanitary precautions which are taken. one of the most remarkable of these is the system of hot baths and the sterilising of clothing. bathing establishments have been put up in various parts of the field, and the largest of them is in a building which, before the war, was a jute factory. every hour of the day, successive companies of men have hot baths here. they strip to the skin, and while they wallow in huge vats of hot water, their clothing is treated with degrees of heat, which destroys all vermin. at first the small towns, the villages, and the many farmhouses and cottages within easy reach of the firing line provided all the rest billets. a great many men are billeted in this way still. i found, for instance, a company of territorials snugly resting in a huge farm, the officers having quarters in the farmhouse on the other side of the yard; but recently a large number of wooden huts have been put up in various places across the countryside, and here the men come back from the trenches to rest. they are tired when they come "home," but a sound sleep, a wash, a hearty breakfast, and a stroll in the fresh air--out of range of the insistent bullets--have a magical effect. in the afternoon you find them playing football as blithely as boys, and those who are not playing stand round and chaff and applaud. i saw as many games of football one day, in the course of a motor run behind the lines, as one would see on a saturday afternoon in england. every day brings its letters and newspapers--every rail-head has its little travelling letter office shunted into a siding. here the letters of a division are sorted. they average more than one letter a day for every man in the field. that is another reason why the army is in good spirits. no army in the world before ever got so much news from home, so regularly and so quickly. besides this, drafts of men are constantly being sent home--across the channel--for five or seven days' leave. the firing line is not much further from the base than london is from the sea. one passes on through the region of rest billets and headquarters of sections of troops, and arrives behind the firing line. when the canadians first landed, the british forces held a front between twenty and thirty miles long, running from ypres, on the north, where the seventh division made its heroic stand against the prussian guards, to givenchy, on the south, near the scene of the battle of neuve chapelle. this stretch had been held ever since the british troops made their swift dart from the aisne to flanders, hoping (how strange it seems now) to outflank the germans, and in fact, by immense exertions, defeating a far more formidable outflanking movement by the enemy. here they have maintained their ground. they lived and fought in seas of mud all through the winter. the water was pumped out of the trenches with hand-pumps, only to ooze back again through the sodden soil. plank platforms were put down, and straw was piled in. yet the mud smothered everything. the men stood in mud, sat in mud, and lay in mud. often it was as much as they could do to prevent the mud from clogging their rifles. they crawled through mud to the trenches when it was their time to relieve those in the firing line. they had to hide in the mud of the trenches to escape the german bullets. it was a choice of mud or death. with the arrival of spring, conditions were improved. there was less rain, and the winds had begun to dry the ground. on fine days there was even dust on the paved roads, although the quagmire of mud, each side of the centre strip of granite, still remained. the trench mud was becoming firmer. the line of trenches runs nearly everywhere through low-lying ground, intersected with watery ditches and small streams; the land is so level, and the atmosphere so heavy, that, as a rule, the eye ranges little further than a rifle bullet will carry. the nearer the firing line the more difficult you find it to set eyes on men. thousands of men are almost within hailing distance, but none are to be seen. friend and foe alike are hidden in the trenches. some of the most famous trenches are in a wood that is known to all the army as "plug street," although, as i have already made clear, it is spelled a little differently on the maps. to reach the trenches you have, of course, to come within rifle-shot of the enemy, for in most places the german and british trenches are not more than yards from each other, and here and there they are only or yards apart. one creeps and crawls at dusk along paths which months of experience has told the soldiers are the best means of approach; and one eventually scrambles into a communication trench which, in a number of zig-zags, leads you to the firing trench, where the men are waiting, rifle in hand, in case of attack, or now and again taking a snap-shot through a loophole in the trench parapet. the trenches in "plug street" are like all the other trenches--very exciting to think about before you reach them, but, unless you happen to arrive when shells are bursting overhead, comparatively dull and matter-of-fact when you are actually there. it is only the chance of death that gives them their peculiar interest over other holes excavated by men in clammy earth. the bee-like buzz of an occasional bullet overhead reminds you that death is searching for its prey. "plug street" has a fame which will endure. all through the first winter, the men squashed about in its awful mud, making quite a number of slimy, ankle-deep, or knee-deep lanes from point to point among the trees. in course of time each of the muddy woodland alleys received its nickname from the men in the ranks. such was the appearance and atmosphere of things at the front when the canadians first arrived. after a few days of special instruction they were billeted in the area of the first army under sir douglas haig. the divisional headquarters were located near estaires, with the brigade headquarters in advanced positions, and the "front" is clearly indicated by the sketch on page . i have described, as fully as is permissible, the general disposition and the general organisation of the british army in the field as it was when the canadians first set foot in france. it now becomes necessary to deal in detail with the "front"--that almost endless succession of warren-like lines where scores of thousands of men stand to arms by night and day, and where the canadian troops have already fought with a gallantry and a dash, and yet a tenacity, which have seldom, if ever, been equalled in military history. none can examine what, for want of a better name, is called the "front" of this amazing war, without realising the truth of what has been so often said--that it is a war almost without a "front." as one approaches from a distance the actual point of contact between the opposing forces, one is struck ever more and more by the immense numbers which are converging, as it seems, for some great military purpose. but the nearer the front approaches the more completely does all that is spectacular disappear, until, finally, the flower of the youth of europe vanishes and is swallowed up by immense but barely visible lines of field fortifications. and now the canadian division, too, has reached the front. the long, the tedious winter discomfort of salisbury plain, never resented but always disliked, already seems far away. no one in the canadian division grudges the honour which was paid to princess patricia's light infantry, to carry first the badge of canada on the battlefields of flanders. it was freely recognised that this regiment had arrived with greater technical knowledge and had reached a degree of efficiency which the other battalions could hardly equal without longer preparation. the fortunes of the princess patricias will be told in another chapter, but it can be said that the battalion has proved itself worthy of fighting side by side, and on equal terms, with the army of veterans and heroes which held the trenches during the first horrible winter in flanders. it is a story which will demand the utmost care in the telling, and, in any case, much that would be of the greatest interest must of necessity be omitted, because, in face of the superb organisation of the german intelligence department, it might be mischievous to publish details of units, and of their doings, as long as the general military formations in which these units play a part remain unchanged. it is out of respect for this consideration that the day for giving full honours to units by exact identification has so often to be postponed, so that the records of our men's heroism only appear when, in the maelstrom of fresh splendid deeds, they are already half forgotten. this volume, and those which it is hoped will follow it, must always be read in the light of these most necessary restrictions. nevertheless it is possible, while observing every rule which has been laid down for our guidance, to give a general picture of the canadian division, its surroundings and its doings, which, whether it interests other people or not, will not be read without emotion by those who sent their sons and brothers to the greatest battlefields of history in support of principles which, in their general application, are as important to the liberties of canada as they are to the liberties of europe. before the canadians took up their allotted positions in the trenches they marched past the commander-in-chief and his staff. those who watched the troops defile in the grey, square market-place of a typical flanders town, were experienced judges of the physique and quality of soldiers. no one desires in such a connection to use exaggerated language, and it is therefore unnecessary to say more than that the unanimous view of those who watched so intently and so critically, was that, judging the men by their physique and their soldierly swing, no more promising troops had come to swell our ranks since the day the expeditionary force landed in france. when the canadian troops first took their turn as a division in the trenches, nothing sensational happened to them. it was not their fortune, at the outset, to be swung forward in a desperate attack, or to cling in defensive tenacity to trenches which the germans had resolved to master. there were, of course, casualties. one does not enter or leave trenches without casualties, for the sniper never fails to claim his daily toll, but the early trench experiences of the canadians were not eventful, as one judges incidents in this war. this period of immunity, however, was all to the good. whatever else he is, the canadian is adaptable, and the experience of these weeks brought him more wisdom than others might have drawn from it. work in the trenches no longer involves, in respect of duration, the heartbreaking strain which was imposed upon all in the dark and anxious days of the autumn of , when a thin line of khaki held, often wholly unsupported by reserves, so immense a line against superior forces. trench work now, in relation to the period of exposure, is well within the powers of stout and resolute troops. for a certain period, relays of the force take their turn in holding their lines. when that period is passed they are relieved by their comrades. exciting, if occasionally monotonous, though life in the trenches may be, it is strange to a canadian, and deeply interesting, to study the tiny town in which the troops in repose are billeted, and the hustling life on which they have already stamped so much of their individuality. picture to yourself a narrow street, the centre paved, the sides of tenacious mud. line it on each side with houses, rather squalid, and with a few unimportant stores. add a château (not a grand one) for the headquarters, a modest office for the staff, and you have a fair conception of the billeting place which shelters that part of the division which reposes. but this town is like many other towns in this unattractive country. its interest to us lies in the tenants of the moment. walk down the street, and you will, if you are a canadian, feel at once something familiar and homelike in the atmosphere. one hears voices everywhere, and one does not need the sight of the brass shoulder badges, "canada," to know the race to which these voices belong. it may be the speech of nova scotia, it may be the voice of british columbia, or it may be the accents in which the french-canadian seeks to adapt to the french of flanders the tongue which his ancestors, centuries ago, carried to a new world; but, whichever it be--it is all canadian. and soon, a company swings by, going perhaps to bath parade--to that expeditious process which, in half an hour, has cleansed the bathers and fumigated every rag which they possess. and as they pass they sing carelessly, but with a challenging catch, a song which, if by chance you come from toronto, will perhaps stir some association. for these, or many of them, are boys from the college; and the song is the university song whose refrain is, "toronto." and if you go still a little further in the direction of the front, you will soon--very soon--after leaving the place of billeting, come to the country over which the great guns, by day and night, contend for mastery. and as one advances, there seem to be canadians everywhere. here are batteries, skilfully masked. here are supplies on their way to the trenches. and all the time can be seen reliefs and reserves until it is strange to meet anyone not in khaki and without the badge of "canada." the passion for football, which the canadian has begun to share with his english comrade, abates none of its keenness as he marches nearer to the front. a spirited match was in progress near our lines not long ago when a distracting succession of "weary willies" began to distribute themselves not very far from the football ground. the only people who took no notice were the players, and nothing short of a peremptory order from the provost marshal brought to an end a game which was somewhat unnecessarily dangerous. and our men have, of course, made the acquaintance of "jack johnson," and without liking him--for he is not likeable--they endure him with as much constancy as brave men need. nor, indeed, have our own artillery failed to do more than hold their own. the gunners inherited from the division which preceded them in the trenches a disagreeable inheritance in the shape of an observation post which had long harassed and menaced our lines by the information which it placed at the disposal of the enemy. we were so fortunate as to put it out of action in the third round which we fired--a success very welcome as an encouragement, and giving a substantial relief from an unwholesome scrutiny. our infantry were not specially engaged in the fighting at neuve chapelle, but our artillery played its part in that triumph of artillery science which preceded the british attack, and our men were ready during the whole fight for the order which, had the tactical situation so developed, would have sent them, too, to make their first assault upon the german trenches. and there were not a few who were longing for that order. they thought that the germans had presumed upon a slight acquaintance. for, the very first night on which our men were put into the trenches, the germans began to call out, "come out, you canadians! come out and fight!" now, the trenches at normal times have their own code of manners and of amenity, and this challenge was, and is, regarded as impertinent. the canadian brings his own phrases into his daily life. when the german flares in the trenches nervously lighted up the space between the two lines, "there are the northern lights" was the comment of canada; and "northern lights" they have remained to this day. it would be evidently impertinent to say more of the general officer commanding the force, general alderson, than that he enjoys the most absolute confidence of the fine force he commands. he trusts them, and they trust him; and it will be strange if their co-operation does not prove fruitful. and an observer is at once struck by the extraordinarily accurate knowledge which the general has gained of the whole body of regimental officers under his command. he seems to know them as well by name and sight, as if he had commanded the force for six years instead of six months. and this is a circumstance which, in critical moments, counts for much. general alderson's methods--his practical and soldierly style--could not be better illustrated than by some extracts from the speech which he addressed to the troops before they went into the trenches for the first time:-- "all ranks of the canadian division: we are about to occupy and maintain a line of trenches. i have some things to say to you at this moment which it is well that you should consider. you are taking over good and, on the whole, dry trenches. i have visited some myself. they are intact, and the parapets are good. let me warn you first that we have already had several casualties while you have been attached to other divisions. some of those casualties were unavoidable, and that is war. but i suspect that some--at least a few--could have been avoided. i have heard of cases in which men have exposed themselves with no military object, and perhaps only to gratify curiosity. we cannot lose good men like this. we shall want them all if we advance, and we shall want them all if the germans advance. do not expose your heads, and do not look round corners, unless for a purpose which is necessary at the moment you do it. it will not often be necessary. you are provided with means of observing the enemy without exposing your heads. to lose your lives without military necessity is to deprive the state of good soldiers. young and brave men enjoy taking risks. but a soldier who takes unnecessary risks through levity, is not playing the game. and the man who does so is stupid, for whatever be the average practice of the german army, the individual shots they employ as snipers shoot straight, and, screened from observation behind the lines, they are always watching. and if you put your head over the parapet without orders they will hit that head. "there is another thing. troops new to the trenches always shoot at nothing the first night. you will not do it. it wastes ammunition and it hurts no one. and the enemy says: 'these are new and nervous troops.' you will be shelled in the trenches. when you are shelled, sit low and sit tight. this is easy advice, for there is nothing else to do. if you get out you will only get it worse. and if you go out the germans will go in. and if the germans go in, we shall counter-attack and put them out; and that will cost us hundreds of men, instead of the few whom shells may injure. the germans do not like the bayonet, nor do they support bayonet attacks. if they get up to you, or if you get up to them, go right in with the bayonet. you have the physique to drive it home. that you will do it i am sure, and i do not envy the germans if you get among them with the bayonet. "there is one thing more. my old regiment, the royal west kents, has been here since the beginning of the war, and it has never lost a trench. the army says, 'the west kents never budge.' i am proud of the great record of my old regiment. and i think it is a good omen. i now belong to you and you belong to me; and before long the army will say: 'the canadians never budge.' lads, it can be left there, and there i leave it. the germans will never turn you out." i may, before concluding the present chapter, point out that the most severe military critics, both in england and in france, are loud in their admiration of the organising power which, in a non-military country, has produced so fine a force in so short a time. in equipment, in all the countless details which in co-ordination mean efficiency, the division holds its own with any division at the war. this result was only made possible by labour, zeal, and immense driving power, and these qualities were exhibited in canada at the outbreak of war by all those whose duties lay in the work of improvisation. chapter iii neuve chapelle canadians' valuable help--a ride in the dark--pictures on the road--towards the enemy--at the cross-roads--"six kilometres to neuve chapelle"--terrific bombardment--grandmotherly howitzers--british aeroplanes--fight with a taube--flying man's coolness--attack on the village--german prisoners--a banker from frankfort--the indians' pride--a halt to our hopes--object of neuve chapelle--what we achieved--german defences under-rated--machine gun citadels--great infantry attack--unfortunate delays--sir john french's comments--british attack exhausted--failure to capture aubers ridge--"digging in"--canadian division's baptism of fire--"casualties"--trenches on ypres salient. "the glory dies not, and the grief is past."--brydges. "during the battle of neuve chapelle the canadians held a part of the line allotted to the first army, and, although they were not actually engaged in the main attack, they rendered valuable help by keeping the enemy actively employed in front of their trenches."--_sir john french's despatch on the battle of neuve chapelle, which began on march_ _th_, . it was night when i left the canadian divisional headquarters and motored in a southerly direction towards neuve chapelle. it was the eve of the great attack, and in the bright space of light cast by the motor lamps along the road, there came a kaleidoscopic picture of tramping men. here at the front there is no need of police restrictions on motor headlights at night as there is in london and on english country roads. the law under which you place yourself is the range of the enemy's guns. beyond that limit you are free to turn your headlights on, and there is no danger. but, once within the range of rifle fire or shell, you turn your lights on at the peril of your own life. so you go in darkness. as we rode along with lamps lit, thousands of khaki-clad men were marching along that road--marching steadily in the direction of neuve chapelle. the endless stream of their faces flashed along the edge of the _pavé_ in the light of our lamps. their ranked figures, dim one moment in the darkness, sprang for an instant into clear outline as the light silhouetted them against the background of the night. then they passed out of the light again and became once more a legion of shadows, marching towards dawn and neuve chapelle. the tramp of battalion after battalion was not, however, the tramp of a shadow army, but the firm, relentless, indomitable step of armed and trained men. every now and then there came a cry of "halt," and the columns came on the instant to a stand. minutes passed, and the command for the advance rang out. the columns moved again. so it went on--halt--march--halt--march--hour by hour through the night along that congested road--a river of men and guns. for while in one direction men were marching, in the other direction came batteries of guns, bound by another route for their position in front of neuve chapelle. the two streams passed one another--legions of men and rumbling, clattering lines of artillery, all moving under screen of the dark, towards the line of trenches where the enemy lay. this was no time to risk a block in traffic, and my motor, swerving off the paved centre of the road, sank to her axles in the quagmire of thick, sticky mud at the side. the guns passed, and we sought to regain the paved way again, but our wheels spun round, merely churning dirt. we could not move out of that pasty flemish mud, until a canadian ambulance wagon came to our aid. the unhitched horses were made fast to the motor, and they heaved the car out of her clinging bed. in the early morning i came to the cross roads. the signpost planted at the crossing and pointing down the road to the south-east bore the inscription "six kilometres to neuve chapelle." this was the road that the legions had taken. it led almost in a straight line to the trenches that were to be stormed, to the village behind them that was to be captured, and to the town of la bassée, a few kilometres further on, strongly held by the germans. "six kilometres to neuve chapelle "--barely four miles; one hour's easy walking, let us say, on such a clear, fresh morning; or five minutes in a touring car if the time had been peace. but who knew how many hours of bloody struggle would now be needed to cover that short level stretch of "six kilometres to neuve chapelle"! between this signpost and the village towards which it pointed the way, many thousands of armed men--sons of the empire--had come from britain, from india, from all parts of the dominions overseas, to take their share in driving the wedge down to the end of this six kilometres of country road, and through the heart of the german lines. here for a moment they paused. what hopes, what fears, what joys, what sorrows, triumphs and tragedies were suggested by that austere signpost, pointing "like death's lean-lifted forefinger" down that little stretch of road marked "six kilometres to neuve chapelle"! i went on foot part of the way here, for so many battalions of men were massed that motor traffic was impossible. these were troops held in reserve. those selected for the initial infantry attack were already in the trenches ahead right and left of the further end of the road, waiting on the moment of the advance. i had just passed the signpost when the comparative peace of morning was awfully shattered by the united roar and crash of hundreds of guns. this broke out precisely at half-past seven. the exact moment had been fixed beforehand for the beginning of a cannonade more concentrated and more terrific than any previous cannonade in the history of the world. it continued with extraordinary violence for half-an-hour, all calibres of guns taking part in it. some of the grandmotherly british howitzers hurled their enormously destructive shells into the german lines, on which a hurricane of shrapnel was descending from a host of smaller guns. the german guns and trenches offered little or no reply, for the enemy were cowering for shelter from that storm. i turned towards the left and watched for awhile the good part which the canadian artillery played in that attack. the canadian division, which was a little further north than neuve chapelle, waited in its trenches, hoping always for the order to advance. then i passed down the road until i came to a minor crossways where a famous general stood in the midst of his staff. motor despatch riders dashed up the road, bringing him news of the progress of the bombardment. the news was good. the general awaited the moment when the cannonade should cease, as suddenly as it had begun, and he should unleash his troops. indian infantry marched down the road and saluted the general as they passed. he returned the salute and cried to the officer at the head of the column, "good luck." the officer was an indian, who, with a smile, replied in true oriental fashion: "our division has doubled in strength, general-sahib, since it has seen you." while the bombardment continued, british aeroplanes sailed overhead and crossed over to the german lines. the germans promptly turned some guns on them. we saw white ball-puffs of smoke as the shrapnel shells burst in front, behind, above, below, and everywhere around the machines, but never near enough to hit. they hovered like eagles above the din of the battle, surveying and reckoning the damage which our guns inflicted, and reporting progress. [illustration: map--line occupied by british in march ] once a german taube rose in the air and lunged towards the british lines. then began a struggle for the mastery, which goes to the machine which can mount highest and fire down upon its enemy. the taube ringed upwards. a couple of british aeroplanes circled after it. to and fro and round and round they went, until the end came. the british machines secured the upper air, and soon we saw that the taube was done. probably the pilot had been wounded. the machine drooped and swooped uneasily till, like a wounded bird, it streaked down headlong far in the distance. i walked over to where a british aeroplane was about to start on a flight. the young officer of the royal flying corps in charge was as cool as though he were taking a run in a motor-car at home. "as a matter of fact," he said, "i wanted change and rest. i had spent five months in the trenches, and was worn out and tired by the everlasting monotony and drudgery of it all. so i applied for a job in the flying corps. it soothes one's nerves to be up in the air for a bit after living down in the mud for so long." i watched him soar up into the morning sky and saw numerous shrapnel bursts chasing him as he sailed about over the german lines. what a quiet, easy-going holiday was this, dodging about in the air, a clear mark for the enemy's guns! but, to tell the truth, the british flying men and machines are very rarely hit. flying in war-time is not so perilous as it looks, though it needs much skill and a calm, collected spirit. at length the din of the gunfire ceased, and we knew that the british troops were rushing from their trenches to deal with the germans, whose nerve the guns had shaken. astounded as they had been by our artillery fire, the germans were still more amazed by the rapidity of the infantry attack. the british soldiers and the indians swept in upon them instantly till large numbers threw down their weapons, scrambled out of their trenches, and knelt, hands up, in token of surrender. the fight swept on far beyond the german trenches, through the village, and beyond that again. the big guns occasionally joined in, and the chatter of the machine-guns rose and broke off. now the motor ambulances began to come back--up that road down which the finger pointed to neuve chapelle. they lurched past us as we stood by the signpost in an intermittent stream, bearing the wounded men from the fight. presently the cheerful sight of german prisoners alternated with the saddening procession of ambulances. large squads of prisoners went by, many hatless and with dirt-smeared faces, their uniforms looking as though dipped in mustard, the effect of the bursting of the british lyddite shells among them in their trenches. the dejection of defeat was on their faces. some of them were halted and were questioned by the general. one man turned out to be a frankfort banker, whose chief concern later was what would become of his money, which he said had been taken charge of by some of his captors. he was also anxious to know where he would be imprisoned, and seemed relieved, if not delighted, when he heard that it would be in england. another prisoner had been a hairdresser in dresden. the general questioned him, and he gave an entertaining account of his experiences as a soldier. "i am a landwehr man," he said. "i was in germany when i was ordered to entrain. presently the train drew up and i was ordered to get out, and was told i had to go and attack a place called neuve chapelle. so i went on with others, and soon we came into a hell of fire, and we ran onwards and got into a trench, and there the hell was worse than ever. we began to fire our rifles. suddenly i heard shouting behind me, and looked round and saw a large number of indians between me and the rest of the german army. i then looked at the other german soldiers in the trench and saw that they were throwing their rifles out of the trench. well, i am a good german, but i did not want to be peculiar, so i threw my rifle out also, and then i was taken prisoner and brought here. although i have not been long at the war, i have had enough of it. i never saw daylight in the battlefield until i was a prisoner." some of the prisoners were brought along by the indian troops who had captured them. they complained bitterly that they, germans, should be marched about in the custody of indians! they did not understand the grimly humorous reply: "if the indians are good enough to take you, they are good enough to keep you." the indians smiled with delight, for they are particularly fond of making prisoners of germans. most of them brought back their little trophies of the fight, which they held out for inspection with a smile, crying, "souvenir!" the stream of prisoners and of wounded passed on. the fury of battle relaxed. now and then some of the guns still crashed, but the machine guns rattled further and further away, and the crackle of the rifle fire came from a distance. the british army had traversed in triumph those "six kilometres to neuve chapelle." at neuve chapelle it halted, and there halted, too, the hopes of an early and conclusive victory for the allied forces. the enemy's outposts had been driven in, but beyond these, their fortified places bristled with machine guns, which wrought havoc on our troops, and, indeed, brought the successful offensive to a close. controversy has arisen over the disappointing results which were achieved. for a month after the battle, neuve chapelle was heralded by the public as a great british victory. but doubt followed confidence, and in a few weeks the "victory" was described as a failure. the truth lies between these extremes. the object of this battle of neuve chapelle was to give our men a new spirit of offensive and to test the british fighting machine which had been built up with so much difficulty on the western front. besides, if this attack succeeded in destroying the german lines, it would be possible to gain the aubers ridge which dominates lille. that ridge once firmly held in our hands, the city should have been ours. that would have been a great victory. it would probably have meant the end of the german occupation of this part of france. in any case it must have had a marked effect upon the whole progress of the war.[ ] that was what we hoped to do. what we actually accomplished was the winning of about a mile of territory along a three-mile front, and the straightening of our line. the price was too high for the result. it was the first great effort ever made by the british to pierce the german line since it had been established after the open field battles of the marne and the aisne. the british troops had faced the german lines for months, and while the fundamental principles of the german defences were fairly well understood, their real strength was very much underrated. things went badly from the beginning of the action. the artillery "preparation" represented quite the most formidable bombardment the british had so far made, but even so, it was ineffective along certain sections of the line. after the way had been paved by shrapnel and high explosive, the british infantry moved forward in a splendid offensive to secure what everyone believed would be a decisive victory; and trained observers of the battle were under the impression that the gallant british infantry had won their end. this is an impression, too, which was shared by some of the men for a time. for many months the british had been almost entirely on the defensive, and over and over again been called on to repulse heavy, massed german attacks. the casualties sustained in repulsing these attacks first revealed our shortage of machine-guns. what they lacked in machine-guns, however, the british troops made up for in a deadly accuracy of rifle fire, which was at once the terror and the admiration of the germans. the british had thus come to an exaggerated idea of the efficacy of rifle fire, and a consequent over-estimate of the importance of the german first line trenches. over these they swarmed, and the word went forth that the day was won. it was only when the british troops had occupied the enemy's first and second line trenches, they discovered that, in actual fact, they had not done more than drive in the outposts of an army. close at hand, the germans' third line loomed up like a succession of closely interlocked citadels. nay, more, those citadels were so constructed that the trenches from which our men had ousted the enemy with so much heroism and loss were deathtraps for the new tenants. the circumstances were such that to retire meant acknowledgment of failure, and to hang on, a grisly slaughter. even so, there were features of the situation which made for hope. there were positions to be won which would very seriously jeopardise the whole german scheme of defence; but, at the critical moment of the battle, the advanced troops seem to have passed beyond the control of the various commanders in the rear on account of the misty weather. the real tragedy, however, was the non-arrival of the supports at a point and at a time when the appearance of reserves might have made all the difference to the fortunes of the day. the enemy was still bewildered and demoralised, and, but for the delay, might have been completely routed. unfortunately, the british front was in great need of straightening out. the rd brigade continued to hang up the th division, while the th brigade was fighting along a portion of the front where it was not supposed to be at all. units had to be disentangled and the whole line straightened before further advance could be made. the fatal result was a delay which, sir john french says, would never have occurred had the "clearly expressed orders of the general officer commanding the st army been more carefully observed." sir douglas haig himself hurried up to set things right, but it was then too late to retrieve the failure which had been occasioned by delay. the attack was thoroughly exhausted, its sting was gone, and the enemy had pulled himself together. night was falling, and there was nothing to be done but "dig in" beneath the ridge above lille, the capture of which would have altered the whole story of the campaign on the western front. as i have said, the canadian infantry took no part in the battle, though the troops waited impatiently and expectantly for the order to advance, but the activity of the canadian artillery was considerable and important. the canadian guns took their full share in the "preparation" for the subsequent british infantry attack, and the observation work of our gunners was good and continuous. after neuve chapelle, quiet reigned along the canadian trenches, though the battle raged to the north of us at st. eloi, and the princess patricia's battalion was involved. early in the last days of march our troops were withdrawn and retired to rest camps. the canadians had received their baptism of fire, and in extremely favourable circumstances. they had not been called on to make any desperate attacks on the german lines. nor had the germans launched any violent assaults upon theirs. the infantry had sustained a few casualties, but that was all; while german artillery practice against our trenches had been curtailed on account of the violent fighting both to the south and the north. on the other hand, we had been surrounded by all the circumstances of great battles. we had watched the passage of the giant guns, of which the british made use for the first time at neuve chapelle, and we had moved and lived and stood to arms amid all the stir and accessories of vehement war. the guns had boomed their deadly message in our ears, we had seen death in many forms, and understood to the full the meaning of "casualties," while, day by day, the aeroplanes wheeled and circled overhead, passing and re-passing to the enemy's lines. the canadians had come to make war, and had dwelt in the midst of it, and after their turn in the trenches many of them, no doubt, accounted themselves war-worn veterans. little they knew of the ordeals of the future. little they dreamt, when towards the middle of the month of april they were sent to take over french trenches in the ypres salient, that they were within a week of that terrible but wonderful battle which has consecrated this little corner of flanders for canadian generations yet unborn. [ ] the scheme of the attack on neuve chapelle had been worked out by general john gough just before he was killed, and it was explained to his corps commanders by sir john french on may th as follows:--the st army was to launch the main assault, the th corps being on the left flank and the indian corps on the right. to hold up the enemy all along the line, and to prevent his massing reinforcements to meet the main attack, two other supplementary attacks were also to be made--one attack by the st corps from givenchy, and the other by the rd corps--detailed from the nd army for that purpose--to the south of armentières. chapter iv ypres canadians' glory--a civilian force--ypres salient--poelcappelle road--disposition of troops--gas attack on french--plight of the rd brigade--filling the gap--general turner's move--loss of british guns--canadian valour--st. julien--attack on the wood--terrible fire--officer casualties--reinforcements--geddes detachment--second canadian brigade bent back--desperate position--terrible casualties--col. birchall's death--magnificent artillery work--canadian left saved--canadians relieved--story of rd brigade--gas attack on canadians--canadian recovery--major norsworthy killed--major mccuaig's stand--disaster averted--col. hart-mcharg killed--major odlum--general alderson's efforts--british reinforce canadians-- rd brigade withdraws--general currie stands fast--trenches wiped out--fresh gas attack--germans take st. julien--british cheer canadians--canadians relieved--heroism of men--col. watson's dangerous mission--the ghurkas' dead--record of all units--our graveyard in flanders. "if my neighbour fails, more devolves upon me." --wordsworth. "gloucester, 'tis true that we are in great danger; the greater therefore should our courage be." --shakespeare. the fighting in april, in which the canadians played so glorious a part, cannot, of course, be described with precision of military detail until time has made possible the co-ordination of all the relevant diaries, and the piecing together in a narrative both lucid and exact of much which is confused and blurred.[ ] [illustration: map of ypres and area] the battle which raged for so many days in the neighbourhood of ypres was bloody, even as men appraise battles in this callous and life-engulfing war. but as long as brave deeds retain the power to fire the blood of anglo-saxons, the stand made by the canadians in those desperate days will be told by fathers to their sons; for in the military records of canada this defence will shine as brightly as, in the records of the british army, the stubborn valour with which sir james macdonnel and the guards beat back from hougoumont the division of foy and the army corps of reille. the canadians wrested from the trenches, over the bodies of the dead and maimed, the right to stand side by side with the superb troops who, in the first battle of ypres, broke and drove before them the flower of the prussian guards. looked at from any point, the performance would be remarkable. it is amazing to soldiers, when the genesis and composition of the canadian division are considered. it contained, no doubt, a sprinkling of south african veterans, but it consisted in the main of men who were admirable raw material, but who at the outbreak of war were neither disciplined nor trained, as men count discipline and training in these days of scientific warfare. it was, it is true, commanded by a distinguished english general. its staff was supplemented, without being replaced, by some brilliant british staff officers. but in its higher and regimental commands were to be found lawyers, college professors, business men, and real estate agents, ready with cool self-confidence to do battle against an organisation in which the study of military science is the exclusive pursuit of laborious lives. with what devotion, with a valour how desperate, with resourcefulness how cool and how fruitful, the amateur soldiers of canada confronted overwhelming odds may, perhaps, be made clear even by a narrative so incomplete as this. the salient of ypres has become familiar to all students of the campaign in flanders. like all salients, it was, and was known to be, a source of weakness to the forces holding it; but the reasons which have led to its retention are apparent, and need not be explained. on april nd the canadian division held a line of, roughly, five thousand yards, extending in a north-westerly direction from the ypres-roulers railway to the ypres-poelcappelle road, and connecting at its terminus with the french troops.[ ] the division consisted of three infantry brigades, in addition to the artillery brigades. of the infantry brigades the first was in reserve, the second was on the right, and the third established contact with the allies at the point indicated above. the day was a peaceful one, warm and sunny, and except that the previous day had witnessed a further bombardment of the stricken town of ypres,[ ] everything seemed quiet in front of the canadian line. at five o'clock in the afternoon a plan, carefully prepared, was put into execution against our french allies on the left. asphyxiating gas of great intensity was projected into their trenches, probably by means of force pumps and pipes laid out under the parapets. the fumes, aided by a favourable wind, floated backwards, poisoning and disabling over an extended area those who fell under their effects. the result was that the french were compelled to give ground for a considerable distance.[ ] the glory which the french army has won in this war would make it impertinent to labour the compelling nature of the poisonous discharges under which the trenches were lost. the french did, as everyone knew they would, all that stout soldiers could, and the canadian division, officers and men, look forward to many occasions in the future in which they will stand side by side with the brave armies of france. the immediate consequences of this enforced withdrawal were, of course, extremely grave. the rd brigade of the canadian division was without any left, or, in other words, its left was "in the air." the following rough diagrams may make the position clear. [illustration: map--ypres--position before discharge of gas] contrast this with the diagram on the following page. [illustration: map--ypres--position after discharge of gas] it became imperatively necessary greatly to extend the canadian lines to the left rear. it was not, of course, practicable to move the st brigade from reserve at a moment's notice, and the line, extended from , to , yards, was naturally not the line that had been held by the allies at five o'clock, and a gap still existed on its left. the new line, of which our recent point of contact with the french formed the apex, ran, quite roughly, as follows:-- [illustration: map--ypres--position on friday morning] as shown above, it became necessary for brigadier-general turner (now major-general), commanding the rd brigade, to throw back his left flank southward, to protect his rear. in the course of the confusion which followed on the readjustment of the position, the enemy, who had advanced rapidly after his initial successes, took four british . guns, lent by the nd london division to support the french, in a small wood to the west of the village of st. julien, two miles in the rear of the original french trenches. the story of the second battle of ypres is the story of how the canadian division, enormously outnumbered--for they had in front of them at least four divisions, supported by immensely heavy artillery--with a gap still existing, though reduced, in their lines, and with dispositions made hurriedly under the stimulus of critical danger, fought through the day and through the night, and then through another day and night; fought under their officers: until, as happened to so many, these perished, gloriously, and then fought from the impulsion of sheer valour because they came from fighting stock. the enemy, of course, was aware--whether fully or not may perhaps be doubted--of the advantage his breach in the line had given him, and immediately began to push a formidable series of attacks on the whole of the newly-formed canadian salient. if it is possible to distinguish, when the attack was everywhere so fierce, it developed with particular intensity at this moment on the apex of the newly-formed line running in the direction of st. julien. it has already been stated that four british guns were taken in a wood comparatively early in the evening of april nd. the general officer commanding the canadian division had no intention of allowing the enemy to retain possession of either the wood or the guns without a desperate struggle, and he ordered a counter-attack towards the wood to be made by the rd infantry brigade under general turner. this brigade was then reinforced by the nd battalion under lieut.-colonel (now brigadier-general) watson and the rd (toronto) battalion under lieut.-colonel rennie (now also a brigadier-general), both of the st brigade. the th battalion (british columbia regiment), from the nd brigade, had by this time occupied entrenchments in support of the rd brigade. the th battalion of the nd brigade, intercepted on its way up as a working party, was also placed in support of the rd brigade. the assault upon the wood was launched shortly after midnight of april nd- rd by the th battalion and th (canadian scottish) battalion, respectively commanded by lieut.-colonel boyle and lieut.-colonel (now brigadier-general) r. g. e. leckie. the advance was made under the heaviest machine gun and rifle fire, the wood was reached, and, after a desperate struggle by the light of a misty moon, they took the position at the point of the bayonet. an officer who took part in the attack describes how the men about him fell under the fire of the machine guns, which, in his phrase, played upon them "like a watering pot." he added quite simply, "i wrote my own life off." but the line never wavered. when one man fell another took his place, and, with a final shout, the survivors of the two battalions flung themselves into the wood. the german garrison was completely demoralised, and the impetuous advance of the canadians did not cease until they reached the far side of the wood and entrenched themselves there in the position so dearly gained. they had, however, the disappointment of finding that the guns had been destroyed by the enemy, and later in the same night, a most formidable concentration of artillery fire, sweeping the wood as a tropical storm sweeps the leaves from the trees of a forest, made it impossible for them to hold the position for which they had sacrificed so much. [illustration: map--st. julien and area] within a few hours of this attack, the th canadian battalion was again ordered to advance by lieut.-colonel boyle, late a rancher in the neighbourhood of calgary. the assault was made upon a german trench which was being hastily constructed within two hundred yards of the battalion's right front. machine gun and rifle fire opened upon the battalion at the moment the charge was begun, and colonel boyle fell almost instantly with his left thigh pierced in five places. major maclaren, his second in command, was also wounded at this time. battalion stretcher-bearers dressed the colonel's wounds and carried him back to the battalion first aid station. from there he was moved to vlamertinghe field hospital, and from there again to poperinghe. he was unconscious when he reached the hospital, and died shortly afterwards without regaining consciousness. major maclaren, already wounded, was killed by a shell while on his way to the hospital. the command of the th battalion passed to major d. m. ormond, who was wounded. major guthrie, a lawyer from fredericton, new brunswick, a member of the local parliament and a very resolute soldier, then took command of the battalion. the fighting continued without intermission all through the night of april nd- rd, and to those who observed the indications that the attack was being pushed with ever-growing strength, it hardly seemed possible that the canadians, fighting in positions so difficult to defend and so little the subject of deliberate choice, could maintain their resistance for any long period. reinforcements of british troops, commanded by colonel geddes, of the buffs, began to arrive in the gap early on friday morning. these reinforcements, consisting of three and a half battalions of the th division--drawn from the buffs, king's own royal leinsters, middlesex, and york and lancasters--and other units which joined them from time to time, became known as geddes' detachment. the grenadier company of a battalion of the northumberland fusiliers, numbering two officers and men, who were on their way to rejoin their division after eight days of trench-fighting at hill , encountered colonel geddes' force and joined it.[ ] at a.m. on friday, the nd canadian brigade was still intact, but the rd canadian brigade, on the left, was bent back upon st. julien. it became apparent that the left was becoming more and more involved, and a powerful german attempt to outflank it developed rapidly. the consequences, if it had been broken or outflanked, need not be insisted upon. they would not have been merely local. it was therefore decided, formidable as the attempt undoubtedly was, to try to give relief by a counter-attack upon the first line of german trenches, now far, far advanced from those originally occupied by the french. the attack was carried out at . a.m. by the st (ontario) battalion and the th battalion of the st brigade, under brigadier-general mercer, acting with geddes' detachment. the th battalion was in advance and the st in support, under the covering fire of the st canadian artillery brigade. it is safe to say that the youngest private in the ranks, as he set his teeth for the advance, knew the task in front of him, and the youngest subaltern knew all that rested on its success. it did not seem that any human being could live in the shower of shot and shell which began to play upon the advancing troops. they suffered terrible casualties. for a short time every other man seemed to fall, but the attack was pressed ever closer and closer. the th canadian battalion at one moment came under a particularly withering fire. for a moment--not more--it wavered. its most gallant commanding officer, lieut.-colonel birchall, carrying, after an old fashion, a light cane, coolly and cheerfully rallied his men, and at the very moment when his example had infected them, fell dead at the head of his battalion. with a hoarse cry of anger they sprang forward (for, indeed, they loved him) as if to avenge his death. the astonishing attack which followed, pushed home in the face of direct frontal fire, made in broad daylight by battalions whose names should live for ever in the memories of soldiers, was carried to the first line of the german trenches. after a hand-to-hand struggle, the last german who resisted was bayoneted, and the trench was won. the measure of our success may be taken when it is pointed out that this trench represented, in the german advance, the apex in the breach which the enemy had made in the original line of the allies, and that it was two and a half miles south of that line. this charge, made by men who looked death indifferently in the face--for no man who took part in it could think that he was likely to live--saved, and that was much, the canadian left. but it did more. [illustration: map-- st canadian division situation at a.m. april rd, ] up to the point where the assailants conquered, or died, it secured and maintained during the most critical moment of all, the integrity of the allied line. for the trench was not only taken--it was held thereafter against all comers, and in the teeth of every conceivable projectile, until the night of sunday, april th, when all that remained of the war-broken but victorious battalions was relieved by fresh troops. in this attack, the work of the st artillery brigade was extremely efficient. under the direction of lieut.-colonel morrison, whose services have gained him the command of the artillery of the nd division with the rank of brigadier-general, the battery of four -pounders was strengthened, in the afternoon, with two heavier guns. captain t. e. powers, of the signal company attached to general mercer's command, maintained communication throughout with the advanced line of the attack under a heavy shell fire that cut the signal wires continually. the work of the company was admirable, and was rendered at the price of many casualties. it is necessary now to return to the fortunes of the rd brigade, commanded by general turner, which, as we have seen, at five o'clock on thursday was holding the canadian left, and after their first attack assumed the defence of the new canadian salient, at the same time sparing all the men it could to form an extemporised line between the wood and st. julien. this brigade was also at the first moment of the german offensive made the object of an attack by a discharge of poisonous gas. the discharge was followed by two enemy assaults.[ ] although the fumes were extremely poisonous, they were not, perhaps, having regard to the wind, so disabling as on the french lines (which ran almost east to west), and the brigade, though affected by the fumes, stoutly beat back the two german assaults. encouraged by this success, it rose to the supreme effort required by the assault on the wood, which has already been described. at a.m. on the morning of friday, the rd, a fresh emission of gas was made both on the nd brigade, which held the line running north-east, and on the rd brigade, which, as has been fully explained, had continued the line up to the pivotal point as defined above, and had there spread down in a south-easterly direction. it is, perhaps, worth mentioning that two privates of the th highlanders, who found their way into the trenches commanded by lieut.-colonel (now brig.-general) lipsett ( th winnipeg rifles), th battalion, perished in the fumes, and it was noticed that their faces became blue immediately after dissolution. the royal highlanders of montreal, th battalion, and the th highlanders, th battalion, were more especially affected by the discharge. the royal highlanders, though considerably shaken, remained immovable on their ground. the th highlanders, who no doubt received a more poisonous discharge, were for the moment dismayed, and, indeed, their trench, according to the testimony of very hardened soldiers, became intolerable. the battalion retired from the trench, but for a very short distance and for a very short time. in a few moments they were again their own men. they advanced on and reoccupied the trenches which they had momentarily abandoned. in the course of the same night, the rd brigade, which had already displayed a resource, a gallantry, and a tenacity for which no eulogy could be excessive, was exposed (and with it the whole allied cause) to a peril still more formidable. it has been explained, and, indeed, the fundamental situation made the peril clear, that several german divisions were attempting to crush or drive back this devoted brigade, and in any event to use their enormous numerical superiority to sweep around and overwhelm its left wing. at some point in the line which cannot be precisely determined, the last attempt partially succeeded, and, in the course of this critical struggle, german troops in considerable, though not in overwhelming numbers, swung past the unsupported left of the brigade, and, slipping in between the wood and st. julien, added to the torturing anxieties of the long-drawn struggle by the appearance, and indeed for the moment the reality, of isolation from the brigade base. in the exertions made by the rd brigade during this supreme crisis it is almost impossible to single out one battalion without injustice to others, but though the efforts of the royal highlanders of montreal, th battalion, were only equal to those of the other battalions who did such heroic service, it so happened, by chance, that the fate of some of its officers attracted special attention. major norsworthy was in the reserve trenches, half a mile in the rear of the firing line, when he was killed in his attempt to reach major mccuaig with reinforcements; and captain guy drummond fell in attempting to rally french troops. this was on the afternoon of the nd, and the whole responsibility for coping with the crisis then fell upon the shoulders of major mccuaig until he was relieved early on the morning of the rd. all through the afternoon and evening of the nd, and all through the night which followed, mccuaig had to meet and grapple with difficulties which might have borne down a far more experienced officer. his communications had been cut by shell fire, and he was, therefore, left to decide for himself whether he should retire or whether he should hold on. he decided to hold on, although he knew that he was without artillery support and could not hope for any until, at the earliest, the morning of the rd. the decision was a very bold one. by all the rules of war mccuaig was a beaten man. but the very fact that he remained appears to have deceived the germans. they might have overwhelmed him, but they feared the supports, which did not in reality exist. it was not in the enemy's psychology to understand that the sheer and unaided valour of mccuaig and his little force would hold the position. but with a small and dwindling force he did hold it, until daylight revealed to the enemy the naked deception of the defence. in case the necessity for retreat developed, the wounded had been moved to the trenches on the right; and, under the cover of machine gun fire, major mccuaig withdrew his men just as major buchanan came up with reinforcements. the sorely tried battalion held on for a time in dug-outs, and, under cover of darkness, retired again to a new line being formed by reinforcements. the rearguard was under lieut. (now captain) greenshields. but major mccuaig remained to see that the wounded were removed. it was then, after having escaped a thousand deaths through the long battle of the night, that he was shot down and made a prisoner. the story of the officers of the th battalion (british columbia regiment) is not less glorious. this battalion was attached to the rd brigade on thursday night, and on friday occupied a position on the forward crest of a ridge, with its left flank near st. julien. this position was severely shelled during the day. in the course of the afternoon the battalion received an order to make its position secure that night. at half-past four colonel hart-mcharg, a lawyer from vancouver, major odlum (who is now lieut.-colonel commanding the battalion), and lieut. mathewson, of the canadian engineers, went out to reconnoitre the ground and decide upon the position of the new trenches to be dug under cover of darkness. the exact location of the german troops immediately opposed to their position was not known to them. the reconnoitring party moved down the slope to the wrecked houses and shattered walls of the village of keerselaere--a distance of about yards--in broad daylight without drawing a shot; but, when they looked through a window in the rear wall of one of the ruins, they saw masses of germans lining hedges not yards away, and watching them intently. as the three canadian officers were now much nearer the german line than their own, they turned and began to retire at the double. they were followed by a burst of rapid fire the moment they cleared the shelter of the ruins. they instantly threw themselves flat on the ground. colonel hart-mcharg and major odlum rolled into a shell-hole near by, and lieut. mathewson took cover in a ditch close at hand. it was then that major odlum learned that his commanding officer was seriously wounded. major odlum raced up the hill under fire in search of surgical aid, leaving lieut. mathewson with the wounded officer. he found captain george gibson, medical officer of the th battalion, who, accompanied by sergt. j. dryden, went down to the shell-hole immediately. captain gibson and the sergeant reached the cramped shelter in safety in the face of a heavy fire. they moved colonel hart-mcharg into the ditch where mathewson had first taken shelter, and there dressed his wound. they remained with him until after dark, when the stretcher-bearers arrived and carried him back to battalion headquarters; but the devotion and heroism of his friends could not save his life. the day after he passed away in a hospital at poperinghe.[ ] but his regiment endured, and, indeed, throughout the second battle of ypres fought greatly and suffered greatly. major odlum succeeded colonel hart-mcharg. at one time the battalion was flanked, both right and left, by the enemy, through no fault of its own; and it fell back when it had been reduced to about men still able to bear arms. on the following day, strengthened by the remnants of the th battalion, the th was again sent in to hold a gap in our line, which duty it performed until, again surrounded by the enemy, it withdrew under cover of a dense mist.[ ][ ] every effort was made by general alderson from first to last, to reinforce the canadian division with the greatest possible speed, and on friday afternoon the left of the canadian line was strengthened by the nd king's own scottish borderers and the st royal west kents, of the th infantry brigade. from this time forward the division also received further assistance on the left from a series of french counter-attacks pushed in a north-easterly direction from the canal bank. [illustration: map-- st canadian division situation at a.m. april th ] but the artillery fire of the enemy continually grew in intensity, and it became more and more evident that the canadian salient could no longer be maintained against the overwhelming superiority of numbers by which it was assailed. slowly, stubbornly, and contesting every yard, the defenders gave ground until the salient gradually receded from the apex, near the point where it had originally aligned with the french, and fell back upon st. julien. soon it became evident that even st. julien, exposed to fire from right and left, was no longer tenable.[ ] the rd brigade was therefore ordered to retreat further south, selling every yard of ground as dearly as it had done since five o'clock on thursday. but it was found impossible, without hazarding far larger forces, to disentangle detachments of the royal highlanders of montreal, th battalion, and of the royal montreal regiment, th battalion. the brigade was ordered, and not a moment too soon, to move back. the retirement left these units with heavy hearts. the german tide rolled, indeed, over the deserted village; but for several hours after the enemy had become master of the village, the sullen and persistent rifle fire which survived, showed that they were not yet master of the canadian rearguard. if they died, they died worthily of canada. the enforced retirement of the rd brigade (and to have stayed longer would have been madness) reproduced for the nd brigade, commanded by brigadier-general currie (now major-general), in a singularly exact fashion, the position of the rd brigade itself at the moment of the withdrawal of the french. the nd brigade, it must be remembered, had retained the whole line of trenches, roughly , yards, which it was holding at five o'clock on thursday afternoon, supported by the incomparable exertions of the rd brigade, and by the highly hazardous deployment in which necessity had involved that brigade. the nd brigade had maintained its lines. it now devolved on general currie, commanding this brigade, to repeat the tactical manoeuvres with which, earlier in the fight, the rd brigade had adapted itself to the flank movement of overwhelming numerical superiority. he flung his left flank round south; and his record is that, in the very crisis of this immense struggle, he held his line of trenches from thursday at five o'clock till sunday afternoon. and on sunday afternoon he had not abandoned his trenches. there were none left. they had been obliterated by artillery. he withdrew his undefeated troops from the fragments of his field fortifications, and the hearts of his men were as completely unbroken as the parapets of his trenches were completely broken. in such a brigade it is invidious to single out any battalion for special praise, but it is perhaps necessary to the story to point out that lieut.-colonel lipsett, commanding the th battalion ( th winnipeg rifles) of the nd brigade, held the extreme left of the brigade position at the most critical moment. the battalion was expelled from the trenches early on friday morning by an emission of poisonous gas; but, recovering, in three-quarters of an hour it counter-attacked, retook the trenches it had abandoned, and bayoneted the enemy. and after the rd brigade had been forced to retire, lieut.-colonel lipsett held his position, though his left was in the air, until two british regiments, th durham light infantry and st hampshires, filled up the gap on saturday night. at daybreak on sunday, april th, two companies of the th battalion ( th winnipeg rifles), holding the left of our line, were relieved by the durhams, and retired to reserve trenches. the durhams suffered severely, and at p.m. on sunday afternoon, a company of the th canadian battalion took their place on our extreme left. the germans entrenched in the rear of this company, and german batteries on the left flank enfiladed it. the position became untenable, and the company was ordered to evacuate it, two platoons to retire and two platoons to cover the retirement. the retiring platoons were guided back, under terrific fire, by sergeant (now captain) knobel, with a loss of about per cent. of their strength. they joined the battalion reserve. of the platoons which covered this retirement, every officer and man was either killed or taken prisoner. all the officers of the company who were in action at the time the retirement was ordered, remained with the covering platoons. the individual fortunes of the nd and rd brigades have brought us to the events of sunday afternoon, but it is necessary, to make the story complete, to recur for a moment to the events of the morning. after a very formidable attack the enemy succeeded in capturing the village of st. julien, which has so often been referred to in describing the fortunes of the canadian left. this success opened up a new and very menacing line of advance, but by this time further reinforcements had arrived. [illustration: map-- st canadian division situation at noon, april th ] here, again, it became evident that the tactical necessities of the situation dictated an offensive movement as the surest method of arresting further progress. general alderson, who was also in command of the reinforcements, accordingly directed that an advance should be made by two british brigades (the th brigade under brigadier-general hull,[ ] and the northumberland brigade), which had been brought up in support. the attack was thrust through the canadian left and centre; and as the troops making it swept on, many of them going to certain death, they paused an instant, and, with ringing cheers for canada, gave the first indication to the division of the warm admiration which their exertions had excited in the british army.[ ] the advance was indeed costly, but it was made with a devotion which could not be denied. the story is one of which the brigades may be proud, but it does not belong to the special account of the fortunes of the canadian contingent. it is sufficient for our purpose to notice that the attack succeeded in its object, and the german advance along the line, momentarily threatened, was arrested. we had reached, in describing the events of the afternoon, the points at which the trenches of the nd brigade had been completely destroyed. this brigade, the rd brigade, and the considerable reinforcements which by this time filled the gap between the two brigades, were gradually driven, fighting every yard, upon a line running roughly from fortuin, south of st. julien, in a north-easterly direction towards passchendaele. here the two brigades were relieved by two british brigades, after exertions as glorious, as fruitful, and, alas! as costly, as soldiers have ever been called upon to make. monday morning broke bright and clear and found the canadians behind the firing line. but this day, too, was to bring its anxieties. the attack was still pressed, and it became necessary to ask brigadier-general currie whether he could once more call on his shrunken brigade. "the men are tired," this indomitable soldier replied, "but they are ready and glad to go again to the trenches." and so, once more, a hero leading heroes, the general marched back the men of the nd brigade, reduced to a quarter of its strength, to the very apex of the line as it existed at that moment. the brigade held this position throughout monday; on tuesday it occupied reserve trenches, and on wednesday it was relieved and retired to billets in the rear.[ ] it is a fitting climax to the story of the canadians at ypres that the last blows were struck by one who had borne himself throughout gallantly and resourcefully. lieut.-colonel watson, on the evening of wednesday, april th, was ordered to advance with his battalion and dig a line of trenches which were to link up the french on the left and a battalion of the rifle brigade on the right. it was both a difficult and a dangerous task, and lieut.-colonel watson could only employ two companies to dig, while two companies acted as cover. they started out at o'clock in the evening from the field in which they had bivouacked all day west of brielen, and made north, towards st. julien. and, even as they started, there was such a hail of shrapnel, intended either for the farm which served as the battalion's headquarters, or for the road junction which they would have to cross, that they were compelled to stand fast. at o'clock, however, colonel watson was able to move on again; and, as the men marched north, terrible scenes _en route_ showed the fury of the artillery duel which had been in progress since the battalion had moved out of the firing line on the morning of the th. at the bridge crossing ypres canal, guides met the regiment, and the extraordinary precautions which were taken to hide its movements indicated the seriousness of its errand. the battalion had suffered heavy losses at this very spot only a few days before, and a draft of five officers and men from england had reinforced it only that morning. and the officers and men of this draft received an awful baptism of fire within practically a few hours of their arrival at the front. high explosives were bursting and thundering; there were shells searching hedgerows and the avenue of trees between which the battalion marched, and falling in dozens into every scrap of shelter where the enemy imagined horses or wagons might be hidden. slowly and cautiously, the march continued until the battalion arrived behind the first line trench held by a battalion of the king's own scottish borderers. through this line colonel watson and his men had to pass, and on every side were strewn the bodies of scores of ghurkas, the gallant little soldiers who had that morning perished while attempting the almost impossible task of advancing to the assault over nearly yards of open ground. when the battalion reached the place where the trenches were to be dug, two companies were led out by colonel watson himself, to act as cover to the other two companies, which then began digging along the line marked by the engineers. and if ever men worked with nervous energy, these men did that night. from enemy rifles on the ridge came the ping of bullets, which mercifully passed overhead, although, judging from the persistency and multitude of their flares, the enemy must have known that work was being done. it was two o'clock in the morning before the work was finished, and the battalion turned its back upon about as bad a situation as men have ever worked in. the return to the billets at vlamertinghe was distressing in the extreme. officers and men, alike worn out, slept on the march oblivious of route and destination. during the night of may rd[ ] and the morning of the th, the st canadian infantry brigade withdrew to billets at bailleul. on the night of may th lieut.-general alderson handed over the command of this section of front to the general officer commanding the th division, and removed his headquarters to nieppe, withdrawing the rd canadian infantry brigade on the night of the th, and the nd canadian infantry brigade on the th of may.[ ] such, in the most general outline, is the story of a great and glorious feat of arms. a story told so soon after the event, while rendering bare justice to units whose doings fell under the eyes of particular observers, must do less than justice to others who played their part--and all did--as gloriously as those whose special activities it is possible, even at this stage, to describe. but the friends of men who fought in other battalions may be content in the knowledge that they too will learn, when the historian has achieved the complete correlation of diaries of all units, the exact part which each played in these unforgettable days. it is rather accident than special distinction which has made it possible to select individual battalions for mention. it would not be right to close even this account without a word of tribute to the auxiliary services. the signallers were always cool and resourceful. the telegraph and telephone wires were being constantly cut, and many belonging to this service rendered up their lives in the discharge of their duty, carrying out repairs with the most complete calmness in exposed positions. the despatch carriers, as usual, behaved with the greatest bravery. theirs is a lonely life, and very often a lonely death. one cycle messenger lay on the ground badly wounded. he stopped a passing officer and delivered his message, with some verbal instructions. these were coherently given, but he swooned almost before the words were out of his mouth. the artillery never flagged in the sleepless struggle in which so much depended upon its exertions. not a canadian gun was lost in the long battle of retreat. and the nature of the position renders such a record very remarkable. one battery of four guns found itself in such a situation that it was compelled to turn two of its guns directly about and fire on the enemy in positions almost diametrically opposite. the members of the canadian engineers, and of the canadian army medical corps, rivalled in coolness, endurance and valour the men of the battalions who were their comrades. on more than one occasion during that long battle of many desperate engagements, our engineers held positions, working with the infantry. lieut.-colonel (now brigadier-general) armstrong commanded our engineers throughout the battle. a fighting force, a constructive force, and a destructive force in the battle of ypres, the canadian engineers plied their rifles, entrenched, and mined bridges across the canal (the approaches to which they held) in case of final necessity. no attempt has been made in this description to explain the recent operations except in so far as they spring from--or are connected with--the fortunes of the canadian division. the exertions of the troops who reinforced, and later relieved, the canadians, were not less glorious, but the long-drawn-out struggle is a lesson to the whole empire--"arise, o israel!" the empire is engaged in a struggle, without quarter and without compromise, against an enemy still superbly organised, still immensely powerful, still confident that its strength is the mate of its necessities. to arms, then, and still to arms! in great britain, in canada, in australia, there is need, and there is need now, of a community organised alike in military and industrial co-operation. the graveyard of canada in flanders is large. it is very large. those who lie there have left their mortal remains on alien soil. to canada they have bequeathed their memories and their glory. "on fame's eternal camping ground their silent tents are spread, and glory guards with solemn round the bivouac of the dead." [ ] canadians owe a debt of gratitude to lt.-colonel lamb for the extreme care and detailed accuracy with which he has compiled the maps and diaries of the st canadian division. [ ] the nd and rd canadian infantry brigades took over the line from the french th division on april th. it was perhaps true that the french had not developed at this part of the line the elaborate system of support trenches which had been a model to the british troops in the south. the canadians had planned several supporting points which were in a half-finished state when the gas attack developed. [ ] the great bombardment of ypres began on april th, when the first centimetre shell fell into the grand place of the little flemish city. the only military purpose which the wanton destruction of ypres could serve was the blocking of our supply trains, and on the first day alone children were killed as they were playing in the streets, while many other civilians perished in the ruined houses. [ ] the french troops, largely made up of turcos and zouaves, surged wildly back over the canal and through the village of vlamertinghe just at dark. the canadian reserve battalions (of the st brigade) were amazed at the anguished faces of many of the french soldiers, twisted and distorted by pain, who were gasping for breath and vainly trying to gain relief by vomiting. traffic in the main streets of the village was demoralised, and gun-carriages and ammunition wagons added to the confusion. the chaos in the main streets of the village was such that any coherent movement of troops was, for the moment, impossible; gun-carriages and ammunition wagons were inextricably mixed, while galloping gun-teams without their guns were careering wildly in all directions. when order had been to some extent restored, staff officers learned from fugitives who were in a condition to speak that the algerians had left thousands of their comrades dead and dying along the four-mile gap in our ally's lines through which the germans were pouring behind their gas. [ ] colonel geddes was killed on the morning of april th in tragic circumstances. he had done magnificent work with his composite force, and after five days' terrific fighting received orders to retire. he was just leaving his dug-out, after handing over his command, when a shell ended his career. [ ] although methods for resisting gas attacks were quickly developed when the need was realised, the canadians were, of course, at this time unprovided with the proper means for withstanding them. they discovered that a wet handkerchief stuffed in the mouth gave relief. to fall back before the gas attack merely meant that one kept pace with it, while the effort of running, and the consequent heavy breathing, simply increased the poison in the lungs. the canadians quickly realised that it was best to face the cloud, and hold on in the hope that the blindness would be temporary, and the cutting pain would pass away. [ ] col. hart-mcharg and col. boyle--who fell on the same day that col. hart-mcharg was wounded--lie in the same burial ground, the new cemetery at poperinghe. [ ] the losses of the th battalion were heavy even for this time of heavy losses. within a period of less than three days its colonel was killed and of its officers and men were either killed or wounded, including every company commander. some companies lost every officer. [ ] lieut. e. d. bellew, machine-gun officer of the battalion, hoisted a loaf stuck on the point of his bayonet, in defiance of the enemy, which drew upon him a perfect fury of fire; he fought his gun till it was smashed to atoms, and then continued to use relays of loaded rifles instead, until he was wounded and taken prisoner. [ ] the remarkable services rendered at st. julien by the commandant, lt.-col. loomis, of the th batt., ought not to be forgotten. this officer remained at his post under constant and very heavy fire until the moment of evacuation, and did much by the example of his tranquillity to encourage the troops. [ ] brig.-general hull rendered distinguished services throughout this trying time. in addition to his own brigade--the th--general hull commanded for a considerable period the york and durham brigade, the nd king's own yorkshire light infantry, the th queen victoria rifles, the st suffolk regiment, the th london regiment, and the th canadian battalion. [ ] the particular objective of the attack was the village of st. julien, the wood near by, and the enemy's trenches between these two points. arrangements had been made with the canadian artillery for a preparatory bombardment of the wood, and the st. julien trenches, but at the last moment the order to fire on st. julien had to be cancelled as it was found that some of the canadians were still holding on in the village although completely surrounded. [ ] on the morning of april th lt.-col. kemis-betty, brigade major, and major mersereau, staff captain, were wounded by a shell. colonel kemis-betty, though his wound was serious, discharged his duty all day. major mersereau, however, who was grievously injured, was carried into general currie's dug-out; and there, as no ambulance was available, he lay till late that night. lt.-col. mitchell, of the canadian divisional headquarters staff, while on a general reconnaissance, heard of the plight of the wounded officers, who were badly in need of medical aid, and he determined to carry them to safety in his own car. with very great difficulty, for the road was being heavily shelled, colonel mitchell got his motor as far as fortuin. the rest of the way had to be covered on foot, and when general currie's dug-out was reached it was found that only colonel kemis-betty could be moved. major mersereau's injuries were such that he had to be left in the dug-out until it was practicable to bring up an ambulance. finally, he was removed, and is now in canada slowly recovering from his wounds. [ ] at o'clock on the afternoon of may nd the st canadian infantry brigade moved up in support of the th and th infantry brigades (british) on account of a gas attack along our whole front. the gas enveloped all our trenches except at our extreme right. the th infantry brigade held fast, but the th infantry brigade was compelled to fall back, for the attack was so heavy that men were dazed and reeling, and utterly incapable of any further fighting. the st canadian brigade was not called upon to resist the enemy, but the movements of the troops show the effects of the gas, and how the men who had to contend with it contrived to baffle the germans. at . p.m. the reserve battalion of the th infantry brigade was thrown into the battle. in the meantime the general officer commanding the th infantry brigade, observing the troops on his left retreating, very judiciously sent up the th argyll and sutherland highlanders to occupy the vacated trenches, and arranged with the rd cavalry brigade to assist them. these two units arrived in time to catch the enemy advancing in the open, and inflicted severe losses on him. the manner in which they went through the gas was worthy of great praise. each company of the nd essex regiment of the th brigade had one platoon in support about yards in the rear of the first line. this platoon waited until the gas had passed the front line trenches, and then, advancing straight through the gas, occupied the front line trenches in time to bring heavy fire to bear on the advancing germans. some of the french infantry closed to the right, thus strengthening the essex line, while the french artillery gave an intense and excellently directed fire, which raked the german lines. general alderson says, "i subsequently wrote to general joppé thanking him for this help, and i received a grateful acknowledgment of my letter." [ ] on general alderson and the staff of the st canadian division there devolved during the battle the control of battalions, cavalry brigades, artillery, engineers, &c. no greater tribute can be paid to the resources and energy of the general and of his divisional staff than to record that they handled and fought an army adequately and intelligently through one of the longest and most bitterly-contested battles of the western war. chapter v a wave of battle individual heroism--canadian tenacity--before the battle--the civilian element--a wave of battle--new meaning of "canada"--"northern lights"--the fighting paymaster--major serves as lieutenant--misfortunes of hercule barré--"runners"--a messenger's apology--swimming a moat--rescue of wounded--colonel watson's bravery--his leadership--his heroic deed--dash of major dyer and capt. hilliam--major dyer shot--"i have crawled home"--lieut. whitehead's endurance--major king saves his guns--corpl. fisher, v.c.--the real canadian officer--some delusions in england--german tricks--sergt. richardson's good sense--"no surrender!"--corpl. baker's heroism--bombs from the dead--holding a position single-handed--the brothers mcivor--daring of sergt.-major hall--sergt. ferris, roadmender--heroism of the sappers--sergt. ferris, pathfinder--a sergeant in command--brave deeds of pte. irving--he vanishes--absurdities in tragedy--germans murder wounded--doctors under fire--the professional manner--red hours--plight of refugees--canadian colony in london--unofficial inquiries--canada's destiny. "it is by presence of mind in untried emergencies that the native metal of a man is tested."--lowell. in a battle of the extent and diversity of ypres, there naturally arose innumerable acts of individual heroism, to which reference could not be made in the course of the narrative of the engagement without disturbing its military balance as a whole. i therefore propose to deal with a few of these incidents now, as they form a record of unsurpassed valour and tenacity of which every canadian must be proud. quite apart, however, from incidents which occur in the actual fighting, there is a time immediately before a battle, and a time immediately after it, which provide a wealth of human interest too poignant to be overlooked. our vision, narrowed a little by direct concentration on the progress of the engagement, and our ears dulled a little by the din of the conflict, we are prone to overlook the fact that this war is waged amid scenes only a short time ago devoted to the various avocations of peace, and that on the western front, especially, the armies of the allies are oftentimes inextricably mixed with the civilian element and the civilian population. a wave of battle is like a wave of the sea. while it advances, one is only conscious of its rush and roar, only concerned to measure how far it may advance. as it ebbs, the known landmarks show again, and we have leisure to gather observations of comrades who were borne backwards or forwards on the flood. the wave that fell on us round ypres has baptised the dominion into nationhood--the mere written word, "canada," glows now with a new meaning before all the civilised world. canada has proved herself, and not unworthily; but those who survive of the men who have won us our world-right to pride, are too busy to trouble their heads about history. that may come in days of peace. the main outlines of the battle have been dealt with already. we know what troops took part in it and how they bore themselves, but the thousand vivid and intimate episodes, seen between two blasts of gunfire, or recounted by men met by chance in some temporary shelter, can never all be told. yet they are too characteristic in their unconsciousness to be left without an attempt at a record; so i give a little handful from a great harvest. in the days before the battle, when the canadians lived for the most part in and about sailly, whence one saw, as i have already written, the german trench-flares like northern lights on the horizon, honorary captain c. t. costigan, of calgary, was the paymaster, and lived, as the paymaster must, decently remote from the firing line. then came the attack that proved canada; and the german flares advanced, and advanced, till they no longer resembled flickering auroras, but the sizzling electric arc-lights of a great city. captain costigan locked up his paychest and abolished his office with the words: "there is no paymaster." next, sinking his rank as honorary captain, he applied for work in the trenches, and went off, a second lieutenant of the th canadians, who needed officers. he was seen no more until monday morning, when he returned to search for his office, which had been moved to a cellar at the rear and was, at the moment, in charge of a sergeant. but he had only returned to inveigle some officer with a gift for accounts into the paymastership. this arranged, he sped back to his adopted battalion.[ ] he was not the only one of his department who served as a combatant on that day. honorary captain mcgregor, of british columbia, for example, had been paymaster in the canadian scottish, th battalion. he, too, armed with a cane and a revolver, went forward at his own desire to hand-to-hand fighting in the wood where he was killed, fighting gallantly to the last. the case of major guthrie, of new brunswick, is somewhat similar. he was major of the th battalion, still in england, but was then at the front in some legal-military capacity connected with courts-martial. he, like captain costigan, had asked the general that friday morning for a commission in the sorely tried th. there was some hesitation, since guthrie as a major might quite possibly find himself in command of what was left of the th if, and when, he found it. "i'll go as a lieutenant, of course," said he; and as a lieutenant he went.[ ] the grim practical joking of fate is illustrated by the adventures of major hercule barré--a young french canadian who fought well and spoke english imperfectly. he had been ordered to get to his company in haste, and on the way (it was dark) met some british officers, who promptly declared him a spy. the more he protested, the more certain they were that his speech betrayed him. so they had him back to the nearest headquarters, where he was identified by a brother officer, and started off afresh--only to be held up a second time by some cyclists, who treated him precisely as the british officers had done. once again he reached headquarters; once more the officer, who had identified him before, guaranteed his good faith; and for the third time barré set out. this time it was a bullet that stopped him. he dragged himself to the side of the road and waited for help. someone came at last, and he hailed. "who is it?" said a voice. "i, barré!" he cried. "what, _you_, barré? what do you want this time?" it was the officer who had twice identified him within the last hour. "stretcher-bearers," said barré. his friend in need summoned a stretcher-bearer, and barré was borne off--to tell the tale against himself afterwards. there were many others who fell by the way in the discharge of their duty. lieut.-colonel currie, commanding the th highlanders, th battalion, had his telephone communication with his men in the trenches cut by shrapnel. he therefore moved his battalion headquarters into the reserve trenches, and took with him there a little band of "runners" to keep him in touch with the brigade headquarters, a couple of miles in the rear. a "runner" is a man on foot who, at every risk, must bear the message entrusted to him to its destination over ground cross-harrowed by shellfire and, possibly, in the enemy's occupation. one such runner was despatched, and was no more heard of until, days after the battle, the lieut.-colonel received a note from him in hospital. it ran: "my dear colonel currie,--i am so sorry that you will be annoyed with me for not bringing back a receipt for the message which you sent to headquarters by me. i delivered the message all right, but on the way back with a receipt, i was hurt by a shell, and i am taking this first opportunity of letting you know that the message was delivered. i am afraid that you will be angry with me. i am now in hospital.--yours truly, (sgd.) m. k. kerr." it is characteristic of the colonel, and our country, that he should always refer to the private as m. k. kerr; and, from the english point of view, equally characteristic that m. k. kerr's report should begin: "my dear colonel currie." and it marks the tone of the whole battalion, that only two hundred men and two officers should have come unscathed out of the battle. and here is a story of a brigade headquarters that lived in a house surrounded by a moat over which there was only one road. on thursday the enemy's artillery found the house, and later on, as the rush came, their rifle fire found it also. the staff went on with its work till the end of the week, when incendiary shells set the place alight and they were forced to move. the road being impassable on account of shrapnel, they swam the moat, but one of them was badly wounded, and for him swimming was out of the question. captain scrimger, medical officer attached to the royal montreal regiment, protected the wounded man with his own body against the shrapnel that was coming through the naked rafters, and carried him out of the blazing house into the open.[ ] two of the staff, brig.-general hughes (then brigade major of the rd infantry brigade) and lieut. thompson (then assistant adjutant, royal montreal regiment) reswam the moat and, waiting for a lull in the shell fire, got the wounded man across the road on to a stretcher and into a dressing station, after which they went on with their official duties. on april th colonel watson, who was editor of the _quebec chronicle_ before he took command of the nd battalion, was called on to perform as difficult and dangerous a task as fell to the lot of any commander during all these difficult and bloody days. the operation was most ably carried out, and colonel watson crowned his success, in the midst of what appeared to be defeat, with a deed of personal heroism which, but for his rank, would most assuredly have won for him the victoria cross. it may be said at once that colonel watson proved himself the bravest of the brave. about noon, the general officer commanding the rd brigade telephoned to colonel watson to ask whether, in his opinion, the line of which he was in charge, could still be held. colonel watson, though the position was precarious, said that he could still hold on; and he was then instructed to regard as cancelled an order which had been telegraphed to him to retire. matters, however, grew worse, and at two o'clock the general officer commanding sent colonel watson a peremptory order to fall back at once. unfortunately, this message was not received until about a quarter to three, when the position had become desperate. the battalion, apart from many dead, had by this time upwards of wounded, and the colonel first saw to the removal of all these. then, leaving his battalion headquarters, he went up to the front line, in order that he might give, in person, his instructions to his company commanders to retire. when he reached the front line, colonel watson made the most careful dispositions so as to avoid, even at that terrible moment, any excuse for disorder and undue haste in the course of the most perilous and intricate manoeuvre which had now to be carried out. he began by sending back all details, such as signallers and pioneers, and then proceeded to get the companies out of the trenches, one by one--first the company on the left, then the centre company, and, lastly, the company on the right. it was from the angle of a shattered house, which had been used as a dressing station, that colonel watson and colonel rogers, the second in command of the battalion, watched the retirement of the three companies, together with details of the th battalion, which had been attached to them since the morning. the men were in extended order, and as they passed the officers the enemy's fire was very heavy, and men fell like wheat before a scythe. when the last company was well on its way to safety, the two officers, after a brief consultation, decided that it would be best for them to take separate routes back to the battalion headquarters line. the reason for this was simple and poignant--it increased the chances of one of them getting through; not, for that matter, that either had very much hope of escaping the enemy's pitiless fire. they never expected to see each other again, and they shook hands in farewell before they dashed out on their separate ways, which lay through a spray of bullets and flying shrapnel. when he had gone about yards, colonel watson paused for a moment under the cover of a tree to watch the further retirement of the company he was following. it was at this moment that he noticed one of his officers, lieut. a. h. hugill, lying on the ground about sixty yards to the left, in the direction of the enemy's attack. without a moment's hesitation, colonel watson went back to him, thinking that he was wounded; but on asking him what was the matter, lieut. hugill told him that he had simply been compelled to rest and recover his breath before he could make another rush. almost at the same moment, private wilson, also of the nd battalion, was passing near by when he was shot through the leg. the man was so close at hand that colonel watson felt impelled to endeavour to rescue him, and suggested to lieut. hugill that, between them, they might be able to carry the wounded man back over the eight or nine hundred yards--nearly half a mile--which still separated them from a place of comparative safety. lieut. hugill immediately agreed, whereupon colonel watson knelt down, and got wilson on to his back, and carried him several hundred yards until the original battalion headquarters was reached; and all the time that colonel watson staggered along with his load the air was alive with bullets, which drew thicker and thicker, as the enemy was now rapidly advancing. the various companies had already retired beyond what had been the battalion headquarters, so that colonel watson and lieut. hugill had no opportunity of calling for aid. they rested for a few minutes and then started off once more, and between them they managed to get the wounded private across the yards of fire-swept ground which still had to be covered. but, in spite of the fact that the ground was ploughed up with shells all round them during their desperate and heroic retreat, colonel watson and lieutenant hugill retrieved their man in safety. what, again, could be more thrilling than the story of the dash of major h. m. dyer, a farmer from manitoba, and captain (now lieut.-col. th battalion) edward hilliam, a fruit farmer from british columbia, when in the face of almost certain death, after the trench telephones were disabled, they set out to order the retirement of a battalion on the point of being overwhelmed! it was on april th that the position of the th canadian battalion on the gravenstafel ridge became untenable; but the men in the fire trench did not entertain any thought of retirement. the telephones between headquarters and the trench were disabled, the wires having been cut again and again by the enemy's shell fire. general currie saw the immediate need of sending a positive order to the battalion to fall back, and major dyer and captain hilliam, both of the th battalion, undertook to carry up the word to the fire trench. each received a copy of the order, for nothing but a written order signed by their brigade commander would bring the men out. the two officers advanced with an interval of about twenty yards between them, for one or other of them had to get through. they were soon on the bald hill-top, where there were no trenches and no cover of any description. machine gun and rifle fire swept the ground. they reached a little patch of mustard, and laughed to each other at the thought of using these frail plants as cover. still unhit, they reached a region of shell holes, great and small. these holes pitted the ground, irregularly, some being only five yards apart, others ten or twelve; but to the officers, each hole in their line of advance meant a little haven of dead ground, and a brief breathing space. so they went forward, scrambling and dodging in and out of the pits. when within yards of our trench, captain hilliam fell, shot through the side, and rolled into a ditch. major dyer went on, and was shot through the chest when within a few yards of the trench. he delivered the message, and what was left of the battalion fell back. men who went to the ditch to assist captain hilliam, found only a piece of board, on which the wounded officer had written with clay, "i have crawled home." it only remains to add that both these officers returned to duty with their battalion after convalescence. though these two officers gave a very fine example of active courage, it would be hard to find a more remarkable illustration of passive endurance, nobly borne, than that afforded by lieut. e. a. whitehead on april th. on that day, captain victor currie, with lieut. whitehead and lieut. (now captain) w. d. adams, was holding a company of the th (royal montreal) battalion, on the salient of which both flanks were exposed to a merciless fire. at a.m. that morning, lieut. whitehead was shot in the foot, but he remained in command of his platoon with the bullet still in his ankle-bone until three o'clock in the afternoon, when he swooned from pain and fatigue. it is sad to record that sergeant arundel, who tried to lift lieut. whitehead from the trench, was shot and instantly killed. on the previous day, the men of no. company of the same battalion had assisted major (now lieut.-colonel) w. b. m. king, of the canadian field artillery, to perform one of the most astonishing and daring feats of the campaign. with superb audacity major king kept his guns in an advanced position, where he deliberately awaited the approach of the germans till they were within yards. then, after he had fired his guns into the massed ranks of the enemy, he succeeded, with the assistance of the infantry, in getting the guns away. it was during the course of this part of the action that lance-corporal fred fisher, of the th battalion, won his v.c., but lost his life. being in charge of a machine gun, he took it forward to cover the extrication of major king's battery. all the four men of his gun crew were shot down, but he obtained the services of four men of the th battalion, and continued to work his gun until the battery was clear. no sooner were major king's men in safety than fisher pushed still further forward to reinforce our front line, but while getting his men into position in the face of a combined fire of shrapnel, machine earns, and rifles, he was shot dead. and here, i would say, that over and above the pleasure it naturally gives a canadian to record the splendid heroism of his fellow-countrymen, the occasion has provided me with the welcome opportunity of dissipating a delusion which at the outset prevailed in england as to the capacity of our officers. at the beginning of the war it was a common saying in the british army--i have never been able to trace the saying to its source--that the canadian troops were the finest in the world, but that they carried their officers as mascots. nothing could be further from the truth; and nothing more ridiculous, as the brilliant records of the war service of many of these officers amply proves. for ingenuity and daring in attack, for skill and resource in extricating their men from positions where disaster seemed inevitable, their ability as regimental officers has only been equalled in this war by the experienced officers of the first expeditionary force. as for bravery, for heroic devotion and self-sacrifice, to compile a full record of their incomparable deeds, would require a chapter many times the length of this whole volume. from generals down, they have shown the world that, for sheer valour, canadian officers can proudly take their place beside any in the world, while they have afforded an example and inspiration to their men which have done much to make the splendid story of the canadians in france and flanders what it is. but if the deeds of the commissioned officers have been splendid, the exploits of the non-commissioned officers and men have been not less so. the narrative of the division consists of story after story of coolness in danger, incentive daring, and unflinching courage which has never been surpassed. take, for instance, the story of sergeant j. richardson, of the and canadian battalion. it is a tale of how shrewd common sense defeated the wiles of the enemy. on april rd richardson was on the extreme left of our line in command of a half-platoon, when the words, "lieutenant scott orders you to surrender," were passed to him. he knew that there were three company commanders in the line between himself and lieutenant scott, and, therefore, correctly concluded that the order had nothing to do with any officer of his regiment, but was of german origin. he not only ignored the order, but discredited it with his men by passing back "no surrender!" it is impossible to say how much ground, and how many lives, the sergeant saved that day by his lively suspicion of german methods, his quick thought, and his absolute faith in the sense and courage of his officers. sergeant richardson belongs to coburg, ontario, and is a veteran of the south african war. of a different order of courage was corporal h. baker, of the th battalion. after the attack on the wood and the occupation of a part of the german trench by the th canadian battalion, on the night of april nd- rd, corporal baker, with sixteen bomb-throwers, moved to the left along the german line, bombing the enemy out of the trench. the germans checked baker's advance with bombs and rifle fire and put nine of his men out of action during the night. the enemy then established a redoubt by digging a cross-trench. corporal baker and the six other survivors of his party maintained a position within ten yards of the redoubt throughout the remaining hours of the night. early in the morning of the rd the germans received a fresh supply of bombs and renewed their efforts to dislodge the little party of canadians. they threw over baker, who was closer in to their position than the others of his party, and killed his six companions. alone among the dead, with the menace of death hemming him in, baker collected bombs from the still shapes behind him, and threw them into the enemy's redoubt. he threw with coolness and accuracy, and slackened the german fire. he held his position within ten yards of the cross-trench all day and all night, and returned to his battalion just before the dawn of the th, over the bodies of dead and wounded men who had fallen before the rain of bombs and rifle grenades. and now we come to the story of two brothers, privates n. and j. mcivor, who were stretcher-bearers, of whom much is expected as a matter of course. on april th, they were attached to the th battalion (which held a position on the gravenstafel ridge), and carried major sanderman, of their battalion, from the bombarded cross-roads back to the dressing station over open fire-raked country. major sanderman had been hit by shrapnel, and died soon after reaching the dressing station. four days later, on april th, when the th battalion was in rear of the yser canal, the two mcivors volunteered to attempt a rescue of the wounded from the battalion dressing station beyond fortuin. they discovered the station to be in the enemy's hands, and j. mcivor was severely wounded. nor can one dwell without pride on the case of company sergeant-major f. w. hall, v.c. during the night of april rd- th the th battalion took over a line of trenches from the th battalion. close in rear of the canadian position at this point ran a high bank fully exposed to the fire of the enemy; and while crossing this bank to occupy the trench, several men of the th battalion were wounded. during the early morning of saturday, the th, company sergeant-major f. w. hall brought two of these wounded into the trench. a few hours later, at about a.m., groans of suffering drew attention to another wounded man in the high ground behind the position. corporal payne went back for him, but was wounded. private rogerson next attempted the rescue, and was also wounded. then sergeant-major hall made the attempt. he reached his objective without accident, though under heavy fire from the german trenches in front. this was deliberate, aimed fire, delivered in broad daylight. he managed to get his helpless comrade into position on his back, but in raising himself a little to survey the ground over which he had to return to shelter, he was shot fairly through the head and instantly killed. the man for whom he had given his life was also killed. for this gallant deed sergeant-major hall was awarded a posthumous v.c. he was originally from belfast, but his canadian home was in winnipeg. he joined the th battalion at valcartier, quebec, in august, , as a private. sergeant c. b. ferris, of the nd field company of the canadian engineers, proved in the face of the enemy that he could keep a road repaired faster than they could destroy it by shell fire. from april th to the th, the road between fortuin and the yser canal was under the constant hammer of german shells. it was of vital importance to the canadian and british troops in the neighbourhood that this road should be kept open for all manner of transportation, and captain irving, commanding the nd field company, canadian engineers, sent a party under sergeant ferris and corporal rhodes to keep the highway in repair. every shell-hole in the road-bed had to be filled with bricks brought up in wagons from the nearest ruined houses; and at times it seemed as if the german artillery would succeed in making new holes faster than the little party of canadian engineers could fill in the old ones. sergeant ferris and his men stuck to their task day and night, amid the dust and splinters and shock of bursting shells, and their work of reconstruction was more rapid than the enemy's work of destruction. they kept the road open. on a moonlit night, a month later, the roadmender developed the talents of a pathfinder, when the nd field company of the canadian engineers was ordered to link up a trench in the canadian front line with the attempted advance of a british division on our left, and establish a defensive flank. a pre-arranged signal was given, indicating that the advance had reached, and was holding, a point where the connection was to be made. in response, sapper quin attempted to carry through the tape, to mark the line for digging the linking trench, under a heavy fire of shells, machine guns, and rifles. he did not return, and sapper connan went out and failed to come back; and neither of these men has been seen or heard of since. then sapper low made an attempt to carry the tape across, and failed to return. without a moment's hesitation, sergeant ferris sprang over the parapet in the face of the most severe tire, and, with the tape in one hand and revolver in the other, cautiously crawled in the direction of the flaring signal. midway, he stumbled upon the wire entanglements of a german redoubt fairly on the line which his section had thought to dig. he followed the wire entanglements of this redoubt completely round, and for a time was exposed to rifle and machine gun fire from three sides. at this moment he was severely wounded through the lungs, but he persisted in his effort. he found out that a mistake had been made and that the attack had not reached the point indicated, and staggered back to make his report, bringing sapper low with him. sergeant ferris's information was eagerly listened to by lieut. matthewson and sergeant-major chetwynd, who was present as a volunteer. sergeant-major chetwynd quickly realised the nature of the difficulty, and, encouraged by lieut. matthewson, he rallied the detachment and led it to another point from which he successfully laid the line under very heavy fire from the german trenches. now we come to the story of private irving, one of general turner's subordinate staff, who went out to do as brave a deed as a man might endeavour, but never returned. irving had been up for forty-eight hours helping to feed the wounded as they were brought in to brigade headquarters, which had been turned into a temporary dressing station, when he heard that a huge poplar tree had fallen across the road and was holding up the ambulance wagons. though utterly weary, he at once offered to go out and cut the tree in pieces and drag it from the path at the tail of an ambulance wagon. irving set forth with the ambulance, but, on nearing the place of which he was in search, left it, an went forward on foot along the road, which was being swept by heavy artillery fire and a cross rifle fire. and then, even as, axe in hand, he tramped up this road, with shells bursting all around him and bullets whistling past him, he disappeared as completely as though the night had swallowed him up! general turner, who appreciated the gallant work irving had set out to do, himself had all the lists of the field force checked over to see if he had been brought in wounded. but irving was never traced. he is missing to this day--a strange and brave little mystery of this great war. in another portion of the field sergeant w. swindells, of the th battalion, when all the company officers had become casualties, and the remnant of the company left their trench under stress of terrific fire, rallied them and took them back; but this again is only one instance in a record for cool daring which was later built up at festubert and givenchy. swindells comes from kamloops, and before the war was a rancher on vancouver island. very similar was the action of sergeant-major p. flinter, of the nd battalion, who displayed conspicuous gallantry at langemarck on april rd while in command of a platoon on the left flank of the battalion. this position was under exceptionally heavy gun and rifle fire, and his pure daring and bravery were such an inspiration to the men under his command, that they withstood successfully all attacks upon them. he was wounded in the head, but gallantly cheered his men to renewed attack. by fortunate observation he discovered an enemy bomb depôt in the woods near at hand, and concentrating all available fire on it, managed to blow it up. throughout his service at the front his example has been an inspiration to all ranks. it is difficult, where all men were brave, to select individual cases of extreme courage, but it would be wrong to close this record without mentioning lance-corporal f. williams, of the rd canadian battalion, and private j. k. young, of the nd battalion. on april th, near st. julien, williams volunteered to go out with captain j. h. lyne-evans from the shelter of a farm and bring in captain gerrard muntz, who lay wounded in a small hollow several hundred yards away. the rescue, which was carried out in broad daylight and in the midst of a heavy rifle and machine gun fire, was successful, though captain muntz died of his wounds five days later. again, at festubert, just a month later, williams displayed great courage and resourcefulness in keeping good the wires for communication between the signal station and other centres. the area was under continuous enemy rifle and shell fire, and the repairs had to be made under other adverse conditions. indeed, the canadian non-commissioned officers have proved beyond all doubt their capacity to take the places of commissioned officers who have been shot down. private young was "mentioned" for handling his machine gun so well that it was mainly through his efforts the german attack on the nd battalion was repulsed on april th. later, at givenchy, on june th, he refused to leave his guns even when he was wounded, and pluckily remained until the action was over. these are but a few of a hundred other deeds, done on the spur of the moment, of which there will never be any memorial except the moment's cheer or the moment's laughter from those who had time to observe. a man can be both heroic and absurd in the same act, and human nature under strain always leans to the comic. what follows is not at all comic, although it made men laugh at the time. in one of the many isolated bits of night work which had to be undertaken, it happened that a german detachment was cut off by one of ours and its situation became hopeless. there was something like a gasp as the enemy realised this, and then a silence broken by a voice crying, in unmistakable german-american accents, "have a heart!" the detachment had just recovered a dressing station which had been abandoned a few hours before, and there they had found the bodies of their comrades with their wounds dressed--dead of fresh wounds by the bayonet! it is unfortunate that the canadians' first serious experience of the enemy should have included asphyxiation by gas and the murder of wounded and unconscious men, because canadians, more even than the british, have been accustomed to germans in their midst, and till lately have looked upon them as good citizens. now they will tell their children that they were mistaken, and the end of that war may well be generations distant. the supply of ammunition and medical attendance continued unbroken and unconcerned through all the phases of the ypres engagement. the ammunition columns waited for hour after hour at their stated points, ready to distribute supplies as needed. their business was to stay where they could be found, and if the shrapnel caught them when lined up by the roadside, that was part of the business too. they stuck it out the livelong days and nights, coming up full and going away empty with no more fuss than is made by delivery wagons on drummond street. the doctors had the distraction of incessant work, and it was curious to see how they took their professional manner into the field. half the cities and towns in the dominion might have identified their own doctors under the official uniforms as far as they could have seen them. though they were working at high pressure, they were unmistakably the same men. some were as polite as though each poor, mangled case represented (which it might well have done) the love and hopes of wealthy and well-known families. others employed the same little phrases of encouragement, and the same tricks of tone and gesture, at the beginning and end of their operations, as their hospitals have known for years. others, again, switched off from english to french-canadian _patois_ as the cases changed under their hands; but not one of them had a thought to waste on anything outside the cases. their professional habit seemed to enwrap them like an armoured belt, to protect them from all consciousness of the hurricanes of death all round. this is difficult to explain to anybody who has not seen a doctor's face pucker with a slight impatience when one side of his temporary field ambulance dressing station is knocked out by the blast of a shell, and he must wait until someone finds an electric torch to show him where his patient lies. it would be inadequate to call such men heroic. each soul of those engaged--and canada threw in all she had on the ground--will take away in his mind pictures that time can never wipe out. for some the memory of that struggle in the wood where the guns were will stand out clearest in the raw primitiveness of its fighting. others will recall only struggles among rubbish heaps that once were villages; some wall-end or market square, inestimably valuable for a few red hours, and then a useless and disregarded charnel-house. very many will think most of the profiles of bare fields over which men moved in silence from piles of stacked overcoats and equipment towards the trench where they knew the fire was waiting that would sweep them away. there was one such attack in which six thousand troops, of whom not more than a third were canadians, made a charge. each little company in the space felt itself alone in the world. it is so with all bodies and all individuals in war. only when night fell did the same picture reveal itself to all. then it was war as the prints and pictures in our houses at home show it--the horizon lighted all round by the flame of burning villages, and the german flares pitching and curving like the comets which are supposed to attend the death of kings. morning light broke up all the connections, and we were each alone once more--horribly visible or hidden. during the bombardment refugees fled back from the villages while shrapnel fell along the roads they took. amidst all the horrors of this war there was nothing more heartrending than the misery of these helpless victims. they met our supports and reserves coming up, and pressed aside from the _pavés_ to give them room. they had packed what they could carry on their own backs and the backs of their horses and cows, while prudent men hired out dog teams; for one noticed the same busied dogs passing and repassing up and down the line, tugging hard in front of the low-wheeled little carts. invalids, palsied old men and women swathed in pillows and bolstered up by the affectionate care of their middle-aged children, struggled in the procession. their fear had overcome their infirmities, and they had been dragged away swiftly as might be from that death which time itself would have dealt them in a little while. then, as you know, we buried our dead; the records began to be made, and the terrible cables started to work on the list of names for home. there is in london a colony of canadians who have come across to be a little nearer to their nearest. they suffer the common lot, and live from hour to hour in the hotels and lodging-houses, where every guest and servant is as concerned as they. life is harder for them than for the english, because they are not among their own surroundings, and france is very far off. the colony is divided now, as the english have been since war began, into three classes--those who know the worst, those who fear it, and those who for the time being have escaped any blow, and are therefore at liberty to help the others. the cables from the west are alive with appeals, and as information is gathered it is flashed back to canada. a voice calls out of a remote township, asking for news of a certain name. it has no claim on the receiver, who may have been, perhaps, his deadly rival in the little old days. but it calls, and must be answered. who has had news of this name? add it to your list that you carry about and consult with your friends; and when you have made sure of your own beloved, in your grief or your joy, remember to mention this name. somebody identifies it as having come from his own town--son of the minister or the lawyer. he was probably with comrades from the same neighbourhood, and that at least will be a clue. meantime a soothing cable must carry the message that inquiries are being pursued. there are men in hospitals back from the trenches who may perhaps recall or remember him, or be able to refer one to other wounded men. the unofficial inquiry spreads and ramifies through all sorts of unofficial channels, till at last some sure word can be sent of the place of his death, or the nature of his wound, or the date on which he was missing, or the moment when he was last seen going forward. the voice ceases. others take its place--clear, curt, businesslike, or, as the broken words tell, distracted with grief. the canadian colony does its best to deal with them all, and their inquiries cut across those of the english, and sorrows and griefs are exchanged. it is all one family now, so closely knit by blood that sympathy and service are taken for granted. "your case may be mine to-morrow," people say to each other. "my time, and what inquiries i can make, are at your disposal if you will only tell me your need and your name." the grief that we suffer is more new to us than to the english, who have paid the heavy tolls of mons, the retreat, the battle of neuve chapelle, and the first attack on ypres, and, like ourselves, have prepared and are preparing men to fill the gaps; but through their grief and ours runs the unbreakable pride of a race that has called itself imperial before it knew what empire signified, or had proved itself within its own memory by long and open-handed sacrifice. in that pride we are full partners, and through the din and confusion of battle canada perceives how all that has gone before was but fit preparation for the destiny upon which she enters and the history which she opens from this hour. [ ] captain costigan has now combative rank in the th battalion, and is acting as brigade bombing officer. [ ] during the progress of the battle major guthrie was, after all, compelled to take command of the th after two commanding officers had been killed and a third had been wounded. he led his battalion with wisdom and great gallantry. [ ] for this action captain scrimger was awarded the v.c. chapter vi festubert objective of aubers and festubert--allies' co-operation--great french offensive--terrific bombardment--british support--endless german fortresses--shortage of munitions--probable explanation--effect of _times_ disclosures--outcry in england--coalition government--after ypres--the canadian advance--disposition of canadians--attack on the orchard--canadian scottish--sapper harmon's exploits--drawback to drill-book tactics--a canadian ruse--"sam slick"--the orchard won--arrival of second brigade--the attempt on "bexhill"--in the german trenches--strathcona's horse--king edward's horse--cavalry fight on foot--further attack on "bexhill"--redoubt taken--"bexhill" captured--"dig in and hang on"--attack on the "well"--heroic efforts repulsed--general seely assumes command--a critical moment--heavy officer casualties--the courage of the cavalry--major murray's good work--gallantry of sergt. morris and corpl. pym--death of sergt. hickey--canadian division withdrawn--trench warfare till june. "in records that defy the tooth of time."--the statesman's creed. to many minds the battle of festubert, sometimes called the battle of aubers, in which the canadians played so gallant and glorious a part, represents only a vast conflict which raged for a long period without any definite objective, any clearly defined line of attack, and with no decisive result from which clear conclusions can be drawn. this unfortunate impression is largely due to the fact that it is impossible at the opening of a great battle for the commander to give any indication of his intentions; that newspaper correspondents are debarred from discussing them; and that the official despatches which reveal the purpose and the plan of a battle, are only issued when the engagement has already passed into history and has been lost sight of among newer feats of arms. as a matter of fact, the battle of festubert is, in all its aspects, one of the most clearly defined of the war, notwithstanding the length of time that it covered and the numerous and confused individual and sectional engagements fought along its front. its aim was clear, and it was a portion of a definite scheme on the part of the allies. the actual fight is perfectly easy to follow, and the results are important, not only from the military point of view (although in this respect festubert must be counted a failure), but from the political changes they produced in england--changes designed for the better conduct of the war. as i have already explained, if we had completely broken the german lines at the battle of neuve chapelle, we should have gained the aubers ridge, which dominates lille, the retaking of which would have completely altered the whole aspect of the war on the western front. general joffre had determined on a great offensive movement in artois, in may, for which purpose he concentrated the most overwhelming artillery force up to this time assembled in the west. it was on a par with the terrific masses of guns with which von mackensen was, about the same time, blasting his way through galicia. the french made wonderful progress, and only a few of the defences of lens, the key of the whole french objective, remained in german hands. but the germans were pouring reinforcements into the south, and it was then that sir john french, in conjunction with general joffre, moved his forces to the attack. this british offensive was designed to hold up the german reinforcements destined for lens, and at the same time to offer the british a second opportunity for gaining the aubers ridge, from which lille and la bassée could be dominated. if the british could gain the ridge, which they hoped to secure at the battle of neuve chapelle, and if the french could win through to lens, the allies would then be in a position to sweep on together towards the city which was their common goal. the attack on the german positions began on may th,[ ] and continued through several days and nights, and waned, only to be renewed with redoubled fury on may th. on may th, the nd and th divisions, which had suffered very severely, were withdrawn, and their places taken by the canadian division and the st highland division (territorial). with the share of the battle which fell to the lot of the canadians i will deal in detail directly. the british attack failed to clear the way to lille, which still remains in german hands. with the reasons which resulted in our check at neuve chapelle i have already dealt, and it is now necessary to consider the two principal reasons which may be assigned for our second failure to secure the all-important aubers ridge. the first reason is definite and explicable. the second reason is debatable. at various points along this sector of the front, and on many occasions, the german lines were pierced--pierced but not broken. again and again the british and canadian troops took the first, the second, and the third line german trenches. this may have destroyed the mathematical precision of the german line, but it only succeeded in splitting it up into a series of absolutely impregnable _fortins_. it must be remembered that the germans fought a defensive battle, and in this they were greatly assisted by the nature of the ground, which was dotted with considerable hummocks, cleft with ravines and indented with chalk pits and quarries, and was, moreover, abundantly furnished with pit-heads, mine-works, mills, farms, and the like, all transformed into miniature fortresses, to approach which was certain death. they had constructed trenches reinforced by concrete-lined galleries, and linked them up with underground tunnels. the battle of the miniature fortresses proved the triumph of the machine gun. the germans employed the machine gun to an extent which turned even a pig-stye into a sebastopol. only overwhelming artillery fire could have shattered this chain of forts, bound by barbed wire and everywhere covered by machine guns. our artillery fire was not sufficient to reduce them, and the british attack slowly weakened; and finally the battle died out on the th, when sir john french gave orders for the curtailment of our artillery fire. this brings me to the second reason which has been assigned for our failure to clear the way to lille at the battle of festubert, and that is the debatable one of "shortage of munitions." the military correspondent of _the times_, who had just returned from the front, affirmed in his journal on may th that the first part of the battle of festubert had failed through lack of "high explosives." the english public was profoundly disturbed at the failure of an engagement on which it had set high hopes, and, rightly or wrongly, it fastened on this accusation of _the times_ as an indictment of the government at home. both the press and the public settled down with a grim tenacity to discover what was wrong. they were alike determined that the british army in the future should lack nothing which it required to achieve success. amid the hubbub to which _the times_ disclosure gave rise, the undercurrent of the reply of officials at home was never heard, and certainly was never understood. probably the answer of lord kitchener was this: that the requirements of those in command in the field, based on the calculations of the artillery experts there, had been faithfully fulfilled so far as our resources permitted. in any case, festubert led us to believe that high explosives must determine the issue of similar battles in the future, and the outcry in england against the "shortage of munitions" produced the crisis from which emerged the coalition government. it may therefore be said that the political effects of festubert were infinitely greater than its military results. the munitions crisis cleared the political atmosphere and gave england a better understanding of the difficulties of the war and a steadier determination to see it through. it paved the way for the war committee, and, finally, for the allies' grand council of war in paris. i will now proceed to deal with the battle of festubert as it concerns the fortunes of the canadians. the record is a bald one of work in the trenches by our own people. it is couched almost in official phrases, but now and then i have interpolated some personal anecdote which may help to show you what triumph and terror and tragedy lie behind the smooth, impersonal stage directions of this war. after the second battle of ypres the canadian division, worn but not shattered, retired into billets and rested until may th, when the headquarters moved to the southern section of the british line in readiness for new operations. during that time reinforcements had poured in from the canadian base in england, where were gathered the dominion troops, whose numbers we owe to the large vision and untiring energy of the minister of militia and defence. on may th the remade infantry brigades advanced towards the firing line once more. it must be understood that on the afternoon of may th, the rd brigade occupied reserve trenches, two companies of the th (royal montreal) battalion, commanded by lieut.-colonel meighen,[ ] and two companies of the th (canadian scottish), under lieut.-colonel (now brig.-general) leckie, being ordered to make an immediate advance on la quinque rue, north-west of an orchard which had been placed in a state of defence by the enemy. one company of the th canadian scottish was to make a flanking movement on the enemy's position in the orchard by way of an old german communicating trench, and this attack was to be made; of course, in conjunction with a frontal one. little time was available to make dispositions, and as there was no opportunity to reconnoitre the ground, it was very difficult to determine the proper objective. the flanking company of the th battalion reached its allotted position, but after the advance of the remaining company of that regiment, and the th, under very heavy shell fire, the proper direction was not maintained. the detachments reached part of their objective, but owing to the lack of covering fire it was undesirable at the moment to make an attack on the orchard. the companies were told to dig themselves in and connect up with the wiltshire battalion on their right and the coldstream guards on their left. they had then gained yards. lieut.-colonel leckie sent up the other two companies of the th to assist in the digging and to relieve the original two companies at daybreak. during the night the companies of the th battalion (royal montreal) were also withdrawn, and the trench occupied by these was taken over by stretching out the coldstream guards on one flank and the th canadian scottish on the other.[ ] on the morning of the th orders were issued for an attack on the orchard that night. a reconnaissance of the position was made by major leckie, brother of lieut.-colonel leckie, when patrols were sent out, one of which very neatly managed to escape being cut off by the enemy, and another suffered a few casualties. this showed the germans were in force, and that an attack on the orchard would be no light work. that night the canadian scottish occupied a deserted house close to the german lines, and succeeded in establishing there two machine guns and a garrison of thirty men. the enemy were evidently not aware that we were in possession of this house, for although they bombarded all the british trenches with great severity throughout the whole of the next day, this little garrison was left untouched. the attacking detachment under major rae consisted of two companies of the canadian scottish, one commanded by captain morison, the other by major peck. the attack was to take place at . p.m., and at the same time the th battalion ( th highlanders) were directed to make an assault on a position several hundred yards to the right. during that afternoon the orchard was very heavily bombarded by our artillery, the bombardment increasing in severity up to the delivery of the attack. promptly to the minute, the guns ceased, and the two companies of the th canadians climbed out of their trenches to advance. at the same instant the two machine guns situated in the advanced post opened on the enemy. as the advance was carried out in broad daylight, the movements were at once seen by the germans, and immediately a torrent of machine gun, rifle fire, and shrapnel was directed upon our troops. their steadiness and discipline were remarkable, and were greatly praised by the officers of the coldstream guards who were on our left. [illustration: map--the orchard and surroundings] when they reached the edge of the orchard an unexpected obstacle presented itself in the form of a deep ditch, and on the further side a wired hedge. without hesitation, however, the men plunged through the ditch, in some places up to their necks in water, and made for previously reconnoitred gaps in the hedge. not many germans had stayed in the orchard during the bombardment. the bulk of the garrison, according to the usual german method under artillery fire, had evidently retired to the support trenches in the rear. a few had been left behind to man a machine gun redoubt near to the centre of the orchard with the idea of holding up our advancing infantry till the enemy, withdrawn during the bombardment, could return in full strength; but these machine guns retreated when the canadians came. on the far side of the orchard, however, the germans, following their system indicated above, came up to contest the position, but the onset of the canadians forced them to beat a hasty retreat. although double our numbers, they could not be induced to face a hand-to-hand fight. three platoons cleared the orchard, while a fourth platoon, advancing towards the north side, were hampered by a very awkward ditch, which forced them to make a wide detour, so that they did not reach the orchard until its occupation was complete. one company did not enter the orchard, but pushed forward and occupied an abandoned german trench running in a south-westerly direction, to prevent any flank counter-attack being made by the enemy. they then found themselves in a very exposed position, and consequently suffered heavily. the casualties, in proportion to the number of men employed in the attack, were heavy for all engaged, but the position was a very important one, and had twice repulsed assault by other regiments. had our advance been less rapid the enemy would no doubt have got back into this position, and our task might have been impossible. they argued, as have said, that any attack might be held up by the machine guns in the redoubt and in the fortified positions on the flank for long enough to enable them to return to the orchard after our bombardment had ceased, and then throw us back. the speed with which our assault was carried out altogether checkmated this plan. the th battalion (canadian scottish) included detachments from the nd seaforths of vancouver, the th camerons of winnipeg, the th gordons of victoria, and the st highlanders of hamilton; so all canada, from lake ontario to the pacific ocean, was represented in the orchard that night. it was in the course of the struggle in the orchard that sapper harmon, of the st field company, c.e., performed one of those exploits which have made canadian arms shine in this war. he was attached to a party of twelve sappers and fifty infantrymen of the rd canadian battalion which constructed a barricade of sandbags across the road leading to the orchard, in the face of heavy fire. later, this barricade was partially demolished by a shell, and harmon actually repaired it while under fire from a machine gun only sixty yards away! of the party, in whose company harmon first went out, six of the twelve sappers were wounded, and of the fifty infantrymen six were killed and twenty-four wounded. later, he remained in the orchard alone for thirty-six hours constructing tunnels under a hedge, with a view to further operations. sapper b. w. harmon is a native of woodstock, new brunswick, and a graduate of the university of new brunswick. the drawback to drill-book tactics is that if one side does not keep the rules the other suffers. and a citizen army will not keep to the rules. for example, not long after the affair of the orchard, a canadian battalion put up a little arrangement with the ever-adaptable canadian artillery in its rear. the artillery opened heavy fire on a section of german trenches while the battalion made ostentatious parade of fixing bayonets, rigging trench ladders and whistling orders, as a prelude to attack the instant the bombardment should cease. the germans, who are experts in these matters, promptly retired to their supporting trenches and left the storm to rage in front, ready to rush forward the instant it stopped, to meet the canadian attack. so far all went perfectly. our guns were lifted from the front trenches and shelled the supporting trench, in the manner laid down by the best authorities, to prevent the germans coming up. the germans none the less came, and crowded into the front trenches. but there was no infantry attack whatever. that deceitful canadian battalion had not moved. only the guns shortened range once more, and the full blast of their fire fell on the german front trench, now satisfactorily crowded with men. next day's german wireless announced that "a desperate attack had been heavily repulsed," but the general sense of the enemy was more accurately represented by a "hyphenated" voice that cried out peevishly next evening: "say, sam slick, no dirty tricks to-night." but to resume. at seven o'clock in the evening of the th the th battalion (royal highlanders) of the rd brigade, under lieut.-colonel loomis, advanced across the british trenches, under heavy shell fire and with severe losses, in support of the th battalion canadian scottish. the attack on the orchard having succeeded, three companies of the th battalion (royal highlanders) immediately marched forward. as four officers of one company, including the officer commanding, had been severely wounded, the command was taken over by major buchanan, the second in command of the regiment. a fourth company marched to a support trench immediately in the rear. the position was then consolidated, and the th battalion, after its hard work and brilliant triumph, withdrew. next afternoon the enemy in their trenches made a demonstration fifty yards north of the orchard, but our heavy fire soon drove them off the parapets. during the night the disputed ground between the trenches was brightly lighted by the enemy's flares and enlivened by the rattle of continuous musketry. none the less, our working parties went on with their improvements and left the position in good shape for the rd (toronto) battalion of the st brigade, which relieved the royal highlanders on saturday. on the night of may th, the nd canadian infantry brigade took over some trenches which had recently been captured by the st brigade (british), and also a section of trenches from the th division. the th and th battalions occupied the front-line trenches, the th battalion went into brigade reserve, with one company near festubert, and three companies bivouacked in the vicinity of willow road; and the th battalion was posted in divisional reserve. on may th, at p.m., the th canadian battalion, under major guthrie, who joined the battalion at ypres as a lieutenant after the regiment had lost most of its officers, made an attempt to secure a position known as "bexhill." this attack was a failure, as no previous reconnaissance had been carried out, and the preliminary bombardment had been quite ineffectual. moreover, our troops were in full view of the enemy when crossing a gap in the fire trench, and as the only approach to "bexhill" was through an old communicating trench swept by machine guns, the leading men of the front company were all shot down and the th battalion retired.[ ] during the night a further reconnaissance of the enemy's position was carried out and repairs were effected in the gap in the fire trenches, which assured covered communication to all parts of our line. on the evening of may st an artillery bombardment opened under direction of brigadier-general burstall, and went on intermittently until . , when our attack was launched. the attacking force consisted of the grenade company of the st canadian brigade and two companies of the th canadian battalion. this attack was met by overwhelming fire from the "bexhill" redoubt, and our force on the left was practically annihilated by machine guns; indeed, against that steady stream of death no man could advance. on the right the attackers succeeded in reaching the enemy's trench line running south from "bexhill," and, preceded by bombers, drove the enemy paces down the trench and erected a barricade to hold what they had won. during the night the enemy made several attempts to counterattack, but was successfully repulsed.[ ] in our attack, which was only partially successful, major e. j. ashton, of saskatoon, who was slightly wounded in the head on the previous night, refused to leave his command. he was again wounded, and privates swan and walpole tried to get him back to safety, and in so doing swan was also wounded. during the same night corporal w. r. brooks, one of the th battalion snipers, went out from our trench under heavy fire and brought in two men of the th camerons who had been lying wounded in the open for three days. at daybreak of may nd the enemy opened a terrific bombardment on the captured trench, which continued without ceasing through the whole day and practically wiped the trench out.[ ] after very heavy casualties the southern end of the captured trench was abandoned, and a second barricade was erected across the portion that remained in our hands. in the afternoon the enemy's infantry prepared for an attack, but retired after coming under our artillery and machine gun fire. during the night the trenches were taken over by a detachment of british troops and a detachment of the st canadian infantry brigade, and by nd king edward's horse and strathcona's horse. these latter served, of course, as infantry, and it was their first introduction to this war, though strathcona's horse took part in the south african campaign. the nd king edward's horse took over the trench held up to that time by the th[ ] battalion. on the right of strathcona's horse were the post office rifles, of the th division; but the post office rifles' machine guns were manned by the machine gun detachment of the strathconas. may rd passed without incident, although the enemy threatened an attack upon nd king edward's horse, but broke back in the face of a heavy artillery fire searchingly directed by the canadian artillery brigades.[ ] at p.m. on the night of may rd the th canadian battalion received orders from the general officer commanding the nd canadian infantry brigade to take the "bexhill" salient and redoubt, on which our previous attack had failed. the force detailed for the fresh attack then consisted of two companies of the battalion, numbering about men, under major edgar, together with an additional men furnished by the th (british columbia) battalion, divided into two parties--fifty to construct bridges before the attack, and fifty to consolidate whatever positions were gained. the bridging party was commanded by lieut. (now captain) r. murdie, and he took his men out at . a.m. on the morning of may th. in bright moonlight, and under machine gun and rifle fire, he managed to throw twelve bridges across a ditch ft. in width and full of water, which lay between our line and the objective of the attack. this party naturally suffered heavy casualties. the attack itself went over at . , and in it many of the bridging party joined; at the same time the battalion bombers under lieut. tozer forced their way up a german communication trench leading to the redoubt. extremely stiff fighting followed, but in the face of heavy machine gun fire the redoubt was occupied shortly after four in the morning. in addition to the redoubt, the attacking party gained and held yards of trenches to the left of it, and a short piece to the right, driving the germans out and back with heavy losses. "bexhill" proper, however, had still to be taken, and to that end the two companies of the th battalion, which were in reality inadequate to capture so strong a position, were reinforced by a company from the th battalion and a squadron of strathcona's horse.[ ] with this reinforcement the attack was immediately pressed home, and "bexhill" and yards of trenches towards the north fell into our hands at . a.m. further progress, however, was impossible owing to the unbreakable positions of the enemy. forty minutes later, at about . a.m., further reinforcements were received in the form of a platoon from the th battalion, and with their arrival came orders to "dig in and hang on," but not to attempt the taking of any more ground. it was about this time that major odlum, commanding the th battalion, took charge of the th, as colonel tuxford was ill and major edgar had been wounded soon after the launching of the attack. the losses among the officers of major edgar's little force had been terrible. major tenaille and captain hopkins, who commanded the two companies, were killed, as were also captains maikle, currie, mcgee, and mundell, while major thornton, captain s. j. anderson, captain endicott, major morris, lieut. quinan, and lieut. davis were wounded. matters were made worse by the fact that major powley was wounded just as he came up with his reinforcing company from the th. all through the morning the enemy's artillery was exceedingly active, although the canadian artillery surrounded our troops, who were holding on in the redoubt, with a saving ring of shrapnel, and, at the same time, distracted the enemy's guns with accurate fire upon their positions. canada had good reason to be proud of her gunners that day. the captured trenches were held all day, but only at great cost, by the forces which had won them; and at night the royal canadian dragoons and the nd battalion of the st brigade arrived, and took them over. the total losses of the nd brigade amounted to officers and men. the hostile shelling was the most severe that the brigade ever experienced, but the ordeal was borne unshakenly. on the night of may th, at . p.m., while the troops which had taken "bexhill" were still hanging on to what they had won, the rd battalion, commanded by lieut.-colonel (now brigadier-general) rennie, attacked a machine-gun redoubt known as "the well," which was a very strongly fortified position. the attacking force gained a section of trench in the position with fine dash; but to take the redoubt, or to hold their line under the pounding of bombs and the pitiless fire of the machine guns in the redoubt, was more than flesh and blood could accomplish. to remain would have been to die to a man--and win nothing. this heroic attack was repulsed with heavy losses. on the following day (may th) at noon, brigadier-general seely, m.p., assumed command of the troops which had won "bexhill." general seely had already endeared himself to the canadians by his personality, and now he was to win their confidence as a leader in the field. he arrived at a perilous and critical moment, and he at once fastened on the situation with understanding and vigour. he remained in command until noon on may th, and through two extremely trying and hazardous days and nights, displayed soldierly qualities and a gift for leadership. some idea of the severity of the fighting may be gathered from the fact that the losses among officers of general seely's brigade included, lieut. w. g. tennant, strathcona's horse, killed; major d. d. young, royal canadian dragoons, major j. a. hesketh, strathcona's horse, lieuts. a. d. cameron, d. c. mcdonald, j. a. sparkes, strathcona's horse, major c. harding and lieuts. c. brook and r. c. everett, nd king edward's horse, wounded. the casualties in other ranks, killed, wounded, and missing, were also very heavy. an inspiring feature of the fighting at this particular period was the dash, gallantry, and steadiness of the regiments of horse which, to relieve the terrible pressure of the moment, were called on to serve as infantry, without any fighting experience, and flung into the forefront of a desperate and bloody battle. it is impossible to record all the acts of heroism performed by officers and men, but the narrative would be incomplete without a few of them. major arthur cecil murray, m.p., of nd king edward's horse, for instance, distinguished himself by the determined and gallant manner in which he led his squadron, held his ground, and worked at the construction of a parapet under heavy machine gun fire. the considerable advance made on the left of the position was in a large measure due to his efforts. lieut. (now captain) j. a. critchley, of strathcona's horse, armed with bombs, led his men in the assault on an enemy machine gun redoubt with notable spirit. corporal w. legge, of the royal canadian dragoons, went out on the night of may th and located a german machine gun which had been causing us heavy losses during the day, and so enabled his regiment to silence it with converging fire. it was on may th, too, that sergeant morris, of nd king edward's horse, accompanied the brigade grenade company, who were sent to assist the post office rifles of the th london division in an attack on a certain position on the evening of that day. morris led the attack down the german communication trench, and all the members of his party, with the exception of himself, were either killed or wounded. he got to a point at the end of the trench and there maintained himself--to use the cold official phrase--by throwing bombs and by the work of his single rifle and bayonet. by fighting single-handed he managed to hold out until the extreme left of the post office rifles came up to his relief. on the following day, the th, corporal pym, royal canadian dragoons, exhibited a self-sacrifice and contempt for danger which can seldom have been excelled on any battlefield. hearing cries for help in english between the british and german lines, which were only sixty yards apart, he resolved to go in search of the sufferer. the space between the lines was swept with incessant rifle and machine gun fire, but pym crept out and found the man, who had been wounded in both thigh-bones and had been lying there for three days and nights. pym was unable to move him without causing him pain which he was not in a state to bear. pym therefore called back to the trench for help, and sergeant hollowell, royal canadian dragoons, crept out and joined him, but was shot dead just as he reached pym and the wounded man. pym thereupon crept back across the fire-swept space to see if he could get a stretcher, but having regained the trench he came to the conclusion that the ground was too rough to drag the stretcher across it. once more, therefore, he recrossed the deadly space between the trenches, and at last, with the utmost difficulty, brought the wounded man in alive. those were days of splendid deeds, and this chapter cannot be closed without recording the most splendid of all--that of sergeant hickey, of the th canadian battalion,[ ] which won for him the recommendation for the victoria cross. hickey had joined the battalion at valcartier from the th peel regiment, and on may th he volunteered to go out and recover two trench mortars belonging to the battalion which had been abandoned in a ditch the previous day. the excursion promised hickey certain death, but he seemed to consider that rather an inducement than a deterrent. after perilous adventures under hells of fire he found the mortars and brought them in. but he also found what was of infinitely greater value--the shortest and safest route by which to bring up men from the reserve trenches to the firing line. it was a discovery which saved many lives at a moment when every life was of the greatest value, and time and time again, at the risk of his own as he went back and forth, he guided party after party up to the trenches by this route. hickey's devotion to duty had been remarkable throughout, and at pilckem ridge, on april rd, he had voluntarily run forward in front of the line to assist five wounded comrades. how he survived the shell and rifle fire which the enemy, who had an uninterrupted view of his heroic efforts, did not scruple to turn upon him, it is impossible to say: but he succeeded in dressing the wounds of all the five and conveying them back to cover. hickey, who was a cheery and a modest soul, and as brave as any of our brave canadians, did not live to receive the honour for which he had been recommended. on may th a stray bullet hit him in the neck and killed him. and so there went home to the god of battles a man to whom battle had been joy. on may st the canadian division was withdrawn from the territory it had seized from the enemy and moved to the extreme south of the british line. here the routine of ordinary trench warfare was resumed until the middle of june.[ ] [ ] the detailed plan of the engagement was as follows:--sir herbert plumer with the nd army was to protect ypres while the rd corps held armentières. the st army under sir douglas haig was to carry the entrenchments and redoubts on the right of the crown prince rupprecht's army. sir john french had arranged for the th corps to attack the german position at rouges-bancs, to the north-west of fromelles. the st corps and the indian corps were first to occupy the plain between neuve chapelle and givenchy, and afterwards take the aubers ridge. [ ] lt.-colonel meighen led his troops with capacity and judgment. he had already won distinction at ypres. in accordance with the english custom of recalling men who have acquired experience in the field for training purposes at home, colonel meighen has been sent to canada, and given charge of the instructional scheme of the canadian forces from the atlantic to the pacific, with the temporary rank of brigadier-general. [ ] our men were very anxious to get to grips with the enemy on this day (may th), as it was the birthday of prince rupprecht of bavaria, who had issued an order that no prisoners were to be taken. some idea of the efforts made to incite the enemy's forces to further outrages against the conventions of war may be gathered from the following paragraph extracted from the _lille war news_, an official journal issued to the german troops:--"comrades, if the enemy were to invade our land, do you think he would leave one stone upon another of our fathers' houses, our churches, and all the works of a thousand years of love and toil? ... and if your strong arms did not hold back the english (god damn them!) and the french (god annihilate them!) do you think they would spare your homes and your loved ones? what would these pirates from the isles do to you if they were to set foot on german soil?" [ ] the casualties of the th battalion during the fighting in april and may were . the casualties at ypres alone were of all ranks. [ ] coy. sergt.-major g. r. turner (now lieutenant), of the rd field company, canadian engineers, who served with courage and coolness throughout the second battle of ypres, and particularly distinguished himself on the nights of april nd and th by bringing in wounded under severe artillery and rifle fire, again attracted the attention of his superior officers by his courageous conduct at festubert. from may th to nd he was in command of detachments of sappers employed in digging advanced lines of trenches, and generally constructing defences. this work was carried through most efficiently, although under fire from field guns, machine guns, and rifles. [ ] it was during this bombardment that captain mcmeans, lieut. smith-rewse, and lieut. passmore were killed, and lieut. denison was wounded. the fate of captain mcmeans was particularly regrettable as he had on all occasions borne himself most gallantly. such was the force of his example that, when he himself, and all the other officers, as well as half the men of the company, had been killed or wounded, the remainder clung doggedly to the position. the conduct of captain j. m. prower also calls for mention. he was wounded, but returned to his command as soon as his wounds were dressed, and though again buried under the parapet, continued to do his duty. he is now brigade major of the nd infantry brigade. on the same day coy. sergt.-major john hay steadied and most ably controlled the men of his company after all the officers and men out of the had been put out of action. [ ] _casualties of th battalion_.--about per cent. of the original officers and men of the th battalion have been casualties. only three of the original officers of the battalion have escaped wounds or death. [ ] this was an attack made by the th prussian army corps which had been very strongly reinforced. the german efforts to break through the canadian lines were very determined, and they advanced in masses, which, however, melted away before our fire. [ ] casualties of th battalion during ypres, festubert, and givenchy about per cent. casualties at festubert alone, , all ranks. [ ] the th canadian battalion was under continuous fire at festubert through ten days and eleven nights. on the morning of may th all communication wires between the fire-trench and the battalion and brigade headquarters were cut by enemy fire, and at nine o'clock pte. (now lieutenant) w. e. f. hart volunteered to mend the wires. hart was with major (now lieut.-colonel) m. j. colquhoun at the time, and they had together twice been partially buried by shell fire earlier in the morning. pte. hart mended eleven breaks in the wires, and re-established communication with both battalion and brigade headquarters. he was at work in the orchard, under shrapnel, machine-gun, and rifle fire, without any cover, for an hour and thirty minutes. hart, who is now signalling officer of the th battalion, is a young man, and the owner of a farm near brantford, ontario. he has been with the battalion since august, . [ ] the following is sir john french's official reason for bringing the battle of festubert to a close:--"i had now reasons to consider that the battle which was commenced by the st army on may th and renewed on the th, having attained for the moment the immediate object i had in view, should not be further actively proceeded with...." "in the battle of festubert the enemy was driven from a position which was strongly entrenched and fortified, and ground was won on a front of four miles to an average depth of yards." chapter vii givenchy minor engagements--a sanguinary battle--attacks on "stony mountain" and "dorchester"--disposition of canadian troops--an enemy bombardment--"duck's bill"--a mine mishap--"dorchester" taken--a bombing party--coy.-sergt.-major owen's bravery--lieut. campbell mounts machine-gun on private vincent's back--how private smith replenished the bombers--fighting the enemy with bricks--british division unable to advance--canadians hang on--"i can crawl"--general mercer's leadership--private clark's gallantry--dominion day. "of fifteen hundred englishmen, went home but fifty-three; the rest were slain in chevy-chace, under the greenwood tree." old scotch ballad. between the close of the battle of festubert, on may th, and the beginning of the great conflict at loos, on september th, there was a series of minor engagements along the whole british front, in which givenchy stands out as another red milestone on canada's road to glory. the brief mention of givenchy in the official despatch in which sir john french reviewed the operations of the british army between festubert and loos, conveys no idea of the desperate fury or the scope of the fighting in which the canadians again did all, and more than all, that was asked of them. that in the end they were forced to fall back from the fortified positions they had won with so much heroism and at so much cost, was due to difficulties in other portions of the field, which prevented the th british division from coming up in time. givenchy may appear but an incident in a long chain of operations when one is taking a bird's-eye view of the campaign on the western front as a whole, but it was in reality a very considerable and sanguinary battle, the story of which should appeal to every canadian heart. the th british division had been directed to make a frontal attack on a fortified place in the enemy's entrenched position known to our troops as "stony mountain," and the st canadian (ontario) battalion, commanded by lieut.-colonel hill, of the st brigade, was detailed to secure the right flank of the british division by seizing two lines of german trenches extending from "stony mountain" yards south to another fortified point known to us as "dorchester." working parties from the nd and rd canadian battalions were detailed to secure the lines of trenches taken by the st battalion, to connect these with our trenches, and finally to form the defensive flank wherever it might be required. after a few days of preparation the st canadian battalion (ontario regiment) moved up, and at three o'clock on the afternoon of june th, the battalion reached our line of trenches opposite the position to be attacked, when the nd canadian battalion, under lieut.-colonel watson, which was holding the trench position, withdrew to the right to make room for them. the trench line on the right of the attacking battalion was held by the nd and th canadian battalions as far as the la bassée canal, with the rd canadian toronto regiment in support. the left was held by the east yorks. [illustration: map--attack made by st canadian battalion june th ] from three o'clock until six in the evening, the ontario regiment awaited the command to charge, and sung their chosen songs--all popular but all unprintable. the enemy bombarded our position heartily, though our artillery had the better of them. fifteen minutes before the attack was timed to take place, two -pounder guns, which had been placed in the infantry trenches under the cover of darkness on the instructions of brigadier-general burstall, opened fire upon the parapets of the enemy trenches. one gun, under lieut. c. s. craig, fired over rounds, sweeping the ground clear of wire and destroying two machine-guns. lieut. craig, who was wounded at ypres early in may and again while observing near givenchy, was seriously wounded after completing his task here. lieut. l. s. kelly, who was in command of the other gun, succeeded in destroying a machine-gun, when his own gun was wrecked by an enemy shell, and he was wounded. the gun shields themselves were tattered and twisted like paper by the mere force of musketry fire.[ ] just before six o'clock a mine, previously prepared by the sappers, was exploded. owing to the discovery of water under the german trenches, its tunnel could not be carried far enough forward, and the canadian troops had accordingly been withdrawn from a salient in the canadian line, known as "duck's bill," to guard against casualties in our own trenches, when it went off. however, to make sure that the explosion would reach the german line, so heavy a charge had to be used that the effects upon the canadian trench line were somewhat serious. several of our own bombers were killed and wounded, and a reserve depôt of bombs was buried under the _débris_. another bomb-depôt was blown up by an enemy shell about this time. these two accidents made us short of bombs when we needed them later on, and we had to rely entirely on the supply of bombs which the bombers carried themselves. lieut.-colonel beecher, second in command, who escaped injury from the first explosion in our trench, was killed by a splinter from a high explosive shell at this moment. the leading company, under major g. j. l. smith, rushed forward, with the smoke and flying dirt of the mine explosion for a screen, and met a withering fire from the german machine-guns placed in "stony mountain." but their dash was irresistible, and almost immediately the company was in possession of the german front trench and "dorchester"; but those who were opposite to "stony mountain" were stopped by fire from that fort, all being killed or wounded. the leading company was followed by bombing parties on the right and left flanks, and by a blocking party of eight sappers of the st field company canadian engineers. lieut. c. a. james, who was in charge of the right bombing party, was killed at the time of the explosion of the mine. those who remained advanced without a leader. lieut. g. n. gordon, in charge of the bomb party on the left, advanced in die direction of "stony mountain," but his bombers were almost all shot down. a few reached the first-line trench, including lieut. gordon. he was soon wounded, and was afterwards killed by a german bomb party while lying in the german first-line trench with two other comrades who had exhausted their supply of bombs. they were almost the only survivors of the bombing party. the members of the blocking party, too, had all been killed or wounded, save sapper harmon, who, being unable to follow his vocation single-handed, loaded himself with bombs which he hurriedly collected from the dead and dying and wounded bombers and set out to bomb his way along the trench alone. he retired, with ten bullet wounds in his body, only after he had thrown his last bomb. the second company, under captain g. l. wilkinson, at once followed the leading company and the bombers, and both companies charged forward to the second-line trench, where the enemy presented a firm front, although stragglers were retreating through the tall grass in the rear. the bombers went to work from right to left to clear the trench. many resisting germans were bayoneted, and some prisoners were taken and sent back, and later, with some of their escort, were killed by machine-gun and rifle fire from "stony mountain" itself. captain wilkinson's company was followed almost immediately by the third company under lieut. t. c. sims, as the other company officers, captain f. w. robinson and lieut. p. w. pick, had been killed by a shell at the moment our mine blew up. this company began to consolidate the first-line german trench which had been captured--that is to say, it reversed the sandbag parapet and turned the trench facing enemy-wards. it had suffered heavily in its advance across the open space between the opposing lines, and captain delamere's company was the fourth sent forward to support. captain delamere had been wounded and the command devolved upon lieut. j. c. l. young, who was wounded at our parapet. lieut. tranter took command, and was killed in a moment. company-sergeant-major owen then assumed command, and led the company with bravery and good sense. lieut. f. w. campbell, with two machine-guns, had advanced in the rear of captain wilkinson's company. the entire crew of one gun was killed or wounded in the advance, but a portion of the other crew gained the enemy's front trench, and then advanced along the trench in the direction of "stony mountain." the advance was most difficult, and, although subjected to constant heavy rifle and machine-gun fire, the bombers led the way until further advance was impossible owing to a barricade across the trench which had been hurriedly erected by the enemy. the bomb and the machine-gun bear the brunt of the day's work more and more as time goes on, till one almost begins to think that the rifle may come to be superseded by the shot-gun. the machine-gun crew which reached the trench was reduced to lieut. campbell and private vincent (a lumberjack from bracebridge, ontario), the machine-gun and the tripod. in default of a base, lieut. campbell set up the machine-gun on the broad back of private vincent and fired continuously. afterwards, during the retreat, german bombers entered the trench, and lieut. campbell fell wounded. private vincent then cut away the cartridge belt, and, abandoning the tripod, dragged the gun away to safety because it was too hot to handle. lieut. campbell crawled out of the enemy trench, and was carried into our trench in a dying condition by company-sergeant-major owen. in the words of kinglake, "and no man died that night with more glory, yet many died and there was much glory." the working parties detailed for the construction of the line adjoining our trenches with the hostile line which had been captured, moved out according to arrangement, but the heavy machine-gun fire from "stony mountain" forced them back to the cover of our trench, and all further attempts to continue work while daylight lasted came to nothing. the efforts of the battalion were now confined to erecting barricades just south of "stony mountain" and north of "dorchester," and to holding the second-line trench. the supply of bombs ran short, and private smith, of southampton, ontario, son of a methodist minister, and not much more than nineteen, was almost the only source of replenishment. he was, till armageddon, a student at the listowell business college. history relates he was singing the trench version of "i wonder how the old folks are at home," when the mine exploded and he was buried. by the time he had dug himself out he discovered that all his world, including his rifle, had disappeared. but his business training told him that there was an active demand for bombs for the german trenches a few score yards away. so private smith festooned himself with bombs from dead and wounded bomb-throwers around him, and set out, mainly on all-fours, to supply that demand. he did it five times. he was not himself a bomb-thrower but a mere middleman. twice he went up to the trenches and handed over his load to the busy men. thrice, so hot was the fire, that he had to lie down and toss the bombs (they do not explode till the safety pin is withdrawn) into the trench to the men who needed them most. his clothes were literally shot into rags and ravels, but he himself was untouched in all his hazardous speculations, and he explains his escape by saying, "i kept moving." so through all these hells the spirit of man endured and rejoiced, indomitable. but, after all, the supply of bombs ran out, and the casualties resulting from heavy machine-gun and rifle fire from "stony mountain" considerably increased the difficulties of holding the line. the bombers could fight no more. one unknown wounded man was seen standing on the parapet of the german front-line trench. he had thrown every bomb he carried, and, weeping with rage, continued to hurl bricks and stones at the advancing enemy till his end came. every effort was made to clear out the wounded, and reinforcements from the rd battalion were sent forward.[ ] but still no work could be done, and a further supply of bombs was not yet available. bombs were absolutely necessary. at one point four volunteers who went to get more were killed, one after the other; upon that, sergeant kranz, of london, england, by way of vermillion, alberta, and at one time a private of the argyll and sutherland regiment, went back, and, fortunately, returned with a load. he was followed by sergeant newell, a cheese-maker from watford, near sarnia, and sergeant-major cuddy, a druggist from strathroy. gradually our men in the second german line were forced back along the german communication trench, and the loss of practically all of our officers hampered the fight. the volunteers who were bringing forward a supply of bombs were nearly all killed, and the supply died out with them. the british division had been unable to advance on the left owing to the strength of the fortified position at "stony mountain," and the german line north of that fort. the canadians held their ground, however, hoping for the ultimate success of the attack on the left, in the face of heavy pressure on their exposed left flank. the enemy meanwhile had been accumulating strong forces, and finally, at about half-past nine, the remnants of the battalion were forced to evacuate all the ground that had been gained. the withdrawal was conducted with deliberation, through a hail of bullets, but it cost us heavily. one splendid incident among many may perhaps explain the reason. private gledhill is eighteen years of age. his grandfather owns a woollen mill in ben miller, near goderich, ontario. ben miller was, till lately, celebrated as the home of the fattest man in the world, for there lived mr. jonathan miller, who weighed lbs., and moved about in a special carriage of his own. private gledhill, destined perhaps to confer fresh fame on ben miller, saw germans advancing down the trench; saw also that only three canadians were left in the trench, two with the machine-gun, and himself, as he said, "running a rifle." before he had time to observe more, an invader's bomb most literally gave him a lift home, and landed him uninjured outside the trench with his rifle broken. he found another rifle and fired awhile from the knee till it became necessary to join the retreat. during that manoeuvre, which required caution, he fell over lieut. brown wounded, and offered to convoy him home. "thanks, no," said the lieutenant, "i can crawl." then private frank ullock, late a livery stable keeper at chatham, new brunswick, but now with one leg missing, said, "will you take _me_?" "sure," replied gledhill. but frank ullock is a heavy man and could not well be lifted. so gledhill got down on hands and knees, and ullock took good hold of his web equipment and was hauled gingerly along the ground towards the home trench. presently gledhill left ullock under some cover while he crawled forward, cut a strand of wire from our entanglements and threw the looped end back, lassoo fashion, to ullock, who wrapped it round his body. gledhill then hauled him to the parapet, where the stretcher-bearers came out and took charge. all this, of course, from first to last and at every pace, under a tempest of fire. it is pleasant to think that frank ullock fell to the charge of dr. murray maclaren, also of new brunswick, who watched over him with tender care in a hospital under canvas, of , beds--a hospital that is larger than the general, the royal victoria, and the western of montreal combined. gledhill was not touched, and in spite of his experiences prefers life at the front to work in his grandfather's woollen mills at ben miller, near goderich, ontario. out of twenty-three combatant officers who went into this action only three missed death or wounding. they are colonel hill, who fought his men to the bitter end with high judgment and courage; lieut. s. a. creighton and lieut. (now captain) t. c. sims, who did their work soldierly and well. although the whole plan of attack was prepared by the corps commander, the operations of the st canadian battalion (ontario regiment) were brilliantly directed by general mercer, who commanded the brigade. he is a man of mature years, a philosopher by nature and a lawyer by profession, always calm and even-tempered, and not given to too many words. for twenty-five years he took an active part in canadian militia affairs, and the nd queen's own of toronto held him in high esteem as their commanding officer. as a soldier, in the face of the enemy, he has gained vast experience since he set foot in france, but, in addition, he has the inestimable possession of shrewd common sense, great courage, and an instinctive knowledge of military operations. there can be no finer tribute to his personality than the respect and affection of the men about him. on the day following the attack, a wounded man was seen lying in the open between the british and the german lines. lance-corporal e. a. barrett, of the th battalion, and at one time the steward of the edmonton club, at once went out in broad daylight under heavy shell and rifle fire and brought the wounded man in. two days later, on the th, private g. f. clark, of the th battalion (winnipeg rifles), displayed even greater coolness and daring. about midday, in the neighbourhood of "duck's bill," lieut. e. h. houghton, of winnipeg, machine-gun officer of the th battalion, saw a wounded british soldier lying near the german trench. as soon as dusk fell he and private clark, of the machine-gun section, dug a hole in the parapet, through which clark went out and brought in the wounded man, who proved to be a private of the east yorks. the trenches at this point were only thirty-five yards apart. private clark had received a bullet through his cap during his rescue of the wounded englishman, but he crawled through the hole in the parapet again and went after a canadian machine-gun which had been abandoned within a few yards of the german trench during the recent attack. he brought the gun safely into our trench, and the tripod to within a few feet of our parapet. he wished to keep the gun to add to the battery of his own section, but the general officer commanding ruled that it was to be returned to its original battalion, and promised clark something in its place which he would find less awkward to carry. private clark comes from port arthur, ontario, and, before the war, earned his living by working in the lumber-woods. after several days of heavy artillery fire our troops were relieved and the headquarters moved to the north. here a trench line was taken over from a british division. when dominion day came they remembered with pride that they were the army of a nation, and those who were in the trenches displayed the dominion flag, decorated with the flowers of france, to the annoyance of the barbarians, who riddled it with bullets. behind the lines the day was celebrated with sports and games, while the pipers of the scottish canadian battalions played a "selection of national airs." but the shouting baseball teams and minstrel shows, with their outrageous personal allusions, the skirl of the pipes and the choruses of the well-known ragtimes, moved men to the depths of their souls. for this was the first dominion day that canada had spent with the red sword in her hand. [ ] on june th the th battery, canadian field artillery, commanded by major geo. h. ralston, received orders to place two guns in our front-line trench, at "duck's bill," and to have them dug in and protected by sandbags by the morning of the th. the german trench was only yards away at this point, and the purpose of the two guns was to cut wire, level parapets, and destroy machine-gun emplacements on a front of yards. the positions for the field guns in our trench were ready by the night of the th, and at . of the same night the two guns, their wheels muffled with old motor tyres, left the battery's position near the canal, and, in charge of captain stockwell and sergeant-major kerry, passed through givenchy. at this point the horses were unhooked, and the guns were hauled to their places in our front-line trench by hand. shells were also drawn in by hand, in small armoured wagons. the guns were protected by one-quarter-inch armour plate, and their crews remained with them throughout the night. the right section gun was commanded by lieut. c. s. craig, with sergeant miller as no. , and the left section gun by lieut. l. s. kelly, with sergeant e. g. macdougall as no. . on the afternoon of the th, the batteries of the division commenced firing on certain selected points of the enemy's front. at . the infantry, working to the minute on advance orders, knocked down our parapet in front of the two entrenched guns and so uncovered their field of fire. the guns opened fire instantly on the german position, and by six o'clock had disposed of six machine-gun emplacements, levelled the german parapets and cut the wire to pieces. our infantry attacked immediately after the firing of the last shot, and just as the german batteries began to range on our two guns. a shell burst over and behind the right section gun, killing three of its crew and wounding lieut. craig and corporal king, who died of his wounds. lieut. kelly was wounded a few minutes later. sergeant macdougall found lieut. craig lying helpless among the dead and wounded, and carried him back to a dressing station. later, the right section gun was smashed by a direct hit. sergeant macdougall, who comes from moncton, new brunswick, and is a graduate of mcgill university in electrical engineering, again did valuable work on the following night in removing the two guns from the trench back to safety. [ ] the rd (toronto) battalion has now only five of its original officers serving with it; officers have been on the strength of the battalion at one time and another since its organisation. of other ranks, about of the original members of the battalion are still with it. chapter viii princess patricia's light infantry review in lansdowne park--princess patricia presents the colours--south african veterans and reservists--princess patricias in the trenches--st. eloi--major hamilton gault--a dangerous reconnaissance--attack on a sap--a german onslaught--lessons from the enemy--a march to battle--voormezeele--death of colonel farquhar--polygone wood--regiment's work admired--a move towards ypres--heavily shelled--a new line--arrival of major gault--regiment sadly reduced--gas shells--a german rush--major gault wounded--lieut. niven in command--a critical position--corporal dover's heroism--a terrible day--shortage of small arms ammunition--germans' third attack--enemy repulsed--regiment reduced to rifles--relieved--a service for the dead--in bivouac--a trench line at armentières--regiment at full strength again--moved to the south--back in billets--princess patricias instruct new troops--rejoin canadians--a glorious record. "fair lord, whose name i know not--noble it is, i well believe, the noblest--will you wear my favour at this tourney?" --tennyson. on sunday, august rd, , on a grey and gloomy day, immense numbers of people assembled in lansdowne park, in the city of ottawa, to attend divine service with the princess patricia's canadian light infantry, and to witness the presentation to the battalion of the colours which she had worked with her own hand. the regiment, composed very largely of south african veterans and reservists, paraded with bands and pipers, and then formed three sides of a square in front of the grand stand. between the regiment and the stand were the duchess of connaught, princess patricia, and their ladies-in-waiting. the princess patricia, on presenting the colours to colonel farquhar, the commanding officer of the regiment, said: "i have great pleasure in presenting you with these colours which i have worked myself; i hope they will be associated with what i believe will be a distinguished corps; i shall follow the fortunes of you all with the deepest interest, and i heartily wish every man good luck and a safe return." not even the good wishes of this beautiful and gracious princess have availed to safeguard the lives of the splendid battalion which carried her colours to the battlefields of flanders; but every member of the battalion resolved, as simply and as finely as the knights of mediæval days, that he would justify the belief in its future so proudly expressed by the lady whose name he was honoured to bear. it is now intended to give some account of the fortunes of the battalion since the day, which seems so long ago, when with all the pride and circumstance of military display, it received the regimental colours amid the cheers of the citizens of ottawa. the princess patricias, containing a far larger proportion of experienced soldiers than any other unit in the canadian division, was not called upon to endure so long a period of preparation as the rest of the canadian expeditionary force; and at the close of the year they sailed from england at a moment when reinforcements were greatly needed in france, to strengthen the th brigade of the th division, and to take their part in a line thinly held and very fiercely assailed. for the months of january and february the regiment took its turn in the trenches, learning the hard lessons of the unpitying winter war. a considerable length of trenches in front of the village of st. eloi was committed to its charge. its machine-guns were planted upon a mound which rose abruptly from the centre of the trenches. the early days were uneventful and the casualties not more than normal, although some very valuable officers were lost. on february th, , the germans completed a sap, from which the battalion became constantly subject to annoyance, danger, and loss. it was therefore determined by the battalion commander to dispose of the menace. major hamilton gault and lieut. colquhoun carried out by night a dangerous reconnaissance of the german position, and returned with much information. lieut. colquhoun went out a second time, alone, to supplement it, but never returned. he is to-day a prisoner of war in germany. the attack was organised under lieut. crabbe; the bomb-throwers were commanded by lieut. papineau. the last-named officer, a very brave soldier, is a lineal descendant of the rebel of . he is himself loyal to his family traditions except when dangers and wars menace the empire. at such moments, in spite of himself, his hand flies to the sword. the snipers were under corporal ross. troops were organised in support with shovels ready to demolish the parapet of the enemy trench. the ground to be traversed was short enough, for the sappers' nearest point was only fifteen yards from the canadian trench. the attacking party rushed this space and threw themselves into the sap. corporal ross, who was first in the race, was killed immediately. lieut. crabbe then led the detachment down the trench while lieut. papineau ran down the outside of the parapet throwing bombs into the trench. lieut. crabbe made his way through the trench, followed by his men, until his progress was arrested by a barrier which the germans had constructed. in the meantime, troops had occupied the rear face of the sap to guard against a counter-attack. a platoon under sergeant-major lloyd, who was killed, attacked and demolished the enemy parapet for a considerable distance. the trench was occupied long enough to complete the work of demolishing the parapet. with dawn, orders were given for the attackers to withdraw, and as the grey morning light began to break, they made their way to their own trenches, with a difficult task well and successfully performed. major gault was wounded in the course of the engagement, in which all ranks behaved with dash and gallantry, although the men had been for six weeks employed in trench warfare under the most depressing conditions of cold and damp. on march st the enemy made a vigorous attack on the princess patricias with bombs and shell fire. between the st and the th, a fierce contest was continually waged for the site of the sap which the battalion had destroyed. sometimes the princess patricias defended it; sometimes the british battalions, with whom they were brigaded and whose staunch and faithful comrades they had become. on march th, carrying out a carefully concerted plan, our men withdrew from the trench lines, which were still only twenty or thirty yards from the german trenches; and our artillery, making very successful practice, obliterated the sap and the trench which the enemy had used for the purpose of creating it. the enemy were blown out of the forward trenches, and fragments of dead germans were thrown into the air, in some cases as high as sixty feet. the bombardment was carried out with high explosive shells. the canadian soldier is always adaptable, and the battalion learned, when they captured the sap on february th, that the german trenches were five feet deep with parapets two feet high, and yet that every day they were pumped and kept dry. this knowledge resulted in a considerable improvement in the trenches occupied by the regiment. the experience was welcome, for the men had been standing in water all through the winter months and the regiment had suffered much from frostbite. on march th, while the princess patricias were in billets, the germans, perhaps in reply to our offensive at neuve chapelle, made a vigorous attack in overwhelming numbers upon the trenches and mound at st. eloi. the attack, which was preceded by a heavy artillery bombardment, was successful, and it became necessary to attempt by a counterattack to arrest any further development. the battalion was billeted in westoutre, where, at . on march th, peremptory orders were received to prepare for departure. at p.m. the march was begun. at zevecoten the princess patricias met a battalion of the king's royal rifle corps, and marched to dickebush. at . it reached the cross roads of kruistraathoek. here a short halt was made, after which the battalion reached voormezeele, where it was drawn up on the roadside. while it was in this position reports were brought in that the germans were advancing in large numbers towards the eastern end of voormezeele. the battalion commander, therefore, as a precaution against surprise, detailed number company of the battalion to occupy the position on the east. soon after a.m. orders were received to co-operate with a battalion of the rifle brigade in an attack on the st. eloi mound, which had been lost early in the day. the zone of the operations of the battalion was to the east of the voormezeele-warneton road. the following rough diagram may make the position clear:-- [illustration: map--the voormezeele-st. eloi area] the actual situation in the front line was still obscure. it was known that the mound and certain trenches to the west of it, were in german hands. it was also known that towards the east we had lost certain trenches known to our intelligence staff as p and a. it was uncertain whether the trench t was still held by our troops. it was decided, in a matter in which certainty was unattainable, to proceed towards a farm building which was an easily recognised objective. this course at least promised information, for if trench t had fallen it was certain that the battalion would at once be heavily attacked. if it was still intact the battalion would, it was hoped, cover the commencement of an assault along the german line against trenches a and p and the mound, successively. the alternative was to advance southwards with the battalion right on the ypres-st. eloi road. the adoption of this plan would have meant slow progress through the enclosures round st. eloi, and the subsequent attack would have been exposed to heavy flanking fire from trenches a and p. the progress of the battalion was necessarily slow; the street in voormezeele was full of stragglers. touch was difficult to maintain across country without constant short halts. it was necessary always to advance with a screen of scouts thrown out. it was ascertained in st. eloi that trench a had been retaken by british troops. this knowledge modified the plan provisionally adopted. the battalion altered its objective from the farm building to a breastwork yards to the west of it. this point was reached about twenty minutes before daylight, and an attack was immediately organised by number company against trench p, approaching it from the back of trench a. the attack was made in three parties. the advance was made with coolness and resolution, but the attackers were met by heavy machine-gun fire from the mound. no soldiers in the world could have forced their way through, for the fire swept everything before it. it was clear that no hope of a surprise existed, and to have spent another company upon reinforcement would have been a useless and bloody sacrifice. three platoons were, therefore, detailed to hold the right of the breastwork in immediate proximity to the mound, and the rest of the battalion was withdrawn to voormezeele, reaching dickebush about a.m.[ ] the forces engaged behaved with great steadiness throughout a trying and unsuccessful night, and at daylight withdrew over open ground without voormezeele, reaching dickebush about a.m. on march th the battalion sustained a severe loss in the death, by a stray bullet, of its commanding officer, colonel farquhar. he had been military secretary to the duke of connaught. this distinguished officer had done more for the battalion than it would be possible in a short chapter to record. the regiment, in fact, was his creation. a strict disciplinarian, he was nevertheless deeply beloved in an army not always patient of discipline tactlessly asserted; he was always cheerful, always unruffled, and always resourceful. lieut.-colonel h. c. buller succeeded him in command of the regiment. after the death of lieut.-colonel farquhar, the battalion again retired to rest, and it has not since returned to the scene of its earliest experience in trench warfare. on april th it took up a line on the polygone wood, in the ypres salient, and there did its round of duty with the customary relief in billets. by this time the men were becoming familiar with their surroundings, and gave play to their native ingenuity. near the trenches they built log huts from trees in the woods, and it was a common thing for french, belgian, and british officers to visit the camp to admire the work of the regiment. breastworks were built also behind the trenches under cover of the woods, and the trenches themselves were greatly improved. the battalion presently moved into billets in the neighbourhood of ypres, and on april th, during the heavy bombardment of that unhappy town which preceded the immortal stand of the canadian division, it was ordered to leave billets, and on the evening of that day moved once again to the trenches. from april st and through the following days of the second battle of ypres the regiment remained in trenches some distance south and west of the trenches occupied by the canadian division they were constantly shelled with varying intensity, and all through those critical days waited, with ever-growing impatience, for the order that never came to take part in the battle to the north, where their kinsmen were undergoing so cruel an ordeal. on may rd, after the modification of the line to the north, the battalion was withdrawn to a subsidiary line some distance in the rear. from eight in the evening to midnight small parties were silently withdrawn, until the trenches were held with a rearguard of fifteen men commanded by lieut. lane. rapid fire was maintained for more than an hour, and the rear-guard then withdrew without casualties. on may th the regiment occupied the new line. on the morning of that day a strong enemy attack developed. this was repulsed with considerable loss to the assailants, and was followed by a heavy bombardment throughout the day, which demolished several of the trenches. at night the regiment was relieved by the king's shropshire light infantry and withdrawn to reserve trenches. in this unhealthy neighbourhood no place, by this time, was safe, and on may th, lieut.-colonel buller was unfortunate enough to lose an eye from the splinter of a shell which exploded yards away. major gault arrived during the day and took over command. the battalion was still in high spirits, and cheered the arrival of an officer to whom all ranks were attached. just after dark on the night of may th, the battalion returned to the trenches and relieved the nd king's shropshire light infantry. throughout the night, and all the following day, it was assailed by a constant and heavy bombardment. the roll call on the night of the th showed the strength of the battalion as . the day that followed was at once the most critical and the most costly in the history of the battalion. early in the morning, particularly heavy shelling began on the right flank, soon enfilading the fire trenches. at . it grew in intensity, and gas shells began to fall. at the same time a number of germans were observed coming at the double from the hill in front of the trench. this movement was arrested by a heavy rifle fire. by a.m. every telephone-wire, both to the brigade headquarters and also to the trenches, had been cut. all signallers, pioneers, orderlies, and servants at battalion headquarters were ordered into the support trenches, for the needs of the moment left no place for supernumeraries. every single canadian upon the strength was from that time forward in one or other of the trenches. a short and fierce struggle decided the issue for the time being. the advance of the germans was checked, and those of the enemy who were not either sheltered by buildings, dead or wounded, crawled back over the crest of the ridge to their own trenches. by this time the enemy had two, and perhaps three, machine-guns in adjacent buildings, and were sweeping the parapets of both the fire and support trenches. an orderly took a note to brigade headquarters informing them exactly of the situation of the battalion. about a.m., major gault, who had sustained his men by his coolness and example, was severely hit by a shell in the left arm and thigh. it was impossible to move him, and he lay in the trench, as did many of his wounded companions, in great anguish but without a murmur, for over ten hours. the command was taken over by lieut. niven, the next senior officer who was still unwounded. heavy howitzers using high explosives, combined with field-guns from this moment in a most trying bombardment both on the fire and support trenches. the fire trench on the right was blown to pieces at several points.[ ] at o'clock the shelling decreased in intensity; but it was the lull before the storm, for the enemy immediately attempted a second infantry advance. this attack was received with undiminished resolution. a storm of machine-gun and rifle fire checked the assailants, who were forced, after a few indecisive moments, to retire and take cover. the battalion accounted for large numbers of the enemy in the course of this attack, but it suffered seriously itself. captain hill, lieuts. martin, triggs, and de bay were all wounded at this time. at half-past nine, lieut. niven established contact with the king's own yorkshire light infantry on the left, and with the th rifle brigade on the right. both were suffering heavy casualties from enfilade fire; and neither, of course, could afford any assistance. at this time the bombardment recommenced with great intensity. the range of our machine-guns was taken with extreme precision. all, without exception, were buried. those who served them behaved with the most admirable coolness and gallantry. two were dug out, mounted and used again. one was actually disinterred three times and kept in action till a shell annihilated the whole section. corporal dover stuck to his gun throughout and, although wounded, continued to discharge his duties with as much coolness as if on parade. in the explosion that ended his ill-fated gun, he lost a leg and an arm, and was completely buried in the _débris_. conscious or unconscious, he lay there in that condition until dusk, when he crawled out of all that was left of the obliterated trench, and moaned for help. two of his comrades sprang from the support trench--by this time the fire trench--and succeeded in carrying in his mangled and bleeding body. but as all that remained of this brave soldier was being lowered into the trench a bullet put an end to his sufferings. no bullet could put an end to his glory. at half-past ten the left half of the right fire trench was completely destroyed; and lieut. denison ordered lieut. clarke to withdraw the remnant of his command into the right communicating trench. he himself, with lieut. lane, was still holding all that was tenable of the right fire trench with a few men still available for that purpose. lieut. edwards had been killed. the right half of the left fire trench suffered cruelly. the trench was blown in and the machine-gun put out of action. sergeant scott, and the few survivors who still answered the call, made their way to the communication trench, and clung tenaciously to it, until that, too, was blown in. lieut. crawford, whose spirits never failed him throughout this terrible day, was severely wounded. captain adamson, who was handing out small arms ammunition, was hit in the shoulder, but continued to work with a single arm. sergeant-major fraser, who was similarly engaged feeding the support trenches with ammunition, was killed instantly by a bullet in the head. at this time only four officers were left, lieuts. papineau, vandenberg, niven, and clark, of whom the last two began the war in the ranks. by a.m. the supply of small arms ammunition badly needed replenishment. in this necessity the snipers of the battalion were most assiduous in the dangerous task of carrying requests to the brigade headquarters and to the reserve battalion, which was in the rear at belle-waarde lake. the work was most dangerous, for the ground which had to be covered was continually and most heavily shelled. from a.m. to . p.m. the battalion held on under the most desperate difficulties until a detachment of the th rifle brigade was sent up in reinforcement the battered defenders of the support trench recognised old friends coming to their aid in their moment of extreme trial, and gave them a loud cheer as they advanced in support. lieut. niven placed them on the extreme right, in order to protect the battalion's flanks. they remained in line with the canadian support trenches, protected by trees and hedges. they also sent a machine-gun and section, which rendered invaluable service. at p.m. lieut. niven went with an orderly to the headquarters, in obedience to brigade orders, to telephone to the general officer commanding the brigade, complete details of the situation. he returned at . p.m. the orderlies who accompanied him both coming and going were hit by high explosive shells. at p.m. a detachment of the nd king's shropshire light infantry, who were also old comrades in arms of the princess patricias, reached the support line with twenty boxes of small arms ammunition. these were distributed, and the party bringing them came into line as a reinforcement, occupying the left end of the support trench. at four o'clock the support trenches were inspected, and it was found that contact was no longer maintained with the regiment on the left, the gap extending for fifty yards. a few men (as many as could be spared) were placed in the gap to do the best they could. shortly afterwards news was brought that the battalions on the left had been compelled to withdraw, after a stubborn resistance, to a line of trenches a short distance in the rear. at this moment the germans made their third and last attack. it was arrested by rifle fire, although some individuals penetrated into the fire trench on the right. at this point all the princess patricias had been killed, so that this part of the trench was actually tenantless. those who established a footing were few in number, and they were gradually dislodged; and so the third and last attack was routed as successfully as those which had preceded it. the afternoon dragged on, the tale of casualties constantly growing; and at ten o'clock at night, the company commanders being all dead or wounded, lieuts. niven and papineau took a roll call. it disclosed a strength of rifles and some stretcher-bearers. at . at night the battalion was relieved by the rd king's royal rifle corps. the relieving unit helped those whom they replaced, in the last sorrowful duty of burying those of their dead who lay in the support and communicating trenches. those who had fallen in the fire trenches needed no grave, for the obliteration of their shelter had afforded a decent burial to their bodies. behind the damaged trenches, by the light of the german flares and amid the unceasing rattle of musketry, relievers and relieved combined in the last service which one soldier can render another. beside the open graves, with heads uncovered, all that was left of the regiment stood, while lieut. niven, holding the colours of princess patricia, battered, bloody, but still intact, tightly in his hand, recalled all he could remember of the church of england service for the dead. long after the service was over the remnant of the battalion stood in solemn reverie, unable it seemed to leave their comrades, until the colonel of the rd king's royal rifle corps gave them positive orders to retire, when, led by lieut. papineau, they marched back, strong, to reserve trenches. on arrival they were instructed to proceed to another part of the position, where during the day they were shelled, and lost five killed and three wounded. in the evening of the th the battalion furnished a carrying party of fifty men and one officer for small arms ammunition, and delivered twenty-five boxes at belle-waarde lake. one man was killed and two wounded. it furnished also a digging party of men, under lieut. clarke, who constructed part of an additional support trench. on may th the regiment was in bivouac at the rear. the news arrived that the th rifle brigade, their old and trusty comrades in arms, was being desperately pressed. asked to go to the relief, the princess patricias formed a composite battalion with the th king's royal rifle corps, and successfully made the last exertion which was asked of them at this period of the war. on may th major pelly arrived from england, where he had been invalided on march th, and took over the command from lieut. niven, who, during his period of command, had shown qualities worthy of a regimental commander of any experience in any army in the world. at the beginning of june the princess patricias took up a trench line at armentières and remained there until the end of august. in the middle of july lieut. c. j. t. stewart, a brave officer who had been severely wounded in the early days of the spring, rejoined the battalion. other officers returning after wounds, and reinforcements from canada, brought the battalion up to full strength again. trench work and digging then alternated with rest. about the middle of september the battalion moved with the th division to occupy a line of trenches held by the rd army in the south. when the th division was withdrawn from this line the princess patricias were moved into billets far back from the battle zone, and for a while the battalion was detailed to instruct troops arriving for the rd army. on november th, , they were once again happily reunited with the canadian corps after a long separation. such, told purposely in the baldest language, and without attempting any artifice in rhetoric, is the history of princess patricia's light infantry regiment from the time it reached flanders till the present day. few, indeed, are left of the men who met in lansdowne park to receive the regimental colours nearly a year ago; but those who survive, and the friends of those who have died, may draw solace from the thought that never in the history of arms have soldiers more valiantly sustained the gift and trust of a lady. [ ] commenting on the princess patricias at st. eloi, in nelson's "history of the war," mr. john buchan says:--"princess patricia's regiment was the first of the overseas troops to be engaged in an action of first-rate importance, and their deeds were a pride to the whole empire--a pride to be infinitely heightened by the glorious record of the canadian division in the desperate battles of april. this regiment five days later suffered an irreparable loss in the death of its commanding officer, col. francis farquhar, kindest of friends, most whimsical and delightful of comrades, and bravest of men." [ ] the german bombardment had been so heavy since may th that a wood which the regiment had used in part for cover was completely demolished. chapter ix the prime minister the prime minister's visit--passing of politics--end to domestic dissensions--the imperial idea--sir robert's foresight--arrival in england--at shorncliffe--meeting with general hughes--review of canadian troops--the tour in france--a canadian base hospital--a british hospital--canadian graves--wounded under canvas--prince arthur of connaught--visiting battle scenes--received by general alderson--general turner's brigade--speech to the men--first and second brigades--sir robert in the trenches--cheered by princess patricias--enemy aeroplanes--meeting with sir john french--the prince of wales--with the french army--general joffre--a conference in french--the french trenches--the stricken city of albert--to paris--the french president--conference with the french war minister--shorncliffe again--canadian convalescent home--a thousand convalescents--sir robert's emotion--his wonderful speech--end of journey. "i think i can trace the calamities of this country to the single source of our not having had steadily before our eyes a general, comprehensive, well-connected, and well-proportioned view of the whole of our dominions, and a just sense of their true bearings and relations."--burke. "and statesmen at her council met who knew the seasons when to take occasion by the hand, and make the bounds of freedom wider yet." --tennyson. the news that the prime minister had arranged a visit to england and to the battlefield in france aroused great and general interest. since the commencement of the titanic struggle which is now convulsing the world, the standards by which we used to measure statesmen have undergone great modification. the gifts of brilliant platform rhetoric, the arts of partisan debate, the instinct for a conquering election issue, all these have dwindled before the cruel perspective of war into their true insignificance. it is felt here in england to-day, and not least by some of us who are ourselves chargeable in the matter, that it will be long before the politicians at home clear themselves at the inquest of the nation from the charge of having endangered the safety of the empire by their absorption in those domestic dissensions which now seem at once so remote and so paltry. and there is already at work a tendency to adopt wholly different standards in measuring men who, in the wasted years which lie behind us, kept steadfast and undeluded eyes upon the imperial position; who thought of it and dreamed of it, and worked for it, when so many others were preaching disarmament in an armed world, sustaining meanwhile the combative instinct by the fury with which they flung themselves into insane domestic quarrels. sir robert borden's was not, perhaps, a personality which was likely to make a swift or facile appeal to that collective imperial opinion whose conclusions matter so much more than the conclusions of any individual part of the empire. modest, unassuming, superior to the arts of advertisement, he never courted a large stage on which to exhibit the services which he well knew he could render to the empire. to-day it is none the less recognised that borden has won his place by the side of rhodes and chamberlain and botha, in that charmed circle of clear-sighted statesmen whose exertions, we may hope, have saved the empire in our generation as surely as chatham and pitt and clive and hastings saved it in the crisis of an earlier convulsion. sir robert borden is the first colonial statesman who has attended a british cabinet, a precedent which may be fruitful in immense constitutional developments hereafter. i wonder whether any of those whose deliberations he assisted recalled the prescience, and the grave and even noble eloquence, with which sir robert closed his great speech--delivered how short a time ago!--upon the proposed canadian contribution to the british fleet. the passage is worth recalling:-- "the next ten or twenty years will be pregnant with great results for this empire, and it is of infinite importance that questions of purely domestic concern, however urgent, shall not prevent any of us from rising to the height of this great argument. but to-day, while the clouds are heavy, and we hear the booming of the distant thunder, and see the lightning flash above the horizon, we cannot, and we will not, wait and deliberate until any impending storm shall have burst upon us in fury and with disaster. almost unaided, the motherland, not for herself alone, but for us as well, is sustaining the burden of a vital imperial duty, and confronting an overmastering necessity of national existence. bringing the best assistance that we may in the urgency of the moment, we come thus to her aid in token of our determination to protect and ensure the safety and integrity of this empire, and of our resolve to defend on sea as well as on land our flag, our honour, and our heritage." this gift of wise and spacious speech has been used more than once with extreme impressiveness--notably at the guildhall--during the prime minister's recent visit. "all that," he said, "for which our fathers fought and bled, all our liberties and institutions, all the influences for good which penetrate humanity, are in the balance to-day. therefore we cannot, because we must not, fail in this war." it was my duty to accompany sir robert borden on the visit which he paid to the front, and i gladly embrace this opportunity of substituting for the stories of bloodshed and glory, which have engaged my pen so much, the record of a mission which, though peaceful, was of profound and often of most moving interest. sir robert borden arrived in england in the middle of july. on friday, the th, he motored to shorncliffe, accompanied by sir george parley and mr. r. b. bennett, m.p. there he met general hughes. at nine o'clock on the morning of the th the canadian troops of the nd division marched past the prime minister. it was impossible to watch without emotion, if one came from canada, this superb body of men gathered from every part of the dominion, and animated in all ranks by the desire to take their place side by side with the st division, and, if possible, to wrest from the war laurels as glorious as theirs. certainly, on the view, no finer body of men could be imagined, and if to a critical eye it seemed that the tactical efficiency of the western regiments was a shade higher than that of the eastern, the reflection readily occurred that the whole of the st division was criticised, on this very ground, and that this war, of all wars, is not to be determined on the parade ground. sir robert borden's tour began on tuesday, july th. accompanied by mr. r. b. bennett and a military staff, he embarked for france. colonel wilberforce, the camp commandant, who had served on the staff of a former governor-general of canada, met him at the pier on his arrival. after lunch he visited a canadian base hospital, commanded by colonel mckee, of montreal. it was pathetic to see the pleasure of the wounded at his presence, and the plainness with which they showed it, in spite of the pain which many of them were suffering. the next visit was paid to a british hospital, where sir robert saw captain george bennett, of the princess patricias, who was just fighting his way back to consciousness after one hundred and twenty-five days of burning fever.[ ] from the hospital the prime minister went to the graveyard, where he planted seeds of the maple tree on the graves of our dead officers and men. the scene was touching, and sir robert was deeply moved. side by side with the british dead, lie captain muntz, of the rd battalion toronto regiment, major ward, of the princess patricias, whose fruit farm in the okanagan valley lies fallow, and lieutenant campbell, of the st battalion ontario regiment, who won the victoria cross and yet did not live to know it. how he won it, against what odds, and facing how certain a death, has been fully told in another chapter. sir robert then visited the mcgill college hospital, commanded by colonel birkett, the canadian base hospital, in charge of colonel shillington, and colonel murray maclaren's hospital, under canvas, in the sand dunes fringing the sea. everywhere one noticed the same patience under suffering, the same gratitude for all done to relieve pain, and the same sincere and simple pleasure that the prime minister of canada had wished to see them and to thank them. perhaps the long corridor tents in the sand dunes impressed themselves most upon the memory. the convalescents stood to attention to receive the colonial prime minister. some would not be denied whom the medical staff would perhaps rather have seen sitting. nor was it less moving to notice how illustrious in private life were many members of the brilliant staff which had assembled to meet the first citizen of canada. colonel murray maclaren, colonel finlay, colonel cameron, and many others, if they ever reflect upon the immense private sacrifices they have made, would draw rich compensation from the knowledge that their skill and science have in countless cases brought comfort in the midst of suffering to the heroic soldiers of canada. sir robert, in a few sentences of farewell, made himself the mouthpiece of canada in rendering to them a high tribute of respect and gratitude. early on wednesday morning the prime minister set forth to visit the canadian troops at the front. he was joined in the course of his journey by prince arthur of connaught, who came to represent the governor-general of canada. the road followed took the party near to where canada, at the second battle of ypres, held the left of the british line. the prime minister examined the position with the greatest care and interest, and looked upon the ruined city of ypres, and far in the horizon identified the shattered remnants of messines. and before he left he spoke to those about him, with deep pride and thankfulness, of those who stood and died for the honour of canada in that great critical day in the western campaign. at noon sir robert reached the canadian divisional headquarters, where he was received by general alderson. two familiar faces were missing from the number of those who had made the staff dispositions in the great battle. colonel romer, then chief general staff officer, always cool, always lucid, always resourceful, had become a brigadier. he is an extremely able officer, and if a layman may hazard a prediction as to a soldier's future, he has in front of him a very brilliant and perhaps a very high career. however brilliant and however long it may prove, he will never, i think, forget the second battle of ypres, or the brave comrades whose exertions it was his duty, under the general, to co-ordinate and direct. and we missed, too, the quiet but friendly personality of colonel wood (now brigadier-general), who had been transferred to shorncliffe to organise the corps staff. he has returned again to the front, and is now in charge of our "administration." general wood spent some years at the royal military college at kingston, ontario, and there acquired a great knowledge of, and sympathy with, the canadian point of view. he is devoted to the canadian troops, of whom he is intensely proud, and they on their part understand and trust him. general alderson accompanied sir robert on his visit to the units of the division not on duty in the trenches. the brigade of general turner was commanded for the last time by that officer, for his soldierly merits have won for him the command of the nd canadian division. the command of his brigade has been given to brigadier-general leckie, of whom i have frequently written. sir robert addressed the men in a few ringing sentences which excited the greatest enthusiasm in all ranks. the men ran after the moving motor, and the last to desist was captain ralph markham, a gallant officer, who was unhappily killed a few days after by a chance shell as he was returning to billets along a communication trench. the nd brigade, under the command of general currie, who has since been given the command of the st division, and the st brigade (general mercer) were also visited. here it was that colonel watson, of quebec, marched past at the head of the nd battalion, leading his men to the trenches. a capable, brave, and very modest officer, he now commands a brigade in the nd canadian division. sir robert then visited the trenches accompanied by general alderson and brigadier-general burstall, and after a visit to the army service corps, under colonel simpson, he parted from general alderson and his fine command.[ ] his next visit was neither less important nor less interesting, for it was to the princess patricia's canadian light infantry. the regiment, which assembled strong in a field five miles from canadian headquarters, received with cheers, which broke out again and again, the prime minister and the brother of the princess, under whose name and favour the battalion has so bravely fought. major pelly was in command, the second-in-command being lieutenant (now captain) niven, of whose deeds i attempted to give some account in the preceding chapter. the regiment was formed in three sides of a square and as the prime minister and the prince advanced, the colours, presented by the princess in lansdowne park on that great day which seems so long ago, were ceremoniously unfurled. and, as the tattered folds spread before a light breeze, the clouds broke, and there was a moment or two of bright sunshine. overhead two enemy aeroplanes flew, and there followed them persistently through the sky bursting shells of shrapnel. the prime minister conveyed in simple words a message from the governor-general. the prince, in plain and soldierly language, spoke in deep affection of the regiment whose glory, he said, was so dear to his sister's heart. the men were deeply moved. on his return to headquarters the prime minister was invited to take part in a conference with the field-marshal commanding-in-chief and his staff. among those present was his royal highness the prince of wales. it had been arranged that sir robert's visit to the french armies--a visit most courteously and even pressingly suggested by the french government--should take place on the conclusion of the conference at general headquarters. sir robert was received at a small town, which it would be indiscreet to name, by general joffre. the famous general, who was full of confidence and hope, was surrounded by one of the most brilliant staffs which any army in the world could boast. for a long time he discussed with the most charming frankness, and the most lucid explanations, the position and the prospects of the allied forces in the field. the french staff was most anxious to enlarge upon their plans in conversation with the prime minister. it was interesting, indeed, to an observer of canadian birth, to listen to the animated conversation carried on entirely in french. what reflections did the interview not suggest? the commander-in-chief of the grand army of france in conference with the prime minister of canada in the throes of a mighty war! jacques cartier, frontenac, de levis, de salaberry, wolfe, montcalm, the heights of abraham, the far-flung antagonism of the great french and british nations--how many memories crowded the mind as one silently watched this historic interview! and, of all reflections, perhaps the most insistent was that the bitterest antagonisms of mankind may be composed in a period relatively very brief. after a long day in the french trenches, varied by visits to advanced observation posts, from which the prime minister could plainly see the german front-line trenches, the party returned through the stricken city of albert. the majestic fabric of its ancient cathedral has been smitten with a heavy hand. there remain only a scarred and desolate ruin, and the figure of the madonna--a true mater dolorosa--hung suspended in mid-air from the mutilated spire. and so to paris, with minds saddened indeed by all the misery and the havoc and the horror, but still full of confidence that right shall yet conquer wrong, that a period shall yet be assigned to that bloody and calculated savagery which has swept ever so many fair provinces in europe, and has not yet abandoned the hope of dominating the world. the rest of the week was spent with the government in paris and in discussion with the french president and the minister of war. here again sir robert met with the most distinguished kindness. nothing promising or unpromising in the prospects of the allies was concealed from him, and on his departure from paris the first citizen of france conferred upon the first citizen of canada the highest order of the legion of honour. after a visit on the way home to the great canadian base hospital, over which colonel bridges, an officer of the permanent force, presides, and in which major keenan, of montreal and of the princess patricias, gives his services, the party reached boulogne on sunday, and were carried back to english soil again. monday morning was spent in visiting the great hospital at shorncliffe, which is under the direction of colonel scott, of toronto. everywhere one noticed in the hospitals the same cheerfulness, the same patience under suffering, and the same unaffected pleasure at the visit of the prime minister. in the late afternoon the prime minister arrived at the canadian convalescent home, where troops are gathered from all the hospitals in england, either to return in due course to duty or leave for ever the military service. this wonderful organisation is under the direction of captain mccombe. the institution--so largely his creation--is a shining example of what such a home can become under intelligent and humane direction. the convalescents here were over a thousand strong. those physically fit stood to attention. others in the blue and white uniform of the hospital leaned heavily upon their crutches. others lay upon their couches unable to move, but watching and listening intently. all canada was represented, from halifax to vancouver. here were the survivors of the battle for the wood; there a remnant of the heroes who charged to save the british left. here were those brave men who gloriously assaulted the orchard; there the veterans of the st ontario regiment who attacked on june th. the prime minister was profoundly moved. flanders had moved him too. nor had he escaped deep feeling when he saw the canadian troops marching to the trenches. but not until he came face to face with the shattered survivors of four glorious battles, did he openly show that deep spring of emotion and affection which those who saw him will always cherish as their fondest recollection of him. the warmth and sincerity of his nature found expression in one of the most wonderful speeches which he or anyone else has ever made. it has not been reported; it cannot be reported, for those who heard him were themselves too much moved to recollect the words. but it was a speech vital with humanity; it was the speech of a father who mourned over stricken sons, and, closing in a sterner note, it was the speech of one who foresaw and promised a day of retribution for the conscienceless race which, with cold calculation, had planned this outrage on humanity. and so ended the memorable journey. the narrative attempted here cannot, of course, be too explicit. but the writer has not altogether failed in his purpose if he has shown the dignity, the restraint, the eloquence, and the wisdom with which the prime minister of canada has represented our great dominion among the leading soldiers and statesmen of europe. [ ] since that time captain bennett has been brought to england, but even now he is in a convalescent home and only slowly recovering. [ ] before returning to england, sir robert borden sent the following message to general alderson, which was circulated in orders of july th:--"the fine spirit of the canadian division, and their evident efficiency for the great task in which they are engaged, very deeply impressed me. it was a great privilege to have the opportunity of seeing them, and of conveying to them, from the people of canada, a message of pride and appreciation. as i said on more than one occasion in addressing the officers and men, they can hardly realise how intensely all canada has been thrilled by the tidings of their achievements. the president of the french republic, as well as general joffre and sir john french, spoke of the troops under your command in terms of the highest praise. i bid you god speed in the great task in which you are engaged." chapter x the canadian corps tranquil canadian lines---german reconnaissance--incident at "plug street"--pte. bruno saves capt. tidy--a sniper's month--sharpshooters' compact--sergt. ballendine--the ross rifle--"no man's land"--our bombers--sergt. william tabernacle--his new profession--general sir sam hughes' visit--canadian patriotism--civilian armies--"last word of kings"--art of the "soldier's speech"--lord kitchener's inspiration--lord roberts and the indians--general hughes arrives in france--at british headquarters--consultation with king albert--meeting with prince alexander of teck--conference with general alderson--the second canadian contingent--in the firing line--many friends--general burstall's artillery--inspection of cavalry--meeting with prince of wales--the princess patricias--conference with sir douglas haig--general hughes' suggestions--meeting with general foch--impressed with general joffre--the ruin at rheims--general hughes' message on departure--a quiet august--the canadian corps--general alderson's new command--an appreciation of a gallant commander--conclusion. "fortes a fortibus creantur." brave men are created by brave men. save for the great interest aroused by the visit of the prime minister, sir robert borden, an almost uncanny tranquillity reigned along the whole canadian front during the month of july. the enemy soon became aware that new troops had taken up the position, and reconnaissance parties were very active in endeavouring to ascertain precisely what troops they now had opposite them. they had probably caught a few words from our trenches which were sufficient to tell them that they were now opposed to canadians, and they were no doubt anxious to discover whether they were confronted by the experienced veterans who had proved their qualities at ypres, or whether their opponents were the soldiers of the nd division, as yet fresh to the field of war. we, for our part, had a similar curiosity. we, too, were anxious to discover the identity and, therefore, the quality, of the men whose trenches it was our lot to watch by night and by day. knowing, however, that their reconnaissance parties were moving about, we were content to bide our time--to await the opportunity of seizing upon one of their detachments when they were either careless, ill-led, or over-bold. that opportunity came at "plug street" at half-past eight on the morning of july th. one of the observers of the rd battalion (toronto regiment) reported a party of the enemy in the wild wheat, never to be garnered, growing between the british and german lines. it was then that captain tidy, with private bruno, who had joined the battalion at valcartier from the queen's own of toronto, and two other privates of the names of candlish and subervitch, left the trenches and crawled out to take the enemy by surprise. in this they were successful. two of the germans surrendered the moment they were covered by captain tidy's pistol; but the third, though putting up his hands at first, lowered them again and fired at the officer. at this, bruno, who was in a crouching position among the wheat, fired two shots from the hip and killed the treacherous german. the party returned safely with their two prisoners, though the whole affair had taken place in full view of the german trenches. the prisoners, when questioned, stated that they had been sent out during the night in the hope that they would be able to identify our troops. july was a sniper's month. true, every month is a sniper's month; the great game of sniping never wanes, but the inactivity in other methods of fighting left the field entirely free for the sharpshooter in july. it was during the fighting at givenchy in june, , that four snipers of the th canadian battalion (winnipeg rifles) agreed to record their professional achievements from that time forward on the wood of their rifles. private ballendine, one of the four, is from battleford. he is tall and loosely built. in his swarthy cheeks, black eyes, and straight black hair, he shows his right to claim canadian citizenship by many generations of black-haired, sniping ancestors. he learned to handle a rifle with some degree of skill at the age of ten years, and he has been shooting ever since. at the present time he carries thirty-six notches on the butt of his rifle. each notch stands for a dead german--to the best of ballendine's belief. one notch, cut longer and deeper into the brown wood than me others, means an officer. to date, private smith, of roblin, manitoba, has scratched the wood of his rifle only fourteen times; but he is a good shot, has faith in his weapon, and looks hopefully to the future. private mcdonald, of port arthur, displays no unseemly elation over his score of twenty-six. private patrick riel makes a strong appeal to the imagination, though his tally is less than mcdonald's by two or three. he is a descendant of the late louis riel, and when he enlisted in the th winnipeg rifles at the outbreak of the war, and was told by one of his officers that his regiment had done battle against his cousin louis at fish creek and batoche, he showed only a mild interest in this trick of time. riel, like mcdonald, comes from port arthur way. before the war he earned his daily bacon and tobacco as a foreman of lumber-jacks on the kaministiquia river. the weapons used by these four snipers are ross rifles, remodelled to suit their peculiar and particular needs. each is mounted with a telescopic sight, and from beneath the barrel of each much of the wood of the casing has been cut away. the men do their work by day, as the telescopic sight is not good for shooting in a poor light. they are excused all fatigues while in the trenches and go about their grim tasks without hint or hindrance from their superiors. they choose their own positions from which to observe the enemy and to fire upon him--sometimes in leafy covers behind our front-line trench, sometimes behind our parapet. very little of their work is done in the "no man's land" between the hostile lines, for there danger from the enemy is augmented by the chance of a shot from some zealous but mistaken comrade. the mention of "no man's land" reminds me that, on the canadian front, this desolate and perilous strip of land is now called "canada." the idea is that our patrols have the upper hand here, night and day--that we govern the region, though we have not stationed any governor or resident magistrate there as yet. our bombers, too, are an interesting and peculiar body of men, evolved by the needs of this warfare from all classes. sergeant william tabernacle is a bomber. he has lived for so long in an environment of cramped quarters, alternating five days and five nights of narrow trenches and low dug-outs, with five days and five nights of circumscribed huts in the reserve lines, week after week, month after month, that he sometimes wonders if the pictures in the back of his mind--pictures of dry-floored houses, wide beds, and secure streets--are memories or only dreams. at first, for a little while, he fretted after the soft things of the old, soft life in far-away canada; but now he is content to shape his life and live it only from day to day, to question the future as little as to review the past. the things that matter to william now are the things of the moment--the trench mortars behind the opposite parapet, the guns screened in the wood behind our own lines, food, and his ration of rum. william loves bombs, though he had never heard of such things before the war and had never believed in them until two exploded near him, in the first trench of his experience--long ago, before the second battle of ypres. it seems that he brought to france with him, all unknown to himself or his comrades, an instinctive understanding of and affection for every variety of explosive missile. he grasped the idea and intention of this phase of warfare in a flash--in the flash of his first hostile grenade. he was told to be a bomber; so he became a bomber, and everything he threw exploded with precision. his colonel made a corporal of him. as corporal he added to his duties of throwing bombs the work of overhauling the bombs of others and of manufacturing a few on his own account. he became a sergeant--and now he is an accepted authority on bombs. he makes them, repairs them, assembles them, takes care of them, issues them to his men, and sometimes heaves a few himself, just to show the youngsters how the trick is done. nothing comes amiss to william. bombs and grenades that enter his trench and fail to explode are quickly investigated, and, sooner or later, are returned to their original owners in working order. rifle grenades that explode in william's vicinity never fail to attract his attention, and while others attend to the wounded he looks for the stick. finding the stick, he immediately welds it to the base of a small, cone-shaped bomb from his own stores--and, behold, a rifle grenade of superior quality all ready to be fired against the enemy's loopholes. william is considered by some to have grown peculiar in his habits. his dug-out is hung and cluttered with the materials and tools and weapons of his trade. he fondles specimens of british, french, and german bombs, even as old ladies back in canada fondle their grandchildren. he expatiates on their good points and their defects. he has his favourites, of course, and should anyone venture to belittle the fuse, the detonating charge, or the explosive quality of one of his favourites, he becomes arrogant, ill-mannered, and quarrelsome. william lives to-day for the explosion of to-morrow. if he were lord kitchener doubtless this war would end very suddenly, some fine day, in a rending crash that would split and rip these fair lands from the sea to the high hills. william is a canadian. before the war his fellow-countrymen believed that he lacked ambition and smoked too many cigarettes. but here he is doing his queer work, in his own queer way, in a trench in the low countries--one of the hardest rivets to break or bend in that long barrier which the fighting legions of germany can neither bend nor break. one cannot help wondering what william will do for excitement when he returns to that little town in ontario--if ever he does return. perhaps, an uncle toby of the new world, he will tell, "with remembrances," the story of how he "fought in flanders" on the old soil and with the old weapons. * * * * * at the beginning of august the men were cheered by a welcome visitor from home--major-general sir sam hughes, k.c.b., whom the men naturally regard as the father of the canadian contingent. the passionate love of country, the lofty, if inarticulate, patriotism which called men from the lumber camp and the mine, the desk and the store, was expressed in the formation of great armies, by the guiding hand of the minister of militia. at that supreme moment in our country's history, when canada was at the cross roads of her destiny, she was indeed happy in the possession of the man who gathered in and marshalled, with a speed and noble energy seldom, if ever, equalled, the hosts of willing but untrained civilians who came rushing from the pacific coast, the rockies, the grain-belt, the western prairie, and the fields and forests and cities of the east, to offer themselves to the empire in her hour of need. it is unnecessary to dwell upon the efforts which in a few weeks assembled the first armies of canada, armies which were in a brief period to prove that they were able to meet on equal terms the military brood of the great frederick. indeed, properly to enforce the true spirit and meaning of canada's great arming, one cannot insist too strongly on the wonderful fact that by a supreme effort of organisation, men who had, in the main, passed their lives in peaceful pursuits, were forged into an army fitted to face with honour and success the highly trained hordes of a nation steeped for centuries in the traditions of militarism. these gallant men of ours have displayed a valour which has never been surpassed; they have become versed in the arts of war with a thoroughness and swiftness which gives them a superb confidence, even when faced by overwhelming numbers of the kaiser's hosts. and they are full of a great joy and a great pride when they consider that new-born civilian armies have done so much. every canadian soldier, too, is heartened by an appreciation of the fact that in every detail of arms, equipment, and supply, the organisation behind him works ceaselessly to make every canadian unit as perfect a fighting machine as can be. they know that, thanks to major-general carson, the agent of the militia department in england, all their requirements for fighting purposes are thought out in advance, and provided to the last detail in more than good time. such confidence makes for material well-being, and a spirit of intuitive military flair does the rest. general hughes is a business soldier, though he possesses a true soldier's heart. a soldier is popularly supposed to be a silent man. when the statesmen and the politicians have ceased talking, when all their speeches have been of no avail and it is left to the guns to speak "the last word of kings," the civilian believes that his military leaders are not in the habit of speechmaking. that idea, however, is profoundly mistaken. a study of military history shows that all great leaders who have inspired troops to resist to the death when disaster appeared to be certain, and all great leaders who have victoriously led assaults which seemed the very children of despair, have had the capacity of making what in armies is known as a "soldier's speech." it is an art which cannot be cultivated. it is the instinctive knowledge of precisely the right road to the soldier's heart at the supreme moment when an appeal may make all the difference between success or failure.[ ] war makes men's minds simple and sentimental. without sentiment, armies could never, in free communities, be got together, and armies could never be led. lord kitchener proved that he had a very great understanding of the art of the "soldier's speech" when he issued his message to the expeditionary force on the eve of its sailing for france. it made an ineffaceable impression on the men, and its inspiration saw them through the bitter hours of the long retreat from mons. just before his death lord roberts made a speech to the indian troops, from which they drew a fervour which carried them through many a bloody welter, in which the best soldiers in the world might have succumbed. the military correspondent of _the times_, too, has borne witness to the fact that sir john french knows precisely what to say to reach and stir the soldier's heart. and general hughes has the same gift. he employed it well when he spoke to the troops he had come to visit. he did not say much, but his words had an electrical effect upon the men's patriotism, and strengthened them to fight even more sternly than they had already done for freedom; while, in the contemplation of soldierly glory, he made them forget the horrors and losses of the preceding months. it was on thursday, august th, that the minister for war crossed from folkestone to boulogne on a british destroyer, accompanied by brigadier-general lord brooke, acting a.d.c. to lord kitchener, and lieut.-colonel carrick, m.p., the canadian representative at the general headquarters of the british army in france. at boulogne the party was met by captain frederick guest, m.p., a.d.c. to sir john french. early the following morning sir sam hughes motored to the british headquarters, where he was received by the commander-in-chief. after a brief meeting, the party motored to belgian headquarters, whence they made a tour of the belgian lines and inspected the belgian trenches. later, the minister met king albert in a little cottage on the seashore, and there, with the king, he went thoroughly into the whole belgian position, and in particular the belgian defences, while shells were whistling unceasingly overhead. that night he returned to the british headquarters, where he met prince alexander of teck, who, until the outbreak of the war, was governor-general designate of canada. the next day, accompanied by prince alexander, the minister met general alderson and his staff near armentières. and it was deeply interesting to watch the meeting between these two men--the man who had called the canadian army into being, and the man who commanded it in the field. it was at this time that discussions took place and decisions were reached in regard to sending the nd canadian division to join the army in france. from that meeting the two generals went straight into the firing line, and general hughes made an inspection of the men he had come so far to see. he noted how cheerful, fit, and well the men were, in spite of the perils and hardships they had undergone. along the line of trenches the general met many officers and men he knew. all of them knew him. there were delighted greetings, quick handclasps, and brief exchanges of conversation, from which radiated pride, heartiness, and good sense. later, the minister went up to the main artillery observation post, and here general burstall gave a very effective exhibition of what canadian guns can do. but it was a demonstration which called forth a reply from the german trenches, and soon enemy shells were screaming inwards. next the general inspected strathcona's horse, the royal canadian dragoons, and nd king edward's horse, under brigadier-general the right hon. j. c. seely, m.p., with whose soldierly mind and strangely similar personality the minister found himself in accord. that evening, on his return to the british headquarters, he dined with sir john french and the prince of wales. on the sunday morning the general inspected the princess patricias, and later in the day he spent some time with general sir douglas haig. sir douglas realised at once general hughes' gift for the appreciation of military positions, and went very fully with him into the defences of the st army. it must afford canadians not only satisfaction, but pride, to know that their minister was able to make suggestions of great value. then the general set out for festubert and givenchy. afterwards came the inspection of the royal canadian horse artillery under colonel panet. on monday morning the minister motored to the headquarters of general foch, and the meeting was a pleasant one because the two men were old friends. they had been companions on three successive years at british and french army manoeuvres, and they had much to discuss as, during the afternoon, they traversed the french lines. major-general hughes spent the evening with the french generalissimo, with whose clear, bold thinking and kindly but robust personality he was much impressed. on tuesday he went to rheims, where he was met by general d'espéré, of the french st army, in whose company he witnessed the terrible traces of recent heavy fighting--shattered caissons, splintered gun carriages, and ruined buildings, and, above all, that towering monument to german "frightfulness"--the shattered mass of the great cathedral. the next day major-general hughes proceeded to paris, where he was entertained by lord bertie, the british ambassador, and met the president of the republic and the french minister of war. he returned to england as he had come, in a destroyer. before sailing from liverpool, the minister wrote the following farewell, which was made known to the troops through orders of the day:-- "in departing for canada, it is my desire to thank all the splendid forces--canadians of whom we are so justly proud--at the front, for their splendid services to king, country, and the glorious cause of liberty. "when these troops left valcartier last year and sailed from canadian shores, i took the liberty of predicting that when they met the foe they would give an account of themselves that would reflect honour upon the glorious empire whose liberties we are all endeavouring to maintain. "the highest predictions have been more than fulfilled. "i am leaving you all more than ever proud of our gallant boys. "they have already earned the recognition of a grateful country. throughout whatever trials these valiant soldiers may pass, they will be encouraged and strengthened by the thought that behind them, in canada, those near and dear to them realise that their duty will be done fearlessly and well. "may kind heaven guard and prosper these brave fellows in their great struggle. "(sgd.) sam hughes, major-general, "minister of militia and defence." * * * * * august passed quietly by.[ ] the enemy sometimes shelled our trenches, but never heavily, and the canadians enjoyed a comparatively peaceful summer month. in the early days of september the canadian government determined, in response to the requirements and necessities of the empire, to furnish another division, thus placing a complete army corps in the field. it was a matter of intense gratification to the canadians that general alderson, who had so brilliantly led the st division in the terrible and hard-fought battles in flanders, was appointed to command the corps. general alderson is a soldier with great experience and with great military gifts, and, above all, a genius for the leadership of men. apart from his qualities as a soldier, however, a simple and noble personality illumines his character. it is not too much to say that every officer and man under his command loves and trusts him. not only, however, have they confidence in his military leadership, but they know that in his personality, and in his whole outlook upon humanity, he is to be respected and trusted too. with the arrival in france of the nd division,[ ] and the formation of the canadian army corps, a point is reached which clearly marks the end of the first phase of canada's part in the world war. henceforth we shall be represented in the field by an army corps, a noble contribution to the necessity of the empire. when we contemplate, quite apart from their moral value, the immense material contributions which the dominions have made to this campaign, we may reflect with irony upon the strange errors of which many brilliant men are capable. professor goldwin smith wrote of the canadians:--"judge whether these men are likely to pour out their blood without stint for the british connection; see at least first, whether they are ready to pour out a little money or to reduce their duties on your goods." and he joyfully quoted cobden. "loyalty is an ironical term to apply to people who neither obey our orders nor hold themselves liable to fight our battles." we may perhaps be permitted to hope that the study of the past is sometimes more helpful to those who presume to foretell the future. the nd division cannot fail to be inspired by the superb example of that with which it is linked. it has the advantage of being commanded by a most distinguished and experienced officer, major-general turner, v.c., the brigadier-general turner who held the left at ypres in the great days of april. of all the officers of high rank fighting to-day in flanders, none is more modest, none more resourceful, none more chivalrous. he is in canada a great national figure. conspicuous among the heroes of ypres, he will in his new position write his record in flanders, in letters not indeed more glorious, but upon a larger slate. and here for the present we take leave of the canadians in flanders. after incredible hardships patiently supported, after desperate battles stubbornly contested, their work is still incomplete. but they will complete it, meeting new necessities with fresh exertions, for it is the work of civilisation and of liberty. [ ] the classic example of this form of eloquence is contained in napoleon's address to the army of italy, made on april th, . "soldiers! in fifteen days you have won six victories, captured twenty-one flags, fifty-five guns, several fortresses, conquered the richest part of piedmont: you have made , prisoners: you have killed or wounded nearly , men. "until now you have fought for barren rocks. lacking everything, you have accomplished everything. you have won battles without cannon, crossed rivers without bridges, made forced marches without boots, bivouacked without brandy, and often without bread. only the phalanx of the republic, only the soldiers of liberty, could endure the things that you have suffered. "there are more battles before you, more cities to capture, more rivers to cross. you all burn to carry forward the glory of the french people; to dictate a glorious peace; and to be able when you return to your villages to exclaim with pride, 'i belonged to the conquering army of italy.'" [ ] it was on august st that the enemy carried out a severe bombardment of a location known as "ration farm," opposite messines, which drove the men of major hesketh's squadron of strathcona's horse, who were in reserve, into their dug-outs. the farm was hit repeatedly, and suddenly sounds as of heavy machine-gun fire were heard coming from the midst of the shattered buildings. major hesketh left his dug-out and entered the farm to investigate. he saw that the magazine, containing , rounds of ammunition with the reserve supply of bombs and grenades, had been pierced and set on fire by a high explosive shell. in spite of the fact that the position was still under persistent shell fire, that the small-arms ammunition was exploding rapidly under the influence of the heat, and that the entire contents of the magazine was likely to explode at any moment, major hesketh fought the fire with sacks and extinguished it. [ ] prior to its departure for france the nd division was commanded by general sam steele, c.b., m.v.o., a distinguished canadian soldier and a distinguished canadian citizen. general steele's military experience dates from the days of the red river expedition, and his appointment was much appreciated by the officers and troops of the nd division during their period of training. he has since joined the imperial service, and is now the general officer commanding at shorncliffe. appendix i the king's message to the canadians. to the first division. on february th, , his majesty the king inspected the st canadian division on salisbury plain, and afterwards wrote a message to the troops, which was read to all units on board ship after their embarkation for france. the full text of the message is as follows:-- officers, non-commissioned officers, and men: at the beginning of november i had the pleasure of welcoming to the mother country this fine contingent from the dominion of canada, and now, after three months' training, i bid you godspeed on your way to assist my army in the field. i am well aware of the discomforts that you have experienced from the inclement weather and abnormal rain, and i admire the cheerful spirit displayed by all ranks in facing and overcoming all difficulties. from all i have heard, and from what i have been able to see at to-day's inspection and march-past, i am satisfied that you have made good use of the time spent on salisbury plain. by your willing and prompt rally to our common flag you have already earned the gratitude of the motherland. by your deeds and achievements on the field of battle i am confident that you will emulate the example of your fellow-countrymen in the south african war, and thus help to secure the triumph of our arms. i shall follow with pride and interest all your movements. i pray that god may bless you and watch over you. to the second division. on september nd, , the king, accompanied by lord kitchener, inspected the nd division in beachborough park, shorncliffe. before leaving, his majesty directed general turner to inform all commanding officers that he considered the division one of the finest he had inspected since the beginning of the war. subsequently the following message from the king was published in orders:-- officers, non-commissioned officers, and men of the nd canadian division--six months ago i inspected the st canadian division before their departure for the front. the heroism they have since shown upon the field of battle has won for them undying fame. you are now leaving to join them, and i am glad to have an opportunity of seeing you to-day, for it has convinced me that the same spirit that animated them inspires you also. the past weeks at shorncliffe have been for you a period of severe and rigorous training; and your appearance at this inspection testifies to the thoroughness and devotion to duty with which your work has been performed. you are going to meet hardships and dangers, but the steadiness and discipline which have marked your bearing on parade to-day will carry you through all difficulties. history will never forget the loyalty and readiness with which you rallied to the aid of your mother country in the hour of danger. my thoughts will always be with you. may god bless you and bring you victory. appendix ii canadians in despatches. the following are extracts from the official despatches of field-marshal sir john french, commander-in-chief of the british forces in france, dealing with the battles and other fighting in which the canadian troops have taken part:-- princess patricia's regiment. with regard to these inspections, i may mention in particular the fine appearance presented by the th and th divisions, composed principally of battalions which had come from india. included in the former division was the princess patricia's royal canadian regiment. they are a magnificent set of men, and have since done excellent work in the trenches. sir john french's despatch, february nd, . princess patricias' attack at st. eloi, february th, . on february th a successful minor attack was made on the enemy's trenches near st. eloi by small parties of the princess patricia's canadian light infantry. the attack was divided into three small groups, the whole under the command of lieutenant crabbe: no. group under lieutenant papineau, no. group under sergeant patterson, and no. group under company sergeant-major lloyd. the head of the party got within fifteen or twenty yards of the german trench and charged; it was dark at the time (about . a.m.). lieutenant crabbe, who showed the greatest dash and _élan_, took his party over everything in the trench until they had gone down it about eighty yards, when they were stopped by a barricade of sandbags and timber. this party, as well as the others, then pulled down the front face of the german parapet. a number of germans were killed and wounded, and a few prisoners were taken. the services performed by this distinguished corps have continued to be very valuable since i had occasion to refer to them in my last despatch. they have been most ably organised, trained, and commanded by lieut.-colonel f. d. farquhar, d.s.o., who, i deeply regret to say, was killed while superintending some trench work on march th. his loss will be deeply felt. sir john french's despatch, april th, . princess patricia's regiment --attack on st. eloi, march th, . it is satisfactory to be able to record that, though the troops occupying the first line of trenches were at first overwhelmed, they afterwards behaved very gallantly in the counter-attack for the recovery of the lost ground, and the following units earned and received the special commendation of the army commander. the nd royal irish fusiliers, the nd duke of cornwall's light infantry, the st leinster regiment, the th rifle brigade, and the princess patricia's canadian light infantry. sir john french's despatch, april th, . arrival of canadian division-- neuve chapelle. on february th the canadian division began to arrive in this country. i inspected the division, which was under the command of lieut.-general e. a. h. alderson, c.b., on february th. they presented a splendid and most soldier-like appearance on parade. the men were of good physique, hard, and fit. i judged by what i saw of them that they were well trained, and quite able to take their places in the line of battle. since then the division has thoroughly justified the good opinion i formed of it. the troops of the canadian division were first attached for a few days by brigades for training in the rd corps trenches under lieut.-general sir william pulteney, who gave me such an excellent report of their efficiency that i was able to employ them in the trenches early in march. during the battle of neuve chapelle they held a part of the line allotted to the st army, and although they were not actually engaged in the main attack, they rendered valuable help by keeping the enemy actively employed in front of their trenches. all the soldiers of canada serving in the army under my command have so far splendidly upheld the traditions of the empire, and will, i feel sure, prove to be a great source of additional strength to the forces in this country. sir john french's despatch, april th, . second battle of ypres. it was at the commencement of the second battle of ypres, on the evening of april nd, referred to in paragraph of this report, that the enemy first made use of asphyxiating gas. some days previously i had complied with general joffre's request to take over the trenches occupied by the french, and on the evening of the nd the troops holding the line east of ypres were posted as follows:-- from steenstraate to the east of langemarck, as far as the poelcappelle road, a french division. thence, in a south-easterly direction towards the passchendaele-becelaere road, the canadian division. thence a division took up the line in a southerly direction east of zonnebeke to a point west of becelaere, whence another division continued the line south-east to the northern limit of the corps on its right. of the th corps there were four battalions in divisional reserve about ypres; the canadian division had one battalion in divisional reserve, and the st canadian brigade in army reserve. an infantry brigade, which had just been withdrawn after suffering heavy losses on hill , was resting about vlamertinghe. following a heavy bombardment, the enemy attacked the french division about p.m., using asphyxiating gases for the first time. aircraft reported that at about p.m. thick yellow smoke had been seen issuing from the german trenches between langemarck and bixschoote. the french reported that two simultaneous attacks had been made east of the ypres-staden railway, in which these asphyxiating gases had been employed. what followed almost defies description. the effect of these poisonous gases was so virulent as to render the whole of the line held by the french division mentioned above practically incapable of any action at all. it was at first impossible for anyone to realise what had actually happened. the smoke and fumes hid everything from sight, and hundreds of men were thrown into a comatose or dying condition, and within an hour the whole position had to be abandoned, together with about fifty guns. i wish particularly to repudiate any idea of attaching the least blame to the french division for this unfortunate incident. after all the examples our gallant allies have shown of dogged and tenacious courage in the many trying situations in which they have been placed throughout the course of this campaign, it is quite superfluous for me to dwell on this aspect of the incident, and i would only express my firm conviction that if any troops in the world had been able to hold their trenches in the face of such a treacherous and altogether unexpected onslaught, the french division would have stood firm. the left flank of the canadian division was thus left dangerously exposed to serious attack in flank, and there appeared to be a prospect of their being overwhelmed and of a successful attempt by the germans to cut off the british troops occupying the salient to the east. in spite of the danger to which they were exposed, the canadians held their ground with a magnificent display of tenacity and courage; and it is not too much to say that the bearing and conduct of these splendid troops averted a disaster which might have been attended with the most serious consequences. they were supported with great promptitude by the reserves of the divisions holding the salient and by a brigade which had been resting in billets. throughout the night the enemy's attacks were repulsed, effective counter-attacks were delivered, and at length touch was gained with the french right, and a new line was formed. * * * * * the nd london heavy battery, which had been attached to the canadian division, was posted behind the right of the french division, and, being involved in their retreat, fell into the enemy's hands. it was recaptured by the canadians in their counter-attack, but the guns could not be withdrawn before the canadians were again driven back. during the night i directed the cavalry corps and the northumbrian division, which was then in general reserve, to move to the west of ypres, and placed these troops at the disposal of the general officer commanding the nd army. i also directed other reserve troops from the rd corps and the st army to be held in readiness to meet eventualities. in the confusion of the gas and smoke the germans succeeded in capturing the bridge at steenstraate and some works south of lizerne, all of which were in occupation by the french. the enemy having thus established himself to the west of the ypres canal, i was somewhat apprehensive of his succeeding in driving a wedge between the french and belgian troops at this point. i directed, therefore, that some of the reinforcements sent north should be used to support and assist general putz, should he find difficulty in preventing any further advance of the germans west of the canal. at about ten o'clock on the morning of the rd connection was finally ensured between the left of the canadian division and the french right, about eight hundred yards east of the canal; but as this entailed the maintenance by the british troops of a much longer line than that which they had held before the attack commenced on the previous night, there were no reserves available for counter-attack until reinforcements which were ordered up from the second army were able to deploy to the east of ypres. * * * * * early on the morning of the rd i went to see general foch, and from him i received a detailed account of what had happened, as reported by general putz. general foch informed me that it was his intention to make good the original line and regain the trenches which the french division had lost. he expressed the desire that i should maintain my present line, assuring me that the original position would be re-established in a few days. general foch further informed me that he had ordered up large french reinforcements, which were now on their way, and that troops from the north had already arrived to reinforce general putz. i fully concurred in the wisdom of the general's wish to re-establish our old line, and agreed to co-operate in the way he desired, stipulating, however, that if the position was not re-established within a limited time i could not allow the british troops to remain in so exposed a situation as that which the action of the previous twenty-four hours had compelled them to occupy. during the whole of the rd the enemy's artillery was very active, and his attacks all along the front were supported by some heavy guns which had been brought down from the coast in the neighbourhood of ostend. the loss of the guns on the night of the nd prevented this fire from being kept down, and much aggravated the situation. our positions, however, were well maintained by the vigorous counter-attacks made by the th corps. during the day i directed two brigades of the rd corps and the lahore division of the indian corps to be moved up to the ypres area and placed at the disposal of the nd army. in the course of these two or three days many circumstances combined to render the situation east of the ypres canal very critical and most difficult to deal with. the confusion caused by the sudden retirement of the french division, and the necessity for closing up the gap and checking the enemy's advance at all costs, led to a mixing-up of units and a sudden shifting of the areas of command, which was quite unavoidable. fresh units, as they came up from the south, had to be pushed into the firing line in an area swept by artillery fire, which, owing to the capture of the french guns, we were unable to keep down. all this led to very heavy casualties, and i wish to place on record the deep admiration which i feel for the resource and presence of mind evinced by the leaders actually on the spot. the parts taken by major-general snow and brigadier-general hull were reported to me as being particularly marked in this respect. an instance of this occurred on the afternoon of the th, when the enemy succeeded in breaking through the line at st. julien. brigadier-general hull, acting under the orders of lieut.-general alderson, organised a powerful counter-attack--on the th--with his own brigade and some of the nearest available units. he was called upon to control, with only his brigade staff, parts of battalions from six separate divisions which were quite new to the ground. although the attack did not succeed in retaking st. julien, it effectually checked the enemy's further advance. it was only on the morning of the th that the enemy were able to force back the left of the canadian division from the point where it had originally joined the french line. during the night and the early morning of the th the enemy directed a heavy attack against the division at broodseiende cross-roads, which was supported by a powerful shell fire, but he failed to make any progress. during the whole of this time the town of ypres and all the roads to the east and west were uninterruptedly subjected to a violent artillery fire, but in spite of this the supply of both food and ammunition was maintained throughout with order and efficiency. during the afternoon of the th many german prisoners were taken, including some officers. the hand-to-hand fighting was very severe, and the enemy suffered heavy loss. * * * * * battle of festubert. on may th i moved the canadian division into the st corps area and placed them at the disposal of sir douglas haig. * * * * * on may th the th and nd divisions were drawn out of the line to rest. the th division was relieved by the canadian division and the nd division by the st (highland) division. sir douglas haig placed the canadian and st divisions, together with the artillery of the nd and th divisions, under the command of lieut.-general alderson, whom he directed to conduct the operations which had hitherto been carried on by the general officer commanding st corps; and he directed the th division to remain in army reserve. during the night of the th- th a small post of the enemy in front of la quinque rue was captured. during the night of the th- st the canadian division brilliantly carried on the excellent progress made by the th division by seizing several of the enemy's trenches and pushing forward their whole line several hundred yards. a number of prisoners and some machine-guns were captured. on the nd instant the st (highland) division was attached to the indian corps, and the general officer commanding the indian corps took charge of the operations at la quinque rue, lieut.-general alderson with the canadians conducting the operations to the north of that place. on this day the canadian division extended their line slightly to the right and repulsed three very severe hostile counter-attacks. givenchy. after the conclusion of the battle of festubert the troops of the st army were engaged in several minor operations. by an attack delivered on the evening of june th, after a prolonged bombardment, the st canadian brigade obtained possession of the german front-line trenches north-east of givenchy, but were unable to retain them owing to their flanks being too much exposed. sir john french's despatch, october th. appendix iii the prime minister and the war. _speeches of the right hon. sir robert laird borden, g.c.m.g., m.p._ future of the empire. _at the canadian club, winnipeg, on december th, ._ it is within the bounds of probability that the four free nations of the overseas dominions will have put into the fighting line , men if the war should continue another year. that result, or even the results which have already been obtained, must mark a great epoch in the history of inter-imperial relations. there are those, within sound of my voice, who will see the oversea dominions surpass in wealth and population the british isles. there are children playing in your streets who may see canada alone attain that eminence. thus it is impossible to believe that the existing status, so far as concerns the control of foreign policy and extra-imperial relations, can remain as it is to-day. all are conscious of the complexity of the problem thus presented, but no one need despair of a satisfactory solution, and no one can doubt the profound influence which the tremendous events of the past few months and those in the immediate future must exercise upon one of the most interesting and far-reaching questions ever presented for the consideration of statesmen. resources of empire. _at a meeting of the united kingdom branch of the empire parliamentary association, house of commons, july th, ._ i appreciate very sincerely, and very warmly as well, what mr. bonar law said with regard to the part which canada has played in this great contest. there was no doubt in my own mind as to what that part would be, and i took the responsibility four days before the actual declaration of war of sending a message to his majesty's government stating that, if war should unhappily supervene, they might be assured that canada would regard the quarrel as her own, and would do her part in maintaining the integrity of this empire and all that this war means to us. we are not a military nation in canada; we are a peace-loving and peace-pursuing people with great tasks of development within our own dominions lying before us. thus, for a struggle such as this, upon so gigantic a scale, we were naturally unprepared. but even so, relatively unprepared as we were, the minister of militia and defence in canada succeeded in placing upon the plain of valcartier, within six weeks of the outbreak of war, a force of , men, thoroughly armed and equipped in every branch of the service--artillery, commissariat, army service corps, and all the vast organisation that is necessary in war as carried on in the present day. we have sent overseas up to the present time nearly , men, including troops which are doing garrison duty in the west indies. we have in canada to-day , men in training, with organisation being prepared as rapidly as possible for their advent to the front when needed. the response from every province in canada, indeed, has been so warm, so impressive, so inspiring, that our difficulty has been to secure arms and equipment and material and all that is necessary to enable our men to go to the front. so far as the men were concerned they were there in abundance. so far as the other preparations were concerned we have been very much in the same condition as yourselves, unprepared for war upon so tremendous a scale. in this conflict we are engaged with great nations whose military preparation has extended over nearly half a century, and whose aim, as far as we can comprehend it, has been world-wide supremacy by force of arms. naturally in the opening months, and the opening year, of such a struggle we could not accomplish all that might be expected at first, but i take comfort in this thought, that for purposes of war, or for any other purposes, the resources of this empire are not only abundant, but almost unlimited, and there is yet time for that preparation which perhaps ought to have been made at an earlier day. the day of peril came before our day of preparation had been fully reached. looking back on what we had to face and upon what we had to contend with, i venture to think that the condition of affairs to-day is one upon which we should rather congratulate ourselves than otherwise. i have no fear for the future, although the struggle may be a long one and may entail sacrifices which we did not anticipate at first. i think i may bring to you from the people of canada this message, that in whatever is necessary to bring this war to an honourable and triumphal conclusion, canada is prepared to take her part. and i am sure that is true of every dominion of the empire. last autumn, in speaking before a canadian club in the west of canada, i said that if this war should continue for a year it was reasonably probable that the oversea dominions would have in the field , men. i venture to think that to-day, if you estimate what australia has done and is doing, what new zealand has done and is doing, what south africa has done and is doing, and what canada has done and is doing, the oversea dominions of this empire have, either in the field, or in training as organised troops, no less than , men. mr. bonar law has spoken of the courage and resourcefulness of the canadian troops. they went to the front as men taken from civil avocations of life, with no prolonged military training, but with the habit of overcoming obstacles, with a certain resourcefulness, with all the traditions of the great races from which they spring, and in such a manner as made us sure that their record would be worthy of the great dominion which they represented. i would not speak the truth if i did not confess to you that i am proud, very proud indeed, of the part which they have played. i am equally proud of the splendid valour shown by the men of these islands in that great retreat against overwhelming numbers, under difficulties which i think were greater than those which ever attended a great retreat before; and i desire to pay my tribute to the splendid valour and heroism of the british army at that time, worthy of the highest traditions of the race from which we all spring. it is almost superfluous to speak of the splendid valour which has distinguished the troops of australia and new zealand at the dardanelles. i had the pleasure of sending telegrams to the governments of these two commonwealths and of congratulating them upon the part which their men are taking in these very dangerous operations. what a fantastic picture it was that prussian militarism made for itself before the outbreak of this war. it pictured canada, australia, and new zealand standing aloof and indifferent, or seeking an opportunity to cut themselves aloof from this empire. what is the actual picture to-day? they are bound to the empire by stronger ties than ever before, and are prepared to fight to the death for the maintenance of its integrity and for the preservation of our common civilisation throughout the world. what of south africa? the prussian picture was that it should flare into rebellion at once, cut itself off from the empire, and proclaim its independence. what is the actual picture? the heroic figure of general louis botha receiving the surrender of german south-west africa--territory larger than the german empire itself. we have nothing to fear as the outcome of this war. we do not and dare not doubt the success of the cause for which the british empire and the allied nations are fighting to-day. it is impossible to believe that the democracies of the british empire, even though unprepared on so tremendous a scale as our opponents for such a war as this, will not prove their efficiency in this day of peril. they have proved it, and i think they will prove it in the future. in the later days when peace comes to be proclaimed, and after the conclusion of peace, it is beyond question that large matters will come up for consideration by the statesmen of the united kingdom and the overseas dominions. it is not desirable, nor perhaps becoming, that i should dwell upon these considerations to-day. i said what i had to say on the subject with considerable frankness and some emphasis three years ago when i had the pleasure of addressing you. what i said then represents my convictions now. i do not doubt the problems which will be presented, exceedingly difficult and complex as they are, will find a wise and just solution, and in thanking you for the reception which you have accorded me to-day, and for the honour which you have done to the dominion which i represent as its prime minister, let me express the hope and aspiration that in confronting the immense responsibilities which devolve upon those inheriting so great an empire as ours, and one which must necessarily command so profound an influence on the future of civilisation and the destiny of the world, we shall so bear ourselves, whether in these mother islands or in the overseas dominions, that the future shall hold in store no reproach for us for lack of vision, want of courage, or failure of duty. worthy of their ancestors. _at the canadian matinee at the queen's theatre, london, july th, ._ all canada is thrilled by the part the canadians have played, and their achievements have brought to canada a vivid realisation of the meaning of the war. they are worthy of their traditions and their ancestors. overseas dominions' destiny. _at the guildhall, on being presented with the freedom of the city of london, july th, ._ i appreciate the honour which has been conferred upon me, coming as it does from a city which may be described as a great imperial city, in a fashion which is perhaps not known elsewhere throughout the world to-day. through the march of civilisation across the centuries, the progress and development of london have kept time with the march. that it is a great imperial city to-day is due to the great achievement of our race. while it may not be fitting that one of our kindred should speak of the british people as a great race, i may be permitted to say that it has wrought great things, and that the greatest of all its achievements is the up-building of an empire bound together by such ties as those which unite ours. in the beginning, in the founding of the nation within these islands, there was need for orderly government, and that made necessary a strong and autocratic system of government. but, as the years rolled on, there came to the people the right to govern themselves. orderly government, individual liberty, equal rights before the people--upon these secure foundations the fabric of the national life was erected, and in these later days has come the not less noble ideal of a democracy founded upon equality of opportunity for all the people before the conditions of modern life. in the dominions beyond the seas, the same ideals of liberty and of justice have led inevitably to the establishment of self-governing institutions. their development there has been very much the same as within your own islands, and those short-sighted ones who believed that the right to govern themselves would drive the far-flung nations of our empire asunder, have found that that very circumstance, and that free development, have united them by ties stronger than would be possible under any system of autocratic government. i have listened with the deepest possible appreciation to the words which have been spoken of the action of canada in this war. that action was due to no government, to no statesman or group of statesmen. it was due to the spirit of the canadian people, a spirit which will make the cause for which we are contending victorious, and which will pervade the dominions to the end. i do not need to tell you of the part that canada has played and the part she proposes to play. but it might not be amiss for a moment to allude to the remarkable circumstance that four great overseas dominions, self-governing dominions of the empire, have been actuated by a common impulse at this juncture--australia, new zealand, south africa, canada! why have all these great free nations sent their men from the remotest corners of the earth to fight side by side with you of this island home in this quarrel? why in canada do we see those who are the descendants of those who fought under wolfe, and of those who fought under montcalm, standing side by side in the battle-line of the empire? why, coming down to later days, do we see the grandson of a durham, and the grandson of a papineau, standing shoulder to shoulder beyond the channel in france or belgium? when the historian of the future comes to analyse the events which made it possible for the empire to stand like this, he will see that there must have been some overmastering impulse contributing to this wonderful result. one such impulse is to be found in the love of liberty, the pursuit of ideals of democracy, and the desire and determination to preserve the spirit of unity founded on those ideals, which make the whole empire united in aim and single in purpose. but there was, also, in all the overseas dominions, the intense conviction that this war was forced upon the empire--that we could not with honour stand aside and see trampled underfoot the liberties and independence of a weak and unoffending nation whose independence we had guaranteed. and, above and beyond all that, was the realisation of the supreme truth--that the quarrel in which we are engaged transcends even the destinies of our own empire and involves the future of civilisation and of the world. we must not forget that in this war we are confronting the power of a military autocracy more highly organised, and more formidable, perhaps than was ever nation before in history. i am sure that the military strength which has been developed by our chief antagonists, has surprised the whole world; and i think that this war will bring to us a very vital question as to the future of democratic institutions. we have always cherished in these islands, and in the oversea dominions as well, the ideal of orderly government coupled with that of individual liberty. it remains to be seen, as the war proceeds, whether individual liberty, within the british isles and the overseas dominions, is coupled with so strong a sense of duty and of service to the state--whether in peace or in war--as to make it possible for us to withstand the onslaught of so formidable a foe. for myself, i have no doubt as to the issue, because i remember that, if we take the british empire alone, our resources are infinitely greater than those of germany; and, if we consider the question of population, that of the british isles and of the overseas dominions is almost equal to that of germany. it is true that we were not prepared, as germany was prepared, for war on this scale; but i believe the time for preparation is not past, and i feel also that we have every reason to congratulate ourselves upon the splendid preparation which has been made, not only in these islands, but in the dominions. yet i would impress upon the people of the empire that all for which our fathers fought and bled, all our liberties and institutions, all the influences for good which have been sent forth by the activities of the empire throughout the world, hang in the balance to-day, and therefore we cannot, because we must not, fall in this war. during the past week i visited france, and i have seen some of our forces at the front. it is a very inspiring thing to see a nation under arms. the manhood of france, except those engaged in industrial pursuits, is at the front to-day; and yet i have seen the whole country up to the lines of the trenches, bearing bountiful harvests. the soil was prepared, the seed was planted, and the harvest is now being reaped by old men and women and children. it is my intense conviction that a nation so inspired can never perish or be subdued; and i am glad to remember this great allied nation is of our own kin, because you in the british isles look back to celtic and norman, as well as to saxon ancestors; and if this be true of you in britain it is still more true of us in canada. last week i looked into the keen, intent faces, of , canadian soldiers, within sound and range of the german guns. three days ago i looked into the undaunted eyes of , canadian convalescents returned from the valley of the shadow of death. in the eyes, and in the faces of those men, i read only one message--that of resolute and unflinching determination to make our cause triumphant; to preserve our institutions and our liberties, to maintain the unity of our empire and its influence through the world. that message, which i bring to you from those soldiers, i bring you also from the great dominion which has sent those men across the sea. while the awful shadow of this war overhangs our empire, i shall not pause to speak of what may be evolved in its constitutional relations. upon what has been built in the past it is possible, in my judgment, that an even nobler and more enduring fabric may be erected. that structure must embody the autonomy of the self-governing dominions and of the british isles as well, but it must also embody the majesty and power of an empire united by ties such as those of which i have spoken, and more thoroughly and effectively organised for the purpose of preserving its own existence. those who shall be the architects of this monument will have a great part to play, and i do not doubt that they will play it worthily. to those who shall be called to design so splendid a fabric, crowning the labours of the past and embodying all the hopes of the future, we all of us bid god speed in their great task. a world struggle. canada's share. _at a patriotic meeting at the london opera house, august th, ._ considering all the events of the year, there are indeed some matters on which we have the right and privilege to-night of congratulating ourselves to the full. was the unity of this empire ever so strikingly made manifest before? was it ever more clearly demonstrated that the race which inhabits these islands and the overseas dominions is not a decadent race? what has been the result of the call of duty to this empire? you in these islands debated years ago, and not so long ago for that matter, as to whether in case of necessity you could send abroad an expeditionary force of , or , or , men, and if i am not mistaken the most optimistic among you believed that , men was the limit. what has been the result of the call? you have in part organised, and you are now organising, armies from ten to twenty times greater than those which were the limit you set for yourselves in the past. that is not an indication of a decadent race, and i am glad indeed to know that we in the overseas dominions as well are doing our part as best we can. indeed, in canada, and i believe the same is true in all the overseas dominions, the difficulty has been with armament and equipment--all that is necessary for the organisation of a great modern army, and not with the provision of men, for the men came faster than we were able to organise the armour to equip them. and so it has been in india as well. i remember having, in the early months of the war, the privilege of reading a debate which took place in the council of india, a great debate which was worthy of the mother of parliaments herself; a debate couched in language of the most intense patriotism; and in that debate the demand of india was that she should be permitted to do her part in this war. the same is true of egypt and all the crown colonies. from east to west, from north to south, throughout the empire, the response on all hands has been more than we could have ventured to anticipate. mr. balfour has referred in the most eloquent and appropriate terms to the work of the great navy which is under his direction, and which has accomplished its task so wonderfully ever since the war broke out. we of the overseas dominions realise as much as you realise, that the pathways of the seas are the veins and arteries of this empire through which its lifeblood must flow. if these are once stopped or interfered with in any way the empire cannot continue to exist. we are as conscious as you are conscious of the wonderful vigil in the north sea and of the patience, endurance, and fortitude of officers and men. we are grateful, as you are grateful, with the most intense appreciation of all they have done for us, and, more than all, the fact that they have rid the seas of the marauders by which our commerce was troubled has enabled us to keep in close contact with you, and keep up that intercourse which is so absolutely necessary for you and for us, not only in war but in peace as well. i have no military knowledge nor experience--i am going to say a word with regard to military affairs in a moment--but before doing that i would like to express my own appreciation, and i think of all the people in the dominion which i have the honour to represent, of the splendid work which has been done by the royal flying corps in this war. knowing the great efforts that have been made by other nations in this particular branch of the military and naval services, we were rather inclined to anticipate and expect that it might not be up to the highest standard of the great nations of the world. i have good reason to know, because i have had some intimate accounts of what has transpired at the front--i have good reason to know that the work of our aeroplane service has been equal to the best, and that in initiative, courage, resourcefulness, and fortitude our men have held their place with the best, ever since the outbreak of this war. it is not necessary to dwell on the valour of our troops, to which eloquent reference has been made by lord crewe and mr. balfour. i do not believe that in all the splendid traditions of the british army for centuries past, a more splendid record can be shown than that displayed in the retreat from mons. i believe that no retirement was ever conducted successfully under greater difficulties and against more overwhelming odds, and the conduct of officers and men adds glory to the british army that will not be forgotten as long as our race endures. i may, perhaps, be permitted to say that those who were sent across the sea to france and to the dardanelles, from australia, from new zealand, from canada, have proved that the old traditions of our race are not forgotten overseas, and that the men there are prepared in any danger, in any peril, to stand side by side with their comrades of these islands. a splendid force has been raised in south africa, and i associate myself with what has been so well said as to the valour of the troops from india, who have fought by the side of our men in france and belgium. mr. balfour has spoken of our allies, and with what he has said i may be permitted to associate myself. one cannot forget the courage, the patience, the fortitude of france. we know that the soul of russia is unconquered and unconquerable. the devotion and heroism of belgium and serbia have moved the admiration of the world. the fine valour of italy is now in the fighting line with the allies, and she is doing her appointed task as we expected she would do it. she stands ready, i imagine, for further services in case the emergencies of this war should demand them. i have said before that this is not like the wars of a hundred or two hundred years ago. this is a war of nations, and not of armies alone. but it is more than that. it is a war of material resources to an extreme degree. the industrial resources of the nations are being organised; all that the knowledge and science of the nations can devise is being brought into play. the command of the forces of nature which in the past centuries, and especially in the past years, we have learned has been brought to bear, and for that reason i have every confidence in the outcome of this struggle, because we have within this empire resources almost limitless--resources infinitely greater than those of germany and austria-hungary combined, and it merely depends upon our self-denial, and organised capacity and patriotism, as to whether we can and shall organise those resources to the end that our cause shall triumph. i do not believe that we shall fail in that. our race has never failed in time of crisis. why should it fail now? to fail in doing that would be accounted to us, in the years to come, as dishonour. we will not fail. all that men can do, our men have done at the front, and they will continue to do in the future. in canada, we began, as early as possible, to organise our industrial resources for the production of munitions of war. we made our first effort as far back as august st. munitions of war have been the great and growing need of our men at the front. because it is apparent to us that, so far as it is in the power of this empire to strain every effort for the purposes of the war, we must not attempt to do with men alone what our enemies are doing with munitions and guns. as to what we have done in the past, whether in canada or in these islands or elsewhere, let the dead past bury its dead. this is not the time to speak of the past, but to look at the future. what concerns us, whether in these islands or in any of the overseas dominions, is to see that, so far as the future is concerned, there shall be no failure; and i believe there will be no failure. it may be said that in some respects the twelve months' war has not been all that we anticipated. i believe i am entirely within the bounds of truth when i state that if there is any disappointment with us, the disappointment of germany is tenfold greater; and if there has been any disappointment, or if there should be any reverse in the future, that should merely inspire us with a higher resolve and a more inflexible determination to do our duty, and to see that that which concerns the cause of civilisation and humanity shall be carried to the issue which we all desire. for a hundred years we have not had any wars which threatened the existence of our empire, and for more than fifty years we have not been involved in any war which might perhaps be called a great one. under the conditions of modern democracies, here and elsewhere in the empire, considerations of material prosperity have been urged, and this is especially a danger in a new country like australia or canada. the call of the market-place has been sometimes clamorous and insistent, and in days such as these the soul of a nation is more truly tried than it is in war days, for the highest character of an empire is sometimes formed then--and not in the days of stress and trial--through the consequences of duty and self-sacrifice. i rejoice greatly that in these islands, and in the overseas dominions, men have realised most fully that there is something greater than material prosperity, something greater than life itself. this war cannot fail to influence most profoundly the whole future of the world and of civilisation. it has already most profoundly influenced the people of this empire. there were great strivings for wealth, everywhere, but no one could deny that the material advancement and prosperity of the empire has not in itself been a good thing. the standards of life for the people have been raised and comfort increased. it is not the wealth we should rail at. rome fell, i know, at a time of wealth, but it was because she made wealth her god. in the early days of the war we were much comforted by the fact that men and women were ready to make sacrifices for this, the greatest cause of all. in canada, and i am sure elsewhere throughout the empire, there has been manifest a spirit of co-operation, of mutual helpfulness, of a desire to assist, of self-sacrifice which is most comforting to those who have at heart the welfare of our empire in years to come. so i am sure it will be in the future. the influence of a spirit of helpfulness and self-sacrifice, which we see everywhere throughout the world, and within our empire, is one for which i give thanks and am most grateful. i have come far across this ocean to see our men within these islands and at the front, and our men in hospital who are wounded. to see them, whether at the front, where they stand almost within the valley of the shadow of death, or wounded in the hospitals, is an inspiration in itself. i am glad to say that in visiting the hospitals i have had the opportunity of speaking to many soldiers, officers and men, from these islands, and with them i have found, as among our canadians, just one spirit--a wonderful spirit of heroism and of patience, a spirit of consecration to the cause we all have at heart. we who come from overseas are touched by all this, perhaps more than you can imagine. last night i walked down the embankment. at my right was the great abbey, at my left the great cathedral. the historic river was at my feet. here came in bygone centuries the celt, the saxon, the dane, the norman, each in turn, finally all in co-operation, lending their influence to our national life. and how splendid a structure they built; what an influence for good it has carried throughout the world! standing thus on what seems to us hallowed ground, we of the overseas dominions meditate perhaps more than you do on the wonderful memories of the past, and the great events to which the life of our empire has moved. let us never for one moment forget that of all the mighty events in our history, none are greater than those through which we are passing to-day. is an empire like ours worth living for? yes, and worth dying for, too. and it is something greater than it was a year ago. indeed, it can never be quite the same again. the old order has in some measure passed away. once for all it has been borne in upon the minds and souls of all of us that the great policies, which touch and control the issues of peace and war, concern more than the peoples of these islands. and more than that, we shall so bear ourselves in this war, and in the mighty events to which it must lead, that whether in these islands or in the overseas dominions, citizenship of this empire shall be a still greater and more noble possession in the years to come than it has been even in the glorious past. i have spoken to you frankly on some matters of great moment. if i had not done so i should have been unworthy of my position. and now, before i close, let me bring to you this latest message from canada:-- for those who have fallen in this struggle we shall not cease to mourn; for the cause which they have consecrated their lives we shall not cease to strive. we are supremely confident that that cause will assuredly triumph and for that great purpose we are inspired with an inflexible determination to do our part. "we can hold our own." _at the canada club, august th, ._ the fall of warsaw has been foreshadowed for some time, and it is useless for us to deny the germans have achieved a success--which they intended to achieve six or nine months ago. this fall will mean that all will put forth greater efforts and determination. in the early months of the war we failed to estimate the enormous military power of a nation, highly disciplined and thoroughly organised for war as well as for peace. the idea of the people of these islands was to send across the channel an expeditionary force not exceeding , men. do any of you, who have not had the responsibilities of office, realise what it means to provide guns, rifles, ammunition, and equipment for a force ten times as great--with, perhaps, another force in reserve of equal number? i know something of those responsibilities. we in canada have our difficulties, not in finding men ready to fight for the cause, but because we find it difficult to provide the guns, rifles, ammunition, and equipment. when you increase your proposed expeditionary force by ten or twenty times, you must realise that for that purpose it is necessary that the whole power of the nation shall be concentrated on the task. i hold this profound conviction--that, regiment for regiment and man for man, our forces can hold their own, and more than hold their own, with the best and most efficient troops of the enemy. if we speak of the disappointments we had at the start of the war, let us never forget to realise that the disappointments of the enemy must be ten times greater. and if we are discouraged from time to time, let us remember we have accomplished one great work which outweighs a thousandfold that, and that is the clearness and security of the pathways of the seas. the clearance of the seas means as much to the allies as to ourselves. appendix iv lt.-general e. a. h. alderson, c.b., commanding the canadian corps. the following is the text of the speech made to the canadian troops under his command after twelve strenuous days and nights of fighting, from april rd to may th, . i tell you truly, that my heart is so full that i hardly know how to speak to you. it is full of two feelings--the first being sorrow for the loss of those comrades of ours who have gone; and the second, pride in what the st canadian division has done. as regards our comrades who have lost their lives--let us speak of them with our caps off--my faith in the almighty is such that i am perfectly sure that when men die, as they have died, doing their duty and fighting for their country, for the empire, and to save the situation for others--in fact, have _died for their friends_--no matter what their past lives have been, no matter what they have done that they ought not to have done (as all of us do), i am perfectly sure that the almighty takes them and looks after them at once. lads, we cannot leave them better than like that. now i feel that we may, without any false pride, think a little of what the division has done during the past few days. i would first of all tell you that i have never been so proud of anything in my life as i am of my armlet with "canada" on it. i thank you, and congratulate you from the bottom of my heart, for the part each one of you has taken in giving me this feeling of pride. i think it is possible that all of you do not quite realise that, if we had retired on the evening of april nd--when our allies fell back before the gas and left our left flank quite open--the whole of the th and th divisions would probably have been cut off. certainly they would not have got away a gun or a vehicle of any sort, and probably not more than half the infantry would have escaped. this is what our commander-in-chief meant when he telegraphed, as he did, that "the canadians saved the situation." my lads, if ever men had a right to be proud in this world, you have. i know my military history pretty well, and i cannot think of an instance, especially when the cleverness and determination of the enemy is taken into account, in which troops were placed in such a difficult position; nor can i think of an instance in which so much depended on the standing fast of one division. you will remember that the last time i spoke to you, just before you went into the trenches at sailly, now over two months ago, i told you about my old regiment--the royal west kents--having gained a reputation for never budging from their trenches, no matter how they were attacked. i said then i was quite sure that, in a short time, the army out here would be saying the same of you. i little thought--none of us thought--how soon those words would come true. but now, to-day, not only the army out here, but all canada, all england, and all the empire are saying that you, too, stand fast. there is one more word i would say to you before i stop. you have made a reputation second to none in this war; but, remember, no man can live on his reputation. he must keep on adding to it. and i feel just as sure that you will do so as i did two months ago when i told you that i knew you would make a reputation when the opportunity came. i am now going to shake hands with your officers, and as i do so, i want you to feel that i am shaking hands with each one of you, as i would actually do if time permitted. on relinquishing his command of the st canadian division. the following is the text of the special order issued by lieut.-general alderson on transferring the st canadian division to the new commander, general currie, c.b.:-- on handing over the command of the st canadian division to general currie, c.b., i wish to give my heartfelt thanks to all ranks of the division, and especially to the brigadiers and the divisional and brigade staffs, for the loyal and efficient help they have given me during the eleven months that i have commanded the division. it is this help that, in spite of the difficulties of organisation, or the trying climatic and other unpleasant conditions of salisbury plain, has made my period of command so pleasant. i have already expressed personally, to all ranks, my appreciation of the conduct of the division in action at all times, and especially during the trying twelve days--april nd to may th--at ypres. i will not, therefore, say any more about this conduct, except that i shall never forget it. i am consoled in my great regret at leaving the division by the thought that, as corps commander, i shall still be in close touch with it. in handing over to general currie i feel, as i have told him, that i hand over an efficient fighting unit, which, i am sure, will, under him, add to the reputation it has made, and also give him the same loyal support that it has always given to me. i feel that i cannot conclude better than by asking all ranks of the st division always to remember the words which i am adopting as the motto of the canadian army corps:-- "consentientes vi trahunt victoriam."[ ] [ ] those in agreement seize victory by force. appendix v first canadian division. honours and rewards granted _officers._ honour or reward rank and name. unit. granted. major chisholm, h. a. (d.a.d.m.s.) st divisional headquarters d.s.o. mention. col. foster, g. la f. (a.d.m.s.) " " c.b. mention. lt.-col. wood, t. b. (a.a. & q.m.g.) " " bt.-col. mention. lt.-col. hamilton, g. t. (d.a.a.g.) general headquarters, rd echelon mention. lt.-col. macbrien, j. h. (d.a.a. & q.m.g.) st divisional headquarters staff d.s.o. mention. col. romer, c. f. (g.s.o.) st divisional headquarters mention. major beatty, c. h. l. d.s.o. (a.d.c.) " " mention. lt.-col. gordon-hall, g. c. w. (g.s.o.) " " mention. capt. clifford, e. s. d.s.o. (a.p.m.) " " mention. lt.-gen. alderson, e.a.h.c.b. (g.o.c.) " " mention. lt.-col. hayter, r. j. f. h.q., st can. inf. bde. d.s.o. mention. capt. ware, f. d. (staff captain) " " mention. br.-gen. mercer, m. s. " " c.b. mention. lt. sprinks, w. d. th can. inf. bde. m.c. major kimmins, a. e. st can. inf. bn. mention. capt. parks, j. h. " " h.q. d.s.o. mention. lt. campbell, f. w.. " " v.c. lt. culling, e. c. nd can. inf. bn. mention. temp. capt. lt.-col. watson, d. " " mention. capt. turner, a. g. " " m.c. mention. capt. lyne-evans, j. h. rd can. inf. bn. m.c. mention. capt. haywood, a. k. m.o. rd bn. m.c. mention. lt.-col. birchall, a. p. th can. inf. bn. mention. c. o. capt. glover, j. d., adjt. mention. major ballantyne, j. " " d.s.o. mention. lt.-col. h. kemmis betty nd can. inf. bde. h.q. d.s.o. mention. capt. clark, r. p. " " mention. br.-gen. currie, a. w. g.o.c. st can. div. c.b. also awarded legion of honour, croix de commandeur. lt.-col. tuxford, g. s. th can. inf. bn mention. major pragnell, g. s. t. " " d.s.o. mention. lt. currie, j. m. " " mention. capt. anderson, s. j. " " d.s.o. lt.-col. armstrong, c. j. h.q. can. divl. engrs. mention. capt. macphail, a. temp. maj. / / . st f.c., can. engrs. d.s.o. mention. lt. hertzberg, h. f. h. nd f.c., can. engrs. m.c. mention. major wright, g. b. rd f.c., can. engrs. d.s.o. mention. capt. kilburn, f. c. can. divl. sig. co. mention. major lister, f. a. " " d.s.o. mention. lt.-col. simson, w. a. h.q. can. divl. train mention. lt. webb, r. h. no. co. can. divl. train m.c. mention. major duval, j. l. no. can. fld. ambulance mention. capt. stone, e. l. " " mention. capt. mcgibbon, r. h. " " mention. lt.-col. ross, a. e. " " mention. capt. mckillip, t. h. no. can. fld. ambulance d.s.o. mention. lt.-col. mcpherson, d. w. " " mention. major hardy, e. b " " mention. capt. fraser, j. j " " mention. capt. brown, p. g. " " mention. lt.-col. watt, w. l. no. can. fld. ambulance mention. capt. bell, f. c. " " mention. capt. mcqueen, j. d. " " mention. capt. donaldson, a. s. " " mention. capt. smith, s. a. " " d.s.o. lt.-col. ford, f. s. l. c.a.m.c. no. . cas. clg. stn. c.m.g. mention. lt.-col. shillington, a. t. c.a.m.c. no. stat. hosp. mention. brig.-gen. burstall, h. e. (g.o.c.) h.q. can. divl. arty. c.b. mention. capt. cosgrave, l. m. st can. arty. bde. mention. capt. white, d. a. ( nd bty.) " " mention. o/c nd battery. lt. craig, c. s. ( th bty.) st can. arty. bde. m.c. / / . lt.-col. creelman, j. j. (bde. staff). nd can. arty. bde. mention. major hanson, e. g. ( th bty.) nd can. arty. bde. mention. lt. geary, h. f. ( th bty.) " " mention. lt. savage, h. m. ( th bty.) " " mention. lt.-col. mitchell, j. h. rd can. arty. bde. mention. also (bde. staff). awarded legion of honour, croix d'officier lt. greene, e. a. ( th bty.) rd can. arty. bde. mention. major king, w. b. m. ( th bty.) " " d.s.o. mention. o/c th how. bde. major carscallen, h. g. ( th bty.) rd can. arty. bde. mention. capt. nash, j. p. p. th can. arty.-bde. d.s.o. lt. anderson, j. g. " " m.c. lt.-col. hart-mcharg, th can. inf. bn. mention. w. f. r. major odlum, v. w. d.s.o. mention. temp. lt.-col. / / . lt.-col. lipsett, l. j. th can. inf. bn. c.m.g. mention. major matthews, h. h. " " d.s.o. mention. lt. mcleod, n. g. m. temp. capt. / / " " m.c. mention. lt. scott, j. n. " " m.c. mention. lt.-col. boyle, r. l. th can. inf. bn. mention. major mclaren, j. " " mention. capt. arthur, c. g. " " d.s.o. mention. major ormond, d. m. th can. inf. bn. order of st. stan- islas, rd class. lt.-col. hughes, g. b. h.q. rd can. inf. bde. d.s.o. mention. g. s. o. capt. pope, e. w. " " mention. br.-gen. turner, r. e. w., v.c., d.s.o. " " c.b. mention. lt.-col. loomis, f. o. w. th can. inf. bn. d.s.o. mention. major norsworthy, " " mention. e. c. major mccuaig, d. r. " " d.s.o. mention. lt.-col. meighen, f. s. th can. inf. bn. mention. lt.-col. burland, w. w. " d.s.o. mention. capt. scrimger, f. a. c. " " v.c. major marshall, w. r. temp. lt.-col. / / o/c th can. inf. bn. d.s.o. mention. capt. alexander, g. m. " " m.c. mention. lt.-col. leckie, r. g. e. th can. inf. bn. c.m.g. mention. maj. godson-godson, g. th can. inf. bn. d.s.o. mention. capt. merritt, c. mack. " " mention. lt. mclean, v. a. order of st. anne, th class. capt. morison, f., " " d.s.o. temp. maj. / / / lt. dennistoun, j. r. can. divl. mtd. tps. (cyclist coy.) mention. lt. scandrett, j. h. ( th bty.) rd can. arty. bde. m.c. mention. lt. ryerson, a. c. (ammn. col.) rd c.f.a mention. maj. lambarde, f. f. th how. bde., r.f.a d.s.o. mention. ( th bty.) lt. harbord, g. m. ( th bty.) capt. / / . " " d.s.o. mention. lt. ramsden, a. g. f., (ammn. col.) " " mention. lt. mcdonald, d. j. (l.s.h.) can. cav. bde m.c. major hesketh, j. a. (l.s.h.) " " d.s.o. appendix v section ii first canadian division. honours and rewards granted _other ranks._ honour regtl. no. or reward and rank. name unit granted. s.m. clifton, a. e. divl. hd.-qrs. d.c.m. (hon. lieut. r.o. c.t.d.c.o. d.m.s. / / q.m.s. cook, g. s. divl. hd.-qrs. mention. s.sgt. butt, h. g. b. " " mention. l/cpl. mcdonald, w. " " mention. pte. barrass, wm. e. st can. inf. bn. st. george's cross, th class l/cpl. rouse, chas. e. " " medal of st. george, th class. pte. mcgrimmon, h. w. " " medal of st. george, th class. l/cpl. whitla, w. " " d.c.m. sgt. wakelin, f. " " d.c.m. m.g.sgt. aiken, m. j. " " mention. sgt. jones, w. e. " " mention. pte. moore, g. " " mention. c.s.m. owen, c. " " d.c.m. pte. gledhill v. " " d.c.m. pte. vincent h. " " d.c.m. sgt. gardiner, e. nd can. inf. bn. st. george's cross, rd class. l/cpl. marchant, j. s. nd can. inf. bn. st. george's cross, th class. pte. highstone, a. s. " " d.c.m. cpl. batchelor, c. w. " " d.c.m. sgt. birdseye, r. w " " d.c.m. sgt. bussell, e. w. " " mention. pte. mcguire, t. " " d.c.m. l/cpl. graveley, w. k. rd can. inf. bn. st. george's cross, th class. cpl. percy, andrew " " medal of st. george, rd class. sgt. ives, p. " " d.c.m. sgt. adamson, s. l. " " d.c.m. l/cpl. minns, e. h. " " mention. sgt. mote, g. a. " " d.c.m. sgt. hobday, s. g. " " d.c.m. a/sgt. elliott, t. th can. inf. bn. st. george's cross, th class. pte. broomfield, d. j. " " medal of st. george, rd class. pte. sheppard, a. " " medal of st. george, th class. sgt. kay, a. w. " " d.c.m. pte. shipman, e. " " mention. pte. wright, f. l. " " mention. l/sgt. hart, w. e. " " d.c.m. (lieut. promoted / / .) sgt. johnson, j. th can. inf. bn. medal of st. george, nd class. cpl. crawford, w. m. " " medal of st. george, rd class. pte. cowell, j. d. " " d.c.m. pte. joslyn, r. w. " " d.c.m. pte. maguire, t. " " d.c.m. cpl. white, g. a " " d.c.m. pte. mcivor, n. " " mention. pte. hester, e. " " d.c.m. sgt. mckue, j. m. " " d.c.m. sgt. weeks, h. h. th can. inf. bn. st. george's cross, th class. pte. farmer, j. th can. inf. bn. medal of st. george, th class. sgt. dryden, w. h " " d.c.m. sgt. fearless, h. n. " " d.c.m. l/cpl. mullins, t. m. " " d.c.m. cpl. odlum, j. w. " " mention. pte. nuttall, e. th can. inf. bn. st. george's cross, th class. sig/sgt. thornton, j. " " medal of st. cross, th class. r.s.m. robertson, wm. " " mention. c.s.m. hall, f. w. " " v.c. l/cpl. payne, j. a. k. " " mention. pte. walters, h. " " d.c.m. c.s.m. hay, j. " " d.c.m. s.m. good, r. g. th can. inf. bn. medal of st. (temp. capt. george, st / / ). class. (struck off / / permanently unfit, med. board). l/cpl. allan, g. w. th can. inf. bn d.c.m. cpl. ross, t. o. " " d.c.m. sgt. schultz, s. " " d.c.m. pte. bloxham, g. h. " " d.c.m. l/sgt. palmer, j. e. " " d.c.m. l/cpl. king, h. w. " " d.c.m. cpl. baker, w. h. " " "croix de guerre." q.m.s. birch, g. r. nd div. hd.-qrs st. george's cross, th class. cpl. campbell, j. j. th can. inf. bn. medal of st. george, st class. sgt. key, r. " " medal of st. george, nd class. pte. danson, h. div. sig. coy. d.c.m. r.s.m. jeffery, j. th can. inf. bn. m.c. mention. (officer th bn. temp. capt. / / .) c.s.m. trainor, j. th can. inf. bn. mention. cpl. reid, f. j. " " medal of st. george, th class. l/cpl. fisher, f. " " v.c. sgt. worrall, r. th can. inf. bn. st. george's cross, rd (temp. lieut. / / .) class. pte. barrette, a. th can. inf. bn. medal of st. george, rd class. c.s.m. price, c. b " " d.c.m. (temp. lieut. / / .) c.s.m. handcock. a. th can. inf. bn. mention. sgt. hawkins, a. e " " mention. pte. macatair, a. can. divl. sigl. co. d.c.m. (h.q., rd can. inf. bde.). pte. duncan, w. " " d.c.m. (h.q. rd can. inf. bde.) cpl. casstles, e. " " d.c.m. cpl. kennedy, b. e. " " d.c.m. pte. stewart, h. r " " medal of st. george, th class. sgt. macdonald, j. hd.-qrs. co. can. divl. d.c.m. train dr. pate, s. a. " " d.c.m. dr. barton, geo. no. co. can. divl. medal of st. train george, th class. sgt. brown, t. m. st can. field amb. st. george's cross, th class. mention. d.c.m. sgt. smith, w. b. " " mention. pte. trotter, e. " " mention. pte. sharman, j. d. " " mention. pte. turner, f. nd can. field amb. medal of st. george, rd class. d.c.m. sgt. mckay, j. w. " " mention. pte. youldon, j. g. " " mention. pte. leishman, w. m. " " mention. pte. dalton, j. " " mention. pte. chester, r. m. " " mention. (temp. lieut. / / .) pte. farr, c. j. e. nd can. field amb. mention. pte. tomkins, c. b. rd can. field amb. medal of st. george, th class. sgt. kinsell, j. g. rd can. field amb. mention. (c.a.s.c. attached- imperial). s/sgt. milborne, a. j. b. " " mention. cpl. stewart, h. g. " " mention. l/cpl. bartley, a. " " mention. pte. tompkins, c. b. " " mention. cpl. head, r. l. " " mention. pte. millen, a. " " mention. pte. holloway, w. j. rd can. field amb. mention. pte. mallette, j. r. th can. inf. bn. d.c.m. r.s.m. stephenson, j. m. " " "medaille militaire." sgt. calder, j. m. th can. inf. bn. d.c.m. pte. kerr, m. k. " " mention. sgt. flood, w. j. " " mention. r.m.s. keith, jas. " " mention. sgt. dougall, j. th can. inf. bn. d.c.m. sgt. lunn, b. c. " " d.c.m. cpl. heath, g. c. " " mention. pte. bizley, j. w. " " mention. l/cpl. minchin, a. w. " " mention. s.m. ridgwell, s. a. hd.-qrs. can. divl. engrs. mention. l/cpl. mcintyre, h. p. st fld. co. can. engrs. st. george's cross, th class. l/cpl. casement, r. j. " " d.c.m. nd cpl. evans, a. j. l. " " mention. (lieut. / / .) sgt. smith-rewse, m. b. w. st fld. co. can. engrs mention. (temp. lieut. / / .) (killed in action / / .) c.s.m. chetwynd, g. r. nd fld. co. can. engrs. mention. (lieut. / / .) sgt. ferris, c. b. nd fld. co. can. "croix de guerre." l/cpl. borrie, w. j. rd fld. co. can. engrs. medal of st. george, rd class. sgt. turner, g. r. " " mention. (temp. lieut. / / .) pte. dunham, a. w. st can. div. mtd. tps. medal of st. (cyclist co.). george, rd class. pte. aitken, g. t. st can. div. mtd. tps. medal of st. george, th class. cpl. hudson, h. can. divl. sigl. co. st. george's (h.q., nd can. cross, rd inf. bde.). class. coy.s.m. may, h. t. " " st. george's cross, th class. sgt. gale, t. " " medal of st. george, nd class. pte. quigley, h. s. " " d.c.m. (hd.-qrs. nd can. inf. bde.). (temp. lieut. / / .) pte. adams, h. m. can. divl. sigl. co. d.c.m. (hd.-qrs. rd can. inf. bde.). pte. lisney, f. j. rd can. fld. amb. mention. q.m.s. rotsey, a. e. " " mention. l/cpl. cameron, h. t. " " d.c.m. sgt. morris, d. can. cav. brigade d.c.m. (k.e.h. imperial forces). s.s.m. collins, g. s. " " d.c.m. (l.s.h.). cpl. pym, t. s. " " d.c.m. (r.c.d.). c bdr. wilkinson, h. e. st can. fld. a. bde. d.c.m. (bde. staff). c cpl. lamplough, l. a. " " mention. ( st battery). c s.m. donaldson, j. w. a. " " d.c.m. ( nd battery). c cpl. ritchie, a. b. " " d.c.m. (ammn. col.). c b.s.m. kerry, h. g. " " medal of st. ( th battery). george, nd class. c sgt. macinnes, w. " " "croix de guerre." c a/sgt. olsen, o. c. nd can. fld. a. bde. d.c.m. ( th battery). c q-m.s. milburn, a. r. " " d.c.m. ( th battery). c cpl. shirley, j. " " mention. ( th battery). c sgt. hicks, a. s. nd can. fld. a. bde. mention. ( th battery). c bdr. cotton, d. p. " " st. george's ( th battery). cross, th class. sgt. jacobs, m. rd can. fld. a. bde. mention. (bde. staff). s.m. wildgoose, r. " " mention. ( th battery). c cpl. baker, r. f. " " d.c.m. ( th battery). c gr. james, a. w. " " d.c.m. ( th battery) c b.q.sgt. barnacal, wm. " " mention. ( th battery). medal of st. george, nd class. sgt. hayward, j. " " mention. (ammn. col.). b.s.m. armitage, j. th how. bde. ( th battery). r.f.a. d.c.m. drvr. marks, f. t. " " mention. ( th battery). cpl. pobjoy, h. " " mention. (ammn. col.). gr. gurr, a. " " d.c.m. (headquarters). second canadian division. honour regtl. no. or reward and rank. name. unit. granted / / lieut. a. w. northover th battalion military cross. / / pte. h. b. compton th battalion d.c.m. / / sgt. w. c. ryer th battalion d.c.m. appendix vi statement of casualties, by units, of the canadian divisions up to november th, st division killed in died of died of prisoners action. wounds. diseases, etc. wounded. of war. missing. total. other officers. ranks. o. o.r. o. o.r. o. o.r. o. o.r. o. o.r. o. o.r. h.q. st divn. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- h.q. st in. be. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- st battn. -- nd " -- rd " -- th " -- -- -- h.q. nd in. be. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- th battn. -- -- th " -- , th " -- -- th " -- h.q. rd in. be. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- th battn. -- -- th " -- -- -- th " -- th " -- -- st div. cavalry -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- st div. cyclist -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- h.q. mtd. bde. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- l.s.h. (r.c.) -- -- -- -- -- roy. can. drag. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- h.q. div. art'y. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- st. bde. c.f.a. -- -- -- -- -- -- nd " " -- -- -- -- -- -- rd " " -- -- -- -- -- -- -- lst. div. ammn. col. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- st hvy. battery -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- r.c.h.a. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- a.m.g. bde. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- st div. engrs. -- -- -- -- -- st " sig. co. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- c.a.s.c. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- c.a.m.c. -- -- -- -- -- c.a.v.c. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- c.o.c. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- c. postal c. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- c.a.p.c. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- p.p.c.l.i. -- n/sisters -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- totals , , , , nd division. killed in died of died of prisoners action. wounds. diseases, etc. wounded. of war. missing. total. other officers. ranks. o. o.r. o. o.r. o. o.r. o. o.r. o. o.r. o. o.r. h.q. nd divn. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- h.q. inf. bde. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- th battn. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- th " -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- th " -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- st " -- -- -- -- -- -- -- h.q. inf. bde. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- nd battn. -- -- -- -- -- th " -- -- -- -- -- -- -- th " -- -- -- -- -- -- th " -- -- -- -- -- h.q. inf. bde. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- th battn. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- th " -- -- -- -- -- -- th " -- -- -- -- -- -- st " -- -- -- -- -- -- -- nd div. cavalry -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- nd " cyclists -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- h.q. st bde. c.m.r. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- st regt. c.m.r. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- nd " " -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- rd " " -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- h.q. nd bde. c.m.r. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- th regt. c.m.r. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- th " " -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- th " " -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- h.q. nd div. art. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- th bde. c.f.a. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- th " " -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- th how. " -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- nd div. amm. col. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- nd hvy. battery -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- eaton's m. g. battery -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- bordon's " " -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- nd div. engrs. -- -- -- -- -- -- nd " sig. co. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- c.a.s.c. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- c.a.m.c. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- nd battn. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- th battn. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- r.c.r. -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- n/sisters -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- totals -- -- , grand totals casualties. st division , , , , nd division -- -- , grand totals , , , , printed in great britain in richard clay and sons, limited, brunswick street, stamford street, s.b., and bungay, suffolk. * * * * * extracts from press opinions of canada in flanders even napier has written nothing better. "i have no hesitation in saying that sir max aitken is to be ranked with sir william napier in the power of describing a battle. the book should be in the hands of every reader in the empire, for the inspiring quality of it, its nobility, its bravery. it is in his description of the part played by the canadians in the battle of ypres that sir max aitken touches his highest, and that is so high that hardly anyone has surpassed it. even napier has written nothing better than sir max aitken's account of the second battle of ypres--a battle which we won, surely, by the direct grace of god."--sir w. robertson nicoll in the _british weekly_. a living barrier. "excellently done.... with the aid of excellent sketch maps every phase can here be followed of the fight in which the canadians, first alone, and then foremost among the reinforcements, improvised and maintained a living barrier against the flood of the german army which had poured through the great breach on the british flank, and thus averted, in sir john french's significant words, a 'disaster which might have been attended with the most serious consequences.'"--_the times_. a book which will live. "the story of how the canadians fought at neuve chapelle, ypres, at givenchy, at festubert, as he tells it here, is as absorbing as ever, and our pride in the lavish bravery and sacrifice of the daughter nation is, if that were possible, strengthened by reading these pages.... it will be one of the books on the war which will live."--_daily telegraph_. a great book. "a great book by a big man--sir max aitken deserves not merely compliments and unstinted praise, but thanks as well."--_reynolds's newspaper_. clear battle pictures. "the splendid work of the canadians on the western front makes a fine story in the pages of 'canada in flanders,' by sir max aitken, m.p. he writes an easy style, and when describing a complicated battlefield can bring clear pictures of its events before the reader. the most important chapter is headed 'ypres.' it gives the best and most lucid account we have yet seen of the battles which followed the german gas attack last april."--_manchester guardian_. an empire annal. "a book to thrill and inspire ... to read the story told by sir max aitken is to read one of the finest stories in the annals of the empire."--_sunday times_. stories that thrill. "one of the clearest expositions and most effective pieces of writing we remember to have read.... his stories will thrill his readers not only in canada ... but wherever the english language is read."--_standard_. heroic deeds. "the heroic deeds of the canadians at ypres make one tingle with pride to be a kinsman to such soldiers. farmers and fruit farmers, editors and ranchers all showed themselves to be of the finest fighting stuff in the world."--_evening standard_. two new brunswickers. "not only has canada sent us splendid troops, but new brunswick (there is a fine irony in the name) has strengthened our arm in sending us mr. bonar law.... another new brunswicker, also a scots minister's son, who has made good is sir max aitken. his book of the canadians in flanders is now one of the liveliest (and truest) stories on the bookstalls."--_graphic_. canada's agincourt. "what agincourt is to the english reader of shakespeare ypres will be to unborn canadians.... we can wish for no better telling of the heart-grips in a great battle."--_observer_. within sound of the guns. "the official historian of the canadian expeditionary force, whoever he may be ... cannot hope to match the vivid narrative, written, as one may say, within sound of the guns, in which sir max aitken relates the deeds of the gallant men with whom he served in flanders."--_daily chronicle_. canada's achievement. "sir max aitken is a worthy chronicler of great deeds, and his introductory chapters alone add materially to our knowledge of the greatness of canada's achievement. most space is naturally given to the share of the canadians in the battles of neuve chapelle and ypres, which are vividly described from the military and human standpoint."--_daily graphic_. deathless exploits at ypres. "the deathless exploit of the canadians in stemming the german onrush at ypres and frustrating the expected gains of the gas trick will often be retold, but never, we think, to the displacement of the version here given, with its tense reality and unforced power. the author has succeeded in combining a clear impression of the engagement and its objective as a whole with a sufficiency of detail to let us understand something of the character of such warfare from the individual's point of view.... canada has been fortunate in her record officer."--_pall mall gazette_. fascinating impressions. "what a fascinating book this is. it has some thrilling stories of the heroism of the gallant canadian soldiers. sir max aitken can write. it was he, you remember, who was responsible for the only official story of the heroic fighting at ypres that really gave an adequate impression of the battle, and everyone was wondering for days after the publication of that account who the brilliant author could be. well, his new book is better than that account and tells more not only of what the men did, but which men and which regiments took part in the now historic struggles round ruined ypres."--"the rambler" in the _daily mirror_. a veritable epic. "this is one of the many good books of the war which rank with those of 'ian hay,' 'sapper,' and mr. john buchan. such books are not likely to be affected by the 'slump' in war books of which we hear. they are indispensable.... a veritable epic of canada's share in the war."--clement shorter in _the sphere_. a joyous shillingsworth. "the secretary of state for the colonies is correct in his description of sir max aitken's work as 'a model of lucid, picturesque, and sympathetic narrative.' ... a joyous shillingsworth--the best we have seen for a long time."--_morning post_. bravery and sacrifice. "it is a thrilling record of the manner in which canada has played her part in the great fight on the western front, and hitherto unpublished stories of extraordinary feats of bravery and sacrifice for others are told. as a record of what the canadians have accomplished for the motherland it is one of the best books the war has produced, and it is written in such an interesting form that it can and should be read by all of the english-speaking race."--_star_. a flame of patriotism. "of the making of books on the war there is no end. but few have achieved, or will achieve, the popularity that is certainly destined for 'canada in flanders.' ... to english readers, of whom there will be many, the chapters which deal with the raising of the corps in canada will, perhaps for the first time, bring realization of the flame of patriotism which spread like a prairie fire through the dominion at the outbreak of the war."--_lloyd's weekly_. an army of amateurs. "sir max points out, over and over again, that the canadian army is almost entirely an army of amateurs. princess patricia's light infantry was recruited from old soldiers, but the rest of the canadian army was made up of men without military experience. this fact is of immense significance, particularly as it is equally true of the greater part of the british forces."--_daily express_. hodder & stoughton, publishers, warwick sq., london, e.c. beautiful europe belgium by joseph e. morris i. it needs, indeed, an effort of the imagination at the moment of writing to think of belgium as in any sense a component part of "beautiful europe." the unhappy "cockpit" of the continent at the actual hour is again in process of accomplishing its frightful destiny--no treaty, or "scrap of paper," is potent to preserve this last, and weakest, of all the nations of western europe from drinking to the dregs the cup of ruin and desolation. tragic indeed in the profoundest sense--in the sense of aristotle--more tragic than the long ruin of the predestined house of oedipus--is this accumulated tragedy of a small and helpless people, whose sole apparent crime is their stern determination to cling at any cost to their plighted word of honour. i have been lately glancing into a little book published about five years ago, in which a view is taken of the belgian character that no one could term indulgent. "it is curious," says the writer in one place, "how few belgians, old or young, rich or poor, consider the feelings or convenience of others. they are intensely selfish, and this is doubtless caused by the way in which they are brought up." and, again, in another chapter, he insinuates a doubt as to whether the belgians, if ever called on, would even prove good soldiers. "but whether the people of a neutral state are ever likely to be brave and self-sacrificing is another thing." such a writer certainly does not shrink--as burke, we know, once shrank--from framing an indictment against an entire people. whether belgium, as a nation, is self-sacrificing and brave may safely be left to the judgment of posterity. there is a passage in one of mr. lecky's books--i cannot put my finger on the exact reference--in which he pronounces that the sins of france, which are many, are forgiven her, because, like the woman in the gospels, she has loved much. it is not our business now, if indeed at any time, to appraise the sins of belgium; but surely her love, in anguish, is manifest and supreme. when we contemplate these firstfruits of german "kultur"--this deluge of innocent blood, and this wreckage of ancient monuments--who can hesitate for a moment to belaud this little people, which has flung itself thus gallantly, in the spirit of purest sacrifice, in front of the onward progress of this new and frightful juggernaut? rather one recalls that old persistent creed, exemplified perhaps in the mysteries, now of the greek adonis, now of persian mithras, and now of the roman priest of the nennian lake, that it is only through the gates of sacrifice and death that the world moves on triumphant to rejuvenation and life. is it, in truth, through the blood of a bruised and prostrate belgium that the purple hyacinth of a rescued european civilization will spring presently from the soaked and untilled soil? yet even if german "kultur" in the end sweep wholly into ruin the long accumulated treasures of belgian architecture, sculpture, and painting--if bruges, which to-day stands still intact, shall to-morrow be reckoned with dinant and louvain--yet it would still be worth while to set before a few more people this record of vanished splendour, that they may better appreciate what the world has lost through lust of brutal ambition, and better be on guard in the future to protect what wreckage is left. all these treasures were bequeathed to us--not to belgium alone, but to the whole world--by the diligence and zeal of antiquity; and we have seen this goodly heritage ground in a moment into dust beneath the heel of an insolent and degraded militancy. belgium, in very truth, in guarding the civilization and inheritance of other nations, has lavishly wrecked her own. "they made me keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard have i not kept." luckily, however, it is not yet quite clear that the "work of waste and ruin" is wholly irreparable. one sees in the illustrated english papers pictures of the great thirteenth-century churches at dixmude, dinant, and louvain, made evidently from photographs, that suggest at least that it is not impossible still to rebuild the walls of jerusalem. dixmude, indeed--i judge from an interior view--is possibly shattered past hope; but dinant and st. pierre, at louvain, so far at least as their fabrics are concerned, seem to lack little but the woodwork of their roofs. it is only a few years ago since the writer stood in the burnt-out shell of selby abbey; yet the selby abbey of to-day, though some ancient fittings of inestimable value have irreparably perished, is in some ways not less magnificent, and is certainly more complete, than its imperfect predecessor. one takes comfort, again, in the thought of york minster in the conflagration caused by the single madman martin in , and of the collapse of the blazing ceilings in nave and chancel, whilst the great gallery of painted glass, by some odd miracle, escaped. is it too much to hope that this devil's work of a million madmen at dixmude or nieuport may prove equally incomplete? in the imperfect sketch that follows i write of the aspect of belgium--of its cities, that were formerly the most picturesque in europe; of its landscapes, that range from the level fens of flanders to the wooded limestone wolds of the ardennes--as i knew these, and loved them, in former years, before hell was let loose in europe. and perhaps, the picture here presented will in time be not altogether misrepresentative of the regenerated belgium that will certainly some day arise. ii. it is not merely in its quality of unredeemed and absolute flatness that the great fen country of flanders is so strongly reminiscent of the great fen country of the holland parts of lincolnshire. each of these vast levels is equally distinguished by the splendour and conspicuousness of its ancient churches. travelling by railway between nieuport and dixmude, you have on every side of you, if the day be clear, a prospect of innumerable towers and spires, just as you have if you travel by railway between spalding and sleaford, or between spalding and king's lynn. the difference, perhaps, is that the lincolnshire churches present finer architectural feature, and are built of stone, floated down in barges, by dyke or fen, from the famous inland quarries of barnack, in northamptonshire; whilst most of those in flanders are built of local brick, though the drums of the piers and the arches are often of blue limestone. it is remarkable, certainly, that these soaring spires should thus chiefly rise to eminence in a setting of dead, flat plain. it may well be, indeed, as some have suggested, that the character of architecture is unconsciously determined by the type of surrounding scenery; that men do not build spires in the midst of mountains to compete with natural sublimity that they cannot hope to emulate, but are emboldened to express in stone and mortar their own heavenward aspirations in countries where nature seems to express herself in less spiritual, or at any rate in less ambitious, mood. as we cross the level prairie between these two little towns of west flanders (we hope to visit them presently), a group of lofty roofs and towers is seen grandly towards the west, dominating the fenland with hardly less insistency than boston "stump," in lincolnshire, as seen across wash and fen. this is the little town of furnes, than which one can hardly imagine a quainter place in belgium, or one more entirely fitted as a doorway by which to enter a new land. coming straight from england by way of calais and dunkirk, the first sight of this ancient flemish market-place, with its unbroken lines of old white-brick houses, many of which have crow-stepped gables; with the two great churches of st. nicholas, with its huge square tower, and of st. walburge, with its long ridge of lofty roof; and with its hotel de ville and palais de justice of about the dawn of the seventeenth century, is a revelation, in its atmosphere of sleepy evening quiet, to those who rub their eyes with wonder, and find it hard to credit that london, "with its unutterable, external hideousness," was actually left behind them only that very morning, and is actually at present not two hundred miles distant. furnes, in short, is an epitome, and i think a very charming one, of all that is most characteristic in flanders; and not the less charming because here the strong currents of modern life that throb through ghent and antwerp extend only to its threshold in the faintest of dying ripples, and because you do not need to be told that in its town hall may still be seen hangings of old spanish leather, and that the members of the inquisition used to meet in the ante-chamber of the first floor of its palais de justice, in order to throw yourself back in memory to those old days of lowland greatness from whose struggles holland emerged victorious, but into which belgium, for the time, sank back oppressed. furnes--in flemish veurne--is an excellent centre from which to explore the extreme west point of belgian flanders, which is also the extreme west point of belgium as a whole. flanders, be it always remembered, does not terminate with mere, present-day, political divisions, but spreads with unbroken character to the very gateways of calais and lille. hazebrouck, for example, is a thoroughly flemish town, though nearly ten miles, in a beeline, inside the french border--flemish not merely, like dunkirk, in the architecture of its great brick church, but also actually flemish in language, and in the names that one reads above its shop doors. in particular, excursions may be pleasantly made from furnes--whose principal inn, the noble rose, is again a quaint relic of the sixteenth century--to the two delightful little market-towns of dixmude and nieuport-ville: i write, as always, of what was recently, and of what i have seen myself; to-day they are probably heaps of smoking ruin, and sanguinary altars to german "kultur." nieuport-ville, so called in distinction from its dull little watering-place understudy, nieuport-les-bains, which lies a couple of miles to the west of it, among the sand-dunes by the mouth of the yser, and is hardly worth a visit unless you want to bathe--nieuport-ville, in addition to its old yellow-brick halles, or cloth hall, and its early tour des templiers, is remarkable for its possession of a fascinating church, the recent restoration of which has been altogether conservative and admirable. standing here, in this rich and picturesque interior, you realize strongly the gulf in this direction between belgium and france, in which latter country, in these days of ecclesiastical poverty, loving restoration of the kind here seen is rare, and whose often neglected village churches seldom, or never, exhibit that wealth of marble rood-screen and sculptured woodwork--of beaten brass and hammered iron--that distinguishes belgian church interiors from perhaps all others on earth. the church has also some highly important brasses, another detail, common of course in most counties of england, that is now never, or hardly ever, found in france. chief, perhaps, among these is the curious, circular brass--i hope it has escaped--with figures of husband, wife, and children, on a magnificently worked background, that is now suspended on the northwest pier of the central crossing. very belgian, too, in character is the rood-beam, with its three figures of our lord in crucifixion, of the virgin, and of st. john; and the striking renaissance rood-screen in black and white marble, though not as fine as some that are found in other churches. rood-screens of this exact sort are almost limited to belgium, though there is one, now misplaced in the west end of the nave, and serving as an organ-loft, in the church of st. gery at cambrai--another curious link between french and belgian flanders. dixmude (in flemish diksmuide), nine and a half miles south from nieuport, is an altogether bigger and more important place, with a larger and more important church, of st. nicholas, to match. my recollection of this last, on a saturday afternoon of heavy showers towards the close of march, is one of a vast interior thronged with men and women in the usual dismal, black flemish cloaks, kneeling in confession, or waiting patiently for their turn to confess, in preparation for the easter mass. here the best feature, till lately, was the glorious flamboyant rood-screen, recalling those at albi and the church of brou, in france; and remarkable in belgium as one of the very few examples of its sort (there is, or was, another in st. pierre, at louvain) of so early a period, in a land where rood-screens, as a body, are generally much later in date. it is difficult, in dealing with flanders, to avoid a certain amount of architectural description, for architecture, after all, is the chief attraction of the country, save perhaps in ghent and bruges, where we have also noble pictures. even those who do not care to study this architecture in detail will be gratified to stroll at leisure through the dim vastness of the great flemish churches, where the eye is satisfied everywhere with the wealth of brass and iron work, and where the belgian passion for wood-carving displays itself in lavish prodigality. such wealth, indeed, of ecclesiastical furniture you will hardly find elsewhere in western europe--font covers of hammered brass, like those at hal and tirlemont; stalls and confessionals and pulpits, new and old, that are mere masses of sculptured wood-work; tall tabernacles for the reception of the sacred host, like those at louvain and leau, that tower towards the roof by the side of the high altars. most of this work, no doubt, is post-gothic, except the splendid stalls and canopies (i wonder, do they still survive) at the church of st. gertrude at louvain; for belgium presents few examples of mediaeval wood-work like the gorgeous stalls at amiens, or like those in half a hundred churches in our own land. much, in fact, of these splendid fittings is more or less contemporary with the noble masterpieces of rubens and vandyck, and belongs to the same great wave of artistic enthusiasm that swept over the netherlands in the seventeenth century. belgian pulpits, in particular, are probably unique, and certainly, to my knowledge, without parallel in italy, england, or france. sometimes they are merely adorned, like the confessionals at st. charles, at antwerp, and at tirlemont, with isolated figures; but often these are grouped into some vivid dramatic scene, such as the miraculous draught of fishes, at st. andrew's, at antwerp, or the conversion of st. norbert, in the cathedral at malines. certainly the fallen horseman in the latter, if not a little ludicrous, is a trifle out of place. from furnes to ypres it is a pleasant journey across country by one of those strange steam-trams along the road, so common in belgium and holland, and not unknown in france, that wind at frequent intervals through village streets so narrow, that you have only to put out your hand in passing to touch the walls of houses. this is a very leisurely mode of travelling, and the halts are quite interminable in their frequency and length; but the passenger is allowed to stand on the open platform at the end of the carriage--though sometimes nearly smothered with thick, black smoke--and certainly no better method exists of exploring the short stretches of open country that lie between town and town. belgian towns, remember, lie mostly thick on the ground--you are hardly out of brussels before you come to malines, and hardly out of malines ere you sight the spire of antwerp. in no part of europe, perhaps, save in parts of lancashire and yorkshire, do you find so many big towns in so limited a space; yet the strips of country that lie between, though often intolerably dull, are (unlike the strips in yorkshire) intensely rural in character. belgian towns do not sprawl in endless, untidy suburbs, as sheffield sprawls out towards rotherham, and bradford towards leeds. belgian towns, moreover--again unlike our own big cities in england--are mostly extremely handsome, and generally contrive, however big, to retain, at any rate in their heart, as at antwerp, or in the grande place at brussels, a striking air of antiquity; whilst some fairly big towns, such as malines and bruges, are mediaeval from end to end. this, of course, is not true of belgian luxembourg and the region of the ardennes, where the population is much more sparse; where we do not stumble, about every fifteen miles or so, on some big town of historic name; and where the endless chessboard of little fields that lies, for example, between ghent and oudenarde, or between malines and louvain, is replaced by long contours of sweeping limestone wold, often covered with rolling wood. ypres is distinguished above all cities in belgium by the huge size and stately magnificence of its lordly cloth hall, or halles des drapiers. so vast, indeed, is this huge building, and so flat the surrounding plain, that it is said that it is possible from the strangely isolated hill of cassel, which lies about eighteen miles away to the west, just over the border, in france, on a really clear day--i have only climbed it myself, unluckily, in a fog of winter mist--to distinguish in a single view, by merely turning the head, the clustering spires of laon, the white chalk cliffs of kent, and this vast pile of building, like a ship at sea, that seems to lie at anchor in the heart of the "sounding plain." nothing, perhaps, in europe is so strangely significant of vanished greatness--not even rome, with its shattered forum, or venice, with a hundred marble palaces--as this huge fourteenth-century building, with a facade that is four hundred and thirty-six feet long, and with its lofty central tower, that was built for the pride and need of ypres, and as a market for the barter of its priceless linens, at a time when ypres numbered a population of two hundred thousand souls (almost as big as leicester at the present day), and was noisy with four thousand busy looms; whereas now it has but a beggarly total of less than seventeen thousand souls (about as big as guildford), and is only a degree less sleepy than malines or bruges-la-morte. ypres, again, like arras, has lent its name to commerce, if diaper be really rightly derived from the expression "linen of ypres." the cloth hall fronts on to the grande place, and, indeed, forms virtually one side of it; and behind, in the petite place, is the former cathedral of st. martin. this is another fine building, though utterly eclipsed by its huge secular rival, that was commenced in the thirteenth century, and is typically belgian, as opposed to french, in the character of its architecture, and not least in its possession of a single great west tower. this last feature is characteristic of every big church in belgium--one can add them up by the dozen: bruges, ghent, louvain (though ruined, or never completed), oudenarde, malines, mons--save brussels, where the church of ste. gudule, called persistently, but wrongly, the cathedral, has the full complement of two, and antwerp, where two were intended, though only one has been actually raised. this tower at ypres, however, fails to illustrate--perhaps because it is earlier, and therefore in better taste--that astounding disproportion in height that is so frequently exhibited by belgian towers, as at malines, or in the case of the famous belfry in the market-place at bruges, when considered with reference to the church, or town hall, below. in front of the high altar, in the pavement, is an inconspicuous square of white stone, which marks the burial-place of cornelius jansen, who died of the plague, as bishop of ypres, in . the monument, if you can call it monument, is scarcely less insignificant than the simple block, in the cemetery of plainpalais at geneva, that is traditionally said to mark the resting-place of calvin. yet jansen, in his way, proved almost a second calvin in his death, and menaced the church from his grave with a second reformation. he left behind in manuscript a book called "augustinus," the predestinarian tenor of which was condemned finally, though nearly a century later, by pope clement xi., in , in the bull called unigenitus. jansenism, however, had struck deep its roots in france, and still survives in holland at the present day, at utrecht, as a sect that is small, indeed, but not altogether obscure. jansen himself, it may be noted, was a hollander by birth, having been born in at akkoi in that kingdom. if ypres is to be praised appropriately as a still delightful old city that has managed to retain to a quite singular degree the outward aspect and charm of the middle ages, one feels that one has left one's self without any proper stock of epithets with which to appraise at its proper value the charm and romance of bruges. of late years, it is true, this world-famed capital of west flanders has lost something of its old somnolence and peace. malines, in certain quarters, is now much more dead-alive, and wordsworth, who seems to have visualized bruges in his mind as a network of deserted streets, "whence busy life hath fled," might perhaps be tempted now to apply to it the same prophetic outlook that he imagined for pendragon castle: "viewing as in a dream her own renewing." one hopes, indeed, that the renewing of bruges will not proceed too zealously, even if bruges come safely through its present hour of crisis. perhaps there is no big city in the world--and bruges, though it has shrunk pitiably, like ypres, from its former great estate in the middle ages, has still more than forty thousand souls--that remains from end to end, in every alley, and square, and street, so wholly unspoilt and untouched by what is bad in the modern spirit, or that presents so little unloveliness and squalor in its more out-of-the-way corners as bruges. bruges, of course, like venice, and half a dozen towns in holland, is a strangely amphibious city that is intersected in every direction, though certainly less persistently than venice, by a network of stagnant canals. on the other hand, if it never rises to the splendour of the better parts of venice--the piazza and the grand canal--and lacks absolutely that charm of infinitely varied, if somewhat faded or even shabby, colour that characterizes the "queen of the adriatic," there is yet certainly nothing monotonous in her monotone of mellow red-brick; and certainly nothing so dilapidated, and tattered, and altogether poverty-stricken as one stumbles against in venice in penetrating every narrow lane, and in sailing up almost every canal. of venice we may perhaps say, what byron said of greece, that "hers is the loveliness in death that parts not quite with parting breath"; whilst in bruges we recognize gladly, not death or decay at all, but the serene and gracious comeliness of a dignified and vital old age. we cannot, of course, attempt, in a mere superficial sketch like this, even to summarize briefly the wealth of objects of interest in bruges, or to guide the visitor in detail through its maze of winding streets. two great churches, no doubt, will be visited by everyone--the cathedral of st. sauveur and the church of notre dame--both of which, in the usual delightful belgian fashion, are also crowded picture-galleries of the works of great flemish masters. the see of bruges, however, dates only from ; and even after that date the bishop had his stool in the church of st. donatian, till this was destroyed by the foolish revolutionaries in . in a side-chapel of notre dame, and carefully boarded up for no reason in the world save to extort a verger's fee for their exhibition, are the splendid black marble monuments, with recumbent figures in copper gilt, of charles the bold, who fell at nancy in (but lives for ever, with louis xi. of france, in the pages of "quentin durward"), and of his daughter, mary, the wife of the emperor maximilian, of austria, who was killed by being thrown from her horse whilst hunting in . these two tombs are of capital interest to those who are students of belgian history, for charles the bold was the last male of the house of burgundy, and it was by the marriage of his daughter that the netherlands passed to the house of hapsburg, and thus ultimately fell under the flail of religious persecution during the rule of her grandson, spanish philip. close to notre dame, in the rue st. catherine, is the famous old hospital of st. jean, the red-brick walls of which rise sleepily from the dull waters of the canal, just as queens' college, or st. john's, at cambridge, rise from the sluggish cam. here is preserved the rich shrine, or chasse, "resembling a large noah's ark," of st. ursula, the sides of which are painted with scenes from the virgin's life by hans memling, who, though born in the neighbourhood of mayence, and thus really by birth a german, lived for nearly a quarter of a century or more of his life in bruges, and is emphatically connected, like his master roger van der weyden and the brothers van eyck, with the charming early flemish school. there is a story that he was wounded under charles le temeraire on the stricken field of nancy, and painted these gemlike pictures in return for the care and nursing that he received in the hospital of st. jean, but "this story," says professor anton springer, "may be placed in the same category as those of durer's malevolent spouse, and of the licentiousness of the later dutch painters." these scenes from the life of st. ursula are hardly less delightfully quaint than the somewhat similar series that was painted by carpaccio for the scuola of the saint at venice, and that are now preserved in the accademia. early flemish painting, in fact, in addition to its own peculiar charm of microscopic delicacy of finish, is hardly inferior, in contrast with the later strong realism and occasional coarseness of rubens or rembrandt, to the tender poetic dreaminess of the primitive italians. certainly these pictures, though finished to the minutest and most delicate detail, are lacking in realism actually to a degree that borders on a delicious absurdity. st. ursula and her maidens--whether really eleven thousand or eleven--in the final scene of martyrdom await the stroke of death with the stoical placidity of a regiment of dolls. "all the faces are essentially flemish, and some of the virgins display to great advantage the pretty national feature of the slight curl in one or in both lips." a little farther along the same street is the city picture gallery, with a small but admirable collection, one of the gems of which is a splendid st. christopher, with kneeling donors, with their patron saints on either side, that was also painted by memling in , and ranks as one of his best efforts. notice also the portrait of the canon van de paelen, painted by jan van eyck in , and representing an old churchman with a typically heavy flemish face; and the rather unpleasant picture by gerard david of the unjust judge sisamnes being flayed alive by order of king cambyses. by a turning to the right out of the rue st. catherine, you come to the placid minne water, or lac d'amour, not far from the shores of which is one of those curious beguinages that are characteristic of flanders, and consist of a number of separate little houses, grouped in community, each of which is inhabited by a beguine, or less strict kind of nun. in the house of the lady superior is preserved the small, but very splendid, memorial brass of a former inmate, who died at about the middle of the fifteenth century. wander where you will in the ancient streets of bruges, and you will not fail to discover everywhere some delightful relic of antiquity, or to stumble at every street corner on some new and charming combination of old houses, with their characteristic crow-stepped, or corbie, gables. new houses, i suppose, there must really be by scores; but these, being built with inherent good taste (whether unconscious or conscious i do not know) in the traditional style of local building, and with brick that from the first is mellow in tint and harmonizes with its setting, assimilate at once with their neighbours to right and left, and fail to offend the eye by any patchy appearance or crudeness. hardly a single street in bruges is thus without old-world charm; but the architectural heart of the city must be sought in its two market-places, called respectively the grande place and the place du bourg. in the former are the brick halles, with their famous belfry towering above the structure below it, with true belgian disregard for proportion in height. it looks, indeed, like tower piled on tower, till one is almost afraid lest the final octagon should be going to topple over! in the place du bourg is a less aspiring group, consisting of the hotel de ville, the chapelle du saint sang, the maison de l'ancien greffe, and the palais de justice--all very flemish in character, and all, in combination, elaborately picturesque. in the chapel of the holy blood is preserved the crystal cylinder that is said to enshrine certain drops of the blood of our saviour that were brought from the holy land in by theodoric, count of flanders, and installed in the romanesque chapel that he built for their reception, and the crypt of which remains, though the upper chapel has long since been rebuilt, in the fifteenth century. at certain stated times the relic is exhibited to a crowd of devotees, who file slowly past to kiss it. some congealed blood of our lord is also said to be preserved, after remarkable vicissitudes of loss and recovery, in the norman abbey of fecamp; and mediaeval gloucestershire once boasted as big a treasure, which brought great concourse and popularity to the cistercian house of hayles. pass beneath the archway of the maison de l'ancien greffe, cross the sluggish canal, and turn sharply to the left, and follow, first the cobbled quai des marbriers, and afterwards its continuation, the quai vert. pacing these silent promenades, which are bordered by humble cottages, you have opposite, across the water, as also from the adjacent quai du rosaire, grand groupings of pinnacle, tower, and gable, more delightful even, in perfection of combination and in mellow charm of colour, than those "domes and towers" of oxford whose presence wordsworth confessed, in a very indifferent sonnet, to overpower his "soberness of reason." "in brussels," he says elsewhere in his journal, "the modern taste in costume, architecture, etc., has got the mastery; in ghent there is a struggle; but in bruges old images are still paramount, and an air of monastic life among the quiet goings-on of a thinly-peopled city is inexpressibly soothing. a pensive grace seems to be cast over all, even the very children." this estimate, after the lapse of considerably more than half a century, still, on the whole, stands good. "in ghent there is a struggle." approaching ghent, indeed, by railway from bruges, and with our heads full of old-world romance of philip van artevelte, and of continually insurgent burghers (for whom ghent was rather famous), and of how roland, "my horse without peer," "brought good news from ghent," one is rather shocked at first, as we circle round the suburbs, at the rows of aggressive new houses, and rather tempted to conclude that the struggle has now ended, and that modernity, as at brussels, has won the day at ghent. luckily the doubt is dissipated as we quit the splendid sud station--and belgium, one may add in parenthesis, has some of the most palatial railway-stations in the world--and find ourselves once again enmeshed in a network of ancient thoroughfares, which, if they lack wholly the absolute quiet, and in part the architectural charm, of bruges, yet confront us at every corner with abundance of old-world charm. i suppose the six great things to be seen in ghent are the cathedral of st. bavon (and in the cathedral the great picture of the "adoration of the lamb," by hubert and jan van eyck); the churches of st. michel, with a "crucifixion" by van dyck, and st. nicholas; the wonderful old houses on the quai des herbes; the splendidly soaring belfry; and possibly the grande beguinage, on the outskirts of the town. the cathedral has the usual solitary west tower, as at ely, that we have now come to associate--at ypres and bruges--with typical belgian churches. the great van eyck is hung in a chapel on the south of the choir, and the services of the verger must be sought for its exhibition. the paintings on the shutters are merely copies by coxie, six of the originals being in the picture gallery in berlin. their restoration to ghent, one hopes, will form a fractional discharge of the swiftly accumulating debt that germany owes to belgium. the four main panels, however, are genuine work of the early fifteenth century, the reredos as a whole having been begun by hubert, and finished by jan van eyck in . the centre-piece is in illustration of the text in the apocalypse (v. ): "worthy is the lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." one may question, indeed, if figurative language of the kind in question can ever be successfully transferred to canvas; whether this literal lamb, on its red-damasked table, in the midst of these carefully marshalled squadrons of apostles, popes, and princes, can ever quite escape a hint of something ludicrous. one may question all this, yet still admire to the full both the spirit of devotion that inspired this marvellous picture and its miracle of minute and jewel-like execution. there are scores of other good pictures in ghent, including (not even to go outside st. bavon's) the "christ among the doctors" by francis pourbus, into which portraits of philip ii. of spain, the emperor charles v., and the infamous duke of alva--names of terrible import in the sixteenth-century history of the netherlands--are introduced among the bystanders; whilst to the left of philip is pourbus himself, "with a greyish cap on which is inscribed franciscus pourbus, ." but it is always to the "adoration of the mystic lamb" that our steps are first directed, and to which they always return. it is hard, indeed, that necessities of space should compel us to pass so lightly over other towns in flanders--over courtrai, with its noble example of a fortified bridge, and with its great picture, by van dyck, of the "raising of the cross" that was stolen mysteriously a few years ago from the church of notre dame, but has since, like the joconde at the louvre, been recovered and replaced; over oudenarde, with its two fine churches, and its small town hall that is famous for its splendour even in a country the hotels de ville of which are easily the most elaborate (if not always the most chaste or really beautiful) in europe; and over certain very minor places, such as damme, to the north-east of bruges, whose silent, sunny streets, and half-deserted churches, seem to breathe the very spirit of flemish mediaevalism. of the short strip of flemish coast, from near knocke, past the fashionable modern bathing-places of heyst, blankenberghe, and ostende, to a point beyond la panne--from border to border it measures roughly only some forty miles, and is almost absolutely straight--i willingly say little, for it seems to me but a little thing when compared with this glorious inland wealth of architecture and painting. recently it has developed in every direction, and is now almost continuously a thin, brilliantly scarlet line of small bungalows, villas, and lodging-houses, linked up along the front by esplanades and casinos, where only a few years ago the fenland met the sea in a chain of rolling sand-dunes that were peopled only by rabbits, and carpeted only with rushes and coarse grass. about tastes there is no disputing; and there are people, no doubt, who, for some odd reason, find this kind of aggressive modernity in some way more attractive in belgium than in kent. for myself, i confess, it hardly seems worth while to incur the penalty of sea-sickness merely to play golf on the ruined shore of flanders. iii. of brussels i do not propose to say very much, because brussels, although the brightest and gayest town in belgium, and although retaining in its grande place, and in the buildings that immediately surround this last, as well as in its great church of st. gudule (which, in spite of popular usage, is not, and never was, in the proper sense a cathedral), relics of antiquity of the very highest value and interest, yet brussels, as a whole, is so distinctively a modern, and even cosmopolitan city, and has so much general resemblance to paris (though its site is far more picturesque, and though the place, to my mind at least, just because it is smaller and more easily comprehensible, is a much more agreeable spot to stay in), that it seems better in a sketch that is principally devoted to what is old and nationally characteristic in belgium to give what limited space one has to a consideration rather of towns like louvain or malines, in which the special belgian flavour is not wholly overwhelmed by false and extraneous influences. st. gudule, of course, should certainly be visited, not only for the sake of the general fabric, which, notwithstanding its possession of two west towers, is typically belgian in its general character, but also for the sake of its magnificent sixteenth and seventeenth century glass, and especially for the sake of the five great windows in the chapelle du saint sacrement, which illustrate in a blaze of gorgeous colour the story of how jonathan the jew bribed jeanne de louvain to steal the three consecrated wafers, from which oozed, when sacrilegiously stabbed by the sceptical jew, the sacred blood of a world's redemption. this story is told again--or rather, perhaps, a similar story--in the splendid painted glass from the church of st. eloi that is now preserved at rouen in the archaeological museum. as for the grande place, or original market-place of the city, which is bounded on one side by the magnificent hotel de ville, on the opposite side by the rather heavy, rebuilt maison du roi, and on the remaining two sides chiefly by the splendid old seventeenth-century corporation houses of the various ancient city guilds--le renard, the house of the silk-mercers and haberdashers; maison cornet, the house of the boatmen, or "batelliers"; la louvre, the house of the archers; la brouette, the house of the carpenters; le sac, the house of the printers and booksellers; the cygne, the house of the butchers; and other houses that need not be specified at any greater length, of the tailors, painters, and brewers--this is probably the completest and most splendid example of an ancient city market-square that now remains in europe, and absolutely without rival even in belgium itself, though similar old guild-houses, in the same delightful flemish fashion, may still be found (though in this case with admixture of many modern buildings) in the grande place at antwerp. it was in this splendid square at brussels that the unhappy counts of egmont and horn were brutally done to death, to glut the sinister tyranny of spanish philip, on june , . also, in addition to these two superlative antiquities, two modern buildings in brussels, though for widely different reasons, can hardly be passed over under plea of lack of space. crowning the highest point of the city, and towering itself towards heaven in a stupendous pile of masonry, is the enormous new palais de justice, probably the most imposing law courts in the world. english law undoubtedly is housed with much greater modesty, though not without due magnificence, in the altogether humbler levels of the strand. also in the high town--which is the modern quarter of brussels, in contrast with the mediaeval low town, which lies in the flat below--is the royal museum of ancient paintings, which probably divides honours with the picture gallery at antwerp as the finest and most representative collection of pictures of the netherlandish school in the world. here you may revel by the hour in a candlelight effect by gerard dow; in the poultry of melchior d'hondecoeter; in a pigsty of paul potter's; in landscapes by meindert hobbema; in a moonlight landscape of van der neer's; in a village scene by jan steen; in the gallant world of teniers; and in the weird imaginings of pieter brueghel the younger. the greatest pictures in the whole collection, i suppose, are those by rubens, though he has nothing here that is comparable for a moment with those in the picture gallery and cathedral at antwerp. very magnificent, however, is the "woman taken in adultery," the "adoration of the magi," the "interceder interceded" (the virgin, at the prayer of st. francis d'assisi, restrains the angry saviour from destroying a wicked world), and the "martyrdom of st. livinius." this last, however--like the "crucifixion" in the antwerp gallery; like van dyck's picture in this collection of the drunken silenus supported by a fawn; and like rubens' own disgusting silenus in our national gallery at home--illustrates unpleasantly the painful flemish facility to condescend to details, or even whole conceptions, the realism of which is unnecessarily deliberate and coarse. here, in this death of st. livinius, the executioner is shown in the act of presenting to a dog with pincers the bleeding tongue that he has just cut out of the mouth of the dying priest. brussels itself, as already intimated, is an exceedingly pleasant city for a more or less prolonged stay; and, owing at once to the admirable system of "rundreise" tickets that are issued by the state railways at an uncommonly low price, to the rather dubious quality of the hotels in some of the smaller towns, and to the cardinal fact that brussels is a centre from which most of the other great cities of belgium--malines, ghent, antwerp, and liege, not to mention smaller towns of absorbing interest, such as mons, namur, hal, tirlemont, leau, and soignies--may be easily visited, more or less completely, in the course of a single day--owing to all these facts many people will be glad to make this pleasant city their centre, or headquarters, for the leisurely exploration of most of belgium, with the exception of the more distant and out-of-the-way districts of west flanders and the ardennes. all the places enumerated are thoroughly worth visiting, but obviously only the more important can be dealt with more than just casually here. mons, on a hill overlooking the great coalfield of the borinage, with its strange pyramidal spoil-heaps, is itself curiously free from the dirt and squalor of an english colliery town; and equally worth visiting for the sake of its splendid cathedral of st. wandru, the richly polychromatic effect of whose interior, due to the conjunction of deep red-brick vaulting with the dark blue of its limestone capitals and piers, illustrates another pleasant phase of belgian ecclesiastical architecture, as well as for the sake of a contest, almost of yesterday, that has added new and immortal laurels to the genius of british battle. tournai, on the upper scheldt, or escaut, is remarkable for the heavy romanesque nave of its cathedral, which is built of the famous local black marble, as well as for its remarkable central cluster of five great towers. soignies (in flemish zirick), roughly half-way between mons and brussels, and probably little visited, has a sombre old abbey church, of st. vincent maldegaire, that was built in the twelfth century, and that is enriched inside with such a collection of splendidly carved classical woodwork--stalls, misericordes, and pulpit--as you will scarcely find elsewhere even in belgium. the pulpit in particular is wonderful, with its life-sized girl supporters, with their graceful and lightly poised figures, and pure and lovely faces. namur, strangely enough, has really nothing of antiquity outside the doors of its archaeological museum, but is worth a visit if only for the pleasure of promenading streets which, if almost wholly modern, are unusually clean and bright. tirlemont, again, has two old churches that will not delay you long, though notre dame de lac has remarkably fine confessionals of the dawn of the seventeenth century, and though the splendid brass-work of the font and baptistery lectern at st. germains would alone be worth a visit; but leau, for which tirlemont is the junction, is so quaint and curious a little town, and comes so much in the guise of a pleasant discovery--since baedeker barely mentions it--that, even apart from its perfect wealth of wood and brass work in the fine thirteenth-century church of st. leonhard, it might anyhow be thought to justify a visit to this little visited corner of south brabant. i do not know that the brass-work could be easily matched elsewhere: the huge standard candelabrum to the north of the altar, with its crowning crucifixion; the lectern, with its triumphant eagle and prostrate dragon; the font, with its cover, and the holy-water stoup almost as big as a small font (in brittany i have seen them as big as a bath); and the beautiful brass railings that surround the splendid tabernacle that was executed in by cornelius de vriendt, the brother of the painter frans floris, and that towers high into the vaulting to a height of fifty-two feet. one realizes more completely in a quiet village church like this the breadth and intensity of the wave of artistic impulse that swept through the lowlands in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries than is possible in half a dozen hurried visits to a picture gallery at antwerp or brussels. finally hal, to conclude our list of minor places, has a grand fourteenth-century church, with a miracle-working virgin, and a little red-brick town hall of characteristically picturesque aspect. the railway journey from brussels to antwerp traverses a typical bit of belgian landscape that is as flat as a pancake; and the monotony is only relieved, first by the little town of vilvoorde, where william tyndale was burnt at the stake on october , , though not alive, having first been mercifully strangled, and afterwards by the single, huge, square tower of malines (or mechlin) cathedral, which dominates the plain from enormous distances, like the towers of ely or lincoln, though not, like these last, by virtue of position on a hill, but solely by its own vast height and overwhelming massiveness. malines, though certainly containing fewer objects of particular interest than bruges, and though certainly on the whole a less beautiful city, strikes one as hardly less dead-and-alive, and altogether may fairly claim second place among the larger belgian cities (it houses more than fifty thousand souls) in point of mediaeval character. the great thirteenth and fourteenth century cathedral of st. rombaut has been the seat of an archbishopric since the sixteenth century, and is still the metropolitan church of belgium. externally the body, like the market-hall at bruges, is almost entirely crushed into insignificance by the utterly disproportionate height and bulk of the huge west tower, the top of which, even in its present unfinished state (one almost hopes that it may never be finished), is actually three hundred and twenty-four feet high. boston "stump" is only two hundred and eighty feet to the top of the weather vane, but infinitely slimmer in proportion; whilst even salisbury spire is only about four hundred odd feet. immediately below the parapet is the enormous skeleton clock-face, the proportions of which are reproduced on the pavement of the market-place below. the carillons in this tower are an extravagant example of the belgian passion for chiming bells. once safely inside the church, and the monster tower forgotten, and we are able to admire its delicate internal proportions, and the remarkable ornament of the spandrels in the great main arcades of the choir. unfortunately, much of this interior, like that of st. pierre at louvain, is smothered under half an inch of plaster; but where this has been removed in tentative patches, revealing the dark blue "drums" of the single, circular columns of the arcades, the general effect is immensely improved. one would also like to send to the scrap-heap the enormous seventeenth-century figures of the apostles on their consoles on the piers, which form so bad a disfigurement in the nave. the treasure of the church is the great "crucifixion" by van dyck, which is hung in the south transept, but generally kept covered. to see other stately pictures you must go to the church of st. jean, where is a splendid altar triptych by rubens, the centre panel of which is the "adoration of the magi"; or to the fifteenth-century structure of notre dame au dela de la dyle (the clumsy title is used, i suppose, for the sake of distinction from the classical notre dame d'hanswyck), where rubens' "miraculous draught of fishes" is sometimes considered the painter's masterpiece. it is not yet clear whether this noble picture has been destroyed in the recent bombardment. even to those who care little for art, a stroll to these two old churches through the sleepy back-streets of malines, with their white and sunny houses, can hardly fail to gratify. if malines is a backwater of the middle time, as somnolent or as dull (so some, i suppose, would call it) as the strange dead towns of the zuyder zee, or as coggeshall or thaxted in our own green essex, antwerp, at any rate, which lies only some fifteen miles or so to the north of it, is very much awake, and of aspect mostly modern, though not without some very curious and charming relics of antiquity embedded in the heart of much recent stone and mortar. perhaps it will be well to visit one of these at once, taking the tram direct from the magnificent gare de l'est (no lesser epithet is just) to the place verte, which may be considered the real centre of the city; and making our way thence by a network of quieter back-streets to the musee plantin-moretus, which is the goal of our immediate ambition. i bring you here at once, not merely because the place itself is quite unique and of quite exceptional interest, but because it strikes precisely that note of real antiquity that underlies the modern din and bustle of antwerp, though apt to be obscured unless we listen needfully. happy, indeed, was the inspiration that moved the city to buy this house from its last private possessor, edward moretus, in . to step across this threshold is to step directly into the merchant atmosphere of the sixteenth century. the once great printing house of plantin-moretus was founded by the frenchman, christopher plantin, who was born at st. aventin, near tours, in , and began his business life as a book-binder at rouen. in he removed to antwerp, and was there innocently involved one night in a riot in the streets, which resulted in an injury that incapacitated him for his former trade, and necessitated his turning to some new employment. he now set up as printer, with remarkable success, and was a sufficiently important citizen at the date of his death, in , to be buried in his own vault under a chapel in the cathedral. the business passed, on his decease, to his son-in-law, jean moertorf, who had married his daughter, martine, in , and had latinized his surname to moretus in accordance with the curious custom that prevailed among scholars of the sixteenth century. thus servetus was really miguel servete, and thomas erastus was thomas lieber. the foundation of the fortunes of the house was undoubtedly its monopoly--analogous to that enjoyed by the english house of spottiswoode, and by the two elder universities--of printing the liturgical works--missals, antiphons, psalters, breviaries, etc.--that were used throughout the spanish dominions. no attempt, however, seems to have been made in the later stages of the history of the house to adopt improved machinery, or to reconstruct the original, antiquated buildings. the establishment, accordingly, when it was taken over by the city in , retained virtually the same aspect as it had worn in the seventeenth century, and remains to the present day perhaps the best example in the world of an old-fashioned city business house of the honest time when merchant-princes were content to live above their office, instead of seeking solace in smug suburban villas. the place has been preserved exactly as it stood, and even the present attendants are correctly clad in the sober brown garb of the servants of three hundred years since. it is interesting, not only in itself, but as an excellent example of how business and high culture were successfully combined under the happier economic conditions of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. the plantin-moretus family held a high position in the civic life of antwerp, and mixed in the intellectual and artistic society for which antwerp was famed in the seventeenth century--the antwerp of rubens (though not a native) and van dyck, of jordaens, of the two teniers, of grayer, zegers, and snyders. printing, indeed, in those days was itself a fine art, and the glories of the house of plantin-moretus rivalled those of the later chiswick press, and of the goodly chaucers edited in our own time by professor skeat, and printed by william morris. proof-reading was then an erudite profession, and francois ravelingen, who entered plantin's office as proof-reader in , and assisted arias montanus in revising the sheets of the polyglot bible, is said to have been a great greek and oriental scholar, and crowned a career of honourable toil, like hogarth's industrious apprentice, by marrying his master's eldest daughter, marguerite, in . the room in which these scholars worked remains much in its old condition, with the table at which they sat, and some of their portraits on the wall. everything here, in short, is interesting: the press-room, which was used almost continuously and practically without change--two of the antiquated presses of plantin's own time remain--for nearly three centuries; the great and little libraries, with their splendid collection of books; the archive room, with its long series of business accounts and ledgers; the private livingrooms of the moretus family; and last, but not least, the modest little shop, where books still repose upon the shelves, which looks as though the salesman might return at any moment to his place behind the counter. england has certainly nothing like it, though london had till recently in crosby hall a great merchant's house of the fifteenth century, though stripped of all internal fittings and propriety. luckily this last has been re-erected at chelsea, though robbed by the change of site of half its authenticity and value. i have chosen to dwell on this strange museum at length that seems disproportionate, not merely because of its unique character, but because it seems to me full of lessons and reproach for an age that has subordinated honest workmanship to cheap and shoddy productiveness, and has sacrificed the workman to machinery. certainly no one who visits antwerp can afford to overlook it; but probably most people will first bend their steps towards the more popular shrine of the great cathedral. here i confess myself utter heretic: to call this church, as i have seen it called, "one of the grandest in europe," seems to me pure philistinism--the cult of the merely big and obvious, to the disregard of delicacy and beauty. big it is assuredly, and superficially astonishing; but anything more barn-like architecturally, or spiritually unexalting, i can hardly call to memory. outside it lacks entirely all shadow of homogeneity; the absence of a central tower, felt perhaps even in the great cathedrals of picardy and the ile de france, just as it is felt in westminster and in beverley minster, is here actually accentuated by the hideous little cupola--i hardly know how properly to call it--that squats, as though in derision, above the crossing; whilst even the natural meeting and intersection at this point of high roofs, which in itself would rise to dignity, is wantonly neglected to make way for this monstrosity. the church, in fact, looks, when viewed externally, more like four separate churches than one; and when we step inside, with all the best will in the world to make the best of it, it is hard to find, much to admire, and anything at all to love, in these acres of dismally whitewashed walls, and long, feeble lines of arcades without capitals. the inherent vice of belgian architecture--its lack of really beautiful detail, and its fussy superfluity of pinnacle and panelling--seems to me here to culminate. belgium has really beautiful churches--not merely of the thirteenth century, when building was lovely everywhere, but later buildings, like mons, and st. pierre at louvain; but antwerp is not of this category. architecturally, perhaps, the best feature of the whole church is the lofty spire (over four hundred feet), which curiously resembles in general outline that of the hotel de ville at brussels (three hundred and seventy feet), and dates from about the same period (roughly the middle of the fifteenth century). as usual in belgium, it is quite out of scale; it is lucky, indeed, that the corresponding south-west tower has never been completed, for the combination of the two would be almost overwhelming. it is curious and interesting as an example of a tower tapering upwards to a point in a succession of diminishing stages, in contrast with tower and spire. france has something like it, though far more beautiful, in the thirteenth-century tower at senlis; but england affords no parallel. i am not sure who invented the quite happy phrase, "confectioner's gothic," but this tower at antwerp is not badly described by it. it is altogether too elaborate and florid, like the sugar pinnacle of a wedding-cake. this cathedral of antwerp, however, though at the time that it was built a mere collegiate church of secular canons, and only first exalted to cathedral rank in , is one of the largest churches in superficial area in the world, a result largely due to its possession, uniquely, of not less than six aisles, giving it a total breadth of one hundred and seventy feet. hung in the two transepts respectively are the two great pictures by rubens--the "elevation of the cross" and the "descent from the cross"--that are described at such length, and with so much critical enthusiasm, by sir joshua reynolds in his "journey to flanders and holland." the "descent from the cross," painted by rubens in , when he was only thirty-five years old, is perhaps the more splendid, and is specially remarkable for the daring with which the artist has successfully ventured (what "none but great colourists can venture") "to paint pure white linen near flesh." his christ, continues sir joshua, "i consider as one of the finest figures that ever was invented: it is most correctly drawn, and i apprehend in an attitude of the utmost difficulty to execute. the hanging of the head on his shoulder, and the falling of the body on one side, gives such an appearance of the heaviness of death, that nothing can exceed it." antwerp, of course, is full of magnificent paintings by rubens, though unfortunately the house in which he lived in the place de meir (which is traversed by the tram on its way from the est station to the place verte), which was built by him in , and in which he died in , was almost entirely rebuilt in . there is another great crucifixion by the master in the picture gallery, or palais des beaux arts, which illustrates his exceptional power as well as his occasional brutality." the centurion, with his hands on the nape of his horse's neck, is gazing with horror at the writhings of the impenitent thief, whose legs are being broken with an iron bar, which has so tortured the unhappy man that in his agony he has torn his left foot from the nail." it is questionable whether any splendour of success can ever justify a man in thus condescending to draw inspiration from the torture-room or shambles. one would gladly spend more time in this antwerp gallery, which exceeds, i think, in general magnificence the collections at brussels and amsterdam; and gladly would one visit the great fifteenth and sixteenth century churches of st. jacques, st. andre, and st. paul, which not merely form together architecturally an important group of a strongly localized character, but are also, like the cathedral, veritable museums or picture galleries. it is necessary, however, to conclude this section, to say a few words about louvain, which, lying as it does on the main route from brussels to liege, may naturally be considered on our way to the northern ardennes. louvain, on the whole, has been much more modernized than other belgian cities of corresponding bulk, such as bruges or malines. the road from the railway-station to the centre of the town is commonplace indeed in its lack of picturesque flemish house-fronts or stepped, "corbie," flemish gables. louvain, in fact, unlike the two "dead" cities of west flanders and brabant, wears a briskly business-like aspect, and pulses with modern life. i suppose that i ought properly to have written all this in the past tense, for louvain is now a heap of smoking cinders. the famous town hall has, indeed, so far been spared by ruffians who would better have spared the magnificent cloth hall at ypres; between these two great buildings, the products respectively of the belgian genius of the fifteenth and thirteenth centuries, "culture" could hardly hesitate. the hotel-de-ville at louvain is, indeed, an astonishing structure, just as the cathedral at antwerp is astonishing; but one has to be very indulgent, or very forgetful of better models, not to deprecate this absolutely wanton riot of overladened panelling and bulging, top-heavy pinnacles. the expiring throes of belgian gothic were a thousand degrees less chaste than the classicism of the early renaissance: few, perhaps, will prefer the lacelike over-richness of this midfifteenth century town hall at louvain to the restraint of the charming sixteenth-century facade of the hotel de ville at leiden. opposite the town hall is the huge fifteenth-century church of st. pierre, the interior of which, still smothered in whitewash in , was remarkable for its florid gothic rood-screen and soaring tabernacle, or ciborium. the stumpy fragment of tower at the west end is said once to have been five hundred and thirty feet high! it is not surprising to read that this last, and crowning, manifestation of a familiar belgian weakness was largely wrecked by a hurricane in . iv. one has left oneself all too little space to say what ought to be said of the belgian ardennes. personally i find them a trifle disappointing; they come, no doubt, as a welcome relief after the rest of belgian landscape, which i have heard described, not altogether unjustly, as the ugliest in the world; but the true glory and value of belgium will always be discovered in its marvellously picturesque old towns, and in its unrivalled wealth of painting, brass-work, and wood-carving. compared with these last splendours the low, wooded wolds of the ardennes, with their narrow limestone valleys, seem a little thing indeed. dinant, no doubt, and rochefort would be pleasant places enough if one were not always harking back in memory to malines and ypres, or longing to be once more in ghent or bruges. the traveller by railway between brussels and liege passes, soon after leaving the station of ans, a point of great significance in the study of belgian landscape. hitherto from brussels, or for that matter from bruges and ostend, the country, though studded at frequent intervals with cities and big towns, has been curiously and intensely rural in the tracts that lie between; but now, as we descend the steep incline into the valley of the meuse, we enter on a scene of industrial activity which, if never quite as bad as our own black country at home, is sufficiently spoilt and irritating to all who love rustic grace. the redeeming point, as always, is that infinitely superior good taste which presents us, in the midst of coal-mines and desolation, not with our own unspeakably squalid sheffields or rotherhams, but with a queenly city, with broad and handsome streets, with a wealth of public gardens, and with many stately remnants of the renaissance and middle time. it is possible in liege to forget--or rather impossible to recall--the soiled and grimy country that stretches from its gates in the direction of seraing. even under the sway of the spanish tyranny this was an independent state under the rule of a bishop prince, who was also an elector of the holy roman empire. its original cathedral, indeed, has vanished, like those at cambrai and bruges, in the insensate throes of the french revolution; and the existing church of st. paul, though dating in part from the thirteenth century, and a fine enough building in its way, is hardly the kind of structure that one would wish to associate with the seat of a bishopric that is still so historic, and was formerly so important and even quasi-regal. here, however, you should notice, just as in the great neighbour church of st. jacques, the remarkable arabesque-pattern painting of the severies of the vault, and the splendour of the sixteenth-century glass. st. jacques, i think, on the whole is the finer church of the two, and remarkable for the florid ornament of its spandrels, and for the elaborate, pendent cusping of the soffits of its arches--features that lend it an almost barbaric magnificence that reminds one of rosslyn chapel. liege, built as it is exactly on the edge of the ardennes, is far the most finely situated of any great city in belgium. to appreciate this properly you should not fail to climb the long flight of steps--in effect they seem interminable, but they are really about six hundred--that mounts endlessly from near the cellular prison to a point by the side of the citadelle pierreuse. looking down hence on the city, especially under certain atmospheric conditions--i am thinking of a showery day at easter--one is reminded of the lines by poor john davidson: "the adventurous sun took heaven by storm; clouds scattered largesses of rain; the sounding cities, rich and warm, smouldered and glittered in the plain." it is not often that one is privileged to look down so directly, and from so commanding a natural height, on to so vast and busy a city--those who like this kind of comparison have styled it the belgian birmingham--lying unrolled so immediately, like a map, beneath our feet. from liege, if you like, you may penetrate the ardennes--i do not know whether shakespeare was thinking in "as you like it" of this woodland or of his own warwickshire forest of arden; perhaps he thought of both--immediately by way of spa and the valley of the vesdre, or by the valleys of the ourthe and of its tributary the ambleve; or you may still cling for a little while to the fringe of the ardennes, which is also the fringe of the industrial country, and explore the valley of the meuse westward, past huy and namur, to dinant. huy has a noble collegiate church of notre dame, the chancel towers of which (found again as far away as como) are suggestive of rhenish influence, but strikes one as rather dusty and untidy in itself. namur, on the contrary, we have already noted with praise, though it has nothing of real antiquity. the valley of the meuse is graced everywhere at intervals with fantastic piles of limestone cliff, and certainly, in a proper light, is pretty; but there is far too much quarrying and industrialism between liege and namur, and far too many residential villas along the banks between namur and dinant, altogether to satisfy those who have high ideals of scenery. wordsworth, in a prefatory note to a sonnet that was written in , and at a date when these signs of industrialism were doubtless less obtrusive, says: "the scenery on the meuse pleases one more, upon the whole, than that of the rhine, though the river itself is much inferior in grandeur"; but even he complains that the scenery is "in several places disfigured by quarries, whence stones were taken for the new fortifications." dinant, in particular, has an exceptionally grand cliff; but the summit is crowned (or was) by an ugly citadel, and the base is thickly clustered round with houses (not all, by any means, mediaeval and beautiful) in a way that calls to mind the high tor at matlock bath. dinant, in short, is a kind of belgian matlock, and appeals as little as matlock to the "careful student" of nature. if at dinant, however, you desert the broad valley of the meuse for the narrow and secluded limestone glen of the lesse, with its clear and sparkling stream, you will sample at once a kind of scenery that reminds you of what is best in derbyshire, and is also best and most characteristic in the belgian ardennes. the walk up the stream from dinant to houyet, where the valley of the lesse becomes more open and less striking, is mostly made by footpath; and the pellucid river is crossed, and recrossed, and crossed again, by a constant succession of ferries. sometimes the white cliff rises directly from the water, sheer and majestic, like that which is crowned by the romantic chateau walzin; sometimes it is more broken, and rises amidst trees from a broad plinth of emerald meadow that is interposed between its base and the windings of the river. sometimes we thread the exact margin of the stream, or traverse in the open a scrap of level pasture; sometimes we clamber steeply by a stony path along the sides of an abrupt and densely wooded hillside, where the thicket is yellow in spring with anemone ranunculoides, or starred with green herb paris. this is the kind of glen scenery that is found along the courses of the semois, lesse, and ourthe, recalling, with obvious differences, that of monsal dale or dovedale, but always, perhaps, without that subtle note of wildness that robes even the mild splendours of derbyshire with a suggestion of mountain dignity. the ardennes, in short--and this is their scenic weakness--never attain to the proper mountain spirit. there is a further point, however, in which they also recall derbyshire, but in which they are far preeminent. this is the vast agglomeration of caves and vertical potholes--like those in craven, but here called etonnoirs--that riddle the rolling wolds in all directions. chief among these is the mammoth cave of han, the mere perambulation of which is said to occupy more than two hours. i have never penetrated myself into its sombre and dank recesses, but something may be realized of its character and scale merely by visiting its gaping mouth at eprave. this is the exit of the lesse, which, higher up the vale, at the curious perte de lesse, swerves suddenly from its obvious course, down the bright and cheerful valley, to plunge noisily through a narrow slit in the rock-- "where alph, the sacred river, ran through caverns measureless to man down to a sunless sea." rochefort, which itself has a considerable cave, is a pleasant centre for the exploration of these subterranean marvels. altogether this limestone region of the ardennes, though certainly not remarkable for mountain or forest splendour, comes as a somewhat welcome relief after the interminable levels and chessboard fields of east and west flanders, or of the provinces of limburgh and antwerp. [illustration: a peasant woman of the ardennes.] peeps at many lands belgium by george w. t. omond illustrated by amÉdÉe forestier london adam and charles black * * * * * contents chapter i. the sands opposite england ii. inland: the flemish plain iii. travelling in belgium iv. some of the towns: the ardennes v. belgian children: the "premiÈre communion" vi. christmas in belgium vii. new year's day viii. pageants and processions ix. the story of st. evermaire: a country pageant x. the carnival xi. children's winter festivals xii. the archers: games played in belgium xiii. what the belgians speak xiv. a short history xv. the belgian army: the congo * * * * * list of illustrations by amÉdÉe forestier a peasant woman of the ardennes _frontispiece_ the dunes a shrimper on horseback, coxyde the vegetable market, bruges antwerp the hÔtel de ville, brussels at the kermesse a chÂteau in the lesse valley a farmsteading playing "jeu de boule" at a flemish inn village and canal, adinkerque waterloo: the farm of la belle alliance and the mound surmounted by the belgian lion a milk-seller in bruges _on the cover_ _sketch-map of belgium._ * * * * * [illustration: sketch-map of belgium.] [illustration: the dunes.] * * * * * belgium chapter i the sands opposite england if you leave the mouth of the thames, or the white chalk cliffs at dover, and sail over the water just where the english channel meets the north sea, you will in about three or four hours see before you a long expanse of yellow sand, and rising behind it a low ridge of sandhills, which look in the distance like a range of baby mountains. these sandhills are called "dunes." here and there at intervals you will see a number of little towns, each town standing by itself on the shore, and separated from its neighbour by a row of dunes and a stretch of sand. this is your first view of the little country called belgium, which is bounded on the east by holland, and on the west by france. it is, from end to end, about half the size of ireland. there are no cliffs or rocks, no shingle or stones covered with seaweed. there are no trees. it is all bare sand, with moss and rushes on the higher ground above the beach. in winter the wind rages with terrific violence along the coast. the sand is blown in all directions, and the waves dash fiercely on the shore. it is cold and stormy, with mist and dark clouds, and sometimes violent showers of hail. but in summer all is changed. often, week after week, the waves roll gently in, and break in ripples on the beach. the sky is blue, and the sands are warm. it is the best place in the world for digging and building castles. there are very few shells to gather; but there are no dangerous rocks or slippery places, and children can wade about and play in perfect safety. so many families--belgians, english, germans, and a few french--spend the summer holidays there. hundreds of years ago the storms of winter used to drive the waves ashore with such violence that the land was flooded, and whole villages were sometimes swept away. so the people made ramparts of earth to keep back the water, till by degrees many parts of the belgian shore were thus protected. they still continue to build defences against the sea; but instead of earth they now use brick and stone. it looks as if in a few years the whole coast will be lined by these sea-fronts, which are called _digues de mer_. a _digue_, no matter how thick, which rests on the sand alone will not last. a thick bed of green branches is first laid down as a foundation. this is strengthened by posts driven through it into the sand. heavy timbers, resting on bundles of branches lashed together, are wedged into the foundations, and slope inwards and upwards to within a few feet of the height to which it is intended to carry the _digue_. on the top another solid bed of branches is laid down, and the whole is first covered with concrete, and then with bricks or tiles, while the top of the _digue_, at the edge of the seaward slope, is composed of heavy blocks of stone cemented together and bound by iron rivets. the finest and longest _digue_ is that which extends from ostend for about nine miles. it is a good place for bicycle rides. no motor-cars are allowed on it. each of the little towns which you see dotted along the coast has a _digue_ of its own, on which there is a row of villas and hotels facing the sea. among the dunes behind the _digue_ there are more villas. these are generally very picturesque, with verandas, red-tiled roofs, and brightly painted woodwork. all day long in summer the _digue_ of each town is crowded by people walking about in the sunshine, or sitting watching the bathers and the children playing on the sands. it is a very gay sight. there are prizes for those who build the best castles, and it is curious to see hundreds of little belgian, english, french, and german flags flying on these small forts, and to hear the children shouting to each other in so many different languages. it makes one think of the tower of babel. from six in the morning till six in the evening bathing-machines go to and from the water, and often there seem to be as many people in the sea as on the shore. there is a boat anchored a little way out, in which two men in red shirts, with ropes and lifebelts, sit watching to see that no one goes too far out, for the tide is often very strong. sometimes these men, who are called _sauveteurs_, stand on the sand, and if they think anyone is swimming too far they blow a trumpet to call the swimmer back. in the evening, when it is dark and the lamps are lighted, there is dancing on the _digue_ to the music of a barrel-organ. the belgians are very fond of this dancing, and often the english and other visitors join in it too. all summer this holiday life goes on, with bathing, lawn-tennis, and in some places golf, till at last the time comes for going home. the hotels and villas close their doors. the windows are boarded up. the bathing-machines are pulled away from the beach, and put in some sheltered place among the dunes. the _digue_ is left in solitude, to be covered with driven sand, and splashed with foam from the waves which beat against it, till the season of summer gaiety comes round again next year. chapter ii inland: the flemish plain let us now leave the shore, and go inland. if you climb to the top of some dune, you will see before you a wide plain stretching out as far as the eye can reach. this part of belgium is called flanders. it is all flat, with canals, and long, straight roads, paved with stones, running across it. there are rows of tall poplar-trees or willows, which are bent slightly towards the east, for the wind blows oftenest from the west, small patches of woodland, gardens, and many sluggish streams. the fields, which have no fences or hedges round them, are large and well tilled, some bearing fine crops of wheat, rye, or potatoes and turnips, while others are rich pasture-lands for sheep and cattle. the whole of this flemish plain, as it is called, is dotted with farm-houses and cottages. there are a great many villages, and in the distance rise the roof-tops and the towers and spires of famous old towns. some of the villages are worth visiting. there is one called coxyde, which lies low among the sandhills, not far from the sea. the people of this village live by fishing, but in a very curious way, for they do it on horseback. they mount little horses, and ride out into the sea with baskets, and nets fastened to long poles. it is funny to see them riding about in the water, and catching fish and shrimps in this strange fashion. there is another village, also only a short distance inland, where there is a church in which a number of toy ships are hung up. these are offerings made to an image of the virgin mary which stands there. if a crew of flemish fishermen have escaped from some dangerous storm, they walk in silence to this church, and give thanks to the image, which is called our lady of lombaerdzyde. the farm-labourers in flanders live very simply. their food is chiefly black bread, potatoes, and salted pork or fish. there are lots of boys and girls who eat nothing all the year round but black bread and potatoes, and who look on pork or fish as quite a treat. sometimes they spread lard on their slices of bread, and there are many who have never tasted butter in their lives. yet they appear to be very strong and happy. they drink black coffee, or beer if their parents can afford it. the food of the older people is much the same. most of the people in the country districts of flanders--men, women, boys, and girls--work in the fields. in summer they rise at four or five in the morning, and after eating a slice of bread go out into the fields. at half-past eleven or twelve they dine on bread and potatoes, with perhaps a slice of pork, and take a rest. then they work again till about four in the afternoon, when they rest again, and after that they work on till it is dark. in the short days of winter they toil from sunrise till sunset. by this means they earn enough to live on. a boy or girl may get from d. to d. a day, a woman a little more, while a married man generally receives s. d. or s. some farmers pay an unmarried labourer d. and his food. this seems a dull and hard life, but the flemings do not find it so. like all belgians, they are fond of amusement, and there is a great deal of dancing and singing, especially on holidays. sunday is the chief holiday. they all go to church in the morning, and the rest of the day is given up to play. unfortunately many of the older people drink too much. there are far too many public-houses. any person who likes can open one on payment of a small sum of money to the government. the result is that in many quite small villages, where very few people live, there are ten or twelve public-houses, where a large glass of beer is sold for less than a penny, and a glass of coarse spirits for about the same price. most of the drinking is done on sunday, and on monday morning it is often difficult to get men to work. there are many, especially in the towns, who never work on mondays. this is quite understood in belgium, and people who know the country are pleased, and rather surprised, if an artisan who has promised to come and do something on a monday morning keeps his word. of course there are many sober work-people, and it is a rare thing to see a tipsy woman, much rarer than in england; but there is a great deal of drunkenness in belgium. there is one thing to which all the boys and girls look forward, and that is what is called the _kermesse_. this is a kind of fair, which takes place at every village in summer, and lasts for two or three days. they talk about it for weeks before, and for weeks after. they save up every penny they can lay their hands on, and when the time comes they leave their work or the school as soon as possible in the afternoon, put on their best clothes, and enjoy themselves. the village street is full of stalls covered with cheap toys, sweetmeats, and all sorts of tempting little articles, and you may be sure the pennies melt away very quickly. flags of black, red, and yellow stripes--the belgian national colours--fly on the houses. a band of music plays. travelling showmen are there with merry-go-rounds, and the children are never tired of riding round and round on the gaily painted wooden horses. then there is dancing in the public-houses, in which all the villagers, except the very old people, take part. boys and girls hop round, and if there are not enough boys the girls take each other for partners, while the grown-up lads and young women dance together. [illustration: a shrimper on horseback, coxyde.] the rooms in these public-houses are pretty large, but they get dreadfully hot and stuffy. the constant laughing and talking, the music, and the scraping of feet on the sanded floor make an awful din. then there are sometimes disputes, and the flemings have a nasty habit of using knives when they are angry, so the dancing, which often goes on till two or three in the morning, is the least pleasant thing about these gatherings. this is a very old belgian custom, but of late years the _kermesses_ in the big towns have changed in character, and are just ordinary fairs, with menageries and things of that sort, which you can find in england or anywhere else. if you want to see a real kermesse you must go to some village in flanders, and there you will find it very amusing. chapter iii travelling in belgium travelling in belgium is cheap and easy. the best way to see the out-of-the-way parts of the country would be to journey about in a barge on the canals. there are a great many canals. you could go all the way from france to the other side of belgium in a barge, threading your way through fields, and meadow-lands, and villages, and stopping every now and then at some of the big towns. if you read that charming book "vanity fair," you will see that mr. thackeray, who wrote it, says that once an englishman, who went to belgium for a week, found the eating and drinking on these boats so good that he went backwards and forwards on the canal between bruges and ghent perpetually till the railways were invented, when he drowned himself on the last trip of the boat! but if that ever happened it was long ago. nowadays, when travellers are in such a hurry, the canals are only used for carrying coals, timber, and other goods. they are largely used for that purpose. the belgians are very wise about their canals; they keep them in good order, and send as many things as possible by water. it is not so quick, but it is much less expensive, and a great deal safer, than sending them by railway. it is interesting to stand on the bank of a canal and watch a row of barges moving slowly past. sometimes a little steam-tug puffs along, pulling three or four barges after it. some are pulled by horses, and often men or women labour along the towing-path dragging these heavily laden vessels by a rope fastened to a short mast set up in the bows. this is hard work, but the barge-folk seem to think nothing of it. whole families are born, live, and die on their barges. you often see the wife or daughter of the bargeman steering, while the children are playing on the top of the hatches, and the husband is doing some work among the cargo, or just sitting smoking his pipe. these floating homes are long and broad, painted in bright colours, with a deck-cabin, the windows of which are often hung with pretty curtains. the children run about, and seem never to tumble overboard. if they did they would be easily pulled out, for the barges are very low in the water. as the country is so flat, bicycling is easy, and alongside most of the roads there is a path made for this purpose, which is kept up by a tax everyone who has a bicycle must pay. always remember that if you meet another person you keep to the right, and not, as in england, to the left. the same rule applies to driving in a carriage or riding a horse. the belgians have an excellent system of light district railways, which run in all directions, some worked by steam and some by electricity. these are very useful, for the trains stop at every village, however small, and the country people can easily go to market or to visit each other. outside each carriage there is a platform, on which you can stand and see the country. the fares are low, and you can go a long way for a few pence. the carriages are open from end to end, and if you travel in one of them you will generally see a crowd of peasants in blue blouses, old women in long black cloaks and white caps, priests, and soldiers (who only pay half-price), the men all smoking, and the women talking about what they have bought, or what they are going to buy. they are always talking about that, and, indeed, seem never to speak about anything else. a few hours' journey in one of these district railways, which are called the _chemins-de-fer-vicinaux_, is a far better way of getting a peep at the belgian people than rushing along in an express train from one big town to another. the first railway on the continent of europe was in belgium. it was opened seventy-four years ago--in may, --and ran from brussels, the capital of belgium, to malines, a town which you will see on the map. there are now, of course, a great many railways, which belong to the state and not, as in england, to private companies. season tickets are much used on belgian railways. for instance, anyone wishing to travel for five days on end has only to pay £ s. d. for a first-class ticket, s. d. for a second-class, or s. d. for a third-class. for these small sums you can go all over belgium on the state railways, stopping as often as you please, at any hour of the day or night, for five days. all you have to do is to take a small photograph of yourself to the station an hour before you intend to start, and tell the railway clerk at the booking-office by which class you wish to travel, and when you go back to the station you will find your ticket ready, with your photograph pasted on it, so that the guards may know that you are the person to whom it belongs. you then pay for it, and leave s. more, which are given back at whatever station your trip may end. there are also tickets for longer periods than five days. you can send a letter instead of going to the station. you can write from england, and find your ticket waiting for you at ostend or antwerp, or any other place in belgium from which you may intend to start on your journey. this is very convenient, for it saves the trouble of buying a fresh ticket each day. besides, it is a great deal cheaper. these tickets are called _abonnements_. there are also _abonnements_ for children going to school, and for workmen. it is quite common in belgium to be in a railway carriage where, when the guard comes round, all the passengers pull out season tickets. there is one thing about travelling by railway in belgium which english people don't always know, and that is the rule about opening and shutting windows. the belgians are not so fond of fresh air as we are. they sleep with their bedroom windows shut, which makes them soft, and apt to catch cold. so they are always afraid of draughts, especially in a railway train. the first thing a belgian does, as soon as he enters a carriage, is to shut the windows, and the rule is that if by any chance there were, say, five people who wanted a window open, and only one who wanted it shut, that one can refuse to let the others have it open. if you are sitting near a window, and open it, you may be sure that someone, who is perhaps sitting at the other end of the carriage, will step across and shut it. they never ask leave, or, indeed, say a word; they just shut it. one day, two or three years ago, there was a great crowd in a district train. it was july, and very hot. all the windows of one first-class carriage were, as usual, shut, and it was so stifling that some of us stood outside on the platform so as to get some fresh air. a feeble old lady chanced to be sitting next one of the windows, and wished to open it. all the other passengers refused to allow her. she told them she felt as if she would faint from the heat. not one of the belgian ladies and gentlemen, who were all well-dressed people, cared about that. they just shrugged their shoulders. at last the old lady, who had been turning very pale, fainted away. then they were afraid, and the guard was sent for. he insisted on letting in some air, and attended to the lady, who presently revived. the other passengers at once had the window shut again, and the lady had to be taken into another carriage, on which everyone began to laugh, as if it was a good joke. some englishmen are always having rows about this window question; but the best plan is to say nothing, and remember that every country has its own customs, which strangers ought to observe. chapter iv some of the towns: the ardennes england, as you know, is not a very big country. but belgium is very much smaller. it is such a little bit of a place, a mere corner of europe, that in a few hours the train can take you from one end of it to the other. i suppose that from ostend to liége is one of the longest journeys you could make, and that takes less than four hours. so it is very easy to go from one town to another. suppose we land at ostend, which, as you will see on the map, lies in the middle of the belgian coast. it is the largest of the seaside towns, and one of the oldest. in ancient times it was fortified, and during the wars between the spaniards and the dutch the spaniards defended it for three whole years. it must have been very strong in those days. but now it is quite changed, and has no walls, but just a long _digue_, and a great many hotels, lodging-houses, and big shops. crowds of people go there in summer. there are horse-races, concerts, dancing, and a great deal of gambling. one part of the beach in front of the _digue_ is crowded with bathing-machines, and it is said that during one day in august a few years ago no fewer than , people bathed. [illustration: the vegetable market, bruges.] ostend, however, is not a nice place to stay in. in summer it is noisy, and full of people who care for nothing but eating, drinking, dressing up, and gambling. in winter it is an ugly, dull, stupid town, in which there is nothing to do, and nothing to see except fishing-boats and the steamers which carry travellers to and from dover. so we shall not say anything more about it, but take the train, and in twenty minutes find ourselves in a really interesting place. this is bruges. they call it _bruges la morte_--that is to say, "bruges, the dead city." once upon a time, long, long ago, this town was great, and rich, and prosperous. it was surrounded by strong walls, and within it were many gilded palaces, the homes of merchant princes whose wealth was the talk of all the world. their houses were full of precious stones, tapestries, silk, fine linen, and cloth of gold. their warehouses were stored with costly bales. they lent money to kings and princes, and lived themselves in almost royal luxury. a broad channel led from the sea to bruges, and ships entered daily laden with goods from every country in europe, as well as from india and all parts of the world. in those days the cloth made by the flemish weavers was famous, and the greatest market for wool was at bruges. so bruges grew richer and richer, and much money was spent in beautifying the town, in which there are said to have been , industrious people. churches rose, and other noble buildings. there were endless tournaments and festivals. painters flourished there. bruges was spoken of as the venice of the north. but all this came to an end. the channel which joined this great city to the sea dried up. there were wars and rebellions which drove the foreign merchants away. they went to antwerp. bruges fell, and has remained fallen ever since. it is now a quiet, sad place, so poor that the streets are badly lighted, seldom cleaned, and have a desolate, neglected appearance. the few families of the upper class who live there belong to what is called the _petite noblesse_; there is almost no trade or commerce; and many of the lower orders live on charity. but this dead city is very romantic, with all its memories of olden times. nobody should go to belgium without visiting bruges, once so famous and now so fallen, not only because it is picturesque, with its old buildings and quaint views such as artists love to paint, but also because it is so quiet that you can watch the customs of a belgian town without being disturbed by a crowd--the market-folk with their wares spread out on the stones of the street, the small carts drawn by dogs, the women sitting at their doors busy with lace-making, the pavements occupied by tables at which people sit drinking coffee or beer, the workmen clanking along in their wooden shoes, and numberless little things which are different from what you see at home. every town in belgium has its "belfry," a tower rising over some venerable building, from which, in the days of almost constant warfare, a beacon used to blaze, or a bell ring out, to call the citizens to arms. the belfry of bruges is, i think, the finest of them all. if you have ever been to bruges you can never forget it. it rises high above the market-place. all day long, year after year, the chimes ring every quarter of an hour; and all night too, unceasingly, through winter storm and summer moonlight, the belfry pours forth its perpetual lament over the dead city. not far from bruges, only forty minutes by railway, is another ancient town called ghent; but instead of being dead like bruges, it is alive and busy. in the days of old the people of ghent were the most independent and brave in belgium. in the belfry there was a famous bell called "roland," and if any of their rulers attempted to tax them against their will, this roland was rung, and wagged his iron tongue so well that the townsmen armed themselves at once, and the tax-gatherers were driven away. it was no easy task to rule them, as all who tried it found to their cost. they grew very rich, chiefly because of their trade in wool with england. but evil days came, and for more than years this mighty city remained in a most forlorn state. in the nineteenth century, however, when there was settled peace in belgium after the battle of waterloo, the people of ghent set to work in earnest once more, and made up for lost time so well that now their town is full of flourishing factories, and has a harbour from which a deep canal leads to the river scheldt, and is used by many ships. most beautiful flowers are cultivated in nursery gardens and hothouses, and are sent all over the world in such quantities that ghent has been called "the city of flowers." from busy ghent, where the belfry in which roland used to hang and the walls and towers of many an ancient building look down upon the crowded streets, you may go to the still busier town of antwerp, which stands on the river scheldt. like bruges and ghent, and, indeed, every town in belgium, antwerp is very old. it is said that long ago there was a giant who lived on the banks of the scheldt, and compelled the captain of every ship which came up the river to give him money. if the money was refused, the giant cut off one of the captain's hands, and threw it into the river. in dutch the word _werpen_ means "to throw," and thus the place where the giant lived was called _hand-werpen_, which became, in course of time, _antwerp_. perhaps you may not believe this story, but in one of the squares at antwerp there is the statue of a man called brabo, who is said to have killed the giant. close to this statue is the cathedral, which is one of the grandest in europe, and where there are some famous paintings by the great artist rubens, who lived at antwerp for many years. another very interesting thing to see at antwerp is the plantin-moretus house. it was the home, more than years ago, of a printer called plantin, who made a great fortune, and whose descendants took the name of moretus, and carried on the business for a long time. you will see there the types and printing-presses of the sixteenth century, and also the very furniture of the sitting-rooms and bedrooms, just as they were in those bygone days. one of the rooms was the nursery of the plantin children. the men who show you over the house are dressed as servants were in plantin's time. by going there you will get a far better idea of the family life of those times than by reading any number of story-books or looking at any number of pictures. antwerp has, like the other belgian towns, had its ups and downs, but now it is one of the greatest harbours in the whole world. so many ships go there that there is hardly room for all of them. it may seem an extraordinary thing that a country like belgium, so small that two or three english counties would cover it, should have such an important harbour crowded with the shipping of all nations. but antwerp is connected by railways and canals with the busiest parts of europe, and the scheldt is a noble river, by which merchantmen can find their way to every region of the world. a hundred years ago antwerp was in the hands of the french, who had seized belgium; and when napoleon was beaten he clung to antwerp as long as he could. just before he fell, there was a conference at a place called chatillon, when they tried to make peace, but could not; and afterwards, when he was at st. helena, napoleon declared that the war continued chiefly because he would not give up antwerp. "antwerp," he said, "was to me a province in itself. if they would have left it to me, peace would have been concluded." he wanted to keep a fleet in the scheldt, so as to threaten england. if you look at a map of europe, you will see how near the scheldt is to kent and essex. the belgians cannot do us any harm, but it would be a dangerous thing for england if some strong and unfriendly nation had possession of antwerp. but we must leave antwerp, and hurry on to brussels, which is the capital of belgium. it is just an hour by railway, and as the train rushes on you will see on your right a town from the middle of which rises a massive square tower. the town is malines (or mechlin), and the tower is that of the cathedral of st. rombold. malines was once, like bruges, a most important city, and so many pilgrims went there that the cost of building the cathedral was paid out of their offerings. it is now the seat of the archbishop of belgium; but its former glory has long since departed, and it is even more quiet and desolate than bruges. it is said that once upon a time, when the moon was shining brightly through the open stonework of the tower, the people thought there was a fire, and tried to put it out with water! ever since then the townsmen of malines have been laughed at, and called "moon-quenchers" by the other belgians. when you are in the train between malines and brussels, you may recollect that you are travelling on the first railway-line that was made on the continent. well, when the engineer had finished his work, the very day before the first train was to run, he looked at some plans he had of railways in england, and exclaimed: "by jove! i've forgotten a tunnel!" and so, without more ado, he sent for some workmen, and had an archway made over a cutting! then he thought his railway was complete! brussels is by far the nicest town in belgium. it is a charming place to live in, clean, bright, and gay. the walls which once surrounded it were taken down many years ago, and replaced by beautiful roadways called _boulevards_, with a broad carriage-drive in the middle, and on each side a place for riding on, shaded by rows of trees. there is a park, not very large, but with many trees and shady walks, and a round pond, in the centre of which a fountain plays. at one end of this park is the king's palace, and at the other end the houses of parliament. in the new parts of the town the streets are wide, and there are spacious squares, with large and handsome houses. there are no end of carriages and motor-cars driving about, people riding on horseback, and all the bustle of a great city of pleasure. the people of brussels are very fond of jokes and fun. they always seem to be in good humour with each other and with themselves. the part of belgium in which brussels lies is called brabant. in olden times it was spoken of as "gay brabant," and so, indeed, it might be nowadays. dull, pompous people are not liked there. you must be lively and amusing, like the town itself, of which the people are so proud that they call it the little paris. close to brussels, on the south and west, there is a great forest--the forest of soignies. the part of this forest nearest the town is called the _bois de la cambre_, which is a favourite place for walking and riding in. you reach it by a fine _boulevard_ called the avenue louise. in the middle of this _bois de la cambre_ there is a lake with an island, on which stands a little coffee-house, the châlet robinson; so called, perhaps, after robinson crusoe, who lived on an island. belgian families often go there to spend the summer afternoons. there are lots of pigeons on the island, so tame that they run about on the grass, and eat out of the children's hands, while the fathers and mothers sit drinking coffee at tables under the trees. [illustration: antwerp.] in belgium the fathers and mothers of the _petite bourgeoisie_, or lower-middle class, seem always to go about on holidays with their children. they dine at half-past twelve, and after dinner off they go, the parents arm-in-arm, and the children strolling before them, and spend the rest of the day together. it is quite a sight on a summer evening to see them coming home in crowds down the avenue louise, the father often carrying the youngest on his shoulders, and the mother with a child hanging on to each arm. the avenue louise is in the modern part of the town. brussels, however, is not all modern. most of the belgian towns are quite flat, but to reach the old brussels you must go down some very steep, narrow streets, one of which, called the _montague de la cour_, where the best shops are, leads to the grande place, a picturesque square surrounded by quaint houses with fantastic gables. these were the houses of the guilds, or merchant companies, in the old days. one of them is shaped like the stern of a ship. most of them are ornamented with gilded mouldings. they are beautiful buildings, and the finest is the hotel de ville, the front of which is a mass of statuettes. its high, steep roof is pierced by innumerable little windows, and above it there is a lofty and graceful spire, which towers up and up, with a gilded figure of the archangel michael at the top. a flower-market is held in the grande place, and in summer, when the sun is shining brightly, it is a very pretty sight. but the best time to see the grande place of brussels is at night, when all is silent, and the tall houses look solemnly down on the scene of many great events which took place there long ago. i cannot tell you one-half of all there is to see in brussels--the beautiful churches, the picture-galleries and museums, the splendid old library, and the gardens. the largest building is a modern one, the _palais de justice_, where the law courts sit. it cost nearly £ , , to build, and is much bigger than anything in london. it stands on an eminence overlooking the lower part of the town, and is so huge that it may almost be said to make the capital of this tiny kingdom look top-heavy. there are many other towns in belgium besides those we have been looking at: louvain, with its ancient university; liége and charleroi, with their steel and iron works; courtrai, celebrated for the manufacture of linen; tournai, where carpets are made; mons, with its coal-mines; and more besides, which all lie within the narrow limits of this small country. most of them have played a great part in history. belgium is, above all things, a country of famous towns. when you wander about among the towns of flanders and brabant you might think that the whole of belgium was one level plain. but if you leave brussels and journey to the south, the aspect of the country changes. beyond the forest of soignies the tame, flat fields, the formal rows of trees, and the long, straight roads begin to disappear, the landscape becomes more picturesque, and soon you reach a river called the meuse, which flows along through a romantic valley, full of quiet villages, gardens, woods, and hayfields, and enclosed by steep slopes clothed with trees and thickets, and broken here and there by dells, ravines, and bold, outstanding pinnacles of rock, beyond which, for mile after mile, an undulating tableland is covered by thick forests, where deer, wild boars, and other game abound. this district is called the ardennes. in the valley of the meuse there are three old and famous towns--liége, namur, and dinant--each nestling at the side of the river, at the foot of a hill with a castle perched upon it. other rivers flow into the meuse. there is the sambre, which runs from the west, and joins the meuse at namur; the lesse, which rushes in from the south through a narrow gorge; and the semois, a stream the sides of which are so steep that there is not even a pathway along them in some places, and travellers must pass from side to side in boats when following its course. this is the prettiest part of belgium, and in summer many people, who do not care for going to the seaside, spend the holidays at the towns and villages which are dotted about in the valleys and among the hills and woods. chapter v belgian children: the "premiÈre communion" the belgians may be divided, roughly speaking, into five classes of people. there are those of the highest rank, who are called the _grande_, or _vraie, noblesse_. of these there are not many, but they belong to old families, some of which have been famous in the history of their country. they have often fine country-houses, and the towns in which you will find them most often are brussels and ghent. then come those of a much lower class, the _petite noblesse_, of whom there are very many. they seldom mix in society with the _grande noblesse_, and their friends are generally members of the _haute_, or _bonne, bourgeoisie_. the _bonne bourgeoisie_ are like our middle class, and there is no difference between them and the _petite noblesse_ as to the way in which they live. below these are the _petite bourgeoisie_, who are mostly shopkeepers, clerks, and people in various employments. last of all are the artisans and working-class people. it is about the children of the _bonne bourgeoisie_ that i am going to speak, for they are a very numerous class, and their customs are in many respects the same as those of most belgians. when a child is born, the parents should send to all their friends a box of _dragees_--that is, sugared almonds or sugar-plums. if the child is a boy, the box is tied with pink ribbons; and if it is a girl, with blue. cards announcing the birth of a child are often sent nowadays, but the real old belgian fashion is to send the _dragees_, and it is a great pity that people are giving it up so much. the next thing is to find a name for the child, and that is done by the godmother, who either chooses some family name or calls the child after its patron saint--that is to say, the saint on whose day it was born--for in belgium, as in all catholic countries, each day is dedicated to some saint. the commonest name, however, for girls is marie, a name given in honour of the virgin mary, to whom many baby girls are devoted from their birth. the mothers of these little girls vow never to dress them in anything but blue and white till they are seven years old. when the baby is baptized, the godfather gives a pair of gloves to the mother and the godmother. curiously enough, most belgian parents would rather have a baby girl than a boy, because a boy costs more to educate, and also because boys, when they grow up, have to draw lots for service in the army, and almost every father who can afford it buys his son off, and that costs money. there is no nursery life such as we have in england--at least, in very few belgian families. here again money is grudged. people who will pay high wages for a good cook hire young girls of fourteen or fifteen to look after their children, and these _bonnes_, as they are called, are paid very little, and are often careless and stupid. the result is that the children are constantly with their parents, and, to keep them quiet, are dreadfully spoilt and petted. it very often happens that, when a belgian lady has a friend calling on her, young children, who ought to be in a nursery, are playing in the drawing-room. their mother has no control over them, and if she ventures to tell them to keep quiet, or to run away, they don't obey her, and then she gives in, and lets them have their own way. another thing which follows from this want of nursery training is that if, as sometimes happens, there are disputes between the parents, the children are mixed up in them. you will hear a belgian mother say to her young daughter: "imagine what your father has done!" or if the husband is angry with his wife, he will turn to his boy, and exclaim: "that is just like a woman!" of course, this is very bad for the children, who hear a great deal which they would know nothing about if they were not always with their parents. from being so much with older people these children get strange ideas. i know a lady who said to a small belgian girl, who was an only child: "would you like a little brother or sister to play with?" "oh! no, no," replied the child, "because when my father and mother die, i shall have all their money." whereupon the mother exclaimed: "there! the dear child; how well she knows the world already!" the children of the _petite bourgeoisie_ are the most unruly. one sees them often at the various holiday places, at the seaside or in the ardennes, where they dine, however young, along with their parents at the _tables d'hôte_, or public dining-tables, of the hotels. they eat untidily, spill their soup, throw bread at each other, upset their tumblers of beer or wine (for they are allowed to have whatever their parents are drinking), talk at the top of their voices, and really make such a row that the older people can't hear each other speaking. the moment they have had as much food as they want, they jump up, push their chairs noisily aside, and begin to chase each other round the room. their parents never think of stopping them, and care nothing about the annoyance such unmannerly behaviour causes. it is curious how few belgians, old or young, rich or poor, consider the feelings or convenience of others. they are intensely selfish, and this is doubtless caused by the way in which they are brought up. as you know, parents in england are forced by law to send their children to school, or have them taught privately. there is no such law in belgium, and parents, if they like, may leave their children without any education. the number, however, of those who do not go to school is gradually decreasing, and most children get lessons of some sort or another. no religious instruction is given in belgian schools, except in convent schools, or in those where the teachers are entirely under the church. but almost all children have to learn the catechism at home. they need not understand it, but they must be able to repeat the words. this is to prepare them for their _première communion_, or first communion, to which they go when they are eleven or twelve years old. it takes place two sundays before easter day. the custom is for all members of the family to wear new clothes on the day of a _première communion_, but the child's dress is the important thing. in belgian towns, for some time before, the windows of the shops in which articles of dress are sold are full of gloves, stockings, ties, and other things marked "_première communion_." a boy's dress is not much trouble. he wears black trousers, a black jacket, and white gloves and tie. but great thought is given to seeing that a girl looks well in her white dress, and other nice new things. she thinks and talks of nothing but her clothes for ever so long before, and especially of her "corsets," which she then puts on for the first time. her mother takes her to the shop to try them on, and is at much pains to make her waist as slender as possible. "can't you pull them a little tighter?" she will say to the shopwoman. the girl has tight new shoes to make her feet look as small as possible; the _coiffeur_ dresses her hair; and she is very proud of her appearance when, squeezed into proper shape and decked out in her new clothes, she sets off to church. [illustration: the hÔtel de ville, brussels.] the children are confirmed on the monday, the day after their first communion, and are then taken to visit the friends of the family to be shown off, and to receive presents. the windows of the confectioners' shops are full of little white sugar images of boys and girls saying their prayers, and even the poorest people manage to have a feast of some sort on this occasion. they often beg money for the purpose. it is, of course, difficult for parents who are poor to buy new clothes. but any little gifts of money which a child may receive are taken and hoarded up to be spent on its first communion. all belgian children, even those whose parents are not catholics, go, with scarcely an exception, to first communion, and are confirmed, for there may be relatives with money to leave, and they must not be displeased. the _première communion_ is the chief event in the life of a belgian child. chapter vi christmas in belgium christmas is not kept in belgium in the same way as in england, germany, and other countries. there are special services in church, but no christmas-trees, christmas presents, or family dinner-parties. this was not always so, and some traces still remain in different parts of the old customs which used to be observed in belgium. the ancient belgians had a festival at mid-winter, and when they were converted to christianity they continued to use a good many of their old rites at that season of the year, and the few very old christmas customs which survive really began when belgium was a pagan or heathen land. some of these customs are rather curious. in the valley of the meuse the pagans used to feast on the flesh of wild boars at their mid-winter banquets, and now the people of namur have roast pork for dinner on christmas day. the _petite bourgeoisie_ of brussels often eat chestnuts on that day--an old usage handed down from the days when the germans ate acorns--and think they can find out what is going to happen in the future by burning them. for instance, a young man and woman who are engaged to be married throw two nuts into the fire. if they burn peacefully, the marriage will be happy; if they crack and jump away from each other, it will be unhappy. if a candle or lamp goes out suddenly on christmas eve, it is believed that someone in the room will die soon. another sign of death is if you throw salt on the floor and it melts. in some places candles are burnt all night to scare away evil spirits. another custom is to go into orchards, and strike with an axe trees which have not been fruitful. this, it is thought, will make them bear next year. there are many other superstitions like these which can be traced back to heathen times, but are now mixed up with the rites of christian worship. one strange superstition, which a few old peasants still have, is that when the clock strikes twelve on christmas eve all the water in the house may turn into wine. this comes down, no doubt, from early christian times. in some belgian towns the children of the poor go round on christmas eve, from house to house, singing, and asking for bread, fruit, or nuts. one of their favourite songs begins: "blyden nacht, o blyden nacht! messias is geboren!" that is flemish, their language, and it means: "happy night, oh, happy night! the messiah is born." another song begins: "een kindeken is ons geboren," which is the same as "unto us a child is born." good children, who have said their prayers every night, expect to find under their pillows on christmas morning a cake, or rather a bun, which is called an _engelskoek_, or angel's cake, which the archangel gabriel is supposed to have brought during the night to reward them. naughty children find nothing. in some places the children are told that it is the _petit jesus_ (the little child jesus), who puts the bun under their pillows. in many churches, but by no means in all, there is a midnight service, at which there is a manger surrounded by wax candles, with an image of the holy child in it. but this late service was so often made an excuse for going to public-houses, and drinking too much, that the hour has been changed, in most places, to five in the morning. the custom of having shrines, with a manger and candles, known as "bethlehems," is, however, common, even in private houses. on christmas day in flanders people wish each other "a merry christmas," just as they do in england; and many parents of the upper classes send their children, in charge of a servant, to visit their relatives, from whom they may receive some small gifts. but christmas day is not the same, in the way of presents and merry-making, as it is in england. chapter vii new year's day new year's day is a great day in belgium. december , the last day of the old year, is dedicated to st. sylvester, and there is a custom, at least in antwerp, that the child who gets out of bed last is called a "sylvester," and must give the best of its toys to its brothers and sisters. if one of the older girls in a family does not finish any sewing or fancy-work she may have on hand by the end of the day, she is afraid of being haunted by evil spirits. some people say that a young woman who does not finish her work before sunset has no chance of being married for a year. so they all get their various tasks done, and the last night of the year is spent in amusement. the whole family, children and all, sit up till midnight, singing, reciting, or playing games till the clock strikes twelve, when they all kiss each other, and give wishes for "a happy new year." in the big towns, however, many of the _petite bourgeoisie_ do not "bring in the new year" at home, and the restaurants and cafés are crowded till twelve o'clock, when healths are drunk, and there is cheering and singing, which are continued in the streets when the people are going home; and there is a great deal of noise for a long time after all the cafés are closed. it used to be the fashion to fire guns at midnight on new year's eve, but that is not common now except in one part of belgium, called limburg, where any girl who has a lover expects him to fire off shots in front of her window. the more shots he fires the more she thinks he loves her, and to reward him she ought to hide a bottle of gin in some corner outside the house, from which he can drink her health. mischievous young men, however, sometimes find the bottle, and drink the gin before the lover comes, and so the girl often waits till she hears the shots, and then lowers the bottle by a string from the window. this funny custom, like many others, is now going out of fashion. on new year's day all belgians call on their friends to wish them "a happy new year," when they are offered wine, sweetmeats, and things of that sort. this paying of visits on new year's day goes on to such an extent in belgian towns that people who have many friends spend almost the whole day in walking or driving about from one house to another. as everyone is doing the same thing, of course a great many people are not at home when their friends come, and so the hall-table of nearly every house is covered with calling-cards before evening. the servants have almost nothing to do all day but answer the door-bell, which is constantly ringing. in some towns, antwerp among others, it is supposed to be quite allowable for grown-up people, ladies and gentlemen, to kiss anyone they know on new year's day. a belgian lady once told me that it brought good luck to kiss an officer of the army; but, of course, there are limits to this, as there are to kissing under the mistletoe in england. in the country parts of south belgium it is the custom to try to be the first to call out "good new year" when you meet a friend. if you say it first you have something given you. the children try to surprise their fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, and all the friends of the family in this way. they get up early, and hide themselves, so as to be able to jump out suddenly, and say "_een zalig nieuwjahr_," which means "a good new year." all day long they go on doing it, and are never tired of telling each other about the tricks they have thought of to _verassen_, as it is called, the older people, who must give them gingerbread or sugar-plums as the penalty for being surprised in this way. on new year's day in belgium it is not only your friends who stop you in the street or call at your house. every man, woman, boy, or girl who has done any work for you, and often those who have done nothing, expect to get something. they are very greedy. railway-porters who have once brought a box to your house, ring your bell and beg. telegraph-boys, scavengers paid by the town, bell-ringers, policemen, shop-boys, everyone comes bowing and scraping, and men who in england would be ashamed to take a "tip" will touch their hats, and hold out their hands for a few pence. they don't wait to be offered money; they ask for it, like common street-beggars asking alms. january , the feast of the epiphany, is known in flanders as _groot nieuwjahr_ ("great new year"), and is kept to some extent by the working-people in the same way as the first day of the year. mondays are always idle days with working-men in belgium, and the first monday after epiphany is the idlest of them all. it is called _verloren maandag_, or, in french, _lundi perdu_, which means "lost monday," because no one does any work. the day is spent going about asking for money, and at night there is a great deal of drinking. on one of these mondays not long ago some drunken troopers of a cavalry regiment stabbed the keeper of a village public-house near bruges, broke his furniture to pieces, and kept the villagers in a state of terror for some hours. one very bad thing about the lower-class belgians is that when they drink, and begin to quarrel, they use knives, and wound or kill those who have offended them. by a curious superstition it is thought unlucky to work on lost monday, so the people get drunk, and more crimes of violence are committed on that day than at any other time of the year. chapter viii pageants and processions the belgians are very fond of pageants and processions. in each town there are several, and in all villages at least one, every year. it has been so for hundreds of years, and these spectacles must have been magnificent in the middle ages, when the narrow streets were full of knights in glittering armour riding on their strong flemish war-horses decked with embroidered saddle-cloths, bishops and priests in gorgeous vestments, standard-bearers, trumpeters, heralds in their robes of office, images of saints borne high above the crowd, mingled with jesters and the enormous giants with grotesque faces which were carried along on these occasions. the tall houses with their projecting wooden gables were gay with flags. the windows and balconies were hung with rich tapestry, and from them the wives and daughters of nobles and wealthy merchants looked down upon the scene below. a queen of france once rode in a procession through the streets of bruges, and was moved to jealousy by the sight of so many ladies decked in jewels as rich as her own. "i thought," she said, "that i alone was queen, but here i have hundreds of rivals." [illustration: at the kermesse.] one of the most splendid of these pageants was in the summer of the year , when an english princess, margaret of york, married a prince called charles the bold, who was duke of burgundy. on that occasion there was a famous tournament in the market-place of bruges, in which many valiant knights took part. it was called the "tournament of the golden tree." two years ago, in the summer of , there was a pageant at bruges, when the marriage festivities of charles the bold and margaret of york were represented. a young belgian lady took the part of the english princess, and a belgian gentleman appeared as charles the bold. there were knights in armour, ladies of the court of burgundy, heralds, men-at-arms, and pages, all dressed in the picturesque costumes of the middle ages. there was tilting in the lists, when lances were broken, and, in short, everything was done very nearly as it was years ago. this spectacle, which was produced on three days, was attended by thousands of people, who came from all parts of belgium to see it. it was a very good example of how well the belgians can manage a pageant, and how popular these shows are with the people. a very celebrated pageant takes place every year at bruges, the "procession of the holy blood," which devout catholics from every country in europe attend. there is a small chapel in that town, where they keep, in a crystal tube, what is said to be some of the blood of our lord. it has been there for more than years. the tube is preserved in a beautiful case adorned with precious stones, which is carried through the town on the first monday after may . the houses are decorated with flags, and candles burn in almost every window. through the streets, between crowds of people standing on the pavements or looking down from the windows--while the church bells ring, and wreaths of incense fill the air, bands of music, squadrons of cavalry, crucifixes, shrines, images, the banners of the parishes, heralds in their varied dresses, bareheaded pilgrims from england, france, and other countries, maidens in white, bearing palms or crowns of thorn or garlands--priests and chanting choristers, move slowly along, and, when the relic of the holy blood passes, all the people sink to the ground. bruges, usually so empty, is always crowded on that day. seven or eight years ago at lierre, a town near antwerp, i saw three processions in one month, each of which showed the belgian fondness for such things. one was the procession of st. gommarius, the patron saint of the town, when a golden shrine, said to contain his bones, was carried through the streets, just as the relic of the holy blood is carried through bruges. there were a great many little children in that procession, dressed as angels and saints--in white, pale green, blue, crimson, and other colours. some had wreaths of flowers on their heads, and some carried lighted tapers. they all seemed proud of taking part in the procession. the smallest, who were tiny mites, with their mothers walking with them to take care of them, were very tired at the end, for they had to walk slowly for hours on the hard stones, stopping often before sacred images, when the priests burned incense, and all the people went down on their knees. this, like that at bruges, is a religious procession, and there are many others of the same kind all over belgium. another procession was in honour of an old couple, who had been married for fifty years. they were poor people, and the parish was celebrating their "golden wedding." there was a service in the cathedral of st. gommarius, and when that was finished the old man and his wife were put in a carriage and four. they were neatly dressed, and each had a large bouquet of yellow flowers. at the head of each horse walked a young man, leading it by a long yellow ribbon. in front of the carriage a band of musicians played, and behind it came a number of peasants, all in their best clothes. they wore white cotton gloves and yellow wedding-favours. the man and his wife, who were evidently feeble as well as very old, seemed rather bored, but all the people in the procession were in high spirits, for they were on their way to a good dinner paid for by the parish. a few nights after that there was a tremendous noise of music in the market-place, and another procession was formed, which marched off round the town, and at last stopped before the door of a house. here they remained for a long time. there was a great deal of cheering, and the band played tune after tune, finishing up with the belgian national anthem. and what do you think it was all about? a boy whose parents lived in the house had gained a prize at school. that was all; but it was an excuse for a procession, music, and drinking healths. not long ago a young man won a prize at a great school of music in brussels called the _conservatoire_, and so his native town must needs have a procession. there were two bands, a number of flags, and several carriages, in one of which the young fellow sat, bowing from side to side as he was driven through the streets to a café, at which what they call the _vin d'honneur_, or cup of honour, was served. in the same town two years ago the football team of a regiment quartered there won a cup, and there was a long procession of soldiers and townsmen in honour of the event. the cup was carried in triumph on a platform adorned with wreaths, and the crowd shouted as if the soldiers were returning victorious from war. the belgians have always been the same in their love of such displays. long ago their country was oppressed by the spaniards, who killed and tortured many of them without mercy. but that made no difference, and their sorrows were soon forgotten if their conquerors provided some pageant to amuse them. a circus procession of buffoons, with dromedaries, elephants, sham giants, and pasteboard whales and dragons, seems to have consoled them for all their misery. chapter ix the story of st. evermaire: a country pageant once upon a time there was a good man called st. evermaire, who went on a pilgrimage to a part of belgium called the hesbaye, which is near the river meuse. as he and his companions were journeying along, they came, when it was growing dark one evening, to a great wood. being afraid of losing their way, they went to a village to ask for shelter. this village belonged to a fierce robber, called hacco, and it was at his door that the pilgrims knocked. the door was opened by hacco's wife, who received them kindly, but told them that her husband was a robber, and that, though he was away from home, it would not be safe for them to remain there long. so very early next morning, as soon as it was light, they went into the wood, and lay down to sleep beside a fountain among the trees. they had scarcely gone when hacco, who had been out all night looking for people to rob, came home. when he heard about the strangers who had just left, he flew into a terrible rage, and went to look for them. he soon found them fast asleep in the wood, and killed them. then he tore off their clothes, and left their bodies lying on the ground. after a little time some huntsmen found the dead pilgrims, and dug a grave for them. but these people, noticing that the face of one dead man shone brightly, and feeling sure that he must be some very holy person, buried him in a grave by himself. this was st. evermaire. the wood was many years later cut down, and a village called russon was built near the place where hacco murdered the pilgrims. the first priest of this village discovered the grave of st. evermaire, whose bones were placed in a tomb in the church of russon; but they were afterwards laid to rest in a chapel which was built on purpose to receive them. this chapel stands in a grove of beech-trees, on a meadow surrounded by a hedge, in one corner of which there is a fountain whose water is said to be a cure for ague. it is supposed to be on the very spot where the pilgrims were killed. over the altar in the chapel is a painting of the murder. there are also statues of the virgin mary and of st. evermaire, and a gilded case, which contains the bones of the saint. [illustration: a chÂteau in the lesse valley.] on may day there is a procession from russon to this chapel. first two vergers come out of the village church, dressed in "tights," and covered from their ankles to their necks with ivy-leaves. they wear pointed caps on their heads, and brandish huge clubs, with which they threaten the country people, who roar with laughter at the faces they make. seven men are dressed up to represent st. evermaire and his companions. the saint himself wears a tunic of coarse brown cloth, girt about with a leather belt, from which hang a string of beads and a pilgrim's bottle, a short cloak of ox-hide, and a round hat; but the other pilgrims have just black coats and breeches, with white stockings. they are followed by about fifty men on horseback, dressed up as hacco and his band of robbers. this strange-looking procession goes to the chapel, where there is service, the vergers in their ivy-leaves assisting at the altar; and the moment the benediction has been said, the whole congregation rushes out to the meadow. the pilgrims stand in a circle near the fountain, where they sing a quaint old country hymn. in the meantime hacco and his band gallop about outside the meadow; but when the pilgrims have done singing, they enter it, and ride round and round several times. then the pilgrims go near the chapel, and a short conversation is sung between them and hacco, they imploring mercy, and he abusing them for trespassing on his lands. at last hacco becomes impatient, draws his sword, and advances upon the pilgrims, declaring in a voice of thunder that he is about to kill them. at this point the spectators are expected to weep; but all of a sudden the youngest pilgrim takes to his heels, and scampers away as fast as ever he can. hacco and the robbers run after him, scrambling about among bushes and trees, as if they were playing at hide-and-seek. the spectators laugh and clap their hands, and the village children scream with delight. hacco fires a pistol at the runaway, but misses, on which everybody cheers. then he fires again, and the pilgrim tumbles down, and is killed with an arrow by one of the robbers, who picks him up, throws him across the back of a horse and brings him back to the meadow. during this chase the other pilgrims have thrown themselves, as if in despair, on the grass, where presently hacco and his followers proceed to kill them. but by this time all the actors are tired and thirsty; so st. evermaire and his friends rise up, and the whole company of robbers and pilgrims walk off, and swill beer together for the rest of the day. so ends the rustic pageant of russon. chapter x the carnival the week before lent begins is called in flanders _duivelsweek_, which means "the devil's week"; and on the sunday, monday, and tuesday before ash wednesday there is the carnival, so called from the latin words _carni vale_ (which mean, as every school-boy knows, "farewell to the flesh"), because during lent good catholics should abjure "the world, the flesh, and the devil," and refrain from eating meat. in ghent the monday of that week is called _zotten-maanday_, or fools' monday, and all over belgium the next day (shrove tuesday in england) is called _mardi gras_--that is, fat tuesday--the day on which people can eat and drink as much as they like before beginning to fast. during the carnival people go about the streets in fancy dress, sometimes with their faces hidden by masks. often they are dressed as clowns, and make a great noise, blowing horns, dancing, singing, and making fools of themselves in every possible way. in the shops bags of confetti are sold--little bits of coloured paper, like what you see in england too--which you may throw at other people, whether you know them or not. the children have often great fun, covering each other with these bits of paper, which stick in the hair and are very difficult to shake off. in some of the streets at brussels the pavements are carpeted all the time of the carnival with thousands of these small pink, yellow, and white fragments, which the people have been throwing about. then there are false noses, wigs, and other disguises, so that you may pass people you know quite well without an idea who they are. a person may speak to you; you fancy you know the voice, but a beard, and perhaps a long blue nose, hide the face, and you are in doubt. a handful of confetti is thrown in your face, and in a moment the figure is gone and lost in the crowd. a few years ago there was a carnival procession in most of the towns, and then all the huge wickerwork giants were carried about. they all have names. the brussels giant is ommegan. in another town there is, or was, one called goliath. there is a very old giant called lange man, or long man. he is probably still to be seen at hasselt, in the south of belgium, which was his native place. a good many years ago he was carried through the streets on a car drawn by four horses, and all the poor people got soup, which he was supposed to give them in memory of a famine from which the town had suffered at one time. a good deal of money is collected for the poor during the carnival by people who go about with boxes, into which everyone is expected to put something. there are not so many carnival processions as there used to be, and within the last two or three years they have been entirely given up in some places. but the carnival goes on, with more or less gaiety, everywhere. there are few towns where masked balls do not take place, and these usually last all night, so that some of the dancers never go to bed. during the carnival most of the public-houses remain open all night, and there is dancing in them, and a great deal of noise. the fourth sunday in lent is called mi-carême, or, in flemish, _half-vasten_, when the fun of the carnival is renewed; and on that day a person like santa claus, whom you know in england, makes his appearance. he is called _de greef van half-fasten_--that is, the count of mi-carême--and comes to give presents to all good children. but he is so like santa claus that we shall leave him alone in the meantime, for i shall presently be telling you what santa claus does in belgium. there is, however, another count who does not visit england--the count of nut land, who rides along with a sack of nuts, which he throws about for anyone to pick up. strange to say, cracking these nuts is supposed to be a cure for toothache! is not that a funny idea? chapter xi children's winter festivals very young children in belgium look forward to the evening before november , which is the day of st. martin, because they have heard that something very exciting is going to happen. their parents make them stand in a corner, with their faces to the wall. they must not look round, for if they do nothing will happen. but if they are not inquisitive, ask no questions, and stand quite still, a shower of nuts and apples suddenly falls on the floor behind them. they are told that these have been thrown down from heaven by st. martin, and they at once turn round and scramble for them. there is another thing which is sometimes done on st. martin's eve. the father, or some big boy, comes into the younger children's bedroom, dressed up as the saint, with a beard and robes, and asks how the children have been behaving. if he is told they have been good, he gives them apples or sweetmeats; but if he hears they have been naughty, he pulls out a whip, throws it down, and leaves the room. at malines, and perhaps elsewhere, the children of poor people have a little procession of their own on st. martin's day, when they dress up and go about singing from house to house. one of them, who is dressed as st. martin, carries a large basket, into which the people at whose doors they ring put apples or money. at another town, called furnes, there is also a procession of children, who carry paper lanterns, with lighted candles in them, and march singing through the streets. the same thing is done in the country round bruges, where the children visit the farm-houses at night, singing and asking for apples and nuts. there are cakes, called _gauffres_, which are often eaten on st. martin's day, and are therefore sometimes called st. martin's cakes. that favourite saint is so much spoken of in connection with eating good things that in the valley of the meuse they call him _le bon vivant_, which means the person who lives well. just as in england bonfires are lighted on guy fawkes' day, november , so in belgium they light them on the evening of st. martin's day. indeed, they are known as st. martin's fires, and the children call lighting a bonfire "warming the good st. martin." about a month after st. martin's comes the day of st. nicholas--december . during the night before this saint is supposed to ride through the sky, over the fields and above the housetops, mounted on a donkey or a white horse, with a great basket stuffed full of toys, fruit, sweetmeats, and other nice things. down the chimney of every house where there are children sleeping he drops some of these things, if the children have been good, or a whip if they have been naughty. so on the eve of st. nicholas belgian children, before they go to bed, fill their shoes, or sometimes a basket, with hay or carrots, and place them near the chimney of their sleeping-room, so that when st. nicholas comes to the house he may find something for his donkey or horse to eat, and in return leave presents for them. having made these preparations, the children ought to sing or repeat verses addressed to the saint. here is one of them--the one they sing at lierre: "sinte niklaes, nobele sinte niklaes! werpiet in myn schoentjen een appeltjen of een limoentjen!" this means in english: "noble saint nicholas, please throw into my little shoe just a small apple or lemon." there is another of these rhymes which is not so polite, in which the saint is told that if he gives something, the child will serve him for life, but if he doesn't, the child will not serve him at all! [illustration: a farmsteading.] next morning the children wake early, and jump out of bed to see what has happened during the night. they expect to find, if st. nicholas is pleased with them, that the hay and carrots have disappeared, and that their shoes are full of presents; but that if they have not been good enough, the shoes will just be as they were the night before, and a birch-rod stuck into the hay. but, as you may suppose, it always turns out that st. nicholas is pleased. the presents are there, and amongst them there is sure to be a gingerbread figure of the saint, which they may eat or not, as they please; so they are happy for the rest of the day. st. nicholas, you see, is much the same as santa claus, for whom stockings are hung up in england. about a fortnight after this comes december , dedicated to st. thomas, when belgian children can play tricks on their parents in a curious way. the game is to get your father or mother to leave the house, and then lock the door and refuse to let them in till they have promised to give you something. a child will say: "mother, somebody wants to speak to you in the garden." the mother goes out. of course there is nobody there; and when she comes back the child calls out: "st. thomas's day! what will you give me to let you in?" so the mother promises something, which is usually chocolate, with a piece of _cramique_--a kind of bread with currants in it--and not till then is the door opened. this, of course, is great fun for the children, who always hope that their parents have forgotten what day it is, and so will be easily tricked. a week later is the festival of ss. innocents, or _allerkinderendag_ (the day of all the children), as it is called in flemish, which is observed in memory of the slaughter of the children by herod. on this day belgian children are supposed to change places with their parents, wear their best clothes, and rule the household. they can put on their parents' clothes, and go about the house making as much noise as they like, teasing the servants and giving them orders. the youngest girl has the privilege of telling the cook what she is to prepare for dinner; and all the children may go out and walk about dressed up as old people. this is not often seen now, though poor children sometimes put on their parents' things, and beg from door to door, calling themselves "the little fathers and mothers." these winter festivals, when the children have so much liberty and get so many presents, take the place in belgium of the christmas-trees and parties you have in england. chapter xii the archers: games played in belgium let us imagine we are taking a walk along some country road in flanders on a summer afternoon. there is a cinder-track for cyclists on one side, and the lines of a district railway on the other. the road between them is causeway, very hard, dusty, and hot to walk on. but we can step on to the railway, and walk between the rails, or take to the cycle-track. if a train comes up behind, the engine-driver will whistle to give us warning, but we must keep a sharp lookout for cyclists, who seldom ring their bells, but rush swiftly and silently past, and perhaps shout something rude to us for being on their track. there are no fences or hedges, but a straggling row of tall poplar-trees on each side of the road, and beyond them square fields of rye or pasturage divided by ditches of stagnant water. it will not be long before we come to a village, a row of white cottages with roofs of red tiles, and outside window-shutters painted green. in front of each cottage there is a pathway of rough stones, and a gutter full of dirty water. there are about fifty of these cottages, of which half a dozen or so have signboards with _herberg_, which means public-house, over their doors. the railway passes close in front of them. a little way back from the road there is a church, with a clock-tower, and a snug-looking house, standing in a garden, where the parish priest lives. just outside the village we notice a meadow, in which there is a wooden shed open at one side, with benches in it, and reminding us of the little pavilions we often see on village cricket-grounds in england. the part of the meadow just in front of this shed is covered with cinders or gravel, in the middle of which rises a very high pole, tapering towards the top, and looking like a gigantic fishing-rod stuck in the ground. it is crossed, a long way up, by slender spars, like the yards of a ship, only they are no thicker than a walking-stick. on these spars, and along the pole itself near the top, a number of little wooden pegs, with tufts of yellow worsted attached to them, are fixed. one bigger than the rest is perched on the very summit of the pole, which bends over slightly to one side. they look like toy canaries, but are called "pigeons," and they are put there as marks to be shot at with bows and arrows. presently a number of men come from the village, each with a long-bow and some arrows. it is a holiday, and the local society of archers is going to spend the afternoon shooting for prizes. one of them takes his stand close to the foot of the pole, fits an arrow on his bowstring, aims steadily, and shoots straight up. it needs a good deal of strength, as the bow is stiff to bend. the arrow flies whistling among the "birds," touches one or two without bringing them down, rises high above the top of the pole, turns in the air, and comes down again to the ground with a thud. it is the duty of two or three boys to pick up the arrows, and bring them back to the shooters. the arrows are blunt, but to protect their heads these boys wear hats with thick flat crowns and very broad brims, which make them look like big mushrooms with legs as they run about to fetch the arrows. when a bird is hit fair and square it comes down, and the shot is cheered. sometimes shot after shot is fired, and nothing falls, especially if there is a wind. but the interest never flags, and the shooting goes on for hours. there is a great deal of talking and laughing, much beer is drunk in the pavilion, and the fun only ends when the light fails. this is the great national sport of belgium. there is scarcely a town or village which has not a society of archers, called generally after st. sebastian, the patron saint of archers. many of them were founded years ago, at the time when the famous archers of england were showing how well they could hold their own with the bow against knights clad in heavy armour. in a society called the confraternity of the archers of st. sebastian was founded at ypres, a town in flanders, to celebrate a great battle, the battle of the golden spurs, in which the flemings had been victorious over the french the year before, and this society still exists. the chief society of archers in brabant in the old days was at louvain, and it was founded just three years before that battle of cressy of which you have so often heard, when, as the old chronicler froissart says, the english arrows flew so thick that it seemed to snow. thus the history of this national sport goes back to the time when arrows were used in battle, and men had to practise constantly with their bows in order to be able to defend their country or attack their enemies. but when the use of firearms became universal, and archers were no longer employed in warfare, the societies still continued to exist, and their meetings gradually became what they now are--social gatherings for the practice of archery as a form of sport. at bruges there is a company of archers called the society of st. sebastian, whose club-house was built with money given by charles ii. of england, who lived in that town for some time when he was an exile; and it may interest you to know that queen victoria, when on a visit to bruges, became a member of this society, and afterwards sent two silver cups as prizes to be shot for. another form of this sport is shooting with crossbows at a target. st. george is the patron generally of those who use the crossbow. the society of st. george at bruges has a curious festival, which is observed in february. it is called the _hammekensfeest_, or festival of the ham. the shooting takes place in a hall, where a supper-table is laid with various dishes of ham, salads, fish, and other eatables. the target is divided into spaces marked with the names of the dishes. if anyone hits a space marked, for example, ham, he may go and help himself to ham; but if someone else, shooting after him, hits the same place, he must then give up his seat. in the bull's-eye of the target there is the figure of an ape, and if anyone hits that he can eat of any dish he pleases. you may suppose what an amusing supper-party this is, when all the guests are shooting and eating by turns, and no one knows whether he may not have to rise suddenly and give up his place to somebody else. there are many other customs and festivals connected with the archer societies, which are very flourishing in belgium, chiefly among the _petite bourgeoisie_. there are athletic clubs in belgium, and rowing is a favourite sport, especially at ghent. two years on end the ghent rowing club won the grand challenge shield at henley, beating all the english crews which rowed against them. as in all countries, the children have many games. one, which they call _balle dans la maison_ (ball in the house), is much the same as rounders, and there is another game called _camp ruiné_, which girls play at school. there are two sides. a ball is thrown up, and each side tries to prevent the other catching it. each player who is prevented has to join the opposite side or camp, and so on till one camp is "ruined" by losing all its occupants. there is a very popular game among belgian working-men called the _jeu de balle_. there are five players on each side, who stand on two large courts marked on the ground. the ball is served by hitting it with the hand (as at fives) by a player on one side over the line which divides the courts, and is returned in the same way by a player on the other side. the ball must not touch the ground, and is taken full pitch. a point is lost by the side which sends a ball outside the lines of the court into which it ought to have been served or returned. the points count fifteen, thirty, forty, and five for the last, which wins the game. this is the chief game played by working-men in belgium. in some places it seems to be quite unknown, but in others it is very popular. but there are so many rules that it is impossible fully to understand it without seeing it played, or to explain it without a diagram showing the positions of the players, who have all different names, like men fielding at cricket. the _jeu de boule_, which you may hear mentioned in belgium, is quite different from the _jeu de balle_, and is much the same as skittles. [illustration: playing "jeu de boule," at a flemish inn.] of the more important games football is the most popular in belgium. great crowds assemble to watch the matches, which are always played under "association" rules. rugby football would be impossible for belgians, because they would never keep their tempers when caught and thrown down. there would be constant rows, and no match would ever be finished. as it is, there is a great deal of quarrelling, and when one town plays another the visitors, if they win, are hooted, and sometimes attacked, when they are leaving the ground. lately, after a football match in flanders, knives were drawn, and some of the players had to escape in a motor-car. cricket has lately been tried, but it has not as yet spread much, and is not likely to become very popular, as it requires too much patience and steadiness for belgian young men and boys. lawn-tennis and hockey, however, are quite the fashion, especially lawn-tennis, which many belgians, ladies as well as men, play extremely well. important tennis tournaments are held every summer at ostend and other places on the coast. in recent years several golf-courses have been made in belgium. there is one at a place called le coq, near ostend, where leopold ii., the present king of the belgians, founded a club. it is very pretty, and there is a fine club-house; but good english players do not like it, because the course is too artificial, with flower-beds and ornamental shrubs, whereas a golf-course ought to be as natural as possible. golf is played also at brussels, antwerp, nieuport, and ghent. another place for golf is knocke, a seaside village near bruges, where the game was introduced by a few englishmen some years ago. the golf-course at this place is laid out among the dunes, and is entirely natural, with "bunkers" of fine sand. a great many players go there from england and scotland, as well as from various parts of belgium, and the flemish "caddies," who cheerfully carry the clubs for d. a round, speak english quite well, and know all about the "royal and ancient game." chapter xiii what the belgians speak three different languages are spoken in belgium. these are flemish, walloon, and french. flemish is spoken in flanders, in the provinces of antwerp and limbourg, and in a part of brabant. walloon is the language of liége and the valley of the meuse, luxembourg, and the western districts. french is spoken all over the country. some belgians speak nothing but flemish, some nothing but walloon, and some nothing but french. a great many speak both flemish and french, and there are some who speak all three languages. though flemish is the language of the majority of belgians, most of the books, newspapers, and magazines are published in french, which is the "official" language--that is to say, it is the language of the court and the government--and all well-educated belgians can speak, read, and write it. in brussels almost everyone speaks french. though many belgians know french thoroughly, they speak it with an accent of their own, which is unlike anything you hear in france, just as english people speak french or german with an english accent. so belgium is not a good place to go to if you want to learn french. the worst french is spoken in east flanders and the best in ypres. there is a great likeness between flemish and dutch, which were originally one language, and a book printed in flemish is almost exactly the same as a dutch book. but there are many different ways of pronouncing flemish. the accent of ghent is so different from that of bruges that the people of these towns do not always understand each other, and in neither do they speak with the accent which is used in antwerp. thus, in little belgium there are not only three different languages, but various ways of speaking flemish, the original language of the country. so french is not only the official language, but the most useful for travellers to know. though french is the official language, there are laws which have been made to allow the use of flemish in the law courts, and belgian officers must be able to command the soldiers in flemish. in the _moniteur_ (a paper like the _london gazette_) royal proclamations, and things of that sort, are published in both flemish and french. railway-tickets are printed in both languages. so are the names of the streets in some towns. in the belgian parliament, though the members generally make their speeches in french, they may use flemish if they like, and they sometimes do. walloon may be described as a very old form of french, but though the walloons are the most active and industrious of all the belgians, their language is not much known, and you will never hear it spoken except in the valley of the meuse, and in the country parts of south-west belgium. the three belgian words for christmas are _kerstdag_ in flemish, _noël_ in french, and _nouée_ in walloon. chapter xiv a short history i must write just one chapter on belgian history. dates are tiresome things, though they are useful pegs, so to speak, on which to hang the facts of history, and help us to recollect the order in which they happened. however, we shall not bother with many dates. i shall make the whole story as plain and simple as possible; and, besides, you can skip it all if you find it too stupid and dull. the first thing to understand about the tiny corner of europe which is now called belgium is that very long ago it was divided into a great many small states, each of which was ruled over by some duke, or count, or baron, or some noble with another title, who made peace or war with his neighbours, just as the kings of europe do nowadays. there were the dukes of brabant, and the counts of flanders and of namur, the lords of malines, and the bishop-princes of liége, and many more. you will see where their states lay if you look at the map. the most famous was flanders, for the great flemish cities, such as ghent, bruges, and ypres, became strong and rich by reason of their trade and manufactures. in the towns the merchants and tradesmen were banded together in societies called guilds. there were guilds of weavers, and butchers, and other trades; and they defended themselves so well against the nobles, who often tried to attack their liberties, that the towns became strongholds of freedom. but, unfortunately, they were always quarrelling. each town wanted to be richer than its neighbour. each town cared only for itself, so they often fought. ghent wanted to ruin ypres, and the men of ghent helped an english army to attack ypres. at other times the guildsmen of bruges fought against those of ghent. thus for many years this part of europe was divided into petty states, and the towns, in spite of their wealth and freedom, were always rebelling against their princes, or fighting with each other. and all this time, close at hand and watchful, there was a mighty state, called "the burgundies," whose dominions were ever stretching farther and farther. at last a day came when a certain count of flanders died, leaving no heir male, and a duke of burgundy, called philip the hardy, married a flemish princess, and obtained possession of flanders. gradually after that the dukes of burgundy became rulers of all the country which we now call belgium, except the principality of liége, which remained independent under its bishop-princes till recent times. the last duke of burgundy was charles the bold, a brave warrior, but very fierce and cruel. he was killed in a battle, and his daughter, mary of burgundy, married an austrian archduke called maximilian; and then flanders, brabant, and the other places we have spoken of, passed under the austrian royal family, which is called the house of hapsburg. maximilian and mary had a son, called philip the handsome, who married joanna the mad, daughter of king ferdinand of spain. the son of this marriage was charles v., who was neither mad nor handsome, but one of the most famous men in history. he not only ruled over the netherlands, as belgium and holland were called, but also over spain, and all the immense spanish empire, and was, moreover, emperor of germany. after reigning for forty years, charles v. gave up his royal honours to his son philip; and then began a terrible time for the netherlands. philip hated the liberty which the people of the netherlands loved. they had, especially in the towns, been accustomed to make laws for themselves, which their old dukes and counts, and also the hapsburgs, had always sworn to maintain. but philip resolved to put an end to all this freedom, and to be their absolute master. [illustration: village & canal, adinkerque.] he also hated the protestants, of whom there were many in the netherlands, and resolved to destroy them. for this purpose he introduced a kind of court, called the inquisition, which inquired into the religious faith of everyone, and sent people to be tortured and burned to death if they were not catholics. the people became furious against philip, and rebelled in defence of their liberty, and against the inquisition. for a long time the contest, which is called the "revolt of the netherlands," went on. philip was enormously rich, and had a great army and a strong fleet. the spanish soldiers, whom he let loose upon the people, were cruel, as well as highly trained. men, women, and children were tortured, robbed, burnt to death, killed in battle, and murdered in cold blood by thousands. few things, if any, more terrible have been known in the history of the world. the chief protestant leader was that prince of orange called william the silent, of whom you must often have heard. after the contest had continued for some years, instead of being dismayed, he was more resolute than ever, and persuaded the southern or belgian part of the netherlands, and the northern or dutch part, to promise that they would help each other, and fight against the spaniards till they were free. but in a very short time the southern and the northern netherlands drifted apart. the dutch stood firm, and were saved in the long, weary struggle. they shook off the yoke of spain, and gained their liberty. the belgians halted between two opinions, and were lost. most of them were catholics, which made it easier for them to submit to philip. but the most industrious of the population fled, and the trade and manufactures which had made their country prosperous went to holland. after that, a great historian says, "the flemish and brabantine cities were mere dens of thieves and beggars." the spaniards ruled over belgium, which was now called the "spanish netherlands," till a daughter of philip's, isabella by name, married an austrian archduke called albert. they received belgium as a wedding-gift. the bride's father, the tyrant philip, died about that time, and albert and isabella went to brussels, where the people, in spite of the miserable state of their country, had a fine time of it with banquets, processions, and fireworks. but two more changes were at hand. when albert died belgium went back to spain; and once again, after long wars, during one of which brussels was nearly all destroyed by fire, it was handed over to austria. this was in the year ; and after that it was called the "austrian netherlands." thus, you see, the belgians were constantly being passed from one set of masters to another, like a race of slaves. they had not stuck to the brave dutch, and fought on till they were free, and so never could tell who were to be their next rulers. this could not be good for the character of any people. however, they were, on the whole, happy under the house of hapsburg till an emperor called joseph ii. came to the austrian throne. he was a good man, and wise in many ways, but he made the mistake of trying to bring in new laws and customs which the people did not like. belgium had been sunk, ever since the time of philip ii., in poverty and ignorance. all the people wished for was to be let alone, to amuse themselves, and to have peace. but joseph ii. wanted to raise them up, and, most of all, to spread knowledge and education among them. the austrian netherlands--that is, belgium--were more catholic than ever, and all the bishops and priests were up in arms against the reforms proposed by joseph; and there was a revolution, which had not finished when he died. it came to an end, however, soon after his death, when the catholics got all they wanted, though the austrians remained in power. but the country had become restless. its restlessness was increased by the french revolution, which was now in full progress; and all was ripe for another change of rulers, which soon came. the french republicans, who beheaded their own king and his queen (who was, by-the-by, a sister of joseph ii.), invaded belgium, driving out the austrians, and made it a part of france. one thing the french did was very popular with the belgians. it was this: there was a treaty, called the treaty of münster, made as long before as the year , which declared that the dutch were to have control of the scheldt, and ever since then that splendid river, on which antwerp stands, had been closed, so that the trade of antwerp, the great belgian seaport, had been entirely ruined. the french now declared the scheldt a free river, to be used by all nations. this was tidings of great joy to the belgians; but england would not allow the treaty of münster to be torn up in this way, and a war began between england and france, which lasted till the fall of napoleon in . during all that war belgium was ruled by the french. when napoleon gave up his throne, and was sent to the island of elba, the great powers met to settle europe, which he had turned upside down. one of the things they had to decide was what should be done with the austrian netherlands, and the plan they arranged seemed a very good one. austria did not want belgium, and the plan was to make that country, the principality of liége, and holland, into one state, and call it the "kingdom of the netherlands." it was to be ruled over by one of the orange family, a descendant of william the silent. and there was something more. the william of orange who was to be king of the netherlands had a son, and the english arranged that this son should marry our princess charlotte, who was heir to the throne of england; and so all the coasts of the netherlands opposite england, with antwerp and the scheldt, were to be in the hands of a friendly nation allied by marriage to the english royal family. the proposed marriage was publicly announced in march, , but it never took place. the princess charlotte married a german, called prince leopold of saxe-coburg, and the young prince of orange married a russian grand duchess. the kingdom of the netherlands, however, was set up; and at the battle of waterloo, which was fought in june, , after napoleon escaped from elba, a force of netherlanders, some of them dutch and some of them belgians, fought under the duke of wellington, when he gained the great victory which brought peace to europe. and now it was supposed that the belgians would settle quietly down, and form one people with the dutch, who spoke a language so like their own flemish, and who came of the same race. but not a bit of it. the dutch were mostly protestants, and almost all the belgians were catholics. there were disputes about questions of religion from the very first. disagreements followed on one subject after another; and, to make a long story short, in fifteen years there was a revolution in the belgian provinces of the new kingdom. the belgians proclaimed their wish to make a kingdom of their own, and once more the great powers met to consider what was to be done with them this time. the meeting was in london, where five very shrewd and wily gentlemen, from england, france, russia, austria, and prussia, sat and talked to each other for week after week about what they should do with this broken kingdom, which was, as it were, thrown on their hands. they were far too polite to quarrel openly; but russia, prussia, and austria would have liked to force the belgians to keep to what had been arranged in , while england and france were on the side of the belgians. on one thing, and one thing only, they all agreed, and that was not to have another european war. in the long run england and france managed to persuade the others that the best thing was to let the belgians have their own way, and choose a king for themselves. they first set their affections on a son of louis philippe, the king of france, and asked him to be their king. but england would not hear of this, so his father told him to refuse. then the belgians were advised to choose that prince leopold of saxe-coburg who had married princess charlotte. she was now dead, and he had been living in england ever since. they took this advice, and in he accepted the offer they made him, and was crowned at brussels as leopold i., king of the belgians. thereafter he married a daughter of louis philippe, and reigned till the year , when he died, and was succeeded by his son, leopold ii., who is the present king. this is how the southern provinces of the netherlands were made into the little, independent kingdom of belgium. since then the trade and commerce of belgium have grown. antwerp has become a huge seaport; brussels flourishes. the industries of ghent are prosperous. throughout the walloon country, from the busy forges of liége to the coal-mines round mons, there is a hard-working and, on the whole, successful people. even fallen bruges has lately been struggling to rise again. but, unfortunately, there is another side to the picture. you have often heard it said that "as the twig is bent, the tree grows." it is the same with mankind. the character and manners of grown-up people depend on how they have been trained when young. if a child is bullied, and passed from one master to another, ill-treated and frightened, it is apt to grow up timid and untruthful. the same thing may be seen in nations. to this day the lower classes in belgium bear traces of the long period of subjection, and the race has not recovered from the time when the spaniards turned so many famous towns into dens of thieves and beggars. they are very often cunning, timid though boastful, and full of the small tricks and servile ways which are natural in a people which once had all manliness and courage crushed out of it. another unlucky thing for the belgians is that they quarrel dreadfully among themselves about public questions. in all countries there are quarrels of this sort, but in belgium these disputes poison the whole life of the country. they are divided into catholics and liberals, and the best interests of the state are lost sight of in the squabbling which goes on between these two parties. by the laws of belgium all religions are equal. there is no established church. the parliament each year finds money for the catholic clergy, for the english protestant chaplains, and for those of any other faith, if there are enough of them to form a congregation of a certain size. but this has not brought peace. in england, as you know, only some foolish people allow their political disputes to interfere with their private friendships, or with their amusements. but in belgium the catholics and the liberals never forget their differences. it is like the time when the jews had no dealings with the samaritans. there are catholic football clubs and liberal football clubs; the public-houses are either catholic or liberal; and even children are taught at school to have feelings of this sort. one day a small girl was asked out to tea with some english children. when the hour came, her mother found her crying, and asked her what was the matter. "i'm afraid," she sobbed, "to go and play with these little heretics!" [illustration: waterloo: the farm of la belle alliance and the mound surmounted by the belgian lion.] the great quarrel is about education. the liberals want to make a law that all children must go to school, but the catholics will not agree to this. the priests have so much influence, and work so hard at the elections, that, except in brussels, liége, and a few more places, the people are frightened to vote against them. so there has always been a catholic government in power for the last twenty-five years. the great powers, when they allowed the belgians to have their own way and choose a king for themselves, took belgium under their protection, and made it a "neutral state"--that is to say, a country which may not be attacked or entered by the armies of other nations which are fighting each other, and which is not permitted to make war on other countries. this was a great blessing for the belgians, because their country is so small and weak, and so many battles used to be fought in it that it was called "the cock-pit of europe." but whether the people of a neutral state are ever likely to be brave and self-sacrificing is another thing. chapter xv the belgian army: the congo though belgium is a neutral state, living under the protection of the great powers of europe, the belgians are afraid that some day, if these powers quarrel with each other and begin to fight, armies may march into their country and turn it once more into a battle-field; or perhaps one of the powers may wish to take a part of belgium, or some belgian town, such as antwerp, and rule over it. so this little kingdom must have an army to defend itself till some powerful nation comes to help it. the belgian force actually under arms consists of only about , soldiers, but it can be raised to , , if there is a danger of war, by calling out the "reserves," or men who have been trained, but are no longer with their regiments. in order to keep up this force of , it is necessary to find about , new men each year. but the belgians do not like to be soldiers, and it is very difficult to persuade them to join the army. last year only , would do so, which seems very few for a country in which there are , , people. it has been the same for years. so there is a law called the conscription, by which the necessary numbers are forced to serve. this is how they manage the conscription: in february of each year all the boys who become nineteen in that year must go and draw lots to decide which of them are to enter the army. the drawing generally takes place in the _hotel de ville_ of the chief town in the part of the country to which the boys belong. on the appointed day all the families in which there are sons liable to serve flock into the town, and a great crowd gathers outside the building. the lads who are to draw lots go in, and find some officials waiting for them. each boy has to put his hand into the ballot-box and draw out a paper on which there is a number. suppose there are boys, and are wanted for the army, then those who draw the lowest numbers are those who have to serve. each boy draws out his paper, and gives it to an official, who calls out the number. if it is a number above , he is free, and runs out shouting with joy; but if it is one of the lower numbers, he goes out sadly to tell his family that he has drawn a "bad" number. while the drawing goes on, the fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, and their friends, wait outside in the greatest anxiety. there are cheers and joyful greetings when a boy with a "good" number comes out, and groans of pity for those who have been unlucky. and when the drawing is done, and everyone knows his fate, they all go off to the public-houses. those who have drawn lucky numbers get drunk from joy, while those who have to serve in the army try to forget their sorrow in drinking. very often their families and friends do the same, and so it comes to pass that every february there are horrible scenes--men and women, boys and girls, reeling about the streets, shouting, singing, quarrelling, and behaving in the most disgraceful way. it is quite different from germany, where every boy knows he must be trained to defend his country, and where almost everyone is proud of being a soldier. if, however, the father of a boy who has drawn an unlucky number is rich enough to pay for another to take his place, he may do so. this system is called the _remplacement_, and almost every father buys his son off if he can afford it. many belgians think this system unfair, and the officers of the army do not like it. perhaps, before very long, there may be a change, and a new law made by which all boys will have to serve for a certain time. the catholics have always been in favour of the _remplacement_, while the liberals have been against it. but it is said that the king wishes to abolish it, and try some new plan. so very likely the catholics will give in, and there will be no more drawing of lots and buying off, but a system of universal service, which will be a very good thing for belgium. though the trade of belgium is very large indeed for the size of the country, the belgians have no navy, and not many merchant-ships. but they have lately plunged into an adventure which may force them to have merchant-ships and men-of-war to defend them; for this small country has taken possession of a huge part of central africa, ever so many times bigger than belgium itself. about twenty-five years ago leopold ii., the present king of the belgians, was made ruler over this part of africa, which is called the congo state, because of a magnificent river, the congo, which flows through it. it was the great powers of europe who made him ruler, and they made him promise that he would abolish slavery, allow all nations to trade freely there, and do all he could to civilize the natives. but after some time ugly stories began to reach europe about what was being done by king leopold's servants in that distant part of the world. the congo is a country full of rich products, and it was said that the king was breaking his promises: that he was making heaps of money by forcing the natives to work as slaves, that all their lands were taken from them, that people were cruelly tortured, that whole villages were destroyed, that the soldiers hired by king leopold were cannibals, and that he would not allow free trading. there is no doubt whatever that the king was making a great deal of money, and that many shameful and wicked things were done in the congo. the king never went there himself, but both he and his friends, who were also making money, said that the english (for it was the english who found most fault with him) were jealous, and that everything was going well. nevertheless bad news kept arriving from the congo, and many of the belgians themselves became as angry as the english, and said something must be done to stop what was going on. at last the belgian parliament resolved that the only way to save the congo was to make it a belgian colony, and try if they could not govern it better than king leopold. so in the year , after long debates and much curious bargaining between the king and his people, the congo state became a belgian colony. it remains to be seen whether they can govern it wisely, for as yet they have no experience in such matters. few belgians like to speak about the congo. they shake their heads, and say it will cost a great deal of money, and bring danger to their country. the scene when a ship sails from antwerp for the congo is unlike anything you will see at home. when a ship leaves an english port for india or the colonies, the travellers go on board without any fuss, with perhaps a few private friends to see them off. but when a liner starts for the congo, there is much excitement. a crowd assembles; flags fly; a band plays the belgian national anthem; hawkers go about selling photographs of _le départ pour le congo_; and a steam-tug, decorated with flags, and with a band of music playing, accompanies the liner some distance down the scheldt. the belgians, you see, are so fond of hoisting flags and hearing bands of music on every possible occasion that they can't help doing it even when there is really nothing to get excited about. and now, having taken this peep at belgium, we shall leave these adventurers sailing away to their congo, and, hoping they will find wisdom to steer wisely (in more ways than one) and so avoid shipwreck, wish them _bon voyage_. * * * * * list of volumes in the peeps at many lands series each containing full-page illustrations in colour belgium india burma ireland canada italy china jamaica corsica japan egypt morocco england new zealand finland norway france scotland germany siam greece south africa holland south seas holy land switzerland iceland wales * * * * * a larger volume in the same style the world containing full-page illustrations in colour * * * * * published by adam and charles black soho square, london, w. * * * * * agents america the macmillan company & fifth avenue, new york australasia oxford university press flinders lane, melbourne canada the macmillan company of canada, ltd. richmond street west, toronto india macmillan & company, ltd. macmillan building, bombay bow bazaar street, calcutta * * * * * other books for boys & girls illustrated in colour like the peeps at many lands * * * * * price / each all with full-page illustrations in colour _large crown vo., cloth_ * * * * * by john finnemore the story of robin hood and his merry men full-page illustrations in colour by allan stewart * * * * * by ascott r. hope beasts of business full-page illustrations in colour by g. vernon stokes and alan wright * * * * * by frederic w. farrar eric; or, little by little full-page illustrations in colour by g. d. rowlandson, and in black and white by gordon browne * * * * * st. winifred's; or, the world of school full-page illustrations in colour by dudley tennant, and in black and white by gordon browne * * * * * julian home a tale of college life full-page illustrations in colour by patten wilson * * * * * by lieut. col. a. f. mockler-ferryman the golden girdle full-page illustrations in colour by allan stewart * * * * * by john finnemore the wolf patrol a story of baden-powell's boy scouts full-page illustrations in colour by h. m. paget * * * * * jack haydon's quest full-page illustrations in colour by j. jellicoe * * * * * by stanley waterloo a tale of the time of the cave men full-page illustrations in colour by simon harmon vedder * * * * * by daniel defoe robinson crusoe full-page illustrations in colour by john williamson * * * * * by andrew home by a schoolboy's hand full-page illustrations in colour by strickland brown * * * * * from fag to monitor full-page illustrations in colour by john williamson * * * * * by captain cook voyages of discovery full-page illustrations in colour by john williamson * * * * * by mungo park travels in africa full-page illustrations in colour by john williamson * * * * * by hume nisbet the divers full-page illustrations in colour by the author * * * * * by the duchess of buckingham and chandos willy wind, and jock and the cheeses illustrations by j. s. eland ( full-page in colour) * * * * * by ascott r. hope stories full-page illustrations in colour by dorothy furniss * * * * * by andrew home exiled from school full-page illustrations in colour by john williamson * * * * * by the rev. r. c. gillie the kinsfolk and friends of jesus full-page illustrations in colour and sepia * * * * * price /= each all with full-page illustrations in colour large square crown vo., cloth * * * * * by g. e. mitton the book of the railway full-page illustrations in colour by allan stewart * * * * * by mrs. alfred sidgwick and mrs. paynter the children's book of gardening full-page illustrations in colour by mrs. cayley-robinson * * * * * by miss conway and sir martin conway the children's book of art full-page illustrations in colour from public and private galleries * * * * * by elizabeth grierson children's tales of english minsters full-page illustrations in colour by various artists * * * * * by ascott r. hope adventurers in america full-page illustrations in colour by henry sandham, r.c.a. * * * * * by s. r. crockett red cap adventures being the second series of red cap tales stolen from the treasure-chest of the wizard of the north full-page illustrations by allan stewart and others * * * * * by s. r. crockett red cap tales stolen from the treasure-chest of the wizard of the north full-page illustrations in colour by simon harmon vedder * * * * * translated and abridged by dominick daly the adventures of don quixote full-page illustrations in colour by stephen baghot de la bere * * * * * gulliver's travels full-page illustrations in colour by stephen baghot de la bere * * * * * by ascott r. hope the adventures of punch full-page illustrations in colour by stephen baghot de la bere * * * * * by dudley kidd the bull of the kraal a tale of black children full-page illustrations in colour by a. m. goodall * * * * * by p. g. wodehouse william tell told again full-page illustrations in colour by philip dadd * * * * * by john bunyan the pilgrim's progress full-page illustrations in colour by gertrude demain hammond, r.i. * * * * * by g. e. mitton the children's book of stars preface by sir david gill, k.c.b. full-page illustrations ( in colour) and smaller figures in the text * * * * * by g. e. mitton the children's book of london full-page illustrations in colour by john williamson * * * * * by elizabeth w. grierson the children's book of celtic stories full-page illustrations in colour by allan stewart * * * * * price /= each all with full-page illustrations in colour _large square crown vo., cloth_ * * * * * by elizabeth w. grierson the children's book of edinburgh full-page illustrations in colour by allan stewart * * * * * edited by g. e. mitton swiss family robinson full-page illustrations in colour by harry rountree * * * * * by elizabeth w. grierson children's tales from scottish ballads full-page illustrations in colour by allan stewart * * * * * by harriet beecher stowe uncle tom's cabin full-page illustrations in colour and many others in the text * * * * * animal autobiographies edited by g. e. mitton each volume deals entirely with the life story of some one animal, and is not merely a collection of animal stories. it is necessary to emphasize this, as the idea of the series has sometimes been misunderstood. children who have outgrown fairy-tales undoubtedly prefer this form of story to any other, and a more wholesome way of stimulating their interest in the living things around them could hardly be found. though the books are designed for children of all ages, many adults have been attracted by their freshness, and have found in them much that they did not know before. the autobiographical form was chosen after careful consideration in preference to the newer method of regarding an animal through the eyes of a human being, because it is the first aim of the series to depict the world as animals see it, and it is not possible to do this realistically unless the animal himself tells the story. * * * * * the life story of a dog by g. e. mitton full-page illustrations in colour by john williamson * * * * * the life story of a fox by j. c. tregarthen full-page illustrations in colour by countess helena gleichen * * * * * the life story of a fowl by j. w. hurst full-page illustrations in colour by allan stewart and maude scrivener * * * * * the life story of a black bear by h. perry robinson full-page illustrations in colour by j. van oort * * * * * the life story of a rat by g. m. a. hewett full-page illustrations in colour by stephen baghot de la bere * * * * * the life story of a cat by violet hunt full-page illustrations in colour by adolph birkenruth * * * * * the life story of a squirrel by t. c. bridges full-page illustrations in colour by allan stewart * * * * * published by a. and c. black, soho square, london, w. * * * * * [illustration: map--canadian operations on the somme] canada in flanders by major charles g. d. roberts the official story of the canadian expeditionary force volume iii canada in flanders by major charles g. d. roberts volume iii with a preface by lord beaverbrook hodder and stoughton london new york toronto mcmxviii preface in writing this preface to vol. iii of "canada in flanders" i am saying good-bye to my task as author of the first two volumes. the increasing pressure of other duties has made it impossible for me to pay those prolonged visits to the front which alone keep a writer in vivid touch with the constantly developing realities of modern war, or to spare the time for the proper study of the historical material. under these circumstances it seemed better to retain the editorship of "canada in flanders," but to hand over the story of the somme to the practised pen of major charles g. d. roberts, who was present with the canadian corps during that autumn campaign. but in doing this it is necessary to make good as far as possible the errors and slips which have come to light and been pointed out by the critics in the text of vol. ii. as in the case of vol. i., the majority of the mistakes is in the misspelling of names or the confusion of identity between officers with the same surname. i particularly regret the mistake by which the leadership of the advance on the lost craters at st. eloi on the night of april th is ascribed to lieutenant v. p. murphy, of the th battalion, instead, as it ought to have been, to lieutenant g. d. murphy, of the th battalion (pp. , ). similarly, on p. , the name of sergeant-major benton should have been inserted as the sergeant-major who went out with private donoghue to the rescue of the wounded; while the commanders of the raiding party of the th (ontario) battalion in august, , should have been given as captain c. e. kilmer and lieutenant h. b. pepler (p. ). in the description of the battle of sanctuary wood there are several mistakes of the same character. lieutenant glassco, of the p.p.c.l.i., has his name misspelt on pp. and , and captain a. g. wilken, the heroic chaplain of the st c.m.r.'s, is reported as being killed, whereas in reality he was taken prisoner. on p. it should be made clear that the colt guns under lieutenant ziegler, which played so important a part in the defence of the hooge position on june th, belonged to the machine gun company of the th brigade. on p. lieutenant-colonel c. h. hill, d.s.o., is wrongly given as the colonel of the royal canadian regiment when the rd division was formed in january, , instead of lieutenant-colonel a. h. macdonnell, d.s.o.; while the commander of the th c.f.a. brigade at the same period was lieutenant-colonel w. o. h. dodds, and not lieutenant-colonel e. a. carruthers. among more general errors it may be noted that lieutenant elliot is described on p. as the "signal" instead of the "signalling" officer, and that the german unit opposed to us at st. eloi was the th regiment, and not the th battalion--a german regiment consisting of three battalions and approximating more in numbers to our brigade. on more general questions, such as the position and actions of units, only one controversy has been raised, and that is concerned with the early stages of the battle of st. eloi. this difficulty is to some extent inevitable, for with the exception of the second battle of ypres there has been no action in this history of the corps in which the true facts have been more difficult to obtain than in that confused fighting in the mud on the dreary dawn of april th of , which lost us the craters and the advanced line. but all the available evidence has been sifted with the greatest care, and nothing has been brought to my attention which makes me inclined to modify or alter the provisional account given in the second volume. this does not mean in the least that in the future quite fresh material, both from canadian and german sources, may not become available after the war and throw a totally new light on certain episodes. with this additional evidence before him the future historian may be able to rewrite parts of the story from the standpoint of this fuller knowledge. there is, however, one particular correction which can be made at once. i find that i have done something less than justice to the work of the nd pioneer battalion during the st. eloi fighting. their task here was one of incredible difficulty owing to the conditions of the weather, the state of the ground, to the severe and continuous shelling to which the whole area was subjected, and the uncertainty as to positions which wrapped the whole action in a fog. yet the pioneers' work was carried through with great courage and energy. in particular, the reconstruction of the old front british line from shelley farm to no. crater, which is ascribed on p. to the infantry of the th brigade, was in reality done by the pioneers, who also took a large share in placing no. crater itself in an adequate state of defence. there is an inevitable tendency to give to the work of the troops immediately behind the firing-line less attention and credit than they deserve. the infantry sustain most of the hard knocks when it comes to climbing the parapet, and in return obtain the greater notice from the historian. but behind the thin and scattered lines, which wave after wave fall or go plodding on, the gunners, the sappers, and the pioneers are preparing or consolidating the victory. the battle is no longer between the opposing lines of the infantry, for to win a position you must hold it, and to hold it you must have brought up swiftly and safely from the rear bombs, ammunition, wire rations, and a means of entry for the supporting and relieving troops, the area of the battle is no longer the front line, it is behind this that the enemy barrage descends, and over a wide field of fire the german shells are searching for all those who would bring up succour and relief. it is under these conditions that the pioneers must do their work. in the night, only illumined by the fitful flare of the star-shells shedding a pale and sudden luminance behind the front line and leaving the darkness more intense than ever, the old and battered communication trench of the germans has to be made good to the front line. the trench from previous occupation is well known to the enemy, and as the pioneers shovel out the mud and the dirt to the left and right a new illumination is provided by the sudden glare and suffocating fumes of the heavies bursting right or left or in the trench itself. but night at least gives the appearance, if not the reality, of safety. as the infantry go forward the work must often be done in the broad daylight, the trench driven through to the new line, or a new resistance built to face the counter-attack. the men of the pioneers who have to undertake this task must do it in cold blood. they are robbed of that excitement of personal conflict which can carry the fighting man through the most desperate dangers in a frame of mind which hardly remembers the horrors through which he passes, and crowns the story of his achievements with a halo and a fascination not granted to work less interesting but no less vital. the achievements of the nd pioneer battalion at the somme will take rank with any of those of the infantry. at courcelette their duty was to follow on the heels of the nd division, to drive communication trenches through without delay to the new lines, and to relieve the infantry immediately of the final consolidation of the captured trenches. in the darkness before the assault lieutenants mcghee and davis crawled out into no man's land and pegged out the line of trenches to be dug next day. the moment the nd division had taken the german front line the pioneers started out to drive these trenches through in broad daylight and under a sweeping rain of heavies. lieutenant mcghee exhibited great courage and devotion to duty; he was three times buried by the explosion of heavy shells close to him, and three times dug himself out with his entrenching tool and continued to mark out the line of the advancing trench for his men. what the effect of such shelling may be is illustrated by the extraordinary and gruesome story of the death of lieutenant tracy of the same regiment some days before. while prospecting in advance of the line a german shell burst right on him. a rescue party of pioneers went out immediately to find him on the spot of the shell-burst. not a sign of the unfortunate officer could be found, and the search was abandoned. on the day of courcelette his body was found by the advancing infantry fifty yards from where he had been struck down. for the pioneers this kind of work must be done, day in and day out, or night in and night out, for weeks at a time. when the infantry is too exhausted by its efforts to make good the line, the pioneers must be called up to supplement their efforts. if a strong point has to be built, it is to the pioneers that the engineer officer will look to carry out his instructions, and in the achievement of all these tasks the pioneer battalions of the canadians have covered themselves with glory. it is now my duty to hand over to my successor. major charles g. d. roberts continues in vol. iii. of canada in france and flanders, for france has now given us the names of the somme and of vimy, the story of the autumn campaign of . i retire gladly in favour of one who has a real claim to literary and historical fame. the first and second volumes were the hasty product of one who was an amateur in the art of describing, but who, as an amateur, did his best. major roberts is a professional in the sphere of letters and of history, and therefore sets up a new and higher standard for the volumes which are to follow. in the sphere of letters he is well known throughout the empire for his stories of the life of the men and the denizens of the wild, through which there blows, like the breeze shaking the pine-trees in the snows, both the warm wind of romance and the cold breath of reality. his history of the dominion is equally familiar to all canadians who care to consult the past of their country. in his record of the great deeds of the canadian corps on the somme we shall find combined the two qualities which make letters last, the imagination which can convey to the future the agonies and heroisms of the past, and the chiselled style shaping the rough outlines of the records into a clean-cut and enduring narrative. beaverbrook. _cherkley_, . contents chapter i. the fourth division chapter ii. holding the link chapter iii. on the somme chapter iv. the sugar factory and courcelette chapter v. courcelette (_continued_) chapter vi. holding the new ground chapter vii. mouquet farm chapter viii. regina chapter ix. regina (_continued_) chapter x. desire trench appendix canada in flanders chapter i the fourth division in the first and second volumes of this history lord beaverbrook has told the war-story of canada from the mobilisation of the st canadian division at valcartier in august, , to the conclusion of our work in the ypres salient in june, . he has dealt progressively with from one to three divisions, bringing the second and third in turn into his narrative, recording the organisation of each as it came into being, and then co-ordinating its military exploits with the exploits of its sister divisions. during all that time the th canadian division was on its way. it was struggling into existence. its battalions were forming, training, being reduced to skeletons by the necessities of the veteran units in france, and recovering strength by the absorption of raw material. the th battalion was mobilised in the winter of , while the st division was still on salisbury plain; yet it was not until the autumn of that it reached france as a unit of the th canadian division. between the date of its mobilisation and that of its first contact with the enemy it supplied many drafts of officers and men to reserve and fighting battalions in england and france, and absorbed drafts of all ranks from junior units. it was so with all the infantry battalions which, in time, went to the composition of the new division, only to a lesser degree than in the case of the th. of the infantry brigades of this division only the th is of purely western origin, its battalions--the th, th, th, and th--having been recruited in winnipeg, southern saskatchewan, british columbia, and calgary respectively. these battalions had comprised the th (reserve) canadian infantry brigade during their period of training in england previous to the formation of the th division. the brigade sailed for france on august th, , and took a place in the front line for the first time twelve days later, when it relieved our th brigade in a section of our tortured defences before ypres. during the first five months of its active service the th was commanded by brigadier-general w. st. pierre hughes. on january th, , it was taken over by brigadier-general edward hilliam, d.s.o., late c.o. of the th battalion. the story of this brigade's offensive and defensive operations is to be found in subsequent chapters of this history incorporated in the general narrative of canadian activities. the th canadian infantry brigade, organised in may, , lost two of its original battalions in the following month, owing to the great and immediate need of reinforcements at the front in consequence of the bitter fighting of june in the ypres salient. these units were replaced by others; and when it commenced its actual war-service it consisted of the th from kootenay, the th from toronto, the th of montreal, and the nd of northern british columbia. this brigade was originally commanded by brigadier-general f. o. w. loomis, d.s.o., who had previously commanded a battalion of the st canadian division; but after major-general mercer was killed in action in june, the nd brigade contributed its g.o.c., major-general lipsett, to the rd division, loomis was recalled to france to take the nd brigade, and lieutenant-colonel v. w. odlum, d.s.o., of the th battalion, was promoted to the command of the th brigade and the rank of brigadier-general. the th canadian infantry brigade was organised from the th (reserve) brigade in may, with brigadier-general lord brooke in command. it originally consisted of the st, nd, rd, and th battalions, but in june twenty-four officers and more than seven hundred other ranks of the st were drafted to france, and their place in the brigade was filled by the th. the th was transferred to the th brigade. the final composition of the th brigade was as follows:-- th battalion of ottawa (its _personnel_ representing such well-known canadian militia regiments as the governor-general's foot guards, the duke of cornwall's own rifles, the brockville rifles, the lanark and renfrew regiment and the stormont and glengarry highlanders), the nd battalion of vancouver, the rd of montreal, and the th of winnipeg. shortly after its arrival in france the command of the th canadian infantry brigade was transferred to brigadier-general j. h. macbrien, d.s.o. from the date of its organisation the th canadian division has been commanded by major-general david watson, c.b. this division has been fortunate from the first in the matter of the _personnel_ of its higher commands and senior appointments. major-general watson commenced his military service in this war in august, , as a lieutenant-colonel. he did splendid work with his battalion--the nd (central ontario)--during the second battle of ypres and until he was promoted to the command of the th brigade in the autumn of . brigadier-general edward hilliam, who took over the command of the th brigade in january, , has had a career of distinguished activity since the first day of canada's military participation in the war. as a captain of the th battalion he was wounded at gravenstafel ridge on april th, , while engaged on a service of exceptional danger and importance. the story is told in vol. i. of this history. after months more of hard service with the th, and a step in rank, he was promoted lieutenant-colonel and transferred to the th (nova scotia) battalion. his success continued unfalteringly with his new command, as the splendid work of the nova scotians at courcelette on september th, , has proved to the world. brigadier-general loomis, who commanded the th brigade for a time in england, is another survivor of the second battle of ypres. his original battalion was the th royal highlanders of canada. from the th brigade he was recalled to france in june, , to command the nd brigade. his brigade-major, captain gardner, a veteran of the th battalion, returned to france at the same time and took over the th from lieutenant-colonel odlum, who was appointed to the command of the th brigade. brigadier-general v. w. odlum, d.s.o., before his promotion to a brigade had commanded the th (british columbia) battalion at the front since the death of lieutenant-colonel hart-mcharg in april, . to those who know, this statement sufficiently explains odlum's fitness for any fighting command. brigadier-general j. h. macbrien, commanding the th brigade, was at one time d.a.a. and o.m.g. of the st canadian division, and in recognition of his services in this capacity he was mentioned in despatches and made a companion of the distinguished service order. he was afterwards promoted to the general staff of the canadian corps. lieutenant-colonel w. e. ironsides, d.s.o., major k. d. b. murray, d.s.o., and captain a. a. aitken, general staff officers, first, second, and third grade of the division, all have served actively on one or more of britain's fighting fronts since the first days of the war. captain r. m. redmond was drawn from the casualty centre after he had seen service with the th battalion of the rd division. all other officers of the divisional staff had seen previous service in france, and a number of them had been decorated for their good work. by hard work or hard fighting lieutenant-colonel e. b. panet, colonel h. a. chisholm, and captain f. r. burnside had won the d.s.o., and captain meurling and hon. major the reverend a. m. gordon the military cross, long before the materialisation of the th canadian division. the rd canadian divisional artillery, which was organised and trained in england during the spring and summer of , and went to france with the th division, consists of the th, th, th, and th canadian artillery brigades and the divisional artillery ammunition column. the batteries and sections of which this force was formed came originally from almost every corner of canada, north and south, east and west. for a time the brigades were composed as follows:--the th, of the th, st, th, and st field batteries; the th, of the nd, rd, th, and th field batteries; the th, of the th, th, th, and th field batteries; and the th (howitzer) brigade of the th, th, th, and rd howitzer batteries. this organisation was not satisfactory. the th (howitzer) battery was left with the th brigade, and to it were added the st, th, and th field batteries. to replace these field batteries in the other brigades the th (howitzer) battery went to the th, the th to the th, and the rd to the th. thus each brigade was composed of three field batteries and one howitzer battery. the th brigade, canadian field artillery, which was brought from canada to england by lieutenant-colonel gillies, passed into the hands of lieutenant-colonel d. t. v. eaton, of the royal canadian horse artillery, on march th, . eaton had commanded the r.c.h.a. with our st division in france in . he is a professional as well as a practical artillery officer, with years of theoretical and scientific study behind his experience in the field. the command of the th brigade, c.f.a., went to lieutenant-colonel h. g. carscallen, who had long ago been mentioned in despatches for his work at the front with the th battery; that of the th to lieutenant-colonel g. h. ralston, who distinguished himself as far back as june, , at the "duck's bill," when two guns of his battery were established and fought in our front-line trench, seventy-five yards distant from the german trench, with disastrous results to the enemy's wire, parapets, and machine-gun emplacements (see vol. i., p. ). lieutenant-colonel a. g. macnaughton, late of the nd brigade, c.f.a., was appointed to the th brigade. these four brigades and their ammunition column went to france under the command of brigadier-general j. h. mitchell, late of the rd brigade, c.f.a. this officer had been mentioned in despatches and awarded the legion of honour, croix d'officier, a year before. the th canadian division went to france in august, , the th infantry brigade arriving on the th, the th brigade on the th, and the th brigade on the th. on the th they assembled, and within the week were moved into positions on the war-torn front of the ypres salient. there they remained until the first week in october, when they joined the canadian corps on the somme. during their occupation of the ypres salient each of the three brigades was withdrawn in turn for a course of tactical training. so it was that the autumn of saw the canadian army in france flooding to and beyond the one hundred thousand mark. four divisions, according to the old establishment, which gave twenty-two thousand men of all ranks and arms to a division, would account for eighty-eight thousand canadians in france at that time, but the development of the machine-gun service and the creation of trench-mortar batteries long ago caused the outgrowth and consequent revision of that establishment. and still, without the addition of a further division, the canadian army corps continued to grow, waxing greater daily to meet every progressive need and condition of modern warfare. by january, , canada's man-power in france reached the significant total of one hundred and twelve thousand. this figure takes no account of the wastage of battle. the seriously wounded and work-worn who are returned to england are, like the dead, immediately struck out of the tally. this figure stands for fit canadians actively employed at the moment in first-hand combat with the enemy. in the past, great battles have been won and long wars brought to a swift and violent end, tyrants have been broken, races enslaved, and thrones overturned by armies far weaker in numbers and in spirit than these fighting legions of canada. to enforce the significance of this canadian field army of , , we may compare the numbers engaged in some of the decisive battles of the past. the army of napoleon, for instance, numbered but , men when he broke the power of austria and russia at austerlitz. wellington won the crushing victory of vittoria, in the peninsular war. with a force of , ; and at waterloo he commanded rather less than , . the terrific battle of gettysburg, in the american civil war, was fought by , federals against the slightly smaller forces of the southern confederacy. even at the great battle of sedan, which decided the issue of the franco-prussian war in , the army of france, on which all her hopes were staked--and lost--numbered but , . from such figures may be estimated the importance of canada's contribution in the present gigantic struggle for liberty and right. in the summer of canada was a land of peace, of self-interest, of political warfare, and commercial and agricultural prosperity; and now her thousands lie dead on foreign battlefields; thousands of her sons have returned to her, maimed, broken, and blind; her forward army fights on, continually bleeding yet continually growing in strength, reinforced from her trained troops in england; and to her own home camps and garrisons her sons continue to gather from counting-house, school, and farm. chapter ii holding the line the battle of sanctuary wood was fought and endured throughout the first two days of june, . canada's resistance to that terrific and overwhelming onslaught of metal and men will live as long and gloriously as any victory in the great story of our arms. during those two fateful days canadian trenches were obliterated--blown out of the ground; dug-outs were buried and strong points crushed; woods in our positions were mown and torn to earth; major-general mercer was killed and one of our brigade commanders wounded and taken prisoner. the canadian front was crushed by that indescribable deluge of exploding metal--but it was not broken. between the heroic actions in the ypres salient in june ( st to th) and the commencement of our strenuous thrusts on the somme front in mid-september, no unit of the canadian corps was in any major offensive operation. but the routine work of holding and strengthening our positions continued with the full measure of that activity for which the canadians have become famous. the vitality of our opposition to the confronting masses of men and machinery did not lessen for an instant. relieved from the recent terrific efforts of defence and counter-attack, we were stationary yet aggressive. hostile trenches and strongholds were raided and bombarded, wire was cut by hand and smashed by shell-fire, and mines were sprung. all arms continued to carry on enthusiastically, and the mental peace and physical security of the occupants of opposing positions were shattered constantly by bayonet and grenade, trench-bomb, bullet, and shell. the following instances will serve to illustrate the nature of our activities throughout this period of waiting, of preparation, and of so-called quiet. dominion day (july st) was celebrated by the th (new brunswick) battalion in a manner little appreciated by the grey ranks across the way. supported by the fire of our artillery and trench-mortars, two officers and twenty-five other ranks operated against a convenient point in the german front-line trench. the assaulting party were observed and subjected to a brisk but inaccurate fire of machine-guns and rifles before they had passed the enemy's inner wire. they pressed forward without a pause and rushed the parapet. the garrison of the trench immediately retired from this threatened point except for three men, who stuck to their loopholes and continued firing. lieutenant fleming accounted for one of these by thrusting his revolver into a loophole and returning the fire. the trench was then entered and its remaining defenders disposed of. after our party had investigated about forty yards of the trench they were driven out by a heavy bombardment of rifle-grenades and mortar-bombs. they then returned to our own lines with a few slight casualties, some useful information, and a quantity of german equipment. an encounter in no man's land between a patrol of the nd (french canadian) battalion and a german patrol on the night of july th resulted in the dispersion of the enemy and our capture of two prisoners. ten nights later a reconnoitring patrol from the th (nova scotia) battalion attacked an enemy listening-post at the moment of its being strongly reinforced. after a brisk exchange of grenades the germans ran for their trench, leaving the field and one of their wounded to us. on the night of the th a large german mine was blown in our lines on the bluff. this was not the enemy's first attempt to possess himself of that advantageous position. it will be remembered that he attained his object in january of the same year and was not driven out until a month later, and then only at a heavy cost of killed and wounded. fortunately the second attempt to secure a foothold on that ground failed utterly, thanks to the alertness and prompt action of our troops immediately concerned. briefly, the story of the foiled effort is this:-- the st canadian division, which had taken over the bluff sector on the nd of the month, received warning two days later from major north, of the st canadian tunnelling company, that the enemy might be depended upon to blow a mine very soon somewhere in the vicinity. the localities which were considered with the liveliest suspicion were a point known as the bean and trench . the division immediately warned the nd infantry brigade of the menace; the g.o.c. the brigade ordered reductions in the garrisons of the threatened positions, the covering of that section of front by machine-guns, and the detailing of parties for counter-attack and of other parties for the vital work of consolidation should a mine be blown. the early hours of the night of the th were unusually quiet about the bluff. artillery was silent. snipers and machine-gunners seemed half-hearted in their activities. the th (british columbia) battalion was engaged in preparing for a relief which was to be completed by midnight. at ten o'clock the quiet was shattered by a tremendous convulsion. earth, fire, rock, and smoke belched to heaven. trenches vanished, engulfed. instantly the s.o.s. rocket went up. our machine-guns responded like crackling echoes of the explosion. within thirty seconds of the rocket-signal for help the guns of dodd's group commenced a crushing bombardment of the german positions which threatened the new crater. our counter-attacking parties advanced, armed with rifles, grenades, and machine-guns. they occupied the forward lip of the crater, the flanking shell-holes overlooking its raw depths, certain points commanding the canal, and a ridge running between an historic old crater and the new. the germans, reinforced and ready for the dash from cover and the occupation of the crater swarmed to their parapets, and swayed and seethed there for a little while like a headed wave about to break and flood forward. then the wave broke and subsided--backward instead of forward. the great attack was dead, dead in the first half-minute of its furious and painful life, killed by the smashing fire of our artillery and the whipping hail of our machine-guns. within one and a half hours of the blowing of the mine the o.c. the th battalion reported to his brigadier that the menace was past, and that the new crater was being swiftly absorbed by our defensive positions. our artillery reduced its fire by one-half. five minutes later the german artillery retaliation ceased, the fire of our machine-guns and artillery dropped to normal, and the relief of our infantry--which had been interrupted and delayed for nearly two hours--was calmly continued. owing to the precaution of thinning the garrisons in the threatened locality, our casualties were wonderfully light--less than fifty all told in killed, wounded, and missing. it is safe to say that the enemy casualties, caused by our artillery, machine-guns, stokes and trench-mortar batteries, were much heavier; and, in addition to their loss of life and limb, the germans lost their adventure. the months of toil devoted to the laying of the mine and the tons of explosive which comprised it failed to strengthen their position by a tittle or to weaken ours by a jot. on the night of the th a patrol from the nova scotian battalion ( th), consisting of a lieutenant, a sergeant, and four men, carried out a daring raid on a small scale. they bombed the german trench at the point where they intended to enter, and were about to negotiate the parapet when a party of eight enemy bombers attacked them on the flank. in the brief but desperate fight which followed this unexpected distraction three of the canadians were wounded and the eight germans were disposed of. lieutenant wise, with sergeant anderson and private johnson, then entered the hostile trench and discovered that their preliminary grenade-fire had killed five of the garrison. they drove the enemy down the trench, until anderson was wounded. lieutenant wise ceased his offensive to help the sergeant over the parapet, and while thus engaged he received three wounds. johnson continued to drive the enemy until all his grenades were thrown. he then escaped from the trench, returned to our lines, collected a rescue party, and led the way back to the scene of action. all our wounded were found and brought in with the exception of sergeant anderson. at half-past eight on the morning of the th the th (ontario) battalion made a daylight raid into the enemy trenches on the st. eloi front between ruined farm and the canal. two officers and the scouts of the battalion had devoted every day and night of the preceding week to reconnoitring the ground over which the attack was to be made. during the night of the th the enemy's wire in front of the point selected for entry was hand-cut by two men of the battalion. machine-gun fire on the hostile parapet at the threatened point muffled the sound of the clipping of the wire. the raiding party, consisting of captain c. l. kilmer lieutenant h. b. pepler, and eighteen n.c.o.'s and men, covered three-quarters of their journey between the lines by way of an old ditch, doubled across the remaining forty-five yards, passed through the gaps in the wire, and went over the parapet before they were discovered by the enemy. they moved to the right and left along the trench, shooting and bombing. upon the approach of strong german reinforcements along a communication trench, the signal to retire was given and successfully obeyed. during the evacuation of the trench the raiders suffered a few slight casualties from grenade-fire, and the two officers and a sergeant sustained shrapnel wounds. captain kilmer was the last to leave the trench. one of his ankles had been broken in the fight. as he was unable to reach our lines unassisted, and unwilling to delay the retirement, he crawled into a shell-hole situated about eight yards in front of the german wire. he was rescued from this insecure retreat by lieutenant burnham, corporal wilson, and private newton, who, covered by an accurate barrage from the guns of stewart's group, moved out to the shell-hole and back to our lines under a heavy fire of machine-guns and rifles. in this, the first of our daylight raids, no prisoners were taken. the action was too swift and the encounters were too violent to permit of the removal of a single living hun; but the operation was highly successful. the occupants of the trench were identified as the royal württembergers; valuable information of a technical nature was obtained; two machine-guns were put out of action and other machine-gun and trench-mortar emplacements located; many of the garrison of the trench were shot, and four large dug-outs, crowded with men, were effectively bombed; and it is reasonable to suppose that the casualties inflicted by our artillery were severe. lieutenant h. r. dillon, canadian field artillery, who acted as forward observation officer throughout the operation, did splendid service, especially during the rescue of captain kilmer, when he stood fully exposed in no man's land at a point within forty yards of the german trench, and from there directed the fire of his battery. lieutenant hooper, of the th battalion, whose active command during the raid included a lewis gun, snipers, and a telephonist, also did fine work. on the night of august th- th the th (city of winnipeg) battalion sent a raiding party into the enemy trenches opposite their front, with the usual objects of obtaining prisoners and information and inflicting casualties. this raid was daringly executed; but the fighting in the trench was so severe that no prisoners were taken. lieutenant harris was wounded while carrying a wounded german toward the point of entry. two unwounded germans were caught, but owing to their struggles and the depth of the trench the efforts of their captors to expel them over the parapet were ineffectual. eight nights later lieutenant clarkson of this same battalion led another party into the enemy's lines and succeeded in bringing out a prisoner. the garrison of the invaded trench suffered heavily. of clarkson's party only one man was wounded. a party from the th (north-west) battalion, supported by the artillery of stuart's group, our trench-mortars, and stokes guns, entered the enemy's trenches in the neighbourhood of ruined farm on the night of august th- th. lieutenant t. l. o. williams, who commanded the raiders, was wounded. the enemy and his trenches were severely knocked about and a prisoner was brought back. a dummy raid on the hostile positions at the hollandscheschuur farm and quarante wood salients was successfully practised by dodd's group, c.f.a., and the th (ontario) battalion in the early hours of august th. the object of this long-headed enterprise was to draw the germans in force into their front-line trenches and there drub them thoroughly with the combined fire of our field batteries, stokes guns, and machine-guns. at . a.m. three white flares were sent up from our lines, and at the same time the enemy's entanglements were violently shaken by means of strong wires which connected them with our forward positions. the germans immediately took alarm and subjected their own entanglements to a heavy grenade bombardment along the whole front from the quarante wood to the chemin de poperinghe. our artillery and stokes guns then opened heavily and accurately on selected targets on the enemy front and support trenches. the germans promptly attempted a retaliation with the fire of a five-point-nine battery; but as their first two shells fell in their own lines at the farm, the third in no man's land, and the next thirty-seven on various points behind and in their own defences, they soon became discouraged. in addition to the casualties and material damage inflicted by our fire, the enemy must have suffered heavily from the erratic performance of his own five-point nines. on the th a new strong point in the system of enemy trenches known as "the loop," in sanctuary wood, about two thousand yards east of zillebeke, was subjected to a concentrated bombardment by our -inch howitzers and partially destroyed. to complete its destruction the bombardment was resumed during the night of the th and th, and under cover of this bombardment a raid was undertaken by a party from the royal canadian regiment against an advanced trench sector and bombing post in the immediate neighbourhood of "the loop." the idea was to take the enemy by surprise while their attention was occupied by the bombardment, and to capture prisoners. in both these respects, however, the operation was a failure, as the germans were found fully prepared and "standing to," with the post heavily manned, and not only were no prisoners taken, but not one of our men succeeded in getting into the trench. the affair was memorable, however, for the amazing courage and audacity with which it was pushed, in the teeth of overwhelming and ready numbers, and for the resourcefulness and heroic devotion with which the three officers--lieutenant bole, leader of the raiding party, and lieutenants churchill and munn, who had come to his assistance--succeeded in bringing all the wounded back to our lines. it was remarkable, too, for the slaughter inflicted in the crowded trench by this greatly daring handful of raiders. the raiding party consisted of sixteen n.c.o.'s and men under lieutenant bole. a gap was blown in the enemy wire by the explosion of an ammonal tube. immediately lieutenant bole, who had gathered his men at the head of the sap running outward from our front line, led the way through the broken wire in the hope of gaining the position in one rush. they were met, however, by a storm of bombs and machine-gun fire, and fell rapidly. but even the wounded, if not utterly disabled, kept on hurling their bombs. lance-corporal reynolds, though already hit, succeeded in reaching the enemy's parapet and delivering all his bombs with deadly effect among the packed ranks. then, finding himself alone, he withdrew, and dropped, with two more wounds, a few yards back from the parapet. by this time every member of the party was down except lieutenant bole, who occupied himself calmly with the task of rescuing his wounded. lieutenant churchill came to his aid in this, while lieutenant munn, taking his lewis gun out into no man's land, played it along the enemy's parapet to keep down their fire. under cover of this gun, and of a trench-mortar barrage which was presently dropped along the trench, lieutenant bole got all his wounded, one by one, back through the sap and into our lines. and so the affair ended--not, indeed, with success, but with great distinction for all concerned, and with the consolation of having exacted a heavy toll in german lives. it may be in place here to give an interesting instance of the work that was being done by our tunnelling companies--work calling for not only great courage and devotion, but also the highest technical skill and resource. the work of a tunnelling company at the front is like a duel with knives in a dark room, where one may feel at any moment the stealthy adversary's knife in one's back. the tunnellers' ears, nerves, and intuition are ceaselessly on the strain. and just when he has successfully mined his opponents and is about to blow them up, he may be counter-mined himself and hurled into eternity. at the position known as "the bluff," overlooking the canal, a mine had been blown by the enemy on july th, forming a new crater of which we had at once taken possession. by the explosion a lip was formed on the east side of the crater, which was capable of being transformed into an extremely strong position. but it was impossible to work on this position with any degree of safety, as it was certain that the enemy's gallery, from which he had laid the mine, ran somewhere beneath the lip, and was occupied. any work we should attempt on the position would inevitably be heard in the gallery and could be frustrated, disastrously for us, by the explosion of another mine. it was decided to try to tunnel into the gallery from another direction. bore-holes, therefore, were driven in the supposed direction of the gallery, in the hope of being able to locate it exactly by listening. in this the borers were so successful that they came upon the gallery before they expected to. the enemy made them aware of their success by exploding a charge beneath the bore-holes, killing three of our men and injuring others. from this, however, it was obvious that the main charge was not yet laid in the gallery. plans were therefore made at once for endeavouring to sap into the gallery from no man's land and blow it in, so as to cut it off at some distance from the crater, and thus, if possible, gain the crater end of it for our own use. in order to begin the work far out in no man's land it was absolutely necessary to obtain some cover there, and cover of such a nature that the enemy should not recognise its purpose. the problem might well have seemed an insurmountable one; but major north, o.c. st tunnelling company, canadian engineers, solved it successfully, outwitting the germans by an ingenious ruse. in the words of the official report:--"one hundred pounds of ammonal were taken over the parapet, and, after a rather difficult reconnaissance, were placed about fifty feet in front of the new crater.... this charge was wired back to _thames street_. in co-operation with the th battalion, two -pound trench-mortars were fired at the german line in front at a prearranged time, and at one minute interval. a minute later our charge was exploded, and after another minute another trench-mortar was fired, the object being to make the enemy believe that our charge was a trench-mortar fallen short. this charge made a crater about ft. deep and about ft. in diameter, breaking the tough surface layer of roots and gravel. we entered the crater immediately after it was blown, placed another charge of pounds of ammonal, and blew it. the next night we entered the crater, finding it about ft. deep and about ft. in diameter." from this effective cover our boring went on unsuspected, and a number of charges were laid in different bore-holes close to where the gallery was judged to run. when these were simultaneously exploded our calculations were proved correct. a sector of the gallery was found completely wrecked, effectually cutting the communications, and we entered into possession of the undamaged portion, about ft. in length, extending up into the new crater. we thus secured a valuable post of vantage from which to conduct other mining operations, and the crater was consolidated into a strong point of considerable importance to our line. by these and many similar small operations the enemy were kept at a tension and subjected to continual harassing annoyance; and our own men were encouraged and stimulated while perfecting themselves in the art of modern war. chapter iii on the somme it is around the part played by the canadian forces in the gigantic and long-drawn-out struggle known as "the battle of the somme" that the interest of this third volume of our records must centre. the operations which began, on july st, , with the ponderous thrusts of the british and french armies from before albert and bray, and ended with the capture of bapaume and peronne on march th and th, , constituted, according to the nomenclature of war before these days of armageddon, not one battle, indeed, but a campaign of many great battles. in this war, however, all is on a scale so colossal that standards and terms of comparison have to be enlarged in due proportion. all that unparalleled outpouring of agony and splendour, of sacrifice and endurance, of heroism and destruction, which the germans have so poignantly--and significantly--designated as "the blood-baths of the somme," may be taken as one battle, a battle in whose vast rhythm the old values of hours and days are supplanted by weeks and months. yet never before in the world's history was there a battle in which minutes have been held so priceless, the seconds themselves so reckoned upon with meticulous precision. to present an adequate picture of the battle as a whole, or even of the specific part played in it by this or that particular corps, is a task that will tax the powers of the inspired historian, viewing the great subject at such a distance that he can see it as a whole and in its true perspective. he will need to be a new thucydides, equipped, not only with grasp and vision, but also with mastery of the magic of words. and even so, the story will never be half told. men will continue digging into the records and unofficial accounts as an inexhaustible mine, forever discovering new jewels of wonder and terror and pity. the utmost that can be attempted in this unpretending narrative is to set down the salient facts as to the achievements of our own divisions, with such detail as can be sifted out, more or less at hazard, while the dust of the stupendous conflict is still in the air. on september st the canadians began to move from their sector of comparative calm toward the vortex of the gigantic struggle, which was at this period raging with special fury around mouquet farm and over the blood-soaked undulations between pozières, courcelette, and martinpuich. the quality of our troops, and the estimation in which they were held by the higher command, may be judged by the fact of their being allotted to this vital area, which included the key positions on the direct road to bapaume. how they justified this confidence, and at what a cost, the sequel will show. the st canadian division, general currie's veterans of ypres, was the first to move south, and its headquarters were shifted to rubempré, a few kilometres due west from shell-torn albert. on the rd we find certain battalions supporting the australians at tom's cut; and by the th the whole division had moved up through albert and out along the bapaume road into the stress of the conflict, taking over from the th australian division under heavy shell-fire, a hotly-contested line of trenches running from a little behind mouquet farm to the junction of munster alley with cameron and highland trenches, about a mile to the south of courcelette. on the following day the headquarters of the division were transferred from rubempré to the precarious shelters and dug-outs of tara mill, on the bapaume road, near the grim collections of calcined rubble which had been la boiselle and ovillers. on the th the st canadian divisional artillery arrived, and took over from the nd australian divisional artillery in support of general currie's line. all the time, from the moment of their arrival, our troops were kept under a very destructive bombardment from . , -inch, and -inch guns, the enemy hoping thus to shake their morale before they could get settled into their new positions; and the communication trenches were so effectively blotted out that the front line could only be reached by going overland. the relief was no more than satisfactorily completed when the war-worn old division was given a chance to show that its mettle had not deteriorated in the transfer from "the salient" to the somme. in the early morning of the th an exposed section of our front trench, about seventy-five yards in extent, held by lieutenant g. b. murray, of the th battalion, with lieutenant b. l. cook and twenty-four other ranks under his command, was attacked with the bayonet by some two hundred of the enemy, who succeeded at the first rush in forcing their way into the position. the little party of defenders, however, held their ground with bomb, rifle, and cold steel till reinforcements came up, whereupon the assailants were expelled with heavy loss. on the following day came the opportunity which the tried and seasoned division was waiting for. but it came to one battalion only--the "fighting second" from eastern ontario, commanded by lieutenant-colonel a. e. swift, d.s.o. at exactly twenty-five minutes past one in the afternoon of september th, the nd battalion relieved the th along the sector of trench, on the right of the canadian position, from which the attack was to be made. some yards to the front, south-east of the windmill on bapaume road and near the northern extension of the trench called walker avenue, was a blunt salient of german trench, yards or so of it, which was strongly held and proving a thorn in our side. it hung doggedly and defiantly athwart our plans for the advance on courcelette, a mile away to the north. it was this blunt salient that the "fighting second" had been appointed to bite off in order to clear the way for greater enterprises. at a quarter to five precisely the first wave of our attack went over the parapet behind an intense barrage from all our guns. the first three companies of the battalion only were engaged in the attack, no. company being held in reserve close by, in luxton trench and walker avenue. in spite of the punishment which the germans had been receiving from our barrage, the assaulting wave encountered a sturdy resistance when it reached its objective, and for a few minutes the enemy trench was a pandemonium of savage hand-to-hand struggles with bomb and bayonet. it was a reversion to the ancient form of individual fighting, when great issues so often hung upon the personal prowess of this or that one hero. in this mad encounter individual heroism was too universal to admit of particularisation, but the exploit of corporal clarke lifts itself into prominence even in that splendid company. attacking with a squad of bombers on the extreme left of the wave, he jumped into the trench and found himself alone among a swarm of extremely lively and unsubdued germans. with the remainder of his bombs he cleared a way for himself. then with his revolver he accounted for eighteen opponents, two of them being officers, and found himself undisputed master of two bays of the trench. even more splendid, perhaps, by reason of its self-sacrificing devotion, was the action of lieutenant pringle. leading his platoon against the centre of the enemy's line, he caught sight of a machine-gun hurriedly being mounted on the parapet in such a position that it would be able to wipe out his platoon. pushing forward at top speed through the storm of shell and bullets, he threw himself single-handed upon the gun-crew before they could get their deadly weapon into action. it never came into action. his men, following close behind, found his body sprawled across the muzzle of the gun, with the crew lying dead around him. along the rest of the sector the fighting fervour of our men was not to be denied, and the survivors of the enemy presently flung up their hands. in just twenty-two minutes from the beginning of the assault the whole objective was in our hands, prisoners had been gathered in, and the second, or consolidating, wave of the attack was settling itself to the task of making secure the captured position, reversing parapets and firing-step, and commencing new communication trenches back to the old line under the continuing shelter of our barrage. in the meantime, the assaulting wave, taking their lewis guns with them, moved on and occupied a strong line of shell-holes in front of the trench, while the bombing parties, in the face of desperate opposition, fought their way along the trench and established their blocks some sixty yards to either flank. the price of this victory was two officers killed--lieutenant pringle and lieutenant stuart--and nine wounded, the wounds of three--major williams, major a. e. mclaughlin, and lieutenant bishop--later proving fatal; and of other ranks killed and wounded. in view of the narrow frontage involved in the attack and the small number of troops engaged, this operation must, of course, be classed as a minor one. but by reason of its soundness of conception, the precision and completeness of its execution, and the importance of its bearing upon our enterprise against courcelette a few days later, it takes rank with affairs of much greater magnitude and renown. it reflects unbounded credit upon the commanding officer colonel swift, whose operation orders were remarkable for their clarity, foresight, and exactness of detail, and upon his second-in-command, major vanderwater, who led the attack and carried out those orders with such accuracy. the battalion was congratulated by general plunier, the army commander, on the following day in terms of unusual commendation. in the meantime, the nd and rd canadian divisions, following hard upon the heels of the st, had moved down from the north to rubempré and la plouy, close behind the battle area. on the th major-general turner, v.c., c.b., d.s.o., commanding the nd division, transferred his headquarters to tara hill, and assumed command of the sector which had been so ably controlled by general currie since the th. throughout the nights of the th and th the nd division was occupied in relieving the st division, the relief being carried out under extremely trying conditions and at the cost of a good many casualties; for not only the line to be relieved, but all the stripped and tortured waste behind it, was swept by an unceasing storm from the german gun positions across the ancre and around pys and warlencourt. our communication trenches in many places had been pounded out of existence and landmarks obliterated, with the consequence that some platoons went astray in the darkness and the bewildering uproar, and were hours late in reaching their allotted sectors of trench. moreover, along with their shrapnel and high explosive, the enemy were sending over many gas and tear shells, which added greatly to the strain of the situation. but the nerve of our battalions refused to be shaken by this stern ordeal. there was no going back, no wavering. by the morning of the th the relief had been completed, and our lines were held by fresh units keen for the test which was already being prepared for them. on this day the st division went into rest camp at rubempré, and the rd division, under major-general l. g. lipsett, c.m.g., moved up to usna hill, their arrival being greeted that same night by a furious attack from the germans at mouquet farm. the brunt of this attack was borne by the nd battalion of the canadian mounted rifles. the assaulting waves were hurled back upon their entrenchments after heavy punishment by our machine-guns and stokes trench-mortars. and now we come to courcelette--and write the name in capital letters, as it is one of the shining names in the story of canadian valour. the storming of that heap of ruins which had once been a sunny picardian village nestling amid its orchards was an achievement which must make its day--september th, --for ever memorable in canadian history. of course, as the men who fought and won at courcelette would be the first to protest, the action, splendid as it was, does not stand in the same category with the second battle of ypres. it is necessary, in writing of it, not to let one's sense of proportion be obscured by its brilliancy and completeness. in the final analysis it will show as a great operation perfectly planned, and executed with a courage, swiftness, and thoroughness calling for the highest praise. even so, it constitutes but a single stride in the great advance known as the battle of the somme. had it failed, the result would not have been disaster to the somme operations as a whole, but merely a costly, and perhaps depressing, postponement. the second battle of ypres, on the other hand, belongs not to canada and the empire alone, but to the world. it must rank among those few outstanding achievements of uncalculated and self-sacrificing heroism which serve as an incentive to noble spirits for all time. there was that of the miraculous about it which startles and grips the imagination. there was that mingling of high tragedy and terror and devotion which purges national pride to the purest patriotism. it tore victory--men hardly know how to this day--from the jaws of overwhelming and seemingly inevitable defeat; and had it failed, who can set a limit to the catastrophe that might well have followed? finally, at the second battle of ypres a young nation came suddenly to full manhood through a well-nigh unparalleled initiation of blood and splendour and tears. it is right that the name of ypres should stand apart, and its imperishable glory not be infringed upon when allotting their meed of praise to other notable operations of the canadian forces. the capture of courcelette was the pre-eminent achievement of the canadians during the year . the glory of it belongs to the nd canadian division, which, under happy augury, fought the battle on the anniversary of its arrival in france. the division was highly trained and well seasoned to war by a year of strenuous duty in the tormented area of "the salient." it had learned all the lessons of endurance and defence in the engulfing mud of flanders, in the holding of shattered trenches against unrelenting shell-fire and obstinate assault. it had played its part with distinction in the grim struggles around st. eloi and hooge. when, therefore, it was selected by sir julian byng the g.o.c. the canadian corps, for the great thrust against courcelette, the general felt that he was employing a weapon of tried keenness and temper which could be depended upon neither to turn nor to break in his hand. the result, as will be seen, more than amply justified his confidence. [illustration: map--courcelette sept. th to oct. rd (incl.) ] the capture of courcelette, it must be borne in mind, was not an isolated operation. it was an enterprise carried out by the canadian corps in conjunction with an attack by our fourth army, and by the french army operating on our right, south of the somme. the battle was fought in two distinct actions, one in the early morning by the th and th brigades, the other in the late afternoon and evening by the th brigade. the first, properly speaking, was the action planned for the day, its objective being the capture of the formidable defences known as sugar trench and the sugar factory, which barred the way to courcelette itself. it was, indeed, an ample undertaking for one day; but the success of the attack was so swift and overwhelming, and our troops so straining on the leash, that it was decided to thrust on again at once for the greater prize without giving the dishevelled adversary time to recover. the second, and major, portion of the operation, therefore, may be regarded as an improvisation on the battlefield. at . in the afternoon the order came for the th brigade, which had been held in reserve during the morning advance, to take courcelette that same day. brief as was the notice, within two hours the new operation orders had been issued, and officers and n.c.o.'s fully instructed as to their individual duties. at . a.m. the barrage lifted and the attacking battalions "went over." before . p.m. the whole of courcelette, with some , prisoners and much booty, was in our hands, and the position was being consolidated. the second phase of the operation, though planned out with such haste, had worked no less smoothly and according to schedule than the first, and had resulted in a success no less decisive. all through the night, and for several days thereafter, the germans strove, by furious shelling and desperate counter-attacks, to regain the stronghold from which they had been so precipitately expelled. but our troops proved no less dogged in holding on than they had been dashing in attack, and all the enemy's efforts to retrieve his loss resulted only in further loss of ground and further punishment. an added interest attaches to the action against courcelette from the fact that in this engagement appeared for the first time those amazing engines of war known as the "tanks." the cold official designation of these monsters is simply "heavy machine-gun battery." but tommy atkins, with his fine sense of the fitness of things and his gift for apt nomenclature, could not possibly leave this most daringly original offspring of our military inventiveness to labour under so commonplace a designation. he took this uncouth but invincible ally to his heart at once, and in humorous appreciation christened it a "tank." and a tank the amazing creation will remain, except for the purpose of some formal official documents. how effectively the tanks played their novel _rôle_ in the fight for courcelette will appear in succeeding chapters in course of the detailed account of the individual units involved. suffice it to say here that the high opinion formed on this, their first appearance, as to the fighting value of this new engine of attack has been more than justified by its later performances, which have confounded the jeers of the pessimist and the sceptic. chapter iv the sugar factory and courcelette when the canadians came up to join the struggle on the somme, they arrived under happy auspices. there was a sense of victory in the air. this is not less true literally than as a figure of speech; for on every hand the clear sky of early autumn in picardy was dotted by our stationary observation balloons, and threaded by our darting 'planes, which scouted confidently far over the enemy lines or methodically registered for the massed ranks of our guns. just at this period the supremacy of our air service was hardly ever disputed. the german 'planes rarely explored beyond our lines, and the german "sausages" seldom ventured aloft, having learned that such a venture was equivalent to speedy suicide. moreover, here on the somme front our battalions realised at once that, upon whatsoever hard undertaking they might be launched, they would have the support of an overmastering weight of artillery. shell-fire, however murderous, loses half its effect upon the men's spirit when they feel that what they are enduring is mild compared to the avalanche of destruction which their own batteries, close behind them, are at the same moment letting loose upon the enemy. altogether it was a tonic change for our battalions, after their long gruelling in "the salient," where at times they had felt themselves in much the position of the toad under the harrow, ground down into the flanders mire by bombardments from three sides at once, and ceaselessly overlooked by an adversary holding superior positions. here at last they marched up into the fight over ground wrenched from the enemy in spite of his most deliberate and desperate efforts to hold on to it. here they felt that they would have a chance to "get a bit of their own back"--and, as the event will show, they got it, full measure and running over. the terrain over which the attack was to be made is a gently undulating expanse of farm lands stripped naked by the incessant storm of shell-fire and closely pitted with shell-holes and craters. of grass or herbage not a blade remained, of trees but here and there a bald and riven stump. dividing this unspeakable waste runs the straight highway from albert to bapaume, thick strung with ruined, or rather obliterated, villages. of these the most advanced in our possession was pozières, with the great road running directly through it. a mile and a half further on the road runs midway between the twin villages of courcelette (on the left) and martinpuich (on the right), which lie about three-quarters of a mile apart. a little nearer our line, and flush with the left of the road--just about a mile from the eastern limit of pozières--stood a mass of partly demolished brick buildings which had been a great sugar factory, and now, heavily entrenched and fortified by all the arts of the german engineers, constituted the most formidable outpost of courcelette as well as an important flank defence to the position of martinpuich. from the western extremity of martinpuich a strong trench known as candy trench ran north-west to the bapaume road, skirted the west side of the sugar factory, continued in the same direction for a couple of hundred yards past that stronghold, and joined, at right angles, another deeply entrenched and strongly held line called sugar trench, which ran south-west for a distance of about twelve hundred yards and ended at mcdonnell road, a second-class thoroughfare almost parallel to the bapaume highway. it was these two great trenches, each nearly three-quarters of a mile in length, forming two sides of a triangle with the sugar factory fort in the apex, which constituted the grand obstacle to any advance on courcelette itself. it was an obstacle of the first order, lavishly supported by bombing and machine-gun posts, its flanks fully guarded by trench-works outside of martinpuich and along mcdonnell road. such and so formidable was the objective which the nd division set itself out to gain on that memorable morning of the th. the troops detailed for the attack were the th and th brigades, the th being held in reserve. the position from which the attack was ordered to start was a line of trench covering the front of pozières, and something under half a mile in advance of the edge of the village. this line, roughly speaking about a mile in extent, ran south-west and north-west across the bapaume road, which divided it at right angles into two almost equal sectors, the major sector being that to the north or left of the road. the extreme left of the line rested on mcdonnell road, and joined up at that point with the rd canadian division. the right connected with the th british division, which lay facing martinpuich and kept the enemy force there fully occupied. the sector to the right of the bapaume road was in the hands of the th brigade, under brigadier-general r. rennie, m.v.o., d.s.o., while the left sector was allotted to the th, under brigadier-general h. d. b. ketchen, c.m.g. the attacking line of the th brigade was made up as follows:--on the right the th battalion (western ontario), commanded by lieutenant-colonel milligan; centre, the th battalion (northern and central ontario), commanded by lieutenant-colonel c. h. rogers; and on the left the st battalion (eastern ontario), under lieutenant-colonel elmer jones. in brigade reserve was the th battalion (victoria rifles of canada), under lieutenant-colonel j. h. gunn. the attacking line of the th brigade consisted of the th battalion (city of winnipeg), commanded by lieutenant-colonel p. j. daly, d.s.o.; the th (north-west), commanded by lieutenant-colonel j. f. embury, c.m.g.; and the st (alberta), under lieutenant-colonel a. h. bell, with the th (vancouver), familiarly known as tobin's tigers, under lieutenant-colonel j. s. tait, in brigade reserve. the field guns covering the attack consisted of the st brigade of the st canadian divisional artillery and four brigades of the th divisional artillery, under brigadier-general metcalfe, d.s.o., on the right, and on the left three brigades of the st canadian divisional artillery and one brigade of the lahore artillery, under the command of brigadier-general thacker. the barrage work of both these groups throughout the attack was of a closeness and accuracy which left nothing to be desired. it covered both the advance and the consolidation so effectually that our casualty list, though serious, was much smaller than the difficulties of the operation and the strength of the forces opposed to us had permitted us to hope. the artillery preparation for the attack was begun, by the heavy guns and howitzers, at o'clock in the afternoon of september th. from that hour until o'clock in the morning of the th the enemy's position was subjected to a deluge of high explosive. at o'clock this fire diminished in intensity. at o'clock it ceased abruptly. a sudden calm fell upon the opposing lines--a calm as full of menace in its sinister suggestiveness, like the core of silence at the heart of the cyclone, as the devouring roar of the bombardment. at the highest pitch of expectation our battalions waited for the fateful hour of "zero time" creeping up with the dawn. during this slow hour of waiting, always so stern a test to the nerve of the most seasoned troops, "occurred an incident which"--to quote from major f. davy's spirited and picturesque account of the battle--"had it not been promptly met by the vigour and resolution of the canadians, might have marred, perhaps prevented, the whole attack. a determined attack by a strong enemy bombing party was made upon the right sector of the th brigade front. a portion of the attacking party had actually reached our trenches at the time the attack started. it was overcome by vigorous bombing and rifle fire. a bombing officer in the disputed section, lieutenant hugh h. sykes, th battalion, promptly organised his defence and effectually maintained his position. lieutenant gidley, of the th battalion, and parties of bombers from that unit and the th battalion also took part, and frustrated what might have developed into a formidable attack had the initial attempt been successful. the enemy's preparations for this attack eventually told against him, for the strong force he placed in his front trenches to exploit any initial success suffered heavily as our barrage came down upon it." at dawn of the th the air was dry, crisp, and clear--the bite of autumn in it. patches of pale sky glimmered abundantly between driven fleeces of cloud with promise of fine fighting weather--high visibility, and no baffling obstruction to the work of our airmen. the ground, tossed and furrowed though it was in every direction by the demoniacal ploughshares of the high explosive, gave firm footing--for the curse of the somme mud had not yet fallen upon our operations. it was such an autumn morning indeed, as to turn men's hearts, with a homesick pang, to the remembrance that this was the date when the hunting season would open in far canadian woods and swales and coverts. but it was other hunting that opened this day for canadians on the bapaume road--the hunting of the dragon-spawn of treachery and rape. "zero hour" had been set for . . at last it came. on the minute--nay, on the second, so exact is now the synchronising of all watches for this work--with a wide-flung, sky-splitting roar our barrage-fire opened. at the same instant all along our front appeared the round, basin-like helmets of the men of our first wave as they climbed over the parapets of the "jumping-off" trenches. their appearance in itself marked an appreciable gain of ground already secured, for these jumping-off trenches had been dug, with infinite toil and secrecy and at heavy risk, at a distance of to yards in advance of our established front-line trench, by so much shortening the perilous path across the open to our objectives. this arduous and valuable work had been carried out by the th battalion (toronto and hamilton) on the right, and by the th (vancouver) on the left. at four minutes past zero time the barrage lifted to a line about yards farther on, and in another minute our first waves (the attack was ordered in four waves) was in possession of the first of the german trenches. this trench, which ran (as will be seen by the map) close along our whole attacking front, was not very strongly held, and the resistance offered by its defenders was no more than enough to warm our men up for what was to follow. from this point it is necessary to trace the progress of the battle brigade by brigade rather than as a whole, for the problems confronting the th brigade, on the right (as will be seen from the map), were different from those which the th brigade, on the left, had to deal with. suffice it to say here, by way of clamping the two sections of the movement together, that by o'clock both brigades were receiving the congratulations of the divisional commander, general turner, upon their swift success. by . the last of our objectives was completely in our hands and being consolidated, while the enemy, dazed by the swiftness of their overthrow and demoralised to the point of panic by the implacable onslaught of the tanks, had fled behind the inner defences of courcelette. the way into the stronghold lay wide open. the waves of an attack, under the latest conditions of warfare, go forward not in one long sweep, but in a succession of short advances strictly regulated by the successive steps of the barrage fire. each time the barrage lifts forward--which it does according to a scheme previously worked out to the minute and the yard--the attacking lines must instantly move up behind it, as close as possible to the shelter of the appalling curtain of flame and death which it lets down before them. the progress of the wave being thus so strictly scheduled, it must often leave small enemy posts in its rear, or dug-outs sheltering furtive bands of machine-gunners. to deal with these "remainders"--which might easily become a serious menace, or even bring about complete disaster--behind the waves come the "mopping-up" parties, whose job it is to ferret out the hidden posts, clear the dug-outs, and gather in prisoners. the advance of the th brigade on all its fronts, and in spite of desperate opposition, was so rapid and irresistible that it left behind plenty of work for its mopping-up parties. within fifteen minutes of going over the brigade was in possession of another line of german trench, from three to four hundred yards behind the first line, running south-east from the bapaume road towards the martinpuich road. in the deep bays of this trench the contention was bitter and severe, and here occurred one of those instances of treachery for which the german has shown such peculiar aptitude. a party of the enemy threw up their hands, with, the customary cry of "kamerad! kamerad!" and surrendered to a company of the th battalion, under the command of captain s. loghrin. as captain loghrin was accepting their surrender one of the party threw a bomb at him and blew him to pieces. the captain's followers flung themselves forward in a fury, and not one german in that sector of the trench escaped the steel. throughout the advance the three assaulting battalions of the brigade, in spite of varying obstacles, succeeded in maintaining an even frontage. when the th, on the right, and the th, in the centre, fighting their way forward through the storm of shell and shrapnel and the deadly sleet of the machine-guns, had reached and taken candy trench, the final objective set them, it was still scarcely more than o'clock. three or four minutes in advance of them the st battalion on the left, had reached the sugar factory and gained a footing there. the factory, though a redoubtable stronghold, had already been badly knocked about by our big guns. now, within a very few minutes, it was surrounded on three sides by our exultant troops, who were not to be denied. after a mad half-hour of hand-to-hand struggle in a hell of grenade and machine-gun fire, from the dreadful turmoil of grunting, cursing, and shouting, the blood and the sweat of savage bodily combat, victory suddenly emerged, and the heap of ruins remained securely in our hands--along with prisoners, of whom were officers. one of the companies which distinguished themselves in this homeric bout--"b" company of the st battalion--was commanded and most efficiently handled throughout the crisis of the affair by its senior non-commissioned officer, sergeant-major dear, every one of its officers having fallen during its hard-fought advance along the bapaume road. the unexpectedly swift collapse of this stronghold of the sugar factory--which the enemy had thought to make impregnable--was hastened, no doubt, by the intervention of one of the "tanks." this monster, apparently eyeless, its carapace a daub of uncouth colours, squat and portentous as one of those colossal saurians which we picture emerging from the eocene slime, had wallowed its slow, irresistible way up over the trenches and shell-holes, belching fire from its sides and its dreadful, blind, blunt snout. bullets and shrapnel fell harmlessly as snowflakes upon its impervious shell. bombs exploded thickly upon it, and, though wrapping it in flame, did no more than deface the fantastic patterns of its paint. its path, wherever it moved, was spread with panic. in the teeth of the most concentrated fire it waddled deliberately up to the barriers of the sugar factory, trod them down without haste or effort, and exterminated a defending machine-gun with its crew. then, crashing ponderously through or over every kind of obstacle, made a slow circuit of the factory, halting stolidly here and there to blot out a troublesome nest of machine-gunners or to preside over the submission of a bunch of horror-stricken huns. its work done at this point, it lumbered off to seek adventure elsewhere, its grotesque--and, unfortunately, vulnerable--little tail bobbing absurdly over the shell-holes. the th brigade, having gained all its objectives, was now in no mood to rest content. the task of consolidation being well in hand, the th battalion, in the centre of the line, sent forward a patrol under captain heron, m.c., the battalion scouting officer. with great audacity and skill, captain heron worked his way along parallel to the bapaume road for a distance of yards, and broke into the trench known as gun pit trench. this was an important work, protecting, and in part coinciding with, the sunken road which forms the link between courcelette and martinpuich. greatly daring--and profiting, no doubt, by the demoralising effect of the tank's peregrinations in the neighbourhood--the little party bombed several dug-outs, and returned with two captured machine-guns and two prisoners to show for their splendidly insolent exploit. they reported the trench lightly held, whereupon the brigade, promptly grasping the occasion, swept forward in a new--and thoroughly impromptu attack. before o'clock the trench was in our hands, with prisoners (including two officers), a machine-gun, and three trench-mortars. still unwearied, still unsated with success, the exultant battalions pushed on and gained a line along the eastern side of the sunken road, where by o'clock they had securely dug themselves in. this handsome and unpremeditated gain greatly simplified the consolidating of our position at candy trench and the sugar factory, and immediately made practicable the main operation against courcelette itself. with no less brilliancy and determination, meanwhile, the th brigade, on the left, had been carrying out its share of the enterprise. from the first of the attack, or at least from its first objective (the first german trench) onward, it encountered a more stubborn resistance than that with which the th had to contend. diagonally across the path of their advance, from the point on the right where the first german trench joined the bapaume road northwards to a juncture with mcdonnell road on the westernmost edge of courcelette, ran a sunken road which had been strengthened by deep entrenching. it is shown on the map as taffy trench--and was so named by the troops doubtless in recognition of its complete harmony with the system of sugar trench, candy trench, and the sugar factory fitly presiding over all. furthermore, the brigade's advance was flanked throughout by strong enemy posts strung along mcdonnell road. the battalion on the left (the st of alberta) had not only to reduce these as it went, and to accomplish the reduction rapidly so as not to delay the main advance, but it had also to establish a defensive flank at the same time and thoroughly secure it in order to cover the advance against an enfilading assault from the network of german trenches spreading towards the north and north-west. the attacking line of the th brigade was somewhat differently organised from that of the th. instead of being divided into three sectors, one for each of the three battalions involved, it was divided into two sectors only. the th battalion formed the attacking waves on the right half of the line, the th took the left half, while the st supplied the "mopping-up" parties to both sectors. the frontage allotted to the brigade was about , yards, and the extreme depth of its attack, from the jumping-off trenches to the farthest objective, was something over a mile. as with the th brigade, the first objective (the original german front line) was carried swiftly and with little difficulty, and the whole line swept forward behind our barrage as coolly and according to book as if on the parade-ground. the german fire, both artillery and machine-gun, was fierce and effective, but as our bayonets came through it the enemy, as a rule, either fled, or threw up their hands, or scurried like rabbits into the dug-outs, refusing to face the cold steel. but on the left the wave of the th battalion presently encountered a rock of sterner substance in the form of a machine-gun stronghold which had survived unscathed both our preliminary bombardment and our barrage. the little garrison here fought stubbornly in the effort to stay our onrush. the heart of their defence was an officer who both fought and directed magnificently and inspired his followers with his own courage. our line was in some danger of being dislocated. as canadian river-men would say, it had run up against a "snag" at this point. but one of our officers, captain bredin, of the th. perceiving a worthy foeman, ran out of the line and around the flank, and engaged him with a revolver. the german fell, and with his fall the spirit went out of his followers. the post was carried almost at once. among the prisoners taken was a machine-gunner who was chained to his gun. it was a strange enough sight to our men, this highly-trained soldier fettered to his duty like a criminal, a steel stake driven into the ground on either side of him, one chain around his waist and another locked to an iron ring on his leg. the psychology of a race which discerns in such treatment an incentive to heroic endeavour is not unlikely to elude our apprehension. by this time the german guns had realised the formidable nature of our advance and the depth of our penetration into the outer defences of courcelette. the storm of shell and shrapnel that swept our line suddenly redoubled its fury. but our men went straight on through it, ignoring their casualties. the deadly diagonal of the sunken road was crowded with german troops, but our men flung themselves into it with the bayonet, and left it packed with german dead. the course of this savage hand-to-hand struggle was thronged with incidents of individual heroism, so numerous as to make even a partial chronicling of them impossible in these pages. a couple of instances, however, may be cited as showing that the huge development of the mechanical element in modern warfare has not robbed the personal element of its opportunity or of its decisive influence. the case of private stevens, of the th battalion, is one in point. his story may be quoted as follows from the brigade report:--"just prior to the assault a party of six snipers from the th battalion was posted in the shallow jumping-off trench to keep busy an enemy detachment of about men which had been troubling our lines. all the members of this small party, except private stevens, were either killed or wounded, and stevens himself had two holes through his steel helmet, a deep wound in his left shoulder, and a gash in his forehead. nothing daunted, he kept on sniping and killed several of the enemy. his rifle was smashed by a shell just as the assault went forward. he picked up a rifle with fixed bayonet, and, dashing forward with the assault, entered an enemy's strong point, and single-handed captured five boches and brought them back to our lines." the exploit of lieutenant clarkson, of the th battalion, is, in another fashion, equally significant by reason of the unquenchable dominance of spirit which it displays. to quote again from the same report:--"lieutenant clarkson was severely wounded in the knee, at the sunken road, and just as he fell four germans came out of a deep dug-out. he at once covered them with his revolver, and, ordering them to improvise a stretcher out of a couple of rifles, made them carry him to our lines, and there handed them over prisoners. on the way in, as soon as his bearers showed the least sign of any opposition to his wishes, he quelled it with his revolver." by a quarter to eight, in spite of all opposition and an unexpected addition to its task, the brigade had gained its final objective and set itself strenuously to the work of consolidation, anticipating energetic counter-attacks. the addition referred to was an enforced extension to the left of about three hundred and fifty yards, which was found necessary in order to secure the flank. this operation, which was stubbornly resisted by strong german detachments in the courcelette road, was carried out with a rush by the th battalion. immediately the new line was secured three patrols were sent out beyond the line by the st battalion. these patrols succeeded in establishing themselves, for purposes of observation, close to the southern edge of the village, and several of their scouts made their way into the village itself. the reports which they brought back were so sanguine that the brigade, its blood being up, begged permission to pursue its success by an immediate assault upon the village. this proposal, however, was promptly vetoed, the higher command having already in view the plans for the afternoon. the impetuous th was obliged, therefore, to content itself with its very handsome achievement, which was not only so brilliant in itself as to deserve far more attention than it has received, but was also of vital importance to the unfolding of our final operations against courcelette. the great advance of the th brigade in the afternoon, with its swift success in bringing the whole village permanently within our lines, was a more outstanding exploit by reason of the conspicuousness of the goal gained thereby. but it must not be forgotten that courcelette was fully half-won by the victories of the th and th brigades in the early morning. the honours of the nd division are fairly shared among all three brigades. it was wholly because the morning triumph of the th and th brigades went well beyond the utmost that had been expected of it that the afternoon attack was undertaken--and that september th became, in the canadian war calendar, courcelette day. chapter v courcelette (_continued_). the afternoon battle, which gave courcelette solidly into our hands, was, as we have seen, the affair of the th brigade, under brigadier-general a. h. mcdonnell, c.m.g., d.s.o. all the morning, fired by the successes of the th and th, the brigade, held in reserve, had been fretting on the curb. as the g.o.c., with his battalion commanders, watched the fierce fighting and exultant progress of the other two brigades, they began to wonder uneasily if the _rôle_ of spectator was the only one that would fall to them in this great adventure. all doubts, however, were presently removed. at . came orders for the brigade to take the village of courcelette that same afternoon. it was what in commercial terms would be called a "rush order," but the brigade, already strung up to the highest pitch of expectancy, had no hesitation in undertaking to fill it. operation orders were drawn up in haste; but that there was no sacrifice of explicitness and detail, on account of this haste, was proved by the accuracy and smoothness with which they worked out in the application. officers and n.c.o.'s had to be instructed in their parts, yet all was so expeditiously managed that by o'clock the advance, starting from its rendezvous point, was working its way up across the open under heavy shell-fire to the positions captured in the morning. it was from these new positions that the assault was to begin. the three battalions which made the attack--the three which actually carried out the storming of courcelette--were the nd (french-canadians, of montreal), the th (nova scotia), and the th (new brunswick). the th battalion (victoria rifles of canada) was held in reserve. the right of the attacking line was allotted to the french-canadians, whose objective was the whole of the village to the right of the main street, running north. the left of the line was taken by the nova scotians, whose task was to storm the left half of the village. the steeple of the village church formed the landmark dividing the two objectives. the new brunswickers followed close behind to support the assault, to deal with strong points which had proved too obdurate for the attacking waves, and thoroughly to mop up the whole village. the action being a direct frontal attack, with no feints or flank diversions, and carried to its triumphant conclusion along its whole front, on schedule time and in precise accord with orders, the story of it does not afford that intense dramatic interest, those soul-racking fluctuations, those moments of terrible suspense, those snatchings of victory out of defeat, which may be found in the accounts of many lesser engagements. there were practically no fluctuations; and there was never, in the assailing waves, a moment of doubt as to the result. from flank to flank the advance was so irresistible, so implacable and undeviating, that within one hour and a quarter from the first lift of our barrage, the report went back to headquarters that courcelette was completely in our hands and that the work of consolidation was under way. considering the distance and nature of the ground fought over and the tremendous obstacles to be overcome, it is obvious that there was no time for varying fortunes. by the very perfection and glory of the achievement the story of it must suffer. envisaged as a whole, the action may best be presented as the steady onflow of our waves close behind the successive lifts of our barrage. the movement was as deliberate and as strictly co-ordinated as if it were being executed on the parade-ground; for the enemy's fury of shell and machine-guns, though it could slash gaps in our lines, could not either check or hurry their inexorable march. now here, now there, the lines would break into a little seething vortex of body-to-body struggle as they swept around and engulfed some rock of obstinate resistance. but for the most part these stubborn points were left to the uncompromising attention of the new brunswickers, whose "mopping up" was thorough; and, having confidence in that thoroughness, the attacking lines refused to be delayed, but bombed and bayoneted their way straight on to their final objective. they gained it, and the most furious counter-attacks which an able and hardy enemy could afterwards hurl against it never availed to shake their grip upon it. to grasp the details of the action it is necessary to follow the fortunes of the attacking battalions individually. the total depth covered in the advance, as we have seen, was about , yards, and every yard of it under heavy shelling. the nd battalion, on the right, led by lieutenant-colonel tremblay, the battalion commander, in person, negotiated this portion of the advance in extended order at three paces interval (that is, in non-technical language, in an open line with a space of three yards between man and man). the two leading companies in this formation occupied a front of about yards. one hundred and fifty yards behind them, in the same formation, came the other two companies of the battalion. two hundred yards behind them, again, came two companies of the th battalion, also in two lines, to do the mopping up for their predecessors. this first thin line, looking frail and inadequate indeed for the great task before it, moved on through the storm of death as steadily as if upon manoeuvres. but even upon manoeuvres it is difficult enough for a line so extended to maintain formation and direction. now, with great gaps blown in it here and there, and each individual compelled to thread his way between endless shell-holes, some old and cold, some still smoking with poison fumes, the line took ground insensibly to the right and fell off toward martinpuich. its left was losing touch with the th battalion across the bapaume road. colonel tremblay, perceiving the error in time, doubled across the whole front, swung up the right flank, and got the line once more facing its true objective. three times he was thrown down and half-buried by shells exploding near him, but impatiently recovering himself he continued to guide the attack. the battalion swept over the heads of the surprised th brigade in candy trench, and then, pivoting on the sugar refinery, whirled to the left till its right rested on gun pit trench. fronting now due north, with shouts and cheers and shrill cries of exultation the excited french-canadians stormed forward into courcelette. in their eagerness, these dark little men from the docks of montreal were hardly to be restrained. they entered the outskirts of the village fairly on the heels of their own barrage, and suffered some loss from it before it lifted forward. the platoons of their extreme right ran into a torrent of machine-gun fire, which took heavy toll of them. but as soon these guns were located the little men were on to them like wild-cats, and from that quarter there was no further trouble. the progress of the battalion through the village was, in the main, one irresistible rush, scarcely delayed by the savage hand-to-hand encounters which developed all along its progress. here and there a party of two or three would delay, perforce, to unearth and destroy a dangerous sniper's post or to bomb a threatening dug-out. but for the most part the front waves passed straight on, their left bounded by the main street running north, their right by the trenches outside the sunken road which forms the eastern limit of the village. they were not in the mood for stopping to take prisoners in their haste, but they gathered in about , unwounded, as they went. by . they had pushed clean through the maze of houses and established their lines clear beyond the stone quarry, which occupies the extreme north-eastern apex of courcelette. they had utterly overthrown, destroyed, or captured a garrisoning force numerically superior to themselves and holding all the advantages of position and preparation. this kind of fighting, this battling through the maze of half-ruined cottages, wrecked gardens, and tumbled walls was exactly to the taste of these eager and wiry montreal frenchmen. the variety of it, the scope it offered to individual adventure, appealed to them. into such individual adventure they threw themselves with zest. a fiery sergeant, having captured a store of german bombs, loaded himself with them and set out to put them to the best possible use. he bombed a dug-out crowded with huns. he rushed on to another and cleaned it up with equal effectiveness. he then, still single-handed attacked a third, but was shot down before he could throw his bomb. in spite of the heavy casualties which they suffered from beginning to end of their advance, the french-canadians carried it through at a pitch of enthusiasm which made devotion easy and sacrifice of no account. but having thus gained their prize, the holding of it was presently to prove a more searching test of their quality. throughout the next forty-eight hours they were to show, under terrible trial, as we shall see, a tenacity, an endurance, and a toughness of fibre no less admirable than the fire and _élan_ of their attack. meanwhile, how had it been faring with the th battalion, the men of nova scotia, on the left? the objective set them, it will be remembered, was that portion of courcelette--the larger portion, as will be seen by reference to the map--which lay west of the principal street running north and south. courcelette at this time, though much damaged, was still recognisable as a village. there were still streets to fight through, still houses and walls to serve as ambush for machine-gun or sniper. and the village church in the main street still stood, still held aloft its ancient spire, which was the landmark to guide the right flank of the nova scotians' line. it was the ceaseless--and futile--german bombardment of the place, after it had passed once for all into our hands, which pounded courcelette into the dust and made of her one stony desolation with pozières, ovillers, and la boiselle. the first wave of the th battalion was led by its commanding officer, lieutenant-colonel e. hilliam. it was made up of "d" and "a" companies, led by their respective company commanders, major brooks and major tupper. and it occupied, in extended order, a frontage of about half a mile. for the work before it this line was daringly thin, but the coolness and steadiness of these nova scotian men fully justified the confidence of their leader, and the wide extension of the line kept down the casualties in passing through the heavy german barrage. in spite of this furious shelling; and the tortured ground to be traversed (which was nothing more than a jumble of shell-holes), this difficult formation was preserved as methodically as it on inspection parade, the whole battalion responding to its leader as a well-tuned machine responds to the touch of the operator. at a distance of yards from the village the advance came under very heavy machine-gun fire, and major brooks, who was leading d company, the left half of the line, was killed, as was also captain dickey, the adjutant, who accompanied colonel hilliam. through this destructive fire the line swept on unwavering, without either delay or haste, to within yards of the first houses. it was from among these houses that the stream of leaden death was issuing. colonel hilliam gave the word to charge, and the position--consisting of the whole southern outskirts of the village from the main street on the right, to the sunken road on the left--was captured with a rush. in this rush one of the enemy's machine-guns was taken, but the rest were successfully carried off by the survivors of their crews into the more northerly portion of the village. the nova scotians were now somewhat ahead of their scheduled time--so much so, indeed, that they were beginning to get peppered with fragments from their own barrage. colonel hilliam, therefore, halted them, under cover of the cottages and garden walls, to take breath for the next thrust. he moved through the ranks, talking to each man personally, and found that, in spite of their casualties, they had small need of cheering or encouragement. amid toppling walls and hurtling death and a pandemonium that no words can describe, they were smoking and chaffing as if their halt was a mere route-march rest along a peaceful roadside. but under this gay and laughing surface was the thrill of a fierce exultation, and, in the words of their commander, they were "like hounds straining on the leash" for the renewal of the attack. a few minutes more and the barrage lifted. the leash was loosed. the front line burst forward, and, bearing down all opposition in its rush, swept straight through to its objective, yards beyond the northern boundary of the village. here they at once began to dig in, and so judicious was the siting of their trenches that the enemy's artillery did not succeed in locating them till the next day. colonel hilliam, though wounded, remained on duty, personally supervising the task of consolidation. the second line, some fifty yards behind, came on more deliberately, finishing what its predecessor had left half-done, and taking up its position in support of the first. numbers of the enemy were seen fleeing wildly up the slope and over the crest of the ridge beyond the village. they were pursued at once by the deadly individual fire of our sharpshooters and by the collective fire of certain sections working as fire-units as deliberately as if at range practice though bomb and bayonet had been their chief weapons of late, the men had not forgotten the fine points of their musketry, and it was but a thin remnant of the fugitives that escaped over the ridge. these sons of nova scotia had proved themselves to be of the same indomitable temper as their forbears in "the land of the glens and the mountains and the heroes." they had displayed that blend of cold resolution and fighting fire which we associate with such storied scottish regiments as the gordons and the black watch. ten minutes later the montreal men, enveloping the stone quarry, had joined up on the right. this was at o'clock in the evening of the th. the whole of courcelette was in our hands, and our grip was locked upon it, never to be shaken loose. chapter vi holding the new ground meanwhile, the th battalion, the men of new brunswick, under lieutenant-colonel a. e. g. mckenzie, though denied the exultation of the first irresistible onward sweep to victory, were none the less getting their fill of hard fighting and contributing their full share to the splendid achievement of the day. they came in for sharp punishment, too in passing through the barrage which the enemy had promptly put up for the purpose of walling off the assault from its support. and the task which had been set them, of "mopping up" behind the assaulting waves proved to be a long, strenuous, and costly one. as the first waves of our attack raged across the village, numbers of the enemy flung away their rifles in panic, shouted the customary kamerad! kamerad!" and held up their hands in surrender. they were spared, and ordered to go back behind the lines. but after the wave had passed on, many of these, though essentially prisoners on parole, picked up their rifles again and fell to sniping our troops in the rear from convenient hiding-places in the gardens and cellars. when the new brunswickers came along these traitors usually put up a desperate fight, having little reason to expect further mercy. the new brunswickers, however, in spite of their many casualties, were in a triumphant mood and not inclined to inquire too closely into the deserts of their captives; and those who made haste to surrender again got the benefit of the doubt. all this business of "mopping up" gave opportunity for individual prowess, and the woodsmen and river-men, small farmers and independent townsmen of the sturdy loyalist province threw themselves into it with peculiar zeal. by nightfall their task was nominally complete, and colonel mckenzie was able to throw two of his companies into the trenches on the right of courcelette in support of the nd battalion, while the other two companies he posted on the left to support the th. but during all that night and the greater part of the following day he had small parties out scouring the ruins and the cellars, unearthing fresh dug-outs and discovering craftily-hidden sniping-posts. the battalion suffered in all about casualties, of whom were officers. but the casualties which they inflicted upon the enemy, chiefly in their fierce bombing and bayonet work, were very heavy, and of unwounded prisoners alone they took just over , making a sufficiently handsome balance to their credit. general mcdonnell, in a letter to colonel mckenzie immediately after the relief of the battalion, wrote: "new brunswick may justly be thrilled with pride at the deeds done by her lads in this particular fight." as the th battalion had taken about prisoners, and the nd approximately the same number, during their final sweep through the village, the total of prisoners to the credit of the th brigade in this brief and brilliant action amounted to about , , exclusive of the wounded. among these prisoners were two colonels, one a regimental and the other a battalion commander. there was also substantial booty, including three . guns, seven machine-guns, seven trench-mortars, a locomotive and several railway trucks, with quantities of bombs, ammunition, and stores. the village having thus been carried by storm, with such fine _élan_ and disciplined valour, by the men of nova scotia, new brunswick, and quebec, the exultant victors had now an even sterner test to undergo. during three nights and two days they had to hold what they had gained against the most desperate efforts of a powerful and exasperated adversary to retake it. for this duty the th brigade was reinforced by two additional battalions, the th from the th brigade and the th from the th; and general mcdonnell was given command of the whole divisional front. on their right the th division (imperials), pounding their way onward through the twin village of martinpuich, had kept an even front with the canadian advance. but on their left the progress of the rd division had been delayed by a formidable trench system known as the fabeck graben. the captured village, therefore, constituted the point of a dangerous wedge driven defiantly into the heart of the german position. it was not only a salient narrow and awkward, therefore, which general mcdonnell, on this night of the triumphant september th, found himself called upon to consolidate and to hold, but it was one which both invited assault by its exposure and insistently challenged by its menace. throughout the night, however, the enemy made no response to the challenge except by incessant shelling, their infantry, apparently, being for the time too much demoralised to face the conquerors again. by the afternoon of the th they had recovered, and being heavily reinforced, they made a desperate effort to recover their lost ground. from the trenches which they still held on the right of our position, by the cemetery, and from the direction of destremont farm, they launched no fewer than seven counterattacks upon the apex and the eastern side of the salient. this, as we have seen, was the frontage held by the french-canadian battalion, worn and weary, but elated by its dashing successes of the previous evening. supported by a portion of the new brunswick battalion on their right, and by a strong advanced post from the nova scotian battalion on their left front, the french-canadians beat off all these assaults without yielding up a foot of their hard-won ground. in the meantime the nova scotians were dealing drastically with four counterattacks against their own front where they had hastily but thoroughly consolidated themselves along a line several hundred yards beyond the north-western outskirts of the village. it was during this consolidation that an adventurous nova scotian bomber--by name private mcintyre--went scouting up a section of german trench, encountered a party of twelve germans, coolly summoned them to surrender and marched them all in as prisoners. the results of these counter-attacks against the nova scotians were so unsatisfactory to the enemy that he did not repeat them, but turned his attention once more to the north-eastern face of the position, where the fact that he still held, with abundance of machine-guns, an obscure tangle of trenches between the quarry and the bapaume road seemed to offer him better prospects of success. here the nd battalion, and the th, who had taken over the frontage between the cemetery and the bapaume road to enable the diminished companies of the nd to shorten their line, on the nights of the th and th hurled back six more counter-attacks which were pressed with fierce determination. upon the failure of these the germans appeared sullenly to accept the loss of courcelette, and confined themselves to harassing us with shell-fire and sniping. they found themselves fully occupied in blocking our ceaseless efforts to gnaw our way ever a little farther along the left of the road. on the afternoon of the th these efforts developed into a sharp attack by the nd and th battalions upon that troublesome maze of trenches already referred to, just beyond the cemetery. this attack was successful upon its left and centre, but was held up on its right by overwhelming machine-gun fire. it resulted, however, in a decided improvement of our position on the exposed eastern flank of the village. while the nd and th battalions were making this attempt on the right the nova scotians threw forward one company and a party of bombers on the left, endeavouring to seize a swell of ground just north of their lines. though a minor attack, the men of nova scotia pressed it with great determination, their recent successes having rendered them unwilling to acknowledge that any obstacle could baulk them. this time, however, they found themselves held up, and were forced to draw back into their trenches after heavy casualties. encouraged by this small flicker of success, the enemy sought to follow it up by a series of counter-attacks. as these grew more and more severe the reserve company of the new brunswickers (the th battalion) was thrown in to take a hand in the strenuous game. this went on throughout the night. finally, during the progress of the heaviest counter-attack of all, a company of the th battalion, st brigade, came up to begin the relief; and the enemy was hurled back with severe punishment. on the morning of the th, the nd division, battle-weary but triumphant and covered with distinction, was relieved, and drew off for a few days in rest camp at rubempré; while the veteran st division took over its proud lines on the left. it is impossible to conclude the story of the winning of courcelette without paying tribute to the heroic and extraordinarily efficient work of the canadian engineer and pioneer companies throughout the whole course of the struggle. in consolidating our newly-won positions, in siting and digging communication trenches, in running up light railways to the new front, they laboured under the severe and incessant scouring of shell and machine-gun fire and endured heavy casualties without the stimulus of being able to strike back at their opponents. the daring and devotion of the field ambulance service were such as to make all praise seem poor; and the deeds of heroic sacrifice in the rescue of the wounded were not less splendid than those enacted in the fighting itself. among those who gave their lives in this noble work was the gallant officer directing it in the forward area, lieutenant-colonel r. p. campbell, who fell in the hail of shrapnel. the arduous duties of carrying food and supplies for the fighting lines, throughout the engagement, were performed, at heavy cost, by the th battalion, which thus contributed in fullest measure to the victory--and the casualty list--though deprived, except during the operation on the afternoon of the th, of its hoped-for share in the fighting. the gratitude of their fellow battalions, whose hands they so efficiently upheld, had to compensate them for their loss of the acclaim and exaltation of the great attack. of the officers who went into the attack with the french-canadian battalion (the nd), were killed and wounded; and the nova scotian battalion, by a curious coincidence, suffered the same number of casualties among its officers, viz., killed, wounded, and missing--in all, officer casualties for each of the two battalions. with the already noted in the th battalion, in the th,[ ] in the th canadian machine-gun company, brigade bombing officer, and o.c. trench-mortar battery, we have a total of officer casualties in the brigade incurred during the actual operations of the th, th, and th. of other ranks our casualties numbered , . [ ] _incurred during the perilous and essential duties of "carrying" for the brigade throughout the whole operation_. chapter vii mouquet farm though it was to the nd canadian division the distinction fell of taking courcelette, this signal triumph would not have been possible but for the simultaneous attacks of the rd canadian division on their left, across mcdonnell road. these attacks resulted, at the moment, in no great gain of ground, but they effectually held the attention of the germans in the fabeck graben and zollern trench, and so protected the flank of the nd division's advance. this, indeed, was all that it was intended to accomplish, the duty assigned to the rd division in orders being merely to carry out such operations as might be necessary to protect the left flank of the main offensive. the task with which the divisional commander (major-general l. j. lipsett, c.m.g.) found himself confronted was an arduous one for he had peculiarly difficult ground before him, and such formidable defensive positions as mouquet farm and the fabeck graben and zollern trenches; but it was accomplished with complete success, though not without heavy cost in casualties. it was on september th that the rd division moved south from steenvoorde toward the region of the somme, assembling in the neighbourhood of cramont and colon villers. on the th they transferred to the reserve area at rubempré; and on the th they moved up into the fighting area, on the left of the nd division, with headquarters at usna hill. on their left they had the th (imperial) division. the th brigade (brigadier-general j. h. elmsley, d.s.o.) went first into the trenches, beyond the ruins of pozières; while the th brigade held itself in readiness at vadincourt, and the th at herissart. the brigade was made up of the st, nd, th, and th canadian mounted rifles. the nd and th canadian mounted rifles were sent into the front trenches with the st in support at chalk pits, and th in reserve among the mounds of _débris_ which had been la boiselle. the task of taking over these front lines in the dark, by men totally unfamiliar with the lay of the land, over a wilderness of shell-holes and old, ruined trenches, where all landmarks had been obliterated, and through a hell of shrapnel, gas and high explosives, was in itself equivalent to a battle, and calculated to shake the morale of any troops but those of the finest nerve. it was accomplished not without loss, and vicissitude, and much thrilling adventure. that same night of the th, hoping to profit by the confusion attending the taking over of the lines, the enemy launched a sudden attack from mouquet farm, upon the left sector of the divisional front, at the same time putting up a heavy barrage to prevent the supports from coming up from the chalk pits. the attack fell upon the nd canadian mounted rifles (under lieutenant-colonel bott), who now, after their fighting in the north, numbered only about bayonets. it was a rude welcome to this fiercely contested line, where the struggle had been wavering back and forth for days; but the battalion was a seasoned one, and was not caught unready. with the aid of the artillery and light trench mortars the assailants, after an obstinate effort, were beaten back with heavy loss. on the evening of the th, the st and th battalions of the canadian mounted rifles were in the divisional front trenches (having relieved the nd and th canadian mounted rifles), when the th division, on our left, made an attack. the germans retaliated by a counter-attack upon our sector. our men had hot work for a time; and the help of the canadian heavy guns was called in with effect. by half-past nine the attack had been beaten back, with much more loss to the enemy, on this occasion, than to ourselves. on the th began the long series of gruelling struggles which, with varied fortunes and cruel losses, was to keep the rd division under almost ceaseless strain throughout the next four weeks, until its withdrawal, with the st and nd divisions, from the somme area. according to the plan of operations for the great offensive on the th, the part assigned to the rd division was, as has been noted, to form a protecting left flank to the offensive. this was to be effected by a thrust against the fabeck graben and zollern trench systems; by running out a trench and establishing a strong post on the extreme right, so as to obtain an enfilading fire of machine-guns along the front of the nd division's objective (thus taking a direct hand in the attack on courcelette); and by raiding the trench system around that ancient thorn in our side, mouquet farm, with a view to lessening the german pressure further to the right. the duty of carrying out these operations was allotted to the th brigade, which was already in occupation of our front lines west of mcdonnell road. at . on the morning of the th the first move in the attack was made. the th canadian mounted rifles (lieutenant-colonel draper), on the right, rushed their first objective, the german front line, so swiftly that it was gained with few casualties. they jammed the enemy back up his communication trench some distance and established a block. their gain was quickly consolidated and they set themselves to digging a new communication trench back to our lines. at the same time the st canadian mounted rifles (lieutenant-colonel andross), on the left, sprung their raid on mouquet farm. they gained entrance, after a brief resistance, and found the place full of german dead, the harvest of our barrage. having hastily effected such damage as they could with the explosives at their disposal, they made their way back to their starting point, with one prisoner, having suffered only casualties in the affair, which had lasted just about one hour. they had no sooner evacuated the farm than the german artillery came down upon it with a tornado of shells, which inflicted much more damage than our raiders had been able to accomplish. so far all had gone well; and now news came across of the unexpectedly swift and brilliant success of the th and th brigades in their attack on the approaches to courcelette. toward o'clock it was decided, by telephone conference between general byng and the divisional commander, that, as the nd division was to proceed to the capture of courcelette in the afternoon, the rd division should simultaneously undertake a further advance, with the object of seizing, not only fabeck graben, but the crest of the low ridge beyond it. from this position, if they could attain it, they would not only support and protect the further advance of the nd division on courcelette, but overlook and threaten the formidable lines of zollern trench. for this venture the th brigade shortened its line toward the left, and the th brigade, hurrying up from usna hill, moved into the trenches on the right, forming contact with the left of the nd division at taffy trench. the greater portion of the responsibility for the new attack thus devolved, very fittingly, upon the th brigade, which came in fresh for the contest while the th had already been under three days and nights of trial. the interest of the story at this point, therefore, centres chiefly about the fortunes of the th brigade under its able commander, brigadier-general a. c. macdonell, c.m.u., d.s.o. the disposition of the brigade for the attack was as follows: the right half of the attacking wave was taken by the "princess pats," under lieutenant-colonel pelly, the left half by the nd battalion (the th royal highlanders of canada from montreal), under lieutenant-colonel cantlie. immediately beyond the centre of the attacking line waited the th battalion (the edmonton regiment, lieutenant-colonel griesbach). the plan was for the nd and the "princess pats" to take the first two objectives and consolidate them. the th was then to pass on through to the third objective and dig in. behind the th, again, stood the royal canadian regiment, in support, under lieutenant-colonel c. h. hill. the plan was well devised; but it was destined to encounter obstacles which prevented its complete accomplishment. in one vital respect, however, its purpose was fully attained. it gave the enemy all he could do on its front, thus perfectly, though at heavy cost, protecting the flank of the nd division, and rendering possible the triumphant assault on courcelette. the operation must, therefore, be accounted a complete victory for the rd division, which thereby achieved what it was set to do in an entirely adequate manner, although not gaining all the ground which it had hoped to gain. the task confronting the brigade commander at the very outset was a sufficiently hard one. he had to bring up his brigade over five miles of extremely difficult and confusing ground, through a succession of destructive barrages, and deploy it for attack in broad daylight, in the very teeth of an enemy in force and furiously alert, along an almost shelterless frontage. this was accomplished on time, at p.m. the attack was launched as planned, just at the moment when, to the right, the th brigade was starting its final victorious advance on courcelette. the men of the nd battalion reached their first objective in fifteen minutes with comparatively light casualties; and by half-past six they had gained their portion of the second objective, the formidable fabeck graben. the "princess pats" meanwhile had carried their first objective with a rush; but running into a withering machine-gun fire on their right, they were partially baulked of their second objective. only the two platoons of their left succeeded in getting into fabeck graben, where they established themselves in touch with the nd. on their right, for the next yards or so, the trench was still held by the enemy in force. beyond them again the trench was occupied almost up to the outskirts of courcelette, by parties of the veteran battalion, which had burst their way, with magnificent audacity, through the hell of the machine-guns, and were holding on to the precarious gains with the tenacity of bulldogs. the heroism of these scattered groups was of incalculable service to the men of the th battalion, then fighting their way through the western half of courcelette. soon after o'clock the th battalion started up the sunken road on its way to attempt the third objective; and the royal canadian regiment, supporting, took their places in the front line from which the attack had been launched. they got into fabeck graben, and held on there; but concentrated artillery fire and the massing of the germans in zollern trench, and especially about its junction with the fabeck graben, made further progress for the moment impossible. to the th brigade, on the left, had been set but a single objective, namely, the more westerly sector of fabeck graben, running in the direction of mouquet farm. but one battalion, the th canadian mounted rifles (from eastern canada, and commanded by lieutenant-colonel h. d. l. gordon), was appointed to this operation. "b" and "c" companies formed the attacking waves. but a heavy blow fell upon them at the outset, which, but for the ready initiative of the captain in command of "b" company, would have upset the whole movement. "b" company gained the jumping-off trench without mishap; but "c" company, which was a little way behind, was caught fairly by the german barrage, just as it was deploying from the communication trench known as "tom's cut." the result was disastrous. two of the platoons were practically wiped out. and the remaining two platoons were forced to draw back into the shelter of the trench. perceiving that the whole operation of the brigade was in jeopardy through this misfortune, the captain of "b" company (captain coleman) came to a bold decision. extending his company to occupy the whole frontage, he attacked at once, before the enemy became aware of their advantage. his thin wave made up for its deficiency in weight by the fury of its charge, burst into fabeck graben with bomb and bayonet, and carried the whole objective. having secured his connection with the th brigade on his right, he fought his way some distance along the trench to his left, and established a block to protect his heroic handful from interference from the direction of mouquet farm. it was an altogether notable feat, even among the many achievements of that memorable day. as soon as darkness fell, the remaining two platoons of "c" company moved up into the captured position, a communication trench was dug back to our lines, and patrols were sent out toward zollern trench to guard against a surprise counter-attack. throughout the affair the support of our artillery left nothing to be desired. had it not been for the fulness and accuracy of our barrage the success of a single company extended over so wide a frontage would have been impossible. fabeck graben having been thus secured by the rd division, it was decided that the division should, on the following day, the th, press on to the assault on zollern trench and the strongly defended position known as zollern redoubt, situated at a commanding cross-roads, about half a mile due north of mouquet farm, which had been giving us trouble for so long that it had acquired an evil fame out of all proportion to its importance. the ground about the farm was high, and peculiarly exposed to the enemy's fire from north, north-east and east alike, so that it was necessary to take not only the stronghold itself but the rolling ground far in advance of it, in order to be secure in its possession. all previous attacks upon it had been made from the south and south-east; but now the plan was to attack from the east. to this end it was absolutely essential that the eastern half of zollern trench should first be in our hands. the whole operation, as will be obvious from a glance at the map, now depended on the gaining of our first objective, namely, the line of zollern trench east, as far west as grandcourt road. with that line in our possession, the way would be open to attack both zollern redoubt and mouquet far, with a reasonable chance of success. the plan of operation was as follows: at p.m. the th brigade, which occupied the right of the line was to capture zollern trench and secure their hold upon it. then, but not till then, the th brigade (brigadier-general f. w. hill, d.s.o.) occupying the centre of the line, was to swing its right northward till it rested on zollern trench, and then move westward against zollern redoubt. this attack was not timed to start till . , to allow for the completion of the movement of the th brigade, upon which it hinged. the th brigade, meanwhile, on the left, was to undertake the task of encircling mouquet farm on the east and north. throughout the afternoon all the proposed objectives were subjected to a heavy bombardment, which at . was intensified to a close barrage, behind the shelter of which the assaulting battalions of the th brigade formed up for the attack. at p.m. the first wave went over the top, the royal canadian regiment on the right, the nd battalion (royal highlanders, montreal) on the left, with the th battalion (edmonton) in support. the attack was ably planned and launched with the greatest resolution, but it met with an altogether unexpected weight and fury of opposition. it found the enemy massed before it in unprecedented force, and ran into a devastating storm of machine-gun fire from left and front. it turned out that the germans had gathered all their available strength on that sector for an overwhelming counter-attack on courcelette. the result was an unforeseen one for both sides, a stalemate as far as these operations were concerned. the great counter-attack, which might conceivably have wrenched courcelette from the grasp of its weary conquerors, was shattered before it even got under way, and nothing was heard of it thereafter on any such scale. at the same time our attacking waves broke in vain upon the fiery parapets before them, and none gained an entrance to the trench. the th brigade meanwhile had reached their jumping-off trench, and were waiting impatiently to move on zollern redoubt. the appointed hour went by; but the zollern trench was still in the enemy's hands, and they could not start. in this crisis the commander of the th brigade ordered up his supporting battalion, the th, to add its weight to the attacking line. the enemy's barrages were so intense that the signal wires were all broken, and the order had to be sent through by runners. for these runners, too, as ill chance would have it, the barrages proved equally destructive, and the order never reached the th till o'clock. by that time it was too late, and the order had been already cancelled. in the meantime, the leading battalion of the th brigade had sent three platoons to the aid of the hard-pressed nd. general hill had not yet given up hope of getting his blow in against the zollern redoubt and he asked that the artillery should keep up their barrage on the redoubt till . , which was done. by this time, however, it was clear that the th brigade had been baulked. thus disorganised in its foundations the whole attack fell through and was abandoned, and our battalions, angry and bleeding, drew back into their own lines. as far as the object with which it was undertaken is concerned, the operation was a confessed failure. but inasmuch as it brought to naught the great german counter-attack the failure was not without its compensations, and the account may be regarded as fairly squared. at the same time, while the major operation had thus missed its aim, a very important success had been scored for the division by the th brigade, on the extreme left. the nd canadian mounted rifles, during the night of the th- th, took mouquet farm. a party, under major foster, bombed the germans out of a trench which covered the north side of the farm, consolidated it, and established two machine-gun and bombing posts. then other parties of the battalion entered the farm itself, and blew up the dug-outs, wherein the garrison was sheltering. among these dug-outs one was discovered which threw light upon the source of many past reverses. a cunningly concealed tunnel led northward from it to a maze of german trenches outside. by this tunnel, when australians or imperials had captured mouquet farm on previous occasions, the germans had been wont to steal in with machine-guns and bombs and take them in the rear. now, this tunnel was effectually closed by exploding a stokes gun shell within it, and the enemy beyond were sealed away from further mischief. [illustration: map--mouquet farm. progressive stages, sept. rd th th.] in a few hours a new trench was dug, completely surrounding the farm, and the stronghold so drenched with blood, so often won and lost again, so long a menace to our lines on the south and east, was at last securely in our hands. before daylight the canadian mounted rifles handed it over, with pardonable exultation, to a relieving battalion of the th (imperial) division. on this day the th brigade moved back to the brickfields at albert, and the th to tara hill; and the th brigade took over their lines. the next few days were occupied with sharp but fluctuating struggles, carried out by the st division on the right around courcelette and the rd division on the left, which yielded no permanent result except the improvement of our position between courcelette and the bapaume road, and a slight but valuable gain of ground along the northern outskirts of the village, towards kenora trench. zollern graben still defied us. though it was taken on the th, for an extent of yards, by the rd (cameron highlanders of canada, winnipeg), and th (toronto) battalions, we were not yet able to maintain our hold upon it. these confusing and sanguinary struggles may be regarded as leading up to and preparing the way for the next great series of operations, which aimed at, and at last, after bitter cost, resulted in, the capture of regina trench. chapter viii regina the two outstanding features of the canadian corps operations on the somme in the late summer and autumn of are undoubtedly the capture of courcelette and the grim struggle for regina trench, but nothing could be greater than the contrast between the two. courcelette, as we have seen, was captured by a swift and sudden operation, perfectly planned and brilliantly executed--a clear-cut victory without flaw or hitch. on the other hand, the canadians fought for over a month to obtain possession of regina, attacking again and again according to carefully laid plans, sometimes to gain by sheer valour a temporary footing in the trench, only to be hurled back, fighting stubbornly, by overwhelming numbers; at other times to face unsuspected and murderous machine-gun fire which almost wiped the assaulting platoons out of existence. yet each successive attack pushed won a little nearer to the goal, until at last, after a month and more of harassing vicissitudes, a final rush secured the victory. regina trench first came within the scope of canadian operations during the offensive of september th and th, when it was the ultimate objective of the attack. at no time, however, did the attacking troops get within striking distance of this last objective. it was on october st that the first elaborate and comprehensive attack was made, in conjunction with the iii corps on the right and the ii corps on the left. the canadian line at this date ran from the north-western corner of destremont farm in a general westerly direction, with a large loop to the north around the north practice trenches, to the junction of grandcourt road and the recently captured hessian trench. from this point the line followed hessian trench westward to the corps boundary on the left, a short distance west of the junction with courcelette road. the task set the corps was to occupy a line from the above-mentioned point at destremont farm north-westerly to the junction of regina trench and east miraumont road, thence along regina to a road running north and south near the corps' left boundary, where the line bent back sharply to the hessian trench line. the portion of regina trench which lies to the east of the junction with east miraumont road was not included in the scheme of operations. there were seven battalions in the line of attack. these were, from right to left, the th and th of the th brigade, the nd, th, and th of the th brigade, and the th canadian mounted rifles and the th canadian mounted rifles of the th brigade. thus the nd division, on the right, had five battalions of two brigades in the line, and the rd division, on the left, had two battalions of one brigade taking part in the assault. it will be as well, perhaps, to describe the general result of the action before attempting to follow the fortunes of each battalion in detail. the greatest measure of success was attained on the right, where the line was advanced some yards in such a manner that both flanks of the th brigade line were brought up in line with the loop around the north practice trenches in the centre of the brigade area. in the centre the th brigade managed to maintain itself for a time in regina trench, but was afterwards forced to retire. it succeeded, however, in capturing and holding kenora trench up to within sixty yards of the junction with regina, and held posts up courcelette trench and the west miraumont road about half-way between their attacking line and regina. the canadian mounted rifles of the th brigade on the left also succeeded in reaching regina at several points. heavily counter-attacked, they managed to hold on for a considerable time, but in the end they were driven back to their starting line in the hessian trench. at . p.m. on october st--a clear, bright day--the attack was launched. the th and th battalions, on the right, advanced respectively and yards over the open. this brilliant feat, comparable to the famous advance over the open at courcelette, was only rendered possible by the cover afforded by the shell-holes. in spite of severe machine-gun fire from the direction of pys and le sars, the th had established themselves in their position, with their flanks formed, before their flanking battalions, the imperial on the right and the th on the left, had come up. they had advanced to a point about yards n.n.w. of their true objective, which would account for the fact that the th battalion appeared to be behind them to the left. this was the situation on the morning of october nd. meanwhile, the th had advanced and dug in. their left, however, was in a very critical position, for the nd battalion--the right battalion of the th brigade--had not come up. the french canadians, assaulting with their usual dash and intrepidity, had encountered a withering machine-gun and rifle fire from the front and flanks. a few who reached regina trench were either killed or captured. a few wounded managed to return to our lines. so badly had the battalion been cut up that the th (new brunswickers), in close support, took over that part of the line. the th battalion (nova scotians), the centre battalion of the th brigade, stormed kenora trench and moved on steadily towards regina. machine-gun fire from front and flanks took heavy toll of them, but those remaining reached the wire in front of regina and started to dig in. a few odd parties actually succeeded in forcing their way into regina. after fighting desperately for some time in an endeavour to connect up with the th on their left, they were nearly all killed or taken prisoners. a few managed to return wounded to the lines. the right company of the th battalion (victoria rifles of canada) crossed kenora trench and entered regina east of the junction of kenora and regina, and the centre and left companies succeeded in reaching their objective in regina trench with their left on twenty-three road. they were separated from the th on their right by a strong enemy post, and on the left, owing to the repulse of the th canadian mounted rifles, their flank was in the air. furious fighting ensued in regina trench from twenty-three road to kenora. "a" company, which had entered regina just east of the junction with kenora, fought fiercely against superior numbers. eventually what was left of them--for the majority were either killed or captured--retired foot by foot. batmen, cooks, and servants were hurried up to help stem the overflowing tide of germans. on the left the battalion was pushed back from twenty-three road to a short distance from the junction of kenora and regina trenches. here a dogged stand was made. meanwhile, a few small parties of the th and th, who were digging in in front of regina, east of the trench junction, gradually retired to kenora. the whole of regina remained in the hands of the enemy with the exception of a post held by the th between the point where kenora and regina join and twenty-three road. during this struggle the th, holding the original line of the nd with the remnants of that battalion, could spare very little in the way of reinforcements, only some fifty of all ranks being available. in the meantime, the th brigade, on the left, had been having a very rough time. from reports received very shortly before the attack took place it became evident that in many places the wire in front of regina had not been thoroughly cut by the artillery. this was especially the case on the front assigned to the th canadian mounted rifles, whose left attack had to be modified in consequence. the brigade attacked with the th canadian mounted rifles on the right and the th canadian mounted rifles on the left. the right of the right attacking company of the th canadian mounted rifles was held up by wire and ran into terrific machine-gun fire. the left attack came under heavy fire about yards from its objective, but as no further opposition was encountered, it effected a lodgment in regina. work was immediately started on the badly-damaged trench, and blocks were put in on the flanks. and not a moment too soon. repeated counter-attacks were made, all of which were successfully repulsed, excellent use being made of a captured machine-gun. the right company of the th canadian mounted rifles' attack, with the exception of one platoon which was hung up by wire, apparently reached its objective, but heavy counter-attacks from the direction of the sunken road were too much for its depleted strength. the left of the th canadian mounted rifles was forced to modify its assault on account of the uncut wire. a very unusual scheme of attack was adopted. after moving down the communication trench the attackers deployed on the german side of the wire. unfortunately, a heavy enfilading machine-gun fire from the north-east and north-west wrecked the attack. one platoon, immediately to the west, advancing with the greatest resolution, was almost wiped out, and a bombing party which succeeded in effecting an entry into regina was at length forced to retire. with the exception, therefore, of the successful advance of the th brigade on the right, the situation during the afternoon was that at various points in regina desperate hand-to-hand fighting was taking place. at . p.m. the state of affairs was approximately as follows. the th brigade was consolidating its position and attempting to gain touch with the th brigade on the right. parties of the th and th battalions were in regina trench, fighting manfully against superior numbers and bombing towards each other against the enemy, who appeared to be in considerable strength at the junction of kenora and regina trenches. between the east and west miraumont roads the situation was obscure, as the result of the attack of the nd battalion had not yet been accurately ascertained. they were thought to be in their objective, whereas, as we have seen, they encountered machine-gun and rifle fire of such intensity that success was out of the question. yet they had managed to push the assault home, for about men entered regina and were only forced to retire after a short, sharp fight against overwhelming odds. at the same time the left company of the th canadian mounted rifles ("a" company), reinforced by parties from "c" and "d" companies, was fighting desperately to maintain its foothold in regina. repeated counter-attacks were heroically repulsed. the situation was rapidly becoming clearer. reinforcements were ordered to be sent up to all units which had succeeded in reaching their objectives. bombing parties were to converge against the german parties in the trench, and every effort was made to improve and consolidate the positions won. a determined attempt was made by the th canadian mounted rifles in regina to join up with the th on their right. one company of the st canadian mounted rifles was placed at the disposal of the o.c. th canadian mounted rifles for the purpose, and two platoons, with the th canadian mounted rifles' bombers in front, pushed eastward along the trench to the point at which they expected to get into touch with the th. the trench they traversed was found to be exceptionally strong, seven feet deep, with twelve-foot dug-outs every second bay. it had not been damaged by artillery. on reaching their objective they perceived a large body of men ahead of them, which they naturally assumed to be the expected th battalion party. unfortunately, this was not the case; it was, in fact, a german counter-attack advancing in force. these germans attacked and drove them back, foot by foot, to their starting point. a second attack was then organised, which again succeeded in penetrating to the objective point. this point, with the intervening stretch of trench, was stubbornly held throughout the night until a.m. on the nd, when heavy counter-attacks pushed in both flanks and compelled the evacuation of the trench. even then the forty or so survivors clung to a line of shell-holes south of the trench for some time before being forced to retire to hessian trench. from this time the th brigade held the original line until it was handed over to the th brigade on the night of october nd- rd. on the right the dawn of october nd revealed the situation to be approximately as follows. the th battalion, with the flanks secured, was established, as has been described, about yards n.n.w. of where they were supposed to be with the th battalion consolidating on their left slightly to the rear. the british on the right ( th brigade, nd division, iii corps) had reached the southern position of the le sars line on the previous evening and were apprehensive as to their left flank. patrols were sent out by both british and canadians in an endeavour to establish contact; yet although they came into touch during the evening of the st, it was not until the evening of the nd that proper contact was effected and connecting posts planned. the left flank of the th battalion, left in the air owing to the failure of the nd to come up, was secured by the battalion lewis guns. the parties of the th and th battalions of the th brigade[ ] which had fought so strenuously in regina were unable to maintain themselves in the trench as long as did the th canadian mounted rifles on their left, but were driven out during the night. the th brigade, waiting to relieve the th, was finally ordered? in the very early hours of october nd, to take over the line as it stood--that is, the captured portion of kenora trench, the post in courcelette trench, and the new trenches to the west of kenora. this brigade also took over the th brigade line as far east as the pys road. there were no fresh developments during the day. every nerve was concentrated on strengthening and consolidating the positions won. the th battalion had already a shallow trench dug across their whole front. the th likewise were consolidating their position. in the centre the th brigade, similarly engaged, had a rather quiet day, and on the left the th brigade, terribly depleted, was holding its original line in the hessian trench. the battalions of the th and th brigades which had borne the brunt of the offensive were relieved as soon as possible--the th by the th on the night of october nd- rd, and the th and th on the night of the rd by the th brigade. the fresh brigades were warned to prepare for a renewed offensive. in spite of the wretched weather which now set in, there was no diminution in the active preparations for renewing the attack or in the ardour of the troops. jumping-off trenches were constructed and orders were expected from day to day. postponements, however, were inevitable. more time was required for adequate artillery preparation. wire had to be cut and ammunition to be accumulated in the forward positions, which were now at a distance from any practicable roads. the attack eventually took place on october th. in the interval the most noteworthy incident was the occupation of kendal trench on october th by the royal canadian regiment, who succeeded in establishing a post within yards of the enemy. one-third of this trench--nearest our lines--was found to be practically obliterated. on october th the offensive on a large scale was resumed. in conjunction with the rd and th british divisions, on the right and left respectively, the canadian corps attacked on a two-division frontage, the st division being on the right and the rd on the left. each division had two brigades in the line. the battalions engaged, from right to left, were the th and rd of the st brigade, the th and th of the rd brigade, the th and rd of the th brigade, and the royal canadian rifles and th of the th brigade. the objective of the st division was to depend upon the degree of success attending the preliminary operation undertaken on the th by the rd division. if this division attained its second objective--i.e., the remainder of le sars village with its left on the chalk pit--the st division would attempt the whole objective assigned to it. in the event of partial failure on the part of the rd division, the st division would not attempt to carry the quadrilateral. the rd, however, were completely successful, and accordingly the objective of the st division became as outlined below. the st brigade, on the right, was to capture and hold a line running approximately north-west from a point in below support trench just west of the dyke road to the junction with gallwitz support trench, thence south-west to the junction of regina and farmer's road. at this point the objective of the rd brigade began. it followed regina trench west as far as the point m. .b. . (see map). to the left of this lay the portion of the objective allotted to the th and th brigades of the rd division. of this the th brigade was to attack and occupy the line of regina from m. .b. . west to the junction with pys road, north-west to the german cross-trench between courcelette trench and west miraumont road, and then due west along this trench to, but not including, west miraumont road itself. the th brigade was to form a defensive flank from the junction of twenty-three road to west miraumont road down the latter to regina trench along the trench to the junction with the communication trench (see map), at which point the flank was turned back to hessian trench. in the event of success the th brigade was to push out from west miraumont road and establish a flank along twenty-three road after dark. at . a.m. the long line of attack moved forward. the th battalion, on the right, was held up by wire in front of the first below trench. compelled to work round to the left, thereby rather crowding the rd battalion, they entered the first, below trench just south of the quadrilateral and proceeded to bomb south of dyke road. connection was established with the rd division on the right and with the rd battalion on the left. owing to the greater resistance which the th battalion encountered at first, their supply of bombs became exhausted in spite of gallant attempts to replenish it. in consequence, they were compelled to borrow some from the rd battalion, which had had less resistance to overcome. this generosity on the part of the rd battalion cost them dearly later on. having also lent bombs to the th battalion on their left, they found themselves, when heavily counter-attacked about . p.m., hopelessly short of munitions. the enemy attacked in great force and with great determination. they poured down the first and second below and the first and second gallwitz trenches, rushed the three posts which had been established in the captured trenches, and drove a wedge through the quadrilateral, even coming over the open from the second below trench. the situation of the rd and th battalions was now extremely precarious. attacked by a superior force and without an adequate supply of bombs, they fought tooth and nail to maintain their foothold. the s.o.s. signals failed. a wedge was driven between the two battalions. the rd was bombed down regina trench with a few of the th, while the th was bombed down the first below trench. on account of the congestion in regina trench which naturally resulted, a number of men of the rd battalion occupied shell-holes in front of the trench, doing considerable execution with their rifles. lieutenant chatterton behaved with the greatest gallantry. he got some of his men out on the north side of regina trench and attempted a bayonet charge. his charge was repulsed, and he himself was shot through the shoulder. crawling back into the trench and tying up his arm in a sling, he rallied some men and got out on the south side of the trench. another bayonet charge was attempted, in which the intrepid lieutenant was killed. major haddon, major mowat, and major bennett led a similar charge, major mowat being killed. all attempts to stem the onrushing tide were unavailing. in the end about men got back to the original line. meanwhile, the th battalion was being bombed down the first below trench. for hours a desperate conflict raged in the trench. whenever the th battalion was able to borrow bombs from the rd division on their right, they gained ground; whenever the supply of bombs ran low they were forced to give way. this give-and-take combat lasted until about p.m., when the survivors, about in number, dropped over into the dyke road in the rd division lines. the attack of the rd brigade, on the left of the st, developed along very similar lines. early reports were to the effect that the objectives had been gained by the th and th battalions. "everything looks very well" and "situation well in hand," were the reports sent up to the brigade. soon, however, a more unfortunate state of affairs was revealed. the th battalion, it appeared, had indeed reached its objective, but the left flank had been bombed cut. the remainder, on the right, fought for a long time with great stubbornness and tenacity. lieutenant hall sent in a message about . a.m. to say that, so far as he was aware, he was me only unwounded officer left. the german counter-attack in the early afternoon which drove back the rd and th battalions dashed itself in vain against the right flank of the th. the position of the battalion was, nevertheless, far from secure. on the left the th battalion had encountered heavy wire in front of the german trench. a few men of the battalion apparently managed to get in with the th. the attack against a position strongly held and protected by impassable wire was necessarily doomed to failure, and a message from major mccuaig, about a.m., stated that the th had been compelled to retire. their casualties were very heavy. they lay on the far side of the crest, in full view of the enemy, whose snipers cut off communication. the left flank of the th was thus left in the air throughout the day. their right flank was left exposed when the st brigade was driven back in the afternoon. in this precarious situation they held on grimly, even though, owing to the exposed nature of the ground, snipers and machine-guns made it practically impossible to get a supply of bombs up, until, late in the evening, all possibility of success elsewhere having ceased to exist, they were ordered to abandon the position they had so stoutly held and to retire to their jumping-off trenches. the situation had to be accepted as it stood; the battalions were consolidated, removed as soon as possible in favour of the supporting battalions, and the line generally linked up and strengthened. the ill-luck which had attended the assault of the two brigades of the st division also dogged the gallant efforts of the th and th brigades of the rd division. during the few days' preliminary bombardment of the front-line wire, careful reconnaissances of the wire were made. reports received just prior to the attack indicated that the wire in front of the objective had been well cut for the most part, and both brigades expressed confidence on this point. but, as in the operations of october st, it was discovered later that a considerable amount of wire remained. this fact materially affected the success of the operations. yet the reports were not, on the whole, inaccurate, as on the night before the attack the germans threw out large quantities of loose wire, which formed an awkward obstacle, and a second line of staked wire was encountered immediately in front of the trench at various points. direct observation of this wire, particularly between twenty-three road and the junction of regina and kenora trenches, had been particularly difficult and uncertain. in spite of adverse weather conditions, jumping-off trenches were prepared along a large portion of the divisional front, and at . a.m., zero hour, the two brigades advanced to the assault. a heavy rain, which commenced shortly afterwards and continued throughout the greater part of the day, contributed largely to the difficulties of the situation. at zero hour the th and th brigades moved forward with the rest of the long line of attack. from early reports, received from wounded men, it seemed that both brigades had obtained their objectives. unduly optimistic reports of this sort are easily explained. a wounded man sees his comrades advancing steadily within striking distance of the objective, and in perfect good-faith reports that apparently his unit has attained its objective. appearances, however, were never more deceptive than in the present instance. for some time after the attack began no definite news could be obtained about the th (right) brigade. at . a.m. they reported that their left battalion (the rd) had been held up by wire, and that only a portion of the right battalion (the th) had effected a lodgment in regina, from which they were later driven out. the left company and left half of the centre company of the th suffered severely before they reached regina trench. at the trench itself all three companies encountered heavy wire. the wire had been very little damaged by our artillery, and presented a formidable obstacle. heavy machine-gun fire was brought to play upon the three companies in front of the wire. the greater part of the right company were able to force an entry through a small sally port. having gained a foothold in the trench, our men worked along to the right and held for about thirty minutes some yards of the trench, up to a strong bombing post situated approximately on the right flank of the battalion's objective. the left portion of this company meanwhile entered regina through another sally port, made their way as far as a communication trench on the left, and on the right established contact with the remainder of the company on the right. all this time the centre and left companies were striving, heroically but unsuccessfully, to penetrate the wire. this left the right half of the battalion, in regina trench, most precariously situated. both flanks were in the air; on the right of the th the left battalion (the th) of the st division had been repulsed, and on the left the left section of the battalion had failed. the germans, taking immediate advantage of the opportunity, attacked right and left from the bombing post and communication trench already mentioned. after a fierce struggle the survivors of the th were expelled, and made their way, as best they could, back to their lines. the rd battalion, on the left of the th brigade, also managed to establish themselves for a time in regina trench. uncut wire effectually stopped the right and centre companies, even though a few individuals here and there succeeded in getting into the trench, never to return. but the left company, like the right of the th, got in. some of them lost direction, and entered regina with elements of the royal canadian regiment on the western side of west miraumont road. a counter-attack in overwhelming force followed almost immediately, and only about ten men of this company returned to our lines. meanwhile, on the left the th brigade had also effected a lodgment in regina. on the brigade's right the royal canadian regiment occupied regina for a distance of yards west of the west miraumont road. the enemy were still between them and the th on the left. the th had also succeeded, according to reports, in pushing through to their objective. two companies were reported to be at the junction of kenora and regina trenches with some men of the royal canadian regiment. they were bombing eastward in an endeavour to connect with the latter battalion. this was the situation at a.m. as it appeared altogether likely that complete success would result if supports were brought up and the attack pushed resolutely home, the princess patricias, in support, were moved close up (two companies in the jumping-off trench and two in the fabeck graben), ready to advance whenever called upon. on the brigade right the royal canadian regiment attempted to reinforce their troops in regina by moving a company up the west miramont road. heavy machine-gun fire foiled this attempt. more definite information regarding the situation now began to come in. it was ascertained that the right and centre companies of the r.c.r. had entered the trench without serious casualties, but that the left company had been hung up by heavy machine-gun fire. the two companies which had entered regina proceeded to mop up the numerous dug-outs in this portion of regina and pushed out a strong patrol along the west miraumont road. a bombing party also bombed their way westward along regina in an attempt to gain touch with the th, who were reported to have effected a lodgment to their left. this report, however, was unduly optimistic. the right company of the th, bearing a trifle too far to the right, eventually reached kenora trench and occupied it under heavy fire. the centre and left companies, advancing straight on their objectives, passed through a row of well-cut wire, only to find further progress blocked by the presence of an unsuspected new row of wire, entirely undamaged. with dogged resolution they made their way along the front of the wire, seeking a gap. none was found, and after losing heavily they finally got into kenora trench. animated by the most intense determination to reach their objective at all costs, they pushed three bombing parties up kenora trench. every party met the same fate--wiped out by the germans concentrated at the junction of kenora and regina trenches. the situation on the rd divisional front at a.m. was therefore as follows. on the right the th battalion of the th brigade, had effected a temporary lodgment from which they had shortly afterwards been expelled. the rd battalion had failed to get in on the left, the r.c.r. had got in with two companies, but the th, on their left, reported successful at first, had failed to obtain any footing in the objective. at this stage of the operations the corps commander visited the rd divisional headquarters. after studying the situation, he gave orders that every effort should be made to secure the portion of regina trench held by the th brigade westward from the west miraumont road, and that, if necessary, supports and reserves were to be sent up to ensure success. with west miraumont road as the right flank, efforts were to be made to gain as much ground as possible, but not beyond regina trench. if necessary, the th brigade and the remainder of the th brigade would be used, as regina trench had to be gained at all costs. all available reserves were pushed up. the th, in support of the th brigade, moved up two sections of bombers. the rd of this brigade was ordered to assist the r.c.r. on their left in maintaining their position in regina. the support battalion of the th brigade, the princess patricias, also moved up as close as possible. unfortunately, before a fresh offensive could be launched, reports began to come in that the r.c.r. had been unable to maintain their hold in regina trench. the men of the princess patricias sent up to reinforce the r.c.r. met the gallant defenders of the outpost returning to our trenches. a strong counter-attack had been too much for the weakened and wearied garrison. all returned together to kenora trench. early in the afternoon it became evident that the attack had failed all along the corps' front. the line was consolidated during the night by the wearied troops in the line, aided by the supports. little progress could be made on account of the weakness of the garrisons. on the left flank the depleted r.c.r. and th were combined into a composite battalion. on the following night the th brigade relieved the th and th brigades. the undeniable failure of the operations of october st and th did not dishearten the canadians. rather did it merely increase their determination to "get" regina, whatever the cost. it was intolerable that such a series of checks should follow the glorious triumph of courcelette. nevertheless, it is not to be wondered at that we should have met with these temporary checks, which were, indeed, far from diminishing the prestige of the canadian corps[ ] as a fighting force. the victories of the th and immediately following days had had a double effect. they had severely reduced the numbers of the canadian battalions while bringing them into contact with positions yet more formidably defended. at the same time they had forced the enemy to concentrate upon this sector, so imminently menaced, great reinforcements of men and guns. their task had doubled, while their means of dealing with it had diminished. the quality of an army is sometimes manifested no less brilliantly in reverse than in success; and the scant result of these sanguinary struggles before regina trench in no way lessened the confidence of the higher command in the capacity of our troops. a renewal of the offensive was daily expected, and active preparations were made in anticipation of the event. meanwhile, the arrival of the new th division during this period of waiting and recuperation was hailed by the hardened campaigners of the three older divisions with feelings of liveliest satisfaction. [ ] the th brigade began their tour in the line , strong (all ranks). their casualties during the tour amounted to all ranks, making their strength on coming out all ranks. in the th brigade on october nd the th canadian mounted rifles, with attached details, numbered only effectives, and the th canadian mounted rifles but . the casualties of the canadian corps from september th to noon on october th were as follows: officers. other ranks. killed . . . . killed . . . wounded . . . wounded . . . , missing . . . missing . . . , total . . . . total . . . . , grand total all ranks . . . , [ ] the casualties of the canadian corps from noon, october th, to noon, october th, were as follows:-- officers. other ranks. killed . . . . killed . . . wounded . . . wounded . . . , missing . . . missing . . . total . . . . total . . . . , total . . . . . . . . . . . , chapter ix regina (_continued_) the th division, commanded by major-general david watson, c.b., c.m.g., entered the somme area on october th and th, , during the lull between the operations of october th and those of october st. though a new division, which had never as yet taken part in any concerted major operations, it soon proved itself no whit inferior to the senior divisions. it had had practical experience in holding the line in the ypres salient in september, and it had already been blooded, for on the night of september th it had carried out a well-planned series of simultaneous raids which reflected the greatest credit on the new division. there were seven raiding parties. the first party consisted of one officer and forty men of the nd battalion. leaving the trenches at . p.m., the party moved cautiously forward, great care being necessary owing to the bright moonlight. the scaling ladders and chicken wire were left behind, as it was feared they might be seen too easily. as soon as the enemy trench was rushed the party split into two, working to the right and left. the enemy bolted so swiftly that only two were caught. dug-outs were bombed and as much wire as possible destroyed by the covering party. at . a.m. the raiders left the enemy trench and found their way back without difficulty by means of the white tape laid for that purpose. the th battalion party of one officer and thirty-one other ranks carried out the second raid against the hollandscheschuur salient. at . a.m. the raiders crawled over the intervening space of forty yards, rushed the trench, and worked down to a supposed strong point. this proved to be merely a large hole, unstrengthened in any way. explosives which had been brought to blow up this post were used against an occupied dug-out, lb. of guncotton being touched off for the purpose. fifteen germans were killed during the raid and one captured. no difficulty was experienced in penetrating the wire. the third raid was entrusted to the th battalion. the raiding party of one officer and twenty-eight other ranks had further to go than the preceding parties and started five minutes earlier. complete success was attained. the party bombed south after entering the enemy trench, making for a supposed strong point which turned out to be similar to the one above. nine germans were killed and ten taken prisoners. the fourth raid was also undertaken by the th battalion. a comparatively long distance separated the two trench lines, some yards. on this account an early start was imperative. scarcely any resistance was encountered. six germans were killed, and others were pursued but not caught. the artillery preparation, under lieutenant-colonel mcnaughton, and the trench-mortar work were all that could be desired. the th battalion carried out the fifth raid. three officers and thirty-one other ranks constituted the raiding party. they moved out just after midnight, formed up outside our wire, and were within twenty yards of the german trench while it was still being bombarded. rushing in as soon as the barrage lifted, they divided up into two parties, which bombed right and left for fifty yards. some resistance was encountered by the right party, but five of the enemy were killed, three captured, and the rest escaped over the parados under fire from the covering party. the left party also experienced resistance, but reached their objective in spite of opposition. dug-outs were bombed and the enemy forced to escape over the parados. after a successful withdrawal the artillery was again turned on to the front line. of the six prisoners taken four bolted on the way back and came to an untimely end. the th belgian field artillery supporting the raid, rendered excellent service, which earned the warm commendation of all concerned in the operation. the sixth raid, by the th battalion was the most elaborate of all. four officers and fifty-eight other ranks took part. the objective was no. crater at st. eloi. almost at the start the officers in charge were wounded. an unavoidable loss of direction and control naturally resulted, though the parties succeeded in reaching their objectives. an unfortunate _contretemps_ arose from the fact that the bugler who was to have sounded the signal to retire fell into an exceedingly muddy and unsavoury shell-hole and lost his bugle! "a" party, on the left, captured three prisoners and bombed several inhabited dug-outs. a machine-gun was also captured. "b," "c," and "d" parties met with little resistance, and saw nothing of the enemy. "e" party bombed northwards towards no. crater, met with little opposition and captured one prisoner. "f" party had a harder task to the south on the far side of no. crater, but captured three prisoners and an automatic rifle, which was unfortunately lost when the man carrying it was wounded. "g" party, also moving south, unsuccessfully chased a number of the enemy towards the th raiding party. as soon as the retirement began an undiscovered machine-gun opened up unexpectedly. fifteen of the enemy were killed, including an officer and two men who resisted all attempts to bring them back after capture. six prisoners were brought in. the seventh raid, undertaken by the th battalion, was unsuccessful. the three officers and forty-seven other ranks who made up the party got well away close under the barrage, but on reaching the parapet two small mines were exploded beneath them. in some way the enemy had become aware of the approaching raid, probably owing to an attack carried out by the division on the left; the element of surprise, the great factor in all successful raids, was thus lost. heavy fire was directed against the attackers; and after a brisk exchange of bombs it became evident that nothing could be accomplished. the party accordingly withdrew. these raids, with the one exception noted, were eminently successful. this success was due in no small measure to the very careful preparation made beforehand. the parties involved were withdrawn from the line a week before the raid, all details were carefully worked out, trenches dug to scale, the ground constantly patrolled, and the raiding parties taken over it by night in small groups. the excellent artillery support and the thorough work of the covering parties all contributed to the satisfactory result. on their arrival in the somme area the th division was fortunate enough to experience a few days of comparative quiet, with little more than shell-fire and sniping to incommode them while getting themselves shaken down into their new lines. owing largely to the wretched weather, the conditions underfoot, and the state of the trenches, the operations pending, major and preliminary, were from day to day postponed. in fact, the three senior canadian divisions were withdrawn from the area before another attack in force was launched against the blood-drenched barrier of regina. on october th the th division, remaining behind, came under the orders of the ii corps for the purpose of future operations. these operations, in so far as the th division was concerned, began on october st. the general plan of operations was as follows. the ii corps[ ] was to attack on the front between courcelette trench and the river ancre in order to capture petit miraumont, grandcourt, and at pierre divion. afterwards the passages of the ancre were to be forced and the ii corps would co-operate with the v corps by pushing north. there were three divisions in line, the th, th, and th, from right to left. the dual _rôle_ of the th canadian division was to protect the right flank of the th division of the ii corps and to safeguard the left flank of the iii corps on the right. a preliminary operation was assigned to the ii corps before the general action began. this preparatory task was the capture of the regina stuff line of trenches, to be undertaken by the th, th, and th divisions, from right to left. in this operation the th canadian division would co-operate by effecting the capture of regina trench from courcelette trench to a point just before the intersection of the pys road, thence approximately along an old german trench to join up with the sapheads which were being built by the th canadian infantry brigade, under brigadier-general william hughes, d.s.o. the th brigade, on the left, under brigadier-general v. w. odlum, d.s.o., undertook the capture of the portion of regina trench assigned to the division. meanwhile, the th brigade was to co-operate by pushing forward its saps so as to be able to support the th brigade by an enfilading fire. each brigade, by the th, had completed a very useful sap, close to the junction of their respective lines, up old german trenches to within two-thirds of the distance to regina. the th brigade placed the th and nd battalions in the line, the former on the right, each battalion having two companies of the th in support. at noon on the st the attack began. the whole operation was an unqualified success. before the afternoon was far advanced the objectives had all been gained and consolidated, blocks established in regina and up the pys road, and contact effected with the equally successful rd brigade of the th division on the left. the co-operation of the th brigade on the right was all that could be desired. altogether the result of the action was a welcome change from the disappointments attending the hard-fought and determined attempts against regina earlier in the month. the new and comparatively raw division had won its spurs with _éclat_. on the th of the month a second preliminary operation was undertaken. in preparation for this attack the right of the th brigade was extended to the chalk pit. at a.m. the attacking battalion, the th, advanced to the assault, supported by the th. early reports seemed to indicate that the operation had been entirely successful. it soon became evident, however, that this was not the case. the enemy was enabled to hold his trenches in great force and to bring a devastatingly effective enfilading machine-gun fire to bear upon the th from the vicinity of the quadrangle. there was nothing for it but to take such cover as was available--old disused trenches and shell-holes, where many remained until dark. the battalion suffered very heavily, having officers killed and wounded, and of other ranks killed, wounded, and missing. the work of the stretcher-bearers in this action was especially commendable. a long period of very bad weather compelled the postponement of further operation from day to day. numerous operation orders and amending orders were issued, but nothing could be attempted until better weather conditions prevailed. it was decided that an attack on the remaining right section of regina trench would be made as soon as the weather should allow of two days' successful bombardment. on november th and th fine weather permitted good shooting. the plan of attack had been ready for some time in anticipation, and accordingly an assault was determined for the night of november th- th. from right to left the attacking line consisted of the th and th battalions of the th brigade and the nd battalion of the th brigade, attached for the purpose to the th brigade. the aim was to capture and consolidate regina trench from the block established in regina on the right flank of the th brigade attack of october st to farmer's road. the th battalion, on the right, attacked the line from the right boundary of the objective to the intersection of the practice road. the th battalion was responsible for the central section. the nd battalion, on the left, advanced against the remaining portion of regina and also from the right extremity of the part of regina already held in a north-easterly direction against the new enemy line running north and north-west from regina to the pys road. the th and th battalions attacked at zero hour, midnight, with two companies each in line, in four waves. the company of the nd which advanced against regina went forward in two waves, as did also the three platoons which attacked from regina north-easterly towards the new german line. the operation as a whole was very successful. the enemy's barrage was over the heads of the attacking troops, who stole a march on their opponents, for zero hour found them yards in advance of their front trench, so that they were in amongst the germans almost before the huns realised what was happening. in the centre success was immediate and complete, though the th suffered more severely than the other battalions for the reason that they were the only battalion to run into heavy machine-gun fire. on the right the th was equally victorious, but they encountered a stiffer resistance. good fortune also favoured the attack of the nd battalion on the left. the specified portion of regina was captured, and the northern attacking party was also, at first, completely successful; later, however, they were bombed back some distance, and established a block about yards in advance of regina. this post was stoutly held against a number of determined counter-attacks. by . a.m. the th and th had overrun their objective, and dug in some yards beyond it. unfortunately, this new line came under our own protective artillery fire, and had to be abandoned. by . a.m., however, consolidation was well advanced. the required posts were established, and work started on new connecting saps and trenches. the working party which the o.c. th had been ordered to detail came up on time, and everything was rapidly rounding into shape, including the new connecting trench between regina and kling trenches. at daybreak a concentration by the enemy in below and new gallwitz trenches was dispersed by our artillery. conditions rapidly became normal, and it was now possible to take stock of the position. altogether it had been a notable success for the th division. the casualties in the th brigade were officers killed and wounded, and other ranks killed, wounded, and missing. the majority of these were of the th battalion. the nd battalion of the th brigade had officers wounded, other ranks killed, wounded, and missing. three officers and other ranks were captured, also machine-guns. about german dead were found in the trench; and, in addition, they lost a number of men who endeavoured to escape across country. regina trench itself proved a disappointment. it was knee-deep in mud, and some of the dug-outs had only been commenced. in addition to the capture of regina, the advanced salient shown on the map was pushed out in order to secure observation of coulée and below trenches. all concerned in the operation received the congratulations of the higher command. the whole of regina trench, which had defied the canadian corps for over a month, was now in british hands; and the th canadian division had earned an enviable reputation for a young division---a reputation which was to be further enhanced by the achievement of the th brigade a week later. on november th this brigade, taking part in the resumed general offensive, carried out its task of capturing and consolidating desire trench. the whole operation, which is described in the succeeding chapter, was executed with dash and thoroughness, and brought to a fitting conclusion the strenuous campaign of the canadian divisions on the somme. [ ] the ii corps consisted of the th, th, th, th british divisions, and th canadian division. chapter x desire trench throughout the closing operations against regina trench our battalions had been forced to pluck every hard success from the teeth of a new foe who had come suddenly to the support of the german defence. this foe was the mud, the hated somme mud, deep, slithering, tenacious as glue, foul with all the filth left behind by the enemy as he gave back yard by yard. for the weather had turned against us. the rains of the rainiest autumn which had scourged their high plateaus for many a year were a timely reinforcement to the hard-pressed enemy. when it came to the attack upon desire trench, on november th- th, the disastrous alliance of mud and rain-drench had reached such a pitch of obstruction that the capture of this line was reluctantly recognised as marking the limit of our possible advance, for the time, upon this sector. the light railways, spread over the vast, red, undulating expanses of naked mud, between the engulfing and omnipresent pits of slime, were being constantly scattered and put out of service by the german shells from north and east--from beyond the ancre and from the hidden batteries in lupart wood; and they were utterly incapable of keeping up the ammunition supply for our valiant advanced batteries of -pounders. our heavies, the great . howitzers lurking in and around the tossed ruins of pozières and behind courcelette, were well supplied, thanks to the indefatigable labours of the road-making companies along the great and crowded artery of the bapaume road. but the -pounders, in their shallow gun-pits far out across the shell-swept stretches of the mud, had to be fed by pack-mules, carrying shells in panniers slung across the back. such a method of transport was torturingly slow, and perilous to the last degree, but it was the only one capable of coping with the situation. under the numbing strain the spirit and humour of our men remained irrepressible, as instanced in the following retort to a sentry's challenge. under the chill downpour of the unrelenting rain, through the blind night, a soldier, just returned from four days' duty in the front trenches, came stumbling in along the bapaume road toward the billets of albert. shrapnel helmet, overcoat, pack, everything but his precious rifle, was covered thick with that chalky mud which sticketh closer than a brother, and he waded heavily through the mire of the tormented roadway. he reached a dripping sentry. "halt! who goes there?" came the challenge, as the labouring figure lurched up in the gloom. "submarine u ," grunted the traveller. "pass, submarine u ," responded the sentry cheerfully; and the moving shape of mud rolled on toward the shattered billets brooded over by the falling virgin and child. under such conditions, but in such unshakable temper, the men of the th canadian division moved to the taking of the position known as desire support trench, on which for days they had been casting covetous eyes. our objective lay across our whole divisional front, from about farmer's road on the right to some yards west of the west miraumont road on the left. at this point our left flank made connection with the th division, which was to attack, simultaneously with our advance, the western sector of desire trench, and other trenches which were protecting the approaches to grandcourt village. the right of our attack--a frontage of only five or six hundred yards, but one offering extreme difficulties--was confided to the th brigade, under brigadier-general w. st. p. hughes. the left, and main, sector, beginning at the pys road, was committed to the th brigade, under brigadier-general v. w. odlum, who had two battalions from the th brigade, the th and the th, attached to his command. there were thus three battalions engaged upon the right sector, and five upon the left. the th brigade, with its restricted frontage and limited objective, attacked with two companies of the th battalion (calgary regiment, lieutenant-colonel e. g. mason) and one company and one platoon of the th (south saskatchewan regiment, lieutenant-colonel h. j. dawson) in the assaulting waves, with one company of the th (winnipeg, lieutenant-colonel e. k. wayland) in support. general odlum made his attack with four battalions, each represented by two companies in the assaulting wave, and one battalion, behind his centre, in support. the attacking battalions, from right to left, were as follows:--the th (mississaugas battalion, of toronto, lieutenant-colonel s. g. beckett), th (kootenay regiment, lieutenant-colonel a. g. h. kemball), th (canadian grenadier guards, montreal, lieutenant-colonel r. w. frost), and th of the th brigade (ottawa, lieutenant-colonel c. m. edwards); while the battalion supporting was the th (manitoba, lieutenant-colonel j. kirkcaldie), also of the th brigade. the artillery supporting the operation consisted of the st, nd, and rd canadian divisional artillery (commanded respectively by brigadier-general h. c. thacker, c.m.g., brigadier-general e. w. b. morrison, and lieutenant-colonel j. h. mitchell), the yukon motor machine-gun battery (captain h. f. murling), and also by the th divisional artillery and the nd corps heavy artillery. the barrage work of the artillery was admirably co-ordinated, and effectually cleared the way for that success which so abundantly rewarded the operation as a whole in spite of failure on the extreme right. while a concentrated standing barrage was flaming and crashing along the whole line of the enemy trench, at the hour for launching the attack ( . a.m.) a creeping barrage was put up along a line yards in front of our own parapets. this line of roaring death rolled onward at the rate of yards per minute, with the first wave of our assault following close behind it--so close, in their eagerness, that a sergeant swore he might have lighted his pipe at it. presently this barrage merged into the standing barrage along the german trench. at fourteen minutes after the launching of the attack the combined barrage lifted from the doomed trench and rolled inexorably onward for another yards, where it rested as a barrier against counter-attacks. the trench was seized, all opposition being swiftly overwhelmed, and our men rushed on behind the barrage to a distance of yards beyond the captured line. here they hurriedly dug themselves in, knowing that the germans would begin to shell desire itself as soon as it should be reported that we had captured it. in order that the enemy might not discover our ruse in time to thwart it, a dense smoke-screen was flung out by a special company of the royal engineers in front of the line where our men were furiously digging. the positions thus gained, about yards beyond desire, were consolidated and held; and they stood to mark the limit of canada's advance on the somme. so much, in brief, for the battle of desire trench. viewed as a whole, it was a rounded and clean-cut success, and earned warm commendation for general watson and his hard-fighting th division. to get an idea of the fluctuations of the struggle, it is necessary to take the operations of the th and th brigades separately. the task assigned to the th brigade, as already stated, was an attack on a very narrow but extremely exposed and strongly defended objective. the whole line of this objective lay open to concentrated artillery fire from the enemy's rear, and was murderously cross-raked by the fire from a number of machine-gun nests. it proved, in the event, difficult to carry and impossible to hold. but this comparative failure, happily, did not vitiate the success of the main operation, which lay along the left front. the th battalion, occupying the brigade left, made its advance successfully to a depth of some yards, and gained its objective with small loss. this objective was a line running east from the pys road. here, however, it got involved in our own smoke barrage, lost its direction (and consequently its touch with the troops on its left), swerved to the right, and left an open gap of about yards between the two brigades. then the german guns from lupart wood in front opened an annihilating fire upon it, machine-guns swept it from both sides, and it was forced back with a loss of officers and other ranks--over half its total strength in the attack. meanwhile, the th battalion, on the right, was faring no better. the attack was made by one company and one platoon, in two waves, on a front of yards. there was a distance of yards between the waves. the first wave, keeping a fair line in spite of the shell-holes, escaped the german barrage, and got to within yards of the enemy's parapets with small loss. here, however, it was met by massed rifle fire full in the face--for our own barrage at this point was playing behind instead of upon the german trench, and the trench was occupied in full force. at the same time a torrent of machine-gun fire opened up on the left. the wave was broken. the survivors took refuge in shell-holes, where they had to lie all day under a ceaseless storm of shell and bullets, till darkness enabled them to crawl back to our lines. the second wave fared even worse. it was caught by the enemy's barrage as it was coming over the parapet. torn and diminished, it nevertheless rushed on, in the face of intolerable punishment, till it was a line no longer. its remnants made their way into a sap and crept back into regina. later in the day, however, the brigade was able to thrust forward again for a short distance on the left, toward the pys road, and so to contain the position which it had failed to capture. thus contained the position ceased to be of service to the enemy or any serious menace to our new line on the left; and day or two afterwards it was simply pounded out of existence by a "combined shoot" of all our heavy guns. in the main attack, all along the line westward from pys road, things went well from the start. by . reports came back from the th, th, and th battalions that all were in their objectives and busy consolidating their gains. the only mystery was in regard to the th, which though apparently successful, had disappeared. while this matter was in doubt the germans launched a counter-attack from coulée trench against the th battalion. they advanced with a great show of resolution several hundred yards, then suddenly, to our astonishment, flung down their bombs and rifles, threw up their hands, and rushed into our line as eager prisoners. about . came news that the th battalion, not content with having captured its objective, had pushed on and gained a section of grandcourt trench, where it was establishing itself successfully. then about o'clock the mystery of the th was solved. this battalion also, feeling that it had not had enough had gone on to try conclusions with grandcourt trench, and made good its footing there. these fine adventures of the th and th, however, were doomed to prove fruitless of result. the operation of the canadians against desire trench was, as we have seen, part of a wider movement, extending far to the left, before grandcourt village. the th division, on our immediate left, though worn with long fighting and far below strength, had made good upon its right, where it joined our lines, but had been held up by insurmountable obstacles near grandcourt. for this reason the higher command decided that it would be inadvisable to attempt to hold such an advanced position as the th and th had taken in grandcourt trench. in the course of the day, therefore, came orders that all advanced units were to come back to their original first objectives and consolidate there. the line of desire trench, thus gained and secured, was an admirable one, strong for defence, and advantageous to attack from when next the occasion should offer itself. and on this line the th division rested until, at the end of the month, they were relieved and moved back to doullens. the casualties of the division in this fine action amounted to officers and , other ranks. the prisoners taken numbered , of whom were officers. the division received warm congratulations from the commanders of the corps and the army upon the success of this its concluding operation in the blood-drenched battlefields of the somme. from these fields the canadian forces, the four divisions henceforth united into an army corps in all respects complete within itself, were removed to the north of arras, to take into their competent keeping that vital area lying under the menace of vimy ridge and the impregnable outposts of lens. welded now by sacrifice, endurance, prudent and brilliant leaderships, and glorious achievements against the mightiest military power in the world's history, into a fighting force of incomparable effectiveness, it was no less than their due that the most tremendous tasks should be set to these fiery and indomitable fighters of the north. to the canadian battalions the impregnable and the invincible had come to mean a challenge which they welcomed joyously. they knew that the utmost of which men were capable was now confidently expected of them. how gloriously they were to justify that high expectation, on the dreadful ridge of vimy, amid the bloody slag-heaps of lens, and along the fire-swept crest of passchendaele, remains to be told succeeding volumes of their story. appendix chronological index. september st-november th, . _the canadian corps on the somme._ _september st._ st canadian division arrives at the somme, with headquarters at rubempré. st canadian infantry brigade takes over right section of line south-west of courcelette, under orders of the th australian division. _september nd._ nd infantry brigade moves to brickfields under orders of the th australian division. _september rd._ rd infantry brigade is instructed to establish a line on the left section from a point on the mouquet road to north of mouquet farm to the north-west and round the farm to the south. command of the canadian corps area in the ypres salient passes to the g.o.c. st anzac corps, and command of the line north-east of albert is assumed by the g.o.c. canadian corps. canadians very busy patrolling, reconnoitring, and locating enemy lines. _september th._ st canadian division relieves th australian division at tara hill. the stubborn fighting round mouquet farm commences and our men repulse an attack west of mouquet. patrols from the th battalion enter enemy's line and block communication trenches. _september th._ st divisional artillery relieves the nd australian divisional artillery. rd and st brigades in front line with reserves in quarry and tom's cut, centre way and union trench. a very heavy hostile artillery fire hampers our communications, and scores a direct hit on rd brigade headquarters. the g.o.c. orders mouquet farm to be taken. _september th._ the enemy shell the left sector heavily, later extending an intense bombardment over the whole front line and area. a large party of germans advancing from the direction of courcelette is dispersed by our artillery. _september th._ preparations for operation on the th. our patrols very busy. enemy shell mouquet farm sectors heavily, obliterating kay trench, and our artillery retaliates on zollern redoubt. the royal flying corps reports enemy communications full of troops and our guns open heavily upon the courcelette communication trenches. nd division arrives at the somme. _september th._ nd brigade relieves rd brigade. early in the morning while relief is in progress the enemy attack mouquet road and drive our men back. later in the day a strong attack is defeated by our bombers and machine-gun fire. the fighting round mouquet continues in the evening--the germans repulsed. extract from reserve army s.g. / / sept. / .--object of canadian corps operations is to advance our line in co-operation with iii corps until we can obtain direct observation from as many points as possible over german third line running flers--le sars--pys. _september th._ at . p.m. the nd battalion attacks successfully south-west of courcelette from vicinity of windmill to munster alley, gaining objectives and capturing two machine-guns and some eighty prisoners. the enemy's counter-attacks repulsed and the captured area consolidated. _september th._ enemy massing troops and bombarding our line heavily. our artillery barrage along the pozières-bapaume road effectively breaks up hostile formation against st brigade. on the left sector the nd brigade drives back several german raids, repulsing a strong and determined attack from mouquet farm. rd canadian division arrived at the somme. _september th._ nd division relieves st division in right sector. early in the morning the th brigade defeats an attempt to rush our posts established in front of the line captured on the th. pozières bombarded with gas shells. _september th._ canadian corps takes over new area--the ovillers-courcelette road and the ground south of it to moy avenue. an intense hostile bombardment causes many casualties amongst our working parties. on the mouquet sectors the nd brigade is relieved by the th brigade, rd division, including the nd canadian mounted rifles, who repulse another strong attack from mouquet farm in the evening. _september th._ our artillery preparing the way for the attack. the germans appear to be very nervous and many deserters come into our lines at night. the th, th, and th brigade, nd and rd division, holding the front line. orders issued for attack on the th. the canadian corps cavalry anticipating work. the enemy advance in numbers against the sector held by the st and th canadian mounted rifles, but the heavy artillery effectively breaks up the attack. _september th._ artillery active, but little infantry work. the nd division to attack courcelette and the rd division fabeck graben. it was hoped that the cavalry might penetrate the german lines east of courcelette and disable communications and guns round pys and grandcourt, but after much reconnaissance and patrol work the country was found impracticable for mounted men. _september th._ general offensive at . a.m. by six battalions of the nd and rd divisions. the whole objective secured by a.m., and the attack continues successfully in the afternoon, resulting in a line being established from the point of the original salient east of mouquet via fabeck trench to west end of courcelette then around north and east side of village down to gunpit trench to the north-west corner of martinpuich. the tanks, in action for the first time, help to secure a brilliant success. the commander-in-chief congratulates the canadians. _september th._ consolidation of occupied areas. the th brigade in position along gunpit trench with the th brigade on its left, and the th brigade along the mouquet farm sectors. orders issued to the nd division to push forward and establish posts in advance trenches north-north-east of courcelette. the rd division to be prepared to capture the line of the zollern graben to festen zollern--and mouquet farm. the germans massing troops and hostile barrages damage our communications. in the evening the nd canadian mounted rifles surround mouquet farm. at p.m. the royal canadian rifles and the nd battalion attack the zollern graben trench but are driven back. the th british infantry brigade takes over the gunpit trench line to the bapaume road, relieving the th brigade. _september th._ our men repulse several counter-attacks. early in the morning the th british infantry brigade relieves the th brigade, taking over the mouquet farm sector. in the afternoon the th brigade attacks east of courcelette, at the same time sending a bombing raid up sunken road. small successful offensives help to clear up our positions, though the hostile artillery fire tries our men severely. the th brigade holding frontage from bapaume road to courcelette cemetery, to main street to sunken road to cross roads north-west of village. extract from reserve army s.g. / / .--"canadian corps will establish posts on all the high ground north and north-west of courcelette and gain observation over the ancre valley and especially over the enemy trenches in r and , trenches round courcelette road, north of hessian trench, grandcourt road and vicinity." _september th._ nd division is relieved by st division. our men establishing bombing and machine-gun posts north of courcelette under a heavy artillery fire. hostile bombing parties driven back. _september th._ at . p.m. the enemy attack north-east of courcelette and gain a footing in our trenches. a counter-attack organised by the th battalion and the line recaptured, though a few advanced posts remain in possession of the enemy. _september th._ at a.m. a further attack along this whole frontage is made by the enemy, but is repulsed by machine-gun fire and bombs. later, the th and rd battalions, rd division attack the zollern graben line and after severe fighting succeed in entering the trench. fighting stubbornly, our men repulse four counter-attacks, until at last, after an intense bombardment, the germans come on in great numbers under cover of a smoke barrage and force the canadians back to their starting point. _september st._ our barrages check a very heavy enemy fire on sunken road and the right front line, though a german battery succeeds in blowing up the ammunition dump at la boiselle. st and th brigades holding front line. _september nd._ in the evening an attack made by the th battalion, st brigade against the maze of german trenches immediately east of courcelette. this objective secured and some prisoners taken. patrols from the th brigade establish posts in high trench west. the canadians holding a line from a point near mouquet road in the fabeck graben trench to north-west courcelette, to north courcelette, round the quarry and east of the village towards martinpuich. _september rd._ st and nd brigades in front line. the canadian corps anxious to push forward towards le sars line and st division is instructed to work up the trench north of bapaume road to join with the british rd division attacking north of martinpuich. (m. ). _september th._ st brigade holding bapaume road to north-east courcelette. nd and rd brigades round quarry, north of courcelette to fabeck graben. (r. .c. . .) continued severe bombardment of our lines. a strong enemy patrol attacks our new post on the bapaume road, but is repulsed, though another attack gains him footing in our advanced posts near the cemetery. _september th._ st and nd divisions in front line preparing for offensive. canadian corps to co-operate with ii. corps in capture of ridge running north-west of courcelette to the schwaben redoubt. the nd division objective a new german trench north of courcelette--the st division to take the kenora and regina trenches by way of the zollern and hessian lines. later the st division objective is shortened and changed to a point on the west miraumont road. _september th._ at . p.m. the st and nd divisions attack and, after heavy fighting, partially occupy the zollern, hessian, and kenora trenches. on the right the th and st battalions are held up in their operations north of courcelette, but after several determined attacks succeed in gaining their objective. the enemy resist stubbornly, and during the night bombard courcelette and the whole front line. the left of the nd brigade is badly hampered in its operations by machine-gun fire from mouquet farm and stuff redoubt. representations made to the th british division on the left, who, at . p.m., report the official clearing up to the farm. _september th._ in the morning the nd brigade attacked the hessian trench and drove the germans back towards regina trench, only to lose the greater part of their gain in a strong hostile counter-attack about p.m. a fresh attack was made in the afternoon and the whole regained and held. at . p.m. it was reported that the germans had withdrawn from their line between the bapaume road and the courcelette trench, and our patrols were busy establishing posts in the north and south practice trenches, along the dyke road, and towards regina trench between the east and west miraumont roads. on the left hostile reinforcements had arrived and driven the th battalion from kenora trench to a line of defence some yards south-west. _september th._ cavalry reconnaissances find enemy in destremont farm and in strength in the le sars line. th brigade pushing forward north of courcelette, and bombing parties fighting their way towards regina. on the left the st division repulses a determined attack against our hessian trench and our posts about kenora trench. our line in process of construction from bapaume road to dyke road to east miraumont road to a point yards up courcelette trench and south to kenora trench, to hessian as far as the courcelette road. the enemy massing troops, and an intense bombardment by our artillery silences many batteries and breaks up hostile formations. th, th, th, and th brigades in front line. september th. at . a.m. a further strong attack upon hessian trench repulsed by our men, and about noon the nd canadian mounted rifles, in co-operation with the british brigade on the canadian left, attack and capture the german communication from hessian trench to courcelette road. a strong post established. very heavy hostile artillery fire and incessant fighting for small gains. nd division instructed to occupy and consolidate a line from destremont farm and north and south practice trenches. _september th._ th, th, and th brigades in front line. enemy working hard building defences. th brigade takes over th brigade lines to twenty-three road, and preparations are made for new offensive. extract from reserve army s.g. / . / / .--"the operations of the reserve army will comprise two simultaneous attacks. "(_a_) a southern attack by the canadian corps to capture irles. the right of this attack will rest on the bois loupart (inclusive). the left of the attack will, in the early stages, be held back on the high ground overlooking miraumont. "(_b_) a western attack by the v. and xiii. corps...." _october st._ th, th, and th brigades, nd and rd divisions in front line. at . p.m. the canadians attack a line from destremont farm to the junction of the courcelette and regina trenches, thence the line of the regina trench through twenty-three road to the courcelette road and south to the hessian trench. our troops penetrate into this objective in certain localities, but unable to maintain themselves. the th canadian mounted rifles on the left succeed in bombing down regina trench nearly as far as the west miraumont road, but a heavily-reinforced counter-attack drives them back to hessian trench about p.m. however, our troops succeed in establishing a new line from the courcelette trench across the pys road, thence running north and north-east of the practice trenches and across the dyke road to a junction with the british division on the canadian right. kenora trench held to a few yards from regina and posts established forward in courcelette trench. _october nd._ royal flying corps reports that the enemy is very strong along regina trench on the west of the east miraumont road. special reconnaissance ordered of regina trench from the east miraumont road to the le sars line. our troops very busy establishing the new line and regina trench is shelled heavily by our artillery. a new line ordered to be established from which to attack regina trench between courcelette trench and below trench. _october rd._ th brigade relieved by the th. our advanced post in kenora close to regina trench is abandoned temporarily in order to allow the artillery a free hand. a night reconnaissance of regina trench produced little result owing to the intense darkness. reserve army decides to postpone operations planned for oct. th as more time is required for artillery preparation. work is actively continued on the new line in front of regina trench in spite of the heavy rain. _october th._ zollern trench and the front areas heavily shelled by the hostile artillery. the royal canadian rifles occupy kendall trench and establish posts within a few yards of the enemy. rd division assumes command of nd division lines. _october th._ th canadian division arrives at the somme. canadian artillery bombards regina trench heavily. our men busy digging new jumping-off trenches in preparation for a new offensive, and patrols and aeroplanes reconnoitring. _october th._ th brigade relieved by th brigade. rd division sends out patrols along regina trench examining wire. reconnaissance made of destremont line, st division assumes command of the destremont farm front. the enemy bombarding courcelette and maple leaf road. _october th._ rd canadian divisional artillery arrives at the somme and relieves the lahore artillery. st and rd divisions in front line. artillery active on both sides--and our troops completing preparations for the attack. patrols work along twenty-three road from the junction on regina and kenora trenches and report enemy's wire in fairly good condition. _october th._ at . a.m. the st and rd divisions attack the german positions from dyke road around the quadrilateral (the intersection of gallwitz trench and support, and below trench and support), thence along regina trench to the kenora communication between the grandcourt and twenty-three roads. the two right battalions reach their objectives and on the left the th and th brigades gained a footing in the german lines. however, it is found impossible to hold the positions against the vigorous counter-attacks of the enemy, and after stubborn fighting the canadians are forced back to their jumping-off trenches. _october th._ the st division constructs a new trench south of the quadrilateral from dyke road to below trench, at which point junction is made with the british brigade on the right. the enemy shell the whole front area with shrapnel and high explosive. _october th._ th brigade patrols busy along the line of regina trench. hostile bombardment of dyke road and north practice trenches, but our troops actively continue the construction and consolidation of the new lines. patrols report the strong condition of the enemy wire. nd division leaves the somme. _october th._ very heavy hostile bombardment of the th brigade front and support trenches from twenty-three road to north of the north practice trenches, causing severe damage to the trenches and somewhat heavy casualties. near the east miraumont road the germans attempt an attack from regina trench, but the barrage of the nd divisional artillery prevents them from leaving their own parapet. parties of germans driven by our artillery fire from regina trench are caught on the pys and east miraumont road by our -pounders and engaged with excellent effect. later on our artillery disperses another large party near the grandcourt road. the g.o.c. th division assumes command of rd division lines, with the th brigade remaining under orders of the th division. _october th._ our new trench south of the quadrilateral between dyke road and below trench suffers a heavy bombardment. our artillery active in wire cutting and a deliberate shelling of the enemy defences. gas and lachrymatory shells thrown into courcelette and pozières. _october th._ little infantry activity, though patrols are busy preparing for the proposed offensive. the enemy bombard martinpuich, and our front and support areas, with heavy retaliation by our artillery. _october th._ th divisional sector shelled heavily, with the enemy throwing gas shells into the th brigade lines. left brigade trenches damaged and communications cut by an intense barrage during the afternoon. canadian corps decides to postpone the planned attack. _october th._ rd british infantry brigade relieves th brigade on the left of the line. our heavy artillery directs an intense fire upon regina, courcelette, below, and gallwitz trenches, doing a great deal of damage to the hostile defences and causing many casualties. the village of pys bombarded also, and many enemy observation posts demolished. a large party of germans observed near achiet trench and broken up by our artillery fire. patrols from the th and th brigades examine wire in front of regina trench in spite of the heavy bombardment. _october th._ very satisfactory damage to the enemy's barbed wire reported by the th division patrols. a quiet day for the infantry, but our artillery silences several hostile batteries and causes many casualties in a body of infantry observed north of irles. regina, coulée, and courcelette trenches bombarded and machine-gun emplacements successfully located and destroyed. _october th._ th brigade, th division, takes over nd brigade, st division, lines. th canadian division comes under command of ii. corps and receives instructions for the preliminary operations. the th brigade to capture and consolidate regina trench from courcelette trench to a point just before the junction with the pys road, then easterly to the sapheads built by the th brigade. strong blocks to be pushed out along the east miraumont road and the german trenches running parallel to it. the th brigade to push forward its saps towards regina and co-operate with the th brigade with machine-gun fire. the artillery active on both sides, the enemy shelling the th brigade front rather heavily. _october th._ the arrangements for the offensive on the th practically completed. the th brigade moves up to its advanced headquarters in the north practice trenches, and has a great deal of trouble establishing satisfactory communications. artillery not very busy, though our guns keep the enemy from repairing his damaged defences. _october th._ a steady rain, making movement almost impossible over the heavy ground. the nd army decides to postpone the attack for twenty-four hours. the th and th brigades working hard driving saps towards regina trench and establishing jumping-off positions. the th brigade lines shelled heavily and continuously, despite the retaliation of the canadian artillery. _october th._ operations postponed for a further twenty-four hours, and the artillery takes advantage of the delay to complete the demolition of the enemy's wire. a quiet day for the infantry, but the trenches are full of water and in very bad condition, necessitating ceaseless work. the rd canadian division leaves the somme area. _october st._ attack made about noon by the th brigade, excellent machine-gun work materially aiding a most successful offensive. the whole objective gained, and by p.m. our men are busy consolidating the captured area. enemy massing near the coulée trench dispersed by our artillery fire. further information received that the germans are concentrating near the chalk pits east of the quadrilateral, and artillery and machine-gun barrages redoubled and a counter-attack prevented. the st canadian division leaves the somme area. _october nd._ no attempt made by the enemy to counter-attack during the night, beyond a few bombing raids which were easily repulsed. the th brigade to complete the capture of regina trench. the state of the front lines is very bad and our men work under the most trying conditions. the enemy shell the captured areas heavily. _october rd._ preparations for the big push in process of completion. the th brigade is instructed to extend its right to the chalk pit south of warlencourt, and the preliminary attack arranged for the th. th brigade to co-operate by pushing up the block in regina trench eastwards. dyke road heavily shelled. _october th._ the th brigade reports that the th battalion, instructed to capture the remainder of regina, is very much exhausted by the severe conditions, and the minor operation is postponed for twenty-four hours. th brigade patrols push their block in regina another yards eastwards. _october th._ at a.m. the th battalion attack the portion of regina trench remaining in german hands--between the quadrilateral and the th brigade block east of the pys road--but meeting with very heavy enfilading machine-gun fire from the quadrilateral the men are quite unable to reach their objective. the th brigade have bombed eastwards from the block in regina but as the th battalion do not arrive the germans are enabled to concentrate a strong bombing counter-attack and drive our men back to their original post. the corps decides to make this portion of the regina trench part of the objective in the later operation. _october th._ the th brigade relieves the th and th brigades in the line. hostile artillery active south of the albert- bapaume road. german troops observed in large numbers in the grandcourt trench and our heavy guns concentrate on this point. _october th._ operations postponed once more. the germans endeavouring to complete new defensive works between the regina and grandcourt trenches, but making little headway, owing to our continued artillery and machine-gun fire. _october th._ enemy shelling vigorously in the area south of the albert-bapaume road. the th battalion sends out patrols to locate new enemy lines. the roads are very bad, and great difficulty is experienced in transporting the ammunition to the guns. _october th._ the bad weather prevents operations, but our artillery and machine-gun barrages effectually prevent the germans from working on their new defences. _october th._ gale blowing and artillery work hampered. operations postponed until november th. heavy rain renders the condition of the front trenches indescribable, and frequent reliefs have to be made. _october st._ weather improves, and the artillery fire becomes general. the enemy shell albert, while our guns are busy wire-cutting and destroying german defences. satisfactory reports received on the state of the wire in front of coulée and below trenches. _november st._ bad weather continues to hamper our artillery work, though the enemy shell our support lines and communication trenches. the th brigade sends out patrols to intercept and cut up hostile working parties. the roads are very bad, and operations are postponed until nov. th. _november nd._ patrol penetrates north between pys and miraumont road for some yards. weather clears and aircraft and artillery correspondingly busy. enemy working parties dispersed and their defensive work prevented. _november rd._ th brigade relieved by th and th brigades. fair observation, and artillery active on both sides. observation patrol reaches a point north of the destremont road and reports that the german wire in front of gallwitz trench is not a formidable obstacle. _november th._ hostile aerial activity, and much movement of troops and transport observed in the german lines along the irles-miraumont road. th and th brigade patrols work up east miraumont road and to the east, some of our men reaching gallwitz trench. german wire appears to be badly damaged by our artillery fire. enemy hard at work improving his defences. _november th._ british and australians attacking the butte de warlencourt on the canadian right and the enemy place a barrage on the th brigade lines. patrol report that the germans have thrown out new wire in front of their new trench north of the quadrilateral, running east from below trench--but that there appear to be no obstacles to our advance on a line from practice road to a point yards east of farmer road. _november th._ the th brigade establishes two posts close to regina in the vicinity of the pys and miraumont roads. some heavy shelling on both sides. at . p.m. it is reported that enemy aircraft have blown up an ammunition dump near meaulte. a scouting party from the right brigade work down farmer road to dyke road, patrolling as far as aqueduct road and locating some machine-gun emplacements. other patrols work westward along the whole front. the germans have thrown out a quantity of new wire. _november th._ heavy bombardment of our line west of dyke road while our artillery retaliates on coulée and below trenches. german wire appears very thick and strong along the below trench between the quadrilateral and the coulée trench. enemy busy building new machine-gun emplacements on grundy road, and placing wire. _november th._ courcelette shelled heavily during the afternoon. patrols report a new trench connecting desire trench with east miraumont road. arrangements made for attack by th and th brigades as soon as weather permitted two days' preliminary bombardment. _november th._ it is proposed to capture and consolidate regina trench from the th brigade block east of the pys road, to farmer road and to establish strong blocks at the junctions and beyond, north of regina trench. a fine day, and a most successful shoot was carried out upon regina trench. _november th._ the heavy artillery bombardment of regina continued and preparations made for the attack. hostile aircraft attack dumps and depots behind our lines. _november th._ at midnight th- th, the th and th brigades attack and capture the german portion of regina trench to farmer road. all objectives gained, though the nd battalion, in the northern attack, unable to maintain a post as far north of regina as had been hoped. a very successful attack--the positions consolidated by a.m. and later several counter-attacks beaten off. the th brigade relieve the th and th brigades in the new line. _november th._ the th brigade pushing out advanced trenches to gain observation over the coulée and below trenches. our heavy guns bombard desire support trench successfully with little hostile shelling in reply. a portion of the trenches on the extreme right taken over by the th british division. _november th._ the british division attack on the canadian left, and the enemy place a barrage on our right battalion lines and dyke road. our new salient in regina trench heavily shelled. our patrols busy. _november th._ the german artillery very active all day, throwing a quantity of gas shells into our lines. enemy aircraft raid our camps and bases during the night. our artillery retaliates on below trench and hostile communications. _november th._ th brigade patrols in touch with the enemy in the southern portion of below trench. it is proposed to extend our line in that direction. enemy shell th brigade front, th street, and bapaume road. preparations for an offensive on the th. _november th._ enemy place a heavy barrage on th brigade sectors, and continue until checked by the retaliation of our artillery. the th brigade takes over the frontage of the th brigade, th division. instructions issued for the attack. th brigade to advance their line from the apex of regina trench on the right to the junction of the german new trench with desire support. the th brigade to take over the front now held by the th brigade, th division and advance their line to the line of the desire support trench as far west as a point in the ravine, yards east of where the ravine turns north. _november th._ our artillery bombarding the german line, the new trench north of regina, the southern portion of below trench and the coulée trench. some successful wire cutting accomplished. _november th._ barrage starts at a.m. and the operations successfully carried out. our guns succeed in capturing desire trench from the ravine to a point about halfway between the pys and east miraumont roads. east of this point our men have great trouble, meeting with heavy artillery and machine-gun fire, and are ultimately driven back to regina trench. parties from the th and th battalions advance into grandcourt trench and take many prisoners, but later are ordered to retire and assist in the consolidation of the new line running about yards north of desire trench. the operation as a whole distinctly successful, in spite of the reverse on the right. _november th._ no sign of hostile artillery retaliation or counter-attack during the day. our heavy artillery arranges a shoot to start at junction of new trench and below trench westward to practice road to the junction of new trench and desire trench--to clear out the germans who held up the right of our attack on the th. in the meantime coulée trench is bombarded with excellent results. the th brigade holding the left of the line from the ravine to the block in desire trench about yards west of the pys road, the th brigade from the block along the curve south by south-east to regina trench, and to the entrance right of the division position. _november th._ the misty weather postpones the artillery action arranged on the th. east of pys road the enemy attack our working party, capturing several of the men. our patrols retaliate on hostile posts. corps commanders congratulate the canadians on the success of the th. _november st._ the canadians busy placing the line in a strong defensive position. the artillery offensive postponed owing to the proposed relief of our guns, and the general artillery activity less than usual, though a hostile bombardment of the regina trench road junction caused some damage to our lines. enemy appears to be working hard upon his defences. _november nd._ th brigade, st division, takes over the line from the ravine to the west miraumont road, held by the th brigade. hostile bombardment of our front line, while our artillery retaliates on a trench running from below to desire support trench. many aerial combats, and several planes brought down on both sides. _november rd._ the germans shell new street, but cause little damage. the heavy artillery have another and more successful bombardment of the new enemy trench between below and desire trenches, and disperse german working parties in crest trench, along the miraumont road. _november th._ th brigade relieves the th brigade. enemy artillery less active during the day. german infantry observed on the miraumont road, and badly cut up by our artillery fire. grevillers trench and the junction of coulée and below trenches are shelled. orders received from the corps for the relief and move of the th division. _november th._ preparing for relief, st, nd, and rd canadian divisional artillery relieved by the st divisional artillery, th brigade relieved in the line by the th brigade, who will hold the entire front line until final relief by the st division. enemy working hard on defences of new gallwitz trench, and our artillery disperses a working party in crest trench. _november th._ preparations for move completed. an offensive, arranged by the yukon machine-gun battery, to clear out hostile patrols and working parties. the th and th brigades commence their move to canadian corps area. _november th._ the machine-gun action reported to have been very satisfactory. enemy artillery quiet, though movement of troops is noted. the st division relieves the th division. _november th._ the remainder of the th division leaves the somme area. the division joins the canadian corps with the st army on the arras-lens front. [illustration: map--regina trench. showing operations by progressive stages.] printed in great britain by r. clay and sons, ltd. brunswick street, stamford street, s.e. , and bungay, suffolk the crime of the congo the crime of the congo by a. conan doyle author of the great boer war, etc., etc. new york doubleday, page & company mcmix all rights reserved, including that of translation into foreign languages, including the scandinavian copyright, , by doubleday, page & company published, november, copyright, , by a. conan doyle preface there are many of us in england who consider the crime which has been wrought in the congo lands by king leopold of belgium and his followers to be the greatest which has ever been known in human annals. personally i am strongly of that opinion. there have been great expropriations like that of the normans in england or of the english in ireland. there have been massacres of populations like that of the south americans by the spaniards or of subject nations by the turks. but never before has there been such a mixture of wholesale expropriation and wholesale massacre all done under an odious guise of philanthropy and with the lowest commercial motives as a reason. it is this sordid cause and the unctious hypocrisy which makes this crime unparalleled in its horror. the witnesses of the crime are of all nations, and there is no possibility of error concerning facts. there are british consuls like casement, thesiger, mitchell and armstrong, all writing in their official capacity with every detail of fact and date. there are frenchmen like pierre mille and félicien challaye, both of whom have written books upon the subject. there are missionaries of many races--harris, weeks and stannard (british); morrison, clarke and shepherd (american); sjoblom (swedish) and father vermeersch, the jesuit. there is the eloquent action of the italian government, who refused to allow italian officers to be employed any longer in such hangman's work, and there is the report of the belgian commission, the evidence before which was suppressed because it was too dreadful for publication; finally, there is the incorruptible evidence of the kodak. any american citizen who will glance at mark twain's "king leopold's soliloquy" will see some samples of that. a perusal of all of these sources of information will show that there is not a grotesque, obscene or ferocious torture which human ingenuity could invent which has not been used against these harmless and helpless people. this would, to my mind, warrant our intervention in any case. turkey has several times been interfered with simply on the general ground of humanity. there is in this instance a very special reason why america and england should not stand by and see these people done to death. they are, in a sense, their wards. america was the first to give official recognition to king leopold's enterprise in , and so has the responsibility of having actually put him into that position which he has so dreadfully abused. she has been the indirect and innocent cause of the whole tragedy. surely some reparation is due. on the other hand england has, with the other european powers, signed the treaty of , by which each and all of them make it responsible for the condition of the native races. the other powers have so far shown no desire to live up to this pledge. but the conscience of england is uneasy and she is slowly rousing herself to act. will america be behind? at this moment two american citizens, shepherd and that noble virginian, morrison, are about to be tried at boma for telling the truth about the scoundrels. morrison in the dock makes a finer statue of liberty than bartholdi's in new york harbour. attempts will be made in america (for the congo has its paid apologists everywhere) to pretend that england wants to oust belgium from her colony and take it herself. such accusations are folly. to run a tropical colony honestly without enslaving the natives is an expensive process. for example nigeria, the nearest english colony, has to be subsidized to the extent of $ , , a year. whoever takes over the congo will, considering its present demoralized condition, have a certain expense of $ , , a year for twenty years. belgium has not run the colony. it has simply sacked it, forcing the inhabitants without pay to ship everything of value to antwerp. no decent european power could do this. for many years to come the congo will be a heavy expense and it will truly be a philanthropic call upon the next owner. i trust it will not fall to england. attempts have been made too (for there is considerable ingenuity and unlimited money on the other side) to pretend that it is a question of protestant missions against catholic. any one who thinks this should read the book, "la question kongolaise," of the eloquent and holy jesuit, father vermeersch. he lived in the country and, as he says, it was the sight of the "immeasurable misery," which drove him to write. we english who are earnest over this matter look eagerly to the westward to see some sign of moral support of material leading. it would be a grand sight to see the banner of humanity and civilization carried forward in such a cause by the two great english-speaking nations. arthur conan doyle. introduction i am convinced that the reason why public opinion has not been more sensitive upon the question of the congo free state, is that the terrible story has not been brought thoroughly home to the people. mr. e. d. morel has done the work of ten men, and the congo reform association has struggled hard with very scanty means; but their time and energies have, for the most part, been absorbed in dealing with each fresh phase of the situation as it arose. there is room, therefore, as it seemed to me, for a general account which would cover the whole field and bring the matter up to date. this account must necessarily be a superficial one, if it is to be produced at such a size and such a price, as will ensure its getting at that general public for which it has been prepared. yet it contains the essential facts, and will enable the reader to form his own opinion upon the situation. should he, after reading it, desire to help in the work of forcing this question to the front, he can do so in several ways. he can join the congo reform association (granville house, arundel street, w. c.). he can write to his local member and aid in getting up local meetings to ventilate the question. finally, he can pass this book on and purchase other copies, for any profits will be used in setting the facts before the french and german public. it may be objected that this is ancient history, and that the greater part of it refers to a period before the congo state was annexed to belgium on august th, . but responsibility cannot be so easily shaken off. the congo state was founded by the belgian king, and exploited by belgian capital, belgian soldiers and belgian concessionnaires. it was defended and upheld by successive belgian governments, who did all they could to discourage the reformers. in spite of legal quibbles, it is an insult to common sense to suppose that the responsibility for the congo has not always rested with belgium. the belgian machinery was always ready to help and defend the state, but never to hold it in control and restrain it from crime. one chance belgium had. if immediately upon taking over the state they had formed a judicial commission for the rigid inspection of the whole matter, with power to punish for all past offences, and to examine all the scandals of recent years, then they would have done something to clear the past. if on the top of that they had freed the land, given up the system of forced labour entirely, and cancelled the charters of all the concessionnaire companies, for the obvious reason that they have notoriously abused their powers, then belgium could go forward in its colonizing enterprise on the same terms as other states, with her sins expiated so far as expiation is now possible. she did none of these things. for a year now she has herself persevered in the evil ways of her predecessor. her colony is a scandal before the whole world. the era of murders and mutilations has, as we hope, passed by, but the country is sunk into a state of cowed and hopeless slavery. it is not a new story, but merely another stage of the same story. when belgium took over the congo state, she took over its history and its responsibilities also. what a load that was is indicated in these pages. the record of the dates is the measure of our patience. can any one say that we are precipitate if we now brush aside vain words and say definitely that the matter has to be set right by a certain near date, or that we will appeal to each and all of the powers, with the evidence before them, to assist us in setting it right? if the powers refuse to do so, then it is our duty to honour the guarantees which we made as to the safety of these poor people, and to turn to the task of setting it right ourselves. if the powers join in, or give us a mandate, all the better. but we have a mandate from something higher than the powers which obliges us to act. sir edward grey has told us in his speech of july nd, , that a danger to european peace lies in the matter. let us look this danger squarely in the face. whence does it come? is it from germany, with her traditions of kindly home life--is this the power which would raise a hand to help the butchers of the mongalla and of the domaine de la couronne? is it likely that those who so justly admire the splendid private and public example of william ii. would draw the sword for leopold? both in the name of trade rights and in that of humanity germany has a long score to settle on the congo. or is it the united states which would stand in the way, when her citizens have vied with our own in withstanding and exposing these iniquities? or, lastly, is france the danger? there are those who think that because france has capital invested in these enterprises, because the french congo has itself degenerated under the influence and example of its neighbour, and because france holds a right of pre-emption, that therefore our trouble lies across the channel. for my own part, i cannot believe it. i know too well the generous, chivalrous instincts of the french people. i know, also, that their colonial record during centuries has been hardly inferior to our own. such traditions are not lightly set aside, and all will soon be right again when a strong colonial minister turns his attention to the concessionnaires in the french congo. they will remember de brazza's dying words: "our congo must not be turned into a mongalla." it is an impossibility that france could ally herself with king leopold, and certainly if such were, indeed, the case, the _entente cordiale_ would be strained to breaking. surely, then, if these three powers, the ones most directly involved, have such obvious reasons for helping, rather than hindering, we may go forward without fear. but if it were not so, if all europe frowned upon our enterprise, we would not be worthy to be the sons of our fathers if we did not go forward on the plain path of national duty. arthur conan doyle. windlesham, crowborough, september, . contents page preface iii introduction vii how the congo free state came to be founded the development of the congo state the working of the system first fruits of the system further fruits of the system voices from the darkness consul roger casement's report king leopold's commission and its report the congo after the commission some catholic testimony as to the congo the evidence up to date the political situation some congolese apologies solutions appendix the crime of the congo i how the congo free state came to be founded in the earlier years of his reign king leopold of belgium began to display that interest in central africa which for a long time was ascribed to nobility and philanthropy, until the contrast between such motives, and the actual unscrupulous commercialism, became too glaring to be sustained. as far back as the year he called a conference of humanitarians and travellers, who met at brussels for the purpose of debating various plans by which the dark continent might be opened up. from this conference sprang the so-called international african association, which, in spite of its name, was almost entirely a belgian body, with the belgian king as president. its professed object was the exploration of the country and the founding of stations which should be rest-houses for travellers and centres of civilization. on the return of stanley from his great journey in , he was met at marseilles by a representative from the king of belgium, who enrolled the famous traveller as an agent for his association. the immediate task given to stanley was to open up the congo for trade, and to make such terms with the natives as would enable stations to be built and depôts established. in stanley was at work with characteristic energy. his own intentions were admirable. "we shall require but mere contact," he wrote, "to satisfy the natives that our intentions are pure and honourable, seeking their own good, materially and socially, more than our own interests. we go to spread what blessings arise from amiable and just intercourse with people who have been strangers to them." stanley was a hard man, but he was no hypocrite. what he said he undoubtedly meant. it is worth remarking, in view of the accounts of the laziness or stupidity of the natives given by king leopold's apologists in order to justify their conduct toward them, that stanley had the very highest opinion of their industry and commercial ability. the following extracts from his writings set this matter beyond all doubt: "bolobo is a great centre for the ivory and camwood powder trade, principally because its people are so enterprising." of irebu--"a venice of the congo"--he says: "these people were really acquainted with many lands and tribes on the upper congo. from stanley pool to upoto, a distance of , miles, they knew every landing-place on the river banks. all the ups and downs of savage life, all the profits and losses derived from barter, all the diplomatic arts used by tactful savages, were as well known to them as the roman alphabet to us.... no wonder that all this commercial knowledge had left its traces on their faces; indeed, it is the same as in your own cities in europe. know you not the military man among you, the lawyer and the merchant, the banker, the artist, or the poet? it is the same in africa, more especially on the congo, where the people are so devoted to trade." "during the few days of our mutual intercourse they gave us a high idea of their qualities--industry, after their own style, not being the least conspicuous." "as in the old time, umangi, from the right bank, and mpa, from the left bank, despatched their representatives with ivory tusks, large and small, goats and sheep, and vegetable food, clamorously demanding that we should buy from them. such urgent entreaties, accompanied with blandishments to purchase their stock, were difficult to resist." "i speak of eager native traders following us for miles for the smallest piece of cloth. i mention that after travelling many miles to obtain cloth for ivory and redwood powder, the despairing natives asked: 'well, what is it you do want? tell us, and we will get it for you.'" speaking of english scepticism as to king leopold's intentions, he says: "though they understand the satisfaction of a sentiment when applied to england, they are slow to understand that it may be a sentiment that induced king leopold ii. to father this international association. he is a dreamer, like his _confrères_ in the work, because the sentiment is applied to the neglected millions of the dark continent. they cannot appreciate rightly, because there are no dividends attaching to it, this ardent, vivifying and expansive sentiment, which seeks to extend civilizing influences among the dark races, and to brighten up with the glow of civilization the dark places of sad-browed africa." one cannot let these extracts pass without noting that bolobo, the first place named by stanley, has sunk in population from , to , ; that irebu, called by stanley the populous venice of the congo, had in a population of fifty; that the natives who used to follow stanley, beseeching him to trade, now, according to consul casement, fly into the bush at the approach of a steamer, and that the unselfish sentiment of king leopold ii. has developed into dividends of per cent. per annum. such is the difference between stanley's anticipation and the actual fulfilment. untroubled, however, with any vision as to the destructive effects of his own work, stanley laboured hard among the native chiefs, and returned to his employer with no less than alleged treaties which transferred land to the association. we have no record of the exact payment made in order to obtain these treaties, but we have the terms of a similar transaction carried out by a belgian officer in at palabala. in this case the payment made to the chief consisted of "one coat of red cloth with gold facings, one red cap, one white tunic, one piece of white baft, one piece of red points, one box of liqueurs, four demijohns of rum, two boxes of gin, bottles of gin, twenty red handkerchiefs, forty singlets and forty old cotton caps." it is clear that in making such treaties the chief thought that he was giving permission for the establishment of a station. the idea that he was actually bartering away the land was never even in his mind, for it was held by a communal tenure for the whole tribe, and it was not his to barter. and yet it is on the strength of such treaties as these that twenty millions of people have been expropriated, and the whole wealth and land of the country proclaimed to belong, not to the inhabitants, but to the state--that is, to king leopold. with this sheaf of treaties in his portfolio the king of the belgians now approached the powers with high sentiments of humanitarianism, and with a definite request that the state which he was forming should receive some recognized status among the nations. was he at that time consciously hypocritical? did he already foresee how widely his future actions would differ from his present professions? it is a problem which will interest the historian of the future, who may have more materials than we upon which to form a judgment. on the one hand, there was a furtive secrecy about the evolution of his plans and the despatch of his expeditions which should have no place in a philanthropic enterprise. on the other hand, there are limits to human powers of deception, and it is almost inconceivable that a man who was acting a part could so completely deceive the whole civilized world. it is more probable, as it seems to me, that his ambitious mind discerned that it was possible for him to acquire a field of action which his small kingdom could not give, in mixing himself with the affairs of africa. he chose the obvious path, that of a civilizing and elevating mission, taking the line of least resistance without any definite idea whither it might lead him. once faced with the facts, his astute brain perceived the great material possibilities of the country; his early dreams faded away to be replaced by unscrupulous cupidity, and step by step he was led downward until he, the man of holy aspirations in , stands now in with such a cloud of terrible direct personal responsibility resting upon him as no man in modern european history has had to bear. it is, indeed, ludicrous, with our knowledge of the outcome, to read the declarations of the king and of his representatives at that time. they were actually forming the strictest of commercial monopolies--an organization which was destined to crush out all general private trade in a country as large as the whole of europe with russia omitted. that was the admitted outcome of their enterprise. now listen to m. beernaert, the belgian premier, speaking in the year : "the state, of which our king will be the sovereign, will be a sort of international colony. there will be no monopolies, no privileges.... quite the contrary: absolute freedom of commerce, freedom of property, freedom of navigation." here, too, are the words of baron lambermont, the belgian plenipotentiary at the berlin conference: "the temptation to impose abusive taxes will find its corrective, if need be, in the freedom of commerce.... no doubt exists as to the strict and literal meaning of the term 'in commercial matters.' it means ... the unlimited right for every one to buy and to sell." the question of humanity is so pressing that it obscures that of the broken pledges about trade, but on the latter alone there is ample reason to say that every condition upon which this state was founded has been openly and notoriously violated, and that, therefore, its title-deeds are vitiated from the beginning. at the time the professions of the king made the whole world his enthusiastic allies. the united states was the first to hasten to give formal recognition to the new state. may it be the first, also, to realize the truth and to take public steps to retract what it has done. the churches and the chambers of commerce of great britain were all for leopold, the one attracted by the prospect of pushing their missions into the heart of africa, the others delighted at the offer of an open market for their produce. at the congress of berlin, which was called to regulate the situation, the nations vied with each other in furthering the plans of the king of the belgians and in extolling his high aims. the congo free state was created amid general rejoicings. the veteran bismarck, as credulous as the others, pronounced its baptismal blessing. "the new congo state is called upon," said he, "to become one of the chief promoters of the work" (of civilization) "which we have in view, and i pray for its prosperous development and for the fulfilment of the noble aspirations of its illustrious founder." such was the birth of the congo free state. had the nations gathered round been able to perceive its future, the betrayal of religion and civilization of which it would be guilty, the immense series of crimes which it would perpetrate throughout central africa, the lowering of the prestige of all the white races, they would surely have strangled the monster in its cradle. it is not necessary to record in this statement the whole of the provisions of the berlin congress. two only will suffice, as they are at the same time the most important and the most flagrantly abused. the first of these (which forms the fifth article of the agreement) proclaims that "no power which exercises sovereign rights in the said regions shall be allowed to grant therein either monopoly or privilege of any kind in commercial matters." no words could be clearer than that, but the belgian representatives, conscious that such a clause must disarm all opposition, went out of their way to accentuate it. "no privileged situation can be created in this respect," they said. "the way remains open without any restriction to free competition in the sphere of commerce." it would be interesting now to send a british or german trading expedition up the congo in search of that free competition which has been so explicitly promised, and to see how it would fare between the monopolist government and the monopolist companies who have divided the land between them. we have travelled some distance since prince bismarck at the last sitting of the conference declared that the result was "to secure to the commerce of all nations free access to the centre of the african continent." more important, however, is article vi., both on account of the issues at stake, and because the signatories of the treaty bound themselves solemnly, "in the name of almighty god," to watch over its enforcement. it ran: "all the powers exercising sovereign rights or influence in these territories pledge themselves to watch over the preservation of the native populations and the improvement of their moral and material conditions of existence, and to work together for the suppression of slavery and of the slave trade." that was the pledge of the united nations of europe. it is a disgrace to each of them, including ourselves, the way in which they have fulfilled that oath. before their eyes, as i shall show in the sequel, they have had enacted one long, horrible tragedy, vouched for by priests and missionaries, traders, travellers and consuls, all corroborated, but in no way reformed, by a belgium commission of inquiry. they have seen these unhappy people, who were their wards, robbed of all they possessed, debauched, degraded, mutilated, tortured, murdered, all on such a scale as has never, to my knowledge, occurred before in the whole course of history, and now, after all these years, with all the facts notorious, we are still at the stage of polite diplomatic expostulations. it is no answer to say that france and germany have shown even less regard for the pledge they took at berlin. an individual does not condone the fact that he has broken his word by pointing out that his neighbour has done the same. ii the development of the congo state having received his mandate from the civilized world king leopold proceeded to organize the government of the new state, which was in theory to be independent of belgium, although ruled by the same individual. in europe, king leopold was a constitutional monarch; in africa, an absolute autocrat. there were chosen three ministers for the new state--for foreign affairs, for finances and for internal affairs; but it cannot be too clearly understood that they and their successors, up to , were nominated by the king, paid by the king, answerable only to the king, and, in all ways, simply so many upper clerks in his employ. the workings of one policy and of one brain, as capable as it is sinister, are to be traced in every fresh development. if the ministers were ever meant to be a screen, it is a screen which is absolutely transparent. the origin of everything is the king--always the king. m. van ectvelde, one of the three head agents, put the matter into a single sentence: "c'est à votre majesté qu'appartient l'État." they were simply stewards, who managed the estate with a very alert and observant owner at their back. one of the early acts was enough to make observers a little thoughtful. it was the announcement of the right to issue laws by arbitrary decrees without publishing them in europe. there should be secret laws, which could, at any instant, be altered. the _bulletin officiel_ announced that "tous les actes du gouvernement qu'il y a intérêt à rendre publics seront insérés au _bulletin officiel_." already it is clear that something was in the wind which might shock the rather leathery conscience of a european concert. meanwhile, the organization of the state went forward. a governor-general was elected, who should live at boma, which was made the capital. under him were fifteen district commissaries, who should govern so many districts into which the whole country was divided. the only portion which was at that time at all developed was the semi-civilized lower congo at the mouth of the river. there lay the white population. the upper reaches of the stream and of its great tributaries were known only to a few devoted missionaries and enterprising explorers. grenfell and bentley, of the missions, with von wissman, the german, and the ever-energetic stanley, were the pioneers who, during the few years which followed, opened up the great hinterland which was to be the scene of such atrocious events. but the work of the explorer had soon to be supplemented and extended by the soldier. whilst the belgians had been entering the congo land from the west, the slave-dealing arabs had penetrated from the east, passing down the river as far as stanley falls. there could be no compromise between such opposite forces, though some attempt was made to find one by electing the arab leader as free state governor. there followed a long scrambling campaign, carried on for many years between the arab slavers on the one side and the congo forces upon the other--the latter consisting largely of cannibal tribes--men of the stone age, armed with the weapons of the nineteenth century. the suppression of the slave trade is a good cause, but the means by which it was effected, and the use of barbarians who ate in the evening those whom they had slain during the day, are as bad as the evil itself. yet there is no denying the energy and ability of the congo leaders, especially of baron dhanis. by the year the belgian expeditions had been pushed as far as lake tanganyika, the arab strongholds had fallen, and dhanis was able to report to brussels that the campaign was at an end, and that slave-raiding was no more. the new state could claim that they had saved a part of the natives from slavery. how they proceeded to impose upon all of them a yoke, compared to which the old slavery was merciful, will be shown in these pages. from the time of the fall of the arab power the congo free state was only called upon to use military force in the case of mutinies of its own black troops, and of occasional risings of its own tormented "citizens." master of its own house, it could settle down to exploit the country which it had won. in the meantime the internal policy of the state showed a tendency to take an unusual and sinister course. i have already expressed my opinion that king leopold was not guilty of conscious hypocrisy in the beginning, that his intentions were vaguely philanthropic, and that it was only by degrees that he sank to the depths which will be shown. this view is borne out by some of the earlier edicts of the state. in , a long pronouncement upon native lands ended by the words: "all acts or agreements are forbidden which tend to the expulsion of natives from the territory they occupy, or to deprive them, directly or indirectly, of their liberty or their means of existence." such are the words of . before the end of , an act had been published, though not immediately put into force, which had the exactly opposite effect. by this act all lands which were not actually occupied by natives were proclaimed to be the property of the state. consider for a moment what this meant! no land in such a country is actually occupied by natives save the actual site of their villages, and the scanty fields of grain or manioc which surround them. everywhere beyond these tiny patches extend the plains and forests which have been the ancestral wandering places of the natives, and which contain the rubber, the camwood, the copal, the ivory, and the skins which are the sole objects of their commerce. at a single stroke of a pen in brussels everything was taken from them, not only the country, but the produce of the country. how could they trade when the state had taken from them everything which they had to offer? how could the foreign merchant do business when the state had seized everything and could sell it for itself direct in europe? thus, within two years of the establishment of the state by the treaty of berlin, it had with one hand seized the whole patrimony of those natives for whose "moral and material advantage" it had been so solicitous, and with the other hand it had torn up that clause in the treaty by which monopolies were forbidden, and equal trade rights guaranteed to all. how blind were the powers not to see what sort of a creature they had made, and how short-sighted not to take urgent steps in those early days to make it retrace its steps and find once more the path of loyalty and justice! a firm word, a stern act at that time in the presence of this flagrant breach of international agreement, would have saved all central africa from the horror which has come upon it, would have screened belgium from a lasting disgrace, and would have spared europe a question which has already, as it seems to me, lowered the moral standing of all the nations, and the end of which is not yet. having obtained possession of the land and its products, the next step was to obtain labour by which these products could be safely garnered. the first definite move in this direction was taken in the year , when, with that odious hypocrisy which has been the last touch in so many of these transactions, an act was produced which was described in the _bulletin officiel_ as being for the "special protection of the black." it is evident that the real protection of the black in matters of trade was to offer him such pay as would induce him to do a day's work, and to let him choose his own employment, as is done with the kaffirs of south africa, or any other native population. this act had a very different end. it allowed blacks to be bound over in terms of seven years' service to their masters in a manner which was in truth indistinguishable from slavery. as the negotiations were usually carried on with the capita, or headman, the unfortunate servant was transferred with small profit to himself, and little knowledge of the conditions of his servitude. under the same system the state also enlisted its employees, including the recruits for its small army. this army was supplemented by a wild militia, consisting of various barbarous tribes, many of them cannibals, and all of them capable of any excess of cruelty or outrage. a german, august boshart, in his "zehn jahre afrikanischen lebens," has given us a clear idea of how these tribes are recruited, and of the precise meaning of the attractive word "libéré" when applied to a state servant. "some district commissary," he says, "receives instructions to furnish a certain number of men in a given time. he puts himself in communication with the chiefs, and invites them to a palaver at his residence. these chiefs, as a rule, already have an inkling of what is coming, and, if made wise by experience, make a virtue of necessity and present themselves. in that case the negotiations run their course easily enough; each chief promises to supply a certain number of slaves, and receives presents in return. it may happen, however, that one or another pays no heed to the friendly invitation, in which case war is declared, his villages are burned down, perhaps some of his people are shot, and his stores or gardens are plundered. in this way the wild king is soon tamed, and he sues for peace, which, of course, is granted on condition of his supplying double the number of slaves. these men are entered in the state books as 'libérés.' to prevent their running away, they are put in irons and sent, on the first opportunity, to one of the military camps, where their irons are taken off and they are drafted into the army. the district commissary is paid £ sterling for every serviceable recruit." having taken the country and secured labour for exploiting it in the way described, king leopold proceeded to take further steps for its development, all of them exceedingly well devised for the object in view. the great impediment to the navigation of the congo had lain in the continuous rapids which made the river impassable from stanley pool for three hundred miles down to boma at the mouth. a company was now formed to find the capital by which a railway should be built between these two points. the construction was begun in , and was completed in , after many financial vicissitudes, forming a work which deserves high credit as a piece of ingenious engineering and of sustained energy. other commercial companies, of which more will be said hereafter, were formed in order to exploit large districts of the country which the state was not yet strong enough to handle. by this arrangement the companies found the capital for exploring, station building, etc., while the state--that is, the king--retained a certain portion, usually half, of the company's shares. the plan itself is not necessarily a vicious one; indeed, it closely resembles that under which the chartered company of rhodesia grants mining and other leases. the scandal arose from the methods by which these companies proceeded to carry out their ends--those methods being the same as were used by the state, on whose pattern these smaller organizations were moulded. in the meantime king leopold, feeling the weakness of his personal position in face of the great enterprise which lay before him in africa, endeavoured more and more to draw belgium, as a state, into the matter. already the congo state was largely the outcome of belgian work and of belgian money, but, theoretically, there was no connection between the two countries. now the belgian parliament was won over to advancing ten million francs for the use of the congo, and thus a direct connection sprang up which has eventually led to annexation. at the time of this loan king leopold let it be known that he had left the congo free state in his will to belgium. in this document appear the words, "a young and spacious state, directed from brussels, has pacifically appeared in the sunlight, thanks to the benevolent support of the powers that have welcomed its appearance. some belgians administer it, while others, each day more numerous, there increase their wealth." so he flashed the gold before the eyes of his european subjects. verily, if king leopold deceived other powers, he reserved the most dangerous of all his deceits for his own country. the day on which they turned from their own honest, healthy development to follow the congo lure, and to administer without any previous colonial experience a country more than sixty times their own size, will prove to have been a dark day in belgian history. the berlin conference of marks the first international session upon the affairs of the congo. the second was the brussels conference of - . it is amazing to find that after these years of experience the powers were still ready to accept king leopold's professions at their face value. it is true that none of the more sinister developments had been conspicuous, but the legislation of the state with regard to labour and trade was already such as to suggest the turn which affairs would take in future if not curbed by a strong hand. one power, and one only, holland, had the sagacity to appreciate the true situation, and the independence to show its dissatisfaction. the outcome of the sittings was various philanthropic resolutions intended to strengthen the new state in dealing with that slave trade it was destined to re-introduce in its most odious form. we are too near to these events, and they are too painfully intimate, to permit us to see humour in them; but the historian of the future, when he reads that the object of the european concert was "to protect effectually the aboriginal inhabitants of africa," may find it difficult to suppress a smile. this was the last european assembly to deal with the affairs of the congo. may the next be for the purpose of taking steps to truly carry out those high ends which have been forever spoken of and never reduced to practice. the most important practical outcome of the brussels conference was that the powers united to free the new state from those free port promises which it had made in , and to permit it in future to levy ten per cent. upon imports. the act was hung up for two years owing to the opposition of holland, but the fact of its adoption by the other powers, and the renewed mandate given to king leopold, strengthened the position of the new state to such an extent that it found no difficulty in securing a further loan from belgium of twenty-five millions of francs, upon condition that, after ten years, belgium should have the option of taking over the congo lands as a colony. if in the years which immediately succeeded the brussels conference--from to --a bird's-eye view could be taken of the enormous river which, with its tributaries, forms a great twisted fan radiating over the whole centre of africa, one would mark in all directions symptoms of european activity. at the lower congo one would see crowds of natives, impressed for the service and guarded by black soldiers, working at the railway. at boma and at leopoldsville, the two termini of the projected line, cities are rising, with stations, wharves and public buildings. in the extreme southeast one would see an expedition under stairs exploring and annexing the great district of katanga, which abuts upon northern rhodesia. in the furthest northeast and along the whole eastern border, small military expeditions would be disclosed, fighting against rebellious blacks or arab raiders. then, along all the lines of the rivers, posts were being formed and stations established--some by the state and some by the various concessionnaire companies for the development of their commerce. in the meantime, the state was tightening its grip upon the land with its products, and was working up the system which was destined to produce such grim results in the near future. the independent traders were discouraged and stamped out, belgium, as well as dutch, english and french. some of the loudest protests against the new order may be taken from belgian sources. everywhere, in flagrant disregard of the treaty of berlin, the state proclaimed itself to be the sole landlord and the sole trader. in some cases it worked its own so-called property, in other cases it leased it. even those who had striven to help king leopold in the earlier stages of his enterprise were thrown overboard. major parminter, himself engaged in trade upon the congo, sums up the situation in as follows: "to sum up, the application of the new decrees of the government signifies this: that the state considers as its private property the whole of the congo basin, excepting the sites of the natives' villages and gardens. it decrees that all the products of this immense region are its private property, and it monopolizes the trade in them. as regards the primitive proprietors, the native tribes, they are dispossessed by a simple circular; permission is graciously granted to them to collect such products, but only on condition that they bring them for sale to the state for whatever the latter may be pleased to give them. as regards alien traders, they are prohibited in all this territory from trading with the natives." everywhere there were stern orders--to the natives on the one hand, that they had no right to gather the products of their own forests; to independent traders on the other hand, that they were liable to punishment if they bought anything from the natives. in january, , district commissary baert wrote: "the native of the district of ubangi-welle are not authorized to gather rubber. it has been notified to them that they can only receive permission to do so on condition that they gather the produce for the exclusive benefit of the state." captain le marinel, a little later, is even more explicit: "i have decided," he says, "to enforce rigorously the rights of the state over its domain, and, in consequence, cannot allow the natives to convert to their own profit, or to sell to others, any part of the rubber or ivory forming the fruits of the domain. traders who purchase, or attempt to purchase, such fruits of this domain from the natives--which fruits the state only authorizes the natives to gather subject to the condition that they are brought to it--render themselves, in my opinion, guilty of receiving stolen goods, and i shall denounce them to the judicial authorities, so that proceedings may be taken against them." this last edict was in the bangala district, but it was followed at once by another from the more settled equateur district, which shows that the strict adoption of the system was universal. in may, , lieutenant lemaire proclaims: "considering that no concession has been granted to gather rubber in the domains of the state within this district, ( ) natives can only gather rubber on condition of selling the same to the state; ( ) any person or persons or vessels having in his or their possession, or on board, more than one kilogramme of rubber will have a _procèsverbal_ drawn up against him, or them, or it; and the ship can be confiscated without prejudice to any subsequent proceedings." the sight of these insignificant lieutenants and captains, who are often non-commissioned officers of the belgian army, issuing proclamations which were in distinct contradiction to the expressed will of all the great powers of the world, might at the time have seemed ludicrous; but the history of the next seventeen years was to prove that a small malignant force, driven on by greed, may prove to be more powerful than a vague general philanthropy, strong only in good intentions and platitudes. during these years--from to --whatever indignation might be felt among traders over the restrictions placed upon them, the only news received by the general public from the congo free state concerned the founding of new stations, and the idea prevailed that king leopold's enterprise was indeed working out upon the humanitarian lines which had been originally planned. then, for the first time, incidents occurred which gave some glimpse of the violence and anarchy which really prevailed. the first of these, so far as great britain is concerned, lay in the treatment of natives from sierra leone, lagos, and other british settlements, who had been engaged by the belgians to come to congoland and help in railway construction and other work. coming from the settled order of such a colony as sierra leone or lagos, these natives complained loudly when they found themselves working side by side with impressed congolese, and under the discipline of the armed sentinels of the force publique. they were discontented and the discontent was met by corporal punishment. the matter grew to the dimensions of a scandal. in answer to a question asked in the house of commons on march th, , mr. chamberlain, as secretary of state for the colonies, stated that complaints had been received of these british subjects having been employed without their consent as soldiers, and of their having been cruelly flogged, and, in some cases, shot; and he added: "they were engaged with the knowledge of her majesty's representatives, and every possible precaution was taken in their interests; but, in consequence of the complaints received, the recruitment of labourers for the congo has been prohibited." this refusal of the recruitment of labourers by great britain was the first public and national sign of disapproval of congolese methods. a few years later, a more pointed one was given, when the italian war ministry refused to allow their officers to serve with the congo forces. early in occurred the stokes affair, which moved public opinion deeply, both in this country and in germany. charles henry stokes was an englishman by birth, but he resided in german east africa, was the recipient of a german decoration for his services on behalf of german colonization, and formed his trading caravans from a german base, with east african natives as his porters. he had led such a caravan over the congo state border, when he was arrested by captain lothaire, an officer in command of some congolese troops. the unfortunate stokes may well have thought himself safe as the subject of one great power and the agent of another, but he was tried instantly in a most informal manner upon a charge of selling guns to the natives, was condemned, and was hanged on the following morning. when captain lothaire reported his proceedings to his superiors they signified their approbation by promoting him to the high rank of commissaire-général. the news of this tragedy excited as much indignation in berlin as in london. faced with the facts, the representatives of the free state in brussels--that is, the agents of the king--were compelled to admit the complete illegality of the whole incident, and could only fall back upon the excuse that lothaire's action was _bona-fide_, and free from personal motive. this is by no means certain, for as baron von marschall pointed out to the acting british ambassador at berlin, stokes was known to be a successful trader in ivory, exporting it by the east route, and so depriving the officers of the congo government of a ten per cent. commission, which would be received by them if it were exported by the west route. "this was the reason," the report continued, quoting the german statesman's words, "that he had been done away with, and not on account of an alleged sale of arms to arabs, his death being, in fact, not an act of justice, but one of commercial protection, neither more nor less." this was one reading of the situation. whether it was a true one or not, there could be no two opinions as to the illegality of the proceedings. under pressure from england, lothaire was tried at boma and acquitted. he was again, under the same pressure, tried at brussels, when the prosecuting counsel thought it consistent with his duty to plead for an acquittal and the proceedings became a fiasco. there the matter was allowed to remain. a blue book of pages is the last monument to charles henry stokes, and his executioner returned to high office in the congo free state, where his name soon recurred in the accounts of the violent and high-handed proceedings which make up the history of that country. he was appointed director of the antwerp society for the commerce of the congo--an appointment for which king leopold must have been responsible--and he managed the affairs of that company until he was implicated in the mongalla massacres, of which more will be said hereafter. it has been necessary to describe the case of stokes, because it is historical, but nothing is further from my intention than to address national _amour propre_ in the matter. it was a mere accident that stokes was an englishman, and the outrage remains the same had he been a citizen of any state. the cause i plead is too broad, and also too lofty, to be supported by any narrower appeals than those which may be addressed to all humanity. i will proceed to describe a case which occurred a few years later to show that men of other nationalities suffered as well as the english. stokes, the englishman, was killed, and his death, it was said by some congolese apologists, was due to his not having, after his summary trial, announced that he would lodge an immediate appeal to the higher court at boma. rabinck, the austrian, the victim of similar proceedings, did appeal to the higher court at boma, and it is interesting to see what advantage he gained by doing so. rabinck was, as i have said, an austrian from olmutz, a man of a gentle and lovable nature, popular with all who knew him, and remarkable, as several have testified, for his just and kindly treatment of the natives. he had, for some years, traded with the people of katanga, which is the southeastern portion of the congo state where it abuts upon british central africa. the natives were at the time in arms against the belgians, but rabinck had acquired such influence among them that he was still able to carry on his trade in ivory and rubber for which he held a permit from the katanga company. shortly after receiving this permit, for which he had paid a considerable sum, certain changes were made in the company by which the state secured a controlling influence in it. a new manager, major weyns, appeared, who represented the new régime, superseding m. lévêque, who had sold the permits in the name of the original company. major weyns was zealous that the whole trade of the country should belong to the concessionnaire company, which was practically the government, according to the usual, but internationally illegal, habit of the state. to secure this trade, the first step was evidently to destroy so well-known and successful a private trader as m. rabinck. in spite of his permits, therefore, a charge was trumped up against him of having traded illegally in rubber--an offence which, even if he had no permit, was an impossibility in the face of that complete freedom of trade which was guaranteed by the treaty of berlin. the young austrian could not bring himself to believe that the matter was serious. his letters are extant, showing that he regarded the matter as so preposterous that he could not feel any fears upon the subject. he was soon to be undeceived, and his eyes were opened too late to the character of the men and the organization with which he was dealing. major weyns sat in court-martial upon him. the offence with which he was charged, dealing illegally in rubber, was one which could only be punished by a maximum imprisonment of a month. this would not serve the purpose in view. major weyns within forty minutes tried the case, condemned the prisoner, and sentenced him to a year's imprisonment. there was an attempt to excuse this monstrous sentence afterward by the assertion that the crime punished was that of selling guns to the natives, but as a matter of fact there was at the time no mention of anything of the sort, as is proved by the existing minutes of the trial. rabinck naturally appealed against such a sentence. he would have been wiser had he submitted to it in the nearest guard-house. in that case he might possibly have escaped with his life. in the other, he was doomed. "he will go," said major weyns, "on such a nice little voyage that he will act like this no more, and others will take example from it." the voyage in question was the two thousand miles which separated katanga from the appeal court at boma. he was to travel all this way under the sole escort of black soldiers, who had their own instructions. the unfortunate man felt that he could never reach his destination alive. "rumours have it," he wrote to his relatives, "that europeans who have been taken are poisoned, so if i disappear without further news you may guess what has become of me." nothing more was heard from him save two agonized letters, begging officials to speed him on his way. he died, as he had foreseen, on the trip down the congo, and was hurriedly buried in a wayside station when two hours more would have brought the body to leopoldville. if it is possible to add a darker shadow to the black business it lies in the fact that the apologists of the state endeavoured to make the world believe that their victim's death was due to his own habit of taking morphia. the fact is denied by four creditable witnesses, who knew him well, but most of all is it denied by the activity and energy which had made him one of the leading traders of central africa--too good a trader to be allowed open competition with king leopold's huge commercial monopoly. as a last and almost inconceivable touch, the whole of the dead man's caravans and outfits, amounting to some £ , , were seized by those who had driven him to his death, and by the last reports neither his relatives nor his creditors have received any portion of this large sum. consider the whole story and say if it is exaggeration to state that gustav maria rabinck was robbed and murdered by the congo free state. having shown in these two examples the way in which the congo free state has dared to treat the citizens of european states who have traded within her borders, i will now proceed to detail, in chronological order, some account of the dark story of that state's relations to the subject races, for whose moral and material advantage we and other european powers have answered. for every case i chronicle there are a hundred which are known, but which cannot here be dealt with. for every one known, there are ten thousand, the story of which never came to europe. consider how vast is the country, and how few the missionaries or consuls who alone would report such matters. consider also that every official of the congo state is sworn neither at the time nor _afterward_ to reveal any matter that may have come to his knowledge. consider, lastly, that the missionary or consul acts as a deterrent, and that it is in the huge stretch of country where neither are to be found that the agent has his own unfettered way. with all these considerations, is it not clear that all the terrible facts which we know are but the mere margin of that welter of violence and injustice which the jesuit, father vermeersch, has summed up in the two words, "immeasurable misery!" iii the working of the system having claimed, as i have shown, the whole of the land, and therefore the whole of its products, the state--that is, the king--proceeded to construct a system by which these products could be gathered most rapidly and at least cost. the essence of this system was that the people who had been dispossessed (ironically called "citizens") were to be forced to gather, for the profit of the state, those very products which had been taken from them. this was to be effected by two means; the one, taxation, by which an arbitrary amount, ever growing larger until it consumed almost their whole lives in the gathering, should be claimed for nothing. the other, so-called barter by which the natives were paid for the stuff exactly what the state chose to give, and in the form the state chose to give it, there being no competition allowed from any other purchaser. this remuneration, ridiculous in value, took the most absurd shape, the natives being compelled to take it, whatever the amount, and however little they might desire it. consul thesiger, in , describing their so-called barter, says: "the goods he proceeds to distribute, giving a hat to one man, or an iron hoe-head to another, and so on. each recipient is then at the end of a month responsible for so many balls of rubber. no choice of the objects is given, no refusal is allowed. if any one makes any objection, the stuff is thrown down at his door, and whether it is taken or left, the man is responsible for so many balls at the end of the month. the total amounts are fixed by the agents at the maximum which the inhabitants are capable of producing." but is it not clear that no natives, especially tribes who, as stanley has recorded, had remarkable aptitude for trade, would do business at all upon such terms? that is just where the system came in. by this system some two thousand white agents were scattered over the free state to collect the produce. these whites were placed in ones and twos in the more central points, and each was given a tract of country containing a certain number of villages. by the help of the inmates he was to gather the rubber, which was the most valuable asset. these whites, many of whom were men of low _morale_ before they left europe, were wretchedly paid, the scale running from to francs a month. this pay they might supplement by a commission or bonus on the amount of rubber collected. if their returns were large it meant increased pay, official praise, a more speedy return to europe, and a better chance of promotion. if, on the other hand, the returns were small, it meant poverty, harsh reproof and degradation. no system could be devised by which a body of men could be so driven to attain results at any cost. it is not to the absolute discredit of belgians that such an existence should have demoralized them, and, indeed, there were other nationalities besides belgians in the ranks of the agents. i doubt if englishmen, americans, or germans could have escaped the same result had they been exposed in a tropical country to similar temptations. and now, the two thousand agents being in place, and eager to enforce the collection of rubber upon very unwilling natives, how did the system intend that they should set about it? the method was as efficient as it was absolutely diabolical. each agent was given control over a certain number of savages, drawn from the wild tribes, but armed with firearms. one or more of these was placed in each village to ensure that the villagers should do their task. these are the men who are called "capitas," or head-men in the accounts, and who are the actual, though not the moral, perpetrators of so many horrible deeds. imagine the nightmare which lay upon each village while this barbarian squatted in the midst of it. day or night they could never get away from him. he called for palm wine. he called for women. he beat them, mutilated them, and shot them down at his pleasure. he enforced public incest in order to amuse himself by the sight. sometimes they plucked up spirit and killed him. the belgian commission records that capitas had been killed in seven months in a single district. then came the punitive expedition, and the destruction of the whole community. the more terror the capita inspired, the more useful he was, the more eagerly the villagers obeyed him, and the more rubber yielded its commission to the agent. when the amount fell off, then the capita was himself made to feel some of those physical pains which he had inflicted upon others. often the white agent far exceeded in cruelty the barbarian who carried out his commissions. often, too, the white man pushed the black aside, and acted himself as torturer and executioner. as a rule, however, the relationship was as i have stated, the outrages being actually committed by the capitas, but with the approval of, and often in the presence of, their white employers. it would be absurd to suppose that the agents were all equally merciless, and that there were not some who were torn in two by the desire for wealth and promotion on the one side and the horror of their daily task upon the other. here are two illustrative extracts from the letters of lieutenant tilkens, as quoted by mr. vandervelde in the debate in the belgian chamber: "the steamer _v. d. kerkhove_ is coming up the nile. it will require the colossal number of fifteen hundred porters--unhappy blacks! i cannot think of them. i ask myself how i shall find such a number. if the roads were passable it would make some difference, but they are hardly cleared of morasses where many will meet their death. hunger and weariness will make an end of many more in the eight days' march. how much blood will the transport make to flow? already i have had to make war three times against the chieftains who will not take part in this work. the people prefer to die in the forest instead of doing this work. if a chieftain refuses, it is war, and this horrible war--perfect firearms against spear and lance. a chieftain has just left me with the complaint: 'my village is in ruins, my women are killed.' but what can i do? i am often compelled to put these unhappy chieftains into chains until they collect one or two hundred porters. very often my soldiers find the villages empty, then they seize the women and children." to his mother he writes: "com. verstraeten visited my station and highly congratulated me. he said the attitude of his report hung upon the quantity of rubber i would bring. my quantity rose from kilos in september to , in october, and from january it will be , per month, which gives me francs over my pay. am i not a lucky fellow? and if i continue, in two years i shall have reached an additional , francs." but a year later he writes in a different tone to major leussens: "i look forward to a general rising. i warned you before, i think, already in my last letter. the cause is always the same. the natives are weary of the hitherto _régime_--transport labour, collection of rubber, preparation of food stores for blacks and whites. again for three months i have had to fight with only ten days' rest. i have prisoners. for two years now i have been carrying on war in this neighbourhood. but i cannot say i have subjected the people. they prefer to die. what can i do? i am paid to do my work, i am a tool in the hands of my superiors, and i follow orders as discipline requires." let us consider now for an instant the chain of events which render such a situation not only possible, but inevitable. the state is run with the one object of producing revenue. for this end all land and its produce are appropriated. how, then, is this produce to be gathered? it can only be by the natives. but if the natives gather it they must be paid their price, which will diminish profits, or else they will refuse to work. then they must be made to work. but the agents are too few to make them work. then they must employ such sub-agents as will strike most terror into the people. but if these sub-agents are to make the people work all the time, then they must themselves reside in the villages. so a capita must be sent as a constant terror to each village. is it not clear that these steps are not accidental, but are absolutely essential to the original idea? given the confiscation of the land, all the rest must logically follow. it is utterly futile, therefore, to imagine that any reform can set matters right. such a thing is impossible. until unfettered trade is unconditionally restored, as it now exists in every german and english colony, it is absolutely out of the question that any specious promises or written decrees can modify the situation. but, on the other hand, if trade be put upon this natural basis, then for many years the present owners of the congo land, instead of sharing dividends, must pay out at least a million a year to administer the country, exactly as england pays half a million a year to administer the neighbouring land of nigeria. to grasp that fact is to understand the root of the whole question. and one more point before we proceed to the dark catalogue of the facts. where did the responsibility for these deeds of blood, these thousands of cold-blooded murders lie? was it with the capita? he was a cannibal and a ruffian, but if he did not inspire terror in the village he was himself punished by the agent. was it, then, with the agent? he was a degraded man, and yet, as i have already said, no men could serve on such terms in a tropical country without degradation. he was goaded and driven to crime by the constant clamour from those above him. was it, then, with the district commissary? he had reached a responsible and well-paid post, which he would lose if his particular district fell behind in the race of production. was it, then, with the governor-general at boma? he was a man of a hardened conscience, but for him also there was mitigation. he was there for a purpose with definite orders from home which it was his duty to carry through. it would take a man of exceptional character to throw up his high position, sacrifice his career, and refuse to carry out the evil system which had been planned before he was allotted a place in it. where, then, was the guilt? there were half a dozen officials in brussels who were, as shown already, so many bailiffs paid to manage a property upon lines laid down for them. trace back the chain from the red-handed savage, through the worried, bilious agent, the pompous commissary, the dignified governor-general, the smooth diplomatist, and you come finally, without a break, and without a possibility of mitigation or excuse, up the cold, scheming brain which framed and drove the whole machine. it is upon the king, always the king, that the guilt must lie. he planned it, knowing the results which must follow. they did follow. he was well informed of it. again and again, and yet again, his attention was drawn to it. a word from him would have altered the system. the word was never said. there is no possible subterfuge by which the moral guilt can be deflected from the head of the state, the man who went to africa for the freedom of commerce and the regeneration of the native. iv first fruits of the system the first testimony which i shall cite is that of mr. glave, which covers the years up to his death in . mr. glave was a young englishman, who had been for six years in the employ of the state, and whose character and work were highly commended by stanley. four years after the expiration of his engagement he travelled as an independent man right across the whole country, from tanganyika in the east to matadi near the mouth of the river, a distance of , miles. the agent and rubber systems were still in their infancy, but already he remarked on every side that violence and disregard of human life which were so soon to grow to such proportions. remember that he was himself a stanleyman, a pioneer and a native trader, by no means easy to shock. here are some of his remarks as taken from his diary. dealing with the release of slaves by the belgians, for which so much credit has been claimed, he says (_cent. mag._, vol. ): "they are supposed to be taken out of slavery and freed, but i fail to see how this can be argued out. they are taken from their villages and shipped south, to be soldiers, workers, etc., on the state stations, and what were peaceful families have been broken up, and the different members spread about the place. they have to be made fast and guarded for transportation, or they would all run away. this does not look as though the freedom promised had any seductive prospects. the young children thus 'liberated' are handed over to the french mission stations, where they receive the kindest care, but nothing justifies this form of serfdom. i can understand the state compelling natives to do a certain amount of work for a certain time; but to take people forcibly from their homes, and despatch them here and there, breaking up families, is not right. i shall learn more about this on the way and at kabambare. if these conditions are to exist, i fail to see how the anti-slavery movement is to benefit the native." with regard to the use of barbarous soldiers he says: "state soldiers are also employed without white officers. this should not be allowed, for the black soldiers do not understand the reason of the fighting, and instead of submission being sought, often the natives are massacred or driven away into the hill.... but the black soldiers are bent on fighting and raiding; they want no peaceful settlement. they have good rifles and ammunition, realize their superiority over the natives with their bows and arrows, and they want to shoot and kill and rob. black delights to kill black, whether the victim be man, woman, or child, and no matter how defenceless. this is no reasonable way of settling the land; it is merely persecution. blacks cannot be employed on such an errand unless under the leadership of whites." he met and describes one lieutenant hambursin, who seems to have been a capable officer: "yesterday the natives in a neighbouring village came to complain that one of hambursin's soldiers had killed a villager; they brought in the offender's gun. to-day at roll-call the soldier appeared without his gun; his guilt was proved, and without more to do, he was hanged on a tree. hambursin has hanged several for the crime of murder." had there been more hambursins there might have been fewer scandals. glave proceeds to comment on treatment of prisoners: "in stations in charge of white men, government officers, one sees strings of poor emaciated old women, some of them mere skeletons, working from six in the morning till noon, and from half-past two till six, carrying clay water-jars, tramping about in gangs, with a rope round the neck, and connected by a rope one and a half yards apart. they are prisoners of war. in war the old women are always caught, but should receive a little humanity. they are naked, except for a miserable patch of cloth of several parts, held in place by a string round the waist. they are not loosened from the rope for any purpose. they live in the guard-house under the charge of black native sentries, who delight in slapping and ill-using them, for pity is not in the heart of the native. some of the women have babies, but they go to work just the same. they form, indeed, a miserable spectacle, and one wonders that old women, although prisoners of war, should not receive a little more consideration; at least, their nakedness might be hidden. the men prisoners are treated in a far better way." describing the natives he says: "the natives are not lazy, good-for-nothing fellows. their fine powers are obtained by hard work, sobriety and frugal living." he gives a glimpse of what the chicotte is like, the favourite and universal instrument of torture used by the agents and officers of the free state: "the 'chicotte' of raw hippo hide, especially a new one, trimmed like a corkscrew, with edges like knife-blades, and as hard as wood, is a terrible weapon, and a few blows bring blood; not more than twenty-five blows should be given unless the offence is very serious. though we persuaded ourselves that the african's skin is very tough it needs an extraordinary constitution to withstand the terrible punishment of one hundred blows; generally the victim is in a state of insensibility after twenty-five or thirty blows. at the first blow he yells abominably; then he quiets down, and is a mere groaning, quivering body till the operation is over, when the culprit stumbles away, often with gashes which will endure a lifetime. it is bad enough the flogging of men, but far worse is this punishment when inflicted on women and children. small boys of ten or twelve, with excitable, hot-tempered masters, often are most harshly treated. at kasnogo there is a great deal of cruelty displayed. i saw two boys very badly cut. i conscientiously believe that a man who receives one hundred blows is often nearly killed, and has his spirit broken for life." he has a glimpse of the treatment of the subjects of other nations: "two days before my arrival (at wabundu) two sierra leoneans were hanged by laschet. they were sentries on guard, and while they were asleep allowed a native chief, who was a prisoner and in chains, to escape. next morning laschet, in a fit of rage, hanged the two men. they were british subjects, engaged by the congo free state as soldiers. in time of war, i suppose, they could be executed, after court-martial, by being shot; but to hang a subject of any other country without trial seems to me outrageous." talking of the general unrest he says: "it is the natural outcome of the harsh, cruel policy of the state in wringing rubber from these people without paying for it. the revolution will extend." he adds: "the post (isangi) is close to the large settlement of an important coast man, kayamba, who now is devoted to the interests of the state, catching slaves for them, and stealing ivory from the natives of the interior. does the philanthropic king of the belgians know about this? if not, he ought to." as he gets away from the zone of war, and into that which should represent peace, his comments become more bitter. the nascent rubber trade began to intrude its methods upon his notice: "formerly the natives were well treated, but now expeditions have been sent in every direction, forcing natives to make rubber and to bring it to the stations. up the ikelemba, we are taking down one hundred slaves, mere children, all taken in unholy wars against the natives.... it was not necessary in the olden times, when we white men had no force at all. this forced commerce is depopulating the country.... left equateur at eleven o'clock this morning, after taking on a cargo of one hundred small slaves, principally boys, seven or eight years old, with a few girls among the batch, all stolen from the natives. the commissary of the district is a violent-tempered fellow. while arranging to take on the hundred small slaves a woman who had charge of the youngsters was rather slow in understanding his order, delivered in very poor kabanji. he sprang at her, slapped her in the face, and as she ran away, kicked her. they talk of philanthropy and civilization! where it is, i do not know." and again: "most white officers out on the congo are averse to the india-rubber policy of the state, but the laws command it. therefore, at each post one finds the natives deserting their homes, and escaping to the french side of the river when possible." as he goes on his convictions grow stronger: "everywhere," he said, "i hear the same news of the doings of the congo free state--rubber and murder, slavery in its worst form. it is said that half the libérés sent down die on the road.... in europe we understand from the word libérés slaves saved from their cruel masters. not at all! most of them result from wars made against the natives because of ivory or rubber." on all sides he sees evidence of the utter disregard of humanity: "to-day i saw the dead body of a carrier lying on the trail. there could have been no mistake about his being a sick man; he was nothing but skin and bones. these posts ought to give some care to the porters; the heartless disregard for life is abominable.... native life is considered of no value by the belgians. no wonder the state is hated." finally, a little before his death, he heard of that practice of mutilation which was one of the most marked fruits of the policy of "moral and material advantage of the native races" promised at the berlin conference: "mr. harvey heard from clarke, who is at lake mantumba, that the state soldiers have been in the vicinity of his station recently fighting and taking prisoners; and he himself had seen several men with bunches of hands signifying their individual skill. these, i presume, they must produce to prove their success! among the hands were those of men and women, and also those of little children. the missionaries are so much at the mercy of the state that they do not report these barbaric happenings to the people at home. i have previously heard of hands, among them children's, being brought to the stations, but i was not so satisfied of the truth of the former information as of the reports received just now by mr. harvey from clarke. much of this sort of thing is going on at the equateur station. the methods employed are not necessary. years ago, when i was on duty at the equateur without soldiers, i never had any difficulty in getting what men i needed, nor did any other station in the old, humane days. the stations and the boats then had no difficulty in finding men or labour, nor will the belgians, if they introduce more reasonable methods." a sentence which is worth noting is that "the missionaries are so much at the mercy of the state that they do not report these barbaric happenings to the people at home." far from the question being one, which, as the apologists for king leopold have contended, has been fomented by the missionaries, it has actually been held back by them, and it is only the courage and truthfulness of a handful of englishmen and americans which have finally brought it to the front. so much for mr. glave's testimony. he was an english traveller. mr. murphy, an american missionary, was working in another part of the country, the region where the ubangi joins the congo, during the same years. let us see how far his account, written entirely independently (_times_, november , ), agrees with the other: "i have seen these things done," he said, "and have remonstrated with the state in the years , , and , but never got satisfaction. i have been in the interior and have seen the ravages made by the state in pursuit of this iniquitous trade. let me give an incident to show how this unrighteous trade affects the people. one day a state corporal, who was in charge of the post of solifa, was going round the town collecting rubber. meeting a poor woman, whose husband was away fishing, he asked: 'where is your husband?' she answered by pointing to the river. he then asked: 'where is his rubber?' she answered: 'it is ready for you.' whereupon he said 'you lie,' and lifting up his gun, shot her dead. shortly afterward the husband returned and was told of the murder of his wife. he went straight to the corporal, taking with him his rubber, and asked why he had shot his wife. the wretched man then raised his gun and killed the corporal. the soldiers ran away to the headquarters of the state, and made representations of the case, with the result that the commissary sent a large force to support the authority of the soldiers; the town was looted, burned, and many people were killed and wounded." again: "in november last ( ) there was heavy fighting on the bosira, because the people refused to give rubber, and i was told upon the authority of a state officer that no less than eighteen hundred people were killed. upon another occasion in the same month some soldiers ran away from a state steamer, and, it was said, went to the town of bombumba. the officer sent a message telling the chief of the town to give them up. he answered that he could not, as the fugitives had not been in his town. the officer sent the messenger a second time with the order: 'come to me at once, or war in the morning.' the next morning the old chief went to meet the belgians, and was attacked without provocation. he himself was wounded, his wife was killed before his eyes, and her head cut off in order that they might possess the brass necklet that she wore. twenty-four of the chief's people were also killed, and all for the paltry reason given above. again the people of lake mantumba ran away on account of the cruelty of the state, and the latter sent some soldiers in charge of a coloured corporal to treat with them and induce them to return. on the way the troops met a canoe containing seven of the fugitives. under some paltry pretext they made the people land, shot them, cut off their hands and took them to the commissary. the mantumba people complained to the missionary at irebu, and he went down to see if the story was true. he ascertained the case to be just as they had narrated, and found that one of the seven was a little girl, who was not quite dead. the child recovered, and she lives to-day, the stump of the handless arm witnessing against this horrible practice. these are only a few things of many that have taken place in one district." it was not merely for rubber that these horrors were done. much of the country is unsuited to rubber, and in those parts there were other imposts which were collected with equal brutality. one village had to send food and was remiss one day in supplying it: "the people were quietly sleeping in their beds when they heard a shot fired, and ran out to see what was the matter. finding the soldiers had surrounded the town, their only thought was escape. as they raced out of their homes, men, women and children, they were ruthlessly shot down. their town was utterly destroyed, and is a ruin to this day. the only reason for this fight was that the people had failed to bring kwanga (food) to the state upon that one day." finally mr. murphy says: "the rubber question is accountable for most of the horrors perpetrated in the congo. it has reduced the people to a state of utter despair. each town in the district is forced to bring a certain quantity to the headquarters of the commissary every sunday. it is collected by force; the soldiers drive the people into the bush; if they will not go they are shot down, their left hands being cut off and taken as trophies to the commissary. the soldiers do not care whom they shoot down, and they most often shoot poor, helpless women and harmless children. these hands--the hands of men, women and children--are placed in rows before the commissary, who counts them to see the soldiers have not wasted the cartridges. the commissary is paid a commission of about a penny per pound upon all the rubber he gets; it is, therefore, to his interest to get as much as he can." here is corroboration and amplification of all that mr. glaves had put forward. the system had not been long established, and was more efficient ten or twelve years later, but already it was bearing some notable first fruits of civilization. king leopold's rule cannot be said to have left the country unchanged. there is ample evidence that mutilations of this sort were unknown among the native savages. knowledge was spreading under european rule. having heard the testimony of an english traveller and of an american missionary, let us now hear that of a swedish clergyman, mr. sjoblom, as detailed in _the aborigines' friend_, july, . it covers much the same time as the other two, and is drawn from the equateur district. here is the system in full swing: "they refuse to bring the rubber. then war is declared. the soldiers are sent in different directions. the people in the towns are attacked, and when they are running away into the forest, and try to hide themselves, and save their lives, they are found out by the soldiers. then their gardens of rice are destroyed, and their supplies taken. their plantains are cut down while they are young and not in fruit, and often their huts are burned, and, of course, everything of value is taken. within my own knowledge forty-five villages were altogether burned down. i say altogether, because there were many others partly burned down. i passed through twenty-eight abandoned villages. the natives had left their places to go further inland. in order to separate themselves from the white men they go part of the way down the river, or else they cross the river into french territory. sometimes, the natives are obliged to pay a large indemnity. the chiefs often have to pay with brass wire and slaves, and if the slaves do not make up the amount their wives are sold to pay. i was told that by a belgian officer. i will give you," mr. sjoblom continues, "an instance of a man i saw shot right before my eyes. in one of my inland journeys, when i had gone a little farther, perhaps, than the commissary expected me to go, i saw something that perhaps he would not have liked me to see. it was at a town called ibera, one of the cannibal towns to which no white man had ever been before. i reached it at sunset, after the natives had returned from the various places in which they had been looking for india-rubber. they gathered together in a great crowd, being curious to see a white man. besides, they had heard i had some good news to tell them, which came through the gospel. when that large crowd gathered, and i was just ready to preach, the sentinels rushed in among them to seize an old man. they dragged him aside a little from the crowd, and the sentinel in charge came to me and said, 'i want to shoot this man, because he has been in the river fishing to-day. he has not been on the river for india-rubber.' i told him: 'i have not authority to stop you, because i have nothing to do with these palavers, but the people are here to hear what i have to say to them, and i don't want you to do it before my eyes.' he said: 'all right, i will keep him in bonds, then, until to-morrow morning when you have gone. then i will kill him.' but a few minutes afterward the sentinel came in a rage to the man and shot him right before my eyes. then he charged his rifle again and pointed it at the others, who all rushed away like chaff before the wind. he told a little boy, eight or nine years of age, to go and cut off the right hand of the man who had been shot. the man was not quite dead, and when he felt the knife he tried to drag his hand away. the boy, after some labour, cut the hand off and laid it by a fallen tree. a little later this hand was put on a fire to smoke before being sent to the commissary." here we get the system at its highest. i think that picture of the child hacking off the hand of the dying man at the order of the monster who would have assuredly murdered him also had he hesitated to obey, is as diabolical a one as even the congo could show. a pretty commentary upon the doctrine of christ which the missionary was there to preach! mr. sjoblom seems to have been unable to believe at first that such deeds were done with the knowledge and approval of the whites. he ventured to appeal to the commissary. "he turned in anger on me," he adds, "and in the presence of the soldiers said that he would expel me from the town if i meddled with matters of that kind any more." it would, indeed, have been rather absurd for the commissary to interfere when the severed hand had actually been cut off in order to be presented to him. the whole procedure is explained in the following paragraph: "if the rubber does not reach the full amount required, the sentinels attack the natives. they kill some and bring the hands to the commissary. others are brought to the commissary as prisoners. at the beginning they came with their smoked hands. the sentinels, or else the boys in attendance on them, put these hands on a little kiln, and after they had been smoked, they by and by put them on the top of the rubber baskets. i have on many occasions seen this done." then we read in the latest state papers of the belgian diplomatists that they propose to continue the beneficent and civilizing work which they have inherited. yet another paragraph from mr. sjoblom showing the complicity of the belgian authorities, and showing also that the presence of the missionaries was some deterrent against open brutality. if, then, they saw as much as they did, what must have been the condition of those huge tracts of country where no missions existed? "at the end of , the commissary--all the people were gathering the rubber--said he had often told the sentinels not to kill the people. but on the th of december a sentinel passed our mission station and a woman accompanied him, carrying a basket of hands. mr. and mrs. banks, besides myself, went down the road, and they told the sentinel to put the hands on the road that they might count them. we counted eighteen right hands smoked and from the size of the hands we could judge that they belonged to men, women and children. we could not understand why these hands had been collected, as the commissary had given orders that no more natives were to be killed for their hands. on my last journey i discovered the secret. one monday night, a sentinel who had just returned from the commissary, said to me: 'what are the sentinels to do? when all the people are gathered together, the commissary openly tells us not to kill any more people, but when the people have gone he tells us privately that if they do not bring plenty of india-rubber we must kill some, but not bring the hands to him.' some sentinels, he told me, had been put in chains because they killed some natives who happened to be near a mission station; but it was only because he thought it might become known that the commissary, to justify himself, had put the men in chains. i said to the sentinel: 'you should obey the first command, never to kill any more.' 'the people,' he answered, 'unless they are frightened, do not bring in the rubber, and then the commissary flogs us with the hippopotamus hide, or else he puts us in chains, or sends us to boma.' the sentinel added that the commissary induced him to hide cruelty while letting it go on, and to do this in such a way that he might be justified, in case it should become known and an investigation should be made. in such a case the commissary could say, 'why, i told him openly not to kill any more' and he might put the blame on the soldier to justify himself, though the blame and the punishment in all its force ought to have been put on himself, after he had done such a terrible act in order to disguise or mislead justice. if the sentinels were puzzled about this message, what would the natives be?" i have said that there was more to be said for the cannibal murderers than for those who worked the system. the capitas pleaded the same excuse. "don't take this to heart so much," said one of them to the missionary. "they kill us if we do not bring rubber. the commissary has promised us if we bring plenty of hands he will shorten our service. i have brought plenty already, and i expect my time will soon be finished." that the commissaries are steeped to the lips in this horrible business has been amply shown in these paragraphs. but mr. sjoblom was able to go one stage further along the line which leads to the palace at brussels. m. wahis, the governor-general, a man who has played a sinister part in the country, came up the river and endeavoured to get the outspoken swede to contradict himself, or, failing that, to intimidate him. to get at the truth or to right the wrong seems to have been the last thing in his mind, for he knew well that the wrong was essential to the system, and that without it the wheels would move more slowly and the head engineer in europe would soon wish to know what was amiss with his rubber-producing machine. "you may have seen all these things that you have stated," said he, "but nothing is proved." the commissary meanwhile had been holding a rifle to the head of witnesses so as to make sure that nothing would be proved. in spite of this mr. sjoblom managed to collect his evidence, and going to the governor, asked him when he could listen to it. "i don't want to hear any witnesses," said he, and then: "if you continue to demand investigation in these matters we will make a charge against you.... that means five years' imprisonment." such is mr sjoblom's narrative involving governor wahis in the general infamy. "it is not true," cries the congolese apologist. strange how swedes, americans, and british, laymen and clergy, all unite in defaming this innocent state! no doubt the wicked children lop off their own hands in order to cast a slur upon "the benevolent and philanthropic enterprise of the congo." tartuffe and jack the ripper--was ever such a combination in the history of the world! one more anecdote of mr. wahis, for it is not often that we can get a governor of the congo in person face to face with the results of his own work. as he passed down the river, mr. sjoblom was able to report another outrage to him: "mr. banks told the governor that he had seen it himself, whereupon m. wahis summoned the commandant in charge--the officer who had ordered the raid had already gone elsewhere--and asked him in french if the story were true. the belgian officer assured m. wahis that it was, but the latter, thinking mr. banks did not understand french, said: 'after all, you may have seen this; but you have no witnesses.' 'oh,' said mr. banks, 'i can call the commandant, who has just told you that it is true.' m. wahis then tried to minimize the matter, when, to his great surprise, mr. banks added: 'in any case i have, at his own request, furnished to the british consul, who passed through here lately, a signed statement concerning it.' m. wahis rose from his chair, saying: 'oh, then, it is all over europe!' then for the first time he said that the responsible commissary must be punished." it need not be added that the punishment was the merest farce. these successive reports, each amplifying the other, coming on the top of the killing of mr. stokes, and the action of the british colonial office in prohibiting recruiting for congoland, had the effect of calling strong attention to the condition of that country. the charges were met partly by denial, partly by general phrases about morality, and partly by bogus reform. m. van eetvelde, in brussels, and m. jules houdret, in london, denied things which have since been proved up to the hilt. the reform took the shape of a so-called natives' protection commission. like all these so-called reforms, it was utterly ineffectual, and was only meant for european consumption. no one knew so well as the men at brussels that no possible reform could have any effect whatever unless the system was itself abolished, for that system produced outrages as logically and certainly as frost produces ice. the sequel will show the results of the natives' protection commission. v further fruits of the system for a moment i must interrupt the narrative of the long, dismal succession of atrocities in order to explain certain new factors in the situation. it has already been shown that the congo state, unable to handle the whole of its vast domain, had sublet large tracts of it to monopolist companies, in absolute contradiction to article v. of the berlin treaty. up to the year , these companies were registered in belgium, and had some pretence to being international in scope. the state had no open or direct control over them. this was now altered. the state drew closer the bonds which united it to these commercial undertakings. they were, for the most part, dissolved, and then reconstructed under congo law. in most cases, in return for the monopoly, the state was given control, sometimes to the extent of appointing all managers and agents. half the shares of the company or half the profits were usually made over to the state. thus one must bear in mind in future that whether one talks of the abir company, of the kasai, the katanga, the anversoise, or any other, it is really with the state--that is, with king leopold--that one has to do. he owned the companies, but paid them fifty per cent. commission for doing all the work. as their profits were such as might be expected where nothing was paid either for produce or for labour (varying from fifty to seven hundred per cent. per annum), all parties to the bargain were the gainers. another new factor in the situation was the completion, in , of the lower congo railway, which connects boma with stanley pool, and so outflanks the cataracts. the enterprise itself was beneficent and splendid. the means by which it was carried out were unscrupulous and inhuman. had civilization no complaint against the congo state save the history of its railway construction with its forced labour, so different to the tradition of the tropical procedure of other european colonies, it would be a heavy indictment. now it sinks to insignificance when compared with the enslavement of a whole people and the twenty years of uninterrupted massacre. as a sketch of the condition of the railway district here is a little pen picture by m. edouard picard, of the belgian senate, who saw it in the building: "the cruel impression conveyed by the mutilated forests," he wrote, "is heightened in the places where, till lately, native villages nestled, hidden and protected by thick and lofty foliage. the inhabitants have fled. they have fled in spite of encouraging palavers and promises of peace and kind treatment. they have burnt their huts, and great heaps of cinders mark the sites, amid deserted palm-groves and trampled-down banana fields. the terrors caused by the memory of inhuman floggings, of massacres, of rapes and abductions, haunt their poor brains, and they go as fugitives to seek shelter in the recesses of the hospitable bush, or, across the frontiers, to find it in french or portuguese congo, not yet afflicted with so many labours and alarms, far from the roads traversed by white men, those baneful intruders, and their train of strange and disquieting habits." the outlook was as gloomy when he wandered along the path trodden by the caravans to the pool and back again. "we are constantly meeting these carriers, either isolated or in indian file; blacks, blacks, miserable blacks, with horribly filthy loin-clothes for their only garments; their bare and frizzled heads supporting their loads--chest, bale, ivory-tusk, hamper of rubber, or barrel; for the most part broken down, sinking under the burdens made heavier by their weariness and insufficiency of food, consisting of a handful of rice and tainted dried fish; pitiful walking caryatids; beasts of burden with the lank limbs of monkeys, pinched-up features, eyes fixed and round with the strain of keeping their balance and the dulness of exhaustion. thus they come and go by thousands, organized in a system of human transport, requisitioned by the state armed with its irresistible _force publique_, supplied by the chiefs whose slaves they are and who pounce on their wages; jogging on, with knees bent and stomach protruding, one arm raised up and the other resting on a long stick, dusty and malodorous; covered with insects as their huge procession passes over mountains and through valleys; dying on the tramp, or, when the tramp is over, going to their villages to die of exhaustion." it will be remembered that captain lothaire, having been acquitted of the murder of mr. stokes, was sent out by king leopold to act as managing-director of the anversoise trust. in , he arrived in the mongalla district, and from then onward there came to europe vague rumours of native attacks and bloody reprisals, with those other symptoms of violence and unrest which might be expected where a large population accustomed to freedom is suddenly reduced to slavery. how huge were the rubber operations which were carried through under the ferocious rule of captain lothaire, may be guessed from the fact that the profits of the company, which had been , francs in , rose to , , in --a sum which is considerably more than twice the total capital. m. mille tells of a belgian agent who showed , cartridges and remarked, "i can turn those into , pounds of rubber." captain lothaire believed in the same trade methods, for his fighting and his output increased together. it is worth while to slaughter one-fourth of the population if the effect is to drive the others to frenzied and unceasing work. no definite details might ever have reached europe of those doings had not lothaire made the capital mistake of quarrelling with his subordinates. one of these, named lacroix, sent a communication to the _nieuw gazet_, of antwerp, which, with the _petit bleu_, acted an honourable and independent part at this epoch. the congo press bureau, which has stifled the voice of the more venal portion of the belgian and parisian press, had not at that time attained the efficiency which it afterward reached. this letter from lacroix was published on april th, , and shed a lurid light upon what had been going on in the mongalla district. it was a confession, but a confession which involved his superiors as well as himself. he told how he had been instructed by his chief to massacre all the natives of a certain village which had been slow in bringing its rubber. he had carried out the order. later, his chief had put sixty women in irons, and allowed nearly all of them to die of hunger because the village--mummumbula--had not brought enough rubber. "i am going to be tried," he wrote, "for having murdered one hundred and fifty men, for having crucified women and children, and for having mutilated many men and hung the remains on the village fence." at the same moment as this confession of lacroix, _le petit bleu_ published sworn affidavits of soldiers employed by the trust, telling how they had put to death whole villages for being short with their rubber. moray, another agent, published a confession in _le petit bleu_, from which this is an extract: "at ambas we were a party of thirty, under van eycken, who sent us into a village to ascertain if the natives were collecting rubber, and in the contrary case to murder all, including men, women and children. we found the natives sitting peaceably. we asked them what they were doing. they were unable to reply, thereupon we fell upon them all, and killed them without mercy. an hour later we were joined by van eycken, and told him what had been done. he answered: 'it is well, but you have not done enough!' thereupon he ordered us to cut off the heads of the men and hang them on the village palisades, also their sexual members, and to hang the women and children on the palisades in the form of a cross." in the face of these fresh revelations there was an outburst of feeling in belgium, showing that it is only their ignorance of the true facts which prevents the inhabitants of that country from showing the same humanity as any other civilized nation would do. they have not yet realized the foul things which have been done in their name. surely when they do realize it there will be a terrible reckoning! some were already very alive to the question. mm. vandervelde and lorand fought bravely in the chamber. the officials, with mm. liebrichts and de cuvelier at their head, made the usual vague professions and general denials. "ah, you can rest assured light will be forthcoming, complete, striking!" cried the former. light was indeed forthcoming, though not so complete as might be wished, for some, at least, of the scoundrels implicated were tried and condemned. in any other european colony they would have been hanged offhand, as the villainous murderers that they were. but they do not hang white men in the congoland, even with the blood of a hundred murders on their hands. the only white man ever hanged there was the englishman stokes for competing in trade. what is to be remarked, however, is that only subordinates were punished. van eycken was acquitted; lacroix had imprisonment; mattheys, another agent accused of horrible practices, got twelve years--which sounded well at the time, but he was liberated at the end of three. in the sentence upon this man the judge used the words, "seeing that it is just to take into account the example which his superiors gave him in showing no respect for the lives or rights of the natives." brave words, but how helpless is justice when such words can be said, and no result follow! they referred, of course, to captain lothaire, who had, in the meanwhile, fled aboard a steamer at matadi, and made his escape to europe. his flight was common knowledge, but who would dare to lay his hand upon the favourite of the king. lothaire has had occasion several times since to visit the congo, but justice has indeed sat with bandaged eyes where that man was concerned! there is one incident which should be marked in the story of this trial. moray, whose testimony would have been of great importance, was found dead in his bed just before the proceedings. there have been several such happenings in congo history. commandant dooms, having threatened to expose the misdeeds of lieutenant massard before europe, was shortly afterward declared to have been mysteriously drowned by a hippopotamus. dr. barotti, returning hot with anger after an inspection of the state, declares vehemently that he was poisoned. there is much that is of the sixteenth century in this state, besides its views of its duties to the natives. before passing these revelations with the attendant burst of candour in the belgian press, it may be well to transcribe the following remark in an interview from a returned congo official which appeared in the _antwerp nieuw gazet_ (april th, ). he says: "when first commissioned to establish a fort, i was given some native soldiers and a prodigious stock of ammunition. my chief gave me the following instructions: 'crush every obstacle!' i obeyed, and cut through my district by fire and sword. i had left antwerp thinking i was simply to gather rubber. great was my stupefaction when the truth dawned on me." this, with the letter of lieutenant tilken, as quoted before, gives some insight into the position of the agent. indeed, there is something to be said for these unfortunate men, for it is a more awful thing to be driven to crime than to endure it. consider the sequence of events! the man sees an advertisement offering a commercial situation in the tropics. he applies to a bureau. he is told that the salary is some seventy-five pounds a year, with a bonus on results. he knows nothing of the country or conditions. he accepts. he is then asked if he has any money. he has not. one hundred pounds is advanced to him for expenses and outfit, and he is pledged to work it off. he goes out and finds the terrible nature of the task before him. he must condone crime to get his results. suppose he resigns? "certainly," say the authorities; "but you must remain there until you have worked off your debt!" he cannot possibly get down the river, for the steamers are all under government control. what can he do then? there is one thing which he very frequently does, and that is to blow out his brains. the statistics of suicide are higher than in any service in the world. but suppose he takes the line: "very well, i will stay if you make me do so, but i will expose these misdeeds to europe." what then? the routine is a simple one. an official charge is preferred against him of ill-treating the natives. ill-treating of some sort is always going forward, and there is no difficulty with the help of the sentries in proving that something for which the agent is responsible does not tally with the written law, however much it might be the recognized custom. he is taken to boma, tried and condemned. thus it comes about that the prison of boma may at the same time contain the best men and the worst--the men whose ideas were too humane for the authorities as well as those whose crimes could not be overlooked even by a congolese administration. take warning, you who seek service in this dark country, for suicide, the boma prison, or such deeds as will poison your memory forever are the only choice which will lie before you. here is the sort of official circular which descends in its thousands upon the agent. this particular one was from the commissioner in the wille district: "i give you _carte blanche_ to procure , kilos of rubber a month. you have two months in which to work your people. employ gentleness at first, and if they persist in resisting the demands of the state, employ force of arms." and this state was formed for the "moral and material advantage of the native." while dealing with trials of boma i will give some short account of the caudron case, which occurred in . this case was remarkable as establishing judicially what was always clear enough: the complicity between the state and the criminal. caudron was a man against whom cold-blooded murders were charged. he was, in fact, a zealous and efficient agent of the anversoise society, that same company whose red-edged securities rose to such a height when manager lothaire taught the natives what a minister in the belgian house described as the christian law of work. he did his best for the company, and he did his best for himself, for he had a three per cent. commission upon the rubber. why he should be chosen among all his fellow-murderers is hard to explain, but it was so, and he found himself at boma with a sentence of twenty years. on appealing, this was reduced to fifteen years, which experience has shown to mean in practice two or three. the interesting point of his trial, however, is that his appeal, and the consequent decrease of sentence which justified that appeal, were based upon the claim that the government was cognisant of the murderous raids, and that the government soldiers were used to effect them. the points brought out by the trial were: . the existence of a system of organized oppression, plunder, and massacre, in order to increase the output of india-rubber for the benefit of a "company," which is only a covering name for the government itself. . that the local authorities of the government are cognisant, and participatory in this system. . that local officials of the government engage in these rubber raids, and that government troops are regularly employed there on. . that the judicature is powerless to place the real responsibility on the proper shoulders. . that, consequently, these atrocities will continue until the system itself is extirpated. caudron's counsel called for the production of official documents to show how the chain of responsibility went, but the president of the appeal court refused it, knowing as clearly as we do, that it could only conduct to the throne itself. one might ask how the details of this trial came to europe when it is so seldom that anything leaks out from the courts of boma. the reason was that there lived in boma a british coloured subject named shanir, who was at the pains to attend the court day by day in order to preserve some record of the procedure. this he dispatched to europe. the sequel is interesting. the man's trade, which was a very large one, was boycotted, he lost his all, brooded over his misfortunes, and finally took his own life--another martyr in the cause of the congo. vi voices from the darkness i will now return to the witnesses of the shocking treatment of the natives. rev. joseph clark was an american missionary living at ikoko in the crown domain, which is king leopold's own special private preserve. these letters cover the space between and . this is ikoko as he found it in : "irebo contains say , people. ikoko has at least , and there are other towns within easy reach, several as large as irebo, and two probably as large as ikoko. the people are fine-looking, bold and active." in there were people surviving. in ikoko in the crown domain began to feel the effects of "moral and material regeneration." on may th of that year mr. clark writes: "owing to trouble with the state the irebo people fled and left their homes. yesterday the state soldiers shot a sick man who had not attempted to run away, and others have been killed by the state (native) soldiers, who, in the absence of a white man, do as they please." in november, : "at ikoko quite a number of people have been killed by the soldiers, and most of the others are living in the bush." in the same month he complained officially to commissaire fievez: "if you do not come soon and stop the present trouble the towns will be empty.... i entreat you to help us to have peace on the lake.... it seems so hard to see the dead bodies in the creek and on the beach, and to know why they are killed.... people are living in the bush like wild beasts without shelter or proper food, and afraid to make fires. many died in this way. one woman ran away with three children--they all died in the forest, and the woman herself came back a wreck and died before long--ruined by exposure and starvation. we knew her well. my hope in was to get the facts put before king leopold, as i was sure he knew nothing of the awful conditions of the collection of the so-called 'rubber tax.'" on november th he writes: "the state soldiers brought in seven hands, and reported having shot the people in the act of running away to the french side, etc." * * * * * "we found all that the soldiers had reported was untrue, and that the statements made by the natives to me were true. we saw only six bodies; a seventh had evidently fallen into the water, and we learned in a day or two that an eighth body had floated into the landing-place above us--a woman that had either been thrown or had fallen into the water after being shot." on december th, he says: "a year ago we passed or visited between here and ikoko the following villages: probable population lobwaka boboko bosungu kenzie bokaka mosenge ituta ngero , ----- total , "a week ago i went up, and only at ngero were there any people: there we found ten. ikoko did not contain over twelve people other than those employed by frank. beyond ikoko the case is the same." april th, , he writes: "i am sorry that rubber palavers continue. every week we hear of some fighting, and there are frequent 'rows,' even in our village, with the armed and unruly soldiers.... during the past twelve months it has cost more lives than native wars and superstition would have sacrificed in three to five years. the people make this comparison among themselves.... it seems incredible and awful to think of these savage men armed with rifles and let loose to hunt and kill people, because they do not get rubber to sell at a mere nothing to the state, _and it is blood-curdling to see them returning with hands of the slain and to find the hands of young children, amongst bigger ones, evidencing their 'bravery.'_" the following was written on may rd, : "the war on account of rubber. the state demands that the natives shall make rubber and sell same to its agents at a very low price. the natives do not like it. it is hard work and very poor pay, and takes them away from their homes into the forest, where they feel very unsafe, as there are always feuds among them.... the rubber from this district has cost hundreds of lives, and the scenes i have witnessed while unable to help the oppressed have been almost enough to make me wish i were dead. the soldiers, are themselves savages, some even cannibals, trained to use rifles and in many cases they are sent away without supervision, and they do as they please. when they come to any town no man's property or wife is safe, and when they are at war they are like devils. "_imagine them returning from fighting some 'rebels'; see, on the bow of the canoe is a pole and a bundle of something on it.... these are the hands (right hands) of sixteen warriors they have slain. 'warriors!' don't you see among them the hands of little children and girls (young girls or boys)? i have seen them. i have seen where even the trophy has been cut off while yet the poor heart beat strongly enough to shoot the blood from the cut arteries to a distance of fully four feet._" "a young baby was brought here one time; its mother was taken prisoner, and before her eyes they threw the infant in the water to drown it. the soldiers coolly told me and my wife that their white man did not want them to bring infants to their place. they dragged the women off and left the infant beside us, but we sent the child to its mother, and said we would report the matter to the chief of the post. we did so, but the men were not punished. the principal offender was told before me he would get fifty lashes, but i heard the same mouth send a message to say he would not be flogged." compare with this the following extracts from king leopold's _officiel bulletin_, referring to this very tract of country: "the exploitation of the rubber vines of this district was undertaken barely three years ago by m. fievez. the results he obtained have been unequalled. the district produced in more than tons of rubber, bought (_sic_) for - / _d._ (european price), and sold at antwerp for _s._ _d._ per kilo ( lbs.)." a later bulletin adds: "with this development of general order is combined an inevitable amelioration in the native's condition of existence _wherever he comes into contact with the european element_.... "such is, in fact, one of the ends of the general policy of the state, to _promote the regeneration of the race by instilling into him a higher idea of the necessity of labour_." truly, i know nothing in history to match such documents as these--pirates and bandits have never descended to that last odious abyss of hypocrisy. it stands alone, colossal in its horror, colossal, too, in its effrontery. a few more anecdotes from the worthy mr. clark. this is an extract from a letter to the chief of the district, mueller: "there is a matter i want to report to you regarding the nkake sentries. you remember some time ago they took eleven canoes and shot some ikoko people. as a proof they went to you with some hands, of which three were the hands of little children. we heard from one of their paddlers that one child was not dead when its hand was cut off, but did not believe the story. three days after we were told the child was still alive in the bush. i sent four of my men to see, and they brought back a little girl whose right hand had been cut off, and she left to die from the wound. the child had no other wound. as i was going to see dr. reusens about my own sickness i took the child to him, and he has cut the arm and made it right and i think she will live. but i think such awful cruelty should be punished." mr. clark still clung to the hope that king leopold did not know of the results of his own system. on march th, , he writes: "_this rubber traffic is steeped in blood, and if the natives were to rise and sweep every white person on the upper congo into eternity there would still be left a fearful balance to their credit._ is it not possible for some american of influence to see the king of the belgians, and let him know what is being done in his name? _the lake is reserved for the king_--no traders allowed--and _to collect rubber for him hundreds of men, women and children have been shot_." at last the natives, goaded beyond endurance, rose against their oppressors. who can help rejoicing that they seem to have had some success? _extracts from letter-book commencing january th, _: "the native uprising. this was brought about at last by sentries robbing and badly treating an important chief. _in my presence_ he laid his complaint before m. mueller, reporting the seizure of his wives and goods and the personal violence he had suffered at the hands of m. mueller's soldiers stationed in his town. _i saw m. mueller kick him off his veranda._ within forty-eight hours there were no 'sentries' or their followers left in that chief's town--they were killed and mutilated--and soon after m. mueller, with another white officer and many soldiers, were killed, and the revolt began." such is some of the evidence, a very small portion of the whole narrative furnished by mr. clark. remember that it is extracted from a long series of letters written to various people during a succession of years. one could conceive a single statement being a concoction, but the most ingenious apologist for the congo methods could not explain how such a document as this could be other than true. so much for mr. clark, the american. the evidence of mr. scrivener, the englishman, covering roughly the same place and date, will follow. but lest the view should seem too anglo-saxon, let me interpolate a paragraph from the travels of a frenchman, m. leon berthier, whose diary was published by the colonial institute of marseilles in : "belgian post of imesse well constructed. the chef de poste is absent. he has gone to punish the village of m'batchi, guilty of being a little late in paying the rubber tax.... a canoe full of congo state soldiers returns from the pillage of m'batchi.... thirty killed, fifty wounded.... at three o'clock arrive at m'batchi, the scene of the bloody punishment of the chef de poste at imesse. poor village! the débris of miserable huts.... one goes away humiliated and saddened from these scenes of desolation, filled with indescribable feelings." in showing the continuity of the congo horror and the extent of its duration (an extent which is the shame of the great powers who acquiesced in it by their silence), i have marshalled witnesses in their successive order. messrs. glave, murphy and sjoblom have covered the time from to ; mr. clark has carried it on to ; we have had the deeds of - as revealed in the boma law courts. i shall now give the experience of rev. mr. scrivener, an english missionary, who in july, august and september, , traversed a section of the crown domain, that same region specially assigned to king leopold in person, in which mr. clark had spent so many nightmare years. we shall see how far the independent testimony of the englishman and the american, the one extracted from a diary, the other from a succession of letters, corroborate each other: "at six in the morning woke up to find it still raining. it kept on till nine, and we managed to get off by eleven. all the cassava bread was finished the day previous, so a little rice was cooked, but it was a hungry crowd that left the little village. i tried to find out something about them. they said they were runaways from a district a little distance away, where rubber was being collected. they told us some horrible tales of murder and starvation, and when we heard all we wondered that men so maltreated should be able to live without retaliation. the boys and girls were naked, and i gave them each a strip of calico, much to their wonderment.... "four hours and a half brought us to a place called sa.... on the way we passed two villages with more people than we had seen for days. there may have been . close to the post was another small village. we decided to stay there the rest of the day. three chiefs came in with all the adult members of their people, and altogether there were not . and this where, not more than six or seven years ago, there were at least , ! it made one's heart heavy to listen to the tales of bloodshed and cruelty. and it all seemed so foolish. to kill the people off in the wholesale way in which it has been done in this lake district, because they would not bring in a sufficient quantity of rubber to satisfy the white man--and now here is an empty country and a very much diminished output of rubber as the inevitable consequence...." finally mr. scrivener emerged in the neighbourhood of a "big state station." he was hospitably received, and had many chats with his host, who seems to have been a very decent sort of man, doing his best under very trying circumstances. his predecessor had worked incalculable havoc in the country, and the present occupant of the post was endeavouring to carry out the duties assigned to him (those duties consisting, as usual, of orders to get all the rubber possible out of the people) with as much humanity as the nature of the task permitted. in this he, no doubt, did what was possible as one whom the system had not yet degraded to its level--one of the rare few: and one cannot wonder that they should be rare, seeing the nature of the bonds, and the helplessness in which an official is placed who does not carry out the full desires of his superiors. but he had only succeeded in getting himself into trouble with the district commander in consequence. he showed mr. scrivener a letter from the latter upbraiding him for not using more vigorous means, telling him to talk less and shoot more, and reprimanding him for not killing more than one man in a district under his care where there was a little trouble. mr. scrivener had the opportunity while at this state post, under the _régime_ of a man who was endeavouring to be as humane as his instructions allowed, to actually see the process whereby the secret revenues of the "crown domain" are obtained. he says: "everything was on a military basis, but, so far as i could see, the one and only reason for it all was rubber. it was the theme of every conversation, and it was evident that the only way to please one's superiors was to increase the output somehow. i saw a few men come in, and the frightened look even now on their faces tells only too eloquently of the awful time they have passed through. as i saw it brought in, each man had a little basket, containing, say, four or five pounds of rubber. this was emptied into a larger basket and weighed, and being found sufficient, each man was given a cupful of coarse salt, and to some of the head-men a fathom of calico.... i heard from the white men and some of the soldiers some most gruesome stories. the former white man (i feel ashamed of my colour every time i think of him) would stand at the door of the store to receive the rubber from the poor trembling wretches, who after, in some cases, weeks of privation in the forest, had ventured in with what they had been able to collect. a man bringing rather under the proper amount, the white man flies into a rage, and seizing a rifle from one of the guards, shoots him dead on the spot. very rarely did rubber come in but one or more were shot in that way at the door of the store--'to make the survivors bring more next time.' men who had tried to run from the country and had been caught, were brought to the station and made to stand one behind the other, and an albini bullet sent through them. 'a pity to waste cartridges on such wretches.' only the roads to and fro from the various posts are kept open, and large tracts of country are abandoned to the wild beasts. the white man himself told me that you could walk on for five days in one direction, and not see a single village or a single human being. and this where formerly there was a big tribe!... "as one by one the surviving relatives of my men arrived, some affecting scenes were enacted. there was no falling on necks and weeping, but very genuine joy was shown and tears were shed as the losses death had made were told. how they shook hands and snapped their fingers! what expressions of surprise--the wide-opened mouth covered with the open hand to make its evidence of wonder the more apparent.... so far as the state post was concerned, it was in a very dilapidated condition.... on three sides of the usual huge quadrangle there were abundant signs of a former population, but we only found three villages--bigger, indeed, than any we had seen before, but sadly diminished from what had been but recently the condition of the place.... soon we began talking, and, without any encouragement on my part, they began the tales i had become so accustomed to. they were living in peace and quietness when the white men came in from the lake with all sorts of requests to do this and to do that, and they thought it meant slavery. so they attempted to keep the white men out of their country, but without avail. the rifles were too much for them. so they submitted, and made up their minds to do the best they could under the altered circumstances. first came the command to build houses for the soldiers, and this was done without a murmur. then they had to feed the soldiers, and all the men and women--hangers-on--who accompanied them. "then they were told to bring in rubber. this was quite a new thing for them to do. there was rubber in the forest several days away from their home, but that it was worth anything was news to them. a small reward was offered, and a rush was made for the rubber; 'what strange white men, to give us cloth and beads for the sap of a wild vine.' they rejoiced in what they thought was their good fortune. but soon the reward was reduced until they were told to bring in the rubber for nothing. to this they tried to demur, but to their great surprise several were shot by the soldiers, and the rest were told, with many curses and blows, to go at once or more would be killed. terrified, they began to prepare their food for the fortnight's absence from the village, which the collection of the rubber entailed. the soldiers discovered them sitting about. 'what, not gone yet?' bang! bang! bang! bang! and down fell one and another, dead, in the midst of wives and companions. there is a terrible wail, and an attempt made to prepare the dead for burial, but this is not allowed. all must go at once to the forest. and off the poor wretches had to go, without even their tinderboxes to make fires. many died in the forests from exposure and hunger, and still more from the rifles of the ferocious soldiers in charge of the post. in spite of all their efforts, the amount fell off, and more and more were killed.... "i was shown around the place, and the sites of former big chiefs' settlements were pointed out. a careful estimate made the population, of say, seven years ago, to be , people in and about the post, within a radius of, say a quarter of a mile. all told, they would not muster now, and there is so much sadness and gloom that they are fast decreasing.... lying about in the grass, within a few yards of the house i was occupying, were numbers of human bones, in some cases complete skeletons. i counted thirty-six skulls, and saw many sets of bones from which the skulls were missing. i called one of the men, and asked the meaning of it. 'when the rubber palaver began,' said he, 'the soldiers shot so many we grew tired of burying, and very often we were not allowed to bury, and so just dragged the bodies out into the grass and left them. there are hundreds all round if you would like to see them.' but i had seen more than enough, and was sickened by the stories that came from men and women alike of the awful time they had passed through. the bulgarian atrocities might be considered as mildness itself when compared with what has been done here.... "in due course we reached ibali. there was hardly a sound building in the place.... why such dilapidation? the commandant away for a trip likely to extend into three months, the sub-lieutenant away in another direction on a punitive expedition. in other words, the station must be neglected, and rubber-hunting carried out with all vigour. i stayed here two days, and the one thing that impressed itself upon me was the collection of rubber. i saw long files of men come, as at mbongo, with their little baskets under their arms, saw them paid their milk-tin full of salt, and the two yards of calico flung to the head-men; saw their trembling timidity, and, in fact, a great deal more, to prove the state of terrorism that exists, and the virtual slavery in which the people are held.... "so much for the journey to the lake. it has enlarged my knowledge of the country, and also, alas! my knowledge of the awful deeds enacted in the mad haste of men to get rich. so far as i know, i am the first white man to go into the _domaine privé_ of the king, other than the employees of the state. i expect there will be wrath in some quarters, but that cannot be helped." so far mr. scrivener. but perhaps the reader may think that there really was a missionary plot to decry the free state. let us have some travellers, then. here is mr. grogan from his "cape to cairo": "the people were terrorized and were living in marshes." this was on the british frontier. "the belgians have crossed the frontier, descended into the valley, shot down large numbers of natives, british subjects, driven off the young women and cattle, and actually tied up and burned the old women. i do not make these statements without having gone into the matter. i remarked on the absence of women and the reason was given. it was on further inquiry that i was assured by the natives that white men had been present when the old women had been burned.... they even described to me the personal appearance of the white officers with the troops.... the wretched people came to me and asked me why the british had deserted them." further on he says: "every village had been burned to the ground, and as i fled from the country i saw skeletons, skeletons everywhere. and such postures! what tales of horror they told." just a word in conclusion from another witness, mr. herbert frost: "the power of an armed soldier among enslaved people is absolutely paramount. by chief or child, every command, wish, or whim of the soldier must be obeyed or gratified. at his command with rifle ready a man will ... outrage his own sister, give to his persecutor the wife he loves most of all, say or do anything, indeed, to save his life. the woes and sorrows of the race whom king leopold has enslaved have not decreased, for his commissaire officers and agents have introduced and maintain a system of deviltry hitherto undreamed of by his victims." does this all seem horrible? but in the face of it is there not something more horrible in a sentence of this kind?-- "our only programme, i am anxious to repeat, is the work of moral and material regeneration, and we must do this among a population whose degeneration in its inherited conditions it is difficult to measure. the many horrors and atrocities which disgrace humanity give way little by little before our intervention." it is king leopold who speaks. vii consul roger casement's report up to this time the published reports as to the black doings of king leopold and his men were, with the exception of a guarded document from consul pickersgill, in , entirely from private individuals. no doubt there were official reports but the government withheld them. in , this policy of reticence was abandoned, and the historic report of consul roger casement confirmed, and in some ways amplified, all that had reached europe from other sources. a word or two as to mr. casement's own personality and qualifications may not be amiss, since both were attacked by his belgian detractors. he is a tried and experienced public servant, who has had exceptional opportunities of knowing africa and the natives. he entered the consular service in , served on the niger till , was consul at delagoa bay to , and was finally transferred to the congo. personally, he is a man of the highest character, truthful, unselfish--one who is deeply respected by all who know him. his experience, which deals with the crown domain districts in the year , covers some sixty-two pages, to be read in full in "white book, africa, no. , ." i will not apologize for the length of the extracts, as this, the first official exposure, was an historical document and from its publication we mark the first step in that train of events which is surely destined to remove the congo state from hands which have proved so unworthy, and to place it in conditions which shall no longer be a disgrace to european civilization. it may be remarked before beginning that at some of these conversations with the natives mr. scrivener was present, and that he corroborates the account given by the consul. the beginning of mr. casement's report shows how willing he was to give praise where praise was possible, and to say all that could be said for the administration. he talks of "energetic european intervention," and adds, "that very much of this intervention has been called for no one who formerly knew the upper congo could doubt." "admirably built and admirably kept stations greet the traveller at many points." "to-day the railway works most efficiently." he attributes sleeping sickness as "one cause of the seemingly wholesale diminution of human life which i everywhere observed in the regions re-visited; a prominent place must be assigned to this malady. the natives certainly attribute their alarming death-rate to this as one of the inducing causes, although they attribute, and i think principally, their rapid decrease in numbers to other causes as well." the government work shop "was brightness, care, order, and activity, and it was impossible not to admire and commend the industry which had created and maintained in constant working order this useful establishment." these are not the words of a critic who has started with a prejudiced mind or the desire to make out a case. in the lower reaches of the river above stanley pool casement found no gross ill-usage. the natives were hopeless and listless, being debarred from trade and heavily taxed in food, fish and other produce. it was not until he began to approach the cursed rubber zones that terrible things began to dawn upon him. casement had travelled in in the congo, and was surprised to note the timidity of the natives. soon he had his explanation: "at one of these village, s----, after confidence had been restored and the fugitives had been induced to come in from the surrounding forest, where they had hidden themselves, i saw women coming back, carrying their babies, their household utensils, and even the food they had hastily snatched up, up to a late hour of the evening. meeting some of these returning women in one of the fields i asked them why they had run away at my approach, and they said, smiling, 'we thought you were bula matadi' (_i. e._, 'men of the government'). fear of this kind was formerly unknown on the upper congo; and in much more out-of-the-way places visited many years ago the people flocked from all sides to greet a white stranger. but to-day the apparition of a white man's steamer evidently gave the signal for instant flight." "... men, he said, still came to him whose hands had been cut off by the government soldiers during those evil days, and he said there were still many victims of this species of mutilation in the surrounding country. two cases of the kind came to my actual notice while i was in the lake. one, a young man, both of whose hands had been beaten off with the butt-ends of rifles against a tree, the other a young lad of eleven or twelve years of age, whose right hand was cut off at the wrist. this boy described the circumstances of his mutilation, and, in answer to my inquiry, said that although wounded at the time he was perfectly sensible of the severing of his wrist, but lay still fearing that if he moved he would be killed. in both these cases the government soldiers had been accompanied by white officers whose names were given to me. of six natives (one a girl, three little boys, one youth, and one old woman) who had been mutilated in this way during the rubber _régime_, all except one were dead at the date of my visit. the old woman had died at the beginning of this year, and her niece described to me how the act of mutilation in her case had been accomplished." the fines inflicted upon villages for trifling offences were such as to produce the results here described: "the officer had then imposed as further punishment a fine of , brass rods ( , fr.)--£ . this sum they had been forced to pay, and as they had no other means of raising so large a sum they had, many of them, been compelled to sell their children and their wives. i saw no live-stock of any kind in w---- save a very few fowls--possibly under a dozen--and it seemed, indeed, not unlikely that, as these people asserted, they had great difficulty in always getting their supplies ready. a father and mother stepped out and said that they had been forced to sell their son, a little boy called f, for , rods to meet their share of the fine. a widow came and declared that she had been forced, in order to meet her share of the fine, to sell her daughter g, a little girl whom i judged from her description to be about ten years of age. she had been sold to a man in y----, who was named, for , rods, which had then gone to make up the fine." the natives were broken in spirit by the treatment: "one of them--a strong, indeed, a splendid-looking man--broke down and wept, saying that their lives were useless to them, and that they knew of no means of escape from the troubles which were gathering around them. i could only assure these people that their obvious course to obtain relief was by appeal to their own constituted authorities, and that if their circumstances were clearly understood by those responsible for these fines i trusted and believed some satisfaction would be forthcoming." these fines, it may be added, were absolutely illegal. it was the officer, not the poor, harried natives, who had broken the law. "these fines, it should be borne in mind, are illegally imposed; they are not 'fines of court'; are not pronounced after any judicial hearing, or for any proved offence against the law, but are quite arbitrarily levied according to the whim or ill-will of the executive officers of the district, and their collection, as well as their imposition, involves continuous breaches of the congolese laws. they do not, moreover, figure in the account of public revenues in the congo 'budgets'; they are not paid into the public purse of the country, but are spent on the needs of the station or military camp of the officer imposing them, just as seems good to this official." here is an illustrative anecdote: "one of the largest congo concession companies had, when i was on the upper river, addressed a request to its directors in europe for a further supply of ball-cartridge. the directors had met this demand by asking what had become of the , cartridges shipped some three years ago, to which a reply was sent to the effect that these had all been used in the production of india-rubber. i did not see this correspondence, and cannot vouch for the truth of the statement; but the officer who informed me that it had passed before his own eyes was one of the highest standing in the interior." another witness showed the exact ratio between cartridges and rubber: "'the s. a. b. on the bussira, with guns, get only ten tons (rubber) a month; we, the state, at momboyo, with guns, get thirteen tons per month.' 'so you count by guns?' i asked him. 'partout,' m. p. said. 'each time the corporal goes out to get rubber cartridges are given to him. he must bring back all not used; and for every one used, he must bring back a right hand.' m. p. told me that sometimes they shot a cartridge at an animal in hunting; they then cut off a hand from a living man. as to the extent to which this is carried on, he informed me that in six months they, the state, on the momboyo river, had used , cartridges, which means that , people are killed or mutilated. it means more than , for the people have told me repeatedly that the soldiers kill children with the butt of their guns." that the statement about the cutting off of living hands is correct is amply proved by the kodak. i have photographs of at least twenty such mutilated negroes in my own possession. here is a copy of a dispatch from an official quoted in its naked frankness: "le chef ngulu de wangata est envoyé dans la maringa, pour m'y acheter des esclaves. prière a mm. les agents de l'a.b.i.r. de bien vouloir me signaler les méfaits que celui-ci pourrait commettre en route. "le capitaine-commandant, (signé) "sarrazzyn." "_colquilhatville, le er mai, ._" pretty good for the state which boasts that it has put down the slave trade. there is a passage showing the working of the rubber system which is so clear and authoritative that i transcribe it in full: "i went to the homes of these men some miles away and found out their circumstances. to get the rubber they had first to go fully a two days' journey from their homes, leaving their wives, and being absent for from five to six days. they were seen to the forest limits under guard, and if not back by the sixth day trouble was likely to ensue. to get the rubber in the forests--which, generally speaking, are very swampy--involves much fatigue and often fruitless searching for a well-flowing vine. as the area of supply diminishes, moreover, the demand for rubber constantly increases. some little time back i learned the bongandanga district supplied seven tons of rubber a month, a quantity which it was hoped would shortly be increased to ten tons. the quantity of rubber brought by the three men in question would have represented, probably, for the three of them certainly not less than seven kilog. of pure rubber. that would be a very safe estimate, and at an average of fr. per kilog. they might be said to have brought in £ worth of rubber. in return for this labour, or imposition, they had received goods which cost certainly under _s._, and whose local valuation came to rods ( _s._ _d._). as this process repeats itself twenty-six times a year, it will be seen that they would have yielded £ in kind at the end of the year to the local factory, and would have received in return some _s._ or _s._ worth of goods, which had a market value on the spot of £ _s._ _d._ in addition to these formal payments they were liable at times to be dealt with in another manner, for should their work, which might have been just as hard, have proved less profitable in its yield of rubber, the local prison would have seen them. the people everywhere assured me that they were not happy under this system, and it was apparent to a callous eye that in this they spoke the strict truth." again i insert a passage to show that casement was by no means an ill-natured critic: "it is only right to say that the present agent of the a.b.i.r. society i met at bongandanga seemed to me to try, in very difficult and embarrassing circumstances, to minimize as far as possible, and within the limits of his duties, the evils of the system i there observed at work." speaking of the mongalla massacres--those in which lothaire was implicated--he quotes from the judgment of the court of appeal: "that it is just to take into account that, by the correspondence produced in the case, the chiefs of the concession company have, if not by formal orders, at least by their example and their tolerance, induced their agents to take no account whatever of the rights, property, and lives of the natives; to use the arms and the soldiers which should have served for their defence and the maintenance of order to force the natives to furnish them with produce and to work for the company, as also to pursue as rebels and outlaws those who sought to escape from the requisitions imposed upon them.... that, above all, the fact that the arrest of women and their detention, to compel the villages to furnish both produce and workmen, was tolerated and admitted even by certain of the administrative authorities of the region." yet another example of the workings of the system: "in the morning, when about to start for k----, many people from the surrounding country came in to see me. they brought with them three individuals who had been shockingly wounded by gun fire, two men and a very small boy, not more than six years of age, and a fourth--a boy child of six or seven--whose right hand was cut off at the wrist. one of the men, who had been shot through the arm, declared that he was y of l----, a village situated some miles away. he declared that he had been shot as i saw under the following circumstances: the soldiers had entered his town, he alleged, to enforce the due fulfilment of the rubber tax due by the community. these men had tied him up and said that unless he paid , brass rods to them they would shoot him. having no rods to give them they had shot him through the arm and had left him." i may say that among my photographs are several with shattered arms who have been treated in this fashion. this is how the natives were treated when they complained to the white man: "in addition, fifty women are required each morning to go to the factory and work there all day. they complained that the remuneration given for these services was most inadequate, and that they were continually beaten. when i asked the chief w why he had not gone to d f to complain if the sentries beat him or his people, opening his mouth he pointed to one of the teeth which was just dropping out, and said: 'that is what i got from the d f four days ago when i went to tell him what i now say to you.' he added that he was frequently beaten, along with others of his people, by the white man." one sentry was taken almost red-handed by mr. casement: "after some little delay a boy of about fifteen years of age appeared, whose left arm was wrapped up in a dirty rag. removing this, i found the left hand had been hacked off by the wrist, and that a shot hole appeared in the fleshy part of the forearm. the boy, who gave his name as i i, in answer to my inquiry, said that a sentry of the la lulanga company now in the town had cut off his hand. i proceeded to look for this man, who at first could not be found, the natives to a considerable number gathering behind me as i walked through the town. after some delay the sentry appeared, carrying a cap-gun. the boy, whom i placed before him, then accused him to his face of having mutilated him. the men of the town, who were questioned in succession, corroborated the boy's statement. the sentry, who gave his name as k k, could make no answer to the charge. he met it by vaguely saying some other sentry of the company had mutilated i i; his predecessor, he said, had cut off several hands, and probably this was one of the victims. the natives around said that there were two other sentries at present in the town, who were not so bad as k k, but that he was a villain. as the evidence against him was perfectly clear, man after man standing out and declaring he had seen the act committed, i informed him and the people present that i should appeal to the local authorities for his immediate arrest and trial." the following extract must be my final quotation from consul casement's report: "i asked then how this tax was imposed. one of them, who had been hammering out an iron neck-collar on my arrival, spoke first. he said: "'i am n n. these other two beside me are o o and p p, all of us y----. from our country each village had to take twenty loads of rubber. these loads were big: they were as big as this....' (producing an empty basket which came nearly up to the handle of my walking-stick.) 'that was the first size. we had to fill that up, but as rubber got scarcer the white man reduced the amount. we had to take these loads in four times a month.' "_q._ 'how much pay did you get for this?' "_a._ (entire audience.) 'we got no pay! we got nothing!' "and then n n, whom i asked again, said: "'our village got cloth and a little salt, but not the people who did the work. our chiefs eat up the cloth; the workers got nothing. the pay was a fathom of cloth and a little salt for every big basketful, but it was given to the chief, never to the men. it used to take ten days to get the twenty baskets of rubber--we were always in the forest and then when we were late we were killed. we had to go further and further into the forest to find the rubber vines, to go without food, and our women had to give up cultivating the fields and gardens. then we starved. wild beasts--the leopards--killed some of us when we were working away in the forest, and others got lost or died from exposure and starvation, and we begged the white man to leave us alone, saying we could get no more rubber, but the white men and their soldiers said: "go! you are only beasts yourselves; you are nyama (meat)." we tried, always going further into the forest, and when we failed and our rubber was short, the soldiers came to our towns and killed us. many were shot, some had their ears cut off: others were tied up with ropes around their necks and bodies and taken away. the white men sometimes at the posts did not know of the bad things the soldiers did to us, but it was the white men who sent the soldiers to punish us for not bringing in enough rubber.' "here p p took up the tale from n n: "'we said to the white men, "we are not enough people now to do what you want us. our country has not many people in it and we are dying fast. we are killed by the work you make us do, by the stoppage of our plantations, and the breaking up of our homes." the white man looked at us and said: "there are lots of people in mputu"' (europe, the white man's country). '"if there are lots of people in the white man's country there must be many people in the black man's country." the white man who said this was the chief white man at f f----; his name was a b; he was a very bad man. other white men of bula matadi who had been bad and wicked were b c, c d, and d e.' 'these had killed us often, and killed us by their own hands as well as by their soldiers. some white men were good. these were e f, f g, g h, h i, i k, k l.' "these ones told them to stay in their homes and did not hunt and chase them as the others had done, but after what they had suffered they did not trust more any one's word, and they had fled from their country and were now going to stay here, far from their homes, in this country where there was no rubber. "_q._ 'how long is it since you left your homes, since the big trouble you speak of?' "_a._ 'it lasted for three full seasons, and it is now four seasons since we fled and came into the k---- country.' "_q._ 'how many days is it from n---- to your own country?' "_a._ 'six days of quick marching. we fled because we could not endure the things done to us. our chiefs were hanged, and we were killed and starved and worked beyond endurance to get rubber.' "_q._ 'how do you know it was the white men themselves who ordered these cruel things to be done to you? these things must have been done without the white man's knowledge by the black soldiers.' "_a._ (p p): 'the white men told their soldiers: "you kill only women; you cannot kill men. you must prove that you kill men." so then the soldiers when they killed us' (here he stopped and hesitated, and then pointing to the private parts of my bulldog--it was lying asleep at my feet), he said: 'then they cut off those things and took them to the white men, who said: "it is true, you have killed men."' "_q._ 'you mean to tell me that any white man ordered your bodies to be mutilated like that, and those parts of you carried to him?' "p p, o o, and all (shouting): 'yes! many white men. d e did it.' "_q._ 'you say this is true? were many of you so treated after being shot?' "all (shouting out): 'nkoto! nkoto!' (very many! very many!) "there was no doubt that these people were not inventing. their vehemence, their flashing eyes, their excitement, was not simulated. doubtless they exaggerated the numbers, but they were clearly telling what they knew and loathed. i was told that they often became so furious at the recollection of what had been done to them that they lost control over themselves. one of the men before me was getting into this state now." such is the story--or a very small portion of it--which his majesty's consul conveyed to his majesty's government as to the condition of those natives, who, "in the name of almighty god," we had pledged ourselves to defend! the same damning white book contained a brief account of lord cromer's experience upon the upper nile in the lado district. he notes that for eighty miles the side of the river which is british territory was crowded with native villages, the inhabitants of which ran along the bank calling to the steamer. the other bank (congolese territory), was a deserted wilderness. the "tuquoque" argument which king leopold's henchmen are so fond of advancing will find it hard to reconcile the difference. lord cromer ends his report: "it appears to me that the facts which i have stated above afford amply sufficient evidence of the spirit which animates the belgian administration, if, indeed, administration it can be called. the government, so far as i could judge, is conducted almost exclusively on commercial principles, and, even judged by that standard, it would appear that those principles are somewhat short-sighted." in the same white book which contains these documents there is printed the congolese defence drawn up by m. de cuvelier. the defence consists in simply ignoring all the definite facts laid before the public, and in making such statements as that the british have themselves made war upon natives, as if there were no distinction between war and massacre, and that the british have put a poll-tax upon natives, which, if it be reasonable in amount, is a perfectly just proceeding adopted by all colonial nations. let the possessors of the free state use this system, and at the same time restore the freedom of trade by throwing open the country to all, and returning to the natives that land and produce which has been taken from them. when they have done this--and punished the guilty--there will be an end of anti-congo agitation. beyond this, a large part (nearly half) of the congo reply (_notes sur le rapport de mr. casement, de dec. , _), is taken up by trying to show that in one case of mutilation the injuries were, in truth, inflicted by a wild boar. there must be many wild boars in congo land, and their habits are of a singular nature. it is not in the congo that these boars are bred. viii king leopold's commission and its report the immediate effect of the publication as a state paper of the general comment of lord cromer, and of the definite accusations of consul casement, was a demand both in belgium and in england for an official inquiry. lord landsdowne stipulated that this inquiry should be impartial and thorough. it was also suggested by the british government that it should be international in character, and separated from the local administration. very grudgingly and under constant pressure the king appointed a commission, but whittled down its powers to such a point that its proceedings must lose all utility. such were the terms that they provoked remonstrance from men like m. a. j. wauters, the belgian historian of the congo free state, who protested in the _mouvement géographique_ (august th, ) that such a body could serve no useful end. finally, their functions were slightly increased, but they possessed no punitive powers and were hampered in every direction by the terms of their reference. the _personnel_ of the commission was worthy of the importance of the inquiry. m. janssens, a well-known jurist of belgium, was the president. he impressed all who came in contact with him as a man of upright and sympathetic character. baron nisco's appointment was open to criticism, as he was himself a congo functionary, but save for that fact there was no complaint to make against him. dr. schumacher, a distinguished swiss lawyer, was the third commissioner. the english government applied to have a representative upon the tribunal, and with true congo subtlety the request was granted after the three judges had reached the congo. the englishman, mr. mackie, hurried out, but was only in time to attend the last three sittings, which were held in the lower part of the river, far from the notorious rubber agents. it is worth noting that on his arrival he applied for the minutes of the previous meetings and that his application was refused. in belgium the evidence of the commission has never been published, and it is safe to say that it never will be. fortunately the congo missionaries took copious notes of the proceedings and of the testimony which came immediately under their own notice. it is from their evidence that i draw these accounts. if the congo authorities contest the accuracy of those accounts, then let them confute them forever and put their accusers to confusion by producing the actual minutes which they hold. the first sitting of any length of which there are records is that at bolobo, and extended from november th to th, . the veteran, mr. grenfell, gave evidence at this sitting, and it is useful to summarize his views as he was one of the men who held out longest against the condemnation of king leopold, and because his early utterances have been quoted as if he were a supporter of the system. he expressed to the commissioners his disappointment at the failure of the congo government to realize the promises with which it inaugurated its career. he declared he could no longer wear the decorations which he had received from the sovereign of the congo state. he gave it as his opinion that the ills the country was suffering from were due to the haste of a few men to get rich, and to the absence of anything like a serious attempt to properly police the country in the interests of the people. he instanced the few judicial officers, and the virtual impossibility of a native obtaining justice, owing to witnesses being compelled to travel long distances, either to leopoldville or boma. mr. grenfell spoke out emphatically against the administrative _régime_ on the upper river, so far as it had been brought under his notice. mr. scrivener, a gentleman who had been twenty-three years on the congo, was the next witness. his evidence was largely the same as the "diary" from which i have already quoted, concerning the condition of the crown domain. many witnesses were examined. "how do you know the names of the men murdered?" a lad was asked. "one of them was my father," was the dramatic reply. "men of stone," wrote mr. scrivener, "would be moved by the stories that are unfolded as the commission probes this awful history of rubber collection." mr. gilchrist, another missionary, was a new witness. his testimony was concerned with the state domain and the concessionnaire area, principally on the lulanga river. he said: "i also told them what we had seen on the ikelemba, of the signs of desolation in all the districts, of the heartrending stories the people told us, of the butcheries wrought by the various white men of the state and companies who had, from time to time, been stationed there among whom a few names were notorious. i pointed out to them the fact that the basin of the ikelemba was supposed to be free-trade territory also, but that everywhere the people of the various districts were compelled to serve the companies of these respective districts, in rubber, gum copal or food. at one out-of-the-way place where we were on the south bank, two men arrived just as we were leaving, with their bodies covered with marks of the chicotte, which they had just received from the trader of bosci because their quantity had been short. i said to the commissaire, given favourable conditions, particularly freedom, there would soon be a large population in these interior towns, the ngombe and mongo." in answer to questions the following facts were solicited: "_unsettled condition of the people._ the older people never seem to have confidence to build their houses substantially. if they have any suspicion of the approach of a canoe or steamer with soldiers they flee. "_chest disease, pneumonia, etc._ these carry off very many. the people flee to the islands, live in the open air, expose themselves to all kinds of weather, contract chills, which are followed by serious lung troubles, and die. for years we never saw a new house because of the drifting population. they have a great fear of soldiers. in the case of many the absence from the villages is temporary; in the case of a few they permanently settle on the north bank of the river. "_want of proper nourishment._ i have witnessed the collecting of the state imposition, and after this was set aside the natives had nothing but leaves to eat." also, that fines, which the commission at once declared to be illegal, were constantly levied on the people, and that these fines had continued after the matter had been reported to the governor-general. in spite of this declaration of illegality, no steps were taken in the matter, and m. de bauw, the chief offender, was by last accounts the supreme executive official of the district. at every turn one finds that there is no relation at all between law and practice in the congo. law is habitually broken by every official from the governor-general downward if the profits of the state can be increased thereby. the only stern enforcement of the laws is toward the foreigner, the austrian rubinck, or the englishman stokes, who is foolish enough to think that an international agreement is of more weight than the edicts of boma. these men believed it, and met their death through their belief without redress, and even, in the case of the austrian, without public remonstrance. the next considerable session of the commission was at baringa. mr. harris and mr. stannard, the missionaries at this station, had played a noble part throughout in endeavouring within their very limited powers to shield the natives from their tormentors. in both cases, and also in that of mrs. harris, this had been done at the repeated risk of their lives. their white neighbours of the rubber factories made their lives miserable also by preventing their receipt of food from the natives, and harassing them in various ways. on one occasion a chief and his son were both murdered by the order of the white agent because they had supplied the harris household with the fore-quarter of an antelope. before giving the terrible testimony of the missionaries--a testimony which was admitted to be true by the chief agent of the a.b.i.r. company on the spot, it would be well to show the exact standing of this corporation and its relation to the state. these relations are so close that they become to all intents and purposes the same. the state holds fifty per cent. of the shares; it places the government soldiers at the company's disposal; it carries up in the government steamers and supplies licenses for the great number of rifles and the quantity of cartridges which the company needs for its murderous work. whatever crimes are done by the company, the state is a close accomplice. finally, the european directors of this bloodstained company are, or were at the time, the senator van der nest, who acted as president; and as council: count john d'oultremont, grand marshal of the belgian court; baron dhanis, of congo fame, and m. van eetevelde, the creature of the king, and the writer of so many smug despatches to the british government about the mission of civilization and the high purpose of the congo state. now listen to some of the testimony as condensed by mr. harris: "first, the specific atrocities during were dealt with, including men, women, and children; then murders and outrages, including cannibalism. from this i passed on to the imprisonment of men, women and children. following this i called attention to the destruction of the baringa towns and the partial famine among the people in consequence. also the large gangs of prisoners--men, women and children--imprisoned to carry out this work; the murder of two men whilst it was being done. next followed the irregularities during . the expedition conducted by an a.b.i.r. agent against samb'ekota, and the arming continually of a.b.i.r. sentries with albini rifles. following this i drew attention to the administration of mons. forcie, whose _régime_ was a terrible one, including the murder of isekifasu, the principal chief of bolima; the killing, cutting up and eating of his wives, son and children; the decorating of the chief houses with the intestines, liver and heart of some of the killed, as stated by 'veritas' in the _west african mail_. "i confirmed in general the letter published in the _west african mail_ by 'veritas.' "following this i came to mons. tagner's time, and stated that no village in this district had escaped murders under this man's _régime_. "next we dealt with irregularities common to all agents, calling attention to and proving by specific instances the public floggings of practically any and every one; quoting, for instance, seeing with my own eyes six ngombe men receive one hundred strokes each, delivered simultaneously by two sentries. "next, the normal condition has always been the imprisoning of men, women and children, all herded together in one shed, with no arrangement for the demands of nature. further, that very many, including even chiefs, had died either in prison or immediately on their release. "next, the mutilation of the woman boaji, because she wished to remain faithful to her husband, and refused to subject herself to the passions of the sentries. the woman's footless leg and hernia testify to the truth of her statement. she appeared before the commission and doctor. "next, the fact that natives are imprisoned for visiting friends and relatives in other villages, and the refusal to allow native canoes to pass up and down river without carrying a permit signed by the rubber agent; pointing out that even missionaries are subject to these restrictions, and publicly insulted, in an unprintable manner, when they do so. "next point dealt with was responsibility--maintaining that responsibility lay not so much in the individual as in the system. the sentry blames the agent, he in turn the director, and so on. "i next called attention to the difficulties to be faced by natives in reporting irregularities. the number of civil officials is too small; the practical impossibility of reaching those that do exist--the native having first to ask permission of the rubber agent. "the relations that are at present necessary between the a.b.i.r. and the state render it highly improbable that the natives will ever report irregularities. i then pointed out that we firmly believe that but for us these irregularities would never have come to light. "following on this the difficulties to be faced by missionaries were dealt with, pointing out that the a.b.i.r. can and do impose on us all sorts of restrictions if we dare to speak a word about their irregularities. i then quoted a few of the many instances which found their climax in mrs. harris and i almost losing our lives for daring to oppose the massacres by van caelcken. it was also stated that we could not disconnect the attitude of the state in refusing us fresh sites with our action in condemning the administration. i then mentioned that the forests are exhausted of rubber, pointing out that during a five days' tour through the forests i did not see a single vine of any size. this is solely because the vines have been worked in such a manner that all the rubber roots need many years' rest, whereas the natives now are actually reduced to digging up those roots in order to get rubber. "the next subject dealt with was the clear violation both of the spirit and letter of the berlin act. in the first place we are not allowed to extend the mission, and, further, we are forbidden to trade even for food. "next the statement was made that, so far as we are aware, no single sentry had ever been punished by the state till for the many murders committed in this district. "i next pointed out that one reason why the natives object to paddle for the a.b.i.r. is because of the sentries who travel in the a.b.i.r. canoes, and whose only business is to flog the paddlers in order to keep them going. "after mr. stannard had been heard, sixteen esanga witnesses were questioned one by one. they gave clearly the details of how father, mother, brother, sister, son or daughter were killed in cold blood for rubber. these sixteen represented over twenty murders in esanga alone. then followed the big chief of all bolima, who succeeded isekifasu (murdered by the a.b.i.r.). what a sight for those who prate about lying missionaries! he stood boldly before all, pointed to his twenty witnesses, placed on the table his one hundred and ten twigs, each twig representing a life for rubber. 'these are chiefs' twigs, these are men's, these shorter are women's, these smaller still are children's.' he gives the names of scores, but begs for permission to call his son as a reminder. the commission, though, is satisfied with him, that he is telling the truth, and therefore say that it is unnecessary. he tells how his beard of many years' growth, and which nearly reached his feet, was cut off by a rubber agent, merely because he visited a friend in another town. asked if he had not killed a.b.i.r. sentries, he denied it, but owned to his people spearing three of the sentry's boys. he tells how the white man fought him, and when the fight was over handed him his corpses, and said: 'now you will bring rubber, won't you?' to which he replied: 'yes.' the corpses were cut up and eaten by mons. forcie's fighters. he also told how he had been chicotted and imprisoned by the a.b.i.r. agent, and further put to the most menial labour by the agent. "here bonkoko came forward and told how he accompanied the a.b.i.r. sentries when they went to murder isekifasu and his wives and little ones; of finding them peacefully sitting at their evening meal; of the killing as many as they could, also the cutting up and eating of the bodies of isekifasu's son and his father's wives; of how they dashed the baby's brains out, cut the body in half, and impaled the halves. "again he tells how, on their return, mons. forcie had the sentries chicotted because they had not killed enough of the bolima people. "next came bongwalanga, and confirmed bonkoko's story; this youth went to 'look on.' after this the mutilated wife of lomboto, of ekerongo, was carried by a chief, who showed her footless leg and hernia. this was the price she had to pay for remaining faithful to her husband. the husband told how he was chicotted because he was angry about his wife's mutilation. "then longoi, of lotoko, placed eighteen twigs on the table, representing eighteen men, women and children murdered for rubber. next, inunga laid thirty-four twigs on the table and told how thirty-four of his men, women and children had been murdered at ekerongo. he admits that they had speared one sentry, iloko, but that, as in every other such instance, was because iloko had first killed their people. lomboto shows his mutilated wrist and useless hand, done by the sentry. isekansu shows his stump of a forearm, telling the same pitiful story. every witness tells of floggings, rape, mutilations, murders, and of imprisonments of men, women and children, and of illegal fines and irregular taxes, etc., etc. the commission endeavours to get through this slough of iniquity and river of blood, but finding it hopeless, asks how much longer i can go on. i tell them i can go on until they are satisfied that hundreds of murders have been committed by the a.b.i.r. in this district alone; murders of chiefs, men, women and little children, and that multitudes of witnesses only await my signal to appear by the thousand. "i further point out that we have only considered about two hundred murders from the villages of bolima, esanga, ekerongo, lotoko; that by far the greater majority still remain. the following districts are as yet untouched: bokri, nson-go, boru-ga, ekala, baringa, linza, lifindu, nsongo-mboyo, livoku, boendo, the lomako river, the ngombe country, and many others, all of whom have the same tale to tell. every one saw the hopelessness of trying to investigate things fully. to do so, the commission would have to stay here for months." what comment can be added to such evidence as this! it stands in its naked horror, and it is futile to try to make it more vivid. what can any of those english apologists of the congo who have thrown a doubt upon the accounts of outrages because in passing through a section of this huge country upon a flying visit they had not happened to see them--what can lord mountmorris, captain boyd alexander, or mrs. french sheldon say in the face of a mass of evidence with the actual mutilated limbs and excoriated backs to enforce it? can they say more than the man actually incriminated, m. le jeune, the chief agent at the spot? "what have you to say?" asked the president. m. le jeune shrugged his shoulders. he had nothing to say. the president, who had listened, to his honour be it spoken, with tears running down his cheeks to some of the evidence, cried out in amazement and disgust. "there is one document i would put in," said the agent. "it is to show that of my sentinels were slain by the villagers in the course of seven months." "surely that makes the matter worse!" cried the sagacious judge. "if these well-armed men were slain by the defenceless villagers, how terrible must the wrongs have been which called for such desperate reprisals!" you will ask what was done with this criminal agent, a man whose deeds merited the heaviest punishment that human law could bestow. nothing whatever was done to him. he was allowed to slip out of the country exactly as captain lothaire, in similar circumstances, was allowed to slip from the country. an insignificant agent may be occasionally made an example of, but to punish the local manager of a great company would be to lessen the output of rubber, and what are morality and justice compared to that? why should one continue with the testimony given before the commission? their wanderings covered a little space of the country and were confined to the main river, but everywhere they elicited the same tale of slavery, mutilation, and murder. what scrivener and grenfell said at bolobo was what harris and stannard said at baringa, what gilchrist said at lulanga, what rushin and gamman said at bongadanga, what mr. and mrs. lower said at ikan, what padfield said at bonginda, what weeks said at monscombe. the place varied, but the results of the system were ever the same. here and there were human touches which lingered in the memory; here and there also episodes of horror which stood out even in that universal golgotha. one lad testified that he had lost every relative in the world, male or female, all murdered for rubber. as his father lay dying he had given him the charge of two infant brothers and enjoined him to guard them tenderly. he had cared for them until he had been compelled at last to go himself into the forest to gather the rubber. one week their quantity had been short. when he returned from the wood the village had been raided in his absence, and he found his two little brothers lying disembowelled across a log. the company, however, paid per cent. four natives had been tortured until they cried out for some one to bring a gun and shoot them. the chiefs died because their hearts were broken. mr. gamman knew no village where it took them less than ten days out of fifteen to satisfy the demands of the a.b.i.r. as a rule, the people had four days in a month to themselves. by law the maximum of forced labour was forty hours in a month. but, as i have said, there is no relation at all between law and practice in the congo. one witness appeared with a string knotted in forty-two places, and with a packet of fifty leaves. each knot represented a murder and each leaf a rope in his native village. the son of a murdered chief took the body of his father (all names, dates and place specified) to show it to the white agent, in the hope of justice. the agent called his dog and set it on him, the dog biting the son on the leg as he carried the corpse of his father. the villagers brought their murdered men to m. spelier, director of the la lulanga company. he accused them of lying and ordered them off. one chief was seized by two white agents, one of whom held him while the other beat him. when they had finished they kicked him to make him get up, but the man was dead. the commission examined ten witnesses in their investigation of this story. the chief was jonghi, the village bogeka, the date october, . such is a fractional sample of the evidence which was laid before the commission, corroborated by every detail of name, place and date which could enforce conviction. there is no doubt that it did enforce thorough conviction. the judges travelled down the river sadder and wiser men. when they reached boma, they had an interview with governor-general constermann. what passed at that interview has not been published, but the governor-general went forth from it and cut his own throat. the fact may, perhaps, give some indication of how the judges felt when the stories were still fresh in their minds, and their nerves wincing under the horror of the evidence. a whole year elapsed between the starting of the commission and the presentation of their report, which was published upon october st, . the evidence which would have stirred europe to its foundations was never published at all, in spite of an informal assurance to lord lansdowne that nothing would be held back. only the conclusions saw the light, without the document upon which they were founded. the effect of that report, when stripped of its courtly phrases, was an absolute confirmation of all that had been said by so many witnesses during so many years. it is easy to blame the commissioners for not having the full courage of their convictions, but their position was full of difficulty. the report was really a personal one. the state was, as no one knew better than themselves, a fiction. it was the king who had sent them, and it was to the king himself that they were reporting upon a matter which deeply affected his personal honour as well as his material interests. had they been, as had been suggested, an international body, the matter would have been simple. but of the three good care had been taken that two should be men who would have to answer for what was said. mr. janssens was a more or less independent man, but a belgian, and a subject all the same. baron nisco was in the actual employ of the king, and his future was at stake. on the whole, i think that the commissioners acted like brave and honest men. naturally they laid all stress upon what could be said in favour of the king and his creation. they would have been more than human had they not done so. they enlarged upon the size and the traffic of the cities at the mouth of the congo--as if the whole loot of a nation could pass down a river without causing commerce and riches at its mouth. very early in the report they indicated that the question of the state appropriation of the land had forced itself upon their notice. "if the state wishes to avoid the principle of the state appropriation of vacant lands resulting in abuse," says the report, "it should place its agents and officials on their guard against too restrictive interpretation and too rigorous applications." weak and trimming, it is true, but it was the cornerstone of all that the king had built, and how were they to knock it rudely out? their attitude was not heroic. but it was natural. they go on: "as the greater portion of the land in the congo is not under cultivation, this interpretation concedes to the state a right of absolute and exclusive ownership over virtually the whole of the land, with this consequence: that it can dispose--itself and solely--of all the products of the soil; prosecute as a poacher any one who takes from that land the least of its fruits, or as a receiver of stolen goods any one who receives such fruit: forbid any one to establish himself on the greater part of the territory. the activity of the natives is thus limited to very restricted areas, and their economic condition is immobilized. thus abusively applied, such legislation would prevent any development of native life. in this manner, not only has the native been often forbidden to shift his village, but he has even been forbidden to visit, even temporarily, a neighbouring village without special permit. a native displacing himself without being the bearer of such an authorization, would leave himself open to arrest, to be taken back and even punished." who could possibly deny, after reading this passage, that the congo native has been reduced from freedom into slavery? there follows a curious sentence: "let us hasten," says the report, "to say that in actual fact so great a rigour has not been shown. almost everywhere certain products of the domain have been abandoned to the natives, notably palm kernels, which form the object of an important export trade in the lower congo." this palm kernel trade is an old-established one, affecting only the mouth of the river, which could not be disturbed without obvious international complications, and which bears no relation to the great upper congo populations, whose inhuman treatment was the question at issue. the report then proceeds to point out very clearly, the all-important fact which arises from the expropriation of the native from the land. "apart from the rough plantations," it says, "which barely suffice, to feed the natives themselves and to supply the stations, all the fruits of the soil are considered as the property of the state or of the concessionnaire societies." this being so, there is an end forever of free trade, or, indeed, of any trade, save an export by the government itself, or by a handful of companies which really represent the government, of the whole wealth of the country to europe for the benefit of a ring of millionaires. having dealt with the taking of the land and the taking of its products, the commission handles with kid gloves the third great root proposition, the forcing of the natives, for nothing, under the name of taxes, for trifles under the absurd name of trade, to work for the sake of their oppressors. it expends many words in showing that natives do not like work, and that, therefore, compulsion is necessary. it is sad to see just and learned men driven to such straits in defending what is indefensible. do the blacks of the rand gold mines like work? do the kimberley diamond hunters like work? do the carriers of an east german caravan like work? no more than the congolese. why, then, do they work? because they are paid a fair wage to do so. because the money earned by their work can bring them more pleasure than the work does pain. that is the law of work the whole world over. notably it is the law on the congo itself, where the missionaries, who pay honestly for work, have no difficulty in getting it. of course, the congolese, like the englishman, or the belgian, does not like work when it is work which brings a benefit to others and none to himself. but in spite of this preamble, the commission cannot escape the actual facts. "numbers of agents only thought of one thing: to obtain as much as possible in the shortest possible time, and their demands were often excessive. this is not at all astonishing, at any rate as regards the gathering of the produce of the domain.... that is to say, the revenues for government; for the agents themselves who regulated the tax and saw to its collection, had a direct interest in increasing its amount, since they received proportional bonuses on the produce thus collected." no more definite statement could be made of the system which had been attacked by the reformers and denied by the congo officials for so many years. the report then goes on to tell that when the state, in one of those pretended reforms which were meant for european, not for congolese, use, allotted forty hours of forced labour per month as the amount which the native owed the state, the announcement was accompanied by a private intimation from the governor-general to the district commissioners, dated february rd, , that this new law must have the effect, not of lessening, but "of bringing about a constant increase in the resources of the treasury." could they be told in plainer terms that they were to disregard it? the land is taken, the produce is taken, the labour is taken. in old days the african slave was exported, but we progress with the ages and now a higher intelligence has shown the folly of the old-fashioned methods when it is to easy to enslave him in his own home. we may pass the report of the commission in so far as it deals with the taxation of the natives, food taxes, porterage taxes and other imposts. it brings out very clearly the curse of the parasitic army, with their families, which have to be fed by the natives, and the difficulty which it causes them with their limited plantations to find the means for feeding themselves. even the wood to the state steamers is not paid for, but is taken as a tax. such demands "force the natives in the neighbourhood of the stations in certain cases to an almost continuous labour"--a fresh admission of slave conditions. the report describes the result of the rubber tax in the following terms: "this circumstance [exhaustion of the rubber] explains the repugnance of the native for rubber work, which in itself is not particularly painful. in the majority of cases the native must go one or two days' march every fortnight, until he arrives at that part of the forest where the rubber vines can be met with in a certain degree of abundance. there the collector passes a number of days in a miserable existence. he has to build himself an improvised shelter, which cannot, obviously, replace his hut. he has not the food to which he is accustomed. he is deprived of his wife, exposed to the inclemencies of the weather and the attacks of wild beasts. when once he has collected the rubber he must bring it to the state station or to that of the company, and only then can he return to his village, where he can sojourn for barely more than two or three days, because the next demand is upon him.... it is hardly necessary to add that this state of affairs is a flagrant violation of the forty hours' law." the report deals finally with the question of the punishments meted out by the state. these it enumerates as "the taking of hostages, the imprisonment of the chiefs, the institution of sentries or capitas, fines and military expeditions," the latter being a euphemism for cold-blooded massacres. it continues: "whatever one may think of native ideas, acts such as taking women as hostages outrage too much our ideas of justice to be tolerated. the state has prohibited this practice long ago, but without being able to suppress it." the state prohibits, but the state not only condones, but actually commands it by private circular. again the gap which lies betwixt law and fact where the interest of gain is concerned. "it was barely denied," the report continues, "that in the various posts of the a.b.i.r. which we visited, the imprisonment of women hostages, the subjection of the chiefs to servile labour, the humiliations meted out to them, the flogging of rubber collectors, the brutality of the black employés set over the prisoners, were the rule commonly followed." then follows an illuminative passage about the sentries, capitas or "forest guards," or messengers, as they are alternatively called. it is a wonder that they were not called hospital orderlies in the efforts to make them seem inoffensive. what they actually were was, as we have seen, some twenty thousand cannibals armed with albini repeating rifles. the report says: "this system of native supervisors (_surveillants_) has given rise to numerous criticisms, even on the part of state officials. the protestant missionaries heard at bolobo, ikoko (lake mantumba), lulonga, bonginda, ikau, baringa and bongandanga, drew up formidable accusations against the acts of these intermediaries. they brought before the commission a multitude of native witnesses, who revealed a large number of crimes and excesses alleged to have been committed by the sentinels. according to the witnesses these auxiliaries, especially those stationed in the villages, abuse the authority conferred upon them, convert themselves into despots, claiming the women and the food, not only for themselves but for the body of parasites and creatures without any calling which a love of rapine causes to become associated with them, and with whom they surround themselves as with a veritable bodyguard; they kill without pity all those who attempt to resist their exigencies and whims. the commission was obviously unable in all cases to verify the exactitude of the allegations made before it, the more so that the facts were often several years old. however, truth of the charges is borne out by a mass of evidence and official reports." it adds: "of how many abuses have these native sentinels been guilty it would be impossible to say, even approximately. several chiefs of baringa brought us, according to the native custom, bundles of sticks, each of which was meant to show one of their subjects killed by the capitas. one of them showed murders in his village committed during the last few years. whatever one may think of the confidence with which this native form of book-keeping may inspire one, a document handed to the commission by the director of the a.b.i.r. does not allow any doubt to remain as to the sinister character of the system. it consisted of a list showing that from st january to st august, --that is to say, within a space of seven months-- sentries of the society had been killed or wounded by the natives. now, it is to be assumed that in many cases these sentries had been attacked by the natives by way of revenge. one may judge by this of the number of bloody affrays to which their presence had given rise. on the other hand, the agents interrogated by the commission, or who were present at the audiences, did not even attempt to deny the charges brought against the sentinels." that last sentence seems the crown of the arch. if the agents on the spot did not attempt before the commission to deny the outrages who shall venture to do it in their name? the remainder of the report, though stuffed with courtly platitudes and with vague recommendations of reform which are absolutely unpractical, so long as the root causes of all the trouble remain undisturbed, contains a few positive passages which are worth preserving. talking of the want of definite instructions to military expeditions, it says: "the consequences are often very murderous. and one must not be astonished. if in the course of these delicate operations, whose object it is to seize hostages and to intimidate the natives, constant watch cannot be exercised over the sanguinary instincts of the soldiers when orders to punish are given by superior authority, it is difficult that the expedition should not degenerate into massacres, accompanied by pillage and incendiarism." again: "the responsibility for these abuses must not, however, always be placed upon the commanders of military expeditions. in considering these facts one must bear in mind the deplorable confusion still existing in the upper congo between a state of war and a state of peace; between administration and repression; between those who may be regarded as enemies and those who have the right to be regarded as citizens of the state and treated in accordance with its laws. the commission was struck with the general tone of the reports relating to operations described above. often, while admitting that the expedition had been sent out solely for shortage in taxation, and without making allusion to an attack or resistance on the part of the natives, which alone would justify the use of arms, the authors of these reports speak of 'surprising villages,' 'energetic pursuit,' 'numerous enemies killed and wounded,' 'loot,' 'prisoners of war,' 'conditions of peace.' evidently these officers thought themselves at war, acted as though at war." again: "the course of such expeditions grave abuses have occurred; men, women and children have been killed even at the very time they sought safety in flight. others have been imprisoned. women have been taken as hostages." there is an interesting passage about the missionaries: "often also, in the regions where evangelical stations are established, the native, instead of going to the magistrate, his natural protector, adopts the habit when he thinks he has a grievance against an agent or an executive officer, to confide in the missionary. the latter listens to him, helps him according to his means, and makes himself the echo of all the complaints of a region. hence the astounding influence which the missionaries possess in some parts of the territory. it exercises itself not only among the natives within the purview of their religious propaganda, but over all the villages whose troubles they have listened to. the missionary becomes, for the native of the region, the only representative of equity and justice; he adds to the ascendancy acquired from his religious zeal, the prestige which, in the interest of the state itself, should be invested in the magistrates." i will now turn for a moment to contemplate the document as a whole. with the characteristic policy of the congo authorities, it was originally given to the world as being a triumphant vindication of king leopold's administration, which would certainly have been the greatest whitewashing contract ever yet carried through upon this planet. looked at more closely, it is clearly seen that behind the veil of courtly phrase and complimentary forms, every single thing that the reformers have been claiming has been absolutely established. that the land has been taken. that the produce has been taken. that the people are enslaved. that they are reduced to misery. that the white agents have given the capitas a free hand against them. that there have been illegal holdings of hostages, predatory expeditions, murders and mutilations. all these things are absolutely admitted. i do not know that anything more has ever been claimed, save that the commission talks coldly of what a private man must talk of hotly, and that the commission might give the impression that they were isolated acts, whereas the evidence here given and the general depopulation of the country show that they are general, universal, and parts of a single system extending from leopoldville to the great lakes, and from the french border to katanga. be it private domain, crown domain, or concessionnaire territory, be it land of the kasai, the anversoise, the abir, or the katanga companies, the tale still tells of bloodshed and horror. where the commission differs from the reformers is in their estimate of the gravity of this situation and of the need of absolute radical reforms. it is to be borne in mind that of the three judges two had never been in africa before, while the third was a direct servant of the attacked institution. they seem to have vaguely felt that these terrible facts were necessary phases of colonial expansion. had they travelled, as i have done, in british west africa, and had it been brought home to them that a blow to a black man, sierra leone, for example, would mean that one would be taken by a black policeman before a black judge to be handed over to a black gaoler, they would understand that there are other methods of administration. had they ever read of that british governor of jamaica, who, having in the face of dangerous revolt, executed a negro without due forms of law, was recalled to london, tried, and barely escaped with his life. it is by such tension as this that europeans in the tropics, whatever be their nation, must be braced up to maintain their civilized _morale_. human nature is weak, the influence of environment is strong. germans or english would yield and in isolated cases have yielded, to their surroundings. no nation can claim much individual superiority in such a matter. but for both germany and england (i would add france, were it not for the french congo) can claim that their system works as strongly against outrage as the belgian one does in favour of it. these things are not, as the commissioners seemed to think, necessary evils, which are tolerated elsewhere. how can their raw opinion weigh for a moment upon such a point when it is counterbalanced by the words of such reformers as sir harry johnston or lord cromer? the fact is that the running of a tropical colony is, of all tests, the most searching as to the development of the nation which attempts it; to see helpless people and not to oppress them, to see great wealth and not to confiscate it, to have absolute power and not to abuse it, to raise the native instead of sinking yourself--these are the supreme trials of a nation's spirit. we have all failed at times. but never has there been failure so hopeless, so shocking, bearing such consequences to the world, such degradation to the good name of christianity and civilization as the failure of the belgians in the congo. and all this has happened and all this has been tolerated in an age of progress. the greatest, deepest, most wide-reaching crime of which there is any record, has been reserved for these latter years. some excuse there is for racial extermination where, as with saxons and celts, two peoples contend for the same land which will but hold one. some excuse, too, for religious massacre when, like mahomet the second at constantinople, or alva in the lowlands, the bigoted murderers honestly conceived that their brutal work was in the interest of god. but here the real doers have sat remote with cold blood in their veins, knowing well from day to day what they were doing, and with the sole object of adding more to wealth which was already enormous. consider this circumstance and consider also the professions of philanthropy with which the huge massacre was inaugurated, the cloud of lies with which it has been screened, the persecution and calumny of the few honest men who uncovered it, the turning of religion against religion and of nation against nation in the attempt to perpetuate it, and having weighed all this, tell me where in the course of history there is any such story. what is progress? is it to run a little faster in a motor-car, to listen to gabble in a gramophone?--these are the toys of life. but if progress is a spiritual thing, then we do _not_ progress. such a horror as this of belgium and the congo would not have been possible fifty years ago. no european nation would have done it, and if it had, no other one would have failed to raise its voice in protest. there was more decorum and principle in life in those slower days. we live in a time of rush, but do not call it progress. the story of the congo has made the idea a little absurd. ix the congo after the commission the high hopes which the advent of the commission raised among the natives and the few europeans who had acted as their champions, were soon turned to bitter disappointment. the indefatigable mr. harris had sent on after the commission a number of fresh cases which had come to his notice. in one of these a chief deposed that he had been held back in his village (boendo) in order to prevent him from reaching the commission. he succeeded in breaking away from his guards, but was punished for his enterprise by having his wife clubbed to death by a sentry. he brought with him, in the hope that he might lay them before the judges, one hundred and eighty-two long twigs and seventy-six smaller ones, to represent so many adults and children who had been murdered by the a.b.i.r. company in his district during the last few years. his account of the methods by which these unfortunate people met their deaths will not bear printing. the wildest dreams of the inquisition were outdone. women had been killed by thrusting stakes into them from below. when the horrified missionary asked the chief if this was personally known to him, his answer was, "they killed my daughter, nsinga, in this manner; i found the stake in her." and a reputable belgian statesman can write in this year of grace that they are carrying on the beneficent and philanthropic mission which has been handed down to them. in a later communication mr. harris gives the names of men, women and children killed by the sentries of a m. pilaet. "last year," he says, "or the year before, the young woman, imenega, was tied to a forked tree and chopped in half with a hatchet, beginning at the left shoulder, chopping down through the chest and abdomen and out at the side." again, with every detail of name and place, he dwelt upon the horrible fact that public incest had been enforced by the sentries--brother with sister, and father with daughter. "oh, inglesia," cried the chief in conclusion, "don't stay away long; if you do, they will come, i am sure they will come, and then these enfeebled legs will not support me, i cannot run away. i am near my end; try and see to it that they let me die in peace; don't stay away." "i was so moved, your excellency, at these people's story that i took the liberty of promising them, in the name of the congo free state, that you will only kill them in future for crimes. i told them the inspector royal was, i hoped, on his way, and that i was sure he would listen to their story, and give them time to recover themselves." it is terrible to think that such a promise, through no fault of mr. harris, has not been fulfilled. are the dreams of the commissioners never haunted by the thought of those who put such trust in them, but whose only reward has been that they have been punished for the evidence they gave and that their condition has been more miserable than ever. the final practical result of the commission was that upon the natives, and not upon their murderers, came the punishment. m. malfeyt, a royal high commissioner, had been sent out on pretence of reform. how hollow was this pretence may be seen from the fact that at the same time m. wahis had been despatched as governor-general in place of that constermann who had committed suicide after his interview with the judges of the commission. wahis had already served two terms as governor, and it was under his administration that all the abuses the commission had condemned had actually grown up. could king leopold have shown more clearly how far any real reform was from his mind? m. malfeyt's visit had been held up as a step toward improvement. the british government had been assured that his visit would be of a nature to effect all necessary reforms. on arriving in the country, however, he announced that he had no power to act, and only came to see and hear. thus a few more months were gained before any change could be effected. the only small consolation which we can draw from all this succession of impotent ambassadors and reforming committees, which do not, and were never intended to, reform, is that the game has been played and exposed, and surely cannot be played again. a government would deservedly be the laughing-stock of the world which again accepted assurances from the same source. what, in the meanwhile, was the attitude of that a.b.i.r. company, whose iniquities had been thoroughly exposed before the commission, and whose manager m. le jeune, had fled to europe? was it ashamed of its bloodthirsty deeds? was it prepared in any way to modify its policy after the revelations which its representatives had admitted to be true? read the following interview which mr. stannard had with m. delvaux, who had visited the stations of his disgraced colleague: "he spoke of the commission of inquiry in a contemptuous manner, and showed considerable annoyance about the things we had said to the commission. he declared the a.b.i.r. had full authority and power to send out armed sentries, and force the people to bring in rubber, and to imprison those who did not. a short time ago, the natives of a town brought in some rubber to the agent here, but he refused it because it was not enough, and the men were thrashed by the a.b.i.r. employees, and driven away. the director justified the agent in refusing the rubber because the quantity was too small. the commissioners had declared that the a.b.i.r. had no power to send armed sentries into the towns in order to flog the people and drive them into the forests to seek rubber; they were 'guards of the forest,' and that was their work. when we pointed this out to m. delvaux, he pooh-poohed the idea, and said the name had no significance; some called the sentries by one name, some by another. we pointed out that the people were not compelled to pay their taxes in rubber only, but could bring in other things, or even currency. he denied this, and said that the alternative tax only meant that an agent could impose whatever tax he thought fit. it had no reference whatever to the natives. the a.b.i.r. preferred the taxes to be paid in rubber. this is what the a.b.i.r. says, in spite of the interpretation by baron nisco, the highest judicial authority in the state, that the natives could pay their taxes in what they were best able. all these things were said in the presence of the royal high commissioner, who, whether he approved or not, certainly did not contradict or protest against them." within a week or two of the departure of the commission the state of the country was as bad as ever. it cannot be too often repeated that it was not local in its origin, but that it occurred there, as elsewhere, on account of pressure from the central officials. if further proof were needed of this it is to be found in the van caelchen trial. this agent, having been arrested, succeeded in showing (as was done in the caudron case) that the real guilt lay with his superior officers. in his defence he "bases his power on a letter of the commissaire-général de bauw (the supreme executive officer in the district), and in a circular transmitted to him by his director, and signed 'constermann' (governor-general), which he read to the court, deploring the diminished output in rubber, and saying that the agents of the a.b.i.r. should not forget that they had the same powers of '_contrainte par corps_' (bodily detention) as were delegated to the agent of the société commerciale anversoise au congo for the increase of rubber production; that if the governor-general or his commissaire-général did not know what they were writing and what they signed, he knows what orders he had to obey; it was not for him to question the legality or illegality of these orders; his superiors ought to have known and have weighed what they wrote before giving him orders to execute; that bodily detention of natives for rubber was no secret, seeing that at the end of every month a statement of '_contrainte par corps_' (bodily detention) during the month has to be furnished in duplicate, the book signed, and one of the copies transmitted to the government." whilst these organized outrages were continuing in the congo, king leopold, at belgium, had taken a fresh step, which, in its cynical disregard for any attempt at consistency, surpassed any of his previous performances. feeling that something must be done in the face of the finding of his own delegates, he appointed a fresh commission, whose terms of reference were "to study the conclusions of the commission of inquiry, to formulate the proposals they call for, and to seek for practical means for realizing them." it is worth while to enumerate the names of the men chosen for this work. had a european areopagus called before it the head criminals of this terrible business, all of these men, with the exception of two or three, would have been standing in the dock. take their names in turn: van maldeghem, the president--a jurist, who had written on congo law, but had no direct complicity in the crimes; janssens, the president of the former commission, a man of integrity; m. davignon, a belgian politician--so far the selection is a possible one--now listen to the others! de cuvelier, creature of the king, and responsible for the congo horrors; droogmans, creature of the king, administrator of the secret funds derived from his african estates, and himself president of a rubber trust; arnold, creature of the king; liebrechts, the same; gohr, the same; chenot, a congo commissioner; tombeur, the same; fivé, a congo inspector; nys, the chief legal upholder of the king's system; de hemptinne, president of the kasai rubber trust; mobs, an administrator of the a.b.i.r. is it not evident that, save the first three, these were the very men who were on their trial? the whole appointment is an example of that cynical humour which gives a grotesque touch to this inconceivable story. it need not be added that no result making for reform ever came from such an assembly. one can but rejoice that the presence of the small humane minority may have prevented the others from devising some fresh methods of oppression. it cannot be said, however, that no judicial proceedings and no condemnation arose from the actions of the congo commission. but who could ever guess who the man was who was dragged to the bar. on the evidence of natives and missionaries, the whole white hierarchy, from governor-general to subsidized cannibal, had been shown to be blood-guilty. which of them was punished? none of them, but mr. stannard, one of the accusing witnesses. he had shown that the soldiers of a certain m. hagstrom had behaved brutally to the natives. this was the account of lontulu the chief: "lontulu, the senior chief of bolima, came with twenty witnesses, which was all the canoe would hold. he brought with him one hundred and ten twigs, each of which represented a life sacrificed for rubber. the twigs were of different lengths and represented chiefs, men, women and children, according to their length. it was a horrible story of massacre, mutilation and cannibalism that he had to tell, and it was perfectly clear that he was telling the truth. he was further supported by other eye-witnesses. these crimes were committed by those who were acting under the instructions and with the knowledge of white men. on one occasion the sentries were flogged because they had not killed enough people. at one time, after they had killed a number of people, including isekifasu, the principal chief, his wives and children, the bodies, except that of isekifasu, were cut up, and the cannibalistic fighters attached to the a.b.i.r. force were rationed on the meat thus supplied. the intestines, etc., were hung up in and about the house, and a little child who had been cut in halves was impaled. after one attack, lontulu, the chief, was shown the dead bodies of his people, and asked by the rubber agent if he would bring in rubber now. he replied that he would. although a chief of considerable standing, he has been flogged, imprisoned, tied by the neck with men who were regarded as slaves, made to do the most menial work, and his beard, which was of many years' growth, and reached almost to the ground, was cut off by the rubber agent because he visited another town." lontulu was cross-examined by the commission and his evidence was not shaken. here are some of the questions and answers: "president janssens: 'm. hagstrom leur a fait la guerre. il a tué beaucoup d'hommes avec ses soldats.' "to lontulu: 'were the people of monji, etc., given the corpses to eat?' "lontulu: 'yes, they cut them up and ate them.' "baron nisco: 'did they flog you?' "lontulu: 'repeatedly.' "baron nisco: 'who cut your beard off?' "lontulu: 'm. hannotte.' "president janssens: 'did you see sentries kill your people? did they kill many?' "lontulu: 'yes, all my family is finished.' "president: 'give us names.' "lontulu: 'chiefs bokomo, isekifasu, botamba, longeva, bosangi, booifa, eongo, lomboto, loma, bayolo.' "then followed names of women and children and ordinary men (not chiefs). "lontulu: 'may i call my son lest i make a mistake?' "president: 'it is unnecessary; go on.' "lontulu: 'bomposa, beanda, ekila.' "president: 'are you sure that each of your twigs ( ) represents one person killed?' "lontulu: 'yes.' "president: 'was isekifasu killed at this time?' "reply not recorded. "president: 'did you see his entrails hanging on his house?' "lontulu: 'yes.' "_question_: 'were the sentries and people who helped given the dead bodies to eat?' "_answer_: 'yes, they ate them. those who took part in the fight cut them up and ate them.... he was _chicotted_ (flogged), and said, "why do you do this? is it right to flog a chief?"' gave a very full account of his harsh treatment and sufferings." the action was taken for criminal libel by m. hagstrom against mr. stannard, for saying that this evidence had been given before the commission. of course, the only way to establish the fact was a reference to the evidence itself which lay at brussels. but as hagstrom was only a puppet of the higher government of the congo (which means the king himself), in their attempt to revenge themselves upon the missionaries it was not very likely that official documents would be produced for the mere purpose of serving the end of justice. the minutes then were not forthcoming. how, then, was mr. stannard to produce evidence that his account was correct? obviously by producing lontulu, the chief. but the wretched lontulu, beaten and tortured, with his beard plucked off and his spirit broken, had been cast into gaol before the trial, and knew well what would be his fate if he testified against his masters. he withdrew all that he had said at the commission--and who can blame him? so m. hagstrom obtained his verdict and the belgian reptile press proclaimed that mr. stannard had been proved to be a liar. he was sentenced to three months' imprisonment, with the alternative of a £ fine. even as i write, two more of these lion-hearted missionaries, americans this time--mr. morrison and mr. shepherd--are undergoing a similar prosecution on the congo. this time it is the kasai company which is the injured innocent. but the eyes of europe and america are on the transaction, and m. vandervelde, the fearless belgian advocate of liberty, has set forth to act for the accused. what m. labori was to dreyfus, m. vandervelde has been to the congo, save that it is a whole nation who are his clients. he and his noble comrade, mr. lorand, are the two men who redeem the record of infamy which must long darken the good name of belgium. i will now deal swiftly with the records of evil deeds which have occurred since the time which i have already treated. i say "swiftly" not because there is not much material from which to choose, but because i feel that my reader must be as sated with horrors as i who have to write them. here are some notes of a journey undertaken by w. cassie murdoch, as recently as july and september, . this time we are concerned with the crown domain, king leopold's private estate, of which we have such accounts from mr. clark and mr. scrivener dating as far back as . thirteen years had elapsed and no change! what do these thirteen represent in torture and murder? could all these screams be united, what a vast cry would have reached the heavens. in the congo hell the most lurid glow is to be found in the royal domain. and the money dragged from these tortured people is used in turn to corrupt newspapers and public men--that it may be possible to continue the system. so the devil's wheel goes round and round! here are some extracts from mr. murdoch's report: "i remarked to the old chief of the largest town i came across that his people seemed to be numerous. 'ah,' said he, 'my people are all dead. these you see are only a very few of what i once had.' and, indeed, it was evident enough that his town had once been a place of great size and importance. there cannot be the least doubt that this depopulation is directly due to the state. everywhere i went i heard stories of the raids made by the state soldiers. the number of people they shot, or otherwise tortured to death, must have been enormous. perhaps as many more of those who escaped the rifle died from starvation and exposure. more than one of my carriers could tell of how their villages had been raided, and of their own narrow escapes. they are not a warlike people, and i could hear of no single attempt at resistance. they are the kind of people the state soldiers are most successful with. they would rather any day run away than fight. and in fact, they have nothing to fight with except a few bows and arrows. i have been trying to reckon the probable number of people i met with. i should say that five thousand is, if anything, beyond the mark. a few years ago the population of the district i passed through must have been four times that number. on my return march i was desirous of visiting mbelo, the place where lieutenant massard had been stationed, and in which he committed his unspeakable outrages. on making inquiries, however, i was told that there were no people there now, and that the roads were all 'dead.' on reaching one of the roads that led there, it was evident enough that it had not been used for a long time. later on, i was able to confirm the statement that what had once been a district with numerous large towns, was now completely empty.... "with the exception of a few people living near the one state post now existing on this side of the lake, who supply the state with _kwanga_ and large mats, all the people i saw are taxed with rubber. the rubber tax is an intolerable burden--how intolerable i should have found it almost impossible to believe had i not seen it. it is difficult to describe it calmly. what i found was simply this: the _'tax' demands from twenty to twenty-five days' labour every month_. there never was a 'forty hours per month labour law' in the crown domain, and so long as the tax is demanded in rubber, there never will be--at least in the section of it i visited. if that law were applied, no rubber would, or could possibly, be produced, for the simple reason that _there is no rubber left in this section of the domain_. "it was some time before i made the discovery that in the domaine de la couronne west of lake leopold there is no rubber. on my way through i was continually meeting numbers of men going out on the hunt for rubber, and heard with amazement the distance they had to walk. it seemed so impossible that i was somewhat sceptical of the truth of what i was told. but i heard the same story so often, and in so many different places, that i was at last obliged to accept it. on my return i followed up this track, and found that it was all true. and i found also that the rubber is collected from the domaine privé in forests from ten to forty miles beyond the boundary of the crown domain. "once the vines had been found the working of the rubber is a small part of the labour. i have made a careful calculation of the distance the people i met have to walk, and i find that the average _cannot be less than miles there and back_. but walking to the forest and back does not occupy from twenty to twenty-five days per month. they will cover the miles in ten or twelve days. the rest of the time is used in hunting for the vines, and in tapping them when found. i met a party returning with their rubber who had been six nights in the forest. this was the lowest number. _most of them have to spend ten, some as many as fifteen, nights in the forest._ two days after i left the domain on my way back i saw some men returning empty-handed. they had been hunting for over eight days and had found nothing. what the poor wretches would do i cannot imagine. if they failed to produce the usual amount of rubber on the appointed day they would be put in '_bloc_' (imprisoned). "the workmen of the _chef de poste_ at mbongo described a concoction which is sometimes administered to capitas when their tale of rubber is short. the white man chops up green tobacco leaves and soaks them in water. red peppers are added, and a dose of the liquid is administered to defaulting capitas. this wily official manages to get thirteen monthly 'taxes' in the year. at one village i bought a contrivance by which the natives reckon when the tax falls due. pieces of wood are strung on a piece of cane. one piece is moved up every day. on counting them i found there were only twenty-eight. i asked why, and was told that originally there were thirty pieces, but the white man had so often sent on the twenty-eighth day to say the time was up, that at last they took off two. "individual acts of atrocity here have for the most part ceased. the state agents seem to have come to the conclusion that it is a waste of cartridges to shoot down these people. but the whole system is a vast atrocity involving the people in a state of unimaginable misery. one man said to me, 'slaves are happy compared with us. slaves are protected by their masters, they are fed and clothed. as for us--the capitas do with us what they like. our wives have to plant the cassava gardens and fish in the stream to feed us while we spend our days working for bula matadi. no, we are not even slaves.' and he is right. _it is not slavery as slavery was generally understood: it is not even the uncivilized african's idea of slavery. there never was a slavery more absolute in its despotism or more fiendish in its tyranny._" it will be seen that, so far as the people are concerned, the problem is largely solved, the bitterness of death is past. no european intervention can save them. in many places they have been utterly destroyed. but they were the wards of europe, and surely europe, if she is not utterly lost to shame, will have something to say to their fate! x some catholic testimony as to the congo it must be admitted that the roman catholic church, as an organized body, has not raised her voice as she should in the matter of the congo. never was there such a field for a las casas. it was the proudest boast of that church that in the dark days of man's history she was the one power which stood with her spiritual terrors between the oppressor and the oppressed. this noble tradition has been sadly forgotten in the congo, where the missions have themselves, as i understand, done most excellent work, but where the power of the church has never been invoked against the constant barbarities of the state. in extenuation, it may be stated that the chief catholic establishments are down the river and far from the rubber zones. it is important, however, to collect under a separate heading such testimony as exists, for an unworthy attempt has been made to represent the matter as a contest between rival creeds, whereas it is really a contest between humanity and civilization on one side and cruel greed upon the other. the organization of the catholic church is more disciplined, and admits of less individualism than that of those religious bodies which supplied the valiant champions of right in the congo. the simple priests were doubtless as horrified as others, within the limit of their knowledge, but the means of expression were denied them. m. colfs, himself a catholic, said in the belgian chamber: "our missionaries have less liberty than foreign missionaries. they are expected to keep silence.... there is a gag. this gag is placed in the mouth of belgian missionaries." signor santini, the catholic and royalist deputy for rome, has been one of the leaders in the anti-congo movement, and has done excellent work in italy. from his own sources of information he confirms and amplifies all that the english and americans have asserted. speaking in the italian parliament on february th, , signor santini said: "i am proud to have been the first to bring the question of the congo before this house. if at the present day we are spared the shame of seeing again officers of our army, valorous and perfectly stainless, serving under and at the orders of an association of sweaters, slave-holders and barbarians, it is legitimate for me to declare that i have, if only modestly, at least efficaciously, co-operated in this result." there is no conflict of creeds in such an utterance as that. catholic papers have occasionally spoken out bravely upon the subject. _le patriote_, of brussels (royalist and catholic), in its issue of february th, , has an indignant editorial: "the rebellion in the a.b.i.r. territory extends. the government itself forces the rubber, and delivers it on the antwerp quay to the brokers of the a.b.i.r.... nothing is altered on the congo. the same abominable measures are adopted; the same outrages take place.... the government is adopting the same measures as in the mongalla, flooding the a.b.i.r. territory with soldiers to utterly smash the people, whom it thinks will then work, and the rubber output be increased.... the memory of these deeds will remain graven in the memory of men, and in the memory of divine vengeance. sooner or later the executioners will have to render an account to god and to history." there is one order of the catholic church which has always had a most noble record in its treatment of native races. these are the jesuits. no one who has read the "history of paraguay," or studied the records of the missions to the red indians of the eighteenth century, can forget the picture of unselfish devotion which they exhibit. father vermeersch, a worthy successor of such predecessors, has published a book, "la question congolaise," in which he finds nothing incompatible between his position as a catholic and his exposure of the abuses of the congo. in all points the position of father vermeersch and of the english reformers appears to be identical. on the rightful possession of the land by the natives he writes in terms which might be a paragraph from mr. morel: "on the congo the land cannot be supposedly vacant. presumption is in favour of occupation, of a full occupation. by this is meant that it is not sufficient to recognize to the natives rights of tenure over the land they actually cultivate, or certain rights of usage--wood-cutting, hunting, fishing--on the remainder of the territory; but these rights of usage, which are much more important than with us, appear to imply a full _animus domini_, and to signify a complete appropriation, which is carried out amongst us in different fashion. it is not, in effect, indispensable in natural law that i should exhaust the utility of an article or of land in order to be able to claim it as my own; it suffices that i should make use of it in a positive manner, but of my own will, personally, and that i should have the will to forbid any stranger to use it without my consent. hence effective occupation is joined to intention, and all the constituent elements to a valid title of property exist. let us suppose, moreover, that some great belgian landowner wishes to convert portions of his property into sporting land--that land, nevertheless, remains in his entire possession. amongst the congo natives, no doubt, occupation is usually collective; but such occupation is as worthy of respect as no matter what individual appropriation." he continues: "to whom does the rubber belong which grows upon the land occupied by the congo natives? to the natives, and to no one else, without their consent and just compensation." again: "to sum up, we recognize it with much regret, the state's appropriation of so-called vacant land on the congo confronts us with an immense expropriation." he makes a bold attack upon king leopold's own preserve: "humanity, whose cause we plead, christian rights, whose principles we endeavour to inculcate, compel us to touch briefly upon a curious and mysterious creation which is peculiar to the congo state--the _domaine de la couronne_." "what are the revenues of this mysterious civil personality? estimates, more or less conjectural in nature, elaborated by m. cattier appear to establish the profits from the exploitation of rubber alone, at eight to nine millions of francs per annum. m. le comte de smet de naeyer reduces this figure to four or five millions. short of positive data one can only deal in conjectures. but we regret still more that an impenetrable veil hides from sight all that takes place in the territory of this _domaine_. it is eight or ten times the size of belgium, and throughout this vast extent of territory there is neither missionary nor magistrate." only one missionary at that date had entered this dark land, and his exclamation was: "the bulgarian atrocities are child's play to what has taken place here." father vermeersch then proceeds to deal with the congo balance-sheets. his criticism is most destructive. he shows at considerable length, and with a fine grasp of his subject, that there is really no connection at all between the so-called estimate and the actual budget. in the course of the state's development there is an excess running to millions of pounds which has never been accounted for. in this father vermeersch is in agreement with the equally elaborate calculations of professor cattier, of brussels. he puts the economical case in a nutshell thus: "x----, district commissioner, commits every day dozens of offences against individual liberty. what can be done? these violations of the law are necessitated by a great enterprise which must have workmen. in such cases the intervention of the magistrate would be a ruinous imprudence, calculated to bring trouble into the region." "but the law?" "oh, law in the congo is not applicable!" "but if you offered a decent remuneration, would you not get free labour?" "that is precisely what the state will not listen to. it maintains that the enterprise must be carried out for nothing!" and disposes once again of the "forty hours a month" fiction: "it is impossible for the state to obtain the amount of rubber it sells annually, by labour limited to forty hours a month, especially when it is borne in mind that a number of these hours are absorbed in other _corvées_. of two things one, therefore. either the surplus is furnished freely; and if so, how can coercion be logically argued? or this supplementary labour is forced; and if so, the law of forty hours is shown to be merely a fraud." he shows the root causes of the evil: "so long as an inflexible will fixes in advance the quantity of rubber to be obtained; so long as instructions are given in this form: 'increase by five tons your rubber output per month' (instance given by father cus and van hencxthoven in their report), we cannot await with confidence a serious improvement, which is the desire of all...." "the governor-general dismisses and appoints magistrates at his will, suspends the execution of penalties; even sends back, if need be, gentlemen of the gown to europe. who does not realize the grave inconvenience of this dependence? that is not all. no proceedings can be attempted against a european without the authority of the governor-general." and, finally, his reasons for writing his book: "the contemplation of an immeasurable misery has caused us to publish this book. the gravity of the evil, its roots causes, had long escaped us. when we knew them we could not retain within ourselves the compassion with which we were imbued, and we resolved to tell the citizens of a generous country, appealing to their religion, to their patriotism, to their hearts." surely after such evidence from such a source there must be some heart-searchings among those higher members of the catholic hierarchy, including both cardinals and bishops, who have done what they could to cripple the efforts of the reformers. misinformed through their own want of care in searching for the truth, they have stood before the whole world as the defenders of that which will be described by the historian as the greatest crime in history. xi the evidence up to date i shall now append some extracts from the reports of several british vice-consuls and consuls sent in during the last few years. these bear less upon outrages, which have admittedly greatly decreased, but mainly upon the general condition of the people, which is one of deplorable poverty and misery--a slavery without that care which the owner was bound to exercise over the health and strength of the slave. i shall give without comment some extracts from the reports of vice-consul mitchell, which date from july, : "most of the primitive bridges over the numerous creeks and marshes had rotted away, and we had some difficulty in crossing on fallen trees or a few thin sticks. this was the case all the way to banalya, and i may here state that this condition of the roads, even of the most frequented, is universal in this province. the reason is that the local authorities have neither men, means, nor time at their disposal for the making of decent roads. _the parsimony of the state in this respect is the more remarkable in the 'domaine privé,' whence large amounts are derived, and where next to nothing is expended._ "so long as the policy of the state government is to extract all it can from the country, while using only local materials, and spending the least possible amount on development and improvements, no increase in the general well-being can be expected.... "... at all the posts on the north (right) bank, between yambuya and basoko, i found the european agents absent in the interior, and at basoko itself only the doctor was left in charge, all the rest of the staff _being away_ '_en expédition_,' that is, on punitive expeditions. "i stayed at basoko for five days, partly at dr. grossule's request, and partly in the endeavour to learn something of the operations going on in the interior. three canoe-loads of prisoners arrived, all heavily loaded with chains. but all i could learn was that they were sent in by lieutenant baron von otter, who had been sent to the promontory lying between the mouth of the aruwimi and the congo to enforce the labour ordinances. "in all the basenji villages through which i have passed on my two journeys, the natives assert that it _takes them three weeks every month to find and make their tale of rubber, besides taking it once every three months to the state post, from four to six days distant_. "this country is taxed to the utmost, not one penny of the proceeds of which is spent on the roads. this condition of the most important highway in the province is nothing less than disgraceful, and yet this is the road of which the authorities are really proud. "thus, with the exception of a trivial payment for some things, the government carries on the work of the country at no expense beyond the wages and the european rations of the white agents, and these are excessively few in number. it is true there are the _force publique_ and some _travailleurs_. these are recruited by conscription and receive pay and rations, but it is at the lowest possible rate.... "coming to the basenji, the following particulars of a village in the forest will show their liabilities. this village has fourteen adult males; its neighbour, which works with it, the chiefs being brothers, has nine. each man has to take to the state post a large basket, holding about twenty-five pounds of rubber, once every month and a half. to get this rubber, though they find it only one day's journey distant, takes them thirty days. it then takes them five days to carry it to the state post, and three days to return. thus they spend thirty-eight days out of forty-five in the compulsory service of the state. for the basket of rubber they receive kilog. of salt, nominally worth fr. the chief receives kilog. of salt for the whole. if the rubber is deficient in quality or quantity, the man is liable to be whipped and imprisoned without trial. as it is supposed to be the equivalent of the forty hours' monthly labour, i fail to see by what right the man can be held responsible for the quality, even if he wilfully adulterates it with other substances. "the people are all disheartened, and are unanimously of the opinion that they were better off under the arabs, whose rule was intermittent, and from whom they could run away.... "i must say that during more than nineteen years' experience in northern and central africa, _i have never seen such a miserably poor lot as the basenji in this state_.... "it is perfectly clear that the inspectors, however conscientious, hard-working, and faithful they may be, _cannot remedy the excessive impositions on the natives under the present system_.... "the grant of land and seed to the natives is of _absolutely no use_ to them _till they are left time to use them_.... "to say that the state cannot afford the expense is absurd. the congo is taxed unmercifully, and i do not suppose any country has less money spent upon it. the taxpayer gets literally nothing in return for the life of practical slavery he has to spend in the support of the government. "if trade and navigation were really free, and guarded by proper police, german trade through ujiji, which already exists to some extent, might be greatly developed, as well as that with the british colonies and zanzibar. "the operations of the dutch traders, who up to a few months ago had quite a considerable fleet of steamers on the upper congo and its affluents, and of the french at brazzaville, and of the portuguese, would also benefit greatly. "_all these have practically disappeared from the upper congo._ "here, as elsewhere, the natives appeared to me to be so heavily taxed as to be depressed and to regard themselves as practically enslaved by the 'bula matadi.' the incessant call for rubber, food and labour, leaves them no respite nor peace of mind." the following are extracts from vice-consul armstrong's report, dated october, : "as the result of my journey through this portion of the country, i am forced to the conclusion that the condition of the people in the a.b.i.r. territory _is deplorable_, and although those living in the vicinity of the mission stations are, comparatively speaking, safe from ill-treatment by the rubber agents and their armed sentries, those in other parts are subjected to the gravest abuses. "there is no free labour, the natives being forced to work at a totally inadequate wage. in visiting the various rubber-working towns, one would expect to see some signs of european commodities that had been given in exchange for the millions of pounds' worth of rubber that has been extracted from them, but the native residents possess actually nothing at all. "_their conditions of living are deplorable_, and the filth and squalor of their villages is only too apparent. _the people live in a state of uncertainty as to the advent of police officers and soldiers, who invariably chase them from their abodes and destroy their huts, and for this reason it is impossible for them to better their condition of living by the construction of suitable dwellings._ "_no change of system to be looked for._ "no change in the existing system can be looked for until a more reasonable method of taxation is adopted. the present system permits the rubber agents to extract the largest possible quantity of rubber from the native at the lowest possible wage, and allows the employment of armed sentries to enforce this deplorable system." in these despatches vice-consul armstrong gives evidence of a plot against the sturdy mr. stannard upon the part of the infamous a.b.i.r. company. their idea, no doubt, was to break down his health and embitter his existence by successive law-suits. in may of , the natives of a village called lokongi rose up against his murderous sentries and burned their houses. a charge was at once made against mr. stannard of having instigated them to this very natural and commendable action. natives had been suborned or terrified into giving evidence against him, and it might have gone ill with him had it not been for the prompt action of the consul. he set off for the village, accompanied by mr. stannard and the a.b.i.r. director. the natives were assembled and asked to speak the truth. they said, without hesitation, that mr. stannard had had nothing to do with the matter, but that the representatives of the company had threatened to torture them unless they said that he had. the a.b.i.r. director held his peace before these revelations and had no explanation to offer. consul armstrong then pointed out to the public prosecutor in good, straight terms, which his official superiors might well imitate, that the matter had gone far enough, that english patience was almost exhausted, and that mr. stannard should be baited no longer. the case was dropped. i shall pass straight on now to the most recent reports received from the congo, to show that there is no difference at all in the general condition, so far as it is reported by the impartial men at the spot, save that the actual killings and maimings have decreased. the great oppression and misery of the people seem to grow rather than abate. the following extracts are from consul thesiger's report of his experiences in the kasai company's district. this company, it may be worth remarking, has paid the enormous dividend of seven hundred per cent. the first paragraph may be commended to the consideration of those british or american travellers who, on the strength of a flying visit, venture to contradict the experience of those white men who spend their lives in the country: "although from the evidence of state officials it has been proved that individual cases of abuses are not infrequent even at these posts, the chance traveller will certainly see nothing of them, and when he judges of the condition of the country by what he actually sees at these stations, his opinions may be perfectly honest, but they are absolutely worthless. it is as though some well-meaning person, who had heard that a certain fashionable firm was making a fortune by sweated labour, were to venture to deny the facts because a cursory visit to the west end establishment showed that the salesmen behind the counter were well-dressed and well-nourished, ignoring altogether the festering misery of the sweaters' dens in which every article sold over that counter was made up." after showing that the kasai company, in their haste for wealth (and, perhaps, in their foresight, as knowing that their occupancy may be brought to an end), are cutting down the rubber vines instead of tapping them (illegal, of course, but what does that matter where belgian concessionnaires are in question), goes on to show the pressure on the people: "the work is compulsory; it is also incessant. the vines have to be sought out in the forest, cut down and disentangled from the high-growing branches, divided into lengths, and carried home. this operation has to be continually repeated, as no man can carry a larger quantity of the heavy vine lengths than will keep him occupied for two or three days. accidents are frequent, especially among the bakuba, who are large-built men, hunters and agriculturists by nature, and unaccustomed to tree climbing. large as the bakuba villages still are, the population is diminishing. here there is no sleeping sickness to account for the decrease, there have been no epidemics of late years; exposure, overwork, and shortage of proper food alone are responsible for it. the bakuba district was formerly one of the richest food-producing regions in the country, maize and millet being the staple crops, together with manioc and other plants. so much so was this the case that the mission at luebo used to send there to buy maize. under the present _régime_ the villagers are not allowed to waste in cultivating, hunting or fishing--time which should be occupied in making rubber. "in a few villages they were cultivating by stealth small patches in the forest, where they were supposed to be out cutting the rubber vines; but everywhere else it was the same story: the capitas would not allow them time to clear new ground for cultivation, or permit them to hunt or fish; if they tried to do so their nets and implements were destroyed. the majority of the capitas, when questioned, acknowledged quite frankly that they had orders to that effect. these villages are living on the produce of the old manioc fields, and are buying food from the bakette. under these circumstances it is not surprising that the population is diminishing. as one woman expressed it: 'the men go out hungry into the forest; when they come back they get sick and die.' the village of ibunge, where formerly the largest market of the district was held weekly, now consists of a collection of hovels, eight of which are habitable, and the market is all but dead." so the capitas are at their old work the same as ever. the congo idea of reforming them has always been to change their name--so by calling a burglar a policeman a great reformation is effected. read, however, the following passage, which shows that if the capita is the same, so also is the agent. the white race is certainly superior, for when the savage sentry's heart relented the white man was able to scourge him back to his inhuman task: "once i had got outside the zone surrounding ibanj, where the villages are not taxed in rubber, i found the capitas, with very few exceptions, were all armed with cap-guns. i met them frequently, escorting the rubber caravans to the company post, or going from village to village collecting the rubber from the centres under their charge and distributing the trade goods for the coming month. i noticed that they invariably carried their guns, and, in fact, i have seldom seen a capita stir outside his own home without his gun. these are the men who are appointed by the kasai company agents to enforce the rubber tax. chosen always from a different race, they have no sympathy with the natives placed under them, and having the authority of the agent behind them they can do as they please, so long as they insure the rubber being brought at the proper times and in sufficient quantities. in the villages they are absolute masters, and the villagers have to supply them gratis with a house, food, palm wine, and a woman. they exercise freely the right of beating or imprisoning the villagers for any imaginary offences or for neglecting their work in any way, and even go as far as imposing fines in cowries on their own account, and confiscating for their own use the cowries paid over by the plaintiff or defendant's family in the case of trial by poison, which, in spite of statements to the contrary recently made in the belgian chamber, are of frequent occurrence in this country. the native cannot complain or obtain satisfaction in any way, as the capita acts in the name of the company, and the company's agent is always threatening them in the name of 'bula-matadi.' if the authorities wish to act in the matter, they might profitably make inquiry into the doings of the capitas at bungueh, bolong, and into those of the zappo zap capita, who appears to exercise the chief control over the villages near ibunge, though he does not live in the latter town. these appear to me to be among the worst where most are bad. the capitas, however, are scarcely to be blamed, as, if they do not extort enough rubber, they are liable in their turn to suffer at the hands of the agent. witness a case at sangela, when it was reported that the capita had some time back been chicotted in the village itself by the agent for not bringing in rubber sufficient. endless cases could be quoted, but these will probably be sufficient to show the methods pursued under the auspices of the kasai company. yet in a letter dated the eighth of march, , we find dr. dreypondt writing reproachfully: "'you know we have no armed sentries, but only tradesmen going, with goods of every kind, and unarmed, through the villages for the purchasing of rubber. we use only one trading principle--_l'offre et la demande_.'" the laws at all points are completely ignored, "and many of the agents not only punish the natives in these ways themselves, but allow their capitas the same privileges. it is only by these means that the natives can be kept at their incessant work." suicide is not natural with african, as it is with some oriental races. but it has come in with the other blessings of king leopold. "at ibanj, for instance, only a day's march from a state post, two bakette from the village of baka-tomba were not long ago imprisoned for shortage of rubber, and were daily taken out under the charge of an armed native to work in the fields with ropes round their necks. one of them, tired of captivity, pretended one day that he saw some animal in a tree and obtained leave from the guard to try and get it. he climbed the tree, tied the rope which was round his neck to a branch and hung himself. he was cut down, and, after a considerable time, was resuscitated, thanks to the medical experience of one of the missionaries. i was able to question the man myself at his village, and the story was also confirmed by the capita." the american flag presents no refuge for the persecuted. "about the same time this same man had the effrontery to take some seven armed natives on to the station of the american mission, during the absence of the missionaries, and demand from the native who was left in charge that he should hand over to him a native, not in his own employ, who had run away in consequence of some dispute, and who he declared was hiding at the mission. the overseer, a sierra leone man, very rightly declared his inability to do so, and said he must await the return of the missionaries. an altercation followed, and the agent struck him twice in the face. the man being a british subject, i told him if he chose to prosecute i would support him, or else i would insist on the agent paying him an indemnity in cloth. as a prosecution would have entailed his going to lusambo, a fifteen days' journey, with every prospect of being kept there some four to six months with all the witnesses while awaiting the hearing of his case, he chose the latter method. the cloth was paid." he continues: "these cases can all be substantiated, and are typical of a certain class of agent which is unfortunately, although not general, far too common. numerous complaints were also made to me in different villages against an agent, not only that he beat and imprisoned the natives for shortage of rubber, but also that he obliged them to supply him with alcohol distilled from palm wine, and was in the habit of taking any of the village women that struck his fancy at the weekly market held on or near his own post. the company, i believe, promised the american mission last may that this man should be removed, but when i passed through he was still there. placed in the power of men like these the natives dare not complain to the authorities, and are entirely helpless." nominally the company makes no punitive expeditions. as a matter of fact they have engaged lukenga, a warlike chief of the neighbourhood, to do it for them. nominally the capitas are not supplied with guns. as a matter of fact they all carry guns, which are declared to be their personal property. at every corner one meets hypocrisy and evasion of law. speaking of the bakuba, the consul says: "although not wanting in physical courage or strength, they are rather an agricultural than a warlike race, and their villages were formerly noted for their well-built and artistically decorated houses and their well-cultivated fields. "it is, however, their misfortune to live in a forest country rich in rubber vines, and they have consequently come under the curse of the concessionary company in the shape of the kasai trust. as a result their native industries are dying out, their houses and fields are neglected, and the population is not only decreasing, but also sinking to the dead-level of the less advanced and less capable races. "there is no doubt that the bakuba are the most oppressed race to-day in the kasai. harassed by their own king in the interest of the rubber company, driven by the agents and their capitas, disarmed and deprived even of the most ordinary rights, they will, if nothing is done to help them, sink to the level of the vicious and degraded bakette. "one asks oneself in vain what benefits these people have gained from the boasted civilization of the free state. one looks in vain for any attempt to benefit them or to recompense them in any way for the enormous wealth which they are helping to pour into the treasury of the state. their native industries are being destroyed, their freedom has been taken from them, and their numbers are decreasing. "the only efforts made to civilize them have been made by the missionaries, who are hampered at every turn." consul thesiger winds up with the remark that as the company has behaved illegally at every turn it has forfeited all claims to consideration and that there is no hope for the country so long as it exists. straight words--but how much more forcibly do they apply to that congo state of which these particular companies are merely an outcome. until it is swept from the map there is no hope for the country. you cannot avoid the rank products while the putridity remains. the next document bearing upon the question is from the rev. h. m. whiteside, from the notorious a.b.i.r. district. i give it in full, that the reader may judge for himself how far the direct belgian rule has altered the situation. "i should like to bring to your notice a few facts regarding the condition of this (a.b.i.r.) district. "after this extensive journey made through the district recently, and particularly the bompona neighbourhood, i found the people working rubber in all the towns visited with the exception of those taxed in provisions. "it is difficult to know which 'tax,' rubber or provisions, is hardest. the rubber workers implored us to free them from rubber, and at one village upon our departure they followed us a considerable distance, and it was difficult to get away from them. the amount of rubber collected is small compared with what was formerly demanded, but i have no doubt it requires one-third of the time of the people to collect it. many of the people of the villages behind bompona were away collecting rubber. we met many of the ionji people in the forest, either actually engaged in their work or hunting for a district where the vines might have escaped other collectors. we also met other villagers in the bush in quest of rubber. almost all the village migrates to the forest--men, many women and children--when rubber is required. "in the light of these facts, how worthless are the assertions that rubber 'tax' has been stopped in the a.b.i.r. territory. "with regard to the provision tax, it was difficult to get any data, but it is easy for one to see the oppressed condition of the people when one comes into contact with them. between the provision tax, porterage and paddlers, i believe that the people of bompona have got very little time to themselves. there is one thing that one cannot help seeing, viz., the mean, miserable appearance of the people residing around the state post of bompona. the houses or huts are in keeping with the owners of them. a very small bale of cloth could take the place of all i saw worn. in all the district i never saw a single brass rod, nor any domestic animals except a few miserable chickens. the extreme poverty of the people is most remarkable. there is no doubt as to their desire to possess european goods, but they have nothing with which to buy except rubber and ivory, which is claimed by the state. "it may be thought that i am painting their condition in too dark colours, but i feel it requires strong words to give a fair idea of the utter hopelessness and abject appearance of the people of bompona, of the people of the villages behind the state post some twenty-five miles away, and in a lesser degree of the rubber workers opposite bompona. "h. m. whiteside. "ikau, "june th, ." finally, there is the following report from the extreme other end of the country. it is dated june st, . the name of the sender, though not published, was sent to the foreign office. he is an american citizen: "i am sorry to say there is need for agitation for the reform of the belgian kwango territory along this frontier. robbing and murder are still being carried on under the rule of the belgian official from popocabacca. last month he came with an armed force to the district of mpangala nlele, two days west of here, to decorate with the congo medal a new chief in the stead of our old friend nlekani. nlekani left a number of sons, but none of them were willing to take the responsibility of the medal chieftainship. they, therefore, placed their villages under the authority of a powerful chief living to the north of them. "the official of the congo government had been insisting for a year that a younger son of the old chief should consent to be the medal chief. this young man, named kingeleza, was a fine, bright fellow, but thinking that, as a younger son, he would lack the necessary authority over the people and would get into trouble with the government if he could not satisfy its requirements, he declined. the belgian official was, however, so insistent that kingeleza had finally agreed in order to avoid a clash with the government. "on his way to make the 'investiture,' the belgian official robbed some villages and killed two men. kingeleza's people, who had gathered together to witness the investiture, hearing of the treatment meted out to the other villages, took fright and fled from their own villages, which the belgians, upon arriving, found deserted. whereupon the soldiers proceeded to ferret the fugitives out of the woods, where they were hiding. twenty were seized, among whom was one of kingeleza's sisters, a young and attractive looking girl. four of the villagers were subsequently released, and the balance marched off with other spoils to popocabacca. the evangelist attached to the american mission, who was absent in the lower congo, had his house broken open and a tent and school materials carried off. "as for kingeleza, some of the belgian soldiers met him in the path and shot him. they did not know that he was kingeleza, and kingeleza is still being sought for by the belgian official. "this same 'chief of brigands,' as i prefer to call him, has just been on another raid for which he even entered portuguese territory within a few hours of where i am writing, wantonly destroying all that he could not carry off. the people had, happily, all escaped before he arrived. the portuguese are reporting this outrage to the governor-general at loanda." xii the political situation i have not in this statement touched upon the financial side of the congo state. a huge scandal lies there--so huge that the limits of it have not yet been defined. i will not go into that morass. if belgians wish to be hoodwinked in the matter, and to have their good name compromised in finance as well as in morality, it is they who in the end will suffer. one may merely indicate the main points, that during the independent life of the congo state all accounts have been kept secret, that no budgets of the last year but only estimates of the coming one have ever been published, that the state has made huge gains, in spite of which it has borrowed money, and that the great sums resulting have been laid out in speculations in china and elsewhere, that sums amounting in the aggregate to at least £ , , of money have been traced to the king, and that this money has been spent partly in buildings in belgium, partly in land in the same country, partly in building on the riviera, partly in the corruption of public men, and of the european and american press (our own being not entirely untarnished, i fear), and, finally, in the expenses of such a private life as has made king leopold's name notorious throughout europe. of the guilty companies the poorest seem to pay fifty and the richest seven hundred per cent. per annum. there i will leave this unsavoury side of the matter. it is to humanity that i appeal, and that is concerned with higher things. before ending my task, however, i would give a short account of the evolution of the political situation as it affected, first, great britain and the congo state; secondly, great britain and belgium. in each case great britain was, indeed, the spokesman of the civilized world. so far as one can trace, no strong protest was raised by the british government at the time when the congo state took the fatal step, the direct cause of everything which has followed, of leaving the honest path, trodden up to that time by all european colonies, and seizing the land of the country as their own. only in do we find protests against the ill-usage of british coloured subjects, ending in a statement in parliament from mr. chamberlain that no further recruiting would be allowed. for the first time we had shown ourselves in sharp disagreement with the policy of the congo state. in april, , a debate was raised on congo affairs by sir charles dilke without any definite result. our own troubles in south africa (troubles which called forth in belgium a burst of indignation against wholly imaginary british outrages during the war) left us little time to fulfil our treaty obligations toward the natives on the congo. in the matter forced itself to the front again, and a considerable debate took place in the house of commons, which ended by passing a resolution with almost complete unanimity to the following effect: "that the government of the congo free state, having, at its inception, guaranteed to the powers that its native subjects should be governed with humanity, and that no trading monopoly or privilege should be permitted within its dominions; this house requests his majesty's government to confer with the other powers, signatories of the berlin general act, by virtue of which the congo free state exists, in order that measures may be adopted to abate the evils prevalent in that state." in july of the same year there occurred the famous three days' debate in the belgian house, which was really inaugurated by the british resolution. in this debate the two brave reformers, vandervelde and lorand, though crushed by the voting power of their opponents, bore off all the honours of war. m. de favereau, the minister of foreign affairs, alternately explained that there was no connection at all between belgium and the congo state, and that it was a breach of belgian patriotism to attack the latter. the policy of the congo state was upheld and defended by the belgian government in a way which must forever identify them with all the crimes which i have recounted. no member of the congo administration could ever have expressed the intimate spirit of congo administration so concisely as m. de smet de naeyer, when he said, speaking of the natives: "they are not entitled to anything. what is given them is a pure gratuity." was there ever in the world such an utterance as that from a responsible statesman! in a state is formed for the "moral and material improvement of the native races." in the native "is not entitled to anything." the two phrases mark the beginning and the end of king leopold's journey. in the british government showed its continued uneasiness and disgust at the state of affairs on the congo by publishing the truly awful report of consul casement. this document, circulated officially all over the globe, must have opened the eyes of the nations, if any were still shut, to the true object and development of king leopold's enterprise. it was hoped that this action upon the part of great britain would be the first step toward intervention, and, indeed, lord lansdowne made it clear in so many words that our hand was outstretched, and that if any other nation chose to grasp it, we would proceed together to the task of compulsory reform. it is not to the credit of the civilized nations that not one was ready to answer the appeal. if, finally, we are forced to move alone, they cannot say that we did not ask and desire their co-operation. from this date remonstrances were frequent from the british government, though they inadequately represented the anger and impatience of those british subjects who were aware of the true state of affairs. the british government refrained from going to extremes because it was understood that there would shortly be a belgian annexation, and it was hoped that this would mark the beginning of better things without the necessity for our intervention. delay followed delay, and nothing was done. a liberal government was as earnest upon the matter as its unionist predecessor, but still the diplomatic etiquette delayed them from coming to a definite conclusion. note followed note, while a great population was sinking into slavery and despair. in august, , sir edward grey declared that we "could not wait forever," and yet we see that he is waiting still. in the long looked-for annexation came at last, and the congo state exchanged the blue flag with the golden star for the tricolour of belgium. immediate and radical reforms were promised, but the matter ended as all previous promises have done. in m. renkin, the belgian colonial minister, went out to inspect the congo state, and had the frankness before going to say that nothing would be changed there. this assurance he repeated at boma, with a flourish about the "genial monarch" who presided over their destinies. by the time this pamphlet is printed m. renkin will be back, no doubt with the usual talk of minor reforms, which will take another year to produce, and will be utterly futile when reduced to practice. but the world has seen this game too often. surely it will not be made a fool of again. there is some limit to european patience. meanwhile, in this very month of august, , a full year after the annexation by belgium (an annexation, be it mentioned, which will not be officially recognized by great britain until she is satisfied in the matter of reforms), prince albert, the heir to the throne, has returned from the congo. he says: "the congo is a marvellous country, which offers unlimited resources to men of enterprise. in my opinion our colony will be an important factor in the welfare of our country, whatever sacrifices we will have to make for its development. what we must do is to work for the moral regeneration of the natives, ameliorate their material situation, suppress the scourge of sleeping sickness, and build new railways." "moral regeneration of the natives!" moral regeneration of his own family and of his own country--that is what the situation demands. xiii some congolese apologies it only remains to examine some of the congolese attempts to answer the unanswerable. it is but fair to hear the other side, and i will set down such points as they advance as clearly as i can: .--_that the congo state is independent and that it is no one else's business what occurs within its borders._ i have, i trust, clearly shown that by the berlin treaty of the state was formed on certain conditions, and that these conditions as affecting both trade and the natives have not been fulfilled. therefore we have the right to interfere. apart from the treaty this right might be claimed on the general grounds of humanity, as has been done more than once with turkey. .--_that the french congo is as bad, and that we do not interfere._ the french colonial system has usually been excellent, and there is, therefore, every reason to believe that this one result of evil example will soon be amended. there, at least, we have no treaty obligation to interfere. .--_that the english agitation is due to jealousy of belgian success._ we do not look upon it as success, but the most stupendous failure in history. what is there to be jealous of? is it the making of money? but we could do the same at once in any tropical colony if we stooped to the same methods. .--_that it is a plot of the liverpool merchants._ this legend had its origin in the fact that mr. morel, the leader and hero of the cause, was in business in liverpool, and was afterward elected to be a member of the liverpool chamber of commerce. there is, indeed, a connection between liverpool and the movement, because it was while engaged in the shipping trade there that mr. morel was brought into connection with the persons and the facts which moved him to generous indignation, and started him upon the long struggle which he has so splendidly and unselfishly maintained. as a matter of fact, all business men in england have very good reason to take action against a system which has kept their commerce out of a country which was declared to be open to international trade. but of all towns liverpool has the least reason to complain, as it is the centre of that shipping line which (alas! that any english line should do so) conveys the congo rubber from boma to antwerp. .--_that it is a protestant scheme in order to gain an advantage over the catholic missions._ in all british colonies catholic missions may be founded and developed without any hindrance. if the congo were british to-morrow, no catholic church, or school would be disturbed. what advantage, then, would the protestants gain by any change? these charges are, as a matter of fact, borne out by catholics as well as by protestants. father vermeersch is as fervid as any english or american pastor. .--_that travellers who have passed through the country, and others who reside in the country, have seen no trace of outrages._ such a defence reminds one of the ancient pleasantry of the man who, being accused on the word of three men who were present and saw him do the crime, declared that the balance of evidence was in his favour, since he was prepared to produce ten men who were not present and did not see it. of the white people who live in the country the great majority are in the lower congo, which is not affected by the murderous rubber traffic. their evidence is beside the question. when a traveller passes up the main river his advent is known and all is ready for him. captain boyd alexander passed, as i understand, along the frontier, where naturally one would expect the best conditions, since a discontented tribe has only to cross the line. to show the fallacy of such reasoning i would instance the case of the reverend john howell, who for many years travelled on one of the mission boats upon the main river and during that time never saw an outrage. no doubt he had formed the opinion that his brethren had been exaggerating. then one day he heard an outburst of firing, and turned his little steamer to the spot. this is what he saw: "they were horrified to find the native soldiers of the government under the eyes of their white officers engaged in mutilating the dead bodies of the natives who had just been killed. three native bodies were lying near the river's edge and human limbs were lying within a few yards from the steamer. a state soldier was seen drawing away the legs and other portions of a human body. another soldier was seen standing by a large basket in which were the viscera of a human body. the missionaries were promptly ordered off the beach by the two officers presiding over this human shambles." and this was on the main river, twenty years after the european occupation. .--_that land has been claimed by government in uganda and other british colonies._ where land has been so claimed, it has been worked by free labour for the benefit of the african community itself, and not for the purpose of sending the proceeds to europe. this is a vital distinction. .--_that odious incidents occur in all colonies._ it is true that no colonial system is always free from such reproach. but the object of the normal european system is to discourage and to punish such abuses, especially if they occur in high places. i have already given the instance of eyre, governor of jamaica, who was tried for his life in england because he had executed a half-caste at a time when there was actual revolt among the black population, of which he was the leader. germany also has not hesitated to bring to the bar of justice any of her officers who have lowered her prestige by their conduct in the tropics. but in the congo, after twenty years of unexampled horror and brutality, not one single officer above the rank of a simple clerk has ever been condemned, or even, so far as i can learn, tried for conduct which, had they been british, would assuredly have earned them the gallows. what chance would lothaire or le jeune have before a middlesex jury? there lies the difference between the systems. .--_that the british charges did not begin until the congo became a flourishing state._ since the congo's wealth sprang from this barbarous system, it is natural that they both attracted attention at the same time. rising wealth meant a more rigidly enforced system. .--_that the congo state deserves great credit for having prohibited the sale of alcohol to the natives._ it is true that the sale of alcohol to natives should be forbidden in all parts of africa. it is caused by the competition of trade. if a chief desires gin for his ivory, it is clear that the nation which supplies that gin will get the trade, and that which refuses will lose it. this by way of explanation, not of apology. but as there is no trade competition in the congo, they have no reason to introduce alcohol, which would simply detract front the quality and value of their slave population. when compared with the absolute immorality of other congo proceedings, it is clear that the prohibition of alcohol springs from no high motive, but is purely dictated by self-interest. .--_that the depopulation is due to sleeping sickness._ sleeping sickness is one of the contributory causes, but all the evidence in this book will tend to show that the great wastage of the people has occurred where the congo rule has pressed heavily upon them. so i bring my task to an end. i look at my statement of the facts and i wince at its many faults of omission. how many specific examples have i left out, how many deductions have i missed, how many fresh sides to the matter have i neglected. it is hurried and broken, as a man's speech may be hurried and broken when he is driven to it by a sense of burning injustice and intolerable wrong. but it is true--and i defy any man to read it without rising with the conviction of its truth. consider the cloud of witnesses. consider the minute and specific detail in the evidence. consider the undenied system which must _prima facie_ produce such results. consider the admissions of the belgian commission. not one shadow of doubt can remain in the most sceptical mind that the accusations of the reformers have been absolutely proved. it is not a thing of the past. it is going on at this hour. the belgian annexation has made no difference. the machinery and the men who work it are the same. there are fewer outrages it is true. the spirit of the unhappy people is so broken that it is a waste of labour to destroy them further. that their conditions have not improved is shown by the unanswerable fact that the export of rubber has not decreased. that export is the exact measure of the terrorism employed. many of the old districts are worked out, but the new ones must be exploited with greater energy to atone. the problem, i say, remains as ever. but surely the answer is at hand. surely there is some limit to the silent complicity of the civilized world? xiv solutions but what can be done? what course should we pursue? let us consider a few possible solutions and the reasons which bear upon them. there is one cardinal fact which dominates everything. it is that _any_ change must be for the better. under their old savage _régime_ as stanley found them the tribes were infinitely happier, richer and more advanced than they are to-day. if they should return undisturbed to such an existence, the situation would, at least, be free from all that lowering of the ideals of the white race which is implied by a belgian occupation. we may start with a good heart, therefore, since whatever happens must be for the better. can a solution be found through belgium? no, it is impossible, and that should be recognized from the outset. the belgians have been given their chance. they have had nearly twenty-five years of undisturbed possession, and they have made it a hell upon earth. they cannot disassociate themselves from this work or pretend that it was done by a separate state. it was done by a belgian king, belgian soldiers, belgian financiers, belgian lawyers, belgian capital, and was endorsed and defended by belgian governments. it is out of the question that belgium should remain on the congo. nor, in face of reform, would belgium wish to be there. she could not carry the burden. when the country is restored to its inhabitants together with their freedom, it will be in the same position as those german and english colonies which entail heavy annual expenditure from the mother country. it is a proof of the honesty of german colonial policy, and the fitness of germany to be a great land-owning power, that nearly all her tropical colonies, like our own, show, or have shown, a deficit. it is easy to show a profit if a land be exploited as spain exploited central america, or belgium the congo. it would always be more profitable to sack a business than to run it. now, if the forced revenue of the congo state disappeared, it would, at a moderate estimate, take a minimum of a million a year for twenty years to bring the demoralized state back to the normal condition of a tropical colony. would belgium pay this £ , , ? it is certain that she would not. reform, then, is an absolute impossibility so long as belgium holds the congo. what, then, should be done? that is for the statesmen of europe and america to determine. america hastened before all the rest of the world in to recognize this new state, and her recognition caused the rest of the world to follow suit. but since then she has done nothing to control what she created. american citizens have suffered as much as british, and american commerce has met with the same impediments, in spite of the shrewd attempt of king leopold to bribe american complicity by allowing some of her citizens to form a concessionnaire company and so to share in the unholy spoils. but america has a high moral sense, and when the true facts are known to her, and when she learns to distinguish the outcome of king leopold's dollars from the work of honest publicists, she will surely be ready to move in the matter. it was in crushing pirates that america made her first international appearance upon the world's stage. may it be a precedent. but to bring the matter to a head the british government should surely act with no further delay. the obvious course would appear to be that having prepared the ground by sounding each of the great powers, they should then lay before each of them the whole evidence, and ask that a european congress should meet to discuss the situation. such a congress would surely result in the partition of the congo lands--a partition in which great britain, whose responsibilities of empire are already too vast, might well play the most self-denying part. if france, having given a pledge to rule her congo lands in the same excellent fashion as she does the rest of her african empire, were to extend her borders to the northern bank of the river along its whole course until it turns to the south, then an orderly government might be hoped for in those regions. germany, too, might well extend her east african protectorate, so as to bring it up to the eastern bank of the congo, where it runs to the south. with these large sections removed it would not be difficult to arrange some great native reservation in the centre, which should be under some international guarantee which would be less of a fiasco than the last one. the lower congo and the boma railway would, no doubt, present difficulties, but surely they are not above solution. and always one may repeat that any change is a change for good. such a partition would form one solution. another, less permanent and stable--and to that extent, as it seems to me, less good--is that which is advanced by mr. morel and others. it is an international control of the river, some provision for which is, as i understand, already in existence. the trouble is that what belongs to all nations belongs to no nation, and that when the native risings and general turmoil come, which will surely succeed the withdrawal of belgian pressure, something stronger and richer than an international riverine board will be needed to meet them. i am convinced that partition affords the only chance of solid, lasting amendment. let us suppose, however, that the powers refuse to convene a meeting, and that we are deserted even by america. then it is our duty, as it has often been in the world's history, to grapple single-handed with that which should be a common task. we have often done so before, and if we are worthy of our fathers, we will do it again. a warning and a date must be fixed, and then we must decide our course of action. and what shall that action be? war with belgium? on them must rest the responsibility for that. our measures must be directed against the congo state, which has not yet been recognized by us as being a possession of belgium. if belgium take up the quarrel then so be it. there are many ways in which we can bring the congo state to her knees. a blockade of the congo is one, but it has the objection of the international complications which might ensue. an easier way would be to proclaim this guilty land as an outlaw state. such a proclamation means that to no british subject does the law of that land apply. if british traders enter it, they shall be stopped at the peril of those who stop them. if british subjects are indicted, they shall be tried in our own consular courts. if complications ensue, as is likely, then boma shall be occupied. this would surely lead to that european conference which we are supposing to have been denied us. yet another solution. let a large trading caravan start into the congoland from northern rhodesia. we claim that we have a right to free trade by the berlin treaty. we will enforce our claim. to do so would cut at the very roots of the congo system. if the caravan be opposed, then again boma and a conference. many solutions could be devised, but there is one which will come of itself, and may bring about a very sudden end of the congo power. northern rhodesia is slowly filling up. the railhead is advancing. the nomad south african population, half boers, half english, adventurers and lion hunters, are trekking toward the katanga border. they are not men who will take less than those rights of free entry and free commerce which are, in fact, guaranteed them. only last year twelve boer wagons appeared upon the katanga border and were, contrary to all international law, warned off. they are the pioneers of many more. no one has the right, and no one, save their own government, has the force to keep them out. let the powers of europe hasten to regulate the situation, or some day they may find themselves in the presence of a _fait accompli_. better an orderly partition conducted from paris or berlin, than the intrusion of some piet joubert, with his swarthy followers, who will see no favour in taking that which they believe to be their right. but whichever solution is adopted, the conscience of europe should not be content merely with the safeguarding of the future. surely there should be some punishment for those who by their injustice and violence have dragged christianity and civilization in the dirt. surely, also, there should be compulsory compensation out of the swollen moneybags of the three hundred per cent. concessionnaires for the widows and the orphans, the maimed and the incapacitated. justice cannot be satisfied with less. an international commission, with punitive powers, may be exceptional, but the whole circumstances are exceptional, and europe must rise to them. the fear is, however, that it is the wretched agents on the spot, the poor driven bonus-hunters who will be offered up as victims, whereas the real criminals will escape. the curse of blood and the scorn of every honest man rest upon them already. would that they were within the reach of human justice also! they have been guilty of the sack of a country, the spoliation of a nation, the greatest crime in all history, the greater for having been carried out under an odious pretence of philanthropy. surely somehow, somewhere, they will have their reward! appendix note i--the chicotte chicotting is alluded to in congo annals as a minor punishment, freely inflicted upon women and children. it is really a terrible torture, which leaves the victim flayed and fainting. there is a science in the administration of it. félicien challaye tells of a belgian officer who became communicative upon the subject. "one can hardly believe," said the brute, "how difficult it is to administer the chicotte properly. one should spread out the blows so that each shall give a fresh pang. then we have a law which forbids us to give more than twenty-five blows in one day, and to stop when the blood flows. one should, therefore, give twenty-four of the blows vigorously, but without risking to stop; then at the twenty-fifth, with a dexterous twist, one should make the blood spurt." ("le congo français," challaye.) the twenty-five lash law, like all other laws, has no relation at all to the proceedings in the upper congo. monsieur stanislas lefranc, judge on the congo, and one of the few men whose humanity seems to have survived such an experience, says: "every day, at six in the morning and two in the afternoon, at each state post can be seen, to-day, as five or even ten years ago, the savoury sight which i am going to try to depict, and to which new recruits are specially invited. "the chief of the post points out the victims; they leave the ranks and come forward, for at the least attempt at flight they would be brutally seized by the soldiers, struck in the face by the representative of the free state and the punishment would be doubled. trembling and terrified, they stretch themselves face down before the captain and his colleagues; two of their companions, sometimes four, seize them by their hands and feet and take off their waistcloth. then, armed with a lash of hippopotamus hide, similar to what we call a cow-hide, but more flexible, a black soldier, who is only required to be energetic and pitiless, flogs the victims. "every time the executioner draws away the chicotte a reddish streak appears upon the skin of the wretched victims who, although strongly built, gasp in terrible contortions. "often the blood trickles, more rarely fainting ensues. regularly and without cessation the chicotte winds round the flesh of these martyrs of the most relentless and loathsome tyrants who have ever disgraced humanity. at the first blows the unhappy victims utter terrible shrieks which soon die down to low groans. in addition, when the officer who orders the punishment is in a bad humour, he kicks those who cry or struggle. some (i have witnessed the thing), by a refinement of brutality, require that, at the moment when they get up gasping, the slaves should graciously give the military salute. this formality, not required by the regulations, is really a part of the design of the vile institution which aims at debasing the black in order to be able to use him and abuse him without fear."--"le régime congolais," liége, lefranc. courtesy of the digital library@villanova university (http://digital.library.villanova.edu/)) books by margaret vandercook the ranch girls series the ranch girls at rainbow lodge the ranch girls' pot of gold the ranch girls at boarding school the ranch girls in europe the ranch girls at home again the ranch girls and their great adventure the red cross girls series the red cross girls in the british trenches the red cross girls on the french firing line the red cross girls in belgium the red cross girls with the russian army the red cross girls with the italian army the red cross girls under the stars and stripes stories about camp fire girls the camp fire girls at sunrise hill the camp fire girls amid the snows the camp fire girls in the outside world the camp fire girls across the sea the camp fire girls' careers the camp fire girls in after years the camp fire girls in the desert the camp fire girls at the end of the trail the red cross girls in belgium [illustration: "lieutenant hume!" (_see page ._)] the red cross girls in belgium by margaret vandercook author of "the ranch girls series," "stories about camp fire girls series," etc. illustrated the john c. winston company philadelphia copyright, , by the john c. winston co. contents chapter page i. under other skies ii. a modern knight errant iii. a secret mission iv. plans for the future v. st. gudula vi. the locked door vii. a triangle viii. a prison and a prisoner ix. a second acquaintance x. a discussion, not an argument xi. monsieur bebÉ xii. the ghost xiii. an arrest xiv. a month later xv. powerless xvi. louvain xvii. "sisters under the skin" xviii. difficulties xix. en route xx. noel the red cross girls in belgium chapter i _under other skies_ after six months of nursing in the british trenches the four american red cross girls were inspired to offer their services to the french soldiers. an autumn and a winter they spent together in southern france, keeping house in the little french "farmhouse with the blue front door." here the girls were so interested and so happy that for a little time they almost forgot the tragedies near at hand. during the first months there had come a lull in the fighting along the borders of alsace-lorraine, where the american girls were now stationed. so they had opportunity for enjoying the fragrant woods, "the pool of melisande" and the romantic atmosphere of the french country. their farmhouse was close upon the borders of an old chateau and belonged to its owner, the countess castaigne. after a slight misunderstanding a friendship develops between the old countess and three out of the four american girls. and here in the dignified old louis xiv drawing room they meet for the second time young captain henri castaigne, whom in paris they had seen decorated with the cross of the legion of honor. but between eugenia peabody, the new england girl who confesses herself to have been born an "old maid," and the gifted young frenchman, there seems to be an immediate antagonism. nevertheless, when the germans finally surprise the french by an unexpected attack during the french retreat, it is eugenia who alone rescued and cared for the wounded young officer. the other girls, with the countess amélie, join the french army in their new position. later, when the french retake their old trenches, they return to the former neighborhood. but for weeks eugenia has devoted herself to concealing captain castaigne from the germans and to nursing him back to health. naturally at the end of this time a change in their relations has taken place. captain castaigne has developed a deep affection for eugenia. but it is difficult to understand her attitude toward him. in any case, she makes up her mind that it is wiser for the four american red cross girls again to change their field of labor. so at the close of the story of "the red cross girls on the french firing line," they have decided to leave for belgium. "we simply must get into brussels some time this afternoon," barbara meade declared. she was wearing her nurse's uniform and her manner and expression were more than ordinarily professional. about ten days before the four american red cross girls had arrived in belgium. they were now seated on piles of loose brick and stone looking out toward a brilliant sunset. before them the land lay bleak and desolate, while a half-burned house formed their background. nevertheless, as it was early summer time, tiny blades of green were peeping up from the dry stubble. on the single apple tree that had been left standing in a once comfortable orchard, a few apples at the top were slowly ripening. except for this there were few other signs of summer's fulfilment. in response to barbara's speech eugenia peabody now shook her head with her usual decision. "sorry, but i can't go with you," she answered abruptly. "i have something more important to do. tell them at the headquarters i'll try and come another day." then without glancing at any one, eugenia rose and stalked away. she walked toward a small one-room cottage at some distance behind the ruined house. there she stood with her hands clasped before her. the place was utterly still and deserted. yet it was difficult to tell whether eugenia was listening for some unusual sound, or whether she was thinking upon a subject hundreds of miles from the present scene. the girls were living in a big house a few miles outside of brussels. this was only a temporary arrangement, as they had not yet received their orders for work from the belgian red cross headquarters. barbara at this moment dug her shoe reflectively into the soft earth, in the meanwhile staring after her friend. "do you know, girls, eugenia peabody has become a mystery to me lately? when we started off on our expedition to europe together, i thought i understood her character better than either of you. now i simply don't see through her at all!" barbara frowned meditatively. "here she has been an heiress all this time, much richer even than mildred thornton, when we believed her as poor as a church mouse! but how could any human being have suspected eugenia of riches when she wore such dreadful clothes?" so plaintively did barbara conclude her speech that her two companions laughed. since arriving in tragic little belgium they had not been able to laugh frequently. but being only girls they welcomed every opportunity. nona nodded agreement with her friend's point of view. the next moment she turned from one to the other of them. her expression had grown more serious. "we were hurt with eugenia for not taking us into her confidence sooner, weren't we?" she remarked, not so much in the manner of asking a question as of making a statement. if there had not been a rose-colored light on her face from the sunset nona would seem to have flushed at this instant. "i was wounded," she went on, "even though eugenia explained that she had not meant to deceive us. she grew up very poor and when an old bachelor uncle left her a fortune she never learned how to spend her money because of her frugal new england training." "well, she is learning to spend it on other people now," mildred thornton interrupted. "it seems tremendously kind for eugenia to have brought the little french girl, nicolete, over to belgium with us. she really shocks eugenia every five minutes in the day, but i suppose gene is trying to turn the child into a puritan. really, she had no reason in the world for being interested in nicolete except that she was helpful when captain castaigne was ill. then i presume eugenia felt she might get into trouble with no one to look after her, as she would spend her time amusing the french soldiers." "mildred!" barbara meade whispered, "do be more careful. you know we promised to say nothing of nicolete's french origin. she would never have been allowed to come into belgium if her nationality had been known. and eugenia is dreadfully nervous for fear the child may be suspected as a spy. no one is too young to escape suspicion these days!" barbara made this speech in hushed tones all the time looking carefully about her. the countryside was for the time being deserted, but at any moment a group of german soldiers might pass by on the way to their barracks. a well-traveled road ran along in front of the place where the red cross girls were seated. about an hour before they had come out together for a walk before dinner and were now resting on their journey back to their new belgian headquarters. at this moment nona davis got up and stood facing her other two friends. "i have something to tell you," she began, "and i expect i had best not put it off any longer. i had it in mind when i spoke of eugenia's secrecy, for you see we have all grown so intimate that we are almost like sisters. i--i too have a confession to make. i tried to tell you when we were crossing on the steamer together. then it seemed to me i had no right to think you would be interested, and probably you won't be interested now." barbara was leaning her rounded chin on her hand. mildred's lips were parted and her breath coming a little quicker by reason of her interest. for she and barbara both recalled nona davis' previous hesitation when talking of herself. they only knew a few facts concerning her history. she had been brought up by her father, an old southern soldier, in the city of charleston, south carolina. she had led a very lonely, secluded life. these were all their facts. but since nona was still hesitating barbara smiled at her, wrinkling up her small nose in the absurd fashion she had when particularly in earnest. "go on, nona, tell us at once. are you a princess in disguise? i am quite prepared to believe it. to tell you the honest truth, it would not surprise me half so much as eugenia's turning into an heiress. alas, that i am what i am, a maid without a mystery!" however, nona was not in the humor to be diverted by her friend's nonsense. "i am sorry my story is not in the least like that. so i am afraid it won't be of interest to you. perhaps i am foolish to speak of this, since i have never, never talked of it to any one before." nona's brown eyes were clear and straightforward, although her chin quivered sensitively. "i know nothing about my mother," she went on speaking quickly, now that she had made up her mind to the confidence. "of course, i remember her when i was a very little girl in our old house in charleston. but after she went away my father would never talk of her nor answer any of my questions. i do know, however, that she was a great deal younger than he, and i think she was french and came from new orleans. there must have been something strange about my mother or her family; i never could decide and no one would ever tell me. even after i grew up and asked questions of my father's old friends there was always the same silence. this was one of the reasons why i made up my mind to come away from charleston," nona finished quietly. she had not been tragic or dramatic in the telling of her story, and yet neither of her two girl friends knew exactly what to answer. but since the silence must somehow be broken, mildred thornton murmured, "how very odd; perhaps you are mistaken, nona!" then she realized that she had made an absurd speech. barbara was even more visibly embarrassed. "possibly your mother was a princess or something!" she ejaculated vaguely. "i always insisted that you were one of the most aristocratic persons i ever knew, both in your appearance and manner, nona," her friend continued, desiring to be comforting and yet appreciating that her remarks were also rather ridiculous. nona, however, was not to be turned aside in her confession. "i have only spoken of this because i wanted you girls to know the facts in my life that are important. of course, i realize this problem of mine cannot mean a great deal to you. but it has puzzled me all my life. you see, i don't even know whether my mother is living or dead. i have supposed that she was dead, and my father always talked as if she were; but i really am not sure of even that." nona then extended a hand to each of her friends. "please let us never speak of this again," she asked. "of course, i mean to tell eugenia, for it was because we were hurt by her lack of confidence in us that i nerved myself for my confession." nona then sat down again as if the entire subject were closed forever. so, although the other girls had dozens of questions at the tips of their tongues, they remained politely silent. in order to conceal her embarrassment mildred thornton glanced around to try to find eugenia. she discovered that the older girl had at last been disturbed from her reverie. indeed, she had risen and was walking toward the road. for a noise with which they had grown familiar in the past fifteen months was drawing nearer and nearer. it was the tramping of soldiers' feet. but this time there was a sound accompanying it which was even more disturbing. the other girls heard the same sound and almost at the same time jumped up from their seats. they went a few paces forward and then stopped and stared. a number of german soldiers were driving a group of belgian people before them like so many sheep. there were two old men and two middle-aged women with several small children. running further forward, barbara slipped her arm inside eugenia's. "what does this mean?" she queried, her eyes suddenly blurring with tears. yet she realized that the prisoners had probably been disloyal to their conquerors. they may have refused to obey the rules imposed by the german military commander of their district; they may have stolen food, or been insolent to the soldiers. although she appreciated their possible offences, barbara felt deeply sympathetic. for the past year and more she had been witnessing the suffering of the wounded soldiers in the british and french lines. she had thought that nothing else could ever touch her so deeply. yet in the last ten days she had been stirred in a different way. the soldiers were fighting for the cause nearest their hearts and enjoyed the enthusiasm and the glory of the soldier's life. but in belgium so many of the people appeared both helpless and hopeless; these were the old men, the women and the children. barbara was thinking of this now as she watched the pitiful little company before her. she had not even noticed that eugenia had made her no answer. now she was startled because the older girl had broken loose from her and was stalking out into the road. barbara was next amazed to see eugenia deliberately plant herself in front of the german officer in command. she spoke excellent german, knowing more of the language than any one of the four red cross girls. now barbara could only guess what eugenia was saying. but whatever it was, the german sergeant had stopped and was apparently listening respectfully. there must have been something impressive in her voice and manner. three minutes afterwards the other three girls were the more surprised to observe eugenia returning toward them. because in her arms she was carrying a tiny, black-eyed baby, while a small boy and a small girl clung to either side of her skirt. the boy was about nine or ten years old and was lame. "why, what does this mean, eugenia?" nona demanded, dropping on her knees to take the boy's small, cold hand in her own warm one. but the boy seemed to prefer eugenia, for he crept closer to her. "oh, it was nothing of any importance," eugenia began explaining quietly. "the sergeant told me he had orders to take the men and women into brussels. they are suspected of something or other and are to be put into prison. he said he had brought the children along because there was nothing else to do with them, so i offered to look after them." "but, but," mildred thornton faltered. "i know it is a painful situation, eugenia dear, but what _can_ you do with three babies? our house is already so full----" eugenia nodded. "yes, i understand, but i have already decided what to do. i'll stay here in the little one-room house with the children tonight. i looked it over the other day. there isn't any furniture, but we must manage for the night. you girls bring me over whatever covers you can spare and ask nicolete to bring all the food she can get hold of." "but you don't mean to stay here alone with these children in this perfectly forsaken place," barbara expostulated, dimly conscious that eugenia was becoming more of a puzzle than ever. do old maids now and then represent the real mother spirit? "i'll stay with you, eugenia," she added faintly, not altogether enjoying the prospect. but the older girl shook her head. "you have your own work to do, bab. only one of us can be spared. what possible danger could come to these little kiddies and me?" looking backward a few moments later, the three girls discovered that eugenia and the children had already disappeared inside the little house. chapter ii _a modern knight errant_ "i can't understand why you and nona are behaving so strangely, mildred. you have been whispering together all day. i am sure you are acting more like foolish school-girls than grown women," barbara commented in an annoyed tone. she was walking alongside her two taller friends with her head held as high as possible to make up for her lack of dignity in stature. two spots of angry color decorated her cheeks. for neither mildred nor nona had condescended to pay any attention to her remark. moreover, their whispering continued. the three girls were walking abreast along one of the suburban roads that lead into the city of brussels. it was a long walk, yet horses and motor cars were only used by the powerful in these days, except in cases of especial urgency. so as the three red cross girls were merely going into town to report at the red cross headquarters, there was no real reason why they should ride instead of walk. they had not objected to the walk; indeed, had been glad of the opportunity. but as barbara had found herself entirely left out of the conversation along the way, naturally she was beginning to find the road a tiresome one. brussels has always been thought to be a miniature paris. indeed, the belgian capital has been modeled on the larger city. but beside its art, nature has given it the same gayety of spirit and a portion of the same natural beauty. so it does not seem unreasonable that the two cities shed their tears together during the great war. yet the american girls had witnessed no such gloom in paris as they found in brussels. in paris one was at least able to talk freely against the enemy, to gesticulate with the abandon characteristic of the latin peoples. here in the belgian city one must be dumb, as well as hungry and sick at heart. to speak one's mind was to offend against his majesty, the kaiser, since everywhere in belgium the germans were now in command. therefore, as the girls reached the city they too became affected by the subdued atmosphere. of course, the people engaged in certain necessary occupations were about, but trading was very slight. in some of the cafés there were a few german soldiers. but not many of them were quartered in brussels, only a sufficient number to preserve peace and to enforce a surface loyalty to their conquerors. barbara and nona were in deep sympathy with the belgians. barbara because she was always enlisted on the side of the weak against the strong. nona, possibly because as a south carolina girl, she belonged to a country that had once been overrun by greater numbers. but mildred thornton and eugenia insisted that they intended to preserve neutral attitudes. they were red cross nurses, not soldiers, and there is always another side to every story. as nona's attention was so engaged by mildred, even after the three girls arrived in brussels, barbara had little to do except make observations. this was not their first trip to the red cross headquarters, but they did not yet know the city sufficiently well not to enter it as strangers. only in one place could barbara discover a crowd and that was wherever a church stood. women and children and an occasional elderly man were always entering and leaving the catholic churches. suddenly barbara thought of eugenia. why had she not come with them this afternoon? they had been told to report to the red cross headquarters in order to be assigned to their work. usually it was eugenia who rigidly insisted upon obedience to orders. what could she have in mind this afternoon of greater importance? barbara had paid a visit to eugenia and the three children earlier in the day. she had found them contentedly playing at housekeeping in the one-room shack, which must once have been a small storehouse. by one of the many miracles of war this little place had escaped destruction when the larger house was burned. eugenia, who was by nature a commander-in-chief, had set the children various tasks. bibo, the lame boy, was gathering chips from the charred, half-burned apple trees as cheerfully as a small grasshopper transformed into a thrifty ant. the girl, louise, was assisting nicolete to spread their scanty covering upon a freshly washed floor, sedate as a model chambermaid. barbara had watched them in some amusement before attempting to join eugenia. it seemed difficult to remember the scarlet poppy of a girl whom she had first seen dancing for the french soldiers, in the present nicolete. for one thing, eugenia had demanded that the french girl wear sober and conventional clothes. so gone was her scarlet skirt and cap! nicolete now wore an ordinary shirtwaist and skirt and a blue gingham apron. the clothes had once belonged to mildred thornton and nona had kindly altered them to fit. because the three girls had absolutely refused to allow eugenia to put her little french protégé into any of her ancient new england toilets. there were limits to the things an artistic nature could endure, barbara had protested. but why, after all, had nicolete decided to come away with them from her own beloved land? it was equally as mysterious to the three other girls as eugenia's adoption of the child. neither of them had discussed their reasons. as captain castaigne soon after his recovery had been ordered north with his regiment, he was not able to offer an explanation. the three american red cross girls were simply told that nicolete had no people of her own and did not wish to go back to the family who had formerly cared for her. but after barbara's survey of the cottage she had returned to the yard for a talk with eugenia. she had found her with the little belgian baby in her arms walking about the ruined house. even here in the streets of brussels, with so many other objects to absorb her attention, barbara again found herself wondering at the change in eugenia. she did not seem to care to be in their society as she had in the earlier part of their acquaintance. nevertheless, she was no longer so stern and dictatorial. today she had asked barbara's advice quite humbly about a number of things. yet she had refused point-blank to tell what she intended doing on this same afternoon. but barbara's reflections were suddenly ended by their arrival in front of a handsome house in brussels. it was a private mansion that had been given over to the relief work by general von bissing, the german military governor of belgium. they found the place crowded. in the hall there was a long line of belgians waiting assistance. yet the girls felt almost at home, there were so many of their own country people about. however, they were invited to wait in a small reception room until the superintendent could find time for them. the buildings in brussels have so far remained uninjured by the war. for although fighting had taken place all around the city, the surrender came before its destruction. the girls were ushered into what had once been an attractive sitting room. at one side there was a small sofa and here nona and mildred straightway seated themselves without regarding their friend. so once more barbara felt hurt and left out of things. by chance there was no chair near the sofa, but by this time she was far too much wounded to try to force herself into the conversation. however, barbara at least felt privileged to use her eyes. for some mysterious reason both mildred and nona were looking unusually cheerful. this was certainly odd in view of the fact that everything they had seen since coming into belgium was more than depressing. yet barbara decided that nona was uncommonly gay and excited. her eyes were a darker brown than usual and her cheeks had more color. there could be little doubt that she was exceptionally pretty most of the time and even prettier than usual today. moreover, mildred had lost her serious expression. her fine white teeth flashed every moment into a smile. animation was what mildred most needed and she had her full share today. "shall we tell barbara now?" distinctly barbara overheard mildred thornton whisper these few words. yet in return nona shook her head so decisively that mildred evidently changed her mind. when the door to their sitting room opened barbara had again fallen into a reverie. she heard some one enter the room, but supposing the man a messenger did not glance up. barbara's exclamation of surprise was due to the surprising behavior of her two companions. for mildred and nona at once jumped to their feet, and actually mildred ran forward a few steps with her arms outstretched. in amazement barbara at this moment turned her gaze upon the newcomer. immediately her face flushed and the tears started to her eyes, yet she would rather have perished than let either effect be discovered. however, she had only seen a young american fellow of about twenty-two or three years of age, dressed in a dark-blue serge suit. he looked extremely well and handsome, except for the fact that his left arm was apparently paralyzed. by this time mildred had thrown her arms about his neck and they were kissing each other with devoted affection. "i can't say how happy i am to see you, dick. it is the most beautiful thing that ever happened to have you here in belgium with us! i have scarcely been able to wait until today, and then i was so afraid you would not arrive in time." all this from the usually quiet mildred! however, dick thornton had finally ceased greeting his sister and turned to nona davis. nona seemed as glad to see him as mildred. she held his hand for some time and kept insisting upon her pleasure in meeting him again. nevertheless, after nona's greeting had occupied as long a time as possible, barbara meade made not the slightest effort to step forward and welcome her former friend. certainly his arrival explained mildred's and nona's mysterious behavior. yet what reason could there have been for not telling her they expected richard thornton's appearance in brussels on this particular afternoon? she had not offended against any one of the three of them, that she should have been so ignored! it was a very stiff barbara whom dick finally walked across the room to greet: eugenia at her best could never have appeared more uncomprising. with his hand extended dick involuntarily paused, while a curious expression showed on his face. "aren't you pleased to see me, barbara--miss meade?" he corrected himself. "i have not recovered, but i've found out that i can be of some little use with the relief work here in brussels with one arm. but besides wishing to be useful, i have four attractions to bring me to belgium." dick spoke in his old light-hearted fashion, although barbara could see that a part of it was pretense. "of course, i am glad to see you," she returned slowly. "but since i have been left out of the secret of your coming, you must understand that i am more surprised than anything else at present." "oh, certainly," dick answered, letting his arm drop to his side. for barbara had apparently not seen his extended hand. "dick was uncertain whether he could be of service and so asked us not to speak of his coming until he was positive," mildred apologized. "i wanted to tell you, barbara, but nona felt it best not to. she had the last letter with instructions from dick." barbara glanced toward nona and then at dick. assuredly there was an understanding between them. well, she must learn not to mind the feeling of being ignored since it would probably continue for some time to come. chapter iii _a secret mission_ on the same afternoon of dick thornton's coming into belgium eugenia started out alone on her unexplained errand. she left her recently acquired family in charge of the little french girl, nicolete. nicolete seemed happier with the children than she had been since her removal from france. indeed, the three american girls had sometimes wondered over her unfriendliness toward them and her unusual quiet. at their first meeting she had appeared such a gay, gypsy-like person. but eugenia did not walk to her engagement. by making a tremendous effort she had managed to hire an old horse and buggy. then, after she felt sure the other three red cross girls had departed on the road toward brussels, she set out. inside the wagon she carefully hid out of sight her bag of red cross supplies, although she did not wear her nurse's uniform. earlier in the day barbara had brought down her suitcase, so that she could appear in an ordinary street dress. driving along the road eugenia hoped to suggest that she was only off on an ordinary errand which could not interest any one who chanced to observe her. she was looking rather plain and tired and was unusually nervous, but this it would have been difficult to guess from her quiet manner. the country through which she passed was one of queer contrasts. there were many houses that had been destroyed by fire, but others that had not even been touched. in these places people were evidently making an effort to lead an ordinary, everyday existence. but they were all listless and discouraged. eugenia thought that the children must have forgotten how to play in this last year, when their land had suffered such sorrow. she wished that she might gather them all together in one great circle that should extend all over belgium and set them to laughing and playing once more. however, eugenia soon left the populated part of the neighborhood. she and her old horse wound their way along a stream and then came to a gate. there was no house in sight from the gate, but just as if she had been there before, eugenia got down and opened it. then she tied her horse behind a clump of trees inside the woods and with her bag of nursing supplies in her hand crept along on foot up a narrow path. every once and a while she would stop and glance cautiously about her. but no one was in sight to be interested in her proceedings. moreover, where could she be going? she seemed to have some end in view, and yet there was no place or person in the vicinity. any one familiar with the neighborhood could have explained that eugenia must be bent upon an utterly ridiculous errand. there was an old house about half a mile farther along, but it had been deserted long before the germans had ever set foot on conquered belgium. a tragedy had occurred in the house ten or fifteen years before, and ever afterwards the place had been supposed to be haunted. no one believed such nonsense, of course, since intelligent persons do not believe in ghosts. but the house was too far from the village, and was in too bad a state of repair to be a desirable residence. indeed, there were dozens of reasons why, after its owners moved, no one else cared to rent it. moreover, the house had also escaped the interest of the german invaders of the land. so why in the world should it be of so great interest to eugenia that she was making this lonely pilgrimage, without taking any one of the three red cross girls into her confidence? the house was of brick and a large one. every outside shutter was closed in front and the vines had so grown over them that they were half covered. there was a porch also in front, but the boards of the steps had long since rotted away. at first only a large toad appeared to greet eugenia. he eyed her distrustfully for a second, his round eyes bulging and his body rigid with suspicion. then he hopped behind his stone fortress, which chanced to be a large stone at the end of the path before the house. however, eugenia did not see him. neither did she attempt to go up the rickety steps. how absurd it would have been anyhow to have battered at the door of a mansion that had been uninhabited for years! instead she marched deliberately around the house and knocked at a door at the side. a few seconds after, this door was opened by a woman of middle age. she looked very worn and unhappy, but her face brightened at the sight of her guest. "i was so afraid you wouldn't, couldn't get here," she said. "i suppose you know you are taking a risk." eugenia nodded in her usual matter of fact fashion. "i promised your friend i would do my best," she returned. "will you please take me up to the room. you must make up your mind to get more air into this house. i don't think you need fear you will be suspected, if you managed to arrive here without being detected." "i _am_ afraid," the older woman answered. she was leading the way up a pair of back stairs that were in almost total darkness. "you see, i know i have been accused of sending information to my husband who is supposed to be at the front with the belgian army. i was about to be arrested and tried by a military court. i should have been sent to prison and i could not be separated from my family at such a time!" the last few words were whispered. because at this moment the woman's hand had touched a door knob which she was gently turning. the next she and eugenia were entering a large room at the back of the apparently deserted house. a window had been opened and an attempt made to clean this room. on the bed, with a single scanty cover over them, two persons were lying. one of them was a young boy and the other a man. both of them were extremely ill. eugenia realized this at a glance, but paid little attention to the man at first. for she suddenly had a complete understanding of madame carton's last words. the boy was such an exquisite little fellow of about ten years old. he had straight golden hair and gray eyes with darker lashes. there was the same high-bred, delicate look that one remembers in the picture of "the two little princes in the tower." through a peculiar source eugenia had already learned a portion of madame carton's story. she was a belgian woman whose home was one of the handsomest in the city of brussels. but after the city had been forced to surrender to the germans, madame carton had refused to give up her home unless the authorities expelled her by force. this for some reason they had appeared unwilling to do. however, a short time after the german occupancy of brussels, reports accusing madame carton of treason and rebellion began to be circulated. it was said that she was sending secret information to her husband, who was a colonel in the belgian army and on the personal staff of king albert. finally madame carton learned that her arrest was only a matter of a few hours. then it was that she had managed to escape to this deserted house with her family. so far it looked as if her whereabouts had remained undiscovered. one hour after eugenia's arrival she and madame carton were once more at the foot of the stairs. they had opened the side door to let in a tiny streak of light and air. "but, madame carton, i don't think it is possible," eugenia announced with her usual directness. "i am willing to do whatever i can to help nurse your little boy and the other patient, but i can come to you very seldom without being discovered. you see, i may be ordered to nurse in any part of belgium and i must do what i am told. is there any one here to assist you?" madame carton nodded. she had once been a very beautiful woman with the gray eyes and fair hair of her son. but the last year of witnessing the desolation of her people and her country had whitened her hair and made many lines in her face. "yes, i have an old family servant with me. i should never have been able to make the journey without her help. she and my little girl, who is six years old, are in hiding in another room in the attic of this house. years ago when i was a child i used to come here to play with friends who then owned this place. i suppose that is why i thought of our hiding here when the crisis came," madame carton explained quietly. "now if i return to brussels perhaps paul may be cared for. but you know what else would happen. it would be inevitable! even if i were not shot i must go to prison. can't you help me? can't you think of some way to save us _all_?" the older woman took hold of eugenia's hands and clung to them despairingly. "i know i am asking what looks like an impossible thing of you, and you a complete stranger! yet you look so strong and fine," madame carton's voice broke, but eugenia's touch was reassuring. "if only a doctor could come to us, perhaps with your advice i might manage the nursing myself," she continued. eugenia shook her head. "when dr. le page asked me to see you and gave me the directions, he said it was only because he dared not visit you himself," eugenia explained kindly, but with her usual avoidance of anything but the truth. "he insists that, although he is an american, he is suspected of feeling too much sympathy for the belgians. after warning you to escape he was questioned and believes he is still being watched. that is why he confided you to me, asking me to do the little i can to aid you. so if he should attempt to reach you out here, it would mean his arrest as well as yours. i am sorry," the girl ended. her words were simple enough in the face of so great a calamity. yet there was no mistaking their sympathy. madame carton appeared to surrender her judgment and her problem to eugenia for solution. "tell me, miss peabody, what do you think i should do?" she asked. "it is not worth while for me to say that i care little what becomes of me. shall i return to brussels and give us all up to the authorities?" eugenia did not answer immediately. when she spoke again she offered no explanation of her own meaning. "please wait a while, madame carton, if possible, until i can see you again?" she asked. "in case you are not discovered before then i may have a plan to suggest that will help you. but i cannot be sure. good-by and a good courage." then eugenia marched deliberately back to the place where her old horse was in waiting. she then drove unmolested to the tiny house that was sheltering nicolete and the three stray children. but on her way she was repeating to herself a phrase she had learned years before as a girl at the high school: "quorum omnium fortissimi sunt belgae," said cæsar nearly twenty centuries ago. "the bravest of all these are the belgians." eugenia thought the same thing today and for the same reason cæsar did. "because they are nearest to the germans, who dwell across the rhine, with whom they do continually wage war." chapter iv _plans for the future_ the moon shone down upon belgium as serenely as upon any unconquered land. two girls were walking slowly arm in arm along a stretch of country road. there was no one else in sight at the time, yet they seemed entirely unafraid. a quarter of a mile beyond them, however, a dim light burned in the window of a small frame house. near it was a tumbled mass of brick and stone. "we received our orders for work this afternoon, eugenia dear," barbara remarked. "they were sorry you were not with us. but you are to come in to headquarters as soon as possible, when arrangements will be made for you." unconsciously barbara sighed and although it was too dark in the moonlight to distinguish the expression on her face, her companion paused for a moment. "are you disappointed in what they wish you to do, barbara, child?" eugenia inquired more gently than she usually spoke. "you sound rather forlorn and 'wee' as the scotch sometimes say. of course, i know you are tired from the long trip into brussels and coming here to spend the night with me. it is lovely to have you for this quiet walk, but i'm afraid you'll find a bed on the floor a pretty hard resting place even for war times." "oh, i shan't mind. besides, i brought over some more bed-clothes," the younger girl answered, although her attention was not really fixed upon her reply. eugenia had guessed correctly in thinking barbara was tired. her face was very small and white, so that her eyes appeared almost unnaturally large and blue. her only color was in her lips, which drooped like a weary child's. "oh, yes, the work is all right. one can't expect an easy time of it these days. besides, i hope some day to prove to you, eugenia, that i did not come to europe to nurse in the red cross just for the sake of an adventure. of course, i shall never dare hope to do anything to compare with what you have done, or to be anything like you, but----" barbara's speech was interrupted by her friend's hand being laid firmly across her lips. "i prefer your not saying things like that," she answered in a tone that the other girl felt obliged to respect. it was not that eugenia was unduly modest. only that she had never appeared to desire to talk about her final experience in france. indeed, the other three girls had been provoked before this by her reticence. it was all very well for eugenia not to discuss before strangers her rescue and care of captain castaigne under such extraordinary difficulties. but it was tiresome of her never to be willing to relate the details of her experience to her most intimate companions. personally, barbara meade intended to hear the whole thing some day from beginning to end. then she would be able to tell the story to the countess amelie, who had become her own and nona's devoted friend. for captain castaigne had given only a brief account of the circumstances to his mother. actually he had been as reticent in the matter as eugenia. however, barbara was not in the mood tonight to demand other people's confessions. "if you are tired, suppose we sit down for a while," eugenia suggested. the two girls found a tree near by that had been uprooted by an underground explosion and lay face down upon the earth with its arms outspread, like a defeated giant. unconsciously they both sighed with relief and then smiled half humorously at each other. "we are all to work at the same hospital in brussels," barbara went on. "at least, mildred and nona and i have been chosen for the same place. i don't know about you. thank goodness, it is an american hospital and supported by our money!" "don't be prejudiced," eugenia remonstrated. but barbara shook her head impatiently. "how can one help being? you are only pretending to yourself that you are neutral. if the germans had been conquered, perhaps i should feel equally sorry for them. but to me belgium is like a gallant boy who went out with his head up and his lips smiling to do battle with a giant. the courage of it is like a song!" in silence eugenia agreed. then barbara leaned her curly brown head on her companion's arm. "i have a piece of news for you, gene," she added. "really, i came to you tonight to be the first to tell you. who do you think arrived in brussels today to help with the american relief work?" barbara did not wait for an answer to her question. "dick thornton!" she finished with a sudden indrawing of her breath. the older girl did not glance toward her companion. her attention seemed to be fixed upon a particularly effective june moon which was just emerging from a cloud-like veil. "that is tremendously good news, isn't it? and it is great of dick to insist on being useful in spite of his misfortune! but perhaps i am not so surprised as you think i ought to be, barbara. nona half confessed the possibility of his turning up to me several days ago. she told me i was not to speak of this, however, to you, because dick might not be able to come and he did not wish--" eugenia hesitated a second--"he did not wish _mildred_ to be disappointed. now i am particularly glad you are all to be in brussels. perhaps you may have a chance to see dick _nearly_ as often as you like." "yes, it will be awfully nice for mildred and nona and i am delighted for them," barbara interrupted, moving several feet away from her friend. "but i do hope you will be with us, eugenia, to associate with me! i hate to be in the way. and i am afraid i will be, under the circumstances." the younger girl had lowered her voice to the purest confidential tone. then, although they were quite alone, she looked carefully around before going on. "perhaps i haven't any right to say so, but i am almost sure there is a bond between nona davis and dick. i didn't dream of this when we were in paris together. but i know they have been writing each other constantly ever since. besides, if you had seen their meeting today!" she ceased talking, for eugenia was shaking her head in doubt. "but isn't nona one of the prettiest girls you ever saw and the most charming?" barbara demanded argumentatively the next instant. she seemed almost angry at the older girl's silent disagreement. this time eugenia inclined her head. "i have no idea of disputing nona's beauty or charm, or dick thornton's either. he is a splendid american fellow. and if one of you red cross girls must fall in love, certainly i should prefer you to fall in love with dick. however, at present i simply don't believe there is an affair between dick and nona." "but you'll see in time," barbara persisted. "yes, i'll see in time," eugenia concluded. then barbara crept closer again. "the moonlight, or something, makes me feel dismal," she confided. "i don't know why, but the moon gives me the blues far more than it ever makes me romantic. sometimes i wonder if we will ever get back home safely, all of us, without any illness or sorrow or anything," barbara ended vaguely. eugenia could be a remarkably comforting person when she liked. she made no reply at the moment, only drew the younger girl toward her. "now i have something to tell _you_, barbara. it is good of you to wish me to be in brussels with you, but i'm really not much good as a companion. you girls are ever so much happier without me, i feel sure, or i wouldn't desert you." "desert us?" barbara stiffened at once, forgetting the other subject of their conversation. "you don't mean, eugenia peabody, that you have decided to give up the red cross work and go back home? you, of all of us! i simply won't believe it. why, i thought you were the most devoted, the most----" eugenia laughed half-heartedly. "i didn't say i was going home, barbara," she protested. "but you are right in thinking i mean to give up my red cross work, at least if i am allowed to resign. i don't know why, but recently i don't seem to feel the same fondness for nursing. i kind of dread a great many things about it." barbara laid her hand caressingly upon eugenia's knee. really eugenia was growing so surprisingly human these days that one could scarcely recall the old eugenia. "oh, that is just because you are tired. i know you have always denied this, but you have never been exactly the same since your siege with captain castaigne. the responsibility and the work were too much for you. i don't think he was ever half grateful enough! the idea of his joining his regiment without coming to say good-by to you--just writing a letter! promise me you will go quietly away somewhere and rest for a few weeks, eugenia. then i know you'll feel like getting back into harness again. really, i need you to be with us. i haven't any backbone unless you are around to make me afraid of you." eugenia shook her head. "perhaps i shall not be very far away and we may be able to see each other now and then. i have been thinking of a scheme for several days, almost ever since we came into belgium. you remember i told you i had a good deal of money, but did not always know just how to spend it. well, i have found a way here. i am going to get a big house and i am going to fill it full to overflowing with the belgian babies and all the children who need an old maid mother to look after them. and i think i found the very house i need today. it is an old place that is supposed to be haunted and is far away from everything else. but it is big and has an old veranda. perhaps i'll still be doing red cross work if i take care of well babies as well as sick ones. do you think i'll make a great failure as a mother, bab?" she ended. without replying barbara's answer was yet sufficiently reassuring. at the same time she was wondering if these past few months had changed eugenia as much as she appeared to be changed. but perchance she had always been mistaken in her view of her. then both girls started suddenly to their feet. for the little french girl, nicolete, had come upon them unawares. she gave barbara a glance revealing but little affection. then beckoning eugenia mysteriously aside she soon ran off again like a sprite in the moonlight. chapter v _st. gudula_ several weeks later barbara meade walked down the steps of a house in brussels out into one of the streets near the palais de la nation. the house had once been a private residence, but since the coming of war into the heart of belgium had been turned into a relief hospital by the american red cross society. barbara walked slowly, looking at all the objects of interest along the way. she wore a dark-blue taffeta suit and white blouse and a small blue hat with a single white wing in it. evidently she was not in a hurry. indeed, she behaved more like an ordinary tourist than an overworked nurse. yet a glance into barbara's face would have suggested that she was dreadfully fagged and anxious to get away from the beaten track for a few hours. it chanced to be her one afternoon of leisure in the week, so for the time she had discarded her nurse's uniform. she was also trying to forget the trouble surrounding her and to appreciate the beauty and charm of brussels. yet barbara found it difficult to get into a mood of real enjoyment. these past few weeks represented the hardest work she had yet done, for the funds for the belgian relief work were getting painfully low. therefore, as there were still so many demands, the workers could only try to do double duty. finally barbara entered the church of st. gudula, which happened to be near at hand. it was a beautiful gothic building, dedicated to the patron saint of brussels. once inside, the girl strolled quietly about, feeling herself already rested and calmed from the simple beauty of the interior. the tall rounded pillars and sixteenth century stained glass represented a new world of color and beauty. although she was not a catholic, barbara could not refrain from saying a short prayer in the "chapel of notre-dame-de-deliverance" for the safety of the belgian people and their gallant king and queen. barbara was too loyal an american to believe that kings and queens were any longer useful as the heads of governments. nevertheless, as a noble man and woman, king albert and queen elizabeth of belgium, commanded her admiration and sympathy. since the outbreak of the war neither of them seem to have given thought to their royalty, remembering only their common humanity with the people of their land. already comforted by the few minutes of quiet, finally barbara slipped out of one of the side doors that chanced to be open. afterwards she stood looking about her in order to find out just where she was. the side street was almost entirely free from passers by. therefore, as barbara desired to inquire her way to the nearest tram line, she waited for a moment. at some distance down the street she could see the figure of a man walking in her direction. she did not look very closely or she might have discovered something familiar in the quick stride and the graceful carriage of the head and shoulders. the men of brussels are rather more french than flemish in their appearance, yet this man did not resemble a foreigner. indeed, he walked so much more rapidly than barbara expected that she was extremely startled when a voice said close beside her: "why, barbara, this is good luck. to think i have not seen you since the first afternoon of my arrival! i'm sorry you have been so tremendously busy every time i have had a chance to run into the hospital for a few moments. but mildred and nona have given me news of you." dick thornton had taken barbara's hand and was looking searchingly into her face. but after her first recognition of him she had dropped her lids, so it was not possible to see her eyes. "i have just been up to your hospital now, but could not get hold of either mildred or nona. i am sorry. nona had promised me, if she could be spared, to spend the afternoon seeing sights. i have investigated thirty destitute belgian families since eight o'clock this morning and reported their cases, so i feel rather in the need of being cheered." barbara's chin quivered a little, although it was not perceptible to her companion. "i am dreadfully sorry too," she answered the next instant. "certainly you are deserving of nona's society for a reward. and if i had only known your plan you might have carried it out. it is my afternoon of freedom, but i would very cheerfully have changed my time with nona." "you are awfully kind, i am sure," dick returned. but he scarcely showed the gratitude at barbara's suggestion that she expected. he glanced up at the beautiful gothic tower of the church near them, remarking irritably, "i expect you are quite as much in need of a rest as any one else. really, barbara, it is all very well to do the best one can to help these unfortunate people, but there is no especial point in killing yourself. you look wretchedly. you are not trying to play at being the patron saint of brussels, are you? is that why you haunt the church of saint gudula?" barbara smiled. "i am the farthest person from a saint in this world," she replied, wrinkling up her small nose with a faint return to her old self. "nona and mildred and i have decided recently that we haven't but one saint among us. and she is the last person i should ever have awarded the crown at our first meeting. moreover, i wouldn't dare present it to her now, if she could see or hear me in the act. she would probably destroy me utterly, because my saint is very human and sometimes has a dreadful temper, besides a desire to boss everybody else. i wonder if real saints ever had such traits of character? of course, you know i mean eugenia! i am on my way now to her hotel des enfants, if i can ever find the right street car. she already is taking care of twelve children, and i have never seen her nor her house since we separated. gene has promised to send some one to meet me at the end of the car line. her house is a deserted old place where a ghost is supposed to hold forth. but i am assured the ghost has not turned up recently. it is nice to have met you. good-by." and barbara was compelled to stop talking for lack of breath after her long speech, as she held out her hand. dick ignored the outstretched hand. his face had assumed a charming, boyish expression of pleading. barbara was reminded of the first days of their meeting in new york city. "i say, barbara, why can't i go along with you?" he demanded. "of course, i realize that for some reason or other you are down upon me. i am not such a chump as not to understand you could have seen me for a few minutes in these last few weeks if you had tried. but eugenia is friendly enough. i haven't seen her, but i had a stunning note from her. besides, as i sent her five of her twelve belgian babies, i think i've the right to find out if she is being good to them. i am a kind of a godfather to the bunch. let's stop by a shop and get some stuffed dolls and whistles and sugar plums. some of the belgian children i have discovered seemed to be forgetting how to play." barbara had not answered. indeed, dick had not intended to give her a chance. nevertheless, her expression had changed to a measure of its former brightness. it would be good fun to have dick on the afternoon's excursion! she had rather dreaded the journey alone into a strange part of the countryside, one might so easily get lost. beside, barbara knew in her heart of hearts that she had absolutely no right for her unfriendly attitude toward dick thornton. if he had chosen to treat her with less intimacy than in the beginning of their acquaintance, that was his own affair. if he now preferred nona to her--well, he only showed a better judgment in desiring the finer girl. barbara now put her hand in a friendly fashion on dick's sleeve. "i am awfully glad to have you come along and i am sure gene will be," she answered happily. "lead on, sir knight, to the nearest street car." after an hour's ride into the country, through one of belgium's suburbs, dick and barbara arrived at a tumble-down shed. eugenia had carefully described this shed as their first destination. not far off they found bibo waiting for them with a rickety old wagon and an ancient horse. money and eugenia's determined character had secured the forlorn equipage. for it was difficult to buy any kind of horse or wagon in these war days. however, the small driver, who was the boy eugenia had rescued some weeks before, drove with all the pomp of the king's coachman. that is, he allowed the old horse to pick her way along a grass-grown path for about a mile. then he invited his two passengers to get down, as there was no road up to the old house that a horse and wagon could travel. so dick and barbara found themselves for the first time in their acquaintance wandering along a country lane together. their position was not very romantic, however. barbara led the way along the same narrow avenue that eugenia had followed on the day of her first visit to the supposedly deserted place. yet although barbara almost ran along in her eagerness to arrive, dick noticed that she looked very thin. she was not the barbara of his first acquaintance; something had changed her. well, one could hardly go through the experiences of this war without changing, even if one were only an outsider. and dick thornton glanced at his own useless arm with a tightening of his lips. he probably owed his life to the little girl ahead of him. eugenia did not at first see her guests approaching until they had discovered her. she was in the front yard and the grass had been cut, so that there was a broad cleared space. moreover, every window of the supposedly haunted house was thrown wide open, so that the sun and air poured in. it was as little like either a deserted or a haunted house as one could humanly imagine. for there were eight or ten children at this moment in the yard with eugenia. she held a baby in her arms and a small boy stood close beside her. barbara saw the little fellow at the same moment she recognized her friend. instantly she decided that he was the most exquisite child she had ever seen in her life. the boy was like a small prince, although he wore only the blue cotton overalls and light shirt such as the other boys wore. but he must have said something to eugenia, for she glanced up and then ran forward to meet her guests. the baby she dumped hastily into her discarded chair. "but i thought i was to be your guest of honor, gene?" barbara protested a few moments later. "never should i have allowed dick to come if i had dreamed he was to put me in the shade so completely." eugenia laughed. her new responsibilities did not appear to have overburdened her. "come and meet my family," she insisted. "there was an old woman who lived in a shoe, who had so many children she didn't know what to do." chapter vi _the locked door_ "but she seems to me a very unusual person to be a servant, gene," barbara remarked argumentatively. "of course, i know she was wearing a maid's apron and cap so that her hair was completely hidden, and her dark glasses concealed her eyes. still, i could see very plainly the woman you call 'louise' is not an everyday servant. she spoke to dick and me with perfect self-possession, although she did seem nervous. but it is ridiculous to think one can hide a personality under such a slight disguise." barbara spoke pettishly. she and eugenia were wandering about the big house together. they were looking over the arrangements eugenia had made for her recently acquired family. these were, of course, of the most primitive kind. there were about eighteen army cots in the bedrooms, some light coverings, and a few wooden chairs. in the big front room downstairs long planks had been laid across wooden supports. this formed a large and informal dining room table. yet by accident this same room contained a magnificent flemish oak sideboard that had been left in the house by the former owners of the place. however, barbara and eugenia were in eugenia's own bedroom when the present conversation started. they had already seen the lower floor of the house, where barbara had been introduced to eugenia's cook, who was a plain flemish woman. but it was the history of the housemaid, a woman of between forty and fifty, whose identity barbara was questioning. in reply eugenia gazed at her friend earnestly for a few moments and then slowly shook her head. "these are war times, bab. i thought you and i had agreed long ago to ask no unnecessary questions." eugenia had seated herself on the side of her cot bed, barbara was on a high wooden box, which served as a chair, near the window. she did not reply at first, but this was merely because she was thinking, not because she intended to consider eugenia's suggestion. she had one foot crossed under her, while the other swung in the air. her brow was wrinkled into a painfully heavy frown for so miniature a person. unconsciously barbara pulled meditatively at a brown curl that had escaped from the knot at the back of her head. during her long study eugenia smiled at her guest. she too could not grow accustomed to considering barbara as responsible a person as the rest of the red cross girls. this was only because of her appearance, for she had learned to have faith in her. all of a sudden barbara began talking again, just where she had left off. "it is all very well to preach, gene, about not asking unnecessary questions because we are living and working in war times. but you know very well we never expected that point of view to apply to asking questions of each other. we came abroad as strangers, except that mildred and i knew each other slightly, but since then we have become friends. at least, we care a great deal about each other's interests. now i don't think for a minute we have the right to keep secrets from one another. that is, unless they happen to be of a kind one simply can't bear to tell." and at this barbara hesitated for an instant. "but about this woman, this 'louise', we were discussing. eugenia, you know perfectly well she isn't a real servant. i am dreadfully afraid you are hiding some one and it may get you into serious trouble," the younger girl continued, making no effort to hide her anxiety. "really, you ought to be careful, gene. you came to europe to act as a red cross nurse, not to interfere with questions of government. if you do, you may be put into prison, or something else dreadful. do you know i thought all along it was funny your deciding so suddenly to give up your red cross work and then knowing exactly where to find a house. well, i might as well tell you," barbara now got off her stool and came over and put a hand on either of her friend's shoulders, "i mean to find out what you are trying to hide if i possibly can," she concluded. eugenia did not stir. but she let her own dark eyes rest gravely upon bab's blue ones. "please don't," she asked. "i suppose i might have guessed that you would have discovered there is something unusual about my family. but, bab, i want you to promise me on your honor that you will not mention your suspicion to any one--not to nona, or mildred, or dick thornton. i am trying in a fashion to help some one who is in deep trouble. as you have guessed, she is a woman, and that was her little boy, jan, whom you saw standing by me when you arrived. but if questions are asked of you, barbara, you know absolutely nothing of this. i prefer to manage my own affairs." eugenia made this announcement in her haughtiest fashion. however, her companion was not deceived. eugenia simply meant that if disaster followed her attempt to shield a prisoner, she alone must bear the penalty. quietly for another moment, still with her hands on the older girl's shoulders, barbara continued to consider the situation. "i won't make you any promises, gene," she answered at last. "i must decide what to do later. but i won't tell nona, or mildred, or dick, as i can't see any special point in confiding in them at present. however, i am not willing to stand aside and let you run deliberately into danger. it was all very well your taking care of captain castaigne. he was desperately ill. your finding him wounded on the battlefield was so romantic. but this is quite a different affair. we were under certain obligations to the countess amelie, while this 'louise' and her 'jan' are utter strangers. i think i'll go this instant and tell the woman she has no right to make you undergo such risks." again eugenia did not stir, but this time neither did barbara. "you will do no such thing, my dear; you must let me manage my life for myself," she declared quietly instead. "of course, i am not going to take any more chances than i must. come now, let us go downstairs and have tea. you and dick were angels to have come on such a long journey and you must be nearly famished. i have managed to get a few supplies in brussels and i have sent to boston for a great many more. so when you girls are able to visit me, we can at least regale ourselves with a boston tea party." eugenia put an arm across barbara's shoulder as they moved toward the door. a few feet further on the younger girl stopped. "are you very rich, eugenia peabody?" she demanded. "unless you are, it is perfectly mad for you to have undertaken the expenses of this household. most of these children have not had anything to eat for a year and must be nearly famished." eugenia nodded. "i suppose i am fairly wealthy, although i find it hard to realize it, as i grew up such a poor girl." "then why--why, eugenia (i have been simply dying to ask you this ever since you told us you were rich)--why did you wear such old-fashioned--if you will excuse me--such perfectly awful clothes?" barbara fairly shuddered, recalling how she and nona and mildred had suffered over eugenia's ancient alpine hat. but eugenia only laughed. she had been sensitive enough over the other girls' attitude toward her appearance when they first knew one another. but barbara's way of expressing things was too absurd. "i told you i had been so poor i didn't know how to spend money," she explained. "besides, i have always been so plain it never occurred to me that clothes could make much difference in my appearance." "goose!" barbara looked up at eugenia searchingly. "if ever this wretched war is over, i mean to go with you to paris and make you spend heaps and heaps of money on clothes. nona and i have decided that we could make you look quite stunning if we had the money to spend. then i should insist that you pay a visit to the chateau d'amelie. the countess insisted you never could look like anything but a new england old maid, no matter what exquisite toilets you wore." then the younger girl's cheeks grew so hot that she could actually feel the tears being forced into her eyes. "i wonder if i shall ever learn what to say and what not to say, gene?" she asked wretchedly. "oh, don't tell me you don't mind what i say. that is not the point. the trouble is i can't learn when to hold my tongue. i only wish the countess could have seen you when dick and i arrived today." eugenia was not wearing her nurse's uniform. instead, she had fished an old gray crepon dress out of her trunk. but in order to make it more attractive for her little guests, she wore a white fichu about her neck. then her hair was wound in two heavy braids around her head. "there isn't any particular reason why i should deny being an old maid," she returned. "only i am sorry that you girls discussed my appearance with a stranger." again barbara flushed. "the countess isn't a stranger to us, gene," she apologized, "and i don't think you should feel that way toward her since you and captain castaigne have grown to be good friends. i don't see how you can still consider him unattractive. but you are terribly prejudiced, eugenia." the two girls had left eugenia's bedroom and were now walking toward the back stairs. all of a sudden, when eugenia chanced to be unconscious of her companion, barbara moved away. she at once placed her hand on the knob of a door leading into a room at the back of the house. "whose room is this, eugenia? may i go inside and see?" she queried. her hand was upon the knob, but, of course, she made no effort to enter the room, awaiting the other girl's reply. she was interested merely because this seemed to be about the only room that eugenia had not exhibited. but eugenia immediately looked unaccountably angry. yet she had kept her temper perfectly through all barbara's annoying speeches! "please don't attempt to go in that room, barbara!" she ordered sharply, quite in the manner and temper of the former eugenia. "if i had desired you to see the room i should have taken you into it myself." "oh, i beg your pardon," barbara replied, angry with herself for the sudden lump that had risen in her throat. "i suppose this room is bluebeard's chamber, or the place where you keep your ghost locked up. i did not mean to interfere." "the room is not locked and is entirely empty," eugenia replied. however, she must have parted with her new england conscience at the moment of making this statement. for barbara had distinctly heard some one moving about inside the room. and quite by accident, as her hand turned the knob, she realized that the door _was_ locked. in the yard the two girls found dick thornton playing with the children. he had discovered some ivy growing on one side of the old house. therefore, each girl and boy had been decorated with an ivy leaf, as if it were a badge of honor. moreover, dick also wore a leaf in his buttonhole. "louise" soon brought the tea, which dick drank with satisfaction. barbara tried to pretend that she enjoyed hers, but it was extremely difficult. not that she was angry with eugenia, for her discomfort went deeper than that. the fact is she was frightened for her. some one more important than "louise" was being guarded by eugenia. who on earth the man or woman could be, barbara could not even hazard a guess. yet it must be some one whose safety her friend considered of great importance, for had she not deliberately lied to her? certainly eugenia was facing a grave situation! at present no one suspected her of treason. she was simply regarded as an eccentric american woman, who desired to spend her money in caring for the destitute belgian children. no outsider had yet visited her "hotel des enfants." but, of course, once the news that something unusual was going on in her establishment reached the german authorities, eugenia could not hope to escape their vigilance a second time. on the trip back into brussels dick thornton found his companion unusually quiet. he was under the impression that it was because of the change in her once friendly attitude toward him. he was sorry, because he very much wanted to talk to her about a personal matter, but never found a sufficiently intimate moment. only once did she arouse herself in the effort to make conversation. "why do you happen to be wearing that spray of ivy so proudly, dick?" she inquired carelessly. "i was amused at your decorating all the belgian children with leaves." dick glanced carefully about, but the tram car was almost empty. "don't you understand what the ivy means?" he asked. "i expect it _was_ pretty absurd of me. but the other day the german commandant ordered that no belgian should wear his national colors. indeed, they were not to be displayed anywhere. well, the result is, that almost everybody one meets upon the street has been wearing a leaf of ivy lately." dick took the ivy spray from his coat and handed it to his companion. "do you know what ivy stands for?" he asked. "it means attachment, faithful unto death. won't you wear this?" but although barbara took the shaded, dark green leaf into her hand and looked at it for a moment, she slowly shook her head. "there is something charming and pathetic in the idea, dick. remember to tell the story to mildred and nona. and give the ivy to nona; i am sure she would love to have it," barbara finished, as she gave the leaf back to her companion. chapter vii _a triangle_ a curious division had developed between the four american red cross girls since their arrival in belgium. perhaps this was due to the arrangement of their work, perhaps to spiritual conditions which are not always easy to see or define. eugenia, for reasons of her own, had given up the regular red cross nursing, preferring to devote herself to the children whom the war had made homeless. after barbara's first visit to her and the discussion that had arisen between them, she had not urged the younger girl to come to see her often. barbara had been several times without invitation, but had not referred to their past difference. indeed, she hoped that eugenia would believe the idea had completely vanished from her mind. nevertheless, she watched affairs at the old house more closely than her friend dreamed. there were other suspicious circumstances that barbara kept tabulated. later on, if she considered eugenia in danger, she meant to fight for her and with her when the occasion arose. however, barbara had her own life and labor to occupy her time and was apparently busier than ever before. for although she and nona and mildred were working at the same hospital, they saw very little of one another. the american red cross hospitals in brussels were not given up entirely to the care of the wounded soldiers. the germans looked after their own men and their prisoners as well. but there were many ill and friendless belgians, unable to leave their country, who must have died without the help of the american red cross. fifty thousand belgian babies were born during the first year of the present war. their fathers had either been killed in defence of their country or were away at the front fighting with their king. so there were fifty thousand mothers as well as babies who must be looked after. barbara's work was among the women and children in the american hospital, while mildred and nona were engaged in general nursing. the hospital was not a large one; indeed, it had been a private home before the coming of the germans. but the red cross societies of the united states had outfitted the hospital and only american doctors and nurses were taking part in the relief work. so both from choice and opportunity mildred and nona were frequently together. they shared the same bedroom and grew daily more intimate. this had not been true at first. indeed, barbara had appeared as the favorite of both girls, until a new bond had developed between them. always mildred thornton had been peculiarly devoted to her brother, dick. even in his selfish, indolent days in new york city she had been unable to see his faults. in her heart she had resented barbara meade's criticism of him. now it was charming to find that nona was as enthusiastic about dick as she was. whenever the opportunity came, the three of them used to go upon long excursions about brussels. they visited the royal museums, the palais des beaux arts, the parks, the palais de justice, which is the largest and most beautiful modern building in the world. and these parties did each member of the expedition a great deal of good. no one of them ever neglected work for pleasure, but the occasional happy times kept them cheerful and well. it might have been better for barbara had she shared these amusements. but after inviting her three or four times, finding that she always refused, the others made no further efforts to persuade her. for they seemed to be extremely content to be three, in spite of the old adage. indeed, mildred cherished the unexpressed hope that dick might be falling in love with nona. so whenever it was possible she used to leave the two of them together. but she was wise enough never to have made this conspicuous. neither had she intimated any such idea either to her friend or brother. but it was fairly simple to find one self interested in a picture at one end of a gallery when her two companions were strolling in the opposite direction. also one could grow suddenly weary just as the others had expressed the desire to investigate some remote picture or scene. certainly it is not usual for a devoted sister to wish her only brother to marry. but then, mildred thornton was an exceptional girl. selfishness had never been one of her characteristics, and, moreover, she was deeply devoted to nona. besides this, she felt that the best possible thing that could happen to dick was to marry an attractive girl. for ever since the loss of the use of his arm mildred had feared that he might become morose and unhappy. indeed, he had seemed both of these things during their stay in paris. it was only since coming into brussels that he had regained a portion of his old debonair spirit. so naturally mildred believed nona to have been largely responsible for this. there were few people in their senses who would have cared at the present time to dispute nona davis' charm and beauty. she had always been a pretty girl, but the past year in europe had given her a delicate loveliness that made persons stop to gaze at her as she passed them on the street. a great deal of her former shyness had passed away. in spite of the hard work and the sight of so much undeserved suffering, she had grown stronger physically. for before coming to europe nona had led too shut-in and conservative a life. she had almost no friends of her own age and her poverty was not a pretence like eugenia's, but a very certain and to her a very distasteful thing. nona wanted to see the world and to occupy an important place in it. in spite of her real talent for her work and her unusual courage under danger, she had no thought of being a hospital nurse all her life. nona's father was an old man at her birth. he had once belonged to a family of wealth and prominence. but after the civil war had destroyed his fortune he had made little effort to rise superior to circumstances. yet he had spent a great many hours talking to nona about the true position which she _should_ occupy and telling her long stories of her family's past. charleston, south carolina, is one of the most beautiful and at the same time one of the most old-fashioned cities in the world. the tide of the new american life and spirit has in a measure swept past it. at least the new americanism had never entered the doors of nona's home during her father's lifetime. the old gentleman would have perished had he dreamed of his daughter's becoming a trained nurse. however, after his death nona had felt a strong impulse toward the profession and so far had never regretted the step. but it was true that she had been greatly influenced by the possible romance and adventure in her decision to help with the red cross work in europe. this did not mean that nona was not tremendously in earnest. but she was a girl who had read a great deal and dreamed many dreams. all her life poetry and passion would appeal to her more than cold arrangements of facts. there was no fault in this, it was merely a matter of temperament. perhaps it was partly responsible for the soft light in nona's brown eyes with their curiously golden iris. also she had a fashion of opening her lips slightly when she was specially interested in a subject, as if she wished to breathe in the essence of the idea. a part of nona's dreaming was due to the fact that she had never known her mother after she was a small girl. more than this, she had been brought up in such curious ignorance of her mother's history. any child in the world must have dreamed strange dreams under like circumstances. often nona used to have a vision of her mother coming to stand at her bedside. always she appeared dressed in the white muslin and blue ribbons, in which she remembered seeing her on a special sunday afternoon. moreover, there was always the question of her mother's family to be pondered over. naturally nona believed that her mother must have been a great lady. her imagination even went so far as to conceive of her as a foreign princess, who for reasons of state had been suddenly carried off to her own land. until she grew old enough to laugh at herself, nona often sat with her delicate little nose pressed against the window pane in the drawing room of her old charleston home. if questions were asked she could invent many reasons to explain her presence. she was actually waiting for a splendid coach and four to drive up to the door and bear her away. the coach was always decorated with a splendid coat of arms, and for some absurd childish reason the coachman and footmen were dressed in pumpkin-colored satin and wore tall black top hats. as a matter of fact, as nona davis grew older these ridiculous fancies faded; nevertheless, a few of her old dreams remained. for one thing, she retained the impression that her mother had probably been a foreigner. yet she never could understand why, even after her father's death, his few old friends continued to decline to give her any information. surely one of them must know something of her mother. it was all too mysterious and disheartening. on coming to europe, nona had made up her mind to put the trying mystery back of her and to forget it as completely as she could. in a measure she had succeeded, but since her confession to the red cross girls the old haunting desire had come back to her. she _must_ find out whether her mother was dead or living and in either case why she had been told nothing of her. then suddenly one day, without knowing why, she chose dick thornton for a confidant. more than this, she asked for his advice. whatever the mystery, it was her right to be told the exact truth, she insisted, and dick agreed with her. this was on one of the occasions when they were walking together out from brussels in the direction of the sea. they were not allowed to travel very far, since the roads were all patrolled by german soldiers in command of the fortifications along the way. mildred had chosen to rest for a few moments, so that dick and nona were alone. not that mildred's presence would have interfered; this was simply an accident. dick listened with unusual gravity to nona's history. perhaps it struck him as even queerer than it did the girl herself. she had always been accustomed to the mystery. really, the entire story sounded like a fabrication. mysteries were out of fashion in these modern days in the united states. although, of course, there was nothing too mad or too inconceivable that was not taking place in europe at the present time. nothing was more antagonistic to dick thornton's nature than concealment of any kind. yet he felt profoundly touched by nona's confession. the girl herself was so attractive! she was still wearing the black silk dress and hat she had bought in paris the autumn before. her face had flushed, partly from embarrassment and partly from the emotion she always felt at any mention of her mother. her eyes were luminous and brown and her features as exquisitely carved as a greek statue's. dick also had no other idea except that nona's mother must have been a woman of grace and breeding. the daughter was entirely aristocratic to the tips of her slender fingers. for half a moment dick thought of suggesting that he or mildred write to their own mother for advice. in reality mrs. thornton would have enjoyed tremendously the unveiling of an _agreeable_ mystery. but only if she should discover in the end that nona was the heir to a fortune or a great name. if the conclusion of the mystery were disagreeable mrs. thornton would be profoundly bored. therefore he naturally hesitated. "i don't know exactly what to advise, nona," he confessed, since they were by this time calling each other by their first names. "the sensible thing is to write to your lawyer and demand to be told all that can be found out. if there are any letters or papers, you must be twenty-one, so they are legally yours. then perhaps with something to go on, you can find out the truth later for yourself. only please don't consider my advice too seriously." here dick's manner and voice both changed. he had grown accustomed to relying upon his own strength and decision in the past year. yet every once in a while he remembered that not many months before he had seldom given a serious thought to any subject except deciding what girl he should invite to the theater or a dance. "it was awfully kind of you to have thought my judgment worth while," he concluded. then his sudden turning of the subject of conversation surprised nona. "i have a secret of my own which i may some day tell you, because i hope to have the benefit of your advice," he added. "at present i am not sure whether it would be wise to speak of it. for so far there is nothing to be done with my secret but smile and bear it like a man." then dick smiled. "do you know, i have been thinking lately that perhaps it is the women who smile and bear their burdens. a man is rather apt to want to make a noise when he is hurt." nona glanced down at dick's sleeve. "i don't think you have a right to accuse yourself of that fault," she said gently. but dick shook his head. "i was not thinking of my arm; i am learning to get on fairly comfortably with one arm these days." chapter viii _a prison and a prisoner_ one afternoon one of the young doctors in the american hospital invited barbara to go with him to visit one of the german prisons. these prisons sheltered a number of wounded british and french soldiers. there were scarcely a sufficient number of hospitals to take care of the german wounded alone. dr. mason, the young american surgeon, was about twenty-five years old. he had been sent into belgium by the red cross societies in his own village in minnesota. so, although his home and barbara meade's were many miles apart, at least they were both westerners. on this score they had claimed a fellow feeling for each other. the truth was dr. mason felt sorry for barbara. she seemed so young and so much alone in the unhappy country they had come to serve. she did not seem to wish to be intimate with the other american nurses at their hospital and her two former friends evidently neglected her. so only with the thought of being kind, dr. mason had issued his invitation. he was not attracted by barbara. she seemed rather an insignificant little thing except for her big blue eyes. this was partly because barbara so seldom laughed these days. there was little in belgium that one could consider amusing. just now and then she did manage to bubble over inside when no one was noticing. for there is no world so sad or so dull that it does not offer an occasional opportunity for laughter. certainly an excursion to a prison could scarcely be considered an amusing expedition. nevertheless, barbara accepted the invitation with alacrity, although she had previously declined far pleasanter suggestions from dick thornton and the two girls. but she had several reasons for her present decision. she liked dr. mason and she was interested to see the inside of a german prison. moreover, it was not unpleasant to have her friends find out that other persons found her agreeable. have you ever been in the ridiculous state of mind of secretly yearning to be intimate with an old friend and yet refusing the opportunity when it is offered you? it is a common enough state of mind and usually comes from a curious combination of wounded pride and affection. yet it is a difficult mood to get the better of and often one must wait for time to bring the adjustment. if barbara had not been a red cross nurse she would never have been allowed to accompany the american surgeon to the german prison. but as he might need some one to assist him in cases of severe illness among the prisoners, barbara's presence would not be resented. the prison was a short distance out from the city of brussels. it had formerly been used for persons committing civil offenses, but was now a military prison. the building was of rough stone and was situated in the center of a large court yard. it was built around an enclosed square, where the prisoners were sometimes allowed to enjoy air and exercise. but conditions were not so unpleasant here as in many other places, although the discipline was fairly severe. for the germans were making their prisoners useful. in the early spring crops had been planted by the imprisoned men upon many of the waste spaces of conquered belgium. now the prisoners were employed in reaping some of the harvests. only a small proportion of the food would ever fall to their consumption, yet the work in the fields was far better for the health and spirits of the captured men than idleness. it left them less time for thinking of home and for fretting over the cruel fortunes of war. barbara and dr. mason drove out to the german prison in one of the automobiles connected with their hospital. on the outside frame of the car was the red cross sign with their motto: "humanity and neutrality." the german commandant of the prison was a big, blond fellow, disposed to be friendly. straightway he invited the two americans to investigate the prison, declaring that the germans had nothing to conceal in the treatment of their captives. dr. mason, however, was a strictly business-like person. he insisted upon seeing the sick men first. after doing what he could to relieve them, if there were time, they would then be pleased to inspect the prison. so barbara and the young physician were shown into a big room on the top floor of the building. a sentry sat on a stool outside the door. inside there were a dozen cots, but not another article of furniture. the room was fairly clean, but was lighted only by two small windows near the ceiling and crossed with heavy iron bars. on the cots were half a dozen french and as many english soldiers. several of them were evidently very ill, the others were merely weak and languid. a heavy-footed german woman, more stupid than unkind, was the solitary nurse. once again barbara had a return of her half whimsical, half sorrowful outlook upon life. this excursion with dr. mason was in no sense a pleasant one. for no sooner had she entered the sick room than she moved with her peculiar light swiftness toward the bed of a young soldier. his arms were thrown up over his head, as if even the faint light in the room tortured him. barbara pulled his arms gently down. as she did this he made no effort to resist, but murmured something in french which she could not comprehend. yet at the same moment she discovered that the boy's eyes were bandaged and that he had a quantity of yellow hair, curling all over his head in ringlets like a baby's. the german nurse strode over beside them. "he is blind; no hope!" she announced bluntly. at the same instant barbara's arms went around the boy soldier. for hours he must have been fighting this terrible nightmare alone. now to hear his own worst fears confirmed in such a cold, unfeeling fashion swept the last vestige of his courage away. barbara literally held the young fellow in her arms while he shook as if with ague. then he sobbed as if the crying tore at his throat. barbara made no effort not to cry with him. she kept murmuring little broken french phrases of endearment which she had learned from her year's work in france, all the time patting the boy's shoulder. he was a splendidly built young fellow with a broad chest and strong young arms. even his injury and the confinement had not broken his physical strength. this made the thought of his affliction even harder to bear, to think that so much fine vigor must be lost from the world's work. "i don't believe it is true that you are going to be blind forever," barbara whispered, as soon as she could find her voice. she had no real reason for her statement, except that the boy must be comforted for the moment. but he had covered up his eyes as though the light hurt them, and if he were totally blind neither light nor darkness would matter. dr. mason had at once crossed the room to talk to another patient. but at the sound of sobbing, he had turned to find his companion. certainly barbara was entirely unconscious of the charming picture she made. she was so tiny, and yet it was her strength and her sympathy at this moment that were actually supporting the young soldier. never before had the young american physician looked closely at barbara. now he wondered how he could ever have believed her anything but pretty. her white forehead was wrinkled with almost motherly sympathy. then even while her eyes overflowed, her red lips took a determined line. with a glance over her shoulder she summoned the physician. "please tell this boy you will do everything in your power to see that his eyes are looked after before it is too late," she pleaded. then she stood up, still with her hand on the young frenchman's shoulder. "i am a red cross nurse. this is dr. mason, one of the surgeons who is giving his services to the american hospital in brussels," she explained to the boy, who had by this time managed to regain control of himself. "miss winifred holt is coming over from new york just to look after the soldiers whose eyes have been injured in this war," barbara continued. "besides, i know there are eye specialists here who must be able to do something for you." barbara's tone each instant grew more reassuring. "i am sure dr. mason and i will both persuade the prison officers to let you have the best of care. they are sure to be willing to have us do all that is possible for you." by this time the young fellow had straightened himself up and taken hold of barbara's other hand. "you are more than kind," he answered, speaking with the peculiar courtesy of the french, "but it is useless! a shell exploded too near my face. no matter, it is all in the day's business! i was only thinking of my mother and our little farmhouse in provence and of the french girl, nicolete, who used to dance before our soldiers." suddenly barbara smelt the odor of pinks and mignonette. for odors are more intimately associated with one's memories than any other of the senses. then the next moment barbara saw eugenia and herself standing near the opening of a trench in southern france. as usual, they were arguing. but they were interrupted by a french soldier boy, who stood beside them holding out a small bunch of flowers. he had light hair and big blue eyes and rosy cheeks like a girl's. "monsieur bebé," barbara whispered. relieved that dr. mason and the german nurse had both been called to attend to another patient, barbara now climbed up on the cot and sat beside the french boy. "i want to tell you something that no one else must hear," she went on, lowering her voice until it was as mysterious as possible. "you do not know it, but you and i are old friends. at least, we have met before, and that is enough to make us friends in war times. besides, you once gave me a bouquet. do you remember two red cross nurses to whom you gave some flowers that you and the other soldiers had made grow in the mouth of your trench? then afterwards we both watched nicolete dance and you threw her a spray of mignonette?" "yes, yes," the boy answered, clutching now at barbara's skirt as if she were a real link with his own beloved land. "it is the good god who has sent you here to help me. you will write my mother and say things are well with me. it will be time enough for her to hear the truth if i ever go home." "you are going to get well, but if you don't you shall at least go home," barbara returned resolutely. "the germans are exchanging prisoners, you know. but i have another secret to tell you if you will promise not to tell." the boy, who had been crying like a cruelly hurt child the moment before, was now smiling almost happily. barbara could be a little witch when she chose. she put her own curly brown head in its white nurse's cap down close beside the boy's blond one. "what would you give to have that same little french girl, nicolete, talk to you some day not very far off?" she whispered. then she told the story of nicolete's coming into belgium with eugenia and of her living not far away in the house which eugenia had taken. but she also made the boy promise not to breathe to any one the fact of nicolete's identity. she was not supposed to be a french girl, but a little belgian maid under the protection of a wealthy but eccentric american red cross nurse. by the time barbara had finished this conversation she was compelled to hurry away. but she promised to come again to the prison as soon as she was allowed. dr. mason needed her help. there was far more work to be done than he expected. for the next two hours barbara assisted in putting on bandages, in washing ugly places with antiseptic dressings, in doing a dozen difficult tasks. nevertheless, whenever dr. mason had a chance to glance toward his assistant she managed to smile back at him. it was a trick barbara had when nursing. it was never a silly or an unsympathetic smile. it merely expressed her own readiness to meet the situation as cheerfully as possible. but before the afternoon's work was over the young american doctor had become convinced that she was the pluckiest little girl he had ever worked with. what was more, she was one of the prettiest. however, though the nurse and doctor were both worn out when their service for the day was over, they were not to be allowed to return to the hospital at once. the german officer in command still insisted that they be shown about the prison building and yard. chapter ix _a second acquaintance_ barbara did not enjoy the thought of being shown over the prison. for one thing, she was tired; another, she feared she would find the imprisoned soldiers terribly downcast. she had nursed among them so long she felt a deep sympathy for their misfortunes. yet she discovered that the imprisoned soldiers go through about the same variety of moods as men and women engaged in ordinary occupations. they have their sad days and their cheerful days. there are times when the confinement and depression seem unendurable, and others when a letter comes from home with good news. then one is immediately buoyed up. it was now between four and five o'clock on a summer's afternoon. barbara and dr. mason went through the prison hastily. there was nothing interesting in the sight of the ugly, over-crowded rooms; but fortunately at this hour most of the men were out of doors. so, as soon as they were allowed, the two americans gladly followed the german commandant out into the fresh air. they had not been permitted to talk to the prisoners and dr. mason had made no such effort. it was merely through the courtesy of the german commandant that the american physician and nurse were given the privilege of visiting the ill prisoners. therefore, dr. mason considered it a part of his duty not to break any of the prison rules. but barbara, being a woman, had no such proper respect for authority. whenever the others were not looking she had frequently managed to speak a few words. but she breathed better when they were again outdoors. it had been hot and sultry inside the prison, but now a breeze was blowing, stirring the leaves of the solitary tree in the prison yard to a gentle murmuring. underneath this tree was a group of a dozen or more soldiers. some of them were smoking cherished pipes, while others were reading letters, yellow and dirty from frequent handling. the international red cross had done its best to secure humane treatment for all the war prisoners in europe. for this purpose there is a bureau of prisoners, having its headquarters in geneva, switzerland. they have sent forth a petition to the various governments at war, asking among other things that prisoners be allowed to receive money, letters and packages from their friends. these last must of course be carefully censored, and yet they keep life from growing unendurably dull. think of long weeks and months going past with never a line from the outside world! barbara studied the faces of the imprisoned men closely. with all her experiences as a war nurse it chanced she had never before seen any number of prisoners. now and then a few of them had passed her, being marched along the belgian roads to the measure of the german goose step. now she managed to bow to the men resting under the tree and they returned her greeting in the friendliest fashion. every red cross nurse is a soldier's friend. yet in the character of an ordinary girl barbara would have been almost as cordially received. she looked so natural and so human. somehow one recalled once again the vision of "the girl one had left behind." but barbara was not to linger inside the prison yard. as the day was nearing its close the men who had been working in the fields were to return. the german commandant wished dr. mason to see how well his prisoners looked. surrounding the prison was a high stone wall. in the rear of this yard was a wide gate which could be swung back on hinges, allowing a half dozen men to be herded through at the same time. so dr. mason and barbara were escorted outside the prison wall and given chairs to await the marching past of the soldiers. barbara sat down gratefully enough. but when five or ten minutes passed and nothing happened she found herself growing bored. dr. mason could not talk to her. the german officer was discoursing so earnestly in his own language that it was plain the american physician had to devote all his energies to the effort to understand him. so by and by, when neither of the men was observing her, barbara got up and strolled a few paces away. there was little to see except the stretch of much-traveled road. the fields where the prisoners were at work were more than a mile away. but the girl's attention was arrested by an unmistakable sound. it was the noise of the imprisoned soldiers being marched back to their jail. the tread was slow and dead, without animation or life. it was as if the men had been engaged in tasks in which they had little concern and were being returned to a place they hated. barbara stood close to the edge of the road along which the men must pass. she was naturally not thinking of herself. so it had not occurred to her that the soldiers might be surprised by her unexpected appearance. she was frowning and her blue eyes were wide open with excitement. she had left her nurse's coat thrown over the back of her chair. so she wore her american red cross uniform, whose white and crimson made a spot of bright color in the late afternoon's light. a young french soldier in the first line of prisoners chanced to catch barbara's eye. she smiled at him, half wistful and half friendly. instantly the young fellow's hand went up to his cap, as he offered her the salute a soldier pays his superior officer. then the prisoners were all seized with the same idea at the same time. for as each line of soldiers, with their guards on either side, passed the spot where barbara was standing, every hand rose in salute. the girl was deeply touched. but she was not alone in this feeling. the american physician had a husky sensation in his throat and his glasses became suddenly blurred. the german commandant of the prison said "a-hum, a-hum," in an unnecessarily loud tone. there was nothing in the spectacle of the girl herself being thus honored by the imprisoned men that was particularly affecting. the truth was it was not barbara who was being saluted, but the uniform she wore, the white ground with its cross of crimson. in a world of hate and confusion and sometimes of despair the red cross still commands universal respect. barbara could not see distinctly the faces of the soldiers. she recognized them to be both french and english and of various ages and ranks. but there were too many of them and they moved too rapidly to study the individual faces. however, as the men finally entered the prison gate the line halted a moment. then something must have occurred to delay them still more. six or eight rows of men were compelled to stand at attention. one of the guards near barbara moved ahead to find out what caused the obstruction. this was barbara's chance to get a good look at the soldiers. so she began with the one in the line directly opposite her. the young man was undeniably an englishman. he was about six feet tall and as lean as possible without illness. he wore no hat and his hair was tawny as the hay he had just been cutting. moreover, his eyes were the almost startling blue that one only sees with a bronzed skin. he did not look unhappy or bored, but extremely wide awake and "fit," as the english say. besides this, he seemed enormously interested in barbara. obviously the young soldier was a gentleman, and yet equally obvious was the fact that he was staring. all at once barbara moved forward a few steps until she was nearer the prisoner than she should have been. this was because she had seen him somewhere before but could not for the moment recall his name. "lieutenant hume!" barbara exclaimed suddenly under her breath. "i am sorry; i did not know you were a prisoner!" the young soldier did not move a muscle in his face, yet his eyes answered the girl with sufficient eloquence. there was not a second to be lost. barbara knew the prisoner was not allowed to speak to her. also she was not expected to speak to him. but she had an unlooked-for chance to say a few words, and what feminine person would have failed to seize the opportunity! "we are nursing here in brussels, all of us," she went on rapidly, keeping as careful a lookout as possible. "the other girls will be grieved to hear of your bad luck. if possible, would you like one of us to write you?" for half a second lieutenant hume's rigidity relaxed. yet once again his answer was in the look he flashed at the girl. then next the order came. the soldiers were marched inside the prison and the gate swung to. immediately after barbara and dr. mason started back to the hospital. really, barbara felt ashamed of herself, she was such an extraordinarily dull companion during the return journey. but she was both tired and excited. what an extraordinary experience to have spent a few hours at a german prison and to have discovered two acquaintances. true, poor monsieur bebé was scarcely an acquaintance, yet she had seen and spoken to him before. as for lieutenant hume, he was almost a friend. at least, he had been a friend of nona's. she would be grieved to hear of his misfortune and no doubt would try to be kind to him if it were possible. as for barbara, she meant to devote her energies to doing what she could for the young frenchman. if he were totally blind, surely the german authorities might be persuaded to exchange him for one of their own men, should proper interest be shown in his case. as soon as possible barbara decided she would go and consult eugenia. she would be sure to have some intelligent suggestion to make. barbara and dr. mason said farewell to each other outside the hospital front door, as the man had other work before him. just as he was leaving the girl slipped her small hand inside his. "i have had a more interesting afternoon than you realize," she insisted, "and thank you for taking me with you. i am sorry that i have been such a tiresome companion on our way home." the young man smiled down upon the tired little nurse. the fact that she was a nurse struck him as an absurdity, as it did almost every one else. "you have been a perfect trump, miss meade, and if anybody is to blame it is i, for taking you upon such a fatiguing expedition. will you go with me upon a more cheerful excursion some day?" barbara nodded. dr. mason was looking at her with the frankest admiration and friendship. it was good to be admired and liked. then she turned and disappeared inside the big hospital door. dr. mason continued to think of her until he reached the house of his next patient. chapter x _a discussion, not an argument_ "but very probably you were mistaken in thinking it was lieutenant hume," nona announced. "i am sure he had not been taken prisoner when we left france." barbara raised herself on one elbow in her small bed and answered irritably: "i most certainly was not mistaken, nona davis. i ought to know robert hume perfectly well after our meeting in paris and his visit at the chateau. besides, though he dared not speak, he showed that he recognized me. i even promised him that you would write him a note to the prison if it were possible." then barbara relaxed and sank down on her pillow again. she and nona and mildred were in her small room at the hospital. it was time for them all to have been in bed and asleep, since they chanced not to be engaged in night nursing. but barbara had retired early, as she was extremely tired. then, some time after, nona and mildred had crept in to find out what had become of her. they had missed her during the afternoon, but had not known of her expedition with dr. mason. now nona looked annoyed. "what an extraordinary thing, barbara, for you to promise! i am sure i see no reason in the world why i should write lieutenant hume. we are only acquaintances. of course, i am sorry to know he is in hard luck. but for me to begin writing him under the circumstances would look as if we were intimate friends." barbara slipped her arms up over her head, making a kind of oval frame for her face. nona and mildred were seated on either side the foot of her bed. "i think you are absurd, nona," she commented, in the frank fashion which was not always either advisable or pleasant. "i really don't believe i did say you would write, only that one of us would. naturally, i thought as you knew lieutenant hume best you would prefer it. i don't consider he would think you were being _too_ friendly with him. he is too much of a gentleman. he would understand that you were sorry for his hard luck and pitied his loneliness. i wonder if it was because you were brought up in the south that you are so conventional? you don't seem to be so all the time, only when it suits you. i am sure i will write the note to lieutenant hume with pleasure if i find he is allowed to receive letters except from his family." evidently barbara was in a mood when it made but little difference to her whether or not she made nona davis angry. yet she and nona had once seemed to be devoted to each other and appeared to be friendly now. nona, however, was not given to quarreling. so, although she flushed uncomfortably, she made no immediate answer. mildred, however, broke into the conversation hastily. "well, you did have an extraordinarily interesting afternoon, barbara, though it must have been a trying one. i confess nona and dick and i were all hurt when we found you had gone out without even speaking of your intention. we have asked you to go with us any number of times. dick said he did not suppose you knew any one in the hospital well enough to have accepted an invitation." at this barbara rose up to a half-sitting position, still with her arm-encircled head leaning against her pile of pillows. "was dick here this afternoon?" she inquired, wondering within herself why she felt pleased over dick's hearing of her departure. "oh, he only stopped by for a moment to bring nona a book," mildred added. "i just chanced to see them as i was passing by in the hall. but you look very tired, barbara. would you like nona and me to leave you? you can tell us more of your experiences another time. but i advise you to ask dick if he can make any suggestions about the poor little frenchman. monsieur bebé sounds so pathetic. you know dick may have something worth while to propose. he is doing such splendid work with the relief committee." barbara patted mildred's hand gently and, it must be confessed, a little condescendingly. "you are apt to think dick does everything well, mill, aren't you," she announced, "whether it is looking after the starving belgians or leading a dance in a ball room? still, i don't think i shall trouble him. i have a plan of my own in mind for the boy and i am going out to see eugenia to ask if she thinks it feasible. then if she thinks it is, i shall go ahead and see what can be accomplished." "and leave all of us completely in the dark," nona added. "i must confess, barbara, i don't think it kind of you to speak to mildred about dick in such a superior, almost scornful, fashion. in the last few weeks we have both been aware that you did not care to be intimate with us. but whatever we may have done, i can't see how dick thornton can have merited your disapproval. i don't believe you have even seen him alone." barbara's cheeks flared. "and i wonder how you formed that opinion, nona? however, it strikes me as none of your business." the instant barbara had made this speech she was sorry. one was always at a disadvantage in a quarrel with nona davis. for nona never for a moment forgot her dignity or breeding. she was white now, while barbara was crimson. her lips were curling a little scornfully, but she answered quietly, "i am sorry to have made you angry; that was not my intention." however, in spite of her apology, the younger girl remained absurdly aggrieved. yet she had the grace to turn to mildred. "i am sure you understand, mildred, that i never intended to be disagreeable about dick. you must know that i admire him very much." mildred leaned over and deliberately pinched barbara's flushed cheeks. "i know you are a little goose," she asserted, "to be quarreling with nona as though you were two badly brought up children." but barbara was not to be appeased. she made no answer, and the next moment nona slipped off the bed and knelt on the floor beside her. "what is the matter, bab? what is it that has been making you feel and behave so differently toward me lately? if i have been to blame in any way i apologize with all my heart. i confess i was absurd about lieutenant hume. i liked him very much the few times we met. i might at least be willing to do the poor fellow a kindness when he is in hard luck. but you see, he does not belong to a very good family in england. though he behaves like a gentleman, after all he is only a gardener's son." it was not barbara who interrupted this time, but mildred thornton. "that is nonsense, nona," she protested. "i have heard you say something of that kind two or three times. anyone who has traveled in the least knows that no gardener's son in england is educated as lieutenant hume is, nor has such perfectly self-possessed manners. besides, he is a lieutenant." nona shook her head. "yes, i know it does sound impossible," she returned. "but lieutenant hume told me himself that he was the son of the gardener when i first met him in surrey. he was at home then, recovering from a wound in the leg and was lying asleep near the gardener's cottage. it has often struck me as queer since, but i have worked it all out. lieutenant hume must have been educated by some one who considered him unusual. and commissions have been given in the british army in this war for merit as well as for family reasons." but nona was evidently weary of the subject of the young english lieutenant. she had remained kneeling on the floor and she now took hold of barbara's somewhat limp hand in a very sweet fashion. "but you haven't said what the trouble is between us, bab, or whether you are willing to forgive me?" she continued. "i should feel very unhappy if anything serious interrupted our friendship. eugenia seems so far away these days and i don't believe she is anxious to have us come to see her often." "oh, eugenia is busy," barbara answered carelessly. "but it is all right, nona; of course i am not angry with you. i was vexed for a moment, but i expect that was because i am tired. it is ridiculous to suggest that there could be any serious trouble between us." to the best of her ability barbara tried to speak with sincerity. nona looked exquisitely pretty and appealing as she knelt beside her. one would have forgiven her almost any offense. yet barbara could not truthfully convince herself that nona had committed an offense against her. nevertheless, she did not feel a return of her affection, although she struggled to have her manner at least appear unchanged. but nona was conscious of the difference, for she rose immediately to her feet. "i am sorry we disturbed you tonight when you were so tired," she said, holding her chin just a little higher than usual. there was no change in the soft inflections of her voice. "good night." then nona left the room without looking back. but mildred stopped to kiss barbara. "you haven't been any too nice to me either, mistress barbara," she asserted. "if you don't reform i shall tell dick and make him find out the reason why." of course mildred made this speech without in the least meaning it. nevertheless, after both girls had left the room and she should have been asleep, barbara remembered. she sincerely hoped that mildred would not be so tiresome as to tell dick of their personal differences. but what was the root of the trouble between her and her two former friends? for the life of her barbara could not decide. or, if at the depth of her heart she knew, she was not brave enough to confess the truth to herself. chapter xi _monsieur bebé_ one sultry august afternoon barbara went again to see eugenia. this time she went alone. according to his usual custom bibo met her at the end of the car line with his ancient horse. owing to his lameness perhaps, he was head coachman to eugenia's establishment, which barbara still insisted upon calling "l'hotel des enfants." bibo was looking extremely well. he had on long trousers of blue cotton and a blue cotton smock with a round collar. he had lost the frightened, starved look which barbara remembered seeing on the evening of his rescue. the boy's face was round, there was a dimple in one corner of his brown cheek. his eyes were serene save for his sense of responsibility as barbara's escort. it is true that bibo's mother was still held a prisoner in brussels because of an act of disrespect to a german officer. but children's memories do not harass them so long as they are happy. "how are things going, bibo?" barbara asked in french, as soon as she was seated beside her driver. fortunately, french was the language of eugenia's belgium family rather than flemish. bibo first flapped his reins and then nodded enthusiastically. words at the moment appeared to fail him, although he was usually voluble. "then gene is well?" barbara continued. for after many difficulties eugenia had acquired this informal title. in the beginning the children had struggled nobly with her name, but miss peabody was too much for them. then "miss eugenia" was equally difficult for little belgian tongues, so it became madame gene. later, since eugenia did not enjoy being called madame, nor was she more fond of mademoiselle, her name attained its simplest form among the younger children. but eugenia was bibo's altar saint and he was not inclined to take liberties. saint gene she had been to him in truth! "she is well," he answered briefly. then he allowed his round eyes to leave his horse and turn ecstatically toward barbara. "in a few days my mother is to be with us. she wrote that she need stay no longer in prison and that she wished to see me, but alas, there was no place for us to go! our home near louvain was burned and my father--" the tones of the boy's voice expressed his uncertainty of his father's fate. "but my friend has written that my mother may come to our home; she will help us look after the other children. all will be well!" bibo's tone was so grown-up and he was so evidently quoting eugenia that his companion smiled. but the smile was because bibo could not possibly understand how one _could_ cry over good news. how big was eugenia's house and her sympathy these days? certainly she seemed to wish it to include all who needed her help. "and monsieur bebé?" barbara next queried. "does he appear more cheerful since i left him with you a week ago?" the boy hesitated a little. "he laughed twice this morning and he sits all day in the sun and smiles now and then when nicolete is beside him. but no one can be cheerful and blind." this was spoken with conviction. of his own affliction bibo seldom thought, but indeed his lameness troubled him very little now. he could run and walk almost as well as the other boys. it had been hard at first, for until the day when their house had burned and they had been forced to escape, he had been exactly like other boys. but he had been stupid then and fallen. there had been no time to heal the hurt in his leg, so bibo must hobble as best he might through an indifferent world. but barbara seemed extraordinarily well pleased by her companion's information. poor monsieur bebé had been so far from smiling even once during his weeks in the prison hospital. and barbara felt that she could claim some of the credit along with eugenia for his release and better fortune. soon after her visit to the prison she had secured a prominent surgeon to go and look at the young frenchman's eyes. the man could offer him little comfort. there was every chance that monsieur bebé, whose name was reney, must continue blind. a little hope he might have, but hope was not encouragement. in the depression that followed this announcement barbara did her best to help the boy. but it was plain to his fellow prisoners and to the prison officers that the news had broken his health and spirit. he had no wish to live. he would not eat and after a time made no effort to get out of bed. he would lie all day without speaking, but rarely uttering a complaint. everybody was sorry for him, the big german nurse, the german guards, even the commandant of the prison. it was one thing to kill an enemy in the passion of battle, but another to see a boy, who had done one no personal harm, slowly passing away in darkness. so when barbara came to the german commandant with her plea for his prisoner's parole, he was willing to listen to her. "what possible harm could be done if monsieur bebé, in reality albert reney, be transferred to eugenia's home in the woods? she had offered the french boy shelter and care. he would make no effort to escape, but even if he should, a blind man could never again fight for his country. moreover, germany was arranging with the allies for an exchange of blind prisoners. it was possible that monsieur reney might later on be sent home." eugenia was waiting this time near the place where barbara was compelled to descend from bibo's wagon. she had only one of her children with her, which was unusual, since she ordinarily went about with five or six. but jan and bibo were her two shadows. they were marked contrasts, since bibo was so plainly a little son of the belgian soil, the child and grandchild of farmers. jan came of the men and women who have lived among pictures and books and helped make the history of his now tragic land. the boy jan was so instinctively a gentleman that, although he was not ten years old, he immediately upon barbara's arrival slipped behind the two friends. for his happiness' sake he wished to keep his eyes fastened upon his gene, but he must not be close enough to overhear conversation that would not be intended for him. eugenia took barbara's face between her beautiful, firm hands and gazed at her closely. although in the first instant she saw that the girl wore the same look of the past few weeks, she said nothing. only she put her arm about her as they walked toward the house. barbara did not feel like talking at first. she had been coming every week recently to the house in the woods and the visits always rested her. it did not seem possible that a few months could make so great a change as they had in eugenia. one could scarcely have recognized her as the same girl who set sail from new york city a little more than a year before. but she was also changed from the girl who had crossed over from france earlier in the summer. in spite of her responsibilities eugenia had grown ever so much larger; all the angular curves were gone, her chin was softly rounded. beneath her pallor there was now a soft glow of pink, and best of all, the severe lines about her mouth had almost completely vanished. they could return if she were displeased, but the children rarely saw them. "something very worth while has come to you, gene," barbara whispered. "i wish you felt you could tell me what it is. is it because you enjoy looking after the belgian children?" eugenia nodded. "it is that and something else, but i don't feel that i can ever explain to any one." then barbara and eugenia were interrupted by two persons coming toward them from the opposite direction. one was a splendid, big blond fellow whose eyes were bandaged. he was being led by a girl of about sixteen with jet-black hair which she wore short to her shoulders. she had dark eyes and crimson lips. nicolete's costume and manner had both changed since her departure from france. but it was not possible to change the vivid coloring of her face. both the girl and boy were chattering rapidly, and both of them seemed happier than barbara had lately seen them. "the truth is all french people are homesick outside of their beloved france," barbara thought to herself. "so it must be a consolation to have a fellow countryman for a companion." but monsieur bebé was tremendously pleased to hear barbara's voice. he asked her to take his hand and lead him back to his chair in the garden before the once deserted house. there, as a small chair chanced to be beside his, barbara sat down. then nicolete and eugenia went away to prepare tea. monsieur bebé did his best to express his thanks to barbara and he had the frenchman's grace and choice of words. he was of course still desperately sad over his affliction, but meant if possible to meet it like a man. he had been willing to die for his country, but perhaps it took more courage to go on living for her. miss peabody had promised that as soon as possible he should begin to learn a trade. after a quarter of an hour's talk barbara felt in better spirits than she had on her arrival. perhaps this was the secret with eugenia. she was feeling that she was being useful to some one. it might help heal another kind of hurt. certainly barbara could feel that her interest in the young frenchman had been worth while. the two friends saw little of each other during the rest of the afternoon. but this was the usual thing and barbara did not mind. she continued to stay out in the yard, sometimes watching the children play and at other times leading the games herself. eugenia came and went, now and then stopping for a few words of conversation. "louise," the maid, rarely appeared. in all barbara's visits she and "louise" had not exchanged a dozen sentences. indeed, it was self-evident that the woman did not wish to be noticed. barbara respected her desire. however, she understood perfectly by this time that "louise" was not a servant, but some one who was living in eugenia's house in order to conceal herself and her children. jan had forgotten instructions and several times spoken to "louise" as mother. there was also a little girl who was with her the greater part of the time. but barbara asked no more questions. so far no trouble had come from eugenia's kindness. perhaps this "louise" was a person of no especial importance, whom the german authorities would not take the trouble to seek. of the person behind the locked door, nothing more had been seen or heard. only barbara had never been allowed to go into that particular room. none of these things were troubling her this afternoon. possibly she might try and talk them over with eugenia later, although she really did not expect to. but she meant to stay all night and eugenia had promised to spend an hour or so before bedtime alone with her. it was a marvelous august night with the most perfect moon of the year. the day had been hot, but the coolness came, as it nearly always does, toward evening. nevertheless, eugenia and barbara decided to leave the house for a short walk. there was little chance for privacy indoors, as every room was now occupied and eugenia had been compelled to take nicolete in with her. so at about nine o'clock, when most of the members of the household had retired, eugenia and her guest started out. eugenia wore a dark red sweater and cap and barbara white ones, which she kept in the country for the purpose. neither girl intended to go far from home. eugenia's house was in a comparatively deserted part of the countryside. there were no other places near. but for that very reason in case of difficulty there would be no one to offer aid. to the left of eugenia's was a big, uncultivated field. on the other side was the woods with the path which connected with her yard. the children often played in the woods near by, but in taking a walk persons were compelled to follow the traveled path. if one wandered away for any distance there was danger of getting lost. not that the woods were particularly thick, but because they had been neglected and underbrush had grown up between the trees. therefore, as soon as the two girls walked the length of their yard they turned into the usual path. the woods were in reality only another portion of the abandoned estate. the moonlight was so bright that the path looked like a strip of white ribbon ahead. then, though the foliage of the trees made beautiful, dense shadows, one could see distinctly in between them. chapter xii _the ghost_ the girls had been talking over certain details in connection with the management of eugenia's establishment. she found it extremely difficult to buy provisions. but neither one of them was giving thought to what she said. it was eugenia, however, who offered the interruption. "please let's don't talk about things that are of no importance, bab, when i see you so seldom," she protested. "tell me, please, about dick thornton and mildred and nona. dick and nona were out here a few moments the other day, but i had no chance to have any conversation with them. i thought they both looked extraordinarily well to be working so hard. i never believed nona as strong as you, barbara, so why do you seem so used up? is your work at the hospital more difficult than hers?" "certainly not," the other girl answered. "really, eugenia, i don't think it kind of you, or of other people, to keep on telling me i don't look well. i have assured you a dozen times i am all right. if you continue suggesting the other thing i shall probably fall ill. but nona and dick do seem well and cheerful, and so is mildred for that matter. i think it is because they are all very happy over something. no one has spoken of it to me so i am only guessing. but it is true, isn't it, eugenia, that if one is happy oneself, it is not hard to bear the sufferings of other people? yet it seems to me that belgium is scarcely the place to make one cheerful." instead of replying eugenia laughed. the cynicism in barbara's tone was so unlike her. yet one could realize that she did not mean to be disagreeable. really she was confused and needed information. "oh, i suppose one's own happiness is of chief importance," eugenia finally returned. "it isn't human to expect people to be utterly wretched over others' sorrows. one can be sympathetic, of course, and depressed now and then, but that is about all." then they walked on a few yards in silence before the older girl added: "are you speaking of the same thing, bab, that we discussed one night in the moonlight a good many weeks ago? i believe it was the first evening after dick thornton arrived in brussels? because if you are, i still don't agree with you. of course, i have been separated from the rest of you most of the time lately, yet i don't think i am mistaken. what makes you believe as you do, barbara?" the older girl put this question in as careless a tone as possible. then, although she and her companion were walking arm in arm, she did not glance toward her. she did not even try to get an impression of her expression in the moonlight. barbara shrugged her shoulders. "there are many signs, eugenia, and they cannot always be defined. but i don't think _you_ would ever see or understand them." the slighting emphasis upon the pronoun was unmistakable; nevertheless, eugenia only smiled. once barbara's point of view might have hurt her, but tonight she was not thinking of herself. she had something else upon her mind, but was uncertain whether it would be wise to discuss the subject, or leave it still in darkness. "well, perhaps you are right, barbara," she admitted. "i had a note from nona yesterday, but she made no reference to dick. she wanted me to ask you a question for her, which perhaps neither of us has the right to ask. i don't know, it has worried me a good deal----" she stopped because barbara had turned in the path and was facing her half belligerently and half affectionately. "don't be a goose, eugenia, ask me anything you like. certainly i have bored you enough recently with my bad tempers and complaints to have you say whatever you wish to me. it's funny, eugenia, but when we started for europe i was sure i was going to like you less than any one of the girls. now you are the only one i care very much about." with this barbara laughed, pretending that she was not altogether in earnest. but there was no humor in her laughter. eugenia received her information gravely. "that may be good of you, dear, but i don't believe you," she returned. "still i am glad you made the remark just at this minute. it helps me with what i wish to say to you. nona wanted me to find out what it was that had changed your feeling for her. she says she has done her best to discover for herself and has asked you to tell her, but without success. she seems much distressed and is anxious to make amends if she has injured you." the older girl had to cease talking because barbara had pulled away and was walking on ahead without pretending to answer. she was being rude and was aware of it. but it was better to be rude than to have any human being discover how crimson her face had become and how her lips were trembling. eugenia's question had taken her so by surprise. several weeks before she had gone through much the same kind of conversation with nona and mildred. but the subject had never been mentioned again and she hoped was happily over. it was too stupid to have nona go on dwelling upon the matter in this way and utterly pointless. she had told her that she had nothing in the world against her. surely one had the right to one's likes and dislikes! quietly eugenia continued after her guest. she made no effort to stop her, although she realized that they were walking farther than they had intended. finally barbara must have appreciated the fact, because she stopped and turned around. "let's go back home, i am dead tired," she murmured. of course eugenia complied, and they continued in single file on the return journey. walking alone, barbara once or twice thought that she heard some one tramping about in the underbrush not far away. but although she glanced over in that direction she saw no one. after five minutes more of silence barbara caught up with eugenia, who was in the lead on the way home. "can we stop a minute somewhere, gene, before we get back to the house? i have something i want to tell you. i believe i'll feel relieved once i have made a plain statement of a fact to myself as well as to you. and it will be easier to say it out here in the moonlight than in the light of day." this time it was the older girl who hesitated. "you said you were tired, bab, and it is getting late. besides, i am not sure it is wise for us to be so far from the house alone." she turned her head uneasily toward the left side of the woods. it was on the same side that barbara had believed she heard a noise. but at present she was paying no attention. "please do as i ask you; a few minutes more cannot make any difference." then, just as they had two months before, the girls found a fallen tree and seated themselves on the trunk. but barbara turned around so that she could look directly at her companion. a shaft of light shone straight across her face. eugenia could see that the characteristic little frown was there as well as the slight wrinkling of the short, straight nose. also that barbara's eyes were serious, although the expression of her mouth was partly humorous. she looked very young and charming. perhaps she was not so beautiful as many other girls. yet she had a kind of mocking grace, an evanescent, will o' the wisp quality that was more fascinating than ordinary beauty. then beside this, she was so thoroughly human. "yes, i have a grievance against nona, a perfectly dreadful one. when i told her i didn't have, i just lied," she began directly. "fact of the matter is, i can't forgive nona for being more attractive than i am. i can't tell her this to her face though, can i, eugenia? nor can i see exactly how i can let _you_ tell her." barbara clasped her hands together. they felt very warm, although the evening was cool. but then her cheeks were even hotter. nevertheless, a smile at herself, perhaps the best smile there is in the world, flickered around the corners of barbara's mouth. "i know perfectly well what you are thinking, eugenia. nona has not changed recently. if i cannot like her now because she is prettier and more charming than i am, then why did i like her at the beginning of our acquaintance? she was both those things then. but the fact is, i didn't care then, because, because--oh, why is it so hard to get it out, gene? i don't see why girls need always be ashamed of caring for people who don't care for them? i didn't know at first how much dick thornton was going to be interested in nona davis, nor how much i cared for dick. there, the worst is out and i am glad of it!" then barbara dropped her chin into her hands and sat staring at the moon up over the top of the trees, waiting for her companion to answer. eugenia remained silent. "are you disgusted with me, gene?" the younger girl asked the next moment. "goodness knows, i have been with myself, though i never confessed the truth to any one, not even to barbara meade, until this second. i haven't any right in the world to like dick except as a friend. he has always been only ordinarily nice and polite to me. i really never thought of him seriously until after we left paris. then when i found out he was writing to nona and never to me, i was terribly hurt. i had believed we were better friends than he and nona. at first i didn't see why i should mind so much, then by degrees i suppose i began to find out. anyhow, the only reason i have for not liking nona at present is jealousy. it is about the ugliest fault there is, so i'm not very proud of myself. but as i intend to make a clean breast of the subject tonight and then never mention it again, you might as well hear the rest. i don't like mildred so much as i used to, because she evidently prefers to have nona for dick's friend than to have me. and there are times when i'd like to pinch her." it was so absurd of barbara to end her confession with this anti-climax. yet the older girl was not deceived. because she endeavored to make fun of herself and of the situation, she was no less in earnest. "why don't you say something, gene?" she pleaded the next instant. "what shall i do? am i ever going to be sensible again?" perhaps it was because eugenia had been devoting herself to caring for children for the past two months, or perhaps it was because she had so strongly the mother feeling. for at this moment she wanted to take barbara in her arms. really, there was not very much for her to say under the circumstances. should she insist that dick was not in love with nona when she knew absolutely nothing about it? this would, only make things harder for the other girl in the end. barbara was not a foolish, sentimental person; she was usually clear-sighted, with sound common sense. of course, she would stop caring for dick thornton after a time if he felt no affection for her. but how convince her of this at the present moment? "i had been fearing something like this, barbara," eugenia said finally. "i don't mean in connection with nona. i never dreamed of her entering into the situation. dick is a splendid fellow, but after all he has only one arm. besides, i don't think judge thornton is really wealthy. they spend a great deal of money. i know from all i have heard that judge thornton makes a great deal, but that mrs. thornton is very extravagant and very ambitious." barbara got up. "let's go to bed, gene dear. of course, nothing you can say will make any difference. but i promise to turn over a new leaf. away with all human weakness!" barbara started to wave her hand, but instead clutched at eugenia's arm frantically. "great heavens, who was that, gene?" she whispered. "i am sure i saw some one sliding along between the trees. he was crouched over as if he feared we might see him." eugenia took the younger girl's arm. "it was no one, my dear. but remember, this is a haunted house and a ghost is supposed to wander all over the estate. keep hold of my hand and we'll run to the house. perhaps we may get there before the ghost does." chapter xiii _an arrest_ "i want you to know that i understand who the ghost was last night, eugenia," barbara said unexpectedly next morning. eugenia was just about to leave her bedroom, nicolete having gone downstairs half an hour before. at these words the older girl turned and stood straight and severe with her shoulders braced against the wall as if for support. "what do you mean?" she inquired slowly. barbara had not finished dressing. indeed, she was in the undignified attitude of sitting on one side of the bed putting on her stockings. nevertheless, she gazed at eugenia squarely. "i mean just what i said," she answered. "that is, of course, i don't know the name or the age or the identity of the man i saw by accident in the woods last night. but i realize that he must be the same person you have been concealing ever since you took this house. naturally he must grow weary of the long confinement and be obliged to go outdoors now and then at night." eugenia had not replied, so barbara went on thinking aloud. "or else some one may have been coming to the house with a message for the person in hiding. of course, i don't know whether your refugee is a man or woman. but whoever he or she may be, goodness knows, i'll be grateful enough when the escape is over and this house left behind!" eugenia's face whitened at the younger girl's words. nevertheless, she again turned as if she meant to leave the room without an answer. barbara was too quick for her. she took hold of both her shoulders and pulled her gently around. "i would rather you would say something, gene. i have been doing all the talking ever since i arrived. one minute i can't decide whether i ought to try and find out who this person is you have in hiding, or what your reason is. then i wonder if it is best i should leave you alone? but please, please don't run any risks. you know that if you are defying the german authorities and are found out, what your punishment may be. what could _i_ possibly do to help you? i feel so powerless. i can't tell you how i have longed to confide my suspicion to dick thornton or the girls and ask their advice. but i have kept absolutely silent." "thank you," eugenia said, and then waited another moment. "sit down, please, barbara," she added. "i suppose it is only fair that i offer you some explanation. you have been so good." barbara did as she was requested. but eugenia continued to stand. her level, dark brows were drawn close together and her face was pale. otherwise she looked entirely self-possessed, sure of herself and her position. "i am not going to tell you that i have any one in hiding here, barbara. if questions are ever asked of you, you are to know absolutely nothing. but i want you to understand that i appreciate perfectly the danger of what i have undertaken and have done it with my eyes open. if i am punished, well, at least i have always faced the possibility. but after today, dear, if things go as we hope, you need no longer worry over me. so far i feel pretty sure the germans in command of this part of the country have not suspected our house in the woods of being anything more than a shelter for defenseless belgian children. and really that has been my chief motive in all that i have done." barbara sighed. "god keep us through the day," she murmured, quoting a childish prayer. then eugenia went downstairs to her work and a short time later the younger girl followed her. barbara was to remain until after lunch. but at her friend's request she spent most of the time in the yard with the children and monsieur bebé. whatever went on inside the house neither she nor any of the others were to be allowed to know. as a special pleasure the children were to be permitted to eat their luncheon under an old tree in the one-time garden. this garden now held no flowers except two or three old rosebushes and overgrown shrubs. the heat of yesterday had returned and with it even more sultriness. there were heavy clouds overhead, but no immediate sign of rain. it was one of those days that are always peculiarly hard to endure. the air was heavy and languid with a kind of brooding stillness that comes before the storm. the nerves of everybody seemed to be on edge. monsieur bebé had lost his courage of yesterday and sat silent in his chair with his head resting in his hand. was he dreaming of provence before france was driven into war? or was he hearing again the cracking of rifles, the booming of cannon, all the noises of the past year of life in a trench? several times barbara did her best to distract his attention, but the french boy could do nothing more than try to be polite. it was evident that he hardly heard what she said to him. nicolete was too engaged with her duties in the house to offer companionship. nevertheless, she came back and forth into the yard. now and then she would stop for a moment to speak to monsieur reney, who was monsieur bebé only to barbara, who had so named him. nicolete was busy in arranging the outdoor luncheon for the children. for she it was who brought out the dishes and the chairs. only once did she have any assistance and then the maid from the kitchen helped her with the luncheon table. neither eugenia nor the woman whom they called "louise" was seen all morning. so to barbara fell the entire task of looking after the children. perhaps it was the weather, perhaps they too were vaguely conscious that something unusual was going on about them, for they were extremely difficult. not once, but half a dozen times, each child insisted upon going into the house to search for eugenia. she could not be busy for so long a time that she could not come out to them, they protested. this had never happened before. jan and bibo were particularly sulky, nevertheless barbara continued firm. jan had been made her especial charge. whatever happened he must be kept away from all knowledge of what was transpiring in the big house only a few yards off. this world is ever a double mask with the face of tragedy painted upon one side and of comedy upon the other. so often barbara thought of this during the long hours of the morning. sometimes she was whirling about with the children in a ring, singing at the top of her voice to keep their attention engaged. yet at the same moment her thoughts were all concentrated upon what was going on in the house with eugenia. whom had she in hiding all these weeks, risking her own liberty for his or her safety? and how was it possible that any human being could escape from belgium whom the germans wished to detain? yet not a carriage nor a human being approached the house from the front. of this barbara was absolutely certain. always when it was possible she had kept a watchful lookout. besides, there was jan who had appointed himself sentinel. the boy could not consciously have been expecting disaster. not a human being had given him a hint of what was to take place. yet he simply refused to play when the other children invited him. when barbara explained that eugenia insisted he remain out of the house, he made no effort toward disobedience. he merely took up a position as far away as possible, but one where he could still see the house and at the same time keep a lookout ahead. for his quiet gray eyes would study the landscape beyond him sometimes for five minutes, then he would turn his head and gaze toward the house. satisfied that he could discover nothing wrong there, he would again begin his former scrutiny. he was an interesting figure; barbara studied him whenever she had a chance. here was a child whom the war had not so far injured physically. although ill some weeks before he had since recovered. yet he would bear the scars that the war had made upon his spirit so long as he should live. bibo's lameness was as nothing to this boy's hurt. there was a look of abnormal gravity in his eyes, of an understanding of sorrows that a child of ten should know nothing of. he was fearful and frightened and yet there was something indomitable in the child's watching. he recalled the gallant army of children crusaders who, led by stephen of france, went forth to wrest jerusalem from the infidels. so their little sentinels must have waited wide-eyed and courageous, yet sick with dread, for the ravenous hosts to overpower them. another possibility worried barbara and the children all morning. there was a prospect that rain might come and so spoil their luncheon party. suppose they should be compelled to scamper for shelter just at the critical moment in eugenia's plans? the rain did not come. it must have been just a little after twelve o'clock when eugenia finally walked down the front steps into the yard. she did not look toward barbara, but her appearance was enough. whatever she had wished to accomplish was now over. although at the moment she was engaged in learning a new belgian game, barbara had to suggest that she be allowed to sit down for a time. eugenia might be able to look as calm as an inland lake, but she felt uncomfortably agitated. first eugenia spoke to monsieur bebé. then she walked down to where jan was standing. she said nothing to the boy, but put her arm on his shoulder. afterwards they walked back together toward the other children. but jan's expression had entirely changed. he was smiling now and his cheeks were happily flushed, yet he kept his hand tightly clutched in his friend's. soon after nicolete came out of the house with a great tray of sandwiches. there was real ham between some of them and peanut butter between the others. moreover, there was an enormous dish of baked potatoes and another of beans. for some reason the children did not understand, for it was neither sunday nor a saint's day, they were to have a feast. the table, which had been easy enough to arrange, since it was only a couple of boards laid upon carpenter's horses, was set in the middle of the garden, partly shaded by an old elm tree. the garden was just a few yards to the left of the house and in plain view of any one approaching. naturally eugenia took her place at the head of the table, with nicolete at the other end. barbara was on eugenia's right, with her eyes on the scene ahead. she could see the edge of the woods with the path that connected the house with the outside world. jan was next her with the same outlook upon the surroundings. it was jan who saw the two german officers approaching with a guard of eight soldiers behind them a few moments later. the boy had just lifted a sandwich to his lips when something in his rigid attitude first attracted barbara's attention. she then let her knife drop onto the table. the noise startled eugenia, for she too looked up. instantly barbara explained what was happening. "don't stir and please don't appear to be frightened before the children," eugenia ordered. "i must go and meet the officers, but i'll wait until they are nearer." so the german soldiers had a clear vision of eugenia and the children as they approached. the rough board table had no cover, but in the center was a bunch of wild flowers that the children had gathered in the neglected fields. in order to keep them from seeing too soon what must inevitably happen, eugenia started the singing of a belgian translation of the russian "prayer for peace." it was perhaps the song that came most from her heart at the moment, although she and her little companions had been trying to learn it for several weeks past. "god the all righteous one! man hath defied thee, yet to eternity sure standeth thy word; falsehood and wrong shall not tarry beside thee, give to us peace in our time, o lord!" then when the german officers were within a few yards of her, eugenia got up and walked quietly forward. she did not go alone though, because jan held on to her skirts so tightly that there was no possibility of tearing him loose. "will you wait a moment, please, until the children can be taken to another part of the yard?" eugenia asked quietly. "some of them are very young and will only be terrified and confused by our conversation. i think most of them are afraid of soldiers." there was no reproach in the girl's tone as she said this. but the sting was inevitably there. however, the older of the two officers bowed his head and nicolete led the reluctant children away. by this time barbara had placed herself at one side her friend next to little jan. and poor monsieur bebé, hearing the voices, had crept blindly forward to within a few feet of the little company. in the meantime the soldiers had divided: two of them stood before the front door and two had retired to the rear of the house. the other four guarded either side. "you are under arrest, fraulein," the german officer began. he was stern, but rigidly polite. "very well," eugenia answered. "in five minutes i can be ready to go with you. but tell me, please, of what i am accused." "you are accused of harboring a belgian spy, a colonel carton, who got back through the lines, disguised as a german soldier and into his wife's home in brussels. his effort was to obtain certain papers and information and then return to king albert and the british allies. we have reason to believe colonel carton is still in your house." the officer at this instant drew a pair of handcuffs from his pocket. naturally eugenia flinched, yet she held out her hands. "your intention is to search my house. you will, of course, do what you wish. but remember that i am an american citizen and under the protection of the united states flag." then one of the officers remained in the yard while the other led his soldiers into the house. ten, fifteen minutes passed. eugenia talked quietly to barbara. she begged her to ask permission of the hospital authorities to allow her to stay with the children. she told her where she might obtain the money for keeping up their expenses. some time before she had written a letter giving barbara her power of attorney. almost every detail had been arranged. of course, eugenia was frightened. she was not unlike other people, only that she had a stronger will and sometimes a finer determination. finally the german officer and his soldiers returned. "we can find no trace of colonel carton or his wife," the younger officer reported. "however, a servant from their household in brussels is here and i have reason to believe the two children of madame and colonel carton." still jan, who had never let go his hold on eugenia, did not flinch. not once did he even glance up toward one of the german soldiers, nor give a sign that might betray him or his protector. "i am sorry, but you must go with us until the circumstances can be more thoroughly investigated," the older officer commanded. a short time afterwards eugenia went quietly away. one of the soldiers carried her suitcase. since she marched between them and showed no intention of giving trouble, the officer had taken off the handcuffs. evidently he meant to be as courteous as possible under the circumstances. moreover, eugenia's dignity was impressive. all through the interview barbara had felt her knees trembling so beneath her that she felt unable to stand. her hands were like ice and her cheeks on fire; moreover, there was a lump in her throat which made her totally unable to speak. nevertheless, she did speak whenever a question was asked of her, nor did she shed a tear until eugenia had gone. it was curious, but no one broke down, not even jan. he merely kept his hold on eugenia's skirt until she started to leave. then eugenia herself unloosed his hands. he had been on his knees before and he made no effort to get up afterwards. finally, when barbara lifted the boy in her arms she found it was because he was too weak to stand. chapter xiv _a month later_ dick thornton had taken lodgings in an old house in brussels in a once fashionable quarter of the city. he had a big reception room and a small room adjoining. recently nona and mildred had been coming in to have tea with him on their afternoons of leisure. they even dropped in occasionally in their daily walks. for in order to keep their health and spirits each red cross nurse, following the familiar rule, was given two hours off duty every afternoon. but barbara meade had never seen the quarters where dick lived. always she had pleaded some kind of an excuse in answer to his invitations, until finally he had proffered them no more. then for the past month she had been taking eugenia's place in her house in the woods. but this afternoon barbara had made an appointment to meet nona and mildred at dick's at four o'clock. half an hour before the time, dick came into the house with his arms full of flowers which he had purchased from a little old woman at the corner. she had become a great friend of his, for the flower business was a poor one in a city where people had no money even for food. so today dick had purchased bunches of wall flowers and others of columbine and larkspur. for the flowers grew in the old woman's own garden within a sheltered suburb of brussels. she must have grown them and sold them in order that she might still continue to sit in the same place. for so far as one could know she had no other reason for her industry. she appeared to be entirely alone and friendless. dick's sitting room was enormous, yet almost empty. the house had been deserted by its owners early in the war. they had then removed most of their belongings to london for safe keeping, soon after hostilities broke out. but dick opened wide a pair of french windows until the atmosphere of the room had grown cool and sweet. he then arranged his own flowers and set out his own tea table in a somewhat clumsy fashion, drawing four chairs conveniently near. they were the only four chairs in the room and very different in character. two of them were enormous armchairs upholstered in brussels tapestry, the other were two small wooden ones which had probably served for the servant's dining room. but dick was fairly well satisfied with the appearance of things, since empty grandeur is much more satisfying than tawdry quantity. afterwards dick disappeared to make an afternoon toilet. it had been such ages since he had worn anything but the most workaday clothes. now and then when he came in tired at night and discouraged with life from the sight of so much unnecessary sorrow, he used to slip into a smoking jacket for an hour or so. usually several american fellows dropped in later, young doctors or other men assisting with the belgian relief work. but today dick felt the occasion to be a more important one. barbara was coming on an errand of grave importance. yet one might as well meet the situation as cheerfully as possible. nothing was ever to be gained by unnecessary gloom. it still remained a task for dick to dress himself with one of his arms almost useless. at first it had been impossible and he had employed a man to help him. but men were needed for more strenuous labors these days than being another fellow's valet. so he had come to taking care of himself in a somewhat awkward fashion. the collar was his supreme difficulty, just as it frequently is with a man with two perfectly good arms. today, of course, because dick was in a hurry, his collar behaved in a worse manner than usual. the collar button had to be searched for under the bed for nearly five minutes, and then it did not seem to fit the button-hole of the shirt. finally dick sat down and began to smoke in an effort to soothe his nerves. mildred had promised to come along ahead of time to do whatever was needed. as there was nothing more, except to adjust his tiresome neckwear, he might as well wait in peace. but in the meantime dick read over the note from barbara in which she asked that the four of them might meet at his apartment. it was the one place where it was possible that their conversation be absolutely private. and what they had to discuss was a matter for gravest secrecy. although dick had previously arranged his hair with much care, while reading the note he thrust his hand through it until his locks rose in brown, byronic confusion. so when the first knock came at his sitting room door, convinced of his sister's arrival, dick strode to it, dangling his collar in his hand. his appearance was not strictly conventional. the girl at the door looked a little startled, then smiled and walked into the room without invitation. "i suppose i am first. i didn't mean to be," she explained. "but dr. mason came out to see one of the children and brought me back to town in the hospital motor car. so i got here sooner than i expected." "i am sorry. i thought you were mildred. i mean, i hoped you were mildred." dick laughed. "sounds polite, doesn't it, what i am trying to say? but the fact is, if you'll just take off your hat or your wrap, or your gloves, why, i'll disappear for half a minute and come back with a collar on." barbara nodded and her reluctant host disappeared. she was glad of a few moments to look around. it was almost homelike here in dick's quarters, and not since leaving the little "farmhouse with the blue front door" had she enjoyed the sensation of home. she certainly did not enjoy it at eugenia's big house, although she was now in full charge of the establishment. for there was always the sense of eugenia's loss and of the privations which she was enduring. barbara did throw her hat to one side and her coat and gloves. the freedom was pleasanter. then, since small persons have a penchant for large chairs and large persons for small ones, barbara seated herself in the most imposing chair in the room. not thinking of where she was, nor of what she was doing, she slipped one small foot under her, leaned her head against the upholstery and gazed critically around. they were going to have tea and she was glad of it. then she loved the presence of so many simple outdoor flowers. probably they had been purchased for nona's delectation, yet one could enjoy them just the same. besides, barbara was by this time convinced that she had entirely recovered from any jealousy where nona and dick were concerned. she had seen them very seldom in the past month. but this was not because she had any more feeling in regard to the situation. it was merely because she had more important matters to engage her attention. her talk with eugenia seemed to have cleared the emotional situation so far as she was concerned. now her interest in dick and nona was purely impersonal and friendly. yet barbara got up and strolled over to the tall french mantel. yes, there was a picture of nona on it. she had not been mistaken. certainly nona took an extremely pretty picture. her features were so regular and delicate. it was rather different if one chanced to be afflicted with a retroussé nose. still studying nona's photograph, barbara heard a slight noise behind her. there was dick with his collar yet dangling from his hand. "i say, which would you prefer, to talk to a man without a collar or to help him put one on? i am not going to lose all the chance i may have for seeing you in struggling with this dog-taked thing." the girl looked demure. then she indicated that dick might seat himself upon the lowest stool. the next moment he was entirely ship-shape, as barbara had also assisted in adjusting a new dark-red tie. it was of a flowing character, because dick wore the same black velvet coat in which he had appeared before barbara in new york city some eighteen months before. the coat was therefore not new. but dick may have had a suspicion that it was becoming, although men are not supposed to be interested in any such trivial concerns. however, barbara was aware of the becomingness and was sincerely glad to discover how well her former friend looked. certainly he had taken his share of the war's misfortunes in a courageous spirit. once she had not believed him capable of any ideal save a social one. barbara had returned to her tall chair and dick sat across from her on one of the wooden ones. the tea service stood between them, but of course they were waiting for the coming of the other two girls. although she had wished for her tea, barbara did not feel impatient over the delay at present. she was trying to make up her mind whether it would be wise to tell dick how glad she was of his cheerfulness before she began to speak of her own mission. for then there would be little opportunity for cheerfulness unless one of the others had better news to report than she had. so instead of beginning a conversation barbara sat in entire quiet, although gazing at her companion in an extremely friendly fashion. in the pause dick thornton suddenly thrust out his right hand and placed it lightly over barbara's hand, which chanced to be carelessly lying on the table. "i have something i'd like to tell you, barbara, before nona and mildred get here," he began. "it is a secret so far and perhaps i have no right to be so happy until things are settled. but i've every right----" the moment had come! the news that dick had to tell her she had been expecting. yet she had believed the announcement would first be made by nona. it was kind of dick to remember their former friendliness and to wish her to share his happiness so soon. but at this instant mildred and nona, without waiting to knock, opened the sitting room door and dick's confession was never made. chapter xv _powerless_ "but it is too dreadful for us to be able to do _nothing_," barbara commented. she looked dispirited and blinked resolutely at a small pocket handkerchief which lay folded in her lap. however, she had made up her mind not to cry, no matter what happened. after all, she was a woman and not a child, and eugenia would consider tears a most ineffective method of assistance. she had come to dick's apartment with every idea of being brave and had started off in that spirit. then dick's interrupted confession had been a trifle upsetting. moreover, she had hoped that dick or one of the girls would have good news to tell about eugenia, or at least be able to make a comforting suggestion. while she was thinking this, nona davis got up and began walking up and down the length of the room. "the situation is abominable!" she exclaimed. "to think of a splendid person like eugenia, who is so needed, shut up in a german prison! besides, she is an american girl! it simply makes my blood boil. i wish for a short time i were a man." nona's cheeks were a deep rose and her golden brown eyes were almost black from emotion. barbara thought she looked charming. but dick smiled upon the excited girl rather condescendingly. "do come and sit down, please, nona. i know it is your southern blood that makes you long to fight. but this isn't the time for it. after all, i am a man and i haven't been able to rescue eugenia. of course, you would be a more effective man than i can ever hope to be. but today let us try to face the situation quietly. it is the only way we can hope to accomplish anything." in order to take the edge off his words dick smiled. also he thrust a chair nearer his guest. barbara thought the other girl sat down somewhat meekly. never could she have taken a snubbing so gracefully. but then there was no disputing that nona had the sweeter disposition. then dick reseated himself by the tea table. after taking several papers out of his pocket he again looked over toward barbara. "i wish you would repeat to me, word for word, as nearly as you can, just what statement eugenia made to you when you were allowed to see her in prison," he demanded. his matter-of-fact tone and present cold manner entirely drove away barbara's weak leaning toward tears. "it was some time ago, but i'll try and repeat what gene said exactly as possible. she said we were not to be angry or embittered over her imprisonment, because she had defied the german authorities. she declared they had a perfect right to arrest her. for she _had_ been hiding a belgian soldier who would have been shot as a spy if he had been discovered. it was almost a miracle how he managed to escape. but they had been warned by a friend in brussels a few days before, that their house was at last suspected. actually madame carton and colonel carton both got away on the very day the german officers came for them. eugenia would not tell how they managed their escape. she said that wasn't my business, nor any one else's." as she repeated this speech, barbara looked so surprisingly firm that dick had to swallow a smile. unconsciously barbara was behaving like a phonograph record in reproducing the exact tones of the original speaker. "but if eugenia understood what she would have to face, whatever made her do such a mad thing? this colonel carton was absolutely nothing to her. when he returned to brussels he took his own risk. it is natural that the germans in command here in belgium should be enraged. he probably carried back much valuable information to the allies. goodness only knows how he ever succeeded in getting here, much less getting away!" dick protested, speaking as much to himself as his audience. then he pounded the table with his one good hand in his agitation. "eugenia was out of her senses. what excuse did she have for saving the man and his family? she is an american and is a guest of the country. she had no right to aid germany's enemies. besides, you girls always said that eugenia was the one of you who insisted that you remain absolutely neutral." with this final statement dick gazed reproachfully from one to the other of his audience. every day since eugenia's arrest he had gone about brussels seeking assistance and advice. he had seen the american minister, the american consul and nearly every member of the belgian relief committee. but in each case his answer had been the same. whatever was possible would be done to effect eugenia's release. but without doubt her behavior had placed her in a difficult position. but dick had not been alone in his pilgrimages. mildred, nona and barbara had been equally energetic. there was no person in authority in brussels possible to see whom they had not interviewed. but eugenia was still in prison and liable to remain there. however, she had not yet appeared for trial before the german military court. her friends were doing their best to have her set free before this time came. for once her sentence was declared, it would be more difficult to secure her pardon. eugenia insisted that there was nothing to do but plead guilty. and this might mean months or years of imprisonment! the three girls became more unhappy under dick's reasoning. it was so perfectly true that there seemed nothing for them to say. nevertheless, barbara flushed indignantly. dick always inspired her with a desire for argument. moreover, when it came to a point of defending eugenia, she would perish gladly in her cause. "i realize that eugenia's conduct does seem foolish. perhaps it was worse than that; perhaps she was wicked to do as she did," barbara added, no longer looking down at her handkerchief, but directly at dick thornton. eugenia, she appreciated, would not require to be absolved before the other girls. "just the same, i think there was something beautiful and inspiring in gene's act. she hasn't asked us to worry over her. she has declared all along that she was willing to take what was coming to her," barbara murmured, falling into slang with entire good faith. "her only defense is that both colonel carton and jan were desperately ill when madame carton made the appeal to her. if she had not gone to the house in the woods to take care of them, they must have been found out. then without a doubt colonel carton and perhaps madame carton would have been hung as spies." an uncomfortable lump was beginning to form in barbara's throat. for at the instant it seemed to her that dick thornton represented the whole tribunal of masculine wisdom and justice arrayed against a woman's sentiment. how was she to make him see eugenia's point of view? in spite of her best efforts barbara's eyes were filling with tears and her voice shaking. "gene says she never thought things out in detail, although she fully realized the risk she was running. all she decided was that jan and his little sister should not be made orphans if she could help it. she says that ever since she put her foot in belgium the cry of the children has been ringing in her ears. what had _they_ to do with this war and its horrors? if she could aid them in the smallest possible way, this was her work and her mission. 'inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these little ones, ye have done it unto me,'" barbara whispered, and then was unable to continue. but mildred had risen and was standing by her side as if she were a new witness for the defense. "i have written father the whole story, everything eugenia has done in connection with this entire case," mildred explained quietly. "and i have asked him to go to washington and see the secretary of state and the president if he thinks necessary. as soon as my letter arrived he answered it immediately, promising to do what i asked. then he told me to see eugenia and if it were possible to present his regards to her and to tell her to be of good courage. of course, he could not write all he meant, as his letter might be censored, but i think i understood father's point of view pretty well." because mildred thornton did not talk a great deal, what she said was usually respected. even dick looked somewhat subdued. "what do you suppose father really did mean, then, mill?" he queried. "i confess i am so troubled and so harassed over this business of eugenia that i am of little account. i keep regretting that she ever got herself and all of us into such unnecessary sorrow." mildred went over and laid her hands on dick's hair, which had again become rumpled through his agitation. "i don't believe father thinks eugenia's action was entirely unnecessary, dick, even if we must all suffer with her," mildred argued. "perhaps eugenia only did what any one of us would have done under the same circumstances, if we had possessed her courage and good sense. the belgians were perfectly innocent of offense in this war. colonel carton was risking his life and his honor. if eugenia could help him or his family----" "be quiet." it was nona's voice that spoke, although under her breath. at the same instant she held up a warning finger. there were persons passing in the hall outside their door. one could hear their footsteps distinctly. almost at once nona got up and approached the tea table. "let us have tea, won't you, please, dick?" she begged. "we are all tired and hungry and thirsty. besides, we are discouraged." she said this even more softly, although the sounds in the hall had ceased. doubtless the passersby were only other dwellers in the house. dick sighed with relief and gratitude. "what a satisfying person you are, nona! it would have been better, however, if you had made this suggestion half an hour ago." then he turned again toward mildred and barbara. "please don't think i can't see that there was something fine and quixotic in eugenia's conduct, even if i wish she had chosen differently," he added. "truth is, i have taken the situation more seriously than ever today because i have had bad news." nona davis had lifted the teapot in her hand to pour out the tea, but at these words she set it down hastily. mildred merely took a firmer hold on barbara's shoulder. "what is it, dick?" she demanded. this time dick got up and floundered about impatiently. "oh, it may be nothing and perhaps i should not have spoken of it. but the truth is, eugenia is ill. one of the physicians at the prison was considerate enough to let me know. he does not think the trouble serious and says eugenia insists she will be all right in a few days. just the same, eugenia has been through a lot. i don't want to be a croaker, but there was the strain of the long nursing of captain castaigne and then this business. one of you girls must go to her as soon as i can get you permission, if i ever can get it. which one of you shall it be?" from the depth of her big chair barbara answered in a somewhat weary but steadfast voice: "there is no question; eugenia and i have meant everything to each other lately, and----" "there is a question, barbara, and you must be sensible. in looking after eugenia's house you are doing everything you have strength for. i am sure you can't weigh a hundred pounds these days! ever since we came to belgium, it seems to me you have been growing tinier. after a while you may blow away," mildred declared. then she marched over and, removing the teapot from nona's hand, began pouring out the tea in a quiet and comforting fashion. "of course, eugenia is not well after a month of being in prison. why should any one of us expect her to be?" she announced. "here, dick, please pass this cup to barbara and your muffins. the poor child looks utterly fagged! we ought to have thought that she has come all the way in from the country and has probably been up since daylight. she is a very little woman to live in a shoe." gratefully and without further protest barbara drank her tea. she was more tired than she had dreamed and glad to be taken care of for even a short a time. how happy she was to have gotten over her former antagonism toward her friends. what right had she to be jealous and miserable because a beautiful experience had come to nona and dick? they were both her good friends. at this moment dick was whispering something to nona, while she smiled up toward him. there was no mistaking the expression in her eyes, barbara felt convinced. later on she would congratulate them, but not this afternoon; she was too tired. perhaps nona became conscious of the other girl's gaze, for she drew away from her companion. "by the way, barbara," she exclaimed, "there is something i have wished to tell you for several days! weeks ago when you told me you had discovered lieutenant hume a prisoner in brussels, i wrote him a note. it must have taken ages for my letter to get to him. anyhow, i received three or four lines from him the other day. i suppose it was all he was permitted to write. but he thanked me and said he was getting on pretty comfortably. certainly i could not but admire his courage." dick thornton frowned. "you don't mean, nona, that you wrote a letter to lieutenant hume in prison without his asking you. i didn't suppose you knew him sufficiently well." but before barbara could confess that the suggestion had come from her, mildred thornton interposed. "don't be absurd, dick. you are taking everything in a gloomy fashion this afternoon. i should have written lieutenant hume myself if nona had not. he is in hard luck, when a single line from the outside world is cheering. we must go now. please do your best to get me permission to visit eugenia. in the meantime i shall see what i can do. sorry we had to have such a dismal party tea. hope for better news next time." chapter xvi _louvain_ recently nona davis had begun to confess to herself that she might some day be able to like dick thornton more than an ordinary acquaintance. without doubt this idea had come to her gradually, for during their early acquaintance he had simply represented mildred's brother and barbara's especial friend. when she thought of him at all it had been chiefly in his relation to the other two girls. dick was good looking and agreeable, these were obvious facts. moreover, he had shown splendid grit and courage in his work for the poor and wounded in the present war. however, it was not until after their holiday visit together in paris that nona had reason to believe dick desired her intimate friendship. she had already left paris and was living at the little farmhouse in southern france when he wrote begging her to tell him the details of their life together which his sister, mildred, might forget. the request had struck nona as surprising. why had he not made the suggestion to barbara meade rather than to her? he and barbara had quarreled now and then before the trip to paris and while there, but in spite of this seemed to find each other's society more than ordinarily agreeable. moreover, dick probably owed his life to barbara. had she not rescued him from the bursting shell near their base hospital, or dick must have carried more than a useless arm as a record of his adventure. nevertheless, if dick and barbara had chosen for reasons of their own to be less intimate, nona could scarcely ask questions. neither did she see how she could refuse to write to dick thornton if he really wished it, since her letters were merely to keep him in closer touch with the four american red cross girls. dick wrote delightful letters and so did nona. besides, these were days when, in spite of its tragedies, life was brimming over with interests. the letters grew more frequent, more intimate, and finally dick spoke of his coming to belgium. but he proposed that his coming be kept a secret until the last moment, for there might be circumstances that would interfere. since his arrival nona had been frequently in his society. the fact that mildred was partly responsible for this, she did not realize. she only knew that barbara had persistently refused to join them in leisure hours. therefore she and dick and mildred were of necessity more often together; eugenia was entirely out of the situation. the fact that mildred purposely left her alone in her brother's society, nona never considered. whenever this had occurred, she simply regarded the circumstance as an accident. but nona naturally felt a closer bond between herself and dick since her confession of her own problem. moreover, she had taken his advice and sent a letter to her family lawyer in charleston. in this letter she demanded to be told everything that was known or could be found out in connection with her mother's history. but although a number of weeks had passed her letter had remained unanswered. three days after the interview in regard to eugenia in dick's apartment, nona received a hurried note. the note explained that dick thornton had been ordered to louvain to make an especial investigation for the belgian relief committee. he asked if nona could manage to make the trip with him. they would start early the next morning and return the same day. if it were possible for nona to be excused from her hospital work, he was particularly anxious to have her join him. ten minutes after the note arrived, nona was busy making the necessary plans. at the hospital there were no objections offered to her being given the day's holiday. for nona explained that she was convinced that it would be a wonderfully interesting experience to visit the ruined city and university of louvain. more than the other girls she had enjoyed their journeys from place to place in europe, when they were obliged to change their fields of work. even when these trips had not been taken under the pleasantest conditions her enthusiasm had been able to rise above the difficulties. when the war was over nona hoped before going home that it might be possible for her to travel over the continent. now and then she and mildred thornton had even spoken of this as a possibility in an idle fashion. for with nona such a discussion could be nothing but idle, as she had scarcely a dollar beyond what she was able to earn as a nurse. at ten o'clock on the chosen day dick called for her. as soon as she joined him in the hall of the hospital, nona recognized that dick had seldom looked so well. besides, he seemed somehow more vigorous and happier. in honor of the occasion he wore what appeared to be a new suit, although it had been purchased in london soon after his arrival a number of months before. after her first sensation of admiration nona suffered a tiny pang of envy. how satisfying it must be to have as much money as dick and mildred seemed to have! they were not extravagant and yet they never had to worry over small matters. more than this, it must be a great help through life to have so distinguished a father as judge thornton. whenever his name was mentioned abroad people had heard of him as a great international lawyer. sometimes nona wondered why mildred and dick should care for her friendship. the distinguished members of her family had belonged to generations that were now dead. but today, for many reasons, nona would particularly have liked to wear a different costume. for assuredly dick must be as tired of the one she had on as she was herself. it was the same black dress that she had bought in paris last spring and been compelled to use for best ever since. true, nona had managed to run out the evening before to one of brussels' millinery shops, where she purchased a small black turban. before the coming of the german military hosts to belgium, brussels was regarded as the small sister of paris in matters of fashion. since then, of course, the city had but little heart for frivolity. however, nona felt fairly well satisfied with her purchase. moreover, she was pleased to discern that dick thornton's eyes rested upon it with immediate satisfaction. it is true that a man more often observes a woman's hat than any part of her costume. in walking on the street you may make this discovery for yourself. a man or boy looks first at a girl's face, then if this pleases him he slowly studies her costume and figure. frequently a woman or girl glances first at the toilette, and then if displeased never cares to look beyond for the personality. however, nona had but little reason for being dissatisfied with her own appearance. she was one of the few fortunate persons who have a grace and beauty of coloring that is not dependent upon clothes. clothes help, of course, under all circumstances, yet she could manage to be beautiful in shabby ones. moreover, the black dress was only slightly worn and her white crepe waist had been freshly washed and pressed. before she arrived at the station du nord with her companion, nona had the good sense to cease to consider her apparel. for since belgium was a land of mourning, poverty was the most fitting dress. the land between brussels and louvain was once an agricultural district. since belgium had been conquered and possessed by the germans, they had made every effort to resow and harvest many of the fields. but the neighborhood of louvain was still a place of desolation. as their train carried them farther along on their journey, nona decided that she had never seen anything like the countryside in all her experience as a war nurse. in certain parts of france wide areas had been destroyed, but not far away one would often find other districts untouched by fire or sword. dick and nona talked in a desultory fashion as they journeyed toward the famous old university town. one felt as if louvain was already a city of the past. within its suburbs there were many small ruined homes, looking as if a giant had ruthlessly pushed over whole rows of dolls' houses. for louvain was formerly one of the lace-making centers of belgium, and in these small houses dark-eyed women and girls once worked long hours at their trade. before their arrival dick decided that he must first attend to his business in louvain. afterwards they would feel freer to prowl about and investigate the ruins of the university. it would not be necessary to hurry then, as there would be no reason to return to brussels until after dark. dick's pilgrimage to louvain had been inspired by the desire to discover a family of belgians supposedly starving in one of the city's wrecked homes. the father was known to have been killed at the sacking of louvain. yet in some amazing fashion the mother and children had continued to exist for nearly a year without money and almost without food. the american relief committee, learning their need, had despatched dick to see what could be done for them. just what the character of the place he was to seek, nor the conditions surrounding it, the young man did not know. therefore, he considered it wiser for nona to wait for him. so he led her into the interior of the ancient church of st. pierre, where she was to remain until his return. the church had been only slightly injured by the burning of the city. as a matter of fact, nona was glad to be allowed to rest there peacefully for a time. although she was an excellent nurse, she was not so successful in making friends with unfortunate people as the other three red cross girls. so she feared that dick might consider her more of a drawback than a help to him in his work. the girl was frank enough to confess to herself that she wished to make a good impression. an old church is ever a citadel of dreams. yet nona had not the faintest intention of letting her imagination wander into unbounded realms when she first found a seat in the semi-darkness. simply from curiosity she had gone into one of the chapels behind the high altar. here she discovered five paintings, depicting the life and death of the blessed margaret of louvain, the patron saint of domestic servants. at first nona was simply amused and interested, for it had not occurred to her that domestic servants had a saint of their own. then without realizing it she fell to thinking of her own old home in charleston, south carolina, and of the southern "mammy," who had been more than her own mother to her. it was strange that her lawyer in charleston had not yet answered her letter. perhaps she would ask dick his opinion again. however, nona felt a curious shrinking from this idea. for if dick was beginning to feel interested in her, surely the mystery of her mother's history must influence him against her. at the same instant the girl's cheeks grew hot with embarrassment. then she deliberately struggled to discover a different train of thought. but for some reason, no matter along what road her thoughts set out, they had a curious fashion of including dick before the end was reached. so at last nona gave up and let her imagination have its will. when he came back an hour after their usual luncheon time, dick found her not in the least impatient. she insisted that she had enjoyed herself, and her face and manner gave proof of it. but dick was tired and not so cheerful as he had been earlier in the day. his work was over temporarily, but he had found a most depressing state of things among his poor people. moreover, dick was hungry, when a masculine person is always difficult. they discovered a little restaurant existing in a half-hearted fashion near the university. after a leisurely meal, it must have been past three o'clock when finally the two friends made their way into the university grounds. the buildings were not all entirely destroyed by the german bombardment, as the newspapers gave us to understand after the fall of liege. possibly many of them can be restored when the present war is over. up and down the rue de namur the young americans wandered, first investigating the ruins of the handsome gothic halles. the library is perhaps the most complete wreck, and it was one of the most valuable libraries in europe. for it contained many priceless manuscripts gathered together by the old monks, who were once teachers in this most famous catholic university in europe. the university of louvain was founded in the fifteenth century by pope martin v, and only a little over a year ago sheltered eighteen hundred students. but they have disappeared even as the bricks and mortar of the centuries have been brought to confusion. finally after nearly two hours of sightseeing dick and nona confessed to each other that they were too weary to feel any further interest in their surroundings. moreover, they were obliged to rest before returning to the railroad station. nothing could be more romantic than the spot they chose. with a half tumbled down wall for a background and a tall tree for a screen, a small green bench lingered serenely. it was as comfortable and undisturbed as though no destruction had raged about it. with a sigh of relief dick dropped down beside his companion. "if you don't mind, i'd rather not speak for five entire minutes," he suggested. "afterwards perhaps i may tell you something about which i have been thinking more or less all day. but i am not yet convinced that i ought to mention it to you, though with all my heart i wish to know what you think and feel upon the subject." in reply nona only nodded agreement. then she folded her hands in her lap and sat gazing quietly at the unique scene about them. in a little while twilight would fall. the atmosphere was already a pale violet and over the massed ruins of the ancient buildings the sun was declining peacefully. except for the girl and her companion the neighborhood was deserted, not a man, woman or child, not even a dog could be discovered in the nearby streets. chapter xvii "_sisters under the skin_" after a little while the silence between the girl and man grew self conscious. both of them seemed to recognize this at the same moment, and dick turned apologetically toward his companion. "i am sorry to continue so stupid," he explained, "but i have been thinking something over for the nine hundred and ninety-ninth time." in spite of the coolness of the october afternoon dick now took off his hat and in a boyish fashion ran his fingers through his hair. immediately the curly pompadour he so detested arose, while under his dark skin the color was rushing in warm waves. "i say, nona," he began in an awkward fashion, his charming manners entirely deserting him, "has it ever struck you that i have had something very much at heart for the past few months, something i have not been able to mention? it has seemed to me as if the whole world must know of it, although i have never spoken a word. yet even mildred has appeared totally blind. of course there was a reason once why i should keep my dream to myself, but lately that reason no longer exists." then dick laughed unexpectedly. "here i am talking like a school-boy who does not know his lesson! i don't suppose you have the faintest idea of what i am trying to say? wonder if you have ever guessed my secret, nona?" dick had swung himself around on the bench so that he might be able to gaze more directly at his companion. but nona davis' head was for the instant in profile. just then she preferred not to catch dick's glance. her own cheeks were delicately flushed and indeed the world had acquired a new fragrance. yet oddly nona wished to hug her emotion to herself. there is a moment when the spirit of romance appears to every girl in some lovely guise. now nona davis felt that no moment and no scene could be more picturesque than her own. dick thornton was ideally handsome; moreover, the fact that one of his arms was now useless only added to his value. for was not dick a soldier of peace rather than of war, yet one who had made the same sacrifice? and he had given himself for a cause that was not his own. "no, i have not guessed, dick," nona replied an instant later. "how could i? if you have a secret you have certainly not betrayed yourself. besides, if i had been able to discover what you had in mind, i should not have allowed myself to know. no one has the right to interpret another person's thoughts." nona made this speech with entire innocence, but she was to recall the last phrase within a few moments. "well, i'll start off with a piece of news i am sure you will be pleased to hear," dick began. "i wanted to tell barbara first, but we were interrupted the other afternoon. it is only that i think i am to have better luck with this lame arm of mine than i deserve. when i was in paris the surgeons told me to leave it alone, that i stood a chance of being able to use it later on. so i tried to forget the whole matter. then one day several weeks ago without thinking i discovered that i could use my arm the least bit. of course, it is by no means well, but each day the arm grows stronger----" with this news nona stretched out her hand toward her companion. but dick did not see her, as he chanced to be gazing at his afflicted arm in the half tender, half apologetic fashion in which one surveys a backward child. "the doctors i have seen since i made the discovery say my arm will be as good as new in another few months," dick went on. "i have only to have it massaged daily and wait for the vigor to come back. so i may be able to amount to a little something in the world after all. perhaps a man with a lot of brains may manage to get along with no arms, but i'm afraid _i_ require the full amount." by nature nona davis was inclined to be serious. therefore she could never understand the fashion in which barbara and dick were able to jest over their deeper emotions. her yellow-brown eyes were serious now. "i am sure _i_ have never doubted your future for a moment, dick. it sounds ridiculous to hear you make a speech like that. i am sure your father is a distinguished man, yet i feel sure you will be a greater one some day." for half a moment dick smiled upon his companion. "you are an optimist, nona, but just the same i am tremendously grateful to you." then in a surprising fashion his gay spirits suddenly deserted him. for he frowned moodily toward the purple and rose colored sky on the far western side of the horizon. the sun was by this time about to retire and the colors in the evening sky were merely the garments she had cast off in passing. "i wish you could persuade barbara meade to share that idea of yours, nona?" dick continued a moment later. "if you could you would be doing me an immense service." "barbara?" nona repeated her friend's name dully. she was so far away from any thought of her at the time that it was difficult to readjust her point of view. "what is it you wish me to persuade barbara to believe?" she demanded the next instant. for in her surprise she had forgotten her own remark. "oh, that i am worthy of bearing my father's name and that there is a chance i may not turn out a hopeless good-for-nothing," dick went on, with a scarcely concealed bitterness in his voice. "two years ago when i first met barbara i suppose i was only a society fellow, but really i was not so bad as i painted myself. fact is, i rather enjoyed arousing mildred's little western friend in the early days. well, i accomplished my purpose with a vengeance, for barbara has never had an ounce of respect for me. even if you and mildred have never guessed how much i care for her, the fact has been plain enough to barbara. what other reason could she have, except to spare me humiliation, for refusing to have anything to do with me since i came to brussels? but you have understood the situation better than you confess, nona. be sure that i appreciate your kindness immensely." still nona made no reply. however, as dick had been holding his emotions in check for many weeks, he was glad now to have a chance to let them overflow. "i appreciated that you understood when i first asked you to write me, after you left paris," the young man continued. "your letters meant so much to me, for they used to tell me so many things of barbara and your life together in the little french farmhouse." interrupting himself, dick glanced at his watch and then at his companion. "you look tired, nona, and i am sorry, but i expect we must hurry if we are to get to the station in time for the six o'clock train to brussels. you have been wonderfully patient with me this afternoon and i hope not too bored. perhaps i should have kept all this to myself, but at last it has overflowed. i shall never refer to the matter again and shall be grateful if you do not mention it." dick held out his right hand to help his companion arise. but for another instant nona did not stir. neither did she glance upward. her eyes had dropped to her lap and were evidently fastened upon her slender hands, which she held lightly clasped together. possibly she had become a shade paler, but not by a flicker of an eyelash did she betray that her house of cards had suddenly fallen. the next moment she gave her hand to dick and got up. "i am not tired, so let us walk on quickly if you think best. i am going to be honest and tell you, dick, that i have never dreamed you were seriously interested in barbara until this hour. i knew you were friends at one time and that barbara had done a beautiful thing for you. but i thought you had probably quarreled, or that you did not find each other so interesting as you had at first." the girl was walking along swiftly as she talked. her delicate chin was lifted a little higher than usual and because of her pallor her lips showed a deeper crimson. she was a lovely height and slender and graceful, but beyond everything else she had the air of perfect breeding. dick's own train of thought was diverted for a moment by a glance at her. "after all, it is not an impossibility, nona davis' mother may turn out a foreign princess," he thought, and then smiled. for dick was a typical american man and to him a mystery in one's family was ridiculous when it was not unpleasant. on the train returning to brussels neither he nor his companion cared to talk a great deal. indeed, nona frankly explained that there was something she wished to think about, and if dick did not mind, would he please leave her alone. so he was satisfied to continue sympathetically silent. he had unloosed certain thoughts of his own which were not so easy to chain up again. however, they still had a half hour before their arrival in brussels when nona unexpectedly returned to their former subject of conversation. "you asked me never to refer to your confession, dick, and i won't again after today. but first i must tell you something. then if you'll forgive me i want to offer you a piece of advice. i know it is an ungrateful present, but you'll listen, won't you?" nona pleaded. dick's brown eyes were very friendly. "i'll listen to whatever you wish to tell me forever and ever," he insisted. "for there was never quite so kind an audience as you have been to me!" the girl was glad of the flickering lights in the railroad carriage, when she spoke again. "it is only that i have been thinking of you and barbara ever since we left louvain," she added. "i told you i was surprised at the news. but now i think it was stupid of me. what i want is to ask you to tell barbara what you have confided to me this afternoon. i understand that when you were uncertain about your arm, you may have felt that a drawback. now you have every right to believe in your recovery and"--nona hesitated and smiled directly into dick's somber brown eyes--"oh, well, it is only fair that barbara be allowed the same information that i have received under the circumstances!" at this moment it was dick who would not be humorous. "i suppose you think i ought to give barbara the satisfaction of telling me what she really thinks of me. but i am afraid i am not willing to amuse her to that extent." nona shook her head. "that wasn't worthy of you, dick; i know you did not mean it. i am not going to give up. i want you to promise me that whenever the chance comes you will let barbara have some idea of your feeling for her." this time nona held both her hands tight together. "i can't explain to you, dick, so please don't ask me why," she continued. "but i have been thinking that there may be another reason why barbara has seemed less friendly with you since your arrival in brussels. girls sometimes get strange ideas in their minds. but there we are coming into brussels. thank you for my day in louvain, i shall not forget it!" chapter xviii _difficulties_ perhaps it was due to nona davis' advice, or perhaps to dick thornton's own judgment, that he decided to make his position clear to barbara. he had no thought of her returning his liking; nevertheless, a confession appeared the more manly and straightforward. but beginning the next day's events moved ahead so swiftly that there was never a chance for dick to carry out his intention. by noon a message was sent him by his sister mildred. she explained that soon after breakfast she had been summoned to the german prison for a consultation in regard to eugenia peabody. she found the prison officers both embarrassed and annoyed. for the young american woman whom they had been compelled to arrest had become dangerously ill. they had not been prepared for such a contingency. she had been locked up in what had formerly served as an ordinary jail in brussels and there were no accommodations for seriously ill persons. they could not determine what should be done. it was extremely awkward to have their prison doctor declare the prisoner a victim of typhoid fever, and to have the physician sent from the american relief committee confirm his opinion. suppose this miss peabody should be so inconsiderate as to die? the fact might arouse international complications and would certainly precipitate unpleasant discussion. the young woman had been kept a prisoner for something over a month without a trial, but even in this time important pressure had been exerted for her release. because she had been an american red cross nurse, naturally all red cross societies were interested. moreover, she was said to be a member of an old and prominent new england family, who would make themselves heard in her behalf. then as this miss peabody was herself wealthy and had been using her money for the benefit of the belgian children, what might not be said in her defense? there was a chance that the german government would be accused of resenting her care of the belgian children. in order to show their good feeling, mildred had been permitted to visit eugenia. she found her friend in a small room like a cell. it was of stone with only one window, a stool and a cot bed. but whatever eugenia must have suffered for her breach of faith, she was now past being disturbed by mental unhappiness. for an hour mildred sat beside her friend trying to arouse her. but eugenia gave no sign of recognition. she did not seem to be enduring pain, but was in a stupor from fever. mildred felt unhappy and helpless. there was but little chance of her friend's recovery if she remained without the right care. moreover, the american red cross girls owed it to one another to keep together through good and evil fortunes. "what would eugenia have done for one of them under the same circumstances?" mildred tried her best to decide. she implored the prison authorities to allow her to remain and care for her friend. but they refused. it was not that they were unwilling for their prisoner to be properly looked after. it was that there were no arrangements whereby it was practical for mildred thornton to continue at the prison. she could come each day and stay for a time with her friend. and this was, of course, a surprising concession. so after mildred returned to her own quarters she had sent a note of explanation to her brother. then began the most anxious week that the american red cross girls had endured since their arrival in europe. before now anxiety had harassed one or two of them at a time. now they were all equally concerned. eugenia did not grow better. from day to day the report of her condition became worse. mildred thornton was the only one of the three girls ever allowed to enter eugenia's room at the prison. however, nona and barbara hovered about the neighborhood like restless ghosts. indeed, they now appeared as deeply attached to each other as in the early days of their acquaintance. nor was dick thornton much less anxious. he had always liked and admired eugenia. although he disapproved her action in regard to colonel carton, it was not possible wholly to object to it. one had to have a sneaking sense of appreciation for a girl or man who would risk so much for an entire stranger. however, interest in eugenia's condition was not confined to her few friends. in a little while her case became the most talked of in brussels among the americans and their acquaintances. then the news of eugenia's arrest and the reason for it appeared in the american daily papers together with the account of her critical illness. afterwards these facts were copied in the newspapers of england, france and russia. eugenia became an international figure. now and then barbara tried to smile, thinking how eugenia would have resented her notoriety had she been aware of it. but the idea did not create much mirth. it was so far from amusing to picture one's friend at the point of death, shut up in a tiny room, with only such crude care as the prison physician and nurse could give her. the situation was unendurable; nevertheless, like a great many other situations about which one says this _same_ thing, it had to be endured. the german officials in command of the city of brussels assuredly grew weary of visits from white-faced american girls and their friends, all bent upon the same quest. was it not possible that eugenia be removed to a hospital or to her own home until she recovered? the answer remained the same. much as the situation was to be deplored, one could not surrender a prisoner because of ill health. discipline must be enforced. then a day came when mildred and dick thornton were granted an unexpected interview with the american minister in brussels. they had seen him several times before, but on this occasion it was the minister who sent for them. he had previously been kind and interested in eugenia's case, but so far his good will had not availed in her behalf. he could only offer his good will, because it was not possible to demand the prisoner's liberation when she had frankly confessed her offense against the german administration. yet as soon as they were permitted to enter the study where the minister was seated at his desk, mildred thornton had her first moment of hopefulness. for mr. whitlock had become her friend since this trouble began and his expression indicated good news. "there was no use going into particulars," he declared, "but some days before he had received certain letters from washington. it appeared that judge thornton had been to washington in eugenia's behalf, according to his daughter's request, where he must have interviewed persons of importance." whatever took place the american minister now announced that he had placed judge thornton's communications before the proper german officials. whether they were influenced by these letters, or whether they concluded that there was more to be lost than gained by detaining their prisoner under the present conditions, it is impossible to say. the important fact was that eugenia might at last be moved to her own house. there she was to be allowed to stay under guard until such time as she could safely leave the country. she would then be conducted to the border line of holland and allowed to depart. but eugenia peabody was never again to set foot within a german country during the course of the present war. if she should enter it she would immediately become liable to arrest. so in spite of the possible danger eugenia was immediately removed to her own house in the woods, the house supposedly inhabited by a ghost. but instead of ghosts it was now haunted by the other three red cross girls, all of whom insisted upon sharing the labor of caring for eugenia and looking after her home. yet after all it was on barbara meade that the largest share of the burden fell. for the children had grown accustomed to her since their first friend's departure. then by a freak of chance eugenia seemed to wish barbara near her the greater part of the time. she was not conscious, so her desire was only an eccentricity of illness. nevertheless, barbara naturally tried to be with her friend whenever it was humanly possible. so it is easy to see why dick thornton found no opportunity to confide to barbara the dream that lay so near his heart. he saw her now and then, of course, in his own frequent visits to the household, but seldom alone. occasionally, when for a moment he had a chance for a quiet word with her, dick was not willing to intrude his own desires. barbara looked so worn and fragile these days. the roundness had gone from her cheeks as well as their color, her eyes and lips rarely smiled. it would only trouble her further to have him cast his burden upon her. for barbara would, of course, be sorry to cause him unhappiness. so dick decided to wait until serener times. one afternoon, however, the opportunity for entrusting one of his secrets arrived. for the past three days eugenia had been growing continuously weaker. the crisis of her disease had passed and her fever was not so high. but her weakness had become a more dangerous symptom. about four o'clock dick drove out to the house in the woods with dr. mason, who was one of the physicians devoting himself to eugenia's case. he did not go indoors, but asked that one of the three american red cross girls be sent out to speak to him. it was a cold afternoon, yet the sun was shining and dick felt that the fresh air would be of benefit. no matter which of the three girls was free to join him, they could walk up and down in the yard for a few minutes. the suspense of waiting for dr. mason's verdict would be less severe outdoors than shut up inside. but although dick walked up and down the front porch for quite ten minutes, no one appeared. either dr. mason had forgotten to deliver his message or else the girls were too busy or too nervous to leave the house. dick finally grew weary of the veranda as a place for a promenade. a little later some one would be sure to come out to him, and in the meantime he would walk a short distance into the woods. a few yards along the path the young man stumbled across barbara. she was wearing her gray blue nursing cape and was sitting upon a log. she looked so tiny and was huddled so close that dick somehow thought of a little gray squirrel. barbara was too engrossed in her thoughts to hear him until he was almost upon her. then dick grew frightened, because instead of speaking she jumped to her feet and put up her hand to her throat as if she were choking. it did not occur to dick that she was terrified. he did not dream that she had run away from the house because she dared not wait to hear dr. mason's decision in regard to eugenia. now, of course, she thought him sent to her with a message. and the worst of it was dick did not say a word. he simply stared at her, mute and sorrowful, because gay little bab had become such a pathetic figure on this november afternoon. dick's silence could mean but one thing to the girl. she made a little fluttering sound, wavered, and the next moment dick was holding her upright on her feet with both his arms. at this same instant barbara forgot both eugenia and herself. she had felt the world growing dark before her eyes a moment before. now a miracle brought her back to her senses. she drew herself away at once and stood upright. then placed both her hands on dick thornton's two arms. "dick," she said in an awed tone, "didn't you use _both_ your arms just now, when you kept me from falling?" her companion nodded. "i have been meaning to tell you, barbara, but you have been too busy with other things. my arm has been growing stronger each day, but i didn't know myself until this minute that i could use the lame one as easily as the good. i suppose because i was frightened about you, i forgot my own weakness." then while barbara was gazing at her friend in silence, but with her eyes expressing her joy in his news, mildred thornton came running along the path toward them. "dr. mason says eugenia is much better this afternoon. he has the greatest hopes of her," she cried, while still several yards away. "gene recognized nona and asked for something to eat. nona says she even objected to the way in which she gave her medicine, so i suppose we have the old gene back again. come with me, barbara dear, dr. mason says we may both speak to her. afterwards she is to be left alone to go to sleep and i shall have to try to keep the children quiet. you must see if you can get jan away from her door. the boy has not moved from there since six o'clock this morning." then mildred condescended to recognize her brother. but after kissing him hurriedly, she put her arm about barbara's waist and both girls fled back to the house. later, dick returned to town without seeing either one of them again that afternoon. chapter xix _en route_ barbara meade was chosen as the suitable one of the three girls to accompany eugenia out of belgium. there were a number of reasons for this decision, but the most important was that her friends agreed she was most in need of a change. another point was that eugenia appeared to prefer to have her. but the journey could not be expected to be an altogether pleasant one. eugenia was still ill enough to be a responsibility, and, moreover, the german authorities did not hesitate to express their wish to be rid of her as soon as possible. it was for this reason that the trip was planned as soon as it was in the least feasible. toward the middle of december the preparations for departure were finally concluded. it was arranged that nona davis and mildred thornton should remain in charge of eugenia's house in the woods for a time. for the children must continue being cared for. therefore, the american hospital in brussels had agreed temporarily to dispense with their services. later on perhaps it might be possible to make a more definite arrangement. but at present nona and mildred were both pleased to have a change in their work. besides, this change afforded them the chance to stay on with their friends until the actual time of their leave-taking. neither of the four girls ever forgot the final moment of farewell. since daylight they had talked about everything else under the sun except the fact that they might not meet again for many months. for under the circumstances naturally their future plans were indefinite. barbara and eugenia had been informed that they would be escorted to the frontiers of holland. once within the neutral state no further observation would be made of them and they could go where they chose. they had determined to cross at once to england and then, lingering only long enough for eugenia to rest, to travel by slow stages to southern france. once there, they were once more to take refuge in the little "farmhouse with the blue front door." for in the midst of eugenia's illness a letter had arrived from madame castaigne. in it she had demanded that miss peabody be removed at once from a country at present overrun by barbarians. in her opinion, the american red cross girls should never have departed from the protection of her beloved france. whenever it was possible the farmhouse was at their disposal. moreover, madame castaigne suffered for their companionship. for she and françois had been entirely alone for months. captain castaigne was away in another part of the country with his regiment. so it had been both eugenia's and barbara's fancy to go back for a time to the little house they had both loved. when eugenia had entirely recovered her health, they could then decide on the next step. at eugenia's request no one of their many friends in brussels came out to say good-bye on the last day. for her own sake and the happiness of the children she wished her departure to be as quiet as possible. she and barbara were therefore ready and waiting by noon, when the german officer arrived who was to take them to the border line. neither of the girls had been informed who this man might be, nor what his character and rank. personally, barbara felt a considerable anxiety. so much of the comfort of the first of their journey would depend on his courtesy. then there was the chance that eugenia might be less strong than they hoped and fall ill again along the way. yet eugenia herself seemed to have no qualms upon the subject. her one desire appeared to be to get away, to return to the country she had wilfully turned her back upon. for it had been chiefly due to eugenia's influence that the american red cross girls had left france to begin a new service in belgium. finally, when the german officer arrived, nona, mildred and barbara were equally discouraged by his manner and appearance. in the first place, he was a man of a rough and surly exterior. he was only a sergeant, with an overbearing and insolent method of speaking. indeed, he made no pretence of treating eugenia in any way except as an intruder who had come dangerously near being a traitor to his government. therefore, he had nothing but scorn and dislike of her. he would have chosen to travel with his prisoner in handcuffs, but since this had been forbidden she should be allowed no other consideration. so nona and mildred had to kiss their friends good-bye with the german sergeant staring at them disdainfully. then before they realized what was taking place they beheld eugenia and barbara being marched down the path toward a car which was to take them to their train. eugenia could scarcely keep up with the rapid pace demanded of her. she looked very ill and fragile and barbara very tiny to have her clinging for support to her arm. neither mildred nor nona could see distinctly at the last. afterwards they remembered that eugenia and bab had both waved their hands just as the motor car plunged ahead down the narrow path through the woods. they had promised to write as soon as it was possible to get a letter through the lines. but there was a chance that their mail must first be sent to the united states and then have to recross the ocean. naturally the two girls who had been left behind were deeply depressed. yet they had little time for reflection. for eugenia had asked that the children be given a feast as soon as she was safely out of the way. moreover, there was nicolete dissolved in tears! she had wished to accompany her friend, but on account of monsieur bebé's helplessness had been persuaded to remain behind. work is ever the solace of sorrow, as mildred and nona both discovered ten minutes after their parting from the other two red cross girls. but eugenia and barbara had no such immediate consolation. half a dozen times in the next few hours barbara greatly desired to start a war on her own account. yet in spite of her somewhat fiery temperament she could say and do nothing. it was not on her own account that she was so angry, but for the sake of her friend. for notwithstanding her apparent weakness, eugenia was forced to travel in a train so crowded that she started upon her journey standing up. barbara's protest against this as an impossibility availed nothing. but a few moments later a belgian woman took compassion upon them. she was old but sturdy and determined and eugenia's refusal to occupy her place she would not consider. moreover, the girl had by this time reached such a condition that she must either sit down or fall. though desiring her to be as wretched as possible, even her guard appreciated this fact. afterwards barbara decided that she had never gone through more trying hours than those she endured on their way into holland. eugenia scarcely spoke a dozen words. indeed, she appeared happily unconscious of a great deal of the insolence leveled at her. but barbara missed nothing. the sergeant's every glance at eugenia was an insult, whenever he spoke to her it was with a growl. perhaps his task of driving an american girl out of a once friendly country was such a disagreeable one that no one except a bear would have wished to undertake it. however, both barbara and eugenia were willing exiles. the moment when the girls realized that their feet were upon dutch soil was the happiest they had spent in many weeks. for here at last their guard said good-bye to them. at least, though he used no words, his behavior had the effect of a good-bye. what he actually did was to deposit them upon the platform of a railroad station, then with a grunt of disfavor turn and stride away. but the girls both knew that the next train on which they were to travel would run through the peaceful dutch country. by night they arrived at a dutch port. in spite of the peril of floating mines and submarines the holland passenger boats were still making their nightly journeys to the english coast. naturally there were but few passengers aboard, as no one was crossing for pleasure. but tonight there were a small number of business men and a few women. at eight o'clock in the evening their boat sailed, and immediately after barbara and eugenia went to bed. food was brought to their stateroom, but they were too weary and too excited to eat, so it was scarcely nine o'clock when they were both sound asleep. of course they appreciated the possible danger of their crossing. but as a matter of fact neither barbara nor eugenia gave the idea five minutes' thought. when one has lived in the midst of war's tragedies and terrors, one no longer worries over _possible_ misfortunes. there is time enough when the blow falls. therefore, at midnight the two friends were peacefully sleeping, when they were awakened by an extraordinary sensation and then a tumultuous noise. suddenly their little steamer had come to an abrupt halt in mid-sea. there was no warning, no gradual slowing down. one moment they had been traveling at full speed, the next they were at a complete standstill. then there began a tremendous rushing about on the deck above the floor where the two american red cross girls had their berths. soon after a heavy splash followed as if something had been dropped into the sea. although they were both awakened with the first reversal of the boat's engines, neither of the girls spoke until after the noise subsided. then it was eugenia. "something extraordinary has happened, bab dear," she said quietly. "i think you had best go and see what it is. i have a feeling that perhaps our boat is going to sink. but there has been no explosion so far!" eugenia was extraordinarily calm, almost passive. one may not believe this state of mind to be possible, but wait until you have had just such a personal experience with danger. barbara's answer was to scramble quickly out of the upper berth. she chanced to be wearing a warm blue wrapper which served as a gown. so now she only needed to slip her fur coat over it and pull down her gray squirrel cap over her brown curls. "be getting dressed, eugenia, while i find out what has happened. i'll come back in a moment," she advised. but once outside her stateroom, barbara discovered only a mild excitement. a few passengers were running up and down the narrow hallway, clinging to scanty costumes. one of them explained the situation to barbara. "nothing's much amiss, we are all getting too nervous these days," he commented. "our ship has just run up against a solid bank of fog. as we can't see an inch ahead of us, our captain has too good sense to go on in the darkness. we may have to stay here an hour, or twenty-four, there is no telling. hope a submarine won't come along and pick us off." and with this parting pleasantry barbara's new acquaintance departed. the next instant barbara returned and opened her stateroom door. "go back to sleep, gene dear, everything is serene," she said reassuringly; "there is only a heavy fog at sea. i want to go up on deck and investigate, so please don't worry about me." a few moments later barbara was groping her way about on deck until she discovered an empty steamer chair. this she crawled into, tucking her feet up under her and snuggling down close in the darkness. she could still hear the sailors rushing about on deck. now and then she could even catch the dim outline of a figure, but nothing else was discernible. the very lights suspended from the ship's side were pale and flickering. yet it was all immensely interesting. outside the ship both sky and water had apparently ceased to exist. one could see only a solid mass of gray-black fog like a wet and heavy veil overspreading the world. barbara had recovered from her fatigue with her few hours of sleep. never had she felt more wide awake or more excited. if only it were possible to see more. suddenly she jumped up from her chair. it is true the decks were wet and slippery and since she could not see her way about, nor be seen, she might be in danger of falling. nevertheless, barbara decided to risk the danger. a tumble more or less need not be serious and she was freezing from sitting still. and yet she had not the faintest intention or desire of going back to her stateroom. the fog might last for many hours, but then there was the chance that it might lift at any moment. barbara greatly desired to see the spectacle of a familiar world emerging from darkness into light. fortunately her side of the deck appeared to be entirely deserted. she rose and walked a few steps up and down, compelled to go slowly, for the fog lay like a damp weight upon her chest, pressing her backward with its dim, invisible hands. but after a little time, growing bolder when the desire to gaze down into the water swept over her, she turned and walked blindly forward. within a few paces she reached out to grasp the ship's rails. but instead her hands touched something warm and human. immediately she gave a smothered cry of embarrassment and fright. "i am so sorry," she murmured apologetically, then with a characteristic laugh. "but really i don't know whether i have run into you or you into me. will you please move to the right and i'll go to the left. then we need never meet again." "barbara," began a familiar voice. for the second time the girl's hands stretched forward, but this time they clung to the coat of the young fellow standing within a few feet of her. "dick thornton, can it be possible this is you, when you are in brussels?" she protested. "but then how can it be any one except you, although i have not seen you. if it is only your ghost i am holding on to, at least it is a very substantial one, and i never was so glad to meet any other ghost in my life." in answer dick thornton laughed out loud. "did anyone in the world ever talk in such a ridiculous fashion as barbara, and yet was there ever anyone so delightful?" he slipped his arm through the girl's. "let us walk up and down for a few moments while i explain the reality of my presence," he suggested, quietly taking his companion's consent for granted. "personally, i think it would be the more surprising if i were not here. did you think for an instant i would allow you and eugenia to go on this long trip alone, when eugenia has been so ill? i did not mention the subject to you girls, since i did not intend to have a discussion. but whether you allow it or not i shall be your faithful follower until you reach the little french farmhouse." barbara's eyes were swimming with unexpected tears. "you are the kindest person in the world always, dick," she answered. "and i can't tell you how glad i am to have you with us! i did dread the responsibility of gene more than i would confess. besides, i want you to see our 'house with the blue front door.' but i wonder if it is fair to mildred and nona to have you leave them for even a short time? your place is with them rather than any one else, isn't it?" "my place is beside you, barbara, whenever you are willing to have me," dick returned in such a matter-of-fact fashion that his companion did not at once understand the meaning of his words. "your place beside me?" she repeated slowly. "why, how is that possible when mildred is your sister and nona----" but dick was drawing her toward the side of the ship and now they were both leaning against the railing looking down at the glossy darkness beneath them. "yes, mildred is my sister and nona my friend," dick continued, "yet neither one of them can mean to me what the girl i would choose above all others to be my wife means. don't answer me for a moment, barbara. i have no delusion about your feeling for me, but that makes no difference. i want you to know that ever since those first days in new york you have filled the greater portion of my world. no matter what may happen to divide us, nor how far your life may lead away from mine, i shall not change." the girl and man were standing within only a few feet of each other. now barbara moved closer and laid her hand on her companion's coat sleeve. "i am not very anxious for anything to divide us, nor for my life to lead far away from yours," she whispered. at this moment the bank of fog rolled up as if it were a stage curtain being raised in answer to the prompter's bell, when for the first time that evening dick and barbara caught the vision of each other's faces. chapter xx _noel_ it was christmas morning in southern france. for several hours a light snow had been falling, but had not stayed upon the ground. yet it clothed the branches of the trees with white lace and filled the air with jewels. walking alone a slender girl with dark hair and eyes lifted her face to let the snow melt upon her cheeks. she looked fragile, as if she were just recovering from an illness, nor did her expression betray any special interest in christmas. "these woods are as lovely as i remember them," she said aloud. "it is true, i never could find a place in belgium i liked half so well." then she stopped a moment and glanced around her. "i do hope barbara and dick won't discover i have run away. i feel as much a truant as if i were a small girl. but they surely won't be tramping through my woods at present, when they assured me they would spend several hours at the chateau. so i can't be found out till it is too late. i feel i must see nicolete's little log house and nona's 'pool of melisande.'" ten minutes after eugenia arrived at the desired place. the lake of clear water which she had once described as the "pool of truth" was today covered with a thin coating of ice at its edges. the center was as untroubled as it had always been. above it tall evergreen trees leaned so close to one another that their summits almost touched. eugenia breathed deeply of the fragrance of the snow and the pine. the day was an unusually cold one for this part of the country, but the winter was being everywhere severe. it was as if nature would make no easier the task of her children's destruction of each other. but eugenia was not thinking of warlike things at this hour. she was merely feeling a physical pleasure in her own returning strength. yet just as she was congratulating herself on having been able to walk so far without tiring, the girl experienced a sudden, overpowering sensation of fatigue. for several moments she stood upright fighting her weakness; she even turned and started back toward home. then recognizing her own folly, eugenia looked for a place to rest. but she did not look very far nor in but one direction. yes, the log was there in the same place it had been six months before. with a half smile at herself eugenia sat down. she was not deceived, for she understood perfectly why she had wished to come back to this neighborhood and why today she had wanted to walk alone into these woods. but there could be no wrong in what she was doing, since no one would ever guess her reason. eugenia was sincerely pleased over barbara's and dick's happiness. but she would never confess herself so completely surprised as barbara demanded that she be. she merely announced that if one of the girls felt compelled to marry (and she supposed they could not all hope to escape the temptation of their nursing experiences in europe), at least she was grateful that barbara had chosen to bestow her affection upon an american. personally, she felt convinced that no foreign marriage could be a success. yet here sat eugenia in an extremely sentimental attitude with the light snow falling about her. more than this, she was in an equally sentimental state of mind. but then nothing of this kind matters when one chances to be entirely alone. dreams are one's own possession. then the girl heard a sound that entirely accorded with her train of thought. it was a slow velvet-like tread moving in her direction. in another moment duke had approached and laid his great head in her lap. he did not move again; there was no foolish wagging of his tail. these expressions of emotion were meant for lesser beasts; duke revealed his joy and his affection in a beautiful, almost a thrilling silence. eugenia had not seen her old friend since her arrival at the farmhouse a few days before. for some reason he had not called there with françois and she had not been outside the house until today. their trip had been a long and tiring one and she was more exhausted than she had expected to be. but this was a far more satisfactory reunion and eugenia was sincerely moved. she put her own thin cheek down on duke's silver head and remained as still as he was. truly _he_ had not forgotten! captain castaigne found them like this when he appeared within the next few seconds. he made no pretence of a greeting. instead he frowned upon his one-time friend as severely as she might have upon him had their positions been reversed. "it is not possible that you are in the woods in this snowstorm, eugenie! miss meade told me that i should find you at the little farmhouse. take my arm and we will return as quickly as possible." with entire meekness eugenia did as she was told. she did not even remember to be amused at this young frenchman's amazing fashion of ordering her about. but she was surprised into speechlessness at his unexpected appearance. "only yesterday your mother assured us you were in northern france with your regiment," eugenia murmured as she was being escorted along the path toward home. "she insisted that there was no possible prospect of your returning to this neighborhood in many months." captain castaigne smiled. "is that american frankness, eugenie? we french people prefer to leave certain things to the imagination. of course, i understand that you would never have come to the farmhouse had you dreamed of my being nearby. however, i am here for the purpose of seeing you. my mother did not intend to deceive you; i had not told her of my intention. but we will not talk of these things until we arrive at home. you are too weary to speak." this was so manifestly true that eugenia made no attempt at argument. she was fatigued, and yet there was something else keeping her silent. how splendidly well captain castaigne looked! his face was less boyish than she remembered it. but then she had not understood him at the beginning of their acquaintance. it had been stupid of her too, because no soldier receives the cross of the legion of honor who has not put aside boyish things. because it was christmas day, noel as the french term it, the living room at the farmhouse was gay with evergreens. but better than this, a real fire burned in the fireplace. eugenia let her companion take off her long nursing cloak and she herself removed her cap. then she stood revealed a different eugenia, because of barbara's taste and determination. instead of her uniform or her usual shabby, ill-made dress, she wore an exquisite pale gray crepe de chine, which made a beauty of her slenderness. about her throat there were folds of white and in her belt a dull, rose-velvet rose. this costume had been purchased in paris as the girls passed through and eugenia wore it today in honor of christmas. without a doubt eugenia looked pale and ill, but her hair was twisted about her head like a dull brown coronet and the shadows about her eyes revealed their new depth and sweetness. when she sat down again, drawing near the fire with a little shiver, captain castaigne came and knelt beside her. no american could have done this without awkwardness and self-consciousness. yet there was no hint of either in the young french officer's attitude. seeing him, eugenia forgot her past narrowness and the critical misunderstanding of a nature that cannot appreciate temperaments and circumstances unlike their own. she was reminded of the picture of a young french knight, the st. louis of france, whom she had seen among the frescoes of the pantheon in paris. very gravely captain castaigne raised eugenia's hand to his lips. "i care for you more than i did when i told you of my love and you would not believe. i shall go on caring. how long must i serve before you return my affection?" eugenia shook her head fretfully like a child. "but it isn't a question of my caring. i told you that there were a thousand other things that stood between us, henri." then she drew her hand away and laid it lightly upon the young man's head. "this house has many memories for me. perhaps when i am an old woman you will let me come back here and live a part of each year. may i buy the house from your mother? ask her as a favor to me?" eugenia was trying her best to return to her old half maternal treatment of the young officer. this had been the attitude which she had used in the months of his illness in the little "farmhouse with the blue front door." but this time their positions were reversed. "we will talk of that another time," he returned. "now you must be fair with me. i will not accept such an answer as you gave me before. i must be told the truth." captain castaigne had gotten up and stood looking down upon eugenia. "i return to my regiment tomorrow. you must tell me today." in reply the girl let her hands fall gently into her lap and gazed directly into the handsome, clear-cut face above her own. "why should i try to deceive you? it would be only sheer pretence. you are the only man i have ever cared for or ever shall. but i'll never marry you under any possible circumstances. i am too old and too unattractive and too--oh, a hundred other things." but captain castaigne was smiling in entire serenity. "we will marry at the little 'farmhouse with the blue front door' during my next leave of absence." but barbara and dick were at this moment entering the blue front door. half an hour later, when they had finished christmas dinner, dick thornton drew a magazine from his pocket, which had on its cover the sign of the red cross. "here is a poem some one in america has written called 'she of the red cross.' will you listen while i read it to you? to me the poem, of course, means barbara and to captain castaigne, eugenia." "she fulfills the dramatic destiny of woman, because she stands valiant, in the presence of pestilence, and faces woe unafraid, and binds up the wounds made by the wars of men. she fights to defeat pain, and to conquer torture, and to cheat death of his untimely prey. and her combat is for neither glory nor gain, but, with charity and mercy and compassion as her weapons, she storms incessantly the ramparts of grief. there thrills through her life never the sharp, sudden thunder of the charge, never the swift and ardent rush of the short, decisive conflict--the tumult of applauding nations does not reach her ears--and the courage that holds her heart high comes from the voice of her invincible soul. she fulfills the dramatic destiny of woman because, reared to await the homage of man and to receive his service, she becomes when the war trumps sound, the servitor of the world. and because whenever men have gone into battle, women have borne the real burden of the fray, and because since the beginning of time, man when he is hurt or maimed turns to her and finds, in her tenderness, the consolation and comfort which she alone can give. thus she of the red cross stands today, as woman has stood always, the most courageous and the most merciful figure in all history. she is the valor of the world." * * * * * * the fourth volume in the american red cross girls series will be called "the red cross girls with the russian army." in this volume the four girls will return to the scene of actual fighting. they will be with the russian army in their retreat. moreover, certain characters introduced in the first book will reappear in the fourth, so increasing the excitement and interest of the plot. a new romance differing from the others plays an unexpected part in the life of one of the girls. the story may safely promise to have more important developments than any of the past volumes. produced from scans of public domain works at the national library of australia.) australia at war a winter record made by will dyson on the somme and at ypres during the campaigns of and with an introduction by g. k. chesterton cecil palmer & hayward oakley house bloomsbury street london w.c. first edition : : copy- right cahill & co., ltd., printers, london and dublin. _dedication to the men of the a.i.f._ _to you who tread that dire itinerary who go like pedlars down the routes of death, grey in its bloody traffic, but who gaze inured upon its scarlet merchandise with eyes too young to have yet wholly shed the pity moving roundness of the child-- to you, like cave men rough-hewn of the mud, housed in a world made primal mud again, with terrors of that legendary past, reborn to iron palpability, roaring upon the earth with every wind-- to you who go to do the work of wolves burdened like mules, and bandying with death-- to hide the silent places of the soul-- the ribald jests that half convince the blind it does not wholly anguish you to die-- to you who through those days upon the somme, about you still the odours of our bush, i saw come down, with eyes like tired mares, along the jamming traffic of mametz, creeping each man, detached among his kind, along a separate hell of memory-- to you, and you, i dedicate these things that have no merit save that they, for you, were woven with what truth there was in me where you went up, with death athwart the wind poised like a hawk a-strike--to save the world, or else to succour poor old bloody bill beleaguered in a shell hole on the ridge._ _w. d._ [illustration: _dedication to the men of the a.i.f._] _artist's note._ _this selection of drawings, made during the winters at ypres and on the somme reflects more the misery and the depression of the material conditions of these campaigns than it does any of their exaltations or their cheerfulnesses._ _here and now--here on the new somme and now when spring is about us in a land upon which war has not had time to fully wreak his wicked will--these two latter qualities are dominant. in the spirit of dernancourt and of villers-bretonneux the selection made from my drawings may seem to overstress this winter note. they are not primarily cheerful--but it is open to doubt whether we are behaving generously in demanding that the soldier who is saving the world for us should provide us with a fund of light entertainment while doing it._ _the truth is that war has many moods and nothing more is hoped than that the selection made from my drawings and my notes may record something of the one of its moods to which i was temperamentally most attuned during those bad seasons on the somme and at ypres._ _w. d., france, may, ._ introduction everybody knows that mr. dyson, who has made these striking sketches of the great war in which he has himself been wounded, originally became famous as a caricaturist, probably the most original caricaturist of our time. to some it may even need a word of further explanation adequately to connect a caricaturist so fanciful with a tragedy so grave and grim. nor indeed is the connection only that more obvious one, which has drawn so many men of genius into duties that are simply normal because they are national. mr. dyson is indeed as patriotic in external as he is public spirited in internal politics; but his case here must not be confused with what might have occurred if, in some national crisis, the late phil may had drawn a cartoon for sir john tenniel, or if the late dan leno had sung, with all possible sincerity, a patriotic song. in such cases men might say that great artists were behaving like good citizens; but that it was rather of their ordinary than their extraordinary qualities that they were at that moment justly proud. the importance of mr. dyson's work cannot be properly appreciated unless we realise that his patriotism and public spirit are extraordinary as well as ordinary; for to be extraordinary without being also ordinary is merely another name for being mad. mr. dyson in becoming more national does not become less individual; nor does he for the first time become serious. the graver work of such an artist will not be merely grotesque, if only because his most grotesque work was always full of gravity. his caricature was a criticism, and indeed a very severe criticism, of the whole modern world. and it is perhaps the severest of all criticisms on the modern world, that the one form of art that has rendered it most seriously and most subtly, is the art of caricature. here it may well be left an open question whether this character in our time, as compared with former times, means that we more easily appreciate satirists, or merely that we more easily lend ourselves to satire. in any case the lightest, wildest or even crudest sketch scratched down by dyson has always had more of the true grip of gravity than the whole of the royal academy. it is our modern misfortune that what is most solemn is most frivolous; because it is, in motive if not in method, most facile. there is always genuine thought in the design as well as the detail of mr. dyson's work; and it is thought of a kind that is too little defined or understood. where he has always differed from a common capable caricaturist is approximately in this; that it was never the comic but rather the serious feature that he caricatured. it is the soul rather than the body that he has drawn out in long fantastic lines. his comedy has never been merely comic, but rather philosophic and poetic. when he drew a jew he did not merely draw the nose of a jew, as a man might draw the trunk of an elephant; the most prominent thing about an elephant but not the most elephantine. he would rather draw that oriental type of eye, so strange in its shape and setting; which can be seen carved on colossal assyrian masks of stone or painted flat on the cases of egyptian mummies. and this marks his philosophic sentiment; he throws on things a new light which is also an ancient light; which is in its nature historic and even pre-historic. this is what links him up with the school of the great satirists; for it is one of the chief strokes of satire to tell new things that they are old; nay, in a sense to extinguish them by telling them they are eternal. but there is necessarily the same sort of epic symbolism underlying his treatment of the toils and perils he most sincerely admires, as underlying his treatment of the luxury and tyranny he has most drastically denounced or exposed. and that is why something of this almost allegoric spirit must be appreciated, in appreciating his studies of the appalling pageant of the great war. being a satirist he is a humorist; but we must not look for mere lively notes of what may be called the humours of the trenches. nothing can be more admirable in another aspect than those humours; or above all than the humour, and especially the good humour, which generally endures and records them. but such an artist is not concerned so much with that comic relief, by which details arc relieved against tragedy, as with that high and tragic relief by which the tragedy itself is relieved against the light of heaven. indeed there is something significant in all that white light and sharp shadow which belongs to such scenes, and is so favourable to the art of black and white. there is even something of allegory in that awful and empty daylight in which armies live, so often without a stick of roof or a rag of curtain. all the soldiers in a great war are historical characters; but these are rather specially standing, not against court or camp, but only against the sky. they are under a light which will indeed prove eternal; even as compared with other historic groups they will continue in a sort of permanent publicity; for we do not yet realise from what distant heights and terraces of time the arena of this war will be seen. and therefore it is, perhaps, that through all the rags and rude equipment that dyson draws can be traced the lines of a sort of nakedness, like that of the dead on the last day. it may be that such a criticism is too much haunted by the shadow of those sharp satiric and philosophic designs of his former work; in which the draughtsmanship was itself a kind of swordsmanship. but those who have most valued his more fantastic visions will be disposed to recognise this larger reality through the veil of realism. they will be able to see the old and true types of mankind, as it were, in a masquerade of khaki. a certain loose precision of line, which renders the length of limb or the lightness of the lifted head in the young soldier, is the same as that which gave, in the labour cartoons, a new and too much neglected dignity to the young workman. and it will be well to note this; since a conventional patriotism is too prone to forget that the young soldier generally is the young workman. but neither in the new sketches nor the old ones was the dignity merely dignified, in the sentimental manner; and many will still think it comic precisely because it is tragic. in this sense there is a note of satire in the names of famous or notorious london streets, stuck up as labels in the tunnels of the sunken labyrinth of trench warfare. it is wholesome to remember that many of these men have sat or stood with as haggard an endurance upon the stones of the real streets at home; and have suffered almost as much from the horrors of peace as from the horrors of war. nor should we forget how much of the life of labour has been subterranean, and with less hope of an outlet on victory. tyranny is in a true sense oppression; it is the weight of worldly evil that the artist has felt; a thing not so much unearthly as unnaturally earthly. and this again will always make him a true interpreter of the great war, whether in the idealism of caricature or the realism of such work as this. for what the free men of the world are now labouring to lift is indeed an oppression almost in the literal sense of a load; it is like a nightmare in this vital sense, that while it lasts it seems, not less, but more real than reality. the barbarism which all free men defy to-day might well be embodied in one of the dyson demons, swinish, swollen, sullen; the thing described by the genius of an artist in another art; by m. emile cammaerts writing also of the satan who has set up his throne in belgium: "il n'est pas triste; il n'est pas fier; il n'est pas beau; il n'est pas même troublant; il n'est pas ambigu; il est laid; il est lâche; est gros, il est sot; et il pue!" we are fighting against a living slime, like that mud of flanders which men loathe more than wounds and death. and indeed the two spirits of the war might be conceived as meeting in the flats of the flemish coast under the emblems of the two elements; the strange slow strength of the inland swamp and the force and freedom of the sea. against such elemental emptiness of bare lands and bleak waters. dyson has moved and showed his comrades moving; and his stroke is here none the less militant because he is now using only the artillery of art, which fights not with fire but with light. g. k. chesterton. list of illustrations. facing page bringing up the stew reporting at the battery dead beat the cook group looking for the battalion the mate tunnellers under german territory coming out on the somme labour battalion man back to the waggon lines after polygon wood lightly wounded at a menin road dressing station stretcher-bearers near martinpuich "waiting for the stew" in the tunnel--hill fatalist outside the pill box coming out at hill "hanging about" down from the ridge _bringing up the stew._ _". . . . the precious fluid, the hope-giving potion, the stew from the wagon lines, the last evidence of the existence on earth of any civilization or culture that the battalion will know for some days. it was to be a real stew with fresh meat, and in this case it was a triumph of the art, something to send the boys from supports into the line if not singing the merry songs of the imaginative press at least with some of the content of the gorged python. . . . ._ _"when the look-out saw the panting carriers coming over that greasy mixture of mud and water and desolation known as flanders, they raised the equivalent of a cheer and hope again raised her drooping pennons. you have got to die--don't die hungry if you can help it. to have fluked a good meal before you go is to have cheated death to the extent of having bagged a good human satisfaction under his chagrined nose. and that is so much to the good._ _. . . . an article of importance in the credo of that narrow land that runs from nieuport to the alps--where things are as they were and things are valued as they were in the deplorable beginning of all things."_ [illustration: _bringing up the stew._] _reporting at the battery._ _". . . . h----'s two men had floundered back to the guns from the forward observation post after this very thick night and reported to 'm----.'_ _"'m----' was very liberal to them with hurley's whiskey--and they needed it. this sort of need for a drink is something that bears no relationship to anything you and i could ever know in a nicely regulated civilian life. it is of a world which the temperance die-hard has never envisaged, and in which the drink does nothing more criminal than make man more stoical of conditions that in themselves are cruel enough to justify him in committing the seven cardinal sins if that would procure alleviation of those conditions."_ [illustration: _reporting at the battery._] _dead beat._ _"he was there as we came back with wilkins after watching the reply to the s.o.s., sleeping on the eternal petrol tin, and was there when we got breakfast--dead to the world . . . . i have not at all drawn him as childish as he looked . . . . he had come down with a relief from somewhere near glencorse wood and had lost himself and floundered all night in shell holes and mud through the awful rain and wind which seemed to have power to wash out the very gunfire of manton's battery. he had floundered into the cover of the tunnel and stopped there, disregarded, save for occasional attempts to assist on the part of the men--attempts that could not penetrate through to his consciousness past the dominating instinct to sleep anywhere, anyhow, and at any cost . . . . the boys tried to get him to report to the pommy colonel in another gallery . . . . but he dropped off again into that coma of a spent man, too spent to be wholly unconscious of his misery even in sleep . . . . and i heard him muttering in a sullen diminuendo, like a rebellious schoolboy, 'bloody war!! bloody war!! bloody war.' . . . . he looked like the hundred others one has seen--like many in the company that were lining the corridors, but that his abandonment was greater--he was emphatically lost, lost like a child, and evoking some of the pity that goes to a child, he looked so very young--that quality which here has power to touch the heart of older men in the strongest way. to see going into the line boys whose ingenuous faces recall something of your own boyhood--something of someone you stole fruit with, or fought with or wagged it with through long hot australian afternoons--to see them in this bloody game and to feel that their mother's milk is not yet dry upon their mouths . . . ."_ [illustration: _dead beat._] _the cook._ _". . . . who is at his noblest when he has graduated in the shearers' sheds. i speak not as a gourmand of the table. i sometimes think it is the primitive emotions of grief and disillusionment and ferocious despair induced by the cooking of the cooks that make some of our battalions so awe inspiring in the attack._ _"no, this superiority indicated is not so much from the point of view of cooking as of character. the cook stands apart in his little niche of fame. he has with him the democracy of the shearer's shed, coloured with the exclusiveness of the artist, the practitioner of mysteries. the work of the divine sculptor as it came from his chisel, rough hewn as the master left it. what he was he will be._ _"the cook stands apart in his little niche of fame eternal and unchangeable, as god and the democracy of the shearing shed made him. the army and its war councils, its field marshals, its g.s.o.'s, its n.c.o.'s, retire foiled and chagrined in their puny efforts to unmake what these two have made. . . . it is with a mixture of the two qualities--the equality of the shearing shed and the exclusiveness of the studio--that he meets them all, from brigadiers to batmen. a manner that frankly accepts the doctrine of the brotherhood of man with its implied admission that after all he is no better than the colonel. . . . yes, his cooking may be bad but his heart is good. as mac used to sing:_ _"''e aint't no anzac 'ero who gets 'is photo took, 'e is greasy but a white man is the old battalion cook.'_ _"i have often suspected that australian units select their cooks not on their ability as chefs but for the stories that can be told about them to other units. it is a sort of competition, and the cook who said, 'i know i'm no chef from the 'otel australia, but there ain't a willinger cook on the somme!' was worth it, cooked he ever so badly. he often has, or had, a son or two in the line who probably left australia criminally young to prove themselves men as the old man left to prove himself one of the boys. and in moments of depression, to which he is liable, he is full of mutinous threats of his intention to get back to the line again where the men are. . . ."_ [illustration: _the cook._] _group._ _"i started to do a drawing for a christmas card for the battalion, representing some of the boys thinking of australian summer, in the mud of this flanders winter, but the thing was a little too funereal to force on fighting men. i did them one dwelling more on the light and gamesome aspects of a life of slush, sandbags, shells and sacrifice. . . . the passion of soldiers for amusing drawings of the front is a different thing to the civilians demand for them. . . . . it is a proper and wise attitude for the soldier to take towards his hardships, but for the others to be so preoccupied with discovering the humours of the soldier's lot is scarcely seemly."_ [illustration:_ group._] _looking for the battalion._ _". . . . on the road . . . . the incongruities of the traffic--the ammunition carrier down from the guns with his mule covered with mud and himself disreputable to a point beyond the dreams of any civil tramp--a thing i am sure countless irreproachable patriots at home would imprison on sight--breathing grim blasphemy and jostled by staff cars polished and hermetically sealed against the blast that affect the men of mortal clay. . . . the labour battalion man with those characteristics especially and irrevocably his--the chinese with his invincible good humour and horse play. . . ._ _"the foot traffic, the men coming and going from divisional baths, bearing towels, coming from and going to that area where are estaminets, those links with a civilian past--those fairy lands within the four walls of which we can behave almost with the godlike freedom of the aristocratic days when one was a vendor of vegetables, a server of writs, a pleader of causes, a duke or a dustman._ _". . . . the men who are seeking their battalion--who drift out of nowhere, asking the whereabouts of the th, or the th, or the th, and who drift on into nowhere, and no doubt ultimately find there what they seek--no doubt through the exercise of a native scepticism regarding what is told them. for as there is a lot of human nature in war and it is human to wish to impart information, information is imparted with more willingness than accuracy, here even more than elsewhere. no doubt they find it, for all things are ultimately found in the army, through the chinese patience with which the life has imbued all--a patient and an oriental sense of the unimportance of time bred by countless experiences which tells you that however long it takes you to get there you will one day or one year get there without disaster, and to hurry it unduly is bad in philosophy and unavailing in fact . . . ._ _"they come, these strays, from leave, from all those temporary detachments from their units, from hospital, from rest camps, and they live on the country, trusting no doubt to the freemasonry, the trades' unionism of the fighting man, the large confederation--the offensive and defensive alliance of the lance-privates._ _"from rail heads and the tender mercies of r.t.o's., they move over france through villages, and over what were villages--over duck boards and shell holes with that grousing league-devouring indifference to all things made which is bred by a life two-thirds of the activity of which is moving from a place you don't want to be in to a place you don't want to go to."_ [illustration: _looking for the battalion._] _the mate._ _"most of the boys are of that age at which friendship is not the tepid give and take of years of discretion. remember our friendship at twenty! at that age a friendship is a thing intense and unquestioning--it is blasphemy to it to think of it as anything less than eternal. . . . . normally those friendships wither painlessly in their season, but this generation, or what maimed fragment of it lives through it all, will live with the memory of heroic friendships cut off at the height of their boyish splendour, and which can never suffer the slow deterioration of disillusionment._ _. . . you see what an invitation to grief is friendship with the regiments of foot. . . . they are touchingly profane about the dead friend . . . . they see that a cross comes from the battalion carpenter, or the especial friend like little 'w----' makes a cross himself and carves an ornate rising sun on it--but they are movingly profane about it all, employing all those proper expedients of the digger for the disguising of deep feeling--of the exhibition of which the boys are so timid that they have evolved a language compound of blasphemy and catch phrases in which they can unpack their hearts without seeming to be guilty of the weakness of emotion."_ [illustration: _the mate._] _tunnellers under german territory._ _"the tunneller's activity is only heard of when the world is deafened by the blowing of a mine that he has prepared through months of silent, modest and retiring labour; labour that in its nature is coy and shy of observation. a form of warfare with its stratagems and incredible counter stratagems . . . for which the australian miner has peculiar advantages . . . . to these strange places he brings all that was characteristic of him in the lady berry at home . . . ._ _"it was our tunnellers who prepared a little show which an english battalion carried out, and the night of the touch off a battalion commander said to a tunnelling officer, 'i think i should tell you that i am given to understand that some of your men are going to attempt to go over with us to-night.' which it is understood that the tunnellers did contrive to do, for the next day a tunneller showed 'p----' a fine fritz watch. 'you don't get them tunnelling, sir,' he said. 'the infantry will do me after this.'"_ [illustration: _tunnellers under german territory._] _coming out on the somme._ _". . . . the haunting memory of the somme, those ghosts of young men treading their pale way through the substantial virility of its wheel-choked arteries . . . . moving like chain gangs dragging invisible chains._ _"they came back, these pioneers of the liberties of the world, with them still the eternal mystery of no man's land, men walking in their sleep . . . . young men bearded like unshorn andalusians, and garbed like ragged adventurers of another age . . . . companions of a new marco polo returned from gazing on strange and terrible lands."_ [illustration: _coming out on the somme._] _labour battalion man._ _"he looks so like a fragment of civilian england, strayed incongruously into these warlike areas. one might say he smells of the comic paper, of the music hall, of the comic british workingman, were it not that there is a twist in the humour of it all that moves to other things than happy laughter . . . ._ _"it is a sorry jest that they, these unfit, the delvers of the earth, simple and twisted labourers with a saxon faith in beer, should be the material in which war and the very great work out their soaring ambitions. . . . . but i am sometimes solaced by the feeling that their miseries are not very much grosser than those in which a grateful country found them when war made her cognisant of their civic existence."_ [illustration: _labour battalion man._] _back to the waggon lines after polygon wood._ _"the quarter-master had spent a feverish day gathering what comforts he could for the returning braves, fussing about like a good housewife expecting the return of her lord. begging and borrowing and by less legitimate means accumulating those things that would make it something of a home-coming--the return to this spot--desolate and shell shriven by the shells of three years and the bombs of last night, but at the worst a haven of effeminate ease to the home-comers._ _"the cooks had worked with an energy that is explained by the fact that love and kindness are best expressed in the primitive world by food and, sentimental though it sounds, they wanted to show both of those things. those profane slushies were the representatives of that fundamental and admirable human instinct to comfort the stricken with food, to gorge the tired hero._ _"the strays began to arrive alter midnight, in ones and twos and threes, directed by the battalion guides posted on the route, and from then onward the groups thickened and dispersed and gathered again around the cookers that shone like lode stars in the gloom. they came down the road out of the night asking for a company, b company, c company, leaning well forward to balance the light pack on the shoulders, the silent, the garrulous, the boisterous and the grim, and presenting their dixies for stew on the right, tea on the left. . . ._ _". . . all with a tendency to group about in the sociable area of the cookers where they stood, dropping brief words in confirmation of the narratives of the garrulous few, weary to exhaustion, eager for food and for rest, but for the while content with the negative joys of being merely out of it._ _"it is now that are told stories that will perhaps never be told again, for on his return from the line slowly but surely the civilian habit of mind reasserts itself, standards that are based on the sanctity of human life and which are at variance with the grim necessities of the hop-over, assume their normal control. i assume that in many cases good soldiers will no more talk in the decencies of civil life of things they have had to do in war than they will practise them there. . . ."_ [illustration: _back to the waggon lines after polygon wood._] _lightly wounded at a menin road dressing station._ _". . . . a brush had been passed over all the faces of these wounded, wiping out differences of expression, of character and intelligence; leaving them with something of the facial sameness that we see in different races of a different colour. i suppose it is the suffering and strain, common to them all, which gives them this one-ness of look, the same strain, the same relief, the same apathy, the same unquestioning collapse into the hands of the medicine men."_ [illustration: _lightly wounded at a menin road dressing station._] _stretcher-bearers near martinpuich._ _"they move with their stretchers like boats on a slowly tossing sea, rising and falling with the shell riven contours of what was yesterday no man's land, slipping, sliding, with heels worn raw by the downward suck of the somme mud. slow and terribly sure through and over everything, like things that have got neither eyes to see terrible things nor ears to heed them . . . . the fountains that sprout roaring at their feet fall back to the earth in a lace-work of fragments--the smoke clears and they, momentarily obscured, are again moving on as they were moving on before: a piece of mechanism guiltless of the weaknesses of weak flesh, one might say. but to say this is to rob their heroism of its due--of the credit that goes to inclinations conquered and panics subdued down in the privacy of the soul. it is to make their heroism look like a thing they find easy. no man of woman born could find it that. these men and all the men precipitated into the liquescent world of the line are not heroes from choice--they are heroes because someone has got to be heroic. it is to add insult to the injury of this world war to say that the men fighting it find it agreeable or go into it with light hearts."_ [illustration: _stretcher-bearers near martinpuich._] _"waiting for the stew."_ _". . . . a dixie of stew for each company was to arrive with the machine guns at the pill box at . and then into the line. but there was a block on the corduroy--fritz was putting salvoes onto the road and the cookers could not get past the jam at ----, so the dixies were man-handled from there across the duckboards where duckboards were and across the mud where they were not to the pill box. they arrived there at three o'clock. during the wait the innocent 'j----,' the mule king, the prince of the packs, was roundly consigned to many kinds of torment, the dreadful possibility of going in without that stew began to haunt the strongest and the bravest. . . . . it was a process of sitting still in the dripping cover of that triumph of german architecture. sexton house, and watching the appetite grow, assisted by some blood-curdling comments of the doc's."_ [illustration: _"waiting for the stew."_] _in the tunnel--hill ._ _". . . . the companies staging in the tunnels were resting in every conceivable attitude of weariness in slush that was everywhere, and everywhere rising higher. the circumstances were bearable to what they would be in the line, but fatigue even here, to the unlucky forced to spend a night in the bad spots of the tunnels, is a circumstance the aching misery of which cannot be judged by any standard with which our average civilian is conversant. fatigue at its worst is to the most articulate of our generation the least familiar of humanity's woes, but here in this world it is about us again with the torturing insistence of the troglodyte past--one of the commonplaces of the stone age with which war and the wonders of science have familiarised us. . . . the brutish weariness of our earliest hairy forbear, trembling in the savage morasses of an unfamiliar planet, is the daily lot of men like these--shopmen, men from the forge and factory and mine--heirs to all the amenities of the ages. it is part of the supremacy in suffering of the inarticulate infantry. fatigue, actual brutish and insensate, is borne by them to a pitch at which mules might be heart-broken. dull, undecorative heroism it is--that of these men of the 's----'._ _"but the poor fabric of military glory is woven of such--of trials that seem to break down the proud partitions which separate our lot from that of the animals. . . . these heroes of ours, alas, are unsupported by a helpful consciousness of their heroism. that joy is only for the onlooker. the tragic fact is that the incomparable heroisms of this winter warfare bring no compensations to the heroes--no element of dramatic exaltation in the performance of them. they are less swift dramatic acts than long states of siege with exhaustion as the besieger."_ [illustration: _in the tunnel--hill ._] _fatalist._ _". . . . the fatalist is born not made. the growing strain of the game is not producing more fatalists if ducking under shell fire is a proof of an absence of fatalism. for many who never ducked are now ducking, whether from wisdom or war strain they are taking this instinctive precaution. but there is a hardihood that persists through it all--there is a grim fatalist who is not fatalist born but is made it by a sort of savage irritation with the grossly incalculable element in the mischance of death. he does not scorn to duck out of sheer pride--to show he has not the wind up, but because he has his back up. he can't prevent the 'whiz-bangs' and the 'five-nines' but he can defy them. he invests them with a personality, a malignancy of personal enmity directed against himself, . . . and he defies them. as though he were to say, 'if you are going to hit me, you swine, you will hit me, but you can't stop me calling you bastard while you are doing it!'"_ [illustration: _fatalist._] _outside the pill box._ _". . . . men of the company that had been in occupation of the pill box awaiting in no very amiable frame of mind the completion of some detail of the relief . . . . i could not tell what they had to be discontented with in that happy land. around them was all the pomp and pageantry of war--a landscape the like of which man has never gazed upon since early chaos brooded over all. for westhoek and flers--the somme and the salient--as they were when they were war areas and it was winter--were landscapes that betrayed to the observant all the material content of war. they were the finished product--the perfection towards which that vast teutonised industry of war is working. landscapes without colour as of an evil earth in the throes of its dissolution--an earth torn and mangled with its ghost half given up and hanging over-head like a palpable emanation, half agony, half guilt . . . ."_ [illustration: _outside the pill box._] _coming out at hill ._ _"little groups of men burdened with the appliances of their trades file slowly across the hummocks of flanders mud. they come out of endless holes and go into endless holes like lonely ants bent on some ant-like service. . . . . ant-like in the distance, they loom upon a nearer vision things elemental and homeric, big with destiny. they are merely soldiers at the base, perhaps shopmen at brisbane, but they are things of mystery in the line. i feel that here all soldiers of all ranks tend to have the baffling profundity of the peasant, that sense of the nearness to the beginning of things which makes the artist see in the peasant the simple, unsolvable mystery of life reduced to its least common multiple--man shorn of all his vast cultures, which are not mysterious, and left simple man, which is."_ [illustration: _coming out at hill ._] _"hanging about."_ _"one so often sees them--these seemingly purposeless groups, awaiting events with the grim immobility of sioux braves . . . . doing nothing in places where no man would be for choice. stretcher bearers they may be, or runners, or a company that has left the sickly foetid odours of the dug outs--reminiscent of fowl houses and tramps in summer--to make room for the relief, and is now standing by in all the taciturn boredom of that condition--silent men whom you pass, with all their taciturnity, with the feeling that they have passed a verdict on you annihilating in its justice. . . . ._ _"it is men like myself--timid peepers into forbidden places, who look and go, who keep their virginal wonderment at what are the commonplaces of the trenches. and these silent watchers are such a commonplace. . . . perhaps the men familiar with it are unimpressed by the statuesque quietism of these men in places of risk and great events. . . . with their perpetual air of prisoners innocent and awaiting an unjust sentence. . . . they lounge there awaiting something that will send them into the glare of that limelight again like supers in a tragedy in which the supers are greater tragedians than the heroes."_ [illustration: _"hanging about."_] _down from the ridge._ _". . . . and brigades of the ---- english division came down, fresh from those quagmires in front of passchaendael. officers and men, they were in the last stage of exhaustion--in that condition where every forward step is a battleground on which the desire not to take it has to be met and conquered before that step is taken. they had foot slogged it all the way from c----. w----., and had only stayed there an hour--they looked what they were, men really dead but that their hearts would not let them lie down and die . . . . they spoke with that level exhausted voice of overdone men--if they spoke at all . . . . the little subaltern to whom we told the distance to s----, groaned aloud--but refused the drink we offered--i think it was that he would not allow himself in their extremity something the men could not get . . . . it was a division against which luck had set its face. fortune has her favourites among the divisions, and others she pursues with the vindictiveness of an evil step-mother. every ill circumstance contrivable by collusion between the weather, the enemy, and something we will call mischance seems to lay in wait for the brigades upon which the disfavour of fate has fallen. poor ----, it was one of them, unlucky on going in, unlucky while in, and unlucky on coming out. . . . "_ [illustration: _down from the ridge._] * * * * * transcriber's note: the only known changes made to the original publication are as follows: artist's note in the spirit of dernancourt and of villa-brettoneur _changed to_ in the spirit of dernancourt and of villers-bretonneux introduction: _the accented letters have been used in the poem written in french, instead of:_ "il n'est pas triste; il n'est pas fier; il n'est pas beau; il n'est pas meme troublant; il n'est pas ambigu; il est laid; il est lache; est gros, il est sot; et il pue!" page they will practice them there. . . ." _changed to_ they will practise them there. . . ." [illustration: price one shilling. chatto & windus, piccadilly.] [illustration] a day's tour a journey through france and belgium by _calais, tournay, orchies, douai, arras, bethune, lille, comines, ypres, hazebrouck, bergues, and st. omer_ with a few sketches by percy fitzgerald [illustration] london chatto and windus, piccadilly preface. this trifle is intended as an illustration of the little story in 'evenings at home' called 'eyes and no eyes,' where the prudent boy saw so much during his walk, and his companion nothing at all. travelling has become so serious a business from its labours and accompaniments, that the result often seems to fall short of what was expected, and the means seem to overpower the end. on the other hand, a visit to unpretending places in an unpretending way often produces unexpected entertainment for the contemplative man. some such experiment was the following, where everything was a surprise because little was expected. the epicurean tourist will be facetious on the loss of sleep and comfort, money, etc.; but to a person in good health and spirits these are but trifling inconveniences. athenÆum club, _august, _. contents. i. in town ii. dover iii. the packet iv. calais v. tournay vi. douai vii. arras viii. lille ix. ypres x. bergues xi. st. omer xii. st. pierre les calais a day's tour. i. _in town._ it is london, of a bright sultry august day, when the flags seem scorching to the feet, and the sun beats down fiercely. it has yet a certain inviting attraction. there is a general air of bustle, and the provincial, trundled along in his cab, his trunks over his head, looks out with a certain awe and sense of delight, noting, as he skirts the park, the gay colours glistening among the dusty trees, the figures flitting past, the riders, the carriages, all suggesting a foreign capital. the great city never looks so brilliant or so stately as on one of these 'broiling' days. one calls up with a sort of wistfulness the great and picturesque cities abroad, with their grand streets and palaces, ever a delightful novelty. we long to be away, to be crossing over that night--enjoying a cool fresh passage, all troubles and monotony left behind. on one such day this year--a wednesday--these mixed impressions and longings presented themselves with unwonted force and iteration. so wistful and sudden a craving for snapping all ties and hurrying away was after all spasmodic, perhaps whimsical; but it was quickened by that sultry, melting air of the parks and the tropical look of the streets. the pavements seemed to glare fiercely like furnaces; there was an air of languid eastern enjoyment. the very dogs 'snoozed' pleasantly in shady corners, and all seemed happy as if enjoying a holiday. how delightful and enviable those families--the father, mother, and fair daughters, now setting off gaily with their huge boxes--who to-morrow would be beside the ever-delightful rhine, posting on to cologne and coblentz. what a welcome ring in those names! stale, hackneyed as it is, there comes a thrill as we get the first glimpse of the silvery placid waters and their majestic windings. even the hotels, the bustle, and the people, holiday and festive, all seem novel and gay. with some people this fairy look of things foreign never 'stales,' even with repetition. it is as with the illusions of the stage, which in some natures will triumph over the rudest, coarsest shocks. well, that sweltering day stole by. the very cabmen on their 'stands' nodded in blissful dreams. the motley colours in the park--a stray cardinal-coloured parasol or two added to the effect--glinted behind the trees. the image of the happy tourists in the foreign streets grew more vivid. the restlessness increased every hour, and was not to be 'laid.' living within a stone's-throw of victoria station, i find a strange and ever new sensation in seeing the night express and its passengers starting for foreign lands--some wistful and anxious, others supremely happy. it is next in interest to the play. the carriages are marked 'calais,' 'paris,' etc. it is even curious to think that, within three hours or so, they will be on foreign soil, among the french spires, sabots, blouses, gendarmes, etc. these are trivial and fanciful notions, but help to fortify what one has of the little faiths of life, and what one wise man, at least, has said: that it is the smaller unpretending things of life that make up its pleasures, particularly those that come unexpectedly, and from which we hope but little. when all these thoughts were thus tumultuously busy, an odd _bizarre_ idea presented itself. by an unusual concatenation, there was before me but a strictly-tightened space of leisure that could not be expanded. friday must be spent at home. this was wednesday, already three-quarters spent; but there was the coming night and the whole of thursday. but friday morning imperatively required that the traveller should be found back at home again. the whole span, the _irreducible maximum_, not to be stretched by any contrivance beyond about thirty hours. something could be done, but not much. as i thought of the strict and narrow limits, it seemed that these were some precious golden hours, and never to recur again; the opportunity must be seized, or lost for ever! as i walked the sunshiny streets, images rose of the bright streets abroad, their quaint old towers, and town-halls, and marketplaces, and churches, red-capped fisherwomen--all this scenery was 'set,'--properties and decorations--and the foreign play seemed to open before my eyes and invite me. there is an eastern story of a man who dipped his head into a tub of water, and who there and then mysteriously passed through a long series of events: was married, had children, saw them grow up, was taken prisoner by barbarians, confined long in gaol, was finally tried, sentenced, and led out to execution, with the scimitar about to descend, when of a sudden--he drew his head out of the water. and lo! all these marvels had passed in a second! what if there were to be magically crowded into those few hours all that could possibly be seen--sea and land, old towns in different countries, strange people, cathedrals, town-halls, streets, etc.? it would be like some wild, fitful dream. and on the friday i would draw my head, as it were, out of the tub. but it would need the nicest balancing and calculation, not a minute to be lost, everything to be measured and jointed together beforehand. there was something piquant in this notion. was not life short? and precious hours were too often wasted carelessly and dawdled away. it might even be worth while to see how much could be seen in these few hours. in a few moments the resolution was taken, and i was walking down to victoria, and in two hours was in snargate street, dover. ii. _dover._ dover has an old-fashioned dignity of its own; the town, harbour, ports, and people seem, as it were, consecrated to packets. there is an antique and reverend grayness in its old inns, old streets, old houses, all clustered and huddled into the little sheltered amphitheatre, as if trying to get down close by their pride, the packets. for centuries it has been the threshold, the _hall-door_, of england. it is the last inn, as it were, from which we depart to see foreign lands. history, too, comes back on us: we think of 'expresses' in fast sloops or fishing-boats; of landings at dover, and taking post for london in war-time; how kings have embarked, princesses disembarked--all in that awkward, yet snug harbour. a most curious element in this feeling is the faint french flavour reaching across--by day the white hills yonder, by night the glimmering lights on the opposite coast. the inns, too, have a nautical, seaport air, running along the beach, as they should do, and some of the older ones having a bulging stern-post look about their lower windows. even the frowning, fortress-like coloured pile, the lord warden, thrusts its shoulders forward on the right, and advances well out into the sea, as if to be the first to attract the arrivals. there is a quaint relish, too, in the dingy, old-fashioned marine terrace of dirty tawny brick, its green verandas and _jalousies_, which lend quite a tropical air. behind them, in shelter, are little dark squares, of a darker stone, with glimpses of the sea and packets just at the corners. indeed, at every point wherever there is a slit or crevice, a mast or some cordage is sure to show itself, reminding us how much we are of the packet, packety. ports of this kind, with all their people and incidents, seem to be devised for travellers; with their flaring lights, _up-all-night_ hotels, the railway winding through the narrow streets, the piers, the stormy waters, the packets lying by all the piers and filling every convenient space. the old dover of turner's well-known picture, or indeed of twenty years ago, with its 'dumpy' steamers, its little harbour, and rude appliances for travel, was a very different dover from what it is now. there was then no rolling down in luxurious trains to an admiralty pier. the stoutest heart might shrink, or at least feel dismally uncomfortable, as he found himself discharged from the station near midnight of a blowy, tempestuous night, and saw his effects shouldered by a porter, whom he was invited to follow down to the pier, where the funnel of the 'horsetend' or calais boat is moaning dismally. few lights were twinkling in the winding old-fashioned streets; but the near vicinity of ocean was felt uncomfortably in harsh blasts and whistling sounds. the little old harbour, like that of some fishing-place, offered scarcely any room. the much-buffeted steamer lay bobbing and springing at its moorings, while a dingy oil-lamp marked the gangway. a comforting welcome awaited us from some old salt, who uttered the cheering announcement that it was 'agoin' to be a roughish night.' on this night there was an entertainment announced at the 'rooms,' and to pass away the time i looked in. it was an elocutionist one, entitled 'merry-making moments, or, spanker's wallet of varieties,' with a portrait of spanker on the bills opening the wallet with an expression of delight or surprise. this was his 'grand competition night,' when a 'magnificent goblet' was competed for by all comers, which i had already seen in a shop window, a blue ribbon reposing in _dégagé_ fashion across it. if a tumbler of the precious metal could be called a magnificent goblet--it was scarcely bigger--it deserved the title. the poor operator was declaiming as i entered, in unmistakable scotch, the history of 'little breeches,' and giving it with due pathos. i am bound to say that a sort of balcony which hung out at the end was well filled by the unwashed takers, or at least donees, of sixpenny tickets. there was a purpose in this, as will be seen. after being taken through 'the raven,' and 'the dying burglar,' the competition began. this was certainly the most diverting portion of the entertainment, from its genuineness, the eagerness of the competitors, and their ill-disguised jealousy. there were four candidates. a doctor-looking man with a beard, and who had the air either of reading familiar prayers to his household with good parsonic effect, or of having tried the stage, uttered his lines with a very superior air, as though the thing were not in doubt. better than he, however, was one, probably a draper's assistant, who competed with a wild and panting fashion, tossing his arms, now raising, now dropping his voice, and every _h_, too. but a shabby man, who looked as if he had once practised tailoring, next stepped on the platform, and at once revealed himself as the local poet. encouraged by the generous applause, he announced that he would recite some lines 'he 'ad wrote on the great storm which committed such 'avoc on hour pier.' there were local descriptions, and local names, which always touched the true chord. notably an allusion to a virtuous magnate then, i believe, at rest: 'amongst the var'ous noble works, it should be widely known, 'twas william brown' _(applause)_ 'that gave _this_ town the dover's sailors' 'ome!' _(applause)_. need i say that when the votes came to be taken, this poet received the cup? his joy and mantling smiles i shall not forget, though the donor gave it to him with unconcealed disgust; it showed what universal suffrage led to. the doctor and the other defeated candidates, who had been asked to retire to a private room during the process of decision, were now obliged to emerge in mortified procession, there being no other mode of egress. the doctor's face was a study. the second part was to follow. but it was now growing late, and time and mail-packets wait for no man. iii. _the packet._ as i come forth from the elocution contest, i find that night has closed in. not a ripple is on the far-stretching blue waste. from the high cliffs that overhang the town and its amphitheatre can be seen the faintly outlined harbour, where the white-chimneyed packet snoozes as it were, the smoke curling upwards, almost straight. the sea-air blows fresh and welcome, though it does not beat on a 'fevered brow.' there is a busy hum and clatter in the streets, filled with soldiers and sailors and chattering sojourners. now do the lamps begin to twinkle lazily. there is hardly a breath stirring, and the great chalk-cliffs gleam out in a ghostly fashion, like mammoth wave-crests. as it draws on to ten o'clock, the path to the admiralty pier begins to darken with flitting figures hurrying down past the fortress-like lord warden, now ablaze and getting ready its hospice for the night; the town shows itself an amphitheatre of dotted lights--while down below white vapours issue walrus-like from the sonorous 'scrannel-pipes' of the steamer. gradually the bustle increases, and more shadowy figures come hurrying down, walking behind their baggage trundled before them. now a faint scream, from afar off inland, behind the cliffs, gives token that the trains, which have been tearing headlong down from town since eight o'clock, are nearing us; while the railway-gates fast closed, and porters on the watch with green lamps, show that the expresses are due. it is a rather impressive sight to wait at the closed gates of the pier and watch these two outward-bound expresses arrive. after a shriek, prolonged and sustained, the great trains from victoria and ludgate, which met on the way and became one, come thundering on, the enormous and powerful engine glaring fiercely, flashing its lamps, and making the pier tremble. compartment after compartment of first-class carriages flit by, each lit up so refulgently as to show the crowded passengers, with their rugs and bundles dispersed about them. it is a curious change to see the solitary pier, jutting out into the waves, all of a sudden thus populated with grand company, flashing lights, and saloon-like splendour--ambassadors, it may be, generals for the seat of war, great merchants like the rothschilds, great singers or actors, princes, dukes, millionnaires, orators, writers, 'beauties,' brides and bridegrooms, all ranged side by side in those cells, or _vis-à-vis_. that face under the old-fashioned travelling-cap may be that of a prime minister, and that other gentlemanly person a swindling bank-director flying from justice. during the more crowded time of the travelling season it is not undramatic, and certainly entertaining, to stand on the deck of the little boat, looking up at the vast pier and platform some twenty or thirty feet above one's head, and see the flood of passengers descending in ceaseless procession; and more wonderful still, the baggage being hurled down the 'shoots.' on nights of pressure this may take nearly an hour, and yet not a second appears to be lost. one gazes in wonder at the vast brass-bound chests swooping down and caught so deftly by the nimble mariners; the great black-domed ladies' dress-baskets and boxes; american and french trunks, each with its national mark on it. every instant the pile is growing. it seems like building a mansion with vast blocks of stone piled up on each other. hat-boxes and light leather cases are sent bounding down like footballs, gradually and by slow degrees forming the mountain. what secrets in these chests! what tales associated with them! bridal trousseaux, jewels, letters, relics of those loved and gone; here the stately paraphernalia of a family assumed to be rich and prosperous, who in truth are in flight, hurrying away with their goods. here, again, the newly bought 'box' of the bride, with her initials gaudily emblazoned; and the showy, glittering chests of the americans. there is a physiognomy in luggage, distinct as in clothes; and a strange variety, not uninteresting. how significant, for instance, of the owner is the weather-beaten, battered old portmanteau of the travelling bachelor, embrowned with age, out of shape, yet still strong and serviceable!--a business-like receptacle, which, like him, has travelled thousands of miles, been rudely knocked about, weighed, carried hither and thither, encrusted with the badges of hotels as an old vessel is with barnacles, grim and reserved like its master, and never lost or gone astray. now the engines and their trains glide away home. the shadowy figures stand round in crowds. to the reflecting mind there is something bewildering and even mournful in the survey of this huge agglomeration and of its owners, the muffled, shadowy figures, some three hundred in number, grouped together, and who will be dispersed again in a few hours. a yacht-voyage could not be more tranquilly delightful than this pleasant moonlight transit. we are scarcely clear of the twinkling lights of the dover amphitheatre, grown more and more distant, when those of the opposite coast appear to draw near and yet nearer. often as one has crossed, the sense of a new and strange impression is never wanting. the sense of calm and silence, the great waste of sea, the monotonous 'plash' of the paddle-wheels, the sort of solitude in the midst of such a crowd, the gradually lengthening distance behind, with the lessening, as gradual, in front, and the always novel feeling of approach to a new country--these elements impart a sort of dreamy, poetical feeling to the scene. even the calm resignation of the wrapped-up shadows seated in a sort of retreat, and devoted to their own thoughts or slumbers, add to this effect. with which comes the thought of the brave little vessels, which through day and night, year after year, dance over these uncertain waters in 'all weathers,' as it is termed. when the night is black as erebus, and the sea in its fury boiling and raging over the pier, the lord warden with its storm-shutters up, and timid guests removed to more sheltered quarters, the very stones of the pier shaken from their places by the violence of the monster outside--the little craft, wrapping its mantle about its head, goes out fearlessly, and, emerging from the harbour to be flung about, battered with wild fury, forces her way on through the night, which its gallant sailors call, with truth, 'an awful one.' while busy with these thoughts i take note of a little scene of comedy, or perhaps of a farcical kind, which is going on near me, in which two 'harrys' of the purest kind were engaged, and whose oddities lightened the tediousness of the passage. one had seen foreign parts, and was therefore regarded with reverence by his companion. they were promenading the deck, and the following dialogue was borne to me in snatches: first harry (interrogatively, and astonished): 'eh? no! now, really?' second harry: 'oh, lord bless yer, yes! it comes quite easy, you know' (or 'yer know'). 'a little trouble at first; but, lord bless yer' (this benediction was imparted many times during the conversation), 'it ain't such a difficult thing at all.' i now found they were speaking of acquiring the french language--a matter the difficulty of which they thought had been absurdly overrated. then the second harry: 'of course it is! suppose you're in a caffy, and want some wine; you just call to the waiter, and you say--' first harry (who seems to think that the secret has already been communicated): 'dear me; yes, to be sure--to be sure! i never thought of that. a caffy?' second harry: 'oh, lor' bless yer, it comes as easy as--that! well, you go say to the fellow--just as you would say to an english waiter--"_don-ny maw_"--(pause)--"_dee vinne_."' first harry (amazed): 'so _that's_ the way! dear, dear me! vinne!' second harry: 'o' course it is the way! suppose you want yer way to the railway, you just go ask for the "_sheemin--dee--fur_." _fur_, you know, means "rail" in french--_sheemin_ is "the road," you know.' again lost in wonder at the simplicity of what is popularly supposed to be so thorny, the other harry could only repeat: 'so that's it! what is it, again? _sheemin_--' _'sheemin dee fur.'_ later, in the fuss and bustle of the 'eating hall,' this 'harry,' more obstreperous than ever by contact with the foreigners, again attracted my attention. everywhere i heard his voice; he was rampant. 'when the chap laid hold of my bag, "halloo," says i; "hands off, old boy," says i. "'eel fo!" says he. '"eel-pie!" says i. "blow your _fo_," says i, and didn't he grin like an ape? i declare i thought i'd have split when he came again with his "_eel fo_!"' he was then in his element. everything new to him was 'a guy,' or 'so rum,' or 'the queerest go you ever.' one of the two declared that, 'in all his experience and in all his life he had never heard sich a lingo as french;' and further, that 'one of their light porters at bucklersbury would eat half a dozen of them frenchmen for a bender.' this strange, grotesque dialogue i repeat textually almost; and, it may be conceived, it was entertaining in a high degree. _'sheemin dee fur'_ was the exact phonetic pronunciation, and the whole scene lingers pleasantly in the memory. iv. _calais._ but it is now close on midnight, and we are drawing near land; the eye of the french _phare_ grows fiercer and more glaring, until, close on midnight, the traveller finds the blinding light flashed full on him, as the vessel rushes past the wickerwork pier-head. one or two beings, whose unhappy constitution it is to be miserable and wretched at the very whisper of the word 'sea,' drag themselves up from below, rejoicing that here is calais. beyond rises the clustered town confined within its walls. as we glide in between the friendly arms of the openwork pier, the shadowy outlines of the low-lying town take shape and enlarge, dotted with lamps as though pricked over with pin-holes. the fiery clock of the station, that sits up all night from year's end to year's end; the dark figures with tumbrils, and a stray coach waiting; the yellow gateway and drawbridge of the fortress just beyond, and the chiming of _carillons_ in a wheezy fashion from the old watch-tower within, make up a picture. [illustration: hogarth's gate (calais)] [illustration: hall of the staple, (calais)] such, indeed, it used to be--not without its poetry, too; but the old calais days are gone. now the travellers land far away down the pier, at the new-fangled 'calais maritime,' forsooth! and do not even approach the old town. the fishing-boats, laid up side by side along the piers, are shadowy. it seems a scene in a play. the great sea is behind us and all round. it is a curious feeling, thinking of the nervous unrest of the place, that has gone on for a century, and that will probably go on for centuries more. certainly, to a person who has never been abroad, this midnight scene would be a picture not without a flavour of romance. but such glimpses of poetry are held intrusive in these matter-of-fact days. there is more than an hour to wait, whilst the passengers gorge in the huge _salle_, and the baggage is got ashore. so i wander away up to the town. how picturesque that stroll! not wholly levelled are the old yellow walls; the railway-station with its one eye, and clock that never sleeps, opens its jaws with a cheerful bright light, like an inn fire; dark figures in cowls, soldiers, sailors, flit about; curiously-shaped tumbrils for the baggage lie up in ordinary. here is the old arched gate, ditch, and drawbridge; hogarth's old bridge and archway, where he drew the 'roast beef of old england.' passing over the bridge into the town unchallenged, i find a narrow street with yellow houses--the white shutters, the porches, the first glance of which affects one so curiously and reveals france. here is the place of arms in the centre, whence all streets radiate. what more picturesque scene!--the moon above, the irregular houses straggling round, the quaint old town-hall, with its elegant tower, and rather wheezy but most musical chimes; its neighbour, the black, solemn watch-tower, rising rude and abrupt, seven centuries old, whence there used to be strict look-out for the english. down one of these side streets is a tall building, with its long rows of windows and shutters and closed door (quillacq's, now dessein's), once a favourite house--the 'silver lion,' mentioned in the old memoirs, visited by hogarth, and where, twenty years ago, there used to be a crowd of guests. standing in the centre, i note a stray roysterer issuing from some long-closed _café_, hurrying home, while the _carillons_ in their airy _rococo_-looking tower play their melodious tunes in a wheezy jangle that is interesting and novel. this chime has a celebrity in this quarter of france. i stayed long in the centre of that solitary _place_, listening to that midnight music. it is a curious, not unromantic feeling, that of wandering about a strange town at midnight, and the effect increases as, leaving the _place_, i turn down a little by-street--the rue de guise--closed at the end by a beautiful building or fragment, unmistakably english in character. behind it spreads the veil of blue sky, illuminated by the moon, with drifting white clouds passing lazily across. this is the entrance to the hôtel de guise--a gate-tower and archway, pure tudor-english in character, and, like many an old house in the english counties, elegant and almost piquant in its design. the arch is flanked by slight hexagonal _tourelles_, each capped by a pinnacle decorated with niches in front. within is a little courtyard, and fragments of the building running round in the same tudor style, but given up to squalor and decay, evidently let out to poor lodgers. this charming fragment excites a deep melancholy, as it is a neglected survival, and may disappear at any moment--the french having little interest in these english monuments, indeed, being eager to efface them when they can. it is always striking to see this on some tranquil night, as i do now--and calais is oftenest seen at midnight--and think of the earl of warwick, the 'deputy,' and of the english wool-staple merchants who traded here. here lodged henry viii. in ; and twelve years later francis i., when on a visit to henry, took up his abode in this palace. [illustration: belfry, calais.] crossing the _place_ again, i come on the grim old church, built by the english, where were married our own king richard ii. and isabelle of valois--a curious memory to recur as we listen to the 'high mass' of a calais sunday. but the author of 'modern painters' has furnished the old church with its best poetical interpretation. 'i cannot find words,' he says in a noble passage,' to express the intense pleasure i have always felt at first finding myself, after some prolonged stay in england, at the foot of the tower of calais church. the large neglect, the noble unsightliness of it, the record of its years, written so vividly, yet without sign of weakness or decay; its stern vastness and gloom, eaten away by the channel winds, and overgrown with bitter sea-grass. i cannot tell half the strange pleasures and thoughts that come about me at the sight of the old tower.' most interesting of all is the grim, rusted, and gaunt watch-tower, before alluded to, which rises out of a block of modern houses in the _place_ itself. it can be seen afar off from the approaching vessel, and until comparatively late times this venerable servant had done the charity of lighthouse work for a couple of centuries at least. but one of the pleasantest associations connected with the town was the old dessein's hotel, which had somehow an inexpressibly old-fashioned charm, for it had a grace like some disused château. some of the prettiest passages in sterne's writings are associated with this place. we see the figures of the monk, the well-known host, the lady and the _petit-maître_: to say nothing of the old _désobligeante_. even of late years it was impossible to look at the old building, which remained unchanged, without calling up the image of mr. sterne, and the curious airy conversation--sprinkled with what execrable french both in grammar and spelling!--that took place at the gate. an air of the old times pervaded it strongly: it was like opening an old _garde de vin_. you passed out of the _place_ and found yourself in the rue royale--newly named rue leveux--and there, dessein's stood before you, with its long yellow wall, archway and spacious courts, on each side a number of quaint gables or _mansardes_, sharp-roofed. over the wall was seen the foliage of tall and handsome trees. there is a coloured print representing this entrance, with the meeting of the 'little master' and the lady--painted by leslie--and which gives a good idea of the place. in the last century the courtyard used to be filled with posting-carriages, and the well-known _remise_ lay here in a corner. behind the house stretched large, well-stocked gardens, with which the guests at the hotel used to be recreated; while at the bottom of the garden, but opening into another street, was the theatre, built by the original dessein, belonging to the hotel, and still used. this garden was wild and luxuriant, the birds singing, while the courtyard was dusty and weed-grown. this charming picture has ever been a captivating one for the traveller. it seemed like an old country-house transferred to town. there was something indescribable in the tranquil flavour of the place, its yellow gamboge tint alternated with green vineries, its spacious courtyard and handsome chambers. it was bound up with innumerable old associations. thackeray describes, with an almost poetical affection and sympathy, the night he spent there. he called up the image of sterne in his 'black satin smalls,' and talked with him. they used to show his room, regularly marked, as i have seen it, 'sternes's room, no. ,' with its mezzotint, after sir joshua, hung over the chimney-piece. but this tradition received a shock some sixty years since. an inquisitive and sceptical traveller fancied he saw an inscription or date lurking behind the vine-leaves that so luxuriantly covered the old house, and sent up a man on a ladder to clear away the foliage. this operation led to the discovery of a tablet, dated two years too late for the authenticity of the building in which 'sterne's room' was. the waiter, however, in nowise disconcerted, said the matter could be easily 'arranged' by selecting another room in an unquestioned portion of the building! to make up, however, there was a room labelled 'sir walter scott's room,' with his portrait; and of this there could be no reasonable question. +------+ | ad | | | +------+ in later years it did not flourish much, but gently decayed. everything seemed in a state of mild sleepy abandonment and decay till about the year , when the desseins gave over business. the town, much straitened for room, and cramped within its fortifications, had long been casting hungry eyes on this spacious area. strange to say, even in the prosaic pages of our own 'bradshaw,' the epitaph of 'old dessein's' is to be read among its advertisements: 'calais. 'hÔtel dessein.--l. dessein, the proprietor, has the honour to inform his numerous patrons, and travellers in general, that after the st of january his establishment will be transferred to the hôtel quillacq, which has been entirely done up, and will take the name of hÔtel dessein. the premises of the old hôtel dessein having been purchased by the town of calais, it ceases to be an hôtel for travellers.' still, in this new function it was 'old dessein's,' and you were shown 'sterne's room,' etc. i recall wandering through it of a holiday, surveying the usual museum specimens--the old stones, invariable spear-heads, stuffed animals; in short, the usual rather heterogeneous collection, made up of 'voluntary contributions,' prompted half by the vanity of the donor and half by his indifference to the objects presented. we had not, indeed, the 'old pump' or the parish stocks, as at little pedlington, but there were things as interesting. here were a few old pictures given by the government, and labelled in writing; the car of blanchard's balloon, and a cutting from a newspaper describing his arrival; portraits of the 'citizen king' in his white trousers; ditto of napoleon iii., name pasted over; the flagstone, with an inscription, celebrating the landing of louis xviii., removed from the pier--in deference to republican sensitiveness--no doubt to be restored again in deference to monarchical feelings; and, of course, a number of the usual uninteresting cases containing white cards, and much cotton, pins, and insects, stuffed birds, and symmetrically-arranged dried specimens, the invariable indian gourds, and arrows, and moccasins, which 'no gentlemanly collection should be without.' never, during many a visit, did i omit wandering up to see this pleasing, old, but ghostly memorial. it may be conceived what a shock it was when, on a recent visit, i found it gone--razed--carted away. i searched and searched--fancied i had mistaken the street; but no! it was gone for ever. during m. jules ferry's last administration, when the rage for 'communal schools' set in, this tempting site had been seized upon, the interesting old place levelled, and a factory-like red-brick pile rapidly erected in its place. it was impossible not to feel a pang at this discovery; i felt that calais without its dessein's had lost its charm. madame dessein, a grand-niece or nearly-related descendant of _le grand dessein_, still directs at quillacq's--a pleasing old lady. there is still a half hour before me, while the gorgers in 'maritime calais' are busy feeding against time; and while i stand in the _place_, listening to the wheezy old chimes, i recall a pleasant excursion, and a holiday that was spent there, at the time when the annual _fêtes_ were being celebrated. never was there a brighter day: all seemed to be new, and the very quintessence of what was foreign--the gay houses of different heights and patterns were decked with streamers, their parti-coloured blinds, devices, and balconies running round the _place_, and furnishing gaudy detail. here there used to be plenty of movement, when the lafitte diligences went clattering by, starting for paris, before the voracious railway marched victoriously in and swallowed diligence, horses, postilions--bells, boots and all! the gay crowd passing across the _place_ was making for the huge iron-gray cathedral, quite ponderous and fortress-like in its character. here is the grand _messe_ going on, the swiss being seen afar off, standing with his halbert under the great arch, while between, down to the door, are the crowded congregation and the convenient chairs. overhead the ancient organ is pealing out with rich sound, while the sun streams in through the dim-painted glass on the old-fashioned costumes of the fish-women, just falling on their gold earrings _en passant_. there is a dreamy air about this function, which associated itself, in some strange way, with bygone days of childhood, and it is hard to think that about two or three hours before the spectator was in all the prose of london. for those who love novel and picturesque memories or scenes, there are few things more effective or pleasant to think of than one of these sunday mornings in a strange unfamiliar french town, when every corner, and every house and figure--welcome novelty!--are gay as the costumes and colours in an opera. the night before it was, perhaps, the horrors of the packet, the cribbing in the cabin, the unutterable squalor and roughness of all things, the lowest depth of hard, ugly prose, together with the rudest buffeting and agitation, and poignant suffering; but, in a few hours, what a 'blessed' change! now there is the softness of a dream in the bright cathedral church crowded to the door, the rites and figures seen afar off, the fuming incense, the music, the architecture! during these musings the fiercely glaring clock warns me that time is running out; but a more singular monitor is the great lighthouse which rises at the entrance of the town, and goes through its extraordinary, almost fiendish, performance all the night long. this is truly a phenomenon. lighthouses are usually relegated to some pier-end, and display their gyrations to the congenial ocean. but conceive a monster of this sort almost _in_ the town itself, revolving ceaselessly, flashing and flaring into every street and corner of a street, like some patagonian policeman with a giant 'bull's-eye.' a more singular, unearthly effect cannot be conceived. wherever i stand, in shadow or out of it, this sudden flashing pursues me. it might be called the 'demon lighthouse.' for a moment, in picturesque gloom, watching the shadows cast by the hogarthian gateway, i may be thinking of our great english painter sitting sketching the lean frenchwomen, noting, too, the portal where the english arms used to be, when suddenly the 'demon lighthouse' directs his glare full on me, describes a sweep, is gone, and all is dark again. it suggests the policeman going his rounds. how the exile forced to sojourn here must detest this obtrusive beacon of the first class! it must become maddening in time for the eyes. even in bed it has the effect of mild sheet-lightning. municipality of calais! move it away at once to a rational spot--to the end of the pier, where a lighthouse ought to be. v. _tournay._ but now back to 'maritime calais,' down to the pier, where a strange busy contrast awaits us. all is now bustle. in the great 'hall' hundreds are finishing their 'gorging,' paying bills, etc., while on the platform the last boxes and chests are being tumbled into the waggons with the peculiar tumbling, crashing sound which is so foreign. guards and officials in cloaks and hoods pace up and down, and are beginning to chant their favourite '_en voiture, messieurs_!' soon all are packed into their carriages, which in france always present an old-fashioned mail-coach air with their protuberant bodies and panels. by one o'clock the signal is given, the lights flash slowly by, and we are rolling away, off into the black night. 'maritime calais' is left to well-earned repose; but for an hour or so only, until the returning mail arrives, when it will wake up again--a troubled and troublous nightmare sort of existence. now for a plunge into cimmerian night, with that dull, sustained buzz outside, as of some gigantic machinery whirling round, which seems a sort of lullaby, contrived mercifully to make the traveller drowsy and enwrap him in gentle sleep. railway sleeping is, after all, a not unrefreshing form of slumber. there is the grateful 'nod, nod, nodding,' with the sudden jerk of an awakening; until the nodding becomes more overpowering, and one settles into a deep and profound sleep. ugh! how chilly it gets! and the machinery--or is it the sea?--still roaring in one's ear. what, stopping! and by the roadside, it seems; the day breaking, the atmosphere cold, steel-blue, and misty. rubbing the pane, a few surviving lights are seen twinkling--a picture surely something moslem. for there, separated by low-lying fields, rise clustered byzantine towers and belfries, with strangely-quaint german-looking spires of the nuremberg pattern, but all dimly outlined and mysterious in their grayness. there was an extraordinary and original feeling in this approach: the old fortifications, or what remained of them, rising before me; the gloom, the mystery, the widening streak of day, and perfect solitariness. as i admired the shadowy belfry which rose so supreme and asserted itself among the spires, there broke out of a sudden a perfect _charivari_ of bells--jangling, chiming, rioting, from various churches, while amid all was conspicuous the deep, solemn boom! boom! like the slow baying of a hound. it is five o'clock, but it might be the middle of the night, so dark is it. this magic city, which seems like one of those in albert dürer's cuts, rises at a distance as if within walls. i stand in the roadside alone, deserted, the sole traveller set down. the train has flown on into the night with a shriek. the sleepy porter wonders, and looks at me askance. as i take my way from the station and gradually approach the city--for there is a broad stretch between it and the railway unfilled by houses--i see the striking and impressive picture growing and enlarging. the jangling and the solemn occasional boom still go on: meant to give note that the day is opening. nothing more awe-inspiring or poetical can be conceived than this 'cock-crow' promenade. here are little portals suddenly opening on the stage, with muffled figures darting out, and worthy belgians tripping from their houses--betimes, indeed--and hurrying away to mass. thus to make the acquaintance of that grandest and most astonishing of old cathedrals, is to do so under the best and most suitable conditions: very different from the guide and cicerone business, which belongs to later hours of the day. i stand in the open _place_, under its shadow, and lift my eyes with wonder to the amazing and crowded cluster of spires and towers: its antique air, and even look of shattered dilapidation showing that the restorer has not been at his work. there was no smugness or trimness, or spick-and-spanness, but an awful and reverent austerity. and with an antique appropriateness to its functions the flemish women, crones and maidens, all in their becoming cashmere hoods, and cloaks, and neat frills, still hurry on to the old dom. near me rose the antique _beffroi_, from whose jaws still kept booming the old bell, with a fine clang, the same that had often pealed out to rouse the burghers to discord and tumult. it pealed on, hoarse and even cracked, but persistently melodious, disregarding the contending clamours of its neighbours, just as some old baritone of the opera, reduced and broken down, will exhibit his 'phrasing'--all that is left to him. quaint old burgher city, indeed, with the true flavour, though beshrew them for meddling with the fortifications! that little scene in this _place_ of tournay is always a pleasant, picturesque memory. i entered with the others. within the cathedral was the side chapel, with its black oak screen, and a tawny-cheeked belgian priest at the altar beginning the mass. scattered round and picturesquely grouped were the crones and maidens aforesaid, on their wicker-chairs. a few surviving lamps twinkled fitfully, and shadowy figures crossed as if on the stage. but aloft, what an overpowering immensity, all vaulted shadows, the huge pillars soaring upward to be lost in a cimmerian gloom! around me i saw grouped picturesquely in scattered order, and kneeling on their _prie-dieux_, the honest burghers, women and men, the former arrayed in the comfortable and not unpicturesque black flemish cloaks with the silk hoods--handsome and effective garments, and almost universal. the devotional rite of the mass, deeply impressive, was over in twenty minutes, and all trooped away to their daily work. there was a suggestion here, in this modest, unpretending exercise, in contrast to the great fane itself, of the undeveloped power to expand, as it were, on sundays and feast-days, when the cathedral would display all its resources, and its huge area be crowded to the doors with worshippers, and the great rites celebrated in all their full magnificence. behind the great altar i came upon an imposing monument, conceived after an original and comprehensive idea. it was to the memory of _all the bishops and canons_ of the cathedral! this wholesale idea may be commended to our chapters at home. it might save the too monotonous repetition of recumbent bishops, who, after being exhibited at the academy, finally encumber valuable space in their own cathedrals. the suggestiveness of the great bell-tower, owing to the peculiar emphasis and purpose given to it, is constantly felt in the old belgian cities. it still conveys its old antique purpose--the defence of the burghers, a watchful sentinel who, on the alarm, clanged out danger, the sound piercing from that eyry to the remotest lane, and bringing the valiant citizens rushing to the great central square. it is impossible to look up at one of these monuments, grim and solitary, without feeling the whole spirit of the belgian history, and calling up philip van artevelde and the ghentish troubles. in the smaller cities the presence of this significant landmark is almost invariable. there is ever the lone and lorn tower, belfry, or spire painted in dark sad colours, seen from afar off, rising from the decayed little town below; often of some antique, original shape that pleases, and yet with a gloomy misanthropical air, as of total abandonment. they are rusted and abrased. from their ancient jaws we hear the husky, jangling chimes, musical and melancholy, the disorderly rambling notes and tunes of a gigantic musical box. towards the close of some summer evening, as the train flies on, we see the sun setting on the grim walls of some dead city, and on the clustered houses. within the walls are the formal rows of trees planted in regimental order which fringe and shelter them; while rises the dark, copper-coloured tower, often unfinished and ragged, but solemn and funereal, or else capped by some quaint lantern, from whose jaws presently issue the muffled tones of the chimes, halting and broken, and hoarse and wheezy with centuries of work. often we pass on; sometimes we descend, and walk up to the little town and wander through its deserted streets. we are struck with wonder at some vast and noble church, cathedral-like in its proportions, and nearly always original--such variety is there in these antique belgian fanes--and facing it some rustic mouldering town-hall of surprising beauty. there are a few little shops, a few old houses, but the generality have their doors closed. there is hardly a soul to be seen, certainly not a cart. there are innumerable dead cities of this pattern. coming out, i find it broad day. a few natives with their baskets are hurrying to the train. i note, rising above the houses, two or three other solemn spires and grim churches, which have an inexpressibly sad and abandoned air, from their dark grimed tones which contrast with the bright gay hues of the modern houses that crowd upon them. there is one grave, imposing tower, with a hood like a monk's. then i wander to the handsome triangle-shaped _place_, with its statue to margaret of parma--erst governor of the netherlands, and whose memory is regarded with affection. here is the old belfry, which has been so clamorous, standing apart, like those of ghent, dunkirk, and a few other towns; an effective structure, though fitted by modern restorers with an entirely new 'head'--not, however, ineffective of its kind. the day is now fairly opened. there is a goodly muster of market-women and labourers at the handsome station, which, like every station of the first rank in belgium, bears its name 'writ large.' it is just striking five as we hurry away, and in some half an hour we arrive at orchies--one of those new spick-and-span little towns, useful after their kind, but disagreeable to the æsthetic eye. everything here is of that meanest kind of brick, 'pointed,' as it is called, with staring white, such as it is seen in the smaller belgian stations. feeling somewhat degraded by this contact, i was glad to be hurried away, and within an hour find we are approaching one of the greater french cities. vi. _douai._ now begin to flit past us signs unmistakable of an approaching fortified town. here are significant green banks and mounds cut to angles and geometrical patterns, soft and enticing, enriched with luxuriant trees, but treacherous--smiling on the confiding houses and gardens which one day may be levelled at a few hours' notice. next come compact masses of vauban brick, ripe and ruddy, of beautiful, smooth workmanship; stately military gateways and drawbridges, with a patch of red trousering--a soldier on his fat normandy 'punch' ambling lazily over; and the peaceful cart with its flemish horses. the brick-work is sliced through, as with a cheese-knife, to admit the railway, giving a complete section of the work. we are, in short, at one of the great _places fortes_ of france, douai, where the curious traveller had best avoid sketching, or taking notes--a serious offence. here i lingered pleasantly for nearly three hours, and, having duly breakfasted, noted its air of snug comfort and prosperity. there is here a famous arsenal--ever busy--one of the most important in france, and it has besides some welcome bits of artistic architecture. it was when wandering down a darkish street, that i came on a most original building, the old _mairie_, enriched with a belfry of delightfully graceful pattern. it might be a problem how to combine a bell-tower with offices for municipal work, and we know in our land how such a 'job' would be carried out by 'the architect to the board.' but all over flemish france and belgium proper we find an inexhaustible fancy and fertility in such designs. it is always difficult to describe architectural beauties. this had its tower in the centre, flanked by two short wings. everything was original--the disposition of the windows, the air of space and largeness. yet the whole was small, i note that in all these flemish bell-towers, the topmost portion invariably develops into something charmingly fantastic, into cupolas and short, little galleries and lanterns superimposed, the mixture of solidity and airiness being astonishing. it is appropriate and fitting that this grace should attend on what are the sweetest musical instruments conceivable. mr. haweis, who is the poet of flemish bells, has let us into the secret. 'the fragment of aërial music,' he tells us, 'which floats like a heavenly sigh over the belgian city and dies away every few minutes, seems to set all life and time to celestial music. it is full of sweet harmonies, and can be played in pianoforte score, treble and bass. after a week in a belgian town, time seems dull without the music in the air that mingled so sweetly with all waking moods without disturbing them, and stole into our dreams without troubling our sleep. i do not say that such carillons would be a success in london. in belgium the towers are high above the towns--antwerp, mechlin, bruges--and partially isolated. the sound falls softly, and the population is not so dense as in london. their habit and taste have accustomed the citizens to accept this music for ever floating in the upper air as part of the city's life--the most spiritual, poetical, and recreative part of it. nothing of the kind has ever been tried in london. the crashing peals of a dozen large bells banged violently with clapper instead of softly struck with hammer, the exasperating dong, or ding, dong, of the ritualist temple over the way, or the hoarse, gong-like roar of big ben--that is all we know about bells in london, and no form of church discipline could be more ferocious. bell noise and bell music are two different things.' this fanciful tower had its four corner towerlets, suggesting the old burly scotch pattern, which indeed came from france; while the vane on the top still characteristically flourishes the national flemish lion. most bizarre, not to say extravagant, was the great cathedral, which was laid out on strange 'lines,' having a huge circular chapel or pavilion of immense height in front, whose round roof was capped by a vast bulbous spire, in shape something after the pattern of a gigantic mangel-wurzel! this astonishing decoration had a quaint and extraordinary effect, seen, as it was, from any part of the city. next came the nave, whilst the transepts straggled about wildly, and a gigantic fortress-like tower reared itself from the middle. correct judges will tell us that all this is debased work, and 'corrupt style;' but, nevertheless, i confess to being both astonished and pleased. this was the great festival of the _corpus domini_, and, indeed, already all available bells in the place had been jangling noisily. it was now barely seven o'clock, yet on entering the vast nave i found that the 'grand mass' had begun, and the whole was full to the door, while in the great choir were ranged about a hundred young girls waiting to make their first communion. a vast number of gala carriages were waiting at the doors to take the candidates home, and for the rest of the day they would promenade the city in their veils and flowers, receiving congratulations. there was a pleasant provincial simplicity in all this and in all that followed, which brought back certain old sundays of a childhood spent on a hill overlooking havre. i liked to see the stout red-cheeked choristers perspiring with their work, and singing with a rough stentoriousness, just as i had seen them in the village church of sanvic. and there was the organist playing away at his raised seat in the body of the church, as if in a pew, visible to the naked eye of all; while two cantors in copes clapped pieces of wood together as a signal for the congregation to kneel or rise. most quaint of all were the surpliced instrumentalists with their braying bassoon and ophicleide: not to forget the double-bass player who 'sawed' away for the bare life of him. the ever visible organist voluntarized ravishingly and in really fine style. i should like to have heard him at his own proper instrument, aloft, in the gallery yonder, quite an enormous structure of florid pipes in stories and groups, with angels blowing trumpets and flying saints. it seemed like the stern of one of the armada vessels. how he would have made the pillars quiver! how the ripe old notes would have _twanged_ and brayed into the darkest recesses! the mass being over, the swiss, a tall, fierce fellow, arrayed in a feathered cocked-hat, rich _scarlet_ regimentals and boots, now showed an extra restlessness. the bishop of douai, a smooth, polished prelate, began his sermon, which he delivered from a chair, in clear tones and good elocution. when the ceremonies were over, the whole congregation gathered at the door to see the young ladies taken away by their friends. then i resumed my exploring. on a cheerful-looking _place_, which, with its trees and kiosque, recalled the _place verte_ at antwerp, i noticed a large building of the pattern so common in france for colleges and convents--a vast expanse of whiteness or blankness, and a yet vaster array of long windows. it appeared to be a cavalry barrack for soldiers. the bugles sounded through the archway, and orderlies were riding in and out. this monotonous building, i found, had once been the english college for priests, where the celebrated douai or douay bible had been translated. this rare book--a joy for the bibliophile--was published about , and, as is well known, was the first catholic version in english of the scriptures. here, then, was the cradle of millions of copies distributed over the face of the earth. it was a curious sensation to pass by this homely-looking edifice, with the adjoining chapel, as it appeared to be--now apparently a riding-school. i also came upon many a fine old spanish house, and toiled down in the sun to the rue des foulons, where there were some elaborate specimens. short as had been my term of residence, i somehow seemed to know douai very well. i had gathered what is called 'an idea of the place.' its ways, manners, and customs seemed familiar to me. so i took my way from the old town with a sort of regret, having seen a great deal. vii. _arras._ it is just eleven o'clock, and here we are coming to a charming town, which few travellers have probably visited, and of which that genial and experienced traveller, charles dickens, wrote in astonished delight, and where in he spent his birthday. 'here i find,' he says, 'a grand _place_, so very remarkable and picturesque, that it is astonishing how people miss it.' this is old arras; and i confess it alone seems worth a long day's, not to say night's, journey, to see. it is fortified, and, as in such towns, we have to make our way to it from the station by an umbrageous country road; for it is fenced, as a gentleman's country seat might be, and strictly enclosed by the usual mounds, ditches, and walls, but all so picturesquely disguised in rich greenery as to be positively inviting. even low down in the deep ditches grew symmetrical avenues of straight trees, abundant in their leaves and branches, which filled them quite up. the gates seem monumental works of art, and picturesque to a degree; while over the walls--and what noble specimens of brickwork, or tiling rather, are these old vauban walls!--peep with curious mystery the upper stories and roofs of houses with an air of smiling security. i catch a glimpse of the elegant belfry, the embroidered spires, and mosque-like cupolas, all a little rusted, yet cheerful-looking. dickens's _place_, or two _places_ rather--for there is the greater and the less--display to us a really lovely town-hall in the centre, the roof dotted over with rows of windows, while an airy lace-work spire, with a ducal crown as the finish, rises lightly. on to its sides are encrusted other buildings of renaissance order, while behind is a mansion still more astonishingly embroidered in sculptured stone, with a colonnade of vast extent. around the _place_ itself stretches a vast number of spanish mansions, with the usual charmingly 'escalloped' roof, all resting on a prolonged colonnade or piazza, strange, old-fashioned, and original, running round to a vast extent, which the sensible town has decreed is never to be interfered with. a more pleasing, refreshing, and novel collection of objects for the ordinary traveller of artistic taste to see without trouble or expense, it would be impossible to conceive. yet everyone hurries by to see the somewhat stale glories of ghent and brussels. [illustration: arras.] there was a general fat contented air of _bourgeois_ comfort about the sleepy old-fashioned, handsome prefecture--in short, a capital background for the old provincial life as described by balzac. but the _place_, with its inimitable spanish houses and colonnades--under which you can shop--and that most elegant of spires, sister to that of antwerp, which it recalls, will never pass from the memory. a beautiful object of this kind, thus seen, is surely a present, and a valuable one too. a spire is often the expression of the whole town. how much is suggested by the well-known, familiar cathedral spire at antwerp, as, of some fresh morning, we come winding up the tortuous scheldt, the sad, low-lying plains and boulders lying on either hand, monotonous and dispiriting, yet novel in their way; the cream-coloured, lace-worked spire rising ever before us in all its elegant grace, pointing the way, growing by degrees, never for an instant out of sight. it seems a fitting introduction to the noble, historical, and poetical city to which it belongs. it _is_ surely antwerp! we see charles v., and philip, and the exciting troubles of the gueux, the dutch, the flemings, the argosies from all countries in the great days of its trade. such is the mysterious power of association, which it ever exerts on the 'reminiscent.' how different, and how much more profitable, too, is this mode of approaching the place, than the other more vulgar one of the railway terminus, with the cabs and omnibuses waiting, and the convenient journey to the hotel. these old cities--lille, douai, and valenciennes--all boast their gateways, usually named after the city to which the road leads. thus we have 'porte de paris,' 'porte de lille,' etc. i confess to a deep interest in all gateways of this kind; they have a sort of poetry or romance associated with them; they are grim, yet hospitable, at times and seasons having a mysterious suggestion. there are towns where the traveller finds the gate obdurately closed between ten o'clock at night and six in the morning. these old gates have a state and flamboyant majesty about them, as, in lille, the porte de paris is associated with the glories of louis xiv.; while in douai there is one of an old pattern--it is said of the thirteenth century--with curious towers and spires. even at calais there is a fine and majestic structure, 'porte de richelieu,' on the town side, through which every market cart and carriage used to trundle. there are florid devices inscribed on it; but now that the walls on each side are levelled, this patriarchal monument has but a ludicrous effect, for it is left standing alone, unsupported and purposeless. the carts and tramcars find their way round by new and more convenient roads made on each side. how pleasant is that careless wandering up through some strange and unfamiliar place, led by a sort of instinct which habit soon furnishes! in some of the french 'guides,' minute directions are given for the explorer, who is bidden to take the street to right or to left, after leaving the station, etc. but there is a piquancy in this uncertainty as compared with the odious guidance of the _laquais de place_. i loathe the tribe. here was to be clearly noted the languid, lazy french town where nothing seemed to be doing, but everyone appeared to be comfortable--'the fat, contented, stubble goose'--another type of town altogether from your thriving lilles and rouens. the pleasure in surveying this extraordinary combination of beautiful objects, the richness and variety of the work, the long lines broken by the charming and, as they are called, 'escalloped' gables, the spanish balconies, the pillars, light and shade, and shops, made it almost incredible that such a thing was to be found in a poor obscure french town, visited by but few travellers. on market-day, when the whole is filled up with country folks, their wares and their stalls sheltered from the sun by gaily-tinted awnings, the bustle and glinting colours, and general _va et vient_, impart a fitting dramatic air. then are the old spanish houses set off becomingly. this old town has other curious things to exhibit, such as the enormous old abbey of st. vaast--with its huge expansive roof, which somehow seems to dominate the place, and thrusts forward some fragment or other--where a regiment might lodge. its spacious gardens are converted to secular uses. then i find myself at the old-new cathedral, begun about a century ago, and finished about fifty years since--a 'poorish' heartless edifice in the bald italian manner, and quite unsuited to these old flemish cities. i come out on a terrace with a huge flight of steps which leads to a lower portion of the city. this, indeed, leads down from the _haute_ to the _basse ville_; and it is stated that a great portion of this upper town is supported upon catacombs or caves from which the white stone of the belfry and town-hall was quarried. it is a curious feeling to be shown the house in which robespierre was born, which, for the benefit of the curious it may be stated, is to be found in the rue des rapporteurs, close to the theatre. arras was a famous jacobin centre, and from the balcony of this theatre, lebon, one of the jacobins, directed the executions, which took place abundantly on the pretty _place_. [illustration: bethune.] thus much, then, for arras, where one would have liked to linger, nay, to stay a week or a few days. but this wishing to stay a week at a picturesque place is often a dangerous pitfall, as the amiable charles collins has shown in his own quaint style. has anyone, he asks, ever, 'on arriving at some place he has never visited before, taken a sudden fancy to it, committed himself to apartments for a month certain, gone on praising the locality and all that belongs to it, ferreting out concealed attractions, attaching undue importance to them, undervaluing obvious defects: has he gone on in this way for three weeks,' or rather three days, 'out of his month, then suddenly broken down, found out his mistake, and pined in secret for deliverance?' so it would be, as i conceive, at bruges, or perhaps at st. omer. there you indeed appreciate the dead-alive city 'in all its quiddity.' but a few days in a 'dead-alive' city, were it the most picturesque in the world, would be intolerable. by noon, when the sun has grown oppressively hot, i find myself set down at a sort of rural town, once flourishing, and of some importance--bethune. a mile's walk on a parched road led up the hill to this languishing, decayed little place. it had its forlorn omnibus, and altogether suggested the general desolation of, say, peterborough. had it remained in flemish hands, it would now have been flourishing. i doubt if any english visitor ever troubles its stagnant repose. yet it boasts its 'grand' _place_, imposing enough as a memorial of departed greatness, and, as usual, a flemish relic, in the shape of a charming belfry and town-hall combined. it was really truly 'fantastical' from the airiness of its little cupolas and galleries, and was in tolerable order. like the old calais watch-tower, it was caked round by, and embedded in, old houses, and had its four curious gargoyles still doing work. on this 'grand' _place_ i noticed an old house bearing date ' ,' and some wonderful feats in the way of red-tiled roofing, of which there were enormous stretches, all narrow, sinuous, and suggesting nuremberg. i confess to having spent a rather weary hour here, and sped away by the next train. viii. _lille._ two o'clock. we are on the road again; the sun is shining, and we are speeding on rapidly--changing from flanders to france--which is but an hour or so away. here the bright day is well forward. now the welcome fat flemish country takes military shape, for here comes the scarp, the angled ditch, the endless brick walling and embankment--a genuine fortified town of the first class--lille. here, too, many travellers give but a glance from the window and hurry on. yet an interesting place in its way. its bright main streets seem as gay and glittering as those of paris, with the additional air of snug provincial comfort. to one accustomed for months to the solemn sobriety of our english capital, with its work-a-day, not to say dingy look, nothing is more exhilarating or gay than one of these first-class french provincial towns, such as marseilles, bordeaux, or this lille. there is a glittering air of substantial opulence, with an attempt--and a successful one--at fine boulevards and fine trees. the approach to lille recalled the protracted approach to some great english manufacturing town, the tall chimneys flying by the carriage-windows a good quarter of an hour before the town was reached. a handsome, rich, and imposing city, though content to accept a cast-off station from paris, as a poor relative would accept a cast-off suit of clothes. the fine façade was actually transported here stone by stone, and a much more imposing one erected in its place. the prevailing one-horse tram-cars seem to suit the flemish associations. the belgians have taken kindly and universally to them, and find them to be 'exactly in their way.' the fat flemish horse ambles along lazily, his bells jingling. no matter how narrow or winding the street, the car threads its way. the old burgher of the middle ages might have relished it. the old disused town-hall is quaint enough with its elaborately-carved _façade_, with a high double roof and dormers, and a lantern surmounting all. a bit of true 'low-countries' work; but one often forgets that we are in french flanders. entertaining hours could be spent here with profit, simply in wandering from spot to spot, eschewing the 'town valet' and professional picture guide. it is an extraordinary craze, by the way, that our countrymen will want always 'to see the pictures,' as though that were the object of travelling. [illustration: bourse. lille.] one gazes with pleasure and some surprise at its handsome streets, where everyone seems to live and thrive. there is a general air of opulence. the new streets, built under the last empire on the paris model, offer the same rich and effective detail of gilded inscriptions running across the houses, balconies and flowers, with the luxurious _cafés_ below, and languid _flaneurs_ sitting down to their _absinthe_ or coffee among the orange-trees. these imposing mansions, built with judicious loans--the 'obligations of the city of lille' are quoted on the exchanges--are already dark and rusted, and harmonize with the older portions. at every turn there is a suggestion of brussels, and nowhere so much as on the fine _place_, where the embroidered old spanish houses aforesaid are abundant. the old cathedral, imposing with its clustered apses and great length and loftiness, and restored façade, would be the show of any english town. the lillois scarcely appreciate it, as a few years ago they ordered a brand-new one from 'messrs. clutton and burgess, of london,' not yet complete, and not very striking in its modern effects and decorations. these vast old churches of the fourth or fifth class are always imposing from their size and pretensions and elaborateness of work, and are found in france and belgium almost by the hundred. and so i wander on through the showy streets, thinking what stirring scenes this complacent old city has witnessed, what tale of siege and battle--spaniard, frenchman, and fleming, louis the great, the refuge of louis xviii. after his flight. all the time there is the pleasant musical jangle going on of tramcars below and bell-chimes aloft. but of all things in lille, or indeed elsewhere, there is nothing more striking than the old bourse--the great square venerable block, blackened all over with age, its innumerable windows, high roof, and cornices, all elaborately and floridly wrought in decayed carvings. with this dark and venerable mass is piquantly contrasted the garish row of glittering shops filled with gaudy wares which forms the lowest story. within is the noble court with a colonnade of pillars and arches in the florid spanish style; in the centre a splendid bronze statue of the first napoleon in his robes, which is so wrought as to harmonize admirably with the rest. in the same congenial spirit--a note of belgian art which is quite unfamiliar to us--the walls of the colonnade are decorated with memorials of famous 'stock exchange' worthies and merchants, and nothing could be more skilful than the enrichment of these conventional records, which are made to harmonize by florid rococo decorations with the spanish _genre_ and encrusted with bronzes and marbles. this admirable and original monument is in itself worth a journey to see. who has been at commines? though we are all familiar enough with the name of philip of 'that ilk.' i saw how patriarchal life must be at commines from a family repairing thither, who filled the whole compartment. this was a lady arrayed in as much jet-work as she could well carry, and who must have been an admirable _femme de ménage_, for she brought with her three little girls, and two obstreperous boys who kept saying every minute 'maman!' in a sort of whine or expostulation, and two _aides-de-camp_ maids in spotless fly-away caps. with these assistants she was on perfect terms, and the maids conversed with her and dissented from her opinions on the happiest terms of equality. when taking my ticket i was asked to say would i go to commines in france or to commines in belgium, for it seems that, by an odd arrangement, half the town is in one country and half in the other! each has a station of its own. this curious partition i did not quite comprehend at first, and i shall not forget the indignant style in which, on my asking 'was this the french commines,' i was answered that '_of course_ it was commines in belgium.' here was yet another piquant bell-tower seen rising above trees and houses, long before we even came near to it. i was pursued by these pretty monuments, and i could hear this one jangling away musically yet wheezily. it is past noon now as we hurry by unfamiliar stations, where the invariable _abbé_ waits with his bundle or breviary in hand, or peasant women with baskets stand waiting for other trains. there is a sense of melancholy in noting these strange faces and figures--whom you thus pass by, to whom you are unknown, whom you will never see again, and who care not if you were dead and buried. (and why should they?) then we hurry away northwards. ix. _ypres._ as the fierce heat of the sun began to relax and the evening drew on--it was close on half-past six o'clock--we found ourselves in belgium once more. suddenly, on the right, i noted, with some trees interposed, a sort of clustered town with whitened buildings, which suggested forcibly the view of an english cathedral town seen from the railway. the most important of the group was a great tower with its four spires. i knew instinctively that this was the famous old town-hall, the most astonishing and overpowering of all belgian monuments. here we halted half an hour. the sun was going down; the air was cool; and there was that strange tinge of sadness abroad, with which the air seems to be charged towards eventide, as we, strangers and pilgrims in a foreign country, look from afar off at some such unfamiliar objects. there were a number of flemings here returning from some meeting where they had been contending at their national game--shooting at the popinjay. near to every small town and village i passed, i had noted an enormously tall white post with iron rods projecting at the top. this was the target, and it was highly amusing and characteristic to watch these burghers gathered round and firing at the bird or some other object on the top. now they were all returning carrying their bows, and in high good-humour. a young and rubicund priest was of the party, regarded evidently with affection and pride by his companions; for all that he seemed to say and do was applauded, and greeted with obstreperous flemish laughter. when an old woman came to offer cakes from her basket for sale, he convulsed his friends by facetious remarks as he made his selection from the basket, depreciating or criticizing their quality with sham disgust, delighting none so much as the venerable vendor herself. every one wore a curious black silk cap, as a gala headpiece. when they had gone their way, i set off on mine up to the old town. the approach was encouraging. a grand sweep faced me of old walls, rusted, but stout and vigorous, with corner towers rising out of a moat; then came a spacious bridge leading into a wide, encouraging-looking street of sound handsome houses. but, strange! not a single cab, restaurant, or hotel--nay, hardly a soul to be seen, save a few rustics in their blouses! it was all dead! i walked on, and at an abrupt turn emerged on the huge expanse of the _place_, and was literally dumbfoundered. now, of all the sights that i have ever seen, it must be confessed that this offered the greatest surprise and astonishment. it was bewildering. on the left spread away, almost a city itself, the vast, enormous town-hall--a vista of countless arches and windows, its roof dotted with windows, and so deep, expansive, and capacious that it alone seemed as though it might have lodged an army. in the centre rose the enormous square tower--massive--rock-like--launching itself aloft into gothic spires and towers. all along the sides ran a perspective of statues and carvings. this astonishing work would take some minutes of brisk motion to walk down from end to end. it is really a wonder of the world, and, in the phrase applied to more ordinary things, 'seemed to take your breath away.' it is the largest, longest, most massive, solid, and enduring thing that can be conceived. it has been restored with wonderful care and delicacy. by one of the bizarre arrangements--not uncommon in flanders--a building of another kind, half italian, with a round arched arcade, has been added on at the corner, and the effect is odd and yet pleasing. behind rises a grim crag of a cathedral--solemn and mysterious--adding to the effect of this imposing combination, a sort of gloomy shadow overhanging all. the church, on entering, is found overpowering and original of its kind, with its vast arches and massive roof of groined stone. truly an astonishing monument! the worst of such visits is that only a faint impression is left: and to gather the full import of such a monument one should stay for a few days at least, and grow familiar with it. at first all is strange. every portion claims attention at once; but after a few visits the grim old monument seems to relax and become accessible; he lets you see his good points and treasures by degrees. but who could live in a dead city, even for a day? having seen these two wonders, i tried to explore the place, which took some walking, but nothing else was to be found. its streets were wide, the houses handsome--a few necessary shops; but no cabs--no tramway--no carts even, and hardly any people. it was dead--all dead from end to end. the strangest sign of mortality, however, was that not a single restaurant or house of refection was to be found, not even on the spacious and justly called _grande place_! one might have starved or famished without relief. nay, there was hardly a public-house or drinking-shop. [illustration: ypres] however, the great monument itself more than supplied this absence of vitality. one could never be weary of surveying its overpowering proportions, its nobility, its unshaken strength, its vast length, and flourishing air. yet how curious to think that it was now quite purposeless, had no meaning or use! over four hundred feet long, it was once the seat of bustle and thriving business, for which the building itself was not too large. the hall on the ground seems to stretch from end to end. here was the great mart for linens--the _toiles flamandes_--once celebrated over europe. now, desolate is the dwelling of morna! a few little local offices transact the stunted shrunken local business of the place; the post, the municipal offices, each filling up two or three of the arches, in ludicrous contrast to the unemployed vastness of the rest. it has been fancifully supposed that the name diaper, as applied to linens, was supplied by this town, which was the seat of the trade, and _toile d'ypres_ might be supposed, speciously enough, to have some connection with the place. x. _bergues._ but _en route_ again, for the sands are fast running out. old fortified towns, particularly such as have been protected by 'the great vauban,' are found to be a serious nuisance to the inhabitants, however picturesque they may seem to the tourist; for the place, constricted and wrapped in bandages, as it were, cannot expand its lungs. many of the old fortressed towns, such as ostend, courtrai, calais, have recently demolished their fortifications at great cost and with much benefit to themselves. there is something picturesque and original in the first sight of a place like arras, or st. omer, with the rich and lavish greenery, luxuriant trees, banks of grass by which the 'fosse' and grim walls are masked. others are of a grim and hostile character, and show their teeth, as it were. dunkirk, a fortress of the 'first class,' fortified on the modern system, and therefore to the careless spectator scarcely appearing to be fortified at all--is a place of such extreme platitude, that the belated wayfarer longs to escape almost as soon as he arrives. there is literally nothing to be seen. but a few miles away, there is to be found a place which will indemnify the disgusted traveller, viz., bergues. as the train slackens speed i begin to take note of rich green banks with abundant trees planted in files, such as uncle toby would have relished in his garden. there is the sound as of passing over a military bridge, with other tokens of the fortified town. there it lies--close to the station, while the invariable belfry and heavy church rise from the centre, in friendly companionship. i have noted the air of sadness in these lone, lorn monuments, which perhaps arises from the sense of their vast age and all they have looked down upon. men and women, and houses, dynasties and invaders, and burgomasters, have all passed away in endless succession; but _they_ remain, and have borne the buffetings of storms and gales and wars and tumults. as we turn out of the station, a small avenue lined with trees leads straight to the entrance. the bright snowy-looking _place_ basks in the setting sun, while the tops of the red-tiled roofs seem to peep at us over the walls. at the end of the avenue the sturdy gateway greets us cheerfully, labelled 'porte de biene,' flanked by two short and burly towers that rise out of the water; while right and left, the old brick walls, red and rusted, stretch away, flanked by corner towers. the moat runs round the whole, filled with the usual stagnant water. i enter, and then see what a tiny compact little place it is--a perfect miniature town with many streets, one running round the walls; all the houses sound and compact and no higher than two stories, so as to keep snug and sheltered under the walls, and not draw the enemy's fire. the whole seems to be about the size of the green park at home, and you can walk right across, from gate to gate, in about three minutes. it is bright, and clean 'as a new pin,' and there are red-legged soldiers drumming and otherwise employed. almost at once we come on the _place_, and here we are rewarded with something that is worth travelling even from dover to see. there stands the old church, grim, rusted, and weather-beaten, rising in gloomy pride, huge enough to serve a great town; while facing it is the belfry before alluded to, one of the most elegant, coquettish, and original of these always interesting structures. the amateur of flemish architecture is ever prepared for something pleasing in this direction, for the variety of the belfries is infinite; but this specimen fills one with special delight. it rises to a great height in the usual square tower-shape, but at each corner is flanked by a quaint, old-fashioned _tourelle_ or towerlet, while in the centre is an airy elegant lantern of wood, where a musical peal of bells, hung in rows, chimes all day long in a most melodious way. each of these towerlets is capped by a long, graceful peak or minaret. this elegant structure has always been justly admired by the architect, and in the wonderful folio of etchings by coney, done more than fifty years ago, will be found a picturesque and accurate sketch. [illustration: bergues.] it seemed a city of the dead. now rang out the husky tinkling of the chimes which never flag, as in all flemish cities, day or night. it supplies the lack of company, and has a comforting effect for the solitary man. from afar off comes occasionally the sound of the drum or the bugle, fit accompaniment for such surroundings. at the foot of the belfry was an antique building in another style, with a small open colonnade, which, though out of harmony, was still not inappropriate. the only thing jarring was a pretentious modern town-hall, in the style of one of our own vestry buildings, 'erected out of the rates,' and which must have cost a huge sum. it was of a genteel italian aspect, so it is plain that french local administrators are, in matters of taste, pretty much as such folk are with us. one could have lingered long here, looking at this charming and graceful work, which its surroundings became quite as much as it did its surroundings. while thus engaged it was curious to find that not a soul crossed the _place_. indeed, during my whole sojourn in the town, a period of about half an hour, i did not see above a dozen people. there were but few shops; yet all was bright, sound, in good condition. there was no sign of decay or decaying; but all seemed to sleep. it was a french 'dead city.' but it surely lives and will live, by its remarkable bell tower, which at this moment is chiming away, with a melodious huskiness, its gay tunes, repeated every quarter of an hour, while as the hour comes round there breaks out a general and clamorous _charivari_. xi. _st. omer._ after leaving this wonderful place, i was now speeding on once more back into france. in all these shifts and changes the _douanier_ farce was carefully gone through. i was regularly invited to descend, even though baggageless, and to pass through the searching-room, making heroic protest as i did so that '_i had nothing to declare_.' it was easy to distinguish the two nations in their fashion of performing this function, the french taking it _au sérieux_, and going through it histrionically, as it were; the belgian being more careless and good-natured. there lingers still the habit of 'leading' or _plombé_-ing a clumsy, troublesome relic of old times. such small articles as hat-cases, hand-bags, etc., are subjected to it; an officer devoted to the duty comes with a huge pair of 'pincers' with some neat little leaden discs, which he squeezes on the strings which have tied up the article. now we fly past the flourishing poperinghe--a bustling, thriving place, out of which lift themselves with sad solemnity a few tall iron-gray churches, and another--yet one more--elegant belfry. there seems something quaint in the name of poperinghe, though it is hardly so grotesque as that of another town i passed by, 'bully greny.' as this long day was at last closing in, i noticed from the window a bright-looking town nestling, as it were, in rich green velvet and dark plantation, with a bright, snug-looking gate, drawbridge, etc. one of these gates was piquant enough, having a sort of pavilion perched on the top. here there was a quaint sort of 'surprise' in a clock, the hours of which are struck by a mechanical figure known to the town as 'mathurin.' there was something very tempting in the look of the place, betokening plenty of flowers and shaded walks and umbrageous groves. most conspicuous, however, was the magnificent abbey ruin, suggesting fountains abbey, with its tall, striking, and wholly perfect tower. this is the abbey of st. bertin, one of the most striking and almost bewildering monuments that could be conceived. i look up at the superb tower, sharp in its details, and wonder at its fine proportions; then turn to the ruined aisles, and with a sort of grief recall that this, one of the wonders of france, had been in perfect condition not a hundred years ago, and at the time of the revolution had been stripped, unroofed, and purposely reduced to its present condition! this disgrace reflects upon the jacobins--goths and vandals indeed. the streets of this old town, as it is remarked by one of the guide books, 'want animation'--an amiable circumlocution. nothing so deserted or lonely can be conceived, and the phenomenon of 'grass literally growing in the streets' is here to be seen in perfection. there appeared to be no vehicles, and the few shops carry on but a mild business. a few english families are said to repair hither for economy. i recognise a peculiar shabby shooting-coat which betokens the exile, accounted for by the pathetic fact that he clings to his superannuated garment, long after it is worn out, for the reason that it 'was made in london.' there is a rich and beautiful church here--notre dame--with a deeply embayed porch full of lavish detail. here, too, rises the image of john kemble, who actually studied for the priesthood at the english college. by this time the day has gone, and darkness has set in. it is time to think of journeying home. yet on the way to calais there are still some objects to be seen _en passant_. most travellers are familiar with hazebrouck, the place of 'bifurcation,' a frontier between france and belgium. yet this is known for a church with a most elegant spire rising from a tower, but of this we can only have a glimpse. and, on the road to bergues, i had noted that strange, german-named little town--cassel--perched on an umbrageous hill, which has its quaint mediæval town-hall. but i may not pause to study it. the hours are shrinking; but little margin is left. by midnight i am back in calais once more, listening to its old wheezy chimes. it seems like an old friend, to which i have returned after a long, long absence, so many events have been crowded into the day. it still wants some interval to the hour past midnight, when the packet sails. xii. _st. pierre les calais._ as i wandered down to the end of the long pier, which stretched out its long arm, bent like an elbow, looking, like all french piers, as if made of frail wickerwork, i thought of a day, some years ago, when that eminent inventor, bessemer, conceived the captivating idea of constructing a steamboat that should abolish sea-sickness for ever! the principle was that of a huge swinging saloon, moved by hydraulic power, while a man directed the movement by a sort of spirit-level. previously the inventor had set up a model in his garden, where a number of scientists saw the section of a ship rocking violently by steam. i recall that pleasant day down at denmark hill, with all the engineers assembled, who were thus going to sea in a garden. a small steam-engine worked the apparatus--a kind of a section of a boat--which was tossed up and down violently; while in the centre was balanced a small platform, on which we experimenters stood. on large tables were laid out the working plans of the grand bessemer steamship, to be brought out presently by a company. a year and more passed away, the new vessel was completed, and nearly the same party again invited to see the result, and make trial of it. i repaired with the rest. nothing more generous or hospitable could be conceived. there was to be a banquet at calais, with a free ticket on to paris. it was a gloomy iron-gray morning. the strange outlandish vessel, which had an engine at each end, was crowded with _connoisseurs_. but i was struck with the figure of the amiable and brilliant inventor, who was depressed, and received the premature congratulations of his friends somewhat ruefully. we could see the curious 'swinging saloon' fitted into the vessel, with the ingenious hydraulic leverage by which it could be kept nicely balanced. but it was to be noted that the saloon was braced firmly to the sides of its containing vessel; in fact, it was given out that, owing to some defect in its mechanism, the thing could not be worked that day. nothing could be handsomer than this saloon, with its fittings and decorations. but, strange to say, it was at once seen that the principle was faulty, and the whole impracticable. it was obvious that the centre of gravity of so enormous a weight being brought to the side would imperil the stability of the vessel. the bulk to be moved was so vast, that it was likely to get out of control, and scarcely likely to obey the slight lever which worked it. there were many shakings of the engineering heads, and some smiles, with many an '_i told you so_.' even to the outsiders it seemed utopian. however, the gloomy voyage was duly made. one of the most experienced captains known on the route, captain pittock, had been chosen to pilot the venture. he had plainly a distrust of his charge and the new-fangled notion. soon we were nearing calais. here was the lighthouse, and here the two embracing arms of the wickerwork pier. i was standing at the bows, and could see the crowds on the shore waiting. suddenly, as the word was given to starboard or 'port,' the malignant thing, instead of obeying, took the reverse direction, and bore straight _into_ the pier on the left! down crashed the huge flag-staff of our vessel in fragments, falling among us--and there were some narrow escapes. she calmly forced her way down the pier for nearly a hundred yards, literally crunching and smashing it up into fragments, and sweeping the whole away. i looked back on the disastrous course, and saw the whole clear behind us! as we gazed on this sudden wreck, i am ashamed to say there was a roar of laughter, for never was a _surprise_ of so bewildering a character sprung upon human nature. the faces of the poor captain and his sailors, who could scarcely restrain their maledictions on the ill-conditioned 'brute,' betrayed mortification and vexation in the most poignant fashion. the confusion was extraordinary. she was now with difficulty brought over to the other pier. this, though done ever so gently, brought fresh damage, as the mere contact crunched and dislocated most of the timbers. the ill-assured party defiled ashore, and we made for the banqueting-room between rows of half-jeering, half-sympathizing spectators. the speakers at the symposium required all their tact to deal with the disheartening subject. the only thing to be done was to 'have confidence' in the invention--much as a gladstonian in difficulty invites the world to 'leave all to the skill of our great chief.' but, alas! this would not do just now. the vessel was, in fact, unsteerable; the enormous weight of the engines at the bows prevented her obeying the helm. the party set off to paris--such as were in spirits to do so--and the shareholders in the company must have had aching hearts enough. some years later, walking by the thames bank, not far from woolwich, i came upon some masses of rusted metal, long lying there. there were the huge cranks of paddle-wheels, a cylinder, and some boiler metal. these, i was informed, were the fragments of the unlucky steamship that was to abolish sea-sickness! as i now walked to the end of the solitary pier--the very one i had seen swept away so unceremoniously--the recollection of this day came back to me. there was an element of grim comedy in the transaction when i recalled that the calais harbour officials sent in--and reasonably--a huge claim for the mischief done to the pier; but the company soon satisfied _that_ by speedily going 'into liquidation.' there was no resource, so the frenchmen had to rebuild their pier at their own cost. close to calais is a notable place enough, flourishing, too, founded after the great war by one webster, an english laceman. it has grown up, with broad stately streets, in which, it is said, some four or five thousand britons live and thrive. as you walk along you see the familiar names, 'smith and co.,' 'brown and co.,' etc., displayed on huge brass plates at the doors in true native style. indeed, the whole air of the place offers a suggestion of belfast, these downright colonists having stamped their ways and manners in solid style on the place. poor old original calais had long made protest against the constriction she was suffering; the wall and ditch, and the single gate of issue towards the country, named after richelieu, seeming to check all hope of improvement. reasons of state were urged. but a few years ago government gave way, the walls towards the country-side were thrown down, the ditch filled up, and some tremendous 'navigator' work was carried out. the place can now draw its breath. on my last visit i had attended the theatre, a music-hall adaptable to plays, concerts, or to 'les meetings.' it was a new, raw place, very different from the little old theatre in the garden of dessein's, where the famous duchess of kingston attended a performance over a hundred and twenty years ago. this place bore the dignified title of the 'hippodrome theatre,' and a grand 'national' drama was going on, entitled 'the cuirassier of reichshofen.' here we had the grand tale of french heroism and real victory, which an ungenerous foe persisted in calling defeat. a gallant frenchman, who played the hero, had nearly run his daring course, having done prodigies of valour on that fateful and fatal day. the crisis of the drama was reached almost as i entered, the cuirassier coming in with his head bound up in a bloody towel! after relating the horrors of that awful charge in an impassioned strain, he wound up by declaring that _'he and death'_ were the only two left upon the field! it need not be said there were abundant groans for the germans and cheers for the glorious frenchmen. now at last down to the vessel, as the wheezy chimes give out that it is close on two o'clock a.m. all seems dozing at 'maritime calais.' the fishing-boats lie close together, interlaced in black network, snoozing, as it were, after their labours. afar off the little town still maintains its fortress-like air and its picturesque aspect, the dark central spires rising like shadows, the few lights twinkling. the whole scene is deliciously tranquil. the plashing of the water seems to invite slumber, or at least a temporary doze, to which the traveller, after his long day and night, is justly entitled. how strange those old days, when the exiles for debt abounded here! they were in multitudes then, and had a sort of society among themselves in this alsatia. that gentleman in a high stock and a short-waisted coat--the late mr. brummell surely, walking in this direction? is he pursued by this agitated crowd, hurrying after him with a low roaring, like the sound of the waves?... * * * * * i am roused up with a start. what a change! the whole is alive and bustling, black shadowy figures are hurrying by. the white-funnelled steamer has come up, and is moaning dismally, eager to get away. behind is the long international train of illuminated chambers, fresh from paris and just come in, pouring out its men and women, who have arrived from all quarters of the world. they stream on board in a shadowy procession, laden with their bundles. lower down, i hear the _crashing_ of trunks discharged upon the earth! i go on board with the rest, sit down in a corner, and recall nothing till i find myself on the chill platform of victoria station--time, six o'clock a.m. it was surely a dream, or like a dream!--a dream a little over thirty hours long. and what strange objects, all blended and confused together!--towers, towns, gateways, drawbridges, religious rites and processions, pealing organs and jangling chimes, long dusty roads lined with regimental trees, blouses, fishwomen's caps, _sabots_, savoury and unsavoury smells, france dissolving into belgium, belgium into france, france into belgium again; in short, one bewildering kaleidoscope! a day and two nights had gone, during all which time i had been on my legs, and had travelled nigh six hundred miles! dream or no dream, it had been a very welcome show or panorama, new ideas and sights appearing at every turn. and here is my little _'orario'_: o'clock. . victoria, depart . . dover, arrive . " depart . . calais, arrive . " depart . . tournay, arrive . " depart . . orchies, arrive . " depart . . douai, arrive . " depart . . arras, arrive . " depart . . bethune, arrive . " depart . . lille, arrive . " depart . . comines, arrive . " depart . . ypres . . hazebrouck . . cassel . . bergues, arrive . " depart . . st. omer . . calais . . dover . . victoria . time on journey hours this, of course, is more than a day, but it will be seen that eight hours were spent on english soil, and certainly nearly twelve in inaction. the end. billing and sons, printers, guildford. [illustration: pears' soap a specialty for children] fighting in flanders by e. alexander powell special correspondent of the new york world with the belgian forces in the field author of "the last frontier" "gentlemen ravers," "the end of the trail," "the road to glory," etc. with illustrations from photographs by mr. donald thompson to my friends the belgians "i have eaten your bread and salt; i have drunk your water and wine; the deaths you died i have sat beside and the lives that you led were mine." rudyard kipling. contents foreword i. the war correspondents ii. the city of gloom iii. the death in the air iv. under the german eagle v. with the spiked helmets vi. on the belgian battle-line vii. the coming of the british viii. the fall of antwerp appendix foreword nothing is more unwise, on general principles, than to attempt to write about a war before that war is finished and before history has given it the justice of perspective. the campaign which began with the flight of the belgian government from brussels and which culminated in the fall of antwerp formed, however, a separate and distinct phase of the greatest of wars, and i feel that i should write of that campaign while its events are still sharp and clear in my memory and before the impressions it produced have begun to fade. i hope that those in search of a detailed or technical account of the campaign in flanders will not read this book, because they are certain to be disappointed. it contains nothing about strategy or tactics and few military lessons can be drawn from it. it is merely the story, in simple words, of what i, a professional onlooker, who was accorded rather exceptional facilities for observation, saw in belgium during that nation's hour of trial. an american, i went to belgium at the beginning of the war with an open mind. i had few, if any, prejudices. i knew the english, the french, the belgians, the germans equally well. i had friends in all four countries and many happy recollections of days i had spent in each. when i left antwerp after the german occupation i was as pro-belgian as though i had been born under the red-black-and-yellow banner. i had seen a country, one of the loveliest and most peaceable in europe, invaded by a ruthless and brutal soldiery; i had seen its towns and cities blackened by fire and broken by shell; i had seen its churches and its historic monuments destroyed; i had seen its highways crowded with hunted, homeless fugitives; i had seen its fertile fields strewn with the corpses of what had once been the manhood of the nation; i had seen its women left husbandless and its children left fatherless; i had seen what was once a garden of the lord turned into a land of desolation; and i had seen its people--a people whom i, like the rest of the world, had always thought of as pleasure-loving, inefficient, easy-going--i had seen this people, i say, aroused, resourceful, unafraid, and fighting, fighting, fighting. do you wonder that they captured my imagination, that they won my admiration? i am pro-belgian; i admit it frankly. i should be ashamed to be anything else. e. alexander powell london, november , . i. the war correspondents war correspondents regard war very much as a doctor regards sickness. i don't suppose that a doctor is actually glad that people are sick, but so long as sickness exists in the world he feels that he might as well get the benefit of it. it is the same with war correspondents. they do not wish anyone to be killed on their account, but so long as men are going to be killed anyway, they want to be on hand to witness the killing and, through the newspapers, to tell the world about it. the moment that the war broke out, therefore, a veritable army of british and american correspondents descended upon the continent. some of them were men of experience and discretion who had seen many wars and had a right to wear on their jackets more campaign ribbons than most generals. these men took the war seriously. they were there to get the news and, at no matter what expenditure of effort and money, to get that news to the end of a telegraph-wire so that the people in england and america might read it over their coffee-cups the next morning. these men had unlimited funds at their disposal; they had the united influence of thousands of newspapers and of millions of newspaper-readers solidly behind them; and they carried in their pockets letters of introduction from editors and ex-presidents and ambassadors and prime ministers. then there was an army corps of special writers, many of them with well-known names, sent out by various newspapers and magazines to write "mail stuff," as dispatches which are sent by mail instead of telegraph are termed, and "human interest" stories. their qualifications for reporting the greatest war in history consisted, for the most part, in having successfully "covered" labour troubles and murder trials and coronations and presidential conventions, and, in a few cases, central american revolutions. most of the stories which they sent home were written in comfortable hotel rooms in london or paris or rotterdam or ostend. one of these correspondents, however, was not content with a hotel window viewpoint. he wanted to see some german soldiers--preferably uhlans. so he obtained a letter of introduction to some people living in the neighbourhood of courtrai, on the franco-belgian frontier. he made his way there with considerable difficulty and received a cordial welcome. the very first night that he was there a squadron of uhlans galloped into the town, there was a slight skirmish, and they galloped out again. the correspondent, who was a sound sleeper, did not wake up until it was all over. then he learned that the uhlans had ridden under his very window. crossing on the same steamer with me from new york was a well-known novelist who in his spare time edits a chicago newspaper. he was provided with a sheaf of introductions from exalted personages and a bag containing a thousand pounds in gold coin. it was so heavy that he had brought a man along to help him carry it, and at night they took turns in sitting up and guarding it. he confided to me that he had spent most of his life in trying to see wars, but though on four occasions he had travelled many thousands of miles to countries where wars were in progress, each time he had arrived just after the last shot was fired. he assured me very earnestly that he would go back to michigan boulevard quite contentedly if he could see just one battle. i am glad to say that his perseverance was finally rewarded and that he saw his battle. he never told me just how much of the thousand pounds he took back to chicago with him, but from some remarks he let drop i gathered that he had found battle-hunting an expensive pastime. one of the great london dailies was represented in belgium by a young and slender and very beautiful english girl whose name, as a novelist and playwright, is known on both sides of the atlantic. i met her in the american consulate at ghent, where she was pleading with vice-consul van hee to assist her in getting through the german lines to brussels. she had heard a rumour that brussels was shortly going to be burned or sacked or something of the sort, and she wanted to be on hand for the burning and sacking. she had arrived in belgium wearing a london tailor's idea of what constituted a suitable costume for a war correspondent--perhaps i should say war correspondentess. her luggage was a model of compactness: it consisted of a sleeping-bag, a notebook, half a dozen pencils--and a powder-puff. she explained that she brought the sleeping-bag because she understood that war correspondents always slept in the field. as most of the fields in that part of flanders were just then under several inches of water as a result of the autumn rains, a folding canoe would have been more useful. she was as insistent on being taken to see a battle as a child is on being taken to the pantomime. eventually her pleadings got the better of my judgment and i took her out in the car towards alost to see, from a safe distance, what promised to be a small cavalry engagement. but the belgian cavalry unexpectedly ran into a heavy force of germans, and before we realized what was happening we were in a very warm corner indeed. bullets were kicking up little spurts of dust about us; bullets were tang-tanging through the trees and clipping off twigs, which fell down upon our heads; the rat-tat-tat of the german musketry was answered by the angry snarl of the belgian machine-guns; in a field near by the bodies of two recently killed cuirassiers lay sprawled grotesquely. the belgian troopers were stretched flat upon the ground, a veteran english correspondent was giving a remarkable imitation of the bark on a tree, and my driver, my photographer and i were peering cautiously from behind the corner of a brick farmhouse. i supposed that miss war correspondent was there too, but when i turned to speak to her she was gone. she was standing beside the car, which we had left in the middle of the road because the bullets were flying too thickly to turn it around, dabbing at her nose with a powder-puff which she had left in the tonneau and then critically examining the effect in a pocket-mirror. "for the love of god!" said i, running out and dragging her back to shelter, "don't you know that you'll be killed if you stay out here?" "will i?" said she, sweetly. "well, you surely don't expect me to be killed with my nose unpowdered, do you?" that evening i asked her for her impressions of her first battle. "well," she answered, after a meditative pause, "it certainly was very chic." the third and largest division of this journalistic army consisted of free lances who went to the continent at their own expense on the chance of "stumbling into something." about the only thing that any of them stumbled into was trouble. some of them bore the most extraordinary credentials ever carried by a correspondent; some of them had no credentials at all. one gentleman, who was halted while endeavouring to reach the firing line in a decrepit cab, informed the officer before whom he was taken that he represented the ladies' home journal of philadelphia. another displayed a letter from the editor of a well-known magazine saying that he "would be pleased to consider any articles which you care to submit." a third, upon being questioned, said naively that he represented his literary agent. then--i almost forgot him--there was a methodist clergyman from boston who explained to the provost-marshal that he was gathering material for a series of sermons on the horrors of war. add to this army of writers another army of photographers and war-artists and cinematograph-operators and you will have some idea of the problem with which the military authorities of the warring nations were confronted. it finally got down to the question of which should be permitted to remain in the field--the war correspondents or the soldiers. there wasn't room for them both. it was decided to retain the soldiers. the general staffs of the various armies handled the war correspondent problem in different ways. the british war office at first announced that under no considerations would any correspondents be permitted in the areas where british troops were operating, but such a howl went up from press and public alike that this order was modified and it was announced that a limited number of correspondents, representing the great newspaper syndicates and press associations, would, after fulfilling certain rigorous requirements, be permitted to accompany his majesty's forces in the field. these fortunate few having been chosen after much heart-burning, they proceeded to provide themselves with the prescribed uniforms and field-kits, and some of them even purchased horses. after the war had been in progress for three months they were still in london. the french general staff likewise announced that no correspondents would be permitted with the armies, and when any were caught they were unceremoniously shipped to the nearest port between two unsympathetic gendarmes with a warning that they would be shot if they were caught again. the belgian general staff made no announcement at all. the police merely told those correspondents who succeeded in getting into the fortified position of antwerp that their room was preferable to their company and informed them at what hour the next train for the dutch frontier was leaving. now the correspondents knew perfectly well that neither the british nor the french nor the belgians would actually shoot them, if for no other reason than the unfavourable impression which would be produced by such a proceeding; but they did know that if they tried the patience of the military authorities too far they would spend the rest of the war in a military prison. so, as an imprisoned correspondent is as valueless to the newspaper which employs him as a prisoner of war is to the nation whose uniform he wears, they compromised by picking up such information as they could along the edge of things. which accounts for most of the dispatches being dated from ostend or ghent or dunkirk or boulogne or from "the back of the front," as one correspondent ingeniously put it. as for the germans, they said bluntly that any correspondents found within their lines would be treated as spies--which meant being blindfolded and placed between a stone wall and a firing party. and every correspondent knew that they would do exactly what they said. they have no proper respect for the press, these germans. that i was officially recognized by the belgian government and given a laisser-passer by the military governor of antwerp permitting me to pass at will through both the outer and inner lines of fortifications, that a motor-car and a military driver were placed at my disposal, and that throughout the campaign in flanders i was permitted to accompany the belgian forces, was not due to any peculiar merits or qualifications of my own, or even to the influence exerted by the powerful paper which i represented, but to a series of unusual and fortunate circumstances which there is no need to detail here. there were many correspondents who merited from sheer hard work what i received as a result of extraordinary good fortune. the civilians who were wandering, foot-loose and free, about the theatre of operations were by no means confined to the representatives of the press; there was an amazing number of young englishmen and americans who described themselves as "attaches" and "consular couriers" and "diplomatic messengers," and who intimated that they were engaged in all sorts of dangerous and important missions. many of these were adventurous young men of means who had "come over to see the fun" and who had induced the american diplomatic representatives in london and the hague to give them dispatches of more or less importance-- usually less than more--to carry through to antwerp and brussels. in at least one instance the official envelopes with the big red seals which they so ostentatiously displayed contained nothing but sheets of blank paper. their sole motive was in nearly all cases curiosity. they had no more business wandering about the war-zone than they would have had wandering about a hospital where men were dying. belgium was being slowly strangled; her villages had been burned, her fields laid waste, her capital was in the hands of the enemy, her people were battling for their national existence; yet these young men came in and demanded first-row seats, precisely as though the war was a spectacle which was being staged for their special benefit. one youth, who in his busy moments practised law in boston, though quite frankly admitting that he was only actuated by curiosity, was exceedingly angry with me because i declined to take him to the firing-line. he seemed to regard the desperate battle which was then in progress for the possession of antwerp very much as though it was a football game in the harvard stadium; he seemed to think that he had a right to see it. he said that he had come all the way from boston to see a battle, and when i remained firm in my refusal to take him to the front he intimated quite plainly that i was no gentleman and that nothing would give him greater pleasure than to have a shell explode in my immediate vicinity. for all its grimness, the war was productive of more than one amusing episode. i remember a mysterious stranger who called one morning on the american consul at ostend to ask for assistance in getting through to brussels. when the consul asked him to be seated he bowed stiffly and declined, and when a seat was again urged upon him he explained, in a hoarse whisper, that sewn in his trousers were two thousand pounds in bank-notes which he was taking through to brussels for the relief of stranded english and americans--hence he couldn't very well sit down. of all the horde of adventurous characters who were drawn to the continent on the outbreak of war as iron-filings are attracted by a magnet, i doubt if there was a more picturesque figure than a little photographer from kansas named donald thompson. i met him first while paying a flying visit to ostend. he blew into the consulate there wearing an american army shirt, a pair of british officer's riding-breeches, french puttees and a highlander's forage-cap, and carrying a camera the size of a parlour-phonograph. no one but an american could have accomplished what he had, and no american but one from kansas. he had not only seen war, all military prohibitions to the contrary, but he had actually photographed it. thompson is a little man, built like harry lauder; hard as nails, tough as raw hide, his skin tanned to the colour of a well-smoked meerschaum, and his face perpetually wreathed in what he called his "sunflower smile." he affects riding-breeches and leather leggings and looks, physically as well as sartorially, as though he had been born on horseback. he has more chilled steel nerve than any man i know, and before he had been in belgium a month his name became a synonym throughout the army for coolness and daring. he reached europe on a tramp-steamer with an overcoat, a toothbrush, two clean handkerchiefs, and three large cameras. he expected to have some of them confiscated or broken, he explained, so he brought along three as a measure of precaution. his cameras were the largest size made. "by using a big camera no one can possibly accuse me of being a spy," he explained ingenuously. his papers consisted of an american passport, a certificate of membership in the benevolent and protective order of elks, and a letter from colonel sam hughes, canadian minister of militia, authorizing him to take pictures of canadian troops wherever found. thompson made nine attempts to get from paris to the front. he was arrested eight times and spent eight nights in guard-houses. each time he was taken before a military tribunal. utterly ignoring the subordinates, he would insist on seeing the officer in command. he would grasp the astonished frenchman by the hand and inquire solicitously after his health and that of his family. "how many languages do you speak?" i asked him. "three," said he. "english, american, and yankee." on one occasion he commandeered a motorcycle standing outside a cafe and rode it until the petrol ran out, whereupon he abandoned it by the roadside and pushed on afoot. on another occasion he explained to the french officer who arrested him that he was endeavouring to rescue his wife and children, who were in the hands of the germans somewhere on the belgian frontier. the officer was so affected by the pathos of the story that he gave thompson a lift in his car. as a matter of fact, thompson's wife and family were quite safe in topeka, kansas. whenever he was stopped by patrols he would display his letter from the minister of militia and explain that he was trying to overtake the canadian troops. "vive le canada!" the french would shout enthusiastically. "hurrah for our brave allies, les canadiens! they are doubtless with the british at the front"--and permit him to proceed. thompson did not think it necessary to inform them that the nearest canadian troops were still at quebec. when within sound of the german guns he was arrested for the eighth time and sent to amiens escorted by two gendarmes, who were ordered to see him aboard the first train for boulogne. they evidently considered that they had followed instructions when they saw him buy a through ticket for london. shortly after midnight a train loaded with wounded pulled into the station. assisted by some british soldiers, thompson scrambled to the top of a train standing at the next platform and made a flashlight picture. a wild panic ensued in the crowded station. it was thought that a german bomb had exploded. thompson was pulled down by the police and would have been roughly handled had it not been for the interference of his british friends, who said that he belonged to their regiment. shortly afterwards a train loaded with artillery which was being rushed to the front came in. thompson, once more aided and abetted by the british tommies, slipped under the tarpaulin covering a field-gun and promptly fell asleep. when he awoke the next morning he was at mons. a regiment of highlanders was passing. he exchanged a cake of chocolate for a fatigue-cap and fell in with them. after marching for two hours the regiment was ordered into the trenches. thompson went into the trenches too. all through that terrible day thompson plied his trade as the soldiers plied theirs. they used their rifles and he used his camera. men were shot dead on either side of him. a storm of shrapnel shrieked and howled overhead. he said that the fire of the german artillery was amazingly accurate and rapid. they would concentrate their entire fire on a single regiment or battery and when that regiment or battery was out of action they would turn to another and do the same thing over again. when the british fell back before the german onset thompson remained in the trenches long enough to get pictures of the charging germans. then he ran for his life. that night he bivouacked with a french line regiment, the men giving him food and a blanket. the next morning he set out for amiens en route for england. as the train for boulogne, packed to the doors with refugees, was pulling out of the amiens station, he noticed a first-class compartment marked "reserved," the only occupant being a smartly gowned young woman. thompson said that she was very good-looking. the train was moving, but thompson took a running jump and dived head-foremost through the window, landing in the lady's lap. she was considerably startled until he said that he was an american. that seemed to explain everything. the young woman proved to be a russian countesss who had been living in paris and who was returning, via england, to petrograd. the french government had placed a compartment at her disposal, but in the jam at the paris station she had become separated from her maid, who had the bag containing her money. thompson recounted his adventures at mons and asked her if she would smuggle his films into england concealed on her person, as he knew from previous experience that he would be stopped and searched by scotland yard detectives when the train reached boulogne and that, in all probability, the films would be confiscated or else held up so long that they would be valueless. the countess finally consented, but suggested, in return for the danger she was incurring, that thompson lend her a thousand francs, which she would return as soon as she reached london. as he had with him only two hundred and fifty francs, he paid her the balance in united cigar stores coupons, some of which he chanced to have in his pocket-book, and which, he explained, was american war currency. he told me that he gave her almost enough to get a briar-pipe. at boulogne he was arrested, as he had foreseen, was stripped, searched and his camera opened, but as nothing was found he was permitted to continue to london, where he went to the countess's hotel and received his films--and, i might add, his money and cigar coupons. two hours later, having posted his films to america, he was on his way to belgium. landing at ostend, he managed to get by train as far as malines. he then started to walk the twenty-odd miles into brussels, carrying his huge camera, his overcoat, field-glasses, and three hundred films. when ten miles down the highway a patrol of uhlans suddenly spurred out from behind a hedge and covered him with their pistols. thompson promptly pulled a little silk american flag out of his pocket and shouted "hoch der kaiser!" and "auf wiedersehn" which constituted his entire stock of german. upon being examined by the officer in command of the german outpost, he explained that his canadian credentials were merely a blind to get through the lines of the allies and that he really represented a syndicate of german newspapers in america, whereupon he was released with apologies and given a seat in an ambulance which was going into brussels. as his funds were by this time running low, he started out to look for inexpensive lodgings. as he remarked to me, "i thought we had some pretty big house-agents out in kansas, but this mr. 'a. louer' has them beaten a mile. why, that fellow has his card on every house that's for rent in brussels!" the next morning, while chatting with a pretty english girl in front of a cafe, a german officer who was passing ordered his arrest as a spy. "all right," said thompson, "i'm used to being arrested, but would you mind waiting just a minute until i get your picture?" the german, who had no sense of humour, promptly smashed the camera with his sword. despite thompson's protestations that he was an inoffensive american, the germans destroyed all his films and ordered him to be out of the city before six that evening. he walked the thirty miles to ghent and there caught a train for ostend to get one of his reserve cameras, which he had cached there. when i met him in ostend he said that he had been there overnight, that he was tired of a quiet life and was looking for action, so i took him back with me to antwerp. the belgians had made an inflexible rule that no photographers would be permitted with the army, but before thompson had been in antwerp twenty-four hours he had obtained permission from the chief of the general staff himself to take pictures when and where he pleased. thompson remained with me until the fall of antwerp and the german occupation, and no man could have had a more loyal or devoted companion. it is no exaggeration to say that he saw more of the campaign in flanders than any individual, military or civilian--"le capitaine thompson," as he came to be known, being a familiar and popular figure on the belgian battle-line. there is one other person of whom passing mention should be made, if for no other reason than because his name will appear from time to time in this narrative. i take pleasure, therefore, in introducing you to m. marcel roos, the young belgian gentleman who drove my motor-car. when war was declared, roos, who belonged to the jeunesse doree of brussels, gave his own ninety horse-power car to the government and enlisted in a regiment of grenadiers. because he was as familiar with the highways and byways of belgium as a housewife is with her kitchen, and because he spoke english, french, flemish and german, he was detailed to drive the car which the belgian government placed at my disposal. he was as big and loyal and good-natured as a st. bernard dog and he was as cool in danger as thompson--which is the highest compliment i can pay him. incidentally, he was the most successful forager that i have ever seen; more than once, in villages which had apparently been swept clean of everything edible by the belgians or the germans, he produced quite an excellent dinner as mysteriously as a conjuror produces rabbits from a hat. now you must bear in mind that although one could get into antwerp with comparative ease, it by no means followed that one could get out to the firing-line. a long procession of correspondents came to antwerp and remained a day or so and then went away again without once getting beyond the city gates. even if one succeeded in obtaining the necessary laisser-passer from the military government, there was no way of reaching the front, as all the automobiles and all except the most decrepit horses had been requisitioned for the use of the army. there was, you understand, no such thing as hiring an automobile, or even buying one. even the few people who had influence enough to retain their cars found them useless, as one of the very first acts of the military authorities was to commandeer the entire supply of petrol. the bulk of the cars were used in the ambulance service or for purposes of transport, the army train consisting entirely of motor vehicles. staff officers, certain government officials, and members of the diplomatic and consular corps were provided by the government with automobiles and military drivers. every one else walked or used the trams. thus it frequently happened that a young staff officer, who had never before known the joys of motoring, would tear madly down the street in a luxurious limousine, his spurred boots resting on the broadcloth cushions, while the ci-devant owner of the car, who might be a banker or a merchant prince, would jump for the side-walk to escape being run down. with the declaration of war and the taking over of all automobiles by the military, all speed laws were flung to the winds. no matter how unimportant his business, every one tore through the city streets as though the devil (or the germans) were behind him. the staid citizens of antwerp quickly developed a remarkably agility in getting out of the way of furiously driven cars. they had to. otherwise they would have been killed. because, from the middle of august to the middle of october, antwerp was the capital of belgium and the seat of the king, cabinet, and diplomatic corps; because from it any point on the battle-front could easily be reached by motor-car; and because, above all else, it was at the end of the cable and the one place in belgium where there was any certainty of dispatches getting through to england, i made it my headquarters during the operations in flanders, going out to the front in the morning and returning to the hotel st. antoine at night. i doubt if war correspondence has ever been carried on under such comfortable, even luxurious, conditions. "going out to the front" became as commonplace a proceeding as for a business man to take the morning train to the city. for one whose previous campaigning had been done in persia, mexico and north africa and the balkans, it was a novel experience to leave a large and fashionable hotel after breakfast, take a run of twenty or thirty miles over stone-paved roads in a powerful and comfortable car, witness a battle--provided, of course, that there happened to be a battle on that day's list of events--and get back to the hotel in time to dress for dinner. imagine it, if you please! imagine leaving a line of battle, where shells were shrieking overhead and musketry was crackling along the trenches, and moaning, blood-smeared figures were being placed in ambulances, and other blood-smeared figures who no longer moaned were sprawled in strange attitudes upon the ground --imagine leaving such a scene, i say, and in an hour, or even less, finding oneself in a hotel where men and women in evening dress were dining by the light of pink-shaded candles, or in the marble- paved palm court were sipping coffee and liqueurs to the sound of water splashing gently in a fountain. ii. the city of gloom in order to grasp the true significance of the events which preceded and led up to the fall of antwerp, it is necessary to understand the extraordinary conditions which existed in and around that city when i reached there in the middle of august. at that time all that was left to the belgians of belgium were the provinces of limbourg, antwerp, and east and west flanders. everything else was in the possession of the germans. suppose, for the sake of, having things quite clear, that you unfold the map of belgium. now, with your pencil, draw a line across the country from east to west, starting at the dutch city of maastricht and passing through hasselt, diest, aerschot, malines, alost, and courtrai to the french frontier. this line was, roughly speaking, "the front," and for upwards of two months fighting of a more or less serious character took place along its entire length. during august and the early part of september this fighting consisted, for the most part, of attempts by the belgian field army to harass the enemy and to threaten his lines of communication and of counter-attacks by the germans, during which aerschot, malines, sempst, and termonde repeatedly changed hands. some twenty miles or so behind this line was the great fortified position of antwerp, its outer chain of forts enclosing an area with a radius of nearly fifteen miles. antwerp, with its population of four hundred thousand souls, its labyrinth of dim and winding streets lined by mediaeval houses, and its splendid modern boulevards, lies on the east bank of the scheldt, about fifteen miles from dutch territorial waters, at a hairpin-turn in the river. the defences of the city were modern, extensive, and generally believed, even by military experts, to be little short of impregnable. in fact, antwerp was almost universally considered one of the three or four strongest fortified positions in europe. in order to capture the city it would be necessary for an enemy to break through four distinct lines of defence, any one of which, it was believed, was strong enough to oppose successfully any force which could be brought against it. the outermost line of forts began at lierre, a dozen miles to the south-east of the city, and swept in a great quarter-circle, through wavre-st. catherine, waelhem, heyndonck and willebroeck, to the scheldt at ruppelmonde. two or three miles behind this outer line of forts a second line of defence was formed by the ruppel and the nethe, which, together with the scheldt, make a great natural waterway around three sides of the city. back of these rivers, again, was a second chain of forts completely encircling the city on a five-mile radius. the moment that the first german soldier set his foot on belgian soil the military authorities began the herculean task of clearing of trees and buildings a great zone lying between this inner circle of forts and the city ramparts in order that an investing force might have no cover. it is estimated that within a fortnight the belgian sappers and engineers destroyed property to the value of £ , , . not san francisco after the earthquake, nor dayton after the flood, nor salem after the fire presented scenes of more complete desolation than did the suburbs of antwerp after the soldiers had finished with them. on august , , no city in all europe could boast of more beautiful suburbs than antwerp. hidden amid the foliage of great wooded parks were stately chateaux; splendid country-houses rose from amid acres of green plush lawns and blazing gardens; the network of roads and avenues and bridle-paths were lined with venerable trees, whose branches, meeting overhead, formed leafy tunnels; scattered here and there were quaint old-world villages, with plaster walls and pottery roofs and lichen-covered church spires. by the last day of august all this had disappeared. the loveliest suburbs in europe had been wiped from the earth as a sponge wipes figures from a slate. every house and church and windmill, every tree and hedge and wall, in a zone some two or three miles wide by twenty long, was literally levelled to the ground. for mile after mile the splendid trees which lined the highroads were ruthlessly cut down; mansions which could fittingly have housed a king were dynamited; churches whose walls had echoed to the tramp of the duke of alba's mail-clad men-at-arms were levelled; villages whose picturesqueness was the joy of artists and travellers were given over to the flames. certainly not since the burning of moscow has there been witnessed such a scene of self-inflicted desolation. when the work of the engineers was finished a jack-rabbit could not have approached the forts without being seen. when the work of levelling had been completed, acres upon acres of barbed-wire entanglements were constructed, the wires being grounded and connected with the city lighting system so that a voltage could instantly be turned on which would prove as deadly as the electric chair at sing sing. thousands of men were set to work sharpening stakes and driving these stakes, point upward, in the ground, so as to impale any soldiers who fell upon them. in front of the stakes were "man-traps," thousands of barrels with their heads knocked out being set in the ground and then covered with a thin layer of laths and earth, which would suddenly give way if a man walked upon it and drop him into the hole below. and beyond the zones of entanglements and chevaux de frise and man-traps the beet and potato-fields were sown with mines which were to be exploded by electricity when the enemy was fairly over them, and blow that enemy, whole regiments at a time, into eternity. stretching across the fields and meadows were what looked at first glance like enormous red-brown serpents but which proved, upon closer inspection, to be trenches for infantry. the region to the south of antwerp is a network of canals, and on the bank of every canal rose, as though by magic, parapets of sandbags. charges of dynamite were placed under every bridge and viaduct and tunnel. barricades of paving-stones and mattresses and sometimes farm carts were built across the highways. at certain points wires were stretched across the roads at the height of a man's head for the purpose of preventing sudden dashes by armoured motor-cars. the walls of such buildings as were left standing were loopholed for musketry. machine-guns and quick-firers were mounted everywhere. at night the white beams of the searchlights swept this zone of desolation and turned it into day. now the pitiable thing about it was that all this enormous destruction proved to have been wrought for nothing, for the germans, instead of throwing huge masses of infantry against the forts, as it was anticipated that they would do, and thus giving the entanglements and the mine-fields and the machine-guns a chance to get in their work, methodically pounded the forts to pieces with siege-guns stationed a dozen miles away. in fact, when the germans entered antwerp not a strand of barbed wire had been cut, not a barricade defended, not a mine exploded. this, mind you, was not due to any lack of bravery on the part of the belgians--heaven knows, they did not lack for that!--but to the fact that the germans never gave them a chance to make use of these elaborate and ingenious devices. it was like a man letting a child painstakingly construct an edifice of building-blocks and then, when it was completed, suddenly sweeping it aside with his hand. as a result of these elaborate precautions, it was as difficult to go in or out of antwerp as it is popularly supposed to be for a millionaire to enter the kingdom of heaven. sentries were as thick as policemen in piccadilly. you could not proceed a quarter of a mile along any road, in any direction, without being halted by a harsh "qui vive?" and having the business end of a rifle turned in your direction. if your papers were not in order you were promptly turned back--or arrested as a suspicious character and taken before an officer for examination--though if you were sufficiently in the confidence of the military authorities to be given the password, you were usually permitted to pass without further question. it was some time before i lost the thrill of novelty and excitement produced by this halt-who-goes-there-advance-friend-and-give-the-countersign business. it was so exactly the sort of thing that, as a boy, i used to read about in books by george a. henty that it seemed improbable and unreal. when we were motoring at night and a peremptory challenge would come from out the darkness and the lamps of the car would pick out the cloaked figure of the sentry as the spotlight picks out the figure of an actor on the stage, and i would lean forward and whisper the magic mot d'ordre, i always had the feeling that i was taking part in a play-which was not so very far from the truth, for, though i did not appreciate it at the time, we were all actors, more or less important, in the greatest drama ever staged. in the immediate vicinity of antwerp the sentries were soldiers of the regular army and understood a sentry's duties, but in the outlying districts, particularly between ostend and ghent, the roads were patrolled by members of the garde civique, all of whom seemed imbued with the idea that the safety of the nation depended upon their vigilance, which was a very commendable and proper attitude indeed. when i was challenged by a garde civique i was always a little nervous, and wasted no time whatever in jamming on the brakes, because the poor fellows were nearly always excited and handled their rifles in a fashion which was far from being reassuring. more than once, while travelling in the outlying districts, we were challenged by civil guards who evidently had not been entrusted with the password, but who, when it was whispered to them, would nod their heads importantly and tell us to pass on. "the next sentry that we meet," i said to roos on one of these occasions, "probably has no idea of the password. i'll bet you a box of cigars that i can give him any word that comes into my head and that he won't know the difference." as we rolled over the ancient drawbridge which gives admittance to sleepy bruges, a bespectacled sentry, who looked as though he had suddenly been called from an accountant's desk to perform the duties of a soldier, held up his hand, palm outward, which is the signal to stop the world over. "halt!" he commanded quaveringly. "advance slowly and give the word." i leaned out as the car came opposite him. "kalamazoo," i whispered. the next instant i was looking into the muzzle of his rifle. "hands up!" he shouted, and there was no longer any quaver in his voice. "that is not the word. i shouldn't be surprised if you were german spies. get out of the car!" it took half an hour of explanations to convince him that we were not german spies, that we really did know the password, and that we were merely having a joke--though not, as we had planned, at his expense. the force of citizen soldiery known as the garde civique has, so far as i am aware, no exact counterpart in any other country. it is composed of business and professional men whose chief duties, prior to the war, had been to show themselves on occasions of ceremony arrayed in gorgeous uniforms, which varied according to the province. the mounted division of the antwerp garde civique wore a green and scarlet uniform which resembled as closely as possible that of the guides, the crack cavalry corps of the belgian army. in the flemish towns the civil guards wore a blue coat, so long in the skirts that it had to be buttoned back to permit of their walking, and a hat of stiff black felt, resembling a bowler, with a feather stuck rakishly in the band. early in the war the germans announced that they would not recognize the gardes civique as combatants, and that any of them who were captured while fighting would meet with the same fate as armed civilians. this drastic ruling resulted in many amusing episodes. when it was learned that the germans were approaching ghent, sixteen hundred civil guardsmen threw their rifles into the canal and, stripping off their uniforms, ran about in the pink and light-blue under-garments which the belgians affect, frantically begging the townspeople to lend them civilian clothing. as a whole, however, these citizen-soldiers did admirable service, guarding the roads, tunnels and bridges, assisting the refugees, preserving order in the towns, and, in antwerp, taking entire charge of provisioning the army. no account of antwerp in war time would be complete without at least passing mention of the boy scouts, who were one of the city's most picturesque and interesting features. i don't quite know how the city could have got along without them. they were always on the job; they were to be seen everywhere and they did everything. they acted as messengers, as doorkeepers, as guides, as orderlies for staff officers, and as couriers for the various ministries; they ran the elevators in the hotels, they worked in the hospitals, they assisted the refugees to find food and lodgings. the boy scouts stationed at the various ministries were on duty twenty-four hours at a stretch. they slept rolled up in blankets on the floors; they obtained their meals where and when they could and paid for them themselves, and made themselves extremely useful. if you possessed sufficient influence to obtain a motor-car, a boy scout was generally detailed to sit beside the driver and open the door and act as a sort of orderly. i had one. his name was joseph. he was most picturesque. he wore a sombrero with a cherry-coloured puggaree and a bottle-green cape, and his green stockings turned over at the top so as to show knees as white and shapely as those of a woman. to tell the truth, however, i had nothing for him to do. so when i was not out in the car he occupied himself in running the lift at the hotel st. antoine. joseph was with me during the german attack on waelhem. we were caught in a much hotter place than we intended and for half an hour were under heavy shrapnel fire. i was curious to see how the youngster--for he was only fourteen-- would act. finally he turned to me, his black eyes snapping with excitement. "have i your permission to go a little nearer, monsieur?" he asked eagerly. "i won't be gone long. i only want to get a german helmet." it may have been the valour of ignorance which these broad-hatted, bare-kneed boys displayed, but it was the sort of valour which characterized every belgian soldier. there was one youngster of thirteen who was attached to an officer of the staff and who was present at every battle of importance from the evacuation of brussels to the fall of antwerp. i remember seeing him during the retreat of the belgians from wesemael, curled up in the tonneau of a car and sleeping through all the turmoil and confusion. i felt like waking him up and saying sternly, "look here, sonny, you'd better trot on home. your mother will be worried to death about you." i believe that four belgian boy scouts gave up their lives in the service of their country. two were run down and killed by automobiles while on duty in antwerp. two others were, i understand, shot by german troops near brussels while attempting to carry dispatches through the lines. one boy scout became so adept at this sort of work that he was regularly employed by the government to carry messages through to its agents in brussels. his exploits would provide material for a boy's book of adventure and, as a fitting conclusion, he was decorated by the king. anyone who went to belgium with hard-and-fast ideas as to social distinctions quickly had them shattered. the fact that a man wore a private's uniform and sat behind the steering-wheel of your car and respectfully touched his cap when you gave him an order did not imply that he had always been a chauffeur. roos, who drove my car throughout my stay in belgium, was the son of a brussels millionaire, and at the beginning of hostilities had, as i think i have mentioned elsewhere, promptly presented his own powerful car to the government. the aristocracy of belgium did not hang around the ministry of war trying to obtain commissions. they simply donned privates' uniforms, and went into the firing-line. as a result of this wholehearted patriotism the ranks of the belgian army were filled with men who were members of the most exclusive clubs and were welcome guests in the highest social circles in europe. almost any evening during the earlier part of the war a smooth-faced youth in the uniform of a private soldier could have been seen sitting amid a group of friends at dinner in the hotel st. antoine. when an officer entered the room he stood up and clicked his heels together and saluted. he was prince henri de ligne, a member of one of the oldest and most distinguished families in belgium and related to half the aristocracy of europe. he, poor boy, was destined never again to follow the hounds or to lead a cotillion; he was killed near herenthals with young count de villemont and philippe de zualart while engaged in a daring raid in an armoured motorcar into the german lines for the purpose of blowing up a bridge. when, upon the occupation of brussels by the germans, the capital of belgium was hastily transferred to antwerp, considerable difficulty was experienced in finding suitable accommodation for the staffs of the various ministries, which were housed in any buildings which happened to be available at the time. thus, the foreign relations of the nation were directed from a school-building in the avenue du commerce--the foreign minister, monsieur davignon, using as his cabinet the room formerly used for lectures on physiology, the walls of which were still covered with blackboards and anatomical charts. the grand hotel was taken over by the government for the accommodation of the cabinet ministers and their staffs, while the ministers of state and the members of the diplomatic corps were quartered at the st. antoine. in fact, it used to be said in fun that if you got into difficulties with the police all you had to do was to get within the doors of the hotel, where you would be safe, for half of the ground floor was technically british soil, being occupied by the british legation; a portion of the second floor was used by the russian legation; if you dashed into a certain bedroom you could claim roumanian protection, and in another you were, theoretically, in greece; while on the upper floor extra-territoriality was exercised by the republic of china. every evening all the ministers and diplomats met in the big rose-and-ivory dining-room--the white shirt-fronts of the men and the white shoulders of the women, with the uniforms of the belgian officers and of the british, french and russian military attaches, combining to form a wonderfully brilliant picture. looking on that scene, it was hard to believe that by ascending to the roof of the hotel you could see the glare of burning villages and hear the boom of german cannon. as the siege progressed and the german lines were drawn tighter, the military regulations governing life in antwerp increased in severity. the local papers were not permitted to print any accounts of belgian checks or reverses, and at one time the importation of english newspapers was suspended. sealed letters were not accepted by the post office for any foreign countries save england, russia and france, and even these were held four days before being forwarded. telegrams were, of course, rigidly censored. the telephone service was suspended save for governmental purposes. at eight o'clock the trams stopped running. save for a few ramshackle vehicles, drawn by decrepit horses, the cabs had disappeared from the streets. the city went spy-mad. if a man ordered sauerkraut and sausage for lunch he instantly fell under suspicion. scarcely a day passed without houses being raided and their occupants arrested on the charge of espionage. it was reported and generally believed that those whose guilt was proved were promptly executed outside the ramparts, but of this i have my doubts. the belgians are too good-natured, too easy-going. it is probable, of course, that some spies were executed, but certainly not many. one never stirred out of doors in antwerp without one's papers, which had to be shown before one could gain admission to the post office, the telegraph bureau, the banks, the railway stations, or any other public buildings. there were several varieties of "papers." there was the plain passport which, beyond establishing your nationality, was not worth the paper it was written on. there was the permis de sejour, which was issued by the police to those who were able to prove that they had business which necessitated their remaining in the city. and finally, there was the much-prized laisser-passer which was issued by the military government and usually bore the photograph of the person to whom it was given, which proved an open sesame wherever shown, and which, i might add, was exceedingly difficult to obtain. only once did my laisser-passer fail me. during the final days of the siege, when the temper and endurance of the belgian defenders were strained almost to the breaking-point, i motored out to witness the german assault on the forts near willebroeck. with me were captain raymond briggs of the united states army and thompson. before continuing to the front we took the precaution of stopping at division headquarters in boom and asking if there was any objection to our proceeding; we were informed that there was none. we had not been on the firing-line half an hour, however, before two gendarmes came tearing up in a motor-car and informed us that we were under arrest and must return with them to boom. at division headquarters we were interrogated by a staff major whose temper was as fiery as his hair. thompson, as was his invariable custom, was smoking a very large and very black cigar. "take that cigar out of your mouth!" snapped the major in french. "how dare you smoke in my presence?" "sorry, major," said thompson, grinning broadly, "but you'll have to talk american. i don't understand french." "stop smiling!" roared the now infuriated officer. "how dare you smile when i address you? this is no time for smiling, sir! this is a time of war!" though the major was reluctantly forced to admit that our papers were in order, we were nevertheless sent to staff headquarters in antwerp guarded by two gendarmes, one of whom was the bearer of a dossier in which it was gravely recited that captain briggs and i had been arrested while in the company of a person calling himself donald thompson, who was charged by the chief of staff with having smiled and smoked a cigar in his presence. needless to say, the whole opera-bouffe affair was promptly disavowed by the higher authorities. i have mentioned the incident because it was the sole occasion on which i met with so much as a shadow of discourtesy from any belgian, either soldier or civilian. i doubt if in any other country in the world in time of war, a foreigner would have been permitted to go where and when he pleased, as i was, and would have met with hospitality and kindness from every one. the citizens of antwerp hated the germans with a deeper and more bitter hatred, if such a thing were possible, than the people of any other part of belgium. this was due to the fact that in no foreign city where germans dwelt and did business were they treated with such marked hospitality and consideration as in antwerp. they had been given franchises and concessions and privileges of every description; they had been showered with honours and decorations; they were welcome guests on every occasion; city streets had been named after leading german residents; time and time again, both at private dinners and public banquets, they had asserted, wineglass in hand, their loyalty and devotion to the city which was their home. yet, the moment opportunity offered, they did not scruple to betray it. in the cellar of the house belonging to one of the most prominent german residents the police found large stores of ammunition and hundreds of rifles and german uniforms. a german company had, as a result of criminal stupidity, been awarded the contract for wiring the forts defending the city--and when the need arose it was found that the wiring was all but worthless. a wealthy german had a magnificent country estate the gardens of which ran down to the moat of one of the outlying forts. one day he suggested to the military authorities that if they would permit him to obtain the necessary water from the moat, he would build a swimming-pool in his garden for the use of the soldiers. what appeared to be a generous offer was gladly accepted--but when the day of action came it was found that the moat had been drained dry. in the grounds of another country place were discovered concrete emplacements for the use of the german siege-guns. thus the german residents repaid the hospitality of their adopted city. when the war-cloud burst every german was promptly expelled from antwerp. in a few cases the mob got out of hand and smashed the windows of some german saloons along the water-front, but no germans were injured or mistreated. they were merely shipped, bag and baggage, across the frontier. that, in my opinion at least, is what should have been done with the entire civil population of antwerp--provided, of course, that the government intended to hold the city at all costs. the civilians seriously hampered the movements of the troops and thereby interfered with the defence; the presence of large numbers of women and children in the city during the bombardment unquestionably caused grave anxiety to the defenders and was probably one of the chief reasons for the evacuation taking place when it did; the masses of civilian fugitives who choked the roads in their mad flight from antwerp were in large measure responsible for the capture of a considerable portion of the retreating belgian army and for the fact that other bodies of troops were driven across the frontier and interned in holland. so strongly was the belief that antwerp was impregnable implanted in every belgian's mind, however, that up to the very last not one citizen in a thousand would admit that there was a possibility that it could be taken. the army did not believe that it could be taken. the general staff did not believe that it could be taken. they were destined to have a rude and sad awakening. iii. the death in the air at eleven minutes past one o'clock on the morning of august death came to antwerp out of the air. some one had sent a bundle of english and american newspapers to my room in the hotel st. antoine and i had spent the evening reading them, so that the bells of the cathedral had already chimed one o'clock when i switched off my light and opened the window. as i did so my attention was attracted by a curious humming overhead, like a million bumblebees. i leaned far out of the window, and as i did so an indistinct mass, which gradually resolved itself into something resembling a gigantic black cigar, became plainly apparent against the purple-velvet sky. i am not good at estimating altitudes, but i should say that when i first caught sight of it it was not more than a thousand feet above my head--and my room was on the top floor of the hotel, remember. as it drew nearer the noise, which had at first reminded me of a swarm of angry bees, grew louder, until it sounded like an automobile with the muffler open. despite the darkness there was no doubting what it was. it was a german zeppelin. even as i looked something resembling a falling star curved across the sky. an instant later came a rending, shattering crash that shook the hotel to its foundations, the walls of my room rocked and reeled, about me, and for a breathless moment i thought that the building was going to collapse. perhaps thirty seconds later came another splitting explosion, and another, and then another--ten in all--each, thank heaven, a little farther removed. it was all so sudden, so utterly unexpected, that it must have been quite a minute before i realized that the monstrous thing hovering in the darkness overhead was one of the dirigibles of which we had read and talked so much, and that it was actually raining death upon the sleeping city from the sky. i suppose it was blind instinct that caused me to run to the door and down the corridor with the idea of getting into the street, never stopping to reason, of course, that there was no protection in the street from zeppelins. but before i had gone a dozen paces i had my nerves once more in hand. "perhaps it isn't a zeppelin, after all," i argued to myself. "i may have been dreaming. and how perfectly ridiculous i should look if i were to dash downstairs in my pyjamas and find that nothing had happened. at least i'll go back and put some clothes on." and i did. no fireman, responding to a night alarm, ever dressed quicker. as i ran through the corridors the doors of bedrooms opened and sleepy-eyed, tousle-headed diplomatists and government officials called after me to ask if the germans were bombarding the city. "they are," i answered, without stopping. there was no time to explain that for the first time in history a city was being bombarded from the air. i found the lobby rapidly filling with scantily clad guests, whose teeth were visibly chattering. guided by the hotel manager and accompanied by half a dozen members of the diplomatic corps in pyjamas, i raced upstairs to a sort of observatory on the hotel roof. i remember that one attache of the british legation, ordinarily a most dignified person, had on some sort of a night-robe of purple silk and that when he started to climb the iron ladder of the fire-escape he looked for all the world like a burglarious suffragette. by the time we reached the roof of the hotel belgian high-angle and machine-guns were stabbing the darkness with spurts of flame, the troops of the garrison were blazing away with rifles, and the gendarmes in the streets were shooting wildly with their revolvers: the noise was deafening. oblivious of the consternation and confusion it had caused, the zeppelin, after letting fall a final bomb, slowly rose and disappeared in the upper darkness. the destruction wrought by the german projectiles was almost incredible. the first shell, which i had seen fall, struck a building in the rue de la bourse, barely two hundred yards in a straight line from my window. a hole was not merely blown through the roof, as would have been the case with a shell from a field-gun, but the three upper stories simply crumbled, disintegrated, came crashing down in an avalanche of brick and stone and plaster, as though a titan had hit it with a sledge-hammer. another shell struck in the middle of the poids public, or public weighing-place, which is about the size of russell square in london. it blew a hole in the cobblestone- pavement large enough to bury a horse in; one policeman on duty at the far end of the square was instantly killed and another had both legs blown off. but this was not all nor nearly all. six people sleeping in houses fronting on the square were killed in their beds and a dozen others were more or less seriously wounded. every building facing on the square was either wholly or partially demolished, the steel splinters of the projectile tearing their way through the thick brick-walls as easily as a lead-pencil is jabbed through a sheet of paper. and, as a result of the terrific concussion, every house within a hundred yards of the square in every direction had its windows broken. on no battlefield have i ever seen so horrible a sight as that which turned me weak and nauseated when i entered one of the shattered houses and made my way, over heaps of fallen debris, to a room where a young woman had been sleeping. she had literally been blown to fragments. the floor, the walls, the ceiling, were splotched with--well, it's enough to say that that woman's remains could only have been collected with a shovel. in saying this, i am not speaking flippantly either. i have dwelt upon these details, revolting as they are, because i wish to drive home the fact that the only victims of this air-raid on antwerp were innocent non-combatants. another shell struck the roof of a physician's house in the fashionable rue des escrimeurs, killing two maids who were sleeping in a room on the upper floor. a shell fell in a garden in the rue von bary, terribly wounding a man and his wife. a little child was mangled by a shell which struck a house in the rue de la justice. another shell fell in the barracks in the rue falcon, killing one inmate and wounding two others. by a fortunate coincidence the regiment which had been quartered in the barracks had left for the front on the previous day. a woman who was awakened by the first explosion and leaned from her window to see what was happening had her head blown off. in all ten people were killed, six of whom were women, and upwards of forty wounded, two of them so terribly that they afterwards died. there is very little doubt that a deliberate attempt was made to kill the royal family, the general staff and the members of the government, one shell bursting within a hundred yards of the royal palace, where the king and queen were sleeping, and another within two hundred yards of staff headquarters and the hotel st. antoine. as a result of this night of horror, antwerp, to use an inelegant but descriptive expression, developed a violent case of the jim-jams. the next night and every night thereafter until the germans came in and took the city, she thought she saw things; not green rats and pink snakes, but large, sausage-shaped balloons with bombs dropping from them. the military authorities--for the city was under martial law--screwed down the lid so tight that even the most rabid prohibitionists and social reformers murmured. as a result of the precautionary measures which were taken, antwerp, with its four hundred thousand inhabitants, became about as cheerful a place of residence as a country cemetery on a rainy evening. at eight o'clock every street light was turned off, every shop and restaurant and cafe closed, every window darkened. if a light was seen in a window after eight o'clock the person who occupied that room was in grave danger of being arrested for signalling to the enemy. my room, which was on the third floor of the hotel, was so situated that its windows could not be seen from the street, and hence i was not as particular about lowering the shades as i should have been. the second night after the zeppelin raid the manager came bursting into my room. "quick, mr. powell," he called, excitedly, "pull down your shade. the observers in the cathedral tower have just sent word that your windows are lighted and the police are downstairs to find out what it means." the darkness of london and paris was a joke beside the darkness of antwerp. it was so dark in the narrow, winding streets, bordered by ancient houses, that when, as was my custom, i went to the telegraph office with my dispatches after dinner, i had to feel my way with a cane, like a blind man. to make conditions more intolerable, if such a thing were possible, cordons of sentries were thrown around those buildings under whose roofs the members of the government slept, so that if one returned after nightfall he was greeted by a harsh command to halt, and a sentry held a rifle-muzzle against his breast while another sentry, by means of a dark lantern, scrutinized his papers. save for the sentries, the streets were deserted, for, as the places of amusement and the eating-places and drinking-places were closed, there was no place for the people to go except to bed. i was reminded of the man who told his wife that he came home because all the other places were closed. i have heard it said that antwerp was indifferent to its fate, but it made no such impression on me. never have i lived in such an atmosphere of gloom and depression. except around the st. antoine at the lunch and dinner-hours and in the cafes just before nightfall did one see anything which was even a second cousin to jollity. the people did not smile. they went about with grave and anxious faces. in fact, outside of the places i have mentioned, one rarely heard a laugh. the people who sat at the round iron tables on the sidewalks in front of the cafes drinking their light wines and beer --no spirits were permitted to be sold--sat in silence and with solemn faces. god knows, there was little enough for them to smile about. their nation was being slowly strangled. three-quarters of its soil was under the heel of the invader. an alien flag, a hated flag, flew over their capital. their king and their government were fugitives, moving from place to place as a vagrant moves on at the approach of a policeman. men who, a month before, were prosperous shopkeepers and tradesmen were virtual bankrupts, not knowing where the next hundred-franc note was coming from. other men had seen their little flower-surrounded homes in the suburbs razed to the ground that an approaching enemy might find no cover. though the shops were open, they had no customers for the people had no money, or, if they had money they were hoarding it against the days when they might be homeless fugitives. no, there was not very much to smile about in antwerp. there were amusing incidents, of course. if one recognizes humour when he sees it he can find it in almost any situation. after the first zeppelin attack the management of the st. antoine fitted up bedrooms in the cellars. a century or more ago the st. antoine was not a hotel but a monastery, and its cellars are all that the cellars of a monastery ought to be--thick-walled and damp and musty. yet these subterranean suites were in as great demand among the diplomatists as are tables in the palm-room of the savoy during the season. from my bedroom window, which overlooked the court, i could see apprehensive guests cautiously emerging from their cellar chambers in the early morning. it reminded me of woodchucks coming out of their holes. as the siege progressed and the german guns were pushed nearer to the city, those who lived in what might be termed "conspicuous" localities began to seek other quarters. "i'm going to change hotels to-day," i heard a man remark to a friend. "why?" inquired the other. "because i am within thirty yards of the cathedral," was the answer. the towering spire of the famous cathedral is, you must understand, the most conspicuous thing in antwerp--on clear days you can see it from twenty miles away--and to live in its immediate vicinity during a bombardment of the city was equivalent to taking shelter under the only tree in a field during a heavy thunderstorm. two days before the bombardment began there was a meeting of the american residents--such of them as still remained in the city--at the leading club. about a dozen of us in all sat down to dinner. the purpose of the gathering was to discuss the attitude which the americans should adopt towards the german officers, for it was known that the fall of the city was imminent. i remember that the sense of the meeting was that we should treat the helmeted intruders with frigid politeness--i think that was the term--which, translated, meant that we were not to offer them cigars and buy them drinks. of the twelve of us who sat around the table that night, there are only two--mr. manly whedbee and myself--who remained to witness the german occupation. that the precautions taken against zeppelins were by no means overdone was proved by the total failure of the second aerial raid on antwerp, in the latter part of september, when a dirigible again sailed over the city under cover of darkness. owing to the total absence of street-lights, however, the dirigible's crew were evidently unable to get their bearings, for the half-dozen bombs that they discharged fell in the outskirts of the city without causing any loss of life or doing any serious damage. this time, moreover, the belgians were quite prepared--the fire of their "sky artillery," guided by searchlights, making things exceedingly uncomfortable for the germans. i have heard it stated by belgian officers and others that the bombs were dropped from the dirigibles by an ingenious arrangement which made the airship itself comparatively safe from harm and at the same time rendered the aim of its bombmen much more accurate. according to them, the dirigible comes to a stop--or as near a stop as possible--above the city or fortification which it wishes to attack, at a height out of range of either artillery or rifle-fire. then, by means of a steel cable a thousand feet or more in length, it lowers a small wire cage just large enough to contain a man and a supply of bombs, this cage being sufficiently armoured so that it is proof against rifle-bullets. at the same time it affords so tiny a mark that the chances of its being hit by artillery-fire are insignificant. if it should be struck, moreover, the airship itself would still be unharmed and only one man would be lost, and when he fell his supply of bombs would fall with him. the zeppelin, presumably equipped with at least two cages and cables, might at once lower another bomb-thrower. i do not pretend to say whether this ingenious contrivance is used by the germans. certainly the zeppelin which i saw in action had nothing of the kind, nor did it drop its projectiles promiscuously, as one would drop a stone, but apparently discharged them from a bomb-tube. though the zeppelin raids proved wholly ineffective, so far as their effect on troops and fortifications were concerned, the german aviators introduced some novel tricks in aerial warfare which were as practical as they were ingenious. during the battle of vilvorde, for example, and throughout the attacks on the antwerp forts, german dirigibles hovered at a safe height over the belgian positions and directed the fire of the german gunners with remarkable success. the aerial observers watched, through powerful glasses, the effect of the german shells and then, by means of a large disc which was swung at the end of a line and could be raised or lowered at will, signalled as need be in code "higher--lower--right--left" and thus guided the gunners--who were, of course, unable to see their mark or the effect of their fire--until almost every shot was a hit. at vilvorde, as a result of this aerial fire-control system, i saw the german artillery, posted out of sight behind a railway embankment, get the range of a retreating column of belgian infantry and with a dozen well-placed shots practically wipe it out of existence. so perfect was the german system of observation and fire control during the final attack on the antwerp defences that whenever the belgians or british moved a regiment or a battery the aerial observers instantly detected it and a perfect storm of shells was directed against the new position. throughout the operations around antwerp, the taubes, as the german aeroplanes are called because of their fancied resemblance to a dove, repeatedly performed daring feats of reconnaissance. on one occasion, while i was with the general staff at lierre, one of these german taubes sailed directly over the hotel de ville, which was being used as staff headquarters. it so happened that king albert was standing in the street, smoking one of the seven-for-a-franc belgian cigars to which he was partial. "the germans call it a dove, eh?" remarked the king, as he looked up at the passing aircraft. "well, it looks to me more like a hawk." a few days before the fall of antwerp a taube flew over the city in the early afternoon, dropping thousands of proclamations printed in both french and flemish and signed by the commander of the investing forces, pointing out to the inhabitants the futility of resistance, asserting that in fighting germany they were playing russia's game, and urging them to lay down their arms. the aeroplane was greeted by a storm of shrapnel from the high-angle guns mounted on the fortifications, the only effect of which, however, was to kill two unoffending citizens who were standing in the streets and were struck by the fragments of the falling shells. most people seem to have the impression that it is as easy for an aviator to see what is happening on the ground beneath him as though he were looking down from the roof of a high building. under ordinary conditions, when one can skim above the surface of the earth at a height of a few hundred feet, this is quite true, but it is quite a different matter when one is flying above hostile troops who are blazing away at him with rifles and machine-guns. during reconnaissance work the airmen generally are compelled to ascend to an altitude of a mile or a mile and a quarter, which makes observation extremely difficult, as small objects, even with the aid of the strongest glasses, assume unfamiliar shapes and become fore- shortened. if, in order to obtain a better view, they venture to fly at a lower height, they are likely to be greeted by a hail of rifle fire from soldiers in the trenches. the belgian aviators with whom i talked assured me that they feared rifle fire more than bursting shrapnel, as the fire of a regiment, when concentrated even on so elusive an object as an aeroplane, proves far more deadly than shells. the belgians made more use than any other nation of motor-cars. when war was declared one of the first steps taken by the military authorities was to commandeer every motor-car, every motor-cycle and every litre of petrol in the kingdom. as a result they depended almost entirely upon motor-driven vehicles for their military transport, which was, i might add, extremely efficient. in fact, we could always tell when we were approaching the front by the amazing number of motor-cars which lined the roads for miles in the rear of each division. anything that had four wheels and a motor to drive them--diminutive american run-abouts, slim, low-hung racing cars, luxurious limousines with coronets painted on the panels, delivery-cars bearing the names of shops in antwerp and ghent and brussels, lumbering motor-trucks, hotel omnibuses--all met the same fate, which consisted in being daubed with elephant-grey paint, labelled "s.m." (service militaire) in staring white letters, and started for the front, usually in charge of a wholly inexperienced driver. it made an automobile lover groan to see the way some of those cars were treated. but they did the business. they averaged something like twelve miles an hour--which is remarkable time for army transport-- and, strangely enough, very few of them broke down. if they did there was always an automobile des reparations promptly on hand to repair the damage. before the war began the belgian army had no army transport worthy of the name; before the forts at liege had been silenced it had as efficient a one as any nation in europe. the headquarters of the motor-car branch of the army was at the pare des automobiles militaires, on the red star quays in antwerp. here several hundred cars were always kept in reserve, and here was collected an enormous store of automobile supplies and sundries. the scene under the long, low sheds, with their corrugated-iron roofs, always reminded me of the automobile show at olympia. after a car had once been placed at your disposal by the government, getting supplies for it was merely a question of signing bons. obtaining extra equipment for my car was roos' chief amusement. tyres, tools, spare parts, horns, lamps, trunks--all you had to do was to scrawl your name at the foot of a printed form and they were promptly handed over. when i first went to belgium i was given a sixty horse-power touring car, and when the weather turned unpleasant i asked for and was given a limousine that was big enough to sleep in, and when i found this too clumsy, the commandant of the parc des automobiles obligingly exchanged it for a ninety horse-power berline. they were most accommodating, those belgians. i am sorry to say that my berline, which was the envy of every one in antwerp, was eventually captured by the germans. though both the french and the germans had for a number of years been experimenting with armoured cars of various patterns, the belgians, who had never before given the subject serious consideration, were the first to evolve and to send into action a really practical vehicle of this description. the earlier armoured cars used by the belgians were built at the great minerva factory in antwerp and consisted of a circular turret, high enough so that only the head and shoulders of the man operating the machine-gun were exposed, covered with half-inch steel plates and mounted on an ordinary chassis. after the disastrous affair near herenthals, in which prince henri de ligne was mortally wounded while engaged in a raid into the german lines for the purpose of blowing up bridges, it was seen that the crew of the auto-mitrailleuses, as the armoured cars were called, was insufficiently protected, and, to remedy this, a movable steel dome, with an opening for the muzzle of the machine-gun, was superimposed on the turret. these grim vehicles, which jeered at bullets, and were proof even against shrapnel, quickly became a nightmare to the germans. driven by the most reckless racing drivers in belgium, manned by crews of dare-devil youngsters, and armed with machine-guns which poured out lead at the rate of a thousand shots a minute, these wheeled fortresses would tear at will into the german lines, cut up an outpost or wipe out a cavalry patrol, dynamite a bridge or a tunnel or a culvert, and be back in the belgian lines again almost before the enemy realized what had happened. i witnessed an example of the cool daring of these mitrailleuse drivers during the fighting around malines. standing on a railway embankment, i was watching the withdrawal under heavy fire of the last belgian troops, when an armoured car, the lean muzzle of its machine-gun peering from its turret, tore past me at fifty miles an hour, spitting a murderous spray of lead as it bore down on the advancing germans. but when within a few hundred yards of the german line the car slackened speed and stopped. its petrol was exhausted. instantly one of the crew was out in the road and, under cover of the fire from the machine-gun, began to refill the tank. though bullets were kicking up spurts of dust in the road or ping-pinging against the steel turret he would not be hurried. i, who was watching the scene through my field-glasses, was much more excited than he was. then, when the tank was filled, the car refused to back! it was a big machine and the narrow road was bordered on either side by deep ditches, but by a miracle the driver was able-- and just able--to turn the car round. though by this time the german gunners had the range and shrapnel was bursting all about him, he was as cool as though he were turning a limousine in the width of piccadilly. as the car straightened out for its retreat, the belgians gave the germans a jeering screech from their horn, and a parting blast of lead from their machine-gun and went racing antwerpwards. it is, by the way, a curious and interesting fact that the machine-gun used in both the belgian and russian armoured cars, and which is one of the most effective weapons produced by the war, was repeatedly offered to the american war department by its inventor, major isaac newton lewis, of the united states army, and was as repeatedly rejected by the officials at washington. at last, in despair of receiving recognition in his own country, he sold it to russia and belgium. the lewis gun, which is air-cooled and weighs only twenty-nine pounds--less than half the weight of a soldier's equipment--fires a thousand shots a minute. in the fighting around sempst i saw trees as large round as a man's thigh literally cut down by the stream of lead from these weapons. the inventor of the lewis gun was not the only american who played an inconspicuous but none the less important part in the war of nations. a certain american corporation doing business in belgium placed its huge antwerp plant and the services of its corps of skilled engineers at the service of the government, though i might add that this fact was kept carefully concealed, being known to only a handful of the higher belgian officials. this concern made shells and other ammunition for the belgian army; it furnished aeroplanes and machine-guns; it constructed miles of barbed-wire entanglements and connected those entanglements with the city lighting system; one of its officers went on a secret mission to england and brought back with him a supply of cordite, not to mention six large-calibre guns which he smuggled through dutch territorial waters hidden in the steamer's coal bunkers. and, as though all this were not enough, the belgian government confided to this foreign corporation the minting of the national currency. for obvious reasons i am not at liberty to mention the name of this concern, though it is known to practically every person in the united states, each month cheques being sent to the parent concern by eight hundred thousand people in new york alone. incidentally it publishes the most widely read volume in the world. i wish that i might tell you the name of this concern. upon second thought, i think i will. it is the american bell telephone company. iv. under the german eagle when, upon the approach of the germans to brussels, the government and the members of the diplomatic corps fled to antwerp, the american minister, mr. brand whitlock, did not accompany them. in view of the peculiar position occupied by the united states as the only great power not involved in hostilities, he felt, and, as it proved, quite rightly, that he could be of more service to belgium and to brussels and to the cause of humanity in general by remaining behind. there remained with him the secretary of legation, mr. hugh s. gibson. mr. whitlock's reasons for remaining in brussels were twofold. in the first place, there were a large number of english and americans, both residents and tourists, who had been either unable or unwilling to leave the city, and who, he felt, were entitled to diplomatic protection. secondly, the behaviour of the german troops in other belgian cities had aroused grave fears of what would happen when they entered brussels, and it was generally felt that the presence of the american minister might deter them from committing the excesses and outrages which up to that time had characterized their advance. it was no secret that germany was desperately anxious to curry favour with the united states, and it was scarcely likely, therefore, that houses would be sacked and burnt, civilians executed and women violated under the disapproving eyes of the american representative. this surmise proved to be well founded. the germans did not want mr. whitlock in brussels, and nothing would have pleased them better than to have had him depart and leave them to their own devices, but, so long as he blandly ignored their hints that his room was preferable to his company and persisted in sitting tight, they submitted to his surveillance with the best grace possible and behaved themselves as punctiliously as a dog that has been permitted to come into a parlour. after the civil administration had been established, however, and belgium had become, in theory at least, a german province, mr. whitlock was told quite plainly that the kingdom to which he was accredited had ceased to exist as an independent nation, and that anglo-american affairs in belgium could henceforward be entrusted to the american ambassador at berlin. but mr. .whitlock, who had received his training in shirt-sleeve diplomacy as socialist mayor of toledo, ohio, was as impervious to german suggestions as he had been to the threats and pleadings of party politicians, and told baron von der golz, the german governor, politely but quite firmly, that he did not take his orders from berlin but from washington. "gott in himmel!" exclaimed the germans, shrugging their shoulders despairingly, "what is to be done with such a man?" before the germans had been in occupation of brussels a fortnight the question of food for the poorer classes became a serious and pressing problem. the german armies, in their onset toward the west, had swept the belgian country-side bare; the products of the farms and gardens in the immediate vicinity of the city had been commandeered for the use of the garrison, and the spectre of starvation was already beginning to cast its dread shadow over brussels. mr. whitlock acted with promptness and decision. he sent americans, who had volunteered their services, to holland to purchase food-stuffs, and at the same time informed the german commander that he expected these food-stuffs to be admitted without hindrance. the german replied that he could not comply with this request without first communicating with his imperial master, whereupon he was told, in effect, that the american government would consider him personally responsible if the food-stuffs were delayed or diverted for military use and a famine ensued in consequence. the firmness of mr. whitlock's attitude had its effect, for at seven o'clock the next morning he received word that his wishes would be complied with. as a result of the german occupation, brussels, with its six hundred thousand inhabitants, was as completely cut off from communication with the outside world as though it were on an island in the south pacific. the postal, telegraph and telephone services were suspended; the railways were blocked with troop trains moving westward; the roads were filled from ditch to ditch with troops and transport wagons; and so tightly were the lines drawn between that portion of belgium occupied by the germans and that still held by the belgians, that those daring souls who attempted to slip through the cordons of sentries did so at peril of their lives. it sounds almost incredible that a great city could be so effectually isolated, yet so it was. even the cabinet ministers and other officials who had accompanied the government in its flight to antwerp were unable to learn what had befallen the families which they had in many cases left behind them. after nearly three weeks had passed without word from the american legation, the department of state cabled the american consul-general at antwerp that some means of communicating with mr. whitlock must be found. happening to be in the consulate when the message was received, i placed my services and my car at the disposal of the consul-general, who promptly accepted them. upon learning of my proposed jaunt into the enemy's lines, a friend, mr. m. manly whedbee, the director of the belgian branch of the british-american tobacco company, offered to accompany me, and as he is as cool-headed and courageous and companionable as anyone i know, and as he knew as much about driving the car as i did--for it was obviously impossible to take my belgian driver--i was only too glad to have him with me. it was, indeed, due to mr. whedbee's foresight in taking along a huge quantity of cigarettes for distribution among the soldiers, that we were able to escape from brussels. but more of that episode hereafter. when the consul-general asked general dufour, the military governor of antwerp, to issue us a safe conduct through the belgian lines, that gruff old soldier at first refused flatly, asserting that as the german outposts had been firing on cars bearing the red cross flag, there was no assurance that they would respect one bearing the stars and stripes. the urgency of the matter being explained to him, however, he reluctantly issued the necessary laisser-passer, though intimating quite plainly that our mission would probably end in providing "more work for the undertaker, another little job for the casket-maker," and that he washed his hands of all responsibility for our fate. but by two american flags mounted on the windshield, and the explanatory legends "service consulaire des etats-unis d'amerique" and "amerikanischer consular dienst" painted in staring letters on the hood, we hoped to make it quite clear to germans and belgians alike that we were protected by the international game-laws so far as shooting us was concerned. now the disappointing thing about our trip was that we didn't encounter any uhlans. every one had warned us so repeatedly about uhlans that we fully expected to find them, with their pennoned lances and their square-topped schapskas, lurking behind every hedge, and when they did not come spurring out to intercept us we were greatly disappointed. it was like making a journey to the polar regions and seeing no esquimaux. the smart young cavalry officer who bade us good-bye at the belgian outposts, warned us to keep our eyes open for them and said, rather mournfully, i thought, that he only hoped they would give us time to explain who we were before they opened fire on us. "they are such hasty fellows, these uhlans," said he, "always shooting first and making inquiries afterward." as a matter of fact, the only uhlan we saw on the entire trip was riding about brussels in a cab, smoking a large porcelain pipe and with his spurred boots resting comfortably on the cushions. though we crept along as circumspectly as a motorist who knows that he is being trailed by a motor-cycle policeman, peering behind farmhouses and hedges and into the depths of thickets and expecting any moment to hear a gruff command, emphasized by the bang of a carbine, it was not until we were at the very outskirts of aerschot that we encountered the germans. there were a hundred of them, so cleverly ambushed behind a hedge that we would never have suspected their presence had we not caught the glint of sunlight on their rifle-barrels. we should not have gotten much nearer, in any event, for they had a wire neatly strung across the road at just the right height to take us under the chins. when we were within a hundred yards of the hedge an officer in a trailing grey cloak stepped into the middle of the road and held up his hand. "halt!" i jammed on the brakes so suddenly that we nearly went through the windshield. "get out of the automobile and stand well away from it," the officer commanded in german. we got out very promptly. "one of you advance alone, with his hands up." i advanced alone, but not with my hands up. it is such an undignified position. i had that shivery feeling chasing up and down my spine which came from knowing that i was covered by a hundred rifles, and that if i made a move which seemed suspicious to the men behind those rifles, they would instantly transform me into a sieve. "are you english?" the officer demanded, none too pleasantly. "no, american," said i. "oh, that's all right," said he, his manner instantly thawing. "i know america well," he continued, "atlantic city and asbury park and niagara falls and coney island. i have seen all of your famous places." imagine, if you please, standing in the middle of a belgian highway, surrounded by german soldiers who looked as though they would rather shoot you than not, discussing the relative merits of the hotels at atlantic city and which had the best dining-car service, the pennsylvania or the new york central! i learned from the officer, who proved to be an exceedingly agreeable fellow, that had we advanced ten feet further after the command to halt was given, we should probably have been planted in graves dug in a nearby potato field, as only an hour before our arrival a belgian mitrailleuse car had torn down the road with its machine-gun squirting a stream of lead, and had smashed straight through the german line, killing three men and wounding a dozen others. they were burying them when we appeared. when our big grey machine hove in sight they not unnaturally took us for another armoured car and prepared to give us a warm reception. it was a lucky thing for us that our brakes worked quickly. we were the first foreigners to see aerschot, or rather what was left of aerschot after it had been sacked and burned by the germans. a few days before aerschot had been a prosperous and happy town of ten thousand people. when we saw it it was but a heap of smoking ruins, garrisoned by a battalion of german soldiers, and with its population consisting of half a hundred white-faced women. in many parts of the world i have seen many terrible and revolting things, but nothing so ghastly, so horrifying as aerschot. quite two-thirds of the houses had been burned and showed unmistakable signs of having been sacked by a maddened soldiery before they were burned. everywhere were the ghastly evidences. doors had been smashed in with rifle-butts and boot-heels; windows had been broken; furniture had been wantonly destroyed; pictures had been torn from the walls; mattresses had been ripped open with bayonets in search of valuables; drawers had been emptied upon the floors; the outer walls of the houses were spattered with blood and pock-marked with bullets; the sidewalks were slippery with broken wine-bottles; the streets were strewn with women's clothing. it needed no one to tell us the details of that orgy of blood and lust. the story was so plainly written that anyone could read it. for a mile we drove the car slowly between the blackened walls of fire-gutted buildings. this was no accidental conflagration, mind you, for scattered here and there were houses which stood undamaged and in every such case there was scrawled with chalk upon their doors "gute leute. nicht zu plundern." (good people. do not plunder.) the germans went about the work of house-burning as systematically as they did everything else. they had various devices for starting conflagrations, all of them effective. at aerschot and louvain they broke the windows of the houses and threw in sticks which had been soaked in oil and dipped in sulphur. elsewhere they used tiny, black tablets, about the size of cough lozenges, made of some highly inflammable composition, to which they touched a match. at termonde, which they destroyed in spite of the fact that the inhabitants had evacuated the city before their arrival, they used a motor-car equipped with a large tank for petrol, a pump, a hose, and a spraying-nozzle. the car was run slowly through the streets, one soldier working the pump and another spraying the fronts of the houses. then they set fire to them. oh, yes, they were very methodical about it all, those germans. despite the scowls of the soldiers, i attempted to talk with some of the women huddled in front of a bakery waiting for a distribution of bread, but the poor creatures were too terror-stricken to do more than stare at us with wide, beseeching eyes. those eyes will always haunt me. i wonder if they do not sometimes haunt the germans. but a little episode that occurred as we were leaving the city did more than anything else to bring home the horror of it all. we passed a little girl of nine or ten and i stopped the car to ask the way. instantly she held both hands above her head and began to scream for mercy. when we had given her some chocolate and money, and had assured her that we were not germans, but americans and friends, she ran like a frightened deer. that little child, with her fright-wide eyes and her hands raised in supplication, was in herself a terrible indictment of the germans. there are, as might be expected, two versions of the happenings which precipitated that night of horrors in aerschot. the german version--i had it from the german commander himself--is to the effect that after the german troops had entered aerschot, the chief of staff and some of the officers were asked to dinner by the burgomaster. while they were seated at the table the son of the burgomaster, a boy of fifteen, entered the room with a revolver and killed the chief of staff, whereupon, as though at a prearranged signal, the townspeople opened fire from their windows upon the troops. what followed--the execution of the burgomaster, his son, and several score of the leading townsmen, the giving over of the women to a lust-mad soldiery, the sacking of the houses, and the final burning of the town--was the punishment which would always be meted out to towns whose inhabitants attacked german soldiers. now, up to a certain point the belgian version agrees with the german. it is admitted that the germans entered the town peaceably enough, that the german chief of staff and other officers accepted the hospitality of the burgomaster, and that, while they were at dinner, the burgomaster's son entered the room and shot the chief of staff dead with a revolver. but--and this is the point to which the german story makes no allusion--the boy killed the chief of staff in defence of his sister's honour. it is claimed that toward the end of the meal the german officer, inflamed with wine, informed the burgomaster that he intended to pass the night with his young and beautiful daughter, whereupon the girl's brother quietly slipped from the room and, returning a moment later, put a sudden end to the german's career with an automatic. what the real truth is i do not know. perhaps no one knows. the germans did not leave many eye-witnesses to tell the story of what happened. piecing together the stories told by those who did survive that night of horror, we know that scores of the townspeople were shot down in cold blood and that, when the firing squads could not do the work of slaughter fast enough, the victims were lined up and a machine-gun was turned upon them. we know that young girls were dragged from their homes and stripped naked and violated by soldiers--many soldiers--in the public square in the presence of officers. we know that both men and women were unspeakably mutilated, that children were bayoneted, that dwellings were ransacked and looted, and that finally, as though to destroy the evidences of their horrid work, soldiers went from house to house with torches, methodically setting fire to them. it was with a feeling of repulsion amounting almost to nausea that we left what had once been aerschot behind us. the road leading to louvain was alive with soldiery, and we were halted every few minutes by german patrols. had not the commanding officer in aerschot detailed two bicyclists to accompany us i doubt if we should have gotten through. whedbee had had the happy idea of bringing along a thousand packets of cigarettes--the tonneau of the car was literally filled with them--and we tossed a packet to every german soldier that we saw. you could have followed our trail for thirty miles by the cigarettes we left behind us. as it turned out, they were the means of saving us from being detained within the german lines. thanks to our american flags, to the nature of our mission, and to our wholesale distribution of cigarettes, we were passed from outpost to outpost and from regimental headquarters to regimental headquarters until we reached louvain. here we came upon another scene of destruction and desolation. nearly half the city was in ashes. most of the principal streets were impassable from fallen masonry. the splendid avenues and boulevards were lined on either side by the charred skeletons of what had once been handsome buildings. the fronts of many of the houses were smeared with crimson stains. in comparison to its size, the germans had wrought more widespread destruction in louvain than did the earthquake and fire combined in san francisco. the looting had evidently been unrestrained. the roads for miles in either direction were littered with furniture and bedding and clothing. such articles as the soldiers could not carry away they wantonly destroyed. hangings had been torn down, pictures on the walls had been smashed, the contents of drawers and trunks had been emptied into the streets, literally everything breakable had been broken. this is not from hearsay, remember; i saw it with my own eyes. and the amazing feature of it all was that among the germans there seemed to be no feeling of regret, no sense of shame. officers in immaculate uniforms strolled about among the ruins, chatting and laughing and smoking. at one place a magnificent mahogany dining-table had been dragged into the middle of the road and about it, sprawled in carved and tapestry-covered chairs, a dozen german infantrymen were drinking beer. just as there are two versions of the destruction of aerschot, so there are two versions, though in this case widely different, of the events which led up to the destruction of louvain. it should be borne in mind, to begin with, that louvain was not destroyed by bombardment or in the heat of battle, for the germans had entered it unopposed, and had been in undisputed possession for several days. the germans assert that a conspiracy, fomented by the burgomaster, the priests and many of the leading citizens, existed among the townspeople, who planned to suddenly fall upon and exterminate the garrison. they claim that, in pursuance of this plan, on the night of august , the inhabitants opened a murderous fire upon the unsuspecting troops from house-tops, doors and windows; that a fierce street battle ensued, in which a number of women and children were unfortunately killed by stray bullets; and that, in retaliation for this act of treachery, a number of the inhabitants were executed and a portion of the city was burned. notwithstanding the fact that, as soon as the germans entered the city, they searched it thoroughly for concealed weapons, they claim that the townspeople were not only well supplied with rifles and ammunition, but that they even opened on them from their windows with machine-guns. though it seems scarcely probable that the inhabitants of louvain would attempt so mad an enterprise as to attack an overwhelming force of germans--particularly with the terrible lesson of aerschot still fresh in their minds--i do not care to express any opinion as to the truth of the german assertions. the belgians tell quite a different story. they say that, as the result of a successful belgian offensive movement to the south of malines, the german troops retreated in something closely akin to panic, one division falling back, after nightfall, upon louvain. in the inky blackness the garrison, mistaking the approaching troops for belgians, opened a deadly fire upon them. when the mistake was discovered the germans, partly in order to cover up their disastrous blunder and partly to vent their rage and chagrin, turned upon the townspeople in a paroxysm of fury. a scene of indescribable terror ensued, the soldiers, who had broken into the wine-shops and drunk themselves into a state of frenzy, practically running amuck, breaking in doors and shooting at every one they saw. that some of the citizens snatched up such weapons as came to hand and defended their homes and their women no one attempts to deny-- but this scattered and pitifully ineffectual resistance gave the germans the very excuse they were seeking. the citizens had attacked them and they would teach the citizens, both of louvain and of other cities which they might enter, a lasting lesson. they did. no belgian will ever forget--or forgive--that lesson. the orgy of blood and lust and destruction lasted for two days. several american correspondents, among them mr. richard harding davis, who were being taken by train from brussels to germany, and who were held for some hours in the station at louvain during the first night's massacre, have vividly described the horrors which they witnessed from their car window. on the second day, mr. hugh s. gibson, secretary of the american legation in brussels, accompanied by the swedish and mexican charges, drove over to louvain in a taxi-cab. mr. gibson told me that the germans had dragged chairs and a dining-table from a nearby house into the middle of the square in front of the station and that some officers, already considerably the worse for drink, insisted that the three diplomatists join them in a bottle of wine. and this while the city was burning and rifles were cracking, and the dead bodies of men and women lay sprawled in the streets! from the windows of plundered and fire-blackened houses in both aerschot and louvain and along the road between, hung white flags made from sheets and tablecloths and pillow- cases--pathetic appeals for the mercy which was not granted. if belgium wishes to keep alive in the minds of her people the recollection of german military barbarism, if she desires to inculcate the coming generations with the horrors and miseries of war, if she would perpetuate the memories of the innocent townspeople who were slaughtered because they were belgians, then she can effectually do it by preserving the ruins of aerschot and louvain, just as the ruins of pompeii are preserved. fence in these desolated cities; leave the shattered doors and the broken furniture as they are; let the bullet marks and the bloodstains remain, and it will do more than all the sermons that can be preached, than all the pictures that can be painted, than all the books that can be written, to drive home a realization of what is meant by that dreadful thing called war. the distance from louvain to brussels is in the neighbourhood of twenty miles, and our car with its fluttering flags sped between lines of cheering people all the way. men stood by the roadside with uncovered heads as they saw the stars and stripes whirl by; women waved their handkerchiefs while tears coursed down their cheeks. as we neared brussels news of our coming spread, and soon we were passing between solid walls of belgians who waved hats and canes and handkerchiefs and screamed, "vive l'amerique! vive l'amerique!" i am not ashamed to say that a lump came in my throat and tears dimmed my eyes. to these helpless, homeless, hopeless people, the red-white-and-blue banner that streamed from our windshield really was a flag of the free. brussels we found as quiet and orderly as london on a sunday morning. so far as streets scenes went we might have been in berlin. german officers and soldiers were scattered everywhere, lounging at the little iron tables in front of the cafes, or dining in the restaurants or strolling along the tree-shaded boulevards as unconcernedly as though they were in the fatherland. many of the officers had brought high, red-wheeled dogcarts with them, and were pleasure-driving in the outskirts of the city; others, accompanied by women who may or may not have been their wives, were picnicking in the bois. brussels had become, to all outward appearances at least, a german city. german flags flaunted defiantly from the roofs of the public buildings, several of which, including the hotel de ville, the palais de justice and the cathedral, were reported to have been mined. in the whole of the great city not a single belgian flag was to be seen. the belgian police were still performing their routine duties under german direction. the royal palace had been converted into a hospital for german wounded. the ministry of foreign affairs was occupied by the german general staff. the walls and hoardings were plastered with proclamations signed by the military governor warning the inhabitants of the penalties which they would incur should they molest the german troops. the great square in front of the gare du nord, which was being used as a barracks, was guarded by a line of sentries, and no one but germans in uniform were permitted to cross it. one other person did cross it, however, german regulations and sentries notwithstanding. whedbee and i were lunching on sunday noon in the front of the palace hotel, when a big limousine flying the american flag drew up on the other side of the square and mr. julius van hee, the american vice-consul at ghent, jumped out. he caught sight of us at the same moment that we saw him and started across the square toward us. he had not gone a dozen paces before a sentry levelled his rifle and gruffly commanded him to halt. "go back!" shouted the sentry. "to walk across the square forbidden is." "go to the devil!" shouted back van hee. "and stop pointing that gun at me, or i'll come over and knock that spiked helmet of yours off. i'm american, and i've more right here than you have." this latter argument being obviously unanswerable, the befuddled sentry saw nothing for it but to let him pass. van hee had come to brussels, he told us, for the purpose of obtaining some vaccine, as the supply in ghent was running short, and the authorities were fearful of an epidemic. he also brought with him a package of letters from the german officers, many of them of distinguished families, who had been captured by the belgians and were imprisoned at bruges. when van hee had obtained his vaccine, he called on general von ludewitz and requested a safe conduct back to ghent. "i'm sorry, mr. van hee," said the general, who had married an american and spoke english like a new yorker, "but there's nothing doing. we can't permit anyone to leave brussels at present. perhaps in a few days--" "a few days won't do, general," van hee interrupted, "i must go back to-day, at once." "i regret to say that for the time being it is quite impossible," said the general firmly. "i have here," said van hee, displaying the packet, "a large number of letters from the german officers who are imprisoned in belgium. if i don't get the pass you don't get these letters." "you hold a winning hand, mr. van hee," said the general, laughing, as he reached for pen and paper. but when whedbee and i were ready to return to antwerp it was a different matter. the german authorities, though scrupulously polite, were adamantine in their refusal to permit us to pass through the german lines. and we held no cards, as did van hee, with which to play diplomatic poker. so we were compelled to bluff. telling the german commander that we would call on him again, we climbed into the car and quietly left the city by the same route we had followed upon entering it the preceding day. all along the road we found soldiers smoking the cigarettes we had distributed to them. instead of stopping us and demanding to see our papers they waved their hands cheerily and called, "auf wiedersehn!" as we knew that we could not get through louvain without being stopped, we drove boldly up to headquarters and asked the general commanding the division if he would detail a staff officer to accompany us to the outer lines. (there seemed no need of mentioning the fact that we had no passes.) the general said, with profuse apologies, that he had no officer available at the moment, but hoped that a sergeant would do. we carried the sergeant with us as far as aerschot, distributing along the way what remained of our cigarettes. at aerschot we were detained for nearly an hour, as the officer who had visited atlantic city, niagara falls and coney island insisted on our waiting while he sent for another officer who, until the outbreak of the war, had lived in chicago. we tried not to show our impatience at the delay, but our hair stood on end every time a telephone bell tinkled. we were afraid that the staff in brussels, learning of our unauthorized departure, would telephone to the outposts to stop us. it was with a heartfelt sigh of relief that we finally shook hands with our hosts and left ruined aerschot behind us. i opened up the throttle, and the big car fled down the long, straight road which led to the belgian lines like a hunted cat on the top of a backyard fence. v. with the spiked helmets it was really a pittsburg chauffeur who was primarily responsible for my being invited to dine with the commander of the ninth german army. the chauffeur's name was william van calck and his employer was a gentleman who had amassed several millions manufacturing hats in the smoky city. when war was declared the hat-manufacturer and his family were motoring in austria, with van calck at the wheel of the car. the car being a large and powerful one, it was promptly commandeered by the austrian military authorities; the hat-manufacturer and his family, thus dumped unceremoniously by the roadside, made their way as best they could to england; and van calck, who was a belgian by birth, though a naturalized american, enlisted in the belgian army and was detailed to drive one of the armoured motor-cars which so effectively harassed the enemy during the early part of the campaign in flanders. now if van calck hadn't come tearing into ghent in his wheeled fortress on a sunny september morning he wouldn't have come upon a motor-car containing two german soldiers who had lost their way; if he had not met them, the two germans would not have been wounded in the dramatic encounter which ensued; if the germans had not been wounded it would not have been necessary for mr. julius van hee, the american vice-consul, to pay a hurried visit to general von boehn, the german commander, to explain that the people of ghent were not responsible for the affair and to beg that no retaliatory measures be taken against the city; if mr. van hee had not visited general von boehn the question of the attitude of the american press would not have come up for discussion; and if it had not been discussed, general von boehn would not have sent me an invitation through mr. van hee to dine with him at his headquarters and hear the german side of the question. but perhaps i had better begin at the beginning. on september , then, the great german army which was moving from brussels on france was within a few miles of ghent. in the hope of inducing the germans not to enter the city, whose large and turbulent working population would, it was feared, cause trouble in case of a military occupation, the burgomaster went out to confer with the german commander. an agreement was finally arrived at whereby the germans consented to march around ghent if certain requirements were complied with. these were that no belgian troops should occupy the city, that the garde civique should be disarmed and their weapons surrendered, and that the municipality should supply the german forces with specified quantities of provisions and other supplies--the chief item, by the way, being a hundred thousand cigars. the burgomaster had not been back an hour when a military motor- car containing two armed german soldiers appeared in the city streets. it transpired afterwards that they had been sent out to purchase medical supplies and, losing their way, had entered ghent by mistake. at almost the same moment that the german car entered the city from the south a belgian armoured motor-car, armed with a machine-gun and with a crew of three men and driven by the former pittsburg chauffeur, entered from the east on a scouting expedition. the two cars, both travelling at high speed, encountered each other at the head of the rue de l'agneau, directly in front of the american consulate. vice-consul van hee, standing in the doorway, was an eyewitness of what followed. the germans, taken completely by surprise at the sight of the grim war-car in its coat of elephant-grey bearing down upon them, threw on their power and attempted to escape, the man sitting beside the driver opening an ineffectual fire with his carbine. regardless of the fact that the sidewalks were crowded with spectators, the belgians opened on the fleeing germans with their machine-gun, which spurted lead as a garden-hose spurts water. van calck, fearing that the germans might escape, swerved his powerful car against the german machine precisely as a polo-player "rides off" his opponent, the machine-gun never ceasing its angry snarl. an instant later the driver of the german car dropped forward over his steering-wheel with blood gushing from a bullet-wound in the head, while his companion, also badly wounded, threw up both hands in token of surrender. vice-consul van hee instantly recognized the extremely grave consequences which might result to ghent from this encounter, which had taken place within an hour after the burgomaster had assured the german commander that there were no belgian soldiers in the city. now mr. julius van hee is what is popularly known in the united states as "a live wire." he is a shirt-sleeve diplomatist who, if he thought the occasion warranted it, would not hesitate to conduct diplomatic negotiations in his night-shirt. appreciating that as a result of this attack on german soldiers, which the germans would probably characterize as treachery, ghent stood in imminent danger of meeting the terrible fate of its sister-cities of aerschot and louvain, which were sacked and burned on no greater provocation, mr. van hee jumped into his car and sought the burgomaster, whom he urged to accompany him without an instant's delay to german headquarters. the burgomaster, who had visions of being sent to germany as a hostage, at first demurred; but van hee, disregarding his protestations, handed him his hat, hustled him into the car, and ordered the chauffeur to drive as though the uhlans were behind him. they found general von boehn and his staff quartered in a chateau a few miles outside the city. at first the german commander was furious with anger and threatened ghent with the same punishment he had meted out to other cities where germans had been fired on. van hee took a very firm stand, however. he reminded the general that americans have a great sentimental interest in ghent because of the treaty of peace between england and the united states which was signed there a century ago, and he warned him that the burning of the city would do more than anything else to lose the germans the sympathy of the american people. "if you will give me your personal word," said the general finally, "that there will be no further attacks upon germans who may enter the city, and that the wounded soldiers will be taken under american protection and sent to brussels by the american consular authorities when they have recovered, i will agree to spare ghent and will not even demand a money indemnity." in the course of the informal conversation which followed, general von boehn remarked that copies of american papers containing articles by e. alexander powell, criticizing the germans' treatment of the belgian civil population, had come to his attention, and he regretted that he could not have an opportunity to talk with their author and give him the german version of the incidents in question. mr. van hee said that, by a curious coincidence, i had arrived in ghent that very morning, whereupon the general asked him to bring me out to dinner on the following day and issued a safe conduct through the german lines for the purpose. we started early the next morning. as there was some doubt about the propriety of my taking a belgian military driver into the german lines i drove the car myself. and, though nothing was said about a photographer, i took with me donald thompson. before we passed the city limits of ghent things began to happen. entering a street which leads through a district inhabited by the working classes, we suddenly found our way barred by a mob of several thousand excited flemings. above a sea of threatening arms and brandished sticks and angry faces rose the figures of two german soldiers, with carbines slung across their backs, mounted on work-horses which they had evidently hastily unharnessed from a wagon. like their unfortunate comrades of the motor-car episode, they too had strayed into the city by mistake. as we approached the crowd made a concerted rush for them. a blast from my siren opened a lane for us, however, and i drove the car alongside the terrified germans. "quick!" shouted van hee in german. "off your horses and into the car! hide your rifles! take off your helmets! sit on the floor and keep out of sight!" the mob, seeing its prey escaping, surged about us with a roar. for a moment things looked very ugly. van hee jumped on the seat. "i am the american consul!" he shouted. "these men are under my protection! you are civilians, attacking german soldiers in uniform. if they are harmed your city will be burned about your ears." at that moment a burly belgian shouldered his way through the crowd and, leaping on the running-board, levelled a revolver at the germans cowering in the tonneau. quick as thought thompson knocked up the man's hand, and at the same instant i threw on the power. the big car leaped forward and the mob scattered before it. it was a close call for every one concerned, but a much closer call for ghent; for had those german soldiers been murdered by civilians in the city streets no power on earth could have saved the city from german vengeance. general von boehn told me so himself. a few minutes later, as playlets follow each other in quick succession on a stage, the scene changed from near tragedy to screaming farce. as we came thundering into the little town of sotteghem, which is the sleepy hollow of belgium, we saw, rising from the middle of the town square, a pyramid, at least ten feet high, of wardrobe-trunks, steamer-trunks, bags, and suit-cases. from the summit of this extraordinary monument floated a huge american flag. as our car came to a halt there rose a chorus of exclamations in all the dialects between maine and california, and from the door of a near-by cafe came pouring a flood of americans. they proved to be a lost detachment of that great army of tourists which, at the beginning of hostilities, started on its mad retreat for the coast, leaving europe strewn with their belongings. this particular detachment had been cut off in brussels by the tide of german invasion, and, as food-supplies were running short, they determined to make a dash--perhaps crawl would be a better word--for ostend, making the journey in two lumbering farm wagons. on reaching sotteghem, however, the belgian drivers, hearing that the germans were approaching, refused to go further and unceremoniously dumped their passengers in the town square. when we arrived they had been there for a day and a night and had begun to think that it was to be their future home. it was what might be termed a mixed assemblage, including several women of wealth and fashion who had been motoring on the continent and had had their cars taken from them, two prim schoolteachers from brooklyn, a mine-owner from west virginia, a pennsylvania quaker, and a quartet of professional tango-dancers--artists, they called themselves--who had been doing a "turn" at a brussels music-hall when the war suddenly ended their engagement. van hee and i skirmished about and, after much argument, succeeded in hiring two farm-carts to transport the fugitives to ghent. for the thirty-mile journey the thrifty peasants modestly demanded four hundred francs--and got it. when i last saw my compatriots they were perched on top of their luggage piled high on two creaking carts, rumbling down the road to ghent with their huge flag flying above them. they were singing at the top of their voices, "we'll never go there any more." half a mile or so out of sotteghem our road debouched into the great highway which leads through lille to paris, and we suddenly found ourselves in the midst of the german army. it was a sight never to be forgotten. far as the eye could see stretched solid columns of marching men, pressing westward, ever westward. the army was advancing in three mighty columns along three parallel roads, the dense masses of moving men in their elusive grey-green uniforms looking for all the world like three monstrous serpents crawling across the country-side. the american flags which fluttered from our wind-shield proved a passport in themselves, and as we approached the close-locked ranks parted to let us pass, and then closed in behind us. for five solid hours, travelling always at express-train speed, we motored between walls of marching men. in time the constant shuffle of boots and the rhythmic swing of grey-clad arms and shoulders grew maddening, and i became obsessed with the fear that i would send the car ploughing into the human hedge on either side. it seemed that the interminable ranks would never end, and so far as we were concerned they never did end, for we never saw the head of that mighty column. we passed regiment after regiment, brigade after brigade of infantry; then hussars, cuirassiers, uhlans, field batteries, more infantry, more field-guns, ambulances with staring red crosses painted on their canvas tops, then gigantic siege-guns, their grim muzzles pointing skyward, each drawn by thirty straining horses; engineers, sappers and miners with picks and spades, pontoon-wagons, carts piled high with what looked like masses of yellow silk but which proved to be balloons, bicyclists with carbines slung upon their backs hunter-fashion, aeroplane outfits, bearded and spectacled doctors of the medical corps, armoured motor-cars with curved steel rails above them as a protection against the wires which the belgians were in the habit of stringing across the roads, battery after battery of pom-poms (as the quick-firers are descriptively called), and after them more batteries of spidery-looking, lean-barrelled machine-guns, more uhlans--the sunlight gleaming on their lance-tips and the breeze fluttering their pennons into a black-and-white cloud above them, and then infantry in spiked and linen-covered helmets, more infantry and still more infantry--all sweeping by, irresistibly as a mighty river, with their faces turned towards france. this was the ninth field army, composed of the very flower of the german empire, including the magnificent troops of the imperial guard. it was first and last a fighting army. the men were all young, and they struck me as being as keen as razors and as hard as nails. their equipment was the acme to all appearances ordinary two-wheeled farm-carts, contained "nests" of nine machine-guns which could instantly be brought into action. the medical corps was magnificent; as businesslike, as completely equipped, and as efficient as a great city hospital--as, indeed, it should be, for no hospital ever built was called upon to treat so many emergency cases. one section of the medical corps consisted wholly of pedicurists, who examined and treated the feet of the men. if a german soldier has even a suspicion of a corn or a bunion or a chafed heel and does not instantly report to the regimental pedicurist for treatment he is subject to severe punishment. he is not permitted to neglect his feet--or for that matter his teeth, or any other portion of his body--because his feet do not belong to him but to the kaiser, and the kaiser expects those feet kept in condition to perform long and arduous marches and to fight his battles. at one cross-roads i saw a soldier with a horse-clipping machine. an officer stood beside him and closely scanned the heads of the passing men. whenever he spied a soldier whose hair was a fraction of an inch too long, that soldier was called out of the ranks, the clipper was run over his head as quickly and dexterously as an expert shearer fleeces sheep, and then the man, his hair once more too short to harbour dirt, ran to rejoin his company. they must have cut the hair of a hundred men an hour. it was a fascinating performance. men on bicycles, with coils of insulated wire slung on reels between them, strung field-telephones from tree to tree, so that the general commanding could converse with any part of the fifty-mile-long column. the whole army never slept. when half was resting the other half was advancing. the german soldier is treated as a valuable machine, which must be speeded up to the highest possible efficiency. therefore he is well fed, well shod, well clothed-- and worked as a negro teamster works a mule. only men who are well cared-for can march thirty-five miles a day, week in and week out. only once did i see a man ill-treated. a sentry on duty in front of the general headquarters failed to salute an officer with sufficient promptness, whereupon the officer lashed him again and again across the face with a riding-whip. though welts rose at every blow, the soldier stood rigidly at attention and never quivered. it was not a pleasant thing to witness. had it been a british or an american soldier who was thus treated there would have been an officer's funeral the next day. as we were passing a german outpost a sentry ran into the road and signalled us to stop. "are you americans?" he asked. "we are," said i. "then i have orders to take you to the commandant," said he. "but i am on my way to dine with general von boehn. i have a pass signed by the general himself and i am late already." "no matter," the man insisted stubbornly. "you must come with me. the commander has so ordered it." so there was nothing for it but to accompany the soldier. though we tried to laugh away our nervousness, i am quite willing to admit that we had visions of court-martials and prison cells and firing parties. you never know just where you are at with the germans. you see, they have no sense of humour. we found the commandant and his staff quartered at a farmhouse a half-mile down the road. he was a stout, florid-faced, boisterous captain of pioneers. "i'm sorry to detain you," he said apologetically, "but i ordered the sentries to stop the first american car that passed, and yours happened to be the unlucky one. i have a brother in america and i wish to send a letter to him to let him know that all is well with me. would you have the goodness to post it?" "i'll do better than that, captain," said i. "if you will give me your brother's name and address, and if he takes the new york world, he will read in to-morrow morning's paper that i have met you." and the next morning, just as i had promised, mr. f. zur nedden of rosebank, new york, was astonished to read in the columns of his morning paper that i had left his soldier-brother comfortably quartered in a farmhouse on the outskirts of renaix, belgium, in excellent health but drinking more red wine than was likely to be good for him. it was now considerably past midday, and we were within a few miles of the french frontier, when i saw the guidon which signified the presence of the head of the army, planted at the entrance to a splendid old chateau. as we passed between the stately gateposts, whirled up the splendid, tree-lined drive and came to a stop in front of the terrace, a dozen officers came running out to meet us. so cordial and informal were their greetings that i felt as though i were being welcomed at a country-house in america instead of the headquarters of a german army in the field. so perfect was the field-telephone service that the staff had been able to keep in touch with our progress ever since, five hours before, we had entered the german lines, and had waited dinner for us. general von boehn i found to be a red-faced, grey-moustached, jovial old warrior, who seemed very much worried for fear that we were not getting enough to eat, and particularly enough to drink. he explained that the belgian owners of the chateau had had the bad taste to run away and take their servants with them, leaving only one bottle of champagne in the cellar. that bottle was good, however, as far as it went. nearly all the officers spoke english, and during the meal the conversation was chiefly of the united states, for one of them had been attached to the german embassy at washington and knew the golf-course at chevy chase better than i do myself; another had fished in california and shot elk in wyoming; and a third had attended the army school at fort riley. after dinner we grouped ourselves on the terrace and thompson made photographs of us. they are probably the only ones--in this war, at least--of a german general and an american war correspondent who is not under arrest. then we gathered about a table on which was spread a staff map of the war area and got down to serious business. the general began by asserting that the accounts of atrocities perpetrated by german troops on belgian non-combatants were lies. "look at these officers about you," he said. "they are gentlemen, like yourself. look at the soldiers marching past in the road out there. most of them are the fathers of families. surely you do not believe that they would do the unspeakable things they have been accused of?" "three days ago, general," said i, "i was in aerschot. the whole town is now but a ghastly, blackened ruin." "when we entered aerschot," was the reply, "the son of the burgomaster came into the room where our officers were dining and assassinated the chief of staff. what followed was retribution. the townspeople got only what they deserved." "but why wreak your vengeance on women and children?" i asked. "none have been killed," the general asserted positively. "i'm sorry to contradict you, general," i asserted with equal positiveness, "but i have myself seen their bodies. so has mr. gibson, the secretary of the american legation in brussels, who was present during the destruction of louvain." "of course," replied general von boehn, "there is always danger of women and children being killed during street fighting if they insist on coming into the streets. it is unfortunate, but it is war." "but how about a woman's body i saw with the hands and feet cut off? how about the white-haired man and his son whom i helped to bury outside of sempst, who had been killed merely because a retreating belgian soldier had shot a german soldier outside their house? there were twenty-two bayonet wounds in the old man's face. i counted them. how about the little girl, two years old, who was shot while in her mother's arms by a uhlan and whose funeral i attended at heyst-op-den-berg? how about the old man near vilvorde who was hung by his hands from the rafters of his house and roasted to death by a bonfire being built under him?" the general seemed taken aback by the exactness of my information. "such things are horrible if true," he said. "of course, our soldiers, like soldiers in all armies, sometimes get out of hand and do things which we would never tolerate if we knew it. at louvain, for example, i sentenced two soldiers to twelve years' penal servitude each for assaulting a woman." "apropos of louvain," i remarked, "why did you destroy the library?" "we regretted that as much as anyone else," was the answer. "it caught fire from burning houses and we could not save it." "but why did you burn louvain at all?" i asked. "because the townspeople fired on our troops. we actually found machine-guns in some of the houses. and," smashing his fist down upon the table, "whenever civilians fire upon our troops we will teach them a lasting lesson. if women and children insist on getting in the way of bullets, so much the worse for the women and children." "how do you explain the bombardment of antwerp by zeppelins?" i inquired. "zeppelins have orders to drop their bombs only on fortifications and soldiers," he answered. "as a matter of fact," i remarked, "they destroyed only private houses and innocent civilians, several of whom were women. if one of those bombs had dropped two hundred yards nearer my hotel i wouldn't be here to-day smoking one of your excellent cigars." "that is a calamity which, thank god, didn't happen," he replied. "if you feel for my safety as deeply as that, general," i said, earnestly, "you can make quite sure of my coming to no harm by sending no more zeppelins." "well, herr powell," he said, laughing, "we will think about it. and," he continued gravely, "i trust that you will tell the american people, through your great paper, what i have told you to-day. let them hear our side of this atrocity business. it is only justice that they should be made familiar with both sides of the question." i have quoted my conversation with general von boehn as nearly verbatim as i can remember it. i have no comments to make. i will leave it to my readers to decide for themselves just how convincing were the answers of the german general staff--for general von boehn was but its mouthpiece--to the belgian accusations. before we began our conversation i asked the general if my photographer, thompson, might be permitted to take photographs of the great army which was passing. five minutes later thompson whirled away in a military motor-car, ciceroned by the officer who had attended the army school at fort riley. it seems that they stopped the car beside the road, in a place where the light was good, and when thompson saw approaching a regiment or a battery or a squadron of which he wished a picture he would tell the officer, whereupon the officer would blow a whistle and the whole column would halt. "just wait a few minutes until the dust settles," thompson would remark, lighting a cigar, and the ninth imperial army, whose columns stretched over the country-side as far as the eye could see, would stand in its tracks until the air was sufficiently clear to get a good picture. a field battery of the imperial guard rumbled past and thompson made some remark about the accuracy of the american gunners at vera cruz. "let us show you what our gunners can do," said the officer, and he gave an order. there were more orders--a perfect volley of them. a bugle shrilled, eight horses strained against their collars, the drivers cracked their whips, the cannoneers put their shoulders to the wheels, and a gun left the road and swung into position in an adjacent field. on a knoll three miles away an ancient windmill was beating the air with its huge wings. a shell hit the windmill and tore it into splinters. "good work," thompson observed critically. "if those fellows of yours keep on they'll be able to get a job in the american navy when the war is over." in all the annals of modern war i do not believe that there is a parallel to this little kansas photographer halting, with peremptory hand, an advancing army and leisurely photographing it, regiment by regiment, and then having a field-gun of the imperial guard go into action solely to gratify his curiosity. they were very courteous and hospitable to me, those german officers, and i was immensely interested with all that i saw. but, when all is said and done, they impressed me not as human beings, who have weaknesses and virtues, likes and dislikes of their own, but rather as parts, more or less important, of a mighty and highly efficient machine which is directed and controlled by a cold and calculating intelligence in far-away berlin. that machine has about as much of the human element as a meat-chopper, as a steam- roller, as the death-chair at sing sing. its mission is to crush, obliterate, destroy, and no considerations of civilization or chivalry or humanity will affect it. i think that the germans, with their grim, set faces, their monotonous uniforms, and the ceaseless shuffle, shuffle, shuffle of their boots must have gotten on my nerves, for it was with a distinct feeling of relief that i turned the bonnet of my car once more towards antwerp and my friends the belgians. vi. on the belgian battle-line in writing of the battles in belgium i find myself at a loss as to what names to give them. after the treaty-makers have affixed their signatures to a piece of parchment and the arm-chair historians have settled down to the task of writing a connected account of the campaign, the various engagements will doubtless be properly classified and labelled--and under the names which they will receive in the histories we, who were present at them, will probably not recognize them at all. until such time, then, as history has granted them the justice of perspective, i can only refer to them as "the fight at sempst" or "the first engagement at alost" or "the battle of vilvorde" or "the taking of termonde." not only this, but the engagements that seemed to us to be battles, or remarkably lifelike imitations of battles, may be dismissed by the historians as unimportant skirmishes and contacts, while those engagements that we carelessly referred to at the time as "scraps" may well prove, in the light of future events, to have been of far greater significance than we realized. i don't even know how many engagements i witnessed, for i did not take the trouble to keep count. thompson, who was with me from the beginning of the campaign to the end, told a reporter who interviewed him upon his return to london that we had been present at thirty-two engagements, large and small. though i do not vouch, mind you, for the accuracy of this assertion, it is not as improbable as it sounds, for, from the middle of august to the fall of antwerp in the early part of october, it was a poor day that didn't produce a fight of some sort. the fighting in belgium at this stage of the war may be said to have been confined to an area within a triangle whose corners were antwerp, aerschot and termonde. the southern side of this triangle, which ran somewhat to the south of malines, was nearly forty miles in length, and it was this forty-mile front, extending from aerschot on the east to termonde on the west, which, during the earlier stages of the campaign, formed the belgian battle-line. as the campaign progressed and the germans developed their offensive, the belgians were slowly forced back within the converging sides of the triangle until they were squeezed into the angle formed by antwerp, where they made their last stand. the theatre of operations was, from the standpoint of a professional onlooker like myself, very inconsiderately arranged. nature had provided neither orchestra-stalls nor boxes. all the seats were bad. in fact it was quite impossible to obtain a good view of the stage and of the uniformed actors who were presenting the most stupendous spectacle in all history upon it. the whole region, you see, was absolutely flat--as flat as the top of a table--and there wasn't anything even remotely resembling a hill anywhere. to make matters worse, the country was criss-crossed by a perfect network of rivers and brooks and canals and ditches; the highways and the railways, which had to be raised to keep them from being washed out by the periodic inundations, were so thickly screened by trees as to be quite useless for purposes of observation; and in the rare places where a rise in the ground might have enabled one to get a comprehensive view of the surrounding country, dense groves of trees or red-and-white villages almost invariably intervened. one could be within a few hundred yards of the firing-line and literally not see a thing save the fleecy puffs of bursting shrapnel. indeed, i don't know what we should have done had it not been for the church towers. these were conveniently sprinkled over the landscape-- every cluster of houses seemed to have one--and did their best to make up for the region's topographical shortcomings. the only disadvantage attaching to the use of the church-spires as places to view the fighting from was that the military observers and the officers controlling the fire of the batteries used them for the same purpose. the enemy knew this, of course, and almost the first thing he did, therefore, was to open fire on them with his artillery and drive those observers out. this accounts for the fact that in many sections of belgium there is not a church-spire left standing. when we ascended a church tower, therefore, for the purpose of obtaining a general view of an engagement, we took our chances and we knew it. more than once, when the enemy got the range and their shells began to shriek and yowl past the belfry in which i was stationed, i have raced down the rickety ladders at a speed which, under normal conditions, would probably have resulted in my breaking my neck. in view of the restrictions imposed upon correspondents in the french and russian theatres of war, i suppose that instead of finding fault with the seating arrangements i should thank my lucky stars that i did not have to write my dispatches with the aid of an ordnance-map and a guide-book in a hotel bedroom a score or more of miles from the firing-line. the belgian field army consisted of six divisions and a brigade of cavalry and numbered, on paper at least, about , men. i very much doubt, however, if king albert had in the field at anyone time more than , men--a very large proportion of whom were, of course, raw recruits. now the belgian army, when all is said and done, was not an army according to the continental definition; it was not much more than a glorified police force, a militia. no one had ever dreamed that it would be called upon to fight, and hence, when war came, it was wholly unprepared. that it was able to offer the stubborn and heroic resistance which it did to the advance of the german legions speaks volumes for belgian stamina and courage. many of the troops were armed with rifles of an obsolete pattern, the supply of ammunition was insufficient, and though the artillery was on the whole of excellent quality, it was placed at a tremendous disadvantage by the superior range and calibre of the german field- guns. the men did not even have the protection afforded by neutral- coloured uniforms, but fought from first to last in clothes of blue and green and blazing scarlet. as i stood one day in the place de meir in antwerp and watched a regiment of mud-bespattered guides clatter past, it was hard to believe that i was living in the twentieth century and not in the beginning of the nineteenth, for instead of serviceable uniforms of grey or drab or khaki, these men wore the befrogged green jackets, the cherry-coloured breeches, and the huge fur busbies which characterized the soldiers of napoleon. the carabineers, for example, wore uniforms of bottle-green and queer sugar-loaf hats of patent leather which resembled the headgear of the directoire period. both the grenadiers and the infantry of the line marched and fought and slept in uniforms of heavy blue cloth piped with scarlet and small, round, visorless fatigue-caps which afforded no protection from either sun or rain. some of the men remedied this by fitting their caps with green reading-shades, such as undergraduates wear when they are cramming for examinations, so that at first glance a regiment looked as though its ranks were filled with either jockeys or students. the gendarmes--who, by the way, were always to be found where the fighting was hottest--were the most unsuitably uniformed of all, for the blue coats and silver aiguillettes and towering bearskins which served to impress the simple country-folk made splendid targets for the german marksmen. this medley of picturesque and brilliant uniforms was wonderfully effective, of course, and whenever i came upon a group of lancers in sky-blue and yellow lounging about the door of a wayside tavern or met a patrol of guides in their green jackets and scarlet breeches trotting along a country-road, i always had the feeling that i was looking at a painting by meissonier or detaille. at the beginning of the war the belgian cavalry was as well mounted as that of any european army, many of the officers having irish hunters, while the men were mounted on hungarian-bred stock. the almost incessant campaigning, combined with lack of proper food and care, had its effect upon the horses, however, and before the campaign in flanders was half over the cavalry mounts were a raw- boned and sorry-looking lot. the belgian field artillery was horsed magnificently: the sturdy, hardy animals native to luxembourg and the ardennes making admirable material for gun-teams, while the great belgian draught-horses could scarcely have been improved upon for the army's heavier work. speaking of cavalry, the thing that i most wanted to see when i went to the war was a cavalry charge. i had seen mounted troops in action, of course, both in africa and in asia, but they had brown skins and wore fantastic uniforms. what i wanted to see was one of those charges such as meissonier used to paint--scarlet breeches and steel helmets and a sea of brandished sword-blades and all that sort of thing. but when i confided my wish to an american army officer whom i met on the boat going over he promptly discouraged me. "cavalry charges are a thing of the past," he asserted. "there will never be one again. the modern high-power rifle has made them impossible. henceforward cavalry will only be used for scouting purposes or as mounted infantry." he spoke with great positiveness, i remember, having been, you see, in both the cuban and philippine campaigns. according to the textbooks and the military experts and the armchair tacticians he was perfectly right; i believe that all of the writers on military subjects agree in saying that cavalry charges are obsolete as a form of attack. but the trouble with the belgians was that they didn't play the war-game according to the rules in the book. they were very primitive in their conceptions of warfare. their idea was that whenever they got within sight of a german regiment to go after that regiment and exterminate it, and they didn't care whether in doing it they used horse, foot, or guns. it was owing, therefore, to this total disregard for the rules laid down in the textbooks that i saw my cavalry charge. let me tell you about it while i have the chance, for there is no doubt that cavalry charges are getting scarce and i may never see another. it was in the region between termonde and alost. this is a better country for cavalry to manoeuvre in than most parts of flanders, for sometimes one can go almost a mile without being stopped by a canal. a considerable force of germans had pushed north from alost and the belgian commander ordered a brigade of cavalry, composed of the two regiments of guides and, if i remember rightly, two regiments of lancers, to go out and drive them back. after a morning spent in skirmishing and manoeuvring for position, the belgian cavalry commander got his germans where he wanted them. the germans were in front of a wood, and between them and the belgians lay as pretty a stretch of open country as a cavalryman could ask for. now the germans occupied a strong position, mind you, and the proper thing to have done according to the books would have been to have demoralized them with shell-fire and then to have followed it up with an infantry attack. but the grizzled old belgian commander did nothing of the sort. he had fifteen hundred troopers who were simply praying for a chance to go at the germans with cold steel, and he gave them the chance they wanted. tossing away his cigarette and tightening the chin-strap of his busby, he trotted out in front of his men. "right into line!" he bellowed. two long lines--one the guides, in green and scarlet, the other the lancers, in blue and yellow--spread themselves across the fields. "trot!" the bugles squealed the order. "gallop!" the forest of lances dropped from vertical to horizontal and the cloud of gaily fluttering pennons changed into a bristling hedge of steel. "charge!" came the order, and the spurs went home. "vive la belgique! vive la belgique!" roared the troopers--and the germans, not liking the look of those long and cruel lances, fell back precipitately into the wood where the troopers could not follow them. then, their work having been accomplished, the cavalry came trotting back again. of course, from a military standpoint it was an affair of small importance, but so far as colour and action and excitement were concerned it was worth having gone to belgium to see. after the german occupation of brussels, the first engagement of sufficient magnitude to be termed a battle took place on august and in the sempst-elewyt-eppeghem-vilvorde region, midway between brussels and malines. the belgians had in action four divisions, totalling about sixty thousand men, opposed to which was a considerably heavier force of germans. to get a clear conception of the battle one must picture a fifty-foot-high railway embankment, its steeply sloping sides heavily wooded, stretching its length across a fertile, smiling country-side like a monstrous green snake. on this line, in time of peace, the bloc trains made the journey from antwerp to brussels in less than an hour. malines, with its historic buildings and its famous cathedral, lies on one side of this line and the village of vilvorde on the other, five miles separating them. on the th the belgians, believing the brussels garrison to have been seriously weakened and the german communications poorly guarded, moved out in force from the shelter of the antwerp forts and assumed a vigorous offensive. it was like a terrier attacking a bulldog. they drove the germans from malines by the very impetus of their attack, but the germans brought up heavy reinforcements, and by the morning of the th the belgians were in a most perilous position. the battle hinged on the possession of the railway embankment had gradually extended, each army trying to outflank the other, until it was being fought along a front of twenty miles. at dawn on the second day an artillery duel began across the embankment, the german fire being corrected by observers in captive balloons. by noon the germans had gotten the range and a rain of shrapnel was bursting about the belgian batteries, which limbered up and retired at a trot in perfect order. after the guns were out of range i could see the dark blue masses of the supporting belgian infantry slowly falling back, cool as a winter's morning. through an oversight, however, two battalions of carabineers did not receive the order to retire and were in imminent danger of being cut off and destroyed. then occurred one of the bravest acts that i have ever seen. to reach them a messenger would have to traverse a mile of open road, swept by-shrieking shrapnel and raked by rifle-fire. there was about one chance in a thousand of a man getting to the end of that road alive. a colonel standing beside me under a railway-culvert summoned a gendarme, gave him the necessary orders, and added, "bonne chance, mon brave." the man, a fierce-moustached fellow who would have gladdened the heart of napoleon, knew that he was being sent into the jaws of death, but he merely saluted, set spurs to his horse, and tore down the road, an archaic figure in his towering bearskin. he reached the troops uninjured and gave the order for them to retreat, but as they fell back the german gunners got the range and with marvellous accuracy dropped shell after shell into the running column. soon road and fields were dotted with corpses in belgian blue. time after time the germans attempted to carry the railway embankment with the bayonet, but the belgians met them with blasts of lead which shrivelled the grey columns as leaves are shrivelled by an autumn wind. by mid-afternoon the belgians and germans were in places barely a hundred yards apart, and the rattle of musketry sounded like a boy drawing a stick along the palings of a picket-fence. during the height of the battle a zeppelin slowly circled over the field like a great vulture awaiting a feast. so heavy was the fighting that the embankment of a branch railway from which i viewed the afternoon's battle was literally carpeted with the corpses of germans who had been killed during the morning. one of them had died clasping a woman's picture. he was buried with it still clenched in his hand. i saw peasants throw twelve bodies into one grave. one peasant would grasp a corpse by the shoulders and another would take its feet and they would give it a swing as though it were a sack of meal. as i watched these inanimate forms being carelessly tossed into the trench it was hard to make myself believe that only a few hours before they had been sons or husbands or fathers and that somewhere across the rhine women and children were waiting and watching and praying for them. at a hamlet near sempst i helped to bury an aged farmer and his son, inoffensive peasants, who had been executed by the germans because a retreating belgian soldier had shot a uhlan in front of their farmhouse. not content with shooting them, they had disfigured them almost beyond recognition. there were twenty-two bayonet wounds in the old man's face. i know, for i counted them. by four o'clock all the belgian troops were withdrawn except a thin screen to cover the retreat. as i wished to see the german advance i remained on the railway embankment on the outskirts of sempst after all the belgians, save a picket of ten men, had been withdrawn from the village. i had my car waiting in the road below with the motor running. as the german infantry would have to advance across a mile of open fields it was obvious that i would have ample time in which to get away. the germans prefaced their advance by a terrific cannonade. the air was filled with whining shrapnel. farmhouses collapsed amid puffs of brown smoke. the sky was smeared in a dozen places with the smoke of burning hamlets. suddenly a soldier crouching beside me cried, "les allemands! les allemands!" and from the woods which screened the railway- embankment burst a long line of grey figures, hoarsely cheering. at almost the same moment i heard a sudden splutter of shots in the village street behind me and my driver screamed, "hurry for your life, monsieur! the uhlans are upon us!" in my desire to see the main german advance it had never occurred to me that a force of the enemy's cavalry might slip around and take us in the flank, which was exactly what had happened. it was three hundred yards to the car and a freshly ploughed field lay between, but i am confident that i broke the world's record for the distance. as i leaped into the car and we shot down the road at fifty miles an hour, the uhlans cantered into the village, the sunlight striking on their lance- tips. it was a close call. the retreat from malines provided a spectacle which i shall never forget. for twenty miles every road was jammed with clattering cavalry, plodding infantry, and rumbling batteries, the guns, limbers, and caissons still covered with the green boughs which had been used to mask their position from german aeroplanes. gendarmes in giant bearskins, chasseurs in uniforms of green and yellow, carabineers with their shiny leather hats, grenadiers, infantry of the line, guides, lancers, sappers and miners with picks and spades, engineers with pontoon-wagons, machine-guns drawn by dogs, ambulances with huge red cross flags fluttering above them, and cars, cars, cars, all the dear old familiar american makes among them, contributed to form a mighty river flowing towards antwerp. malines formerly had a population of fifty thousand people, and forty-five thousand of these fled when they heard that the germans were returning. the scenes along the road were heart-rending in their pathos. the very young and the very old, the rich and the well- to-do and the poverty-stricken, the lame and the sick and the blind, with the few belongings they had been able to save in sheet- wrapped bundles on their backs or piled in push-carts, clogged the roads and impeded the soldiery. these people were abandoning all that they held most dear to pillage and destruction. they were completely terrorized by the germans. but the belgian army was not terrorized. it was a retreating army but it was victorious in retreat. the soldiers were cool, confident, courageous, and gave me the feeling that if the german giant left himself unguarded a single instant little belgium would drive home a solar-plexus blow. for many days after its evacuation by the belgians, malines occupied an unhappy position midway between the contending armies, being alternately bombarded by the belgians and the germans. the latter, instead of endeavouring to avoid damaging the splendid cathedral, whose tower, three hundred and twenty-five feet high, is the most conspicuous landmark in the region, seemed to take a grim pleasure in directing their fire upon the ancient building. the great clock, the largest in belgium, was destroyed; the famous stained-glass windows were broken; the exquisite carvings were shattered; and shells, crashing through the walls and roof, converted the beautiful interior into a heap of debris. as there were no belgian troops in malines at this time, and as this fact was perfectly well known to the germans, this bombardment of an undefended city and the destruction of its historic monuments struck me as being peculiarly wanton and not induced by any military necessity. it was, of course, part and parcel of the german policy of terrorism and intimidation. the bombardment of cities, the destruction of historic monuments, the burning of villages, and, in many cases, the massacre of civilians was the price which the belgians were forced to pay for resisting the invader. in order to ascertain just what damage had been done to the city, and particularly to the cathedral, i ran into malines in my car during a pause in the bombardment. as the streets were too narrow to permit of turning the car around, and as it was more than probable that we should have to get out in a hurry, roos suggested that we run in backward, which we did, i standing up in the tonneau, field-glasses glued to my eyes, on the look-out for lurking germans. i don't recall ever having had a more eerie experience than that surreptitious visit to malines. the city was as silent and deserted as a cemetery; there was not a human being to be seen; and as we cautiously advanced through the narrow, winding streets, the vacant houses echoed the throbbing of the motor with a racket which was positively startling. just as we reached the square in front of the cathedral a german shell came shrieking over the house-tops and burst with a shattering crash in the upper story of a building a few yards away. the whole front of that building came crashing down about us in a cascade of brick and plaster. we did not stay on the order of our going. no. we went out of that town faster than any automobile every went out of it before. we went so fast, in fact, that we struck and killed the only remaining inhabitant. he was a large yellow dog. owing to strategic reasons the magnitude and significance of the great four days' battle which was fought in mid-september between the belgian field army and the combined german forces in northern belgium was carefully masked in all official communications at the time, and, in the rush of later events, its importance was lost sight of. yet the great flanking movement of the allies in france largely owed its success to this determined offensive movement on the part of the belgians, who, as it afterwards proved, were acting in close co-operation with the french general staff. this unexpected sally, which took the germans completely by surprise, not only compelled them to concentrate all their available forces in belgium, but, what was far more important, it necessitated the hasty recall of their third and ninth armies, which were close to the french frontier and whose addition to the german battle-line in france might well have turned the scales in germany's favour. in addition the germans had to bring up their landwehr and landsturm regiments from the south of brussels, and a naval division composed of fifteen thousand sailors and marines was also engaged. it is no exaggeration, then, to say that the success of the allies on the aisne was in great measure due to the sacrifices made on this occasion by the belgian army. every available man which the germans could put into the field was used to hold a line running through sempst, weerde, campenhout, wespelaer, rotselaer, and holsbeek. the belgians lay to the north-east of this line, their left resting on aerschot and their centre at meerbeek. between the opposing armies stretched the malines-louvain canal, along almost the entire length of which fighting as bloody as any in the war took place. to describe this battle--i do not even know by what name it will be known to future generations--would be to usurp the duties of the historian, and i shall only attempt, therefore, to tell you of that portion of it which i saw with my own eyes. on the morning of september four belgian divisions moved southward from malines, their objective being the town of weerde, on the antwerp- brussels railway. it was known that the germans occupied weerde in force, so throughout the day the belgian artillery, masked by heavy woods, pounded away incessantly. by noon the enemy's guns ceased to reply, which was assumed by the jubilant belgians to be a sign that the german artillery had been silenced. at noon the belgian first division moved forward and thompson and i, leaving the car in front of a convent over which the red cross flag was flying, moved forward with it. standing quite by itself in the middle of a field, perhaps a mile beyond the convent, was a two-story brick farmhouse. a hundred yards in front of the farmhouse stretched the raised, stone-paved, tree-lined highway which runs from brussels to antwerp, and on the other side of the highway was weerde. sheltering ourselves as much as possible in the trenches which zigzagged across the field, and dashing at full speed across the open places which were swept by rifle-fire, we succeeded in reaching the farmhouse. ascending to the garret, we broke a hole through the tiled roof and found ourselves looking down upon the battle precisely as one looks down on a cricket match from the upper tier of seats at lord's. lying in the deep ditch which bordered our side of the highway was a belgian infantry brigade, composed of two regiments of carabineers and two regiments of chasseurs a pied, the men all crouching in the ditch or lying prone upon the ground. five hundred yards away, on the other side of the highway, we could see through the trees the whitewashed walls and red pottery roofs of weerde, while a short distance to the right, in a heavily wooded park, was a large stone chateau. the only sign that the town was occupied was a pall of blue-grey vapour which hung over it and a continuous crackle of musketry coming from it, though occasionally, through my glasses, i could catch glimpses of the lean muzzles of machine-guns protruding from the upper windows of the chateau. now you must bear in mind the fact that in this war soldiers fired from the trenches for days on end without once getting a glimpse of the enemy. they knew that somewhere opposite them, in that bit of wood, perhaps, or behind that group of buildings, or on the other side of that railway-embankment, the enemy was trying to kill them just as earnestly as they were trying to kill him. but they rarely got a clear view of him save in street fighting and, of course, when he was advancing across open country. soldiers no longer select their man and pick him off as one would pick off a stag, because the great range of modern rifles has put the firing-lines too far apart for that sort of thing. instead, therefore, of aiming at individuals, soldiers aim at the places where they believe those individuals to be. each company commander shows his men their target, tells them at what distance to set their sights, and controls their expenditure of ammunition, the fire of infantry generally being more effective when delivered in bursts by sections. what i have said in general about infantry being unable to see the target at which they are firing was particularly true at weerde owing to the dense foliage which served to screen the enemy's position. occasionally, after the explosion of a particularly well-placed belgian shell, thompson and i, from our hole in the roof and with the aid of our high-power glasses, could catch fleeting glimpses of scurrying grey-clad figures, but that was all. the men below us in the trenches could see nothing except the hedges, gardens, and red-roofed houses of a country town. they knew the enemy was there, however, from the incessant rattle of musketry and machine-guns and from the screams and exclamations of those of their fellows who happened to get in the bullets' way. late in the afternoon word was passed down the line that the german guns had been put out of action, that the enemy was retiring and that at . sharp the whole belgian line would advance and take the town with the bayonet. under cover of artillery fire so continuous that it sounded like thunder in the mountains, the belgian infantry climbed out of the trenches and, throwing aside their knapsacks, formed up behind the road preparatory to the grand assault. a moment later a dozen dog batteries came trotting up and took position on the left of the infantry. at . to the minute the whistles of the officers sounded shrilly and the mile-long line of men swept forward cheering. they crossed the roadway, they scrambled over ditches, they climbed fences, they pushed through hedges, until they were within a hundred yards of the line of buildings which formed the outskirts of the town. then hell itself broke loose. the whole german front, which for several hours past had replied but feebly to the belgian fire, spat a continuous stream of lead and flame. the rolling crash of musketry and the ripping snarl of machine-guns were stabbed by the vicious pom-pom-pom- pom-pom of the quick-firers. from every window of the three-storied chateau opposite us the lean muzzles of mitrailleuses poured out their hail of death. i have seen fighting on four continents, but i have never witnessed so deadly a fire as that which wiped out the head of the belgian column as a sponge wipes out figures on a slate. the germans had prepared a trap and the belgians had walked--or rather charged--directly into it. three minutes later the dog batteries came tearing back on a dead run. that should have been a signal that it was high time for us to go, but, in spite of the fact that a storm was brewing, we waited to see the last inning. then things began to happen with a rapidity that was bewildering. back through the hedges, across the ditches, over the roadway came the belgian infantry, crouching, stooping, running for their lives, every now and then a soldier would stumble, as though he had stubbed his toe, and throw out his arms and fall headlong. a bullet had hit him. the road was sprinkled with silent forms in blue and green. the fields were sprinkled with them too. one man was hit as he was struggling to get through a hedge and died standing, held upright by the thorny branches. men with blood streaming down their faces, men with horrid crimson patches on their tunics, limped, crawled, staggered past, leaving scarlet trails behind them. a young officer of chasseurs, who had been recklessly exposing himself while trying to check the retreat of his men, suddenly spun around on his heels, like one of those wooden toys which the curb vendors sell, and then crumpled up, as though all the bone and muscle had gone out of him. a man plunged into a half-filled ditch and lay there, with his head under water. i could see the water slowly redden. bullets began to smash the tiles above us. "this is no place for two innocent little american boys," remarked thompson, shouldering his camera. i agreed with him. by the time we reached the ground the belgian infantry was half a mile in our rear, and to reach the car we had to cross nearly a mile of open field. bullets were singing across it and kicking up little spurts of brown earth where they struck. we had not gone a hundred yards when the german artillery, which the belgians so confidently asserted had been silenced, opened with shrapnel. have you ever heard a winter gale howling and shrieking through the tree-tops? of course. then you know what shrapnel sounds like, only it is louder. you have no idea though how extremely annoying shrapnel is, when it bursts in your immediate vicinity. you feel as though you would like nothing in the world so much as to be suddenly transformed into a woodchuck and have a convenient hole. i remembered that an artillery officer had told me that a burst of shrapnel from a battery two miles away will spread itself over an eight-acre field, and every time i heard the moan of an approaching shell i wondered if it would decide to explode in the particular eight-acre field in which i happened to be. as though the german shell-storm was not making things sufficiently uncomfortable for us, when we were half-way across the field two belgian soldiers suddenly rose from a trench and covered us with their rifles. "halt! hands up!" they shouted. there was nothing for it but to obey them. we advanced with our hands in the air but with our heads twisted upward on the look-out for shrapnel. as we approached they recognized us. "oh, you're the americans," said one of them, lowering his rifle. "we couldn't see your faces and we took you for germans. you'd better come with us. it's getting too hot to stay here." the four of us started on a run for a little cluster of houses a few hundred yards away. by this time the shells were coming across at the rate of twenty a minute. "suppose we go into a cellar until the storm blows over," suggested roos, who had joined us. "i'm all for that," said i, making a dive for the nearest doorway. "keep away from that house!" shouted a belgian soldier who suddenly appeared from around a corner. "the man who owns it has gone insane from fright. he's upstairs with a rifle and he's shooting at every one who passes." "well, i call that damned inhospitable," said thompson, and roos and i heartily agreed with him. there was nothing else for it, therefore, but to make a dash for the car. we had left it standing in front of a convent over which a red cross flag was flying on the assumption that there it would be perfectly safe. but we found that we were mistaken. the red cross flag did not spell protection by any means. as we came within sight of the car a shell burst within thirty feet of it, a fragment of the projectile burying itself in the door. i never knew of a car taking so long to crank. though it was really probably only a matter of seconds before the engine started it seemed to us, standing in that shell-swept road, like hours. darkness had now fallen. a torrential rain had set in. the car slid from one side of the road to the other like a scotchman coming home from celebrating bobbie burns's birthday and repeatedly threatened to capsize in the ditch. the mud was ankle-deep and the road back to malines was now in the possession of the germans, so we were compelled to make a detour through a deserted country- side, running through the inky blackness without lights so as not to invite a visit from a shell. it was long after midnight when, cold, wet and famished, we called the password to the sentry at the gateway through the barbed-wire entanglements which encircled antwerp and he let us in. it was a very lively day for every one concerned and there were a few minutes when i thought that i would never see the statue of liberty again. vii. the coming of the british imagine, if you please, a professional heavy-weight prize-fighter, with an abnormally long reach, holding an amateur bantam-weight boxer at arm's length with one hand and hitting him when and where he pleased with the other. the fact that the little man was not in the least afraid of his burly antagonist and that he got in a vicious kick or jab whenever he saw an opening would not, of course, have any effect on the outcome of the unequal contest. now that is almost precisely what happened when the germans besieged antwerp, the enormously superior range and calibre of their siege-guns enabling them to pound the city's defences to pieces at their leisure without the defenders being able to offer any effective resistance. though antwerp was to all intents and purposes a besieged city for many weeks prior to its capture, it was not until the beginning of the last week in september that the germans seriously set to work of destroying its fortifications. when they did begin, however, their great siege pieces pounded the forts as steadily and remorselessly as a trip-hammer pounds a bar of iron. at the time the belgian general staff believed that the germans were using the same giant howitzers which demolished the forts at liege, but in this they were mistaken, for, as it transpired later, the antwerp fortifications owed their destruction to austrian guns served by austrian artillerymen. now guns of this size can only be fired from specially prepared concrete beds, and these beds, as we afterwards learned, had been built during the preceding month behind the embankment of the railway which runs from malines to louvain, thus accounting for the tenacity with which the germans had held this railway despite repeated attempts to dislodge them. at this stage of the investment the germans were firing at a range of upwards of eight miles, while the belgians had no artillery that was effective at more than six. add to this the fact that the german fire was remarkably accurate, being controlled and constantly corrected by observers stationed in balloons, and that the german shells were loaded with an explosive having greater destructive properties than either cordite or shimose powder, and it will be seen how hopeless was the belgian position. the scenes along the lierre-st. catherine-waelhem sector, against which the germans at first focussed their attack, were impressive and awesome beyond description. against a livid sky rose pillars of smoke from burning villages. the air was filled with shrieking shell and bursting shrapnel. the deep-mouthed roar of the guns in the forts and the angry bark of the belgian field-batteries were answered at intervals by the shattering crash of the german high-explosive shells. when one of these big shells--the soldiers dubbed them "antwerp expresses"--struck in a field it sent up a geyser of earth two hundred feet in height. when they dropped in a river or canal, as sometimes happened, there was a waterspout. and when they dropped in a village, that village disappeared from the map. while we were watching the bombardment from a rise in the waelhem road a shell burst in the hamlet of waerloos, whose red- brick houses were clustered almost at our feet. a few minutes later a procession of fugitive villagers came plodding up the cobble- paved highway. it was headed by an ashen-faced peasant pushing a wheelbarrow with a weeping woman clinging to his arm. in the wheelbarrow, atop a pile of hastily collected household goods, was sprawled the body of a little boy. he could not have been more than seven. his little knickerbockered legs and play-worn shoes protruded grotesquely from beneath a heap of bedding. when they lifted it we could see where the shell had hit him. beside the dead boy sat his sister, a tot of three, with blood trickling from a flesh- wound in her face. she was still clinging convulsively to a toy lamb which had once been white but whose fleece was now splotched with red. some one passed round a hat and we awkwardly tried to express our sympathy through the medium of silver. after a little pause they started on again, the father stolidly pushing the wheelbarrow, with its pathetic load, before him. it was the only home that family had. one of the bravest acts that i have ever seen was performed by an american woman during the bombardment of waelhem. her name was mrs. winterbottom; she was originally from boston, and had married an english army officer. when he went to the front in france she went to the front in belgium, bringing over her car, which she drove herself, and placing it at the disposal of the british field hospital. after the fort of waelhem had been silenced and such of the garrison as were able to move had been withdrawn, word was received at ambulance headquarters that a number of dangerously wounded had been left behind and that they would die unless they received immediate attention. to reach the fort it was necessary to traverse nearly two miles of road swept by shell-fire. before anyone realized what was happening a big grey car shot down the road with the slender figure of mrs. winterbottom at the wheel. clinging to the running-board was her english chauffeur and beside her sat my little kansas photographer, donald thompson. though the air was filled with the fleecy white patches which look like cotton-wool but are really bursting shrapnel, thompson told me afterwards that mrs. winterbottom was as cool as though she were driving down her native commonwealth avenue on a sunday morning. when they reached the fort shells were falling all about them, but they filled the car with wounded men and mrs. winterbottom started back with her blood-soaked freight for the belgian lines. thompson remained in the fort to take pictures. when darkness fell he made his way back to the village of waelhem, where he found a regiment of belgian infantry. in one of the soldiers thompson recognized a man who, before the war, had been a waiter in the st. regis hotel in new york and who had been detailed to act as his guide and interpreter during the fighting before termonde. this man took thompson into a wine-shop where a detachment of soldiers was quartered, gave him food, and spread straw upon the floor for him to sleep on. shortly after midnight a forty-two centimetre shell struck the building. of the soldiers who were sleeping in the same room as thompson nine were killed and fifteen more who were sleeping upstairs, the ex-waiter among them. thompson told me that when the ceiling gave way and the mangled corpses came tumbling down upon him, he ran up the street with his hands above his head, screaming like a madman. he met an officer whom he knew and they ran down the street together, hoping to get out of the doomed town. just then a projectile from one of the german siege- guns tore down the long, straight street, a few yards above their heads. the blast of air which it created was so terrific that it threw them down. thompson said that it was like standing close to the edge of the platform at a wayside station when the empire state express goes by. when his nerve came back to him he pulled a couple of cigars out of his pocket and offered one to the officer. their hands trembled so, he said afterwards, that they used up half a box of matches before they could get their cigars lighted. i am inclined to think that the most bizarre incident i saw during the bombardment of the outer forts was the flight of the women inmates of a madhouse at duffel. there were three hundred women in the institution, many of them violently insane, and the nuns in charge, assisted by soldiers, had to take them across a mile of open country, under a rain of shells, to a waiting train. i shall not soon forget the picture of that straggling procession winding its slow way across the stubble-covered fields. every few seconds a shell would burst above it or in front of it or behind it with a deafening explosion. yet, despite the frantic efforts of the nuns and soldiers, the women would not be hurried. when a shell burst some of them would scream and cower or start to run, but more of them would stop in their tracks and gibber and laugh and clap their hands like excited children. then the soldiers would curse under their breath and push them roughly forward and the nuns would plead with them in their soft, low voices, to hurry, hurry, hurry. we, who were watching the scene, thought that few of them would reach the train alive, yet not one was killed or wounded. the arabs are right: the mad are under god's protection. one of the most inspiring features of the campaign in belgium was the heroism displayed by the priests and the members of the religious orders. village cures in their black cassocks and shovel hats, and monks in sandals and brown woollen robes, were everywhere. i saw them in the trenches exhorting the soldiers to fight to the last for god and the king; i saw them going out on to the battlefield with stretchers to gather the wounded under a fire which made veterans seek shelter; i saw them in the villages where the big shells were falling, helping to carry away the ill and the aged; i saw them in the hospitals taking farewell messages and administering the last sacrament to the dying; i even saw them, rifle in hand, on the firing-line, fighting for the existence of the nation. to these soldiers of the lord i raise my hat in respect and admiration. the people of belgium owe them a debt that they can never repay. in the days before the war it was commonly said that the church was losing ground in belgium; that religion was gradually being ousted by socialism. if this were so, i saw no sign of it in the nation's days of trial. time and time again i saw soldiers before going into battle drop on their knees and cross themselves and murmur a hasty prayer. even the throngs of terrified fugitives, flying from their burning villages, would pause in their flight to kneel before the little shrines along the wayside. i am convinced, indeed, that the ruthless destruction of religious edifices by the germans and the brutality which they displayed toward priests and members of the religious orders was more responsible than any one thing for the desperate resistance which they met with from the belgian peasantry. by the afternoon of october things were looking very black for antwerp. the forts composing the lierre-waelhem sector of the outer line of defences had been pounded into silence by the german siege-guns; a strong german force, pushing through the breach thus made, had succeeded in crossing the nethe in the face of desperate opposition; the belgian troops, after a fortnight of continuous fighting, were at the point of exhaustion; the hospitals were swamped by the streams of wounded which for days past had been pouring in; over the city hung a cloud of despondency and gloom, for the people, though kept in complete ignorance of the true state of affairs, seemed oppressed with a sense of impending disaster. when i returned that evening to the hotel st. antoine from the battle-front, which was then barely half a dozen miles outside the city, the manager stopped me as i was entering the lift. "are you leaving with the others, mr. powell?" he whispered. "leaving for where? with what others?" i asked sharply. "hadn't you heard?" he answered in some confusion. "the members of the government and the diplomatic corps are leaving for ostend by special steamer at seven in the morning. it has just been decided at a cabinet meeting. but don't mention it to a soul. no one is to know it until they are safely gone." i remember that as i continued to my room the corridors smelled of smoke, and upon inquiring its cause i learned that the british minister, sir francis villiers, and his secretaries were burning papers in the rooms occupied by the british legation. the russian minister, who was superintending the packing of his trunks in the hall, stopped me to say good-bye. imagine my surprise, then, upon going down to breakfast the following morning, to meet count goblet d'alviella, the vice-president of the senate and a minister of state, leaving the dining-room. "why, count!" i exclaimed, "i had supposed that you were well on your way to ostend by this time." "we had expected to be," explained the venerable statesman, "but at four o'clock this morning the british minister sent us word that mr. winston churchill had started for antwerp and asking us to wait and hear what he has to say." at one o'clock that afternoon a big drab-coloured touring-car filled with british naval officers tore up the place de meir, its horn sounding a hoarse warning, took the turn into the narrow marche aux souliers on two wheels, and drew up in front of the hotel. before the car had fairly come to a stop the door of the tonneau was thrown violently open and out jumped a smooth-faced, sandy-haired, stoop- shouldered, youthful-looking man in the undress trinity house uniform. there was no mistaking who it was. it was the right hon. winston churchill. as he darted into the crowded lobby, which, as usual at the luncheon-hour, was filled with belgian, french, and british staff officers, diplomatists, cabinet ministers and correspondents, he flung his arms out in a nervous, characteristic gesture, as though pushing his way through a crowd. it was a most spectacular entrance and reminded me for all the world of a scene in a melodrama where the hero dashes up, bare-headed, on a foam-flecked horse, and saves the heroine or the old homestead or the family fortune, as the case may be. while lunching with sir francis villiers and the staff of the british legation, two english correspondents approached and asked mr. churchill for an interview. "i will not talk to you," he almost shouted, bringing his fist down upon the table. "you have no business to be in belgium at this time. get out of the country at once." it happened that my table was so close that i could not help but overhear the request and the response, and i remember remarking to the friends who were dining with me: "had mr. churchill said that to me, i should have answered him, 'i have as much business in belgium at this time, sir, as you had in cuba during the spanish- american war.'" an hour later i was standing in the lobby talking to m. de vos, the burgomaster of antwerp, m. louis franck, the antwerp member of the chamber of deputies, american consul-general diederich and vice-consul general sherman, when mr. churchill rushed past us on his way to his room. he impressed one as being always in a tearing hurry. the burgomaster stopped him, introduced himself, and expressed his anxiety regarding the fate of the city. before he had finished churchill was part-way up the stairs. "i think everything will be all right now, mr. burgomaster," he called down in a voice which could be distinctly heard throughout the lobby. "you needn't worry. we're going to save the city." whereupon most of the civilians present heaved sighs of relief. they felt that a real sailor had taken the wheel. those of us who were conversant with the situation were also relieved because we took it for granted that mr. churchill would not have made so confident and public an assertion unless ample reinforcements in men and guns were on the way. even then the words of this energetic, impetuous young man did not entirely reassure me, for from the windows of my room i could hear the german guns quite plainly. they had come appreciably nearer. that afternoon and the three days following mr. churchill spent in inspecting the belgian position. he repeatedly exposed himself upon the firing-line and on one occasion, near waelhem, had a rather narrow escape from a burst of shrapnel. for some unexplainable reason the british censorship cast a veil of profound secrecy over mr. churchill's visit to antwerp. the story of his arrival, just as i have related it above, i telegraphed that same night to the new york world, yet it never got through, nor did any of the other dispatches which i sent during his four days' visit. in fact, it was not until after antwerp had fallen that the british public was permitted to learn that the sea lord had been in belgium. had it not been for the promises of reinforcements given to the king and the cabinet by mr. churchill, there is no doubt that the government would have departed for ostend when originally planned and that the inhabitants of antwerp, thus warned of the extreme gravity of the situation, would have had ample time to leave the city with a semblance of comfort and order, for the railways leading to ghent and to the dutch frontier were still in operation and the highways were then not blocked by a retreating army. the first of the promised reinforcements arrived on sunday evening by special train from ostend. they consisted of a brigade of the royal marines, perhaps two thousand men in all, well drilled and well armed, and several heavy guns. they were rushed to the southern front and immediately sent into the trenches to relieve the worn-out belgians. on monday and tuesday the balance of the british expeditionary force, consisting of between five and six thousand men of the volunteer naval reserve, arrived from the coast, their ammunition and supplies being brought by road, via bruges and ghent, in london motor-buses. when this procession of lumbering vehicles, placarded with advertisements of teas, tobaccos, whiskies, and current theatrical attractions and bearing the signs "bank," "holborn," "piccadilly," "shepherd's bush," "strand," rumbled through the streets of antwerp, the populace went mad. "the british had come at last! the city was saved! vive les anglais! vive tommy atkins!" i witnessed the detrainment of the naval brigades at vieux dieu and accompanied them to the trenches north of lierre. as they tramped down the tree-bordered, cobble-paved high road, we heard, for the first time in belgium, the lilting refrain of that music-hall ballad which had become the english soldiers' marching song: it's a long way to tipperary, it's a long way to go; it's a long way to tipperary to the sweetest girl i know! good-bye, piccadilly! farewell, leicester square! it's a long, long way to tipperary; but my heart's right there! many and many a one of the light-hearted lads with whom i marched down the lierre road on that october afternoon were destined never again to feel beneath their feet the flags of piccadilly, never again to lounge in leicester square. they were as clean-limbed, pleasant-faced, wholesome-looking a lot of young englishmen as you would find anywhere, but to anyone who had had military experience it was evident that, despite the fact that they were vigorous and courageous and determined to do their best, they were not "first-class fighting men." to win in war, as in the prize-ring, something more than vigour and courage and determination are required; to those qualities must be added experience and training, and experience and training were precisely what those naval reservists lacked. moreover, their equipment left much to be desired. for example, only a very small proportion had pouches to carry the regulation one hundred and fifty rounds. they were, in fact, equipped very much as many of the american militia organizations were equipped when suddenly called out for strike duty in the days before the reorganization of the national guard. even the officers--those, at least, with whom i talked--seemed to be as deficient in field experience as the men. yet these raw troops were rushed into trenches which were in most cases unprotected by head-covers, and, though unsupported by effective artillery, they held those trenches for three days under as murderous a shell-fire as i have ever seen and then fell back in perfect order. what the losses of the naval division were i do not know. in antwerp it was generally understood that very close to a fifth of the entire force was killed or wounded--upwards of three hundred cases were, i was told, treated in one hospital alone--and the british government officially announced that sixteen hundred were forced across the frontier and interned in holland. no small part in the defence of the city was played by the much- talked-about armoured train, which was built under the supervision of lieutenant-commander littlejohn in the yards of the antwerp engineering company at hoboken. the train consisted of four large coal-trucks with sides of armour-plate sufficiently high to afford protection to the crews of the . naval guns--six of which were brought from england for the purpose, though there was only time to mount four of them--and between each gun-truck was a heavily- armoured goods-van for ammunition, the whole being drawn by a small locomotive, also steel-protected. the guns were served by belgian artillerymen commanded by british gunners and each gun- truck carried, in addition, a detachment of infantry in the event of the enemy getting to close quarters. personally, i am inclined to believe that the chief value of this novel contrivance lay in the moral encouragement it lent to the defence, for its guns, though more powerful, certainly, than anything that the belgians possessed, were wholly outclassed, both in range and calibre, by the german artillery. the german officers whom i questioned on the subject after the occupation told me that the fire of the armoured train caused them no serious concern and did comparatively little damage. by tuesday night a boy scout could have seen that the position of antwerp was hopeless. the austrian siege guns had smashed and silenced the chain of supposedly impregnable forts to the south of the city with the same businesslike dispatch with which the same type of guns had smashed and silenced those other supposedly impregnable forts at liege and namur. through the opening thus made a german army corps had poured to fling itself against the second line of defence, formed by the ruppel and the nethe. across the nethe, under cover of a terrific artillery fire, the germans threw their pontoon-bridges, and when the first bridges were destroyed by the belgian guns they built others, and when these were destroyed in turn they tried again, and at the third attempt they succeeded. with the helmeted legions once across the river, it was all over but the shouting, and no one knew it better than the belgians, yet, heartened by the presence of the little handful of english, they fought desperately, doggedly on. their forts pounded to pieces by guns which they could not answer, their ranks thinned by a murderous rain of shot and shell, the men heavy-footed and heavy-eyed from lack of sleep, the horses staggering from exhaustion, the ambulance service broken down, the hospitals helpless before the flood of wounded, the trenches littered with the dead and dying, they still held back the german legions. by this time the region to the south of antwerp had been transformed from a peaceful, smiling country-side into a land of death and desolation. it looked as though it had been swept by a great hurricane, filled with lightning which had missed nothing. the blackened walls of what had once been prosperous farm-houses, haystacks turned into heaps of smoking carbon, fields slashed across with trenches, roads rutted and broken by the great wheels of guns and transport wagons--these scenes were on every hand. in the towns and villages along the nethe, where the fighting was heaviest, the walls of houses had fallen into the streets and piles of furniture, mattresses, agricultural machinery, and farm carts showed where the barricades and machine-guns had been. the windows of many of the houses were stuffed with mattresses and pillows, behind which the riflemen had made a stand. lierre and waelhem and duffel were like sieves dripping blood. corpses were strewn everywhere. some of the dead were spread-eagled on their backs as though exhausted after a long march, some were twisted and crumpled in attitudes grotesque and horrible, some were propped up against the walls of houses to which they had tried to crawl in their agony. all of them stared at nothing with awful, unseeing eyes. it was one of the scenes that i should like to forget. but i never can. on tuesday evening general de guise, the military governor of antwerp, informed the government that the belgian position was fast becoming untenable and, acting on this information, the capital of belgium was transferred from antwerp to ostend, the members of the government and the diplomatic corps leaving at daybreak on wednesday by special steamer, while at the same time mr. winston churchill departed for the coast by automobile under convoy of an armoured motorcar. his last act was to order the destruction of the condensers of the german vessels in the harbour, for which the germans, upon occupying the city, demanded an indemnity of twenty million francs. as late as wednesday morning the great majority of the inhabitants of antwerp remained in total ignorance of the real state of affairs. morning after morning the matin and the metropole had published official communiqués categorically denying that any of the forts had been silenced and asserting in the most positive terms that the enemy was being held in check all along the line. as a result of this policy of denial and deception, the people of antwerp went to sleep on tuesday night calmly confident that in a few days more the germans would raise the siege from sheer discouragement and depart. imagine what happened, then, when they awoke on wednesday morning, october , to learn that the government had stolen away between two days without issuing so much as a word of warning, and to find staring at them from every wall and hoarding proclamations signed by the military governor announcing that the bombardment of the city was imminent, urging all who were able to leave instantly, and advising those who remained to shelter themselves behind sand-bags in their cellars. it was like waiting until the entire first floor of a house was in flames and the occupants' means of escape almost cut off, before shouting "fire!" no one who witnessed the exodus of the population from antwerp will ever forget it. no words can adequately describe it. it was not a flight; it was a stampede. the sober, slow-moving, slow-thinking flemish townspeople were suddenly transformed into a herd of terror-stricken cattle. so complete was the german enveloping movement that only three avenues of escape remained open: westward, through st. nicolas and lokeren, to ghent; north- eastward across the frontier into holland; down the scheldt toward flushing. of the half million fugitives--for the exodus was not confined to the citizens of antwerp but included the entire population of the country-side for twenty miles around--probably fully a quarter of a million escaped by river. anything that could float was pressed into service: merchant steamers, dredgers, ferry-boats, scows, barges, canal-boats, tugs, fishing craft, yachts, rowing-boats, launches, even extemporized rafts. there was no attempt to enforce order. the fear-frantic people piled aboard until there was not even standing room on the vessels' decks. of all these thousands who fled by river, but an insignificant proportion were provided with food or warm clothing or had space in which to lie down. yet through two nights they huddled together on the open decks in the cold and the darkness while the great guns tore to pieces the city they had left behind them. as i passed up the crowded river in my launch on the morning after the first night's bombardment we seemed to be followed by a wave of sound--a great murmur of mingled anguish and misery and fatigue and hunger from the homeless thousands adrift upon the waters. the scenes along the highways were even more appalling, for here the retreating soldiery and the fugitive civilians were mixed in inextricable confusion. by mid-afternoon on wednesday the road from antwerp to ghent, a distance of forty miles, was a solid mass of refugees, and the same was true of every road, every lane, every footpath leading in a westerly or a northerly direction. the people fled in motor-cars and in carriages, in delivery-wagons, in moving- vans, in farm-carts, in omnibuses, in vehicles drawn by oxen, by donkeys, even by cows, on horseback, on bicycles, and there were thousands upon thousands afoot. i saw men trundling wheelbarrows piled high with bedding and with their children perched upon the bedding. i saw sturdy young peasants carrying their aged parents in their arms. i saw women of fashion in fur coats and high-heeled shoes staggering along clinging to the rails of the caissons or to the ends of wagons. i saw white-haired men and women grasping the harness of the gun-teams or the stirrup- leathers of the troopers, who, themselves exhausted from many days of fighting, slept in their saddles as they rode. i saw springless farm-wagons literally heaped with wounded soldiers with piteous white faces; the bottoms of the wagons leaked and left a trail of blood behind them. a very old priest, too feeble to walk, was trundled by two young priests in a handcart. a young woman, an expectant mother, was tenderly and anxiously helped on by her husband. one of the saddest features of all this dreadful procession was the soldiers, many of them wounded, and so bent with fatigue from many days of marching and fighting that they could hardly raise their feet. one infantryman who could bear his boots no longer had tied them to the cleaning-rod of his rifle. another had strapped his boots to his cowhide knapsack and limped forward with his swollen feet in felt slippers. here were a group of capuchin monks abandoning their monastery; there a little party of white-faced nuns shepherding the flock of children--many of them fatherless--who had been entrusted to their care. the confusion was beyond all imagination, the clamour deafening: the rattle of wheels, the throbbing of motors, the clatter of hoofs, the cracking of whips, the curses of the drivers, the groans of the wounded, the cries of women, the whimpering of children, threats, pleadings, oaths, screams, imprecations, and always the monotonous shuffle, shuffle, shuffle of countless weary feet. the fields and the ditches between which these processions of disaster passed were strewn with the prostrate forms of those who, from sheer exhaustion, could go no further. and there was no food for them, no shelter. within a few hours after the exodus began the country-side was as bare of food as the sahara is of grass. time after time i saw famished fugitives pause at farmhouses and offer all of their pitifully few belongings for a loaf of bread; but the kind- hearted country-people, with tears streaming down their cheeks, could only shake their heads and tell them that they had long since given all their food away. old men and fashionably gowned women and wounded soldiers went out into the fields and pulled up turnips and devoured them raw--for there was nothing else to eat. during a single night, near a small town on the dutch frontier, twenty women gave birth to children in the open fields. no one will ever know how many people perished during that awful flight from hunger and exposure and exhaustion; many more, certainly, than lost their lives in the bombardment. viii. the fall of antwerp the bombardment of antwerp began about ten o'clock on the evening of wednesday, october . the first shell to fall within the city struck a house in the berchem district, killing a fourteen-year-old boy and wounding his mother and little sister. the second decapitated a street-sweeper as he was running for shelter. throughout the night the rain of death continued without cessation, the shells falling at the rate of four or five a minute. the streets of the city were as deserted as those of pompeii. the few people who remained, either because they were willing to take their chances or because they had no means of getting away, were cowering in their cellars. though the gas and electric lights were out, the sky was rosy from the reflection of the petrol-tanks which the belgians had set on fire; now and then a shell would burst with the intensity of magnesium, and the quivering beams of two searchlights on the forts across the river still further lit up the ghastly scene. the noise was deafening. the buildings seemed to rock and sway. the very pavements trembled. mere words are inadequate to give a conception of the horror of it all. there would come the hungry whine of a shell passing low over the house-tops, followed, an instant later, by a shattering crash, and the whole facade of the building that had been struck would topple into the street in a cascade of brick and stone and plaster. it was not until thursday night, however, that the germans brought their famous forty-two- centimetre guns into action. the effect of these monster cannon was appalling. so tremendous was the detonation that it sounded as though the german batteries were firing salvoes. the projectiles they were now raining upon the city weighed a ton apiece and had the destructive properties of that much nitroglycerine. we could hear them as they came. they made a roar in the air which sounded at first like an approaching express train, but which rapidly rose in volume until the atmosphere quivered with the howl of a cyclone. then would come an explosion which jarred the city to its very foundations. over the shivering earth rolled great clouds of dust and smoke. when one of these terrible projectiles struck a building it did not merely tear away the upper stories or blow a gaping aperture in its walls: the whole building crumbled, disintegrated, collapsed, as though flattened by a mighty hand. when they exploded in the open street they not only tore a hole in the pavement the size of a cottage cellar, but they sliced away the facades of all the houses in the immediate vicinity, leaving their interiors exposed, like the interiors upon a stage. compared with the "forty-twos" the shell and shrapnel fire of the first night's bombardment was insignificant and harmless. the thickest masonry was crumpled up like so much cardboard. the stoutest cellars were no protection if a shell struck above them. it seemed as though at times the whole city was coming down about our ears. before the bombardment had been in progress a dozen hours there was scarcely a street in the southern quarter of the city-- save only the district occupied by wealthy germans, whose houses remained untouched--which was not obstructed by heaps of fallen masonry. the main thoroughfares were strewn with fallen electric light and trolley wires and shattered poles and branches lopped from trees. the sidewalks were carpeted with broken glass. the air was heavy with the acrid fumes of smoke and powder. abandoned dogs howled mournfully before the doors of their deserted homes. from a dozen quarters of the city columns of smoke by day and pillars of fire by night rose against the sky. owing to circumstances--fortunate or unfortunate, as one chooses to view them--i was not in antwerp during the first night's bombardment. you must understand that a war correspondent, no matter how many thrilling and interesting things he may be able to witness, is valueless to the paper which employs him unless he is able to get to the end of a telegraph wire and tell the readers of that newspaper what is happening. in other words, he must not only gather the news but he must deliver it. otherwise his usefulness ceases. when, therefore, on wednesday morning, the telegraph service from antwerp abruptly ended, all trains and boats stopped running, and the city was completely cut off from communication with the outside world, i left in my car for ghent, where the telegraph was still in operation, to file my dispatches. so dense was the mass of retreating soldiery and fugitive civilians which blocked the approaches to the pontoon-bridge, that it took me four hours to get across the scheldt, and another four hours, owing to the slow driving necessitated by the terribly congested roads, to cover the forty miles to ghent. i had sent my dispatches, had had a hasty dinner, and was on the point of starting back to antwerp, when mr. johnson, the american consul at ostend, called me up by telephone. he told me that the minister of war, then at ostend, had just sent him a package containing the keys of buildings and dwellings belonging to german residents of antwerp who had been expelled at the beginning of the war, with the request that they be transmitted to the german commander immediately the german troops entered the city, as it was feared that, were these places found to be locked, it might lead to the doors being broken open and thus give the germans a pretext for sacking. mr. johnson asked me if i would remain in ghent until he could come through in his car with the keys and if i would assume the responsibility of seeing that the keys reached the german commander. i explained to mr. johnson that it was imperative that i should return to antwerp immediately; but when he insisted that, under the circumstances, it was clearly my duty to take the keys through to antwerp, i promised to await his arrival, although by so doing i felt that i was imperilling the interests of the newspaper which was employing me. owing to the congested condition of the roads mr. johnson was unable to reach ghent until thursday morning. by this time the highroad between ghent and antwerp was utterly impassable--one might as well have tried to paddle a canoe up the rapids at niagara as to drive a car against the current of that river of terrified humanity--so, taking advantage of comparatively empty by- roads, i succeeded in reaching doel, a fishing village on the scheldt a dozen miles below antwerp, by noon on thursday. by means of alternate bribes and threats, roos, my driver, persuaded a boatman to take us up to antwerp in a small motor- launch over which, as a measure of precaution, i raised an american flag. as long as memory lasts there will remain with me, sharp and clear, the recollection of that journey up the scheldt, the surface of which was literally black with vessels with their loads of silent misery. it was well into the afternoon and the second day's bombardment was at its height when we rounded the final bend in the river and the lace-like tower of the cathedral rose before us. shells were exploding every few seconds, columns of grey-green smoke rose skyward, the air reverberated as though to a continuous peal of thunder. as we ran alongside the deserted quays a shell burst with a terrific crash in a street close by, and our boatman, panic-stricken, suddenly reversed his engine and backed into the middle of the river. roos drew his pistol. "go ahead!" he commanded. "run up to the quay so that we can land." before the grim menace of the automatic the man sullenly obeyed. "i've a wife and family at doel," he muttered. "if i'm killed there'll be no one to look after them." "i've a wife and family in america," i retorted. "you're taking no more chances than i am." i am not in the least ashamed to admit, however, that as we ran alongside the red star quays--the american flag was floating above them, by the way--i would quite willingly have given everything i possessed to have been back on broadway again. a great city which has suddenly been deserted by its population is inconceivably depressing. add to this the fact that every few seconds a shell would burst somewhere behind the row of buildings that screened the waterfront, and that occasionally one would clear the house-tops altogether and, moaning over our heads, would drop into the river and send up a great geyser, and you will understand that antwerp was not exactly a cheerful place in which to land. there was not a soul to be seen anywhere. such of the inhabitants as remained had taken refuge in their cellars, and just at that time a deep cellar would have looked extremely good to me. on the other hand, as i argued with myself there was really an exceedingly small chance of a shell exploding on the particular spot where i happened to be standing, and if it did--well, it seemed more dignified, somehow, to be killed in the open than to be crushed to death in a cellar like a cornered rat. about ten o'clock in the evening the bombardment slackened for a time and the inhabitants of antwerp's underworld began to creep out of their subterranean hiding-places and slink like ghosts along the quays in search of food. the great quantities of food-stuffs and other provisions which had been taken from the captured german vessels at the beginning of the war had been stored in hastily- constructed warehouses upon the quays, and it was not long before the rabble, undeterred by the fear of the police and willing to chance the shells, had broken in the doors and were looting to their hearts' content. as a man staggered past under a load of wine bottles, tinned goods and cheeses, our boatman, who by this time had become reconciled to sticking by us, inquired wistfully if he might do a little looting too. "we've no food left down the river," he urged, "and i might just as well get some of those provisions for my family as to let the germans take them." upon my assenting he disappeared into the darkness of the warehouse with a hand-truck. he was not the sort who did his looting by retail, was that boatman. by midnight roos and i were shivering as though with ague, for the night had turned cold, we had no coats, and we had been without food since leaving ghent that morning. "i'm going to do a little looting on my own account." i finally announced. "i'm half frozen and almost starved and i'm not going to stand around here while there's plenty to eat and drink over in that warehouse." i groped my way through the blackness to the doorway and entering, struck a match. by its flickering light i saw a case filled with bottles in straw casings. from their shape they looked to be bottles of champagne. i reached for one eagerly, but just as my fingers closed about it a shell burst overhead. at least the crash was so terrific that it seemed as though it had burst overhead, though i learned afterward that it had exploded nearly a hundred yards away. i ran for my life, clinging, however, to the bottle. "at any rate, i've found something to drink," i said to roos exultantly, when my heart had ceased its pounding. slipping off the straw cover i struck a match to see the result of my maiden attempt at looting. i didn't particularly care whether it was wine or brandy. either would have tasted good. it was neither. it was a bottle of pepsin bitters! at daybreak we started at full speed down the river for doel, where we had left the car, as it was imperative that i should get to the end of a telegraph wire, file my dispatches, and get back to the city. they told me at doel that the nearest telegraph office was at a little place called l'ecluse, on the dutch frontier, ten miles away. we were assured that there was a good road all the way and that we could get there and back in an hour. so we could have in ordinary times, but these were extraordinary times and the belgians, in order to make things as unpleasant as possible for the germans, had opened the dykes and had begun to inundate the country. when we were about half-way to l'ecluse, therefore, we found our way barred by a miniature river and no means of crossing it. it was in such circumstances that roos was invaluable. collecting a force of peasants, he set them to work chopping down trees and with these trees we built a bridge sufficiently strong to support the weight of the car. thus we came into l'ecluse. but when the stolid dutchman in charge of the telegraph office saw my dispatches he shrugged his shoulders discouragingly. "it is not possible to send them from here," he explained. "we have no instrument here but have to telephone everything to hulst, eight miles away. as i do not understand english it would be impossible to telephone your dispatches." there seemed nothing for it but to walk to hulst and back again, for the dutch officials refused to permit me to take the car, which was a military one, across the frontier. just at that moment a young belgian priest--heaven bless him!--who had overheard the discussion, approached me. "if you will permit me, monsieur," said he, "i will be glad to take your dispatches through to hulst myself. i understand their importance. and it is well that the people in england and in america should learn what is happening here in belgium and how bitterly we need their aid." those dispatches were, i believe, the only ones to come out of antwerp during the bombardment. the fact that the newspaper readers in london and new york and san francisco were enabled to learn within a few hours of what had happened in the great city on the scheldt was due, not to any efforts of mine, but to this little belgian priest. but when we got back to doel the launch was gone. the boatman, evidently not relishing another taste of bombardment, had decamped, taking his launch with him. and neither offers of money nor threats nor pleadings could obtain me another one. for a time it looked as though getting back to antwerp was as hopeless as getting to the moon. just as i was on the point of giving up in despair, roos appeared with a gold-laced official whom he introduced as the chief quarantine officer. "he is going to let you take the quarantine launch," said he. i don't know just what arguments roos had brought to bear, and i was careful not to inquire, but ten minutes later i was sitting in lonely state on the after- deck of a trim black yacht and we were streaking it up the river at twenty miles an hour. as i knew that the fall of the city was only a matter of hours, i refused to let roos accompany me and take the chances of being made a prisoner by the germans, but ordered him instead to take the car, while there was yet time, and make his way to ostend. i never saw him again. by way of precaution, in case the germans should already be in possession of the city, i had taken the two american flags from the car and hoisted them on the launch, one from the mainmast and the other at the taffrail. it was a certain satisfaction to know that the only craft that went the wrong way of the river during the bombardment flew the stars and stripes. as we came within sight of the quays, the bombardment, which had become intermittent, suddenly broke out afresh and i was compelled to use both bribes and threats--the latter backed up by a revolver--to induce the crew of the launch to run in and land me at the quay. an hour after i landed the city surrendered. the withdrawal of the garrison from antwerp began on thursday and, everything considered, was carried out in excellent order, the troops being recalled in units from the outer line, marched through the city and across the pontoon-bridge which spans the scheldt and thence down the road to st. nicolas to join the retreating field army. what was implied in the actual withdrawal from contact with the enemy will be appreciated when i explain the conditions which existed. in places the lines were not two hundred yards apart and for the defenders no movement was possible during the daylight. many of the men in the firing-line had been on duty for nearly a hundred hours and were utterly worn out both mentally and physically. such water and food as they had were sent to them at night, for any attempt to cross the open spaces in the daytime the germans met with fierce bursts of rifle and machine-gun fire. the evacuation of the trenches was, therefore, a most difficult and dangerous operation and that it was carried out with so comparatively small loss speaks volumes for the ability of the officers to whom the direction of the movement was entrusted, as does the successful accomplishment of the retreat from antwerp into west flanders along a road which was not only crowded with refugees but was constantly threatened by the enemy. the chief danger was, of course, that the germans would cross the river at termonde in force and thus cut off the line of retreat towards the coast, forcing the whole belgian army and the british contingent across the frontier of holland. to the belgian cavalry and carabineer cyclists and to the armoured cars was given the task of averting this catastrophe, and it is due to them that the germans were held back for a sufficient time to enable practically the whole of the forces evacuating antwerp to escape. that a large proportion of the british naval reserve divisions were pushed across the frontier and interned was not due to any fault of the belgians, but, in some cases at least, to their officer's misconception of the attitude of holland. just as i was leaving doel on my second trip up the river, a steamer loaded to the guards with british naval reservists swung in to the wharf, but, to my surprise, the men did not start to disembark. upon inquiring of some one where they were bound for i was told that they were going to continue down the scheldt to terneuzen. thereupon i ordered the launch to run alongside and clambered aboard the steamer. "i understand," said i, addressing a group of officers who seemed to be as much in authority as anyone, "that you are keeping on down the river to terneuzen? that is not true, is it?" they looked at me as though i had walked into their club in pall mall and had spoken to them without an introduction. "it is," said one of them coldly. "what about it?" "oh, nothing much," said i, "except that three miles down this river you'll be in dutch territorial waters, whereupon you will all be arrested and held as prisoners until the end of the war. it's really none of my business, i know, but i feel that i ought to warn you." "how very extraordinary," remarked one of them, screwing a monocle into his eye. "we're not at war with holland are we? so why should the bally dutchmen want to trouble us?" there was no use arguing with them, so i dropped down the ladder into the launch and gave the signal for full steam ahead. as i looked back i saw the steamer cast off from the wharf and, swinging slowly out into the river, point her nose down-stream toward holland. on friday morning, october , general de guise, the military governor of antwerp, ordered the destruction of the pontoon-bridge across the scheldt, which was now the sole avenue of retreat from the city. the mines which were exploded beneath it did more damage to the buildings along the waterfront than to the bridge, however, only the middle spans of which were destroyed. when the last of the retreating belgians came pouring down to the waterfront a few hours later to find their only avenue of escape gone, for a time scenes of the wildest confusion ensued, the men frantically crowding aboard such vessels as remained at the wharves or opening fire on those which were already in midstream and refused to return in answer to their summons. i wish to emphasise the fact, however, that these were but isolated incidents; that these men were exhausted in mind and body from many days of fighting against hopeless odds; and that, as a whole, the belgian troops bore themselves, in this desperate and trying situation, with a courage and coolness deserving of the highest admiration. i have heard it said in england that the british naval division was sent to antwerp "to stiffen the belgians." that may have been the intention, the coming of the english certainly relieved some and comforted others in the trenches. but in truth the belgians needed no stiffening. they did everything that any other troops could have done under the same circumstances--and more. nor did the men of the naval division, as has been frequently asserted in england, cover the belgian retreat. the last troops to leave the trenches were belgians, the last shots were fired by belgians, and the belgians were the last to cross the river. at noon on friday general de guise and his staff having taken refuge in fort st. philippe, a few miles below antwerp on the scheldt, the officer in command of the last line of defence sent word to the burgomaster that his troops could hold out but a short time longer and suggested that the time had arrived for him to go out to the german lines under a flag of truce and secure the best terms possible for the city. as the burgomaster, m. de vos, accompanied by deputy louis franck, communal councillor ryckmans and the spanish consul (it was expected that the american consul-general would be one of the parlementaires, but it was learned that he had left the day before for ghent) went out of the city by one gate, half a dozen motor-cars filled with german soldiers entered through the porte de malines, sped down the broad, tree-shaded boulevards which lead to the centre of the city, and drew up before the hotel de ville. in answer to the summons of a young officer in a voluminous grey cloak the door was cautiously opened by a servant in the blue- and-silver livery of the municipality. "i have a message to deliver to the members of the communal council," said the officer politely. "the councillors are at dinner and cannot be disturbed," was the firm reply. "but if monsieur desires he can sit down and wait for them." so the young officer patiently seated himself on a wooden bench while his men ranged themselves along one side of the hall. after a delay of perhaps twenty minutes the door of the dining-room opened and a councillor appeared, wiping his moustache. "i understand that you have a message for the council. well, what is it?" he demanded pompously. the young officer clicked his heels together and bowed from the waist. "the message i am instructed to give you, sir," he said politely, "is that antwerp is now a german city. you are requested by the general commanding his imperial majesty's forces so to inform your townspeople and to assure them that they will not be molested so long as they display no hostility towards our troops." while this dramatic little scene was being enacted in the historic setting of the hotel de ville, the burgomaster, unaware that the enemy was already within the city gates, was conferring with the german commander, who informed him that if the outlying forts were immediately surrendered no money indemnity would be demanded from the city, though all merchandise found in its warehouses would be confiscated. the first troops to enter were a few score cyclists, who advanced cautiously from street to street and from square to square until they formed a network of scouts extending over the entire city. after them, at the quick-step, came a brigade of infantry and hard on the heels of the infantry clattered half a dozen batteries of horse artillery. these passed through the city to the waterfront at a spanking trot, unlimbered on the quays and opened fire with shrapnel on the retreating belgians, who had already reached the opposite side of the river. meanwhile a company of infantry started at the double across the pontoon-bridge, evidently unaware that its middle spans had been destroyed. without an instant's hesitation two soldiers threw off their knapsacks, plunged into the river, swam across the gap, clambered up on to the other portion of the bridge and, in spite of a heavy fire from the fort at the tete de flandre, dashed forward to reconnoitre. that is the sort of deed that wins the iron cross. within little more than an hour after reaching the waterfront the germans had brought up their engineers, the bridge had been repaired, the fire from fort st. anne had been silenced, and their troops were pouring across the river in a steady stream in pursuit of the belgians. the grumble of field-guns, which continued throughout the night, told us that they had overtaken the belgian rearguard. though the bombardment ended early on friday afternoon, friday night was by no means lacking in horrors, for early in the evening fires, which owed their origin to shells, broke out in a dozen parts of the city. the most serious one by far was in the narrow, winding thoroughfare known as the marche aux souliers, which runs from the place verte to the place de meir. by eight o'clock the entire western side of this street was a sheet of flame. the only spectators were groups of german soldiers, who watched the threatened destruction of the city with complete indifference, and several companies of firemen who had turned out, i suppose, from force of training, but who stood helplessly beside their empty hose lines, for there was no water. i firmly believe that the saving of a large part of antwerp, including the cathedral, was due to an american resident, mr. charles whithoff, who, recognizing the extreme peril in which the city stood, hurried to the hotel de ville and suggested to the german military authorities that they should prevent the spread of flames by dynamiting the adjacent buildings. acting promptly on this suggestion, a telephone message was sent to brussels, and four hours later several automobiles loaded with hand grenades came tearing into antwerp. a squad of soldiers was placed under mr. whithoff's orders and, following his directions, they blew up a cordon of buildings and effectually isolated the flames. i shall not soon forget the figure of this young american, in bedroom slippers and smoking jacket, coolly instructing german soldiers in the most approved methods of fire fighting. nearly a week before the surrender of the city, the municipal waterworks, near lierre, had been destroyed by shells from the german siege guns, so that when the germans entered the city the sanitary conditions had become intolerable and an epidemic was impending. so scarce did water become during the last few days of the siege that when, on the evening of the surrender, i succeeded in obtaining a bottle of apollinaris i debated with myself whether i should use it for washing or drinking. i finally compromised by drinking part of it and washing in the rest. the germans were by no means blind to the peril of an epidemic, and, before they had been three hours in occupation of the city their medical corps was at work cleaning and disinfecting. every contingency, in fact, seemed to have been anticipated and provided for. every phase of the occupation was characterized by the german passion for method and order. the machinery of the municipal health department was promptly set in motion. the police were ordered to take up their duties as though no change in government had occurred. the train service to brussels, holland and germany restored. stamps surcharged "fur belgien" were put on sale at the post office. the electric lighting system was repaired and on saturday night, for the first time since the zeppelin's memorable visit the latter part of august, antwerp was again ablaze with light. when, immediately after the occupation, i hurried to the american consulate with the package of keys which i had brought from ghent, i was somewhat surprised, to put it mildly, to find the consulate closed and to learn from the concierge, who, with his wife, had remained in the building throughout the bombardment, that consul-general diederich and his entire staff had left the city on thursday morning. i was particularly surprised because i knew that, upon the departure of the british consul-general, sir cecil hertslet, some days before, the enormous british interests in antwerp had been confided to american protection. the concierge, who knew me and seemed decidedly relieved to see me, made no objection to opening the consulate and letting me in. while deliberating as to the best method of transmitting the keys which had been entrusted to me to the german military governor without informing him of the embarrassing fact that the american and british interests in the city were without official representation, those americans and british who had remained in the city during the bombardment began to drop in. some of them were frightened and all of them were plainly worried, the women in particular, among whom were several british red cross nurses, seeming fearful that the soldiers might get out of hand. as there was no one else to look after these people, and as i had formerly been in the consular service myself, and as they said quite frankly that they would feel relieved if i took charge of things, i decided to "sit on the lid," as it were, until the consul-general's return. in assuming charge of british and american affairs in antwerp, at the request and with the approval what remained of the anglo-american colony in that city, i am quite aware that i acted in a manner calculated to scandalize those gentlemen who have been steeped in the ethics of diplomacy. as one youth attached to the american embassy in london remarked, it was "the damndest piece of impertinence" of which he had ever heard. but he is quite a young gentleman, and has doubtless had more experience in ballrooms than in bombarded cities. i immediately wrote a brief note to the german commander transmitting the keys and informing him that, in the absence of the american consul-general i had assumed charge of american and british interests in antwerp, and expected the fullest protection for them, to which i received a prompt and courteous reply assuring me that foreigners would not be molested in any way. in the absence of the consular staff, thompson volunteered to act as messenger and deliver my message to the german commander. while on his way to the hotel de ville, which was being used as staff headquarters, a german infantry regiment passed him in a narrow street. because he failed to remove his hat to the colours a german officer struck him twice with the flat of his sword, only desisting when thompson pulled a silk american flag from his pocket. upon learning of this occurrence i vigorously protested to the military authorities, who offered profuse apologies for the incident and assured me that the officer would be punished if thompson could identify him. consul-general diederich returned to antwerp on monday and i left the same day for the nearest telegraph station in holland. the whole proceeding was irregular and unauthorized, of course, but for that matter so was the german invasion of belgium. in any event, it seemed the thing to do and i did it, and, under the same circumstances i should do precisely the same thing over again. though a very large force of german troops passed through antwerp during the whole of friday night in pursuit of the retreating belgians, the triumphal entry of the victors did not begin until saturday afternoon, when sixty thousand men passed in review before the military governor, admiral von schroeder, and general von beseler, who, surrounded by a glittering staff, sat their horses in front of the royal palace. so far as onlookers were concerned, the germans might as well have marched through the streets of ruined babylon. thompson and i, standing in the windows of the american consulate, were the only spectators in the entire length of the mile- long place de meir--which is the piccadilly of antwerp--of the great military pageant. the streets were absolutely deserted; every building was dark, every window shuttered; in a thoroughfare which had blossomed with bunting a few days before, not a flag was to be seen. i think that even the germans were a little awed by the deathly silence that greeted them. as thompson drily remarked, "it reminds me of a circus that's come to town the day before it's expected." for five hours that mighty host poured through the canons of brick and stone: above the bugle's din, sweating beneath their haversacks, with rifles bristling on their backs, the dusty men trooped in. company after company, regiment after regiment, brigade after brigade swept by until our eyes grew weary with watching the ranks of grey under the slanting lines of steel. as they marched they sang, the high buildings along the place de meir and the avenue de keyser echoing to their voices thundering out "die wacht am rhein," "deutschland, deutschland uber alles" and "ein feste burg ist unser gott." though the singing was mechanical, like the faces of the men who sang, the mighty volume of sound, punctuated at regular intervals by the shrill music of the fifes and the rattle of the drums, and accompanied always by the tramp, tramp, tramp of iron- shod boots, was one of the most impressive things that i have ever heard. each regiment was headed by its field music and colours, and when darkness fell and the street lights were turned on, the shriek of the fifes and the clamour of the drums and the rhythmic tramp of marching feet reminded me of a torchlight political parade at home. at the head of the column rode a squadron of gendarmes--the policemen of the army--gorgeous in uniforms of bottle-green and silver and mounted on sleek and shining horses. after them came the infantry: solid columns of grey-clad figures with the silhouettes of the mounted officers rising at intervals above the forest of spike- crowned helmets. after the infantry came the field artillery, the big guns rattling and rumbling over the cobblestones, the cannoneers sitting with folded arms and heels drawn in, and wooden faces, like servants on the box of a carriage. these were the same guns that had been in almost constant action for the preceding fortnight and that for forty hours had poured death and destruction into the city, yet both men and horses were in the very pink of condition, as keen as razors, and as hard as nails; the blankets, the buckets, the knapsacks, the intrenching tools were all strapped in their appointed places, and the brown leather harness was polished like a lady's tan shoes. after the field batteries came the horse artillery and after the horse artillery the pom-poms--each drawn by a pair of sturdy draught horses driven with web reins by a soldier sitting on the limber--and after the pom-poms an interminable line of machine- guns, until one wondered where krupp's found the time and the steel to make them all. then, heralded by a blare of trumpets and a crash of kettledrums, came the cavalry; cuirassiers with their steel helmets and breastplates covered with grey linen, hussars in befrogged grey jackets and fur busbies, also linen-covered, and finally the uhlans, riding amid a forest of lances under a cloud of fluttering pennons. but this was not all, nor nearly all, for after the uhlans came the sailors of the naval division, brown-faced, bewhiskered fellows with their round, flat caps tilted rakishly and the roll of the sea in their gait; then the bavarians in dark blue, the saxons in light blue, and the austrians--the same who had handled the big guns so effectively--in uniforms of a beautiful silver grey. accompanying one of the bavarian regiments was a victoria drawn by a fat white horse, with two soldiers on the box. horse and carriage were decorated with flowers as though for a floral parade at nice; even the soldiers had flowers pinned to their caps and nosegays stuck in their tunics. the carriage was evidently a sort of triumphal chariot dedicated to the celebration of the victory, for it was loaded with hampers of champagne and violins! the army which captured antwerp was, first, last and all the time, a fighting army. there was not a landsturm or a landwehr regiment in it. the men were as pink-cheeked as athletes; they marched with the buoyancy of men in perfect health. and yet the human element was lacking; there was none of the pomp and panoply commonly associated with man; these men in grey were merely wheels and cogs and bolts and screws in a great machine--the word which has been used so often of the german army, yet must be repeated, because there is no other--whose only purpose is death. as that great fighting machine swung past, remorseless as a trip-hammer, efficient as a steam-roller, i could not but marvel how the gallant, chivalrous, and heroic but ill-prepared little army of belgium had held it back so long. with the allies by richard harding davis preface i have not seen the letter addressed by president wilson to the american people calling upon them to preserve toward this war the mental attitude of neutrals. but i have seen the war. and i feel sure had president wilson seen my war he would not have written his letter. this is not a war against germans, as we know germans in america, where they are among our sanest, most industrious, and most responsible fellow countrymen. it is a war, as winston churchill has pointed out, against the military aristocracy of germany, men who are six hundred years behind the times; who, to preserve their class against democracy, have perverted to the uses of warfare, to the destruction of life, every invention of modern times. these men are military mad. to our ideal of representative government their own idea is as far opposed as is martial law to the free speech of our town meetings. one returning from the war is astonished to find how little of the true horror of it crosses the ocean. that this is so is due partly to the strict censorship that suppresses the details of the war, and partly to the fact that the mind is not accustomed to consider misery on a scale so gigantic. the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, the wrecking of cities, and the laying waste of half of europe cannot be brought home to people who learn of it only through newspapers and moving pictures and by sticking pins in a map. were they nearer to it, near enough to see the women and children fleeing from the shells and to smell the dead on the battle-fields, there would be no talk of neutrality. such lack of understanding our remoteness from the actual seat of war explains. but on the part of many americans one finds another attitude of mind which is more difficult to explain. it is the cupidity that in the misfortunes of others sees only a chance for profit. in an offer made to its readers a prominent american magazine best expresses this attitude. it promises prizes for the essays on "what the war means to me." to the american women miss ida m. tar-bell writes: "this is her time to learn what her own country's industries can do, and to rally with all her influence to their support, urging them to make the things she wants, and pledging them her allegiance." this appeal is used in a periodical with a circulation of over a million, as an advertisement for silk hose. i do not agree with miss tarbell that this is the time to rally to the support of home industries. i do not agree with the advertiser that when in belgium several million women and children are homeless, starving, and naked that that is the time to buy his silk hose. to urge that charity begins at home is to repeat one of the most selfish axioms ever uttered, and in this war to urge civilized, thinking people to remain neutral is equally selfish. were the conflict in europe a fair fight, the duty of every american would be to keep on the side-lines and preserve an open mind. but it is not a fair fight. to devastate a country you have sworn to protect, to drop bombs upon unfortified cities, to lay sunken mines, to levy blackmail by threatening hostages with death, to destroy cathedrals is not to fight fair. that is the way germany is fighting. she is defying the rules of war and the rules of humanity. and if public opinion is to help in preventing further outrages, and in hastening this unspeakable conflict to an end, it should be directed against the one who offends. if we are convinced that one opponent is fighting honestly and that his adversary is striking below the belt, then for us to maintain a neutral attitude of mind is unworthy and the attitude of a coward. when a mad dog runs amuck in a village it is the duty of every farmer to get his gun and destroy it, not to lock himself indoors and toward the dog and the men who face him preserve a neutral mind. richard harding davis. new york, dec. st, . contents i. the germans in brussels ii. "to be treated as a spy" iii. the burning of louvain iv. paris in war time v. the battle of soissons vi. the bombardment of rheims vii. the spirit of the english viii. our diplomats in the war zone ix. "under fire" x. the waste of war xi. the war correspondents chapter i the germans in brussels when, on august , the lusitania, with lights doused and air-ports sealed, slipped out of new york harbor the crime of the century was only a few days old. and for three days those on board the lusitania of the march of the great events were ignorant. whether or no between england and germany the struggle for the supremacy of the sea had begun we could not learn. but when, on the third day, we came on deck the news was written against the sky. swinging from the funnels, sailors were painting out the scarlet-and-black colors of the cunard line and substituting a mouse-like gray. overnight we had passed into the hands of the admiralty, and the lusitania had emerged a cruiser. that to possible german war-ships she might not disclose her position, she sent no wireless messages. but she could receive them; and at breakfast in the ship's newspaper appeared those she had overnight snatched from the air. among them, without a scare-head, in the most modest of type, we read: "england and germany have declared war." seldom has news so momentous been conveyed so simply or, by the englishmen on board, more calmly accepted. for any exhibition they gave of excitement or concern, the news the radio brought them might have been the result of a by-election. later in the morning they gave us another exhibition of that repression of feeling, of that disdain of hysteria, that is a national characteristic, and is what mr. kipling meant when he wrote: "but oh, beware my country, when my country grows polite!" word came that in the north sea the english war-ships had destroyed the german fleet. to celebrate this battle which, were the news authentic, would rank with trafalgar and might mean the end of the war, one of the ship's officers exploded a detonating bomb. nothing else exploded. whatever feelings of satisfaction our english cousins experienced they concealed. under like circumstances, on an american ship, we would have tied down the siren, sung the doxology, and broken everything on the bar. as it was, the americans instinctively flocked to the smoking-room and drank to the british navy. while this ceremony was going forward, from the promenade-deck we heard tumultuous shouts and cheers. we believed that, relieved of our presence, our english friends had given way to rejoicings. but when we went on deck we found them deeply engaged in cricket. the cheers we had heard were over the retirement of a batsman who had just been given out, leg before wicket. when we reached london we found no idle boasting, no vainglorious jingoism. the war that germany had forced upon them the english accepted with a grim determination to see it through and, while they were about it, to make it final. they were going ahead with no false illusions. fully did every one appreciate the enormous task, the personal loss that lay before him. but each, in his or her way, went into the fight determined to do his duty. there was no dismay, no hysteria, no "mafficking." the secrecy maintained by the press and the people regarding anything concerning the war, the knowledge of which might embarrass the war office, was one of the most admirable and remarkable conspiracies of silence that modern times have known. officers of the same regiment even with each other would not discuss the orders they had received. in no single newspaper, with no matter how lurid a past record for sensationalism, was there a line to suggest that a british army had landed in france and that great britain was at war. sooner than embarrass those who were conducting the fight, the individual english man and woman in silence suffered the most cruel anxiety of mind. of that, on my return to london from brussels, i was given an illustration. i had written to the daily chronicle telling where in belgium i had seen a wrecked british airship, and beside it the grave of the aviator. i gave the information in order that the family of the dead officer might find the grave and bring the body home. the morning the letter was published an elderly gentleman, a retired officer of the navy, called at my rooms. his son, he said, was an aviator, and for a month of him no word had come. his mother was distressed. could i describe the air-ship i had seen? i was not keen to play the messenger of ill tidings, so i tried to gain time. "what make of aeroplane does your son drive?" i asked. as though preparing for a blow, the old gentleman drew himself up, and looked me steadily in the eyes. "a blériot monoplane," he said. i was as relieved as though his boy were one of my own kinsmen. "the air-ship i saw," i told him, "was an avro biplane!" of the two i appeared much the more pleased. the retired officer bowed. "i thank you," he said. "it will be good news for his mother." "but why didn't you go to the war office?" i asked. he reproved me firmly. "they have asked us not to question them," he said, "and when they are working for all i have no right to embarrass them with my personal trouble." as the chance of obtaining credentials with the british army appeared doubtful, i did not remain in london, but at once crossed to belgium. before the germans came, brussels was an imitation paris-- especially along the inner boulevards she was paris at her best. and her great parks, her lakes gay with pleasure-boats or choked with lily- pads, her haunted forests, where your taxicab would startle the wild deer, are the most beautiful i have ever seen in any city in the world. as, in the days of the second empire, louis napoleon bedecked paris, so leopold decorated brussels. in her honor and to his own glory he gave her new parks, filled in her moats along her ancient fortifications, laid out boulevards shaded with trees, erected arches, monuments, museums. that these jewels he hung upon her neck were wrung from the slaves of the congo does not make them the less beautiful. and before the germans came the life of the people of brussels was in keeping with the elegance, beauty, and joyousness of their surroundings. at the palace hotel, which is the clearing-house for the social life of brussels, we found everybody taking his ease at a little iron table on the sidewalk. it was night, but the city was as light as noonday-- brilliant, elated, full of movement and color. for liege was still held by the belgians, and they believed that all along the line they were holding back the german army. it was no wonder they were jubilant. they had a right to be proud. they had been making history. in order to give them time to mobilize, the allies had asked them for two days to delay the german invader. they had held him back for fifteen. as david went against goliath, they had repulsed the german. and as yet there had been no reprisals, no destruction of cities, no murdering of non-combatants; war still was something glad and glorious. the signs of it were the boy scouts, everywhere helping every one, carrying messages, guiding strangers, directing traffic; and red cross nurses and aviators from england, smart belgian officers exclaiming bitterly over the delay in sending them forward, and private automobiles upon the enamelled sides of which the transport officer with a piece of chalk had scratched, "for his majesty," and piled the silk cushions high with ammunition. from table to table young girls passed jangling tiny tin milk-cans. they were supplicants, begging money for the wounded. there were so many of them and so often they made their rounds that, to protect you from themselves, if you subscribed a lump sum, you were exempt and were given a badge to prove you were immune. except for these signs of the times you would not have known belgium was at war. the spirit of the people was undaunted. into their daily lives the conflict had penetrated only like a burst of martial music. rather than depressing, it inspired them. wherever you ventured, you found them undismayed. and in those weeks during which events moved so swiftly that now they seem months in the past, we were as free as in our own "home town" to go where we chose. for the war correspondent those were the happy days! like every one else, from the proudest nobleman to the boy in wooden shoes, we were given a laissez-passer, which gave us permission to go anywhere; this with a passport was our only credential. proper credentials to accompany the army in the field had been formerly refused me by the war officers of england, france, and belgium. so in brussels each morning i chartered an automobile and without credentials joined the first army that happened to be passing. sometimes you stumbled upon an escarmouche, sometimes you fled from one, sometimes you drew blank. over our early coffee we would study the morning papers and, as in the glad days of racing at home, from them try to dope out the winners. if we followed la dernière heure we would go to namur; l'etoile was strong for tirlemont. would we lose if we plunged on wavre? again, the favorite seemed to be louvain. on a straight tip from the legation the english correspondents were going to motor to diest. from a belgian officer we had been given inside information that the fight would be pulled off at gembloux. and, unencumbered by even a sandwich, and too wise to carry a field-glass or a camera, each would depart upon his separate errand, at night returning to a perfectly served dinner and a luxurious bed. for the news-gatherers it was a game of chance. the wisest veterans would cast their nets south and see only harvesters in the fields, the amateurs would lose their way to the north and find themselves facing an army corps or running a gauntlet of shell-fire. it was like throwing a handful of coins on the table hoping that one might rest upon the winning number. over the map of belgium we threw ourselves. some days we landed on the right color, on others we saw no more than we would see at state manoeuvres. judging by his questions, the lay brother seems to think that the chief trouble of the war correspondent is dodging bullets. it is not. it consists in trying to bribe a station-master to carry you on a troop train, or in finding forage for your horse. what wars i have seen have taken place in spots isolated and inaccessible, far from the haunts of men. by day you followed the fight and tried to find the censor, and at night you sat on a cracker-box and by the light of a candle struggled to keep awake and to write deathless prose. in belgium it was not like that. the automobile which gerald morgan, of the london daily telegraph, and i shared was of surpassing beauty, speed, and comfort. it was as long as a plant freight-car and as yellow; and from it flapped in the breeze more english, belgian, french, and russian flags than fly from the roof of the new york hippodrome. whenever we sighted an army we lashed the flags of its country to our headlights, and at sixty miles an hour bore down upon it. the army always first arrested us, and then, on learning our nationality, asked if it were true that america had joined the allies. after i had punched his ribs a sufficient number of times morgan learned to reply without winking that it had. in those days the sun shone continuously; the roads, except where we ran on the blocks that made belgium famous, were perfect; and overhead for miles noble trees met and embraced. the country was smiling and beautiful. in the fields the women (for the men were at the front) were gathering the crops, the stacks of golden grain stretched from village to village. the houses in these were white-washed and, the better to advertise chocolates, liqueurs, and automobile tires, were painted a cobalt blue; their roofs were of red tiles, and they sat in gardens of purple cabbages or gaudy hollyhocks. in the orchards the pear-trees were bent with fruit. we never lacked for food; always, when we lost the trail and "checked," or burst a tire, there was an inn with fruit-trees trained to lie flat against the wall, or to spread over arbors and trellises. beneath these, close by the roadside, we sat and drank red wine, and devoured omelets and vast slabs of rye bread. at night we raced back to the city, through twelve miles of parks, to enamelled bathtubs, shaded electric light, and iced champagne; while before our table passed all the night life of a great city. and for suffering these hardships of war our papers paid us large sums. on such a night as this, the night of august , strange folk in wooden shoes and carrying bundles, and who looked like emigrants from ellis island, appeared in front of the restaurant. instantly they were swallowed up in a crowd and the dinner-parties, napkins in hand, flocked into the place rogier and increased the throng around them. "the germans!" those in the heart of the crowd called over their shoulders. "the germans are at louvain!" that afternoon i had conscientiously cabled my paper that there were no germans anywhere near louvain. i had been west of louvain, and the particular column of the french army to which i had attached myself certainly saw no germans. "they say," whispered those nearest the fugitives, "the german shells are falling in louvain. ten houses are on fire!" ten houses! how monstrous it sounded! ten houses of innocent country folk destroyed. in those days such a catastrophe was unbelievable. we smiled knowingly. "refugees always talk like that," we said wisely. "the germans would not bombard an unfortified town. and, besides, there are no germans south of liege." the morning following in my room i heard from the place rogier the warnings of many motor horns. at great speed innumerable automobiles were approaching, all coming from the west through the boulevard du regent, and without slackening speed passing northeast toward ghent, bruges, and the coast. the number increased and the warnings became insistent. at eight o'clock they had sent out a sharp request for right of way; at nine in number they had trebled, and the note of the sirens was raucous, harsh, and peremptory. at ten no longer were there disconnected warnings, but from the horns and sirens issued one long, continuous scream. it was like the steady roar of a gale in the rigging, and it spoke in abject panic. the voices of the cars racing past were like the voices of human beings driven with fear. from the front of the hotel we watched them. there were taxicabs, racing cars, limousines. they were crowded with women and children of the rich, and of the nobility and gentry from the great châteaux far to the west. those who occupied them were white-faced with the dust of the road, with weariness and fear. in cars magnificently upholstered, padded, and cushioned were piled trunks, hand-bags, dressing-cases. the women had dressed at a moment's warning, as though at a cry of fire. many had travelled throughout the night, and in their arms the children, snatched from the pillows, were sleeping. but more appealing were the peasants. we walked out along the inner boulevards to meet them, and found the side streets blocked with their carts. into these they had thrown mattresses, or bundles of grain, and heaped upon them were families of three generations. old men in blue smocks, white-haired and bent, old women in caps, the daughters dressed in their one best frock and hat, and clasping in their hands all that was left to them, all that they could stuff into a pillow-case or flour-sack. the tears rolled down their brown, tanned faces. to the people of brussels who crowded around them they spoke in hushed, broken phrases. the terror of what they had escaped or of what they had seen was upon them. they had harnessed the plough-horse to the dray or market-wagon and to the invaders had left everything. what, they asked, would befall the live stock they had abandoned, the ducks on the pond, the cattle in the field? who would feed them and give them water? at the question the tears would break out afresh. heart-broken, weary, hungry, they passed in an unending caravan. with them, all fleeing from the same foe, all moving in one direction, were family carriages, the servants on the box in disordered livery, as they had served dinner, or coatless, but still in the striped waistcoats and silver buttons of grooms or footmen, and bicyclers with bundles strapped to their shoulders, and men and women stumbling on foot, carrying their children. above it all rose the breathless scream of the racing-cars, as they rocked and skidded, with brakes grinding and mufflers open; with their own terror creating and spreading terror. though eager in sympathy, the people of brussels themselves were undisturbed. many still sat at the little iron tables and smiled pityingly upon the strange figures of the peasants. they had had their trouble for nothing, they said. it was a false alarm. there were no germans nearer than liege. and, besides, should the germans come, the civil guard would meet them. but, better informed than they, that morning the american minister, brand whitlock, and the marquis villalobar, the spanish minister, had called upon the burgomaster and advised him not to defend the city. as whitlock pointed out, with the force at his command, which was the citizen soldiery, he could delay the entrance of the germans by only an hour, and in that hour many innocent lives would be wasted and monuments of great beauty, works of art that belong not alone to brussels but to the world, would be destroyed. burgomaster max, who is a splendid and worthy representative of a long line of burgomasters, placing his hand upon his heart, said: "honor requires it." to show that in the protection of the belgian government he had full confidence, mr. whitlock had not as yet shown his colors. but that morning when he left the hôtel de ville he hung the american flag over his legation and over that of the british. those of us who had elected to remain in brussels moved our belongings to a hotel across the street from the legation. not taking any chances, for my own use i reserved a green leather sofa in the legation itself. except that the cafés were empty of belgian officers, and of english correspondents, whom, had they remained, the germans would have arrested, there was not, up to late in the afternoon of the th of august, in the life and conduct of the citizens any perceptible change. they could not have shown a finer spirit. they did not know the city would not be defended; and yet with before them on the morrow the prospect of a battle which burgomaster max had announced would be contested to the very heart of the city, as usual the cafés blazed like open fire-places and the people sat at the little iron tables. even when, like great buzzards, two german aeroplanes sailed slowly across brussels, casting shadows of events to come, the people regarded them only with curiosity. the next morning the shops were open, the streets were crowded. but overnight the soldier-king had sent word that brussels must not oppose the invaders; and at the gendarmerie the civil guard, reluctantly and protesting, some even in tears, turned in their rifles and uniforms. the change came at ten in the morning. it was as though a wand had waved and from a fête-day on the continent we had been wafted to london on a rainy sunday. the boulevards fell suddenly empty. there was not a house that was not closely shuttered. along the route by which we now knew the germans were advancing, it was as though the plague stalked. that no one should fire from a window, that to the conquerors no one should offer insult, burgomaster max sent out as special constables men he trusted. their badge of authority was a walking-stick and a piece of paper fluttering from a buttonhole. these, the police, and the servants and caretakers of the houses that lined the boulevards alone were visible. at eleven o'clock, unobserved but by this official audience, down the boulevard waterloo came the advance-guard of the german army. it consisted of three men, a captain and two privates on bicycles. their rifles were slung across their shoulders, they rode unwarily, with as little concern as the members of a touring-club out for a holiday. behind them, so close upon each other that to cross from one sidewalk to the other was not possible, came the uhlans, infantry, and the guns. for two hours i watched them, and then, bored with the monotony of it, returned to the hotel. after an hour, from beneath my window, i still could hear them; another hour and another went by. they still were passing. boredom gave way to wonder. the thing fascinated you, against your will, dragged you back to the sidewalk and held you there open-eyed. no longer was it regiments of men marching, but something uncanny, inhuman, a force of nature like a landslide, a tidal wave, or lava sweeping down a mountain. it was not of this earth, but mysterious, ghostlike. it carried all the mystery and menace of a fog rolling toward you across the sea. the uniform aided this impression. in it each man moved under a cloak of invisibility. only after the most numerous and severe tests at all distances, with all materials and combinations of colors that give forth no color, could this gray have been discovered. that it was selected to clothe and disguise the german when he fights is typical of the general staff, in striving for efficiency, to leave nothing to chance, to neglect no detail. after you have seen this service uniform under conditions entirely opposite you are convinced that for the german soldier it is one of his strongest weapons. even the most expert marksman cannot hit a target he cannot see. it is not the blue-gray of our confederates, but a green-gray. it is the gray of the hour just before daybreak, the gray of unpolished steel, of mist among green trees. i saw it first in the grand place in front of the hôtel de ville. it was impossible to tell if in that noble square there was a regiment or a brigade. you saw only a fog that melted into the stones, blended with the ancient house fronts, that shifted and drifted, but left you nothing at which to point. later, as the army passed under the trees of the botanical park, it merged and was lost against the green leaves. it is no exaggeration to say that at a few hundred yards you can see the horses on which the uhlans ride but cannot see the men who ride them. if i appear to overemphasize this disguising uniform it is because, of all the details of the german outfit, it appealed to me as one of the most remarkable. when i was near namur with the rear-guard of the french dragoons and cuirassiers, and they threw out pickets, we could distinguish them against the yellow wheat or green corse at half a mile, while these men passing in the street, when they have reached the next crossing, become merged into the gray of the paving-stones and the earth swallowed them. in comparison the yellow khaki of our own american army is about as invisible as the flag of spain. major-general von jarotsky, the german military governor of brussels, had assured burgomaster max that the german army would not occupy the city but would pass through it. he told the truth. for three days and three nights it passed. in six campaigns i have followed other armies, but, excepting not even our own, the japanese, or the british, i have not seen one so thoroughly equipped. i am not speaking of the fighting qualities of any army, only of the equipment and organization. the german army moved into brussels as smoothly and as compactly as an empire state express. there were no halts, no open places, no stragglers. for the gray automobiles and the gray motorcycles bearing messengers one side of the street always was kept clear; and so compact was the column, so rigid the vigilance of the file-closers, that at the rate of forty miles an hour a car could race the length of the column and need not for a single horse or man once swerve from its course. all through the night, like the tumult of a river when it races between the cliffs of a canyon, in my sleep i could hear the steady roar of the passing army. and when early in the morning i went to the window the chain of steel was still unbroken. it was like the torrent that swept down the connemaugh valley and destroyed johnstown. as a correspondent i have seen all the great armies and the military processions at the coronations in russia, england, and spain, and our own inaugural parades down pennsylvania avenue, but those armies and processions were made up of men. this was a machine, endless, tireless, with the delicate organization of a watch and the brute power of a steam roller. and for three days and three nights through brussels it roared and rumbled, a cataract of molten lead. the infantry marched singing, with their iron-shod boots beating out the time. they sang "fatherland, my fatherland." between each line of song they took three steps. at times two thousand men were singing together in absolute rhythm and beat. it was like the blows from giant pile-drivers. when the melody gave way the silence was broken only by the stamp of iron-shod boots, and then again the song rose. when the singing ceased the bands played marches. they were followed by the rumble of the howitzers, the creaking of wheels and of chains clanking against the cobblestones, and the sharp, bell- like voices of the bugles. more uhlans followed, the hoofs of their magnificent horses ringing like thousands of steel hammers breaking stones in a road; and after them the giant siege-guns rumbling, growling, the mitrailleuse with drag-chains ringing, the field-pieces with creaking axles, complaining brakes, the grinding of the steel-rimmed wheels against the stones echoing and re-echoing from the house front. when at night for an instant the machine halted, the silence awoke you, as at sea you wake when the screw stops. for three days and three nights the column of gray, with hundreds of thousands of bayonets and hundreds of thousands of lances, with gray transport wagons, gray ammunition carts, gray ambulances, gray cannon, like a river of steel, cut brussels in two. for three weeks the men had been on the march, and there was not a single straggler, not a strap out of place, not a pennant missing. along the route, without for a minute halting the machine, the post- office carts fell out of the column, and as the men marched mounted postmen collected post-cards and delivered letters. also, as they marched, the cooks prepared soup, coffee, and tea, walking beside their stoves on wheels, tending the fires, distributing the smoking food. seated in the motor-trucks cobblers mended boots and broken harness; farriers on tiny anvils beat out horseshoes. no officer followed a wrong turning, no officer asked his way. he followed the map strapped to his side and on which for his guidance in red ink his route was marked. at night he read this map by the light of an electric torch buckled to his chest. to perfect this monstrous engine, with its pontoon bridges, its wireless, its hospitals, its aeroplanes that in rigid alignment sailed before it, its field telephones that, as it advanced, strung wires over which for miles the vanguard talked to the rear, all modern inventions had been prostituted. to feed it millions of men had been called from homes, offices, and workshops; to guide it, for years the minds of the high-born, with whom it is a religion and a disease, had been solely concerned. it is, perhaps, the most efficient organization of modern times; and its purpose only is death. those who cast it loose upon europe are military-mad. and they are only a very small part of the german people. but to preserve their class they have in their own image created this terrible engine of destruction. for the present it is their servant. but, "though the mills of god grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small." and, like frankenstein's monster, this monster, to which they gave life, may turn and rend them. chapter ii "to be treated as a spy" this story is a personal experience, but is told in spite of that fact and because it illustrates a side of war that is unfamiliar. it is unfamiliar for the reason that it is seamy and uninviting. with bayonet charges, bugle-calls, and aviators it has nothing in common. espionage is that kind of warfare of which, even when it succeeds, no country boasts. it is military service an officer may not refuse, but which few seek. its reward is prompt promotion, and its punishment, in war time, is swift and without honor. this story is intended to show how an army in the field must be on its guard against even a supposed spy and how it treats him. the war offices of france and russia would not permit an american correspondent to accompany their armies; the english granted that privilege to but one correspondent, and that gentleman already had been chosen. so i was without credentials. to oblige mr. brand whitlock, our minister to belgium, the government there was willing to give me credentials, but on the day i was to receive them the government moved to antwerp. then the germans entered brussels, and, as no one could foresee that belgium would heroically continue fighting, on the chance the germans would besiege paris, i planned to go to that city. to be bombarded you do not need credentials. for three days a steel-gray column of germans had been sweeping through brussels, and to meet them, from the direction of vincennes and lille, the english and french had crossed the border. it was falsely reported that already the english had reached hal, a town only eleven miles from brussels, that the night before there had been a fight at hal, and that close behind the english were the french. with gerald morgan, of the london daily telegraph, with whom i had been in other wars, i planned to drive to hal and from there on foot continue, if possible, into the arms of the french or english. we both were without credentials, but, once with the allies, we believed we would not need them. it was the germans we doubted. to satisfy them we had only a passport and a laissez-passer issued by general von jarotsky, the new german military governor of brussels, and his chief of staff, lieutenant geyer. mine stated that i represented the wheeler syndicate of american newspapers, the london daily chronicle, and scribner's magazine, and that i could pass german military lines in brussels and her environs. morgan had a pass of the same sort. the question to be determined was: what were "environs" and how far do they extend? how far in safety would the word carry us forward? on august we set forth from brussels in a taxicab to find out. at hal, where we intended to abandon the cab and continue on foot, we found out. we were arrested by a smart and most intelligent-looking officer, who rode up to the side of the taxi and pointed an automatic at us. we were innocently seated in a public cab, in a street crowded with civilians and the passing column of soldiers, and why any one should think he needed a gun only the german mind can explain. later, i found that all german officers introduced themselves and made requests gun in hand. whether it was because from every one they believed themselves in danger or because they simply did not know any better, i still am unable to decide. with no other army have i seen an officer threaten with a pistol an unarmed civilian. were an american or english officer to act in such a fashion he might escape looking like a fool, he certainly would feel like one. the four soldiers the officer told off to guard us climbed with alacrity into our cab and drove with us until the street grew too narrow both for their regiment and our taxi, when they chose the regiment and disappeared. we paid off the cabman and followed them. to reach the front there was no other way, and the very openness with which we trailed along beside their army, very much like small boys following a circus procession, seemed to us to show how innocent was our intent. the column stretched for fifty miles. where it was going we did not know, but, we argued, if it kept on going and we kept on with it, eventually we must stumble upon a battle. the story that at hal there had been a fight was evidently untrue; and the manner in which the column was advancing showed it was not expecting one. at noon it halted at brierges, and morgan decided brierges was out of bounds and that the limits of our "environs" had been reached. "if we go any farther," he argued, "the next officer who reads our papers will order us back to brussels under arrest, and we will lose our laissez-passer. along this road there is no chance of seeing anything. i prefer to keep my pass and use it in 'environs' where there is fighting." so he returned to brussels. i thought he was most wise, and i wanted to return with him. but i did not want to go back only because i knew it was the right thing to do, but to be ordered back so that i could explain to my newspapers that i returned because colonel this or general that sent me back. it was a form of vanity for which i was properly punished. that morgan was right was demonstrated as soon as he left me. i was seated against a tree by the side of the road eating a sandwich, an occupation which seems almost idyllic in its innocence but which could not deceive the germans. in me they saw the hated spion, and from behind me, across a ploughed field, four of them, each with an automatic, made me prisoner. one of them, who was an enthusiast, pushed his gun deep into my stomach. with the sandwich still in my hand, i held up my arms high and asked who spoke english. it turned out that the enthusiast spoke that language, and i suggested he did not need so many guns and that he could find my papers in my inside pocket. with four automatics rubbing against my ribs, i would not have lowered my arms for all the papers in the bank of england. they took me to a café, where their colonel had just finished lunch and was in a most genial humor. first he gave the enthusiast a drink as a reward for arresting me, and then, impartially, gave me one for being arrested. he wrote on my passport that i could go to enghien, which was two miles distant. that pass enabled me to proceed unmolested for nearly two hundred yards. i was then again arrested and taken before another group of officers. this time they searched my knapsack and wanted to requisition my maps, but one of them pointed out they were only automobile maps and, as compared to their own, of no value. they permitted me to proceed to enghien. i went to enghien, intending to spend the night and on the morning continue. i could not see why i might not be able to go on indefinitely. as yet no one who had held me up had suggested i should turn back, and as long as i was willing to be arrested it seemed as though i might accompany the german army even to the gates of paris. but my reception in enghien should have warned me to get back to brussels. the germans, thinking i was an english spy, scowled at me; and the belgians, thinking the same thing, winked at me; and the landlord of the only hotel said i was "suspect" and would not give me a bed. but i sought out the burgomaster, a most charming man named delano, and he wrote out a pass permitting me to sleep one night in enghien. "you really do not need this," he said; "as an american you are free to stay here as long as you wish." then he, too, winked. "but i am an american," i protested. "but certainly," he said gravely, and again he winked. it was then i should have started back to brussels. instead, i sat on a moss- covered, arched stone bridge that binds the town together, and until night fell watched the gray tidal waves rush up and across it, stamping, tripping, stumbling, beating the broad, clean stones with thousands of iron heels, steel hoofs, steel chains, and steel-rimmed wheels. you hated it, and yet could not keep away. the belgians of enghien hated it, and they could not keep away. like a great river in flood, bearing with it destruction and death, you feared and loathed it, and yet it fascinated you and pulled you to the brink. all through the night, as already for three nights and three days at brussels, i had heard it; it rumbled and growled, rushing forward without pause or breath, with inhuman, pitiless persistence. at daybreak i sat on the edge of the bed and wondered whether to go on or turn back. i still wanted some one in authority, higher than myself, to order me back. so, at six, riding for a fall, to find that one, i went, as i thought, along the road to soignes. the gray tidal wave was still roaring past. it was pressing forward with greater speed, but in nothing else did it differ from the tidal wave that had swept through brussels. there was a group of officers seated by the road, and as i passed i wished them good morning and they said good morning in return. i had gone a hundred feet when one of them galloped after me and asked to look at my papers. with relief i gave them to him. i was sure now i would be told to return to brussels. i calculated if at hal i had luck in finding a taxicab, by lunch time i should be in the palace hotel. "i think," said the officer, "you had better see our general. he is ahead of us." i thought he meant a few hundred yards ahead, and to be ordered back by a general seemed more convincing than to be returned by a mere captain. so i started to walk on beside the mounted officers. this, as it seemed to presume equality with them, scandalized them greatly, and i was ordered into the ranks. but the one who had arrested me thought i was entitled to a higher rating and placed me with the color-guard, who objected to my presence so violently that a long discussion followed, which ended with my being ranked below a second lieutenant and above a sergeant. between one of each of these i was definitely placed, and for five hours i remained definitely placed. we advanced with a rush that showed me i had surprised a surprise movement. the fact was of interest not because i had discovered one of their secrets, but because to keep up with the column i was forced for five hours to move at what was a steady trot. it was not so fast as the running step of the italian bersagliere, but as fast as our "double-quick." the men did not bend the knees, but, keeping the legs straight, shot them forward with a quick, sliding movement, like men skating or skiing. the toe of one boot seemed always tripping on the heel of the other. as the road was paved with roughly hewn blocks of belgian granite this kind of going was very strenuous, and had i not been in good shape i could not have kept up. as it was, at the end of the five hours i had lost fifteen pounds, which did not help me, as during the same time the knapsack had taken on a hundred. for two days the men in the ranks had been rushed forward at this unnatural gait and were moving like automatons. many of them fell by the wayside, but they were not permitted to lie there. instead of summoning the ambulance, they were lifted to their feet and flung back into the ranks. many of them were moving in their sleep, in that partly comatose state in which you have seen men during the last hours of a six days' walking match. their rules, so the sergeant said, were to halt every hour and then for ten minutes rest. but that rule is probably only for route marching. on account of the speed with which the surprise movement was made our halts were more frequent, and so exhausted were the men that when these "thank you, ma'ams" arrived, instead of standing at ease and adjusting their accoutrements, as though they had been struck with a club they dropped to the stones. some in an instant were asleep. i do not mean that some sat down; i mean that the whole column lay flat in the road. the officers also, those that were not mounted, would tumble on the grass or into the wheat-field and lie on their backs, their arms flung out like dead men. to the fact that they were lying on their field-glasses, holsters, swords, and water- bottles they appeared indifferent. at the rate the column moved it would have covered thirty miles each day. it was these forced marches that later brought von kluck's army to the right wing of the allies before the army of the crown prince was prepared to attack, and which at sezanne led to his repulse and to the failure of his advance upon paris. while we were pushing forward we passed a wrecked british air-ship, around which were gathered a group of staff-officers. my papers were given to one of them, but our column did not halt and i was not allowed to speak. a few minutes later they passed in their automobiles on their way to the front; and my papers went with them. already i was miles beyond the environs, and with each step away from brussels my pass was becoming less of a safeguard than a menace. for it showed what restrictions general jarotsky had placed on my movements, and my presence so far out of bounds proved i had disregarded them. but still i did not suppose that in returning to brussels there would be any difficulty. i was chiefly concerned with the thought that the length of the return march was rapidly increasing and with the fact that one of my shoes, a faithful friend in other campaigns, had turned traitor and was cutting my foot in half. i had started with the column at seven o'clock, and at noon an automobile, with flags flying and the black eagle of the staff enamelled on the door, came speeding back from the front. in it was a very blond and distinguished-looking officer of high rank and many decorations. he used a single eye-glass, and his politeness and his english were faultless. he invited me to accompany him to the general staff. that was the first intimation i had that i was in danger. i saw they were giving me far too much attention. i began instantly to work to set myself free, and there was not a minute for the next twenty-four hours that i was not working. before i stepped into the car i had decided upon my line of defence. i would pretend to be entirely unconscious that i had in any way laid myself open to suspicion; that i had erred through pure stupidity and that i was where i was solely because i was a damn fool. i began to act like a damn fool. effusively i expressed my regret at putting the general staff to inconvenience. "it was really too stupid of me," i said. "i cannot forgive myself. i should not have come so far without asking jarotsky for proper papers. i am extremely sorry i have given you this trouble. i would like to see the general and assure him i will return at once to brussels." i ignored the fact that i was being taken to the general at the rate of sixty miles an hour. the blond officer smiled uneasily and with his single glass studied the sky. when we reached the staff he escaped from me with the alacrity of one released from a disagreeable and humiliating duty. the staff were at luncheon, seated in their luxurious motor-cars or on the grass by the side of the road. on the other side of the road the column of dust-covered gray ghosts were being rushed past us. the staff, in dress uniforms, flowing cloaks, and gloves, belonged to a different race. they knew that. among themselves they were like priests breathing incense. whenever one of them spoke to another they saluted, their heels clicked, their bodies bent at the belt line. one of them came to where, in the middle of the road, i was stranded and trying not to feel as lonely as i looked. he was much younger than myself and dark and handsome. his face was smooth-shaven, his figure tall, lithe, and alert. he wore a uniform of light blue and silver that clung to him and high boots of patent leather. his waist was like a girl's, and, as though to show how supple he was, he kept continually bowing and shrugging his shoulders and in elegant protest gesticulating with his gloved hands. he should have been a moving- picture actor. he reminded me of anthony hope's fascinating but wicked rupert of hentzau. he certainly was wicked, and i got to hate him as i never imagined it possible to hate anybody. he had been told off to dispose of my case, and he delighted in it. he enjoyed it as a cat enjoys playing with a mouse. as actors say, he saw himself in the part. he "ate" it. "you are an english officer out of uniform," he began. "you have been taken inside our lines." he pointed his forefinger at my stomach and wiggled his thumb. "and you know what that means!" i saw playing the damn fool with him would be waste of time. "i followed your army," i told him, "because it's my business to follow armies and because yours is the best-looking army i ever saw." he made me one of his mocking bows. "we thank you," he said, grinning. "but you have seen too much." "i haven't seen anything," i said, "that everybody in brussels hasn't seen for three days." he shook his head reproachfully and with a gesture signified the group of officers. "you have seen enough in this road," he said, "to justify us in shooting you now." the sense of drama told him it was a good exit line, and he returned to the group of officers. i now saw what had happened. at enghien i had taken the wrong road. i remembered that, to confuse the germans, the names on the sign-post at the edge of the town had been painted out, and that instead of taking the road to soignes i was on the road to ath. what i had seen, therefore, was an army corps making a turning movement intended to catch the english on their right and double them up upon their centre. the success of this man�uvre depended upon the speed with which it was executed and upon its being a complete surprise. as later in the day i learned, the germans thought i was an english officer who had followed them from brussels and who was trying to slip past them and warn his countrymen. what rupert of hentzau meant by what i had seen on the road was that, having seen the count de schwerin, who commanded the seventh division, on the road to ath, i must necessarily know that the army corps to which he was attached had separated from the main army of von kluck, and that, in going so far south at such speed, it was bent upon an attack on the english flank. all of which at the time i did not know and did not want to know. all i wanted was to prove i was not an english officer, but an american correspondent who by accident had stumbled upon their secret. to convince them of that, strangely enough, was difficult. when rupert of hentzau returned the other officers were with him, and, fortunately for me, they spoke or understood english. for the rest of the day what followed was like a legal argument. it was as cold-blooded as a game of bridge. rupert of hentzau wanted an english spy shot for his supper; just as he might have desired a grilled bone. he showed no personal animus, and, i must say for him, that he conducted the case for the prosecution without heat or anger. he mocked me, grilled and taunted me, but he was always charmingly polite. as whitman said, "i want becker," so rupert said, "fe, fo, fi, fum, i want the blood of an englishman." he was determined to get it. i was even more interested that he should not. the points he made against me were that my german pass was signed neither by general jarotsky nor by lieutenant geyer, but only stamped, and that any rubber stamp could be forged; that my american passport had not been issued at washington, but in london, where an englishman might have imposed upon our embassy; and that in the photograph pasted on the passport i was wearing the uniform of a british officer. i explained that the photograph was taken eight years ago, and that the uniform was one i had seen on the west coast of africa, worn by the west african field force. because it was unlike any known military uniform, and as cool and comfortable as a golf jacket, i had had it copied. but since that time it had been adopted by the english brigade of guards and the territorials. i knew it sounded like fiction; but it was quite true. rupert of hentzau smiled delightedly. "do you expect us to believe that?" he protested. "listen," i said. "if you could invent an explanation for that uniform as quickly as i told you that one, standing in a road with eight officers trying to shoot you, you would be the greatest general in germany." that made the others laugh; and rupert retorted: "very well, then, we will concede that the entire british army has changed its uniform to suit your photograph. but if you are not an officer, why, in the photograph, are you wearing war ribbons?" i said the war ribbons were in my favor, and i pointed out that no officer of any one country could have been in the different campaigns for which the ribbons were issued. "they prove," i argued, "that i am a correspondent, for only a correspondent could have been in wars in which his own country was not engaged." i thought i had scored; but rupert instantly turned my own witness against me. "or a military attaché," he said. at that they all smiled and nodded knowingly. he followed this up by saying, accusingly, that the hat and clothes i was then wearing were english. the clothes were english, but i knew he did not know that, and was only guessing; and there were no marks on them. about my hat i was not certain. it was a felt alpine hat, and whether i had bought it in london or new york i could not remember. whether it was evidence for or against i could not be sure. so i took it off and began to fan myself with it, hoping to get a look at the name of the maker. but with the eyes of the young prosecuting attorney fixed upon me, i did not dare take a chance. then, to aid me, a german aeroplane passed overhead, and those who were giving me the third degree looked up. i stopped fanning myself and cast a swift glance inside the hat. to my intense satisfaction i read, stamped on the leather lining: "knox, new york." i put the hat back on my head and a few minutes later pulled it off and said: "now, for instance, my hat. if i were an englishman would i cross the ocean to new york to buy a hat?" it was all like that. they would move away and whisper together, and i would try to guess what questions they were preparing. i had to arrange my defence without knowing in what way they would try to trip me, and i had to think faster than i ever have thought before. i had no more time to be scared, or to regret my past sins, than has a man in a quicksand. so far as i could make out, they were divided in opinion concerning me. rupert of hentzau, who was the adjutant or the chief of staff, had only one simple thought, which was to shoot me. others considered me a damn fool; i could hear them laughing and saying: "er ist ein dummer mensch." and others thought that whether i was a fool or not, or an american or an englishman, was not the question; i had seen too much and should be put away. i felt if, instead of having rupert act as my interpreter, i could personally speak to the general i might talk my way out of it, but rupert assured me that to set me free the count de schwerin lacked authority, and that my papers, which were all against me, must be submitted to the general of the army corps, and we would not reach him until midnight. "and then!--" he would exclaim, and he would repeat his pantomime of pointing his forefinger at my stomach and wiggling his thumb. he was very popular with me. meanwhile they were taking me farther away from brussels and the "environs." "when you picked me up," i said, "i was inside the environs, but by the time i reach 'the' general he will see only that i am fifty miles beyond where i am permitted to be. and who is going to tell him it was you brought me there? you won't!" rupert of hentzau only smiled like the cat that has just swallowed the canary. he put me in another automobile and they whisked me off, always going farther from brussels, to ath and then to ligne, a little town five miles south. here they stopped at a house the staff occupied, and, leading me to the second floor, put me in an empty room that seemed built for their purpose. it had a stone floor and whitewashed walls and a window so high that even when standing you could see only the roof of another house and a weather-vane. they threw two bundles of wheat on the floor and put a sentry at the door with orders to keep it open. he was a wild man, and thought i was, and every time i moved his automatic moved with me. it was as though he were following me with a spotlight. my foot was badly cut across the instep and i was altogether forlorn and disreputable. so, in order to look less like a tramp when i met the general, i bound up the foot, and, always with one eye on the sentry, and moving very slowly, shaved and put on dry things. from the interest the sentry showed it seemed evident he never had taken a bath himself, nor had seen any one else take one, and he was not quite easy in his mind that he ought to allow it. he seemed to consider it a kind of suicide. i kept on thinking out plans, and when an officer appeared i had one to submit. i offered to give the money i had with me to any one who would motor back to brussels and take a note to the american minister, brand whitlock. my proposition was that if in five hours, or by seven o'clock, he did not arrive in his automobile and assure them that what i said about myself was true, they need not wait until midnight, but could shoot me then. "if i am willing to take such a chance," i pointed out, "i must be a friend of mr. whitlock. if he repudiates me, it will be evident i have deceived you, and you will be perfectly justified in carrying out your plan." i had a note to whitlock already written. it was composed entirely with the idea that they would read it, and it was much more intimate than my very brief acquaintance with that gentleman justified. but from what i have seen and heard of the ex-mayor of toledo i felt he would stand for it. the note read: "dear brand: "i am detained in a house with a garden where the railroad passes through the village of ligne. please come quick, or send some one in the legation automobile. "richard." the officer to whom i gave this was major alfred wurth, a reservist from bernburg, on the saale river. i liked him from the first because after we had exchanged a few words he exclaimed incredulously: "what nonsense! any one could tell by your accent that you are an american." he explained that, when at the university, in the same pension with him were three americans. "the staff are making a mistake," he said earnestly. "they will regret it." i told him that i not only did not want them to regret it, but i did not want them to make it, and i begged him to assure the staff that i was an american. i suggested also that he tell them, if anything happened to me there were other americans who would at once declare war on germany. the number of these other americans i overestimated by about ninety millions, but it was no time to consider details. he asked if the staff might read the letter to the american minister, and, though i hated to deceive him, i pretended to consider this. "i don't remember just what i wrote," i said, and, to make sure they would read it, i tore open the envelope and pretended to reread the letter. "i will see what i can do," said major wurth; "meanwhile, do not be discouraged. maybe it will come out all right for you." after he left me the belgian gentleman who owned the house and his cook brought me some food. she was the only member of his household who had not deserted him, and together they were serving the staff-officers, he acting as butler, waiter, and valet. the cock was an old peasant woman with a ruffled white cap, and when she left, in spite of the sentry, she patted me encouragingly on the shoulder. the owner of the house was more discreet, and contented himself with winking at me and whispering: "Ça va mal pour vous en bas!" as they both knew what was being said of me downstairs, their visit did not especially enliven me. major wurth returned and said the staff could not spare any one to go to brussels, but that my note had been forwarded to "the" general. that was as much as i had hoped for. it was intended only as a "stay of proceedings." but the manner of the major was not reassuring. he kept telling me that he thought they would set me free, but even as he spoke tears would come to his eyes and roll slowly down his cheeks. it was most disconcerting. after a while it grew dark and he brought me a candle and left me, taking with him, much to my relief, the sentry and his automatic. this gave me since my arrest my first moment alone, and, to find anything that might further incriminate or help me, i used it in going rapidly through my knapsack and pockets. my note-book was entirely favorable. in it there was no word that any german could censor. my only other paper was a letter, of which all day i had been conscious. it was one of introduction from colonel theodore roosevelt to president poincaré, and whether the germans would consider it a clean bill of health or a death-warrant i could not make up my mind. half a dozen times i had been on the point of saying: "here is a letter from the man your kaiser delighted to honor, the only civilian who ever reviewed the german army, a former president of the united states." but i could hear rupert of hentzau replying: "yes, and it is recommending you to our enemy, the president of france!" i knew that colonel roosevelt would have written a letter to the german emperor as impartially as to m. poincaré, but i knew also that rupert of hentzau would not believe that. so i decided to keep the letter back until the last moment. if it was going to help me, it still would be effective; if it went against me, i would be just as dead. i began to think out other plans. plans of escape were foolish. i could have crawled out of the window to the rain gutter, but before i had reached the rooftree i would have been shot. and bribing the sentry, even were he willing to be insulted, would not have taken me farther than the stairs, where there were other sentries. i was more safe inside the house than out. they still had my passport and laissez- passer, and without a pass one could not walk a hundred yards. as the staff had but one plan, and no time in which to think of a better one, the obligation to invent a substitute plan lay upon me. the plan i thought out and which later i outlined to major wurth was this: instead of putting me away at midnight, they would give me a pass back to brussels. the pass would state that i was a suspected spy and that if before midnight of the th of august i were found off the direct road to brussels, or if by that hour i had not reported to the military governor of brussels, any one could shoot me on sight. as i have stated, without showing a pass no one could move a hundred yards, and every time i showed my pass to a german it would tell him i was a suspected spy, and if i were not making my way in the right direction he had his orders. with such a pass i was as much a prisoner as in the room at ligne, and if i tried to evade its conditions i was as good as dead. the advantages of my plan, as i urged them upon major wurth, were that it prevented the general staff from shooting an innocent man, which would have greatly distressed them, and were he not innocent would still enable them, after a reprieve of two days, to shoot him. the distance to brussels was about fifty miles, which, as it was impossible for a civilian to hire a bicycle, motor-car, or cart, i must cover on foot, making twenty-five miles a day. major wurth heartily approved of my substitute plan, and added that he thought if any motor-trucks or ambulances were returning empty to brussels, i should be permitted to ride in one of them. he left me, and i never saw him again. it was then about eight o'clock, and as the time passed and he did not return and midnight grew nearer, i began to feel very lonely. except for the roosevelt letter, i had played my last card. as it grew later i persuaded myself they did not mean to act until morning, and i stretched out on the straw and tried to sleep. at midnight i was startled by the light of an electric torch. it was strapped to the chest of an officer, who ordered me to get up and come with him. he spoke only german, and he seemed very angry. the owner of the house and the old cook had shown him to my room, but they stood in the shadow without speaking. nor, fearing i might compromise them--for i could not see why, except for one purpose, they were taking me out into the night--did i speak to them. we got into another motor-car and in silence drove north from ligne down a country road to a great château that stood in a magnificent park. something had gone wrong with the lights of the château, and its hall was lit only by candles that showed soldiers sleeping like dead men on bundles of wheat and others leaping up and down the marble stairs. they put me in a huge armchair of silk and gilt, with two of the gray ghosts to guard me, and from the hall, when the doors of the drawing-room opened, i could see a long table on which were candles in silver candlesticks or set on plates, and many maps and half-empty bottles of champagne. around the table, standing or seated, and leaning across the maps, were staff-officers in brilliant uniforms. they were much older men and of higher rank than any i had yet seen. they were eating, drinking, gesticulating. in spite of the tumult, some, in utter weariness, were asleep. it was like a picture of by détaille or de neuville. apparently, at last i had reached the headquarters of the mysterious general. i had arrived at what, for a suspected spy, was an inopportune moment. the germans themselves had been surprised, or somewhere south of us had met with a reverse, and the air was vibrating with excitement and something very like panic. outside, at great speed and with sirens shrieking, automobiles were arriving, and i could hear the officers shouting: "die englischen kommen!" to make their reports they flung themselves up the steps, the electric torches, like bull's-eye lanterns, burning holes in the night. seeing a civilian under guard, they would stare and ask questions. even when they came close, owing to the light in my eyes, i could not see them. sometimes, in a half circle, there would be six or eight of the electric torches blinding me, and from behind them voices barking at me with strange, guttural noises. much they said i could not understand, much i did not want to understand, but they made it quite clear it was no fit place for an englishman. when the door from the drawing-room opened and rupert of hentzau appeared, i was almost glad to see him. whenever he spoke to me he always began or ended his sentence with "mr. davis." he gave it an emphasis and meaning which was intended to show that he knew it was not my name. i would not have thought it possible to put so much insolence into two innocent words. it was as though he said: "mr. davis, alias jimmy valentine." he certainly would have made a great actor. "mr. davis," he said, "you are free." he did not look as disappointed as i knew he would feel if i were free, so i waited for what was to follow. "you are free," he said, "under certain conditions." the conditions seemed to cheer him. he recited the conditions. they were those i had outlined to major wurth. but i am sure rupert of hentzau did not guess that. apparently, he believed major wurth had thought of them, and i did not undeceive him. for the substitute plan i was not inclined to rob that officer of any credit. i felt then, and i feel now, that but for him and his interceding for me i would have been left in the road. rupert of hentzau gave me the pass. it said i must return to brussels by way of ath, enghien, hal, and that i must report to the military governor on the th or "be treated as a spy"--"so wird er als spion behandelt." the pass, literally translated, reads: "the american reporter davis must at once return to brussels via ath, enghien, hal, and report to the government at the latest on august th. if he is met on any other road, or after the th of august, he will be handled as a spy. automobiles returning to brussels, if they can unite it with their duty, can carry him." "chief of general staff." "von gregor, lieutenant-colonel." fearing my military education was not sufficient to enable me to appreciate this, for the last time rupert stuck his forefinger in my stomach and repeated cheerfully: "and you know what that means. and you will start," he added, with a most charming smile, "in three hours." he was determined to have his grilled bone. "at three in the morning!" i cried. "you might as well take me out and shoot me now!" "you will start in three hours," he repeated. "a man wandering around at that hour," i protested, "wouldn't live five minutes. it can't be done. you couldn't do it." he continued to grin. i knew perfectly well the general had given no such order, and that it was a cat-and-mouse act of rupert's own invention, and he knew i knew it. but he repeated: "you will start in three hours, mr. davis." i said: "i am going to write about this, and i would like you to read what i write. what is your name?" he said: "i am the baron von"--it sounded like "hossfer"--and, in any case, to that name, care of general de schwerin of the seventh division, i shall mail this book. i hope the allies do not kill rupert of hentzau before he reads it! after that! he would have made a great actor. they put me in the automobile and drove me back to ligne and the impromptu cell. but now it did not seem like a cell. since i had last occupied it my chances had so improved that returning to the candle on the floor and the bundles of wheat was like coming home. though i did not believe rupert had any authority to order me into the night at the darkest hour of the twenty-four, i was taking no chances. my nerve was not in a sufficiently robust state for me to disobey any german. so, lest i should oversleep, until three o'clock i paced the cell, and then, with all the terrors of a burglar, tiptoed down the stairs. there was no light, and the house was wrapped in silence. earlier there had been everywhere sentries, and, not daring to breathe, i waited for one of them to challenge, but, except for the creaking of the stairs and of my ankle-bones, which seemed to explode like firecrackers, there was not a sound. i was afraid, and wished myself safely back in my cell, but i was more afraid of rupert, and i kept on feeling my way until i had reached the garden. there some one spoke to me in french, and i found my host. "the animals have gone," he said; "all of them. i will give you a bed now, and when it is light you shall have breakfast." i told him my orders were to leave his house at three. "but it is murder!" he said. with these cheering words in my ears, i thanked him, and he bid me bonne chance. in my left hand i placed the pass, folded so that the red seal of the general staff would show, and a match-box. in the other hand i held ready a couple of matches. each time a sentry challenged i struck the matches on the box and held them in front of the red seal. the instant the matches flashed it was a hundred to one that the man would shoot, but i could not speak german, and there was no other way to make him understand. they were either too surprised or too sleepy to fire, for each of them let me pass. but after i had made a mark of myself three times i lost my nerve and sought cover behind a haystack. i lay there until there was light enough to distinguish trees and telegraph-poles, and then walked on to ath. after that, when they stopped me, if they could not read, the red seal satisfied them; if they were officers and could read, they cursed me with strange, unclean oaths, and ordered me, in the german equivalent, to beat it. it was a delightful walk. i had had no sleep the night before and had eaten nothing, and, though i had cut away most of my shoe, i could hardly touch my foot to the road. whenever in the villages i tried to bribe any one to carry my knapsack or to give me food, the peasants ran from me. they thought i was a german and talked flemish, not french. i was more afraid of them and their shotguns than of the germans, and i never entered a village unless german soldiers were entering or leaving it. and the germans gave me no reason to feel free from care. every time they read my pass they were inclined to try me all over again, and twice searched my knapsack. after that happened the second time i guessed my letter to the president of france might prove a menace, and, tearing it into little pieces, dropped it over a bridge, and with regret watched that historical document from the ex-president of one republic to the president of another float down the sambre toward the sea. by noon i decided i would not be able to make the distance. for twenty-four hours i had been without sleep or food, and i had been put through an unceasing third degree, and i was nearly out. added to that, the chance of my losing the road was excellent; and if i lost the road the first german who read my pass was ordered by it to shoot me. so i decided to give myself up to the occupants of the next german car going toward brussels and ask them to carry me there under arrest. i waited until an automobile approached, and then stood in front of it and held up my pass and pointed to the red seal. the car stopped, and the soldiers in front and the officer in the rear seat gazed at me in indignant amazement. the officer was a general, old and kindly looking, and, by the grace of heaven, as slow-witted as he was kind. he spoke no english, and his french was as bad as mine, and in consequence he had no idea of what i was saying except that i had orders from the general staff to proceed at once to brussels. i made a mystery of the pass, saying it was very confidential, but the red seal satisfied him. he bade me courteously to take the seat at his side, and with intense satisfaction i heard him command his orderly to get down and fetch my knapsack. the general was going, he said, only so far as hal, but that far he would carry me. hal was the last town named in my pass, and from brussels only eleven miles distant. according to the schedule i had laid out for myself, i had not hoped to reach it by walking until the next day, but at the rate the car had approached i saw i would be there within two hours. my feelings when i sank back upon the cushions of that car and stretched out my weary legs and the wind whistled around us are too sacred for cold print. it was a situation i would not have used in fiction. i was a condemned spy, with the hand of every german properly against me, and yet under the protection of a german general, and in luxurious ease, i was escaping from them at forty miles an hour. i had but one regret. i wanted rupert of hentzau to see me. at hal my luck still held. the steps of the hôtel de ville were crowded with generals. i thought never in the world could there be so many generals, so many flowing cloaks and spiked helmets. i was afraid of them. i was afraid that when my general abandoned me the others might not prove so slow-witted or so kind. my general also seemed to regard them with disfavor. he exclaimed impatiently. apparently, to force his way through them, to cool his heels in an anteroom, did not appeal. it was long past his luncheon hour and the restaurant of the palace hotel called him. he gave a sharp order to the chauffeur. "i go on to brussels," he said. "desire you to accompany me?" i did not know how to ask him in french not to make me laugh. i saw the great palace of justice that towers above the city with the same emotions that one beholds the statue of liberty, but not until we had reached the inner boulevards did i feel safe. there i bade my friend a grateful but hasty adieu, and in a taxicab, unwashed and unbrushed, i drove straight to the american legation. to mr. whitlock i told this story, and with one hand that gentleman reached for his hat and with the other for his stick. in the automobile of the legation we raced to the hôtel de ville. there mr. whitlock, as the moving-picture people say, "registered" indignation. mr. davis was present, he made it understood, not as a ticket-of-leave man, and because he had been ordered to report, but in spite of that fact. he was there as the friend of the american minister, and the word "spion" must be removed from his papers. and so, on the pass that rupert gave me, below where he had written that i was to be treated as a spy, they wrote i was "not at all," "gar nicht," to be treated as a spy, and that i was well known to the american minister, and to that they affixed the official seal. that ended it, leaving me with one valuable possession. it is this: should any one suggest that i am a spy, or that i am not a friend of brand whitlock, i have the testimony of the imperial german government to the contrary. chapter iii the burning of louvain after the germans occupied brussels they closed the road to aix-la- chapelle. a week later, to carry their wounded and prisoners, they reopened it. but for eight days brussels was isolated. the mail-trains and the telegraph office were in the hands of the invaders. they accepted our cables, censored them, and three days later told us, if we still wished, we could forward them. but only from holland. by this they accomplished three things: they learned what we were writing about them, for three days prevented any news from leaving the city, and offered us an inducement to visit holland, so getting rid of us. the despatches of those diplomats who still remained in brussels were treated in the same manner. with the most cheerful complacency the military authorities blue-pencilled their despatches to their governments. when the diplomats learned of this, with their code cables they sent open cables stating that their confidential despatches were being censored and delayed. they still were delayed. to get any message out of brussels it was necessary to use an automobile, and nearly every automobile had taken itself off to antwerp. if a motor-car appeared it was at once commandeered. this was true also of horses and bicycles. all over brussels you saw delivery wagons, private carriages, market carts with the shafts empty and the horse and harness gone. after three days a german soldier who did not own a bicycle was poor indeed. requisitions were given for these machines, stating they would be returned after the war, by which time they will be ready for the scrap- heap. any one on a bicycle outside the city was arrested, so the only way to get messages through was by going on foot to ostend or holland, or by an automobile for which the german authorities had given a special pass. as no one knew when one of these automobiles might start, we carried always with us our cables and letters, and intrusted them to any stranger who was trying to run the lines. no one wished to carry our despatches, as he feared they might contain something unfavorable to the germans, which, if he were arrested and the cables read, might bring him into greater trouble. money for himself was no inducement. but i found if i gave money for the red cross no one would refuse it, or to carry the messages. three out of four times the stranger would be arrested and ordered back to brussels, and our despatches, with their news value departed, would be returned. an account of the germans entering brussels i sent by an english boy named dalton, who, after being turned back three times, got through by night, and when he arrived in england his adventures were published in all the london papers. they were so thrilling that they made my story, for which he had taken the trip, extremely tame reading. hugh gibson, secretary of the american legation, was the first person in an official position to visit antwerp after the belgian government moved to that city, and, even with his passes and flag flying from his automobile, he reached antwerp and returned to brussels only after many delays and adventures. not knowing the belgians were advancing from the north, gibson and his american flag were several times under fire, and on the days he chose for his excursion his route led him past burning towns and dead and wounded and between the lines of both forces actively engaged. he was carrying despatches from brand whitlock to secretary bryan. during the night he rested at antwerp the first zeppelin air-ship to visit that city passed over it, dropping one bomb at the end of the block in which gibson was sleeping. he was awakened by the explosion and heard all of those that followed. the next morning he was requested to accompany a committee appointed by the belgian government to report upon the outrage, and he visited a house that had been wrecked, and saw what was left of the bodies of those killed. people who were in the streets when the air-ship passed said it moved without any sound, as though the motor had been shut off and it was being propelled by momentum. one bomb fell so near the palace where the belgian queen was sleeping as to destroy the glass in the windows and scar the walls. the bombs were large, containing smaller bombs of the size of shrapnel. like shrapnel, on impact they scattered bullets over a radius of forty yards. one man, who from a window in the eighth story of a hotel watched the air-ship pass, stated that before each bomb fell he saw electric torches signal from the roofs, as though giving directions as to where the bombs should strike. after my arrest by the germans, i found my usefulness in brussels as a correspondent was gone, and i returned to london, and from there rejoined the allies in paris. i left brussels on august th with gerald morgan and will irwin, of collier's, on a train carrying english prisoners and german wounded. in times of peace the trip to the german border lasts three hours, but in making it we were twenty-six hours, and by order of the authorities we were forbidden to leave the train. carriages with cushions naturally were reserved for the wounded, so we slept on wooden benches and on the floor. it was not possible to obtain food, and water was as scarce. at graesbeek, ten miles from brussels, we first saw houses on fire. they continued with us to liege. village after village had been completely wrecked. in his march to the sea sherman lived on the country. he did not destroy it, and as against the burning of columbia must be placed to the discredit of the germans the wiping out of an entire countryside. for many miles we saw procession after procession of peasants fleeing from one burning village, which had been their home, to other villages, to find only blackened walls and smouldering ashes. in no part of northern europe is there a countryside fairer than that between aix-la-chapelle and brussels, but the germans had made of it a graveyard. it looked as though a cyclone had uprooted its houses, gardens, and orchards and a prairie fire had followed. at seven o'clock in the evening we arrived at what for six hundred years had been the city of louvain. the germans were burning it, and to hide their work kept us locked in the railroad carriages. but the story was written against the sky, was told to us by german soldiers incoherent with excesses; and we could read it in the faces of women and children being led to concentration camps and of citizens on their way to be shot. the day before the germans had sentenced louvain to become a wilderness, and with german system and love of thoroughness they left louvain an empty, blackened shell. the reason for this appeal to the torch and the execution of non-combatants, as given to mr. whitlock and myself on the morning i left brussels by general von lutwitz, the military governor, was this: the day before, while the german military commander of the troops in louvain was at the hôtel de ville talking to the burgomaster, a son of the burgomaster, with an automatic pistol, shot the chief of staff and german staff surgeons. lutwitz claimed this was the signal for the civil guard, in civilian clothes on the roofs, to fire upon the german soldiers in the open square below. he said also the belgians had quick-firing guns, brought from antwerp. as for a week the germans had occupied louvain and closely guarded all approaches, the story that there was any gun-running is absurd. "fifty germans were killed and wounded," said lutwitz, "and for that louvain must be wiped out--so!" in pantomime with his fist he swept the papers across his table. "the hôtel de ville," he added, "was a beautiful building; it is a pity it must be destroyed." were he telling us his soldiers had destroyed a kitchen-garden, his tone could not have expressed less regret. ten days before i had been in louvain, when it was occupied by belgian troops and king albert and his staff. the city dates from the eleventh century, and the population was forty-two thousand. the citizens were brewers, lace-makers, and manufacturers of ornaments for churches. the university once was the most celebrated in european cities and was the headquarters of the jesuits. in the louvain college many priests now in america have been educated, and ten days before, over the great yellow walls of the college, i had seen hanging two american flags. i had found the city clean, sleepy, and pretty, with narrow, twisting streets and smart shops and cafés. set in flower gardens were the houses, with red roofs, green shutters, and white walls. over those that faced south had been trained pear-trees, their branches, heavy with fruit, spread out against the walls like branches of candelabra. the town hall was an example of gothic architecture, in detail and design more celebrated even than the town hall of bruges or brussels. it was five hundred years old, and lately had been repaired with taste and at great cost. opposite was the church of st. pierre, dating from the fifteenth century, a very noble building, with many chapels filled with carvings of the time of the renaissance in wood, stone, and iron. in the university were one hundred and fifty thousand volumes. near it was the bronze statue of father damien, priest of the leper colony in the south pacific, of whom robert louis stevenson wrote. on the night of the th these buildings were empty, exploded cartridges. statues, pictures, carvings, parchments, archives--all these were gone. no one defends the sniper. but because ignorant mexicans, when their city was invaded, fired upon our sailors, we did not destroy vera cruz. even had we bombarded vera cruz, money could have restored that city. money can never restore louvain. great architects and artists, dead these six hundred years, made it beautiful, and their handiwork belonged to the world. with torch and dynamite the germans turned those masterpieces into ashes, and all the kaiser's horses and all his men cannot bring them back again. when our troop train reached louvain, the entire heart of the city was destroyed, and the fire had reached the boulevard tirlemont, which faces the railroad station. the night was windless, and the sparks rose in steady, leisurely pillars, falling back into the furnace from which they sprang. in their work the soldiers were moving from the heart of the city to the outskirts, street by street, from house to house. in each building they began at the first floor and, when that was burning steadily, passed to the one next. there were no exceptions-- whether it was a store, chapel, or private residence, it was destroyed. the occupants had been warned to go, and in each deserted shop or house the furniture was piled, the torch was stuck under it, and into the air went the savings of years, souvenirs of children, of parents, heirlooms that had passed from generation to generation. the people had time only to fill a pillowcase and fly. some were not so fortunate, and by thousands, like flocks of sheep, they were rounded up and marched through the night to concentration camps. we were not allowed to speak to any citizen of louvain, but the germans crowded the windows of the train, boastful, gloating, eager to interpret. in the two hours during which the train circled the burning city war was before us in its most hateful aspect. in other wars i have watched men on one hilltop, without haste, without heat, fire at men on another hill, and in consequence on both sides good men were wasted. but in those fights there were no women or children, and the shells struck only vacant stretches of veldt or uninhabited mountain sides. at louvain it was war upon the defenceless, war upon churches, colleges, shops of milliners and lace-makers; war brought to the bedside and the fireside; against women harvesting in the fields, against children in wooden shoes at play in the streets. at louvain that night the germans were like men after an orgy. there were fifty english prisoners, erect and soldierly. in the ocean of gray the little patch of khaki looked pitifully lonely, but they regarded the men who had outnumbered but not defeated them with calm, uncurious eyes. in one way i was glad to see them there. later they will bear witness. they will tell how the enemy makes a wilderness and calls it war. it was a most weird picture. on the high ground rose the broken spires of the church of st. pierre and the hôtel de ville, and descending like steps were row beneath row of houses, roofless, with windows like blind eyes. the fire had reached the last row of houses, those on the boulevard de jodigne. some of these were already cold, but others sent up steady, straight columns of flame. in others at the third and fourth stories the window curtains still hung, flowers still filled the window-boxes, while on the first floor the torch had just passed and the flames were leaping. fire had destroyed the electric plant, but at times the flames made the station so light that you could see the second-hand of your watch, and again all was darkness, lit only by candles. you could tell when an officer passed by the electric torch he carried strapped to his chest. in the darkness the gray uniforms filled the station with an army of ghosts. you distinguished men only when pipes hanging from their teeth glowed red or their bayonets flashed. outside the station in the public square the people of louvain passed in an unending procession, women bareheaded, weeping, men carrying the children asleep on their shoulders, all hemmed in by the shadowy army of gray wolves. once they were halted, and among them were marched a line of men. these were on their way to be shot. and, better to point the moral, an officer halted both processions and, climbing to a cart, explained why the men were to die. he warned others not to bring down upon themselves a like vengeance. as those being led to spend the night in the fields looked across to those marked for death they saw old friends, neighbors of long standing, men of their own household. the officer bellowing at them from the cart was illuminated by the headlights of an automobile. he looked like an actor held in a spotlight on a darkened stage. it was all like a scene upon the stage, unreal, inhuman. you felt it could not be true. you felt that the curtain of fire, purring and crackling and sending up hot sparks to meet the kind, calm stars, was only a painted backdrop; that the reports of rifles from the dark ruins came from blank cartridges, and that these trembling shopkeepers and peasants ringed in bayonets would not in a few minutes really die, but that they themselves and their homes would be restored to their wives and children. you felt it was only a nightmare, cruel and uncivilized. and then you remembered that the german emperor has told us what it is. it is his holy war. chapter iv paris in war time those who, when the germans approached, fled from paris, described it as a city doomed, as a waste place, desolate as a graveyard. those who run away always are alarmists. they are on the defensive. they must explain why they ran away. early in september paris was like a summer hotel out of season. the owners had temporarily closed it; the windows were barred, the furniture and paintings draped in linen, a caretaker and a night- watchman were in possession. it is an old saying that all good americans go to paris when they die. most of them take no chances and prefer to visit it while they are alive. before this war, if the visitor was disappointed, it was the fault of the visitor, not of paris. she was all things to all men. to some she offered triumphal arches, statues, paintings; to others by day racing, and by night maxims and the rat mort. some loved her for the book- stalls along the seine and ateliers of the latin quarter; some for her parks, forests, gardens, and boulevards; some because of the luxembourg; some only as a place where everybody was smiling, happy, and polite, where they were never bored, where they were always young, where the lights never went out and there was no early call. should they to-day revisit her they would find her grown grave and decorous, and going to bed at sundown, but still smiling bravely, still polite. you cannot wipe out paris by removing two million people and closing cartier's and the café de paris. there still remains some hundred miles of boulevards, the seine and her bridges, the arc de triomphe, with the sun setting behind it, and the gardens of the tuilleries. you cannot send them to the store-house or wrap them in linen. and the spirit of the people of paris you cannot crush nor stampede. between paris in peace and paris to-day the most striking difference is lack of population. idle rich, the employees of the government, and tourists of all countries are missing. they leave a great emptiness. when you walk the streets you feel either that you are up very early, before any one is awake, or that you are in a boom town from which the boom has departed. on almost every one of the noted shops "fermé" is written, or it has been turned over to the use of the red cross. of the smaller shops those that remain open are chiefly bakeshops and chemists, but no man need go naked or hungry; in every block he will find at least one place where he can be clothed and fed. but the theatres are all closed. no one is in a mood to laugh, and certainly no one wishes to consider anything more serious than the present crisis. so there are no revues, operas, or comedies. the thing you missed perhaps most were the children in the avenue des champs elysées. for generations over that part of the public garden the children have held sway. they knew it belonged to them, and into the gravel walks drove their tin spades with the same sense of ownership as at deauville they dig up the shore. their straw hats and bare legs, their normandy nurses, with enormous head-dresses, blue for a boy and pink for a girl, were, of the sights of paris, one of the most familiar. and when the children vanished they left a dreary wilderness. you could look for a mile, from the place de la concorde to the arc de triomphe, and not see a child. the stalls, where they bought hoops and skipping-ropes, the flying wooden horses, punch- and-judy shows, booths where with milk they refreshed themselves and with bonbons made themselves ill, all were deserted and boarded up. the closing down of the majority of the shops and hotels was not due to a desire on the part of those employed in them to avoid the germans, but to get at the germans. on shop after shop are signs reading: "the proprietor and staff are with the colors," or "the personnel of this establishment is mobilized," or "monsieur------informs his clients that he is with his regiment." in the absence of men at the front, frenchwomen, at all times capable and excellent managers, have surpassed themselves. in my hotel there were employed seven women and one man. in another hotel i visited the entire staff was composed of women. an american banker offered his twenty-two polo ponies to the government. they were refused as not heavy enough. he did not know that, and supposed he had lost them. later he learned from the wife of his trainer, a frenchwoman, that those employed in his stables at versailles who had not gone to the front at the approach of the germans had fled, and that for three weeks his string of twenty-two horses had been fed, groomed, and exercised by the trainer's wife and her two little girls. to an american it was very gratifying to hear the praise of the french and english for the american ambulance at neuilly. it is the outgrowth of the american hospital, and at the start of this war was organized by mrs. herrick, wife of our ambassador, and other ladies of the american colony in paris, and the american doctors. they took over the lycée pasteur, an enormous school at neuilly, that had just been finished and never occupied, and converted it into what is a most splendidly equipped hospital. in walking over the building you find it hard to believe that it was intended for any other than its present use. the operating rooms, kitchens, wards, rooms for operating by roentgen rays, and even a chapel have been installed. the organization and system are of the highest order. every one in it is american. the doctors are the best in paris. the nurses and orderlies are both especially trained for the work and volunteers. the spirit of helpfulness and unselfishness is everywhere apparent. certain members of the american colony, who never in their lives thought of any one save themselves, and of how to escape boredom, are toiling like chambermaids and hall porters, performing most disagreeable tasks, not for a few hours a week, but unceasingly, day after day. no task is too heavy for them or too squalid. they help all alike--germans, english, major-generals, and black turcos. there are three hundred patients. the staff of the hospital numbers one hundred and fifty. it is composed of the best-known american doctors in paris and a few from new york. among the volunteer nurses and attendants are wives of bankers in paris, american girls who have married french titles, and girls who since the war came have lost employment as teachers of languages, stenographers, and governesses. the men are members of the jockey club, art students, medical students, clerks, and boulevardiers. they are all working together in most admirable harmony and under an organization that in its efficiency far surpasses that of any other hospital in paris. later it is going to split the american colony in twain. if you did not work in the american ambulance you won't belong. attached to the hospital is a squadron of automobile ambulances, ten of which were presented by the ford company and ten purchased. their chassis have been covered with khaki hoods and fitted to carry two wounded men and attendants. on their runs they are accompanied by automobiles with medical supplies, tires, and gasolene. the ambulances scout at the rear of the battle line and carry back those which the field-hospitals cannot handle. one day i watched the orderlies who accompany these ambulances handling about forty english wounded, transferring them from the automobiles to the reception hall, and the smartness and intelligence with which the members of each crew worked together was like that of a champion polo team. the editor of a london paper, who was in paris investigating english hospital conditions, witnessed the same performance, and told me that in handling the wounded it surpassed in efficiency anything he had seen. chapter v the battle of soissons the struggle for the possession of soissons lasted two days. the second day's battle, which i witnessed, ended with the city in the possession of the french. it was part of the seven days' of continuous fighting that began on september th at meaux. then the german left wing, consisting of the army of general von kluck, was at claye, within fifteen miles of paris. but the french and english, instead of meeting the advance with a defence, themselves attacked. steadily, at the rate of ten miles a day, they drove the germans back across the aisne and the marne, and so saved the city. when this retrograde movement of the germans began, those who could not see the nature of the fighting believed that the german line of communication, the one from aix-la-chapelle through belgium, had proved too long, and that the left wing was voluntarily withdrawing to meet the new line of communication through luxembourg. but the fields of battle beyond meaux, through which it was necessary to pass to reach the fight at sois-sons, showed no evidence of leisurely withdrawal. on both sides there were evidences of the most desperate fighting and of artillery fire that was wide-spread and desolating. that of the germans, intended to destroy the road from meaux and to cover their retreat, showed marksmanship so accurate and execution so terrible as, while it lasted, to render pursuit impossible. the battle-field stretched from the hills three miles north of meaux for four miles along the road and a mile to either side. the road is lined with poplars three feet across and as high as a five-story building. for the four miles the road was piled with branches of these trees. the trees themselves were split as by lightning, or torn in half, as with your hands you could tear apart a loaf of bread. through some, solid shell had passed, leaving clean holes. others looked as though drunken woodsmen with axes from roots to topmost branches had slashed them in crazy fury. some shells had broken the trunks in half as a hurricane snaps a mast. that no human being could survive such a bombardment were many grewsome proofs. in one place for a mile the road was lined with those wicker baskets in which the germans carry their ammunition. these were filled with shells, unexploded, and behind the trenches were hundreds more of these baskets, some for the shells of the siege-guns, as large as lobster-pots or umbrella-stands, and others, each with three compartments, for shrapnel. in gutters along the road and in the wheat-fields these brass shells flashed in the sunshine like tiny mirrors. the four miles of countryside over which for four days both armies had ploughed the earth with these shells was the picture of complete desolation. the rout of the german army was marked by knapsacks, uniforms, and accoutrements scattered over the fields on either hand as far as you could see. red cross flags hanging from bushes showed where there had been dressing stations. under them were blood-stains, bandages and clothing, and boots piled in heaps as high as a man's chest, and the bodies of those german soldiers that the first aid had failed to save. after death the body is mercifully robbed of its human aspect. you are spared the thought that what is lying in the trenches among the shattered trees and in the wheat-fields staring up at the sky was once a man. it appears to be only a bundle of clothes, a scarecrow that has tumbled among the grain it once protected. but it gives a terrible meaning to the word "missing." when you read in the reports from the war office that five thousand are "missing," you like to think of them safely cared for in a hospital or dragging out the period of the war as prisoners. but the real missing are the unidentified dead. in time some peasant will bury them, but he will not understand the purpose of the medal each wears around his neck. and so, with the dead man will be buried his name and the number of his regiment. no one will know where he fell or where he lies. some one will always hope that he will return. for, among the dead his name did not appear. he was reported "missing." the utter wastefulness of war was seldom more clearly shown. carcasses of horses lined the road. some few of these had been killed by shell-fire. others, worn out and emaciated, and bearing the brand of the german army, had been mercifully destroyed; but the greater number of them were the farm horses of peasants, still wearing their head-stalls or the harness of the plough. that they might not aid the enemy as remounts, the germans in their retreat had shot them. i saw four and five together in the yards of stables, the bullet-hole of an automatic in the head of each. others lay beside the market cart, others by the canal, where they had sought water. less pitiful, but still evidencing the wastefulness of war, were the motor-trucks, and automobiles that in the flight had been abandoned. for twenty miles these automobiles were scattered along the road. there were so many one stopped counting them. added to their loss were two shattered german airships. one i saw twenty-six kilometres outside of meaux and one at bouneville. as they fell they had buried their motors deep in the soft earth and their wings were twisted wrecks of silk and steel. all the fields through which the army passed had become waste land. shells had re-ploughed them. horses and men had camped in them. the haystacks, gathered by the sweat of the brow and patiently set in trim rows were trampled in the mud and scattered to the winds. all the smaller villages through which i passed were empty of people, and since the day before, when the germans occupied them, none of the inhabitants had returned. these villages were just as the germans had left them. the streets were piled with grain on which the soldiers had slept, and on the sidewalks in front of the better class of houses tables around which the officers had eaten still remained, the bottles half empty, the food half eaten. in a château beyond neufchelles the doors and windows were open and lace curtains were blowing in the breeze. from the garden you could see paintings on the walls, books on the tables. outside, on the lawn, surrounded by old and charming gardens, apparently the general and his staff had prepared to dine. the table was set for a dozen, and on it were candles in silver sticks, many bottles of red and white wine, champagne, liqueurs, and coffee-cups of the finest china. from their banquet some alarm had summoned the officers. the place was as they had left it, the coffee untasted, the candles burned to the candlesticks, and red stains on the cloth where the burgundy had spilled. in the bright sunlight, and surrounded by flowers, the deserted table and the silent, stately château seemed like the sleeping palace of the fairy-tale. though the humor of troops retreating is an ugly one, i saw no outrages such as i saw in belgium. except in the villages of neuf- chelles and varreddes, there was no sign of looting or wanton destruction. but in those two villages the interior of every home and shop was completely wrecked. in the other villages the destruction was such as is permitted by the usages of war, such as the blowing up of bridges, the burning of the railroad station, and the cutting of telegraph-wires. not until bouneville, thirty kilometres beyond meaux, did i catch up with the allies. there i met some english tommies who were trying to find their column. they had no knowledge of the french language, or where they were, or where their regiment was, but were quite confident of finding it, and were as cheerful as at man�uvres. outside of chaudun the road was blocked with tirailleurs, algerians in light-blue zouave uniforms, and native turcos from morocco in khaki, with khaki turbans. they shivered in the autumn sunshine, and were wrapped in burnooses of black and white. they were making a turning movement to attack the german right, and were being hurried forward. they had just driven the german rear-guard out of chaudun, and said that the fighting was still going on at soissons. but the only sign i saw of it were two turcos who had followed the germans too far. they lay sprawling in the road, and had so lately fallen that their rifles still lay under them. three miles farther i came upon the advance line of the french army, and for the remainder of the day watched a most remarkable artillery duel, which ended with soissons in the hands of the allies. soissons is a pretty town of four thousand inhabitants. it is chiefly known for its haricot beans, and since the romans held it under caesar it has been besieged many times. until to-day the germans had held it for two weeks. in they bombarded it for four days, and there is, or was, in soissons, in the place de la république, a monument to those citizens of soissons whom after that siege the germans shot. the town lies in the valley of the river aisne, which is formed by two long ridges running south and north. the germans occupied the hills to the south, but when attacked offered only slight resistance and withdrew to the hills opposite. in soissons they left a rear-guard to protect their supplies, who were destroying all bridges leading into the town. at the time i arrived a force of turcos had been ordered forward to clean soissons of the germans, and the french artillery was endeavoring to disclose their positions on the hills. the loss of the bridges did not embarrass the black men. in rowboats they crossed to soissons and were warmly greeted. soissons was drawing no color-line. the turcos were followed by engineers, who endeavored to repair one bridge and in consequence were heavily shelled with shrapnel, while, with the intent to destroy the road and retard the french advance, the hills where the french had halted were being pounded by german siege-guns. this was at a point four kilometres from chaudun, between the villages of breuil and courtelles. from this height you could see almost to compiègne, and thirty miles in front in the direction of saint- quentin. it was a panorama of wooded hills, gray villages in fields of yellow grain, miles of poplars marking the roads, and below us the flashing waters of the aisne and the canal, with at our feet the steeples of the cathedral of soissons and the gate to the old abbey of thomas à becket. across these steeples the shells sang, and on both sides of the aisne valley the artillery was engaged. the wind was blowing forty knots, which prevented the use of the french aeroplanes, but it cleared the air, and, helped by brilliant sunshine, it was possible to follow the smoke of the battle for fifteen miles. the wind was blowing toward our right, where we were told were the english, and though as their shrapnel burst we could see the flash of guns and rings of smoke, the report of the guns did not reach us. it gave the curious impression of a bombardment conducted in utter silence. from our left the wind carried the sounds clearly. the jar and roar of the cannon were insistent, and on both sides of the valley the hilltops were wrapped with white clouds. back of us in the wheat-fields shells were setting fire to the giant haystacks and piles of grain, which in the clear sunshine burned a blatant red. at times shells would strike in the villages of breuil and vauxbain, and houses would burst into flames, the gale fanning the fire to great height and hiding the village in smoke. some three hundred yards ahead of us the shells of german siege-guns were trying to destroy the road, which the poplars clearly betrayed. but their practice was at fault, and the shells fell only on either side. when they struck they burst with a roar, casting up black fumes and digging a grave twenty yards in circumference. but the french soldiers disregarded them entirely. in the trenches which the germans had made and abandoned they hid from the wind and slept peacefully. others slept in the lee of the haystacks, their red breeches and blue coats making wonderful splashes of color against the yellow grain. for seven days these same men had been fighting without pause, and battles bore them. late in the afternoon, all along the fifteen miles of battle, firing ceased, for the germans were falling back, and once more soissons, freed of them as fifteen hundred years ago she had freed herself of the romans, held out her arms to the allies. chapter vi the bombardment of rheims in several ways the city of rheims is celebrated. some know her only through her cathedral, where were crowned all but six of the kings of france, and where the stained-glass windows, with those in the cathedrals of chartres and burgos, spain, are the most beautiful in all the world. children know rheims through the wicked magpie which the archbishop excommunicated, and to their elders, if they are rich, rheims is the place from which comes all their champagne. on september th the germans entered rheims, and occupied it until the th, when they retreated across the vesle to the hills north of the city. on the th the french forces, having entered rheims, the germans bombarded the city with field-guns and howitzers. rheims is fifty-six miles from paris, but, though i started at an early hour, so many bridges had been destroyed that i did not reach the city until three o'clock in the afternoon. at that hour the french artillery, to the east at nogent and immediately outside the northern edge of the town, were firing on the german positions, and the germans were replying, their shells falling in the heart of the city. the proportion of those that struck the cathedral or houses within a hundred yards of it to those falling on other buildings was about six to one. so what damage the cathedral suffered was from blows delivered not by accident but with intent. as the priests put it, firing on the church was "exprès." the cathedral dominates not only the city but the countryside. it rises from the plain as gibraltar rises from the sea, as the pyramids rise from the desert. and at a distance of six miles, as you approach from paris along the valley of the marne, it has more the appearance of a fortress than a church. but when you stand in the square beneath and look up, it is entirely ecclesiastic, of noble and magnificent proportions, in design inspired, much too sublime for the kings it has crowned, and almost worthy of the king in whose honor, seven hundred years ago, it was reared. it has been called "perhaps the most beautiful structure produced in the middle ages." on the west façade, rising tier upon tier, are five hundred and sixty statues and carvings. the statues are of angels, martyrs, patriarchs, apostles, the vices and virtues, the virgin and child. in the centre of these is the famous rose window; on either side giant towers. at my feet down the steps leading to the three portals were pools of blood. there was a priest in the square, a young man with white hair and with a face as strong as one of those of the saints carved in stone, and as gentle. he was curé doyen of the church of st. jacques, m. chanoine frezet, and he explained the pools of blood. after the germans retreated, the priests had carried the german wounded up the steps into the nave of the cathedral and for them had spread straw upon the stone flagging. the curé guided me to the side door, unlocked it, and led the way into the cathedral. it is built in the form of a crucifix, and so vast is the edifice that many chapels are lost in it, and the lower half is in a shadow. but from high above the stained windows of the thirteenth century, or what was left of them, was cast a glow so gorgeous, so wonderful, so pure that it seemed to come direct from the other world. from north and south the windows shed a radiance of deep blue, like the blue of the sky by moonlight on the coldest night of winter, and from the west the great rose window glowed with the warmth and beauty of a thousand rubies. beneath it, bathed in crimson light, where for generations french men and women have knelt in prayer, where joan of arc helped place the crown on charles vii, was piled three feet of dirty straw, and on the straw were gray-coated germans, covered with the mud of the fields, caked with blood, white and haggard from the loss of it, from the lack of sleep, rest, and food. the entire west end of the cathedral looked like a stable, and in the blue and purple rays from the gorgeous windows the wounded were as unreal as ghosts. already two of them had passed into the world of ghosts. they had not died from their wounds, but from a shell sent by their own people. it had come screaming into this backwater of war, and, tearing out leaded window-panes as you would destroy cobwebs, had burst among those who already had paid the penalty. and so two of them, done with pack-drill, goose-step, half rations and forced marches, lay under the straw the priests had heaped upon them. the toes of their boots were pointed grotesquely upward. their gray hands were clasped rigidly as though in prayer. half hidden in the straw, the others were as silent and almost as still. since they had been dropped upon the stone floor they had not moved, but lay in twisted, unnatural attitudes. only their eyes showed that they lived. these were turned beseechingly upon the french red cross doctors, kneeling waist-high in the straw and unreeling long white bandages. the wounded watched them drawing slowly nearer, until they came, fighting off death, clinging to life as shipwrecked sailors cling to a raft and watch the boats pulling toward them. a young german officer, his smart cavalry cloak torn and slashed, and filthy with dried mud and blood and with his eyes in bandages, groped toward a pail of water, feeling his way with his foot, his arms outstretched, clutching the air. to guide him a priest took his arm, and the officer turned and stumbled against him. thinking the priest was one of his own men, he swore at him, and then, to learn if he wore shoulder-straps, ran his fingers over the priest's shoulders, and, finding a silk cassock, said quickly in french: "pardon me, my father; i am blind." as the young curé guided me through the wrecked cathedral his indignation and his fear of being unjust waged a fine battle. "every summer," he said, "thousands of your fellow countrymen visit the cathedral. they come again and again. they love these beautiful windows. they will not permit them to be destroyed. will you tell them what you saw?" it is no pleasure to tell what i saw. shells had torn out some of the windows, the entire sash, glass, and stone frame--all was gone; only a jagged hole was left. on the floor lay broken carvings, pieces of stone from flying buttresses outside that had been hurled through the embrasures, tangled masses of leaden window-sashes, like twisted coils of barbed wire, and great brass candelabra. the steel ropes that supported them had been shot away, and they had plunged to the flagging below, carrying with them their scarlet silk tassels heavy with the dust of centuries. and everywhere was broken glass. not one of the famous blue windows was intact. none had been totally destroyed, but each had been shattered, and through the apertures the sun blazed blatantly. we walked upon glass more precious than precious stones. it was beyond price. no one can replace it. seven hundred years ago the secret of the glass died. diamonds can be bought anywhere, pearls can be matched, but not the stained glass of rheims. and under our feet, with straw and caked blood, it lay crushed into tiny fragments. when you held a piece of it between your eye and the sun it glowed with a light that never was on land or sea. war is only waste. the german emperor thinks it is thousands of men in flashing breastplates at manoeuvres, galloping past him, shouting "hoch der kaiser!" until this year that is all of war he has ever seen. i have seen a lot of it, and real war is his high-born officer with his eyes shot out, his peasant soldiers with their toes sticking stiffly through the straw, and the windows of rheims, that for centuries with their beauty glorified the lord, swept into a dust heap. outside the cathedral i found the bombardment of the city was still going forward and that the french batteries to the north and east were answering gun for gun. how people will act under unusual conditions no one can guess. many of the citizens of rheims were abandoning their homes and running through the streets leading west, trembling, weeping, incoherent with terror, carrying nothing with them. others were continuing the routine of life with anxious faces but making no other sign. the great majority had moved to the west of the city to the paris gate, and for miles lined the road, but had taken little or nothing with them, apparently intending to return at nightfall. they were all of the poorer class. the houses of the rich were closed, as were all the shops, except a few cafés and those that offered for sale bread, meat, and medicine. during the morning the bombardment destroyed many houses. one to each block was the average, except around the cathedral, where two hotels that face it and the palace of justice had been pounded but not destroyed. other shops and residences facing the cathedral had been ripped open from roof to cellar. in one a fire was burning briskly, and firemen were playing on it with hose. i was their only audience. a sight that at other times would have collected half of rheims and blocked traffic, in the excitement of the bombardment failed to attract. the germans were using howitzers. where shells hit in the street they tore up the belgian blocks for a radius of five yards, and made a hole as though a water-main had burst. when they hit a house, that house had to be rebuilt. before they struck it was possible to follow the direction of the shells by the sound. it was like the jangling of many telegraph-wires. a hundred yards north of the cathedral i saw a house hit at the third story. the roof was of gray slate, high and sloping, with tall chimneys. when the shell exploded the roof and chimneys disappeared. you did not see them sink and tumble; they merely vanished. they had been a part of the sky-line of rheims; then a shell removed them and another roof fifteen feet lower down became the sky-line. i walked to the edge of the city, to the northeast, but at the outskirts all the streets were barricaded with carts and paving-stones, and when i wanted to pass forward to the french batteries the officers in charge of the barricades refused permission. at this end of the town, held in reserve in case of a german advance, the streets were packed with infantry. the men were going from shop to shop trying to find one the germans had not emptied. tobacco was what they sought. they told me they had been all the way to belgium and back, but i never have seen men more fit. where germans are haggard and show need of food and sleep, the french were hard and moved quickly and were smiling. one reason for this is that even if the commissariat is slow they are fed by their own people, and when in belgium by the allies. but when the germans pass the people hide everything eatable and bolt the doors. and so, when the german supply wagons fail to come up the men starve. i went in search of the american consul, william bardel. everybody seemed to know him, and all men spoke well of him. they liked him because he stuck to his post, but the mayor had sent for him, and i could find neither him nor the mayor. when i left the cathedral i had told my chauffeur to wait near by it, not believing the germans would continue to make it their point of attack. he waited until two houses within a hundred yards of him were knocked down, and then went away from there, leaving word with the sentry that i could find him outside the gate to paris. when i found him he was well outside and refused to return, saying he would sleep in his car. on the way back i met a steady stream of women and old men fleeing before the shells. their state was very pitiful. some of them seemed quite dazed with fear and ran, dodging, from one sidewalk to the other, and as shells burst above them prayed aloud and crossed themselves. others were busy behind the counters of their shops serving customers, and others stood in doorways holding in their hands their knitting. frenchwomen of a certain class always knit. if they were waiting to be electrocuted they would continue knitting. the bombardment had grown sharper and the rumble of guns was uninterrupted, growling like thunder after a summer storm or as the shells passed shrieking and then bursting with jarring detonations. underfoot the pavements were inch-deep with fallen glass, and as you walked it tinkled musically. with inborn sense of order, some of the housewives abandoned their knitting and calmly swept up the glass into neat piles. habit is often so much stronger than fear. so is curiosity. all the boys and many young men and maidens were in the middle of the street watching to see where the shells struck and on the lookout for aeroplanes. when about five o'clock one sailed over the city, no one knew whether it was german or french, but every one followed it, apparently intending if it launched a bomb to be in at the death. i found all the hotels closed and on their doors i pounded in vain, and was planning to go back to my car when i stumbled upon the hôtel du nord. it was open and the proprietress, who was knitting, told me the table-d'hôte dinner was ready. not wishing to miss dinner, i halted an aged citizen who was fleeing from the city and asked him to carry a note to the american consul inviting him to dine. but the aged man said the consulate was close to where the shells were falling and that to approach it was as much as his life was worth. i asked him how much his life was worth in money, and he said two francs. he did not find the consul, and i shared the table d'hôte with three tearful old french ladies, each of whom had husband or son at the front. that would seem to have been enough without being shelled at home. it is a commonplace, but it is nevertheless true that in war it is the women who suffer. the proprietress walked around the table, still knitting, and told us tales of german officers who until the day before had occupied her hotel, and her anecdotes were not intended to make german officers popular. the bombardment ceased at eight o'clock, but at four the next morning it woke me, and as i departed for paris salvoes of french artillery were returning the german fire. before leaving i revisited the cathedral to see if during the night it had been further mutilated. around it shells were still falling, and the square in front was deserted. in the rain the roofless houses, shattered windows, and broken carvings that littered the street presented a picture of melancholy and useless desolation. around three sides of the square not a building was intact. but facing the wreckage the bronze statue of joan of arc sat on her bronze charger, uninjured and untouched. in her right hand, lifted high above her as though defying the german shells, some one overnight had lashed the flag of france. the next morning the newspapers announced that the cathedral was in flames, and i returned to rheims. the papers also gave the two official excuses offered by the germans for the destruction of the church. one was that the french batteries were so placed that in replying to them it was impossible to avoid shelling the city. i know where the french batteries were, and if the german guns aimed at them by error missed them and hit the cathedral, the german marksmanship is deteriorating. to find the range the artillery sends what in the american army are called brace shots--one aimed at a point beyond the mark and one short of it. from the explosions of these two shells the gunner is able to determine how far he is off the target and accordingly regulates his sights. not more, at the most, than three of these experimental brace shots should be necessary, and, as one of each brace is purposely aimed to fall short of the target, only three german shells, or, as there were two french positions, six german shells should have fallen beyond the batteries and into the city. and yet for four days the city was bombarded! to make sure, i asked french, english, and american army officers what margin of error they thought excusable after the range was determined. they all agreed that after his range was found an artillery officer who missed it by from fifty to one hundred yards ought to be court-martialled. the germans "missed" by one mile. the other excuse given by the germans for the destruction of the cathedral was that the towers had been used by the french for military purposes. on arriving at rheims the question i first asked was whether this was true. the abbé chinot, curé of the chapel of the cathedral, assured me most solemnly and earnestly it was not. the french and the german staffs, he said, had mutually agreed that on the towers of the cathedral no quick-firing guns should be placed, and by both sides this agreement was observed. after entering rheims the french, to protect the innocent citizens against bombs dropped by german air-ships, for two nights placed a search-light on the towers, but, fearing this might be considered a breach of agreement as to the mitrailleuses, the abbé chinot ordered the search-light withdrawn. five days later, during which time the towers were not occupied and the cathedral had been converted into a hospital for the german wounded and red cross flags were hanging from both towers, the germans opened fire upon it. had it been the search-light to which the germans objected, they would have fired upon it when it was in evidence, not five days after it had disappeared. when, with the abbé chinot, i spent the day in what is left of the cathedral, the germans still were shelling it. two shells fell within twenty-five yards of us. it was at that time that the photographs that illustrate this chapter were taken. the fire started in this way. for some months the northeast tower of the cathedral had been under repair and surrounded by scaffolding. on september th a shell set fire to the outer roof of the cathedral, which is of lead and oak. the fire spread to the scaffolding and from the scaffolding to the wooden beams of the portals, hundred of years old. the abbé chinot, young/alert, and daring, ran out upon the scaffolding and tried to cut the cords that bound it. in other parts of the city the fire department was engaged with fire lit by the bombardment, and unaided, the flames gained upon him. seeing this, he called for volunteers, and, under the direction of the archbishop of rheims, they carried on stretchers from the burning building the wounded germans. the rescuing parties were not a minute too soon. already from the roofs molten lead, as deadly as bullets, was falling among the wounded. the blazing doors had turned the straw on which they lay into a prairie fire. splashed by the molten lead and threatened by falling timbers, the priests, at the risk of their lives and limbs, carried out the wounded germans, sixty in all. but, after bearing them to safety, their charges were confronted with a new danger. inflamed by the sight of their own dead, four hundred citizens having been killed by the bombardment, and by the loss of their cathedral, the people of rheims who were gathered about the burning building called for the lives of the german prisoners. "they are barbarians," they cried. "kill them!" archbishop landreaux and abbé chinot placed themselves in front of the wounded. "before you kill them," they cried, "you must first kill us." this is not highly colored fiction, but fact. it is more than fact. it is history, for the picture of the venerable archbishop, with his cathedral blazing behind him, facing a mob of his own people in defence of their enemies, will always live in the annals of this war and in the annals of the church. there were other features of this fire and bombardment which the catholic church will not allow to be forgotten. the leaden roofs were destroyed, the oak timbers that for several hundred years had supported them were destroyed, stone statues and flying buttresses weighing many tons were smashed into atoms, but not a single crucifix was touched, not one waxen or wooden image of the virgin disturbed, not one painting of the holy family marred. i saw the gobelin tapestries, more precious than spun gold, intact, while sparks fell about them, and lying beneath them were iron bolts twisted by fire, broken rooftrees and beams still smouldering. but the special providence that saved the altars was not omnipotent. the windows that were the glory of the cathedral were wrecked. through some the shells had passed, others the explosions had blown into tiny fragments. where, on my first visit, i saw in the stained glass gaping holes, now the whole window had been torn from the walls. statues of saints and crusader and cherubim lay in mangled fragments. the great bells, each of which is as large as the liberty bell in philadelphia, that for hundreds of years for rheims have sounded the angelus, were torn from their oak girders and melted into black masses of silver and copper, without shape and without sound. never have i looked upon a picture of such pathos, of such wanton and wicked destruction. the towers still stand, the walls still stand, for beneath the roofs of lead the roof of stone remained, but what is intact is a pitiful, distorted mass where once were exquisite and noble features. it is like the face of a beautiful saint scarred with vitriol. two days before, when i walked through the cathedral, the scene was the same as when kings were crowned. you stood where joan of arc received the homage of france. when i returned i walked upon charred ashes, broken stone, and shattered glass. where once the light was dim and holy, now through great breaches in the walls rain splashed. the spirit of the place was gone. outside the cathedral, in the direction from which the shells came, for three city blocks every house was destroyed. the palace of the archbishop was gutted, the chapel and the robing-room of the kings were cellars filled with rubbish. of them only crumbling walls remain. and on the south and west the façades of the cathedral and flying buttresses and statues of kings, angels, and saints were mangled and shapeless. i walked over the district that had been destroyed by these accidental shots, and it stretched from the northeastern outskirts of rheims in a straight line to the cathedral. shells that fell short of the cathedral for a quarter of a mile destroyed entirely three city blocks. the heart of this district is the place godinot. in every direction at a distance of a mile from the place godinot i passed houses wrecked by shells --south at the paris gate, north at the railroad station. there is no part of rheims that these shells the germans claim were aimed at french batteries did not hit. if rheims accepts the german excuse she might suggest to them that the next time they bombard, if they aim at the city they may hit the batteries. the germans claim also that the damage done was from fires, not shells. but that is not the case; destruction by fire was slight. houses wrecked by shells where there was no fire outnumbered those that were burned ten to one. in no house was there probably any other fire than that in the kitchen stove, and that had been smothered by falling masonry and tiles. outside the wrecked area were many shops belonging to american firms, but each of them had escaped injury. they were filled with american typewriters, sewing-machines, and cameras. a number of cafés bearing the sign "american bar" testified to the nationality and tastes of many tourists. i found our consul, william bardel, at the consulate. he is a fine type of the german-american citizen, and, since the war began, with his wife and son has held the fort and tactfully looked after the interests of both americans and germans. on both sides of him shells had damaged the houses immediately adjoining. the one across the street had been destroyed and two neighbors killed. the street in front of the consulate is a mass of fallen stone, and the morning i called on mr. bardel a shell had hit his neighbor's chestnut- tree, filled his garden with chestnut burrs, and blown out the glass of his windows. he was patching the holes with brown wrapping-paper, but was chiefly concerned because in his own garden the dahlias were broken. during the first part of the bombardment, when firing became too hot for him, he had retreated with his family to the corner of the street, where are the cellars of the roderers, the champagne people. there are worse places in which to hide in than a champagne cellar. mr. bardel has lived six years in rheims and estimated the damage done to property by shells at thirty millions of dollars, and said that unless the seat of military operations was removed the champagne crop for this year would be entirely wasted. it promised to be an especially good year. the seasons were propitious, being dry when sun was needed and wet when rain was needed, but unless the grapes were gathered by the end of september the crops would be lost. of interest to broadway is the fact that in rheims, or rather in her cellars, are stored nearly fifty million bottles of champagne belonging to six of the best-known houses. should shells reach these bottles, the high price of living in the lobster palaces will be proportionately increased. except for red cross volunteers seeking among the ruins for wounded, i found that part of the city that had suffered completely deserted. shells still were falling and houses as yet intact, and those partly destroyed were empty. you saw pitiful attempts to save the pieces. in places, as though evictions were going forward, chairs, pictures, cooking-pans, bedding were piled in heaps. there was none to guard them; certainly there was no one so unfeeling as to disturb them. i saw neither looting nor any effort to guard against it. in their common danger and horror the citizens of rheims of all classes seemed drawn closely together. the manner of all was subdued and gentle, like those who stand at an open grave. the shells played the most inconceivable pranks. in some streets the houses and shops along one side were entirely wiped out and on the other untouched. in the rue du cardinal du lorraine every house was gone. where they once stood were cellars filled with powdered stone. tall chimneys that one would have thought a strong wind might dislodge were holding themselves erect, while the surrounding walls, three feet thick, had been crumpled into rubbish. in some houses a shell had removed one room only, and as neatly as though it were the work of masons and carpenters. it was as though the shell had a grievance against the lodger in that particular room. the waste was appalling. among the ruins i saw good paintings in rags and in gardens statues covered with the moss of centuries smashed. in many places, still on the pedestal, you would see a headless venus, or a flying mercury chopped off at the waist. long streamers of ivy that during a century had crept higher and higher up the wall of some noble mansion, until they were part of it, still clung to it, although it was divided into a thousand fragments. of one house all that was left standing was a slice of the front wall just wide enough to bear a sign reading: "this house is for sale; elegantly furnished." nothing else of that house remained. in some streets of the destroyed area i met not one living person. the noise made by my feet kicking the broken glass was the only sound. the silence, the gaping holes in the sidewalk, the ghastly tributes to the power of the shells, and the complete desolation, made more desolate by the bright sunshine, gave you a curious feeling that the end of the world had come and you were the only survivor. this-impression was aided by the sight of many rare and valuable articles with no one guarding them. they were things of price that one may not carry into the next world but which in this are kept under lock and key. in the rue de l'université, at my leisure, i could have ransacked shop after shop or from the shattered drawing-rooms filled my pockets. shopkeepers had gone without waiting to lock their doors, and in houses the fronts of which were down you could see that, in order to save their lives, the inmates had fled at a moment's warning. in one street a high wall extended an entire block, but in the centre a howitzer shell had made a breach as large as a barn door. through this i had a view of an old and beautiful garden, on which oasis nothing had been disturbed. hanging from the walls, on diamond- shaped lattices, roses were still in bloom, and along the gravel walks flowers of every color raised their petals to the sunshine. on the terrace was spread a tea-service of silver and on the grass were children's toys--hoops, tennis-balls, and flat on its back, staring up wide-eyed at the shells, a large, fashionably dressed doll. in another house everything was destroyed except the mantel over the fireplace in the drawing-room. on this stood a terra-cotta statuette of harlequin. it is one you have often seen. the legs are wide apart, the arms folded, the head thrown back in an ecstasy of laughter. it looked exactly as though it were laughing at the wreckage with which it was surrounded. no one could have placed it where it was after the house fell, for the approach to it was still on fire. of all the fantastic tricks played by the bursting shells it was the most curious. chapter vii the spirit of the english when i left england for home i had just returned from france and had motored many miles in both countries. everywhere in this greatest crisis of the century i found the people of england showing the most undaunted and splendid spirit. to their common enemy they are presenting an unbroken front. the civilian is playing his part just as loyally as the soldier, the women as bravely as the men. they appreciate that not only their own existence is threatened, but the future peace and welfare of the world require that the military party of germany must be wiped out. that is their burden, and with the heroic belgians to inspire them, without a whimper or a whine of self-pity, they are bearing their burden. every one in england is making sacrifices great and small. as long ago as the middle of september it was so cold along the aisne that i have seen the french, sooner than move away from the open fires they had made, risk the falling shells. since then it has grown much colder, and kitchener issued an invitation to the english people to send in what blankets they could spare for the army in the field and in reserve. the idea was to dye the blankets khaki and then turn them over to the supply department. in one week, so eagerly did the people respond to this appeal, kitchener had to publish a card stating that no more blankets were needed. he had received over half a million. the reply to kitchener's appeal for recruits was as prompt and generous. the men came so rapidly that the standard for enlistment was raised. that is, i believe, in the history of warfare without precedent. nations often have lowered their requirements for enlistment, but after war was once well under way to make recruiting more difficult is new. the sacrifices are made by every class. there is no business enterprise of any sort that has not shown itself unselfish. this is true of the greengrocery, the bank, the department store, the cotton exchange. each of these has sent employees to the front, and while they are away is paying their wages and, on the chance of their return, holding their places open. men who are not accepted as recruits are enrolled as special constables. they are those who could not, without facing ruin, neglect their business. they have signed on as policemen, and each night for four hours patrol the posts of the regular bobbies who have gone to the front. the ingenuity shown in finding ways in which to help the army is equalled only by the enthusiasm with which these suggestions are met. just before his death at the front, lord roberts called upon all racing-men, yachtsmen, and big-game shots to send him, for the use of the officers in the field, their field-glasses. the response was amazingly generous. other people gave their pens. the men whose names are best known to you in british literature are at the service of the government and at this moment are writing exclusively for the foreign office. they are engaged in answering the special pleading of the germans and in writing monographs, appeals for recruits, explanations of why england is at war. they do not sign what they write. they are, of course, not paid for what they write. they have their reward in knowing that to direct public opinion fairly will be as effective in bringing this war to a close as is sticking bayonets into uhlans. the stage, as well as literature, has found many ways in which it can serve the army. one theatre is giving all the money taken in at the door to the red cross; all of them admit men in uniform free, or at half price, and a long list of actors have gone to the front. among them are several who are well known in america. robert lorraine has received an officer's commission in the royal flying corps, and guy standing in the navy. the former is reported among the wounded. gerald du maurier has organized a reserve battalion of actors, artists, and musicians. there is not a day passes that the most prominent members of the theatrical world are not giving their services free to benefit performances in aid of belgian refugees, red cross societies, or to some one of the funds under royal patronage. whether their talent is to act or dance, they are using it to help along the army. seymour hicks and edward knoblauch in one week wrote a play called "england expects," which was an appeal in dramatic form for recruits, and each night the play was produced recruits crowded over the footlights. the old sergeants are needed to drill the new material and cannot be spared for recruiting. and so members of parliament and members of the cabinet travel all over the united kingdom--and certainly these days it is united--on that service. even the prime minister and the first lord of the admiralty, winston churchill, work overtime in addressing public meetings and making stirring appeals to the young men. and wherever you go you see the young men by the thousands marching, drilling, going through setting-up exercises. the public parks, golf- links, even private parks like bedford square, are filled with them, and in green park, facing the long beds of geraniums, are lines of cavalry horses and the khaki tents of the troopers. every one is helping. each day the king and queen and princess mary review troops or visit the wounded in some hospital; and the day before sailing, while passing buckingham palace, i watched the young prince of wales change the guard. in a businesslike manner he was listening to the sentries repeat their orders; and in turn a young sergeant, also in a most businesslike manner, was in whispers coaching the boy officer in the proper manner to guard the home of his royal parents. since then the young prince has gone to the front and is fighting for his country. and the king is in france with his soldiers. as the song says, all the heroes do not go to war, and the warriors at the front are not the only ones this war has turned out-of-doors. the number of englishwomen who have left their homes that the red cross may have the use of them for the wounded would fill a long roll of honor. some give an entire house, like mrs. waldorf astor, who has loaned to the wounded cliveden, one of the best-known and most beautiful places on the thames. others can give only a room. but all over england the convalescents have been billeted in private houses and made nobly welcome. even the children of england are helping. the boy scouts, one of the most remarkable developments of this decade, has in this war scored a triumph of organization. this is equally true of the boy scouts in belgium and france. in england military duties of the most serious nature have been intrusted to them. on the east coast they have taken the place of the coast guards, and all over england they are patrolling railroad junctions, guarding bridges, and carrying despatches. even if the young men who are now drilling in the parks and the boy scouts never reach berlin nor cross the channel, the training and sense of responsibility that they are now enjoying are all for their future good. they are coming out of this war better men, not because they have been taught the manual of arms, but in spite of that fact. what they have learned is much more than that. each of them has, for an ideal, whether you call it a flag, or a king, or a geographical position on the map, offered his life, and for that ideal has trained his body and sacrificed his pleasures, and each of them is the better for it. and when peace comes his country will be the richer and the more powerful. chapter viii our diplomats in the war zone when the war broke loose those persons in europe it concerned the least were the most upset about it. they were our fellow countrymen. even to-day, above the roar of shells, the crash of falling walls, forts, forests, cathedrals, above the scream of shrapnel, the sobs of widows and orphans, the cries of the wounded and dying, all over europe, you still can hear the shrieks of the americans calling for their lost suit-cases. for some of the american women caught by the war on the wrong side of the atlantic the situation was serious and distressing. there were thousands of them travelling alone, chaperoned only by a man from cook's or a letter of credit. for years they had been saving to make this trip, and had allowed themselves only sufficient money after the trip was completed to pay the ship's stewards. suddenly they found themselves facing the difficulties of existence in a foreign land without money, friends, or credit. during the first days of mobilization they could not realize on their checks or letters. american bank-notes and bank of england notes were refused. save gold, nothing was of value, and every one who possessed a gold piece, especially if he happened to be a banker, was clinging to it with the desperation of a dope fiend clutching his last pill of cocaine. we can imagine what it was like in europe when we recall the conditions at home. in new york, when i started for the seat of war, three banks in which for years i had kept a modest balance refused me a hundred dollars in gold, or a check, or a letter of credit. they simply put up the shutters and crawled under the bed. so in europe, where there actually was war, the women tourists, with nothing but a worthless letter of credit between them and sleeping in a park, had every reason to be panic-stricken. but to explain the hysteria of the hundred thousand other americans is difficult--so difficult that while they live they will still be explaining. the worst that could have happened to them was temporary discomfort offset by adventures. of those they experienced they have not yet ceased boasting. on august th, one day after england declared war, the american government announced that it would send the tennessee with a cargo of gold. in rome and in paris thomas nelson page and myron t. herrick were assisting every american who applied to them, and committees of americans to care for their fellow countrymen had been organized. all that was asked of the stranded americans was to keep cool and, like true sports, suffer inconvenience. around them were the french and english, facing the greatest tragedy of centuries, and meeting it calmly and with noble self-sacrifice. the men were marching to meet death, and in the streets, shops, and fields the women were taking up the burden the men had dropped. and in the rue scribe and in cockspur street thousands of americans were struggling in panic-stricken groups, bewailing the loss of a hat-box, and protesting at having to return home second-class. their suffering was something terrible. in london, in the ritz and carlton restaurants, american refugees, loaded down with fat pearls and seated at tables loaded with fat food, besought your pity. the imperial suite, which on the fast german liner was always reserved for them, "except when prince henry was using it," was no longer available, and they were subjected to the indignity of returning home on a nine- day boat and in the captain's cabin. it made their blue blood boil; and the thought that their emigrant ancestors had come over in the steerage did not help a bit. the experiences of judge richard william irwin, of the superior court of massachusetts, and his party, as related in the paris herald, were heartrending. on leaving switzerland for france they were forced to carry their own luggage, all the porters apparently having selfishly marched off to die for their country, and the train was not lighted, nor did any one collect their tickets. "we have them yet!" says judge irwin. he makes no complaint, he does not write to the public- service commission about it, but he states the fact. no one came to collect his ticket, and he has it yet. something should be done. merely because france is at war judge irwin should not be condemned to go through life clinging to a first-class ticket. in another interview judge george a. carpenter, of the united states court of chicago, takes a more cheerful view. "i can't see anything for americans to get hysterical about," he says. "they seem to think their little delays and difficulties are more important than all the troubles of europe. for my part, i should think these people would be glad to settle down in paris." a wise judge! for the hysterical americans it was fortunate that in the embassies and consulates of the united states there were fellow country-men who would not allow a war to rattle them. when the representatives of other countries fled our people not only stayed on the job but held down the jobs of those who were forced to move away. at no time in many years have our diplomats and consuls appeared to such advantage. they deserve so much credit that the administration will undoubtedly try to borrow it. mr. bryan will point with pride and say: "these men who bore themselves so well were my appointments." some of them were. but back of them, and coaching them, were first and second secretaries and consuls-general and consuls who had been long in the service and who knew the language, the short cuts, and what ropes to pull. and they had also the assistance of every lost and strayed, past and present american diplomat who, when the war broke, was caught off his base. these were commandeered and put to work, and volunteers of the american colonies were made honorary attachés, and without pay toiled like fifteen-dollar-a-week bookkeepers. in our embassy in paris one of these latter had just finished struggling with two american women. one would not go home by way of england because she would not leave her pomeranian in quarantine, and the other because she could not carry with her twenty-two trunks. they demanded to be sent back from havre on a battle-ship. the volunteer diplomat bowed. "then i must refer you to our naval attaché, on the first floor," he said. "any tickets for battle-ships must come through him." i suggested he was having a hard time. "if we remained in paris," he said, "we all had to help. it was a choice between volunteering to aid mr. herrick at the embassy or mrs. herrick at the american ambulance hospital and tending wounded turcos. but between soothing terrified americans and washing niggers, i'm sorry now i didn't choose the hospital." in paris there were two embassies running overtime; that means from early morning until after midnight, and each with a staff enlarged to six times the usual number. at the residence of mr. herrick, in the rue françois ier, there was an impromptu staff composed chiefly of young american bankers, lawyers, and business men. they were men who inherited, or who earned, incomes of from twenty thousand to fifty thousand a year, and all day, and every day, without pay, and certainly without thanks, they assisted their bewildered, penniless, and homesick fellow countrymen. below them in the cellar was stored part of the two million five hundred thousand dollars voted by congress to assist the stranded americans. it was guarded by quick- firing guns, loaned by the french war office, and by six petty officers from the tennessee. with one of them i had been a shipmate when the utah sailed from vera cruz. i congratulated him on being in paris. "they say paris is some city," he assented, "but all i've seen of it is this courtyard. don't tell anybody, but, on the level, i'd rather be back in vera cruz!" the work of distributing the money was carried on in the chancelleries of the embassy in the rue de chaillot. it was entirely in the hands of american army and navy officers, twenty of whom came over on the warship with assistant secretary of war breckinridge. major spencer cosby, the military attaché of the embassy, was treasurer of the fund, and every application for aid that had not already been investigated by the civilian committee appointed by the ambassador was decided upon by the officers. mr. herrick found them invaluable. he was earnest in their praise. they all wanted to see the fighting; but in other ways they served their country. as a kind of "king's messenger" they were sent to our other embassies, to the french government at bordeaux, and in command of expeditions to round up and convoy back to paris stranded americans in germany and switzerland. their training, their habit of command and of thinking for others, their military titles helped them to success. by the french they were given a free road, and they were not only of great assistance to others, but what they saw of the war and of the french army will be of lasting benefit to themselves. among them were officers of every branch of the army and navy and of the marine and aviation corps. their reports to the war department, if ever they are made public, will be mighty interesting reading. the regular staff of the embassy was occupied not only with americans but with english, germans, and austrians. these latter stood in a long line outside the embassy, herded by gendarmes. that line never seemed to grow less. myron t. herrick, our ambassador, was at the embassy from early in the morning until midnight. he was always smiling, helpful, tactful, optimistic. before the war came he was already popular, and the manner in which he met the dark days, when the germans were within fifteen miles of paris, made him thousands of friends. he never asked any of his staff to work harder than he worked himself, and he never knocked off and called it a day's job before they did. nothing seemed to worry or daunt him; neither the departure of the other diplomats, when the government moved to bordeaux and he was left alone, nor the advancing germans and threatened siege of paris, nor even falling bombs. herrick was as democratic as he was efficient. for his exclusive use there was a magnificent audience-chamber, full of tapestry, ormolu brass, sèvres china, and sunshine. but of its grandeur the ambassador would grow weary, and every quarter-hour he would come out into the hall crowded with waiting english and americans. there, assisted by m. charles, who is as invaluable to our ambassadors to france as are frank and edward hodson to our ambassadors to london, he would hold an impromptu reception. it was interesting to watch the ex-governor of ohio clear that hall and send everybody away smiling. having talked to his ambassador instead of to a secretary, each went off content. in the hall one morning i found a noble lord of high degree chuckling with pleasure. "this is the difference between your ambassadors and ours," he said. "an english ambassador won't let you in to see him; your american ambassador comes out to see you." however true that may be, it was extremely fortunate that when war came we should have had a man at the storm-centre so admirably efficient. our embassy was not embarrassed nor was it greatly helped by the presence in paris of two other american ambassadors: mr. sharp, the ambassador-elect, and mr. robert bacon, the ambassador that was. that at such a crisis these gentlemen should have chosen to come to paris and remain there showed that for an ambassador tact is not absolutely necessary. mr. herrick was exceedingly fortunate in his secretaries, robert woods bliss and arthur h. frazier. their training in the diplomatic service made them most valuable. with him, also, as a volunteer counsellor, was h. perceval dodge, who, after serving in diplomatic posts in six countries, was thrown out of the service by mr. bryan to make room for a lawyer from danville, ky. dodge was sent over to assist in distributing the money voted by congress, and herrick, knowing his record, signed him on to help him in the difficult task of running the affairs of the embassies of four countries, three of which were at war. dodge, bliss, and frazier were able to care for these embassies because, though young in years, in the diplomatic service they have had training and experience. in this crisis they proved the need of it. for the duties they were, and still are, called upon to perform it is not enough that a man should have edited a democratic newspaper or stumped the state for bryan. a knowledge of languages, of foreign countries, and of foreigners, their likes and their prejudices, good manners, tact, and training may not, in the eyes of the administration, seem necessary, but, in helping the ninety million people in whose interest the diplomat is sent abroad, these qualifications are not insignificant. one might say that brand whitlock, who is so splendidly holding the fort at brussels, in the very centre of the conflict, is not a trained diplomat. but he started with an excellent knowledge of the french language, and during the eight years in which he was mayor of toledo he must have learned something of diplomacy, responsibility, and of the way to handle men--even german military governors. he is, in fact, the right man in the right place. in belgium all men, belgians, americans, germans, speak well of him. in one night he shipped out of brussels, in safety and comfort, five thousand germans; and when the german army advanced upon that city it was largely due to him and to the spanish minister, the marquis villalobar, that brussels did not meet the fate of antwerp. he has a direct way of going at things. one day, while the belgian government still was in brussels and whitlock in charge of the german legation, the chief justice called upon him. it was suspected, he said, that on the roof of the german legation, concealed in the chimney, was a wireless outfit. he came to suggest that the american minister, representing the german interests, and the chief justice should appoint a joint commission to investigate the truth of the rumor, to take the testimony of witnesses, and make a report. "wouldn't it be quicker," said whitlock, "if you and i went up on the roof and looked down the chimney?" the chief justice was surprised but delighted. together they clambered over the roof of the german legation. they found that the wireless outfit was a rusty weather-vane that creaked. when the government moved to antwerp whitlock asked permission to remain at the capital. he believed that in brussels he could be of greater service to both americans and belgians. and while diplomatic corps moved from antwerp to ostend, and from ostend to havre, he and villalobar stuck to their posts. what followed showed whitlock was right. to-day from brussels he is directing the efforts of the rest of the world to save the people of that city and of belgium from death by starvation. in this he has the help of his wife, who was miss ella brainerd, of springfield, , m. gaston de levai, a belgian gentleman, and miss caroline s. larner, who was formerly a secretary in the state department, and who, when the war started, was on a vacation in belgium. she applied to whitlock to aid her to return home; instead, much to her delight, he made her one of the legation staff. his right-hand man is hugh c. gibson, his first secretary, a diplomat of experience. it is a pity that to the legation in brussels no military attaché was accredited. he need not have gone out to see the war; the war would have come to him. as it was, gibson saw more of actual warfare than did any or all of our twenty- eight military men in paris. it was his duty to pass frequently through the firing-lines on his way to antwerp and london. he was constantly under fire. three times his automobile was hit by bullets. these trips were so hazardous that whitlock urged that he should take them. it is said he and his secretary used to toss for it. gibson told me he was disturbed by the signs the germans placed between brussels and antwerp, stating that "automobiles looking as though they were on reconnoissance" would be fired upon. he asked how an automobile looked when it was on reconnoissance. gibson is one of the few men who, after years in the diplomatic service, refuses to take himself seriously. he is always smiling, cheerful, always amusing, but when the dignity of his official position is threatened he can be serious enough. when he was chargé d'affaires in havana a young cuban journalist assaulted him. that journalist is still in jail. in brussels a german officer tried to blue-pencil a cable gibson was sending to the state department. those who witnessed the incident say it was like a buzz-saw cutting soft pine. when the present administration turned out the diplomats it spared the consuls-general and consuls. it was fortunate for the state department that it showed this self-control, and fortunate for thousands of americans who, when the war-cloud burst, were scattered all over europe. our consuls rose to the crisis and rounded them up, supplied them with funds, special trains, and letters of identification, and when they were arrested rescued them from jail. under fire from shells and during days of bombardment the american consuls in france and belgium remained at their posts and protected the people of many nationalities confided to their care. only one showed the white feather. he first removed himself from his post, and then was removed still farther from it by the state department. all the other american consuls of whom i heard in belgium, france, and england were covering themselves with glory and bringing credit to their country. nothing disturbed their calm, and at no hour could you catch them idle or reluctant to help a fellow countryman. their office hours were from twelve to twelve, and each consulate had taken out an all-night license and thrown away the key. with four other americans i was forced to rout one consul out of bed at two in the morning. he was colonel albert w. swalm, of iowa, but of late years our representative at southampton. that port was in the military zone, and before an american could leave it for havre it was necessary that his passport should be viséed in london by the french and belgian consuls-general and in southampton by colonel swalm. we arrived in southampton at two in the morning to learn that the boat left at four, and that unless, in the interval, we obtained the autograph and seal of colonel swalm she would sail without us. in the darkness we set forth to seek our consul, and we found that, difficult as it was to leave the docks by sea, it was just as difficult by land. in war time two o'clock in the morning is no hour for honest men to prowl around wharfs. so we were given to understand by very wide-awake sentries with bayonets, policemen, and enthusiastic special constables. but at last we reached the consulate and laid siege. one man pressed the electric button, kicked the door, and pounded with the knocker, others hurled pebbles at the upper windows, and the fifth stood in the road and sang: "oh, say, can you see, by the dawn's early light?" a policeman arrested us for throwing stones at the consular sign. we explained that we had hit the sign by accident while aiming at the windows, and that in any case it was the inalienable right of americans, if they felt like it, to stone their consul's sign. he said he always had understood we were a free people, but, "without meaning any disrespect to you, sir, throwing stones at your consul's coat of arms is almost, as you might say, sir, making too free." he then told us colonel swalm lived in the suburbs, and in a taxicab started us toward him. scantily but decorously clad, colonel swalm received us, and greeted us as courteously as though we had come to present him with a loving-cup. he acted as though our pulling him out of bed at two in the morning was intended as a compliment. for affixing the seal to our passports he refused any fee. we protested that the consuls-general of other nations were demanding fees. "i know," he said, "but i have never thought it right to fine a man for being an american." of our ambassadors and representatives in countries in europe other than france and belgium i have not written, because during this war i have not visited those countries. but of them, also, all men speak well. at the last election one of them was a candidate for the united states senate. he was not elected. the reason is obvious. our people at home are so well pleased with their ambassadors in europe that, while the war continues, they would keep them where they are. chapter ix "under fire" one cold day on the aisne, when the germans had just withdrawn to the east bank and the allies held the west, the french soldiers built huge bonfires and huddled around them. when the "jack johnsons," as they call the six-inch howitzer shells that strike with a burst of black smoke, began to fall, sooner than leave the warm fires the soldiers accepted the chance of being hit by the shells. their officers had to order them back. i saw this and wrote of it. a friend refused to credit it. he said it was against his experience. he did not believe that, for the sake of keeping warm, men would chance being killed. but the incident was quite characteristic. in times of war you constantly see men, and women, too, who, sooner than suffer discomfort or even inconvenience, risk death. the psychology of the thing is, i think, that a man knows very little about being dead but has a very acute knowledge of what it is to be uncomfortable. his brain is not able to grasp death but it is quite capable of informing him that his fingers are cold. often men receive credit for showing coolness and courage in times of danger when, in reality, they are not properly aware of the danger and through habit are acting automatically. the girl in chicago who went back into the iroquois theatre fire to rescue her rubber overshoes was not a heroine. she merely lacked imagination. her mind was capable of appreciating how serious for her would be the loss of her overshoes but not being burned alive. at the battle of velestinos, in the greek-turkish war, john f. bass, of the chicago daily news, and myself got into a trench at the foot of a hill on which later the greeks placed a battery. all day the turks bombarded this battery with a cross-fire of shrapnel and rifle-bullets which did not touch our trench but cut off our return to velestinos. sooner than pass through this crossfire, all day we crouched in the trench until about sunset, when it came on to rain. we exclaimed with dismay. we had neglected to bring our ponchos. "if we don't get back to the village at once," we assured each other, "we will get wet!" so we raced through half a mile of falling shells and bullets and, before the rain fell, got under cover. then bass said: "for twelve hours we stuck to that trench because we were afraid if we left it we would be killed. and the only reason we ever did leave it was because we were more afraid of catching cold!" in the same war i was in a trench with some infantrymen, one of whom never raised his head. whenever he was ordered to fire he would shove his rifle-barrel over the edge of the trench, shut his eyes, and pull the trigger. he took no chances. his comrades laughed at him and swore at him, but he would only grin sheepishly and burrow deeper. after several hours a friend in another trench held up a bag of tobacco and some cigarette-papers and in pantomime "dared" him to come for them. to the intense surprise of every one he scrambled out of our trench and, exposed against the sky-line, walked to the other trench and, while he rolled a handful of cigarettes, drew the fire of the enemy. it was not that he was brave; he had shown that he was not. he was merely stupid. between death and cigarettes, his mind could not rise above cigarettes. why the same kind of people are so differently affected by danger is very hard to understand. it is almost impossible to get a line on it. i was in the city of rheims for three days and two nights while it was being bombarded. during that time fifty thousand people remained in the city and, so far as the shells permitted, continued about their business. the other fifty thousand fled from the city and camped out along the road to paris. for five miles outside rheims they lined both edges of that road like people waiting for a circus parade. with them they brought rugs, blankets, and loaves of bread, and from daybreak until night fell and the shells ceased to fall they sat in the hay-fields and along the grass gutters of the road. some of them were most intelligent-looking and had the manner and clothes of the rich. there was one family of five that on four different occasions on our way to and from paris we saw seated on the ground at a place certainly five miles away from any spot where a shell had fallen. they were all in deep mourning, but as they sat in the hay-field around a wicker tea basket and wrapped in steamer-rugs they were comic. their lives were no more valuable than those of thousands of their fellow townsfolk who in rheims were carrying on the daily routine. these kept the shops open or in the streets were assisting the red cross. one elderly gentleman told me how he had been seized by the germans as a hostage and threatened with death by hanging. with forty other first citizens, from the th to the th of september he had been in jail. after such an experience one would have thought that between himself and the germans he would have placed as many miles as possible, but instead he was strolling around the place du parvis notre-dame, in front of the cathedral. for the french officers who, on sightseeing bent, were motoring into rheims from the battle line he was acting as a sort of guide. pointing with his umbrella, he would say: "on the left is the new palace of justice, the façade entirely destroyed; on the right you see the palace of the archbishop, completely wrecked. the shells that just passed over us have apparently fallen in the garden of the hôtel lion d'or." he was as cool as the conductor on a "seeing rheims" observation-car. he was matched in coolness by our consul, william bardel. the american consulate is at no. rue kellermann. that morning a shell had hit the chestnut-tree in the garden of his neighbor, at no. , and had knocked all the chestnuts into the garden of the consulate. "it's an ill wind that blows nobody good," said mr. bardel. in the bombarded city there was no rule as to how any one would act. one house would be closed and barred, and the inmates would be either in their own cellar or in the caves of the nearest champagne company. to those latter they would bring books or playing-cards and, among millions of dust-covered bottles, by candle-light, would wait for the guns to cease. their neighbors sat in their shops or stood at the doors of their houses or paraded the streets. past them their friends were hastening, trembling with terror. many women sat on the front steps, knitting, and with interested eyes watched their acquaintances fleeing toward the paris gate. when overhead a shell passed they would stroll, still knitting, out into the middle of the street to see where the shell struck. by the noise it was quite easy to follow the flight of the shells. you were tricked by the sound into almost believing you could see them. the six-inch shells passed with a whistling roar that was quite terrifying. it was as though just above you invisible telegraph-wires had jangled, and their rush through the air was like the roar that rises to the car window when two express-trains going in opposite directions pass at sixty miles an hour. when these sounds assailed them the people flying from the city would scream. some of them, as though they had been hit, would fall on their knees. others were sobbing and praying aloud. the tears rolled down their cheeks. in their terror there was nothing ludicrous; they were in as great physical pain as were some of the hundreds in rheims who had been hit. and yet others of their fellow townsmen living in the same street, and with the same allotment of brains and nerves, were treating the bombardment with the indifference they would show to a summer shower. we had not expected to spend the night in rheims, so, with ashmead bartlett, the military expert of the london daily telegraph, i went into a chemist's shop to buy some soap. the chemist, seeing i was an american, became very much excited. he was overstocked with an american shaving-soap, and he begged me to take it off his hands. he would let me have it at what it cost him. he did not know where he had placed it, and he was in great alarm lest we would leave his shop before he could unload it on us. from both sides of the town french artillery were firing in salvoes, the shocks shaking the air; over the shop of the chemist shrapnel was whining, and in the street the howitzer shells were opening up subways. but his mind was intent only on finding that american shaving-soap. i was anxious to get on to a more peaceful neighborhood. to french soap, to soap "made in germany," to neutral american soap i was indifferent. had it not been for the presence of ashmead bartlett i would have fled. to die, even though clasping a cake of american soap, seemed less attractive than to live unwashed. but the chemist had no time to consider shells. he was intent only on getting rid of surplus stock. the majority of people who are afraid are those who refuse to consider the doctrine of chances. the chances of their being hit may be one in ten thousand, but they disregard the odds in their favor and fix their minds on that one chance against them. in their imagination it grows larger and larger. it looms red and bloodshot, it hovers over them; wherever they go it follows, menacing, threatening, filling them with terror. in rheims there were one hundred thousand people, and by shells one thousand were killed or wounded. the chances against were a hundred to one. those who left the city undoubtedly thought the odds were not good enough. those who on account of the bombs that fell from the german aeroplanes into paris left that city had no such excuse. the chance of any one person being hit by a bomb was one in several millions. but even with such generous odds in their favor, during the days the bomb-dropping lasted many thousands fled. they were obsessed by that one chance against them. in my hotel in paris my landlady had her mind fixed on that one chance, and regularly every afternoon when the aeroplanes were expected she would go to bed. just as regularly her husband would take a pair of opera-glasses and in the rue de la paix hopefully scan the sky. one afternoon while we waited in front of cook's an aeroplane sailed overhead, but so far above us that no one knew whether it was a french air-ship scouting or a german one preparing to launch a bomb. a man from cook's, one of the interpreters, with a horrible knowledge of english, said: "taube or not taube; that is the question." he was told he was inviting a worse death than from a bomb. to illustrate the attitude of mind of the parisian, there is the story of the street gamin who for some time, from the garden of the tuileries, had been watching a german aeroplane threatening the city. finally, he exclaimed impatiently: "oh, throw your bomb! you are keeping me from my dinner." a soldier under fire furnishes few of the surprises of conduct to which the civilian treats you. the soldier has no choice. he is tied by the leg, and whether the chances are even or ridiculously in his favor he must accept them. the civilian can always say, "this is no place for me," and get up and walk away. but the soldier cannot say that. he and his officers, the red cross nurses, doctors, ambulance-bearers, and even the correspondents have taken some kind of oath or signed some kind of contract that makes it easier for them than for the civilian to stay on the job. for them to go away would require more courage than to remain. indeed, although courage is so highly regarded, it seems to be of all virtues the most common. in six wars, among men of nearly every race, color, religion, and training, i have seen but four men who failed to show courage. i have seen men who were scared, sometimes whole regiments, but they still fought on; and that is the highest courage, for they were fighting both a real enemy and an imaginary one. there is a story of a certain politician general of our army who, under a brisk fire, turned on one of his staff and cried: "why, major, you are scared, sir; you are scared!" "i am," said the major, with his teeth chattering, "and if you were as scared as i am you'd be twenty miles in the rear." in this war the onslaughts have been so terrific and so unceasing, the artillery fire especially has been so entirely beyond human experience, that the men fight in a kind of daze. instead of arousing fear the tumult acts as an anaesthetic. with forests uprooted, houses smashing about them, and unseen express-trains hurtling through space, they are too stunned to be afraid. and in time they become fed up on battles and to the noise and danger grow callous. on the aisne i saw an artillery battle that stretched for fifteen miles. both banks of the river were wrapped in smoke; from the shells villages miles away were in flames, and two hundred yards in front of us the howitzer shells were bursting in black fumes. to this the french soldiers were completely indifferent. the hills they occupied had been held that morning by the germans, and the trenches and fields were strewn with their accoutrement. so all the french soldiers who were not serving the guns wandered about seeking souvenirs. they had never a glance for the villages burning crimson in the bright sunight or for the falling "jack johnsons." they were intent only on finding a spiked helmet, and when they came upon one they would give a shout of triumph and hold it up for their comrades to see. and their comrades would laugh delightedly and race toward them, stumbling over the furrows. they were as happy and eager as children picking wild flowers. it is not good for troops to sup entirely on horrors and also to breakfast and lunch on them. so after in the trenches one regiment has been pounded it is withdrawn for a day or two and kept in reserve. the english tommies spend this period of recuperating in playing football and cards. when the english learned this they forwarded so many thousands of packs of cards to the distributing depot that the war office had to request them not to send any more. when the english officers are granted leave of absence they do not waste their energy on football, but motor into paris for a bath and lunch. at eight they leave the trenches along the aisne and by noon arrive at maxim's, voisin's, or la rue's. seldom does warfare present a sharper contrast. from a breakfast of "bully" beef, eaten from a tin plate, with in their nostrils the smell of camp-fires, dead horses, and unwashed bodies, they find themselves seated on red velvet cushions, surrounded by mirrors and walls of white and gold, and spread before them the most immaculate silver, linen, and glass. and the odors that assail them are those of truffles, white wine, and "artechant sauce mousseline." it is a delight to hear them talk. the point of view of the english is so sane and fair. in risking their legs or arms, or life itself, they see nothing heroic, dramatic, or extraordinary. they talk of the war as they would of a cricket-match or a day in the hunting-field. if things are going wrong they do not whine or blame, nor when fortune smiles are they unduly jubilant. and they are so appallingly honest and frank. a piece of shrapnel had broken the arm of one of them, and we were helping him to cut up his food and pour out his scotch and soda. instead of making a hero or a martyr of himself, he said confidingly: "you know, i had no right to be hit. if i had been minding my own business i wouldn't have been hit. but jimmie was having a hell of a time on top of a hill, and i just ran up to have a look in. and the beggars got me. served me jolly well right. what?" i met one subaltern at la rue's who had been given so many commissions by his brother officers to bring back tobacco, soap, and underclothes that all his money save five francs was gone. he still had two days' leave of absence, and, as he truly pointed out, in paris even in war time five francs will not carry you far. i offered to be his banker, but he said he would first try elsewhere. the next day i met him on the boulevards and asked what kind of a riotous existence he found possible on five francs. "i've had the most extraordinary luck," he said. "after i left you i met my brother. he was just in from the front, and i got all his money." "won't your brother need it?" i asked. "not at all," said the subaltern cheerfully. "he's shot in the legs, and they've put him to bed. rotten luck for him, you might say, but how lucky for me!" had he been the brother who was shot in both legs he would have treated the matter just as light-heartedly. one english major, before he reached his own firing-line, was hit by a bursting shell in three places. while he was lying in the american ambulance hospital at neuilly the doctor said to him: "this cot next to yours is the only one vacant. would you object if we put a german in it?" "by no means," said the major; "i haven't seen one yet." the stories the english officers told us at la rue's and maxim's by contrast with the surroundings were all the more grewsome. seeing them there it did not seem possible that in a few hours these same fit, sun-tanned youths in khaki would be back in the trenches, or scouting in advance of them, or that only the day before they had been dodging death and destroying their fellow men. maxim's, which now reminds one only of the last act of "the merry widow," was the meeting-place for the french and english officers from the front; the american military attachés from our embassy, among whom were soldiers, sailors, aviators, marines; the doctors and volunteer nurses from the american ambulance, and the correspondents who by night dined in paris and by day dodged arrest and other things on the firing-line, or as near it as they could motor without going to jail. for these maxim's was the clearing-house for news of friends and battles. where once were the supper-girls and the ladies of the gold-mesh vanity-bags now were only men in red and blue uniforms, men in khaki, men in bandages. among them were english lords and french princes with titles that dated from agincourt to waterloo, where their ancestors had met as enemies. now those who had succeeded them, as allies, were, over a sole marguery, discussing air-ships, armored automobiles, and mitrailleuses. at one table arthur h. frazier, of the american embassy, would be telling an english officer that a captain of his regiment who was supposed to have been killed at courtrai had, like a homing pigeon, found his way to the hospital at neuilly and wanted to be reported "safe" at lloyds. at another table a french lieutenant would describe a raid made by the son of an american banker in paris who is in command of an armed automobile. "he swept his gun only once--so," the frenchman explained, waving his arm across the champagne and the broiled lobster, "and he caught a general and two staff- officers. he cut them in half." or at another table you would listen to a group of english officers talking in wonder of the germans' wasteful advance in solid formation. "they were piled so high," one of them relates, "that i stopped firing. they looked like gray worms squirming about in a bait-box. i can shoot men coming at me on their feet, but not a mess of arms and legs." "i know," assents another; "when we charged the other day we had to advance over the germans that fell the night before, and my men were slipping and stumbling all over the place. the bodies didn't give them any foothold." "my sergeant yesterday," another relates, "turned to me and said: 'it isn't cricket. there's no game in shooting into a target as big as that. it's just murder.' i had to order him to continue firing." they tell of it without pose or emotion. it is all in the day's work. most of them are young men of wealth, of ancient family, cleanly bred gentlemen of england, and as they nod and leave the restaurant we know that in three hours, wrapped in a greatcoat, each will be sleeping in the earth trenches, and that the next morning the shells will wake him. chapter x the waste of war in this war, more than in other campaigns, the wastefulness is apparent. in other wars, what to the man at home was most distressing was the destruction of life. he measured the importance of the conflict by the daily lists of killed and wounded. but in those wars, except human life, there was little else to destroy. the war in south africa was fought among hills of stone, across vacant stretches of prairie. not even trees were destroyed, because there were no trees. in the district over which the armies passed there were not enough trees to supply the men with fire-wood. in manchuria, with the japanese, we marched for miles without seeing even a mud village, and the approaches to port arthur were as desolate as our black hills. the italian-turkish war was fought in the sands of a desert, and in the balkan war few had heard of the cities bombarded until they read they were in flames. but this war is being waged in that part of the world best known to the rest of the world. every summer hundreds of thousands of americans, on business or on pleasure bent, travelled to the places that now daily are being taken or retaken or are in ruins. at school they had read of these places in their history books and later had visited them. in consequence, in this war they have a personal and an intelligent interest. it is as though of what is being destroyed they were part owners. toward europe they are as absentee landlords. it was their pleasure- ground and their market. and now that it is being laid low the utter wastefulness of war is brought closer to this generation than ever before. loss of life in war has not been considered entirely wasted, because the self-sacrifice involved ennobled it. and the men who went out to war knew what they might lose. neither when, in the pursuits of peace, human life is sacrificed is it counted as wasted. the pioneers who were killed by the indians or who starved to death in what then were deserts helped to carry civilization from the atlantic to the pacific. only ten years ago men were killed in learning to control the "horseless wagons," and now sixty-horsepower cars are driven by women and young girls. later the air-ship took its toll of human life. nor, in view of the possibilities of the air-ships in the future, can it be said those lives were wasted. but, except life, there was no other waste. to perfect the automobile and the air-ship no women were driven from home and the homes destroyed. no churches were bombarded. men in this country who after many years had built up a trade in europe were not forced to close their mills and turn into the streets hundreds of working men and women. it is in the by-products of the war that the waste, cruelty, and stupidity of war are most apparent. it is the most innocent who suffer and those who have the least offended who are the most severely punished. the german emperor wanted a place in the sun, and, having decided that the right moment to seize it had arrived, declared war. as a direct result, mary kelly, a telephone girl at the wistaria hotel, in new york, is looking for work. it sounds like an o. henry story, but, except for the name of the girl and the hotel, it is not fiction. she told me about it one day on my return to new york, on broadway. "i'm looking for work," she said, "and i thought if you remembered me you might give me a reference. i used to work at sherry's and at the wistaria hotel. but i lost my job through the war." how the war in europe could strike at a telephone girl in new york was puzzling; but mary kelly made it clear. "the wistaria is very popular with southerners," she explained, "they make their money in cotton and blow it in new york. but now they can't sell their cotton, and so they have no money, and so they can't come to new york. and the hotel is run at a loss, and the proprietor discharged me and the other girl, and the bellboys are tending the switchboard. i've been a month trying to get work. but everybody gives me the same answer. they're cutting down the staff on account of the war. i've walked thirty miles a day looking for a job, and i'm nearly all in. how long do you think this war will last?" this telephone girl looking for work is a tiny by-product of war. she is only one instance of efficiency gone to waste. the reader can think of a hundred other instances. in his own life he can show where in his pleasures, his business, in his plans for the future the war has struck at him and has caused him inconvenience, loss, or suffering. he can then appreciate how much greater are the loss and suffering to those who live within the zone of fire. in belgium and france the vacant spaces are very few, and the shells fall among cities and villages lying so close together that they seem to touch hands. for hundreds of years the land has been cultivated, the fields, gardens, orchards tilled and lovingly cared for. the roads date back to the days of caesar. the stone farmhouses, as well as the stone churches, were built to endure. and for centuries, until this war came, they had endured. after the battle of waterloo some of these stone farmhouses found themselves famous. in them napoleon or wellington had spread his maps or set up his cot, and until this war the farmhouses of mont-saint-jean, of caillou, of haie-sainte, of the belle-alliance remained as they were on the day of the great battle a hundred years ago. they have received no special care, the elements have not spared them nor caretakers guarded them. they still were used as dwellings, and it was only when you recognized them by having seen them on the post-cards that you distinguished them from thousands of other houses, just as old and just as well preserved, that stretched from brussels to liege. but a hundred years after this war those other houses will not be shown on picture post-cards. king albert and his staff may have spent the night in them, but the next day von kluck and his army passed, and those houses that had stood for three hundred years were destroyed. in the papers you have seen many pictures of the shattered roofs and the streets piled high with fallen walls and lined with gaping cellars over which once houses stood. the walls can be rebuilt, but what was wasted and which cannot be rebuilt are the labor, the saving, the sacrifices that made those houses not mere walls but homes. a house may be built in a year or rented overnight; it takes longer than that to make it a home. the farmers and peasants in belgium had spent many hours of many days in keeping their homes beautiful, in making their farms self-supporting. after the work of the day was finished they had planted gardens, had reared fruit- trees, built arbors; under them at mealtime they sat surrounded by those of their own household. to buy the horse and the cow they had pinched and saved; to make the gardens beautiful and the fields fertile they had sweated and slaved, the women as well as the men; even the watch-dog by day was a beast of burden. when, in august, i reached belgium between brussels and liege, the whole countryside showed the labor of these peasants. unlike the american farmer, they were too poor to buy machines to work for them, and with scythes and sickles in hand they cut the grain; with heavy flails they beat it. all that you saw on either side of the road that was fertile and beautiful was the result of their hard, unceasing personal effort. then the war came, like a cyclone, and in three weeks the labor of many years was wasted. the fields were torn with shells, the grain was in flames, torches destroyed the villages, by the roadside were the carcasses of the cows that had been killed to feed the invader, and the horses were carried off harnessed to gray gun- carriages. these were the things you saw on every side, from brussels to the german border. the peasants themselves were huddled beneath bridges. they were like vast camps of gypsies, except that, less fortunate than the gypsy, they had lost what he neither possesses nor desires, a home. as the enemy advanced the inhabitants of one village would fly for shelter to the next, only by the shells to be whipped farther forward; and so, each hour growing in number, the refugees fled toward brussels and the coast. they were an army of tramps, of women and children tramps, sleeping in the open fields, beneath the hayricks seeking shelter from the rain, living on the raw turnips and carrots they had plucked from the deserted vegetable gardens. the peasants were not the only ones who suffered. the rich and the noble-born were as unhappy and as homeless. they had credit, and in the banks they had money, but they could not get at the money; and when a château and a farmhouse are in flames, between them there is little choice. three hours after midnight on the day the germans began their three days' march through brussels i had crossed the square rogier to send a despatch by one of the many last trains for ostend. when i returned to the palace hotel, seated on the iron chairs on the sidewalk were a woman, her three children, and two maid servants. the woman was in mourning, which was quite new, for, though the war was only a month old, many had been killed, among them her husband. the day before, at tirlemont, shells had destroyed her château, and she was on her way to england. she had around her neck two long strings of pearls, the maids each held a small hand- bag, her boy clasped in his arms a forlorn and sleepy fox-terrier, and each of the little girls was embracing a bird-cage. in one was a canary, in the other a parrot. that was all they had saved. in their way they were just as pathetic as the peasants sleeping under the hedges. they were just as homeless, friendless, just as much in need of food and sleep, and in their eyes was the same look of fear and horror. bernhardi tells his countrymen that war is glorious, heroic, and for a nation an economic necessity. instead, it is stupid, unintelligent. it creates nothing; it only wastes. if it confined itself to destroying forts and cradles of barbed wire then it would be sufficiently hideous. but it strikes blindly, brutally; it tramples on the innocent and the beautiful. it is the bull in the china shop and the mad dog who snaps at children who are trying only to avoid him. people were incensed at the destruction in louvain of the library, the catholic college, the church of st. pierre that dated from the thirteenth century. these buildings belonged to the world, and over their loss the world was rightfully indignant, but in louvain there were also shops and manufactories, hotels and private houses. each belonged, not to the world, but to one family. these individual families made up a city of forty-five thousand people. in two days there was not a roof left to cover one of them. the trade those people had built up had been destroyed, the "good-will and fixings," the stock on the shelves and in the storerooms, the goods in the shop-windows, the portraits in the drawing-room, the souvenirs and family heirlooms, the love-letters, the bride's veil, the baby's first worsted shoes, and the will by which some one bequeathed to his beloved wife all his worldly goods. war came and sent all these possessions, including the will and the worldly goods, up into the air in flames. most of the people of louvain made their living by manufacturing church ornaments and brewing beer. war was impartial, and destroyed both the beer and the church ornaments. it destroyed also the men who made them, and it drove the women and children into concentration camps. when first i visited louvain it was a brisk, clean, prosperous city. the streets were spotless, the shop-windows and cafés were modern, rich-looking, inviting, and her great churches and hôtel de ville gave to the city grace and dignity. ten days later, when i again saw it, louvain was in darkness, lit only by burning buildings. rows and rows of streets were lined with black, empty walls. louvain was a city of the past, another pompeii, and her citizens were being led out to be shot. the fate of louvain was the fate of vise, of malines, of tirlemont, of liege, of hundreds of villages and towns, and by the time this is printed it will be the fate of hundreds of other towns over all of europe. in this war the waste of horses is appalling. those that first entered brussels with the german army had been bred and trained for the purposes of war, and they were magnificent specimens. every one who saw them exclaimed ungrudgingly in admiration. but by the time the army reached the approaches of paris the forced marches had so depleted the stock of horses that for remounts the germans were seizing all they met. those that could not keep up were shot. for miles along the road from meaux to soissons and rheims their bodies tainted the air. they had served their purposes, and after six weeks of campaigning the same animals that in times of peace would have proved faithful servants for many years were destroyed that they might not fall into the hands of the french. just as an artillery-man spikes his gun, the germans on their retreat to the aisne river left in their wake no horse that might assist in their pursuit. as they withdrew they searched each stable yard and killed the horses. in village after village i saw horses lying in the stalls or in the fields still wearing the harness of the plough, or in groups of three or four in the yard of a barn, each with a bullet-hole in its temple. they were killed for fear they might be useful. waste can go no further. another example of waste were the motor- trucks and automobiles. when the war began the motor-trucks of the big department stores and manufacturers and motor-buses of london, paris, and berlin were taken over by the different armies. they had cost them from two thousand to three thousand dollars each, and in times of peace, had they been used for the purposes for which they were built, would several times over have paid for themselves. but war gave them no time to pay even for their tires. you saw them by the roadside, cast aside like empty cigarette-boxes. a few hours' tinkering would have set them right. they were still good for years of service. but an army in retreat or in pursuit has no time to waste in repairing motors. to waste the motor is cheaper. between villers-cotterets and soissons the road was strewn with high-power automobiles and motor-trucks that the germans had been forced to destroy. something had gone wrong, something that at other times could easily have been mended. but with the french in pursuit there was no time to pause, nor could cars of such value be left to the enemy. so they had been set on fire or blown up, or allowed to drive head-on into a stone wall or over an embankment. from the road above we could see them in the field below, lying like giant turtles on their backs. in one place in the forest of villers was a line of fifteen trucks, each capable of carrying five tons. the gasolene to feed them had become exhausted, and the whole fifteen had been set on fire. in war this is necessary, but it was none the less waste. when an army takes the field it must consider first its own safety; and to embarrass the enemy everything else must be sacrificed. it cannot consider the feelings or pockets of railroad or telegraph companies. it cannot hesitate to destroy a bridge because that bridge cost five hundred thousand dollars. and it does not hesitate. motoring from paris to the front these days is a question of avoiding roads rendered useless because a broken bridge has cut them in half. all over france are these bridges of iron, of splendid masonry, some decorated with statues, some dating back hundreds of years, but now with a span blown out or entirely destroyed and sprawling in the river. all of these material things--motor-cars, stone bridges, railroad-tracks, telegraph-lines--can be replaced. money can restore them. but money cannot restore the noble trees of france and belgium, eighty years old or more, that shaded the roads, that made beautiful the parks and forests. for military purposes they have been cut down or by artillery fire shattered into splinters. they will again grow, but eighty years is a long time to wait. nor can money replace the greatest waste of all--the waste in "killed, wounded, and missing." the waste of human life in this war is so enormous, so far beyond our daily experience, that disasters less appalling are much easier to understand. the loss of three people in an automobile accident comes nearer home than the fact that at the battle of sezanne thirty thousand men were killed. few of us are trained to think of men in such numbers--certainly not of dead men in such numbers. we have seen thirty thousand men together only during the world's series or at the championship football matches. to get an idea of the waste of this war we must imagine all of the spectators at a football match between yale and harvard suddenly stricken dead. we must think of all the wives, children, friends affected by the loss of those thirty thousand, and we must multiply those thirty thousand by hundreds, and imagine these hundreds of thousands lying dead in belgium, in alsace-lorraine, and within ten miles of paris. after the germans were repulsed at meaux and at sezanne the dead of both armies were so many that they lay intermingled in layers three and four deep. they were buried in long pits and piled on top of each other like cigars in a box. lines of fresh earth so long that you mistook them for trenches intended to conceal regiments were in reality graves. some bodies lay for days uncovered until they had lost all human semblance. they were so many you ceased to regard them even as corpses. they had become just a part of the waste, a part of the shattered walls, uprooted trees, and fields ploughed by shells. what once had been your fellow men were only bundles of clothes, swollen and shapeless, like scarecrows stuffed with rags, polluting the air. the wounded were hardly less pitiful. they were so many and so thickly did they fall that the ambulance service at first was not sufficient to handle them. they lay in the fields or forests sometimes for a day before they were picked up, suffering unthinkable agony. and after they were placed in cars and started back toward paris the tortures continued. some of the trains of wounded that arrived outside the city had not been opened in two days. the wounded had been without food or water. they had not been able to move from the positions in which in torment they had thrown themselves. the foul air had produced gangrene. and when the cars were opened the stench was so fearful that the red cross people fell back as though from a blow. for the wounded paris is full of hospitals--french, english, and american. and the hospitals are full of splendid men. each one once had been physically fit or he would not have been passed to the front; and those among them who are officers are finely bred, finely educated, or they would not be officers. but each matched his good health, his good breeding, and knowledge against a broken piece of shell or steel bullet, and the shell or bullet won. they always will win. stephen crane called a wound "the red badge of courage." it is all of that. and the man who wears that badge has all my admiration. but i cannot help feeling also the waste of it. i would have a standing army for the same excellent reason that i insure my house; but, except in self-defence, no war. for war--and i have seen a lot of it--is waste. and waste is unintelligent. chapter xi war correspondents the attitude of the newspaper reader toward the war correspondent who tries to supply him with war news has always puzzled me. one might be pardoned for suggesting that their interests are the same. if the correspondent is successful, the better service he renders the reader. the more he is permitted to see at the front, the more news he is allowed to cable home, the better satisfied should be the man who follows the war through the "extras." but what happens is the reverse of that. never is the "constant reader" so delighted as when the war correspondent gets the worst of it. it is the one sure laugh. the longer he is kept at the base, the more he is bottled up, "deleted," censored, and made prisoner, the greater is the delight of the man at home. he thinks the joke is on the war correspondent. i think it is on the "constant reader." if, at breakfast, the correspondent fails to supply the morning paper with news, the reader claims the joke is on the news-gatherer. but if the milkman fails to leave the milk, and the baker the rolls, is the joke on the milkman and the baker or is it on the "constant reader"? which goes hungry? the explanation of the attitude of the "constant reader" to the reporters seems to be that he regards the correspondent as a prying busybody, as a sort of spy, and when he is snubbed and suppressed he feels he is properly punished. perhaps the reader also resents the fact that while the correspondent goes abroad, he stops at home and receives the news at second hand. possibly he envies the man who has a front seat and who tells him about it. and if you envy a man, when that man comes to grief it is only human nature to laugh. you have seen unhappy small boys outside a baseball park, and one happy boy inside on the highest seat of the grand stand, who calls down to them why the people are yelling and who has struck out. do the boys on the ground love the boy in the grand stand and are they grateful to him? no. does the fact that they do not love him and are not grateful to him for telling them the news distress the boy in the grand stand? no. for no matter how closely he is bottled up, how strictly censored, "deleted," arrested, searched, and persecuted, as between the man at home and the correspondent, the correspondent will always be the more fortunate. he is watching the march of great events, he is studying history in the making, and all he sees is of interest. were it not of interest he would not have been sent to report it. he watches men acting under the stress of all the great emotions. he sees them inspired by noble courage, pity, the spirit of self-sacrifice, of loyalty, and pride of race and country. in cuba i saw captain robb church of our army win the medal of honor, in south africa i saw captain towse of the scot greys win his victoria cross. those of us who watched him knew he had won it just as surely as you know when a runner crosses the home plate and scores. can the man at home from the crook play or the home run obtain a thrill that can compare with the sight of a man offering up his life that other men may live? when i returned to new york every second man i knew greeted me sympathetically with: "so, you had to come home, hey? they wouldn't let you see a thing." and if i had time i told him all i saw was the german, french, belgian, and english armies in the field, belgium in ruins and flames, the germans sacking louvain, in the dover straits dreadnoughts, cruisers, torpedo destroyers, submarines, hydroplanes; in paris bombs falling from air-ships and a city put to bed at o'clock; battle-fields covered with dead men; fifteen miles of artillery firing across the aisne at fifteen miles of artillery; the bombardment of rheims, with shells lifting the roofs as easily as you would lift the cover of a chafing-dish and digging holes in the streets, and the cathedral on fire; i saw hundreds of thousands of soldiers from india, senegal, morocco, ireland, australia, algiers, bavaria, prussia, scotland, saw them at the front in action, saw them marching over the whole northern half of europe, saw them wounded and helpless, saw thousands of women and children sleeping under hedges and haystacks with on every side of them their homes blazing in flames or crashing in ruins. that was a part of what i saw. what during the same two months did the man at home see? if he were lucky he saw the braves win the world's series, or the vernon castles dance the fox trot. the war correspondents who were sent to this war knew it was to sound their death-knell. they knew that because the newspapers that had no correspondents at the front told them so; because the general staff of each army told them so; because every man they met who stayed at home told them so. instead of taking their death- blow lying down they went out to meet it. in other wars as rivals they had fought to get the news; in this war they were fighting for their professional existence, for their ancient right to stand on the firing- line, to report the facts, to try to describe the indescribable. if their death-knell sounded they certainly did not hear it. if they were licked they did not know it. in the twenty-five years in which i have followed wars, in no other war have i seen the war correspondents so well prove their right to march with armies. the happy days when they were guests of the army, when news was served to them by the men who made the news, when archibald forbes and frank millet shared the same mess with the future czar of russia, when macgahan slept in the tent with skobeleff and kipling rode with roberts, have passed. now, with every army the correspondent is as popular as a floating mine, as welcome as the man dropping bombs from an air-ship. the hand of every one is against him. "keep out! this means you!" is the way they greet him. added to the dangers and difficulties they must overcome in any campaign, which are only what give the game its flavor, they are now hunted, harassed, and imprisoned. but the new conditions do not halt them. they, too, are fighting for their place in the sun. i know one man whose name in this war has been signed to despatches as brilliant and as numerous as those of any correspondent, but which for obvious reasons is not given here. he was arrested by one army, kept four days in a cell, and then warned if he was again found within the lines of that army he would go to jail for six months; one month later he was once more arrested, and told if he again came near the front he would go to prison for two years. two weeks later he was back at the front. such a story causes the teeth of all the members of the general staff to gnash with fury. you can hear them exclaiming: "if we caught that man we would treat him as a spy." and so unintelligent are they on the question of correspondents that they probably would. when orville wright hid himself in south carolina to perfect his flying- machine he objected to what he called the "spying" of the correspondents. one of them rebuked him. "you have discovered something," he said, "in which the whole civilized world is interested. if it is true you have made it possible for man to fly, that discovery is more important than your personal wishes. your secret is too valuable for you to keep to yourself. we are not spies. we are civilization demanding to know if you have something that more concerns the whole world than it can possibly concern you." as applied to war, that point of view is equally just. the army calls for your father, husband, son--calls for your money. it enters upon a war that destroys your peace of mind, wrecks your business, kills the men of your family, the man you were going to marry, the son you brought into the world. and to you the army says: "this is our war. we will fight it in our own way, and of it you can learn only what we choose to tell you. we will not let you know whether your country is winning the fight or is in danger, whether we have blundered and the soldiers are starving, whether they gave their lives gloriously or through our lack of preparation or inefficiency are dying of neglected wounds." and if you answer that you will send with the army men to write letters home and tell you, not the plans for the future and the secrets of the army, but what are already accomplished facts, the army makes reply: "no, those men cannot be trusted. they are spies." not for one moment does the army honestly think those men are spies. but it is the excuse nearest at hand. it is the easiest way out of a situation every army, save our own, has failed to treat with intelligence. every army knows that there are men to-day acting, or anxious to act, as war correspondents who can be trusted absolutely, whose loyalty and discretion are above question, who no more would rob their army of a military secret than they would rob a till. if the army does not know that, it is unintelligent. that is the only crime i impute to any general staff--lack of intelligence. when captain granville fortescue, of the hearst syndicate, told the french general that his word as a war correspondent was as good as that of any general in any army he was indiscreet, but he was merely stating a fact. the answer of the french general was to put him in prison. that was not an intelligent answer. the last time i was arrested was at romigny, by general asebert. i had on me a three-thousand-word story, written that morning in rheims, telling of the wanton destruction of the cathedral. i asked the general staff, for their own good, to let the story go through. it stated only facts which i believed were they known to civilized people would cause them to protest against a repetition of such outrages. to get the story on the wire i made to lieutenant lucien frechet and major klotz, of the general staff, a sporting offer. for every word of my despatch they censored i offered to give them for the red cross of france five francs. that was an easy way for them to subscribe to the french wounded three thousand dollars. to release his story gerald morgan, of the london daily telegraph, made them the same offer. it was a perfectly safe offer for gerald to make, because a great part of his story was an essay on gothic architecture. their answer was to put both of us in the cherche-midi prison. the next day the censor read my story and said to lieutenant frechet and major klotz: "but i insist this goes at once. it should have been sent twenty-four hours ago." than the courtesy of the french officers nothing could have been more correct, but i submit that when you earnestly wish to help a man to have him constantly put you in prison is confusing. it was all very well to dissemble your love. but why did you kick me down-stairs? there was the case of luigi barzini. in italy barzini is the d'annunzio of newspaper writers. of all italian journalists he is the best known. on september , at romigny, general asebert arrested barzini, and for four days kept him in a cow stable. except what he begged from the gendarmes, he had no food, and he slept on straw. when i saw him at the headquarters of the general staff under arrest i told them who he was, and that were i in their place i would let him see all there was to see, and let him, as he wished, write to his people of the excellence of the french army and of the inevitable success of the allies. with italy balancing on the fence and needing very little urging to cause her to join her fortunes with france, to choose that moment to put italian journalists in a cow yard struck me as dull. in this war the foreign offices of the different governments have been willing to allow correspondents to accompany the army. they know that there are other ways of killing a man than by hitting him with a piece of shrapnel. one way is to tell the truth about him. in this entire war nothing hit germany so hard a blow as the publicity given to a certain remark about a scrap of paper. but from the government the army would not tolerate any interference. it said: "do you want us to run this war or do you want to run it?" each army of the allies treated its own government much as walter camp would treat the yale faculty if it tried to tell him who should play right tackle. as a result of the ban put upon the correspondents by the armies, the english and a few american newspapers, instead of sending into the field one accredited representative, gave their credentials to a dozen. these men had no other credentials. the letter each received stating that he represented a newspaper worked both ways. when arrested it helped to save him from being shot as a spy, and it was almost sure to lead him to jail. the only way we could hope to win out was through the good nature of an officer or his ignorance of the rules. many officers did not know that at the front correspondents were prohibited. as in the old days of former wars we would occasionally come upon an officer who was glad to see some one from the base who could tell him the news and carry back from the front messages to his friends and family. he knew we could not carry away from him any information of value to the enemy, because he had none to give. in a battle front extending one hundred miles he knew only his own tiny unit. on the aisne a general told me the shrapnel smoke we saw two miles away on his right came from the english artillery, and that on his left five miles distant were the canadians. at that exact moment the english were at havre and the canadians were in montreal. in order to keep at the front, or near it, we were forced to make use of every kind of trick and expedient. an english officer who was acting as a correspondent, and with whom for several weeks i shared the same automobile, had no credentials except an order permitting him to pass the policemen at the british war office. with this he made his way over half of france. in the corner of the pass was the seal or coat of arms of the war office. when a sentry halted him he would, with great care and with an air of confidence, unfold this permit, and with a proud smile point at the red seal. the sentry, who could not read english, would invariably salute the coat of arms of his ally, and wave us forward. that we were with allied armies instead of with one was a great help. we would play one against the other. when a french officer halted us we would not show him a french pass but a belgian one, or one in english, and out of courtesy to his ally he would permit us to proceed. but our greatest asset always was a newspaper. after a man has been in a dirt trench for two weeks, absolutely cut off from the entire world, and when that entire world is at war, for a newspaper he will give his shoes and his blanket. the paris papers were printed on a single sheet and would pack as close as bank-notes. we never left paris without several hundred of them, but lest we might be mobbed we showed only one. it was the duty of one of us to hold this paper in readiness. the man who was to show the pass sat by the window. of all our worthless passes our rule was always to show first the one of least value. if that failed we brought out a higher card, and continued until we had reached the ace. if that proved to be a two-spot, we all went to jail. whenever we were halted, invariably there was the knowing individual who recognized us as newspaper men, and in order to save his country from destruction clamored to have us hung. it was for this pest that the one with the newspaper lay in wait. and the instant the pest opened his lips our man in reserve would shove the figaro at him. "have you seen this morning's paper?" he would ask sweetly. it never failed us. the suspicious one would grab at the paper as a dog snatches at a bone, and our chauffeur, trained to our team-work, would shoot forward. when after hundreds of delays we did reach the firing-line, we always announced we were on our way back to paris and would convey there postal cards and letters. if you were anxious to stop in any one place this was an excellent excuse. for at once every officer and soldier began writing to the loved ones at home, and while they wrote you knew you would not be molested and were safe to look at the fighting. it was most wearing, irritating, nerve-racking work. you knew you were on the level. in spite of the general staff you believed you had a right to be where you were. you knew you had no wish to pry into military secrets; you knew that toward the allied armies you felt only admiration--that you wanted only to help. but no one else knew that; or cared. every hundred yards you were halted, cross-examined, searched, put through a third degree. it was senseless, silly, and humiliating. only a professional crook with his thumb-prints and photograph in every station-house can appreciate how from minute to minute we lived. under such conditions work is difficult. it does not make for efficiency to know that any man you meet is privileged to touch you on the shoulder and send you to prison. this is a world war, and my contention is that the world has a right to know, not what is going to happen next, but at least what has happened. if men have died nobly, if women and children have cruelly and needlessly suffered, if for no military necessity and without reason cities have been wrecked, the world should know that. those who are carrying on this war behind a curtain, who have enforced this conspiracy of silence, tell you that in their good time the truth will be known. it will not. if you doubt this, read the accounts of this war sent out from the yser by the official "eye-witness" or "observer" of the english general staff. compare his amiable gossip in early victorian phrases with the story of the same battle by percival phillips; with the descriptions of the fall of antwerp by arthur ruhl, and the retreat to the marne by robert dunn. some men are trained to fight, and others are trained to write. the latter can tell you of what they have seen so that you, safe at home at the breakfast table, also can see it. any newspaper correspondent would rather send his paper news than a descriptive story. but news lasts only until you have told it to the next man, and if in this war the correspondent is not to be permitted to send the news i submit he should at least be permitted to tell what has happened in the past. this war is a world enterprise, and in it every man, woman, and child is an interested stockholder. they have a right to know what is going forward. the directors' meetings should not be held in secret.